24-Year-Old Cincinnati Man Dies of Toothache After Brilliantly Filling His Pain Medication Prescription Instead of Antibiotics

Folks should probably be clear about something first: A tooth extraction is not an expensive dental procedure. Indeed, as the ABC News report indicates, "a routine tooth extraction" costs about $80.00. And while it's a horribly needless waste of life, it's no one's fault but the man's himself, 24-year-old Kyle Willis, the father of a young girl. Willis decided to ride out the pain. When he was overcome by swelling he checked into the emergency room and the doctors gave him prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medication. Willis, apparently because he was "uninsured," bought the pain killers and blew off the antibiotics. Big mistake. Rudimentary health knowledge says buy the antibiotics and take some (cheap) generic ibuprofen for the pain and inflammation. To make matters worse, Willis had family members in the area. His aunt [...] is married to a successful local musician. Perhaps he could have borrowed a little money from loved ones. That's called individual responsibility. You always take care of your own, and when you need a hand you fall back on loved ones. When all else fails, there's charity. Of course, under our socialist welfare state, the historical culture of personal responsibility and self-sufficiency has been destroyed by the patrimonial socialist handout regime. Big government assumes that people are too stupid and weak to save for a rainy day, or to plan ahead for emergencies. Tucking away a few Jacksons wouldn't have killed this man. His ignorance and lack of discipline did. So dumb is this case that even über-socialist Matthew Yglesias has to begin his essay with a disclaimer, conceding that supreme stupidity is not a rationale for increasing the size and scope of government:

Now, clearly, this man made some sub-optimal choices here he’s not purely a victim of lack of health insurance. At the same time you have right before you a no-longer-living, no-longer-breathing example of the “push the patient to the edge of financial desperation” theory of health care cost controls. It turns out that the quality of a frightened, pain-wracked young man asked to make technical medical decisions under severe financial constraints is not very high. The social cost of 24 year-old fathers dying of eminently treatable tooth infections, by contrast, is gigantic.

Oh, give me a freakin' break! "Technical medical decisions"? Doctors gave Willis all he needed to get better. It's not a "technical medical decision" to choose pain killers over antibiotics --- it's gambling with your life and the future of your child. Oh, and the man was black --- so now I'm going to be attacked as RAAAAACIST for pointing out that stupidity knows no color.



Freakin' progressive "compassion" is killing society's least well prepared for success. And that's what's really sad about this case.



More imbecilic progressive "compassion" at The Reaction: "Reconciling Conservative "Logic" Is Like Pulling Teeth."



UPDATE: Lonely Conservative links: "Walmart Sells $4 Prescriptions." Also, at Scared Monkeys, "Cincinnati Man Dies of Tooth Infection … Liberal MSM Blames No Insurance."

Althouse links. Thanks!



And Dustbury!

Man Accused of Stalking via Twitter Claims Free Speech

At NYT, "Case of 8,000 Menacing Posts Tests Limits of Twitter Speech" (via Memeorandum).

Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter.



They certainly rattled Alyce Zeoli, a Buddhist leader based in Maryland. Using an ever-changing series of pseudonyms, the authorities say, Mr. Cassidy published thousands of Twitter posts about Ms. Zeoli. Some were weird horror-movie descriptions of what would befall her; others were more along these lines: “Do the world a favor and go kill yourself. P.S. Have a nice day.”



Those relentless tweets landed Mr. Cassidy in jail on charges of online stalking and placed him at the center of an unusual federal case that asks the question: Is posting a public message on Twitter akin to speaking from an old-fashioned soapbox, or can it also be regarded as a means of direct personal communication, like a letter or phone call?



Twitter posts have fueled defamation suits in civil courts worldwide. But this is a criminal case, invoking a somewhat rarely used law on cyberstalking. And it straddles a new, thin line between online communications that can be upsetting — even frightening — and constitutional safeguards on freedom of expression.

Continue reading.



The stalking is not just on Twitter, but includes blog posts as well. The federal prosecutor handling the case likens the tweets, which are direct communications, and unsolicited, as "handwritten notes." These in turn may be found to constitute criminal harassment. Still, most folks see the prosecution as a stretch. See Doug Mataconis, "Is “Twitter Stalking” Free Speech?" Basically, the harassment has to be demonstrably threatening. In this case, clearly the lady's being stalked, and bad. But short of actually contact or evidence of some kind of violent plotting, it's better to stand up for speech. The solution is more speech. And as we've seen around here, progressives can't handle the truth, and when it's directed at them they blow past acceptable boundaries and engage in stalking behaviors that cross the line. Indeed, many a blogger has been forced offline from such trolling, and progressives count on the mob to destroy political enemies all while protected by the First Amendment. Just stand up to these idiots. They melt when faced with facts and logic, and they resort to lies, libel and destruction. ASFLs.

Social Media Consumer Report

If I was on the job market I wouldn't do what I do online. And I know certain progressive academic bloggers who ought to be more careful, and they know it, although I can't name names at the moment.

See: "I Flunked My Social Media Background Check. Will You?" (via Kathy Shaidle).

FLASHBACK: "Academic Tenure and the 'Damascus Conversion to Unpopular Views'."

An End to Internet Anonymity?

Actually, it's a terrible idea, because ending anonymity online would empower governments. Not everyone who writes anonymously is a stalking douchnozzle progressive nihilist. Although folks should think twice about using their real names, especially if they have strong moral standards. The progressive left won't stop until you're destroyed. (And sometimes you've gotta fight back.)

The topic's in the news, at London's Daily Mail, "'It has to go away': Facebook director calls for an end to internet anonymity."

Critics complain that the forced introduction of some kind of 'on-line passport' would damage the freedom of speech and blunt the internet as a tool for dissidents to speak up against oppressive governments.

Also, at AdWeek, "Erin Andrews, Randi Zuckerberg Dish on Digital Dilemmas While Chelsea Clinton details 'survival skill'."

More on Google+

I shared my thoughts already.

Here's Holy Taco, "The Minuses of Google+" (via Linkiest):

99% of social media is masturbation (the metaphorical kind). No one really needs it to keep in touch with their good friends, you probably talk to those people other places, like in person and other crazy things. You use social media to make jokes, post links you like, hilarious photos and tell everyone what you’re doing in status updates. It’s not social media so much as “I’m important” media. If anything, with its circles and segregation, Google + makes it harder to be lazy about telling people what you’re up to.

Could Facebook Go the Way of Myspace?

I've thought about this, with the launch of Google+.

At Time, "Could What Happened to MySpace Happen to Facebook?":

MySpace fell from grace for several reasons. First, they sacrificed the service's integrity in pursuit of monetization. For those who remember, the user experience declined drastically once the service hit a critical mass.

We were bombarded by ads—highly irrelevant ones and many of a sexual nature (at least mine were). There came a point in time where I literally said to myself that the service had become unusable. I heard the same from a plethora as others as well. The turning point was when they lost control to the advertisers. Their monetization strategy was poor and because of that the site went downhill.

The second reason was because they failed to innovate in order to meet the needs of their users. In short, MySpace ran out of ideas. The site started with the humble idea of giving people their own spaces on the web but never evolved it into much more.

Facebook, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. They have not only been innovating and evolving the service to meet the needs of their users, but they have also been employing a business model that actually works for the service and is valuable to people. This model includes the subtle yet relevant placing of ads.
Facebook has innovated and monetized without sacrificing their network's integrity for the almighty dollar. Facebook also has another market force in their favor, and that is the philosophy of "sunk costs."

Continue reading.

I have two e-mails accounts, Facebook and Twitter, and the blog. Now there's Google+ and I've used it a bit. It's nice, but folks have to prioritize and economize. If Mark Zuckerberg doesn't lose his cool he and Facebook will be fine. Word has it that he blew the video chat launch. See: "Is Facebook’s Video Chat Really ‘Something Awesome’?" Mostly, it all just seems like so much. I think we're too interactive as it is. In any case, Althouse has an upbeat post in Google+, "'4 Reasons Artists Are Loving Google+'."

O.C. Teenager Pleads Guilty in Facebook Feud That Escalated to Violence

Online debates can get pretty nasty. And around here people have crossed the line. I'm still getting threats on RACIST = REPSAC = CASPER'S blog.

That kind of craziness never turns out well. At O.C. Register, "Teen pleads guilty in Facebook stabbing."

SANTA ANA – A teenage boy from Laguna Beach has been sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to stabbing a former classmate in a feud authorities say started on Facebook.

Michael Jason Wilson, 17, avoided a possible 15-year sentence if his case had gone to trial and he was convicted of felony aggravated assault against the victim and two of his friends.

Wilson pleaded guilty Monday to felony assault with a deadly weapon with a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily harm.

As part of the plea agreement, two other felony counts of assault with the same sentencing enhancements were dismissed, according to court records.

*****

According to authorities, Wilson and a former high-school classmate had an ongoing rivalry through Facebook. The dispute included text messages and e-mails, though authorities did not disclose the nature of the argument.

Wilson agreed to meet his rival, identified only as 17-year-old Julian C., at his home. Julian C. brought along three friends who waited in a nearby car.

Wilson stabbed Julian C. in the stomach with a 12-inch knife and also slashed the hands and arms of two of Julian C.'s friends when they intervened and were able to take the knife away from Wilson, according to authorities. The third friend of Julian C. was not injured.

Crazy people.

Robert Stacy McCain Slushee Blogging

You gotta love this. Cute kids making the pitch for dad:

See: "How to Be the Best Dad Ever."

This is funny:

Newt Gingrich announced his presidential campaign raised $2 million in three months. Newt endorsed Scozzafava, went cruising the Aegean Sea, has a million-dollar line of credit at Tiffany, and Republican donors give him $2 million for a campaign that was doomed before it ever started. I fought the good fight for Doug Hoffman in NY-23, yet I can’t even get enough money for a trip to Alabama.

This is whiny:

In response to that [Althouse] post, at least three of my “friends” in the blogosphere accused me of mere traffic-baiting. Of course, Little Miss Attila’s malicious jest was to be expected, but the others surprised me.

And, well, I was just giving ole' R.S. McCain a hard time, but Stogie was a little more pointed: "When News Is Slow, Invent a Controversy: R.S. McCain vs Ann Althouse." And in the comments there, Adrienne from Adrienne's Corner:

I think Stacy is a brilliant writer and a really bright person. He doesn't need to do things like that to get hits.

Ann Althouse's popularity is a mystery to me...

Actually, my first quotation above attests to Robert's talent (and more on Althouse later), although I'm not going to put a little link-baiting past him. Heck, I got some traffic out if it myself! Learn from the master!

And about that "'friends' in the blogosphere" line? Friends are friends, right? I mean, when I meet Tim Daniel for a political event, and we share a few beers, I'm not separating him into "friends" vs. "friends in the blogosphere." And I've met Robert Stacy McCain a number of times now, and we spent a couple of days together last year, when the Crimson Tide went to the Rose Bowl. Shoot, we're BFF dude! (Added: How do you make BFF plural? BFFs doesn't really work, but BFsF? That doesn't look so cool.)

Anyway, hit the guy's tip jar. Those kids are persuasive!

Marc Andreessen on the Tech-Sector Bubble

Or non-bubble, to be precise.

At New York Times, "Bubble? What Bubble?":

Contrary to all the recent hype about a bubble, you’ve said that tech companies are actually undervalued. So in true 1999 fashion, should I take my life savings out of mutual funds and toss it into tech stocks?

I’m certainly not an investment adviser, but on a 30-year basis, these things are cheap. If you compare how big industrial companies like G.E. are valued compared with big tech companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Google and Apple, tech stocks have never been valued more poorly in comparison. So not only is there no bubble — these prices are reflective of the fact that the market still hates tech. This bubble talk is about everybody being unbelievably psychologically scarred from 10 years ago.

Your venture-capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, is heavily invested in Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. You’re hardly an unbiased observer.

True, but the counterargument is I put my money where my mouth is.

Continue reading.

Google Makes Facebook Look Socially Awkward

At Wall Street Journal:

Mark Zuckerberg might want to fast-track Facebook's initial public offering.

In what appeared to be a hasty response to the launch of Google's rival social-networking product, called Google+, Mr. Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled Facebook's new video-chatting feature. He called it "super awesome." Too bad Google made the same feature available in 2008. Indeed, Facebook suddenly looks vulnerable. This could be bad news for investors who have recently paid top dollar for stock in Facebook in private sales.

Rule No. 1 when launching a social network: Make everyone wait in line. Exclusivity was how, in its early days, Facebook built buzz. For more than two years, you couldn't get in unless you had an email address ending in .edu. Google is using a similar strategy with Google+.

Facebook should take note that Google used the strategy before to kneecap Yahoo in all-important email, a key driver of Yahoo's traffic. Then Google rolled out Gmail—but only by invitation at first.

Rule No. 2 is to deliver a better service. Adopting a new social network could prove similar to adopting a new email address: Many will try it out, but to keep using it, they have got to be given good reason. That Gmail offered significantly more storage space than typical Web mail meant millions were willing to make the switch. Similarly, Google+ offers upgrades on what many perceive to be Facebook's shortcomings.

For starters, Google+ gives users a handy way to organize their social contacts into different "circles"—friends, relatives, colleagues, etc.—with which they can share appropriate things. Though Facebook now offers the option to create "Groups," users broadcast their information to everyone by default.

Google+ also offers group video chats. That is why Facebook's announcement of one-on-one video on Wednesday seemed to fall short. Facebook has yet to introduce group video chat.

The biggest hurdle for Google+ is getting users, of course. But it is integrating the service with Gmail, which already has 240 million unique users world-wide, according to comScore. Meanwhile, the user experience on Facebook is a victim of the site's success. Users have accumulated so many online "friends" it can be difficult to organize them. And users often feel assaulted by too much or irrelevant social information, like Zynga game updates. Ultimately, Google+ is a chance for social networkers to start over.

Still more at the link.

Interesting.

And see Midnight Blue, "My Thoughts on Google +."

RELATED: "Managing Google Plus Privacy Settings [Google+]." And, "How to Disable Google Plus Email Notification."

7 Million Down, Only 33 Million to Go...

Robert Stacy McCain previewed his 7 millionth hit the other day, and then Smitty recorded the moment: "7,000,000 Hits, 7-Minute Blogs."

And I just want to say, "Hey, guys, congratulations — and don't be getting too cocky, alright? Ha!"

It turns out Ann Althouse had a blogging milestone the other day as well, 40 million hits!

Now that's some traffic!

And how's it done? Well, Doug Ross offers a 10-trick guide: "Advice for a Young Blogger: How to get a million or less hits on your blog over some unspecified period of time, maybe." I like this part, tip #4:

Try to keep content fresh and stories flowing, even if it means running a group blog or having guest bloggers. People don't visit sites that are static. If nothing changes between visits, there's really not a reason to surf to your site. As for myself, each day since January 9, 2009, I've posted Larwyn's Linx, my roundup of important stories. No matter what else is happening, regular readers can at least get a daily snapshotof my favorite articles.

Excellent advice (and RTWT), and I want to give Doug some extra kudos for keeping up the Linkfest with such consistent excellence. That's an achievement all by itself. Meanwhile, Robert Stacy McCain takes a bit different approach: "‘Like Losing Your Virginity …’"

I've written about blogging success numerous times before, and I hope readers have learned something. Checking back on some of the old posts I'm reminded of political science research on the gatekeeper effect in the blogosphere, which holds:

Blogs with large numbers of incoming links offer both a means of filtering interesting blog posts from less interesting ones, and a focal point at which bloggers with interesting posts, and potential readers of these posts can coordinate. When less prominent bloggers have an interesting piece of information or point of view that is relevant to a political controversy, they will usually post this on their own blogs. However, they will also often have an incentive to contact one of the large “focal point” blogs, to publicize their post. The latter may post on the issue with a hyperlink back to the original blog, if the story or point of view is interesting enough, so that the originator of the piece of information receives more readers. In this manner, bloggers with fewer links function as “fire alarms” for focal point blogs, providing new information and links. This reduces the need for bloggers at the top of the link structure to engage in “police patrols” to gather information on their own...

The point still holds, although at the time of publication social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter hadn't taken off, so I'm convinced that self-promotion and networking can help newbies break into the top tier much more quickly than in earlier days of the blogosphere. And frankly, I think there's less consensus on the "top tier" itself, since reader self-segregation and the sheer number of excellent blogs makes those earlier hierarchical effects less meaningful or pronounced.

In any case, here's an interesting flashhack: "Blogging While Female: 5 Conservative Women Bloggers Talk About Gender Issues And The Blogosphere."

Google to Retire Blogger!

The brand name "Blogger," that is.

With the launch of Google+ there's some other developments in store as well, called "brand unification."

See Mashable!, "EXCLUSIVE: Google To Retire Blogger & Picasa Brands in Google+ Push."

Say goodbye to the Picasa and Blogger names: Google intends to retire several non-Google name brands and rename them as Google products, Mashable has learned.

The move is part of a larger effort to unify its brand for the public launch of Google+, the search giant’s social initiative.

Blogger and Picasa aren’t going away, of course — they’re two of Google’s most popular products. Instead, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Google intends to rename Picasa “Google Photos” and Blogger will become “Google Blogs.” Several other Google brands are likely to be affected, though our sources made it clear that YouTube would not be rebranded. The technology giant shut down Google Video, its failed web video service, in May.

Meanwhile, it looks like Ann Althouse has gotten the full archives from Google, and should be making her switch-over soon. See, "'Hello. I am on the Blogger team and am one of the guys who has been helping Ann with her blog...'"

'Twitter and Facebook are like personal wire services that filter the constant flow of information across the Web'

Says Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton. See, "At The Post, reporters get socialized to social media."

And here's this from Post writer Jura Koncius, who has 1,300 followers on Twitter:

Part of being on Twitter is “shameless self-promotion,” Koncius says; “you are your own public relations person” in journalism today. But another part is to engage in a conversation with sources and readers, showing them what interests you and what might interest them. And they respond in kind, showing her things she didn’t know before, Koncius says. “It enhances my day, it provides a smile.”

I've been on Twitter over two years now. I enjoy it. But I don't use it aggressively or addictively. Frankly, I should be using it more. The one thing about it that can't be beat is the instantaneous news reporting. I was blown away at the power of Twitter during the Iranian democracy protests in 2009. The quantity and quality of all kinds of news and social media at the time was transformational. I spoke differently about technology during my lectures. This kind of thing happens often if you're on Twitter quite a bit, but the last time I felt like that was when U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. Keith Urbahn, a former staffer for Donald Rumsfeld, tweeted it, and it took off around the Twittersphere. By the time President Obama gave his national address I'd been tweeting for more than 90 minutes, and I was able to post on the release of the initial fake pictures to great effect. Thus it seems really weird that Washington Post writers are just now getting seminars in social media. None of these tools are new. It's the professional norms that are lagging.

Federal Regulators to Probe Google

Google seems like it pisses off a lot of people, but this is an even larger thing.

At WSJ, "Feds to Launch Probe of Google":

Federal regulators are poised to hit Google Inc. with subpoenas, launching a broad, formal investigation into whether the Internet giant has abused its dominance in Web-search advertising, people familiar with the matter said.

The civil probe, which has the potential to reshape how companies compete on the Internet, is the most serious legal threat yet to the 12-year-old company, though it wouldn't necessarily lead to any federal allegations of wrongdoing against Google.
While Google has faced several antitrust probes in recent years, the U.S. has limited its investigations largely to reviews of the company's mergers and acquisitions. The new inquiry, by contrast, will examine fundamental issues relating to Google's core search-advertising business, its biggest money maker, said the people familiar with the matter.

I was reminded of the Microsoft anti-trust lawsuit, and the comparison is made further down at the report. Obviously other search companies have complained:

Those companies said that Google's anticompetitive practices include using other companies' content without their permission, deceptive display of search results, manipulation of search results to favor Google's products, and buying up competitive threats to its dominance.

Google—which handles about two-thirds of all U.S. Web searches, according to comScore Inc., and more than 80% in many parts of Europe—has denied doing any of these things. It argues that users can easily navigate to other choices on the Web. In statements, the company has said it "built Google for users, not websites, and our goal is to give users answers."

RTWT.

I enjoy Google products. Blogger and G-mail work well together, and I'm told Blogger blogs search better on Google than Wordpress. We'll see, for like Legal Insurrection, I'm considering a switch-over. Not only because of Blogger's blackout issues, some of the progressives who've attacked American Power long ago threatened a demonization campaign at Blogger to get this blog deleted. I'm sticking with Blogger for now, but one of the biggest reasons folks bail on Blogger is to gain some security and independence for themselves.

Facebook Restores Roger Ebert Page After 'Jackass' Controversy

His Facebook page is here.

Lame though.

Turns out that Ebert was on both Facebook and Twitter, talkin' trash on Ryan Dunn, who died Monday in a car crash in West Goshen, Pennsylvania. CNN has a report. And Philidephia Inquirer and Wall Street Journal. Also at Gossip Cop, "Roger Ebert’s Facebook Page Taken Down Amid Ryan Dunn Controversy."

Ebert has a write up at his blog, "Friends don't let friends drink and drive." The dude loves the controversy.

Background on Ryan Dunn at The Other McCain, "‘It Appears He Was Drinking Heavily Before Climbing Behind the Wheel …’"

The Internet Lets It All Hang Out

See Gordon Crovitz, at Wall Street Journal. A great piece.

Peter Ingemi at New York Post: 'Too many coincidences in Weiner's tale'

"DaTechGuy in Da New York Post."

He's got a Memeorandum thread as well:

On Twitter, famous people tend to have tens of thousands to millions of followers — but they themselves follow only a fraction of that amount.

Rep. Weiner is a man of national prominence, a rising star in the Democratic Party, frequently on TV, a past and likely future candidate for mayor. He knows and is known by thousands of movers, shakers, members of the press and politicians on the city, state and national levels.

Yet, as of yesterday, he was following fewer than 200 others — and, with all those famous folks to choose from, one of the few he followed was Cordova, a 21-year-old college student who lives nearly 3,000 miles away in Bellingham,Wash.
Run that though your head for a second and at the same time remember two important facts about Twitter:

1. If two people follow each other on Twitter, they can send private messages unseen by others.

2. The difference between a direct message, seen by only the recipient, and a public tweet, seen by the world, is a single character.

The biggest problem for Weiner and his defenders on the left is not bloggers from the right. It’s the details of “#weinergate” can be understood by millions of ordinary people in 140 characters or less.

Great stuff.

Follow Datech Guy on Twitter!

Added: Don't miss IowaHawk, "Help Me Bring the Weiner Hacker to Justice":

The Weinergate facts, as we so far know them: on May 28, @RepWeiner, the verified Twitter account of US Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY), posted a tweet of a y.frog photo of a slightly-built white male straining to pitch a pup tent in a pair of grey Hanes Underoos. Within seconds, Congressman Weiner arrived at the scene of the cybercrime and instantly recognized it as the work of a hacker who had simultaneously broken into his Twitter, Facebook and y.frog accounts. Working quickly, and without regard to his own safety, Congressman Weiner used his elite law school-honed internet security coding skills to wrest back control of his accounts, delete the offending tweet and photo, as well as unfollow a Seattle coed to whom it was sent. His Twitter perimeter once again secured, the intrepid Congressmen sent out a new tweet explaining how he was victimized by an Internet criminal mastermind.

Also, at The Other McCain, "The AOSHQ Legal Department: Now Offering Advice to Victims of ‘Pranks’." And Dan Collins, "#Weinergate: The Four-Second Hack [Update: Now it's an unnamed staffer!]."

Facebook Revolution: The Democratization of Egypt and Changes in the Middle East

A panel discussion at my college today:

The college may upload the talk to YouTube, and if so I'll post it here.

Hey New York Times, It's Not a 'Social Media Quandary', It's Terrorism

Don't you just love this piece from the New York Times: "Social Media Sites Face Quandary Over Activists' Use"? The article starts off with a discussion of Hossam el-Hamalawy and Wael Abbas, who had pictures of Egyptian rights violations taken down from Flickr and YouTube. The hosting companies' policies are selectively applied, but at least el-Hamalawy and Abbas aren't terrorists. Not so with the Palestinian jihadists calling for a new intifada against Israel. But the Times bleats about how Facebook is in some kind of newfound quandary:

Facebook has remained mostly quiet about its increasing role among activists in the Middle East who use the site to connect dissident groups, spread information about government activities and mobilize protests. But Facebook is now finding itself drawn into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been pushed to defend its neutral approach and terms of service to some supporters of Israel, including an Israeli government official.

Yuli Edelstein, an Israeli minister of diplomacy and diaspora affairs, sent a letter last week to Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, asking him to remove a Facebook page created on March 6 named the Third Palestinian Intifada. The page, which calls for an uprising in the occupied Palestinian territory in May, has more than 240,000 members.

“As Facebook’s C.E.O. and founder, you are obviously aware of the site’s great potential to rally the masses around good causes, and we are all thankful for that,” Mr. Edelstein wrote. “However, such potential comes hand in hand with the ability to cause great harm, such as in the case of the wild incitement displayed on the above-mentioned page.”

Facebook has, so far, not removed the page. The administrators are not advocating violence, and therefore, it falls within the company’s definition of acceptable speech, company officials said.

“We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others,” said Andrew Noyes, a spokesman for public policy at the company.

That's a bunch of bull. I'll bet Zuckerberg and company are frightened stiff of a jihadist fatwa against Facebook. Pamela has more: "Israel Asks Facebook to Remove Page Calling for War Against the Jews - 230,000 “friends” of the "Third Palestinian Intifada."

Kirstie Alley on 'Dancing With the Stars'!

I meant to post this earlier but couldn't find a YouTube clip. And since Robert Stacy McCain isn't warming up to David Weigel, perhaps the lovely former Cheers star will generate some linkage!

And the hat tip goes to American Perspective!

RELATED: At E! Online, "Feud Alert! Kirstie Alley Smites "Big Bad Drunk Wolf" George Lopez After Piggy Comment." And "Oh, Snap! Kirstie Alley Rejects George Lopez's Pig-Headed Apology."