My Beauty Best Teacher

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe writes about the dire state of African Journalism "...Overall, there is a general agreement that the quality of journalistic praxis on the African continent, especially in the so-called Sub-Saharan Africa, widely regarded as also the least technologically developed in the region, leaves much to be desired..."In a series Ory Okolloh at Kenyan Pundit asks the question "What is ailing Kenyan journalism?" while Chippla questions the fact checking or lack thereof regarding 'prominent personalities'.

Bombastic Elements asks "Can You Sketch Journalism?":

Tailor at work and fabrics/ by George Butler

When it comes to sound byte punditry, parachute-in reporting, and most of the sensational photojournalism associated with the "dark" continent, the devil isn't so much in the missing details as in the missing context(s) - Scarlett Lion has a good example. Mind you, this is not context to make the bad look good; rather context to show the bad is not all there is. The fact that a sketch renders a reality trapped in a duration as opposed to one captured in an instant, implies the guarantee that the representation, for me at least, will contain added context; at least as much context as the reality being depicted can get across in the time and effort it takes the artist to absorb it, lose much of it, doubt what to emphasize, ponder what to leave out, reevaluate prior decisions and assumptions, solve problems of scale, perspective, symmetry and so on.

More here

#tweettheresults hashtag on Twitter - official protest hashtag

We've seen people lose their job over Tweets and we've seen them get jobs through Tweets. We've seen marriage proposals and divorce notifications. We've even see Charlie Sheen earn six figures for a tweet.

Now, we might just see the balance in someone's bank account change as political tweeters in Canada openly plan to disregard the election "Twitter blackout"  law and could land themselves with a 25,000 dollar fine.

Canadian officials plan to enforce a 73 year old law that slaps a person who "prematurely releases election results" with the penalty.Originally intended to keep voting in the east from influencing that in western Canada by not allowing the "transmission of election results" across time zones, critics say this was created before social media. Canada has six as the world's second largest country.

#tweettheresults hashtag was in use by yesterday afternoon and some are planning a "Tweet in."

This would make a fascinating case study for a government, civics, technology or journalism course at the high school or college level. Let's drill down. Here are the questions I'd discuss (please leave yours in the comments):

1) What is premature?

• I guess the question is - what is premature? 
• If someone is standing at a courthouse and a government official announces a result and yet it hasn't gone online yet -- is that premature? 
• Premature compared to what?
• What if a candidate has just been told by an elections official that they won and tweet out a thank you to their followers?
• What if they email it and a person they email to happens to be in western Canada at the time?
• Twitter is so lightning fast and connected to so many people, I guess this example begs to answer - what is official? 
• What makes a tweet "premature?"
• Don't candidates hold press conferences and thank you events after the results are announced - do they have to wait to hold these in the east until the polls close in the west?
• Aren't these covered on TV already? 
• What if someone live streams it?

2) How does this impact "the scoop?"

• Traditionally a quick tweet gives you a "scoop" and that is a good thing for many in political arenas.

3) Can this be enforced?

• Hypothetically, Canadian Tweeters could learn from our Chinese friends and install a nice proxy software like Astrill, set up a new email and new Twitter account and just tweet from that. Then, others would just retweet it.
• Would retweeters be punished too?
• What if a person INSIDE Canada has a friend in the US or Europe, for example, and gets on skype and tells them the results and THEY post the tweet without the permission or knowledge of the original source inside Canada?
• Is Canada going to lock down all electronic transmissions in order to enforce this law? 
• A complete technology blackout on election day?

4) If they COULD enforce, HOW would they?

• Would a whole "Twitter enforcement bureau" need to be set up? 
• Is it worth the cost?

5) How should this law be written? Should polling change?

It would be interesting to draft the law as it SHOULD be written to incorporate social media impacts and this valid concern of keeping poll rates high in the western part of the country and letting everyone's vote count.

• Should polls open earlier in the west? 
• Should polls all have the same times across the country?
• The law was put in place for a reason - assume the reason is still valid, how would this look in the age of social media?

6) Live Blog Election Coverage from Outside Canada

• It would be a fascinating live journalism experience to have students follow the #tweettheresults hashtag and what is happening to understand the impact?
• Would such an experience actually "do the research" for those in Canada planning the fines and harm those who are speaking out against this law?
• Would the methods used in your research be emulated by others who are using social media "enforcement" to stamp out rebellion?

 7) Your Belief

• Would you tweet if you knew it would cost you 25,000?
• What if you knew the technologies put in place would change the outcome of social media used in protests in other countries?

 Students learn more from tearing apart current events than a two hour lecture about abstract tasks. If you teach subjects that hit on government or participatory media - I challenge you to "get out of the box" and find some neat ways to tear this one apart. If you do it, please share your thoughts/ blogs / lesson plans with a link below!

I wouldn't put it past super blogger Stephen Downes to buck the system on this one just to see it done.

Hey, Canada, on May 2nd, the world is watching. Are you going to pioneer the use of tools to enforce this law that could be used by more repressive regimes?

In The Inside Deal: Obama's Economic Program I wrote:

The Inside Deal is Democratic President Barack Obama's domestic economic program and is characterized by extensive government spending for politically connected groups within American society. It is aimed to reward those groups that supported Obama's campaign for the Presidency in 2010, such as labor unions, public employee unions, teachers unions, environmentalists, anti-war protesters, Wall Street, and big businesses. Some of the programs that were passed by the Democratic Congress at the time to reward these groups include the stimulus bill, the healthcare bill, and massive annual budgets. Increasingly during the height of the Inside Deal, there is a link between who receives taxpayer money from the federal government and their political connections. Called by some crony capitalism.

The Inside Deal continues to pay off for some groups and those companies and individuals and special interest groups recognize that in order for them to continue to be provided with political and economic support, they need to keep in power a group of politicians who will continue to steer money to them in spite of whether they deserve it or produce anything of value. That group of politicians in the Democratic Party, and so it is not surprising that the Inside Deal is creating a tight relationship between those groups that the Democrats steer money to and those groups rewarding Democratic politicians in the form of campaign finance.

One such group that has benefited from the Inside Deal is the Big Green Machine. Via theblogprof comes this story from the Washington Examiner did a little bit of journalism and reported on the suspected corruption between Democrats and Big Green Machine:

Officials of a dozen top Big Green environmental groups contributed more than $14.5 million to congressional and presidential candidates in 2008 and through the second quarter of 2010 with 96 percent of the total going to Democrats, according to an Examiner analysis of federal campaign data.


...Six of the dozen collectively received more than $160 million in federal grants and contracts, according to their 2008 or 2007 IRS tax returns, with the Nature Conservancy's $110.6 million being the highest, followed by the Trust for Public Land ($28 million), Audubon Society ($17.5 million), the Environmental Defense Fund (parent of the EDF Action Fund) with $3.6 million, Natural Resources Defense Council ($358,072) and Defenders of Wildlife ($205,021).

President Obama was the biggest recipient by far of contributions with a total of more than $2.4 million. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was Obama's main 2008 primary rival, got $86,500. ...Obama's biggest groups of environmental supporters came from the Sierra Club ($917,965) and Defenders of Wildlife ($905,375).

This is the definition of corruption- they give campaign money to candidates who then support their companies and interests with tax money for 'research' or 'oversight' or 'awareness' or some sort of garbage. The relationship is one that use my labor and your labor to strengthen relationships between politicians and those who are politically connected, and that is not what America was about. Republicans do it too, especially with Big Oil and Big Defense, but it appears to be worse under Democrats since they pass bigger spending budgets and spend more money on discretionary items and appear to be a little less ethical about it all. That means anyone with a "D" in front of their name this election should be thrown out- it'll lessen the corruption, although then we need to go after "R"'s that are corrupt too.

The website I'm reviewing today targets a very unique audience. I probably won't be using this site in my classroom, but I could see it being wonderful for yearbook or photography classrooms.

The technology I'd like to share today is a website called CameraSim, and it's main feature is an interactive SLR camera simulator.

The simulator features a moving subject for the photographer to work with. The subject is a little girl, standing outside in front of a playground, and she's holding a pinwheel that is spinning crazily in the wind.

This website allows the user to play with the "camera functions" (that simulate a real SLR camera) and try to get the best shot possible.

CameraSim allows users to adjust 7 functions of a usual SLR camera: lighting, distance, focal length, mode, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. It also gives a short definition/description of these terms underneath the background image and sample shot.

I'm honestly disappointed that I can't think of any reason to use this in my own classroom; students usually love (and benefit from) simulations like this so much! In any case, I'll be passing the link to CameraSim onto all the yearbook/journalism/photography teachers I know!

Jonathan Elendu's Elendu Reports and Sowore Omoleye's Sahara Reporters are a pointer to the promise of bottom-up methods. More familiar but maverick instruments like Al-Jazeera have been positively disruptive to the social-political fabric of the Middle East and beyond,however their establishment and operational costs have been prohibitive and a barrier to scrappy potential new entrants. Elendu Reports demonstrates the potential of diligent no holds barred investigative reporting for the continent of Africa enabled by the tools of web 1.0 and 2.0 . Recent reports of corrupt goverment officials with the accompanying images of their ill-gotten luxury properties in Western cities is threshold breaking,the denials and obfuscations of the past by the officials is now indefensible the brigandage seemingly more brazen . The effect of this is undeniable, it brings the third dimension of texture to accusations of corruption, in the flesh so to speak, the world can now see what happens to the revenue and resources of some of the most impoverished countries in the world, while the leaders don the caps of debt-relief and aid. This medium yet to include podcasting (sound) and vodcasting (video),are the developing worlds alternatives to '60 Minutes' etc. The erosion of the digital divide and its interactive enabling nature could have an accelerated cleansing effect on the hitherto incorrigibles that rule the roost, accountability and transparency sought so long in Africa's leadership might now be within its grasp.

As America descends into tyranny and communism, I am increasingly finding solace watching the gladiatorial bouts in the Coliseum- or, in modern day words, watching professional sports. The Emperor might make me pay more taxes, worship at the alter of the Green God, and increasingly control free businesses, but he can't alter the fact that there is real competition, there are winners and losers, that life isn't always fair- and you can see that by watching sports.

Incidentally, since conservatives and libertarians are usually banned from the media, a lot of them have found their way into sports commentary, and so even though this article is about sports, I think there is a larger moral in it. From the Detroit News, by John Bacon, is this article, called "Rooney Rule has been a super formula":

The Super Bowl. Just three words. One game. And the two dumbest weeks in journalism. With all the buildup, the waiting, and the unbelievably idiotic interviews, the game is almost always anticlimactic. But if you get past the hype and hysteria, there's something happening here -- and what it is, is exactly clear.

In 2002, just two of the NFL's 32 head coaches were minorities -- or 6 percent. That's higher than most industries could claim -- including college football, which has only 3 percent minority head coaches. It's a sad state of affairs when America's colleges, those bastions of open-mindedness, can't compete with the cut-throat capitalistic NFL for minority hiring. But the figures were even more embarrassing for the NFL because fully 70 percent of its players are African-American.

Well, what to do? The league considered affirmative action, but rejected it because it often stigmatizes those who get hired. So, the NFL actually engaged in some original thinking, and came up with the Rooney Rule -- named for Dan Rooney, the second-generation owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the best-run franchises in sports.

Here's how it works. Whenever a coaching position opens, that team is required to interview a minority candidate. Not hire, just interview. Yes, this does result in some token interviews. But it far more often allows good candidates to get past the old boy network, make their pitches when it matters most, and get jobs they might not otherwise have been considered for. It gives them a chance -- that's all.

It reminds me of the classic scene, 40 years ago, when Bo Schembechler first told his Michigan players he would treat them all exactly the same -- like dogs. The white guys got scared ("This guy is crazy"), while the black guys said, "Cool -- now we've got a chance."

Only one team has violated the Rooney Rule: the Detroit Lions, under former team president Matt Millen. They were fined $200,000, but were further punished when their last three coaches, all white, all bombed. Which gives us the Millen Rule, which goes like this: If you own a pro football team, never hire Matt Millen. Ever. That's the rule.

Under the Rooney Rule, minorities don't get stuck on the outside looking in, but they don't get a free pass, either. They just get their chance. After that, they're on their own. But they know that if they get the job, they got it on their merits -- and everyone else does too. In other words, the candidates get to keep their dignity, while the owners get to keep their autonomy.

It's worked out better than even Rooney had hoped. Just four years after the NFL introduced the Rooney Rule, the number of minority head coaches more than tripled, from two to seven. They've done even better on the job. Of the last six coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl, half have been African-Americans. That includes Tony Dungy, who won Super Bowl XXI, and Mike Tomlin, whose Pittsburgh Steelers will play Sunday.

Even if the Steelers win this weekend, Dan Rooney's six Super Bowl rings might be overshadowed by the simple rule that bears his name. The rest of the nation should take note.

From a 2007 Seed Magazine piece:

...in many cases science journalists from the developing world face a series of hurdles that I, comfortably ensconced in Washington, D.C., simply never encounter. For some of these writers, basic research resources like cheap and reliable telephone service, libraries, and even dictionaries can be scarce. And while the physical act of researching and writing can present dramatic logistical challenges, science correspondents in some parts of the world are also faced with the worry that offending despotic or corrupt governments will result in retribution. The number of journalists imprisoned and killed worldwide every year is testament to the dangers implicit in the trade.

More here.

Meporter has launched. Meporter is available online and has free apps (Android coming soon) that let you take pictures and write reports on the news and "cut out the middleman" with the mainstream media being considered the middleman in this case.

Sign up is pretty simple. You don't have to use the app and can submit online directly. It does say you can "earn" by posting. It would be interesting to see if some of those who are unemployed over the summer may see this as an opportunity.

It will take time to see if the community has a way to self correct and rate reporters, but this is very intriguing. When I was a reporter for a newspaper they spent quite a bit of time teaching me about a journalists code of ethics. As I signed up, I didn't see anything like that. (I.e. Disclosures, getting both sides of the story, etc.)

Concerns aside-- Citizen journalism may just have a new face: ME (and you.)

Posted using BlogPress from Vicki's iPad

Alison Flood reports on the work of Olufemi Terry:

Olufemi Terry courtesy of BookphotoSA

One of the things Terry is trying to do with his writing, he said, is to explore the issues of the African diaspora. "Living in the diaspora, whether it's west or east, throws up a whole new set of challenges and questions which I don't feel have been properly explored or looked at," he said. "The label 'African writer' is not a particularly helpful one ... Whether it's journalism or fiction, there is too much emphasis put on issues such as poverty or disease, and I feel the label 'African writing' exacerbates that particular tendency. I would like to see more of a shift away from writing about Africa set on the continent, and more exploration of the issues of the diaspora."

More here

Kofi Akosah-Sarpong indicts journalists for their complicitness in perpetuating the memes of superstition, a phenomenon all too common across Africa. "...All intellectual laziness aside, what worries me, and I have a lot of worries as a Ghanaian/African development journalist, is a lack of a questioning, critical response to such supernatual interpretation of events that affects practically all that matters in Ghana/Africa...While most Ghanaians accept journalistic inquiry into various wrong doings or oversights or the implications of petroluem prices on the average Ghanaian, journalists have failed in asking about the implications of the rain of prophetic and other spiritual activities in Ghana's development process... By throwing journalistic inquiry on prophetic, juju-marabou mediums, religion and other spiritual activities that are inhibiting the Ghanaian development process, Ghanaian journalists will help open up the dark recesses of the paranoids and conspiracy theorists who feed on Ghanaians deep-seated beliefs in the superstitions such as witchcraft and prophetic revelations that block people from finding rational, reasonable solutions to their problems..."
Via GhanaWeb

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Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.”

And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty years of interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals, murderers, inspirational figures, and celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that shaped her extraordinary life.

Barbara Walters’s perception of the world was formed at a very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when someone is willing to take great risks, for Lou Walters didn’t just make several fortunes—he also lost them. Barbara learned early about the damage that such an existence can do to relationships—between husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Through her roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion, her mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger sister much about patience and compassion, but Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so “different” and the guilt that still haunts her.

All of this—the financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love—played a large part in the choices she made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a decent amount of luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been! Against great odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. She was the first woman cohost of the Today show, the first female network news coanchor, the host and producer of countless top-rated Specials, the star of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of The View. She has not just interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures, she has become a part of their world. These are just a few of the names that play a key role in Barbara’s life, career, and book: Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem Begin, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn, King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Richard Nixon, Rosie O’Donnell, Christopher Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . . . the list goes on and on.

Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning: for her bosses at the TV networks, for millions of viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately quite wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating.

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Overview Audition: A Memoir

Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.”

And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and riveting memoir. After more than forty years of interviewing heads of state, world leaders, movie stars, criminals, murderers, inspirational figures, and celebrities of all kinds, Barbara Walters has turned her gift for examination onto herself to reveal the forces that shaped her extraordinary life.

Barbara Walters’s perception of the world was formed at a very early age. Her father, Lou Walters, was the owner and creative mind behind the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub, and it was his risk-taking lifestyle that gave Barbara her first taste of glamour. It also made her aware of the ups and downs, the insecurities, and even the tragedies that can occur when someone is willing to take great risks, for Lou Walters didn’t just make several fortunes—he also lost them. Barbara learned early about the damage that such an existence can do to relationships—between husband and wife as well as between parent and child. Through her roller-coaster ride of a childhood, Barbara had a close companion, her mentally challenged sister, Jackie. True, Jackie taught her younger sister much about patience and compassion, but Barbara also writes honestly about the resentment she often felt having a sister who was so “different” and the guilt that still haunts her.

All of this—the financial responsibility for her family, the fear, the love—played a large part in the choices she made as she grew up: the friendships she developed, the relationships she had, the marriages she tried to make work. Ultimately, thanks to her drive, combined with a decent amount of luck, she began a career in television. And what a career it has been! Against great odds, Barbara has made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. She was the first woman cohost of the Today show, the first female network news coanchor, the host and producer of countless top-rated Specials, the star of 20/20, and the creator and cohost of The View. She has not just interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures, she has become a part of their world. These are just a few of the names that play a key role in Barbara’s life, career, and book: Yasir Arafat, Warren Beatty, Menachem Begin, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Roy Cohn, the Dalai Lama, Princess Diana, Katharine Hepburn, King Hussein, Angelina Jolie, Henry Kissinger, Monica Lewinsky, Richard Nixon, Rosie O’Donnell, Christopher Reeve, Anwar Sadat, John Wayne . . . the list goes on and on.

Barbara Walters has spent a lifetime auditioning: for her bosses at the TV networks, for millions of viewers, for the most famous people in the world, and even for her own daughter, with whom she has had a difficult but ultimately quite wonderful and moving relationship. This book, in some ways, is her final audition, as she fully opens up both her private and public lives. In doing so, she has given us a story that is heartbreaking and honest, surprising and fun, sometimes startling, and always fascinating.

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Democracy in Dakar a film by Nomadic Wax bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film and explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar - Episode # 1 from Nomadic Wax on Vimeo.

via Society Hae

The role an Al Jazeera type organisation would play in Sub-Saharan Africa is undeniable, from investigative journalism to re-education its effect could be profound. Africast reports on an effort to realise this vision with the establishment of "Africa TV", "...Driven by the vision of Africans reporting on Africa for the world, a group of professional broadcasters, business people and reporters is setting up a pan-African satellite television network, to be launched within a year.Modelled on Arabic satellite network al Jazeera and led by Salim Amin, son of legendary Kenyan photojournalist Mo Amin, Africa TV aims to be an independent voice reporting on all events - good and bad - to the continent and the rest of the world."My vision is to give a more balanced view of Africa by Africans rather than by foreign correspondents,"..."The way the international 24-hour news machine works the big networks have a lot of other big stories that need to be covered and they can't devote the resources that I believe are necessary to cover Africa properly..."

As initially reported by theblogprof and RightMichigan.com, Bill Ayers is going to be coming to Michigan next week, appearing in the Oakland County area. What these websites did not provide though were the details for this event, so I would like to pass those on you so that if you wanted to show up and hear what Bill Ayers talks about, or talk to Bill Ayers about what you think of his policies or past, you can do so.

Next Tuesday, March 24, Bill Ayers will be at the Oakland Center, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, in the Gold Room. If you would like to go to the event, click on the link for the the address for Oakland University which is 2200 N. Squirrel Road, Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401, and here is a link for a map of campus.

He will be speaking from 10:00 AM- 11:45 AM about Democracy and Education. There are no tickets for the event- everyone is welcome as seating permits. His books will be sold at the event, and there is the possibility for some book signing to take place. The event is being hosted by the Oakland University Communications and Journalism department, so contact that department for more details if needed.

From what I gather, people will be showing up to protest the event, either in the Oakland Center or around it. It is during the day, but if you are a student, unemployed, or just can get away that morning, show up and show what you think of this unrepentant terrorist and friend of Barack Obama.

Ethan Zuckerman reports on Lindaba Ziyafika a sms news creation and dissemination project:

Harry Dugmore of Rhodes University is working on a pioneering project to provide news and information into urban neighborhoods in South Africa via mobile phones. The project – Lindaba Ziyafika (the news is coming) – is designed to create and distribute news in the context of the “techno-social flux” that South Africa is experiencing...The journalists behind the Lindaba Ziyafika project are largely unemployed adults in their early 20s. They’re producing content that’s ending up in the 140 year old newspaper that serves Grahamstown. The content is distributed first via online media – SMS, messages through systems like MXit (an incredibly clever hack that uses the cheaper data connectivity available on African cellphones to evade the huge expenses of SMS messages)

More here

Grandiose Parlor writes about the state of Nigeria's Press:

Beyond merely reporting what is wrong with our political system, how much input is coming from the Press to ensure the system is working as it should regardless of how the elected got into office?
It doesn’t do anyone much good to just read about the activities and failures of the political class. Rather than being just an information disseminator, the Press should be framing the political and social issues in the country, and it can not do this simply through editorials and news coverage alone.
What the Press needs to do in accordance with its position as Fourth Estate of the realm is to empower its audience by actively challenging the status quo in the polity...[continue reading]

Today, Tuesday, March 24, Bill Ayers will be at the Oakland Center, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, in the Gold Room. If you would like to go to the event, click on the link for the the address for Oakland University which is 2200 N. Squirrel Road, Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401, and here is a link for a map of campus.

He will be speaking from 10:00 AM- 11:45 AM about Democracy and Education. There are no tickets for the event- everyone is welcome as seating permits. His books will be sold at the event, and there is the possibility for some book signing to take place. The event is being hosted by the Oakland University Communications and Journalism department, so contact that department for more details if needed.

From the dozen or so people that have contacted me, I assume there will be several people down there- bring a sign or just show up and look for the crowd. Not sure what kind of police presence Bill will bring with him, but I wouldn't worry too much. If you are a student, unemployed, or just can get away that morning, show up and show what you think of this unrepentant terrorist and friend of Barack Obama.