GOP Congressman Kline dodges veterans

Congressman John Kline (R-MN) was conspicuously absent from the Goodhue County United Veterans Organizations "Candidate's Forum" in his district last night. The forum was not far from where Kline has made his home since relocating from Texas. Do you suppose he didn't want to have to explain the disconnect between his rhetoric and his votes?

Why would a former Marine officer serving in Congress not vote to support funding for Veterans Affairs?  I don't know; since action speaks louder than words maybe vets and other voters just learned how little Kline cares for the honest, working Minnesotans in his adopted District.

Former MN Representative Shelley Madore: Cannon Falls VFW
Goodhue county United Veterans Organization Candidate Forum

Kline's opponent, former State Rep. Shelley Madore was certainly there, joining candidates at all levels from Governor through county offices to meet with vets and their families and talk about needs and priorities.  Madore's record in the Minnesota House shows a dedication to Veterans that you might expect Kline to want to counter in front of a receptive audience. Considering his startling anti-veteran votes on spending for Veterans Affairs he'd better find some friendly audience or Madore's "35 Cent Tour," which is gaining traction with the media and the voters, will become the story of the election.

Republicans, following President Bush's lead, led this country into an economic quagmire pursuing wars of choice while protecting big banks and special interests, but that's no reason for Kline to dodge his military family constituents.  Leaders get out and talk to voters, and if necessary explain why they made bad decisions, but Kline evidently lacks the commitment to the veterans in the district to face those tough questions.

True leaders don't sit back and spout ideology when the chips are down, they roll up their sleeves and take ownership of the challenges and problems.  They lead by example, not by talking points.  The men and women who put on this country's uniform deserve the respect of all of us, but a former officer couldn't be bothered to attend their forum?

The November election across the Twin Cities metro from the Bachmann-Clark contest will be a choice between a former marine officer who voted against defense department funding and now deliberately dodges veterans and a former legislator who's visiting every community in the district at every opportunity to make sure her constituents know how hard she works.

Ask the folks who went to Farmfest if their current Representative cares about farmers. Kline ignored that invitation, too, while Shelley Madore, who grew up on a farm and may already know more about the challenges than he does, made the trip and talked to farmers.  It's beginning to look like a pattern, with Kline avoiding any unscripted appearances while Madore shows she knows how to reach voters and has the courage to talk to them face to face.

The choice for voters is increasingly clear: Kline's content to sit at home, while Shelly Madore continues to show she'll work harder and do more.

Thomas Hayes is a political strategist currently managing the Madore for Congress campaign, entrepreneur, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Bumper Sticker targets Ocean Beach bums

A bumper sticker that targets Ocean Beach bums and aggressive panhandlers, has pitted a head shop against a local blogger in Ocean Beach (San Diego County). The sticker is similar to one from Mammoth Mountain that warns people not to feed bears, but OB's depicts the silhouette of a hobo carrying a bindle on a stick while walking a dog and reads "Welcome to Ocean Beach/Please don't feed our bums.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that an employee from The Black smoke shop, Ken Anderson and a friend came up with the idea a few months ago. The Black began selling bumper stickers and t-shirts with the message in June.

Frank Gormlie, who runs the "OB Rag" blog, says the stickers send the wrong message about Ocean Beach, which he describes as a "place of laid-back tolerance. The stickers carry a message of hate," Gormlie told the newspaper.

The 62-year-old wants a boycott of The Black, and is offering a free T-shirt to the person who removes the most stickers from public signs around town.

Dozens of opponents of the campaign, protested in front of the smoke shop on Newport Avenue, several times over the past few months, encouraging the public not to patronize the business. Opponents of the sticker say that it paints all homeless people with a broad brush, and spreads a message of hate and intolerance in a community known for being open-minded and inclusive.

Several counter-protestors, who support the bumper sticker, say that the campaign is directed at young, able-bodied transients who aggressively panhandle, urinate on the streets and sidewalks, and threaten residents who do not give them money.

Employees at the Black say they have sold out of the $2.50 sticker, but are ordering more and will continue to sell them.

Doesn't this just beat all? It is bad enough that millions of hard working Americans are being forced into homelessness by the worst unemployment problem in the history of our country but now when we have no place to go, the Non-homeless community wants us to starve as well. This "not in my community" mentality by those who have a place to live is heartless, void of compassion and beneath the America I know and love.

Is it really any wonder with the country's leaders in Washington calling the unemployed 'Bums and Hobos' and calling us spoiled simply because we want a fighting chance to survive, why communities are following that example? What is happening to America when it's children feel that beating up the homeless is some sort of spectator sport to be video taped and uploaded to the internet?

A new sticker has surfaced in Ocean Beach, but this time it has a gentler message about the homeless population.

The San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless created a new sticker with the image of a man in board shorts and flip-flops shaking the hand of someone with a sign that says “Will work for food.” Above and below the two men shaking hands, the sticker states “Welcome to O.B. Together We End Homelessness” Surrounding the image of the two men are the words generosity, caring, empathy, tolerance -- words some said better describe the feelings of those who live in Ocean Beach.

"Well, it's a wonderful sticker," said one resident.

To the "haves" Nation: it could very easily be you next on the streets. Try asking yourselves how you would want others to treat you if/when that happens.

The recession is 190 weeks old and the maximum unemployment benefits you can receive (in less than half the states) is 99 weeks. We have a net deficit of 10.5 million jobs over the past 3.5 years and it will take another 5 years at least to get these jobs back, if ever.

With no benefits and no jobs out there to take, in order to support our families, what are we supposed to do? It is a sad, true fact "Desperate people do desperate things." If you have not the heart to help your fellow man during these extraordinary hard times and you create even more desperation in those befallen by hard times, then God help you - as you may well get what you deserve and eventually be victimized by your own lack of humanity.

Infighting, divisiveness may kill the 99er movement

Infighting and divisiveness may kill the 99er movement before Washington indifference starves them all. There is a disturbing trend within the 99er community that may be even more destructive than Washington withholding a Tier 5. Certain groups on Facebook and other sites designed to unite the millions of 99ers in America, are actually banning people who post informative articles about the cause and attacking those who have lead the charge over the past 12 months.

Useless bickering about how many 99ers there really are in America and trivial infighting over who speaks for them is more the clash of petty egos and small-minded megalomaniacs seeking more attention than they themselves have been able to generate for the cause. Jealousy is a vicious, unproductive trait.

Results speak for themselves. The 99er Nation needs to remember who it was that helped them break into the mainstream media, who successfully delivered the 99er letter into the hands of President Obama, who organized the fax-email-call campaigns that forced Washington to finally write/introduce two Tier 5 bills this month and put the 99er cause on the map across America.

It has been the relentles s work of 99er Media (Rob C.), Cindy Paoletti (who wrote the Obama letter), the weekly BlogTalkRadio shows like Mr. G’s Unemployment Roundtable, Paladinette’s Jobless Talk, Monica Ross-Williams’ Reach Out Job Search, the highly organized leadership of U-Cubed, the dedicated members of PalTalk’s Tier 5 to Survive-unemployed unite plus the daily reporting on our movement by a handful of reporters from MSNBC (Ed Schultz), PBS, ABC, RTTV, Huffington Post (Arthur Delaney, Arianna Huffington) and Examiner.com reporters Detroit Job Search Examiner-Monica Ross-Williams and Rochester Unemployment Examiner-Michael Thornton (to name a few) that have placed us upon the precipice of realizing our Tier 5 unemployment insurance benefits.

The 99er community is not as few as 1.4 million strong, like the DOL would have you believe. The San Diego Unemployment Examiner called the DOL using credentials of Examiner.com and asked them point blank how many Americans have exhausted all UI benefits. They said (back when nobody knew who the 99ers where) that they do not keep data on "UI Exhaustees". Now, when everybody knows about our movement, the DOL releases that bogus 1.4 million number? It simply does not pass the laugh test.

The figure quoted of 1.4 million workers is NOT accurate. Even NELP said earlier last month that of the 15 million people on UI benefits 56% of them have been unemployed longer than 6 months. If you believe the figure that 2.5 million of those were cut off by Congress' failure to extend UI benefits for those who would otherwise be eligible (in June), that still leaves 5.9 million unaccounted for before Congress passed the latest extension.

If you do the math, you see that 3.8 to 4 million 99ers is a very conservative number, especially when we are growing by 50,000 per day. The new extension, being back dated to June 2nd has created many more 99ers just in the past month, as those who were prevented from advancing to tier 4 (only 6 weeks long) have been sent their final retro money for the 6 weeks and are now done with all tiers. Those who only qualify for the Tier 3 will join the ranks of the exhaustees by the end of this month.

Last September, when Congress was working to pass Tiers 3 & 4, they openly debated on the House and Senate floors using the phrase "over 3 million people would be helped" by that legislation. (That has to be available somewhere in those transcripts) This was 11 months ago. Most of the original UI exhaustees who fought for tiers 3 & 4 last fall, ran out of benefits in Feb/March this year. Every month since, this number snowballs.

There is a counter on the Jobless Unite website that does not include the 50,000 new 99ers per day. The counter has been up for several weeks and if that 50K daily number is correct (which also came from the DOL), we are now well over 5 million. Though the counter says 4.3 million at present.

I am not a statistician, but anyway you look at that 1.4 number, it makes about as much sense as the 9.5% US unemployment rate. It doesn't pass muster.

It is far less significant quibbling over the exact number of 99ers and far more important that every UI “exhaustee” unite in one loud voice to force Washington to pass the Tier 5 legislation for all states as soon as Congress reconvenes in mid-September.

If you or any victim of unemployment should be banned from the blogs and Facebook groups without cause, or if you are just sick and tired of the negative garbage some of these groups allow on their sites, you are welcome to join good, positive groups that post important information and filter the petty bickering or Troll activity that only detracts from our plight. Here are a few good ones:

EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

Now: JOBLESS / Next: HOMELESS

New York State Department of Labor page on Facebook

Tier Five Or Die

UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS

TWITTER MARCH for the UNEMPLOYED

Sandra Bullock Is Not A Search Trend: TV's Internet Impact Drops

This comes under the heading of "when will they ever learn." As much as the beautiful and popular Academy Award-winning Actress Sandra Bullock wants to talk about the all-important subject of New Orleans, here's some bad new for her, NBC, HLN, and The Hearst Corporation, of which The San Francisco Chronicle and The Seattle P.I.Com are a part: on August 31st 2010 Sandra Bullock ia not a search trend.

Oh, but we at least have to see Sandra on The Today Show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock's not a trend? That's right. Ms. Sandra Bullock doesn't show up on Google Trends or Yahoo Buzz, and her ex-husband Jesse James is no where to be seen. What does? Well, as of this writing or blogging here's the list for Google Trends: mark ingram, the blaze glenn beck (I rule this guy), dancing with the stars season 11, real housewives of new jersey reunion (man, that's a doozy), hurricane earl path, troy polamalu hair, brandon spikes, zsa zsa gabor dead, meghan mccain, national hurricane center tracking,mike wise,kronos gyros,dwts cast, allentown fair, teresa giudice nephew, melora hardin, eataly nyc, la barbie captured, wells fargo rewards, nfaas.

And on Yahoo Buzz, Facebook and YouTube are 1 and 2.

What this proves is daytime television no longer drives the Internet. Sandra Bullock would have been better off giving some kind of evening-oriented presentation, but even then, no. Sandra's problem is we've had too much Sandra Bullock in a short period of time.

Not to say we in America are not interested in her - we are. Sandra's rating on Google Insight for Search is at 86 as out of 100 as of this writing - but that's for America, not the rest of the World. she's not driving the Worldwide trend for the day.

That wasn't the case during her issues with Jesse James or after her Oscar win - then Ms. B was the trend setter. Her name at the top of a blog title was like striking a match. But consider that time versus today; overall search interest in Sandra Bullock ranks at a 20, whereas just after she won her first Oscar it was at 100.  It has slowly declined over that time and save for two actions: her filing for divorce, and then her Scarlett Johansson smooch at the MTV Movie Awards.

The point is Sandra Bullock has to do something to generate buzz; she can't just appear on The Today Show and talk. Now if she were to do something interesting on The Today Show, that would be a different story.

See?

A little lesson for the Old Media types out there who still don't get it and cry and whine about New Media, bloggers, Foursquare, mobile apps, TMZ.com, and Perez Hilton.

Jobless 99ers vent on BlogTalk/PalTalk

Frustrated Jobless 99ers need to vent? Here is your chance on Blog Talk Radio and Pal-Talk Chat forums. There is a great deal of chatter on unemployment these days. The economy may be on life support and slowly recovering but the unemployment situation is untenable. Washington’s lack of significant response to this issue is inexcusable.

The long term unemployed are facing a host of difficult challenges these days that can lead to despair. Something you can do that is free of charge is chat/blog about your frustrations with those who understand. It is a proven physiological principle that giving your frustrations, fears and woes a VOICE can be extremely therapeutic and quite healthy.

There are some new venues for just such discussions recently created specifically for the frustrated and desperate long term unemployed.

Mr. G’s Radio show Unemployment Roundtable
Mr. G has launched his own BlogTalkRadio radio show: Unemployment Roundtable which airs every Friday, 4PM EST. Please join him and be heard. You can chat in the room for free but depending upon where you live the call to speak with him on air may be long distance. Every show is also available on podcast for listening at your own convenience.

"G" as he is known on his website www.tier5.webs.com has become known, like hundreds of thousands of other victims of today's economic environment as one of the more active, visible of "The Long Term Unemployed".

"The goal of this show is a simple one, to educate, unite, and keep alive the faith in all of those 'long term unemployed' that we shall make it through these challenging times, but only with the creation of a tier 5 unemployment benefits' extension".

Jobless-Talk
The first of the Blog Talk shows for the unemployed was ‘Jobless Talk’ which I began on April 7th, 2010. Jobless Talk airs every Friday, Noon PST and is hosted by Paladinette. This is my show but the stars of the show are all the callers who share their own stories with our listeners. It takes great courage to speak out when you face the type of dire circumstances the unemployed are now facing - life with no job and no benefits.

Reach Out Job Search
Monica Ross-Williams is the host of Reach Out Job Search which airs Thursdays, 4PM Central time. She also schedules impromptu shows as needed throughout the week.

Monica Ross-Williams is the owner of Michigan Cellular Store.com, a forum moderator for Merchant Circle.com and is a lifelong resident of the state of Michigan. She writes as the Detroit Job Search Examiner.

Today will be the first broadcast of a new Blog Talk show by Unemployed States of America. Their show What are they thinking, will air live today at 6PM EST. "Our first show will discuss the web site unemployedstatesofamerica.webs.com with some of the founding members of the site, how they got started, and what they are trying to accomplish."
If you cannot catch the live broadcast, you can use the link to listen to the podcast after the show.

PALTALK- live chat for Tier 5 to Survive group
Chat live about Tier 5 to Survive in the Paltalk chat room Tier 5 to Survive created by Scott Mathewson. Come share ideas and plan ways to successfully lobby Washington for our badly needed benefits! Here is how:
PCs http://register.paltalk.com/reg/landing_pagc128.jsp?advc=105&refc=1105&sissr=1
MACs http://www.paltalk.com/express/

Scott A.K.A. ‘Tier 5 to survive’ (screen name in the room) says “my story is simple. I was laid off 2 years years ago when the economy started to tank. I am a union electrician. so for me it has not been so bad. My wife was laid off one week before I was. I started this Paltalk chat room as a way to organize people in real time so because I believe this works. “

With all the depression and recession related suicides and lack of the ability to afford health care, often the long term feel alone and hopeless. If you are feeling despair, please reach out for help before it is too late. Suicide is NOT an OPTION.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

As always, keep informed on all the important information concerning our fight for jobs and additional benefits for all who need them on my 14 page website Jobless Unite.

IPhone 4 Glass Crash design flaw? by Suzannah B. Troy

glass crash IPhone 4 nightmare part 1

Is it just me that is finding that dropping an IPhone 4 can mean broken glass?  I am a huge Apple Lover, but is there another fatal flaw with the IPhone 4 besides the antenna?  I am talking about the glass screen with the slender new box like shape being a possible flaw because I keep having mine shatter.   The picture you see here is a tiny glass break but click here to see the previous IPhone 4 where I show you the major broken glass and other catastrophes in my Apple world.

Suzannah w/ small glass break part 2

Apple, I believe will replace your phone if you bought it from them for $199.00 if you have Apple Care but double check with Apple.  Apple is not selling cases right now and I am waiting for my delivery from Otter Box.  I bought The Defender to protect against things like this happening but they are hugely popular and in demand so I did not get the delivery soon enough sad to say.  Here is a video and the bummer is I just get exhausted just watching the video that instructions....

All I can say is getting something like The Defender for your Iphone 4 is like a condom with a superb lover...it is a must even if you don't want to wear protection, it is the wisest move you can make.

I converted to Apple 3 years ago and I feel hard.  They customer service is outstanding, their design flaws forgivable because they are so outstanding for so many reasons.  I do have suspicions about design flaws for IPhone 4 including the glass but I love this phone the best.  It is not as beautiful design wise as the 3GS but it's camera and video is so much better.   I love Apple.

The Blaze v. Zennie62.com: Glenn Beck's Blog vs. Zennie Abraham's Blog

Glenn.  Sorry, pal.  You'll learn.

The Blaze - click here to see The Blaze!

When this Zennie62.com blogger first saw the listing at the top of Google Trends for "The blaze," the thinking was there was a fire or something, somewhere in the World. Well, actually, there were two of them.

In fact, the results for "The Blaze" were so scattered it was hard to tell that Glenn Beck or The Blaze as a blog site had anything to do with what was presented at Google Trends. Only five of the seven results concerned The Blaze as in Glenn Beck's blogsite, or news website, or whatever the heck its supposed to be.

Plus, when I Google The Blaze, I get information about, well, fires.  You know?

So, using Zennie62.com, this blogger, Zennie Abraham, decided to have some fun with Glenn Beck.

An aside: Glenn Beck's not mentioned much at all here. In fact, I figured Glen was one of those White Nationalists that President Jimmy Carter said was trying to take over the GOP. I talked about that...



...I'm pretty sure Carter's still right about that.

Here's why Zennie62.com is better than The Blaze, and by that, Glen Beck's blog.

Glenn Beck's The Blaze Is About Glenn Beck

When visiting The Blaze, the first graphic that hit this blogger said for me to invest in Gold. No kidding. That was the first sign that the blog was 1), Conservative, because some of those guys are convinced that the World's going to hell, so Gold's the best investment, and 2) awful, because a good blog has normal, mainstream advertisements, as is true for Zennie62.com. No silly ads telling you to invest in Gold at Zennie62.com.

Well, but Zennie62 is Gold, you know.

The problem with Glen Beck's site is that it's a giant PR time-waster about who-said-what about Glen Beck. Hell, you don't have to go to The Blaze to learn that; you can do a search for him at Zennie62.com and find out what silly thing he was up to.

The other problem is it's not clear who else is writing or blogging on The Blaze other than Glen Beck himself, and I can't tell if he's around either. Zennie62.com has bloggers like Nikki Raney and Suzannah Troy, La Dona King, and Tom Hayes. Maybe you haven't heard of them, but you have now.

Plus, we're adding new bloggers and under a revolutionarily simple way for bloggers to be paid. No one's gotten rich. (Yet. Hey stuff happens!) But it's not The Huffington Post, where unpaid bloggers beg and toil for recognition.

Not at Zennie62.com. We'll make you a star; no begging required. That's something Glen Beck will not do for you at The Blaze. So, if there are no bloggers on fire, why call it The Blaze? It's not blazing?

Zennie Abraham's blog is the blaze. We've got commentary, news, and videos. It's not all about me or my take, and we have different views on the issues of the day or week. Plus, we love pop culture, sports, music, and the movies. We've got Megan Fox and Megan Avalon. Sylvester Stallone's not far from Miley Cyrus. If you want to see the trailer for The Prince of Broadway or learn about Hatchet 2, visit Zennie62.com.

And, as of this writing, when you Google The Blaze, you learn about Zennie62.com (and SFGate.com and SeattlePI.com). And that's all Glenn Beck's fault. That's what he gets for walking into the Internet space without knowing what he's doing.

Welcome to The Internet Glen!

Isidore Philip Tisson Soccer Star murdered by Suzannah B. Troy

Isidore Philip Tisson lead his team, St. Lucia to Caribbean Cup finals  victory only to be murdered on the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York.  You can read heart breaking details of the murder here from The New York Daily News.   His murder leaves many grieving including his small child.

Was it an act of jealous? What ever the motive it was senseless and stupid.

Supposedly humans are higher evolved than "animals" but in NYC people are murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or because they said someone to someone so "fragile", the fragile New Yorker has to murder them over a perceived insult  or murder for gang initiation -- what ever the reason it is a illness, an act of people lacking a soul.

One must be missing a soul to get a gun and shot someone and for some reason New York City has to many of these types.

I don't know if it takes daily protests in neighborhoods through out NYC to bring peace to the streets, rap stars to do front line community outreach as well daily to raise awareness but we need to bring peace to the streets!

Isidore Philip was a soccer star that was murdered on the streets of NYC but we have had so many people of all ages and background murdered including a grandmother sitting on her couch watching TV. Same for children being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that can mean one's home.

Stop the violence, bring peace to the streets.

Mike Bloomberg running for President? by Suzannah B. Troy

Is Mike Bloomberg running for President?  As of right now, king Mike Bloomberg says, "no" he is not running for president.  I do not believe him because he also said he believed in  having term limits and went against his word.  Bloomberg with the help of Christine Quinn denied us a referendum.  What few people have been paying attention to is Mike Bloomberg appointed his people to the Charter Commission and this year, right now in fact they have extended term limits for city council members without our say (the people of NYC) again!  That makes two years in a row king Mike has flushed democracy down the toilet.   Bloomberg has thrown democracy to the wind for his gains and than he uses the word democracy when touting the mosque by the WTC.

I have been blogging about this a lot of my blog but today Clyde Haberman,  I am sure a nice guy but my least favorite writer at The New York Times wrote a piece on this debacle and all I can say is thank goodness and why isn't this making the news?

I do not believe we can count king Mike out of the running for President of the U.S.A.  King Mike hired his campaign people City Hall post the most expensive and humiliating win in NYC history to the tune of an estimated $2 million in the midst of a massive budget crisis.  Why?  My theory is he is having them do statistical research on if he can win and he will be having them do so up until he has to come face to face with the reality he will not achieve his dream to become President.

If he was hoping to run on the Republican ticket he burned that bridge over his support of the Mosque which one might compare to the war in Iraq and oil, if he did not have financial dealings in Dubai for instance he might be treating this issue the way he is treating the Seneca Indians and the middle class and the poor and that is not with sensitivity

Bloomberg forced through a third term which many of us feel is tainted because he denied us a referendum and certain city council members that voted to extend term limits may be going to jail and one Miguel Martinez already is in jail for stealing tax payer money.  To add insult to injury Bloomberg's hand picked Charter Commission have extended city council members terms to 3 again circumventing the people of NY.

Way before any media company would report the news they were forced to report the night of the election I made YouTubes warning people Mike Bloomberg might now win, do not believe the press, the voters are angry.  Here is one from May 4, 2009.

I am not a palm reader or fortune teller but I can tell you if Mike Bloomberg runs for President he cannot win.  Why we have to pay his campaign staff 6 figure salaries he can easily pay out of his own pocket is confounding especially considering harsh budget cuts to come.

Bloomberg as a business man did not help the people of New York but anyone doing major real estate dealings benefited and an end result is mass displacement.   Rumor has it that king Mike wants to put Christine Quinn in place and if he can't be President he will run NYC for a 4th term from the golf course. He is rumored to have made a back room deal with Christine Quinn.  If she supported his push through of a 3rd term denying us a referendum and supporting his run than he would support hers.

Folks blogger mysteriously cut me off and I lost the last few paragraphs so here goes.

Mike Bloomberg is burning bridges like he is an emotional pyromaniac.  He has zero chance of becoming President.  Do I think he has his campaign people situated at City Hall, all with 6 figure salaries checking polls and stats on the possibility of Mike as President.  Yes and he will continue to do so but there is no way Mike Bloomberg will ever be President of the United States.

Blogger locked me out and in a sense robbed me of my writing because I did not have a chance to hit "save now".  It was a better piece but you get the jist.   We voted for him thinking he was a business man but that became his worst attribute as he displaced so many New Yorkers and crushed the middle class all for developer's deals on "old NY's infrastructure.

The Haggerty trial may be Mike Bloomberg's Watergate.  The sentence before has a link to a Wall Street Journal and here is my unusual response to that article.

Mike Bloomberg ambition was his undoing and if he had left after his 2nd term as mayor he would have been making a very smart move.

ESPN's "Around The Horn" Jay Mariotti Talk Classless

Yesterday, ESPN's Around The Horn TV Show took up the "awkward" subject of the problems of one of its own, ESPN Personality Jay Mariotti.

As sports fans know, Jay Mariotti was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault against a woman said to be his girlfriend.

Jay Mariotti was known for flaming athletes accused of domestic assault, so its weird still that he's accused of doing the same thing.

And while Jay's being raked over the coals for all of that in the media, and he should be, it just seems totally classless for his own show to talk about it. Here's the video:



That should be the one place where they at least take a wait-and-see out of respect for Jay. It's like this: Jay cracks on athletes for domestic abuse problems, Jay gets cracked on for his domestic abuse problems, Jay's own show cracks on him about same problems. So what"s next?

Maybe they don't have respect for Jay?

The logical next step is for someone else at ESPN's Around The Horn to get into the same trouble so they and we can talk about that person.

Does it ever end?

ESPN's Jay Mariotti Done At "Around The Horn?" Photo Of Girlfriend Posted

Jay Mariotti and Girlfriend (?) (Deadspin.com)

UPDATE: Mariotti gets deal, avoids jail.

UPDATE: Court date pushed back to October 1st.

ESPN's Personality Jay Mariotti of Around The Horn was arrested on Saturday, August 21st on suspicion of domestic abuse after an altercation with a woman described as his girlfriend that with an argument at a club in Santa Monica, California and then ended with Jay's reportedly violent confrontation at her Venice Beach apartment.

Mariotti posted bail and was immediately tossed into the court of public opinion as being a hypocrite for allegedly doing to his lady friend what he used ESPN and print publications to take time to flame some male athletes for doing: hitting a woman.

In the wake of that event, Jay Mariotti was suspended from his duties as a columnist at AOL Fanhouse, and now it appears he finally may be done on Around The Horn, according to sports radio personality Ben Maller.

On top of that the blog Deadspin.com published a photo of the woman that is claimed to be his girlfriend and a text of an eyewitness account that, if true, could be permanently damaging to Mariotti.

ESPN's Jay Mariotti Done At Around The Horn?

Ben Maller, who at one point was an ESPN radio personality, and so has connections at the place Dan Patrick refers to as "The Mothership," says that a source told him Mariotti is "done" on Around The Horn. Maller says ESPN has not confirmed or denied the rumor. Also, he reports that few if anyone anything good to say about him on or off the record. It's not clear if he is referring to ESPN to around the sports media industry.

Photo of Jay Mariotti And Girlfriend Posted

Deadspin posted this photo of Jay Mariotti and his alleged Girlfriend that was taken by an alleged eyewitness who reportedly called the police to report the incident. What's interesting is that someone actually took the photo at that time. In other words, of all of the occasions to take a photo of Jay and his girlfriend, why at that time?

Deadspin also has a rather chilling account by the same eyewitness of the events leading up to Jay's eventual arrest. Now, it's not clear if he was the person who also took the photo of Jay and his Girlfriend. The Eyewitness said that he was parked to pick up his girlfriend at The Air Apartment Complex, at the corner of Rose Avenue and Ocean Front Walk. He called the police at 3:13 AM Saturday, August 21st. This is what he told Deadspin.com:

I was down there, outside across the street in my car picking up a girl at the end of the night. While i waited i saw a couple having an argument. I first thought it was a bad blind date that was having a kiss goodbye stalemate...but as i watched it unfold I could tell something bad was going to go down. It got heated fast. He was boxing her out every time she tried to get around him. He was d-ing her up like Gary Payton. He mirrored every side step she made. When my girl got in the car i told her we had to wait to make sure he didn't do anything to the woman. I honked my horn at one point as to say "Hey someone is here watching you" as an escalation deterrent and once that didn't work i was pretty sure the cops were going to be needed.

"She punched her code to get into the lobby of her building...and when she did that he fired the door open and followed her in..and that's when it began. Lucky for me her lobby was a giant glass one so i could continue to see everything that was going on when they went inside.

She sat on a couch and he grabbed her by the hair and whipped her around a bit — ripped something out of her ear and shoved her around. With those actions I told my girl to call the cops and i went to the trunk of my cart to get my black wiffle ball bat to try and put the fear of god in him...but before i could do so he fired her into the elevator and they disappeared. Being the resourceful guy I am, I went up to the door and found out what floor they stopped at so i could relay that info to the cops. I'll tell you this much. the guy has a serious rage problem...[H]e was ripping stuff off the walls and firing it in the lobby too. some papers or something. i guess to show how macho he was.

That, if even a little true, is damaging to Mariotti and could figure prominently in his court case.

ESPN's Around The Horn talks about Jay Mariotti

On Monday, ESPN's Around The Horn personalities used ay Mariotti's situation to build up some buzz about the show. Here's the video from that television event called "It's Out Of Bounds":



While not one of them was willing to throw Jay under the bus entirely, they did express regret that the situation happened to him. Woody Paige said it best: we all live in glass houses.  But talk about eating one of your own!  ESPN waisted little time in using Jay's issue as a buzz generator for the show he was on!  I don't know what to call it, but the term classless does enter my thoughts.

Stay tuned.

Roger Clemens A Wake-Up Call? by Suzannah B. Troy

Roger Clemens in his most natural pure state is a great athlete who needed no extra boosts although he convinced himself he did. His mental strength on the pitching mound can be seen in the court house as described in a well written piece by Mike Vaccaro in The New York Post. I point this out because in The New York Daily News there is a piece with the words "voluminous evidence".  Actually the title is, "Ex-Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens  pleads not guilty to perjury but Feds have 'voluminous evidence' and sums up the entire story.

Roger Clemens needs to make a very long list of all the good deeds he has done and I am sure there are many and throw himself at the mercy the powers that be.  Clemens needs a wake-up, a reality check but all the tools that helped me to be a great pitcher like steely calm on the mound and mental toughness are helping him to dig a hole so deep he won't be able to wiggle out of.  I wrote in my Naomi Campbell post on the Blood Diamonds, super models don't go to jail.  Roger Clemens does not have have the Naomi Campbell luck and at the rate she is going she is going to run out of luck.

When celebrity believe their own celebrity and that they are above the law at some point they are in for a harsh awakening and Roger Clemens has clearly not hit that point yet.

Babe Ruth, Thurmon Munson are among my favorite Yankees and I can't imagine either of them doing anything foolish to have a competitive edge.  In fact Babe Ruth seemed to do just the opposite.  His Yankee coaches had to ask him to stop eating in the dug-out as I recall reading a biography.  Babe Ruth hardly ate the breakfast of champions, trained like an obsessed athlete trying to break records at the Olympics.

I do think that baseball statistics will have to be reported differently with an "S" after any athlete that has been proven to have used steroids any other letters to indicate any other enhancing edge that was not kosher.   Looking around at a lot of professional athletes and Hollywood actors it appears to me that they are using illegal substances to make their bodies look and perform beyond Mother Nature's gifts and for me it is creepy.

I have even greater admirations for athletes male and female who achieved their goals naturally and honestly and did not crack to the pressure of wanting to win so badly they would cheat.

Getting back to Clemens....he hold hard and fast to his "not guilty" plea to perjury and this is the worse pitch of his life.

The power of a little Wall of Shame

Oh the power of a little Wall of Shame is truly remarkable. I was not completely aware of the power of a little Wall of Shame when I started my website Jobless Unite little more than 4 month ago. I wanted to inform the unemployed masses about what was going on and how to advocate for our badly needed benefits as well as get the word out about the massive suffering within the American Unemployment community.

There is a great deal of information within the 14 pages published on that site, including petitions, videos, great cartoons, chat, Twitter, a full legislator contact list, current events and our lobbying efforts to name a few. In a relatively short period of time, that site has almost a half a million hits. Jobless Unite free, no membership website dedicated to the unemployed masses in America. Our fight - to stay alive, our cause - to get benefits until there are enough jobs for those who need them.

Of all the pages on this website, the most popular and most feared seems to be our WALL of SHAME. All who appear on this page are sent an email of welcome to inform them of why the are listed here saying: WELCOME to OUR WALL of SHAME and providing them with the link to view it for themselves.

This page has gotten the attention of Congressional staffers all across the country and Washington D. C. as well. In my interview with a reporter for CNN Money last month, I told the reporter I was not very happy with the tone of her last piece. Her immediate response was: "Please don't put me on your Wall of Shame!" To that I replied "Then don't do anything to deserve it!"

A few months back, a web blog called erroneously reported HR 4851 as our holy grail: Tier 5. I promptly placed them on the Wall of shame and had all my website visitors contact them to voice our disgust. The article was pulled days later and that news blog began to publish very accurate, positive articles about the 99ers and the unemployed in general. Eventually my viewers voted in favor of removing that party from the Wall of Shame, but for some reason I do not see much from them on the net these days.

After I added a blogger from Syracuse.com to the Wall of Shame, I received a response of protest from her and her staffers via Twitter. The tweets urged all to stop following me (@Paladinette) and said other disparaging things about my character. In less than 1 hour I had nearly 50 more followers and did not lose a single one. They shut up pretty fast after that.

A staffer for Montana Senator Max Baucus actually said to me recently, when I called and gave my name as Paladinette, "oh you're the one who put up the video and the Senator is not very happy about that." (referring to the YouTube video of Mr. Baucus Drunk on the Senate floor last December up on the Wall of Shame) To which I replied: "That is really too bad. I for one am not very happy about Mr. Baucus letting the 99ers and other long term unemployed starve. So I will make you a deal, (Washington loves deals) when we get a Tier 5 for all states extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have exhausted them, then I promise to remove both Baucus related Wall of Shame posts from my site."

More recently I have actually been threatened with a lawsuit from one Shame alumni member. Since we still have the right to free speech in this country and I have done nothing but let him defame himself by his own words and actions, I am not at all worried about such empty threats.

What this all boils down to is there is a way to try to hold accountable those who publish with impunity their opinions on the net and claim them to be fact. Anyone who posts articles claiming 'those of us who cannot find a job are lazy and living off the government' need to check the facts.

Fact is we have lost between 8 and 11 million jobs in the past 3 years in this country and have created about 500K all year. You do the math and it is not hard to see that the jobs just are NOT out there for us. Add to this the fact that of the longest term unemployed is the USA today, 47% of them are age 50 and older. Potential employers are more guilty than ever before of age discrimination and they disguise it with terms like "Sorry dear, you are over qualified."

Anyone, including Congress who is so callous as to badmouth the unemployed in these difficult times and refuse to help us out of a problem that Wall Street created needs to be voted out of office, called on their behavior or boycotted completely (especially blogs posing as news services). If nobody is reading their drivel and their ad revenues dry up then, oh well they will know what it is like to be unemployed soon then won't they?

99er featured on Ed Schultz MSNBC

Looking very professional and poised, Connie Kaplan appeared on the Ed Schultz Show on MSNBC today. She announced her trip to Washington DC to deliver 99er letters to the RNC, DNC and the White house, asking for their help.

Kaplan blamed the Republicans for their obstruction, time and again on the unemployment and Jobs Bill issues. Ed asked Connie, if 99 weeks is not enough, how long should UI benefits be extended, to which she replied, “The benefits have to last until we have jobs in America.”

She went on to discuss green jobs in America and how most citizens are unaware of the green jobs training available today.

The letters Connie will carry to the DNC and RNC, mainly put them on notice that if they want to be the recipients of 15 million votes for their party, they had better see to it that the Americans Want to Work Act passes first thing in September.

The letter Kaplan is delivering to the White House expresses the 99ers’ disgust with the current administration being silent on the Tier 5 issue. The 99er letter goes on to request a town hall meeting between President Obama and the 99er Nation.

Though Connie Kaplan, seems to be the most recent face of the 99ers of late, the letters she will carry were written by several key leaders in the 99er movement. Cindy Paoletti, Rob Curtis, Scott Mathewson, LaDona King and Sandy Monroe, all members of the PalTalk room: Tier 5 to Survive -Unemployed Unite. Many 99ers have worked long and hard to break through to the media in order to get the attention of America on the plight of the long term unemployed, now without benefits for 8 months.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tiger Woods won't say he loves his ex? by Suzannah B. Troy

Tiger Woods will not answer questions if the question is "Do you love your ex-wife?" which he was asked quite a bit by Andrea Peyser of The New York Post until she was escorted  out of The Barclay Tournament.  Lucky for her, she was not stoned but sports bloggers came very close to doing so.

In theory it is none of our business but when Tiger Woods made himself over in to a multi-billion dollar brand and he used photos of his wife and children to express a wholesome family man image than he opens the door to these questions.  Acting like a bachelor  porn king and not a devoted family man, giving mistresses millions of dollars pay-outs and a very large undisclosed amount to his now ex-wife does leave some people, not me wondering.

As an adult child of divorced parents here is unsolicited advice to Tiger Woods or whom ever his handlers are.  Tiger, when reporters or anyone ask you, "Do you love Elin Nordegren?"  The answer is a no-brainer.

The answer is "Yes!"   She is the mother of our children."  That simple.  Why would I say that.  Not for your world wide audience of fans Tigers but for your kids.

As they grow up their peers may taunt them like throwing DVDs of porn parodies at them or taunt them saying your father did not love your mother.

Tiger tainted his reputation, his career and hurt his family  That was all Tiger's doing with the help of his enablers -- alleged friends.  My gut feeling is he has still not taken full responsibility and his silence when asked about if he loves Elin is just another clue.  Any fan that comes to his defense is not helping him.  He put himself in the global media's head lights and that helped fuel his fortune and now he has to take responsibility or not.  He could buy Hugh Hefner out and take-over his crown and scepter.  It is his call and his choices but Woods can't escape the glare of the media spotlight; I believe it is his cocaine.  He could walk away and live a quiet life and he doesn't.  If he wants to play golf and be a brand he has to stand up and take responsibility and smarten up.

Tiger, it is a simple answer to a simple question and you answer it for your two children.  Yes, I love my ex-wife.

By the way Tiger if you want to pay me for my words of wisdom you would have to pay a lot more than you paid women to be silent.  Good luck and err on the side of love for children's sake.

A note of praise for Elin Nordegren.  In my blog piece posted here asking if the "old Tiger was back sexually?" I had written I hope she does something good to help others.  I read some where she is going to do something wonderful with some of that money and it may be centers to help people that have gone through the trauma of emotional issues from family breaks up, etc.  I wish I had a link for you but the center and I hope there will be more than one will be in Florida.  Bravo Elin.

If Tiger wants to move the healing process forward share the love and gratitude for the mother of his two children to the world who has looked in from their very birth on.

99er Connie Kaplan on Ed Schultz tonight

99er Connie Kaplan, who Glenn Beck called un-American, will be on the Ed Schultz Show (MSNBC) again tonight.

Connie, a resident of Queens NY, is currently in Washington D.C. where tomorrow she will be delivering the 99er Nation letters to David Axelrod and the National Headquarters of both the DNC and RNC. The letters express the anger of the longest term unemployed at being ignored by both parties and put each on notice, the 99er Nation will use their political clout in November to punish all those responsible for neglecting this important issue.

99er Media is in the process of arranging media coverage by multiple news organizations to cover Connie Kaplan’s journey to the White House and both DNC and RNC offices in our nation’s capitol this Tuesday.

The Axelrod letter specifically requests Obama to hold town hall meetings with the 99er Nation immediately. With the midterm election only 2 months away, time is of the essence. The 99ers hope to persuade President Obama to use whatever leverage he has, in addition to the bully pulpit, to assure the Americans Want to Work Act is amended to include all states and passed immediately when Congress reconvenes in September.

With 15 million unemployed Americans in this country, their vote can easily make the difference this November. We the people are in the driver’s seat on election day, what a tremendous responsibility for us all.

Connie Kaplan on the Ed show August 24, 2010:

Edie Falco Wins Lead Actress Comedy Series - The Emmys | 2010 Emmy Awards

Edie Falco Wins Emmy (Gawker)

Favorite Edie Falco won Lead Actress Comedy Series for Nurse Jackie and looked hot in blue dress in the process of moving to the stage to accept her award.

While there was some question where Falco would go after playing Carmela in The Sopranos, it can be said she landed on her feet with glee.

No pun intended.

It's the first time in Emmy awards history that a drama winner later won for a role in a comedy. Edie won the award three times while playing Carmela.

Falco beat Tony Colette (The United States of Tara) and Tina Fey (30 Rock) for the Emmy.

The Emmys | 2010 Emmy Awards Takes Over Twitter and Social Media

Here's a bet that the 2010 Emmy Awards was the most-watched in history and due in no small part to social media, and more pointedly, Twitter.

As this blogger was live-blogging the Twitter Top Trends went from having The Emmys and #emmys10 as two of the entries, to Tina Fey, Mad Men, Temple Grandin and it seems almost every presenter as part of the famous list.

Near the end of the telecast of the 62nd Emmy Awards, personalities in it served to dominate the Twitter Top Trends. That's never happened in Emmy Awards history.

In fact, as of this writing, the 2010 Emmy Awards still represents seven of the ten Top Twitter Trends. From top to bottom, the Top Twitter Trends are: Temple Grandin, Hugh Laurie, Jim Parsons, Emmy Awards, #emmys10, #somewhereintheworld, Modern Family, Indiana Jones, and Jane Lynch.

Twitter Used As Ambush Marketing

Encapsulated within the amazing dominance of The Emmys On Twitter were it seems countless numbers of tweets of observations and congratulations from people, studios, actors and actresses and companies. @BoironUSA, the self-described "world leader in homeopathy," using what is a new form of ambush cyber-marketing, held a tweet-related contest linking its Facebook page with its tweets to give out prizes for those who re-tweeted their tweets. A real smart use of Twitter to give visibility to a brand I've never heard of. @BoironUSA is not an Emmy Awards sponsor!

2010 Emmy Awards Dominates Social Media

According to SocialMention.com, the term Emmy Awards was mentioned on a website or blog every 15 seconds during and after the telecast. Twitscoop.com reports that as of this writing, Modern Family, the Best Comedy Series Award Winner is at the top of Twiter Trends, with 20,101 tweets devoted to it, and counting.

This shows a new phenomenon in media of television shows creating their own volume of social media activity that becomes a new form of impression marketing. Now, millions of Twitter users around the World know about Modern Family and of that many will want to learn more about it.

If we look over to Google Trends, the majority of hot searches concern the 2010 Emmys and people related to it. None of this could have happened were it not for a large television audience that's already plugged into communicating about their favorite shows online using Twitter. In retrospect, because the fans of these shows converge on Twitter, Twitter has become the unofficial online nexus for the 2010 Emmy Awards.

What all of this means for the future of media is something to be discussed because the unanswered question is how to effectively put this dynamic to use in the entertainment business. The 2010 Emmy Awards use of Twitter in the idea of having tweets of lines to introduce presenters did not go over well, and simply because it was not used properly.

2010 Emmys Host Jimmy Fallon referred to Twitter as the punch line of a bad joke rather than as a tool to help advance and promote the telecast. Much more could have been done and with dramatic results. Stay tuned.

Lady Gaga Rainbows Love NYC's her drug by Suzannah B. Troy

"Little monsters heart I keep, and as I lay me down to sleep, I dream of rainbow roads to love, for now New York city's my drug" Tweet or should I say poetry from Lady Gaga.  I took a peek at her schedule which is impressive and left me tired....I do not know how she does it!  She will be playing at Madison Square Garden Feb. 21 and 22nd.

I don't own an album of Lady Gaga's.  Do young people even use the word album anymore but the Vanity Fair article where she also graces the cover really intrigued me!  I have written some pieces on her that seem popular like "Lady Gaga was that you?" and her is the first one I wrote about her vachina reference. 

Lady Gaga has sky rocketed to fame and that is understating her meteoric success and even if I don't own an album I want to hear what she has to say.  It is said she is going to be bigger than Madonna and she has a far better voice.

As someone almost double her age (not quite) I am interested how she evolves....This tweet about rainbow roads and how much she loves NYC and her fans inspired me to follow her on twitter.

best,
Suzannah

True Blood Sunscreen For Vamps Outstanding by Suzannah B. Troy

True Blood outstanding as usual but tonight was somehow even better for me. How about you?

I don't know where to start so I will say the one thing you all aren't thinking about...like Eric's walk in the sun this episode took me to a different place in the True Blood world....  I felt this episode had the most depth of emotion and the best sense of humor.  Even the confrontational scene between Eric and Russell which should have ended in a bloody mess had laughs so bravo.

This episode has a pre-show warm up by bidding farewell to the cast of characters that have passed on in the fictional story which was fun.  The creators  know we are dying with anticipation and upset that this season is drawing to the close so they are giving us a little consolation pre and post the show.

Wow!  Tonight amazing!!!!!!  Not giving a lot of details but wow!!!!!!   The way they (writers, director, great acting) always bring you back to basic human themes we all wrestle with like revealing our true selves to the people we love and the fear they will reject us or Sam letting lose and giving up being "so nice" as so many of us secretly desire.....and those are just a few examples which is why the show is superb!

Russell and Eric are at the forefront of my mind and I can't wait until the next episode.  The brief sex scene between Baby Vamp Jessica with Hoyt was outstanding.  He gives her permission to go for the gold, rather his throat but she takes the long way to the destination with kisses before fangs...True Love...a running theme in True Blood but with complications or it would not be the best Vampire soap opera on TV.

Hoyt's mom has returned and the actress is superb.  She reminds me of a female Devine.

The coming attractions have me terrified the writers are going to go to the extreme like last season which really turned me off big time but so far the writing, directing and new characters continue to be outstanding.

Fangs away!
Suzannah

Ed Schultz: transformation from Conservative to Progressive

What caused the Ed Schultz transformation from Conservative to Progressive? Today, it is difficult to believe he ever really was a right 'wing nut'. What usually changes a man? Well a good woman of course.

If you follow the unemployment benefits issue at all, you are already aware of the champion the 99ers have in Ed Schultz (host of The Ed Show on MSNBC and Big Ed Radio). As one of the most outspoken "Progressive Movement" voices today, recently Ed published his second book Killer Politics: How Big Money and Bad Politics Are Destroying the Great American Middle Class. A must-read for everyone who has being beaten up by the powerful corporate interests that have taken over our government. Ed’s first book, “Straight Talk from the Heartland,” laid a roadmap for the Progressive wave which swept America in 2004. Schultz’s written words have proven wise and his predictions uncanny.

What a great many not know is that Ed used to be a conservative talk show host. Ed Schultz himself wrote that he was once "a shade right of Attila the Hun." In 1992 he launched News and Views, a regional talk show. His bombastic nature, fearless approach and innate radio ability quickly catapulted him to the top of the ratings.

It wasn’t until Ed met his current wife Wendy that his views began shifting. Wendy, (a psychiatric nurse and Ed’s assistant producer) on one of their first dates together, invited him to come have lunch with her at the shelter for the Salvation Army where she also worked. There Ed was able to witness first hand the bums that he was known for chastising on his show. Ed Schultz found his calling within the stories and faces of all the people that he met and it was then his views began to change.

About the transformation, Ed told Clyde Weiss of AFSCME Publications, "It didn't happen overnight. You just can't wake up one morning and say, 'I think I'm going to be for universal health care.' A number of grassroots events over my broadcast career brought me to be a liberal on many issues. One important factor was talking to Vietnam veterans about their lives, their benefits and what they were up against. It hit me like a ton of bricks how lucky I was. I thought, 'That could have been me.' Those people were dealt a pretty tough deck of cards in life, and I realized what an injustice the country had committed on people who had served. There have been other events too, like the plight of the American farmer."

He went on to say in that interview, "To have a strong country, you have to have four strong pillars: You've got to defend the country, educate the country, feed the country and have a strong fiscal policy. In my heart, I believe that all those strong foundations were badly shaken by the Bush administration and the "neo-con" agenda — for the benefit of a few."

Ed and Wendy took News and Views on the road in the ‘Big Eddie Cruiser’ (a customized motor home), to connect with the people. They met families struggling to make ends meet and farmers trying to keep their way of life. Ed, believing that America could do better, found his true, progressive voice on these travels.

Ed's wife Wendy is member of "Team Fargo" the group which books guests for the Ed Shows. Although she is listed as an assistant producer, recently in an email to Rob Curtis (a leader in the Tier 5 to Survive movement and 99er Nation) she humbly remarked that she was "just the wife." Wendy has been invaluable in helping the 99ers and all the unemployed get the mainstream media attention our cause so badly needs. She has been gracious, compassionate, generous with her time and genuinely committed to giving us a voice through her husband's TV and Radio shows.

Middle class and unemployed alike are facing financial devastation on an unprecedented scale each day and the time has come for the rest of the media to stop ignoring just how bad things are out here. I salute Ed and Wendy for their courage and commitment to bringing the 99ers' story to the forefront, keeping it alive and telling it with the utmost sensitivity and outrage felt by those hurting Americans nationwide. We can only hope the rest of the media can grow the courage to immediately begin to display the same type of leadership and "American Spirit" Ed displays in his continuing coverage of the plight of those who are now both jobless and without benefits.

Schultz is a graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. His competitive nature helped him lead the nation in passing & achieve All-American status as a quarterback at MSUM. His son Dave Schultz is a professional golfer on the PGA Nationwide tour. A devoted family man, Ed and his wife Wendy have six children. He shares his passion for hunting, fishing and flying with his large family.

Earlier this month, Ed gave an impassioned commentary on just what it is going to take to help the 99er Nation and keep the Democratic majorities in Congress.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Emmy Awards Live Blog From Zennie62 - Part Two

Continued from Emmy Awards Live Blog From Zennie62. (Refresh this blog post for updates!)

Guest Actress and Guest ActorIn A Drama Series: John Lithgow and Anne Margaret. And they are the the presenters for Best Directing In Drama Series. Steve Shill wins for Dexter "The Getaway."

9:23 PM EDT - Jimmy Fallon plays Elton John and other popular singers in a goodbye tribute to 24 and other shows that were cancelled. Oh, and yes, Lost was great, to answer someone's question.

Another Twitter intro! @MrHollywoodMD - Tina Fey. I'd hit that. And here is Tiny Fey to introduce the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series. YES! Kyra Sedgwick, wife of Kevin Bacon, wins for The Closer. It's her first Emmy win! Man, that hair! Lots of it; great with the black glasses. She and Kevin; they are a great couple.

9:33 PM - Now here's the Variety category.

Writing For Variety Series Or Comedy Special award is presented by Joe McHale and Jeff Probst. And no use of the Twitter tweets submitted. Not cool, man. Well, The 63rd Annual Tony Awards Beat The 82nd Annual Academy Awards for that award.

9:41 PM EDT - Ricky Gervais and Blair Underwood are coming next, as well as a tribute to Gary Coleman.

9:45 PM - EDT - Jimmy Fallon presents Ricky Gervais but does not use the Twitter tweets sent in. Man, that is so not cool. Say, Ricky Gervais's got a goatie there. He warns us that the whole deal of the Emmy's is not so bad. Says Mel Gibson's been through a lot; but not as much as The Jews!

Then Ricky Gervais says "Who wants a beer," and to that, waitresses and waiters bring out beer!

Now Ricky introduces the candidates for Best Director For A Variety Or Comedy Series. The winner is Bucky Gunts for The 2010 Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony. Bravo! Excellent. Bucky Gunts. A cool name.

Outstanding Variety Music For Comedy Series award is next. The Colbert Report versus The Daily Show. And then there's Saturday Night Live and Real Time With Bill Maher. And The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien. O Boy.

The winner is. The Daily Show with John Stewart. The seventh Emmy win for his show. And Jeff Zucker of NBC is breathing a sign of relief because he doesn't have to deal with what Conan may have said about NBC had he won the award.

10 PM PDT - George Clooney is recognized as the just the fourth recipient of The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. Julianna Margulies presents the award to Mr. Clooney. He gets a well-deserved standing ovation.

It's good to see a different side of George because as he said it bad behavior does take a lot of the media's time. Perhaps too much of it. Clooney gave a nice speech.

The Movie Miniseries Category is next.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries. Say, I think the teleprompter went off for presenter John Krasinski (The Office) because he was totally lost. But Temple Grandin's Julia Ormand won and you can tell it's her first win because she wants to thank everyone on the planet! Great!

10:13 PM EDT - Note, Edie Falco's the top of Twitter Trends as of this writing. Clare Danes is here to present the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor For Miniseries Or Movie. The Emmy goes to David Straithairn for Temple Grandin, a fascinating movie about autism.

Now, here's Jewel with a moving, very movie song to remember all those in entertainment who have passed away this year.

Now, Laura Tierney and Blair Underwood are the presenters for the Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries Or Movie; the winner is Adam Mazer for You Don't Know Jack. He says to Jack Kevorkian, who's in the audience "I'm glad you're my friend, but I'm glad you're not my physician."

Next is Outstanding Lead Actress For A Miniseries Or Movie: Claire Danes wins for Temple Grandin, who's in the audience.

Anna Paquin's coming next. Will Jimmy read the tweet idea for the True Blood star?

10:34 PM - PDT - The stars of True Blood and The Rolling Stone Magazine Cover are here1 For Oustanding Directing A Miniseries Or Movie. Again! Temple Grandin wins again (talk about runaway); Mic Jackson.

Outstanding Lead Actor For A Miniseries Or Movie is next; the Emmy goes to...AWESOME!.. Al Pacino for You Don't Know Jack. But what's up with Al. He sounds like he's so tired he can't come up with words. Or relaxed. Or, geez. At any rate, he's a legend.

Al's still going. Hoping they will play the music to give him the hook. Spots Dr. Jack K and says "Hello! Jack! There he is!"

Finally, painfully, Al makes it off stage.

10:24 PM EDT - Commercial break.

NOTE: Backstage cam at The Emmys

10:46 PM EDT - Spared the indignity of any stupid presentation lines from Twitteratti like me, the great actor Lawrence Fishburne is given the honor of presenting the award for Outstanding Miniseries Or Movie. Fittingly, Tom Hanks wins for The Pacific.

Now The Award For Made For Television Movie: the winner is Temple Grandin. An amazing Emmy Awards performance.

The Emmys comes down to two awards and here's Jimmy Fallon's real father Tom Selleck. When Tom comes out, Jimmy hugs Tom Selleck for being his real Dad. Tom says "Ok. Whatever" then presents Outstanding Drama Series; Mad Men is the winner!

Is this is year for Lionsgate or what?

Ted Dansen presents Outstanding Comedy Series. Modern Family. WOW. Amazing. It beat Glee.

And that's it. It's all over. Overall a great production that finished on time. The 62nd Emmys also managed to totally dominate all categories of Top Twitter Trends. That's something The 82nd Annual Oscars didn't do, even though it was the top trend. But it, or someone associated with it, didn't hold every one of the ten slots. As I recall, about 6 of the 10 but not all of them. Wow.

That must mean people were watching it. I can't wait to see the ratings numbers. More thoughts coming.