Alec Baldwin

I thought a good blog topic might be the Alec Baldwin voice message in which he is screaming at his daughter and refers to her as a pig. It is interesting how powerful the media is and how easily you can just log on to the internet and listen to a father's private message with his daughter. It is also interesting to listen to the entire world be so judgemental of him, when in my opinion every person has had arguments with their children or parents that can reach that level of anger. It is definitely an ethical thing to because whoever decided to leak that tape out really did not care for the best interest of the family or child.
http://youtube.com/ type in Alec Baldwin

Reflection of the global village class

I enjoyed this class very much. This was my first and probably will be my last online course. I found it to be very time consuming. I think it was time consuming in a good way. I liked the topics that were discussed in past weeks. I have learned a lot from taking this class. The biggest thing that I did get out of this class was being able to access information from all different companies from around the world.

The Irish Voice

I've just come across The Irish Voice, and was flooded with memories of my grandmother reading her paper every weekend. She would take the train into Boston every Saturday morning to do errands, catch up on gossip with friends over tea, and buy an Irish newspaper.

When I was young, I thought everyone was from Ireland. My grandmother's house was always filled with people who spoke of their childhood in Ireland, the politics of their homeland, and the history and myths they all shared (and all of those folk songs).

The Irish Voice reminds me of those days. Whether it was my family members sitting at the table, drinking tea and discussing the raging issues that were seperating thier country, or the endless tales and laughs that kept me, as a young child, sitting at my grandmother's feet for endless hours into late night.

The Irish Voice contains traditional news, as well as history, mythology, writers and legends. It is typically Irish, the way that I experienced being Irish as a child. The news is not just what is happening today and now, but what happened yesterday, and hundreds of yesterdays ago.
http://www.irishvoice.com/

Gay and Lesbian Newspapers

When I checked out the opening page to the Baywindow Times i noticed that all the pictures where of gay men and lesbian women. I also noticed that all of the main headlines were just directed towards the gay and lesbian community. I don't mind any of this happening, but what I do mind is that if another paper, THE BOSTON GLOBE for example, did not highlight the gay and lesbian community top stories they would be enraged and wright letters to the editors of that paper. They gay and lesbian community are really trying to make it ok to be a lesbian or a gay man.
The bottom is a link to the news paper that checked out

LINK:http://www.baywindows.com/ME2/Audiences/Default.asp?AudID=0813BC739F2044E5A03DCF2DE3FDF7C9

Iraq Cabinet

I found an article at Boston.com written by Sudarsan Raghavan for the Washingston Post. The article was discussing how 6 Iraq ministers pulled out of the cabinet due to the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki's refusal to make a decision about the US and the time in which it should pull out of Iraq. I think the author does do an good job at presenting all of the facts and explaining the situation, however, there really is not an explanation of how the Iraqi people feel about it. It does explain that the government will still be strong and that Maliki will still be seen as a strong leader.
www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles

Followers of Radical Cleric Quit Iraq's Cabinet

This article is from the Associated Press, printed in Monday's Boston Herald. Iraqi cabinet ministers loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, quit their government positions, an action that separates the state's Prime Minister Nouri al -Maliki (backed by the U.S) and the influencial Shiite religious leader. The article sited the growing demands by Iraqi voters and politicians that a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal be set -- it is likely a cause of increasing unrest. The article focuses on the possible confrontation of U.S. troops by Sadr's militia and the considerable death toll, at least 51 over the last couple of days, which included U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and many civilians victims of sectarian violence. I think the article does seem to capture the local point of view to some degree, but it also emphasizes a very pressing issue in the U.S.--a timetable for troop withdrawal. It is likely that a local point of view would do more to highlight the increase in sectarian violence and the fall out of the decision against civilians as opposed to possible militia confrontation with the U.S. military, but the article seems to shed light on the local situation.

Russian Riot Police beat demonstrators

I discovered this article on Boston.com, it was written by Peter Finn of the Washington Post. His article: Russian Riot Police Beat Demonstrators, Dozens Arrested During Clashes was an report on a march in Russia. His article references the marches here in the US, and the Russian government's effort to quiet anti-government sentiments.

The article gives a lot of detail on the anti-government groups and beliefs that led up to the incident over the weekend. Also, the article states that Putin enjoys overwhelming support in Russian. It seemed to be objective, but I am not sure it tells the entire story. I think he could have oversimplified the motivations behind the march.

Al Qaeda suicide bombers strike Algeria

By Arezki ait-Larbi and Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times | April 12, 20

I think the writer of the story captured the local point of view very well. He describes how the two suicide bombers actually went through with this devious plan. Why teerrorism is destroying peoples lives in all countries around the world . Finally he gives his point of view on how he feels about the matters discussed in the article. Below is a link to the article i discovered...

LINK:http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2007/04/12/al_qaeda_suicide_bombers_strike_algeria/

Diversity Training in a Nursing Home

I work in a nursing home in the greater Boston area. Last week all staff members received a memo detailing a mandatory meeting scheduled to take place next month. Coincidentally, the meeting is structured around understanding residents from a cultural perspective. Surprised at the relation to the week's readings, I approached the on-staff social worker who will be conducting the inservice to get a little more information. She said that the purpose of the meeting is to help the staff be aware of cultural differences between coworkers and between staff and residents, that may inhibit care. She plans to give some information on different cultural groups and give some solutions as to how to communicate better. Interestingly, this is the first time our home has ever had an inservice dedicated to cultural sensitivity and I couldn't agree more with having it.

Women In Public Relations

After the readings this week, including the Thomas article and the Focus on Diversity report, I was surprised to find that women are not equally represented in positions of high level management, particularly in Public Relations. My observations from my PR classes have been that women outnumber men, and the PRSSA (student organization for PR at SSC) is comprised of, almost exclusively, women. Also, guest speakers to my PR course last semester, and guest speakers at PRSA, have been mostly women. My impression as a student has led me to believe that women outrank men in this field. Does this surprise anyone else?

diversity is growing

I found a website on diversity. It takes you to a link that has diversity games but they cost money. It also had how diversity is respected in the workplace. Below is a link to the website that I found. On the left side of the web page it will give you a link to almost everything that you would want to know about diversity. This website is very helpful if you dont know that much about how diversity is examined.

LINK: http://www.diversityforum.com/

Finland: Champion of Democracy, Leader in Art

I looked at the official government website of Finland and how it brands itself. Finland prides itself on its devotion to democracy and human rights advocacy. Finland also believes in equality among all. The Finnish government claims to be active in most of the world's principle non-mililtary organizations. It strives for multilateral relationships on the international level and is involved in social issues that occur around the globe. Also, Finland has long been in practice of total religious freedom. The Finnish people believe in education and research, as Finland is "a beacon of high technology." Though the country is growing more urban, much of the population supports environment conservation and other such "green values." Finland is also held in high esteem for its music and architecture.
Visit the website at http://virtual.finland.fi/

New Mexico and how they are branding

Link: http://www.newmexico.gov/

On the website for NewMexico it has a picture of their Governor, Bill Richardson, with a quote that staes what he is all about. The quotes states,"Commitment, hard work, efficiency, accountability: these are the elements in my approach to governing, and my strategy for success." Also included on this website is links to certain aspects of life in NewMexico. They have links to the governor's website, employment, education, and also online services. This website is very user friendly. I like the way it is setup with the bright colors and the governor right on the opening link.

The branding used is right in the quote by their own governor. He is an honest man, and with hard work by all parties NewMexico is a great place to live.

Canada - The True North - Strong and Free

link: http://www.canada.gc.ca/main_e.html

The branding of Canada, as well as the mission of the current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, is an excellent example of nation branding.

Here are some of the elements I found on the webpage:

There are six tenets of responsiblity: Environment, Accountability, Lower Taxes, Crime, Child Care, and Health Care. Each tenet has a dedicated webpage to explain the Prime Minister's commitment.

Also, the web page includes a mission statement from PM Harper which leads with the statement, "Getting things done for all of us."

Building a stronger Canada is the message here, and the mission states that Canada is a prosperous country with a clean healthy enviroment, is united at home and respected abroad, a country where what you've done and where you are going matters more than where you're from and who you are, offers everyone a fair shot, and gives those in need a hand up, is a country with safe streets and secure borders, and leads, not follows in the world stage.

Canada is promoting a strong self of self and accountability. Look at the website, it is a great example of defining an image for a country.