de.icio.us tags 01.03.07

• your local news — Boing Boing was the first to alert me to Placeblogger (others have followed), a new search engine for blogs -- individual or group -- dedicated to "a particular place over time". While the vast majority are from the U.S., they do have placeblogs from around the world, including Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, there's no placeblog for Middletown, CT. Speaking of local, Personal Democracy Forum has seven tips for finding local political blogs -- including using Placeblogger.
• the inevitable barack obama backlash — The news this morning is that Barack Obama "confessed" to trying coke in the past, but Michael Currie Schaeffer, in the Dallas Morning News, was wondering, back in early November, how Obama's "hopelessly out of fashion" smoking habit would impact voters. "I'd venture to say youthful coke-dabblers probably outnumber adult smokers among Mr. Obama's fellow 1980s Harvard Law students." Meanwhile, the Louisiana Weekly suggests that Obama may not have as many fans among black people as he does among whites. In addition to questioning just how black he is (which, to me, is like asking someone how pregnant they are) because his mom is white, there are those that condemn him for not having a history in the Civil Rights Movement. Folks, he's 45 years old. He's a product of the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. Pass the mantle.
• monica lewinsky is not stupid — I missed Richard Cohen's Washington Post op-ed yesterday about Monica Lewinsky because I didn't read yesterday's paper until this morning. But I'm in 100% agreement with Rachel Sklar at Eat the Press, which means that I'm 85% in agreement with Cohen. I too was appalled by Libby Copeland's recent bullsh*t, how-does-this-stuff-get-published piece in the Post ridiculing Lewinsky on the occasion of her recent Master's degree from the prestigious London School of Economics. I too think Cohen should have wrapped up his piece without the stupid comment about how, at 34 years old, Lewinsky was in need of a man before her uterus dried up and fell out.
• be not afraid, volvo isn't — Go ahead, make fun of the Volvo C30. They don't care. If you're product stinks, people will talk. Why not invite them to talk on your product site? You'll earn ten points for confidence and transparency and the positive comments will carry that much more weight.
• on exhibit at the Saatchi: you — The Saatchi Gallery in London has invited students to share their artwork via Stuart, a community site for young artists.