The top buttons next to the link are promote and remove. The buttons down next to ‘Note this’ is a comment button.
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This could be a great move or a bad idea depending on blogswarm leanings. But for me, I’m happy that I can now search for items and have the option of removing fringe hate sites like Hot Air out of my search stream.
So you have an extra $495,000 laying around and you’re wondering what you can do with it. Well, why not buy a base model SLR? The 2009 SLR McLaren Roadster says, “I have money and you so don’t.” It is the ultimate in sportscar driving with a top speed of 206 mph, it goes from 0 – 60 in 3.8 seconds. I spoke to a police officer today who said, “What’s the point of buying a roadster if you’re not going to speed? Just to let me catch you.”
Mercedes-Benz SLR
Image via CrunchBase
Can you say stupid with a slice of WTF?
Last night, my Twitter started going off with angry tweets regarding an ad on the Motrin website. I can’t show you the ad because it’s been pulled. Let me describe it:
It was a way too long video with a voiceover of some whiny mom complaining about something. The words she was saying were being tossed acrossed the screen in what was probably some misdirected attempt at hipness. After I woke from a nap, the woman was still droning on and she started talking about how she uses a carrier (which somehow is painful) to make her look like an “official mommy”.
Let the shitstorm begin.
All day long, as I checked into various social media sites, women with too much time on their hands were writing overwrought posts talking about the ad was ‘insulting’. To whom, was unclear. Some moms were offended by it because they were adoptive parents. Some because their kids were older. Some because they never use(d) a carrier with their babies. Others because they know that if worn right a carrier isn’t painful at all. But they were insulted and seeking vengeance.
Insulted.
Mommy bloggers you won the internets today. Your prize?
Later this afternoon, childless people, men and those who have lives walked into this dust up trying to figure out the problem with the ad. Most of them realized quickly that the ad wasn’t anything to get upset about and moved on with their lives. Sadly, the mommy bloggers didn’t. They were making videos y’all. Videos.
THUD.
A few hours ago, the Motrin website went down. Crazed mommy bloggers cyber-high-fived one another. That’ll show Motrin. Mess with us and our faux outrage.
Well, Motrin finally responded and was a lot nicer than I would have been if I were doing the PR for the company:
We certainly did not mean to offend moms through our advertising. Instead, we had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies. We believe deeply that moms know best and we sincerely apologize for disappointing you. Please know that we take your feedback seriously and will take swift action with regard to this ad. We are in process of removing it from our website. It will take longer, unfortunately, for it to be removed from magazine print as it is currently on newstands and in distribution.
-Kathy
Kathy Widmer
VP of Marketing – Pain, Pediatrics, GI, Specialty
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
So now there’s even more vindication, but even worse, the masturbatory “See what Social Media can do?” posts are going up. It’s like a Daisy chain gone bad. And this is why I don’t call myself a mommy blogger. This is why I try to stay away from mom blogs. This is why some people shouldn’t be allowed to use a fucking computer.
I will say that I am extremely jealous at the swift and angry reaction of these women. Just think of what they could do if they organized to help the poverty-stricken or cure real injustices in the world. I wish everything in my life was so perfect that I would have the luxury to get all agitated over a damn ad.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Last year, about a month before my daughter turned for she asked who the “pretty man” on TV was. “Obama” I replied. When I went to YearlyKos in Chicago, I told her about how the Democratic presidential candidates would be there and she’s asked if “President Obama” would attend. I explained to her that he wasn’t president and I doubted he would be.
She bugged me all summer and fall of 2007 to vote for Obama, but he wasn’t my choice. I wasn’t interested. She told me on my birthday last year, “If you don’t vote for Obama, maybe a bad guy will win and you’ll be sad.” Manipulative little…
Super Tuesday
When we voted in the primaries, I was definitely going to vote for Obama. She was at my side, as usual, making sure I voted the right way. “Is he president now?”, she’d asked. Not yet, but at that point, I was sure he would be.
Throughout the primaries, her face would light up with she saw Obama on TV. She’d asked if he was president yet and I’d tell her not yet. She loved Obama. When she finally figured out he had two daughters, she asked me to call him to see if they could have a playdate. On Super Bowl Sunday, I had taken her to see Michelle Obama speak (the day, I firmly became an Obama fan, incidentally). My daughter recognized that she was seeing a woman who looked like her mom, though admittedly more beautiful. She thought Michelle Obama was a queen.
Once the general election kicked in, she was very much against McCain. “Why is that man so mean?”, “Why does he tell lies? Lying’s bad.”, “I think his mom should give him a timeout.” were questions she asked over and over again. By mid-September, she was done with politics and thought the mean guy should just let Obama be president already. I agreed, but gave her an age-appropriate lesson in democracy. Continue reading →
Image by Captain Nandu Chitnis, BikeNomads via Flickr
President-Elect Obama’s new site, Change.gov went live today. Right now, the site is taking a pretty big hit, and is slow. The page links are interesting and shore up President-Elect Obama’s promise to make his administration more transparent than previous ones. Check out the Ethics link:
There’s even a box on the page, so you can make suggestions.
Mirroring the key issues and interests that were on Sen. Obama’s candidate sites, the website expands those policy positions into actionable items. There is a blog, a listing of upcoming events beginning with the inauguration and a link to apply for non-career jobs with the Obama Administration. You can share your own story of your experience of living in this moment in American history on the site too.
Throughout his campaign, Sen. Obama was persistent and consistent in stating that the American citizen should be ready to work for America. That students who wanted help with their college education would have to do community service. Sticking to that pledge is a link that helps you to find a suitable place for you to work for your country.
When the site isn’t so bogged down, take a look around.
I’ve been watching Republican talking heads and politicians carry on and on about how this country is “center-right” and that Obama does not have a mandate.
Sigh.
Respectfully, Republicans…Stuff it.
Shall we get in the time machine and go back to 2004? Remember that year Bush finagled 286 Electoral Votes, with slim 50.7% vote margin and you all claimed “mandate”? Bush himself went on the TV boasting of his invisible mandate, and you all followed lock-step like sheep.
Sen. Obama has received 349 Electoral Votes with 52% of the vote margin.
No mandate? Are you kidding me? You’ve squandered 6 years of control; abusing your power, demonizing those of us who disagree with you. You’ve proven that you do not understand what the American public wants or needs, but more importantly that you do not care. The fact that you think that we are or should listen to anything your irrelevant pundits say is laughable.
So, please. Go concern-troll elsewhere, but I tired of your incessant babblings on my TV, in my periodicals and online.
Image by jmtimages via Flickr
am not going to try to write a long intellectual entry on what happened last night. I can only post snapshots on we witnessed. My feelings are still too raw. I woke up this morning, like in 2000 and 2004, with a knot in my stomach; expecting a different outcome. I rushed to grab my morning paper to make sure it was all real. That today wasn’t Election Day and I just dreamt that Sen. Obama had won over 330 Electoral Votes.
It was real.
It did happen.
Senator Barack Obama is our President-Elect.
My 5 year old, who has been an Obama fan since last Spring, kept asking me this morning, “Did Obama really win?” Through tears, I said “Yes. Yes he did.”
******
I spoke to some of my older family members last night. The constant refrain was, “That young man did it. He ran a great campaign and didn’t let anyone tear him down. I never thought I’d live to see this day.” They reminisced on growing up in segregated towns in the South and Midwest. One 92 year old cousin, in Arkansas wept as he talked about he had to keep his head down, just so he would stay out of trouble, “Today, I hold my head high, like Obama did throughout his campaign.” I cried.
******
Sen. McCain’s concession speech, was the most classy concession speech I think I’ve ever witnessed. Even though from July on he ran the exact same campaign Sen. Clinton did, his concession speech was exactly the one she should have given in June.
******
The first black President won this election without the Self-Appointed Godfathers of Blackness. We didn’t have to see Rev. Jesse Jackson or Rev. Al Sharpton pontificating on our TVs last night for the first time in my lifetime. Rev. Jackson was shown, tears streaming down his face, as he stood with thousands in Grant Park.
******
Scholars will study the Obama campaign forever. Not just political scholars, but in business classes, PR majors, technological studies. Every tool out there was used, even abused if my text messages and emails are any indication. The branding was simple and consistent, from slogan to font, to color. The business acumen of where and how to raise and spend money, would make many major corporations jealous.
******
Social media came into its own this election cycle. Twitter broke most stories before even blogs had a chance to write up something. This election cycle belonged to black bloggers. It seemed that they alone were taking advantage of social media tools, not just to announce new posts, but to organize GOTV and appearnces. It was a simple way for them to stay in contact with their readers outside the blog and get more on-the-ground reporting from around the country.
******
I still haven’t received my shirts from the Obama-Biden campaign. I’m sad.
******
The ground campaign of Obama’s was probably the best of any campaign ever. Speaking to friends who worked for the campaign and speaking to people who volunteered from the campaign, they all said the same thing, “This is the first election where people from DC who had never stepped foot in my town, didn’t come in to tell us how it is. They gave us ownership and listened.”
******
A few weeks ago, Republicans started whining about how Democrats shouldn’t have a majority because that would be dangerous for the country. All of a sudden they despise the idea of one party controll the Administrative and Legislative branches of government. I’m still trying to find where they were so distraught about this in 2000 and 2004. It’s a disengenious arguement and insulting to my intelligence. Republicans need not fear. Democrats do not govern to abuse power. A Democratic majority will have it’s hands full rolling back and repairing the damage of the last 8 years.
******
Best quote of the night, after the election was called for Sen. Obama: “Meanwhile, in D.C., two guys named George and Dick have placed the single largest order for industrial strength paper shredders that Office Depot has ever had to fulfill.”
******
When I had heard that Fox News (!) had called Ohio for Sen. Obama, I thought I was going to faint. When I saw that he had also won Florida, I had to sit down. Thank you to both states.
*****
I can only hope that we never have to hear or see the hatefulness that is Gov. Sarah Palin.
******
And finally, we’ll never learn what Republican voters liked about Sen. McCain. It’s a testament to spin, that when asked the most intelligent offering was the tired, “Obama’s a socialist/radical/communist/Muslim”. That never explained McCain’s appeal.
It’s November again, so that means (to me) National Blog Posting Month. If you’re participating this year, please post a link to your NaBloPoMo page and/or blog and I’ll add it to a special NaBloPoMo blogroll. Good luck on your blog postings!