TWITTER doesn't have to make you a TWIT by: NIKKY RANEY

Don't let your 140 character limit on Twitter updates compromise your intelligence.

Okay, I think that there needs to be some new rules that dictate to public figures that just because you have a twitter/facebook does not mean that you should "dumb down" your speech. I am appalled that it has become socially acceptable (or appears to have become) for politicians to write that way online. I have an example from Sarah Palin's official twitter.

"Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl change" **

http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/6823906156

**does she mean EONS?

That is her exact tweet. I have not altered, changed, or edited anything from the original tweet.

Since when is it acceptable to write this way? For those of you who will argue against me and say that it's "easier" or "Twitter's 140-character limit makes it difficult," that should not matter. Either shorten your tweet to 140 characters OR make multiple tweets. She could have made two separate tweets and got the message across.

Who is the target audience here? I had my 60-year-old father read this tweet. He struggled to read it out loud, and he was very frustrated while trying to understand what she was trying to say. If the target audience for her twitter are other adults, then she may have a problem. I asked some of my friends (college-aged) to read the tweet, and most of them also struggled.

I think that writing in such a way does not promote literacy or clarity. I don't think that as a politician, on her public (not personal/private), Twitter, she should be writing in a way that misrepresents her intelligence.

I think that it seems rushed and careless. I don't even make my Twitter that way, and my Twitter is a personal "request only" account.

I have done research and noticed that I am not the only one to give criticism to Sarah Palin. Other criticism includes

"TWITTER ACCOUNT OF A 9 YEAR OLD"

I am not intentionally attacking or "dissing" Sarah Palin for the way she uses her Twitter. I am simply using her as an example of what I have seen on Twitter that I believe is not acceptable. I do not think I am alone in my opinion. I jokingly said to my aunt in an e-mail, "She puts the TWIT in TWITTER," and that is what inspired this blog entry.

Don't forget to follow Zennie62 on twitter for the latest updates!

You can also follow me :)

Posted by: Nikky Raney

If you have any concerns or any topics you think I should cover don't hesitate to contact me!

x-posted here

Blanche Lincoln volunteers taking down Bill Halter signs?

In the wake of an Arkansas Senate Battle between Senator Blanche Lincoln and Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter that's headed to a June 8th runoff vote, we have a new scandal of sorts.

According to the blog Blue Hog Report out of Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln volunteers are taking down "Bill Halter for Senate" signs. This is what Jeff at Blue Hog Report blogged:

I couldn’t help but become extremely irked today at lunch by a lack of signage by the Starbucks near the I-630/Broadway exit. You see, for the second straight day, I drove by a location where I had previously placed a Bill Halter for Senate sign, along with an accompanying John Adams for Congress sign, only to see them taken down in both spots and replaced with this:

Jeff stops short of accusing Blanche Lincoln volunteers of taking down Bill Halter signs all over the state, but it's said where there's smoke there's fire. The fire was discovered by Blue Arkansas blog, which reports another incident in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

" ARDem" at Blue Arkansas thinks the Bill Halter sign removal effort is the work of Republicans who don't want him to win. Personally, I would suspect that. Blanche Lincoln's captured a lot of the conservative vote and support down there. Regardless, taking signs off a lawn is just plain wrong.

Stay tuned.

Dancing With The Stars results may 18th: Chad Ochocinco gone

When Chad Ochocinco learned he was going to be on Dancing With The Stars, he did everything to draw attention to himself and the upcoming event, from tweeting about it on Twitter to running naked in the park:



Well, the fantasy is over:

Chad Ochocinco was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars last night. Give the Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver credit: he made it to the final four celebrity dancers and that's saying a lot for a person with no previous dancing experience.

According to MTV.com, Chad said "This was awesome. I enjoyed the journey. I met some wonderful people. I got some great criticism that's only made me stronger ... and I'll miss 'em all, especially the beautiful Cheryl Burke. And in my eyes really, I've already won."

And he had. Where Chad Ochocinco was known only to sports fans and NFL football fans, now he has a true celebrity following that he will carry into the 2010 NFL season.

And if there's a lockout in 2011, Chad has a new network of contacts he can call on for whatever entertainment work he may want to do. Congratulations to Chad Ochocinco. He may have been eliminated from Dancing With The Stars but he started a new chapter in his life.

Campbell Brown's Legs could have been CNN's Ratings Cure

Campbell Brown on NBC's Saturday Today Show 

Sadly, Campbell Brown, who CNN fought to pull away from NBC two years ago, quit her show due to low and dropping ratings.

Campbell Brown, or "Cammy" as my friend and hers Michael Dowling likes to call her, was consider a catch for CNN at the time.

But, as I blogged in 2008, CNN wasn't using Brown's real asset and it's something Fox News would have done and NBC did do. Campbell Brown's legs would have been the best CNN ratings cure.

This is a problem that started back in 2008, with CNN getting clobbered by Fox News in the ratings even then, and that was the 2008 election. This is what I wrote at Zennie62, then:

As it stands, CNN's getting clobbered by Fox News in the ratings, except for when CNN has debates and it's Super Tuesday coverage, but other than that, it's Fox all the way. ...Now, I personally don't like CNN's biased reporting, covered by the "idea" that they're the best political reporting team and all that crap, but if Dave Bohrman and the rest of the CNN producers get their act together they're on to something.

I think a good place to start is with Campbell Brown....

I mean have you seen her legs?

Some readers got angry with my assertion at the time, but I pressed the point.  Fox News was getting away with that strategy, mixing sexy female anchors with an edgy, opinionated take on the news.   CNN resisted my claim, and also failed to emphasize the iReport format, but that's another blog post.

Now CNN's ratings slide is worse and Campbell Brown's gone.

Is it sad that Campbell Brown's legs may have saved her show? Yeah, it is. But the bottom line in television is viewers, time, and money. The key to success is to make people stop and watch for whatever reason. High-minded views on news and society are fine if they work; in this case they don't. CNN has to give people something to talk about: Men to look at and women to criticize. That's the game and CNN's not playing it.

CNN's under the impression it has to be conservative like Fox News. Not so. That's got nothing to do with it. Sex sells and people are animals. Period. The main driver of the reproductive process is attraction; it's silly to watch some try to take that fact out of society. No one ever wins by fighting nature. CNN should stop trying.

But hey, I made this case two years ago and CNN didn't get it then. Now, Campbell Brown's gone.

Tea Party Movement and GOP lost to Liberals and Democrats

Media pundits at CNN and Fox News are painting Tuesday's election results as a win for the Tea Party Movement. Nothing could be further from the truth. The real truth is the Liberal Agenda won.

Obama's people rise again!

In Pennsylvania Conservative Arlen Specter switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party last year to change with his state's demographics and as part of a deal with the Obama White House. In that agreement the White House pledged their support for the fake-Democrat.

The White House could not lose: if Specter lost it would be to a Democrat, and if he won it would be as a Democrat. Specter lost to Congressman Joe Sestak.

It was a sad but not shocking loss for Specter, the long-serving Senator who's career spans 45 years, covers nine presidents, and some of the most incredible political events in the history of America, from The Watergate Hearings and President Nixon's Impeachment to Obama's election as the first African American President in American History.

This blogger has always admired Specter's keen intellect which reached beyond party at times, but Specter was always a conservative. When Specter became a Democrat it was right for Liberals to be concerned that he might undermine the President's agenda. While there were points during the health care debate where that seemed like it would happen, Specter did fall in line. Still, it was time for a more solid Democrat to take Specter's place and for Specter to retire. His gamble wasn't the smartest one and it was the riskiest. Specter lost.

Another GOP to bite the dust was Republican Tim Burns in his Pennsylvania Special Election Contest against Democrat Mark Critz and to fill the House seat of the late Rep. John Murtha. Critz, the Director of Economic Development for Murtha, best knew Murtha's people and promised to continue his work in Washington.

In Kentucky, Rand Paul was the only GOP candidate to win and that was because he beat another Republican in that state's GOP Senate Primary. The Tea Party Movement's getting credit for a win that only really happened because of Rand Paul's built-in name recognition from being the son of Rep. and former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul. The Tea Party Movement was not the player in the win some think.

Indeed, the Tea Party Movement has lost more elections and legislation battles than it won and by a lot: Heath Care Reform, The Jobs Bill, The 23rd Congressional District Race of New York, The 19th Congressional District Race of Florida that was Robert Wexler's seat, all were won by the Democrats and all were mentioned as having Tea Party Movement involvement. And Massachusetts GOP Senator Scott Brown won that state's race to replace the Late Senator Ted Kennedy by shunning the Tea Party Movement.

What has the Tea Party Movement done? Nothing except take up a lot of TV air time.

In all Liberals had the big night. Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, who also famously worked as if she didn't know President Obama, suffered a near-loss to Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who had the support of labor union heads who didn't forget her difficult-to-deal-with stance on Health Care Reform. Lincoln now faces a runoff against Halter and it's one she could lose and will lose on June 8th.

America is a Liberal country and its silent majority, the same one that propelled Barack Obama into the White House, has rose from lethargy. In part, even though the overall turnout was low, it seems that actions like Arizona's double-barreled racist actions involving illegal aliens and ethnic studies, the veiled racism of some in the Tea Party Movement, and the economy itself poked the sleeping Giant to rise.

It's awake and it will crush the Tea Party Movement.

Cash & Carrie, Lindsey's new Lesbian Love + true catastrophes post by Suzannah B. Troy

Sarah Jessica Parker  is being humiliated by The New York Post for being obscenely rich and obscenely cheap. However, what is not mentioned is she is not alone and from what I have seen first hand there is only one “celebrity” that is not cheap and that is Jack Nicholson. The list of stars including a director who casts himself in his own films and than has his  own extremely expensive underwear purchased for him (not Hanes), washed over and over by the costume designer's assistants and hint..I dislike him more than another director I won't mention that is under house arrest for having sex with a minor.

At one point some production companies have attempted to ask celebrities to pay something when they kept their clothes from movie shoots. Bottom line is everyone in the industry that can get something for free and hold on to their massive fortunes does.  They also attempt to negotiate "plebeians" for as little $ as possible...ho hum.

Jack Nicholson is the only celebrity that seems to me  to remember his roots and is just generous, and he used to be a big bad flirt from what I have heard.  He probably still is.

I have even witnessed high paid women in the entertainment business including one of the highest paying magazines -- trying to lower the price on the smallest of transactions and than brag to
 (was it me ?) about paying x amount of thousands to have the dark circles removed from under her eyes. By the way any supposedly feminist that doesn’t tell what surgery she has had and let’s women compare themselves to her is no feminist. There are also plenty of men that have had face-lifts and their bodies tweaked other than Gene Simmons. Celebrities and authors should include what they have had done on their websites so fans do not compare themselves to them or maybe as a warning for what not to do.

As usual, TMZ has the scoops and not that any of us will be losing sleep over this but if Lindsey Lohan doesn’t get  to the USA soon from Cannes she may find herself behind bars.  Go to TMZ for more on this and other breaking news in "Celebrity World" - not a planet most of us visit!

Lindsey Lohan is in Cannes to promote the independent film in which she plays Linda Lovelace. For anyone who has no idea about Lovelace’s tragic life and abuse endured here is her wikepedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Lovelace.

Men around the world are fascinated by Lovelace’s famous film Deep Throat and Brian Grazer is among them. He produced “Inside Deep Throat”. Again I would rather refer you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Deep_Throat.

Linda Lovelace's experience in the porn industry was hellish and she said her husband exploited her and beat her to make her perform.  Jenna Jameson, retired media mogul,  had some tough times but nothing as horrific as Lovelace.  Jameson paved the way for other female porn stars like Belladonna and Terra Patrick to also direct, produce and even create their own studios.

Porn is a mega-billion dollar industry and is not only here to stay but the thin line between porn and Hollywood continues to blur. In fact the AVN Awards, porn’s version of the Oscars is said to be better and a lot more fun than the Oscars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVN_Award

Way back when in my twenties when I listened to Howard Stern, I remember a porn star lamenting when the porn industry was no longer run by Mafia. You see the Mafia guys paid them in cash.
(Oh, here is the place to plug Theatre 80's Gangster Museum tour but this was before they got in to porn...sorry folks!)

Just to bring you back to NYC. Albany has still not closed the budget and a title of a documentary covering this debacle could be called  “Deeply Screwed” how Albany and City Hall took NYC from a recession to a depression...This is an economic horror show here in New York although times are tough in other States and around the world. I write here in NYC so I had to mention the economic crisis here but another catastrophe that people have yet to understand the horror of completely  is the oil spill off of the Gulf of Mexico which continues to get worse. Sea life continue dying suffocating to death which is horrific and will have very disturbing long range results.  Now the news is the oil spill  maybe showing up on Florida’s beaches.

I guess focusing on Sarah Jessica Parker deemed the cheapest entertainer (and believe me she has competition) and Lindsey Lohan are a vacation from very serious issues that truly effect our lives.

p.s The New York Post has an usual photo of Lindsey and her new girlfriend.

BP Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico: tar balls hit the shore

The damage and economic devastation from the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill does threaten to spread to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, but researchers contend that the reported "tar balls" found on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico are not due to the BP Oil Spill. I think.

The question is, what caused them?

The CNN report is confusing. The title reads that tar balls are from the BP oil spill, but the text says they may not be from the spill:

Tar balls found on a Florida Keys beach Monday, while not believed to be from a massive Gulf of Mexico spill, are nevertheless raising fears that oil will spread along the coastlines of Florida and beyond.

Clearly something's going on. This video below is of a tarball found on the shores of Gulfport, Ms:

'

But what is a tarball? The National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Association defines it in this way according to The Miami Herald:

Tar balls, the little, dark-colored pieces of oil that stick to our feet when we go to the beach, are actually remnants of oil spills.
When crude oil (or a heavier refined product) floats on the ocean surface, its physical characteristics change.
During the first few hours of a spill, the oil spreads into a thin slick.
Winds and waves tear the slick into smaller patches that are scattered over a much wider area. Various physical, chemical and biological processes change the appearance of the oil. These processes are generally called ``weathering.''

If that's the case, it's fair to say the BP Oil Spill's reached the shores of The Gulf of Mexico already.

Stay tuned.

Diane Feinstein pisses-off Oakland Mayor's Race Green Party candidate

To characterize Oakland Mayor's Race Green Party candidate Donald Macleay as upset that U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D - California) endorsed former California State Senator and Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Don Perata for Mayor, is an understatement.

Donald Macleay, who I now give the name "Donny Mac," and who I interviewed here....



...is just plain pissed off.

Macleay fired off this hot letter to me just 10 minutes ago and that I'm about to present to you for inspection below. Indeed, Don sent the letter to a number of media people, which means he really was hopping mad over the issue and wanted to pick a fight or draw attention to himself or some combination of both. That's politics.

It's also necessary. The problem Donald Macleay has is he's a "Don" like Perata, so his name gets lost in the sea of Don. Call this a scream for help from someone lost on a castaway island in Oakland politics. Donny Mac's competing in a field of ten candidates for Mayor of Oakland, California, if we count Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. He's also up against the idea that it's just Don Perata versus Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan. (And Ron Dellums has not yet said 'I'm not running for Mayor again' and some have said he would.)

Donny Mac is back

Here's the letter:

Feinstein for who?

As the Green party candidate in the Oakland Mayor?s race, I am outside of the circles where our US Senator Dianne Feinstein decided to support out ex-state senator Don Perata. She was never going to call me.

I think she is doing Oakland a disservice by endorsing anyone at all.

The Democrats are like a bad marriage that has regular fights that the neighbors get to hear late into the night. The most nasty fights seem to be over who gets the open job. The other semi-official candidate is going to fight for this vacant job as if her career depends on it, because it does.

None of us will be surprised if the fight gets nastier before it is over. Towards the end of American political campaigns we often have a rash of false accusations, dirty tricks and ugly mudslinging.

Then they make up and pretend that there are no bitter resentments.
We pretend to believe them and try not to get too involved.

The nomination period is still not over, therefore Senator Feinstein is making her choice before the whole field is known. So far Perata?s ?conversation? with us Oaklanders does not include much in the way of his views on city issues. So what has she endorsed? Why pick a side?

Oakland, California and the USA are in a major budget crisis and a lingering recession. Sen. Feinstein should be looking to work with whoever is the next mayor of Oakland and should not have her name attached to any hard feelings this election leaves behind. How would she relate to a Mayor Quan if her name is on Election Day dirty business? Would she take calls from a Mayor Macleay?

The next mayor will need to keep up the race for federal funds that our current mayor has focused on. The next mayor will need to find a working relationship with all our state and federal officials.

When the neighbors are fighting late into the night the worst thing you can do is to take sides.

Don Macleay
candidate@macleay4mayor.org

Donny Mac is back and that's the fact, jack!

Stay tuned.

Children's Hospital Oakland's President and CEO on the facility

In a great online video Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland's President & CEO, Bertram Lubin, MD, talked about why parents should bring their kids to Children's Hospital. He says the main reason is "You get a feeling of warmth. That you're around people who care about your children. The children are why we are here."

In all, Children's Hospital has 58 videos in its well-designed YouTube channel. What's missing is a link to a blog where the videos can be housed in an online publication. In this way the videos can have another source of viewers and not just the channel itself. The channel also needs to group the videos in playlists. I could go on, but the videos themselves are excellent.

The videos come together to show and tell a compelling story about a great environment for both parents, kids, and employees.

And as a note to Children's Hospital, my request to be a friend on YouTube is still outstanding; friend me, please.

Miss USA Rima Fakih pole dancing overshadows conservative racism

Some Conservatives think this is affirmative action!

That Miss USA Rima Fakih participated in a pole dancing contest sponsored by the "Mojo In The Morning" Detroit Radio Show has the Internet abuzz, and in the process covering up the totally psychotic level of racism exhibited by some Couch Potato Conservative bloggers.

Take Daniel Pipes, who actually believes that Rima Fakih's win is a example of Affirmative Action in beauty contests.

No kidding. Pipes actually took time to write that. Daniel Pipes even went so far as to form a list of Arab-American beauty contest winners that boils down to one Arab-American woman per year.

That rate of wins is enough to send Daniel Pipes to the moon. This is a perfect example of how some people are brainwashed to think one person who's white and female should be a beauty standard, and someone of color like Rima Fakih could only win a contest due to affirmative action. His view is so sick it makes me sick.

God forbit Pipes from learning that Rima Fakih was the winner of a stripper pole dancing contest too, and don't tell him the contest promoters were from a white radio station. He'd probably go into convulsions!

On second thought tell him! That's a good idea.

YouTubeland Gaga Greyson & dish - Suzannah B. Troy

All is not well in YouTubeland although YouTube has just celebrated it’s 5 anniversary.  

First let us go to the best and beautiful happening in YouTubeland like my own story of filming Jazz Legend Giuseppi Logan in Tompkins Square Park 2 years and posting on YouTube which radically changed his life.  I immediately found a YouTube from a British filmmaker same park almost 50 years earlier with Giuseppi and a little boy with an original GL composition playing in the background.  Since my 21 part YouTube documentary Giuseppi has cut a new CD his first since his two successful ones released in 1960’s by ESP records and I help unite Giuseppi Logan with the little boy in the YouTube, Jaee Logan, also a musical genius like his Dad!  I suggested Jaee Logan make a documentary and he is.  I also told him “Hollywood movie” and a book along the lines of The Soloist with charities as well.  That is part of my dream...

Now on to the mega-bucks YouTube wonders that do happen in YouTubeland.  Lady Gaga has signed young YouTube sensation Greyson Chance to her label, Interscope Record and his manager is now Guy Oseary, Madonna’s manager.

This is different than the Susan Boyle syndrome where a tv program and YouTube combined created a big income earning for Boyle and she doesn’t seem able to cope with fame.

I also bought a single of Boyle’s from ITunes and I ended up deleting it because it fell flat.

This young man is articulate and winning as highlighted in his Ellen interview.  Lady Gaga calls in and gives him advice.

This maybe the first a mega hit YouTube star born in YouTubeland with no help from American Idol, Simon Cowell....a pure YouTube hit.

There is a dark side to YouTubeland and I have more to tell you on the dark, dark side but tune in later, may be much later!

Also here is a shot from NYC, Soho.  Victoria Secret’s “Pink” hosting  and event with 1st Baseman for The New York Yankees Mark Teixeira and model Chanel as they have a Yankee Street Party in the rain.  Here is the facebook page to check in with later today.

Mark Souder: GOP Indiana Rep resigns over affair, upsets election race

Rep. Mark Souder

Rep. Mark Souder is a 14-year, eight-term House of Representatives veteran who campaigned on a "family values" ethic, campaigned against the Obama Health Care Reform Plan, and said he was interested in preserving the idea of traditional marriage, has resigned after revealing that he'd cheated on his wife with a female staff aide.

While liberal blogs like The Huffington Post point to Mark Souder's commitment to the idea of one man and one woman, technically, Mark Souder didn't say he was opposed to having a mistress in a marriage for himself, just Democrats.

Souder attacked then-President Bill Clinton and called for his resignation after the Monika Lewinsky Affair, but not Clinton's impeachment.

Mark Souder's resignation opens a once closed door of opportunity for Democrats Indiana's 3rd Congressional District. The district was considered safe under Mark Soude's watch, even though some observers had predicted a close November race.

Stay tuned.

Palin proves TIMING is EVERYTHING - again.

Sarah Palin burst into the national consciousness almost two years ago, and for a short while news services could talk of nothing else, and following the VP candidates debate pundits said she'd won because she didn't completely blow it. By November the bump Palin provided McCain's ratings faded as the country learned more about his new running-mate, and U.S. voters elected the Illinois Senator with the "funny name and big ears." It wasn't so long after Obama's night in Grant Park that Palin calculated her title as Governor of Alaska was more of a hindrance to her career than a help, remember?

Most of the pundits assure us that Tea Party activists (or at least coverage of them on TV) bolstered by Palin's photogenic smile tipped the balance against incumbent Utah Senator Robert Bennett when he failed to secure his party's nomination at a state convention.

Naturally, Palin has bestowed her Tea Party blessing on John "Complete the Danged Fence" McCain, yet by all accounts McCain is in danger of being upset in a primary. There's no question Arizona is currently the focus of the immigration storm in the U.S., but it's shaping up as the epicenter of the anti-incumbent earthquake since McCain's well-documented "toughening" of his rhetoric on that issue hasn't staved off the challenge from former congressman/talk show radio host J.D. Hayworth.

Like former President Bush, as recently as 2007 mavericky Senator McCain had championed less-extreme solutions to immigration reform before consulting the tea leaves and getting his position right. Unlike Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, McCain's not in a primary today, but he may wish he was as Hayworth continues to make inroads in McCain's lead. By the time the late August Arizona primary happens the Palin endorsement will be ancient history, and McCain's staff will be struggling to dominate the news cycle much the way Specter's struggled to be "bigger news" than Joe Sestak.

The "re-assignment" of Campaign Manager Shiree Verdone and Aide Mike Hellon reveals just how precarious McCain's situation really is -- and that demonstrates how little impact Palin's early endorsement had. Given her own notoriety it's hard to say if Michelle Bachmann is getting any boost from her connection to Palin, but she's already worried about the Democratic front runner, State Senator Tarryl Clark, who hasn't even secured her place on the November ballot yet (MN primary: August 10th.)

Palin's endorsement may not be enough to preserve McCain's power. Specter's calculated change of parties hasn't looked very effective. Bachmann's running negative ads before her own presumed challenger has even won the primary. Meanwhile the Obama administration is moving forward fast on Wall Street reform, and the unholy trinity of BP, Haliburton, and Transocean squandered that same administration's willingness to let off-shore exploration move ahead.

Drill, baby, drill? Timing is everything.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Miss USA Rima Fakih does Miley Cyrus pole dancing

Miss USA Rima Fakih is in the middle of a sexy photo controversy (another one) that really should go away, but here it is. In 2007, Rima Fakih participated in a contest produced by the Detroit "Mojo In The Morning" Radio Show that invited women to enter a stripper pole dance contest.

This is what an email sent to this blogger from the Detroit MoJo In The Morning show representatives read:

In 2007, newly-crowned Miss USA Rima Fakih participated in our annual event titled "Stripper 101." Our nationally-syndicated morning show (based in Detroit) holds an annual class for women who wish to add spice to their relationships. Real-life strippers teach our female listeners the art of the strip tease and pole dancing at the Coliseum Gentleman's Club in Detroit. At the end of the class, a contest is held among the new students and in 2007, Rima Fakih was the grand prize winner, walking away with jewelry, gift cards, adult toys and a stripper pole for home use. The event is attended by women only and Fakih did not remove any clothing. The circulating photos have been on our website for three years.

So with that, the overall question is "what's the big deal?" Just last week we had the Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video controversy, and if you don't know what that's about here's my video on that...



And last year we had the Carrie Prejean Miss USA issue, and the Miley Cyrus Stripper Pole Dance issue at the Teen Choice Awards, and a number of other similar scandals in between. Do we really care anymore?

To be frank, I'm not surprised that Rima took these photos and then entered a pageant. It seems to be this new standard that women who think they look good and do enter these photo contests or have racy photos of themselves created, then go into Miss USA-style beauty competitions.

It raises the issue of what a role model's supposed to be at a time when the very definition of it is being rewritten as we debate it. We talk about it as a way of working our way toward accepting it, then it goes away.

I think that's what should happen here, but for those conservatives and racists who may use this issue as a tool against her. Good luck Michelle Malkin.

I write that because I'm lovingly taking my Facebook friend Malkin to the woodshed for her attack on Rima Fakih, and really just because she's Arab-American as Barrett Brown at True/Slant points out - even though Michelle will not admit that. If Rima were white, Michelle would be defending the photos and her. Ball's in your court, Michelle.

What do you think about all this? Should Miss USA Rima Fakih be allowed to keep her crown? Take my poll > Click for poll

The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl at The Union Street Festival

Sunshine The Clown 

The month of June means San Francisco Festival Season and that means events like The Union Street Festival and San Francisco institutions like The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl.

The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl, is "Sunshine The Clown" and appears at San Francisco festivals from Union Street and the North Beach Festival, to The Folsom Street Fair. But one thing happened at Union Street last year which should not happen to the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl: harassment from so-called festival representatives.

What the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl is make flower balloons for money, and not a lot. But the nature of what Sunshine The Clown does such that she's mobile. Asking Sunshine The Clown to get some kind of festival booth permit, which runs into the thousands in some cases, is anti-business.

The San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl should be hired by the festival producer to add to the ambiance of the event. Let Sunshine The Clown make some money and put smiles on the faces of the people of San Francisco in the process. There's nothing wrong with that.

And if you want to hire the San Francisco Sunshine Flower Girl, go to this website: http://www.thesunshineshow.com or just send Sunshine The Clown an email here: sunshine@thesunshineshow.com

YouTube Turns 5: My YouTube Story - Zennie62

YouTube turns 5 years old and this is my third installment to celebrate YouTube's fifth birthday.

 This blog post presents the video called YouTube Turns 5: My YouTube Story.

For me, all of this started when I was using a camcorder at the 2006 NFL Draft and interviewed my friend Oakland Raiders Legend and Stanford Hall of Famer Michael Dotterer as we were walking to 21 Club restaurant in New York City.

On the way, Michael said "you're a vlogger, You should start video-blogging" or words to that effect. He also mentioned an online show called Rocketboom.   That was here:



Later that year I was lucky enough to attend Vloggercon in San Francisco, and met a lot of interesting people including Irina Slutsky and Schlomo Rabinowitz, who produced the event:



The stars of Vloggercon were Amanda Congdon and Andrew Michael Baron the founders of Rocketboom. While not YouTube stars, Amanda and Andrew's daily video news show with videos hosted on their own site, drew as much as 125,000 viewers a day, and over 1 million during their celebrated argument over control of the company. That happened just a month after this presentation:



While their argument was nasty and publicly displayed it served to shine light on the value of video-blogging and vloggers.

It was also an example of what was possible for me.

In 2007 I became a YouTube Partner, which means I draw a monthly check based on the views my videos generate. That set in motion a number of events, from being on the CNN / YouTube Democratic Debate and the "coin question"...



Which now-Vice President Joe Biden answered very well at the debate:



That started a major change in my life and led to to being on my first national TV show, and on CNN, and one of my favorite videos:



And later that year I met YouTube Founder Chad Hurley at the BizWorld Luncheon:



Then there was the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and CNN's Jessica Ellis found me to be their on the scene iReporter. Of course, YouTube was right there with me and Matthew Modine and Willie Brown:



As of this writing I have posted 942 videos on YouTube and heading toward my 1,000th. I officially joined YouTube in April of 2006, so I'm past my 4th year mark with YouTube. But what's changed is that now I feel like I'm part of the YouTube family:



YouTube and vlogging have made me a better, more confident, and more thoughful person. It's actually helped my game business Sports Business Simulations, and for me, now, I have two jobs that I have to figure out how to merge into one. Whatever it comes to be, YouTube will be a part of it.

And yes, YouTube fixed my Channel, Zennie62.

Hong Kong seeks California and U.S. wine imports, signs MOU

This blogger just received a letter from an unnamed source and written by Jeff Leung of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco that announces a formal economic relationship between Hong Kong and The United States beneficial to California wine makers.

The bottom line is that for winemakers in America, and particularly in California, Hong Kong has made doing business there much easier. US wine exports to Hong Kong totaled $49 million in 2009-2010. The U.S. is Hong Kong's fourth largest wine importer; America wants to be number one.

The Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Gary Locke, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Rita Lau, in Hong Kong. The "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Wine-related Businesses" (MOU) was signed between Hong Kong and the United States on Monday, May 17, 2010.

Because of the MOU, Hong Kong will facilitate in the pairing of wines with regional cuisine, facilitate wine auctions and assist in the establishment of quality storage facilities in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is becoming a regional wine trading and distribution center for Asia, and it's clear from the MOU that it wants to grow in that area.

For more information, contact the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. It's at 130 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-4386; the phone number is 415-677-9038.

YouTube turns 5: the vlogger exodus from YouTube

YouTube turns five (5) years old and while some celebrate the fact that YouTube has reached 2 billion views per day, this vlogger feels its important to look at the people who helped YouTube get to where it is today: the vloggers.

 While looking at videos to help frame my thought about YouTube turning 5 from a video-blogger perspective, I found a number of videos and blog posts that described a kind of video-blogger exodus from YouTube that started back in 2007.

Now I have uploaded videos on as many as eight different video distribution systems, but YouTube went from being my second favorite to my favorite because in "the old days" of 2006 and 2007, YouTube's website design encouraged vlogger interaction in a way that Blip.tv's website design did not do.

That caused a number of video-bloggers to emerge like Renetto, Kenrg, Gimmeabreakman, Nalts, and others. They were the pioneers. Renetto and Kenrg were on YouTube before me in 2006; YouTube was just launched in 2005. Vloggercon, a convention of vloggers, brought all of us together in 2006.

But something happened to really piss off a number of vloggers starting in 2007, and in retrospect, I think this funny video called God talks to me about YouTube by the one YouTuber Renetto, who YouTube has not celebrated during its birthday celebration, yet owes a lot of its early growth to, sums up what happened.

In this video created and uploaded on December 19th 2007, Renetto replays YouTube Founder Chad Hurley's words that "We're just creating a new market for distribution" and notes that YouTube dropped the "Broadcast Yourself" tagline from its main logo design. Renetto goes on to explain that YouTube's direction is to become a market for TV clips and says that YouTube was becoming essentially becoming less about community and more about control.



It's for that reason Renetto and Kenrg and a few others started a new website called Vloggerheads. They invited me to join in 2008; this was my video response thanking them for inviting me to Vloggerheads and pointing to the enormous level of racism on YouTube:



A number of people expanded their video distribution from, but did not quit YouTube, for that reason: Internet trolls. The people who sit down in cubicles at work or sit at home jobless drawing the government's money and waste that time and money writing nasty comments to creative people like me.

When I joined Vloggerheads there were 50 videos; now there are over 17,000 videos. It's growing and it will keep growing as more people fall in love with the method of using a camcorder to express their ideas in an online community. Some have left YouTube for sites like it and Blip.tv. I haven't quit YouTube. I'm here and plan to stay but some issues really need to be ironed out.

I think YouTube stumbled over a way to maintain community in a sea of shows and television clips, and that's what is being done with My YouTube Story: putting vlogs all in one page area for us to see.

That's a great start toward reestablishing community.

Stay tuned. I'm not done celebrating YouTube's 5th birthday and they still need to fix my channel!

AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit: San Francisco video of Van Ness Av

BRT Along Geary in San Francisco 

AC Transit has embarked on a program to construct Bus Rapid Transit in Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro and the East Bay.

Bus Rapid Transit is best described as combining the "dedicated lane" advantages of light rail systems with the cheaper equipment purchase and maintenance costs of buses to have a new kind of urban transit system.

Bus Rapid Transit has become "the thing" Worldwide; there are scores of examples of successful programs and systems.

While AC Transit has worked for four years to advance Bus Rapid Transit, the latest round of voting by elected officials in Berkeley proves that more education is required. In Berkeley, the City Council was under the impression Bus Rapid Transit would harm deliveries to businesses along Shattuck Avenue.

In the last blog post this blogger presented a photo where a Bus Rapid Transit system was in the middle of Shattuck Avenue and asked how such a configuration would harm businesses? But a better example is video, and the video below, while not of BRT along Shattuck Avenue, does have it along several familiar streets in San Francisco: Market, Geary, and Van Ness.

Here's the video by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority:



What BRT would look like and how it would mix with traffic along Van Ness is shown at the 23 second mark. What's important to note is the configuration does not block intersections and does not harm or block vehicle access to businesses, because it's in the middle of the street.

Aside from the access issue, the video provides an excellent animated example of how BRT fits in the fabric of San Francisco's pedestrian and vehicle traffic and its urban design.

Again, I see no example where businesses would be harmed in any way. Indeed, considering Bus traffic congestion along Telegraph Avenue and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, BRT's the perfect solution to improve public transit performance.

Stay tuned.

Celebrity Apprentice winner 2010: 70 percent pick Bret Michaels

The Celebrity Apprentice 2010, Donald Trumps' celebrity version of his hit show The Apprentice, is down to two celebrity contestants, Holly Robinson Peete and Bret Michaels.

To determine who the public thinks should the the Celebrity Apprentice 2010, this space issued a poll. As of this writing, Bret Michaels is the runaway pick of the public with 70 percent of the vote. Holly Robinson Peete only gets 14.19 percent of the vote.

Keep in mind that's with just 161 voters responding. The number of voters would have been greater if a video was part of the blog package. So we'll keep running the poll.

Bret Michaels is so overwhelmingly favored because of his very public brain hemorrhage and his battle to survive it. Also, Michaels mentioned his diabetic daughter several times on Celebrity Apprentice.

Michaels has recovered from hospital surgery and is scheduled for perform in his first concert with Poison and will appear live on the season finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, May 23rd on NBC.

If you want to cast a vote for Bret Michaels or Holly Robinson Peete, here's the poll:

More opinion surveys on pollsb.com

Celebrity Apprentice winner 2010: Bret Michaels or Holly Robinson Peete

See: celebrity apprentice 2010 winner, celebrity apprentice 2010, who won celebrity apprentice 2010, holly robinson peete, sharon osbourne

The Celebrity Apprentice winner for 2010 has not been named, but there's enough Internet buzz to push the subject to the top of trend boards. Last night's Celebrity Apprentice was a bit of a disappointment to this blogger because Donald Trump and his children revealed their view of how the game of business success should be played: be nasty.

Being nasty was always the message of The Apprentice series, but perhaps due to a number of personal factors those patterns in the way Donald Trump looks at life became more pronounced to this blogger.

To cut to the chase, The Apprentice concept is a study in what happens when you chose to give power over you to someone else. In Maria Kanellis's case, the WWE Diva got fired for a "locker room" comment about Curtis Stone that had everyone laughing.

But at the time, Trump was looking for someone to fire. That's the game. But it's not a game to play with celebrities. College graduates are one thing but to set up a show that humiliates powerful people is playing with future PR fire. I think that's what Donald Trump has done in the case of Celebrity Apprentice. But Mr. Trump might say, "That's the way the game is played. You can chose not to play."

The Celebrity Apprentice winner for 2010 comes down to Bret Michaels or Holly Robinson Peete since Sharon Osbourne cried her way out of a potential win. Rocker Bret Michaels has to be the sentimental favorite because of his brain hemmorage and his fight to survive. But that has little to do with winning Celebrity Apprentice. From the cold view of playing the game Holly Robinson Peete was hands down the better player. Peete was aggressive, assertive, combative, smart, ruthless, and smarmy. That was how she came accross and that's what is takes to win The Apprentice, period.

Note that I did not say I liked the way Holly played it.

What do you think? Who should be the Celebrity Apprentice winner 2010? Take my poll:

More opinion surveys on pollsb.com

Stay tuned.

Pretty Wild is Pretty Ridiculous By Nikky Raney

E!'s controversial reality show Pretty Wild has always been one of my guilty pleasures, but after last night's episode I have started to look past the sensational entertainment and realize I am guilty of being sucked into the questionable content of this show.

I was initially drawn to this show due to my interest in the "bling ring" burglary scandal that involved a group of young adults who were accused and then put on trial for participating in the burglaries of various celebrities. Alexis Neiers was one of the girls involved and I had a soft spot for her.

These girls are very articulate and seem to be well poised in the way they present themselves in front of the cameras during interviews. Even when they are doing outrageous things, they still remain articulate and speak in an adult manner. These girls have a mature vocabulary and seem to be reasonably intelligent.

Last night's episode drew the line. I could accept the Adderall dispensed by Andrea Arlington, the mother of Alexis and Gabrielle and "adoptive" mother of Tess Taylor, I could accept the outrageous behavior, and I could even accept Alexis' reaction to the Vanity Fair article published about her.

The Vanity Fair article especially made me feel for her because I watched the interview happen. The journalist comforted and consoled Alexis as she cried and eloquently explained herself. Alexis had been so excited and expecting the article to be all about her and improve her public image. From the looks of the interview I also expected that. When the article ended up showing an entirely different side of the story I actually felt resentment toward Vanity Fair. Under no circumstance should a journalist tell the source that the article is going to be one way and then have it turn out the next. I was also appalled at the lack of fact-checking.

The part that bothered me the most was that most of the people who read the article probably never watched an episode of Pretty Wild, and never watched the interview take place. Although Alexis is shown in the show complaining and crying over the fact that the article listed she was wearing one outfit when she was really wearing another, that was something that when watching the interview take place Alexis really emphasized. It may have seemed like a minor slip up, but with something so minor it was probably overlooked during the fact checking. No matter how insignificant a statement may seem that is no excuse to get it incorrect. Even though most rolled their eyes and thought, "Wow, she's complaining because the article got what kind of shoes she wore wrong," when the article says someone wore 6 inch heels to court when she really wore a smaller heel, that actually alters the perception of the way the person presents herself in a professional setting.

I had defended the show against those who harshly criticized it, but last night I can't think of a way to justify what I saw.

Tess Taylor has previously been a Playboy cyber girl and is reportedly going to be on the cover of an upcoming issue of Playboy.

Last night's episode had close ups of the naked Tess Taylor, blurred of course, posing nude in her shower as her "adoptive" mother took photos. The reason was to prep her for her Playboy shoot, but taking naked photos of your own daughter (even if she isn't your biological daughter) doesn't seem like something that can be justified.

The episode goes on to show Alexis and Tess taking their 15 year old sister lingerie shopping and ooh-ing and ahh-ing about Gabby's development into a woman.

I suppose that I can justify my interest in the show by the scandalous actions, or the fact that I am a 19-year-old girl who, despite my love for serious news and journalism, is still interested in the celebrity gossip.

Am I still going to watch the season finale next week? Yes. Do I still feel bad for the outcome of Alexis' trial? Yes. Will I continue to tune into this show if there are more seasons? Yes.

I guess that the biggest part of having a guilty pleasure is that after the fact you feel guilty that you take pleasure in it.

Written by Nikky Raney

Check out my personal blog The History of Journalism

Have anything you want me to write about? Let me know!

(photo above taken from Worldcorrespondents.com)

Miley Cyrus' impact on girls and sex - Dr. Christina Villarreal

Miley Cyrus has continued to land in the media spotlight since a copy of her sexually charged lap dance with 44 year old director/producer Adam Shankman surfaced on media websites such as tmz.com . Miss Cyrus has been trying to shed her clean cut Hannah Montana image for quite some time. She recently released a racy music video for her latest single, "Can't Be Tamed," where she is shown wearing a black lingerie-inspired bodice and thigh-high boots while dancing on a pole, as seen in many strip clubs. Miley Cyrus is a celebrity who clearly has a strong influence over young girls; many of whom will inevitably emulate her. Are her recent, sexually charged choices encouraging young female fans to engage in similar behaviors? What are the long term implications for girls who begin sexual activity at an early age? The excerpt below was taken from an article published in on June 26, 2003 by Kirk Johnson, Ph.D., Shannan Martin, Lauren Noyes and Robert Rector.

Negative Consequences of Early Sexual Activity


"Beginning sexual activity at an early age is likely to have permanent negative consequences on the lives of young women. These enduring negative effects can be physical, psychological, social, and economic. The harmful effects are most pronounced for women who begin sexual activity in teen years; many will be passed on to future generations. Data from the NSFG showcase the negative consequences of early sexual activity, which include the following:


• Beginning sexual activity at a young age greatly increases the probability of becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Girls who began sexual activity at age 13 are twice as likely to become infected by an STD as girls who started sexual activity at age 21.


• Women who begin sexual activity at an early age are far more likely to become pregnant and give birth out-of-wedlock. Nearly 40 percent of girls who commence sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 will give birth outside marriage. By contrast, 9 percent of women who begin sexual activity at ages 21 or 22 will give birth outside marriage


• Women who begin sexual activity at earlier ages are more likely to become single mothers. Women who became sexually active at ages 13 or 14 are more than three times as likely to become single parents than are women who commence sexual activity in their early 20s.


• Early sexual activity seriously undermines girls’ ability to form stable marriages as adults. When compared to women who began sexual activity in their early 20s, girls who initiated sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 were less than half as likely to be in stable marriages in their 30s.


• Early sexual activity is linked to higher levels of child and maternal poverty. Some 27 percent of mothers who began sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 were living in poverty at the time of the survey. By contrast, 11.7 percent of mothers who began sexual activity in their early 20s were poor at the time of the survey.


• Girls who begin sexual activity at an earlier age are far more likely to have abortions. Nearly 30 percent of girls who started sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 have had an abortion. By con- trast, some 12 percent of girls who began sexual activity in their early 20s have had an abor- tion.


• Beginning sexual activity at an older age is linked to higher levels of personal happiness. More than half the women who began sexual activity in their early 20s report that they are currently “very happy” in life. By contrast, only a third of women who began sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 report that they are 'very happy'."

In light of these statistics, parents must aim to play an active role in educating their children about their sexuality and the consequences of their choices. Unfortunately, many parents struggle to see their own children as sexually active (but believe that everyone else's kids are), as seen in an article titled Parents don’t think own teens are having sex.

Leave your thoughts, questions or concerns below to continue this important dialogue, or email me directly for professional work referrals at christina.villarreal@gmail.com, or view my website at www.drchristinavillarreal.com

References:

THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF EARLY SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND MULTIPLE SEXUAL PARTNERS AMONG WOMEN: A BOOK OF CHARTS. Written by: ROBERT E. RECTOR KIRK A. JOHNSON, PH.D. LAUREN R. NOYES SHANNAN MARTIN.

YouTube turns 5: remember the vloggers

While this vlogger and YouTube Partner since 2007 was struggling to figure out why a portion, but not all, of his prized two-year old NFL Draft videos were removed and placed "on hold" due to a so-called and obviously mistaken "terms of use" violation, YouTube was celebrating it's fifth birthday.

YouTube now has approximately 2 billion views each day.

Since there was no reason for some of the Zennie62 NFL Draft videos to be placed in status - no copyrighted music or unauthorized NFL Draft access - it was hard for me to stop, stand up, and salute.

Let's put this all in its proper perspective: YouTube has played a large an important role in my life. YouTube staff has been good to me and  extended invitations to me to come to events.  YouTube Founder Chad Hurley has always been very nice to me.

But something is happening that I warned of in one of our meetings at YouTube Headquarters: YouTube is getting too big too fast. YT is growing in such a way that its making errors with YouTube Partners that would have not happened years past, like the one with my NFL videos.

I've taken time to write this and design it so that it would be seen and by a lot of people. The point here is that YouTube is like the small town person who grew up, went to Hollywood, and forgot where it came from. In befriending Oprah Winfrey, CBS, and David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Katie Couric, YouTube forgot about people like Renetto and vloggers like me.

Just take one look at the YouTube Turns 5 page, and the video timeline doesn't have a single vlogger on it. It has people who produced shows like LonelyGirl, which everyone thought wasn't real at the time, and one-hit wonders.  Where's Renetto?

What about the first YouTube As-One Meetings at Pier 39 in 2007? The one where YouTube's Marketing rep came out and passed out t-shirts and video bloggers boarded planes from as far away as Ohio to be in San Francisco?

And the videos listed on the front page are by people who never heard the term "vlogging" let alone can claim to be vloging pioneers.  They're just names like Katie Couric; proof that YouTube saw stars and kicked its long time friends to the curb.

Chad Hurley's direction for YouTube is such that it's always seeking new partnerships and going into new areasof business. While that's fine, it always places YouTube in the insecure role of trying to make friends with people who represent companies that just don't like them or understand what they do.

Movie studios and record labels are not ran by tech people; they don't get YouTube, they certainly fear it, and in some cases are trying to gouge royalty money from it.

Meanwhile the YouTube Partners, the people YouTube created who just make commentary and vlog, people like me who you know as Zennie62, sit as second-and-third players to the studios, comedy shows, and entertainers.

But vloggers can best explain YouTube to potential advertisers.  Vloggers are the first-responders to tech changes.  Vloggers are the ones who don't need a studio to make content.  We're like Iron Man and the camcorder is our suit in a case.

Vloggers are the ones who can best show others how YouTube can help them. We are the people who talk to the school teachers who just want to tell their story and work with the newspapers that just need a push. We keep it simple: we get a camera, point it at our face, and let her rip.

YouTube has forgot about us. YouTube needs to place more time and energy into creating a real place for the vlogger. Some have just got plain fed up, quit YouTube, and started their own efforts like Vloggerheads. They miss the old days when YouTube was used to have a real conversation about something.

Then, you didn't have to spend your days trying to get the rights to the Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video, in a chase for traffic; you just talked. YouTube's system was such that the best conversations got the most views. Now we're dwarfed by CBS and The Associated Press, which gets prized web space by YouTube.

What about me?

Some of us have taken to do shows. Me, I am a vlogger. I'm not a show guy. I use YouTube to make video-blogs. That where all this started: using the camera to tell my story. It's fitting that YouTube, to celebrate its fifth birthday, is returning to a vlogging format as its foundation. Vlogging is what YouTube really is all about.

YouTube must concentrate not on being like Hulu, or getting movies onto its website, but helping its vloggers. Celebrate the longtime vloggers like me. I've been here since 2006 and a partner since 2007. Because of YouTube I've been on national television a bunch of times and started a new media company. While I owe a lot to YouTube, YouTube owes a lot to me as one of its ambassadors.

Remember the vloggers. And in doing so, give me the respect I deserve. Fix my channel. Adjust the automatic content evaluation system so it doesn't suddenly make mistakes with my two-year-old NFL Draft videos.

Mistakes that have hampered my YouTube account and threatened my pocketbook. Give me a place where I can video-converse with other vloggers and where viewers can find our vlog conversations. Focus on your small town friends. Your roots. Forget chasing Hollywood stardom, unless its us going to the Oscars as YouTube Partners.

Help us help YouTube.

YouTube turns five but forgets its roots: The Vloggers

While this vlogger and YouTube Partner since 2007 was struggling to figure out why a portion, but not all, of his prized two-year old NFL Draft videos were removed due to a so-called and obviously mistaken "terms of use" violation, YouTube was celebrating it's fifth birthday.

Since there was no reason for some of my Zennie62 NFL Draft videos to be placed in status - no copyrighted music or unauthorized NFL Draft access - it was hard for me to stop, stand up, and salute.

Let's put this all in its proper perspective: YouTube has played a large an important role in my life. YouTube staff has been good to me and  extended invitations to me to come to events.  YouTube Founder Chad Hurley has always been very nice to me.

But something is happening that I warned of in one of our meetings at YouTube Headquarters: YouTube is getting too big too fast. YT is growing in such a way that its making errors with YouTube Partners that would have not happened years past, like the one with my NFL videos.

I've taken time to write this and design it so that it would be seen and by a lot of people. The point here is that YouTube is like the small town person who grew up, went to Hollywood, and forgot where it came from. In befriending Oprah Winfrey, CBS, and David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Katie Couric, YouTube forgot about people like Renetto and vloggers like me.

Just take one look at the YouTube Turns 5 page, and the video timeline doesn't have a single vlogger on it. It has people who produced shows like LonelyGirl, which everyone thought wasn't real at the time, and one-hit wonders.  Where's Renetto?

What about the first YouTube As-One Meetings at Pier 39 in 2007? The one where YouTube's Marketing rep came out and passed out t-shirts and video bloggers boarded planes from as far away as Ohio to be in San Francisco?

And the videos listed on the front page are by people who never heard the term "vlogging" let alone can claim to be vloging pioneers.  They're just names like Katie Couric; proof that YouTube saw stars and kicked its long time friends to the curb.

See, Chad Hurley's vision of YouTube is such that it's always seeking new partnerships and going into areas.  While that's fine, it always places YouTube in the insecure role of trying to make friends with people who represent companies that just don't like them.  Movie studios are not ran by tech people; they don't get YouTube and they certainly fear it.

Meanwhile the YouTube Partners, the people YouTube created who just make commentary and vlog, people like me who you know as Zennie62, sit as second-and-third players to the studios, comedy shows, and entertainers.  But vloggers can best explain YouTube to potential advertisers.  Vloggers are the first-responders to tech changes.  Vloggers are the ones who don't need a studio to make content.  We're like Iron Man and the camcorder is our suit in a case.

Vloggers are the ones who can best show others how YouTube can help them. We are the people who talk to the school teachers who just want to tell their story and work with the newspapers that just need a push. We keep it simple: we get a camera, point it at our face, and let her rip.

YouTube has forgot about us. YouTube needs to place more time and energy into creating a real place for the vlogger. Some have just got plain fed up, quit YouTube, and started their own efforts like Vloggerheads. They miss the old days when YouTube was used to have a real conversation about something.

Then, you didn't have to spend your days trying to get the rights to the Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video, in a chase for traffic; you just talked. YouTube's system was such that the best conversations got the most views. Now we're dwarfed by CBS and The Associated Press, which gets prized web space by YouTube.

What about me?

Some of us have taken to do shows. Me, I am a vlogger. I'm not a show guy. I use YouTube to make video-blogs. That where all this started: using the camera to tell my story. It's fitting that YouTube, to celebrate its fifth birthday, is returning to a vlogging format as its foundation. Vlogging is what YouTube really is all about.

YouTube must concentrate not on being like Hulu, or getting movies onto its website, but helping its vloggers. Celebrate the longtime vloggers like me. I've been here since 2006 and a partner since 2007. Because of YouTube I've been on national television a bunch of times and started a new media company. While I owe a lot to YouTube, YouTube owes a lot to me as one of its ambassadors.

Remember the vloggers. And in doing so, give me the respect I deserve. Fix my channel. Adjust the automatic content evaluation system so it doesn't suddenly make mistakes with my two-year-old NFL Draft videos.  Mistakes that have hampered my YouTube account and threatened my pocketbook. Give me a place where I can video-converse with other vloggers and where viewers can find our vlog conversations. Focus on your small town friends. Your roots. Forget chasing Hollywood stardom, unless its us going to the Oscars as YouTube Partners.

Help us help YouTube.