Chang Gung Hospitals Fail in China

Mark O'Neill has an interesting piece at Asia Sentinel on the failure of Wang Yung-ching's Chang Gung Hospitals to fulfill their goals of making money and providing reasonably-priced care in China.... It is hard for private hospitals, including Chang Gung, to register as non-profits, which would give them these benefits. As commercial entities, they are treated like businesses in terms of tax and land. From the beginning, the Chang Gung institutions in Taiwan were registered as non-profit entities, which are obliged to plough their profits back into the hospitals or give them to charity. They were unable to obtain this status in China. The Xiamen facility was approved in 2005. Since Chinese law does not allow 100-per-cent foreign ownership in hospitals, as Wang initially wanted, it is a 70-30 joint venture between his Formosa Plastics group and a city medical firm. Its biggest headache is hiring qualified and experienced staff. The vast majority of Chinese doctors and nurses belong to city hospitals or other government institutions offering housing, pay, welfare benefits and a pension. Mobility is limited. Medical professionals, especially those with experience, are unwilling to leave their institution and the benefits they have accrued to work for a Taiwan-invested hospital, It is too expensive for Chang Gung to rely entirely on staff brought from Taiwan or elsewhere. The government sets quotas for the import of medical supplies and equipment, restricting what a private hospital can order...... China's economic conditions today are similar to those in Taiwan in 1976, when the first Chang Gung hospital was built. The economy was booming and average personal incomes had reached US$2,000. But medical services lagged the economy, with 11 doctors and seven beds per 10,000 people and nearly 80 per cent of the beds controlled by the government. The income of doctors at Chung Gang hospitals consists of an annual salary, fees from teaching and research and income from clinics. They are forbidden to accept ‘red packets' – from patients and their families -- and their pay is not linked to sales of medicines. In China, such ‘red packets' – given in the hope that the doctor will give the patient his best care -- are commonplace and many hospitals rely on the income from overpriced medicines to remain solvent. It's a good example of how important the relationship between the State and the medical industry in Taiwan is to the profitability of the latter.

ECFA

Good news out of the economy this week, as the price of watermelons appears to be quite low this year, got quotes as low as $8/jin today. And that's about all the good economic news I can think of right now....The US has announced it is going to back Taiwan for observer status at the WHA. Taiwan's foreign policy has grown so pathetic, it is front page news when we can observe an assembly. When this occurs, be prepared for a blizzard of announcements from the foreign policy community about how this demonstrates the great benevolence of China, and what an awesome breakthrough it is. Peace in our time, baby.Speaking of breakthroughs, the ECFA framework for economic cooperation between Taiwan and China the KMT and the CCP was all over the news again this week. Today the Econ Minister said it would only require a few months of study by the respective negotiating bodies of the two sides, and that it would be signed under the WTO umbrella framework.Chairman Tsai of the DPP, speaking at a local forum, observed:Tsai said it was a pity that Ma did not attend yesterday’s meeting, which focused on various issues related to the signing of an ECFA, and that he had missed a chance to listen to the voice of the people and address concerns about inking an ECFA with China.“I will not meet Ma if a real debate on signing an ECFA and other national issues is not possible ... If Ma continues to ignore the voice of the people and continues to push the ECFA, people will be left with only one choice — to shout angrily on May 17 so Ma can hear their voices,” she said, referring to a demonstration scheduled to be held in Taipei by the DPP, pro-localization groups and groups representing traditional industries.Noting that last week Ma led government officials in paying tribute to the Yen Emperor, Tsai said: “If the president’s mind is always lingering on thoughts of a motherland in a distant place, people have to worry if the president would protect the nation or whether Taiwan’s best interests will be put in jeopardy?”Lai Shin-yuan, head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), countered that ECFA had nothing to do with sovereignty:As an ECFA is purely an economic agreement unrelated to the issue of sovereignty and a referendum was therefore unnecessary, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said as she debated signing an ECFA with China at the Taiwan Citizen Conference on National Affairs.Lai said an ECFA aimed to establish a fair trade agreement with Beijing and remove certain restrictions that Beijing has in place on Taiwanese goods. She said the agreement was not a free trade agreement (FTA), which in some countries requires a referendum for approval.“We are clear about China’s intentions on unification, but the government will insist on the Republic of China’s [ROC] freedom, democracy and sovereignty,” Lai said.Unconvinced by Lai’s remarks, Chinese political analyst Ruan Ming (阮銘) told the forum that signing an ECFA with China would be tantamount to a “trick.”Ruan also warned that pro-China supporters in the nation were seeking to create a new identity for Taiwanese, which aimed to make Taiwanese accept the idea that there is “one China” in the world and that Taiwan belongs to China.Note how it follows that since ECFA is unrelated to sovereignty, there need not be any public oversight. The claim that ECFA won't affect sovereignty is meant not only to reassure the public that the sell out isn't really going on, but also to support a further claim that ECFA need not have democratic oversight. The Ma Administration's strategy has been to isolate the KMT-CCP agreements from public, democratic oversight in Taiwan, something the DPP has complained vociferously about.It's a shame the article couldn't give a taste of who Ruan Ming is: a former CCP official, an assistant to Hu Yaobang.... Born an ROC citizen in 1931, the now [2002]-visiting professor at Taiwan's Tamkang University became a member of the communist party and then a citizen of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The 71-year-old academic from Shanghai was Hu's special assistant between 1977 and 1982. As one of the most prominent intellectuals in China at the time, Ruan was also one of the people that helped draft documents announced by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) in the Chinese Communist Party Congress. Though he served the communist party for years, Ruan, however, has been an advocate of democracy throughout his life.Why is all this moving so quickly? Well, 2011 is coming up, the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the ROC. Look for something big. Visions of Nobels must be dancing in the heads of Hu and Ma for creating a treaty that will surely lead to peace in our time. One would note that such an award would completely discredit the Nobel Peace Prize, if Kissinger did not already have one.China is putting pressure on Taiwan in a number of ways. As Jon Adams noted in an article on China's isolation of Taiwan in the CSR recently:Since then, Taiwan has watched fretfully from the wings as Asian neighbors lower tariffs, ink trade pacts, and schmooze at regional conferences. It was left out of China's trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which will create the world's largest free trade area (encompassing some 2 billion people) and eliminate tariffs on most goods by next year. This weekend, China announced a $10 billion ASEAN-China infrastructure investment cooperation fund, plus another $15 billion in credit to ASEAN nations, designed to help them out of the global economic doldrums – with Taiwan again shut out. Meanwhile, South Korea has signed its own trade pact with ASEAN, and is in talks with the United States and the European Union. Taiwan has tried but failed to interest those parties in trade talksChina has made an economic agreement with Taiwan a precondition for any free trade agreements between Taiwan and other nations. In 2004 it blocked a free trade agreement between Taiwan and Singapore, and has also pressured Japan not to sign one. The US has from time to time discussed an FTA with Taiwan, but the Korean FTA comes first, and that one is DOA in the US Congress at the moment. I've also heard that Japan is quietly waiting on a US-Taiwan FTA before it will commit, though the DPP attempted to get one with Japan. A commentator on one of the lists I'm on pointed out that Taiwanese investments in ASEAN countries are of the type that do not much involve local businesses, hence, they do not create constituencies for it in nations like Vietnam. These factors only serve to magnify China's already enormous clout.

Summers & Geithner Are Not Sharpshooters

John I. Young7716 Eastlake TerraceChicago, IL 6062614 April 2009Dear President Obama: Re: Financial Piracy; Summers & Geithner Are Not Sharpshooters As a volunteer for your campaign in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and a senior citizen / voter, I have great confidence in your capabilities, high expectations and a heavy investment in your success. I applaud the vision, plan and programs you laid out in your speech Tuesday morning, with one glaring exception. You said nothing that explained or excused your refusal to deal decisively and effectively with the financial firms, their officials, stockholders and creditors that caused the current crisis by making the reckless loans and securities. They continue to hold the nation’s economy hostage. Citing the pledge to first do no harm can be used to excuse any inaction, but most tellingly, it disguises that great harm has already been done; refusal to resolve the perceived and probable insolvency of financial in-stitutions does ongoing and irreparable harm to those sound businesses and indi-viduals that are driven into insolvency by the continued stagnation of money and credit that is always caused by ongoing insolvency of major financial institutions. Geithner and Summers have effectively nationalized the financial system so that it continues as a leach on the economy, sucking the blood out of the productive parts. The magnitude and nature of this financial crisis makes it different than those they are used to dealing with. Those smaller scandals merely required pro-viding the temporary liquidity, confidence and time to repair the small disruption to one part of finance. Instead, you are dealing with a massive, global, systemic blockage that requires that the bad debts be resolved in the only way bad debts can be resolved in a capitalist, free market economy: bankruptcy, reorganization, re-capitalization and re-privatization. Nothing can make the bad debts good. The longer the creditors hold on to false hopes and insist that the debts are good, the longer the stalemate poisons trust and strangles the financial system. Some harm now is much better that growing harm to more and more innocent parties for a decade or more. There is the perception and perhaps the reality that Summers and Geithner are primarily concerned with protecting the system that they have worked with and benefited from all their lives, instead of recognizing the ways it has grown to be destructive and moving to make it accountable. So long as they are your principle advisors and you are perceived to be subject to their influence, you will not be able to restore faith and trust in time to prevent additional, avoidable pain. Sincerely, John Young

Organ dolls

The irrelevance of the United Nations

The speech on Monday by Iranian President Ahmadinejad to the United Nations Race Conference illustrates the danger of Iran and the irrelevance of the United Nations as a positive influence in the world. President Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for the destruction of Israel and denial of the Holocaust, spoke of Israel as a major force of racism in the world and that Israel was founded under the "pretext of Jewish suffering from the second World War". All of this from the President of a country that affords little to no protection for woman's rights, freedom of religion, freedom of the press or political freedom. I congratulate the representatives from the many nations that got up and walked out of the conference when this speech was given. When the stated policy of a world leader calls for the total annihilation of a democratic nation, why are they even allowed to speak to the United Nations. When a nations policies and actions support destabilizing and genocidal aspirations, they should be shunned by the other nations of the world. I do not understand what the purpose of the United Nations is at this point. They take no actions against Iran or North Korea even though their actions destabilize many areas. They have taken no real actions to stop genocide in Africa. It is not only that the UN does not take action but that many member nations have no interest in supporting policies to stabilize the world. I believe that the United Nations needs to have major reforms. I would hope that the prevention of genocide, terrorism, piracy, and political/religious suppression would be the major goals of the United Nations.

necktie

A necktie from Thanko -- you could tell this thing was only fit for a double agent already, couldn't you? Freshly introduced and ready to draw attention to your poor taste, this here spy tie includes a built-in video recorder along with a minuscule handheld remote used to turn it on and off. The video camera itself is installed on a USB-equipped slab of flash memory (4GB, or about four hours of low resolution footage), making those tie-to-PC transfers extra snappy. And at ¥12,800 ($128), it comes off as a bona fide steal compared to less useful alternatives in Bloomingdale's. Our only lingering question? What's a brother got to do to get a clip on version?

Illegal immigration

OMG DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano says illegal immigration is NOT a crime. Obama sure can pick some great people to run this country!!! Before long there will be no USA left. Everybody and anybody can just cross our border and set up residency. Is this really the change you Obama supporters voted for?

Thoughts

Recently, I attended OnHollywood. It sucked. Really, nothing else to say about the conference than that. From sneaking a look into the conference center, no one was really paying attention - or attending - the sessions. From watching the demonstration stations, people just stopped doing demos and looked bored. They had an open bar sponsored by Men7.tv (no, not a gay porn channel - and yes, I thought that too), and the event was best characterized by someone else that was down from San Francisco: SF is about networking, LA is about cliques.A few months back, I attended Forrester's Marketing Conference in Century City.We were sitting in Century City - a city I used to work in - and Harley Manning, the VP of research, pointed out that the reason that the Forum is being held in LA is that this city is a marketing city. Just look at the name of the streets - Avenue of the Stars - and this city embodies marketing (mostly of itself and entertainment).Marketing's new imperative for success is engagement. You see it in the change of how brick and mortar stores are set up, such as the family setting of Jordan's furniture and all the bells and whistles. Or look at how Nike set up a community to engage it's customers - running tips from pros, a full community based on running.I think he's wrong - yes, LA is a city of marketing but it is not an engagement city, but one of dreams and schemes. The city is built on falsehoods, on dreams, and never has had a foot in reality. It's fakery - the people and the industry - and it sells dreams. Sells them so well that it's not hit as hard during recessions (people will always use entertainment to escape).Also at the Forrester Conference, Brian Haven talked engagement and understanding your customers.It's a hot topic - and most marketing publications are covering it. But it is also risked becoming a buzzword. No, it is a buzzword ... and one that seems to be built on more what we want than what customers may want, or what corporations might want.As an example, Haven talked about the launch of the Cincinnati Ikea - a hardcore fan of Ikea that was lobbying to bring Ikea to Cincinnati. She is passionate, she is an advocate, and she brings people to the brand. There was a connection to her with the brand - but the brand did not give back in that relationship ... to the point that legal came in and asked for a disclaimer and then asked for her to give up her blog domain bc of the Google juice was getting better than Ikea's.Um, is Ikea wrong, though? Ikea has a responsibility to its shareholders, to its customers, to its brand to be ... on brand. This woman, to be blunt, was not on brand. No, I am not naive to think that everyone in Ikea is from Sweden ... but I do want the people to look a certain way, and the woman did not fit that mold. She looked Midwest, for lack of a better or tactful way to say it.And, why do brands have to embrace its fans ALL the time? Let's not forget that fan comes from the word fanatic. And, well, fanatics are scary and can be detrimental to your brand.According to Haven, Ikea should have engaged the Cincinnati Ikea fanatic, given her scoops on the store, outfitted her with new technology. They should have reached out and embraced her ... but that's wrong. Did they want to embrace the fanatic that took to camping out at their store prior to opening? Do they want to be associated with a woman that made up puppets and Saint Ikea, and other things she did? Or does the brand have a responsibility to stay on brand, and protect the brand?Back to OnHollywood, the most interesting discussion I had was with Taz Arnold from SA-RA. We were talking rappers, Jay Dilla, Lupe Fiasco, Wale, and how the music industry is changing. If you think about it, the rap game has always had its own distribution system that was different than the rest of the industry - there was (and still is) the underground mix tape market, where people find new voices and sounds ... and might buy them. You still can catch people in different cities selling their CDs on the corner. When I was in LA for the last E3, I bought a CD at Roscoe's. Wasn't too bad."What's the deal with this rap stuff? Since Napster, the sales been crashing - and since Napster the game has been flooded by has-beens and never-wll-be ringtone rappers." Wale, The Mixtape About NothingArnold and I were talking about the merchandising of rap, and how that is where the game is going. You have x million people buying a single - it's not about getting them to buy the ring tone next, but what about the clothing line? What about clothing lines or other merchandise? It's what Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco have expanded into, as well as the Neptunes/N.E.R.D and the Billionaire Boys Club. You have an audience ... you work with them to keep them in love with the brand, this time a rapper.I love that one of the three interesting and smart conversations I had at OnHollywood was with a rap producer. He had a better grasp on the market than most of the so-called social media experts I know, and a lot more interesting thing to say than quite a few of the people speaking at the conference.Also, I had no clue who Arnold was when I was speaking with him ... and then I see his cool "Hood" "Love" rings in the Estelle/Kanye "American Boy" video. And then him. Hmmm, typical me.Writing this on the plane home from BlogPotomac reminded me of the ethics panel. Social media experts are SO caught up in their only little world - their own circle - that they cannot think of what might be accepted practices in other communities. Just because "we" don't like character blogs, does not mean they do not have their place (and, sorry, some of them are much better than other corporate blogs with real people, or the top social media bloggers). Just because we beat our chests about transparency and disclosure does not mean that campaigns are not being done with fake comments or fake stories by marketing and advertising firms. Social media purists got their panties in a twist about LonelyGirl15 not being real ... but the audience did not care. And, Hollywood points to Blair Witch Project as a great online campaign ... but if you remember, it was presented as a true story. Sacrilege in social media ... but did people care, or would people care nowadays? Shit, I got that stupid video of the office worker going insane 10 times one day ... and I looked at it and said fake (the rows were too narrow for wheelchairs, so ADA would have been all over their ass).It is different in LA, and while the city seems to be behind in social media ... does that mean the industry here is wrong, or is it that the purist techniques from the digerati have no place down here, that it's a different market and different mentality? I watched the taping of Valley Girl/The Jesse Draper Show and thought "this would never play in SF" ... but maybe that isn't their audience (heck, talking transparency, the co-host "Coco" is not even her real name). I watched them taping, and realized I'm not their audience. The hostess did seem nice, and shy. When she walked by me, she gave a shy smile and little wave and because she was so tall, she seemed to be to be slouching. Embrace the height.One perk in LA so far? The nice folks at SAS did handwriting analysis at the Forrester Marketing Conference. I'm a rockstar.

Phil Spector Convicted of Second-Degree Murder

First O.J. goes down and now this. Its almost like theres hope for the criminal justice system after all. We can convict a celebrity! . . . as long as hes a psycho freak who has threatened people with guns all his life . . . and occasionally wears his hair in a foot-tall frizzed-up hairdo . . . . . . and whose defense is that he didnt just threaten women with guns  he threatened men, too. Upon hearing the news of the conviction, the news guys on NBC were trying to figure out what the sentence might be. How stupid can these media types be? Sentencing on a case like this isnt rocket science. How hard is it to contact an expert ahead of time, to know the answers to such questions right away? As an example, take the L.A. Times article on the conviction . . . please: The verdict means Spector, famed for his work with Tina Turner, the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers and others, faces 15 years for murder and at least three for gun enhancement when he is sentenced May 29. OK, wrong and wrong. Second-degree murder carries a sentence of 15 years to life, not 15 years. Thats error number one. A typical gun enhancement under Penal Code section 12022.53(d)  which is almost certainly what was charged here  carries an extra 25-to-life sentence. Not three years.* Thats error number two. Add them up and the total is 40-to-life. I havent seen the charging documents, but thats almost certainly what Spector is facing. Not 18 years. Jeez. Again, how hard is this to figure out in advance? Spector was remanded to the custody of the sheriff and will likely never live another free moment. Congratulations to DDAs Alan Jackson and Truc Do. P.S. It was good to see Spector re-affirm his previous allegiance to Barack Obama: Spector arrived in court Monday wearing a Barack Obama button. Spector thus continued a streak of Convicted Murderers for Obama. They should form a support group. You know . . . in prison. [As always, this post is made pursuant to my First Amendment rights as a private citizen and not in any official capacity. APR 5.2%. Offer not good in California. Contents may settle during shipping.] UPDATE: The press release from the L.A. County District Attorney says: Spector faces 15 years to life in prison for the murder conviction and another three, four or 10 years tacked on to that term for the gun use. Ben Sheffner of the invaluable Copyrights and Campaigns blog sends a link to the indictment, which charges only allegations under Penal Code sections 12022.5(a) and 12022.53(b). The reason is not clear to me. Even if the PC 12022.53(b) allegation were the only gun allegation charged, the gun enhancement would presumably be 10 years, not 3, 4, or 10 years. This 10-year enhancement is mandatory even if the jury also finds true a 12022.5(a) enhancement. And People v. Izaguirre (2007) 42 Cal.4th 126 holds that a conviction of a 12022.53(d) gun enhancement (a 25-to-life enhancement) can be imposed consecutive to a 15-to-life sentence for a second-degree murder charge. So a standard second-degree murder with a personal use of a firearm should result in a 40-to-life sentence.

Liveblogging The Oscar Live Blogs

Tonight I am going to go for the ADD award by following several websites that are liveblogging the Oscars and posting the best of the comments. The ones I am following are:Jez: JezebelAblog: AchenblogWaPo: Washington PostEW: Entertainment WeeklyDef: DefamerHere goes nothing.8:22Ablog (CqP): Matthew Broderick looks fine in his grey steaked hair.Jez: Tracie: marissa tomei's forehead=botoxWaPo: Liz Kelly: Ick -- that Vanessa Hudgens dress looks like a cast off from "Too Wong Foo." What was she thinking?8:38Me: Hugh Jackman does a pretty fair Billy Crystal complete with a Wolverine plug. And Anne Hathaway is a good sport.WaPo: Jen Chaney: Yes, this number isn't very X Men. [snip} He's clearly taking a page from Billy Crystal.EW: Thom: Ah, a Wolverine plug. But somehow I don't think any of the X-Men fanboys are still watching. They must have decided this was the Tonys and flipped the channel.8:47MyWife: Goldie Hawn has had a few surgeries. Look at how tight everything is.Jez: tracie: this will sound weird, but goldie hawn looks so much like my aunt maryellen, particularly in the chest/boob area.EW: Mandi: Goldie Hawn as Worst Dressed?WaPo: Jen Chaney: I don't know, I think Goldie's dress is a little snug.9:00Me: I am so hot for Tina Fey.Ablog: (Raysmom) Tina Fey's dress is absolutely gorgeous.9:07MyWife: OMG! Jennifer Anniston.Me: So?MyWife: Brad and Angelina are there too. They just cut to them. You miss everything doing that (referring to my blogging)Jez: hortense: Headline on US Weekly tomorrow: "Angelina Laughs At Jen's Joke"Anna: or it will be: "Was Angelina Faking Finding Jen's Joke Funny?" hortense: "Angelina: Laughing With Jen, Or At Her?"Def: JenniferLina CatfightWatch: Jennifer Aniston moves from stage right to center stage—withing queef distance of Angelina Jolie.WaPo: Jen Chaney: A little tacky. And yet, it's what we all secretly wanted, isn't it? {snip} And do we really need to explain why they cut to Angie? We all know why. At least they wanted until a moment when Angelina was smiling.EW: Mandi: Brad and Angelina laughing at Jennifer having to talk about animated pandas instead of saving the world and its children.9:33Me: Natalie Portman is getting more and more Audrey Hepburn every year.Def: For some reason they're allowing Natalie Portman to present with her boyfriend Devendra Bernhardt.9:41MyWife: (about Jessica Biel) They don't look in a mirror first?Jez: hortense: Jessica Biel= worst dressed list?WaPo: Jen Chaney: And if I may quote a previous chat commenter, here is Jessica Biel in her "diaper." She is doing a salute to the scientific and technical Oscars, which she hosted a couple of weeks ago. Presumably in a different diaper.9:58Me: Why does 'Mama Mia' need a drumline. And they better cut to a reaction from Meryl Streep.EW: Thom: Ah, so Baz Luhrmann is responsible. That explains a lot. I think he was trying to do a musical montage like "The Elephant Love Song" from Moulin Rouge, but this so didn't work.Def: Wow. Baz Luhrmann just mounted the worst Oscar number since this disaster. It was like something you'd see on a cruise ship hosting the AVN Awards.Jez: i like the drumline in white tieABlog (rd): It certainly is an interesting production. Hugh Jackman gets kudos for pulling out all the stops. Still, somehow it thematically reminds me a bit too much of Rosie O'Donnell's variety show. All over the place.10:30MyWife: Sound editing is the only category we've seen all the movies in.WaPo: Smith is now presenting sound mixing. This is one way they are saving time, P.S. By having the same presenters rattle through several categories in a row. Which makes sense.10:39MyWife: You had Heidi Klum followed by Tim Gunn back to back.Jez: tracie: two project runway-ish commercials in a row?10:55Me: The Slumdog sweep is in high gear. I keep thinking 'Jai Ho' is 'Tally Ho'.Def: An insomnia-curing medley of best scores results in WINNER, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE's A.R. Rahman bringing down the house with a prepared bit about his wife, followed by a slow burn that would make Jack Benny envious. Just kidding—that was really awkward. Rahman redeems himself by throwing off his Nehru jacket, displaying a surprisingly ripped physique, and launching into song.EW: Mandi: I think the only thing that will save this show now is Hugh making a joke about how slow it feels, and taking off his shirt to give it a jolt. Who's with me?EW: Thom: And the Slumdog sweep continues. For those of you counting at home, that's five awards so far.My comment used on the WaPo chat:Fo, MA: Peter Gabriel not singing is also known as the Phil Collins snub since he didn't sing it when he was nominated. The Academy must hate Genesis.Jen Chaney: As far as the Academy is concerned, they do not seem to have an invisible touch.11:11Me: The Death Pool Montage! Finally! Oddly tasteful. Best applause in descending order: Paul Newman, Sydney Pollack, Harold Pinter.Def: The In Memoriam segment finally enters the HD era. We begin with Cyd Charisse—begin scoring your 'In Memoriam' Oscar Montage Pool accordingly. The Grieve-O-Meter seems to be functioning, with the needle flipping right towards the end with Sydney Pollack, Paul Newman. WHERE'S HEATH? He was squeezed in last year, but is there some Academy law about not double-dipping? He died in January 22, 2008. Also—no George Carlin. And Charlton Heston barely registered with the audience. But wait—no George Carlin?! That's an outrage! Oscar controversy!!!Jez: Sadie: I hate how it's an applause popularity contest!WaPo: In Memoriam: I thought I heard (or maybe it was wishful thinking) that producers were going to drown out audience applause for this montage, because it really is the cruelest popularity contest ever. Jen Chaney: It is. But they didn't.11:28Me: This Best Actress bit is like an American Idol vote-off.Def: The ActorTron 2000 spits out five more amazingly well-preserved Academy Award winners.Jen Chaney: Okay, the one flaw in this multi-presenter thing is the thanking goes on a little long.A-Blog (mudge): I gotta say, I really like this format of having five presenters and their doing a direct address to the nominees. Although I do miss seing a minute or so of the clips.11:49Me: This thing might actually be over by midnight.Jez: dodai: How much over are we? It was supposed to end at 11:30 right?Jez: tracie: 25 minutes overEW: Thom: The show clocked in at three and a half hours exactly. Is that what you guessed in the office poolA-blog (fb): Ok, time for lights out. Toodles boodle and sweet dreams.

Ze Frank kicks Philip Kaplan while Jeremy Allaire watches and Shar VonBoskirk panics

A panel on the changing face of media, albeit a lot of old sounding theories and practices. But, you have to love Ze Frank for his show, Philip Kaplan for shaking up the industry with Fucked Company and potentially with Spottt, and Jeremy Allaire pushing the video against the grain of YouTube and for professionalism with Brightcove.Kaplan: there are no more networks anymore, we are all our own networks. It is causing a problem with the large brands - such as MTV - because content is availableZe Frank: Media is anything you can advertise against or put a brand against. Anything is media. The challenge is that there is a fragmentation that is causing confusion. There are conversations, media online is a conversational tool with more capital.Allaire: The behavior of media is as valuable as media itself. It is about how to monetize media, or just the metadata. It can sometimes be more valuable than just the content itself.Ze Frank: There are boundaries in where companies can operate. There is so much media out there, and there are boundaries that they can work within the community. Media is the relationship, it is social capital.Kaplan: Your customer is your competitor - you have to be ready to recognized that the customer is going to put out her own views, that might conflict with the companies messages.Kaplan: People don't complain about ads in magazines, in their Vogues. If you have a cool ad, put it in people's faces - they'll like cool things.Allaire: Advertising and marketing has been so slow to move into interactive, social media forms. A pharmaceutical company had put together a video from various patients on what the drug had done for them. For the patient, it can be valuable and see the interaction.Ze Frank: Simplicity is the key - the direct relation to your brand and product, that is the best starting point. There is the flash, but it is about simple interaction with your product. There is a lot of value of having the data, experiencing the data.Kaplan: You have to throw everything at the wall, if you are a media company, and just try everything and anything. You cannot risk sitting back, because the media is going to be developed - by the customers and consumers and audiences.Ze Frank: Brands are the big winners, and provide the context.*****It's interesting - I look at what I wrote above, and what I listened to (and read from Chris Thilk on the Forrester Blog) and wonder if corporate America can move forward with social media. While the panelists do understand community, and being part of the community (in particular, Ze Frank with his show and Philip Kaplan with the group schadenfreude of Fucked Company from the dot-com era), I am not sure if that translates into how brands can get into social media.To me, that is the key. How can brands work with communities, and work in such a way that it is working with them as people, not as a means to an end (yes, that philosophy background). Yesterday, Jeremiah Owyang (whom is doing great at Forrester, and invited me as media) noted that I am a purist when it comes to social media, that I want it to be pure. I like the communities I belong to - and I belong to a wide array of them, and really believe in treating them as people, as communities.And, that's where many companies (and, well, PR firms) fail miserably. They want to message and advertise and brand and market - and not listen to the conversation. They just want to talk, and not listen, and not be creative and try to really be part of the conversation.As you can tell, I'm telling part of the story here, and personalizing it. I believe in communities, in working in communities, and took the job at The Point to work in an environment where I can be part of these communities - be creative and smart and not using, but participating - which is where corporations and firms tend to fail. No creativity, no discussion or desire to be part of the dialogue, just messaging and old ideas (which do work, but do not work that well in social media).Media is changing - as is the business of media, including PR and advertising and marketing. The smart people are there, and they understand that it is community-related and participation-oriented, and not just bad messaging in a one-way format.

Grammy Awards Sparkle: Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian showed up on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards last night looking - well - hot. Her dress wasnt may fav - it kind of reminded me of Madonna in Like a Virgin. But Kim pulled out all the stops in her accessories. Look at those shoes! Her jewelry was flawless and well suited for her fun and flirt ensemble. Take a close look at Kims bling ring! Kim matched her white dress with a stunning white diamond and pearl ring on her right index finger. Its a great look. You can get youre own bling finger ring with this 1/8 Carat Diamond and 8mm Cultured Freshwater Pearl 14K White Gold Ring for only $375. The luminous beauty of pearl is beautifully complemented by icy diamonds and cool white gold in this elegant, feminine ring. A large white freshwater cultured pearl is the centerpiece of an exquisite diamond-studded white gold design. Its a gorgeous look.