Archive for Uncategorized
Blogger Seeks to Protect Sources
Posted by: | CommentsYes, as reported in the news the past two days I, Shellee Hale (read story here) am the blogger being Sued for defamation regarding a few post I made last year on a forum frequented by members of the adult industry called Oprano.
This is truly a important case as we address the merging of mainstream journalism, blogging, citizen journalism and the credibility of an author and their means of collecting, researching and disseminating news converges on a more popular medium – the Internet.
I believe that I do own the privilege to protect my witnesses statements that supported comments and questions I made online. More importantly the comments and questions I made to a group on the Oprano Forum with a purpose of continuing to collect information for a story were not intended to defame or slander anyone but asked with the sole purpose of expanding on research I was doing for a story.
I truly believe in the shared media space of the blogging world and journalism online and the importance of a clarification of the laws to meet with the current technological means of delivery of news and information. The court heard my testimony today. The shield privilege is necessary to protect the confidential witnesses I spoke with and I hope that I will prevail in this case.
A journalist, blogger, or citizen activist researching the facts of a story has a method of gathering information and fact checking the information and to be stifled in the middle of this process by litigation has been a setback for me personally but I believe in my position that the privilege will apply and I should not have to reveal my confidential sources for the story I was working on.
Hopefully we will have a favorable opinion in the next couple of months. I am represented by a team of brilliant New Jersey Attorneys lead by Jeff Pollock, Barry Muller and Joseph Schramm of Fox Rothschild, John Prindiville of Barry & Prindiville and Arizona Attorney Charles Carreon of Online Media Law.
Obama’s Open Government Directive
Posted by: | CommentsOpenthegovernment.org and OMBwatch have began work sessions discussing hot to implement the President’s Open Government Directive with topics on the agenda including:
- Accessing the right data
- Managing Records
- Creating a culture of opennness
- Leadership/organizational structure
With a desire to encourage and support a governement that is transparent, participatory and collaborative President Obama on his first day in office sent a memorandum to his administration asking them for recommendations on the open government directive.
A google group has been set up to provide a forum to discuss and develop those recommendations that this Directive needs and I would encourage all those interested especially Private Investigators to voice their opinions and participate in the discussions.
Home loans low, downsizing options are slim.
Posted by: | CommentsWe have been watching the stock market plummet, the banks fail and reduce and eliminate credit lines, home prices drop with no buyers and no loans. Our credit scores were affected by the changes in reduction of credit card and bank lines putting us over the 50% threshold that kept our scores lower. Now, we have more and more unemployed and those with jobs are facing salary reductions. How does one downsize to stay within their means? It is nearly if not impossible. The future we and our neighbors face under the current climate is grim.
In the last 5 years if you qualified for a home loan you could afford you probably used a 401K or savings as liquidable assets to requalify for a new loan even if you could sell your current property (at a loss) your investment portfolio is probably substantially lower, your income may be lower, you have less capital from a fire sale to reinvest in a new home. This option of selling your current home and downsizing to a less expensive one is also nearly impossible.
The options to recover and be responsible and live within your means just got a whole lot more difficult. So how much should we celebrate the bank deal the treasury just made? I don’t think we should pop open the champaign just yet.
Detached Leadership and the Result
Posted by: | CommentsThe recent crisis across the globe is a direct result of the detached leadership in government and corporations alike. Many of our chosen leaders live in a bubble and their connection to the people they govern has been lost somewhere in the midst of their desires to grow and become larger than life. Life requires connection and knowing yourself and the people you govern is key to success. We can not recover from the crisis we are faced with currently without a reconnection between the parties from the top down.
It is not just the financial wedge of the top with the bottom but also the personal and professional detachment that has caused resentment and a firm break between the two. Many employees of companies are not known by name or even a face by those they work for and in goverment many of our leaders rarley know more than a few of those they represent. This phenomenon of detachment and the resentments that have ensued because of the poor results of the representation of the leadership must change for their to be a recovery.
We must make an effort to reconnect and appreciate the contributions of all those around us from our neighborhoods to our companies. I encourage the boards and leadership to take the time to meet and greet the people around them and to acknowldge their input and to slow down enough to listen to what they have to say. We must as a community encourage this reconnection and begin the growth process from the beginning all over again.
