Conan O'Brien and NBC to reach settlement deal tonight

Late Night Talk Show Host Conan O'Brien and NBC are close to a settlement deal that would net Conan O'Brien with $8.1 million for his staff, a full $600,000 over the original deal.

According to TMZ.com, NBC will pay $7.5 million to his staff, and while his executive producer will make $4.5 million, it's in addition to the $7.5 million to staff as a whole.

NBC thinks they will make money if Conan walks and Jay Leno takes his spot on The Tonight Show. The reason for this is Jay Leno makes $45 million while Conan would lose $5 million.

Meanwhile, all signs point to a Friday farewell for Conan, according to Forbes, which reports Conan saying:

"Hi, I'm Conan O'Brien, and I'm just three days away from the biggest drinking binge in history."

Stay tuned.

Tornado warning in Santa Cruz, San Jose, Bay Area

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for San Jose and The Bay Area, today, Wednesday. The NWS issued a tornado warning for parts of Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. This happened after wind gusts as fast as 85 mph were reported today.

This blogger has never heard of a tornado warning in The San Francisco Bay Area until today. In Santa Cruz County, California, 36,000 people lost power. Yesterday, Oakland was battered by hail storms. Rain has pelted the San Francisco Bay Area all day long.

According to SFGate.com and the National Weather Service' Dan Reynolds, what we're experiencing is called an El Niño, where thunderstorms over warm weather over the Pacific Ocean shoves clouds across the Pacific and into the West Coast. Since there's no high pressure system to crowd-out the El Niño, it dominates the weather.

So get an umbrella, if you must go outside.

Stay tuned.

Is All White Basketball League a good idea?

Other than the death of Jennifer Lyon, Senator Scott Brown, and Heidi Montag, one of the more controversial topics is the attempt to develop an All White Basketball League. According to Associated Content, a man named Don Moose Lewis is pushing the idea because, as he put it,..

"There's nothing hatred about what we're doing. I don't hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like. Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch? That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."

But is this, an All White Basketball League, that better direction?

The plan is for the league to be based out of Atlanta, Georgia with all teams owned under a single entity. A $10,000 licensee fee is required to establish an organization in any one of 11 additional cities.

The response to an All White Basketball League has been anything but favorable. Ryan Christopher DeVault wrote:

This just seems like a bad idea all around, and something that won't find as much support as Don Moose Lewis is hoping that it will. While claiming that he isn't racist, isn't it racist in itself to create a league that won't allow people of color to play?

Don "Moose" Lewis is trying to drum up support for his league idea in Augusta, Georgia, where Tiger Woods became the first person of color to win The Masters. Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver thinks the idea is not in the sprit of inclusiveness:

"As a sports enthusiast, I have always supported bringing more sporting activities to Augusta," he said. "However, in this instance I could not support in good conscience bringing in a team that did not fit with the spirit of inclusiveness that I, along with many others, have worked so hard to foster in our city."

What's interesting is Moose" Lewis says he's not racist, but says he wants to emphasize fundamental basketball, and not "street-ball" played by "people of color." In this, "Moose" Lewis failed to mention the number of white players who have mastered the same "street-ball" he says only people of color play.

The other issue is the reverse racism Don Moose Lewis shows by stating that whites essentially don't play basketball well and have to be shielded from black and minority players. But what's more disturbing is Lewis is showing the same segregation active in the 1960s.

The problem with his league idea is that in the diverse 21st Century, players on his all-white league will eventually want to play with black, minority, and European players just to see how good they are. That dynamic alone will cause the league to fail.

Right now, the league is without a place to play. Given the looks of things, it may never get one.

Stay tuned.

Massachusetts Senate Race: Scott Brown won for Brown, not GOP

The Massachusetts Senate Race saw Scott Brown's win the US Senate seat that was occupied by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, but the victory a win for Scott Brown, not for the GOP. Only a charismatic, relatively young, youthful, cocky, and properous-looking white guy could get away with opposing aide to 9-11 volunteer workers and posing nude in Cosmo, yet still fill a seat occupied by the late, legendary Senator Ted Kennedy.

Senator-Elect Scott Brown (R) Mass.

Scott Brown looks like and carries himself like this blogger's good friend and Cal-Berkeley buddy Greg Haywood (who's a Democrat), who also has the great knack for endearing himself to people, sometimes saying ridiculous things, and yet coming away smelling like a rose. CNN's David Gergen is wrong (as usual) because President Barack Obama does not need to "back off" of anything, including health care.

(As a momentary aside, CNN's David Gergen's great at painting a broad-brush concept, yet not filling in the blanks. For example, he says that President Obama must now "Govern from the center". What does that mean? What's the center? How does that square with our economy's structural problems? Gergen doesn't say. But the people on CNN who listen to him come away thinking he's said something smart, whereas this blogger comes away thinking he doesn't really understand the nature of what he's saying.)

Scott Brown said "The independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken." Note, he said nothing at all about the "Republican voice". Why? Because there's is none.

In his acceptance speech, Senator-elect Brown never once referred to the Republican agenda, nor did he use the term "conservative" and that's not by accident.



Scott Brown's cocky, self-assured delivery is what's attractive about him and it has nothing to do with the GOP, and it has more to do with the generation he's part of: The Obama Generation.

It is for that reason President Obama can be more aggressive and yes, run Health Care Reform through Congress, full steam ahead.  Scott Brown is Obama's cattle-prod. His reminder that he serves at the will of the people and not the Democratic Party.

What Obama can use is essentially what will be Scott Brown's downfall: his cocky nature. It's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way and Brown will find himself alone out there if he keeps it up.  But it's that same nature that is a trademark of Obama's rise, so Obama's certainly interested in getting to know someone who is of like minds.

The best move is to give Senator-elect Scott Brown his chance. After all, he won. Moreover, what will happen is this: Senator Scott Brown will save President Barack Obama. Senator Brown will allow President Obama to be more populist, not centrist. There's a school of thought that perhaps President Obama was trapped by his own party - by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid. Obama and Brown are cut from the same generational cloth and that will serve to bind them in a way few predicted.

The key here is basketball. Where problems were once solved in a smoke filled room, now they're settled on the basketball court. That "two-on-two" Senator Brown talked about playing with President Obama - that laughable line - is a foreshadowing of things to come.

The GOP has every reason to fear a new alliance between Obama and Brown, just as the old-line Democrats should be concerned as well. The real change is generational, not political.

Stay tuned.

Haiti Earthquake update: death toll at 70,000 and rising

The latest Haiti Earthquake news has the official death toll at over 70,000 and rising. One week after the 7.0 Haiti Earthquake hit ten miles away from and six miles below the capital city of Port-Au-Prince, Haitians and people from around the World have worked to rescue people trapped below the rubble of collapsed buildings.

In an email to those on The Clinton Foundation email list, Former President Bill Clinton reported:

I wish you could have seen what I saw. Haitians were performing surgeries at night, without lights, with no anesthesia, using vodka to sterilize equipment. It's astonishing what they've been able to accomplish in such devastating conditions.

Many corporations and foundations have donated over $200 million to the Haiti Earthquake Relief effort as of this writing. Around the country, from San Francisco to New York, groups, organizations, and people have established efforts to collect money, food, and clothing to send to Haiti; and more help is on the way.

Operation USA has collected 2 million water purification tablets - almost one for the estimated 3 million who need water. And they plan an airlift of medical supplies scheduled to leave next Tuesday. U.S Troops arrived in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti " in dramatic style", landing on the lawn of the badly damaged Presidential Palace.

The question is how long will it take to rebuild Haiti? The level of destruction and death is on a scale that's just awfully incredible. The question - for which there's not yet an answer - is just how long and how much will it cost to bring Haiti back to health.

Stay tuned.

U.S Unemployment and Underemployment rate at 17 percent

A 17 percent unemployment and underemployment rate. The real problem behind President Barack Obama's surprisingly dropping approval rating and what could be a factor in the Massachusetts Senate Race is a not-so-surprising reason; the combined U.S. unemployment and underemployment rate.

According to Portal Seven and based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the U6 Unemployment Rate is:

The U6 unemployment rate counts not only people without work seeking full-time employment (the more familiar U-3 rate), but also counts "marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons."

Note that some of these part-time workers counted as employed by U-3 could be working as little as an hour a week.

And the "marginally attached workers" include those who have gotten discouraged and stopped looking, but still want to work.

The age considered for this calculation is 16 years and over

The incredible 17 percent rate translates to almost one in five people either working part time or not at all. While the $787 billion Economic Stimulus program has kept America from plunging deeper into a Depression, it has not helped to stop the seemingly chronic high rate of underemployment and unemployment. It's too small.

The problem is that at the time the Stimulus bill was past, it represented at best two to three percent of Gross Domestic Product. But GDP was falling at a projected rate of eight percent per year at the time. While the Stimulus has worked to slow that to a halt, the rate of growth required to make up for the fall, at 3 percent last quarter, is not large enough to counter the economy's collapse. In other words, we still have not enough new jobs for the people who need them.

One solution is to do what some have suggested and that's to give American taxpayers under $100,000 $5,000 each or as one GOP Congressman suggested a $20,000 tax credit. The idea is to stimulate consumption which then causes business growth and employment.

Whatever the case, a taxpayer bailout has not been done, and the economy is not improving. If something's not done, and soon, Democrats will lose more than a few seats in the House and Senate.

Bill name Chan Gailey coach over Leslie Frazier; why?

The Buffalo Bills took Chan Gailey as their new head coach and to replace the fired Dick Jauron. Chan Gailey brings an 18 win, 14 loss NFL record to Buffalo, and a reputation of being a conservative offensive coordinator.



The hiring of Chan Gailey is shocking in the wake of the way Minnesota Vikings Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier's "minority token interview" by the Seattle Seahawks and now apparently The Buffalo Bills.

The NFL now must answer for The Rooney Rule, because it appears NFL owners outside of a few, have a desire to limit the number of coaches in the league who happen to be black. Chan Gailey is not a proven winner; his selection as head coach is questionable. ESPN's John Clayton writes that the Bills wanted "An offensive mind" with "head coaching experience."

Leslie Frazier has a better record with the Vikings as assistant head coach than Chan Gailey does at 18 and 14, and the Vikings 34 to 3 NFC First Round Divisional Playoff win just helps his credentials. Chan Gailey is seen by many NFL fans as "conservative", take this commenter over at the Chicago Sun-Times blog who wrote this before Gailey was selected by the Bills:

Well at least the (Chicago) Bears are looking at Chan Gailey, one of the most conservative coordinators ever. He is highly mediocre, but suits the role of coordinator who only gets one or two year contracts before he is fired. By that criteria he meets every qulification that Lovie is looking for. Mediocre, Conservative, Doesn't last long with a team, easy to fire, easy to hire, attacks a defense by not attacking a defense. But most think Gailey will end up with the Bills.

With this evaluation, the Buffalo Bills must explain to their fans why Chan Gailey really was their choice. If it was to escape a "Rooney Rule" hire, as Leslie Frazier would have been, then "The Rooney Rule" itself is to be reevaluated. Moreover, it appears something is going on here.

While Sports Illustrated's Peter King mentioned the Chan Gailey hire is "easy to knock" because of his "conservative" offense, he failed to mention The Rooney Rule issue, or even a single African American NFL coach that the Bills could have interviewed. King says that Gailey "took a team in decline and staved it off for as long as he could" - that's called being a "coach killer". A "coach killer" is good enough to field a competitive team, but not good enough to build a championship team.

Stay tuned.