Zennie62 On Seesmic.com

Happy Holidays! I'm Zennie Just saying 'hello' to the Seesmic Community!

After months of thinking about doing it, I finally did it: contributed a video on Seesmic.com , Loic Lemur's video conversation venture, featuring my friend Cathy Brooks, who was one of his first staffers.


I remember when Cathy was totting around a laptop showing Seesmic at work; that was last year, 2007 at a STIRR Founder Hacks Meetup! Wow, how time flies!

YouTube Partners - THE FACTS !

"TheFatAussieBastard" gives a great set of reasons why it's good to be a YouTube Partner, like myself. His take is laced with f-bombs but he has a way of making a good case with them. Oh, YouTube Partners are paid for their vidoes via views versus ad buys. It's a worthwhile effort.

Ecuador v. Chevron And The Associated Press' Bad Coverage

I saw the Associated Press' report on the Ecuador / Chevron case and was shocked at the lack of mention of Ecuador's responsibility to it's poorest people. Here' I take on Ecuador for its poor economic development record.

Toyota predicts first ever loss as sales drop - Dec. 22, 2008

More at CNN.com - Dec. 22, 2008: “NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Japanese auto giant Toyota said Monday that it would suffer an operating loss due to plummeting auto sales and a strong local currency.

About 30 minutes after the market closed in Tokyo, Toyota said it expected to lose approximately $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion this fiscal year. Toyota reports earnings on a fiscal calendar beginning in April.

This would be Toyota's first operating loss since 1950, Toyota spokesman Steve Curtis said.

Despite the likely operating loss, Toyota expects to post a $557 million net profit for the fiscal year. The profit stems, in large part, from joint ventures whose revenues are not included in the automakers' accounting for its operating profits.”

--- This should show others that it's not just American car companies that are hurt by this economy.

More At The Denver Post

Banks not saying where bailout money is going - The Denver Post: “WASHINGTON — It's something any bank would demand to know before handing out a loan: Where's the money going? But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it.
"We've lent some of it. We've not lent some of it. We've not given any accounting of, 'Here's how we're doing it,"' said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. "We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to." The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest? None of the banks provided specific answers.”

-- This is an outrage! One of President Obama's first axts as President should be to write an executive order forcing the banks to tell where the bailout money they've got is going!

Continental Flight 1404 a Boeing 737-500 Crashed at Denver Airport during takeoff

This is the account of the accident from MSNBC.com:

"It was a miracle that no one was killed when Continental flight 1404 veered sharply off a runway of Denver airport during takeoff, which burst into flames and nearly broke apart. The 110 passengers and five crew members escaped miraculously. However, thirty-eight people suffered injuries including broken bones. The plane veered off course about 2,000 feet from the end of the runway and did not appear to have gotten airborne.
It was Houston-bound Continental Flight 1404 from Denver airport. The accident happened Saturday evening(12/20/08. The entire right side of the Boeing 737-500 was burned and melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats. -Courtesy: MSNBC.com"

Airline Passengers recount the terrifying DIA crash - The Denver Post”

More At The Denver Post”: “In the seconds after Continental Flight 1404 came to a shuddering halt in a ravine after skidding off the airport runway, chaos erupted inside the plane's cabin.
Luggage tumbled down from overhead bins, smoke filled the cabin, seats collapsed into one another, and passengers and flight attendants yelled: "Get out quick. The plane is going to explode," said Gabriel Trejos, who was traveling with his 13-month-old son and pregnant wife to Houston to visit his father and sister for Christmas.
Trejos, who is from Pueblo, was one of 110 passengers on the Boeing 737-500 that skidded off the runway and slid down a 40-foot drop Saturday night.
There were no fatalities in the first major accident in Denver International Airport's 14-year”