"Justin Bieber hates Koreans" another 4chan Internet forum trick

Bieber 

Where did the newest Internet smear game "Justin Bieber hates Koreans" come from? The same place used to work to game the Oprah Winfrey Network TV Show competition: 4chan. The previously not well-known message board has, in two weeks, been used behind both vote-fixing campaigns.

In the case of Justin Bieber, 4chan-based hacking was behind a vote to send Bieber to North Korea as part of his "My World Tour."

PopCrunch.com reports that North Korea was the largest vote getter with 625,000 votes, followed by Israel and Poland with 608,000 and 513, 073 votes respectively.

But the vote-getting effort has morphed into a more mean-spritted smear campaign. The truth is, Justin Bieber does not hate Koreans or Korea.

Will.I.Am dissed by Chelsea Handler; T.I. asked "How was prison?"

Chelsea Handler of Chelsea Lately never stops being a wonder to this space...

T.I. and Chelsea 

Chelsea Handler, not one to shy away from expressing her view, although this space still wonders what the fuss about her is for (except for the fact that she does have a great set of legs and her arms have added more muscle and less giggle), dissed Black Eye Peas Star Wil.I.Am, saying he was a "douche" and an "awful person" on a rerun of her June 28th that aired show Wednesday night.

What Handler bases her opinion on was never stated. Still, she and her comedian guests piled on with word after insulting word about Will.I.Am.

Then T.I. came on for his first visit with her since his stint in jail. Handler said T.I. makes her "so horny" and her first question to him was "How was prison?" which was totally hilarious. Their exchange was so natural it was hard to tell if they really did date or not, as Chelsea's constant flirting implied. T.I. gave her a large bottle of Remy Martin and said he was coming out with his own label. The news prompted Chelsea to say "A black guy coming out with his own bottle label. Now that's new."

Ok, that was funny; so what was their last exchange like, the one before T.I. went to prison? On his YouTube channel T.I. wrote "This is my interview with Chelsea Lately. Yeah I know she touched my ass. Damn this girl is funny!"



What's interesting is that T.I. was a bit more guarded and tight with her the first time; on Wednesday he was lose and relaxed - almost a different person.

You know, I have to agree with T.I., Chelsea Handler is funny. She's got a very quick wit. I have to admit, the first time I saw her show, I wasn't impressed, but she's gotten a lot better at it.

Chelsea's growing on me, as long as she stays in the gym and wears the skirts, she's just fine.

AC Transit: Mary King explains why union asked to take cut

AC Transit Zero Emission Bus 

In Monday's Bay Area News Group websites The San Jose Mercury News and the Tri Valley Herald
in San Jose, California and Southern Alameda County, AC Transit Interim General Manager Mary King explained why the East Bay California public transit service provider is asking the 1,750 member Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) to accept a contract it imposed on them.

King starts by explaining that "Our future — and the future of affordable and environmentally sound transportation for Alameda and Contra Costa counties' riders — is in jeopardy," then tells the reader what this space has been trying to drill into the collective heads of many for some time: revenue froms sales and property taxes has decreased.

But what King does not explain in numbers is that AC Transit's total operating revenues have dropped by $12 million in one year, and all one has to do to understand this is download and read the AC Transit budget here: BUDGET.

Only service cut-backs and labor costs reductions can make up the $56 million deficit this revenue problem has, in part, caused.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Terrance Candell crushes Jean Quan, he says

Terrance Candell

Oaklander and St. Mary's graduate, Director of Candell's College Preparatory Academy, and CNN Roland Martin look-alike Dr. Terrance Candell, smarting from what he views as an apparent slight on the part of The Oakland Tribune, and regarding the Oakland Seen-produced Mayoral Forum of three weeks ago, issued a provocative video entitled "Candell Crushes Quan & Kaplan At Mayoral Forum pt.1."

While this blogger attended the San Francisco Dress for Success event that evening, there was a hired video spy in the building. From the video of the forum, Terrance Candell was the crowd favorite, even as the Oakland Tribune failed to note that fact until down in the depths of the page, and even then giving the appearance that it wasn't real but planted by him.

So, since Candell and company thinks he wasn't well-reported by the Oakland Tribune, they issued this video:



Candell's style is a crowd pleaser if you're looking for spice in the Oakland Mayor's Race. At turns pleading to make a better Oakland in an emotive style that reminds this blogger of one of those YouTube Hitler parodies, and at other times rightly chiding Oakland's current leadership, Candell is the cattle prod Oakland politics needs. Say what you will, Candell's energy and his hands on commitment to Oakland's youth is to be noted and praised, even by the media.

On the Oakland media, it must be said that it's really shameful that some blogs and Oakland news websites try to ignore candidates like Candell, in effect trying to pick who wins the Mayor's race. It's also idiotic, because the organizations that do it don't have enough juice to make their efforts stick. But mostly, it's unfair to Oaklanders, who deserve a place to go to be able to evaluate the candidates in a way that's fair.

Video's the best tool to use, yet the vast majority of media organizations are still totally out to lunch in its use.  Waaaayyy out to lunch.

Oakland Journalists pride themselves on the self-absorbed idea that they "can write," but who the hell cares if few see the finished work?

The Oakland Mayor's Race and the City Council race, too, deserves better, and this space is going to give it to both and to Oakland.

Stay tuned.

Carlos Boozer to Chicago Bulls cloud LeBron James to Knicks leaks

Carlos Boozer

The Chicago Bulls, who looked all but out of the running for LeBron James, have just improved their stock in the arms race to land The Chosen One. While Phoenix Suns Forward Jared Dudley's Twitter tweet sends James to the New York Knicks, much of that idea was supported by the fact that the Knicks got Amare Stoudemire for $100 million over five years.

Moreover, Amare was told the Knicks would work to add the one player he wanted to be with, LeBron James, if he joined the Knicks. He did.

But that was before Carlos Boozer joined the Chicago Bulls for $80 million Wednesday. And the fact the Cleveland Cavaliers let the now-ex Utah Jazz star get away means they're not as into the arms race for their own player as one would think.

Now, it's the Bulls, who reportedly still have enough cap space to sign James, who have the star power. Boozer teams with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to provide a forward-point guard-center combination that's formidable. Adding James could produce the championship stew the Chicago Bulls have been trying to mix since the Michael Jordan years.

Stay tuned. This is fun.

World Cup Soccer 2010: Spain beats Germany 1-0, World happy

Calming fears of a Germany World Cup Soccer victory and possible rekindled urges toward World domination, Spain beat Germany 1-0 in semi-finals match competition Wednesday.

Now, Spain will play The Netherlands as for the first time, two European countries play for, the Cup outside Europe; in this the 2010 World Cup.

Germany's athletic prowess was no match for the precision passing of Spain. But with that, Germany's smothering defense kept it close until the 73rd minute, when Spain's Carles Puyol hit goal paydirt:



Still, Germany pressed and pressed, but lacking their scoring star Thomas Muller, who was banned from play for penalties in the previous two matches, failed to break the Spain defense.

Some of Germany's players fail to sing anthem

A small controversy started when it was noted that not all of Germany's ethnically-diverse squad sang the German National Anthem.

German and World Cup soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, who's called "The Emperor" in Germany, or "Der Kaiser", which conjures up visions of Star Wars in this space...



Got drunk with nationalistic pride and said "All of them should sing the anthem. It can't be that the fans in the stands or watching at home sing along but those on the field don't."

It was really cool to witness the obvious ethnic diversity of German fans in watching Germany pley World Cup Soccer. Though, this space did wonder if some of the black Germans not far from Chancellor Angela Merkel during their victory against Argentina were specially, er, planted there not far from Merkel, but the preference is to give Germany's first female leader and Germany itself credit.

After all, you've got to love a country that turned out 200,000 strong in Berlin for then-Senator Barack Obama, as he ran for President of The United States.



Ok. Germany's back. Spain won today. But Germany...the country...is back and better than ever in the way that's most important: harmony with the rest of the World. Let's hope it stays that way.

LeBron James to Knicks: Chad Ochocinco twitter matches Jared Dudley leak

Beating the Jared Dudley Twitter leak by three hours, Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco also tweeted that Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Star LeBron James was headed to the New York Knicks. Here's his tweet:

#OCNNBREAKINGNEWS *Empire State of Mind* *wink* *wink*only the smart folk will put this together and figure out what i am talking about #6
about 7 hours ago via web

This space thinks Chad Ochocinco's leak would have more legs if he used "New York State of Mind" and included a link to this Billy Joel song:

At any rate, the Internet's hot with the idea that The Chosen One is headed for The Big Apple. But the one caveat is that LRMR Marketing head and LeBron James' friend Maverick Carter did not have kind words about the New York Knicks, reportedly saying he wanted nothing to do with them. Here's the quote from New York Newsday:

If you ask those close to James ' inner circle, the Knicks need to be aware that they shouldn't spend too much time trying to convince the two-time MVP to leave Cleveland for the big city. One person with close ties to James ' "team" said the person with the most influence on James - his longtime friend and business manager, Maverick Carter - wants nothing to do with the Knicks and views remaining with the Cavs or going to Chicago to join Derrick Rose as the better options.

The Knicks have been desperately working William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley, a well-connected NBA (man) who has close ties to James but doesn't nearly have the influence that Carter does.

Still here's the problem: LRMR Marketing is reportedly financially floundering as LeBron was its only client according to Yahoo! Sports, and just signed NBA 1st Round Pick John Wall. A move to New York City for LeBron could mean a new home for LRMR and a new start at landing high-profile athletic clients in the World's largest media market outside LA.

So, Carter should think twice before dissing the New York Knicks, if the story is true. Personally it seems questionable that Carter would turn away New York.

Stay tuned.