SkinsGridiron.com – Independent coverage of the Washington Redskins

The independent and prestigious Project for Excellence in Journalism’s researchers have studied all of the coverage and found that John McCain, over the six weeks since the Republican convention, got four times as many negative stories as positive ones. The study found six out of 10 McCain stories were negative.

What’s more, Obama had more than twice as many positive stories (36 percent) as McCain — and just half the percentage of negative (29 percent).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081028/pl_politico/14982;_ylt=AvOwgE4qyG2LCGkcywJLjAsDW7oF

Now that it has been independently revealed that journalists are in the tank for Obama, what will change in 2012 to prevent this from happening again?

And the readers notice, too.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1003/joe-the-plumber
I wasn’t making a summary or a conclusion. I am not accepting Politico’s story as fact (they are perhaps as biased as the rest of the media) but using their link as simply a link to the data. I don’t accept their columnists as factual, either, even when their own mom questions their objectivity. Will no one accept the challenge of the question? What will have to change in 2012?

This just feeds their ego, and it will be worse. If Obama wins the media will take credit for it, as well they should.

In the Senate, where proposals differ substantially from the House-passed measure on issues like a government-run plan and how to pay for coverage, the bill is stalled while budget analysts assess its overall costs. The slim margin in the House — the bill passed with just two votes to spare, and 39 Democrats opposed it — suggests even greater challenges in the Senate, where the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, is struggling to hold on to all 58 Democrats and two independents in his caucus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/health/policy/09healthcare.html?_r=2&hp

Why is this bill even needed. Expansion of existing medical programs for the poor would have solved this ‘problem; without creating a whole new program.

Disney buys Pixar

By John Borland
http://news.cnet.com/Disney-buys-Pixar/2100-1026_3-6030607.html

Story last modified Tue Jan 24 18:03:09 PST 2006

Walt Disney announced Tuesday that it’s paying $7.4 billion in stock to acquire Pixar Animation Studios–a deal that puts Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs on Disney’s board of directors.

For the venerable animation giant, the move is a significant bet on Pixar’s digital approach as the successor to the pen-and-ink industry popularized by Walt Disney. The purchase is also the latest indication of a tectonic collision between technology and Hollywood.

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CNET News.com reporters talk about the implications of the Disney-Pixar deal.
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As part of the deal, expected to be completed this summer, two Pixar veterans will head Disney’s animation efforts. Ed Catmull, who had served as Pixar’s president, was named president of the combined Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. John Lasseter, the Pixar executive vice president who is widely regarded as the studio’s creative leader, was named chief creative officer. Pixar will remain in its San Francisco Bay Area headquarters.

Jobs said Pixar’s main choices came down to selling out to Disney or working with another studio under a deal like Lucasfilm has with Twentieth Century Fox, in which the larger studio gets only a distribution fee. The latter option was somewhat attractive, Jobs said, but would still result in an arrangement with "two companies with two separate sets of shareholders and two different agendas."

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Pixar goes to Hollywood "Disney is the only company with animation in their DNA, and the only company that we think has this incredible collection of unique assets like the theme parks, that are very attractive to us as well," Jobs said on a conference call with investors. "They’re the only company who has Bob Iger, who we like a lot and have grown to trust."

Though Disney is issuing $7.4 billion worth of stock, it’s paying closer to $6.3 billion after factoring in Pixar’s cash holdings of slightly more than $1 billion. Pixar shareholders will receive 2.3 Disney shares for every Pixar share they own, a move that will make Jobs the largest individual shareholder of Disney.

Pixar and Disney have had a long history together, though the recent past has been rocky. Pixar has had an uninterrupted string of hit features with "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2," "A Bug’s Life," "Monsters Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." Disney has distributed all of them.

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Apple and Pixar CEO–and now Disney partner–Steve Jobs talks about why he thinks Disney is a good fit for Pixar.
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However, talks to extend the deal turned sour, with allegations flying back and forth between Jobs, who is also Pixar’s CEO, and Disney’s then-CEO Michael Eisner. In January 2004, Pixar announced it was breaking off talks with Disney and would look elsewhere for a studio partner to release its films.

Things seem to have improved of late, though, as Disney has emerged as a major iTunes partner for Apple, with Jobs and newly installed Disney CEO Robert Iger appearing onstage at last year’s launch of the video iPod.

In addition to his role at the animation studio, Lasseter will serve as principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, reporting to Iger, and will help design Disney theme parks.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval as well as the nod from Pixar shareholders, though Jobs owns 50.6 percent of Pixar. He has agreed to vote shares representing at least 40 percent of Pixar in favor of the deal–enough to push the deal through even if significant opposition arises, though none is expected.

Pixar’s stock rose $1.43, or 2.48 percent, in after-hours trading, to $59. Disney’s fell 5 cents, or 0.19 percent, to $25.94.

"New Yorker" media writer Ken Auletta, who has followed Disney for many years, compared the deal to Time Warner’s merger with America Online. Both Disney and Time Warner represent venerable media companies that stumbled as their businesses went high tech, and looked to a native of the new media environment for help, he said.

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The Time Warner-AOL merger has been rocky, aptly illustrating the potential pitfalls of Old World-New World links. But Disney’s decision to ally itself with Jobs could be a savvy choice, Auletta added.

"This is a guy who has an amazing track record over a long period of time," Auletta said. "He’s not a one-shot wonder. If you can get Jobs on your team, and then make sure he has a stake in the company succeeding, that’s a desirable thing."

The deal merges two opposites in the animation world: the historic leader in the art form, now grown into one of the biggest corporate entities in the world, and the high-tech trailblazer that former employees say has kept an intensely "family" feeling while creating a string of hugely popular hits.

"The great thing about working (at Pixar) is the directors are in-house," said Bobby Beck, a seven-year Pixar veteran who left in 2004 to start online animation school Animationmentor.com. "You really develop a relationship with the directors. They get to know you on a first-name basis."

That disparity could set the stage for a distinct culture clash between the large and the small.

Indeed, the prospect of the purchase has dismayed some fans of Pixar, who are wary of seeing the independent studio lose its spark of originality.

"Pixar is a remarkable place," said Doug Ward, the manager of the animation program at the University of California at Los Angeles. "The concern that we would have…is who’s going to run it? Is it going to become another big corporate arm of Disney?"

Both Jobs and Iger said they would do everything they could to preserve the organic nature of Pixar’s culture, however.

"Most of the time that Bob and I have spent talking about this hasn’t been about economics," Jobs said. "It’s been about preserving the Pixar culture–because we all know that’s the thing that’s going to determine the success here in the long run."

"We spent a lot of time talking about that when we negotiated the deal," Iger agreed. "I am really deeply committed to seeing that Pixar is allowed to exist in the form it has existed."

Copyright ©1995-2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

I doubt anyone is going to help you do your project or homework Good Luck….

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Alan Fram, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 54 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Get on the health overhaul bandwagon, or don’t count on our help in your re-election.

That’s the hardball message liberal groups are hurling at moderate Democratic senators in a battle that is dividing their party. Their demands: Support a bill that offers optional government-run health coverage and oppose Republican attempts to derail the legislation.

The groups are unleashing blunt and personal broadcast ads and e-mails at moderates even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tries to shape a health care bill that can attract the 60 votes it needs to pass. Assuming no Republican support, Reid needs backing from all 58 Democrats and both Democratic-leaning independents — including about a half-dozen moderates who have drawn liberals’ ire.

It’s all taking place a year out from elections in which Republicans hope to trim the Democrats’ congressional majorities. The intraparty conflict especially threatens moderates facing tough re-election fights in 2010, like Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Reid himself. It could mean less enthusiasm on the part of liberal and labor groups, which supply campaign workers, contributions and votes to Democratic

United they stand, Divided, they will fall.. It seems some of the Dem’s are finally realizing the futility of this Plan. NOBODY knows what’s in those 2000 pages of spaghetti! Maybe their consciences are beginning to get to them! These guys are NOT fighting for a National Healthcare Plan, it’s nothing but a power struggle between the Dem’s and the Reps! I am beginning to wonder what these guys DO in private life!? Do they actually have businesses? OR, are they just rich people who have never worked a day in their lives!? They talk about an affordable Health Plan – by whose standards? Theirs?? Why don’t they just get off trying to run our lives, and do the job they were voted into office for!! LOL! I will bet, they don’t know what that is!!! Take my State for example! It took our Governmor over 100 days to get a Budget!! First thing he does, is lay people off, UP the taxes on cigarettes, making them worth their weight in gold! Good time to stop smoking, right! THAT would put HIS smoking lamp out in a hurry!!! Just got my tax bill for my Mortgage! Yep! THAT went up too!!! Hundreds more are due to be laid off. He DID have a few construction workers hired to work on the roads, and can you believe this!!! Driving by, and they are ALL sitting on the road side, doing absolutely nothing!! Nice eh! I would like to know WHO is nominating ANY of these guys for ANY Government and State job! There ain’t ONE of them I would vote for!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_uninsurables

quoting…
President Barack Obama promises would immediately start serving patients with pre-existing medical problems. Wait a second. Read the fine print. You may have to be uninsured for six months to qualify.

Now, concerns are being raised about the design of the high-risk pools. In addition to the six-month wait, there’s a more fundamental issue — whether $5 billion set aside for the three-year program is enough. The money would be used to help people in poor health pay premiums.

If the Democrats’ risk pool starts running out of money, the government may have to start a waiting list, raise premiums or take other unpopular measures. Congress could be asked for a bailout.

Several independent experts say concerns about the financing are valid.

"It would seem that ($5 billion) is going to be small relative to the need," said Thomas Buchmueller, a University of Michigan business professor.

Some 30 states now have risk pools for those who can’t get health insurance on the private market, covering about 200,000 people at a cost of around $1 billion a year.

"This is clearly not going to be enough money to cover everybody," said Pollitz.

…….does "this" make obama marxism any more palatable to you?…..

WHEN IS ENOUGH…ENOUGH?
tch tch tch…adam…adam ..adam…i have given you the textbook definition of marxism THREE TIMES NOW. im unclear why we have to do it again but, ok, for your "clarification" here it is….

The doctrines of Karl Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels on economics, politics, and society. They include the notion of economic determinism — that political and social structures are determined by the economic conditions of people(adam, ahhh could this be THIS HEALTH INSURANCE FIASCO, rather than reality). Marxism calls for a classless society in which all means of production are commonly owned (gee adam, gm, aig, where does it stop)(communism), a system to be reached as an inevitable result of the struggle between the leaders of capitalism and the workers.

the point adam, for the umpteenth time is THESE ARENT THE PRINICPLES ON WHICH THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED. theyre not healthy, theyre cancerous and doomed to failure. I dont need Ayn Rand or anyone else to show me the obvious
no, greg, my contention is that REALITY is better than a marxist inspired race into failed socialism.
do you really believe that patriot??? lmfao….my sytem is much simpler…ITS CALLED GET A JOB!!! i pay for my own…i dont need a marxist system to pay for mine through confiscatory taxation and failed welfare schemes. by the way im far from rich, its a struggle, but I DID IT WITH MY MONEY…not some communist scheme…thanks.

There is not enough money nor is there enough doctors for all who he insist must be insured by force.