…My most serious observation about the whole experiment: while i eagerly offered you free reign over my profile and identity, i was, pretty disrespectfully, deceiving almost all of my ‘friends’ by not disclosing what was going on (some of my closest pals knew about it, but most didnt). the fucked up thing is that i didnt feel very guilty about it. something about the nature of the deceit - it being all digital, on some ‘silly’ SNS, and that the person playing me was someone i ‘trusted’ - you. and that brings me to a whole ‘nother set of questions: why did i trust you, a complete stranger, with my virtual identity - so excitedly and blindly? because i am familiar with who (i think) you are? and does that make the trick I played on my buddies any less wrong? lots of questions!
…
and finally, you should know that the week i had off from facebook was probably one of my best weeks in recent memory. i know it sounds absurd, but not being able to spend hours trolling facebook (during work, on my iphone, at home while watching a movie/tv show/talking to my roommates, before i dozed off to bed) left me with so much time to… read. think. run. write. do nothing. etc. in that week, i realized the extent to which i was addicted to this thing - my virtual world of friends and updates and identity molding… things that, during my week off, i didn’t MISS, but felt relieved to not have to deal with.
…
What I didn’t really express to ze was the serious philosophical ramifications this experiment had on me during my week sabbatical from Fbook. questions that were raised: If a facebook identity is overtaken by an internet meme-star, and no one is there to read the news feed update, did it really happen (I mean it’s in your cache obvs but like, does it mean shit)? What is the sound of a facebook member detagging a photo of himself? No but seriously, i did find myself with some tough issues to consider, like: how “real†is your identity online? how much does that matter? how much does the internet, as a whole, care?

Anti-American socialists like the watchdogs at the Anti-Advertising Agency often point out that the advertising industry is—without exaggeration—one of the biggest vandals in New York City. Illegal advertising includes everything from entire sides of buildings and scaffoldings covered in banner ads without permits, to virtually the entire “guerilla marketing” and “street team” industries. All those things are, technically speaking, vandalism. So the NYPD’s vandal squad should be breaking down ad agency doors daily, right? This handy pie chart puts the law enforcement situation into perspective.

The NYPD recorded an unprecedented 81.5 percent surge in graffiti-related complaints from 2006 to 2007. During the same period, graffiti arrests spiked nearly 28 percent.

1) Numerous sources have discredited the idea that the liquid-explosive TATP can be produced airside by mixing high-concentration peroxide plus acetone because of the laboratory conditions (precise timing and temperature) required and the noxious stench which would alert other travelers to the danger. Yet Kip Hawley admits that peroxide bombs are still the main concern (http://www.tsa.gov/press/speeches/07242007_hawley.shtm). Hawley has also admitted that airside-mixed explosives are not considered a threat. (http://www.schneier.com/interview-hawley.html)

How about a guarantee that no person shall be placed on the no-fly list solely because of a post made here.

“Dear TSA,
A recent poll (Associated Press-Ipsos, December 2007) found that the TSA was among the least favored of government agencies. Given that existing image problem, how do you feel about the DHS using the TSA as a tool for political punishment against those states that object to the REAL ID act?”

John said…
Congratulations on beating the IRS to become the most hated government agency in America. You’ve earned it!!

I had one of 2 pairs of pliers confiscated from my carryon. Apparently, one pair of pliers is harmless, but with 2 you can take over a plane? Moronic.
On the same flight was a college baseball player who was allowed to bring his baseball bat on the flight.
Brilliant logic, TSA.

I think I’m going to start telling anyone who asks me a question I don’t want to or can’t answer that I can’t answer for national security reasons. That’s the kind of built-in excuse I thrive on.

So great, we’re limited to small travel size containers of whatever. So get a dozen or so collaborators together to bring their small bottles of whatever together and aggregate them after you get through security. How is that different than one person bringing through a larger bottle?

Just wondering: given that the Israelis don’t have a policy for stealing hair gel and toothpaste from travelers, why aren’t we warned about traveling to Israel? It seems irresponsible to fail to warn travelers when they’re traveling to a place that doesn’t know anything about terrorism.

Perform a new search, or try your search for “oniochalasia” at:
* Amazon.com - Shop for books, music and more

Taking your first steps. Riding a bike. Your first kiss. The first time you have sex. All standard rites of passage for anyone growing up in much of the world. But what if you never took your first step? What if you couldn’t ride a bike? What if the disability you were born with distanced you socially? What if there never was a first time?

Asta Philpot, 25, is a confident, extroverted person, similar to many other British men in their 20s. But he was born with arthogryposis, a condition that severely limits the movement in his limbs. Last year, he chose to lose his virginity in a licensed Spanish brothel. This year he took two other disabled men on a bus trip to the same brothel, filmed by BBC’s One Life. “When I was younger I had a friend and we always used to talk about relationships. He had muscular dystrophy and passed away without having a sexual experience. Why should people struggle for that experience?”, Asta says.

In the small town of Zeist, Holland a small squad of Dutch “nurses” is going above and beyond whatever you may think the term “physical care for the disabled” entails. According to an article in the 2 April edition of the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera (www.corrieredellasera.it) the alternative healthcare group “Sar di Zeist in Holland” is the first group of its kind in the world that tries to meet the intimate needs of disabled men and women. “Sar” is a Dutch term that describes Holland’s permissive culture in general, and this type of Dutch “health care” in particular.

But lest you think that this practice is a dressed up term for prostitution, then think again: The Sar di Zeist has been around since 1982 and averages about 2500 “consensual” sexual relations each year. This according to the group’s founder Rene’ Vercoutre - handicapped and confined to a wheelchair since the age of 15. According to a translated article on www.ufch.dk, Vercoutre — father of two and divorced - never considered sexual abstinence an option despite his disabilities. So he organized the Sar di Zeist to help others — male and female — with similar needs. The organization is run entirely by volunteers. The Corriere Della Sera quoted Vercoutre as saying, “…a typical “encounter” lasts about 90 minutes and costs about 85 euro…” A portion of that amount goes towards running the Sar’s “call center” and the rest goes towards expenses of the facilitator.

For many years, society and even doctors have tried to deny the sexuality of disabled persons, or to portray them as asexual. We at ESCORTSFORTHEDISABLED refute this, utterly. Everyone on this planet has a need — and the right! — to express their sensual selves. We celebrate sexuality in all of its myriad forms, and embrace them. In doing so, we are touched on a deeper, and ultimately, more profound level.

The Founder/CEO of escortsforthedisable/d.com has severe Cerebral Palsy! This is our world too!

HOBART, September 30, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to an apparently unembarrassed official of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Australian state of Tasmania, guidelines have been established that allow care givers to organise visits for disabled clients to Hobart’s local brothels. Disability Services state manager Michael Plaister said to The Mercury newspaper, “What we’ve got is a longstanding policy based around the principles of human rights that people with disabilities have the same rights as anyone else in the community and are entitled to be assisted to exercise those rights.â€

Disability Services’ guidelines include a section developed in 2001, titled “Access to a Sex Worker.†It states, “Sex workers should be seen as one of a number of options to consider when supporting people with disabilities to make decisions about their sexual needs.†The report in The Mercury says that though the men usually pay for the services themselves, guidelines exist for social service funds to be made available should they be strapped for cash.

In Denmark, the government has arranged a more regimented system in which the social services pays for “sex workers†to service disabled men twice a month. The Danish guidelines state, “It could be of great importance that the carer speaks to the prostitute together with the person in their care, to help them express their wishes.â€

This sign reads, in Spanish: Top sign: “You are in Zapatista rebel territory. Here the people give the orders and the government obeys.” Bottom sign: “North Zone. Council of Good Government. Trafficking in weapons, planting of drugs, drug use, alcoholic beverages, and illegal sales of wood are strictly prohibited. No to the destruction of nature.” Federal Highway 307, Chiapas.