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By Kay Solo on Dec 31, 2014

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By Joe Kukura on Dec 30, 2014

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By Robert Myles on Dec 30, 2014

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Angry celebrities call out Twitter over 'Sponsored Follows'

By Joe Kukura on Dec 30, 2014

I've always thought of actor William Shatner as more of a "low-cost commercial spokesman" rather than a "principled consumer advocate." But in a dust-up with microblogging service Twitter this week, Shatner showed he's not always a shill. The one-time Star Trek actor and current cult favorite  personality noticed that he was 'following' the corporate Twitter account of the brand MasterCard on Twitter, even though he'd never clicked the follow button on MasterCard's Twitter page. Digging deeper, Shatner found that Twitter had also issued a fake MasterCard follow to actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — even though Johnson only follows one person. Even more strangely, it turned out President Obama was following MasterCard on Twitter. And in the strangest case of all, even the Visa Twitter accoun

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Veronica Roberts

"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it." - Anais Nin "I write to taste life twice"--Anais Nin I am a wife, mother, educator, advocate who might occasionally--ok, more oft than not-- feel too much, think too much, cuss too much, over analyze, over-react, overly sensitive--but I don't know any other way to be--that's just me. If you find any of my articles witty, enjoyable, provocative, infuriating, aggravating, insightful or educational--then my work here is half way done.

Herbert Dyer, Jr.

Herb is a retired paralegal, and a writer based in Chicago. Herb also works part-time for National Able Network (a national nonprofit) assigned at the moment to Roosevelt University as a tutor to seniors and ex-offenders in computer skills, literacy skills, job-readiness skills, social skills (how to beat the "New Jim Crow.") He's been a freelancer for many years, appearing in such rags as the Chicago Defender Newspaper, Ebony Magazine, Essence Magazine, Emerge Magazine, the Washington, D.C. Afro-American Newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier Newspaper, C.L.A.S.S. Magazine, the Chicago Reader Newspaper, Indiana State University Black Literature Forum, BlackTalkRadioNetwork.com, WVON-Talk Radio, Chicago, Voxunion.com, DissidentVoice.org. Of course, he's been working on the Great American Novel since birth. He's never appeared in any so-called mainstream outlet (and hasn't really tried) because....well, just read him and you will get the message. Herb is a Vietnam War veteran (U.S. Navy...He'd been drafted into the army, but quickly enlisted in the Navy hoping to avoid Vietnam. His ship's very first port of call after boot camp in San Diego -- DaNang Harbor, South Vietnam). Herb has a masters degree in Political & Justice Studies. He relishes any and all comments, criticisms, critiques.

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