h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My protest exercise for New Year's Eve this year will be to visit an alternate universe. Setting up the dial at the Archives of Parallel Space-Time...

In this particular parallel universe, the invention of the internet preceded the US War of Independence. As a result, we have a record of the browsing preferences of every single US President. Here are some of the highlights:

Notorious clothes horse George Washington was very fond of the Peterman Catalog.
http://www.jpeterman.com/Mens-Pants-and-Shorts/English-Tweed-Pants

Washington's pedantic successor, John Adams, was a history buff. When installing the system in the new White House, LAN manager Tobias Weems was specifically asked to transfer the President's bookmarks, which included the History Channel's feedback page.
http://www.historychannel.com.au/feedback/
The line marked 'Errors' was apparently used quite often.

Thomas Jefferson didn't use the internet that often, preferring to spend his time outdoors in the White House gardens. However, he carried on a lively correspondence on this site.
http://norml.org/
He signed every petition, apparently.

President Madison's wife Dolly was a big surfer at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/category/home-decor/10004/
Those online coupons really helped when redecorating after the unfortunate incident with the British.

President Buchanan's computer was seized and sequestered by the Secret Service after his term of office, and his browsing history erased. We have no further comment.

Despite the many stresses of his administration, Abe Lincoln often had to be pried away from his favourite website.
http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/
He submitted many captioned photos of the White House kittehs and goggies.

Ulysses S Grant was too terse to join in internet chat, but he DID like to order online.
http://www.thompsoncigar.com/?form_state=sourceCodeFlyoverForm&sourceCode=4325


Theodore Roosevelt had the Sierra Club bookmarked.
http://www.sierraclub.org/
He enjoyed the chat, and contributed his own anecdotes.

Woodrow Wilson signed every single petition on this website.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/

Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a variety of interests, as one can see from his bookmark list:
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/
http://www.aflcio.org/
http://www.marchofdimes.org/
http://www.musicals101.com/cohan.htm

Dwight D Eisenhower's favourite website involved drivers and putters.
http://www.golf.com/

John F Kennedy was the first 'Twitter President'. His online flame wars with Fidel Castro and Nikita Krushchev were legendary.

Lyndon Johnson sent a lot of emails. His most famous ones were to his tailor in Texas.

Richard Nixon's feud with the Supreme Court over his internet browsing history led to the landmark decision Nixon v Wikileaks (1972).

After that, the record gets murky - probably because it's hard to tell the difference between the alternate universe and ours. After all, Jimmy Carter's still around, and he's got his own websites.
http://www.whitehousediarybook.com/
http://www.cartercenter.org/index.html

The troosers of time seem to have crossed at the ankles, so we'll let the rest of them tell their story, their way. At least, if the pundits will leave them alone.

Here's a virtual cup o' kindness to all the White House occupants of the past!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6xMM9RzgI4

This post was written before it's time....presidential internet behavior has taken an ominous turn...

Loved the dogs and trumpet...

Wiki counted 17,000 tweets from the creature that inhabits the WH during his 1st 2.5 years...They stopped counting, I guess... Wiki says many of these tweets are outright lies or conspiracy theories...could be true...or deep state fake news...who knows?

I had forgotten about this one.

Yeah...you know, it could be true that they're all lizard people, who knows, right?

I was just re-watching 'Trumbo' last night, a film that proves that nothing changes.

If you visit Grand Junction, Colorado there is a bronze sidewalk
of Dalton Trumbo, sitting in a bathtub, and writing a book...
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oPe97virjyY/SEKXHyVbv7I/AAAAAAAACDY/955k1r8Ed2I/s1600-h/IMG_2876.jpgstatue

Oddly, this is a fact known to the Edited Guide: A87869380

I might have picked that topic myself, were it not taken by another...

Lots left to choose from.

"visit an alternate universe"
I got one of those in me head and the sat-nav don't work, to get back to reality then again ? reality in my case don't exist

Why would you want to go back to reality anyway?

Trump, Covid-19, climate change, killer hornets - shall I go on?

It's not all bad news, though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW9R6jgE7SQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW9R6jgE7SQ

Clicking on that video got me an ad asking if I approved of the president...somebody's algorithm has a sense of humour.

yes indeed!