The Hippo takes a little off the top

I don't know if anyone else noticed this but recently, The Hippo took a little off the top. The weekly newspaper based out of Manchester that covers arts, politics, sports, and news from around the Granite State slimmed down its size significantly sometime in the past couple of months.
(I wish I had an older version to show the side by side because it's significant).
The change was probably made to save a bit of money on printing costs. Or, it might have been done to adhere to another press run from the outsourcing company (in the past, The Hippo was published by the Concord Monitor parent company; I don't know if that is still true or not ... the new size is, however, more in line with the Monitor's Insider publication).
That being said, two positives came of the chopped off top: There are more color pages inside the publication, which is nice, and there are more pages inside now too. This edition was almost 90 pages in length (In 2007, The Hippo was often as high as 70 pages with the larger format; in 2009, it had dropped down to 56 pages).
Previous editions of The Hippo, especially after the economic crash, physically showed the drop in print advertising which was a sign of the times back then, hence the smaller editions. The change in formatting makes for a more breezy read while still offering all the things the previous editions of The Hippo offered.

Remember this iconic graphic?

I'm waiting for the Barack Obama version.
Oh, there isn't one yet? No, there isn't. Hmm. Soldiers are still dying over there, right? Yup. So, where is the montage? Where is the artistry? Where is the outrage? Yup, I know, not there now. Sigh.

The Media on Presidential Campaigns: Examine Thyself

Guest Perspective by Ralph Nader

The media coverage of the Presidential campaigns is a dreary repetition of past coverage. Stuck in a rut and garnished by press cynicism and boredom, media groupthink becomes more ossified every four years.

This massive mental motion-sickness confines reporters, editors and producers to the following all too predictable patterns:

1. They follow the money, whenever disclosed, but don’t diligently pursue the quid pro quos which NBC’s David Brinkley described as “deferred bribes.” Like a constant posting of a basketball game’s score, this reporting of cash register politics goes on and on. 

Limbaugh returns to WRKO

After nearly 2.5 years on Clear Channel's WXKS AM 1200 station, WRKO announced today that it would be getting Rush Limbaugh back on the station, starting later this month. The station will be moving Michelle McPhee, who has been hosting the midday hours, to the morning show with Todd Feinberg.
This announcement comes on the heels of the station extending its option for Howie Carr indefinitely, meaning he ain't moving to the FM dial any time soon.
Here's what the new lineup:

5:30 to 9 a.m.: Todd Feinburg and Michele McPhee
9 to 11 a.m.: "The Financial Exchange" with Barry Armstrong
11 a.m. to noon: "The Kuhner Report" with Jeff Kuhner
Noon to 3 p.m.: Rush Limbaugh
3 to 7 p.m.: Howie Carr

It's a great move for McPhee, who will now be in drive time, and will be sharing all her hot news with the world first thing in the morning.

At 100 days to go, Obama by a nose?

A prediction of the Electoral College map, July 28, 2012.

All the talk about a hypothetical Electoral College tie over the weekend led me to mess around with the map the other day while drinking my morning coffee. Here's where I predict the presidential election will go, as of this weekend: Obama by 5 Electoral College votes. 

Call this the Gary Johnson effect. 

Johnson's ballot access will shave off enough votes from Romney in New Hampshire and New Mexico to hand the election to Obama. However, the drawback of assuming that statement is that Johnson's current polling shows he is drawing from both sides of the fence (folks like me, for example, who would be more likely to vote for a true populist Democrat like a 1990s Jerry Brown or a 1980s Fritz Hollings who won't go near Obama or Romney so ...). Not unlike the false presumptions about Ralph Nader in 2000, Johnson's supporters are all over the map politically. 

The other piece to the puzzle is that we don't know who Romney's running mate is and that could influence voters in one of the states. A Kelly Ayotte on the ticket pulls NH away from Obama as would Johnson not making the ballot here (unlikely). It would also draw some women away from Obama. Someone like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on the ticket - very unlikely but who knows - throws that state into the Romney tally and that would ensure a victory for Mitt. 

We also don't know where the Green Party's Jill Stein factors into the scheme of things. She has matching funds - meaning she'll have advertising, not unlike Nader. She could shave off enough votes for Obama in a place like Massachusetts to throw those EC votes to Romney (he is still popular with indies there, despite what the Globe says). 

You too can have fun with the map here: http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/ecalculator#

The Argus Champion reborn

I happened to be in the Lake Sunapee region on July 28, and while getting some sandwiches, saw a copy of the July 27, edition of the Argus Champion sitting on a news rack in a store.
Previous readers of Politizine will note that I wrote about the newspaper closing back in 2008, and even nosed around to see if it could be saved at the time, to no avail. The owner preferred to close the newspaper than save it.
There was a lot of fuss about the newspaper closing - which at the time, was the oldest, active newspaper in the state, dating back 185 years.

Ralph Nader's summer reading recommendations

Or, in other words, jolting the mind for action ...

1. Corporations Are Not People by Jeffrey D. Clements, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, 2012. This book is for corporate accountability and the grossly uneven relationships between corporate personhood and real people. Clear, historically founded, compellingly invigorating and connected to a growing movement (see freespeechforpeople.org).

Obama Can Do More on Oil Prices

Guest Perspective by Ralph Nader

Gasoline and heating oil prices are ratcheting up. In California, some motorists are paying over $5 per gallon. President Obama declared that "there is no quick fix" for this problem. Meanwhile, the hapless but howling Republicans are blaming him for the fuel surge as if he is a price control czar.

Indeed, President Obama has some proper power to cool off retail petroleum prices. David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan's Budget Director, said it plainly on CNN last week, "Stop beating the war drums right now [against Iran], and Obama could do that, and he could say the neocons are history." Having done his stint on Wall Street, Stockman knows that war talk by the war hawks inside and outside of our government is just what the speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange want to hear as they bid up the price. Your gasoline prices are not charging up due to strains between supply and demand. Speculation, with those notorious derivatives and swaps, is what is poking larger holes in your fuel budget, according to Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyers. The too-big-to-fail Wall Street gamblers - Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley - are at it again.

MTV airs NDAA PSAs ... wow

Thoughts on the contraception controversies

Here are some simple thoughts about the contraception controversies going on right now.
First, what Rush Limbaugh said on a recent program about a young woman testifying about the issue was inappropriate and offensive, and like a lot of what is going on in the political world, was unnecessary for moving the issue forward. Speaking out on an issue often makes people targets (I know this from firsthand experience). But targeting this woman - or any woman - with the use of words which suggest promiscuity for wanting an active and healthy sex life and decent insurance coverage is just wrong in so many ways.
Of course, we shouldn't expect much from Limbaugh (or Limboob, as I've often called him), since he is wrong a lot of the time and has a tendency to go overboard on things (marriages, drugs, hypocrisies, opinions, etc.).
Second point, and let's be very clear on this one: The government, insurance companies, and businesses/nonprofits that offer health benefits to employees are not responsible for preventing unwanted pregnancies. The people having sex are the ones who are responsible for preventing unwanted pregnancies.

Minimum Wage: Catching up with 1968

Guest Perspective By Ralph Nader

How inert can the Democratic Party be? Do they reallywant to defeat the Congressional Republicans in the fall by doing the rightthing?

A winning issue is to raise the federal minimum wage,stuck at $7.25 since 2007. If it was adjusted for inflation since 1968, not tomention other erosions of wage levels, the federal minimum would be around $10.

Here are some arguments for raising the minimum wage thisyear to catch up with 1968 when worker productivity was half of what it istoday.

Stein easily wins in Arizona

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein won the six-way primary in Arizona last night with 69% of the vote, according to an email.
Stein has also won in Ohio, Minnesota, Maine, Illinois primaries and conventions.

A victim of the housing crisis

This house near Port Charlotte Harbor in Florida still remains empty, nearly four years later, a victim of the housing crisis.

NENPA Awards

The New England Newspaper and Press Association Awards have come and gone and this year, I didn't win any. Frankly, it shouldn't be that surprising since I switched jobs a few months before the entry period ended.
When I was asked to recommend some potential entries, there were only a few stories I thought might be worthy. At the time when I was looking at the entry dates, I realized that during the nine month period of the awards that I would be eligible, I worked without a reporter for almost four of those months. And during some of those months - nine weeks to be exact - I was doing one and a half papers by myself and two websites - yikes. How did I do it? I have no clue. But, in other words, I was not working in the best conditions to be doing your best work, which happens in this business sometimes.
NENPA also eliminated the election category this year, which I won last year and Belmont has won in previous years, I believe. Elections are important because you have a responsibility to voters. It's important to make the coverage matter. I don't know the logic of removing the coverage award - maybe the org doesn't think it is as important as it once was.
I like to win awards but I prefer to do the quality work that makes you eligible to win the awards. That's just as important; in fact, it's more important. 
Anyhow, congratulations to all my friends who won this year, including some former members of my Lexington crew that won a bunch. Hats off to you folks. :-)

Greens on the ballot in Utah

I received an email earlier today noting that the Greens had made ballot status in Utah. This is the 19th state the Green Party will be on, so far, without missing a single petition deadline at this point, thanks to the efforts of Jill Stein and others. Imagine for a moment how cool it would be to have a debate with President Barack Obama, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and whoever the GOP puts up. Wow.