Sunday, March 14, 2010
Its been a while
Been awhile since the last update. I don't have time to write on here much anymore as Zoe is more fun to play with than spending time on the computer typing into cyberspace. Gotta go... and play with Zoe.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Treasure Island, the bay area
Cool Aerial Shot of Treasure Island.
Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It is connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island. It was created in 1936 & 1937, from fill dredged from the bay, for the Golden Gate International Exposition. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km2 (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 1,453 as of the 2000 census. The island is named after the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in San Francisco from 1879 to 1880.
Treasure Island is entirely within the City and County of San Francisco, whose territory extends far into San Francisco Bay and includes a tip of Alameda Island.
The island has a raised walkway, circumscribing almost its entire bulk, which is popular for recreation. Sea lions can be observed in the water from the shoreline, and construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge can be observed from the eastern part of the island. The island used to have a gas station, but it is currently unused. It is served by a single Muni bus route, the 108 Treasure Island. It has a job training center, and is also home to San Franciscans and many college students who attend school downtown (Taken from Wikipedia)
Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It is connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island. It was created in 1936 & 1937, from fill dredged from the bay, for the Golden Gate International Exposition. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km2 (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 1,453 as of the 2000 census. The island is named after the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in San Francisco from 1879 to 1880.
Treasure Island is entirely within the City and County of San Francisco, whose territory extends far into San Francisco Bay and includes a tip of Alameda Island.
The island has a raised walkway, circumscribing almost its entire bulk, which is popular for recreation. Sea lions can be observed in the water from the shoreline, and construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge can be observed from the eastern part of the island. The island used to have a gas station, but it is currently unused. It is served by a single Muni bus route, the 108 Treasure Island. It has a job training center, and is also home to San Franciscans and many college students who attend school downtown (Taken from Wikipedia)
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Just back from a walk with the Zo and Nico
Went for a walk with Zoe and Nico. Such a beautiful day and a nice cool breeze. I love this time of year.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
August 25, 2009
One more day of official medical leave left. Right now I am hanging with Zoe watching Little Laureate. I am tired as I was up with her on the hour all night. Hopefully will get a nap soon.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
AIG-maybe they should have been allowed to collapse.
This is why I think the bailout will not work as expected. These guys just don't get it. The average American gets to enjoy a lower living wage than 10 years ago, higher health insurance premiums with shittier coverage while these greedy assholes spend over 400K on spa treatments. This is with the tax payers money mind you. You can't afford to put gas in the car and these jerk-offs are pampering themselves. This is sick.
From CNN.com October 10, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown.
Robert Willumstad, former CEO of AIG, testifies before the U.S. House in Washington on Tuesday.
AIG sent its executives to the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles, California, even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy.
The resort tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees, according to invoices the resort turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The retreat didn't include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers still were enraged over thousands of dollars spent on outing for executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary.
"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement at a hearing Tuesday.
"Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."
Former AIG CEO Robert Willumstad, who lost his job a day after the Federal Reserve put up the $85 billion on Sept. 16, said he was not familiar with the conference and would not have gone along with it.
"It seems very inappropriate," Willumstad said in response to questioning from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.
"Those executives should be fired," Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said at a debate with Sen. John McCain on Tuesday, referring to the retreat participants. Obama also said AIG should give the Treasury $440,000 to cover the costs of the retreat.
But Eric Dinallo, superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department, said he could see the value of such a retreat under the circumstances.
"Having been at large global companies and knowing what condition AIG was in ... the absolute worst thing that could have happened" would have been for employees and underwriters in its life insurance subsidiary to flee the company.
Don't Miss
CNNMoney.com: Ex-brass at AIG try to shift blame
Commentary: America's $53 trillion debt problem
Economy has 8 out of 10 Americans stressed
"I do agree there is some profligate spending there, but the concept of bringing all the major employees together ... to ensure that the $85 billion could be as greatly as possible paid back would have been not a crazy corporate decision," Dinallo told the House committee.
The hearing disclosed that AIG executives hid the full range of its risky financial products from auditors as losses mounted, according to documents released by the committee, which is examining the chain of events that forced the government to bail out the conglomerate.
The panel sharply criticized AIG's former top executives, who cast blame on each other for the company's financial woes.
"You have cost my constituents and the taxpayers of this country $85 billion and run into the ground one of the most respected insurance companies in the history of our country," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York. "You were just gambling billions, possibly trillions of dollars."
AIG, crippled by huge losses linked to mortgage defaults, was forced last month to accept the $85 billion government loan that gives the U.S. the right to an 80 percent stake in the company.
From CNN.com October 10, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown.
Robert Willumstad, former CEO of AIG, testifies before the U.S. House in Washington on Tuesday.
AIG sent its executives to the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles, California, even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy.
The resort tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees, according to invoices the resort turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The retreat didn't include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers still were enraged over thousands of dollars spent on outing for executives of AIG's main U.S. life insurance subsidiary.
"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement at a hearing Tuesday.
"Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."
Former AIG CEO Robert Willumstad, who lost his job a day after the Federal Reserve put up the $85 billion on Sept. 16, said he was not familiar with the conference and would not have gone along with it.
"It seems very inappropriate," Willumstad said in response to questioning from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.
"Those executives should be fired," Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said at a debate with Sen. John McCain on Tuesday, referring to the retreat participants. Obama also said AIG should give the Treasury $440,000 to cover the costs of the retreat.
But Eric Dinallo, superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department, said he could see the value of such a retreat under the circumstances.
"Having been at large global companies and knowing what condition AIG was in ... the absolute worst thing that could have happened" would have been for employees and underwriters in its life insurance subsidiary to flee the company.
Don't Miss
CNNMoney.com: Ex-brass at AIG try to shift blame
Commentary: America's $53 trillion debt problem
Economy has 8 out of 10 Americans stressed
"I do agree there is some profligate spending there, but the concept of bringing all the major employees together ... to ensure that the $85 billion could be as greatly as possible paid back would have been not a crazy corporate decision," Dinallo told the House committee.
The hearing disclosed that AIG executives hid the full range of its risky financial products from auditors as losses mounted, according to documents released by the committee, which is examining the chain of events that forced the government to bail out the conglomerate.
The panel sharply criticized AIG's former top executives, who cast blame on each other for the company's financial woes.
"You have cost my constituents and the taxpayers of this country $85 billion and run into the ground one of the most respected insurance companies in the history of our country," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York. "You were just gambling billions, possibly trillions of dollars."
AIG, crippled by huge losses linked to mortgage defaults, was forced last month to accept the $85 billion government loan that gives the U.S. the right to an 80 percent stake in the company.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Oakland...I avoid it like the plague. If I want to get shot I would just go to Iraq.
(09-29) 19:08 PDT -- The Casillas family did everything they could, took every precaution they could think of to keep their boy - their only boy - safe from the violence in their Oakland neighborhood.
IMAGES
View Larger Image
CHIP JOHNSON
Readers add their Dellums gripes 09.26.08
It's time for Oakland to give Dellums the boot 09.22.08
Oakland police measure needs good leadership 09.19.08
More Chip Johnson »
But it wasn't enough.
The violence that Leopoldo and Linda Casillas recognized, and feared, came without rhyme or reason or warning and snatched the very life of Marco Casillas, a 19-year old man without gang affiliations, a drug problem or a criminal record.
In Oakland's gang-infested neighborhoods, simply being identified as a male teenager or young adult can get you killed.
By all accounts, including the findings of Oakland detectives investigating his death, Casillas had done nothing to evoke such violence. He didn't run with a gang or affiliate himself with any group, and took great pride in just being himself, family members said.
That provides little comfort in the Casillas home in the Fruitvale neighborhood, where the young man's parents sat on the couch in their home Monday and sorted through memories and emotions and prepared to bury their youngest child.
According to police, Marco Casillas was walking a dog with his 19-year-old girlfriend Sept. 20 in the 4000 block of Santa Rita Street when someone opened fire on them about 10:45 p.m.
The girl's mother knew something was terribly wrong when the dog came back to the house alone with blood on its fur. Casillas and his girlfriend were found lying on the sidewalk.
He died at Highland Hospital within half an hour of the assault, becoming the city's 103rd homicide victim this year. His girlfriend, whose name was withheld, was seriously wounded but survived.
In the part of Oakland where they live, the Casillas family has watched with great concern as violence has ratcheted up over the years. They were aware of the dangers and took special precautions with their son because of it.
For years, right up until his death, Marco's parents had gone the extra mile to ensure their son's future.
His father walked with him to the Fruitvale BART station every day to see him off to Heald Technical College in Hayward and picked him up when he came home.
Leopoldo Casillas waited for his son at recreational activities - they even went to the barber shop together. He drove Marco to work at a pizza shop in Alameda and picked him up when his shift was over.
On the night he was shot, Linda Casillas said her son was planning to have dinner at his girlfriend's house and watch a movie. He assured her he was not going out.
His father speaks broken English, but it's difficult for him to speak of his son's death in any language.
"Mal," the Spanish word for bad, was about all he could get out Monday.
He's heartbroken, but remaining strong for his wife and daughters. Whenever Leopoldo Casillas began to talk about his son, his voice trailed off to silence, his head fell and he stared straight ahead - his wife and daughters, sensing his grief, quietly cried for him.
"They were friends," said Rebecca Navarro said of her father and step-brother.
Navarro contacted the offices of Mayor Ron Dellums and Ignacio De La Fuente, the Oakland City Council member who represents the Fruitvale district, to tell them how the horrific violence in the city they are supposed to lead had just claimed one of the good guys - her younger brother.
She never heard back from anyone.
Last year, her mother called 911 when she saw a man on a bike holding a gun to the head of another man right outside her home. A dispatcher asked if she was mistaken. "Are they friends?" "Are they just playing?"
Suffice it to say the family doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of the Oakland Police Department to maintain neighborhood safety and the shooting death of their son less than 10 blocks from home only served to confirm it.
Their son had big plans and big dreams but Oakland's most lawless neighborhoods are places where dreams and dreamers are all too often left to die.
Marco planned to graduate from the technical college in December, find a full-time job and help his mom and dad finally move out of the crime-ridden neighborhood.
He and his mother, a janitor for the UC system, planned to pool their finances and move the family out of Oakland in January. They were looking in Livermore. Leopoldo Casillas has two surgically repaired shoulders and no longer works.
Mother and son planned to buy a car that would get them both to a BART station - and into the central cities because as a new driver he wasn't comfortable traveling on Interstates 580 or 880.
The family is still looking to leave Oakland behind them, but the tragedy has jolted them from such daily tasks.
"We went looking for houses in Castro Valley on Sunday, but I can't find my balance right now," said Marco's mother.
IMAGES
View Larger Image
CHIP JOHNSON
Readers add their Dellums gripes 09.26.08
It's time for Oakland to give Dellums the boot 09.22.08
Oakland police measure needs good leadership 09.19.08
More Chip Johnson »
But it wasn't enough.
The violence that Leopoldo and Linda Casillas recognized, and feared, came without rhyme or reason or warning and snatched the very life of Marco Casillas, a 19-year old man without gang affiliations, a drug problem or a criminal record.
In Oakland's gang-infested neighborhoods, simply being identified as a male teenager or young adult can get you killed.
By all accounts, including the findings of Oakland detectives investigating his death, Casillas had done nothing to evoke such violence. He didn't run with a gang or affiliate himself with any group, and took great pride in just being himself, family members said.
That provides little comfort in the Casillas home in the Fruitvale neighborhood, where the young man's parents sat on the couch in their home Monday and sorted through memories and emotions and prepared to bury their youngest child.
According to police, Marco Casillas was walking a dog with his 19-year-old girlfriend Sept. 20 in the 4000 block of Santa Rita Street when someone opened fire on them about 10:45 p.m.
The girl's mother knew something was terribly wrong when the dog came back to the house alone with blood on its fur. Casillas and his girlfriend were found lying on the sidewalk.
He died at Highland Hospital within half an hour of the assault, becoming the city's 103rd homicide victim this year. His girlfriend, whose name was withheld, was seriously wounded but survived.
In the part of Oakland where they live, the Casillas family has watched with great concern as violence has ratcheted up over the years. They were aware of the dangers and took special precautions with their son because of it.
For years, right up until his death, Marco's parents had gone the extra mile to ensure their son's future.
His father walked with him to the Fruitvale BART station every day to see him off to Heald Technical College in Hayward and picked him up when he came home.
Leopoldo Casillas waited for his son at recreational activities - they even went to the barber shop together. He drove Marco to work at a pizza shop in Alameda and picked him up when his shift was over.
On the night he was shot, Linda Casillas said her son was planning to have dinner at his girlfriend's house and watch a movie. He assured her he was not going out.
His father speaks broken English, but it's difficult for him to speak of his son's death in any language.
"Mal," the Spanish word for bad, was about all he could get out Monday.
He's heartbroken, but remaining strong for his wife and daughters. Whenever Leopoldo Casillas began to talk about his son, his voice trailed off to silence, his head fell and he stared straight ahead - his wife and daughters, sensing his grief, quietly cried for him.
"They were friends," said Rebecca Navarro said of her father and step-brother.
Navarro contacted the offices of Mayor Ron Dellums and Ignacio De La Fuente, the Oakland City Council member who represents the Fruitvale district, to tell them how the horrific violence in the city they are supposed to lead had just claimed one of the good guys - her younger brother.
She never heard back from anyone.
Last year, her mother called 911 when she saw a man on a bike holding a gun to the head of another man right outside her home. A dispatcher asked if she was mistaken. "Are they friends?" "Are they just playing?"
Suffice it to say the family doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of the Oakland Police Department to maintain neighborhood safety and the shooting death of their son less than 10 blocks from home only served to confirm it.
Their son had big plans and big dreams but Oakland's most lawless neighborhoods are places where dreams and dreamers are all too often left to die.
Marco planned to graduate from the technical college in December, find a full-time job and help his mom and dad finally move out of the crime-ridden neighborhood.
He and his mother, a janitor for the UC system, planned to pool their finances and move the family out of Oakland in January. They were looking in Livermore. Leopoldo Casillas has two surgically repaired shoulders and no longer works.
Mother and son planned to buy a car that would get them both to a BART station - and into the central cities because as a new driver he wasn't comfortable traveling on Interstates 580 or 880.
The family is still looking to leave Oakland behind them, but the tragedy has jolted them from such daily tasks.
"We went looking for houses in Castro Valley on Sunday, but I can't find my balance right now," said Marco's mother.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Jesus in the Ultrasound? Is that what the amniotic sac is called these days?
Woman claims face of Jesus can be seen leaning next to the baby in 3D ultrasound picture. The couple claims they are not religious fanatics. I see a baby with its hand curled. Just because something looks like one thing doesn't mean it is. Funny Jesus would pick the white pop culture version of himself (even though he supposedly lived in the middle east).
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Running the Sahara
Check out the trailer for this new Documentary coming out about three runners (a Canadian, an American, and a Taiwanese) that ran across the Sahara desert. The doctor that is shown on the trailer is Jeff Peterson from Stanford who I work with quite often. Pretty cool accomplishment for these guys to say the least. By the way Ray, the Canadian is married to a Newfoundlander. You are never more than 6 degrees of separation from a Newfoundlander. Check it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)