Blaming The Web Site

I know we in the United States are lawsuit happy, but news of a woman's suit against her husband may  be one of the more novel attempts to extract money from others with the frivolous lawsuit. The suit involves a woman only identified as "Mary" and a web site called Persopo.com that is a resource for people to check arrest records, marriage records, contract info etc. that is public record. Persopo not only pulls from public records but many different social and dating web sites around the internet.  Mary's husband checked to see if Mary was cheating with another person and hit the jackpot.

"When I searched her name it came up. She had accounts matching her name and email on cheating wives.com an many others. I just couldn't believe that this was the woman that i married," husband Frank said. The husband found enough evidence on Mary to fueled his divorce suit against her. Her match.com profile, for example, where stated she is “never married” for relationship status. Mary said it was unfair and wants Persoco to pay for providing information on her cheating. Nowhere in the lawsuit does it dispute if the information is accurate or not. Nor that she was having an affair on her husband with multiple men.

Mary is now stating that, “Persopo.com ruined my life by revealing private information about me.” She is currently seeking unspecified damages from Persoco. Apparently, for Mary, cheating is fine as long as you are not caught. If you do get caught, blame it on  the technology that nabbed you. It also reflects another instance of how technology is winning over humans. Using background check services is becoming increasingly commonplace. It seems logically that spouses might use it to check on a questionable husband or wife.

Too often human beings become so enthralled with their technology they forget that it can be an enemy as well as a friend. It should be noted that we live in a digital age in which technology allows us to both hide and seek.

Group Think

In this age of  instant and consuming communication technology  have we moved into a new era of group think? You know group think. It's the state in which everyone seems to believe the same thing, largely because society coerces the individual to do so. How ironic we have group think at the same time that information is available more than ever. In medieval times there was one narrative and once source of information, churches and rulers of the area.  But now we have multitude of sources. Problem is, they are all in "agreement", all repeating the same narratives.

In the United States the group think narrative is overwhelmingly liberal, leftist scripted. That's largely because the media sources here are also overwhelmingly left, so there is little push back when the leftist group think script is promoted. It explains sudden shifts in public opinion, as in the case of transgender being a "third sex" or claims that Republicans are "racist" because they believe in tradition. The definition of group think is the practice of approaching problems or issues as matters that are best dealt with by consensus of a group rather than by individuals acting independently. And that is anathema to a democracy.

To identify group think one need only look at any of the progressive liberal groups that push an agenda. Look at 'Black Lives Matter' for example and you'll see many symptoms of group think. These include unquestioned belief in which BLM members  ignore possible moral problems and ignore consequences of individual and group actions., their violence when protesting for example.

A second symptom is he BLM rationalization of every point the group claims to be true. This prevents their members from reconsidering their beliefs and causes them to ignore warning signs about what they pro port is true but may not be.

Thirdly is the stereotyping by BLM members. This leads members of the group to ignore or even demonize out group members who may oppose or challenge the groups ideas. Thus the "Black Lives Matter" (but other lives apparently not as much) scenario.

A fourth symptom that BLM is a group think mess is that the group and other liberal or conservative group thinkers, pretend to be mind guards who act as self appointed censors to hide problematic information from members of the group. One way is by the use of slogans that are oversimplifications or untruths. The classic one for the BLM group is that "police are hunting blacks".

A fifth characteristic is that of  holding the belief that everyone should or does agree with the narrative of the group think organization. This lead members to believe that everyone is or should be in agreement with them. An example of this is "the system is rigged against minorities."

A fifth symptom is that there is great pressure for BLM members to conform. Pressure is often placed on members who pose questions, and those who question the group are often seen as disloyal or traitorous. It's why BLM uses hate rhetoric against any black who does not support the group.

The group think phenomenon is a growing one as we deaden our brains with superficial communication technology and tend to be herded to one group think or another. It is a threat to human freedom and individual thought.

Is A Vulgar Protest A Protected One?

When protesters use inappropriate language or hand gestures to police officers is at least vulgar and disrespectful to society. But are they committing a felony or are they being simply disrespectful?  Because the U.S. is a democracy with individual rights guaranteed, there is no law against being disrespectful. There is a law against making a threat, but pointing the middle finger at a police officer is not threatening him or her.

As much as I hate vulgarity and disrespect, I am grateful to have free speech rights, and that they are protected by the courts her. That concept will be tested in Louisiana after a "finger protest" there got the pointer a citation for threatening a police officer. The pointer's lawyer and the ACLU say that Louisiana State Police troopers violated the Constitutional rights of their client after they arrested him for giving the police "the finger," this the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said in a letter toLouisiana police Superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves.

"A Louisiana State trooper took retaliatory action against a driver who engaged in speech protected by the First Amendment," said  ACL Executive Director Marjorie Esman. "We appreciate that the job of policing in the 21^st century can be difficult, and we hope your officers will focus on more serious and legitimate threats to public safety." State Police spokeswoman Trooper First Class Melissa Matey said, "The Louisiana State Police has tremendous respect for the First Amendment even when the citizens we serve choose to be vulgar and disrespectful. This was an unfortunate incident which will be used as a training opportunity."

Hmmm They seem to agree that the police were excessive in citing the vulgar finger pointer. I agree, but the larger issue is why so many, and many are doing it, stoop to vulgarity like the finger pointer. It may reflect the vulgar culture in which we live today, and that is a crime bigger than all the finger pointer incidents out there. The pointing incident happened Dec. 28, 2016 when a man driving on Interstate 20 near Rayville gave "the finger" to a trooper he passed. The trooper then pulled the driver over and issued a citation for "public intimidation," a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $1,000 fine. Wow! That's a pretty stiff penalty.

Public intimidation in Louisiana is defined as "the use of violence, force, or threats upon (a public officer or public employee) with the intent to influence his conduct in relation to his position, employment, or duty," according to Louisiana law. "The driver used no violence, force, or threat on the trooper, and there is no evidence of intent to influence the trooper's official conduct," said the ACL. "His gesture does not fit the statutory definition of 'public intimidation,' and it was not a crime."The trooper engaged in "illegal First Amendment retaliation," she said. Among the freedoms this country provides is the right to criticize the government and public officials, including police officers".

I have to agree that people have the right to be idiots, including making vulgar gestures when frustrated. But I sure wish the world was a nicer, more tolerant place.

Doing Cocaine In The School Lane

How do you know when the country's drug culture is getting out of hand? I guess there are many indicators, the legalization of marijuana, the abuse of prescription drugs, the casual approach to using drugs as a diversion are all ways. But wait! Here is a practical example of the drugs for everybody anytime American cultures. A sheriff's deputy recently arrested a woman outside a Florida middle school after he allegedly spotted her chopping up and using cocaine while waiting in the parent pick-up line Tuesday. Yep! mom shoots up while waiting for her children's' school dismissal and pick-up.

The deputy who arrested loopy mom said he was patrolling Lexington Middle School just before 4 p.m. when he saw 39-year-old Christina Hester snorting drugs off the screen of her iPhone with a straw. It figures, a drug addict also addicted to cell phones uses both simultaneously. The deputy took Christine to his office where he arrested her. A field test later determined that half a gram of white powder found in her purse was cocaine. Christina has been charged with cocaine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

So much for those anti drug educational sessions a t the school. Instead, the kids can look out their school room window and get a real life demonstration of the power of drugs to ruin lives. This one incident is probably not the exception, as drug use to escape reality is now considered by many an alternative lifestyle. Society today has embraced illegal drug usage by legalizing more and more drugs and using more and more via prescription.

When life is so bad one needs to get high to avoid it, especially when doing it in a school carpool lane, perhaps that society should put down the drugs and start thinking clearly about the impact they are having on all of us.

Sex On A Plane

Remember that awful film entitled "Snakes on a Plane".  The premise was so lamb and unbelievable that the film was laughable.  The idea that number of poisonous snakes was on board threatening or killing passengers is so as ridiculous as people having sex openly on a plane. Wait a minute! I retract the last remark, because according to Southwest Airlines it happened last month. One couple on a Southwest flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas reportedly didn't hold back on hanky panky, engaging in sexual activity while on board.

That's right. They did the nasty right in their seats. “Apparently, they just couldn't control themselves,” Michael Oram, spokesman for McCarran International Airport in LasVegas. “They were all over each other.” I guess the old adage of "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, doesn't apply to people having sex on the tarmac. Anyway, as they were high altitude humping the couple was informed to refrain from such actions while on the flight, but ignored the instructions.

Police met the couple at the gate but no arrests were made, and the investigation will not proceed with an arrest at this time. In other words I might be wrong about that adage. It's fair to say that what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas, at least in this instance. A spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines confirmed the incident, saying “Southwest does not condone this type of activity and we apologize to the other passengers onboard who were potentially exposed to this activity.”

This is the second time this summer that someone's been caught engaging in sexual activity while in flight. In June, a passenger filmed and place on You Tube a video of a fellow who was engaged to be married getting a lap dance from a female who was not his fiancees on a Ryanair flight. The man, who was traveling with his bachelor party, was reportedly sad to leave his fiancé at home for the event, which is why his buddies asked the woman cheer him up. I suspect that his bride to be might be sad to see that video as well.

Communication Technology Confounds Me

I long ago concluded that technology and I are not partners in this world. Everywhere I turn there are machines, most with computer chips for brains. They stalk me to use them, mainly because to not do so is to be left in the non machine world, a place in which only a few oldies feel comfort. But I like the non technological world. I have greater control of it and a far greater ability to function in it that in the microchip universe.

I think those of us born and who lived most of their lives pre computer chip. see the world differently. We feel secure outside of technology because we both have little desire to become a slave to it, and little understanding as to how it works. Even though the VCR machine has long ago died, I never learned how to use it beyond turning it off and on. We are in a throw away technological era.

Communication technology is the technology that is most enveloping for us. It changes so fast that for many of us it comes and goes before we realize it was here. It represents speed, not contemplation and quality. The value of communication technology today is often placed on how fast it works, yet when we go too fast we miss the scenery (the world outside of that technology).

I know I am ignorant of most technology, just by the fact that if I use it I always try to find the simplest technology. My computer is still using Windows 7 and I am sure if Microsoft makes me use Window's 10 it will take me at least a year to understand a significant part of it. For me, "upgrade" is the new obscenity. I have no desire to install anything else on my computer, given it will only be more technology I do not understand, want or know how to use.

Sometimes I wonder if humans will ever revolt and spurn the communication technology that is thrust too quickly on them, finally realizes that that kind of technology controls them too much.. I know that they won't because none of us has much choice as to using this technology. It is not an option. It is an imposition. I fight it still because to not do so will mean I will live in a world that I consider superficial and unimaginative. And I will also harass others with my anti technological rants, because someone has to do it, or we will never have the option to reject it. The more advanced the communication technology becomes, the more it seems to have control over our lives. But we seems to like that.

I believe that people have too readily embraced some of that communication technology, seeking only the benefits, and ignoring the many downfalls. It's because much of that technology today does not improve our lives. When we became addicted to the technological achievements of recent years, we forget to be thrilled and amazed. We lose that great sense of wonder, of awe that makes life unique for each of us. If the whole world reads Face book, is Face book worth reading? We ignore the human elements of creativity, and imagination way too much now and I am sure that the technology that enslaves us is primarily responsible for it.

Old Furniture

I like old furnishings. Old things have character and will since they have survived so long. If the survival of the fittest works when applied to humans I think it does for furniture as well. Most bad furniture doesn't survive long enough to be seen. But the new factory made furniture, best exemplified by that cheap particle board furniture IKEA sells in record numbers. That humans buy so much of that junk reflects the decline in life today. In past times furniture was hand made to specification and it lasted for a long time. Now IKEA junk is quickly replaced my newer IKEA junk.

I am one who likes new houses with old furnishings, sort of like the 50 year old woman who has had plastic surgery, wears great make-up and looks 30 years old. But inside she is old and not unhappy that her life is clarified more by the experiences she had that made her who she is today. My preference for new houses is practical. I prefer a house that is not in constant need of repair, the new appearance is not what drives me to want it "new". But furniture is different. What is on the outside is what is also inside.

Old furniture has character, When I touch a 200 year old wooden table I feel a difference from touching IKEA particle board. The older table has a history and story that, although secret and a mystery is still significant. To handle a table that was handled by other humans 200 years ago is to bind with them spiritually. It makes me appreciate what has come before me and made me what I am. Too, the style and design of old furniture tells something about the attitude of people of that day.

I think people like me who love the old more often than we love the new are a dying ember in culture. This is the age when statues are torn down because they represent imagined "sins" of the past. A statue of a person who behaved contrary to what we see as ethical today, but whose behavior was the norm at the time, needs to remain in place. Those two degrees give us a frame of reference and if we are smart enough, an opportunity to learn from the past.

The many pieces of Victorian furniture I have in my home has made me appreciate that era and the overall good it gave to humanity. It also made me aware of how shallow a person is who rejects the era or persons from it because it does not fit into today's throw-away. trendy, shallow, IKEA culture.
But there is one positive, at least that IKEA junk won't survive long enough for the next generation to place a value on it.