Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE):

The Tribune’s Sunday editorial featured a scorching attack on the National Education Association based on a You Tube video in which a retiring NEA lawyer states that the union’s top priority is protecting its members.

Yes, that is what unions do, much to the dissatisfaction of the Tribune, whose editors went on to gleefully conclude that educating children is not the NEA’s top priority, though the lawyer also says that “closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like…are the goals that guide the work we do.”

The Trib was clued into this “gotcha” video by the Rev. Sen. James Meeks, who recently stated at Operation PUSH that the Chicago Teachers Union is the worst gang in Chicago. So, following the old adage that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, the Trib now totally loves Meeks.

And their love is made even more perfect by the shared desire of the Trib editors and Meeks to punish and weaken teachers’ unions by promoting unlimited charters and vouchers.

“It’s all for the children”

As a veteran local school council member,  I have learned that when someone complains that “you never talk about children,” they’re usually trying to shut you up because you’re getting too close to the truth, and when someone asserts that they are only doing something “for the children,” there are usually other agendas at work.

Come on, folks — we ALL want what’s best for children. Get real. Now let’s peel back the rest of the onion.

In the case of the Tribune, their union-busting, privatization-hungry, corporate-model-worshipping preferences are well-known. Their defense of charters ignores the issue of academic progress (something that is truly good for children), and instead focuses on the marketplace value of charter “waiting lists.”

The situation with Senator Meeks is a little more complicated. He’s eccentric (some might say flaky).   He has gone to the mat for school funding in a state where no one else has the guts to stand up to the powers that be. Taking a page from PURE’s 1990’s playbook, he bused CPS students to the suburbs to “register” them for school.

But is he “genuinely looking out for kids,” as the Tribune claims?

If he’s genuinely looking out for kids, how can he promote more charter schools? A 2009 Stanford report clearly shows that African-American students enrolled in charter schools in Illinois do significantly worse in reading compared to their counterparts in traditional schools, and gain no benefit in math.

If he’s genuinely looking out for kids, how can he promote vouchers when the research on that strategy is equally grim? The longest-running voucher program, in Milwaukee, has shown no advantage for students in the voucher program over the traditional schools.

If he’s genuinely looking out for kids, how can he advocate what is essentially more Renaissance 2010, a failed program that has caused increased student drop-outs, push-outs, and violence without actually improving schools.

Could there be another agenda behind Rev. Meeks’ interest in vouchers? Of course. A voucher program in Illinois would directly benefit the private religious school run by Meeks’ church, the Salem Christian Academy (S. C. A.), which Rev. Meeks serves as Pastor/CEO.

A bad joke?

Well, maybe the Rev. Sen. can go on a national tour ala Duncan-Gingrich-Sharpton. Meeks can pair up with Rod Paige, George Bush’s Secretary of Education, who called the NEA a terrorist organization.

At least Paige tried to apologize for his comment, calling his statement a “bad joke.” Unfortunately, the joke will be on our children if we don’t get hold of Senator Meeks before he pushes his proposals through the legislature in January 2010.

Très peu de médias auront relayé ce qui constitue pourtant une immense source de fierté pour tous les scientifiques français.

C’est un classement international qui l’affirme : notre CNRS national est classé 1ère institution scientifique du monde en 2009 parmi les 2000 organismes de recherche évalués, bien devant Harvard, Tokyo Daigaku, Oxford, etc…!

Comprenant 11 000 chercheurs, plus de 15000 universitaires et des milliers de thésards qui travaillent dans ses 1200 laboratoires, le CNRS, créé en 1939, vient d’être couronné par le groupe de recherche espagnol SCImago, qui se propose de réaliser des cartographies des activités de recherches. Il se base sur son rapport annuel 2009 classant les meilleures universités et institutions de recherche mondiales grâce à l’analyse de leur performance pendant la période 2003-2007, suivant 5 indicateurs de production, collaboration et impact scientifique (telle que la citation des auteurs dans d’autres travaux). Le rapport a été élaboré à partir de données de la base Scopus (plus de 16 millions de publications et 150 millions de citations) et comprend des institutions de recherche de 84 pays sur les cinq continents, groupées dans cinq secteurs de recherche : gouvernement, éducation supérieure, santé, industrie et autre.

Tout le monde se souviendra de la récente passe d’arme opposant notre gouvernement avec les chercheurs français du CNRS, ne publiant pas assez, n’étant pas suffisamment efficients, mal organisés; il semble que son unité et sa détermination viennent d’être enfin appréciées à leur juste valeur. Notre CNRS publie, brevète, conclu des contrats avec l’industrie…et fait la fierté de ses scientifiques!

Organisme public financé quasi exclusivement par l’Etat, l’avenir du CNRS ne peut plus être envisagé sur le seul plan de la performance, qui est à présent mondialement, et objectivement, reconnue; mais sur la place que l’on veut donner à la la recherche fondamentale, non programmée, non définie par des objectifs court termiste clairement identifiés.

La question est finalement, quelle place veut donner la France à la Recherche et surtout dans les mains de quels types d’acteurs? Comme le réaffirmaient récemment deux anciens premiers ministres, Michel Rocard et Alain Juppé, il y a une erreur économique à ne pas commettre pour toute grande nation: ne pas investir dans les relais de croissance de demain, en faisant l’impasse de la recherche et du développement.

Concernant le monde de la biologie médicale, il est désolant de constater que la révolution bio diagnostique est en marche et que le train est en train de quitter le quai sans les professionnels de santé, et sans les chercheurs Français!

Il faut donner les moyens à la biologie française de continuer à se positionner comme leader sur le plan de l’innovation technique que représente la Biologie Diagnostique et la Biologie Interventionnelle. Profitons du regroupement des acteurs biologistes de la profession, favorisons l’émulation public/privé, support de la recherche et du développement. Assouplissons les formalités permettant de faire fructifier les brevets, et autofinançant l’innovation de demain. Plus que tout, retrouvons confiance en nos professionnels, qui apparaissent comme les mieux formés, et les plus prometteurs au monde.

Le véritable enjeu pour l’Avenir en Médecine n’est pas sur la Qualité, il est sur l’Innovation. Hors l’innovation passe aujourd’hui par le domaine incontournable des biotechnologies, domaine dans lequel il s’avère que les acteurs de la Biologie Française, et ses chercheurs, sont aujourd’hui dans un rôle leader qu’il est important de conforter. Car perdre la course à l’Innovation, c’est financer, in fine, celle des autres… et en devenir dépendant.

La Fondation Terra Nova a participé  à une série de réflexions sur l’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union européenne: à Bodrum dans le cadre d’une réunion internationale organisée par le think tank Edam fondé par Kemal Dervis, à Istanbul avec l’Institut du Bosphore, et à Paris dans le cadre d’un séminaire organisé par l’association « La Turquie européenne ».

Terra Nova a publié, en partenariat avec Libération, le fruit de ces réflexions. Pierre Moscovici, député, ancien ministre des affaires européennes, Jean François Bayart, directeur de recherche au CNRS, Michel Rocard, ancien Premier ministre et président du conseil scientifique de Terra Nova, ainsi qu’Olivier Ferrand, président de Terra Nova, nous livrent les enjeux de ce débat clé pour l’avenir du projet européen:

Michel Rocard et Olivier Ferrand :  La Turquie a sa place dans une Europe politique

Jean-François Bayart : Un Islam compatible avec la République

Pierre Moscovici : La clé de l’adhésion se trouve à Chypre

Retrouvez ici le dossier complet

Retrouvez ici le site www.liberation.fr

Die Medien verdienen mehr und mehr Geld durch Werbeeinnahmen, könnte sich das irgendwie auch auf die demokratische Urteilsfindung (Aufklärung/Bewusstseinsbildung) der Bürger auswirken? Dieser Bericht zeigt die amerikanischen Verhältnisse.

Depuis sa création, l’Union pour la Méditerranée (UpM) s’est fait rémarquer surtout par les difficultés de sa mise en oeuvre. Les problèmes sont dus, en premier lieu, au conflit israélo-palestinien. Mais il y a aussi d’autres raisons internes, dues à  la gestation difficile du projet de l’UpM et à sa propre vision stratégique. Il faut un débat pour tenter d’éclaircir ces deux questions: la relation entre  projet UpM et conflit israélo-palestinien, et les perspectives de développement du projet de l’UpM.

On nous dit que l’UpM est bloquée  à cause du conflit israélo-palestinien. C’est vrai, mais ce n’est pas toute la vérité.  Plus que de blocage il faut parler de parcours de bas profil, intermittent et spasmodique. L’UpM a été «institutionnellement suspendue” à la demande des pays arabes à cause de l’intervention armée d’Israël à Gaza, l’hiver 2008.  Kouchner souligna, en Mai 2009, que l’UpM “était bloquée». Toutefois, le 25 juin dernier, une première réunion ministérielle s’est tenue à Paris, sur le développement durable, avec la participation, parmi leurs homologues, du ministre israélien de l’environnement, Gilad Erdan, et du ministre de l’Économie de l’Autorité palestinienne, Bassem Khouri. La presse a souligné le caractère «apolitique» de cette réunion, où les éléments de conflit ont été écartés pour aborder des questions de gestion de l’eau, transports et développement urbain. Le 7 juillet 2009, les ministres des Finances des pays de l’UpM se sont réunis à Bruxelles. L’UpM semblait sortir du tunnel et des déclarations triomphalistes n’ont pas manqué. Henri Guaino déclara au Monde: «Il y a quelques mois, personne n’aurait parié sur nos chances de  parvenir à monter  une réunion de ce genre. Elle dément ceux qui  veulent toujours  que tout échoue. On peut dire que l’UpM est relancée”

Mais cette relance a été éphémère. La réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères convoquée fin novembre de cette année à Istanbul, a été ajournée sine die. A ce propos, Kouchner a déclare: «Nous renonçons (à tenir cette réunion) parce que le ministre égyptien a refusé de rencontrer son homologue israélien”. Les sources diplomatiques ont signalé l’évidence: les pays arabes  rejettent  toute rencontre face à face avec Avigdor Lieberman. Des nouvelles réunions ministerielles de l’UpM pourront peut être s’ensuivre, mais  pas de haut niveau – si rien ne change -,  et sans décisions significatives.

La mise en œuvre des structures et des projets de l’UpM est  restée presque en stand by. Il a été décidé d’établir le siège du Secrétariat à Barcelone, mais la nomination de son premier secrétaire général reste toujours en suspens. Il existe également un malaise (comme la Belgique l’a exprimé récemment) à propos des coprésidences qui vont plus loin des mandats semestriels de  la présidence tournante de l’Union européenne. A cela s’ajoute une certaine détérioration des relations franco-égyptiennes. Le compte n’y est pas. Il y a une incertitude dans la préparation des projets et des imprécisions dans les prévisions de financement. Le degré d’engagement et la portée de la contribution de la BEI ne sont pas connus et l’Allemagne a indiqué que l’UpM ne pourra pas bénéficier d’un budget supplémentaire européen à celui du  Processus de Barcelone. Le partenariat public-privé dépend, évidemment, de la cohérence et de la continuité du projet global de l’UpM.

Cette situation est d’une certaine gravité. Il y a un contraste tellement important entre les intentions déclarées et les résultats réels que si un changement d’orientation et de méthodes ne se produit pas, une frustration exacerbée pourrait se développer. De fait, dès sa conception, l’UpM s’est trouvée confrontée à une question cruciale et encore non résolue: Son fonctionnement dépend t-il du conflit israélo-palestinien, ou doit-il se développer de manière autonome? Autrement dit: Est-il raisonnable d’attendre la fin du conflit pour élaborer une politique euro-méditerranéenne ambitieuse, en tenant compte de l’importance et de l’urgence des autres problèmes méditerranéens?

La conception de la politique euro-méditerranéenne qui a émergé du Processus de Barcelone (1995) et qui s’est développée avec la Politique de Voisinage (2004) a largement permis de contourner ce dilemme. Ce Processus était conçu comme un développement progressif d’un large réseau régional, via les accords d’association et des plans d’action entre l’UE et les divers pays de la Méditerranée méridionale et orientale, qui garantissait  sa continuité.

Mais le nouveau dispositif de  l’UpM a mis à nouveau la question du Proche-Orient (aggravée par les divisions palestiniennes et, surtout, par l’attaque militaire israélienne dans la bande de Gaza)  au cœur même des politiques méditerranéennes, comme un noeud déterminant et non résolu.

Les contradictions de l’initiative explique les problèmes rencontrés dès l’origine – avec l’Allemagne, la Turquie, etc. Il faut procéder a une clarification, d’une  part à l’égard du projet et d’autre part sur la façon concrète de faire les choses.

La conception de Sarkozy a été paradoxale. En effet, celle-ci impliquait deux objectifs contradictoires: d’un coté une “dépolitisation” qui étouffait le discours sur les réformes démocratiques et des droits de l’homme dans la région et qui mettait l’accent sur une stratégie “fonctionnaliste” (une “union de projets“); et, simultanément, une puissante “institutionnalisation” qui a renforcé sa centralisation.

Dans son discours de Tanger sur l’UpM, en octobre 2007, Sarkozy a évoqué le “fonctionnalisme” de Jean Monnet et a comparé le projet de l’UpM avec la CECA qui a jeté les bases de l’unité européenne. Mais, en même temps, on proposait une institutionnalisation politique forte, montrée de façon spectaculaire lors de la cérémonie constitutive à Paris, qui a suscitée des critiques rétrospectives pour ses fastes.

Du rôle opérationnel des fonctionnaires, des experts et des ambassadeurs, on passa au protagonisme des  chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement. Cela avait ses avantages mais aussi ses servitudes. Comme l’a dit  Dominique Baudis, président de l’Institut du monde arabe: “C’était une erreur de lancer le Processus de Barcelone simplement à un niveau ministériel. Quand l’initiative est prise au niveau des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement, l’impact politique est plus fort“. C’est sur. Mais on augmente en même tempsla vulnérabilité et la dépendance face aux facteurs imprévisibles de la situation politique, comme le montre l’errance spasmodique  de la trajectoire de l’UpM jusqu’à ce jour.

Dans cette situation d’impasse préoccupante de l’UpM, certains optent pour la polémique. C’est le cas de Guaino, qui a écrit: “L’Union pour la Méditerranée est un combat. Nous le mènerons ce combat, jusqu’au bout! C’est un combat juste. C’est un combat nécessaire. Ceux qui sont responsables de l’échec de Barcelone sont les plus mal placés pour donner des leçons”.

Cette discussion rétrospective serait absurde. Il faut partir de la réalité actuelle et discuter de la mise en oeuvre de l’UpM, de ses difficultés et contradictions. Il est urgent de discuter les changements et les modulations nécessaires pour l’avenir. Nous devons nous mettre d’accord sur une certaine façon de faire les choses et, dans ces sens, les fuites en avant à la façon Guaino aident très peu.

Face aux urgences simultanées du conflit israélo-palestinien et des défis généraux de la Méditerranée, il ne faut pas créer une fausse alternative. Il ne serait ni juste ni lucide de faire abstraction du conflit entre Israël et les pays arabes: il est incontournable. La politique méditerranéenne ne pourra  évoluer qu’en fonction de ce qui se passe au Proche-Orient. Mais il est nécessaire et possible d’impulser et gouverner cette évolution, de telle sorte que cela ne paralyse pas les politiques euro-méditerranéennes. Car ce blocage susciterait des frustrations supplémentaires: nous ne pourrions pas créer les nouveaux outils et projets dont les peuples de la Méditerranée ont besoin. Cette mise en marche doit être  une contribution positive aux problèmes de la région et aussi à la solution d’un conflit que l’UpM à elle seule ne peut pas résoudre, mais peut aider à résoudre. Les avancées de l’UpM et de ses projets d’avenir  ne sont pas un obstacle à une solution des conflits du Proche-Orient. C’est le contraire qui est vrai.

Pendant cette première année et demie de l’UpM, il y a eu trop de rhétorique et un certain manque de professionnalisme et de bon sens. Serons-nous capable de surmonter cette situation? Les problèmes de la Méditerranée l’exigent. La nécessaire relance de l’UpM doit être le travail de tous. Et ceux qui occupent le devant de la scène feraient bien d’adopter une attitude  plus  modeste et un engagement plus sérieux vers plus de clarification et de précision.

Since the 2006-7 offseason we have talked about the backloaded contracts and the impact that they would one day have on the Chicago Cubs. Well ladies and gents, that time has come and we are in the eye of the storm this offseason. The crazy spending spree that the Cubs went on following 2006 and 2007 had ramifications. The ramifications become real clear when you see the chart below from Cot’s baseball contracts:

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The Cubs find themselves second only to the Yankees in payroll committed to 2010. This is before the first free agent has been signed in baseball. The ramifications from the Cubs spending spree the previous three offseasons is they will have no room to maneuver and very little room to improve on a club that finished up the track in the NL Central in 2009.

The funny thing about much of this is when the Cubs were giving out many of these contracts the team was known to be on the block. They were the last years of TribCo ownership and they decided to spend like there was ‘no tomorrow’, because there wasn’t. Many of us assumed Jim Hendry was creating a mess that would one day be handled by another GM. Well Jim Hendry is still here and this offseason he gets to deal with the mess that Tribco, John McDonough, Crane Kenney and he created. The Cubs have very little financial flexibility this offseason. Their flexibility is so bad a quality starting pitcher like Rich Harden is going to be allowed to walk as opposed to signing him (the Cubs aren’t even offering arbitration–fearful he may accept it). You may think this is no big deal, but pitchers with Harden’s talent are not easy to come by.

Jim Hendry has repeated that the Cubs are more likely to be active in the trade market as opposed to the free agent market. That’s fine and dandy, the trouble is Jim Hendry gave out no trade clauses to most of his high priced veteran talent. So the players Hendry can trade, besides Milton Bradley–who has no value, are the cheap ones and the cost controlled ones. Way to give yourself flexibility Cruller Jim.

This financial mess puts the Cubs new owners in a real awkward position. Some hoped that the Cubs new owners would just spend their way through this turbulence. Well that seems like a real easy thing to do when it ain’t your money. The truth is the Cubs had the third highest payroll in 2009. They will be in the top 5 in 2010. The team is going to increase payroll by a small amount in 2010. It won’t be alot, but it won’t be a decrease, which in these economic times is saying something (According to the USA Today: “14 Major League clubs cut payroll from a year ago, and 10 of those reduced overhead by $10 million or more.” ).

If Tom Ricketts wanted to bring in new baseball people to try and clean up this mess who could blame him? But really there is very little anyone could do for the Cubs this offseason. It appears that Ricketts is willing to give Jim Hendry and Crane Kenney a chance. Hendry appears to have enough rope at this point to end his career as Cubs GM. Botching the expected Milton Bradley trade in the coming weeks might just be the start of Hendry’s last offseason as Cubs GM.

News Web sites are starting to look a lot less like newspapers and a lot more like television. CNN.com and ESPN.com are featuring video much more prominently on their home pages, often prompting visitors to press play before they begin to read. Even The Wall Street Journal has moved its video player front and center with a twice-a-day live newscast on WSJ.com. A major reason is commercial. At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming. News sites are adding more video inventory to keep pace with the demands of advertisers, and benefiting from the higher cost-per-thousands, or C.P.M.’s, that ads on those videos command. The attention to video mirrors changes in how consumers are experiencing news. Major events — be it the presidential election or the death of Michael Jackson — bring a surge in video stream viewings by new users, and each time some of them stick around. Media companies typically do not break out figures for video advertising, and certainly the video revenue pales next to search and display advertising. But the growth has spurred investment and interest in video production. Among Web sites operated by newspapers, The New York Times, Gannett and Tribune each reach more than a million viewers a month with video streams, comScore says.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/media/11adco.html?_r=2&ref=media

This piece is a tribute to Prabhash Joshi, who died of cardiac arrest late on November 5, just after watching his favourite cricketer Sachin Tendulkar play the innings of his life in a losing cause. This is also a lament that the space occupied by journalists like Prabhashji, who have the printer’s ink in their veins and the ability to confront ethical dilemmas head on, has contracted further by his passing away.

The extraordinary thing about Prabhashji was that he remained ordinary; rooted to the grassroots and committed to the everyday concerns of the common man. The common man is a much-abused word in today’s media, Aam Aadmi, is the Hindi equivalent used quite often. I could switch on the TV right now and one of the English channels would be saying ‘but amidst all this there is no relief for the common man,’ or ‘the common man continues to suffer.’

A legendary journalism teacher asked our class as to why we thought that a particular newspaper was the best in the region. The answer given was that it satisfies the common man. The next question kept hanging in the air for a while longer: How do you know that an ABC newspaper satisfies the common man? The answer came from within me and 17 years later I still cherish the teacher’s accolade. ABC is the best newspaper in the region and I know that it satisfies the common man because it satisfies me. For Prabhashji it was not a statement; it was the way of life throughout. I don’t know from when the journalist became different from the common man? The headline that I just read in the Chandigarh Tribune says, ‘The man who felt the pulse of the people.’ Who are these people?

Prabhashji could have done all that by feeling his own pulse. He instinctively knew the concerns of the common man because he was one himself; and that perhaps was one of the reasons for his mass appeal. I am borrowing from a story in Sify that has quoted Pankaj Pachauri of NDTV news channel saying: “Prabhashji was someone who never came under any pressure, either political or market pressure. He was one of his kind. He single-handedly ran a campaign against communal forces at the time of the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign.” Hats off to you, Prabhashji!

Prabhashji loved cricket and Sachin Tendulkar was his favourite player; but it wasn’t just that and his reading of the game was tremendous. When I first heard Prabhashji on an NDTV cricket programme, it left me mesmerized. He was brilliant; and it is my bad luck that I could not hear his views on the game more often.

Renowned sports journalist Pradeep Magazine started his career when Prabhash Joshi was the editor of The Indian Express in Chandigarh. “There was a child in him; and I think Prabhashji understood that in journalism everyone is a victim of the system. He felt that sport was still innocent and his passion for cricket helped him remain sane and kept that child inside alive. I owe my career to him. The work he did after his retirement was phenomenal; as he had unshackled himself, and was no longer tied to any master,” Pradeep paused and carefully chose each and every word while describing Prabhashji.

That Pradeep Magazine had worked for about three years directly under the editorship of Prabhash Joshi was something I learnt only a day ago while reading another tribute. This is when I thought that a first job with Prabhash Joshi must have had a big impact on Magazine as a person and also as a professional entering the field. In my association with Pradeep Magazine, I have found him to be a simple man with a lot of warmth. The big thing is that he takes criticism even better than praise and will not let that affect his friendship. Most importantly; just like Prabhashji, he is upright and fearless.

Sometime in mid-1997, when I was about to move on from the Down To Earth, Prabhashji’s son Sopan had just joined the environment and science fortnightly. It was only for a few months that we worked together as colleagues. He was cheerful and spontaneous; and quiet about his father until the information leaked out through the HR forms he had filled.

Sopan took a media roundtrip before coming back to Down To Earth as the managing editor of the fortnightly. The few months in 1997 were enough to seal a friendship that has lasted more than a decade; though most often it is just a phone call. On that day I just messaged him; as I knew the cremation was at the banks of the Narmada. Yesterday, I got to speak to Sopan for the first time since the day the Hyderabad match was turned off after Sachin’s wicket in his home. Prabhashji had a bypass surgery done many years ago and also had a pacemaker since the last few years. He complained of chest pain that night and could not make it to a private hospital.

The travel schedule of Prabhashji was very hectic and he wasn’t resting as much as the doctors and the family would have wanted him to. I knew what an unreasonable question it was to ask Sopan as to why they did not stop him, or advise him against travelling. He said they used to try. It was easy to understand that the man who never got cornered or gave up under pressure by either the political or the market forces; would not have had it any other way.

It has been a big personal loss for my friend but he was composed when he returned my call yesterday; he spoke with ease and concealed grief. Sopan was straight as an arrow when we worked together in 1997, and I don’t think he would have changed much as the down to earth quality that he had came originally from living with an extraordinary ordinary man; who was father to him and an inspiration to millions.

Sopan also knows that it is a personal loss for me in a different way; the loss of one of the editors who placed ethics and transparency above all else—and both of us were quite sure that such people existed in the mainstream media. The dilemma for the editor is always ethical and never intellectual; and the person who has it in him/her faces it in a direct manner.

Mark Twain must have met a few editors of the kind that even I have had the pleasure of working with in my journalistic career of about 16 years when he said: “I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one.” The salaries have gone up many-fold and that in itself is a very good thing, though, it also has a flip-side; as the editors who can’t earn respect can at least resort to buying it.

Prabhashji was different. He earned it all his life.

In English, “to get cold feet” is an expression used to describe situations where we are invaded by last minute doubts. It can describe the jitters actors feel just as they are about to go out on stage, or what some couples go through before tying the knot. For purists of Castilian traditions, it is akin to the bullfighting term espantá or, more technically speaking, “making a dash for the bullring barrier like the devil’s got a hold of you”.

It is also what the EU is going through with respect to Turkey. Sixty years after Turkey became one the founding members of the Council of Europe, we are still debating its Europeanness. In 1963, 1987, 1999 and again in 2005, the EU confirmed Turkey as eligible for membership status – which is to say, on each and every one of the occasions in which it had to declare itself in this regard. What’s more, the decision to get accession negotiations underway was voted unanimously by the 25 members present at the December 2004 European Council and was ratified in the European Parliament with 407 votes in favour (and 202 against). Yet the EU and Turkey have been locked in a vicious circle of mutual suspicion and distrust since accession negotiations began in 2005, according to the recent report by the Independent Commission on Turkey made up by Martti Ahtisaari, Emma Bonino, Anthony Giddens, Michel Rocard and Spain’s Marcelino Oreja, amongst others.

On the European side of the equation, the EU has entered a severe phase of introspection and self-doubt of late. It has erroneously laid the blame relating to the failed drafting and ratification of the European Constitution at the door of the enlargement process to central and eastern Europe and the new members there, preferring to concentrate (in actual fact, console itself) on what some have called a “consolidation phase”. But a much more uncomfortable reality lies behind the rhetoric; the coming to power of Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Angela Merkel in Germany has amounted to a radical change in Europe’s Turkish policy. In contrast to the position of their predecessors (Chirac and Schröder), both leaders have made their opposition to Turkish accession perfectly clear on numerous occasions, preferring to offer a “privileged relationship” in its place; so cold feet on one side of the table at any rate.

On the Turkish side, the country’s European vocation has been steadily weakening as a result of Brussels’ continual slights and snubs. Against all forecasts, Erdogan’s moderate Islamists swiftly adopted up to ten constitutional reforms, seeking to bring the Turkish constitution into line with EU requirements. But in view of the lack of progress in negotiations for entry into the European Union (only one of the thirty five chapters making up the process have been resolved satisfactorily in four years), the Turkish side has lost faith in the EU. The consequences of this are deeply concerning; the moderate Islamists initially believed that EU accession would help them consolidate power vis-a-vis the Army and the secular parties. Today, however, the Islamists are consolidating their power and seeking its institutionalization by more orthodox means (by control of the State apparatus, harassing critical media outlets and the affirmation of religious values over civil liberties). Cold feet on the Turkish side too then, where according to polls only 30% of Turks feel European.

The result is that, instead of converging, Turkey and the EU are steadily moving away from each other due to a vicious circle whereby the lack of incentives weakens reforms, which in turn moves Turkey further away from the EU, and so on and so forth. We are dealing in essence with a self-fulfilling prophecy; and indeed if 73% of Turks wanted accession in 2004, only 47% support it today. Revealingly, two out of three Turks don’t believe their country will ever become a member of the EU. Things don’t look any better from the European side either, with two out of three Europeans opposed to accession and only one in three in favour.

One of the worst kept secrets in Brussels these days is that nobody believes the negotiations will lead to a successful conclusion; and if neither side has thrown in the towel and broken off negotiations, it is only because nobody wants to make the first move and pay the price of pulling back. Turkish EU accession was a project of the European elite and a cosmopolitan minority, but the elite has lost its nerve. Rebuilding relations after this espantá will be no easy matter.

By José Ignacio Torreblanca

Source: This article was published in El País on 2 November 2009.

Desde su inicio, la Unión por el Mediterráneo (UpM) ha sido noticia sobre todo por las dificultades que encuentra en su puesta en marcha. Los problemas se deben, en primer lugar, al conflicto Israel-Palestina. Sin embargo hay otras razones también, de carácter intrínseco, que derivan de la complicada gestación del proyecto de la UpM y de su propia concepción estratégica. Es necesario un debate que intente clarificar dos cuestiones:  la relación entre el proyecto UpM y el conflicto Israel-Palestina y las perspectivas de desarrollo del proyecto UpM.

Se dice que la UpM está  paralizada por el conflicto Israel-Palestina.  Es verdad pero no es toda la verdad. La realidad es que su trayectoria es intermitente, espasmódica. Quedó “institucionalmente suspendida” a demanda de los países árabes en signo de protesta por la intervención armada de Israel en Gaza, en invierno de 2008. Kouchner señaló en mayo de 2009 que la UpM “estaba bloqueada”.  Sin embargo, el 25 de junio tenía lugar en París una primera reunión ministerial sobre desarrollo sostenible, a la que asistieron junto con sus homólogos, el ministro israelí de medio ambiente, Gilad Erdan y el ministro de economía de la Autoridad palestina, Bassem Khouri. La prensa resaltó el carácter en cierta medida “apolítico” de la reunión, que aparcó los elementos de conflicto y abordó cuestiones de gestión del agua, transportes o desarrollo urbano. El 7 de julio, los ministros de Finanzas de los países de la UpM se reunieron en Bruselas, al igual que un comité de altos representantes. La UpM parecía salir del túnel y no faltaron declaraciones triunfalistas.  Henri Guaino declaró a Le Monde:  ”Il y a quelques mois, personne n’aurait parié sur nos chances de parvenir à monter une réunion de ce genre. Elle dément ceux qui veulent toujours que tout échoue. On peut dire que l’UPM est relancé“.

Pero el relanzamiento fue efímero. La reunión de ministros de relaciones exteriores, convocada para finales de noviembre en Estambul, fue aplazada sine die. Según declaró Kouchner, “renunciamos (a celebrar la reunión) porque el ministro egipcio se negaba a reunirse con su homólogo israelí“. Distintas fuentes diplomáticas señalaron lo evidente: los países árabes rechazaban todo encuentro cara a cara con Avigdor Lieberman.

Entre tanto la puesta en marcha de las estructuras y proyectos de la UpM  quedaba casi totalmente en stand by. Se decidió establecer la sede del Secretariado en Barcelona, pero el nombramiento de su primer secretario general sigue en el aire. Existe también malestar (Bélgica lo ha expresado recientemente) a propósito de las copresidencias más allá de las presidencias semestrales de la Unión y a ello se añade una cierta desmejora de las relaciones franco-egipcias. Hay una indefinición en la concreción de los proyectos y las previsiones de financiación son imprecisas. Las cuentas no salen. Se ignora el grado de compromiso y el alcance de la aportación del BEI y Alemania ha indicado que la UpM no podrá beneficiarse de un presupuesto europeo suplementario al del proceso de Barcelona. El partenariado público-privado depende, evidentemente, de la coherencia y continuidad del proyecto general.

Esta situación es de una cierta gravedad. Hay un contraste tan grande entre las intenciones  proclamadas y los resultados efectivos que, si no se produce un cambio de orientación y de métodos, podría llegarse a una exasperada frustración. De hecho, desde su misma concepción, la UpM se enfrenta a una cuestión determinante y aún irresuelta:  ¿Depende su funcionamiento del conflicto Israel-Palestina, o debe desarrollarse de modo autónomo?

Dicho de otro modo: ¿Es razonable esperar al fin del conflicto para desarrollar una política euromediterránea ambiciosa, teniendo en cuenta  la importancia y la urgencia de los demás problemas mediterráneos?

El diseño de la política euromediterránea surgida del Proceso de Barcelona (1995) y desarrollada con la Política de Vecindad (2004), permitió superar en buena medida este dilema. Se trataba de  un proceso de desarrollo progresivo de un amplio network regional (vía Acuerdos de Asociación y Planes de Acción entre la UE y los distintos países del sur y del este del Mediterráneo) que garantizaba su continuidad. Sin embargo, la propuesta de UpM volvió a colocar de nuevo la cuestión del Próximo Oriente (agravada por las divisiones palestinas y, sobre todo, por el ataque militar israelí en Gaza) como el nudo determinante e irresuelto de las políticas mediterráneas.

La razón se encuentra en el planteamiento contradictorio de la iniciativa de la UpM, que apareció ya en todas las vicisitudes de los primeros momentos (los problemas con Alemania, Turquía, etc.). Hay que proceder, en este sentido,  a una necesaria clarificación conceptual, en lo que se refiere al planteamiento,  y  a una modificación, eminentemente práctica, en lo que se refiere a la concreta manera de hacer las cosas.

El diseño de Sarkozy ha sido muy paradójico. Implicaba plantearse, al mismo tiempo, dos objetivos contradictorios: por un lado, una “despolitización” que amortiguaba el discurso de las reformas democráticas y de los derechos humanos en la región y ponía todo el énfasis en una estrategia “funcionalista” (una “unión de proyectos”); y, al mismo tiempo, una potente “institucionalización” con su consiguiente centralización.

En su discurso de Tánger sobre la UpM, en octubre de 2007, Sarkozy evocó el funcionalismo de Jean Monnet y  comparó el proyecto de la UPM con el de la CECA que puso los fundamentos de la futura UE.  Pero al mismo tiempo se proponía una  institucionalización al máximo nivel político, cómo se puso espectacularmente de relieve en la ceremonia de constitución en París, que ha levantado críticas retrospectivas por sus fastos.

Del protagonismo operativo de los funcionarios, expertos o embajadores,  se pasaba al de los jefes de Estado y de gobierno. Ello tenía sus ventajas pero también sus servidumbres. Cómo dijo  Dominique Baudis, presidente del Institut du monde arabe: «C’était une erreur de lancer le processus de Barcelone simplement à un niveau ministériel. Quand l’initiative est prise au niveau des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement, l’impact politique est plus fort.» Ciertamente. Pero correlativamente se incrementan su vulnerabilidad y su dependencia de los factores aleatorios de la coyuntura política, como ha mostrado el carácter espasmódico y errático de la trayectoria de la UpM hasta el momento.

En esta situación de un preocupante impasse de la UpM, algunos optan por la huida hacia adelante, por la polémica. Es el caso de Guaino, que ha escrito: « L’Union pour la Méditerranée est un combat. Ce combat nous le mènerons, jusqu’au bout! C’est un combat juste. C’est un combat nécessaire. Ceux qui sont responsables de l’échec de Barcelone sont les plus mal placés pour donner des leçons ». Una discusión retrospectiva sería absurda: hay que partir de la realidad actual (la puesta en marcha de la UpM con sus dificultades y contradicciones). Pero es urgente discutir los cambios y modulaciones necesarios de cara al futuro. Hay que ponerse de acuerdo en una determinada forma de hacer las cosas, en las que huidas hacia adelante al estilo Guaino ayudan muy poco.

Frente a las urgencias simultáneas del conflicto israelo-palestino y de los retos generales del Mediterráneo no hay que crear una falsa alternativa. No sería ni justo ni lúcido hacer abstracción del conflicto entre Israel y países árabes: es indiscutible que la política mediterránea sólo podrá evolucionar en función de lo que suceda en el Próximo Oriente. Pero se trata de impulsar esta evolución de tal manera que no se paralice la política euromediterránea, no se generen frustraciones adicionales,  y se puedan crear  los nuevos instrumentos y proyectos de cooperación en el Mediterráneo como aportación positiva a un conflicto que la UpM por sí sola no no puede resolver, pero que puede ayudar a resolver. El avance de los futuros proyectos de la UpM no son un obstáculo a una solución de los conflictos en el Próximo Oriente sino todo lo contrario.

Durante el primer año y medio de trayectoria de la UpM ha sobrado retórica y han faltado profesionalidad y sentido común.  ¿Seremos capaces de superar esta situación? La situación del Mediterráneo lo exige. El necesario relanzamiento de la UpM deberá ser obra de todos,  y quienes ocupan la escena  harían bien en adoptar una mayor modestia y un mayor compromiso de clarificación y concreción.

Het heeft even geduurd, maar we schrijven weer. En lezen erbij. Al is de krisis niet bezworen – integendeel – we kunnen weer adem halen na een lange periode van overuren en vernieuwen. Want wie denkt te kunnen blijven doen wat hij altijd deed… mist de essentie van deze tijd. En komt beslist in slapeloos vaarwater. Herbezinning is op alle fronten noodzaak want we leven in blessuretijd.

Je kunt een bank wel miljarden toeschuiven in deze tijd van gebroken vertrouwen, maar ook Wouter Bos weet dat we daar op lange termijn niets mee bereiken. We leven van enorme voorschotten die we tegen onbetaalbare rente hebben opgenomen van onze kinderen. Door – zoals Bos dat deed – de schuldenlast te verschuiven van de bank naar de burger, lossen we natuurlijk niets op. Dus is het zaak dat we heel snel die scheefgroei vervangen door iets beters. Hoe gaan we dat aanpakken?
In de beste boekhandel van ons land kwam de lokale elite bijeen om het verse boek van Govert Derix te verwelkomen. De Tribune is niet groot, maar op dat moment voelt het toch heel groots dat daar zoveel historici, schrijvers, journalisten, filosofen en andere intellectuelen bijeengekomen zijn om het glas te heffen op 128 bladzijden vol bezinning over hebzucht, creativiteit, vriendschap, crisis en passie. Govert is filosoof en schrijft geconcentreerde tekst. Dat is niet voor iedereen makkelijk verteerbaar, maar wie nog wat ouderwetse moeite doet, kan er veel inspiratie uit halen. Govert heeft zijn boek Holofaust gedoopt. Faustkenners weten dat deze hoofdpersoon uit het Magnum Opus van Goethe een pact sloot met de Duivel. Daarmee verwierf hij de hoogste wijsheid, maar zou dat moeten bekopen met zijn ziel. In dat licht bezien belooft Holofaust niet veel goeds. En inderdaad, het boek analyseert op pijnlijke wijze de enorme teloorgang van al hetgeen in de mensheid ooit waarde had. En als er nu – in de ‘blessuretijd van de verlenging’ – niet iets geheel nieuws en beters in ons midden neerdaalt, wordt het een fatale finale. Maar Govert laat ook nieuw licht schijnen, vanuit nieuwe standpunten. En al zijn de conclusies niet zomaar geruststellend, zijn glimlach straalt toch door in vele alinea’s. Een verademing voor mensen die graag inhoud consumeren. En lang daarna nog de prikkelende nasmaak willen proeven van een verwarrende zienswijze. De echte metamorfose naar een nieuwe orde begint in het hoofd. En als we collectief beseffen dat het ook heel anders kan, is er een mogelijkheid dat deze wereld transformeert tot iets haalbaars. ‘Govert, schrijf door… en breng samen met andere moralisten en beschouwers nieuwe verwarring onder de lezers. Zodat we onze inzichten scherpen en op nieuwe sporen komen, als antwoord op een op hol geslagen wereld’. Het eerste exemplaar ging naar de innemende Erik Croux, kunstbetrokkene, beeldend kunstenaar en inspirator. Holofaust is verkrijgbaar onder ISBN nummer
978-90-78407-54-6 en kost € 14,90

Imagine just a few short years ago what a headline like this may draw out from the newspaper industry and newspaper readers alike. The shock of such a claim would be the first reaction followed by the naysayers that would predict the rapid decline and fall of the newspaper company silly enough to make such a move.

Welcome to 2009. The newspaper industry is a shambles and no one is able to cover up the fact anymore. Online delivery of news and media of all sorts has changed the way consumers obtain and ingest the news. As a result the delivery is changing. In a way, it’s like a huge media train wreck that has people doing and saying things never imagined before. Are you shocked, though? Desperate times call for desperate measures and it looks like the Tribune Co. newspapers are ready to at least experiment with an idea that was unfathomable until recently. No AP news wire service for the week of Nov. 8.

The Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Co. newspapers plan to utilize as little content from the Associated Press as practical during the week of Nov. 8.

The goal, as the papers review costs and needs, is to see whether severing ties with the news cooperative next fall is a viable option, the Chicago-based media company confirmed Monday.

The trial is scheduled to be conducted almost 13 months after Tribune Co. gave the AP a required two-year warning that it might drop the news service, effective Oct. 15, 2010. Tribune Co. said at the time that it was keeping its options open while weighing what role, if any, the AP would play in its future.

While it’s not a complete removal of AP sources for material this is very dramatic considering how the news business has traditionally worked seemingly forever. So where are they getting their news from you ask? Is it all going to fall on the Tribune and its paired down staff? The short answer is no.

Besides the content provided by the staff of its own titles, Tribune Co. newspapers will draw from such news sources as Reuters, the Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Cable News Network, Global Post, Bloomberg and McClatchy newspapers during its AP-less trial. Not all of those sources are normally available to Tribune Co. papers.

How does the AP feel? They’re not really letting on with statements like this one.

“The Associated Press has been working with all members of the cooperative, including Tribune Co., to ensure that the AP news report retains its value to member newspapers and their readers,” AP spokesman Paul Colford said in a statement.

If you read through the comment thread of this article you will find some pretty dissatisfied tribune readers with the current state of the paper so maybe the Tribune Co. figures it can’t get any worse. Or can it?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

or: slashing the staff like this could results in assault charges

or: Remaining News Staff required to perform miracles, also to cure cancer before fiscal quarter

Well, it is with a heavy heart and a cold sweat that I have to write this piece on the further death nell of the Newspaper industry. I say newspaper because all indications show that the online/television media are fairing relatively well. All signs point to the eventual demise of the printed paper on a wide scale and little can be done, it seems, but for industry leaders to continue to cut off fingers and limbs so as to slow the gangrene-like spread of the infection until they can find a cure for what ails news, the most valuable use of movable type in my humble opinion. With companies reporting massive ad revenue losses, circulation decline, and current business models failing like a bad monkey heart transplant, there has been no choice but to make sweeping layoffs, close reporting bureaus, and to close down papers all together. Though reporters and their families are the immediate victims of this necessary blood letting, the real victim here will undeniably be the American public with less diverse and more poorly researched and fact checked stories as the remaining reporting force is stretched thin to continue to deliver the same level of content with less resources and editorial oversight.

Recently the Times Co. issued a statement that they would be cutting some 100 jobs from now until Dec. 31, which accounts for 8% of it’s newsroom staff. This is only the first sign of how many jobs it will cut, being as this is only the first number since it cut 100 jobs in this same type of program last year. The Times Co. as of 2008 employed some 1,300 employees. That number today is difficult to calculate, but they have had regular rounds of layoffs, and with revenue dropping by the millions every quarter you can bet that the layoffs are going to come more rapidly in the coming year. Up to this point it was cutting in to their profits, stock dropping, but they didn’t have to make the severe cuts. Now it has become apparent that a company of this size, a company that was founded in 1851, is beginning to buckle under its own weight, its spindly legs of analog media can’t support its decrepit, obese form any longer. You have to understand that the Times Co. also owns the Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, and about 15 other regional publications as well as a minority stock holding in the Boston Red Sox, a fact that a lot of New York sports fans probably don’t know, if they did I think the circulation would fall through the floorboards over night.

In addition to one of the largest publishing organizations making cuts the Wall Street Journal is simply closing its doors on the Boston Bureau it has maintained for many years, try 100 of them, which generally contributed reports on New England, health care, education, and financial services. Yes, this is what we need, an industry leading, pulitzer winning bureau that covers these pivotal topics at a time like this. Dow Jones & Co., who on the Wall Street Journal have taken drastic measures recently with salary cuts, hiring freezes, completely closing some regional publications, and most recently cutting 50 jobs, leaving the company with only 750 employees world wide. 750, that is only 150 more employees than the LA Times currently employs; in 2007 the LA Times employed 1,200 employees. As you can see we’re not just losing ho-bunk back water papers, the leaders of this industry are failing every day as times get more and more complicated and good news coverage becomes critical.

Are you about to slit your wrists journalism students? A few hesitation cuts while you get the nerve up to pull it off? Well I’ve got exactly what you need to close the deal; The East Valley Tribune, after some 118 years of publication, is turning off the presses and calling it a day Dec. 31, 2009. Yes, a paper that has service Phoenix and the surrounding areas for more than a century could not survive despite cutting staff by 40%  and scaling production back to only four days a week. The problem might have come from their parent company claiming bankruptcy recently, but one can’t be sure. In putting the paper up for sale the closest thing they got to a serious offer was a oily haired jukebox salesman in an ’84 caddy who offered $500 dollars, a Wurlitzer at factory cost, and a buffalo head nickel. The deal fell apart when they wanted all of the 45’s thrown in for free and ol’ Neil commented that he wasn’t gonna get hosed like that without getting kissed first. You might say that who gives a shit about the Phoenix area? Well it has stood for a long time as the largest growing community in America, a growing readership pool to draw from every year, and the pulitzer prize winning paper continued to lose circulation and ad revenue. If a paper in a growing community with more potential readers moving there every year can’t survive, then who can?

This is only a portion of the bad news, a small sliver of the awful news coming from the financial front. Every single day bad news streams in and I just can’t publish all of it, for the mere fact that I can’t stand to analyze it as I try to break in to an industry that is hemorrhaging revenue and dropping employees like a pinata exploded. The WGA East (Writers Guild of America) issued some statements that echo my own concerns. I find that the most disconcerting fact that I think we are all failing to recognize is what the guild refers to as a difficulty to provide “reliable, informative material in the face of unrelenting budget cuts.” This is exactly how I feel as a journalist. What is occurring is news gathering organizations attempting to provide the same level of coverage with less staff to do so. What happens is now you have employed staff journalists required to now cover more ground, which will stretch them thin on accuracy and in depth, thoughtful coverage. Then, in a sick twist of fate, now there are fewer checks and balances as to the accuracy and quality of this writing in less research staff and editorial oversight leaving far too many wholes for poor journalism to fall through.

What we have here is maybe comparable to a regimen of men trying to hold a line, defend against an enemy and without warning half their force is called away, so now you have half the fighting force holding the same stretch of land; it is too much for too few to cover, no matter how hard they try and with whatever conviction they have, it will not be the same caliber as when they had more men. This thinning of the ranks leads to less accurate, and to a greater extent less thoughtful and in depth reporting. The 100 year old Boston Bureau I mentioned earlier won its Pulitzer prizes for investigative reporting on favoritism in university admissions to the children of Alumni as well as shady business practices of backdated stocks for company executives. The first casualty of this cut back will be the time consuming, heavily researched, and expensive practice of investigative reporting. The in depth kind of work that you don’t get without a company putting journalism first. Where we have ended up, and are heading to like a bat out of hell is now ‘bottom-line journalism’ on two fronts; basic, bare bones daily reporting coupled with cost first decision making on what gets covered and how.

Years ago journalism starting taking its cues from tabloids and sensationalizing stories. This is the time of the likes of Fox News coming to supremacy in the network battles. When you started listening to pundits and stopped watching the nightly news. The loudest voices and the most controversial personalities became the leaders in news, and then you have Glenn Beck in a league unto himself. News became about salacious headlines and quick witted propaganda, but to a greater extent it just became about entertainment. What was tolerable was that you had relatively legitimate news organizations to cover everything else and deliver unbiased news on a daily basis. Those that wanted real news coverage could get it. What also aided in the tolerability of the situation was that there were many voices, many sources, and great staff members checking and rechecking facts as well as layers of editors and publishers sifting through work to prevent bias and misinformation to greater extent. This slashing of staff and research budgets is now leaving fewer voices, 50% at some papers as other just close their doors. Now the diversity of coverage has been compromised, the quality of coverage has been compromised, and to a greater extent, the publics trust has been compromised.

I want you to, for just a moment, imagine a world without the LA Times, NY Times, and USA Today. Where will you get the news? You can’t get there? OK, how about a more nefarious and dangerous situation, imagine only the NY Times, or the LA Times, or the USA Today. This is the great disaster you will have to come to terms with eventually. Imagine a world where everyone has gone bankrupt and one company, one news gathering organization stands as the only publication left. What if there was a bias, or if they decided to not cover certain things? Without other companies to compete with, without a need to fact check they could run rough shod over the world, and God forbid you get a publisher or owner with an axe to grind, bias could run amok upon it’s pages with no way for you, the reader, to compare facts and try to get the whole story. It would be a Stars and Stripes kind of situation during Vietnam; smooth over the bad news and beef up stories with false facts and embellishment whatever news fit your agenda (also see ex. FOX News). Absolute anarchy as the public can’t get the real story or be informed enough to make a decision about Presidential candidates, bills up for a vote, etc. You don’t want to be there, I know I don’t.

This is a scary situation that needs immediate attention as diversity and quality in reporting begins to deteriorate in the public sector. A bailout is out of the question, the newspapers didn’t get in line soon enough and with all of the healthcare reform spending a TARP money, there isn’t enough to go around, so papers are shit out of luck for Government help. Besides, if the Obama Administration got its fingers in to free press the effects and distrust by the public in reporting would go through the roof. A share of the Times Co. in the Obama back pocket would only fuel the flames of the communist and fascist sentiment some have for the administration. I have heard rumors that the companies I have spoken of in this piece may be considering creating a united front with other groups to team up and begin charging for premium content or online subscriptions all at once. This would not create an immediate flocking from those who charge to those who don’t. A kind of Newspaper Alliance to help everyone and hurt no one so that they can all try and move in to an era of online profitability that has been lacking ever since the 90’s.

I promise you that the fall of the news empires in this country is not over, it will be getting much darker before there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I predict the fall of a titan Newspaper like the Boston Globe or a paper with a readership nearing one million on Sunday editions going down before people begin to take serious notice. It will take the fall of a news empire or the sale of the LA Times to bring the spotlight squarely on the industry. Can you imagine if the NY Times were put up for sale or eventually just had to claim bankruptcy. It is not entirely impossible as being a publicly traded company, if stock were to fall to a buck a share the company would crumble, massive closing of international bureaus, layoffs, etc., the company could be in ruin inside 90 days from the stock falling. A world without the NY Times would a be a terrible place given the fact it would shake confidence in others and possibly lead to a domino effect resulting in the ugly world I mentioned in the last paragraph.

Embrace of online media will help, but it is not going to fix the problem, you don’t make up 60% ad revenue declines by charging .99 micro-charges for weekly subscriptions to the Times. A complete restructuring of the business model will need to take place to find a profitable design for the 21st century paper. In the meantime you, the readers and general public need to be wary of reporting, check your own facts and dig deeper to find the information that you need to form opinions and make decisions. As the journalists are stretched thin and expected to perform miracles on a daily basis for less money on tighter deadlines without the needed support staff I ask that you forgive inaccuracies and instead pick up more than just the one paper. Take a cue from me, I read the LA Times, NY Times, USA Today, as well as my local papers to check facts and try to get the whole story as well as a wide array of different stories. I don’t subscribe to any of these papers, I read them online for free, bad aspiring journalist, I know, but I put in the leg work to be assured that I am as diversely informed as possible. What you now need to do is support papers more than ever by doing the job of research assistant, reporter, editor, and publisher at multiple papers to get your news. You now do the same job four people used to do at the paper…welcome to modern journalism, you have to get your own coffee, too, we had to fire Jimmy last week.

Vom 6. Januar bis zum 10 Januar 2010 geht die kleine Stadt Oberhof wieder in den Ausnahmezustand: Der Biathlon Weltcup ist in der Rennstein Arena zu Besuch und wird alles zum Brodeln bringen. Wer schon einmal beim Biathlon in Oberhof dabei war, weiss wovon wir reden: Die Stimmung ist einmalig und der Schnee tut sein Gutes dazu!

Laut www.Oberhof.de sind die Tickets mittlerweile auch fast ausverkauft. Nur Streckentickets sind noch ab und an zu bekommen. Wer auf Nummer sicher gehen will, wirklich bei diesem Spitzen-Event noch dabei zu sein, findet seine sicheren Tickets hier:

Biathlon Oberhof 2010 – hier Tickets bestellen

Wer wird in 2010 gewinnen?

…Hours this week: 9 hours, Total: 36 hours.

Day 7 – Tuesday, October 26, 2009 – 8:30am to 12:30pm = 4 hrs, Total: 31 hrs:

It was a very simple day today. Nothing real big happened much and it was a bit slow. It seemed that there were a good amount of the staff that were out of the office today also because it was pretty quite. I mean, I actually had time to get up and walk around. Figured that since I had the opportunity, that I could actually talk with people. However, since not very many people were around I really did not get to talk with anyone other than Anna and Rose.

I picked up where I left off on designing the “Ask the Fitness Expert” page. Created the banner, which has since been replaced by Chris’ (“The Fitness Expert” and Anna’s husband whom owns the CrossFit Underworld Gym in Dallas) personal logo/banner. I even created the ‘blur’ that contained the first three questions. It was kind of funny, I was asking questions that I already knew about (I use to be a fitness trainer and nutritionist) and then I was signing them with different fictitious-ish names from the surrounding DFW Metroplex.

Also, did my usual update of the Community Calendar. Oh and I created a new link and page to a pre-built template from the “Tribune” that just needed to be uploaded into Assembler and then called into the P2P system to show up on the page.

Honestly, today is kind of a blur. It went by so fast even though there was not that much to do.

Day 8 – Thursday, October 29, 2009 – 1pm to 5:30pm = 5 hrs, Total: 36 hrs:

Well if Tuesday was the day of not much happening, today was the day of being busy. I started a new project and created a page for The 33’s new contest of their “Two-a-day Wii Giveaway” that will be running for 15 days from November 2nd. People who tune into “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader” at 5pm and again to “The Simpsons” at 6pm will have a chance to enter and win. All they have to do is listen for the Key words that will be given during commercial breaks and then go to the websites page that I created for it and then enter their information with the correct key word. Sounds pretty cool. I wish I could play. Though I have told friends about it. For the Wii page, I had the opportunity to learn something new and create forms, more specifically, official entry forms for a contest in Assembler and P2P.

Oh man! When I went to update the “Fitness Expert” page today, I somehow totally messed up the “Hair Expert” page, by practically deleting the whole thing. I am not really sure how it happened, but more likely because I just picked the wrong expert page. I would have asked Anna to help fix it, but by that point she had stepped out for lunch really quick since she was running little late on taking it. So I spend a good majority of time trying to fix the page only to find out that she was getting ready to can the “Ask the Hair Expert” page since it had been inactive for a while now. Go figure eh?

However, by all that happening, I learned a great deal about how the system works and that there are just some buttons that you should not push. I think they should be labeled as such. Only one of those destructive buttons, located in the P2P, system actually ask you to make sure that what you are about to do is what you want because the process cannot be resolved for it. Also, although I had been creating quite a few “photo galleries” so far (in P2P), I had never actually had the opportunity to get to create a “Collection” that holds a collection of similar items (stories, photo galleries, blurbs, etc. until now. Kind of an important thing to know when actually building a page that will display photo galleries. So, had I not flubbed on nearly destroying the hair expert page, I probably would have not had the chance to learn more about what you do.

Other than that, I made sure to send out my emails to Anna and Jennifer about my evaluation forms, to remind them that I would be needing those soon. Anna actually left early today for her nephews birthday party and I wound up staying almost an hour later than my usual time to head out, to work on more of the Wii-a-Day Giveaway contest.

Evaluation:

Overall it was a fairly simple week. With presentations coming up, I am still not quite sure what to do it over. I guess I just talk about what I have been doing so far? I mention this, because it is generally on my mind when I am there at The 33. I feel that this week was a good one. It just seemed to go by so fast. I need to start getting out into the office and really start meeting people. Though, I find it hard for me to do so…not because I am not social, but because there is work to be done and I like doing it. I tend to just work straight through. Not uncommon, but I will try this next week to make more of an effort to not let all the ‘work’ to be done take over time I could be using to utilize the internship.

WE’VE discussed in class Sam Zell and his Tribune deal. He essentially bought the company through leveraged buyouts on employee pension funds. At the time, Zell must have thought it would be a great idea, but it hasn’t been an easy road for the Tribune company, which has had to make many cutbacks. At least the road seems to be steady as of now because Zell will be out of Chapter 11 by the end of the first quarter.

When asked whether or not he regrets his Tribune deal, Zell said in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg,

“It’s certainly the most amount of money I ever lost in a single deal.”

Zell also said during the interview that Tribune and the entire newspaper industry has seen  a crash in revenue. He said that “nobody can survive.”

Here’s the video:

I’m not sure if I completely agree with Zell. Sure, newspapers have lost a lot of revenue, but it has been because of many factors (the economy leading to a loss in advertisements and the general population’s greater interest in reading news online, to name a few). But to say that “nobody can survive” pretty much tells me that he believes the newspaper industry will one day die out. Although I admit that one day everything will be digital, I don’t think that day is anywhere close to our lifetime. There are still people that prefer paper books. Otherwise, the Kindle would’ve probably caught on a lot faster. And even if people started reading news paperless, there’s still a need for the newspaper industry. After all, news aggregators are essentially “borrowing” from newspaper sites.

El autor de este documento, Pau Solanilla, actual asesor ejecutivo del Secretariado de Estado para la Unión Europea en el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, reivindica el papel de la política y la necesidad de nuevos actores para abrir la participación y gestión de los asuntos políticos, económicos y sociales a formas democráticas en toda la región mediterránea, y muy especialmente en Oriente Medio y el Magreb. En este sentido, Solanilla considera que las fundaciones de los partidos políticos en Europa deberían trabajar activamente y coordinada para proveer la asistencia técnica y política necesarias para facilitar las condiciones para emprender el camino de las reformas.

Podéis descargar el documento en pdf, aquí.

Ding, ding, ding. It is October 27, 2009 and after 2+ years the sale of the Chicago Cubs is complete. Out with the Tribune and in with the Ricketts family. SI.com reports:

The sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family is complete.

The Ricketts family said Tuesday that it has taken a 95 percent controlling interest in the baseball franchise, its storied ballpark and 25 percent of Comcast Sportsnet.

The deal is valued at $845 million. Billionaire Joe Ricketts is the founder of Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade.

After taxes and fees, Chicago-based Tribune, which owns newspapers and TV stations, expects to reap about $740 million from unloading most of its stake in the baseball team. Tribune will maintain a 5 percent stake.

Tom Ricketts, 44, who will serve as board chairman, said the board “will go to work building the championship tradition that all Cubs fans so richly deserve.

So finally the process that seemed to take forever is over. A new era is set to begin on the northside of Chicago. Tom Ricketts will meet with the media on Friday. Who knows what he will say, at this point what he says matters very little. It will be his actions over the next several months and years that he will be judged by.

I think on a day like today it is only fitting to link to the words of Chuck at Ivychat. Chuck has been covering the sale of the Cubs longer than anyone in the Cubs blogosphere. He started talking about the possibility in 2005. Today that possibility is reality. Here’s what Chuck said today:

This day is a huge day for hope, and celebration that the Tribune is gone. It is not a day to beatify the Ricketts. They have done nothing yet to deserve it.

For those that say the Ricketts are going to be great owners, there were many Washington Redskins fans who said the same thing about Dan Snyder. That hasn’t worked out very well.

The Ricketts family may very well end up being terrific. Time will tell. And the trust of the fans must be earned, not gifted as many seem ready to do.

That said, today is a cause for hope because, under Tribune ownership, there was no chance of success. That impediment is now gone.

Celebrate that.

Oh, and someone get word to the proprietor of Bleed Cubbie Blue: You owe up on your steak bet. You lost.

I agree with what Chuck says about the trust of the fans being earned. We have no idea what Ricketts and his family will do or won’t do with this franchise. What we can do today is look back on Tribune ownership, and look ahead to what we HOPE are better days for this franchise. (but be careful hope doesn’t play very well with the Cubs).

Update: from the Bright One:

Ricketts issued the following statement: “My family and I are thrilled that this day has finally come, and we thank Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball owners for approving our ownership. Now, we will go to work building the championship tradition that all Cubs fans so richly deserve.

“It’s fitting that this closing takes place during World Series week. Out of respect for the fall classic, and at the league’s request, we will wait to introduce ourselves to the media and fans until this Friday, a travel day in the series between the Phillies and the Yankees.”

I’m not sure why it is fitting that the closing takes place during WS week. But who am I?

Update 2: Carrie Muskat on cubs.com explains how the Ricketts family will manage the Cubs:

Family members Pete, Tom, Laura and Todd Ricketts now assume control of the team, forming a board of directors. Tribune Co. will retain a 5 percent interest and also have a seat on the board. Tom Ricketts, 44, will serve as board chairman.

No mention of the family patriarch Joe Ricketts. I find that interesting.

Nun bleibt sie aber doch noch ein bisschen länger stehen, auch beim Spiel gegen Fortuna Düsseldorf am 6. November. Erst danach wird der nächsten Abschnitt der Stadionmodernisierung in die Wege geleitet. via

The Boys & Eve freuen sich Gästen aus Düsseldorf auch weiterhin noch den Blick auf die Haupttribüne bieten zu können. Noch mehr jubeln sie aber darüber, dass es entsprechend mehr Karten für Besucher geben wird. The Boys & Eve weisen aber daraufhin, dass man Gästen aus Cottbus heute keine Punkte anbieten kann, da dies auf dem Weg an die Tabellenspitze stören könnte.

Heute war ich zum ersten Mal seit vielen Jahren wieder bei einem Spiel des MSV dabei. Ein guter Bekannter hatte mich überredet doch mal dahinzukommen.

Natürlich zog bei mir das Argument mit der kostenloser Eintrittskarte, und so nutzte ich die Gelegenheit mal endlich die MSV-Arena selbst von innen zu erfahren. Die Live-Atmosphäre war auch klasse, das bekommt man im Fernsehen so nicht geboten.

Allerdings habe ich den Sinn des Transparents mit der Aufschrift “50+1 muss bleiben” immer noch nicht ganz begriffen! Was solls, das Spiel ging trotz mäßiger Leistung der “Zebras” zugunsten von Duisburg aus.

Hansa Rostock war heute auch kein wirklich starker Gegner für den MSV Duisburg und hatte eine katastrophal schlechte Abwehr. Wie dem auch sei, die Stimmung hat mir gefallen, vielleicht gehe ich jetzt öfters mal in die Arena!

Chicago Bar-Tender is one of the many, many blogs over at Chicago Now, the Chicago-centric blogosphere created by the Tribune.  While there’s plenty of good stuff over there, there’s also plenty of fluff and crap.  Bar-Tender, however, really goes above and beyond.  I have no idea how anyone has the time or patience to dig through all the legal paperwork that is filed in Cook County everyday and cherry pick the very best, but Jennifer Fernicola apparently has a better work ethic than I.

Anyways, it’s one of the truly outstanding blogs over there and I highly recommend it.  No, you won’t get much of the way of breaking news (that is mostly due to the nature of our legal system), but you will get a real interesting look at the everyday wheelings and dealings in our court system that frankly, I was very ignorant about before this blog started.

You can check them out here: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bar-tender/

(When I was a kid and Bill Veeck sold the Chicago White Sox to the group headed by Eddie Einhorn and Jerry Reinsdorf they had a presser. Veeck, who was always a showman, handed the keys to Reinsdorf. I’m not sure I can see Sam Zell even sitting at the same table as Tom Ricketts to give him the keys, but it would be a funny sight. )

It’s almost all over! We are actually in the final days of the Tribune Company owning the Chicago Cubs. Crain’s Chicago Business reports:

The Chicago Cubs are expected to have new owners by the end of next week, as the family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. founder Joe Ricketts completes its $845-million purchase of the team.

Chicago-based bond salesman Thomas Ricketts, who has led his family’s bid during a 2½-year-long process, will be chairman of an enterprise that also owns Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Tribune Co., which bought the team for about $20 million in 1981, will keep a 5% stake in the business as a way to avoid a hefty capital gains tax.

Earlier this month, approvals from Major League Baseball and a judge overseeing Tribune’s bankruptcy case cleared the way for the transaction. The team is running out the clock on a 10-day period for objectors to register any dissent in Bankruptcy Court. That period will be up early next week; the deal’s close is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, one insider says, although such dates can easily slip.

Next Crain’s gives the dirt on the revenue the Cubs generated the past two seasons:

The Chicago National League Ball Club LLC, the Cubs’ legal name, generated $241.2 million in revenue last year and $231.5 million through Sept 27 this year, according to Bankruptcy Court documents.

Not much doubt that the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field are a huge money maker.

UPDATE: Bruce Levine reports the deal will be done early next week and Ricketts will meet the media Friday. Happy Halloween.

The Chicago Cubs will be owned by the Ricketts family and run by Tom Ricketts by early next week, according to Major League Baseball sources.

The exact date is contingent on when the transition of ownership from Sam Zell and Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family is completed.

The plan is for Ricketts to meet with the media and team advertisers by next Friday. At that time, it’s assumed Ricketts also will unveil his plans for the future.