Blackout your WordPress.com blog to support STOP SOPA

UPDATE! January 16, 2012:
SOPA has been “shelved” indefinitely, but PIPA is still a problem, and the blackout WILL continue!

 

So, you want to blackout your WordPress.com blog in support of STOP SOPA day on January 18, 2012?

It’s actually pretty easy.

Go to your Dashboard. On the Sidebar find APPEARANCE > WIDGETS.

Create a new Text Widget with this inside (make sure to save it):

<div align="center" style="position:fixed;width:100%;height:100%;
top:0;right:0;background-color:#3D0707;-moz-opacity:0.9;opacity:.90;
filter:alpha(opacity=90);text-align:center;font-size:700%;
font-weight:bold;padding-top:300px;">
<span style="color:#fff;">Stop SOPA/PIPA </span>
<a style="font-size:20%;color:#fff;"
href="https://www.eff.org/#censored"
target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/</a></div>

This is what it will look like *code changed slightly to include PIPA; screenshot does not reflect this change*:

Your blog will then be inaccessible to visitors. However, the link on the blackout screen is clickable and will open in a separate window, so your visitors will be able to get information about what SOPA is, and how they can help stop it.

If any part of this tutorial is too confusing, or it just doesn’t work right for you, please feel free to comment and I’ll do what I can to help you get it working. Except on January 18, 2012.

For more help with this topic, try the WordPress forums: http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/how-best-to-go-dark-for-sopa-protest?replies=55

For help with other ways to participate:
http://www.dailydot.com/politics/how-to-protest-sopa-/

You’re a militant atheist!

All an atheist has to do is say “I’m atheist” and we’re “offending the religious”. All an atheist has to do is say “you’re forcing your beliefs on others, and I won’t stand for it anymore” and we’re labeled as “militant atheists”. The term is laughable. When we start blowing up their places of worship, or flying planes into buildings, THEN you can say we’re “militant”. Until then, we’re outspoken.

For me, you can call me a militant atheist all you like, I’ll just laugh at you. I am extremely outspoken. If someone personally (as in, not online, really in person) brings up religion around me, 9 times out of 10 they’re doing it with the assumption that everyone agrees with them. Most are shocked to find out that I do NOT agree with them, even though they know I’m atheist. If they open up that topic, they WILL get my views.

However, if I’m invited to a wedding, or if I must attend a funeral, or even if my religious family and friends want to pray before their meal, I just keep my trap shut and let them have their superstitions. If they were to insist that I also take part in their ritualistic behavior, I will tell them “no”. So far, I’ve been lucky that no one so far has insisted.

Just last week, I had a christian friend say to me, “You don’t celebrate christmas?!”, as if she was truly shocked. Now this woman has known I’m atheist since we reconnected on MySpace back in 2006. At that point, I snapped at her. I mean, really? Really? Do you not see the things I post on Facebook?!

When I post on MY Facebook page, or MY blog, or MY anything online, I do so to educate (mostly) people about the ridiculousness of religion. Yes, I also use sarcasm, mocking and humor. I have tried being nice, and using logic and reason (it doesn’t work), and I find that the way to get people to actually THINK about their beliefs is to shock them out of their comfort zone.

If people don’t want to see the things I post on MY OWN PAGE, they have a couple of options:
1) They can ignore my posts by scrolling past them
2) They can ignore my posts by choosing “Ignore this person”
3) They can un-friend me
4) They can block me
None of it offends me. Really. Ok, I was offended by one person that blocked me, but for reals, my own father shouldn’t block me completely.

It is a very rare situation that I go off on someone on THEIR page, or THEIR blog. That only happens when they’ve specifically asked for opinions, AND if I know them well enough to know that neither of us takes disagreement and/or debate personally. I have some christian friends that I debate with frequently, on my page and theirs. I will also give someone a piece of my mind if they are specifically bashing atheists. On occasion, I will mock someone if they are bashing another religion while completely ignoring that their own religion does the same thing as the one they’re bashing.

See, I’m an equal opportunity anti-religion atheist. I don’t put down christian beliefs while defending muslim beliefs. I put them ALL down, across the board. Which is kinda funny at times, when a christian will see me going after a muslim belief, and they think, “Ooo, she’s on MY side!” Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn in the spotlight, and it will be sooner rather than later, I promise you. I’m not on the “side” of any religion!

Which brings me to the erroneous belief that I think ALL religion is extremist. No. I think that all religion BREEDS extremism. I think that all religion is dangerous for society as a whole. I think that there are some truly good religious people. Not many, but there are some. I also think that I know more atheists who act like better religious people than the religious people I know. I’ve been fortunate to get to know some religious people who are truly good people. I’ve also been unfortunate to get to know some atheists who are not good people. What I will say is that religion isn’t the reason for the good christians, muslims, jews, etc., nor is it to blame for the bad atheists. It IS however, usually to blame for the bad christians, muslims, jews, etc.

Lastly, for those who say, “But your militant atheism is bad for the cause!” I must point you in the direction of a piece I read just the other day, by Greta Christina – What Are The Goals of the Atheist Movement?.

My goal is to get people to think about what they believe and why. I want people to examine every little nook and cranny of their superstition. I want them to confront the contradictions and hypocrisies. I want people to learn everything there is to know about the history of their religion, including their holidays. I want people to stop lying to themselves because it makes them feel good.

And if I must be “militant” to do that, then so be it. I’ve lost my patience for religious beliefs. I’m beyond my breaking point for religious apologists, especially when it comes to atheists who prefer to just shut up and let the religious bulldoze us at every turn. I tired of people pussy-footing around the topic of religion because of some false sense of politeness. I think we must start standing up for ourselves as atheists. Yes, let people know you’re an atheist, and live your life in such a way that proves that atheists are not horrible people with no morals or values. But stop letting the religious walk all over you and everyone that’s not like them. Be outspoken! Get called a “militant atheist” a few times in your life!  Your children will thank you for making their lives a better place to live.

Two Americas

I was watching a show on Current tv this morning, called “Two Americas“. It showed the lives of 1 very rich family, and 1 very poor family. In the poor family, the man had a job where he was making $55k a year, and I believe the woman may have had a job as well. Then he got laid off. Their dream home went into foreclosure, and they moved to Texas to find work.

The man was in construction, and spent 5 months looking for work, sending out hundreds of resumes, and getting only 3 interviews, which he never heard back from. They were desperate for money, as the pitiful job the wife had was also lost, and they were trying to get by on the $19k he was getting from unemployment. They have 2 children.

During some interviews with the man, he said he hated that he was on unemployment, and would much rather have a job where he could earn a living and care for his family. He also hated being on food stamps ($178 a month), and snarkily replied, “Thanks Texas” about the small amount.

Every bill was past due, and they needed to come up with hundreds just to keep from having their electric, water, and phone from being shut off. He sought out help from his mother, who was living on SS. She was able to contribute some, but not enough. He went to a charity, and was lucky to get $75, which was a once a YEAR allowance from the charity.

At the end of the show, they were watching one of the GOP debates. When Newt said that he disagreed with giving people unemployment, the poor man said, “I totally agree! Our government is too big. We shouldn’t have to rely on our government. If they didn’t help, someone else would have to step in to help their neighbors!”  When Romney said that the rich shouldn’t be taxed at a higher rate, the poor wife replied, “They already pay their fair share. We all pay the same rate, right?”

*facepalm!*  This man had scoured his area to find help, and none was out there! Does he REALLY think that without unemployment and welfare, that charities would help people MORE than what they’re able to do now?! Did he really think his neighbors would help him, since they were all having their utilities shut off for non-payment as well?! What kind of people fight/vote against their own best interest, and the best interest of their neighbors?!  What kind of people take unemployment and welfare, then say we don’t need them and shouldn’t have them?!  What kind of person doesn’t know that the rich pay far less of a percentage of their income than the middle class?!

I can only assume that these people are completely ignorant. Or brainwashed. Or both. I feel sad for them. But if they vote in the next election for someone who would strip away everything they need just to survive, then they deserve what they get.

For more info and a discussion about the show: http://current.com/shows/vanguard/big-featured-discussion/93567183_what-did-you-think-of-two-americas.htm

Free Markets and Captive Market Labor

The author of this piece is Nathan Nicholls. The original post can be read on Facebook if you have an account there.

     A market consists of supply, demand, providers and consumers. The business exchange rate in a free market is initially set by the provider and then either accepted or declined by the consumer who has the freedom to go elsewhere to meet their consumption need. The reason that the provider must set the initial rate is that they know the energy they apply and the compensation they must receive to stay in business. If the consumer were to actually set compensation for a given provision, the most likely outcome would be that the provision would cease because the consumer would naturally want to set the rate lower than the provider could provide it.

In a free market, the consumer does not set, but rather only affects the exchange rate through the freedom to shop for the most favorable rate within their market based on available supplies and the magnitude and immediacy of their demand. Through this consumer decision making, the most competitive provider is likely to be the most successful, unless they provide at a loss, in which case, the provider most likely eventually goes bankrupt which can cost the whole system money. Although honest providers would not likely do this, providing at a loss can run other providers that cannot sustain the equivalent loss out of the provision market. The nature of big business is that it has little or no element of compassion for the competition.

External elements can affect the market such as tax laws, legal privileges and wage dictatorships. We live in a market where many elements of business can be separated through legal privileges creating different forms of business. A corporation is a business that separates those who benefit from the provision of business, (Investors) from the risks of loss associated with business activity.  A person providing business services on their own takes full business risk and thus is at a decided disadvantage to the corporate investor even though they are actually doing the work that generates their own gain and the investor is not.

The privilege given to corporate investors enables the business they profit from to risk greater loss than the individual conducting business since the investors never take the risks. If the business fails, the most the investor loses is his or her investment. The business can file bankruptcy and the government, (tax payers) and market will pick up the costs.  Contrarily if a person conducting business on their own fails, they can loose everything they own and more. There are other advantages corporations (and their investors) enjoy that individuals doing business do not; corporations set the compensation rate of their employees based on the ability to give investors (who take no business risk) a gain. This is a wage dictatorship.

Through mechanizing, outsourcing, importing and keeping compensation in a market to a minimum, they can force the compensatory value of the market for human energy down below the market’s capacity to sustainl. The individual conducting business ultimately cannot compete. So as you should see, we do not live in a free market because advantage is given to the corporate form of business. We do not live in a free market because in a free market, the providers set the rate of exchange. In corporate employment, the laborers are the providers yet they do not set their rate of exchange, the corporation is the consumer and it sets the rate of exchange based on the ability to generate profit for investors.

That our labor system is not a free market system is obvious. That systemic reward for providers is arbitrarily based in favor of the sustained winnings of the mere gambler is also. So long as the class war enabled through this non-free market system is waged by investors through corporations against laborers, there will be no free market or wide spread economic prosperity. It is not that the politicians don’t understand this, they do. The allegiance to the money that is pumped through this abomination perpetuates a slave market for human labor. Capitalism is not the problem, corporate capitalism and its influence on government is the entire problem.

Recyclesculptor.

Corporatism puts us all in the poorhouse

I’ve been a supporter of the Occupation Wall Street movement since its inception a few short weeks ago.

I’ve been to my local Occupy movement, stood on the sidewalk holding my sign, and have tried to educate people about what the movement is about.

While standing out on the sidewalk, more than a few people drove by yelling, “Get a job!” while being completely ignorant of the fact that almost everyone there does have a job!

I’ve posted on more than enough forums, where the ignorance from the naysayers is almost too much to bear. Aside from the “Get a job!” gang, there are also those who demand that we’re hypocrites because we have items that were bought from corporations.

Here’s where their logic fails: where else are you supposed to buy your stuff from, if not the corporations?

Let me try to explain something to the ignorant masses, to help them understand what corporatism is all about.

You want to support local business, so you get a job working for a local hardware store. Things are going great, you’re making a decent wage – enough to support your family while working 40 hours a week. You have time to spend with your family, even taking the occasional vacation.

Then a giant corporation moves in a few miles down the road. They sell the same products you sell, but they sell it for 50% cheaper, because they have the financial backing to do so, and they get their products from China.

In order for your boss to keep you on as an employee, he must cut your pay or your hours, because he can’t reduce the cost of his products. You agree to a pay cut. Now you’re working for less money, so you go out and find a part-time job to make up for the loss. You go to work for a locally owned convenience store. You’re working 60 hours a week. You’re stressed out because you don’t have enough down time to spend with your family. And forget vacations, you can’t afford that any more.

Then a large corporate chain convenience store opens across the street. It puts your local store out of business. So you look for more work. You decide on the neighborhood pizza joint. You deliver pizza for them.

Eventually, the giant corporation puts the local hardware store out of business. Now you have only your wages from the pizza shop to rely on.  You have to have more income to support your family, but all the local places are being put out of business. Where do you go to work?

As sick as it makes you, you decide to go work for the giant corporation that put your hardware store out of business. They pay half of what your wage was at the hardware store (because they charge half as much). Now you’re working 60 hours a week and making half the money you used to make.

Having such a low income, you can’t afford to patronize the local stores that are left in your area, so you start shopping at the giant corporation.

Then, to make matters worse, a national corporate chain pizza place opens right next to the giant corporation that you work for. And they deliver, too!  The local pizza joint can’t compete with their prices, so they get rid of pizza delivery. They have no other job for you, so you are now back to only one job. And remember, that job pays half what you were making before.

You go out and look for work, but there’s nothing out there. Everyone else is in the same boat as you are, working 2 jobs just to make ends meet. Everyone is working for all these giant corporations, making half what they used to be able to make. You end up needing government assistance just to put food on the table.

Your relationships at home are taking a direct hit, as well. Finances are tight, tempers are flaring, and there is no relief in sight.

Then you read in the paper that all the giant companies in your area are making record profits. But how can that be? They tell you at work that they can’t afford to give you a yearly raise. When they lose an employee, they don’t hire another one to take their place, they just make you do both your job and theirs, claiming they can’t afford to hire anyone else. But they’re making record profits!

Where is all that money going? I’ll tell you where it’s going … to the CEOs of these giant corporations. Are they putting it back into the system? Nope! It’s being hoarded away, put in some bank, where it’s earning interest.

While the rest of us are barely hanging on financially.

These companies have no competition. This is NOT a free market. This is a monopoly by a few giant corporations. They can do whatever they want, price-wise, because there is nobody capable of selling products at a price that people can afford. The quality of the merchandise has declined to the point that whatever you buy now, will be broken in a year, and will need to be replaced. And where do you think you’ll be able to buy that replacement product?

CORPORATISM HAS KILLED OFF CAPITALISM!

If this is all ok with you, then by all means, keep driving by the Occupy protests while shouting your ignorance out the window. Keep ignoring what is happening. And when it finally hits YOUR home, you remember how you supported corporatism in the first place.

If this is NOT ok with you, then you are part of the 99%. Use part of your time off work to join us at your local protest.

Your house cleaning can wait.

Your future can’t.

 

Facebook changes – the TICKER problem

At around 1am EST on September 21, 2011 Facebook made a drastic change to your newsfeed. One of the most noticeable changes is a “ticker” at the top right side of your screen. This “ticker” shows you what your friends are doing in real time. As if anyone really needed to see all that. :-\

One of the problems with the “ticker” is that it shows every single comment you make on your friends’ posts. That means that friends of yours can see comments you make on other friends’ posts, even if they’re not friends with each other. For those of us who value our privacy, this is a HUGE problem!

I spent about an hour tonight, experimenting with some friends to find some solutions to this “ticker” problem we now have. I’ll try to explain each one in as much detail as possible.

Scenario 1

You are friends with Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill are NOT friends with each other. They are NON-mutual friends. You want to post a comment on Jack’s status, but if you do, Jill might see your comment in her “ticker”. Not cool, especially if you happen to be saying something about Jill that you’d rather Jill not see.

Before you comment on Jack’s post (status, link, photo, etc.), check to see what the privacy settings are for that post. To do this, hover your mouse over the symbol to the right of the time-stamp on the post. You will see one of four options: the post will be shared with either the Public, Friends of Friends, Friends only, or a Custom list of friends. If the post is set to anything BUT Public, then you are safe; Jill will not see your comment on her “ticker”. If the original post is set to Public, then you can either choose not to comment, or you can ask Jack to change the privacy of that post to anything but Public.

Scenario 2

You are friends with both Jack and Jill, and they are also friends with each other. They are mutual friends. If you make a comment on Jack’s post, chances are Jill will see that comment in her “ticker”. Of course, Jill would be able to see the post and all comments to that post if she went to Jack’s wall, so this isn’t really a privacy concern, it’s only a “ticker” problem. Maybe you don’t want Jill to be alerted to your presence online at that exact moment, and you commenting on a mutual friend’s post would alert her that you’re online and commenting. Again, if she happened to be looking at that particular post, or was hanging out on Jack’s wall, she’d see you comment anyway. The point is, you don’t want everyone seeing every little comment you make ALL. THE. TIME.

This is where you change YOUR privacy settings, to keep your activity a little more private and off the “ticker”. Go to your profile. Find a post that says something to the effect of “You commented on Jack’s status.”  Hover your mouse over the post, then click the hazy blue “X” that shows up to the right of that post. Click on the option that says “Hide all recent comment activity from my profile.”  Verify your choice by clicking on “Hide All”. Now do the same to any other type of activity you don’t want seen by everyone on the “ticker”, like who you’ve recently friended.  Voilà – no more comment showing up in everyone’s “ticker”.

Scenario 3

You want to post a status, but you only want your family to be able to see that post. First, you must create a “friend list”, or you can use the one that Facebook provided with the changes that happened sometime last week. On the left side of your Home Page, hover your mouse over the word “Lists”, then click on the word “More”. You’ll be taken to a new page, where you will find the many lists that Facebook has provided, or you can create your own list. Click on the Family List, and you can add friends to that list.

Once you have all of your family added to the list, you can now post a status that will only be seen by people on that list.  Type out your status, but before you click “Post”, click the button to the left of the “Post” button, and you will be able to choose a list of people that you want to see your status.  Click on “Family”, then post your status. You can change this later if you decide it’s ok for everyone to see your status. But remember, if you make it PUBLIC, then when someone comments on that status, their friends will be able to see it in their feed, even if they are not a friend of yours!

Scenario 4

This one is very simple. If you post to Facebook from an outside source … Twitter, for example … it will NOT show up in the “ticker”, nor will comments made to that Twitter post.

So, there ya have it. The fruits of my labor (and the labor of my wonderful friends Ali, Mary and D.a. who were a HUGE help to me in figuring this all out).

Be careful with what you post out there in Facebook-land! And NEVER take your privacy settings for granted. You never know when Facebook will make a major change, and obliterate the settings you’ve come to expect to keep your stuff PRIVATE.

Being Bi

I knew from a fairly young age that I was different than other girls.

Growing up, I never heard the word “gay” unless it meant “happy”, and even then, it was pretty rare. I was never exposed to same-sex couples. I had no idea this part of life even existed. I think the first time I ever heard the word was in the mid 80′s, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, and even then I had to piece together what it meant. I thought that only men could be gay, based on what I was seeing and hearing. It wasn’t until the last couple of years of high school that I heard the word “lesbian”, and I had to ask what that meant.

I don’t think that my parents purposefully kept this info from me; I think that they just didn’t have much exposure to it, themselves, so how could they open up this topic of conversation? My parents were great about talking to me about sex and protecting myself from unwanted pregnancy and disease! I was given a series of books by Peter Mayle, which started with “Where Did I Come From?” and went to puberty with “What’s Happening To Me?” (both of which I’ve passed down to my own children).

Before the age of 7, I had already had a sexual experience with a female friend of mine. I won’t go into detail, but there was a closet involved. Which, for me,  makes hearing the phrase “coming out of the closet” a little funny, and a lot poignant. I was also a somewhat avid browser of my father’s Playboy magazines, that he thought were hidden so well under his bed. The naked female body elicited some physical reactions from my body that I did not understand, and was too embarrassed to ask about.

Between the ages of 7 and 10, I had one experience with a boy and one with a girl. Both of which filled me with a sense of shame, because I was old enough by then to know I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing. I felt no shame by having sexual encounters with girls, just that I had been taught that sex was something for adults. I wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, having sex, but I was touching (and being touched) on body parts that were meant for adults only.

Between the ages of 10 and 21, my attraction to both girls and boys grew pretty strong. If it weren’t for my best friend, I would have never known there was a term for that. I had confided in my best friend that I was attracted to some girls, and she explained to me what that meant. It was all so foreign to me. I never said a word to anybody else, and she kept my secret like a best friend is supposed to do. I didn’t have another sexual encounter with a female until my 21st birthday.

I eventually grew more confident in myself and with my sexuality. I finally tried out the “coming out” part to my first husband, and needless to say, he was ecstatic, though hesitant. His head filled with plans for a Ménage à Trois, then reality snuck in and he started to worry about the possibility of me leaving him for another woman. We talked a lot about what my sexuality meant for us as a couple. Of course I was open to having fun with it, in fact I was the one suggesting it in the first place! And no, I never once thought about leaving him for a woman.

After he and I divorced (it had nothing to do with my sexuality), I ended up in a long term relationship with a guy who was told up front about my sexuality, and who, of course, had the same thoughts of fun that most guys would be thinking. During the early years of our relationship, we were careful not to clue in the children (his 2, our 1) to either my sexuality or our lifestyle. We both had a number of girlfriends – some separately, some jointly. Some of our friends knew our situation, but our family was kept completely in the dark.

I think, eventually, my father had an inkling that I was bi, but never said anything directly to me. He knew that I was going to a nearby strip club on occasion (because I’d ask him for driving directions), but never asked why I was going. I didn’t officially “come out” to him and my step-mother until my mid 30′s. And even then, my step-mother was only mildly surprised, and my father seemed completely unsurprised … almost apathetic … as if I’d just told him it was my birthday (which it was).

My mother … that’s a whole other can of worms. Some day I’ll get into the story of coming out to my mother. It’s not pretty. In fact, it’s downright ugly and difficult for me to recount. Suffice it to say, she was not happy, and it was the beginning of the end of our relationship.

Eventually, the children came to realize that I was bi. I just couldn’t hide it from them any more. I tried, though, because I didn’t want them to be embarrassed to have a (step) mother who was different than their friends’ mothers. I didn’t want them to be teased or bullied. Turns out, my worries were completely unfounded. My step-daughters weren’t fooled at all; they claimed to know long before I officially told them. My Son was still fairly young at the time (about 7 or 8), so my bisexuality was a non-issue for him. In the years since, he’s not only not been embarrassed by me, he’s embraced it as something that makes his mom stand out from others! He makes me proud to be his mother.

Shortly after I came out to my mother, my relationship with my Son’s father ended. I married a guy who was a bit hesitant about my sexuality, because he’d been taught that it was something that was wrong, but accepted me for who I am nonetheless. He’s definitely become more comfortable with it over the years, so comfortable that it’s natural to him now. So natural for everyone that knows me, that it’s not uncommon in conversation. It’s just a part of our everyday lives now.

And there are also perks to being married to, or the child of a bisexual woman. How many husbands get to sit and people-watch with their wives, while comparing each others attraction to women walking by? How many boys get a lesson from their mother about how to discreetly check out a female? 

My sexuality is something I would never dream of wanting to be different. I’m proud of who I am, and I’m fortunate that the majority of people in my life accept me for who I am, and also would never dream of me being any different. I’m proud of having children who accept others for who they are inside, and don’t care what their sexuality is. I’m fortunate to have people in my life who will defend not only me, but every member of the LGBT community, against discrimination and bullying by bigots.

For me, being Bi has been a mostly positive thing. It’s part of who I am.

Being Bi means being Me.

Walmart Employee Fired Because of His Beliefs – UPDATE!

July 16, 2011 was Roger Barr’s 60th birthday. It was also the day he found out that his employer — Walmart — has a policy that dictates what an employee can’t do on their free time, away from work.

Barr worked part-time as a “People Greeter” for the Walmart in Galax, Virginia. This highly religious community is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from the North Carolina border. It is also an area that is experiencing high unemployment.

He had only been working there for about a year. He scored very high at his yearly performance review. “The co-manager told me that in one category that I was the first associate that he had ever rated that high,” Roger said in an email.

It was obvious to fellow employees and customers that he was good at, and loved his job. After 40 years of working in manufacturing jobs, he said he’d finally found a job he enjoyed.

That Saturday, Barr clocked in for work at 6PM. Twenty minutes later, he was summoned by management to an office at the front of the store, where a Shift Manager and Asset Protection Coordinator were waiting. “I asked what was going on and the APC told me there had been a complaint lodged against me at Corporate and I was suspended immediately.”

Store management said they didn’t know what the complaint was about, but that he must leave the store immediately. He wasn’t even allowed to do some shopping before he left the store, nor was he allowed to clock out.

The following Monday, July 18, he received a phone call asking him to come in for a meeting with management. He was escorted to an office in the back of the store, where he met with the Store Manager and APC. They explained that a customer had written a letter to the President of Walmart about Barr’s Facebook posts. They read the letter to him.

“In the letter she stated that she was afraid to shop at our store because of me and my posts on old people, handicapped people and people with several children.” Barr keeps his Facebook profile open to the public, because he does not believe in censorship. He was not told who made the complaint, nor how the complainant came to view his profile, but he suspects that it was a friend of a friend who had commented on his postings. At the time, Barr had a staggering 1700 people on his friend list!

The Facebook post in question was made by Barr on June 6, 2011. It was a fairly simple status update:

“Better health care means that disabled and chronically ill people live longer.” … Reader’s Digest … But is that a good thing?

The conversation erupted into a debate of sorts, with several people agreeing with Barr, and several people disagreeing with him and other commenters.

Roger had a special needs sister, and his unique views are because of his experiences with her, and how she was treated.  “[She was] the last of 10 children. She was premature and nearly died as a baby. She never matured mentally or physically past the age of 10. At that time we did not use the term ‘special needs child’ but that dreaded word ‘retarded’. She was a very happy child though and loved other children. When she started school she was immediately singled out and picked on by the other kids. The older kids were even worse. Although she did learn to read and write and do some arithmetic she never got past the 7th grade. The school system allowed her to stay in school until she turned 18 and she basically helped out as a non-paid aide. After she turned 18 they would no longer let her go to school. She died at the age of 22 in 1975 because her heart could longer support her body.” Barr explains. He feels that there is a difference between “living” and “simply existing”, and that those who are “simply existing” are “simply taking up space” if they’re not able to contribute anything to themselves or society.

How any of this should make someone afraid to shop at Walmart will remain a mystery. Barr made no threats against anyone, nor did he threaten any group of people. He candidly expressed his opinion. Roger, an outspoken atheist, also made a remark about there being no such thing as a soul, which didn’t sit well with a few of those who commented on this post.

One of the people who commented — a co-worker and friend of a friend — said she couldn’t wait for the day that something bad happened to Roger, and that she hoped she would be able to witness his “punishment”.

Another person threatened, “I hope you are lucky enough to be treated as you treat others, with no compassion or concern. I might just come to Walmart and see you sometime!”

Remember, these comments are also open and viewable to the general public, since Roger’s profile is open to the public.

At the meeting on July 18, Barr was instructed to write a statement to Corporate, explaining why he wrote the post, and that he was not a danger to anyone. The manager told Barr that his statement should satisfy Corporate, and that as far as he was concerned, the issue was settled. Barr was allowed to clock in and work his scheduled shift. His manager informed him later that evening that Corporate wasn’t happy about the way things were handled, but he also said that Roger should go back to work, and he’d let him know if anything else came up.

Barr finished his shift that Monday, worked his regular shift on Wednesday, and went to work again on Thursday. However, at around 1:30PM on Thursday, Barr was again summoned by management, and told he was again suspended, and would have to leave the store.  This time, he was allowed to clock out and purchase a few items before going back home.

Upon arriving home, there was a message on his phone from the Store Manager. He called, and the Store Manager said that Barr was again banned from the store, but not to worry too much about the situation, that he was sure it would be straightened out. The Store Manager said he’d be back in touch with Barr after some paperwork had been completed.

On July 27, he was again summoned for a meeting, this time with two women from Walmart’s corporate office. “They told me that in posting what I had posted on Facebook and causing the complaint to be lodged against me that I had violated the social media guidelines policy in that it had resulted in an adverse effect on the company,” Barr said.

Barr explained to them that he had not known there was a policy regarding social media. They told him that it was on the WIRE (Walmart’s computer system for employees). Many Walmart employees are unaware that there is a policy, as it’s not something that was publicized since its inception about a year ago. When he told them that he didn’t even know how to access the WIRE, they lectured that he could have asked someone for help.

The only way to access the WIRE is on the computers at Walmart, and only while you are on the clock. It’s against company policy to do any job related functions during your breaks, so the time available to access the WIRE is very limited. Another major obstacle for employees is that company policies are not allowed to leave the building; an employee can not print out the 40 page social media and ethics policies (or the entire list of policies, which is over 300 pages!) to bring home and read at their leisure. This is especially disadvantageous for employees like People Greeters and Cashiers, who are stuck at their post for their entire shift. For them it’s only possible to access the WIRE immediately after clocking in, or before clocking out. Unfortunately, Walmart has also been cracking down on over-time, so an employee risks getting coached (an official reprimand, which can lead to termination) if they go over their scheduled shift time.

The women from Corporate had copies of his posts, and asked him to once again write a statement on a prepared form, and to sign it. He was once again sent home, and told that he should hear from them in a day or two, after they were done investigating the situation.

At no point to date has he received a copy of anything he’d read or signed. The social media policy was read to him, but he did not read it himself, nor was he asked to sign anything saying that he saw and/or agreed to any policy.

On August 1, Barr was again summoned for a meeting. It would be his last. He was fired that day. The official reason: Violation of Social Media Policy and Harassment Policy.

The good news is he’s not banned from the store any more! However, he doubts he will ever shop at Walmart again.

Roger has an army of friends who have supported him through this, and will continue to support him by boycotting Walmart. There is quite the social networking movement happening on his Facebook page, and on the pages of his friends.

In the words of Roger Barr – “Time was that an employee was judged by his on-the-clock job performance! Now it seems companies want to control them full time and judge them by their off-the-clock performance also. Shouldn’t they also pay them that time too? A company, no matter how big, should not be able to dictate what you say and do off the clock unless you have signed a morals contract.”

And that, folks, is the burning question. Should a company be allowed to control what an employee does on his or her free time?

Another question to ponder: how exactly did this have an “adverse effect on the company”? The complainant didn’t have a beef with Walmart, they had a problem with the personal beliefs of an employee. Aren’t the personal beliefs of an employee covered under the Federal EEOC rules?

One would think that the publicity generated from this incident will have a much greater adverse effect on the company!

Please voice your opinion in the comments. How do you think Walmart should have handled this? Do you think Roger should have done anything differently? What would you do, if you were in his shoes?

______________________________________________________

On Thursday, August 11, 2011, Barr was interviewed by his local television station.

The video of that interview can be seen by clicking here.

The follow up video, a conversation with a lawyer, can be seen by clicking here.

A write up of the story, with a section for comments.

The Billboard Song

This is a song I learned 30 years ago, at Girl Scout camp. I remember it being one of the silliest, and most fun songs of my youth. And that says a lot, considering I grew up in a time when Ray Stevens was at the top of his game, with songs like “The Streak” and “I’m My Own Grandpa”.

I had the lyrics saved on a piece of paper that was handed out to all of us Girl Scouts. I don’t know why I saved it, but it’s one of those things that got put in a special box full of memories. These are the lyrics as I knew them:

 

As I was walking down the street one dark and dreary day,
I came upon a billboard, and much to my dismay,
The sign was torn and tattered from a storm the night before.
The wind and rain had done its job and this is what I saw:

Smooooooke, Coca-Cola Cigarettes
Chew Wrigley’s Spearmint Beer
Ken-L-Ration Dog Food Makes Your Wife’s Complexion Clear
Simonize Your Baby With A Hershey’s Candy Bar
And Texacola Beauty Cream Is Used By All The Stars

Soooooo Take Your Next Vacation In A Brand New Fridgidaire
Learn To Play Piano In Your Winter Underwear
Doctors Say That Babies Should Smoke Until They’re Three
And People Over Sixty-five Should Bathe In Lipton Tea…

With Flow Thru Tea Bags!

 

Tonight, this song popped into my head, and I decided to Google it. I was surprised to find that there are so many different versions of the song! The original was done by Homer and Jethro.

 

 

Losing friends

It seems to be a recurring theme in my life.

I get close to someone, and then one day, when I least expect it, they’re gone.

When I was a child, I lost friends because my parents were constantly moving. They didn’t just move across town, they’d move us across the state, to another school district, and too far away from our previous home to constantly run us kids back and forth for “play dates” (which wasn’t even a term back then).

When they divorced, it got worse, because my father moved to PA, while my mother, sister and I stayed in DE. My dad moved to a rural area, with no neighbors, and since I didn’t attend school there, I had no friends there. I was relegated to hanging out with my step-brother. Luckily, my dad and step-mother coordinated their weekends so that all of us kids were with them at the same time. If not, I would have been one thoroughly bored kid!

My mother moved us around a couple of times, then we finally settled into one place for a couple of years.  I finally made some close friends. I had a best friend, for the first time in my life. I also had my first boyfriend – my first real love. Then ~whoosh!~ the rug got pulled out from under me again, when my mother decided to move to NC, so she could be closer to the PTL Club (that’s a whole other fish to fry, another time). I had very little time to process things, and lost my best friend and my boyfriend in the blink of an eye. Sure, I tried to keep in contact with them, but if you think long-distance relationships are hard on adults, imagine how hard it was for teenagers! With no internet, no unlimited long distance phone calls … yeah, not happening.

I lasted a couple of months in NC. First, I was having problems dealing with my mother and sister (explosive would be an understatement). Second, I was having problems handling the bigotry of the kids I was in school with, toward a “Yankee” … which was ironic, since I was from DE, which is south of the Mason Dixon line, thereby making it a southern state.  But anyway, I moved to PA to live with my father.

High school was not a fun time of life for me. I hated the majority of the kids I went to school with, but learned how to deal with it. I made a couple of really close friends there.

One of the friends I made was a year behind me. She and I got really close, really quickly. It was her first year there as a transfer student from another state, and it was my last year of a school that I barely tolerated. We just hit it off as friends, because we shared many of the same feelings and interests. Just before the end of the school year, we had our prom. On the way home from prom, her car was struck by a drunk driver. I lost her that night. I still haven’t recovered, emotionally, from that, and it’s been over 20 years!

I still had two of my very best friends, though.  My female best friend was the Maid of Honor for my first wedding. For almost 10 years, she and I stayed close, geographically and emotionally. Then, one day, she moved away. We tried to stay close, but the distance made things really hard. Again, no internet, no unlimited long distance calls. I made it a point to visit her once, when I vacationed in the area she was living. But I could tell things had changed between us. Even though we’ve reconnected on Facebook, it’s not the friendship we used to have. And to be honest, I’m not sure what happened. I don’t think either of us did anything to actively dismantle the friendship, I think it just fizzled. Which makes me wonder, how close were we, really?

My male best friend was as close as a brother to me. In fact, that’s how we referred to each other when meeting new people. I loved him as much as you can love a friend. I was questioned once, by my first husband, about the nature of our friendship (“is there something more going on?”), we were so close.  [Just to set the record straight: NO! that would have been almost incestual for me!]  He was instrumental in helping me through a rocky first marriage. He was there when I met my Son’s father. Without me, he would have never met his wife.  We were there for each other when we each had a child, 7 months apart, and for the first 3 years of their lives. He was the step-father to the children that I was the step-mother to (long story!). We had our fights … what friendship doesn’t endure lows as well as highs. Our last moment as friends came in November of 2000. We’d been fighting. He came to my house for something related to one of the kids. We talked. Amends were made; friendship repaired. The next morning, he was dead.  My heart breaks every time I think about it. I can’t hear certain songs without sobbing. The pain of losing him is unbearable at times.

But I moved on, the best I could. I made new friends, although hesitantly. I’ve had people I call friends, but are actually closer to acquaintances. I had one friend that I could call a “best friend”, but my relationship with her fizzled after a couple of years.

I re-married, and yes, I do consider my Husband to be my best friend. He is my everything.  But sometimes, you need someone you can be friends with besides your spouse.  Anyway, who are you supposed to talk to if you need to talk about your spouse?

So I made some friends online. I resumed some old friendships online – some from high school, and one friend I’d originally met online who had disappeared for a couple of years.  I was fairly content not getting close to people again. I was tired of giving my heart to someone, only to lose them in the end. I kept my emotional distance, for the most part.

Then I met someone who changed that for me. We became close.  My heart softened. I was ready to let someone in again.  One day, I realized that someone had penetrated the wall I’d built.

And then they were gone. No explanation. Just gone.