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McCain is older than Velcro, Obama is a Terrorist & Clinton is a Bitch

Political marketers sell ideas and personalities. People who run for public office are watched through a microscope. Everything they say is analyzed and compared to previous statements. Politicians have little room for verbal error as we have seen. The use of surrogates is common practice when a candidate can’t personally vocalize a strong statement. But what about the non-affiliated surrogates. People who are not tied directly to a campaign can do whatever they please since they have nothing to lose. One blog directly attacks John McCain’s age (www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com). This blog has a variety of social links, making it easy to share and spread the “love.” It has been tagged on del.isio.us 392 times. There’s also a viral video that has been seen over 45,000 times.

McCain is not the only candidate under attack from user generated political mud slinging. Some people are even profiting from dirty politics. You can buy all the anti-Obama stuff you want at www.notstuff.com/obama.html. Be warned that the products offered are offensive and in bad taste. If you hate Hillary Clinton you can buy a hoody to prove it at www.cafepress.com/dontvotehillary, but if you don’t know where to start simply visit www.donotvotehillary.com. Hating season has begun. I don’t support any of these sites or their opinions. They do however, highlight the negative side of politics and non-accountability. Several negative sites have been shut down for one reason or another, but others are created daily. Early in the campaign the Clinton camp purchased the domains votingpresent.com and votingpresent.org to criticize Obama, but fortunately the sites never materialize. I’m a firm believer in freedom of speech, but when it gets dirty hateful, it can feel like digital pollution. I don’t know if it’s more irresponsible or dangerous. The solution is not to prevent the negativity, that’s always going to exist. The real challenge is educating people people to sort through the trash.

Julie Roehm vs. Wal-Mart, Round 2!

Julie Roehm is back in the news and she’s getting some payback. Wal-Mart fired her for allegedly accepting gifts from Draft FCB and having an affair with a subordinate. I’ve been covering Julie’s story since The Martin Agency lost the Wal-Mart account to Draft FCB. As you may recall, the account went back up for review and Martin did win it the second time around. The Wal-Mart advertising account has little to do with the latest bit of drama. Roehm filed some legal documents recently, where she names names. If Roehm violated Wal-Mart policy, then so did some other high ranking execs. She claims John Fleming, EVP of Marketing, accepted free tickets and backstage passes for an Eagles concert in Spain. But that’s chump change. Her big claim goes straight to the top.

Julie Roehm claimed that that CEO Lee Scott violated Wal-Mart’s ethics policy by accepting trips and receiving preferential prices on yachts and jewelry from Irwin Jacobs. Jacobs owns several businesses and is a Wal-Mart supplier.

“One of Jacobs' companies, Plymouth, Minnesota-based Jacobs Trading Co., buys and sells returned and leftover merchandise from stores including Wal-Mart, and employs Scott's son as a consultant.”

Lee Scott allegedly bought a large pink diamond for his wife and flew on Jacobs’ private jets as well. The State of Rhode Island is asking the SEC to investigate whether Wal-Mart fully disclosed possible conflicts of interest with one of Jacobs’ companies.

This could get ugly. Wal-Mart pissed off the wrong woman. Julie is known for making big moves and this is no exception. Scott is also pissed. He says he'll sue Roehm and her lawyer personally.

This is bad news for The Martin Agency, but I’m sure they won’t make a federal case out of it. It’s going to take more than great advertising to get out of this one. This story has all the classic elements found in Ancient Greek writing. It feels like one woman is going up against a giant, against all odds. It’s easy to take sides and cheer for Roehm because most people aren’t  multi-billion dollar corporations. Lee Scott seems like a small character in the bigger picture of Julie vs. War-Mart.

Nickelodeon Stole My Art

Charles Hall was doing some work for Nike about a year ago and he contracted Chuck Anderson, an award winning artist, to create a design for an online sports radio show. The site, radiojogabonito.com is still up and running, but the image taken from Chuck's website.

About a month ago, Charles received an e-mail stating that someone had used the image on the Nickelodeon Kids Choice web site. Here’s a screenshot of the site using Chuck's work.

Charles and Chuck were both very upset about the situation. Charles e-mailed Russell Hicks, Evp Creative Director at Nickelodeon to cease and desist. Russell responded quickly to Charles’ e-mail and removed the piece claiming it was “inadvertently” used on the site. There was no further explanation offered or contact attempt made. How do you “inadvertently” jack someone’s work at that level? I can understand if it was a piece of student work, but this was a huge corporation. What about the person responsible for putting the work up?

If you would like to know why Nickelodeon jacked the work of Chuck Anderson please e-mail Russell Hicks at russell.hicks@nick.com and ask him yourself. Maybe he’ll explain it to you better.

Slavery Reconciliation Statue

On March 31st 2007, the State of Virginia officially apologized for slavery. The Slavery Reconciliation Statue stands as a physical reminder of the past, in hopes of a better future. I was there to capture the moment. It’s a block and a half from where I live. I walked by the statue everyday on my way to school before it was unveiled to the public. A blue tarp covered the statue up until that Friday when it was made public.

At least 5,000 people were in attendance. The event was quite for the most part. There was one sign that stood out in the crowd as you can see.

In the background there’s a gentlemen's club with a huge mural of Princess Diana, with skulls on the crown, but that’s there everyday.

Here are a few more photos of the event.  I personally feel that the event should have received more publicity, but it’s great to know that there's an official monument in addition to the words issued by the state.

Kim Family Found: Kim Still Missing

James Kim, one of the most successful Asian entrepreneurs and head of the popular tech site, CNET, went missing on November 27th. James, his wife Kati, and their two children went missing while vacationing in the Pacific Northwest. Soon after the disappearance, a website, commandant.com, was launched to provide information and to received tips on their whereabouts. According to a report on by Oregon State Police, Kati and her two children have been found and are in good condition.

”Kim Family Request not to be Contacted by Media at this time - 12/04/06
The Kim Family has respectfully made a request not to be contacted by any media representatives at this time. The family wishes to keep their focus on the safe return of James Kim.

Statement from Three Rivers Community Hospital Regarding Kati Kim Family - 12/04/06
As of 7:15 p.m., on December 4, 2006, Three Rivers Community Hospital can confirm that Kati Kim and her children, Penelope and Sabine, are in good condition. Sabine Kim is being kept overnight for observation. Ms. Kim and her older daughter will be staying at the hospital with Sabine. At this point, the Kim family wishes not to be interviewed - they have no further information to share this evening. Ms. Kim's emphasis is on the search and rescue team and their attempt to find her husband.”

James Kim is still missing. It was reported that, while stranded, left on foot two days ago to look for help, while his family waited in safety. Authorities are still looking for him. This story has been one covered by many blogs recently. Traditional news coverage on this story is lagging. The Internet has been one of the key instruments in the developments of this story. It is here where I hope we hear the news that James Kim is found alive, soon. ******Jame Kim's body was found miles from the site, and airlifted out. The family is mourning the loss. He died while looking for help*******