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We open Governments!

This is the cry of WikiLeaks an Internet website and an international non-profit media organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous sources and leaks (Wikipedia.org). The organizations primary goal of the website and I am sourcing from Wikipedia, “is constructed based on the primary interest in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to the people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations.” The founder of Wikileaks, this information is also from Wikipedia, has not been formally identified, but Julian Assange has been described as the founder of WikiLeaks. According to Wired magazine, a volunteer said that Assange was, “the heart and soul of this organization, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organizer, financier, and all the rest.” The website is at www.wikileaks.org and its slogan is we open governments. The website, which is a document archive website, has been active since December 2006 and it is owned by the Sunshine Press (Wikipedia.org).
Now, WikiLeaks has been under scrutiny before, but on November 27th, 2010 the website announced they were going to release secret documents seven times the size of the documents from the Iraq War Logs. The United States government urged WikiLeaks not to publish the new files because the Obama Administration thought the releasing of the documents would risk countless lives. The Obama administration said that releasing the documents would be a breach of U.S. law, and would result in grave consequences. Assange replied by stating that the U.S. did not want to be held accountable and did not want the rest of the world to see what U.S. officials were saying about them. Analysts have said that the letter reflects the U.S. administration’s concern over possible publication of files, which may contain American diplomats’ opinions of other politcians, some of which may be candid and embarrassing (WikiNews).
On November 28th, 2010, WikiLeaks announced it was undergoing a huge attack on distributed denial-of-service, but they vowed to keep their word and still distribute cables and documents through many media outlets around the world including El Pais, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The Guardian and The New York Times (Wikipedia.org). In one of the diplomatic cables U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton orders diplomats to obtain credit card and frequent flier numbers of the French, British, Russian and Chinese delegations to the United Nations Security Council (The Guardian). This incident has lead to U.S. Congressman and Republican of New York, Peter T. King, to describe WikiLeaks as a terrorist organization in response to the leak of the cables (MSNBC.com).
Now that all of the facts our out in the open and WikiLeaks did indeed release 2.7 million documents revealing U.S. diplomats opinions on other politicians around the world the question that is being raised is was what WikiLeaks distributed illegal or not and was their decision an ethical one or not? I believe that what WikiLeaks did is undoubtedly a tough decision to decide whether it was ethical or not ethical. To me putting people’s lives at risks is something that is not ethical, but then I think to myself and ask myself finding the truth about what our politicians our doing and discussing about is something that I want and should know because our government allows us to decide who we want in office and vote for them. Due to this being the way America conducts itself I believe I have the right to know what U.S. politicians are saying and doing because I and along with the rest of America helped vote them into their position and into office. This then brings up the situation where I think WikiLeaks is not a terrorist organization and therefore I think what they are doing and what they have been doing is ethical behavior. To undermine a government is one thing, but what they are doing is delivering information to the people who otherwise would not be able to gain access to this information and putting the information in the open to see what is really happening. I think other countries around the world are doing the exact same thing and it does not surprise me that in America people are making such uproar about the situation. I do not agree with publishing information that gets numerous lives killed, but I do not think what WikiLeaks does as a non-profit organization is unethical behavior. I like the fact that I can find out things I did not know because the government did not want me or anyone else to find out. It is kind of like that old adage, you always want what you can’t have and in this case I agree.
I think reporters from all different genres of journalism are going to use WikiLeaks in their stories and in their information because it is apart of today’s news world and society. By that I mean WikiLeaks is a part of the online news sources that allow people to find out information about secret documents relating to the governments around the world. It is hard to say whether a journalist should or should not use information when the golden rule of a journalist is to tell a complete, honest and true story without any bias. If that means a journalist has to use secret documents or use WikiLeaks than I think they should be able to because a story needs to be heard from both sides and needs to have all of the information present.
For instance let’s take a look at the person who is being accused of helping leak the information. This will be a good indication of what kind of information is being used in the news and how WikiLeaks is helping the news deliver the information. The lower ranking officer is being held in custody and being charged with breaching U.S. law by aiding in the release of secret U.S. documents. First of all I think that it is really difficult and hard to put all of the blame on one person. How did he even get the information? Why would he release it to WikiLeaks? This information I do not know as of now, but I do believe that he is being used as a scapegoat in this situation and there is definitely more to the story from this perspective. The question that is being raised to a lot of people around the United States is whether this act was illegal and is in violation of privacy rights in America pertaining to secret U.S. documents. This is a tough call. Every couple of years I feel like some sort of leak about the government or about a country’s government gets leaked out to the public world. For me to be able to say illegal or legal I need more time and more information to find a solution, a lot like a court case. I do know that the things that I have in my closet I would like to be kept confidential for me and for whoever I may want to tell, but the difference with me and the U.S. government or other governments around the world is I am just one person while the U.S. is considered to be the world power and the country that is supposed to police the rest of the free world. These situations are always interesting and intriguing and I can’t wait to find out what will be happening next.

To start we are going to talk about the “LU Anthem,” and Humble Tip. So what Humble Tip is trying to do with his song is put Liberty University on the map, by rapping, but what he is talking about is how they are structured, they do things with intelligence and class, and in the end this type of lifestyle will help you succeed. In the first verse this is the message that Humble Tip is trying to portray to other students and the alumni of Liberty University. He says, “Now we’re the biggest Christian University on the planet/We don’t take it for granted, humble is our rhetoric/Academics are a must, so we are accredited/We got some rules and regulations, it aint nothing too tough/Understand, discipline builds integrity in us/Yeah we have a curfew, no it will not hurt you/You call it rules, we call it structure, holiness we pursue/.” To me I think it is a cool spin on a subject that normally gets bad credibility. What Humble Tip is trying to say through his rap is something that most people don’t hear when it comes to rap: No cussing, motivation and through hard work you will succeed. This is something that is not only different to the rap scene, but also very different to the world that is an evangelical school.

Since we are talking about the world’s largest evangelical school, some people might think that having LU’s anthem as a rap song can be detrimental to people associated to the school and the University itself. In the diversity package presented in the wdbj7 the reporter did not talk about how the actions by Jason Lewis could be a bad thing for students and the University. Throughout the video there are a lot of students talking about how they like to listen to the song and how Humble Tip is becoming more popular on campus and around the community, but she fails to present the other side of the argument. The reporter also used a lot of stereotypes with Christian religion in her package and she seemed to be very opinionated and many times as I was watching the package I would ask myself, says who? I also thought the reporter could have presented the other side of the argument in a more compelling way. She started the package off well with good shots and an interesting story, but she never interviewed anyone who didn’t like Humble Tip or interview anyone who didn’t like the song as an anthem for the University or the fact that the largest evangelical school in the world has a rapper as the face of the University. This type of face as the University can cause controversy, especially on a small campus, because many people are going to want to have structure and tradition when it comes to student behavior and student conduct. It is ironic that Humble Tip talks about these things in his rap song, but I think these are the same things that can cause controversy within the alumni, the faculty and the staff. I think the anthem for the University can be a two edge sword. For one thing I think the song is working for the student body. It is something that gets students excited, it talks about positive things and it puts Liberty University on the map to other people around the country who have not heard of LU before. On the other hand I think the anthem for LU can be a negative thing. I have a feeling that within the community in Lynchburg, Virginia and the alumni of the school that the song and having a rapper on campus is something that will agitate them. I would look for them to change their anthem to something they consider to be more appropriate in the near future.

If I was in Virginia I would tell the story in a similar way. I like how the story started and the way it was produced and shot, but there are a couple of things that I would like to add to the story. I would present the other side of the story and talk to people who didn’t like the song or does not like the rapper Humble Tip. I think this would give more credibility to the story and to me as a reporter. Also I would like to talk to a lot more people to make the story more official. I think an interview with an alum would be a huge part to the story, also an interview with somebody in the local community of Lynchburg. I think one of the most important people to talk with is someone the President of the University. If I could not set this interview, then I would look to talk to someone in the President’s office or a school official. Also I would like to talk with the student body President and other students of Liberty University. If I could speak with these people and get them to tell me their side of the story I think this would make the package have much more credibility and make the package stronger as a whole.

Here is a link to the video: “LU Anthem” by Humble Tip

In the video Humble Tip talks about how Liberty University is the largest evangelical school on the planet, about how LU has rules, structure and morals that will help you succeed in life. I also like how the video and in his rap, Humble Tip, likes to talk about people with strong characters and how LU is one of the best campus’ in the world to become a great student and a great person.

Fox played a major role in helping the incident become national news because of the raw video they had of Mr. Profitt putting his feet all over Lauren Valle’s head and shoulders. Once a couple of people see something like this the video and the report tends to spread like wildfire and the story will then be see by thousands and millions of people. Plus I think Fox 41 wanted to make this national news because it is another example of a man beating on a woman for an inappropriate reason, and than afterward saying the woman should apologize and it is the woman’s fault. The more people that see stories like these the more likely women being assaulted will stop. Now the incident has garnerd national attention and has now been described as, “An “ugly” race in Kentucky for Jim Bunning’s soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat.”

Rand Paul

The video of the incident helped law enforcement because they were able to identify who the suspect was and issue the man his summons. The Associated Press also reported that the man, Tim Profitt, who was volunterring as a Bourbon County campaign coordinator for Rand Paul has been dismissed from any association of Rand Paul. He will be charged with 4th degree assault, but will not be arrested because no officers were present when the event occurred. Mr. Profitt said that he decided to subdue the Lauren Valle because he was threatened and scared that Lauren Valle was going to hurt Rand Paul. Mr. Profitt also stated that he looked bad because of the way the video was shot and in actuallity the video was not that harmful. He also said that there should have been better security at the event. This is something that I completely disagree with because he had no right to put his feet on Lauren Valle so his statement of him saying it “doesn’t look that bad,” is wrong because there was no need for him to act the way he did. I also thought it was odd that Mr. Profitt thought Lauren Valle should be the one apologizing because of her actions when I see it to be the other way around. I liked how near the end of the story the author put in a letter from Paul reminding the viewers that “Once again urges all activists — on both sides — to remember that their political passions should never manifest themselves in physical altercations of any kind.” I think the video of this event can and will definitely have an impact on next week’s election. I think this is because people saw an up close and personal look at what kind of supporters Rand Paul has supporting him. When people see supporters of Paul doing malicious things like this to innocent people they start to think about if they want to vote for Paul and why Paul might not be the best candidate. I think the media did a good job covering the event, but I would like to see absolutely no bias to either side of the political party. I think it is a reporter’s responsiblity to be just and unbias, especially when writing about politics, and in this case the media needs to do a good job of covering the story correctly.

Rand Paul did come out with a statement saying, “”I don’t want anybody though to be involved in things that aren’t civil. I think this should always be about the issues… It wasn’t something that I liked or anybody liked.” Lauren Valle was not cited following the scuffle, but New Orleans television stations reported that Valle was among several Greenpeace activists who were arrested in May following a stunt during the BP oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. This news makes it seem like Lauren Valle is a comitted person to her political beliefs, but she needs to be aware of her actions so she can put herself in safe situations and not dangerous ones. Also this is the second time she has now been in the news for something so she better be careful the next time she plans on being at a rally or an event because people will now know exactly who Lauren Valle really is.

Manchester United is coming to the U.S. in the summer of 2010

“Monday’s Sports Business Journal reports that Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the marketing and commercial arm of Major League Soccer, is working with CAA Sports on a Manchester United tour of North America during the summer. The tour would involve a stop in Houston for a match against the MLS All-Stars,” as reported by mlsnet.com and the Sports Business Journal.

In recent years many major european football teams have decided to join together in a summer blockbuster that showcases the talents of world footballers in the U.S.

No deal has been finalized just yet, but Manchester United’s four city tour will include Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia and Houston, where the MLS All-Star game will be played in Reliant Stadium.

When the deal becomes finalized or if anything else changes dealing with this event I will be sure to let everyone know and update the status of the event.

Let’s hope the deal gets done and Manchester United and the MLS All-Star’s sell out Reliant Stadium….ultimately leading to the sport of soccer growing in America.

Until next time….I Will see you at the back of the net!

That is the greatness about going to an event and not expecting a whole hell of a lot. You get something better than what you thought you were going to get and that is exactly how things went for me tonight!

During this entire week West Virginia University is having Journalism week and on Tuesday night the school decided to bring in the author and creator of Politico, John Harris.

Creator of Politico, John Harris, was at WVU on Tuesday March 23, 2010

Harris was a relatively soft spoken guy, but he was very intelligent and enjoyed being in the profession of political journalism.

He started out as an intern for the Washington Post the day after he graduated from college. He said he did a good job and surprisingly to him and to many others he was offered a full time job at the Washington Post at the age of 21.

He did whatever he needed to do in order to progress in the world of journalism. Eventually he decided that he was going to try something different and he knew that it had to be something that would put his new idea on the map and do it in a dominating fashion. He decided to come up with the idea of Politico, a website that was dedicated to national politics and the inner workings of campaigning and the white house.

He knew in order for his website to be successful he had to do a couple of things. In the beginning he knew that journalism was always an ever changing scenario and he thought to himself the only way the website can be in front of the others and outlasts the others was to bring “franchise players,” to his team and have a niche in his field.

Harris explained many times that in the past journalists were more like hot commodites, but in today’s world his website and journalism need franchise players and these players had to be experts in the world of politics. He wanted his players to promote the shit out of themselves and the website, but he also wanted his players to be able to complete tasks in many different areas of the journalism world (Ex. Blogging, print writing, covering local and national stories…etc)

In the end his website gained the players it needed and started to make a profit after their third year in business. Currently it is one of the most updated and viewed political websites in America.

O, I forgot, He also said he would rather be on the Colbert Report, as long as he doesn’t try to get cheeky with Stephen Colbert. He also said many other people he works with have been showing up on shows like the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

The quaterfinal and semi-final draw of the Champions Leauge

The world’s most prestigious club competition in the world of football sealed the fate of the remaining 8 teams to play in this year’s tournament.

The first match up squares two french teams against each other as Olympique Lyon will take on Bordeaux both of Ligue 1. This will ensure a french club into the Final Four of the tournament. Lyon, so far, has pulled the most shocking upset of the tournament knocking out Real Madrid and Christiano Ronaldo, but Bordeaux and their young striker Marouane Chamakh will be ready for the french team as they both know each other well from the French Ligue 1.

Next is a rematch of the famous 1999 Final as Manchester United will take on Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga. In 1999 United famoulsy won the Treble against Bayern, but this tie seems to be a lot trickier for the Red Devils with the likes of in-form winger Arjen Robben and Franc Ribery to contend with while the German Giants have the unthinkable task of stopping the hottest striker in the world as of this moment, none other than Wayne Rooney.

Arsenal face Barcelona in a rematch of the 2006 Final

The next match up has the defending European Champions Barcelona and reigning world player of the year Lionel Messi against 22-year-old Cesc Fabregas and the Gunners from North London. The last time these two teams played against each other was in the 2006 Final where Arsene Wenger and the Gunners were 13 minutes from Champions League glory before Samuel Eto’o and Chelsea player Juliano Belleti struck gold for the Catalians as they went on to beat Arsenal 2-1.

The final match-up sees current Serie A leaders Inter Milan take on an upstart CSKA Moscow team from Russia. In the round of 16 Inter defeated Chelsea by an aggregate score of 3-1 while Moscow dispatched of spainish side Sevilla 3-2 on aggregate.Wesley Sneidjer and Samuel Eto’o for Inter will be a stern test for the Moscow defense, but Milan will have to deal with Russian sensation Milos Krasic of CSKA. ( Just ask Man. United about Krasic’s play-making ability)

Now that the draw is set it should be an exciting end to the Champions League as the Bayern Munich and Mancherster United and Barcelona and Arsenal match ups are sure to create some great football matches and moments in Champions League history.

The Final of the Champion League will take place on Saturday May 22nd at the famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain.

David Beckham's 2010 World Cup Dreams Are Over

In the final stages of AC Milan’s game against Cheivo Verona on Sunday Beckham inured his left achillies’ tendon. He moved back one step with his left foot, hesitated, moved forward and instantly started to hop on his right foot motioning to the bench that something was wrong with his left foot.

If Beckham was able to play in this summer’s World Cup he would have made history by being the only English player to ever play in four World Cups, but his dream was torn to pieces.

It is ironic that Beckham got injured while playing for AC Milan.

David Beckham in action for England during a Word Cup Qualifer

In an attempt to regain a starting role on the England National team David Beckham decided to leave his MLS Club the Los Angeles Galaxy and join Italian giants AC Milan to improve his chances of being selected by England coach Fabio Capello. Both coach and player felt Beckham needed to be playing in an elite European league if he was to be apart of the 23 man roster that would travel to South Africa.

The David Beckham loss is a huge blow for club, country, sponsors and the World Cup. Beckham is one of the most famous people on the planet and this loss will have an effect on viewer ratings and average fans who are watching the World Cup for the first time.

“David Beckham is a household name,” said Rich Mkhondo, a spokesman for the World Cup organizing committee. “If he had been at the World Cup in South Africa it would have enhanced spectator presence. We wish him luck and hope that he has a speedy recovery. We would love it if he recovers in time and is picked to play at the World Cup.” This quote was taken from Foxsoccer.com

David Beckham is expected to be out for six months and make a full recovery.

I also would like to talk about one more thing. I could not help but think of Achilles from the famous story between the Greeks and the Trojans. David Beckham in the world of soccer is like Achilles in the world of military gods back in his hey day. They both are charismatic and leaders of their country. (Beckham was captain of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups) I must say it is ironic that a man of Beckham’s status injures his achilles’ tendon ending his world cup dreams.

Something to ponder!

Until next time….I will see you at the back of the net!

The United States takes on the Netherlands on Wednesday Night

The U.S. is set to take on the Netherlands at Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday night.

I am eager to see some of the players that our on the cusp of the American World Cup team face up against world class talent and get put in pressured situations that will affect their game play. This is the best possible test for players trying to earn their stars and stripes. These players must face the reality that in the World Cup they will be put in dangerous situations against top players and their experience from a game like this will help them when that time comes this summer.

The likes of Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel, Mark Van Bommel, Nigel De Jong, Wesley Sneidjer, and the list goes on for the Dutch. These players will harrass and terroize the U.S. defense and I want to see how the players will deal with the pressure. A red card or a goal in the first five minutes will kill the game for the Dutch and dampen the spirits and confidence of the Americans.

I am really excited about this opportunity for the United States. Landon Donovan, the best player on the team in my opinion, thinks this is good test to see where the Americans stand,”It’s a good way to gauge where we’re at, a good way for Bob to gauge where the team is at and also in the bigger scheme to make some assessments on how guys are going to be and help make choices for the World Cup.” As posted on foxsoccer.com

Landon Donovan must have a good game if the U.S. wants a result

Players like Stuart Holden, Jermain Jones, Jose Torres and players that have fallen out of favor with head coach Bob Bradley like Maruce Edue and Demarcus Beasley will get their chance to impress the Coach.  These players will get their opportunity against the Netherlands because many of the regular starteers for the Americans are injured.

Three of, what I consider to be, our most important players for the National team are injured: Forward Charlie Davies, Defender Oguchi Onyewu and Mid-fielder Clint Dempsey.

If the Americans can play the way they played in the Confederations Cup then I think the U.S.  have a realistic chance to get a result in this international warm-up before the World Cup. Landon Donovan and Tim Howard need to get thier squad to believe in themselves.

If they play with the intensity and desire  that they belong on the same pitch with the Dutch then they have a chance.

The only reason we beat Spain this past summer is because we played with that intensity and desire. That is how you beat a world-class team. Now, I must say this is easier said than done and the Netherlands are one of the favorites to win the World Cup.

I think the Americans start Howard in goal with left back Jonathan Bornstien or Stuart Pearce, central defenders Jay Demerit and Captain Carlos Bocanegra. Right back will be played by Jonathan Spector. In the midfield the coache’s son Michael Bradley will be joined by Stuart Holden on the right, Maruice Edu at the left and Landon Donovan as attacking mid-fielder. Up top the stiker partnership will be Jozy Altidore and Brian Ching.

I think the final will be 3-2 to the Netherlands, but a good experience for the U.S. before the World Cup. Until tomorrow………I will see you at the back of the net!