Libby Schaaf's running for Mayor of Oakland with Lirpa Sloof's help

Libby Schaaf

Oakland has a new candidate for Mayor of Oakland: Libby Schaaf.

Last night, at a well-attended kickoff party for what was to be Libby Schaaf's run for the Oakland City Council District 4 seat currently held by Councilmember Jean Quan, Libby Schaaf shocked and surprised almost everyone in the room save her campaign assistants, when she announced that she was running for Mayor of Oakland.

Libby stood on a make-shift pedestal and said "I really gave this a lot of thought as I'm concerned about the state of education in Oakland, and I consulted with my wonderful husband; I'm running for Mayor of Oakland." Oakland Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5 - Fruitvale), for whom Libby gives credit for her political growth, reacted with his mouth agape, then spontaneous applause. Asked for a reaction after her speech, De La Fuente said "I'm speechless. That's all I can say."

The new of Oakland's new candidate throws a curve into a race that had become staid and predictable. Libby Schaaf takes on Mayor Ron Dellums, Don Perata, Councilmember Jean Quan, and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan for Mayor of Oakland. With her vast network of friends, Oakland roots, and supporters and involvement with the City of Oakland, Libby Schaaf will take votes away from all of the candidates, from the incumbent Mayor Ron Dellums to At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who reportedly went on a East Coast trip to secure backers for her own planned run for Mayor.

The Legendary At-Large Councilmember-emeritus Henry Chang was present and smiling from ear-to-ear, saying "Only in Oakland. Libby could win."

After her speech, the room, filled with many Oaklanders who've been involved in helping to make a better city of Oakland, was buzzing. When asked what the next steps were, Libby said "I have to sit down with my advisors, and my new staff member Lirpa Sloof and we'll roll out our vision and plans for Oaklanders to see and get behind.

Mayor Libby Schaaf. It has a nice ring. I can't wait to see what Lirpa Sloof comes up with.

Stay tuned.

Google 2010 April Fools jokes are ok, but not effective

Happy April Fools Day! Google's famous for April Fool's Day jokes, as noted by PC World, but the one executed today, April 1st, 2010, is not one of the best.

Google announced it was changing its name to Topeka, reverse echoing the move by Topeka, Kansas' mayor to change that town's name to Google on a temporary basis. NeonCloud7's video presents the joke:



But that April Fools Joke was all too obvious. Reall good April Fools jokes are suppose to be so rooted in actual possibility, they can change behavior, gain reaction, or move markets.

April Fools' Day is still with us as of this writing; anything can happen.

Stay tuned.

Bank of America no longer NFL sponsor

According to a tweet without a link and from Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal (@dkaplanSBJ) and confirmed by National Football League (NFL) Spokesperson Brian McCarthy, Bank of America is no longer an NFL Sponsor.

The NFL sponsorship ended March 31st after talks between the NFL and Bank of America failed to yield a deal either side was happy.

Asked if the NFL planned to seek a new bank sponsor, Brian McCarthy said the NFL is "exploring what's out there," and suggested a call to Bank of America was best to get their point of view.

Jon Schwartz of Bank of America Global Media Relations explained that "After many months of negotiations, Bank of America and the NFL could not arrive at a mutually beneficial set of terms for the sponsorship."

But a parting of the ways with the NFL does not mean Bank of America will seek to terminate its NFL team sponsor relationships. "While we couldn’t reach an agreement with the League,"Schwartz said via email. "It is our intent to continue to reach their large and highly-engaged fan base through our existing NFL team sponsorships, which we’re excited about.

While it's not crystal clear that the economy is hampering sports sponsorship across the board, the hypothesis here is that corporate sponsors want to know they're getting a better bang for their sponsor buck.

Stay tuned.

YouTube's new video page is great..but

YouTube, the company where this video-blogger is a partner, or "YouTube Partner", rolled out its redesigned video page on the evening of March 31st and to some fanfare. A select group of YouTube Partners were given the corporate "heads up" at a YouTube Partners and Management Meeting held last Thursday, March 26th at YouTube Headquarters and the focus of this video:



The new YouTube video page is a welcome change from the previous version, but the problem for the everyday user like this blogger is that elements like the video embed code are now hidden and have to be accessed via a kind of drop down button that works with the strength of the Internet connection. In other words, if the Internet connection is weak, that area of the page will present a note "loading" and seems to be stuck in that position.

The older model Video Page had the embed code ready for copy; it wasn't hidden behind a drop down access system. I'd prefer to see the embed code right on the page, and as little "load-wait" drop downs as possible, preferably none.

What I do like about the new YouTube video page design is that videos listed on the right start with my videos just after the featured video. The old design was such that one had to push an arrow button to see my videos, but videos from other channels were openly displayed on my page.

I'd prefer a video page design such that more of my videos were shows and not one that gave the viewer so many chances to leave it. As a YouTube Partner that features ads on the site, YouTube's setting it up for a person to go to non-add-supported pages.

Hopefully, YouTube solves that problem, and soon.

Stay tuned.

Whole Foods Oakland employees bring sexy back to work

Whole Foods 50,000-plus square foot food store has become a major place to be in Oakland. It's large, airy space contains the kind of good, fresh and yes, trendy food people want in Oakland and in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you're reading this and have never seen Whole Food Oakland, here's a video tour from opening day September 26, 2007:



The employees who work there are a young, diverse and good-looking group that from all accounts gets along with each other really well. Perhaps too well. Several sources who work there have told this blogger that it's common for Whole Foods employees to hook up for sex, sometimes while at work at the facility.

Whole Foods environment is fun for workers

The news of this scandalous level of sex between employees was shared with this blogger during chance conversations this week at different bars in Oakland. Because many of Whole Foods employees have so much in common, and as was said "work long hours at the store" that leads to the dates and random flirtations that lead to sex on a common basis and sometimes at Whole Foods Oakland.

One source said that there's a "kind of break room" room in the back that serves as a hook up place, but it's not the only area of the store.

Some of the employees are in local bands that play around the Bay Area, or have the same interest in music. Others share that, and I'm told an interest in the same drugs, generally marijuana, but that's not to present the idea that it's a rampant drug culture or that drugs are done at work. That activity happens off-site.

The point is, the sources identified music and drugs as the common elements and part of a large Whole Foods employee culture.  Some employees help their friends land jobs at Whole Foods Oakland, and that contributes to the almost college-like atmosphere and the dating activity that springs from it.

But apparently the stress of the Whole Foods work hours leads to high turn over, and for those who do last they have different ways of coping. It's also the reason for the level of flirting, dating and sexual activity between employees. (For the record, there was no report or indication of incidents of sexual harrassment in any of the conversations with sources.)

What's wrong with all of this? Well, the employees see it as no big deal. "You see someone. There's a flirtation. Then one day it's 'Hey, you and me'" was how one source put it. The source said "There's one person who just started a few weeks ago and they've already scored." The source also said there's are others who have "been with almost every girl there it seems."

The revolving door nature of employment also seems to contribute to the activity: the idea that people don't have those jobs for a long time is reportedly connected to the kind of "free sprit" that pervades the Whole Foods Oakland culture.

The next time you visit Whole Foods Oakland and notice smiling employees, you now know it's not by accident. As long as my food is well-prepared and my change is counted correctly, it's no big deal to this blogger.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods gave Rachel Uchitel 10 million; why not Haiti?

If the TMZ.com story that Tiger Woods gave nightclub executive Rachel Uchitel $10 million, to avoid the tell-all press conference Uchitel was planning with LA lawyer Gloria Allred last December.

If that's the case, Tiger Woods, in the opinion of this blogger, is the dumbest man in the World. If Tiger Woods did not fear the truth so much, he could have kept that money and sent it to Haiti in the wake of that awful 7.0 Richter Scale Earthquake.

Need a Rachel Uchitel refresher? This video should help:




But for some reason Tiger Woods has to keep secrets. Tiger Woods can't seem to tell a straight story. There's nothing Rachel Uchitel would have on Tiger Woods that cost 10 million, unless Tiger Woods did something that was criminal in nature. Fooling around on one's wife is wrong, but it does not produce jail time.

What's galling is that Tiger Woods would allow his reputation to be even more sullied by these new accusations and say nothing to deny them or affirm them.

In a way it's "here we go again" but worse for Tiger Woods. Tiger's talking now, so attention is drawn to him, so the media that "get" the Internet and its relationship to television are producing new content from the women he was allegedly involved with; and Tiger's saying nothing about it.

What this all points to, once again, is that Tiger Woods needs to just come clean to end what seems to be and endless process with a number of permutations.

Tiger Woods needs to be comfortable with looking someone in the eye and telling the truth, not looking someone in the eye and telling them it's none of their business. If the story of Tiger Woods giving Rachel Uchitel $10 million that could provide food, medical, and shelter for Haitians, something's wrong with that guy. It's not something one would expect from a Stanford student.

Of course, I could be wrong. After all, we are talking about Stanford, now.

Stay tuned.

Sandra Bullock news: Jesse James into dogfighting like Michael Vick?

The latest Sandra Bullock news is even more sad than the Nazi picture of Jesse James giving a salute and wearing a Nazi hat: Jesse James is now into dogfighting like Michael Vick? That's the news that was mentioned on Entertaiment Tonight and all over the Internet, and it's placing Jesse James image in an even darker place.

Darker than this:



While the truth of the story is in question, it's out there. Reportedly, Jesse James allowed two of his pit bulls to fight to the death. But while one blog claims Jesse James took them to a dog fighting ring, another says that's not true and that James' dogs Cisco and Rudy got into a fight while James was not present.

The unsupervised battle cost Rudy his life, and happened "years ago". The other blog called Celebrity Smack Blog.com charges that Jesse James never engaged in illegal dog fighting.

Regardless of this matter, it seems the release of the Nazi photo broke the dam holding back awful information, true or false, about Jesse James.

Stay tuned, but there will be happier stories to tell.

Sex rehab for sexual addiction: What is it, and how does it work?

With all the celebrities that have admitted themselves into ‘sex rehab’ centers recently, you might be curious about what goes on there. How does sex rehab work? Is it effective, or is this just an excuse to ask others for forgiveness? You might even scoff at the idea that someone needs to enter a sex rehab center. Perhaps you believe all they really need to do is come clean and stop cheating on their significant other, or choose to live a single life so as to not hurt others with lies and increased exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. This article serves to explain what sexual rehabilitation or ‘sex rehab’ is, and how a person with a sexual addiction might benefit from this form of treatment.

Treatment for sexual addiction tends to focus on two main areas:

1) Separating the addict from opportunities to continue harmful sexual patterns of behavior, much in the same way drug addicts need to be separated from their drug-filled lifestyle. This is why inpatient or residential treatment is often the suggested setting. An inpatient setting provides a controlled setting, which aims to eliminate opportunities for compulsive behavior.

2) Utilization of a safe, therapeutic setting with trained professionals to help individuals begin to face the guilt, shame and depression that is common amongst sexual addicts.

Sexual rehabilitation centers may vary in the variety of psychological treatment modalities they provide, but this list contains a broad overview of therapeutic strategies that have proven to be effective at helping people overcome sexual addiction.

12-Step Programs. Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) is a 12 step program which utilizes principles similar to those used in other addiction programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA.) However, unlike AA, where the goal is complete abstinence from all alcohol, SA pursues abstinence only from compulsive, destructive sexual behavior. By admitting powerlessness over their addiction, seeking the help of God or a higher power, working the 12 different steps, seeking a sponsor and attending meetings consistently, many addicts have been able to regain intimacy in their personal relationships.

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT).
This form of therapy helps people to examine the relationship between their thoughts, feelings and behaviors as they relate to their addictive patterns. By targeting the triggers and reinforcers that perpetuate the addictive pattern, people can begin to short-circuit the process and make healthy changes. Treatment can include teaching addicts therapeutic tools such as thought stopping, behavioral substitution, and thought record keeping, as a means to prevent the relapse of addictive patterns.

Interpersonal Therapy. Traditional "talk therapy" or counseling with an individual therapist can be helpful in providing a space for individuals to sort through past experiences that shaped addictive behavior, as well as manage mood symptoms, increase the ability to cope with stressors, and learn healthier lifestyle patterns and behaviors.

Group Therapy
Group therapy typically consists mental health professional(s) facilitating a group of people that engage in dialogue around addiction issues, and learn from related psychoeducational materials. A group environment is thought to enable people to learn from others’ experiences, strengths and relapses. It is also an ideal setting for people to learn through the confrontation of denial and rationalizations common among addicts in various stages of their rehabilitation.

Medication
Recent developments in the literature suggest that certain psychotropic medications (antidepressants) may prove to be useful for many people in managing sexual addiction. In addition to treating mood symptoms common among sex addicts, these medications may have some benefit in reducing sexual obsessions and ruminations.

This article was composed by Dr. Christina Villarreal, Clinical Psychologist in Oakland, CA

References

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_addiction_
2 The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity - www.ncsac.org and www.sash.net
3 Defense Security Services - www.dss.mil
4 Patrick Carnes (1991). Don't call it love: Recovery from sexual addiction, (New York: Bantam, pp. 22-23, 30-34).
5 Michael Herkov, Ph.D., Mark S. Gold, M.D., and Drew W. Edwards, M.S., Feb 2001

YouTube is down again as of 5:01 PM PST

For some reason, and for the second time in less than a week, the top video sharing and distribution site YouTube.com is down again.

As of 5:01 PM PSY a "Http/1.1 Service Unavailable" note appeared when one tries to go to http://www.youtube.com/

YouTube went down last Thursday morning, but the matter was quickly resolved.

There's no word via email by YouTube on this. This also happens to be the day when YouTube was installing a major make-over to its video pages, including Zennie62.

Stay tuned.

Sandra Bullock news: Jesse James Nazi Picture is out

In the latest update in the Sandra Bullock and Jesse James cheating scandal, we can report this Sandra Bullock news: the Jesse James Nazi Picture is out.

The photo that was long rumored to exist – one of Bullock's husband Jesse James in Nazi gear and giving the salute – has surfaced at TMZ.com and US Weekly.

For those of you who need a backstory, the quick version is that Jesse James allegedly had affairs with as many as five women: Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, Melissa Smith, Brigitte Daguerre, and a fourth and fifth woman, both who declined to identify themselves at this time.

But the photo, which this blogger had hoped did not exist, does, even though it took a week for TMZ to produce it.

The guess is they didn't want to be caught in another hoax. But the photo, which is two years old according to TMZ, shows Jesse James wearing a Waffen SS visor and striking the "sieg heil" salute. There's also a german model airplane next to him. Where it was taken, TMZ does not know.

What the hell was Jesse James thinking?

Stay tuned.

French version:

Mindy Lawton and Jamie Jungers, Tiger Woods mistresses, in Vanity Fair

Related searches: loredana jolie ferriolo, vanity fair, vanity, vanity fair tiger woods, daily mail showbiz

Mindy Lawton 

Now that Tiger Woods, the World's Greatest Golfer, has made a public apology for his 12 or 14 mistresses and affairs, and gave a five-minute interview to ESPN and The Golf Channel, it seems Tiger Woods' mistresses are surfacing to fill-in the blanks created in Tiger's statements.

But statements by Mindy Lawton and Jamie Jungers, Tiger Woods Mistress Number 6 and Number 4 respectively, are a doozy.

In his Golf Channel interview, Tiger Woods claimed that...

"It was all me. I'm the one who did it. I'm the one who acted the way I acted. No one knew what was going on when it was going on. I'm sure if more people would have known in my inner circle, they would have stopped it or tried to put a stop to it. But I kept it all to myself."

But Mindy Lawton and Jamie Jungers are to be believed, and there's no reason to think not, Tiger Woods is not telling the truth. According to Vanity Fair, and a preview of an article by Mark Seal, Mindy Lawton says that when the National Enquirer approached her regarding her affair (an event mentioned last December in this space), Tiger Woods directed Lawton to call his agent IMG's Mark Steinberg who said "We'll take care of it."

Jamie Jungers told Vanity Fair that she would schedule meetup with Tiger Woods through Byron Bell, Woods, childhood friend and the President of Tiger Woods Design.

Beyond that, what Mark Seal writes is essentially a rehash of a lot of information about Tiger woods mistresses that appeared in blogs, like Zennie62. The info on Tiger Woods gambling habits has been mentioned before, but in a whisper.

What Vanity Fair's Seal does is take all of the history - well, most of it - and put it into one complete article. The revelation that Tiger Woods' agent and managers were essentially involved in the maintenance of his affairs is new and damaging.

Can't help but wonder what Tiger Woods Wife Elin Nordegren thinks of all of this.

Ricky Martin coming out as gay: 6 stages for understanding the emotional process

After years of fighting off rumors about his sexuality, Latin singer Ricky Martin has finally just posted the following message on his official Web site, coming out and telling the world he is gay.

"Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment. These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed ... I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am," he wrote.

Coming out as gay, lesbian bisexual or transgendered is a process that for many, is experienced in stages of change. While there are different models and theories about coming out, the six-step process (The Model of Homosexuality Identity Formation) was created by psychological theorist Vivienne Cass in 1979 and is still an accepted model for understanding the experience. While many will not experience these steps in a linear course, the following steps capture essential components of the coming out process. These steps are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and can be experienced simultaneously. For example other theorists have said that it is not uncommon for people go back and forth in their sexual identity development.

Step One: Identity Confusion
"Who am I?" is the major question in this step. People in this stage of the coming out process start to notice their attraction to same-sex people and really question what it means. Am I gay? Am I a lesbian? Am I transgendered? Am I bisexual? Within this stage there may be a denial of inner feelings as a person continues to see themselves as a member of the mainstream, heterosexual population. Some may consider their behaviors as ‘just experimenting’. Some people in this stage might keep emotional involvement separate from their sexual activity; others may choose to have deeply emotional relationships that are non-sexual.

Step Two: Identity Comparison
At this stage, a person may try to find an explanation for why they are having the feelings they are experiencing. "Maybe I am gay. Or maybe I'm bisexual." Feelings of isolation & alienation are common in this stage. A person might wonder "Is this a phase?" "Am I only attracted to this one same sex person, or is this going to be a permanent trend?"

Step Three: Identity Tolerance
In this stage, a person might begin to accept identifying as gay, lesbian or transgendered or bisexual. Some might come to terms with some parts of being gay, but not fully embrace it. For example, one might accept participating in sexual activity with a woman and consider it okay, but may not be ready to identity as lesbian or bisexual in public, leading a ‘double life.’ Or a man may come to accept that he has fallen in love with another man, but considers this an isolated situation. At this stage, it is common for people to seek out a gay/lesbian/bi-sexual community or social group as a way to explore or experience identifying with other people of the same sexual orientation as a means for support.

Step Four: Identity Acceptance
In this stage a person has begun to accept, rather than just tolerate their sexual identity. People often begin forming friendships with other gay, lesbian, transgendered or bisexual people. Many begin to realize that being lesbian or bisexual is acceptable, and that their life can and will be happy and fulfilling. At this stage, it is common to begin coming out to a few trusted individuals.

Step Five: Identity Pride
People who are in this stage feel a sense of pride of their sexual orientation, and feel comfortable interacting in gay communities. They start coming out to others in their lives, by making their sexual orientation publicly known. It’s also common for people to feel angry and resentful about the lack of legal and social rights that gay and lesbian people experience. Some people may get involved in gay and lesbian activism. Others may feel the need to isolate.

Step Six: Identity Synthesis
In this stage, a person’s sexual orientation is integrated into their whole identity. For many, this includes a holistic view of the self and people often feel equally comfortable in straight and gay, lesbian, transgendered or bi-sexual environments.



This article was composed by Dr. Christina Villarreal, Clinical Psychologist in Oakland, CA