Twitter

“The Machine,” they exclaimed, “feeds us and clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being. .  .  . [T]he Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine.” —E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops” (1909)

Austin
At the risk of being abrasive, I am about to say something unthinkable, heretical. I am about to say six words you have likely never heard from a working member of the media, and may never hear again: Do not follow me on Twitter.

“The Machine,” they exclaimed, “feeds us and clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being. .  .  . [T]he Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine.” —E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops” (1909)

Austin
At the risk of being abrasive, I am about to say something unthinkable, heretical. I am about to say six words you have likely never heard from a working member of the media, and may never hear again: Do not follow me on Twitter.

Cardinals will not allowed to access their Twitter accounts during conclave, according to Catholic News Service. This restriction is applicable to the 9 cardinals who have Twitter accounts. In all, there are "117 red-vested princes of the church who are eligible to vote for a new pope."

President Obama recently told the New Republic magazine, "Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time." Today, after some suggested the president's claim might not be true, the New Republic tweeted a picture supposedly proving that Obama has gone skeet shooting:

According to Twitter, the official White House Twitter feed is similar to those belonging to the Washington Post, blogger Andrew Sullivan, liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, NBC, and Chris Cuomo (the brother of New York Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo).

The pro-Israel group Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is circulating a petition asking Twitter not to allow the terrorist group Hamas to use its social media platform.

More than a dozen Twitter accounts that were used as a medium to publically threaten Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s life after the second presidential debate remain active, nearly two weeks later. This news comes after the Secret Service told this publication that it was “aware” of these very threats on Romney’s life.

The official Twitter account of the United States Army sent out a message to its more than 186,000 followers recognizing the 47th anniversary of the "first public burning of a draft card." Here's the tweet:

Today in military history: The first public burning of a draft card takes place tinyurl.com/8cpac4e #Vietnam

According to the Sunlight Foundation, the White House retweeted a message that stated, "@HildaSolisDOL WE NEED NATIONAL WORKERS UNION! LABOR LAWS 2 FEW 2 WEAK! WORKING PEEPS SLAVES 2 WALL ST! #HappyLaborDay #un ..."

At a fundraiser in Maryland this afternoon, President Obama criticized Republicans, saying that "you can pretty much put their campaign on, on a tweet and have some characters to spare.”

Steve Hayes reported Saturday on President Obama's refusal to get his hands dirty—or even to get Air Force One's wheels dirty—by landing on the soil of the great state of Wisconsin prior to Tuesday's recall election between Scott Walker and Tom Barrett.