Yesterday, with a series of violent attacks in southen Mumbai - the city you may know as Bombay - her fears and those of many other India citizens were realized. And while regular Spot-on readers may be shocked by the attacks in Mumbai you are probably less suprised than others. Gopika's been telling us about "India Mujaideen" since mid-summer.

For the past few months Gopika Kaul has been chronicling the growing sense of dread in her country. She's spelled out some of the roots of the conflict between the region's Muslims and Hindus in "It's Happened. Again" and she's wondered, with others, about the Indian police forces responses to the attacks in "A Constant Presence."

With that in mind, a look at Chris' post "Piracy 2.0: Deadly and Dangerous" is in order. And you bet there's a terror tie-in. What do you think they're going to do with all that oil anyway?

There's more, plenty more, where this came from. If you edit a news web site, produce a TV or radio show you might join us out here ahead of the news curve and think about adding any of our fine writers to your editorial mix. Our syndication fees are reasonable - free in some circumstances - our writers responsible and our editorial as sticky as fly-paper. Interested? Drop Doug Page, Spot-on's syndication guru a line. He's got all the details about pricing, availability and delivery.

Our newsletter - it's free, it's fun and we won't sell your name to anyone - is also a nice way to stay in touch with what we're doing with all phases of our business. You can sign up here.

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The show - a breezy hour that also includes a talk with SunRun COO Nat Kraemer - is here. Lend an ear!

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So today, we'll give you a short review of who said what.

First up, Christopher Allbritton took a look at how Obama's Middle East policy was seen from that region. Presidential Picks in the Middle East.

Matthew Holt, ever the cynic, said that Obama wasn't serious about making changes in the health care system. Judge for yourself if his predictions are still accurate. President Obama's Health Care Head Fake.

Chris Nolan didn't get as excited as some in Silicon Valley when Obama first started talking about a Chief Technology Officer for the U.S. of A. Obama "Gets It".

Kevin Weeks added his voice to Berkeley writer Michael Pollan's insistence that food policy - that's right, food policy - be an action item for the new president. Eating Oil.

And while it's not exactly a column addressed at the new president, Jeanne Jackson had a few observations about how she'd like to see justice meted out for the current financial mess and the folks who caused it. Accountability.

That's right. We're selling ads. Why? Well, because advertising and editorial go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Yeah, it looks funny. But it works great. Just ask Mr. Reese.

And just as Spot-on doesn't offer just any kind of writers, we're not selling just any kind of ads. We're set up to serve a specific market in a specific way. If you run a political campaign, do public affairs or crisis PR, place advocacy ad buys for unions, corporations or non-profits, Spot-on's Pinpoint Persuasion is should be your first stop to evaluate your on-line options.

The site's password protected. So not just anyone can take advantage of the powerful database we've collected. But if you do, you'll see that it includes a long list of established news outlets with demographic information and brief reviews of the sites' editorial and political orientation. Pinpoint Persuasion is THE site for evaluating and plan a campaign's on-line media buys so you can make sure your message is targeted at a receptive audience.

Pinpoint Persuasion goes public today. But we've been ad this ad stuff for a while and have a growing list of clients across the country. Drop us a line and we'll tell you how Spot-on's Pinpoint Persuasion can help you get your message to the right voters and readers.

The right ad, in the right place at the right time. Now that's Spot-on.

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Gopika has been writing about the bombings - and their effect on Indians and their relationships with one another - since the violence began. Today is yet another entry and it's a fine, chilling snapshot of life in today's India.

Her two earlier pieces, Living with Terror and It's Happened. Again. are fine examples of the kind of writing - timely and personal - that Spot-on prides itself on presenting.

But Spot-on editor and founder Chris Nolan is pretty much in that position today. Nolan sat down over the summer with Argentine journalist and blogger Ignacio Escribano to talk about the Internet, politics, journalism, the Internet, politics and Barack Obama. His interview with her was recently posted on his site, Igooh: expressión ciudadana.

Nolan thinks she remembers what she said. And she can - sort of - follow along in the Spanish. But those of you with more fluency might find her interview interesting. So we're passing it along. After all, it's always nice to see yourself as others see you. Even if you can't quite get the lingo down.

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First up, Scott Olin Schmidt who thinks that Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's VP is all about the boys - Republican men - not about women in "Suddenly, Sarah"

Jeanne Jackson looked at Palin and noted that many, many mothers like her will see something familiar - and like it. "Live From St. Paul, It's.....

Deborah Klosky's compared Palin and a female minister of defense for Spain's Socialist Party - the two women are more different than they are alike, she notes. And perhaps that's true of others as well in "And Still About Sarah"

Seems Ryan has noticed that Spot-on's Christopher Brauchli doesn't like George W. Bush. To which we say - in this day of 30-percent (and that's a good day) presidential approval ratings, "Who does?"

But since Gawker has pointed out Chris' politics, we're duty bound to do our part and point you to his sardonic, often satirical take on all things Bush and American politics in general. Chris appears here every Friday.

He, of course, isn't our only critic. And Spot-on isn't just critical of the Bush Administration. We spread the love and criticism around. Which is good if you edit a newspaper or produce a TV or radio show.
]]> http://www.spot-on.com/spotlight/2008/07/brauchlispot.html http://www.spot-on.com/spotlight/2008/07/brauchlispot.html Weekly Updates Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:32:41 -0800 The attention The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh is getting over his Iran invasion story reminds us to point you to Christopher Allbritton's work on that subject from last last year.

Allbritton took two weeks to look at the issue and provided Spot-on readers with a fine analysis, one, War without End, that dovetails nicely with Hersh's concerns and prediction. An earlier piece, Iranian Hegemony: What's Not To Like looked at a more peaceful U.S. relationship with Iran. Both are worth your time.

He's on the San Francisco Chronicle's op-ed page taking the conservative point of view - in that nice way only Mike can - against the idea but in favor of letting the state's voters decide. His piece is here.

There's more. Mike did a very funny piece a few months ago about the holiday honoring Martin Luther King. If King were really an American icon, Spinney suggested in "He Had A Dream!", his image would be used in mattress and car sales.

Those of you watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Wednesday night (6/11/08) might have found the show's take on some recent presidential commercializations by a Dallas car deal oddly familiar. Here's the show.

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Since much of Spot-on's history as a site is tied up on SF Mayor Gavin Newsome's 2004 decision to grant the licenses the court ratified today, we'll use this opportunity to take you on a short walk down hyperlink lane. Here are some pieces from our archive:

"Free At Last" a look at how the politics of gay marriage affects women - all women.

"A Star is Born," the decision's effect on Gavin Newsome's political career.

"Orders, orders, orders" and "California's Gay Marriage Conundrum" looking at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sometimes contradictory stance on the issue.

Chris was just named a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. This fall, he'll be at The Farm as we say out here in Northern California working on finding a business model to support the work that journalists like him do: report from overseas.

We can't think of a better guy for that task. If you're not familiar with Chris' work, check out his bio here. He's been a pioneer in what Spot-on founder Chris Nolan calls 'stand alone journalism' and its great to see Stanford recognize his efforts.

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A few weeks ago - just as he was settling into Dubai where he'll be writing from now on (fewer explosions) - Christopher filed Worries For Iraq spelling out the challenges the country and the U.S. face as the year moves on. It's a prescient piece that led much of last week's analysis and commentary.

An earlier post from last fall, "Fool Me Once...Not Twice" is also worth a look. It's yet another way to look ahead by looking back.