I’m applying for your Staff Writer position using a blog post!

Seriously, how much more appropriate for the job can I get?

Read my resume and you’ll see that I thrive on the internet. I’ve created buzz in a social network for music and pop culture news, been in a college newsroom environment and experienced working for a news site with a large parent company.

A sample of my work.

I blog, tweet, instagram, facebook and tumbl to a ridiculous extent. If I love it enough to do it for myself for free, I thought I should try to do it for someone else and get paid. As for the multitude of additional social media sites that become their own verbs, either I’m familiar with them but I don’t use them or I would enjoy the challenge of learning a new technology.

I graduate in June, which probably raises the red flag of youth and inexperience, but to my credit I am 21 years, 8 months and 18 days older than For The Win.

The advantage is that my skills as a journalist were nurtured with the technology you are trying to use in the media climate that you are trying to succeed in. The conundrum in every modern newsroom is how to apply the old school professional ethics and standards to the frontier of digital journalism. I want to help FTW solve that puzzle. Together we can publish entertaining social sports news in digestible chunks without sacrificing quality content and reporting.

Also, I am your target audience! I’ve been following For The Win since its launch. I share the posts that make me laugh or give me the feels and face-palm at the ones that don’t. There’s a good chance that FTW stories that I would share will be the same ones your readers will share. That type of gauge is priceless in the viral news niche of internet culture.

Lastly, since I know you’re wondering if I’m Photoshop proficient and whether I understand the usefulness of the animated GIF, I leave you with this:

Thank you for your time! I had a blast putting this together and I hope you had some fun reading it.

Sincerely,
Rosalie Anne Cabison

by Matt Wedge, Managing Editor

If you’ve ever stumbled across a notorious critical and commercial bomb on cable and thought, Hey, this isn’t so bad, this is the column for you. Each month, we’ll examine a new failed film that’s worth a second look.

Instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Rather than a provocative spiritual allegory, The Box arrives on our doorsteps as a sophomorically obvious sermon about greed and altruism. — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Worst among the foolish lot is Cameron Diaz, who plays Norma Lewis, a wife and mother who also is an English teacher. In a heavy-handed bit of symbolism, she is also a fan of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. And as the movie edges toward two hours, we’re yearning to paraphrase its line “Hell is other people” to “Hell is this movie.” — Claudia Puig, USA Today

When people ask me about writer-director Richard Kelly’s films, my advice is unfailingly consistent: Donnie Darko is a masterpiece, Southland Tales is to be avoided at all costs, and The Box takes an insanely unfair amount of scorn for a film that creates such a brilliantly realized tone of inevitable doom. Often, the person asking the question nods to my assessment of the first two films as I have obviously just backed-up what they had already heard. And then they look at me like I might be insane for defending The Box. Even though they never saw it, they have heard unforgivable things about the film from their friends who never saw a Cameron Diaz film they didn’t love…until she hooked up with Richard Kelly.

The critical reaction to The Box really amused me. Coming on the heels of the sorely miscalculated Southland Tales, many critics assumed that Kelly would be on his best behavior. After all, he had to prove that he was more than just a cult filmmaker. He had to show that he could deliver a mainstream, commercial success to keep his career from sinking, right? Working from the short story “Button, Button” by revered sci-fi author Richard Matheson, it seemed that Kelly was going to deliver the straightforward genre piece that the critics and Warner Bros. expected of him. Oh, the fools.

Set in 1976 Richmond, Virginia, The Box tells the story of the Lewis family, a normal suburban household who live just beyond their modest means. Arthur (James Marsden) is a technician working for NASA at the Langley Research Center. Smart, driven, and level-headed, he is fast on his way to joining the astronaut training program. His wife Norma (Cameron Diaz) is an English teacher at a private school. Due to a childhood accident, she lost four of the toes on one of her feet and needs additional surgery that promises to be expensive. Their son Walter (Sam Oz Stone) is bright and inquisitive, but they can’t afford his tuition to Norma’s school without her faculty discount. That’s when Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) enters their lives.

Steward is a man of elegance and impeccable manners. These characteristics are trumped by the fact that the left side of his face is practically nonexistent due to his being hit by lightning. He presents Arthur and Norma with a box that contains a button. If they choose to press the button, two things will happen:

1. They will receive one million dollars, tax free.
2. Someone they don’t know will die.

Driven by the sudden revocation of Norma’s faculty tuition discount and Arthur’s unexpected rejection from the astronaut-training program, Norma presses the button.

For the first act of the film, Kelly follows Matheson’s simple morality tale very closely. Aside from some sinister touches involving nosebleeds and strangers acting oddly when they come into contact with Norma or Arthur, Kelly seems to be offering the mainstream film expected of him.

Then the rest of the film happens.

Arthur and Norma pitch themselves headfirst into an ever-expanding conspiracy that springs from an experiment being conducted by Steward at the behest of “those who control the lightning.” This experiment may or may not include the NSA, the NASA Mars Viking probe that Arthur worked on, and hundreds of zombie-like people who keep an eye on the couple at all times. Their friends and family may be among the watchers, lending an increased sense of paranoia.

As was to be predicted, critics and general audiences balked, complaining about the labyrinthine plot, the subtle-as-a-sledgehammer references to Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, and Diaz’s atrocious southern belle accent. I don’t mean to sound smug when I claim that I didn’t find the plot too dense to understand. It has several surreal twists and turns, and Arthur and Norma’s investigation leads to several dead ends, but most everything is explained by the film’s end. In Kelly’s view, any loose threads that are not tied up are just not worth exploring. I tend to agree with him.

Even if the film had been as confusing to me as it apparently was to other people, I still would have found much in it to recommend. Kelly once again shows himself to be a master at creating a claustrophobic mood of inescapable doom. Once Norma pushes the button, the film is drenched in an atmosphere of dangerous paranoia that is not that far removed from the classic conspiracy films of the ’70s that Kelly is trying to emulate. The fact that he set the film in that decade is no accident.

By combining the paranoia of films like All the President’s Men and The Parallax View with the metaphysical sci-fi of his own Donnie Darko, Kelly creates an expensive art film that seriously approaches topics like greed versus altruism, how far people will go to protect someone they love, and morality in relation to the promise of an afterlife. The film sometimes loses focus on the plot as scenes and characters are dropped in to discuss these ideas. While these moments drag on the film’s forward momentum, I was grateful for their inclusion. Even if the ideas discussed aren’t new or particularly revelatory, at least they’re intelligent questions being raised in a studio film. I will never fault a film for trying to be too smart.

The film is also extraordinarily effective at getting under the viewer’s skin. The zombie-like watchers are disturbing and used to chilling effect. As is the score by Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, and Owen Pallet. Alternating between icy minimalism and over-the-top bombast, the score constantly keeps the viewer on edge, even during the early scenes before the characters are presented with the box. Through these elements — along with the off-kilter use of slow dolly shots — Kelly earns a greater sense of creeping dread than many recent horror films put together.

While I agree with many critics that Diaz goes over-the-top with her accent, I found her to be far stronger in this film than anything else she has done. There is a vulnerability to her performance that provides truth to Norma’s lifetime of living with a painful limp. Marsden is also appealing as Arthur. He has to be the steady leading man that the film relies on the viewer to follow through the twists and turns. It’s not a showy role, but he is likable, and I really found myself rooting for him to discover a way to escape their predicament. Langella manages to steal the movie. His gently authoritative voice lends believability to some of the more outlandish explanations that Steward gives for his experiment. In addition to his wonderful voice, he is able, through just the slightest change in facial expression, to project menace or sympathy. He is the boogeyman and the comforting parent all wrapped in one.

Read all the extraneous crap that goes through my head by following me on Twitter.

When USA Today asked Mr. Stewart what advice he’d give to his 20 year-old self, he responded, “keep your banana in the fruit bowl a little longer!”  I literally laughed out loud when I heard that.  There are some other questions and answers you’ll enjoy.  Check out this video:

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James does join some very exclusive company and HERE, is what Bill Russell, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone had to say about LeBron. Courtesy of USA Today.

Have a great day.

Firstly I would like to express my immeasurable excitement and enthusiasm from having read articles like this one:  http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/2123881 ; or this one:  http://www.frc.org/insight/adult-stem-cell-sucess-stories-2008-jan-june. These kinds of stories are unquestionably revolutionary.  These people had vital tissues they needed to survive grown from their very own stem cells; no use of ethically questionable embryonic stem cells required.  Adult stem cells are even being used in more recent trials to grow entire organs: livers, kidneys, pancreas’, etc.  The kinds of possibilities being opened up by the use of adult stem cells is no doubt one of the cutting edge treatments of medicine.

Picture courtesy of Photius Coursoukis

Some might be wondering just what exactly an adult stem cell is since so much media attention is focused mostly, if not entirely, on the controversial use of embryonic stem cells.  I sometimes wonder myself on whether it is a widespread misconception that embryonic stem cells are the only kinds of stem cells.  To clear the air, allow me to give readers a quick biology lesson.

Stem cells are cells that can be programmed into reproducing into a variety of different, specialized cell types.  Basically, stem cells are “blank slates” that can grow into many different types of tissue.  The way stem cells differentiate themselves and assume what particular tissue or organ they are supposed to become is determined by the stem cell’s position relative to other, already existing tissues.  A stem cell’s unique position can influence its initial differentiation based on the nearby obstructions, and also receive certain chemical signals from neighboring developed cells so the stem cell itself can determine its current location within the organism.  For example, a stem cell that has the capacity to differentiate and develop into a trachea will only do so after it has been oriented anteriorly (in front of) an esophagus (or esophagus like structure) and after it has received chemical messages from nearby already developed cells, such as cells of the voicebox or the larynx.  The DNA of the stem cell is programmed to begin a particular line of reproduction and development only after ingesting the correlating chemical signal from neighboring cells.  As another example, placing stem cells at the end of lung capillaries will induce the stem cells to grow into bronchioles.  The stem cells have “figured” out where they are and act accordingly.  Fetal and embryonic development follows a very similar mechanism of growth.  As the embryo begins to divide, grow, and cleave, a large array of preset chemical messengers within the original cell disperse in the relative directions that their correlating tissue will be in some later stage of embryonic growth.  To illustrate, chemical signals that induce stem cells to grow into feet and leg muscles will be concentrated towards the bottom end of the first embryonic cell.  As the embryo grows, the intra-cellular chemical signals begin to separate and disperse further and further, taking their place for when stem cells are to begin growing in their (the chemical signaling molecules’) direction.

TLDR:  Stem cells figure out what kind of tissue to grow into by determining the surrounding structures.  Stem cells placed near a brain will not spontaneously grow into a leg.  They know they are near the brain.

The problem with adult stem cells is that they are not capable of differentiating into every kind of tissue in the body.  They have a much smaller range of possible differentiation options than embryonic stem cells.  Fortunately, most tissues in the body are being proven to have small stores of “specialized stem cells”: bone marrow can differentiate into blood vessels, blood, and some transport organs/tissues.  Skin stem cells can be used to grow epidermal tissue, sebaceous and sweat glands, as well as hair follicles.  Hematopoietic, mammary, intestinal, mesenchymal, olfactory, and testicular adult stem cells have been discovered so far, each kind with the capacity to regenerate their correlating nearby tissues.  Two big sets of important kinds of tissue are not in this list: muscular and neural.  Hence, then, why embryonic stem cell research is often conjoined with aiding paraplegic treatment or those with other kinds of neural disorders.

Embryonic stem cells are, to date, the only kind of stem cells that can effectively grow into functional neural and muscular tissue.  These two tissues lack any known sufficient reservoir of system-specific stem cells, and have not been found to appreciably regenerate on their own.  It is this characteristic of embryonic stem cells that has made them so readily used by scientists and researchers who some citizens would dub as unethical and immoral.  It is this characteristic that, once again, brings into question where the arbitrary line of when human life begins.

There is some good news.  Small amounts of neural stem cells have been found in both rats and humans.  One set of neural stem cells is responsible for neurogenesis: the process of new neuron generation in the hippocampus, the brain structure related to memory function.  It is not conclusive as to the differentiating potential of these neural stem cells, as these cells do not act as stem cells when transplanted back into the brain, but this may not be a dead end.  Neural crest cells that are remnants of the embryonic neural crest have been found in hair follicles, showing the capacity to differentiate into key neural tissues such as neurons, Schwann cells, myofibroblasts (technically muscular tissue), chondrocytes (technically cartilage), and melanocytes (melanin producing cells in the skin).  The latter three cell types are not neural tissue, but are often associated with and usually in direct contact with neural tissue.  Bearing in mind that the first tissues to develop in an embryo are muscular and neural, remnant neural stem cells from the embryonic stage of the adult in question will have a very wide variety of potential neural/muscular cell types that they can differentiate into.   Still even more hopeful are testicular stem cells.  These stem cells are the only adult human stem cells to date which show promise of regenerating and developing into muscular tissue.

For female muscular tissue in particular, however, there remains little option for muscular stem cell treatment outside of using embryonic stem cells.  Astrocytes, an important ganglia cell type of males and females, also remain (to my knowledge) without any known predeceasing adult stem cell. Unless there are discoveries of stem cell types that can differentiate into the above kinds of tissue, the embryonic stem cell controversy may very well be here to stay.

(Note that, in this video, female olfactory stem cells were cultured into neural cells.  In this case it worked for her, but olfactory stem cells used to culture neural cells is not yet an absolute avenue of treatment for all women suffering neural damage.  Let’s just hope this woman’s case is not the last.)

Stem Cell Treatment Story

Earlier in the article I mentioned the boundary line of where human life begins as being arbitrary.  Let there be no negative connotation to the word “arbitrary”.  It merely means that the boundary line is drawn by us, the people, and then cemented into law.

My personal opinion on the matter is, I warn you, a rather liberal outtake.  The more and more I understand of the fields of biology and biochemistry, the more I realize that nature has not set this boundary line so clearly for us.  For some, fertilization is the point of no return that makes the most sense.  For others, me included, fertilization means the DNA of the male and the female reproductive cells have begun merging.  I know better than to try to convince myself a fertilized egg is suddenly equivalent to human life.  A fertilized egg is just a non-sentient human cell, like a skin cell or a blood cell.  Sure, it has all the precursors to lead up to an undeniably human fetus, but so do sperm cells and egg cells.  Both sperm cells and egg cells die off all the time.  Like crazy, really. For fertilization/conception to even take place, sperm cells have to cross an obstacle course of chemical and pH deterrents in the female reproductive tract; in order to make life, life has to die by the millions! Plus, it takes about two weeks for any hopefuls to actually reach the final destination.  So, as a fun side note, remember that you were the only one that could cross the long, arduous traverse.  Even though the sperm cell itself really has little to do with the DNA inside…uh, carrying on…

Personally, I place the starting point of human life at the point the embryo develops a functioning nervous system (usually about five weeks after intercourse, and three weeks after fertilization), even to a very small degree: at this point it can both feel and react to what it feels, and the basic mechanisms from which human conscience and sentience are derived begin to take place.

When it comes to law, I also know better.  I know that different individuals will feel that the line is best drawn at different points, and that one should trust one’s own heart on the matter rather than what some liberal scientist or right-wing nut tells you.  Human life really shouldn’t be defined by anyone else but you anyways. It is giving someone else a lot of power to define the limits of morality by entrusting the very definition of human life into their hands.  In my opinion (I emphasize this, as I’m sure there will be those who disagree), it is also dangerous to trust someone else’s interpretation of God’s will on the matter: that is also an awful lot of power of the definition of morality to be handing over to someone else.  God will speak to you and you alone on the matter, let nobody else drown that out with their own ideas.  As previously stated, this is all just my opinion.

All in all, since the point where human life begins is something we all consider inescapably important yet differ in opinion towards its placement, and given the implications of morality being determined by politicians, I’ve always been politically Pro-Choice on the matter.  In day-to-day practice and feelings, I’m very Pro-Life.  I’d rather pursue the investigation of alternative stem cell sources from an adult body than to jade my worldview by pushing the limits and regularly using cloned embryonic stem cells.

Besides, who knows, that discarded cloned embryo might have had a mutation or genetic discrepancy that set it apart from its “donor”.  Cloning is not exactly perfect 100% of the time, after all.  I’ll let the reader extrapolate from here.

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Any coach who is not coaching for the right reasons does the kid, the coaching and the sport a disservice.

There is a distinct difference between whistle blowing and snitching.  Whistle blowing is done to expose corruption, where there are victims and a greater good can be accomplished.  Snitching as it relates to this story specifically reeks of jilted lovers and bitchassness.  For Cobb to participate in the game and then turn ‘state’s evidence’ because he obviously feels he was being set aside, shows a sign of immaturity not becoming a person of his age and experience.  I mean what’s next, keying Ben’s car or flattening his tires?  Perhaps spray paint ‘cheater’ on his hood?

Fact is if you are for the kid, then regardless of the uproar and the commotion that goes on before a draft, the kid whom you were there for is going to remember you.  *though he technically owes you nothing*

Ben McLemore

Ben is going to be fine.  I pray the best for him going forward.   Unfortunately the other kids who played at Kansas are going to suffer.  Kids who are going to Kansas as freshman are going to suffer.  The NCAA is a horrifically exploitative institution as it is.  This only gives them red meat to go after more black kids and the programs they play for.  If you don’t believe me, Google Johnny Manziel and you will find it’s clear he violates every rule in the book!  But nothing is going to happen to Johnny Football you best believe that.  *By the way, I don’t think anything bad should happen to Manziel, the problems are the NCAA rules not the player enjoying the fruits of his success and the value he brings to a program.

I can’t even say how disappointed I am to read these stories.  I’ve always respected Cobb as a coach with a brilliant basketball mind. Yet If I had a son who was an up and coming potential player, or an average player, no way I would let him within 100 feet of him.  Most of the coaches I see in the game are not just competitive, but also caring, compassionate men and women who love the kids they serve.  I plan to be one of those coaches next year.  The others are bloodsucking mercenaries looking for fame and glory off the backs of the young people they are supposed to nurture and look after.  In this fashion, they are worse than the NCAA.

Read original article…

About a week ago, I was selected to be a correspondent for USA TODAY College. I’ll be writing one article per week for 16 weeks about whatever I want (within reason). I’m planning to focus primarily on hard news and cultural trends. If what I write is good enough, it will also show up on the USA TODAY website. I’m not sure how many people applied for the program, but it was a national thing and only 20 or so people were chosen, so I’m feeling like kind of a badass, to say the least.

And starting at the end of May, I’ll be a digital content intern for the Elkhart Truth. They’re a small community paper, and they’re doing a lot of really innovative things that a lot of the bigger papers are too afraid to try, so I’m really excited to be a part of the print to web transition that journalism is going through.

I also received my school of the arts’ Arts Excellence in Writing award at our end-of-the-year banquet. Call me a nerd, but I’ve been crossing my fingers to get this since I was a sophomore.

Yes, that’s my name and school. Please just don’t kidnap me kthnx.

As of right now, I have one year until I graduate. I could finish up this December, but I want to spend another full year as editor-in-chief of my college paper and working on community outreach for the school of the arts. I’m also really focused on building up a killer resume and really figuring out what I want to do next year.

Right now, my post-graduation ideas include…

• Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York City
• The NBC Page Program
• An internship at Viacom
• Anything at the Chicago Tribune

And who knows, if things go well with USA TODAY, maybe that will give me a leg up if I ever want to apply for a real news jobs there (which I totally will).

I want to go straight from graduation and into something amazing. I love IU South Bend, but the reason I’ve been able to succeed as highly as I have is because I opted for a small, quiet school where I could focus. It’s been a fun but relatively calm four years, I’m ready for some adventure.

I’ve slept for at least 14 hours today and my brain feels like jello, so I’m going to be happy with the fact that I wrote something here at all.

I’ve mostly been watching “Girls” and “Trailer Park Boys” in my time off from working on my school of the arts’ annual magazine (which I’ll be doing full-time until the end of May). I have so much TV to catch up on this summer, which is the best problem in the world to have.

I hope to blog multiple times a week about my summer. I’ll be taking a lot of photos and linking to everything I work on. I feel like these jobs are the momentum that I’ve really been needing to grow and reach the next level of my development as a writer and media professional (or whatever you call it).

Stay tuned!

http://www.pseudomystica.info/marketingvassula.htm

The professional marketing campaign promoting Vassula’s new book Heaven is real, but so is hell aimed at “Christian, New Age and Spiritual consumers”, and the key role followers were made to play.

In a recent news release (http://www.expertclick.com/NRWire/Releasedetails.aspx?id=43693), one of the marketing firms which promotes Vassula’s new book in the USA and Canada congratulated itself on the success of its marketing campaign based on Internet and social media (Facebook, Twitter). It pointed out that the book “racked considerable pre-publication sales through various outlets, and hit number 1 on BarnesAndNoble.com Top 100 list” for one day (on March 1st) before the book reached the shelves.

It omitted to say that this was made possible by Vassula’s followers and prayer groups, who were given instructions on how and when to buy online hundreds of copies of the book (http://www.pseudomystica.info/heavenisreal.htm). The scope was to get the book on the New York Times bestsellers list, a target that has not been achieved to this date.

Nevertheless the book reached number 9 ranking on Amazon.com (Religion category), number 3 on USA Today and number 12 ranking on the Publishers Weekly List on 25 March 2013, with 5’853 copies sold (http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/HardcoverNonfiction/20130325.html), but was unable to hold its position and did not appear on the following week’s list.

Preparing the terrain

In a letter sent by Vassula to TLIG followers on November 3, 2012, which was available on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary blog (until it shut down in March 2013), readers were informed that she had been working on the new book for more than 4 years. She referred to it as a “teaser book”, whose scope was to promote the One Book Edition of the TLIG messages (also known as the “black book”, because of the colour of the cover).

Vassula’s new “teaser book”

for the promotion of the TLIG messages

In the 5-page long letter, Vassula described a very dull picture of the situation of TLIG, and blamed her followers. “Europe is dead with the TLIG messages“, she wrote, “Where are [sic] the multiplication of witnessing? Where are [sic] the distribution of books?“

She asked why people no longer promoted the messages whilst continuing to read them and think that it was enough. She said the Lord revealed to her that this “complacent spirit” made followers feel good when in reality “the devil has made them look in another direction“.

The TLIG messages instruct those who read them to replace Vassula’s name with theirs, so as to feel that God is speaking directly to them when they read the messages. But in her letter, Vassula asked followers to stop replacing her name with theirs if they were not ready to sacrifice themselves and spread the Messages as she did. She also asked them to refrain from attending the TLIG international pilgrimage unless they were ready to “leave your comfort and evangelize” by promoting the messages through witnessing and the multiplication of prayer groups.

In retrospective, the letter – which triggers feelings of guilt and shame for letting God/Vassula down – certainly played an important role in motivating followers to actively participate in the launch of the new book. In fact, they were going to play a key role in placing it on the bestsellers lists.

The Marketing Campaign

Several marketing and Public Relations firms (Success by Design-Florida, UniGlobal Media Group-California, A.Larry Ross Communications-Texas) participated in the marketing campaign for the launching of the new book in the USA and Canada.

The downloadable publicity material was made available online (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/files/) and gives a good idea of the impressive and apparently expensive marketing plan which was implemented.

For instance, the Marketing Components document (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/Marketing-Highlights.pdf) lists the means used and the estimated number of ‘impressions’, that is the expected number of times an ad will be viewed by a visitor or displayed on a website. The total number of “impressions” for Vassula’s campaign were estimated to be 378 millions, including:

-          Print, radio, TV and Internet publicity.

-          Book trailer featuring illustrations of Vassula’s visions with narration.

-          Press releases through national wire services.

-          Nationwide volunteer force of hundreds equipped with promotions kits.

-          Promotions to over 25’000 TLIG followers.

-          Outreach to faith-based organizations and associations.

-          Short featurettes of Vassula Ryden for radio and online use.

-          Web promotions on faith-based and spiritual websites.

-          Vassula’s personal appearance tour (book signing).

-          Online buzz within religious, spiritual websites, social medias, blogs.

-          Facebook page with a goal of 1 million fans and Twitter account with a goal of 500’000 fans.

-          Emails to 10 million Christian, New Age and Spiritual consumers (eblasts).

-          Radio spots on commercial Christian and mainstream stations nationwide.

-          Illustrations of Vassula’s visions and prophecies with music in videos to be distributed on Youtube and other sites.

The “corporate brochure” for the marketing campaign, sent to followers with the Pledge Kit.

TLIG followers were sent “Pledge Kits” presenting Vassula’s book as God’s answer to their prayers, and reminding them that:

“We do not know the hour when God’s wrath will come upon us, but we know that His judgement is awaiting millions of people who are dying outside His friendship. How many of our own family members, friends and co-workers could be among those that could be lost? (…) The book Heaven is Real, But So is Hell is one major attempt to draw them and inspire them to search the TLIG messages” (from Vassula’s letter to TLIG supporters included in the Pledge Kit).

The followers were then assured in the accompanying instructions sheet that “Jesus blessed the book – He was pleased with it“ and were invited to join the “mission” of bringing back souls to the Lord by placing together book orders from family, friends and co-workers, and then purchasing the books in “smaller quantities of no more than 5 or 10 books at a time” on different websites, in order to create “more transaction activity, which is much better for evangelization purposes”.
The dosage of purchases was necessary in order to generate the right type of sales numbers that would be taken into account by the bestsellers lists (for more details, see our previous article: http://www.pseudomystica.info/heavenisreal.htm ). Note the use of the term “evangelization purposes” as an equivalent of “marketing purposes”. 

TLIG prayer groups were sent a more mandatory letter titled “Bulk Buy Campaign” (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/Bulk-Buy-Campaign.pdf), where they were told in bold letters that:

“EVERY TLIG PRAYER GROUP SHOULD DO A BULK BUY.
Each TLIG Group will complete a Bulk Buy Pledge Form which will be returned the [sic] Captain and faxed to Motive Marketing. They will then be given detailed instructions about where and when to purchase the books they have pledged.”

The prayer groups were asked to commit to buy between 25 books ($375) and 500 books ($7’500). Groups were instructed that the books should then be sold or given to “family, friends, co-workers, churches, schools, etc.”

The Bulk Buy Campaign formulary sent to TLIG Prayer Groups

In January 2007, the Vatican had wisely advised against the participation of the faithful in Vassula’s prayer groups (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070125_vassula-ryden_en.html). In spite of this, the promotional material included photographies of Vassula giving Pope Benedict a copy of her messages at the end of a public audience in 2008, and a list of mainly Catholic clergy endorsing her.

In a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document also available for download (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/FAQs.pdf), it is correctly stated that the Notification is in effect and that the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur given to the books reflect only the opinion of the bishops who gave them and not of the Vatican. The document however asserts that “the Vatican is still investigating Vassula’s messages“, but provides no proof of this. In fact, all the documents available indicate that the investigation of Vassula’s case ended in 2004 and confirmed the negative doctrinal judgement expressed in the 1995 Notification (see: http://www.pseudomystica.info/tligchurchposition.htm).

Although Vassula is presented as a “Greek Orthodox mystic”, the FAQ document does not mention the position of the Orthodox Church of Greece nor the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s announcement declaring Vassula’s teachings heretical and asking that proponents (Vassula) and supporters stop preaching them (http://www.pseudomystica.info/tliggreekorthodox.htm). Instead, the FAQ document asserts that Vassula “believes in being obedient to the proper authorities as she works toward her goals”! (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/FAQs.pdf).

Vassula marketed as a New Age medium

TLIG Prayer Groups were also sent instructions on how to promote the book in Christian churches http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/Church-Outreach-Campaign.pdf, which must have been a difficult task, since the promotional material quotes the first lines of Vassula’s book, where she describes herself as a New Age medium:

“All my life I’ve seen the spiritual realm. I see Angels, and Saints, and other supernatural beings. I see the souls of dead people. I see them just as clearly as you see living people. (…) It’s an invisible world that surrounds us – a world of Angels, and demons, and powers and forces that affect every moment of our lives”.

The front flap and back cover of the book promise in New Age style access to knowledge of hidden truths that God revealed to Vassula for humanity’s salvation:

“Vassula’s spiritual journeys have revealed profoundly important messages for humanity, largely hidden until now. (…) Heaven is Real, But So is Hell, is the story of Vassula Ryden’s amazing journey … and has propelled her since then on God’s mission to reveal the truth to the world. Constant conversations with God and Jesus
since that time and which continue to this day, bring a message for the whole of humanity. It is a call for all to return to the path of virtue, without which we risk the end of our world as we know it. … It is a book of awakening not only for those who have strayed, but also for those who are still seeking their way.”

The tri-fold brochure included in the Pledge Kit

The marketing strategy documents define the target public for the book as “Christian, New Age and Spiritual consumers” (http://eddievelez.net/vassula/wp-content/uploads/Marketing-Highlights.pdf). Such a target public would have required separate promotional strategies for Christians on the one side and New Agers on the other. However, Vassula’s book is a mix of Christian and New Age elements, seeking to appeal at the same time to New Agers interested in hidden knowledge from spiritual entities and a path for saving the planet from an ecological disaster, as well as attract Christians fascinated by the paranormal and extraordinary phenomena, fearing the imminent occurrence of apocalyptic events. New Age spirituality often infiltrates Christian communities by using this type of mixing, which is very confusing for people not acquainted with New Age ideas and techniques.

A flyer for Vassula’s personal appearance tour

Vassula’s Publisher: a strange choice for an author who “combats New Age”

The New Age connection continues with the publishing house chosen by Vassula: Alexian Ltd. An apparently small family owned company, the UK based Alexian publishing house described itself in the 2011 London Book Fair Directory as:

“Alexian Ltd. Stand R420. Illustrated book packagers of cultural reference, spirituality and health titles. Publishers of the works of Osho, Paramahansa Nithyananda, Vassula Ryden and Ryuho Okawa”. (http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en/Exhibitors/45004/Alexian-Ltd)

Wikipedia offers some insight into the three other authors mentioned (consulted on April 15, 2013):

Osho (1931-1990), also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, was “an Indian mystic guru and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following (…). His outspoken criticism of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi and institutionalised religion made him controversial. He also advocated a more open attitude towards sexuality: a stance that earned him the sobriquet “sex guru” in the Indian and later international press. (…) Osho’s teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought.” Several USA press articles referred to his group as a “cult”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osho).

Paramahansa Mithyananda is a “spiritual master, mystic and the founder of a worldwide movement for meditation”, based in India with branches in the USA (Life Bliss Foundation) and Europe. His name was associated with a series of sex scandals in India. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Nithyananda).

Ryuho Okawa is “the CEO and founder of the Happy Science religious organization and the Happiness Realization Party in Japan. (…) Happy Science is one of many Japanese new religions” considered controversial by the mainstream press and public. According to The Japan Times, “for many, the Happies smell suspiciously like a cult”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuho_Okawa)

Alexian is also the new publisher for the one book edition of the TLIG messages, due to be released in May 2013, this time with a blue cover (see: http://www.amazon.com/True-Life-God-Divine-Dialogue/dp/0983009317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366016081&sr=8-1&keywords=true+life+in+god+messages).

 Financial Aspects

There is no information available regarding the total cost of the marketing campaign, nor how it has been financed. The followers and particularly the TLIG prayer groups and associations spent time and money buying books, organizing promotional events and distributing advertising material.

But how were the marketing firms and the production of promotional material (print, radio and video) paid? There is also a cost for broadcasting and publishing ads. Who financed Vassula’s appearance tour? The publisher? The TLIG Foundation? Or was it covered by the book sales?

In the short interview Vassula gave to the Chicago Fox Chat Room program, when asked at the very end of the interview about the money generated by the book sales, Vassula answered:

“All the money goes to the charity houses that we have around the world, there are 25 of them now. We feed the poor, we clothe them and give medicines as well. For myself, I take nothing of that book. I have never taken anything from the other book that has the messages as well. I’ve never taken any money and I’m not interested in that. I want the good of people. I want to give them hope through what I receive, because God is calling us to give us hope.”
http://www.my50chicago.com/story/21806480/nfl-player-come-out-gay-viral-video-reponse-steubenville-rape-vassula-ryden-chat-room?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8713960

The TLIG houses for charity are called Beth Myriams. According to the Rules for Beth Myriams (BM) that were written by Vassula in August 2005 and published on the TLIG website (http://www.tlig.org/bmrules.html, but the document is no longer available online), the scope of the BM houses is described as follows:

“Beth Myriams are a gesture of charity and good deeds that were inspired from Our Lord’s Messages,
True Life in God. (…) The Beth Myriam is another means of evangelizing, promoting, and spreading God’s Kingdom and His Message. (…) It is not just to let people come in, eat, be nice to them and then they leave, but it is also to let them know the existence of the Messages. In Christian countries, the BM must have the series of TLIG books and given [sic] to those that can read. (…)

The main reason [for a BM] is to feed the poor. If affordable, provide them with clothes. If affordable, provide them with medical care. If necessary and feasible, to teach them (schooling). And last but not least, to let them know of the Messages.”

The document also states that only an “exclusively TLIG involved” lay-person can start a BM and that “BM volunteers are asked to participate in BM expenses by soliciting donations through witnessing about this Work of Love and other creative means (e.g. organizing raffles, etc.)”.

Notice that in the interview, when Vassula mentions the activities of Beth Myriams, she omits to mention the “evangelization” of the TLIG messages, although this is a key aspect of these charity houses. Every BM has to successfully pass an audit every year in which it is examined on three points: Practical Activities (services provided to the needy), Financial Activities and Spiritual Activities. This third point regards the promotion of the TLIG messages, that is if the BM has a TLIG prayer group, “evangelizes” the Messages and organises TLIG “witnessing” events (http://intranet.tlig.org/en/promo/bethmyriam/images/How%20to%20maintain%20a%20Beth%20Myriam.pdf).

Since TLIG followers, even those who do not read English, have been insistently asked to participate in the promotion of Vassula’s new book, one wonders what will happen with the money sent to the BMs? Nothing legally impedes its use for “Spiritual Activities”.

Dozens of volunteers participate in the good work of Beth Myriams in favour of the needy, but one cannot ignore that these houses also have the important function of promoting the TLIG messages and are a useful PR tool for improving Vassula’s image.

In conclusion

The “Vassula phenomenon” seems to continue distancing itself from authentic private revelation – based on simplicity and trust in God – yielding more space to commercial aspects and centering on the personality of the seer. Followers for their part provide funds and workforce for the achievement of marketing objectives, motivated by the sincere belief of accomplishing God’s will for the salvation of humanity.

May 2013 – http://www.pseudomystica.info

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 

So, this is that time.

I’ve decided to join three dozen or so other senior colleagues at USA TODAY who have had a great run and have been given a generous gift: A year to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.

After 45 gut-wrenching days, in which the decision to stay or leave a job that I was born for never got far beyond 50-50, the objective reporter in me won over the journalist’s heart.
It’s time for a new assignment.

I am not done writing. That I know. And I am not near retiring, not on a day when my 79-year-old dad is planting seed corn in South Dakota soil. Retirement is not possible.

I thank USA TODAY and Gannett. In an age when it’s the easiest thing to be cynical about our institutions and corporations, I have been blessed to experience what any South Dakota farm boy could have dreamed. I’ve been allowed to do something I love while staying true to who I am. Bylines from four continents and 49 states (and I WILL write from Hawaii, bank on it). Great bosses and colleagues, men and women, who believed, like me, that journalism was a calling as strong as the law or the cloth or medicine. The youngest cover story writer on the original USA TODAY. Senior writer at some of the nation’s biggest moments, from elections to 9/11 to just now, Boston. I’ve interviewed presidential candidates and great Americans who lived in one-room cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains (and generally enjoyed the latter types more).

And here is all I know for sure after all these years: First , America is so much more than the sum total of its coasts, and the news organizations that remain relevant will be the ones that follow USA TODAY’S original legacy in recognizing that.  Second, as we click away for the latest incremental developments on Justin Bieber’s pet monkey, exciting aggregationists and content monetizers everywhere, it is still true and will always be true that journalism is context, substance, meaning, analysis, understanding. And yes, news that the people might not want to hear.

Thanks for the indulgence, and see you down the road.

Sandy Johnson will return this weekend with more posts on gardening and politics. 

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HOW ISLAM WORKS TO DOMINATE THE HOST COUNTRY IT IS IN — MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND!
by John Gaultier (Notes) on Saturday, April 20, 2013

Here’s how Islam really works:

Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard (or cover) for all of the other components. Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious rights.

When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious rights, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here’s how it works:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to other citizens.

This is the case in:
United States — Muslim 0.6%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1.8%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs.

This is happening in:
Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply.

This is occurring in:
France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — Muslim 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam.

Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:
Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 15%

After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:

Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%

From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers (Infidels) of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims [apostates]), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:

Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some state-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the Infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:

Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar-es-Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:

Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 100%

Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.

It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim and within which they live by Sharia Law. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts nor schools nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrasses. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an Infidel is a crime punishable with death.

Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate.

Today’s 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world’s population. But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddists, and Jews, and all other believers. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world’s population by the end of this century.

In my opinion, Muslims should be expelled from all Western countries and isolated. It’s the only way we can avoid the impending violence.

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Hmmm, this article makes one wonder what the current Muslim population of the US is, doesn’t it?

Well, we have this:

Number of Muslims in the US doubles since 9/11, New York Daily News, May 3, 2012 — A new survey reveals the dramatically changing face of religion in America, with the number of Muslims in the US soaring 67% in the decade since the 9/11 attacks. Data from the 2010 US Religion Census shows Islam was the fastest growing religion in America in the last 10 years, with 2.6 million living in the US today, up from 1 million in 2000.

And we have this from USA Today — Muslims will be more than one-quarter of the Earth’s population by 2030, according to a recent study. The number of US Muslims will more than double, so you are as likely to know a Muslim here in 20 years as you are to know someone Jewish or Episcopalian today. Those are among key findings in ” The Future of the Global Muslim Population,” the first comprehensive examination of Muslims, whose numbers have been growing at a faster rate than all other groups combined (emphasis added). The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life analyzed statistics from United Nations’ data and census material from more than 200 countries and studies by 50 international demographers. If immigration patterns and Muslims’ comparatively higher birth rates continue, Pew projects US Muslims will go from a tiny minority now, less than 1% of the nation, to 1.7%. That’s a jump from 2.6 million people in 2010 to 6.2 million (emphasis added).

Bothered yet? Think Fox’s The Five’s resident liberal Bob Beckel had a good idea in the wake of the Boston bombing when he suggested that we should have a moratorium on Muslim immigration for any reason for at least a couple of years, while we sort out, among other things, (a) just how many so-called Muslim students have overstayed their student visas and/or are no longer even enrolled in school and send them all back to their home countries, as well as (b) why 30 of the 31 FBI’s Most Wanted are Muslim, or (c) that most terrorist acts since 9/11 (whether so designated by Obama and his Department of IN-justice or not) have been committed by Muslims, either foreign or domestic, or (d) that radicalization of domestic Muslims seems to be on the rise?

Nah, that would be “profiling,” wouldn’t it? You know, like unapologetic and no-nonesense Israel does to keep its citizens safe and secure. And, Heaven forbid that we should give some bleeding heart, diversity-driven, PC-blinded, illogical liberal cause to pull his or her hair out over just trying not to get blown up on a family outing in our own country.

Well, that’s what I think. What do you think?

Together, with partner USA Today, HotelMe is enlisting the help of hotels, all around the world, to help verify that the reviews posted on the site are from guests who actually stayed at the hotels they are reviewing. Verified hotels are listed on the site and have the RealStay label next to their name. Currently, more than 10,000 hotels have signed up to participate on the new review site.

As of this moment, no other online travel sites have taken this added step to authenticate that the reviews posted on their site are from guests who actually stayed at the hotel. It goes beyond the relatively weak verification policy of the world’s largest travel review site that essentially takes the word of its reviewers that they are telling the truth. According to TripAdvisor, to submit a review, you must first check a small box that says:

“I certify that this review is based on my own experience and is my genuine opinion of this hotel, and that I have no personal or business relationship with this establishment, and have not been offered any incentive or payment originating from the establishment to write this review. I understand that TripAdvisor has a zero-tolerance policy on fake reviews.”

After you do so, you can then press the submit your review button, and your review will be published and available for the general public to read.

While TripAdvisor is obviously very well established and dwarfs the newly established HotelMe presence in the online hotel review space, HotelMe has an appealing model that has the potential to grow very fast. Presently, there are many differences in the way the two sites operate.

Whether it is because they are brand new, or for some other reason, HotelMe has far fewer reviews for each individual hotel than TripAdvisor. Their reviews are also based on far less current trips and hotel stays than those reviews posted on TripAdvisor. It also is quite noticeable when you look at reviews on both sites that TripAdvisor reviews are lengthier and contain more detailed information.

Both sites use a rating system based on a one to five scale. TripAdvisor tends to have a better balance of both positive and negative reviews, while the reviews on HotelMe seem to lean more to the positive. Those who like to believe that people are honest and do not have ulterior motives may account for the abundance of positive reviews because of the small sample size. Others, who are always suspicious of the motives behind every action, may think that the reviews are purposely positive to attract more hotels to join the new site.

Besides providing a better way of authenticating RealStays, HotelMe provides more opportunity for reviewers to expand on their vacation and travel experiences through the creation of Guides. Reviewers can create a Guide where they can offer their personal opinions on the best attractions, their favorite restaurants and any other information they want to share. It is sort of like having a Facebook page that focuses on travel.

If the model works well for HotelMe, it will not be long before TripAdvisor comes up with a similar verification plan. Obviously, HotelMe has incorporated some of the things that work best on TripAdvisor. All is fair in love and war, and that holds true in the highly competitive online travel review space.

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Articles/Photos/Graphics Copyright ©2013 – All Rights Reserved Hotel Managers Group

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Related articles

• How Can I Improve My Ranking On TripAdvisor (hmghotelsblog.com)

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Predictably, their fitness is improving and they are losing weight (over 100 pounds total so far). One family member even quit smoking!

What may be surprising is that they are saving money following their new healthier diet. By preparing most meals at home they are saving about $300 per week on food!

Another happy consequence is that they are spending more time together as a family by eating meals  and exercising together. No doubt this is good support for them as they try to improve their health.

They are doing this as part of  a TV show (The Doctors) and they have an exercise physiologist and a nutritionist working with them, so it would be easy to think that a typical family without this support wouldn’t be successful. I disagree.

I think that if most families started preparing dinners at home, eating as a family, and going for a walk (or doing some other activity) together after dinner they would get in better shape, lose weight, and benefit from more time together.

So much for religious freedom: ”Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable,” said the Air Force public affairs in an email, according to the USA Today. Since Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell doesn’t exist anymore, restrictions on discussing loving God (or any god) shouldn’t either. There are enough contradictions in public policy already. We shouldn’t add more.

Professor Don Boudreaux with an interesting argument about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).

If Tebow was thinking Canada was his next stop, he may have to look elsewhere. Montreal says they would take him…as a back-up. Elsewhere, Michael Vick is still fast.

It looks like the education system isn’t in jeopardy of going out of business anytime soon, because Google isn’t getting the job done.

Death!  It is final and from I hear it really sucks! I have heard that we should respect the deceased, but from my perspective, respect has to be earned and/or maintained.  Yes, there is a certain level of human dignity afforded to everyone, but this instance is pointed towards those that did not earn respect in life or were assholes in general.  The golden rule that some follow is, “Treat others how you want to be treated.”  Well some people spend their lives being douche bags to everyone so by virtue of the rule they should be treated accordingly, even in death.  How about someone who lived a jaded life?  The funeral sounds like this…he was a good man who tried to live life under the circumstances dealt to him.  He leaves behind an ex-wife and three kids.  He always sought out help from others, but sometimes God has a different plan.  The funeral should sound like this…this guys was an asshole who never did anything for anyone.  He leaves behind an ex-wife he cheated on and three kids he never spent time with or much less paid child support.  He died after he shot a security guard while trying to rob a bank.  Good reddens!  Now let us say a prayer of speedy recovery for the security guard….AMEN!  Now who wants pizza?  (Now that’s a funeral!)  Even in the case of the obituary, it usually list only good things.  By definition, obituary is an announcement of death that often includes a biography.  I ask that the obituary paint an accurate and truthful picture of the life lived.  If someone reads an obituary, they should be able to say we lost a good man or one less asshole in the world.  The way it currently stands everyone that dies was a great person who did great things and that is simply NOT the truth!

To further illustrate my point, rapper Chris Kelly passed away yesterday.  Chris Kelly was half of the rap duo Kriss Kross that had #1 singles in 1992.  I send condolences to his family for their loss, but that is it.  People are saying nice things and remembering the star he was when he was 12 years old.  He died at 34 years old (yes this is very young, but keep reading).  According to USA Today, CNN, FOX, Huffington Post, MTV, TMZ, Wikipedia and his momma, he was worthless and has not done anything since he was young.  He was living with his Mom and when the police arrived, she did not identify him as her son, just a friend at the house.  WTF???  Your Mom is not claiming you in death?  Not to mention, he died from an over dose of heroin AND cocaine.  Now this was not a suicide as he was known for doing this all the time, but this time he used too much.  So are we to say nice things about Chris Kelly when his family does not claim him?  Yes, I remember and like the music when he was 12, but as an adult he pretty much squandered his life away, which resulted in death by his own hands.

So in this perspective should we stay true to a time-honored tradition of lying at funerals?

TRUTH

“It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose,” Cpl. KAY LESTER, a spokeswoman for the FULTON COUNTY police told USA TODAY. “According to LESTER, police were called to KELLY’s home at around 4:30p WEDNESDAY.

He was transported to the south campus of the ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER. Investigator BETTY HONEY of the FULTON COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER’s office said KELLY was pronounced dead at the hospital at around 5p WEDNESDAY.”

No official cause of death has been released, pending an autopsy.

Writing for Accountancy Age magazine in Soho, I’d read the business sections of The Guardian, alongside the other broadsheets (the Financial Times, The Independent and Daily Telegraph) for possible story ideas in the morning and then, like everyone else, would seek out The Sun and The Mirror in the afternoon for the salacious gossip, page 3 girls and Premier League football stories.

Lately there has been extensive coverage of the launch of a digital Australian edition of The Guardian (announced in January) with news of top Fairfax journalists like David Marr and Lenore Taylor jumping on board with the site to be edited by The Guardian’s deputy editor Katharine Viner.

A colleague of mine at Private Media, Oliver Milman, will be joining the Guardian Australia as a Melbourne-based environment reporter alongside other new signings of journalistic talent announced this week.

They’ve already leased offices for journalists and other staff in Surry Hills, Sydney, so it’s clearly a serious venture for a publication, which is the fourth biggest newspaper website in the world with a monthly audience of 30.8 million users behind Mail Online (45.3m monthly readers), the NY Times‘s (44.8m) and USA Today (34.6m) according to National Readership Surveys September 2012 figures.

So, eager to find out more, I searched for ‘The Guardian Australia‘ on Google.

The first result was this page (below), with picture of a koala bear and a billabong and a host of stories, videos and commentary about Australian issues:

This, I know, is not the new Guardian Australia edition, but the long-running Australia page of The Guardian UK with the giveaway being The Guardian store offers in pounds while the Guardian jobs section are all British roles:

So I clicked on the third link  on my Google search –  www.theguardian.com.au which sounded like the most likely address for the new digital Guardian Australia edition.

And bingo, I came across a  newspaper website full of Australian stories with a masthead in similar font to that used by The Guardian.

So was this The Guardian Australia edition?

Clearly not, since it says its owned by Fairfax.

When I clicked on the “About Us” page, the confusion abated. It reads: “The Guardian provides the latest news from the Swan Hill region, northern Victoria and NSW Riverina.”

This is another Guardian Australia – a regional newspaper dating back to 1888.

Perhaps its only coincidence the fonts are so similar, but it surely must have caught the attention of those in corridors of power at Fairfax, and not just because they’ve got the URL, but also the Facebook address: www.facebook.com/GuardianAU.

As luck would have it, Twitter suggested I follow Lenore Taylor, the recently appointed political editor of The Guardian Australia edition and so I did and duly asked her what form the new publication would take:

“Frontage” – is a new term I’d never heard before, but I assumed it meant something on The Guardian‘s front page, so that’s where I went.

After a little bit of a look around, I came across this button at the top of the website, which allows you to choose between the UK and Guardian US version:

So presumably, at some point when it all goes live, there will be an extra item added to this menu bar with the word “Australia” and when you click on it there will be an Australian version, similar in format to the current American edition:

Website address issues aside, it’s going to be interesting to see how The Guardian performs in Australia.

As someone pointed out  to me, it’s going to go from being a UK publication writing about Australia for British readers to one written by Australians for Australian readers, with a UK editor.

This it has done somewhat successfully with its US edition, which now has around 8 million viewers a month.

But it’s been a bumpy ride for The Guardian US, which first launched in 2007 as  GuardianAmerica.com, then folded back into the UK edition in 2009, with staff laid off, before launching its US edition (or ‘frontage’ to use Lenore Taylor’s term) in September last year, also accessible via the URL: http://www.guardiannews.com.

While no doubt the journalism produced  by The Guardian Australia will be of the highest calibre, it will face challenges from a host of established left-wing publications like Crikey.com.au, The Global Mail (founded no less than by BRW Rich Lister Graeme Wood, the primary investor in The Guardian Australia), the ABC’s online presence and Fairfax’s own stable of publications, to name just a few.

Which means making money from The Guardian Australia will be an even bigger challenge.

The Guardian Media group has been the exact opposite of a cash cow of late  reporting huge losses in recent years (£75 million loss in the  12 months to August 2012) as it tries to transition its business model to one that taps into its huge online audience, a difficult task that neither Fairfax nor News Limited nor any media organisation have yet fully realised.

And it has another challenge.

As Crikey writer Guy Rundle pointed out, The Guardian has a reputation for being the worst of the UK newspapers when it comes to writing stores with an anti-Australia slant.

It’s reporting on the Ashes and British Lions tours later this year will be fascinating to say the least – if you can find the website!

The headline today reads “Watching Duchess Kate’s Baby Bump”.  What if Kate decided to have an abortion?  Even USA TODAY calls it a “baby”.  Not a fetus.  A baby.  Everyone acknowledges that it is a baby.  What if she aborted the heir to the throne of England?  Outrage? Cries? Murderer?  “The child was heir to the throne!”  He or she had so much purpose!

What right would she have to do such an atrocity?  Could the Queen stop her?  Could the country stop her?  Remember, it is HER body.  The baby doesn’t belong to Great Britain or does it?

What reasons would Kate have to kill her baby?  She is married, well off, has medical care, she is the right age, she wants to have a baby, and as far as we know the baby is healthy.  There would be no logical reason to kill it.  

Except that she has the right to.  It is her body.  Her choice.  Imagine the headlines! The outrage.  She would be hated forever. 

Is it based on that fact that this baby has a known destiny?  Or is it because she isn’t young, poor, or unmarried?  I doubt that even Planned Parenthood could justify this abortion.  Controversial?

Jeremiah 1:2 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”