Believe me, you can see some VERY disturbing things. I was just laid off from that job because my company decided to go into non-adult sites and found that they are going under.
I was in the security department of a certain company which runs free porn newsletters. We had a sponsorship program and my job was to browse the sponsor sites to ensure that they met our terms and conditions. This meant that I saw some pretty disturbing stuff... rape, incest, child porn, scat, etc. I saw things that could truly give someone nightmares. It was up to me to terminate the offensive accounts and catch them if they tried to sign up again. I liked my job. Saw some disturbing stuff, but also knew I was doing a service to others by catching it. A lot of it was sites outside the US because they don't have the same laws regarding it like we do.
The popup windows were a pain as well. I got very good at hitting Alt+F4 really quick. --
The company I worked for had been slowing losing money and had already done a round or two of lay offs. Being the only one trained to do my position (system security analyst), I was told that my job was safe and I didn't worry too much. I knew staying with them was a risk. They were suffering from "dotcom syndrome."
I left the evening of Dec 14th this year and took that following Friday off to go visit my family in Memphis and spend an early Christmas with them. The trip was a pain in the arse due to the bad weather all around the country, so I finally got there and rushed to see everyone I wanted then rushed back home to be at work Monday morning.
I got to work that morning from my extremely short vacation and no one said anything unusual to me. I sat down at my desk as I did every morning and proceeded to try to login to the network only to find my account was disabled. I sat there for about 15 minutes before my direct supervisor called me into her office and told me that a bunch of people were laid off Friday while I was gone and I was one of them. It still took at least 30 minutes before the HR guy called me into his office to tell me the same thing. THEN they twisted my arm into signing some screwed up restatement of my non-compete and other assorted items in order to get my medical benefits through January 15th and my vacation pay. They screwed me good.
I hooked up with one of the other people laid off who had been an assistant manager of Customer Service who told me that they had indeed known I was getting laid off on Thursday before I left. She had been told that she and I and a few other people were going to be let go that Friday. She had already packed up her desk. I'm not that upset about being let go, I just wish they had told me BEFORE I left for vacation so I wouldn't have bothered to rush back to be at work Monday morning. I could have stayed and spent some more time with my family and friends back home.
Oh, believe me, I'm familiar with the bigotry and hatred on more than one level. I am Wiccan, which therefore makes some fundamentalist Christians hate me. I'm also part Native American and attend many gatherings so I SEE that. I actually devote much of my time to FIGHTING the hate and anger plagueing much of society. You can look at my webpage for details:)
And as for Natalie Portman, just seeing that name makes me want to lose my lunch:) -- Shadowcat
I am in agreement with Nitrozac. I LIKE Slashdot. I've been posting here for a little while but not as often as I like because FRANKLY I get a little turned off at seeing people make such chauvinistic remarks. I'm a big girl and I can handle it and all, but seeing people repeatedly bashing women isn't exactly a good way to get us to post because, I don't know about others, but I just don't want to waste my time arguing with a brick wall.
I've fought most of my life because while I'm a girl, I've liked computers and role-playing and anime and video games. I always had to hang out with boys to get to do the things I REALLY loved and I wasn't accepted because of it. I was labeled all kinds of things in school and kids can be quite cruel. It's very disheartening to see that although *I* have grown up into a woman, people still don't give me the respect I feel I deserve. I thought PERHAPS in this community I could actually fit in and, to some extent, I have. At the same time there are enough misogynist pigs out there who make my time on/. unenjoyable. Even those who don't think of themselves as being bigoted still make remarks that can hurt (which, frankly, is part of the reason I've become so close with the people in the After-Y2K message boards and such because THERE I am appreciated for the TTB I am:))
The point I am trying to make is it's time for people to open their eyes and see that being a Geek goes beyond gender. It's a state of mind... it's attributed to your likes and dislikes and your mental capacity, and not whether you wear a skirt or high-heeled boots.
I DID notice that and was like, "WTF?" when I saw it. Even my boyfriend noticed and it threw us for a bit of a loop. What a twit. I think they would have been better off just trying to find a look-a-like in that case. I wonder what made him act like that about the whole thing.....
Now, I will tell you one thing... Jerry Lawler playing himself in the movie.. he came across as a real jerk. Well, I've met the guy. Truth is, he wasn't acting. Oh, and in Memphis in recent years we called him Burger King:)
So all in all, the movie (I think) was pretty accurate and recommend people see it, but don't expect it to be some stunning autobiography because for me it was an excellent film and true entertainment.
As far as the ending goes, what was the deal? If Kaufman's dead and Bob was in the audience, who was playing Tony? Is this supposed to imply that Kaufman did indeed fake his own death?
If you remember in the movie when Kaufman throws his big bash at Carnegie Hall, he says that Tony will pay for it all, even if he has to work for 10 more years. Perhaps Kaufman had something set up with someone to carry on the controversy. Perhaps by him having someone who would be Tony Clifton after he died (other than Bob) it would be the ultimate joke... the fact that people would think he were still alive. There is a fine line between genius and insanity and Andy Kaufman walked the tightrope.
There is no doubt in my mind he had the whole thing planned to happen after he died.
While I know that "Man on the Moon" will be reviewed in your next batch, I did, however, wish to share my opinion on it. The movie was excellent and Jim Carrey's portrayal of Andy Kaufman was brilliant. There were times that it seemed as if you were watch Andy himself all over again. The film kept you in your seat, making you wonder what antic he was going to pull off next and the ending, while sad, was uplifting and positive overall.
I suggest that anyone who wishes to see a movie that is funny yet undeniably human go see it and see it soon.
Let me explain something to you, my anonymous friend...
I'm woman enough to sign my name to this. *I* have been diagnosed with a personality disorder. I deal with this on a daily basis. It's not something that can be cured, dear. It's something you battle for the rest of your life. Yet, at the same time, there are kids out there who are diagnosed ADD who are not ADD and grow up being able to blame their actions on it.
I've studied psychology and I also volunteer for my local ambulance corps. If I don't know anything about sick people, no one does.
My point here is that there are too many people who are misdiagnosed with mental disorders who don't really have them. Doctors are quick to give snap judgements and prognoses and this "study" by the Surgeon General does nothing to help alleviate this.
All I can see coming from this is profiling of youth... forcing them to be under psychiatric care for illnesses they may or may not have.
Families which are dysfunctional often throw the "problem child" into treatment, not seeing that the REAL problem is not in their child but in the family as a whole. The findings of the Surgeon General is merely encouraging this type of behavior instead of getting families to focus on the heart of the issue. Yes, there are real cases of children who have disorders who need to be treated. I won't deny that because I was one of those kids. HOWEVER, I refuse to support the encouragement of our society to push the blame on one person and try to make them "sick" and encourage them to "adapt" to their idea of a healthy mind.
If you look in our history, you'll notice there were much fewer psychological disorders and certainly fewer people diagnosed WITH disorders... and it's not because new ones have been discovered. It's because WE as human beings don't want to work through our problems. We want someone else to fix everything for us.
Yeah, some of us are sick. Some of us need treatment.... but, for the most part, a lot of us are just looking for excuses and scapegoats. We want our happy pills to cure all our ills.
I have to say, yes. I believe that with the way the internet is growing, it's difficult to keep up with new pages and new technology. I know there have been several times I have done searches only to turn up nothing when I KNOW it's there or to turn up too much which pertains to nothing I'm looking for. Most of the more mainstream search engines have become obsolete, I'm afraid. Many of them use methods that just simply aren't practical like searching for certain words in the text of a page. When you search for things like that your searches will not be accurate and often you'll get information you don't really want or need.
So, I believe the internet is outgrowing the current search engine technology. -- Shadowcat
I find it quite sad that our government finds it necessary to place us in catagories such as this. First, they found that by their standards the majority of the country was overweight or obese. Now they've decided that a good percentage of us have diagnosible mental or personality disorders.
Can't we just be ourselves without being considered "fat" or "crazy"? Don't people have enough problems getting along in the world without being given yet ANOTHER reason or excuse to not function properly in society? Now, I'm not a conformist but for some people the need to belong is overwhelming and when they fall short of that, they look for excuses to make up for other shortcomings. I can see it now.... more people saying, "Oh, they don't like me because I'm fat." or "Sorry I'm so crabby. It's my undiagnosed personality disorder." I'm sorry, but why can't we, as humans, learn to accept responsibility for our own actions without needing scapegoats?
You know, I find it amusing that you pay HOW much money per year to attend their university and yet they don't want you to use their name on any of your personal items such as a domain name.
You wear a shirt with Purdue on it, right? You proudly use the Purdue name when looking for a job, correct? Then it is absurd for them to get (pardon my French) pissy about you setting up a website that offers free services to fellow students.
Hang in there, my friend. They haven't a leg to stand on.
The following is the response I got from the author of the article. Nice to see she can admit when she's wrong.
----------------------------------------------
Hi, You are absolutely right and I should have been careful before speaking generically about pagans. You are not the only pagan I've heard from today.
I'm sorry and will do better next time. Michelle > ---------- > From: The CyberGoddess > Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 8:01 AM > To: mquinn@sjmercury.com > Subject: Your article > > said Jack Elder, a psychic reader at The Psychic Eye Bookstore in San > Francisco. ``It's kind of a power moment. A lot of things could > happen.''>> > > As an avid internet user and a staunch fighter for Pagan rights and > understanding, I feel it necessary to clear up this misconception. > > Either this person is not a Pagan or is just trying to give you something > you can use in your article. Pagans, in general, do not follow the solar > calendar. The calendar used for basic time telling was developed by > Christians and revolves around the premise of Christ's birth, an event > which > holds no significance in most Pagan faiths. While 9 is indeed a special > number, only flaky New Agers, wannabes or psychic readers would hold > 9/9/99 > as a "power date". Pagan holidays are actually lunar in nature. The only > significance today holds is the New Moon tonight which is a symbol of new > beginnings. The date does not affect us in the least. The mundane > calendar > is just that... mundane. > > Remember, one person claiming to be Pagan does not make up the Pagan > community. Before you post a broad generalization such as the one made, > please check with several sources to verify the information you've been > given. It generally will prevent you from a barrage of angry people > wanting > to know why you misrepresented them in the public eye. > > Selena FireSinger > National Co-director and Pennsylvania Contact, Pagans in Action Council > for > Truth - P.A.C.T. > PA P.A.C.T. Website - www.cybergoddess.net/pact.html > Sacred Earth Alliance Representative > Sponsor, The Witches' Voice - www.witchvox.com > Webmistress for Witches Against Religious Discrimination - W.A.R.D. > Member of Witches' Anti-Discrimination League - W.A.D.L. > Member of Summerland Grove Pagan Church, Memphis, TN > Member of Sylverwood Circle, Memphis, TN > http://www.pagans.org/~selena
A very good point, as I just stated myself. Today is just another day in the life of an average Pagan.
Remember that our date system was created by Christians and in all actuality, we don't follow it.
The pagan new year is what most people consider October 31st. Wiccans (such as myself) call it Samhain (pronounced sow-an). While most people revolve on a solar time schedule and calendar, most of us use a lunar calendar for our religious celebrations.
In order to learn the REAL truth about us, you can visit the Witches' Voice at the URL in my sig file below.
Selena FireSinger National Co-Director, Pagans in Action Council for Truth http://www.knology.net/~elemental/pact.html Webmistress - Witches Against Religious Discrimination http://www.ward-hq.org -- coming soon Member, Witches Anti-Discrimination League Sponsor of the Witches' Voice - http://www.witchvox.com
For the record, while yes many pagans do hold the number 9 as special (i.e. it is the result of 3 times 3, three being a highly magickal number) today is no different than any other day to most of us.
*I* certainly won't be holding a special ritual or even observing any sort of holiday for it.
It's a day like any other. It's not a solstice or equinox or even one of our basic holy days.
Don't get confused by the hype. We aren't running around thinking the world will end and we're certainly not concerned with Y2K either.
I am not a "witch" because it is cool. In fact, I'm one of the people who discourages people from becoming part of it on a whim, thank you very much.
And if I went to the Middle East I'd expect intolerance. For a country supposedly founded on religious freedom I find it ironic that it's one of the most intolerant when it comes to people who are different.
Excuse me, but you obviously didn't read my post. *I* had nothing against the movie and recognize it's not a "witch" issue. Others, however, feel it may cause negative press. I cannot be held accountable for other people's feelings.
And for the record, since when does ANY religion hold "bearing in reality"? And might I also add that it's not up to you to judge me. You don't know if I was raised Wiccan or not so don't presume to know my upbringing.
For the record, the term "witch" is used to refer to followers of the religion Wicca. Wicca is a nature based religion which recognizes the existance of a god and goddess. Wiccan or Witches strive to live a harmonious life with nature and others. The two main beliefs of Wiccans are the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Threefold. The Wiccan Rede simply states "An' it harm none, do as ye will" while the Law of Threefold is the fact that anything you put out into the universe - good or bad - will come back to you threefold.
Witches are bound by their religion to help others. It is against our beliefs to harm any living thing, which includes forcing someone to do anything against their will.
So the answer to your question is yes. I know plenty of real witches. In fact, I am one. And no, I can't turn you into a newt. Witchcraft has been stereotyped over the years into people casting spells on people to turn them into toads and whatnot. True "spell casting" is using the energy in the earth and in oneself to help achieve a positive goal.
We don't do circus acts and we don't frighten teenagers in forests at night.
If you want to learn more about REAL witches, you can pick up a book called "The Truth About Witchcraft Today" by Scott Cunningham in your local bookstore and probably through Amazon.com.
Selena FireSinger National Co-director and Penn. Rep for Pagans in Action Council for Truth Representative for the Sacred Earth Alliance Member of Summerland Grove Pagan Church, Memphis, TN Member of the Pagan Webmaster Association
You obviously haven't read any of the info on it... it's a project because the 3 actors are film students out filming a documentary on the legend on the Blair Witch.
Slashdot Mirror
Believe me, you can see some VERY disturbing things. I was just laid off from that job because my company decided to go into non-adult sites and found that they are going under.
--
Shadowcat
ealasaid@cybergoddess.net
I was in the security department of a certain company which runs free porn newsletters. We had a sponsorship program and my job was to browse the sponsor sites to ensure that they met our terms and conditions. This meant that I saw some pretty disturbing stuff... rape, incest, child porn, scat, etc. I saw things that could truly give someone nightmares. It was up to me to terminate the offensive accounts and catch them if they tried to sign up again. I liked my job. Saw some disturbing stuff, but also knew I was doing a service to others by catching it. A lot of it was sites outside the US because they don't have the same laws regarding it like we do.
The popup windows were a pain as well. I got very good at hitting Alt+F4 really quick.
--
Shadowcat
ealasaid@cybergoddess.net
The company I worked for had been slowing losing money and had already done a round or two of lay offs. Being the only one trained to do my position (system security analyst), I was told that my job was safe and I didn't worry too much. I knew staying with them was a risk. They were suffering from "dotcom syndrome."
I left the evening of Dec 14th this year and took that following Friday off to go visit my family in Memphis and spend an early Christmas with them. The trip was a pain in the arse due to the bad weather all around the country, so I finally got there and rushed to see everyone I wanted then rushed back home to be at work Monday morning.
I got to work that morning from my extremely short vacation and no one said anything unusual to me. I sat down at my desk as I did every morning and proceeded to try to login to the network only to find my account was disabled. I sat there for about 15 minutes before my direct supervisor called me into her office and told me that a bunch of people were laid off Friday while I was gone and I was one of them. It still took at least 30 minutes before the HR guy called me into his office to tell me the same thing. THEN they twisted my arm into signing some screwed up restatement of my non-compete and other assorted items in order to get my medical benefits through January 15th and my vacation pay. They screwed me good.
I hooked up with one of the other people laid off who had been an assistant manager of Customer Service who told me that they had indeed known I was getting laid off on Thursday before I left. She had been told that she and I and a few other people were going to be let go that Friday. She had already packed up her desk. I'm not that upset about being let go, I just wish they had told me BEFORE I left for vacation so I wouldn't have bothered to rush back to be at work Monday morning. I could have stayed and spent some more time with my family and friends back home.
--
Shadowcat
ealasaid@cybergoddess.net
Oh, believe me, I'm familiar with the bigotry and hatred on more than one level. I am Wiccan, which therefore makes some fundamentalist Christians hate me. I'm also part Native American and attend many gatherings so I SEE that. I actually devote much of my time to FIGHTING the hate and anger plagueing much of society. You can look at my webpage for details :)
:)
And as for Natalie Portman, just seeing that name makes me want to lose my lunch
-- Shadowcat
I am in agreement with Nitrozac. I LIKE Slashdot. I've been posting here for a little while but not as often as I like because FRANKLY I get a little turned off at seeing people make such chauvinistic remarks. I'm a big girl and I can handle it and all, but seeing people repeatedly bashing women isn't exactly a good way to get us to post because, I don't know about others, but I just don't want to waste my time arguing with a brick wall.
/. unenjoyable. Even those who don't think of themselves as being bigoted still make remarks that can hurt (which, frankly, is part of the reason I've become so close with the people in the After-Y2K message boards and such because THERE I am appreciated for the TTB I am :))
I've fought most of my life because while I'm a girl, I've liked computers and role-playing and anime and video games. I always had to hang out with boys to get to do the things I REALLY loved and I wasn't accepted because of it. I was labeled all kinds of things in school and kids can be quite cruel. It's very disheartening to see that although *I* have grown up into a woman, people still don't give me the respect I feel I deserve. I thought PERHAPS in this community I could actually fit in and, to some extent, I have. At the same time there are enough misogynist pigs out there who make my time on
The point I am trying to make is it's time for people to open their eyes and see that being a Geek goes beyond gender. It's a state of mind... it's attributed to your likes and dislikes and your mental capacity, and not whether you wear a skirt or high-heeled boots.
When is it going to stop?
-- Shadowcat
Well, once again, the art of "slashdotting" claims another casuality. When I clicked the link it said "page can not be displayed..."
-- Shadowcat
I DID notice that and was like, "WTF?" when I saw it. Even my boyfriend noticed and it threw us for a bit of a loop. What a twit. I think they would have been better off just trying to find a look-a-like in that case. I wonder what made him act like that about the whole thing.....
:)
Now, I will tell you one thing... Jerry Lawler playing himself in the movie.. he came across as a real jerk. Well, I've met the guy. Truth is, he wasn't acting. Oh, and in Memphis in recent years we called him Burger King
So all in all, the movie (I think) was pretty accurate and recommend people see it, but don't expect it to be some stunning autobiography because for me it was an excellent film and true entertainment.
-- Shadowcat
As far as the ending goes, what was the deal? If Kaufman's dead and Bob was in the audience, who was playing Tony? Is this supposed to imply that Kaufman did indeed fake his own death?
If you remember in the movie when Kaufman throws his big bash at Carnegie Hall, he says that Tony will pay for it all, even if he has to work for 10 more years. Perhaps Kaufman had something set up with someone to carry on the controversy. Perhaps by him having someone who would be Tony Clifton after he died (other than Bob) it would be the ultimate joke... the fact that people would think he were still alive. There is a fine line between genius and insanity and Andy Kaufman walked the tightrope.
There is no doubt in my mind he had the whole thing planned to happen after he died.
-- Shadowcat
While I know that "Man on the Moon" will be reviewed in your next batch, I did, however, wish to share my opinion on it. The movie was excellent and Jim Carrey's portrayal of Andy Kaufman was brilliant. There were times that it seemed as if you were watch Andy himself all over again. The film kept you in your seat, making you wonder what antic he was going to pull off next and the ending, while sad, was uplifting and positive overall.
I suggest that anyone who wishes to see a movie that is funny yet undeniably human go see it and see it soon.
-- Shadowcat
Let me explain something to you, my anonymous friend...
I'm woman enough to sign my name to this. *I* have been diagnosed with a personality disorder. I deal with this on a daily basis. It's not something that can be cured, dear. It's something you battle for the rest of your life. Yet, at the same time, there are kids out there who are diagnosed ADD who are not ADD and grow up being able to blame their actions on it.
I've studied psychology and I also volunteer for my local ambulance corps. If I don't know anything about sick people, no one does.
My point here is that there are too many people who are misdiagnosed with mental disorders who don't really have them. Doctors are quick to give snap judgements and prognoses and this "study" by the Surgeon General does nothing to help alleviate this.
All I can see coming from this is profiling of youth... forcing them to be under psychiatric care for illnesses they may or may not have.
Families which are dysfunctional often throw the "problem child" into treatment, not seeing that the REAL problem is not in their child but in the family as a whole. The findings of the Surgeon General is merely encouraging this type of behavior instead of getting families to focus on the heart of the issue. Yes, there are real cases of children who have disorders who need to be treated. I won't deny that because I was one of those kids. HOWEVER, I refuse to support the encouragement of our society to push the blame on one person and try to make them "sick" and encourage them to "adapt" to their idea of a healthy mind.
If you look in our history, you'll notice there were much fewer psychological disorders and certainly fewer people diagnosed WITH disorders... and it's not because new ones have been discovered. It's because WE as human beings don't want to work through our problems. We want someone else to fix everything for us.
Yeah, some of us are sick. Some of us need treatment.... but, for the most part, a lot of us are just looking for excuses and scapegoats. We want our happy pills to cure all our ills.
-- Shadowcat
I have to say, yes. I believe that with the way the internet is growing, it's difficult to keep up with new pages and new technology. I know there have been several times I have done searches only to turn up nothing when I KNOW it's there or to turn up too much which pertains to nothing I'm looking for. Most of the more mainstream search engines have become obsolete, I'm afraid. Many of them use methods that just simply aren't practical like searching for certain words in the text of a page. When you search for things like that your searches will not be accurate and often you'll get information you don't really want or need.
So, I believe the internet is outgrowing the current search engine technology.
-- Shadowcat
I find it quite sad that our government finds it necessary to place us in catagories such as this. First, they found that by their standards the majority of the country was overweight or obese. Now they've decided that a good percentage of us have diagnosible mental or personality disorders.
Can't we just be ourselves without being considered "fat" or "crazy"? Don't people have enough problems getting along in the world without being given yet ANOTHER reason or excuse to not function properly in society? Now, I'm not a conformist but for some people the need to belong is overwhelming and when they fall short of that, they look for excuses to make up for other shortcomings. I can see it now.... more people saying, "Oh, they don't like me because I'm fat." or "Sorry I'm so crabby. It's my undiagnosed personality disorder." I'm sorry, but why can't we, as humans, learn to accept responsibility for our own actions without needing scapegoats?
-- Shadowcat
You know, I find it amusing that you pay HOW much money per year to attend their university and yet they don't want you to use their name on any of your personal items such as a domain name.
You wear a shirt with Purdue on it, right? You proudly use the Purdue name when looking for a job, correct? Then it is absurd for them to get (pardon my French) pissy about you setting up a website that offers free services to fellow students.
Hang in there, my friend. They haven't a leg to stand on.
-- Shadowcat
Actually, if you'll look, several of us have already posted on said topic :)
-- Shadowcat
The following is the response I got from the author of the article. Nice to see she can admit when she's wrong.
----------------------------------------------
Hi, You are absolutely right and I should have been careful before speaking
generically about pagans. You are not the only pagan I've heard from today.
I'm sorry and will do better next time. Michelle
> ----------
> From: The CyberGoddess
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 8:01 AM
> To: mquinn@sjmercury.com
> Subject: Your article
>
> said Jack Elder, a psychic reader at The Psychic Eye Bookstore in San
> Francisco. ``It's kind of a power moment. A lot of things could
> happen.''>>
>
> As an avid internet user and a staunch fighter for Pagan rights and
> understanding, I feel it necessary to clear up this misconception.
>
> Either this person is not a Pagan or is just trying to give you something
> you can use in your article. Pagans, in general, do not follow the solar
> calendar. The calendar used for basic time telling was developed by
> Christians and revolves around the premise of Christ's birth, an event
> which
> holds no significance in most Pagan faiths. While 9 is indeed a special
> number, only flaky New Agers, wannabes or psychic readers would hold
> 9/9/99
> as a "power date". Pagan holidays are actually lunar in nature. The only
> significance today holds is the New Moon tonight which is a symbol of new
> beginnings. The date does not affect us in the least. The mundane
> calendar
> is just that... mundane.
>
> Remember, one person claiming to be Pagan does not make up the Pagan
> community. Before you post a broad generalization such as the one made,
> please check with several sources to verify the information you've been
> given. It generally will prevent you from a barrage of angry people
> wanting
> to know why you misrepresented them in the public eye.
>
> Selena FireSinger
> National Co-director and Pennsylvania Contact, Pagans in Action Council
> for
> Truth - P.A.C.T.
> PA P.A.C.T. Website - www.cybergoddess.net/pact.html
> Sacred Earth Alliance Representative
> Sponsor, The Witches' Voice - www.witchvox.com
> Webmistress for Witches Against Religious Discrimination - W.A.R.D.
> Member of Witches' Anti-Discrimination League - W.A.D.L.
> Member of Summerland Grove Pagan Church, Memphis, TN
> Member of Sylverwood Circle, Memphis, TN
> http://www.pagans.org/~selena
-- Shadowcat
Um, it's not the Full Moon tonight. It's the New Moon. You know, the phase of the moon when it's completely DARK.
The Full Moon is when it's completely.. well, FULL.
-- Shadowcat
Yes, it is quite nice to see other techno-Pagans floating around :)
Selena FireSinger
-- Shadowcat
Gotta hate those programs that block anything with the word "Witch", "Pagan", "Witchcraft" etc....
:)
Remind me to write SurfWatch a nasty email
-- Shadowcat
Now THAT I'll do some celebrating for, though it'll be at midnight tonight so it won't count as today :)
In fact, I have a few workings to start on the New Moon....
-- Shadowcat
A very good point, as I just stated myself. Today is just another day in the life of an average Pagan.
Remember that our date system was created by Christians and in all actuality, we don't follow it.
The pagan new year is what most people consider October 31st. Wiccans (such as myself) call it Samhain (pronounced sow-an). While most people revolve on a solar time schedule and calendar, most of us use a lunar calendar for our religious celebrations.
In order to learn the REAL truth about us, you can visit the Witches' Voice at the URL in my sig file below.
Selena FireSinger
National Co-Director, Pagans in Action Council for Truth
http://www.knology.net/~elemental/pact.html
Webmistress - Witches Against Religious Discrimination
http://www.ward-hq.org -- coming soon
Member, Witches Anti-Discrimination League
Sponsor of the Witches' Voice - http://www.witchvox.com
-- Shadowcat
For the record, while yes many pagans do hold the number 9 as special (i.e. it is the result of 3 times 3, three being a highly magickal number) today is no different than any other day to most of us.
:)
*I* certainly won't be holding a special ritual or even observing any sort of holiday for it.
It's a day like any other. It's not a solstice or equinox or even one of our basic holy days.
Don't get confused by the hype. We aren't running around thinking the world will end and we're certainly not concerned with Y2K either.
Got it? Good
-- Shadowcat
I am not a "witch" because it is cool. In fact, I'm one of the people who discourages people from becoming part of it on a whim, thank you very much.
And if I went to the Middle East I'd expect intolerance. For a country supposedly founded on religious freedom I find it ironic that it's one of the most intolerant when it comes to people who are different.
-- Shadowcat
Excuse me, but you obviously didn't read my post. *I* had nothing against the movie and recognize it's not a "witch" issue. Others, however, feel it may cause negative press. I cannot be held accountable for other people's feelings.
And for the record, since when does ANY religion hold "bearing in reality"? And might I also add that it's not up to you to judge me. You don't know if I was raised Wiccan or not so don't presume to know my upbringing.
-- Shadowcat
For the record, the term "witch" is used to refer to followers of the religion Wicca. Wicca is a nature based religion which recognizes the existance of a god and goddess. Wiccan or Witches strive to live a harmonious life with nature and others. The two main beliefs of Wiccans are the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Threefold. The Wiccan Rede simply states "An' it harm none, do as ye will" while the Law of Threefold is the fact that anything you put out into the universe - good or bad - will come back to you threefold.
Witches are bound by their religion to help others. It is against our beliefs to harm any living thing, which includes forcing someone to do anything against their will.
So the answer to your question is yes. I know plenty of real witches. In fact, I am one. And no, I can't turn you into a newt. Witchcraft has been stereotyped over the years into people casting spells on people to turn them into toads and whatnot. True "spell casting" is using the energy in the earth and in oneself to help achieve a positive goal.
We don't do circus acts and we don't frighten teenagers in forests at night.
If you want to learn more about REAL witches, you can pick up a book called "The Truth About Witchcraft Today" by Scott Cunningham in your local bookstore and probably through Amazon.com.
Selena FireSinger
National Co-director and Penn. Rep for Pagans in Action Council for Truth
Representative for the Sacred Earth Alliance
Member of Summerland Grove Pagan Church, Memphis, TN
Member of the Pagan Webmaster Association
-- Shadowcat
You obviously haven't read any of the info on it... it's a project because the 3 actors are film students out filming a documentary on the legend on the Blair Witch.
-- Shadowcat