Obama Chic: Inside the White House Cocktail Parties

FOXNews.com - Obama Chic: Inside the White House Cocktail Parties - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

I love a good cocktail party. The idea is to get to know people, which then tends to make other endevors that much easier. What the problem with the Obama party is, I do not know at all. Makes no sense to me. I'll take a Manhattan!

Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn) Thinks You Should Die If Your Poor

More at Video Cafe” Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn) thinks health care is something for the rich, calling it a "privilege" on MSNCB. I can't figure out what's worse, the comment or the fact that he was serious about it. Is this the kind of person Tennessians want representing them when they need access to health care?

Chevron Wins in Judge's Decision To Deny New Bowoto v. Chevron Trial

 This was a major victory for Chevron, which was falsely accused of violating the civil rights of Larry Bowoto and bis friends in the Niger Delta region.  Here are my thoughts:

 Here's the news story as seen in the SF Chronicle:  

A federal judge on Wednesday upheld a San Francisco jury's verdict that cleared Chevron Corp. of wrongdoing in the shootings of Nigerian villagers who occupied an offshore oil barge in 1998 to protest the company's hiring and environmental practices.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who presided over the four-week trial in November, denied a request by the villagers' lawyers for a new trial and ruled that there was evidence to support the verdict.

About 150 tribesmen from the oil-rich Niger Delta occupied a barge tethered to Chevron's Parabe platform in May 1998, saying the company's Nigerian subsidiary had refused to meet with them and hear their complaints that drilling and dredging were polluting their wells and killing trees and fish.

The villagers said they were unarmed and peaceful, but Chevron's witnesses said the protesters threatened violence, held crew members hostage and demanded ransom. After three days of negotiations, Chevron summoned Nigerian security forces, who killed two men and wounded two others.

The suit was filed under a law passed by the first Congress in 1798 that allows foreigners to seek damages in U.S. courts for violations of international human rights.

On Dec. 1, a nine-member jury unanimously rejected the plaintiffs' claims that Chevron was responsible for assault, inhumane treatment, torture and wrongful death.

Chevron has asked Illston to order the villagers to reimburse the company for $485,000 the company spent defending against the suit. The judge did not address that request in Wednesday's ruling.

In seeking a new trial, plaintiffs' lawyers said Chevron never contradicted testimony that three villagers were shot, beaten or tortured without justification. But Illston said jurors could have had doubts because of contradictions in the testimony.

She also said the jury could have found that the company was not responsible for the actions of military forces, citing Chevron testimony that its Nigerian subsidiary did not control the security forces and that its main concern was the safety of its workers.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, said it was pleased with the ruling. Plaintiffs lawyer Theresa Traber said the villagers would appeal.

Jill Tubman Asks You To Help Set the Agenda at Netroots Nation 2009

More at Jack & Jill Politics Jill Tubman at Jack & Jill Politics wants you to help her and others establish the agenda at Netroots Nation. Here's what she wrote:

In the next 12 months, we’ll be working together more than ever to push progressive policy into legislation. And there’s no better place to strategize our priorities and plan how to make them a reality than at Netroots Nation, the grassroots event of the year.
In order to create the most well-rounded agenda possible, we need your input. Will you help us develop and organize the sessions that you’ll attend at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh—and help shape the dialog for progressives in 2009?

Click on the link above to help out.

Obama Citizen's Briefing Book Has Not Reached President's Desk

More at techPresident According to techPresident, the Obama Citizen's Briefing Book of suggestions by Obama supporters during the transition period never made it to President Obama's desk.

What the hell happened?

That's a lot of hard work by people who may have submitted the one method that gets us out of this mess. Someone in the Obama Administration, please get this to the President ASAP!

Is Tom DeLay Out Of Touch Or Just Plain Stupid?

I'm watching MSNBC's Hardball and Chris Matthews has two Republicans on his show: Michelle Wallace who played a key message-crafting role in the McCain Campaign last year, and former Representative Tom DeLay. I'm sitting here totally dumbfounded over DeLay's insistence that former President Bush was "innocent" of blame for our current economic disaster.

Indeed, PBS's Frontline has a great series on this called "The Meltdown" which places blame for our current wave of bank failures right in the lap of them-Secretary Henry Paulsen, who famously let his own idiological moorings get in the way of good policy, when he refused to put the Government in position to buy Lehman Brothers thus causing a wave of failures that extends to today. According to Frontline, Paulsen was getting advise from Republicans to let businesses fail, and that's what he did.

What Paulsen didn't count on was a wave of market failure such that on September 18th, 2009, the American Economy as we know it came close to a complete death. Paulsen was placed in a role he didn't want or agree with, making government work rather than doing nothing. He failed.

Now, here we have DeLay out there on Hardball and Chris Matthews does an at best feckless attempt at countering Tom's claim that President Bush had nothing to do with this. Meanwhile when Matthews does take him on, he resorts to a quote in the Wall Street Journal.

Give me a break.

Chevron:Starts Nigeria Community Development Program

More at CNNMoney.com: “LONDON (Dow Jones)-Chevron Corp. (CVX) is in talks with the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, and other organizations to liaise on programs fostering peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta, a company manager has told Dow Jones Newswires.

The statement comes as the Nigerian government and militants have made no progress solving the three-year conflict but as some grass-root Nigerian initiatives have been successful.

"We have been having discussions with USAID on cooperation with some programs" Chevron or the U.S. aide agency sponsor "to transfer knowledge and make sure our efforts are complementary," said Dennis Flemming, a community development manager at Chevron's Nigeria operation.”

Michael Steele Turns Whus, Balls Fall Off

Steele Takes On Rush Limbaugh: "Ugly," "Incendiary" (VIDEO): “"My intent was not to go after Rush - I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh," Steele said. "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ... There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership."”

-- Wow, talk about losing your will. Republican Chairman Michael Steele lost his balls and turned whus after appologizing to blowhard radio talk shww host Rush Limbaugh. Man, but it's good for Democrats because it means the party will be slip between Steeleheads and Dittoheads, neither of which are electable.

Obama Offered Deal to Russia in Secret Letter To Medvedev

More at NYTimes.com: “WASHINGTON — President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.”

-- This is a bold first step and it will give President Obama an immediate idea where the Russians are with respect to relations and his administration. Interesting.

President Obama on the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget And Openess

More at The White House - Press Office: “In keeping with my commitment to make our government more open and transparent, this budget is an honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go.  For too long, our budget has not told the whole truth about how precious tax dollars are spent.  Large sums have been left off the books, including the true cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And that kind of dishonest accounting is not how you run your family budgets at home; it's not how your government should run its budgets, either.  We need to be honest with ourselves about what costs are being racked up -- because that's how we'll come to grips with the hard choices that lie ahead.  And there are some hard choices that lie ahead.”

-- President Obama is making good on his promise to be more open, but in the budgetary case that means more shocking news about what actually costs what. We've not -- in the Bush 2 years or Clinton -- seen a real budget that shows what the government is spending. Be ready for a shock, especially with the Iraq War. But see, that's where the savings come in because then when we see what all of this costs, the reductions will get us to a deficit drop.

Bobby Jindal Enrages Volcano Monitoring People By Mocking Volcano Monitoring People

More at Wonkette: “Bobby Jindal’s speechwriters, they are Gods. Check out this little one-two he pulled on the Democrats. See, he sets it up all good-like by saying that the stimulus package included “$140 million for something called ‘volcano monitoring,’” like wtf is that right, and then KA-CHING: “Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.” Get this guy a Washington Post column! He’d fit right in, because everyone already despises him.”

-- That is totally funny by Wonkette!

John Mayer will be Aniston's 'Oscar boyfriend'

RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Mayer will be Aniston's 'Oscar boyfriend': “Singer John Mayer has revealed that he will be accompanying Jennifer Aniston to the Oscars this Sunday.
In an interview with Popsugar, he said that he would be walking the red carpet with Aniston.
"I'm going to the Oscars. It's my first Oscars and it's my first time being an Oscar boyfriend."”

Chevron Accuses Richard Cabrera Of Voodoo Economic In Ecuador

Professor Richard Cabrera, the economist who's estimates have served to frame the environmental damage terms of debate in the court battle between giant oil company Chevron and the coutry of Ecuador, has been accused of what could be called "Voodoo Economics" by the San Ramon-based firm.

In a damaging press release, Chevron write the following:

Despite an awareness of these fundamental defects, Cabrera’s amended assessment makes no effort to correct any prior mistakes and introduces a new series
of egregious errors, such as:

• Recommending more than $9 billion in damages associated with “excess cancer deaths” without identifying a single victim, let alone providing any corroborating documentation such as a death certificate or a medical diagnosis.
• Recommending more than $3 billion in damages associated with groundwater contamination
even though his own data clearly indicate no such contamination exists, and Cabrera
acknowledges that he has no basis for devising a remediation plan or developing a cost estimate.
Rather, Cabrera simply adopts plaintiffs’ counsel’s demands to assess damages and repackages
them as fact.
• Conceding that his work was conducted in such a fashion as to assign blame to Chevron instead
of performing an objective and unbiased scientific analysis of current environmental conditions,
as the court had ordered.

Their assertions continue and essentially build a case to attack Cabrera's work. But my charge has been it's almost impossible to find anything about Cabrera online, other than his work on the Ecuador lawsuit against Chevron, where the country is attempting to have the oil firm pay entirely for environmental damage that Ecuador itself is largely responsible for. In this matter, Cabrera has filed fraudulent economic report claims, making estimates of monetary damage costs without providing substantiated evidence to support his report findings.

Oscar Grant: Source: Autopsy Shows Crack Cocaine In Body

A well-placed source reported to me that BART Shooting victim Oscar Grant was found to have Crack Cocaine in his body, and planted through his buttocks. My source also accuses KTVU TV (Oakland, CA) News of delaying video release.

My source is a long-time law enforcement official who has seen cases like this more often than not -- but this case given the video evidence, is different.  My source originally tipped me off to the extense of a third KTVU video of the Oscar Grant shooting by BART Police Officer Johannes Mesherle.   He said that  the video showed that another BART officer was clearly on Grant and beating him.  The source said that KTVU was withholding the video because they did not want to start a race-riot.

The second tip regards the Crack Cocaine matter.  He claims that the autopsy, which is to be completed by March according, shows that the drugs were stuffed in his body via his buttocks.   My source holds that this is why -- he contends -- Grant's behavior was agressive.

He continues "Initially, Grant approached a female police officer agressively but was blocked by a male officer."  My source also says that Grant did not have a gun on him, but that the person in the fight on the train actually got off at West Oakland station and was never found.

According to my source, this is what happened:

A fight on a Dublin-bound BART line train started at Embarcadero Station, and continued through the BART tube.  When the train reached West Oakland station, the person who had the gun got out of the train, which then went to Lake Merritt station, but was not stopped by police.   Then it went to Fruitvale Station, where it was stopped.  Grant was pulled from the train with a number of other suspects who were in that car and said to have been involved in the fight.

KTVU Controls Video Evidence

My source has stated that KTVU has been "controlling video evidence" and using it to generate ratings.  His assertion is backed by video evidence where KTVU news reporters claim that the video are "only on Channel Two" and in the case I show, demonstrates that KTVU made decisions to show videos because they would effect the case itself.

Source Believes Mesherle Will Walk

Finally, my source believes that a trial will not result in a conviction of (former) Officer Mesherle, even with the video evidence.  His reasons are how the case is being set up as a murder conviction, when it was clear to my source that it was not intentional or premeditated and what he's hearing from other colleagues both in the "Law" and the "Order" side of this matter in Alameda County.

Please "stay tuned" for more updates.

Click for iReport version.  

Cell Phone Guns; Deadly "James Bond" Micro Weapon

The cell phone gun is now in media view after a raid of an Italian Mafia group last fall. A 28-year old man captured had this device, but the the others got away. I fear this weapon - which is in the United States - would wind up in our high schools.

Click here for iReport version.

President Obama's First News Conference: Transcript Of Statement By Obama

President Barack Obama gave his first press conference of his young administration Monday evening. Here's CQPolitics video summary:



Here's the text From WhiteHouse.gov of what he said to open the questions:

OPENING REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA -- AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
First Presidential Press Conference
East Room, The White House
Monday, February 9th, 2009

Good evening. Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly about the state of our economy and why I believe we need to put this recovery plan in motion as soon as possible.

I took a trip to Elkhart, Indiana today. Elkhart is a place that has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in America. In one year, the unemployment rate went from 4.7% to 15.3%. Companies that have sustained this community for years are shedding jobs at an alarming speed, and the people who’ve lost them have no idea what to do or who to turn to. They can’t pay their bills and they’ve stopped spending money. And because they’ve stopped spending money, more businesses have been forced to lay off more workers. Local TV stations have started running public service announcements that tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don’t have enough to meet the demand.

As we speak, similar scenes are playing out in cities and towns across the country. Last Monday, more than 1,000 men and women stood in line for 35 firefighter jobs in Miami. Last month, our economy lost 598,000 jobs, which is nearly the equivalent of losing every single job in the state of Maine. And if there’s anyone out there who still doesn’t believe this constitutes a full-blown crisis, I suggest speaking to one of the millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside down because they don’t know where their next paycheck is coming from.

That is why the single most important part of this Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is the fact that it will save or create up to 4 million jobs. Because that is what America needs most right now.

It is absolutely true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or economic growth. That is and must be the role of the private sector. But at this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life. It is only government that can break the vicious cycle where lost jobs lead to people spending less money which leads to even more layoffs. And breaking that cycle is exactly what the plan that’s moving through Congress is designed to do.

When passed, this plan will ensure that Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health care coverage. We will also provide a $2,500 tax credit to folks who are struggling to pay the cost of their college tuition, and $1000 worth of badly-needed tax relief to working and middle-class families. These steps will put more money in the pockets of those Americans who are most likely to spend it, and that will help break the cycle and get our economy moving.

But as we learned very clearly and conclusively over the last eight years, tax cuts alone cannot solve all our economic problems – especially tax cuts that are targeted to the wealthiest few Americans. We have tried that strategy time and time again, and it has only helped lead us to the crisis we face right now.

That is why we have come together around a plan that combines hundreds of billions in tax cuts for the middle-class with direct investments in areas like health care, energy, education, and infrastructure – investments that will save jobs, create new jobs and new businesses, and help our economy grow again – now and in the future.

More than 90% of the jobs created by this plan will be in the private sector. These will not be make-work jobs, but jobs doing the work that America desperately needs done. Jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our dangerously deficient dams and levees so that we don’t face another Katrina. They will be jobs building the wind turbines and solar panels and fuel-efficient cars that will lower our dependence on foreign oil, and modernizing a costly health care system that will save us billions of dollars and countless lives. They’ll be jobs creating 21st century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children across America. And they’ll be the jobs of firefighters, teachers, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we do not provide states with some relief.

After many weeks of debate and discussion, the plan that ultimately emerges from Congress must be big enough and bold enough to meet the size of the economic challenge we face right now. It is a plan that is already supported by businesses representing almost every industry in America; by both the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. It contains input, ideas, and compromises from both Democrats and Republicans. It also contains an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we’re spending every dime. What it does not contain, however, is a single pet project, and it has been stripped of the projects members of both parties found most objectionable.

Despite all of this, the plan is not perfect. No plan is. I can’t tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans. My administration inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion, but because we also inherited the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression, doing too little or nothing at all will result in an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes; and confidence. That is a deficit that could turn a crisis into a catastrophe. And I refuse to let that happen. As long as I hold this office, I will do whatever it takes to put this country back to work.

I want to thank the members of Congress who’ve worked so hard to move this plan forward, but I also want to urge all members of Congress to act without delay in the coming week to resolve their differences and pass this plan.

We find ourselves in a rare moment where the citizens of our country and all countries are watching and waiting for us to lead. It is a responsibility that this generation did not ask for, but one that we must accept for the sake of our future and our children’s. The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose. That is the test facing the United States of America in this winter of our hardship, and it is our duty as leaders and citizens to stay true to that purpose in the weeks and months ahead. After a day of speaking with and listening to the fundamentally decent men and women who call this nation home, I have full faith and confidence that we can. And with that, I’ll take your questions.

Economic Recovery Compromise Makes Rich, Richer: The Alternative Minimum Tax

The President's Economic Recovery Act plan, called the Economic Stimulus and much needed, is headed toward passage but only because of a compromise that essentially makes the rich, richer. It's also a good reason why I believe we need to have a program that gives at least $3,500 to each American under $100,000, rather than just tax credits.

Reportedly, $100 billion was shaved off the plan, but according to the blogger LithiumCola at The DailyKos, the big reason why the plan was cut, and why the Senate plan was about $80 billion more expensive than the House plan, was the installation of a provision adjustment in what's called The Alternative Minimum Tax, such that the AMT increases incomes for those making more money, whereas it has little if any impact on those making less, specifically:

Haley points to a study at the Tax Policy Institute which shows that slashing the AMT increases the incomes of Americans in the top quintile by 1.3%, Americans in the next-highest quintile by .7%, the middle quintile by .1%, and does nothing at all for Americans in the bottom 40% of incomes.

To put that another way, Americans in the middle 20% of incomes will get on average a whopping $52 because of Senator Grassley's demand, those in the second-highest 1/5th will get $502, while Americans in the top 1/5th of incomes will get an average $2,593 -- and that last one includes those in the top 5%, who will get an average of $4,511. This is what the WSJ calls "shielding millions of middle-income Americans from the so-called alternative minimum tax."

It's for this reason I continue to push for a targeted stimulus of $3,500 for every American under $100,000 in income, or an planned allocation capped at 100 million people. The total cost would be $350 billion, and worth every penny.




According to the Federal Reserve Board 2004 survey of consumer finances, the average balance for those carrying credit card balances was $2,200, but many American families do not carry a credit card balance, so the fear that this $3,500 would be used only to retire credit card debt is unfounded. Indeed, there's more evidence to support the observation that the money would be used -- especially by those in the lower income categories -- just to keep a roof over their heads.

US Sherriff's don't want people evicted as record home foreclosure rates are expected. This proposal, combined with relaxed mortgage rates and anticipated refinancing plans, could help to keep Americans in their homes for at least an additional two years. That buys enough time for the other job-producing aspects of the Economic Stimulus plan to take effect.

In closing, given the trillions of dollars sent directly to corporations, $350 billion to the Americans who need it the most is not too much to ask for.


news

Madoff Client List, Fox Theater, Blog News: Zennie62

This is my experimental multi-show where I broadcast on USTReam, YouTube, and BlogTalk Radio all at the same time. The show is about the just released Madoff Client list and the six Oakland and 43 San Francisco persons who were listed as victims of Madoff.

I also talk about the newly opened Fox Theater which had its Gala event last night -- a success. Funny that the Oakland Tribune website doesn't have a post about it. They swapped their Fox post for something about an animation movie. Who cares?

There's more. I'm going to make the YouTube video another way because I do not like the quality of the quick-capture system. I may wind up using two computers for this. Here's the USTream video...

Video chat rooms at Ustream

And here's the BlogTalkRadio Link: Radio

Sen. John McCain Shows Economic Stupidity, Again!

More from “The Washington Monthly”: “THE 'OLD' MCCAIN ISN'T COMING BACK.... As much as I'd like to ignore John McCain's "analysis" of the economic stimulus plan, he's not making it easy. For the last couple of weeks, he's been on all the networks, undermining the administration's plan, questioning the president's integrity, and making strange policy arguments. With no obvious Republican leader on the national stage, the media is still turning to the GOP's defeated presidential nominee.”

-- I agree with this must-read post. Senator John McCain's back to showing why he didn't win the election in the first place: a total lack of understanding of the economy and a lack of willingness to explain that he's misinformed. Yet, he's out there making stupid statement after dumb comment. Saying he fears a deficit, yet supporting billions in tax cuts, just to name one example.

Zennie Abraham Posts 500th YouTube Video Today: Obama Video is #500

Wow, I never thought it possible, but I posted 500 YouTube Videos at Zennie62 on YouTube, the latest one being today, or really it was after midnight, which makes it early in the morning.  It was my video on what the Obama Inauguration meant to me.  This one:



Now, the chase is to get to 600 videos!  Then 1,000!  But seriously, I'm going to embark on a strategy of segmenting the channels into "Playlist shows" with different titles so the whole of the offerings is accessible.  Keep watching!