Nikky's Revamped Body Transformation by 21 with Debby Kaplan

I will come up with a cute graphic to use as a header

So instead if just typing it out - here are photos of what is going to be going on the next 3 months. The February detox plan did not work out the way we hoped it would, but trial and error and we learn and we are now able to work even better and harder together. There's a physical folder, a weekly list of goals, debby's e-mails, notes from weekly coaching sessions from debby (phone coaching sessions), there will be soon a video, weekly food log and exercise log. Make sure to visit her web site http://yourfitday.com

It's great that she is working with this college girl and already others have been inspired through this and have been messaging with questions and anticipate seeing this all in action.

So here are the photos of what's to come:

I recorded a video with my camera but I don't know if I'll use the footage. I might just wait until I get Zennie's flipcam

Academy Awards: Dame Helen Mirren, Javier Bardem, McConaughey Presenters

In rapid-fire fashion, AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and owners of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, and show producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today that Dame Helen Mirren, Javier Bardem, and Matthew McConaughey are to be presenters for Sunday's Oscars telecast on ABC.

Mirren, for whom this blogger said shows "that hotness knows no age," has been nominated for an Oscar four time, and won for her Best Actress performance in The Queen. Mirren received an Oscar nomination in 2009 for her leading performance in The Last Station and she received nominations for her supporting performances in 1994 for The Madness of King George and for Gosford Park in 2001.

Javier Bardem is a three-time Oscar nominee, including this year as a Best Actor nominee for Biutiful. He's one an Oscar once, in 2007 for No Country For old Men.

Matthew McConaughey is a veteran actor, current starring in the upcoming The Lincoln Lawyer and Killer Joe. Mr. McConaughey's other film credits include A Time to Kill, Amistad, Ed TV, The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Tropic Thunder.

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented this Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide. Catch our coverage at Zennie62.com.

Academy Awards: Night Of 100 Stars Oscar Party

This is the event I'm as excited about as The 83rd Annual Academy Awards. It's Norby Walters 21st Annual Night Of 100 Stars Oscar Viewing Party at The Beverly Hills Hotel. And once again this blogger will be on hand, but this time joined by some friends: a group of very cool video-bloggers: Marla Schulman of Life After Kids TV, Jen Friel of Talk Nerdy To Me Lover, and Milena Merrill.   We're going to bring you coverage starting Saturday, really, but ramping up to the Night Of 100 Stars On Sunday.  Just follow Zennie62.com for the whole thing, but now, let me tell you about the "Night of 100 Stars" party.

And frankly, I could not do better than Hollywood PR Guru Ed Lozzi's terrific press release. Here's a taste of it.

On Oscar Sunday February 27th, the Beverly Hills Hotel's Crystal Ballroom will once again provide the venue for the arrival of approximately 150-200 film and TV stars who will attend the hottest celebrity Awards party in town with even bigger names than last year.

Norby Walters, veteran music agent, reprises his role as Producer and Dinner Chairman.

The formal sit-down dinner viewing party has always included past Oscar winners and nominees who will return to pay tribute to this year's favorite Award nominees. Stars and their guests will be dressed to the nines in Formal fashions represented by the nations finest design houses.

The media has always rated the Night of 100 Stars as one of the top Award parties. The Daily News rated this party as "...the number one Oscar party, just for the sheer number of celebrities attending...". ABC's Good Morning America covers this party from inside and said. " Voting Academy members flock to the Night of 100 Stars and we are here tonight with many former Oscar and Golden Globe winners. Is this an Oscar party or the Golden Globes"?

The Night of 100 Stars Awards Party is sponsored this year by RICHARD MILLE, one of the world's youngest and most expensive luxury watch brands. richard-mille.com

Numerous former Academy Award winners and nominees turned out Sunday during the Night of 100 Stars Oscar Gala..including (150 stars) Richard Dreyfuss, Martin Landau, Fred Willard, James Cromwell, Ron Perlman, Renee Taylor, Jason Ritter, and so many more.

2011 Celebrity List to Follow - A Partial List of last year's Attendees - many expected this year
Tom Sizemore, Ron Perlman, Billie Burke(Twilight), Peter Facinelli(Twilight), Kevin McKidd (Grey's Anatomy), Jennie Garth, Michael Nouri, Traci Lords, Armand Asante, Bo Derek, John Corbett, Michael Clark Duncan, Joey Pantoliano, Tia Carrere, Robert Carradine, Annie Wersching(star of "24") and Gloria Allred with client Veronica Siwik-Daniels aka Joslyn James-(Tiger Woods girlfriend) ....expected is Sean Astin, Krista Allen, Ed Asner, Jason Alexander, Powers Boothe, Daniel Baldwin, Jermain Jackson, Timothy Busfield, Joe Bologna, Susan Blakely, John Corbet, Keith Carradine, David Hasselhoff, James Cromwell, Stephen Collins, Michael Chiklis, David Carradine, Joanna Cassidy, Richard Dreyfuss, Kevin Dillon, Lolita Davidovich, Robert Davi, Bruce Davison, Lou & Carla Ferrigno, Frances Fisher, Dave Foley, Peter Fonda, Jon Favreau, Joley Fisher, Robert Forster, Jeff Garlin, James Darren, Carla Gugino, Dominick Dunne(in memorium), Lou Gossett Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Dule Hill, Cheryl Hines, Monty Hall, Harry Hamlin, Marilu Henner, Ken Howard, Jack Klugman, Richard Karn, Martin Landau, Ron Livingston, Hal Linden, Richard Lewis, Sharon Lawrence, Michael Lerner, Matthew Modine, Chris McDonald, Camryn Manheim, Dylan McDermott, Jesse Metcalfe, Ming-Na, Judd Nelson, Kevin Nealon, Danielle Panabaker, Kevin Pollak, Stephanie Powers, Michelle Phillips, Lou Diamond Phillips, Freddie Rodriguez, Jason Ritter, Brande Roderick, Adam Rodriguez, Pat Richardson, George Segal, Fred Savage, John Schneider, Tony Shaloub, Kevin Sorbo, Rob Schneider, Amber Tamblyn, Jennifer Tilly, the GEICO Caveman, and over 100 more are expected. In an ongoing tribute to our friend Anna Nicole Smith, who attended our party regularly, Norby Walters has invited over 75 Playboy Playmates and Playboy models . Last year over 30 of the Playmates and 20 Playboy models attended.

Almost 60 Academy Award Winners and Nominees have previously attended and many are expected including: Jamie Foxx, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Danny Aiello, Jennifer Tilly, Linda Blair, Michael Lerner, Sally Kirkland, Gary Busey, Bruce Davison, , Richard Dreyfuss, Cathy Moriarty, Kathleen Quinlan, Eric Roberts, Lynn Redgrave, Robert Forster, Diane Ladd, Caroll Baker, Rip Torn, Charles Durning, Dean Stockwell, Robert Stack, Theodore Bikel, Don Murray, Cliff Robertson, William H. Macy, Samantha Eggar, Kevin McCarthy, Glynis Johns, Terry Moore, Burt Young, Karen Black, Eddie Albert, George Chakiris, James Cromwell, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Franciosa, Shirley Jones, Elliott Gould, Tony Curtis, Martin Landau, David Paymer, Robert Loggia, Renee Taylor, Joe Bologna, Rod Steiger, Brenda Vaccaro, Shirley Knight, James Whitmore, Shelley Winters, Pat Morita, Patricia Neal, Stuart Whitman, Carrie Snodgrass, Seymour Cassel, Lesley Ann Warren, Russ Tamblyn, Maximillian Schell, Sally Kellerman and Mickey Rooney.

In other words, it's a pretty big deal of an Oscar party.  But really, it's a lot of fun.  It's also a chance to talk to some stars who've had a major impact on American Culture.  One of them is my favorite, Actress Sean Young (DUNE, No Way Out, Blade Runner, Stripes, Wall Street), who, in this video from last year's party, talked about Hollywood and women:



Also, Actor Stephen Collins, who this Trekker remembers from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, stopped by to talk about J.J. Abrams take on Star Trek and about The Hurt Locker. Currently, Collins plays Dr. Dayton King in the TV series No Ordinary Family. Here's Mr. Collins:



I also met Jason Ritter and his girlfriend, Actress Marianna Palka, at the Night Party 2010. Then, they were pushing her movie Good Dick The Movie. Now, Ritter's "Mark Cyr" on Parenthood and "Sean Walker" on The Event. Marianna Palka's just finished Restive and Modern Romance, both of which are in post production. Here's Jason and Marianna:



This year's Night of 100 Stars Oscar party will be just as fun, and afterward we'll all go down to the Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge for drinks.

Stay tuned!

Gold's Gym Oakland: Kortney Olson FBB Workout (Call Her KO)

Ever wonder what a hard-core fitness workout looks like? If so, you've come to the right place.

In this 21 minute video, you are taken through a fitness workout session with my friend Kortney Olson, a Northern California-based certified personal trainer, model, female bodybuilder, and strong woman who's changing how people think about women in fitness.

Oakland Gold's Gym in Oakland, at 600 Grand Avenue, was the venue for Kortney's workout, which she does with an eye for giving women viewers tips for their own workouts. I've been a member of Gold's for about 15 years now, and back to when it was called The Lake Merritt Fitness Club. Located at 600 Grand Avenue and managed by Norris Lewis and Cory Cheatham, Gold's is a full-service gym for both hard-core bodybuilders, and people just trying to stay in shape.

We're joined by my friend, female bodybuilder and personal trainer Megan Avalon as well, who really just happened to be working out that day, much to our surprise and luck. Both Megan and Kortney are training for upcoming bodybuilding contests, but both also train clients. Moreover, Megan and Kortney, or "KO" as she likes to be called, are part of a growing number of "TV-ready" women fitness professionals who want to have their own fitness shows. As you can see, they're both ready for prime time.

Here, Korney Olsen shows you how to use the stairmaster not just to workout your legs, but your abs, too. Then, we go upstairs where she shows us how to effectively work on our biceps using a weight machine, but then also free weights, using a bench to sit on. Finally, KO takes us through a yoga-style stretching routine that's hard to do, but once mastered will keep you in shape.

All of this is done at Gold's Gym Oakland. It's one the best neighborhood fitness facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area. And all of this is due to the attention Norris and his staff give to members.

(I also must point out that this Gold's Gym is also not going to be that in about a year - yep, it's leaving the brand - and in protest to national Gold's Gym's CEO Robert Rowling's actions in giving to the anti-Gay organization American Crossroads.  Gold's Gym Oakland has put out a statement that it's not in support of the national Gold's Gym owners giving to anti-Gay politicians and is a place that is welcome, open, and friendly to all.)

Check out Gold's Gym at 600 Grand Avenue, next to Lake Merritt in the Adams Point District of Oakland.

The Truth About WI Teacher's Pay

The data on how much is spent on teacher's pay isn't hard to find, but the truth may bother WI's Governor in his bid to blame unions and collective bargaining for his budget priorities:

The average teacher's salary across all Wisconsin districts is $48,267.  According to the Census Bureau’s Median Household Income by State – Single-Year Estimates the average household income in Wisconsin is $51,237 -- a difference of $2,970/year which would amount to a 6% raise if teachers were just brought up to the average.

Collective bargaining hasn't made Wisconsin teachers rich, it hasn't even brought them level with the rest of their state, but their new Governor wants to impose a new regulation restricting their rights.  If you ask me, that's new government regulations when the GOP has been telling us job creation is their priority.

Actions speak louder than words.

If you want to dig deeper, or verify the data on teacher pay, check the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction link: "Statistical Information Center - School Staff and Salary Data." It's all there: the low salary, high salary, average salary, average fringe, average local experience, average total experience for staff in each public school district, and more, in spreadsheets you can download.

If Governor Scott Walker hasn't blocked access, that is.

Political Correspondent Thomas Hayes is a former Congressional Campaign Manager; he's a journalist, photo/videographer, entrepreneur, and communications consultant who contributes regularly on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community, who incidentally stands in solidarity with the citizens and workers in Wisconsin refusing to let their Governor's self-created budget "crisis" and new spending priorities be re-cast as a reason to undermine contractual obligations and collective bargaining agreements.

You can follow Tom as @kabiu on twitter. Tweet

Science you want to know: Epigenetic research explains what makes us human

So much of science promises a lot...and then never delivers. It's enough to make you sigh and roll your eyes every time you see a screaming headline about a new type of research. That's why so many of us don't really want to dig in and try to understand some of the newer developments in basic science. It's hard to argue with an I'll Just Wait Until Something Real Appears approach. Well, epigenetics is an area whose time has come. Whether you're an investor looking at potential therapeutic developments, or a social justice activist fascinated by the intersection of environment and health, or a passionate animal-lover (are you out there, Ken White?) wondering exactly what it is that makes us human, or an armchair social scientist pondering how people's lives are affected by their choices (and visa versa), epigenetics is something you want to delve into. But where do you start?

In fact, once the horse is already out of the barn (and high school biology is a dim traumatic memory), how do you get your head around something that sounds as complex as "epigenetics"? Well here's your chance for a user-friendly explanation with a clear-headed look at epigenetic's promise and limitations. Check it out. Then pass it on to colleagues, friends, and your buddies who like to argue down at the pub.

"Epigenetics is now the hottest topic in biosciences," began our California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship's keynote address by Randy Jirtle of Duke University. More....

Academy Awards:The King's Speech For Best Picture

Earlier, I said that while The Social Network may be the favorite with some, the 5,744 voting members of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would pick The King's Speech for Best Picture. I stated that here:



Now, after having seen The King's Speech, and most of the 10 candidates for "Best Picture" at The 83rd Academy Awards, I can see why the "period piece" directed by Tom Hooper is getting so many rave reviews. It's a well crafted film that expertly uses the camera to tell a story, almost without dialog.

Hooper's use of close shots, wide-angles, and off-set one shot scenes work to give the feeling of a person in "Bertie" or King George V (Colin Firth) who's so in over his head it's as if the World's coming down on him. And, unless he gets his speech together and effectively answers Hitler's formal declaration of war, it will be.

Indeed, The King's Speech is about more than a man overcoming his stammer, it's about a man finding himself at the time his country needs him the most. All of that you get in one viewing.

That's completely different from the experience I get watching Inception or The Social Network. Inception requires more than one sitting to totally "get it," but once you do it stays with you. The Social Network is more a story about Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg than a movie that teaches anyone anything - except that the path to success is littered with ass holes and one has to make sure they don't become one along the way.

While Toy Story 3 is a terrific animated film, what it lacks to win the Oscar is that sense of importance we normally attach to any top Best Picture candidate; The King's Speech has that.  Moreover, the movie does an excellent job of transporting us to another time and place for a moment.  That's an incredible feat only the best films can achieve, and that's something both The King's Speech and Inception do.  The problem is with Inception, it takes a little while to figure out where you are once you get there; with The King's Speech, there's no question of where you are and why it's important.  You just know.

Oakland Children's Hospital CalOSHA Fine Draws Children's RN Comments

Oakland Children's Hospital (CHO) was recently fined $10,350 for alleged safety violations which include "inadequately protecting employees from violence in its emergency department," according to the San Jose Mercury News. That fine triggered today's press conference, where Children's Hospital Emergency Room staff came forward to share their stories.

"We have demanded that our employer provide us with the training we need to care for the children of Oakland," said Martha Kuhl. "Instead they have disregarded their obligations, and we applaud the state for its actions, while we insist CHO provide a safe environment for everyone who comes through our doors."

The nurses, part of the California Nurses Association, have said that Children's Hospital's execs have put procedures in place, but that what's being done thus far is inadequate, and give specific examples where CHO RN's have been placed in danger:

In July 2010, an armed gunman came into the emergency room and held an RN and ward clerk hostage.

Nurses complained to CalOSHA after incidents in October 2010 when multiple gunshot victims arrived within minutes of each other, including one who was dropped off in the driveway.

Anna Smith, an emergency room RN who took care of the patients during the October incidents said: "As an RN I am not going to allow a patient to die in the driveway, and I want to be able to focus on my patients and trust that the hospital will pay attention to our safety. Instead, their response has been to blame the nurses. They thought we shouldn't have gone immediately to the driveway to save a man's life. Nurses won’t accept this."

A Disturbing Trend Of Violence

The CNA says there's a disturbing trend of violence in healthcare industries but given Oakland's pathologies, that problem seems to be almost beyond Oakland Children's Hospital's control.  But the fact that CHO (Children's Hospital Oakland) was fined means that CalOSHA believes something can be done and CHO's not doing it.

Or is it?

Stay tuned.

Jason Calacanis Apologizes For Taking The Black Cab And Train

My blog post asking if "Launch," the startup presentation event formally known as TechCrunch50, was going to be just another "White Tech Guy" event started a lively conversation on Twitter. Lauch is the baby of Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, who's best known for the blog Engadget and for Mahalo.

I was going to leave the matter alone until I discovered a Twitter tweet I wasn't supposed to see on SocialMention.com. This one:

Jason: @wesley83 @fahrni @strategiclee @zennie62 I'm going to apologize right now for taking a black cab instead of a yellow.
twitter.com/Jason/statuses/39743730810359808
yesterday - by looppacosmos on stumbleupon

Which reads for me that I'm "not authorized to see that status." Trouble is, it was picked up on FriendFeed, Stumbleupon, and SocialMention.

I'll come back to this later.

The Backstory

For me, the need to blog that Launch would be one of those events that had a massive racial imbalance was spurred not by, as Jason claims, my not getting a press pass, but because of my experience being one of a few blacks at these events, and the way Jason's just plain ignored my attempts at contact over the years, punctuated by his email insult to me three days ago. As I explained in the email, I have no interest in attending Launch at all. My desire was, frankly, to demonstrate that you can't just ignore a person and treat them terribly because you think "Well, there's nothing this black guy can do."

In fact, Jsaon has such a track record of blowing me off - for no reason until now - that I wasn't even going to send an email request to attend Launch three weeks ago, when it was mentioned on Quora. But then I figured, you know maybe I'm wrong. So I sent an email - again three weeks ago.

That was plenty of time to get back to me.

Then, in an exchange, I expressed frustration with how I was treated by Jason to a friend, and by copying him on the email, created proof. But rather than apologize or show me any respect, Jason just rubbed salt into the wound more. That was it. I'd had it.

One thing you don't do is talk down to anyone, particularly someone black who already perceives that you turn a blind spot to diversity, and keeps dealing with your disrespectful treatment of him - ah, me. After our exchange, I was so livid I did a quick search and learned that Jason was already under fire for Launch's lack of diversity. All I had to do was echo what had been expressed. So I did.

We Need Black Tech Expos

In the first post, I stressed the need for a Black Tech Expo. Some African Americans in Tech didn't like the idea, but their real reasons are still not clearly stated in reaction to my question: what do you fear? My observation is the younger generation of blacks in Tech is running scared: scared of being thought of as militant. Scared that they will not be included. Scared that they will not get a piece of the pie. Scared that they will alienate anyone white in Tech. Scared.

In other words, they give a lot of power to anyone white in Tech. Some said, "well there are going to be blacks at DEMO, so we don't need to do anything." That's great. But it will not solve the overall problem where blacks in Tech are not assembled, don't know each other, don't know who's who, or what the other person is doing.

There are clumps of loose, small associations, but nothing large at all. In forming a Black Tech Expo we can go on a hunt for who's out there, and in the process learn something about the true picture. Right now, we seem to be relaxed in the notion that there aren't a lot of blacks in Tech because of the age-old problems of lack of education and economic background. We wade in this pool of thought to such a degree that inaction reins.

That must stop.

There's nothing wrong with creating a brand of tech events around Blacks. We, for some reason, seems more concerned over who others are dating than economic assembly. It's time to turn from personal racial concerns to professional ones. In so doing, we will find that, just as in Rap and Hip Hop, whites, Asians, Latinos, and others will join us. Why?

Simple.

When you're happy with who you are, others want to be around you. We have to be happy with who we are and move forward in Tech.

Oh, and it's not a matter of "the race card:" that silly term invented by right-wing activists during the Reagan years and which reared its head during the O.J. Trial.  In fact, have you ever heard anyone say to a woman "You're playing the sex card?"  No, and you should not.  These matters of racial and sexual representation are not cards to play, but serious issues to be dealt with constructively.  For those right-wingers who use the term, please stop.  It's not helping anyone.

And Lastly, On The Black Train

What's unfortunate is that Calacanis was referring to a "black train" when he tweeted that he was on the "b-train" in the Twitter tweet that caused me to consider writing the blog post I eventually wrote. I had no idea what that was all about until I saw the tweet he didn't want me to see.

There's nothing wrong with being race-concious, but the question is, is it expressed in a healthy way? That tweet was an example of an unhealthy way.   I wish Jason would take time to go to East Oakland or get involved in organizations where black kids can know that it's possible to achieve what he's done.  He's got a great success story to tell and that would be one "black train" worth tweeting about.  

Making Oakland Better Sunday Meeting Features Talk On Budget

A great group called "Making Oakland Better" had its first meeting on Sunday and just as this blogger returned from Georgia, and was running around taking care of personal matters. In other words, I missed the meeting.

The group made a number of decisions, listened to speeches by Oakland City Council Member Ignacio de la Fuente (District Five), City Attorney John Russo and City Auditor Courtney Ruby and as of this writing, is at the Oakland City Council’s Finance and Management Committee at Oakland City Hall. I repost a "recap" of the decisions the group made below, and give a link to their blog site:

Decisions Made / Positions Adopted By the Group

Police and Fire Retirement System: Make Oakland Better Now! urges the City to make the actuarially-required PFRS payment in the coming fiscal year, from the tax override reserve/surplus if necessary, and to examine all charter amendment and other options for reducing the cash flow impact of this obligation.
Rainy Day Fund: Make Oakland Better Now! supports a charter amendment instituting a rules-based Rainy Day Fund, similar to that proposed by the Budget Advisory Committee.
Budget Reform: Make Oakland Better Now! will promote adoption of performance based budgeting and budgeting for outcomes.

For more information and videos, click here: Making Oakland Better.

99er Nation Must Seize the Momentum of Public Protests Now or Perish

With public protests breaking out all over America (finally), the 99er Nation must seize the momentum of Public Protests NOW or perish. It is really just that simple.

Demonstrations are popping up in Ohio, Indiana, San Francisco, San Diego, Wisconsin, and the following cities:

Today Phoenix, AZ

2/22 - Little Rock, AR

2/22 - Sacramento, CA

2/22 - Palmdale, CA

2/22 - Denver, CO

2/22 - Des Moines, IA

2/22 - Annapolis, MD

2/22 - Boston, MA

2/22 - Springfield, MA

2/22 - St. Paul, MN

2/22 - Santa Fe, NM

2/22 - New York, NY

2/22 - Columbus OH

2/22 - Providence, RI

2/22 - Montpelier, VT

2/22 - Madison, WI

2/23 - Hartford, CT

2/23 - Atlanta, GA

2/23 - Scranton, PA

2/24 - Canton, OH

And sites like: http://protest.net/ and http://action.seiu.org/page/s/solidarityaction There is NO EXCUSE for not joining in to demand your rights! If you stay home you are part of the problem. Google Protest Marches in your City/State for up to date info and GET OUT THERE!!!!

ATTENTION NYC: There is a rally on Today in front of the real Tea Party headquarters: FOX News at 6th Ave. and 48th St. We'll start at 5 p.m., exactly when Tea Party leader Glenn Beck goes on!

Beck insists the American people support him, but we'll show him the American people really support our teachers, firefighters, police - and our unions.

Make your own signs. Wear Packers gear (or just green/yellow) and cheesehead hats (we'll bring a few to share). Bring your smartphones and cameras to tell the world!

(If you're not near NYC and want to host your own event: login to the JOB PARTY website http://jobparty.us/ , click "Events," and scroll to bottom to host your own event.)

WHEN: February 22, 2011 at 5:00 PM

WHERE:

FOX News

1211 6th Ave

New York, NY 10036

Google map and directions

GET OUT THERE!!!!!!

[The donation button below is for the protest sign fund. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

CRUDE Movie: A Brief Primer For Viewers - Part One

If you're interested in seeing the movie CRUDE, which is about a "one of the largest and most controversial environmental lawsuits on the planet," it's a good idea to be informed of what you're not going to see in the film.

CRUDE is about the Chevron-Ecuador case, but it makes its subjects, trail lawyer Steven Donziger and his crew, look like David trying to slay the Goliath that is Chevron. But the real problem with CRUDE lay in the hours and hours of outtakes that show what Donziger and his people were really trying to do: fabricate a believable story and "fix" the Ecuador court to draw billions from the American Oil Company, all the while protecting Ecuador's oil company, Petroeucador, which has been damaging the very environment that was cleaned up by Chevron Texaco before it left in 1992.

The issue for this blogger goes all the way back to grad school at U.C. Berkeley, and how Third World countries, like Ecuador, trap petrodollars and keep them from their poorest citizens. Americans help in this by working deals that protect these countries, while placing American business in the almost unassailable role of "bad guy." In other words, the perception is that because American Business has money, they must be at fault for the problems in the Third World.

That perception clouds the truth, that greed and corruption hamper many Third World economic development efforts. CRUDE ads to that perception in the matter of Chevron Ecuador, but the American Legal System has cleared that problem up. Here's PointOfLaw.com quoting U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan:

The release of many hours of the outtakes has sent shockwaves through the nation's legal communities, primarily because the footage shows, with unflattering frankness, inappropriate, unethical and perhaps illegal conduct. In the film itself, Attorney Donziger brags of his ex parte contacts with the Ecuadorian judge, confessing that he would never be allowed to do such things in the United States, but, in Ecuador, everyone plays dirty. The outtakes support, in large part, Applicants' contentions of corruption in the judicial process. They show how nongovernmental organizations, labor organizations, community groups and others were organized by the Lago Agrio attorneys to place pressure on the new Ecuadorian government to push for a specific outcome in the litigation, and how the Ecuadorian government intervened in ongoing litigation.

And here's an outtake from CRUDE where Donziger talks about the need to "pressure," and use "intimidation," and "humiliation" against the Ecuador court; actions that are illegal for an American lawyer to do and could lead to disbarment:



And here's another one where Donziger says to the film crew "That was off the record," as he's talking about having Richard Cabrera, the "fake" environmental expert who came up with the damage claims of up to $100 billion, there. Also, one person talks of making "everything they do transparent," causing Donziger to chime in saying "No. Not everything we do." Witness:



There's a lot more. Visit http://www.youtube.com/TexacoEcuador to see the rest.

Stay tuned.