Monday, August 27, 2007

Banned from Facebook permanently-----Facebook will not tolerate breastfeeding pictures

Hi Karen,

After reviewing your situation, we have determined you violated ourTerms of Use. Please note, nudity, drug use, or other obscene contentis not allowed on the website. Additionally, we do not allow users to send threatening, obscene, and harassing messages. Unsolicited messages will also not be tolerated. We will not be able to reactivate your account for any reason. This decision is final.
Thanks for understanding,
Anthony
Customer Support Representative
Facebook

Thans for understanding?????????????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Facebook, you're messing with the WRONG lactivist.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Letter to Facebook regarding my account suspension

My fellow lactivist and friend Gen has started a facebook group in regards to my Facebook ban. Please join.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5066391459

And here is the letter, also composed by Gen, protesting my suspension. Please feel free to copy and paste and send an email to privacy@facebook.com. or a snail mail to 156 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Dear Facebook Administrators,

I can only imagine how difficult it must be to monitor and maintain a site as grand as Facebook. With millions of members uploading photos and videos everyday, it must be virtually impossible to police the activity yourselves, hence the reporting system you chose to install. This "Neighborhood Watch" system is an ingenious way to stay on top of any activity that violates the Terms of Use as outlined by yourselves. However, even you must admit that such a broad allowance of watchdog citizenship can lead to all sorts of discrimination and personal vendettas.

Karen Speed is a militant breastfeeding rights activist - she's the first to admit it. But there are far bigger fish to fry than a mother who chooses to post photos of herself breastfeeding in her personal folders andl in breastfeeding support groups. She did not try to force her photos onto anyone who should not have been prepared to see them; after all, a folder labeled "breastfeeding" will contain photos of a mother's breast, and a group in support of breastfeeding will have the same paraphernalia.

Meanwhile, groups with photos of erect penises, exposed labia, and stills from Jenna Jameson movies are allowed to exist, regardless of complaints from persons such as myself.

That, however, is neither here nor there. My actual complaint is regarding Facebook's act of discrimination, intended or not, against Karen Speed. According to law in California, which is where I believe you are headquartered, a woman has the right to breastfeed in any location, public or private, that she is allowed to be in. Breastfeeding is a basic human right of mother and child, and it is protected by civil laws. A photo of a woman breastfeeding is no more scandalous or sensational than that of a woman bottle-feeding or spoon-feeding. In fact, a pair of augmented breasts in a skimpy bikini show more than what most women show while breastfeeding.

Karen Speed simply wants to share her pride and joy of being able to breastfeed her children with other like-minded people; unfortunately, someone who is not of this mind, took it upon themselves to repeatedly report her photos, even though they were posted in her personal folders and in breastfeeding support groups. In other words, this was an act of prejudice, and Facebook's suspension of Karen's account, in its support of such prejudiced ideas, was a blatant act of discrimination.

Please contact your in-house legal team regarding the terms of use, as I don't feel photos of a breastfeeding mother and infant are in any way pornographic, "harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Site, or which may expose Company or its users to any harm or liability of any type."

Thank-you very much for your time and effort regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

"your name here"

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Facebook STILL harrassing me

I received this email today:

Hi,
Our systems indicate that you've been misusing certain features on thesite. This email serves as a warning. Misuse of Facebook's featuresor violating Facebook's terms of use may result in your account beingdisabled . Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact warning@facebook.com from your login email address.
The Facebook Team

MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN DISABLED!

I can only assume that this comes as a result of my continued posting of breastfeeding pictures. The group "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene (Official Petition to Facebook) now has over 6000 registered members. Does this mean nothing? When is Facebook going to GET IT that breastfeeding is NOT OBSCENE!!!!!!

I sent this email in return:

I received this email from facebook today. I am very confused as to which services I have been misusing. On the contrary, I feel that as a contributing member of facebook, I have valuable services to offer, such as a support group for children with cystic fibrosis, an online support group for new mothers having trouble breastfeeding their babies, as well as particiaption in various charities and causes.

I am very hurt that a moderator would accuse me of misusing facebook services, and I would appreciate a reply with a description of how I am doing so.


Sincerely,
KS

And received an automated response.

Hi,
Action has been taken on your account, and Facebook Customer Support has received your inquiry. We will review your situation and get back to you as soon as possible.Thanks for contacting Facebook.-
Facebook Customer Support


I say BOOOOOOOOOOOOO to facebook! Shame on you!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Much Music

This is from a breastfeeding supporter in Vancouver---

Today I was watching MuchMusic (Canada's MTV) with a friend and two of their VJs- one male, one female- started discussing the singer Gwen Stefani. The male said that she "just doesn't know when to stop" breastfeeding her fourteen-month-old. The female agreed, saying that she knew of someone who was still breastfeeding their four-year-old, and that "that's child abuse."Anyway, I don't know if anyone else will care, but I wrote MuchMusic a letter about it. So if anyone is interested, MuchMusic's contact email address is: muchmail@muchmusic.com ... Even if you don't write, I thought you might be interested. I'm really not a vigilante! I just get annoyed when ignorant people make ignorant comments on nationwide television.


Email: muchmail@muchmusic.com

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

2007 BREASTFEEDING CHALLENGE

ALL BREASTFEEDING MOMS AND BABIES ARE WELCOME!

The site has been registered for Saturday, September 29, 2007.The location will be West Edmonton Mall, from 10:00 to 12:00.For those of you who are not familiar with this event, please check this link: www.babyfriendly.ca/ch...mother.php

It is an event for all breastfeeding mothers and babies, gathered in one spot. At exactly 11:00 a.m., we will do a countdown, and all the babies latch on and breastfeed, and the numbers of nursing babies are tallied. This is a world wide event to raise awareness of breastfeeding.There will be vendors, information booths, door prizes and more! Please mark this on your calendar and come out to support and participate in this wonderful event!


Invitation to Join the Breastfeeding Challenge 2007


Join us to celebrate breastfeeding in a fun “competition” where every child “wins” because they are breastfed!!

What: Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge 2007 This fun event is a challenge for which geographic area ( province, state or territory) has the most breastfeeding babies, as a percentage of the birthrate, “latched on.” at 11am local time.

When: September 29th*

Why: to celebrate breastfeeding and demonstrate promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding women and their families. It’s a chance for education and peer support done in a fun social way.
Location: a health unit or hospital, local coffee shop, mall or any other venue.

Numbers: 2-??

“Latch on”: 11am local time. Some sites are a few breastfeeding women who get together to “be counted” and others are much larger events with lunch, raffles, education, speakers, door prizes etc

Registration: online at no cost and submit some simple paperwork to be counted on the big day. Dial up www.babyfriendly.ca

Background: In 2001 when this event started, there were 856 babies at 26 sites in British Columbia, Canada. Last year there were 4,687 babies at 156 sites across Canada and the US. This year we would love to see that number increase dramatically. Do your part, join us – organize a site – big or small! Every breastfeeding baby counts in the final count.

The 2007 theme for World Breastfeeding Week (celebrated in Canada in the first week of October) is set by WABA and found at http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org
*Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge is usually held on the first Saturday of October but this year that is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. Many families are away from their communities on the holiday weekend so the Challenge has been moved back a week for 2007.

© Quintessence Foundation 2002-2007

Monday, August 6, 2007

Friday, August 3, 2007

HELP LITTLE JACK STRIKE BACK

In the UK, formula advertising is illegal. There are several action groups working to enforce this, and here is their latest effort:

http://www.nct.org.uk/microsites/littlejack/

Wednesday, August 1, 2007



Breastfeeding Jezek Jericho, age 1 week, December, 2005