Oakland Mayor's Race: Black Clergy endorse NO candidate for mayor

Greg Harland - no endorsement 

Yesterday this space ran a blog post based on a source who was under the impression that Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Greg Harland beat out Don Perata for the endorsement of a group called the Bay City Baptist Union at a Tuesday meeting at The Good Hope Church in Oakland. One of its members is Oakland Pastor Joe Smith who's at Good Hope Church. Pastor Smith was kind enough to call this blogger and help set the record straight.

The group "did not endorse any candidate" Pastor Smith said. "Harland wasn't supposed to be there."

According to Pastor Smith, what happened was the chair of the Bay City Baptist Union said something inappropriate to Don Perata to the effect of "you should retire" or words to that effect. Perata said something to the effect of "well, you can vote for who you want to."

Pastor Smith explains that he personally supports Don Perata for Mayor, even though the 60-member Bay City Baptist Union has made no official endorsement. They're set to have a meeting on the Oakland Mayor's Race within the coming days.

Is it a setback for Greg Harland? No. For Don Perata? Not exactly, but clearly, and from Pastor Smith's perspective, the chair wasn't nice to Perata.

But remember, Pastor Joe Smith is backing Don Perata.

Stay tuned.

America's Got Talent: Fighting Gravity wins the crowd by: Nikky Raney

America's Got Talent has always had unique talent, but this year Fighting Gravity has brought a whole new act.

Fighting Gravity consists of 24 fraternity brothers from who came together to form a very unique dance group, but once on stage it seems to be only three brothers in all white attire while there is one brother above as a "puppet master." There are also multiple neon colored balls which seem to float in synchronization.

(Photo taken from NJ.com)

Howie Mandel has compared them to Blue Man Group, but goes on to say that Fighting Gravity is even better than Blue Man Group.

"It's so different, it's very current, it's edgy," said judge Sharon Osbourne. "Your timing is absolutely precise. I haven't gotten one negative thing to say about it.

"The most unique thing I've ever seen up to this point with a black light is trying to find stains on a comforter in a hotel room," said judge Howie Mandel. "So this beats that by far. You guys are phenomenal."

It's hard to put into words, so watch the video and see:

Oakland Mayor's Race: Joe Tuman is running for mayor

Joe Tuman 

The Oakland Mayor's Race added its 11th candidate: San Francisco State University Professor of Communications and Legal Studies and 25-year Oakland resident Joe Tuman. Tuman came from out of nowhere Wednesday to a formidable media splash suitable for, well, for someone who worked in the media.

In addition to teaching at SFState, Joe Tuman's other title was "CBS 5 Eyewitness News Political Analyst," a job he gave up to run for Mayor of Oakland.

Joe Tuman and I talked twice: the first time briefly at his campaign kickoff by Lake Merritt and the second time at Cafe DiBartolo on Grand Avenue (a video that will come later). Tuman says he simply felt that it was time for the right leadership at Oakland City Hall and he believes he can provide that.

In that way, Tuman is no different that Terrance Candell or any of the other candidates in the Oakland Mayor's Race, except that Tuman and Candell point to the leadership problem as they see it more often than the other candidates.

But what other difference does Tuman bring? Tuman has a more corporate style than his competitors. He comes with well-tailored suits, shined shoes, and tightly-tied tie. He stands ramrod straight, thin, and very well-tanned. Tuman looks more like a Miami Beach hotel developer than a guy running for Mayor of Oakland.

But the reality is Tuman came to Oakland 25 years ago and from Berkeley, settled in Trestle Glen, not far from Lakeshore and got tired of Oakland's direction. One day, at his wife's behest, he decided to run for Mayor.

What Joe has is a savvy media team that really gets the Internet, much better than the other candidates. Plus, he knows people like KTVU's Political Editor Randy Shandobil, who gave him a good long segment on The Channel Two News Wednesday night. On an Internet marketing scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him a 6; there's room for improvement but where the others are at a 4, with an easy-to-read website  at Joe4Mayor.com and constant use of his social networks, he's a step ahead.

But where Tuman has a long way to go to prove he's the right "Joe" for Oakland, is in his knowledge of the players in Oakland. A mayor has to know what buttons to push in order to get things done. With the exception of Don Perata, and Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan, both running for Mayor of Oakland, the people running haven't demonstrated that feel for the city.

On the other hand, they have three months to develop it.

Stay tuned.

No Senator Left Behind

The GOP claims they're really serious about deficit reduction, but Sentator McConnell (R-KY) says it's the "uniform view in his caucus that tax cuts needn’t be offset by other changes in spending..." Evidently none of them think tax cuts affect the budget.

$678 billion - it's a math thing. Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) doesn't even want to talk about it.

There's ample evidence that the tax cuts enacted under the previous administration were, in fact, the largest factor in rapidly turning the Treasury's surplus in 2000 into the deficit under the Bush administration which mostly enjoyed a Republican Congressional majority.

What kind of voodoo budgeting lets you ignore a revenue decrease?  We lost 3 million manufacturing jobs while Bush was President, but the GOP line is that tax cuts will help?  Tax cuts don't put groceries on the table of an unemployed person, but they do add to the deficit - it's not complex math.

We've got to get more rational in discussing the budget and the deficit. The U.S. economy can work - productivity has nearly doubled in this country in the past 30 years, and corporate profits are obviously robust even as CEO salaries and bonuses have sky-rocketed.

Leaders who will safeguard the interests of ordinary citizens are becoming an endangered species in the Congress. In late summer 2008 Congressional leaders and the Bush administration told the country that big business needed behemoth bailouts or our entire economic system would collapse, but that Wall Street bailout did nothing to save blue collar jobs, or reverse the outsourcing trends, and while some say the jury's still out on job creation if the GOP pundits insist the Obama-era stimulus package didn't help then what of the Bush-era bailout? The bailout certainly didn't stimulate lending, though it did give banks enough cash for lavish year-end bonuses.

Can you think of another industry that would award bonuses when they had to get billions of dollars simply to remain in business?  Evidently it's not just GOP Senators who'd benefit from a little remedial math refresher.

And now Senate Republicans want to balance the budget (and stir up fears about deficits) while they claim there's no need to offset tax cuts with other revenue?

Think about that.  Tax cuts may or may not make be your cup of tea; they're a tool in the economist's arsenal. Yet to claim on the one hand deficits are bad and then turn around and advocate revenue reduction -- in this case by providing tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens -- without offsetting it in any way defies the reasoning powers we expect in our elected leaders.

Thomas Hayes is a Democratic campaign staffer, entrepreneur, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Star Wars' Dave Prowse banned from Comic Con Star Wars Fan Days

Dave Prowse 

In this Comic Con update, 75-year-old Dave Prowse, who was the body behind Darth Vader in the Star Wars movie series, has been banned - that's right banned - from Comic Con's Star Wars Fan Days and, as his Darth Vader website put it:

It is with regret that I have been informed by my friends at C2 Ventures, Ben and Phillip, that I am not to be invited to C5 this year or any other Lucas Film associated events. After enquiring, the only thing I have been told is that I have "burnt too many bridges between Lucas Film and myself" - no other reason given.

I have also been advised by the promoter of Paris Manga in September that LFL have requested no photo opportunities with the 501 Squadron, even though I am commander in chief of the 501.

Sincere apologies to all my fans who were hoping to meet with me - I shall miss you too. As you will see from my events page I will be at many conventions all over the world so we can still keep in touch.

And Dave Prowse' Facebook page explains the Comic Con information in more detail:

Updated Dave's appearance schedule on his official web site. Dave is not appearing at DragonCon, Chicago ComiCon, Star Wars Fan Days, or the shows in Glasgow and Montreal. Dave has added new shows including his rescheduled trip to Turkey.

Wow. Curious to know just what Darth Vader did to "burn bridges" with LucasFilm? Speculation runs rampant, and LucasFilm's not talking. But this comment over at Blastr.com was provocative:

Scopi on Jul 10, 2010 03:05 PM
When it comes to burning bridges, I assume that Lucas Film wouldn't be very happy with story I've heard Prowse tell a couple times, along the lines that he thought he was doing the voice of Darth Vader and that James Earl Jones was only hired to appeal to the "black audience." I think Prowse walked back from that a bit later on, but maybe he's been telling accusatory versions of it again.

I can't see George Lucas making that stupid an assumption about the "black audience" and that take on Prowse part is boarderline racist. My insider information is that George thought he needed a more menancing voice that this one:



The simple fact is Darth Vaders supposed to sound like someone who can crush you with a thought, and not like someone who would beat you with a wet noodle. At any rate, he's out of Comic Con.

Stay tuned.

Comic Con update: Terra Nova, Piranha 3-D out of Comic Con 2010

With one week to go before Comic Con 2010, with each "Hallmark"-type announcement comes news of a panel cancellation. This time it's for the series Terra Nova and the movie Piranha 3-D.

Terra Nova is the much-anticipated 20th Century Fox TV and Brannon Braga (24, FlashForward) and David Fury (Lost, Angel) time-travel program favorite of fanboys that was set for debut at Comic Con 2010 in San Diego. But since production's not set to begin until September 2010, producers don't have footage to present to the San Diego audience next week.

But what is Terra Nova?

Terra Nova is a Steven Spielberg-executive produced series that takes place 100 years in the future and is about a family that travels back to the prehistoric era. A great high concept that's a loss for Comic Con 2010.

Piranha 3-D's elimination is due to a different set of challenges.

Apparently the footage Piranha 3-D producers were going to present was deemed "too hot" for Comic Con. More specifically, it was said to be and this is a quote "too racy" and not "family friendly" to the Comic Con San Diego audience. But the question is what was the "it" they were going to show?

According to FirstShowing.net it was described as "Girls Gone Wild" style footage, which means a lot of t-and-a.

But all is not lost.

There will be an "offsite" presentation of Piranha 3-D Thursday July 22nd from 10 PM to 11 PM at the Regal Horton Plaza (475 Horton Plaza San Diego, CA 92101) and a panel afterward according to MovieWeb.com.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Oakland Black Clergy group endorse Harland over Perata

UPDATE: Group has no endorsement according to Don Perata supporter Oakland Pastor Joe Smith.

Don Perata 

At an 11 AM Tuesday morning meeting at The Good Hope Missionary Church on Foothill, of some of the top black clergy in Oakland and the Bay Area, a group loosely called (as in there's no website for them) "The Bay City Pastors Union" endorsed Oakland Mayoral Candidate Greg Harland over the much better known former State Senator and Oakland Mayoral Candidate Don Perata.

Why?

Because, from an unnamed source, Don Perata reportedly said the wrong thing to a pastor who happened to be a high-ranking chairperson in the group. Greg Harland was there, and while he didn't expect it, he enjoyed the fruits of Perata's error.

The problem was that Don Perata was the invited speaker where Harland was in the audience and came at the behest of a friend. A reportedly surprised Perata barely shook Harland's hand.

Greg Harland

Perata spoke for 45 minutes. Harland, who was in the audience but recognized by one of the members of the group as also running for Mayor of Oakland, was invited to speak after Perata. Harland said to the group that since he wasn't the invited speaker, he would just say a few words. He talked for "about 30 seconds" according to the source.

After the talk, the group, which was originally set to back Perata, switched their choice to Greg Harland.

What does this mean? From the perspective of this space, the days are long gone where an African American group will sit down and just endorse a well-known elected official because he or she has a name or is a Democrat. Harland may be inexperienced at politics, but he's a nice, thoughtful, and very humble person.

Don Perata is a friend and always has been. But that doesn't stop this blogger from calling it as he sees it. Don's got to work for every vote in the Oakland Mayor's Race, and as if no one ever heard of him before. We're in a period of time where people, for various reasons, collectively seem to enjoy the fall of the powerful and well-known.

Unless that person's considered "one of the people."

Stay tuned.

Comic Con 2010: Hallmark Cards plans big roll-out at Comic Con San Diego

Hallmark Cards (yes the same company that made the birthday card you just bought) is planning a big presence at Comic Con 2010 and to celebrate its 100th anniversary. While not on the order of Futurama, Hallmark's Comic Con events are big in their own way.

According to their message, Hallmark Cards' "9ft. Hallmark hoops & yoyo walkabout characters" with the voice and animation talents of Mike Adair and Bob Holt were a massive hit at Comic Con 2009 in San Diego. So, Hallmark Cards is bringing them back for Comic Con 2010.

Hallmark will have two booths: #3850 and #2913

#3850 Hallmark Properties Booth
#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion Hallmark Keepsakes Booth

Wednesday, July 21
6 - 9pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Thursday, July 22
10am - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
3 - 5pm Maxine character appearance (#3850)
5 - 7pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)

Friday, July 23
9 - 11am Maxine character appearance (#3850)
11am - 1pm Revilo artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
5 - 6:30pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)

Saturday, July 24
10 - 11:30am hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#3850)
2 - 3pm hoops&yoyo character appearing and artist signing (#2913 H in Lucas Pavilion)
4- 6pm Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)

Sunday, July 25
10am - Noon Asteroid Andy artist signing (#3850)
ALL DAY FREE Rainbow Brite poster for anyone in Rainbow Brite costume(#3850)

Stay tuned for more information from Hallmark at Comic Con.

Comic Con 2010: “Futurama's" Matt Groening, David X. Cohen in San Diego

We're just one week away from Comic Con 2010 in San Diego, and with each day it gets more exciting. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, along with co-series creator and Executive Producer David X. Cohen and stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, and Phil LaMarr, will attend Comic Con 2010 in San Diego to talk about the amazing cult work that Futurama has become.

In 2003, Fox inexplicably cancelled Futurama after four seasons. But high late night TV ratings for reruns, and straight-to-DVD success led to Comedy Central picking up 26 new episodes.

But what is Futurama? It's creators describe it in this way:

"Futurama" follows the life of Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a pizza delivery boy who accidentally stumbles into a freezer on December 31, 1999 and wakes up a thousand years later. In his future home of New New York City, Fry goes to work for the Planet Express Intergalactic delivery company, where he befriends Bender (John DiMaggio), a booze-fueled robot, and sets his romantic sights on Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops who enjoys beating him up.

Given that description, Cohen's statement that "I think we had a lot of stuff to get off our chests" to MTV.com followed by the promise of good episodes to come will lead to an interesting Comic Con 2010 appearance.

Here's Futurama: Bender's Big Score Trailer, which has gained over 1 million views on YouTube:



Stay tuned for more Comic Con-related news here.

Lindsay Lohan is not dead: Rumor started from Wikipedia post By: Nikky Raney

Lindsay Lohan has been the victim of the most recent celebrity death rumor. While there have been two recent deaths within these past few days: Lindsay Lohan is not one of them.

There have been so many blog posts, tweets, videos and e-mails sent "confirming" that Lindsay Lohan is dead and urging all bloggers to post about it. The numerous e-mails from readers asking to post about Lindsay Lohan's death was astounding, because why would readers advocate covering a story that had no evidence.

(Screenshot of Wikipedia post taken from Earsucker.com)

So why cover it if it isn't true? There are enough blogs that have actually "exclusively" reported that Lindsay Lohan is in fact dead, that maybe a couple posts stating that this is a rumor will slip in there. Rechecking from minute to minute it seems like some blogs are DELETING the "exclusive" posts about her UNTRUE death. There are over twelve questions on Yahoo answers asking if Lindsay Lohan is really dead.

Now, without any interviews directly with Lindsay Lohan there is no direct proof that these are false rumors. How do these rumors begin? Well, sources are citing WIKIPEDIA for the finding out Lindsay Lohan's death.

(Screenshot from July 14 at 10:00 am. Google search: "Lindsay Lohan dead.")

Wikipedia also claimed the Rush Limbaugh was dead a while back. Wikipedia should not be used as a source to find complete accurate information. Wikipedia is not considered a credible or reliable source, and to be honest I see more magazines using Twitter as a credible source. There are quotes in Newsweek taken from tweets, and tweets are proving to be more reliable than Wikipedia.

What's even worse? People are using tweets from a FAKE Kim Kardashian Twitter account to justify this - the account doesn't even spell "Kardashian" correctly. Fact-checking and researching before clicking that "PUBLISH POST" button is important.

Never will Wikipedia be cited within a blog post from me - except in circumstances like this where Wikipedia is being exposed for its unreliability. So many readers use Wikipedia as a source for information, and so many believe that Wikipedia is truly reliable. Although there may be studies that claim Wikipedia is just as accurate as other web encyclopedias - the celebrity death rumors and inaccuracies that Wikipedia posts are more frequently discussed and misinforming.

Looks like The Future of Journalism is going to be expecting a post about CREDIBLE SOURCES and how to do research and find credible sources. This is crucial to journalism AND blogging, because bloggers become "citizen journalists," and people actually use blogs (and even Wikipedia or Twitter) as their [only] way to obtain news on a daily basis.

Maybe this post took over an hour to write, but that's due to the fact checking, looking for other sources to confirm, and making sure to get everything straight. It doesn't matter if this isn't the FIRST post confirming Wikipedia was wrong - it matters that this post is accurate and provides the reader with the information needed from reliable sources.

Nikky Raney for Zennie62.com

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By the way here's my latest video. I talk about Zennie62, my plans, and my excitement for vlogging for Zennie62 on youtube:

California Wants Pricier Parking Fines

As if they weren’t already high enough, California is now considering raising the fines for parking tickets by an additional $3. However, due to already pricey tickets, state officials are facing serious resistance. Nevada City (which is actually in California), for example, has already seen $9.50 tacked onto parking tickets, and some say the costs are reaching a tipping point. “Parking citations statewide are now that much closer to the point when drivers stop paying their parking tickets altogether,” wrote Gene Albaugh in a letter to legislators. The League of California Cities is “urging members to oppose the fees, especially because they hamper cities’ abilities to attach local surcharges to tickets.”

Mel Gibson's racist misogynist rant career ending? by Suzannah B. Troy

The New York Post article seems to imply that Mel Gibson's career is over and out.  

If you have not heard the first rant here is the link on Radar Line and you click on the video posting.  It is disgusting.

It does not have the violent threats about burning down the house but first raping her mouth or as he puts it making her blow him.

Read The New York Post article to learn about Jodi Foster's movie with him in post-production.   There is no point in releasing this film but I am sure she will and it will fail at the box office.  Lenoardo DeCaprio may back out of a project and the odds are high he will.

Here is my comment posted on The New York Post article:

Mel Gibson's "Jesus" film was as dishonest and manipulative as he is. It is estimated a quarter of a million Jews were crucified by the Romans and he not only refused to acknowledge that horror but he went with the hate propaganda that even Rome finally rejected of blaming the Jews. Why would you need to blame the Jews. You take our Bible and you want to convert us -- than blame is very effective and big business as well. Gibson prospered from the film as honestly as the Nazis. Gibson has to blame innocent people and always minorities and he can no longer suppress is "inner Nazi". Why is that. Some of his own violent impulses he projects on to African American men but the rant taped by his ex-girlfriend exposes very violent impulses. He has always charmed his way out of everything and used his good looks. Now his outsides match his insides. He betrayed his wife and children - do you think the first time -- and  for a gold digger but she does not deserve the violence actions in word and misdeeds by this hate monger, anti-Semite, misogynist, racist, homophobe that projects his violence on to minorities.