Too stupid not to share

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I recently received the following message on Facebook from someone named Darren Steele who was apparently an old classmate of a friend of mine. (He was subsequently unfriended by my friend, and blocked by me.)

“afro american studies???? lmao..what a waste of time….making some serious cake with that im sure..people like you crack me up. what did u study in that class..big lips…welfare …why do males leave their children and sell drugs??? lmao…people like you is why OBAMA is the president..this country is fading fast….I sure hope this country rids itself od idiots like you very very soon!”

The good news is the reminder that most racists are so stupid that they don’t really pose much of a threat these days. The sad thing is that the guy is somewhere near my age (37), so it will be a while before this crap truly dies out. It does make one consider reinstating literacy tests at the polls, though…

Tweets from 2008-11-13

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  • Wow, I found this guide to “How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you” just in time! http://is.gd/7hsH #
  • I need to punch something. #
  • @busymommaval There will be no tequila shots for me while I’m gestating! I’ll have one with you in spirit, though. #
  • @matusiak I know, I’m not feeling like a good Buddhist today. Hopefully I am not actually acting my frustration… #
  • This beautiful gentle rain in the trees is really not making me want to hunker down over work right now. Sigh. #
  • Ahem. Retweeting @wonkette: Obama’s Staff Of Clinton Hacks Is Insufficiently Change-y: http://tinyurl.com/5mq44m #
  • If – like me – you don’t like the direction of Obama’s appointements, the NYTimes lets you suggest cabinet picks for him: http://is.gd/76UZ #

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Facebook 101 for nonprofits

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I wrote the following in response to a request to give an overview of how board members can use Facebook Causes to help the organization where I work, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). I thought it would make a handy reference for other organizations taking baby steps on Facebook.

This advice is intended for people that are already using Facebook (or who want to use it). The power of this tool is through your own social networks (friends, family, colleagues) and you will find it takes time and energy to develop your Facebook network, if your friends are on Facebook at all. Please do not join just for the purpose of helping FOR, but instead use your personal networks wherever they may exist (church, organizations, work, neighbors, friends, etc.).

Starting with the simplest, here are three easy ways to promote an organization on Facebook:
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Tweets from 2008-11-12

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  • Fell asleep w/ visions of baby names & breastfeeding dancing in my head. Awoke cataloging the reasons I hate staff meetings. Hmm. #
  • Hey fellow preggers (@trikegirl & mrs. @chimprawk), I have made a wonderful discovery: elastic shoelaces! Now I can put on sneakers again. #
  • @tbeckett Where you been? 20 weeks and counting… #
  • @tbeckett We don’t even know the baby’s *last* name yet, so give us time and hold the expectations. 😉 #
  • Am really getting annoyed with the guy who supposedly wants to collaborate but won’t share any info with me! I can’t help you. Moving on. #
  • @fionamorgan That depends on what you are talking about. I see 4 updates on your page now. BTW, welcome to Twitter, Fiona! 😀 #
  • @martin_kelley That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I use the SS dB http://is.gd/78W8 & look up names’ etymology at http://is.gd/78Wb. #
  • @jhlinko H&H is the only *real* bagel place I’ve found around there, but there’s a small deli around 75th-ish on the E side of Broadway. #
  • @jhlinko I agree with @mrjellied. H&H is part of the UWS experience. Plus butter on a fresh bagel is hardly a principle I’d defend. #
  • Anyone know a good tool to index a web site, ie: tally & list pages, images, & maybe directories? This ought to be simple. #
  • BTW @tbeckett, I love advice, especially from folks like you whose values are similar to mine. Bring it on! #
  • @martin_kelley So if Google:site is to be believed, we have over 4,000 pages! http://is.gd/79cU (Already have a local site archve.) #
  • @msfour Heh, I don’t think there’s any risk of that. 😉 #
  • @msfour But thanks for http://nymbler.com, I hadn’t seen that before. 🙂 #
  • Very good idea! Retweeting @tbeckett: …a friend used the “President test” when naming kids. Had to sound appropriate for the president… #
  • @tbeckett Then again… who would have thought someone named Barack Hussein Obama could be elected presisdent? 😉 #
  • @martin_kelley Good point. If it has my last name, finding him or her on Google won’t be hard. #
  • @fionamorgan I can’t say Hussein is on my baby name list, but it certainly passes the president test now. I do have other Arabic words. #
  • Responding to a request for instructions to our board members about how to use Facebook Causes to raise money for us. Treading carefully. #
  • Retweeting @wonkette: Dick Cheney To Show Joe Biden His Lair Tomorrow… http://tinyurl.com/6osd39 #

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We lost him

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Last week Cy took a bad turn, and on Friday morning he was taken off the ventilator that was keeping him alive. More details are at http://cyrawls.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post.html

I guess I knew that he would probably die from this, but I was not expecting this this soon or this suddenly. He even beat my stepfather’s record of just 4 months from initial cancer diagnosis to passing away. It’s just crazy.

Cy’s family is welcoming donations to the Cy Rawls Benevolence Fund in his honor, and as you can see the ChipIn donations have really jumped this week.

There’s will be more details at http://cyrawls.blogspot.com about a memorial service soon. 🙁

Ruby goes to Vegas

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Blog World Featured Speaker I’ve been invited to speak about OrangePolitics at a conference I’ve never heard of, in a city I would rather never visit in my entire life. I looked at the conference website and saw an all white-male lineup of keynoters (they’ve since added some Asian males).

Why did I say yes? Three reasons:

  1. I was invited by Tish Grier. Tish and Lisa Williams of PlaceBlogging are working to support and connect local bloggers and bring more attention to the good work folks are doing around the country.
  2. I saw the names of some fantastic women bloggers on the speakers list, like Pam Spaulding, Cheryl Contee, Elisa Camahort, and Erin Kotecki Vest. Plus my old friend, Doc Searls (old in time, not in age ;-)). Their presence legitimizes the conference for me, plus I hope I’ll run into them there.
  3. The conference is paying for all of my travel costs, and it’s on a weekend so I don’t have to miss work to go.

There are a few related events going on at the expo including GodBlogCon, MilBlogging, and a citizen journalism training. That should be… interesting. I’ll find out next month whether I made the right choice about attending the Blog World Expo.

Is there anything I should make sure to do (or not do) in my 48 hours in Las Vegas?

A stupid little thing, too long to tweet

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At work we recently received an invitation to submit an event for a regional “green” calendar that is e-mailed to subscribers monthly. This is an excerpt from the instructions:

Please send all listings in calendar format (10 pt. Arial font, black ink — NO color or other formatting) to ******@aol.com: Day of the week (abbr.), Date (abbr.), Time, Name of Event (IN ALL CAPS), BRIEF description. Sponsoring group, Location, Contact person, Phone (specify area code), Email, URL, Cost. No more than 3 lines, or 50 words, TOTAL.

The formatting requests are burdensome but fair, but FONT? Really?

Get well, Cy!

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My friend Cy was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor last month. He’s on chemo and radiation now, but he doesn’t have insurance. His parents’ church has set up an account to collect money to help with Cy’s medical expenses. You can learn more about Cy at the blog his friends set up when he was diagnosed: cyrawls.blogspot.com.

I’ve set up an online donation tool so people can fundraise all over the internet. Here it is, I hope you will give and pass it on:

[Cy has a posse]

Update: Added link to Cy’s blog per Susan’s suggestion.