Issues with Facebook

I was just thinking...

Everyone in the United States, and millions of people abroad know of the power of the social networking tool that is Facebook. While it is incredibly useful for communicating with friends, old and new, planning events, and overall organization of all things social, it is also an outlet for lots of things I take issue with.

To begin with:

The movement to "liking" pages, which are connected to you profile in your "interests," "activities," "music," "movies," "books," and the like. While this is not a big deal, I don't like it. I want my interests to be MY interests, not links to pages about it.
Also, with some new policy I don't really understand, your interests can be shared with outside, who can in turn advertise to you, and see what you are doing. Any information you share with Facebook is now shared with anyone on the internet. This is very Big Brother-esque, if you ask me. Because of this, my Facebook no longer has any of my interests or activities, save for a few that I am largely involved with (i.e. ROCU). There is a way to get out of sharing your information with outside groups, but the link to it has since been rendered impossible to find with Facebook, as it is now not possible to access links you have posted in the past, unless they were recent, or if you want to keep going back to older and older posts. If I have time to do so later, I will surely share this link.

There are many groups which I find to be absolutely sickening. While I am a big proponent of freedom of speech, some of these are just ridiculous. I will now use my freedom of speech to tell you why these groups/pages are so awful.

It's not racism, stupid! You are here ILLEGALLY!
Yes, I briefly spoke on this one the other day, but it's pretty ignorant. The part of the Arizona Immigration law that people consider racist isn't that people who are here illegally are being found out about, but rather that if you LOOK like you COULD possibly be here illegally (meaning if you look Hispanic) you are subject to arrest, if you don't have papers documenting your legal right to be in the United States. THAT is racial profiling, and so incredibly wrong. People that support this law need to better understand what is really going on.

Period pains? try getting killed by your own care package!
My friend's brother joined this group ("liked" it?) a while ago, and I immediately took issue with it. Of course, he had an issue with me having an issue with what he "likes," but that's not the point here: I understand, he is a gamer, and I can figure how getting killed in online play by something meant to help you could be unpleasant, but, seriously, IT'S A VIDEO GAME. It's not real life! Something tangible and real, like period pains is definitely something to be taken more seriously than death in a video game. Real, physical pain should not be taken lightly, especially in comparison to something that is NOT real, like video games.

"Dear Lord, in the past year you have TAKEN AWAY my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze; my favorite actress Farah Fawcett; my favorite singer Michael Jackson; and my favorite salesman Billy Mays. I just wanted you to know that my favorite president is Barack Obama.... amen."
Well, this one is definitely the most shocking one I have seen. This made CNN and other news outlets, and with good reason. I understand, this is probably a joke, but that is not a funny joke. You don't joke about the death of politicians on something as public as Facebook. Not only is it despicable that someone would want this (what has he done that is so wrong?) but the fact that hundreds of thousands of people joined it is even more sickening. Everyone is entitled to their own political thoughts, but suggesting that your president be killed is crazy.

God, give us back Tupac and Biggie and we will give you Justin Bieber.
C'mon! Seriously? I understand, you're upset because Tupac and Biggie were people you liked, and that you dislike Justin Bieber, but, like the Obama page, you shouldn't joke about death. And let's at least pretend to know how the world works. You can't bring people back from the dead, EVEN IF you exchange them for someone already alive.

Of course, there are many other groups/pages that are just as despicable and disgusting, but I believe this was a good sampling to dissect.

Tomorrow: The Tea Party and Health Care Reform.

The "Patriot" Act

I was just thinking...
Last night I watched "The US vs. John Lennon" and I was reminded of government wire tapping and spying on their own citizens. This type of despicable behavior has been going on for years, but most recently with the Bush Administration's passing of the USA PATRIOT Act. This stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act. Of course, this sounds like a positive act, a good tool in battling terrorism. But what is not made clear with the name is the fact that this act made it LEGAL for the US Government to wiretap and other forms of spying on their own citizens. Yes, governments have had this type of control over their citizens regularly, but NOT in so-called democratic republic. The act did not LITERALLY give the government the right to wiretap ANY citizen they wanted, but it might as well have. They were given the right to spy on anyone they considered to be a possible threat to the United States. Which, in essence, means they could spy on anyone. THEY are the ones who decide who is a possible threat, AND the ones who carry out the spying. Big brother much? I think so.
This act is clearly a violation of rights of privacy, and SHOULD be illegal.
Recently, a similar type of unfair abuse of power has been enacted in Arizona, where their recent immigration law gives cops the right to ask anyone who APPEARS as if they could be here illegally (i.e. ANYONE who looks even vaguely Hispanic) for their "papers" (documentation that they are legally allowed to be here). If the accused party does not have the "papers" on their physical body, they are subject to immediate arrest. Sickening. This legitimately sounds like something that would have been done in Hitler's Germany, minus the death camps. It is, and should be considered incredibly illegal. It is a law allowing severe racism.
Via Facebook, I have seen support for this Arizona law, with groups named "It's not racism, you're here ILLEGALLY." These support groups do NOT understand what it is about the law that is wrong; The law gives the hand of the law (cops) the right to arrest ANYONE who LOOKS like they COULD possibly be here illegally. Yes, the government has the right to deport/detain/arrest those here illegally, but to round up anyone because the way they look is disgusting and wrong.
This brings me back to the original law discussed, the USA PATRIOT Act. This contrived acronym was used because a majority of US citizens are stupid. If it sounds like something good, like patriotism, they will automatically assume it is itself good. It's just like liking Green Day. They were good at one point, so people assume they still are, and don't come in with a critical eye, immediately accepting dreck like "21st Century Breakdown" as a good album, even though it is clearly not. The same goes for laws like the USA PATRIOT Act.
There are so many issues with this country that need to be addressed, and the USA PATRIOT Act is definitely one of them.

Tomorrow, I will talk about the BP Oil Spill.