President Obama Weekly Address - 23Jan08

In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.

Lawsuit Could Kill The Blogosphere

This lawsuit would change the blogosphere as we know it. It kill most of the aggregator, opinion, and commentary sites like the ones shown in the left sidebar of this blog, as well as this blog itself:

A copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit filed last month against The New York Times Co., owner of The Boston Globe and its Boston.com website, is being watched closely by news organizations, Internet researchers, independent bloggers, and companies that aggregate news online by linking to a variety of news sites.

At the heart of the complaint, lodged by GateHouse Media Inc., which publishes 125 community newspapers in Massachusetts, is the question of whether Internet news providers will be able to continue the practice of posting headlines and lead sentences from stories they link to on other sites.The case has been scheduled for trial in US District Court in Boston as early as Monday.

"This is the first case where these intellectual property issues have come to a head," said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society in Cambridge. "If the judge was to rule for GateHouse on every point, it would have far-reaching implications for the news and information ecosystem that underlies the Web as we know it." The case could result in new guidelines for how much, if any, content from one website can be used by another. "This is standard procedure across the Internet now," she said. "Newsrooms adopted the procedure from other practitioners."

Texas Sen. Cornyn Blocks Clinton's State Confirmation

The confirmation of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state will be held up for at least a day due to the objection of a single senator. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he wants "a full and open debate" about possible conflicts of interest from Bill Clinton's charitable foundation's acceptance of donations from foreign countries and companies.

If Cornyn blocks a unanimous consent floor voice vote, there will be a roll call vote Wednesday or Thursday which will give several Republican Senators an opportunity to go on record with a "ney" vote. Some Republicans likely see a "ney" vote on Clinton's confirmation as an "accomplishment" that they can tout to their base during the next election cycle.

Cornyn has also joined with other Senate Republicans to hold for one week the confirmation vote on Attorney General designate Eric Holder. Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania are seeking more information on whether Holder would pursue criminal prosecutions of "intelligence personnel" involved in interrogations after he said last week that water boarding is torture.

Related Postings:

• Obama Attorney General Holder A Threat To Carl Rove?
• The Petty Politics of John Cornyn

Collin County Inaugural Gala

The Dallas Morning News:
Democratic women's big gala in Collin County symbolic of suburban gains
11:11 PM CST on Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Dallas Morning News / By THEODORE KIM

A fledgling Democratic women's group in [Collin] county is hosting what is believed to be the largest Obama inauguration gala in North Texas. The $15,000 event, to be held at the Plano Centre, is black-tie optional. It will feature live music, a silent auction, a buffet and even a life-size cardboard cutout of Obama. About 400 people are expected.

"Women always get things done," said Barb Walters, president of the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County. The group is hosting the event with the local Obama campaign. "We want this to be a beginning, not an ending." . . .The event is the latest signal that Dallas' affluent and politically important northern suburbs are becoming more competitive. . . .Democrats, of course, still have their work cut out for them in Collin County, which for decades now has served as a base of power and resources for the GOP.

Republicans often mislabel the Democratic Party as the Democrat Party to convey their disdainful disrespect for those affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Note the difference in the DMN online headline, "Democratic women's big gala in Collin County symbolic of suburban gains" originally posted at 11:11 PM CST on Sunday, January 18, 2009 verses the headline "Democrat women's big gala in Collin County has symbolic significance" as updated at 12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 19, 2009.

The DMN does not want to be left open to a charge of "liberal media bias."