Academy Awards (AMPAS) New "Variable" Best Picture Rules A Mistake

For the last two years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has used a 10-movie Best Picture, preference voting system to pick the "best of the best." But now, and after a vote by the Board Of Governors of AMPAS of six of 14 votes total (and that's all the voting info that was in the press release), to add what they call a "twist," but what this blogger thinks is causes damage to the overall improved ratings for the event.

Now, rather than an assured ten movies being nominated for Best Picture, the number could vary between five movies and ten movies - that's a huge error, but what's done is done.

Here's Academy President Tom Sherak to explain the idea behind the changes: "With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we've been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years."

Sherak noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the Board of Governors, according to AMPAS.

AMPAS Spokesperson Leslie Unger said The Academy went back over the last 10 years of "Best Picture" voting and determined that "the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5. After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5 percent of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies."

Bruce Davis said “In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies. A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn't feel an obligation to round out the number."

Unger explains that if the system had been in place over the last 10 years, "there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees." She explains that once the number of nominations is determined, the preference voting system will still be used to pick the Best Picture winner.

AMPAS Must Focus On TV Ratings

That decision is an enormous mistake because it effectively removes the chance that a popular movie could reach the level of "Best Picture" and help drive ratings for the Oscar telecast. This move will effectively shrink ratings potential and revenue for Oscar itself for those years where the number is less than ten, and a box-office hit fails to make the Best Picture list.

That scenario, coupled with AMPAS still-poor social media program, will guarantee poor ratings problems for years to come.

Sad to say.

Other AMPAS Changes.

This corner has no strong view of the other changes noted in the press release, so here's what AMPAS via Unger is reporting:

Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category. Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category. In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated. When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

In the visual effects category, the "bakeoff" at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders. The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category was increased from three to five. (Me: logical move.)

Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories. The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor "housekeeping" changes.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards Nominations Presentation will be held Tuesday, January 24th at 5:30 AM.

Anthony Weiner Resigns - Video Press Conference And Job Offer

New York U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner did something on Thursday this blogger honestly didn't think he would do: resign from his seat in Congress.

In a press conference that has been correctly described as a "circus, the 25-year elected official announced he was stepping down from public life, and to take time to correct his life and obviously work to repair a marriage undoubtedly damaged.

Weiner, who personally contacted and sent lewd photos of himself to five women, first said he would not resign, but apparently saw his political life fading as many Democrats ran away from him and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly threatened to strip him of committee assignments.

That move alone would make it much harder for Congressman Weiner to help his constituents.

So, at 2 PM ET, Weiner took to a podium at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, to first explain that the venue was where his political career started, and then said...

Unfortunately the distraction that I have created makes that [work] impossible... so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

And that's when all hell broke lose in the form of a man we didn't know until Thursday. That's when he yelled "Goodbye Pervert" and other choice words I really don't want to type here.

Now, we know his name is Benjy Bronk (right), and we know he represents The Howard Stern Show.

And we also know he likes to be in interesting photos of his own (see below - that's really Bronk himself).

Some people just don't think about the photos they're in, do they?  Or maybe Bronk doesn't care? 

At any rate, that planned Howard Stern injection of bombast didn't make things any better for Weiner, and added a sad note to the press conference proceedings.

Anthony Weiner's Future: Larry Flynt?

What's Anthony Weiner's future? Well, we really don't know, but it's good to know that Weiner has at least one appropriate option: working for Hustler Founder Larry Flynt.

In Thursday's Huffington Post, Mr. Flynt wrote:

I would like to make you an offer of employment at Flynt Management Group, LLC in our Internet group. As a Congressman, you are known for your intensity and perseverance...This offer is not made in jest. To show our sincerity, Flynt Management Group, LLC is willing to pay twenty percent more than your former Congressional salary ($174,000), ensuring that your medical benefits would be equal to what you were previously receiving....While you will have to relocate to our corporate offices in Beverly Hills, California, we would pay for all relocation costs.

The job offer is apparently open-ended, and it's not clear exactly what Flynt would ask Weiner to do, although the statement "While this employment opportunity is being offered in large part due to your qualifications and clear passion for making a change.." would seem to point to the same actions that caused him to step down, that's not clear.

Stay tuned.

Oakland's Tupac Shakur Turns 40 - His Senseless Murder

Oakland Rapper and Actor Tupac Shakur turns 40 today, and yet while he's not with us, his spirit is.

The legendary poet-rap writer was gunned down in 1996, and by four-shots from a gunman in Las Vegas (the video mistakenly reports 1994 as the year Mr. Shakur was murdered.

Now, a man named Dexter Isaac says he was responsible for the 1994 shooting and robbery that, for some time, Sean (P Diddy) Colmes was said to have been responsible for. Isaac also offered that he was paid $2,500 to go after Tupac Shakur.

Think about that.

A man was paid less money that some people make in a month to kill Tupac Shakur. Mr. Isaac must be a sad sack to even think of doing that - messing up his life and Mr. Shakur's for a measly $2,500.

That's just plain nuts, but also shows you how screwed up our culture can be.

Meanwhile, Tupac lives on with us in his way.

Philippines Lanches Renewable Energy Program

President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has noticed that there are many power shortages across the country and realizes that it's time to look toward renewable energy, such as solar.

Philstar News reports that by 2030 the Philippines will join the many other countries using renewable resources as power sources. He says that this will help rebuild the nation:


"He added that through renewable energy, the government can supply the electricity needs of the people at a lower cost and not at the expense of the environment.

With the NREP in place, the government hopes to achieve the " twin goals of harnessing our renewable energy potential while ensuring that our people's energy needs are met," Aquino said.

"With this in mind, the plan is to nearly triple our renewable energy-based capacity from around 5,400 megawatts in 2010 to 15, 300 megawatts in 2030," Aquino said."

ABS-CBN news interviews Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug:


" "We're hoping renewable energy will account for at least 50% of our energy mix by 2030," Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug told reporters on Tuesday.

"Within this month we will award between 40 and 80 contracts, mostly for hydro. There will be a few (contracts for) wind and some solar," Layug said

The Southeast Asian country's new renewable energy target is more ambitious than a goal, announced last December, to double renewable energy output in 20 years.

The Philippines imports most of its oil needs at present. High oil prices have pushed inflation up this year, and were a factor in the central bank's decision to increase interest rates in March and May.

"(Renewable energy resources) are expensive now because of the emerging technology, but in the long term we see that the price will start coming down, making it cheaper than (traditional sources)," Layug said."


This is great! The whole world needs to realize solar energy is the way to go!

Michele Bachmann Buzzing; Sarah Palin's Enemy Blogger Syrin, Buzzed

It's almost a full day after the GOP Debate, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is still in the top 10 of Google Trends results. Earlier today, the Rep from Minnesota was number two in Google Trends.

All of this Internet buzz is due not just to her announcement that she's running for President Of The United States, done during the CNN telecast of the GOP Debate, but that she didn't fail in her presentation last night.

Of course, had she went on to say or do something expectedly off-the-charts crazy, Ms. Bachmann would have enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) even more online buzz. Let's face it, we compare Bachmann and Sarah Palin...



But Michele's fall didn't happen last night. That alone means Bachmann's serious, and wants to be taken seriously. It's only fair that we do so. To do anything less would be, among other things, sexist.

Why sexist? Because of some of the tweets I saw last night that made my blood boil, specifically those calling for her to... Well...

@AntonioLlanito Antonio Llanito
Michele Bachmann go make me a sandwich #CNNdebate

There were a bunch of those tweets. Not cool.

No. If we're going to attack Congresswoman Bachmann, it should only be done on substantive grounds, and we can cover a lot of "ground" there.

For example, there's the time Bachmann said that Net Neutrality was an "Obama Censorship Plot" - no kidding.

There's also the time she said to Michael Steele, the GOP's first black chairperson, "Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man!"

Oh, brother!

And for more juicy items on Bachmann, all we have to do is visit DumpBachmann.com, which I'll focus on more in a future blog post.

And if that's not enough, we have Bachmann supporters like my new Twitter foreplay playa buddy Sherry Whitstine, who's tweets toward me for blogging about Sarah Palin's emails about her have got me all excited, and hoping the blogger who calls herself Syrin is as physically hot as her tweets.

Here's the exchange. And, OK, I have to admit that I was really trying to mess with her, and it worked. I love foreplay.

It started with this...

Zennie Abraham
zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin I just found a set of emails dated in July (can send specific date) from #SarahPalin about YOU. Said you made "hateful" comments.
17 hours ago

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin In fact, about 4 pages of the emails posted deal with you; seems they were gearing up for some response.
17 hours ago

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Correction, I found more pages. It also looks like some other emails may have been deleted. You really got to Palin and Family.
17 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

And I expected a reasonable, logical response, not what I received the next morning:

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@@zennie62 correction please! You don't have any facts in your silly blog. Im Palins adversary cause she's a liar abused power & no integrity
4 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 btw you just found these emails yesterday when the rest of the world found them 4 days ago! ( u have No Clue what I said )
4 hours ago

To which I responded:

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Actually, I am the first to refer specifically to your emails for a news website. Sorry.
3 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

And then Sherry went off on Sarah, as if... I don't know? I was Sarah Palin? This next set of tweets from Sherry was just bat-shit crazy:

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Sarah, You are Incompetent Sarah, your family needs - No one else does! Sarah U missed that civics class? What, you're Christian?
3 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Syrin's COMMENT: Sarah, your kids need u- No one else does! Notice the FAKE email to be copy and pasted & fake name put to it?
3 hours ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Actually first to refer to me? Sorry You are showing that you like the rest are blinded by ignorance U cant ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE
3 hours ago

Ah. Okay! The original reference source was this Huffington Post blog post, and this link takes one straight to the email files. I searched online for a reference to Syrin with respect to the emails, and found nothing at the time. But that wasn't of concern to Sherry, so I figured that telling her would be a waste of time.

Given her insults toward me, I figured it was on, and I'd have some real fun. And all under the theory that Sherry's engaging in a type of foreplay.

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Hey Sista. I didn't post the files. I just reported about them.
2 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Sherry. Is all this foreplay from you?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

But for some reason, Sherry doesn't recognize an Internet file or reference to one. So, her sexy foreplay blasts continued.

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Hey bro UR CLUELESS! What files, you Goofball!? U don't have any files to post! Just sanitized emails from a liar, fraud, failure
1 hour ago

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 DUH! palinemail.msnbc.msn.com/palinAll/pdf/1… From SP- Cut the body of this email and paste into a new email w/ fake name and send to content@adn.com
1 hour ago

So, with that, I figured it was time to go semi-street on her...

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Time out, playa. you're saying the emails are faked?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

Her response was a howler!

Sherry Whitstine
AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 Ignorant fool! What kind of language is this, playa? I'm in Wasilla, u r NOT! I know the TRUTH, u DON'T! Whose the playa?
1 hour ago

That got me excited! So I tweeted:

zennie62 Zennie Abraham
@AkSyrin Ah. I also included that language, playa. I love this foreplay. Are you married or single?
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete

And from that, I learned that Sherry Whitstine has committed the last 12 years of her life to, er, "expose" Sarah Palin.

AkSyrin Sherry Whitstine
@zennie62 says things like- Is all this foreplay for you? Foreplay?goofball! foreplay to what? My Mission for 12 years: EXPOSE Sarah Palin?
53 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Let's think about that: 12 years. That's all the way back to 1999. That's before the turn of the 21st Century. Before the first video-blog (2001). It's one year before the launch of Google (1998). And it's well before the founding of YouTube, Blip.tv, Facebook, and Twitter.

12 freaking years.

And all during that time, Sarah Palin has done nothing but go from Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to Governor of Alaska, then to 2008 GOP Vice Presidential Candidate, after being drafted by a group of young conservatives, and now millionaire public figure.

And over this period, Palin has been attacked,  her kids have become celebrities, and people have made all kind of claims that keep the media going - like the one where Bristol Palin's kid's real father was black. 

Even with that, and other attacks and blasts, Sarah Palin has earned over $12 million since leaving the Alaska Governor's Office, and that estimate was released a year ago.  

And what has Syrin, er, Sherry Whitstine, done over that time? Get angrier and angrier. So much so that her focus has been on nothing but Sarah Palin, and apparently from her tweets to me, not even sex.

Or fun.

The real question is what sparked Ms. Whitstine to embark on this 12-year, Captain Ahab-like pursuit of Sarah Palin? Whatever the answer, it's clear Sherry's the classic definition of a Sarah Palin-hater.

But a hater doesn't have to be as single-mindedly dedicated as Syrin! She's pissed-off and beyond the charts. Can you imagine the pent-up, raw, primal sexual energy, just waiting to be unleashed from Ms. Whitstine! Wow. What a gusher of a ride that would be!

Stay tuned.

LeBron James Falls Mark Cuban, Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavs NBA Champs

Dallas mavericks 105, Miami Heat 95. The Dallas Mavericks are the

The title - "LeBron James Falls Mark Cuban, Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavs NBA Champs" - says it all. Fair or unfair it may be, but the simple fact is that the 2011 NBA Finals will be remembered more as the opportunity LeBron James lost, much more than the series the Dallas Maverick's won.

But before we dive deeper into the many reasons why that opinion is the best one, congratulations to Dallas Maverick's Owner Mark Cuban, and the legendary Cal Grad Point Guard Jason Kidd.

Cuban, known more for his outspoken words that pissed off NBA Commissioner David Stern, and his love for blondes, blogging, tech, television, and the good life, now Cuban will be known as the owner of a successful NBA Champion organization. That position, alone, gives Mark a level of new respect he's not enjoyed before, but for which he more than deserves.

The truth is that Mark Cuban didn't get to where he is by being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He got there by hard work and something he will readily tell you: luck. Cuban is ready with stories of his failures as well as his successes, and now being able to hold his first NBA Bill Russell Trophy is a just reward for all that he has done.

Something that can be said for Cal's Jason Kidd.

Toiling with the NBA's New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals, but losing, in back-to-back games, it seemed Kidd would never get that ring. But his will to win never waned, and now, in his 38th year of age, the oldest point guard in the NBA, he's a champion.

A champion is something LeBron James wants to be thought of, and this corner really believed James would will a title with the Miami Heat this year.

It didn't happen, and that was because, as teammate Chris Bosh said "They wanted it more than we did." That can be said for LeBron - for King James.

Frankly, there were times in this NBA Finals Game Six, where LeBron played more like a queen than a king. He just didn't seem to have that killer desire to rise up and fight through the Dallas defense to make that jaw-dropping dunk that changes the game. In fact, Mr. James looked like he was afraid to dunk when that was the shot called for.

Now, LeBron will have the rest of the Summer to think about how to dunk and what could have been.

{EAV_BLOG_VER:b2cb2e31deba9a95}

AC Transit's Joel Young Issues Statement In Sex Scandal

AC Transit Board Member Joel Young, considered by some a front-runner in the 2012 race to replace California Assembly District 16 legend Sandra Swanson should Young decide to enter the race, was accused of domestic violence in a sex scandal that was first reported by Indy Bay, then in this space.

What's weird in this story where Young was rumored to have harmed his ex-girlfriend, and for which temporary restraining orders were filed each by one against the other, is that reports are that she caught him with another woman.

That's a scenario that leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and caused this blogger to write:

What's missing from this is just how did Young's reportedly ex-girlfriend find him in bed with another woman? Did she have a key to his home? How did she know to walk in? Something's missing here.

Well that "something's missing" - that giant hole of information - was filled in by Young and his lawyer today, who, as a team, have come out swinging.

Here's what Young and his attorney Enrique Pearce sent directly and exclusively (for now) to this blogger:

June 12, 2011

AC Transit Director Joel Young Physically (And Politically) Attacked

Political opponents are doing their best to smear AC Transit Director Joel Young with unfair attacks related to an incident where an intruder broke into Director Young's home and physically assaulted him in his bedroom.

Director Young is currently seeking judicial relief for this attack in Alameda Superior Court. His attacker has falsely claimed that this physical attack is related to domestic violence. With respect to this allegation, Director Young issued the following statement:

"Domestic Violence is a very real and heinous problem in our community.
It's a problem that I take very seriously, which is one of the reasons I am fighting back against these outrageous allegations. This is not just about clearing my name, this is about taking a strong stand against anyone who would mock the seriousness of this crime and cheapen the traumatic experience of victims everywhere. I want my community to know that I am 100 percent committed to pursuing justice in a court of law. I cannot support this kind of vengeful attack on my character, and we will have zero tolerance for anyone who tries to sully the very real community mission of ending domestic violence."

To be clear, this incident is being used as a blatant political attack on Director Joel Young by individuals who do not want to see him challenge incumbent Sandre Swanson for the 16th Assembly District seat.

Here are the important facts:

Key Facts About The Incident

- On March 7th, at approximately 5:30AM AC Transit Director Joel Young
was attached in his home, by a woman that he was casually dating.

- The woman had gotten into his home using a set of keys she had taken from him the previous day without his consent, and upon finding him with someone else, physically attacked him as he laid in bed.

- Mr. Young attacker hit him multiple times in the head neck and face as well as cut him in his left torso which has left him with two permanent scars.

- After going after the other woman, the attacker then went after Mr.
Young again and was physically retrained by Mr. Young until she calmed
down. Page 2

- About a week and half later, Mr. Young’s attacker then went to a Family Law Court and requested a restraining order against Mr. Young alleging to be the victim of domestic violence.

- As of today, no permanent restraining order has been issued by the
court. However, both parties have received temporary restraining
orders until the Family Law Judge makes a decision on the restraining
order requests in August.

- The Alameda County District Attorneys office has investigated this
matter and declined to press charges against either party in this matter.

Political Attack Aimed At Derailing Campaign

- While Mr. Young has not officially declared his candidacy to run for the California State Assembly to replace Sandre Swanson, political insiders
consider him to be a strong contender for the position if he decides to get in the race.
- The posting of this article on Indybay is a political attack done by the opposition to derail his campaign.
- The Article posting occurred on the same day Mr. Young was having a
kick - off reception for his exploratory committee
- Person who posted the article left no contact information on Indybay.
- The name of the article poster is "Epic Beard Man, Jr." Epic Beard Man is the old guy that beat up an African American Ac Transit Bus rider.
Clearly the person that put this up knows a lot about the local political scene in the east bay.

Can Young fight his way out of this issue?  The news that the Alameda County District Attorney declined to file charges is big news, and that, alone, should clear Young.   The new question is to what degree his ex-girlfriend will allow all of this to go away.

Only time will tell. 

And on that note, comments on this at SFGate.com will not be allowed.  There have been attempts to put the woman's true name out in public against her wishes and using the comment section.   That simply will not be allowed to happened again in this space.  

Anthony Weiner And Amy Smart Should Do Crank 3 Sex Scene

New York U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner has announced that he will seek treatment (for sex addiction, one can guess) in the wake of a story broke by Conservative Blogger Andrew Brietbart that the central figure in Weinergate has contacted and sent lewd photos to five women - Megan Broussard, Lisa Weiss, Ginger Lee, and Gennette Cordova - and initiated contact with a 17-year old woman, but claims there was no inappropriate contact.

That news tipped Democratic scales against him, and calls for his resignation increased several fold, with Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz the latest to do so. "It is with great disappointment that I call on Representative Anthony Weiner to resign," DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement Saturday, according to CNN.com. "The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner's continued service in Congress is untenable."

With all of this focus on what seems to be a sex-crazed politician, and the apparent scenario emerging that Weiner may be forced out of Congress, the question is, with his wife Huma Abelin pregnant, what will he do for money?

One idea is to replace actor Jason Statham in a third installment of the Crank movie series, where Statham plays a man who's heart needs constant adrenaline stimulation, including public sex with Amy Smart. Imagine Congressman Weiner, every bit as fit as Jason Statham, in the third Crank.

It might look something like this:

And, given what's facing Congressman Weiner from his colleagues, his enemies, and his constituents, acting in a movie like that may be his next line of work.

Stay tuned.

President Obama on Death of Osama bin Laden (SPOOF)

If you've not seen this spoof of President Barack Obama's speech after Osama Bin Ladin was assassinated, stop what you're doing and pay attention. This is a video that exactly expresses what you and I both know Barack wanted to say after the Navy Seal Team 6 got to their objective.

Created by So-Cal-based actor and impressionist Iman Crosson, the video, according to CBS News, perfectly captured the national mood. But enough of that, here's Mr. Crosson as President Obama:



If you're wondering "How did he do that?" Here's a video called President Obama on Death of Osama SPOOF- BEHIND THE SCENES and contains several out-takes, as well as Crosson's explanation of how he copied the President's speech style, while in time with the rap music he used.



In short, a work of genius that's only gained 4.66 million views over the past month, when it should have gained 10 million views by now.

By comparison, the eHarmony Video Bio featuring that crazy cat lover, Debbie,  faking her crying, has reached the 4 million mark in just four days.

Google's "Google Trends" Tool At 20, Now 14, 18 Results? Glitch?

Google's Google Trends online tool that allows you to see what others are searching for, and what the overall search and content production trend is at any given time on the search engine's site, is either suffering from a weird glitch, or Google's trying to shorten its results listing, yet again.

Today, Google Trends came up with just 14 results.  I figured it was a glitch, so I refreshed the screen.  The last keyword was still marked at 14.  Then, a few minutes later, that changed to 18, and as of this writing, Google Trends still produces 18, and not 20, keyword results.  

Something is wrong. 

As noted by this blogger on April 14th 2011, Google Trends has been long downward spiral of results offerings, falling from 100 to 40 in 2009, then from 40 to 20 keyword results in 2010.

And now, this year in April, Google removed "Hot Topics" from the Google Trends keyword search results report page

While the reason given by bloggers was "spamming" of topic results, I'm starting to remain fast to the idea that Google is really trying to force the World to read traditional media sources, and not blogs.

Let's face it, Google has been under constant legal attack from media companies like The Associated Press, and Google News took off on a weird and ill-advised, and still ongoing attempt to save these organizations, even at the expense of trying to slow the spread of democratic media, push many good blogs off the system, and in the face of constantly improving communications technology that allows for the democratization of media.

The real media results on Google rest with the largely hidden from view Google Blog Search. That Google makes it hard to find Google Blog Search, where Google News is in your face with almost every search action, is no accident.

That Google has allowed Google News to be such that it's news results are in "topic clusters" rather than first, and most recent results regardless of topic, is no accident. It allows traditional media to set the news agenda, even as blogs and social networks are really telling the story of what's happening.

In short, Google's doing evil, taking advantage of its monopoly position in the search market to manipulate the news. That's a horrible outrage that should spark a Congressional Investigation - forget Weinergate; Newsgate is much more important.

We have to take action to stop this kind of online control of what news is presented to us. The question is, what search platform should we use to overcome Google?

I highly recommend Blekko. Based in San Francisco and with a 22-employee team, the new company's effective search engine technology and hash-based categorization of search is starting to catch on. Blekko is now the preferred search engine for the giant Topix network.

The nezt step for Blekko should be to restore this news chaos. Google is going way too far. The firm that once focused on doing good, seems to be far more interested in doing bad by controlling the news.

Obama Inauguration: What The Inauguration Meant To Me

This video of my thoughts about the Inauguration of President Barack Obama will never, ever get old. Indeed, it's a good reminder of the basics that drove so many people to jump on Barack's bandwagon - in my case in December of 2006, when I joined BarackObama.com and made a donation.

It wasn't just the chance to elect the first African American President, that's came up before, but Barack represented, and represents, me. He's the representation of the new American mainstream that caught many in the U.S.A by surprise.

Not me.

I told anyone who would listen, and many who would not listen, that Barack would be the next President, and skin color would not stop it. Barack represents that guy in high school who you voted for for class president, or the person who you invited to your party, or that dude in your carpool, or the person you played poker with, or your college roommate.

Most in America were waiting for that person to emerge - the one who we said "I always knew that guy could be president." Well, in 2008, here we were - ready to elect 'that guy.' And we did.

Yes, there are many who are disappointed with Barack since then, and mostly, largely, because of the economy. I blame the Democrats and the liberal electorate, too. And for allowing Couch Potato Conservatives to hijack the narrative and convince Americans to cut spending, rather than deficit spend to get us out of this low period of private investment.

We need a new stimulus package, or to threaten to jail the nation's bankers, and have them get off the credit they're sitting on. We need a good cash infusion of $400 billion, at least. And all of that should go to helping private sector firms make payrolls - which fuel business. In other words, target that spending just to payments for salaries and wages for work in American firms where the unemployment rates are highest.

We should do nothing else.

But I digress.

We need President Obama to have a second term and because a Republican President would be the kiss of American economic death, choking off spending and causing economic failure.

Some business people, like Jack Welch, say we have to "innovate" our way out of our problem. But that's just plain silly because of the long lead times required to make new products and get them to market.

No. Jack doesn't get it.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria does get it - but to a point.

We need to work on pure, hard core, urban economic development. And at the heart of that is the maintenance of businesses and jobs in America.

Tracy Morgan Shot By His Gay Son After Rant?

Ok. Now, 30 Rock Star Tracy Morgan was what? Morgan was shot by his Gay son? That's the note passed to this blogger an hour ago. Wow.

So, let me get this straight: Tracy Morgan threatened to shoot his son because he's Gay, and instead his Son shot him in the butt? I can't believe it.

Tracy Morgan has three sons, so I'm inclined to wonder which one. But it's sad news to read that Morgan would actually have such an issue with the sexual orientation of his kids that he would threaten violence toward them in any way.

Wait.

OK.

Now I read that the real story was that Morgan went on some homophobic rant and said that he was going to shoot or stab (depending on who you read) his son (again, which one?) if he said he was Gay.

That's sad.

But for some reason, the initial report of Morgan's son shooting him in the ass just reads better. Not that this corner wants to see any harm come to the genius comic that is Tracy Morgan, but to remind him that there could be harsh unexpected consequences for such actions.

There are some ideas not worth expressing. Tracy Morgan didn't need to make that outburst. But he did, and he's apologized for it.

Moving forward.