SF Transbay Terminal Ground Breaking marks new beginning

If you follow this space, you recall the long process of working to get a final design for the new San Francisco Transbay Terminal.

The old terminal, slated for demolition, was the hub of trains into San Francisco from the East Bay and using the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Bridge. Then, after trains gave way to cars and buses, it was the terminus of AC Transit Bus Service and San Mateo Transit Service for the East Bay and the North Bay. But with all of that, it had still fallen into a state of deterioration such that it became a blight in the South of Market area of downtown San Francisco.

After the establishment of the Redevelopment Plan in 2005 and a competition, a design created by Pelli Clarke Pelli emerged as the unanimous winner. Here's this blogger's video from the competition and the presentation in San Francisco City Hall in 2007:



Ground breaking marks new beginning

The plan is to take shape over the next seven years and be complete in 2017. I'm certain the vast majority of San Franciscans, let alone people in the Bay Area, have no idea what dramatic change is about to take place in what was once the place that was known as the unofficial parking and transit hub for SOMA's nightlife.

It will consist of a large, 1,000 ft skyscraper, 2,600 housing units, and a giant, elevated urban park unlike anything experienced in America. Indeed, the six-acre park is so large given where it's located, it's more like a much smaller version of Golden Gate Park, but for Downtown San Francisco.

The structure that supports the park will also serve to connect various forms of transit, including the planned extension of CalTrain from next to AT&T Park, and become - this space' prediction - the new place for Bay Area teenagers to hang out. (Try taking a cyber walk around to see what I mean.)

Grand Central Station

"Today, in breaking ground on the Transbay Transit Center, we are opening a new chapter in that history of progress," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "We are coming together to create jobs and revitalize our economy, and we are laying the first building blocks of a new 'Grand Central Station of the West.'"

Speaker Pelosi's right. The SF Transbay Terminal project will create 48,000 new jobs during its construction phase, but once finished, will transform Downtown San Francisco in a way that perhaps has not been fully considered.

"This is one of the most important and transformational public transportation projects in America. Once the dust has settled, San Francisco’s skyline will be transformed - as will transportation, housing, and employment choices for people across the Bay area and beyond," said United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration are proud to contribute to the first phase of this effort."

"This is a historic day for San Francisco and for the entire State," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "History will write that High-Speed Rail and a new engine for job creation and economic growth in California began today, with the groundbreaking of this project. It is a culmination of decades of planning to fulfill our City's vision of leading the nation as a transit - first City and a hub of a modern High - Speed Rail system."

Jamarcus Russell - former Oakland Raiders QB in court

Image via Wikipedia

The sad story of Oakland Raiders 2007 NFL 1st Round Draft Pick Quarterback Jamarcus Russell continues. Jamarcus Russell appeared in court Wednesday, in Mobile, Alabama. According to WKRG via Pro Football Talk, a friend, Marcus Stevenson, tried to take the fall for Russell.

When he did that, Stevenson was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, as PFT reports. But the WKRG report is more interesting:

Stevenson, when questioned by prosecutors, said he and Russell had partied at clubs the night before and returned home around 7:00 am on July 5th. "We were still hanging out," said Stevenson, who told the judge that Russell took a woman to his bedroom when he went to sleep in the early hours of the morning. The woman was gone before police arrived that afternoon, according to the testimony.

If you're reading that, are you thinking perhaps the woman had something to do with the police bust? Also, it's obvious Jamarcus Russell was in a state of denial about his future, electing to party like a rock star after his ouster by the Oakland Raiders.


WKRG.com News

Additionally, Jamarcus Russell seems to have talked one of his friends into taking the fall for him. Jamarcus Russell pleaded not guilty last month to one count of possession of a controlled substance.

And regarding his NFL and pro football career, Russell rejected an offer from the UFL to join a team in that league. Instead, another former Raider Jeff Garcia, will join the UFL.

American Idol News - Jennifer Lopez out as judge, Asia'h Epperson in jail

Jennifer Lopez via last.fm

In American Idol News, Jennifer Lopez, who was in the running, really a front-runner, to be a judge on American Idol, is out of the picture. According to The New York Daily News, J-Lo's demands became too much for The Fox Television Network to deal with.

And American Idol contestant Asia'h Epperson is in jail as this is written, for allegedly beating up a woman in a club in Hollywood called Colony Club. That's on the heels of Fantasia Barrino, the American Idol winner who suffered from an overdose on Monday.

Jennifer Lopez called Diva

Reportedly, Jennifer Lopez was being too much the bitch diva for Fox, so not wanting to deal with a formula that may have worked for the show, she was written off. A source told People Magazine Her demands got out of hand. Fox had just had enough."

What those "damands" were is not known, but it's too bad. J-Lo would have been fun to watch. But one thing's for sure, American Idol's still in a state of flux that should have sponsors very concerned.

Asia'h Epperson in jail

According to TMZ.com, which broke the story, Asia'h Epperson, who should spend more time on her blog as it showed promise, was the focus of a citizen's arrest at the club by the beating victim.

That's sad news because, in just reading her few blog posts about Google SERP, she's obviously really bright. Whatever happened, it's a sure bet alcohol was involved in it.

Jennifer Freeman - Earl Watson says My Wife and Kids wife bit him

Actress Jennifer Freeman who plays Claire Kyle in the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids is accused of biting her husband, Indiana Pacers NBA Star Earl Watson, who first said he was going to file for divorce and seek custody of their 10-month-old daughter, but now has a change of heart and is going to try and work out their issues.

But that was after Earl Watson filed papers in LA County Superior Court.

Earl Watson reported, according to TMZ, that the 24-year-old My Wife and Kids star bit him in a rage after he tried to check her cell phone after she received a call at 11 PM. (Er, that reads like a booty call to this blogger.)

Watson said that Jennifer Freeman bit him at night on August 1st.

Jennifer Freeman and Earl Watson got married on May 17, 2009.

Jackie Evancho : YouTube talent is Susan Boyle of 2010

It's hard to believe it until you see her, but Jackie Evancho's a 10-year old Opera soprano from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who sounds like someone much older. You have to look and listen twice, and then again a third time, to believe what you're seeing and hearing. This YouTube talent that is Jackie Evancho is the Susan Boyle of 2010.

Why Susan Boyle?

Because like Susan Boyle, Jackie Evancho delivers the unexpected. Once again, we're wowed by someone who doesn't look like they can do what they do. Even Howie Mandel said that people could not believe it was Jackie Evancho doing the singing for Jackie Evancho. But it was.

The only place Jackie Evancho falls just short of being the exact match of Susan Boyle is that she's singing Opera. If the 10-year old were singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," the Internet would explode in response to her.

Still, let's see what happens over the next few days as Jackie Evancho advances in America's Got Talent.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo gouging - Jerry Brown should step in

California Attorney General Jerry Brown should look into this. According to The Associated Press via The Huffington Post, Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $205 million to its customers as part of a successful class-action lawsuit.

What Wells Fargo was doing was allowing debit purchases to go through when a customer's account was overdrawn. But Bank of America has the same practice, and this blogger experienced it after a client bounced a check.

What Bank of America does is pile on one payment when you're overdrawn, thus triggering another overdraft charge and making more money from it. Then, when the non-paid vendor tries to collect again, the Bank of America issues a second overdraft charge!

My sources in and out of Bank of America have confirmed this problem. In other words, Bank of America has practiced the same process Wells Fargo was accused of and is now ordered to pay its customers back to settle.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused Wells Fargo of profiteering

According to the AP, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who's in the Northern District Court of California in San Francisco, accused Wells Fargo of profiteering, specifically "Internal bank memos and e-mails leave no doubt that, overdraft revenue being a big profit center, the bank's dominant, indeed sole, motive was to maximize the number of overdrafts."

In this blogger's experience with his Bank of America account, there were as many as not one, but three overdraft penalties drawn in one day, and four in two days, separated by the weekend, from two vendors!

What should happen is simple: one overdraft penalty for one charge unpaid. That's it. Bank of America should be the focus of California Attorney General Jerry Brown's gaze, and sooner rather than later.

Steve Slater and his dramatic exit by Nikky Raney

Steve Slater's name has been in the news and all over headlines for the past couple days for quitting his job as a flight attendant after arguing with a rude passenger. Slater decided to slide down JetBlue's plane emergency chute.

Slater was sent to jail for his dramatic exit which also doubled as his resignation from his job as a flight attendant. Some people are calling Slater a hero, but it's hard to understand how causing a scene publicly can be considered heroic behavior.

People magazine says:

According to police reports, he cursed out a passenger, grabbed a few beers, abandoned the plane using its emergency chute, then called it a day.

That doesn't sound like heroic behavior.

Let's see what new information comes out within the next few days.

Paris Hilton's Partying Caught Up to Her Gut

Paris Hilton has grown a gut! Paris's party ways this summer have caught up to her and she proves - for once - that she is truly human! She wears a tight dress that shows off how much of a pauch belly she has. The Daily Mail agrees:

And it appears as though her month of hard partying may be wreaking havoc on Paris' figure, as despite being stick thin, the tight dress showed off an unfortunately obvious paunch, likely the result of the magnums of champagne she was seen downing on holiday.

I cannot believe Paris or even her people let her step out looking like that! Paris could pass for being a few months pregnant with how much her gut sticks outs. That or she's got bad bloat because she is starving herself! What do you think it is - beer belly or bloat? Oh, she would never drink beer, I meant champagne gut! Only us mere mortals would get beer gut!

Victoria Beckham Pregnancy Rumors Swirl by Tina Musial

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Victoria Beckham is the latest high profile star to fall to the pregnancy rumors. Some people are so sure of this pregnancy - like Famous Magazine in Australia - that they are running the news on the cover of their magazine! With the Beckham's - Victoria and superstar soccer player husband David - suing several tabloids for false stories, you'd think that Famous must have a credible source in order to even think about a cover with this topic!

Posh and Becks are expanding their family. Romeo, Brooklyn and Cruz will have either a brother or sister, Posh must be wishing for a little girl by now! It's a new beginning for the couple, this week we reveal the pact that saved their marriage.

Victoria and David's youngest is already five or six years old. I wonder how they would feel about another sibling? We'll wait until some pictures emerge of Victoria looking heavy until we decide if we think she is truly pregnant or not. She's so thin, it won't take long to notice. What's your guess as to her pregnancy status?

Isiah Thomas NBA or Misogynist Club? by Suzannah B. Troy

Isiah Thomas does not belong in the NBA but on my blog misogynistNYC. Too many women in NYC know what it is to endure a hostile environment and also be lied and trashed about.

Been there, endured that and my loyal blog readers on my main blog Suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com read my line "New Yorkers threshold for corruption is higher than our tallest sky scrapers."  Well the same for misogynist, hateful, hostile, down right creepy unwanted sexual behavior towards women and way too young girls.

The USA has a long way too go with regard to acceptable treatment of it's women.  Sadly compared to other countries we are light years ahead. I have nine letters published in The New York Times and they are hard to find.  You have to go The New York Times website, put my name in the search engine and than hit since 1851, I know I look great for my age and than hit advance search.

Here is my letter on Women and Porn.  Many years ago I made up the term "geo-sexual politics" and it means we women have come a long way but we still ain't equal.  For Mae West lovers check out the double entendre I snuck into that letter!

Could the NBA be called the Misogynist Club?  Yes.  I am blocking out the name of the Knick player that coerced a young intern to give him oral sex and she did not want to do it.  I really can't remember his name and I thought he should be punished and censured.  What a disgusting guy.  His behavior was exposed in the entire scandal that broke when the Isiah Thomas scandal broke.  I do not go to basketball games anymore.  I would never buy a Knick anything.  I don't want to support a club that is so abusive and exploitive of women.

Oakland Mayor's Race: SEIU 1021 endorsement meeting's clumsy start

The Oakland Mayor's Race is not without its share of groups who think they can influence the race by excluding certain candidates. The Oakland SEIU 1021 Union Organization is just one of them.

As this is written, the Oakland SEIU 1021 is about to hold its interviews of candidates for the Oakland Mayor's Race. From many conversations held Tuesday, it appears the SEIU finally got its act together and contacted all of the candidates, instead of just three: Former State Senator Don Perata, and Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan (District Four and At-Large, respectively.)

Now, from the information communicated to this blogger, the SEIU's talking to more than just the three, although as of this writing the Joe Tuman for Mayor campaign was left out of the SEIU process.

UPDATE: a text from the Joe Tuman Campaign explains that after "several phone calls" they were invited for later tonight.

In all, it was an awful state of affairs punctuated by this email letter to Ariana Casanova, the event organizer with the Oakland SEIU from the "Friends of Terrance Candell for Mayor" campaign (paragraphs broken by this blogger):

Dr. Terrance Candell calls out other candidates 

Dear Ariana,

You met with our candidate on February 3rd, 2010. Other unions have met with him and are close to endorsement. How, then, can you act as if he does not exist. Our constituents within your union have told us that you intended to discriminate against Terence Candell. We hope that this is not evidence of that. Our campaign never received any notice of Wednesday's interviews of Oakland Mayoral Candidates.

We assume that means that we will be allowed participation without having to render advance questions, since you never advanced them to us. Do not misunderstand. Our candidate is the frontrunner in this race. The rest just have KTVU, who has ignored him since he paid them $10,000 for airtime for his campaign.

Dr. Candell was the first Oakland Mayoral Candidate on the ballot. Don MacCleay and Greg Harland are also on the ballot. Terence Candell has a regular show on local Channel 78 Comcast. You might want to check that out. Your membership deserves a chance to hear him.

We understand that you don't like him. However, you cannot deceive the people and your membership by denying him due process. That is very unprofessional.

Dyra - Campaign Chair

Friends of Candell

Green Party Candidate Don Macleay was also not contacted, so he sent this email to Ariana:

I am also asking to attend and particpate requesting the SEIU 1021 endorsment in the Mayor's race.

Please let me know how to proceed.
Is there a questionaire?
What time should we arrive?
What else should I know or do?

Don Macleay

Who's Ariana Casanova?

Ariana Casanova's an organizer with the Oakland SEIU and an activist involved in several issues from the Nik Nak Liquor Store to protests against banks during the financial crisis, and who this blogger called three times without a single return phone call. I've never seen or met Ariana Casanova and I had a lot of questions for her after my conversations.

According to several sources, Ariana Casanova's not shy about telling Oakland Mayor's Race candidates if they're even worth paying attention to. The woman with the cool-sounding name allegedly told one candidate he needed to raise $325,000 and that he should not even try because he was not going to win.

That unguarded view is what started the problem where candidates were excluded.

When this space got word of the problem, a text was sent to Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan who was set to participate in the SEIU event. The text communicated the intention of exposing the SEIU game playing and encouraged her to back out.

After a time, the problem, at least for Dr. Terrance Candell, was solved. He's part of the SEIU process as is Don Macleay.

Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Greg Harland, who doesn't want union backing, said he rejected the SEIU's last minute invitation.

However it turns out, if the SEIU handled its interview process the way it's explained here, and by all accounts this is accurate, their final recommendation for the Oakland Mayor's Race is not worth paying attention to. That's also true for The League of Women Voters.

Stay tuned.

Fox News popularity explained by Nikky Raney

After writing a 26 page long research paper about Fox News' conservative bias for my college English Composition class it's simple to explain why Fox News is known as the "most popular" or "most watched" news station.

Doing the research paper involved actually watching programs such as The O'Reilly Factor and viewing segments on the show. Along with comparing the headlines and online content of Fox News as opposed to CNN's online content.

Instead of posting the 26 page long paper - this post will just be a simply explanation as to why Fox News gets the most views.

Fox News is the only news source of its kind. Fox News is where all the conservatives go to watch their news primarily. Fox News viewership is primarily white older males on the conservative sides.

On the opposite side of the spectrum there are news stations such as CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, etc. All the aforementioned stations are not conservative. Some may argue that the stations are not unbiased and objective - and most will say that most those stations lean to the left.

So, there is ONE station that leans to the right, but many stations that seem to lean toward the left.

The people who enjoy the news that leans to the left are all going to go to each of those stations. So all of those "left leaning" stations are competing for the views of those who watch those stations.

Fox News has no competition when it comes to news that leans far to the right and is sensationalistic. Now, conservatives and liberals alike will skim and view a variety of news stations and liberals will sometimes watch Fox and conservatives will watch CNN - but the majority of conservatives stick to Fox News. There are not a bunch of conservative news stations fighting for viewership of the conservatives.

The other news stations ARE competing for those viewers.

So. Let's say there are 50 conservatives and 50 liberals. All 50 conservatives are going to watch Fox News, but 20 liberals might watch CNN, another 20 might watch MSNBC, and 10 of them might watch CBS.

In that case the reason that Fox News is getting the most viewers is because it is the only station of its kind.

Now, there is much more that can be said about Fox News. Lots of time and research has gone into explaining and proving the conservative bias of Fox News, but for now that is all that needs to be explained.

Image taken from Gawker.com

"I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity."-- Julius Erving