A PowerPhrase A Week From SpeakStrong Inc

This Week in the World
Blog Comments, Criminal Blogging, Still Not Ready to Make Nice, Flight Alarm

It’s been a lively week on the blogs. A few people objected to my suggestions and the dialog got interesting. Check it out. (Click comments.)

In UK news, in an effort to prevent companies from impersonating consumers online, fake blogging is about to be made illegal. Even authors who post anonymous glowing reviews about their own books under a fake identity on Amazon will now be taken to court. I’ve never done that, but the news did inspire me to change the wording about the Amazon Review contest to say that a well-written review that suggests the book might not be for just anyone could win the prize. Check out the contest announcement here. Maybe even pass it on.

In music news, the Dixie Chicks won five Grammy awards. It’s ironic since they won in the country music category despite the fact that the country music industry has disowned them (except for including their record sales in the country music sales totals.) I sent out a press release telling of my experience titled Author Discovers Not All Americans are Ready to Make Nice with the Dixie Chicks.

In personal news, as I was boarding a flight from Salt Lake City to Colorado Springs, we were told that we were going to attempt to land in Colorado Springs, but if we were unable to land due to weather, we would reroute to Grand Junction CO. We were also told that after that we were on our own. Grand Junction is a six hour drive from Colorado Springs in good weather. We were stunned – a few passengers got off the plane. We were able to land, and on the shuttle the pilot expressed surprise to learn what we had been told. He said he had been told they would take us the rest of the way the following morning. I feel quite certain that the agents who said we were on our own from Grand Junction misunderstood the situation – and spread panic by speaking without understanding.

In other people's personal news, a friend of mine noticed that most people feel a need to fill up every space there is with words, and he decided he prefers friends who aren't afraid of silence.

And in US news, it’s Anna Nicole Smith all the time. You’d think there wasn’t any real news, but there was plenty. You just have to work a little harder to uncover it.

It’s a busy time for me, so this newsletter will be brief. Catch up on the blog, start composing your Amazon Review and weigh in on some of the topics. Have a great week.