Finally 99er Factions Unite for Political Clout - Survival

Finally 99er Factions Unite to Strengthen their Political Clout and for their very survival, to push the Senate to pass S3706.

Advocacy groups from all across the Country have put aside any and all differences and have now joined together for one specific initiative and one common purpose: saving American lives while in turn rebuilding the American Economy.

New Press Release from the 99er Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 16, 2010 – In a show of unity, the various 99er Advocacy groups have coalesced into one large united force to lobby Washington for the Tier 5 Americans Want to Work Act. The Umbrella group will be known as The American 99ers' Union http://www.american99ersunion.com

The 99er Nation has, for the most part, been without their lifeline Unemployment Insurance payments for nearly 8 months. It is no coincidence that the American economy began to slip backward into double dip recession territory just weeks after the 99ers were cut off from their Unemployment Insurance. Millions of Americans unable to participate in our "consumer based" economy cannot help but make a negative impact on the fragile recovery.

The macroeconomic benefits to the entire American economy, with passage of this Tier 5 bill is staggering and would bring about immediate results. EXAMPLE: 5 million Americans who have exhausted UI benefits X $300.00 (average weekly benefit) would inject at least 1.5 billion dollars directly into the economy every week. Based upon the law of 'Supply & Demand', through the purchase of goods and services, S3706 would provide the demand required to keep the recovery going in the right direction, prevent further layoffs and stimulate the creation of jobs within the individual communities throughout America.

This coalition consists of (in alphabetical order):
Advocacy For the Long Term Unemployed (AFLTU)
Extend Unemployment Benefits
Jobless Unite
Now: Jobless / Next: Homeless
Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Needed
Tier 5 To Survive Unemployed Unite
The Unemployment Examiner
U-Cubed (Union for the Unemployed)
Unemployed-Friends
Unemployed States Of America
Unemployed Voices
Unemployed Workers Action Group (UWAG)

"Our coalition under the banner of The American 99ers' Union, has decided that the best way to convince the Senate to vote The Americans Want To Work Act into law is to ask all of our members to Take Action on Wednesday, September 22, 2010."

All members of The American 99ers' Union acting as one will fax, email, and/or make phone calls to their own two Senators, urging them to immediately support and PASS The Americans Want To Work Act, S. 3706. http://stabenow.senate.gov/infocus/AmericansWanttoWork.html [The exact letter to be sent can be downloaded at http://www.american99ersunion.com]

The recommended action is strategically designed to:

1. Show that we are united in a grassroots movement that is growing in strength and numbers to greatly impact the midterm elections.

2. Provide sound reason and fact as to why this is not only the right thing to do for 99ers, but also supports America's economic recovery by stimulating the economy

3. Inform our Senators that we are watching their votes very closely and we will vote against those who oppose this bill in the November election, encourage our friends and family to vote against them and use the internet and media to encourage the general public to vote against those who will not help Americans who are suffering without unemployment insurance during this national emergency

4. Demonstrate our commitment to use our combined influence to ensure millions of 99ers all across the nation perform the one job they still hold on November 2nd - VOTE for those who have represented and continue to represent our desperate need for extended unemployment insurance and jobs

S3706 is currently languishing in "Committee limbo" within the Senate Finance Committee. This bill MUST be brought to the Senate Floor immediately and passed in time to allow the House to do the same, prior to the next scheduled Congressional recess on October 8, 2010. Passage of this bill before the election is crucial in order to save the lives of millions of hurting Americans currently on the brink of complete financial disaster, hunger and homelessness.

To those who doubt there are 5 million 99ers in this country, one must simply do the math. There are at least 15 million unemployed Americans and 10 million of those are collecting UI benefits. Clearly the DOL figure estimating 1.4 million have exhausted benefits, whether by design or intention, is a grossly underestimated statistic.

So, now it is time for us to show our strength and numbers to the Senate!

With the midterm elections shaping up to be a tight race, for eventual control of both the House and Senate, unemployed Americans can easily be the deciding factor in who keeps their legislative jobs and which members of Congress join the unemployment lines in November.

To contact The American 99ers' Union call 202-579-9377
(99ERS)

****End Press Release*****

Unless the 99ers push hard for this bill now and everyday until it is passed, nothing will be done and more Americans will die.

What can you do to help?

All unemployed Americans MUST contact the Senate Finance Committee (202-224-4515), fax (202-228-0554) and DEMAND this gets to the Senate floor immediately.

Contact your Senator and every other Senator you can to demand we get this Tier 5 bill (S3706) voted on NOW. A complete list of legislators can be found at: http://joblessunite.yolasite.com/legislators-list.php

Call the White House comments line to demand the same. White House Comments Line 202-456-1111 Comment line is only open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday EST. ***REMIND the President that this is an emergency.

Christine O'Donnell: Karl Rove Says She Has "Personal Background" Problems

Well, the Republicans are eating their own, or at least trying to.

Here's Republican strategic mastermind Karl Rove throwing new GOP Delaware Senate Race representative Christine O'Donnell under the bus, saying she has "personal background" issues. Check out this video:

In the video, Karl Rove says that Christine O'Donnell (picture at left) now has to answer for her own checkered background. Then says "I've met her. I'll tell ya, I wasn't impressed with her abilities as a candidate."

Rove asked about her misleading voters about how she makes a living, why it took her two decades to pay her college tuition. Rove says essentially, that there's "a lot of nutty things she's been saying."

Sean Hannity saying he found Christine O'Donnell "quite impressive" causes this blogger to ask "impressive" in what way? Hannity didn't explain that. 

Knowing Sean, he was referring to her looks rather than her intellect.

More on the nutty things Christine O'Donnell was saying, later.

Wow.

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt Caught Kissing by Tina

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt must be getting along fairly well now. They were caught kissing while visiting the zoo in Santa Barbara with a bunch of their friends. No, the animals weren't their friends, though they should be!

Heidi and Spencer were each holding a glass of champagne, when cameras caught them kissing.

Now, the real question is, was it on purpose for the camera or not? We know these two can never seem to keep their stories straight. Are they getting divorced? Did they ever intend to divorce?

I doubt it. What do you think?

Who is April Macie? by Tina

Have you heard of April Macie before? probably not, unless you are big in to comedy or the Howard Stern Show. April has been a stand up comedian and just won the "Funniest and Hottest" comedienne contest from the Howard Stern Show.

Will it get her a comedy show? Maybe. She's funny, but she already offended people with her "...all kids need a beating" joke. Funny. Probably. In poor taste? Probably.

Have you heard April before?

Tiger Woods Won't Let Rachel Uchitel Pose for Playboy by Tina

It seems you can't outrun the long arm of the...Tiger Woods team. Rachel Uchitel was scheduled to pose for Playboy sometime this month for a paycheck of about $300,000. Except Tiger or his people, came in and put the kabosh on her deal.

Tiger supposedly paid Rachel $10 MILLION dollars as hush money last year, and obviously that means keeping a hush on her body too. If she poses for Playboy she loses her lucrative shut-up deal.

Do you think Tiger ponied up some more cash so she didn't miss the $300K?

Dessert Recipes: Butterscotch Brownies by Tina

This is an old recipe my mom made back in the 70s

Melt 1/4 c butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in:
1 c light brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c walnuts

Spread in an 8x8 pan and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Fall Baking Recipes: Carrot Bread by Tina

This carrot bread has lots of veggies in it, but you won't think of it as good for you! This moist and delicious bread is more like eating dessert!

1 c oil
2 tsp soda
1 1/2 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 c grated carrot
1/2 c walnuts
1/2 c raisins
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c coconut
2 c flour

Mix all of the ingredients together until moistened. Pour into greased bread pan and let stand for 20 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Tailgate Recipes: Vegetable Pizza by Tina

This healthy snack can be whipped up quick the night before the big game and stored in the fridge until you are ready to leave. Use whatever veggies you have on hand.

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c mayonnaise
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt

Spread rolls to cover bottom of a 9x13 or small cookie sheet. Bake as directed on package instructions. Remove from oven and cool completely.

In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spread over cooled crust. Garnish with chopped up broccoli, cauliflower, celery, peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, carrots and/or radishes. Make a design of your mascott with the correct colored veggies!

3D Summit - Jeffrey Katzenberg Blasts 2D to 3D Movie Conversion

Note: Jeffrey Katzenberg Blasts 2D to 3D Movie Conversion at 3D Summit - This is 13:11 of a 14 minute speech. This video blogger elected to upload all of what I has, rather than edit it. At first, The plan wasn't to record all of his speech, but when it seemed that, just 30 seconds into the speech, Jeff was going to throw and land a haymaker, plans changed. To be candid, the final two minutes have micro-jumps only because of the editing system used vs the computer's random access memory (RAM) that was consumed to take such a large file all at once - need more RAM.  But I wanted you to see what I had, rather than lop it off.  



Universal City, Ca - On Wednesday, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was the keynote speaker at the 3D Entertainment Summit at the Hilton Universal City. At first, this blogger expected a standard "State of 3D" speech, but Katzenberg had other ideas. He got up with a plan to throw and land a haymaker.

Katzenberg took direct aim at 2D to 3D film conversion and set the tone for the summit - just what a good keynote speech is supposed to do. He didn't call out Clash Of The Titans by name, but everyone knew what he was talking about. But for good measure, Jeff added Piranha 3D.

(As an aside someone at the 3D Summit, when asked about Piranha 3D's budget later in the day, said "It's about $30 million to $40 million. We'll get their in terms of revenue, but we're waiting for DVD sales." But then the man shrugged and said, "Whatever, I'm not there any more," meaning he not with Dimension Films, who made the moviue.)

Clash Of The Titans was the epic 2010 remake of the man-god v. god fantasy that was made in 1981. First planned as a 2D film, Clash was rushed into 3D conversion after the success of Avatar in 2009. The results were terrible, as noted before.

Clash's conversion was so bad that Avatar Producer / Director James Cameron called it out by name and said that Hollywood should not use 3D just to use it. This is what Jeff is echoing in his speech above but with a step - he's panning 2D to 3D conversion, period.

Jeff said "When it comes to 3D conversion, here's the bottom line: over the years the film industry comes up with new ways to make a bad movie worse. Conversion of 2D to 3D is just the newest." Katzenberg says a bad 3D movie is painful to watch (really, it can give you a headache) and to add insult to injury Hollywood asks the customer to pay for it.

Some of the people responsible for the 2D to 3D conversion were sitting right there in the audience at the 3D Summit, including a man next to me who knew Jeff and admitted to me that he worked on Clash Of The Titans.

That guy was squirming in his chair during the speech. Seriously.

As a closing note, Katzenberg reports that six of the top 10 movies were 3D, and says there's a scarcity of 3D movie screens hampering revenue box office, even though it was healthy for 3D. He also says pricing is not an issue - the public is willing to pay a premium price, as long as it gets a premium experience.  Customers, Katzenberg says, can tell the difference "between Pandora and Piranha."  

This is part one: part two is the question and answer session, which was entertaining in as well. Stay tuned.

Apple TV Gains Paris Hilton As Fan; On Twitter Paris Says She Loves It

Paris Hilton's Hip: Flip Camera and Apple TV

The new Apple TV, the latest in Apple's attempt to tie together your TV with the Internet and your computer's digital media files, has a fan: Paris Hilton.

As of one hour ago, the Los Angeles socialite, business woman  and actress took to Twitter to tweet her pleasure with the Apple TV:

Loving my new Apple TV, so much fun for all my nights at home. :)
about 1 hour ago via web

Frankly, it's rare that Paris Hilton takes time to tout any product other than her own on Twitter and to her 2.7 million followers, so Apple CEO Steve Jobs should be pleased. And especially so, because Jobs has made Apple TV's revamp a priority, cutting the price by a whopping $130 to just $99 while adding more features.

Now, with Apple TV,you can rent HD movies, TV shows, and Netflix titles, as well as your photos, and even watch YouTube from your TV screen. It's a fair bet Paris was doing some of all of this.

Does this mean Apple's hired Paris Hilton as a spokesperson? Theres' no evidence to support that idea. Yes, it's true that Paris rarely gives such endorsements, and yes, the timing of the tweet is pretty close to the time of the release of the new Apple TV, but ...maybe..oh, hell, it does look rather like a juicy endorsement.

We're all such skeptics. Maybe Paris actually likes the damn thing, huh?  After all she uses a Flip Camera, too!

America's Got Talent's surprising winner By: Nikky Raney

Out of all the acts on America's Got Talent the most unique was Fighting Gravity. The group of frat brothers who took a semester off from school to pursue this dream. They used black lights, neon, and amazing teamwork to make an amazing performance that no one could have topped - or so they thought.

Michael Grimm, USA Today

Michael Grimm was crowned the America's Got Talent winner receiving $1 million and the chance to headline a show in Vegas.

This choice was quite surprising. Besides Fighting Gravity the other candidates were Prince Poppycock and Jackie Evancho.

USA Today reports:

"Sharon Osbourne said she was sure they'd wind up with a show in Vegas and told them she wanted a front row seat on opening night."

It is agreed over many platforms (forums, Twitter, Facebook, blogs) that this was completely unexpected and an unpredictable turnout.

Grimm just didn't seem too out of the ordinary  or original. Prince Poppycock was a true character, Fighting Gravity was unique in so many ways and Jackie was a young girl with the voice of an old soul.

Congratulations to Grimm - I am sure the other candidates will receive opportunities to pursue their dreams.

Ines Sainz Pictures Of Sexual Harassment vs. Sex Scandalous Looks

The flap around sports reporter Ines Sainz and her ‘beef’ with the NY Jets has brought to light a number of troubling issues within sports that we’ve been discussing for the past 30 years including; sexism in a league that has no shortage of disturbing incidents, accessibility and professionalism.

We’ve seen this movie before. The story line goes, attractive reporter in a male dominated sport is ‘doing her job’, when high-priced players and in this case the Jets head coach Rex Ryan and defensive back coach Dennis Thurman decided to behave in a way that we would not tolerate off the sports field in other work environments.

In this incident, Ryan and Thurman reportedly threw balls in Sainz direction during a Saturday afternoon practice causing players to run near her while she waited for an interview with quarterback Mark Sanchez.

She said the ball throwing wasn’t really the issue and didn’t take it too seriously. She said she didn’t really take the cats calls she got in the locker room seriously. Sainz claims it was the reaction she got from other reporters that eventually caused her to communicate to the world via twitter that she was ‘feeling uncomfortable’.

The fall out was predictable. NY Jets owner Woody Johnson apologized and promised to look into the matter and hold the feet of those responsible to the fire. The NFL is investigating. Women sport writers and reporters of every type have been brought to the fore front, interviewed and asked how things have changed over the years. Most of their reactions have been cautionary like Teri Thompson who pretty much said; ‘Yes things have improved, but we still have a long ways to go’, seems to be the mantra.

Ines Sainz defends her salacious outfits

Next we have the age-old discussion about attire. One one hand we have some saying a reporter like Ines Sainz sends the wrong message with her provocative style of dress. Saturday she wore tight jeans and a halter top. On Monday night she wore a mini dress with a revealing neckline and stilettos. Sainz has coyly defended her head turning outfits. She claims its how she dresses and while she hears the cat calls ‘noise’ she ignores themand goes about doing her job.

Many have supported her laying claim that it doesn’t matter what she wears. In no way shape or form, should any woman be harassed. 

Some have even pointed out that her attire of dress is cultural and that in many places throughout Mexico and Latin America where Sainz is from, her outfits wouldn’t cause such a stir. Obviously they have here in the US.

On the other hand, many aren’t buying it. One long time sports fan named Cynthia —– dedicated a Dave Chappelle video to Ines Sainz stating that while she agrees women shouldn’t be harassed for what they wear, one needs to take into account their motivation.. She asserted ‘Some females PRETEND not to like the attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OBPaenkxdg

Hadji Williams author of 'Don't Knock the Hustle' feels Sainz was unprofessional in her attire.

As of late last night this debate on attire was raging on the airwaves, in blogs and on twitter. Long time activist and author Hadji Williams (Can’t Knock the Hustle )who goes by the twitter handle Black Canseco was knee-deep in this conversation as he wound up relating his long tenure in corporate America where he claimed Sainz attire of jeans and halter top would’ve been deemed unprofessional.

“I’ve worked 15 yrs in corporate gigs. I’ve seen women rip each other apart over attire. Inez would get torn down at places I’ve been at” he noted.

When challenged about why should women have to dress a certain way in order to not get harassed, Williams asserted that he was not defending the players. He felt those responsible should indeed be held accountable.

He added; “One wrong doesn’t negate another wrong. What the players did were wrong and should be dealt with. Inez Sainz outfit was still unprofessional.”

Sadly Ines Sainz and discussions on her outfits take away from the more serious issues of sexism and harassment within NFL with players like Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger who had his suspension for reckless and harassing behavior reduced from six to four games and now former player turned reporter Shannon Sharpe who is accused of domestic violence, rape and issuing death threats against Michele Bundythe mother of his kids. Sharpe has decided to take a leave of absence from his post at CBS until the issues at hand are resolved.

The issues around attire can easily be dealt with. The NFL can simply implement a dress code. Any reporter on the field or in the locker room needs to have on appropriate business attire. Since many of the harassment problems seem to occur in the locker rooms, how about the NFL simply keep that space for the players and conduct all interviews on the field after the game? 

Why not make it a condition that all players must stick around for 15-30 minutes after the game to talk with reporters who seem to feel its important to get the raw emotions of players after a win or loss?.

Will any of this stop all the cat calls? Not totally, but maybe it will lessen the types of remarks and attitude we heard espoused by players like Washington Redskin running back Clinton Portis who yesterday suggested that women reporters in the locker room have ’53 packages’ to look at and may want one.

Former NFL tight end & CBS reporter Shannon Sharpe

In the meantime, not just the NFL but society in general needs to find more efficient ways to work on the problem of sexism, violence against women and other related issues. 

Sure we can punish Rex Ryan and whatever Jets player made cat calls, but shouldn’t we be concerned about the hundreds of thousands of folks who woke up the other day and made Ines Sainz top ten in searches as folks sought to get a glimpse of her outfits. 

Not a whole lot of folks were interested in stopping sexism in the NFL when they went googling her name. If you don’t believe me check out how many folks are looking up Shannon Sharpe this morning. Check around and see how many discussions are being had about a man who is accused of raping and issuing death threats against a woman. That’s what we should be concerned about.

As reporters what role do we have in all this? Are we beholden to a corporate agenda that would say go out and cover the game as if nothing happened because too much money and important relationships are on the line, hence one can’t afford to be rocking too many boats? Or do reporters who feel that a strong message needs to be sent step up and take some bold steps like doing some serious investigative reporting or not giving an offending team and its players any coverage at all..

Big Ben Roethlisberger

How pervasive is domestic violence in the NFL? How many owners are covering up behavior that we saw with players like Big Ben Roethlisberger? If this is really about changing a damaging sexist culture then maybe reporters will have to go beyond the quotes in a locker room and deliver the type of hard-edged journalism that unearthed the rape cover ups in the military where it was discovered that almost 1/3 of the women enlisted were violated and that oftentimes its covered up or ignored. 

Wouldn’t it be great if Ines Sainz was one of those reporters peeling back those painful layers and kicking up dust around this issue? Imagine her interviewing Big Ben as opposed to Mark Sanchez?

Where it stands now Ines Sainz is the hot topic who will likely parlay this incident into bigger and better things. People will point to the fact that the Jets apologized and how coach Rex Ryan won’t cross that line of harassment again, but sadly none of that won’t prick the surface of what’s really at hand. 

It’ll require all of us who are concerned to push the NFL to come down harder on those who cross the line. 

It’ll require us to push sports reporters to come down harder and make things uncomfortable for the players the way Sainz said she was made to feel uncomfortable. 

It will require all of us to start moving young people in a different direction so they won’t some off like Clinton Portis. It will also require all of us to draw lines in the sand.

Written by Davey D