WITH GREAT POWER.....

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Peter Parker was talking about his newly found super powers as Spiderman when he said these words, but when I hear them I think of the power we all now have through our postings on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve read too many posts that twist facts or even state falsehoods as if they were facts. Unfortunately , many people believe whatever they see in print and are purposely misled by such tactics. It’s certainly common practice in political posts, as noted in a You Tube video called “.Alternate Reality”

The system has gone mad, everyday newspapers and TV carry more and more stories of brazen politicians and executives who have no fear and act as though they are above the law. Even when their own words [at times on tape] confirm their scheming, they continue to treat the public like we're stupid.

It seems the government also wants in on the social media propaganda bandwagon. According to radio celebrity Alex Jones, the Defense Department unveiled its Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program. It’s an attempt to get better at both detecting and conducting propaganda campaigns on social media.This is more than just checking the trending topics on Twitter. The Defense Department wants to deeply grok social media dynamics. So SMISC will be aimed at discovering and tracking the “formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes)” on social media. http://www.prisonplanet.com/pentagon-wants-a-social-media-propaganda-machine.html

  DRL takes our responsibility seriously, using social media to educate, inform, inspire and enlighten as well as give our readers the opportunity to voice their own opinions, whether they agree with ours or not. We also use this forum to encourage positive action, as in The Generosity Game Meme http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/06/generosity-game-meme.html ) or Meet Pongo and Join DRL’s Team to Help Him and The Center For Great Apes (http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/06/meet-pongo-and-join-drls-team-to-help.html)

Barbara’s Soul Food attempts to lighten the soul and encourage our readers to “keep the promises you make to yourself”                                                                ( http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/07/soul-food_24.html) 
and Patty’s Sticky Sweet (http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/07/sticky-sweet_24.html)  just makes you feel good! Tony has shared his stories with us to help us understand issues that we might not have considered, such as For Me It’s My Little Girl (http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/03/tony-walker-almost-everyone-has.html). Dawn gives us a wake up call as to what’s happening to our daughters’ childhoods with In Vogue 

I’m proud to be a writer for Delayed Reaction Lounge. It’s a place where every effort is made to present truthful, enlightening information as well as entertaining, funny, even spooky reading as well! I hope you enjoy reading as much as we all enjoy writing for you.

Let us know how you feel. What are your favorite features? Is there something you would like to read about that we haven’t covered yet? If there’s something you really like, let us know and we’ll keep it coming. If there’s something you think needs to be said, tell us and we’ll try to say it for you! The Lounge is for everyone and everyone is welcome! Thanks for stopping in!

ARE YOU TWITTERIFIC OR BI-SACKUAL?!

I recently received this in an email from a good friend. I dedicate it to all of us who are 50 or older! You 40-somethings better get prepared! You’re next!

-Marion

From One Cool, Twitterific, Bi-sackual Grandpa

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter.   I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space. 

  That was before one of my grand kids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twitterific, Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world.. 

 My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

 

 The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it,   and I got a little loud. 

  I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating."  You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead, well, it was not a good relationship. When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me. 

 To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings.. 

 The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me. 

  Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual."  Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look.   I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do toot a lot."     Us senior citizens don't need any more gadgets.  The tv remote and the garage door remote are about all we can handle.