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Tag: Obama

  • Obama’s New Dog Is Cute, But Apparently Evil

    The Obama family has added a new lovably adorable ball of fur to the White House; her name is Sunny, and she is a female Portuguese Water Dog. She is quite similar to the first Presidential pet, Bo, in color, breed, and maximum preciousness. Portugese Water Dogs have hypo-allergenic coats that come in handy for the Obama family, considering that daughter Malia is allergic to dog fur. The new addition to the presidential family is said to be about a year old, “energetic and affectionate,” and that her name was chosen to reflect her “cheerful” nature. All in all, the dog is super cute and couldn’t possibly be the cause for any kind of debate ever. Except that this is the internet, and that last bit is most certainly untrue.

    (image)
    (Pictured above: Evil incarnate!)

    Since the Obama family announced their newest member in a press release on Monday, the internet (and, of course, the odd conservative and cranky activist) have used the ensuing 24 hours to come up with some pretty cringe-worthy, but none the less entertaining conspiracy theories concerning the new pup. Among the more interesting accusations are that “Sunny” isn’t the dog’s name at all. The dog is actually “Sunni.” You know, like the Islamic religious sect. Because Obama is a muslim, remember? Get it? (Yeah. Neither do I.)

    Other complaints have come from the dog’s pure-bred status and the fact that she was, more likely than not, not rescued from a pound. Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of The Unites States, slyly pointed out that the Obama family had not been entirely clear on where they had acquired Sunny, with others going on to imply that the thousands of shelter dogs around the country might have a bone to pick with Sunny’s pure-bred status. (Pacelle, after making his snide complaints, went on to thank the Obama family for their generous donation to the Humane Society and the president’s effort to pass legislation meant to fight cruelty in puppy mills.) PETA, of course, chimed in on the debate by saying that, “The Obama family… failed to listen to the plea of “adopt, don’t buy” that greeted the arrival of the First Dog, Bo, and acquired Sunny, the Second Dog, from a breeder, which is the animal-protection world equivalent of kicking a hobo.” Classy as always, PETA.

    Perhaps the most entertaining issue surrounding the pup is that she is nothing more than a fluffy, adorable distraction, meant to take the heat off of the Obama administration as they push their agenda of evil, evil Health care reform, the ever-dreaded, oh-so-infamous “Obamacare” monster. Because, you know, the Obama administration forces the media to cover such irreverent topics as the new White House pet and celebrity gossip and news of the royal baby rather than the hard-hitting things that actually matter. Yes, that’s completely accurate.

    The chaos surrounding the new pup’s arrival is, ultimately, ridiculous, but worth a laugh or two. This article from Salon perhaps best sums up the arguments surrounding Sunny; the dog isn’t to blame for America’s problems. The dog is not to blame for Obama’s mistakes. The dog, in fact, has nothing to do with either of these things. The dog is, simply put, a dog; a cute, new pet, and not much else. Perhaps it might be best to not make mountains out of mole hills in this instance.

  • Obama Speaks Out Against Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws

    News-savvy folk (such as the readers here at WebProNews) have surely heard of president Barack Obama’s decision to cancel his one-on-one meeting with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. Many argue that the president was taking a stand against Russia’s decision to shelter Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who alerted the nation’s public to the NSA’s unsolicited eavesdropping and intelligence gathering. On Tuesday’s “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, however, the president gave a very different reason for his change in plans; he claimed that the action came from human rights issues.

    President Obama was quoted as saying he has “no patience for countries that try to treat gays and lesbians and transgendered persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.” He went on to say that he feels Russia is making a “big mistake” in choosing to enforce the laws and in applying them to the upcoming winter Olympics.

    Truthfully, it seems that president Obama’s decision to cancel the one-on-one talks with Vladimir Putin has basis in multiple issues; while Russia’s current record with human rights certainly does play in to the decision, there is no denying that Snowden’s asylum is also a contributing factor. After all, the president did say to Leno that he was “disappointed” in Russia’s decision to shelter the whistleblower. Ultimately, the president’s official reason for canceling the meeting is for many issues, including both human rights and recent political decisions.

    What is important to note, however, is that president Obama is putting his foot down when it comes to Russia’s hate-mongering, discriminatory laws, and in a very public manner. His decision to cancel the meeting and to speak publicly about his disapproval towards Russia’s laws is a powerful move that could have big consequences; it is a matter of waiting to see just what those consequences will be, however.

  • “George W. Obama” Photo Takes Aim At NSA Scandal

    If you’ve been anywhere near the internet in the last couple days, you are probably aware of the recent government surveillance scandals. It started yesterday with the revelation that the government was collecting data from Verizon customers phone calls (all of them). And if that wasn’t Big Brother-y enough for you, news broke this morning about the NSA’s secret PRISM program, which gathers data from the servers a shocking array of the most popular and ubiquitous tech companies: Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and more.

    Unsurprisingly, this double-whammy of privacy scandals has prompted a number of unfavorable comparisons between the Obama administration and the Bush administration. As you may recall, the Bush administration came under fire repeatedly for programs – including warrantless wiretapping of suspected terrorists – that were seen as violations of the civil rights of American citizens. These comparisons have run the gamut from articulate and well-thought to… less so (as you might expect from the internet). None, perhaps, is as simple and succinct as the Huffington Post’s front page image from yesterday.

    The image, which you can see above, consists of the title “GEORGE W. OBAMA” and a blending of a photo of former President Bush with a photo of President Obama. The image is quite well done, and surprisingly unsettling, as though my brain can’t decide who it thinks I’m looking at.

    The president, who has long been reluctant to discuss government surveillance programs, finally spoke out in defense of the two controversial programs today, claiming that the programs were necessary, and that they carried on under the watchful eye of Congress, which he said could stop the programs easily if it felt there were abuses.

    How comforting you find that depends, I suppose, on how much you trust Congress.

  • Obama Explains Lipstick On Collar, Sends Crowd Into Fits Of Laughter

    President Obama appeared at an event Tuesday night for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. At the event, it was seen that Obama had lipstick on his collar. You would maybe think it was a good luck charm from the First Lady, but the president said its origins lie elsewhere.

    During his speech, Obama pointed to the lipstick on his collar and blamed it on Jessica Sanchez. He quickly corrected himself to say it was the aunt of Sanchez. He said he was calling her out in public so as not to get into trouble with the First Lady. The short bit elicited laughs from the crowd. Here’s the full video:

    Regardless of what you think of the man, he definitely knows how to work a crowd. He’s also incredibly calm and collected when dealing with hecklers.

    [h/t: MSN]

  • Obama Has A Laugh, Explains Lipstick On His Collar

    While hosting an event for the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month celebration at the White House, President Obama, while speaking to the celebration’s attendees, took a second to explain the noticeable stain on his collar. For those of you who were hoping for a presidential scandal, I have some bad news. The mark, which happens to be lipstick, was courtesy of a friendly greeting. President Obama was quick to clear any misconceptions up, apparently in an effort to avoid being restricted to the Presidential Couch when it comes to sleeping arrangements.

    A transcript of the President’s humorous exchange:

    “I want to thank everybody who’s here for the incredible warmth of the reception. A sign of the warmth is the lipstick on my collar. I have to say I think I know the culprit. Where’s Jessica Sanchez? It wasn’t Jessica. It was her aunt. Where is she? Auntie, right there. Look at this. Look at this. I just want everybody to witness. I do not want to get in trouble with Michelle, so I’m calling you out right in front of everybody.”

    For being called out like that, I’m sure Jessica, like everyone else it seems, said “Thanks, Obama.” Considering the pockets of vitriol surrounding Obama’s second term, the fact that his sense of humor is securely intact is perhaps a little surprising to some.

    Video courtesy of CBS News.

  • Trump 2016: It Could Really Happen This Time

    Donald Trump has reportedly spent $1 million researching a run for office in 2016, and, unlike 2012 when he hinted at a bid for the presidency but never ran, this time it could really happen.

    “The electoral research was commissioned. We did not spend $1 million on this research for it just to sit on my bookshelf,” Trump’s special counsel Michael Cohen said. “At this point Mr. Trump has not made any decision on a political run, but what I would say is that he is exactly what this country needs. The turnout at these political speeches indicates his following remains very strong and is growing.“

    Indeed, Trump can command quite a crowd and even spoke about his political aspirations at the recent Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, saying:

    “Everybody tells me, ‘Please run for president. Please run for president.’ I would be much happier if a great and competent person came along. I’d be happy if President Obama did a great job. I’m a Republican, but before anything, I love this country. I would love to see somebody come in who is going to be great.”

    Of course, if Trump does run, he won’t be able to keep control of his company; by law, he’ll have to turn it over to his kids or put it into a trust, and that doesn’t seem like something the real-estate mogul would be willing to do. However, he may just surprise us all and jump into the game once and for all. He did mention at the dinner that he believes Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic frontrunner, despite Clinton’s assurances that she’s not willing to put herself in that position.

  • Obama Forgot to Salute, Apologized to Soldier

    President Barack Obama has certainly had a lot on his mind recently. House Republicans have recently been holding hearings on the Benghazi attacks, while two new scandals have rocked the current administration. One involves the IRS targeting new tax-exempt Tea Party-affiliated groups for additional scrutiny, while the other involves the Justice Department’s seizure of journalist’s phone records as part of a leak investigation.

    It’s no surprise, then, that simple etiquette slipped the U.S. president’s mind this week.

    A video of the President boarding boarding Marine One went viral this week. In it, Obama can be seen striding confidently into the helicopter- bypassing the U.S. marine stationed at the helicopter’s entrance without so much as a nod. It is traditional for presidents to salute soldiers as they board.

    As seen in the video, the President quickly realized his mistake and doubled back to apologize to the soldier:

    What makes the gaffe slightly ironic is that the President was on his way to the U.S. Naval Academy to speak at a graduation ceremony. During his address, Obama praised the U.S. military, calling it “the most trusted institution in America.”

    Despite the Obama administration’s recent bad press, the President’s approval ratings remain high. Americans polled recently did state, however, that issues such as the IRS scandal are important to them.

    Obama will have a chance to take is mind off of things in late summer, when he is expected to join First Lady Michelle Obama and the couple’s two daughters for a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

  • Obama Prom Photos Surface, and the POTUS Looks Sharp

    Even the president of the United States can’t keep his prom photos a secret.

    Not that he’d want to – a white jacket and a blue tie is a good look for President Obama. But still, come on, right?

    The photos come from a former classmate, Kelli Allman, who attended Punahou School in Hawaii with the President back in 1979. TIME Magazine originally obtained the photos.

    Allman’s yearbook also contains a note from Obama (then Barry Obama), which reads:

    Kelli,

    It has been so nice getting to know you this year. You are extremely sweet and foxy. I don’t know why Greg would want to spend any time with me at all! You really deserve better than clowns like us; you even laugh at my jokes! I hope we can keep in touch this summer, even though Greg will be gone. Call me up, and I’ll buy you lunch sometimes. Anyway, good luck in everything you do and stay happy.

    Your Friend,
    Barry Obama

    “Greg” refers to Greg Orme, a basketball player and Obama’s close friend at the time.

    As to what happened at the prom:

    “It was a really fun, happy time. We were all cracking up, and everyone was smiling,” said Allman. “It was pretty typical from there out as far as what happens at prom: the dinner and the dancing and the photos.”

    (image)

  • Michelle Obama to Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard With Daughters [RUMOR]

    It’s been a tough month for the Obama administration. With house Republicans still attempting to turn the Benghazi attacks into a full-fledged scandal, two real scandals have popped up in recent weeks. One involves the IRS targeting new tax-exempt groups aligned politically with the Tea Party movement for extra scrutiny. The other involves the Justice Department seizing months of phone records from Associated Press reporters as part of an investigation into internal leaks. Now, the massive tornado that hit Oklahoma this week has resulted in billions of dollars worth of damage, though the death toll from the storm is not as high as previously feared.

    It’s enough to make someone want to get away for a while, and that’s exactly what First Lady Michelle Obama is rumored to be doing.

    According to a report in the Boston Globe, the Obamas and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, are looking to vacation this summer in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Michelle Obama and the girls will reportedly stay on the island for an “extended period” with the President joining them on “occasional weekends” throughout the summer, and two weeks in August.

    The Globe report states that, in the past, the first family has vacationed at a farm on the island that has now been bought for almost $22 million. The Obamas are now rumored to be looking at a house in a secluded part of the island called Farm Neck as their summer vacation destination.

  • Bin Laden Death Photos Won’t Be Released, Thanks To Court Ruling

    Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled today that the U.S. government can keep death photos of Osama bin Laden secret. There are apparently over fifty of them.

    Bin Laden was killed on May 2nd, 2011 and President Barack Obama revealed shortly thereafter that the death photos would not be released.

    “The risks of release outweigh the benefits,” Obama said at the time. “Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East.”

    “Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaida killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet,” he added. “Osama bin Laden is not a trophy – he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated.”

    In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the case, which stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the group Judicial Watch. The group appealed the decision of a U.S. District court, which ruled that the images could harm national security. The group had said in a brief:

    Specifically, Defendants have failed to provide any evidence that all 52 images, including those depicting bin Laden’s burial at sea, pertain to “foreign activities of the United States.” Defendants also have failed to provide any evidence that images depicting the burial at sea actually pertain to “intelligence activities.” Nor have they demonstrated that the release of images of a somber, dignified burial at sea reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable or describable exceptionally grave damage to national security.

    The U.S. Justice department said there were obvious “sensitivities” with the situation, and that releasing the images could lead to violence against Americans.

    Reuters reports that the court ruled today that the risk of violence is indeed a justification to keep the images classified.

    There are some fakes out there, however, easily found with a Google image search.

  • Obama Approval Rating Still Solid, Despite Critics

    Last week was, perhaps, the toughest week the Obama administration has yet faced. While congressional Republicans were still trying to turn the Benghazi attacks into a full-fledged scandal, two clearly real scandals have appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the past two weeks. One involves the IRS targeting the large influx of tax-exempt Tea Party-related groups for extra scrutiny. The other scandal involves the U.S. Justice Department seizure of Associated Press journalists’ telephone records in secret subpoenas.

    It seems, however, that none of the negative press has affected President Obama’s approval ratings. According to a CNN/ORC poll released this weekend, the President still enjoys a 53% approval rating.

    This is despite the fact that those polled knew about the recent scandals and even considered them important. 71% of those polled considered the IRS’s actions unacceptable, while 52% thought the Justice Department’s phone record seizures were unacceptable. Over 60% of these same respondents believe that President Obama’s statements about the IRS scandal have been at least mostly true.

    Presidential spokespersons have been aggressively combating efforts to link Obama directly to the IRS scandal. White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer this Sunday hit the talk show circuit, stating that the President did not know of the policy before it hit the media.

    The President himself did not address the topics this weekend. Instead, the President used his weekly address to speak about building up the middle class in the U.S.:

  • Michelle Obama: Kaepernick Meets the First Lady

    Early this year, as Tim Tebow‘s praying pose (“Tebowing”) craze began to subside, another NFL quarterback stepped up to inject a celebration pose into internet culture.

    In January, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s bicep kiss started a new trend on Twitter. Now, “Kaepernicking,” as it’s called, has reached all the way to the White House.

    Kaepernick this week tweeted out that he was lucky enough to meet the First Lady of the United States. It turns out Michelle Obama might be a football fan, as she posed with the quarterback in the infamous “Kaepernicking” pose:

    (image)

  • NRA: Bleeding Obama Target Mannequin Banned From Convention

    It’s no secret that the NRA doesn’t agree with the gun legislation President Obama has endorsed in the wake of the Newtown school shooting in December. However, a political disagreement isn’t the same as a threat, even when the topic is gun rights. To prove this, the NRA has gone to great lengths to distance itself from a few of the more disturbing aspects of the U.S. gun culture.

    This week, BuzzFeed is reporting that the NRA has asked Zombie Industries to remove a specific mannequin target from its booth at the NRA Annual Meeting last weekend. A booth-worker for the company told the publication that an NRA representative asked them to remove the mannequin because it looks too much like President Barack Obama.

    Zombie Industries sells mannequin targets styled to look like zombies. The targets are life-sized and “bleed” pink goo when shot. The questionable mannequin is dubbed the “Rocky Zombie,” and does resemble the current U.S. president, despite being a bright shade of green.

    Zombie Industries sells over a dozen different zombie mannequin target models, including a boar, a wolf, a kangaroo, a clown, a “nazi,” and a “terrorist” that greatly resembles Osama bin Laden.

    The company’s zombies were featured last year in an episode of the Discovery Channel reality TV show Sons of Guns:

    Zombie Industries has also posted some demonstration videos to YouTube:

    (Image courtesy Zombie Industries)

  • Obama: Daughters’ Tattoos Come With A Price

    Obama said recently that if his daughters ever make the decision to ink themselves, he and Michelle will make them pay in the form of embarrassment.

    The president apparently isn’t a fan of tattoos–at least not on his kids’ behalf–and says that if they ever come home with one, he and their mother will get the exact same design in the same spot on their bodies before showing it off on YouTube as a “family tattoo”. Of course, for two girls whose parents are the most famous and recognizable people in the country, one would think their embarrassment tolerance is a bit more elevated than that.

    “Our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel,” Obama said.

    Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

  • Obama BB Gun Suspect Arrested in Bloomfield, CT

    Pulling out a gun, even a fake one, within sight of the president of the United States is a sure-fire way to get arrested, and a probable way to ensure an even worse outcome. Luckily for one man who pulled out a BB gun near President Obama this week, the incident did not end with Secret Service agents gunning him down.

    According to an Associated Press report, a man in Bloomfield, Connecticut pulled out a rifle-sized BB gun on Monday as the presidential motorcade passed by. President Obama had just given a speech about gun control at the University of Hartford, and was on the way back to Bradley International Airport to board Air Force One.

    The man was reportedly pacing back and forth while acting suspicious. He was arrested by police as soon as he pulled out the gun. The man’s name has not been released, though he was scheduled for a court hearing in Hartford on Tuesday.

    Hartford is less than 50 miles from the site of the Newtown mass shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December.

  • Obama: 5% of Salary to Be Given to the U.S. Treasury

    The U.S. has been suffering from an economic lull for years now, and workers have been feeling the pinch.

    This year, congress delayed budget measures until the recent sequester resulted. That means that now even government employees will begin to be affected by the economic situation. If the government cuts laid out by the sequester are not covered in the near future, some government employees may be forced to take furloughs, less politely known as extended unpaid leave.

    According to an Associated Press report, The White House this week has announced that President Obama will be making a gesture to show his solidarity with government employees who are facing the prospect of furloughs. The president will be returning 5% of his yearly salary to the U.S. Treasury.

    Since 2001, U.S. Presidents have been paid an annual salary of $400,000. President Obama‘s symbolic contribution to the treasury amounts to $20,000.

    Other U.S. politicians are also announcing that they will be giving up money in response to the sequester. According to the AP report, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will return 14 days’ worth of salary to the U.S. Treasury, which is symbolic of the two-week cut in pay Defense Department employees could end up taking. Alaska Senator Mark Begich has also announced he will return part of his salary to the treasury.

  • Pat Boone Calls Obama a Marxist, Thinks he Was on a Presidential “Enemies List”

    Pat Boone made a name for himself as a pop star and film actor in the 50s and 60s. While he was well-known for his voice, many might not remember that he is also well-known as a highly religious political conservative. That, in and of itself isn’t too odd, but it seems that Boone has now adopted the idea that the president of the United States wants to turn the country into a Marxist dictatorship.

    Fox Business News anchor Neil Cavuto brought Boone on his program recently to help critisize President Obama for some economic promises that didn’t pan out. Instead, Boone brought a copy of Rules For Radicals and stated that the book, written by Saul Alinsky, trained the president “to be a community organizer, a Marxist, a socialist, a progressive.” It was unclear exactly whether Boone was accusing Obama of being trained to be all of those things or if he was simply stating that they were qualities of the book’s author, but his message about the president was clear either way.

    Even Cavuto couldn’t go as far as Boone, and ended up defending the president against Boone’s accusations. Cavuto tried to get Boone back on track by insinuating that such wild theories aren’t needed to criticize the president, but Boone powered through, and even made it personal by claiming Obama had placed him on some sort of “enemies list.”

    “Well, I am a target,” said Boone. “I was on his enemies list in the first year of his presidency.”

  • Should Sites Be Forced To Pay For Linking? Harvey Weinstein Thinks So.

    Harvey Weinstein, an Oscar winning producer and prolific proponent of Obama, told Deadline that he is going to push for legislation that would force websites to pay for linking to news articles. This legislation would require news websites and blogs to pay a monitoring organization a fee for every link to an article written by a journalist.

    Should news sites, bloggers and other sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google pay for the privilege of including snippets and links to news stories? Also, should YouTube or sites that include embedded videos of movie/TV clips pay every time somebody views them?

    Give us your thoughts on this important topic that goes to the heart of the internet in the comments below.

    Weinstein said, “Journalists don’t benefit when their stories are taken, and given a link. It would be like me launching a newspaper–call it Link—where I can have the greatest journalists in the world working for me without paying them. It’s inconceivable. If BMI and ASCAP can monitor the music business, we need a BMI and an ASCAP to monitor these businesses. This will be the one legislation for our industry that I’ll press.”

    This would be part of a broader law that where a monitoring organization would also monitor the web for video clips and require websites like YouTube to pay this organization a fee for each view of a clip of a movie or television show.

    As the publisher of WebProNews and a long–time advocate of the right to link, in my opinion Weinstein’s idea would destroy the internet as we know it today. The internet is based on the idea of linking, that’s why it was originally referred to as the World Wide Web! If you make publications, blogs, Google, Twitter and Facebook pay for linking to a news story, how many of them would still do it. The answer is none.

    Weinstein may think he’s only talking about making news linking giants like Google News pay, but laws against free linking could not just apply to them. His proposed legislation would also have to apply to Reddit, Stumbleupon, Facebook, Twitter and news publishers and bloggers who routinely republish snippets of news articles with links to the original. Many of these sites also inbed video clips as well.

    Weinstein challenges the assertion by publishers that linking and taking small snippets of articles is not stealing content but is actually promoting the content. Weinstein equates linking and publishing as one and the same. Weinstein also told Deadline, “When it comes to journalists and journalism, I’m with you. It is important they get paid for good work, and wrong that others just take it, with a link.”.

    Since most articles have numerous social buttons encouraging “sharing” their articles via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, you would think it would be obvious to Weinstein that publishers and journalists want their stories to be linked to. The definition of going viral is mass sharing on social media sites which pushes huge numbers of people to a journalist article if he is so lucky. Linking drives traffic to an article which theoretically can then be monitized by the publisher. If the publisher doesn’t want the traffic he can put up a firewall login and charge visitors to read the sites content.

    If a news site like Deadline doesn’t want its articles linked to then it shouldn’t publish them on a linking platform called the Web. Weinstein may be surprised to learn that Deadline and most news sites are quite happy that their articles get free traffic driven by links!

    Just like the music industry, which has in the past sued the parents of kids who downloaded music without paying for it, Weinstein proposes that those linking to content should also have to pay up. He wants to do it a bit more tactifully than the RIAA, but still wants to collect nonetheless. His idea I presume is to first change the definition of fair use which is permitted per U.S. and many international copyright laws, where a website can take snippets of content and reuse it to a certain extent.

    Theoretically, considering Weinstein’s personal connection with Obama, he could persuade the President to tighten this definition via some minor changes in regulations and rules and bypass Congress. The definition of fair use as written in U.S. copyright laws is vague and could easily be redefined via regulation. This is a scary proposition considering that linking and discussing news articles is integral to free speech.

    Once fair use is redefined to allow copyright holders the ability to charge websites a retroactive fee for each time a visitor viewed a news summary and link, that’s when a new organization similar to BMI would emerge to ensure that journalists are paid for their work. BMI has people going into businesses, such as bars and restaurants, all around the country looking to see if music is being played without their license. When it catches a business playing unauthorized music it forces them to pay based on a variety of factors such as number of seats in a restaurant and number of songs played.

    If a bar doesn’t join BMI and agree to pay a monthly fee up front, then often BMI will sue for huge amounts. For instance, one restaurant in North Carolina was order by a court to pay the BMI $30,450 for playing just four unauthorized songs.

    This is what Weinstein wants for publishers and writers of news content! If you are a blogger that makes a small amount of money from ads and you include a snippet from a news article in your story you could be sued if you didn’t already agree to a monthly payment.

    For Facebook, Google and Twitter the ramifications of this kind of heavy handed legislation could be huge. They are the YouTube of written content since so many of us share snippets and links via them. If sites like these need to license links with a BMI type organization, it’s likely that they would just eliminate news links and snippets altogether which would change the web forever… don’t you think?

  • Bing’s Real-Time Reactions To The State Of The Union Address [Infographic]

    Bing launched a new Politics site with “Bing Pulse” ahead of the State of the Union address, and is now sharing some insights from the endeavor.

    “Last night, millions of Americans tuned into President Obama’s State of the Union address – and Bing stood alone in giving people a rare opportunity to give real-time feedback and access live social data at Bing.com/Politics,” says Mark Penn, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. “Powered by Bing search technology and its unique social search experience, Bing’s State of the Union experience featured the breakthrough Bing Pulse – what turned out to be the largest live online poll in history.”

    Bing partnered with FOX News on the site, offering what Bing described as a “non-partisan online destination designed to meet” the “growing need for up-to-the-minute political information and second-screen experiences”.

    The Bing Pulse receieved 12.9 million votes, according to Bing, allowing people to join the conversation by “voting” every five seconds on their reactions to President Obama’s speech. Live results from the feature were shown on FOX News.

    The search engine released the following infographic looking at real-time reactions to the speech:

    Bing Looks at State Of The Union Address

    Here’s a look at some findings from Twitter.

  • Child, 10, Killed In Random Shooting On Minnesota Road

    A 10-year old child was killed on Monday night in Oakdale, Minnesota when a gunman began spraying bullets into passing cars at random. The mother of the child was injured but is expected to survive; a woman in another car was also wounded.

    The gunman was taken into custody and police say they are investigating a motive, but for now it appears the shootings were completely random. The incidents occurred near a Rainbow Foods store in a suburb. It’s been reported that the man taken into custody–a 33-year old whose name has not been released–lives in the neighborhood.

    Residents are stunned and saddened today as news of the child’s death spreads; in the last several weeks, following the horrendous shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, the media has been inundated with stories of tragic shootings that are getting national attention because of the ever-present conversation on gun control. President Obama has promised to make changes to gun control laws, but is coming against opposition from many sides. The president is expected to focus primarily on the economy in his State Of The Union address tonight, but many believe he will at least touch on the issue of gun control, especially since several victims of gun violence will be attending the speech–including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

    “When the president talks about guns, he’s going to have enormous support in the gallery and in the country. Ultimately we think he’ll have it in the Congress too,” said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

  • President Obama To Do A Google+ Hangout On Thursday

    Members of the Obama administration have been regularly talking in Google+ Hangouts in recent weeks, and this week, President Obama himself will participate in one.

    The hangout will come two days after Obama delivers the State of the Union address on Tuesday, when he will discuss the agenda for his second term in office.

    Recently, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a Hangout, discussing gun violence. More recently, Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Munoz discussed immigration reform.

    “Much like the Fireside Hangouts held by Vice President Biden and Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Munoz over the past few weeks, the President’s Fireside Hangout will include a group of people who regularly discuss important issues of the day online,” explains Google+ Politics’ Ramya Raghavan. “During the conversation, the selected participants will ask the President their own questions—but we’d also like to hear from you before the Hangout.”

    Submit questions here.

    The State of the Union address will be streamed live on YouTube, as will the Republican response from Senator Marco Rubio.