Deux poids, deux mesures

Some who followed my Twitter _deBeauxOs1_ account may have noticed my prolonged, unsolicited absence from that social media platform.

Yes, kittens. My account was suspended and Twitter has provided no answers to my questions, no grounds for justification to my appeals. It may be restored. But no worry, if you miss my daily injection of bons mots, droll thoughts and vivid excoriation of venal CONjob politicians — do check in here, at DJ!

Sanitary Panels is a political cartoonist who neatly captures the double standard that Facebook and Twitter apply to complaints with regard to content providers who allegedly flout their sacrosanct _Terms of Service_.

Or, as ASaintL and others put it:

Indeed. Why is that?

Infuriating, but I'm not the only person punished according to Zuckerberg's and Jack's pro-Toxic Masculinity and gynophobic, double standards.

Something is missing from this picture...

There is currently a criminal trial unfolding in Ottawa that has captured the interest of many.

It is unusual because it involves girls under the age of 16 pressured, blackmailed and physically coerced into sex work by pimps who are also girls — barely older than their victims.

Two of the three adolescents standing trial for 74 charges including human trafficking, forcible confinement and procuring for prostitution, are 16 years old; the other is 17.

This is an account from a young woman who evaded cajoling then threats from a Facebook acquaintance, and alleged pimp.

The clients who are testifying have likely been promised a reduced sentence for having sex with minor children, or amnesty from prosecution.

Something doesn't quite sit right with me, though. This scheme to recruit and force girls into prostitution goes quite beyond the high school bullying, ostracism and cruelty that we know teenage girls are capable of doing.

This is way beyond _Mean Girls_ territory, this is a sophisticated, complex and well-executed business plan. 

Are there older individuals behind this profitable enterprise whose identities the young women have not disclosed?  As with Fagin's abuse of homeless children, criminal organizations have made it a practice to enlist and train juveniles to run their money-making illegal schemes. If the under-age kids are arrested, charged, prosecuted and found guilty, their sentencing is usually light.

This trial may be a delicately orchestrated attempt to flush out the adults behind this criminal business scheme.  If the prosecution succeeds, and the girls are found guilty of these charges, there may be some plea bargaining involved to encourage them to give up their patrons, the people who bankrolled them, helped them develop their enterprise, trained them in the fine art of physical brutality, and shared the profits without any of the risks.

If this is indeed the case, these adult participants are people well versed in the intricate aspects of criminal law and jurisprudence.  The girls may not reveal who they are; a combination of eventual rewards, emotional coercion and fear of physical reprisals may buy their silence.

Photo credit: from the above-mentioned, feminist film about female adolescent angst, including a propensity for dressing up in fetish drag.

UPDATE: The young woman who testified yesterday, providing details about one of the alleged pimp's campaign to recruit her through Facebook communications, may have done something the defense lawyer will exploit to his clients' advantage.

A Very Exclusive Club

Just the two of us.

She invited me. But we're not allowed to bash Harper over any other issues there. I don't know if I will be able to restrain myself. My membership may be short-lived.

First, you spell his name correctly

Jane Taber continues to cover that 'radical anti-Harper group', CRUSH.

The viewer who inspired a CBC poll on women in politics – and outraged Stephen Harper’s Conservatives in the process – is speaking out, arguing her question was neither partisan nor was it loaded or leading.

Mary Pynenburg, who is a two-time Liberal candidate in Britsh Columbia, wonders why she should have to “identify my party before I speak?”

“As a past candidate, I am very interested in women in politics,” she says.

And that was the subject of very non-partisan, uncontroversial poll suggestion.

So WTF is up with the CBC?

The CBC has dismissed the allegations of Liberal bias against their pollster, Mr. Graves. It noted it doesn’t “generally do a background check on people who have sent us non-contentious polling question suggestions,” but conceded the Pynenburg case “raises a good point about requiring closer attention to the background and affiliation of those who make submissions.”

BACKGROUND CHECKS? By the fucking CBC? To ask a question?

Ms. Pynenburg remains perplexed. First, she says the supposedly “radical anti-Stephen Harper group” is a Facebook group that is pointing out the Prime Minister’s “radical agenda.” She adds: “And that does not make them radicals it makes them caring Canadians.”

More importantly, she is curious as to how she became a Tory target for simply asking a question. “When did it become a cause célèbre in this country to ask a relevant and timely question affecting half the voting public?”

Well, Mary, you might be handicapped by your gender. You know, the Shut-the-Fuck-Up gender.

The canny but poor spellers at CRUSH, leapt on this and issued a press release.

"We were absolutely shocked to see this report" said Tina Naftali, a Montreal resident and spokesperson for C.R.U.S.H., a 3,000+ member group of Canadians organized through Facebook. "This is Canada, isn't it? Since when is it considered radical to criticize the government's performance?"

The group's Facebook page describes their objective as "A group of committed Canadians who want to exercise their democratic right to unseat Stephen Harper in a general election. Our central goal is to get out mainstream media ads that will reach out to as many fellow Canadians as we can and engage them in a discussion about the actions of Mr. Harper's government. The ads will focus on issues of trust, transparency, accountability, and democratic values".

To date, C.R.U.S.H. has published ads in a number of national and local newspapers including the Toronto Star and The Hill Times. The ads are funded solely through member donations. Ms. Naftali pointed out that all C.R.U.S.H. ads are viewable on their website at http://www.unseatharper.ca "I'll leave it to Canadians to examine the ads and decide if they are radical" commented Naftali.

"We are Canadians from all walks of life with members who identify with every political party or none at all" said Naftali, who went on to comment on low voter turnout in recent federal elections stating "politicians are concerned that Canadians are not engaged in the political process, however, it seems that by getting involved and engaging other Canadians, the government then labels you a radical".

In reflecting on this newly earned moniker, Naftali takes comfort in the words of Ghandi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Aieeeee.

We got 'em on the run!

Yesterday, local CAPPers confronted Tony (aka Tony Cashmere) Clement at York University. It was twittered but not widely reported otherwise.

Today, Saskatoon CAPPers forced Tony C. to slink out the back way and then put out a press release about it, on Facebook of course. (emphasis mine)

More than a dozen members of the Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament attended a flash rally outside the Radisson Hotel in downtown Saskatoon between 11:30am and Noon today. The group marched back and forth along the sidewalk bringing their message to members of the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce who were attending a luncheon with Minister Tony Clement at the Radisson.

"We want to keep the pressure on until Parliament resumes and the Harper government is held accountable to Canadians and a working democracy," said Mary Jean Hande a participant at today's Flash Rally.

Chants of “Pro-democracy not prorogue,” “You can prorogue but you can’t hide,” and “This is what democracy looks like” echoed through the buildings in Saskatoon’s downtown core. Minister Clement escaped the scrutiny of the demonstrators by slipping in the back door of the hotel and staff at the hotel barred entry to the demonstrators who wished to bring their concerns to the Industry Minister.

"Our group braved -30 Degree wind chills to bring a message to Minister of Industry Tony Clement that the abuse of Canada’s democratic institutions for political reasons is not acceptable," said Flash Rally participant Peter Garden. "We are urging other chapters of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and any concerned Canadians to monitor public appearances of the Harper government, Cabinet Ministers and other MPs, and then publicly confront them on the prorogation of parliament and the attacks on democratic institutions."

The flash rally follows the mobilization of more than 25,000 Canadians in over 60 communities, including over 450 people in Saskatoon, on January 23 against what many Canadians see as the erosion of Canada’s democratic institutions under the Harper government. The leaderless, grassroots, national group, Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP), has vowed to continue the pressure on the Harper government to return to work and be accountable to the Canadian electorate.

CAPPers are planning other flash rallies.

They're turning up at constituency offices trying to ask questions.

They 're holding constituency office vigils.

And the best part -- all that photo-op grandstanding on Haiti seems not to have done the ReformaTories any good, according to the latest poll.

Membership is still growing at Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. A few minutes ago, it stood at 219,133.

I'm having too much fun!

Omen from Oman

Sarah MacDonald in Oman kicks off today's Democracy Rallies. More of her pictures here.

Find your local rally here.

And, there are many stories in the news this morning about the planned rallies and the Facebook phenom. I liked this one -- it mentions bloggers too.

CAPP: Older, Engaged, Voters

From the Globe:

Over the last few weeks a number of pundits have been unsure how to react to sudden rise of the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament. Conservative politicians attempted to label the over 200,000-person strong group as part of "the chattering classes" and political pundits have questioned whether online protests even have meaning or weight.

What is more likely is that few politicians or pundits have actually spent time on the Facebook group and fewer still have tried to understand who its members are and what they believe. Recently Pierre Killeen, an Ottawa-based online public engagement strategist, conducted a survey of the group's membership in partnership with the Rideau Institute.

Over 340 members of the anti-prorogation Facebook group shared their views and while not a scientific survey, it does provide a window into the group's makeup and the motivations of its members. Some of the results will surprise both pundits and politicians:

I took this survey. And none of the results surprise me. There were discussions at Facebook, asking how old members are, whether they voted last time, what their main beefs with this sneaky move are/were.

CAPP members are older than expected, blowing that notion that the group was just a bunch of kids.

CAPP members vote -- 96 per cent said they voted in the last federal election. The author notes that survey participants frequently overstate their voting histories, so this number is not rock solid. But in contrast, only 60 per cent of eligible voters voted in the last election.

CAPP members are new to online activism.

Their issues are both democracy and accountability.

Lastly, when asked why they joined, just over half (53 per cent) of respondents indicated it was because “proroguing parliament is undemocratic” and another 33 per cent said it was because “Parliament needs to investigate the Afghan detainee matter."

The impact?

And what should people take away from all this? The Facebook group matters for reasons beyond those I initially outlined for The Globe. The fact that this is the first time a majority of those surveyed have joined a politically oriented online campaign suggests such groups may serve as an on-ramp to greater activism and awareness.

More importantly, however, if the survey results are even remotely representative, then the members of the Facebook group vote. Any time 200,000 citizens say an issue will affect their vote, politicians should not discount them so hastily.

Finally, given that Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament has signed up twice the number of Facebook members than all the political leaders combined (Conservatives 29,616; Liberals 28,898; NDP 27,713; Bloc 4,020; for a collective total of 90,247 fans) this is a constituency whose impact may be better monitored in the voting booth than on the street.

But the street matters too. Find your rally here. There are more than 60 to chose from.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 1 p.m.

CAPP membership is just about to hit 208,000.

ADDED: Here's a link to the author's blog, David Eaves.

The Bloggers Who Were Reluctant to Join Facebook But Did Group

So far, it's a pretty exclusive club. Just moi, Chrystal Ocean of Challenging the Commonplace, Willy Loman, and JJ the Unrepentant.

We joined (or, in JJ's case, reactivated her account at) Facebook to get in on the action at the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament group.

I'd set up the group actually at Facebook but for two things: a) it seems like work, and b) it would be kinda impolite to use FB space to diss FB.

So I'm starting the group here.

Who's in?

No Prorogue! Sunday Afternoon Version

Christopher White, founder of the Facebook group Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament just posted this clip on the wall with this comment:

We need a politician who can do this:

OK, it's sappy, but I have a thing for men in skirts.

Membership stands now at more than 198,600. Sure would be nice to get to 200,000 for the Monday Morning Peanut Pundit Gallery.

Here's the link to find about next next Saturday's rallies. By my count, 49 communities are planning events.

And while we're on the topic, Question Period's poll last week was on whether Harpie should have prorogued Parliament. Answer: 84% said NO.

This week's question:

Will the government's handling of the Haitian crisis blunt the anger over prorogation?

You know what to do.

Vociferous energy, ill spent.

A sane response to Sarah Palin's prevarications about the US health care reform initiative has been rabidly attacked by her zealot fans and supporters.

A lot of folks use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. For Sarah Palin, it's a great way to spread lies about health insurance reform. A few months back, Palin took to Facebook to declare that health reform would create "death panels," and drive private insurers out of business -- and nonpartisan factcheck sites and the independent Congressional Budget Office debunked those lies.

But that didn't stop Sarah Palin. She's back with a new Facebook note claiming that reform will raise costs on families and drive up deficits. Unfortunately for her, even the conservative "Tax Foundation" says those claims are false. So, this week, we're calling out Sarah Palin and taking to Facebook to debunk her lies on the very same pages she's using to spread them.

Watch the video and check out the comments in support of Palin - as well as those raising intelligent points.

The internet ate my homework.

This morning, while I was surfing the Weird World Web in search of inspiration for blogging, I started reading 50 Things That Are Being Killed by the Internet.

Number 4 is Sarah Palin.

Her train wreck interviews with NBC's Katie Couric were watched and re-watched millions of times on the internet, cementing the Republican vice-presidential candidate's reputation as a politician out of her depth. Palin's uncomfortable relationship with the web continues; she has threatened to sue bloggers who republish rumours about the state of her marriage.

Eeep! Didja hear that, fern hill? Does she mean DAMMIT JANET! do you think? Naw, it's more likely to be The Mudflats. Although .... oh my, I just peeked at our tags and it would appear that DJ! has produced close to 50 blogposts that mention the travellin' freak show that is Palin, her family members, her acolytes and her political sycophants.

Has the internet killed Palin's political career? It's a double-edged sword, really. Even when she has control over the medium AND the message *cough* Death Panels *cough* it only seems to magnify her liabilities. And surely even a narcissist must sometimes get tired of being at the centre of such invasive, overwhelming, non-stop attention?

Internet Shopping for Burglars

When Facebook was first hitting the general consciousness, I had an oldish computer. I was curious and tried to have a look. Facebook snottily informed me that my system was too old and that I had to upgrade. I was a tad pissed, so I started a thread at the discussion board I used to belong to titled 'Fuck Facebook'.

Well, looky here.

Users of social networking websites could face higher insurance premiums because burglars are using them to 'shop' for victims' personal details.

Experts from leading insurer Legal & General warn that parents could eventually see their premiums rise even if only their children are members of popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Many of the millions of users of these sites post details about their home, whereabouts and holiday plans on them - effectively an invitation to a burglar.

The warning comes in the wake of a report called The Digital Criminal, commissioned by Legal & General and prepared by reformed thief Michael Fraser, star of the BBC's Beat The Burglar series.

Mr Fraser said: 'There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that burglars are using social networks to identify likely targets.

'They gain confidence by learning more about them, what they are likely to own and when they are likely to be out of the house.

'I call it "internet shopping for burglars". It is incredibly easy to use social networking sites to target people, and then scope out more information on their actual home using other internet sites like Google Street View, all from the comfort of the sofa.'

But Facebookers and Twits were 'unconcerned' about security.

In an experiment, 100 friend requests were issued to strangers selected at random.

On Twitter, 92 per cent accepted the stranger as a friend, as did 13 per cent of Facebook users, potentially allowing the stranger to learn about that person's interests, location and movements.

And what's the result?

Burglaries rose in 2008-09 for the first time in six years. Police recorded 284,445 house break-ins, up 1 per cent on the previous year.

Well, duh.

You can check out any time you want

... but you can never leave. Yes, this post is about f***ing Facebook and its continued flouting of privacy regulations.

User photographs can still be found on many social networking sites even after people have deleted them, Cambridge University researchers have said. They put photos on 16 popular websites - noting the web addresses where the images were stored - and deleted them. The team said it was able to find them on seven sites - including Facebook - using the direct addresses, even after the photos appeared to have gone.

Facebook claims that photos deleted by its subscribers are removed from its servers immediately.

To perform their experiment, the researchers uploaded photos to each of the sites, then deleted them, but kept a note of direct URLs to the photos from the sites' content delivery networks. When they checked 30 days later, these links continued to work for seven of the sites even though a typical user might think the photos had been removed. [O]ne of the PhD students who carried out the study, said: "This demonstrates how social networking sites often take a lazy approach to user privacy, doing what's simpler rather than what is correct."

Last year, when Facebook attempted to change the terms of use, subscribers objected and some even sought legal recourse.

Sens to Fans, Women, and Fans of Women: PFO

All right, all right. If Unrepentant Old Hippie can do it, so can we.

First Place Pregnancy Centre, one of the recipients of the Ottawa Senators' wives and girlfriends' holiday fundraising efforts is a registered charity, but under another name. (And we wonder as does jj WTF is up with that.)

So, there.

But there are other developments. Over here, we reported on our undercover activities at SensNation, a fan site.

Today, one of the posters there added this from Planned Parenthood Ottawa:

Got some chain email going around now:
----
This morning we learned that the wives and girlfriends of the Ottawa Senators – the Sens Better Halves – have launched a holiday fundraising campaign that will benefit three organizations: First Place Pregnancy Centre, Kids Help Phone, and Harmony House. While not wanting to undermine the tremendous contribution the Senators have made to this community or the wonderful, empowering work of the Kids Help Phone and Harmony House, we are concerned that they have chosen to support First Place Pregnancy Centre. First Place Pregnancy Centre is an anti-choice organization that will not provide women facing an unintended pregnancy with referrals to abortion services. When we contacted the Ottawa Senators with our concerns, we were told that they chose this organization "knowing the values they espouse" and that they "understand what this organization does and does not do as far as services to women".

While we respect that the Sens "Better Halves" have their own set of values, we are concerned that the public may donate to their fundraising campaign without having a clear picture of where their funding will go. We are asking for your help in raising awareness. If you feel compelled to act, please forward our press release (below and attached) to your contact list and/or join our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6194818286 . We also encourage you to share your concerns directly with the Ottawa Senators by contacting Danielle Robinson, Director of Corporate & Community Services ( robinsond@ottawasenatorsfoundation.com or 613-599-0174).

To which, another poster says:

I wonder if that is going to be the extent of the team's response.

And the original poster replies:

Ya - that was definitely a big PFO from the organization.

Let us repeat what the Senators organization said:

When we contacted the Ottawa Senators with our concerns, we were told that they chose this organization "knowing the values they espouse" and that they "understand what this organization does and does not do as far as services to women".

Got that? PFO!

(First published at Birth Pangs.)