NEW DELHI, October 13 (Compass Direct News) – The Christian community of Chhattisgarh state is rattled after a gruesome mob attack and torture in Surguja district.

At midnight on Oct. 3 in Dumarbhavna village, 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Premnagar, three jeeps full of Hindu nationalists broke open the door of a house where a three-day prayer meeting was taking place and attacked participants as they slept – ultimately forcing two Christians to beat one of their own prayer partners unconscious under threat of death.

The mob from the Hindu extremist Dharma Sena (Religious Army) beat the participants in the prayer meeting, including women, and dragged three of them from the house of Parmeshwar Beik, dumping them into the jeeps.

“We thought that they were taken to the police station, but instead they were taken to a secluded place where they were beaten all night,” Yahoshu Kujur, pastor of Blessing Church of God, told Compass.

Muneshwar Ekka and Beik were beaten first, and then the Hindu nationalists ordered them to beat the third captured Christian, Ravi Devangan.

“They threatened to kill us if we did not beat Ravi,” Beik told Pastor Kujur. “We were so scared and left with no option, so we beat Ravi until he dropped unconscious.”

After failing to find the three Christians at the local police station the next morning, the pastor found them at the Srinagar Government Hospital, where Devangan was admitted with internal injuries and injuries to his chest, legs and other parts of the body.

“Ravi, who is a driver by profession, was just visiting Parmeshwar from Mehagai village,” Pastor Kujur said. “He was the worst hit, at home and outside during the attack.”

He added that Devangan’s wife witnessed the attack on the house.

Police Inaction

Pastor Kujur told Compass that police admitted all three kidnapped Christians to the Srinagar Government Hospital with Devangan in serious condition and the other two in shock.

Beik’s wife also sustained internal injuries during the attack, Pastor Kujur said.

“Mr. Ashok Sahu and four other local Christian leaders went on the morning of Oct. 4 and reported the matter at the police station, but so far no action has been taken,” the pastor said.

Police reportedly deceived local Christians into believing that no complaint would be filed against the prayer team members for “forced conversion” if they would agree not to file any complaints against the Hindu nationalists.

“They told us that they would set the three free if we did that,” Pastor Kujur told Compass.

Instead police registered a case of “forced conversion” against the three Christians under sections 3 and 4 of the Chhattisgarh Dharma Swantantraya Adhiniyam (Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill).

If convicted, the Christians could be sentenced up to a year in prison and/or pay a fine of up to 5,000 rupees (US$100). They appeared in Surajpur local court on Oct. 6. A fourth Christian, Fakir Chand Toppo, was also falsely implicated, Pastor Kujur said.

At press time all four Christians were in Surajpur jail, though attempts to secure bail for them continued.

Political Influence

Pastor Kujur said police officers who are friends of his informed him that police were forced to prosecute the Christians on “orders from above.”

Internal police sources told him, he added, that police in the state were working against Christians under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pressure that has the support of the Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Christians from Surajpur have received news from sources who wish to remain anonymous that, emboldened by the BJP government that rules the state, Hindu nationalists have announced a cash award of 100,000 rupees (US$2,092) to anyone who murders a Christian preacher.

In Premnagar, also in Surguja district, Hindu extremist mobs have mounted similar attacks, Pastor Kujur said. He told Compass that in 2004 a Christian convention was attacked during which a mob surrounded the venue and shouted anti-Christian slogans. Police intervention averted casualties.

In another incident in 2005, Hindu extremists incited villagers of Premnagar to attack local Christians, reportedly wounding many.

The Dharma Sena was relatively unknown until nearly three years ago, emerging suddenly in the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Attacking Christians throughout the two states, the Hindus extremist group is reportedly backed heavily by the BJP, with BJP leaders pressuring police officials not to register any First Information Reports against it.

It is widely believed that the Dharma Sena is nothing more than the Hindu extremist youth group Bajrang Dal in another form.

Report from Compass Direct News

Dr. Robin was accused of passing derogatory remarks against the beard of Prophet Muhammad.

He is currently detained in Gujranawala jail. Dr. Robin's family was forced to go into hiding as the family members of the accused cannot stay at their home after the stigma of blasphemy has been slapped on any of their family members.

The family of Dr. Robin and some 20 Christian residents of district Hafizabad had come to see the APMA Chief; Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, after Dr. Robin was accused of blasphemy. They apprised him of the insecurity they had become exposed to after Robin was implicated in a blasphemy case.

The APMA has been extending financial support to the family as well as free legal aid to Dr. Robin since the occurrence of alleged blasphemy by Dr. Robin.

The family of the accused including Veenus, 50, Tariq 42, Waseem Bhatti, 32 and Francis Masih, a relative of Dr. Robin came to the APMA office in Islamabad on October 3, 2008.

Describing the fear and uncertainty that gripped the family members following leveling of blasphemy charges on Dr. Robin, Waseem told ANS that they felt as if a roof had been snatched from them.

“We felt secure after we met the APMA Chief Shahbaz Bhatti,” he said.

“We wanted our voice to be raised. We were desperately looking for someone to steer us out of the problem we were confronting. We were praying for some help. We prayed to God and we knew our prayers were heard when we met Shahbaz Bhatti”, said Waseem.

The young Christian man went on to say that fears of sorts were assailing the family's mind after detention of Dr. Robin. They (fears) left us disturbed and helpless all the more, he said.

After incarceration of Dr. Robin, he said the family had lost the breadwinner and they were not in a position of hiring a lawyer.

“You need a lawyer to defend you even in a simple dispute. We knew we had to hire a competent defense counsel for Dr. Robin. It was again Mr. Shahbaz who extended free legal aid for Dr. Robin”, said Waseem as tears ran down his cheeks.

Waseem, who works as an animator in a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) feared that it had become virtually impossible for Dr. Robin to run his clinic at the same locality.

He also ruled out possibility of any of his family members staying at the same place after leveling of blasphemy accusations on Dr. Robin.

“His (Dr. Robin's) family members are living in hiding. They have been able to find a roof above their heads with the help the APMA Chief extended to the family but you still feel alienated. You take time to settle down at a new place. You continue to live a tension-ridden life”, he said.

“The children of Dr. Robin have been robbed of fatherly love. Michael Rose, the youngest of Dr. Robin's children used to stay in a hostel. He does not feel comfortable staying at the hostel now”, said Waseem.

In response to a question he said that during this period of tribulation Dr. Robin had emerged as a strong Christian. He said his (Dr. Robin's) belief in Christ had only become stronger.

Tariq, a relative of Dr. Robin told ANS that Dr. Robin wished to be released as soon as possible.

He said the incident had come as a big jolt to the children of Dr. Robin.

He said they had not been able to concentrate on their studies fully after Robin was arrested by the police.

Francis, brother-in-law of Dr. Robin called for repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Citing his talks with a couple of Muslim friends, he said that they were of the view that the law should be repealed.

“My Muslim friends admitted that a thorough investigation should be made before lodging of a blasphemy-related Police First Information Report (FIR)”, said Tariq.

Tariq disclosed that he had been able to record a conversation between the complainant and some family members of Dr. Robin in which the complainant tried to do a “deal” with the family of the accused.

According to Tariq, the complainant said that he would withdraw charges against Dr. Robin if his family agreed to pay him money.

He claimed he recorded the conversation on September 19, a day ahead of the hearing of Dr. Robin's case in a lower court.

Echoing a grave concern of Pakistani Christians, who like their fellow Muslim Pakistanis want their concerns to be highlighted on national and print media, Tariq said that Dr. Robin's case only drew marginal coverage of the incident.

Lashing out at the police he alleged that the police failed to provide adequate security to Dr. Robin's family.

“If the Police had provided security to Dr. Robin's family and his vulnerable relatives then they might have decided to continue staying in Hafizabad but in the absence of any such security the family was forced to go into hiding”, he said.

In an apparent bid to support his disbelief in the police, he said that police did not take initiative for rescuing Dr. Robin's family “rather some local Christians entered Dr. Robin's home at about 3 am and rescued the family members who had become prone to attack by the angry Muslim residents of Hafizabad”.

“Do you want us to jump into fire”, he quoted a police official as saying, who Tariq and other Christian residents of the area wanted to rescue Dr. Robin's family members.

Post-arrest situation

Tariq said when he and some other members of Dr. Robin's family went to Dr. Robin's place to collect some clothes, books and some other daily use items they saw a “shocking scene”.

“Not even a single thing was at its place. There were visible signs of human presence at Dr. Robin's house. It was not hard to conclude that some people have been living at Dr. Robin's house. We saw crumbs of bread, chicken bones, and unwashed dishes.

Dr. Robin's house had been ransacked”, said Tariq, who looked scared while sketching the ransacked home of Dr. Robin.

He said that the lower court rejected a post-arrest bail petition, prompting the APMA to file a petition in Lahore High Court.

Asked who could have inhabited Dr. Robin's house after his arrest and exiting of his family members, Tariq said that the fundamentalist Muslims of the area could have maintained their presence at Dr. Robin's house. Nobody could have dared entering Dr. Robin's home if the police had been vigilant, he said.

Tariq disclosed that a small but angry Muslim crowd took out a rally in a bid to pressurize the court.

He said that participants of the rally were holding placards, which were inscribed with slogans, “Give death to Dr. Robin.”

He disclosed that the witnesses at a court hearing had submitted their written version on legal papers that Dr. Robin did not commit blasphemy.

He said he learned that Dr. Robin's lawyer also gave precedents of post-arrest bails granted to blasphemy accused in the past “but even then the judge did not grant post-arrest bail to Dr. Robin”.

Talking to the APMA Chief, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, Veenus said that recording of the alleged conversation between the complainant and some family members further angered the local Muslims.

Thanking Mr. Shahbaz, she said she was optimistic that Dr. Robin would soon be home due to the APMA's efforts.

She said: “I urge the Christians across the world to pray for release of my husband from prison. I cannot give fatherly love to my children. We want him back as soon as possible”, she said while talking to the APMA Chief”.

The APMA Chief told ANS that he was going to urge authorities to do an in-camera trial of Dr. Robin for security purposes. An application in this regard would be moved soon, he said.

He assured the family of the accused that Dr. Robin would soon be with them.

“The APMA is concerned. It (APMA) has been since leveling of the blasphemy accusations on Dr. Robin. We stand by you at this critical juncture in Robin's and your life,” Shahbaz told the family of Dr. Robin who had come to see him at his office in Islamabad.

“It is the case of entire Christian community. When children of Dr. Robin talk to me by phone, I could feel the agony in their voices. I understand what they are living through. The APMA will do all it can to ensure expedient release of Dr. Robin”, said Shahbaz.

“We understand that the Pakistan blasphemy laws are being misused to settle personal scores. Religious enmity, prejudice and intolerance have been found behind filing of blasphemy cases in the past”, he maintained.

“God will move in His own mysterious way. Dr. Robin will be with you soon”, the APMA Chief told Dr. Robin's spouse, Veenus.

Shahbaz reiterated his pledge that the APMA would continue to extend free legal aid to the blasphemy accused.

He said the APMA would continue to struggle until the blasphemy laws are repealed.

A person is reduced to the status of a refugee in his country after blasphemy allegations are leveled against him, said Shahbaz implying to the threats the accused and his family receive after slapping of blasphemy charges.

Responding a question, he said the APMA had been providing free legal aid and shelter to the blasphemy-accused since the abuse of the law became rampant in Pakistan.

The APMA, he said, wants to see the controversial laws abolished. He disclosed that he wanted to table a bill in parliament in a bid to either get the laws repealed or see them significantly amended.

He appealed to the Christians across the world to pray for the APMA and Pakistani Christians.

“I thank you for your previous prayers and support. We need your prayers to be able to continue fighting for the rights of the marginalized and the down-trodden Pakistani Christians and other minorities”, he said.

Dubbing Pakistan blasphemy laws as a death warrant in the hands of extremists, Shahbaz called for the repeal of the law, which he said had done more harm than good since their introduction in 1986.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

Governor Palin's Welcome Message to the 2008 Alaska Independence Party Convention.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has neither confirmed nor denied reports that she attended the 1994 and 2000 Alaska Independence Party Conventions with her husband, Todd.  Mr. Palin was a registered member of the Alaska Independence Party from 1995 to 2002. The organization seeks the secession of Alaska from the United States of America.

Rosa Brooks of the Los Angeles Times reports a video of AIP Vice Chairman Dexter Clark at the 2007 North American Secessionist Convention in which he describes Governor Palin as:

[An} . . . AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town -- that was a nonpartisan job. But you get along to go along. She eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won't go into that.

Alaska Independence Party  founder Joe Vogler told an interviewer "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. ... And I won't be buried under their damn flag."

Clearly,  this is not the 4-H Club that Governor Palin has welcomed here. Recall that the Governor repeatedly questions Senator Obama's patriotism and read Mr. Vogeler's words again.

 The McCain-Palin motto is "Country First." Perhaps the Senator shuould check the AIP website, then ask his running mate if they have the same county in mind.

Als je tegenwoordig iets wilt verkopen dan heet dat "een produkt in de markt zetten".  Er is een wetenschap die zich hiermee bezighoudt: de marketing. Tot in detail wordt bekeken hoe en aan wie je op de beste manier je handel aan de man kunt brengen. Segmenten, doelgroepen, controlegroepen, media exposure, gerichte reclame en ga zo nog maar een poosje door. Het maakt in principe niet uit wat je aan de man wenst te brengen, of dat nu een knoflookpers of een presidentskandidaat is. Het is een produkt.

Een uiterst belangrijk instrument van de marketing is de slogan. De kapstok van je produkt. Een paar krachtige woorden die het juiste beeld van je produkt bij de consument oproepen en aanzetten tot koopgedrag. Een oneliner met impact. Het is een kunst an sich om een goede slogan te verzinnen. De slogan moet duidelijk zijn, je produkt onderscheiden van andere produkten, niet te algemeen maar ook weer niet te specifiek zijn en vooral een beeld oproepen dat de consument interesseert en intrigeert. De slogan moet je het gevoel geven dat als je het produkt koopt je bij een bijzondere groep hoort. Us versus them.

De slogan van Nike: "Just do it!" is een prachtig voorbeeld van een fantastische slogan. De link die de slogan met het merk/produkt maakt zegt in drie woorden alles: Nike staat voor vastberadenheid, kracht, energie, snelheid, gedrevenheid, durf, hoop, vertrouwen en sportiviteit. Je ziet niet alleen een schoen, je ziet een ideaalbeeld. Zo wil je zijn en als je die schoenen koopt ga je zo worden. Dat is de magie van goede marketing.

Natuurlijk zijn er ook minder goede slogans. De firma Electrolux probeerde de Amerikaanse markt voor stofzuigers voor zich te winnen met de slogan: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". Het gevoel voor humor van de Amerikanen strekte niet ver genoeg...

De Presidentskandidaten in de USA gooien ook slogans in de strijd. McCain met "Country First" en "Change is coming". Obama met "Yes We Can" en "Change We Need".  De kenners menen dat de slogans te algemeen zijn om echt impact te hebben. Men vindt "The Original Mavericks" van McCain/Palin wel origineel en specifiek. Soms worden de officiële slogans vervangen door "toevallige" slip of the tongue slogans die een geheel eigen leven gaan leiden en zich vereenzelvigen met de kandidaat. Een voorbeeld daarvan is "It's the economy, stupid" van Clinton of "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" van Reagan.

Vandaag graag uw oordeel over slogans. Kom maar op met goede en slechte voorbeelden. Vertel ons of u zich laat beinvloeden door slogans om iets te kopen of iets te geloven.  Verzin slogans voor politieke campagnes of bepaalde produkten. En verzin een prachtige slogan voor dit log. JUST DO IT!

Pakistan's Flag Is A Symbol Of Freedom In India

This should come as news for Pakistani defeatists. After Kashmir, the rest of the dozen or so freedom movements in India see Pakistan as a symbol of liberty and freedom. Pakistan’s media and intelligence agencies should project these incidents and stoke more support inside these Indian states as retaliation for Indian terrorism inside Pakistan’s Balochistan, tribal belt and other cities.

AhmedQuraishi.com REPORT

Tuesday, 7 October 2008.

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

GAUHATI, India—Depressed from how New Delhi is suppressing local Assamese people who want to carve a separate homeland out of India, people in Assam waved Pakistan's flags in five districts.

The eastern Indian state is one of a dozen Indian states in the north and east where ferocious freedoms movements are in full swing, demanding the right of self determination from Indian rule.

As usual, the Indian government, blaming Pakistani agencies for the violence, has ordered an immediate enquiry for this incident.

The officials in New Delhi are so disturbed by this that they have invoked patriotism while asking newspaper editors across India to black out any news about the freedom movements.

This week a student delegation visited the State’s governor and told him that ‘the villagers informed us that the miscreants were shouting slogans like Pakistan zindabad [Long live Pakistan] through loudspeakers in Dalgaon and some other border areas,” according to a report in The Assam Tribune.

The Indian paper called on the government to give “stern punishment to those who hoisted Pakistani flags.”

The Indian Express reported the story in one paragraph: “Meanwhile, media persons saw a Pakistani flag in Sonaripara and Mohanpur villages and took photographs of them. Local television channels also ran footage of the flags. Officials and security forces denied any knowledge of the presence of the flags.

New Delhi is disturbed by this new trend where the Pakistani flag has emerged as a symbol of freedom in India.

Indian officials are still smarting from the shock of a unanimous rejection of India across Kashmir. For years the Kashmiris have been marking India’s national day on Aug. 15 as a Black Day. But this year, Kashmir witnessed a unanimous civil disobedience and massive street protests where Kashmiris joined in raising the Pakistani flag and chanting slogans rejecting their forced inclusion in the Indian state.

The massive protests shocked the Indian media and ordinary Indians who for years were shielded by New Delhi authorities from ground realities in Kashmir and were fed an official version that almost the entire free Indian media adhered to without asking questions. The size and the impressive unanimity of Kashmiri protests this year helped break Indian official media blackout and provided the Indian people a chance to see for their own what their governments have been hiding for decades now, where the Kashmir dispute was often peddled as a Pakistani creation and not the result of indigenous Kashmiri demands.

This story should come as surprising news to a vocal minority in Pakistani media that continues to hold an inferiority complex concerning the Indian government. This Pakistani minority is used to exaggerating Pakistani flaws and glorifying India and presenting it as a country devoid of any flaws [Editor’s note: This is called ‘Bollywood Effect’. This minority needs to break the spell and improve its taste by watching some quality movies from Hollywood and elsewhere.]

This is a good opportunity for Pakistani media organizations and spy agencies to project the freedom movements inside various Indian states that want independence from Indian rule. Pakistanis recall how the Indian government broke international law and issued a statement supporting its own trained and funded terrorists in Pakistani Balochistan in 2006. This is why it has become imperative to pay the New Delhi establishment in the same coin. Assam and the rest of the twelve or so Indian states that are fighting for independence are a good place to start.

RELEVANT ARTICLES

Kashmir Shakes India

Kabul’s Indian 'Embassy' Was A Military Base In Disguise

A War Between Pashtu & Urdu Speakers In Karachi? Welcome To RAW

We Need a Cold, Not Warm, Peace With India

A U.S. Report: India, Not Pakistan, Creating Trouble For NATO In Afghanistan

Kashmir Towards Independence: The First Victory

This one is a possibility for Michelle around the house...

For me, if I decide I never want to come again, ever.

Hier das Prickel-Spiel:

Die Biogetränke heißen: A) Aloha, B) Beo, C) Bionade, D) Bios, E) Carpe Diem, F) Sinconada, G) The Spirit of Georgia

Die Slogans (Claims) lauten:

1) Erfrischend anders

2) Gute Erfrischung

3) Erfrischung in bester Tradition

4) Natürlich das Leben erfrischen

5) Natürlich glücklich

6) Des Trinkens reicher Sinn

7) The original surfsoda

Ich gebe gerne zu, dass ich bei dem (von diesem Artikel inspirierten) Spiel total versagen würde. Vielleicht nicht total: Einen Claim könnte ich sicher zuordnen, einfach weil er anders ist als die anderen...

Nuclear deals
Communal riots
Political impotency
Corrupt veins
False promises
Notwithstanding.

Gandhi must stay

Heal hearts
Lead minds
Treat with love
Listen in patience
Nurture lives
Singlehandedly.

Gandhi must think

Powerful slogans
Empowering thoughts
New order
Fresh ideology
Bold endeavours
Forever.

Gandhi must preach

No borders
Interfaith unity
End to poverty
Self reliance
Inner strength
Unanimously.

Gandhi must cry

Unwilling friends
Failed experiments
Loss of humanity
Selfish dreams
Brittle hopes
Persisting.

Gandhi must die

Nation’s birth
Freedom on rise
Joy of creation
Public service
Golden era
Unveiling.

 Guilherme Bouças, com o slogan:
 'Chega de malas, vote em Bouças.'

Candidato a prefeito de Aracati (CE):
'Com a minha fé e as fezes de vocês, vou ganhar a eleição.'

Pelo menos em criatividade, esse políticos são nota mil.

And one project in particular had success written all over it from the very beginning when Malmaison Hotels asked the company to create quirky new slogans for its bar and brasserie staff’s t-shirts.

Design Project Manager Jill Robertson challenged the nine-strong team at her Edinburgh base to come up with some cheeky wording – with I’ve Had the Time of Mal Life and The Mal the Merrier winning approval from Malmaison’s head office.

Jill said: “Malmaison likes to update its quirky t-shirts on a regular basis and we have been responsible for supplying thousands of these t-shirts but we’ve never been asked to create the words before.

“We ended up having a great afternoon coming up with some funny, and some not so funny to be honest, phrases.  Malmaison, that NKD Clothing has supplied uniforms to for four years, used two of our slogans in its new five slogan campaign which was exciting.”

The t-shirts are worn by staff throughout Malmaison’s 12 bar and brasseries in the UK, including its Aberdeen venue which is due to open in November, and feature slogans such as Just the Halibut, Raising the Steaks and The Way You Make Me Veal.

Sean Wheeler, Group Director of People and Development for the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin hotel groups, said: “The team at NKD Clothing has always produced great uniforms for Malmaison but I knew it also is a team with plenty of personality. I was confident NKD Clothing could come up with a few quirky one-liners for the t-shirts and it certainly did not disappoint.”

I've purposely avoided political topics in this blog, which may explain my silence over the past week or so. ("If you can't say anything nice...") But here are a few interesting shifts in propaganda on hot topics worth noting.

GLOBAL WARMING: Is it getting cold again? The latest Farmer's Almanac claims that we may have a long, cold winter this season. They cite lots of natural indicators, like early fog and more nuts on the trees than usual.  Globally, there are many scientific sources (from actual meteorologists) who fear that global warming may simply be popularized bad science. My three lousy science classes in college do not really qualify me to form an opinion on this matter - I'm just focused on the words.

So, when it's February in northeast Ohio, where's Al Gore when you need him?

Well, it's tough to host a Global Warming rally in the snow. So the advocates carefully shifted the conversation to "Climate Change." Smart move, as the climate is always changing. That's what climates do. How can one argue against that?

The well-crafted shift from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change" helps keep their momentum.

WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE: Here's a hot one... the abortion issue. How a bloody means of birth control has been linked to women's status in our society and their economic well-being is beyond me. But the movement may be taking a more direct approach to their propaganda.

"A Woman's Right to Choose" as a slogan may be losing effectiveness. To counter that, in comes "A Woman's Right to Privacy." From Choice to Privacy. A brilliant shellgame of words that completely changes the argument. After all, who dare take a stand that a woman shouldn't have "privacy," when what they really want to say is that they shouldn't kill their unborn child. It changes the argument completely.

The scary thing is about such propaganda on both topics is that the public may hardly even notice the change in words at all, only that their opinions on the topic may be changing. The power of a strong word choice can be mesmerizing. 

If shifts in words can create shifts in public opinion when it comes to hot topics like these, imagine what a powerful slogan or tagline can do for you when it comes to your business.

You don't necessarily have to change the argument to win. But the right words can help change minds and grow your base like never before.

----------------------------------------------------------

Theme 1: A World of Prisms.
The prism is representative of a few things: parallel planes, transparent body and something that distorts, slants or colors what is viewed (a.k.a. new perspective). The parallel planes reflects the idea that people across different generations do move in similar directions within the industry. The transparent body is reflecting the new wave for corporations, organizations, motivations, procesess, et cetera - an increased interest in, or even a demand for, transparency. This supports clarity and understanding. The new perspective approach was included earlier, so I will let that be.

Theme 2: Engagement - No Ring Needed.
People are looking to be engaged and to promote engagement across all generations, membership types, et cetera. While there may seem to be the “ball and chain” reluctance to truly working with one another to become engaged, there’s all of the potential without the cost of a ring. This one may be a stretch, but it’s fun.

Theme 3: More of the Same: Change, Talent, Engagement, Fresh Ideas, Tried and True Wisdom, Common Goals.
This one would probably have the words centered and going down the shirt. While it’s testing waters because of the political allusion, it reveals a lot about us. Both parties are “accused” of promising more of the same. Both parties are “accused” of not changing their tone or message over the years, despite a promise of change. It is a safe accusation because “More of the Same” is change. No matter the decade, demographic, generation, psychographic, et cetera, there is change, there is talent coming into the work force, people are seeking engagement (how soon they get discouraged varies), people are bringing fresh ideas to the table, wisdom is shared to counter the ideas and come up with the most ideal result and people are often moving after the same common goal, despite taking different approaches.

Theme 4: (Blue circle).
White t-shirts with a blue dot (~4″) on the front and one on the back (~7″). This is purely a curiosity snatcher as people may be inclined to ask what the shirts with the blue dots represent. The meaning of the different sizes on both sides of the shirt (aside from being visible from both sides) is that when the individuals have finished speaking and they turn from each other to move on to other things, their sphere of knowledge will have expanded.

Theme 5: This is How We Roll.
How about a picture of (recycled) carpet being rolled down an aisle of a tradeshow with the slogan “This is how we roll.” And then the sub-slogan could be IAEE Young Professionals; or whatever you want people to do. Like — Get involved with IAEE, or Bringing a new perspective to the tradeshow industry.

Theme 6: Tradeshows are for Lovers

Theme 7: Planting a Seed.
This might be a bit biased, but how about something about ‘planting a seed’ with the seed being our YPs at conference and the seasoned professionals being the ‘water’ that will help our YPs grow with IAEE?? — We used a’planting the need’ as a take off of the ‘planting the seed’ idea for our office postcard when we moved to our new (and larger) office eariler this year.

Have fun voting!

Best Regards,

Nora Johnson

Keep your mouth shut and wave the flag. Period. That is the McCain-Palin campaign in a nutshell.

John: Don't debate Obama. No questions from reporters. Deliver the canned speech. Read it off the teleprompter.  No questions from reporters. Pose with the Legion and AmVets. Don't remind voters that your record of financial experience is limited to membership in the Keating Five and sleeping with a millionaire, you think the poverty limit is $3 million, that Phil Gramm, the Swiss banker who pushed the finance laws that caused this world finance meltdown,  was your campaign co-chair, you have all those unforclosed houses, and you've been in Washington for 26 years, voting with George W. Bush over 90 percent of the time. And remember: no questions from reporters.

Cindy: Smile. Wave. Try not to look sedated. No questions from reporters. Don't let anybody see the manuscript of the book you cancelled, the one that explains that your father was a federal felon and his mob connections got him the stake for his beer fortune. Shred the chapter that describes your drug addiction, how you stole drugs from a children's medical charity, and how you avoided felony charges by going to a celebrity spa for a few months. No questions from reporters.

Sarah: No questions from reporters. Wrap yourself in the flag and Motherhood. Deliver the canned speech, repeat all the proven lies, especially the ones about The Bridge. Read the teleprompter. Keep up the Just-A-Mom front with voters, be Miss Congeniality with foreign officials from those places you can't locate on a map. Pretend your inept, profligate ways as a mayor didn't leave your town millions in debt, even though you hired lobbyists to grab millions in federal earmarks for the tiny place. And don't talk to reporters. Promise all the hunters a full bag limit and a moose in every pot. Keep your record of political intimidation and revenge under wraps. Remember: the reason you had to go to five colleges before you graduated was because you are such a quick study that the schools kept running out of things to teach you. Yeah, that's the story. Stick to it. And no questions from reporters.

Todd: Ignore that subpoena from the Republican-majority state legislature investigation  which your own wife first approved in the name of government transparency, then decided to duplicate using people she can fire. Try to really smile; don't grimace like you are threatening to rip out someone's liver. Intimidating silence worked when you sat in on committee meetings to threaten anyone opposed to Sarah's policies, but it looks bad on TV. Keep people from remembering that you independently attended government meetings amd spoke to officials for your spouse but hold no government office, work for a British oil company, only fish a commercial "set-net" on the Nushagak Bay/Wood River estuary a few weeks a year on a permit using your old residential address up there and that, despite your claims of heritage, your wife has consistently opposed Native American subsistence and cultural rights. So keep ignoring reporters, but try not to glare at them. Please, try.

Everybody: Remember, "Freedom of Speech" means freedom to shut up and keep voters in happy ignorance. That's the new American Way.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here; print it out and hang it next to that allegedly-motivational flyer. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

The Fine Females of Fringe

Women's Large
$7 + $3 shipping

$1 of the sale of each shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

another observation i've made is the increase in mccain/palin sales on zazzle. ugh.

anyhow . . . i just wanted to post some of my obama designs . . . go O!

all of the links above go to where my designs are on zazzle, but i also have them (plus a lot more) up on spreadshirt. the two sites have different shirts selections, so if you like these check out the two sites to see which shirts you like better.

Here are other people's designs that i love, too:

The Fine Females of Fringe!

Size Small
$7 + $3 shipping

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.