Good Evening Mr.Holt, Nice to see you this Labor Day Monday for the broadcast. I am sorry you had to work the entire weekend, I hope you were able to spend some relaxing time with your family. You always do a fine job on the broadcast. First of all the report by Mr.Todd about President Obama's speech to the AFL-CIO in Ohio today. The speech was certainly a real pep talk and high spirited to give optimism for a road to recovery. There needs to be a healthcare reform bill that everyone can agree upon, but it has been an extremely difficult process. All the members of the parties need to be on the same page and perhaps something will be passes soon. President Obama's speech on Wednesday will be vitally important and hopefully bring about success in passing a healthcare reform bill.
On another note the report by Mr.Bazell about the outbreak of swine flu showed how people need to be vigilant in taking care of themselves and keeping themselves healthy. Washing hands and using hand sanitizer are important is staying well.

The report by Mr.Allen concerning Melani Oudin the rising young 17yr old tennis star at the US Open showed how her great tennis playing, good attitude and bringing the crowd in with her cheering for her on the court has resulted in getting herself to the QuarterFinals. She is really doing wonderful and I hope she continues to win. Playing hard and well are making her rise to advance to each final.

The report by Stephanie Gosk about the woman in Sudan who was arrested along with other women for wearing pants seems so very harsh. It is courageous of her to hold protests and fight back the terrible treatment of women. Standing trial and not paying the fine, but instead going to prison really showed she is not giving into the system. Such unfair treatment of women, one hopes someday there will be some positive changes. Time will tell.

The piece by Adrienne Mong from Mongolia concerning the festival for men and boys was interesting. The 7yr old boy riding the horse in the race was very brave which seems almost too young to compete. When one saw the riderless horse cross the finish line it was  worrisome, but he wasn't hurt and seems determined to compete again. He does have many, many races ahead in his life.
Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Holt. You did a great job this weekend! Peace to You and to All!

Lots of Love to Laurel,Jackie,Stephanie,Claudia,Celine,Anna,Lori,Cary and Matt!
Be Well Always!
Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard! Enjoyed your excellent reporting on the "Today Show" and MSNBC News today!
XOXO

Mr. Holt;  when we watch NBC news, which is much less frequently then it used to be,it is always a joy if it happens that you are hosting. Although I suppose the producers put together what you broadcast, thank you & them for covering the resignation of Mr. Jones. It was a pretty thorough report,for which we are grateful, but we are wondering where NBC was when he was appointed CZAR & his many bazarr statements were there to be found.  You see, this is the problem with so much of media & why we find cable & yes, particularly FOX news, covers the pros & cons of issues & events much more thoroughly.  We love NBC, but as we have listened more carefully it truly does seem that there is a very protective shield around our president with NBC reporters ignoring many of  the multitude of controversial & disturbing decisions he has made, both in policy & appointments. But thank you.......you appear to be a genuine professional.

Hi Lester,

I hope you found time to get some rest during the Labor Day weekend.

I was  interested in how my state (S.C.) is going to handle Pres. Obama's speech to the school kids. From the research I did, (unless things have changed), the parents have received an opt-out paper to sign if they don't won't their children to listen to the president's speech. I don't think that any of the schools in this state are refusing to air the speech. That's a sigh of relief. But a lot of teachers are embarassed that this issue has even been raised.

I did another search on trying to find the right phrase that might fit the attitudes on the far right. Considering that people are being scared by Glen Beck, etc. and accusing Pres. Obama of being a socialist, elitist, nazi, and communist, I think the term  "new McCarthyism" applies. I've seen it on different web sites and have read more about Joseph McCarthy. I don't see any difference in what his tactics were compared to today's far right. It's all abut fear of the gov't. I see that Glen Beck is also trying to make a cause for the desisn of 30 Rock and Socialism. He should save that crap for Halloween, but he probably has something even scarier than that in mind. I didn't think it could get any worse than Limbaugh and Hannity.


As for the Muslim women wearing pants and being punnished, a form of Christianity still takes place in this country. And I'm not referring to Mormons. I mean different pockets of Christian churches that take the Bible literally in every way. Girls and women can't wear pants, makeup, jewelry, etc. Hopefully, they don't get beaten. I had to live like that for two yrs. in my early teens, and not on the American Indian side of my family, but on a narrow-minded side of my white family. I'd never been so humiliated --wearing dresses below my knees while other girls were wearing minis. And it wasn't a matter of not being able to wear minis or jeans. But constantly being teased, even by teachers. I was afraid to go to sleep at night due to the fear that I wasn't "filled with the Holy Ghost." That's why I wanted to leave you that poem on last wks. blog. Children and adults are taught to fear God and that's not healthy. People can think that other people who don't practice Christianity quite like them,are heathens if they want to, and who's to say that you have to believe in any particular way about God at all? People are invading a person's freedom of religion when they go around trying to "save them" on behalf of God. This country isn't just for Christinans either. It's nobody  business as to what a person believes. It's just that all of this is coming to a head; faith and politics. This country was established in order to practice religion without any interference from the government. But the Constitution also seperates church and state by not allowing religion to dictate our politics. Does that make sense? But that issue is always one-sided. And I pity kids growing up in families where they have to choose their parent's religion, even as they get older. Anyway...it's a lost cause.

It's sad that Kiddieland is closing. I've always preferred the biggest, baddest roller coasters, but you have to keep places like Kiddieland around. I suppose the only thing that would resemble it is a state fair, which really wouldn't come close.  

Lester, you've done a great job this weekend and week as always. I hope you're going to stay with NBC. If you're on Dateline on Thur. at 8, you've got competion from "The Vampire Diaries."(CW) That's the only thing that looks promising for the Fall. If NBC would do a series like that with a cast that's a few yrs. older...

Bye, Lester. See you next Sat. morning, if not before.

Vicki

It's despicable, but hardly surprising, that Nightly News offers glowingly positive "news stories" about products that are regularly advertised on NBC.  In fact, these great big "thank yous" to advertisers occur fairly frequently.  Recently, viewers have seen stories on Chrysler, United Airlines, Cheerios, Starbucks, McDonald's and many other products that regularly advertise on NBC.  Other stories praise entire industries (automotive, pharmaceutical, airline) that are heavy advertisers.  But last Sunday may have been the most egregious example yet of NBC's ethical shortcomings.  That day, we were treated to a "news report" about a product made by one of NBC's partners.  At first, the report seemed like an innocuous story about on-line search engines.  Correspondent Contessa Brewer told us that there are some niche search engines (like ChaCha) trying to chip away at Google, the industry leader with around $20 billion in annual revenue.  But halfway through the story, Brewer announces, "Now bring on Bing!"  We then see part of a Bing commercial--full screen--as Brewer tells us that, "Bing has already grabbed 8% of all searches and it's growing."  This is followed by an interview with Bing's general manager who enthusiastically says that everyone at Bing is focused on creating a great experience and differentiating themselves from Google.  Brewer then tells us exactly why Bing is better than Google.  "Side by side there's a marked difference," she says.  "Type 'New York to Paris' and Bing morphs into an airline booking website.  Lists of prices and flights you can buy with a click.  Google just displays a list of websites."  Brewer ends her report with, "Will there be a clear winner?  Probably not in the foreseeable future.  That's a good thing because the epic fight between the giants promises to speed up innovation by the little guys."  As she says this, the Bing and Google logos appear on screen, as if Bing is Google's main competition.  Wow.  Brewer sure seems sold on Bing.  I wonder why.  Actually, the answer is obvious.  In her report, Brewer tells us that Bing is a Microsoft product.  And Microsoft is NBC's partner in MSNBC (including this website) and perhaps in other ventures as well.  So Brewer is blatantly promoting a product in which NBC has a financial interest.  After all, the more profit Microsoft earns from Bing, the more money they can invest in MSNBC.  This is not only shameless, it is unethical.  And even worse--neither Brewer nor Lester Holt bothered to offer the viewers a disclosure statement about the relationship between Microsoft and NBC.  

This type of self-motivated product promotion occurs frequently on Nightly News, but in truth there is no way for viewers to know just how frequently.  It's relatively easy to spot a "news story" promoting a product that is regularly advertised on NBC.  But how are viewers supposed to know when Nightly News promotes products that are not readily identifiable as belonging to NBC's advertisers or partners?  Robert Bazell often reports on medical innovations, such as new drugs or medical equipment.  How are we supposed to know if General Electric (NBC's parent company) has a financial or ownership stake in any of these products?  We don't, and Bazell or Brian Williams are certainly not about to inform us.  The Nightly News producers and reporters (including Brian Williams) are acting unethically.  They have a moral responsibility to avoid fawning reports about the products of NBC's advertisers and partners.  But if they do present such a report, they should be required to make a forthright disclosure to the viewers about NBC's relationship to the story's subject.  Their failure to do so indicates a clear intent to deceive the Nightly News audience.  And for that, they owe us an apology.

Lester,
This a quote from "JUNG TO LIVE BY"

"Polarity seems to be the essence of life."

Yes, it does seem that way, especially
in politics, and I will make no further comment.

Phyllis

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