Nike Airing New Tiger Woods' Commercial During Masters

By Will Brinson 

From: http://backporch.fanhouse.com/

Not many people stood by Tiger Woods as his personal life was falling apart. And even fewer sponsors seemed to be by his side.

Nike, however, can count themselves among the loyal. Which is probably why they're the first sponsor to feature Tiger in a commercial, which will air beginning Wednesday night.

"We support Tiger and his family as he returns to competitive golf," said Nike spokesman Derek Kent. "The ad addresses his time away from the game using the powerful words of his father."

The ad, seen below (via Darren Rovell at CNBC), features Tiger -- in black and white -- staring into the camera with the familiar voice of his father asking questions in a presumably omniscient manner.

Earl Woods says, "Tiger, I am more prone to being inquisitive, to promote discussion," Earl says in the spot. "I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. And did you learn anything?"

This isn't the first time Tiger and Nike have used his father in commercials; one of the most awesome displays of marketing came around Father's Day in 2008 when they played Earl's voice over clips of the two practicing golf and some sentimental music (the "You'll never meet someone as mentally tough as you ..." commercial; embedded below the new ad).

The only issue here is that whereas Nike harnessed their ability to market and combined it with a very touching appeal to fathers and sons -- while the appeal to second chances here does make sense, something about the commercial as a whole comes off a tad bit off.

Is it the combination of appealing to the consumer for forgiveness amid a pile of swooshiness all while using Earl's voice? Well, it might be. Having said that, Nike stuck by Tiger throughout this whole sordid mess, so, by all means, advertise away.



And the old one, for comparison's sake:

1/3rd of Women in US Military Raped

Posted By Ole Ole Olson

From: http://newsjunkiepost.com/

^[1]

According to NPR ^[2], “In 2003, a survey of female veterans found that 30 percent said they were raped in the military. A 2004 study of veterans who were seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder found that 71 percent of the women said they were sexually assaulted or raped while serving. And a 1995 study of female veterans of the Gulf and earlier wars, found that 90 percent had been sexually harassed.”

The BBC ^[3] recently reported on The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq by Helen Benedict. This book examines the extreme difficulties female soldiers have in serving abroad. Benedict interviewed several women in the military to get a deeper understanding of the issue, and some of their stories were real eye openers.

Army specialist Chantelle Henneberry spoke of some of her experiences in Iraq, “Everybody’s supposed to have a battle buddy in the army, and females are supposed to have one to go to the latrines with, or to the showers – that’s so you don’t get raped by one of the men on your own side. But because I was the only female there, I didn’t have a battle buddy. My battle buddy was my gun and my knife.”

Another study concluded that 90% of all women serving are sexually harassed. Another one estimates that 90% of all the rapes do not get reported, despite supposedly easier ways to report the crime with confidentiality since 2005. Either way, this appears to be an epidemic that needs to be dealt with.

An online discussion from a former soldier whose identity is being protected had this to say, “At least a rape ends. It’s the day-to-day degradation that eats at you. None of my friends who were raped on active duty reported it. Or if we tried, we were told to shut up for ‘morale.’ Working with your rapist on a daily basis isn’t a lot of fun, believe me.”

How the military is dealing with this appears to demonstrate a pattern of sweeping it under the rug. In 2008, 62% of those that were convicted of sexual assault or rape received very lenient punishments such as demotion, suspension, or a written reprimand.

^[4]

This problem is not confined to the US military either. This abuse is rampant among private defense contractors overseas as well, as recently highlighted by the recent press about Jamie Leigh Jones. Ms. Jones was in Iraq in 2005 when seven Halliburton/KBR employees drugged and brutally gang-raped her. Her injuries were so extensive that she had lacerations to her vagina and anus, her breast implants were ruptured, and her pectoral muscles torn. The response of KBR was to lock her in a shipping container with only a bed, and to deny her food, water, and medical treatment. The rape kit that was taken after she regained consciousness was mysteriously lost.

This crime eventually led to an amendment being added to the defense appropriations bill by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). This would require defense contractors to allow their employees access to US courts in cases of rape or sexual assault, regardless of where they are stationed. The 30 Republican senators voted against this amendment are currently being humiliated on the Republicans for Rape website and by John Stewart on the Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape-Nuts
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The culture of sexual violence against women that is allowed to exist in both the US military and private contractors needs to come to an end. When almost a third of all women serving are raped, and over two thirds sexually assaulted, this problem is rampant and systemic.

Father-to-be misses birth of his son after being arrested for grabbing nurse's breasts on way to delivery room

By Mail Foreign Service

Police said Adam Manning had first tried to touch the nurse's neck before launching the sex assault

A father missed the birth of his first son after being arrested for groping a nurse on the way to the delivery room.

Police said Adam Manning sexually assaulted the nurse as she wheeled his wife into the delivery room.

The 30 year old had told the nurse she was "cute" then reached round to grab her breasts.

Police in Ogden, Utah, were called to the hospital and arrested Manning on charges of forcible sexual assault.

When later asked about his actions he said he had no idea why he carried out the assault. Police confirmed that he missed the birth of his son.

Ogden Police Lieutenant Lt. Loring Draper said Manning had looked the nurse 'up an down' after arriving at the McKay-Dee hospital and made a comment about her appearance.

'He commented on how attractive she was, how cute she was,' Draper said.

Police said Manning had first tried to touch the nurse's neck before launching the sex assault.

'After the second time, the nurse asked what he was doing,' Draper said. 'The wife responded that he was just drunk.'

Draper said it is unclear whether Manning drove to the hospital intoxicated or if he was taken there by someone else.

Officers said Manning had looked the nurse 'up an down' after arriving at the McKay-Dee hospital and made a comment about her appearance

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1219631/Dad-grabs-nurses-breasts-way-delivery-room-misses-birth-son.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0TptA9ZSL

Lawyer Says Judge Masturbated at Hearing, Carried Out Vendetta When She Complained

By JOE HARRIS

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (CN) - A district court judge appeared to be masturbating and used foul language during a divorce mediation, an attorney claims in Federal Court. The attorney claims Judge Kevin P. Moriarty's actions were so offensive even her estranged husband complained about it during their divorce trial.
Kimberly Ireland claims that while mediating, Judge Kevin P. Moriarty tried to discuss her underwear and her sex life, though neither was relevant to the divorce matter. And she claims that "Moriarty appeared to be masturbating during the mediation."
Ireland says that Moriarty's actions were so outrageous that her estranged husband Kevin testified about them at the divorce trial.
Ireland says she filed a complaint about Moriarty's behavior on Oct. 3, 2007 with the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications.
In response to her complaint, she says, Moriarty launched his own investigation into her private life and discussed her with the judge presiding over her divorce case and with the opposing counsel.
Ireland claims Moriarty used his power to influence her divorce proceeding, to start an ethical investigation of her and to have court personnel write false letters to the commission attacking her and claiming that Moriarty did nothing wrong.
On Nov. 15, 2007, the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications filed an ethical complaint against Ireland, claiming she made false accusations about Moriarty, though it never conducted an investigation into her claims, according to her complaint.
Ireland said Attorney Edward Byrne, at Moriarty's request, filed a complaint with the commission against her on Dec. 12, 2007.
Moriarty served as an investigator for the Kansas Disciplinary Administrator for 15 years and serves on the Tenth Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission that appoints Johnson County District Court judges. The Johnson County Board of Commissioners is named as a defendant because it was put on notice of Moriarty's actions, but allegedly took no action.
Ireland says she suffered loss of income, reputation, inconvenience, insult, mental distress, embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety and emotional pain and suffering as a result of Moriarty's actions. She seeks punitive damages.