Utah Earthquake pushes number of 2010 large quakes to 27

The 4.9 Richter Scale Utah Earthquake that hit Thursday night is the largest in that state in 75 years according to The Vancouver Sun, and pushes the number of large earthquakes to 27 for 2010 and on page to continue to the 92 significant earthquakes (quakes over 4 on the Richter Scale) projected for this year by this blogger.

That is a record pace.

The Utah Earthquake hit at 5:59:38 PM according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was centered five miles from and a mile below Randolph, UT, and 77 miles from Salt Lake City. The "light" earthquake didn't cause much damage or injuries and the Salt Lake Tribune reports it as if it's no big deal.

In fact, the Salt Lake Tribune goes on to report a gross inaccuracy:

The six major earthquakes occurring in the first four months of 2010 puts they year within normal range. There were 18 major quakes from April 15, 2009, to April 14, 2010, which is a number scientists say is within expectations.

That's wrong, and this space wonders if the Salt Lake Tribune is afraid to report the truth. The fact is over that period of time there were 80 large earthquakes, not 18, major quakes using the 2009 and 2010 information to date, and that's using USGS data available from its website.

The Salt Lake Tribune should stop playing games with the facts and report the information as the USGS presents it: a large quake is over 4 on the Richter Scale. The Salt Lake Tribune just mentions "large quakes" but does not define what they are.

The USGS earthquake numbers point to a problem, at least for anyone willing to look at them.

Stay tuned.

Waste Management v. Recology in SF a battle with national implications

Waste Management is angry

Waste Management v. Recology for the right to dump San Francisco waste is a battle with national implications. Why? It essentially pits one giant garbage firm, Waste Management, against it's much smaller competitor Recology and may pave the way for other local firms to have more success in competing against national organizations in the waste business. Waste Management is 43,400 employees in size; Recology, formerly NorCal Waste Systems, has 2,100.

This blogger normally doesn't pay much attention to local trash, preferring the national celebrity brand, but a political battle between two established companies, and the fact that a lot of people from various sides have talked about it without any provocation, caused this space to wade into an argument such that regardless of what is stated, and how reasonable it may be, the other side - or some other side - is bound to be pissed off.

But the reason for the attention from this space was a March 30,2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian (SFBG) article that claimed Waste Management was "Oakland-based"; an online check revealed Waste Management was not Oakland-based but headquartered (another word for "based") in Houston, Texas at 1001 Fannin St.,Ste. 4000.

What giant Waste Management has is an Oakland office, but that's to have a local political face to help land SF Bay Area work. It's just smart business, but Waste Management is not based in Oakland.

Nothing against the media legend that is Bruce Brugmann at all, but the SFBG really went to town in attacking one side against the other. The SFBG made Waste Management look like a local, environmentally-concerned organization, against, well, Recology.

What happened was that Recology tentatively won a contract with the City and County of San Francisco to haul San Francisco's unrecycled trash by train to its Ostrum Road Landfill in Yuba County, starting in 2015, according to Kevin Fagan of The San Francisco Chronicle. The organization they beat for this right by vote of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment was Waste Management, which currently takes the San Francisco trash to Livermore's Altamont landfill area that it owns. Recology has an alternative proposal that takes the trash to Yuba County.

What's interesting is the SFBG went through the scoring for the proposals submitted and nitpicked what scores Recology was given and claimed the process seemed to have some "subjectivity." Any judgement by any government committee is generally subjective, save for one part: cost. Recology's proposal was less expensive than that from Waste Management.

The San Francisco Commission on the Environment made a daring decision: to go with the less expensive Recology proposal. Daring, because the San Francisco Commission on the Environment screwed with a huge value chain of interests, from Waste Management's Altamont landfill to the City of Livermore and the County of Alameda, which make money from it, to The Sierra Club, who has a monetary grant-making interest in the revenue generated from the Altamont Landfill.

Now here comes Recology to screw it all up. In doing so, the attacks on Recology reveal an environmental industrial complex active in Northern California and that seems to block out new organizations from working within it. Recology was fortunate in that it already has a hand in the collection of the garbage in San Francisco, but believes it can do a better job by establishing a fully controlled and more cost effective transport system than what exists by Recology's working with Waste Management.

Recology issued the more cost effective proposal and a brave San Francisco Commission on the Environment picked them. In short, it gave a really local firm a chance to grow rather than be hampered by the environmental industrial complex. Waste Management is not a true local firm; the attempts to make it look as if it is are unfortunate. If Recology can do a better job, and the San Francisco Commission on the Environment thinks it can, give the San Francisco firm a chance.

Of course, it's not that easy; here comes the defenders of the San Francisco environmental industrial complex, here them roar, and all to protect their money.

Stay tuned.

NFL Draft: Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner, blasts Tim Tebow, Bill Parcells

This from the "you should always know a cell phone camcorder's around if you're a celebrity" file. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was caught on camcorder issuing a drunken blast about Tim Tebow just days before the 2010 NFL Draft.

The video above shows Jerry Jones in a rant at some party or bar that involved drinking; Jones ranted on about now-former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach and Miami Dolphins President Bill Parcells and Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow. Someone with a cell phone camcorder caught Jones talking and talking.

The video is hard to hear, so this blogger will turn to the ESPN interpretation: Jones said this:

"Bill's not worth a [expletive]," the video shows Jones saying. After some conversation with an unidentified man off-camera, the video continues with Jones saying, "... to get this [expletive] stadium, I need to bring his [butt] in."

In the video, Jones also said, and ESPN did not report, that Tim Tebow "couldn't get on the field" and said other disparaging remarks about Tebow after someone asked him why a team like Jacksonville (rumored to be interested in Tebow in the 2010 NFL Draft) would draft him, if only to sell t-shirts.

Clearly Jerry Jones should have known better. He's a public figure. To say that he was in a bar, or any other place, does not matter. This would have never happen under the Cowboys of then-owner Clint Murchison and Head Coach Tom Landry.

But it also may reveal how some NFL owners really feel about Tim Tebow.

Stay tuned.

IRS tax day freebies 2010 at Starbucks, Cinnabon; help the homeless

Today is April 15th, IRS Tax Day. That day where people get their last files together to make a list of fiscal expenditures and get their tax report in to the government before midnight.

While today may be a day of dread, fear not, for it's also a time of IRS tax day freebies 2010. Now the trouble is while this is a national trend, not enough retailers or eateries are actually sending out press releases announcing a marketing effort. If this blogger were in the restaurant business, everyone would get a free drink if they purchased a meal and could prove they just filed their taxes.

Now there is one company that seems to get "IRS tax day freebies 2010:" Starbucks. If you bring in a reusable mug on April 15th, or today, you get a free brewed coffee according to their website. Cinnabon, who makes those great, big cinnamon rolls with the thick frosting on top, is also part of IRS tax day freebies 2010.

Between 6 PM and 8 PM at Cinnabon, you can get two free cupcake bites to, as the website reports, "make it less taxing." But if you do this, I personally ask that you give your free cupcake bites to someone who needs food. It's personally sad to see people sitting or begging and know that retailers have these freebees that someone homeless generally doesn't know about.

So if you see someone near by, think about them.

Stay tuned.

iPhone app and Twitter for Small Luxury Hotels of The World

See: small luxury hotels, luxury hotels of the world, iphone app hotels, twitter small luxury hotels

If you think that hotels don't get tech and social networks and aren't willing to try, think again. Small Luxury Hotels of The World, a collection of over 500 hotels in 70 countries has both a Twitter page @SLHLuxuryHotels and an iPhone app. But if you're wondering just what a "Small Luxury Hotel of The World" looks like, here's one in my 2007 video of my trip to New York City to appear as a guest on CNN's Roland Martin Debate This Show:



That hotel at 1:24 is called the Jumeirah Essex House and it's next to Central Park and just a few blocks from CNN's New York studios in The Time Warner Center. It was the first seven-star hotel this blogger ever stayed in, thanks to CNN.

It's not hard to understand why Small Luxury Hotels of The World like the Jumeirah Essex House are so popular, and why a Twitter page and an iPhone app (no blogs or other social network systems so far) are so helpful to the fans of the hotel brand.

While the Twitter page only has 1,259 followers, it has more followers than @SLHLuxuryHotels is following, which is a healthy follower to followed ratio for future growth. Where @SLHLuxuryHotels can grow is by tweeting about subjects beyond the realm of the hotel, thus picking up more Twitter followers. Still, the Twitter use and the frequency of tweets is a great start.

The Small Luxury Hotels of The World iPhone app is both cool and useful and its free. You can find and call to book a room at any one of the hotels in their system right from your iPhone. Then you can share what you've found with your social network contacts.

CNN introduced me to Small Luxury Hotels of The World like the Jumeirah Essex House before this iPhone app; you can bet that when I buy a Verizon iPhone, the Small Luxury Hotels of The World iPhone app is one of the first I'm going to use.

Stay tuned.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): How exactly does it work?

In a previous article called 15 common cognitive distortions- how our thoughts influence our mental health, I outlined a list of common cognitive distortions. In review, cognitive distortions are irrational thoughts that usually reinforce negative thinking and emotions and often serve to keep us from positive change. With effort and practice, you can reduce or change your irrational thinking style by practicing the exercises below. This article aims to introduce what a cognitive behavioral therapist might cover with you in therapy as way to help you reach your therapy goals.

Identify your style of cognitive distortion(s). Begin by creating a list of your automatic thoughts and examine them for similarities with a list of cognitive distortions, then outline them in a Thought Record. An examination of our cognitive distortions allows us to see which distortions we tend to use most often.

Examine the evidence. A thorough examination of an experience or situation allows us to identify the basis for our distorted thoughts. Are our automatic thoughts 100% true, all of the time? Or can we identify concrete evidence that proves our automatic thoughts are NOT true all of the time? These ‘exceptions to the rule’ are what allow us to begin to refute our irrational thoughts. For example, if you typically struggle with social anxiety, try to identify a number of experiences and situations where you have had less or no social anxiety.

Judge yourself fairly. ‘Self-talk’ can be thought of as the running dialogue we have with ourselves that often comes across as hypercritical and demeaning. Aim to view yourself in the same compassionate and non-judgmental way that you would talk with a good friend in a similar situation. We tend to respond best to encouragement and constructive examination of progress rather than punitive and defeating self-talk.

Think on a continuum. Instead of thinking about your situation or problem on an either-or scale, evaluate things on a continuum, or scale of progress. This will allow you to see yourself in terms other than ‘failure’ or ‘success’. Think about and evaluate any given situation as a partial success in progress, with a series of smaller and larger goals to be achieved over time.

Enlist the support of wise others. Greater perspective and insight can be achieved when we seek the opinions of others regarding whether our thoughts (often in the form of worries and fears) are realistic. When we remain isolated in our view of a given situation or problem, we can lose sight of concrete evidence that refutes our negative thinking.

Labeling. Do we define ourselves with labels such as ‘shy’, ‘incapable’, ‘bad tempered’, or ‘ commitment phobic’? A close examination of the labels we uses for ourselves will likely will reveal that they represent specific behaviors (perhaps that have occurred in patterns), but nonetheless do not accurately capture you as a whole person who is capable of change, growth and maturity.

Refrain from blaming. We often get stuck blaming ourselves or others entirely for the problems and predicaments we experience. While identifying circumstances and individuals that have contributed to your problems or predicament can be helpful in understanding their origins, it can be rob us of our energy to create change. Regardless of the degree of responsibility we assume ourselves or can pin on others, our energy is best utilized in identifying healthy ways of coping and identifying resolutions to problems, rather than remaining fixated on playing the blame game.

Cost-Benefit Analysis. It is helpful to list the advantages and disadvantages of our patterns of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. A cost-benefit analysis will help us to ascertain what we are gaining from holding on to cognitive distortions, negative feelings, and behaviors that perpetuate our current circumstances. For example, we may feel resentful and angry towards a housemate, but refuse to behave in a way that could resolve the matter, because we think they ought to be the one to change. By making a list that outlines what we are gaining by our approach, we may find that it is easier to expect change from another rather than ourselves because it feels less convenient and/or fair.

Respectfully submitted by Dr. Christina Villarreal, Clinical Psychologist in private practice, Oakland, CA

Reference:

Burns, D.D. (1989). The feeling good handbook: Using the new mood therapy in everyday life. New York: William Morrow.

Gary Meyer of SF's Balboa Theater on Playland and Grateful Dead shows

Gary Meyer, who's a long time friend of this blogger, is a busy man. He's co-director of The Telluride Film Festival and the owner and operator of The Balboa Theater in San Francisco. Gary and I met for lunch at Jupiter in Berkeley and talked about the movie industry, but for this blog, we made the video about two shows at The Balboa: Playland and The Grateful Dead. (And for those of you who wonder, we split the lunch tab, and the food, too. I recommend a pizza-salad combination.)

The Balboa Theater is Gary's love and occupation. Located at 3630 Balboa Street in San Francisco, Meyer took it over about six years ago; now the Balboa Theater not only plays first run movies like Iron Man 2 on May 7th, but has a lot of special events, the one's Gary's got coming up are a movie called Remembering Playland At The Beach on April 23rd, and The Greatful Dead: Crimson, White, and Indigo on Monday, April 19th.

On Playland, Gary says, "Everyone was going crazy! (and saying) 'I remember this. I remember that.' at our sneak previews. Playland is a documentary about the old Playland down at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

The other event, The Greatful Dead: Crimson, White, and Indigo, is based on a 1989 concert in St. Louis that has not been seen but Gary's got it on the big screen. And as usual with Gary he will have the filmmakers on hand to meet and greet.

Visit the Balboa Theater and check out their website at Balboamovies.com.

Stay tuned.

AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit: Oakland Public Works Committee backs it

In a unanimous show of support, the City of Oakland's Oakland City Council Public Works Committee voted to support the AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

The Public Works Committee, which consists of Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (District 3 - West Oakland, Downtown), Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large), Desley Brooks (District 6 - Central East Oakland) and Patricia Kernighan (District 2 - Grand Lake, San Antonio)

Rocky Fernandez, President of the AC Transit Board of Directors, said:

"We really need to think big about transporting people around in this area. Not just now, not just tomorrow, but well into the 21st century. This is a project that is highly recommended by the Federal Transit Administration for the benefits it provides to taxpayers and future taxpayers. I want to assure everybody that we definitely are listening to riders and groups within the community about moving forward on this project."

According to AC Transit, the service should be ready in 2013 and "fully implemented" by 2015.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said that, "overall I think this is a great project." That's true.

The AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit project is on its way to the full Oakland City Council. All this blogger asks is for AC Transit to keep the "Epic Beard Man" and that guy he was sparring with, off it.

Stay tuned.

NFL Draft: Brandon Marshall trade has focus on Dez Bryant

The trade of Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins has eye falling on top-rated Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Dez Bryant at the 2010 NFL Draft. But regarding Dez Bryant, this blogger has to get one thing out of the way.

Daniel Wolf of The Bleacher Report wrote: "Obviously, the Dolphins are out of the equation, but what I want to know is will the Broncos take a chance on Bryant, who has rumored character concerns?"

That was not correct and all Daniel Wolf had to do was use Google to find out. Dez Bryant does not have "character concerns", what this near-Brandon Marshall clone has is an involvement with NFL legend Deion Sanders that the NCAA believed violated their rules.

But that's light-years from the common word association with the term "character concerns." Dez Bryant didn't rob a bank or sell drugs. No. What Dez Bryant did was lie about his association with Deion Sanders and not telling the truth is an NCAA no-no. But Dez Bryant did apologize for that, too.

But the near-Brandon Marshall clone not a character problem any more than Brandon Marshall was, or in the way we have been conditioned to think. No sense in re-conditioning the culture now. Any NFL team that passes on Dez Bryant for this issue has a player personnel director who should be fired.

And that's why this corner thinks The Oakland Raiders should take Dez Bryant with their 1st round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. That's far from saying the Raiders will, but consider the Raiders lost Javon Walker, who they released, and with the disappointing start of now-second-year Wide Receiver Darius Heywood-Bey, the Raiders need a true deep threat wide receiver.

Dez Bryant may fall in the NFL Draft, but if he does it will be because of a lackluster pro day performance, not his character. A person can have good character and still have a bad pro day.

Stay tuned.

Brandon Marshall trade from Broncos to Miami Dolphins has Twitter abuzz

See: brandon marshall, miami dolphins, twitter tweets,

That NFL Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall's one of the NFL's most effective pass catchers when he get the ball is not lost on the general public, at least if Twitter is any read. As of this writing, Brandon Marshall is a top trend on Twitter.

The announced trade of Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins for the Dolphine 2nd round pick in the 2010 and 2011 NFL Draft has Twitter tweets claiming the "Fins" got the steal of the year, and some wondering why other NFL teams, like the San Francisco 49ers, didn't try to get Marshall.

NuFlavaent Steal of the year Broncos trade Brandon Marshall to Dolphins for 2010 & 2011 2nd rd picks..
35 minutes ago from UberTwitter

MoesesSoulright RT @streetcredceo: RT @BoxKev: Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins for a 2nd Round Pick??? THATS IT! Come on Niners! You make me wanna cry sometimes
36 minutes ago from UberTwitter

centerofsports Sports Update!!, Scouts Inc.: Marshall just what Fins needed - http://tinyurl.com/y65jjl8
36 minutes ago from WordTwit

But before this mornings news, it seemed Brandon Marshall was off to become a Seattle Seahawk and not a Dolphin. Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll must be thinking this certainly isn't USC, where trades and backdoor deals were not part of the college landscape. Obviously, whatever the Seahawks were offerings, cheap though it may have been, it didn't match what the Miami D Dolphins offered Denver.

Interestingly, The 12th Man Rising blog, reports that Denver wanted one of Seattle's two picks in the 1st round of the 2010 NFL Draft - not happening. But that Denver was willing to part with their star wide receiver says a lot about Denver Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniel's ability to really connect with strong personalities, be it Marshall or Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan. He's got to work on that, or he's going to fail as an NFL head coach.

Stay tuned.

Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens reunited at Washington Redskins?

See: donovan mcnabb, terell owens, washington redskins, philadelphia eagles, stephen a smith

Will Donovan McNabb be reunited with Terrell Owens at the Washington Redskins? Right now, given that at least McNabb is there, having been the focus of a trade from his old home with the Philadelphia Eagles, you can't rule out the idea.  But first, some history.

For those of you who don't know this, Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens played together in  Philadelphia and lead the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Florida (The very same Super Bowl this blogger tried to land for Oakland.), where they lost to The New England Patriots.

The next season, the McNabb / Owens friendship unraveled as a then-less-mature T.O. blamed Eagles losses on McNabb not getting the ball to him and publicly dressed McNabb down during a game that year.  Eventually, and dramatically, T.O. was sent packing.

Since that time McNabb and Owens have made up - but to the extent of being reunited?  That's a good question.

For the present, a McNabb / T.O. pairing exists only in the head of sports writer and media commentator Stephen A. Smith. Smith issued the idea from his Twitter page @stephenasmith via this tweet from Pennsauken NJ 08110 USA:

I'm starting a movement on the Stephen A. Smith Show right now: McNabb and T.O. need to be REUNITED in Washington D.C. Yeah, I said it :-)
about 2 hours ago via web

Given the Redskins need more playmakers on offense, it's a good idea. It would also sell tickets. But practically, the Washington Redskins would certainly have more proven all-pros on their offense if they were to get Terrell Owens. The idea that Terrell's a locker room cancer is overblown, and his pass catching production in Buffalo did not decrease. Overall, this corner thinks it's a good idea.

But this corner also loves polls and this is a great chance to do one! What do you think? Take the poll below:

run your own opinion survey on pollsb.com

Obama and Democrats beat the Tea Party Movement in Florida

See: tea party movement, democrats v republicans, florida special election, palm beach county

As this blogger wrote earlier in the week, the Tea Party Movement is a media creation with little real bite, but who's life is consistently maintained by a drum beat of stories by Fox News and CNN. Neither cable network will tell you when a Democrat beats a Tea Party-assisted candidate, and that's what happened Tuesday night.

But the real story is one that's to be expected: one of demographics. It's not enough to be a Democrat or a Republican, the candidate has to match the people voting for that person. Ted Deutch did; Ed Lynch didn't.

Democrat Ted Deutch soundly beat Republican Ed Lynch in the 19th Congressional District special election in Broward County, Florida. It was Ed Lynch, 44, who ran on the idea that Washington was "broken" and the "Career politicians" couldn't fit it. Moreover, The Tea Party pointed to this election as one to get behind.

The blog Red County blog entry headline on April 11th read "TEA Party Working for Ed Lynch for Congress in Florida's 19th District" and Dr. Richard Swier, the blog author wrote "Tow the conservative line or else may be the message sent if TEA Party favorite Edward Lynch wins this special election."

So what's the message sent now?

The message is that the Tea Party Movement isn't strong enough to turn an unknown Republican candidate in a district that had 65 percent of its voters back Barack Obama for President, and is replacing a very popular democrat in Rep. Robert Wexler.

Moreover, the 19th Congressional District of Florida has a strong Jewish population. According to the Sun Sentinel, Ted Deutch was firmly behind Jewish causes and lives just west of Boca Raton which is part of Palm Beach County and that's 70 percent of the voting base. Ted Deutch is a lawyer; Ed Lynch is a contractor.

Ed Lynch was outspent and outnumbered. 10,000 Tea Party Movement phone calls didn't help. And where was the anger over the Obama Health Care plan? It never showed up. Ed Lynch was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This not just proves that the Tea Party Movement is overblown, but that you have to pay attention to election demographics.

Stay tuned.