Digg.com started as a place to promote stories ordinary people found newsworthy to see if others agreed. That was done by voting a story up or “Digg-ing” it. Another useful site feature if Digg users find duplicate, badly written or inaccurate stories, is “Bury”. A Bury cancels out a Digg.

The potential for abuse is obvious. The practice of such abuse permitted by Digg’s operators is legendary. Left leaning stories are Dugg while Right leaning stories are Buried by aptly named “Bury Brigades” which prowl upcoming stories for anything smelling of Conservatism. Digg did nothing to address complaints of their idea being hijacked and gamed. Along with many others, for exactly that reason, I left Digg years ago.

A similar scenario may be brewing at FaceBook. The Social Media giant approved and accepted an ad from Americans for Prosperity touting their NoStimulus.com site. NoStimulus.com features material supporting Americans who find the Stimulus Package dangerous and harmful. One feature was a petition to the Senate asking members to oppose it. Due to vigorous promotion, despite being hosted across 10 servers, the site was overwhelmed with traffic. Over 400,000 signatures will be delivered to the Senate this week.

Success by organizations standing for Individual Liberty, Free Markets, Limited Government and Low Taxes cannot be unchallenged. CNS News is reporting FaceBook has pulled an ad promoting NoStimulus.com which they had previously approved. Not because ad content changed. That remains same content FaceBook approved. What changed was “public” input.

FaceBook prohibits

– “Political content that exploits political agendas or uses ‘hot button’ political issues for commercial use regardless of whether the advertiser has a political agenda”;
–“Hate speech, whether directed at an individual or a group, and whether based upon the race, sex, creed, national origin, religious affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation or language of such individual or group”;
– and “Content that advocates against any organization, person, or group of people, with the exception of candidates running for public office.”

FaceBook cleared AFP’s copy in light of these. So what changed? CNS goes on to report,

But Facebook, which confirmed that it took “NoStimulus.com” down, told CNSNews.com that it did so because of user complaints–and did not mention any violations of Rules 8 or 9.

“At Facebook, we strive to create a trusted environment for our users and advertisers,” Facebook spokeswoman Erin Zietler said in an e-mail. “We encourage users to report any advertisements they find offensive or misleading, and we offer the ability for them to provide immediate feedback on our ads. We have a team dedicated to investigating ads and user complaints.

“In this case, users informed us about misleading offers in many ads with promotions related to the U.S. economic stimulus package,” the spokeswoman said. “We are in the process of removing ads with these types of misleading offers as they are brought to our attention.”

Go to AFP’s site. What is misleading? The ad promoted a petition drive and that’s what people found when they got there. What is misleading is the premise that AFP is somehow less than trustworthy for having run the ad. What is misleading is the suggestion AFP deceived FaceBook. What is misleading is any suggestion that FaceBook is not complicit in this. When can Americans expect the FaceBooks out there to tell busybodies to shut up and sit down? When will they have the spine to state the truth that “offend” is not the moral equivalent of “mislead”? I’m offended that FaceBook did what they did. Does that mean FaceBook will reinstate the ad? As a FaceBook user and AFP supporter, I want to know what was misleading? When different agendas compete, there’s going to be friction. I have no problem with that. When one side actually does “mislead”, I do object to that.

Unfortunately for Americans, whether it’s the Fairness Doctrine, the preponderance of Left leaning thought in Universities and traditional media, paid blockers harassing petitions signature gatherers or any number of other examples, the Left cannot win a fair fight so they don’t fight fair. If they did, they’d get shellacked as Americans generally disagree with their actual views. As my colleague Kevin Jackson at The Black Sphere notes,

… I was raised by my grandparents who were staunch Democrats. I recall as a child watching Reagan give a speech in his unsuccessful run for the presidency. After Reagan finished, I said to my grandparents, “Why are we Democrats, when what we believe is what that guy [Reagan] just said?”

The latest skirmish seems more of the same. They cannot win on content; time to bring the slander, smoke and mirrors, distortions and lies. It’s too soon to tell if FaceBook is actually adopting the Digg.com model for irrelevance. Perhaps they’ll grow a spine and refuse to serve as a tool for the Left. Stay tuned …

Blue

After some individual contact, the following DontGo Movement Board members were reached to personally endorse Jim Tedisco in New York’s 20th Congressional District.

• Eric Odom, Chair
• Ali. A. Akbar
• Sherri Reese
• Elizabeth Blackney
• Richard Disney

This is exactly what DontGo needs.

- Sherri Reese

Tedisco currently serves the New York state Senate as the Minority Leader. He is a leader on fiscal policy and believes that he could best serve the District in Washington. The District’s seat was vacated by now Senator Gillibrand (D-NY), after her appointment to the U.S. Senate by Governor Paterson. Unfortunately, Governor Paterson has chosen to postpone the calling of a speical election to favor Democratic turnout.

It’s time to see leaders in the free-market, fiscally responsible movement be elected to represent America in Washington. I believe Tedisco serves New York well, and he has proven his ability to lead with accountability and a responsible attitude. We need Tedisco in Washington, and I personally commit to helping get him elected to Congress.

- Eric Odom

We need no reminder to know that there can be no taxiation without representation.

DontGo Movement leaders’ endorsement does not qualify as an official endorsement. All of DontGo Movement does stand with the people of the 20th District in their quest to seek representation.

Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Bebo, MySpace… all a great place for social networking. But, when we create free-market minded networks using these tools, our networks exist within other networks. Which, of course, has significant value, but can also allow for a lot of noise with regards to unrelated conversation and activity.

Thanks to RootsHQ, that’s all about to change. And the #dontgo Movement is ready to hitch a ride on what may be one of the most important shifts in the online realm of the center-right movement that we’ve seen to date.

RootsHQ, a new social network developed by Flat Creek Strategies, is built on a foundation of action, not just words. RootsHQ has all of the features we as social media junkies want and need, such as discussion walls, groups, twitter streams, blogs, friend networks, RSS feeds and other applications. But RootsHQ doesn’t just stop there.

Indeed, RootsHQ moves into a whole new world where action happens as a part of the entire system, not just an application or “sub network”. You see, once logged in to RootsHQ, you’re met with action items such as petitions and candidate advocacy. The crowds of RootsHQ also hold the ratings of sitting officials, as well as candidates for offices, in their own hands. The ratings are crowd powered, meaning the community, through voting, decides who is approved and who gets the thumbs down.

The same mechanism can be utilized to rate organizations and other groups within the movement. It’s one thing to have a cause on Facebook, but it’s another to have a cause where the community determines its value, relevance, trust worthiness, and over all value.

In summary, RootsHQ cuts through a lot of the noise found on mainstream social networks. RootsHQ is a social network that gets right to the point… and helps us as free-market activists get right to the… you know… ACTION.

For this reason, the #dontgo Movement will be embracing RootsHQ as our new social network. You can find the new #dontgo Movement Group on RootsHQ here. Please make sure you join RootsHQ, and after doing so get plugged in with the new #dontgo Movement on RootsHQ.

In recent months, Barack Obama has adopted the term “shovel-ready” to describe easily implementable programs he intends to use to stimulate the Economy. Some even sound pretty good! He’s talking about “Tax Cuts”, for example. Insofar as they really are “Tax Cuts” and not more “lipstick on a pig” mischaracterizations of dangerous Economic Policy I’ll be happy to see them enacted.

The question, of course, is how do we know what the truth is? How can we tell if Obama is cutting taxes or merely cutting deeper into American’s paychecks? Are bail-out plans emptying water from the lifeboat or just banging on the boat’s bottom, widening the hole and scuttling her faster? The MSM, of course, is keeping Americans informed with cracker-jack economic reporting, detailed accounts of what’s been tried and what worked, voting records and running down the final destinations in the always popular “Follow the Money” game.

In spite of this, some still believe MSM coverage is more “Cracker Jacks” than cracker-jack; sounds like Economics more than it actually is Economics, and; cares only for a final stop for money consisting of their wallet! So, for you diehard Economic skeptics, the #Don’t Go Movement is excited to announce the reactiviation of one site and the launch of another, both guaranteed to shine lights into corners Government and the MSM would rather remain dark!

Speaking of lipstick on pigs, The Oink Report is back and better than ever. The Obama administration is taking up the Bush Administration’s handing out of billions of tax dollars. Americans need a trusted source to knock out bail-outs, hand-outs and stand-out examples of financial irresponsibility. The Oink Report does just that! Now, Government can’t tell you this-or-that spending is necessary or good for America, knowing no one will check. TOR highlights the worst excesses of wasteful Government spending so you can put your time to more profitable pursuits, like asking elected representatives what the heck they’re doing! Neil Boortz regularly referenced TOR and we look forward to his enthusiastic use of TOR while pointing out dirty government financial dealings. Of course, we know bloggers, talk-show hosts and (when they can’t ignore it any longer) the Press will also use the information TOR puts out.

How does one turn over the dirt exposing Government fraud, waste and abuse? With a shovel, of course. We’ll need a big one as the Federal Government proposed spending over $3 trillion dollars in fiscal 2009. Not to worry, our 2nd site, Grab A Shovel, is plenty big for the job! Dedicated to the proposition that many holes Government digs for “Shovel-Ready” programs need to be backfilled ASAP, Grab a Shovel will start filling as soon as Government construction crews are notified “break time” is over. GAS will identify wasteful Government stimulus programs. When they break ground, we’ll let taxpayers know so they can “grab a shovel” and bury bad “shovel-ready” spending by writing, calling and doing what responsible citizens do - serve as informed watchdogs and gadflies to Government.
Alternatively, they can shovel out what The Oink Report piggies produce. But that’s a mental picture for another email.

Visit The Oink Report and Grab A Shovel to discover what Government is doing with your money. Bookmark them and visit often. Tell your family and friends - after all, it’s their money, too! Most important, use the information you find to remind politicians pouring money into Government troughs and digging financial holes so deep we’ll never get out that you demand better and more fiscally responsible representation. Tell them the “without representation” in “No taxation without representation!” means “bad” representation as well as “no” representation. Tell them you’re not opposed to a little revolution now and then.

Written by Blue Collar Muse

Things are tough all over! First banks, then auto-makers and now the adult-oriented business segment is getting screwed over by recent financial woes. So much so Fox Business is reporting Hustler’s Larry Flynt and ‘Girls Gone Wild’ CEO Joe Francis are petitioning Congress for $5 billion dollars. The money is to re-excite traditional pornography market revenues that have grown soft due to the allure of free internet porn sites. Following an orgy of growth in the early years of teh interwebz, porn consumers have abandoned their early lover for a younger, sexier newcomer seeking even deeper market penetration.

Flynt and Francis are the first adult business tycoons to admit they are suffering from financial impotence. They likely won’t be the last. The adult business bailout, however, will be very different from the automakers. As different as night and day - as different as sadism and masochism! The automakers basically had 3 players with needs that were unsatisfied despite having millions thrown at them for gratification by eager customers. The adult industry has thousands. Each of them will no doubt be lined up in their most provocative dress, promising their best to satisfy any of Congress’ wishes for a few spare dollars …

No doubt, with the many players, coalitions will be formed for some group gratification of their financial desires. Which brings us to the idea of what these adult groups might be called … I offer the following in the spirit if foreplay … just to get some creative juices flowing …

You all can take it from here. The point is, where does the madness end?

It’s Monday morning, Christmas has come and gone, New Years Day is just around the corner, and December is coming to a close. I can’t imagine a better time to announce the launch of a fantastic addition to the #dontgo Movement social media network of tools.

A little over a month ago I noticed that Joe Carter was looking to work with someone or a group to enhance and take the #diggcons project to a new level. Joe had originally offered the project to #TCOT, but according to him his offer was never answered for one reason or another.

I contacted Joe letting him know that the #dontgo Movement was quietly working on a social news network and we would gladly move the project under the #diggcons label. Joe was quick to get the ball rolling, and now the #diggcons Twitter account is officially an account of the #dontgo Movement.

The #diggcons Project
The ultimate goal of #diggcons is to network eActivists in a way that encourages social bookmarking within the center-right movement online. We badly need a network of individuals who can share news and bookmarks, and work together to promote these URL’s in social bookmarking sites.

Our focus in the beginning will be Digg, StumbleUpon and R-igg.

How do I get involved?
To join in on the fun, you need to become active in the social bookmarking network you see here. In order for this to work, everyone “taking” from the community must also “give”.

How do I give? It’s simple. When you see a link in the #diggcon Tweet stream, click on it and Digg it, Stumble it, R-igg, it, etc. That is… if you find it interesting of course.

When you have a link that you think others will find interesting, tweet it and include the #diggcons hashtag. We’ll all go and vote for your link if we like it.

It’s a win-win for everyone!

So what are you waiting for? Go check out the new DiggCons website.

-Eric Odom

On Monday, December 8th, The #dontgo Movement (www.dontgomovement.com) unveiled the Tennessee News Platoon.

The website, Tennessee News Platoon (www.tennessee.newsplatoon.com), will work to promote local government transparency and accountability, provide a news platform for local activism networks, and aggregate the top news stories happening across the state.

State Representative Stacey Campfield (TN-18) states, “I look forward to #dontgo getting together; we’ll be able to finally get out our clear concise message that will push for open government and good conservative values. Now more than ever we need people out there rallying conservatives to get more involved and to spread our message. I strongly feel that #dontgo will be able to help in making this happen.”

#dontgo originally began as a simple Twitter tag that the founders used to track the energy debate by the US Congress on August 1st. Hundreds of activists, including members of Congress, began using the tag not just to track the energy bill, but to energize supporters and champion fiscal conservative values. Soon thereafter the site http://www.dontgomovement.com/ was created and to date has over 30,000 opt-in email subscribers.

The #dontgo Revolution uses web-based strategies and tactics to advance free-market values. Its mission is to develop a fifty state strategy of blogs and internet social networks that would activate more free market conservatives in their communities leading into the 2010 elections.

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Tonight’s show is big… real big!

During the first hour (7:00 PM Eastern) we’ll have our normal show with Tricia Cunningham and I hosting, but we’ll be joined by social media loving candidate for United States Senate, Chuck DeVore.

For those who don’t know, Chuck DeVore is running against Barbera Boxer in 2010. Chuck is a candidate of interest to the #dontgo Movement because A) His campaign is quickly becoming fully immersed in new media/social media, and B) He is a strong supporter of free-markets and offshore drilling.

During the second hour (8:00 PM Eastern) we’ll be hosting a few Tennesseans with our official launch of the new #dontgo Movement’s Tennessee project. This is a HUGE announcement and you don’t want to miss it!

Please retweet this announcement and invite everyone you know to join us during the show tonight. Callers and chatters are welcome, and we hope to talk to all of you during the show.

Click here for the Blog Talk Radio show page.

Call in at (646) 595-2816

-Eric Odom

#dontgo Launches Social Media Platoon

On Monday, December 8th www.dontgomovement.com will unveil its Social Media Platoon, a social media and technology blog. The website, found at http://social.newsplatoon.com, will serve as a place for technology-minded conservatives to meet and work together. The focus of the website will be to advance the free-market agenda through social media and inject social media into the existing fiscal conservative movement. Chris Faulkner, VP of Faulkner Strategies states, “I tell candidates and organizations that engagement with Social Media is like having a dog…the more you play with it and feed it …the less it tends to bite you.”

With the launch of the Social Media Platoon, #dontgo hopes to alleviate some of the fears and uncertainties that conservatives have with social media and to help them use the tools to successfully advance free-market ideas. Faulkner says, “Free-market conservatives are now back in a guerilla position that can only make us stronger. We are in a better position than ever to take risks and break new ground.”

#dontgo originally began as a simple Twitter tag that the founders used to track the energy debate by the US Congress on August 1st. Hundreds of activists, including members of Congress, began using the tag not just to track the energy bill, but to energize and champion fiscal conservative values. Soon thereafter the site was created and to date has over 30,000 opt-in email subscribers.

The #dontgo Revolution uses web-based strategies and tactics to advance free-market values. Its mission is to develop a fifty state strategy of blogs and internet social networks that would activate more conservatives in their communities leading into the 2010 elections.

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CONTACT: Juliana Johnson
(312) 575-9500 (office)
(847) 691-9278 (cell)
julianatjohnson@gmail.com

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