politeness

New Jersey is a complex place.

So complex that it even has a town called West New York. The mayor of that little town, Felix Roque, may well be a complex man himself.

For authorities are accusing him of becoming so upset by a movement to recall him that, together with his son, he allegedly took down the recall Web site.

No, he didn't turn up at the site owner's house with machetes and men with deep set eyes and obvious intentions. Instead, the FBI says Roque and his son Joseph sneaked their way illegally into RecallRoque.com.… Read more

In New York state, legislators in both chambers have proposed bills that would force Web sites to police the identities of anonymous commenters. 

Under the proposed Internet Protection Act (S06779), when anyone complains about an anonymous (or pseudonymous) comment, the Web site must make the commenter attach their "real name" to the comment or the anonymous comment would by law have to be removed. 

That's right: if someone doesn't like your comment the Web site will be legally bound to make you reveal your identity. The accused commenter will also be required to verify … Read more

President Barack Obama will be the special guest at a dinner tonight in Silicon Valley that will cost attendees a sizable sum to brush shoulders with the commander in chief.

Details on the dinner party and how much it will cost attendees have been mixed. However, the event is scheduled to take place at the Atherton, Calif., home of Lisa and Doug Goldman, well-known Bay Area philanthropists. According to reports, attendees will pay $35,800 for a ticket to the event. The Mercury News reported earlier this month that President Obama's campaign will receive $5,000 of that contribution, … Read more

The Atlantic Ocean was experiencing rough waters this morning.

This, many suggest, was due to the sheer power of the guffaws that were being emitted from Britain's shores after it was revealed that the nation's prime minister, David Cameron, seemed unclear what it means when you write "LOL" in a text.

The Guardian reports that former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, in giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry into News Corp.'s phone hacking, revealed that Cameron send her texts regularly.

She also revealed that he kept signing them "LOL", in the … Read more

It's easy to feel superior.

You must stretch your neck to its fullest, talk downward, and make sure you've got Wikipedia open at the right page.

So one shouldn't feel surprised that there was something of an outpouring of glee when some Twitter users -- who must surely all be "Glee" fans -- began to suddenly admit that they thought "Titanic" was, you know, just a movie.

Yes, a movie based on the late-night, absinthe-fueled imaginings of a screenwriter's mind.

Apparently, it all started when a tweeter with the handle Boring as Heck … Read more

Netflix has formed a political action committee called Flixpac, records show.

Under federal election rules, PACs are allowed to make donations directly to federal candidates of up to $5,000 per election.

The formation of Flixpac is just the latest sign that the technology sector is raising its profile on Capitol Hill. The news about Flixpac was first reported by Politico.

Politico wrote that Netflix's lobbying costs have gone from $20,000 in 2009 to $500,000 last year. The documents that Netflix filed with the government for its PAC were signed by Christopher Libertelli, hired in December as … Read more

Why must political seasons always be as fragrant as a raccoon's breath?

Agreeing to disagree seems to have all the popularity of dancing in a graveyard. Who, then, can but offer a snort of resignation that some underhanded nastiness has allegedly wafted over to Facebook?

Allegations are surfacing from the political swamp that supporters of one party are getting those of their rival party suspended from commenting on fan pages.

This alleged ruse was brought to my attention by Jon Kopp, the founder and president of Quality Epoxyin Gilbert, Ariz. He claims he has been banned by Facebook … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--Former U.S. vice president Al Gore and Facebook's founding president Sean Parker argued passionately today that online communities must use the powerful tools at their disposal to save American democracy.

At South by Southwest (SXSW) here, Gore and Parker took the stage to tell an adoring crowd of several thousand that though they should be proud of the mass Internet activism that derailed the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), there is still a huge amount of work to be done if Americans want to keep special interests from perpetually forcing their agendas down society's throat.

Fortunately, … Read more

I am a crypto-fascist, proto-communist, middle-of-the-road liberal conservative.

I just wanted to embrace all eventualities, just in case any of my Facebook friends are reading this. For, it seems, that a significant proportion of Facebookers are surprised--perhaps even aghast--when their virtual friends reveal their politics.

This revelation--one that might be critical in determining the future of our nation--was offered by respondents to a Pew Study that analyzed the relationship between social networking and social notworking--aka politics.

Some 38 percent of Pew's sample were truly surprised that their friends delighted in, say, the idea that capital punishment should be visited … Read more