All White Basketball Team idea upsets Augusta, Georgia

Two days ago a man by the name of Don “Moose” Lewis announced the formation of an "All White Basketball Team" because he didn't like the recent trend of criminal acts on the part of some black NBS Basketball players like Gilbert Arenas, who brandished a gun in the Washington Wizards' locker room and pointed it at a teammate. The antic cost Arenas his NBA job and may land him in jail.

The fact that white NBA referee Tim Donaghy pled guilty to federal felony conspiracy charges seems to have escaped Don “Moose” Lewis, who says he's not racist.

Lewis has it in his mind that he wants to not only exclude black players, but players of color and even the white European basketball players who's ranks have swelled in the NBA. Don “Moose” Lewis wants a "White American Legue" and for reasons not clear to Augusta, Georgia's residents, has it in his mind that Augusta's the perfect place.

WJBF in Georgia conducted a poll on this matter: of 695 respondents, 53 percent said "No" and 47 percent said "yes". Why that close a vote may very well show why Don “Moose” Lewis picked Augusta in the first place: racism - a massive mental illness - still appears to be a big problem, if the comments below the poll are any gauge of what's happening there:

I believe there should be an all white basketball team.. I mean shoot look at the basketball teams that we have now they are either all black or have 1 white person on the team..I’m not racist by any means I just think its time we got some equality in the sport..We have some what of equality in the other sports yes there are more blacks on the team but who gives a crap right theres whites too…so unless you wanna sit there and do 50%white and 50%black on a basketball team let em have it…

The silliness of the whole idea rests in the fact that the reason there are so many good black basketball players is they work at it. A whole subculture that was the result of blacks being discrminated in so many areas of American life gave rise to the Great Black Athlete. For Don Moose Lewis to not understand that would seem to prove Mr. Lewis does not understand the "Hard facts that created America" as President Lincoln said.

A terrible statement on the South.

Stay tuned.

Ayla Brown online hit after Scott Brown says she's "available"

The number two search on Yahoo Buzz at 9:20 PM is for "Ayla Brown" after her father, new Senator-Elect Scott Brown, said that she was available. Now, searches for "Ayla Brown bikini" and "Ayla Brown American Idol" are dominating the Internet.

During his Tuesday night acceptance speech, Senator-Elect Brown said told the country via television his two daughters Arianna Brown and Ayla Brown were "available".

Ayla Brown

Suddenly millions of men (and perhaps some women) were interested in learning all about Ayla Brown, much to the shock of her mother, Gail Huff (who could be heard saying "Oh no" when Brown went on a rant about his daughters.

Ayla Brown is not without some star power. At 17, she was a contestant on American Idol, who auditioned in Boston, and made it to Hollywood, as one of 24 semi-finalists.

Here's the video of Ayla Brown singing "Reflection" by Christina Aguilera in 2006:



American Idol launched her singing career, as Ayla Brown made various singing appearances around Massachusetts, including appearing with The Boston Pops and singing the National Anthem at a Red Sox game.

After American Idol, Ayla Brown continued to pursue her other passion, basketball, and became the highest highest scorer on the Boston College team in the 2006-2007 season.

Ayla Brown the vlogger

Ayla Brown's website is a collection of her social network pages and latest videos on a YouTube channel ran by "Double Deal Records". She made this one to thank her friends and supporters after her father's Massachusetts Senate race win over Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley:



After the party, Ayla told the New York post she was mortified over what her father said, and that she was getting requests to go out for coffee or drinks.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods spotted at sex rehab clinic Pine Grove

Tiger Woods was spotted at the sex rehab clinic Pine Grove's "Gentle Path Program" Wednesday. According to the NY Post, Tiger Woods is in Hattiesburg, Miss, at the sex rehab clinic for six weeks, and during what is called "family week" he will reportedly have to undergo seven full weeks of counseling with his wife Elin Nordegren.

In what the NY Post calls "Sexual healing for caged Tiger", the National Inquirer reported that "Disclosure Day" is the time Tiger Woods has to reveal all of this many affairs to his wife. That includes Rachel Uchitel, Jamie Jungers, Mindy Lawton, Cori Rist, and the other seven mistresses Tiger Woods has bedded even since 2001 and before he married Elin.

It's described as kind of a prison, with strict times to rise (5:30 AM) and work therapy hours between 8 AM and 4 PM. The Pine Grove website says:

Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Hattiesburg, Mississippi is known as one of the nation’s most comprehensive treatment campuses. Since 1984 Pine Grove has offered a continuum of services ranging from outpatient to inpatient and residential treatment for adults, children and adolescents suffering from psychiatric and addictive diseases. Specialized services include the treatment of addictions, eating disorders, and professionals struggling with interpersonal difficulties. The Pine Grove Mission is to be a leader in healing and changing lives by providing the highest quality behavioral health services.

Gentle Path is a part of the Pine Grove program system. It's mistakenly reported as a separate clinic; a visit to the Pine Grove website will show that Gentle Path is a part of an overall program in Hattiesburg, Mississippi facility.

Stay tuned.

Glenn Beck attacks Scott Brown over "daughters available" remark

The assumed love fest between Massachusetts Senator-Elect Scott Brown and Republican Conservative Wingnuts is over. On his radio show Wednesday, Glenn Beck attacked Senator-Elect Scott Brown for mentioning that his daughters Arianna and Ayla were available during Brown's acceptance speech Tuesday night. Here's the video from Glenn Beck's show:



Here's Scott Brown's "my daughters are available" blast, including his basketball challenge to President Obama:



Glenn Beck said "I don't understand the thinking of Scott Brown last night with his two daughters, when he said this: (Plays clip) 'And just in case anybody's watching throughout the country, yes, they're both available." Then Beck said "Speaking of his daughters here. Hey. Hey. Stop. Stop. Stop. Okay. Alright. Bad enough. Bad enough. Hey! My two daughters on a meat market. If this isn't the shoomp and spears coming out of the cave where a guy - I would never have done this. You could see a stupid guy saying something like that, and then goin 'Aw geez. What did I just do'? (Off camera guy) "As a dad, you go the opposite way." (Glenn Beck) "Stop looking at my daughters. Ok. They're standing behind him. He says this. Now you know immediately, my wife would have pieces of my body in a drawer this morning, just on this. My daughters would never have spoken to me ever again, had I said (that). 'Dad! National television! What are you doing?'" (Off camera voice) "Do you know how many psychos there are out there?" (Glenn Beck) "Awww my goosshhh. Alright. Collection of my parts in drawers, scattered throughout my house.

"But he didn't stop there," Beck continued. (Plays clip of Scott Brown talking) "'Only kidding. Only kidding. Arianna definitely is not available. Ayla is.' (Glenn Beck) "And did you see my naked in Cosmo? Listen. I want a chastity belt on this man. I want his every most watched in Washington. I don't trust this guy. I'm just tellin' ya. This one could end with a dead intern."

Glenn Beck is referring to the murder of Chandra Levy, the Washington intern that was sexually abused and murdered while jogging. Levy was intern to U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California, then later had an affair with Condit. Since Condit was closely and romantically linked to Levy, the story wrecked his political career. A suspect, Ingmar Guandique, was indicted and arraigned in 2009; he pled not guilty.

Since Scott Brown's speech, The Times Online reports that his daughter Ayla has been "inundated with messages from men". On her reaction to her father's quip, Ayla said "My jaw dropped. I was like, that definitely wasn't in the script. I definitely had a talk with my Dad." The New York Post reported that Ayla said "I had about 20 people last night say, 'So, I'd like to take you for a coffee or a drink.' "

Looks like Glenn Beck was right.

Stay tuned.

Will Megan Fox wear the Zennie62.com T-shirt?

After four years of blogging and video-blogging, over 6,500 blog posts, and now several bloggers, Zennie62.com has something it's needed for a long time: a t-shirt. Now, the next objective is to get celebs like Megan Fox and Denzel Washington to wear the soon-to-be-famous t-shirt.

Will Megan Fox wear the Zennie62.com t-shirt? 

The t-shirt's based on the logo design for this blogger's television show "The Blog Report with Zennie62" on CoLoursTV (Saturday at 12:30 PM EST; 9:30 AM PST in January). Local Oakland t-shirt maker Cyrus Phishdad took the original logo and re-created it into a sharper, crisper result.

The black t-shirt celebrates the Zennie62 YouTube channel reaching 11 million viewers; it reads "Zennie62.com. 11 million views, including yours." That t-shirt design will remain until Zennie62 reaches over 20 million views.

The t-shirt is being given to fans who have been supporters of Zennie62, like this one in North Dakota who wrote this YouTube message:

As a means to support you I will always wear it with pride, try to keep it clean, never rob a liqueur store with it on.

I will also try to get a good photo of me wearing it so you will have proof that all the way out in North Dakota you are reaching people with your videos..

also, if I ever get well known and appear on Larry King with you, I will promise to wear it, ...as long as you wear a nice suit and not the "Im with Stupid>" T-shirt you had picked out to wear.

Now if Megan Fox wears it, that's huge. Stay tuned.

Google rankings and video: YouTube Partner Nalts

Kevin Nalts is one of YouTube's most successful partners with over 150,000 subscribers, and generally posts very interesting and entertaining video-blogs, like this one where he tries to scare his kids by wearing a Gorilla costume:



But Nalts also is a full time marketing consultant who has clear views on how to get videos to the top of Google rankings. Some of his views, particularly on the value of videos embeded on other websites, are controversially wrong, but in general his view is quite valuable.

At his blog Will Video for Food, Nalts offers his advice on getting your video to the top of Google Rankings. What's particularly informative is his finding that confirms what I've told anyone and everyone: buying ads on Google is a waste of money compared to the more time-consuming but rewarding effort of getting to the top of a ranking in Google; what's called a "natural search result."

Nalts reports that our eyes look to the google search results much more than to the right-placed ads.

I will offer this: with "bots" issuing automatic clicks on Google ads, a customer winds up paying for "false traffic" that does not lead to a purchase or even a page impression. New Scientist has a great article on this problem. In it, Will Knight reports:

"It is possible for an attacker to shut down or seriously impair any Google AdWords advertising campaign by artificially inflating the number of times an ad is displayed - but not clicked on."

And that can kill a Google AdWords campaign. The best route is to focus on good SEO and multi-platform exposure. In other words, have a website, a blog, YouTube and Blip.tv channels, and many interconnected social network pages, from Facebook to hi5.

Stay tuned.

Rielle Hunter and John Edwards affair: Andrew Young took the fall

Now that former Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards admitted that he was the father of Rielle Hunter's daughter Quinn, a lot more detail is being released. It reveals that long time John Edwards political aide Andrew Young took the fall for John Edwards.

According to ABC News, Andrew Young, who was at one point reported to have been Rielle Hunter's boyfriend, revealed that it was all a cover-up to protect John Edwards. In an ABC interview to be aired January 28th, Young said:

"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him. "And he asked me ... to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."

Since the affair was revealed, John Edwards allegedly went out to attack Andrew Young and smear his reputation, after Young expressed his concerns about the affair and the role he was asked to play in it.

In response, and to clear his name, Andrew Young began to shop a 20-page proposal for a book last June 2009, According to The Daily Beast. In it, Young claimed he was paid to go along with the hoax that he and not John Edwards was the father of Rielle Hunter's baby.

But when Andrew Young wanted to stop playing along he was cut off from John Edwards and reporters suddenly found a history of arrests (for check forgery and burglary) and convictions (for driving while intoxicated) for a person who was previously reported to be clean cut.

In the ABC January 29th interview, Andrew Young is going to offer more details of the story.

John Edwards civilian admits that John Edward politician was lying

As far back as October 2007, this blogger was one of the first to cover the then largely ignored claim that John Edwards was having an affair with Rielle Hunter. In August of 2008, John Edwards admitted to the affair...



But said he's not the father of her child. Still, the admission destroyed John Edwards' political career, just when he was poised to have a key role in the Obama Administration. Now, his campaign all but gone and his Twitter account inactive, John Edwards is a civilian.

John Edwards

Today, John Edwards admitted what was long speculated by The National Enquirer:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.

It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. I have been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support in the future.

To all those I have disappointed and hurt these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

This ends a long and very sad sex scandal that started in August 2007, when the New York Post Page 6 ran a column reporting that a politician had a girlfriend:

WHICH political candidate enjoys visiting New York because he has a girlfriend who lives downtown? The pol tells her he'll marry her when his current wife is out of the picture.

Then, late 2007, when the National Enquirer first speculated that Edwards was fooling around, and then "progressed" to Edwards being discovered by two National Enquirer writers as he was attempting to visit Rielle Hunter in July of 2008:



This story is a study in how the media can avoid a story both to protect a politician and to just skip over what's considered sensational.

In this case, The Huffington Post's Sam Stein was one of the first to take the National Enquirer story seriously and write a blog post on it but after first being led to it by then then removed-from-the-Internet campaign videos made by Rielle Hunter.

The Daily Kos took Stein to task as John Edwards was then their darling candidate.

Then Sam Stein wrote a full post on the affair speculation that was removed and replaced by a safer and more watered-down version that only pointed to the Enquirer's story and did not offer detail.

The delay in reporting the Edwards scandal, as America was deep into an intense Democratic Presidential campaign, allowed John Edwards to rise in campaign dollars, polls, and expectations from supporters.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder called it "a trash story". The LA Times removed links to a post on it.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards was being left in the dark. No word on her view of Edwards' statement today. Yet.

Scott Brown is no Sarah Palin; Sarah Palin is no Scott Brown

There's an idea flying around the media and the conservative blogs that Former Alaska Governor and Fox News Commentator Sarah Palin would match well with new Senator-Elect Scott Brown in some kind of dream 2012 President / Vice President matchup.

The idea was even echoed on CNN's Larry King Live Wednesday night by CNN Commentator David Gergen, who's penchant for making questionable statements has risen to alarming proportions of late.

For several reasons that to some are sexist, Senator-Elect Scott Brown is being compared to Sarah Palin. In fact, one blogger called Scott Brown "The Next Sarah Palin". The main reasons are than both are between 40 and 50 years of age, are considered good looking, white, Republican, athletic, and former models. But those comparisons are proving to be "skin deep".

As Joe Weisenthal rather roughly put it in "The Next Sarah Palin"...

Most notably, Sarah Palin is a big loser, and she's no longer the hero, insurgent member of the party. She is seen as having helped lose the 2008 election.

Still, the paring of Sarah Palin and Scott Brown was indirectly ignited by The Wall Street Journals's Washington Wire, which speculated that Scott Brown may be ready to run for President in 2012, of course, forgetting that Brown just got elected, hasn't been seated, and doesn't know Washington.

In reality, Scott Brown has little in common with Sarah Palin. Brown's a lawyer; Palin is not. Palin' claims to be a conservative (or what this blogger calls a "couch potato conservative"); Scott Brown is considered to be a liberal Republican or what he calls a "Scott Brown Conservative."

The Nude Debate



And then there's that nude model issue. Scott Brown posed nude for Cosmopolitan back in the 80s, and it did nothing to harm his political campaign. Sarah Palin was a beauty pageant contestant and she was criticized for it. That difference in treatment has got the attention of  bloggers and not without considerable outrage.

In the NY Daily News on Wednesday, Jeremy Mayer called it "Full Frontal Sexism":

Surely it is not one of the great injustices in America today that women who pose nude are probably ineligible for higher office, while Brown's nude modeling is just an unusual feature on his resume. But it is emblematic of the differing standards we have for women and men in public life.

In RH Reality Check, Nisha Chittal let loose with her anger:

But had a woman candidate done the same, it would have cost her the election. No female politician could hope to make it out of a scandal like that...She was derided as a dumb beauty queen, but he’s praised as a “hunk.”...Monday night on Fox, the Washington Post’s Sally Quinn said that Brown is a "hunk" and the fact that he posed "semi-nude" actually "gave him a huge advantage in terms of the public recognition" and that "It made him a recognizable public figure, which he was not before. A lot of women think he’s really cute." It’s appalling that the media hasn’t shown more outrage over the now Senator-elect Scott Brown’s actions, where we most certainly know they would do so had it been a woman. But perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised – this kind of sexism has long been rampant in our media system.

The point is that Scott Brown got away with just what did Sarah Palin in: being "expressive". But while Brown did use his looks to his advantage, and the media played along with it save for this blogger, no one has accused him of being uninformed on policy; a charge that dogs Sarah Palin to this day.

Lastly, Scott Brown did not seek Sarah Palin's endorsement and has yet to appear with her at a campaign-related event. Scott Brown did not seek Sarah Palin's endorsement. Scott Brown is more supportive of abortion rights than Sarah Palin will ever be. Scott Brown is no Sarah Palin; Sarah Palin is no Scott Brown.

Let's hope for his sake that he's no John Edwards.

GNA 1.0 - Glenview Neighborhood Association, Oakland

(Glenview street banners, courtesy of Maja Brugos Design: www.brugosdesign.com)

Yesterday's clouds dumped another inch of rain onto Oakland. More t-storms may be in the stars for the Bay today, with more precip. into next week.

Some of the banners along Park Boulevard have buckled in the harsh weather, flapping in the high winds and in some places, coming loose from their streetlight mounts. Below them runs the garden median; the city nearly shut off its drip water system last year due to budget cuts. Today it's soaked. Water brims, then runs down the Glenview slope and into the sea.

Next spring, the Glenview Neighborhood Association (GNA) plans to host a gardening party on the median. But while winter still reigns in Oakland, they've been busy with a little virtual refurbishment.

Yesterday the GNA launched a new Web site, and invite you to tour their virtual home today: GlenviewNeighbors.com.

Visit your GlenviewNeighbors online and consider making a donation. Your membeship will go to feed the plants on the median; they will fund online projects with the neighborhood youth. It could also purchase new flags for the Glenview—a nice distraction from the potholes on Park.

Conan O'Brien out at NBC; Libby Schaaf in at Oakland City Hall

At first, Conan O'Brien and Libby Schaaf may seem as far apart as NBC and The City of Oakland. But as New Media brings the worlds of politics and entertainment closer together, it's appropriate to look at two events unfolding at the same time, and involving two people who are going in different directions but similar, still.

Libby Schaaf

Conan O'Brien is leaving NBC. The victim of NBC and Jay Leno's decision to return Leno to his host spot on The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien said he was just days closer to going on his greatest "drinking binge" ever. Rightly so; Conan was pushed out and there's no guarantee that Jay Leno will fare any better as the (new) The Tonight Show host, as the juggernaut that is The Late Show With David Letterman chugs on.

Meanwhile, Libby Schaaf is a new entry into the public eye, and this blog post is specifically designed to introduce her to a much larger audience than the common, pro-forma, locally centered, boring, self-serving blog post would accomplish. And it's for a very good reason: Libby Schaaf, even if she does not know it, is poised to take over Oakland Politics.

Let's look at Libby Schaaf before we turn our attention back to Conan O'Brien.

First, to clear decks, Libby is a personal friend of this blogger, and has been since 1991. For all of those years Libby has been one thing: passionate about Oakland. Ms. Schaaf worked hard to help Oakland School Board members get elected and in some cases re-elected. She was a fixture as a volunteer at the Oakland Festival at The Lake. And Libby has been involved with many non-profits, like Oakland CARES when it was active, and the Oakland Symphony; in fact, the list is too long to mention even from memory.

Libby has always concerned herself with how to make Oakland better. And she's passionate (that word again) about helping women get connected and employed in business and of helping those less fortunate than she. Libby walks her talk.

Currently, Libby lives in the Montclair District and is planning to run for the City Council seat currently held by Jean Quan, who's running for Mayor of Oakland. To that end, after talking with a number of people, Libby hired locally-known campaign consultant Doug Linney as her campaign manager. She has a "kitchen cabinet" as well. She's ready, although this blogger is concerned she's running an all too conventional campaign, one not appropriate for her aura - for who she is.

Libby's plan has been to run because Jean Quan's not running for her City Council seat. If Jean changes her mind, then Libby would have to decide if she really wants to drop out of the race.

If Jean Quan elects to go back to her current seat (which she should not do as she would be a good candidate for Mayor), Libby should challenge her for the District Four City Council Seat.

Libby would beat her.

Why?

Libby Schaaf has Conan O'Brien's stage presence, good looks, ability to connect with people, and genuine passion for Oakland and for life that just comes through. What can serve her well is to realize that she must run as Libby Schaaf and not as "Libby Schaaf who's held this or that position with the City of Oakland and worked for Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente." Nothing against De La Fuente (District 5 - Central East Oakland, Fruitvale) at all, but Libby's much bigger than Ignacio, she just doesn't know it.

Libby has an incredible star power that has been diminished by the lesser ambitions of a number of people she's chosen to surround herself with. (Oakland is full of these types; very intimidated by anyone with high ambition and willing to cut down any person that has it.) Libby belongs on stage...as a guest on Conan O'Brien' show and representing the City of Oakland.

Seriously.

In fact, now that Conan O'Brien will be out at NBC and richer for it,he reportedly has the time and money to come to Northern California and help Libby get her campaign off the ground.

With Conan O'Brien involved, Libby Schaaf would see her possible future, work to achieve it, and do so.

Stay tuned.

Nine Foreign Language Films remain in Oscar race

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science announced that nine foreign language films advanced in competition for the category of best Foreign Language Film. The original list consisted of 65 films in this category.

Here's the list of films in alphabetical order, by country:

Argentina, El Secreto de Sus Ojos Juan Jose Campanella, director;
Australia, Samson & Delilah Warwick Thornton, director;
Bulgaria, The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner Stephan Komandarev, director;
France, Un Prophète Jacques Audiard, director;
Germany, The White Ribbon Michael Haneke, director;
Israel, Ajami Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, directors;
Kazakhstan, Kelin Ermek Tursunov, director;
The Netherlands, Winter in Wartime Martin Koolhoven, director;
Peru, The Milk of Sorrow Claudia Llosa, director.

The Academy reports that the short list is determined in "two phases":

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 65 eligible films between mid-October and January 16. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 29, through Sunday, January 31, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The nominees will be announced February 2nd at 5:30 a.m at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Oscar telecast will be Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at Hollywood and Highland and telecast on ABC.