Fnord Incorporated

Highlight from my Inbox archaeological dig.

I have all of my internet purchases delivered to my work. this saves the trouble of having to be home for a delivery and removes the possibility that something may be stolen from my doorstep.

We had a coworker(#1) who until recently was working in our fulfillment dept. She is married to another coworker (#2). When a shipment arrives, an email is sent to me (from #1) stating that i have a package waiting in the mailroom.

Looking through my inbox today, i found that i have received 30-40 packages over my 5 years working here.

i kinda want to go ask #2 if his wife talks about his package as often as she talked about mine… but i figure he would not get as big of a kick out of the joke as i would…

Killing us softly 3 - Advertising’s Image of women.

All in all this is an interesting half hour lecture filled with some humor and plenty of examples of what Jean Killbourne is trying to point out about her views of advertising.

Unfortunately, she makes absolutely no mention of Dove’s campaign to make change (this could be filmed prior to the beginning of that movement). likewise she does not cover much on the topic of mens advertising. she mentions that an increase has occurred but that it is not significant enough to show details. unfortunately, in many of the ads she opposed regarding women, she neglected to mention the men attached who have been modeled and molded to be interpreted as the ideal.. they are showing the alpha group of the gender dichotomy. they are completely disregarding the beta status that we mainly fall under. but she only mentions the female aspect.

as stated before, an interesting lecture, but i wish i could sit down in a room with her and give some feedback from the mens movement… there are so many of us out there that are being affected daily and ignored as nothing but part of the enemy. though she does not appear to fall into this pit, she could do a lot better to acknowledge the ever growing number of men who are not the stereotype, and thus gather us up as allies.

my thoughts are a bit muddled on the topic. 30% of the things she spoke of, i dont have a problem with.. i feel that she is preaching for change in areas where the change is unneeded. 70% to fully agree with. it is almost as if it is easier to say that nothing is okay rather than create a clear defining line of what is appropriate and why. pick a side, draw ines in the sand and work towards a goal.. outlining something as “inappropriate” in the whole does not allow for forward movement, instead, allows you room to wallow. she should have spoken more about what can be done to further the steps towards small achievable stepping stones as everyone who watches this lecture has the capability of stepping up. instead, you are left thinking about it, but in the end are left with a “well, i am just one person, what can i do about it” attitude.

one last thing i was bothered by was her statements regarding the lack of non-heterosexual advertising.. hrm.. maybe not in the magazines she has been reading. but they are all over the place and increasing all the time. granted, they still fall into the perfect people categories of beauty, but they still exist and would be great fodder for her cause.

CNN: Canadian firetruck responding to U.S. call held up at border

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt

America, when are you going to wake up and realize that you are just as “safe” as you always were, that you only hurt yourselves and all those you interact with when you overreact to outside influences in a blind and negative manner?

digression: Why did it take nearly a month before i even heard about this?

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/11/14/border.firetruck/

November 14, 2007

From Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers
CNN

(CNN) — A Canadian firetruck responding with lights and sirens to a weekend fire in Rouses Point, New York, was stopped at the U.S. border for about eight minutes, U.S. border officials said Tuesday.

The U.S.-Canadian border is more than 5,000 miles long.

Fire officials battling the blaze called for help from fire departments in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding and often-used mutual aid agreement. But the first truck that arrived at the small Rouses Point border crossing was delayed as officials checked documentation of the firefighters and their truck, officials confirmed.

Two other trucks that arrived at the crossing next were cleared in less than two minutes each, a time that one fire official said was still too long considering the situation.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Chris Trombley, chief of the Champlain [New York] Volunteer Fire Department and deputy fire coordinator for Clinton County Emergency Services. “We’re calling for help from another country and the first roadblock they hit is at our border.”

The Canadian firefighters “were asked for IDs,” Trombley said. “I believe they even ran the license plate on the truck to make sure it was legal.”

In the past, firetrucks on emergency calls cleared border checkpoints in 30 seconds or less, Trombley said, although he said identification is sometimes checked upon their return.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said the eight-minute delay at the Rouses Point crossing was caused “when one of the firefighters’ admissibility was brought into question.” He declined to elaborate, citing immigration and privacy laws.

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A government source familiar with the case said one firefighter had a criminal record, raising questions about whether he could enter the United States.

Kevin Corsaro of the border protection’s Buffalo field office said the agency’s primary responsibility is to protect the homeland. He called the event an “isolated incident” and said agency officials were meeting with local fire officials to “develop a plan to prevent the possibility of any delays.”

No one was seriously injured in the fire, but The Anchorage Inn restaurant — a landmark in the village of Rouses Point — was destroyed. A firefighter who suffered minor smoke inhalation was treated at the scene, said Michael LeBlanc, chief of the Rouses Point Volunteer Fire Department. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, he said.

Ten fire departments, including the Canadian departments, responded to the fire.

“Would it [quicker passage at the border] have changed the outcome of the fire?” Trombley asked. “Would the building have been burned? Of course it would.” But he said firefighters were getting fatigued fighting the fire and relief was delayed. “Just the fact that it could happen and it could happen again is what has us worried,” he said.

Clinton County has mutual aid agreements with fire departments in Vermont and Quebec, Trombley said, and the county requests help from Quebec fire departments about 30 times a year. It sends help to Canada a similar number of times, he said.

Trombley and LeBlanc said they planned to meet with authorities on Wednesday to discuss the incident. LeBlanc declined to comment. “I don’t have all the facts and I don’t want to mistake what happened,” he said.

“We’ve had a mutual aid system in place since the ’50s and I can’t remember anything like this happening,” said Trombley.

143 years ago

an interesting quote i ran across in a book recently.
unsure if its accuracy, i did some research and was able to locate and confirm where it was gleaned from.

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

– U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864

From a letter to Col. William F. Elkins
Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)
Photograph was taken a month later in December 1864