Tuesday, August 07, 2007

AFL-CIO Democratic Candidates Forum - Huff Post , Daily Kos Bloggers Score It For Barack Obama

I missed the AFL CIO Democratic Candidates debate to have dinner with my Mom and friends, but figured that I could get a great recap via the Huff Post Live Blog, and I was not disappointed.

The Huff Post writers seem to give Senator Barack Obama the best marks with Senator Clinton and Dennis Kucinich close behind.

And this is reflected in a Daily Kos poll , where Barack Obama is the winner, but followed by John Edwards, and then Senator Clinton.

Zennie's Vlog Of The CNN Roland Martin Show

This is a vlog not so much of my trip to New York to be on the CNN Roland Martin Show, but of the time leading up to the show in the green room and the show itself. It features all of the CNN / YouTube Stars who appeared on the show: CNN / YouTube debate stars, Kim Friedrich, Lucas "Brown Eyes", and Lori Harfenist aka "The Resident" and me. (Almost forgot about me.)

This video's for anyone who wonders how a person comes to be on a TV program and how they're taken care of by a network. It was a great experience. I have a lot of people to thank which I do in the video. This is also for the others who were on the show, but may not have gotten a copy of their segment.

USA Today Gallup Poll Rigged To Favor Clinton

I've written this before and it bears reminders that the USA Today / Gallup Poll can't be trusted in the wake of the June "redo." That was an outrage and should not go unnoticed.

Frank Newport of Gallup openly admitted he redid the poll because he could not believe Senator Barack Obama was tied with Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Mike Gravel Pissed Of Over Not Being Invited to AFL-CIO Debate Forum

Senator Mike Gravel's on MSNBC now on their "Super Tuesday" program, and is really pissed off over being passed over for the AFL-CIO debate forum. "They said I didn't answer a certain question on time," he explained. Gravel then said it was basically a kind of trick to keep him out of the program, and it's not fair.

Given that this is a presidential campaign and not an application for graduate school, I agree with Senator Gravel. There are too many attempts to "fix" this presidential race and make it less than authentic.

Bob Allen - Sick-In-The-Head Florida Senator Says Fear Of Black Men Cause For Sexual Behavior - TampaBays10.com

Here's one sad sick man who Floridians elected to office.

Titusville, Florida - An audiotape reveals new details about the arrest of a state lawmaker in the men's room of a public park. Investigators say State Representative Bob Allen offered an undercover officer 20 dollars, if he could perform oral sex on him. The Merritt Island Republican says its all a big misunderstanding.

In an audiotaped interview with Titusville Police, Allen says he was intimidated after a man offered a sex act for money. He says he went along with the conversation, because he was afraid of becoming another crime statistic.

On the audiotape, Allen said, "Listen. A public park. I got my name on the damn building. I'm not gonna do that. You know, maybe I said it in the wrong order, but this was a pretty stocky black guy, and there were a lot of other black guys around in the park, and, you know..."

Titusville Assistant Chief John Lau said, "If you were nervous, then how come you went back into the stall? Not in the stall, the bathroom?"

Allen responded, "I went back the second time around because >>unintelligible<< I says, 'I gotta use the bathroom.' But, I said, 'The building is safer than standing out here,' so I went back in, and sat down, and that's when he came back the second time, and that made me very nervous."

Allen says he will not resign, and may still run for the state senate.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Gets First Win Of Preseason Over Saints 20-7 - ESPN

Mike Tomlin's first game as Steelers coach is 20-7 win over Saints

ESPN - Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio -- Mike Tomlin is a no-nonsense guy. So he didn't seem particularly interested in all the extracurriculars surrounding his debut as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oh, he got a kick out of being interviewed by Deion Sanders before the game. And out of meeting the five new Hall of Fame members who were on hand for the preseason opener: Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Matthews, Roger Wehrli and Charlie Sanders.

Otherwise, it was a business trip to Canton for only the third head coach of the franchise since 1969.

"I took myself out of it. I tried to create an environment for the coaches and players to do their jobs," Tomlin said Sunday night after a 20-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints. "You do that, you get involved in the process."

The process of getting the 2005 NFL champions back to the top began well. Less than three minutes into the game, the Steelers were ahead to stay under the man replacing the retired Bill Cowher.

Ben Roethlisberger was sharp in his only series, going 2-for-3 for 73 yards to Cedrick Wilson. On a 55-yard play, Wilson got behind safety Kevin Kaesviharn, then he beat New Orleans' top cornerback, Mike McKenzie, on an 18-yard crossing pattern.

"This was the start of all of us getting repetitions with a new coordinator (Bruce Arians) and new coach," Roethlisberger said. "There's going to be some new things, of course, but I think we made adjustments and did well first time out."

Najeh Davenport, starting for 1,400-yard rusher Willie Parker, bulled in from the 4 for a 7-0 lead.

Pittsburgh's first-stringers were so much more efficient than New Orleans' starters, who missed blocks and dropped passes on offense and couldn't handle Roethlisberger or Charlie Batch when they threw. And that was just in the first quarter.

In the first half, Pittsburgh outgained New Orleans 305-56, including 205-32 in the air. Overall, it was 413-214.

"I thought we gave up some big plays -- I could point to 15 things. We've got to look at our preparation coming into this weekend," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I thought we were lethargic, especially in the first half. You're always looking to see how your first group does."

Pittsburgh's second group didn't fare badly, either. Nor did the third-string.

The Steelers made the Saints look inept in coverage at times, an unfortunate carry-over from last season for New Orleans, which allowed 16 plays of more than 40 yards in 2006 -- a league high.

Along with Wilson's big gainer on the game's second play were a 38-yard screen pass to Carey Davis and a 41-yard completion from Brian St. Pierre to Santonio Holmes. St. Pierre hit Holmes on a 3-yard fade for a 14-0 edge.

"It was back to business for us," Steelers tackle Max Starks said. "We have some new coaches, but a lot of players here have been together and know what to do. So it wasn't that surprising that we got some good yardage."

The lead grew to 17-0 on Jeff Reed's 28-yard field goal set up by Davis' 58-yard run.

"In the first preseason game, you are finally getting a chance to go against someone else, and see where you have progressed," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said after going 1-for-6 for 6 yards. "Obviously, we still have some work to do."

But the Saints' third-stringers staged a 16-play, 72-yard drive capped by a fourth-down, 1-yard TD pass from Jason Fife to Kevin Dudley to open the second half. Pittsburgh's subs answered with a 13-play, 44-yard march to Reed's 39-yard field goal, taking up the remainder of the third period.

Not on hand for the game was the ailing Gene Hickerson, the sixth hall inductee this year.

Rudy Giuliani's Daughter Backing Barack Obama - Member of Facebook Group

Here's the whole story from SFGate

Giuliani's Daughter Backing Obama

By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 6, 2007

(08-06) 13:00 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
The daughter of Republican hopeful Rudy Giuliani has signaled she's backing Democrat Barack Obama for president.
According to her Facebook profile, Giuliani's 17-year-old daughter, Caroline, belonged to Democrat Barack Obama's Facebook group "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)." She left the group Monday morning after the online magazine Slate sent an inquiry.

Her profile can be viewed by Facebook users who have access to New York City's Trinity School or Harvard University networks. Caroline, who is Giuliani's daughter with his second wife, Donna Hanover, recently graduated from Trinity and will attend Harvard in the fall.

Slate posted a screen shot of her profile, which uses a slightly different last name. She lists herself as having liberal political views.

Giuliani, campaigning in Iowa, declined to comment on his daughter's political preference.

"My daughter I love very much," he told reporters outside an Italian restaurant in Clear Lake. "I have great respect for her, and I'm really proud of her, and I don't comment on children, because I want to give them the maximum degree of privacy.

"The best thing to do, if you want to ask the press to leave the children alone, the best way to do it is not to comment on them one way or the other, except to say you're very proud of them, and you love them very much, which I do," he said.

The Obama campaign did not have any comment.

Giuliani, a leading Republican candidate, has asked for privacy to deal with strained relationships in his family. Son Andrew, 21, has said their relationship became distant after Giuliani's messy divorce from the children's mother and his marriage to third wife Judith Nathan.

"There's obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife," Andrew Giuliani told The New York Times earlier this year.

In May, Giuliani attended his daughter's high school graduation but kept a low profile, sitting in a last row balcony seat with his wife and leaving without speaking to his daughter, the New York Daily News reported.