Electronic Writer

There are lots of reasons to really feel the doom-and-gloom of the day: Republican obstructionism is at an all-time high, right-wing Tea-Baggers, ratings-chasing media organizations, and their governmental enablers are fomenting revolutions, we are still losing human lives in the Middle East, and right now, an oil rig is burning and sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico–and, spilling 300,000 gallons a day of oil.

But, there is a bright spot in the news today. A 99-year old woman is able to read and write again using a smart, new piece of technology–an iPad!

Don’t you just love technology?

JD Salinger

JD Salinger, my writing hero since 1990, has finally passed away from natural causes. Although a recluse, his writing that he actually published had far-reaching implications in my world.

He was the absolute master of what I call, “the two-sentence description” of a character. After those handful of words, you knew everything about that character and additional details simply reinforced that knowledge–rather than revealed character traits. It was, and still is, brilliant writing.

Thank you for the writing lessons . . . .

JD Salinger, author of Catcher In The Rye, dies at 91

There is a new online newspaper for San Francisco-ites:  SF Appeal. They launched on Friday, and so far, I love the focus.

It is pretty mind-boggling that there are no real newspapers geared towards San Francisco.  The San Francisco Chronical is markedly backwards in their desire for a return to newsprint and in their effort to provide national and international coverage, their SF coverage lacks (in my opinion). The Examiner has almost vanished, and that leaves us with . . . nothing until SF Appeal.

Keep up the good work, SF Appeal, and thanks for covering what matters to me.

Visit SF Appeal at www.sfappeal.com

We have seen more than one GOP news spin about what Alaskan Women think about Sarah Palin.  There were the Hockey Mom’s for Sarah Palin signs, the glowing review from her Palin’s sister, and of course, the assortment of supporters.  There is one woman, at least, from Alaska who doesn’t agree.

According to the recent New York Times article,

And four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said.

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”

Before anyone cries foul about her motivations of her blog, please note that there are currently no advertisements on her blog.  So . . . money might not be a factor here.

Regardless, she has all sorts of information about Sarah Palin’s record as City Coucilwoman of Wasilia, as Mayor of Wasilia, and as her actions as Governor.

Read the New York Times Article >>

Visit Sherry Whitstine’s Blog >>

This is a quote from an article published at OhMyNews:

The Twin Cities’ North Star Health Collective (NSHC), a local group that coordinated media response during the protests, began training sessions for street medics weeks before the convention. On Sept. 5, NSHC representatives held a press conference denouncing the “police detention and abuse of medical volunteers.” They also shared examples of the types of weapons used on protesters.

“My medic partner and I were treating a handicapped male in a wheelchair for pepper spray to the face at the parking lot of Jackson Street,” recounted Sean McCoy, an EMT and a Navy veteran. “In the process of treating the patient, we were surrounded by several police officers in riot gear and forcibly thrown to the ground and told we were under arrest. We were then forcibly removed from our patient, handcuffed, and forced to lay face down on the ground while the officers proceeded to cut our bags off of us and remove all of our medical gear by dumping it on the ground.”

Read the entire article, “‘Street Medics’ Describe RNC Protests“

I tried and tried to give it up, but I cannot.  I simply cannot ignore the state of affairs in the current Geo-political landscape of the United States.

What is more, I am compelled to write about it . . . .

That being said, I’M BACK!!!

Not sure how I missed this one, but here is another funny from the Bush Administration and Karl Rove. In this instance, Karl Rove is caught trying to revise history (documented by the Huffington Post) to be more convenient for his self-exoneration from his contributions to the Bush Administration’s illegal Iraq War.

In this specific video clip commemorated on the Huffington Post, Karl Rove has a nice list of mis-quotes from Tom Daschle (D-SD) that supposedly supports his claim. His lies are rebutted point for point, until Chris Van Hollen quoted the Bush Administration’s own Ari Fleischer as saying, “It was definitely the Bush administration that set it in motion and determined the timing, not the Congress. I think Karl in this instance just has his facts wrong.”

Thanks to the Huffington Post for catching this one.

Watch the video.

There is a really moving piece at OhMyNews Citizen Journalism site today about the current state of the world.  It ties the impending global recession with the actions of the world–especially the conflicts in the Middle East.

The author, Pablo Ouziel, connects the dots about the world events–how the trucker strike in Spain is related to the multi-million dollar salaries of oil executives and the war in Iraq, and how they are both related to your neighbor who commutes to work having a difficult time feeding his/her family

The Beginning Global Order: When Will We Understand that our Politicians are Lying to Us

TechCrunch Announces Launch of Blogger & Podcaster Network

This could be the beginning of something great: a network of new media producers, benefits and collaboration, non-restrictive rules, and an encouragement to join. 

Hmmm . . . .

We all thought that the Internet would break the grip of the corporate-controlled media on information.  Were we right?  This article is a review of Project for Excellence in Journalism. Our assumptions, according to their report, have not quite come to fruition as we had expected.  Read the following Coop’s Corner at CNET for the full story:

Were we wrong about tech and the democratization of media?

Were we wrong about tech and the democratization of media? | Coop’s Corner : A Blog from Charlie Cooper – CNET News.com