Blue Cross California Uses False Data To Reject Applicant

Blue Cross of California is full of it. This blogger, seeking lower health care costs than the half-million dollars Kaiser was charging each month (really almost $500), quit Kaiser, and applied to join Blue Cross of California and under what seems to be a far more reasonable plan.

But Blue Cross of California doesn't want you, er me, to have the plan, it seems. They claim to reject me for a "male reproductive system" problem. That's bullshit. And simply because I never told Blue Cross I had such a problem, and they never tested me, not even a blood test.

By contrast, Kaiser actually bothered to send someone over to my place, take a blood sample, and test me. Maybe that's why the cost was so high? But whatever, Kaiser never rejected me, let alone said I had a "male reproductive system" problem.

But Blue Cross?

Now I see what the company's doing. In an interview they conducted with me about two weeks ago, almost, the interviewer kept asking questions that had nothing to do with my application. He also asked me if I'd ever used a chiropractor. I said "yes" but not regularly. I explained there was a chiropractor at my gym who occasionally offered to adjust my back - why not, I figured? The interviewer kept asking me about that - that's not cool and not right.

It's not right for Blue Cross to have it's employees make up data and stories to reject you. It's not right for Blue Cross of California to even allow itself to be seen as doing that. What Blue Cross does is figure that you're not going to talk about "sensitive information" and probably gets away with murder (if you will) on the assumption that people aren't going to yell and scream about how Blue Cross is treating them, because the person doesn't want to talk about their "condition."

Look, as they say on the street, "my stuff works," OK?

What Blue Cross of California is asking me to do is go in and pay to have a physician check me out, then tell them don't have a problem. So, what am I supposed to do, go in with my girlfriend, screw her in front of the doc, then say "See, it works!"

Yeah, right. But that's one scenario Blue Cross of California sets up.

Blue Cross of California should be ashamed. But it also should stop doing this. It's unethical to treat applicants that way. Kaiser had me, so there's no reason Blue Cross of California should not have me too.

Stay tuned.

San Francisco Marina Pub Crawl At Circa Is Wacky Fun

Harry Potter Premier Live On YouTube and USTREAM, On Twitter #harrypotterlive

To celebrate and announce the final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, the producers staged their premier at London's historic Trafalgar Square.

That space has seen a lot of people, for a lot of special reasons, but it's rare that it's filled from wall to wall and street to street; it is today.

Check out the live stream on YouTube and here, on USTREAM:



Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream.

Fans have camped out for hours and days just to see this event. So far, stars like Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood, and is in the photo here, have arrived. And all under a lovely London spring evening.

But the fans are waiting for Daniel Radcliffe, who's yet to show up, but he will be there.


Live Stream Coverage

As I stated, live stream coverage is on USTREAM and YouTube, which provides two camera views. But the one of the whole of Trafalgar Square has a fogged dot right in the middle of it. Someone needs to clean off that camera!

Stay tuned.

Spanatix.com - A New Interactive Sports Social Media Game

Spanatix.com, simply described, "is a social platform for sports fans to engage and connect online" and that's actually the "25 words or less" pitch line used by its co-founder, Marlon Sullivan. In the video above, I talked with Mr. Sullivan and he gave a demonstration of how Spanatix.com work.

Let's just say that if you play it, you'd better know your sports info stuff.

Spanatix.com consists of two parts in its online space: a social network designed such that if you pick your favorite team or player, you can see what has been written and add to the conversation, and a unique fanometer that's coolly addictive.

With the fanometer, you can gain points for what you know about your team. You can pick a game and if you guess the correct winner you gain points. You can challenge friends in "one-on-one" competition, or go into what's called a "pool" challenge.

It's a really great social network game, that makes a game out of watching a sports event.

What it needs is to add another set of competitors: owners versus players.

Considering that both the NFL and the NBA are in the middle of lockouts, that addition would make Spanatix.com a nuclear hit.

Stay tuned.

Port Of Oakland Budget At $296 Million, Increased 1.8 Percent

On July 1st, The Port of Oakland quietly issued a long press release announcing its 2011-2012 Budget. The release reports that "revenue from the Port’s aviation, commercial real estate, and maritime businesses has been recovering modestly," but that tenants remained concerned about the overall economy.

The Port also explains that it brought $462 million in taxes to the City of Oakland over the last fiscal year, and that it has a $40 million "pipeline" of new projects that will come under the consideration of the Port Of Oakland Board Of Directors.

Here's the full press release:

For Immediate Release
July 1, 2011
Port Of Oakland Adopts 2011-2012 Budget

$296.6 Million Budget Represents Port's Aggressive Focus on Business, Competitiveness, Positive Economic Impact, and Environmental Stewardship

Oakland, Calif. - July 1, 2011 - The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners just adopted a 2011-2012 fiscal year (FY) operating budget of $296.6 million. This is a 1.8% increase over anticipated FY2011 actuals and a 5% increase over the current FY 2011 budget, which was focused on stabilizing the Port after the Great Recession. The FY2012 budget is a forward-looking, pragmatic and job-preserving budget that is sustainable over the long term. In the short term, it will facilitate the second stage of the Port’s 5-year Strategic Plan, focused on marketing, relationship-building, and business growth.

"During these uncertain economic times, our adopted FY2012 budget strikes a healthy and sustainable balance between fiscal responsibility and strategic investments," said Port Board President James Head. “This is especially important as we aggressively focus on growing revenue from our three business lines, which will help us continue to generate positive economic impacts - especially jobs and tax revenue - throughout the region."

Revenue from the Port’s aviation, commercial real estate, and maritime businesses has been recovering modestly; however, the Port’s business lines and its tenants and customers remain concerned about general economic conditions including decreased consumer demand, oil price increases, European debt concerns and Middle East turmoil. Oakland International Airport revenues for the first ten months of FY2011 are 1.8% higher than budgeted in FY2011, though we expect to see a modest decline in actual passenger traffic. Commercial Real Estate revenues have been stable in FY 2011. For the first ten months of FY2011, Maritime revenues were approximately $9.7 million (5.9%) higher than budgeted as a result of a 14% increase in container volume that moved through the Port in calendar year 2010. In FY 2012, we expect to see moderate increases in Aviation and Commercial Real Estate revenues compared to both FY 2011 budget and actuals. Maritime revenues are expected to increase compared to FY 2011 budget, but expected to decrease when compared to anticipated FY 2011 actuals.

"We remain cautiously optimistic that the coming year will bring continued modest economic recovery," said Port Executive Director Omar R. Benjamin. "We therefore need to move strategically from stabilizing the Port, to marketing and growing the Port’s business. That’s why this year we are going to enhance the Port’s export program, capitalizing on our position as the only major West Coast port that exports more than we import; continue bringing new air service to Oakland International; move forward on the transformation of the former Oakland Army Base into a world-class, intermodal trade and logistics center; and continue promoting the development and utilization of our waterfront assets at Jack London Square."

The FY2012 budget includes an $85.6 million capital budget designed to maximize Port assets in order to grow core business. Highlights include:

$51 million in Aviation projects such as airport improvements at the terminals and the BART connector to Oakland International Airport;
$29 million in Maritime projects such as shore power infrastructure, dredging and security enhancements
$3 million in Real Estate projects including Jack London Square improvements at the Oakland waterfront


There is an additional $40 million pipeline of projects that is anticipated to be brought to the Board of Port Commissioners for consideration during FY2012.

The strategic investments made by the Port’s FY12 budget, both in operations and capital, are essential to supporting the Port’s continued positive economic impact in Oakland and the region, which amounts to nearly $10 billion annually, and includes the following jobs and tax revenue benefits:

The Port receives no local tax revenue, and from its operations and those of its tenants—contributes more than $462 million in taxes to the City of Oakland, regional cities and counties, and the State of California.

Through its operations and policies, and the business activities of its tenants and customers, the Port supports more than 73,000 jobs across the region, and is connected to approximately 827,000 jobs across the nation.

For all of its land, I'm surprised the Port Of Oakland isn't used as a location for movies. Given the constant search for cheap land to film on, and different venues, the Port Of Oakland could fashion itself into a top destination at a time when movie production is being done less in California, and more in places like Louisian and Canada.

Mark Halperin's 2008 Apology Could Work In 2012

Earlier, TIME Magazine Senior Editor Mark Halperin, who called President Obama "a dick" on Thursday's MSNBC Morning Joe Show, has a pattern of insults and puts downs toward the man who's now the 44th President Of The United States.

In 2008, as revealed in earlier in this space, Halperin called Obama "a pussy," but the difference was he didn't lose his job over the matter; this time he was suspended from his television assignment with NSNBC. But, like 2008, he did issue an appology.

But what Halperin should have done was just reissue the apology he trotted out in 2008. This is what he wrote on TIME Magazine's The Page on February 13, 2008:

I'm sorry. In a live radio interview this week, I used a word I shouldn't have. The fact that I was conveying other people's words is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. It won't happen again. -- Mark Halperin

Halperin could have just switched around the words a little for 2012, and wrote:

I'm sorry. In a live television interview this week, I used a word I shouldn't have. The fact that I was conveying my personal thoughts is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. It won't happen again. -- Mark Halperin

Has Halperin really learned his lesson? Time will tell.

Mark Halperin Called President Obama A Dick On Morning Joe Because Obam...

On Thursday Morning's presentation of Morning Joe on MSNBC, host Joe Scarborough gave Senior Contributor and TIME Magazine Senior Editor Mark Halperin a chance to say what was on his mind using a term that Halperin himself ask for a seven-second delay for - he didn't get one. But for Halperin to think of what he said - that President Barack Obama was being "a dick" during his press conference (Presumably because Obama didn't let Mark ask a question?) was classless, and arguably racist.

It led this blogger to charge that, had President Obama been white, Halperin would have not made that statement. On my YouTube video channel page, some have agreed; others have asked why. Almost a perfect divide between people who are either just plain empathic regardless of color, or people who just don't understand, or don't want to understand, what it's like to be black in America.

I don't expect to reach a lot of people with what I'm about to write, and by that, I mean change a lot of minds. While society is making giant strides, I'm still skeptical of this culture's ability to alter its behavior when it counts. What makes me smile is that I'm proven wrong more often than not.

Blogging only for myself, being black in America (the only real experience I have) is to be handed a set of "rules as a black man." You can, as I do, try to ignore them, but the enforcers of "the rules" come in all shapes and sizes.

These enforcers tell you not to be 1) obviously intelligent, to 2) be quiet, to 3) not exhibit a "Type A" personality. The black friend you have who says "it's all good," is not a Type A personality, but Type B. Because for a Type A personality, it's not always "all good" and Type A's are constantly working to make it better.

As a black man you can't have a big ego in any place other than the sports playing field, and even then there's some commentator, generally white and male, who says you "showboat" or it's "all about you." While society may increasingly dislike anyone who's aggressive, a special place is held for someone who's white and male, and who's like that, because it's expected.

President Obama knows this, and that's why, when he was running for President, he took great steps not to be considered as that Type A black guy, even though he was and is very much like that. Obama, in order to get elected, had to follow the rules.

But social change at the younger end of the demographic spectrum, where diversity is expected more often than not, is pushing a change in society that has not touched some people like Mark Halperin.

Halperin's in my generation - one of those on the cusp of those social changes that either goes with them, or resists them, or is conflicted.

Mark Halperin is conflicted, and it took an Obama, more comfortable with the chair of the presidency, and more willing to shed the rules for American black men and be a man in full, to get under Halperin's skin, and let lose with an insult never before used toward a POTUS on national television.

My first taste of Halperin was bitter, and it came during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, when it seemed Halperin was always willing to find some little thing wrong with the "upstart" Obama, and so often that the idea Mark may be racist could not escape my mind. It was so much, that I developed the habit of changing the channel when I saw his face, and wasn't at all surprised when Halperin accused the media of a "pro-Obama" bias, implying that he had the anti-Obama bias I long suspected of him.

But, in order to keep his job, Halperin has the task of keeping his inner demons in check. A task that obviously became too great for him on Thursday, so he let lose and called Obama "a dick."

Bravo for President Obama.

America needs to shed the last remnants of slave mentality. Black men need to be able to live under the same set of rules as white men, and women as a whole must also be able to live under the same rules as white men - be aggressive and expressive. State what you want. Make demands. Live your life.

And if someone calls you a dick, don't get angry, just say "Yep and a big one, too!"

Stay tuned.

Jobless Talk to return July 8, 2011

After nearly a month hiatus, Paladinette’s Blog Talk Radio show “Jobless Talk” will resume broadcasts next friday, July 8, 2011.

It has been a tough ride for the long term unemployed Americans, called "the 99ers." Everyday in this country, another 15,000 more displaced workers lose their UI benefits. Often they have sold every thing of value just to survive. Such is the case for the long term unemployment advocate Paladinette.

Last Fall, Jobless Talk was in danger of ending broadcasts completely, when out of the blue a benefactor offered to subsidize Paladinette's advocacy efforts. This agreement was for a term of 6 months and during that time I was able to continue the fight for the millions of unemployment exhaustees and fight for more help for these citizens Washington DC has deserted.

Looking for work in this economy is NOT improving as Obama would have America believe. The additional 6 months of constant job search did not yield the desired result and like the millions of other 99ers out there today, Paladinette finds herself on the brink of homelessness once again.

"I wish I could have been more successful in inspiring the masses to get out in the streets and protest in large numbers, but alas it appears there is no fight left in the majority of those in the 99er community."

It is likely that next Friday's Jobless Talk at noon Pacific time, will be the last broadcast in the series which began in April 2010.

[If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

Google's Blogger Was Down, Now Back

Blogger, Google's blogging platform that it purchased in 2004, was down, but now it's back. It's the second time this year Blogger users, including this blogger, experienced wide-spread outages, and while Google has not, as of this writing, issued a statement, one Google Engineer named Jeremy did point the way for Blogger users to recover account access:

We've rolled back the change that caused issues you have observed, so you should be able to clear the cookies for www.blogger.com and fix the problem. For help on clearing cookies please see:

http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?answer=32050

Thanks,
Jeremy.

Whatever the "change" was, it produced the most prolonged Blogger outage in recent memory. The night-long problem threatened to make Tumblr's recent outage problems not look so bad.

Fortunately, this blogger established a self-hosted Wordpress version of Zennie62 called Zennie62Blog.com, which allowed for the production of blogs, even as Blogger was down. Eventually, Zennie62Blog.com will become the blog of use around here.

Obama, In Press Conference, Calls On Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling

There are two President Obamas: the one before Osama Bin Ladin was assassinated, and the one after Osama Bin Ladin was assassinated. The pre- Bin Ladin Obama seemed tentative and for the most part, not combative and more conciliatory.
 The post-Bin Ladin Obama is not tentative, combative, and conciliatory only when necessary. It was that President Obama who conducted the just-completed press conference, today.

It was that President Obama who said "We've got to get this done. They need to be here. I've been here. You stay here. Let's get it done."

And Obama was rather upset that he was accused he was not presenting "leadership." It was at that point, the President called on Congress to "get it done."

Or else.

Raising the debt ceiling is a necessity. If it's not done, the ratings of all U.S bonds will be downgraded. Interest rates will go up, and the already tight money supply will tighten even more, plunging the American economy into recession.

Stay tuned.

Google Social Network Attacks Facebook And Foursquare

Google wants your attention! Google Social Network is here!

In its never-ending quest to catch up with, rather than work with, Facebook, Google is rolling out its latest effort called Google +, or the Google Social Network.

This blogger is not a beta tester for Google +, but as one who's used Google accounts almost since gmail started, and was prepared to hate the very idea of a Google Social Network, after reading through the online presentation, I have to say, Google may be on to something here.

The main question is, is Google + compelling enough to want to use, and is that enough to supplant Facebook. The answer is yes, but no. Yes, because it combines features, and in a way fuses a Foursquare-like check-in system into its social network, but no, because it totally misses the design element that makes Facebook so popular.

What's cool about Facebook is it's simplicity - everything starts from your profile page. The Facebook news feed is kind of the "town central" for what your friends are up to.

So, in a way, it's like living in a neighborhood with your house as the profile, and the downtown park and mall as the place where you go and see what everyone's up to. When they come to your house, that's when they comment or "like" on something that appears on your profile.

It's that function that makes Facebook so very, there's that word again, compelling.

What's that word again about Google Social Network is its' design, using circles and colors to designate places and actions. But, and I can see this without a beta account, it doesn't have that neighborhood feeling that makes Facebook work.

And I don't think Facebook was deliberately designed to work in the way I described above, it just turned out that way. But if you think about it, that "way" is so organic, so much the way we work as people, it explains Facebook's success.

That Google didn't copy that aspect of Facebook's design is why it will not replace, or really put a dent into, Facebook's dominance.

The problem is that Google didn't think about how the "circles, hangouts, Instant Upload, Sparks, and Huddle," all fit together, or about what really binds people to each other. Google's system connects people but it does not let me see what people - my friends - are doing.

People like to know what other people are doing. Facebook's News feed allows that, even more than the status updates. Google should find some kind of way to incorporate Facebook's user experience into the Google Social Network, or else, it's just not going to catch on with many other than early responders.

UPDATE: PC World, which was invited to try Google + reports that the "Stream" is equal to the Facebook News Feed. From PC World's account, Google does copy Facebook's "feel" but I have to try it for myself to be sure. I'm still skeptical.


Stay tuned.

Ben Parr Is Wrong About Straight Guys And Dating In SF And LA

Happened to run across an infograph posted, but not made by, by Ben Parr, the Mashable Editor-At-Large, on December 27, 2010. It shows that San Francisco and Los Angeles have the largest ratio pools of single men versus single women. But the chart compelled Parr to blog a point of view that was provocative to say the least:

Title: If You’re a Straight Guy Living in LA or SF, the Dating Scene Isn’t in Your Favor

Body: if you’re a straight guy looking to find love, I suggest moving to Chicago or New York City.

Since Ben lives in the Bay Area, or at least did when he attended the San Francisco YouTube Community Roundtable in 2009, and still seems to be a San Francisco dweller, it's not hard to think maybe Parr was having a hard time himself (let's hope not), and used a map to share his pain.

Fear not, Ben, there's another approach to dating life in San Francisco. Love women! San Francisco and Los Angeles have, perhaps, the largest best assembly of smart single women outside of New York or Chicago. Take a look at Ashley, who I met at the BrickYard Bar and Grill in San Francisco on New Year's Day:



Plus, the Gay-friendly culture translates to many available, single, straight women looking for a single, available, straight man. If there's just one draw-back, it's that the society as a whole is transient - women are always moving.

But, if you're in the Tech industry, as Ben is, you're going to have to get away from Tech events and go to fund-raisers. San Francisco is known for non-profits and for fund-raisers for worthy causes. The non-profit game is not "the thing" in LA; it's entertainment. And that means premiers, parties, and hangs.

That's based on my experience.