Lawrence Taylor charged with rape post by Suzannah B. Troy

"Lawrence Taylor was blinded sided by Lawrence Taylor"

Before I write about Lawrence Taylor, let us talk about the true victim, a minor without a name, without economic power and any resources to prevent her from falling in to the slavery of an abusive alleged pimp that gave her a black eye for objecting to have sex with a "special customer". 

What of her?  What lead her to this living hell?  How can we prevent this from happening here and *anywhere on the globe?  What will happen to her now that this horror story has gained world wide attention?  Will she finally get the resources and tools to walk away from this life of hell?  The only reason we happen to know of her suffering --which too many young women, even girls, children endure, in some countries quite openly --is this nightmarish existence was exposed because it involved an alleged "John" who happens to be one of footballs' greats, Lawrence Taylor;  the catalyst, "the backstory" for the telling of the acclaimed book "The Blind Side" written by Michael Lewis.

When the Disney movie with the same title opens, we hear Oscar award winner, Sandra Bullock read Lewis's words explaining how Lawrence Taylor is the reason for the the 2nd highest paid salaries in the NFL for the men that protect the "blind side" of the highest paid football players -- the quarterbacks.

Now let us get to the "backstory" of Lawrence Taylor....Steve Serby has an editorial in The New York Post, "Grid demon is staring at a life in hell".  Serby co-authored a book with Taylor and clearly he admires, loves and is hoping Taylor is truly innocent.  Serby loves Taylor warts and all.  What are his warts... A head line from The New York Daily News sums them up like that 10 plagues listed during a Passover Seder..."Coke, crack, booze, women and jail".  "Women" falls under the really title of sex addiction.  Bad boys say it doesn't exist but it does if you are sexually consuming people like an over eater sucks down gallons of ice cream without stopping to taste the food and exhale. It becomes only about consumption.   These guys have no idea there is an actual human involved when it comes to sex addiction.   All they care about is the thrill, the next conquest, and like all addictions it leaves them lonelier and more empty than before if that is possible.   Many men secretly admire or openly admire the sex addict.  If asked the sex addict might admit it is a lonely habit that doesn't leave them feeling good about themselves and causes major destruction to their families and careers. Fall-out for Taylor has begun by Nutrisystem swiftly dropping him.

Lawrence Taylor doesn't do anything half way and the same for how people feel about him.  They either love him or hate him.  The folks that love him believe his story and say he was set up.

I am not a LT fan but I do I think he was set up.  Yes.  But I don't think he and any of his supporters have stopped for a minute to think about the underage woman being set up and the hell she was living that brought her to this place.

I have "petite fame" and I am an artist-citizen journalist muck raker and I already know from "little fame" the freaks that come out of the wood work even asking me to have their babies and these are not guys that you would bring home to your family and they also have no real income and they are looking for a meal ticket.   One is actually really old and gross and I know no NFL football player has had an elderly woman asking them to have their baby.  Well maybe they have. Celebrity breeds people wanting to use you.   That being said....

Lawrence Taylor was blinded sided by Lawrence Taylor.  He has been and  is his own worst enemy but there is no doubt that his fame makes him a target.  Do I hope he is innocent and that in fact he did not have sex with this young woman?  Yes.  Do I hope even more that he would have stepped up and protected this woman, helped her to break free of an alleged pimp that beat her rather than exploited the horrifying situation?  I hope he did not have sex with her.

I don't want him to go to jail.  I do not want him destroyed by his own worst enemy -- himself but my greater concern it the alleged pimp beater of women goes to jail for as long as possible and the true victim here, the underage woman gets the help and resources she needs.  I want her to have a safe place she calls home and income that allows her to not fall victim to monsters like this alleged pimp.

Were drugs involved?  Did the pimp use them as a form of bondage like invisible chains as well as threats of physical violence?  I don't know.

I do know The New York Daily News shows striking photos of a rapist laughing until he is sentenced to prison time for raping a prostitute.  Than he started to cry.  You see, he thought he would not go to jail for raping and terrorizing this woman because she was a prostitute.   He robbed her and raped her at gun point.  He thought he would never get caught because "nobody cared about" this woman.  You see he saw her as having no value.

So what if nothing is done to help this underage woman in the Lawrence Taylor case, the true victim here that has no celebrity, until being linked to LT?    She had no escape.  If nothing is done for her with her life...the cowardly "laughing rapist" is right, not about his victim but about the under age prostitute in the high profile LT disaster;  the newest one in way too many in Lawrence Taylor's life.  (I want to give the NYPD the highest praise for catching the rapist, the DA and judge  for making sure this coward goes to jail and proving this woman's life had and has value.)

I am repulsed by  Tiger Woods and I believe he doesn't have much remorse.  He put his family on the back burner yet again for sports and his massive ego but I look at the photos of Lawrence Taylor and I see what appears to be remorse, even shock.   In one photo he looks up possible to Heaven and maybe he is praying to God, for help and asking how did I get here?

Taylor changed the game of football for better or worse.  He inspired Michael Lewis to use him as the defining factor of the best seller "The Blind Side".  Sandra Bullock utters his name like a god in the opening minutes of the film.  Taylor even if he is innocent of not actually having sex with an underage prostitute has fallen again and fallen hard.  Unlike Tiger, I believe his remorse is sincere...even for just being at the wrong place, at the wrong time and allowing himself to be connected with a vile, low life thug, alleged violent pimp master and beater of women.  

Lawrence Taylor has to take a good long look at his life yet again and shape up finally, once and for all, never find himself in this or any kind of situation like this ever again.  Too many male star athletes find themselves on the front pages of newspapers and sharing headlines that might make people forget the mega disasters like the horrific oil spill off of the Gulf of Mexico or the massive budget catastrophe  right here in New York which has yet to but might bring us in to an economic depression.  We are seeing violent out breaks in Greece because of similar issues.

What Lawrence Taylor needs to do is plead his case.  If he is innocent plead innocent, if not plead guilty.  He needs to think long and hard about the real victim here, this underage woman, a teenage girl.  His fame brought her hellish existence to the front pages of major newspapers around the world and I am sure "Lawrence Taylor" are hot words in Google's search engine.  Can he use his fame to help to stop the exploitation of underage prostitution here and elsewhere.  It needs to be stopped and removed from this planet as far as I am concerned.  I also think prostitution should be legal as well to prevent violence towards women as well as other issues.

Time will tell how this actually plays out for LT.  For now he was sacked and if he is guilty the police did a good job.  The police have found a used condom in the hotel room.  Either way the police did good work and now I hope and pray a young woman's life will be saved and the alleged pimp goes to jail for a long time.   If Lawrence Taylor  is innocent or guilty it is up to LT to take this and some how turn it  into a positive.  He can use  his fame to help make a positive difference and one suggestion is to help fight child prostitution here in this country.

* Child prostitution happens all over the world including here.  I can't give you links to but here is more info.

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.

Conan O'Brien called liar by NBC after CBS 60 Minutes interview

Wow. NBC's hopping mad at Conan O'Brien for what he said during his CBS News 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday.

While Conan's joking about the 60 Minutes interview on Twitter...

Hey kids, check me out on '60 Minutes' tonight. Watch for the part of the interview where I start crying and admit to mail fraud.
8:02 AM May 2nd via web

And CBS enjoyed a ratings bounce from Conan's interview, drawing enough viewers to come close to competitor Celebrity Apprentice according to Deadline.com..

NBC is not laughing at all.

According to TMZ, which broke the story at 1 AM Tuesday, this is what went down:

Network sources tell TMZ Conan was flat out wrong when he said NBC gave him the axe rather than Leno because Jay's buyout would have been bigger. Sources say the buyouts for Conan and Jay were roughly the same. TMZ broke the story Conan took home $32.5 million from his severance package with NBC.

And our network sources say Coco was just plain lying in response to Steve Kroft's question:

Kroft: "They said that the -- for the first time in history, 'The Tonight Show' was losing money."

Conan: "I don't see how that's, I honestly don't see how that's possible. It's really not possible. It isn't possible."

Then one TMZ source claimed Conan O'Brien knew that was the case, so NBC's calling Conan a liar!

If you missed the Conan O'Brien CBS 60 Minutes interview, here it is in full (the statement in question appears in Part II):



Part II video:



In hindsight, while Conan O'Brien may think his interview was cathartic, an angry NBC may take another look at his contract clause about defamation and cry foul. Still, it would be a scare tactic. The Insider showed how such agreements can be thwarted without sound legal recourse.

Stay tuned.

Shahzad Faisal: Times Square car bomb suspect a Facebook problem

In the "Well, that was fast" department we have the arrest of alleged Times Square car bomb suspect Shahzad Faisal, who's causing a lot of problems for all of the guys nameed "Shahzad Faisal" on Facebook and his 115 friends.

When one Googles "Shahzad Faisal," there's one Facebook profile page that pops up, but if you search for the name a lot of Shahzad Faisal's come up. You've got to feel story for all of the other Shahzad's out there who have the burden of saying "It's not me."

We know. It's one guy. A man who reportedly lives in Connecticut and who NY Police claim purchased the Nissan Pathfinder with cash and filled out no paperwork.

That SUV was armed with a kind of make shift bomb that failed to work. Interestingly it led an Islamic Terrorist group to claim responsibility for ..it's failure.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, if you're Shahzad Faisal and on Facebook, put a disclaimer somewhere on your profile. One that reads "It's not me!"

Yeardley Love on Facebook: UVA Lacrosse death shocking

Yeardley Love

Yeardley Love is an unusual name, even on Facebook where she had over 1,000 friends. But now the name Yeardley Love is known for the UVA Lacrosse player death allegedly by George Huguely. The shocking news has the Virginia college student community facing yet more national attention for another student crime. The last time America focused on Virginia in this way was during the The Virginia Tech massacre of 2007.

But this crime is between two people: Yeardley Love and George Huguely, both 22 years old.

George Huguely on paper would seem to be the perfect young man to be a woman's boyfriend or a star of a college athletic program: All-American and starting quaterback at Landon School and an honor roll student before he came to The University of Virginia. But according to Charlottesville Police Yeardley Love and George Huguely at one point has a romantic relationship and something led them to believe George killed Yeardley Love.

Mainstream media articles all tell the same story as above and Virginia blogs are largely unhelpful in providing more clues as of this writing. Morever, the accounts - like the one in the Washington Post - are largely obits on the accomplishments of Huguely and Love, who was a star student at Notre Dame Prep in Baltimore.

But the bottom line is someone killed Yeardley Love is her home; maybe it was George and maybe not. Someone knows.

There's more...

Stay tuned.

Vanessa Redgrave mourns passing of Lynn Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave, mourns the passing of her sister Lynn Redgrave, who died reportedly of a battle with Breast Cancer, although the official cause of death has not been finalized as of this writing.

"Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven-year journey with breast cancer," Lynn Redgrave's children explained in a statement released by her publicist, according to The Telegraph UK.

Vanessa Redgrave has lost two siblings: Corin Redgrave who died April 6 after a fight with Prostate Cancer, and now Lynn Redgrave and again to cancer.

In March 2009, Vanessa Redgrave's daughter Natasha Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neeson, passed away after complications caused by a head injury from a skiing accident.

Lynn Redgrave dies after seven year battle with Breast Cancer

See: lynn redgrave cancer, vanessa redgrave, natasha richardson, associated press, joely richardson

Sadly, actress Lynn Redgrave, the star of Georgy Girl, died after a seven-year-long battle with Breast Cancer. Redgrave was 67 years old. Reportedly Lynn Redgrave passed away at her Connecticut home and with her kids Ben, Pema and Annabel present.

Here's a trailer from the 1967 movie Georgy Girl:



Redgrave was found to have Breast Cancer at the age of 60. According to ABC News, Redgrave was secretive about the diagnosis and her treatments at Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering cancer clinic, then issued a statement that she was cancer-free.

What's not explained is when the cancer returned.

Suzannah Troy is a New York video-blogger and contributor at Zennie62. Here's her video take on Redgrave:



That's a sad report. As one who's mother's battled Breast Cancer and was declared cancer-free April 17th 2005, a part of me is with everyone who has to deal with this awful problem for which there must be a cure. Something.

But what's bothersome to this blogger is the void, the question, of when the cancer returned. If Lynn was declared cancer-free, it had to come back at some point in time.

Stay tuned.

Lynn Redgrave dies post by Suzannah B. Troy

I was on the train when I got the text message from 1010 WINS that Lynn Redgrave passed away here in NYC , now reported t her home in Connecticut Sunday night.She was surrounded by her family and past at home which is a peaceful and loving way to go after a 7 year battle with breast cancer. One of my all time favorite films is Georgy Girl which if you have not seen, you must!  James Mason is superb as well as the supporting cast. Lynn Redgrave just shines and this somewhat chubby platinum hearted free spirit that the much olderand very rich Mason lusts for. I don't like watching The Oscars for many reasons and one is the winners often are not the most talented but the most popular. I often find myself saying he was robbed, she was robbed and
Lynn Redgrave was robbed of the Oscar for Georgy Girl.  
Elizabeth Taylor beat her out for a powerful performance that year but I can't watch Elizabeth's performance
over and over and I can watch Lynn's performance over and over appreciated the subtleness and complexness of
her acting. It does upset me that over the years so many have picked
up Oscars and they did not deserve them. Lynn deserved to have an Oscar and
didn't get one.
Lynn Regrave was a great actress of theatre and film. She had just deeply moved audiences here in NYC. I called Ken Geist , a writer and film expert to break the news and he was heartbroken.. He said a great loss for the Redgrave family and praised her speech to the audience remembering her years at the National Theatre with Noel Coward as spoke -- she impersonated Noel Coward, Maggie Smith and Edith Evans. Ken told mshe did this at Carnegie Hall honoring the Noel Coward Centennial and also last year in her powerful performance at The Manhattan Theatre Club. She was also an advocate for the right for women to breast feed in public and took on CBS. Gloria Allred jumped on board to be her lawyer and than backed out which is hard to believe. It is hard to believe the powers that be would not let her  breast feed on the tv set of "House Calls". It was a long drawn out case and she had to part ways with other law firms but the bottom line is breast feeding Mom's in Hollywood are treated with respect now and honored but the battle took years, cost Lynn Redgrave a lot of money and being a courageous outspoken woman rather than a "barbie doll" makes getting worker harder. People aren't always eager to higher woman that rock the boat Lynn Redgrave had lost her niece, Natasha Richardson last year in a shocking accident that took her young life and cut short the career of another much loved actor in the family dynasty including Natasha's Mom, Vanessa and their father Michael. Lynn and Vanessa's brother died only a short time ago as well so the family has had their share of loses. Rest in peace dear Lynn, a great actor, advocate and I imagine a true friend to anyone lucky enough to call her friend.

TechCrunch' Michael Arrington leaves SF Bay Area for Seattle

Michael Arrington with friend

Pointing to a need for a change of scenery, Michael Arrington, the founder and editor of the tech blog TechCrunch, and one who's always made himself available to this blogger, is (sadly) leaving the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley for Seattle.

In his blog post written Monday (today), Arrington reports:

This last weekend I moved my primary residence from Silicon Valley to Seattle. My plan is to roughly split my time between Seattle and Silicon Valley, and spend a lot more time on the road meeting entrepreneurs around the world.

Michael says there are "scores and scores of startups here that are doing innovative and disruptive things" and he wants to be a part of that. But really Michael says he needs the change of view. Too bad.

It will not be the same around the Bay Area. Michael would turn up at places like Amsterdam Bar in San Francisco for a party, or at any of the TechCrunch events held around here. One assumes he will still fly down here, but the bet here is he's going up there for the skiing. It can't be for the social life. I wonder of Michael knows about The Seattle Freeze?

Seahawks Golden Tate loves The Crab Pot

Former Notre Dame and now Seattle Seahawks Wide Receiver Golden Tate seems to be settling into his new hometown Seattle and has discovered The Crab Pot.

According to Golden Tate's Twitter account called @ShowtimeTate, he's working to learn the playbook and earn playing time:

Another day at the office! Trying to learn this play book! And missing keenan hall!
7:41 AM May 1st via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Golden Tate, who's college humber was 23, is now #81, a clear sign that he's ready to be an NFL wide receiver. Reportedly he's playing well in Seattle's minicamp. But Tate's also taking to Seattle, as this tweet shows:

I for sure just devoured snow and king crab from Crab Pot!
about 6 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

The Crab Pot is a Seattle institution at The Bay Pavilion at Pier 57 on the Waterfront. It's known for "The Seafest," or as the website describes:

We take a variety of crab, clams, mussels, shrimp in the shell, salmon, halibut, oysters, potatoes, corn on the cob and andouille sausage steamed with mouth watering spices and pour it right on your table! No need for silverware, we give you a bib and a mallet and let you go at it!

Since Golden Tate didn't do "The Seafest", here's a video preview of what he's in store for:



Hopefully Golden Tate sends a tweet while he's devouring The Seafest" the nest time he goes to The Crab Pot.

Ted Ginn Jr. with 49ers - Niners should run the receiver screen

Now that the 2010 NFL Draft is history and the San Francisco 49ers traded for former Ohio State and Miami Dolphins Receiver Ted Ginn Jr., yet failed to add more speed in the form of Clemson Running Back C.J. Spiller, it's obvious Ginn's going to be the speed guy. According to various reports, Ginn's going to be more than the return man - he's going to be a receiver.

The reason is Ginn's coming in and surprising people with his determination to be a good receiver. He's got a lot of work to do, if Niner Nation's blog is considered. "Smiley" wrote a full account of all of Ted Ginn's games in 2009 including his best (11 for 108 against the Colts) and his worst (the 2 for 8 performance against the New Orleans Saints).

Considering Ted's amazing speed as shown in this record setting performance where he returned two kicks for over 100 yards in one game and in one quarter...



The 49ers should use Ginn in flanker screen plays and reverses, as the Dolphins did. The Niners may want to place Ginn at Split End and just have him, but Flanker's actually a more efficient place for Ted Ginn to be.

Washington Redskins Fans at 2010 NFL Draft Red Carpet

This NFL Draft installment (thanks to the Inn at Irving Place, part of the Small Luxury Hotels of The World brand) comes from New York, Radio City Music Hall - The NFL's known for some of the craziest fans in sports, but The Washington Redskins Fans have to take the cake as the most rabid and dedicated.

This group came up dressed in Redskins colors and mostly as hogs to make one point: they wanted Washington Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen to select an offensive lineman. They wanted a hog.



YouTube, Yahoo, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, StupidVideos and Viddler

And in Oklahoma Offensive Tackle Trent Williams, The Washington Redskins Fans got their wish. They got a hog as the Redskins 1st round pick. Now, the Redskins hope they can get Williams signed in time for training camp.

When Williams was introduced to the organization and the media last Friday, Bruce Allen played media member and asked him if he planned to sign and be in camp on time. Williams said he would.

Fot the long suffering Redskins fans, let's hope he does.

Nashville, Memphis Tennessee flooding impacts millions

The news of Nashville and Memphis Tennessee flooding hits this blogger in a personal way. All of my aunts and cousins are in cities and towns between Nashville and Memphis Tennessee. My mother called today (Sunday) to explain my aunts' kitchen is flooded, but didn't explain why because of our bad phone connection; now I know why.

This video explains it all:



Reportedly, thunderstorms dropped a foot of rain on Nashville, Memphis, and the Mid South, forcing the evaculation of 1,500 people according to The Commercial Appeal.

Memphis, Tenn

One river, called the Loosahatchie River at Arlington, Tennessee, rose a whopping 23 feet in 24 hours, and reached a record of 25.31 feet Sunday. Joe Ford, the Interim Mayor of Shelby County, called a State of Emergency on Saturday. Millington was the hardest hit of all of the cities, with two subdivisions flooded.

The weather today? 77 degrees and partly cloudy as of this writing.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Museum Party a ton of fun, but what about the future?

The Oakland Museum on 10th Street next to Laney College in Oakland, California had a great all-night block party that was a ton of fun. You know it was a perfect Oakland event when you run into people you know from all over the town, as was the case for this blogger.

Before I install the video from that fun event, this post was necessary if only to gush about how nice it was to see a free Oakland event that reflected the true sprit of the City. Yes, the Museum looked great, but the people looked even better. The drinks flowed, the food was good considering much of it was either free to cheap, and the artwork was excellent.

I didn't stay all night because my dear friend insists on getting up early to do her endurance training. Were it not for that, I'd have stayed until 3 AM; the party closed at 6 AM.

We spent time with Susan Mernit and Amy Gahran, and Editor and Publisher and Senior Editor of Oakland Local (who had staff all over the Museum) as well as a number of friends and associates, some that may want to be kept out of a blog, so be it. It was a fantastic time.

The one thought which kept rolling through my head was how will the Museum top the event? The problem as I see it, is the event was more about the event at the Museum than the Museum itself. I'm not taking anything away from the Oakland Museum, but my friend's first question was when were they going to do it again?

That's the point. It was so great, the Museum could suffer if it doesn't do one again and make it some kind of annual thing.

I hope it does.

2nd Avenue Deli Memories & great food! posted by Suzannah B. Troy

Lynn told me she has the greatest job in the world.  (I have heard that before but only from New York City Firemen, especially long term fire eaters from the old days!) Remembering Abe...... Lynn credits Abe Lebewohl for the love she has for her job and really for everything she has.  Talk about attitude with gratitude! Lynn said to me, "Abe was so big hearted."  When she was started working there 17, maybe 18 years ago, she was told she was hired but she had to serve Abe soup first.  For anyone who has not dined at the famous deli you have no idea what an endeavor that is.  All the portions at the 2nd Avenue Deli are huge!!!!! According to Lynn, Abe still lives...she loves working at the Deli and I get the vibe from her Abe's big hearted energy still can be felt  like a guardian angel accompanying the many photos of Abe with many movers and shakers.  My favorite picture is of Abe and his wife Eleanor with Dustin Hoffman.  Lynn spoke lovingly of Eleanor saying she was such a down to earth woman that when she came to eat you would never know she was Abe's wife. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ8EQ_DPLX0 I  remember being greeted warmly by Abe every time I stopped in. I also remember when my Uncle passed away I stopped in the Deli when it was really on 2nd Avenue Deli and I need to get a tin of rugelah  and I couldn't reach the shelf high above the counter and a big young teddy bear NYPD officer reached up and got a tin for me. I do believe one day the NYPD will solve this crime. Call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477); Text "TIP577" (plus your message) to "CRIMES" ( 274637); Submit Internet Tips · rss Subscribe to NYPD Most Wanted RSS ... www.nyc.gov/nypd   There is a park by St. Marks Church near where the original deli was dedicated to Abe's memory. I interviewed Jack, Abe's brother asking him when did Abe open the deli? Jack did the math.  Abe was born in 1931.  He was 23 years old when he opened the del with 2 partners.  Shortly there after they bought out one partner and in the 1960's Abe bought out the other partner becoming the sole owner with soul serving Jewish Soul Food!!!!  Those are my words, not Jacks! I am heavily into soul. By the way I asked Lynn if you had any celebrity stories I could blog about and she said, No, discretion is the greater part of valor!   I asked Jack as well....similiar response but the walls are filled with photos of celebrities, NY characters, politicians, sport stars & their owners as well as Yiddish theatre stars!!!!! Lynn is the official Jewish Mother on the premises and decided since my tummy hurt I was to have ginger ale, no ice, no straw, and that I must slowly sip my soda.   She recommended kasha varniskes for me.

My Dad is the true driving force that brings me to 2nd Avenue Deli.  We had a great time.   I did because I love my Dad as well as the Jewish soul food.

How Sandra Bullock and Jesse James kept adopted baby a secret

Hollywood's buzzing about how How Sandra Bullock and Jesse James could have kept the news they adopted a baby boy named Louis Brado Bullock a secret. Rob Shuter over at Pop Eater explains how they did it, or at least how she did it.

Reportedly Sandra Bullock kept everyone out of her house, even close friends. If Sandra needed to get dressed and made up for events like The Academy Awards, she'd have her team meet her at a hotel suite.

Since Rob doesn't mention Jesse James role in the secrecy, we can only guess James was so busy leading that double-life with Michelle "Bombshell" McGee, and other women, the last thing he wanted to do was tell any one of them he had a new baby boy at home.

Video recap of Sandra Bullock, Jesse James, and baby Louis news:



And on the matter of "home" Sandra Bullock and Jesse James are selling their Long Beach dwelling for $6 million. Bullock's reportedly moving to New Orleans to start a new life with baby Louis.

Stay tuned.

Justin Bieber hits on Kim Kardashian at White House Dinner

Kim and Justin at White House Correspondents Dinner

For a 16-year-old Justin Bieber's becoming the man. At The White House Correspondents Dinner Bieber hits on Kim Kardashian, who he's said he wanted to date many times.

Of course Kim was with New Orleans Saints Running Back Reggie Bush, who now has to suffer as his Super Star Ex-Girlfriend openly flirts and teases with a gaggle of men from other athletes to the 16-year old Bieber (photo from Twitter).

In fact, Justin Bieber's claiming Kim Kardashian's his on Twitter:

KimKardashian I officially have Bieber Fever!!! RT @justinbieber: Look its my girlfriend @kimkardashian http://tweetphoto.com/20716573
about 14 hours ago via TweetGenius
Retweeted by justinbieber and 100+ others

But as I recall Justin Bieber wanted to date Barbara Walters and Tina Fey to name a few. That young man's head's on a swivel for sure.

Meanwhile, Reggie Bush must be busting a gut over Kim Kardashian's ability to make media in a second. Bush has a constant reminder that he should have married her if only to escape the indirect punishment he's receiving for not proposing to her after the Saint's Super Bowl win.

Meanwhile Kim's rockin' the Casbah!

Web 2.0 Expo is a waste of time

There was a time, not took long ago, when this blogger was excited to attend Web 2.0 Expo. Now, having just reviewed the website for this year, over and over again, I can't find anything of interest to me.

Plus, in the interest of full disclosure, I asked for a press pass two years ago and was rebuffed rather rudely by Tim O'Reilly and his people. After that, and with the ever-growing tech world melding more with entertainment, there were other conferences and events to attend, so I did not care.

Moreover, now that my video-blog reach is much greater, I'm in better position to deliver a message to an audience, and I just plain don't give a you-know-what, I don't care about Web 2.0 Expo for another reason: it's so, well, Web 2.0 Expo. Here we are again with the mother of all "Let me dictate to you from a high platform" conferences that's not about real time interaction. That should be the focus. Where's Mark Cuban when you need him?



What I like about Jeff Pulver's 140 Conference concept is that it's based on talk and real time interaction. And in the interest of full disclosure, I've not yet attended one of his conferences but a lot of my friends and associates have, and from the massive number of tweets I've received, I feel like I was at the New York Conference, even as I was in NYC for the 2010 NFL Draft. Props to Jeff.

Plus, Jeff Pulver is a cool guy.  This I can say from personal experience.

So that's why I'm just not excited about Web 2.0 Expo and will not even spend a dime or ask for any kind of pass this year. It's an old formula and reeks of a kind of selectivity that makes me ask "Who the heck are you to tell me..." in this case, about the "Power of Platforms."

What's really awful is that after being really interesting Web 2.0 Expo has settled into the same tired pattern that repeats itself again and again: someone talking to you about Facebook and Social Media without us talking about how all of this impacts media and about what new platforms are out there.

In other words the innovation climate once a part of Web 2.0 Expo is just gone. Moreover, O'Reilly Media shows that it doesn't really know what it's doing here by using "certain" platforms and not as many as possible. For example, the Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco webpage has just one video platform, and that's Blip.tv. I love Blip.tv, but No YouTube or Vimeo, and no Tubemogul? Thats crazy!

Using Tubemogul would automatically mean Web 2.0 Expo videos were on many different video platforms and not just one. "Power of Platforms?" Right. Sure. Okay.

And that's what really bugs me about Tim O'Reilly's approach: the overwhelming need to select "who gets in" and "what is used" which runs counter to the social media best practice of having a "mark" in every platform territory not just to get the message out, but also to block the chance some mean person will set up their own Web 2.0 Expo video channel on some place Tim and his people overlooked because it didn't matter to them or they just didn't know about it.

Like, er, YouTube. While O'Reilly Media has its own channel, you'd think they'd have one for Web 2.0 right? Well as of this writing, no they don't. Check the YouTube search for Web 2.0 Expo now (this could change after the release of this blog) and we find O'Reilly Media and a bunch of totally boring videos; no Web 2.0 Expo channel.

And no video-bloggers running around capturing cool stuff. Like, my video from the Reddit party in 2007:



Trouble is Reddit was new then and is still very relevant, but not to O'Reilly Media, which doesn't even use Reddit on its website. (There's that selectivity crap again.) Where's the party for the next great startup? I guess I'll have to wait for TechCrunch's next event.

Stay tuned.

NYC Times Square car bomb scare: who did it?

This blogger just returned from New York and The 2010 NFL Draft, and given that a week ago Saturday Times Square, next to Radio City Music Hall, was bustling and teaming with people on a warm spring night, it's shocking to learn that Times Square's shut down by a car with a bomb in it.

It happened at between 6 and 6:30 PM EST Saturday and was a Nissan Pathfinder that was parked on West 45th Street near 7th Avenue according to Gothamist.com. A T-shirt vendor who was not named and who was a Vietnam Veteran told NYPD mounted police officer, Wade Rattagan that a SUV's motor was running with its hazzard lights flashing.

CNN interviewed another man,Hamid Boubain, who was standing not less than "15 feet" from the SUV when he told a friend "Yo yo look at this!" and said that police came onto the scene 15 minutes later to clear everyone out of the area.

Eventually, Times Square and most of Midtown Manhattan was a ghost town with patrons evacuated from restaurants or told to stay in theater playhouses until further notice. Police cleared an area from 45th to 48th Streets and between 6th and 8th Avenue, according to The New York Times.

Then New York Police used a robot to go in and enter the vehicle. Inside were "three propane tanks, two filled five-gallon gas containers, two clocks with batteries, consumer-grade fireworks and a locked metal box that resembled a gun locker" according to CNN.

The SUV itself was unidentified. The license plate came from another car and police contacted that person who told them they'd taken the original car with the plate to a junk yard. The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was removed. It was a deliberate but unsuccessful attempt to terrorize New York City.

The question is "who did it?" No one knows. There were claims that someone ran from the car, but those were unfounded. The attempt was compared to the bombing in Glasgow, but that was in 2007.

Stay tuned.