Twitter Suspended Me For Asking How Cardi B Wipes Her Nether Region. Really.

On May 27, Twitter suspended me. LOL.

How does Cardi B use toilet paper?
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

That's right, Twitter, that cesspool of hate speech, easily-accessible pornography, foul language, and generally sick behavior, suspended me for violating their poorly-enforced rules.

Let's be clear: I doubt that somebody working at Twitter HQ perused my past tweets.

As you see in the screenshot below, one of my two "violations" occurred way back on April 9. The other was from today, May 27.

This leads me to believe that a leftist or Cardi B fan decided to "get" me and scoured my past tweets.

Dancing Nurses: Too Much Fun In The Pandemic War Zone

During the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, billions of people are worried about becoming infected. Like firefighters running into a blaze to save lives, doctors and nurses are risking their own health and safety by willingly working in hospitals.

Are dancing nurses sending the wrong message?

They're heroes, working inside of buildings with high concentrations of infected patients. Indeed, many doctors, nurses and other hospital staff (let's not forget the janitors, technicians, cooks, and others) have themselves become infected.

The work they're doing is not only essential, it is also very stressful. Imagine watching the suffering and death that they see every day. Like other human beings, they need to relax and deal with their stress.

But they're not alone in that. There are many other jobs that are as stressful and, sometimes, more dangerous. Yet most people -- indeed, most healthcare workers -- don't "relax" by planning and choreographing elaborate dance videos, then recording them in their place of work while on the clock.

In short, the dancing nurses videos are a public relations nightmare. Not just for nurses, but for doctors and hospitals in general. And I'm not talking about how I feel. I'm talking about how millions around the globe feel when they watch the dancing nurse videos. The media keeps telling us that hospitals are "war zones." No doubt some are, but from appearances not all. Who choreographs and performs a dance video in the middle of a damned war zone?

UPDATED: Russia Today Host Denounces Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Refuses Trip To Crimea

Martin: Honest but still employed
.

March 4, 2014 - News service Russia Today (RT) is funded by the Russian government. Some call RT the Kremlin's overseas propaganda channel. So it must have been somewhat uncomfortable for them when Abby Martin, popular host of "Breaking The Set," wrapped up her show Monday night with a monolog criticizing Russia's invasion of Crimea in the Ukraine. Martin is an American who works at RT's studios in New York City.

How did RT react to Martin's brave honesty? In typical Russian fashion, they said they would send Martin off to Crimea to get a "better understanding" of situation on the ground. 

Liz Wahl: Honestly Quit

UPDATE:  One of Abby Martin's colleagues, Liz Wahl, was paying close attention to Tuesday's Martin-RT spat. Wahl, a news anchor and producer in RT's Washington, D.C. bureau, quickly expressed her moral support for Martin on Twitter:

My girl @AbbyMartin: Russia Today Host Abby Martin Goes Spectacularly Off-Message In #Ukraine Broadcast http://t.co/n8A2LPIFX4

Wahl was thinking carefully about her own next move.

On Wednesday, she shocked viewers by quitting live on air, saying that she could no longer work for a network "that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I'm proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth, and that is why, after this newscast, I am resigning." More, with video of Wahl's resignation.

Watch the full March 4 episode of Breaking The Set

At the end of her Tuesday show, Martin said, "What Russia did is wrong. "I admittedly don't know as much as I should about Ukraine's history or the cultural dynamics of the region but what I do know is that military intervention is never the answer and I will not sit here and apologize or defend military aggression."

She finished with this: "All we can do now is hope for a peaceful outcome for a terrible situation and prevent another full blown cold war between multiple super powers. Until then I'll keep telling the truth as I see it. Have a good night everyone, I'll see you back here to break the set tomorrow."

What Martin said about her lack of knowledge about Ukraine came back to bite her. Russia Today's official statement, released on Tuesday afternoon, said "RT doesn’t beat its journalists into submission, and they are free to express their own opinions, not just in private but on the air. This is the case with Abby’s commentary on the Ukraine. We respect her views, and the views of all our journalists, presenters and program hosts, and there will be absolutely no reprimands made against Ms. Martin."

Martin's public defiance: Facebook, Tuesday afternoon

The punchline: "In her comment Ms. Martin also noted that she does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea," said RT. "As such we’ll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story."

No reprimands, RT said -- other than ripping her out of the comfort of New York and whisking her off to a war zone. Would RT put Abby Martin up in decent hotel in Crimea? It would be awful to think of her, a sophisticated New York gal, bunking in Russian barracks with a bunch of drunken, smelly Cossack cabbage eaters.  But she's not going to Crimea.

Abby Martin has made her refusal public on both Facebook and Twitter.  Abby Martin has the best furrowed-brow look of righteous indignation in all of news broadcasting. She is courageous and outspoken, and not afraid to use these qualities for resisting RT editors or their Kremlin overlords. Today she seems more powerful than Pussy Riot in concert.

Hi @Josiensor, thanks for your article. But I am not going to Crimea despite the statement RT has made. Please update accordingly.
— Abby Martin (@AbbyMartin) March 4, 2014

"The footage has since gone viral," reports The Independent (UK), "with some surmising that Martin's moment of defiance could be met with some severe punishment by her employers. However, sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed that she was reading from the auto-cue and, therefore, presumably had permission from producers of the show to express her beliefs." Really?

Reading from the auto-cue? Josie Ensor at The Telegraph (UK) disagrees, calling Martin's remarks "unscripted." Whatever, who cares? Scripted or not, they were her words. Martin said that "the coverage I have seen of Ukraine has been truly disappointing from all sides of the media spectrum and rife with disinformation." It is, therefore, ironic that Ensor called Martin's calm and rational commentary a "tirade," which is defined as "a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation." Martin's calm commentary lasted a mere 75 seconds. Ensor's exaggerated characterization of Martin's comment, then, is actually disinformation and at least a little bit disappointing. 

@AbbyMartin @Josiensor Good call on not going to Crimea. I'd hate to see the next headline on RT, "Abby Martin killed by Ukranian fascists".
— Johan (@JohanIsHere) March 4, 2014

Also See:
Russian TV Host Who Slammed Moscow Says She Won't Go To Crimea NPR
Outspoken Russia Today Anchor Declines to Be Sent to Crimea ABC
Liz Wahl, unemployed, says quitting RT not 'a self-promotional stunt' Politico
Russian news website hacked, word "Russian" replaced with "Nazi" ITProPortal
Abby Martin Blasts Rachel Maddow for 9/11 Comments - YouTube

Panic Storm: Media Post Bogus Reports, Fools Retweet It

May 31, 2013 - 8:30 PM CDT - The tornado outbreak in the nation's midsection today caused a lot of panic, and news rooms were not immune. A bogus report of "mass casualties" at a Holiday Inn in Earth City,  Missouri by a Fox News affiliate today worried a lot of people unnecessarily.

There was also the bogus report of people trapped under rubble at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, which also must have frightened a lot of people. Fox is not the only media outlet today to pass along outlandishly bad information. AccuWeather and KMOV St. Louis were also guilty of horrifically irresponsible journalism. It's as though these "journalists" were more concerned with beating their competition to publish online than they were with actually confirming what it was they were reporting. The end result was not journalism, but nothing more than bad gossip.

It was a frustrating day on Twitter

Sharing the blame, however, are all of the gullible idiots on Twitter who mindlessly re-tweeted the bad reports. They are the kind of morons who lack any critical thinking abilities and are too lazy to take a moment to confirm something they see online.

Okay, but WHICH "local news sources?

They're the kind of fools who just love bad gossip and eagerly pass it along. Dozens of people were tweeting the Holiday Inn rumor, with no link to any source. It got so bad that Chicago News Bench tweeted this: "KMOV TV has NOTHING about a "mass casualty" event at a Holiday Inn. PEOPLE, CITE YOUR SOURCES OR SHUT THE F--- UP" (@chinewsbench).

A great post at Ryot.org details the making of the false Holiday Inn mass casualty story:

Hacked AP Twitter Account Tweets 'Two Explosions in the White House' - Syrian Electronic Army Strikes Again

This is did not really happen.

April 23, 2013 - "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is Injured," said the ominous tweet from Associated Press's Twitter account.

The tweet was not true, however. AP's Twitter account (@AP) was hacked, and the culprits posted the bogus headline without AP's consent.

"Moments later," reports NBC News, "the @AP Twitter account — with nearly 2 million followers — was suspended. Immediately following the false tweet, the Dow Industrial Average lost about 140 points. These losses were immediately recovered."

Who did the hack job on AP? There is speculation now that it was the pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army, according to the Quartz website.

Will Twitter Be An Accomplice To Murder?

"KillZimmerman" profile
picture on Twitter

April 6, 2012 - Incredibly, Twitter has not yet taken down an account that calls itself "@KillZimmerman." The name is inspired by the account holder's call for the death of George Zimmerman, the man accused of killing Trayvon Martin in February. Now two weeks old, the account is still up and has produced 459 "tweets" (posts) as of this writing. Where are the calls from Liberals, Leftists and Democrats for "civility," and why are they not expressing outrage and disgust at this?

When I wrote about "@Kill Zimmerman" on March 29, it was already five days old.  It was created on March 24. I was amazed that Twitter allowed an open call for violence to remain for so long, and I thought that Twitter would certainly squash the offensive account. To everyone's amazement, they have not.

An open call to murder on Twitter (click to enlarge)

If @KillZimmerman inspires someone to commit murder, would Twitter be an accomplice to the crime? Ask yourself this: If a newspaper published over 400 letters to the editor that advocated the killing of somebody, and if that person was killed, would the newspaper be held responsible? When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) was shot in the head, the Liberal Media quickly accused conservatives as inspiring the shooting. The Left, wrong as usual, said that the shooter was pushed over the edge by their "heated rhetoric."

Well, what is @KillZimmerman, if not super heated rhetoric? I don't recall any Republican candidates calling for the death of anybody, yet here is a Leftist with a photo of George Zimmerman in a crosshairs. The open call for his murder has not elicited a call by Leftists or Democrat leaders for "more civility" in public discourse.

Not to be outdone, another leftist loon created an equally disgusting Twitter account called "@BeheadZimmerman."

WARNING: Yes, that's the "C" word

"Progressives are getting so much like terrorist Muslims it’s amazing," wrote fireandreamitchell.com on March 29. "Obama, Spike Lee, Roseanne Barr, the Congressional Black Caucus, and all the pathetic pink slime media hacks trying to gin up some sort of race war should be very proud of themselves." The @BeheadZimmerman account describes itself this way: "This page is dedicated to the arrest and jail gang rape of George Zimmerman. Pissing on Zimmerman’s lawn."  Isn't that nice?

These Twitter accounts, @KillZimmerman and @BeheadZimmerman, are but two of thousands of examples of liberals openly calling for murder to be committed. It's a nationwide, digital vigilante party, salivating at the prospect of a man being killed before he's even been proven guilty in a court of law. It shows the mindset of so many liberals (what, you think these nutjobs are conservatives?!?), who care nothing about legality, civility or decency.

"It is alarming how easy it is for social media to stir the public into a mob-like frenzy," wrote Chris Dunn at Collegiate Times on April 4. "On Facebook, groups are calling for the death of Zimmerman. 'I want George Zimmerman dead,' 'Kill George Zimmerman,' and 'Kill Zimmerman' have appeared over the past few weeks. On Twitter, the user @KillZimmerman and the users interacting with the account have called for a modern day lynching. Comments include 'We should just get up and #killzimmerman ourselves,' and 'I think they should shoot Zimmerman dead in his head in jail'.”

Plenty of people are disgusted by all of this, including John Romano. He is the publisher and editor of "Yes, But However!" website. On March 30, Romano wrote this:

Empty promise: John Romano is still on Twitter

"I have no problem with people tweeting all day long calling for Mr. Zimmerman’s arrest, that kind of activism is as American as apple pie, but creating a page devoted solely to inciting violence is too much for me.  If Twitter allows it to stand I’ll do what small thing I can and stop using the service.  Life is too short and Twitter should know better." 

Just moments ago, a week after Romano vowed to "stop using" Twitter, I tweeted this to Romano's still active account:

@yesbuthowever On March 30 you said 'If Twitter allows' @KillZimmerman 'to stand' you would leave Twitter. Changed your mind?

John Romano's hypocrisy is almost as disturbing as the vile hate rhetoric that he claims he cannot tolerate. Perhaps he won't be able to respond to me on Twitter, because I'm sure my little reminder will spur him to immediately cancel his Twitter account.

Related:

• ‘KillZimmerman’ Twitter advocates violence against Martin’s killer (dailycaller.com)
• Calls for George Zimmerman Death Find Home on Social Media (abc.go.com)
• CNN Explains Why Twitter Hasn’t Deleted ‘Kill Zimmerman’ Account (mediaite.com)
• Election Year Civility: Obama's Tucson Memorial vs. Trayvon Martin (breitbart.com)
• NBC Shielding Producer Responsible for Edited George Zimmerman 911 Call (nymag.com)

The Anti-BP Un-Flash Flash Mob, Chicago, June 11

A so-called "flash mob" will take place in Chicago on Friday, June 11 to protest the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Generally referred to as "BP Black Friday Flash Mob," but also being called "Oil Over The Bridge." (Instructions for participants below.) The event has been carefully orchestrated and announced well in advance for days. That's pretty much the opposite of what a "flash mob" is. "As is typical of a flash mob, no one in particular is organizing the event," reported Lorraine Swanson at Lake Effect News on June 8. That's about all that qualifies the June 11 protest as a "flash mob." SearchMobileComputing defines a flash mob this way (my emphasis added): "...a group of strangers who organize themselves, using electronic media such as cell phones or the Internet, to gather together in a public place, behave in a predetermined manner for a predetermined amount of time, and then quickly disperse. A successful flash mob event depends on the element of surprise. Participants, called mobsters, share news about the time and place for an upcoming event through postings on blogs, chain e-mail messages, SMS text messages and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter." And there's the problem: The "BP Black Friday Flash Mob" will have little if any surprise for many observers. It's that surprise! element that gives the mob its flash. Announce a blitzkrieg and it's suddenly just a krieg mit kein blitz. The event is already all over the Blogosphere and Facebook, although it must be said that, as usual, the Mainstream Media seems unaware of it. BP, of course, is monitoring its dreadful public relations closely on the Internet. So much so, in fact, that BP purchased ads on Google's top "Oil Spill" search results. While the event might not fully meet the definition of "flash mob," it can fairly be said that it will be very flash mob-like. I admit that I may be splitting hairs with all of this. Nevertheless, it certainly promises some good street theater and a great photo opportunity. All other things aside, after all, that's what a good flash mob should be. There are a number of references to the event on the Internet, including a Facebook page optimistically named "1,000,000 Strong to Boycott BP." As of 4:30 PM CDT on June 9, they had 9,257 members, a few short of one million. Another Facebook group, "Oil Over The Bridge," has a description that starts with, "I'm just spreading the good word, I did not come up with the idea." That group had 20 people "maybe attending" as of 4:40 PM CDT on June 9. My favorite anti-BP group on Facebook has got to be "Hey BP Oil, Thanks For The Oil Spill Aholes." "The Yes Men were forwarding an email around about the event, and perhaps MoveOn.org folks are involved," wrote Swanson. Perhaps MoveOn is involved, but are they the organizers? Did they originate the idea? We don't know; there's little or no trail to be found on the Internet, we discovered. That's good flash mobbing, but as I said, they've dampened their element of surprise. A group calling itself "Seize BP" has been staging demonstrations across the U.S. since Thursday, June 3. The final day is Thursday, June 10. Find a demonstration near you at their website. Seize BP staged a Chicago protest last week, on Thursday, June 3 at 5:00 p.m. at the BP Offices at the intersection of Randolph & Michigan, by Millennium Park. (Try finding coverage of that in the Mainstream Media.) Instructions for the June 11 BP Black Friday Flash Mob event are below the Related items: RELATED: BP Gas Station Owners Beg Vandals to Stop Gothamist (NYC) Hundreds Protest BP on Houston Street ‎Gothamist (NYC) Why seizing BP is not necessarily a good idea CNN BP Boycotts Could Hurt Small Businesses ‎ 10TV BP Boycotts Hurt the Little Guy‎ Newser Calgarians protest BP oil spill‎ Toronto Sun Protest at Jersey City BP Scheduled for Thursday Jersey City Independent Nude Protest Over Oil: PR Spin Worse Than BP, Dammit Houston Press Nevada City residents protest... The Union of Grass Valley Shrimper Douses Herself With Oil in Spill Protest‎ CBS News Links on "Seize BP Campaign" (at Facebook) Instructions to participants in the June 11 "BP Black Friday Flash Mob" are: Friday 06/11/10 @ 12:11 pm (Rain or Shine!) Millennium Park Chicago Bring a black umbrella. If you don’t have a black umbrella, wear all black. 12:11 pm: Casually converge on the BP Pedestrian Bridge 12:20 pm: When the whistle blows, we will generate a visual representation of the oil slick seen from above by filling the entire walkway of the BP bridge. Starting from the middle of the bridge over Columbus Drive, open your umbrella and squat or sit down, covering as much space with your umbrella or body as possible. Sit close enough to the people around you to create a canopy of umbrellas and bodies. Please do not shout, carry signs, confront patrons of Millennium Park, damage property, or otherwise break any laws. This flash mob is a silent protest intended to bring together a community of concerned citizens in creating a living illustration of the damage that threatens the collective health of our planet. The intent is not to block the bridge, nor to damage it, but to join together in a lively way to make a statement: swift action must be taken before more of our world is destroyed by oil. 12:35 pm: When the whistle blows a second time, quickly and calmly collect yourself and disperse. Please do not linger any longer than necessary. Don’t forget to greet your neighbors: introduce yourself, make new friends. A key objective for this action is to have fun! If anyone asks what is going on or what you are doing, we suggest simply stating, “The oil flow must be stopped.”

Tea Parties! Get Over Facebook Elitism!

I sent the following note to a Tea Party group in the Chicago area today. I believe that applies to many other Tea Party groups nationwide, but also to quite a few candidates for public office and even a number of businesses. One of my pet peeves is the inexplicable obsession of Tea Party groups with Facebook. Sure, it's popular, but do you really think that everyone is on Facebook? By requiring people to RSVP via Facebook, I guarantee that you are losing some people. You have a regular website. Why not let people respond there? Anybody with access to the Internet can visit your website, but not everybody wants a Facebook account. Please consider offering people the opportunity in the future of interacting with your group without having to have a Facebook account. Even for us Facebook users, it requires the sometimes-annoying step of having to log into Facebook. Responding should be as simple and easy as possible for those you are hoping to reach, and Facebook just adds a barrier to achieving that simple goal. It's about communication, people. You want a Facebook presence? Fine! It's good to have because you're covering all of your bases. Spread the net as wide as possible: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and so on. But don't make the fish jump through hoops to get into that net. Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

WH Press Sec. Gibbs Learning Twitter

Robert Gibbs is the press secretary to the President of the United States. He deals with media and media people. A guy in his position should be savvy in all things dealing with communication, including web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and so on. Incredibly, he is only now learning about Twitter - one of the most powerfully influential social media the Internet has ever produced. He calls it "the twitter," like your grandmother might. This afternoon, Gibbs finally tried out Twitter. His first posting ("tweet"): "Learning about 'the twitter' - easing into this with first tweet - any tips?" Gibbs' Twitter name is "PressSec". I went to his page at 6:46 p.m. CST on Saturday, February 13, 2010. I expected to find humorously stupid things there, but I could not have expected even Gibbs to be even this stupid. I was dumfounded to find that he has only just begun, had made only that one posting to his page, and - over year into his job - is still trying to get up to speed on a medium he should have mastered three years ago inside of a few hours. If you have any tips for Mr. Gibbs, log onto Twitter and post to @PressSec. He'll appreciate your helpful tips, I'm sure. RELATED: White House press corps no longer finds Robert Gibbs funny Robert Gibbs gets Twitter account - gets insulted immediately Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Twitter Hangover in Illinois 5th District

Jesse Greenberg makes some amusing observations about (a) Twitter, (b) Twitter usage by Democrat candidates in the recent March 3rd primary over in the Illinois 5th Congressional District's special election, (c) Mike Quigley and this skittish Twittering, and more. Greenberg leads off with this: Post March 3rd, my life hasn’t been the same. Maybe my inbox isn’t full of candidates’ emails. Maybe I’m not getting Facebook event invites at the same rate. Or maybe my Twitter feed isn’t filled with election talk. I guess I missed the quick-hitting and breaking news nature of Twitter. So, I took a closer look at what the leading Democrats’ of the IL-5 race have been up to on Twitter post-March 3rd. The answer is not much. And I’m surprised quite frankly. FULL POST at Jesse Greenberg's blog... RELATED: Quigley’s Twitter Problems and IL-5 Updates - Jesse Greenberg Chicago News Bench: Mike Quigley and Twitter? Mike Quigley's Twitter Problems and IL-5 Updates Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

Chicago Magazine Names Us One Of City's Best Blogs

Nothing But Net: 171 Great Chicago Web Sites

"Lost in front of the Web address bar? Search engines letting you down? We scoured the Web to find the sites that make the lives of Chicagoans better in the real world, winnowing the chaff from the wheat to give you the best real-estate search, the most active foodie forum, the top local news sources, and much, much more."

The Bench is one of nine blogs listed under the category of "Neighborhoods" in Chicago's February 2008 issue. (See more from that issue or even buy a full copy.)

"Tom Mannis opines on Rogers Park and the 49th Ward in his fiery blog, RogersParkBench. His mix of cynicism and skepticism targets public figures such as Mayor Daley and Alderman Joe Moore."

Note: We have since changed our name to "Chicago News Bench," but our URL remains the same.