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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (56282)	12/1/2008 1:50:37 PM
From: lorne	4 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224749

Google 'censoring' anti-Obama bloggers? Writer claims Internet giant banning stories that expose president-elect November 28, 2008 By Chelsea Schilling © 2008 WorldNetDaily worldnetdaily.com Is Google censoring anti-Obama stories? Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs claims the search engine giant has banned her groundbreaking articles about Obama – a technique many people refer to as "sandboxing." "There was no warning, no notice, nothing," Geller told WND. "They have basically sandboxed me." "Sandboxing" happens when Google strips a website's rankings from its search engine results. According to some theories, this happens to new websites when Google puts them into a holding area known as a "sandbox" until the site gains credibility. However, Atlas Shrugs is not new, and Gellar believes her stories have been intentionally suppressed by the Internet giant – especially ones about President-elect Obama. She said her exclusive stories about Obama's birth certificate that once received thousands of hits every day will not come up in Google word searches. "I was in the top five search results before the story got legs," she said. "These stories drove 12,000 to 15,000 people to my site every day." But now a November earnings report shows her Google clicks and revenue flat lining since Nov. 20. Daily page impressions dropped from an average of 20,000 and 45,000 to single digits – overnight. Also, her Google images hits are slowed to only 4,720 since that day, while Yahoo and other search engines list them in the hundreds of thousands. "The media gives blogs the silent treatment," she said. "The only thing we have is these searches. The Google word search is gone – all gone. When you are in my business, that's how you build readership." On July 4, Gellar featured a story about a board-certified forensic expert who declared Obama's online birth certificate a "forgery" and an "obvious fake." She attributes most of her problems with Google to that report. "I think that it's the birth certificate story," Geller said. "All of the sudden, my numbers were down by 10,000." She has also featured reports on Obama's support of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and cases of alleged campaign finance fraud involving his campaign. Geller believes Google is censoring her stories because it objects to their content. "It's a freedom of speech issue," she said. "Who are they to decide what should be searched? They don't like what I'm running so they ban me?" Visitor to Geller's website receive this "forbidden" message when they use the Google search engine on Atlas Shrugs Geller said she has contacted Google three times, and the company said it has filed "requests for consideration" to put her stories back on Google's search pages. "They want me to sit this out for six months," she said. "Are they kidding? Based on what?" Geller said the top Google word searches used to be about Obama's birth certificate. But now she said the searches only return "a bunch of speculating and hearsay" to make the stories appear to be unfounded conspiracy theories. She believes the censorship could have something to do with Google CEO Eric Schmidt's relationship with the president-elect. According to recent reports, Schmidt will soon be holding a position in the Obama administration. Geller said she has hired a cyber-crime consulting firm to remove her articles from the search engine's "sandbox" and has asked her readership to help fight censorship with donations. "Google cannot arbitrarily silence voices of freedom," she said. "Blogs are the last vestige of free speech." Google has not responded to requests for comment.

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (56282)	12/1/2008 2:05:41 PM
From: lorne	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224749

Stress takes toll on Obama, develops chronic facial tic Michelle said to be distraught over spasms under right eye November 29, 2008 © 2008 WorldNetDaily wnd.com The strain of the long campaign and a frenetic transition period is beginning to wear on the face of President-elect Barack Obama, who has developed a facial tic under his right eye. The tic on the lower part of his right orbital bone is clearly visible in his recent interview with ABC's Barbara Walters. Campaign insiders say it first emerged during the primary season and has now become chronic. A facial tic is a repetitive, spasmodic movement often involving the eyes and facial muscles. The cause of tics is unknown, but stress appears to increase their severity. "The patients I've treated with tic disorders had one thing in common: They knew that the tics worsened when they were under stress," said Dr. Robert T. London, a psychiatrist with the New York University Medical Center. Learn about what America can expect from an Obama presidency in Brad O'Leary's blockbuster, "The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama's War on American Values." Besides the economic crisis, Obama is having to worry about his own security. The Secret Service reportedly is dealing with more threats against him than any other president-elect in history. "There are a lot of things that keep me up at night," Obama, 47, confided in the ABC interview. Michelle Obama, who closely monitors her husband's public appearances, is said to be distraught over the facial tic. In all the stress of the transition, Obama told ABC he's trying to eat healthy food, work out regularly and refrain from smoking, although he has found it difficult to quit cigarettes entirely. London says studies show that simple tics disappear during sleep, which suggests that a relaxation treatment, such as hypnotherapy, might work better than medication to calm the misfiring nerves during the day. Politics is a stressful job, and other politicians have succumbed to the nervous twitches. For example, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., developed a severe facial tic that became so chronic he began doing TV interviews with the afflicted side of his face angled away from the camera. Shays, who's served more than 20 years in Congress, was defeated in the November election. Loading... Barbara Walters Special 11/26 HQ (Part 1) Michelle & Barack Obama Interview by Barbara Walters youtube.com