Notre Dame national champs? No. Cal beating USC? Yes!

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College Football's back and ESPN's Lou Holtz thinks The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will be in the BCS National Championship Game. He's wrong. But the Cal Golden Bears will beat the USC Trojans October 3rd in Berkeley, 20 to 14.

Notre Dame lacks team speed

At 29 wins, 21 losses this is Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis' make-or-break year. If he wins seven games or more, he's in the clear and gives Irish fans and boosters a reason to expect better years ahead. But if he losses 7 games or more, he's in trouble. My prediction is for another six win season.

Why?

Notre Dame's chronic lack of team speed.

The Fighting Irish have a problem drawing the fastest players at all positions. The states that generally produce the fastest talent - Florida, California, and Texas - have those players literally programmed to go to one of the colleges in those states, and for good reason: they can get into them.

Notre Dame's demanding academic requirements, both before and after entering the school, are a road block to securing the best athletes required to reach the BCS title game.

So how does one explain Notre Dame and Weis success in 2005 and 2006, winning nine games in '05 and 10 in '06? Easy.

First, Weis was coaching former Notre Dame Head Coach Tyrone Willingham's recruits. Coach Willingham was able to get talent to chose Notre Dame in large part because as the school's first African American head football coach, he was a symbol of change where it wasn't expected. One of Willingham's prized players was Brady Quinn, who was obviously a player with great potential before Weis arrived: Weis caused Quinn to reach his potential as a passer in 2005 and 2006.

Quinn is Notre Dame's career passing leader and set 36 records while there. How he did this is the second reason why Weis won in 2005 and 2006: the system was new. Weis brought in the schemes he created while Offensive Coordinator with the New England Patriots: a combination of the timed offense popularized by the late Coach Bill Walsh, and a system that looks a lot like elements of the passing patterns used in the "Airraid" Offense at Texas Tech.

But in fairness, while Weis' system looks like the Airraid Offense created by Coach Mike Leach and Coach Hal Mumme, it's not and evolved from his years at New England.

It took two years for Notre Dame's NCAA foes to develop a "book" on the Weis system, and as that happened, the Irish faced a loss of Willingham-recruited talent. The once-good Irish defense was weakened by these losses.

The result was a season in 2007 that was so bad, with Notre Dame winning one game, it's not even mentioned in Weis' profile on the Notre Dame website.

2008 was not much better. While Notre Dame showed promise it was trying to determine who its signal caller of the future would be. Emerging from injury, Weis star recruit, the celebrated high school passer Jimmy Claussen, emerged to take control of the offense. The Irish roared to a 4 and 1 start, but finished 6 and 6.

I can't see them doing better this year. But this is not a wish just an analysis; I like Coach Weis and met him at the 2005 Super Bowl Party hosted by ESPN and sports agent Leigh Steinberg in Detroit.

Where I would be wrong is in the scheme changes. If Weis stays with more shotgun and spread attacks, rather than trying to emphasize running the football, the Irish will be in for a long season. But if he places the load on Claussen and uses the short pass and screen game, a 7 or better season can happen. Plus, I'm not sold on their decision to use a 3-4 defense with their opponents: pass rush has been the Irish' problem.

National Championship? Notre Dame? No. Cal beating USC? Yes.

Why?

Everyone talks about Cal's offense and Jahvid Best, but for me the key to what could be a national championship season for The Golden Bears is their defense. Cal has eight of eleven defensive starters returning for 2009. USC by contrast is burdened with the task of breaking in a freshman quarterback and rebuilding their defense. I can't see USC beating Cal, let alone Ohio State.

Score: Cal 20, USC 14.

On this issue, there's a looming problem for Cal this Saturday in that reportedly, Cal has no idea what kind of defense the Maryland Terapins will use because its brand new.

Maryland's planned "attacking 4-3" is a design that I favor, but I also know how to beat it: spread four and five wide receivers and match pressure with pressure and throw short passes. If Maryland should go "max blitz", the chance that a receiver will score after a catch-and-run or be wide open increases dramatically.

But if Cal runs a two-back set it's not going to be the easy win that's predicted for the Golden Bears.

At any rate, GO BEARS! And remember its BLUE DAY Saturday at Berkeley!

Visit Jennifer Campbell at Shuz in Oakland; buy some shoes!

I just got this message at my Facebook page:

I'm sure you've been following the awful story about the disappearance of Hasanni Campbell. His foster mother is a very dear friend of mine, Jennifer Campbell. She is expecting a child, while desperately searching for Hasanni, and had to go back to work at "Shuz" in Rockridge today, the site of Hasanni's disappearance. She will probably only be able to work a short while but as she is paid mostly on commission, she needs to sell a lot of shoes. The media coverage of this whole tragic situation hasn't made it any easier.
I am beseeching you to please visit "Shuz" on College Ave. in Rockridge. Ask for Jennifer Campbell. Buy some shoes. Please.

Where's "Shuz" exactly? It's at 6012 College Avenue (map below) and has great reviews on Yelp!

Jennifer's had a rough time; give her your support! Buy some shoes!

Here's the map for Shuz in Oakland within the Rockridge District!


View 6012 College Ave - Shuz! in a larger map

Tom Hayes: What does “The Obama Experiment” mean to you?

As an artist, Mike Cuffe has felt the high cost of health insurance premiums hit home and he's gone through many periods of not having any health insurance coverage whatsoever. He's also watched recently as more than one family member has been denied life saving treatments, "due to system that focuses on increasing shareholders revenues than on choosing wellness."

Cuffe's "TheObamaExperiment.com" site began in March 2008 to raise awareness by "creating art around then Senator Barack Obama's bid for the presidency." Then it took a turn for the strange in mid-July when the RNC launched a website using the same name evidently intended to obfuscate the debate and counter sentiment favoring President Obama's campaign for health care reform.

"Currently I find myself in a direct debate with the Republican National Committee over my website The Obama Experiment. I've created a health care piece entitled Support Wellness: Nationalize Health Care to offset their attack on Health Care Reform. You can watch me paint the image in time lapse..."

Here's the story about Cuffe's scuffle with the RNC, which is working to spin and propagandize the national debate over health care reform that a recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC revealed is marred by misinformation. Any way you slice it 91% of Americans think at least some reform is necessary, yet over half have been taken in by spin-mongering about non-existent death panels and baseless rumors about a purported government take-over of health care.

In short, the GOP picked a name eerily similar to the domain Cuffe was using, TheObamaExperiment.com and inadvertently directed a lot of traffic Cuffe's way. When asked what he felt about the Republican version of The Obama Experiment, Cuffe said,

"I see it as a win, win situation. If they're going to tell people why they are against health care, I am going to tell people why I am for it. Their Obama Experiment dialogue is sending a great deal of people to my Health Care supportive website. I'm just the ying to their yang."

Burning Man Live Stream

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This is a live stream from Burning Man courtesy of USTREAM.TV.  No.  I'm not there - even though its a San Francisco Bay Area tradition to go to the playa - but someone who set this up is and a bunch of people are chatting from the media room there.

Check it out below and join in the chat:

Free live streaming by Ustream

Chat area:

First Miley Cyrus, now pole dance doll? OMG!

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Folks, I can't believe this and I'm in total agreement with Karen Hawthorne and Tolu Olorunda that we've gone too far as a culture. At a time when we should pay more attention to adult women like Candice Crawford (who's rumored to be dating Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo), we have this news.

Miley Cyrus' pole dance is part of a trend

First and just recently we had Miley Cyrus dancing with a stripper pole on the Teen Choice Awards. Before that we had and have poll dancing as a fitness class. We even saw airline stewardesses pole dancing in the Iron Man movie last year. But a pole dance doll? This is the end of civilization as we know it.

A pole dance doll.

Pole Dancer Doll

Yes. According to the blog Gizmodo the "Pole Dancer Doll" "rotates. It has blinking lights, a disco ball, and a pole. And it's probably one of the wrongest toys you can give to any girl." No kidding. On top of that, the doll is made to look like a girl rather than an adult woman as was the case with another pole dance doll released in 2006.

We're going backward as we move forward.

Susan Boyle is older and innocent; girls are sex symbols?

This is weird. This year 2009 we have the 48-year-old singer Susan Boyle, a middle-aged woman, as the picture of innocence and purity, and 16-year old Miley Cyrus as the poster child for sexual fantasy.

As we've "advanced" over the decades the idea of what a female sex symbol should be let alone what we allow youth to do, has been turned on its head.

When I was little and gentlemen were respected and desired, older women were the sex symbols because they were classy, beautiful, experienced, and just plain dripping with hotness. They sang to presidents, as Mariyln Monroe did, and slept with them too. (No, I'm not thinking of Monica you-know-who here!)

My favorite was Rachel Welch. Ms. Welch was sexy, curves all over the place, and a smile that could light up the world. And then there was Pam Grier, who today is still as lovely and hot as Jackie Brown as she was during the days when she was the star of Foxy Brown. Thank God for Quentin Tarentino!

What's happened to our society? Is Tolu Olorunda right when he points the finger at corporations like Disney for doing anything in the way of image-making to make a buck? (To be fair, Disney has nothing to do with this doll.) Or is it that the Internet age has broke through a moral barrier I'm used to and to expose the fact that sexuality isn't confined to those over 21?

This trend of the sexualization of youth has been long in development. I remember a party in San Francisco during the 2003 Fleet Week where my friend's dad, visting from Florida and 65 years old at the time said in response to my question of how have things changed  "In my day," he said, "the girls didn't wear these  jeans cut low around their privates; but (openly pointing to two young women walking by) now, they leave nothing to the imagination."

He's right. We've gone too far, but do you care? For all those who may comment in protest, and rightly so, this social trend seems to march on unabated. Do you really care? Take my poll.

More politics surveys on pollsb.com

Oh! Check out the Burning Man Live Stream!

Oakland parking ticket last straw for Michael Caton

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My friend, fellow Oakland blogger, and valued guest blogger at Oakland Focus Michael Caton has had it with Oakland, and to my surprise wrote a stinging blog post on my Oakland Focus Blog that detailed the reason for writing that he would never return to our city in the future: the parking problem.

 

An Oakland parking enforcement official

Michael has a blog called "An Oakland Citizen" where he opines about political and social issues in Oakland and gives a comprehensive view of how people of different stripes interact in our town. He's headed to medical school in San Diego, but it could be said the Oakland dog "bit him" on the way out of the civic door.

Since he wrote the blog post exclusively on my Oakland Focus site and part of my blog network, I cross-posted it here below:

A Fitting Send-off - Michael Caton in Oakland Focus

I have a note to add to the farewell-to-Oakland parking post I left on my own blog some time ago. To the merchants who feel like the City of Oakland is hell-bent on destroying local businesses with draconian parking policies, I can add a personal experience that has removed me from the Oakland economy permanently.

I moved to San Diego last week to start medical school. For one day, I had the U-Haul trailer I'd rented parked in front of our building - the three story one at the corner of Broadway and Oceanview. There is a stretch of red curb there that is a) out of the way of traffic and b) always, always used by everyone moving into or out of the building.

You already know where this is going. I was riding the elevator back up to my floor, and, tired and sweating from dragging furniture out to the truck, I happened to glance down to the street out through the clear wall to see the parking enforcement vehicle pull up in front of my worldly possessions. I got off and hurtled down the stairs to the street; the parking guy couldn't have been there more than 60 seconds. "I'll move the truck. I'll move it right now," I said breathlessly.

"Sorry. Ticket's already issued." He had his little parking-fascist computer and was waiting for the ticket to print out.

"Is there any way it can turn into a warning? I can really move the truck right now." I had the keys in my hand. We were 10 feet from my car and trailer.

"No," he said, and handed me an eighty dollar ticket. He stood there waiting and watching until I'd moved the trailer.

No, I don't think I'm special, and yes the law applies to me - and I was indeed in a red zone - one that, to my knowledge, had never been enforced, and that I offered to move out of immediately. I think you can understand my frustration. And God forbid Oakland devotes resources to getting criminals off the street - one dead, one paralyzed and critical, one badly beaten in this taco stand robbery a few days after I moved - but hey, at least Oakland is safe from people with U-haul trailers. Guess what I could do in my new, safe place in San Diego? Find parking easily and unload the truck with no tickets!

Although I don't like leaving anything on negative notes, the end of this anecdote will do just that to my brief participation in the Oakland blogosphere. That said, I truly wish the best for Oakland and for its committed residents who are working hard to make it a place to be proud of. Understatement of the year: you have some challenges ahead of you.

The last words between myself and this "public servant", were: "Hey, thanks for sending me off in style." And, standing there and waiting for me to move the trailer before he would leave, he grumbled, "You're sending yourself off."

Yep, I sure am. Once I'm practicing medicine, I will certainly come back to the Bay Area. I will not come back to Oakland.

This is not the first time I've learned of Oakland Parking Officials being nasty to Oaklanders. The worst case I know of other than Michael's is story told to me by a third party where one Oakland Parking Officer told a person trying to get into a wheelchair on Grand Avenue "Have your driver put a quarter in the meter or I'll give him a ticket."

Now, a decent person could have 1) let the disabled person and his driver go on with their business, or 2) put the quarter in the meter themselves! But this action? It's the talk of the Grand Lake business community.

Let's get something clear now: violence against parking enforcement officials is just plain wrong. Oakland parking officials showing disrespect to Oakland's people is equally wrong. It's hard enough to get an $80 ticket - harder still if one's out of work or on a fixed income. A public official being mean to someone in this position - heck in any walk of life - is an abuse of power the City of Oakland must stop now!

Gmail is up at least for me? You?

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After about two hours of being down, my Gmail service is restored, just when I was headed outside. Is Gmail working for you? How did the outage impact you?

Over at Twitter, it seems Gmails working for some others, too:

echoleigh GMail is working for me again.

writerbenjamin #gmail seems to be back up.

thesharath @denharsh #gmail is back

As to what happened,I do not know as of this writing, but will inform you if I get news of the problem. It's amazing to see Twitter working as "the pulse of the public" on this issue.

Gmail is down - 502 Server Error

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Say, if you're trying to access Gmail and getting a "502 Server Error" message, it's not you; Gmail is down.

I went to Twitter to learn if anyone else was experiencing this problem and for a time it was a top tag, which means people were complaining about the problem. Here are some of the Tweets:

rachelrusso What is the deal with gmail? It's been down for over an hour!!

femaleprodigy OK people, take a deep breath. The gmail problem will soon pass. Until then, turn off your computer and take in some fresh air! THAT IS ALL!

kelvinmaphoto RT: @daveweigel: Democrats to pay tribute by naming the health care reform bill after gmail.

gracemcavoy gmail u r ruining my life #epicfail

Well, you get the idea.

Over at its' Twitter page, Google reports:

google We're aware that people are having trouble accessing Gmail. We're working on fixing it. Apologies for the inconvenience http://bit.ly/31kL4B

The link goes to an "Apps Status Dashboard" which confirms that as of this writing Gmail is down. Well, that's a bunch of accounts for my baseball sim for the classroom that will be delayed. But it's a sunny day!

Confused Erin Andrews returns to ESPN College Football

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She's back!

After laying low in the wake of the Erin Andrews Peephole Video Scandal, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is coming back to work this Thursday as part of ESPN's telecast of the rivalry battle football game between the University of South Carolina and North Carolina State. But that's not all for the 31-year-old media star.

Erin's appearing on Oprah September 11th to talk about the videotape and how it impacted her. (Though some sites report September 24th; I will get a clarification on this.) Plus, she's not shying away from the camera, having just finished this photo shoot for GQ (before the video issue but out now for some reason), where she gets "dirty" wearing football gear.

 

Erin Andrews (photo courtesy of GQ)

Meanwhile whatever happened to the person who made the video? No one knows. Some have speculated that the person who did it either knew Erin or covered athletic events. Whatever the case, the person's still out there and the video was sold for profit.

Something tells me the person who did it is going to be identified in a strange way.

Erin's back,... as "trophy girl?" 

Meanwhile, with the upcoming GQ photo spread its clear Andrews is not only back in reporting action but has no problem posing before a camera. There's something, er,telling about the photo below where she's on a pedestal while a group of college football players look up to her as if she's, well, a trophy girl.

Erin Andrews (photo courtesy of GQ)

I have to admit I've got a problem with her decision to make that photo in the wake of what happened to her and her increased visibility. As I wrote before, she should really use this moment in time to bring attention to the needs of those less fortunate, not just herself.

Plus, as I said in my video above, I'd prefer to see her in the image I used rather than the one she presents here. It's confusing. She's upset about the nude peephole video of her, goes into hiding essentially, then comes out having done a photo shoot that glorifies her sexuality and male desire for her.

What does Erin want? How does she want to be seen? Is she confused? What does she stand for? If she wants to be the 31-year-old version of Miley Cyrus, she needs to say so and do it. Period. Be authentic. But this confusing set of messages she's sending out is of concern to me.

Reportedly, Erin told Oprah the video was "a nightmare" but it's hard to take Andrews's claims against the video that seriously if, with this GQ photo, she's going to basically swim in the sex-based marketing pool she claims to hate, stating that people think she got her job because of her looks.

Maybe Christine Brennan was right and the whole video peep camera thing was just Erin working to get more publicity. Earlier this year, Brennan basically said that because Andrews was "trading off her looks" she created the problem.

Plus, the timing of the release of the photos, after this scandal, calls the whole video matter into question yet again.

I'm just going with my gut here, but something tells me this whole matter has changed her in a way she may not even see. If she's going to be Miley Cyrus she should stop being confused about it, that word again, and just do it. Personally, she could do a lot of good with her platform, but for now she's just messing around.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here the new Erin Andrews GQ video:

Robert Reich, The Borg, and The Heath Care Debate

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I just happened upon Berkeley professor and dweller, Robert Reich's blog and a post title that caught my eye: "The Guns of August and Why The Republican Right Was So Adept at Using Them on Health Care" and a particularly true statement he wrote:

"The Left had ideas; the Right has discipline"

Prof. Robert Reich

The former professor at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and former Secretary of Labor is right. I'm stunned over the almost "Borg-like" efficiency the right brings to the effort of getting out a message consistently, and getting its members to follow the cue cards chapter and verse, time after time.

(Oh. The Borg were characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation who were part machine and part human and ran by a central computer system.)

Now, if one thinks about my Borg analogy, they might say I'm implying that there's little or no independent thought on the Right. One would be correct here. After all, it's independence of thought that leads to the creation of a new idea.

While the idea-laden Left needs to get its messaging act together, the Couch Potato Conservative representatives on the Right must show the ability to think about what they're talking about. For example, the who notion of "The Public Option".

Conservatives I've talked to think the "Public Option" in the proposed Health Care Bill means you going to a government-run hospital, or having the feds pick a doctor for you. Not so. Ir's just another insurance program. Period. That's it. End of story.

But the facts don't stop the Right from tossing out more untruths, take this email I got from a friend recently:

Hiya,


I got this in my mail. Can you forward it on to Zennie. Could be good stuff for his blog.


It's kinda scary... It seems like it's coming from a legit website.


Below are the items you may find interesting and worth more investigation:




Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!


Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get


Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!! You can only get so much "care" per year


Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits 4 you. You have no choice!


PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise


Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access to individs finances & a National ID Healthcard will be issued!


Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 your banks accts for elective funds transfer


PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).


Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.


PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs for private HC plans in the Exchange


PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!


PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services..... Example - Translation for illegal aliens


Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individually for Govt HC plan


PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Benefit Levels for Plans. #AARP members - your Health care WILL be rationed


-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will be automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice


pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly


pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.


Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE


Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.


Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyr w payroll 400k & above who does not prov. pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll


pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll between 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll


Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC accrdng to Govt will be taxed 2.5%


Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (You and I will pay for them)


Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans financial/personal recds


PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that


Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor will be very affected


Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same


PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr's time, professional judgments, etc. Literally value of humans.


PG 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries


PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs


PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!


Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable readmissions.


Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own.


Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand


pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!


Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing


Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing all into Govt HC plan


Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs


Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can you say HC by phone?


PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life. Seniors will be interviewed every year for health issues and decisions made as to what care they can or can't receive


Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!


PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of life resources, guiding you in death


PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends


Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An "adv. care planning consult" will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates


PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV


Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.


PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life


Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?


Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?


PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage


Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those services


This is all in there, check it out yourself! And be afraid. You must contact your representatives and STOP this insane Health Care Plan before they pass it some night at midnight.

Now none of the points in the email is true. For example, the first item on the list, "Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!" is a load of crap. The Heath Care Bill calls for a study of the ABILITY of self-insured programs to cover their obligations. It's part of a call for a national study.

I was pretty upset with the email because of the list of distortions you saw, so I asked harshly "What idiot sent out this email?"

I got this response from the friend of my friend who originally sent the email:

I do not know who wrote it which is why I ask a few friends if they knew anything about it.


My persoal opinion is not an F for who wrote it but a F for the ones that wrote such a complex plan and involved bill. No wonder there is confusion on both sides of the fence. Seriously who will interpret the plan if no one can read it? Will it be the politicians that interpret it to the doctors and patients?


That is I want to know.


Thank you.

To which I replied:

Hi


Just saw this.


The Bill is not complicated to read. It's simple but one had to take the time. You're asking for the "dumbing down" of an important piece of legislation. Please don't do that.


Take time to get a cup of coffee, turn off the TV, and read the bill for yourself. It's that important. I'm really concerned with the apparent lack of desire of Americans to absorb information that's not in small bites.


Read. Read. Read.


...And then ask questions.


Best,


Zennie

But do you see how the Right's sending out these takes on the Health Care Bill and scaring the uninformed with their own uninformed view? Part of me thinks its deliberate and they know its wrong, but a larger part of me thinks they just can't comprehend what's before them.

We've always complained about America's declining levels of education, so it should come as no surprise and complete alarm that we now have a good set of the population that's just not used to reading large amounts of information and turns off past page two.

And it seems most of those people have decided to be on the Right and not the Left.

(I'll return to this list for more vetting soon.)

SF Chronicle - a plan to help the newspaper

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I happened to run upon an article in today's edition of "Editor and Publisher" which reported that the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper (SFGate.com is the Chronicle website) was planning more layoffs after Labor Day. It may not happen, let's pray not, but staff reductions could come as soon as next week.

Apparently, even after the last round of job cuts about two months ago or so, the newspaper is still losing $1 million a week or about $4 million a month, or a whopping $48 million-a-year loss.

That's really, really sad news as a paper is nothing without the personalities who made it, but I think there's something that can be done to at least save some jobs and stem the tide of revenue losses.

There are as of this writing 2,780,000 pages that make up SFGate.com. My idea is simple: add a donate button to each one of them.

The button would be at the top left of each page. A person could donate as little as $1 and as much as $1,000, but let's say the average donation was $2.

SFGate.com draws about 9 million monthly unique visitors according to this press release issued earlier this year. That comes down to about 290,000 unique visitors a day.

Let's say that just 30,000 people or about 10 percent of the daily visitor count posted a donation of $2 each. (in the video I mistakenly said 180,000 visitors and 10 percent.  That's wrong.) Over the course of a month that could be as much as $1.86 million per month in revenue. That's almost cuts the $4 million deficit in half and helps maintain newspaper staff.

That's really it; the idea's that simple.

Donation is better than news pay

I'm not a fan of the idea of charging for news, as Hearst Corporation is considering of late. It invites a process where one website can feed its content with news from the paysite, and then offer other sites and blog with the chance to link to their site rather than the paysite. Plus, with all of the journalists losing jobs, there are more people out there who know how to get a story and compete with the paysite.

The free news sites will always outnumber and outperform the paysites, regardless of how many big brands do that strategy.

No.

Let people donate if they wish. But backing the effort with an aggressive marketing campaign and a well-designed donation button system will generate new revenue and help save the jobs of a lot of great people at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Academy to use "preference voting" for Oscar best picture

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I just got an email from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that a new "preference voting" system will be used to select the Best Pictute for the 2010 Oscars. That news plus the fact that now there will be not five but 10 pictures in contention for the award means the category is essentially being returned to a hybrid of its design of a period between 1936 and 1943.

The difference is then, preference voting was used for the final ballot of the selection for Best Picture. In 2010 it applies to the voting process as a whole.

Academy President Tom Sherak said “Instead of just marking an 'X' to indicate which one picture they believe to be the best, members will indicate their second, third and further preferences as well. PricewaterhouseCoopers will then be able to establish the Best Picture recipient with the strongest support of a majority of our electorate.”

That creates the prospect of a really controversial outcome on 2010. Let's say we have one movie that gets first choice of all picts of 50 percent of all votes. But then let's say we have another movie that gets second choice for all votes cast, 100 percent. That means the second choice movie would win, even if it didn't get a single first place vote. The academy didn't indicate to what degree the weight between first and second choice would be, so stay tuned.