IT'S ELECTION DAY - GO VOTE
We will have recaps late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. And also a brief on who and what to vote for in local SF and Oakland races.
...That is all.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
IT'S ELECTION DAY - GO VOTE
We will have recaps late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. And also a brief on who and what to vote for in local SF and Oakland races.
...That is all.
Senator John McCain Has Not Overcome Keating Scandal
We hear a lot about the great Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain and how he's beyond the point where he can be "bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifought" by lobbyists and hasn't taken an earmark. We also get very little information on Senator McCain and the Keating Five Scandal, I think in part because four of the five people involved were Democrats of otherwise great stature. But still, it's a part of history, and of the Keating Five, only John McCain is still in office.
What was the Keating Scandal?
The Keating Scandel is named for Charles Keating, who, during the 1980s was the Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif., and a big political donor. So much so that five Senators -- Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) -- received $300,000 in contributions from him and McCain himself received $112,000 by 1987 from Keating.
This power enabled Charles Keating to buy their influnce such that when the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) -- which regulated savings and loan association activities -- worked to curb the 80s trend toward risky investments, which caused the collapse of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which Keating ran. When the FHLBB and its head, Chairman Ed Gray, moved to investigate the Lincoln matter, McCain and the other four Senators asked Gray to step back from any meaningful study of Lincoln.
When that news was revealed by Grey it set off a round of connect-the-dots inquiries, all of which found that:
In October 1989 The Arizona Republic reported that in addition to campaign contributions, McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental Corporation (parent of Lincoln) jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. [3] Lincoln Savings and Loan's collapse is said to have cost taxpayers $3.4 billion
The final outcome was that investigator deemed McCain's involvement to me "minimal." But as we've recently learned The Keating Five matter has not really altered John McCains' close association with people who are major contributors to his campaign, partcularly Federal lobbyists.
This video shows that McCain has had as many as 59 lobbyists raising money for his Presidential campaign including Vicki Iseman, with whom it was rumored he had a "relationship" and the now famous Charlie Black:
What does all of this mean? It means that McCain is still to this day in a great position to be directed to shape government policy by corporate interests in much the same way as he was in the events that lead up to the Keating Five scandal.
What was the Keating Scandal?
The Keating Scandel is named for Charles Keating, who, during the 1980s was the Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, Calif., and a big political donor. So much so that five Senators -- Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) -- received $300,000 in contributions from him and McCain himself received $112,000 by 1987 from Keating.
This power enabled Charles Keating to buy their influnce such that when the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) -- which regulated savings and loan association activities -- worked to curb the 80s trend toward risky investments, which caused the collapse of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which Keating ran. When the FHLBB and its head, Chairman Ed Gray, moved to investigate the Lincoln matter, McCain and the other four Senators asked Gray to step back from any meaningful study of Lincoln.
When that news was revealed by Grey it set off a round of connect-the-dots inquiries, all of which found that:
In October 1989 The Arizona Republic reported that in addition to campaign contributions, McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental Corporation (parent of Lincoln) jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. [3] Lincoln Savings and Loan's collapse is said to have cost taxpayers $3.4 billion
The final outcome was that investigator deemed McCain's involvement to me "minimal." But as we've recently learned The Keating Five matter has not really altered John McCains' close association with people who are major contributors to his campaign, partcularly Federal lobbyists.
This video shows that McCain has had as many as 59 lobbyists raising money for his Presidential campaign including Vicki Iseman, with whom it was rumored he had a "relationship" and the now famous Charlie Black:
What does all of this mean? It means that McCain is still to this day in a great position to be directed to shape government policy by corporate interests in much the same way as he was in the events that lead up to the Keating Five scandal.
Zennie's Zeitgeist Covered By The Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune's Barbara Grady penned this story below about this blogger and blog's being credentialed for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. But to be fair, the blog is more than me, its the other writers on it, like Tom Hayes and Dave Kaye and Ashley Long, all of whom are credentialed to go to the convention. It's readers like you and of course the overall SBS website system.
Also, it must be reported that the YouTube channel zennie62 is "attached" to this blog and also I said to Barbara that the overall SBS website gets 65,000 unique visitors a month, with Zennie's Zeitgeist a part of that, about between 30 percent and 50 percent of that per month. But yes, this blog did command 44,000 page views and 24,000 visitors on the day after the New Hampshire Primary. That was due to one post on reported election machine voter fraud problems in that state.
Also, I did not contribute $17,000 to the campaign, I raised it over time via the Internet and mostly from a fundraiser at the Mark Hopkins I co-sponsored. But I do not have that kind of money and could not do that anyway as the limit is $2,500. It was an error on her part.
Whatever the details, it was great to have our people recognized. Here's the article:
Oakland blogger to cover Democratic National Convention
By Barbara Grady
Oakland Tribune
Article Created: 06/02/2008 09:05:32 PM PDT
OAKLAND — As the Democratic National Convention gets under way in August, Oakland blogger Zennie Abraham will be on the convention floor with a microphone poised to pick up discussions of race, predatory lending, infrastructure improvement and other issues of concern to Oakland.
Abraham and his Zennie's Zeitgeist blog at zennie2005.blogspot.com have won a coveted credential from the Democratic National Committee to cover the convention as a blogger journalist. He was selected late last week as one of 124 bloggers to receive credentials from an applicant pool of more than 400.
Zennie's Zeitgeist is usually about Abraham's take on political issues of the day — often the Democratic presidential contest — with a smattering of posts about pop culture and sports.
The Democratic National Committee said its criteria in choosing which bloggers to let into what no doubt will be a crowded and history-making Denver convention are that they cover state and local politics and have a high daily audience based on statistics from Technorati, a Web site that tracks blogs. Among applicants whose sites met those criteria, the committee looked for blogs that "stand out as an effective online organizing tool and/or agent of change."
Abraham has not been shy to take on controversial issues. He has written about predatory lending, accusing check cashing centers of exploiting the poor, and crime
and criminals.
He already has specific plans for what topics he'll focus on at the convention.
"I'm concerned about (Hillary) Clinton and (Barack) Obama, and the race issue. I really want to see if Democrats are going to rally around Obama unanimously," Abraham said Monday. "I want to know specifically if people who are Clinton supporters, if they are really going to rally behind Obama. If not, I want to know if it is because of race."
And he will report on any discussions of race, whether polite or not.
He also plans to report in detail on the development of a Democratic platform, "with respect to what degree the platform represents domestic issues like predatory lending in credit card rates, our enormous infrastructure problems and what I call keeping jobs at home."
Abraham has been an outspoken supporter of Obama and contributed about $17,000 to his campaign. That partisanship did not seem to phase the DNC, even though many of the other blogs selected are less committed to one candidate.
Many of the blogs represent Democrats from particular states, such as the Blue Jersey, Blue Indiana and Blue Hampshire blogs.
Abraham, 45, is an entrepreneurial businessman, having founded Sports Business Simulations of Oakland five years ago, but he put in his time in politics. He worked for former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown as an economic adviser and then as the Oakland Alameda Sports Commissioner.
Abraham started his blogging career in 2006 writing about sports. But then he couldn't resist talking about politics.
Over time, he separated his own political and cultural ramblings into Zennie's Zeitgeist, distinct from his larger SBS Voices sports blog, and wrote increasingly about politics, following the Democratic campaign as it progressed tooth and nail.
The day after the New Hampshire primary, his blog posting received 44,000 hits. Since then, his audience has steadily grown. He was invited by CNN to post a video blog as a sample for its YouTube CNN Democratic Debate last year. Afterward, links to his blog started showing up elsewhere on other political sites. Now Zennie's Zeitgeist receives about 60,000 unique visitors a month on average.
Also, it must be reported that the YouTube channel zennie62 is "attached" to this blog and also I said to Barbara that the overall SBS website gets 65,000 unique visitors a month, with Zennie's Zeitgeist a part of that, about between 30 percent and 50 percent of that per month. But yes, this blog did command 44,000 page views and 24,000 visitors on the day after the New Hampshire Primary. That was due to one post on reported election machine voter fraud problems in that state.
Also, I did not contribute $17,000 to the campaign, I raised it over time via the Internet and mostly from a fundraiser at the Mark Hopkins I co-sponsored. But I do not have that kind of money and could not do that anyway as the limit is $2,500. It was an error on her part.
Whatever the details, it was great to have our people recognized. Here's the article:
Oakland blogger to cover Democratic National Convention
By Barbara Grady
Oakland Tribune
Article Created: 06/02/2008 09:05:32 PM PDT
OAKLAND — As the Democratic National Convention gets under way in August, Oakland blogger Zennie Abraham will be on the convention floor with a microphone poised to pick up discussions of race, predatory lending, infrastructure improvement and other issues of concern to Oakland.
Abraham and his Zennie's Zeitgeist blog at zennie2005.blogspot.com have won a coveted credential from the Democratic National Committee to cover the convention as a blogger journalist. He was selected late last week as one of 124 bloggers to receive credentials from an applicant pool of more than 400.
Zennie's Zeitgeist is usually about Abraham's take on political issues of the day — often the Democratic presidential contest — with a smattering of posts about pop culture and sports.
The Democratic National Committee said its criteria in choosing which bloggers to let into what no doubt will be a crowded and history-making Denver convention are that they cover state and local politics and have a high daily audience based on statistics from Technorati, a Web site that tracks blogs. Among applicants whose sites met those criteria, the committee looked for blogs that "stand out as an effective online organizing tool and/or agent of change."
Abraham has not been shy to take on controversial issues. He has written about predatory lending, accusing check cashing centers of exploiting the poor, and crime
and criminals.
He already has specific plans for what topics he'll focus on at the convention.
"I'm concerned about (Hillary) Clinton and (Barack) Obama, and the race issue. I really want to see if Democrats are going to rally around Obama unanimously," Abraham said Monday. "I want to know specifically if people who are Clinton supporters, if they are really going to rally behind Obama. If not, I want to know if it is because of race."
And he will report on any discussions of race, whether polite or not.
He also plans to report in detail on the development of a Democratic platform, "with respect to what degree the platform represents domestic issues like predatory lending in credit card rates, our enormous infrastructure problems and what I call keeping jobs at home."
Abraham has been an outspoken supporter of Obama and contributed about $17,000 to his campaign. That partisanship did not seem to phase the DNC, even though many of the other blogs selected are less committed to one candidate.
Many of the blogs represent Democrats from particular states, such as the Blue Jersey, Blue Indiana and Blue Hampshire blogs.
Abraham, 45, is an entrepreneurial businessman, having founded Sports Business Simulations of Oakland five years ago, but he put in his time in politics. He worked for former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown as an economic adviser and then as the Oakland Alameda Sports Commissioner.
Abraham started his blogging career in 2006 writing about sports. But then he couldn't resist talking about politics.
Over time, he separated his own political and cultural ramblings into Zennie's Zeitgeist, distinct from his larger SBS Voices sports blog, and wrote increasingly about politics, following the Democratic campaign as it progressed tooth and nail.
The day after the New Hampshire primary, his blog posting received 44,000 hits. Since then, his audience has steadily grown. He was invited by CNN to post a video blog as a sample for its YouTube CNN Democratic Debate last year. Afterward, links to his blog started showing up elsewhere on other political sites. Now Zennie's Zeitgeist receives about 60,000 unique visitors a month on average.
Universal Studios Fire- Back To the Future Sets Destroyed - Video
This is a video of the fire that was reportedly started by a Workers' blow torch and spread to destroy the sets used for the movie "Back to the Future" and a library of 40,000 video tapes, and the "King Kong" attraction.
Universal Studios Fire Video Back To the Future Sets Destroyed
This is a video of the fire that was reportedly started by a Workers' blow torch and spread to destroy the sets used for the movie "Back to the Future" and a library of 40,000 video tapes, and the "King Kong" attraction.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Harriet Christian - Who Is Harriet Christian And What Of Racist Clinton Supporters?
Harriet Christian being escorted out of the DNC Rules Committee by two Black men totally adequate for the task.
Who is Harriet Christian? Records over at the Huffington Post's special project called "Fundrace" on the identification and location of donors to presidential campaigns shows that she does indeed live in New York City, at 20 Waterside Plaza, along the East River with a nice view I might add, and has worked or is working as a Waitress and also worked or is working for Infocus Realty at 419 Lafayette Street 2nd Floor New York, NY.
Indeed, she's currently listed as a sales agent there with the following contact information: 917-716-1757 and email at HChristian@INFNYC.com
Now, let's stop and think about that for a moment. A person who would scream "inadequate Black Male" and rant about her right to say that is the last person you'd think would sell an apartment to someone Black. She's got to be a poster child for racial discrimination in New York real estate. If there's someone out there who's been discriminated against by her, well, here's your online proof of her bias. InFocus Realty should be very concerned about this; I don't yet know if they are.
Harriet's racism reflects on the firm that hired her to work in real estate.
Then this comments posted in the Manhattan Offender:
I actually found myself at a bar sitting next to Harriet Christian shortly after she made that comment. Harriet has the Hillary Clinton tattoo. Harriet says, you want to see my new tattoo? So, she hikes up her dress and sure enough, there’s Hillary on her inner thigh. You know who this is don't you? This here's Hillary Clinton. Bet you can't guess who’s tattooed on my other leg, she says, hiking her dress even further. I look at her other thigh, but the likeness escapes me. I don't recognize the other face, I said. But I'd know that one in the middle anywhere – that there's Sandy Berger: http://theseedsof9-11.com
Posted by: Peggy McGilligan | 01 June 2008 at 03:07 PM
But what's most terrible beyond Harriet's racist rant is the supportive -- that's right, supportive -- comments at the forum called HillaryClintonForum. These people are totally sick.
For example:
My favorite quote, "You can call me white, but I can't call you black! That is not my America."
Or this:
She says it like "it" is.
And this work-of - genius:
Harriet Christian for VP
And this outrage:
A woman after my own heart! You go girl!!
What the hell was that? I could not believe the comments over at that post, but hey, you can't see them in person before you, so you can see just how dark their hearts are.
What you're reading over at Hillary Clinton Forum shows the worst in America, and it is that they are so happy this person who's White is really talking for people who apparently do feel that Blacks don't know their place and are Democrats, an are acting just like Father Michael Pflager said Hillary Clinton herself was acting (and I totally think the Father was offbase).
But I think Father Plager -- who's not a reverend as Anderson Cooper called him, he's Catholic -- should have talked about some Clinton supporters like the ones on the Clinton Forum, as he'd have been totally correct.
I doubt people would have been so upset.
Taylor Marsh Bad For Democratic Party; Might As Well Be Republican
You know, I can't find a single -- not one -- post where Taylor Marsh has anything good to say about Senator Obama. It's more of the same dribble and it continues at a time when the Democratic Party needs to come together.
She thinks it is entertainment, but it's not, it's simply an insulting and anti-intellectual blogging approach that needs to be stopped. It would be only slightly more tolerable if Marsh and her writers actually knew what they were talking about.
The antidote to right-wing talk my ass!
She thinks it is entertainment, but it's not, it's simply an insulting and anti-intellectual blogging approach that needs to be stopped. It would be only slightly more tolerable if Marsh and her writers actually knew what they were talking about.
The antidote to right-wing talk my ass!
Pacman Returns-for now...
From NFLMedia.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/2/08
NFL STATEMENT ON LIMITED REINSTATEMENT OF ADAM JONES:
Commissioner Roger Goodell notified Adam Jones today that, effective immediately, he may participate in organized team activities with the Dallas Cowboys, including training camp and preseason games. In a letter to Jones, Commissioner Goodell wrote that a final determination on his reinstatement for the 2008 regular season will be made by September 1. Commissioner Goodell told Jones that his continued participation in the NFL depends on demonstrating that he can conduct himself in a lawful and reliable manner. Jones will be expected to continue the personal conduct program established for him by the NFL and the Cowboys and to avoid further adverse involvement with law enforcement.
My Take: That Means No more Topless Bars Pacman!! If you really want to Play in the NFL it's time to show you mean it and keep your Nose clean!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/2/08
NFL STATEMENT ON LIMITED REINSTATEMENT OF ADAM JONES:
Commissioner Roger Goodell notified Adam Jones today that, effective immediately, he may participate in organized team activities with the Dallas Cowboys, including training camp and preseason games. In a letter to Jones, Commissioner Goodell wrote that a final determination on his reinstatement for the 2008 regular season will be made by September 1. Commissioner Goodell told Jones that his continued participation in the NFL depends on demonstrating that he can conduct himself in a lawful and reliable manner. Jones will be expected to continue the personal conduct program established for him by the NFL and the Cowboys and to avoid further adverse involvement with law enforcement.
My Take: That Means No more Topless Bars Pacman!! If you really want to Play in the NFL it's time to show you mean it and keep your Nose clean!
Rep. James Clyburn Endorses Barack Obama
According to the Huffington Post, Rep. James Clyburn from South Carolina, a ranking Congressman and House Majority Whip, is endorsing Senator Barack Obama. For the entire campaign Clyburn, a well-regarded elected official and representative of the Congressional Black Caucus, had remained neutral between Clinton and Obama.
Now, with Obama's chance for victory all but certain, and with Clyburn's expressed concerns over Clinton's race-based campaign approach, Clyburn's moving toward Obama.
Congressman Clyburn is the House Majority Whip in the 110th Congress, and is the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He can carry a number of Superdelegate votes with him.
Now, with Obama's chance for victory all but certain, and with Clyburn's expressed concerns over Clinton's race-based campaign approach, Clyburn's moving toward Obama.
Congressman Clyburn is the House Majority Whip in the 110th Congress, and is the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He can carry a number of Superdelegate votes with him.
Senator Kennedy Surgery Complete; Will Stay At Hospital For A Week
According to CNN.com, Senator Ted Kennedy's surgery today was a success and he will remain at Duke Hopital for about a week.
Senator Kennedy Enters The Hospital Today
Senator Ted Kennedy is to enter the hospital for targeted treatments on the tumor in his brain, it was reported today. That process will be followed by radiation and chemotherapy work. Two weeks ago, Senator Kennedy was sent to the hospital after a a seizure at his home on Cape Cod.
According to reports, doctors later announced that he had a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe, a brain region that governs sensation but also plays some role in movement and language.
According to reports, doctors later announced that he had a malignant glioma in his left parietal lobe, a brain region that governs sensation but also plays some role in movement and language.
YSL Passes - Yves Saint-Laurent:
YSL is what I will always remember. Another signpost in the Zeitgeist. Yves Saint-Larent, who passed away over the weekend, was and is a shaper of the fashion women wear, but most importantly to me he represents France's emergence onto the World image-making scene. From the time I was a small boy to today, YSL was creating styles that drove and influnced American and industrial culture around the World.
He will be missed, but his work lives on.
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