Ok, how does one explain an unprecedented KTVU video report on Mayor Ron Dellums spending and "high life" habits as leader of our City? Hey, Jerry Brown's not cheap either, but he never got that kind of coverage at all.
Someone's out to get Dellums, and what's blocking his ability to recover his image is the fact that he does not believe in working with image-makers, the press, or PR people.
That's a fact, folks. Dellums' staff has asked him to "get help" in this area, but he's resistant to the whole deal. Now, I think someone sees Dellums as vulnerable to bad press, so they piled it on.
But the simple fact is that Jerry Brown also "lived it up" you just didn't read about it much, or cared. Mayor Elihu Harris didn't do that. It's not his style and he really cares about the office and what people would think.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Consitution is on the table in this election
This is an historic election in many ways. We have already, of course, seen an historic Democratic primary and now have the first African-American candidate running for President. Historians will look back and hopefully see many shifts along the lines of race and gender in this country as we move forward out of this election season. What they will also see is that we are, at this moment, standing at a cross roads with respect to our Constitutional freedoms. Who we elect in November could, literally, make all the difference in the world.
On Monday, June 2, The Guardian carried this article: US Accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships. The article is based on analysis done by the UK human rights organization, Reprieve. It is frightening and you need to read it. Essentially, the research from Reprieve shows that we are snatching people, taking them to secret ships, interrogating them (i.e. beating the hell out of them), and keeping them there for as long as a couple of months before then moving them to one of our detention centers, like Guantanamo Bay.
And once they get to Gitmo, what happens? We know that they are held for years, frequently without access to attorneys, frequently under abusive conditions. How does all of this happen? With the help of a little known piece of legislation called the Military Commissions Act. This frightening piece of legislation allows the President to declare anyone ... that's anyone, folks ... an enemy combatant. OK, let's be clear, that's you, me, your Mom, my brother, your child's teacher, your next door neighbor ... anyone ... an "enemy combatant." Once that happens, that person has no rights.
But wait, the Supreme Court just trumped that and restored the right of habeas corpus to these folks. But it was a narrow decision, 5-4. The next President will almost certainly be appointing at least one Supreme Court justice. John McCain will appoint someone who supports and upholds the tenets of the Military Commissions Act, for which he became a staunch supporter and made impassioned speeches for on the floor. In contrast, Barack Obama voted against the Act, taught the Constitution, and believes in upholding and restoring the power of our Constitution. No matter what you feel about a justice's stance on issues like reproductive choice or gun control, you must stand with the Constitution and cast your vote in November for someone who will stand with her, as well. The Military Commissions Act is fundamentally opposed to our Constitution. We cannot allow it to trump the rights and freedoms that make us who we are.
Forget the economy, forget the war, forget education, forget health care. The Constitution is on the table in this election. Cast your vote wisely.
On Monday, June 2, The Guardian carried this article: US Accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships. The article is based on analysis done by the UK human rights organization, Reprieve. It is frightening and you need to read it. Essentially, the research from Reprieve shows that we are snatching people, taking them to secret ships, interrogating them (i.e. beating the hell out of them), and keeping them there for as long as a couple of months before then moving them to one of our detention centers, like Guantanamo Bay.
And once they get to Gitmo, what happens? We know that they are held for years, frequently without access to attorneys, frequently under abusive conditions. How does all of this happen? With the help of a little known piece of legislation called the Military Commissions Act. This frightening piece of legislation allows the President to declare anyone ... that's anyone, folks ... an enemy combatant. OK, let's be clear, that's you, me, your Mom, my brother, your child's teacher, your next door neighbor ... anyone ... an "enemy combatant." Once that happens, that person has no rights.
But wait, the Supreme Court just trumped that and restored the right of habeas corpus to these folks. But it was a narrow decision, 5-4. The next President will almost certainly be appointing at least one Supreme Court justice. John McCain will appoint someone who supports and upholds the tenets of the Military Commissions Act, for which he became a staunch supporter and made impassioned speeches for on the floor. In contrast, Barack Obama voted against the Act, taught the Constitution, and believes in upholding and restoring the power of our Constitution. No matter what you feel about a justice's stance on issues like reproductive choice or gun control, you must stand with the Constitution and cast your vote in November for someone who will stand with her, as well. The Military Commissions Act is fundamentally opposed to our Constitution. We cannot allow it to trump the rights and freedoms that make us who we are.
Forget the economy, forget the war, forget education, forget health care. The Constitution is on the table in this election. Cast your vote wisely.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
TN Dems Blame Reps & Fox network over Obama perceptions
Dawn Teo:Fred Hobbs set off a flurry of sound-bites and interest when he was asked why Representative Lincoln Davis was delaying his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama as the party's nominee for President. Clearly part of the problem is that they just plain haven't gotten to know Senator Obama in Tennessee yet, but the fact is, they handed the extremists among their opponents something to run with in a week when most of the truly bad coverage was about McCain (unless you count the backlash against Megyn and Malkin and the "baby mama" debacle, but they aren't running for office.) Going into the weekend the commentators on the right were anxious for any story to chase the Supreme Court Gitmo decision -- and the crisis of faith it represented -- off the headlines, and
Hobbs played Lincoln Davis right into their hands.The Tennessee Democratic Party issued a statement on Friday that the Tennessee Democratic Party is united behind Obama. On Monday, they published the statement on the front page of their website. The statement also blamed Republicans for the outrageous comments coming from its own party leaders... This is some great reporting from Dawn Teo that gets beyond the sound-bites from last week.
Vanity Fair's BlogOpticon Shows Unbearable Whiteness Of Vanity Fair's Ad Placement
I just saw a link from Nikke Finke's DeadlineHollywood Daily to Vanity Fair's "BlogOpticon" , which has what it considers to be "relevant" and "well-read" blogs.
They've got a good set of blogs divided into four squares on a kind of scale grid. Some of my favs are there, like Valleywag. But you know what kills me, with the exception of Michelle Malkin, who's an Asian Woman but who writes as if she wishes she was a White conservative spinster, there's no other obvious blogger of color and none who are Black.
Now, it's not because there are not blogs out there who are popular and written by people who happen to be Black, like me. But it points to a kind of blind eye to the fact that if a person's Black, and they're blogging, they don't have to write about "Black matters" to be read.
It reminds me of James Woods' line in Oliver Stones' Nixon, where he says "There's that Negro saying Negro things!" Well I think some people expect "Negros" to say "Negro" things, so they can categorize them. And when they don't then they're a "Black Conservative."
How retarded.
How and why this freaking list.. was formed is beyond me and fairness (read on), but it's here. I feel sorry not for me, but for bloggers like Natasha, the East Cost law student -- as of this writing -- who has the wonderful blog "Young Black and Fabulous" about Black celebs. Oh, so you say that's a "Black Blog", well how the hell do you explain "Stuff White People Like?" It's a blog designed to draw White People to read it by making fun of White People. You know, many people don't even know what that term is. Well, what it is are people who don't consider themselves "of color". And that certainly shows up in this Vanity Fair chart.
Makes me wanna puke.
Vanity Fair writes that it's picked the "most influential blogs" -- gimme a freaking break. Ze Frank lost his steam a long time ago. Rocketboom.com is a has-been vlog. Hey it was the first, but let's face it, it's surrounded by a sea of new vlogs that draw viewers, like Renetto on YouTube.
Rocketboom's seen better traffic days, especially around the time the great Amanda Congdon was there. Joanne Colon's run as "Hottest Woman on The Internet" was replaced by a bevy of women in nude photos, like Lindsay Lohan, to fully-clothed female bodybuilder Kristy Hawkins.
And click on Rocketboom.com -- what do you see? A damn pop-up ad for..Vanity Fair. So let me get this straight -- the "most influential blogs" are really just those that have ads regarding Vanity Fair.
If Vanity is "the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others" then Vanity Fair's playing true to form. But it seems to be saying that it's only attractive to White People.
Maybe I'll think twice before laying down money for a VF in the future.
They've got a good set of blogs divided into four squares on a kind of scale grid. Some of my favs are there, like Valleywag. But you know what kills me, with the exception of Michelle Malkin, who's an Asian Woman but who writes as if she wishes she was a White conservative spinster, there's no other obvious blogger of color and none who are Black.
Now, it's not because there are not blogs out there who are popular and written by people who happen to be Black, like me. But it points to a kind of blind eye to the fact that if a person's Black, and they're blogging, they don't have to write about "Black matters" to be read.
It reminds me of James Woods' line in Oliver Stones' Nixon, where he says "There's that Negro saying Negro things!" Well I think some people expect "Negros" to say "Negro" things, so they can categorize them. And when they don't then they're a "Black Conservative."
How retarded.
How and why this freaking list.. was formed is beyond me and fairness (read on), but it's here. I feel sorry not for me, but for bloggers like Natasha, the East Cost law student -- as of this writing -- who has the wonderful blog "Young Black and Fabulous" about Black celebs. Oh, so you say that's a "Black Blog", well how the hell do you explain "Stuff White People Like?" It's a blog designed to draw White People to read it by making fun of White People. You know, many people don't even know what that term is. Well, what it is are people who don't consider themselves "of color". And that certainly shows up in this Vanity Fair chart.
Makes me wanna puke.
Vanity Fair writes that it's picked the "most influential blogs" -- gimme a freaking break. Ze Frank lost his steam a long time ago. Rocketboom.com is a has-been vlog. Hey it was the first, but let's face it, it's surrounded by a sea of new vlogs that draw viewers, like Renetto on YouTube.
Rocketboom's seen better traffic days, especially around the time the great Amanda Congdon was there. Joanne Colon's run as "Hottest Woman on The Internet" was replaced by a bevy of women in nude photos, like Lindsay Lohan, to fully-clothed female bodybuilder Kristy Hawkins.
And click on Rocketboom.com -- what do you see? A damn pop-up ad for..Vanity Fair. So let me get this straight -- the "most influential blogs" are really just those that have ads regarding Vanity Fair.
If Vanity is "the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others" then Vanity Fair's playing true to form. But it seems to be saying that it's only attractive to White People.
Maybe I'll think twice before laying down money for a VF in the future.
Emily Gould's "Sex And The City" Quote Points To Bay Area
Emily Gould just offered a quote in her blog Emily Magazine, and from the Sex and The City Movie that made me think of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here's the quote:
“Why does Odysseus stay so long with Circe? And why, having stayed so long, does he finally leave? Why do we always stay too long in relationships we know aren’t good for us? Sometimes there’s a complicated tango of neediness and unavailability going on. Other times, it’s because those relationships are with witches who have turned us into pigs.”
I can't think of a few people I know who fall into this quote as a model, well couples. It seems here it's a kind of weird divide between single and mated -- married or not -- and not happy in either case. It's the total lack of communication, I say. Too many people who don't know how to take off their iPods when it matters most -- and no, that's not when it's not working,
What? Well, my point is that iPod's keep people from hearing things, like police sirens, or bus horns, or someone elses voice. In all cases the person is plainly disconnected. That means they lose the practice of talking. Just plain banter is lost. That forms the basis for good relationships.
Tiger Woods Amazing U.S. Open Performance Forcing Playoff
This has been a most extraordinary three days, and to prove it, we have Tiger Woods amazing come-from-behind-in-pain performance at the U.S. Open Sunday. I missed this because I was watching Tom Brokaw and friends of Tim Russert talk about Tim's contributions and remember the man. But my Mom kept me posted on the exploits of Tiger. This video says it all:
Stan Winston - A Zeitgeist Signpost - Passes at 62
Wow, both Tim Russert and Stan Winston were signposts of the Zeitgeist. And now both are gone from Earth; Winston passed at the age of 62 on Sunday.
As much of a power in his field was Tim Russert, he was matched by Stan Winston's amazing achievements in special effects. I remember Winston's creatures in Jurrasic Park, as well as the famous video where Winston explained how he adjusted to the then-new technology of computer graphics that Director Steven Spielberg wanted to use.
Winston was responsible for the monsters we saw in movies like Alien, ET, and The Terminator. He also worked with Phil Tippet and invented the film technique of "Go Motion" animation.
The video below features Winston discussing the formation of the creatures in Jurrasic Park:
Winston was one of my favorites, and I will miss him. I may even watch Jurrasic Park in his honor this evening.
As much of a power in his field was Tim Russert, he was matched by Stan Winston's amazing achievements in special effects. I remember Winston's creatures in Jurrasic Park, as well as the famous video where Winston explained how he adjusted to the then-new technology of computer graphics that Director Steven Spielberg wanted to use.
Winston was responsible for the monsters we saw in movies like Alien, ET, and The Terminator. He also worked with Phil Tippet and invented the film technique of "Go Motion" animation.
The video below features Winston discussing the formation of the creatures in Jurrasic Park:
Winston was one of my favorites, and I will miss him. I may even watch Jurrasic Park in his honor this evening.
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