Steve O’Hearn

Mark Ranalli’s Helium website is a popular site - Alexa.com currently lists the site at 4,616.  And the partnership he shares with the National Press Club is producing results, including members growing out of the ranks of the “citizen journalist” that Helium encourages and promotes.  For more information, see Helium.com.

The Guardian News and Media recently held a “Future of Journalism” event for its employees, and Arianna Huffington spoke.  At the event she reported that her HuffingtonPost.com recently receive additional funding to expand into local news, starting with Chicago.  The full story on this expansion is here.[1]

I caught a television commercial this morning for something called MagicJack, a device that allows you to connect a standard landline telephone device to your computer through a USB port.  If you have (a) broadband computer access, (b) a USB port, and (c) a need for free long distance service, check out MagicJack.com.

I just heard the news that George Carlin passed away. 

Here is my favorite routine he ever did, comparing baseball at football:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YphEUa5LPjM

I didn’t attend the Wednesday event with Larry Sinclair.  But here’s a post from Tim Shipman, from the UK’s Telegraph.  He was reportedly there, and he strikes me as a level headed observer.  On the one hand, Sinclair appears to have virtually no credibility.  But at one point Shipman refers to:

reporters who believed not a word of what Mr Sinclair was saying but felt compelled to listen not only out of politeness but the memory that most were wrong to dismiss the women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual shenanigans 15 years ago. [1]

So what does this mean?  Absolutely nothing, yet.  And really, in comparison, I’d say Sinclair is a lot sketchier than were (originally) Paula Jones or Monica Lewinsky.  Or Jessica Hahn (Jim Bakker).  Or Donna Rice (Gary Hart).  Perhaps they all look better by the benefit of hindsight.  But while they were all originally castigated, I don’t recall any of them with anything like the littany of convictions and other problems in Sinclair’s background.

There’s really only one conclusion I’ve drawn from the events of the Sinclair event:  the anti-Sinclair people really, really, really hate that guy.  And they don’t want others to hear him. And for someone who comes across as rather obviously lacking in credibility, that frenzied hatred of him - and fear that he might be heard - strikes me as rather odd.

But for now … show’s over kids, back to work.

A few days ago I posted a blog in which I asked “Who is Larry Sinclair?”  I hadn’t heard of him before, and was puzzled at the barrage of complaints about his scheduled appearance, pouring into my inbox, and elsewhere in the Club.  And  just asking “who is he” triggered a barrage of false accusations from a curiously intense group of anti-Sinclair people, with round-the-clock emails, spouting some foul-mouthed and rather slanderous attacks on the Club and some of my fellow Club members. 

I was told that my “position” on Sinclair was wrong.  My “position”?  So it was wrong for me to NOT know who he is? 

I received a torrent of email that all claimed to be from different people who apparently only have first names and no phone numbers or physical addresses, but all used hotmail or some other free email service, and all used the exact same subject line and same writing style, using all capital letters for the same words.  Amazing coincidence, that one. 

And other bloggers - virtually all of them anonymous - attacked the Club and my fellow members - myself included - with false accusations, quotes taken out of context, and false information.  One complaint actually picked on me for mentioning that I occasionally use the Altavista search engine.  OH NO!  RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

One thing became clear:  there’s a lot of confusion out there about what the National Press Club is, and what it isn’t.  So let’s clear up that confusion, shall we?

What the Club is NOT:  it is not a news bureau.  It is not a biased privately backed organization.  It is not some cowardly bunch of agenda-drive hacks who anonymously and recklessly attack anyone and everything with whom they might disagree.  And I’m not referring to anyone in specific here, kos I just wouldn’t do that. 

What the Club IS:  It’s a magnificent institution consisting of many of the best journalists in the world, with a century-old legacy of professionalism and grace, of fun and frivolity, of camaraderie and laughter.  

The Club has led the charge on admitting women and African-Americans as members, and to this day the Club fearlessly and courageously stands up for First Amendment rights in America, and for reporters worldwide, whose lives have been threatened, and whose freedoms - and in some cases, their lives - have been terminated. 

In other words, it’s unlike any other organization or institution in the world. 

THE CLUB WAS FOUNDED IN 1908 by reporters in DC who were getting off work after the bars closed, and they wanted a place to get a beer.  As they collected their funds and built their clubhouse, politicians quickly learned that if they wanted an audience with the media, the Club was the place to go.  And it still is - heads of state and kings and queens have all been here, and come here still.  But it’s still a fun place where people involved in journalism gather together to network, to advance their careers, when they’re not working, to have a drink and laugh and have fun. 

NOW … the Club has a full-time set of outstanding employees, known as the staff.  And among the Club’s assets is a beautiful facility on the top floors of the National Press Building, which is run by the staff.  The facility has a beautiful view of the White House and the Washington Monument. The second of these two floors is a members-only area with a lounge, restaurant, bar, gym, and other facilities for fun and camaraderie.  And close circuit TV’s tuned in to all the major news outlets. 

Downstairs, the Club’s first floor consists of meeting rooms, press conference rooms, a ballroom, restaurant, and more.  The first floor is available for member use, and use it we do.  BUT … not always!  And the Club has bills to pay!  So when we don’t use our press conference rooms and meeting rooms and ballrooms, we lease them out, along with a variety of catering and audio-visual services. 

But these are not “National Press Club events”.  Within the Club, the leased events are referred to as “private” events, meaning that we as Club members aren’t automatically granted access or involved in any way.  So we know – as Club members – that we are not necessarily even able to attend the “private” events.  Some of the “private” events are corporate meetings.  Private book signings.  Retirement parties.  Invitation-only paid industry conferences.  On weekends, there might be wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs.   And a “private” event may be a panel discussion or press conference.  And those events, though “private” to us members, may actually be open to the public.  But they are still not “member” events  - for example, if you peruse our weekly newsletter, the Record, you’ll find that there’s no mention whatsoever of any “private” events, whether it’s open to the public or not.

Such was the case of the Larry Sinclair event.  His was a privately scheduled event.  That’s why the torrent of email coming from the anti-Sinclair crowd triggered a “who is Larry Sinclair” response from me, and from most anyone at the Club who heard about the petitions and email.  Honestly, if none of those complaints had happened, I think his event would’ve passed unnoticed, given that I don’t think he’d promoted it, AND that it happened in the midst of the memorial service over at the Kennedy Center for NBC’s Tim Russert. 

And that’s what had my attention yesterday afternoon - the Russert memorial service.  I thought Maria Shriver in particular was funny and moving. 

But I did manage to get some information on the Sinclair event.  I’ll be happy to share it if anyone really wants to know. I might blog about it later.  Frankly it hardly seems worth it.

But in the meantime, know that the Club is an absolutely outstanding organization. 

So are you a journalist?  Do you work with journalists?  If so, please contact me, or visit our website, and join the Club! 

Kos if you’re a real journalist, or work with real journalists, we’d love to get you involved. 

Now there’s a headline I never thought I’d write. But the Times of London is reporting that genetically modified bugs are currently the subject of Silicon Valley researchers who believe they may have discovered a “renewable” petroleum product. “Oil 2.0″ is carbon negative - meaning that the balance of carbon emitted by the use of the oil is offset by the carbon removed from the environment by … well … by the bugs.

One company featured in the Times’ article is LS9, and is partially backed by investor and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla.  LS9 has a large board of advisors who it describes as coming from “synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, microbiology, enzymology, genomics, bioinformatics, and chemical engineering.” LS9 refers to its products as “DesignerBioFuels”, a named they’ve trademarked.

Stay tuned.

There’s a new perspective on an old concept that’s making the rounds lately.  The old concept is ”executive function”, and it refers to the cognitive ability to filter multiple incoming information sources, activities, etc., - i.e., multiple stimuli - and identify those that are more important in context than others.  In other words, the ability to work effectively in a situation that involves information overload.

The new take:  “executive function” may be more important than IQ in terms of measuring someone’s overall intellectual strength.

I’ve seen this notion mentioned in some business journals, and recently Newsweek picked up on the idea and published a great piece here.

Lee Iacocca is the business leader best known for his public and unexpected turnaround of the Chrysler company back in the 1980’s, and author of several bestsellers, including his landmark 1984 autobiography. I was always struck by how Iacocca credited his success to his ability to concentrate, to focus.  I believe Iacocca was describing his own “executive function”.  This is the skill he credited with his ability to achieve what many believe to be among the greatest business achievements of the twentieth century.

And keep in mind - the world in which Iacocca was working was the 1980’s - before PC’s, when the Internet was known only to a few scientists and government contractors.  Before the web was invented.  Before ubiquitous cell phones and text messaging, before chat rooms were commonplace.  So much more important is it today?

Newsweek’s Wray Herbert reports that it may be very important.  He reports that one noted researcher in particular, Adele Diamond, has conducted extensive testing with “EF” training alongside more traditional literacy training, and achieved measurable advantages with EF training, so much so that some of the schools in which she performed her work have changed their curriculum permanently.

But executive function remains difficult to quantify.  Then again, IQ is difficult to measure.  Most modern IQ tests are biased toward spatial cognition.  As brilliant as humanity is, we still have a long way to go.

So in the meantime, develop your executive function.  In the Information Age, your EF ability may prove increasingly critical to your success, and your ability to beat the competition.

I’m stunned at the news of Tim Russert’s passing.

Just a week or two ago, I saw Russert interviewing someone on his most excellent “Meet The Press”, one of the longest running television shows in broadcasting history. During the interview, the guest made a reference to Russert’s father, the subject of Russert’s book “Big Russ”. The guest spoke as though Russert’s father were deceased.

But Russert explained that he wasn’t, his father was very much alive. He still is.

But Russert himself is not. At only 58 years old, he’s passed away, at work. And on Friday the 13th, no less.

The first reports on Friday were that he’d died from a heart attack, but I heard CNN report around 5:25 PM on Friday that this wasn’t true.

Time will tell the full story. For now, I’m just stunned. He was one of the best journalists on television. He was fair and respectful, but at the same time he wouldn’t let his guests get away with dodging questions too easily. He was intelligently refreshing. And he was the longest serving host of NBC’s legendary and historic “Meet the Press” news program.

His passing is a great loss. He was a national asset.

National Press Club president Sylvia Smith posted a statement about his passing at the National Press Club’s main blog.

“This will become the heart of Baghdad’s telecom system and enable the government to provide the citizens of Iraq with reliable service.”  This was the quote of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Engineer Wade Ricard a few weeks ago, speaking about an ongoing project that’s part of the Iraqi reconstruction effort.  United States tax dollars are at work in Iraq, where the USACE’s Baghdad Area Office is “currently managing more than 120 projects valued at more than $770 million including new water and sewer lines, electrical distribution networks, road paving, hospital renovations and schools.” [1]  And that’s just the USACE’s Bagdad Area Office.  The estimated cost of the Iraq war and reconstruction cost is currently estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers a total of $2.7 trillion. [2]

Meanwhile, back in the good ‘ol US of A, CNN reported that “Big-city mayors told Congress on Thursday that they are overwhelmed by the infrastructure needs of their regions and cannot maintain well-functioning water systems, roads and rail networks” [3] Mark Funkhouser, the mayor of Kansas City, was quoted as saying that “we’re having a quiet collapse of prosperity.” 

How much will it cost to repair the U.S. infrastructure?  Today CNN reported that the “American Society of Engineers estimates that bringing the nation’s transportation and resources networks up to a properly functional level would require $1.6 trillion and five years of work.” [3]

So we can spend $2.7 trillion on Iraq, and give them a brand spanking new infrastructure.  Too bad the U.S. couldn’t do that for itself.

I wonder how much a 2 bedroom condo in Bagdad runs …

[1] Black Anthem Military News, “Connecting Iraq to the telecommunications world“, May 19, 2008, Kendal Smith

[2] CNN.Com, “Iraq war could cost taxpayers $2.7 trillion“, June 12, 2008

[3] CNN.Com, “Mayors Ask Congress To Help Fix U.S. Infrastucture“, June 12, 2008