They say copying is the truest form of flattery, but when entire posts with images are taken verbatim from my site with no attribution and nary a request, then posted at two other sites (maybe more that I don't know of) that is just dirty pool.

What's with not writing a word of content yourself?

It has happened once before, and all posts were removed from that blog.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-08-17 12:15:11.

No related posts.

Does this ad offend your sensibilities or do you find it clever?

A German lingerie firm, Liaisons Dangereuse, has an ad featuring Middle Eastern music, a beautiful, thin, dark haired woman, stepping out of the shower, discretely naked, getting dressed in Liaisons Dangereuse black lingerie including garter belt and high heels, no other clothes, then putting on a niqab, similar to a burka. "Sexiness is for everyone."

And, of course, the shock factor from sexy lingerie to niqab is carrying this ad around the world. The company is getting a lot of free advertising.

My take
An observant Muslim woman would likely never allow herself to be photographed in such a manner, I wouldn't think. (I have Muslim friends.)

Sure, we who are not Muslim tend to think wearing a niqab or burka is because of the regulations of men. In some cases, it likely is, but being circumspect or modest in dress is something honored by many, religious or not. I have friends who are equally circumspect who are Mormon and religious Jews.

It just feels disrespectful to me.

What do you think?
Does this make you want to rush right out and buy this lingerie -- or the opposite?

Is there another way the lingerie could be marketed to Muslim women? Or do you think this ad is not appealing to Muslim women at all, but rather to others?

In a perfect world, would you like to see more respect of varying beliefs? I wish to honor the spiritual journey of others, not denigrate it, as I feel this ad does. Is nothing sacred?

Karin

Originally posted 2010-01-08 16:03:42.

Related posts:

1. Review Arranged Arranged is one of those sweet movies that I just...

I don't know why, but stuff multiples when I turn my back, especially with kids. I can't stay ahead of the game on this one.

A friend sent me the following:

I have a ton of stuff that's literally junk and I'm getting rid of it. I don't know how it accumulated, or why I kept it. ...once I started going through it I thought to myself, what the heck is this stuff? LOL! -c

I sympathize and know what she's feeling. I had to laugh that she didn't know what it was!

I wonder if it's worse because of the natural (?) feelings of wanting to spring clean. Actually I'd like someone else to do it, which is probably why the organization companies are multiplying. But they'd want to move out things that I consider important. Too funny, really!

I find if I put papers away for 6 mos, nearly all of it can be tossed. Makes it a lot easier to deal with 6 mos later.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-03-08 10:15:58.

No related posts.

Perhaps you've seen the online ad for the woman "57 year old woman looks 35" and the results look too good to be true.

Well, here's the fine print:

Terms & Agreement

We are not affiliated in any way with CNN, WebTV, News Channel 7, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, USA Today, BBC, 60 Minutes, CBS, U.S. News or FOX. CNN, WebTV, News Channel 7, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, USA Today, BBC, 60 Minutes, CBS, U.S. News and FOX are all registered trademarks of their respective owners. All trademarks on this web site whether registered or not, are the property of their respective owners. The authors of this web site are not sponsored by or affiliated with any of the third-party trade mark or third-party registered trade mark owners, and make no representations about them, their owners, their products or services.

*THIS PAGE RECEIVES COMPENSATION FOR CLICKS ON OR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS FEATURED ON THIS SITE.

*The story depicted on this site and the person depicted in the story are not real. rather this story is based on the results that some people who have used these products have achieved. The results portrayed in the story and in the comments are illustrative and may not be the results that you achieve with these products. this page receives compensation for clicks on or purchase of products featured on this site. The depictions on this page are fictitious and indicitive [sic] of potential results. Actual results may vary.

*Nue Science T&C Click here

*Auravie T&C Click here

Whatdya think about that!

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Related posts:

1. Mascara print ads Don't you think it is funny that every single mascara...
2. A fun online tic tac toe game If you want to have fun with a game (listed...
3. Images with truth in advertising Mascara ads I know I've spoken about it here before,...

What a tragedy for all the babies and their birth families. While I was aware of baby selling in parts of the world when I adopted from China, 10 and 12 years ago, I didn't believe it happened in China at the time I adopted. Who knows how much of it went on in those days.

Where there is money to be made illicitly, there always seems to be some degree of greed/need. But there is no thought given to the innocents in this, to the babies. Will they reunite them with their families? will any families come forward?

Tragic that families feel the need to sell their children or are swindled into doing so.

Every child deserves a loving family, but in this world it doesn't always happen. Let us work and pray for a more equitable world, for the safety and health of children everywhere, so that no child is separated from their family, from necessity or neglect or scandal, and can grow into their selfhood unencumbered and in joy. So let it be.

Karin

Henan police break up alleged baby-trafficking ring

By Chen Qian | 2009-1-8 | ONLINE EDITION

HENAN Province railway police caught 11 suspects of an alleged baby-trafficking ring after finding seven infants less than one month old taken onto a train.

The seven infants were girls. They were saved by police at Zhengzhou Railway Station in Henan. The girls are now at a social welfare home in the city, Xinhua news agency reported today. Two more suspects are still at large, police said.

Police were suspicious of eight women with infants at the railway station on October 21, Xinhua said. Police couldn't understand their dialect so they stopped them for questioning.

They soon confessed the infants were not their babies and they were taking them to Shandong Province for sale. Four of the suspects are Guizhou Province natives and four are from Yunnan Province, the report said.

The alleged leader Long Fang confessed to police that she asked her in-law Liu Yongqiong to buy babies in October. Liu later contacted a man surnamed Huang and three other suspects to purchase infants in Yunnan.

Liu and Huang remain at large.

Long purchased five infants for 14,600 yuan (US$2,147) in mid October and organized five women to transport them to Shandong, where her accomplice Zhang Li was waiting for the babies, the report said.

Six suspects took a train from Guiyang in Guizhou Province and met two other accomplices half way. The pair had two babies they purchased for 8,000 yuan in Guizhou. They arrived at Zhengzhou Railway Station on October 21 and planned to take a bus to Shandong with the others, the report said.

After catching eight women in Zhengzhou, police caught five more suspects in Shandong, Yunnan and Guizhou in the following three weeks. Among them, 11 have been detained and two are still being investigated, according to the report.

Originally posted 2009-03-20 19:11:15.

Related posts:

1. Second child in China http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/26/content_7618314.htm Craving for a second child? Govt will dent your...
2. Chinese adoptive child finds her family in China I was watching one about a young boy. But the...
3. Baby Alpaca Grande scarf pattern Here's a scarf I made in three different colors last...

A friend sent me a card with these words on it. I've seen it attributed to either Emerson or ee cummings.

The earth laughs in flowers.

Now the card is front and center to my computer screen where I see it daily.

I wish I knew why it seems like negatives grab consciousness quicker and stay longer than happiness, which seems so fleeting. I try to reverse the emphasis by being conscious (and keeping lists) of unexpected happy moments. They feel especially like serendipitous gifts, if I'm having a low moment.

This is a reminder to me that joy is found in places and moments that we might not recognize if we don't consciously let it register. It reminds me to be childlike -- to notice the interesting bug or the flowers in someone's garden or the wildflowers that are profuse along certain roadways. These are moments of happiness mitigating the adult issues that we all face in some form or other. Nature is a gift, freely given.

It just tickles my fancy to think of the earth, laughing, in flowers. A kind of celestial hiccup. And there's another one. And another one. Just like happiness.

I tell a friend that we need to string together moments of healing and happiness, as if the moments were pearls. No one focuses on the knots in a strand of pearls, just the pearls. So too, the knotty issues of life should fade into the background of our happier moments.

I made a bracelet with small sized alphabet beads and crystals using this quote so that it would be before my consciousness as I go about my day. There are even little crystal flowers on it and a butterfly.

I can always use more conscious happiness. How about you!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-06-01 12:10:17.

Related posts:

1. A happiness analogy — searching for happiness Sometimes I think the harder we look for happiness, the...
2. Finding happiness One thing I know, I'm not happy here, but would...
3. Beading: Grace Notes of Happiness I haven't done any beading in a month or so....

I don't think there is a single soul walking around who doesn't have some prejudices. Maybe our prejudices serve to keep us safe -- or maybe we think they do anyway. Or maybe they come out of life's experiences. Who knows. I suppose we fall into two categories: those who drop prejudices over time or those whose prejudices settle in more pronounced.

I was interested in what Sandra Bullock says about her husband who hosts cable-TV Monster Garage, sports a bunch of tattoos and knows his antiques.

I assumed he was a homophobic chauvinist, a bigot who killed people. And later I felt saddened by my assumptions because I wondered how many times had I written off people who truly were real. Sandra Bullock

I hope I'm overcoming a few of my own too. How about you?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-21 10:25:41.

Related posts:

1. Review The Proposal Bookgirl and I went to The Proposal this morning. The...
2. How do you identify or define yourself? [Asked which of her film roles most reflects the real...
3. Review: The Blind Side (movie) If you haven't heard of this movie, hurry on over...

When I entered into adopting from China, I wondered if my Chinese children would ever resent the time frame in which they were born. I figured that the door to China would close, likely sooner rather than later. And they were caught up in a specific time frame.

In many respects it is a different program than it was when I began. We were told we would have our first Chinese child in 4 mos. But it took me 4 mos to gather my paperwork (as fast as humanly possible)...and that put us squarely into the first slow down.

I figured sooner or later there would be an imbalance in girls and that would make girls a valuable resource (they are anyway...and even in China they are considered to hold up half the sky...hence the Half the Sky foundation's name)...and then things would change more or less in a hurry.

And, in case you didn't know, there are boys available to adopt in China. Our second agency has brought home many boys.

It is a misnomer to think that Chinese people do not love their girls. They do. Many of the things that are said as throw-away phrases are not true. I always want to ask people if they have ever been to China. Most times they have not.

What is a necessity for them, and down through the ages, is to have a boy. In olden days, girls would marry into a neighboring village and her family would likely never see her again. She became, literally, part of her husband's family. Boys were expected (and still are) to support their parents in old age. There is no social security system to fall back on. Girls are now beginning to take that place in their families also.

This article details a riot.

It is interesting to note that many grown adoptees from other countries do resent that they were adopted, while at the same time they love their adoptive families they grew up in. (Not always.) Korean adoption began as a specific 'solution' to the Korean War...and here we are 50 some years later -- Korean adoption is still on-going. Many KADs (Korean ADoptees) feel as though they are an export item, sold by their countries. And that adoption is a money making business by agencies and governments. If it were not for adoptive families standing in line with money (causing the problems) then governments would have to find other solutions, including acceptance of unwed mothers.

Likely they are correct.

And likely my own girls will feel this way. (I would, if I were in their shoes.)

Karin

Originally posted 2007-05-23 11:16:54.

Related posts:

1. A little Chinese trivia from AWAD From: Moses Liang (yettie 163.com) Re: A.Word.A.Day--calvous Here in China,...
2. Chinese adoptive child finds her family in China I was watching one about a young boy. But the...
3. Some things you can control… You can't control the length of your life, but you...

I wish someone could tell me why it is that whenever I make a concerted effort to get more organized, I can't find what I'm looking for.

I've said more than once, that if I would just nail it to the wall, I would save a lot of time looking for things.

The trouble is, I'm not a minimalist. I wish I were. I admire folks who are. (Likely I've told you.)

Instead, I'm creative, like to do various crafts...and stuff multiplies, ya know. And I have three daughters who are creative, one of whom is majoring in college in art...so I have plenty of artwork around, which I dearly love, and the stuff that artwork is made from. (And that might be why she is interested in it, outside of native talent -- because it has always been valued.)

About the time I toss something or give it away, I find I need it.

Just because I highly doubt I'll ever do cross stitch again, that's no reason to give away my floss. One of my girls is making good use of it in friendship bracelets.

I gave away a lot of yarn recently, and I feel lighter because of it. (Up until about a year ago, I thought I'd likely never knit again either. Then I found some beautiful yarns and patterns to go with it...and before you know it, I'm back in the game.) The same daughter who makes the bracelets also likes to knit when she feels like it. She's about the same age I was, when I learned.

And just because I'm not wearing a scent at the moment, it doesn't mean I won't wear it in spring or next year...and if I move them around, I have to look for what I'm looking for.

But, if I ever come back, I'm going to learn to be a minimalist. Except for perfumes... and...and... and... LOL! No, honest, I mean it!

Plus it doesn't help that we haven't moved in years, so there has been no culling.

But that might just be an excuse.

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-06 19:19:07.

No related posts.

Why is it that no matter how many phones I have, they all migrate to the room farthest from where I am when they ring?

I have only portable phones, and somehow they all end up in one place, not the cradles where they belong.

It's actually kind of funny -- I figure they have some kind of homing signal that draws them together. It couldn't possibly be me!

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-23 14:12:00.

Related posts:

1. Mornings I have a great deal of company in my house;...