USA and 'soccer'

Let's be honest, all jokes aside, the USA had a pretty good World Cup tournament. While I might muse that three players- Donovan, Dempsey and Howard- are the entire team, they did infact top the group England called EASY (lol). The USA proved they were a decent team, and seemed to attract the support of the US public, even if it is a sport they call 'soccer' and remain highly suspicious of.

But if the USA ever wonders why the rest of the world refuses to take it seriously in footie terms they might be well advised to avoid printing headlines like this...

Palin keeps the show going

She just can't help herself can she? It's been 24 days since the US election was won by Barack Obama and yet Ms Sarah Palin keeps her comedy show on the road. Since loosing the election with John McCain nearly a month ago, Palin has managed to stay on our screens to an admirable degree. She's even threatening to run for President next time round. We'll look forward to that Sarah!

But now the Telegraph in the UK reports that she did a TV interview whilst Thanksgiving turkeys were being killed right behind her. This will certainly help to support the mad woman impression she gave off throughout the month of October. She's obviously not going to fade into the snowy background. The video from her local TV station has ended up on YouTube and shows her casually chatting to a reporter about Thanksgiving, whilst turkeys are being slaughtered literally behind her. The man doing the slaughtering appears to be quite delighted at this media attention also. His trousers and the ground beneath him look like they are covered in blood.

Now it's not the slaughtering of the turkeys that I have the problem with, it's more the fact that she didn't seem to even notice this was going on behind her. Either that or she did notice and didn't see the problem. In a typical Palin statement, when asked what she will be doing on Thanksgiving Palin responds 'I'll be in charge of the turkey...I'm where I need to be today to prepare for that'.

You can view the video for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8. You'll need to watch it twice, once to watch the background, and once to figure out what exactly Palin is talking about....

Best Obama Front Page Award

I've been looking back over the newspapers I purchased on November 5th- the day after Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the USA- and have decided my award for 'Best Obama Front Page' goes to the Evening Herald. My criteria was pretty simple - I favoured the newspaper that had the most 'frameable' front page. That translated into a great graphic with a simple headline. Amongst the papers I purchased were Evening Herald, Irish Times, Irish Independent and The Guardian. On Nov 4th there was much fuss in the media about buying that famous front page and keeping it in a safe place.... I was definitely a little disappointed with some front pages on what was an inherently historic day.

Some of the other more traditional broadsheets ran with terribly informative headlines. But that's not really what it was about on Nov 5th. On the morning after an African American (just as much Caucasian really but that's another day's work) is elected to US President, do we really want to see a headline about the mammoth task that lies ahead for him? NO! Personally I was yelling loudly (in my head of course) and emphatically at the stacks of a certain newspaper that ran a cumbersome headline on just that. Not today people, maybe tomorrow!!! November 5th should have been about savouring history in the making, not policy chatter!

The Herald won hands down in my estimation with their entire front page dedicated to Obama's win. A full page image of Obama with the simple words Mr President across the front to match. A great addition to the spread was a well chosen extract from Obama's memorable speech that read 'it's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America'.

Well done to the folks at the Herald! (And to the greatness that is Barack Obama too). Round two takes place on January 21st so get your game on eds!

Has the World Changed Again?

Just over seven years ago we claimed 'the world will never be the same again'. The fall of the twin towers on September 11th 2001 brought a whole new reality to the lives of those living the dream in the developed or so called 'first' world. No longer could we ignore the nastiness that went on in other parts of the world. Terrorist violence was now in our back garden. But more importantly it was now in the American back garden. That garden contained a pool, a jacuzzi, a bbq and certainly no space existed for the harsh reality that arrived that fateful morning. But since last Tuesday's momentus events I've been wondering has the world changed again? The US general public electing an African American to the role of Commander in Chief is one of those historic moments that is likely to never be forgotten. Unlike 9/11 it will be remembered for positive reasons. Hopefully in a decade we will look back and remember it being the start of something amazing.

Obama embodies everything that the world (outside of the US) looks for in a US President. But it took Americans a little longer to catch on to what makes a good leader. It is not someone who tops the 'beer vote' or is like you or me. As a colleague pointed out, do you really want someone just like yourself running a highly powerful country like the US? Hmmm, probably not. 11/04/08 will likely be remembered as the day the wheels started moving. 01/20/09 will be remembered as the day it all began and a new beginning gripped America.

Obama is the man for job, and luckily he appears to have most of the world behind him.