Lawrence Taylor arrested: was Taylor set-up?

A 16-year-old runaway girl who was forced into prostitution and her pimp, a a 36-year-old parolee named Rasheed Davis, have claimed that NFL Legend and Dancing with The Stars star Lawrence Taylor raped and assaulted the girl in a suburban Suffern, NY hotel room.

It's sad news for a man who this blogger had just seen at the 2010 NFL Draft, when NFL Legend and 49ers Wide Receiver Jerry Rice joked to me that he'd "better go because LT is coming." LT wizzed by announcing that his golf game was "just fine."

That was two weeks ago.

Now, Lawrence Taylor isn't acting like he's in Dancing with The Stars or on the golf course; he's playing defense again. Defending himself in what reads to be a fishy story.

Reportedly, Taylor paid $300 to be with the girl Wednesday night. In turn, she was staying with Rasheed Davis, who was sending her out for paid sex. Prostitution. The girl reportedly said that she was beat up by Davis and then made to go to Taylor's hotel against her will.

On CNN's Larry King Live, Lawrence Taylor's wife planned to appear to publicly express her support for him. But, perhaps because she was advised not to do so, she cancelled almost at the last minute.

Through his lawyer, Lawrence Taylor claims he never had sex with the girl or "anyone" or assaulted her. He's vigorously fighting the charge. The best word for L.T. is if he's able to say he never even saw the girl or called a prostitute. He hasn't said that, which is a flag for concern.

Bail was set at $75,000. L.T. paid the bail and walked free today.

It just shows that anyone who has a name has to be careful who they keep in their orbit. The main question is did Taylor know or have any contact with these people at his hotel? I hope for his sake, he didn't. His lawyer says the case will be dismissed. I hope so.

It's OK to be a snob. There are people out there who are so screwed up they live for the downfall of others and that could have been what Rasheed Davis was trying to do - extort Taylor.

Rasheed Davis is in jail now, booked for being a pimp and for assault. The girl ran away from home and allowed herself to be in the company of Davis, a very bad man.

Stay tuned.

Jamarcus Russell: Oakland Raiders release poorly coached quarterback

JaMarcus Rusell

The Jamarcus Russell era may be over before it started. The Oakland Raiders released the poorly-coached young quarterback today, saving $6.45 million in base salary, making it easier to afford the $4.5 million hit from signing Jason Campbell away from the Washington Redskins.

But in releasing Russell, the Raiders gave up on what some are calling the biggest draft bust in history. That tag, however, is very unintelligent because Russell just came to the league in 2007. Let's look back.

In 2007, the Raiders Drafted Jamarcus Russell and before they selected him there was a big splash about his size and talent. The choice for the Oakland Raiders was between Russell and then-Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn, who's stock had risen after a very good performance at the NFL Combine. At the 2007 NFL Draft Luncheon at Chelsea Piers, Russell said he'd heard "nothing" from the Raiders. The word around the NFL Draft was that the Raiders were set to take Quinn.

To everyone's surprise, the Raiders took JaMarcus Russell. I felt then and now that Russell was the better choice. JaMarcus has the rare combination of size and speed. He's the best talent to run a short passing game designed around his abilities.

Note, short passing game.

The Raiders under Lane Kiffin inserted Russell into an offense not designed for him and at that incredibly inept in it's function. On one particularly memorable play, the Kiffin-led Raiders asked Russell to call a weakside bootleg out of I-Formation against the Denver Broncos and while the Broncos had an obvious blitz called to that weakside.

Russell was slammed to the turf, and walked off the field with a "why did you do that to me?" look. The Offensive Coordinator? Greg Knapp.

Then the Raiders fired Lane Kiffin in a series of exchanges worthy of a TV movie, and Al Davis asked Tom Cable to take over and took Knapp's play calling duties away from him. Then in 2009, Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett were brought in to be Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback Coach, respectively. But the Raiders, impatient with JaMarcus Russell, adopted the habit of pulling him from games in favor of Bruce Gradkowski, who faired only slightly better than Russell.

Then, this year, the Raiders hired Hue Jackson and brought in Jason Campbell. But with that, Russell was still participating in minicamps before being released, which means the action may very well be a cost-cutting move and not an effort to get rid of Russell.

But that does not cloud the fact that JaMarcus Russell has been the victim of poor and inconsistent coaching. Poor in the lack of a system of thinking about the passing game and a way of coaching it. Inconsistent because four men in three years have been responsible for the Raiders passing game, rather than just one, and if you count the head coaches, that's six men in three years. That's an outrage.

Yes, we've all heard the stories about Russell's alleged lack of interest in the game. People have called him lazy. And after blog post after blog post, even this space was fed up with what was coming out about J-Russ and his love for his "bling" and lashed out.

I got after Russell about being too caught up in earrings and minks; now I'm getting after the Oakland Raiders Organization for being just plain inept in how it handled Russell. This is what the Raiders should have done:

1) Sat down and on a clean sheet of paper developed a whole new offense specifically designed for Russell, then expanded that system. If I had done it, this is how that offense would have looked:

A) Philosophy - It's important to have an overarching idea of why we do, what we do. In this case, our view is that we use the offense to stretch the defense in such a way as to create holes to both run through and pass into. We will emphasize three, four and five-receiver sets, shifts and motion. We will use the pass to set up the run, not the other way around.

B) Formation Design - We will employ the most unusual sets ever in football: receiver clusters, "assymetric" formations where four receivers are on one side of the ball, and standard formations but with receiver in the backfield. We will use the shotgun most of the time.

C) Play Design - We will employ the "timed" way of passing that was developed by the late coach Bill Walsh, where steps, footwork and ball placement are at the center of how we teach the passing game. Our offense will consist of both running and passing plays out of the shotgun, but we will use standard formations more often in the red zone. 

The play calling language will be based on the standard terms used in the Bill Walsh / West Coast Offense, but using the passing number concept because it's easy to remember. Formations will be called by color names: red and green being the standard split back set; black and white being the standard shotgun sets. Running back hole numbers will be left is odd, right is even.

D) Passing Game design - The passing system will have up to three receivers in order of first, second, and third. Most of the time the receiver patterns will be grouped in a way such that the quarterback only has to read one side of the field, and not the whole field. Often, the primary receiver will run a deep pattern and the second receiver will be the one that goes behind or is caused to be open by the deep receiver. Many of our plays will be quick passes: one-step or three-steps if the quarterback is under center 

We will employ play-action off receiver reverses and that will be a primary part of our offense. The quarterback will run roll-out, sprint, and bootleg passes in addition to drop back passes.

Our intent is to design plays where the receiver is obviously open. This will call for a large number of plays of very unusual design, some will say we're a "trick play team" - so be it. We will not use the Wildcat, because it's not a logical part of our philosophy, but we will not rule out developing something that may look like it, but be more in tune with our passing-oriented system. Translation: receivers and running backs will throw.

E) Running Game Design - The running backs will be used to exploit holes created by our formations, shifts and motion.  We're not a "smash mouth" team; we emphasize speed in our running attack.  Quick pitches (seldom seen in the NFL), off-tackle runs, dives to take advantage of defenses where there's no middle linebacker, reverses using receivers, quarterback runs, and draw plays will be our standards. 

F) Performance Expectations - Our objective is to complete 65 percent of our passes, throw for 350 to 450 yards a game, and rush 20 times for 120 yards.  But we will use the pass to control the clock and lengthen the game if we're behind. We will expect but not allow or coach for one interception a game and actually have an offensive and defensive contingency plan for the turnover. We will work to score at minimum 24 points a game.

I could have written more and expanded this into a book, but you can see where I'm headed. What I described is a full offensive system. You know why we're doing what we're doing and what we're trying to accomplish on offense.

I'll bet the Oakland Raiders have had nothing like this. If they did, JaMarcus Russell would have been a more engaged and more successful quarterback. No one would be calling him an NFL Draft bust.

Stay tuned.

The mayor won't cut NYPD post by Suzannah B. Troy

The mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg, a man  many consider the developer's mayor, not the peoples', has come to his senses, in the dollar and sense nightmare of an economic meltdown and massive lay-offs and cuts to come and the NYPD are no longer on the chopping block.

Could you imagine if there was an APP on your phone to report suspicious packages, vehicles, etc. like the MTA ad campaign that the hero t-shirt vendor, Viet Nam Vet, Lance Orton actually quoted and followed to the T.  It would be faster than 911 and you can send photos or in the case of the car parked in time square even run you phone over the registration code in the window like traffic ticketing police do.  There is an APP for everything on state of the art phones these days, why not one for fighting terror attacks? 

That is good to hear but the bottom line is the NYPD is the smallest it has ever been in NYC's history policing the largest NYC population ever so we don't need cuts but we also need more NYPD and high tech equipment with the tech- training to accompany preventing further terrorist attacks here in NYC.

Last night Notify NYC, the text messaging program I signed up for reported, "Due to police activity the RFK/Tri-Boro Bridge is closed in both directions.  This morning I read in The New York Daily News that the police where investigating an abandoned u-haul.  Drivers reported seeing a man flee.  The Bomb Squad responded and X-rayed the u-haul and it was empty.

The NY Daily News has more background information on the Time Square Bomber and like the WTC bombers he had his share of disappointments and anger over U.S. policies in the middle east but as I recall the bombers that carried out suicide missions were upper middle to wealthy and had problems with women and spent their last night in a strip club.  Shahzad the Time Square Bomber never intended to blow himself up and it is clear he did not come from poverty but also comfort.  He is married and has a young daughter and The Daily News says they are possible in protective custody.

Everyone this time around is safe but this was a wake-up call and it is clear NYC needs more funding from Washington, D.C. if we are going to continue to try and stop attacks here in NYC.  Here is my YouTube I made yesterday The Time Square Bomber Sings & New York holds up tin cup to The White House for Federal Funding. 

'Los Suns' Cinco de Mayo protest a great idea

The NBA's Phoenix Suns, as sick to death of Arizona's racist illegal immigration law as the rest of us are (and anyone can make a rigged poll), have elected to take matters into their own hands and where a special jersey for tonights NBA Playoff Game against The San Antonio Spurs on Cinco de Mayo.

The jersey reads 'Los Suns' and is an obvious hat-tip to the plight of Phoenix Latino Community, which has to suffer with being singled out as a whole for the actions of a few, not to mention America's obvious love for Hot Irish Waitresses and Swedish Au-Pair Girls with expired VISAs.

Phoenix is a majority-minority city, with 41 percent of its population playing host to the same ethnic minority Arizona's racist illegal immigration law was really designed to target. It's not just a socially responsible act, but good business for the Phoenix Suns to take a stand against a racist law that hurts the people of its community.

Racist. A term that's thrown around a lot, and because some people use it in a weird attempt to stop others from pointing out racism. For example, the idea that a person's racist for recognizing a racist act or action. That's purely stupid, but it's the latest trick used by people who don't want to be forced to be introspective and realize that, even if it wasn't intentional, the act served to reject or cause a person to feel rejected because of the color of their skin, white, black or anything in between. That's racism.

Arizona' immigration law makes brown-skinned people feel rejected.

The Phoenix Suns are taking a grand stand to let Latino's know that they're not being rejected. Bravo. It's a move that shows what private business can do to turn this country in the right direction.

Oakland Local Gentrifying the web is the silliest idea

This isn't something that calls for the amount of time that Oakland Local's given to it, but there's someone in Oakland who has this silly idea that Oakland Local's going to "gentrify" the web. The idea is that Oakland Local will take traffic away from his website.

Well, there's one answer: make a better site.

The web is a wide open space. Not that there's room for everyone, but there's a lot of room. If the person who's concerned about losing traffic wants to have more of it, all they have to do is learn Search Engine Optimization.

And if they're concerned about Oakland Local, study how the site is designed and go from there.

But calling Oakland Local a name or saying that it's going to "gentrify" the World Wide Web is just plain silly.

Not something to Rock The Casbah about.

Faisal Shahzad: Times Square bomb suspect just an upset American

Faisal Shahzad: pissed off

It's funny how race-based thinking can cloud the view of people. In the case of Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square Bomb Suspect, his Pakistani origin and rumored but not confirmed story of going to Pakistan to learn bomb-making are perfect smoke-screens to cause any racist to go hunting for accomplices from Pakistan.

Who Faisal Shahzad really is can be summed up in one sentence: Faisal Shahzad is an unemployed, pissed off husband and father of two kids who's over $200,000 in debt and lost his home.

I realized this while watching CNN's complete account of Faisal Shahzad and feeling sorry for the other Faisal Shahzads who are on Facebook and who's photos were probably used by some overzealous media type looking to identify Faisal "ASAP." This whole thing was summed up when Anderson Cooper reported that Faisal Shahzad was laid off from his job and lost his house. Shahzad owned $200,000 on the home; so he and his family were kicked out of it.

That's the story, folks. It's not some Islamic terrorist group. It's not Osama Bin Laden. It's not even Shake-Your-Money, though Faisal Shahzad wished he had some money to shake. Shahzad wanted to just blow something up because his life was being blown up.

Somewhere along the way the stress of not being able to provide for his family just plain got to him. So, like Joseph Stack, who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS Building after a pattern of economic failures, job losses, and perceived overtaxation, Faisal Shazad just got fed up. He said he expected to be caught. He left a lot of clues. He's not a terrorist. He's a disgruntled American citizen.

So those of you who are frankly getting off on the idea that Faisal Shahzad is a terrorist who "abandoned his house" and is connected to some group are behaving in as psychotic a way as Faisal was before he realized he screwed up. The FBI needs to take off the racist blinders, stop trying to make connections that don't exist, and see the problem that's right in its face.

If Faisal Shazad had a job and was able to maintain his home and provide for his family, there would have been no Times Square bomb to talk about. Eventually, the FBI, you, and the rest of America will wake up and realize that I'm right about this guy.

Stay tuned.

Times Square Bomber sings post by Suzannah B. Troy

The Time Square bomber Faisal Shahzad is being cooperative with investigators and is a treasure trove of information as was the trail he left.  

There are many questions that of course leave New Yorkers wondering for instance how did he buy a one way ticket in cash and even get on an airplane to Dubai let alone anywhere else.  Remember Sept. 11, the 2nd terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan?  Apparently the person who took his money did not remember Sept. 11 or to check the no fly list which supposedly his name had been entered on that morning.  When someone purchases a one way ticket  to Dubai no less it is certainly a red light...yes? It was also reported he had a gun in his car parked in the lot of the airport.  How did he purchase that gun?

I am an artist and I consider my life performance art.  I am an emotional nudist.  I let it all hang out and usually like a stand up comic.  Example: When mayor Mike Bloomberg says "progress" he means get the moving van!  When I read The New York Times front page article on the trail Faisal Shahzad left, I could not help feeling alarmed as in "TMI"...TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!!  I am glad the powers that be held back just a little but does the press really need access to almost all inside information to share with us and the terrorists reading these articles?

In the meantime New York City apparently is the hot spot for terror attacks and wannabe terrorists eager to make a name for themselves like a serial killers on a bigger scale but we, NYC,  can't seem to get the support of The White House for the Federal funding that we have more than proven with how many thousands of people mass murdered, destruction of Lower Manhattan yet to be rebuilt  and I will leave out the economy because here in NYC, I blame that collapse of our economy on the greed, stupidity and arrogance of Wall Street and the mayor's reckless equally arrogant, greedy, reckless tsunami of community crushing development along with some of the greediest, arrogant self serving politicians that are suppose to be representing the people of New York rather than their self serving agendas and egos.

One example currently in play is the fact Albany has still not balanced the budget which was suppose to be done April 1.  The accusations that Pedro Espada has stolen $14 million dollars of tax payer money, and the successfully prosecution of one city council member Miguel Martinez, Larry Seabrook's senior staff and Kendall Stewar's  for stealing tax payer and on going investigation in to some city council members that I am praying will bring high profile arrests at City Hall.  I can't blame the terrorist for the bad economy -- that is self-inflicted.

The Time Square bomber is singing and that is good but The White House has to wake up and give NYC, the number one hot spot, the support we need.

Miley Cyrus Can't Be Tamed video out

Miley Cyrus' Can't Be Tamed video is out and this blogger likes it. Frankly, this is a new sound for Miley Cyrus and when an artists takes a new direction it's always at considerable risk.  This corner didn't think she could pull it off.  

So wrong. So very wrong.

Can't Be Tamed isn't a new or daring sound and it's very much like Britney Spears' works of the mid first decade of the 21st Century. But the sound is new for Miley and the lyrics sound more like a proclamation of adulthood for the teen pop star.

Plus, Can't Be Tamed is ripe for remixing by D.J.s. Just wait a view days and watch for the variations to pop up around the Internet and then in night clubs around the World.



If Miley Cyrus is true to the song, she plans to go through guys like money through her hands. If I didn't know better, I'd swear Cyrus commissioned Paris Hilton and Britney Spears - who went through their own wild period, to write Can't Be Tamed.

Can't Be Tamed: a new direction, and a new hit for Cyrus.   Ryan Seacrest interviewed Cyrus; we'll look at that soon.

Rock the Casbah.

A Taser Gun to Morganna The Kissing Bandit? No way!

In 1969, on a dare, Morganna Roberts jumped over a fence and went out to plant a kiss on the mouth of then-Cincinnati Reds Third Baseman Pete Rose.

Morganna, then dubbed "Morganna The Kissing Bandit," continued to jump onto Major League Baseball fields and kiss unsuspecting baseball players.

Morganna The Kissing Bandit was never tasered or tackled and went on to fame, starring in shows like To Tell The Truth in 1978:



In that contest, I can't see the logic in law enforcement officials tasering a 17-year-old boy. I listened to the really ridiculous argument offered by ESPN's Skip Bayless this morning and howled. Bayless went on a rant about how "this 17-year-old boy" could have been a dangerous person and about how there are rules that must be followed. Bayless bellowed that he was happy the boy was hit with a taser; I'd love to see Bayless support that idea if it happened to him.

This is the scene at the Phillies game:



Bayless would not have supported the tasing of Morganna The Kissing Bandit, and if he did there would have to be something wrong with him. The horrible bottom line is law enforcement all too often saves its most violent reactions for men. It's as if because the person's 17 and a boy it's OK to harm him. It's not OK. It's wrong.

Using the "Morganna The Kissing Bandit" test, I argue the action was excessive force done by a member of a society, ours, that's become neurotic at a level that can only be called psychotic.

Suppose that kid has a heart condition? The taser could have triggered a heart attack leading to an on-the-field death. The action was a pure example of aggression and stupidity. What to do? Well, catch him. It's not his fault the security people are out of shape. A little running around's good for them.

But a taser was not the answer. They wouldn't do it to Morganna The Kissing Bandit so they should not do it to him.

Stay tuned.

Academy (AMPAS) News: Ray Harryhausen celebrated May 14th

The AMPAS Building

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AMPAS) is celebrating the great career of Ray Harryhausen.

Ray's a legendary special effects pioneer known for creating and advancing the technique of "stop-motion" live-action animation called "Dynamation" and used in It Came from beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), One Million Years B.C. (1966) and the original Clash of the Titans (1981).

This tribute to the 1981 Clash of The Titans is also a good compilation of the films's special effects (watch for the annotation "I never saw Venice!"):



AMPAS summer exhibition "The Fantastical Worlds of Ray Harryhausen," is opening to the public on Friday, May 14, 10 a.m. in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Admission is free.

Additionally, the Gallery will have "Chuck Jones: An Animator’s Life From A to Z-Z-Z-Z."

The exhibition will feature iconic characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Wile E. Coyote and many others that were created or developed by Oscar-winning animator and humorist Chuck Jones (1912 - 2002).

For more information call AMPAS at 310-247-3600 or visit http://www.oscars.org.

Waste Management v. Recology in SF: Livermore's hypocrisy

The battle between Waste Management and Recology for garbage supremacy in San Francisco has an interesting twist. To recap, Houston-based Waste Management has owned the contractual right to collect San Francisco's waste and dump it in a place called the Altamont Landfill, which is located in Livermore, California. NorCal Waste, now called "Recology,' has been the company that collects garbage in San Francisco, then hands it over to Waste Management for storage in Livermore.

But Recology wanted to have the piece of the business Waste Management held for years. To that end, the upstart San Francisco-based firm submitted a bid for the contract this year, and to the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, and to the surprise of many, beat Waste Management. So it's all over, and Recology gets to work, right. No.

Both Recology and the San Francisco Commission on the Environment unknowningly swatted a giant bat at a hornet's nest of interlocking interests connecting Waste Management, The Sierra Club, and The City of Livermore. It works like this, basically: Waste Management is paid to dump at the Livermore Altamont Landfill; the City of Livermore and The Sierra Club, which helped set up a land-protection and garbage cap agreement 11 years ago, get millions of dollars from the dumping activity.

Because Recology wants to take the garbage to another location and not Altamont Pass, Livermore, The Sierra Club, and Waste Management have all cried foul and asserted that the more expensive Waste Management proposal used more state of the art trucks, among the other claims. But the real issue is all three entities would stand to lose millions.

But if that's the case, and it is, why in 1999 did Livermore fight against the very same Altamont Pass waste dump that it now is trying to defend? That's right, defend. This letter below (sent to this blogger by an activist who did not wish to be named) is from Livermore's Mayor Marsnall Kamena.

The letter brags about Livermore's roll as "host community to more than one landfill." And it outlines a number of reasons why Recology should not have the dumping contract. But it does not mention that for Livermore, it's a revenue issue, and it does not explain that Livermore itself doesn't even use the same dump it's advocating that San Francisco use.

Here's the letter:

Livermore, CA Mayor wants SF's waste

What's strange is that in 1999, the City of Livermore fought vigorously to control the size and level of dumping at Altamont Pass. The Sierra Club was a party in a lawsuit to block expansion of use of the site, but the Sierra Club carved a nice revenue source for itself in the process. The Altamont Landfill Open Space Fund has earned over $10 million since 1999. That money is based on a charge of 75 cents per ton. If San Francisco's waste goes way, the fund revenue is reduced.

But the point is, San Francisco's waste going elsewhere would seem to be what the City of Livermore wants. After all, even Livermore dumps its own trash somewhere else.

That's right. According to the City of Livermore's website, it uses the Republic Services Landfill, and not the Altamont Pass.

so what's this Waste Management v. Recology in SF tussle all about: money. All of the Waste Management and Sierra Clubs parties are concerned about losing money, and not saving the environment, especially The City of Livermore.

United Continental Merger: United kills its American-hip brand

United's Saul Bass American Hip brand..

This blogger has flown on United Airlines since the age of four. For four decades of my life United Airlines has carefully crafted a brand identity that can be called "American-hip." United Airlines planes always had some variation of the colors red, white, and blue. But with the merger with Continental Airlines, United Airlines killed that brand and replaced it with the Continental brand - one that reads boringly efficient.

United's brand was marked by the creation of the famous "From here to there U" logo that came to dominate aviation and gave the "Friendly Skies" an unmistakably futuristic yet warm look and feel. In one literal fell-swoop Bass transformed United from also-ran to trend-setter. Suddenly, United was cool and my Mother, who was an excellent reservation sales agent, and her friends were at the center of a really American, hip corporation.

United has been a cool carrier, even as it started running those really small planes to Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Washington, and Denver:



Meanwhile, Continental Airlines was, well, Continental Airlines. It had and has a design that says nothing about the company as providing an experience you want to be a part of. It's brand says "We will get you from points A to B." It also said "We're not the biggest, the best, or the hippest. We're just here."

That's it.

...Killed for this? 

Regardless of the reasons, that United Airlines elected to kill its brand and slap its name on the Continental Airlines brand is upsetting. It sends a signal that while United Airlines may have merged with Continental, Continental, not United, got the better of the deal.

United Airlines as I knew it is dead. An American Icon killed by corporate efficiency in the credit crunch age.

 Saul Bass must be boiling in Heaven to see his glorious creation that's lasted since 1974 replaced by a stick-figure sideways globe that reads "We will get you from points A to B and bore you to death in the process."

This isn't rocking the Casbah.