Michaele Salahi v. Whoopi Goldberg: Salahi's done this before

President Obama, beware! 

According to MSNBC, Michaele Salahi , the "White House Party Crasher" and now star of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of DC, who accused The View's Whoopi Goldberg of assaulting her (read more here), has claimed someone assaulted her after that person touched her at least once before, and as recently as 2009.

This serves as evidence to back my opinion that the public figure Michaele Salahi is neurotic. Moreover, her neurotic behavior's leading to news headlines and leads to defaming assault claims against her victims. See the pattern?

President Obama would do well to steer clear of Michaele Salahi. Think of what might happen if Obama were to give her a pat on the back! Yikes!

In the 2009 case, Attorney Cindy Revesman was representing Steve Winter in a civil suit against Tareq Salahi, Michaele Salahi's husband. According to MSNCB, Revesman said:

"I didn't know Michaele Salahi from a hole in the wall ... she claimed to be Tareq’s attorney, then she told the judge she wasn’t...We go to an anteroom that’s no bigger than 10 - by - 10 feet, I’m there with my client and I put my finger out to get her attention and at the same time she turns around, and (the finger) touches her. She said, 'Don’t hit me!,' she looks at the bailiff and says, 'Make sure you don't hit me again.' I say I don't know what's going on here, I don't know what you're talking about, and I get called by the city of Falls Church (Va.) that afternoon saying there's a complaint filed that says I hit her."

The charges were dismissed on April 15, 2010.

Abuse of the law is against the law

If Michaele Salahi's not careful, she could find herself as the defendant in a lawsuit or a criminal claim that that she abuses the law. Filing a false police report is a felony that can lead to jail time. Unless Michaele Salahi wants to flirt with the possibility of such a scenario, she should stop her false assault claims.

Spinning Surveys -- keep thinking

You've probably seen recent stories that over 40% of Republicans -- or an even higher fraction of Tea Partiers -- think the current President wasn’t born in this country. You may also have heard Rush Limbaugh talking about what the people surveyed think in dramatic (or even bombastic) terms. It's spin.

Here's the thing:

No matter if you’re listening to Limbaugh, watching cable TV, or reading about it in Salon or your favorite blog-site, the surveys only tell you what people say, not what they think. Pundits are free to theorize about what the survey means, but to go beyond and tell us what people are thinking? That is plain, unmitigaged guessing, and it's almost certainly motivated by the desire to keep ratings up and make money from ads - which sadly relies all together too much on spin intended to keep you coming back for more, no matter if the source is right-leaning or left-leaning politically.

Allegedly expert commentators and media darlings alike may choose to infer the Republicans responding to such surveys “think Obama wasn’t born in America,” but it’s equally valid to infer they simply wish that he wasn’t -- you could even suggest they want you to think they think he wasn’t born here, but the fact remains that all you know is what they've said.

The data, the facts, are how those people responded, nothing more. You can’t know what a person is thinking; that's why the American legal system, for instance, is predicated on actions, not media coverage, commentator speculation, or inferences drawn by partisan pundits paid to keep ratings up.

Keep thinking.

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

Whoopi Goldberg And Michaele Salahi: Salahi accusation off base

Come on, guys! 

Normally, this blogger doesn't start a post like this, or make the following statement, but White House Party Crasher Michaele Salahi, now of The Real Housewives of DC, needs to shut up about ABC's The View's Whoopi Goldberg. Moreover, Whoopi Goldberg did not, in any way assault Michaele Salahi, and for her to assert such is a total lie.

In my opinion, Michaele Salahi's being neurotic, and using the "Oh, this black woman assaulted me" approach, thinking people will come to her defense. But, that written, there are a lot of people who wish Whoopi did kick Michaele Salahi's public figure butt.

This blogger's not one of them, but after seeing this really stupid attempt at publicity by Michaele Salahi, I'm on the fence, holding a conference with my angles and devils.

Maybe it's a side effect of watching Enter The Dragon with Jim Kelly, Bruce Lee and John Saxon at Geisha in Oakland last night. Maybe Whoopi Goldberg should have went "Bruce Lee" on Michaele Salahi's husband? Hmmm.

OK, let's recap. This video by Celeb TV tells the story:



Now, as Kelli Zink of CelebTV reports, Michaele Salahi got off topic and Whoopi Goldberg came out to say to her "Would you go back to the White House please?" As Whoopi did that, she touched Michaele on her hip, almost affectionately, not aggressively. In fact, Whoopi's touch didn't even cause Michaele Salahi to fall or even move from her seated form with her legs crossed.

And now, Michaele Salahi calls that an assault. That's why I say Michaele Salahi's being neurotic. Oh, the definition of neurotic is "a person who is afflicted with a neurosis or who tends to be emotionally unstable or unusually anxious." As in Michaele Salahi saying "Someone touched me, and I went 'Ohh," and then taking to her Facebook page and complaining about it.

What Whoopi was trying to do was have The View panel get back to the topic of The White House Party Crashing issue. That was it. Michaele's complaint is just plain nuts and her husband Tareq should be ashamed of himself, for using his Blackberry to take a photo of Whoopi. Geez, man. Get real.

As one who's been assaulted by a San Francisco Luxor Cab Driver, I know what it means to be assaulted, and that wasn't even close. Come on Michaele!

If Michaele Salahi has any honest and reasonable bone in her body, she should apologize to Whoopi Goldberg, and soon.

Let's stay tuned for that one.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg sympathetic to Guiliani by Suzannah B. Troy

Does mayor Bloomberg have any sympathy for the people that he has helped developers like Columbia University and Bruce Rattner to mass displace? Thanks to Caroline for wearing an NYU shirt which conveyed the message to me that NYU has been stealing up our communities where ever NYU occupies property from Stuy Town that was meant to be affordable housing to the East Village which NYU mega dormed to death to the West Village, to South St. Seaport to Brooklyn.  Mike has not been exposed for pulling a Rudy in terms of having an affair with a subordinate at City Hall and giving his than mistress raises including a huge one when he dumped for his judi, far less attractive than Donna but both Rudy and Mike have robbed the tax payers of New York big time.

The NY Post exposed the mayor's administrative assistants "double dipping" a must read if you haven't read that article giving these gals over 200,000 each plus the post estimates Mike is costing or robbing tax payers 2 million for his campaign staff so I am sure he is sympathetic to everyone but the people who truly deserve it -- the people of NYC!  At least the city was in better shape under Rudy; now it's falling a part and looks like a bad xerox of Dubai.  When Cooper Union tried their shady unethical real estate deals under Rudy his city planner not a socialite like Amanda the peoples' Burden said no to Cooper Union, supersizing - busting through zoning and leasing for 99 years is a shell game.  For these guys and I am including Steve Rattner, Charlie Rangel, denial is the new crack cocaine.  Impeach Bloomberg and his mini-me Christine Quinn.

Oh and look at this  comment not by me -- I guess Bloomberg is trying to figure out more ways to make people unemployed like ticketing vendors and almost every body possible that is not rich!

sceeyoo

08/05/2010 3:45 PM

Does Bloomberg have any Sympathy for the 2.2 Million People Unemployed in New York City...Just something 2 Think about

Thanks again to Caroline Giuliani for wearing an NYU shirt.

You see, NYU is the Bernie Maddoff of real estate.  NYU made off with our neighborhoods!

Mary Hart : The Legs of Entertainment Tonight steps down after 30 years

First, the sad news is Mary Hart, known far and wide for her great legs and how she used them on the long-running Hollywood gossip TV show Entertainment Tonight. is stepping down after 35 years at the anchor helm.

Mary hit American Pop Culture with a blast of her gams thrusting from her trademark short skirts.  Arguably, Mary was the model for all of the blonde female anchors and contributors on Fox News.

Second, I can't believe Mary Hart's 59 years old. I would have thought 49, easy, but 59? No way. Seriously.

And as far as I know, it's all from just plain taking care of herself and working out. In fact, Mary Hart even has (or had, since it was made in 1990), her own workout DVD:



Ok, I've got to admit the "Up With People" style of the DVD is a little much, but at least Mary Hart had the courage to do it.

Workout aside, Mary Hart leaves behind a legacy of style and professionalism that will not be soon matched, because all of the other female Hollywood gossip anchors have followed her formula of looks, legs, and diction. Mary Hart's the only one who can make me actually watch anything about Kate Gosselin.



Mary Hart is a true television legend who's presence will be missed.

Taskrabbit at the forefront of the telework movement

Ever heard of Taskrabbit? Well, keep reading. An interesting bit of news that reflects just how much our culture has been impacted by The Internet, is that a service like Taskrabbit.com has been established. What they do is pair the work-at-home worker with odd jobs. Or, as The Wall Street Journal put it, Taskrabbit is "a new service that pairs people who have errands to run with those who have the time to do them."

Here's the video about Taskrabbit.com:



The number of people who work at home, called "telework" or "telecommuting" for those who work for other office-centered organizations, is much larger than you may realize. The latest figures date all the way back to 2004: The Telework Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group, reports that as many as 44 million workers do their jobs and tasks from home.

But that estimate can't be correct because it was done before the mainstreaming of social networking, let alone many of the online services we use today, from Twitter to Facebook and Foursquare.

Regardless of the right number, which this blogger estimates could be as high as 60 million people, one thing is certain: working at home is now commonly accepted practice.

Will Taskrabbit.com make odd jobs cool?

I've got to admit, Taskrabbit.com is a massively cool, good idea that could revolutionize work as we know it. By providing website-easy access to small jobs, the site may make those jobs more desirable, and cause growth in a whole new segment of worker: people who specialize in doing odd jobs.

Keep am eye on Taskrabbit.com.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums makes history in avoiding reelection run

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums brought a sad and historic end to his four years as Mayor of Oakland yesterday. Not just because he elected to avoid running for reelection as Mayor, but the way he did it.  This blogger predicted he would run and this blogger was way wrong.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums became the first mayor in Oakland's history to not seek a second four-year term. And word of this travelled fast, as this blogger received several text messages and emails on Wednesday (my birthday), including a really nasty one from a person who was told to avoid contact with this blogger. (And if he persists, you will read about him in this space.)

But yes, you read that correctly: Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums became the first mayor in Oakland's history to not seek a second four-year term.

Since 1953, when Oakland's Mayor began serving a four-year term, every Oakland mayor has held the office longer than four years, except Ron Dellums:

John C. Houlihan - 1961-1966 (Resigned over a salary issue, then was arrested for embezzlement of funds from the estate of an elderly widow.)

John H. Reading - 1966 - 1977 (Served three terms)

Lionel J. Wilson - 1977 - 1991 (Served three terms)

Elihu M. Harris - 1991 - 1999 (My boss served two terms, then resigned to run for the State Assembly, losing to Audie Bock.)

Jerry Brown - 1999 - 2007 - Could have had a third term as Oakland Mayor, but created Measure X, which limited his own term to two.

Ronald V. Dellums - 2007 - 2010 (First one-term mayor in Oakland's four-year mayoral term history)

Mayor Ron Dellums also did not go our in a way this space can defend. I am surprised that Dellums, even with all of the issues he had to deal with in his personal life that would have became a focus of the campaign if he decided to run, failed to fight on. Now, Dellums will be considered a failure as Oakland's Mayor and a person who really didn't care about Oakland.

Is that right? No. But it's the image he's crafted for himself. Dellums should have stuck to his original plan and gave a Friday press conference, standing tall before all, and using that podium as the place to give his time as Mayor of Oakland a new life.

All that is but a dream.

Instead, we have Mayor Ron Dellums going bunker and basically stiff-arming SF Chronicle Staff Writer Matthai Kuruvila, who should learn to use a video camera. Instead, we have Mayor Ron Dellums holding a private function, with just the Oakland Post invited. Good for Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb, but bad for Ron Dellums.

Bad because when it looked like Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums was about to become LeBron James, with the special media-friendly announcement and all that, he reverses field and sticks his head in the sand, and says "Don't bother me, brother" to the press...un, except Paul Cobb.

To his credit, Dellums has never said that to me. It's too bad and really sad to see a man I've admired over my life go out this way.

One thing's for sure, it's a wide-open Oakland Mayor's race. But I do wish Mayor Dellums would have picked another way to end his term.

Stay tuned.

Prop 8 : California Gay Marriage Ban overturned by Judge Walker

Judge Walker 

So how cool is this news on this blogger's 48th birthday: Proposition 8, the horrible and neurotic (Who cares who marries whom?) law prohibiting Gay marriage was overturned today, Wednesday, August 4th, 2010.

In other words, by "Memorandum Order of Judge Vaughn Walker Declaring California's Proposition 8 Unconstitutional."

The primary reason stated by Chief U.S District Court Judge For Northern District of California, Vaughn Walker is on page 135 of the case ruling document and reads:

Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples.

What's massively cool is that Judge Walker is himself Gay. Opponents will certainly look at that fact as an issue in his ruling, but I think it's fitting that someone who's life would be altered by Prop 8 has the chance to rule on its constitutionality.

Before you react one way or the other, take time to read the case document, which you can download here: CASE DOC.

And so ends, for the moment, the reason that just protests like this one in the video from last year, occurred, but will the anger from those who feel it necessary to block the civil rights of others, also expressed in videos below, subside? I hope so.





Stay tuned for more on this amazing development.

Money Hungry: Give VH1 $10K, lose weight & win back your money by: Nikky Raney

Money Hungry on VH1 is a new type of reality weight loss show where 10 pairs of overweight people paid $10,000 of their own money in hopes to lose weight and gain $100,000.

Out of the 10 pairs only one pair will win $100,000 but two of the other pairs will win back their $10,000. That means that for seven unlucky pairs they will lose weight, and the $10,000. Each team gave stories on how they were able to raise the money: selling cars, fundraisers, loans and other actions were taken in order for each pair to raise the money.

Every week one of the ten teams will be sent home. Each week the teams are all weighed at the beginning and then weighed at the end. The amount of pounds lost is not what matters most, but the measure of how much body fat is lost. The team with the lowest percentage of body fat lost will go home and kiss their $10,000 good-bye.

The first episode showed the contestants partying their first night. One of the contestants that will stick out through the season is Philip - who on the first night downed two bottles of wine and found himself naked in the pool.

Each pair gave themselves a team name. The ten teams consist of:

Team Fabulous: Philip & Stephanie

Team Roll Models: Shante & Jamie

Team No Excuses: Melissa & Josh

Team Chicago Deep Dish: Marilu & Bridget

Team Mission Slimpossible: Mark & Joe

Team Slenderellas: Kaitlin & Jackie

Team A Pair Of Nuts: Yamil & Johnny

Team Grading Curves: Missy & Tricia

Team Regulators: Po & Dave

Team Double Chocolate: Georgette & Tammy

Team Family Sized: Denise & Katie

Team Rocker Moms: Beth & Carrie

Tune in Thursday, August 5 at 5 p.m ET/PT to watch Money Hungry and see who works out the hardest and who ends up saying good-bye.

(Photo courtesy of VH1)

Ronald Reagan must be rolling in his grave

Former U.S. Representative David Stockman (R-MI), who served as Ronald Reagan's first director of the Office of Management and Budget, used the forum of the Sunday New York Times to unmask and rebuke Republican members of Congress and their elite messaging strategists who cling to claims to be fiscal conservatives.

"Mr. McConnell’s stand puts the lie to the Republican pretense that its new monetarist and supply-side doctrines are rooted in its traditional financial philosophy."

David Stockman
31 July 2010

Describing current and recent GOP tax rhetoric "a mockery of traditional party ideals," Stockman says these policy doctrines have led to four "great deformations" of the U.S. economy over the past four decades, starting when the Nixon administration ignored the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement to balance our accounts with the world while "Republicans have turned a blind eye to each one."

"By fiscal year 2009, the tax-cutters had reduced federal revenues to 15 percent of gross domestic product, lower than they had been since the 1940s. Then, after rarely vetoing a budget bill and engaging in two unfinanced foreign military adventures, George W. Bush surrendered on domestic spending cuts, too — signing into law $420 billion in non-defense appropriations, a 65 percent gain from the $260 billion he had inherited eight years earlier."

David Stockman
31 July 2010

Doubtless this is why so many who lately vote against Republican policies and politicians describe themselves as socially liberal yet fiscally conservative. The GOP has been abusing the trust of their base, successfully waging a PR war on the truth: relying on either the inattention, and/or gullibility of voters who have fallen for their appealing "brand ideology" without realizing this rhetoric is entirely at odds with actual GOP goals and actions for the past 4 decades.

That's the real threat to the Republican Party, which is now gleeful for media coverage of Tea Party events so far to the political right they may fool swing voters into thinking the GOP looks as though they occupy the middle-ground. Stockman's Op-Ed article is a must read for all who take politics seriously enough to vote.

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

Obama Birthday; Zennie's birthday - The Kennedy Generation

Today is President Barack Obama's birthday. He was born on August 4th, 1961. It's also the birthday of this blogger, Zennie Abraham. My birth date was August 4th, 1962 - exactly one year behind President Obama.

Last year, I made the video below to thank President Obama for allowing this blogger to be who he is and not an African American stereotype. This one:



The message of one year ago still applies today.

It's no accident that Barack Obama comes from my generation of not just black men, but Asian, Latino, and other minorities of color both male and female. All of us, it's not too much of a stretch to say, don't reflect the historic stereotypes American society stamped on those before us, and tries to stick on some of those with us today.

I never grew up seeing anyone Asian as "The model minority" or anyone Latino from the negative stereotypes placed on them. At Skyline High School (where the class of 80 just had a rocking 30th reunion), I knew guys who were stoners, screw-ups, smart folks, and cheerleaders, and all of them were Asian, Latino, and Black.

I never grew up seeing anyone that way.

At my 30th Skyline High School Reunion I looked out and saw my friends and classmates of all different shapes, sizes, and colors intermingling and having a massively great time and thought to myself, "That's my generation. What a cool group of people!"

My generation is Barack Obama's generation: "The Kennedy Generation."

No offense to Tom Hanks, who graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland in 1974 and talks about those who fought in World War II as "The Greatest Generation," but I think our generation's not too far behind that one in greatness. We're the first to break away from racial stereotypes, not just of others, but of ourselves, and realize the full range of possibilities of The American Dream.

The fact that Barack Obama - the 44th President of The United States, and of the class of '79, and America's first black president - is from my generation is no accident. My generation consists of those who are on the cusp of the Bay Boom, born in 1960 and up in America.

I suppose, since John F. Kennedy was president when we were born, you could call us "The Kennedy Generation."

If you think about it, "The Kennedy Generation" reflects the sweeping hopes and dreams of President Kennedy himself: to reach for the moon and improve the quality of life for everyone on Earth. We learned how to protest from the early Baby Boomers, but altered our approach with a desire to cause change from within the system itself.

Little, by little, we gained power and influence, until one of us was ready to be President and we elected him.

Barack Obama reflects the best of my generation: we broke the mold and made America an even greater nation.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

Google Adsense payment process problem for YouTube Partners

Susan Boyle has been very good for
YouTube Partners 

If you regularly read this space, you know this video-blogger is a YouTube Partner. YouTube explains that it wants its partners to earn a living from the production of videos, like my commentary on Susan Boyle from April of 2009.

The debut of Susan Boyle resulted in this video-bloggers first 1 million-view-in-one- month video and translated into a nice check.  Susan Boyle's success has been good for many of the 10,000 YouTube Partners.  She had the most watched set of videos on YouTube last year.

Google Adsense reporting subpar

A key part of the YouTube Partner program objective of having its content producers earn a living is the smooth running of the Google Adsense payment system. But as of this writing, the Google Adsense payment process is a problem for YouTube Partners, like myself, who want to know in detail what's happening with the checks that are to be sent.

Using myself as the example, I have signed up for the "secure payment" program, so I'm paid between the 1st and the 5th of each month. Google generally posts the delivery tracking information so you can call and check on the path of your check. But this month, for reasons not known, Google has not done this. A look at the help area revealed that I'm not the only one experiencing the problem.

Google Help Area not reliable

What compounds the problem is the "top contributors" in the help section at times don't know what they're talking about. A lot of misinformation is communicated around the Google Adsense program process, which compounds the frustration of the person waiting for the check.

YouTube itself has taken great steps to improve the YouTube Partner payment reporting program as much as it can. Now, we get reports on monthly video revenue performance all the way down to specific videos on a daily basis. It's the best improvement the program has initiated in the near-four-years I've been in the YouTube Partner program.

But now, Google has to step up its payment process information system. It's the weak link in the YouTube Partner program, and since Zennie62.com blogs also have Google ads, the total network that I've built generates revenue that's paid from Google Adsense.

Hopefully this issue is resolved. Google must improve this, so YouTube Partners can enjoy the fruits of their labor in a timely fashion.