I’ve got another confession to make
I’m your fool
Everyone’s got their chains to break
Holdin’ you

Were you born to resist or be abused?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?

Listen live to the Snark Factor every Wednesday night at 1opm EST on FTR Radio where I will be joining Fingers Malloy, Irish Duke to bring news bites at the top of the hour followed by sparkling chats with invited guests. If you are a fan of my blog, you’ll know that I have an eclectic taste in news of the day.

On tap for Wednesday night:

Cancer Sucks Success!!

Change: $6 per gallon of Gasoline.  Keystone XL anyone?

Please obey the ‘No Smoking’ rule on aircraft.

Nashville official tourist portrait:

The comment pictured above ‘I am a journalist – I will take sides‘ was found on an ‘idea’ wall at the former site of Occupation Philly last November. As of this blog post, I’ve yet to determine which Philadelphia Inquirer employee left their note of solidarity with Occupation Philly.  Remember, these employees take pride in their fair and impartial reporting. Clearly, the charade has been uncovered and readers will need to seek out other independent news outlets **cough**MidnightBlue**cough**.

A recent Beltway Confidential report claims 19 journalists and media execs have signed on to TO 2012. Although no names are listed, I’m quite certain if names were listed they would match those uncovered in the Journolist scandal.  As a blogger, I’m legally required to add a disclosure statement to my product reviews to inform readers of any type of relationship I have regarding the product or sponsorship. I believe this is a good thing for my readers to know what influences (if any) are bearing on my reviews. In fact, I’ve been adding a disclosure to my reviews long before it became a legal necessity. I want to cultivate an environment of trust with my readers and I’m happy to make these disclosures.

What is troubling about the Beltway Confidential report is not that journalists are taking sides, they have been doing so for decades. The problem is the lack of transparency on the identity of these 19 individuals. They have essentially signed on to promote a product and should disclose any relationship they have with the DNC or TO2012 within the body of their work going forward. This is important, as every piece they produce in reference to the Presidential campaign is essentially advertising for TO2012.  The  public should be provided with disclosure statements from these individuals in order to make the informed decisions regarding the product – the presidential candidates. Without such transparency, it will be difficult for the average American to determine if the opinions expressed by these media employees  are independent thoughts or paid advertising.

Is their journalistic credibility not worth a moment of honesty in their work?

Curious about what all the fuss over a conference? You can follow along on my BlissDom 2012 experience in the following social media platforms:

Flickr - All photos from BlissDom will be collected into this set.

Storify - A platform to curate thoughts, images, perhaps video snippets from BlissDom into a free flowing story.

Posterous - A place to share Instagram photos from BlissDom.

Instagram - One of the best iPhone photo apps around and so very integrated into other photo sharing applications.

Storie - I like this app as it curates photos and a quick note into a cohesive story.

I am very interested to see how well these platforms perform in capturing moments at Blissdom and yet not being overly burdensome.

For my photo peeps, I’ve decided to take the Canon 40D with the following lenses: 50mm f1/4, Tokina 12-24mm, Canon IS 28-135 zoom lens. In addition, I’m bringing the Panasonic LX3 Lumix. Flash? Of course, with snoot.

Questions, comments, suggestions for good places to eat in Nashville – leave me a comment

Spent time on Sunday walking through Chinatown in Philly with members of Flickr, an amazing photo sharing website. Sadly, I did not have time to stay till the end of the photowalk as I had errands to complete and packing for Blissdom to finish that day. However, I did get to meet a Flickr representative, Markus Spiering, and meet the people behind the photostreams that I follow on Flickr.

I created a small slideshow with photos taken with my iPhone via Instagram:

I also brought along the Panasonic LX3 Lumix. Those photos will be processed and posted next week. I’m off to Nashville to attend the Blissdom 2012 conference tomorrow and will return next week with lots of photos, video and stories.

Via ActofValor.com

An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a film like no other in Hollywood’s history. A fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations, Act of Valor features a gripping story that takes audiences on an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-their-seat journey

Opening February 24th – Don’t miss out!

Clearly it is best when the good guys shoot first and have superior fire power.
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This is a dangerously slippery slope for all bloggers and citizen journalists sharing news of events around them on their blogs.

Yes, this is as bad, if not worse than SOPA. An op-ed by Jason Stverak in the Washington Examiner gives a chilling look at the First Amendment implications:

Hernandez ruled that blogger Crystal Cox was not entitled to the same protection under media shield laws that other members of the press enjoy. This ruling made it easy for a jury to find her guilty of libel. That result threatens the First Amendment rights of all citizen-journalists.

With the Internet increasingly serving as the dominant source of information, a national debate has been taking place asking the question, who is a journalist? Legal scholars, journalism academics and First Amendment advocates all have their opinions and as expected, there is little agreement.

But why is this issue so complicated? Bloggers, like all citizens of the United States, have First Amendment rights. Has the definition of a journalist changed? Or has perception and therefore legal definition simply not adjusted to modern technology?

According to Professor Kyu Ho Youm of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, Judge Hernandez “ruled correctly” in the Cox case. But he also acknowledges that the ruling was based on his “textual interpretation” and that “pre-Internet law needs updating.”

Others blogging on this subject:

Marathon Pundit

The Mental Recession

See you at Blissdom

We hit our goal of $5,000

We’re coming down to the wire and the FTR Radio crew is closing in on their team fundraising goal of $5,000 in donations to the American Cancer Society.

Cancer has hit the FTR Radio family very hard recently. Two hosts at our station lost parents to cancer in October of 2011.

Fingers Malloy, host of The Snark Factor said of his mom, Joeann:

Joeann lost her 14 month battle with Lymphoma in October of 2011. My mother was the most generous person I have ever known. She would give the shirt off her back to help a friend or family member. She loved her family very much. She was a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. We all miss her terribly.

John Brodigan, host of The Right Hook said of his father Ed:

Ed Brodigan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Memorial Day Weekend 2010, and passed away in October 2011 a few weeks shy of his 73rd birthday. He was my Little League coach. He was my scout leader. He instilled in me my love of both my country and my heritage,and blessed me with what I consider my most prized possession…my sense of humor. His wife, children and grandchildren love and miss him very much.

We want to raise money for the American Cancer Society in memory of Ed and Joeann. Please donate today

Please help them achieve this fundraising goal. Please donate today.

Listen live to the Snark Factor every Wednesday night at 1opm EST on FTR Radio where I will be joining Fingers Malloy, Irish Duke to bring news bites at the top of the hour followed by sparkling chats with invited guests. If you are a fan of my blog, you’ll know that I have an eclectic taste in news of the day.

On tap for Wednesday night:

CPAC 2012 Roundup - Melissa weighs in on the Jersey Shore-ification of CPAC

Nation’s most popular 10 mile run sells out in record breaking 5 hours.

Paul McCartney to give up the ganja for his 8 year old daughter.