Of course we use the internet more than moms whose kids are past school age. It's because we can't have coffee klatches anymore. It's lonely around the place sometimes. I don't know about the other moms of small kids, but this is a working-class neighborhood where I am the only mom who doesn't work full-time, and my friends live sixty to three thousand miles away.
Maples: At this point, in time, we are really optimistic and hopeful. The most critical time was between three and seven days. And currently, right now, they're doing quite well."
Go, lady bank robbers! As slimy as banks are and as many times as they've managed to rip people off, I cannot help but feel the schadenfreude when one is robbed. Ladies doing the business is that much sweeter.
@MeganGlass: I understand the joke, but as someone who is close with a bank teller that has been robbed on two separate occasions, I can only say that I do not wish anyone to be held up at gun point and made to fear for their life, regardless of who is holding the gun.
I wonder how many of the 90,000 registered sex offenders were actual gross pervs and not just a 19 yr old guy/gal who's 17 year old gf/bf had parents who hated them?
@kityglitr: Or public school teachers who told a suicidal gay student that it's ok to be gay in a state that makes it a crime for a public school employee to say anything positive about homosexuality.
@Kilotwat: While I can't stop laughing, it isn't funny and has that awesome nugget of truth.
More importantly, is anyone LOOKING at the photos of these people? I am NOT a hottie or a major looker, but I would probably think twice before friending some of these folks. They look seriously wonky. Then again, I doubt these are their facebook profile photos.
Facebook can be very private, and most people have some privacy settings, so what harm are sex-offenders actually doing participating in networking sites? Also, playing the devil's advocate here, is everything a sex-offender does sexually motivated? Maybe they want to stay in contact with friends....?
@JerkoftheMonth: Everything a sex offender does is motivated by the need to have offensive sex. It's how modern US jurisprudence proceeds. In one recent case, a sex offender was turned away from a homeless shelter and froze to death. It was a real close one for the shelter!
@JerkoftheMonth: I really think that Facebook can be set up and monitored in a way that makes it safer too. I think the problem with any sort of online identity/profile is that it makes it easier to be duplicitous than in person, then again, there were strangers with candy before the internets.
Is sex-offending always child-related? Not that I think sex-offending is okay in any way, but it makes me wonder at what point do they stop being treated as humans?
@JerkoftheMonth: This is why I hate that Facebook has expanded to the public. FIrst, it was just a social networking site for Harvard students, and expanded to include the Ivies and some other top-tier institutions. Not to sound cocky, but I'd be perfectly content if it returned to that exclusivity (actually, it could expand to all colleges and that'd be fine too), because I'd be able to go on Facebook and not worry about getting creepy messages like the ones that have become so common on Myspace. I hate Zuckerberg (sp?) for selling out FB to the public. At least if it was limited to college networks, we'd see a drastic drop in the number of sex offenders who'd have access to the site...
@onestrawplz: Disclaimer: I'm not trying to offend anyone here who has a FB and isn't in a school network, but I liked it a lot more when it was just college students and no child molesters. It had a nice distinction from Myspace; now, not so much.
@onestrawplz: Ah, lovely. I went to Bowdoin, a top-tier liberal arts college by any standard, and we had some sex offenders there. How, exactly, would you prevent the riff-raff from infiltrating your exclusive community?
Sex offenders are EVERYWHERE. Tons of people in college get raped and/or sexually assaulted by other college students, even at "exclusive" places; I assumed most Jezzies would know this.
@goldengirl11 (is way too earnest): omg. i got in an online argument on a sports website of all places about that. the other guy was like, well he deserved it. i was like, really? he deserved death? really??? it was so maddening.
@baitingthebalcony: Newsflash: I realize this. Not need to act snarky. However, if it was more exclusive, at least two things would happen:
A. There would be LESS criminals on the site given tighter restrictions, and not every random 40 year old rapist could get a Facebook profile with which to stalk people/lure victims.
B. There would be no children under the age of 18 to be molested, as you'd need a college email to create a profile.
Either way, it would be a serious deterrent. Can't eliminate all sex offenders, but at least the old system had less problems.
@swedishfishing: Did you think it was coincidental that all of a sudden Facebook is being thrust into the same ranks as Myspace? It's become a cesspool because ANYONE can join now. Not saying you'll eliminate sex offenders from the site entirely (I never said that at all), but at least have some kind of restrictions on the thing so your average joe schmo lurking for children can't create a page, and likewise, children under 18 can't create pages. I never remember Facebook being a problem until recently, when you could suddenly join without any network.
@swedishfishing: Also, please reread: " At least if it was limited to college networks, we'd see a drastic drop in the number of sex offenders who'd have access to the site"
Did I say that bringing the old old Facebook back would lead to harmony and utopia? No, but I'm skeptical that the level of vulnerability you have on it is the same whether everyone is allowed on or not. You can restrict your profile to a degree, but there are ways of bypassing this somehow (we are commonly warned to censor what we post, pictures and whatnot, due to the risk that future employers can bypass the system to view your private photos and whatever).
@onestrawplz: "Did you think it was coincidental that all of a sudden Facebook is being thrust into the same ranks as Myspace? It's become a cesspool because ANYONE can join now."
Maybe I am reading this wrong (it's 2:45 am in Sydney), but it sounds awfully elitist to me. Cesspool? The unwashed masses? I dunno.
@taffykins: Perhaps it sounds elitist, but I don't remember any articles about the overwhelming number of child molestors on FB when it was limited to college students. The "cesspool" refers to the way Myspace has gone, as most people I know ditched their Myspace after it became inundated with 14 year olds and the people that prey on them. I don't mean every average person has created it into a cesspool (just the creeps), because I have plenty of family/friends out of college with Facebooks and it's fine. I think opening it up to everyone, however, has obviously made it easier for the creepy people to start lurking.
As I already said, I'd like to see some sort of social networking site for college students only, like Facebook used to be. College students CAN be sex offenders as I've acknowledged, but at least it's a much more limited group and you can be more wary of who exactly is viewing your profile.
Sorry if it came off as elitist as I didn't mean it to, I was simply reflecting on the problem.
@Jessica Hussein Lovejoy is now on Facebook! Friends, plz?: AHHHH this man wore that WTF hat everyday. Saw him on the LA sub. He was a little creepy, albeit I believe he may have been mentally slow. He would sometimes yell under his breath at me, so unfortunately he still scared me.
02/03/09
02/03/09
This is why it is good to be an elitist asshole sometimes.
02/03/09
02/03/09
Maples: At this point, in time, we are really optimistic and hopeful. The most critical time was between three and seven days. And currently, right now, they're doing quite well."
I hope that optimism and hope pays off.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
/mindexplodes
02/03/09
Resist the Facebookarchy.
02/03/09
02/03/09
YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIIIIIIVE!!!
02/03/09
Spoken like somebody who never had to make the end of shift deposit at the bank while working in retail, Money gets really damn heavy really fast.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
More importantly, is anyone LOOKING at the photos of these people? I am NOT a hottie or a major looker, but I would probably think twice before friending some of these folks. They look seriously wonky. Then again, I doubt these are their facebook profile photos.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
Now you all know how to ask "how much for the little girl" in French.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
Is sex-offending always child-related? Not that I think sex-offending is okay in any way, but it makes me wonder at what point do they stop being treated as humans?
Also, can I be Chuck Bass, too? I love your name!
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
Sex offenders are EVERYWHERE. Tons of people in college get raped and/or sexually assaulted by other college students, even at "exclusive" places; I assumed most Jezzies would know this.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
A. There would be LESS criminals on the site given tighter restrictions, and not every random 40 year old rapist could get a Facebook profile with which to stalk people/lure victims.
B. There would be no children under the age of 18 to be molested, as you'd need a college email to create a profile.
Either way, it would be a serious deterrent. Can't eliminate all sex offenders, but at least the old system had less problems.
02/03/09
02/03/09
Did I say that bringing the old old Facebook back would lead to harmony and utopia? No, but I'm skeptical that the level of vulnerability you have on it is the same whether everyone is allowed on or not. You can restrict your profile to a degree, but there are ways of bypassing this somehow (we are commonly warned to censor what we post, pictures and whatnot, due to the risk that future employers can bypass the system to view your private photos and whatever).
02/04/09
Maybe I am reading this wrong (it's 2:45 am in Sydney), but it sounds awfully elitist to me. Cesspool? The unwashed masses? I dunno.
02/04/09
As I already said, I'd like to see some sort of social networking site for college students only, like Facebook used to be. College students CAN be sex offenders as I've acknowledged, but at least it's a much more limited group and you can be more wary of who exactly is viewing your profile.
Sorry if it came off as elitist as I didn't mean it to, I was simply reflecting on the problem.
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/03/09
02/04/09