Chris Spielman's wife Stefanie Spielman passes at 42

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Former Ohio State and NFL Linebacker Chris Spielman lost his wife Stefanie Spielman to breast cancer today. She was 42 years old.

Stephanie was 30 years old when the cancer was first detected. That's really sad and hard news for me to read. It really is.

I followed the Spielmans' story as in 2005 my own mother battled and eventually beat this cancer we all must work to defeat.

Talk about video - blogging with Sarah Austin

Watch live video from Sarah Austin on Justin.tv

Want to learn more abour video-blogging? You've come to the right place for a start.

Videoblogger Sarah Austin and I are doing a live and recorded video talk on multiple platforms. We're talking about YouTube, vlogging, and Internet success and how to make money!

You can catch this at Pop17.com, Justin.tv, USTREAM.TV, and SFGate.com.

"Cocktails for a Cure" REAF benefit party through Dec 1st

I just got a note from Ken Henderson, the Executive Director of The Richmond Ermet AIDS Foundation (REAF) in San Francisco and regarding "Cocktails for a Cure". Ken writes:

"We want to make sure everyone knows Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants' Cocktails for a Cure campaign is still going on across the country through Dec. 1st. Order a Red Ribbon cocktail at any participating property and $1/drink goes to a designated local AIDS organization. In SF Bay AREA, it's REAF. Invite your friends out for a few cocktails and know you're doing a good thing. Whodathunk? Bottoms Up! Go Kimpton!"

In San Francisco, the places to go are these hotels and restaurants: Hotel Monaco, Argonaunt, Tuscan Inn, Harbor Court Hotel, Hotel Palomar, Blue Mermaid, Chowder House & Bar, Cafe Pescatore ,Fifth Floor, Grand Cafe , Harry Denton's Starlight, Room , Ponzu, Postrio , Puccini & Pinetti, and Scala's Bistro

Check the map at this link for locations.

Twilight / New Moon holds 94 percent of online ticket sales

Why is Twilight / New Moon so popular?



The Twilight / New Moon phenomenon has long past heated up and is red-hot. Just a day and a few hours before the midnight release of the second movie in the series based on the popular books, Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Twilight / New Moon is responsible for a remarkable 94 percent of online ticket sales.

DHD's famous Nikke Finke ads that there are 200 sellouts in Los Angeles and New York alone and theaters in many cities have already sold out.

Oscar buzz? None so far; a lot of wishful fans. Stay tuned.

In Oakland, it opens at the Grand Lake Theater and Signature Jack London Square with both having Thursday midnight openings. I think I'll see what all the fuss is about.

Frank Schaeffer: "Old Testament, biblical equivalent of calling for Holy War."

...against our President. It's arguably treasonous language and suggestions, coming from supposedly Christian sources, who are, according to Evangelical author Frank Schaeffer, lifting bible verses to trawl for assassins.

"Most Americans will just see the bumper-sticker and smile and think that it's facetious...

What surprises me is that responsible (if you can put it that way) Republican leadership, and the editors of some of these Christian magazines, etc., etc., do not stand up in holy horror and denounce this.

You know, they're always asking: where is the Islamic leadership denouncing terrorism?"

Frank Schaeffer
Author, Patience with God

Here's some video from the Rachel Maddow show. It starts with a discussion of Obama's trip overseas, and how his diplomacy and the observation of protocol has provoked criticism at home. She proceeds to a frank discussion with Schaeffer about veiled messages inciting violence against the President.

Trusting, faithful Christians are, it seems, being led astray by those with clearly political, anti-American agendas cloaked in carefully selected bible verses while waving American flags. Those who seek to create chaos and violence are neither Christian nor patriotic. They prey upon our most trusting, by manipulating scriptures for their own aggrandizement while accusing their counterparts overseas for engaging in the same selfish, godless goals.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

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Sarah Palin Newsweek Cover: Palin not Carrie Prejean

Well, just one day after Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared on Oprah for what was a good interview and on the day her book "Going Rogue" was released (I have to admit I bought Star Trek on DVD instead), Newsweek helps keep Palin's name near the top of the public conversation (and makes her into Carrie Prejean) by using this cover photo:

The pict got the best of Governor Palin who took to her Facebook page to complain about it, writing:

The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner's World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness - a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention - even if out of context.


- Sarah Palin

Palin's post - I can see her frowning as she wrote it - sparked a powerful reaction that's bound to keep her name up in online search results for another two months. (A momentary aside. Yesterday I wrote that Palin's Internet popularity was due to Oprah and not herself; today, it's due to Newsweek and not Palin.)

The LA Times asked if Palin was really concerned that the photo was sexist and used their entertainment blog for the Academy Awards to issue the observation, leading me to believe they're saying (or at least LA Times blogger Elizabeth Snead holds) that Palin's acting.

The Kansas City Star's headline was "It just goes on and on". Blog SheKnows.co asks if Palin is really offended or just seeking press. If she is looking for media coverage, she's getting it.

But aside from what Palin thinks, I will say it certainly is sexist.

Look, I'll use a revealing photo to get the readers attention in a second, so I know what Newsweek was doing and it was a ploy to sell magazines and draw web traffic in a recession. Governor Palin's no longer, well, Governor, which makes her tanned and fit good looks the perfect target for their intentions.

But the bottom line is Newsweek didn't have to employ the Runner's World photo and could have opted to just show Palin in the suits she's generally wearing in public appearances. Instead Newsweek wanted to grab a photo that really looks like one I'd expect to see on a truck with a gun rack.

Maybe that was the point.

Whatever the case, I thought Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham's explanation was massively weak:

"We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do,” Meacham said. "We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard."

Sorry but that's the biggest bunch of horse manure I've ever seen. Jon Meacham obviously didn't want to explain that they realy wanted to make a real point, which is 'Sarah wants attention and this photo's the best way to make sure she gets it, focus on our point that we think she's an attention monger, and get a lot of buzz, magazine sales, and Internet traffic too.'

But all of this to me is another wound in the scaring of Sarah Palin. All of this - the book, the book tour, the Oprah Interview, etc. - is a way for Palin to heal. It's not a path to Palin 2012. No.

Sarah Palin is damaged.

Here's a young woman executive plucked from obscurity and thrust at warp-speed into the hyper-media spotlight. Then, when Senator John McCain and the GOP were done with her and lost the Presidential election to Barack Obama, they turned on Palin, cast her aside, and made her feel crappy in the process.

Remember the accusations that Palin was essentially stealing clothes given to her for use by the GOP and a lawyer had to fly to Alaska to get them back? Or how about the constant drumbeat of statements on her lack of understanding of policy from everyone including me.

Sarah's saying "You can't treat me that way and cast me aside."  You know what; she's right.  

Look, I don't agree with Governor Palin on a number of political issues, but in my way of living that does not mean I have to want to see her mistreated by anyone. Newsweek's actions were horrible. The Newsweek photo was totally off base and I think they should apologize for using a photo intended for an athletic publication in the way they did.

To be clear, I agree with using photos like the one of Carrie Prejean, but hey, she's a model. Ok? Sarah Palin's a government executive not far removed from office (and if she kept herself in it, this would not have happened).

Governor Palin is not Carrie Prejean nor should her image be altered to make her look that way. Again, she may be a Couch Potato Conservative, but at least let her relax on the couch in peace. Now, she's scarred all over again and we're not going to hear or see the last of her until she's healed and that's going to take a long time.

Count on it.

49ers San Francisco Stadium: Carmen Policy on KNBR today

Carmen Policy (left) with Eddie DeBartolo

Just right on the heels of my blog post comparing the environmental impact reports (EIR) of the Candlestick Point and Santa Clara 49ers stadium development proposals, do I find the mp3 recording of an interview of former 49ers President Carmen Policy.

The show record link is here.

Carmen Policy is the spokesperson for the stadium effort and went on KNBR's Murph & Mac Show to talk about stadium progress to date and make his case for keeping the 49ers in San Francisco.

The conversation opened a brief talk about the Browns v. Ravens game on Monday Night Football, then moved to talk about the progress of the stadium and the redevelopment of Hunter's Point.

With the release of the EIR, Policy says the project can go forward without negative impacts on the community. "The curtain's drawn now. Everyone's ready to go ahead and get this ball rolling."

Policy says the Santa Clara project is "frustrating" but feels they should move forward with their project and "keep this situation on a parallel path."

I know what Carmen's thinking here without having talked to him. NFL politics is such that Policy knows the league will essentially want and have the Yorks pursue the best deal. From that perspective the NFL will use Santa Clara as a, well, pawn, in the creation of a deal that ultimately works for both the league and the 49ers.

In the interview, Policy said that in the end the 49ers will get the best deal. He believes the Hunter's Point project offers the best option.

What about Mayor Newsom?

KNBR asked about the roll of Mayor Newsom given his recent decision to drop out of the California Governor's Race and jet off to Hawaii (in fact Brian Murphy remarked that the "Chronicle was all over him" and called it a disappearing act) and how that impacted their efforts. Policy said the Mayor's actions didn't hurt the development process and that they were allowed to move forward.

Stay tuned.

Niners Candlestick Point stadium looks better with Santa Clara problems

Candlestick Point

An interesting development occurred over the past few days and virtually under the radar of much of the media in the Bay Area. Two environmental impacts reports were released at almost the same time: one for the Candlestick Point / San Francisco 49ers Stadium development and the other for the SF Niners stadium proposed for Santa Clara.

I also must explain that I'm biased toward the idea of keeping the 49ers in San Francisco, but I'm not beyond telling it like it is with respect to how the enviromental impact reports are presented.

I've read both EIRs (it was part of my role as Economic Advisor to The Mayor of Oakland when Elihu Harris was Mayor and for Robert Bobb before I worked to try to bring the 2005 Super Bowl to Oakland) and while at 3,000 pages (I didn't read all of the pages), the Candlestick Point includes comments and a detailed and well-organized list of anticipated impacts and ways to work to dampen or eliminate them (called "mitagations"), the Santa Clara DEIR is not so well-written.

I've got to say the Santa Clara EIR's not very good at all. In fact, some of the responses to comments are irresponsible and don't show that the project's impacts are being well considered.

Many of the Santa Clara EIR answers to comments are defensive rather than technical and call into question to what degree this document was rushed into production to beat the City of San Francisco's Candlestick effort.

There's a threat of comments regarding the anticipated transit use that would be generated from a new stadium in Santa Clara. The problem with the Santa Clara DEIR is that it bases future estimates of use of cars, buses, and trains on the existing Candlestick Park stadium, which the Candlestick Point DEIR seeks to replace with a new stadium.

In other words, the use of trains versus cars is dependent on the design of the streets, roads, and buildings with respect to each other. The Santa Clara DEIR does not seem to reflect that.

Take this comment / response example:

Comment B-2: Table 15 indicates tbe modal split at the existing stadium is: 82% auto, 10% charter bus, and 8% transit for attendees; 90% auto and 10% transit for employees. For the proposed stadium, modal split is 74% auto, 7% cbarter bus and 19% transit for attendees; 80% auto and 20% transit for employees. Since Candlestick Park is situated within a rich public transportation network, it should have higher charter bus and transit modal splits compared to the proposed stadium. On the contrary, the proposed stadium shows higher charter bus and transit modal splits. What are the underlying assumptions to justify these modal splits tor the proposed 4gers Santa Clara Stadium?

Response B-2: While the City of San Francisco overall has a good public transportation network, the area where Candlestick Park is located does not. There is no rail transit of any kind available to Candlestick Park attendees. The only transit currently used is chatter and municipal buses. As explained in the EIR (pages 176-178), an extensive multi-modal transit system serves north Santa Clara. The assumptions for each type of available transit are described on pages 177-178, including subsections labeled "Bus and Light Rail" and "Heavy
Rail Service".

The Santa Clara DEIR states:

There is no rail transit of any kind available to Candlestick Park attendees.

Hmm....

If that's the case, why is it I can take either BART, Caltrain, or Muni Metro rail and step on the Candlestick Express bus? Yes, it's not direct to the stadium's front door, but its rail and its not far away. Moreover, an EIR is a technical report that's supposed to be devoid of such errors in wording. It's the one place where detailed, accurate description is expected and vital to the success of the project.

The Santa Clara EIR was written as if by a snickering, snipping bureaucrat who had no patience with questions from, well, other bureaucrats from Bay Area agencies, which are in abundance in the document.

By contrast, the Candlestick Point DEIR, while it does concern a much larger 700-acre development, does in detail explain transit impacts and professionally lists the answers to anticipated impacts. There's not the hint of schoolmarm whining that dominates the comment responses in the Santa Clara document.

All of this should make former San Francisco 49ers President Carmen Policy more excited over the prospects for the successful construction of a new 49ers Stadium at Candlestick Point in San Francisco.

But regarding Santa Clara, the San Francisco 49ers should be ashamed of themselves for allowing such a substandard EIR to be produced. I've seen a lot of EIRs in my time and this one's just plain terrible.

If this is an example of what we're to expect, 49ers owner John York should jettison his Santa Clara stadium efforts and work with the more professional team over the Candlestick Point development. Yeah, I'm biased, but it's not without justification.

The Big Game: Ray Ratto, forget it: Stanford will not beat Cal

 The Big Game

Hey Ray Ratto. I just read your column regarding possible Stanford bowl scenarios and the Emerald Bowl, and you write that the Stanford road to the Rose Bowl starts with the Cardinal beating Cal.

Forget it. It's not happening.

Again, Cal 30, Stanford 21. And yesterday I explained why this was possible here.

The bottom line is stopping the Cardinal running game and putting the contest in Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck's hands. Cal wins, and smashes Stanford's Rose Bowl hopes. 

Movie Theaters: Parkway Oakland founders start new business

The Oakland Parkway Theater closure and restoration issue hasn't been in the main news cycle for a few weeks now, but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Catherine and Kyle Fisher, the now former owners of both the Parkway and Cerrito Theaters have done a lot of soul searching in the wake of their loss of both facilities and the controversy that followed.

When I interviewed them earlier this year they were at a cross-road in their life and it came out in our talk. Oh, and if you missed that talk, it's here below and it's a good idea to take a look at the video then read what their next move's going to be, which is presented in the email below the video.



Here's the email from Catherine and Kyle on their new venture:

Catherine and I have had our walk on the beach. We've licked our figurative wounds and are ready to start the next chapter in our lives for better or for worse. We're sharing this with you, our wonderful former patrons because our next endeavor concerns some of you.

Over our 13 years at Speakeasy Theaters many people approached us for information on how to start a business like Speakeasy Theaters that spoke as much to the needs of the community and the lifestyle of the operators as to earning a living. When asked, we gave the best answer we could under the circumstances of the encounter, but I fear that given our time constraints our responses were mostly inadequate. We would like to answer this question in the appropriate detail. What we also determined on our walk was that one of the things that we enjoyed most about operating Speakeasy Theaters was working with and nurturing the often fledgling independent contractors who held events at the Parkway, helping them bring their ideas into focus and executing them as well as they could.

To this end, Catherine and I developed Wild Card Circle. Wild Card Circle is several things each of which are intended to help entrepreneurs develop community responsive businesses that in turn allow the developer to live a lifestyle that is rewarding mentally, spiritually and hopefully financially. One of the main components of Wild Card Circle are workshops designed to help the individual find their inner entrepreneur and show him/her how to express it. If any of this seems remotely interesting to you, you can find out more about it at WildCardCircle.com or contact us at Kyle or Catherine @WildCardCircle.com, otherwise this is us signing off from your lives and wishing you well and thanking you for your years of support.

I wish them the best of luck. Regardless of the outcome of the theaters or how you may feel about them, they did give the Oakland and El Cerrito communities fun places that helped to define the East Bay's unique culture.

Michael Jackson - Janet Jackson and AEG blocking Jackson's doctor

According to TMZ.com, relations are becoming more contentious between Janet Jackson, event producer AEG, and Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray.

Dr. Conrad Murray holds that AEG owes him $300,000, and is late paying for two months of service.

I wonder if that period includes the segment of time leading to Jackson's passing? If so, Murray not only may not see that money, it seems he should understand the circumstances surrounding AEG's actions and have some kind of insurance backup plan. His job was to keep Jackson not just working, but alive. Still, a contract is a contract.

In reading TMZ.com, I have to wonder why Murray's lawyer needs a publicist and who's paying the publicist? Only in LA.

Which leads to this new bit of related information: Janet Jackson doesn't want Murray to practice again. She says he was the only one giving drugs to Michael Jackson.

I think there's a connection between the non-payment by AEG and Janet Jackson, but that's just my gut.

Stay tuned.

Miley Cyrus: Seventeen’s Style Star of the Year

Miley Cyrus bounces back! After getting the not-so-flattering AOL award as Worst Celebrity Influence of 2009...



...singer Miley Cyrus gets a more flattering award as Seventeen Magazine’s "Style Star of the Year".

Just Jared reports:

The 16-year-old starlet was chosen as the mag’s Style Star of the Year. The mag quotes, “She finally shed her Hannah Montana shell and showed the world she’s an A-lister with it-girl style, which is why Seventeen is honoring Miley as our Style Star of the Year!”

Great to see the Miley Cyrus PR Machine hard at work.