Mediaboss Marketing

MOSCOW (Reuters) - It was like the bad old days of Soviet TV for Vladimir Pozner, a Russian broadcaster who began his career under Communism, when he found editors had cut parts of a pre-election talk show where he mentioned critics of the Kremlin.

But this is 2012. With censorship grown patchy and half the country online, the uncut program had been uploaded to the web - thanks to viewers in Russia's far east who had caught the show live, before the edited version was broadcast in Moscow later.

"I think it's just a Soviet reflex: 'How can you criticize power?'," said Pozner, who has watched Russian leaders, from Brezhnev to Gorbachev, Yeltsin to Putin, blow hot and cold on political censorship of the media for the past 30 years.

"It's called a hangover in English. Eventually, it passes."

That sentiment echoes many who believe the genie of media freedom is, slowly, pushing its way out of the bottle in Russia, notably since street protests began against the expected return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency at an election on Sunday.

A public who tasted post-Soviet liberties in the anarchic 1990s, combined with new technology, will, many believe, not let the Kremlin force it back in again - despite years of tightening state control under former KGB man Putin, and despite a backlash against small, liberal media since protests began in December.

Ranked 142nd out of 179 countries worldwide on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Russia has seen journalists intimidated, even murdered, for exposing endemic crime and corruption, while privately owned and critical media have been much diminished since Putin first took over the Kremlin in 2000.

Having retained power during his four-year stint as prime minister to his protege, the outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev, Putin has seen control of the media as a vital tool through which he has maintained his widespread popularity.

Yet in the Internet age even the state-controlled networks on which most Russian voters rely have had to offer at least some account of grassroots protests since liberal anger erupted over the handling of the parliamentary election in December.

Some cautious critics see that as little more than a sop to public opinion, in their view as much a stage-managed piece of political machination as the electoral process itself. Yet others believe the shifts of the past few months are real.

Follow this link:
Russian media genie pushing at the bottle

MAHDASHT, IranIran opened a key space facility to visiting journalists for the first time Wednesday in an apparent effort to show its willingness to allow glimpses at sensitive technology even as Tehran and U.N. inspectors trade accusations about access to nuclear sites and experts.

The press tour of the Alborz Space Center, about 40 miles (70 kilometers) west of Tehran, also sought to showcase Iran's advances in aerospace sciences less than a month after it announced another satellite was launched into orbit.

Iran's ambitious space program has raised concerns in the West because of possible military applications. The same rocket technology used to send satellites into orbit -- including the Feb. 3 launch of the domestically made Navid, or Gospel -- can also be retooled to create intercontinental warheads.

Iran says Navid was designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor natural disasters.

The space center visit -- by nearly 50 journalists for international media in two separate groups -- comes as Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency are locked in disputes over access to officials and key sites in the Islamic Republic's atomic program.

The West and allies fear Iran's uranium enrichment labs could eventually produce weapons-grade material. Iran says it only seek nuclear power for energy and medical research.

Allowing journalists into the space facility could be an attempt to discredit U.N. claims that Iran is keeping a tight lid on its technological capabilities. Officials said the space center has no military role, and is used to control and collect data from various satellites, including Navid.

The facility is on a sprawling tract at the base of hills. Inside are huge satellite dishes, buildings housing the control rooms monitoring satellites, including display panels nearly three feet (a meter) across.

"We are the control station for Navid satellite, which has been designed to take pictures from the earth's orbit," director of project, Mojtaba Saradeghi, told the visiting journalists, who were shown a model of the Navid satellite.

Saradeghi said sanctions prevented Iran from buying some of the key equipment needed to build Navid, but Iranian space experts were able to design and produce the equipment.

Excerpt from:
Iran opens space program site for media tour

No one is spending much time on the search giant's new digital playground. Has Google+ officially failed?

Google launched its Google+ social network with much fanfare last year in an attempt to compete with industry behemoth Facebook. Today, Google+ boasts an impressive roster of tens of millions of members most of whom are barely spending any time on the site, according to an embarrassing new report from comScore. Google+ is a "virtual ghost town," says Amir Efrati atThe Wall Street Journal. The new statistics underline what an "uphill battle" Google faces in trying to slow Facebook's momentum. Here, a by-the-numbers look at the "mounting minuses" at Google+:

3 Minutesthat the average user spent on Google+in January

405 Minutes thatthe average user spent on Facebook in January

SEE MORE: Coming soon: Google-powered 'Terminator' glasses?

89 Minutes that the average user spent on Tumblr

17 Minutes that the average user spent on LinkedIn

SEE MORE: 4 reasons why Google's 'Search, plus Your World' is a very big deal

8 Minutes that the average user spent on MySpace, the hoary social site of yesteryear

10 million Google+ users in July 2011, mere weeks after the launch

Here is the original post:
The Google+ 'ghost town': Social networking by the numbers

Years ago, during the burgeoning days of the Internet, many people were reluctant to use their real name online. Fast forward to 2012 and more than 500 million people have Facebook profiles with a timeline of their life on full display for many to access. When did the secret identity become uncovered and is it a positive move?

New Canaan resident Fred Chang is well known around town for voicing his opinions on the issues. But even someone with a strong voice like Chang can feel threatened thanks to the advent of technology.

In early 2011, Chang did not support the Main Street sidewalks initiative, which became a very divisive issue in town. His comments were brought up online in a local online media forum.

"There were two comments on Patch (the local online media publication owned by AOL) identifying me by name and I recall one comment was referring to Fred Chang having access to a sidewalk near his home," Chang said. "The person pointed out that he knew where he lived. That person was pro-sidewalk. The other comment was a from a guy on Richmond Hill Road and told me to bug off. I made known the fact that I had contacted the FBI and the state police and had forwarded all the necessary information."

Chang said it was a frightening moment for him because it meant a stranger, or at least someone with no discernible online identity, knew where he lived. Chang has since stopped making comments online

"I discontinued making online comments because I take things personally," he said. "If a person is identified by their real name online, then it is personal."

But that was not always the case. When the Internet first became popular, there was a push to hide your real identity, which changed with the advent of social media.

"The Internet has become has become a so-called garbage dump where some people just want others to know certain things and it has become a meaningless forum for meaningless information," Chang said. "There is no standard. If you get an instrument like the Internet where people can hide behind computers then unless the FBI or the state police gets involved, people can just hide. We see it in schools and workplaces and cyberbullying. Anyone can click and manipulate images on Facebook. I think it's gotten out of control and I personally feel threatened by the uncontrolled storage and dissemination of personal information online."

Farhad Manjoo, of Slate.com, prefers that anonymity was something that thrived only in the beginning of the Internet boom.

"Anonymity has long been hailed as one of the founding philosophies of the Internet, a critical bulwark protecting our privacy," he said. "But that view no longer holds. In all but the most extreme scenarios -- everywhere outside of repressive governments -- anonymity damages online communities. Letting people remain anonymous while engaging in fundamentally public behavior encourages them to behave badly. Indeed, we shouldn't stop at comments," Manjoo said. "Web sites should move toward requiring people to reveal their real names when engaging in all online behavior that's understood to be public -- when you're posting a restaurant review or when you're voting up a story on Reddit, say. In almost all cases, the web would be much better off if everyone told the world who they really are."

Read more:
The evolution of the online identity

Looking at the general equity markets overall, we can clearly see that the fear of sovereign debt downgrade and economic slowdown which started last summer, ended during the fall. After four months of uncertainty on whether the bankers and government would allow another downward spiral in the economy and stock markets like we had in 2008, we now have our answer. The system will not be allowed to naturally correct and adjust as free markets would have them do. Banks which own toxic assets are no longer keeping financial records under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or applying mark to market valuation for the assets they hold on their books. However we really cant blame the banks for the entire problem we see in the financial world, they have been given bandages to conceal the wounds from the publics eye.

Todays western financial world operates much like our government sponsored medical system. Mask the problem and give the bankers the pharmaceutical drugs (bail out money) to help them dull the pain and keep them on life support. Letting the free markets work in curing the ailment is not an option because then there would be little need for doctors (governments) or the manufacturers of these drugs (central banks). The banks are sick and should be allowed to pass on peacefully ensuring the virus known as debt does not affect the rest of the population. Unfortunately, the governments and central bankers have only one prescription drug of choice to keep them alive. Printing money seems to be the cure to all sovereign debt problems around the world.

How much money was doled out to sick banks during the last few years is anyones guess since the drug dealing central bankers do not share information about the patents they hold (monopoly on money) or their sales figures (bailout money). There is absolutely no transparency on the amount of placebos they prescribe to every patient in the financial system or who is taking these pills to stay on life support. Lord James of Blackheath seems to think that the Fed injected these dying banks with $15 Trillion dollars of live saving drugs, but where did the placebos come from? He does a good job trying to explain it (Bush, Fed, Europe Banks in $15 Trillion Fraud, All Documented) but no one is listening. This doesnt surprise me: as long as the patient is still alive, who cares?

The Natural Cure to Kill This Virus

The western financial system based on pure fiat currency is the virus that will be the death of the financial world as we know it. Taking more and more of the same drug makes your immune system resilient to that drug, so each additional dose becomes less effective. Printing more and more money does not cure the financial system, but it in fact weakens our immune system to the point where the drug becomes a toxic mix of chemicals that will lead us to our death bed. An ancient healing system known asAyurveda,the knowledge for long life, has been used for thousands of years in India. Its an ancient healing system which aims to naturally treat and heal the body, mind and spirit much like yoga, which also brings balance into your life. The financial world is out of balance and no dose of printing will cure its problems, it will only mask the virus brought on by the bankers which is now spreading throughout the world.

So how do we kill the virus know as paper money and debts? Its very simple, you can starve the virus by taking away the food which allows it to grow in the first place, which means taking the printing press away from central banker, something they wont give up easily. Or you can introduce a virus killer into the system to cleanse it and eliminate 99% of the ailments caused by this virus we know as debt and paper money. This virus nurtured by central bankers could easily be killed with the use of gold and silver as money in our monetary system and thus eliminating the need for a central bank. Ayurveda has been used for thousands of year to naturally heal and maintain a good balance between mind, body and spirit. For most of history, silver and gold has been used as money and has all the properties we need for a sound financial system. Silver was used as a common currency for everyday transactions by the average person, where gold was mostly for a store of value for the wealthy. Outside of money, silver also has many industrial uses including film, solar and electronics. One of the few uses that is rarely discussed is medical uses for silver, including its ability to kill 99% of the known viruses thus helping eliminate the need for unnecessary medicinal drugs manufactured by big pharma. Spend a few hours googling silvers medicinal properties and you will see what I mean.

So what does this mean for me and my financial health?

Dont rely on big pharma, your government or central banks to protect your health and wealth. The system is not designed to protect you. In fact it is now stealing your wealth through inflation by endless printing of money. The real wealth is being transferring to people who take the necessary steps to protect themselves by owning the very thing that the bankers covet the most, gold and silver. History has show us over and over again that owning gold and silver is the best way of protecting yourself when currencies become devalued or inflated away to nothing.You must take responsibility for you own actions in life, which means taking the necessary precautions to protect your wealth and health in order to bring balance back to your life, something Indians have known for thousands of years.

Gold Trading Range

In last weeks review, we mentioned that gold was trading in a sideways channel between $1,720 and $1,750 which is a good development for gold. The longer this consolidation and trading range held in terms of time, the less likelihood a downside correction would occur. As more people start accepting a $1,700+ gold price, it will eventually lead to higher stock prices in the gold mining shares.

See the original post:
The Virus Which Plagues Our Financial System