Facebook Addiction: 9 Increasingly Drastic Ways to Overcome It

Article By: Anthony Ongaro

On a day like any other, I was standing at my desk working on a blog post while trying to come up w/the appropriate words to write. Frustrated at my lack of progress, I turned, looked out the window for a moment then looked back to my screen. My blog post had disappeared, but the infamous blue & white website we all know so well had replaced it.

Later that afternoon while working on another written piece, a co-worker walked into my office & interrupted me mid-sentence. After a quick conversation, I looked back at my Word document & found a sentence that looked approximately like this:

The efficiencies of quantum mechanics determine that sevfacebook

While that sentence is 100% fabricated, the example of what happened to the end of it is 100% true. For the 2nd time that day, I had subconsciously typed the word “facebook” w/out realizing it & it scared the crap out of me. I knew it was time for a change.

What started out as a simple way to connect w/college classmates has become an all encompassing communication hub where we get our news, updates on family members while spending a heck of a lot of our time.

The average user now spends about 50 minutes per day on Facebook.

I’d venture to guess that the 50 minutes aren’t in a solid block either, occurring in small 2-3 minute chunks as notifications come in throughout the day. These bursts create small interruptions, pulling us away from what we may be doing, eating, working on, or creating. It’s no accident that Facebook brings us back as frequently as possible. For the company, our attention equals dollars.

Like any habit loop, Facebook is designed to work its way into our brain as a trigger-habit-reward cycle that is incredibly difficult to break. At the surface, Facebook is a tool—not inherently good or bad—but its impact on our lives is determined by how we use it.

Imagine picking up a hammer 35 times per day & using it wherever you happen to be. When you need to drive in a nail, picking up a hammer makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, it would seem quite ridiculous. Facebook is the hammer & connecting w/friends & family is the nail. Everything else gets diminished by the hammer – our personal lives, intentions & meaningful connections to the world.

If you feel like you’re losing the battle against the Facebook addiction twitch, there is help!

These suggestions are ordered from least extreme to most, allowing you to choose the options that are right for you.

Log out of the website. Make it so that you have to manually log in every time you want to use Facebook. Doing this will give you a few seconds to decide if you actually need to log on, creating intentional friction in the process. This strategy works best when on the computer, but can also work if you don’t use the Facebook app on your phone.

Temporarily block the site. By using a productivity browser extension like Strict Workflow, you can hit a button that will block any websites you don’t want to visit for a specific duration of time. Once break time comes around, it will allow you to go to the sites of your choosing. Click the button again & the sites will be blocked while you focus. These blockers help reduce the number of times you may bounce to Facebook during a focus period.

Turn off all app notifications. It’s best when you intentionally decide to check Facebook, w/out hearing an alert that triggers your attention. Reduce distractions & the urge to check & scroll by turning off all notifications in the app.

Delete the app. While you can still use your mobile browser to check Facebook, doing this significantly reduces the notifications & helps break the twitch of being able to check the site so quickly. The app is made to be as low friction as possible & deleting it will help you avoid using Facebook when it’s less appropriate. Even more powerful is if you use the 1st tip & log out of the site, forcing yourself to log in on your phone.

Kill the newsfeed algorithm. If you’re habitually checking Facebook, 1 way to reduce the desire to do so is to have no new content come up when you do. You can use a browser extension called FB Purity to automatically reorder the newsfeed into chronological order. That way, Facebook won’t show you new content every time you open the site & it will be much less interesting when you do visit & scroll.

Block the newsfeed completely. Using the same FB Purity app, you can select an option to delete the newsfeed all together. It will show up as a blank space in the middle of your screen & won’t entice you to scroll down if you need to log on to Facebook to post something or check on 1 of your business pages. You can take care of whatever you might need to for work & then be done w/it.

Deactivate your account. Unfortunately, Facebook has made it ridiculously easy to reactivate your account…all you have to do is just log in again. But, the best way to break a habit cycle is to detox & rewire your brain from that habit. I’ve found that it takes at least 5 to 7 days to break the initial ‘twitch’ habit cycle, so commit to at least that. Deactivate your account & log back in when you’re ready.

Delete your account. You have to dig around in your Facebook settings to find this option – but if you feel that Facebook isn’t benefiting you in meaningful ways, just get rid of it. If you want to keep your content, you can download your entire Facebook history in 1 small zip file & backup everything you’ve ever posted. To continuing sharing w/others, you can start a blog where people can find you with a quick Google search & where you can share your life updates & learnings.

Throw your phone & computer into a ravine. If all else fails, find a property on which to homestead, grow your own food & throw your electronic devices into the fire river of Mordor. There are fewer things better than some quality time in nature to help beat an addiction, & perhaps we need to take some extreme measures to ensure our own progress.

Facebook is a tool that just like any other, should benefit us when we use it. If you feel like it’s controlling your life a little more than it should, take steps to get it back to sanity. When used intentionally, it’s a valuable resource that allows you to connect in meaningful ways.

View full article at: http://www.breakthetwitch.com/facebook-addiction/

Your iPhone Keeps a List of Everywhere You’ve Ever Been. Here’s How to Delete It

Article By: Alicia Adamczyk

Here’s how to delete your “frequent locations” – We’ve all become lax w/our privacy in the Facebook age but this iPhone feature may take things a bit too far. Buried deep (deep) in your privacy settings is an automated feature that records every place you’ve ever visited, every time you’ve been there.

After reading about the Big Brother-esque app on Thrillest, I went to my settings to see how much it really knew about me. Turns out it could pinpoint my apartment here in New York, the address of the house I stayed in during a recent trip to Boston & my home address back in Michigan. In fact, your iPhone lists all of the exact locations of the major cities you’ve been recently.

If that isn’t disconcerting enough, beneath every location you’ve visited, it lists the # of recorded visits in a certain time period. If you click on a location, it will list out all of the times & dates of your visit. That terrible bar I spent too much time in a few weeks ago? Recorded for posterity. The fact that my mom wasn’t lying when she complained that I visited friends more often than her when I was home for the weekend? Easily provable.

Want to turn it off? (I assume so.) Here’s how:
– Go to the Settings menu, select Privacy
– Select Location Services
– Scroll down (really far) to the bottom (keep going) & select System Services
– Scroll & select Frequent Locations
– Get sufficiently creeped out by how much your iPhone knows about you
– Select ‘Clear History’ & swipe the Frequent Locations tab left

How to keep your phone from tracking you in the 1st place?
Keep your Location Services off & only turn them on when you’re lost or, say, need an Uber. If you want to leave Location Services on at all times, just turn “Frequent Locations” off. Since all wireless phones are required by law to have a GPS locator built in for emergencies, your location still won’t be totally anonymous. But this way, a history of everywhere you’ve been won’t be so easy to see.

View full article at: http://time.com/money/4110183/iphone-map-knows-everywhere-youve-ever-been-how-to-delete-it/?xid=yahoo_monpartner?xid=yahoo_money

Thermonuclear missile launch near Los Angeles is final sign of World War III on the precipice… US, China & Russia all escalating covert attacks in run up to global war

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. – Matthew 24:6-14

Article By: Mike Adams

“A mysterious bright light in the sky has sent Californians into panic,” reports the BBC. “Videos posted online show a bright flare rising high, before a wide, bright blue flash emerges in a cone shape. Many videos continue to track the light for several minutes.”

Last night, Californians immediately leapt to social media to propose their theories of the phenomenon, ranging from a nuclear missile attack to meteors.

“Law agencies & news media in San Diego were flooded w/calls about 6 p.m. from people reporting everything from a flare to a comet to a nuclear bomb in the western sky,” reports the San Diego Union Tribune.

Just a day earlier, the FAA had issued flight restrictions for the Los Angeles International Airport, denying aircraft access to 1 of the most frequent approach paths for international & domestic travel.

The official explanation is a lie
The “official” explanation of this event — & remember that “official” explanations are almost always cover stories — is that the U.S. Navy launched a test missile just bc they “routinely” test missiles.

“Media in California confirmed that the light came from an unarmed Trident missile fired from the USS Kentucky navy submarine,” reports the BBC.

While they call the missile “unarmed,” they fail to mention that the Trident missile normally carries a thermonuclear warhead. There’s also no way for the media to know whether this missile was really unarmed or not, as the sole source on that question is the U.S. Navy itself. Apparently the media thinks the public is so incredibly stupid that they’ll believe the U.S. Navy has nowhere else to launch a test missile other than right next to Los Angeles. Somehow we’re supposed to believe the entire Pacific Ocean won’t work for such a test launch, so they have to launch it adjacent to the airport & thereby inconvenience commercial aviation traffic for an entire week.

Obviously, the official cover story is pure bunk. So what’s the real story behind this? It all has to do w/China & the covert war that’s already underway between China, the US & Russia.

China’s military submarines are a huge threat to U.S. national security
To get up to speed on what’s really happening, read this report from the Congressional Research Service (PDF) found at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf. Authored by Ronald O’Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs, & just released on Sep. 21, 2015, the report is entitled, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities.”

The report states:

China is building a modern & regionally powerful navy w/a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. Observers of Chinese & U.S. military forces view China’s improving naval capabilities as posing a potential challenge in the Western Pacific to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve & maintain control of blue-water ocean areas in wartime — the 1st such challenge the U.S. Navy has faced since the end of the Cold War. China’s naval modernization effort encompasses a broad array of platform & weapon acquisition programs, including anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), submarines, surface ships, aircraft & supporting C4ISR (command & control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance) systems.

The most important section of this report, in my assessment, is this description of China’s ship-killing ballistic missiles:

China is fielding an ASBM, referred to as the DF-21D, that is a theater-range ballistic missile equipped w/a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) designed to hit moving ships at sea. DOD states that China continues to field an ASBM based on a variant of the CSS-5 (DF-21) MRBM that it began deploying in 2010. This missile provides the PLA the capability to attack aircraft carriers in the western Pacific. The CSS-5 Mod 5 has a range exceeding 1,500 km [about 810 nm] & is armed w/a maneuverable warhead.

China, in other words, has weapons capable of destroying U.S. aircraft carriers, destroyers & other ships. The 1,500 km range is key bc it allows a very wide operational range. Just recently in August, the Chinese & Russians held their largest naval joint exercise in history as a way to “counter U.S. influence in Asia.” As reported by Collapse.news:

The Russian & Chinese navies are set to hold their largest joint exercises ever, featuring scores of warships, 100s of troops & an amphibious landing, in what appears to be a deepening of ties meant to counter a rising U.S. military presence in Asia.

In September, Chinese warships were spotted operating near the coast of Alaska. This was reported across the mainstream media, including in the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, “5 Chinese Navy Ships Are Operating in Bering Sea off Alaska.” Fox News also covered the same story: “5 Chinese warships spotted off Alaska coast during President Obama’s visit.” In response to that territorial provocation, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Lassen destroyer to w/in 12 nautical miles of China’s newly-constructed military bases in the Spratly Islands. China’s communist government openly condemned the act as a provocation of war. From the Straits Times:

China claims most of the South China Sea & on Oct 9 its Foreign Ministry warned that Beijing would “never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters & airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation & overflight.”

Secret space weapon attacks on China’s industrial infrastructure
This is all on top of the Pentagon’s secret space weapon attacks on China’s industrial infrastructure. As I wrote on August 17 of this year, Natural News was informed by mainland Chinese dissidents that they believe the string of mysterious industrial explosions such as the massive Tianjin explosion was caused by kinetic strikes from orbital platform weapons operated by the United States. China then retaliated by covertly destroying a U.S. weapons depot in Tokyo, using old-school sabotage techniques. 2 additional industrial explosions in China soon followed.

Taiwan surrenders to China w/insane “1 China” admission by President Ma
China’s war of aggression is also in high gear on the geopolitical side, w/China pressuring Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to publicly state yesterday that Taiwan is now part of China! A massive cultural backlash in Taiwan is now surging, as most of the country’s citizens do not want to be part of communist China. Taiwan’s DPP party is rapidly rising to prominence on the platform of Taiwan as a sovereign nation, but China remains in an aggressive military stance, always threatening Taiwan w/an armed invasion if Taiwan attempts to “secede” from China. (Taiwan’s GMT party, which is a “pro-China” party, has been plagued by an endless stream of scandals & corruption.)

From Channel News Asia: “Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou emphasised the island must continue to uphold the 1992 Consensus w/China’s Communist Party in order to promote cross-strait relations & development, as he marked the 22nd anniversary of the historic talks between Taipei & Beijing in Singapore.”

Taiwan is a critical strategic island for U.S. influence over the Pacific naval theater of operations. Taiwan’s airports & military basis provide key strategic locations for staging U.S. aircraft & even bombers if conflict breaks out w/China. As you ponder all this, keep in mind that Taiwan’s media giants have all been infiltrated & taken over by communist China. The Taiwan media is now China’s state-run media. Only small, independent websites can be trusted to report the truth.

The Trident missile launch near Los Angeles was a warning shot against China in a last-ditch effort to prevent all-out war
The upshot of all this is that the U.S. & China have been engaged in a covert war for quite some time, & that covert war has escalated month by month, even as the official state-run news organizations of both nations have denied any war is happening at all.

Last night’s test launch of the Trident missile over Orange County was staged near a high population area for a tactical reason: To have as many witnesses (& videos) as possible, sending a very visible warning message to China that says, “We can destroy you if you don’t back off.”

The Trident missile, built by Lockheed Martin, is a thermonuclear missile system (Fleet Ballistic Missile) w/a range of at least 4,000 nautical miles. See the Trident missile page on the U.S. Navy website. Just 1 Trident missile launched from somewhere in the Pacific Ocean could devastate China w/a nuclear strike on Beijing.

The U.S. Navy’s “showcasing” of the Trident missile near Los Angeles is a $31 million billboard that tells China, “Don’t f–k w/us.” Nobody in the mainstream media is report this; probably bc w/a few exceptions, they are mostly clueless, brain-dead propagandists who know nothing about international geopolitics & the real state of conflict in our world. Also, they are ordered what to write by the U.S. government regime in exactly the same way China’s “journalists” are ordered what to write by the Chinese regime.

Right now, the United States & China are in an undeclared state of war. China stands ready to strike the USA w/nuclear warheads or high altitude EMP weapons that would destroy the U.S. power grid & cause 90% casualties across the unprepared population. Legendary American journalist Ted Koppel has even written a book about this entitled Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath.

China & Russia preparing massive 1st strike against America
Many people believe that China & Russia are working together to prepare for a massive 1st strike against the United States that would cripple its defenses & economy. Following that 1st strike, a land invasion would commence using Russian troops. Supporting this theory, Russian submarines have been spotted near undersea internet cables in an obvious effort to document their whereabouts so that the cables can be instantly severed, unleashing a devastating blow to the U.S. economy, Wall Street & even military communications.

“Russian submarines & spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military & intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of conflict,” reports WND.com. “In times of tension or conflict, the ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West’s governments, economies & citizens have grown dependent.”

At the same time a new Russian “drone sub” has been created that can strike U.S. coastal cities & harbors w/nuclear weapons.

Writing on NationalSecurity.news, Jon Dougherty states, “According to officials, the developmental unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, when it is deployed, will be outfitted w/megaton-class nuclear warheads that can destroy key ports used by U.S. nuclear-armed & powered submarines like Kings Bay, Georgia, & Puget Sound in Washington state.”

The ultimate pre-emptive strike on America: EMP attack, cyber attack, currency wars & bandwidth blackouts
If you put the pieces of the puzzle together, what’s really shaping up here is a massive, multi-layered pre-emptive strike against America, an empire seen by the rest of the world as an insane bully that meddles w/everything on the international stage. This 1st strike, combining the forces & expertise of both China & Russia, may consist of:
• High-altitude EMP detonation over North America, destroying regional power grids.
• A devastating currency war initiated by China announcing its own gold-backed currency while dumping U.S. Treasury debt on the open market.
• A Russian-led severing of undersea fiber optic cables.
• Russian-launched nuclear missiles targeting U.S. coastal cities.
• China-led assault on U.S. Navy warships using anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs).
• A cyber warfare attack on key U.S. infrastructure, including water delivery systems, nuclear power plants & the power grid.

As all this is going on, the Obama administration — a treasonous regime of criminals who have seized control of the U.S. government in an effort to destroy America from w/in — has been firing all the top military commanders who know how to survive such an assault. Instead of America’s military focusing on how to win wars, troops are now subjected to sensitivity training & the politically correct push for female troops on the front lines.

This is not fiction. Even the U.S. White House is now openly preparing for a massive EMP attack launched by China. Dave Hodges also reports in this article about World War III:

Congress has now heard testimony that the United States is not ready for World War III while Russia is chomping at the bit to “get it on”. Further Congress has learned that Obama has been once again been badly outmaneuvered by Putin, the master chess player… the Chinese & the Russians are going to kick America’s rear end in the upcoming war. Very disturbingly, there is a growing awareness among Congress that the United States cannot win World War III. There was only discussion in these congressional meetings as to whether, or not, the U.S. could prevail in World War III, not win the conflict.

To stay up to speed on all these events & how you might survive them, I strongly urge you to pay attention to the following websites:
– TalkNetwork.com
– NationalSecurity.news
– Bugout.news
– AlternativeNews.com
– Space.news
– Cyberwar.news
– Collapse.news
– Treason.news
– FETCH.news
– stevequayle.com
– allnewspipeline.com
– thecommonsenseshow.com

View full article at: http://www.naturalnews.com/051884_Trident_missile_launch_covert_war_with_China_first_strike_on_America.html#

Facebook will warn you if you’re subject to government ‘attacks’

Article By: Matt Brian

Imagine logging into Facebook to find a message telling you that your profile may have been targeted in a suspected state-sponsored attack. It’s now a possibility, after the social network announced that it’ll display a new notification if someone who is suspected of “working on behalf of a nation-state” has attempted to snoop on or take over your account.

In the wake of Edward Snowden’s NSA spying leaks, US companies have stepped forward to take more action on behalf of their users. Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos says the company continuously monitors accounts for any malicious activity, but has decided to roll out an additional warning bc nation-state cyber-attacks (by people working on behalf of a foreign government) “tend to be more advanced & dangerous than others.”

Of course, high-profile accounts are more likely to be targeted & such attacks will likely have government-sanctioned motives behind them. However, if you do receive the warning, the bulletin recommends enabling 2-factor approvals (if they haven’t been enabled already), making it harder for nefarious types to tamper w/your online presence.

The message isn’t linked to “any compromise of Facebook’s platform or systems,” says Stamos. The person in question may have had their computer or smartphone infected w/malware, which often gives an attacker the login information they need to access a person’s account.

“To protect the integrity of our methods & processes, we often won’t be able to explain how we attribute certain attacks to suspected attackers,” adds Stamos. “That said, we plan to use this warning only in situations where the evidence strongly supports our conclusion.”

View full article at: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/19/facebook-state-sponsored-profile-attack-warnings/

Do NOT ‘UNFRIEND’ Yourself – Do not delete your social media accounts

Post By: Albert Mascheroni

DO NOT ‘UNFRIEND’ YOURSELF- Do not delete your social media accounts

I have heard a lot of people exclaim that they want to delete their social media accounts. I have heard them say, that the Holy Spirit is compelling them too.

…giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils – 1 Timothy 4:1

* I have been attacked on every end. I have had people threaten to have me committed if I didn’t delete my facebook.
* I have had old police buddies tell me that I should keep my business private (they tell me ever so gently).
* I have had medical practitioners tell me that I shouldn’t post about ‘end of the world’ type stuff…that if it happens, it happens, let the people figure it out themselves.
* I have had lawyers tell me that I should cancel all my social media accounts, lest I look like a madman.
* I have had lawyers tell me to cancel my facebook; they have gone as far as raising their voices at me, as though I was posting personally against them?

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. – 2 Corinthians 11:14

Psychology theorist, Adam Blatner, M.D., lists 7 types of anger:
– Number zero (0) – feeling angry subconsciously but not demonstrating it
– Number one-half (0.5) – anger shown through subtle clues
– Level One (1) – Displeasure is shown without blame
– Level Two (2) – A little more displeasure to elicit a response
– Level Three (3) – Anger with a scowl or harsh words
-Level Four (4) – Anger with loudness of speech and expression
– Level Five (5) – Losing temper and getting into a rage; aggression

I seem to be angering the versions of this angel of light to Level Five (5).

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. – Matthew 16:23

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come. – WWW… World-Wide Web – Matthew 24:14

It will be preached! If the Devil can’t get me to delete mine, he’ll get you to delete yours! Do not cancel your facebooks but rather use them as a weapon to raise awareness! I tell you that I have gifts, but my gifts are useless to you if you commit social media suicide & ‘unawareness’ yourself.

I have raised awareness on many aspects to many people; many things that were unbeknownst to them & would be still, if I had not done so using this social media tool. Why do you think I keep getting attacked, insulted, & threatened about my postings?

And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. – Daniel 11:33

Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. – Proverbs 8:14

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. – Proverbs 22:3

Remember that the Devil is capable of deceiving the whole world (Revelation 12:9) including the elect (Mat. 24:24) Don’t go into the darkness of ignorance…stay in the light — don’t pass on — be prudent —

The Sign of Jonah: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. – Matthew 12:42

All you have to do is come from the uttermost parts of your homes to obtain shared wisdom on social media.

View full post at: https://www.facebook.com/al.masch.50/posts/432816183564734

5 Lessons I Learned After Quitting Facebook

Article By: CRYSTAL PAINE

Last month, I made the decision to say goodbye to my personal Facebook account. It was a decision that was in the back of my mind for a while. I took the plunge on May 6, 2015. Since then, I’ve learned 5 important lessons:

(1) I Don’t Have As Many Friends As I Thought: On my personal Facebook page, I had 100s of “friends”. Once I said goodbye to my account, only a handful of them stayed in contact w/me. My birthday was less than 2 weeks after I made the decision to quit Facebook. In the previous years, most everyone on my friends list posted “happy birthday” to me. Guess how many thought to call or text me? FIVE. Most of them were family…which leads me to the next lesson.

(2) I Don’t Care: Learning lesson 1 taught me lesson 2. I don’t care about the lack of communication from my former Facebook “friends”. The true friendships that I have are even more precious to me before. I value the few close friends I have more than I ever valued the fake 1s I thought I had.

(3) I Have More Free Time: I am amazed at how much time I really do have in a day. I knew I spent a good bit of time on Facebook, but I had no clue exactly how much. I no longer feel the need to check my feed bc I’m bored or out of habit. Instead, I use that time to do something productive or something I really enjoy.

(4) I Am Happier: Let’s face it. Facebook is FULL of negativity…& I don’t want that in my life. I am not the type of person who can just forget about something. So, when I would see a troubling post/picture, it would stay w/me for days. I don’t want to focus on negativity in my life. I want to embrace the positive. Since quitting Facebook, I am happier.

(5) I Don’t Feel “Left Out”: I honestly thought that I would feel left out of the loop since quitting Facebook. I’ve found that I don’t. My friends & family inform me of any pertinent information I need to know.

Bonus Lesson #6: My Phone Battery Lasts Longer: It’s amazing how long a phone battery lasts when you are not constantly checking for updates & messages!

View full article at: http://moneysavingmom.com/2015/06/5-lessons-i-learned-after-quitting-facebook.html

NEW STUDY: Too much Facebook leads to envy and depression

Do you know who has access to your Facebook profile? Tips to take control

Will 2015 be the year the media turns on Pope Francis?

Article By: Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

The media giveth, & the media taketh away. The media likes 3 things: 1) Building people up; 2) Tearing people down; & 3) The Narrative (sometimes at the expense of facts). When it comes to Pope Francis, the media has certainly enjoyed building him up. He was Time’s Person of the Year in 2013, for crying out loud! And he hadn’t done much of anything by then!

While the Beatlemania phase of the Francis papacy has died down a bit, coverage of him remains universally positive. It would be foolish to deny that some of the positivity is due to the man himself — his obvious joy & personal holiness, his style, his approachability, his oratory. But it would be equally foolish to deny that some of the good vibes come from The Narrative, namely that Pope Francis is a man w/a plan to “reform” the Catholic Church, w/the word “reform” having 1 & only 1 meaning: aligning the Catholic Church w/the social progressivism held dear by the vast majority of the members of the professional media.

Francis has indeed done a few things that validate The Narrative of a “progressive Pope.” But he persists — to the constant befuddlement &  frustration of the media— in stymying The Narrative in other ways. Why, it’s almost as if he’s bigger than the media’s cookie cutter portrayal of him! How long can Francis expect to enjoy the media’s favor? The problem is that, when it comes to Popes, there are really only 2 Narratives to choose from. You either have the good, friendly, kind, progressive, Cool Dad Pope or you have the evil, reactionary Pope who is brimming w/anger. Thus Benedict XVI was “God’s Rottweiler” even though every1 who has laid eyes on the guy for more than 30 seconds can agree on his humility, shyness & personal gentleness. No feel-good stories about Benedict’s love for cats or his passion for the piano! Red Pradas from here to eternity! Never mind that they weren’t Pradas & that papal red shoes symbolize the blood of martyrs that the church & papacy are built on — hardly a symbol of idle luxury.

Given the journalistic tendency to view everything through a political lens, all coverage of the papacy must be confined to those 2 categories. You can either be on Team Good Guys (the left) or Team Bad Guys (the right). And once the media finds out that Francis isn’t on Team Good Guys, it is inevitable that they will place him on Team Bad Guys. So when will Francis become the bad guy? This year? Sooner, later? I think I can pinpoint the exact date: Oct. 25 of this year. That is when the 2nd session of the Synod on the Family will close. This is the body of bishops that is supposed to help Francis come up w/ideas & initiatives on the theme of the family.

Many people, including many bishops, expect Francis to prove his credentials as a reformer by changing church doctrine on a key issue: whether Catholics who are divorced & remarried can be allowed to receive holy communion. This is the big “reform” that every1 is awaiting, the 1 that is so dearly expected, not just bc it would soften the church’s morality on sex & relationships, but bc it would signal that, despite the bleatings of so many conservative Catholics, church doctrine on sex & relationships can be changed. That would open up the floodgates on other positions previously thought unchangeable, such as on contraception, women priests, gay marriage — you name it. This, in turn, would ensure that, like so many other Christian denominations, the Catholic Church devolves into a debating society much too preoccupied w/navel-gazing & Robert’s Rules of Order to do its actual job of serving the poor, healing the sick & lighting the world on fire w/the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Which, if you believe in the devil, as Francis does, is exactly what he would want.

Unlike progressive Catholics who expect it w/bated breath, & conservative Catholics who fear it, I don’t think Pope Francis will change church doctrine. Instead, I think he will reaffirm it, along w/the church’s other inconvenient rules, & thereby destroy The Narrative. Until then, I fully intend to enjoy the next 10 months of positive coverage of the papacy while I can.

View full article at: http://theweek.com/articles/531463/2015-year-media-turns-pope-francis

After ISIS Twitter threat, military families rethink online lives

Article By: CNN Wire Service

One military wife recalls staying up all night & deleting every Facebook picture of her children, every post that mentioned them or where they went to school. She Googled herself, trying to figure out how easy it would be to find where the family lived. In the morning, she went to her car & scraped the military decal off the back window. As the spouse of a Special Forces soldier, she’s always tried to be conscious of how much she advertises that she & her 3 young children are a military family. “It’s hard bc you are so proud of what my husband does, but lately so many spouses that I know are actually scared that they could be targets of ISIS or some1 who sympathizes w/ISIS,” she said, asking that CNN keep her name out of the story for that reason.

This week brought the latest in a string of attacks that members of military families say has spooked them into quietly changing the way they operate online & in real life. The U.S. military’s Central Command Twitter account was hacked. In all caps, this message: “AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING. WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.” The tweet included a link to a statement that said, in part, “We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives & children. U.S. soldiers! We’re watching you!”

The hacker managed to post other threatening messages, propaganda videos & some military documents until the accounts were disabled. Central Command quickly assured that it was relatively easy to hack Twitter, no serious security details were revealed & it would find who was behind the hack.

Army wife Ashley Broadway-Mack said the messages just amplified the anxiety she already feels after recent terror attacks targeting military personnel, law enforcement officers & civilians. She & other family members told CNN this week that they 1st began to think about the possibility in May 2013 when a uniformed British soldier in London was murdered by 2 men who shouted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”

Others started to fear the possibility of their service members or themselves being targeted after the killing of a Canadian soldier during an October attack on the country’s parliament. Attacks & plots in Australia have them concerned, too, they said. In September, the Australian prime minister said a plot to kidnap a member of the public, behead the victim & then drape him or her in an ISIS flag had been thwarted. In December, a self-styled Muslim cleric held hostages in a Sydney cafe for 17 hours, a drama that ended w/the deaths of 2 hostages. The gunman, who was known for sending hate mail to military families, was killed.

The slayings in Paris, for which al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has taken credit, have prompted Broadway-Mack to think about security at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg. “Before the incident in Canada, I honestly didn’t think ISIS was a threat to our family or other military families,” she said. “I worry about the hundreds, thousands of folks going to & from work in uniform. They, too, could be targets. I think of other areas around the country where there’s a large military presence — an attack, ambush, lone terrorist is something I fear. “I hate to say it, but I honestly no longer think if, but when & where,” she said. “I think it’s only a matter of time.”

In late November, the FBI issued a warning to U.S. military members that ISIS was calling for attacks against them, a law enforcement source told CNN. The source said that “overseas based individuals are looking for like-minded individuals in the U.S. to carry out these attacks.” The warning asked members of the military to “review their online social media presence for any information that might attract the attention of violent extremists.” The bulletin also said authorities were concerned that ISIS members were “spotting & assessing” individuals in the United States who may be interested in carrying out attacks inside the country against members of the military, a U.S. counter-terror official told CNN.

Not giving in – Lori Volkman, who is married to a commanding officer, said she knows military members & spouses who have stopped openly carrying their uniforms to their car after a visit to the dry cleaners. Some have stopped wearing clothing w/military insignia & are more careful when they open their wallet to avoid showing military IDs or payment cards. The small, simple changes don’t mean military family members are running scared, Volkman said. But it was difficult when her young daughter was watching television this week & saw the news about the Centcom hack & the threat that ISIS was coming for soldiers. “She turned & looked at me & you could see it registering — we’re soldiers. She had a very worried look,” Volkman said. “But kids are comforted by whatever their parents tell them. We can’t live our lives in fear & we try to reassure them.”

A blogger & communications firm CEO, Volkman wonders how she would even begin to scrub her online presence. Angela McCormick Ricketts says she’s thrown her hands up. Her memoir, “No Man’s War” is a critical success. She’s done a lot of press & is omnipresent online. “I’m probably screwed if ISIS starts targeting yappy military spouses so it’s too late now! There’s also a part of me that thinks that’s what they want — to make us always looking over our shoulders. So no. No to all of it,” she said. It’s a matter of principle, she and others said.

Why should families bend to fear & stop sharing online when social media has helped many of them get through 14 years of non-stop war? Though the military has at times struggled w/how much freedom its members should have on social media, relatives have wholeheartedly embraced it. Military families appear to use social media at higher rates than civilians, according to data from the Pew Research Center. Social media as we now know it wasn’t even around when the Afghanistan war began. Facebook launched in 2004, almost exactly a year after the United States invaded Iraq. Now, dozens of military spouses have blogs & Facebook caters to the community.

A 2014 survey by military advocacy group Blue Star Families found that 75% of 6,200 respondents considered the use of social media to be very important. Beyond using it to get practical information like, say, what’s happening on a base, social platforms opened up a military culture that has historically discouraged displays of emotion. Social media has offered a safe space to reveal trauma & heartache. It’s brought more comfort & less isolation.

A spouse in Montana who was gripped by depression during a 3rd deployment can find a spouse in New York who was going through the same thing, & they can help each other in a way that no traditional therapy could. Marine Corps. spouse Liz Snell relies on her new non-profit’s website Military Spouses of Strength to be a conduit to family members who have suffered from depression & the general wrung-out feeling of enduring years of war. Her husband has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan 5 times. “I see being online as a way to stay honest, to stay healthy, to help,” she said. “I don’t want that to be hurt bc of some threats that are just some dumb hacker. I don’t want to let them win that way.” Amy Bushatz agrees. The Army wife writes the SpouseBuzz column for military.com, which has 10 million members. “Being a military family is a vulnerable experience, period. If you live in a military town, this is the norm,” she said. “Is there more cautiousness now? Sure, but that’s not a bad thing. (There won’t) be a victory for any1 who thinks they can frighten us.”

View full article at: http://fox6now.com/2015/01/14/after-isis-twitter-threat-military-families-rethink-online-lives/