President Obama is swinging through the Bay Area, money net in hand, for three fundraisers in about 14 hours. And no, as we pointed out, he won’t be interacting with anyone who doesn’t have a checkbook in hand. But you can still enjoy the President’s visit from afar — at least his sold-out “rally” at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City tonight. Here’s the Quasi-Official Obama California Fundraiser Drinking Game. Hoist your favorite beverage — free of charge!!! — should the following occur. (We will post the complete official transcript as soon as it is available for you to check your answers.) Over/under on the length of the speech: 19 minutes. Drink twice if Obama hits the under. 1. Drink once if someone from the ... Continue reading →
Portal A, the much-lauded ad creators who gave California the “Ed Lee’s 2 Legit 2 Quit” video is now taking on Big Tobacco with a new pro-Prop 29 ad. As Comrade Lagos has been reporting, that’s the prop that would add a $1 a pack tax on cigarettes primarily to fund tobacco-related illness and cancer research. The shtick here is bare-knuckled satire. A group of Californians talk to the camera about how they “support” Big Tobacco, which is the major funder — like put $40 miiiiiiiillion in your pipe and smoke it — of the anti-Prop 29 effort. Check out the overall-wearing farmer in the bit who says, “I support Big Tobacco because they killed my wife….and that’s one less mouth to feed.” Yeee- ouch! ... Continue reading →
Safeway has enough on its plate - market share under siege, tough union negotiations, rumors of a takeover - without a senior executive putting his foot halfway down his throat, at its annual shareholders' meeting no less. Vice President and General Counsel Robert Gordon thought he was cracking wise with a lame joke involving the Secret Service, President Obama and two Arkansas razorback hogs deemed an "excellent trade" for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. Among the less-than-laugh-out-loud-responses was a letter from members of the Bay Area congressional delegation, led by Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, whose district includes the Pleasanton company. It demanded an apology to Pelosi and Clinton, among other "corrective steps," for the "shocking lack ... Continue reading →
The candidate who listened to Jay-Z on his iPod morphed into a president intent on minding the iStore. In one moment, Obama talks about letting loose the power of innovation. In another, he demonizes the 1 percent that Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers occupy. His Justice Department has filed an antitrust suit against Apple. His Federal Trade Commission recently stepped up its antitrust probe into Google by hiring a high-profile outside litigator.Romney on the other hand has a pretty simple pitch: He won’t raise taxes and he won’t regulate the Internet. Period. His business acumen — the very thing the Obama campaign is hanging around his neck — doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to the jet set here, particularly as Democrats like Newark ... Continue reading →