Monday, December 17, 2007

TRANSPORTS' Beverly Uses Sex; Race As Weapon For Her Own Pleasure With Co-Worker

Yep. That's a weird title, but as readers to my blog know whenever there's a weird something that happens in my life, I'll report it and this is certainly up there.

As of this writing -- things change -- I'm not dating anyone. So as it happened I was at a cool lounge in Oakland with an interior that looks like you've walked into a Polynesian hut. Awesome place called The Tiki Lounge. Anyway I'm hanging out and chatting and eventually started talked to the woman seated next to me, who was attractive to be sure and quite interested in my name.

Her name's Beverly, which she seems to think is a boring name, but it's not. That and the occasional "I'm Asian" comments were a bit annoying but I could deal with it.

After a good time of talk, it seemed we were both interested in each other, except I had one question, which I'll get to. But then at that point, she starts to involve this guy who seemed all of about 20 years old next to her. He was also with a group of people that, as it turned out, all worked for Beverly.

To make a long story short, Beverly basically tried to use my interest in her to attract this guy who's also her direct employee at a store in Oakland called Transports. I said to her during this difficult period in our talk, "Say, aren't you considering that you are his boss?" She said she's known him for three months and also said that he never did anything in the way of an advance until I expressed an interest. She said this. I'm not kidding.

That's lame.

I also wondered quietly to her if part of her problem was that perhaps she had a preference for White guys. At first, she said I was playing "the race card" -- but then just five minutes later admitted to him, but within earshot of me, that she "was used to White skinny guys." To which I politely called her on it, and you could see her wheels turning as if to say "I got caught."

Geez.

Then I asked Bev about the ring on her finger. It turns out that by her own admission, she's still married, although she says she's in the middle of a divorce. If that's the case, take off the ring.

With all this, and I told her, I lost interest. Plus, the guy was a total dweeb who makes snide remarks and is constantly looking for drama and controversy. and Beverly was egging him on, saying to him "Don't you get into bar fights?" Because she was trying to pit him against me. To which I remarked, "I don't get into fights; I call the cops." At that point, I though Beverly lost it. She would blame the cocktail; I blame her judgement.

Beverly and he also said that "no one would find out about this" -- meaning their planned romance, and using that term is a stretch at best. And they were dumb enough to say it before me, even though I said "Hey, this is so weird I could blog it." To which the guy said "Oh, who reads the blogs! No one reads the blogs."

Okay!

They -- she and he and his friend Dan -- finally left, thank God.

The point here is that no one should play games involving race and sex with anyone. Also, I find a number of women seem conflicted in choising a mate based on race. The bottom line is this: you should not do it. The reason is that if you try to segregate your romances racially, you must -- by default -- be racist to maintain that segregation. Better to judge the person as an individual rather than a type. I find that more men don't seem to care what color the woman is as long as they're hot and nice.

Also, if you're working for a company, don't take up relations with the person who works for you and right under you and you're still married, and it's in front of co-workers!

That's not smart and Beverly was certainly not being smart or nice.

Finally, never ever assume that people don't read blogs and don't tell that to a blogger!

L.I. Couple Guilty In 'Modern Day Slavery' Case- Horrific

Victims Were Beaten, Burned, Forced To Eat Their Own Vomit

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBS) ―
A jury found a wealthy Muttonstown couple guilty Monday of enslaving two Indonesian women who they hired as housekeepers, before treating them in a torturous manner with painful physical and psychological punishments.

The millionaire couple, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, and his wife Varsha Mahender, 45, were each convicted of all charges in a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, peonage, involuntary servitude, and harboring aliens.

Mr. Sabhnani immediately began stroking his immediately stunned wife and holding her face as the verdict was read.

Mrs. Sabhnani and her daughter Dakshina then both collapsed in the courtroom after the verdict was read and were taken to an area hospital, prompting the judge to postpone remaining court proceedings until Tuesday

The Sabhnanis, who have three other children and who operate a worldwide perfume business out of their Muttontown home on Long Island's Gold Coast, could face up to 40 years in prison, although attorneys predicted the punishment would be considerably less.

During the trial, the two Indonesian women detailed the horrific acts of abuse they were subjected to for even the slighest errors in their ways. Those punishments included being victimized with umbrellas, knives, and brooms.

One of the victims, a 51-year-old woman identified only as "Samirah," claimed that at the hands of Mrs. Sabhnani, she was scalded, sliced, clubbed, cut, and pinched. She said her ears were pulled, fingers bent, body taped, and she said she'd even suffered a broken hand.

As for Mr. Sabhnani, Samirah testified that he and some of the couple's four children at times saw her naked, when "the Missus" ordered her to remove her clothes as humiliation.

The Indonesian servant said for small mistakes such as if she slept late or was tardy when beckoned, Mrs. Sabhnani would use "a club to hit me in the mouth til my teeth fell off," she said.

She added that she would be starved at times and forced to take food from the trash. "I got up at 4 a.m. to scrub and cook for the Missus. I only ate at noon, two slices of bread," she said. And she maintained that she was scalded with boiling water -- if she complained -- until "the skin was cooked."

The visibly distraught woman seemed to claim most of the torture was at the hands of Mrs. Sabhnani, who another time made her vomit when she was forced to eat 100 hot chili peppers.

"Not satisfied that I wasn't dead yet, she ordered me to swallow six spoonfuls of chili powder, mixed with salt and water," she said. After she vomited, she claimed Mrs. Sabhnani made her eat the vomit.

When asked if she fought back, Samirah said: "No, I asked the Missus for forgiveness."

Court observers wonder why Samirah didn't run away sooner, after she was found inside a Dunkin' Donuts in May in an apparent daze, leading employees to call for help. She, along with another Indonesian woman identified as Enung, were taken into custody by police where they told of the alleged abuse.

But defense attorneys contend the housekeepers engaged in witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of an Indonesian self-mutilation ritual.

The Sabhnanis spent nearly three months in jail following their arrest before a judge signed off on a bail package that required the couple to post $4.5 million and pay an estimated $10,000 a day for round-the-clock security monitoring while they were kept under house arrest.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Favre becomes NFL career yards passing leader

December 16, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Brett Favre became the NFL career leader in yards passing Sunday, overtaking Dan Marino for his latest achievement in a milestone season.

The three-time NFL MVP pulled 1 yard behind Marino with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings, catching the St. Louis Rams in a blitz. That put the Green Bay Packers ahead 27-14 with 5:58 to go in the third quarter. He passed Marino on the Packers' next series on the first play, a 7-yard slant pattern to Donald Driver with 23 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

The game was halted for a few minutes while flashbulbs popped from the stands from a crowd that appeared to be at least half Packers fans, and public address announcer Jim Holder acknowledged the record. Driver hugged Favre, who shook hands with an official.

Marino passed for 61,361 yards in 17 seasons. Favre, who entered Sunday's game needing 184 yards to set the record, also is in his 17th season while enjoying a year comparable to his peak production.

Favre threw his 25th and 26th touchdown passes, also hitting Donald Lee on a 4-yarder early in the second quarter. He had 440 touchdown passes after breaking another mark that belonged to Marino with his 421st at Minnesota on Sept. 30.

He topped John Elway's career record for victories by a starting quarterback with his 149th at New York on Sept. 16.

Favre, 38, entered the game on pace to surpass his personal best of 4,413 yards in 1995 and challenge Lynn Dickey's franchise record of 4,458 yards set in 1983.

Favre was flawless early, completing his first nine passes to eight receivers for 95 yards. The early run ended when Ron Bartell broke up a pass intended for Lee with 5:47 left in the first half.

The veteran quarterback entered Sunday's game needing six touchdown passes in the last three games to add to his own NFL record by throwing 30 or more in nine seasons.

Sunday was Favre's 251th consecutive regular-season start, or 271st counting the playoffs -- both records for a quarterback.

Only former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jim Marshall has started more regular-season games (270) in a row.

Miami Dolphins Emerge Victorious- First Win Of The Season

Down by three with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith guided the reeling Ravens down the field to tie the game.

After Matt Stover's 44-yard field goal attempt was wide right with 9:57 remaining in overtime, the Dolphins took over on downs and sealed their first victory in the last calender year as quarterback Cleo Lemon hooked up with Greg Camarillo for a 64-yard touchdown grab.

The Fins removed the copious monkey off their back this afternoon after not registering a victory in the regular season since December 10th, 2006 at New England. For the Ravens, veteran Matt Stover missed his first field all-time in overtime (5-for-5)and further added to the team's blatant incompetence.

Baltimore has lost eight consecutive games and it now appears highly likely that rookie Troy Smith is the signal caller of the future, not Kyle Boller.

Congratulations to Cam Cameron on his first win as a head coach in the National Football League.

Colts Lose Entire Starting Defensive Line to Injuries - AP and NFL.com

Considering the injuries, it's amazing the Colts have done so well.

Indianapolis without five starters against Raiders
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts will sit five starters for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders, with injuries to defensive end Robert Mathis leaving the team without any of the first-string defensive linemen it had to start training camp.

The Colts decided Saturday that Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea would not play against the Raiders, Indianapolis spokesman Craig Kelley said. The team had already listed receiver Marvin Harrison (bruised left knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (ribs) and right tackle Ryan Diem (knee) as out for Sunday's game.

Mathis (sprains to both knees) and Bethea (sprained left knee) were injured during last Sunday's 44-20 victory in Baltimore. Neither finished the game, in which the Colts pulled most of their starters midway through the third quarter.

The absences of Mathis and Brock follow season-ending injuries to defensive end Dwight Freeney and defensive tackle Anthony McFarland, leaving the Colts (11-2) without any of the defensive linemen they had at the start of the season.

Rookie Ed Johnson has been the starter since McFarland was injured during training camp.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Clinton Library Gets 10 Percent of $165 Million Cost From Mid East

Wow. It seems The Clintons got funding help from the Mid East regarding the $165 Million William Jefferson Clinton Library. According to the Washington Post,

"Bill Clinton's presidential library raised more than 10 percent of the cost of its $165 million facility from foreign sources, with the most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia, according to interviews yesterday.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions.

The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has for months faced questions about the source of the money for her husband's presidential library. During a September debate, moderator Tim Russert asked the senator whether her husband would release a donor list. Clinton said she was sure her husband would "be happy to consider that," though the former president later declined to provide a list of donors."


It's one thing for Bush I to raise money from the Saudis, but in Clinton's case, he's on the campaign trail again, this time for Senator Clinton. It calls into question to what degree the Clinton's White House policies will be effected by who gave money to them.

Des Moines Register's Endorsement Of Clinton Is Criminal and They Forgot About The Iraq War!

DMR CHOICE - BIG MISTAKE. But the seeds in the DMR selection of Clinton over Obama, sadly, are summed up in the second paragraph of the editorial: "No fewer than three candidates would, by their very identity, usher the nation to the doorstep of history. Should the party offer the nation the chance to choose its first woman president? Or its first black president? Or its first Latino president?"

In other words gender and ethnicity -- not talent or experience -- played a major role in the selection of Clinton. Three women -- all White -- selected a White Woman who's running for President, then had the wrong-headed action of referring to the choice of picking a Woman over someone Black or Latino. Wow!

The editorial never mentioned the need to get out of Iraq and bring our troups home. In fact, it doesn't even mention Iraq at all!

Senator Barack Obama has been focused on this from day one -- Senator Clinton says she'll do it just to get a vote. The DMR editorial board gave a most criminal endorsement.

Criminal, because according to the New York TImes, the DMR Editorial Board allowed itself to be wined and dined by The Clintons. Normally, journalists don't accept dinner, gifts, and favors at all as it taints their ability to make a reasoned decision about news coverage.

Not this time!

Look at this excerpt from the NY Times:

Only nine days earlier, the Clintons had played host to a few top editors for drinks and appetizers at one of Des Moines’s fashionable new restaurants. But on this visit, Mr. Clinton was the closer in the exhaustive campaign of persuasion. Even after an hour he had not made his full case to Laura Hollingsworth, the new publisher, so he called back later in the day.

“Hi, it’s Bill Clinton,” he said, speaking slowly after reaching only voice mail. “I’m just calling to thank Laura for the meeting today. There was one more point I wanted to make, but I’ll keep trying to find her. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the time. Thanks.”

Two days after the former president dropped by, Ms. Hollingsworth smiled as she played the recorded message for a reporter during an interview in her office.

“It was humbling and I was honored to meet with him, but I wouldn’t say it sways me at all,” she said. “In this whole process, star-struck is the least of it.”


What is this? TMZ? Nuts!

Jodie Foster Thanks Her Female Partner In Public, Thus Highlighting a 14-Year Lesbian Relationship

Jodie Foster received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award and in giving her speech matter-of-factly thanked her partner of 14 years Cydney. In doing so Foster said indirectly what I thought many knew anyway, so I'm suprised it's news.



I've always thought Ms. Foster was not just a terrific actress, but a true lady. I actually met her in 1993 when she walked into a crowded and sunny Pier 23 in San Francisco unknown to the throng, then there was me. Foster walked by and through the crush of people, then stopped; as she did, I took notice.

So I whispered "Ms. Foster. May I have the honor of buying you a cocktail?" Her response was very nice: "Thanks so much. But we're not staying long at all; I'm just looking for a friend. Thanks." And with that, they left -- her and another woman -- after just 7 minutes of time.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Cloverfield Widget | Get "Cloverfield Widget" Here!

In the latest part of what is just an amazing marketing process for a film, J.J. Abrams, the producer of the upcoming movie "Cloverfield" has invited people like you and me to grab a widget for themselves. You can get one here below this and every post. It contains a brief by Abrams and some great scenes from what promises to be an awesome movie.

Click on the widget below, and grab one for your blog or website!

New England Has Record Snowfall Of Over 10 Inches

According to Reuters , New England's facing a record snowfall of over 10 inches and all that while I am in sunny, warm Oakland, California, where the residents complain that it's cold when the temp drops to 50 degrees.


"Spolied" is the word that comes to mind.

After Iowa Debate Obama Rises Both In Focus Groups And Iowa Poll

The last Presidential Debate before the Primaries and caucases was held today and by the Dems. It's a contest that caught the West Coast off-guard as it happened during working hours.

What we missed was a performance which featured Senator Barack Obama getting in what turned out to be the ultimate sound-bite.



It started as Senator Obama was asked why he had so many former Clinton advisors on his foreign policy team and how would that cause him to really bring change. But before Obama could talk, Senator Clinton was heard with her now-famous cackle stating "answer that" and Obama did; he got in this zinger:

"And Hillary, I'm looking forward to you becoming my advisor as well."

Pow. Right between the eyes. You could say she walked right into that one.

The debate overall was a good policy exchange which saw Obama emerge as a leader. Plus, Senator Clinton did not make enough of a difference to change her sagging fortunes before the Iowa Caucus. Senator John Edwards performed well, but it's not believed well enough to turn the tide totally in his favor. It's still a close race, but vastly different than even a month ago.

Now, Senator Obama's top dog in the Des Moines Register's latest poll. Plus, in another poll, the Newsweek Poll shows Obama's lead actually increased to 35 percent versus 29 percent for Clinton.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee's leading amoung Republicans and my guess is because he's the one that seems less threatening. Giuliani's off-politics antics make him seem less presidential. Ron Paul's still a bit too extreme for Republicans. And Mitt Romney - in my view -- comes off as both way too high-brow and mean-sprited. Huckabee seems to be the mostly likeable candidate for the Republicans.

Reddit Web 2.0 Party Gallery Lounge San Francisco



This is a "slice of life" video that gives you an idea of what people actually do at these "Web 2.0" parties. It features a brief talk with Reddit founder Steve Huffman, and a look around an all too crowded Gallery Lounge in San Francisco. We meet programmers arguing and someone who shows us how to make an impromptu NDA in a crowded place. Finally, San Franciscans who get around may recognize a certain person.