Jan 29, 2013

You just can't go wrong with tomatoes and mozzarella

Liked · August 30, 2012

Just stack tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese and asparagus and drizzle with some balsamic vinaigrette. ,- Please share! —I have copied this and put it on my blog---The Ronnie Republic--I'm honored as this is one of my all-time favorite food combinations.....Thank you ---this makes my day and I also like to collect pictures of food.

Jan 27, 2013

Edward Albee---will you marry me

Edward Albee---will you marry me

file under: I should be cleaning, but I'm writing.......

I know there may be a few differences in our personalities, but we can work those bugs out. Every relationship has a glitch.

But the important tenants remain--you understand my mother, or better yet me, how I have had to endure my mother and you understand the confusion of alcohol.

I've heard it said "What is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf about?"

.......that's not the question--its the confusion--the resulting alcohol fueled confusion and horrible beastly argument and insults--words that don't make any sense.

.......that's it--that's the issue--you're left with lasting confusion--confusion for the rest of your life.

.......unforgettable words---words that were really knives in my heart, knives in my mother's heart, knives in my grandmother's heart.

Why did he say that--why did she say that.

Did they really mean it --I have to spend the whole rest of my life asking these stupid, f>>>ing questions--why did my mother do that, why did my grandfather do that, was my grandfather a bad person, was he a good person that was misinterpreted, do I love my mother, ....or, more importantly.....is it okay to not love my mother?

life long lasting confusion I can never figure out--was it my fault--does my mother like me?

That's it ''there are no answers but i wish i could just stop thinking about it--i wish my brain would stop asking the questions and let it go.

Edward, please don't be mad now, if I have messed everything up and misinterpreted your play.....when I saw the movie I knew it was about my family....drinking and fighting.
--
from the writing desk of Susan LeCarre

Jan 24, 2013

Filner meets with Tijuana mayor, business leaders

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Filner meets with Tijuana mayor, business leaders

San Diego's mayor said he'll push for closer ties

By Sandra Dibble7:34 p.m.Jan. 21, 2013

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante during the Monday gathering. / Photo by Peggy Peattie * U-T

TIJUANA — Saying the rich potential of cross-border relations has not been tapped, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner on Monday pledged to promote increased ties with Tijuana at every level — from cultural initiatives to student exchanges to joint lobbying trips with his Mexican counterpart.

“We have to strengthen the sense that we are one, that we don’t just give lip service to dos ciudades, una región (two cities, one region) but actually make it true,” Filner said during a meeting hosted by the Tijuana Economic Development Corporation, or DEITAC.

View a photo gallery

The event marked Filner’s first formal public appearance in Tijuana since he took office in December, staff members said, though he has crossed south on two other occasions since becoming mayor.

Fighting for U.S. federal funds to relieve congestion at San Diego’s border crossings is a priority for Filner. “It’s the biggest obstacle to our relationship, for commercial things, for business,” he said. Together with Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante, “we’re going to travel to Mexico City and to Washington together to try to make the case that this is so important to both countries, both cities, both peoples.”

In recent weeks, Filner has announced moves to increase cross-border contact with Tijuana, including the establishment of a telephone hotline linking his office directly to Bustamante’s. He has appointed a staff member, Mario López, to focus full time on border affairs.

And he plans to open San Diego’s first office in Tijuana next month. In its initial phase, the city will operate out of DEITAC’s offices in the city’s Río Zone, where the business group has offered space free of charge.

One way to truly become a binational region, Filner said, would be for Tijuana and San Diego to share the same area code — a move that would not only save the cost of calling long distance but also offer a powerful symbol.

Filner had broached the idea while serving as a U.S. congressman representing California’s border with Mexico. “Technically, it’s a trivial matter, you throw a few switches,” he said Monday. “Politically, it’s more difficult.”

John Eger, a telecommunications lawyer and professor at San Diego State University, promoted such a proposal in the 1990s. “It’s important that we find a way to blur the border, and one way to do that would be to establish a common area code,” Eger said. The proposal failed, he said “for want of support in Mexico City.”

On Monday, members of Tijuana’s business community urged the mayor to take action on other fronts. David Mayagoitia, the president of DEITAC, said a good first step would be supporting the rebuilding of rail links on both sides of the border — a move he said would help spur growth for the region’s automotive industry.

Tijuana’s future also depends on improving the city’s reputation in San Diego and beyond, Mayagoitia said. “We need San Diego to help us overcome the image problem.”

Bustamante said he hoped Filner could continue the relationship developed with San Diego’s previous mayor, Jerry Sanders, and “take it to a new level.”

Proponents of closer collaboration have said the mayors might want to take some pointers from a previous era — the 1990s with San Diego Mayor Susan Golding and Tijuana Mayor Hector Osuna Jaime, when their administrations forged a memorandum of understanding and staff members consulted regularly on issues such as public safety, sports, culture and the environment.

Jorge D’Garay, who served as the Tijuana’s public relations director at the time, said the formal arrangements, approved by the U.S. State Department and Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, helped keep the efforts on track. “Otherwise, you run the risk of turning into a social affair.”

sandra.dibble@utsandiego.com (619) 293-1716 Twitter @sandradibble

KOGO 600's chip franklin SHUT DOWN AND OUT BY SAN DIEGO MAYOR BOB FILNER

KOGO 600's chip franklin SHUT DOWN AND OUT BY SAN DIEGO MAYOR BOB FILNER

No, chip franklin of KOGO 600 morning talk radio in San Diego really thought he was going to get one over on mayor Bob Filner, but the newly elected mayor of San Diego just wasn't having it.......no, chip, not today.

chip was essentially down and out to begin with because there was no way he was going to be able to employ his usual tactics of shouting, hanging up on or calling the person an "ass" after the phone call was over, as he did the other day to the Fox network newswoman when she would not give more details that he desired.

The mayor wanted to put forth his idea to inject more money into the San Diego financial market by promoting tourism from Mexico, our convenient neighbor next door, to increase the dollar intake at such activities as football, shopping at all of our beautiful malls and enjoying all of our other activities sought after by tourists around the world....and I know its true because I see tourists from everywhere, speaking all kinds of different languages, when I walk in Balboa Park about once a week. I think the mayor has a good idea. Why not?

Apparently Mayor Bob Filner had a head's up about chip's poo-pooing on immigration. No, I guess chip's rush limbaugh-esque approach throws a monkey wrench right down on the welcome mat when it comes to dollars from Tijuana.

The mayor was happy--he did not let chip rain on his parade. He essentially said give me a break man, I'm trying to make head way in our San Diego financial issues--lend me a hand, don't run people out.

Well, its obvious chip doesn't get out much--like all conservatives he is little and afraid--he thinks the US is not only the best country but the only country. Remember, this is a man who has never been to the UK, but when he goes he is going to use United States dollars--he feels our money is the best and always the most welcomed anywhere around the world. Right, chip, have you heard of the pound?

I maintain, and I don't think anyone can go against it, it is this rush limbaugh and sean hannity sentiment that lost the election. No, Mayor Filner is a democrat and by the way chip, so is our President Barack Obama and our beloved Governor, Jerry Brown.

chip you and sean hannity lost the election with statements like "taking back America." America is a beautiful coat of many colors. The dems are in and the ROWGs are out. chip--get with the program--bullying and hating are out.

Good job, Mayor Filner.

--

chloelouise

Jan 22, 2013

.gosh I love all of this interesting JFK info

I have copied this from facebook.......cl......gosh I love all of this interesting JFK info.

Ruby - Oswald Connection - here is a list of all the witnesses who placed Ruby and Oswald together, saw them together, or they knew each other BEFORE the JFK assassination....do you feel they knew each other?...

Chloe Louise Now this is what gets me real annoyed--recently watched the c-span-history channel, showing interviews of people who were actually there, one being Jim Levealle--the sheriff in the white hat escorting Oswald when he was shot--when asked could he tie Oswald and Ruby together in any way shape or form--he replied that he tried to every way he could but there just was no evidence--also the fact that Oswald did not drink or go to clubs.

Jan 19, 2013

I like Ronnie Wood on Absolute Classic Rock

There are so many people who have been waiting for the return of Mick Taylor to the Rolling Stones....I would love to get a chance to see them, I hope they will have more concerts. Speaking of the Stones, I listen to the Ronnie Wood show every Saturday on Absolute Classic Rock...he has not been on lately, I guess with his tour and wedding...I hope he will be on today. It is really a good show and he has some very interesting stories.

Jan 17, 2013

I've Been A Hillary Girl Forever!

"She refers to me as her ‘first husband’. Because I told her once she’s going to live to be 120 and have time for plenty more.”

- President Bill Clinton speaking about his wife Hillary Clinton

from msnbc

Jan 15, 2013

Huell Howser--My Interview Hero

Kimber Kneeland · IT Helpdesk Support at Driscoll's

RIP Huell Howser...may all your sunsets be California perfect!

Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · 23 minutes ago

Chloe Louise · San Diego, California

Hope you don't mind--putting your nice comment in my blog--the ronnie republic--I think I have seen every one of Huell's shows. I have been to several of his recommendations--I love a road trip in sunny southern California and discovering an interesting place--I can usually bring my dog. it's not too crowded and I learn new information. I will really miss Huell's interesting shows and friendly style. He really had the interview knack of mirroring the statement back to the person and the art of the pause down to a science. The best thing about his interview skills was conveying sincerity and enthusiasm with very few words. If one notices his interview he strategically directs the conversation to reveal the true meaning of the place as told by the citizens or the docents who actually work at the site. He is low-key and inspirational at the same time--one of the most talented interviewers on television....cl

Reply · Like · 2 seconds ago

home > news > local

"Salute" to Huell Howser to be Held at Griffith Observatory on Tuesday

Howser, who devoted his life to chronicling people and places in California, died Jan. 6

By Sharon Bernstein

| Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013 | Updated 8:56 AM PST

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"Salute" to Huell Howser at Griffith Observatory

A public salute to Huell Howser, the affable host of public broadcasting’s long-running “California’s Gold” series, will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Griffith Observatory, hosted by City Councilman Tom La Bonge.

Howser, an intensely private man whose chronicles of California locales earned him a warm spot in the hearts of many in the state, died Jan. 6 after a two-year battle with cancer.

More: TV Personality Huell Howser Dead at 67 | Howser Didn't Want Memorial, Died of Cancer

He had told friends he did not want a memorial or funeral service.

LaBonge’s event will conclude with what the councilman is calling a “sunset salute” to Howser at 5:07 p.m.

A note on LaBonge’s website invited the public to gather at 3:30 p.m. on the steps of the observatory. A shuttle will be provided from the Greek Theater for those who prefer to park there.

"Huell had a tremendous enthusiasm for California landmarks like the Griffith Observatory," LaBonge, said in the online invitation. "And now we must say goodbye to our own California landmark, Huell Howser."

Howser was 67 when he died.

copied from:

Del Mar Council Urges Gun Show Ban

home > news > local

Del Mar Council Urges Gun Show Ban

SoCal city's council wants to ban "Crossroads of the West" gun show

By Lauren Steussy

| Tuesday, Jan 15, 2013 | Updated 9:30 AM PST

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In a strongly-worded resolution passed with unanimous support, the Del Mar City Council has urged the banning of a popular gun show on the city's fairgrounds. NBC 7's Catherine Garcia reports.

In a strongly worded resolution passed with unanimous support, the Del Mar City Council has urged the banning of a popular gun show at the city's fairgrounds.

For the last 22 years, "Crossroads of the West" has held its show in Del Mar, an ocean-side city of about 4,500 residents located 20 miles north of San Diego. The group promotes 60 shows a year throughout the west coast.

Gun shows like "Crossroads" have recently been criticized for their gun registration policies, especially in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

On Monday, the council cited the tragedy, in addition to the rising number of Americans killed with guns, as reason to ban the show from the fairgrounds.

"Hosting gun shows in Del Mar and calling them 'the Del Mar Gun Show' implies tacit approval of the gun shows by the citizens of Del Mar," according to the resolution.

The resolution urged the District Agricultural Association, which hosts the gun shows, to not renew its contract with Crossroads of the West or any other gun show sponsor.

"My response, relative to the school shootings is that when you have a gun-free zone, it is an invitation to people to come in and do what they want to do," said Dexter Haight, president of the NRA Members Council of Greater San Diego. "That's where people who want to do bad things are going to go to."

Haight said although he was urged to direct gun control questions to NRA headquarters, he felt there was too much misinformation at the meeting to remain quiet.

The council's action is not the first showing of support for such a ban. One local resident collected a petition with more than 750 signatures to ban the gun shows from Del Mar.

Organizers maintain that the show poses no danger to the community, though.

The Del Mar Fairgrounds Board of Directors met to hear what residents and members of the public thought about a potential ban last week.

"As a public entity we have to be cognizant of the fact that we cannot discriminate against who can or cannot use our facility," Board of Directors President Adam Day said earlier this month. "These shows are operated under the most strict rules and regulations."

Some supporters of gun shows say the responsibility lies with the owner of the weapon, while opponents say it is time for local officials to step in.

Day said that unless a board member challenges the gun show, it is unlikely it will be canceled.

Jan 10, 2013

Cooking With Alia--The Best Show on You-Tube+++Cuisiner avec Alia - Le meilleur spectacle sur You-Tube

Here is a really good show on You-Tube--Cooking With Alia
Voici un très bon spectacle sur You-Tube - Cuisiner avec Alia

File under: bringing the world together with food and fabric.
Fichier sous: rassembler le monde avec de la nourriture et fabric.

CookingWithAlia

Tuesday

In Marrakech!!! Starting to videotape cooking videos tomorrow in... ARABIC! Yes, awesome news to start year 2013 - I will have another cooking channel in Arabic for all the people who have been asking me for one! :-)

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Dounia Dahou Good luck Alia. Wish for you all the best think.

Wednesday at 6:05am via mobile · Like
Fidou Kech hey :!! Welcome to Marrakech

Wednesday at 3:31pm · Like

I copied this information for the Cooking With Alia Facebook page--she is actually one of my heroes--I am always talking about bringing the world together with food and fabric but Alia is actually doing it...

If you just search "Cooking With Alia" on you-tube there are plenty of really good, interesting and easy to prepare dishes--she taught me how to make Lemon souffle. It is pretty easy to follow her directions--that is one of the reasons I always go back to her.....cl

Why I Love Malala--by Chloe Louise Langendorf Louis

Well--here we go--my grandmother wanted to speak out so bad--she only went to the 8th grade--she saved money for me to go to college--she couldn't talk--why: you don't get to say what you think when you spend your day with a loud alcoholic.....you talk and things you love get wrecked...and that's how it works.

File under: Women and girls speaking out around the world.

My thing: bringing the world together with food and fabric.

Malala, others on front lines in fight for women

By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Special to CNN

updated 8:37 AM EST, Thu January 10, 2013

Malala Yousafzai leaves a hospital Friday in Birmingham, England. She was treated there after the Taliban shot her in the head.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Gayle Lemmon: Taliban failed to stop education advocate Malala Yousafzai by shooting her
Lemmon: Similar attacks on other women and girls trying to reach their goals were fatal
Attacks are efforts to stamp out women's progress, rights and potential, she says
She says potential of half the population will not be realized if violence is tolerated

Editor's note: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a fellow and deputy director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council of Foreign Relations. She wrote "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana," a book that tells the story of an Afghan girl whose business created jobs and hope during the Taliban years.

(CNN) -- The girl the Taliban wanted dead has not only survived but was able to walk out of the hospital last week. But other highly publicized, vicious attacks on women and girls have not had such triumphant outcomes.

Malala Yousafzai's ordeal is not over yet: Doctors say the 15-year-old campaigner for girls' education, whom gunmen shot in the head as she rode a school bus in Pakistan, will be readmitted in late January or early February for more cranial reconstructive surgery.

She left the hospital just days after gunmen attacked a van in Pakistan's Swabi District, less than an hour from the capital, and killed six women and one man who worked at a children's community center. Five of the dead were teachers; two were health care workers. The center, a charity, offered a school for girls and vaccinations for polio, among other diseases, along with maternal health treatment.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Yet another attack unfolded around the time of Malala's release. India is reeling from the death of a woman who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Brutally gang raped, mutilated and thrown from a bus, the physiotherapy student later died in a Singapore hospital. Her name was not made public in India, but her cause electrified the nation. Her father, who sold family land to move his family to Delhi from rural India to help his daughter realize her education dreams, is left heartbroken.

"She wanted to be a doctor and said it was only a matter of a few years and that when she was a doctor (all our suffering), it will end,'" her father told the BBC. "I remember asking her once, 'Who are all your friends?' She replied, 'Dad, it's only my books I am friends with.'"

Malala's next phase of recovery

Malala Yousafzai walks from hospital

Gang-rape case unleashes fury in India

Discrimination begins in the womb

What all of these attacks have in common, along with their brutality, is that they are attempts at extinguishing the talent and potential of women -- or half of the population. In a world that needs every doctor it can find, every educator and politician who is willing to tackle the status quo, these young women offered a glimpse at a brighter future in which all can contribute.

No less than investment oracle Warren Buffett made that very case recently, referring to the United States, which has seen its share of less brutal attempts to hold women back.

"What a waste of human talent; 50% of the talent of the country we pushed off in a corner for almost 200 years," he said in an interview with Melinda Gates. "It is one of the things that makes me optimistic about the future -- we are getting to the point we are starting to realize we need to use 100% of our talent -- it makes me very optimistic, but we still have a way to go."

His words echoed those of the World Economic Forum in its annual Gender Gap Report.

"The key for the future of any country and any institution is the capability to develop, retain and attract the best talent," the report said. "Empowering and educating girls and women and leveraging their talent and leadership fully in the global economy, politics and society are thus fundamental elements of succeeding and prospering in an ever more competitive world."

Until now these horrific attacks on women and girls, attacks I have written about concerning Afghanistan, have been seen as shameful and isolated incidents. But they are a shared loss in a globalized world.

These young women and their legacies -- Malala, who will continue her fight, and the others, who will not -- are on the front lines of deciding what our world looks like. Will young women who speak out on the need for education be stopped or celebrated? Will girls who dream of becoming doctors stay alive long enough to do so? And when will we realize that their battle is one shared by everyone who dreams of a safer, more stable, more prosperous world in which more people have a stake? Perhaps Buffett's words will help enlist more fighters in the cause. Because the economic and human rights stakes are high.

Increasingly the world is recognizing the value and the contributions of girls and women. But progress is slow while violence is tolerated. And as the attacks in Pakistan show, educating girls remains a potentially deadly line of work.

"They wanted to kill her," said her father not long after gunmen shot his daughter. "But she fell temporarily. She will rise again. She will stand again." He was right.

Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion.

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

here is a nice comment:

RockyRetired • 19 hours ago

Malala Yousafzai has done more to advance the cause of goodness than all of the guns, bombs and ill-advised religious zeal displayed by all of the countries and factions involved in the Middle East and elsewhere. She is the most heroic person on the current world stage, in my opinion.

I copied this from CNN---there are many more comments on that page

Jan 8, 2013

Del Mar woman fighting fairground gun shows

The Associated Press

Published: Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 - 6:17 am

DEL MAR, Calif. -- A resident of tiny Del Mar in San Diego County town is taking aim at gun shows following the Connecticut school massacre.
The North County Times ( http://bit.ly/VMkd7Y) says former teacher Rosanne Holliday has begun a grass-roots campaign to stop shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Holliday says it's wrong to celebrate gun culture in a public facility.
She says about 50 people in the town of 4,100 have expressed support. Supporter Bud Emerson says the group has put together a draft petition against the shows.
Fair board President Adam Day says five shows a year bring the fairgrounds a net profit of $324,000. He says the shows, which have been held for two decades, meet all laws and undercover law enforcement officers are on hand.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/07/5096719/del-mar-woman-fighting-fairground.html#storylink=cpy

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Jan 5, 2013

Happy Christmas from Mick Taylor and the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

Like This Page · December 23, 2012

Happy Christmas + Happy New Year to Rolling Stones Fans Worldwide.
Thank you for your support,
Mick T
Mick Taylor Official (micktaylor.com)

everyone is searching Mick Taylor......cl

Jan 3, 2013

Should David Atlee Phillips Have Been of the Cover of Life Magazine Instead of Lee Harvey Oswald?

Chloe Louise

Talking about the JFK Assassination Clearing House......

I think "The Clearing House" concept is an excellent idea. There is just so much information out there now. I am beginning to think that was the idea--confusion.

The big researchers seem to have the basic facts down now especially in the run-up to the big event.

Will we ever know who pulled the trigger?

The whole Oswald thing continues to be a mystery and I am beginning to think fairy tale.

The history portion of c-span ran a show of top JFK assassination researchers--Professor Wrone said Oswald was a fairy tale. The point I am trying to make is this. The word "fairy tale," that sticks in your mind. It has to be something short and something easy for people to remember or the whole thing becomes a mess of minutia and confusion--the result is that people, the general public, think it will never be solved and then the Bugliosi type people take over.

It's a mess. The citizens have a right to know what happened--reasonable questions have been asked.

Timeline, movie, a good story teller, a Southern accent--a Bill Clinton type that can take a complicated subject and explain it to the lay person--so they can remember the important facts and go away with main idea. I listen to soooo many researchers--real good ones--as soon as they start arguing over Cuban details--not that it is not important--the story is lost.

The story is lost--it is driven into the ground with minutia and the listeners eyes gloss over and their mind wanders and everything is lost. Then the next sentence is that there is no real proof. Lay it out, foot note it and move the story forward in an interesting fashion with key points to remember.

The basic facts are there now particularly with the whole Russ Baker and the George Bush elder thing and apparently Oswald's handler George de Mohrenschildt. Can these things really be denied now?

Really, I beginning to think the person who should have been on the cover of Life magazine was David Atlee Phillips, not LHO.

All of this is just a suggestion--you idea is great. Problem--it is a difficult story to understand--and complicated. Personally--I am still trying to figure out what the CIA is and does.
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Jan 2, 2013

The Ronnie Republic Welcomes Al Jazeera

file under: Food and Fabric Around The World

Chloelouise and The Ronnie Republic welcome Al Jazeera to the beautiful coat of many colors of the United States.

Yes...I love going to London and seeing all of the different news channels from around the world.....cl

My thing....bringing the world together with food.........cl

really.....the lady that sits next to me in my sewing class wears traditional Muslim clothing...the fabric is beautiful...and she is beautiful, too. I love her....she is trying to find a pattern to make her traditional dress and fortunately there are plenty of directions on you-tube.

Food and fabric...that makes everyone human and interesting....it brings people together all around the world. It's just everyday people...trying to get dressed and eat and take care of their children.

What is my favorite restaurant.....forever and always....DZ Aikens deli in San Diego. Really, their food is soooooo fresh and high quality.

I hope Al Jazeera will have some space for food and fabric.......cl

“U.S. viewers have clearly demonstrated that they like the way Al Jazeera provides compelling, in-depth news to audiences across the world,” the Director General said. “Our commitment to the voice of the voiceless, bringing stories from under-reported regions across the world and putting the human being at the center of our news agenda is at the heart of what we do. Everyone at Al Jazeera takes great pride in the independence, impartiality, professionalism and courage of our journalism. I look forward to bringing these standards to our new American audiences and working with our new colleagues at Current.”

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JANUARY 02, 2013

Al Jazeera to buy Al Gore's Current TV, build new U.S.-based cable newschannel

For years, I and other critics have argued that Al Jazeera, the newschannel founded and funded by the government of Qatar, has earned a prominent place in America's array of cable news outlets, thanks to their incisive coverage of the Arab Spring revolts and war in the Middle East.
But no one predicted the channel would earn its foothold through purchase of a floundering cable concern owned by a former vice president of the United States.
Al Jazeera announced today it has acquired Current TV, the liberal-focused cable channel funded and co-owned by onetime Vice President Al Gore. According to Forbes magazine, Current co-founder Joel Hyatt sent staffers a memo with the news earlier today, saying he had spent a week in Qatar observing Al Jazeera's operations. The magazine quoted a possible sale price at $400 million.

Hyatt wrote: " it became clear to us that Al Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current: To give voice to those whose voices are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the important stories that no one else is telling. Al Jazeera, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us."
Al Jazeera announced plans to scrap Current's programming -- which now includes weekday shows featuring former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- to create a new, U.S.-based channel.

Current TV has struggled for visibility and focus since its founding in 2005, beginning as a home for liberal-oriented documentaries and morphing into a more left-leaning analysis and opinion channel than liberal channel MSNBC. Hiring former MSNBC star Keith Olbermann to lead a restructuring of the channel and relaunch of his show Countdown didn't fare well -- Olbermann was eventually fired amid growing friction with executives, countersuing the company.
Al Jazeera has experienced its own setbacks in the U.S. cable market, struggling to earn access to American households amid suspicion of its Middle East roots and Arab-centric programming. Today, Time Warner Cable dropped Current from its lineup, though Bright House Networks, which often shares programming with Time Warner, still has Current in its digital tier as I write this.
Al Jazeera expects to double its American staffing to 300 in staffing the new channel, which will be available in 40 million homes even after the Time Warner cancellation. Where this new channel will fit in the axis of right-leaning Fox News, liberal-oriented MSNBC and non-partisan CNN remains to be seen.
But anything to shake up the status quo in American cable news programming can't be all bad.
AL JAZEERA TO START NEW U.S.-BASED NEWS CHANNEL
Acquisition of Current TV Will Make Al Jazeera Channel Available in more than 40 million American Households
NEW YORK – (January 2, 2013) – Al Jazeera Media Network today announced that it will launch a new U.S.-based news channel that will provide both domestic news and international news for American audiences.
The Network has won numerous U.S. and international awards for its journalism and with more than 70 bureaus across the globe it has one of the largest bureau footprints and newsgathering forces of any news network in the world.
Al Jazeera Media Network also announced that it has acquired Current TV in the United States and that the new U.S.-based news channel will be available on Current’s distribution network when it is launched in 2013. There will be a transition from existing programming until the new Al Jazeera channel begins to air.
The new channel will be headquartered in New York City. In addition to the existing Al Jazeera news bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, Al Jazeera will open additional bureaus in key locations across the United States. Al Jazeera’s expansion will double the network's U.S.-based staff to more than 300 employees.

Al Jazeera Director General Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani said that the creation of the new U.S.-based news channel and the purchase of Current TV are historic developments in Al Jazeera's 16-year history. He said, “For many years, we understood that we could make a positive contribution to the news and information available in and about the United States and what we are announcing today will help us achieve that goal. By acquiring Current TV, Al Jazeera will significantly expand our existing distribution footprint in the U.S., as well as increase our newsgathering and reporting efforts in America. We look forward to working together with our new cable and satellite partners to serve our new audiences across the U.S. I am both exceptionally pleased and very proud that we could take this very important step.”
Al Jazeera’s decision to create a U.S.-based news channel was based in part on the fact that Americans have already shown a great demand for its news and programs: Almost 40 percent of all online viewing of Al Jazeera English comes from the United States.
“U.S. viewers have clearly demonstrated that they like the way Al Jazeera provides compelling, in-depth news to audiences across the world,” the Director General said. “Our commitment to the voice of the voiceless, bringing stories from under-reported regions across the world and putting the human being at the center of our news agenda is at the heart of what we do. Everyone at Al Jazeera takes great pride in the independence, impartiality, professionalism and courage of our journalism. I look forward to bringing these standards to our new American audiences and working with our new colleagues at Current.”
The new U.S.-based news channel will be the latest addition to the Al Jazeera Media Network which consists of: Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera Balkans, Al Jazeera Sport, Al Jazeera Mubasher, Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr (Egypt Live), Al Jazeera Mobile, the English and Arabic Al Jazeera web sites Al Jazeera.net and Al Jazeera.com, and supported by the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, and the Al Jazeera Public Liberties and Human Rights Department. As part of the Network’s expansion it is also planning to launch Al Jazeera Turk for the Turkish-speaking region in 2013.
The Al Jazeera Media Network is one of the most-honored news organizations in the world. In 2012, it won some of the most prestigious awards in journalism including:
•     Franklin D Roosevelt Foundation - Four Freedoms Award for “Freedom of Expression and Speech”
•     Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize
•     Alfred I. duPont Award
•     Columbia University Journalism Award
•     George Polk Award for Television Documentary
•     Foreign Press Association Award for Best Environmental Story of the Year
•     Amnesty International Media Award
•     The George Foster Peabody Award
•     Scripps Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth Reporting
•     Royal Television Society Award – News Channel of the Year 2012

Al Jazeera has won a wide range of additional awards (http://www.aljazeera.com/pressoffice/2012/04/2012416161854868952.html) and has been nominated for several Emmy Awards including an International Digital Emmy Award nomination for its 2008 U.S. election coverage. Al Jazeera has recently won praise from a number of American leaders including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain.

To learn more about the acquisition of Current TV and how to find Al Jazeera programming on a cable provider, please visit www.aljazeera.com/america.

Join the online conversation by following @ajenglish on Twitter with the tag #AJEUS, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aljazeera or watch us on www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish.

Posted by deggans at 9:41:01 pm on January 02, 2013 in

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