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From lavendertook , via beckyzoole , via getfuzzyfeed

LJ has just abolished a user's ability to create a new basic account.

If you already have a basic account, you can keep basic, but any new unpaid account will now be host to advertisements; i.e., a Plus account. And I assume that means if your paid account established before today lapses, it will return to basic, but that's a big assumption at this point. And the loveliest part is LJ has not announced this.

beckyzoole has called for a one day LJ strike.
The terms we're striking for are here.

Keep in mind the strike beings at midnight at the start of Friday March 21st GMT--that's for the UK. For those of us on EST it starts at 8:00pm, Thursday night, March 20th and for ya'll on the west coast of the US it starts at 5:00pm Thursday night, March 20th. You can find the starting time at the major city nearest you anywhere in the world here.

To participate in the strike, don't post, comment, or even open up LJ on your browser during those 24 hours, so that LJ gets no clicks.

Wandering around and then off to a movie!

'The western world recoiled in horror at the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech by deranged gunman Cho Seung-Hui.

But there was little reaction to the deaths of more than 240 Iraqis at the hands of car bombers two days later.

A shopkeeper at the Sadriya market, where 127 people died and 148 were wounded, remarked that "the street was a swimming pool of blood".'

Link: Deathly Silence

'Car and suicide bombings have occurred almost daily in Baghdad in recent months, despite a US-led security crackdown since February.'

'One witness told the Reuters news agency that many of the victims were women and children.

"I saw dozens of dead bodies," the man said. "Some people were burned alive inside minibuses. Nobody could reach them after the explosion.

"There were pieces of flesh all over the place." '

'* 6 March 2007: 90 killed in double suicide bombing in Hilla
* 3 Feb 2007: 130 killed in lorry bomb in a Baghdad market in mainly Shia area
* 2 Dec 2006: More than 50 killed in car bombs in same Baghdad market
* 23 Nov 2006: 200 killed in wave of car bombings and mortar blasts in Baghdad's Shia Sadr City
* 7 April 2006: 85 killed in triple suicide bombing at Shia mosque in Baghdad'

Link: Up to 200 killed in Baghdad bombs

Compare: According to Link: Wikipedia, 293 people have been killed in school shootings (or stabbings) since 1927. That many people have died in Iraq within the past week. I don't condone a single death, or try to claim that sixty thousand deaths is more awful than thirty-three, but it offends me that people care so much about an event that occurs due to no fault of their own, than an event many believe to have been stimulated by our own government's efforts in the area (as well as a centuries-old European stranglehold). No one has a clear picture of how many die in Iraq, and our own government refuses to be held accountable to counting the civilian dead.

It was really just inevitable anyways -- posts were already defaulting to friends-only for a while, so I went ahead and converted all of my LiveJournal posts from the past over as well. The usual conditions apply:

1) If you can read other posts, you're gold! You're in. You're with the crew.
2) If you can't read other posts, I'm sorry!
2.a) If you think this is in error, please leave a comment below. Our trained monkeys will return your call as soon as possible.
2.b) If you think this matter is in correct alignment to convergence policies relevant to the migration necessary for success, have a nice day! Focus this year will be enabling growth and innovation, and we will be focusing on transforming the organization into a forward-looking, progressive group.