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.

Tiger Woods talks return to Golf amid Joslyn James pregnancy claims

Tiger Woods is plotting a return to Golf, as porn star Joslyn James (real name Veronica Siwik-Daniels) launches love child claims. According to TMZ, Tiger Woods, the World's Greatest Golfer, is plotting a return to Golf. Reportedly Tiger Woods and representatives met with officials from the Tavistock Cup.

This blogger asked sports agent Leigh Steinberg about Tiger Woods return to Golf. Steinberg, who talked at his Miami, Florida Super Bowl Party before Super Bowl XLIV, said "Tiger will come back and take his place among the major figures in American sports. He's had his fall. The same way that Kobie Bryant did. The same way that Ray Lewis did. The same way many people have done; Michael Vick? And now it's will be time for the return. If he's careful in the way he reengages with the American Public. If he plays Golf well. As time passes he will get more and more reintegrated and things will work out fine."

If that happens, it would be on March 22nd 2010 at Isleworth Golf and Country Club, just a short walk from Tiger Woods' home. The meeting, which reportedly occurred on Monday, had Woods with his security team and staffers in with the Tavistock people for one hour before he returned home. TMZ's source says that Tiger Woods would then play in The Masters at Augusta, Georgia after the Tavistock event. But standing in his way are the pregnancy claims of porn star Joslyn James.

Joslyn James is the one of several Tiger Woods mistresses that will not stop talking. In the New York Daily News, Joslyn James claims that Tiger Woods got her pregnant twice: once ending in abortion and the other in a miscarriage. But Joslyn James claim is being given the slam-dunk by off all people Joslyn James' stepmother and her sister.

In the same NY Post article, James stepmother calls her a "compulsive liar." And in RadarOnline.com, James sister Samantha Siwik said she doesn't believe a word Joslyn James says. “If she was really that interested in Tiger Woods and his family then she would not have got involved with him in the first place because he was married," Samantha Siwik told RadarOnline.com.

Whatever the case, the Tiger Woods episode has landed a lot of publicity for a number of women he was involved with, and Tiger Woods Mistress "Number One" Rachel Uchitel landed a new job as a Special Assignment Correspondent with Extra.

Stay tuned.

Hotmail down: Hotmail service unavailable, now up again

Hotmail, the first mass email service and provided by Microsoft, was reported down. "Hotmail service unavailable" blog posts sprang up all over the Internet. But now, "Hotmail down" and "Hotmail service unavailable" must be replaced by "Hotmail up" and "Hotmail service available".

According to Business Week, the massive problems started in the "Windows Live ID service" used to sign in customers. It's also used by XBox customers for online game accounts. More than 460 users Worldwide have accounts, or a population larger than America as a whole.

The problems have been fixed and Microsoft apologizes for them. But really, one should have multiple email accounts they can use rather than just one. And using the Open ID system's really a plus as well. Windows Live ID is also an Open ID supporter.

John Mayer, after Playboy Interview, still silent on Twitter

The normally Twittery singer John Mayer has been silent on Twitter since his now famous Playboy Interview meltdown, a racist, homophobic (remember, John Mayer used a Gay slur, too but few seem to care) and sexist quasi-rant on blacks, his disinterest in black women, sex with Jessica Simpson, and Mayer's hybrid sexual habits.

The criticism of John Mayer continues, now one week into the Playboy Interview controversy, but John Mayer himself has been silent. Where he normally tweets several times a day, Mayer has issued exactly two tweets in three days between February 14th and February 16th. As John Mayer recently announced he's "quit the media game", perhaps this Twitter silence is part of his efforts.

But how long will it last? How long will it take John Mayer to get over what John Mayer did and the reaction, and get back to being John Mayer? The bet in this corner is two weeks. By some time around the Academy Awards, John Mayer will be tweeting and talking again. All of that will be much to the displeasure of New York Hip Hop artist Jay Smooth who let's rip on Mayer in Pop Life and Race Matters:



Basically, with everyone issuing an opinion on John Mayer, America and the World are doing his PR work for him. When that dies down, Mayer will swing into action, but the bet is he will be a more enlightened person.

Stay tuned.

Obama touts nuclear plant loan - first nuclear plant in 30 years

President Barack Obama announced approval of $8 billion in loan guarantees to build the first nuclear power plant in over 30 years. According to the Huffington Post, Obama said "On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't continue to be mired in the same old stale debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs."



President Obama is correct. But while Obama's working on the revival of nuclear power, some aren't happy with his efforts. Take Mother Jones, which reports that nuclear power plant cost overruns should give Obama and others pause because it takes taxpayer dollars to overcome the cost problem.

But that's the whole point of Obama's program - to use government loans and subsidies to make creating nuclear power plants more feasible. So in pointing out what they don't like about Obama's program, and reading like a Republican publication in the process, Mother Jones just explained why government subsidies are necessary in American Industry: to stimulate construction and industrial revival.

This is why it's never good to be an ideolog regardless of political leaning, left or right. A logical thinker would conclude that government subsidies were necessary to jump start an industry - The Nuclear Industry - that has made massive technical advances in 30 years. But rather than look at it that way, Mother Jones holds on to liberal ideological prejudices against nuclear power and wrongly assumes that because an expenditure is made for nuclear power, renewable energy efforts will suffer.

Fortunately, President Obama's not paying attention to them.

Haiti earthquake relief efforts draw Doc Gurley

Doc Gurley, the San Francisco-based physician and public health expert blogger, has made the greatest donation one can give to the effort of helping Haiti after the massive earthquake: herself and her time.

Doc Gurley blogs about her first day on the ground in Haiti, and talked with this blogger about her planned Haiti relief trip before she left when we met for lunch at the Lake Chalet in Oakland:



Doc Gurley will be posting updates on her Haiti relief trip. Stay tuned.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti - Sarah Palin singing Rap lyrics?

We Are The World 25 for Haiti is out and is a smashing success. It's now the number one Itunes download. And while the remake has enjoyed rave reviews, not everyone is happy. Count Jay-Z among them who, according to EW.com, did not participate in We Are The World 25 because "We Are the World’ is like ‘Thriller’ to me, Jay-Z said, "I don’t ever wanna see it touched."

While Jay-Z wanted a new song and not the remake, others have mixed reviews of the rap lyrics in the song. This blogger thinks the rap portion, created by LL Cool J, is genius. But some commenters were "thrown off" by the rap portion, one of the commenters on my We Are The World video said Wyclef Jean "sounded like Tarzan", and New York's Jay Smooth took to his website Illdoctrine.com to announce...

It is with a heavy heart I must report that on the evening of February 12th, 2010, Rap Music died once and for all. After battling a long illness, our beloved Rap was too weak to withstand the overpowering shame of that We Are The World remake.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti is powerful, period. And the rap portion is a logical and welcome addition given the growth of Hip Hop Culture. But to me, We Are The World 25 for Haiti is not complete until we have Republicans singing it. That's right: Republicans.

I can think of no better person for this, than Sarah Palin. If Sarah Palin can raise the roof on Saturday Night Live, she can sing the rap portion of We Are The World 25 for Haiti. My video is a kind of simulation of Sarah Palin singing We Are The World 25 for Haiti's rap.

Now, Sarah Palin's got to live up to this. It will give her the street cred she needs if she wants to be President of The United States!

Seriously.