Got Milk???

MckMama certainly does.

In her latest blog post since returning home from her travels with GHNI, MckMama posted a picture of a freezer drawer that is more than halfway filled with bags of breast milk. She claims that she pumped all of this breast milk while she was on her 2-week trip and transported it all the way back home despite climate changes, long flights, etc.

Of course, MckMama claims that she wasn't able to do this all alone. It takes a village. In MckMama's case, she states that she is grateful for the "hotel kitchens" where she could store her milk, airport juice vendors that stored her milk for "hours", and flight attendants who assisted with keeping her milk on ice during her flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

She claims that this breast milk is approximately half of what she pumped while she was gone and the rest of that breast milk was pumped and dumped. She also states that she bonded with other breastfeeding moms while she was on her trip. According to MckMama, she held a picture of her children and she would pump while other mothers were nursing their children under trees in Garmaam.

Now that she has returned home, MckMama states that she and her youngest child have been able to seamlessly resume their breastfeeding mother and child relationship.

* She is also promoting a giveaway for a Nook or Kindle to two lucky readers if they donate to a good cause.

Gay

Ciao bellezze, 
Avevo preparato per voi un video a sfondo sociologico ma, ahinoi, il nostro presidente del consiglio ha esternato ancora.
Lo so che vi sembrerò monotematica, ma davanti a delle chicche così, come si fa a rimanere impassibili?
Questa volta Silvio the fabulous, oltre a delirare sulla scuola, cosa di cui magari parleremo più avanti, ha avuto il fantastico gusto di parlarci della famiglia.
Ora, in questo momento storico e politico, apprezzerei tanto che il mio premier mi parlasse di cose di cui è più competente, tipo la detrazione delle escort dalle tasse, le riforme informi della giustizia e la distruzione dei vecchi posti di lavoro.
La famiglia no però. Il papa posso arrivare a capirlo perché lui di mestiere fa il capo della chiesa e deve far finta di condividerne i dogmi, Berlusconi invece non lo voglio proprio sentire.
E' un po' come se Cicciolina mi dicesse che il pipino è cancerogeno.
Berlusconi dice anche che finchè ci sarà lui, le coppie gay non potranno mai essere una famiglia come lui la intende.
Questa però, pensandoci bene, per gli omosessuali italiani potrebbe essere un'ottima notizia.

Skype Hype

At the beginning of MckMama's campaign to get the GHNI village of Garmaam "adopted" by 100 of her readers, she wrote a post entitled, "Tonight is the night!", and it was posted on her blog on Monday morning, February 21. At the end of that blog post, Mckmama wrote the following:

"Additionally, on Thursday evening (at around the same times as I listed above), four of you who join Garmaam’s extended village will have the opportunity to join live with each other and the people of Garmaam in a video call (Both ways! The village will see and hear you…and vice versa!) to the village!! I’ll give you more details in my next post, but if you are planning to help adopt Garmaam, be thinking now about possibly being a part of the call. How will we decide which four will participate? I’m so glad you asked!

The four people with the most creative idea about how you will gather a crowd of people around your computer to meet Garmaam will get the spots. More to come tonight!!"

Approximately 12 + hours later (on Monday evening), she posted another post on her blog, entitled "This is Garmaam." In that post, she announced that the day for the Skype calls had been changed. Here's what she wrote:

"Also, on Friday evening (8:00 pm Pacific, 11:00 Eastern…and yes, I know I said Thursday earlier, but we changed it!), four of the 100 of you who join with Garmaam will have the chance to be part of a live video conference call that we will rise very early and have with Garmaam at sunrise. You will be able to see and hear the villagers, and the villagers will be able to see and hear the four of you on the screen at the same time! But it won’t be just you. To help spread awareness about this amazing Ethiopian village, as well as the beauty and the needs here, please email me sometime before Tuesday evening in the States if you want to be considered for the call. Let me know how you would gather a crowd around your computer for the video experience. Would you gather your neighbors at your house to meet “your” new village? Maybe you work evenings and would bring your computer (Your computer must have a web cam!) to have your coworkers participate? Would you meet with people from your church for the evening call? Have your teenager invite a slew of friends over for an African themed sleepover? Gather your buddies around the poker table? Get creative! We’ll pick the four people with the best plans, and I’ll email them back so we’ll be squared away for the call on Friday evening, when each of the four can carry out their plan and participate in the live conference call!

I will of course attend the live video call and photograph it so I can post about how it went. Technology is amazing. But our neighbors around the globe are even moreso. To learn more about how your $12 a month will help the village, click here. For a deeper explanation of how GHNI seeks to help villages transform themselves, click here."

The "winners" of the Skype calls were never announced.


But information started to surface the very next day. On Tuesday afternoon, one of the "winners" hinted that she was one of the chosen 4 by telling her blog readers that they were going to want to come to her house on Friday night (the night of the Skype call). It seemed a little odd since the village had not yet been adopted by MckMama's readers. MckMama had asked her readers to contact her via e-mail by Tuesday night, if they wanted to be considered for the Skype call, but had the "winners" already been chosen?

People might say that this doesn't matter and it wasn't even a true "giveaway", but I think this is just one more story that illustrates the way MckMama handles these situations.

Before the Skype call on Friday, February 25, a commenter posted here on MWOP. She stated that she was one of the "winners" and she stated that she would be recording the Skype call and make it available online. MWOPers had their doubts, but it turns out that she was one of the "winners". After corresponding with this individual, I was able to confirm her story and the timing of the events. MckMama contacted her on Monday, February 21 to see if she would like to be considered for the Skype call. The wording of that e-mail definitely implies that there was never a contest. It seemed the decision had already been made.

This individual commented here on Saturday, February 26 (the morning after her Skype call took place) and posted the following comment under the username "It's all coming together", but I have removed her name and the identifying information from her comment. With her permission, I am sharing the content of that comment with you below:

"Good morning everyone - you too, Mckmama. I have a full day of kids & work to attend to, but wanted to say something before I sign off for the day.

My name is (name removed) and I was a sheeple. Well, more like a part time sheeple. A few years ago I started reading blogs and came across Jens. We had a lot in common... both had fairly rocky relationships (mine not physically violent thank God), I was pregnant with my 4th child and have since had a 5th (all but 1 were preemies with 2 spending 2+ months in the hospital), we own our own small business, I am an amateur photographer, etc, etc, etc... she lived just a short drive from me.

When Stellan was having all his heart problem I felt horrible for her. I knew what long hospital stays did to families, and knew if I had to spend time away from family/work etc, I'd be financially ruined. So I helped her. I paid for hotel rooms... sent gift cards... sent money anonymously.

At one point almost a year ago I confronted her via e-mail about some issues I had with her lying. She e-mailed me back and smoothed it all over - very nicely I might add. It was a big band-aid and made everything better for a short time.

Just like many of you, I had questions pop up from time to time. I always told myself that since she was so popular, people were bound to be jealous - and that some people just had NO life outside of trashing Ms. McKinney. And really, some of her "lies" were small - really nothing that mattered (unless you took the time to put the WHOLE PICTURE together). So why bother, ya know? And with all the horrible things happening to her, she needed people who truly cared. I justified it rather nicely, wrapped it up and put a big bow on it - and went on reading her blog.

I felt she was doing such an amazing and difficult thing to leave her family when she headed back to Africa this time. I, too, have 5 kids - and can't imagine being away for 2 weeks! When she asked for people to sponsor the 2nd village, I really thought it would be a great way to be involved. (Identifying information removed)

On Monday the 21st, I got an e-mail from Jen saying she wanted me to be part of the skype chat. It also says, "You guys might need to sign up now to hold a spot for your (Identifying information removed)?" I thought it was weird since I knew the village hadn't been 100% adopted yet - and I guess I thought it was a contest for everyone who signed up to sponsor them. I was excited - as I hadn't yet spent some time researching GHNI. To be CLEAR - I have found nothing derogatory about them. To be more clear - I have found NOTHING. It's all fluff. No #'s about what money goes where - or what percentage of my $12 actually GOES to help them. I don't have the time or the desire to hunt down their non-profit info, or tax return info... but on their website - the information I would want to have as a donor, isn't there.

None of it mattered anyways. It turned out that a girl I work with knows someone who knows Jen. She shared with me some information that I really took to heart. I was told to read here, at MWOP - and read the "Links you might want to read" - and to read back through her blog as well.

Why would I bother to try to dig up dirt? What this girl told me really bothered me. AND... I've spent HOURS over the last few years reading her blog - and have spent my families money to help her. For my personal knowledge, I could easily justify spending a few more hours reading/researching in lieu of being a "sheeple" for the next several years.

The first thing I realized on my own was that the woman who BANNED Susan G Komen ads on her blog is asking her readers to donate $12 a month for a village that practices polygamy. Struck me as odd...

Then came more. LOTS more. You've all managed to cover all the major "OH MY GOD" realizations quite nicely on here.

As for ANYONE who disagrees with my posting those videos to my youtube - Jennifer asked ALL 4 of us skype people to take pictures and record if possible and share with her. I have the e-mail to prove this. She was planning on sharing them all herself.

Also, please refer to the nipple/breastfeeding shots she posted. She could care less about ANYONE'S privacy. It's 100% clear to me that she is ONLY out to make a buck. I believe that with every fiber in me, and I seriously questioned whether or not she owned THIS blog too.... she'd be the one to capitalize on "negative MckMama dirt" faster than anyone else. Then I realized there were no ads here... lol

All I did was participate IN SPITE of wanting to scream at her... Yes, I managed to get a few sarcastic comments in... and post the videos to youtube. After I saw the people from town with her and the CHILDREN, I knew I couldn't say what was on my mind. I simply shared with you before she did. (although I'm sure my video wouldn't have made the cut and she would have said they had technical issues and it didn't get recorded or something).

For any of you who truly LOVE Jennifer... go for it. Just be careful. Share your thoughts with her on her blog. She'll love to hear them. I'm still digging and trying to find facts to back up the stories I've been told this week - and IF any prove to be true I have no problem sharing with you all. I, myself, am walking away from her. She can make all her money off other people and other clicks. I've had enough."

In emails, MckMama also encouraged the Skype "winners" to contact local television stations, news media, newspapers, etc., stating the "positive exposure would be great".

Another Exciting Day in Africa

MckMama has been busy today.

She posted a picture of an Ethiopian child, holding a toy gun. In light of the recent deaths of 4 Americans killed by pirates earlier this week and ongoing turmoil in Libya, Egypt, etc., some readers felt that this picture was insensitive.

She also has hinted that she might have attracted a new ad network, but she plans to post more about that later.

And, finally, tonight is the big night for the Skype call between 4 lucky MckMama readers & the village of Garmaam (of course, at least 2 of those readers know MckMama in real life).

MckMama will be heading home from Africa this weekend and will be returning home until she leaves for her next out-of-state photo shoot.

La Sora Cesira e l'ipocrisia della tenda beduina

Oggi sono in vena di una riflessione seria.
A poche centinaia di chilometri dal nostro italico suolo si sta consumando un reality un po' sanguinolento.
Una specie di caricatura di Michael Jackson ottantenne vestito da mister Magoo, da quasi mezzo secolo padrone della Libia, sta barricato dentro un bunker e lancia contestualmente bombe e proclami da acidodipendente, mentre un popolo leggermente incazzato non vede l'ora di corcarlo con la mazzella, per poi disperderne gli eventuali resti negli inferi.
Intanto i lungimiranti ( è ironico ) e avvinazzati responsabili della propaganda dei partiti italioti, imbrattano i muri delle città con scritte tipo " Basta massacri in Libia! ".
Oooooh! Ma che bella idea! Ma come abbiam fatto a non pensare che sarebbero bastati dei manifesti per porre fine allo scempio?
In fondo solo qualche tempo fa' abbiamo omaggiato la caricatura di un dittatore, portandolo in trionfo come un grande statista e lasciandolo accampare con le sue tende beduine sul nostro sputtanatissimo suolo.
Quello che mi domando è solo il perché di questa risibile ipocrisia, tipica di questa periferia di mondo.
Sono anni che ci ciucciamo il petrolio del generale delle mie ovaie, che ci facciamo affari immobiliari, che lo ospitiamo e che lo benediciamo.
Credo che sarebbe molto più coerente da parte nostra strappare i manifesti risolutori e aiutarlo (magari con i nostri soldati che tanto non hanno niente da fare) a tirarsi fuori da quel bunker e a prendere il sopravvento su quegli incivili che alla democrazia tanto non sono abituati.
Proteggiamo il petrolio, sfruttiamo i popoli più sfigati per farne la nostra fortuna, riapriamo pure le colonie che ci farebbero un gran bene.
Gheddafi non è mica impazzito adesso. Gheddafi è scemo da quarant'anni, quindi non ci sono proprio scuse.
Ora faremo qualche bella diretta di " Porta a porta ", dove Vespa cercherà di cogliere in diretta la morte di un inviato sacrificale e dove opinionisti faranno infiammare il colon dei telespettatori compiacenti. Poi faremo tanti servizi speciali sulle fosse comuni. Poi forse un format televisivo dal titolo " Chi vuol esser dittatore?" Con le " Stragine " che si occuperanno di solleticare gli occhi di chi al sangue preferisce sempre la chiappa.
Io nel frattempo intono un mantra sempre più carico di vaffanculi, nell'attesa, chiaramente vana,di un passaggio su Marte.

Sta arrivando il nuovo video...non vi allontanate!!!!

Ciao bellezze mie adorate! Sto mettendo i sottotitoli al nuovo video e conto di pubblicarlo fra pochissimo. Nel frattempo vi omaggio dei lavori che sto facendo per la trasmissione " Gli sgommati", in onda su Sky uno alle ore 21 dal Lunedì al Venerdì.
Non vi allontanate eh...!

Another day, another $12

Just to catch everyone up, MckMama was able to get both villages (Ola Nagele and Garmaam) "adopted" by her readers. Jeff Power and GHNI also did a little push on Twitter to promote the adoption campaign for the second village, Garmaam.

Village # 1 (Ola Nagele) was adopted in @ 3 1/2 - 4 hours

Village # 2 (Garmaam) was adopted in @ 37-45 hours (* exact amount of time unknown since no adoption campaign updates were done during an @ 8 hour timeframe)

And...

MckMama has a new post up that addresses a number of questions about Africa, GHNI, etc. Despite the fact that she has been asked many questions before her trip and during her trip, I find it interesting that she did not answer some of the more difficult questions until both villages were adopted.

As always, I would like to encourage everyone to do their own research before donating to any cause or charity. I think this is even more important when the donations are ongoing. Charity Navigator evaluates over 5,500 charities and is a great resource when you are conducting research about organizations you are considering.

MckMama's Campaign to "Adopt" a 2nd Village

MckMama started her 2nd campaign to adopt the village of Garmaam in Ethiopia last night (Mon. Feb. 21) at 11 PM (Eastern Time). It is now approximately 23 1/2 hours later (10:30 PM Eastern Time) and we have not heard the official word on whether or not GHNI has received the 99/100/101 sponsors that they were hoping to recruit for this cause. The last update was @ 8 1/2 hours ago and reported that there were 45 remaining spots (55 individuals had commited to adopt the village Garmaam). The last village (Ola Nagele) was completely adopted within approximately 3 1/2 - 4 hours. There were some reports that people were having issues with PayPal today, but I don't know if that had a big impact on this campaign or not.

* As of 11:07 PM Eastern Time (Tues. Feb. 22), 21 spots remain for the adoption campaign http://garmaam.ghni.org/.

* As of 8:47 AM Eastern Time (Wed. Feb. 23), 16 spots remain for the adoption campaign.

* As of 11:34 AM Eastern Time (Wed. Feb. 23), 9 spots remain for the adoption campaign.

* As of 12:33 PM Eastern Time (Wed. Feb. 23), 5 spots remain for the adoption campaign.

* As of @ 8:30 PM Eastern Time (Wed. Feb. 23), Garmaam has been fully adopted.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but I would like to share this information again. A Google search reveals no information about the village of Ola Nagele (the first village MckMama and her readers sponsored last week) other than the information that has been posted by GHNI, other participants in this trip, and MckMama's readers http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22ola+nagele%22. This may not mean anything, but it does seem strange since their site states that Ola Nagele has almost 4,000 residents, yet there is no other information out there about this village.

Just like Ola Nagele, the only information that a Google search can find about the village of Garmaam seems to be blog posts from GHNI, MckMama, MckMama's readers, and the other individuals who traveled along on this trip http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22garmaam%22. Again, this may not mean anything, but it does seem strange.

I will leave you with a YouTube video that features GHNI's Jeff Power, introducing the village of Garmaam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp3_3jQzuTQ .

As always, I would like to encourage everyone to do their own research before donating to any cause or charity. I think this is even more important when the donations are ongoing. Charity Navigator evaluates over 5,500 charities and is a great resource when you are conducting research about organizations you are considering.

You may just get your chance...

to be one of the next 99/100/101 MckMama readers to "adopt" a village through GHNI. Starting tonight at 11 PM (Eastern Time Zone), MckMama will begin her latest campaign to "adopt" the village of Garmaam in Ethiopia.

4 of those lucky readers will be chosen to Skype with the village on Friday, if they enter the most "creative" way they plan to gather people around their computer for the Skype session.

As always, I would like to encourage everyone to do their own research before donating to any cause or charity. I think this is even more important when the donations are ongoing. Charity Navigator evaluates over 5,500 charities and is a great resource when you are conducting research about organizations you are considering.

MckMama's in Ethiopia now...

MckMama is no longer in Kenya and has flown with the GHNI crew to Ethiopia. She will be asking her readers to commit to "adopt" another village and will be looking for another 99/100/101 readers to participate in this campaign. Readers will be asked to contribute $12 per month for the next 3-5 years while the village learns to self-sustain.

In the meantime, many questions about how GHNI teaches the villagers to self-sustain have not been answered. The most common questions that still remain are: What does GHNI provide to the villagers? How much of the monthly contributions directly impacts those villagers? How does that money impact the villagers? Do the villagers receive food, supplies, etc. from GHNI or just guidance and support? In the week that MckMama was in Ola Nagele, did anything get done besides the installation of the pipe? Does social media really play any role in all of this other than helping to spread awareness and solicit donations for the cause? Why is MckMama there? Couldn't someone from GHNI, etc. have provided MckMama with photos and videos to post on her blog? Couldn't she have done that from home? Why was it necessary for her to be there? Is any work (other than blogging, taking pictures, recording videos, tweeting, posting on Facebook, etc.) actually being done by all of those individuals who are on this trip? Are they just there to document and report back?

As she is now in her second week of this trip, I would have hoped that her readers would have the answers to most of these questions above.

Again, I would always encourage everyone to do their own research before donating to any cause or charity. I think this is even more important when the donations are ongoing. Charity Navigator evaluates over 5,500 charities and is a great resource when you are conducting research about organizations you are considering.

Did you know MckMama's still in Africa?

MckMama's still in Africa.

Despite the fact that her current trip to Africa is with GHNI (Global Hope Network International), MckMama was able to arrange a visit with two of the children that she sponsors through Compassion International. MckMama arranged these visits at her expense. Per her blog post, she was going to travel 4 hours to meet up with the children and one of the children was going to have to travel 6-7 hours (each way) to visit with her.

She also posted on her blog today with a Q & A post where she answered questions that have been posted by her blog readers. Unfortunately, those questions and answers don't address the more common questions about this trip: Why is she there? What does GHNI really do? What type of work is being done by the individuals who are on this trip? How will teaching social media (Twitter, Tumblr, Skype, etc.) to these villages help them? There are a lot of vague descriptions about the protocols and practices of GHNI, but there are not any clear answers about the methodology that is used.

Why is MckMama in Africa?

Why is MckMama in Africa?

This seems to be the million dollar question right now. MckMama is currently in Africa with a humanitarian organization called GHNI (Global Hope Network International). The organization has a site: http://www.globalhopenetwork.org/ According to their website, their mission is to "bring help & hope to the hidden & hurting".

Until MckMama mentioned this organization in a blog post on December 18, 2010 (entitled a $300 giveaway of one of the best Christmas present ideas...ever), I had never heard of GHNI.

In that blog post, MckMama mentioned that she had "discovered one of the best Christmas present ideas, ever ". She goes on to describe "Hope Dollars", which is a type of gift card, available through GHNI. Per MckMama's post (on 12/18/10), "These gift cards are from Global Hope Network International, a non-profit, humanitarian aid organization that brings hope and change to the poorest villages in the world. Instead of giving your secretary a Starbucks gift card or your mom a tin of chocolates, do what I plan to do this Christmas and give these gift cards that can, literally, change the world! The person you give the card to can then use it to pick something out for a family or village in an underdeveloped nation." Then, MckMama promoted a giveaway with GHNI for 3 separate $100 "Hope Dollars" gift cards for her blog readers, as well as a promotion for her blog readers that chose to purchase these gift cards directly from the organization.

This was the first time that we ever heard MckMama mention GHNI, but it certainly would not be the last. On December 22, MckMama announces that she will be returning to Africa. On December 27, we learn that MckMama will be traveling with GHNI and she hosts a live chat in her Blog Frog Community to answer questions about this trip. Many questions were asked, but there are still so very many that have not yet been answered.

Since December 27, many individuals have tried to learn as much as possible about GHNI, but there really is very little information out there.

Global Hope Network International is not listed on the Charity Navigator website http://charitynavigator.org/ or Charity Watch website http://www.charitywatch.org/. In contrast, Compassion International (MckMama traveled with this organization last year on her trip to Africa) is registered with both Charity Navigator and Charity Watch.

The GHNI headquarters is in Orlando, FL and the organization is not a BBB accredited business http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/business-reviews/charity-local/global-hope-network-international-in-orlando-fl-171151628. The BBB information indicates that the organization was established in 2002, but there really is very little information out there on GHNI.

Another website recently investigated this organization and you can find their posts here:
http://www.sweepingcobwebs.com/2010/12/30/global-hope-network-international/
http://www.sweepingcobwebs.com/2011/01/20/ghni-scam-or-lifesaver/

* Both of the above posts contain some very interesting information about GHNI and also highlight the lack of information about GHNI.

* The "Sweeping the Cobwebs" blog does have the GHNI - IRS 990 tax form from the year ending with 8/31/2009. You can find it here.

The GHNI website promotes their use of the TCD (Transformational Community Development) method. The organization provides guidance and coaching to the village with an emphasis on the following areas: Water, Food, Wellness, Income, and Education. If you would like to "adopt a village", the organization requests $12 per month from each individual and the model is set up so that the organization continues to support each village for 3-5 years. GHNI states that you can unsubscribe at any time.

GHNI uses social media to interact with donors and prospective donors. During MckMama's trip to Kenya, there have been videos uploaded to the following sites: http://extendedvillage.com/ , http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pursuit-of-Everything/130360573700573, http://qik.com/video/36364195, and http://qik.com/video/16d8a46bee1d43ab9b373e1ba4f756e1. Many tweets have been sent out by a number of the individuals on the GHNI trip, including: MckMama, AJ Leon, Melissa Leon, GHNI, Jeff Power, and Jonathan Ahlschwede.

Pictures and videos from this trip typically reveal images of the GHNI group (including MckMama) standing around and documenting the work that is being done by the village residents. Pictures are being taken, tweets are being sent, and blog posts are being written.

Also, a Google search reveals no information about the village of Ola Nagele other than the information that has been posted by GHNI, other participants in this trip, and MckMama's readers http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22Ola+Nagele%22. This may not mean anything, but it does seem strange since their site states that Ola Nagele has almost 4,000 residents, but there is no other information out there about this village.

In the end, there are still more questions than answers. However, I would always advise individuals to use extreme caution when donating money to any cause. A number of questions about GHNI have been posted on MckMama's blog, Facebook page, and Blog Frog community, but most of those questions have been partially answered, deleted, or ignored. A reputable organization should willingly disclose the information you seek when you ask questions about financial reports, practices, etc.

I know that it's easy to get emotional when you see pictures of beautiful children and living conditions that are less than desirable. There is a reason why social media is being so heavily used to promote this cause. They are hoping that the images and videos generate an emotional response from you that compels you to donate. It's admirable that people want to help, but I would encourage you to do your research first before donating to any organization.

La Sora Cesira ama Sanremo

Il festival di Sanremo come al solito è stato bellissimo.
Innanzitutto mi è piaciuta tanto la scenografia. Vogliamo parlare di quando, proprio all'inizio, si sono alzati in volo i due enormi salvaslip che hanno svelato la Clerici? Quanto mi sono emozionata!
Antonellona aveva un bellissimo abito di " Bricofer " che la rendeva tanto snella e, insieme alla dolcissima figlioletta, chiaramente sedata col " Ritalin ", ha aggiunto alla serata quel certo non so che che è meglio non sapere.
La scelta del cast poi, quest'anno è particolarmente azzeccata.
L'unico appunto che vorrei fare è quello di dotare Gianni Morandi di comodi rialzi plantari perché sembra perennemente in ginocchio.
Per il resto, bravissime le due ragazze.
Grazie a loro ho infatti scoperto di saper ballare sia il tango argentino che il twist sardo.
Certo, come compagno avrei mio marito Plinio e non il Tanguero che è uguale al fratello di Berlusconi davanti e ad Andreotti di dietro, ma si sa, nella vita chi si accontenta…nel mio caso si accontenta punto.
Parliamo un po' delle canzoni? Anche No?
Purtroppo o per fortuna Sanremo è il festival della canzone italica, quindi adesso ne parliamo.
La canzone che mi è piaciuta di più è stata quella di Anna Oxa in curdo. Ho trovato encomiabile la sua volontà di dare voce al popolo del Kurdistan, e anche se la scelta può risultare impopolare, sono certa che in futuro verrà premiata.
Mi è piaciuta anche " Bastardo" di Renato Zero con i Tokyo hotel e la canzone di Albano sull'omicidio di Amanda Lear.
purtroppo mi sono persa una ventina di minuti del pezzo di Barbarossa con la sorella di Nicky Lauda perché al settantaquattresimo " Giù giù…su su…" Mi ha suonato la mia vicina Mariona che aveva bisogno di un limone perché dopo Giusy Ferreri aveva male al basso ventre.
Voglio anche riascoltare, anche se in comode rate, la canzone di Vecchioni.
Mi piace molto il testo, specie quando dice che gli svizzeri sono puntuali, Venezia è bella ma non ci vivrei e i negri hanno il senso del ritmo.
A proposito, molto bello anche il testo di Max Pezzali che non riesce a vedere i secondi tempi dei film e quello di Patty Pravo che confonde il vento con le rose. La capisco, succede spesso anche a me.
Beh, stasera sarò di nuovo di fronte alla tele.
Certo, ieri sera alla trentaquattresima telepromozione ho avuto il collasso dell'ovaio sinistro, stasera invece, grazie all'uso sapiente e sconsiderato del Tavernello al gusto Prozac, conto di essere in gran forma.

The Chosen Ones

Well, today has been an exciting day. MckMama has been promoting GHNI's efforts to "adopt" the village of Ola Nagele in Africa. Unfortunately, only 100 (make that 101 - MckMama's grandmother ended up being added to the list at the end) individuals could participate in this effort. Those who were fortunate enough to be one of the first 100 (or 101) to sign up were mentioned on MckMama's blog and she even linked to their personal blogs if they provided that information.

If you were not able to be one of the first 100 (or 101) to sign up, you will have the opportunity to adopt a second village next week.

The cost to "adopt" a village is $12 per month, but they have stated that the plan is to support the village for 3-5 years.

* Based on information on GHNI's site found by reader "kb": http://signup.olanagele.ghni.org/ , it appears that you can cancel with GHNI at any time.

MckMama's in Africa (again)

The previous post was starting to load slowly due to the number of comments, so we need a new post.

Just to make sure everyone is up to date...

MckMama is currently in Africa, but is still able to keep her fans in the loop by frequent tweets and posts on her blog. If you're keeping track, MckMama has sent 32 tweets (since she boarded her first flight on Fri. February 11) and written 8 blog posts.

Past Interviews with MckMama and MckDaddy

Yesterday's post brought back lots of memories when everyone was listing their "aha!" moments. Within those comments, there were multiple references to previous interviews that have taken place with MckMama over the years. For some of the readers here, portions of these interviews were their "aha!" moments.

At the suggestion of a couple commenters here, I am putting the links to these videos in this post since a number of readers said that they had never seen some of them.

* If I am missing any others that you would like to see added to this list, please let me know:

June 14, 2009
Blogger Pregnancy Hoax (Good Morning America interview with MckMama, discussing the "April Rose" scandal)
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7835797

September 21, 2009
Critics Take Shots at MckMama (interview with Fox 9)http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Jennifer_McKinney_Mommy_Blog_Stellan

November 11, 2009
Stellan's Parents Talk About Recovery (interview with Fox 9 - this took place outside the hospital in Boston)
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Stellans-Parents-Talk-About-Recovery-nov-11-2009

February 22, 2010
Blogging for Big Bucks (interview with KARE 11)
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=842663

February 22, 2010
Interview with MckDaddy (interview with Moms Like Me - Twin Cities)
http://twincities.momslikeme.com/members/JournalActions.aspx?g=1621567&m=10431343

When was your Aha! Moment?

* Alternatively Titled:

How did you accidentally end up here?

This is something that comes up a lot here and I know similar posts have been done on this in the past, but I always think it's pretty interesting.

Since we seem to always have new visitors here, I think it's nice to do a post like this periodically.

So, when was your "aha!" moment?

La Sora Cesira non sa come dire grazie...

Io non riesco a trovare un modo abbastanza sentito e affettuoso per dirvi grazie.
Grazie per avermi seguito durante il primo anno del blog, grazie per aver cliccato i miei video e i miei post deliranti, grazie per aver commentato, condiviso e suggerito. Grazieeeeeeeeee!!!
Ma grazie soprattutto perchè per merito vostro, e solo vostro, oggi la Cesira sta cominciando persino a trovare dei lavoretti e può lasciare le precedenti professioni precarie di collaudatrice facciale di tubi di scappamento, arrotolatrice di scotch da pacchi e compositrice di musica da citofono.
Penso che se in un altro momento fossi andata a proporre i miei video o il Cesirpensiero a chicchessia, avrei collezionato una timballata di calci sulla bombarda ed ora sarei costretta alla plastica chiappale.
E invece no. Invece, solo grazie a voi e questo non lo dimenticherò mai, oggi la Cesy Rubacuori rilascia persino delle interviste…. ma dico vi rendete conto?!
Questo ennesimo scandalo la dice lunga sul futuro del nostro paese….
Io comunque mi godo con sano divertimento questo momento di gioia e, scusate se mi ripeto, so che ciò è avvenuto un po' per merito mio e molto per merito vostro.
Visto che ci siamo, ci tengo molto anche a dedicare un vigoroso gesto dell'ombrello, unito ad una volgarissima coreografia da stadio che prevede l'uso contemporaneo delle braccia e del basso ventre, a tutte le persone che nel corso della mia esistenza professionale mi hanno dato picche senza neanche cominciare il giro, e naturalmente anche alla security della villa di Arcore, che mi ha sempre rifiutato l'ingresso solo perchè invece di entrare con Lelemore, ho tentato di forzare il posto di blocco con il mio Benelli 50 truccato da Vespone, inguainata peraltro in una elegantissima salopette di pelle suina.
Ora, amici miei adorati, spero che continuiate a starmi vicino per ridere insieme di questo paese un po' farlocco e delle sue inimitabili perversioni.
Io, ricordatelo bene, vi amo veramente assai.


P.S. Ultima cosa… vorrei rispondere a tutti i vostri commenti, vi sarei quindi grata se aggiungesteste (congiuntivo) la vostra email al fine di darmene la possibilità ( ammazza che frase precisa che m'è uscita! )

Information Regarding Bloggers, Disclosures, & Giveaways

In light of the recent events in the blog world, "iHeartFakeSmiles" asked "melissaaustin" if she would be willing to share some information with all of us on the subject of blogger disclosures and giveaways.

Melissa has a blog of her own and has become familiar with these regulations over the past year. She was willing to write up the following post and we're hoping that it might help shed some light on how to properly handle these matters on your own blogs, as well as illustrate how giveaways should take place on the blogs that you read.

Thank you, Melissa!

* Keep in mind that the following guidelines apply to bloggers in the United States. Bloggers should research the regulations in their own country to ensure compliance with all current requirements.

Here is Melissa's post:

"Let me just preface this by saying, I am in no way an expert in the blogging industry. I am simply a blogger, who like many other bloggers, is interested in operating my blog in the most ethical fashion possible.

In 2010 (possibly 2009) the FTC handed down a series of rules, regulating bloggers. For some time, there was no "set in stone way" that we, as bloggers, had to operate. For the most part, the honest bloggers were already implementing the rules in some way or another on our blogs.

Specifically, the FTC set standards in terms of operating giveaways and reviews on our blogs. This was an issue in the past, because some bloggers often would have conflicts of interests among sponsors, that were not known. Also, some bloggers would receive cash compensation for writing favorable reviews and did not tell their readers about their connection to the sponsor.

Now, as I stated before, I am not an expert in FTC guidelines. But, in general this is what the FTC guidelines mean for bloggers.

1.)Bloggers must disclose, on every post, where the product came from. It is perfectly okay to purchase an item and give it away on your blog in the interest of getting more traffic.But, you must disclose that. If you receive the product directly from the company OR a third party you must disclose that on your blog.

2.)Blogger must disclose any compensation they receive. It is common practice for companies to offer either A.) a product B.)Gift cards to Amazon or C.)Cash compensation. You must disclose your compensation. Bloggers are also required to disclose if their compensation had directly affected their posts. If you post a favorable review of a not so favorable thing because you were paid to do so, you have to disclose.

3.)Bloggers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. For example: I am a Beachbody Coach, promoting other fitness programs has the potential to create a conflict of interest. Same as if I worked for Tmobile, but say Verizon offered me a free phone to write a favorable review. Those conflicts of interests must be disclosed.

4.)Raffles (like JM's iPad giveaway): The FTC highly frowns upon a blogger hosting a raffle in the manner that she did. Now, they may occasionally let things like that slide. But, it's typically items of smaller value. People donated HUNDREDS to JM for a chance to win an iPad. Illegal. In fact, PayPal prohibits this type of thing.

So, how does a blogger disclose? If you went to my blog, you would see a general disclosure tab at the top. That is not enough. The FTC requires that we disclose in EVERY post (as you would see in my posts). It doesn't have to be fancy. Short and sweet and to the point is fine. This has to be on every post.

The FTC has and will come down on bloggers who don't adhere to their guidelines as well as potentially come down on the sponsor.

The FTC also prohibits bloggers from limiting who can enter. If you have an honest problem with a commenter, such as harrassment or threats, screen shot it and if possible, don't delete it. That way you have a "paper trail" if the FTC comes a'knockin.

Most honest bloggers will spell out when their giveaway starts and ends and how the winners will be chosen (via random.org for the most part) and go as far as to include screenshots.

Any blogger who will not willingly disclose, or who doesn't spell out when the giveaway ends (ie: at some point tonight) is probably running a shady giveaway. Newer bloggers might make the mistake. But, in JM's case, it isn't a mistake if you keep doing it.

I hope that answers your questions. If I can be of any more help, let me know."

Melissa Austin :)

* One additional point to make (thanks to commenter "Lisa" here and I know Melissa has discussed this in some of her comments): "ANY compensation, or products received by the blogger for review, (they get one item to review and usually at least one other to giveaway), should be reported to the IRS as INCOME and taxed accordingly."

* For more information, you can visit the FTC's website here:

http://www.ftc.gov/

Official Explanation from Lansinoh

Lansinoh has not retracted the information that was posted in the tweets from yesterday or the e-mails that had been sent by the company yesterday, despite MckMama's hints last night that a retraction would be coming from the company.

They have, however, offered the following explanation of what took place with regards to MckMama and the giveaway that she hosted on her blog for 4 Lansinoh breast pumps. This statement from Lansinoh should bring closure in this matter.

* You can find the above post here:

http://bymomsformoms.blogspot.com/2011/02/clarifying-lansinohs-involvement-in-my.html

* And, in the interest of total disclosure and fairness, the following tweets were posted by Lansinoh's Twitter account this morning (Tues. February 9):

I'm sorry we misunderstood

Here is an excerpt from MckMama's post on Thurs. February 3, regarding breast pumps that she planned to give away:

And another excerpt from her blog post on Sat. February 5:

And here is a tweet from Lansinoh today (Mon. February 7):

And here are the rest of the tweets that Lansinoh posted this afternoon (Mon. February 7):

I am so sorry that we misunderstood.

Hello from "MWOP2"

This is officially my first post here and I've got some big shoes to fill. I feel that MWOP has done a great job and I hope that this blog will continue to operate in the same manner. I know that we will always have new visitors here, so I would like to mention the guidelines that were first established on this blog:

• We're going to allow Anonymous posters. If it gets to be too much, we'll turn that option off.
• Do not be rude to other posters or call them names.
• Do not be rude about the children or call them names. Commenting on behavior is acceptable, but no name calling.
• Don't tell the moderators how to run the blog.
• No posting addresses.
• The administrator is not able to verify the identity of people who comment here. Believe what you choose to believe.
• We are not a blog about religion, please do not comment or assume that we are all Christians.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet...I have to go watch the end of the Super Bowl on my DVD player screen. :)

- MWOP2