Don't be Afraid to Mock the Dummies

S01E01: H.R. 4790, Shareholder Protection Act

This is the first episode of a project I have been working on with a great group of folks at Main Street Insider. Click here to find a one-page summary to go with each episode.

NY-Sen: Gillibrand Releases Hard-Hitting Ad

This has to be one of the strongest attack ads I've seen in a while. Of course, it works better in a state like New York than it does in, say, Missouri or Indiana. But a damn fine ad nonetheless. Bravo, Gillibrand.

"teh" Stupid. It hurts.

I love twitter conversations. Today, I thought I would share one of my conversations from twitter with you. It started when I came across this comment in #tcot. (Google "hashtags" if you don't know what I'm talking about).

Daily Kos calls @GlennBeck attendees dumb. Yet Ko's blogger can't spell THE http://bit.ly/blRPdy! #tcot #ocra #sgp #teaparty #twisters #beck

Posted by @CSteven

Now, anyone who spends any real time in the blogging community knows about "teh." President George W. Bush was not learning how to use "the google" back in '06, at least not in the blogging community. For us, he was learning how to use "teh google." To give you some perspective, the phrase "teh google" turns up over 3,600 times in a google search of Daily Kos alone. So what are the chances that the author actually misspelled "the" as "teh" in the article headline? About as slim as Republicans cutting the deficit if they take control of DC.

Anyways, I let him know:

@CSteven If U spent any time at @dailykos U would understand that the incorrect spelling of "the" (teh) is a common blogger joke. #p2 #tcot

And his response?

@Rusty5329 I'm gonna go with dumb. Thanks anyway.

Well, then. Let's discuss "dumb."

@CSteven Dumb like saying the government should keep its hands off the student loan program? http://bit.ly/c3040b #tcot #teaparty #828 #p2

@CSteven Or is it dumb like saying anyone can find a job sweeping streets for $900/week? http://bit.ly/9Lz4TV #tcot #teaparty #glennbeck #p2

@CSteven Or dumb like thinking Fox news is fair and balanced and all other media are lying criminals? http://bit.ly/9g8I8y #tcot #p2

Het gets back to me with:

@Rusty5329 No Dumb like the Democrats adding $8 Trillion to our debt since January 07. That kind of Dumb.

And I end the conversation:

@CSteven So, dumb like the Bush tax cuts, responsible for 1/3 of our projected deficit? #tcot #p2 #teaparty

Good fun.

This is How Misinformations Spreads

Ughhhhhh.

So, I'm following along with the twitter hashtag, #discovery. As usual, twitter can be the fastest way to browse through all the online chatter relating to a single event finding tidbits of information. Occasionally, a bit of bad info slips through.

See this tweet (which caught me at first too) from @BreakingNews

A picture posted on Twitter possibly of the suspected #Discovery gunman, re-tweeted widely - http://yfrog.com/2mhdmdj

The picture:

And the picture flew around twitter like wild fire. It had everything that you need to take off: an action shot, mysterious too with the hidden face. You can see a gun. The shot is perfect, almost makes you feel like you peeking through tree leaves to just get a glimpse of him.

What else was hidden from this picture? The canisters that witnesses reported and police confirmed were there. Metallic devices hanging from his neck, on both his back and chest?