Facebook to Make Changes, Outcry to Come!

Facebook users come in a lot of flavors, regardless of whatever stereotype you assign to the service. You have kids who can't spell, sharing way too much of their young lives that they're sure to regret later. You've got Gen Xers (who don't feel old enough yet) reconnecting with classmates and old friends who haven't aged nearly as well as they themselves have, like an ongoing, never-ending reunion. You've got moms and grandmoms who alternatively either live on Facebook (including all of the games), and those who just don't get it no matter how much you try to explain it to them. You've got people who use Facebook in tandem with Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other services to get their news, all the while interacting with others, including celebrities, journalists and other newsmakers.

I use Facebook daily, in a number of ways, both as an individual and as a blogger. I cross-pollinate it with Twitter and my blog, and am connected through several computers, my phone and my tablet. I sometimes have too many screens going at once, and I'm probably too plugged in, to be honest. I also still use AOL, despite its obsolescence, and despite my being a fairly advanced user. So, it is difficult to pigeonhole people who use any given service, or how they use it. Which was a long way to go to say that: "Uh-oh, Facebook is changing again, y'all, and people are gonna freak out!"

Image from source, Huffington Post

Whenever Facebook changes something, I see countless posts of people complaining about it. Threatening to never use Facebook again. Demanding that it change back. Even starting pages dedicated to getting things changed back to the way they were! Why can't they leave it the way it was?!? It's stupid!!#1`1! And then, they'll get used to it. And then they'll change it, and they'll be pissed that it isn't what they changed it from. If software developers listened to the average complaint on Facebook about changing things, we'd be stuck with version 1.0 of everything, and the internet would all look like Freerepublic.com or The Drudge Report.

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Facebook Launches Feeds For Photos, Music, Friends-Only, And More

Today at Facebook HQ, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for news feed that uses a “mobile-inspired” consistent design across devices, lets you drill into specific content-type feeds, and offers larger images. Photo albums have gotten a facelift as well to be more immersive, and links shared will have longer blurb to preview what you’re about to click to. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

President Obama Stumps in Indiana for Jobs Bill

The President--who according to Lindsey Graham has been AWOL on the stimulus plan--made a big push for it today in Indiana, with a town hall meeting. The audience wasn't screened, and Barack Obama took all kinds of questions, with thoughtful answers. I don't know if this thing is gonna work or not, but this event shows that change is already happening.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

OK, Obama's President. Now Where's That Change He Promised?

Image from Barack-Obama.tv

My friend and occasional contributor Stupid Monkey Planet sent me the link to the excerpted article below, and I thought it was worth sharing here. Already, blow-holes like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin are blasting every single step Barack Obama makes, and mocking his theme of "change." This article takes that tack--with a heavy dose of sarcasm and snark (always welcome here)--and demonstrates what has already changed.

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So? Where's the change?

Geez, Louise.

Where do we send our complaints? He's been president for 23 hours, (and dancing for 6 hours of the time, by my count) and what has he accomplished?

NOTHING! NADA. NOT ONE THING. Well, OK, he stopped the Gitmo horror show. He stopped all environmental law changes Bush tried to shove through at the last minute. . .

Read more at: Capitol Hill Blue

WhiteHouse.gov Gets a Makeover

An extreme makeover, to say the least! Proof that it isn't all a dream. . .

Source: WhiteHouse.gov

Blackwater to be Fined $ Millions

Wow. Maybe there really is change in the air. . .

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Blackwater likely to be fined millions in Iraq weapons case

The State Department is preparing to slap a multi-million dollar fine on private military contractor Blackwater USA for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits.

Some of the weapons are believed to have ended up on the country's black market, department officials told McClatchy, but no criminal charges have been filed in the case. . .

Read more at: McClatchy

Thank you to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

What Do You Think of Karl Rove?

Conservatives, at least the active type who post on sites like Free Republic, love Karl Rove. They enthusiastically refer to him as "the architect," and "Rove, you magnificent bastard!" People on the other side of the aisle are more likely to call him "Turd Blossom" (the President's unusually apt nickname for him), or a variety of off-color phrases. Most of us would like nothing better than to see him frog-marched out of the FOX "News" studios in shackles.

There seems to be nothing Karl Rove can do, however unethical or illegal to shake many conservatives' positive views of his results. He wins for them. That seems to be all that matters. When Democrats speak of "change," this is what we're talking about. A change from "winning" at any cost.

New Barack Obama General Election Ad

I like it.

Barack Obama, Image Making and Fallout

Image from source, Scopical

There doesn't seem to be any big negative against Barack Obama yet, at least nothing that's ready for prime-time, or we'd very likely have seen it by now. So instead, we're treated to daily doses of "scandal-ettes" or non-events that are trying really hard to become scandals.

We've had crazy Christian preachers. There've been charges that Obama is a Muslim (a charge often made by those complaining of his 20-year association with a Christian church--cognitive dissonance at its finest). Then there have been the truly stupid items, like a "terrorist fist bump," Michelle Obama's comments have been twisted, allegations of sexual impropriety against Barack by a 27-year career criminal. And watch out! There's a tape out there with Michelle giving a racist rant! Uh. . .sure there is.

So, quite logically, the Obamas are engaging in a bit of damage control. Which kind of stinks, because most of the stuff they're having to rebut is either false or overblown. They have a new website dedicated to unspinning the spin (FightTheSmears.com). They had Michelle go on ABC's The View, and the on-camera crowds at events have been shuffled around to get a better "image" on camera. Standard stuff, really.

Apparently, a couple of Muslim women were asked not to sit behind the candidate, which makes sense to me for obvious reasons. Having them there would have set off another meaningless firestorm in right-wing world. Unfortunately, it was inartfully handled, and became a blowup anyay. The ladies--if they really are Obama supporters--ought to understand this. Anyone who looks in some way different or unusual to the average American is going to draw attention. He probably wouldn't want a couple of drag queens sitting there either, or bald-headed bikers with studs through the bridge of their nose, or goth kids in full vampire regalia.

I'd wager that one Muslim woman wouldn't have presented much of a problem. Two starts to look like it's on purpose, since we by now expect these crowds to be somewhat "hand picked." And that's all it would have taken to set off an explosion on the right.

There is a lot of talk that Obama's "campaign of change" shouldn't be playing politics as usual. They shouldn't be "marketing" to soften Michelle Obama's image. And on and on. But a certain amount of politics as usual has to be played. We have a messy system, and while it would be nice to completely reinvent it, if they tried they'd probably be lambasted for that.

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Muslims kept away from Barack Obama

Two Muslim women say they were purposefully kept away from US Presidential candidate Barack Obama during a rally in Detroit. . .

Read more at: Scopical

Barack Obama Fights Back

Isn't that a refreshing headline? Fighting back. How novel for a Democratic candidate! "Change" is a word that has been used so much these last few months that it is in danger of becoming meaningless, or worse transformed into a brand like "freedom" or "liberty." But at the risk of being branded an Obamaton, I'm ready to paraphrase Sheryl Crow and say, I think a change will do us good.

Ch-ch-ch-change! Bowie & the 2008 Elections

This is pretty funny. And we need the funny now with this tedious primary season. Some creative YouTuber has pasted together the leading candidates for President, singing the classic Bowie tune. And I just had to share it with you.