This could get ugly. In an article published by Daily Finance on Friday , the website (owned by AOL) shared knowledge of a Microsoft lobbyist campaign to smear Google into governmental perception oblivion. According to Daily Finance, insiders have given these regularly scheduled meetings a name… “Screw Google” meetings. The group effectively trying to “Screw Google” is said to be composed of Microsoft employees, other Google competitors and hired 3rd parties: “Microsoft is at the center of

By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press SUDBURY – Michael Ignatieff says the Harper government is on “life support” – and he sounds like he may be ready to pull the plug. The Liberal leader kicked off a summer caucus retreat Monday on a hawkish note, suggesting he’s keener to force a fall election than some of his strategists. “We’ve kept this government on life support for 10 months,” Ignatieff said, noting that Liberals supported last January’s recession budget despite deep reservations. “B

Centre for New Zealand Studies and New Zealand Studies Association closing A Plea – We are pleased to announce that Paul Burns is joining us in our public campaign to save the Centre and together we will represent the New Zealand community in the UK and abroad. For your information the current situation is as follows: Ian Conrich has been given weeks to dismantle the Centre and all its resources (when the Centre moved to it’s new offices just two weeks ago its many rare and unique

Team Obama is in full campaign mode , firing off e-mails and organizing events to push ahead for health care reform, but nobody knows exactly where the goal line is. According to the Washington Post , “President Obama’s supporters hope to recapture the energy of last year’s triumphant election campaign in a bid to regain control of the health-care debate, planning more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks.” The trouble with s

Tool King , a well-known power tool vendor online, has chosen Battalion to help them move into the world of social media. The design company will be serving as Tool King’s social media agency of record and will be responsible for designing and implementing a social media strategy for their latest client. “Other interactive agencies were suggesting we jump into the conversation and that we should be heard in the forums. Battalion was different, suggesting we take a step back listen to what i

The use of popular characters in TV ads during children’s programmes will be prohibited under changes to children’s television by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The ruling, to take effect from January 1st 2010, would apply to ads during C-classified shows, unless the character is part of a toy or game. However animating the character to endorse a commercial product is out. An exemption applies if they are used for a non-commercial campaign such as road safety. But ACMA’s

Forget Gun Control! Who says government is not big enough? ***Copied from By JAMES ROSEN McClatchy Newspapers*** If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to

I met Tobias Harris last night, when he reminded me that he had responded on his blog to this post on my blog. It did point to a serious technical error in my original comments at the very beginning, so perhaps an acknowledgement of my mistake is overdue… 1. Oops, I forgot about the FY2009 budget. Remind me not to contest the numbers from a Japan strategist. Of course, you are right, Ms. Fink, that was not the core of my argument, which is that, basically, much of the “large pool of

Today is the last day of August and I’d like to clear up a rumor I keep hearing: SUMMER IS NOT OVER. According to my calendar, the last day of Summer is Tuesday, September 21. We have 21 days left before we need to get worked up about the sun setting too early, the mornings being too crisp, the leaves changing colors, or switching out our wardrobe. August went by in a flash, so I plan on savoring September. And from now on, I will try and post a monthly wrap-up so that 1) My readers (mostly

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% would vote to replace the entire Congress and start all over again. Overall, these numbers are little changed since last October. When Congress was passing the unpopular $700-billion bailout plan in the heat of a presidential campaign and a seeming financial industry meltdown, 59% wanted to throw them all out. At that time, just 17% wanted to keep them.