People who played with FaceBook and got burnt

Posted on February 29th, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,494 views

Back in Dec 2007, I wrote about a blogger on Thought Leader who created a fake FaceBook profile for Thabo Mbeki, which contravenes FaceBook’s Terms and Conditions. IOL reported, at the time, that President Thabo Mbeki’s office was referring the matter of fake FaceBook profiles (which impersonated him) to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Naturally, this threat was not taken seriously by either Thought Leader, the blogger in question or many of my readers.

However, although South African authorities have failed to make good their threats, Morocco has taken action against a fake FaceBook profile creator.

Fouad Mourtada, a Moroccan citizen has recently been jailed for three years for creating a fake FaceBook profile of Moroccan Prince Moulay Rachid. FaceBook has denied assisting Moroccan authorities in this matter. This judgement has sent ripples of alarm through the Moroccan Blogosphere and caused at least one Moroccan blogger to stop blogging altogether, out of fear that other forms of online activities might invite unwanted attention from the authorities.

Unsurprisingly, the sentence handed down to Mourtada has been condemned as excessively harsh by many. Nevertheless, he remains incarcerated whilst his supporters scramble to rally international pressure for his release.

Mourtada played with FaceBook and got burnt. But he is not the only one.

More recently a British policeman, Inspector Chris Dreyfus (30), British Transport Police’s head of royalty and government protection, had his promotion to Chief Inspector denied after his superiors had a look at his FaceBook profile which includes details of his gay lifestyle.

Dreyfus also played with FaceBook and got burnt. Are you next?

It could be that more and more people are becoming aware of the dangers that FaceBook poses to themselves because people are logging off. El Reg reports that FaceBook traffic amongst UK users is down 5%. I know of more than one local blogger who has recently opted out of FaceBook over privacy concerns.

The Canadian military is also concerned that insurgents in Iraq could use FaceBook to gain intelligence about their soldiers deployed there, and has cautioned personnel not to post personal information on their FaceBook profiles.

So, are you worried yet or do you reckon your titanium armour will hold off all comers?

Tags: Chris Dreyfus, facebook, Fouad Mourtada, Thabo Mbeki, Thought Leader
Filed under facebook | 10 Comments »

the irony

Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,706 views

This post is an edited version of an email I sent to someone.

Ironically last year I stood by another blogger when he was being attacked online. This year he and others have joined together to brand me a racist troll, which I regard as slander.

I befriended him last year in May via his blog. Standing by him obviously helped build our friendship. It soon became apparent, however, that he and I share very different political views. He began to show contempt towards me in his comments. He regarded my political views as idiotic.

Whatever residual goodwill he might have had for me, did not prevent him from posting numerous blog posts in which he slated me.

For some reason, the post I wrote recently about Emily Williams sent him and a few others over the edge with rage. They denounced me as a troll in blog postings and comments.

The strong reaction has taken me by surprise. When I read the account, I was immediately struck by the mother’s decision to remain parked outside the house where she suspected a crime was in progress. I wrote what I felt.

I’m also finding that I’m butting heads with a lot of whites who don’t like what I have to say about taking personal responsibility for their role in Apartheid. As we are all discovering, South Africa is actually very deeply polarised on racial lines. Racism abounds.

Last year I published a blog post about a woman who said "fuck off, kaffir" to a black man at the V&A Waterfront. I was astounded by the racism displayed by many whites in reaction to my article. One Afrikaans business man from KZN unsubscribed from my newsletter leaving a racist comment as his reason.

This year, as you know, a black domestic worker discovered that her white employer regarded her as a "kaffir bitch" via a missent SMS.

These events (and others, including the Skielik shootings) serve only to further polarise South Africans on racial lines. I have been advocating that whites apologise for their role in Apartheid. This has gone over well with black South Africans but provoked a strong angry response from many white South Africans.

I am now being subjected to various attacks because of these views. I’m being smeared online as a troll and a racist, presumeably an anti-white racist, even though I am white myself.

I think this year is turning out to be a year of truthful disillusionment. The Rainbow Nation we were so proud of, appears to be an illusion, shattered by the reality of rampany anti-black racism amongst dissatified whites.

Tags: Apartheid, kaffir, Racism, Rainbow Nation, transformation
Filed under Current Events, South Africa | 6 Comments »

International Goddess Conference March 2008

Posted on February 26th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,595 views

Full Moon Harvest Festival of the Great Mother of the Earth

Friday 21 March – Sunday 23 March 2008

Artemis, Franschhoek

Join us for this magical event during the full moon Mabon / Autumn Equinox / Easter weekend. Fringe events include sunrise hikes with Dean Liprini of Sunpath Tours. The Conference offers both local and international facilitators and presenters. A celebration of the Divine Feminine in all traditions. Participate in a full moon labyrinth walk and ritual;  learn to make your own ceremonial girdle; participate in sacred chant and dance workshops; attend talks on Tantra and Sacred Sexuality, the Gnostic Sophian path of consciousness, make traditional corn dollies, participate in pilgrimage on the lands.

For full details and programme see our web site.

Tags: Hettienne Grobler, International Goddess Conference
Filed under Hettienne Grobler, International Goddess Conference | No Comments »

Angel Connection Workshop – March 01 2008

Posted on February 22nd, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,391 views

To book for the March 01 2008 Angel Connection Workshop, please print out the booking form and fax it through.

Tags: Advert, Angel Connection, Margi McAlpine
Filed under Angel Connection, Margi McAlpine | No Comments »

I am getting a bit sick and tired of certain idiots

Posted on February 21st, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,385 views

I write on here what I want to about things that catch my attention. As it turns out, my thoughts and ideas sometimes jar with others, some of whom I don’t even know exist, to be quite honest.

Often the first time I become aware of these people’s animosity towards me, is when I see an incoming link listed in my WordPress dashboard. Then I go off to read what was written about me, and sometimes discover the biggest load of rubbish.

On Tueday I wrote about an unfortunate incident where a mother’s negligence led to the death of her child. I’ve now been accused of trolling for attention because of that post by people who I felt were friends.

Well, stuff it. I’ve had enough of these people in my life. From now on, all these dumb animals who have nothing better to do than spread slander about me online can just get the hell off my internet. They can stay off my blog, they can remove all reference to me. They can forget that I exist and I will reciprocate.

I am done with these fools. I have no patience to suffer them any longer. So, hit the bricks, chinas!

Tags: goodbye to rat fucks
Filed under Vamoose | 36 Comments »