Rick Sanchez of CNN, social media, and the irreverent 23/6 take

Alright, so Rick Sanchez (of CNN) is experimenting with using social media in the course of a news program. He tweets on @ricksanchezcnn and he also has a Facebook page. This is something that I completely support. I use Twitter (come follow me on @edwardjensen), and there are a lot of news organizations that share news there. For example, I get CNN breaking news on @cnnbrk, the New York Times on @nytimes, NPR on @nprnews, and others.

News website 236.com has exploited this with a bit of humor and irreverence, something for which it is known. (Remember the DNC and RNC in a minute?)


if you cannot see the video, click here

As the caption says, "In 20 years, we'll be saying, 'When the economy collapsed, CNN's Rick Sanchez was there.'" I might add that we all were there following it on social media.

Cheers-
Edward Jensen

Community organizing is not a crime!

I rarely get this agitated over political discourse. But something that was mentioned at the Republican National Convention makes me think that two people owe this nation and its citizens an apology.

Sarah Palin and Rudolph Giuliani owe this nation an apology.

My friend and colleague at the ASU College of Public Programs, Sam Richard, wrote a blog post on community organizing. If you recall, Mrs. Palin said this (source NPR), "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Rather than repeat what's been said, head over to Sam's blog, "Deserted After Dark", and read "Standing on the Shoulders of (Organized) Giants".

Cheers-
Edward Jensen

Happy Big Bang Day!

Today, physicists in Switzerland and France started up the Large Hadron Collider, a 27km ring designed to see what the universe was like billionths of a second after the Big Bang. If you want more information, check out this stuff from the BBC (UK) or the New York Times.

Also, check out the "Large Hadron Rap" done by physicists with obviously too much time on their hands.


if you cannot see the video, click here

For more on the rap, including lyrics and a downloadable MP3 file, click here.

Cheers-
Edward Jensen

23/6 Presents: The DNC and RNC in a Minute!

"News" website 23/6 (236.com), the lighthearted news version of the Huffington Post, prepared two one-minute versions of both the Democratic National Convention (25-28 August 2008) and the Republican National Convention (1-4 September 2008). If you missed both conventions, here you go:

The Democratic National Convention in a Minute

if you cannot see the video, click here

The Republican National Convention in a Minute

if you cannot see the video, click here

Cheers-
Edward Jensen

Jon Stewart: "Sarah Palin Gender Card"

My friend Dan Maxey found this on the double standard with which Republican surrogates have been praising Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's VP pick but have been critical of Sen. Obama's campaign.


If you cannot see the video, click here

Cheers-
Edward Jensen