Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
David Letterman Kathy Griffin June 10th 2009
On Letterman's show, Kathy Griffin calls Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a "moron" and her husband "a tool" as Dave cringes.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger answers Ellen DeGeneres
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Who's minding the Guv's tweets?
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the target of comedian Ellen DeGeneres Twitter and email-based campaign to stop his proposal to reduce the time animals are kept in shelters from six days to three days, answered DeGeneres on Twitter today:
Basically the Guv's claim is shelters themselves make the timing decision, but that's passing the buck, really. The bottom line is the reduced funding would almost certainly cause such a lowering of time, which is what outrages Ellen and many who've been informed of Schwarzenegger's proposal.
- @TheEllenShow We are eliminating funding but shelters determine time before euthanization.about 12 hours ago from web
- @TheEllenShow We can only spend money we have and can't afford many programs, for example, health care for children.about 12 hours ago from web
But what's got me really twinged is the popular pol's first tweet to Ellen that refers to cutting health care for kids! Kids. The focus of the tweet was kids. Why even mention kids? Think about it. That's going from the frying pan to the fire in one tweet; from defenseless animals to defenseless kids. Is there a pattern here?
That's enough to start another Twitter campaign (follow me on Twitter!) so strong that "Tell Gov" becomes a trending topic yet again. The Guv bothered - heck, went out of his way - to mention cutting health care for kids. I mean take a look at this:
That's the actual screen shot of what appeared on the Guv's page at the time of this writing, in case someone out their thinks I'm writing fantasy. Using "health care for children" as an example of programs the Governor claims the state can't afford was a bad idea. I mean, is this really Arnold? It's certainly his official Twitter page!
I sometimes wonder who's writing the Guv's tweets, a staffer or Arnold himself? Something tells me Arnold would be less ham-handed in his tweets than what I've seen today. That's the kind of line I'd expect a young, conservative, childless, never-seen-much-of-urban-America intern to produce on Twitter, not Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This is getting more and more interesting.
As of this writing, no response from Ellen, but I'm putting this in her replies box, so stay tuned!
BTW, I've been sick, real sick, so my output is low; hopefully I didn't get that dang you-know-what flu! Grrrr!!!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Ellen DeGeneres Starts Twitter Campaign "Tell Gov. Arnold"
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Important: Tell Gov. Arnold not to limit time animals are kept in shelters from 6 days to 3. Email him: http://www.gov.ca.gov Pass it on.
In other words, what the Governor's proposing is that an animal that currently just six days time in an animal shelter before it is sentenced to death by euthanasia would have only three days time, which, as Franny Syufy informs us on her blog is...
barely time for owners to discover their cat missing, track him down to a local shelter, then arrange for his release.Why the Governors' people decided to pick on defenseless animals is beyond me, but they did it and it's out in the open. So much so that several Internet petitions have been established and DeGeneres has employed her vast new media reach - including her Facebook page - to spread the word in the hopes of turning around the Governor's apparent position. So far the Guv's Twitter updates don't include any word on his personal view on the matter, but this online movement's just hit Twitter with full-force, thanks to Ellen.
Stay tuned.
NFL Insider: Philadelphia Eagles
From CBS: Are the Eagles and Donovan McNabb primed for another run through the playoffs? Jason Horowitz and NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan take an in depth look at the Philadelphia Eagles.
David Letterman Top 10 Sarah Palin Highlights
What Palin fans are upset about is #2 where he says she's updating her slutty flight attendant look. Letterman's appologized for the other comments that were directed at Bristol Palin, but Palin's working this issue hard. Not over yet.
Parkway Theater: Pat Kernighan must lead now!
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The "Save The Parkway Theater" movement, once a seemingly happy collection of like-minded Oaklanders, has rapidly degenerated into the same kind of feckless factionalization that's doomed the effort to keep the Athletics baseball team in Oakland.
Yes, once again, we have groups that don't talk to each other and with different agendas and a common problem: a lack of leadership from the elected officials involved. In the case of the Athletics, it was Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums (until he began to really insert himself into the process and call for meetings) and now it's Oakland's District Two Councilmember Pat Kernighan.
(A bit of housecleaning: I like Pat; I really do. Always have. But I don't like the way she handles community controversy and this is an example.)
Four Factions
When the Parkway Speakeasy Theater closed after its last show on March 22nd 2009, a rag-tag group of neighbors, concerned Oaklanders, and even people outside Oakland, banded together to create the "Save The Parkway" movement. The first meeting of the "organization" was successful, and Councilmember Kernighan arrived to give her valued input.
But after that the wheels came off the wagon. Once a potential buyer of the theater was located, factions developed:
1) The Parkway Employees - This group of loyal former workers at the theater got notices that it was going to close just four days before it happened. They're rightly upset, but now, months later, they're trying to find jobs. The main "Save The Parkway" members worked to raise money to help them, but the former employees I talked to, while they appreciated their help, felt it was delivered in an over-zealous way, with "out of the blue" calls and contacts from people they didn't know.
2) Save The Parkway - Peter Prato is the spark plug behind this Internet-based organization that has marshalled support for reopening the theater. What's happpened here from my point of view, and the many calls and emails I've gotten, and a video I've not yet installed, is that once Kernighan went to work behind the scenes, it seemed they felt a bit "pushed out" of the proceedings. That's not from them; that's my read alone.
3) Catherine and Kyle Fisher - Once loved by everyone, now hated by some, and still loved by many, has seen their business collapse under the combined weight of the economy, the changing movie climate, declining revenues and rising business costs. No one of the other two groups talks to them or wants to, sadly. The Fisher's view on all of this is hard to determine for publication; they've gone almost completely underground.
4) Councilmember Pat Kernighan and Councilmember Jean Quan - Ok. Now, you're scratching your head on this one, right? What's Jean Quan got to do with this? That's what I was wondering when Quan showed up in the middle of the May 31st Parkway Community Meeting and presented herself as a concerned citizen (who happens to be running for Mayor of Oakland; my view interview with Quan will be installed Sunday June 14th). At first I wondered if Pat knew Jean was coming to the meeting and gave Quan her blessing as the Parkway's in Kernighan's district. All things considered it would be more appropriate for At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan to have attended the meeting or for Quan to be there with Kernighan. But frankly it looked weird to me.
There's a lot of drama from these factions but all of it can be taken away or at least lessened by one action: Councilmember Pat Kernighan calling what former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb would call an "all-hands" meeting, with everyone at the table. And I mean everyone Pat can think of regardless of her relationship with them. (Get the message, Pat?)
This is Councilmember Kernighan's time to shine. Right now, she's adding to the gossip mill (what Bobb calls "sniper fire") rather than rising above it. This community development problem is in her District and its rapidly spinning out of control.
It's Councilmember Kernighan's time to step up and lead.
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