#rockretractions

Twitter (for those not yet in on it) is a simple and therefore powerful way for people individually and collectively to share their thoughts, all with 140 characters.

You can Follow the thoughts of people you like or find interesting and, of course, have people who Follow your thoughts, such as they are.

This is how a lot of journalism works these days – the media sit there waiting for Tweets to pour in with good leads and links.

Sometimes a few of people start thinking about the same thing, their Followers themselves opine on it, and an avalanche of Tweets (called a Trend) ensues.

Thus one current Trend: #howtopisswhitepeopleoff – a sprawling stream of collective consciousness and jokes ranging from funny to bawdy to vile, almost all necessarily ‘racist’ or racially charged, mainly from ‘people of color’:

#howtopisswhitepeopleoff OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!…

#howtopisswhitepeopleoff get ona crowded elevator and keep sayin nigga nigga nigga

#howtopisswhitepeopleoff increase their taxes because reparation payment laws have been passed

#howtopisswhitepeopleoff tell ’em that it ain’t rapping if you ain’t black

#HowToPissWhitePeopleOff offer them grape drink insted of grape juice

You (perhaps) can see how this sort of thing can get quite absorbing very fast, as hundreds of these things pop up every minute at the height of a Trend.

A magnificent current Trend is #rockretractions – people giving second thoughts on the lyrics of famous pop songs:

Mr. Springsteen has decided that tramps like us were actually born to stroll at a leisurely pace. #rockretractions

We had to build this city on rock n roll because the paperwork for solid foundations with integrated sewer was horrendous. #rockretractions

Ok, so it might not be a "whole lotta" – but woman, I have love of at least moderate size coming your way. #rockretractions

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control: The mission was a complete success and I’ll be landing soon!" #RockRetractions

I know I called it "Your Song," but that doesn’t mean you can have any of the royalties. #rockretractions

Good Vibrations, you think? Actually no. This is California – I think you’ll find it’s an earthquake. #rockretractions

In all honesty we probably will, at some point, get fooled again. #rockretractions

You can in fact have your pudding even if you don’t eat all your meat. #rockretractions

You really thought a deaf, dumb, blind kid could play a mean pinball? Ha! #rockretractions

Gazillions more where these came from. Having a sleepless night I have added some of my own:

There were only 2268 holes, primarily in Witney and the Home Counties, far too few to fill any main London concert venue #rockretractions

Welcome Back my Friends to the Show that Ends at 1045pm due to Health and Safety requirements #rockretractions

I’m not too sexy for my shirt, On the contrary, my shirt is far too sexy for me #rockretractions

Matter of fact, none of it is dark #rockretractions