Bauer's Transportation Company Bus Shuttle Service

This is the San Francisco Bauer's "Wi-Drive" commuter shuttle bus service. It's the same one used by Facebook and Twitter employees to go to and from work. What this blogger likes about the shuttle bus service is the seats. Wow. They're really thick, cushy, leathery, and luxurious.

You can operate your laptop computer and work online while on your way to work. The Bauer's "Wi-Drive" bus was used by the San Francisco Giants to transport their players to and from that awesome parade after their amazing World Series win.

Need corporate transportation? Call my good friend Gary Bauer. He and Bauer's Transportation delivers for all occasions and transport needs. Bauer's Transportation is at 1-800-546-6688.

Fair Game Shows What Valerie Plame Went Through

Fair Game Shows What Valerie Plame Went Through
By Nikky Raney

Walking into the theater already knowing and being educated about the Valerie Plame & Scooter Libby fiasco could not have prepared anyone for the amazing portrayal done by Naomi Watts as Ms. Plame. Everyone reads the news about what happened and thinks they know, but they had no idea what went on within her personal life or how things really truly changed for her.

The use of real news images and clips from the actual events being re-enacted is brilliant and at the end of the movie the clip plays of the real Valerie Plame giving a testimony on C-Span.

The movie really informs about what happened after 9/11 and what the CIA was doing and figuring out behind the scenes - the difficult calls that had to be made and what it was like to be living a double life and have all these plans and then for it all to fall apart. There were many others whose lives were negatively impacted due to this other than Ms. Plame. The role of her husband, played by Sean Penn, was brilliantly done. Even if the reality of their personal life isn't completely accurate - the portrayal of how he involved himself in the media and how he helped deal with this catastrophe to save his wife's life and reputation as well as his own was brilliant.

It may have been exaggerated by Hollywood, but it's safe to say that the accompanying footage from real news reports across all news platforms help remind the viewer that what they are watching is not complete fiction, but something that really happened. It helps to educate viewers more about the entire scandal besides all the news reports.

Although the accuracy may be questionable about specific details - since the CIA must keep things private to an extent- it shows a good amount of realistic scenarios that lead up to this and the facts match up with the information that was provided.

This movie is truly a must see and was done very well. The lengths the members of the White House went to discredit her husband's op-ed piece in the New York Times was unjust - the fact that he knew what President Bush was telling the American people as "fact" was in fact not true made him want to write about what he did know - because he was doing a service to the American people in educating them on what is real. And those who opposed being "outed" got revenge in a way that ruined the career and safety of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Her life will never be the same and her world was turned upside down.

It is good that Scooter Libby and the others have been put to justice, but it cannot take back all the pain and suffering that the family went through and continues to endure to this day.

This movie should be watched by anyone who followed this story or had an opinion in some way about the way it was handled or who has more questions about it.

Brilliantly done - five stars. The only thing that may be overly controversial is the way the film clearly exposes the Iraq war and the mistakes made and the way that the American people were blatantly lied to by the President, and this may make things worse for President Bush's reputation (if that's possible).

It was really great to see Scooter Libby played as a snarky con man and coming off as truly vile -  David Andrews did a great gob - as did Adam LeFerve as Karl Rove.d It was disgusting to see how some of the journalists reacted though and unimpressive, but accurate.

It'll be interesting to hear what the real people have to say about the portrayals of themselves and how accurate the depictions are. The story follows Ms. Plame's book in a way - the story line converges and includes some direct quotes from her book.


X-Posted At The Future of Journalism

Cal Washington: Huskies 16-13 Win; Cal is Holmoesque

This is the level the University of California Football Program has fallen to. Cal Alumni are starting to call the team "Holmoesque." That term first surfaced two weeks ago after the Oregon loss, as a good Cal friend of this blogger feared a return to those ugly days of yore.

Three losses later, some think we're there. Cal lost to Washington 16 to 13 and this, the third loss in as many games, has Old Blues, Young Blues, and even Middle-Aged Blues fuming.

Tom Holmoe

Cal finished not just 5 and 7, but 3 and 6 in the Pac-10. The worst record in Jeff Tedford's glorious rein as Cal's Head Coach. While not the 1 and 10 season of 2001, Cal's 2010 performance was enough for my friend to say "I hope we don't see a replay of Tom Holmoe, we're starting to look "Holmoesque."

Tom Holmoe, currently the Athletic Director at BYU, was Cal's football coach for five years, posting a 16 and 39 record, the infamous 2001 season, had an 0 and 5 record against Stanford, and caused Cal to forfeit nine scholarships over four years, be banned from postseason bowl eligibility in 2002, Coach Tedford's first year with Cal.

No, this space is not saying Tedford is like Tom Holmoe, only that the stench from that period is still with many Cal faithful, and this season reproduced some bad, sad memories.

The Problem Is The System

SF Chron scribe John Crumpacker's blog on Cal vs. Washington was far too nice and failed capture the massive level of pissed off, pissed-offness expressed by Cal Alumns. Cal's problem is not as simple as replacing one quarterback with another. That's for people who, for whatever reason, fail to pay attention to play design. But the issue is the Cal Offensive system itself.

For some reason that rests in the collective mind of Coach Tedford and Cal Offensive Coordinator Andy Ludwig, Cal does not have a passing game that contains "safe," short throws for its signal callers. Just because we're in the era of the wide receiver screen, and all of its variations, doesn't mean it has to be Cal's offense. There are, by experiential estimate, over 1,232 variations of short passes to running backs; can't we use some of them? Why is it so important to throw downfield and with just predictability all the time?

There's nothing wrong with good, old, precision short passing. It's forgotten in the wake of the advent of the spread formation option systems - and their pass plays - that have spread like a virus around the country. An approach that has infected Cal Football, save for the running quarterback.

A disciplined approach to the passing game, one that Cal actually displayed the ability to uses against Stanford last year, is sorely needed. Cal must stick to this, and stop this need to play macho-passing ball, most of the time.

Or, if the concern is to keep the pass offense simple for students who have a lot of studying to do, given the demands of Cal, why not an approach that has elements of the Run-and-Shoot? (But retains the power running game.)



The point is to have a real, true, system that can be effective with respect to the coverage, is disciplined, and doesn't get the quarterback killed.

Time For Action; Tosh Shows The Way

Some Cal Alumns want California defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi to be Cal's Head Coach, after the fake injury scandal in the Oregon game. Well, not really, but you get the idea.  It's not that cheating is prized by Cal Alumns, just the need for a coach to do something to move Cal Football forward. Remember, we have Coach Lupoi to thank for Wide Receiver Keenan Allen, so no one wants him to leave Cal for any reason.  Well, within reason.

Well, whatever the argument, we'll have an entire year to hash it out.

GO BEARS!

Congress Return Not Lame Duck - Just LAME

The “Do Nothing” Washington crowd makes Congress’ return not “Lame Duck” - just LAME. Voters clearly want lawmakers to ease the nation’s unemployment pain, but a sharply divided Congress is still balking at extending jobless benefits for those out of work a long time.

Unless Congress acts by Tuesday, an estimated 2 million people slated to receive extended benefits will not get them on time, if ever. Congress took this week off for a Thanksgiving recess and will reconvene Monday.

If lawmakers don’t extend the UI filing dates, it will be the third time this year that they will have missed a deadline to do so, even though the nation’s unemployment rate, at 9.6 percent, hasn’t budged since May. Earlier this year, after Congress failed to extend benefits before deadlines, jobless workers received retroactive benefits once legislation was passed.

Not once this entire year has Congress added weeks of benefits to those jobless Americans suffering the most, the 99ers and never have any previous extensions, delayed by Congressional gridlock (in 2008 and 2009) been retroactive for those effected. To be clear: Extending the deadlines set to expire WILL NOT HELP the millions of 99ers in America.

The average family receives about $290 a week from the benefits, which can last up to 99 weeks, depending on a state’s jobless rate. State employer taxes pay for the first 26 weeks. In weeks 27 to 99, a federal program funds most of the benefits; that’s what could be affected if Congress doesn’t act.

What happens when UI benefits are taken away from Americans in desperate need indeed effects everyone. The American economy suffers greatly when millions cannot spend for even the basic necessities. More jobs are lost and more Government spending is required for programs such as Welfare or Food Stamps.

Washington is not effected in any meaningful way, as they are all far too wealthy to understand the pain of poverty or the hopelessness and despair of being hungry or homeless.

In South Korea yesterday, hundreds of people demonstrated at Yongsan, the huge U.S. military base in Seoul, with smaller actions taking place in Kwangju and other cities on Nov 23-24. On Nov 25, student radicals threw petrol bombs at Camp Gray, a U.S. military support base in Seoul.

The demonstrators, set off fire extinguishers and waved sticks as they called on the government to take action after four people were killed as a result of North Korea shelling of Yeonpyeong island.
Just 4 people died as a result of North Korea's barbarous provocation and those in South Korea took to the streets in protest. Well done. Why is it that after countless 99er suicides as a direct result of Congress’ failure to act on any additional UI benefits for more than 1 year now, no Americans are willing to protest in mass? Have Americans really become that uncaring about the suffering of their own citizens?

Why not? Hollywood seems equally unconcerned as Washington about millions of hungry, hurting 99er families across the nation. Where are the celebrities outraged over Governmental neglect of the unemployed without jobs or UI benefits for going on 9 months now?

Celebrities like Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher who spend their time and untold dollars to draw the attention of millions on social networking sites (like twitter) to causes that help victims of human trafficking - usually overseas. Why won’t they use their celebrity to help those hurting in their own country?

Within the past year Demi Moore was credited with possibly saving the lives of 2 suicidal twitter fans when their tweets appeared to cryptically indicate hints of “self destructive” text. When just days ago - when one more 99er could not face Thanksgiving with eviction imminent and hope evaporated - made public his suicide note - was basically ignored by authorities. (Read note here)

Although dozens of concerned 99ers, leaders in the movement, traced this poster and reported it to police and FBI - NOTHING was done and the response from authorities was: ‘There is nothing we can do’ or ‘It’s not our jurisdiction” - I’ll bet Demi Moore did not get that response.

Fact is that nobody seems to care at all what happens to the millions of 99ers, from the President to the media, celebrities or even professional protestors. However the truth is the longer these and other unemployed Americans suffer without money for basic goods and services - the more every employed American should fear the loss of their own jobs, as without sufficient demand, the next pink slip resulting form this slow economy may just be yours.

A fact the very lame “Lame Duck” Congress refuses to address let alone resolve.

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Heidi Montag goes after Frank Ryan, after his death

Heidi Montag's Boob Comes Out (Pacific Coast News) 

Heidi Montag, the actress and entertainer most famous for her large boobs, is complaining about those bodatious tatas after the man who gave them to her, Dr. Frank Ryan, is dead.

Dr. Ryan passed on after a horrible car accident back in August 2010. Then, Montag said she was devastated to learn of the news.

Montag used her Twitter page to praise Ryan, saying he was "brilliant."  Now, the 24-year-old star seems to be making the whole experience and his involvement look almost sinister. Basically, Montag says Ryan didn't prep her for the pain she suffered in her "quest for perfection."

In an interview with ABC Primetime that came on Wednesday, Montag said she was in so much pain she thought she "was going to die." Here's the ABC interview:



Montag also said she had the following done: -brow lift
-nose job
-ears pinned
-chin shaved
-two breast enlargements
-back scooped out
-fat injected into her cheekbones
-lipo on her inner and outer thighs

In other words, she had her body remade on a scale that puts the Six Million Dollar Man to shame. And now that she has it, she's not happy, it seems. Perhaps Heidi should find God and a spiritual center to help her.

Stay tuned.