Oakland Mayor's Race: Jean Quan on Oscar Grant, 2010 Oakland Budget, Oakland Police

Oakland District Four Councilmember Jean Quan met with this blogger for a requested redo of an interview conducted with her just after her kickoff event for the Oakland Mayor's Race. The request came from this space simply because the first interview video was so long, 41 minutes long, it was at least 12 minutes beyond the length of the Don Perata Interview of a month ago, and 18 minutes longer than the interviews with mayoral candidates Don Maccley and Greg Harland.

Jean Quan 

The desire was for a more uniform length that showed the candidate in a good light so that you, the viewer, could make a good evaluation. The result is this 29 minute-plus video that's light-years better than the first one.

Rather than meet in a cafe, as before when we met in the upstairs nook at the Lake Merritt Cafe, we met at the Law Offices of Siegel and Lee, the same firm in Oakland City Center where Oakland City Council Vice Mayor Jane Brunner is a partner.

Like many of my visits here and there in Oakland, the person working the front desk was an old friend: Chris Weills, who helped in the Super Bowl: Oakland bid effort. Chris is a kind person and an all around good guy. He made sure Councilmember Quan and I used the conference room for our talk.

Oscar Grant and Unity

Councilmember Quan and I met just three hours after Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' press conference calling for calm and civic unity on the eve of the Oscar Grant Trial verdict. The Oscar Grant murder of 2009, where now former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot Grant in the back on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station on the morning of New Years Day 2009, has done everything from start riots in Oakland, to arguably provide the idological fuel that led to 80 Oakland Police layoffs by the Oakland City Council.

Now, with the verdict just days, if not now hours, away, Oakland braces for it, and America watches to see if Oakland will erupt again.

Naturally, that was a great place for Quan and I to start our talk. "You know the whole world of media was there today, so, you know, Oakland is watched right now. And it's unfortunate. I think it's being watched because people are expecting or maybe hoping for violence. You know this is a very tough time for Oaklanders. I've been doing a lot of door-to-door walking. Talking to a lot of young people. This incident makes the whole city sad. Not just the African-American community, but particularly the African American community because I think Oscar is a symbol of a young black man who was working, and trying to get his life together. And he was out celebrating New Years, and now he's dead."

Quan says she and her neighbors have worked to support Oscar Grant's family. She says Grant's a "very sweet" person who many, but particularly young people, want justice for. Because the unemployment rate for blacks in Oakland is estimated to be as high as 25 percent, and even higher for young black men, Quan says that at a time when it seems hopeless for some, a "just" verdict to end the Oscar Grant trial is a symbol of hope for them.

Does the media overblow the idea of a riot?

The ideal of a riot after the Oscar Grant trial verdict is something talked about in the media, including here. Is the media making too much of the idea? "You almost get an expectation of excitement around it," Quan says. "I told reporters I was there for both of the demonstrations. And thousands and thousands of Oaklanders were there. Less than a few percentage of people were involved in it (the riots)."

Quan claims that three-quarters of the people arrested were not from Oakland. Quan says "I was there at the second demonstration There were 30 people there by the time my daughter and I decided to go have dinner." And that after she and her daughter left, the police departed to, leaving a set of unwatched outsiders to start another riot in downtown Oakland. To Quan, it gives an image of Oakland that's not true.

On The World Cup and The Oakland Mayor's Race

Quan's World Cup Soccer favorite was the team that got kicked out the day we met: Brazil. Quan says her family watches a lot of soccer, especially South American soccer, and so they had high hopes for Brazil; "Too bad," she said. At least that can't be said for Quan's status in the Oakland Mayor's Race, even though she focused on having been "beaten up" during the last week.

Quan's displeasure came from a mailer and robo-calling effort on the part of the Oakland Police Officers Association that was aimed at Quan and illegally executed, according to The East Bay Express. Why the attack? Because Quan, who's the chair of the City's Finance Committee, was painted as having called for as many as 200 Oakland Police Officers to be let go to cut the budget, which she says she did not do; the actual highest number was 150 officers; eventually, Oakland would lay-off 80 officers.)

The problem with the robocall was that it was done without asking the phone call receipient if they wanted to take the call, a move that's against California campaign law.

Quan also notes that the mailers came from the California Prison Guards Unuon, who she wonders may just be "looking for new customers" in Oakland. "I won't hide the fact that I believe we have to have a fair and balanced budget." She points to Oakland's dramatic reduction in crime not just to the police but to crime prevention programs.

Does Oakland hate its police officers?

The moments leading to the eventual Oakland City Council decision to cut 80 officers at the June 24th special meeting of the Oakland City Council were not fun for Oakland Police Officers. Not just because of the talk of layoffs, but because of the dislike expressed for the Oakland Police. In some cases, it boardered on expressed hate. What did Quan think about that? "I think we have a divided town. The Chief's poll shows that 40 percent of the citizens of Oakland distrust the police," she says, "for good or legitimate reasons? We don't know. Clearly the city is still under court order because of the Riders case. Clearly not enough of the Oakland Police force lives in Oakland; 90 percent of the police force lives outside of Oakland. We don't have enough minority police officers. We don't have enough who live in the City."

On the matter of the Oakland Police Pension Fund, Quan says the current retirement level of 50 years of age is "not sustainable." When pressed to say if she favored San Francisco's two-tiered system (where they also put 9 percent of their salary into their pension fund, versus Oakland cops, which put none into their own) she did not rubber stamp it out-right, but said that Oakland needs a change in that direction.

Jean Quan challenges Don Perata

While this space disagrees, some think of the Mayor's Race as being between former California State Senator Don Perata and Councilmember Quan. I think the race is more wide open because media is so poorly used and done and the traditional forms of Bay Area media, incuding the print version of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune are all but dead from a perspective of influence. Only television remains. The candidate who knows how to use the Internet has not yet emerged; using YouTube is not enough.

Still, a Perata / Quan fight's as easy to start as one between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier in their prime, and equally as hard to resist the chance to do. I asked Councilmember Quan about Perata's attacks on how the Oakland City Council came to form its budget and Quan did not mince words: "Don's not come up with any budget. And most of the proposals he's come up with haven't been ones that make a lot of sense to me. If Don wants to present a full city budget, then he should. Last year, when we were trying to balance the budget, he was trying to convince the council that the police didn't have to give 10 percent like everybody else (to their salary reductions). They only had to give 5 percent. We stood our ground, and they gave 10 percent. Now, he's basically saying the police officers don't have to pay more to their pension. You know if he gets to be Mayor of this city, he's going to have to balance the budget too; and I want him to show me how's he's going to balance the budget if the police don't start paying something into their pensions."

Quan's calling you out, Don. She thinks Oakland's police pensions are way out of line.

On Black / Asian violence

I asked Jean Quan for her view of alledged increase in black / Asian violence, because there were four high profile attacks involving blacks and Asians in San Francisco and in Oakland this year, and the deadly beating of Tian Sheng Yu in downtown Oakland. Quan said she from Oakland and has had a lot of African American friends for a long time, and she says, that then half of the Oakland school students were African American, now it's more Latino. She also has been "Taking the lead in helping" Yu's widow, Zhi Rui Wang cope in the wake of the loss of her husband. Quan says that Zhi Rui Wang wants to make sure this does not happen to any other family, and wanted us to reach out to our young people, and to give them more opportunity. "The way we break the cycle of violence is justice," she says, and part of that is giving hope to young people. So with that, Quan and I closed the circle around the desire for justice in the Oscar Grant case.

On being an Asian American running for Mayor in Oakland

Quan said that at the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, she was "mobbed" by young Gay Asians who were not from Oakland, but knew who she was. There's a kind of hunger for an Asian candidate not just in Oakland, but in California and it seems Quan's tapped into that.

On being Mayor if she wins

Quan says she would have a small office staff, and not "shadow" the city offices. "I plan to have one or two people who are working on our image and our economic development," she says, as well as more organizers.

On Oakland sports

Quan's supportive of the "efforts the Mayor has made" to retain the Oakland A's and loves the idea of a baseball stadium at Jack London Square. Quan thinks that while the Golden State Warriors possibily leaving for San Francisco is one issue, she's more afraid the Raiders will go over to Santa Clara with the 49ers, costing Oakland millions more in revenue that have been used for the retirement of the Raider bonds going back to 1995.

More on the video

That's a good part of the vidoe interview; you can see the rest of the 30 minute conversation right above.

Stay tuned.

Oakland City Council- 2010 election Bloggers and Boosters for Libby Schaaf

If The Oakland 209 Gin Cocktail Competition at Sidebar Oakland felt like a small town reunion of friends, the Bloggers and Boosters party we held for my friend Libby Schaaf was even more so.

The event was held at Era Art and Design Bar on Grand Avenue near Broadway in downtown Oakland, and was very well-attended, with a mix of Oakland City Council members like Oakland Council District Five's Ignacio De La Fuente and Pat Kernighan from District Two (who's in a tough re-election battle against Jennifer Pae), to local notables like Bill Wong, to Libby's family and friends, and their friends. A good, intimate mix.

Libby Schaaf 

Libby is running for the Oakland City Council Seat currently held by Councilmember Jean Quan, who's running for Mayor. But, and nothing against Councilmember Quan, Libby really should run for Mayor of Oakland.

Ignacio said it best: "One of the things I'm absolutely convinced of is that Libby Schaaf is the most well-trained and qualified candidate for city council in the City of Oakland. Not only has she worked for my office, but I can tell you that when you work for Jerry Brown - when you work for Robet Bobb. When you work for The Port of Oakland. You really understand and you really know how things function and how to get things done."

Plus, Libby's a good person who cares about Oakland. This space is happy to back her. And that does not mean other candidates will not get their day in the Sun here, but it's important to know where this blogger stands. Libby's the best choice.

Oakland 209 Gin Cocktail Competition at Sidebar Oakland, California

Sidebar Oakland 

You know the Oakland Restaurant Scene has picked up when Sidebar Restaurant on Grand Avenue holds what was the Adams Point District's first cocktail competition. The 209 Gin Oakland Bartender Cocktail Competition was held last Wednesday night at the Lake Merritt bistro-style eatery known for its good food and warm atmosphere. The idea was to learn who could make the best drink creation based on 209 Gin - the makers of which did not endorse this blog post.

The competition featured great bartenders making great cocktails and from some of Oakland's hottest eateries: Matt and Brian from Sidebar, Marjon from Era Art and Design Bar, Josh from Pican, Alex from Marzano, Matt from The Wood Tavern, Brian representing Levende East, and Jon who's at Grand Tavern, and Eric from Adesso.

(As an aside, the only problem was all of the Oakland 209 Gin Cocktail Competition bartenders were men. There are some great female bartenders, like Britt at Pican, for example.)

Between the cocktails and all of the people who knew each other, the competition was less that and more a family reunion. Pican owner Michael Le Blanc talked with Sidebar General Manager Anne Marie Adrain and her partner Ara. The Wood Tavern's Rich Wood talked with Le Blanc. And Anne Marie, as the gracious Sidebar host, talked to everyone. And most of the bartenders knew each other, either from previous work places or just from hanging out in Oakland. You didn't have to be from Oakland to know it's got a small town feel just from attending the competition.

John from Pican and Brian from Sidebar were the winners

Well, who won? According to Wendi Webster, who produced the event for 209 Gin, the judges (who got to eat Sidebar's great burgers) picked Brian from Sidebar as the overall winner. The crowd voted for Josh from Pican as their favorite. Both did a great job and you should visit Sidebar and Pican in Oakland when you can.

Lindsay Lohan's Future Awaits -- by Nikky Raney

(photo taken from LATIMESBLOGS)

Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and an inpatient rehab program.

Lohan spent 84 minutes in jail in November 2007 after being caught twice drunk driving with cocaine possession. She has ben found to have violated the terms of probation from her aforementioned case.

Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel issued the sentence today, Tuesday July 6, 2010 after employees of the alcohol treatment program that the 24-year-old actress was supposed to attend testified that Lohan missed seven classes since December.

The Associated Press reports that Lohan apologized to the judge:

"I did do everything I was told to do and did the best I could to balance jobs and showing up It wasn't vacation, it wasn't some sort of a joke."

Judge Revel did not find Lohan's apology sincere and compared it to "somebody who cheats and thinks it isn't cheating if she doesn't get caught."

She avoided arrest last month (June) when her ankle bracelet went off after the MTV Movie Awards in LA. Her representatives posted part of the $200K bail.

Lohan will be able to surrender on July 20, and will need to wear her ankle alcohol monitor until then.

Hopefully this will be good for her. She started off her amazing acting career at a young age with Parent Trap, and this sentence could be just what she needs to ensure a brighter future for her well-being as well as her career.

Nikky Raney; The Future of Journalism & Twitter

Pier 39 - Players Sports Bar and Arcade in San Francisco

One evening during the 2009 NBA Finals this blogger was given a surprise: the opportunity to be a celebrity bartender for the first time and at a place called Players Sports Bar and Arcade at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Aside from the fact the owners of Players Sports Bar should have aimed higher that a blogger, it was a heck of a lot of fun. So much so, that for World Cup Soccer, it's got to be hopping!

One day, Steve Molloy, one of the owners of this kind of mini Dave and Busters in San Francisco, was the tour guide through this vast 13,000 square foot of Pier 39 space, leading the camcorder through its islands of video games, air hockey tables, and other fun stuff. But the video sat on the computer waiting to be uploaded while yours truly fretted with how to improve it.

Yesterday, all the worrying gave in to the desire to just get it out, so the result is the video above and a plug for the place that may have been the first in the San Francisco Bay Area if not America to feature a video-blogger as the celebrity bartender.

If you go to Pier 39, stop by Players Sports Bar and Arcade for the salads and the wine. Yes, normally people go for the burgers and beer, but its the 21st Century.

To get there, all you have to do is walk to the very end of Pier 39. That's it. Steve and the gang even have a World Cup Soccer Shuttle from Union Square to Pier 39 that runs through June 11th, so you can't miss the matches!

I'll be back!

Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle verdict: Oakland cab driver on riot fears

Oscar Grant 

As Oakland, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, California, and much of the United States await the jury verdict in the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle murder trial, Oakland braces for what's widely feared to be an outbreak of riots should the jury decision not go in a way that is an obvious punishment for former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle.

If you want to find out what's happening on the streets of Oakland around the rioting fears, there are few better people to talk to than Oakland cab drivers. On Saturday night, one cab driver (who did not want to be identified by cab service provider or name), did agree to this video above as we talked about what he heard people saying as they rode his cab.

"Everybody's talking about it," he said. "I don't know. Some people are saying that a lot of people left town. You know this guy was saying 'I knew a lot of cool white people that's left town. They're not racist or anything but they just don't want things to go down, you know, while they're here. You know there are people who think it's gonna be just like the Rodney King time again, you know?

I responded that I could not see Johannes Mehserle walking free on acquittal, save for a hung jury. Of the four possible outcomes, it seems that second-degree murder most fits what happened. But of course, that's the logical outcome of an incident that has no basis in logic to begin with.

From the way BART Police mishandled the fighting incident on that 2009 New Year's Day morning to BART's own communications errors and other problems, not to mention Johannes Mehserle's in appropriate use of any weapon, even a Taser, nothing about the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle makes sense.

Thus the fear of a weird jury outcome and a big riot.

The Oakland Cab Driver said that some people he talked to are concerned that even if Mehserle is punished, the sentence will be too light. He also blames the media because the idea of a riot is "in everybody's head."

Not only that, the same person who produced 11 graffiti tags around Lake Merritt a week ago, with messages threatening the life of Johannes Mehserle, is at it again. This time, he or she has posted another message near the corner of Grand Avenue and Euclid Avenue in Oakland's Adams Point District as of this writing.

What's going to happen is anyone's guess. But Mayor Ron Dellums and Oakland officials have taken steps to promote civic unity as the city awaits the verdict.

There's also a small campaign starting called "Love not Blood for the streets of Oakland," that features a poster of the same name and seen at local cafes around town. For more information, and to share how you plan to spread the love, send an email to beautyntruth@yahoo.com.

Jamarcus Russell arrested: former Raiders QB busted for "codeine syrup"

Jamarcus Russell

MOBILE, Ala. - As current Oakland Raiders Quarterback Kyle Boller's life's on the upswing after his marriage for former Miss USA Carrie Prejean last Friday, Former Raiders QB and 2007 1st Round NFL Draft Pick Quarterback Jamarcus Russell was arrested in Mobile, Alabama, Monday, for "possession of a controlled substance," according to the Mobile Press-Register.

The "drug" he was arrested for was "codeine syrup" according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

What is "codeine syrup?"

Codeine syrup is described as medicinal drug that is also used to get high. The reason Jamarcus Russell was arrested was that he did not have a prescription for its use in his possession. It's the main ingredient in what's called "Purple drank," a slang term for "a recreational drug popular in the hip hop community in the southern United States" according to Wikipedia.

Jamarcus Russell posted bail

Jamarcus Russell posted bail of $2,500 after being arrested at 4:22 EDT according to the Press-Register.

Entourage's Jeremy Piven frozen by Kim Kardashian (?); drops phone in toilet

Jeremy Piven 

Entourage's Jeremy Piven is one of the top searches on July 5th but not for any one reason. On Google Trends, Piven's suspected of having mercury poisoning. Then Piven's also reported to have dropped his phone down a toilet stool. But in a standard search, Piven's reported to have gotten the cold shoulder from Kim Kardashian. With all this, let's take the Kim Kardashian news first.

Kim Kardashian's known for dating athletes like Reggie Bush, Miles Austin, and World Cup Soccer Star (and new dad) Cristiano Ronaldo, so it would seem Jeremy Piven's out of her range.

But that reportedly didn't stop the Entourage star from trying.

Diane Marsalis of The Examiner claims that Piven "hit on" the reality TV show star at one of the LA Lakers games, and whatever he said to her, she was alleged to have replied "Talk to my Mom - she handles me," and walked off (with hips swinging, no doubt).

While news of the alleged encounter with Kim Kardashian is still without much detail or blog pickup, the news about Piven dropping his cell phone down a toilet started from his Twitter page:

Dropped my cell in the toilet and have no way to be found.. Entourage premiers tonight and I'm without a way to reach out, sorry
1:20 PM Jun 27th via txt

But then I guess Piven reached in the toilet and got it back, or just bought a new iPhone because on June 30th he reported:

ast week of shooting! http://yfrog.com/jmt6wj
1:26 PM Jun 30th via Twitter for iPhone

He uses an iPhone. Hard to tell if it's an iPhone4 or not.

Rock The Casbah!

NYC Round-UP 1776-2010 good bad by Suzannah B. Troy

For those who enjoyed the spectacular fire works on the Hudson in person or on the boob tube (pre-YouTube, one of many unflattering names for TV aka the idiot-box) you can enjoy more Independence Day Celebrations by visiting The New York Public Library!  The stunning library at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue has a copy of The Declaration of Independence, handwritten by Thomas Jefferson on display and an early typeset  version of the document according to The New York Post.

I gave you the direct link to the Library's page on this historical significant and exciting exhibition but now on to the tawdry, misogynist, dark side of The New York Post.

The cover has a photo of a topless Anna Chapman and her breasts have the words "top secret.

What does Anna Chapman's sex life with her than husband, now thankfully, an ex-huxband who appears to be an exploitive show me the money kind of guy --- have to do with her allegedly being a spy.

For those not paying attention, here in NYC, in many of our opinions, the abuse of eminent domain has run wild under the Bloomberg administration pushing a reckless tsunami of development and Bruce Rattner and Jay-Z engaged a Russian billionaire to be an owner in land they grabbed in my opinion abusing eminent domain.   My question.....Why would the Russian's need to spy?

Ditto for China!  China owns a huge portion of the USA's debt!  Hello!

I posted this comment on The New York Post besides stating the patriotic editors of The New York Post sound green with envy.

I posted my comment on my blogs including Misogynist NYC.


There had to be video footage of Bill Clinton and his cigar play on a much younger intern. Thank goodness the security video from The White House has never been released for publication. Also, Mike Bloomberg, Christine Quinn flushed democracy down the toilet. Socialite mega-millionaire city planner Amanda the people's Burden aided Mike and friends in a tsunami of development crushing our communities and how much mass displacement including eminent domain abuse and with the Nets, a Russian billionaire owner...Thank you for not pushing photos of any of their sex lives including editors and owners of this paper. Why are women and sexuality treated very, very differently than men? Why are women judged far more harshly than men by both men and women? How many NY Post staff involved in the publication of this article are green with envy? Answer: all. Welcome to misogynist NY.


What does this young woman's sex life with her than husband have to do with anything other than proving she made a very, very bad choice picking a husband?


Thank goodness we are not going to see naked photos of Mike Bloomberg and Christine Quinn and they  flushed democracy down the toilet!  Thank goodness we are not going to see blow by blow video grab images of Bill Clinton exploiting an intern on company time at The White House!  Thank goodness we are not going to see naked photos of Rupert Murdoch and his editors and we should not be seeing these photos either.




Fred Dicker, the very warm and cuddly staff editor from Albany for The New York Post reports the Dems are ready to give Pedro Espada  the heave ho!    One question.  Can we make him pay back all the tax payer money he stole and or cost the people when he and Monserrate brought Albany to a stand-still and than went to a Yankee game?  Espada and Monserrate, not intelligent enough to understand their behavior was costing the tax payers a fortune, enjoyed the press attention more than the Yankees and smiled for the cameras like the attention was crack cocaine.


For those who have not seen tenants protesting Espada by rushing his office and demanding his ouster please check this YouTube out!  It is fantastic!


Now to dogs of a different nature.   Joey Chestnut won the  Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest for the 4th time and his record from last year is still intact.


Joey was hard hitting saying it was his day and even if Kobayashi had competed he would have defeated him but Kobayashi did steal some of his thunder by rushing the stage whether to congratulate Joey or to insult him we will never know.  Kobayashi got loads of media attention getting arrested by two big beefy NYPD officers.    Hold the buns!   A bad joke, I apologize but it was a must considering what I had to write about this morning!

World Cup | Spain vs Paraguay: Spain escapes 1-0

Far different from the earlier Germany v. Argentina match, Spain vs Paraguay was an exciting, close World Cup Soccer quarterfinals match that Spain was fortunate to win 1-0.

Maybe Spain plays to the level of its opponent, or maybe Paraguay is much better than its 31st in the World ranking versus number two for Spain (behind Brazil, which was eliminated by The Netherlands)?

Were it not for a Paraguay goal waved off by an offside call, and a correct one, the match would have been tied 1-1, and who knows what would have happened. It was that close.

Whatever the case, Spain didn't look like the team that can beat Germany, yet here they are about to face them on on Wednesday.

Germany's got to be the favorite. Even without Thomas Muller, the Germans look unstoppable.

Tila Tequila and Miss Tila Omg out of line with Nikky Raney

Tila Tequila 

Just when this blogger thought he'd seen it all from Reality TV Show Star Tila Tequila, the woman who claims to have multiple personalities, and accused San Diego Chargers Linebacker Shawne Merriman of something he did not at all do, does it again.

This time, she and her so-called staff picks on one of my bloggers, Nikky Raney, and while making Raney a star in the process, have gone way too far. It's time for them to stop.

Tila Tequila must remember that she is a true public figure; like this blogger Tila's subject to positive and negative commentary on her actions. Tila should be not only used to that, but have developed enough scar tissue to deflect even the most vile comments about her.  Fortunately, this blog is not about any directed toward Tila; it's the reverse.

Indeed, I laughed off the whole exchange between Tila Tequila, Miss Tila Omg, and Nikky Raney as being just good PR for Nikky. The vast majority of comments at Zennie62.com have been pro-Nikky and beyond that supportive and thoughtful in their detail.

But then the email exchange started and then someone apparently from Miss Tila Omg created a set of vile Twitter pages about Nikky Raney. That's where I draw the line because it's obvious and deliberate malice to make a page, call someone a name like "fat," and not have an identification. It's in violation of Section 113 of the Violence Against Women Act.

In other words, since 2006, it's been a crime to annoy people anonymously over the Internet. That it's done frequently is no excuse for the fact that it happens. This is one case; I've shared it with the U.S. Department of Justice; if it does not stop, I will press the matter until the DOJ squeezes.

For her part, Nikky Raney has intended no harm toward Tila Tequila or her staff. Tila Tequila has opened herself to constructive non-anonymous criticism, by claiming she's doing the work of a journalist, when she's using her blog to in some cases smear her enemies. And when that's not happening, some blogs are calling her names like "functionally retarded," as was the case with Videogum.com.

Zennie62.com has never referred to, or allowed its bloggers to refer to Tila in any way close to what Videogum.com presented. Moreover, Nikky Raney had clear concerns that Tila Tequila and Miss Tila Omg were claiming to be journalists. When Raney, a journalism student, investigated and then challenged the claim, Tila took action, first blocking her from the Miss Tila Omg site, which is fine by me, but then engaging in all manner of attempts to smear Nikky, and that's not fine by me.

For her part, Nikky Raney has included this disclaimer on her Zennie62.com blog posts about Tila:

Disclaimer: I, Nikky Raney, have absolutely nothing personally against Tila Tequila. Although she has personally attacked me through her blog posts and her tweets - I am a journalist and blogger who takes that with a grain of salt & does not return that anger or resentment. This is a job and a service that I do to inform others of the scandal/lies/etc. from public figures. Again, I have nothing against Tila Tequila. I am not a hater. I have attempted to get in touch with her to get her perspective and her opinion. AGAIN, I have nothing against her personally. I do this objectively in a professional manner, it's not personal it's about the story itself. I hope that I have made myself clear. My blog posts will prove for that I have never LIED about Miss Tila or called her ANY rude names. I have never used anything other than evidence from her own tweets, blogposts, and interviews to state my case. The attacks Tila has made against me and calling me "Piggy Raney" was unjust, and although she did that I still have nothing against her. She may try to attack and bring me down, but at the end of the day this is my job. And I am mature enough that to retaliate against someone whose way of responding is by name-calling would be futile.

I stand by Nikky Raney. She's done a great job at Zennie62.com. What I ask is for Tila Tequila to, herself, stop the attacks on Nikky Raney on Twitter. One part of me appreciates that you've given her a spotlight, but it's for the wrong reasons. Making, or causing hateful Twitter accoints to be made, is awful. One thing, Nikky Raney is a real person. She's not hiding behind another name, or anonymous, and asks thoughtful questions. Why not answer them?

The objective here is for all of this little stuff growing big to stop.  We, Tila, Miss Tila OMG, and Zennie62.com with Nikky Raney can move forward and perhaps together in the future.  I wish Tila and Miss Tila OMG much success.

West Seattle: The Swinery is open; founder Gabriel Claycamp leaves

Gabriel Claycamp in happier days

Some Seattle blogs have reported that the West Seattle "sustainable" meat store The Swinery is closing. But the truth is, it's still open and had a successful reopening; it's founder Gabriel Claycamp is leaving.

According to The West Seattle Blog, Gabriel Claycamp reported via Facebook that he's departing the establishment he created because...

Claycamp says that his decision to leave was primarily a result of the fact that he needed to feed his kids. He claims that, throughout the time he has been trying to get his small business off the ground he has not been drawing enough salary to survive. He is in the process of going through a divorce which has exacerbated the situation.

And as everyone from Claycamp to Tiger Woods knows, a divorce can really mess up your game, in this case, the game of the retail business.

But beyond the personal issue is the fact that Gabriel Claycamp drew a salary of just $4,200 since last September 2009. He had been working out some deal with the Swinery's investor James Dillon where Dillon would be the sole proprietor and hire Claycamp as a chef.

The Swinery's own blog paints a more rosy picture of the news:

Yes, it's true. Gabriel has left Swinery to pursue other exciting ventures & focus on his wonderful family. What does this mean for your favorite butcher shop? Don't fret. We are NOT closing, we are NOT changing our hours & we ARE still focusing on our mission: the revival of responsibility & awareness in meat consumption & to enthusiastic appreciation for flavor & quality. Stop by and show your continued support.

Whatever the case, pay The Swinery a visit.