HauntingEchoes.com is COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 [COPPA]) compliant. Users are asked to confirm that they are 13 years or older during the registration process, prior to using our services. Any child under the age of 13 is not granted membership. As you have pointed out, your daughter is 13 years old and meets the minimum registration requirements for HauntingEchoes.com. We are not legally required to deny her membership and we do not need written parental consent for her to use our services. As a side note, COPPA is American law and as the website is owned and operated by an Australian citizen it does not legally apply. Contrary to your condescending jabs at my morality, I am an advocate of the protection of children online and comply with the Act regardless, and not just because I use American services.

Entering an age into the profile display post-registration is not compulsory, nor does it affect a members usability of the website. We do not collect personal information, including “real” names, and any information provided is for display purposes only and is provided at the discretion of the member. Information is not harvested and members are advised not to provide personally identifiable information – this is enforced by the staff of the website. Any information that members deem to include on their profiles is for the sole purpose of meeting other members of similar ages and interests. HauntingEchoes.com holds no responsibility for users entering incorrect or misleading information.

It is not the responsibility of the “Internet” as a collective to ensure that your children only view content that you personally deem appropriate, that is your job as a parent. I take responsibility for my website and ensure that content is legally compliant, but I am not responsible for your child. Obviously, I can’t expect anything more from you than petty insults at my expense so I’m not going to waste my valuable time responding to your jabs regarding “suicidal vampires”.

I have deleted your daughters account from my website, not because I had to and not because I felt obliged to. I’m deleting it out of pity for your daughter, because if this is the kind of harpy bitching that she receives from you just for browsing a website coloured black, then I’m happy to do her a favour and shut you up.

You have a nice day, okay?

Now, I’ve had a brief stint of employment as a telemarketer and I have a certain amount of sympathy for any that call me; HOWEVER, I truly believe that people who work for automated telemarketing companies have no soul.  What makes automated telemarketing more annoying than regular telemarketing is that the company thinks so very little of its potential customers that they can’t even allocate a human being to make the call.  Basically, the system mass-dials a block of phone numbers and routes the first person to answer to an available telemarketer – everyone else is either dropped or greeted with a recorded message.  Those that don’t answer, or are dropped, go back into rotation for another re-call.

This isn’t standard practice and, from my experience, companies that use this method are all kinds of dodgy.   What makes it appealing to scam artists is that they can hire a limited number of telemarketers to handle a high volume of calls.  Unfortunately for us, if we want to get off the rotation we need to be connected to a telemarketer, reject the pitch, and get taken off the list.

Directly after googling the number I registered myself on the Do Not Call Register.  Unfortunately it takes 30 days for my numbers to be applied, so at this point I’m torn between answering the moment it rings and telling them to swallow a razorblade, or just ignoring it until the DNC registration kicks in (if it even makes any difference at all).  From what I’ve read about this particular number, there are people who have been persistently called for months.  Those who have answered have reported scams regarding Commonwealth Bank health insurance, and Optus scams.  If you receive a call from this number, do not give them any personal information (like many of the reports I’ve read), or you may as well walk outside and hand your credit card to the nearest passer-by.

Even while posting this blog, I received yet another call from 02 9112 5000.  It’s like it’s lurking in wait of the most opportune moment to annoy the absolute crap out of me.

(16:31:27) caseylee: oh get fudged.
(16:31:29) caseylee: it’s calling me again
(16:31:33) sanjin: thinking about buying all the har…wow :[
(16:31:39) sanjin: put the phone on silent!
(16:31:48) caseylee: i’m writing a blog about it and it calls me
(16:31:50) caseylee: how poetic
(16:31:57) sanjin: lol :[

Holy beep.

Over the past few months I’ve noticed more and more Guess bags around – but NEVER have I seen so much ugly in one place. Concentrated evil. Oh how the pleather shone and the glitter burned into my retinas. For the life of me, I cannot understand the appeal of these ghastly things.

Overkill much? I don’t know what exactly they’re trying to achieve. I assume they’re supposed to look “designer” and not like someone threw up a pile of ugly and put straps on it. With a $300 price tag on several of them in the store, I am honestly ashamed of the female gender for forking out that kind of money for a plastic bag. They’re the type of bag I’d expect to see draped over the arm of a middle-aged woman with bleached blonde hair, excessive tan and hot pink claw-like nails.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all was that the Guess bags in this store were CHAINED TO THE DISPLAY CASE. I’m talking chains with big-ass padlocks. What kind of deluded criminal would want to steal something that hideous? :[

Needless to say I didn’t leave the store with a Guess back in tow. However, I wasn’t empty handed and I’m quite happy with my plain, boring GENUINE leather caramel Colorado purse.

For those of you too disgusted (or lazy) to read the bulletin, I’ll give you the gist. Basically, there are many American holidays that are celebrated by ethnic minorities – but none *gasp* that are allocated to “white ethnicity”. The poster of this bulletin argues that it is mortally unfair that “whites” are restricted from celebrating their heritage in the same manner as holidays such as Black History Month.

Generally, holidays serve a purpose. Holidays celebrating ethnic diversity (and all historical holidays for that matter) have been created throughout history to mark milestones. Some are linked to a specific date and a specific incident, while others (like Black History Month) are established for remembrance, education and awareness. Each country has their own holidays that are specific to the cultural development of that country, targeting cultures and heritages that have helped shape their society.

“White” is not a heritage. Half of our globe is made up of people of white skin. There’s as much ethnic diversity between Caucasians as there is between people of an entire spectrum of colours. “Caucasian” is made up of a series of subsets that hold their own heritages. Two thrown out by the poster of the bulletin were German and Swedish (his heritage that is so poorly and unfairly represented in America). Both of these countries have their own holidays in their respective countries that celebrate their cultural heritage. If one day I decided to pack up and relocate to America, should I begin complaining about the obviously racist intentions of not including a day dedicated to Australian’s in the American calender? Of course not. Australian’s have played no important role in the historical development of American society. I may as well move to a country that doesn’t speak English and start demanding they all learn it to accommodate me.

Ethnic holidays are based on nationalities. Asian holidays are for people of Asian-American heritage. Hispanic holidays are for people of Hispanic-American heritage (Mexican, Cuban, etc.). “Black” holidays refer to those celebrated by people of African-American heritage. Africa and Asia are continents. Mexico, Cuba and other Latin areas are countries. I may not have been a whizz in geography, but where exactly is “Caucasian” on the map? Skin colour and heritage are two completely different concepts. What exactly would a “white holiday” celebrate? Everyone sits around at a barbeque, shooting off fireworks and discussing the colour of their skin?

I could rant about this all day, but it’s past midnight now so I will leave it at that. A little food for thought.