Julia Mancuso's sexy photos heat up Women's Downhill in Olympics

While American Lindsey Vonn won Gold in, it's American Julia Mancuso's sexy photos heating up the Women's Downhill in the Winter Olympics.



American Lindsey Vonn became the first female from the U.S.A to win the Women's Downhill Gold Medal.

Vonn beat her teammate Julia Mancuso, who's from the San Francisco Bay Area, by just .56 seconds and on a course that caused several crashes and was as much a test of survival as competitiveness.

But it was Vonn's time to shine. Lindsey Vonn fought back and through the pain of an injured right shin to capture the Olympics' greatest prize.

Lindsey Vonn won the Gold; Mancuso the Silver, and Austrian Elizabeth Goergl got the Bronze medal. But online, it's Julia Mancuso who's getting the Gold in searches.

If there's any sport that prizes the female athlete as diva is skiing (except, perhaps, Tennis).

 In this case, Julia Mancuso's got no problem showing her hot body off before the cameras and on her blog, which is a show case of social networking links, Mancuso-related content, and lingerie.

Yep. Lingerie.

Julia Mancuso's even got her own lingerie line for sale on her blog! It's called "Kiss My Tiara" and at just $15 an item, it's sure to be a hit after Wednesday's Silver Metal success. Here's to Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso for making it happen at the Olympics, on the course, and off.

AC Transit Bus Fight - on racists and crazy people

The AC Transit Bus Fight that was captured on video and made its viral video mark Wednesday is a terrible, sick, and awful statement on American Society in the 21st Century.



The AC Transit Bus Fight features two men - one young and black, the other old and white - who both insult each other and to be frank the video shows the old white man after he went to the back of the AC Transit Bus to antagonize the young black kid. It was wrong for the kid to escalate the discussion, just as it was wrong for the old white man to answer back. It was wrong for the young kid to go and try and fight - to throw a punch. And it was wrong for the old man to hit the kid.

With all of that some observers have proven they're just as much animals as the men in the video. The talk of some is to crown the old white man as some kind of hero, when it's obvious he's some kind of nut job. Some people report the AC Transit Bus Fight as if it's a victory for whites against some boogie man who's black. All of this has become a discussion seemingly dominated by racists and nuts cases. Since racism is a mental illness, it's hard to tell them apart.

The bottom line is both were wrong and if you are picking sides, you're just making it all worse and showing how nutty people around the World can be. It's really sad that we've allowed society to degenerate to this point. To a point where I just seek refuge away from the crazy people and the racists.

President Clinton coming to UC Berkeley, February 24th

According to the Daily Cal, and the The Blum Center for Developing Economies, Former President Bill Clinton will visit U.C. Berkeley. February 24th at 3:30 PM at Zellerbach Auditorium. Tickets for President Clinton's speech are available only online and one has to be either a student at Cal, or a faculty or staff member to obtain them.

So if you're not any of the three, and know someone who is and haven't been nice to them you might consider getting on the phone to apologize to them first (no texting). Then ask for help with the Clinton tickets.

Seriously, their are 2,000 tickets available, 1,200 free for students.

You can get them here: berkeley.edu/clinton.

The title of President Clinton's speech is "Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action"

If you're reading the name "Blum Center for Developing Economies" and wondering who "Blum" is, it's Richard Blum, who's married to U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein and is also a person who's a San Francisco developer, financier, and political activist with close ties in the Tibetan community.

I think President Clinton had Blum in mind when he created the speech he's going to give on February 24th.

Here, on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Torch Run and during the San Francisco Protest of it, Richard Blum talks about his work in trying to get the Chinese Government to engage with The Dalai Lama:



Stay tuned.

Doc Gurley - Haiti: Hitting The Ground

Airports are bland portals scattered across the world. It's really when you step outside, walking down the cattle-chute ramp that's lined with well-wishers and people holding up hand-written signs - it's as you emerge, blinking into hot haze and the smell of moist, marinating diesel hits you, that's when you know you're somewhere else.

Our bus is a glorious, battered, curtained-fringed affair. I loved it instantly, its inside dotted with gently exhaling air conditioner vents, and the crack on the windshield buttressed by a large suction cup. We learned right away how grateful we should be for her (how can a bus with swaying fringed drapes NOT be a "her"?), because we didn't even make it out of customs before other aid workers were asking for possible rides to Jimani. We had so many wonderful bags and boxes of medical supplies (Thank you! Thank you! You know who you are), that we had to say sorry and wish the ride-seekers luck.]

A wildly painted bus in Haiti - NOT the one from the airport.

After a red-eye with 4 possible hours of sleep, we each re-folded back into the coach origami position to sit barricaded by boxes and bags, with Jesse, our local coordinator, perched on a cooler in the bus stairwell. And so the 3 hour trip just to reach the outskirts of Santa Domingo began.

It was urban density after urban density, and the kinds of insta-reflex, hair-thin near-misses that make 880 on Friday at 70mph look tame.

The sun set, the houses right against the freeway thinned and it was the kind of headlights-only dark you can't find in the States any more.

We stopped at a shockingly pristine, open-walled "market" for supper. Food was served cafeteria-style. As we left we saw an empty, nearly identical competitor right across the road, advertising Chinese and Creole food.

Mopeds with helmetless riders (and sometimes whole families) darted like mosquitoes around lumbering, gear-griding buses, even as the hour crept to midnight. A massive UN convoy passed when we stopped for fuel, car-carriers loaded with SUVs with UN painted on the sides, a massive flatbed with a mountain of lumber on the back and 3 container trucks, and 2 Security jeeps.

After midnight, in what felt like the middle of nowhere, we stopped at a massive, opulent hotel that was completely deserted - no other cars, no other guests. We slept in beds, showered in cold water and had a quick breakfast served family-style of fried chicken, stewed goat, plantains, eggs and rice. It was two minutes down the road, as we went through the 2 sequential wrought-iron gates that make up the DR and Haiti border (every inch between the gates a market stall, many of them selling bags of relief food), that I discovered that as I had been standing on the sidewalk outside the breakfast restaurant as we loaded our final two members of our group, my iPhone had been pick-pocketed.

My iPhone never made it into Haiti...

Share in the comments section about whether you think these are extreme needs or not - and tune in for the next in the series to get details about the Haiti trip. If you want to donate for supplies or transport, head over to www.docgurleycom for details underlined at the end of this same article. But if you're feeling a tad Haiti-ed out and overwhelmed, never fear, there will be OTHER, non-Haiti, fun health topics in the next few days! Keep up on the latest health issues in the news by signing up for a Doc Gurley RSS feed by clicking here. Look for future pics and other articles at Doc Gurley - discover the weird, the wacky and the everyday symptoms you want to know about, as well as practical expert tips on staying well. Want to express your inner fan-girl/boy? Become a Doc Gurley fan on Facebook! Want to be on the inside, fast track of health news and tips, as well as Haiti tweets? Get on the Twitter bandwagon and follow Doc Gurley! Also check out Doc Gurley's joyhabit and iwellth twitter feeds - so you can get topic-specific fun, effective, affordable tips on how to nurture your joy and grow your wellth this coming year.

Michael Jordan and Paris Hilton share a birthday

Would you believe that Michael Jordan and Paris Hilton share a birthday today? Yes. On his birthday, Michael Jordan turns 47, whereas Paris Hilton turns 29.

While Michael Jordan is enjoying the great retired life afforded by his amazing NBA Basketball career, Paris Hilton is enjoying a resurgence of sorts, after her celebrated DUI arrest of several years ago. Paris was the inspiration for my classroom simulation game called "Buffi The Gym Girl" where your job is to make Buffy, the fussy , glamorous celebrity, happy...



But "Buffi The Gym Girl" aside, Paris Hilton is the perfect model for anyone who's thinking of developing their personal brand. Paris is known for being famous, knowing the best parties, wearing the latest fashions, and having only the best of everything.

Michael Jordan is known for classy excellence on and now off the basketball court. Hmm.... Michael Jordan 47, and Paris Hilton 29; the perfect age gap.

Happy Birthday to both.

President Obama deserves a second term; CNN poll is irresponsible

In a wild hunt for ratings, CNN embarks on a poll question just one year into the four-year term of President Barack Obama asking if Obama deserves a second term. The fact that the poll was created during a period of high unemployment coupled with a still-new President Obama would tell a politically-aware ten-year-old that President Obama wasn't going to come out looking to good in such a poll: 52 percent said no; 44 percent said yes.

But CNN ran the poll with that predictable outcome anyway. All the better for stupid buzz; CNN got it. That CNN ran such a poll is totally intellectually irresponsible. It is so because they knew what the outcome would be. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that people polled will be unhappy with both President Obama and The Congress given the state of the economy. It also is equally irresponsible to poll just 1,023 Americans, and of that, only 923 registered voters. The poll sample size is too small to be taken seriously.

This blogger could have gotten a bigger sample size himself. Many of the polls ran in this space have drawn over 2,000 responses. For CNN to run a poll of just 1,023 people given their broadcast reach is, again, irresponsible.

CNN's embarked on what appears to be a really bizarre quest to discredit President Obama. Their main man in this effort in front of the camera has been David Gergen, advisor to a number of past Presidents and currently head of the Public Leadership Project at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.

CNN's Gergen regularly issues baseless evaluations of President Obama that include not-well-veiled political desires. For example, David Gergen mentions dropping the "Public Option" in the Health Care Reform proposal, rather than proving he's a really good student of politics by explaining how Obama could get a Public Option passed by Congress and discussing the problems with pushing a Public Option.

That's just one example. David Gergen's gotten so bad, this blogger changes the TV channel whenever he appears.

And that's often.

Of late, Gergen's on an "anti-Obama" kick that from this view has totally destroyed his credibility. As he's part of what appears to be an overall effort on CNN's part, it's only logical ro report that CNN's political credibility is equally low. Not the best place for the self-proclaimed "trusted news source" to be.

Stay tuned.

AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, Oakland, on YouTube video

A AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, in Oakland, California was captured on video and from two different perspectives. The AC Transit Bus Fight, which this blogger recognizes as starting on the AC Transit "N" route that serves the heart of Oakland into downtown Oakland, caused the bus to stop at the corner of Harrison and Webster Street, just one long block away from Lake Merritt and at the Kaiser Center's shopping mall area.

The first AC Transit Bus Fight video below shows an at first, seemingly harmless and rather misguided and silly conversation apparently about what someone would do based on their race. One young man, black, said the older man white, should get "yo ass back up in there", meaning the front of the bus. Apparently the older white man came to the back of the bus to confront the younger black man. "Why you being so hostile man", was what the older white man said to him.

Then the older white man went back to the front of the bus as the young black man was on his way to his seat at the back of the bus.

Here's the first video:



Then words were exchanged and after the young black man was on his way to the back of the bus. But when the older white man said "I can kick your ass", the young black man turned and went back to the front of the bus where the older white man was.

In the AC Transit Bus Fight, it's hard to tell exactly what happened for the first two seconds, but then it was obvious the two traded slap-punches. The older white man did get in one good left hook, and that was enough to drop the young black man.

The older white man said "See, you mess with me" as the younger black man was on the floor. (And the back of his shirt reads "I AM..a motherfucker")

 Then, as the young black man was collecting himself at the back of the bus, and the camcorder operator was talking to him, the older white man had started to just "go off" on a weird rant at the corner of Harrison and Webster.

This is that video:



What does this AC Transit Bus Fight prove? Well, it proves why cars and taxi cabs are a more desirable form of transportation than AC Transit buses in Oakland.

This is why Oaklanders rail against those who support higher parking fees, heavy-handed parking enforcement tactics, and tow-happy city administrators. It's also why some Oaklanders, like this blogger, support a BART Airport Connector rather than being forced on to AC Transit. For all of its woes, BART at least has an active police force.

Sorry, but you've seen the one reason why this blogger avoids AC Transit whenever possible. Both men were wrong and both should be charged with assault. But the overarching issue is that good working citizens of Oakland should not have their time wasted or their safety threatened by people who act like that. It's better to be able to avoid them.

The discussion about the AC Transit Bus Fight will break down to "Old White Rambo Dude versus Young N-word kid" and few will see the bigger picture. The kid should always respect his elders, regardless of color or behavior of the elder (within reason, of course), and the older man should know better than to go and pick fights because he's unhappy with his own life. And none of us should have to be subjected to their issues.

With that, the YouTune video takes on this are really worth watching:

Video: explaining the AC Transit Bus Fight:



Video: Another take on the AC Transit Bus Fight:



NOTE: In the first video, the young women who filmed the event noted that the older white man left his bag. I hope she returned it to him.

Stay tuned.

Oscar gets an iPhone app before Academy Awards - Twitter next?

AMPAS, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced that a new Oscars iPhone app (or "Oscars® App") is available just in time before the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

This is great news for an organization who's social media efforts are far behind where they should be. The question is, when will AMPAS embrace Twitter and develop a fully integrated social media strategy? While you ponder that question, let's read more about the Oscars® App.

According to AMPAS, iPhone and iPod Touch users can get a nominees list for the 24 Academy Awards categories, see trailers from each film, and predict winners in each category. Your predictions will be saved in a database; you cna share them with your friends via email and Twitter.

It's a massively great new development, but where AMPAS can complete the social media job (for now) is by having a Twitter account that would send tweets of Oscar winners to the "Oscars® App" that you should then retweet to your Twitter followers from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Considering the number of AMPAS members who are on Twitter, plus Oscar fans, that would be a great distribution system.

But does AMPAS listen to me? I don't think so.

You can, and really should, get the "Oscars® App" for iPhone and iPod Touch at www.itunes.com/appstore/. Search for "Oscar" under the "Applications" drop down.

Lady Gaga wins three 2010 Brit Awards

Lady Gaga took home three 2010 Brit Awards last night. The amazing pop-culture super icon that is Lady Gaga won UK music industry's annual Brit Awards prizes for International Breakthrough Act, Best International Female Solo Artist, and Best International Album, according to CNN.



As Lady Gaga rises to obtain the award for International Breakthrough Act, the presenter said "No surprises here. The sheer force of Gaga has been such that you'd really be hard pressed to remember any other international artist even existed. Gaga is no newcomer to Planet Pop. She'd written songs for Britney and The Pussy Cat Dolls before she turned 21."

Lady Gaga thanked her fans, family, and business partners over the screams and cheers of the Brit Awards audience.

Roger Ebert: a living legend and American Cultural icon

Roger Ebert is an American Cultural icon. That term is thrown around a lot these days, but it's not without good reason. New Media allows us to enjoy a richer mix of what America's about. But even with all of the blogs, videos, and text - what we call "content" - experience still matters. In all of journalism, perhaps the one area other than investigative reporting that still matters is that of the Film Critic.

Roger Ebert's the kind of person I think of when I think of the Film Critic because after all these years it just seems like it's in his DNA to be just that. Roger Ebert has given thumbs up or down to movies for so long that it's impossible to think of him not doing so.

Yes, in capital letters, Film Critic. The person who can, within a moment, give a view of a film that at once captures what's good and bad about film and makes you think, even when you disagree with the critics view. That's what Roger Ebert does, and that's what he's done. It's not something that can be measured, but it is honed by years of experiences in the culture of film within the fabric of America. That's Roger Ebert's gift.

Roger Ebert deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I hope President Obama sees fit to give him such a prize.

Megan Fox Armani Commercial 2010 - Megan Fox gets kudos

The latest 2010 Megan Fox Armani Commercial is out today, Tuesday. Megan Fox is drawing rave reviews for the Armani commercial, where the stunning actress from Jennifer's Body and The Transformers movie series puts on Emporio Armani and becomes the face and body of Armani.

Splash News observed that Megan Fox "teases", while, Mail Online UK gushes...

The Transformers star, shot in black and white, pouts seductively at the camera as it pans up and down her enviable figure that has made her an international sex symbol.

The commercial is a 30-second-long trip along the semi-nude body of Megan Fox more than an commercial for Armani. To this blogger, it's playful, sexy, seductive, and just a tad boring. Not Megan Fox, the Armani commercial. Make no mistake about it, Megan Fox is a classically beautiful woman. But there's something about the Armani commercial that's missing and it's action.

Megan Fox in stiletto heeled sexy shoes and walking near-nude in the same Emporio Armani underwear would have sent the Internet into tilt. If the Emporio Armani commercial emphasized her legs as much as it does her face and abs, and her walking motion timed with that music, it would be timeless. Here's Megan Fox's legs on display in the Rolling Stones Interview of last year:



Over at Fashionising.com, Daniel P. Dykes says that women "hate Megan Fox" but men don't. I think the idea is for men to ask women to wear the Megan Fox Emporio Armani underwear (as it will come to be called) for them.

Let's see if the strategy works.

David Letterman calls Olympics officials hypocrites after luge death

On his Monday show, David Letterman let loose on Olympics officials, calling them hypocrites for their statements and actions in the wake of the death of luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili last week.

At a pre-Olympics training run at Nodar Kumaritashvili's luge took the final turn high, then as it came down and into the straight portion of the track, slammed into a wall, and bounced from it to the opposite wall, where Kumaritashvili was thrown over it and to his death. Olympics officials said their was nothing wrong with the track and said the reason for Kumaritashvili's death was "athlete error."

This blogger was one of the first to call the Olympics officials claims completely wrong and blame Kumaritashvili's death on the design of the track. The track was redesigned before the start of the first official Olympics luge contest. Heres my video:



Again, the course should have been designed in such a way as to have the luge come into a curved straight portion of the course; no right angles should have been part of the design. It's poor engineering. If the track were designed in that way, the luge times would have been faster than what we have now, but with a built-in safety behavior. If the luger's to crash, this would keep the racer on the course, not force the racer off of it.

David Letterman's right; Nodar Kumaritashvili's death was not his fault. It was the fault of the design of the track on the course.

Stay tuned.