More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
Traditionally "Black Friday" was the day after Thanksgiving - man, I can taste the Turkey now - and the first sales day of the Christmas season.
But with the longest recession in American history now just ending and the economy having contracted so much that we have double-digit unemployment as the norm, Black Friday sales pushes have been moved up to this week in what some are calling "Christmas Creep".
But how deep will the deal discounts be?
Well if you want to shop online, Amazon.com has already listed their Black Friday deals and feature women's shoes at over half off. So Black Friday, with the help of the Internet, has extended beyond Friday, November 27th to today, Monday, November 2nd.
Offline, or in the terra firma World, Sears started offering Black Friday deals last week Friday before Halloween. If you want to take advantage of "Sears Black Friday" in the San Francisco Bay Area, there's a Sears store in Oakland at Telegraph and 20th Street, right off 19th Street BART Station.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Somali Pirates demand $7 milllion in ransom for British couple
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
If you thought Somali Pirates were out of the news focus and the World was safe from them, you're wrong.
A British couple named Paul and Rachel Chandler were the latest victims of Somali gun gangs who were kidnapped on October 23rd.
The Somali Robin Hoods wanted $7 million or about £4 million (4 million pounds) for the couple, but, informed they were not at all wealthy, the Somali Pirates dropped their "ask" to £100,000 (100,000 pounds).
If you remember the first American brush with the Somali Pirate problem led to a killing of the thugs who kidnapped Americans that was ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama in one of the boldest decisions of his young presidency.
I still say that such events point to the need for more Somali aid:
If you thought Somali Pirates were out of the news focus and the World was safe from them, you're wrong.
A British couple named Paul and Rachel Chandler were the latest victims of Somali gun gangs who were kidnapped on October 23rd.
The Somali Robin Hoods wanted $7 million or about £4 million (4 million pounds) for the couple, but, informed they were not at all wealthy, the Somali Pirates dropped their "ask" to £100,000 (100,000 pounds).
If you remember the first American brush with the Somali Pirate problem led to a killing of the thugs who kidnapped Americans that was ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama in one of the boldest decisions of his young presidency.
I still say that such events point to the need for more Somali aid:
Bay Bridge open today - BART 24-hour service a success
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
The Bay Bridge has reopened this morning and in phases since 9 AM. I frankly hold out hope the repairs hold and this wasn't a rush to place a band-aid on an already damaged structure.
And CalTrans calls the eyebar repairs "enhanced" - let's hope that's not a cute trick at using the right marketing term and it really is stronger than before. One thing is for certain: BART's 24-hour train service was a success and proves that BART can extend train service with the right level of funding.
Remember in my second blog post on this subject, BART's Linton Johnson said that economic and maintenance factors combined to make 24-hour service an impossibility unless CalTrans provided the money for it.
Well that happened and the 24-hour service, provided Friday night and Saturday night, worked like a charm.
In fact, it worked so well I think BART and CalTrans should do this every weekend. Moreover, funding for this should come not just from CalTrans but the Federal Government in some fashion under the rationale of keeping drunk drivers off the road and money out of the pockets of lawyers like Former Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who once hilariously said to party goers including California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, "Drink. Drink. And drive, so I can represent you!
(Love ya Willie!)
BART's a fun, social vehicle to use in getting too and fro, especially at night after a play or a party. Why create an environment where people who have been out even having a "little drink" can't see an alternative to driving from San Francisco to Oakland?
Yes, AC Transit has great 24 hour service but it's not enough to handle the volume of people who need it on the weekend. I've heard the argument before that there's not enough ridership at night, but that's only because people are conditioned not to use the service as much because it's not available.
BART's trains were packed during the weekend, yes, because of Halloween, but I contend 24-hour service, if it were standard on the weekends, would alter the economy of San Francisco and Oakland. More establishments would stay open longer past the 2 AM bar close deadline and because more people are out and about, its safer to be out and about.
World-class cities have such service. It's about time we got serious and acted like a World-class region; make 24-hour service permanent on the weekends.
Stay tuned.
The Bay Bridge has reopened this morning and in phases since 9 AM. I frankly hold out hope the repairs hold and this wasn't a rush to place a band-aid on an already damaged structure.
And CalTrans calls the eyebar repairs "enhanced" - let's hope that's not a cute trick at using the right marketing term and it really is stronger than before. One thing is for certain: BART's 24-hour train service was a success and proves that BART can extend train service with the right level of funding.
Remember in my second blog post on this subject, BART's Linton Johnson said that economic and maintenance factors combined to make 24-hour service an impossibility unless CalTrans provided the money for it.
Well that happened and the 24-hour service, provided Friday night and Saturday night, worked like a charm.
In fact, it worked so well I think BART and CalTrans should do this every weekend. Moreover, funding for this should come not just from CalTrans but the Federal Government in some fashion under the rationale of keeping drunk drivers off the road and money out of the pockets of lawyers like Former Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who once hilariously said to party goers including California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, "Drink. Drink. And drive, so I can represent you!
(Love ya Willie!)
BART's a fun, social vehicle to use in getting too and fro, especially at night after a play or a party. Why create an environment where people who have been out even having a "little drink" can't see an alternative to driving from San Francisco to Oakland?
Yes, AC Transit has great 24 hour service but it's not enough to handle the volume of people who need it on the weekend. I've heard the argument before that there's not enough ridership at night, but that's only because people are conditioned not to use the service as much because it's not available.
BART's trains were packed during the weekend, yes, because of Halloween, but I contend 24-hour service, if it were standard on the weekends, would alter the economy of San Francisco and Oakland. More establishments would stay open longer past the 2 AM bar close deadline and because more people are out and about, its safer to be out and about.
World-class cities have such service. It's about time we got serious and acted like a World-class region; make 24-hour service permanent on the weekends.
Stay tuned.
BCS Standings - Cal Golden Bears at 20, TCU over Boise State, USC at 12
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
BCS Standings for this week has this: after Saturday's amazing 47 to 20 blowout by the Oregon Ducks, the USC Trojans have fallen from number 5 in the BCS race to number 12, while Oregon moves to number 8.
(That USC is number 12, and the only team with two losses ranked so high is questionable. More on this later.)
As I said that game would shake up the BCS and it did but not in the way Boise State fans wanted. After all their anticipation of overtaking TCU because of Oregon's win, they find themselves literally on that tush of the Horned Frogs, rated sixth and seventh respectively.
Florida remains at number one, while Texas moves ahead of Alabama (which did not play this week) for the number two spot.
The Cal Golden Bears move up to 20 from 24 after beating Arizona State while Notre Dame goes to 22 after clobbering Washington State.
Here's the Top 25 BCS list for week three:
Florida
Texas
Alabama
Iowa
Cincinnati
TCU
Boise State
Oregon
LSU
Georgia Tech
Penn State
USC
Pittsburgh
Utah
Houston
Ohio State
Miami (FL)
Arizona
Oklahoma State
California
Wisconsin
Notre Dame
Virginia Tech
Oklahoma
South Florida
BCS Standings for this week has this: after Saturday's amazing 47 to 20 blowout by the Oregon Ducks, the USC Trojans have fallen from number 5 in the BCS race to number 12, while Oregon moves to number 8.
(That USC is number 12, and the only team with two losses ranked so high is questionable. More on this later.)
As I said that game would shake up the BCS and it did but not in the way Boise State fans wanted. After all their anticipation of overtaking TCU because of Oregon's win, they find themselves literally on that tush of the Horned Frogs, rated sixth and seventh respectively.
Florida remains at number one, while Texas moves ahead of Alabama (which did not play this week) for the number two spot.
The Cal Golden Bears move up to 20 from 24 after beating Arizona State while Notre Dame goes to 22 after clobbering Washington State.
Here's the Top 25 BCS list for week three:
Florida
Texas
Alabama
Iowa
Cincinnati
TCU
Boise State
Oregon
LSU
Georgia Tech
Penn State
USC
Pittsburgh
Utah
Houston
Ohio State
Miami (FL)
Arizona
Oklahoma State
California
Wisconsin
Notre Dame
Virginia Tech
Oklahoma
South Florida
NY Yankees one game from World Series champion - Kate Hudson A-Rod's lucky charm
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
After a 7 to 4 World Series game victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in that city Sunday night, the New York Yankees are one win away from a World Series Championship, and the NY Post has called actress Kate Hudson A-Rod's lucky charm after he hit the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. Which I guess makes Kate Hudson the Yankees' lucky charm.
To me, the Yankees are still proof that payroll money buys wins in baseball. Moneyball's dead. At least for now.
Kate Hudson
After a 7 to 4 World Series game victory against the Philadelphia Phillies in that city Sunday night, the New York Yankees are one win away from a World Series Championship, and the NY Post has called actress Kate Hudson A-Rod's lucky charm after he hit the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. Which I guess makes Kate Hudson the Yankees' lucky charm.
To me, the Yankees are still proof that payroll money buys wins in baseball. Moneyball's dead. At least for now.
Hamid Karzai declared Afghanistan president; we can't trust him
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
Hamid Karzai was declared Afghanistan president, according to a CNN email new release. And I have to admit I'm disappointed because I don't think we have a totally honest elected official we're dealing with in Karzai, but we have no choice as his rival Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the presidential election.
Abdullah Abdullah put up a good fight against amazing odds; few believed he could win an election against Karzai.
But the reason quit was because he believed he would not win a runoff because of he same fraud issues that plagued the country's election to start with.
The basic question is what does he know about the location of Osama Bin Ladin and is he also working with terrorists at the same time he's work with the United States? Morever, Karzai's own people don't take his presidency seriously and he asked for our military presence, so it's as if we're propping him up.
We can't do that.
Rather than committing more troops, we should use more drones in this case. Fight the war from space and really go after specific targets. This deal's a real mess and I can't see a conventional path to success.
Stay tuned.
Hamid Karzai was declared Afghanistan president, according to a CNN email new release. And I have to admit I'm disappointed because I don't think we have a totally honest elected official we're dealing with in Karzai, but we have no choice as his rival Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the presidential election.
President Hamid Karzai
Abdullah Abdullah put up a good fight against amazing odds; few believed he could win an election against Karzai.
But the reason quit was because he believed he would not win a runoff because of he same fraud issues that plagued the country's election to start with.
The basic question is what does he know about the location of Osama Bin Ladin and is he also working with terrorists at the same time he's work with the United States? Morever, Karzai's own people don't take his presidency seriously and he asked for our military presence, so it's as if we're propping him up.
We can't do that.
Rather than committing more troops, we should use more drones in this case. Fight the war from space and really go after specific targets. This deal's a real mess and I can't see a conventional path to success.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Taylor Swift and A Swastika? Still no official apology from Swift
More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com
Two weekends ago, Taylor Swift attended Katy Perry's party and posed with A.J. English, a Hollywood model who for some still not well explained reason happened to have a t-shirt on that sported a big, fat Swastika on it.
While Taylor Swift's publicist has issued a "Swift didn't know what she was doing" statemwent and English has publicly appologized and said he's not a Nazi, Swift herself has not gave one statement explaining that she's sorry, shocked, or even actually cares that she was in a photo with a guy wearing a t-shirt with a Swatika!
Moreover, Internet reaction seems to be "Oh, she's just this cute girl who didn't know any better. It's ok."
Like heck it is. There's an old saying that if we don't pay attention to history, we're doomed to repeat it. I've come to the conclusion that we just don't seem to care at all about establishing standards of engagement that prove we've advanced beyond the hatred of yesterday.
If we had, there would be incredible pressure for Taylor Swift to say something, just as their has been for Kansas City Chiefs Running Back Larry Johnson, who was suspended by the team for homophobic comments.
Is it OK to let her go because she's 19, white, pretty, and blonde? How far do we allow this to go before we have another girl group like Prussian Blue, who compared themselves to the Olsen sisters but said "We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white. We want our people to stay white"?
Taylor Swift can go a long way toward righting a wrong just by submitting a statement. Why she's not done so is really surprising to me but maybe we're just becoming desensitized to hate because we're exposed to it so much online and on television that we're becoming too permissive.
We have a so-called Louisiana "judge" Keith Bardwell, who openly expresses his dislike for interracial marriage and is still (as of this writing) practicing in Tangipahoa Parish outside New Orleans. Sure, I'm all for free-speech, but I'm not for someone in a governmental, legal position using his power to carry out racism and deliver a racist message.
Then we have couch potato conservatives like Michelle Malkin speaking out against diversity - and she's Asian!
Think about this folks: here's a woman of color basically saying she likes that the GOP's mostly white rather than a gathering of different-looking kinds of people share the same ideas. In other words, the GOP should not work to have anyone of color in it.
Malkin's attacked Asian activists in the pages of the website VDARE, an online place noted for White Supremacists views.
By her silence, Swift runs the risk of being thrown into the same public perception box as Malkin. Well it's a risk because as I stated, quite a few people seem to want to give her a break without asking for a statement of apology or at least a freaking tweet!
I would think enough's, enough, but maybe I'm in the minority in more ways than one, , liberals are more wimps than I thought, and America in general's prone to make the same errors of racism as in the past. Whatever the case, that we don't as a society take a harder line against even the appearance of a Swastika in a photo of a major celebrity is shameful.
Shame on you, Taylor Swift. Shame on you. And to think I came to your defense in the Kanye West issue.
I'm almost sorry I did.
Two weekends ago, Taylor Swift attended Katy Perry's party and posed with A.J. English, a Hollywood model who for some still not well explained reason happened to have a t-shirt on that sported a big, fat Swastika on it.
Taylor Swift and AJ English
While Taylor Swift's publicist has issued a "Swift didn't know what she was doing" statemwent and English has publicly appologized and said he's not a Nazi, Swift herself has not gave one statement explaining that she's sorry, shocked, or even actually cares that she was in a photo with a guy wearing a t-shirt with a Swatika!
Moreover, Internet reaction seems to be "Oh, she's just this cute girl who didn't know any better. It's ok."
Like heck it is. There's an old saying that if we don't pay attention to history, we're doomed to repeat it. I've come to the conclusion that we just don't seem to care at all about establishing standards of engagement that prove we've advanced beyond the hatred of yesterday.
If we had, there would be incredible pressure for Taylor Swift to say something, just as their has been for Kansas City Chiefs Running Back Larry Johnson, who was suspended by the team for homophobic comments.
Is it OK to let her go because she's 19, white, pretty, and blonde? How far do we allow this to go before we have another girl group like Prussian Blue, who compared themselves to the Olsen sisters but said "We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white. We want our people to stay white"?
Taylor Swift can go a long way toward righting a wrong just by submitting a statement. Why she's not done so is really surprising to me but maybe we're just becoming desensitized to hate because we're exposed to it so much online and on television that we're becoming too permissive.
We have a so-called Louisiana "judge" Keith Bardwell, who openly expresses his dislike for interracial marriage and is still (as of this writing) practicing in Tangipahoa Parish outside New Orleans. Sure, I'm all for free-speech, but I'm not for someone in a governmental, legal position using his power to carry out racism and deliver a racist message.
Then we have couch potato conservatives like Michelle Malkin speaking out against diversity - and she's Asian!
Think about this folks: here's a woman of color basically saying she likes that the GOP's mostly white rather than a gathering of different-looking kinds of people share the same ideas. In other words, the GOP should not work to have anyone of color in it.
Malkin's attacked Asian activists in the pages of the website VDARE, an online place noted for White Supremacists views.
By her silence, Swift runs the risk of being thrown into the same public perception box as Malkin. Well it's a risk because as I stated, quite a few people seem to want to give her a break without asking for a statement of apology or at least a freaking tweet!
I would think enough's, enough, but maybe I'm in the minority in more ways than one, , liberals are more wimps than I thought, and America in general's prone to make the same errors of racism as in the past. Whatever the case, that we don't as a society take a harder line against even the appearance of a Swastika in a photo of a major celebrity is shameful.
Shame on you, Taylor Swift. Shame on you. And to think I came to your defense in the Kanye West issue.
I'm almost sorry I did.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)