2010 Emmy Awards Live Blog From Zennie62

UPDATE: Click here for Part Two

Hello!  This is the live blog of the 2010 Emmy Awards.  Host Jimmy Fallon played Bruce Springsteen in a great imitation of Bruce Springsteen. But it's not apparent the Emmy producers are going to use all of the tweets of ideas of lines to use in introducing presenters. Not saying it's waste of time and a fraud on Twitter just yet.

8:16 PM - EDT

Surprise! Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family beats Neil Patrick Harris for the Emmy for Supporting Actor in A Comedy Series. Neil did not look happy.

8:18 PM  EDT -  Cool! John Hodgeman's on the show! Hey! Twitter. He mentions Twitter. And the people who submitted their tweets. Awesome. They did it. The problem is the website did't make it clear they were going to read the best tweets.

Best Writing For A Comedy Series is up next.  Unbelievable.  Modern Family wins again!  Two and a row. Christopher Lloyd and Steven

Stephen Colbert is out to announce the winner for Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series.   Jane Lynch from Glee gets a well-deserved Emmy.  And has a lovely dress - well she looks great in it.  But, OK, she's done with the whole "I love Buddhists even though I'm not a Buddhist" thing.  It's her first time, let's give her a pass.  Just this once.

Commercial at 8:29 PM EDT

Laren Graham and Matthew Perry are the next presenters. (Hey no Twitter tweet used here by Jimmy Fallon!) They were OK until Graham said to Perry that he is role is that of "just another Gay guy," which went over without a laugh - not one. The place went silent for one whole second.

Guest Actor In A Comedy Series Female and Male are the awards they're presenting. Betty White and Neil Patrick Harris win. A bit of irony since Neil Patrick Harris is Gay.

They announce Directing In A Comedy Series is the next award. Ryan Murphy wins for Glee.

Wow. Eva Longoria-Parker with LL Cool J. She looks totally hot. The Award? Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series. The Winner? Very cool for nerds everywhere! Comic Con 2010 hit Jim Parsons wins for The Big Bang Theory.

Favorite Edie Falco beat Tina Fey (30 Rock), three-time nominee, and the other favorite Toni Collette (United States of Tara), for the Best Actress In A Comedy Series for Nurse Jackie. Wow.

Top Chef wins for Best Reality TV Series.

8:56 PM - EDT Commercial Break

9:00 PM - Jimmy Fallon's back. No Twitter submissions announced for the presenters! Not cool, man. Well, I'll leave the drama for the next awards category: Drama.

Next presenters are from one of my favorite shows, Law And Order SVU, Christopher Meloni, and the impossibly hot Mariska Hargitay.

Next awards is for Drama Series Writing; the winner is Mathew Winer and Erin Levy for Mad Men. That was a no-brainer. The dialog in Mad Men is awesome.

Hey! What's up with John Hamm's hair?! It looks like it's..big. Well, like he's Elvis or something.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in A Drama Series award is next. The Emmy goes to Erin Paul for Breaking Bad. Wow, he wasn't expect that and neither were a number of people. But he deserves it. In fact he's so good you don't realize he's not a real person. That's a complement.

And on that matter, here comes Dexter after the commercial break.

9:10 PM - Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series: Archie Panjabi for The Good Wife!

Edie Falco's now a presenter and for Lead Actor In A Drama Series. Here we go. Dexter fans get ready. No! Brain Cranston wins number three straight for Breaking Bad.

Go to Part Two of 2010 Emmy Awards Live Blog From Zennie62.

Public Radio: The Crisis At KPFA Radio, Berkeley, CA - Two Views

Is public radio doomed in Northern California, and around America, or is this just a "KPFA problem" confined to Berkeley?

The KPFA controversy opinions that were subordinated to a readers commentary section of The Berkeley Daily Planet is something this blogger happened upon in a search for local news items. While it's not intimately known by this blogger, its so important it deserves a wider, national audience. Thus, this post is deliberately designed to provide just that.

KPFA: A Very Brief History

For the unaware, KPFA is a 61-year-old listener-funded music and talk radio station located at 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way in Berkeley, California. It signed on the air as the first station in the Pacifica Radio Network, which has since grown to 150 stations.

Since its founding the station and the network have always maintained a muckraking, liberal take on news of the day. But more important, KPFA has seldom feared to present or give voice to a view that was shut out of public awareness by the mainstream media. Thus, its maintenance is of utmost importance.

The KPFA Problem: Two Views

KPFA has a problem is that its listenership has dropped in part due to the economic recession causing budget cuts that have eliminated some programs and in part due to the overall growth of competing Internet content. But it's the changes in some programs, like Flashpoints and Music of the World, that has been the "flashpoint" for controversy between persons involved with KPFA in various capacities.

While infighting within KPFA's Board of Directors and staff seems to be a chronic issue, the rancor has become sharper and more directed over the past year-and-a-half and as the elections process for the KPFA Board has come closer; now it's here.

These opinions presented by two KPFA Board member candidates, Matthew Hallinan and Tracy Rosenberg, and are part of the latest in a round of discussions leading up to the elections. Since their are 27 listener candidates and seven staff candidates for the board, the views will come out more often. But Matthew Hallinan, who's running on the "Save KPFA" slate, got the ball rolling with his Berkeley Daily Planet publication. Tracy Rosenberg, the Executive Director at Media Alliance, is running for re-election to the KPFA Board.

Here's Matthew Hallinan followed by Tracy Rosenberg.

The Crisis at KPFA
By Matthew Hallinan
Wednesday August 25, 2010

Without the intervention of the broader progressive community, KPFA as we have known it, is about to disappear. It is confronted by two serious crises. The first is ‘objective’ – that is, arises from factors outside of the station’s control. The current global economic crisis has hit the station and the whole Pacifica Network hard. While the number of listeners contributing to KPFA has remained steady (perhaps even rising slightly), the amount of individual contributions have declined significantly. Large donations and grant money, in particular, have been sharply reduced. At the same time, costs have risen. In this digital, internet-driven Age, KPFA has to continually modernize its equipment while at the same time providing the basics for its dedicated but woefully underpaid staff.

The second crisis is self-inflicted. When Pacifica adopted elected Local Station Board elections after the ‘uprising’ of 1999, these Boards have become the focus of power struggles by groups seeking to take control of the various stations. As the members of the Pacifica National Board, the governing body of the whole network, are chosen by the Local Station Boards, the whole governance structure of the system has become a political battleground. For KPFA, the results have been devastating.

The governing body at Pacifica has grown into a huge, costly bureaucracy that consumes an inordinate amount of money for salaries, national meetings, consultants, board elections, etc. An amount equal to one forth of listener donations now goes to pay for this governance structure. It is estimated that $2.4 million dollars have been spent on various ‘board expenses’ since elections began in 2003. None of this had to do with programming or producing radio. In 1994, 33% of Pacifica’s budget was spent on administrative and Board costs. In 2009, that figure was 52%.

However, the problem is not just monetary. Only about 10% of KPFA’s listeners actually join the station: of these, about 10% vote in Local Station Board (LSB) elections. The fact that the great majority of listeners and subscribers do not participate, and have no way of finding out what the issues are or what’s at stake in these elections, makes it possible for small, organized groups of activists to win majorities on these Boards. These are people who are not representative of the broader progressive listening community. Narrowly based Boards currently provide a majority of the members to the Pacifica National Board – and the PNB is increasingly intervening to influence the outcome of Local Board struggles.

A Sad Little Narrative
Last year, a new majority took control of the PNB. Its actions were critical to the ability of the present group that controls the Board of KPFA to attain its one-vote majority. The first act in this little drama was when the PNB over-rode KPFA’s Interim General Manager and allowed the formation of an Unpaid Staff Organization at the station. An UPSO, as it is called, has nothing to do with enabling the unpaid staff to form an organization to defend their rights. That is a given at KPFA. It has, instead to do with determining eligibility in staff elections for the Board. In the bylaws, eligibility of staff is determined by a certain minimum of hours an individual must work at the station. An UPSO, however, is a special category named in the bylaws that allows the criteria for eligibility to be set by the unpaid staff themselves. This makes it possible for each individual member of a large collective that works together on a show that may run for just a half hour a month to acquire equal voting rights with a full-time staff person. This move unfairly redistributed voting power within staff, undermining the representation of the paid staff. The presence of the UPSO and the ability of its director to determine eligibility, gave the present majority slate an extra staff seat on the Board.
Two more seats were shifted as a result of PNB intervention. One involved something called ‘change of status.’ In the bylaws, anyone who runs for the Board and then, once elected, goes through a change of status that would have made them ineligible to run for that seat, must resign. For instance, one of the members of our slate decided to run for political office. Holding political office is seen as a potential conflict of interest and thus is incompatible with serving on the Board. Our member, as prescribed in the bylaws, resigned.

A few months later, one of the members of the other slate who had been elected as a listener representative was given a job at the station. They became staff. Listener reps and staff reps are chosen in separate elections by different constituencies - and they do not share identical interests. Members of the staff are not allowed to run for the listener board and vice versa. Our slate held a majority at that stage, and we notified the member that she should resign her seat. The other side appealed to the PNB. The bylaws state that any change in status, ‘for instance, running for political office’ would result in a loss of seat. The PNB decided that ‘running for political office’ was the only change in status that would disqualify a member. We appealed. Why, we asked, would the bylaws say ‘for instance’ if they were meant to apply to only one case? The meaning and purpose of status change is crystal clear in the text. The PNB turned down our appeal, holding that the only change that could disqualify a board member was the one that specifically pertained to our member.

The third instance involved the removal of a member from the other side who had not attended a Board meeting in a year and a half. The bylaws hold that a Board member can be removed if they miss three consecutive meetings without an excused absence. We told the other side that being absent for a year and a half was no longer acceptable and that we would no longer rubber stamp any requests for excused absences. It was time to attend a meeting or resign from the board. The third meeting after our ultimatum was held in Fresno. If the member in question did not show up, he would be removed. The other side boycotted the meeting to deprive us of a quorum, hoping to thus nullify the meeting and keep us from removing the delinquent member. On one level it worked. We did not have a quorum – much to the dismay of the many listeners from Fresno and the surrounding areas who had come to participate in a KPFA Board meeting.

However, Roberts Rules of Order, which sets the rules governing Board meetings, specifies that if a meeting is legally set and properly announced, even if a quorum is not attained, it still has legal status:

“In the absence of a quorum any business transacted …is null and void. But if a quorum fails to appear at a regular or properly called meeting, the inability to transact business does not detract from the fact that the society’s rules requiring the meeting to be held were complied with and the meeting was convened—even though it had to adjourn immediately.”

The meeting may be opened, the roll taken, and the date of the next meeting set. The rules are designed to keep the absence of a quorum from paralyzing an organization. No other business may take place, but the meeting itself is legally recognized. The member who had missed three consecutive meetings without an excuse was thus no longer entitled to occupy his seat.

Our next meeting was held after the LSB elections. Before seating the newly elected members, the current chairperson of the Board (a member of our slate) opened the meeting and called for the roll – which is the only legal way a meeting can be opened. As a result of the UPSO, the other side had gained a staff member from the election. They had also gained one listener board representative from the election. Without the participation of the delinquent member, however, our side would have still hold a majority (of one) on the Board. The other side refused to allow the roll to be taken, knowing we would not recognize the person who had missed three consecutive meetings.

At that point they presented a letter from the Pacifica Counsel expressing the opinion that the meeting in Fresno had no legal standing and that the member still had possession of his seat. The legal basis for this opinion was drawn from the Brown Act – a legal code that pertains to governmental bodies and that has nothing to do with the body of law governing non-profit corporations. The letter was a complete sham and we refused to recognize its authority.

At that point, the other side walked out of the meeting and went to another place to hold a separate meeting. Their meeting had not been previously announced and did not meet the conditions specified in the Pacifica bylaws for a legally constituted meeting.

However, we did not want to see the Board split and we wanted to avoid the possibility of a legal suit that might prove costly to Pacific and KPFA. We offered to put the issue of the legality of the Fresno meeting and the eligibility of the contested member to a neutral arbiter that would be acceptable to both sides. The PNB was once again dragged into the dispute by the other side. It refused to recognize the legality of our meeting, declaring the other side’s meeting to have been legally constituted, in spite of the fact it met none of the criteria stated in the bylaws. With the PNB’s backing, the minority had become a majority and had successfully pulled off a coup. They were now calling the shots. We were told if we did not attend the meetings called and organized by the new ‘majority,’ we would begin to accumulate unexcused absences and, after three meetings, would be removed from our seats. Rather than initiate a costly law suit, we decided to bide our time until the next election.

Where Are They Taking KPFA?
What I have recounted above is just a small portion of the kind of dishonest political maneuvering I witnessed over the past three years. It’s ugly, and unpleasant when it happens to you – but in and of itself, this kind of behavior would not threaten the survival of KPFA. While it results in a dysfunctional and unpleasant Board experience, the Board itself has largely lacked the power to directly interfere with the day-to-day functioning of the station. By gaining control of the PNB, however, the new forces taking over the Boards are in a position to break through the firewall that had separated them from the operation of the stations, and can begin to directly assert control over the management of the station.
Let us look at what the new Board majority has done since it came to power in January. While I cannot detail certain events that happened at an executive session of the Board (which are covered by a confidentiality agreement) suffice it to say that KPFA’s General Manager was forced to resign. This was supposedly connected to the misplacing of a check from a donor for $350,000. The real facts are much more complicated, and in the end, no money was lost. However, that issue had nothing to with the resolution of the other slate to get rid of the GM. She had acted as the ‘firewall’ preventing the board from micro-managing the station and interfering with programming. It should be noted she was a valuable fundraiser, and had introduced innovative programs intended to make KPFA appeal to a wider audience (Letters From Washington, Winter Soldier Hearings, Copenhagen Conference, etc). From the very beginning, before anyone knew anything about the lost check, removal of the GM was the glue that held the opposition slate together. By accident, a member of our slate received an email from a member of the other slate, calling for them to stop squabbling among themselves and remember the need to ‘stay united’ in order to get enough seats to accomplish their ‘two primary purposes:’ getting rid of the GM and electing two of the three KPFA Board reps to the PNB.

Once the GM was gone and they had strengthened their majority on the PNB, they could move their full agenda forward. This would be to establish a set of rules that would allow them to manage the station through the Board.

First they established a Programming Council - whose membership would be strong on Board appointees and unpaid staff, and weak on unionized, professional staff. They then passed a resolution that gave the Board any final say if there were a conflict between the Programming Counsel and the station’s Program Director. Programming decisions had been removed from the radio professionals and placed, ultimately in the hands of the majority of an elected Board made up of people with no radio experience, lacking detailed information of how programming decisions would impact staffing issues, union contracts, budget considerations, etc. Placing such decisions in the hands of an elected Board will produce chaos and instability at the station. Every time there is a shift in the political composition of the majority of Board, programs could be dropped and adopted on the basis of whatever the political whims of that particular majority.

However, this is not the final goal of this Board majority. They have introduced a resolution that would place any personnel matter that would involve expenditures over $15,000 to be decided by the Board. $15,000 is less than ¼ the cost of a full-time programmer. This would essentially place all personnel decisions in the hands of the Board.

The best way I can think of to describe what’s happening at KPFA would be if School Boards took over and began to run individual schools. It’s great to have and the parents and the public involved, and ultimately they are the one’s that set the goals of the school system and evaluate the results. But they are not educators. They should not be determining the details of curricula, hiring and firing individual teachers, and telling them the best way to do their jobs.

The ultimate goals of these folks are political. These people do not represent broadly based movements and have no practical agenda for how to bring about the changes we need in this country. Many espouse fringe conspiracy theories and hold ideas that have never garnered significant support – even in the left. There is nothing wrong with that – and they should have a place within KPFA’s eclectic mix. The problem is that these folks want the whole enchilada. They see KPFA as their vehicle to gain a voice that will make them major players on the left. The real effect of the consolidation of their control over the Board will be the destruction of a radio station that we, in the broader progressive community, need now more than ever.

We chose the name Save KPFA for our slate. We did that in all seriousness. The future of this invaluable resource for the left is at stake.

Tracy Rosenberg responds to Matthew Hallinan below.

The Crisis at KPFA Redux
By Tracy Rosenberg
Thursday August 26, 2010

This is a response to an essay by Matthew Hallinan called "The Crisis at KPFA

I know that Save KPFA is worried about KPFA's future. So am I. The difference is how we express those concerns. Matthew is focused like a laser on certain things: the vast Pacifica bureaucracy, and the costs of elections and board meetings. I agree these things should be looked at. It may be that you don't need 8 employees to maintain 5 radio licenses and serve 110 affiliate stations. Certainly the 2% or so of the budget that goes to board election and meeting expenses shouldn't escape scrutiny.

But what about the other 98%? Does that play no role in the problem?

Math will tell us that a 15% decline in listener revenues cannot be addressed with a 2% solution.

What is disheartening in Matthew's essay is the disingenous attacks on anyone trying to examine the other 98% as "out of control" and "out to threaten the professional staff".

As an incumbent board member, I was just trying to balance the budget.

****

Matthew knows this perfectly well. In 2008 and 2009, the Concerned Listeners - Save KPFA majority on the board presented and passed budgets for KPFA that called for massive staff reductions. $300,000 in 2008 and $425,000 in 2009.

They knew, as surely as the Independents for Community Radio board minority did, that layoffs were unavoidable given the decline in listener donations.

But the layoffs were never made. Not until the spring of 2010, after the board majority turned over and the manager changed.

Not until one million dollars, the entire cash reserve in KPFA's bank accounts, had been spent. Leaving not one red cent for a rainy day reserve in the middle of an economic collapse.

How wildly irresponsible can a board of directors be?

I don't know if it was carelessness, lack of understanding of math, or a loyalty to some of the professional staff that overwhelmed Save KPFA's common sense. But it was appalling.

For Matthew to spend any time at all detailing comparatively trivial nonsense is stunning. Where is the awareness of the catastrophe they caused?

Does Save KPFA not understand the reason KPFA must be saved is their own actions as a board majority?

A Sadder Little Narrative

To indulge Matthew a bit on his pet peeves:

KPFA's Unpaid Staff Organization is 20 years old. It predates the board election process by more than a decade. It was forged in the people of color strikes that occurred at KPFA when movement struggles demanded their place at the table of what had been a largely white, elitist, academic institution. UPSO's purpose was to send representation to programming decision-making and to institute a grievance procedure for the large unpaid workforce.

I realize Matthew may not know this, but ICR-affiliated staff representative on the board, Renee Yang Geesler, who won the "extra" staff seat last year, is a CWA member and a paid staffer at KPFA.

An UPSO would have been a big help when Nadra Foster was summarily banned and then beaten up by the Berkeley Police Department in an incident that shamed progressives everywhere in 2008.

On the other two issues, I can only say Matthew is entitled to his opinion, but his opinion was over-ruled both times on firm legal grounds.

Noelle Hanrahan, Executive Director of Prision Radio, was entitled to complete the last six months of her board term, despite the outcome of union arbitration proceedings in her favor.

And former board members whose terms expired on December 5, 2009 were not allowed to remove a board colleague on that day. They were not legally able to take any actions on behalf of a board of directors they were no longer on.

I agree that such behavior is ugly and unpleasant. I wish Concerned Listeners - Save KPFA would not engage in it.

Where We Are Taking KPFA

Leaving aside the petty little battle waged by Concerned Listeners - Save KPFA to avoid losing their majority status in December of 2009:

Matthew expresses high dudgeon at the 2010 managerial change. But in addition to the million dollars that left the building, another problem emerged in early 2010.

That problem was a large sum of money, $375,000, that was supposed to be in one of KPFA's bank accounts, but wasn't there according to auditor Helin Donovan LLC.

Where was it? Why had Pacifica been told the money was in the bank when it wasn't there?

It turned out the uncashed check had been sitting in a KPFA desk drawer since October of 2008. It was now expired. Oops!

What was the board to do? Hold someone accountable? Not according to Matthew Hallinan. But yes, according to me and others who now held the majority on the board. That is the responsibility of a nonprofit board of directors. Money has to be where it is reported to be. Otherwise the board is asleep at the wheel. ICR does not intend for KPFA to go the way of the Vanguard Foundation.

I realize Matthew and most of the rest of the Concerned Listeners crew were not around during the 2002 to 2006 period when KPFA had an active program council and no program director. So he's afraid of what he doesn't understand.

But in fact, the Program Council on the whole did a great job: adding the excellent Voices of the Middle East and North Africa in 2002, when Arab-Americans were suffering terrible indignities and injustices after 9-11, Guns and Butter, which is one of KPFA's top moneymakers and has been for years, APEX Express - the Asian-Pacific Affairs Show, Pushing Limits, a disability rights program, Education Today with Kitty Kelly Epstein, Full Circle, the training program hour, Rock en Rebelion, the best rock and roll Latin liberation show around, The Women's Magazine and more. Programs that have only added to the richness of KPFA and that reflect vibrant communities here in Northern California.

Isn't that what we want?

Matthew is terribly concerned about the "fringes" of popular opinion. Does he forget that Lew Hill was a World War II pacifist who went to jail rather then fight in "The Good War". Now that was an opinion shared only by other "crazies" in 1945.

He founded this place particularly and specifically to broadcast wildly unpopular perspectives that could never get on the air anywhere else.

It was a vision so exciting and so radical that it survived for 60 years in spite of itself.

Despite an eternal lack of money, despite relying largely on volunteers and an overworked and underpaid staff.

Because that is what community radio is.

So lets stop all the nonsense, get the expenses in line with the revenues, find the "crazy" voices of today that will be the luminaries of the future, and get on with doing what Pacifica Radio does.

The world needs it.

Tracy Rosenberg is the Executive Director of Media Alliance, blogs on media policy at the Huffington Post, and is a member of the Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors and the Media and Democracy Coalition Board of Directors.

Stay tuned.

Are you a recovering Republican?

Did you vote Republican last election? If you have lost your job, watched your 401K turn into pocket change, lost your home or facing financial disaster, you may be a recovering Republican.

Hopefully, you changed your voter registration to Independent already. If not, you may seriously want to consider doing so. Except for closed primary elections, you can still vote in the candidate of your choice at the ballot box.

Nothing scares politicians quite as much as the ‘wild card’ Independent voters. If you are wanting to make an impact on your incumbent Congressional leaders before November, then change your affiliation over to Independent now. It is easy to do and best of all free.

Most County Registrar offices report weekly on the number of registered voters and their party affiliations to the local Democratic and Republican offices. Don’t let anyone make you feel powerless this election day. Money can buy a great deal of exposure for the candidates, but it all comes down to educated voters on election day.

If you or anyone you know has been hit hard by this difficult economy or the unemployment crisis, just take a look at the Senate voting record of most Republicans on UI extensions this session. It is easy to see who is not in favor of helping the average citizen, struggling to keep afloat in America today. You too just may be a recovering Republican.

Here is the voting record as it pertains to UI extension YES votes by some Republican Senators this session:

Jim DeMint (R-SC), voted 0 out of 12 times for UI extension
Jefferson Sessions (R-AL) voted only 1 of 12 times for UI extension
Tom Coburn (R-OK) voted only 1 of 12 times 

Mike Johanns (R-NE) voted only 2 of 12 times 

Judd Gregg (R-NH) voted only 2 of 12 times 

Michael Enzi (R-WY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Cornyn (R-TX) voted only 2 of 12 times
Jim Bunning (R-KY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Barrasso (R-WY) voted only 2 of 12 times
John Thune (R-SD) voted only 3 of 12 times
Kay Hutchison (R-TX) voted only 3 of 12 times

Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voted only 3 of 12 times 

Bob Corker (R-TN) voted only 3 of 12 times
Richard Burr (R-NC) voted only 3 of 12 times
Scott Brown (R-MA) voted only 2 out of 8 times (participated in only 8 votes) 

Christopher Bond (R-MO) voted only 3 of 12 times 

Robert Bennett (R-UT) voted only 3 of 12 times 

David Vitter (R-LA) voted only 4 of 12 times
James Risch (R-ID) voted only 4 of 12 times
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted only 4 of 12 times
Mitch McConnell (R- KY) voted only 4 of 12 times
John McCain (R-AZ) voted only 4 of 12 times
John Isakson (R-GA) voted only 4 of 12 times
James Inhofe (R-OK) voted only 4 of 12 times
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted only 4 of 12 times
John Ensign (R-NV) voted only 4 of 12 times
Michael Crapo (R-ID) voted only 4 of 12 times 

Lamar Alexander (R-TN) voted only 4 of 12 times
Roger Wicker (R-MS) voted only 4 of 12 times
Richard Shelby (R-AL) voted only 4 of 12 times 

Pat Roberts (R-KS) voted only 5 of 12 times
Richard Lugar (R-IN) voted only 5 of 12 time
George LeMieux (R-FL) voted only 5 of 12 times
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) voted only 5 of 12 times
Charles Grassley (R-IA) voted only 5 of 12 times 

Thad Cochran (R-MS) voted only 5 of 12 time
C. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) voted only 5 of 12 times
Samuel Brownback (R-KS) voted only 5 of 12 times

IPhone 4 Lovers Tips From Suzannah B. Troy

Apple IPhone lovers what ever IPhone model you have here are some basic tips from an Apple lover. I converted to Apple 3 years ago and fell hard.

Tips to save your battery.... Go into your settings and.....

1) Make sure your Wi-Fi is turned off is you are not using it. In NYC if you have it on and walk around you will drain your phone's battery which ever model you have so turn the Wifi off. In NYC walking down the street it can be hilarious to shocking to read the locals Wifi network custom names' all mostly with locks.

2) lower the brightness of your screen...big battery savor.

3) Not using the phone turning it off is a good thing because the phone works best if you give it a rest occasionally but if not just click the button on the right once and the screen goes dark and saves your battery. This is the same button if you hold it down long enough it gives you a prompt to shut off the phone.

4) Mail: If you are really are concerned about your battery than go to mail, click "fetch data" and and switch to manual.

5) I keep mentioning this on my blog....Just another reminder...if your Iphone appears to be sluggish....double click the round mound at the base of our iphone "home key" and you will see all the Apps you have open.  Surprise!!!!!  There are a lot of Apps open.

Close them all of them or most them and the phone will run faster!!!!!!!!

Loving Apple....big, big way.....

Those are just a fun few tips and for my Mac Book I bought techno-skin at the Apple store and that was a great move. My senior citizen handicap cat walks all over my computer and or has hair balls including on my computer keys so the techno-skin has radically improved my life. All her hair is no longer sinking down in between my computer keys and my cat wants me to tell you no more debris from my Cadbury chocolate bars splatters on my key pad. Highly recommended

I will be back to tell you about my Otter Box Defender for my IPhone 4 soon!

best, peace, love Apple,
Suzannah B. Troy, artist, blogger, YouTuber NYC
also very, very tired but thanks for reading my blogging!!!!

Unemployed Note to Congress: We want JOBS

Note to Congress: We want JOBS but until they arrive, we need UI benefits. We are hard working Americans that you let down. Sure healthcare is important, but you should have spent the first part of the Obama administration creating jobs rather than pass the Health Care Bill. Since you did not focus on creating jobs, we are suffering in mass and now you leave us 99ers stranded without benefits while you take your fourth vacation of this congressional session. Republican or Democrat, you should all be ashamed of how you have let this country and it's citizens down.

Of course, you would have to first understand how horrible it is to watch your children suffer as they do without the food and medical care every parent should have the right to provide. You have no clue what it is like to get your power turned off, live in fear of being evicted from your home or even what it feels like to go hungry. You could not possibly understand the pain and failure we all experience after months on end desperately looking for jobs that simply do not exist.

Making a six figure income, you are all way out of touch with those who pay for that handsome salary and your benefit perks. You really need to go to the empty food banks or spend some time talking to families either on the streets or in homeless shelters during this break time away from Washington, but I doubt that you will. You will be far too busy campaigning for your reelection, or spending time with family to think about the destruction you have caused by your unbelievably callus, cavalier obstructionism (Republicans) or your lack of urgency (Democrats) on this and all matters.

You know full well that you are to blame for this recession, either by allowing our Banks to collapse the economy, rewarding big companies for shipping our jobs overseas or by cutting taxes for the wealthiest among us so they pay only a small fraction of what is their fair share of the burden. By these and other misdoings of Congress, you are turning America into a third world country and transforming us into transients.

We may be down but we are not out. We intend to make your lives as uncomfortable as we possibly can, until we get the help we need or the jobs we want and deserve. In fact, we think you need to be fired for doing such an incompetent job all around.

If you are an incumbent, be afraid. Be very afraid. It will not be the healthcare issue or the deficit that takes you down in November. It will be millions of angry unemployed Americans who cannot feed their families. We may be homeless but we will vote, if it is the last thing we do, if only to fire our tormentors who did this to us.

If you are a Democrat with a primary challenger, we may well vote you out earlier than November. If you are uncontested in your party this election year, then we will back one of your third party challengers perhaps. If you are a Republican, your fear should be the greatest, as you have proven yourselves completely unworthy of public office, period!

We want to return to being the hard working Americans we always were and not the transients that you are forcing us to become. We need your help not cheap talk and a half-assed effort. We are literally dying out here. ***Recession related suicides up 75% nationwide, our children are going hungry, we are scared and very angry at Washington for doing NOTHING to help us.

Truth be told, you are hurting all of America by refusing to stimulate the economy the best, fastest way you can. The economists agree the millions of unemployed without UI benefits to spend into their communities over the past several months, now has us perched on the verge of a double dip recession. Thanks again for all of your hard work, not! It isn't easy to ruin a great country like America, but you are doing one hell of a successful job at it, I must say.

The recession has been ongoing some 195 weeks. The 99ers, for the most part have been without benefits for the past 8 months of this year. Add that to the previous 3 to 4 months without benefits last year (during the fight for tiers III and IV) and you have millions of jobless who have gone 11 months out of 15 with no income whatsoever. Congress: We want JOBS. We are tired of having to beg our leaders for what we need to survive. Why is it that you can pass a bill helping Haiti (who desperately needed it) in 3 days time, but you will not help Americans in desperate need for nearly a year now?

In the past 12 months, Congress has taken more weeks off than the weeks granted to the unemployed in both of the last tiers combined. This is an outrage. The recession is not taking any time off and we do not want any more time off from working. We have had more time off work than we can handle, but none of it has been a vacation I can assure you.

For the good of America and the survival of millions, you need to pass The Americans Want to Work Act immediately when you reconvene in September. If you do not, then you are directly responsible for any additional job loss, suicides, hunger and homelessness that result due to your failure to get the job done and done right. Looks like the next round of job losses will be most of you come November.

***Source: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

CNN's Ed Henry's Kendrick Meek Interview Was Awful

Ed Henry pays more attention to his hair than interviews

CNN's Ed Henry gets hammered all too often for his interview approach, which often has nothing to do with the concerns of the subject he's interviewing. Take the interview he just conducted with Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek today, Sunday.

Congressman Meek just beat challenger Jeff Greene for the Democratic Nomination to be Florida's next Senator. With that, does Ed Henry talk about the campaign? No.

 Ed Henry opens with a not-veiled and wrong-headed attack on the Obama Administration's Economic Stimulus package. The questioning had nothing to do with the Florida Senate race against GOP challenger Marco Rubio.

Instead of giving the viewer what was expected, Ed Henry used Kendrick Meek to do Henry's White House crit for him, or at least tried to.

If Ed Henry wants to take political positions against the White House, he should quit CNN and become a columnist or a blogger. The strategy of trying to use one interview subject to make news about something having little to do with that subject, as Henry clumsily tried to do with President Obama last year (and Wonkette made him look like a fool for doing it) not only doesn't work, it makes Henry look plain silly.

If Ed Henry doesn't know about Florida politics, don't waste my time interviewing Florida politicians. I watched the interview expecting to learn something about the events of last week and about Congressman Meek. Instead, what I got was a big dose of Ed Henry grandstanding for the right to ask irrelevant questions.

Ed, don't do that again. Please. Do your homework before an interview.

MN voters going Blue

Republican incumbent John Kline's getting worried in Minnesota's Second District, because with all eyes on the Bachmann race, a pro-business Democrat, former MN State Representative Shelley Madore, has a message that resonates with fiscally conservative voters.

Madore, recently endorsed by Clean Water Action, ascribes her primary victory earlier this month to her "35 Cent Tour" highlighting that an imbalance of federal tax dollars promoted by Kline is undermining job creation and business investment. The facts support her position.

While Minnesota averages 77¢ back for every dollar we spend in federal taxes, the Second is only getting back 35¢ - which moves the burden for key projects in the community onto other revenue sources, such as property taxes.

"Mr. Kline has refused to request Federal tax dollars for important community projects, even when asked by our trusted county, city and school leaders...”

Shelley J. Madore

There's a belief that Republican ideology is better for the business climate.  Madore's opponent has also adopted an "earmarks are all pork" theory that's clearly costing his district a fair share of federal dollars.

Last week, in "How does Minnesota stack up in business taxation? Pretty well, it turns out" Sharon Schmickle (minnpost blog) pointed out the facts and figures indicate Minnesota's effective tax rates for businesses are somewhat less than neighboring Wisconsin, Iowa, or South Dakota, and substantially less - approaching HALF - the effective rate in North Dakota.

Yet North Dakota's unemployment rate is the lowest in the country right now.

So if lowering taxes and keeping federal dollars out of the state or the District is the secret to creating jobs, why have 10,900 manufacturing jobs moved from MN's 2nd District to China?  That's the worst record for any Congressional District in the state.  Minnesota's population is growing, but Madore's District been shedding jobs on John Kline's watch, and he's just throwing political double-talk at the problem.

If sounding reasonable by relying on Republican talking points equated to "good for the District" John Kline would be just fine: his presentation of GOP rhetoric is polished, and his re-elections prove it's been persuasive in the past. But the fact is he's quietly voting for his ideological theory, not the people of the Second District, and now Madore has got the attention of the media - and the voters.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Restoring Honor: The I Have A Dream Speech Anniversary

We can't allow crackpot talk show hosts to glen or for that matter to beck America into forgetting that Saturday, August 28th was the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech. This blog post is a small action of "Restoring Honor" to that day in 1963.

The ten minute speech was given on Saturday, August 28th 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC; the event drew over 200,000 people. The address is ranked as the top speech in history.

What is forgotten in all of the silliness of yesterday's faked emotionalism, aside from the fact that Dr. King's greatest moment was nearly glen becked by the media, was the actual speech of 1963 came at a time in this blogger's life (I was born in 1962) when white America's view toward blacks in America was largely screwed up.

(It's not accurate to say "America's view" because it implies either that blacks were also treating other blacks the same way, which wasn't the case, and that blacks and other minorities had the same levels of freedoms that whites in America enjoyed in 1963; not so.  Truth, painful as it is to deal with, is the truth. Skin color was the issue.  You could claim to be a black conservative at the time, and that would not save you from racism.)

Blacks and whites could not marry and even something as simple as going to the bathroom was segregated by race. Many of the freedoms younger African Americans are used now to weren't even allowed then. And beatings and lynchings of blacks, particularly in the South, were all too common.

It's always said that one must know history, if only to avoid repeating it. That's what "Restoring Honor" really means.

For those of you who have not seen the I Have A Dream Speech, the video of it is below, followed by the text of what Dr. King actually said.



Here's the text of the speech from MLKOnline.net:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Raiders vs 49ers: Darrius Heyward-Bey Plays Well In Preseason Game

While the Oakland Raiders lost a thriller to the San Francisco 49ers 24 to 28, one player emerged to become a key ingredient in his squad's early-game success: Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Allegedly called a "turd" over the radio airwaves by Former San Francisco 49ers and now KNBR Color Analyst Gary Plummer, Heyward-Bey played as if he didn't hear the radio called. Indeed, its possible Heyward-Bey never heard Plummer on the radio.

DHB

Heyward-Bey's play Saturday was not the work of a turd. He caught 3 passes for 46 yards, was thrown to a total of 4 times, and if it wasn't a preseason game, would have played longer and arguably contributed even more to the offense.

Two of his catches came in the first drive that resulted in a Michael Bush touchdown run: he caught one for 7 yards, and the drive difference-maker, a 22-yard pass over the middle.

Best Games Head Of Him

In an interview last Thursday that was recorded by The Oakland Tribune, Oakland Raiders Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson was excited about the 2010 for the man they call DHB:

I think the sky’s the limit for the young man. I just think he needs to go play and I think he will this week. Obviously we’ve been in one game with him, he didn’t play very much the first game, didn’t make it to last week’s game. I’m looking forward to watching him play. Again, that’s what I’m saying. I’m excited about watching a lot of our pieces finally come out and play together for an extended period of time and see where we are.

Indeed, under Jackson, Darrius Heyward-Bey's going to be a key factor in the Oakland Raiders Offense. In fact, he already is.

Jeffrey Katzenberg and M. Night Shyamalan Featured at 3D Movie Summit

Jeffrey Katzenberg

On September 15th and 16th at The Hilton Los Angeles Universal City, Ca, many of the Movie and Entertainment Industry's key players will meet for something called the 3D Entertainment Summit. But since this is really a story of the emergence of the 3D movie, it's more appropriate and searchable to call it the 3D Movie Summit.

The 2010 event is the third one in this annual meeting. Produced by Unicomm and The Bob Dowling Group, the idea is to have a forum to discuss and share ideas on the current and future state of the 3D art as applied to entertainment. It features DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg as keynote speaker and M. Night Shyamalan (Devil) as a featured participant.

3D Movies Are More Plentiful, But Drawing Crowds?

The 2010 3D Entertainment Summit comes amid a lot of excitement and a lot of concern about the expanded use of 3D. Avatar Producer and Director James Cameron recently spoke out against the conversion of 2D movies to 3D and called for a kind of committee to review and use of 3D in movies. Cameron even went so far as to slam Clash Of The Titans as an example of bad 3D.

About Clash, Cameron said "They worked against themselves with that film. I've heard people say that they couldn't watch (Clash of the Titans) in 3D and thought it looked better in 2D and they enjoyed the film more." Then Cameron added "Let's not do stupid stuff that's going to hurt this burgeoning marketplace."

Cameron attended the 2009 3D Entertainment Summit and reportedly "wowed" everyone as he was set to open Avatar; as of this writing, he's not listed as participating in the 2010 summit.

But Cameron's comment about "stupid stuff" could be leading to the reason why a number of 3D movie efforts don't pay for themselves at the box office.

On top of that, panning 3D has become sport of late. Jon Favreau, producer and director of the Iron Man movie series and the up-coming Cowboys & Aliens, gave an impromptu speech at Comic Con 2010 that's been the talk of the Entertainment Industry.

Favreau said that he wanted to make Cowboys & Aliens in 3D but didn't want to use video. The only option, making it in 2D and then converting it to 3D was one that was so disliked, the Comic Con audience said "NO." Here's the video:



Where 3D goes and is going in the wake of this developing "backlash" will be the talk of the 3D Entertainment Summit.

Stay tuned.

Walking and Talking With Mom On A Georgia Summer Evening

Regular readers of this space know this blogger travels to Atlanta, Georgia to help Mom and just keep her company almost every month. My mother lost her husband and my stepfather in 2005 and to prostate cancer. (In fact, my Mom had breast cancer, and my father and stepfather passed away from prostate cancer in 2005, so that was a hard year.) Fortunately between good friends nearby and my aunts and uncles just four hours by drive in Tennessee, and then me, she's not without company.

Even though it's hard on me as an only child, and I'll explain why later in this post, I do enjoy my company with my Mother and for several reasons. First, she knows who I am as a person. Second, I don't know how much life I have to share with her, she's a breast cancer survivor, so things she may said or done that have bothered me in the past, don't impact me anymore. Third, she's my only family member. And finally, my stress goes away when I'm here. We're out in the country where you need a good car to get to, and the wide open space (which is evident in the video) is incredible.

I find Oakland to be a stressful place to live. If it's not the noise and the constant sirens, it's the fact that at times it seems people are everywhere and you can't escape them. Then there's the occasionally neurotic person who's screwed up for some reason. Then there's the city's constant need for money such that it tries to get it from high parking rates and fees for this and that. And finally it's the large number of people who seem unhappy because they're out of work or for some other reason.

Now, all of that's offset by the fact that I know a lot of people and I am very much part of the fabric of the Oakland community. I have a good set of Godparents in Oakland, and friends I love very much. Plus, there are a lot of small "life fabric" improvements to celebrate in Oakland. But the overall mood of the city has been more negative than positive for most of the time I've lived in it. Oaklanders always talk about potential; I'm tired of hearing about that. After a while that gets to be a bit much.

So all of that brings me here to Georgia. Yes, Mom would love it if I has a family with kids, and that will happen one day. But my priority is to make sure my Mom's doing fine.

That's what my friends - some of them - don't seem to get. I'm an only child - no brothers or sisters to help out with Mom. My mindset is different such that I have to make my schedule with my Mother in mind. Thankfully my work makes that possible.

But all of that's mostly my guilt, which I've learned is common in only children to have. Whatever the reason, I've never felt better about me than over these last few years of my life. And that's because I'm right with my Mom.

Raiders Darrius Heyward-Bey Called "Turd" By KNBR / 49ers Gary Plummer

Darrius Heyward-Bey 

According to a tweet issued by Ann Killion just one minute ago as per this writing, KNBR Color Announcer and Former San Francisco 49ers Linebacker Gary Plummer issued an unfortunate description of Oakland Raiders Wide Receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey just before the Raiders Preseason game against the 49ers.

Killion tweets that Plummer called Heyward-Bey (or DHB), a "turd."

Here's her tweet:

annkillion - On my way to the game tonight in Oakland I heard #49ers broadcaster Gary Plummer call #Raiders DHB a "turd" on the radio. Really.
1 minute ago via TweetDeck

Gary Plummer, who's not a bad guy from personal experience, could have picked a better term to use in talking about Darrius Heyward-Bey. While it's true the Raiders should not have selected DHB as high as they did in the 2009 NFL Draft, they have him and in the middle of a dramatic coaching staff and system change. Give DHB a chance this year; he will surprise observers.