Events/Dates:
Chris Cross
October 12th, 2008
Lawrence, Kansas
...Bratz dolls apparently aimed at ages "4-plus." "Bratz Babyz makes a ‘Babyz Nite Out’ doll garbed in fishnet stockings, a hot-pink micromini, and a black leather belt. … The baby also sports a tummy-flaunting black tank paired with a hot-pink cap. ‘These Babyz demand to be lookin’ good on the street, at the beach or chillin’ in the crib.’ " Another of the dolls wears heavy red lipstick and bright toenail polish to match red panties. One is almost reduced to sputtering.For the slightly older set, the "tweens" - girls between 9 and 12 - Target markets thong underwear. Apparently you can find "Care Bear" thongs at some retailers and "push-up" bras at Kohl’s for the first-time bra purchaser.
I don't usually like what I read by Mona Charen and even here I don't like her tone but as a father of a 9 year old girl I have to agree with Mona on this one. I would place the blame on some sort of right-wing, capitalist "conspiracy" to keep women in line rather than left-wing feminism like Ms. Charen does but either way the result is disheartening and depressing to anyone raising a daughter (well, I guess not everyone because someone is buying this crap for their kids).
"I hate to rain on the parade of supporters of more streets for cars and trucks, but it is unreasonable to expect them to address certain problems that should give us a pause from our headfirst dive into a new scheme of public transportation. Hundreds of thousands of children are injured riding in automobiles annually, more than any other activity except perhaps basketball. Many of these injuries are serious head injuries, and no other activity comes close by comparison. Adult drivers frequently suffer injuries as well. More streets in more neighborhoods will likely lead to more crime in those neighborhoods. Wish that it were not so. Balance is essential when driving a car. Balance in discussing this community issue is important as well. It is not the job of advocates of streets for cars to provide this balance."
"I hate to rain on the parade of supporters of more sidewalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, but it is unreasonable to expect them to address certain problems that should give us a pause from our headfirst dive into a new scheme of public transportation. With few exceptions, most of us will not ride a bike or walk when the conditions are too hot, too cold, rainy or snowy or icy or when the travel distance is very far. Those conditions prevail most of the time. Hundreds of thousands of children are injured riding bikes annually, more than any other sport except perhaps basketball. Many of these injuries are serious head injuries, and no other sport comes close by comparison. Adult bicyclists frequently suffer injuries as well. More sidewalks in more neighborhoods will likely lead to more crime in those neighborhoods. Wish that it were not so. Balance is essential when riding a bicycle. Balance in discussing this community issue is important as well. It is not the job of advocates of sidewalks for walking and biking to provide this balance."The only legitimate complaint in this entire ramble is "With few exceptions, most of us will not ride a bike or walk when the conditions are too hot, too cold, rainy or snowy or icy or when the travel distance is very far. " But some of that even could change if people accepted a little sweat.
"Bwahahah! now that you saps have sidewalks, me and my gang, the "Strollers" can unleash our nefarious scheme of walking off with your televisions and stereos, iPods and computers! Oh, had they only put in sidewalks when they built your houses! We could have been robbing you ages ago, you unwitting stooges! And with sidewalks our getaway will be so much easier now that we can simply walk away from the scene of our wrongdoing. And our rivals in the "Walkers" better watch out--we're gonna go for some walk-by shootings!"WTF!
1) When responding to an offer on freecycle DO NOT use all one case (either UPPER or lower) and DO use punctuation. Your response will most likely be
ignored if you cannot write a readable and courteous email.
2) Because offers on freecycle generate approximately 100 million responses from people asking for the offered item, DO NOT send follow-up emails. If you don't hear
from the offerer, assume you have not won the lottery and won't get the item.
3) DO NOT send emails to the offerer asking for special conditions or
more details and DO NOT ask to be telephoned about the item.
4) Most of all, DO NOT send emails asking if the offerer received your email. He/she did. Your response was NOT chosen from the 100 million responses and someone else's was. DO NOT stress about this; it is the way the freecycle game is played.
The preceding is a rant and rules that were almost posted on freecycle and, because it sounded too much like a similar rant on another yahoo group, was nixed by others in my household with more sense.
Freecycle is a perfect example of community. It's a non-self selecting group; people of all types are participating. There are lots of folks you have to get along with or at least treat with what passes for respect, when in fact you are bothered all to hell by them. You can get lots of great stuff from freecycle but if you offer stuff you've got to be prepared to face a barrage of emails, many from people who do not get the concept very well.
