Kim Kardashian turns 30

Courtesy if People Magazine

On October 21, 2010 Kim Kardashian will turn 30. She had a big celebration on Friday, October 15 at Tao in Las Vegas.

Kardashian told People magazine that she is having mixed feelings about turning 30; especially since her family has been giving her a hard time about it.

Kardashian still looks as stunning and beautiful as ever - age is just a number.

Brett Favre Sex Scandal: Farve To Meet With NFL Commissioner Goodell

According to ProfootballTalk.com and NBC Sports reporter and NFL Network's Alex Flanagan via Twitter, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has confirmed rumors that he will meet with Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Brett Favre in the wake of a blog story floated by Deadspin.com that Farve allegedly sent racy texts, photos, and messages to New York Jets Sideline Reporer Jenn Starger when Farve was QB of the Jets two years ago. (Jay Mariotti blasts Favre and Randy Moss.)

Alex Flanagan tweeted:

NFL will meet with Brett favre tuesday regarding text message and photo situation

NFL Commissioner Goodell was at the Notre Dame game against Western Michigan because, according to Flanagan via Twitter, his niece attends Notre Dame, so he paid a visit.

On NBC's Notre Dame halftime show, Sports Illustrated's Peter King said that NFL Vice President Of Security Operations Milt Aldridge and the Commissioner would meet with Bret Favre in Minneapolis. Also, Goodell has not talked with Jenn Starger as of this writing.

Profootballtalk.com reports there's no indication of a penalty on Favre.

Black Bloggers Blast Obama For Gossip-Oriented Black Bloggers Summit

Mr. President, you forgot about us!

President Barack Obama and the generally Internet savvy Obama White House made a major misstep in the execution of what's called "The Black Bloggers Summit" held October 11th at The White House.

The trouble is - and yes, for this blogger it's whining, so let's get that out of the way - a number of prominent political bloggers who happen to be African American, or black if you prefer, were left off the list, including this blogger.

Instead, representatives from theRoot.com, City Limits, Black Entertainment Television (BET), Essence, Jack & Jill Politics, Concrete Loop, AOL Black Voices, Black America Web and MediaTakeOut, to name some of the bloggers, were invited. 

And guess what?  MediaTakeOut.com crashed today under the weight of its new Internet traffic levels. Great way to get President Obama's message out there.  Geez.

As explained as Zennie62.com:

"Not a one of the bloggers represents a major news site or has connections to one, and people like the legendary Oliver Willis, or John Ridley, or for that matter, Zennie Abraham, er, me, weren't there. Hell, this blogger didn't even get an invitation. Yes, gossip is done here, but so is politics, and in large measure.

And for all of the effective blogging Zennie62 did when it was "Zennie's Zeitgeist" and one of 128 blogs credentialed for the Democratic National Convention? With all of the CNN iReport work this video blogger did at the DNC 2008? With all of the Obama Rapid Response work done to put Barack in the White House? For being on the websites of Mediaite, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer?

Just what brand of weed the White House is smoking is the question of the day."

That really is the question. A number of black bloggers are taking the White House to task for asking black gossip bloggers to come, and those representing obviously "black" blogs, rather than inviting bloggers who have larger reach with major news sites who happen to be black.

While some looked at the effort with tongue in cheek criticism, others, like Oliver Willis, a powerful political blogger who happens to be black, completely ignored it, and the UK (England!) DailyMail  used it to essentially lie about what happened - that one blog, Jack and Jill Politics, said it "refused to be pimped."

That was taken out of context by the DailyMail for political purposes. What Jack and Jill Politics blogger "The Christian Progressive Liberal" was explaining was that she was happy President Obama walked into the room, but blogged "if you want me at the dance, I better get something in RETURN. One can always be pimped – it is a whole different ballgame when you’re treated like you have the influence to change the course of events."

The problem is by not having a big black blogger tent, or a big blogger tent, President Obama created an Internet climate of criticism from those left out of the summit, and praise only from those allowed in to it. Moreover, the President allowed in group of bloggers who don't seem to know what "off the record" means. Opps.

After all, a blogger who calls herself "HappyAboutThis" wasn't happy at all about the Obama Black Bloggers Summit:

"Tell anyone who reads MediaTakeout.com that the site was invited to the White House for a policy briefing and discussion as part of its effort to “broaden online engagement” with the black community and it will be at least 5 minutes before you can continue the conversation due to the laughter that will ensue....Media Take Out and Young Black and Fabulous are known to print highly speculative and, in many cases, clearly false information about people in the public eye. Much of the content on Media Take Out’s web site is graphic and certainly not safe for viewing on your work computer. What could they possibly add to a conversation about Obama’s healthcare, education, and civil rights policies?"

What can we expect? They're gossip bloggers, right?

Stay tuned.

Obama Black Bloggers Summit Getting Panned For It's Gossip List

Mr. President, you forgot about us!

President Barack Obama held what the White House calls its first African American Online Summit on October 11th and for some wild reason invited a number of black gossip bloggers with, in total, little reach.

The effort, while laudable, brings up the question of how the Obama White House came to form the list, let alone if it understands how to measure effective reach.

Not a one of the bloggers represents a major news site or has connections to one, and people like the legendary Oliver Willis, or John Ridley, or for that matter, Zennie Abraham, er, me, weren't there. Hell, this blogger didn't even get an invitation. Yes, gossip is done here, but so is politics, and in large measure.

And for all of the effective blogging Zennie62 did when it was "Zennie's Zeitgeist" and one of 128 blogs credentialed for the Democratic National Convention? With all of the CNN iReport work this video blogger did at the DNC 2008? With all of the Obama Rapid Response work done to put Barack in the White House? For being on the websites of Mediaite, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer?

Just what brand of weed the White House is smoking is the question of the day.

That blogs like Young, Black, and Fabulous were at the White House is terrific news, as that blog has really stayed a course of getting out information on black celebrities and in a way that's consistently entertaining and un-offensive. But what about the political bloggers who are black, but don't have "black" blogs and because of that reach a larger audience but with an African American point of view?

Just what was the White House trying to achieve? If, as the White House webpage reads, the intent was to have...

"an in-depth briefing and discussion about how the Administration is approaching important issues such as jobs, the economy, health care, education, community investment, civil rights and civil liberties, and the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative."

It didn't do it with the right group to provide the Internet fire power necessary.

Stay tuned for part two on this at Zennie62.com.  The White House upset a lot of black bloggers, it seems.

Mediatakeout.com Site Crashes: Alicia Keys, Eddie Long Traffic

T.I. and Tiny On MediaTakeOut.com

The site Mediatakeout.com is the sixth most popular search on Google Trends and thanks to posts on Alicia Keys, Bishop Eddie Long, and Rapper T.I.   Makes you want to visit the site, right?

Well, now you can't.  Apparently, as of this writing at 11:32 AM PDT, Mediatakeout.com, a site that focuses on gossip about African American (black) celebrities, can't handle the sudden traffic load. A visit to the website brings this message:

Database Error!
Can't open file: './mediatak_stories/news_views.frm' (errno: 24)

Yikes. That means at the time it matters the most, Mediatakeout.com can't take advantage of the Internet attention its created for itself. Is the problem fixed? Let's refresh the screen and find out...

It's taking a long time to load. In, fact, it's still loading as these last two sentences have been written. And it's still going. And still going. And the same problem appears.

The that's too bad, because when it's working, Mediatakeout.com has some of the most provocative titles on the Internet. For example, "MTO EXCLUSIVE: Beyonce's PREGNANT!!! - MediaTakeOut.com™ 2010," or "OHHHH SNAP!!! There's A Nicki Minaj SEXTAPE!!! - MediaTakeOut.com", or "FALLING OUT!!! Jay Z UPSET With The Way LeBron Handled FREE AGENCY," grab eyeballs and curiosity.

But for Mediatakeout.com to not be able to handle the traffic load is a major fail.

ESPN's Jay Mariotti Blasts Deadspin, Brett Farve and Randy Moss On Twitter

ESPN Personality Jay Mariotti's at it again, but this time using Twitter to do his column dirty
work...unpaid. The now former Chicago Sun Times and AOL Fanhouse columnist joined Twitter October 1st with an as yet unfulfilled promise to post his photograph. Apparently, Jay's so busy blasting people like Brett Farve and Randy Moss, and blogs like Deadspin, he never got around to it.

Or may be Mariotti's just technically challenged and doesn't know how to post his photo?

Mariotti After Domestic Violence

Jay Mariotti's resurfaces after being convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence against a female companion in Los Angeles, and after an argument at a Santa Monica night club that turned into a pushing, shoving, and hitting affair, with Jay allegedly doing all of that to the woman.  (And that must be noted, because in fairness to Jay, he explained he was just trying to get her home, apparently alcohol was involved.  The problem for Jay is the LAPD says there were cuts and bruises on her.)

Jay was jailed after the incident on August 21, 2010, and posted $50,000 bail to get out that day, Saturday. Mariotti escaped seven charges, including theft, and avoided jail time with a sentence of probation, and community service.

For a writer who made a good portion of his living skewering athletes who got into domestic violence disputes, it was a classic case of bad karma. Bloggers, writers, and twitterers, made fun of Jay Mariotti's situation and expressed joy that he was being jailed for the same crime he seemed to loath so much. AOL Fanhouse dropped him and ESPN, while not outright firing him, said it had "no plans to use him at this time," which implies they may use him at some time in the future. Even  ESPN's Around The Horn, Mariotti's television home for so many years, had a segment on him.


Jay Let's Loose On Twitter


Meanwhile, Jay discovers the joys of Twitter but has yet to be skewered for what he's tweeted, at least until now. When he's not professing his love for EastBound And Down, or explaining that he's rooting for the Reds and the Rangers in the MLB Playoffs, some of his tweets have a lot of nerve, considering he just missed being a convicted felon.

For example, Jay tweets...

Sherry Lansing being escorted to Table 2. We were banished to bar
6 Oct

Which apparently from his previous tweet happened at the Alley on the Grill in Beverly Hills for lunch. Perhaps it was because Jay's star status had dipped and they didn't want some celebrity who hit his girlfriend at their table? Just a guess.

Then Jay informs us that he uses the local Starbucks to write, and one can guess for Internet access, leaving this blogger to wonder if his home Internet service is working, he's lonely, or he just wants to scope out the ladies? Yikes!

Jay tweets that he loves Tom Petty, roots for Jim Thome, that the Twins are the "Great American Team," and that he bikes at sunrise toward Malibu. But what Jay doens't get is, because he's a celebrity with an unverified Twitter account, people are going to question if indeed he's him on Twitter:

Look, enough with the silliness. Of course, this is me. It's just odd to see more discourse about whether it's me or not, which creates a credibility problem for the entire Twitter experience.

Jay, the only credibility problem is your Twitter account's not verified - get it verified so we all know its you.

Jay Mariotti Blasts Deadspin, Brett Farve and Randy Moss

Here's where Jay's Twitter tweets get really interesting. On October 9th, when the Bret Favre and Jenn Starger "sexting" scandal broke thanks to the sports blog Deadspin and posting photos of what's said to be Bret's private, Mariotti blasted the blog on Twitter, going beyond the 140-character limit to do so:

Come on. Deadspin is not a sleazy blog? These jagoffs could take 10 showers a day and still not wipe off the grime. Bet their parents are real proud

Wow, that's some nerve considering what Jay's been convicted of, yeah? And that's not the only tweet on the matter. Because of Deadspin's actions in posting the photos of Bret Farve's private, Jay thinks the Internet should be regulated:

Sick media world when a Web site pays for pictures that it admits may not be Favre. The Internet must be regulated -- recklessly affecting too many lives.

"Recklessly affecting too many lives," is something Jay himself has been accused of doing with some of his columns, so he's the one who should know.

As if that's not enough, Mariotti then turns to Randy Moss and Bret Favre:

Randy Moss won't save Brett Favre. Brilliant purging by Belichick

In Jay's mind, Favre's done and Randy Moss was worth, eh, "purging"? Considering Jay was just "purged" by his girlfriend, that's the last thing he should tweet out in the open. But a man's got a right to his opinion.

Jay Mariotti's Back, Folks

What we can take from all of this is Jay Mariotti's back. Perhaps not bigger and better than ever, but he's back and using Twitter to blast his thoughts about people, places, and things. Fine, but Jay should learn to use his words a lot more carefully. Otherwise, he's going to become the Internet's whipping boy.

As for future opportunities, Jay should try for a spot on The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. For some reason, it seems he would be a good fit for the show. At the very least, it would give him a chance to explain why the steak at Mastro's isn't better than at BOA in Santa Monica.

Eric Holder's Big Mistake In Opposing Legalization Of Marijuana

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made a serious political and legal error in issuing a statement that if pressed, could cause Holder's boss, President Barack Obama, to lose the very youth constituency that put him into office as President Of The United States.  Even before his misstep, Oakland City Attorney John Russo came out in favor of California Proposition 19, which, if passed, will legalize marijuana use for recreational purposes.   Here's the video:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 

Eric Holder issued a letter to nine former chiefs of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, writing, according to The Christian Science Monitor, "Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens."

But what Eric Holder has done in issuing the letter at this time, two weeks before the November midterm election, is completely ill-timed and frankly just plain stupid.

By sending out that letter now, thus catalyzing Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to host a news conference, thus thrusting Holder's statement into pop culture focus, Holder changes how Obama's key group, young people between 18 and 30, see the administration.  It goes from being the "Change we need" to the "status-quo" we can do without.

As this is written, "Eric Holder" the name has become the fourth most popular "Hot Topics" on Google Trends, and all because of Holder's letter. By not waiting until after the November elections to issue his statement, Holder not only threatens to damage the enthusiasm of the very constituency that thrust President Obama and he into office in 2008, but could set the state for Obama's early exit as President; something this video blogger does not want to see.

Holder should have stayed out of the issue altogether. If asked, Holder should have said "There are Federal Laws on the books that call for the Federal Government to prosecute federal drug offenses, but we will take this on a case-by-case basis," and leave it at that.

That approach would have been more systemically effective than what Holder did. But he did it. Holder should now either determine a way to walk back his statement or just stay out of the subject altogether.

This is an election, and the next two years are a time, where Democrats have a complicated set of social changes to deal with that call for new, more intelligent approaches than in the past. Attorney General Holder must fall in line with the new society before he damages the Democratic Agenda and harms the Obama Administration's prospects for future success.

T.I. Rapper Talks Suicide Man Down, Then Gets 11 Months For Prob Violation

Rapper T.I. can't catch a break. On Wednesday, the music star was a hero for talking down a would-be suicide man, today, he's sentenced to 11 months in jail for a probation violation he committed earlier this year, according to TMZ.com.

On September 1st, T.I. who also goes by T.I. and Clifford Harris, and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, were arrested for "felony possession of a controlled substance" at 10:18 PM. That arrest triggered the charge of a probation violation stemming from his 2009 arrest for gun possession.

T.I. had just completed a seven month jail sentence in 2009 for a charge of illegally possessing machine guns and silencers in 2007.

On Wednesday, T.I. talked down a man in Atlanta who was about to jump from a building where urban contemporary station V-103 operates from. T.I. heard about the incident on the radio, called V-103's Ryan Cameron, who asked him to come over and help. T.I. did and talked the man down.

But he can't catch a break. Some idiot put out the idea that the act was a phony publicity stunt. Rolling Stone reports the man's mother called the station to inform all that it wasn't that at all and T.I's involvement was real and valued.

You'd think the judge would give T.I. a break?

No. He sentenced the rapper to 11 months in jail. Although Davey D, over at Zennie62.com said that he did get a break; some observers thought he was going to get 10 years for the probation violation.

One day in jail, is one day too long.  And T.I. needs a better lawyer.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Hits Buzz Meter

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills debut was Thursday night, and the show, featuring Kim and Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump-Todd, Adrienne Maloof-Nasif, and Camille Grammer. Kelsey Grammer is featured with (who's just divorced) his wife Camille Grammer, where she informs all that she's the boss of the family. At EW PopWatch, Ken Tucker said they and the show were "needy, sad, depressed, and depressing."

It's a show of big houses, big money, and big hair. All of the women have a lot of hair, great legs and are spoiled rotten. What would they do without their limos, nannies and doggies? It's more like The Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous meets The Real Housewives Of Atlanta. Lisa VanderPump, sounding more like Robin Leach than herself says of her home "It really is like a fantasyland. There's everything you need here."

Does that include a therapist?

Maloof seems more down to earth, informing viewers that she and her brothers of the Maloof Family have a hard work ethic that came from their father, saying "It's wonderful to have money, but you have to work for it. We've been hard workers our whole life."

There's nothing really earth-shattering or dramatic about this installment in the "Real Housewives" series. Let's see if it picks up the pace.

Glenn Beck and Alex Jones: Oakland 580 Shooter's Inspiration

Were Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck and 9-11 Conspiracy expert Alex Jones the inspiration for Byron Williams the 580 Freeway Shooter?

We sat down and spoke with Pacifica Radio investigative reporter John Hamilton about his story which first appeared on Media Matters called Progressive Hunter which details what led to the shootout in the wee hours of the morning on July 18th 2010 between 45 year old unemployed white supremacist named Byron Williams and California Highyway patrol last summer.

According to the article Glenn Beck and Alex Jones of prison planet/ infowars were key inspirations for Williams. On the night in question, Williams was enroute to San Francisco where he planned to shoot workers at the Tides Foundation which is an organization that helps distribute funds to left leaning non-profits and political organizations.

When all was said in done that fateful night 3 police officers were left lying in the highway injured. Williams who was wearing body armor had more firepower than the police who eventually subdued him.

Williams in his own chilling words said he was inspired by the attacks exposes put out by Fox News TV host Glenn Beck. We also come to learn that Jones has an even bigger influence.

In the interview below we hear clips from both Beck and Williams who is currently locked up in Santa Rita jail, 20 miles outside of Oakland awaiting trial.

We also talk about the leniency afforded to people like Beck while many others including rappers are shut down and material removed from public airwaves for fear of inciting violence.

This is the first of two parts

In the video below we continue our interview w/ investigative reporter John Hamilton who goes into more detail about the failed assassination plot carried out by Byron Williams.

We hear more about the influence Fox TV host Glenn Beck is having on domestic terrorists. We also focus on the influence Alex Jones had Byron Williams.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Kaplan Scores, Tuman Rises, Perata Falls

The Oakland Mayor's Race becomes even more fun. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large) got the endorsement of The Oakland Tribune, much to the surprise of some, not here, but how much help it will do is questionable. The Trib's not the power it was in the past, but hey, we're talking about it, right?

Indeed, that, combined with the giant Grand Lake Theater sign ads for Joe Tuman, may have boosted him to near-front runner status. Why? Because Tuman was the Tribune's second choice (and The East Bay Express as well), and the same pub trashed Former Senator Don Perata, saying his lack of knowledge of key Oakland issues was "appalling."

Not sure the Tribune, and that would be it's editor Martin Reynolds, is correct when he bashes the field of Oakland mayoral candidates as "weak" because when compared to past years, it's actually rather strong. Now, if Marty has some kind of wish list of candidates for this round, he has yet to present it. That written, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums avoiding a reelection run was damaging to both the field and himself to say the least.

And one aside, at a time when people who are both Gay and Lesbian are being attacked and the young considering killing themselves or doing so, backing Rebecca because she's Lesbian and a good candidate is something worth mentioning.  The Tribune backed away from that, sadly.  But people need to know that it' OK for them to be who they are, whatever they are, and they can even become Mayor of Oakland.   That's not an endorsement of Rebecca as of this writing, but the point must be noted.

Some seem to not want to say, for example, "I voted for Barack Obama because he's black and the best candidate" - hell, I did.  It was about time, and everyone knows it.  This SF Bay Area passive-agressive crap is sickening.  Just be honest.

Oakland Mayor's Race Stock

What's interesting is that we're starting to see a kind of stock market of candidates develop. Right now, Kaplan has the lesd, followed by the hard-charging Tuman, then a tie between Don Perata and Councilmember Jean Quan, who got the endorsement of the Welstone Democratic Club and Councilmember Nancy Nadel recently, then Greg Harland and Don Macleay, Terrance Candell, Marcie Hodge, Larry L. Young, and Arnie Fields.

What could slip this up is some bit of news or scandal that slips out and into the open. There are people who have strong feelings both for and against the candidates, and one of them is Oakland Grand Lake Theater owner Alan Michaan. Having Tuman up on his outside marque is a signal that he could use the space to do some real damage as we head toward election day.

If I were Rebecca, I'd at least try and get a meeting with Allan, because he's of the opinion that Kaplan's anti-business in the wake of the Oakland Parking Scandal.  Regardless of his actions in endorsing Tuman, she needs to cover that base.

Closing Note: No Camcorder Repair Services In Oakland

I can't find a single camcorder repair shop in Oakland. There used to be Denevi's but they closed. From my research, the shops seems to ring around Oakland. Do I have to go to San Francisco again?

Zennie62.com Hits A Mark

Slowly returning to a regular blog schedule, but Zennie62.com had it's best traffic and revenue day Wednesday, with 43,000 page views because of the Chilean Miners Rescue. That's a performance equal to what has been normally done by this blogger at the San Francisco Chronicle website SFGate.com.  Frankly, stewarding the successful development of the blog's coding system has been a bit of a drug that's kept this video blogger up late a lot of nights. But that's slowly coming to an end.

George Clooney Aside, Sudan Abyei Conflict About Oil

Actor and Activist George Clooney appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to talk about the Sudan conflict and the need to understand the plight of the people of the Southern Sudanese in their fight for independence.

But what was not talked about on CNN's Larry King Live by either George Clooney or Larry King (unless this blogger missed something) was that this is really a story of a fight for control of oil. Once again, regional conflicts are less about ethnic divisions and more about scarce and valuable resources, like oil. At the center of all of this is the Sudan Abyei region that divides north and south Sudan.

According to Wikipedia, Abyei "is a county and former district of South Kurdufan, Sudan, that is considered an historical bridge between northern and Southern Sudan." On the map of Sudan itself, Abyei is a mere spot in the middle of the country, but because of its oil reserves, it's importance is far beyond it's size.

Abyei is Sudan's main oil producing region and by 2003, was responsible for over one-third of Sudan's crude oil production. But the reserve has depleted since then and because of that, production volumes have reportedly declined.

While nothing has been done to address that issue, the fight for control has escalated and such that a civil war may result. There are two groups critical to the success of ending any Sudan Abyei regional conflict, the Missiriya tribe and the Ngok Dinka. The Missiriya tribe is reported to be aligned with the North Sudanese and the Ngok Dinka are joined with the South Sudanese, thus forming the perfect split.

The current referendum on the future of the region gives the Ngok Dinka voting rights; really all groups should have voting rights.

While the relations between the Missiriya tribe and the Ngok Dinka have been historically amicable, both have been used as the tools of Sudan leaders with no one suggesting joint control, but always some effort that seemed to favor one group over the other. The most logical solution is to achieve full voting rights for all in the region, and shared revenues from oil production between north and south Sudan. Previously, oil profits were directed toward the North in a kind of power-grab.

Shared resources is one dream objective George Clooney should get behind.

Stay tuned

Written by
Zennie Abraham