October 2012

There were 80 posts published in October 2012 (this is page 4 of 8).

More Romney hacking stories


Got this in last night from a victim of Romney Facebook hacking:

I had been off my Facebook account for about a month, when I suddenly started getting messages from friends that my site had pro-Romney and Republican Party stuff on it! I don’t have a phone that has texting so I had not made a mistake with a mobile phone application.

This is appalling. The Republicans have stooped to violating indivual expression.

And this one came in yesterday:

My mother ran up the stairs and told me my cousn, [NAME REDACTED], is a Romney supporter and had liked his page. At first I thought, she’s older, perhaps it was a mistake.

Literally hours later I got several phone calls from friends, family, and colleagues asking me is I was now “turning”. I couldn’t believe it. Someone had falsely liked Romney’s page under my profile. I have been apart of many events to rally for the Obama vote so imagine the tone of some of those people when they called me. I’ve spent several hours explaining myself. This is a huge violation and I’m not surprised if Romney is behind it.

The sad thing is, my cousin doesn’t even know how to remove a like.

Overnight the Hacked by Mitt Romney page gained 89 more users (Real? Fake? Hard to tell anymore.). I’ve already been Slashdotted, so what other site could be driving traffic? Reddit? Fark? Anyone know?

Harvey Point in the news again

The Harvey Point CIA base in eastern North Carolina is in the news again today after Mark Bissonnette’s bin Ladin book mentioned training that took place there. Apparently a replica of the bin Ladin compound was built there and made it into Terraserver.

After nearly half a century of explosions, folks in Perquimans County have become blasé about the sharp cracks and house-shaking rumbles that roll out of the secretive, government-owned peninsula in Albemarle Sound.

They scarcely bat an eye when a truckload of blackened, bomb-shredded cars rolls out, or a Boeing 727 passenger jet, minus wings and tail, rolls in on the back of a giant trailer.

Last week, though, news broke that a full-sized replica of the house and compound where Osama bin Laden had been killed had been built on the peninsula. That was different. Even longtime residents flocked to the Internet, clicking on a website where satellite images had been posted to finally get their first real look at Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity.

via Rural N.C. county learns of its role in Osama bin Laden’s death – Local/State – NewsObserver.com.

State fans: treat visiting fans with respect

My nephew posted a link to this Letter to the Editor from an Florida State fan who was treated rudely at the recent NCSU-FSU football game.

My friends and I were just four of the 11 FSU students who bought tickets for the NC State game last weekend. We made the 10 hour trek and had a great time, besides going to the actual game. Sure, the loss was tough but what truly ruined the experience was the hatred we received from NC State fans.

This letter may have simply been a “sour grapes” response to the Wolfpack’s win but I think there’s more to it than that. I can also say that I’ve been appalled at how some N.C. State fans have treated visiting fans, particularly before football games.
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Please stop letting kids wear short dresses

Kelly and I joined our friends at this weekend’s homecoming game at our old high school. At halftime, the school held its traditional homecoming queen ceremony (for some reason neither Kelly nor I can remember there being a homecoming king). We were both a bit shocked at how short all the homecoming queen contestants’ dresses were. They were not much more than tight-fitting shirts. One girl’s mother was down there in a dress just as short as her daughter’s. Neither one was rocking the look, to say the least.

We saw a glimpse of this look as we drove past an N.C. State football game earlier this year. A stream of girls walked by wearing cowboy boots and hats and dresses that barely covered their butts. It screamed “desperation” to me and I didn’t find it at all attractive.
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Herndon Class of 1987 25th reunion

Herndon High School Class of 1987 rides an antique firetruck in the 2012 Homecoming parade


This weekend was the 25th “mini-reunion” of the Herndon High School Class of 1987, a reunion I helped to organize. Kelly and I have a history at our high school reunions, being that we met at our ten-year reunion, so it seemed like putting together a modest reunion in-between the 20th and 30th was appropriate.

So what did I do? I found out the date of the school’s homecoming game, created a Facebook event on the Class of 1987’s Facebook page, and negotiated a reduced-rate room deal with the hotel. My classmate Richell Sleptz lives in Herndon and suggested places we should meet. Working together, we got something going.
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“Culture of fear” echoes in the press

Looks like what I’d heard about Tony Tata’s “culture of fear” was right on the mark. The News and Observer’s T. Keung Hui wrote about it on October 6th:

Wake County school board Chairman Kevin Hill said Friday that former Superintendent Tony Tata’s autocratic leadership style created a culture of fear among school system employees.

Then on Wednesday, the Indy Week’s Will Huntsberry wrote about it and included quotes from many school employees backing it up:

Some school board members and former administrators allege that former Wake superintendent Tony Tata created a “culture of fear” in the central office. His generous public persona, which earned him wide popularity, contrasted with his threatening private demeanor in the workplace, they say.

I was particularly galled when I read what Tata allegedly told his staff:
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Smoking gun unlikely in Romney Facebook hacking case


I fell asleep last night with the thought in my mind that there’s not likely to be any “smoking gun” evidence with regard to the Mitt Romney Facebook hacking mystery. I know it happened to me and I know that I can prove that I never clicked on Romney’s page. Beyond that, I can’t speak for anyone else.

All I can do is collect the many stories of people like me who have found themselves signed up for Romney’s page without knowing it. These anecdotes are the most compelling evidence so far and so far they show no signs of slowing.

Romney story gets Slashdotted


I was indirectly “Slashdotted” yesterday when Slashdot posted a link to the Mother Jones story about Mitt Romney Facebook hacking:

Why Do So Many Liberals “Like” Mitt Romney On Facebook?
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 11, @02:47PM
from the strange-bedfellows dept.

pigrabbitbear writes “Mother Jones reports that, ‘In recent weeks, a host of liberal types have complained that their Facebook accounts have erroneously “liked” Romney’s page, and some are floating the theory that the Romney campaign has deployed a virus or used other nefarious means to inflate the candidate’s online stature. This conspiratorial notion has spawned a Facebook community forum, and its own page: “Hacked By Mitt Romney” (cute url: facebook.com/MittYouDidntBuildThat)’ So what’s going on? Is the Romney campaign engaging in some tech wizardry to hijack Americans’ Facebook pages? Seems unlikely, but Romney did somehow manage to acquire millions of fake Twitter followers. But it looks like the Romney campaign isn’t behind this one — Facebook and its mobile app is.”

Actually, this was a Slashdot story that linked to another blog that linked to the Mother Jones story that linked to my site, so it’s not like MT.Net was Slashdotted. That’s why I didn’t notice a huge spike in traffic at my blog. The Hacked By Mitt Romney Facebook page url of http://www.facebook.com/MittYouDidntBuildThat did get mentioned prominently, though, which resulted in 57 new page likes or an overnight jump of 18%.

Of course, I can’t be completely sure these are real living, breathing persons after what I now know about Facebook likes, but that’s what Facebook tells me. Continue reading →

Romney hacking victim speaks out


I got this nicely-worded message last night from a victim of Romney’s Facebook hacking who found my blog:

Thanks so much for putting this page together. I just found out that somehow my account had “liked” Mitt Romney and was appalled, so I did some online searching and found your blog, which mentioned this page. If you are still looking for people to be interviewed, I would be happy to join your efforts.

I know that I did not accidentally “like” Romney – not only am I a firm supporter of Obama, but I very rarely use the “like” feature at all. When I use it, it’s always for someone I know firsthand, to support something they are personally doing. I wouldn’t “like” something by accident, because my volume of liking is pretty low. In fact, I hadn’t been on facebook in days at the time my account registered the like (which I have since “unliked” of course).

This is far more sinister that buying fake “likes” – this is using a real person’s account to make statements in that person’s name. I’m not saying Romney is doing this on purpose, but perhaps he has hired some particularly stupid and shady social media consultants. Or perhaps Facebook itself is to blame?
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School buses

I had two different instances where school buses came up in conversation recently.

One weekend morning a few weeks ago I had just walked out of the house with the dog when my newspaper delivery person drove up.

She was apologetic. “You didn’t call this morning about your paper being missing did you?”

“No,” I said with a smile. There have been times when I’ve called because the paper has been late.

“Thank you,” she said, relieved. “I also drive a school bus in the morning and sometimes I can’t get out to deliver as quickly as I could. Everytime you call it costs me $4.”

This woman’s been delivering my paper for years. She’s got a family of her own and she has to work two jobs to support herself. I decided right then that I wouldn’t whine so quickly when my paper is late.
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