Barford Writes: We’re Getting Ready for Your Close-up

This is a cool article that shows the difficulty of proving an idea is yours. It’s hard to put laws on intellectual property and even harder to prove you thought of something. Once an idea is out there, any one can claim it as their own.

http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/S/SOPRANOS_ON_TRIAL?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOMEhttp://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/S/SOPRANOS_ON_TRIAL?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME

A week ago I had the privilege of attending a viewing of an old documentary film titled “Almond and Raisins”. I thought it would be interesting to write a response to what i had seen. Here it goes:

Almonds and Raisins

“Under Baby’s cradle in the night
Stands a goat so soft and snowy white
The Goat will go to the market
To bring you wonderful treats
He’ll bring you raisins and almonds

Sleep, my little one, sleep”

-Abraham Goldfaden

            During the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, over a million Jews immigrated to America in hopes of starting over. Whether due to the oppression faced in Europe or the poverty from which they couldn’t escape, immigrants flocked to Ellis Island with the dream of beginning a new life. “Almonds and Raisins” (directed by Russ Karel and narrated by Orson Welles) was a documentary film on the history of Yiddish Films and it described the ways these movies represented all the experiences the Jewish immigrants faced while trying to gain success in the “new world”. This documentary provided a glimpse into the average immigrant’s life and allowed viewers an understanding of why these Yiddish Films were so important to the Jewish “eyes”.

            From the 1900’s till the 1920’s, the United States of America contained the biggest Jewish cities in the world. Millions of refugees escaping poverty and oppression moved to the Lower East Side or in some cases to the hills of Hollywood. With the constant rise in popularity of “talking” motion pictures, Jewish producers created an outlet of their own in hopes of representing the hardships and tribulations faced by these Jewish immigrants. This outlet came to be known as a Yiddish Film.

From the first “Yiddish” success: “The Jazz Singer”, to such films as “Uncle Moses” and “The Cantor’s Son”, Yiddish Cinema became a source of not only entertainment but also a way to ease the nostalgia felt for the “old country”. These films provided their audience with a real representation of their daily lives. With such representations as working in delicatessens and sweatshops, to becoming successful and living the American Dream, Yiddish movies captured the true essence of being a Jewish immigrant living in the United States.

The everyday life of Jewish immigrants was rough. From facing the loss of children due to poverty and starvation, to the endless hours spent working in atrocious conditions, Yiddish films expressed the perils faced in what was promised to be a “Garden of Eden” to what in reality became a new Ghetto. The promise of freedom and the ability to become whatever one wished were all reasons for the massive immigration of eastern Jews into the United States of America. Nevertheless the struggle for physical survival proved too much for some. Images of dying parents, weeping children, and union strikes were all real representations of the hardships the Jewish people faced.

The Yiddish films were responsible for not only representing the physical struggle faced by the Jewish immigrants, but they also provided a view into the fight for the preservation of the traditional values in an alien society. The fear of assimilation into American culture was great, and the loss of the Jewish culture was a topic many Yiddish films discussed. Becoming a gentile was almost as big of a sin as heresy. Movies representing the abandonment of Jewish culture in hopes of finally succeeding in this foreign land hit home to many viewing immigrants. Such acts as marring an Irish woman to complete the transition into American society (seen in “The Jazz Singer”) would have been a familiar practice and a common fear.

Yet through the years, Yiddish films drifted away from showing the perils faced in the new society, but rather started to document the real success stories happening all over America. Movies displaying the sacrifice of parents for their children became popular. Images of the next generation becoming doctors and lawyers were more frequent. The time of “professionalism” came to be and Jewish immigrants were shown having diplomas and elite jobs.

The reaction of the audience to these Yiddish films was that of relief. For the first time, Jewish immigrants were given a way to express their tribulations and success stories to the mass public. The necessity in having Yiddish speaking movies was great. These films represented their everyday lives, their hardships, and their dreams. Watching these stories on the big screen eased the nostalgia and allowed for an almost Cathartic experience. The audience saw themselves in these movies, and for a brief time they were able to escape the harsh reality of life and enjoy a story about their life back home. Movies became a second home allowing the audience to relive their childhood and experience the joy of the traditional Jewish culture.

With the increase in population of Jewish immigrants, it was only time before they were able to have a voice of their own. Making movies about Jewish culture and the life of a Jewish immigrant was necessary due to the need to capture the true essence of these people. Creating stories based on real fears and hopes allowed the audience to escape the mundane rituals of their everyday life. Yiddish films became an outlet for the Jewish people and a source in capturing the essence of what it meant to be a Jewish immigrant living in America. 

The WGA has been making it its mission to disrupt talk shows and ruin production of shows that went back on air although the strike has not ended. To me this is a tad bit childish… Speak your peace but do it respectfully.

http://defamer.com/hollywood/hollywood-strikewatch/audience+disrupting-wga-vigilantes-say-theyre-not-done-tormenting-talk-show-hosts-quite-yet-334968.phphttp://defamer.com/hollywood/hollywood-strikewatch/audience+disrupting-wga-vigilantes-say-theyre-not-done-tormenting-talk-show-hosts-quite-yet-334968.php

Recently, disgruntled employees have been taking to the streets to show their anger at current work circumstances. We first saw it with the Writer’s strike, still holding up production on most sitcoms and talk shows proving how affective strikes can be. Just last week, MTV employees followed suit by staging a walk out in an effort to gain benefits for freelancers. Picking in front of the Viacom building in Times Square, freelancers demanded to be treated the same as full-time employees.
This month, Viacom announced plans to chance benefit packages, including the removal of 401k plans for non-fulltime employees and a cut back in dental and health care. The new plans were to take affect Jan 1 2008. The issue is over part time employees called permalancers. They are freelancers who work full time for MTV, yet are not considered full time employees.

The freelancers believe that since they work there every day they are fulltime employees. Unfortunately, they were not hired on as fulltime employees, but as freelancers. And those are two completely different things.

Also, freelancers have other options. They can belong to the freelancers union where benefits are offered. Most companies do not offer any benefits for freelancers. Surprisingly, Viacom is one of the few who do offer anything.

Sadly, what it comes down to is there are hundreds of people willing to take these strikers place. Viacom networks feel the freelancers are offered benefits comparable to others in the industry and therefore probably wont fully give in. They have reinstated the 401k plans, taken away in the changes and made minor other adjustments, but overall are sticking to their new plans. Viacom is now saying they will look at each employees status case by case. “We’ve implemented a process for evaluating freelance and temporary employee positions for possible conversion to staff positions. This process is currently underway and decisions will be communicated by January 31st, 2008.”  They will also offer some employees who have been with the company since March fulltime benefits. In such a highly competitive industry, often it is more lucrative to just hire the line of people waiting do to the same job without complaining.

Here is a link to one of the NY Times articles…
https://studentmail.fordham.edu/wm/mail/fetch.html?urlid=g607caf8007dc9244a2ee9ff48ad8874f8k5llpnonl&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2007%2F12%2F11%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2F11mtv.html%3F_r%3D1%26oref%3Dslogin

Over the years, there has been a great amount of speculation about how much information the government withholds from the American public. It is the conviction of many that the government conceals information as a means of protecting themselves and the illegal activity that they take part in. This has obviously been proven many times before in the past and present. Several weeks ago, a little piece of the American government’s agenda was exposed. A major operating manual for the U.S. Military’s prison camp at Guantanamo Bay was leaked on to the internet. This was very controversial and resulted in a debate over ethical issues. What this document disclosed was that isolation and sensory deprivation were used as a method of torturing the soldiers detained in the prison camp. This unethical method of interrogation is implemented by psychologists and Army officials. On Monday, November 26th, Dr. Stephen Soldz, founder of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, paid a visit to Amy Goodman’s show to explicitly discuss the current situation at hand.
On November 15th, the 238 page manual on how to operate the U.S. prison camps had made its way into the public domain. The manual dates back to Mach 27, 2003 and was signed by Army Major General Geoffrey Miller, who at that point in time was the commander of the prison. In this document, the military was ordered to deny certain prisoners any access to independent monitors of the International Committees of the Red Cross. Nonetheless, this fact is vehemently denied by the army and government officials. Along with this finding, Army officials employed isolation and sensory deprivation methods—especially upon new arrivals who were completely vulnerable. Consequently, using this tactic makes prisoners completely dependant on interrogators and will “enhance and exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee in the interrogation process.” This new revelation is relevant to the debate within the American psychological Association, which actually allows psychologists to partake in interrogations. Meanwhile, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association have forbidden their members from participating in these interrogations.
Dr. Soldz discovered this document on the wikileaks website, which is where many secret official documents are unveiled. Soldz discusses how although the content of the document was in the mainstream media, many still fail to comprehend the adverse effects that isolation and abusive interrogation have on a detainee. Isolation may not seem terrible, but Soldz attests that people are social beings that exist in a world of interactions. From a psychological perspective being detained in a dark cell and having only to interact with guards in masks can essentially cause mental harm to a person. Furthermore, these documents prove that the Joint Intelligence Group was in charge of interrogations, and did so with the intent of making the detainees rely on the guards. Soldz continues by stating that psychologists have also assisted standardizing and implementing these methods of interrogation. The American Psychological Association claims that they do not partake in any inhumane, degrading, or cruel interrogation. Nevertheless, they still choose to participate in interrogating the detained. Many psychologists are infuriated and find this to be completely unethical, therefore a large segment of psychologists are choosing to resign. Soldz concludes that the APA needs to change or clarify their stance, simply because they contradict their beliefs by taking any part in interrogations.

I don’t know if any of you are Sex and the City fans, but there are talks of making the movie a trilogy. They are already working on scripts for the next two films. I am a huge fan, however I do feel that they might be killing a good thing here. You can read for yourself here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22249307/

              Racial tensions resulting in hate crimes and violence have always been a prevalent part of society.  It is unfortunate that although we claim to be a progressive and open-minded nation; hate crimes persist at an alarming rate.  The Jena 6 case is one of the most highly publicized cases.  It is abundantly clear that this case alone has impacted society in a negative way. Diversity Inc. magazine reported that there have been over 45 noose incidents since October 30^th alone.  These are just the reported cases; there are still many other hate crimes that are barely acknowledged by the public.  One of the less notorious hate crimes occurred recently in the case of Megan Williams, who was kidnapped, beaten, and raped by 6 white men and women.             In September, Megan Williams, an African American woman from West Virginia, was the target of a violent hate crime.  She was kidnapped by 6 men and women and brought to a remote location by a lake.  They proceeded to taunt her with racial slurs, rape her, and tell her that she will never leave alive.  Williams was bound, forced to sleep outside, bathe in a trash can, and resorted to animal feces for sustenance in order to keep alive.  The violence did not end there.  Her kidnappers subjected her every form of cruelty that they could possibly conceive of.  Eventually, Williams was able to free herself when her kidnappers were not home one day.  Fortunately, the authorities arrived just in time to end the nightmare and reunite Williams with her family.  The kidnappers were arrested and held in custody of the authorities. However, prosecutors have since decided that the suspects should be charged with kidnapping and rape-but not hate crimes. 

Malik shabazz is Williams’ lawyer and also an advocate for hate crime awareness.  He has orchestrated a hate crime awareness march in Charleston, West Virginia to help raise money for Williams.  He is adamant on having the charges of the suspects changed to hate crime charges.  Shabazz’s main objective is to have justice served and to comfort Williams during this difficult time.  Shabazz also brought this issue up to the U.S. attorney, Charles Miller.  However, Miller’s response to this was the U.S. department of Justice Civil Rights refused to change the charges.  This complete disregard made by the department simply confirms how little they are concerned with justice being served in this situation.  These hate crimes were absolutely heinous and the kidnappers should be charged and punished accordingly.

  On November 6, I attended a Cencom (Center for Communications) seminar at NYU called “PR 2.0: Career Opportunities in the Global Era.”  I chose this seminar because of my personal interest in possibly pursuing a career in Public Relations and because of my internship (Donna Karan PR), and because Public Relations is a vital part of every industry.  PR is responsible for generating good press about a company or film or actor, and without that press, there would be no interest from the public, and therefore no profit, which is why PR is so vital.             The seminar’s panel was made up of Nicco Mele (who worked on Howard Dean’s campaign), Mike Moran (a marketing and Internet specialist and author), David Bradfield (VP of Fleishman-Hillard NY), Michelle Horowitz (VP of Strategic Business Development of PRNewswire), and was moderated by Peter Himler (Founder of Flatiron Communications). They basically discussed different methods of how the field of PR is changing.  

            The audiences for all types of media have moved online.  In PR, individuals can be their own publisher, advertiser, or public relations agent now because of the ease of the Internet, and how quickly one can garner exposure for themselves or a client.  PRNewswire relies on the internet for basically their whole operation, and they use it to monitor news, according to Horowitz.  Mele emphasized the importance of blogs; their influence, and how many companies now hire “professional” bloggers to write about positive things about the company (coincidentally, I am writing this in a PR blog).

            All of the panelists talked about Search Engine Optimized Releases, which are not for journalistic purposes, but rather, press releases that are designed to pop up in Google searches, as they all agreed that the Internet is the best investigative tool.  The panelists also mentioned Search Engine Marketing, which PR uses to get optimizing and advertising techniques to compete.  Bradfield said that competition is increasing as advertising, marketing, and public relations are all becoming the same thing. 

            To round out the seminar, all of the panelists recommended books about PR and the media, such as “The Tipping Point,” “We the Media,” and “Wikinomics.”  They also took questions from the audience, most of which dealt with blogs and how one can start getting exposure.  To sum up the seminar, I would say that the panelists wanted us to be aware of the media’s mass shift to the Internet, how PR agents are adapting to new technologies, and that word of mouth is still prevalent.  They wanted to inform any of us in the room who were interested in working in PR that the field is constantly changing and becoming more competitive, and that we should be aware when we attempt to break into “today’s brave new world.” 

Please check out this article that was on MSNBC business today. YUM’s  main US chains are Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.  They are competing with their biggest competitor McDonalds by introduction beverages, breakfast and value meals. They are also starting a fresco line to introduce heathly food.  I find it a joke that YUM food is acutally suggesting that adding a light version of pico de gallo consitues heather options. 
NEW YORK - After a year of disappointing results in its U.S. division, Yum Brands Inc. is looking to copy one of its biggest rivals in the fast food industry in a bid to turn the troubled business around.

At a meeting with investors and analysts Wednesday, Yum Chief Executive David Novak said the chain would introduce new products, including beverages and breakfast meals, expand its value menus and offer healthier options at all three of its main U.S. brands - KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Novak said the U.S. division’s transformation is being modeled after moves made in the past few years at McDonald’s Inc., which added healthy options, better quality food and beverage choices to its menu. The changes there led to far higher sales and profit at the nation’s No. 1 hamburger chain in the past year.

Story continues below ?
——————————————————————————–
advertisement
 
 

——————————————————————————–

Novak said those techniques, particularly menu variety and healthier offerings, have already proved successful in its mainland China division - the main driver of its growth in the past year. At KFC restaurants in China, for example, the company offers fish products and are testing a line of beef items. In the U.S., the chain mainly sells fried chicken.

Novak said, given the success of those products and the sales strength of its China locations, the company would also look to that segment as a model for how to improve the U.S. business.

“We know this works,” Novak said. “We’re going to build a business we’re proud of. We can do a lot better. Frankly, we’re mad as hell that we haven’t done better.”

The company has struggled to recover from two highly publicized incidents at Taco Bell, once the leader of Yum’s U.S. business.

An E. coli outbreak that sickened 70 people last year and a rat infestation in a New York City KFC/Taco Bell restaurant that was filmed by a TV news camera in February both hurt the chain’s image, leading to lower traffic and sales numbers.

The chain is now projecting its same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, in the division will drop 3 percent during fiscal 2007. In 2005, in comparison, same-store sales grew 4 percent at its U.S. restaurants.

“This year has probably been the worst year we could have had in the U.S., knock on wood,” he said.

To brainstorm ideas for how to fix the division, Novak said restaurant managers all visited a McDonald’s location during a “McDonald’s day” to see for themselves what made that chain so successful.

He said the managers found that McDonald’s was taking advantage of its “day parts,” or the time of day when meals are usually eaten, and had expanded its menu to included different types of protein, like chicken, fish and meat, salads and beverages.

“They have a tremendous amount of variety in their menu,” he said.

Novak said Yum will try to emulate that variety by adding new products at its own chains, including pasta dishes at Pizza Hut, shakes at KFC and frozen drinks at Taco Bell. The chain is also expanding its breakfast menu at Taco Bell and advertising lunch offerings at KFC, which garners most of its sales from the dinner hours.

Novak said Yum will also work on adding more “healthy” options to its menus.

“The whole world loves to eat healthy,” he said. “We’re focused on making sure we go after that as a big driver of our U.S. business.”

At KFC, for example, Yum plans to offer a line of grilled pressed sandwiches in the upcoming year and is also testing new slow-grilled chicken using special ovens it plans to install in restaurants in 2009.

He said the chain will also advertise its “Fresco” healthier menu offerings at Taco Bell, which are served with a low fat pico de gallo sauce. Yum is also working on a “healthier pizza” to be launched in 2009.

Besides the changes in the U.S. business, the company also outlined its plans for growth in its international and mainland China divisions.

Novak said the company sees the potential to open 20,000 restaurants in mainland China.

Chief Financial Officer Rick Carucci said the chain will also look to expand in emerging markets such as India, Russia, Vietnam and Nigeria.

Carucci said the company now views its international division as its biggest growth opportunity. He noted that the company now operates 12,000 restaurants abroad, excluding China, but has the potential to operate 40,000 locations.
 
Yum earnings up despite E. coli, rat scares 
The company has a total of 35,300 restaurants worldwide.

Carucci added the chain plans to open Taco Bell restaurants in international markets, including Dubai, India, Spain and Japan. Currently, Taco Bell is mainly a U.S. brand, with only five franchised restaurants open in the Philippines and one test location in Mexico that opened in September.

Please check out this article that was on MSNBC business. YUM’s  main US chains are Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.  They are competing with their biggest competitor McDonalds by introduction beverages, breakfast and value meals. They are also starting a fresco line to introduce heathly food.  I find it a joke that YUM food is acutally suggesting that adding a light version of pico de gallo consitues heather options. 
NEW YORK - After a year of disappointing results in its U.S. division, Yum Brands Inc. is looking to copy one of its biggest rivals in the fast food industry in a bid to turn the troubled business around.

At a meeting with investors and analysts Wednesday, Yum Chief Executive David Novak said the chain would introduce new products, including beverages and breakfast meals, expand its value menus and offer healthier options at all three of its main U.S. brands - KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Novak said the U.S. division’s transformation is being modeled after moves made in the past few years at McDonald’s Inc., which added healthy options, better quality food and beverage choices to its menu. The changes there led to far higher sales and profit at the nation’s No. 1 hamburger chain in the past year.

Story continues below ?
——————————————————————————–
advertisement
 
 

——————————————————————————–

Novak said those techniques, particularly menu variety and healthier offerings, have already proved successful in its mainland China division - the main driver of its growth in the past year. At KFC restaurants in China, for example, the company offers fish products and are testing a line of beef items. In the U.S., the chain mainly sells fried chicken.

Novak said, given the success of those products and the sales strength of its China locations, the company would also look to that segment as a model for how to improve the U.S. business.

“We know this works,” Novak said. “We’re going to build a business we’re proud of. We can do a lot better. Frankly, we’re mad as hell that we haven’t done better.”

The company has struggled to recover from two highly publicized incidents at Taco Bell, once the leader of Yum’s U.S. business.

An E. coli outbreak that sickened 70 people last year and a rat infestation in a New York City KFC/Taco Bell restaurant that was filmed by a TV news camera in February both hurt the chain’s image, leading to lower traffic and sales numbers.

The chain is now projecting its same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, in the division will drop 3 percent during fiscal 2007. In 2005, in comparison, same-store sales grew 4 percent at its U.S. restaurants.

“This year has probably been the worst year we could have had in the U.S., knock on wood,” he said.

To brainstorm ideas for how to fix the division, Novak said restaurant managers all visited a McDonald’s location during a “McDonald’s day” to see for themselves what made that chain so successful.

He said the managers found that McDonald’s was taking advantage of its “day parts,” or the time of day when meals are usually eaten, and had expanded its menu to included different types of protein, like chicken, fish and meat, salads and beverages.

“They have a tremendous amount of variety in their menu,” he said.

Novak said Yum will try to emulate that variety by adding new products at its own chains, including pasta dishes at Pizza Hut, shakes at KFC and frozen drinks at Taco Bell. The chain is also expanding its breakfast menu at Taco Bell and advertising lunch offerings at KFC, which garners most of its sales from the dinner hours.

Novak said Yum will also work on adding more “healthy” options to its menus.

“The whole world loves to eat healthy,” he said. “We’re focused on making sure we go after that as a big driver of our U.S. business.”

At KFC, for example, Yum plans to offer a line of grilled pressed sandwiches in the upcoming year and is also testing new slow-grilled chicken using special ovens it plans to install in restaurants in 2009.

He said the chain will also advertise its “Fresco” healthier menu offerings at Taco Bell, which are served with a low fat pico de gallo sauce. Yum is also working on a “healthier pizza” to be launched in 2009.

Besides the changes in the U.S. business, the company also outlined its plans for growth in its international and mainland China divisions.

Novak said the company sees the potential to open 20,000 restaurants in mainland China.

Chief Financial Officer Rick Carucci said the chain will also look to expand in emerging markets such as India, Russia, Vietnam and Nigeria.

Carucci said the company now views its international division as its biggest growth opportunity. He noted that the company now operates 12,000 restaurants abroad, excluding China, but has the potential to operate 40,000 locations.
 
Yum earnings up despite E. coli, rat scares 
The company has a total of 35,300 restaurants worldwide.

Carucci added the chain plans to open Taco Bell restaurants in international markets, including Dubai, India, Spain and Japan. Currently, Taco Bell is mainly a U.S. brand, with only five franchised restaurants open in the Philippines and one test location in Mexico that opened in September.

In a bold new move, Harvard University has announced it’s plan to significantly increase financial aid for middle class students. This plan has been greeted with much praise. However, Harvard has long been in a financial position to do more for its students, being that it receives billions a year in endowments. So, I’m sure I’m not the only wondering about what the real motive is here.  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/education/11harvard.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=5deea077a4af37bd&ex=1197608400