Confessions of a Former Political Junkie

by Toby Cryns, Website Designer & Online Social Media Specialist

I attended a great presentation and roundtable discussion about “Social Media” today at the monthly Twin Cities Web Professionals meeting. By “Social Media”, we are talking about web 2.0 tools that depend on users to create content and, ultimately, value (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.). It seems that there is a big generation gap in the understanding of these tools. Older generations still think of online marketing in terms of traditional methods (i.e. advertiser places information in front of a person, advertiser offers deals, etc.). But the phenomenon of social media throws traditional ways of advertising out the window.

In order for a company to take advantage of mySpace or Facebook or Twitter, it must spend a good amount of time doing what traditional companies do worst - breaking down walls between employees and customers & exhibiting honesty and openness with customers. To take advantage of social media, a company must be, well, social. It must share information and details that would make a person trust it. So, when something bad happens, share it and ask for sympathy. When something good happens, celebrate it with your “friends” on Facebook.

The reason traditional companies have such a difficult time with social media is because they have built up walls over the course of decades that hide any information that might help to build trust with customers. They don’t put the phone numbers of decision-makers online. They don’t even publish the email addresses of decision-makers. They don’t develop personal relationships between staff and customers. Instead, they only transmit information. They act as “big brother”, assuming that they know what is best for us, telling us what to eat, drink, and buy.

Building relationships in social media environments require time, energy, and openness - the same things that make any personal relationship grow. Companies need to build trust if they want to engage social media participants. And they need to look at customers as “friends”. Friends share. Friends tell each other secrets. Friends hang out and chat. THAT is what most companies are missing when they attempt to break into social media marketing: It’s about relationships, not a product.

Binge drinking in the dorm rooms before going out on the town…those were the days… At least that’s the thought of a group of University Presidents who believe that lowering the drinking age to 18 will cause people to binge drink less. I think they are right on.

When I think back to my college experience, most of the binge drinking we did was in the secret enclaves of our dorm rooms. Matt and I would invite a couple of girls over, and we would all have a jolly good time drinking root beer schnapps. Of course, every now and then the resident assistant or police officer on duty would stop by, and we would have to hide all of our alcohol until they left.

To me, it is the hiding and pretending that makes the current laws ridiculous. The university presidents have to pretend that no drinking is happening on campus even though they MUST know that practically every dorm room has a bottle of some alcoholic beverage in its micro-fridge. And they probably feel dumb knowing that all of their alcohol enforcement on campus is merely forcing the kids to go OFF-campus, where the risks of injury and death become infinitely greater (due to cars, people they don’t know, etc.). Naturally, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) came out against the idea of lowering the drinking age. You can’t fault a bunch of concerned mothers - their hearts are no doubt in the right place - but one history lesson our country has learned the hard way: prohibition doesn’t work.

Prohibition doesn’t work with street drugs, it doesn’t work with sex, and it has been proven time and time again to not work with alcohol. In fact, the ONLY proven method slowing drug and alcohol abuse is treatment.

But certainly a more open dialogue about alcohol could help matters. Why should pretty much EVERY college student need to hide? Why should those folks who have some responsibility for students’ safety have to pretend that nothing bad is happening under their watch? College kids will drink alcohol. Period. And a lowering of the drinking age would likely lessen the abuse of that alcohol.

Mr. Mel forwarded me the following email today:

Here’s your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation. NBC is taking a poll on “In God We Trust” to stay on our American currency. Please send this to every Christian you know so they can vote on this important subject. Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off the web page.

MSNBC poll is still open so you can vote.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

This is not sent for discussion, if you agree forward it, if you don’t, delete it.

By me forwarding it, you know how I feel. I’ll bet this was a surprise to NBC.

Do we really need God’s name on our money? There was a time when to even speak His name was blasphemous, and now there are people clamoring to maintain his likeness on the most covetous invention humans have ever created - currency.

Starting in December, the state of Oregon will begin producing solar power along its highways. The electricity generated will power a good portion of the lights that line the highways. Read all about it!

I just googled Was Barack Obama breastfed? and got 285,000 hits.
When I googled Was John McCain breastfed? I got only(!) 118,000 hits.
I don’t know what this means, but if I loved my computer that much, I surely would find out.

Dear Friends, Rabble Rousers, Ring Leaders and Malcontents,
My husband received a call from a political field office and was asked if he would be voting for Senator Barack Obama for president. My husband told them that was personal and said “goodbye.”
The next evening I got the call and was asked the same question. I said I wasn’t sure, I had some questions.
“What questions?”
“Why does Senator Obama talk about health care reform when we do not have a health care system?”
“What do you mean?”
Thirty minutes later the 22 year old woman said all these ideas were very interesting, I asked her if she would take my name, address, phone number and email address and run the information up the chain of command. I said if I didn’t hear from anyone, I would know it was of no use.

Lo and behold, the next morning I got a call from Andrew, Deputy Political Director for the Barack Obama campaign in North Dakota (also in his early 20’s). He invited me to submit my interesting ideas to campaign headquarters, which I did (see below).
I also asked him if he could find out if Barack was breastfed. Barack was born in 1961, his family didn’t have much money and there was no WIC program yet to give away free artificial baby milk to poor moms. (WIC, a federal nutrition program for Women Infants and Children was lobbied through congress by formula manufacturers in the early 1970’s.)   So… maybe this presidential candidate WAS breastfed. Andrew knew our last president that was breastfed was Jimmy Carter, so he understood why this information was important to my voting decision. I also want to know if Barack’s daughter’s were nursed, but first things first.

From www.barackobama.com: “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about
real change in Washington … I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
So we will see how this goes.
My Best to You,
–Jody McLaughlin, Compleat Mother Magazine–

Dear Andrew,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me yesterday.
I am sending you a copy of my email to the Obama “Suggest Your Own Policy” site— http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/mypolicy.
Let me know when you find out if Senator Obama was breastfed. Were his daughters? It seems like an odd question, I am sure, but it makes all the difference in the world when I am talking to people about these issues.
Thank you in advance for reading my ideas. If I forgot anything important, please let me know and I will submit it too.
Any comments or suggestions will, of course, be welcomed.
Most Sincerely,
–Jody–
Cc: Senator Tim Mathern

Compleat Mother Magazine is interested in all issues regarding
Pregnancy, Birth and Breastfeeding as well as provocative
submissions on any topic
– LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS are considered
if they are passionate, powerful, gutsy, hysterical,
insightful or brilliant. We love cartoons, artwork and photos.
Emails are best, no re-typing.
=================
Jody McLaughlin, Compleat Mother Magazine
PO Box 209
Minot, North Dakota 58702-0209
email: Jody@Minot.com phone: 701 852-2822
web sites: http://Compleatmother.com http://BoysToo.com

====SUBMISSION to the Obama Campaign http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/mypolicy ====
I was pleased to read Senator Obama’s “Plan for a Healthy America: Lowering health care costs and ensuring affordable, high-quality health care for all” http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

I would like to offer Senator Obama an idea that would separate him from all the pundits campaigning for their respective elections and elevate this part of his campaign to a higher level.
Replace rhetoric about ‘health care reform’ to meaningful MEDICAL CARE REFORM discussion.
Starting with a new title for his PLAN—  “Barack Obama’s Plan for a Healthy America: Lowering MEDICAL care costs and ensuring affordable, high-quality MEDICAL and health care for all.”
All the other political candidates will be talking about ‘healthcare’ reform, affordable ‘health insurance’ and the ‘health care’ crisis… we have all been hearing this spin for years and we know it means business as usual.

I have been tracking these issues for 3 decades. This is what I have observed.
Our local facility was called Trinity HOSPITAL, later re-named Trinity MEDICAL CENTER, and now it is Trinity HEALTH.
In the late 70’s and early 80’s the discussions centered around the MEDICAL crisis, MEDICAL reform, MEDICAL insurance and MEDICAL care cost containment.
MEDICAL insurance morphed into HEALTH CARE insurance. MEDICAL reform morphed into HEALTHCARE reform.
This is a difference with a distinction.
Health care includes clean air and safe water, enough good food to eat, exercise, rest, shelter and a safe environment as well as healing arts and the availability of and appropriate utilization of medical care services.
Medical care is surgery, pharmaceuticals, invasive tests and procedures. Malpractice tort reform was on the agenda too but no one was talking about reducing the incidence of malpractice, or alleviating the malpractice crisis by improving outcomes.

Senator Obama’s PLAN uses the word “health” approximately 100 times when the word “medical” would be far more accurate.
If Senator Obama starts to talk about MEDICAL reform, the distinction will be significant. Those of us who have been around for decades, watching everything get worse, will be heartened to know Senator Obama knows the difference between MEDICAL care, which is in desperate need of reform and a HEALTH CARE mandate which must be developed. Anyone who has been tracking these issues knows the United States does not have a HEALTH CARE system to reform. In addition, it is my belief that we have about the right amount of medical care, the problem is mal-distribution. Unnecessary surgeries and over-treatment are common… so are denials of medical treatment for those who truly need it.

Where do we start?
The foundation of this entire structure is maternity care reform. I know what is wrong in maternity care and I know what must be corrected. I know the medical and health care providers who can turn this around once the barriers to achieving good outcomes are overcome. The most significant impediment to these changes is the payment system. Poor outcomes generate more billable services than good outcomes.
When I started my research, the cesarean section rate was under 5%. Now cesarean rates of 30% are not unusual and the costs have increased expotentially. [see “The Farmer and the Obstetrician” by Michel Odent, MD and “Expecting Trouble” by Thomas H. Strong MD, obstetrician and neonatologist and the film “Birth As We Know It”]
Prenatal care has been re-named Prenatal Scare because of the high levels of stressful anxiety generated by obstetrical maternity care. To find the solution, look at other countries that have better maternity statistics. The film “Midwives, Lullabies and Mother Earth” is a good place to start.
The prematurity rate is going up in the US. Our Infant Mortality rate is the worst in the developed world. Our Maternal Mortality Rate is increasing.
If this happened to a farmer, he would go broke. To remain financially viable, he would need to make sure his animals were getting enough to eat, had clean water, space to exercise, shelter, safety and freedom of movement and privacy for birth. Babies would not be routinely separated from their mothers and nothing would be allowed to interfere with successful lactation. Colonization of the baby’s system with the organisms from the environment in which the baby will be living and the full immunological inventory from the mother’s milk would be guaranteed.
When human mothers and babies have poor outcomes, obstetrical experts claim that no one really knows what causes premature birth or low weight gain. They do not know which medical practices lead to lactation failure or the development of poor “mothering-up” skills. Nutrition in pregnancy is not even in the curriculum of our state medical school— I was told ”It does not matter what women eat, it has no bearing on the outcome.” I grew up on a farm. I know what you feed your animals is of critical importance if your goal is healthy babies and mothers who will nurse them, care for them and protect them from harm. Farmers also have tricks to get a sluggish new mom to “Mother-Up.” A vigilant mother is vital if the farmer’s year-long investment is to pay off.
State of the art maternity care programs developed with a solid understanding of the normal physiology of gestation, birth and lactation will prove their value within one short year with measurable indicators that will rank our programs favorably by improved outcomes including lactation success and lower costs.
Successful lactation is the single most important indicator of future health resulting in a further reduction in medical costs, (see “Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding” by Mary Kroeger with Linda J. Smith and the film “Birth and Parenting for the 21st Century”).

You can contact Senator Tim Mathern, Fargo, ND if you like. He is familiar with my work.
Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
–Jody McLaughlin–
PO Box 209
Minot, North Dakota 58702-0209
email: Jody@Minot.com phone: 701 852-2822
Full disclosure: Jody McLaughlin is the editor and publisher of
Compleat Mother, the Magazine of Pregnancy, Birth and Breastfeeding
web sites: http://Compleatmother.com
and supported legislation to protect the Genital Integrity of all children
http://BoysToo.com
########################################

On 8/1/08 11:46 AM, “Andrew Robinson” <arobinson@nodakforchange.com> wrote:
Jody,
It was wonderful talking to you and thank you so much for your time and input. Your passion for Maternal care is exuberant and contagious.  I hope these resources help to allow you to take more ownership over this campaign.
Please provide us feedback on our plan!

Suggest Your Own Policy
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/mypolicy

Medical Reform Proposals
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

Barack Obama’s Plan for a Healthy America : Full Text
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

Feel free to contact me or our Minot office with further policy suggestions and any inquiries you may have.
Thank you,
Andrew
—-
Andrew Robinson, Deputy Political Director
North Dakota Campaign for Change
www.nd.barackobama.com

Those bastards!!! They completely took over my music review site this morning! So, I have and will continue to dedicate a significant portion of my morning to bringing it back online. Geesh!

NBC has completely failed to bring the Olympics into my living room. This is a shame. I very much want to watch The Olympic Games this year, but, having no tv, I am relegated to using the Internet for my coverage - an area that NBC has COMPLETELY FAILED to master or to even get a grip on.

Supposedly one may watch streaming coverage of The Games, but this simply does not work. NBC requires a software download to watch online content - a digital rights management thing. I downloaded the required software, but it is a total dud and doesn’t work AT ALL! I mean I can’t watch a damn thing using their software.

The NCAA figured it out the streaming thing 5 months ago with their FREE full-coverage of the NCAA Men’s “March Madness” Basketball tournament. They had EVERY game streaming, sometimes over 10 games at a time at a time, and all for FREE! PLUS, I didn’t have to download any software to watch the NCAAs.

Along come the Olympics. Presumably the greed of NBC caused them to pursue their antiquated course of going to extreme measures to protect their precious Olympic content from viewers such as myself. Certainly it’s not technological know-how that is causing the hang-up here, as even I, with my limited knowledge of computer technology, have figured out how to stream video without requiring a software download. No, this is pure greed on NBC’s part. The Olympic Games should really be for everybody, not simply awarded to the highest bidder. In today’s world, one of the main means of communicating is the Internet. For NBC not to realize this tells us just how entrenched in the past that multi-billion dollar corporation is tied. Memo to NBC: GET WITH THE NOW, MAN! Offer streaming video without a software download!! Let me and my fellow e-citizens view the Olympic Games!!

I love the classic 1951 movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and I just learned that a new version starring Keanu Reeves will be released soon! Check out how the two trailers compare:

Here’s the old one.

And here’s the new one.

With the United States military tied up in Afghanistan and Iraq, it has become impossible for our country to project force and support smaller states such as Georgia from attack by a power like Russia. Our “terror-fighting” has also decreased our ability to influence Russia’s support of the anti-Israel Iranian regime, whom the Kremlin regards as a strategic trading and military partner.

We need to get our military out of Iraq. Our involvement in the war there, which has turned into something of a proxy war against Iran, is impeding our ability to protect our allies from Russian aggression (as well as ruining our political pull in other arenas around the globe). The Russian government knows that the American people cannot stomach, nor can the American military support, another military engagement - even if it were in support of an established ally. Without the threat of U.S. military engagement, the Russians pretty much can stampede their armed forces into any region of the world they please.

Nadia’s 1976 performance was a sight to behold! Check this out: