misskitty_79

In one of the recent news announcements, LJ informed us that they've made it easier to get rid of them: the pop-up menu that's visible when you hover your mouse over the userhead icon () now includes, both an option to report that user as a bot, & a "ban user" option. Every time someone adds me, I check their journal. If it's all in Cyrillic, if it's friended hundreds of other accounts, but only a few people have friended it, or even if it just looks fake, I ban it & then I report the account. It's actually really easy.

For starters, make sure that both the hover & the new friend notification features are on. You can activate the 'Hover Menu' checkbox over here & the 'notify me when someone adds me as a friend' checkbox is located over here. Just make sure they've both got checkmarks in the boxes & you should be good to go. :)

Then, when you receive a notification telling you that exampleusername has friended you, you can go visit the account's profile page. Again, if you don't like the looks of it, for whatever reason, feel free to both ban & report the account as a bot.

If you're curious to see who you've currently got banned, visit the Ban & Unban Users page (visit this FAQ to learn just exactly what banning a user does.

Out of curiousity, I checked me recent befriendings (this will bring you to yours, not mine!) &, out of the last 30 friendings (over a span of 20weeks), only four were actual human beings. Of the 26 bots, there are still eleven accounts that have yet to be shut down & all that because not enough people are taking the time to actually report the bots that are out there.

Of course, if, for some reason, you hate the hover feature & don't want to have it activated, you can always do it the "long" way: go to the bot report page & type in the bot's username yourself!

Any questions, feel free to ask me!
Good luck!!!

knotty_mark, lubaya, xnuala & blacksquiggles all seem to have a higher than usual number of weird/bot friendings...

Tell the Bush administration to keep its word and stop efforts to redefine "abortion" to include birth control.

The Bush administration promised not to issue any new regulations after November 1. But now it's poised to implement a rule that could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control — and then refuse to provide these basic services. A woman's ability to manage her own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology. We need you to speak out now, before the administration implements this rule. If they move forward with it, it could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's access to basic reproductive health services.

I wish I was allowed to sign a message to President Bush urging him to keep his word and withdraw this disastrous proposal, but since I can't, you, my American friends, definitely should add your voices to the cause. Click here to sign the message. Tell President Bush: Keep your word. Stop the attack on women's health.

In a few hours, Americans will begin heading out to the polls. Here's hoping they do a better job of it than we did last month...

( I went a little icon crazy... )

( Normally, I'd ask you to follow my rules, but for this situation, I'm willing to make exceptions. Just, GO VOTE!!! :) )

"If Abstinence Ed Can't Keep Sarah Palin's Daughter Off the Cock, What Hope Is There For Other Kids?
By Dan Savage
Tuesday, September 9th 2008 at 03:02pm

The 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, the GOP's vice-presidential nominee, is pregnant. The news was released by the McCain campaign during a busy news week—a major hurricane, the Republican National Convention, Dick Cheney getting us into a war with Russia—so it may not have received the coverage it deserved. So allow me to bring you up to date, gentle readers...

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin got her ass knocked up five or so months ago by 18-year-old Levi Johnston. Among the hobbies listed on Levi's since-yanked MySpace page—"fishing, shoot some shit, and just fuckin' chillin' "—was this revealing tidbit: "I don't want kids." But Bristol, says her mom, "made the decision on her own to keep the baby," and is now engaged to Levi "Shootin' Shit" Johnston.

As the adoptive parent of a child born to a pair of unwed teenagers, I'm certainly not in favor of abortion in all circumstances. But I believe that it's a choice teenagers should be able to make for themselves—with input from their families whenever possible—and, so it seems, does the GOP's VP nominee. Sarah Palin is pleased that her daughter "made the decision"—on her own—to keep the baby.

But Sarah Palin doesn't believe that other girls should be able to make their own decisions. Sarah Palin believes that abortion should be illegal in almost every instance—including rape and incest. So Bristol Palin is being celebrated for making a choice that Sarah Palin would like to take away from all other American women. Apparently, today's GOP believes that choice is a special right reserved for the wayward daughters of Republican-elected officials.

Oh, and Sarah Palin also believes that birth control shouldn't be made available to teenagers, she opposes medically accurate sex education, and she backs abstinence-until-marriage sex "education."

Sigh.

The GOP has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into abstinence "education" programs during the Bush years. I believe this enormous investment of public funds begs the obvious question: Are our children abstaining? Sarah Palin's isn't. Despite this massive outlay on the part of the American taxpayer and the example set by her Christian parents, Bristol Palin became sexually active while still in high school. Excuse me, but if abstinence education can't keep the daughter of the evangelical governor of Alaska off the cock, what hope is there for the daughters—and some of the sons—of average Americans?

I'm a cad for even writing this, of course, because shortly before Bristol and Levi were paraded before cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention, the Palins asked the media to respect their daughter's privacy.

Another special right: When it comes to respecting your family's privacy, Palin and the GOP see no need. They want to micro-manage the most intimate aspects of your private life. And if their own kids fail to live up to the standards that Palin and the GOP seek to impose on your family, well, that's a private matter between the Palins, their daughter, their God, and the thousands of screaming imbeciles in elephant hats waving McCain/Palin signs on the floor of the Republican National Convention. "

The "Unborn Victims of Crime Act" (C-484) has already passed Second Reading in Parliament (March 5th). It's meant to amend the Criminal Code, in order to allow separate homicide charges to be laid in the death of a foetus when a pregnant woman is attacked. If it passes, the bill will be an unconstitutional infringement on women’s rights, and would likely result in harms against pregnant women. Not only is it a key step toward the re-criminalizing abortion, but it could also help to criminalize pregnant women for behaviours perceived to harm their foetuses.

• Please sign the open statement opposing Bill C-484.
• Sign our online petition opposing the bill.
• Print out the paper petition (on 8-1/2 x 14 paper) to gather signatures from people not on teh intarwebs.
• Send a letter opposing the bill to your MP.
• Donate to their campaign.

When I got on the streetcar to work this evening, my driver informed me that I shouldn't stay out late, since they were going on strike.

Confirmation can be found in the following links:

• Google news search;
• ATU Local 113's press release

Updated @ 01h20: Mayor David Miller says TTC workers will be ordered back to work:

• Unacceptable and irresponsible;
• We've got people downtown tonight who might have relied on public transit. How are they going to get home?

Updated again @ 10h10: Sunday legislation possible:

• TTC back by Monday? (good article, though I'm not sure where/why the sports tie-in occurred)

The first time I tried this, I followed the internet recipe exactly & found that it wasn't quite as good as it could have been. The texture, however, was exactly as should be, so I decided it was worth trying again. Brought it to tormenta's birthday party & I think I got both the cooking time & the spices right this time, since there were plenty of compliments to be had...

vegan pumpkin pie

• 1 unbaked 9" vegan pie shell (graham crumb);
• ¾ lb light firm tofu (Silken);
• 16 oz can pumpkin purée;
• ½ c maple syrup;
• 2 tbsp oil;
• 2 tbsp molasses;
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract;
• 1½ tsp cinnamon;
• ¾ tsp ground ginger;
• ½ salt;
• ½ ground nutmeg;
• ¼ tsp allspice.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Blend all ingredients in food processor until very well mixed. Pour into pie shell.
Bake in centre of oven for 1 hour, or until cracks begin to appear in filling.
Turn oven off & leave pie in oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack.
Remove pie from oven & cool in fridge for at least 3 hours.
Serve alone, or with whipped/frozen topping of your choice.
Enjoy!
Makes 16 wedges.

Anyone in the UK concerned about family or friends they have not heard from is advised to contact a special police hotline on: 0870-156 6344. In every case, it is best to have the missing person's full name, date of birth and passport number before calling any of the numbers listed here.

• People unable to make contact with Australians in London who they have reason to believe were caught up in Thursday's incidents can contact Australian House on: 020 7379 4334.
  People in Australia can contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s consular hotline on: 1800 002 214. British Authorities have also established a hotline for Australians in the UK to call: 08701 566 344.
• For those concerned about New Zealanders, if you are in the UK call: 020 7930 8422 or fax: 020 7316 8999. If you are in New Zealand call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade freephone line: 0800 432 111.
• Those trying to track down Americans should call the number set up by the Department of State: 1-888-407-4747.
• If you are trying to get information about Canadian friends or relatives in Britain are asked to contact one of the Department of Foreign Affairs toll-free hotlines: 1-800-606-5499 or 1-800-387-3124.
• Those in South Africa should contact one of the following numbers at South Africa House: 012 351 1900, 012 351 1294, 012 351 1997, 012 351 1430.
  
  Please don't call these numbers if you do not have a genuine inquiry, as they are extremely congested. This will give priority to concerned family and friends.