Making the wrong post on Facebook can be dangerous!

What responsibility does social media particularly Facebook have in many of the deaths and mutilations that result from posting on Facebook?  I am not talking about the typical ones that I have read about where a man kills his wife because she changed her status on Facebook from married to single or man kills his best friend because he sent his girlfriend a wave on Facebook, a woman kills young teens after she seduces them on Facebook or a teenager that shoots his dad for grounding him from using social media.  I do not think operators of social media sites can prevent these mentally deranged people from committing horrendous crimes.

The recent events in Indonesia and Thailand have caused me to think that Facebook and other social media sites should take some action in preventing post in countries where they know certain posts may or will bring harm to their customers. Particularly when the person posting is a minor. 

A sharia court in Indonesia sentenced two Indonesian men to be publicly caned for gay sex for the first time in the conservative province of Aceh, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country.

The pair, aged 20 and 23, were sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane each after being found guilty of breaking sharia law in the only part of Indonesia that implements the strict Islamic regulations.  After this event I looked at Facebook posting from Indonesia and found many in their profile stated they were gay.  Many of the pictures they posted on Facebook would lead someone to think they were living a gay lifestyle.  Looking at their friends list can indicate they have an interest in a gay lifestyle. 

Now I know Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, in the past has always followed a moderate form of Islam. But attitudes are changing within the government concerning sharia law and certainly among the growing number of radical Islamic Indonesians.  Social reforms regarding homosexuality and gender equality has swung far to the right. 

Facebook had no way of knowing these changes would come about, but the problem is they will continue to allow people to post items on Facebook that they know could bring them great harm or death or prison terms.  Many of these people making these posting are teenagers that do not really understand the possible consequences of their actions.  Just as Facebook knew of the problems in Thailand of posting criticism of the King or government they continue to allow teenagers to do so in the name of personal freedom.  The Thai government even warned Facebook of the consequences these posting could have and Facebook refused to monitor the site in Thailand.  Is it morally or ethically acceptable for a company that knows personal freedom in certain countries may or will bring prison and death to minors for them to continue to allow minors to take this risk?   

People in Thailand are going to jail for long periods of time for Facebook comments.  One example is "Do dogs have blue blood now?"  A comment made in December, by a 21 year old college student, reacting to a news story that a man had been charged with making fun of the king's dog and was facing up to 15 years of imprisonment, under the country's lèse majesté law, which punishes anyone who criticizes the king or his family. The man posting the comment could have been sentenced to ten years in prison, but the King showed mercy and he served 385 days. 

In 2016 two people were sentenced to 25 to 30 years for posting on Facebook they thought the government was corrupt.   I believe people have a personal responsibility for what they post, but I also believe many, especially the young, do not understand the possible consequences of their posting.  They are just innocent remarks made on Facebook. 

Most countries will hold corporations and retailers responsible for selling alcohol to minors.  There are countries that hold corporations and retailers responsible for protecting minors from being able to purchase firearms, glue, cigarettes and other inhalants.  Why then does social media, particularly Facebook, have no responsibility to protect minors?

In my opinion Facebook should have a moral and legal responsibility to go back and remove any damaging remarks from Indonesian and Thailand posting and profiles that could bring their clients harm.  The political climate, in Indonesia particularly, has changed and Facebook nor its clients knew this change would come about, but Facebook should now be concerned about their clients and do the right thing and remove dangerous postings.

Does Facebook make their clients really aware that anyone can get access to information saved to a Facebook profile, even if the information was not intended to be made public?  I think not.  Randi Zuckerberg the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, criticized a friend for being "way uncool" in sharing a private Facebook photo of her on Twitter, only to be told that the image had appeared on a friend-of-a-friend's Facebook news feed.  Even Randi Zuckerberg can get it wrong. That's an example  of how confusing or how you cannot protect yourself from leaks.

Facebook claims they do not want to infringe upon their client's freedom of speech, but Facebook has no problem in censoring news stories that do not reflect their corporate views.  Compare the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli stories on Facebook news.  They do not mind infringing upon their clients freedom to get all the facts.  Compare their reporting of the Clinton’s (Democrats) and President Trump (Republicans). 

The popular Facebook Live app — normally used by millions to broadcast weddings, concerts and other personal events — has increasingly become a forum for violent acts such as killings, rapes, torture and suicides.  Does Facebook have an obligation to address this problem?  I think so.  It could devise an algorithm to monitor the live transmissions and uploaded videos of its nearly 2 billion members — possibly through key word or images searches — or its thousands of curators might be more vigilant in spotting and ending the transmission of suspicious activity in real-time.  I realize it is not an easy task to accomplish, but it could be accomplished. 

Why is Facebook not put to the same levels of decency as those that exist on television broadcasters?

It is hard for me to believe that Facebook cannot put in place some type of monitoring program to censor postings of clients in certain countries in order to protect them from their government.  Is it they cannot or they do not want to spend the funds or take the time to do so?

Facebook and other social media can bring instant gratification and sometimes instant gratification leads to regrets.  Some got instant gratification from criticizing President Duterte in the Philippines. Now martial law has been declared in some area.  Will there be people who will now find they regret those remarks that only brought them instant gratification and did not bring any real change to the country’s political and economical status?

Philippine Foreign Workers - ABUSED!

Philippine Foreign Workers  -  O.F.W.

I have always been disturbed by how the Philippine foreign workers ( mostly housekeepers) are treated by foreign employers.  I watched a documentary on Saturday reporting the problems these OFW’s (mostly women) experience when sent abroad to work.  The majority do not go abroad to work because they choose to go they go out of necessity in order to survive.  They go because of the problems created by the corrupt politicians that have ruled the Philippines since 1986 when Democracy was SUPPOSE to return to the Philippines.

The people were told things would get better when President Cory Aquino took office following EDSA.  In my opinion they have not.  Instead of a few corrupt politicians in Manila you now have many, many corrupt politicians draining the coppers of the government (the people’s money) dry.  These corrupt politicians are not just in Manila they are in every city, province and barangay in the Philippines. 

The government (politicians) claim these slaves (citizens of the Philippines) are the heroes of the Philippines and they are.  The Philippines would be bankrupt if not for them.  But, does the government (politicians) really treat them as the heroes they really are – I think not. 

When their citizens are abused abroad the Philippine government does little to help them.  Few of the abusers, if any, are ever prosecuted for the CRIMES  they commit against Philippine citizens.  I was appalled when I heard government officials say there is little we cam do because if we took action the foreign employers would simply cut out the Philippine workers and take more workers from Sri Lanka and India.  There is something in that statement that tells me the money the (slaves) return to the Philippines is actually far more important to politicians than the heroes of the Philippines dignity and human rights.

The private agencies operated by Philippine citizens that send these people abroad remind me of how the BLACKS in Africa sold their own people into slavery to British slave traders.  They lie to their Filipino brothers and sisters to fill their contracts.  Most are told they are going to work in hotels when the agencies know they are sending them to work in private homes.

The Philippine Government is aware that foreign employers confiscate the passport of the Filipino worker as soon as they arrive at the airport in the country they are sent to.  This violates International Law.  It for all practical purposes serves to make the Filipino worker a slave, for they cannot leave the country they are sent to without a passport, regardless of how cruel their employer is.

If the Filipino worker manages to escape the cruel foreign employer and makes it to a safe house they are still trapped in the country for eight months plus while the Philippine government tries to get their passport back from the foreign employer.  They do not dare leave the safe house during this period of time because their foreign employer may catch them on the streets and force them to return to serve out their contract.

What really sicken me was when I watched how the Filipino’s were trained in Manila to serve as housekeepers.  They were told do not talk back to the madam or master regardless of what they do to you for you will only make it worse for yourself.  They are told many will slap you in the face when you do something wrong instead of simply correcting you and never try to retaliate because you have NO RIGHTS.  They are told in the morning to say, “Good morning madam or master” and goodnight at night.  Always ask can you go to your room at night never go without permission.  You will work probably seven days a week from early morning to around eleven at night. Never open a close door without permission or knocking.  Do not wear any low cut dresses or blouses, it is best to wear tee shirts and LOOSE fitting pants, never shorts because the madam may get jealous.  In other words be prepared to give up all your human rights and to be treated less than a human being (slave) for around $150 dollars a month.

I told my caregiver this morning I cannot say definitely what I would do if I had a daughter about to go abroad to work because I have never and will never face that situation, but I do not think I could or would allow my child to make that kind of sacrifice in order to better the life or our family.  I do not think I would be willing to gamble her safety.

The documentary showed one woman from Sri Lanka that a Saudi employer drove nails through her hands, arms and legs because he did not like the way she clean the floors – nothing was done to him.  A worker was ironing and the employers child got the electric chord at the wall socket and was shocked and the employer took the hot iron and burn both sides of the workers face – nothing was done to her.  There was one horror story after another and no one was ever punished for their abuse.  Rape was not uncommon and rape by teenage employer’s son seem to be a real problem, but no criminal action was ever taken.

This is nothing more than slavery in 2017!

I have never understood why foreign executives and representatives of foreign governments can work in the Philippines and hire a housekeeper in the Philippines for 1500 pesos a month, while they themselves make the same salary they would make in their home country.  What is really ironic is they do not even pay them the monthly $150 average they would have to pay them if they hired the same Filipino worker in their home country.  This definitely is the fault of Philippine politicians and their corruptions.  Do not kid yourself the politicians do not care about the people they care about lining their own pockets.

Would you allow personal pride to interfere with receiving 285 million dollars from European Nations this year when your people are suffering?  FREE money!  I would not.  They could call me all the names they want and if I did not deserve it I would swallow my pride and choose to help my people.  I wonder how many school books, how many desk, how many schools could be build, how much medicine could be distributed to the poor with 285 million dollars.  How many OFW’s could stay in the Philippines and work with dignity on government projects with a 285 million dollar gift from the European Nations?

Now do not get me wrong I am not saying the Philippine politicians are the only ones guilty of ignoring the needs of their people.  My own country, the United States, will spend over 16 billion dollars this year for helping the homeless get places to live and the problem only grows worse every year.  One company that got low interest money and tax credits for building four low income projects stole 37 million dollars from the government (tax payers).  The two owners got less than seven years in prison for their crime and they cannot enter the low income housing program for two years.   When the head of the government program was ask how could this happen, he replied, “We have to rely and trust the developer is quoting the right cost on each project.  We do not have enough employees to audit each project.” 

I think if the government had audited the projects the 37 million dollars that these two men stole would have paid for the audits.  The government employee that made the statement has himself been fired for corruption since the documentary was aired – CORRUPTION in government. 

The real problem was not the lack of funds to hire auditors or not having the employees to audit the projects, the head of the government agency, did not want the audits because he was profiting from the developers theft.  It was not the head of the government agency or his employees that discovered the theft.  A subcontractor went to the Federal United States Attorney of Southern Florida and reported the contractor/developer.  He realized he might eventually receive a prison term for his part in the theft and he offered the government information in exchange for immunity from prosecution.   All governments are corrupt and will remain corrupt until the citizens take action.

Obama and American Christians are failing Assyrian Christians.

 A small army of Assyrian Christians are fighting back against the advances of ISIS and they are depending heavily on the United States and other Christian nations to help them, but military help has not been forth coming.  There are Christian leaders in the United States meanwhile telling them to pray and telling us to pray for ISIS members and to love ISIS so much they will convert to Christianity.

I wonder if those Christian leaders, that want us to love ISIS to conversion and pray for their conversion, would be begging for military help or our love and prayers for ISIS if they were living in ISIS controlled areas. I know if I was in that group of Assyrian Christians fighting to save the lives of my family members, the lives of my neighbors and fighting to preserve my heritage I would be praying that Christians and Western Allies would provide me the military aid I desperately needed to defend my way of life. Talk is cheap unless you have a dog in the fight!

Obama argues that equipping and arming a rebel army would carry risks for the U.S. and other Western nations. I admit the advance of ISIS into Iraq demonstrated that risk. The Iraqi forces quickly surrendered and abandoned their American-made equipment when ISIS advanced upon them.

The United States has a track record of supporting the wrong people and the wrong fighters. I can recall Iran, Yemen, Vietnam, Egypt, Philippines, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Uganda, Bolivia, Cuba, Brunei, South Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Rhodesia, Pakistan and the list goes on. Our leaders seem to have a penchant for supporting dictators are those in power right or wrong.

I would prefer we support those who are fighting for their own land, their own villages, their own cities and their own future. The Iraqi troops had no attachment to the land they were defending. The Assyrian Military Forces began fighting in the summer of 2014 and to this date they have not been adequately supported. They have a dog in the fight! The group started with just 12 fighters. Assyrian Christian women sold their wedding rings and other objects made of gold to finance the purchase of AK-14s and other munitions.

Assyrian Christians lived comfortable lives prior to the invasion and lost everything in one night when ISIS swept through. America support’s the Peshmerga, the Sunnis and the Yezidi, but not the Assyrian Christians of Nineveh? Are these bold speaking Christian’s leaders supporting The United Assyrian Appeal an organization that provides aid to the Assyrian military families who are fighting against ISIL/ISIS? I doubt it!   

"I am one of the servants of Allah.  We do our duty of fighting for the sake of the religion of Allah.  It is also our duty to send a call to all the people of the world to enjoy this great light and to embrace Islam and experience the happiness in Islam.  Our primary mission is nothing but the furthering of this religion. “Osama bin Laden.

Many Christian leaders would like to bury their heads in the sand or look for ways to modify Islamic radical terrorism to fit their own Christian beliefs, but the fact is that violent radical Islamic Muslims are quite clear about their religious goals. Their acts are done specifically in the name of Allah and for the cause of Islam and Islamic rule across the globe.

“The Taliban are simply a band of dedicated youths determined to establish the laws of Allah on earth... The Taliban will fight until there is no blood in Afghanistan left to shed, and Islam becomes a way of life for our people. “Mullah Omar, Taliban leader.

"Our animosity is based on religion.  We hate Americans for their secular ideology." Tehrik a Taliban spokesman.

"In the name of Allah the Avenger, I swear on the holy book to perform my sacred duty as a soldier of Islam in this Jihad to restore to this world the light of divine justice... Allah demands no less for me to die in the cause and be sent immediately to paradise." A Taliban official.

“Islam came for the good of humanity.  If someone doesn't like our good we fight them.” Faruq Khalil Muhammad in Canada.

“We are working until we make Allah's religion supreme and we live a precious life in the shadow of Islamic Sharia law, or else be rewarded with martyrdom in the cause of Allah.  We are plotting for the Chinese to suffer the torture of Allah, or else by our hands” Abdul Haq, leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party.

“The attack by the Islamic State in America is only the beginning of our efforts to establish a wiliyah [Islamic territory] in the heart of our enemy. Allah said those who fight you kill them wherever you find them." Statement by ISIS following the shooting massacre at San Bernardino.

How can the Islamic radical Muslims make themselves any clearer than they have? I stand with Reverend Frankly Graham.  We need to be praying for our country and Christians first. We need to be showing love and support for Christians around the world fighting to survive. Obama may think all religions are the same, but I do not. I apologize for Christian (Catholic crusades and inquisition) actions in the past, but that is the past and this is 2015. I know of no Christians taking delight in killing those of other religions like the radical Islamic Muslims are doing today. Christians who use violence against their enemies can expect no special reward from Jesus Christ.

I would also like to remind Obama and Ron Paul about the Islamic Crusades in 630 A.D. Muhammad invaded and conquered Mecca. Later on, Muslims invaded Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem, Iran, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Italy, France, etc. Obama and Ron Paul act as if the Christians are the only ones that conducted Crusades.

The Western Crusades started around 1095 to try and stop the Islamic aggressive invasions. In 1094 Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus I ask western Christendom for help against Seljuk (Muslim Turks) invasions of his territory. In 1095 Pope Urban II agreed to help.

It is estimated that Islam has killed at least 270 million people: 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus, 10 million Buddhists, etc. and forced conversions to Islam has been the norm, across three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe—for over 13 centuries.

Defeat of ISIS is the only thing that will slow down Radical Islamic Muslim Terrorist. Only one thing will possibly stop Radical Islamic Muslim Terrorist and that is for Moderate Islamic Muslims to take up the fight and I do not see that happening.  They are like some American Christian leaders all talk and no action.

I am Tired of President Obama and Liberal Democrats

"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"
By Robert A. Hall

I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18.. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired..
I'm tired of President Obama and other Democrats telling me that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.
I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, and claiming the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to and "MODERATE" Muslims not speaking out against it.
I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America and Canada , while no American nor Canadian group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.
I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.
I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must fund treatment for them when my government is not willing to do whatever is needed to stop the drugs from coming across our borders or make laws tougher on pushers and users.
I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a SENSE of entitlement, rich or poor.
I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.
Yes, I'm damn tired.. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter..
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.