Republican presidential candidate John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. The moment the selection was made official, bloggers, searchers, and buzzers went wild.
Naturally, lookups on the little-known Palin surged, as did other queries like "alaska governor," "sarah palin bio," and "sarah palin voting record." But that was to be expected. The interesting stuff came when folks picked up on the fact that Gov. Palin isn't your typical candidate.
As you'll likely hear countless times in the coming weeks, Gov. Palin came in second place in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant in 1984. Us Weekly picked up on the story, but not before looky-loos searched for "sarah palin beauty pageant," "sarah palin photos," and "sarah palin young."
Her relatively young age (she's just 44 years old) and the fact that she's a mother of 5 will continue to drive interest in her children and husband over the coming weeks and months. Her hubby, Todd, who often goes by the moniker "First Dude," is a a four-time champion of the Tesoro Iron Dog race. Her eldest son, Track, enlisted in the military on September 11, 2007. Both husband and son are currently rocketing up in Search. We also expect to log spikes soon on the rest of her brood: Bristol, Willow, Piper, and baby Trig.
Politics-related queries are also garnering tremendous interest. Curious folks are looking up Palin's stance on abortion and religion, as well as whether or not she's currently under an ethics investigation. The search data on those terms are impressive, but not as impressive as the queries on "sarah palin vogue magazine." That's right, kids—the possible next vice president is fashionable enough to be in Vogue.
But searchers are also learning their history. We're seeing huge spikes on Geraldine Ferraro, the first female candidate for vice president back in 1984. That's the same year Palin nearly won the title of Miss Alaska. This November, Gov. Palin will vie for a title that's just a bit more prestigious.
by Mike Krumboltz
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam
Amazing how quickly the punditocracy switches maps, time zones and histories, simultaneously mastering new combinations of consonants and vowels, to report and react to a "surprise" conflict in Georgia. It's almost hard to recall that, just a few days ago, the most urgent questions confounding most of the media had to do with just how narcissistic John Edwards really is, or what the ramifications of Barack Obama's plans to announce his vice presidential pick via text message might finally be.
Since the sight of tanks rolling usually has a way of concentrating the media mind, the question has become: Whither Russia?
Historical memory somewhat refreshed, Western media were ready with the headlines - "The evil empire is back"; "Welcome to the 19th century"; "The Russian bear's new teeth" - to promote the main thrust of most stories: namely, that Russia is reverting to tsarist, expansionist, Soviet-style, empire-amassing type.
And why is this important? When I started seeing these stories and statements - even making some of them myself - I realized there was something free-wheeling about the style of expression that made it different from what has been the norm. I first wondered if there was a somewhat perverse trace of nostalgia in dealing again with the Russians. And then it hit me. In the nearly seven years since Islam has wholly dominated current events, neither our media nor our leaders have ever, not even once, looked at similarly characteristic behavior from the Islamic world and labeled it accordingly.
In other words, no pattern of avowedly Islam-inspired violence in the world has ever earned a headline nearly as straightforward as "Islamic jihad is back." Not even the Islamic success of Motoon Rage, which has severely repressed Western modes of expression regarding Muhammad in particular and Islam in general, inspired anything as descriptive as, for example, "Sharia's new teeth."
Ask yourself: Would any British foreign secretary of the postmodern age look at, say, last year's trial of a British teacher in Sudan for "blasphemy" in naming a teddy bear "Muhammad," and conclude: "It's a reversion to not just post-colonial politics. It is a seventh century way of doing politics"?
And what American presidential candidate would ever explain the Islamic push, financial and otherwise, in the West for mosque construction, Islamic schools (madrassas), campus Islamic studies (apologetics) departments, Sharia law-inspired legal challenges, lobbying for Sharia-compliant banking and the like as a matter of Islamic imperialism?
While both Russia and Islam claim similarly long histories and cultures of conquest for reference, it's mighty tough to imagine any U.S. politician ever saying the following: "I think it's very clear that Islamic ambitions are to restore the old caliphate." (And that's despite a growing body of statements, even polling data, reflecting the persistence of Islamic caliphate dreams.)
http://jewishworldreview.com/0808/west081808.php3
Since the sight of tanks rolling usually has a way of concentrating the media mind, the question has become: Whither Russia?
Historical memory somewhat refreshed, Western media were ready with the headlines - "The evil empire is back"; "Welcome to the 19th century"; "The Russian bear's new teeth" - to promote the main thrust of most stories: namely, that Russia is reverting to tsarist, expansionist, Soviet-style, empire-amassing type.
And why is this important? When I started seeing these stories and statements - even making some of them myself - I realized there was something free-wheeling about the style of expression that made it different from what has been the norm. I first wondered if there was a somewhat perverse trace of nostalgia in dealing again with the Russians. And then it hit me. In the nearly seven years since Islam has wholly dominated current events, neither our media nor our leaders have ever, not even once, looked at similarly characteristic behavior from the Islamic world and labeled it accordingly.
In other words, no pattern of avowedly Islam-inspired violence in the world has ever earned a headline nearly as straightforward as "Islamic jihad is back." Not even the Islamic success of Motoon Rage, which has severely repressed Western modes of expression regarding Muhammad in particular and Islam in general, inspired anything as descriptive as, for example, "Sharia's new teeth."
Ask yourself: Would any British foreign secretary of the postmodern age look at, say, last year's trial of a British teacher in Sudan for "blasphemy" in naming a teddy bear "Muhammad," and conclude: "It's a reversion to not just post-colonial politics. It is a seventh century way of doing politics"?
And what American presidential candidate would ever explain the Islamic push, financial and otherwise, in the West for mosque construction, Islamic schools (madrassas), campus Islamic studies (apologetics) departments, Sharia law-inspired legal challenges, lobbying for Sharia-compliant banking and the like as a matter of Islamic imperialism?
While both Russia and Islam claim similarly long histories and cultures of conquest for reference, it's mighty tough to imagine any U.S. politician ever saying the following: "I think it's very clear that Islamic ambitions are to restore the old caliphate." (And that's despite a growing body of statements, even polling data, reflecting the persistence of Islamic caliphate dreams.)
http://jewishworldreview.com/0808/west081808.php3
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