The Prop 8 Issue - Being Black and Gay Are Not The Same

This video will be misunderstood by some just for its title. I ask you to listen to what I say. I'm am against California Proposition 8. I've made videos to show the World how stupid and hateful the people who back the initiative can be. But what does bother me is the discovery that of all groups, African Americans voted more for it than against it. Why? I think one reason is that the message those who were against Prop 8 put out was off-putting to many who are Black. While I agree that gay marriage is a civil rights issue, one can't then make the cognitive leap and say that Blacks and Gays share the same path and past. The reason is simple: if I walk down the street you already have made up your mind how you're going to adress me because of my skin color. That's not true if the person's Gay -- you can't tell by looking. The bottom line is civil rights for all -- but the message that's sent by "No on 8" seems to say that if a person's straight White and male, they're normal. No one Black wants to hear that.

Barack Obama Is President Of The United States

Ok. Finally here are my thoughts on the election of Senator Barack Obama as President of The United States. For me it's the culmination of two years of work online as part of something called "Obama Rapid Response", where we work to counter negative information about Barack Obama. I dont know of a campaign that's had such a widespread grassroots online effort of this kind before. It worked.

Barack Obama as President of the United States has effectively changed racism as we know it in America. It's made it far more the thing of people who's brain just is'nt' wired correctly. And we have seen people -- White -- elect a person who happened to be Black because he proved he was the best person for the job.

Barack Obama: President of The United States.

Arianna Huffington - The Web Killed Karl Rove Politics

 At the Web 2.0 Summit, where web tech people get together to discuss the ever changing nature of the advance and use of the Internet and Internet technology , Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington summed up why President-Elect Barack Obama prevailed over Senator John McCain:

"The McCain campaign didn't have a clue," said Huffington in a reference to technical rather than intellectual deficiencies. "The Internet has killed Karl Rove politics."

I'm sorry I missed Web 2.0, but I'll catch the Expo.  But the matter of just how the Internet killed Karl Rove politics bears exploration.  In brief, the Internet allowed the free and rapid transfer of information between people, thus allowing a single episode of rumors and negative information that would have altered the course of a campaign in the past to be 1) quickly countered and 2) replaced by new news in the cycle.  That leads to a related point: the news cycle is now in less than a day, it's more like a six hour process.  Thus, news that's really a day old has been repeated again and again online often before it hits the newspapers the next day.  


That didn't happen in 2004, and so Karl Rove's "divide and conquer" strategy worked.  Not today.  

Court Orders IBM Executive to Stop Working for Apple

A U.S. District Court in New York has ordered former IBM executive Mark Papermaster to immediately stop working for Apple. Papermaster was recently wooed away from IBM after being offered what he described as “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

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Y! Live Stopping It's Broadcast December 3rd 2008

I just saw this post  explaining that Y! Live, Yahoo's experiment in online broadcast distribution, will be going off the air December 3rd:

Our mission here on the Brickhouse team is to quickly develop product ideas that can add value to Yahoo! as a whole. To do this effectively we constantly evaluate our early-stage products and sometimes have to make the hard decision to move on, in order to continue exploring new territory and developing new products.

So it is with great sadness that I share the news that Yahoo! Live, a Brickhouse project in social broadcasting will be going off the air on 3 December 2008. We’d like to thank everyone who has participated. Without all of you, Y!Live would not have built the strong community that it has. It has been really interesting (and entertaining) to see all of the ways broadcasters have used Live, developing it into a place for all sorts of social interactions.

Court Orders IBM Executive to Stop Working for Apple

A U.S. District Court in New York has ordered former IBM executive Mark Papermaster to immediately stop working for Apple. Papermaster was recently wooed away from IBM after being offered what he described as “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

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The Ultimate Jell-O Shot - A Scientific Study

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the highest possible concentration of alcohol attainable in a Jell-O shot, while still maintaining the structural integrity (i.e., the gelling properties) of the gelatin. The result: a Jell-o shot that's like shooting straight vodka.

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4 Black Marines Executed Their Interracial Sergeant & Wife

Court records indicate four Marines acknowledged they had roles in the robbery, sexual assault and murder of a Camp Pendleton-based Iraq veteran and his wife last month in Riverside County. The four were charged Tuesday with the execution-style slayings of Marine Sgt. Jan Pawek Pietrzak and Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak. Most media avoiding facts.

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GOP Lawyer Dispatched To Retrieve Some Of Palin's Clothes

Sarah Palin left the national stage Wednesday, but the controversy over her role on the ticket flared as aides to John McCain disclosed new details about her expensive wardrobe purchases and revealed that a Republican Party lawyer would be dispatched to Alaska to inventory and retrieve the clothes still in her possession.

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Putin may return to presidency in 2009

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.

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1 Million Jobs Lost In 2008: America's Shrinking Payrol

Carol Steinbrecher is a 55-year-old mother of three who, like many Americans, has spent most of her life working hard to provide the best for her family. But today she is part of another group of Americans, one that is growing larger every day: the unemployed.

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Pentagon hands Shell 25-year monopoly on S. Iraq's gas

Royal Dutch Shell oil company and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have struck a secret, as-of-yet non-binding agreement that gives a monopoly over southern Iraq's natural gas to the energy giant. It marks the first time in over 35 years a Western oil company has played a major role in the country's most lucrative industry.

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50 dead in Haitian grade-school collapse

About 50 schoolchildren and teachers were killed when a shantytown grade school packed with hundreds of students collapsed during classes, a government official said.

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Barack Obama’s Top 5 technology promises

Silicon Valley has been complaining for years that government has neglected a technology-focused promotion of education, but besides with, what can the IT industry expect from the new president? TG Daily re-visited Obama's speeches and highlight what we believe are the five most important technology promises, besides education.

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Artist gang flies anarchy black flag over Mayfair mansion

The £6million squatters: Artist gang flies the black flag of anarchy over Mayfair mansion - In its day it must have ranked among the most elegant residences in London. But a £6.25million Mayfair mansion – owned by the billionaire Duke of Westminster – was revealed as the latest address that a group of squatters (Da! Collective) calls home.

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Appetite for Procrastination: Albums That Are Long Overdue

It's been 17 years in the making. But yes, that's right, Guns N’ Roses will finally release “Chinese Democracy” on Nov. 23. Supposedly. In the spirit of procrastination and temper tantrums, here's a round up of other albums arriving unfashionably late.

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Casting Directors: Megan Fox as Wonder Woman

No, it's not true, but this fan-created poster shows how wonderful the possibilities could be! Make it so!

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Lionsgate Cuts 8% of Staff Ahead of Earnings Report

Lionsgate is cutting 8% of its staff, which had grown from 350 to 550 over the past four years. In all, 41 positions are being eliminated, with 17 rank-and-file staffers being laid off. The cuts span all divisions and almost all are at the megaindie’s Santa Monica headquarters.

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Comedy in the Age of Obama

Will political comedy be easier or more difficult under President Obama? A panel of comics shared their perspectives.

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Spielberg and Smith plot Oldboy remake

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are planning to collaborate on a remake of Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, according to Variety. The pair, who have been looking for a project to work on together for some time, are said to be in early discussions about reworking the acclaimed Korean thriller.

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NBC Employees: Tina Fey, McCain had "Frosty" Relationship

McCain may have wanted to do SNL -- but he may not have wanted to do a sketch with Tina Fey.

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'24' Returns With A Whopping 4 Hour Premiere!

Fox has set a premiere day for the return of "24," planning a two-night, four-hour event in January.

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Soap Opera Makes the Biggest Screw Up -- Ever

The following story is one of the worst mistakes ever made in television history -- involving stupidity, a major soap opera, and a 6-year-old boy who was kidnapped, raped and murdered back in 2007.

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78 Million Watch Obama Win -Largest Ratings Since Super Bowl

Hollywood Reporter/Neilsen just released the ratings from last night. Barack Obama's historic presidential election victory was viewed by an equally historic numbers of viewers: 78,583,000 watched coverage across 14 networks Tuesday evening.

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'Heroes' duo get the ax

Big shakeup on the staff of NBC's "Heroes" came down on Sunday with the axing of co-exec producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb. Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring.

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Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle Sign On for The Avengers

Marvel Entertainment has just announced that Robert Downey Jr and Don Cheadle have signed on for both Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau will also executive produce The Avengers.

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Terminator 4 Video Shows 10 New Terminators

A new featurette shows off the amazing views of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, plus an astonishing 10 new Terminators. They include a giant Harvester, the Moto-Terminator bikes, and an Aqua-Terminator... plus the primitive T-600, which you can see in action.

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Iron Man 2: How Terrence Howard Lost His Role

The first big surprise in the EW story is that Howard was the most highly paid actor for the original Iron Man movie

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What Will 'Saturday Night Live' Do Next?

Once every four years, the sketch comedy show, far past its comedic prime, gets a much-needed boost in ratings thanks to spot-on impressions of politicos and candidates. This year, Tina Fey's hilarious Sarah Palin impression helped give it a 70% bump in ratings. Sadly, Fey said she won't be continuing her role as the winking hockey mom.

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'Oprah Winfrey Show' May Be Close To Its End

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" may cease airing in 2011 when Winfrey walks away from the U.S. TV talk show, an executive says.

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Obama Roasts Rahm Emanuel: Missing Middle Finger Rendered Him Mute

This video shows then-Senator Barack Obama roasting Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who's now his Chief of Staff, at a 2005 charity event.  One highlight of Obama's roast is when he said that Emanuel cut his middle finger, rendering him practically mute!

It's a great look into how politicians in America relate to each other and reveals just how funny Paul Begala is.  I'm telling ya, he can rip off some hilarious quips.

Oprah Was Crying With Sam Perry of Obama For America

Folks are asking who the man on who's shoulder Oprah Winfrey was crying as President-Elect Barack Obama (love the sound of that) was speaking Election Night at Grant Park in Chicago.  According to Valleywag, it was Sam Perry , who was communications director with Obama for America in Chicago, but is also a Silicon Valley investor.  Here's the scene at Grant Park:

Prop 8 Protest In San Diego Draws 10,000 People

The narrow passage of Proposition 8, which makes marriage between the same sexes illegal in California, has sparked a string of protests and legal challenges.  This one is in San Diego and captured by this iReporter, Chris Murrow:

Palin Responsible For Spike In Death Threats Against Obama

Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.

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Obama Says Speedy Action Needed on Economy - NYTimes.com

President-elect Barack Obama called on Friday for the Bush administration and Congress to enact an economic-stimulus package, and he pledged to confront the country’s economic crisis “head on” the moment he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

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Melissa Etheridge says No Gay Marriage -- No Taxes!

Melissa Etheridge took a vocal stand, arguing that the passing of Prop. 8 means the taxman may not benefit from her income as a musician.

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Calista Flockhart Is A Cutie

Famous Ally McBeal star, Calista Flockhart attends the Peace Over Violence’s 37th Annual Humanitarian Awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel on November 7, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California.

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More has Been Read into Obama's Statement: Inderfurth

New Delhi: A key adviser to US President-elect Barack Obama sought to playdown the Democrat leader's reported suggestion that he could ask former President Bill Clinton to mediate between India and Pakistan, saying

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Norm Coleman sues in court to stop vote recount

Saint Paul [11/08/08] - In a shameful effort to deprive Minnesota voters of their civil rights, the Coleman campaign today went to court in an attempt to block 32 absentee ballots from being counted. Why does Norm Coleman hate the voters?

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ABC News: Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public

Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.

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NY Times: Cheney & Bush rev up their Wrecking Balls

Cheney, Bush and the White House cabal are busy issuing regulations which favor their friends, at a pace unheard of in history. You can bet their shredding machines are running full blast, and that computer files are being erased or modified at a record pace. INVESTIGATE. PROSECUTE. CONVICT. IMPRISON.

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Pakistan Declares Death Penalty for 'Cyber Terror'

American officials can have some pretty over-the-top reactions to hackers and so-called cyber terrorists. Once, I saw a briefing comparing our own Kevin Poulsen to Osama bin Laden and Pablo

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