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Facebook Frenzy | Audrey Biloon

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Facebook Frenzy | Audrey Biloon

Dear Jack,

I just received your Facebook friend request and although I‘d really like to confirm it, because I don’t want to be responsible for any possibilities of your inferiority complex and ongoing psych bills, I have to decline. That said, let me explain my problem.

Truth to tell (which, if you’re running for office, is all relative and if you’re a voter, which means the rest of us, means that we should be running the other way from what goes for political truth), I don’t go on Facebook except to look for lost friends… and while I’m there, to check on what people are posting, which is hard to find since every other post is an ad for something.

I think the last time (before seeing your friend request just now) I went on Facebook was about two years ago, when, inadvertently, I found some information from a friend’s daughter (who or is that whom I wasn’t looking for. As you can see, I’m still working on grammar so who has time for Facebook?) about her mother (who -or whom- I also wasn’t looking for) and her mother’s death (which -or that- I certainly wasn’t looking for). Suffice it to say that I hadn’t heard about her mother’s death and could have felt terrible that I missed the funeral. And who needs to feel terrible about a funeral I wouldn’t have attended because I’d lost touch with her mother about our dogs who didn’t like each other. The moral of that story is that if we would listen to our dogs, rather than our own wishful thinking, we’d know not to get involved with some people in the first place whose dogs don’t like our dogs, so that we wouldn’t have to feel terrible about not knowing about the funeral we wouldn’t have gone to, in the second place.

The other point of that story is if you want to get lost, I can try to find you through Facebook or, if you’re planning on dying, please let a relative, who or whom I don’t know, know so that the relative can tell me in time to get to the funeral or can tell me too late to attend so that I can feel terrible for not attending and for not friending you on Facebook in the second place, especially since you like my dog, in the first place. Of course, for those of us who have dogs, that would be in the fourteenth place and in the seventh place.

That said, since I know where you are and since you like my dog, all of that looking would be silly….which proves once again that, without a nine-year-old to navigate me through the social media maze,
I’m a silly goose who gets confused as to how it all works, what the little icons mean, and how to post and respond.

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Plus, the kicker is that when I’ve tried to post something on Facebook, there’s always someone who comments in an ugly way, either on what I’ve posted or what someone else posted about what I‘ve posted, as if none of those people has a life except to keep up mean spirited exchanges, all of which makes me wonder what people like that are doing on Facebook rather than fist fighting on the Jerry Springer Show.

I dunno…maybe I just get confused on Facebook, while others always seem to breeze through, because I was absent from elementary school that day. Then again, if you believe that I was in elementary school, when Facebook became a phenomenon, you may need a nine year old to help you use your mobile phone to talk to me in person about some waterfront property I have in Arizona with oil gushing on it, that you might want to buy.

Speaking of oil rich, desert property (although, technically, we weren’t actually speaking about since we’re both just learning to use the hello and goodbye features on our fancy cell phones) reminds me of the ridiculous number of ads on Facebook and wondering, if I were to became proficient on Facebook, whether I could advertise the oxymoronic property there so that some moron who posts mean spirited comments might bite and buy it.

Excuse me, while I sign off, for now, to find a nine-year-old, elementary school dropout, who will become a zillionaire by starting a company to help the social media challenged, like me (or is that, like I -as in like I am guilty of…..but we won’t go there until I talk to a lawyer) navigate Facebook, after which I’ll be right back to answer your friend request and to post that ad.

Love,

Audrey

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Having been a teacher, social worker, lawyer, writer, and radio show host(ess), Audrey is now continuing to write, playing at improv comedy, and exploring other activities that can turn stress into joy and laughter.



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Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

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Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

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During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

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Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

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Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

LAHORE, Pakistan — A court in Pakistan granted bail to a Christian falsely charged with blasphemy, but he and his family have separated and gone into hiding amid threats to their lives, sources said.

Haroon Shahzad (right) with attorney Aneeqa Maria. | The Voice Society/Morning Star News

Haroon Shahzad, 45, was released from Sargodha District Jail on Nov. 15, said his attorney, Aneeqa Maria. Shahzad was charged with blasphemy on June 30 after posting Bible verses on Facebook that infuriated Muslims, causing dozens of Christian families in Chak 49 Shumaali, near Sargodha in Punjab Province, to flee their homes.

Lahore High Court Judge Ali Baqir Najfi granted bail on Nov. 6, but the decision and his release on Nov. 15 were not made public until now due to security fears for his life, Maria said.

Shahzad told Morning Star News by telephone from an undisclosed location that the false accusation has changed his family’s lives forever.

“My family has been on the run from the time I was implicated in this false charge and arrested by the police under mob pressure,” Shahzad told Morning Star News. “My eldest daughter had just started her second year in college, but it’s been more than four months now that she hasn’t been able to return to her institution. My other children are also unable to resume their education as my family is compelled to change their location after 15-20 days as a security precaution.”

Though he was not tortured during incarceration, he said, the pain of being away from his family and thinking about their well-being and safety gave him countless sleepless nights.

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“All of this is due to the fact that the complainant, Imran Ladhar, has widely shared my photo on social media and declared me liable for death for alleged blasphemy,” he said in a choked voice. “As soon as Ladhar heard about my bail, he and his accomplices started gathering people in the village and incited them against me and my family. He’s trying his best to ensure that we are never able to go back to the village.”

Shahzad has met with his family only once since his release on bail, and they are unable to return to their village in the foreseeable future, he said.

“We are not together,” he told Morning Star News. “They are living at a relative’s house while I’m taking refuge elsewhere. I don’t know when this agonizing situation will come to an end.”

The Christian said the complainant, said to be a member of Islamist extremist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and also allegedly connected with banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, filed the charge because of a grudge. Shahzad said he and his family had obtained valuable government land and allotted it for construction of a church building, and Ladhar and others had filed multiple cases against the allotment and lost all of them after a four-year legal battle.

“Another probable reason for Ladhar’s jealousy could be that we were financially better off than most Christian families of the village,” he said. “I was running a successful paint business in Sargodha city, but that too has shut down due to this case.”

Regarding the social media post, Shahzad said he had no intention of hurting Muslim sentiments by sharing the biblical verse on his Facebook page.

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“I posted the verse a week before Eid Al Adha [Feast of the Sacrifice] but I had no idea that it would be used to target me and my family,” he said. “In fact, when I came to know that Ladhar was provoking the villagers against me, I deleted the post and decided to meet the village elders to explain my position.”

The village elders were already influenced by Ladhar and refused to listen to him, Shahzad said.

“I was left with no option but to flee the village when I heard that Ladhar was amassing a mob to attack me,” he said.

Shahzad pleaded with government authorities for justice, saying he should not be punished for sharing a verse from the Bible that in no way constituted blasphemy.

Similar to other cases

Shahzad’s attorney, Maria, told Morning Star News that events in Shahzad’s case were similar to other blasphemy cases filed against Christians.

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“Defective investigation, mala fide on the part of the police and complainant, violent protests against the accused persons and threats to them and their families, forcing their displacement from their ancestral areas, have become hallmarks of all blasphemy allegations in Pakistan,” said Maria, head of The Voice Society, a Christian paralegal organization.

She said that the case filed against Shahzad was gross violation of Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which states that police cannot register a case under the Section 295-A blasphemy statute against a private citizen without the approval of the provincial government or federal agencies.

Maria added that Shahzad and his family have continued to suffer even though there was no evidence of blasphemy.

“The social stigma attached with a blasphemy accusation will likely have a long-lasting impact on their lives, whereas his accuser, Imran Ladhar, would not have to face any consequence of his false accusation,” she said.

The judge who granted bail noted that Shahzad was charged with blasphemy under Section 295-A, which is a non-cognizable offense, and Section 298, which is bailable. The judge also noted that police had not submitted the forensic report of Shahzad’s cell phone and said evidence was required to prove that the social media was blasphemous, according to Maria.

Bail was set at 100,000 Pakistani rupees (US $350) and two personal sureties, and the judge ordered police to further investigate, she said.

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Shahzad, a paint contractor, on June 29 posted on his Facebook page 1 Cor. 10:18-21 regarding food sacrificed to idols, as Muslims were beginning the four-day festival of Eid al-Adha, which involves slaughtering an animal and sharing the meat.

A Muslim villager took a screenshot of the post, sent it to local social media groups and accused Shahzad of likening Muslims to pagans and disrespecting the Abrahamic tradition of animal sacrifice.

Though Shahzad made no comment in the post, inflammatory or otherwise, the situation became tense after Friday prayers when announcements were made from mosque loudspeakers telling people to gather for a protest, family sources previously told Morning Star News.

Fearing violence as mobs grew in the village, most Christian families fled their homes, leaving everything behind.

In a bid to restore order, the police registered a case against Shahzad under Sections 295-A and 298. Section 295-A relates to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fine, or both. Section 298 prescribes up to one year in prison and a fine, or both, for hurting religious sentiments.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.

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Morning Star News is the only independent news service focusing exclusively on the persecution of Christians. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide complete, reliable, even-handed news in order to empower those in the free world to help persecuted Christians, and to encourage persecuted Christians by informing them that they are not alone in their suffering.

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Individual + Team Stats: Hornets vs. Timberwolves

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CHARLOTTE HORNETS MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on X: Facebook – All Hornets X – …

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