Oscar Grant, Johannes Mehserle case graffiti around Oakland Lake Merritt

As the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle murder trial nears and end and fears that former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle increase, the fears that a riot, or series of riots, will happen in Oakland, Los Angeles, and other cities and towns in California increase, and for good reason. There are clear and visible signs that individuals and groups will take some kind of action that could include violence and property damage, and nowhere is this more apparent than around Lake Merritt in Oakland.   There, property damage has already happened.

This video blogger received a tip from a YouTube viewer:

Not sure if you're aware, but there is graffiti in red spray paint throughout the running/walking path in Lake Merritt regarding Oscar Grant and Johannes Mesherle, just thought you may want to possibly cover it, and the peoples reactions while viewing it.

Take Care

On Sunday, I did just that. My vlogging (video-blogging) journey started with a message painted in red spray paint at the AC Transit bus shelter at the intersection of Perkins Avenue and Grand Avenue in Oakland's Adams Point District. The message read "Mehserle must die too!" and seemed to imply there was at least one more graffiti tag like it around somewhere. So, I went for a walk.

At first, as I arrived at Bellevue and Grand closer to Lake Merritt, there was no other graffitt tag message. So I continued along the walking and running path through Lakeside park until I arrived at what's locally called "The Columns," the structure on the northeastern shore of the Lake that serves an an informal meeting and viewing place between Grand Avenue and Lakeshore Avenue.

There, starting at the end of The Columns on the Grand Avenue side, was the first of three messages. It read "Mehserle must die." The other two are located in what I call the center court area, and at the opposite end of The Columns on the Lakeshore Avenue side.

But it graffiti tagging didn't stop there; it continued around the path next to the Lakeshore on the Lakeshore Avenue side of the water. The majority of the messages, which varied in tone from bad to awful, were next to the benches along the path.

In all I counted 11 messages, all in the video. A sure and clear sign that someone already took action to send a warning of what they either intend to do or wish someone else would do if the Oscar Grant trial ends with Mehserle going free.

The problem is Mehserle just may walk free.

The reason is the charge is murder, not manslaughter. The prosecution in the case has to prove that Johannes Mehserle intended to kill Oscar Grant last year. This is an issue I talked about with Oakland City Attorney John Russo just weeks ago. While not saying outright that Mehserle would "walk," Russo explained that it was going to be difficult to get a murder conviction.

If Johannes Mehserle is set free, Oakland's not going to be the safest place to be on the day of the verdict.

Stay tuned.

Giuseppi Logan Larry Roland African American Jazz by Suzannah B. Troy

http://5cculturalcenter.org/index.html
FYI, the food is delicious.  I had a fresh carrot pudding desert that was vegan and out of this world delicious and blueberry lemonade.

Don't forget to watch my YouTube series on Giuseppi Logan from finding him all alone in Tompkins to helping him reunite with his son for the first time in 40 years!

The miracle of Apple teaching me video and YouTube helped me work a miracle.




I filmed Larry Roland, a bass player who was playing with Giuseppi Logan giving Gisueppi a rest break with a solo performance.

Larry Roland read his poem dedicated to African American jazz greats, known and unknown.  Larry Roland told me when I interviewed him after the gig that "Jazz", America's Art form was kicked off by slaves.  Larry told me his concerns for jazz greats known and unknown some in homes, forgotten, with no health insurance.  He expressed a real feeling for Giuseppi Logan.  He told me jazz greats known and unknown are dying and their spirits come down...Dying quietly.

Larry Roland's poem: Poem all of the beautiful ones
Known and unknown 




Also please note Matt Lavelle is dedicated to Giuseppi Logan booking him gigs and playing with him as well as providing support and encouragement to "G" as Matt calls him.



I used the very cool new feature which I tap the screen and the camera switches to the front and I can myself as I film myself.  I am not blushing...we are having a heat-wave!

NYU higher greed by Suzannah B. Troy

NYU is branching out from being a community crushing real estate magnate to venture capitalism!  Crain's  reports NYU is launching their own venture capital fund

Dear Blog Readers:  NYU's president is John Sexton.  He ran down to City Hall to testify Mike Bloomberg must have a third term.  Let me translated John Sexton' who is paid 1.8 million a year plus real estate and other perks courtesy of NYU.  NYU has big financial deals and real estate investments -- huge greedy goals that good friend Mike Bloomberg and socialite mega millionaire Amanda the people's Burden will aid and abet and a mayor and a real city planner -- that actually cares about the people would have said "NO!".  No is a word that NYU can't seem to understand when the community says no more mega dorms, no more supersizing our neighborhoods, no to supersizing.


I posted this comment on Crain's website and see my YouTube on a letter I wrote President Obama asking the President of the United States of America to help protect our community from NYU and helping us to get community outreach resource centers in every mega dorm where NYU and universities copying NYU's real estate greed use the term, "community facility" to exclude the communities.

By the way I continue to ask if NYU's president, John Sexton can even vote here in NYC?  Sexton supported Mike Bloomberg flushing democracy down the toilet by denying us, the people a referendum so Mike could buy, steal, win a third term -- nice example for NYU students.

Parents of NYU students, visit 120 East 12th Street and see the facade of St. Ann's Church from 1847.   St. Ann's survived everything all these years except NYU's need and greed to build yet another mega dorm.

Here is the comment:

Good to know NYU, the evil empire, posing as higher education so NYU can buy up and displace as many people and small businesses as possible is expanding their endeavors.  Karma served NYU by hiring someone who was suckered by Bernie Madoff.  NYU could care less about the communities where they occupy and gobble up prime real estate.  NYU only has one focus "greed" and being a big business that uses "higher ed" as a tax shelter for "higher greed".

VH1's You're Cut Off: Rehab for Spoiled Brats. By Nikky Raney

You're Cut Off on VH1 is a reality show worth watching. The show premiered Wednesday, June 9 at 9PM ET/PT.

There are so many reality television shows on the air that is can be difficult to sort out the ones worth watching. You're Cut Off can be classified as a mix between I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, The Simple Life, and The Bad Girls' Club.

You're Cut Off is like rehab for "spoiled brats." The nine young women on this show are self proclaimed princesses. They have relied and mooched off their families' money. The surprise comes in the first episode when life coach Laura Baron declines their credit cards and tells them what's really going on. The girls had originally thought they would be appearing on a reality tv show that filmed them shopping.

The nine ladies watch video testimonials from their family members. Each video ends with the phrase, "You're cut off!" This means that instead of living the ritzy lifestyle they are put into a house together (not one of those flashy mansions that most reality tv stars get to live in).

The girls are so surprised that there is not a maid there to wait on them. There is one bedroom with bunk beds that they have to share, and Baron gave each girl one duffle bag to fit all her things in. These women live like Paris Hilton, and now they are living like "middle class" citizens. The girls are given $200 a week for groceries if they follow their life coach.


The life coach hopes to teach some lessons that will instill values and make it known that money is earned. These girls are encouraged to become productive members of society, and Baron has them complete daily chores, among other things.

"Laura Baron is a professional lifestyle and relationship strategist who is regarded as a premier change agent. Laura's clients report greater success using her signature intuitive and customized methods over traditional therapy. Her clients include CEOs, entrepreneurs, celebrities and women in transition," VH1 informs.

In part of an episode the girls were cleaning Omarosa's house. One of the girls, Gia, got in Omarosa's face and refused to clean her house. That must be one of the most disrespectful moments caught on reality TV. That was Gia. Gia has a baby girl at home and refuses to change her diaper. Gia makes it known in the first half hour of the show that she will not cook or clean, ever. She says, "I don't even know what color my kitchen is!"

Gia is a wife and mother from California who also refuses to wake up in the middle of the night to take care of her baby. Her husband hires nannies while Gia smokes on her hookah all day. She claims she could not survive without her hookah, and when listing the most important things in her life she mentioned her family AFTER listening all the material items. Gia divorced her first husband, because he could not keep up with her lifestyle. Her current husband is extremely fed up with it and is cutting her off. He even admits he looks in the mirror some days and wonders what he's doing.

Gia is only one of the divas on this show. It's entertaining to watch, because it's hard to believe that this type of person exists. There rest of the divas include:

Chrissy, the rotten princess from LA. She is the most disrespectful of all the girls. She has the nerve to do her make up and stare at herself in her hand mirror while others are speaking. She does not think that it is rude at all to interrupt others or to constantly stare at herself while having a conversation with another person. Her highest goal in life is to be married THREE times so she can have three fabulous weddings, but she won't say "I DO" unless the ring costs at least $300K. Her grandmother says Chrissy is "acting a fool," and prays that by cutting her off she will learn some responsibility.

Leanne is a diva from California who is supported entirely by her father. She didn't like the color of the Mercedes S-Class her dad bought her, and she decided to buy a $375K Ferrari while he was out of time; she crashed the Ferrari a few weeks later. Leanne will not knave the house without her six bodyguards, a make-up artist, or her best friend. Her father is cutting her off, because he has had enough of her spending all his hard-earned money.

Pamela claims that she worked on Wall-Street. She is a New York girl that says she WAS a princess and now she's a QUEEN. Pamela is really good at spending her family's money. They are cutting her off in hopes she will make something of herself.

Erica is a pampered princess who will never be seen without a tiara. She is from Texas and her father is a plastic surgeon; she spends over half a million dollars of her dad's money ever year. Erica lives at home and consults her personal astrologer for every life decision. She can't imagine life without bottom and lip injections. Her family is cutting her off in hopes she will learn to value money and make something of herself.

Jessica belongs on The Jersey Shore. This girl could have some fun with Snooki and J-WOWW. This girl is a loud Italian, and she doesn't care what people think about her. She doesn't cook, clean or do anything to help society. She does however like to nag, insult others, and spend money. Her mother is cutting her off in hopes Jessica can learn to survive on her own.

Courtnee is the North Carolina "it-girl." This socialite is being cut off by her family, because they don't understand how their "little princess" turned into a demanding diva. Her father is cutting her off so that she stops treating him like an ATM, and she starts putting her people skills to good use.

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Amber, the southern belle hails from Georgia and admits that she always judges people by what they are wearing. She took a semester off from college to catch up on her shopping. Her father is cutting her off in hopes that she will take school more seriously, and apply herself.

Jacqueline is the one to pay attention to. She is the daughter of a successful business executive. Her house is 10K square feet, and she has three walk-in closets. She says there's nothing wrong with checking a man's bank account before going out. Jacqueline got her first Chanel bag at age five, and now her parents are cutting her off. They hope their college graduate will stop with the endless partying and reckless spending.


At the end of the season (8-weeks) the girls will be reunited with the people who cut them off, and that will be the test to whether the girls PASS or FAIL. The girls will need to adhere to new guidelines if they want a chance of getting back in good graces with the loved-ones that put them on this show.

Give this show a try. You're Cut Off can be watched online or tonight, Monday, June 28, at 7PM, 8PM, and 9PM. There are three episodes total, and hopefully by the end of the season these unrealistically superficial barbies will become humble and hard working and respectful young ladies. Follow VH1 on Twitter for more updates. Psst. Perez even makes an appearance.

(All images courtesy of VH1 and Starcasm except for the Nikky Raney ones)

Nikky Raney:

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Sandra Bullock and Jesse James: Bullock's divorce a done deal

After months of legal paperwork, Academy Award-winning Actress Sandra Bullock's divorce from her husband Jesse James is final according to TMZ.com.

 The news marks and end to their four year marriage and points the way to Sandra Bullock raising her adopted baby Louis Bullock as a single paren without Jesse James, and with her adoption paperwork nearing completion.

Sandra Bullock, who won the Oscar For Best Actress in A Leading Role for her portrayal of Lee Anne Touhy, the tough-minded Houston socialite who takes in a homeless Michael Oher in The Blind Side, learned that Jesse James was having an affair with a woman named Michelle "Bombshell" McGee as she was making the film.



Then, in a process of two weeks, gossip websites revealed that Jesse James had slept with four different women over the course of their marriage and their adoption of baby Louis. As James went to therapy for sex addiction, Bullock moved to seek a divorce.

Now, it's final.

Bullock, in hiding for a while, has finally come out into the public eye, most notably at the MTV Movie Awards, where she planted one on Iron Man 2's Scarlett Johansson.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal's aide gets off Gay-bomb in Rolling Stone

Gen. Stanley McChrystal 

The Runaway General, the Rolling Stone Magazine article that cost Gen. Stanley McChrystal his job as commander of Allied Forces in Afghanistan, and exposed a culture of McChrysal's aides that were hostile to civilian military officers, is out on newsstands and online, and it opens with the now famous blast against NATO allies slated to attend a dinner he was assigned to go to.

While Gen. McChrystal's comment that there was no one in the room who could beat him up, or:

"I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner. Unfortunately, no one in this room could do it."

..made the press, there's more that didn't, until now. This is what else McChrystal's aide said after the writer Michael Hastings asked "Who's he going to dinner with?" The McChrystal aide says "Some French minister. It's fucking gay."

Hastings says McChrystal's staff consists of "a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs."

Overall, the article paints a picture of a man who's every bit the schoolyard bully portrayed in this space and shows that he was trying, but failed, to bully President Obama. (It also confirms my system dynamics blog post from Saturday.)

President Obama made the right move in ousting Gen. Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal was toxic; that's the view this space gains from The Rolling Stone.

YouTube.com/Zennie62 tops 15 million video viewers

YouTube.com/Zennie62 has reached over 15 million video viewers today, Monday. The video channel this video-blogger started April 2006, has continued a near-1 million video viewer-per-month growth rate that started 14 months ago.

What does all of this mean? First, it means it's time for a new t-shirt. The last one, modeled here by my friend Marin Female Bodybuilder Megan Avalon, reads "Zennie62.com 11 million viewers and growing." Second, it means YouTube.com/Zennie62 is on pace to top 20 million viewers before the end of 2010. Third, it means the subscriber base is growing and will continue to do so. And it means that Zennie62 is becoming a recognized brand, or as one viewer said at WonderCon SF "You're that guy who just makes these videos anywhere."

That's the idea: YouTube.com/Zennie62 is covering politics, news, sports, and tech with a lot of entertainment industry related subjects thrown in.

YouTube helped a lot

YouTube.com/Zennie62 could not have reached 15 million video viewers without the help of YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and the YouTube Partner Program Team, especially Erik Brown, who's been there through all the good times and the bad ones, like the TMZ Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video controversy where TMZ granted the right to use it after a day-long series of negotiations, errors, and misunderstandings. Thanks, Eric.

I have to include thanks to YouTube's Jim Woods, Mia Quagliarello, Yenie Ra, Shenaz Zack and many others at YouTube who know who they are for their involvement and encouragement too. YouTube is serious about helping YouTube Partners build their video businesses. While Zennie62 is on Blip.tv (Yeah, to Blip.tv), Dailymotion, Vimeo, and a total of eight other sites thanks to Tubemogul.com, YouTube has been hands-on in its approach with video-bloggers.

Also, a big thanks to my content friends and partners at The Hearst Corporation including The San Francisco Chronicle, Mediaite,  CNN and the iReport team in Atlanta, and CoLoursTV, home of The Blog Report with Zennie62.

Zennie62: Giving people a voice

What's changed about Zennie62 is that it's helped give a lot of people, especially those who were running for local office or people working at small businesses and had no video presence, a voice and a face.

I talk to people even when I don't agree with them.  I give them a platform.  Also,  I've become fearless: willing to use the camera to show what's happening at any time, and to record people giving their view of a subject.  But now I want to do something that reflects our growth: add video-bloggers.

I'm expanding Zennie62, both videos and the blog network into a media company called Zennie62media.com.  If you have a video camera, are looking for a place where your work can be seen and to learn how to "vlog", and want to make a little money for it, contact me at the email below.

YouTube.com/Zennie62 since 2006; at 982 videos

YouTube.com/Zennie62 has been around since April of 2006 and is up to 982 videos. Which of them is my favorite? I don't have just one.

The first one that comes to mind is "Double Rainbow Over Oakland, California" because it was a great example of spontaneous video-blogging of a rare event. Here's that video:



The second one is of the NY Giants Final Drive at Super Bowl 42 and marks the coming of age of Giants QB Eli Manning:



The third is of then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama who gave a 25-minute speech as Senator Barbara Boxer's guest at her fundraiser in San Francisco in 2007. Obama used no notes or teleprompter; just let it rip and I was there:



The 1,000th Video Series

After Monday YouTube.com/Zennie62 will be just 15 videos from 1,000. And for that, I plan to make my videos 1,000 through 1,005 ahead of time and special. It's Zennie62's 1,000th video series, which will have its own blog and promotion effort. If you have an idea for someone you want to see interviewed for the series, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com .

Finally, thank to the people who've come up to me in airports and shopping centers around America to express what they like and don't like, too.

Thanks

Senator Robert Byrd dead: Byrd opposed Civil Rights; backed Obama

Robert Byrd

West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd died at the age of 92 and with him, as with his friend Senator Ted Kennedy, went the passing of an era where Senators were more statesmen and women who knew the rules and cultivated friends on both sides of the aisle. People like Senator Sam Irvin.

But even with that, Robert Byrd was, for a long time, not well regarded by blacks because he voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Amendment and considered a conservative Democrat because of that stand and his support for the Vietnam War.

But Robert Byrd grew with America. Byrd is an excellent example of being able to change because he was willing to learn. From one perspective, he had to in order to remain in office, but he could have chosen not to change and just leave the Senate and go back to West Virginia. Byrd did not do that.

Here, Byrd talks about why he would have changed his vote on the Civil Rights Act:



Kentucky GOP Senate Candidate Rand Paul, who made an unfortunate comment about not supporting the Civil Rights Act, should learn from Robert Byrd. Rand Paul would do well to pay attention to his words and be all the smarter for it.

Robert Byrd is a proud symbol of America's enduring ability to grow in the face of a moral challenge. Byrd went from opposing civil rights and backing the Vietnam War, to supporting then-Senator Barsck Obama for President, helping Obama become America's first black President.

At a time when it seems racism is on the rise in some quarters, Americans would do well to learn about Robert Byrd. If he can grow, so can all of us.

Senator Robert Byrd. A true American who will be missed.