BASHOF Event Is Tonight; I Won't Be There

Ok. A friend calls me and says that they're attending the Bay Area Sports Hall Of Fame Dinner BASHOF and that I should cover it as media. My friend is always looking out for new opportunities for Zennie62Media.com, and that's much appreciated.  It would be nice to have some video interviews from BASHOF, I thought.

So, on the encouragement of my friend, I sent an email to two people: Tom Martz the BASHOF President and his PR person, who was nice enough to get back to me about the press conference. So I planned to go over at 4 PM for the press conference. I didn't expect dinner, otherwise I guess she would have said so. But then, not having attended a BASHOF before, I didn't know.

So then I get this call out-of-the-blue from Martz. And since I didn't expect the call I asked who it was and instead of saying who he was Tom says "Who I am? Who are you? You contacted me!"

Since I had not called anyone at that number, I was confused. Then he said "It's Tom from BASHOF. We have NO SEATS AT THE DINNER." Dude was yelling at me!

Yeah.  Yelling.

So I calmly explained that I emailed to cover the event as press. Tom said the press conference was at 4; I said yeah, that's where I'm going to be.

But then he ranted again, "But there's NO SEATING AT THE DINNER. Why don't you check back with us NEXT YEAR earlier!

I don't like circuitous conversation and I sure as hell don't like being yelled at for nothing. I'm not some kid, and if so, that would be child abuse anyway. So I told him to stop being nasty. Tom said "I wasn't being nasty," and hangs up on me.

So, I sent an email stating that I wasn't coming. I'm happy BASHOF has so much press that Tom feels it's just fine to be mean to me. But it's not. I don't care who the person is, I will not put up with disrespectful treatment for one second. I don't treat people that way, so I'm not going to tolerate it when I'm treated that way.  Same goes for anyone who talks to a friend of mine in a disrespectful way in my presence. Don't do it.

And my constant message is that you can't just treat people any kind of way you want in a New Media environment.  You have to be nice.

If I were a name Tom knew, you know damn well he'd not have talked to me like that. Well, now he does know my name, but it's too late. The damage is done.

Good luck tonight BASHOF. I won't be there.  I'm not giving good media content to someone who talks to me like that for no reason at all, then won't apologize to me.

Forget it.  

Talk About The Academy Awards And Social Media

The Academy Awards ratings problems and the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences foray into social media were the central points of discussion on Friday's Tonya Hall Radio Show.

The guest was none other than yours truly, Zennie Abraham of Zennie62Media.com and Sports Business Simulations. Tonya basically let me talk for an hour; just kidding. It was a good "back-and-forth," but I think I could have used one more hour of conversation.

There's a lot to talk about on the Academy Awards and social media, but for Tonya's show, I essentially expanded on what I blogged here: Zennie on Improving The Oscars.

Here's the show:

The Tonya Hall Show - March 4, 2011

Friend of the show and well-known blogger Zennie Abraham

takes a look back at the 2011 Oscars with Tonya.

At any rate, The Tonya Hall Radio Show is broadcast out of Colorado Springs, Colorado and is on 1300 AM, The Sports Animal. This is something like the fifth or sixth time I've been on her show as a guest.

The Tonya Hall Show focuses on "The power of social media," and has some really great and interesting guests. Last week, for example, Tonya had as guests Kodak Chief Blogger Jenny Cisney, Alex Roach from Facebook, and Sean Percival of MySpace.  Check it out!

99er, Tier 5, UI Extension, HR589 News and Views from The Blogosphere

The following is a montage of 99er, Tier 5, UI Extension, HR589 News and Views from The Blogosphere.

From thephillyBurbs.com article today: This 99er says her number's up discusses Gerry DePietro who appeared on the "The Ed Show" on MSNBC and told the host that the Great Recession and long-term unemployment have devastated her standard of living.

The article goes on:

The plight of the long-term unemployed deteriorates.

Most of the 99ers are 55 and older, and it is estimated that there are more than 5 million of them.

According to a recent Gallup survey, the long-term unemployed report that they experience "worry, sadness, stress, anger and diagnoses of depression."

"I just talked to somebody (last week) who said they were considering ending their life" because they could not find work, DePietro said.

Now she is a member of the American 99ers Union, which lobbied for yet another extension of unemployment benefits through House Resolution 589. The bill died Feb. 17 but has been resubmitted.

From the Trenches WorldReport.com, as always some great and colorful commentary in: 99ers Supporters of HR 589 How will History Judge Americans of Today?

The resentment against the corporate elite is however growing exponentially, day by day, in its scope and intensity, but they have our people so entranced with pursuing the debt currency in an effort to just survive to the next day, that taking on more in the form of protest or revolution seems to be just too much. Their plan is working perfectly.

We cannot wait until our children are lying in the streets with their stomachs swollen and flies lighting on their open eyes, like the German people did in the Weimar Republic. Our enemies are using the same techniques to destroy us as they did on the German people in the 1930s. Once they have starved us down to apathy and desperation they believe we will gladly accept their one world government and our slavery as compensation for a little nutrition.

99ers we have to stop chasing butterflies and start getting down to brass tacks. This means we have to start arming and training for a revolution that is becoming more inevitable with each passing day. We must steel ourselves to the idea of giving our lives if necessary for the restitution of our beloved Constitution and Republic.

And their article from yesterday: 99ers HR 589 Supporters We Must Take the Lead

“If the mainstream propaganda was true news and the truth was reported as to what is really going on in this country, three quarters of the population would run and hide, while the other quarter would attack Washington DC.

If we 99ers want to get anywhere we have got to break the news blackout that has removed us from the thoughts of everyone but ourselves. If a quarter of the 99ers would just come to a site like From the Trenches and vent their rage every day all day long, our enemies, the elitists in power, would see that we are no longer on our knees begging them for salvation, but rather that we are accumulating in a single place plotting strategies for their demise while getting one another worked up into a frenzy.”

Unemployed but Organized for the 21st Century put it this way:

It's March and March, 2011 has a uniquely perplexing, frustrating sad anniversary. 99ers will begin to celebrate their 1st full year of being a 99er. 52 weeks without unemployment benefits; nearly 3 years without full time employment. Folks out of work due to the offshoring of jobs; over 3.4 million manufacturing jobs lost in the 1st decade of this century. People unemployed through no fault of their own with little hope for reemployment any time soon.

There has been almost no help for 99ers in the last year. A couple of failed attempts at adding some weeks of unemployment insurance, the last being H.R.6556 which is now reincarnated as H.R.589. If H.R.6556 didn't get through the 111th Congress, I don't see how H.R.589 is passed in the 112th Congress. A bill to establish incentives for creating American jobs and penalizing offshoring couldn't overcome a GOP Senate filibuster in the 111th Congress (I'm shocked, shocked I tell you to find gambling in this establishment). So what should a 99er do? Find a way to carry on.

But by far the most unbelievably ironic drivel came from The World New Vine from their article last week - H.R. 589 Extended Unemployment Benefits for 99ers Lacks Republican Support when they opined:

With the nation’s attention focused on preserving the rights of those working Americans at this time, the long-term unemployed are simply out of luck, and out of benefits. With the Republican Majority in the House pushing to cut social programs such as, Women and Infant Children’s Program (WIC), food stamp programs, and other funding to state level welfare programs, the long-term unemployed are now witnessing what masses in other third-world countries have been for years, the lack of caring by upper-class society.

Unfortunately, for the many, a few groups and individuals entered into the quest for assistance for long-term unemployed American workers looking to profiteer and self-promote their own actions. These small time profiteers claimed legal knowledge along with political connections, did nothing more than mislead, misguide, and alienate the masses from Congress. Attempts of coercion and extortion by these groups included actions such as, sending photo’s of persons threatening suicide to congressional members, and backing actions with heavy talk. Again, as unfortunate as the situation is, the actions of the few were not only misguided but illegal as well.

These individuals led a group of people suffering down a road that led to nothing more than a dead-end. Some of these individuals cannot even present themselves in person to lawmakers as they are perceived as a threat. One can only ask themselves why, anyone would enter into a humanitarian cause seeking aid and comfort for the masses when in fact, were simply attempting to make a buck from a horrible situation.

EXCUSE ME BUT.... Wasn’t it the owner of that publication WorldNewsVine, Mr Grone himself who manipulated the long term unemployed into paying for his luxury Washington DC petition delivery “get away” last June that was a complete and total BUST? Talk about the POT calling the Kettle BLACK!

99ers What have You Done Lately to HELP Yourselves?

99ers What have You Done Lately to HELP Yourselves? This is the question you must answer even before continuing to beg Congress and the Obama administration for additional aid.

In a letter from a former resident/business owner in Washington DC, I received the following insights:

I think that there is a slim possibility that the extensions might be enacted if there is pressure from the grassroots on Congress and Obama to enact them.

I know you probably think by pressure, that I mean from the unemployed in a united effort to pressure Congress. While I think that may have some effect on the Democrats, including the President, it will not likely sway the Republicans.

The groundswell of pressure I was referring to deals with the local agencies and NGOs that serve the homeless population. Even in very conservative areas like FL, the homeless and their plight do make the local media and the regional media and national media at times. When these organizations serving them are overwhelmed, these organizations have the contacts built up to be able to get a story in the paper almost overnight. What I suggest that the unemployed do now, especially the 99ers, is go ahead and start overwhelming these local homeless assistance agencies and NGOs (including churches) with requests for assistance NOW. If this is done concurrently across the country, then these organizations, who are respected by local government officials and some state and federal elected officials as well, will start putting pressure on governments at all levels for more funding and maybe even for an extension of unemployment benefits for the 99ers.

If the unemployment benefits extension is not enacted, you are going to have to do this (appeal for help and/or become homeless) in a few months. Start the process now.

Have you ever taken a good look at the YouTube video: What is Ucubed? [see video below] This explains just how the U-Cubed model for activism is set up to work from within each community in the USA and build outward into a force to be reckoned with that cannot be ignored by Washington DC.

If you are not yet engaged in U-Cubed Please DO SO TODAY:

U-Cubed on:

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/ucubed

TWITTER: @U_Cubed

WEBSITE: http://www.unionofunemployed.com

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Your Government has FAILED YOU BADLY! MAKE them HEAR YOU NOW!!!! You cannot rely upon anyone else to do this for you. YOU MUST FIGHT FOR your own SURVIVAL now or continue to suffer the "Congressionally imposed poverty" that is the 99er reality today.

U-Cubed Powerful TV Commercial:



[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

U-Cubed Fights on for American Jobs in latest Press Release

"Have a friend who is unemployed? Tell Congress to Stop talking numbers and start talking JOBS."

The following was released last week in response to the DOL's latest "fairy tale" about the jobs situation in America:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Union of Unemployed Facebook Campaign Demands a New Focus on Jobs

Washington, D.C., March 4, 2011 - In response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment report, Ur Union of Unemployed (UCubed) urged our nation’s leaders to stop destroying good-paying American jobs and start creating millions of them.

UCubed has launched an aggressive ad campaign on Facebook, asking users to click “Like” if they agree it’s time Congress stop talking numbers and start talking jobs.

“The government’s rose-colored jobless numbers are falling on deaf ears,” said UCubed Acting Executive Director Rick Sloan. “When you’re out of work for months and in many cases years, the only number you care about is ONE: yourself.”

“The little to no change unemployment rating means no real job growth during the month of February,” said Sloan. “Only 192,000 new jobs were created. Meanwhile, nearly 29 million unemployed and underemployed workers are still without work.

“The jobless want to go back to work. And they want to go back today. It’s time our state and federal leaders delivered on their promise of jobs, jobs, jobs - and stop playing Nero in these incendiary times.”



See UCubed's ad campaign on Facebook.

Ur Union of Unemployed, or UCubed, is a community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. For more information, visit Ur Union of Unemployed.

If you are not yet a part of this growing community of activists, PLEASE JOIN TODAY and help make it work of all of us (it is completely free).

[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

Terrell Owens Tweets To Zennie62, On Mike Lombardi Of NFL Network

Yesterday, this blogger posted a blog entry attacking NFL Network Analyst and former Oakland Raiders exec Mike Lombardi for a set of mean-spritted comments Lombardi made regarding Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Terrell Owens (photo by UPI.com).

To briefly recap, on Saturday night's NFL Total Access show, and in response to NFL Network Anchor Scott Hansen's question on T.O.'s future, Lombardi went off, bellowing a new version of the same old media song about Owens being a lockerroom disruption.

Lombardi completely ignored Owens 2010 output of 72 receptions for 983 yards and nine touchdowns over just 14 games, as well as the fact that Terrell was the Bengals leader in catches. Lombardi's take was on the scale of a rant, and delivered with such assertion and yet without concrete facts, Mike seemed to have a bias against Owens.

But Lombardi's biggest mistake was in using an unconfirmed quote from Bengals Quarterback Carson Palmer to issue a "diss" against Owens that's at best questionable and at worst criminal. Lombardi said "Well, talk to Carson Palmer. Owens wasn't always in the right position." But there no evidence of Palmer actually saying that, and to restate my point, Owens was a new player in the offense, so he would be expected to make a mistake or two; his incredible production more than made up for it.

Terrell Owens Responds On Twitter

Today, about 20 minutes ago as of this writing, Owens issued a Twitter tweet to explain to this blogger at Zennie62.com, it was "all good," and first, Owens guarantees he had made the least of mistakes, second, that he picked up the Bengals Offense in one month. Here's the tweet:

@zennie62 all good!! Sum ppl rn't even worth responding 2. I guarantee I had the least of mistakes & I learned tht offense n a month's time

As I said in my tweets back to Owens, he has a great attitude about the whole thing. Moreover, there are media types who do have Owens back, like me.

Stay tuned.  

Celebrity Apprentice Star Gary Busey Weighs In On Wisconsin Protests

To say that Celebrity Apprentice star Gary Busey is outspoken is an understatement. Just ask him for his view on The Wisconsin Protests, as this blogger did at the Night Of 100 Stars Oscar Party last Sunday. Here's Gary, with fellow acting legend Ed Asner at the Oscar Party, below.

 Busey's take on Wisconsin starts at the 3:56 mark, but he says "I think America is finally learning to turn the dump over, and get rid of the bull BEEP, and turn it on the people who are part of the middle class, and celebrate being part of this country."

That's just a taste of the Gary Busey you're going to see on Celebrity Apprentice tonight on NBC. But if you're wondering what all of the fuss is about over the legend that is Busey, here's another taste.

Gary's known for being in over 120 films, such as A Star is Born, as "Buddy Holly" in The Buddy Holly Story, for which he earned a "Best Actor" nomination in 1978.  Of late, he's taken a number of roles where he plays himself, the most recent example the reality TV show by Donald Trump.

Off-camera Busey's known for his off-center, free-sprited, yet interesting personality. He's also known for a motorcycle accident in 1988, where he almost died because he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Fortunately Busey survived, and is now enjoying an entertainment rebirth of sorts on The Celebrity Apprentice.