Free Republic

Glenn Beck just talked to the Refounder who tipped him off on the Puerto Rico/Tennessee Plan. The Refounder says that the House is planning to vote on the resolution in about 45 minutes. Call your Congressman! Puerto Rico can already vote on statehood. They’ve done it 4 times.

The White House is engaged in an aggressive effort to reassure Jewish leaders that the tense relationship between the Obama administration and the Israeli government that has played out in public in the last few months does not signify any fundamental change in U.S. policy. Concern within the administration over the domestic repercussions of the recent clashes with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government reached a critical point about ten days ago, as Israel was about to mark its 62nd year of independence. Since then, administration officials have mounted what amounts to a public relations blitz trying to rectify what they...

Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign - utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present "O", holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the dangers of branding an ideology with an icon and how, perhaps, the powerful symbol will be used against the very man it built up. PJTV

One would think that the only good thing that comes to those who totally oppose O'health care is that, after today, we wouldn't have to listen to it 24/7 anymore. Nor listen to Obama's continual campaign talking points. But noooooo.... the torture is set to continue. According to Michael Shear at WaPo, Obama's got his 747 gassed up for a national public relations "blitz" designed to pitch.... get this... *health care*. Apparently, it's not enough to shove it down our throats. Now he's determined to torture us until we tell him how much we love this nonsense. President Obama is...

Israel Ad, PR Agencies Use Mossad Pride To Promote Supermarkets (Photo) Islamic terrorists will now have to think twice every time they see a baseball hat and sunglasses. By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 11, 2010 …. . You never say the word. At least, before Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in Dubai by an assassination team, widely believed to be the Mossad, one would never even mutter the word Mossad. One learns this basic perspective living in Israel, serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or the Israel police. You learn that even the Mossad never even...

<p>MIAMI — Tiger Woods has summoned someone even more significant than swing coach Hank Haney to help facilitate his wildly anticipated comeback.</p> <p>Two sources in the golf community have told The Post that Ari Fleischer, the former presidential advisor to George W. Bush and the man who was brought in to help repair the steroid-shattered image of Mark McGwire, has been huddling with Woods, plotting a strategy for his return to golf — at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando.</p>

Israel Apartheid Week, Haiti and Islamic Jihad By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 2, 2010 …. . This is Israel Apartheid Week. According to the Israeli Apartheid Week Website, last year, more than 40 cities around the world participated in activities, which took place in the wake of "Israel's brutal assault against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip". There is only one problem here. Israel never has, does not and never will practice Apartheid. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Apartheid is defined as: "racial segregation; specifically a former policy of segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-European...

Goldman's rehab By MARK DeCAMBRE Last Updated: 4:03 AM, February 22, 2010 Posted: 1:20 AM, February 21, 2010 Lloyd Blankfein is starting to worry about his legacy. The 55-year-old chief executive of Goldman Sachs -- three-plus years into his tenure -- recently turned to a Texas corporate p.r. firm to buff the image of the tarnished Wall Street powerhouse. Turning to outside consultants to gauge a firm's "perception in the marketplace" is unusual for the 140-year-old firm. But that's what you do, even if you are Masters of the Universe, when the national and international media accuse you of engineering...

The Taliban scored a power ful psychological victory yesterday, as fewer than two dozen suicide attackers brought Afghanistan's government and capital city to a standstill. In a dramatic wave of attacks (possibly planned with help from Pakistani intelligence operatives), the Taliban struck Kabul's presidential palace, several government ministries and a multistory shopping complex. And they did it just as President Hamid Karzai was swearing in his new Cabinet (despite a battle with parliament over the legitimacy of his picks). Think that gave Afghans renewed confidence in their government?

We ca never allow it to be only what it is. Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer in the history of the game. We can’t stop there. No, he’s also the world’s greatest human. And to suggest anything less means you’re the one with the problem. Hmmm, perhaps you even have a problem with the color of Tiger’s skin. Team Tiger, you may recall, dropped that hint, early. So if you know what’s good for you, stick with the story, especially you TV guys: Greatest golfer, greatest human. Got it? Now don’t forget it. But the world’s greatest golfer has...

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From New York, London to Israel Integrating SEO, PR Creates Potent Marketing By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Tel Aviv, Israel ---- September 9, 2009 ..... Once upon a time, when you wanted your business products and or services to be known one would either hire an advertising or PR agency. Having full color print display ads appearing in general and trade magazines and editorial stories placed about your services was the only route. The ad agency would send out an insertion order and the public relations agency in New York, London or Israel would fax news releases. Yes, there...

For a president and an administration that seemed to play the PR and communications game better than almost any that preceded them, President Barack Obama and his staff appear to have lost control of the messaging in the health-care reform debate, the first big policy test of his administration. And according to a number of communications professionals, the irony in all of this is that the president's opponents have managed to define the issue and take control of the conversation with tools -- such as grassroots marketing and e-mail communications -- that he used to near perfection during the election....

Organizing demonstrations in front of Iranian consulates worldwide, staging mock stonings and hangings in public, and launching a massive media campaign against Iran - these are just some of the steps Israeli diplomats have been told to take in the coming weeks. The goal, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official, is "to show the world that Iran is not a Western democracy" in the run-up to the country's presidential election on June 12. About a week ago, the head of the ministry's Task Force on Isolating Iran sent a classified telegram to all Israeli embassies and consulates, titled "Activities...

Dana Perino, President George W. Bush's last White House press secretary, will join Clinton administration adviser Mark Penn at public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller, where she will be "chief issues counselor." Mr. Penn, the firm's CEO, said Ms. Perino's experiences in Mr. Bush's second term make her a valuable addition to the team of battle-tested public-relations veterans he is assembling. . . . Ms. Perino, 36 years old, likely will focus on communications strategies for clients in the looming Washington policy debates over issues such as energy, climate change and health care. She may also develop business among newer defense and technology...

Israel's Cyber WarriorsBy Lucy Tobin The Jewish Chronicle London --- February 12, 2009 ... When Joel Leyden speaks about Israel, 90,000 people listen. His name may not be familiar, but if you have ever used Google to look up anything on the Middle East, then you have probably had your search results influenced by him. And if you are one of the 150 million users of the social networking website Facebook, then it is likely that you have read something written by him. You might even be one of the almost 100,000 members of his group called “I Support the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As it fights two wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing money spent on winning what it calls "the human terrain" of world public opinion. In the process, concerns have been raised that this is spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law. An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as much as it...

Israel PR Reaches Gaza Arabs Through Facebook, YouTube By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem --- January 9, 2009...... As in every war, the battle for hearts and minds is a critical one. Public opinion has a direct effect with lives on the ground. In the current defensive war in which Israel has been forced to defend herself from Hamas terrorists, rather than focusing on conventional print and broadcast media, both official and non official Israel spokespeople are using Web 2.0 social networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Hamas has been attacking Israel almost on a daily basis...

SEO Guru Taps Facebook To Support Israel in Gaza War By Laurie Sullivan Online Media Daily Marketing and SEO Guru Joel Leyden is reaching out through search engine optimization and social media to help Jews and Christians express their support for the Israel Defense Force and Israeli civilians. The Facebook forum, "I Support the Israel Defense Forces In Preventing Terror Attacks From Gaza"--created about three hours after the first strikes were made in Gaza--explains Israel's position to the world, Leyden said. "The stickiness makes it a medium that lets people feel, rather than remain passive," he said. "You can put...

The National Republican Congressional Campaign played a sorry game of defense in the 2008 elections. The net result in Florida was the loss of one House seat (Republicans lost two and gained one). Nationally, our net losses totaled 21. If one side is playing only (or primarily) defense and the other side has their offensive strategy down pat, the offensive team will almost always win spectacularly. That’s true in just about any field; business, national defense, exercise, politics, chess, you name it. The inefficiency of the GOP to communicate its ideas to the public is now as legendary as it...