Like we rate restaurants, cars, movies or books on a one-five star scale, soon we’ll be able to rate actual human beings.
Peeple, a startup which already has over seven million-dollar backing, will let anyone who’s ever known you assign you a rating and review, without your consent.
The founders, Julia Cordray and Nicole McCullough said they find no reason why anyone wouldn’t want to showcase their character online; McCullough told the Washington Post that she wanted to create the app to have something that will allow her to determine who she trusts her kids around.
https://twitter.com/Rrrrnessa/status/649583464878964736
Cordray and McCullough defended their empathy as two women in tech, stressing the app’s “integrity features.” To rate and review someone, you need to show you know them in three categories: personal, professional or romantic. Reviewers must be 21-years or older with a Facebook account. If you want to review someone, you must have that person’s phone number. Positive ratings will post immediately, while negative ratings will be queued for 48 hours to give the chance to dispute it. However, technology isn’t perfect – a bad review can still be posted immediately if stars are high enough, and a 48-hour window isn’t necessarily a strong deterrent from bullying or harassment.
If somebody reviews you, there is no option to opt out of having your profile in the service. Feedback for the app has been overwhelmingly negative: nobody seems to want their character rated and commodified on a one-five star scale. Those worried about the potential for cruelty raise concerns about consent, mental illness, stalking, harassment and representation of people of color.
In an almost absurd response to creating an app dedicated to public unsolicited reviews without consent, Peeple’s Twitter account has been made private.
Founder of #Peeple, an app designed to collect unsolicited feedback doesn't appear to like unsolicited feedback. pic.twitter.com/MmYZW3oHw4
— Sharon O'Dea (@sharonodea) October 1, 2015
These are the two people who created #Peeple aka the stalking, harassing, bullying app. Now, it makes so much sense. pic.twitter.com/cBBu3vVAKL
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) October 1, 2015
How's that "more white women in tech would be a great thing for all women" thing working out for ya? https://t.co/NCTwpjtHui
— The Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) September 30, 2015
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Embrace The Bern: Why Idealists Should Vote For Bernie Sanders
The cold air caressed our skin outside of Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, AL but we didn’t care. My anticipation of what was to come and the promise of the night made me forget I couldn’t feel my fingers.
Suddenly the doors opened and the crowd began to pour in slowly and then rapidly.
We held our Bernie Sanders 2016 signs with pride and acknowledged every passerby with a knowing smile. It was as if we all shared a well-kept secret.
We entered the auditorium with a communal 360 turn to fully comprehend how large the space was. In that moment a wave of anxiousness fell over me.
It would be terribly inaccurate to say that Alabama was a welcoming political atmosphere for those on the left.
With that being said, my optimism wavered in that moment to see if we would actually fill the rallying space or be left with disappointment that we were alone in a highly conservative state.
We ceased to be silent leading up to Sen. Sanders’s speech at the podium. Every yell and expressive head nod fed the flames of the masses. Before we knew it the empty space that greeted us was no more. Every seat was filled and on the floor we stood shoulder to shoulder.
Regardless of my senses being overwhelmed by my first political rally, something strange was occurring inside of me. The energy of the room began to pulsate through my body.
Regardless of my senses being overwhelmed by my first political rally, something strange was occurring inside of me. The energy of the room began to pulsate through my body.
Each speaker that came to introduce the presidential candidate spoke with eloquence and reiterated the phrase “political revolution.”
Those words appeared to flicker hope in all of us that things could be different if we stood as one.
Our restless hearts were pushed to the brink until finally the man we had been waiting for appeared from behind the curtains.
His thick Brooklyn accent was just like what we had heard the night prior on our televisions at the Democratic Debate. Smiles emerged on our faces each time we recognized his infamous one finger power point and subtle mannerisms.
The things he spoke on were issues that immediately struck chords in the audience. One rally attendee would shout in praise which would be reciprocated by all the rally attendees shouting with higher intensity.
Through his speech I kept contemplating the idea of what our nation could be. How we could grow and flourish if only the people really knew how much power they held.
Ashley Perry (R) at the Bernie Sanders rally in Birmingham, AL on Jan. 19, 2016. Photo Credit: Ashley Perry.
At times I became emotional at the hot topics and the solutions he proposed. The idea of free health care and breaking up major institutions like prescription drug companies impacted me heavily.
If this man became president it would be possible that my mother and brother would no longer have to struggle to pay for the drugs that keep their pain from auto immune diseases to a minimum.
The concept of focusing on education and making it accessible to all brought tears to my eyes knowing my father never graduated from high school because of a lack of support and financial means. Sanders could make a difference so that youth in poverty don’t have to endure the struggles my father faced.
By the end of the rally, I felt a sense of enlightenment after the candidate delved into a number of thought-provoking ideas. I began wishing that all my peers could experience the power of political change.
Throughout history, proactive youths have changed governments and set new standards just by coming together as one. The things we could accomplish if we decided to care fluttered in my heart and mind.
Despite the labels of conservative or liberal, our generation holds so much influence on the world around us.
Only time will tell how the upcoming elections will pan out but the true statement of political revolution will lie in how we as young people come together to make a difference.
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Cover Photo Credit: Bernie Sanders for President Campaign/ Facebook
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The NRA Just Blamed “The Media” For What Happened In Parkland
Seriously.
From The Washington Post:
“After a week of media silence following the school shooting in Florida, the National Rifle Association went on the offensive in its first public response to the massacre, pushing back against law enforcement officials, the media, gun-control advocates and the teenage survivors of the massacre who have pleaded for stricter gun laws.
“The NRA also released an advertisement Thursday morning that said ‘the mainstream media love mass shootings’ and claimed that members of the media benefit from covering mass shootings in an effort ‘to juice their ratings and push their agenda.’”
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Make No Mistake, There is Terrorism Happening in Oregon Right Now
A group of upwards of 150 armed men have taken over a building on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns Oregon.
But don’t let CNN or other parts of the “mainstream” media fool you. This is not an act of “protest” by concerned “patriots”. This is terrorism by anti-government vigilantes.
This is the culmination of a long trail of events leading back to 2001. You can look here for a name-by-name breakdown of events, but I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version.
Over the New Year holiday, a group of about 300 protesters marched through Burns, led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, best known for refusing to pay about $1 million in taxes and engaging in an armed stand-off with the Bureau of Land Management back in 2014.
They were marching in protest to the sentencing of Dwight and Steven Hammond, who were found guilty of arson of federal and public lands.
By Friday, Ammon had led his group to take control of the refuge, claiming that they would control the building for years if they had to.
Do those sound like the words and actions of protesters to you?
If you said yes, congratulations, you’re part of the problem.
You see, this is being handled very differently than say when there were protests and riots in Ferguson, MO or Baltimore.
In both those cases, the entire 24/7 news cycle covered the events. With every major TV news station talking about nothing else for weeks.
For this story? Well, CNN had it on the front of their website, while ABC used the term “peaceful protest”.
Oh, and another thing that occurred in both the above cases that hasn’t happened yet in Oregon. The National Guard was called in.
“Here’s the problem: what the terrorists will ask for is something the federal government can’t give them.”
In Ferguson, there were armored vehicles patrolling the streets. And that was against (primarily black) people armed with stones, bricks, and foul language.
A federal building is being held by (white) people carrying semi-automatic weapons. They are being negotiated with.
Let’s just call this what it is and get it over with. This is terrorism. Plain and simple.
I won’t go into a long spiel about why it is because I’ve already done that. Different names, different places, different reasons, same conclusion.
There is no argument. As I see it, the more interesting questions are how will the federal government respond.
In a situation such as this, only two options are readily apparent. You either attempt to settle this peacefully, or you send in the military.
To me, the correct choice is the latter.
Historically, law enforcement and the government have preferred peaceful settlement. It is not only cheaper, but it saves lives. No reason to put soldier’s lives at risk if it isn’t necessary.
Here’s the problem: what the terrorists will ask for is something the federal government can’t give them. They will ask for the release of the (rightly) imprisoned Hammond men. This is impossible as it would be a slap in the face of the justice system.
Also, these terrorists, or at least the leaders, can’t walk away scot-free. Even though the building they are holding was empty and they have not brought injury or death to anyone, they still perpetrated an armed take-over of a federal building. Doesn’t matter if it’s on a small wildlife refuge or the White House, same rules apply.
The final problem with this arrangement is that it could open the doors for other like-minded people to take similar actions. They will feel emboldened by the fact that “those guys in Oregon got away with it, why not me?” Who’s to say in that scenario that such a thing couldn’t then happen in Texas, or Florida, or Minnesota?
So how would I suggest they bring this act of terrorism on US soil to an end? Well, I’m not a military man by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have an idea.
All the Oregon National Guard (and whomever else the government decides to send out) has to do is create a perimeter around the building and wait. They know exactly where the building is, and they know that it is solely occupied by terrorists. What they have is the makings of a good old-fashioned siege.
The terrorist leaders have called on others to join them, and to bring guns and supplies. You nip that in the bud by closing off the roads and paths. One guy in a truck will probably turn back at the sight of 20 guys with guns in his way.
As for how long this will take, Bundy has said that they plan to stay for years. I give it to the end of the week. They will realize that they are surrounded, out-gunned, and haven’t eaten well. Morale will be low and the “patriotic” gusto which started this ordeal will be nonexistent.
Then the final question is what to do after the terrorists’ surrender? That boils down to whether or not this action constitutes treason. According to US law, treason is defined as:
“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”
The phrase “levies war” is the kicker. It’ll be up to the Justice Department to determine that one.
But regardless of how this plays out, the men holed up in that building in Oregon should be considered terrorists by both the media and the law.
To do any less is an indictment upon the character of the media and an indication of what stories we can expect in 2016.
Cover Photo Credit: Ken Lund/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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