Crude Movie: Leonardo DiCaprio, DGA, Trudie Styler, Hollywood misfire

Inception's Leonardo DiCaprio, The Director's Guild of America (DGA), and actress and rainforest activist Trudie Styler (wife of rock musician Sting) who has been one of the most active promoters of the movie “Crude” by director Joe Berlinger, which paints Chevron as the culprit in polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon, have all been fooled in their campaign to block access to 600 hours of cut footage from the movie.

The movie may prove to be the biggest break in proving the innocence of Chevron (and Texaco, which it acquired in 2000), and lead to pointing the finger of the cause of real environmental damage where it should be: at Ecuador's government.

This week Chevron’s lawyers introduced outtakes from the movie that demonstrate the lead attorney, Steven Donziger met and virtually directed the ‘independent’ court report that found Chevron guilty of $27 billion dollars in damages.

The “Crude” outtakes provide a shocking look at the arrogance of Donziger. Donziger calls his own case against Chevron "… just a bunch of smoke and mirrors and bullshit. It really is."

Steven Donziger's admission of lack of evidence against Chevron reveals to what degree people will go to win a ton of money from an entry perceived as having a lot of it. This blogger's working to get the actual film clip, as it will be damning.

Bottomline: the case against Chevron for alleged pollution is all but over now that Donziger has been captured on film admitting the false charges against Chevron were created to “get money” and that there is no evidence to support the lawsuit against the oil company.

The point here is just because an oil company is an oil company, does not mean anyone can file false claims against them and expect them to stick.

Stay tuned.

Mark Hurd : Former HP CEO ousted with $40 million - fraud, sex scandal claims

Mark Hurd 

What a way to make $40 million: Mark Hurd became Hewlett Packard's CEO, then got into alleged sex scandal and sexual harassment trouble, only to be ousted from HP with a $40 million severance package, including $12 million payable in 30 days from his departure.

(But to put that in perspective, Hurd earned $24.2 million in 2009, just down from $42 million in 2008, according to TechCrunch.)

According to Business Week, while HP's investigation found that Hurd, who's married according to TechCrunch, was not guilty of sexual harassment of a now former marketing contractor, Hurd did violate the tech firm's business practices policy.

What Hurd did that really got him into trouble was filing a false expense report to cover up his relationship. A letter to HP employees by HP's CFO Cathie Lesjak, who's now interim CEO, tells the whole story from overview perspective and was posted at Engaget. Here's what it reads:

This is to advise you that Mark Hurd, Chairman and CEO of HP, has resigned from the company effective immediately. Mark's resignation was submitted at the request of the company's Board of Directors as a result of inappropriate behavior in which he engaged that violated HP's Standards of Business Conduct and undermined his ability to continue to lead the company.

At the request of the Board I have agreed to serve as interim CEO until a new, permanent CEO is hired. During this time I also will continue to perform my duties as CFO. The Board has formed a committee to undertake a search for a new CEO, and candidates from inside the company as well as outside the company will be considered. I have informed the Board, however, that I do not wish to be considered for the role of permanent CEO, and I have removed myself from being a candidate for that position.

While this news is unexpected, HP remains in an exceptionally strong position both financially and in the marketplace. It is essential, however, that we remain focused and continue to achieve – if not exceed – our operational and financial objectives.

Because there is likely to be considerable media coverage of this announcement during the next few days, I wanted to be the first to share the facts with you.

Mark's resignation followed an internal investigation into a claim of sexual harassment asserted against Mark and HP by a woman who is former contractor to HP. The investigation was conducted by outside counsel in conjunction with HP's General Counsel's office and was overseen by the Board. Based on the investigation it was determined that the former contractor's claim of sexual harassment was not supported by the facts.

The investigation did reveal, however, that Mark had engaged in other inappropriate conduct. Specifically, based on the facts that were gathered it was found that Mark had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with the contractor that constituted a conflict of interest, failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets. Each of these constituted a violation of HP's Standards of Business Conduct, and together they demonstrated a profound lack of judgment that significantly undermined Mark's credibility and his ability to effectively lead HP.

As we regularly remind all employees, each of us is expected to adhere strictly to the Standards of Business Conduct in all of our business dealings and relationships. This expectation applies with even greater force to HP's CEO and other senior executives who, given their positions, must set the highest standard for professional and personal conduct. The investigation that was conducted revealed that Mark had failed to meet this standard.

We recognize that this change in leadership is unexpected news. We also know that HP's success in recent years is due to the collective efforts and hard work of more than 300,000 talented employees who have formulated far-reaching strategies and achieved our objectives better than anyone else in the industry.
On Monday morning we will conduct an all-employee webcast to discuss this matter further and answer your questions. To join the webcast please click on this link.

In closing, I would like to thank each of you for your contributions to HP, and to ask that in the weeks and months to come we do everything to ensure that HP's future, like its past, is one of innovation, operational excellence, and the delivery of world-class products and services.

All the best.
Cathie

Jersey Shore: Guilty Pleasure by: Nikky Raney

Jersey Shore's episode last night (Thursday, August 5) was extremely entertaining. It is easy to see why this show is such a guilty pleasure.

So many moments last night were memorable. The beginning has Ronnie waking up from his hangover claiming not to remember the three-way kiss he participated in the night before. His way of dealing with this is to "deny, deny, deny." Ronnie mentioned Saved By The Bell saying he and Sammi are not "Zack and Kelly."

Snooki goes out shopping with JWoww and Sammi, and she buys the infamous sunglasses for a little under $400. She was photographed wearing those sunglasses months ago. The sunglasses look like a five year old glued a bunch of random gems on it, and Snooki claims she can barely see while she is wearing them.

Sammi finds the number of Ronnie's ex-girlfriend in his phonebook. Ronnie explains that the ex-girlfriend said that he should be giving Sammi another chance.

Snooki opens the fridge and a chicken falls out. She has a lot of difficulty cleaning up the mess.

Ronnie and Sammi have a heartwarming conversation about how they both still love each other, and then Sammi accompanies Ronnie and holds his hand while he gets a tattoo. She tells him, "I'll always be here for you, even if we hate each other."

Angelina continues to annoy the females in the house. The phone rings off the hook constantly for her and Snooki gets frustrated with this. When a man calls the house and asks, "May I speak with Angelina please?" Snooki answers, "No, she died." That moment was quoted on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. It was a moment that made viewers laugh. The man calls back and Angelina picks up. He says, "Angelina died? How did it happen?" Angelina responds, "No, I didn't die."

Angelina's only friends in the house become annoyed with her when she "cock blocks" them at the club that night. Pauly D is subjected to Angelina's drunken speech on how much she loves him as a friend and that she's looking out for him. Then Angelina decides to smack him. He tells Angelina that from now on, they're no longer friends: "You don't have me, and you don't have Situation. So who do you have? No one!"

The previews for next week's episode shows Ronnie dancing with some other girls, The Situation in the hot tub with "grenades," and Vinny waking up in bed to Snooki.

(Image courtesy of Socialite Life)

HEAT: Oakland Hip Hop dance show August 14th at Oakland Metro

New Style Motherlode Dance Studio, the creation of Skyline High School graduate Corey Action and Teela Shine-Ross, produces this must-see Hip Hop dance event on August 14th at 6:30 PM at Oakland Metro, 630 3rd Street, Oakland, CA.

It's called HEAT, and the show raises money for the kids dance programs at the New Style Motherlode Dance Studio at 5451 College Ave (between Kales Ave & Taft Ave).

Amy Larson, a Skyline High classmate of this blogger, talks about the upcoming New Style Motherlode show:

New Style Motherlode Dance Studio has received great reviews on Yelp. Here's a sample of them:

Stephanie H. - I've known Corey and Teela since way back when they taught at the then Alice Arts Center and they've really created an amazing dance studio and following! Pretty much every single class is taught by a kick ass instructor that really has the chops to teach. There is nothing worse then going to a dance class feeling like you know more then the teacher. On the flip side, most classes unless otherwise noted are mixed level and very welcoming to beginners.

George R. - Great for Hip-Hop

Mel H. - Cardio hip hop is pure, undeniable fun; whether you've never taken a dance class before or confess to hours of imitating music videos back in the day, you'll love the classes at New Style Motherlode. You will SWEAT. You will ENJOY yourself. You will both dread and thrill as Corey or Jennifer speeds up the music to get your heart rate up (except for JJ Fad's "Supersonic"...that's already fast...).

And here's a video from one of New Style Motherlode's past shows:



Catch HEAT, Oakland Hip Hop dance show August 14th at Oakland Metro, 630 3rd Street, Oakland, CA. Admission is $15 advance or $20 at the door, general admission, and it's tax deductible. For more information, call 510 597 1056.

On Michaele Salahi, Whoopi Goldberg, Real Housewives of DC, and Showbiz Tonight

Image via Wikipedia

HLN's Showbiz Tonight's really over-sensationalizing the Michaele Salahi v. Whoopi Goldberg story, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

The latest version of the story now has White House Party Crasher Michaele Salahi saying that she didn't say that Whoopi Goldberg hit her. And all of this just so happened to occur just before the day, Thursday, that The Real Housewives of DC aired, starring, you guessed it, Michaele Salahi.

And it's clear that the other stars of The Real Housewives of DC don't like Michaele Salahi, especially Linda Erkiletian, who attacked Michaele Salahi for her eating disorder. Check out this Associated Press YouTube Video:



The premier show focuses on a birthday bash for Michaele Salahi!

So all of this is about attention for Michaele Salahi and her show The Real Housewives of DC. But the issue with Whoopi Goldberg is unfortunately not planned, all too real, and says nothing good about either Michaele or Tareq Salahi.

It's seems, from a global perspective, that the Salahi's generate negative energy relationships which they then use to gain publicity for themselves. That's a dangerous pattern that, unless it's halted, could lead to unforeseen, bad scenarios.

The Salahi's, to use a street term, need to check themselves before they wreck themselves.

HLN's Showbiz Tonight's over the top on this

HLN's Showbiz Tonight's going really too far in describing this story, making it sound as if Michaele Salahi v. Whoopi Goldberg had an actual fight. Thursday's segment of Showbiz Tonight made it initially sound as if Whoopi came out from back stage specifically to go after Michaele Salahi.

That's not what happened. Whoopi Goldberg was trying to redirect the conversation back to the subject of The White House. Showbiz Tonight, in my view should apologize to Whoopi for mischaracterizing her actions. In a way, Showbiz Tonight is adding to the idea that Whoopi hit, or touched, or assaulted (whatever) Michaele Salahi, when its obvious that was not the case.

In this weird but white-hot story that has gotten more attention than it deserves, the last thing we need is a Hollywood gossip show fanning the flames of controversy even more.

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.