Wolraich: Obama at the Gates of... Gates
Dr. C: In Praise of Writing Binges
Maiello: Gatsby Doesn't Grate
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Wolraich: Obama at the Gates of... Gates Dr. C: In Praise of Writing Binges Maiello: Gatsby Doesn't Grate |
Blowing |
Hello, fellow outraged citizen. Are you as outraged as I am we are? Have you had enough? Are you one of those astute, sentient, breathing persons who has noticed that things are all topsey-turvey and upside down and going over a cliff and getting really bad?
They would like you to think that they've won and there is no hope and you're just a little pea in a pumpkin patch, but you're not! NO, YOU'RE NOT!! You can do something about it!! Yes, you!
You can join us in signing this petition to let everybody know you've we've had enough!! This kind of thing can't go on!!! Together we can make this happen!!!! We can slap the snot out of those monsters!!! Maybe not literally, but by tapping the keyboard really hard RIGHT NOW, we can get ourselves all het up and--who knows?--maybe even virtually yell loud enough to get through to those crazy characters, who will (don't you just know it!) pretend they can't hear us and will virtually yell back, "I can't hear you!"
After you've typed your name and have checked to make sure it has magically appeared on a line provided for just that purpose, you'll be directed to another page where you can cement your outrage for all time by putting your money where your mouth is.
Here, even though you don't know us from a hill of beans, you will give us your real name, your real address, your real phone number, your real credit card number, the amount you would like to donate to our cause (don't be chintzy now, we know who you are), and proof of citizenship (See Below).
(Below) Proof of citizenship requires these three things: An apple pie recipe (no strudel!), a notarized letter from your particular Man of God stating he/she has seen you in a place of worship at least 52 times in the past year, and John Wayne's real name, place of birth, and secret location of body mole.
***Sign here if you agree that things can't go on this way and firmly believe in your heart of hearts that you can actually change those things that can't go on by signing your name to an internet petition and giving us money so we can serve you even better by creating more petitions. (Be assured that we will save your name, address, phone number and credit card information for future petitions, saving you all kinds of time when you come back. You're welcome.)
X___________________________________________________
(Your honest and true signature, right?)
By Judith Durbin via vocativ.com 5/20
Syrian rebels under siege in a strategic city on the Lebanese border are increasingly turning to social media to wage psychological warfare, according to Vocativ analysts monitoring the region.
The town of Al Qusayr has become ground zero in the war between rebel fighters on the one side and the joint forces of President Bashar Al Assad and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on the other. Some of the most intense fighting has taken place there over the last few days. The New York Times reports both sides consider this battle a turning point in the larger civil war that has been raging for more than two years.
With so...
A collection of links and comments dealing with government spying and intimidation of journalists
By Juan Nagel, Transitions blog @ ForeignPolicy.com, May 16, 2013
[....] The consensus is that Venezuela needs high oil prices just to stay afloat. But if the fracking oil boom results in low oil prices, what does the future hold for the South American country?
Sadly, Venezuelans have nothing else to fall back on. Its private industry is a shambles, and the country is even importing toilet paper. Years of populism have left the state crippled and heavily in debt. The public deficit...
By Aidan Foster-Carter, ForeignPolicy.com Op-Ed, May 20, 2013
[....] Pyongyang's faux rage at Security Council Resolutions 2087 of Jan. 22, and 2095 of March 7, which condemned its rocket launch and nuclear test respectively, recycled similar ludicrous canards it hurled at similar resolutions in 2006 and 2009, calling the Security Council, a "marionette of the U.S." A U.S. plot, and puppet? Hardly: Every resolution has been unanimous. China and Russia water down the wording, but they're on board. It's North Korea versus the world.
And that's just the way they like it. Some believe that all their banging and shouting is just a...
I signed this, but it keeps happening. Should I send money?
I thought you'd never ask.
Iwe take PayPal.I sign petitions every gosh darn day.
If I had any money I would probably keep paypal pretty busy.
Now Move-On (if I recall correctly) has sent me regular invitations to create my own petitions. haahaha
I don't know if it does any good to sign these things.
But I suppose if some character presents evidence that half a million people think Steve King is a prick; all the more power to him!
Anyway, these petitions have turned into a real hobby.
I've signed some of the better ones, too, DD, but I must get 10-15 of these requests every day in my email. As you've said, now anybody can create a petition and set up a PayPal account and raise money for any cause.
I'm not against legitimate petitions for and against politicians and for good causes, but it's getting ridiculous now. It waters down the effectiveness of the important issues when we're inundated by petitions coming from everywhere.
I should have made it clearer when I started this, but I was having too much fun.
Ramona,
I do sign some of these and seldom asked for any $$$$. There have been some good outcomes, such as below - Citi was attempting to collect student's loan balances from families after 'student' had died. (Circulated by signon.org)
That's great! I've seen some good outcomes from petitions, too, but now that Change.org is showing us all how to create our own petitions, the good ones are getting lost in the pile, I'm afraid.
On my gmail account I can see the first few words of an email and I admit that if I see it's another petition I don't even click onto it. There are just too many of them now, with too many obscure causes, and that was my point. Lucky you that they don't ask for money. Almost every one I've seen has.