There has been an alarming rise in the number of times governments attempted to censor the internet in last six months, according to a report from Google.
Since the search engine last published its bi-annual transparency report, it said it had seen a troubling increase in requests to remove political content. Many of these requests came from western democracies not typically associated with censorship.
It said Spanish regulators asked Google to remove 270 links to blogs and newspaper articles critical of public figures. It did not comply. In Poland, it was asked to remove an article critical of the Polish agency for enterprise development and eight other results that linked to the article. Again, the company did not comply.
Google was asked by Canadian officials to remove a YouTube video of a citizen urinating on his passport and flushing it down the toilet. It refused.
Thai authorities asked Google to remove 149 YouTube videos for allegedly insulting the monarchy, a violation of Thailand’s lèse-majesté law. The company complied with 70% of the requests.
Pakistan asked Google to remove six YouTube videos that satirised its army and senior politicians. Google refused.
UK police asked the company to remove five YouTube accounts for allegedly promoting terrorism. Google agreed. In the US most requests related to alleged harassment of people on YouTube. The authorities asked for 187 pieces to be removed. Google complied with 42% of them.
In a blog post, Dorothy Chou, Google’s senior policy analyst, wrote: “Unfortunately, what we’ve seen over the past couple years has been troubling, and today is no different. When we started releasing this data, in 2010, we noticed that government agencies from different countries would sometimes ask us to remove political content that our users had posted on our services. We hoped this was an aberration. But now we know it’s not.
“This is the fifth data set that we’ve released. Just like every other time, we’ve been asked to take down political speech. It’s alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect – western democracies not typically associated with censorship.”
Over the six months covered by the latest report, Google complied with an average of 65% of court orders, as opposed to 47% of more informal requests.
Category Archives: Communications Theory
Minorities Outraged Over Univ. of Minnisota’s Racist “White Priviledge” Ad Make Counter Video
Minorities, this is what the “enlightened academic left” thinks of you. And this is not just a few radicalized pinheads in Minnesota, this type of senseless race bating, victimology, and stereotyping is typical of “black studies” and other neo-Marxist grievance studies programs in public school and universities in almost every state.
The left needs racial division and must pit one group against another for people to buy their ideology. This goes double for leftist academics who get millions of dollars spent of grievance studies programs, various grievance studies centers, publications etc.
Remember the Un-Fair Campaign, that august collection of enlightened and thoroughly non-racist individuals who believe that whites have an irrevocable privilege that gives them an advantage in society (and that, by extensions minorities will always need special favors to get a leg up)? Well, if you don’t, for the purposes of this story, it may be advisable to rewatch this ad of theirs:
As you can see, the Un-Fair Campaign is aptly named. Their perspective on race is deeply unfair. Fortunately, at least one group has set out to make a video that rebuts the above, and shows how the perspective involved is unfair not just to whites, but to minorities as well. The resulting effort may cause you to spontaneously break out into applause:
What with the refusal of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, one of the Un-Fair Campaign’s biggest institutional sponsors, to defund the organization, this variety of outraged mockery is perhaps the best response.
My friend Scott Ott and his friends at Trifecta had the most thoughtful response to this issue we have yet seen:
How to order a pizza after ObamaCare (video)
AWESOME: Andrew Breitbart’s Famed “Katie Couric is Racist” Speech in Washington DC (video)
Andrew Breitbart at the Washington DC Rally September 12, 2010.
Christian Students CENSORED at 160 Public Universities. ADF Defends! (video)
Most people have no idea what is going on at our public universities.
A hundred million secular Marxists didn’t suddenly become libertarians in 1989 when the wall fell. They had to go to work somewhere and many went to work at public schools and universities and they brought their twisted philosophy with them.
Persecution of Christian, Jewish, conservative, libertarian and traditional students on campus is so common and prevalent that there are multiple legal groups fighting it including the Alliance Defense Fund, The Rutherford Institute, the ACLJ, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the Student Press Law Center and believe it or not, many of these cases are so egregious that the ACLU has even been stepping up to defend such persecuted students. These civil rights groups are overwhelmed with requests for help. The problem is that bad. Just because you don’t run into these radical leftists or hear about them in your daily lives does not mean they aren’t there.
[Full Disclosure: FIRE and the ACLU helped in a case I was involved in at Indiana University – Editor.]
Having worked for the campus in a job where I ended up in every office at one time or another I know first hand that about half of the professors in the liberal arts department either have pictures of Karl Marx on their wall and/or have his book prominently displayed. Books by Adam Smith, Frederick Hayek, Milton Friedman…. good luck.
Western Ky. Univ. Turns Blind Eye To Vandalized Pro-Life Display
‘Kids for Christ’ club silenced because they were “religious,” no longer silenced (In Oklahoma of all places).
Honor Student Denied Credit Because Community Service Event Was Religious
Christian Club Told It’s Not Religious; Forced To Have Non-Christian Leaders (In North Carolina)
High School Athlete Makes An Extraordinary Show of Grace and Sportsmanship (video)
Competition and the drive to win is indeed very important and vital. With that said there is a very important place for personal restraint and a competitive ethic. What does this teach us about society?
George Soros Funds His Own “Open Society” (read oligarchy) University and Spends $400 Million Influencing American Universities; Elite Media Silent…
..but if the Koch Brothers make a donation it is evil vulture capitalists buying the system and wrecking democracy in the “elite media”.
School is letting out around the United States, but for George Soros, education never stops. Soros has given more than $400 million to colleges and universities, including money to most prominent institutions in the United States. He also helped establish Central European University (CEU) which, in turn, uses its resources to promote his personal goal of an “open society.”
Imagine that, a whole university funded by one of the most controversial figures in the world. Soros has used that $400 million worldwide to indoctrinate students and teach them to promote liberal, and in some cases extremist, causes. But don’t expect the American news media to make it a big issue, even though they have done so for the Koch brothers.
CEU, which is essentially Soros’s own university, has received $250 million from the liberal billionaire. The Founder and Chairman of the Board is none other than Soros. More than half of CEU’s 20 member board are closely tied to the liberal financier. President of the Soros-funded Bard College Leon Botstein is Chairman of the Board.
While the Left shrivels at the thought of the Koch brother’s donations to universities, Soros gave more than 50 times as much. Bard College was the American institution that received the most from Soros (more than $75 million). Grants to Bard for “community service and social action” included a Palestinian youth group and an initiative to educate prisoners across the country.
All of the Ivy League universities, along with a variety of state schools, private institutions, and even religiously-affiliated institutions, were also funded by Soros.
The Koch brothers were vilified by the American political left for donating almost $7 million to universities while their beloved Soros gave more than 50 times that amount to the same type of groups.
Soros’s Center for American Progress, which received $7.3 million from his foundations, posted a report on their Think Progress blog titled “Koch Fueling Far Right Academic Centers at Universities across the Country.” In the article, the Koch-hating leftist Lee Fang lists universities that received money from the Kochs to include George Mason University, Utah State, and Brown. Totaling nearly $7 million, grants as small as $100,000 were criticized. A donation of $1.5 million to Florida State University supposedly gave the Kochs “a free hand in selecting professors and approving publications.”
Alternet, funded by Soros complained about a “shady deal” that helped the Kochs fund Florida State University. Colorlines, also funded by Soros, said of the same donation: “FSU Trades Academic Freedom for Billionaire Charles Koch’s Money.”
This information is all part of an extensive new Special Report on Soros by the Business and Media Institute (a sister organization of CNSNews.com). The report, “George Soros: Godfather of the Left,”also detailed Soros’s many controversial dealings around the world.
Jehmu Greene Calls Tucker Carlson a “Bow-Tying White Boy” (video)
I will not mince words here. Jehmu Greene is a purveyor of hate. She hates whites, and as an extremely radicalized feminist activist she hates men; and previously I have provided the evidence to demonstrate it.
Here are some quotes from other founders of the “Women’s Center” Greene was a leader of:
-
My white skin disgusts me. My passport disgusts me. They are the marks of an insufferable privilege bought at the price of others’ agony. If I could peel myself inside out I would be glad. If I could become part of the oppressed I would be free.[2]
-
In her book Going Too Far, she called for women to “fight for and create” a “gynocratic world” and “not [“reclaim”] … some false state of equality”.
Essentially this “Women’s Media Center” Jehmu Green was president of is a racialist organization that is profoundly anti-men. It does not get much more extreme than that.
Fore more details examine my previous coverage of Jehmu Greene HERE and HERE.
New Ad Hits Obama on “GreenScam – Cash for Cronies” (video)
Wow, an honest ad from Mitt Romney. I was beginning to wonder if they were capable of it. This ad is spot on accurate.
Ayn Rand on why collectivism is not about equality.
This is so good. Collectivists say that it is about equality, but in practice the collectivist makes it about everyone else and YOU sacrifice. YOU give up your labor, your money, your time, your livelihood…..for “others”…. you know… so it can be good for “everyone else”. If you want to keep most of your money, your labor, your rights than YOU are selfish and amoral. Everyone is “entitled” and “equal” except you because you produce so you must sacrifice. It is no equality at all.
Of course the only ones who truly benefit in a collectivist society are the oligarchs.
Ayn Rand:
The social theory of ethics substitutes “society” for God—and although it claims that its chief concern is life on earth, it is not the life of man, not the life of an individual, but the life of a disembodied entity, the collective, which, in relation to every individual, consists of everybody except himself. As far as the individual is concerned, his ethical duty is to be the selfless, voiceless, rightless slave of any need, claim or demand asserted by others. The motto “dog eat dog”—which is not applicable to capitalism nor to dogs—is applicable to the social theory of ethics. The existential monuments to this theory are Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. – “The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 34
Fred Thompson, Soldier
Dr. Milton Friedman on the History of Socialism and The Road to Serfdom
Notre Dame and Dozens of Catholic Orgs Sue Obama – Elite Media Blackout!
Alexandria, VA – Fury over the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts’ continued refusal to report the lawsuits Catholic entities have filed against the Obama administration has spread beyond the Media Research Center watchdog group and Catholic leaders to 10 additional Christian leaders equally concerned about this decision to deliberately not report national news. Below are statements released by FRC’s Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer of American Values and 8 more leaders.
For the third night in a row the broadcast networks have refused to cover this correctly.
This momentum is fueled by CBS Evening News’ outrageous decision not only to spike the Catholic lawsuits but instead to lead the news with yet another story about the Catholic sex abuse scandal. The broadcast devoted two minutes and 31 seconds to the accused abusers and allegations that occurred decades ago. That’s roughly eight times more coverage than CBS Evening News gave the historic lawsuit on Monday.
“Those fleeting 19 seconds remain the only evening news coverage of the damning anti-Obama lawsuit in 72 hours since the unprecedented suing by one of the largest institutions in the country,” stated Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. “Make no mistake – CBS intentionally resurrected the decade-old scandal last night while ignoring the lawsuit to throw salt on the wound of America’s 60 million Catholics. The media are holding this historic news hostage from the American people. At least CBS has heard of the word ‘Catholic.’ ABC and NBC are behaving like the Catholic Church — and one out of every four Americans — don’t exist.”
Statements:
“This week Catholic leaders filed lawsuits responding to an unprecedented federal government intrusion into the church. Several major networks have chosen to ignore the stand that these Catholic organizations have taken in defense of our most fundament freedom. However, thousands of priests, pastors, and rabbis will continue to speak out and refuse to surrender their most fundamental right to live and exercise faith without compromise. The church will not allow itself to be conscripted to advance anyone’s liberal political agenda.”
Tony Perkins
President, Family Research Council
Newt Gingrich takes a heckler apart. This is how it’s done. (video)
“Noise without knowledge is not a free society…”
How to Answer: How Can You Justify Making So Much Money?
Brad Phillips challenged other PR pros how to answer this tough question.
It’s the single hardest media training question for spokespersons to answer.
Let’s say you’re a top executive from a not-for-profit association, a quasi-governmental organization, a membership group, or a utility company. You work for a group that depends on taxpayer funding, private donations, or middle-class ratepayers. You make $600,000 per year. Or $800,000 per year. Or $1.2 million per year. Here’s the killer question:
“How can you justify making $800,000 per year?
Several PR pros made good efforts but made mistakes in their answers that left them vulnerable to attack. Be sure to read the rest HERE.
Brad Phillips gives a great answer:
My approach borrows from pieces of the commenters above. In an ideal world, the organization that is paying high salaries uses an outside “benchmarking” firm to establish what comparable wages are. If that’s true – and if the executive is paid something close to the median, I prefer this response:
“You’re right that I’m fortunate to be paid well for my work. I agree that we owe it to our members to be fiscally responsible, which is why no executive in our company makes more than the average for other executives in comparable positions. We think the 50 percent mark is perfect – it’s high enough to attract top talent who can serve our members well, but low enough to respect the contributions generously provided by our members.”
A Definitive Guide: When to Block Someone & How to Handle a Social Media Crisis
by Chuck Norton
A social media crisis can happen to just about anyone or any organization. Sometimes they can be a result of a mistake you or your organization has made, or it can come from a mistake made by a media organization, or it can be a deliberate and planned attack.
1. In most cases do not delete the negative comments
While The first instinct is to just delete the offending comments, actually in most cases this is exactly the wrong thing to do. Your good customers and close friends are probably not stupid so an unfair attack will appear just as such to most people who matter to you.
There is ALWAYS a reason why attacks and negative critiques happen. It is NEVER for nothing so getting defensive and reacting in a knee jerk fashion is exactly the wrong thing to do. Blocking and deleting may make you feel better for a few minutes, but such actions can really hurt you in the eyes of others. Why are you facing negative comments and criticism? Find out why as fast as you can, and do so objectively with a willingness to accept fault. It is in your best interest to take critique seriously.
In the case of a real mistake made by you or someone else, something has happened to upset your customers and they are simply expressing themselves to you. Let them vent, really it is therapeutic. The more they vent the more you will learn. This reality is difficult for some to come to terms with. So before you hit DELETE, keep the following in mind:
- It is in your best interests to have your customers or voters voice their concerns, anger, etc on your web site, Facebook page or other platform that you control.You can monitor it and keep tabs on it. If you just delete it they will become more angry and post in places that you do not have control. I promise you this is exactly what will happen. It will happen because by blocking you are telling them that you do not care what they have to say or what their feelings are.
Posting my complaint on other blogs and publications when an injustice was done to me is how I dealt with hostile and unfair professors and administrators when I came under unfair attack at Indiana University after “in house” communications proved fruitless. Do not be so foolish as to let a situation come to that as IU did.
2. Respond the RIGHT way.
People like to have an honest dialogue because it is a sign of respect. They recognize and appreciate the effort of being heard and understood. Show how much you care about them by taking the time to respond to each and every negative comment, concern and question (with exceptions noted in number 5 below). Someone has just vented on you and/or your company/product that you worked hard to produce. Your feelings are hurt and you are not thrilled to respond to them with a positive, understanding, human tone. GET OVER IT. This is not about your feelings rather it is about the best interests of your brand, your company, your product, your profits and about your customers. Take a deep breath and go into with the right attitude or hire someone who can speak for you.
There are seven rules to follow when giving your response:
- Write a unique and custom response to each comment, complaint, and question. The value of a unique response cannot be stressed enough. A canned response such as “Please address your concern to me at BLAHBLAH@email.com” will be perceived as a complete fail and willmake things worse. Be smart and offer them the option of discussing the issue privately or openly however they wish. It is important to not give the impression that you have something you want to hide.
Politicians often use canned responses that do not really address the concern or genuinely answer the question. Such responses usually make things worse, not better. I have been known to make political contributions and ONE canned letter that does not seriously address my specific question means no donation from me, ever.
- Make the response sound human, real, sympathetic and not corporate.
- Does your response actually address the specific concern or question with a real answer? A good way to show that it does is to state the customers specific question in the letter.
- Avoid “Escape Hatch Language“. Make certain that your answer is not so ambiguous that it can mean most anything (depending clarify your statements later), this means avoiding “escape hatch language” as it is insincere, insulting, and most people will spot it in an instant. Politicians think they are masters of this and I give examples of escape hatch language in a post on my old college blog where use of escape hatch language resulted in a huge PR disaster for President Obama – LINK.
- Don’t apologize before having all of the facts. You may make things worse. People will likely catch onto it and your apology will come across as rushed to shut everyone up. You may come across as incompetent because you missed a key fact or fundamental truth.
- Do not try to hide certain facts or be less than truthful. This also means telling your PR people everything they need to know, not just selected tidbits. If you are caught doing this, in the eyes of the public you are a liar who deserves the label. Indiana University at Indianapolis made a combination of this mistake along with some of the others on this list and ended up with a nationwide PR disaster that they well deserved – LINK – LINK.
- When you say you’re sorry, mean it! Show a little humility and make a real apology. Reasonable people know that you are human and stuff happens. If necessary, ask for a way to get in contact with them directly so that you may continue to resolve the problem.
3. React in real-time
See what is happening on your blog or social media page? Well that is how fast you should be responding. It happens in real-time so that is when you need to respond. There’s no time to go through the layers of management and attorneys to “craft” the perfect response to be posted in a day or two because by that time the problem will have snowballed and can be a disaster. It will be too late and too much avoidable damage has already been done (besides that group of people are all too often the last ones you want writing your apology anyway). Show your customers that you care by demonstrating that you understand “the fierce urgency of now”. You are on top of the situation. Respond to attacks, complaints and questions in real-time.
4. Let your social networking community and satisfied customers stand up for you
You have worked hard at building a relationship with your customers. They can be your best ally. Remember that your competition can likely provide your product or services at a similar price point to you, but since you have worked to have a superior relationship with the customer, client, or voter, some of them will come to your defense. Let them! You have worked hard at building those customer relationships, allow them to come to your defense and help you resolve the situation.
Although negative criticism can be hard to accept, it’s in your best interest to take it seriously, and see it as an opportunity to reconnect with your audience. By taking the time to respond and apologize, you’re showing your customers just how much you value them, and that can go an extremely long way for your brand.
5. When is it OK to delete a comment or start blocking?
There are three circumstances where deletion/blocking is the correct action to take.
- If and when the comment is so profane and offensive that it violates social and ethical norms. Verbal abuse and threats etc go against social media policies so remove such offending remarks after you screenshot or otherwise archive them. Depending on the circumstances a good practice may be to send the offending individual a private message telling them that their comment has been deleted and why, and that you encourage them to express their point of view in a way that is sociably acceptable.
- When the complainant is not interested in solving their problem and only wants to complain. We all have dealt with people like this. You have gone as far as reasonability will take you. It is time to move on.
- When you are under a coordinated attack by a group of people. This happens more often than one might expect. Radical extremists use this tactic a great deal and with some effectiveness. Far left “occupiers”, anarchists, eco-extremists, and some overzealous ideologues use these tactics as a matter of course. At times other companies or even other political campaigns engage in such coordinated attacks simply because you may be a competitor.
When under such attack explain to your community why you are deleting such posts, although at times leaving a few up as an example may actually be helpful. Often times fake Facebook accounts and fake Twitter accounts will be used to make such attacks. Not only should you delete and report them, but such accounts will usually have 15 friends or less; block every one of those friends as the fake account they are posting from may be the very account used to coordinate the attack. They may make new accounts, you just keep blocking. Also, some blogs allow you to track the IP address of every comment. Check and see if the attacks are coming from the same IP address or a specific IP range, if so there are ways your IT pro or web site settings can ban any traffic coming from the offending IP addresses.
Ten “GOTCHA” Questions to Know When You Run for Office
Our friends at PR Daily have some friendly advice for those wanting to run for office:
Here are 10 questions you should be prepared to answer during your race:
1. What’s the minimum wage? The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Some states are higher. The full list is here. Candidates should also be able to answer similar questions about their state’s unemployment and home foreclosure rates. Here’s Rep. Berg’s attempt at answering the minimum wage question:
2. What’s the price of milk? Reporters ask these types of questions to gauge how much a candidate understands the struggles of “real” Americans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a gallon costs $3.50. (A handy list of other product costs is here.)
3. What’s the price of bread? The average price of a loaf of white bread is $1.40.
4. How much Is a gallon of gas? The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gas is $3.87. That’s up from $3.55 last year, $2.78 in 2010, and $1.95 in 2009. Candidates can accurately say that the price has doubled in the past three years. Also know your state/local gas price averages.
5. Why do you want to be a congressman/senator/governor? You’d be surprised how many people blow this simple question. In fact, that very question derailed Ted Kennedy’s presidential bid in 1980.
6. What mistake(s) have you made, and what have you learned from it (them)? This question is sometimes intended as a “gotcha,” but can be a perfect opportunity for candidates to explain a position change.7. Who Is your favorite Supreme Court Justice of all time, and why? Candidates should also be able to name a decision they agreed with and one they disagreed with. In recent years, these types of questions have tripped up both Christine O’Donnell and Sarah Palin.
8. When Is the last time the (local sports team) won the championship/pennant/World Series/Stanley Cup? During a Democratic debate for Massachusetts Senate late last year, four candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, couldn’t list the years their beloved Boston Red Sox had won the World Series in this century. Candidates should also have similar answers ready for local college teams, and should be able to name their favorite players, as well.
9. Who is your personal hero? This is a cliché question which typically elicits cliché answers. But unless Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or Eleanor Roosevelt are truly your personal heroes, try to come up with something more original and more revealing about who you are and what moves you.
10. What newspapers do you read? After Sarah Palin’s disastrous handling of this question from Katie Couric, other candidates can expect similar questions. Be ready to name your favorite journalists, newspapers, radio stations, news programs, and websites.
Koch Responds to Misleading Intimidation Tactics by the Obama Campaign (video)
It is good that someone is standing up to the Chicago style politics and corruption of this administration.
Rush Limbaugh inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians
Bill Whittle: How to Steal Government Power (video)
This is a MUST see video.
Sowell: The Pathology of Academics Who Constantly Get It Wrong (video)
Dr. Thomas Sowell
American intellectuals by and large said the USSR had a better system.
Intellectuals said that the USA should unilaterally disarm before Reagan won the Cold War.
British intellectuals called for English disarmament before WWII.
Leftist academics get the effect of tax policy wrong almost every time….etc.
The Avengers Movie Review!
I just saw The Avengers!
Totally great film about people and relationships. Very good character development, solid story, great entertainment.
This film was made with great care and it showed. The film is not corny in the least. There are many ways that Marvel has gone about this and one of the ways is that the violence is not cartoon comic book. Both good guys and bad guys die in the film including scores of civilians. This is a part of what is a conscience decision by Marvel to show that violence has consequences; those consequences are real and not always reversible.
The character development is very good and sets up the chemistry and conflict between the characters, even so a little more development for some of the characters was in order and I hope that we will see it in the blue ray version. The characters have great attributes as well as great flaws. Captain America, whose real name is Captain Steve Rogers of the United States Army, having been asleep for over 60 years is not pleased with the cultural decline in society. For Steve Rogers World War II was just a few months ago. He killed a lot of Germans and watched them kill his friends. He lost the love of his life. Now he is in pain wondering what his sacrifice was for and if society is worthy of it. He is in a very dark place.
One thing I could not help notice more and more of in Stan Lee films, references praising Western Civilization and slapping the progressive secular left. Those of you who do not follow politics may not know, but the Clinton’s screwed Marvel creator Stan Lee out of millions of dollars. Stan Lee used to be a fund raising dedicated Democrat. After the multi-million dollar mugging Lee is now a genuine “Traditional Warrior”.
There were many references to Western Civ but there were a few that really stood out:
Agent Phil Coulson to Captain America: We updated your uniform.
Captain America: Isn’t the whole “red white and blue” thing a little outdated for your new modern society? (Remember Captain America was asleep for over 60 years and he makes several comments about what he thinks America has lost in the time he was asleep).
Agent Phil Coulson: With everything that has happened, and everything that is about to happen, we could use a little dose of traditional.
Interestingly enough, perhaps the film’s greatest hero is Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) who is likely the greatest role model in the film. Here is Agent Coulson from a previous Marvel film:
Getting back to the culture war…
Captain America speaking to Agent Romanov in reference to Thor and Loki: There’s only one God, ma’am. And I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that!
Tony Stark mocks Obama: I am the only REAL green energy project going on right now. (Without exception all significant green energy contacts and loans have gone to Democratic Party donors and campaign bundlers. Dozens have taken our money and promptly gone out of business but the donors have paid themselves incredible amounts of money and donated much before and after back to the party).
The debate on arms control with Nick Fury was superbly written. My description does not do this conversation justice as the debate is Nick Fury vs Thor, Captain America, and Dr. Banner all while Tony Stark is being a smart ass.
Thor: You are making weapons with The Tesseract. Why?
Fury: We had no choice. Thanks to you we learned that there are other worlds out there , other threats.
Thor: Surely Asgard is no threat to humanity!
Fury: Agreed, but Asgard isn’t the only “other world” out there is it?
Thor: Via mannerism begrudgingly agrees.
Fury: We have seen just a sample of what other worlds have and we are ridiculously… NO we are hilariously out gunned. Can you seriously expect SHIELD to do nothing?
At the end of the film after SHIELD and The Avengers stop the invasion a Democrat Senator from NY (ahem hello Hillary) blames the Avengers for the invasion and demands that they pay for the damage.
For those who like action The Avengers has that in spades. There were several references to previous films such as Lord of the Rings, Flash Gordon etc, but my favorite reference was to Droopy Dog. Many of you might not be old enough to remember what happens when someone gets pushy with Droopy Dog (hint: Replace Droopy with The Hulk and let your imagination run with it).
The acting was very good, especially from Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk. Any actor who can take something as fantastic as The Hulk and bring it right down to ground level and make it totally believable deserves an award. All of the actors made their roles believable, which is also a testimony to some fine writing and directing by Joss Whedon.
The only flaw in the film was the plot hole where Dr. Banner learns to embrace and control his anger thus learning to control the Hulk as best he can. It is Tony Stark that helps him take this new philosophical approach. This starts to happen in the film but they did not do enough of it to make it more obvious to explain how Hulk went from almost out of control on the carrier to in control at the invasion. The past of The Avengers’ two master assassins Natasha Romanova (Black Widow) and Clint Barton (Hawkeye) was just teased and it is implied that the two characters will get the attention they both deserve in Avengers II or the upcoming film Nick Fury, both are already in pre-production.
Video: Teachers lying to students, far left indoctrination…..
UPDATE – Documentary: Origins of Political Correctness – How Marxists Founded “Critical Theory” To Use Academia to Undermine Western Civilization & Indoctrinate Children – LINK.
2012 GPA Redistribution Petition & Video – Carthage College
Should those with a high GPA have some of their GPA points taken away to be given out to students who are disadvantaged by race and poverty lines?
Defense Department Personnel or “Contractors” Engage in Public Smear Campaign of USA Today Reporter
George Orwell call your office….
The newspaper USA Today said Friday an editor and reporter probing Pentagon propaganda efforts have been targeted by an online “misinformation campaign.”
Fake Twitter and Facebook accounts have been created under the names of the reporter and editor with postings denigrating their professional reputations, according to the daily.
The timing of the online harassment coincided with stories by Pentagon correspondent Tom Vanden Brook, who has written about the military’s “information operations” program that spent large sums on marketing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The program has faced criticism in and outside the Defense Department as “ineffective and poorly monitored,” the paper said.
The false online accounts, including a fake Wikipedia entry, started appearing only days after the reporter first contacted Pentagon contractors for the story, the newspaper wrote.
Two weeks after enterprise editor Ray Locker’s byline appeared on a story on the same subject, a fake website under his name — RayLocker.com — popped up, the paper said.
A US official confirmed to AFP that the Defense Department had made inquiries to contractors doing public relations work to ask them about the false online accounts.
The contractors denied any such activity, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the websites were taken down following the Pentagon’s inquiry. Some other accounts were removed for violating Internet providers’ terms of service, USA Today said.
Prager University: The Power of Profit (video)
Prager University: The Welfare State and the Selfish Society
Video of the Year: If I wanted America to fail
Video of the Year: If I wanted America to fail
200 Jewish Students Receive Eviction Notices from Jihadist Student Activists at Florida University
Creating a hostile and intimidating environment on campus is not protected speech. It is intended to intimidate Jewish students, interfere with their education with such a threatening environment and is designed to infringe on their liberty interest. Florida should lower the boom on this behavior, but considering how antisemitsm is pushed by academia in general I am not hopeful.
More than 200 Jewish students at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL found “eviction” notices posted on their dormitory doors Friday, unaware that it was part of a publicity stunt by Students for Justice in Palestine.
The organization’s chapter president, Noor Fawzy, explained, “We want to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians…The intent is to expose Israel‘s illegal policies and give students a feel of what it’s like to live under occupation. “The ”notice” explained that more than 25,000 homes have been demolished since the “occupation of Palestine” began in 1967.
While SJP appears to have gotten university approval for the stunt (some members may have even been escorted by an employee official as they were posting the signs), the school has since removed the postings after many expressed their disapproval.
Charles Brown, the school’s senior VP for student affairs, released a statement: “The recent mock eviction postings did not comply with the policies of University Housing and Residential Life or the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership concerning the distribution of printed material, and therefore the postings were removed.”
Jackie Klein, a student at the school, explained, “Free speech is good for everyone, but this is a bit intimidating…They should be able to promote their views, but in a respectful way.”
Rayna Exelbierd, who received one of the notices, said, “We’re taking it very seriously. We’re considering it a hate crime. The flier promotes hate; it doesn’t promote peace. People were scared by it. People felt threatened by it.”
More than 50 students gathered at Hillel Wednesday to discuss the flyers, but have chosen not to contact “Students for Justice in Palestine” because its members have chanted anti-Israel slogans at their events in the past. Scott Brockman, Hillel’s executive director, commented: “While protecting and ensuring free speech on campus, the tactic used by Students for Justice in Palestine is unacceptable.”
Democrats accuse mother of five with cancer and MS of not working a hard day in her life…..
That’s right. High level Obama advisor Hilary Rosen, who visits the White House regularly, said that Ann Romney, who suffered from Cancer and MS and raised five children, hasn’t worked a day in her life.
This is what is called in politics a “Trial Balloon”. It is an attack made by a surrogate so they can poll on the attack later to see how it turns out. If it helps them the other Democrats pile on, if it hurts them it was just “in-artful phrasing by a lone supporter”.
Quite a different tune from when Obama told the press and some political opponents to “lay off my wife” in 2008. Of course, at the same time Obama was telling people to lay off his wife several of his campaign surrogates were attacking Cindy McCain for being a successful business woman.
Democrats also trashed Sarah Palin’s kids, portrayed Gov. Nikki Haley as a slut, attacked Allen West’s wife, and are now going after Ann Romney.
Ann Romney responds HERE.
UPDATE – Rush Limbaugh: Obama’s War on Motherhood
UPDATE II – Rush Limbaugh – “If I had a daughter she would look like Ann Romney…”
Steven Crowder vs Propagandist from Russia Today on American Self Defense Laws (video)
Lots of people watch RT online. It is very popular. But what most Americans do not understand is that the “hip and flashy” RT is actually “Russia Today” which is a mouth piece for chief oligarch Vladimir Putin.
You will see that every turn around, misdirection and myth about the laws and about the Trayvon shooting is employed by the “reporter”. When Crowder gets done deconstructing all of her BS at the end you can hear her contempt for him.
Political Arena 