Facebook For Good

It's not often that Facebook is used to do something good, let alone for a stranger but it does happen and it can be an amazing thing.

James McConnell of Southsea, Hampshire, England passed away last month at age 70. James was a veteran of the British Royal Marines but at his time of passing had no known family. His graveside service was setup by Social Services but due to lack of family no formal service was scheduled.

Bob Mason was the reverend scheduled to conduct the burial and felt a calling to do the right thing so he posted this on Facebook:

DEATH OF FORMER ROYAL MARINE
I am a clergyman in Southsea and I have been asked to conduct the Burial on 21st February for Mr McConnell who was in care at Bluebell Nursing Home, Southsea.
Sadly, Mr McConnell appears to have no family, and the ceremony (graveside only, no formal Service) is being arranged by Social Services.
The Nursing home that he was with have informed me that he was a Royal Marine but he was not at the Nursing home very long so other details are scarce.
The graveside service will be held at 09.30 on the 21st Feb at Milton Cemetery, 197 Milton Road, Portsmouth. PO4 8RS.
Ladies and Gentlemen, In this day and age it is tragic enough that anyone has to leave this world with no one to mourn their passing, but this man was family and I am sure you will agree deserves a better send off. If you can make it to the graveside for that time to pay your respects to a former brother in arms then please try to be there.
Further information can be obtained by ringing the Revd Bob Mason at the address and number below.
(Revd) Bob Mason

The post netted almost 400 likes and over 100 comments and a mind-blowing TWO HUNDRED PLUS PEOPLE were in attendance to wish James McConnell, a man they had never met nor knew nothing about other than the fact that he was a veteran, farewell.

It's things like this that give me hope for humanity as a whole.

RIP James McConnell

Law & Order: IRL

For the non-gamers out there, IRL means "In Real Life". A very appropriate title considering a recent study out of Washington State University that shows that watching TV crime dramas makes people more likely to help others in criminal situations.

The study suggests that by watching shows like Law & Order and CSI that people are actually being educated about things like sexual assault. These shows average about 6 violent acts per hour, 10% of which are related to sexual assault. The shows also tend to feature bystanders helping the victims or the police as they investigate.

Researchers think the combination of seeing these violent acts portrayed and seeing civilians stepping up to help strangers inspires and empowers people to be more pro-active when they encounter similar situations. They went on to say that this can both dissuade attackers and support victims which is what is necessary to eliminate sexual assaults.

Click here to see the full text from the Journal of Health Communication.

The Robots Are Taking Our Jobs!

Now I'm not the type to blame technology for taking away jobs from "us humans". I understand that some jobs are easier, more consistently done, and safer when done by robots. However, this just doesn't make sense to me...



WHAT THE HELL? I may be missing the point but I was under the assumption that the reason stores had people spinning signs out front was to not only draw attention to the store but to put a HUMAN FACE OUT FRONT!

Now before I go any further, I don't see these as necessary jobs. They are a way of advertising, which is necessary for a successful business, but I don't think it's vital to have a person holding the signs. I think the signs could be just as effective if they were just on a pole or even a moving pole like in the video above. The part I don't get is the mannequin. Do they think people are so stupid they won't realize it's not a real person?

My guess would be the REAL reason we started seeing people holding signs instead of more signs is local ordinances. They limit the number and size of signs you can display but I would guess those rules go out the window if you have a person stand there and hold the sign. Now, that logic has been quickly forgotten and the cost cutting has begun which apparently started with the sign holders.

This is an isolated incident but I'm expecting this trend will spread quickly. Maybe Skynet will get it's start in fast food like everyone else...