Well if the world ends tomorrow, 12-21-2012, the joke’s on me.
But otherwise…
So, earlier this year some rich whacko up in Marin started making a video* in Latin America what was supposed to be all about the so-called Mayan Prophecy.
Then I got a threatening letter from the same attorney who lost the case in L.A. Read that letter here.
But apparently, that threat was all lies and jest.
Oh well.
Hey, do you like sports analogies ‘n stuff?
This is rich Marin County whacko Elisabeth Theriot’s inchoate SLAPP lawsuit against TheWrap blog, IMO:
See? Kicker Garo Yepremien tried to score a few points but then opposing counsel filed a special motion to strike what was so special that discovery was immediately halted. Then he lost the hearing and that was the end of the suit, it looks like. I’m saying Elisabeth Theriot got pwned in court.
With a quickness.
Which, you know, this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day so that’s why I made a post about it.
But now the world is supposed to end tomorrow ‘n stuff and there’s no Mayan Prophecy “film” to see.
Oh well.
Now, what about San Francisco Examiner President and Publisher Todd Vogt? Do you think he got some sort of request or demand or something from rich Marin County whacko Elisabeth Theriot or the wire service or somebody to take down the wire story on these topics, you know, that used to be posted right here?
Why would the ‘Xam have a page dedicated to rich Marin County whacko Elisabeth Theriot (just look at the URL bar) with nothing to say about her? It’s because the story about her that used to be there is no longer there.
Is there cowardice here?
I’ll tell you, TheWrap.com stood up to rich Marin County whacko Elisabeth Theriot and was/will be rewarded with mandatory attorney fees as a kind of reward.
Why couldn’t/can’t the ‘Xam stand up to rich Marin County whacko Elisabeth Theriot too?
I don’t know.
Now I’ll tell you, when an actual newspaper (improperly, IMO) caves to some rich lady, that just might have the effect of emboldening her. Then she just might start going after poor, defenseless WordPress bloggers.
But maybe I’m way off on this one.
If so, please somebody disabuse me.
* I call it a video because it was (mostly?) recorded on digicams – no film required. The current title of this still-troubled production is Mayan Revelations & Hollywood Lies. It’s delayed. It’s nonsense. Oh what’s that, we’re going to see just how important that Long Count calendar is tout de suite? No we won’t. Sorry. Oh, over the coming decades? No we won’t. Sorry.
And here’s the vast bulk of the resulting lawyer letter:
Click to expand, if you dare.
Now I can understand why the San Francisco Chronicle might not want to get involved with all the allegations surrounding the making of some movie project about the Mayan calendar deal. You know, relationships ‘n stuff. And plus, it’s not like a whole bunch of people are going to watch this flick.
So that’s one thing, but the San Francisco Examiner, did it get a similar letter earlier this year? You make the call. See? Earlier this year it used to have something to say about Elisabeth Thieriot and the Mayan Prophecy and Mexico and whatnot, but not now. Mmmm. Did the San Francisco Examiner take down a Reuters news story on this topic because it was afraid of getting sued? Sure looks that way.
Of course that online trade journal TheWrap did get sued. Forone million dollarsto be exact. But then it responded with a Motion to Strike and that took care of that. And then TheWrap wrote about how it won, big-time. Then I linked to its story (and the entire decision itself) and now it sure looks like I’m the next to get sued.
Comments:
Uh, do I know that this lawyer represented/s that lady? No, not all. I mean, I assume that’s the case, but what’s this “as you know” stuff?
Does the lawyer really want/expect me to retract the entire blog, all 6000 posts? (Does the lawyer actually know what a blog is? Apparently not.)
Does the lawyer want to write my blog posts for me, you know, using his point of view? Sure looks that way. Is that his right? And how can I retract something that’s not wrong?
And I’m supposed to rely on CA law about retractions what apply to the MSM, but not really? So what’s the point of bringing that up?
And I’m “not authorized” by the lawyer to disclose the contents of the lawyer letter so I can’t do it? Really? Well, similarly, I’m not authorized by that lawyer to have a delicious Taco Bell Doritos Locos taco for lunch, so does that mean I can’t have that for lunch IRL? And I can’t show the letter to anybody, even to get help with how to respond? Is that fair dinkum? I think not.
So who else in the bay area has gotten these kinds of communications from Down South? I don’t know.
Anyway, I guess I’ll take that email chain* out of the Spam folder and put it into the Archive folder and await further developments.
But I’ll think to myself, “Man, don’t you realize you just lost, in a big way, on the very same topic in the very same state?”
KTHXBYE.
*Apparently, Elisabeth Thieriot herself sent me an email last month as well, on purpose, or by mistake, or something in betwixt. I’ll tell her what I told my grandmother,** about how Reply All is kind of an advanced email technique best left to the younger generation, you know, so you don’t email people by mistake.
** I still can’t believe she got a Hyundai, after all those decades of her having large RWD Ford products such as the Mercury Grand Marquis. She says her new ride is a “good snow car.”
“A Los Angeles judge threw out a lawsuit against TheWrap News on Wednesday, ruling that an article about movie financier Elisabeth Thieriot was both accurate and “took pains” in reporting on a production dispute with her co-producer. Judge Barbara M. Scheper of Los Angeles Superior Court sided with the news organization in granting an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss Thieriot’s complaint on the grounds that it had no probability of success on its merits.”
And you journos should check out the ruling – it’s very accessible.
Apparently, there aren’t enough printing presses available in the Bay Area to keep up with the enormous demand the public has for “The Real Ed Lee – The Untold, Untold, Story.”
“The book goes through the details of how Lee rose through the ranks at City Hall, along the way approving a couple of fraudulent vendors and getting caught up in Willie Brown’s sleaze. It discusses how his campaign is taking credit for other people’s work and ideas. It describes how he promised over an over not to run, then went ahead and did it anyway. It’s got a great picture of him steering a 139-foot yacht with the caption “I’m on a boat.”
(Nice link there, Tim Redmond – I hadn’t made the connection.)
All the deets:
“The Untold, Untold Story” Goes Online - Leland Yee campaign can’t print “The Real Ed Lee” book fast enough for demand
SAN FRANCISCO – The reviews are in and the “The Real Ed Lee: The Untold, Untold Story” is a smash hit!
Has a serious political point, but it’s actually funny, sometimes really funny, and it’s much easier to read than the plodding “Ed-Is-Greater-Than-God” prose of the original…. For once, we have a campaign piece that made me laugh instead of crying. - San Francisco Bay Guardian
OMG, A new best seller to be! – Some guy on the internet
Everyone is talking about it! – SFist
The 55-page parody shows Lee on the cover as downcast, grumpy and triple-chinned. The book recounts dozens of previously published stories detailing everything from the two district attorney investigations into alleged ethics violations by his supporters and alleged cronyism. – San Francisco Chronicle
The 56-page booklet is heavily footnoted with URLs – The Bay Citizen
I totally LOL’ed – The San Francisco Citizen
((*sound of crickets*)) – Interim Mayor Ed Lee
The slim volume oozes sarcasm as it covers the history of Ed Lee’s tenure as mayor, including his promise to not run for a full term and charges of inappropriate campaign donations from contractors. - San Francisco Examiner
This is the first “hit” recipe in political history. - Eric Jaye
Less than three-months hence, Lee’s campaign is beset by multiple criminal investigations into alleged campaign money laundering, ballot tampering and other campaign election violations. – Fog City Journal
[Ed Lee staff] were pretty disgusted by it. – Tony Winnicker
Painstakingly put together to resemble the original propaganda mailer to the smallest detail. The type fonts are identical. The jaunty writing style is mocked all too well. – SF Weekly
The Leland Yee for Mayor campaign has already distributed thousands of “The Real Ed Lee: The Untold, Untold Story” to voters throughout San Francisco, however, the demand for the book has been so great that today Yee’s campaign launched the book online at http://www.lelandyee.com/the-untold-untold-story.
“We can’t print the books fast enough,” said Jim Stearns, Yee’s campaign manager. “Now that it is online every San Franciscan will have the opportunity to read this accurate account of our interim mayor and be able to compare his tarnished and corruption-filled record to Leland Yee’s 23 years of leadership and experience fighting for our community, especially seniors, students, and the most vulnerable.”
“The Real Ed Lee: The Untold, Untold Story” is a response to a book produced by one Ed Lee’s billionaire IE committees, which falsely glorified the interim mayor and ignored the multiple scandals and ethics violations of his campaign. The highlights of “The Real Ed Lee: The Untold, Untold Story” include Lee becoming interim mayor on false pretenses, his approval of fraudulent contracts, giving “golden parachutes, embracing cronyism, failure to follow ethics laws, illegal campaign contributions, money laundering (well, the first time), voter fraud, and the city’s future if Ed Lee were elected. The book also includes “Willie [Brown] & Rose’s [Pak] ‘No Longer Secret’ Make-A-Mayor Recipe.”
By comparison, Leland Yee has released several detailed plans on job creation, environmental protection, transportation, and schools. Maybe the most important of his plans – “An Independent City Hall” – would clean up City Hall, bring real transparency and accountability, kick out the powerbrokers, and return our local government to the people. To read Yee’s plan, visit http://www.lelandyee.com/issues/plan-for-an-independent-city-hall/.
(Remember that one from former Mayor Gavin Newsom? “You’re not just changing your mind. You’re breaking a promise to these people.” That was just 2.5 months ago. Oh well.)
“…& Call for Positive Campaigns in Last 8 Days Before Election Day.”
Whew! That was the title of yesterday’s Ed Lee Campaign presser in Chinatown yesterday.
So basically, Senator Leland Yee sucks because his campaign released this yesterday.* Oh, and there was something about the City College campus, but I’m not sure exactly what the beef against Leland is about that.
And there was this – a call for mayoral candidates to “put out facts and not opinion,” but I’ll tell you, that book was chock-a-block full of facts, actually. And it had 107 endnotes to boot.
And let’s see here, oh, suggesting that City Family member Mohammed Nuru has issues, well, thems is fighting words, partner. Even though, well, you know.**
It looked like this:
Click to expand
Apparently, if you find anything at all wrong with San Francisco since the current administration began in 1996, if you think that there’s anything that could be improved, you’re a “hater.” Quoth mayoral spokesmodel Tony Winnicker:
But argumentum ad hominem coming from Tony hisself doesn’t make Tony a hater, no, not at all. (Somehow this makes sense.)
OK fine.
*There was a big fuss about the distribution of the Untold, Untold Story book on Sunday, but it had pretty much died down by the time this news conference was beginning.
“Herrera’s office conducted an investigation in 2004 into the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, or “SLUG,” the city-funded nonprofit Nuru headed from 1994 to 2000, in the midst of a series of San Francisco Chronicle news reports about potentially illegal electioneering activities. Nuru maintained close working ties to SLUG after going to work for Lee in 2001, according to witnesses, and also oversaw SLUG’s $1 million-per-year street-cleaning contract with DPW. The City Attorney investigation found that while at DPW, Nuru directed SLUG employees who were paid with city funds to conduct campaign activities in the 2003 municipal and runoff elections for Mayor and District Attorney—in clear violation of local law prohibiting city-funded nonprofits from using those funds to campaign for candidates or ballot measures. Witnesses also testified that Nuru had instructed city-funded SLUG workers to engage in similar campaign activities while he served as SLUG’s executive director, for a 1997 ballot measure backed by then-Mayor Willie Brown, and for his 1999 re-election campaign.
Following the 2004 City Attorney investigation, an audit by then-San Francisco City Controller Ed Harrington found a raft of financial improprieties involving SLUG and DPW. The Controller’s review revealed that SLUG mismanaged city grants and contracts, and was overpaid by city departments, including DPW, an amount totaling nearly $72,000. The audit additionally found that SLUG failed to pay more than $643,003 in payroll taxes, and that DPW improperly used SLUG’s contract with Public Works to purchase a $62,508 portable building for DPW’s use. Though Lee reportedly instructed Nuru to conduct no further business with SLUG, neither the 2004 City Attorney’s investigation report nor the similarly damning City Controller audit appears to have resulted in disciplinary action against Nuru at DPW. SLUG was formally debarred from city contracts for two years for violating Section 12G.1 of the San Francisco Administrative Code, which prohibits city funded organizations from using any of those funds to participate in, support, or attempt to influence a political campaign. The organization is now defunct.
Conspicuously absent from last week’s announcement that Mohammed Nuru would take over as DPW’s acting director effective Aug. 15 was interim Mayor Ed Lee. Though the appointment was announced in a written statement from the acting City Administrator, such appointments require “the concurrence of the Mayor,” according to San Francisco City Charter, § 3.104. A report noted that while Nuru’s salary was not finalized, his predecessor’s annual salary was $204,750. Nuru’s most recent previous annual salary as DPW’s Deputy Director of Operations was $193,000.”
From “Willie & Rose’s ‘No Longer Secret’ Make-a-Mayor Recipe”: “VERY IMPORTANT: Mix all contents together in back room; if any part of the mixture is exposed to sunshine, it will be ruined. … Pour mixture into an empty vessel — any loyal bureaucrat will do.”
From “Section 1: The Making of a Mayor,” about the deal to make Ed Lee interim mayor: “[Then-Supervisor] Chris Daly said: ‘This is the biggest fumble in the history of San Francisco politics.’ You know your city is in trouble when Chris Daly is the only politician who got it right.”
“Fun facts” about Lee: “Ed Lee didn’t just bring America’s Cup to San Francisco, he also brought Jim Harbaugh to the 49ers. The real reason Twitter isn’t leaving is because Ed Lee won an arm-wrestling match against Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone. … These may not actually be true, but Ed Lee is quite skilled at taking credit for the work of others. …”
Well, you know, I’m not an “internet entrepreneur” on food stamps and Healthy San Francisco, so I lack the time necessary to natter excessively about Bay Area media hirings, firings, promotions, resignations, and whathaveyou. You know, I’m not up to speed on industry gossip the way some people are.
But here’s this:
“The Bay Citizen Plans Leadership Transition for 2012 - Lisa Frazier will step down as President and CEO in Q1 2012 but will continue to serve on the Board of Directors
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21, 2011 — The Bay Citizen announced today that it will begin a search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Lisa Frazier, who co-founded the award-winning news organization two years ago, will step down as President and CEO in the first quarter of 2012 to pursue other opportunities. She will remain on The Bay Citizen’s Board of Directors and participate in the search for her successor.
“Through her unbelievable passion, tenacity, and tremendous operational and strategic expertise, Lisa transformed an idea to innovate and reinvent local journalism into a vibrant, award-winning online news organization,” said Warren Hellman, Chairman of the Board of The Bay Citizen. “Over almost three years, Lisa designed the business model, marshaled community support and succeeded in building a strong organization.”
Frazier has been The Bay Citizen’s President and CEO since its inception in January 2010, after leading the effort to create and develop the organization in 2009. She built The Bay Citizen from the ground up, hiring key editorial, technology and business staff, expanding the organization to 30 employees and establishing pivotal partnerships with The New York Times, KGO radio and the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She raised more than $17.5 million dollars from major donors, members, corporations and foundations that will continue to support the organization through 2014. The Bay Citizen’s growing network of individual donors tripled this year and now exceeds 6,000. Its editorial content appears online, in print and on the radio, supplementing the fast-growing audience at baycitizen.org, which now averages over 275,000 unique visitors per month.
“With its growing readership and expanding network of supporters, The Bay Citizen is in an excellent position to bring on new leadership,” Hellman said. “Lisa accomplished all that she set out to do and more as the leader of the organization. I am pleased that she will continue to serve on the Board and assist in the search for her successor.”
The Bay Citizen newsroom, now led by Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Fainaru, has won several awards, including a national Sigma Delta Chi award for investigative reporting. Along with Chief Technology Officer Brian Kelley, Frazier developed The Bay Citizen’s industry-leading technology program, including Project Armstrong, an open-source content management and business platform funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“We are proud to partner with The Bay Citizen to provide our Bay Area readers with high quality regional news coverage,” said Scott Heekin-Canedy, President and General Manager of The New York Times. “We see this as an enduring collaboration not only because of The Bay Citizen’s talented editorial team, but also because of the critical work done by Lisa and her team to build an effective model and infrastructure for our collaboration.” The Bay Citizen’s newsroom produces the articles in The Times’ Bay Area report every Friday and Sunday.
Frazier will join fellow Board members Hellman, Jeff Ubben and Susan Hirsch on the search committee for a President and CEO, support the transition process and continue to serve on The Bay Citizen’s Board of Directors.
“Close to three years ago I was surrounded by constant discussion of the death of the newspaper business in the United States,” Frazier said. “I reached a point where I felt it was time to jump in and take action. I was so fortunate to be able to tap the Bay Area community’s energy, spirit and passion for innovation to help develop a new model for sustainable local journalism. My goal was to establish a foundation upon which The Bay Citizen could sustain itself, provide great value to the Bay Area community, and lead technology innovation within the industry. I am incredibly proud of our team. They are innovators who see challenges as opportunities and I am confident they and my successor will continue the incredible progress we’ve made to date. I look forward to remaining on the Board and continuing to be a part of this talented and dedicated organization.”
ABOUT THE BAY CITIZEN: The Bay Citizen is a nonprofit, nonpartisan member-supported news organization that provides in-depth original reporting on Bay Area issues including public policy, education, the arts and cultural affairs, health and science, the environment, and more. The Bay Citizen’s news can be found online at www.baycitizen.org as well as in print in The New York Times Bay Area report on Fridays and Sundays. For more information, please visit www.baycitizen.org.”
And here’s some related information about parolees from candidate for Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, below.
Welcome back:
“October 1: State transfers parolees to San Francisco’s probation programs and jails - The City braces for influx of ex-offenders starting Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO — On Saturday, October 1, the first group of state prison parolees scheduled for transfer to San Francisco will begin arriving in the City under Realignment — legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on April 4, 2011.
The City has created a comprehensive program to shift ex-offenders to local control, including increasing electronic monitoring, social and rehabilitation programs, and preparing for an increased jail population.
Some details on the parolees and program: · Expected number of new parolees in 2011-2012: 700 · Average age of transferred parolee: 39 · Average number of prior convictions: 7 · Time in which parolees have to report to the City after release: 48 hours · Crimes: Non-serious, nonviolent and non-sexual offenses · Transportation for parolees: City will transport most; some travel by bus
Questions remain: · Recidivism: How will the City’s new parolee population impact jails? · Funding: State funding is short of City needs and only budgeted for nine months. How will programs be sustained? · Impact on City agencies: How will law enforcement, social and health services be affected by the increased ex-offender population?
Supervisor Mirkarimi, Chair of the Board of Supervisors’ Public Safety Committee, convened hearings on Realignment and sponsored several ordinances to address the ex-offender transfer.”
