The busiest year

It sems strange popping my head into View Across the Pond.  even more so to see the interest people still have when reading it. Thank you for reading what has effectively become an archive of my writings.

It was never my intention to become so lax, so absent, but this year has again been very busy.  My main work has been very busy plus in my own small business I have seen major changes to all my current clients sites, a new client addition – one which needs a complete site build from the ground up and will be the most major client on my books.

I have also done some print designs and designs for a couple of singles that are now on iTunes, Amazon etc.

That doesn’t mean I don’t follow the subjects that interest me, but despite having so much I have wanted to say, sadly have not had the time to say it.

So as we near the end of another year – I’m not ditching the blog – just yet – if time gives it I may be back.

Take care all and thank you again to those that have taken an interest even when the site has been so dormant

Is Obama polarizing or is America too polarized already?

An interesting, if strange poll has been released by Gallup over the post few days which charges that President Obama is the most polarizing President since Dwight Eisenhower.

The poll which also looks at other Presidents effect on the population during their tenure says that:

President Barack Obama’s job approval ratings were even more polarized during his second year in office than during his first, when he registered the most polarized ratings for a first-year president.

They go on to state that his “81% of Democrats and 13% of Republicans” approval, a 68 point difference makes him “easily” the most polarized second year President.

UPDATE: The Republican assault on women now focuses on the definition of rape

Scroll to the bottom of this article for a timely update on this story from Talking Points Memo

There is a particular mantra we have heard from the Right over the past couple of years – get out of my business! They, with the Tea Party have rallied against the Obama administration, citing numerable instances of what they see as government over reach – the Health Care bill springs to mind, which of course has seen hilarious instances of Tea Party protestors with signs declaring “hands off my medicare” – even though medicare is government-run anyway.

Now with the GOP in control of the House, we have seen over the past few weeks, the wheels of progression assaulted as they attempt to roll back anything and everything the Obama administration has put forward, regardless of whether they agree with it in principle.

This despite the overwhelming numbers of unemployed and the fact that they were elected by the people to do something about job creation – guess it’s not really a priority!

So what is?

Apologies for the lack of blogging

Hello Views Across the Pond readers – I am back.  Sorry for the lack of posting the past couple of weeks.  Despite a multitude of stories coming past me that I have wanted to blog on, a clients website took a dive into a doo-doo pile when the host he was with decided to shut us down and lock us out of the back of the site.

Despite backing up, we needed access to the back end of the site to retrieve two inporant files to get the back-up to work – and the host would not give.  So I had to get the site rebuilt and back up – luckily I could do it alot quicker than I had when the site was originally built.  Two weeks from start to finish – all up, live and done.

And then I needed a little break to spend some time with my husband who had been sadly neglected during the period of downtime.  So I took some well needed r and r with him.

But I’m back – you have been warned!

In defense of the Fairness Doctrine – defending a more equal media

I’ve been thinking for a while about doing a piece about the Fairness Doctrine.  As a UK citizen and with an interest in American Media and having visited American Media outlets on trips to the US, I have often been amazed at how journalism in America is not focused on the story but on the opinion of the story.

This is of course very different from the UK standard – not that we do not have opinions – look at our publications and you will see the left, right and center are all represented in our media.  However one thing separates us from being in line with American media – our journalistic ethics and standards which means that holding an opinion does not mean one can get away with slander, libel etc and media has to be beholden to accuracy and standards in factual reporting.

Reminding the Pentagon on Martin Luther King day, there is no justice in war

Today America honors one of the greatest visionaries they have ever seen.  A man who fought for revolution, for justice and freedom with no more than his words, his empathy and his soul as his weapon.  He believed not in action through violence but in action through protest, through talking, through appealing to the better nature of others.

That man is Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.

I’m not going to write lots today regarding King – history has done him more justice than I could ever do, but I did want to dedicate today to reminding people of today that despite their attempts to rewrite history, to redefine what King stood for, history, the man’s own words prove them wrong.

Palin sadly shows that in defending herself she also misses the larger point

I have been very clear over the past few days that Sarah Palin is not to blame for the events in Tuscon last weekend.  She did not arm Jared Loughner, there is no evidence she influenced him in any shape or form. In mentioning her in my blog posts on this issue I have merely pointed out that Palin’s words are part of a larger narrative – one that America is by a strong majority seeing as no longer fitting with a future post the attempted assassination of a much loved Congresswoman.

I understand fully that Palin felt the need to defend herself against people who have laid the blame squarely at the feet of the former Governor.  It’s not easy being the subject of a feeding frenzy of opinion and rhetoric – much as Gabrielle Gifford felt when her name appeared on a “crosshair” target list in the run up to the november 2011 election.  So much so that Gifford herself felt compelled to mention this in the media. Gifford spoke to MSNBC in March 2010 about the threats, vandalism and harrassment she had been on the receiving end of.