The 12-step BP Deepwater Disaster-inspired Program

We can't change overnight, but if the 20th century U.S. reliance on gas-guzzling automobiles remains the pattern for economic growth then money just keeps flowing to big oil companies even faster than the crude oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico today (while BP attempts to put a better cap on the gusher.) They spend nearly incredible amounts of money convincing consumers how "green" they are with slick ad campaigns The reality is hidden, but it's there despite the wizards of Madison Avenue.

So what's to do?

We have to approach it in several ways, because oil-consumption is woven into the very fabric of our daily lives. No single action will solve this, it's too big. It's likely to take longer to fix than it did to create.


First and foremost we have to admit that we have an oil problem.
Next we resolve to restore sanity to our decisions rather than letting massive multi-national corporations continue to exploit our oil habit.
Join those who have to decided to prioritize our decisions on what's best for our planet, family, and neighbors.
To move forward, we have to understand why we rely on oil - we have to consider our past decisions as objectively as possible.
Like any other addict, we must admit we got it wrong - we may have been duped, but we own the decisions we made regardless.
We have to decide to change - we have to be ready to give up these dangerous habits. To do otherwise feeds both the oil pushers and others who haven't yet come to understand just how big the problem really is.
We have to be willing to lead in progressively reducing and surrendering our reliance on oil-fueled existence.
Think of all the people harmed by our cars, trucks, and other petroleum-based self-indulgences such as plastic shopping bags and bottles, and admit that it's not just BP and their peers that should make amends for the problem.
We have to actually make amends, not just think and talk; Boycotts alone won't solve the problem, and we can't wait for BP, Exxon, or governments to fix our demand, which is the real problem, when they can barely figure out how to contain the leaks from a single well.
We can't stop thinking. We have to consider that no matter how big it is, and how we continue to drive up the demand for petroleum, we must consciously act to reduce our own use over the days, months, and decades ahead while working to mitigate and remediate the effects as we find our way forward to new approaches that reflect our need to thrive in balance with the planet.
Deliberately improve our contact with nature. Nobody who has ever fished or been a bird-watcher can fail to be moved by the images from the Gulf; only by insulating ourselves from the environment can we pretend our petroleum consumption might not matter. We have had our heads in the sand so long even it has become oil-soaked.
Lastly, we must spread the word to practice this awareness and perspective to others, as Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) did in his commentary on the the BP oil spill and the need for transportation reform at dc.streetsblog.org - it's a start.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer on the Madore For Congress campaign, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. He drives an efficient flex-fuel vehicle and scoffs at plastic grocery bags.

Oscar Grant verdict, Oakland riot: Oriana Bolden video is key

Today, Oriana Bolden, someone not known to this space, sent a video she created in downtown Oakland on Thursday that gives a very comprehensive view of the reactions of the crowd after the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle verdict, and the events leading up to the Oakland riot.

It opens with comments from some of the mass of people that gathered at Oakland City Hall Plaza. I was there, but was struck by the number of personal media members there. About one-fifth of the crowd had video cameras of some kind. We also see a silent Councilmember Nancy Nadel as the camera pans through the crowd.

Here's the video:


Reaction to Mehserle Verdict: Oakland, CA: 8 July 2010 from Oriana Bolden on Vimeo.

The video has some shocking events, foremost being how a deaf woman was ran over by a police car. It was not clear where at all the police car was going. We see the angry crowd decent on the police car after it ran over the deaf woman. Also, the crowd tries to make room for an ambulance to get in to where the deaf woman lay at the time.

What's really good about the video is how it reveals what young black men think about the verdict and in being (in some cases) terrorized by the police. (There's no other way to describe how a number of black men feel.) It also has comments that, in this space' view, show how too many of "us" as black men give power to someone because they're white.

Thus, we have some in Oakland who refer to America as being a collection of laws "by and for white people" when in point of fact, anyone can get an initiative process going today and change the laws.  That idea of the racial bias of the system is expressed in the video.

What I'm saying is that the people pointing to racism, and rightly so, seem to let the idea that they're oppressed consume them and so they don't take meaningful action, like changing laws.

The video also has the police giving clear, loud, orders for the crowd to go home. Oriana Bolden also asserts that Old Media reports of looting were made up or exagerated. That's a bit questionable because there was damage done to property, although not anywhere near the scale of last year.

In all, it's a good video that cries for an ending. It just stops in the middle of Lindsey Comey's testimonial. Still, it's the best video of what happened after the Oscar Grant verdict that I've yet seen.

Yet.

Comic Con 2010: Danny Elfman celebrates 25 years with Tim Burton

Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman's a movie composer who first gained critical acclaim with his soundtrack for Batman, starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger. He's known for his over two-decades-long friendship with Movie Producer and Director Tim Burton: Batman was one of Burton's creations.

It was a relationship that started when Burton and Paul Reubens went to Elfman with the assignment writing the score for their first movie, Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Overall, the four-time-Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Elfman has scored Burton films such as Beetle Juice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Danny Elfman will celebrate a 25-year collaboration with Tim Burton at Comic Con 2010. On his relationship with Elfman, Burton said "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize - which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect."

The event will be held Thursday, July 23rd at Comic Comic San Diego's space called Rom 137 from 10:30 to 11:30 AM.

Comic Con 2010: Harry Potter cast not coming to Comic Con

Daniel Radcliffe and Ralph Fiennes

Countering buzz that the cast of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would attend Comic Con 2010, Warner Bros. has told Harry Potter fansite Mugglenet.com that the cast, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Ralph Fiennes, will not be attending Comic Con due to schedule conflicts.

However Warner Bros. reports the Comic Con Saturday schedule for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is on and attendees will see all new "never before seen" clips, props, and some "special" opportunity for Comic Con attendees.

The news that the cast of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would attend Comic Con, and if they did it would be a first in Comic Con history, came as a Twitter rumor by SD Comic Con Expert:

#SDCC Rumor Patrol: Let Me In WILL have a panel. Harry Potter cast/crew MIGHT be there. All of WB's talent at the con is purposely secret.

But then, anything can happen, and who's to say that the reported "schedule conflict" will remain? And what about that "special" opportunity?

Stay tuned.

Full Tilt Poker's Newest Promotion - Rush Week by Josh Grattan

Full Tilt Poker is one of the largest applications for online poker gameplay. The Full Tilt Team is always introducing new promotions and types of gameplay in order to reel in new players to choose them over competitors.

Full Tilt in the past few months invented an entirely new way to play poker called Rush Poker and it took the poker world by storm. Rush Poker is only available on Full Tilt and with its new enhanced features are drawing in new players daily.

In Rush Poker there is no longer a delay between hands, instead of folding and waiting for the current hand to finish you are instantly moved to a new table with new players and dealt another hand instantly. So this means a lot more action, a lot more hands, and a lot more fun with no wait time in between.

Everyday players and pros alike are raving about Rush Poker, everyone seems to love that all the wait time is gone and the action is faster and more frequent. Here is what the Full Tilt Pros had to say:

Howard Lederer

"Rush Poker is a great way to learn the game of poker."

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson

"Rush Poker is the greatest innovation since poker started on the Internet."

Andy Bloch

"This is what poker should be: a game of action."

Gus Hansen

"Lots of hands, lots of action; I'm going to be playing a lot of Rush Poker."

Patrik Antonius



"Rush Poker is a grinder's paradise. It's a totally new way to play poker."

And to get even more attention and players for Rush Poker, Full Tilt is about to begin their newest promotion, Rush Week.

Rush Week begins on Monday July 12 and ends Sunday July 18th and during this period players will be earning FTPs (Full Tilt Points) based on their gameplay on the Rush Poker cash tables. And depending on how many FTPs they collect daily will determine how much bonus money they will collect at the weeks end, ranges from $5 to $250 shown below.

Level 1 Bronze (10 FTPs)

• Earn at least 10 FTPs per day for four days to receive $5
• Earn at least 10 FTP's per day for all seven days to receive $10

Level 2 Silver (100 FTPs)

• Earn at least 100 FTP's per day for four days to receive $25
• Earn at least 100 FTP's per day for all seven days to receive $50

Level 3 Gold (1,000 FTPs)

• Earn at least 1,000 FTP's per day for four days to receive $125
• Earn at least 1,000 FTP's per day for all seven days to receive $250
  

In addition to these great rewards there are more revolving around the new Rush Poker Tournaments and more specifications and rewards that can be found HERE. For more information visit the links provided in this blog post and see you at the tables.

All images and quotes courtesy of FullTiltPoker.com

Megan Avalon shows FBB female muscle before next contest

San Francisco Bay Area Female Bodybuilder and Personal Trainer Megan Avalon has a growing fan base to go with her growing muscle size and shape.

Fresh from her sports model division win at the Oakland Silver and Black bodybuilding contest, Megan Avalon shows how she's worked on her body even more by adding an inch to her already impressive biceps and worked to develop her calves and hamstrings.



The Marin-based woman who calls herself "Barbie with Muscles" has also served as a spokesperson for websites like Zennie62.com and bikini fashion companies. But Megan's focus is on serving her personal training clients and building her body to its ultimate potential.

Watch for Megan Avalon in more contests, this fall 2010 bodybuilding season.

Oscar Grant verdict, Oakland riot: two view of police conduct

Just after 9 PM on the Thursday night after the involuntary manslaughter verdict in the Oscar Grant / Johannes Mehserle trial, this blogger got off at 12th Street, Oakland City Center BART Station after uploading the first set of videos of the peaceful protest at 14th and Broadway, and expecting more of the calm that existed around 8 PM. That was not the case.

Instead, the police, from not just Oakland, but the California Highway Patrol, and cities like Fremont, had closed into the once safe intersection of 14th and Broadway and had been in the process of carrying out orders to have the crowd leave the area.

The result was more police than people, and who did I run into but Oakland lawyer Dan Siegel and two of his friends, who complained in detail about what they saw as runaway police misconduct. One friend said "OPD (Oakland Police Department) had to put us in this vice. (Councilmembers) Jean Quan, Rebecca Kaplan, and I decided we were going to be the police line. We linked arms. So they kept marching, marching, pushing us, pushing us. They grabbed some kids and beat them to the ground, and they wouldn't listen to reason. These automatons. These androids, you know?"

Dan Siegel, who takes on police brutality cases, said "You know what I think. I think the police totally overreacted, provoked the people who were demonstrating. About 7:30, people were leaving. It was very peaceful. It was very quiet. They (the police) decided they were going to push people up Broadway from 12th to 14th. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, and clubbing. Some of the cops take the ends of their clubs and jam them in the back or the kidneys and ribs. And it kinda started to get a little crazy. And some of the people in the street got rowdy and broke windows out. Some people decided to steal some shoes and all that kind of stuff. But the police just totally went off, and made a peaceful demonstration chaotic and rowdy."

Rebecca Kaplan in the makeshift police line

The video below, found on Flickr, has Councilmember Kaplan explaining that they're trying to keep the peace as the police behind her work to sweep the street of people who were told to disperse. It's the same line that Councilmember Quan had joined.



The other view of police conduct

A number of people, most who did not want to be quoted, said the police acted with restraint. Phil Tagami of California Capital Group observed the scene from the roof of The Rotunda Building and then on the ground later and said that the police had "bottles thrown at them and didn't even react."

Early on, as the police were massing at 14th and Franklin, they were being taunted by some observers and when one person moved close to them, they moved back out of that person's way. So, it seemed to this observer that they weren't going to take any action until they were under orders to do so. Until then, they were working to stay out of the way.

Media and police are to blame

What happened Thursday night that resulted in 78 arrests and damage to an estimated 100 businesses was something we seemed to want to have happen. From the talk about a riot before the verdict to the allowance of a peaceful protest at City Hall, when really that entire part of downtown should have been shut down for the night, to the rabble rousers who wanted to make something happen, to the hundreds of people with cell phone cameras, video camcorders, and all types of recording devices - what I call the "personal media brigade" - to the police themselves, all combined to cause the result.

But with all that, it wasn't nearly as bad as last year, when rioting carried on for days and BART had a Sunday community meeting. But with all that, it's not over: Johannes Mehserle will be sentenced on August 6th. There's still a chance he may not have anything other than probation.

Stay tuned.

Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables coming to Comic Con 2010

Action hero Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, Rambo: First Blood) returns in an exciting new movie that brings together some of Hollywood's most well-known action heros in a movie called The Expendables.

The Expendables is attacking Comic Con 2010 in an autograph signing featuring Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin and Terry Crews from the movie on Friday, July 23rd.



Here's the press release description:

Stallone gives it to The Governor of California

The only life they’ve known is war. The only loyalty they have is to each other.
They are the Expendables: leader and mastermind Barney Ross (Stallone), former SAS blade expert Lee Christmas (Statham), hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang (Li), long barrel weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Couture), and precision sniper Gunnar Jensen (Lundgren). Living life in the fringes of the law, these hardened mercenaries take on what appears to be a routine assignment: a covert, CIA - funded operation to infiltrate the South American country of Vilena and overthrow its ruthless dictator General Garza (David Zayas). But when their job is revealed to be a suicide mission, the men are faced with a deadly choice, one that might redeem their souls...or destroy their brotherhood forever.
Writer, director and star Sylvester Stallone brings together a powerhouse cast of action superstars - never before seen together in one film - in Lionsgate’s hard-hitting action thriller, THE EXPENDABLES. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas with Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke. THE EXPENDABLES is directed by Sylvester Stallone from a screenplay by David Callahan and Sylvester Stallone and story by David Callaham, and produced by Avi Lerner, John Thompson and Kevin King Templeton.

I'm quite excited to be able to cover The Expendables event at Comic Con. Make sure you follow Zennie62 on Twitter and subscribe to Zennie62 on YouTube to get the tweets and videos from Comic Con 2010, July 21st - July 25th.

LeBron James to Miami Heat - Chicago Bulls better choice

LeBron James, the now-former Cleveland Cavaliers player, joined the Miami Heat, in what this space views as a terrible mistake. LeBron James should have stood up to the questions if he was ready to fill Michael Jordan's shoes and went with the Chicago Bulls.

Joining the Chicago Bulls not only would have given the Bulls a powerful combination of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, the newly signed Carlos Boozer, and James, but also placed LRMR Marketing, LeBron James' fledgling marketing company is the big city where marketing talent is pervasive. LRMR Marketing would have grown by leaps and bounds.

But for Maverick Carter to skip out on New York because of the New York Knicks management, and let that news get out was not smart. If the issue was racism, Carter should have said so. But if not - if it was a style issue - it was better to work through that to form a good relationship.

LRMR has not signed a single company; what they have LeBron James former agent, Aaron Goodwin of Oakland, CA, got for LeBron, including the $90 million Nike Deal. But being in Chicago, with its marketing community and sports-sponsorship-oriented corporate base, combined with the buzz that LeBron brings, would have been formidable.

Instead, James has the Sun of Miami Beach, but not enough to put LRMR Marketing over the top.

Mean Girls 2...It's official! By Sierra Blanchard

Mean Girls 2 is officially happening. So exciting!! Meaghan Martin, Maiara Walsh, Jennifer Stone and Nicole Anderson have been cast to become the new plastics. The first movie was great...these disney darlings have a lot of work ahead of them on this straight to television sequal!

Just Jared got the scoop on who will play who in the second installment of Mean Girls. Walsh is set to play the lead plastic opposite JONAS L.A. Star Nichole Anderson as Hope(another plastic), Camp Rocks very own mean girl Meaghan Martin as the lead Jo, and Wizards of Waverly place's mortal Jennifer Stone as Abby (the target and subject of ultimate plastic Meanness).

The story line is based around the new girl Jo who befriends an outcast Abby in exchange for Abby's wealthy father paying for the college of Jo's dreams. They team up to take on the mean girls. Who will come out victorious? Friendship or popularity? I know that I will be watching to find out! Will you?

Lindsay Lohan: Stick close to Kim Kardashian by Nikky Raney

The recent news regarding Lindsay Lohan makes it even more important that she sticks by a close friend, and Kim Kardashian is a great friend to Lohan to have during this tough time.

Christine Quinn corrupt NYC by Suzannah B. Troy

The New York Daily News editorial section has a scathing piece exposing Christine Quinn finding any way possible to grab power, abuse power and the piece exposes a list of shameful City Council Members who claim they are against "lulus" -- extra pay and take the money anyway.   Lulus like slush money  is not kosher and leaves a lot of room for abuse of power.

Christine Quinn belongs in jail for aiding and abetting Mike Bloomberg in denying us a referendum and pushing through a 3rd term.  Read Benjamin Lesser's powerful piece on her and other city council members getting what sounds like kick backs for tax payer money they allotted to shady developers.

Read the last 2 paragraphs which expose corrupt Christine Quinn.  How much money has she and her staff burned through - tax payer money hiring top defense lawyers that specialize in White Collar Crime including Sullivan & Cromwell, same firms as Goldman Sachs hired. I called John Liu's office and asked him to please put the costs on NYC gov website or his comptroller website and asked if we can have an APP for our Iphones on NYC gov "spending" or I prefer another term re: tax payer money.

The powerful editorial by The New York Daily News also points out the fake hypocrites -- all talk saying the right thing but  their actions prove they are full of -- insincerity.

From The New York Daily News article:

"Ten members told Citizens Union they support an end to lulus but took the money anyhow. They are Fernando Cabrera, Margaret Chin, Daniel Dromm, Julissa Ferreras, Helen Foster, Sara Gonzalez, Karen Koslowitz, Darlene Mealy, Rosie Mendez and Diana Reyna. They are hypocrites."

I went to the Jane Jacobs Street Signing where I caught the corrupt Christine Quinn passing herself off as Jane Jacobs and I protested her corrupt dealings.  It was almost one year ago and I was about to turn 47 and I was wearing a recession bikini top.  If you go to the YouTube link of me protesting Quinn in the text portion you can find a series of articles I posted that expose Christine Quinn's corrupt dealings.  There are so many I probably don't have Jim Dwyer's piece and The Village Voice's expose.

Now I am about to turn 48 years old and NY may be heading in to a depression as the clowns of Albany have refused to get the budget gap closed.  The budget was suppose to be balanced April 1st of this year and again we are moving towards a government shut down.

I wish we could throw all these politicos in jail and as New York sinks further in to a an economic crisis that many rich won't feel the same is true for corrupt politicians who find every possible way to give themselves money for all their hard work.

From Albany to City Hall, for politicos, denial is the new crack cocaine.