How do you like yours?
"Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold. - Old Klingon Proverb)
Ever heard of Kevin Bollaert? If the name is familiar, that's because you probably read about him being sentenced to 18 years in jail. He was convicted of 21 counts of identity theft and six counts of extortion. What did Kevin do? He ran a revenge porn site called ugotposted.com and allowed people to post explicit pictures of people on it. Then the victims of this could go to his other site, changemyreputation.com and pay between $250 and $300 to get the compromising photos removed.
He will have a lot of time to reflect on his transgressions. But in the wake of his conviction, the first ever involving revenge porn, there are other issues at play here. Revenge porn is a crime, but only in 17 of the 50 states. The sad truth is that there is little someone can do to get photos of themselves removed from the internet once they are out there. CNN Money is doing a look at this and other things involved in revenge porn.
So if a woman's former lover has naked photos of her and posts them to the web, does she have recourse against that partner? Against the site that hosts the photos? Probably not. Can she force the site to take them down? Interestingly, it turns out that if she took the pictures herself, it is easier for her to eventually get them taken down. She can copyright them.
But that means she has to fill out a copyright application and send it to Washington, D.C., where a government employee will review her application. Part of the process means including the material you want to copyright. So she will have to send in the photo she wants copyrighted solely for the purpose of having it removed from public viewing. The copyright folks claim only the one person processing the application will see the materials. Sorry, I just see viewing parties among the puerile people working in this area.
One of the things that struck me during a discussion on CNN about this expose was that the two women pimping the show talked about how police officers tell the victims that if they hadn't allowed the photos to be taken, they couldn't have been victimized. They described this as "victim-shaming" which is a term I've heard before.
They're right. Telling a victim that is useless. Telling someone not to allow themselves to become a victim by not doing it is invaluable. Police officers in San Francisco have been discovered to have sent racist and homophobic texts to one another, calling into question the appropriateness of arrests they've made. A substitute teacher was recently caught on cellphone video body slamming a middle school student who admitted to using a racial slur toward the sub.
If you want to take naked pics, fine. Just don't transmit them via electronic means. Don't store them electronically. Anything and everything is ultimately vulnerable.
* * *
This video says a lot all by itself:
Nancy Gordeuk, the founder and head of the TNT Academy in Georgia is on the hot seat after saying what she said on this video and she has apologized. She of course will deny being a racist, a denial that will ring as hollow as the old blimp hangars the Marines had in Tustin.
I suspect this woman is going to rue this day for a very long time, as it will turn the electron microscope that is the media and the blogosphere on her school. I perused the school's website myself for a bit today and was surprised by several things on it. Or the lack thereof.
There is no claim of being a non-profit. There are no links to any kind of fund-raising. Further research uncovered the existence of QBE (Quality Basic Education) funds for alternative schools in GA and now I'm guessing this is such a school. I wonder how long government will continue to provide such funds for a school run by a woman who would say what she said.
Is she a racist to the point of being a KKK member, participating in cross burnings and lynchings? Almost certainly not. There are levels of racism. If you want to hold racists beliefs as part of your personal belief system, fine. But you can't discriminate or engage in BEHAVIORS that promote those beliefs. Maybe she really meant nothing racial by pointing out that black people were the ones leaving. But if you believe that, I have a bridge or two you might want to buy.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Personally I only believe what Seymour Hersh says or writes when he uses named sources. His unnamed sources probably don't exist.
Pluto hurt a little boy at Disneyland? Say it isn't so!! Walt's probably turning over in his cryogenic...wait, if he's frozen, he can't turn over. Never mind.
I just reached the top level of both Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga. No work = way too much time spent playing games.
Tom Brady's suspension for four games next season seems a bit lenient when you compare it to the suspensions players used to get for domestic violence.
When I read that Bo Derek said "aging isn't for sissies" I'd just seen "Any Which Way You Can" where an elderly Ruth Gordon's face was photoshopped onto Bo's famous jog on the beach in "10." Bo is right.
It makes no sense for federal bank regulators to remain silent about how they will respond to billions in bank deposits from people who "legally" sell marijuana. Even if federal law still makes pot illegal, better to have all that cash in banks where it can be tracked.
I have no problem with employers installing so-called "tracking apps" on their employees cellphones and tracking them during the day. I have a big problem with them attempting to track employees once the workday ends.
What is the fascination with "camel-toe" photos?
Interesting that of all of the "sharks" on Shark Tank, only Mark Cuban is a billionaire.
Someone needs to tell the PR folks for Ted Baker that after getting caught photoshopping Meaghan Trainor, lying and claiming it wasn't them isn't a good method of spin control.
Harriet Tubman was a woman of courage, conviction and definitely worthy of being celebrated. But I don't believe she's the best choice to replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill.
Assigning the father of a four year old girl to a seat 11 rows away from her on a flight isn't just rude, it's downright irresponsible on the part of the airline (Delta in this case).
Ever heard of Kevin Bollaert? If the name is familiar, that's because you probably read about him being sentenced to 18 years in jail. He was convicted of 21 counts of identity theft and six counts of extortion. What did Kevin do? He ran a revenge porn site called ugotposted.com and allowed people to post explicit pictures of people on it. Then the victims of this could go to his other site, changemyreputation.com and pay between $250 and $300 to get the compromising photos removed.
He will have a lot of time to reflect on his transgressions. But in the wake of his conviction, the first ever involving revenge porn, there are other issues at play here. Revenge porn is a crime, but only in 17 of the 50 states. The sad truth is that there is little someone can do to get photos of themselves removed from the internet once they are out there. CNN Money is doing a look at this and other things involved in revenge porn.
So if a woman's former lover has naked photos of her and posts them to the web, does she have recourse against that partner? Against the site that hosts the photos? Probably not. Can she force the site to take them down? Interestingly, it turns out that if she took the pictures herself, it is easier for her to eventually get them taken down. She can copyright them.
But that means she has to fill out a copyright application and send it to Washington, D.C., where a government employee will review her application. Part of the process means including the material you want to copyright. So she will have to send in the photo she wants copyrighted solely for the purpose of having it removed from public viewing. The copyright folks claim only the one person processing the application will see the materials. Sorry, I just see viewing parties among the puerile people working in this area.
One of the things that struck me during a discussion on CNN about this expose was that the two women pimping the show talked about how police officers tell the victims that if they hadn't allowed the photos to be taken, they couldn't have been victimized. They described this as "victim-shaming" which is a term I've heard before.
They're right. Telling a victim that is useless. Telling someone not to allow themselves to become a victim by not doing it is invaluable. Police officers in San Francisco have been discovered to have sent racist and homophobic texts to one another, calling into question the appropriateness of arrests they've made. A substitute teacher was recently caught on cellphone video body slamming a middle school student who admitted to using a racial slur toward the sub.
If you want to take naked pics, fine. Just don't transmit them via electronic means. Don't store them electronically. Anything and everything is ultimately vulnerable.
* * *
This video says a lot all by itself:
Nancy Gordeuk, the founder and head of the TNT Academy in Georgia is on the hot seat after saying what she said on this video and she has apologized. She of course will deny being a racist, a denial that will ring as hollow as the old blimp hangars the Marines had in Tustin.
I suspect this woman is going to rue this day for a very long time, as it will turn the electron microscope that is the media and the blogosphere on her school. I perused the school's website myself for a bit today and was surprised by several things on it. Or the lack thereof.
There is no claim of being a non-profit. There are no links to any kind of fund-raising. Further research uncovered the existence of QBE (Quality Basic Education) funds for alternative schools in GA and now I'm guessing this is such a school. I wonder how long government will continue to provide such funds for a school run by a woman who would say what she said.
Is she a racist to the point of being a KKK member, participating in cross burnings and lynchings? Almost certainly not. There are levels of racism. If you want to hold racists beliefs as part of your personal belief system, fine. But you can't discriminate or engage in BEHAVIORS that promote those beliefs. Maybe she really meant nothing racial by pointing out that black people were the ones leaving. But if you believe that, I have a bridge or two you might want to buy.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Personally I only believe what Seymour Hersh says or writes when he uses named sources. His unnamed sources probably don't exist.
Pluto hurt a little boy at Disneyland? Say it isn't so!! Walt's probably turning over in his cryogenic...wait, if he's frozen, he can't turn over. Never mind.
I just reached the top level of both Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga. No work = way too much time spent playing games.
Tom Brady's suspension for four games next season seems a bit lenient when you compare it to the suspensions players used to get for domestic violence.
When I read that Bo Derek said "aging isn't for sissies" I'd just seen "Any Which Way You Can" where an elderly Ruth Gordon's face was photoshopped onto Bo's famous jog on the beach in "10." Bo is right.
It makes no sense for federal bank regulators to remain silent about how they will respond to billions in bank deposits from people who "legally" sell marijuana. Even if federal law still makes pot illegal, better to have all that cash in banks where it can be tracked.
I have no problem with employers installing so-called "tracking apps" on their employees cellphones and tracking them during the day. I have a big problem with them attempting to track employees once the workday ends.
What is the fascination with "camel-toe" photos?
Interesting that of all of the "sharks" on Shark Tank, only Mark Cuban is a billionaire.
Someone needs to tell the PR folks for Ted Baker that after getting caught photoshopping Meaghan Trainor, lying and claiming it wasn't them isn't a good method of spin control.
Harriet Tubman was a woman of courage, conviction and definitely worthy of being celebrated. But I don't believe she's the best choice to replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill.
Assigning the father of a four year old girl to a seat 11 rows away from her on a flight isn't just rude, it's downright irresponsible on the part of the airline (Delta in this case).
posted by me at 5:37 PM
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