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.

BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09

I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.

BARE Magazine Launch Party, Berkeley, CA 2-28-09

I attended a great launch party of a new and innovative magazine called BARE. It was started by UC Berkeley student Doreen Bloch and captures the Bekeley fashion style, but also taps into the lucrative college student fashion scene.

Zennie's Gold Card Song A Hit On CNN and iReport

On Saturday I for some reason as I was showering started thinking about the song "The Sound of Silence" and then how my friend Russo has a tendency to sing these songs with a weird voice, so then I was thinking of a submission to the iReport on what I've given up to save money, and that led to my American Express Gold Card which I'd stopped using. I had all of those thoughts in one minute of shower time, then I started thinking about the lyrics to the song.

See, American Express, or AMEX, is trying to go back to its old business model where you as a card holder never had a balance, you just paid what you owed each month. So it's sacking the balance-holding accounts regardless of whether you paid on time or not. My account wasn't "sacked" but I had seen first the establishment of a credit limit then decreases in that limit which caused AMEX to ask for more money for no logical reason -- to me. So I figured why keep using it? Save money.

Thus the song.

Goodbye Gold Card my old friend! We've seen good-eats on the high-end..
People tell me AMEX has crashed. People say their credit is
smashed. But I'll tell you, that's not going to happen to me; I'll
set you free. And use, my cash! Well, ok and my PayPal and gift
cards, and other things.

And this YouTube video:



Which I also uploaded at iReport here:



And that version was seen over 69,000 times in one day because CNN elected to post it at CNN.com and well it went from 25 views to 15,000, to 69,000! But I didn't know it was going to be on television and that happened Sunday as I was in the gym. And then I've gotten facebook messages from people and texts and phone calls, so I figured I should share the video and lyrics for anyone who wanted to sing a silly song. I've got another song somewhere in me, but it works better when it's not forced out into the open!

Deputy Paul Schene Shown Kicking Black 15-Year Old Teen Girl

From the AP:

Surveillance video released in an assault case against a King County, Wash. sheriff's deputy shows him kicking a young girl, slamming her to the jail cell floor and striking her repeatedly. The deputy has pleaded not guilty in case

This is racist and terrible. She's a 15-year old girl. Deputy Paul Schene apparently claimed she kicked a shoe but the tape does not show that. Another "Oscar Grant" example of a cop acting out of racist intent. We must punish officers who behave this way with jail time of their own. She is defenseless and did nothing wrong.

Google 2009 "Brands" Search Focus Hurts Bloggers

A month ago, Google made a decision to focus on "brands" such that in searches for companies or public figures like former Oakland City Manger Robert Bobb, blogs don't come up but major websites do, which hurts Blogs and bloggers. More on this soon.

Goodbye AMEX Gold Card (For Now) - Zennie62

Goodbye Gold Card my old friend! We've seen good-eats on the high-end.. People tell me AMEX has crashed. People say their credit is smashed. But I'll tell you, that's not going to happen to me; I'll set you free. And use, my cash!

Pres. Obama Address to Congress Tuesday, February 24th - Video

Pres. Obama addresses the nation before a joint session of Congress. In his speech focusing on the economy and the promotion of his economic agenda. This CSPAN video captures the full 53 minutes of the best speech ever.

Obama Plans to End Iraq Combat Missions by August 2010

More at NYTimes.com: “CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — President Obama declared Friday that the United States has now “begun the work of ending this war” in Iraq as he announced the withdrawal of most American forces by the summer of next year while leaving behind as many as 50,000 troops for more limited missions.”

MYTH BUSTED: No Increase to Business Taxes, even for Joe the Plumber

Why are pro-business Republicans among the critics suggesting Obama's proposal includes a tax hit on people who run the small businesses that those same Republicans always insist drive job growth in the USA? Are they worried about the Joe-the-Plumber scale businesses? If so, it's already been documented that neither Joe nor his boss earned enough to be hit by the new taxes, and so they'd likely see a tax reduction. Don't forget, for these purposes "small business" includes up to 500 employees.

It's a curious thing - but to actually gross the $250,000 that represents the threshold for the tax increase is not common for small business owners. I know - I was one. I created jobs, I had more staff than my predecessor had in the same business, and I paid for health coverage for my full time staff (my part-timers had coverage through other sources) and even though the business moved a lot of cash through my bank, I didn't come close to grossing 6 figures. Many small business owners actually earn less than their best paid employees do, and that's even more true today that it was 10 years ago.

According to the Associated Press, an independent analysis estimated that just over 75% of all U.S. households would qualify for Obama's proposed tax credit for workers.

Did you know that there are over 3 times as many businesses in the USA without any employees as there are with employees? That's right, many professionals in partnerships, sole proprietorships, some S-Corps, and many who "organize" themselves as a for tax reasons as a business earn little or no taxable income from their business. So sure, some of those folks who are very successful and are technically small businesses on paper will end up paying more taxes - if their accountants can't figure out how to structure the cash flow to keep their paycheck under $21,000/month.

But the GOP has been campaigning for years - and often winning - based on accusing the Democrats of being the party of tax and spend. So even though that old familiar attack didn't work during the general election in 2008 their messaging gurus apparently don't have another theme ready. And that means we're going to hear about the mythical "drag on the economic engine of small business job creation" until the GOP finds somebody that makes for better coverage than former Massachusetts Governor Romney, or current Governors such as Palin, Pawlenty, and Jindal.

Buzz it up at Yahoo
or digg this story!

Schwarzenegger Says Reporter Says "Wacky Things"

This is a classic video on Gov. Schwarzenegger 's personality.

Stevie Wonder presented with Gershwin Award by President Obama

This was an amazing ceremony for a man that too was part of my childhood -- Stevie Wonder. His music has expanded in the digital age to shape our culture and yet people like President Obama and myself can say we were there when "Stevie" was born. Wow.