Kanye West "Power" single and lyrics leaked online today

Hip Hop Rapper Kanye West has just allowed the leak of a new single set for a June 8th release date that could only be called subversively angry. It's called Power, and everything from its lyrics to its afrorhymic back beat, is a 60s-style attack on the establishment, but not the Obama Administration.

One has to listen to the lyrics what Kanye West said to understand;



The lyrics are below from Zimbio:

Kanye West 

I’m livin’ in the 21st century
Doin’ something mean to it
Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it
Screams from the ’80s, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superhero need his own theme music
No one man should have all that power
The clock’s tickin’, I just count the hours
Stop trippin’, I’m trippin’ off the power
(21st century schizoid man)

The system broken, the schools closed, the prisons open
We ain’t got nothin’ to lose, ma’fucka, we rollin’
Huh? Ma’f*cka, we rollin’
With some light-skinned girls and some Kelly Rowlands
In this white man world, we the ones chosen
So goodnight, cruel world, I see you in the mornin’
Huh? I see you in the mornin’
This is way too much, I need a moment

No one man should have all that power
The clock’s tickin’, I just count the hours
Stop trippin’, I’m trippin’ off the power
‘Til then, fuck that, the world’s ours

And then they
And then they
And then they
And then they
(21st century schizoid man)

F*ck SNL and the whole cast
Tell ‘em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass
More specifically, they can kiss my asshole
I’m an asshole? You n*ggas got jugs
You short-minded n*ggas’ thoughts is Napoleon
My furs is Mongolian, my ice, brought the Dodies in
Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic
He know, he so, f*ckin’ gifted
I just needed time alone, with my own thoughts
Got treasures in my mind, but couldn’t open up my own vault
My childlike creativity, purity and honesty
Is honestly being prodded by these grown thoughts
Reality is catchin’ up with me
Takin’ my inner child, I’m fighting for it, custody
With these responsibilities that they entrusted me
As I look down at my dia-mond-encrusted piece

N*gga, no one man should have all that power
The clock’s tickin’, I just count the hours
Stop trippin’, I’m trippin’ off the power
‘Til then, f*ck that, the world’s ours

And then they
And then they
And then they
And then they
And then they
And then they
(21st century schizoid man)

Holy, powers, Austin, Powers
Lost in translation with a whole f*ckin’ nation
They say I was the obamanation of Obama’s nation
Well, that’s a pretty bad way to start the conversation
At the end of day, goddammit, I’m killin’ this sh*t
I know damn well y’all feelin’ this shit
I don’t need yo’ p*ssy, b*tch, I’m on my own d*ck
I ain’t gotta power trip, who you goin’ home with?
How ‘Ye doin’? I’m survivin’
I was drinkin’ earlier, now I’m drivin’
Where the bad b*tches, huh? Where ya hidin’?
I got the power, make yo’ life so excitin’ (So excitin’)

Now this’ll be a beautiful death
Jumpin’ out the window
Lettin’ everything go
Lettin’ everything go

Now this’ll be a beautiful death
Jumpin’ out the window
Lettin’ everything go
Lettin’ everything go

Now this’ll be a beautiful death
Jumpin’ out the window
Lettin’ everything go
Lettin’ everything go

Now this’ll be a beautiful death
Jumpin’ out the window
Lettin’ everything go
Lettin’ everything go

You got the power to let power come

Is Power a hit? Yes, it can be because it sounds a cry of anger that's heard by many who are suffering economically and feel powerless. The song is catchy and edgy, even race concious (though some may say racist), pointing at what Kanye sees as a white power establishment, but in many sectors has become multi-racial.

Stay tuned.

Chevron CEO talks BP Oil Spill; takes on Ecuador protestors

John Watson of Chevron

Echoing what seems to be this week's theme of combative CEOs (remember Carol Bartz' F-bomb blast against TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington?), Chevron's Chief Executive Officer John Watson said Wednesday at that firm's Houston Shareholder meeting that they've asked the U.S Government to raise safety standards for offshore drilling in the wake of the BP Oil Spill Disaster.

Acting as a member of one of two industry task forces that report to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Watson explained that they gave Salazar a document that explains what procedures should be implemented and which ones should be improved in order to avoid another BP Oil Spill Disaster.

In that issue, the oil drilling rig called The Deepwater Horizon and owned by Transocean Company, suffered an explosion that killed 11 workers, two week ago. The result has been a massive oil spill that rivals the Exxon Valdez Alaska disaster in size. "The energy industry is learning a great deal," Watson said according to The Wall Street Journal, "If there is something we need to adopt, we will adopt it."

Watson said Chevron reviewed its own safety standards after the BP Oil Spill Disaster, as its one of the largest oil producers in the enormous Gulf of Mexico.

In other annual shareholders’ meeting news, Chevron’s Watson said he would protect the oil company and its shareholders against the fraudulent claims made against it in Ecuador. Chevron, which purchased Texaco in 2001, inherited a lawsuit against Texaco that claims it polluted the Amazon River region with ‘produced water,’ a byproduct of the oil drilling process.

But, as Watson noted and recent news stories have reported, the case against Chevron in Ecuador has turned into a legal circus and become overshadowed by a series of alleged legal and political frauds in Ecuador.

Watson pointed to evidence such as the Ecuadorian judge who had to remove himself from the case because he was caught up in a bribery scandal against Chevron, and, more recently, significant and damaging evidence that the entire case has been written by the plaintiffs against Chevron and then simply copied by the ‘independent court expert’ Richard Cabrera and submitted to the court.

There is mounting evidence that when this trial concludes, and Chevron is found guilty, that no court in the world will enforce the $27 billion judgment against Chevron because it will be tainted by fraud and illegal activities by the plaintiffs.

Stay tuned.

Mike Bloomberg's CityTime the tax payer's Titanic -- Suzannah B. Troy

I called John Liu, New York City Comptroller and a thorn in mayor Mike Bloomberg’s side because like me and so many New Yorkers, we opposed Mike Bloomberg denying us, the people of NY a referendum.  This issue divided New York and seriously alienated the people so it was no surprise Mike Bloomberg barely won.

But that is not why I called and left John Liu a voice mail at City Hall here in New York City this morning at six a.m.

I called him to refer him to y new blog piece, “Mike Bloomberg’s Techno-dreams, the Tax Payer’s Titanic and WHY CITYTIME MUST NOT BE RENEWED THIS SEPTEMBER!"

You see CityTime, an Orwellian Time Clock that was suppose to save the City of New York big bucks is in fact a sham and is on it’s way to costing tax payers a billion dollars.

Why would I be writing about this now?

The renewal date for CityTime is September 2010 and CityTime must not be renewed.

In fact CityTime must be investigated.   Why?

How did a program designed to save the city money go from under a hundred million dollar budget run out of control?  Well for some mysterious reason CityTime needs countless consultants averaging close to half a million dollar salaries and at least one was reported to get a million and he happens to also collect a city pension.

Read my blog postings and see also how SAIC, hired to over see CityTime has scandals on a Federal level as well.   I wrote this based on Ali Winston’s piece in City Limits from two years ago and an astounding series by Juan Gonzalez from The New York Daily News.

50 Cent drops 50 pounds & loses the tattoos By: Nikky Raney

50 Cent, 34, has removed all his tattoos and has gone from 214 to 160 pounds for his role inThings Fall Apart, where he plays a football player with cancer.

(photo courtesy of MTV.com)

The movie was inspired by 50's friend who died of cancer. I understand that for movie roles stars change their body and do certain things to fit the role, but this just looks so sad. It does not look healthy (I know it isn't supposed to look healthy). 50 says not to worry, "I've been eating, I'll be back in shape in no time!"

I wonder how his fans will react this weekend when he is performing. He goes back on tour TOMORROW, and this news has just broken today. I am sure if he had just started performing without explaining his weight loss there would have been a lot of rumors and tabloid craze over this.

Tony Yayo told MTV News that 50 was very dedicated to his role (we can see that!) Yayo says:

"50 doesn't party, he doesn't drink.... 'Man, he has the three D's: desire, determination and [direction].' "

I think what is more shocking (at least to me) is that he got rid of his tattoos.

“I took ‘em off,” he said. “I’ve been on a few acting projects and they been making me get up… My call time is four hours before the regular acting talent because of the tattoos.”

I always picture 50 Cent has the buff man from "In Da Club" with those big muscles and tattoos. I remember he used to speak of his tattoos and how much they meant to him. It seems sad that he got rid of those tattoos for his career as an actor. I know there are a lot of other actors and actresses who would refuse to get rid of their tattoos. He says that it saved time in the make up chair working on covering up the tattoos.

But at least he didn't get rid of the GIANT "50 Cent" on his back!

Lloyd Banks, from G-Unit, says since he was with 50 so much he didn't notice the drastic change as much as others:

"I was around him everyday, so I didn't see it [the dramatic weight-loss transformation] as much as other people did, but when I seen the pictures, it's affected everything,..He's crazy, it was non-stop working, running 10 miles."

Well, even though 50 is a "rapper-turned-actor" I hope that he will be able to bring back the "rapper" side of him for this weekend's kick off of his tour. I am sure he won't disappoint any of his fans.

(I wonder what Eminem thinks of this!)

Post written by The Future of Journalism's Nikky Raney

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Soluto wins TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Competition

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) TechCrunch Disrupt New York City Day 3 has the final round of what the tech blog calls it's "Startup Battlefield." The idea is for a startup to give a pitch to a panel of judges, who then evaluate the company.

UPDATE: The winner of the competition is...Soluto, which receives a check for $50,000.

Today's panel has John Borthwick, CEO of betaworks, Ron Conway, Angel Investor at SV Angel, Marrissa Mayer, VP of Google, Samuel Schwartz, EVP of Comcast Interactive and Quincy Smith, Founding Partner of CODE Advisors.

You can watch the livestream for this event now below:

Watch live streaming video from disrupt at livestream.com

Right now, a startup called Publish2 is up. The idea of Publish2 is to have a news exchange that replaces "the hated Associated Press" according to its CEO Scott Karp. It enables newspapers to install content from any source, from blogs to other news websites, into their print newspapers and websites.

In the questioning, Marrissa Mayer of Google says Publish2 is a good idea that "this is an area that needs to be looked at" as journalism is changing. But she's concerned about reliability and the business model. She's also concerned about distribution of the content.

Ron Conway mentioned Twitter as a competitor and the fact that Twitter itself is breaking news.

UPDATE: Soluto's a software company that promises to " bring an end to the frustrations PC users encounter" by finding the problem in your computer, then using "crowdsourcing" to connect you to a whole community who can help you.

The panel likes the company, but has concerns about privacy; the founders of the company, Tomer Dvir and Ishay Green are explaining that they are not going to collect private data.

UPDATE: Betterment is up next and my personal favorite. The idea of Betterment is to make it easier for people to invest online. Many companies have websites that are just plain hard to use. The founders call Betterment "the replacement for your savings account."

The panel is getting down on the concept of the "simplification" of data on the Betterment website. Personally, I agree with TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington, who said that there was a bit of looking down on Betterment because it's "cute."

Betterment does need to work on its SEO.

UPDATE: MovieClips, which allows you to make a mashup of videos clips from movies, is up now. MovieClips Richard Raddon presented a set of clips (one that will make your stomach turn). He explains that he has deals with six movie studios, which is how they're able to use the 12,000 clips.

Ron Conway said, "imagine how big YouTube sales would be if you were one of the founders." John Borthwick is skeptical as to how many people will use MovieClips. Plus, he feels that the studio deals can be done by others, not just the founders of Movie Clips, but Conway disagres.

Samuel Schwartz of Comcast Interactive likes MovieClips and wants to talk to Richard Raddon and Zack James about how they can work together. Marrissa Mayer focused on the need for a better search technology system to facilitate clip discovery.

Ujam, the conference favorite, is up. Ujam allows you to make original music from different sounds and instruments. Very simple. Very exciting. Movie Composer Hanz Zimmer is one of their partners.

The panel generally likes Ujam but focused on the problem of monetization. Currently, it's free.

The judges went backstage to decide the winner.

UPDATE: The winner of the competition is...Soluto, which receives a check for $50,000.

Stay tuned for updates.

Jesse James Nightline Ratings High by Suzannah B. Troy

Nightline saw it’s best rating since it’s relaunch in 2005 with Jesse James interviewed by Vicki Mabrey and she did a great job.  I didn’t tune in and just watched segments.

I don’t believe Jesse James is a racist.  Here in NYC , I have seen photos posted by an elderly, grossly overweight white man of a middle aged African American  woman, homeless, poverty level, drunk out of her mind in the park  and with no tools or resources to climb out of her destructive cycle and worse has some white man with a camera photographing her topless out of her mind and posting on the internet -- in my opinion that  is racism,  misogyny and  a terrible double standard because I have seen that white man drunk and he had the luxury of a home to go close a door and he doesn’t want anyone to photograph him including without his shirt.  Jesse James hasn't done anything near as heinous as that.

It is easy to think James is a racist and he is flat out in denial or stupid to consider the Hitler gear as a joke.  It is no joke.  It is repulsive as is his treatment of his wife and everyone involved but is he the most hated person in the world?  Is he a racist or plain stupid?  When it comes to Hitler gear - I pick plain stupid.   No he is not the most hated person in the world or the brightest.  He is good at making motorcycle and lots of money.   The global audience  have their  lives and they are way too busy to think about him for more than a moment...he is “media fast food”, consumed, not digested and done with.  

I have said and continue to say he will continue to do really well with his career.  After all his career is based on the bad boy brand.  He comes across as sincere at moments but if he himself admits he is a liar why would he suddenly find truth and clearly he is in denial.  Just his talk about the Hitler gear.  I don't think he should have done this interview right now but he did and the ratings were very good so all the power to him as long as it isn't white power.  America loves redemption but looking at his failed marriages before none of this is a big time shocker except that Sandra Bullock was clueless.

As I understand it, Janine was pregnant with Sunny when Sandra and Jesse started dating which was a huge red light  and James was not involved in Sunny’s life until she was 3 years old when Janine was heading to Federal Prison for tax evasion.  Maybe I am wrong but that was what I heard....

I feel most sorry for Sunny because she has been through too much too soon in her short little life and hopefully Sandra Bullock will stay involved in Sunny’s life. 

Janine has blocked her twitter page to only her inside circle of friends.  She really wants to be in Sunny’s life and she will be in court to attempt to make it a legal reality as reported by TMZ.

Janine and Jesse has two things in common.  Sunny their child and the reality they both have to work on their lives, as we all do, but if not for themselves than for Sunny and their kids from other marriages as well.

Note: I think Janine is self-destructive and has to come to terms with her demons.  I also think there is something compelling about her and wished she could have been cast as the stripper in The Wrestler.  That way at the very end, when Randy the Ram, Mickey Rourke is talking to her before he goes in to the ring, you would have to think, wait Randy don't do it.  Janine would have made that scene before he walks out just rip!    If Janine could clean up her act, I could see her crossing over in to main stream film.  

I keep predicting James will be married again because he is they marrying kind and the marriage I predict will be open because I don’t see him being faithful.  What ever he has been doing has aged him and clearly has not been agreeing with him.  He looks much older and he may go the Hollywoo-woo way of getting some surgery to make himself look younger or do a radical change in what ever he has been doing but he looks like hell for now.  Not a poster boy for bad boy who makes deals with the devil as in  Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray but a warning to guys the bad boy life style is not all it's cracked up to be.

James has a following that love him and his family and a successful career...I am sure more drama to come.

“Jesse James The Brand” will continue on with success despite his repulsive misdeeds and  Nightline’s ratings are proof.  Just most women would not want to date him not that will in anyway change the number of enthusiastic women that will continue to hit on him because in the biker bad boy world it is no big deal.

I write about this because I know people are interested but I am gearing up for a “grown-up” piece on NYC politics that I am far more excited about coming to you soon.

Eric Shoenfeld on TechCrunch Disrupt, Carol Bartz, and Foursquare

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) This video discussion with TechCrunch Co-Editor Eric Shoenfeld took place on Monday, and just after Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz was interviewed by TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington.

In giving an overview of TechCrunch Disrupt, Shoenfeld said that Bartz "is a pretty tough cookie. She can...She gave as well as she gets. We got a few bombs out of her. She kinda came into the lion's den. We've been critical of Yahoo! and Carol, and for her to come into (this) and do really well speaks volumes about her leadership.

On the matter of the impact of "geo-based social networks" like Foursquare, and their explosion, the question has been when will the next "Foursquare" emerge? "There's a lot of buzz around geo-media companies. Foursquare and Gowalla, and Booya are some of the first ones out of the gate. I think it's going to be difficult for a startup today. The question is not what the next Facebook but who's the next Foursquare?...There are already early, early leaders. If you're not in that pack, it's going to be difficult to get into that pack."

Shoenfeld says that TechCrunch Disrupt is a mix of interesting panels in the morning and interviews presenting the different "disruptions" that are present. A disruption, in the industrial context, is another way of describing the "paradigm shifts" famously described in Thomas Kuhn's classic work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

A paradigm shift is a dramatic alteration in a process, tradition, or convention. In the case of tech, the growth of the web has been extremely disruptive to the media and entertainment industries, as iTunes, YouTube, and Craigslist (to offer some examples), have caused massive declines in ad revenues to newspapers and radio stations and other traditional forms of media. Thousands of people have lost jobs in the process. Meanwhile new jobs are being created and countries, like India, are now major players in these same industries.

The intent of TechCrunch Disrupt is to explore the anatomy of these disruptions and give a view of what "disruptive" companies are on the horizon. I think it's done that very well.  Plus, it's probably the largest single "dump" of people from the San Francisco Bay Area into New York City ever done.

Stay tuned.

What's the most amazing thing about Rand Paul?

Is it Rand Paul's sudden rise to political prominence despite a total lack of experience? No, it's not that people vote often don't make voting choices based on logic, either. Sadly, that happens all the time.

Atlas Shrugged:
Rand Paul and
The Crouching Weasel Technique
So, while it may defy logic for primary voters to elevate this guy based solely on the fact his dad's a celebrity and his ability to echo talking points, he may be a flash in the pan. Of course, given that people so often make choices emotionally rather than logically, it's possible he's still in it.

The first rule of politics is "Follow the Money." The second used to be some version of, "Truth is still getting on its shoes while the lie runs on ahead." But the third place entry may be about to overtake second with, "Voters will make strange choices."

It's already a little late to have much influence over which people run for office this year. But if we work together perhaps we can shape the remaining primaries and the November election to at least choose the most effective leaders to hold office rather than simply the person people think would be "fun to drink a beer with."

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.

Megan Fox doesn't have to work for "Hilter" anymore -- by Nikky Raney

I must give credit where credit is due. Nikki Finke at Deadline.com broke this story and held back nothing (posting all the quotes, documents, and letters involving Bay and Fox).

There have been numerous articles/stories/blog entries written about Megan Fox no longer being apart of Transformers. There are many speculations made whether Fox quit or if she was fired by Paramount.

I have a question.

If you were interviewed for an article and you compared your boss to Hilter, do you think you would still have a job?

In September 2009 Megan Fox told Wonderland Magazine:

"[Michael Bay] wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. It's endearing to watch him. He's so vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set, he's a tyrant."

Now, in May 2010 we are hearing that she won't be in Transformers 3, and we are surprised by this? She was being interviewed about her movie Jennifer's Body, and she brings up Michael Bay being like Hitler.

It really shouldn't shock anyone that she isn't involved with Transformers, but the focus is more on who dumped who.

Do we remember what Fox said at Spike TV's 4th annual Scream Awards?

"The movie took me out of obscurity and gave me a career, and I'm completely grateful to everyone involved with this franchise."

The two have quite the past. Do we forget that when she was 15 Bay paid Fox $600 to get wet in a bikini for Bad Boys 2?

So why would the "grateful" Fox leave the movie that took her out of obscurity?

Fox's reps said that the actress "left the project on her own and wishes the franchise well."

Fox should let her publicist speak for her more often, but even after that statement was released Fox had to speak for herself. Fox made sure that everyone knew why she was leaving.

The "crew letter" from over the summer could have been a reason for her to leave.

Fox claims that Bay was "verbally abusive" toward her.

I don't want to seem unsympathetic, but isn't comparing Bay to Hitler a bit "abusive" in itself. If not abusive then insulting.

Fox is determined to get the word out that Michael Bay and Paramount did not let her go. She wants everyone to understand that even though Michael Bay brought her out of obscurity, SHE was the one to choose to leave the franchise.

And if that isn't enough of a reason, Fox always wants everyone to know that Bay forced her to tan so excessively that she was concerned she would get cancer, or was it because of her weight issues?

Of course Bay wasn't bothered by anything Fox said, he even said himself:

"But her crazy quips are part of her crazy charm. The fact of the matter I still love working with her, and I know we still get along. I even expect more crazy quotes from her on ‘Transformers 3.'

I am sure Bay is very sad that he won't be getting those crazy quotes.

So, although Fox "wishes them well," she really means, "Michael Bay is the reason I am not returning." Whether it is because she called him Hitler, or if he was verbally abusive to her. Michael Bay is the reason that Megan Fox will no longer be apart of the Transformers Franchise.

I don't want to choose sides, but I think that Bay will survive this loss.

(Y'know, since Megan Fox made it clear that SHE LEFT and SHE WAS NOT KICKED OUT.)

Now I think I am going to go watch A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Unborn, The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pearl Harbor and then I'll finish up with Friday the 13th.

Oh hey, wow, those are all Michael Bay films that DON'T involve Megan Fox.

Written by Nikky Raney

from The Future of Journalism

Feel free to e-mail me or follow me on twitter.

Superbowl 2014 - New York City lands 2014 Super Bowl; Oakland, wake up.

New Giants and Jets Stadium: home of Super Bowl XLVIII

New York, NY - Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference to announce that New York was open to the tech business. In his speech, he failed to mention the real story: that New York was in line to host the 2014 Super Bowl.

At another press conference held in an adjacent area to the main room at 570 Washington Street, this blogger asked Mayor Bloomberg if he knew of New York's chances. "I don't know. They're supposed to announce today, but I don't know what they're going to do," and the Mayor was talking about the NFL.

At 5 PM EDT, on a sunny Tuesday, and in Times Square while this blogger was at the TechCrunch Conference, they did it. The NFL awarded New York City the 2014 Super Bowl. Immediately, I thought of Oakland's Super Bowl Bid, 9-11, and New York's determination to be great.

What stopped Oakland from landing the 2005 Super Bowl was its lack of community determination and support. Regardless of the specific reasons, Oakland lacked an overall want to. That's even true with Oakland's World Cup bid: no fire in the collective belly.

New York managed to convince the NFL that it could host what would be the first outdoor cold-weather Super Bowl in history. This is wild because for decades, the National Football League has had a cold weather rule that such Super Bowls were to be played in dome stadiums.

That was eliminated for New York.  And while it's a gift that is due to the trajedy of 9-11, it opens the door for other cities to bid on it.  And why not?  New York beat Miami for the win?

But New York was determined to win.  It has a moxie that Oakland could have, but seems afraid to muster.

Stay tuned.

2014 Super Bowl to be played NJ + dish by Suzannah B. Troy

New Yorkers and New Jersey  football fans are celebrating the breaking news which is 2014 Super Bowl will be played at the New Jersey Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.   This is good for both NY and NJ who are in dire straits with economic budget problems and that is understating the problems.  Thanks to 1010 Wins for the scoop.




Mark Sanchez, the gorgeous quarterback for the NY Giants is now a regular fixture on  Page 6 of The New York Post and is now rumored to be dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler.   Sanchez looks just too wholesome and sweet to pull an "A-Rod".  A-Rod famous for kissing his own reflection has made it clear he can't settle down and no woman can compete with his own love for himself.  I hear there is a tattoo on his chest that says warning, date at your own risk!  Just joking...


Also if you haven't watched the dark indie "The Fan" it is time to rent the DVD!


I tend to visit TMZ to see what breaking news they have.  Harvey Levin is always found surrounded with a young diverse group of people including one "beautiful" blonde boyish guy I use to think was gorgeous until I heard him speak about women.


Harvey has a law degree which is very important when attempting to understand what is going on in current events and even gossip because celebrities seem to get in trouble with the law.  Harvey is one of the elite group of people in TV land that actually reads books.  Most people refer to movies instead of books but today he talks about Abraham Lincoln and says he has read books on him....just so rare except on a few grown up shows and even than they have "talking heads"  as opposed to well read.


On TMZ, the latest in Suge Knight and it is exactly as I wrote in my piece about him watching The Godfather way too much.
He is now accused of ordering a hit!   This story underscores the theory  Suge Knight thinks he is "The Godfather" and is not the first time Knight has been accused of calling for a hit on someone.  If you haven't watch Nick Broomfield's documentary on Tupac and B.I.G.


TMZ has new news about Jesse James supposedly thinking the Nazi "wear" was funny and let us face it -- it is not.  Again Jesse James is just better when he doesn't talk about anything but motorcycles.  He is not the most hated men.  Most people don't even think of him and have forgotten him if they even knew about him.  Jesse James has a strong following of fans and they don't care about whether he is lying about being related to the historical  Jesse James and if he lied, cheated, robbed Sandra Bullock of her Oscar win joy, etc.  They love him because he is a bad boy.  It is that simple.  Speaking up is not a good idea because he doesn't say anything that will endear him.  You can watch him tonight on Nightline and decide for yourself if you care at all.

AOL Founder Steve Case would re-do AOL / TimeWarner Merger

disrupt on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) AOL Founder Steve Case visited Tech Crunch Disrupt for a "fireside chat" with TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington on Tuesday.

Case, who's now involved in investing in companies like Zip Car via his holding company Revolution LLC, answered Arrington's question about the future of the web. "I think what we've shifted two is having built and core infrastructure" and now are building on top of it, for example adding apps to existing web platforms like Facebook.

The AOl / Time Warner Merger

AOL merged with Time Warner in 2000. The new company, AOL / Time Warner almost immediately ran into trouble in mating two very disperate corporate cultures. While he stepped down in 2003 and said he wished he could undo the merger in 2005, Case now says he wish he could redo and not undo the merger. The problem for Case was that he had to step down in 2003; he would have focused more on content.

On the current AOL, he thinks AOL's headed in the right direction. "It's still got 100 million users. It's still got two-and-a-half-million annualized revenues, he says." AOL, to Case's view, is a more streamlined company with a more intense focus.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz Full Interview at Tech Crunch Disrupt New York

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) On Tuesday, TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington's interview was punctuated by Bartz telling the legendary tech blogger to f-off. But from that has been a tremendous demand for the actual full video interview, which is above.

That was and still is the buzz of the conference and of the Internet to a degree, but the actual Bartz / Arrington talk was over 25 minutes and covered a large range of topics.

Bartz said that the Yahoo! web front page has 32,000 front page variations "So you don't even know what I'm seeing," Carol informs. It's part of what Yahoo! called "The web of one" or a more personalized content delivery system. "In fact we serve a million front page modules a day."

The Yahoo! application most widely used is Messenger, so "getting Messenger on the handset companies outside the US is important to us," Bartz said. Moreover, she added that they already have deals active with a number of carriers, but are just working to expand its presence in that area.

The conversation heated up a lot when Michael Arrington turned to Yahoo!'s hiring of former Microsoft exec Blake Irving. Arrington was critical of the decision, trying to "walk this carefully" but then asking pointed questions about Irving's role in the company and mentioning Apple CEO Steve Jobs by comparison. The mention of Jobs caused Bartz to bristle and state she didn't know any VP of product who could be compared to Steve Jobs. Then she explained who reports to Blake in the Yahoo! corporate structure.

The point I think Arrington was trying to make here is that companies like Apple, even if they have huge employment structures, have one person's vision that is reflected in the entire company. While Bartz is certainly combative, it's hard to say that translates into an overall vision that can be evangelized.

After a time the conversation went to an edgy level, with Bartz and Arrington trading barbs on what men look at versus women online. That was valuable, in that we learned women look at the banner on the top right, where's men have what Bartz calls "banner blindness" but do look at text ads.

Why the difference? "Because you're odd," Bartz playfully says to the male Arrington. "Now that you say it, Arrington said, it makes more sense," causing Bartz to respond, "You're so slow."

Bartz continued to talk about "science" and "process" whereas Arrington summed it up with one question: "Where's the soul?" And that's the disconnect which led to the friction between Bartz and Arrington.

From that point on Bartz communication with Arrington was more pointed and (there's that word again) edgy, and then she dropped an s-bomb on the idea of ownership of social content when she said "Oh, I'd like to own it. S---, why not?...I'd like to be queen pooba of the World, but I'm not."

Then it went downhill from there. On the matter of tech blogger Robert Scoble "trolling" Charlie Rose on Monday, Bartz said "Oh. He looks like he's slow."

She was referring to Charlie Rose. Bartz could have been kidding, but it didn't come out that way.

Shortly after that Michael asked Bartz if she was the right person to run Yahoo! I think that's what got under Bartz' skin and not too much later, she got off her glorious f-bomb.

Could Michael's approach have been considered sexist? Frankly, that did cross my mind more than once. I wondered if Michael's questions would have taken a slighly less "put-downish" tone if he were talking to a male Carol Bartz.

Hmmmm..

Stay tuned.

Facebook's new privacy approach on Wednesday; Foursquare at 700,000 check-ins

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) TechCrunch Day 2 features a lively Tuesday morning panel moderated by TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington, and with Foursqure CEO Dennis Crowley, Facebook VP Chris Cox, and Google VP Vic Gondotra talking about the next phases in mobile.

FFacing the Facebook privacy issue head on, Chris Cox saying that there will be new privacy tools to simplify user control over their Facebook profiles and it will be rolled out Wednesday May 26th.

On the matter of the growth of Foursquare, Dennis Crowley said the company passed 700,000 check-ins last Friday.

Google's Vic Gondotra said that mobile technology advances every quarter. Now, the phone that's the "new black" as Michael Arrington called it, is the EVO, whereas earlier in 2010, it was the Google Nexus. "You're going to see increasing amounts of technology that will permeate other countries."

Stay tuned.

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz F-bomb at TechCrunch not the first time (video)

Arrington and Carol Bartz

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz' F-bomb slammed on Tech Crunch Editor Michael Arrington at TechCrunch Disrupt is not the first time the combative Internet boss has dropped that four-letter word for many to hear.

The reputation so well copied on the Twitter account Fake Carol Bartz was created by events like the one where Bartz dropped one in April at an earnings call, when she said "We had a lot of people telling engineers what to do but nobody fucking doing anything.."

Yikes.

Still, that's nothing compared to what Bartz did Monday because her F-bomb, telling Arrington to F-off, was not by accident. She meant it and delivered it right between the eyes of Arrington.



Personally, I don't think it was deserved as all. Even in his worst moments Michael has never treated anyone like that. And while it makes for classic video-blogging, it's also a tasteless act.

Yahoo! is a public company which means it's going to be the focus of hard questions regarding its strategy. Carol Bartz should work to handle those questions with style and grace, not anger and roughness. Was it funny, hell yeah. I think even Michael wanted to laugh, even though it was directed at him.

One has to wonder what Carol Bartz is like when she's had some drink in her system. Man, I hope I'm around to make a video for that one!

Plus, you've not seen the entire interview! Yet.

Rock the Casbah!

Paul Gray: Slipknot bassist found dead in Iowa hotel room

New York, NY - For reasons not known as of this writing, Paul Gray, the bassist for Slipknot, was found dead in an Iowa hotel room. Paul Grey was 38 years old. There's no evidence of foul play, leaving open the possibility that he killed himself. The Des Moines Register reports:

Gray was a founding member of Slipknot and one of only two members not born in Iowa. The band broke into the mainstream with a platinum-selling self-titled debut in 1999. Two follow-ups, 2002's "Iowa" and 2005's "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)" also went platinum. The band has been nominated for seven Grammy awards, winning in 2006 for best metal performance.

"It's just a devastating loss for the Des Moines music scene and the world's music scene," said Matt Nyberg, who was dubbed "First Maggot" by Slipknot’s Shawn Crahan. Nyberg's band Facecage is on Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor's Great Big Mouth Records. "He was always one of the nicest guys. You never heard anything negative from him."

Paul Grey was arrested for drug charges in 2003, but is said not to have been a drug addict.

Stay tuned.

Chevron finds Ecuador geologist Richard Cabrera committed fraud in lawsuit

New York, NY - Richard Cabrera, the Ecuador economist / geologist who's name has appeared in this space as recently as February of 2010, is back in the news again. Chevron, who's battling a lawsuit filed by Ecuador (but with the claim that it was issued by the indigenous people of Ecuador) claims to have found evidence that Cabrera was working with the real plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit. A suit that charges Chevron failed to do environmental cleanup in that country during its oil operations that ended 18 years ago. Those oil facilities were turned over to the Ecuador-run company called Petroecuador.

According to Reuters, Chevron vice president and general counsel Hewitt Pate said "This direct evidence of fraud and ex parte contacts further demonstrates the illegitimacy of the fictitious $27 billion number the plaintiffs' lawyers have created for the purpose of extracting money from Chevron and its shareholders. Despite years of denial by Mr. Cabrera and the plaintiffs' lawyers, one of their own consulting firms has now admitted in a U.S. court proceeding that they dealt directly with Mr. Cabrera. We also now know that Cabrera himself was previously employed by one of the plaintiffs' lawyers in another case prior to being appointed in Lago Agrio and that he never disclosed that fact to Chevron or the Lago Agrio court."

Richard Cabrera is the same person mentioned in this blog as being a potential winner of a portion of any damage award that would come from Chevron if it lost the case against Ecuador. Karen Hinton, the communications representative for the Amazon Defense Coalition, which is a fiscal non-profit front company for the plaintiffs and is not actually defending the Amazon, said "Since evidence at trial has indisputably shown Chevron is responsible for extensive contamination, the company has done everything within its power to attack the judicial process at its last hope of evading liability."

The trouble with Hinton's claim is much of the so-called evidence is questionable at best. There have been 118 oil spills in Ecuador since Chevron left 18 years ago. All of the so-called evidence was actually produced by Petroecuador. The other problem is that The Amazon Defense Coalition has never sued Ecuador, leaving open the perception in this space that they're working with Ecuador and adding to the fact that Ecuador's party to the lawsuit.

TechCrunch Day 1: recap: Yahoo CEO blast, Apple iPad vs. Old Media

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) TechCrunch Day 1 is over and in the wake of Carol Bartz F-bombs and S-boms highlighted a fascinating day. Here are some highlights:

1) Charlie Rose interviewing Menlo Park Venture Capitalist John Doerr, who explained the iPad's incredible public reception and its role in technical change in this way: "When the Iphone was introduced, it took 74 days for it to reach 1 million in sales. It took the iPad just 28 days to reach that mark." Doerr thinks we haven't seen the zenith of the iPad's popularity because he contends one of its best fields of use is health care. (Part one of that video is uploading and will be available later this evening, below.)



On the matter of the growth of companies that make Facebook-based-and-distributed games, he noted that Zynga is the fastest growing company he's ever funded, and that includes Google.

2) Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz cage-fighting Michael Arrington, getting off S-bombs and F-bombs, and calling his online publishing and tech event company "tiny" and emphasizing her point by bringing her thumb and index finger close together. If you missed that video, it's here:



3. Charlie Rose leaving TechCrunch Disrupt to board a plane to Syria and to interview the President of Syria. An interesting life, Rose leads. I could not help but notice that he didn't have a wedding ring; that's telling. (Not to mention a message for this blogger.)

4. Something called "Startup Battlefield" where startup companies give pitches to a panel of judges that consist of luminaries like former-Google exec, now VC, Chris Sacca, who also sang for the TechCrunch audience in this Robert Scoble video:



5. Some really interesting startups. One called Betterment simplifies the online investment process and makes it accessible to those who may be intimidated by the complicated websites of other more traditional investment companies.

6. New York Times Writer David Carr leading a panel of what he called "ancient white men" and consisted of Angel Investor Ron Conway, Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau, and Bloomberg Chief Content Editor Norman Pearlstine about the iPad and asking an Asian woman who worked for the New York Times to join the panel to "balance the demographic."

The panel revealed that while traditional media's working on applications for the iPad, and New Media company Huffington Post has a new one coming out in two weeks, what they're offering is not much different from what one gets if they just visit Google News.

Day two will be equally interesting with more of a focus on media and advertisers.

Stay tuned. Off to a party!

Death of Simon Monjack- related to the bereavement process? by Dr. Christina Villarreal

Just five months after the tragically sudden death of his Hollywood actress wife Brittany Murphy, 39 year old British screenwriter Simon Monjack (also known as Con-jack) was found dead by firefighters at his Los Angeles home late Sunday. Monjack was candid about his grief following Murphy's passing in December of 2009. He described how he had lost his "best friend and soul mate" and that his "world was destroyed" after his wife's death. How do professionals in mental health delineate the process of grieving after a loved one dies? Could the sudden death of Simon Monjack be related to the recent death of his young wife? As more details emerge of the circumstances surrounding his death, we can begin to understand the psychological process Monjack may have been experiencing at the time of his passing.

Grief and Bereavement Issues and Recovery
Grief and bereavement can significantly threaten a person’s mental functioning. Although most of us are familiar with the emotional response to loss, bereavement also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions. It is imperative that a bereaved person secure adequate support and/or professional treatment following their loss. Without it, life-threatening situations could emerge if a bereaved person remains isolated and without appropriate treatment such as grief counseling.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004) was a Swiss-born psychiatrist and pioneer in describing bereavement. She is the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying (1969), where she first discussed what is now known as the Kübler-Ross model. This seminal 5 stage theory continues to be widely adopted by other authors and applied to many other situations where someone suffers a loss or change in social identity.

1. Denial. When a person comes to find out about the death of loved one, their mind and body often goes into a state of shock. "This can't be real. This isn't happening." are common thoughts that run through the mind of the newly bereaved. The person is flooded with sensations of disorientation, and even simple tasks seem overwhelming. Many people describe going into a dream-like state, and experience feelings of disconnection with the events and people around him.

2. Anger. As the body and mind begins to take in the loss, strong emotional feelings such as anger begin to emerge. "This is so unfair!" "How could this be happening to me?" "Who is responsible for this?" are thoughts that persist in the mind of the bereaved, as a person protests their tragic loss.

3. Bargaining. In instances when a person or loved one is facing death, they begin having thoughts of negotiation with a higher power in hopes of somehow postponing or delaying death. "Just let me see my family before I go" "If my loved one could live just a few more months, I promise to give up/change anything."

4. Depression. As the reality of a person's loss begins to feel more permanent, the bereaved experience commons symptoms of a major depressive episode such as weight loss, disrupted sleep, hopelessness, uncontrolled worry, frequent tearfulness and sadness or irritability. A person in this stage may refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. However, this is often when the bereaved need the most support, as remaining in this stage in isolation can lead to tragic and possibly permanent negative consequences for the life of the bereaved.

5. Acceptance. In this last stage, a bereaved person begins to come to terms with their mortality or that of their loved one. While they continue to feel sadness and loss, they are on the path to healing, and can begin to finding meaningful ways to commemorate their loved one's life.

Respectfully submitted by Dr. Christina Villarreal, Clinical Psychologist in Oakland, CA

Yahoo!'s CEO Carol Bartz tells Michael Arrington to F-off (video)

Arrington and Carol Bartz

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) Yahoo!'s CEO Carol Bartz is known via Fake Carol Bartz on Twitter for getting off the occasional "F-bomb."

But even with that, one doesn't actually expect a person to live up to a Twitter persona created by someone else. Not the case with Carol Bartz; she did.

Bartz, who's taken a beating from a very critical Michael Arrington in TechCrunch, walked into what TechCrunch Co-Editor Eric Shoenfeld called "the lion's den" and talked with Michael for 25 minutes.

While we have the entire 25 minute interview, this exchange on video was the talk of TechCrunch Disrupt and served to solidify Carol Bartz' combative reputation.



To set the stage, Arrington was pressing Bartz on the idea that the best companies are often "single-revenue-source" producers, and was implying that Yahoo, by getting away from search to his view, was moving away from what could work for the company. While asserting that Yahoo! is still a search company, Bartz disagreed, pointing to successful firms that were conglomerates.

Then Bartz seemed to think that Arrington was saying that because Yahoo! had not created a device they were not innovative and lacked direction. Bartz then focused on his "tiny company," saying that even with a firm as small as his, he didn't always know what direction he was going in. "So don't give me crap about what the fine people of Yahoo! are supposed to do, so F-off."

That brought the house down and it was Bartz open attempt at a knockout punch to Arrington. From all accounts she scored.

But I'm not sure what this is going to do to Yahoo! stock price.

Stay tuned.

Foresquare-type startups? Robert Scoble at TechCrunch Disrupt

John Doerr with Charlie Rose 

New York, NY - Tunerfish.com is up as the "For Show Launch" company as this blog post is written at TechCrunch Disrupt. Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.

TechCrunch Disrupt is a wonderful, dizzying array of people, companies, tech, and ideas. We're in a huge office space that was once used as a Merill Lynch Trading facility. TechCrunch Editor Michael Arrington made the point that the space and what it's now used for is an example of the kind of "third wave" of tech change that the World is facing - even if it doesn't know it.

The idea of TechCrunch Disrupt is to bring together media, tech, and advertising industry representatives. So far, the idea is working very well. It even produces controversy: Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, let loose with an F-bomb and an S-bomb, in the former case telling Michael Arrington to F-off.

But Carol Bartz and Yahoo! aside, for a moment, the interesting aspect of TechCrunch Disrupt are the sheer number of "Geo-based" social networks along the lines of Foursquare. That's what I talked with tech blogger Robert Scoble about in the video.

If you're not familiar with Foursquare, it's a mobile based software application that allows you to essentially tell the world (that's on Foursquare) where you are, be it a restaurant, an airport, or a football game. You can also locate other users at the same location or other places.

There are some really interesting startups that are variations on that theme. One of them, DeHood is designed for you to report, say, a crime being committed in your neighborhood in real time.

So as much as the buzz here is about Facebook, and something called "Zuckerberg's law of information" (after Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's determination that the rate of information flow between people has doubled in something like five years), the real interest is not in the next Facebook, but in the next Foursquare.

So far, Arringon's interviewed TV interview legend Charlie Rose, who in turn had a great talk with Venture Capitalist John Doerr. Doerr reported that Zynga, the startup famous for the Farmville game, is the fastest growing company his firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has ever funded, and that includes Google.

Stay tuned.

BP: Big Profits & Big Pollution

According to Reuters, BP has just announced they haven't been sure how much oil they were siphoning off from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico.  You might think it was an easy thing for BP employees to do, just look into the collection container and measure, right?  Well, it might seem easy to you, but BP's folks on-site were apparently just guessing.

BP said on Monday the oil collected by the mile-long siphon tube was at times as low as 1,360 barrels of oil per day in the six days to May 23 with the tube capturing an average 2,010 barrels per day in the time period.

The average figure is less than half the 5,000 barrels per day the company estimates is leaking into the sea and comes after it said it was managing to siphon off around 5,000 barrels per day a few days ago.

Of course, some experts have made significantly higher estimates for the size of the leak than BP provided, too. That's not surprising, BP has a profit motive, not a truth motive.

You know what is surprising, though? It got hard to find this story on the Reuters website, almost immediately. It's amazing BP can't even get the measurement where they're collecting some of the oil. You don't think Reuters is under pressure from BP or investors, do you?

Meanwhile, comparisons to the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster are growing almost as fast as the pressure on the Obama administration to act. BP may have created jobs, but few who have seen the massive and spreading disaster think their response has been adequate, and we all know it will fall to the government not only to hold BP accountable, but ultimately to clean up the mess, too.

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.

Zennie62 now in New York for TechCrunch Disrupt, by Christine Smith Contractors

New York, NY - As I write this blog post it's 12:43 AM EST (OK, it's supposed to be EDT, but it's really dark outside, OK. It's not daylight. Now, it refers to Daylight Savings Time, but this blogger thinks the whole deal is stupid.)

Onward.

Zennie62's trip is sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC. But frankly it's a miracle of God that Zennie62, uh, me, is here.

The whole deal started at 7:32 AM EST which used to be a late start, but is now an early one. Too early. After making sure the house in Georgia was secure, we headed to Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport and I ended up waiting and being bumped from flight after United Airlines flight.

Veterans to this space know this blogger flies standby and at times winds up with some cool seat assignments. Take this video on Sandra Bullock and Jesse James:



This time this blogger was at the ATL Airport from 11 to 5 PM and finally got on a plane to Chicago. I was worried that I would get into New York at something like 4 am, but no. Once at O'Hare, the departure screen reported the New York LaGuardia flight was delayed. I got in at 6:04 and it was to leave at 6:29. So hauling ass was in order; arrived at gate B5 in record time for a guy who needs to drop 12 pounds.

OK, 15 pounds.

Would you believe the agent got me on that damn flight? Can you say 'blessed?' So, after a Super Shuttle Tour of Manhattan that I have to say was really cool and with an equally cool driver named Mario, I'm blogging to you.

TechCrunch Disrupt is in the morning. I can't sleep, so I'm drinking a vodka and lemon to wipe me out; it's only half-working. Well, maybe 60 percent.

Closing thoughts.

New York City at night is beautiful. Period. Atlanta's more diverse, "modern", and fun than I'd thought, and I came to that conclusion after my Flying Biscuit Breakfast of Saturday. I now really like Atlanta, and I have to say blacks and whites mix better there than in the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area. United Airlines' merger with Continental should make for better service out of Atlanta. Those small Brazilian planes have to go!

Stay tuned.