California's education and economic problem; Chevron's aide

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Aside from jobs, education funding is the most important problem in California. I was surprised to learn that Chevron Oil Company - the company commonly associated for bad things and unfairly so in my view - was behind a $7 million initiative to fund education non-profit organizations in Northern California.

It's called The California Partnership and was developed to help those organizations that were focusing on, and making a difference in, disadvantages neighborhoods, primarily in Northern California.

I was invited to join other media at the San Francisco City Club and frankly learned something shocking. I learned that while other media outlets were invited, at least one organization said they only covered a story involving non-profits if their was something negative, like a staff member stealing funds, for example.

Think about that the next time you see a bad story on a non-profit in the media.

The organizations Chevron helped for this round of funding who attended the breakfast are Teach For America, Kiva.org, Donors Choose.org, and Project Lead The Way. Here's the total list of organizations assisted in 2009:

Chevron California Partnership Nonprofit & Community Partners for 2009
Education

- California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) – REVS-UP program for STEM education in local middle and high schools, and creation of a new STEM Activities Center at CSUB
- Contra Costa County Office of Education – online media services to local districts and schools
- DonorsChoose.org – providing grants to teachers to purchase tools for STEM education
- Project Lead the Way – preparing middle and high school students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
- Project SEED – teaching high-level mathematics to increase education options for urban youth
- Science Buddies – online resource for science fair projects and content for class assignments
- Teach For America – places high-achieving college graduates as teachers in low-performing schools
- Techbridge – a hands-on after school science program for young girls

Economic Development

- AnewAmerica – business incubation, asset-building and social responsibility for entrepreneurs
- THE BREAD PROJECT – career training program for low-income people with barriers to employment
- EARN – asset-building services to help low-wage workers to escape poverty permanently
- Goodwill Academy – post-secondary vocational education and help for those with little work experience
- Jewish Vocational Services – vocational training and employment services
- Kiva.org – person-to-person microlending website for small businesses and entrepreneurs
- Opportunity Fund – provides loans to low-income entrepreneurs and small businesses
- Opportunity Junction – helping low-income adults build sustainable economic self-sufficiency
* WE Invest – provides tools and resources to help women achieve financial self-sufficiency
- Women's Initiative for Self Employment – training, resources and support for women entrepreneurs

The video features talks with representatives of the firms at the breakfast and I'll have more information on each company as they've got great stories to tell.

Ian McKellen rips out Bible pages of Leviticus..for a reason

Taking a bit of a break from what's frankly a hard chore of paying attention to shooting (Fort Hood), after shooting (Orlando), after shooting (Tokyo) to share a bit of light news.

I clicked over to Jewcy.com and learned that great actor Sir Ian McKellen (Lord Of the Rings, The X-Men series) has an interesting habit he practices in hotel rooms. He rips out a specific page of the Bible from Leviticus, Chapter 18, verse 22, which reads:

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

According to Jewcy, McKellen told Details magazine:

"I'm not proudly defacing the book," he asserts, "but it's a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible."

McKellen says his actions have inspired others to do the same. "I got delivered a package of 40 of those pages that had been torn out by a married couple I know. They put them on a bit of string so that I could hang it up in the bathroom."

As one who's straight and Christian, but one who believes in civil rights for all - in fact that it's even a conversation is really annoying to me - there are parts of the Bible I elect to skip, like that one. So Sir Ian McKellen's doing a favor for me by taking out a part of the hotel version Good Book I skip anyway.

So the next time you're in a hotel, look at your Bible. If the page containing Leviticus, Chapter 18, verse 22 is gone, you'll know Ian McKellen was there.

Fort Hood, Texas Shooting: 7 dead, 12 injured (video - updates)

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Video from local television station KCEN.

Original blog post with updates:

This is covered on television and just happened by what apparently and reportedly is an upset set of of soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, near Waco, Texas. There are reports of up to three gunmen, one already arrested, two others the subject of a search. 7 are dead and 12 are injured.


Fort Hood is on lockdown now; the 55,000 people not allowed to go anywhere.

There was a graduation ceremony going on at the time of the shooting, according to MSNBC and CNN. The shooting happened at the solidier readiness facility on the base.

The gunmen were carrying M-16s according to General Russell Honore U.S. Amry (Ret.) on Rich Sanchez Show on CNN just three minutes ago. Fort Hood is one of the largest U.S. Army installations in the country.

Cao's Blog reports:

Fort Hood is next to Killeen, northeast of Austin; home to about 5,000 active duty officers and 45,000 enlisted; with approximately 9,000 civilian employees.

In August, there was a shooting at Ft. Hood that left Spc. Ryan Richard Schlack, 30, of Oshkosh, Wis. dead and Fort Hood Spc. Armando Ray Baca was taken into custody. There was another shooting in August, and another in October.

This story is developing and much of the information beyond the deaths and injuries, and that the gunmen may be solidiers, is not well-known.

UPDATE: CNN reports that President Obama was informed of the incident.

UPDATE: Confirmed - more than one gunman and in military uniform.

UPDATE: U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson says 30 people were wounded.

More soon.

Fort Hood, Texas Shooting: 7 dead, 12 injured (developing)

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This is covered on television and just happened by what apparently and reportedly is an upset set of of soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, near Waco, Texas. There are reports of up to three gunmen, one already arrested, two others the subject of a search. 7 are dead and 12 are injured.

Fort Hood is on lockdown now; the 55,000 people not allowed to go anywhere.

There was a graduation ceremony going on at the time of the shooting, according to MSNBC and CNN.

The Gunmen were carrying M-16s according to General Russell Honore U.S. Amry (Ret.) on Rich Sanchez Show on CNN just three minutes ago. Fort Hood is one of the largest U.S. Army installations in the country.

This story is developing and much of the information beyond the deaths and injuries, and that the gunmen may be solidiers, is not well-known.

UPDATE: CNN reports that President Obama was informed of the incident.

UPDATE: Confirmed - more than one gunman.

More soon.

Unemployment benefits extension passes House; on to White House

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After passing the U.S. Senate 98 to nothing on Wednesday, legislation to extend unemployment benefits has passed the U.S. House 403 to 12 and is on to the White House.

Free of its GOP Senate roadblocks, the bill is sailing through Congress on its way toward the White House. It's just one day and this legislation has done what few bills have: gotten almost unanimous approval so far.

What changed the fortunes of the unemployment benefits extension? Good question; I will answer later today.

Stay tuned.

National fitness model search by Wilhelmina Models

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I just received this out-of-the-blue email by "Project Breakout" (never heard of them) explaining a fitness model search contest they've launched , or as the email reads: "Wilhelmina Models has partnered with Shape and Men's Fitness (magazines) to find the next hot body!"

Fit body like this?  Wilhelmina Models wants you!

What kind person is a "fitness model?" Well, one example of someone who would be great for Wilhelmina Models is Jennifer Benda, a SF Bay Area Female Bodybuilder whom I interviewed a couple of years ago as she was trying to get her and story name "out there" while preparing for several contests that year.



So if you've got a great, beautiful, hard body like Jennifer Benda (and there are a lot of great candidates in the SF Bay Area) go for it. The search contest is open to men and women, ages 18 and over. (I wonder if whoever sent this was thinking I would try out for it myself because the email came from left field? If so it's a complement but I'm going to skip this one.)

The 10 finalists (five male and five female) will receive a three-day trip to New York City to be in the contest finals, a "spa and grooming experience", a day of personal training, and a $200 Vitamin Shoppe gift card.

If you want to participate in this contest to be a "Top Model" with Wilhelmina, go to www.wilhelminamodelsearch.com to enter now through November 30th.

From there, the two grand prize winners would gain a five-year modeling contract with Wilhelmina, a photo shoot in Shape or Men's Fitness, a vacation for two at a Beaches resort, a Bulova watch, $1,500 Vitamin Shoppe gift card, and a one-year VIP membership to Gold's Gym.

Also, if you happen to read this and are in Miami, there's an open casting call for the contest at The Vitamin Shoppe on 1101 5th Street on Saturday, November 14 from 10am to 3pm.

Now this email tells me there's a $20 entry processing fee, so be warned and good luck.

The mainstreaming of women and muscle

This search contest is a great indicator of how far the athletic woman has come. From the days of being considered "unladylike" to "totally hot" and sought after by modeling agencies today, it's finally completely acceptable for a woman to look and feel strong. Regardless of how one feels about the female bodybuilder from a visual perspective, that development is something to celebrate.

Rihanna on "Good Morning America" talks about Chris Brown;

Rihanna

According to the Associated Press, just an hour ago, singer Rihanna was on the ABC show "Good Morning America" to explain that she regrets going back to Chris Brown after he beat her February 8th of this year, and during an argument over his alleged infidelity to her. Or in the AP's detailed paragraph:

The attack occurred in Los Angeles' Hancock Park neighborhood as Brown drove a rented sports car. A Los Angeles police detective described a brutal attack in a search warrant affidavit filed in the case, stating Brown hit, choked and bit Rihanna and tried at one point to push her from the car. A photo of her bruised face was circulated on the Internet. In an interview with Glamour magazine, posted online Tuesday, she said about the leaked photo, "I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it's my life."

It's clear Rihanna (who has a new album coming out November 23rd) is at least more aware of her public image than Taylor Swift, who still as of this writing has not apologized for posing with a Swastika t-shirt wearing Hollywood model named A.J. English.

Regarding her actions in going back to Chris Brown, Rihanna said "That's embarrassing — that's the type of person I fell in love with. So far in love, so unconditional, that I went back," she said. "That's not what I want to teach people."

Rihanna continued: "When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for telling them, 'Go back,'" she said.

"I didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened," Rihanna added. "It was a wake-up call for me, big time, especially when I took myself out of the situation."

At 21, she's come a long way in a short time and has set an example for Taylor Swift to follow. As a public figure, one can't just "do what they want to do". They have to be aware of the messages and images they send out to the World.

This revelation puts Chris Brown's confession video in new light because the vast majority of people I polled did not believe him:



In retrospect, since Rihanna had gone back to Brown already he probably didn't feel entirely remorseful because he had her at the time even after the violence incident, and that came through on camera. Why do it then? To protect his career and get a lesser sentence, which happened, as Brown's doing community service work in place of jail time.

But the larger development is that of Rihanna the responsible public figure. Again, Taylor Swift can follow her example. Since Swift's silence on that horrible Swastika photo matter, I've got comments on my blog posts at Zennie62.com by people actually stating that the Swastika is a sign of peace, as if to apply some weird "PR" rescue to Nazi Germany.

Taylor Swift could silence those hate-filled people with one apology she has yet to give and yet is so easy to provide. If she needs guidance, Swift should turn to Rihanna to show her the way.

NY Yankees are World Series Champs; don't hate them for their payroll

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The New York Yankees just captured their 27th World Series Championship, in 48 playoff appearances, beating the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies 7 to 3 and in six games as Hideki Matsui carried this game on his shoulders.

Hideki Matsui drove in three runs, first with a home run, then a single to center, then a double to deep center. The Phillies didn't threaten until the 6th inning, when Ryan Howard homered to bring the defenders to within striking distance 7 to 3.

But a Phillies threat in the 7th inning was blunted as Chase Utley, the hero of Game 5, struck out swinging at the plate.

The hero of the series? There were many, but I'm swayed by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who explained on TV and at his blog "Baseball Nerd" why Johnny Damon made the smartest play in World Series history, Sunday, when he stole a third base the Phillies left uncovered because of a defensive shift.

Yankees payroll puts them in a hard place

With the perennially highest payroll in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees are in a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they don't position. With a payroll hovering around $200 million, they're supposed to win the World Series, or at least get to it. But when they don't win, fans are happy they didn't because they have such a high payroll.

According to an article in Psychology Today, when we teach our kids to hate the Yankees because of their high payroll, we cause them to forget that the baseball game is played on the field. In other words, hatred for the Yankees is so great, we have shrinks telling us how unhealthy it is.

I don't hate the Yankees at all.

As I've explained to students who use my Oakland Baseball Simworld in the classroom, its possible to construct the revenue to create a Yankees competitive player payment base. It's better to join the Yankees than beat them at their payroll game. That said, many teams opt for the "Moneyball" route, employing Sabermetrics (statistical analysis for baseball-related playing decisions) to find the best players and use them is specific situations, and keep salaries at manageable levels.

Improving Twitter - how about emailed tweets?

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I was reading TechCrunch blogger MG Siegler's post on the newest improvement to Twitter, that of notifications in a new "ticker tape" bar just above the list of tweets, when it hit me: Why not emailed tweets?

See, what Twitter's staff is trying to do is keep users engaged, according to MG's post, people tweet for a while or a period of time, then lose interest. The problem with the fix that's installed is one still has to come to the Twitter page to see it.

My idea is to send the tweet to the user via email so that it appears in one's mobile phone email account, thus the person doesn't have to have an app on their phone or go to their computer to know what tweets they're getting.

To clarify this would not be any tweet but just those directed at the user starting with the @zennie62 indicator. That would theoretically reduce the number of tweets flooding one's email in-box.

What do you think? Send an email or comment at my video page.

LA Lakers - Will The Lakers go 20 and 1? Record 3-1

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My LA Lakers watch, where I make a bet that the Lakers will go 20 and 1 has already taken a bit of a beating because the Lakers are 3 and 1 as I write this and face the Houston Rockets tonight.



NBA Western Conference, Pacific Division foe Phoenix Suns are the best team at 4 and 0. For the Lakers to help me win bet, they have to go 16 and zip. Can they do it? We shall see.

Take my poll:

create a free poll on pollsb.com

Unemployment benefits extension approved by Senate

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I was just informed that the U.S. Senate voted 98 to 0 to extend unemployment benefits for 20 weeks, which means those GOP Senators who were standing in the way of help for many Americans got the message and stopped being a road block to assistance, which they were as recently as Tuesday.

According to CNN, the benefits will be extended an additional six weeks for states, like New Jersey and California, where the unemployment rate is greater than 8.5 percent.

The measure now moves to the House for a floor vote, perhaps as early as Thursday. Then it goes to the White House for President Obama's signature.

AMPAS event "Brave Women In Wartime" a must see show

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, home of The Oscars) announces a really cool, must see event, Wednesday, November 11th, 7 PM at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood, CA.

I call it "Brave Women In Wartime" because it features two films: “Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh” and “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” which are about women who coped with difficult situations during the Holocaust and The Liberian Civil War. Both films were drawn from the 2008 Academy Awards pool of nominated films. 

"Blessed Is The Match" is the first documentary about Hannah Senesh. Described as a modern day Joan-of-Arc, she was a paratrooper and resistance fighter. In 1944, Hannah participated in what turned out to be the only military rescue mission for Jews during the Holocaust. Her life ended sadly as she was captured, tortured and killed by the Nazis and all seen by her mother, Catherine.



(This is the kind of movie Taylor Swift and A.J. English should jaunt over to see, given their now famous Swastika row and the incredibly high level of insensitivity expressed about the issue, both is Swift's silence and in some of her defenders actually writing to me that the Swastika is a symbol of peace! As of this writing, Swift still hasn't apologized for the photo.)

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” concerns the story of thousands of Liberian woman, armed only with white T-shirts, who came together to stage a silent protest that forced peace talks ending the conflict and the atrocities of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor during the 90s. It's a movie



Again, the event is at the The Linwood Dunn Theater,  located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.