Julia Mancuso wins second Silver Medal in Olympics

Julia Mancuso, the American female skier who on Wednesday collected the Silver Medal in the Women's Downhill race at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, earned another one Thursday in the "Women's Super Combined" according to the LA Times.

And where Julia Mancuso finished just .56 seconds (that's point-five-six) behind teammate Lindsey Vonn yesterday, Mancuso was ahead of Vonn today.

Lindsey Vonn has an unfortunate end to the Women's Super Combined, as she fell during the slalom run. The Gold Medal went to Germany's Maria Riesch (reportedly Vonn's good friend) while Sweden's Anja Paerson won the Bronze Medal.

Now, Mancuso has entered what ESPN's Howard Bryant calls "The Star Club". Mancuso, who won a Gold Medal in the giants slalom at the Toronto 2006 Games, was considered a dark horse known more for her sexy photos than for celebrity status as a pure skier. But all of that is in the past, except the photos and the lingerie line, which should sell at a high rate in the wake of her amazing win.

Julia Mancuso has a heavy Bay Area connection. The Squaw Valley-dweller's grandparents and four aunts all live in Marin County.

Stay tuned.

KSFO's Lee Rogers out; KRON alleged problems Richard Lieberman focus

UPDATE: Anthony Licciardi of KSFO Marketing explained via email that the change from Lee Rogers to Brian Sussman and the addition of John Batchelor were just "a natural transition. Brian has done a great job filling in for the days that Lee was not on the show and it was just time. Nothing more to read into."

Reports that KSFO's Lee Rogers is out and that KRON has alleged problems causing its decline are the focus of Richard Lieberman's blog "The Rich Lieberman Report.

The Lee Rogers departure story is big. Lieberman reports:

Veteran KSFO morning personality, Lee Rodgers, has been let go at the Citadel-owned, right-wing talk station, it has now been confirmed. Weeknight host, Brian Sussman will replace Rodgers. KSFO is the sister station of KGO radio.

Attempts to reach station management were unsuccessful. On KSFO's web site, Rodgers is not listed on its weekday schedule, and an independent source close to the station, told me, via e-mail, that Rodgers "was out."

With Rogers reported departure, it looks like the end of "Hot Talk" 560 radio. This was their promotional commercial from 2007:



Richard Lieberman reports on Bay Area Media (I keep telling him to go national). He's here's:

SF Cultural Trends Examiner, and here at Rich Lieberman Report.

Stay tuned.

Running news: Oakland Running Festival - Oakland Marathon in March

In today's running news, the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon are set for March 27th and March 28th in Oakland. Oaklanders know that Oakland's had a rich tradition of housing great runners and fostering a healthy running culture. Some, like runner Regina Jacobs, have achieved Olympic fame and stardom. But only once in over two decades has Oakland been the location of a major running event. The Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon will change that when they get going in March.

This blogger recently video-interviewed Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival Producer Gene Brtalik at the columns at Lake Merritt on a windy Sunday, and learned about the origins of the running event. Gene Brtalik is from Baltimore and moved in Oakland last year. He worked for running race producer Corrigan Sports in Maryland and wanted to maintain employment with them.

Corrigan Sports's representatives told him to check out the running scene in Oakland, so he "made some calls to city officials and asked around and within three months of moving here the city essentially greenlighted the event. In June, the City Council passed a resolution that the city was going to have a running festival."

While the centerpiece event is the 26-mile Marathon, all of the courses, from the 5K to the half-marathon are "walker friendly". The marathon course (PDF here) itself will take the runner from downtown Oakland through West Oakland and Lake Merritt, then up to the Rockridge District, before winding back through Montclair and the Fruitvale and back into downtown Oakland.

Gene's plan is to steadily grow what could become a really huge event in the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon. He doesn't want to overload the City's public works staff with the additional work that comes with a lot of people at once in one year.

Here's the full schedule of Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon events according to its website:

Saturday, March 27th
9am – 6pm Packet Pick-Up, Sports Expo, and Late Registration
6-8pm Kick-Off Party with Live Music and more! at Lake Merritt
6:30pm Twilight 5K Race at Lake Merritt
8pm Twilight 5K Awards Ceremony
Sunday, March 28th
7:15am Opening Remarks and National Anthem
7:30am Marathon and Team Relay Races Start
8am Kids' Fun Run Start
9am Half Marathon Start
9am – 2pm Sports Expo and Celebration Village Activities
10am - 2pm Live Music on the Stage
12:00pm Awards Ceremony

Gene's always looking for volunteers, so you can help out here: http://www.oaklandmarathon.com/Volunteers.htm

UC San Diego party mocking Black History Month shows racism

Last weekend, UC San Diego was the site of an off-campus party held that mocked Black History Month. The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was pointed to as the organization that held the party, but its president says that's not the case.

California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass called for an investigation and issued this video statement:



In the video, Bass said "It seems as though every single year this situation happens." That, in itself, is a chilling report on the state of race relations on California's college campuses.

At the party, called "Compton Cookout" women were given these instructions:

"Ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary, and attempt to make up for it, by forming new words, such as 'constipulated', or simply cursing persistently, or using other types of vulgarities, and making noises, such as 'hmmg!', or smacking their lips, and making other angry noises, grunts, and faces."

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity President Garron Engstrom released this statement:

The UCSD chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity denies any association with the controversial "Compton Cookout" party held by a "group of [UCSD] students", identified by the University. Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) strongly condemns such actions and prejudices as the fraternity prides itself of representing a diverse cross-section of the UCSD student body.
This party was not a Pike event, nor was it endorsed by the fraternity. The fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-of-judgment made by any individual members who may have attended or were associated via social-media with the racially-offensive party. These actions are in direct violation of Pike's code of conduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken with such members.
While Pi Kappa Alpha accepts no direct involvement in the planning of this party, the fraternity encourages all in attendance to reach out to the African American community, as well as the UCSD community at large, with a sincere and effective reconciliation program. Such a program will be focused toward the education and individual growth of the chapter members relating to cultural awareness at UCSD.
The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at UCSD has proudly represented the ideals of diversity, scholarship, leadership, athletics and gentlemanly conduct on the UCSD campus since 1997.
Garron Engstrom
President, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity - UCSD Chapter

This is the statement issued by UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox:

OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR
OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR - STUDENT AFFAIRS
February 16, 2010
ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UCSD ALL STUDENTS AT UCSD
SUBJECT: Condemnation of Off-Campus Party and Affirmation of Principles of Community
We were distressed to learn that over the weekend an offensively themed student party, mocking the commemoration of Black History Month, took place off campus. We strongly condemn this event and the blatant disregard of our campus values. Although the party was not a UC San Diego student-organization sponsored event, participants did include UC San Diego students and that causes us great concern.
As stated in our Principles of Community, http://blink.ucsd.edu/HR/policies/POC/principles-of-community.html, we reject acts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs, and, we will confront and appropriately respond to such acts. We reaffirm our Principles of Community http://blink.ucsd.edu/HR/policies/POC/principles-of-community.html and encourage the campus to join us in our affirmation.
In addition, we invite students, staff and faculty to participate in a teach-in from noon to 2 p.m. on February 24 in the Price Center East Ballroom to explore how such incidents continue to occur today and to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility on our campus.
Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor
Penny Rue
Vice Chancellor - Student Affairs

The bottom line is incidents like the racist party happen when diversity is not promoted. No teach-in will solve the problem. Parents insisting that their kids have racially diverse friendships will solve the problem. Pushing diversity must be done, but the job is not taken seriously, even by those who should. The result is a generation of adults who grow up without the intellectual and emotional experience of having friends who's skin color is not like their own. So, absent anyone to counter them, they make up offensive images of "the other" and that take is expressed in public.

The AC Transit Bus Fight, and some of the really awfully racist views expressed, is but one example of this problem.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods press conference - no Elin Nordegren?

While Tiger Woods is set to give his press conference Friday, reports are that his wife Elin Nordegren will not be by his side, even if she's wearing the Nike brand that sponsors Woods.

While this news is on several gossip sites, it's not confirmed and given the frankly wacky path of the Tiger Woods story, it could change. There's no question that Tiger Woods having his wife by his side would show the World he's back to normal and ready for Golf.

Kobe Bryant set the example for Tiger Woods when his wife Vanessa took the stage with him at his press conference in the wake of the Colorado Hotel incident:



A smiling Elin Nordegren would make all the difference in how Tiger's perceived from Friday, forward.

Stay tuned.

Joe Stack's Austin, Tx rant blasts city as "self-important"

In the matter of the Plane Crash in Austin, Texas and the writing of an obviously disturbed Joe Stack comes an interesting paragraph where he blasts the City of Austin itself. It's interesting in that some in the tech industry do relocate to Austin from California. Stack's paragraph may be a cautionary tale:

By this time, I'm thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I'll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I've never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages... and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn't give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

Whether it's true or just Joe Stack's isolated experience, it's an interesting commentary on Austin, which is set to host SXSW in March.

Plane crash in Austin - apparent suicide note found; terrorism?

In the matter of the plane crash in Austin, a number of outlets are reporting an apparent suicide note found on a website owned by Joseph Andrew Stack, who's also now called a Teabagger and a terrorist.

Video created by freeway passerby:



Austin Police spokesperson says its not a terrorist act...



But says the "joint terrorism task force" is involved in the matter of the plane crash in Austin. Reads like Timothy James McVeigh all over again to this blogger. That too was an "isolated incident".

This action, the plane crash in Austin, by a disgruntled person in Joe Stack comes one week after the murders of three University of Alabama-Huntsville professors by Dr. Amy Bishop. Clearly, something is wrong.

According to NPR and the Houston Chronicle, Stack is the man who owned the Piper airplane that crashed into an Austin, Texas office building.

Stack's website information, obtained from a "WHOIS" lookup, is here:

Stack, Joe dns.5.sgmail@dfgh.net
925 E Hwy 80
287
San Marcos, TX 78666
US
1.3215649879

The letter that was originally found on the website, and now is all over the Intenet, is here:

If you're reading this, you're no doubt asking yourself, "Why did this have to happen?" The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn't enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless... especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I'm not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was "no taxation without representation". I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a "crackpot", traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven't had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country's leaders don't see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political "representatives" (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the "terrible health care problem". It's clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You've got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly "holds accountable" its victims, claiming that they're responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law "requires" a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that's not "duress" than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early '80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having 'tax code' readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful "exemptions" that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the "best", high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the "big boys" were doing (except that we weren't steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two "interpretations" for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us... Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their "freedom"... and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of "paying my dues"), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I'm sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be "healthier" eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn't quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn't trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early '80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a 'wet-behind-the-ears' contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

?? "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

?? "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

?? "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it's not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can't believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my 'pocket change', and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their "freedom". Oh, and don't forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn't bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren't going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn't need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to "shore up" their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, 'special' facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars ... as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I'm thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I'll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I've never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages... and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn't give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn't have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn't notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I'd never enter another accountant's office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl's unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn't have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is... well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the "great" depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn't it ironic how far we've come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn't have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it's "business-as-usual". Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes... isn't that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I'm hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn't limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at "big brother" while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won't continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn't so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

The letter's now officially called a suicide note and the crash a "criminal act". It's obviously an act of domestic terrorism, and no one can complain about the feds not reading Stack his Miranda rights.

Stay tuned.

Chabot College attacked again by Alameda County Taxpayers Association

Chabot College political spending has caught the attention, and the anger, of the Alameda County Taxpayers Association. Last November, Arthur Geen, representing the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, wrote a letter to the editor of the Oakland Tribune complaining of general fund spending for opposition to the planned Hayward, California-based Calpine Plant.

Now, with former PG&E Community Affairs Liason Wil Hardee representing the taxpayer watchdog organization, their efforts at pointing to Chabot College's questionable spending have been turned up a notch.

On Wednesday, Hardee said to this blogger "If Chabot has budget problems, why have they spent at least $120,000 to fight a project that was already approved? That's only what we know; it doesn't include the cost of staff time."

Hardee says that he's puzzled over the relationship between Chabot College and Calpine. Hardee wants to know if Chabot College was so concerned with any environmental impacts from the proposed plant why didn't Chancellor Joel Kinnamon meet with Calpine representatives? Indeed, there's no record, and many claims, that Chancellor Joel Kinnamon never met with, and refused to meet with, Calpine representatives.

Considering the millions of dollars that Calpine gave in project-related expenditures and education budget cuts, one would think Chabot College would want to be in line for some kind of aid? Right? Instead, Chabot College avoids such possible outcomes and spends what could be a quarter-of-a-million-dollars on opposing the Calpine plant, which has been approved.

Next stop, Chancellor Joel Kinnamon.

Stay tuned.

AC Transit Bus Fight - YouTuber iyannaw08 talks about video

YouTuber iyannaw08, who filmed the AC Transit Bus Fight video, makes a new video blog to time to clear up some misconceptions in the wake of the video's viral status.

First, she says that she did not take the bag that belonged to the Old White Man. iyannaw08 says that she took the bag to the front of the bus and left it for the authorities when they arrived.

Second, she says was not dating or related to the black man in the video "I've never seen these two gentlemen in my life."

She ends the video by apologizing to anyone who was offended. But what's offensive are some of the comments left on her video page. They call her terrible names and racial slurs, and present the very racist, crazy people I complained about. YouTube should step up efforts to have settings that erase those words all together if the channel manager so desires.

It reenforces a statement I've made that if you want to see just how sick, just how screwed up some people really are, take up the occupation of online community management.

Something else, many, including myself, called the black man in the video "young" - he's 50-years-old.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods Press Conference - what Tiger Woods will say

The media and the sports World is abuzz with news of the Tiger Woods Press Conference, but what Tiger Woods is going to say is up in the air. But it's not hard to figure out what Tiger Woods, The World's Greatest Golfer, is going to say at the Tiger Woods Press Conference.

Tiger Woods will remain in his classic stoic affect, explain that he's better after sex therapy, admit that what he did was wrong, explain that he's ready for a return to Golf, and that he's going to focus on the Maters. That's it.

The press can't ask any questions; that's the kicker, according to ESPN. So will Tiger Woods really be totally, well, out of the Woods after the press conference.

No. Tiger Woods needs to get a taste of hard questioning just so he can go through that and then let it pass him and get on with things. But that's not happening Friday.

If you were Tiger Woods, what would you say? Better yet, what do you think Tiger Woods is going to say.

Make a video and share!

Julia Mancuso's sexy photos heat up Women's Downhill in Olympics

While American Lindsey Vonn won Gold in, it's American Julia Mancuso's sexy photos heating up the Women's Downhill in the Winter Olympics.



American Lindsey Vonn became the first female from the U.S.A to win the Women's Downhill Gold Medal.

Vonn beat her teammate Julia Mancuso, who's from the San Francisco Bay Area, by just .56 seconds and on a course that caused several crashes and was as much a test of survival as competitiveness.

But it was Vonn's time to shine. Lindsey Vonn fought back and through the pain of an injured right shin to capture the Olympics' greatest prize.

Lindsey Vonn won the Gold; Mancuso the Silver, and Austrian Elizabeth Goergl got the Bronze medal. But online, it's Julia Mancuso who's getting the Gold in searches.

If there's any sport that prizes the female athlete as diva is skiing (except, perhaps, Tennis).

 In this case, Julia Mancuso's got no problem showing her hot body off before the cameras and on her blog, which is a show case of social networking links, Mancuso-related content, and lingerie.

Yep. Lingerie.

Julia Mancuso's even got her own lingerie line for sale on her blog! It's called "Kiss My Tiara" and at just $15 an item, it's sure to be a hit after Wednesday's Silver Metal success. Here's to Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso for making it happen at the Olympics, on the course, and off.

AC Transit Bus Fight - on racists and crazy people

The AC Transit Bus Fight that was captured on video and made its viral video mark Wednesday is a terrible, sick, and awful statement on American Society in the 21st Century.



The AC Transit Bus Fight features two men - one young and black, the other old and white - who both insult each other and to be frank the video shows the old white man after he went to the back of the AC Transit Bus to antagonize the young black kid. It was wrong for the kid to escalate the discussion, just as it was wrong for the old white man to answer back. It was wrong for the young kid to go and try and fight - to throw a punch. And it was wrong for the old man to hit the kid.

With all of that some observers have proven they're just as much animals as the men in the video. The talk of some is to crown the old white man as some kind of hero, when it's obvious he's some kind of nut job. Some people report the AC Transit Bus Fight as if it's a victory for whites against some boogie man who's black. All of this has become a discussion seemingly dominated by racists and nuts cases. Since racism is a mental illness, it's hard to tell them apart.

The bottom line is both were wrong and if you are picking sides, you're just making it all worse and showing how nutty people around the World can be. It's really sad that we've allowed society to degenerate to this point. To a point where I just seek refuge away from the crazy people and the racists.

President Clinton coming to UC Berkeley, February 24th

According to the Daily Cal, and the The Blum Center for Developing Economies, Former President Bill Clinton will visit U.C. Berkeley. February 24th at 3:30 PM at Zellerbach Auditorium. Tickets for President Clinton's speech are available only online and one has to be either a student at Cal, or a faculty or staff member to obtain them.

So if you're not any of the three, and know someone who is and haven't been nice to them you might consider getting on the phone to apologize to them first (no texting). Then ask for help with the Clinton tickets.

Seriously, their are 2,000 tickets available, 1,200 free for students.

You can get them here: berkeley.edu/clinton.

The title of President Clinton's speech is "Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action"

If you're reading the name "Blum Center for Developing Economies" and wondering who "Blum" is, it's Richard Blum, who's married to U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein and is also a person who's a San Francisco developer, financier, and political activist with close ties in the Tibetan community.

I think President Clinton had Blum in mind when he created the speech he's going to give on February 24th.

Here, on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Torch Run and during the San Francisco Protest of it, Richard Blum talks about his work in trying to get the Chinese Government to engage with The Dalai Lama:



Stay tuned.

Doc Gurley - Haiti: Hitting The Ground

Airports are bland portals scattered across the world. It's really when you step outside, walking down the cattle-chute ramp that's lined with well-wishers and people holding up hand-written signs - it's as you emerge, blinking into hot haze and the smell of moist, marinating diesel hits you, that's when you know you're somewhere else.

Our bus is a glorious, battered, curtained-fringed affair. I loved it instantly, its inside dotted with gently exhaling air conditioner vents, and the crack on the windshield buttressed by a large suction cup. We learned right away how grateful we should be for her (how can a bus with swaying fringed drapes NOT be a "her"?), because we didn't even make it out of customs before other aid workers were asking for possible rides to Jimani. We had so many wonderful bags and boxes of medical supplies (Thank you! Thank you! You know who you are), that we had to say sorry and wish the ride-seekers luck.]

A wildly painted bus in Haiti - NOT the one from the airport.

After a red-eye with 4 possible hours of sleep, we each re-folded back into the coach origami position to sit barricaded by boxes and bags, with Jesse, our local coordinator, perched on a cooler in the bus stairwell. And so the 3 hour trip just to reach the outskirts of Santa Domingo began.

It was urban density after urban density, and the kinds of insta-reflex, hair-thin near-misses that make 880 on Friday at 70mph look tame.

The sun set, the houses right against the freeway thinned and it was the kind of headlights-only dark you can't find in the States any more.

We stopped at a shockingly pristine, open-walled "market" for supper. Food was served cafeteria-style. As we left we saw an empty, nearly identical competitor right across the road, advertising Chinese and Creole food.

Mopeds with helmetless riders (and sometimes whole families) darted like mosquitoes around lumbering, gear-griding buses, even as the hour crept to midnight. A massive UN convoy passed when we stopped for fuel, car-carriers loaded with SUVs with UN painted on the sides, a massive flatbed with a mountain of lumber on the back and 3 container trucks, and 2 Security jeeps.

After midnight, in what felt like the middle of nowhere, we stopped at a massive, opulent hotel that was completely deserted - no other cars, no other guests. We slept in beds, showered in cold water and had a quick breakfast served family-style of fried chicken, stewed goat, plantains, eggs and rice. It was two minutes down the road, as we went through the 2 sequential wrought-iron gates that make up the DR and Haiti border (every inch between the gates a market stall, many of them selling bags of relief food), that I discovered that as I had been standing on the sidewalk outside the breakfast restaurant as we loaded our final two members of our group, my iPhone had been pick-pocketed.

My iPhone never made it into Haiti...

Share in the comments section about whether you think these are extreme needs or not - and tune in for the next in the series to get details about the Haiti trip. If you want to donate for supplies or transport, head over to www.docgurleycom for details underlined at the end of this same article. But if you're feeling a tad Haiti-ed out and overwhelmed, never fear, there will be OTHER, non-Haiti, fun health topics in the next few days! Keep up on the latest health issues in the news by signing up for a Doc Gurley RSS feed by clicking here. Look for future pics and other articles at Doc Gurley - discover the weird, the wacky and the everyday symptoms you want to know about, as well as practical expert tips on staying well. Want to express your inner fan-girl/boy? Become a Doc Gurley fan on Facebook! Want to be on the inside, fast track of health news and tips, as well as Haiti tweets? Get on the Twitter bandwagon and follow Doc Gurley! Also check out Doc Gurley's joyhabit and iwellth twitter feeds - so you can get topic-specific fun, effective, affordable tips on how to nurture your joy and grow your wellth this coming year.

Michael Jordan and Paris Hilton share a birthday

Would you believe that Michael Jordan and Paris Hilton share a birthday today? Yes. On his birthday, Michael Jordan turns 47, whereas Paris Hilton turns 29.

While Michael Jordan is enjoying the great retired life afforded by his amazing NBA Basketball career, Paris Hilton is enjoying a resurgence of sorts, after her celebrated DUI arrest of several years ago. Paris was the inspiration for my classroom simulation game called "Buffi The Gym Girl" where your job is to make Buffy, the fussy , glamorous celebrity, happy...



But "Buffi The Gym Girl" aside, Paris Hilton is the perfect model for anyone who's thinking of developing their personal brand. Paris is known for being famous, knowing the best parties, wearing the latest fashions, and having only the best of everything.

Michael Jordan is known for classy excellence on and now off the basketball court. Hmm.... Michael Jordan 47, and Paris Hilton 29; the perfect age gap.

Happy Birthday to both.

President Obama deserves a second term; CNN poll is irresponsible

In a wild hunt for ratings, CNN embarks on a poll question just one year into the four-year term of President Barack Obama asking if Obama deserves a second term. The fact that the poll was created during a period of high unemployment coupled with a still-new President Obama would tell a politically-aware ten-year-old that President Obama wasn't going to come out looking to good in such a poll: 52 percent said no; 44 percent said yes.

But CNN ran the poll with that predictable outcome anyway. All the better for stupid buzz; CNN got it. That CNN ran such a poll is totally intellectually irresponsible. It is so because they knew what the outcome would be. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that people polled will be unhappy with both President Obama and The Congress given the state of the economy. It also is equally irresponsible to poll just 1,023 Americans, and of that, only 923 registered voters. The poll sample size is too small to be taken seriously.

This blogger could have gotten a bigger sample size himself. Many of the polls ran in this space have drawn over 2,000 responses. For CNN to run a poll of just 1,023 people given their broadcast reach is, again, irresponsible.

CNN's embarked on what appears to be a really bizarre quest to discredit President Obama. Their main man in this effort in front of the camera has been David Gergen, advisor to a number of past Presidents and currently head of the Public Leadership Project at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.

CNN's Gergen regularly issues baseless evaluations of President Obama that include not-well-veiled political desires. For example, David Gergen mentions dropping the "Public Option" in the Health Care Reform proposal, rather than proving he's a really good student of politics by explaining how Obama could get a Public Option passed by Congress and discussing the problems with pushing a Public Option.

That's just one example. David Gergen's gotten so bad, this blogger changes the TV channel whenever he appears.

And that's often.

Of late, Gergen's on an "anti-Obama" kick that from this view has totally destroyed his credibility. As he's part of what appears to be an overall effort on CNN's part, it's only logical ro report that CNN's political credibility is equally low. Not the best place for the self-proclaimed "trusted news source" to be.

Stay tuned.

AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, Oakland, on YouTube video

A AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, in Oakland, California was captured on video and from two different perspectives. The AC Transit Bus Fight, which this blogger recognizes as starting on the AC Transit "N" route that serves the heart of Oakland into downtown Oakland, caused the bus to stop at the corner of Harrison and Webster Street, just one long block away from Lake Merritt and at the Kaiser Center's shopping mall area.

The first AC Transit Bus Fight video below shows an at first, seemingly harmless and rather misguided and silly conversation apparently about what someone would do based on their race. One young man, black, said the older man white, should get "yo ass back up in there", meaning the front of the bus. Apparently the older white man came to the back of the bus to confront the younger black man. "Why you being so hostile man", was what the older white man said to him.

Then the older white man went back to the front of the bus as the young black man was on his way to his seat at the back of the bus.

Here's the first video:



Then words were exchanged and after the young black man was on his way to the back of the bus. But when the older white man said "I can kick your ass", the young black man turned and went back to the front of the bus where the older white man was.

In the AC Transit Bus Fight, it's hard to tell exactly what happened for the first two seconds, but then it was obvious the two traded slap-punches. The older white man did get in one good left hook, and that was enough to drop the young black man.

The older white man said "See, you mess with me" as the younger black man was on the floor. (And the back of his shirt reads "I AM..a motherfucker")

 Then, as the young black man was collecting himself at the back of the bus, and the camcorder operator was talking to him, the older white man had started to just "go off" on a weird rant at the corner of Harrison and Webster.

This is that video:



What does this AC Transit Bus Fight prove? Well, it proves why cars and taxi cabs are a more desirable form of transportation than AC Transit buses in Oakland.

This is why Oaklanders rail against those who support higher parking fees, heavy-handed parking enforcement tactics, and tow-happy city administrators. It's also why some Oaklanders, like this blogger, support a BART Airport Connector rather than being forced on to AC Transit. For all of its woes, BART at least has an active police force.

Sorry, but you've seen the one reason why this blogger avoids AC Transit whenever possible. Both men were wrong and both should be charged with assault. But the overarching issue is that good working citizens of Oakland should not have their time wasted or their safety threatened by people who act like that. It's better to be able to avoid them.

The discussion about the AC Transit Bus Fight will break down to "Old White Rambo Dude versus Young N-word kid" and few will see the bigger picture. The kid should always respect his elders, regardless of color or behavior of the elder (within reason, of course), and the older man should know better than to go and pick fights because he's unhappy with his own life. And none of us should have to be subjected to their issues.

With that, the YouTune video takes on this are really worth watching:

Video: explaining the AC Transit Bus Fight:



Video: Another take on the AC Transit Bus Fight:



NOTE: In the first video, the young women who filmed the event noted that the older white man left his bag. I hope she returned it to him.

Stay tuned.

Oscar gets an iPhone app before Academy Awards - Twitter next?

AMPAS, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced that a new Oscars iPhone app (or "Oscars® App") is available just in time before the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

This is great news for an organization who's social media efforts are far behind where they should be. The question is, when will AMPAS embrace Twitter and develop a fully integrated social media strategy? While you ponder that question, let's read more about the Oscars® App.

According to AMPAS, iPhone and iPod Touch users can get a nominees list for the 24 Academy Awards categories, see trailers from each film, and predict winners in each category. Your predictions will be saved in a database; you cna share them with your friends via email and Twitter.

It's a massively great new development, but where AMPAS can complete the social media job (for now) is by having a Twitter account that would send tweets of Oscar winners to the "Oscars® App" that you should then retweet to your Twitter followers from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Considering the number of AMPAS members who are on Twitter, plus Oscar fans, that would be a great distribution system.

But does AMPAS listen to me? I don't think so.

You can, and really should, get the "Oscars® App" for iPhone and iPod Touch at www.itunes.com/appstore/. Search for "Oscar" under the "Applications" drop down.

Lady Gaga wins three 2010 Brit Awards

Lady Gaga took home three 2010 Brit Awards last night. The amazing pop-culture super icon that is Lady Gaga won UK music industry's annual Brit Awards prizes for International Breakthrough Act, Best International Female Solo Artist, and Best International Album, according to CNN.



As Lady Gaga rises to obtain the award for International Breakthrough Act, the presenter said "No surprises here. The sheer force of Gaga has been such that you'd really be hard pressed to remember any other international artist even existed. Gaga is no newcomer to Planet Pop. She'd written songs for Britney and The Pussy Cat Dolls before she turned 21."

Lady Gaga thanked her fans, family, and business partners over the screams and cheers of the Brit Awards audience.

Roger Ebert: a living legend and American Cultural icon

Roger Ebert is an American Cultural icon. That term is thrown around a lot these days, but it's not without good reason. New Media allows us to enjoy a richer mix of what America's about. But even with all of the blogs, videos, and text - what we call "content" - experience still matters. In all of journalism, perhaps the one area other than investigative reporting that still matters is that of the Film Critic.

Roger Ebert's the kind of person I think of when I think of the Film Critic because after all these years it just seems like it's in his DNA to be just that. Roger Ebert has given thumbs up or down to movies for so long that it's impossible to think of him not doing so.

Yes, in capital letters, Film Critic. The person who can, within a moment, give a view of a film that at once captures what's good and bad about film and makes you think, even when you disagree with the critics view. That's what Roger Ebert does, and that's what he's done. It's not something that can be measured, but it is honed by years of experiences in the culture of film within the fabric of America. That's Roger Ebert's gift.

Roger Ebert deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I hope President Obama sees fit to give him such a prize.

Megan Fox Armani Commercial 2010 - Megan Fox gets kudos

The latest 2010 Megan Fox Armani Commercial is out today, Tuesday. Megan Fox is drawing rave reviews for the Armani commercial, where the stunning actress from Jennifer's Body and The Transformers movie series puts on Emporio Armani and becomes the face and body of Armani.

Splash News observed that Megan Fox "teases", while, Mail Online UK gushes...

The Transformers star, shot in black and white, pouts seductively at the camera as it pans up and down her enviable figure that has made her an international sex symbol.

The commercial is a 30-second-long trip along the semi-nude body of Megan Fox more than an commercial for Armani. To this blogger, it's playful, sexy, seductive, and just a tad boring. Not Megan Fox, the Armani commercial. Make no mistake about it, Megan Fox is a classically beautiful woman. But there's something about the Armani commercial that's missing and it's action.

Megan Fox in stiletto heeled sexy shoes and walking near-nude in the same Emporio Armani underwear would have sent the Internet into tilt. If the Emporio Armani commercial emphasized her legs as much as it does her face and abs, and her walking motion timed with that music, it would be timeless. Here's Megan Fox's legs on display in the Rolling Stones Interview of last year:



Over at Fashionising.com, Daniel P. Dykes says that women "hate Megan Fox" but men don't. I think the idea is for men to ask women to wear the Megan Fox Emporio Armani underwear (as it will come to be called) for them.

Let's see if the strategy works.

David Letterman calls Olympics officials hypocrites after luge death

On his Monday show, David Letterman let loose on Olympics officials, calling them hypocrites for their statements and actions in the wake of the death of luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili last week.

At a pre-Olympics training run at Nodar Kumaritashvili's luge took the final turn high, then as it came down and into the straight portion of the track, slammed into a wall, and bounced from it to the opposite wall, where Kumaritashvili was thrown over it and to his death. Olympics officials said their was nothing wrong with the track and said the reason for Kumaritashvili's death was "athlete error."

This blogger was one of the first to call the Olympics officials claims completely wrong and blame Kumaritashvili's death on the design of the track. The track was redesigned before the start of the first official Olympics luge contest. Heres my video:



Again, the course should have been designed in such a way as to have the luge come into a curved straight portion of the course; no right angles should have been part of the design. It's poor engineering. If the track were designed in that way, the luge times would have been faster than what we have now, but with a built-in safety behavior. If the luger's to crash, this would keep the racer on the course, not force the racer off of it.

David Letterman's right; Nodar Kumaritashvili's death was not his fault. It was the fault of the design of the track on the course.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Woods talks return to Golf amid Joslyn James pregnancy claims

Tiger Woods is plotting a return to Golf, as porn star Joslyn James (real name Veronica Siwik-Daniels) launches love child claims. According to TMZ, Tiger Woods, the World's Greatest Golfer, is plotting a return to Golf. Reportedly Tiger Woods and representatives met with officials from the Tavistock Cup.

This blogger asked sports agent Leigh Steinberg about Tiger Woods return to Golf. Steinberg, who talked at his Miami, Florida Super Bowl Party before Super Bowl XLIV, said "Tiger will come back and take his place among the major figures in American sports. He's had his fall. The same way that Kobie Bryant did. The same way that Ray Lewis did. The same way many people have done; Michael Vick? And now it's will be time for the return. If he's careful in the way he reengages with the American Public. If he plays Golf well. As time passes he will get more and more reintegrated and things will work out fine."

If that happens, it would be on March 22nd 2010 at Isleworth Golf and Country Club, just a short walk from Tiger Woods' home. The meeting, which reportedly occurred on Monday, had Woods with his security team and staffers in with the Tavistock people for one hour before he returned home. TMZ's source says that Tiger Woods would then play in The Masters at Augusta, Georgia after the Tavistock event. But standing in his way are the pregnancy claims of porn star Joslyn James.

Joslyn James is the one of several Tiger Woods mistresses that will not stop talking. In the New York Daily News, Joslyn James claims that Tiger Woods got her pregnant twice: once ending in abortion and the other in a miscarriage. But Joslyn James claim is being given the slam-dunk by off all people Joslyn James' stepmother and her sister.

In the same NY Post article, James stepmother calls her a "compulsive liar." And in RadarOnline.com, James sister Samantha Siwik said she doesn't believe a word Joslyn James says. “If she was really that interested in Tiger Woods and his family then she would not have got involved with him in the first place because he was married," Samantha Siwik told RadarOnline.com.

Whatever the case, the Tiger Woods episode has landed a lot of publicity for a number of women he was involved with, and Tiger Woods Mistress "Number One" Rachel Uchitel landed a new job as a Special Assignment Correspondent with Extra.

Stay tuned.

Hotmail down: Hotmail service unavailable, now up again

Hotmail, the first mass email service and provided by Microsoft, was reported down. "Hotmail service unavailable" blog posts sprang up all over the Internet. But now, "Hotmail down" and "Hotmail service unavailable" must be replaced by "Hotmail up" and "Hotmail service available".

According to Business Week, the massive problems started in the "Windows Live ID service" used to sign in customers. It's also used by XBox customers for online game accounts. More than 460 users Worldwide have accounts, or a population larger than America as a whole.

The problems have been fixed and Microsoft apologizes for them. But really, one should have multiple email accounts they can use rather than just one. And using the Open ID system's really a plus as well. Windows Live ID is also an Open ID supporter.

John Mayer, after Playboy Interview, still silent on Twitter

The normally Twittery singer John Mayer has been silent on Twitter since his now famous Playboy Interview meltdown, a racist, homophobic (remember, John Mayer used a Gay slur, too but few seem to care) and sexist quasi-rant on blacks, his disinterest in black women, sex with Jessica Simpson, and Mayer's hybrid sexual habits.

The criticism of John Mayer continues, now one week into the Playboy Interview controversy, but John Mayer himself has been silent. Where he normally tweets several times a day, Mayer has issued exactly two tweets in three days between February 14th and February 16th. As John Mayer recently announced he's "quit the media game", perhaps this Twitter silence is part of his efforts.

But how long will it last? How long will it take John Mayer to get over what John Mayer did and the reaction, and get back to being John Mayer? The bet in this corner is two weeks. By some time around the Academy Awards, John Mayer will be tweeting and talking again. All of that will be much to the displeasure of New York Hip Hop artist Jay Smooth who let's rip on Mayer in Pop Life and Race Matters:



Basically, with everyone issuing an opinion on John Mayer, America and the World are doing his PR work for him. When that dies down, Mayer will swing into action, but the bet is he will be a more enlightened person.

Stay tuned.

Obama touts nuclear plant loan - first nuclear plant in 30 years

President Barack Obama announced approval of $8 billion in loan guarantees to build the first nuclear power plant in over 30 years. According to the Huffington Post, Obama said "On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't continue to be mired in the same old stale debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs."



President Obama is correct. But while Obama's working on the revival of nuclear power, some aren't happy with his efforts. Take Mother Jones, which reports that nuclear power plant cost overruns should give Obama and others pause because it takes taxpayer dollars to overcome the cost problem.

But that's the whole point of Obama's program - to use government loans and subsidies to make creating nuclear power plants more feasible. So in pointing out what they don't like about Obama's program, and reading like a Republican publication in the process, Mother Jones just explained why government subsidies are necessary in American Industry: to stimulate construction and industrial revival.

This is why it's never good to be an ideolog regardless of political leaning, left or right. A logical thinker would conclude that government subsidies were necessary to jump start an industry - The Nuclear Industry - that has made massive technical advances in 30 years. But rather than look at it that way, Mother Jones holds on to liberal ideological prejudices against nuclear power and wrongly assumes that because an expenditure is made for nuclear power, renewable energy efforts will suffer.

Fortunately, President Obama's not paying attention to them.

Haiti earthquake relief efforts draw Doc Gurley

Doc Gurley, the San Francisco-based physician and public health expert blogger, has made the greatest donation one can give to the effort of helping Haiti after the massive earthquake: herself and her time.

Doc Gurley blogs about her first day on the ground in Haiti, and talked with this blogger about her planned Haiti relief trip before she left when we met for lunch at the Lake Chalet in Oakland:



Doc Gurley will be posting updates on her Haiti relief trip. Stay tuned.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti - Sarah Palin singing Rap lyrics?

We Are The World 25 for Haiti is out and is a smashing success. It's now the number one Itunes download. And while the remake has enjoyed rave reviews, not everyone is happy. Count Jay-Z among them who, according to EW.com, did not participate in We Are The World 25 because "We Are the World’ is like ‘Thriller’ to me, Jay-Z said, "I don’t ever wanna see it touched."

While Jay-Z wanted a new song and not the remake, others have mixed reviews of the rap lyrics in the song. This blogger thinks the rap portion, created by LL Cool J, is genius. But some commenters were "thrown off" by the rap portion, one of the commenters on my We Are The World video said Wyclef Jean "sounded like Tarzan", and New York's Jay Smooth took to his website Illdoctrine.com to announce...

It is with a heavy heart I must report that on the evening of February 12th, 2010, Rap Music died once and for all. After battling a long illness, our beloved Rap was too weak to withstand the overpowering shame of that We Are The World remake.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti is powerful, period. And the rap portion is a logical and welcome addition given the growth of Hip Hop Culture. But to me, We Are The World 25 for Haiti is not complete until we have Republicans singing it. That's right: Republicans.

I can think of no better person for this, than Sarah Palin. If Sarah Palin can raise the roof on Saturday Night Live, she can sing the rap portion of We Are The World 25 for Haiti. My video is a kind of simulation of Sarah Palin singing We Are The World 25 for Haiti's rap.

Now, Sarah Palin's got to live up to this. It will give her the street cred she needs if she wants to be President of The United States!

Seriously.

Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras - what's going on in Oakland, SF, and Atlanta?

Today is Fat Tuesday or "Mardi Gras" and according to Wikipedia historically refers to the yummy ritual of eating richer, fatty foods before the fasting of the Lenten Season, which starts on what is called Ash Wednesday. But you know that Fat Tuesday is a synonym for "party Tuesday" in February. It's a day to wear beads and masks and do things you'd normally not do on a "school day" let alone a "school night". But where do you go if you happen to shuttle between Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area? Good question.

In Oakland, Ozumo's on the corner of Broadway and Grand is hosting a celebration that starts at 5 PM PST and features the sounds of New Orleans by live entertainment and "DJ Gray". In addition there will be Fat Tuesday food specials and Brazilian drink specials.

Right next door to Ozumo's free event, Pican's hosting a Fat Tuesday celebration, too, and that starts at 5:30 PM PST. Pican will have beads, boas, "traditional NOLA bites", Southern Comfort Hurricanes, and a cocktail called "Bulleit Sazerac" according to the report. In Pican's case, the cost is $75 at the door and $5 goes to Haitian relief. But with that, Pican's a fun place:



But Broadway & Grand's not the only place to go for Fat Tuesday in Oakland; you can head down to Jack London Square, too.

Miss Pearls Jam House at The Waterfront Hotel where Broadway ends has a Fat Tuesday event which starts at 7 PM PST. Miss Pearls' features live music with the Craig Caffall Band and an evening raffle.

Of course, if you want to have a party on Fat Tuesday without the heafy entry fee, check out Lake Chalet at 1520 Lakeside Drive. It's my favorite place to eat in Oakland, the bar is well-stocked, and it's always beads-friendly. Plus, if it's a nice day in the evening, the Patio should be rocking! The Lake Chalet is where I held my YouTube Meetup a while back:



Also, head over to Arizmendi Bakery on Lakeshore or in San Francisco for Fat Tuesday. No cocktails, but they do have something called "King Cake", a "colorful Danish pastry with pecans"! Now, as a word of warning, it seems only the San Francisco Arizmendi has a Fat Tuesday-related happening, but check the Oakland Arizmendi Bakery anyway. They're always full of unannounced surprises!

Of course, if you want a more serious evening you can head over to the Oakland City Council Budget Session at the Oakland City Hall at 5 PM PST. But after that gut-wrenching slice-and-dice party, you may very well be driven to drink, so wear your beads!

Fat Tuesday in San Francisco, frankly, makes Oakland look like a kitchen match compared to the H-Bomb-sized number of events in "The City". Here's a link to a search for all that's going on this year, 2010: FAT TUESDAY SAN FRANCISCO. But if you need some direction, go to Ruby Skye and check out the band "The Wonderbread 5". And of course, there's the Carnival celebration at the Mission Cultural Center that kicks off at 6 PM.

For me, the place to go is The Balboa Cafe on the corner of Fillmore and Greenwich, where there's no cover charge, a lot of beads, bartenders Lance and Brian should be working tonight, and if you're single it's a ton of fun (no comment on what married people do there!).

But what about Atlanta on Fat Tuesday?

The difference is the Fat Tuesday ethic is rich in Atlanta, even when it's not Fat Tuesday! Again there's so much to do, that a search link works best for ya: FAT TUESDAY ATLANTA. But where to go from all of the choices? Thee's the Mardi RA Masquerade Ball 2010 at RA Sushi at 1080 Peachtree St., Suite 8. There, you join Baton Bob as he hold his costume contest. It starts at 8 PM and its free.

The other place to go to is Parish Foods and Goods at 240 N. Highland Ave. They've got an all day thing with oysters, all-you-can-eat treats, roasted pig, and red beans and rice. Yum! Check it out.

What ever you do, be safe and don't drink and drive.

Geekosystem doesn't get the diversity message

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Geekosystem doesn't get the diversity message, judging by this rather unfortunately bad take in Mediaite.

(And for the record, Steve Krakauer, who wrote the post is confused. He's confronting me, not the San Francisco Chronicle. That's a crazy trick some people resort to when they don't like my opinion on something. The fact is the SF Chronicle does not tell me what to write or to think and that's the way they like it; me too. Plus, the same post can be found at Zennie62.com and I'm syndicated with a number of organizations and have a TV show. Moreover, I've contributed to Mediaite and who knows, this blog post may wind up there too!)

Geekosystem is the new Dan Abrams website that's attempting to represent what it considers "Geek culture." That really got my attention, so I visited the site and because Rachel Sklar's the Editor-At-Large at Mediaite, I expected some of the same obvious attention to cultural diversity that has been presented in Mediaite. But when I visited Geekosystem, I didn't see that at all and discovered that Rachel didn't have the same creative control. Thus, I went into action.

I'm well aware of what I'm doing. I'm one of the few African American voices in media that generally points out racism and diversity problems in such a way that the message is widely distributed. That upsets people who don't want to be reminded we still have a long way to go.

My value system says that people should want to mix and that diversity is not only good, it is something that is to be expected at every turn. Diversity is the one sign we're not going to repeat the civil rights mistakes of the past.

My issue with Geekosystem is described here, so I'll work to expand on it with this blog post. Simply this: Geekosystem does not show that Geek culture is truly so diverse that if I click on a mention of programmers I would see someone black, for example. I mention African Americans because between mainstream black culture and mainstream media, blacks who are geeks are largely ignored, or at least feel that they are. This is also true for women, even though that's changed a lot because of the great work of organizations like BlogHer.

But my point is, no one, woman or minority should look at a publication like Geekosystem and feel excluded. If I, or someone else, makes that claim it's not to be dismissed. It's very real. Stating that I should start a site called BlackGeeksdotcom is not going to solve the diversity problem. That promotes racial segregation.

Diversity is more than having an intern who's of color write on a publication from behind the veil. It's having the desire and mission to present an obviously diverse World. That's what I'm driving at. Yes, my point of view is infuriating. That it is, is a barometer of how far we have to go. It's the only way to really smash the comfort level of world view that allowed Geekosystem to develop. From a hard, cold, demographic perspective, the publication does appeal to what is a young, white, frat boy mentality. And as a guy who does have much of that point of view, yet is black, I'm well qualified to point it out.

We're in the middle of a culture war today. There are people, like myself, who launched an online campaign to compare Stanford Running Back Toby Gerhart, who's white, to NFL Legend Jim Brown, who's black. Why? Because the media tendency has been to compare white running backs to white running backs, and black running backs to black running backs. That's wrong and ignores the simple fact that Toby Gerhart runs like Jim Brown. Period.

We're forcing a type of thinking that says "racial diversity" first. If you think about the long term outcome of such an objective, it means a much better quality of life and a and more economically efficient America. No longer will we have to worry that the best programmer out there was ignored because he or she was black or female. Geekosystem can go a long way toward creating that kind of American society. Indeed, there's no good reason for Geekosystem to fight it. To the extent that any reader is annoyed by my call, I'm very delighted. Diversity does not happen by accident; it occurs by intent.

Oscar Nominees Luncheon Live Stream here!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Oscar Luncheon is in full swing now at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) has just complete her question and answer session with the press. Now, Precious Director Lee Daniels is speaking.

Bullock is just one of a number of attendees (as was presented in this space): from the Best Actor and Best Actress categories are: Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Meryl Streep.

For the Best Supporting Actor and Actress Categories, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Woody Harrelson and Christoph Waltz have been invited to the luncheon. All five Best Director nominees are here: Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino.

Here's the live cast:

Watch live streaming video from academyawards at livestream.com