In celebration of Facebooks 12th birthday, and the vise-like grip it now has on all our lives, were revisiting some of our stories from the early days of the social network.
In 2007, we wrote about how the presidential candidates were starting to use Facebook in their campaigns.Illinois Senator Barack Obama had a paltry 167,000 Facebook followers (he now has almost 47 million). Remarkably, his favorite quote (The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice) is still misattributed to MLK today, just as it was back thenabolitionist Theodore Parker is the correct source.
Hillary Clintons page was a total bust, with zero Facebook-specific contentno favorite books, no quotes, no personality. We called it the sort of profile you see fromordinary users who are required to register with Facebook for work but never bother logging in. Poor Hillaryshe totally couldve won in 2008, if shed just listed her favorite novels.
Other gems: Mitt Romneys profile picture featured him lookingrugged in front of an out-of-focus fern; John Edwards hadnt yet grasped how to post coherent updates (As a Senator, I stood up for you. Currently fighting poverty. Go Tar Heels!); and Dennis Kucinich listed 13 items under Interests, 2 of which were his wife, Elizabeth.
The 52nd-ranked player in the ESPN 300, wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, flipped his commitment from Houston to Florida on Wednesday morning.
The four-star prospect committed to Houston back in December but visited TCU, Arkansas and Florida in January. The trip to Gainesville on the final weekend of January put the Gators over the edge.
Cleveland, who is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, moved to Houston when he was 11, but he still has family ties to the Jacksonville area.
Florida coach Jim McElwain was hoping to revamp his receiving corp in this recruiting class and he has done just that. Cleveland will join other ESPN 300 receivers Freddie Swain and Josh Hammond, as well as ESPN JC 50 receiver Dre Massey and four-star prospect Rick Wells.
The Gators now have 27 commits, including 11 ranked in the ESPN 300 or the ESPN JC 50.
Monster Snowstorm Begins Working Its Way Up East Coast | NBC Nightly News
CAIRO The body of a missing Italian student was found with signs of torture, including multiple stab wounds and cigarette burns, by the side of a highway on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, an investigating prosecutor told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old graduate student, went missing in Cairo on Jan. 25 the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
His body was found Wednesday along the Cairo-Alexandria Road in western Cairo and was positively identified by his roommate, said the prosecutor, Ahmed Nagi, who leads the investigation team on the case.
Egyptian soldiers outside a morgue in Cairo on Thursday where the body of Italian student Giulio Regeni was brought. MOHAMED HOSSAM / EPA
Nagi said the cause of death was still under investigation but said "all of his body, including his face" had bruises, cuts from stabbings and burns from cigarettes. He said it appeared to have been a "slow death."
An employee at Cairo"s central morgue confirmed that Regeni"s body was brought there.
Italy"s Foreign Ministry said it has urgently summoned the Egyptian ambassador over Regeni"s death, seeking maximum cooperation in the investigation. The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Italy renewed its request to launch an immediate investigation and include Italian experts. The statement also requested that the body be returned to Italy as soon as possible.
The deputy head of criminal investigations in Cairo"s twin province of Giza, Alaa Azmi, earlier had said an initial investigation into Regeni"s death suggested a road accident.
The University of Cambridge lists Regeni as a student of its Department of Politics and International Studies. Regeni"s body was found following an online campaign searching for him after he went missing.
The Egyptian authorities had intensified a crackdown on dissent ahead of the Jan. 25 anniversary, with police raiding apartments in downtown Cairo seeking signs of plans for organized protests and checking people"s social media accounts.
Egypt has seen years of upheaval since Mubarak"s ouster in 2011.
HENNIKER, N.H. For months, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has tried to poach libertarian-leaning voters here away from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Now, with Paul"s exit from the race, Cruz has even moreof an opening to make inroads with supporters of the Kentucky Republican.
Cruz is running as a tea-party darling and evangelical Christian, constituencies that helped propel him to victory in the Iowa caucuses. But he is also attempting to expand that base, particularly with libertarian-leaning supporters. Here in New Hampshire, Cruz speaks of limited government, gun rights and privacy.
"But part of the reason were more competitive in New Hampshire than a typical conservative is weve got enough support on the libertarian side that it backfills. Thats fairly unusual," Cruz told reporters on his plane as it traveled from a rally in Greenville, S.C., to Manchester, N.H. "Right now were second. It will be interesting to see how Iowa impacts New Hampshire."
The Texas Republican has also been reminding Granite Statersthat they voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 in an attempt to sway libertarian-leaning supporters. At a town hall meeting here, Cruz told a skeptical crowd that the state chose Reagan despite the "media saying this guy is too far to the right, hes too conservative," and far behind in the polls.
The Iowa caucus winner said he believes that his strength lies in the breadth of supporters his message can attract.
The outreach to supporters of Paul and his father, Ron, has been meticulous. Cruz dispatched aides earlier this year to meet with activists here, telling them that Paul was floundering and Cruz viable and flush with cash. The Texas Republican crashed what was supposed to be a big libertarian party for Paul in October at the biennial meeting of the Republican Liberty Caucus, where he told the group that he "loves" Paul. Cruz feels that many of those supporters are flocking to his campaign.
[As Rand Paul stalls, Ted Cruz seeks to pick up support among libertarians]
Cruz tells crowds here that he co-sponsored Ron Paul"s "Audit the Fed" bill, invokes the Fourth Amendment, a favorite of Paul, and discusses eminent domain, a contentious subject in much of this state.
[How an obscure legal issue has found its way into the GOP race]
New England, he said, was founded as a new land, where people "weremeant to be free, not have the government dictate our fight."
At a stop in Goffstown, N.H., Cruz said he is "encouraged" by the number of supporters he has from the liberty movement and urged those who supported Paul to come to his campaign.
"Let me say to you and everyone with Rand in the liberty movement: I very much hope I can earn your support. I am asking for your support," Cruz said to Ryan Miner, a partner at a Maryland advertising firm who came here to support Paul and is now looking for another candidate.
Cruz made the pitch.
"I can tell you this: I have spent literally my entire adult life fighting to defend the Constitution. It has been my lifelong commitment," Cruz said.
Milner said Cruz"s entreaty was "average, compelling and staged."Miner said he remains undecided, but is "open" to Cruz.
"I"m candidate shopping," Milner said. "Sen. Cruz hasn"t made the pitch to libertarians like myself on civil asset forfeiture and criminal justice reform."
Leah Wolzcko of Goffstown is a Paul supporter who said she hasn"t yet decided if she can support Cruz - she thinks he is too militaristic with his pledges to "carpet bomb" the Islamic State. She wrote in Paul"s father, Ron, for president in the general election in 2012 but wants to see libertarians consolidate around one candidate this time.
"You"re attractive," she said to Cruz at a stop in Goffstown. The audience laughed.
"Well, thank you," Cruz, laughing, said.
"Intellectually," Wolzcko said.
Katie Zezima is a national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential election. She previously served as a White House correspondent for The Post.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Denard Robinson was there as an NFL player and as a Michigan graduate. So was New York Yankees great Derek Jeter. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, too.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, singer Mayer Hawthorne and WWE superstar Ric Flair were also in attendance -- to welcome the Michigan football program"s incoming freshman class for 2016.
Michigan introduced its freshman class of 2016 in a unique, star-studded and unprecedented fashion: the "Signing of the Stars," Wednesday at Michigan"s Hill Auditorium, produced in conjunction with The Players" Tribune, a new media outlet founded by Jeter.
"A day of excitement, a day of joy," Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "That"s what we want this to be."
Or, as master of ceremonies and comedian Randy Sklar called it, "one big welcoming party." And Sklar made a joke about one of Harbaugh"s more noted recruiting visits, a sleepover at a recruit"s house.
"I was supposed to be at USC," Sklar said. "Harbaugh found out, slept over at my house. Climbed a tree, took his shirt off ... and he flipped me."
Michigan expects to have an incoming class of up to 29 scholarship signees, and two committed Wednesday morning, when Lavert Hill, a cornerback from Detroit"s King High School, and Quinn Nordin, a kicker from Rockford, Mich., announced they would go to Michigan.
The big fish came towards the end of the signing day celebration, when Rashan Gary, the nation"s top-rated recruit, announced on ESPN that he would attend Michigan.
"We got some really good news backstage," Harbaugh told the capacity crowd at Hill Auditorium.
Coaches are not allowed to comment on recruits until after receipt of their national letters of intent, per NCAA rules. However, Harbaugh could not comment when asked if he had received Gary"s national letter of intent after the signing show.
"We are so excited about all of our signees," Harbaugh said. "We are tremendously happy. From top to bottom, this recruiting class, the youngsters have a real heart for competing, a heart for football, they have football faces, they"re competitive in the classroom and as we said before, they have worked so hard to put themselves in a position to be here."
None of the recruits in attendance expected that level of hype surrounding Wednesday"s signing day extravaganza.
"I was not expecting this," said Brandon Peters, a quarterback from Avon, Ind. "When I stepped into the auditorium and kind of looked around at all the people, it was just kind of breathtaking. It"s just an awesome experience."
Harbaugh also said when the Wolverines begin spring practices, they will spend a week at IMG Academy in Florida.
Alabama had a five-star finish and won another Rivals.com team recruiting rankings title.
This is getting old.
The Crimson Tide landed five-star linebackers Ben Davis and Lyndell Wilson, plus five-star defensive end Terrell Hall along with some other four-star recruits to propel them to their seventh Rivals.com recruiting rankings title in the past nine cycles.
They didnt get everybody they wanted, which people think Alabama always does, but they closed very strong, Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said. We expected that to happen. We knew those in-state linebackers were going to go, we had the assumption theyd be able to get Terrell Hall, although Maryland gave them a good fight on that one.
Add those guys to players they got these last few days like Nigel Knott, they got Jared Mayden on Signing Day, Shyheim Carter as expected. I wasnt really surprised by anything. The amazing thing about Alabama is theyre still No. 1 and they whiffed on some guys they really wanted like A.J. Brown and Jeffery Simmons.
Even when Bama strikes out, theyre still able to put together the best class in the country and there is really no argument because the star rankings bear it out as well. Their average star ranking is No. 1, their class is No. 1 and thats the barometer to use.
Alabama has five five-stars signed, more than any other team, and that was a major reason why the Crimson Tide moved past Florida State (second) and Ohio State, which started National Signing Day in first place. Clemson and LSU rounded out the top five in the team recruiting rankings.
The Crimson Tide did not get every single recruit they chased, but they got plenty of the top prospects and thats why they moved to No. 1 again.
Alabama closed extremely strong. They missed on a few guys at the end, but they got the majority of their top remaining targets. They cleared some space at the end to ensure they were able to get those guys in the class and thats what happened," said Andrew Bone of TideSports.com. "Inside and outside linebacker were important positions for Alabama in this class and getting Davis, Wilson and also Terrell Hall, who they recruited as a pass-rushing specialist, those were three really big gets for Alabama.
The correlation between team recruiting rankings and national titles is hard to argue against. Facts are facts.
Alabama has won seven of the last nine recruiting titles. The Crimson Tide has also won four of the last seven national championships.
With another phenomenal class on board, Roll Tide just keeps rolling.
Four of seven national championships and seven of nine team recruiting titles perfectly fits together, Farrell said.
People think being No. 1 doesnt matter. They should go back and look at Texas in 2002, LSU in 2003, USC, Florida, the Alabama dynasty. Recruiting team rankings equal national championships, bottom line.
Madoff(ABC, 8 p.m.) Richard Dreyfuss stars as the Michael Jordan of Ponzi schemes in this two-part made for TV special.
Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia(FXX, 10 p.m.)Somebody call Ben Folds because Mac and Dennis are rockin the suburbs in search of cheap rent.
Suits(USA, 10 p.m.) Harvey is back on his own turf, but gets a kick in the pants courtesy of guest star Leslie Hope. Mike tries to smoke out the rat that snitched to start the Justice Departments investigation.
Arrow(The CW, 8 p.m.) Tom Amandes guest stars as a villain named The Calculator. If hes anything short of an actual anthropomorphized calculator, we riot.
American Idol(FOX, 8 p.m.) Hollywood, Round 3.
2 Broke Girls(CBS, 8 p.m.) Max reconnects with an old friend, so Caroline overcompensates and falls in with a rough crowd in an effort to make her jealous.
Mike & Molly(CBS, 8:30 p.m.) Mollys super thrilled to learn that Victoria gets the house if Joyce croaks.
Supernatural(The CW, 9 p.m.) The guys dont know what to believe when Clair cries monster and may or may not be connected to a bunch of supernatural murders.
Law & Order: SVU (NBC, 9 p.m.) A woman is followed home an assaulted in front of a gaggle of witnesses who do nothing to help. See something, say something, you guys.
American Crime(ABC, 10 p.m.) They say you shouldnt discuss s*x, religion and politics, so its safe to say that things get a little dicey when Anne learns that her son is gay and an incident at Marshall High might have been racially motivated.
Man Seeking Woman(FXX, 10:30 p.m.) Josh agonizes over a professional decision because hes more work hard than play hard at the moment.
Late Night Guests
The Late Show With Stephen ColbertDr. Phil, the Duplass brothers, Michael Eric Dyson and Anderson Paak & The Free Nationals
ConanJosh Brolin, Tom Segura and Cage the Elephant
The Late Late Show With James Corden Rosie ODonnell, Nikki Glaser and the winner of MasterChef Jr.
The Daily ShowHannibal Buress
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonMartin Scorsese, Gillian Jacobs and The Chainsmokers
Jimmy Kimmel Live Channing Tatum, Regina King and Kopecky
Late Night With Seth MeyersAlan c*****g, Matt Harvey and Alexander Chee
