Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Michael Steele Turns Whus, Balls Fall Off

Steele Takes On Rush Limbaugh: "Ugly," "Incendiary" (VIDEO): “"My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele said. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."”

-- Wow, talk about losing your will. Republican Chairman Michael Steele lost his balls and turned whus after appologizing to blowhard radio talk shww host Rush Limbaugh. Man, but it's good for Democrats because it means the party will be slip between Steeleheads and Dittoheads, neither of which are electable.

Obama Offered Deal to Russia in Secret Letter To Medvedev

More at NYTimes.com: “WASHINGTON — President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.”

-- This is a bold first step and it will give President Obama an immediate idea where the Russians are with respect to relations and his administration. Interesting.

BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09

I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.

BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09

I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Zennie's Gold Card Song A Hit On CNN and iReport

On Saturday I for some reason as I was showering started thinking about the song "The Sound of Silence" and then how my friend Russo has a tendency to sing these songs with a weird voice, so then I was thinking of a submission to the iReport on what I've given up to save money, and that led to my American Express Gold Card which I'd stopped using. I had all of those thoughts in one minute of shower time, then I started thinking about the lyrics to the song.

See, American Express, or AMEX, is trying to go back to its old business model where you as a card holder never had a balance, you just paid what you owed each month. So it's sacking the balance-holding accounts regardless of whether you paid on time or not. My account wasn't "sacked" but I had seen first the establishment of a credit limit then decreases in that limit which caused AMEX to ask for more money for no logical reason -- to me. So I figured why keep using it? Save money.

Thus the song.

Goodbye Gold Card my old friend! We've seen good-eats on the high-end..
People tell me AMEX has crashed. People say their credit is
smashed. But I'll tell you, that's not going to happen to me; I'll
set you free. And use, my cash! Well, ok and my PayPal and gift
cards, and other things.

And this YouTube video:



Which I also uploaded at iReport here:



And that version was seen over 69,000 times in one day because CNN elected to post it at CNN.com and well it went from 25 views to 15,000, to 69,000! But I didn't know it was going to be on television and that happened Sunday as I was in the gym. And then I've gotten facebook messages from people and texts and phone calls, so I figured I should share the video and lyrics for anyone who wanted to sing a silly song. I've got another song somewhere in me, but it works better when it's not forced out into the open!

Deputy Paul Schene Shown Kicking Black 15-Year Old Teen Girl

From the AP:

Surveillance video released in an assault case against a King County, Wash. sheriff's deputy shows him kicking a young girl, slamming her to the jail cell floor and striking her repeatedly. The deputy has pleaded not guilty in case


This is racist and terrible. She's a 15-year old girl. Deputy Paul Schene apparently claimed she kicked a shoe but the tape does not show that. Another "Oscar Grant" example of a cop acting out of racist intent. We must punish officers who behave this way with jail time of their own. She is defenseless and did nothing wrong.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Google 2009 "Brands" Search Focus Hurts Bloggers

A month ago, Google made a decision to focus on "brands" such that in searches for companies or public figures like former Oakland City Manger Robert Bobb, blogs don't come up but major websites do, which hurts Blogs and bloggers. More on this soon.