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"There is no such thing as work/life balance....there is only life balance."

I'm starting a new section of my blog called "Long Run Revelations" in honor of those moments of clarity that often kick in on those weekend 20-milers. For me, it's about two hours into the run when my body transcends the pain, my brain goes into hyper-awareness, and my soul opens up like a sun-hungry flower. It's a blissful state, and when it happens I always feel like I've stumbled upon something divine.

Usually about the time I'm thinking of nothing but the rhythm of my feet, the most profound thoughts enter my head. This week was a repeat of one of my favorites - "there is no such thing as work/life balance...there is only life balance".

The term work/life balance defines itself with unneeded polarity,  putting "work" and "life" as the two opposing forces on your emotional and spiritual see saw. I don't remember where I heard it first, but it was long enough ago to absorb without question. The contrast of work and life distracts one from the last word in the phrase - "balance" - and by doing so, kind of defeats the purpose of the term. By simplifying even further, I think it provides clarity.

"Life balance" rings more true for me. Life has many facets, and each of them can be tapped into for positive energy, including work. What's most important is to understand every part of your life where passion gives you energy and optimism, and make sure you get regular feedings.As the band Us3 once said, "you gotta get mad knowledge of self". Work does not have to be the black hole that sucks everything else into its vortex. If you work on things that excite you, surround yourself with fun and passionate people, you shouldn't need to compromise. Know thyself and there is no excuse for being in a job that erodes your passions.

That goes for any dimension of your life. Occasionally assessing to make sure no one part is becoming the black hole of your world (ie, training, parenthood, hobbies, etc) is the best way to determine your life balance. The long run is a great place to do it.

Hope you are all having a great week!

- SD

Tanah Lot is one place for a tourist destination in Bali and including the favorites for other tourist destinations of Kuta Beach or other attractions on the island of Bali

You know the saying: "Who Dat?" gonna beat them Saints! It's a contagious saying, part question and part chant, that's fueled the emotions of New Orleans Saints fans as America approaches the kickoff for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida, pitting the Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts. But disturbing the Saints "Who Dat?" fire is the one "Who Dat?" who's taking the state's chant away from them, or so it thinks.

That's the National Football League.

The NFL claims that t-shirt makers don't have the right to print shirts with "Who Dat?" on them. For some reason, the NFL miraculously contends the saying is owned by the league. In an effort to protect what the NFL sees as its marketing property, it's issuing "cease-and-desist letters" which undoubtedly are scaring the hell out of the small business owners who get them.

To fight back, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is asking his attorney general to consider suing the NFL.

It's hard for this blogger to understand why the NFL thinks it's able to "own" a saying that was reportedly created at historically black Southern University. Is the NFL going to give marketing revenue from "Who Dat?" merchandise sales to Southern University?

Stay tuned.

I just read City Brights blogger Sara Granger's post on "What's next for media" and with interest as I wanted to know what the Women's Leadership Conference panel she was on was saying about gaining revenue from media. Unfortunately, there was nothing about how one makes money from media, like the video discussion I had with my friend Sarah Austin:



But what I have gathered in my reading and talking to people about the future of media is the amazing fragmentation there is. It seems that subgroup after subgroup is talking about how to "do" New Media, but only within and with their organizations and networks; not across different groups. In the San Francisco Bay Area there has never been a full, total, convention on this topic that was for everyone. Instead, the tech people talk to each other. Women talk to women. Minorities talk to each other. Sports marketers talk to sports marketers.

That's the problem. the best New Media model - one that calls for vast organizations of people working together to produce timely content to capture a window, a moment, in time when it's in demand - has not yet been built.

To the extent people of different groups can join together, ad dollars will not be split between media as much. But that's a pipe dream because with more blogs, video blogs, and now mobile blogging, there's more media in demand of ad dollars. Revenue from that source will shift from one hot item to the other, from organization to organization, further flattening the average revenue gain per group.

That's the future. More media but fewer revenue dollars per platform. The smart players will consolidate, but to do so means overcoming amazing cultural differences and divides.

Stay tuned.

Did I ever Tell Ya...........

How Friggen Happy I am that our Got Damn President canceled the F-22 Fighter program?

No? Imagine that.

I mean really, who would have ever expected this? Russo-Indian 5th-Gen PAK-FA fighter makes successful maiden flight

"Moscow: Russia's prototype fifth-generation fighter, a joint venture with India, made a successful 45-minute maiden flight on Friday in the country's Far East, Russian television said. The flight was earlier postponed by 24 hours because of poor weather conditions in Komsomolsk-on-Amur where tests on the prototype are being carried out."

And yes I'm fully aware that, John Fucking McCain was part of the vote that killed the F-22. Thank you very damn much. One more reason to not like that asshole even though there are plenty of others.

Silly Sons-A-Bitches.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Evening-
German Team, 1940 Tour De France.

You May Want to Check the Sky This Evening.......

Biggest and brightest full moon of 2010 tonight

"Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.

This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights."

Hopefully, things will clear up here and we'll be able to see it.
Because "We like the Moon!"


Spongmonkeys - We Like The Moon - The best bloopers are a click away

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday-
There has to be a great story behind this.

And Video.

I Really Like This..........

New Norton


The new Motorcyclist Magazine showed up in the mail yesterday and they had a couple of brief articles on the resurrected Norton brand.

Pretty similar looking to the Dreer bike from a few years ago but that's not a bad thing.

I note the lack of the obligatory, oil puddle under this thing in the photo. All real British bikes should have an oil puddle under them.
Tradition and all that.

Damn pretty bike and for around $15 Grand, not priced crazy high.
I ain't buying one anytime soon but I wish them well.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Afternoon-

Exterior

1. Bodykit Custom
2. Air Lift 8titik
3. Velg 24x9 Fifty One Fifty
4. Ban Toyo Proxes 255/30 R24
5. Bonnet DAD
6. Simbol DAD
7. Simbol 24"

Interior

1. DAD Wangian Roda
2. DAD Bantal 2pcs
3. DAD Asbak
4. DAD Tempat Tissue
5. DAD Horden
6. DAD Leather Set
7. DAD Carpet
8. DAD Grill AC
9. DAD Lighter
10. DAD Pedal set
11. DAD Shift Knob
12. DAD Tempat minum
13. DAD Spion Tengah

spec modification hyundai getz MT 2004:

Rolling Stock :
Fabulous Expand 18x8.5
Achilles ATR Sport 215/35

Interior :
MB-Tech Cover Seat
Shift Knob Momo

Eksterior :
OEM Hyudai Getz Bodykit
Custom Widebody
Red Wet Look Finishing
Custom Fiber Grill
Tail Pipe HKS
Custom Spring
Custom Shockbraker
Custom Chamber Kit
HID DSv2 8000K 45Watt

I.C.E :
Speaker : Symbion 2-way (front)
Symbion coaxial (rear)
Pioneer coaxial (rear)
Power Amp: Symbion 2000W 4-channel
Lanzar Monoblock 1500W
Cap Bank Symbion 1.5 Farad
Subwoofer : Rockford Fosgate P1 2pcs

Who makes the buildings of the San Francisco Bay Area? That's something this blogger's wondered about as, with a background in City Planning and a masters from Cal and undergrad degree from Texas-Arlington, the "who" behind buildings is as important as the building itself. Some times emals jog one's brain, and one I got on a Haiti-related building issue I can't go into now start me on to this path of interest.

So in going to cities like Burlingame and Emeryville, where apartment complexes are in abundance, the one question I've had is "who is building them."

In the case of some interesting venues, that answer is Draeger Construction company. According to its website..

Draeger Construction is a full service contractor based in Northern California. For over 30 years this family owned and operated business has successfully performed thousands of reconstruction projects. Draeger Construction specializes in all aspects of multi-family and commercial reconstruction and in solving complex structural problems for it's clients. We have differentiated ourselves by obtaining licenses in the specialty trades, to offer our clients a cost saving advantage.

In the wake of the Haiti 7.0 Earthquake, finding firms with experience in making quake-safe buildings like Draeger Construction become very important. The problem is most people don't know how to find companies that have such expertise; this blog post, and others to come, should help.

This Guy Can Do It...........

He was able to envision an idea and then make it happen.
Check it out

He started with a Royal Enfield 350cc motor and basically made his own V-Twin 700cc.



Beautiful craftsmanship and all around cool points for taking on a job like this and actually finishing it.

My Genius Brother has talent like this for building things.

Me? Not so much.

But I can appreciate it when I see it.
Go check the Process page and see some of what was involved in this project.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Afternoon-
I'm pretty sure it takes that truck to transport them anywhere.

Apply for Commission to Redraw CA Election Lines - oh, yeah it pays $80K too. Get the scoop tonight 5:30pm.

Adam Briones of the Greenlining Institute is heading an effort to expand the pool of people of color applicants for a citizen's redistricting commission being formed (read http://bit.ly/9B6wxV for more). Redistricting is directly responsible for the amount of money that goes to schools, jobs and neighborhood in the community. It's one of those obscure but powerful groups that will define the political power and future of California communities like Oakland.

So apply - and for more information attend the Greenlining Institute's seminar TONIGHT at 5:30 pm at their office at 1918 University Ave, Berkeley. Or go to www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov and submit the short application.

From the Greenlining website's Q&A:

Q: What does redistricting mean?

A: Redistricting means to redraw the lines of an election district. In California these districts must be adjusted every ten years following the census.

Q: Why is redistricting important? What does it do for me?

A: Redistricting equals representation. It determines who is represented, how well they are represented, and what laws are passed.

More at http://www.greenlining.org/resources/pdfs/CitizensRedistrictingCommissionFactSheet.pdf

Aimee Allison is Executive Producer of OaklandSeen at facebook and OaklandSeen.com.

14 days and counting. I got the message yesterday that a group would like me to go to Haiti. I'd already thrown my name in the hat in the beginning, but they all needed (appropriately) surgeons. Or nurses. But now the situation has morphed, and when the call came my insta-gut response was "yes." Afterward, a tiny flicker of stomach-butterflies set it. Maybe it was the fact that I don't (and maybe won't) have a confirmed return flight home. The estimated time for being there is a week (very do-able), but no guarantees on that estimate (um, less do-able?). Or maybe the butterflies were in part because of the way the lead doctor emphasized (three times!) the fact that we would always have Security with us (clearly said with a capital S). But I knew I wanted to go. When it comes to Haiti, so many of us want to do something. And so I thought you might like to go with me. Which is why I'm going to write about the trip, probably more openly and personally than anything I've written to you before. But first, just so we're all clear, here are the rules:



Doc Gurley's Haiti Manifesto



Rule #1: Why me? Altruism is a gift that benefits the giver. Never more so than when despair hovers. It is amazing how, when I told family, friends and co-workers that I was going to a life-threatening disaster zone, rife with disease and unspeakable deprivation, the uniform first response has been a blurted out: "You're so lucky!" followed a shocked moment of horror-filled realization as they heard their own words, then "Not lucky, I mean, it's going to be hard, really hard, it's just that I wish I could do something like that, well, you know what I mean..." Sometimes it's even difficult to verbalize exactly why we feel that spike of jealousy. I think it's because we all wish we could do something tangible. Something with our hands and our backs. Heavy lifting. Hey, we all know the checks are important (VERY important), but after a while they feel the same as handing your kid a twenty on her birthday. Like something crucial is missing in the act. Could that urge to do something, anything, be the reason I'm going? I've thought about it - am I taking the place of someone else who should go instead (keeping in mind that it can be too easy to think that maybe someone else ought to go, and, if we all do that - no one goes). But I don't think I am taking someone else's place. Here's why: a) I'm an internist, a grunt, a flea, a sickest-of-the-sick-adults'-doctor, one with extensive ER and hospitalist experience, the type of doctor (after the surgeons have left) that they need now, and b) I currently see patients in a homeless clinic with a strong culture of collaborative care so - while it's admittedly still not Haiti - I don't tend to have the typical easily-offended doctor amount of either ego or fastidiousness, and c) I speak good-enough French to have worked for three months in a monolingual medical environment, and d) I did those French-speaking healthcare months in a Third World country in Africa, a place somewhat like Haiti in that the generators turned off every night and mosquito netting and hungry bats were our major malaria interventions, and e) frankly I am lucky enough to have the job/benefits/luxury of being able to go on short notice while not paid to do so like a disaster team is, and f) while the fact is that I'm not a nurse (okay sure, I ran an IVAC once, but all I remember of the experience is a panic-filled blur of jabbing buttons while machines beeped at me in a decidedly contemptuous fashion), and would never claim to be a nurse, I can honestly say that if there's a bandaging, dosing, vital-sign-taking, bedpan-changing, spongebath giving, floor-mopping job to do, well, like most of us peri-menopausal moms, I'm your Gurley. All of which leads to Rule #1 - the better candidate goes. That means if someone more qualified or adept can take my slot, I step out. Even at the eleventh hour (that would be 4:30 am, February 15, in a United terminal at Chicago's O'Hare, in case anyone's keeping track).

Rule #2: We go there to work. There will be NO ethically weird moments when the camera swings, Gupta-like, in my direct and I orthodontially blind you while simultaneously performing surgery. I'm going there to work. As a doctor. I'll be sweaty, I won't waste suitcase space on make-up, and God knows what my hair will be doing. Sweaty doctor - that's it. There is no sub-clause, no asterisk, no employer, no other job title. There is no conflict-of-interest. The Chronicle/SFGate is not paying me anything, not transport, nada. Heck, I can't even get a satellite cell-phone out of them to make sure I can send and/or upload posts (but maybe! they're working on it!). Any sharing of the experience from me to you happens after the work is done. But as much as is humanly possible, we'll go together. Every step we can. Because whether you're frustrated, or despairing, or hungering to do something, or rage-filled about our own neglected problems at home, there are moments when it's best to share. And an epic disaster is one of them. Join me. We'll go together and do what we can to help.

Rule #3: HIPPA goes to Haiti. People the world over deserve their medical privacy. And no one - especially the very desperate - should have to wonder what their doctor's motivation really is. If I write/blog/video/audio record about a patient, or a situation, either that person will NOT be one of my patients, or their identity will be so changed that no one will ever be able to know exactly who that 12-year-old girl with a head injury really was.

Rule #4: It takes a village to help a village. It's been less than 24 hours since I found out I was going and friends have already stepped up. An Eagle Scout mom has an ultra-small sleeping bag for me (so I'll have more room for medical supplies in my luggage). Colleagues are pitching in to cover shifts they have NO obligation to work (thank you, Barry! thank you, Mary!). Churches - here and there - are helping with logistics and food. Total strangers are coming forward with airline miles for me to use, and a place for me to bunk in Chicago while I wait for my flight out. You too are welcome to go with me to Haiti in spirit. And if you would like to go with me in a more tangible way, I'll let you know of opportunities. But, when it comes to "stuff," I am limited to one 50-lb checked bag. In contrast, there is no limit on goodwill, or funds for those suffering there. I am not wasting time or energy picking apart anyone who wants to help - I don't care about your politics, religion or cash reserves. You want to roll up your sleeves too, well, you're my kind of Gurley...



So here we are, Day 14 and counting:

1) Told my kids I was going. Squeals, hand-flapping, "I'm so jealous," then silence while it sunk in. They're teens, they'll be fine. But I notice how the 15 year old wants to sit closer to me on the couch than she has in years, virtually sinking into my right side. I don't say anything about it, of course. I just let her sink into me too.

2) Shots today. I went to the phenomenal folks at the Traveler's Clinic at the Department of Public Health (conflict-of-interest disclosure: NONE. They don't pay me, I never saw them before today). Dropped in without an appointment at 12:45 pm, was asked by the receptionist in a stricken voice "Would 1:10 work?" After a stunned silence, I squeaked out a "You mean today?" and when she nodded (apologetically) "yes," I had to do a double-take to make sure I was actually standing in an American medical clinic. Who are these people? This is so NOT how medical care works. I got three shots - a hepatitis A, tetanus, and typhoid shot ("ooh, those are going to ache" the lovely NP said, as well as "too bad there's not time for the rabies series - you know it's rampant there, don't you? Just be sure and get airlifted out if anything furry breaks your skin"). The ooh-that's-going-to-hurt shots didn't seem to hurt at all. Being a macho internist, I nodded in agreement while thinking to myself good thing I'm stoic and not a big weeny like their other patients are. Three hours later, I promise you, I'm so sore I would not lift my arms up from my sides unless my hair caught fire. Even then I'd have to think about it. I'm getting a little panicky, in fact, about which side I'm going to sleep on - I'm imagining a night ahead of me composed of "ow" and then "ouch" muttered in the dark as I roll endlessly from side to side in my sleep.

3) Am now panicked about my "functional" French. I have been known on two prior occasions, when I spoke French in Paris, to provoke, from Gauloises-smoking, too-cool-to-sneer citoyens, a shocked guffaw of snorted laughter. One Parisienne laughed so hard she hiccuped. Apparently I tend to speak French with a thick West African accent. But see, French is the only foreign language it's almost impossible to use in the Bay Area (at least medically). Oh God, what if I've forgotten it all? So I ran to my town's fabulous library and checked out every single (non-beginner) French language item (yes, I am the pig who took them all, staggering out of the library under a teetering skyscraper of perilously stacked books): four textbooks - including one Haitian-Creole dictionary - and five massive boxed sets of CDs. Including one two-disc set from The Language Teacher To The Stars - Mel Gibson! Barbra Streisand! Woody Allen! Which makes me wonder what will happen if I visit Paris and speak french to sneering Gauloises-smokers in a thick Mel Gibson accent?

So, in the few moments while I'm not going ow and then ouch during the night tonight, I plan to be subliminally absorbing the nasal tones of a total 189 hours of French audio-lessons I checked out ("ne mange pas ce gateau"...).

But who am I kidding? Sleep is unlikely to occur. Because I've already started fretting over Ethical Haiti Dilemma #1. Let me lay it out for you:

Exhibit A: The supplies MOST in need in Haiti now are wound care, debridement/incision kits, rehydration and dressing supplies, as well as antibiotics and analgesics.

Exhibit B: Most of those supplies are too bulky for me to bring many of them in a suitcase. Except for pills (which are surprisingly heavy, but compact).

Exhibit C: Expiration dates on drugs are arbitrarily set by pharmaceutical companies (who have an obvious conflict of interest), and reliable sources have studied the issue and found that almost all pills and powders are still completely effective years after they "expire."

Exhibit D: I have a legion of eager-to-give-something neighbors, friends and acquaintances with bathroom medicine cabinets bulging with leftover pills.

Ergo: Should I take a half-suitcase of potentially expired, but still-effective antibiotics to Haiti? And...

Algebra Problem of the Day: If I board my connecting flight to Chicago, hurtling at 31,267 feet for 3.87 hours, while carrying a 4-liter grocery bag of donated 2 oz. pill-bottles labeled with 34 different individual names, and each bottle is 3/4 full of highly regulated narcotics, then please calculate how many DEA agents, on arrival at O'Hare, will force me to undergo how many body-cavity searches? Please express your answer in mucosal centimeters. Extra Credit: And, more importantly, given an estimated factor of X minutes per search will those body-cavity searches cause me to miss my Haiti flight? Hmm...

Should I "recycle" drugs for Haiti? Or is it ethically wrong to dump them on a people who have no choice? Share in the comments section - and tune in for the next in the series to get details about the Haiti trip - what will I panic about next? What DO they advise you to bring to a disaster? Keep up on the Haiti trip and the latest health issues in the news by signing up for a Doc Gurley RSS feed by clicking here. Look for future pics and other articles at Doc Gurley! Also check out Doc Gurley's joyhabit and iwellth twitter feeds - so you can get topic-specific fun, effective, affordable tips on how to nurture your joy and grow your wellth this coming year.

I don't even know where I heard it first, but I always thought that burning sensation in your muscles from anaerobic activity that inevitably forces you to quit was "lactic acid building up in your muscles". After reading this very informative article from Matt Fitzgerald on Competitor.com, it turns out I was way wrong. In fact:


1) Lactate is actually a direct and indirect fuel to the muscles.


2) It DELAYS fatigue in muscles, not cause it.


3) One shouldn't minimize lactate buildup during training, one should increase it.

Boy, did I have that one wrong! Matt writes a great article, historically walking through the scientific understanding of lactate, and even offers some walkaway (or sprint-away) tips for training. Be sure to give it a read.

SD

A Must Have Item in the Preparedness Pantry........

For those of you who believe in the Boy Scouts Motto of "Be Prepared", check this out.

I think that comedian, Steven Wright had a joke about this a long time ago.

I could be wrong about that but it made me laugh.

Snowball Warming has hit again in Southern Indiana and the temperature has dropped below freezing again after a day or 2 of warming over the weekend. Oh hell, it's Winter and since it seems to do this same, "get cold every year about this time" thing, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

I've noticed that there does seem to be a pattern to it.

But hey, look at the bright side. Spring is only 48 days away!

I'm already getting things set up to get seeds started and a plan laid out for the garden.
At least there was some sunshine today. That's the hardest part of Winter, no sunshine.

I can get pretty cranky without enough sunlight. It's not hard to understand how a guy could get Cabin Fever when, like recently here, where we went 10-12 days and never saw any sunshine at all.

Well, at least I haven't gone all, Jack Nicholson yet.

But there are still 48 days left till Spring yet so who knows?

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Afternoon-

Classic case of -"Sounded like a good idea"

Good on the Aussies........

My Dysfunctional Nephew sent me this story from down under.

Hospital staff sick of violent drunks

"THEY spit, vomit, punch and kick. And Rockhampton’s emergency department staff have had their fill of them. Dr Henk Sigle said yesterday doctors and nurses routinely dealt with about 15 violent drunks every weekend who dished out physical and verbal abuse to those who were trying to heal them.

He welcomed the prosecution last week in Rockhampton Magistrates Court of a woman who punched a nurse in the face and revealed the torment faced on a regular basis by medics on the city’s accident and emergency front line."

This kinda shit happens with regularity at every ER I've worked. It does get old fast.
When I was younger I didn't mind so much. Not so much anymore.
I'm too damn old for that crap now a days and have a bad back to boot.

Abuse and assault towards staff has gotten worse and it's not always the drunken patient but often a drunken family member or friend nowadays.
All these assholes want to be John Wayne or some shit and go out in a blaze of glory I guess.
I'm pretty good at not getting my ass smacked, but sometimes they do fool ya.

For a long time it seemed as if we were just expected to put up with it. Not so much anymore and that's a good thing.

But even when you do press charges, it seems like they always get a plea bargain and the "Acting like a Drunken Shit-Fer-Brains in the ER" charges get tossed.
I will say that a lot of the younger cops are more willing to press charges on these assholes and that's ok by me.

I'm pretty sure that if you get and stupid and start causing problems in WalMart, the bank, grocery store, etc, the staff in those places aren't expected to just take it and hope that the perps get charged.

I have had to resort to whupping somebodies ass with an IV pole to protect myself in the past. Which is better than getting my own skinny ass whupped.

Few non-inner city ER's really have adequate security for a "Shit Hits the Fan on Saturday Night" and that's something I don't see being fixed anytime soon with the economy as it is. Fortunately, the cops show up very fast if we need 'em.

So far at least.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Afternoon-
From Theo Spark
Click to embiggen

To harmonize the concept of VIP style, Surya using transparent body stickers. The use of new materials in the world belong to the modified design vision to unite with the body color of a medium silver color.

On Friday, Craigslist Founder and SFGate.com blogger Craig Newmark was kind enough to open his cool Cole Valley, San Francisco home to me for a vlog interview on the future of media. This is the second "City Brights" video interview I've conducted; the first one was with Doc Jan Gurley, or "Doc Gurley."

For those of you who don't know Craig Newmark, he's a San Franciscan who 15-years ago started what was to be a simple website to help friends make connections with services, resources, and each other. It grew to a 500-city website system of which while he's the founder, is no longer the owner. By agreement, we did not talk about Craigslist business.

The talk with Craig (which was impacted by network problems that were vexing Craig when I arrived) really turned from a look at the future of media, to focus on a lot of pressing media problems today, then on Obama and the Google Nexus One. But to be sure, many people have been talking about The Future of Media. Just a Google search of the term reveals a number of relevant results out of the 199 million recorded.

When I asked Craig Newmark why this was the case -- why the concern? Craig said "A lot of people do realize that a trustworthy and viable press that asks questions is vital to the survival of our country, however, there's more and more problems that come up."

Craig Newmark does not consider himself a media expert, but says that he talks to a lot of people in media and journalists and from his base as a customer service rep for the Craigslist site, he has a view "from the ground."

Craig says there's a great concern for accuracy and fact-checking in media today. Craig also reports that, "In a lot of publications, there's a tendency to make things up...Even TV network or two seeks to propagate that disinformation." What he's talking about has many examples, the latest being the rumored breakup of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, or the fake news death of Johnny Depp. In politics, the Right Wingnuts propagated the view that President Obama was Muslim and Fox News helped spread the idea.

This blogger thought the blogsphere was supposed to take care of correcting such information problems, but Craig correctly states that blogs also put out false information. The problem will persist until more media institutions do something about it.

With this, Craig's view of the future is optimistic because more and more people are working in what he calls "Networks of trust", doing fact-checking and news curation. Craig says that the main problem in media and journalism today is money; there' so much media that revenue does not flow to the newspapers of the past or present, leading to staff budget cuts and in some cases closures of entire publications, like The Rocky Mountain News, or Editor and Publisher.

Craig says there are a number of new media business models unfolding that are interesting, most notably the new non-profit initiative funded with $5 million from San Francisco financier Warren Hellman, called the Bay Area News Project. The BANP - which came under fire from local traditional journalists because they see it as taking jobs away from them - just hired Lisa Frazier as its CEO, and new Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Weber; Frazier will reportedly earn $400,000 per year.

Nice for a non-profit.

At any rate, Craig looks favorably on the BANP effort, which will supply Bay Area stories to the New York Times. Newmark sees the New York Times as a bastion of media accuracy, which I disagree with, but this space is not the place for that. He points to the NY Times as one publication that focuses more on important stories than others, and derides the habit of reporting "non-important" stories over stories of importance.

I asked Craig about this because as a person who earns a living via the development of media traffic I will post a celebrity blog entry over a political blog entry because it's clicked on more. That's just human nature. Craig says that's OK as long as important stories are mixed in. "People need to make money," he says. But regardless of the type of story, he wants to see more accurate blogs and news sites.

Craig recommends a good 30-second Google "sanity check" to make sure a story is accurate, and avoiding putting someone on as a news guest or source who's intentionally putting out a false story. Now with all of this, you may think Craig doesn't like TMZ.com, the "Three-Mile-Zone" celebrity news site with the habit of breaking big entertainment-related stories and getting news that other publications wish they could have. Craig appreciates what TMZ has done, he just hasn't got around to reading it. "My focus is elsewhere, and I need a break."

On Barack Obama and the media

We turned to how the media has covered President Barack Obama. Both Craig and I were among the first to support then-Senator Barack Obama (for me, December of 2006), for President. Craig is saddened by what he sees as the media covering the "sensational" aspects of Obama's presidency, but not the substance of what Obama is doing or has done. "Most of the media has badly or unfairly covered Obama," Craig observes.

Craig calls for bloggers to promote the truth about Obama, and on matters of how Obama has insisted on accountability and transparency in government "There's been a lot more accomplished in the first year (of Obama's Presidency), than the last eight (under George W. Bush)."

On Craigslist and society

From his ground level view at Craigslist, Craig see a "benevolent" society. "The big change I think I've seen," Craig says, "is that using the net people see that they can help each other out, and its easy to do."

Google Nexus One vs. iPhone

Craig Newmark is testing the Google Nexus One against the iPhone, and had both out for view in the video. "Right now, I think I'm heading, I think, towards the Nexus. The iPhone is a great phone, but right now it's on AT&T. There a few year behind where they need to be in in terms of networks...I may wind up with an Android phone on the Verizon network. I like the Nexus. As soon as I can figure out Google Voice, I can network all of my phones and make my life a little easier."

The 25-minute video features a deeper conversation on governance and technology, which I will post later this week. But Craig has also agreed to do another video talk so we can better flesh out many of the topics we touched on today.

Stay tuned.

Weather Forecast for Chemical Ali.........

Mostly Dead with room temperatures approaching now.

Looks like they hung his ass this morning.
So long shithead.

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday Afternoon-

In what's supposed to be a restaurant review, but comes off as more of a general commentary, the New York Times reviewed my favorite Oakland Restaurant, Lake Chalet. (As a note, Lake Chalet was where I had the Oakland YouTube Meetup and I've served as spokesperson which started because I just plain love the place.)

I had to read the review in an effort to get out of my Oscar funk in the wake of the very weird treatment by their communications staff, but I digress. I don't understand what the reviewer means by "inconsistent menu" because the food's quite the same and I might add the menu's new. They changed it about a month ago. The new Half Chicken is fantastic.

What I'm wanting and waiting for is the Zennie62 Burger. It's my dream burger and would consist of:

1 lb. ground italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper
sliced mushrooms, drained
sloppy joe and salsa sauce
kaiser rolls, toasted
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

Then...

In a large skillet saute sausage and onion, and bell peppers, then drain.
Then stir in mushrooms and special sloppy joe and salsa sauce
Heat until almost hot
Place mixture on rolls and top each with 1/4 cup cheese

That's the Zennie62 Burger! Great with a glass of Merlot!

After four years of blogging and video-blogging, over 6,500 blog posts, and now several bloggers, Zennie62.com has something it's needed for a long time: a t-shirt. Now, the next objective is to get celebs like Megan Fox and Denzel Washington to wear the soon-to-be-famous t-shirt.

The t-shirt's based on the logo design for this blogger's television show "The Blog Report with Zennie62" on CoLoursTV (Saturday at 12:30 PM EST; 9:30 AM PST in January). Local Oakland t-shirt maker Cyrus Phishdad took the original logo and re-created it into a sharper, crisper result.



The black t-shirt celebrates the Zennie62 YouTube channel reaching 11 million viewers; it reads "Zennie62.com. 11 million views, including yours." That t-shirt design will remain until Zennie62 reaches over 20 million views.

The t-shirt is being given to fans who have been supporters of Zennie62, like this one in North Dakota who wrote this YouTube message:

As a means to support you I will always wear it with pride, try to keep it clean, never rob a liqueur store with it on.

I will also try to get a good photo of me wearing it so you will have proof that all the way out in North Dakota you are reaching people with your videos..

also, if I ever get well known and appear on Larry King with you, I will promise to wear it, ...as long as you wear a nice suit and not the "Im with Stupid>" T-shirt you had picked out to wear.

Now if Megan Fox wears it, that's huge. Stay tuned.

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