ACORN, Ecuador, Chevron, and the hidden video camera

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Readers and viewers have asked me to offer my opinion on the discovery by a couple of conservative activists that a couple of workers at the Washington DC office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN were giving advice on how a pimp and a prostitute can hide themselves from IRS scrutiny.

The "pimp" and the "prostitute" were "played" by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, she a columnist at TownHall.com in Washington, D.C, he a filmmaker and activist.

What they reportedly did was go around America on a tour of different ACORN offices posing as pimp and prostitute. According to CNN, most ACORN offices called the police on them with the exception of the Washington and Baltimore offices. Here's the video of what was said in the ACORN Washington office:



Now, what do I think? Well, the ACORN workers were wrong of course. Do you think I'm going to defend someone giving tax evasion tips to a pimp and his, well, you know. (I can't help but wonder if O'Keefe and Giles were sleeping together during their tour posing as people who were in the sex business. I mean all that talk and travel had to make them horny at some point, right?)

I also think it's a lot like the Chevron Ecuador case, where Ecuador Judge Juan Nunez was secretly caught on video in a meeting talking about the Chevron case and how he could rule and what the cost would be - $27 billion. Even though the Judge picked his words carefully, it was clear he knew about "that other thing" (because he used those words) which were the bribe arrangements where two environmental consultants would pay $3 million for the right to get a part of the remediation work the $27 billion was to pay for, in part.

Here's that video:



The cry in that case was that the consultants worked for Chevron; actually that's not exactly true but I'll deal with that in another blog post. The whine in the ACORN case was that the videos were made without the knowledge of the workers. In both episodes my response is if the subjects know that they're doing the right thing, they don't care if a camera or camcorder's in the room.

The simple fact that being secretely filmed is an issue for both the Judge and the ACORN workers means they knew they should not have been in those situations saying what they said.

Period.

The ACORN workers on camera were advocating a corrupt practice. The Judge and his friends in the Chevron video were caring out a corrupt practice.

I tell everyone I know this: if you're always in the right, you can't fear the use of a camera or camcorder because it will show that you were correct in your actions. The video made by O'Keefe and Giles doesn't damage the overall intent of ACORN at all; but it does call into question the ethics of some of the workers hired to staff the offices in certain cities, like DC.

The best action for anyone is to have their own camcorder. It's a good idea to have video evidence of one's actions anyway. But the bottom line is to just be on the right side of an ethics fight and to use the Golden Rule: do onto others as you would have others do on to you.

Kanye West apologizes to Taylor Swift's mom and on his blog

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The MTV VMA's were marked by an unfortunate event where Kanye West came out and took the mic from Taylor Swift, who was giving her thank-yous for winning Best Female Video of The Year, and said that Beyonce should have won it.

As I wrote here, that got hoots and calls from the audience and threatened to inject a racial divide into a show that was to be a celebration of Michael Jackson's music as Swift's a popular country music singer, Beyonce is African American and a pop / hip hop singer.

Kanye's move was classless and just plain aweful.

He was asked to leave Radio City Music Hall. So he went back to write this apology on his blogg after talking to Swift's mom:

“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!”

MTV VMAs - Beyonce shows class to Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga dazzles, Kanye West: classless

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The MTV Video Music Awards.

As I write this we're watching Beyonce, who just won Best MTV VMAs Video of The Year, really show that class still exists in America by asking Taylor Swift to come out and take a bow that she really should have been able to have before.

What happened was that Kayne West really showed how little class he (surprisingly) has by storming the stage, grabbing the mic and saying, as Taylor won for Best Female Video..

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!,”

Taylor was shocked. My jaw hit the floor. The Radio City crowd hooted and screamed. And over the next segment of the show, it seemed as if the mood was racially divided, and there was no need for that at all. Kanye really did a bad thing. I can't think of any other sane way to put it.

What somewhat made up for Kanye's butt-showing moment was the awesome voice of Lady Gaga. That chick, and yeah, she's all woman, can rock the house. Amazing talent. Beautiful woman. Focused and talented.

And now, Jay-Z's riffing a new song that's a tribute to New York City to end the show.

I've got to give Janet Jackson a real big thank you for opening the show with an incredible number celebrating the music of her brother Michael Jackson. You could see the emotion just pouring from her and his soul was in every second of the music she produced.

Show host Russell Brand was just ok. I didn't like the way Brand stopped to make fun of Megan Fox's comments on her mental condition, which I blogged about yesterday. No one laughed at all. He could have left that out.

In all, a great show. But I also give MTV a a load of credit for a website that integrated Twitter and Facebook in a way that will change the way I look at how such efforts should be designed for events like this. Check out the site.

Now, I can't wait for the new clip of the movie "This Is It" about what was to be Michael's concert tour. I have mixed emotions about this, which I'll share later. They're playing it now. I'll have it here later.

Jennifer's Body - Megan Fox v. Michael Bay - Fox says she's screwed up

Remember my video calling out Transformers Director Michael Bay for whining over Jennifer's Body star actress Megan Fox' statements that his alien robot flick was a special effects movie? This one:



Well, it appears that there's much more to this very public spat between Megan Fox and Michael Bay. What's the lesson here before we continue: it's how to not win friends and influence people. It's an example of using the Internet annonomously to be ugly. And it's pretty stupid, too.

According to blogger Amy Grindhouse (cool name), Megan Fox calls Bey a "Hitler" on the movie set and more. This is what she said as reported by Amy:

1) On Transformers director Michael Bay: “[Michael Bay] wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he’s a nightmare to work for.”
2) On what's wrong with her: “I definitely have some kind of mental problem and I haven’t pinpointed what it is.”
3) On her new movie Jennifer’s Body: “I think it’s really about how fucked up and scary girls are. Girls are fucking nightmares.”
4) On being a product in Hollywood: “Part of my product is being outrageous and outspoken so even when I’m not being that way I’m going to be sold that way.”

All of this has really pissed off someone claiming to be part of Bay's crew on that movie - and who penned a letter without attaching their name - that really takes off after Fox in a fashion that can only be described as petty and unprofessional.

To his credit, Bey posted this comment on his website:

I don’t condone the crew letter to Megan. And I don’t condone Megan’s outlandish quotes. But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on Transformers 3.

The letter, originally posted on Bay's website, but then removed, can be read at Nikke Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily blogsite and is below:

This is an open letter to all Michael Bay fans. We are three crew members that have worked with Michael for the past ten years. Last week we read the terrible article with inflammatory, truly trashing quotes by the Ms. Fox about Michael Bay. This letter is to set a few things straight.

Yes, Megan has great eyes, a tight stomach we spray with glycerin, and an awful silly Marilyn Monroe tattoo plastered on her arm that we cover up to keep the moms happy.

Michael found this shy, inexperienced girl, plucked her out of total obscurity thus giving her the biggest shot of any young actresses' life. He told everyone around to just trust him on his choice. He granted her the starring role in Transformers, a franchise that forever changed her life; she became one of the most googled and oogled women on earth. She was famous! She was the next Angelina Jolie, hooray! Wait a minute, two of us worked with Angelina – second thought – she’s no Angelina. You see, Angelia is a professional.

We know this quite intimately because we’ve had the tedious experience of working with the dumb-as-a-rock Megan Fox on both Transformers movies. We've spent a total of 12 months on set making these two movies.

We are in different departments; we can’t give our names because sadly doing so in Hollywood could lead to being banished from future Paramount work. One of us touches Megan’s panties, the other has the often shitty job of pulling Ms. Sourpants out of her trailer, while another is near the Panaflex camera that helps to memorialize the valley girl on film.

Megan has the press fooled. When we read those magazines we wish we worked with that woman. Megan knows how to work her smile for the press. Those writers should try being on set for two movies, sadly she never smiles. The cast, crew and director make Transformers a really fun and energetic set. We’ve traveled around the world together, so we have never understood why Megan was always such the grump of the set?

When facing the press, Megan is the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star. And yes we’ve had the unbearable time of watching her try to act on set, and yes, it's very cringe-able. So maybe, being a porn star in the future might be a good career option. But make-up beware, she has a paragraph tattooed to her backside (probably due her rotten childhood) -- easily another 45 minutes in the chair!

So when the three of us caught wind of Ms Fox, pontificating yet again in some publication (like she actually has something interesting to say) blabbing her trash mouth about a director whom we three have grown to really like. She compared working with Michael, to “working with Hitler”. We actually don’t think she knows who Hitler is by the way. But we wondered how she doesn’t realize what a disgusting, fully uneducated comment this was? Well, here let’s get some facts straight.

Say what you want about Michael – yes at times he can be hard, but he's also fun, and he challenges everyone for a reason – he simply wants people to bring their ‘A’ game. He comes very prepared, knows exactly what he wants, involves the crew and expects everyone to follow through with his or her best, and that includes the actors. He’s one of the hardest working directors out there.

He gets the best from his crews, many of whom have worked with him for 15 years. And yes, he’s loyal, one of the few directors we’ve encountered who lowered his fee by millions to keep Transformers in the United States and California, so he could work with his own crew.

Megan says that Transformers was an unsafe set? Come on Megan, we know it is a bit more strenuous then the playground at the trailer park, but you don’t insult one of the very best stunt and physical effects teams in the business! Not one person got hurt!

And who is the real Megan Fox? She is very different than the academy nominee and winning actors we’ve all worked around. She’s as about ungracious a person as you can ever fathom. She shows little interest in the crew members around her. We work to make her look good in every way, but she's absolutely never appreciative of anyone’s hard work. Never a thank you. All the crewmembers have stopped saying hi to Ms. Princess because she never says hello back. It gets tiring. Many think she just really hates the process of being an actress.

Megan has been late to the sets many times. She goes through the motions that make her exude this sense of misery. We’ve heard the A.D’s piped over the radio that Megan won’t walk from her trailer until John Turturro walks first! John’s done seventy-five movies and she’s made two!

Never expect Megan to attend any of the 15 or so crew parties like all the other actors have. And then there's the classless night she blew off The Royal Prince of Jordan who made a special dinner for all the actors. She doesn’t know that one of the grips' daughters wanted to visit their daddy’s work to meet Megan, but he wouldn’t let them come because he told them “she is not nice."

The press certainly doesn’t know her most famous line. On our first day in Egypt, the Egyptian government wouldn’t let us shoot because of a permit problem as the actors got ready in make up at the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael tried to make the best of it; he wanted to take the cast and crew on a private tour of the famous Giza pyramids. God hold us witness, Megan said, "I can’t believe Michael is fucking forcing us to go to the fucking pyramids!" I guess this is the “Hitler guy” she is referring to.

So this is the Megan Fox you don’t get to see. Maybe she will learn, but we figure if she can sling insults, then she can take them too. Megan really is a thankless, classless, graceless, and shall we say unfriendly bitch. It's sad how fame can twist people, and even sadder that young girls look up to her. If only they knew who they're really looking up to.

But ‘fame’ is fleeting. We, being behind the scenes, seen em’ come and go. Hopefully Michael will have Megatron squish her character in the first ten minutes of Transformers 3. We can tell you that will make the crew happy!

-Loyal Transformers Crew

My take? The crew people who wrote this don't want work anytime soon. All one has to do is a IMDB search for the names of the people who worked on the Transformers movies and use some other clues to figure out who wrote it. Result: no future work.

I'm sure that everyone has something to negative to say about someone. That doesn't mean it has to be said or written. There's nothing important here or so solid that it sticks. It reads like crew people who are jealous of successful actresses who may not cow-tow to them.

I agree it would be nice if Fox did feed the ego of the crew, if this letter is to be believed as true. But I'm sure I can find someone in Hollywood who's a crew type with something nice to say about Ms. Fox.

The bottom line, again, is to avoid writing such letters that don't have your name on them. People who do it think they will not be discovered and that's always wrong. It's just a matter of time.

If you have an issue with a person, take it to them privately and with respect. Only go public after you've exhausted that option without positive results.

Fox says she's screwed up

In the wake of the Tila Tequila episode, I don't find Megan Fox's claims to be funny. She says:

I think I'm a borderline personality -- or that I have bouts of mild schizophrenia," she says. "I definitely have some kind of mental problem and I haven't pinpointed what it is."

One could say it's good she's honest about it, but my fear is she will use this revelation as an "excuse" to treat people terribly. If she does that, she's got to seek help because at that point Fox becomes emotionally dangerous to others. She could interpret a situation one way, one day, then another way on another day and both would be real to her. So the "truth" becomes flexible with who she happens to be on a given day. That's crazy-making.

I hope Fox takes her own comments seriously and not as an attention getting tool. Taking that responsibility will be the first step into a larger and more positive world for Megan Fox.