Wednesday, March 04, 2009
YouTube's Steve Grove - 3 things on 3/3
YouTube's Steve Grove announces the online events for March 3rd:
Three things to check out on YouTube this week:
1 - Senator of the Week, Claire McCaskill, asks YouTube about wasteful spending:
http://www.youtube.com/senatehub
And Representative of the Week, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, asks about nationalizing 401K plans: http://www.youtube.com/user/househub
2. Did you know the GOP does weekly response to the President's weekly address on YouTube? Check out last weeks from Senator Richard Burr:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gTUP5...
3. One of the best videos I've seen in awhile comes from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times:
Hurray for Hollywood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4EsR6...
Rush Limbaugh Is Wrecking The GOP And I LOVE IT!
http://www.zennie62.com -- Rush Limbaugh's idiological rants are out of touch with an economic reality that will keep The Democrats in power for at least the next 10 years. The reason is the economy itself and the need for government investment.
Between 1960 and 1999 the U.S. Economy added 20 million new jobs every 10 years, but from 1999 to today, only about 4.7 million new jobs. What happened to the 15 million jobs? They went overseas to countries like India, France, and north to Canada. And with jobs goes wealth. It's a key reason America's now the 3 largest exporter whereas we were number one for years, until 2004. We're now behind Germany and China.
All of that wealth lost has resulted in wrecked credit over time. We have to have jobs to afford our mortgages and our population did not stop growing through this period. But what happened was that we started to lose jobs from the remaining stock of them. Remember, we have millions of people that aren't even being counted in our economy -- they don't exist for employment purposes. The "Joe The Plumbers" of today are the steel workers of yesterday. With a thriving growing manufaturing industry, we were able to employ Americans and jobs were plentiful. Not today.
With this weak World Credit system we need government spending to replace the private investment spending that's gone. Indeed, with fewer businesses there's less private investment spending -- goverment must catalyze the growth of business.
All of this calls for an activist government and that's something -- that need -- will keep The Democrats in power for years to come.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
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.
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.
Hudson River Plane Landing (US Airways 1549) Animation with Audio
This amazing "Black Box Real Time Matched" video animation by Scene Systems was just aired on "The Rachel Maddow Show" and it gives one a real good idea of just how fast events unfolded in the water landing of US Airways Flight 1549.
It also is a testimonial to just how talented and heroic Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger III's efforts were as well as those of the entire crew of Flight 1549.
Congratulations to Scene Systems for a timely recreation of events.
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.”
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.
-- 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.
-- 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.
Monday, March 02, 2009
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.
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!
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.
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