No, I Don’t Want Join Your (Insert Annoying Virtual Social Media App Here)

…And for God’s sake quit poking me.

 

As far as social networking platforms go, Facebook is pretty user-friendly.

Keeping up with distant friends and relatives has never been easier. Let’s face it: we all wonder what that super-cute kid we had a crush on in elementary school looks like these days. You know, the one that we would follow home hiding behind the bushes so he did not see us (oh . . . maybe that was just me).

Granted, I could live without the picture of me in the hideous Rainbow Bright-meets-Paul Bunyan flannel (and you thought it did not exist), memorialized in my online photo album by a fellow high school dance corps member, but it’s all in good fun.

However, if I ruled the world (or knew how to make a Facebook app), I would invent both an app incinerator and an E-mail zapper. Seriously, I have had it with the quiz thing and apps posting on my wall before I give permission.

Take for instance – ugh – Farmville! Die, piggy-cow. Die, Farmer John. Insert evil laugh here.

Maybe I am just a “bad” friend, but frankly, I do not care what animal you will be when you reincarnate. I don’t want to have a pillow fight, snowball fight or a mafia-vampire war. I don’t want to play in your garden or swim in your sea. No thanks; don’t want a heart, or smiles, flowers, candy, cards, drinks, croissants, angels, lollipops, guns, knives, midgets, vibrators . . . Ok, I have not seen the last two, but I’m sure it is only a matter of time.

But you get my point, right? I even had someone send me an app invite called “I want to make love to you.”

Really? Get a life.

Now, I realize you can block an app after someone posts on your wall by clicking on the icon and selecting %u201Cblock application%u201D on the apps page, but it%u2019s a pain-in-the-butt and I’m full-up in that department, partly because I%u2019m swamped by 769 inbox messages.

I wish it were easier to filter and block Facebook messages. I am either dense or technically illiterate because I cannot figure out how I became guests of events and groups when I have not chosen membership.

If I had my way, I would be a message-blocking ninja.

My dear friend says, “If I didn’t speak to you in grade school, haven’t in 20 years nor at any organized reunion we mutually attended, why would I want to read about what you are having for lunch?”

Amen!

Oh, and before I forget: just because we are Facebook friends, does not give mean sending me a text at 2 a.m. is Ok.

It’s not! It only took one of those before my privacy settings were changed (although I confess, I did consider throwing a flaming cow-patty at the offender, but that app was not available . . . yet.)

So, want to be friends? I promise I will not infest your profile page with random, virtual-diseases.

via centralfloridafuture.com

 

Click here to read my column: Dogs, Dishes, Divorce and Deadlines

Abolitionist, historian wraps up Global Perspectives series

Central Florida Future – http://bit.ly/8KleHL

By Cassie Turner

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Published: Friday, November 20, 2009

Updated: Friday, November 20, 2009

Caitlin Bush

"Most Americans do not know slavery not only exists in the world today, it flourishes," said Ron Soodalter, co-author of The Slave Next Door, in his presentation in the Pegasus Ballroom Monday morning.

"Somewhere around 27 million people are in bondage in the world today. Now, that’s over twice the number as were trafficked in chains in the entire 350 years of the African slave trade."

Soodalter, an active abolitionist and historian, kicked off International Education Week at UCF as the keynote speaker for the Second Annual International Breakfast. The Slave Next Door presentation concluded the three-part series on "Slavery’s Resurgence" facilitated by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Global Perspectives and the International Services Center.

The series began with Somaly Mam, a Cambodian human rights activist, former slave and author of The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine, when she shared her experiences in September.

In October, Micheline Slattery, a human-rights activist and former restavek, or domestic child slave, in both Haiti and the United States, addressed about 300 attendees.

Modern-day slavery includes around 800,000 men, women and children trafficked each year around the world. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site, about 17,500 of them end up in the United States, with a high percentage received in Florida.

Soodalter suggests a simple Google search on human trafficking for astounding results.

In spite of major federal legislation and anti-trafficking laws passed in 43 states, 103 human-trafficking convictions have resulted, Soodalter said.

Trafficking remains hidden, is largely unreported and difficult to identify. According to the 2009 Trafficking in Persons, or TIP, report, published by the U.S. Department of State, forced labor/involuntary servitude represents the majority of human-trafficking cases in the world. The co-author of Soodalter’s book,  Kevin Bales, wrote the original 156-page TIP report, titled “Trafficking Persons in the United States — A Report to the National Institute of Justice.”

“The whole thing is disserving and extending,” said retired UCF foreign language professor David Gurney. “It contributes to the antagonism from people in underdeveloped countries to Western civilizations or Western countries.”

In the 1850s, purchasing a slave ran roughly $1,200, the equivalent of around $40,000 in today’s money. The reality is purchasing a slave today costs as little as $100, which makes them affordable and disposable, Soodalter said.

A trafficking victim lives in fear of violence or the threat of violence daily, he said.

Shawn Cox, victim witness coordinator and licensed clinical social worker with the United States Attorney’s Office, advocates that trafficking is a crime of absolute power over someone. According to the report Cox co-authored, “Victims of Human Trafficking and Trauma,” the psychological consequences of a victim are similar to the consequences of severe or chronic child abuse or experiencing acts of terrorism.

"In case you thought slavery doesn’t touch you, guess again," Soodalter said. "Chances are, the clothes you wear, the food you eat, has been touched by slavery."

The good news is there have been some inroads made recently in the area of agricultural servitude, Soodalter said. When Taco Bell refused to stop buying produce picked by enslaved workers in an effort known as the "Ban the Bell" campaign, it set a precedent that several other companies, including McDonalds, A&W, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut, Whole Foods, Chipotle and Burger King, have followed, Soodalter said.

"The message is clear," Soodalter said. "Slavery and worker abuse will not be tolerated. Not here, not now, not ever."

Mark Freeman, public affairs coordinator for the Global Perspectives Office, said they are hoping to continue the series next spring since response has been incredible. Because of the series last spring, students on campus were so spurred into action they formed the unofficial student group “Students Against Slavery @ UCF,” Freeman said. “Students Against Slavery @ UCF” has a Facebook page, and Harry Coverston serves as the faculty advisor for the group.

"Spreading the word is the most important thing," said Frank Hegedus, a senior political science and international relations major. "There is only right now."

 

http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/abolitionist-historian-wraps-up-global-perspectives-series-1.2093273