Will Phillips, a 10-year-old boy in Arkansas, has been refusing to stand for or say the pledge of allegiance because, he says. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.” (he’s referencing no liberty/justice for gays/lesbians who cannot be legally married according to the federal government)

I first read this story, thanks to this a post on Twitter from a friend who protects her tweets.  I thought it was a great story and was impressed with the kid and glanced at the headline, and I wondered why The Examiner used the term “homosexual” when plenty of current newspapers specifically don’t.

Really, now, the term “homosexual” only belongs on a card like this:

The Examiner’s headline reads, “10-year-old refuses to pledge allegiance to country that discriminates against homosexuals” with story by Jennifer Chou.

The source article that is referenced resides at The Huffington Post where the headline reads, “Will Phillips, 10-Year-Old, Won’t Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays.”

GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) writes about how the Associated Press, New York Times, and Washington Post have all restricted usage of the term homosexual in recent years because:

the term “homosexual” — a word whose clinical history and pejorative connotations are routinely exploited by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered, and which, as The Washington Post notes, “can be seen as a slur.” AP and New York Times editors also have instituted rules against the use of inaccurate terminology such as “sexual preference” and “gay lifestyle.”

’nuff said.

Many of you have come to this blog to watch the story about Juliette and read about her brutal acid attack in Kampala, Uganda (http://vimeo.com/5703299.)  I had always considered the violence against Juliette and other women like her as personal.  Jealous men destroy the lives of women who threaten them in some way.  Nicholos Kristof of the New York Times writes widely on this subject as he moves about the developing world.  In the following blog, Jim Verhulst of the St. Petersburg Times, argues that terrorism like this needs to be considered in the larger political framework, especially as President Obama ponders what to do in Afghanistan where attacks like this happen frequently.  Can we realistically bring change to a country where it is entrenched that there is less value to a life that is poor and female.  Nicholas, Jim and I are among those who are trying to give a voice to women who are victims of this kind of atrocity.  So is Emilio Morenatti of the Associated Press.  He took the photos you are about to see and these portraits of damage and despair are shocking.  How can men do this to women and what can we as a compassionate world do?  We must honor the beauty and spirit of these women, and women like Juliette, by stopping this carnage once and for all.  The choices we make as we contemplate our missions abroad must also keep this in mind.           

http://blogs.tampabay.com/photo/2009/11/terrorism-thats-personal.html

For more information on Vicky Collins visit http://teletrendstv.com.

The desire and need to preserve artifacts has predated our existence. Man has communicated by telling stories, through saving bits and pieces of history, by communicating through pictures or memories. Some call it nostalgia, others call it living in hyper-reality. Museums, arts and culture have always played a vital role in societies. In many ways they define and shape the personality of civilizations and give meaning to our existence. They represent our past and present and point towards our future.

In the current digital age one can access museum collections online, take virtual tours, look at archives and search for almost anything and everything. Now Guggenheim, MoMa, Louvre, MFA etc. are just a click away. Online advertising and publicity has helped many museums attract visitors and generate revenue. Where famous museums get their share of active publicity and advertising both online and in the real world, we rarely hear about museums like “The National Museum of Iraq” in Baghdad.

Such museums lose their identity unless someone steps forward to preserve the past. The Iraqi Museum represents the rich, vibrant culture of Iraq. A place that documents it’s history and showcases artifacts from the various civilizations that lived there. One would imagine that such a place would gather a great many visitors but sadly that is not the case. CNN officials state that the museum “houses some of ancient Mesopotamia’s rarest artifacts, but what is even harder to find at Iraq’s National Museum are visitors. “

Google and the U.S. government have teamed up with the museum to work towards showing the world the historic collections present at the museum. Google is said to have taken 14,000 photographs of the artifacts to document the various collections. Yahoo News reports that, “The museum holds artifacts from the Stone Age through the Babylonian, Assyrian and Islamic periods.” Google chief Eric Schimdt visited the National Museum of Iraq today.

Google plans to create a ‘virtual museum’ and showcase these images to the world. The Associated Press states that, “The museum was ransacked in the chaotic aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s ouster in April 2003, and only reopened to visitors early this year. Schmidt, who toured the museum with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill on Tuesday, said it was important for the world to see Iraq’s rich heritage and contribution to world culture.” Schmidt in an address to the Iraqi officials stated that “The history of the beginning of — literally — civilization is made right here and is preserved here in this museum…I can think of no better use of our time and our resources than to make the images and ideas from your civilization, from the very beginnings of time, available to billions of people worldwide,” (- The Associated Press).

This seems to be the first of many more positive developments yet to happen in Iraq. By early next year we will be able to witness the rich Iraqi culture online. This step taken by Google holds strategic importance and will help create a positive footprint for Iraq in the future. It’s amazing to see how digital media transforms the world around us and helps us all stay in tune with the Global economy.

View more news in the following video on Yahoo:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=16807215&ch=4226714&src=news

Image 1 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120739539

Image 2 from http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/24/iraq.virtual.museum/

This article is also published on the Amvona blog at http://www.amvona.com/blog/capturing-culture-the-google-way.html?blogger=sun

The Commerce Department has revised the amount of growth done by America’s economy during
the third quarter of this year. As you may remember, early estimates were that our gross domestic
product (GDP) grew at a rate of 3.5 percent during the third quarter. Now, the Commerce Department
has revised that number down to 2.8 percent.

While the 2.8 percent figure is disappointing when compared to the 3.5 percent figure we must not
lose sight of the fact that it still represents a strong improvement, and marks the beginning of the
end of our deep recession. Unfortunately, much of the growth during the third quarter was a direct
result of extraordinary government spending that will not be sustainable in the long term. Programs
like the “Cash for Clunkers” program and the homebuyer tax credit as well as spending from the
stimulus program were the main driver of the growth.

Consumer confidence, and the spending it fosters, normally constitutes 70 percent of spending in the
American economy. Today, that percentage is lower and not expected to rise in the near future.
Since so much of consumer confidence is driven by the nation’s employment picture and the
availability of credit we cannot expect a noticeable increase in consumer spending for months.

Given all of this it seems as if our economy will grow at a rate that is somewhat close to the 2.8
percent it grew during the third quarter. But it is likely that growth will be much smaller during the
first two quarters of next year when the holiday season is over and government spending slows
down. Sadly, there is currently a strong correlation between government spending and economic
growth. While it is true that much more needs to be done to get America working again none of
those efforts can substitute for short-term government spending.

If we want to put America back to work we need to grow the economy and encourage hiring. So, you
can expect to here about a package of targeted tax cuts for business–especially small business—and
more government programs designed to spend money. In short, how quickly we recover will depend
on how willing we are to embrace the necessary government spending that the seriousness of the
situation demands.

The coverage that Sarah Palin has received in recent weeks is remarkable for a private citizen who holds no office.  While much of this publicity is due to her book tour for “Going Rogue“, a lot of the noise is being made by those who have a profound dislike for the woman.  Understanding what is behind this irrational reaction helps show insight into the American Left.

Let’s start with history.  Senator John McCain took a gamble when he chose newcomer Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running-mate.  While Palin was an instant success with conservatives, she just as quickly became the bane of liberals.  During the campaign Palin showed a lack of experience that presented itself in a few weak interviews with the press.

McCain lost the election and those on the left were almost gleeful at placing the blame at the feet of Palin.  That was undeserved.  With the economy heading rapidly south and a strong dislike of the Republican president, a Cocker Spaniel could have defeated any Republican ticket.

Two examples show a gross double standard that the Leftist media has taken with Sarah Palin involving experience and fact check.

Experience

As soon as Palin was nominated for the vice presidency, the main talking point from the Democrats was her lack of experience.  At the time I thought the approach was ill-conceived since it should have also pointed to a similar weakness in Obama, especially compared to McCain.  Here we had Sarah Palin who was the mayor in Alaska and then became its governor.  While light on experience, it was no lighter than Obama’s whose resume included a Community Organizer, a state senator with little voting record, and a US Senator for less than a year when he began running for the presidency.  If experience was important, then too Obama was a lightweight.  But the press didn’t even raise this Obama weakness while brutalizing Palin on it.

Fact Check

A more current issue revolves around fact check.  The Associate Press obtained a copy of Palin’s book, Going Rogue, prior to its official release.  According to AP’s spokesman Paul Colford, they dedicated 11 employees to read this 432 page book to do fact checks.  While the independent press should check the accuracy of published material by public figures, they have not held other politicians to the standard they hold Palin.  Where was the fact checking on Joe Biden’s or Ted Kennedy’s books?  Where was it for Obama’s book?  Don’t look too hard; you won’t find it in the mainstream media.

********

While the Left and their friends in the press continue to the attack Palin, they sing the same tune about her lack of political skills and intellect.  However, as Darth Vader so ably put it: “Their thoughts betray them.”  They fear a populist who is likable by middle America.  They fear that Palin may gain traction and become Ronald Reagan-like to the public.  They were right to fear Reagan’s potential to reinvigorate middle America.  It’s too early to tell whether this fear is justified with Palin.

The attack on Palin comes three main power groups:

Radical Left – The Radical Left’s agenda is to bring Euro-style socialism to America.  With the Liberal Democrats taking control of both houses of Congress as well as the White House, for the first time in modern history the Radical Left has a chance realize its goal.  A populist conservative would endanger that journey.

Fake Feminists – There is nothing that angers Fake Feminists more than a woman with middle America values.  And if she happens to be attractive, that send them into orbit.  Here we have Sarah Palin who has done it all.  She raised a family, became the most powerful person in her family and for that matter in all Alaska, only to be shunned by the so-called women’s movement.  They have they fallen a long way baby!

Elitist Intelligencia – The elites from the Blue-Blood colleges have a superiority complex that clouds good judgment.  To these folks the name on a diploma trumps all, including integrity.  While a high IQ can be an attribute, let us not forget that a good percentage of those in Washington and on Wall Street that helped create the current economic mess come from this group.  A bit more morality would have served the country better than the pedigree of these folks’ education.

It is too early to judge Sarah Palin’s skills on the national level.  Over the coming months the test of time will show whether or not she has substance to match her great personal skills.  Like Ronald Reagan, if she is to be successful at this level she will need to connect with middle American in both parties.  In the meantime it would serve the country better if the “independent media” would chill out on Ms. Palin and focus on those that are now in power.  Some fact checks on this groupould be more productive than a witch hunt on a private citizen who holds no public office.

In a PR Blitz that even caught the Associated Press’s attention, QVC Monday announced it is looking to give brick-and-mortar stores a run for shoppers’ money on Black Friday.

In a press release, QVC claimed it “is seeking to redefine Black Friday by offering all of the deals shoppers are looking for, with none of the craziness.”

To kick off “The New Black Friday, QVC is inviting America to get a jump-start on its post-turkey gift shopping with 28 hours of nonstop holiday shopping,” we are told.

The games Thursday, Thanksgiving evening, at 8 p.m. and continue until Friday at 11:59 p.m.

QVC Host Dave James

“When conventional retailers zig, QVC zags,” Claire Watts, QVC’s president of U.S. Commerce, said in a prepared statement. “This year, we’re joining the Black Friday fray – but in our own way – to make holiday gift shopping easier and more enjoyable than ever. The New Black Friday event at QVC offers a welcome escape from the mayhem – no long lines, no traffic, plus our customers can rest assured, knowing that they found really special gift ideas, at exceptional values.”

In addition to five hours of all-new, specially priced gifts Thanksgiving evening, QVC will offer three Today’s Special Value offers, items presented at exceptionally low prices, for a specific period of time. Holy crow!

AP’s David Bauder — who is a very nice guy, by the way — reported that QVC host Dave James will stay up 28 hours straight to do “telethon-like coverage” of the Black Friday event.

QVC shoppers will also get a sneak peek at the TSV for Saturday at QVC.com.

The nonstop shopping continues throughout the day on Black Friday, as QVC will offer a specially priced offer in every hour of programming. There will also be additional, specially priced offers at QVC.com.

QVC’s Black Friday programming will include, keeping with that Thanksgiving theme, “a cornucopia of terrific holiday gift-giving ideas”, the press release says.

Those include: the Nintendo Wii Gaming System with accessories, case and games; Panasonic HD Video Camera; Clarisonic Facial Cleansing System (enough with that damned Clarisonic!); and Philosophy Merry-Mint Chocolate Box 3-in-1 Shower Gel Duo.

Throughout the holiday season, QVC has extended its returns policy; gifts purchased between now and Dec. 23 may be returned up until Jan. 31 next year. But that’s not special: HSN and ShopNBC have done the same.

Associated Press

The Associated Press offered a superficial glance at a complex and alarming update in the upcoming trial of the five 9/11 defendants,  leaving me to wonder where is their thoughtful, penetrating examination of this judicial travesty about to take place in New York City. There is certainly no shortage of critical questions in want of answers.

The AP reported Sunday that the five 9/11 defendants to be tried in New York City will not deny their role in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but will nonetheless be pleading “not guilty.” This, to me, initially seemed a sure sign that the defense attorney feels compelled to observe no ethical responsibilities to the American judicial system as his clients attempt to put U.S. foreign policy on trial.

9/11 defense attorney Scott Fenstermaker

The attorney assigned to defend the five terrorists on trial, Scott Fenstermaker, reported Sunday that all five of his clients are also planning to use the “stage” they are given to deliver their radical Jihadist message and explain why they believe more Americans must die. The Obama Administration can’t say they weren’t warned – again, and again, and again.

There is the possibility that Fenstermaker has chosen the path of least resistance in representing his clients, for the sake of self-preservation.  There can be no doubt this case will have a significant impact on his career – for better or worse. But what we may perceive during this trial as over-zealous representation may be the actions of a defense attorney caught between the rock of the American justice system and the hard place of representing hardened terrorists who would stop at nothing to continue their mission against America.

Either way, Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration, which pulls his strings, opted to take great risks with a trial in our civilian judicial system, and for no clear, justifiable reason.  Even if the trial concludes without incident, the results would not justify the risk. If it does not go without incident, the results could be catastrophic.

Holder’s defense to the outrage following the announcement of the trial in NYC was weak, aloof and dismissive of the true weight of his choice.

“I have every confidence that the nation and the world will see him for the coward that he is,” Holder said. “I’m not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has to say at trial, and no one else needs to be, either.”

The blatant arrogance and ignorance exhibited by the Obama Administration and Holder is of far less concern than the wider implications to our judicial system. Merely saying that these five terrorists will have the same rights as any other American defendant in our court system doesn’t begin to convey the realities of the situation in which our justice system has been placed.

John Yoo, a columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, made up for the AP’s lack of insight on the trial when he wrote extensively on the disaster about to unfold:

“…the positive benefits [of a civilian trial] remain obscure to the point of vanishing. All that is known for certain are the heavy costs:

Giving Mohammed and his fellow terrorists the same constitutional rights as any U.S. citizen accused of a crime risks our nation’s most vital intelligence secrets. Mohammed can demand that the government turn over all of its information on him and tell him how it was acquired or it risks a mistrial or acquittal. Soviet moles like Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen used the same tactic to bargain the government down from the death penalty. Ordinarily, such information does not harm the public because the crime has already been committed. But the release of intelligence during hostilities can be disastrous when it informs the enemy of our knowledge, capabilities, and intentions.”

He went on to say:

“This red herring [Holder’s statement] distracts from the administration’s failure to explain why the benefits of using civilian courts outweigh the costs to the war effort. It certainly doesn’t help those who are already protected by the Bill of Rights and can be tried in civilian courts. If anything, their rights are at risk, not just by a failure to convict terrorists who killed almost 3,000 people, but by the inevitable judicial compromises that must balance the requirements of a fair public trial with the demands of protecting wartime secrets. Those compromises will no longer be limited to the special context of military courts in wartime, but will become part of the law that governs all Americans.”

Until the trial concludes, Americans will be forced to hold their breath and hope the Obama/Holder decision doesn’t cost us all a great deal in life and/or liberties.

Mais um excelente site que vai para a lista de links do Ação & Contexto. Pictura Pixel é uma revista multimídia imperdível que (in)felizmente (só agora) tive o prazer de conhecer.

Recomendo uma visita a fundo por todas as sessões do site (eles têm um roteiro para facilitar a navegação) e deixo como dica os portfólios dos fotógrafos André Cypriano sobre as favelas e barrios do Rio e de Caracas (do André recomendo o expecional livro Rocinha) e os voos fotográficos de Cássio Vasconcellos sobre Nova York.

Na sessão blog, vale o post uma foca-leopardo gigante ensina ao fotógrafo Paul Nicklen como caçar pinguins. Nicklen ficou em segundo lugar no World Press Photo de 2008, na categoria Natureza, com o ensaio Narwals publicado na National Geographic.

As cerejas do bolo ficam por parte dos artigos Propriedade e desrespeito, de Guaracy Monteiro (do Fotomix), e Pare de vender suas imagens! e Fairey, Mannie, AP e o crédito fotográfico, ambos do Gilberto Tadday.

Hospitals and doctors are using social networking as a means of delivering a higher level of customer service by providing more communication with patients and their families. 

Every fifteen minutes the patient’s family receives an update on a Blackberry from the operating room, which gives them a status report and informs them how the patient is doing.  Surgeons use Twitter to report the details of an ongoing surgery.   Patients receive educational information from their doctor concerning the health issue they face. Prospective surgical patients watch a webcast of the surgery they are considering. Instead of going to the doctor’s office, a patient receives answers electronically to her health questions.

All the above are real examples of social media being used by healthcare providers as cited by Nirvi Shah in a November 9^th article in the Miami Herald.  Social media tools are increasingly being used to provide information, and a higher level of customer service.

Many hesitate to use social media due to concerns about patient privacy.  But users avoid those concerns by using just one of a patient’s initials or just the age of patients. Messages are generally vague so that they would only make sense to the patient’s family.  And public posts are simply educational or very general in regard to details. 

Many patients consider the use of social media tools as modern day bedside manner.  It’s a way to make a stronger connection between the healthcare provider and patient.  It’s a means of making patients and their family more comfortable.

The tools of social media provide a wide range of opportunities to improve and enhance customer service.  Educational information and one-to-one conversations delivered through social media venues can be an extremely valuable asset to hospitals and physicians.  In a very competitive environment, the adoption of such tools can create a very significant advantage.     

EPPS media workshop on NY Media at ICG Local 600 sponsored event

Twitter, Facebook and social networks have become mainstream for entertainment writers and editors, Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS) members learned recently(11-19-09) at a media workshop sponsored by the International Cinematographers (ICG) Union Local 600 in Hollywood.

West Coast Editor Michael Fleeman, People.com said, “Whether we like it or not, reporters are being dragged into new media, some kicking and screaming about it. You have to know how to do it, and you have to file under deadline.”

New York Times Reporter Edward Wyatt, Los Angeles said reporters are being asked to post their stories Online and twitter about it. “Sometimes I record audio interviews or TV interviews and post them on the site,” he said. Wyatt cautions PR Pros to not miss the forest for the trees.  “If you have a webisode that is attracting 50,000 eyes, and you want to tell me about it great, but it the television show associated with it attracts 16 million people a week, that’s the meat of the story.”

Edward Wyatt NY Times

Wyatt covers the television business in LA. He joined the Times in New York in 1995 as a finance and investing reports and has covered education, the redesign of the World Trade Center site, the 2004 Democratic primaries, publishing business, as well as professional cycling and the Tour de France. He moved to LA in 2006 to cover Television.

New York Times Reporter Wyatt also said he’s looking for national stories, because the Times just doesn’t report on Manhattan stories. “When I came to LA I found we had not done a story on Two-and-a-Half Men, which is the biggest comedy on television and watched all over the country,” he said. “A lot of people in Manhattan don’t watch it, but people in Iowa, Kansas and elsewhere do. So if you bring stories with a national pace, we’re interested.”

.

Los Angeles Reporter Andrew Hampp for Advertising Age echoed other complaints of panelists on publicists’ followup calls on a pitch.

Andrew Hampp, Ad Age Michael Fleeman People Mag.

“Please don’t pitch me after you received a big NO from another editor above me,” he said. “We are still a work in progress, and started our website three years ago. We have separate website andmagazine editors and then we share editing staff. It’s about 99 percent original content on the website. There’s not much overlap between the magazine and website. The site is shorter, faster and more newsie, breasier and a younger user,” he said. Hampp said the print version deadline for  Ad Age magazine is Thursday or early Friday, and the AdAge.com has a daily and weekly newsletter so there is much to choose from through the week. He says deadlines are many at AdAge.com

Hampp’s pet peeves of PR Pros is that second followup phone call he receives after the press release has been received. “

Staff Editor Natalie Abrams, TVGuide.com said, “I think my biggest pet peeve is just the coordination on events,” said TVGuide.com’s Natalie Abrams. “ I’ll get three separate emails a network publicist, a studio publicist, a show publicist or a personal publicist for the actor, and it is all on the same thing, making it hard to decide who to respond to, so coordination on that end would be good,” she said.

TVGuide.com’s Abrams also  said they don’t have full time twitter people, but each writer or editor use new media to drive more traffic to TVGuide.com’s websites.

Abrams also agreed with Wyatt about lying, “if you don’t want it out there that your client is going to be killed off of a show, or that your show has been cancelled, we can embargoed it, just be honest with us.”

Natalie Abrams TV Guide

Natalie Abrams, staff editor, TV Guide.com is the west coast Staff editor at TVGuide.com, a one-stop entertainment and video content destination serving more than 20 million unique users per month. From television spoilers to insider scoops, Abrams breaks the latest in entertainment news. Since joining in September, 2009, she landed exclusive interviews with some of the hottest celebs including the cast of Glee, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, 24 and 90210 among others.

Los Angeles Reporter Andrew Hampp for Advertising Age echoed other complaints of panelists on publicists’ followup calls on a pitch. “Please don’t pitch me after you received a big NO from another editor above me,” he said. “We are still a work in progress, and started our website three years ago. We have separate website andmagazine editors and then we share editing staff. It’s about 99 percent original content on the website. There’s not much overlap between the magazine and website. The site is shorter, faster and more newsie, breazier and a younger user,” he said. Hampp said the print version deadline for  Ad Age magazine is Thursday or early Friday, and the AdAge.com has a daily and weekly newsletter so there is much to choose from through the week. He says deadlines are many at AdAge.com.

New York Times Wyatt told EPPS workshop that  his two pet peeves from entertainment publicist who pitch him include: “getting asked ‘who have you been talking to, which is none of your business when I am trying to just do a story”  and when publicist lies to their client, “because what will happen is one day I’ll meet your client at a cocktail party and they will say ‘why didn’t you talk to us to promote this new show of mine?’ This actually happened. I said, “Because I asked your publicist, and he said, “you couldn’t talk for X and Y reasons, and I was there on the set, and you walk right past me three or four times. Just don’t do that (lie).”

All panelist prefer email pitches, and most prefer early mornings, except for Edward Wyatt of the NY Times, because he deals with editors, who are three hours of ahead in the morning.

Wyatt@nytimes.com – 323-617-9034

Natalie. Abrams@tvguide.com – 323-856-4093

Michael_fleeman@peoplemag.com 310-268-7200

Ahampp@adage.com –  no phone number provided

Be sure to sign up for other media trend stories and behind the scenes stories (free) in entertainment publicity at the following sites Online:

MAYO PR

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For entertainment Publicity for movies, TV and music
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We welcome your comments, questions, suggestions and discussions. Thx.

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

Apparently, an extremely rare first edition copy of “On the Origin of Species,” Charles Darwin’s most famous work detailing the theory of natural selection, was found yesterday…on top of a toilet.

According to the Associated Press, the book had been printed in 1859. It was discovered in a family’s guest bathroom in Southern England. I’m sure its pages were pretty worn from all that good ol’ bathroom reading. How in the world could you hold on to that book and not have it in a secure location? There were actually only 1250 copies of the first edition ever printed.

So what to do with this Darwinian bathroom reader? Sell it, of course! The book will be auctioned off, most likely for around $99,000.

How many things in your bathroom are that valuable?

Sarah Palin, on a book tour to promote her new book, “Going Rogue”, continues to be scrutinized and attacked by the left. Many believe Sarah Palin is preparing for a presidential bid in 2012. Governor Palin states that she cares about this country and will go wherever she is led by God. To many, Sarah Palin represents honest, harding working, patriotic Americans and American Values.

The Examiner, in an article dated November 22, 2009, reveals the level of scrutiny Sarah Palin is receiving as compared to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

“Smearing Sarah: Palin’s book dissected by army of fact checkers”

“While the Sarah Palin whirlwind book tour continues and her poll numbers are rising, according to Fox News Channel’s Steve Doocy on Friday morning, newspapers, magazines and broadcast journalists are dissecting her bestselling book Going Rogue.

LONDON (Nov. 21) — Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.

The University of East Anglia, in eastern England, said in a statement Saturday that the hackers had entered the server and stolen data at its Climatic Research Unit, a leading global research center on climate change. The university said police are investigating the theft of the information, but could not confirm if all the materials posted online are genuine.

More than a decade of correspondence between leading British and U.S. scientists is included in about 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents posted on Web sites following the security breach last week.

Some climate change skeptics and bloggers claim the information shows scientists have overstated the case for global warming, and allege the documents contain proof that some researchers conspired to manipulate data.

The furor over the leaked data comes weeks before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, when 192 nations will seek to reach a binding treaty to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases worldwide. Many officials — including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — regard the prospects of a pact being sealed at the meeting as bleak.

Within a decade, summers in the North Pole will be dramatically different: no ice and just an open sea. That is the prediction released Oct. 14 by explorers who have hiked through the area. Here, research vessels on an unrelated expedition break through ice near the North Pole in 2004.

A new report examines the human cost of climate change, which it said causes more than 300,000 deaths per year. The report, released in May, shows the impact of climate change on population displacement, malnutrition and diseases, such as malaria. “Climate change is not something waiting to happen,” said former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

//

In one leaked e-mail, the research center’s director, Phil Jones, writes to colleagues about graphs showing climate statistics over the last millennium. He alludes to a technique used by a fellow scientist to “hide the decline” in recent global temperatures. Some evidence appears to show a halt in a rise of global temperatures from about 1960, but is contradicted by other evidence which appears to show a rise in temperatures is continuing.

Jones wrote that, in compiling new data, he had “just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline,” according to a leaked e-mail, which the author confirmed was genuine.

One of the colleague referred to by Jones — Michael Mann, a professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University — did not immediately respond to requests for comment via telephone and e-mail.

The use of the word “trick” by Jones has been seized on by skeptics — who say his e-mail offers proof of collusion between scientists to distort evidence to support their assertion that human activity is influencing climate change.

“Words fail me,” Stephen McIntyre — a blogger whose climateaudit.org Web site challenges popular thinking on climate change — wrote on the site following the leak of the messages.

However, Jones denied manipulating evidence and insisted his comment had been taken out of context. “The word ‘trick’ was used here colloquially, as in a clever thing to do. It is ludicrous to suggest that it refers to anything untoward,” he said in a statement Saturday.

Jones did not indicate who “Keith” was in his e-mail.

Two other American scientists named in leaked e-mails — Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, and Kevin Trenberth, of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Colorado — did not immediately return requests for comment.

The University of East Anglica said that information published on the Internet had been selected deliberately to undermine “the strong consensus that human activity is affecting the world’s climate in ways that are potentially dangerous.”

“The selective publication of some stolen e-mails and other papers taken out of context is mischievous and cannot be considered a genuine attempt to engage with this issue in a responsible way,” the university said in a statement.

Associated Press Writer Meera Selva in London contributed to this report.

Okay. “Historic” health care bill. EVERYTHING that Obama has done has been ‘historic’.
Historic election
Historic cover-up of all his past
Historic dog
Historic take over of the auto industry
Historic take over of the mortgage industry
Historic take over of banks
Historic firing of CEO.
Historic gift of DVD’s
Historic gift of I-pod
Historic bowing
Historic arrogance
Historic unemployment
Historic deaths of troops abroad
Historic trials in N.Y.
Historic church
Historic association with terrorists
Historic national debt
Historic national deficit
Historic number of czars
Historic fraud
Historic deceit
Historic corruption
Historic Nobel Peace Prize
Historic B.S.

Now we have “historic health care”; This is what the main stream media says about it … read carefully the unbiased reporting of the event:

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

Link to the b.s.

What is this, other than David Espo, a “special correspondent of the AP” giving his opinion on this foolishness called “health reform”. What is a “special correspondent”???
I’m so sick of these weasel, chrome-plated knee pad “journalists” giving this crap up as news, and the Associated Press, along with Yahoo news just carries it on their home page.
A blind man can see the left, Obama lean towards this kind of “reporting”.

Be sure to click on the “link” if you want to read the ‘rest of the story’.

by Snidely Whiplash

So Miss Sarah’s book, Going Rogue is out. It’s breaking sales records all over the joint. Amazing. Let me tell ya why.

How many are aware that the Associated Press assigned 11 reporters to vett her book? ELEVEN! Eleven AP minions assigned to dissect 440 pages of a book from a former politician. ELEVEN! No worries though. In fairness to AP they did this for other political persons pre and post office holding books.

The AP assigned how many reporters to the President’s 2 books was it? Hold on – I’ll look it up. Meanwhile, they did the same for Algore’s book too! Al Franken’s book on Limbaugh was heavily vetted as well. Bill Clinton’s book is at present still undergoing some fact checking too! And let’s not forget Michal Moore’s pre-2008 election guide!

Good! I found it! Between all the above mentioned books, Palin’s included, the AP assigned a grand total of ELEVEN (11) reporters to vett these political treatises.

Wait . . . if the AP assigned 11 reporters to her book, and 11 were the total for all the books I mentioned, seems maybe the Obama books, Algore, Clinton, Moore and Franken had ZERO vetting by AP. Huh? That’s gotta be a mistake – be right back – double checking.

Wow friends. I have the sad occasion of reporting that the AP assigned NO ONE, ZIP, ZERO, NADA, forget about it, reporter’s to vett the liberal wordsmithing. Golly gee is all I can say. Can y’all hear the shock and dismay in me voice? I am shaken to the core.

Granted, the Bamster’s two books were written before a handful of people knew who the Hell he was, so maybe that’s acceptable, although once the chatter about His Awesomeness grew one would think an organization CHARGED with discovering and verifying facts would have grown at least a little curious, wouldn’t they? I mean an amateur like me was curious enough to buy the damned books.

To continue reading the rest of Snidely’s article, please click here.

From America’s Right:

An Associated Press dispatch, written by Erica Werner and Richard Alonso-Zaldivar, compares the House and Senate ObamaCare bills. We’d like to compare this dispatch to the AP’s dispatch earlier this week “fact checking” Sarah Palin’s new book. Here goes:

On a per-page basis, that is, the AP devoted 52 times as much manpower to the memoir of a former Republican officeholder as to a piece of legislation that will cost trillions of dollars and an untold number of lives. That’s what they call accountability journalism.

For full post: http://www.americasright.com/2009/11/media-bias-you-betcha.html

In order to reach its goal of cutting global payroll costs by 10 percent in 2009,

the Associated Press has notified 90 people that they are out the door.

Thanks, Tom Curley.  (Wonder if he took a leaf out of Yahoo!’s book.)

No, it's not really funny.

The Senate’s health care reform bill calls for a five percent tax on elective plastic surgery and cosmetic treatments. In this article, plastic surgeons do their best to try and argue against the proposal. The amount of sexism in their language is striking and demonstrates not only how they market their services, but how many women have been influenced by them. Repeatedly, they argue that women from all demographic backgrounds want these treatments to make them more competitive in the job market. Sadly, our all too shallow society may provide a small bit of evidence to support their claims, but the tax is still a good idea. Americans spend far too much money attempting to defy nature. Aging is a fact of life. Our focus on youth—especially in the workplace is very misguided. Since I am blind I have no idea what someone looks like when I meet them; as result, I am able to focus on what they are saying to me. It would be a good idea if more Americans tried living this way. A few wrinkles does not make someone a bad worker. It is sad to think that so many women are convinced that their value is diminished by things that are out of their control. At our core people are not skin or breasts—people are brains and hearts.