Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Free Tibet in Harvard Square- soundslides
http://anitawilliams.webng.com/Free%20Tibet%20Harvard%20Sq/
I had enough trouble with the technology- however, I persevered and finally got it to work!
The next step of course is to improve the production. For example, taking audio in an outside environment with noisy background using equipment I am not familiar, is authentic but a bit murky and inconsistent. And I will get better at taking photos.....
I tried to capture the atmosphere of the Harvard Square vigil.
a
I had enough trouble with the technology- however, I persevered and finally got it to work!
The next step of course is to improve the production. For example, taking audio in an outside environment with noisy background using equipment I am not familiar, is authentic but a bit murky and inconsistent. And I will get better at taking photos.....
I tried to capture the atmosphere of the Harvard Square vigil.
a
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Cleveland Plain Dealer and Elizabeth Kucinich
http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/04/eliz_kucinich.html
This is the type of peripheral nonsense-type political story that annoys me.
The wife of Congressman Kucinich, Elizabeth is a self-promoting pseudo celebrity and the media loves to pander to this - which only encourages her.
This actually detracts from the Congressman's real purpose- his left wing liberalism - and his wife should reinforce his political stance, not promote her own trivia pursuits.
However, I do have sympathy for the congressman who finds it difficult to get serious press coverage... there's no such thing as bad publicity?
Only when it trivialises the politician's real agenda.
This is the type of peripheral nonsense-type political story that annoys me.
The wife of Congressman Kucinich, Elizabeth is a self-promoting pseudo celebrity and the media loves to pander to this - which only encourages her.
This actually detracts from the Congressman's real purpose- his left wing liberalism - and his wife should reinforce his political stance, not promote her own trivia pursuits.
However, I do have sympathy for the congressman who finds it difficult to get serious press coverage... there's no such thing as bad publicity?
Only when it trivialises the politician's real agenda.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Houdini Peters
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4637052a6160.html
What started as a 'moderate' money discrepancy involving political donations has escalated into a full blown scandal for Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs in NZ parliament and the leader of the coalition minor party holding the government together.
A story like this usually falls into the 11 day category-- it should have gone away in less than two weeks- WHY IS IT GOING ON SO LONG? It has escalated into a full blown feeding frenzy as more 'donations' retrospectively come out of the woodwork.
Peters has in the past managed to neutralise negative campaigns such as this-- but this time it looks like everybody (the other 7 political parties) are ganging up to try get rid of him in the lead up to the general elections in November. The article manages to get quotes from all the other opponents.
I have a personal interest in this story because I work for this party and it looks inceasingly likely I may not have a job when I return home in September. So I may be a bit biased. I really think Peters did not know the details of the dodgy donations. A Clintonian term in politics is 'plausible deniability'. Peters would have instructed his lawyer to accept donations on a 'i won't ask, you don't tell me" basis.... so I do not think he is lying when he says he did not know-- he never wanted to know.
A column by politico Richard Long comments why the story will not go away....
I emailed;
Richard,
am i going to have a job when i return?
anita
He replied;
Hi there Anita.
I think he will hold on. Its been a wild ride, but its dying off
What started as a 'moderate' money discrepancy involving political donations has escalated into a full blown scandal for Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs in NZ parliament and the leader of the coalition minor party holding the government together.
A story like this usually falls into the 11 day category-- it should have gone away in less than two weeks- WHY IS IT GOING ON SO LONG? It has escalated into a full blown feeding frenzy as more 'donations' retrospectively come out of the woodwork.
Peters has in the past managed to neutralise negative campaigns such as this-- but this time it looks like everybody (the other 7 political parties) are ganging up to try get rid of him in the lead up to the general elections in November. The article manages to get quotes from all the other opponents.
I have a personal interest in this story because I work for this party and it looks inceasingly likely I may not have a job when I return home in September. So I may be a bit biased. I really think Peters did not know the details of the dodgy donations. A Clintonian term in politics is 'plausible deniability'. Peters would have instructed his lawyer to accept donations on a 'i won't ask, you don't tell me" basis.... so I do not think he is lying when he says he did not know-- he never wanted to know.
A column by politico Richard Long comments why the story will not go away....
I emailed;
Richard,
am i going to have a job when i return?
anita
He replied;
Hi there Anita.
I think he will hold on. Its been a wild ride, but its dying off
Finally!!!
Politics is my beat.....
Yes, finally we get to writing about something I know about-- politics is my beat.
In early July the DNC organizers announced Senator Barack Obama was moving his acceptance speech for the presidential race from the 20,000 capacity convention center to the 75,000 capacity Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on August 28, the last day of the convention.
Thousands felt excitment that there will be a good chance they may be able to attend as Obama was opening this historic event to the masses. This certainly is rock-superstar stuff!
However, subsequent reports and bloggers have questioned whether the Democratic Campaign, already $10million short, can afford the costs of the stadium - let alone the fact it would be logistics and security nightmare.
Being on the volunteer waitlist at the Denver DNC, I emailed to ask where and when I could purchase tickets for the event only to be told tickets were not for sale - they will be 'distributed'.
To Whom????
And lately, my inbox has been bombarded with the 'lottery' to win tickets to the convention if I donated as little as $5 to the campaign.
Well, I thought the smart thing would be for the DNC to SELL the tickets to the public for an extortional price. This is the land of making money! I paid $350 for scalped tickets to take my teenage son to Justin Timberlake last year at MSG-- I would gladly pay that much to see Obama's acceptance speech in Denver.
AND DO THE MATHS!
75,000 x $150/$200= ...... that would pay all of Hillary's debt and more.
Which brings me to voter/donation fatigue.
As an Obama supporter even I am tiring of the thrice weekly emails asking for donations. I would rather just pay for these tickets -- even if it is expensive, at least I am getting immediate gratification.
Finally, a staging of this magnitude is escalating expectations of Obama's acceptance speech to astromonical-stratosphere heights. This is being promoted along the lines of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream...." speech and Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you....." ... speech....
I bet Obama's speechwriters are having sleepless nights....
anita
In early July the DNC organizers announced Senator Barack Obama was moving his acceptance speech for the presidential race from the 20,000 capacity convention center to the 75,000 capacity Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on August 28, the last day of the convention.
Thousands felt excitment that there will be a good chance they may be able to attend as Obama was opening this historic event to the masses. This certainly is rock-superstar stuff!
However, subsequent reports and bloggers have questioned whether the Democratic Campaign, already $10million short, can afford the costs of the stadium - let alone the fact it would be logistics and security nightmare.
Being on the volunteer waitlist at the Denver DNC, I emailed to ask where and when I could purchase tickets for the event only to be told tickets were not for sale - they will be 'distributed'.
To Whom????
And lately, my inbox has been bombarded with the 'lottery' to win tickets to the convention if I donated as little as $5 to the campaign.
Well, I thought the smart thing would be for the DNC to SELL the tickets to the public for an extortional price. This is the land of making money! I paid $350 for scalped tickets to take my teenage son to Justin Timberlake last year at MSG-- I would gladly pay that much to see Obama's acceptance speech in Denver.
AND DO THE MATHS!
75,000 x $150/$200= ...... that would pay all of Hillary's debt and more.
Which brings me to voter/donation fatigue.
As an Obama supporter even I am tiring of the thrice weekly emails asking for donations. I would rather just pay for these tickets -- even if it is expensive, at least I am getting immediate gratification.
Finally, a staging of this magnitude is escalating expectations of Obama's acceptance speech to astromonical-stratosphere heights. This is being promoted along the lines of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream...." speech and Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you....." ... speech....
I bet Obama's speechwriters are having sleepless nights....
anita
Friday, August 1, 2008
Love Onion
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/al_gore_places_infant_son_in
Not another story about Global Warming Angelia will say.... but this is great.
Here is a cartoon of Al Gore on the last day of the earth placing his baby son in a space capsule...... like Superman's father .......
Again, I would love to be able to write in this clever way.
Not another story about Global Warming Angelia will say.... but this is great.
Here is a cartoon of Al Gore on the last day of the earth placing his baby son in a space capsule...... like Superman's father .......
Again, I would love to be able to write in this clever way.