US Government Shutdown 2013 - "I did everything I could..."

"We all need to do Something, because too many people are still doing nothing!"

----Greg Pitsch - 10/16/2013

Bahrain News Agency | Thousands Evacuate as Volcano Spews Ash in Nicaragua

Bahrain News Agency | Thousands Evacuate as Volcano Spews Ash in Nicaragua

The world is being controlled by sick minded people. The news we all watch is heavily filtered of its content.

Poems to my Mother on my 27th Birthday. Thank You!

Love. Your. Mother.





What is it about nature that draws us in and erases our mental boundaries?

Fading sorbet-colored skies at dusk, ruminations under the brilliancy of the Milky Way or the fresh scent of spring flowers, break down the idea of singularity and allow for a moment of melting; an opportunity for a true meeting between the earth—the mother that bore us—and this human mind.

It might be an interesting experience to delve into the fundamental source of our existence and reach toward the very mother of our being; we could learn a great deal about ourselves while looking into the heart of life.

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”

~ John Muir

And yet, today, it seems her children work incessantly and unknowingly against her, slicing down forests and polluting her life-giving seas.

When I look around, staring out at the expansive sprawl of Los Angeles or watching the smog build up over San Jose in the afternoon, I often wonder how we got here; seven and a half billion people, the sixth great extinction event in the history of life on earth, human-induced global warming, all on this grain of sand, swirling in the midst of infinity.

I look to the religious traditions—the archetypal creation myths coursing through the veins of modern human society—and hear about some place called heaven, yet I can’t imagine one more profound than a redwood grove or a black sand beach (the velvet texture of sand grains oozing up between our toes only to have that experience meld into gazing upon the majesty of swaying monoliths).

When our eyes our opened, it becomes difficult to deny the beauty of it all; the way ocean waves greet the shoreline and how these coastal zones bleed inland to intertwine with desert landscapes and towering mountains, to form a habitat that nourishes us, moment after moment.

How do we, as a species, remain out of touch with this reality?

Is it modernity? Is it the idea that our home is not heaven and that we will all go to a carnival in the sky? Is it that many of us don’t believe that we are the descendants of apes, only a few million years removed?

Or is it the rampant nature of our complex minds? In the end, it is something for you to look into and examine carefully.

If we keep looking away, if we continue to stay out of touch with our vital connection to the mother that bore us, we will miss the heaven that is here, all around us and in our ignorance, we will destroy it.

There is so much we can do.

Joining an organization and giving our time or currency is one idea, while lobbying the government to be more proactive is another.

But, fundamentally, there is something far more important we can all do first: we can rekindle that vital, pulsating connection we have to our mother.

This mind, when quieted and flayed out, is the way into a deep relationship with life.

The more people who can ignite it through consciously wading into nature and realizing the vibrancy of life and our place within the interconnected dynamic of vastness, the faster we can save the real, tangible heaven.




“Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.”

~ W.H. Auden, September 1, 1939



Be a steward for the earth and cherish life.



~

Editor: Bryonie Wise

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photo by: DonkeyHotey

STOCKTON TAKES DOWN TWO MORE WITH HELP FROM U.S. MARSHALS

MIND MASTERY

STOCKTON, CA - Stockton police officials said a recent effort to reduce deadly violence has led to the arrest of 32 people on the city's most wanted list.

Several U.S. Marshals have been helping police track the city's most dangerous criminals for the past several weeks. Federal help arrived in Stockton as part of Mayor Ann Johnston's Marshall Plan.

Among the 32 people arrested, 11 were, at one time, on the "Top 10 of Most Wanted" list. Two men arrested Wednesday were part of that list.

Javier Corona was arrested in connection to a murder that happened in the parking lot of a south Stockton shoe store.

U.S. Marshals also arrested Steven Fernandez Domingo on Wednesday.

Officer Pete Smith said the success of the effort is not a surprise.

"They're not answering calls for service, the 1,100 calls we get every day," Smith said. "They're focused on the list, running down leads, and focused on the intelligence as it comes in. When you can do that in law enforcement, you'll be successful."

By Tim Daly, tdaly@news10.net

WATCH AND LISTEN

Ron Paul supporters get angry for being cheated out of their Vote!

Ron Paul trumps Piers Morgan, CNN anchor gets trampled by real facts and evidence

A quote attributed to Margaret Thatcher
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]."
or
"Eventually, Socialists run out of other peoples' money [to spend]."
Car insurance isn't for the good of YOU, it's for the good of the other person's protection!!!!

Jeb Bush Endorses Romney

I was wondering why the Media was making a big deal out of this particular Bush's Endorsement. The Son of President George H.W. Bush, and Little Brother of George W. Bush, Jeb Bush is the next in the family to reign over this country. Last week Jeb Bush made his endorsement of Mitt Romney public.

I for one think any endorsements from the bush family should be shunned, and looked at as being similar to an endorsement from Adolf Hitler. Both of the Bush's that have served in the Oval office have somehow escaped prosecution for their horrendous war crimes. Both of whom lied to congress on multiple counts, as well as took us to unsanctioned wars in Iraq to dethrone Saddam Hussein.

More than Likely, Jeb Bush will be on the GOP Ticket in 2016, but still his endorsement shall poison Romney's chances of securing the nomination.

Ron Paul 2012 Wallpaper

Ron Paul Supporters Cause County Convention Chaos

By Jason M. Volack

After 25 state election contests, Ron Paul remains without a single win. But the Texas congressman isn’t giving up hope of capturing the Republican nomination.
Aides say Paul is banking on his organization to help him pick up a plurality or even a majority of delegates in several state conventions, including Maine, Washington State, Alaska, Nevada, North Dakota and Iowa.

And as the campaigning continues, there are signs that Paul supporters are willing to make the nominating process messy.

They’re accused of muddying county conventions in Colorado and Iowa last weekend.

In Iowa, a half dozen counties reported disruptions during conventions. The most egregious example occurred in Polk County, where Paul supporters illegally tried to become delegates.

“They were abrasive, offensive, and self-centered,” said Kevin McLaughlin, GOP chairman in Polk County.

In Colorado, Ron Paul supporters shouted down Denver County GOP Chairman Danny Stroud, demanding rule changes in favor of their candidate.
“A small, loud group attempted to hijack the assembly and trample on the rights of those who took time out of their busy lives to participate in the political process,” Stroud said in a statement to the Denver Post.

Colorado GOP Executive Director Chuck Poplstein says he “not totally surprised” by the action of the Ron Paul supporters who, because of previous elections, are naturally inclined to be suspect of the system. But, he added, the supporters did eventually behave themselves.

Paul Campaign Chair Jesse Benton calls the allegations against his supporters “silly,” claiming that those who are complaining are frustrated with being out-organized.

“These silly complaints are all spin and whining from supporters of other candidates who are frustrated that Dr. Paul’s supporters have out-organized and out-hustled them,” said Benton in an email.

However, Iowa’s McLaughlin said Paul supporters were attempting to become delegates illegally.

State law clearly defines the manner in which delegates are elected, at precinct caucuses, yet some Paul supporters argued for a rule change that would allow them to be seated.

They were eventually voted down, but not before some protesters were thrown out because of repeated disruptions, including sneaking around backstage. Some were caught rifling through delegate packets trying to find precincts where people did not show up so they could claim those seats.

“They wanted to be seated even though they were not elected,” said McLaughlin.

The Iowa Republican newspaper reports that much of this behavior was inspired and encouraged by Ron Paul’s Iowa campaign itself, led by his state co-chair’s Drew Ivers and David Fischer who in an email told supporters the key is “to get elected” and “to be aggressive.”

“Remember, to get elected, the first key is to be aggressive so make sure you jump up as soon as nominations are open. If there are any votes, make sure you vote ONLY for Ron Paul supporters. A vote for anyone who is not a Ron Paul supporter could cost us seats at the District and State Conventions.”
Benton, asked about the Iowa campaign’s tactics as defined in this email, responded to ABC News via email.

“David and Drew are deeply respected men of unimpeachable integrity and are spearheading a convention operation second to none,” he wrote.
McLaughlin said that it’s difficult to pin all the disruptions on Ron Paul supporters, admitting that some could have been Occupy Wall Street protesters. But, he says, the Paul supporters were the most vocal and have given their candidate a bad name in the county.

The disruptions slowed down the convention by at least a couple of hours.

“In my experience it was all very unusual,” said McLaughlin, a veteran GOP member who has served through many conventions.

In Iowa, the drama is expected to continue at the district conventions in April, but McLaughlin says the strategy of aggressive disruptions so far has not produced any extra delegates for the Texas congressman in his state.

“That’s just not going to happen,” McLaughlin said.

Ron Paul’s Campaign Raised $3.3 Million in February

By Jason M. Volack

Ron Paul’s inability to win a single state through this election season is now affecting his ability to raise money.

February fundraising figures show Paul raised about $3.3 million for the month, less than the $4.5 million in January and beginning March with $1.6 million on hand.
The Texas congressman’s campaign filed the report with the Federal Election Commission tonight, four days before the March 20 deadline.

Paul had been a prolific fundraiser. By the end of January he had raised $31 million, placing his second to Mitt Romney among his GOP rivals.

The bulk of the money coming from small-dollar donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group dedicated to tracking money in U.S. politics.

Paul’s campaign does not have “bundlers,” people assigned to raise large amounts of money for the campaign.

Politico reported earlier this month that Endorse Liberty, one of the large Super PAC’s supporting Paul was reassessing its heavy financial support.

Endorse Liberty has tried to use online advertisements to broaden Paul’s appeal. But the Super PAC too is running thin on available cash. Through January, it reported less than $61,000 on hand.

Police: Alaska girl locked in frigid bedroom dies

(03-04) 03:28 PST Anchorage, Alaska (AP) --

A 3-year-old girl from America's northernmost community died and her younger sister suffered hypothermia after their mother and the mother's boyfriend left them in a locked bedroom with a window open to a temperature of minus 30 degrees to air out the room because the girls wet their beds, authorities said.

The mother, 28-year-old elementary teacher Esther G. Edwards-Gust, was apparently on the lam Saturday, a day after she and 29-year-old Richard Tilden Jr. were indicted in the child's death. Tilden was in custody.

The couple shared a home with Edwards-Gust's 1- and 3-year-old daughters in the Inupiat Eskimo community of Barrow.

Police say the two girls last month were trapped overnight in their bedroom with a window open to temperatures that dropped to 30 degrees below zero. Both children were diagnosed with extreme hypothermia and flown to an Anchorage hospital, where the 3-year-old died.

Tilden later told authorities he'd been drinking the night before and opened the bedroom window to air out the room because the girls wet their beds, according to court documents. He also said the door's latch was broken, making it impossible for anyone inside the room to open it.

A grand jury on Friday indicted Tilden and Edwards-Gust on charges including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Tilden also faces second-degree murder and assault charges. He was arrested last month.

A warrant has been issued for Edwards-Gust's arrest. Police didn't immediately return a message Saturday, and a home listing for Barrow's police chief was disconnected. A person who answered the phone at the borough jail said Edwards-Gust was not in custody there.

Tilden called 911 when he discovered the 3-year-old was unresponsive and not breathing Feb. 2.

Officers said Tilden smelled of alcohol when they were at the apartment, court documents said. The news was first reported by the Anchorage Daily News.

Tilden later said he bought two bottles of whiskey from a bootlegger and began drinking the night before the children were found in the bedroom with the open window and broken door latch, authorities said. Two empty bottles were found in the apartment.

Tilden also told officers he opened the bedroom window because the girls wet their beds, and he didn't close it before going to bed. In earlier interviews, Edwards-Gust told officers the girls were sleeping in their beds when she went to work that morning.

According to the documents, Tilden woke up about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 and noticed both girls needed to be changed after soiling themselves. It was during the changing process that he noticed the older girl was unresponsive.

He was arrested the same day on assault charges. After being in police custody for hours, officers said his blood-alcohol level was 0.164, more than twice the legal driving limit.

Edwards-Gust, who teaches in Barrow, was briefly in custody after traveling to Anchorage to be with her surviving daughter.

Anchorage Police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said Saturday that Edwards-Gust was initially arrested on assault charges, then set free at the request of the Barrow district attorney. Parker said he believed Edwards-Gust returned to Barrow.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/03/national/a202920S19.DTL#ixzz1oAxi7dgF

RON PAUL CAMPAIGN NOW AIRING TV AD IN IDAHO CONTINUING ‘SUPER TUESDAY’ BUY STRATEGY

‘THREE OF A KIND’ AIRS IN GEM STATE, SETTING RECORD STRAIGHT ON PAUL’S RIVALS AND PRESENTING HIM AS SOLE, AUTHENTIC CONSERVATIVE."

BOISE, Idaho – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign announced today that it is now airing its celebrated ad ‘Three of a Kind’ in Idaho, continuing a strategy launched yesterday to help Dr. Paul win delegates before and on Super Tuesday.

‘Three of a Kind’ is airing now through Tuesday, March 6th – Super Tuesday – on the Fox News Channel and on targeted broadcast. Yesterday the campaign announced that it is airing ‘Three of a Kind’ in neighboring Washington State beginning yesterday through the Evergreen State’s Saturday, March 3rd caucus, as well as airing the upbeat 30-second spot ‘Plan’ in Vermont from yesterday through Super Tuesday when the Green Mountain State holds its primary.

‘Three of a Kind’ at 60 seconds condemns the serial hypocrisy, counterfeit conservatism, and flip-flopping of Ron Paul’s rivals Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney respectively. The ad concludes with a reminder that Paul is the sole authentic conservative vying for the nomination, and reiterates elements of the congressman’s path-breaking ‘Plan to Restore America.’

“By airing ‘Three of a Kind’ in Idaho, we’re demonstrating Ron Paul’s commitment to Idahoans who have welcomed Paul and other candidates to their state far earlier than they have in prior presidential election cycles,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton.

“Delegate-rich Idaho is fertile ground for a competitive showing by Dr. Paul and we’re working hard to ensure that the Gem State proves to be an integral part of our delegate-attainment strategy to win the nomination,” added Mr. Benton.

Idaho with 32 delegates recently changed its nominating contest from a May primary to a March caucus, meaning the state is having a greater say in which candidate wins the party nomination. Once overlooked, the state has more delegates than Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

Doomsday Bill: Wyoming prepares bill, fearing a national collapse

Wyoming state representatives have taken a cold hard look at the state of America and it seems they do not like what they see.

Jeremy Pelzer at The Casper Star-Tribune reports that legislators approved Friday, a study looking at what the state of Wyoming should do if the U.S. suffers a total political and economic collapse.

House Bill 85 would create a state-run "government continuity task force," to prepare Wyoming for possible disruptions in energy and food, to a total breakdown of the federal government.

Rep. David Miller sponsored the bill and while he says he doesn't see any cataclysmic crisis coming anytime soon, to ignore the country's problems would be a mistake.

With the national debt at more than $15 trillion and the protests springing up around the country Miller isn't feeling confident in the U.S.'s future. He wants Wyoming to look into its own alternate currency, its own draft, what it would take for the state to raise an army, and how they might acquire an aircraft carrier and fighter jets.

Miller's convinced some of his fellow legislators they have reason to be concerned.

"I don't think there's anyone in this room today that would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape -- because that is clearly not the case," state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. "To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad's going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) already has a Wyoming crisis management plan, but Miller is looking at contingencies where the national economy and political structure totally fail.

The bill earmarks about 16-grand to explore the state's options and must pass two more House votes before heading to the Senate for consideration.

Stockton Going Broke Shows Cop Pay Rising as California Property Collapsed

By Alison Vekshin The bankruptcy that Stockton (3654MF), California, resisted for three years is now at its doorstep, spurred by the weight of retiree costs, the housing bust and accounting blunders that drained the city’s coffers.

Stockton, 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of San Francisco, rode the boom-and-bust cycle of the 2000s with a surge in new- home construction that attracted buyers seeking an affordable alternative to Bay Area real estate. Then a crash came, as homeowners faced a wave of foreclosures that sapped the city’s tax-revenue gains.

The city born in the gold rush has struggled for decades, relying on revenue from farming and shipping at its river port. Meanwhile it granted employees some of the state’s most generous benefits, and now has 94 retirees with pensions of at least $100,000 a year -- more than twice as many as some comparably- sized California cities. It has a history of ethnic tension and the notoriety of a 1989 schoolyard shooting in which five children were gunned down.

“We’re really struggling,” City Council member Dale Fritchen, 51, said by telephone Feb. 28. “There were horrible decisions made. City leaders spent money faster than it was coming in, thinking that the gravy train would never go away.”

This week, Stockton moved closer to bankruptcy with a City Council decision to preserve cash by defaulting on $2 million in bond payments. It also voted to begin a mediation process required under state law prior to seeking court protection. The city said its goal is to avoid bankruptcy. If it files, it would be the most populous U.S. city to do so.

Bankruptcy Code

From California to Rhode Island, cities are using the federal bankruptcy code to get out from under billions of dollars in obligations they can’t afford. Central Falls, Rhode Island, filed for protection in August after failing to win concessions from its unions. Jefferson County, Alabama, turned in the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history last November, with $4.2 billion in debt. Vallejo, California, sought Chapter 9 reorganization in 2008.

Stockton’s unemployment rate soared to 17.3 percent in 2010, the country’s sixth-highest, from 7 percent in 2000, according to the California Employment Development Department. The foreclosure rate in the Stockton metropolitan area was the second-highest in the U.S. last year, after Las Vegas, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc. Violent crime in the Stockton area was the eighth-highest rate in the nation in 2010, according to FBI data.

Gold Rush

Stockton was founded in 1849 as a supply center for people rushing to work in mining, a year after gold was discovered on the American River east of Sacramento. Early settlers flocked from eastern states and from Asia, Europe and Africa.

Later, shipbuilding became a major industry in Stockton, with its deep-water port on the San Joaquin River. Agriculture surged as the region supplied asparagus, cherries, tomatoes, walnuts and almonds.

In the 1990s, city officials doled out generous retirement health benefits without ensuring the city could afford the payments over time, City Manager Bob Deis said at a Feb. 24 news conference. A worker employed as little as a month could qualify for city-paid retirement health care for the retiree and his or her spouse for life, Deis said.

“It was not a Cadillac plan,” Vice Mayor Kathy Miller said in a telephone interview. “It’s a Lamborghini plan. No one in the private sector had anything like that.”

Among expenses the city can no longer afford is a $417 million unfunded retiree health-care liability.

‘Nobody Asked’

“The problem is, nobody asked the question: ‘How do you fund it?’ And consequently there was no money set aside to fund those commitments,” Deis said. “It was an unsound decision and it has similarities to a Ponzi scheme.” In the 2000s, as housing prices soared in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, buyers from San Jose to Oakland seeking affordable alternatives flocked to Stockton, where starter homes cost around $400,000. Single-family home construction, which had averaged 2,500 units a year from 1991 to 1997, tripled to 7,500 annually from 2003 and 2005, according to Robert Denk, senior economist at the Washington-based National Association of Home Builders.

The city’s population grew 20 percent in a decade, to 291,707 in 2010 from 243,771 in 2000, driven by a surge in Hispanics who identify themselves as Mexican, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That ethnic group jumped 56 percent in the period, to 104,172 from 66,900, while the black population grew 30 percent and the Asian population rose 29 percent, Census figures show.

‘Boom Time’

“Money was just pouring into the city coffers for development fees and permits,” Miller said. “Property taxes were going through the roof. It was boom-time.”

Pay and benefit packages continued to swell. In 2005, the city completed a new ballpark and arena on the waterfront using bond funds. “There was an unspoken policy that to keep the unions from complaining about the amount of money being spent on projects, the easiest way to do that was to continue sweetening their compensation packages,” Miller said.

Among those measures were automatic salary increases regardless of whether the city had the revenue to support them. The contract with the fire union required the city to compare its pay with that of 16 cities including Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Torrance. Stockton firefighters’ salaries were required to rank fifth-highest, according to the city’s May 2011 emergency declaration document.

$100,000 Pensions

Stockton retirees also fared well. The 94 with pensions of more than $100,000 compares with 38 in Bakersfield, which has 347,000 residents, and 35 in Chula Vista, with a population of 244,000, according to data compiled from state pension records by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a Citrus Heights-based group that advocates pension reform.

An epidemic of foreclosures reached Stockton in 2007, as the recession left thousands of homeowners unable to afford their mortgages. Home construction collapsed and housing prices plummeted.

Revenue dwindled to an estimated $161.8 million in fiscal 2012 from $203.1 million in fiscal 2009. The city fired 25 percent of its workforce.

In Stockton’s San Joaquin County, assessed property values tumbled almost 11 percent in fiscal 2010, followed by 3.9 percent in 2011 and 4 percent in the current year, according to the county’s website.

‘Drastic Decisions’

“In the beginning, when this whole economic bubble burst, everyone had the attitude, ‘We’ll just avoid making drastic decisions and in a year or two things will be back to normal,’” Miller said.

The base pay for a Stockton police officer can be as much as $76,860, while a sergeant’s can reach $90,836, according to data provided by the city. In 2010, 87 percent of police officers got additional pay that added 8.7 percent for a canine handler, 4.3 percent for SWAT and 5 percent in “longevity pay” at six years of service. All are included in the calculation of retirement benefits.

“We are now the fifth-lowest paid police organization in the county where we handle the majority of the calls,” Kathryn Nance, a Stockton Police Officers’ Association board member, said in a telephone interview.

By 2009, city officials began considering bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy Protection

Fritchen, the council member, asked the city attorney’s office to lay out the pros and cons of bankruptcy protection at a budget committee meeting.

A year later, in May 2010, the city declared a fiscal emergency to deal with a $23 million deficit. The declaration allowed the city to make changes to existing labor contracts.

Crime escalated as the police force was reduced by about 27 percent to 324 sworn officers from 441, according to Pete Smith, a police spokesman. There were a record 58 homicides last year, most involving gang violence, Smith said.

“We’re losing our grip on some of the more troubled neighborhoods and don’t have the ability to police the city as proactively as we did,” Smith said.

In the spring of 2011, Deis met with about 15 police employees and budget officials to seek concessions from the union.

‘Breaking Our Contract’

“He said if we continue to fight on them breaking our contract, then he is going to push the reset button and go bankrupt and we will all lose,” Steve Leonesio, president of the police union, said in a telephone interview. The union is suing the city, challenging its authority to reduce benefits under the emergency declaration.

Last year, city officials uncovered bookkeeping errors requiring $15 million in budget cuts that “will have the effect of stripping Stockton’s cupboards bare,” Deis said.

The mistakes included double-counting of $500,000 in parking-ticket revenues and overstating the city’s available balance by an estimated $2.8 million.

On Feb. 24, Deis walked into a news conference at City Hall and announced that the errors and the recession represent “the knockout blow” for the city’s finances. He recommended the city invoke the state bankruptcy law. “We see no viable alternative,” he said.

Once Inside I Declared My Candidacy For Mayor

I am embarking on a quest, sort of a self challenge to test my own will by following the faith that I have been blessed with. This is a pivotal time in Stockton, as is around the world today. Some might be going about the day as if everything is fine, we the people need to Unite and form a more perfect Statehood, and soon show signs of progress. Being in charge of a city's financial management, how can you spend money that isn't there? Who is supposed to pay for it? I wish I could declare bankruptcy being 341 Million in the hole, I am sure I would have a city thriving on freedom of choice, and a more traditional feel to life here in the Central Valley.

Ron Paul in Michigan, Sold Out!

YouTube enlists big-name help to redefine channels

By Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer | Associated Press – 7 hours ago
CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) -- YouTube is enlisting Hollywood's help to reach a generation of viewers more familiar with smartphones than TV remotes. The online video giant is aiming to create 25 hours of programming per day with the help of some of the top names in traditional TV. The Google-owned site is spreading its wealth among producers, directors, and other filmmakers, using a $100 million pot of seed money it committed last fall. The fund represents YouTube's largest spending on original content so far.

YouTube believes it is laying groundwork for the future. While the number of traditional TV watchers has leveled off in recent years, more and more people are watching video on mobile phones, tablets and computers, especially the 18- to 34-year-old age demographic that advertisers covet. The idea is to create 96 additional YouTube channels, which are essentially artists' home pages, where viewers can see existing video clips and click "subscribe" to be notified when new content goes up.

Well-funded videos by a select roster of stars are likely to be more watchable than the average YouTube fare of cute cats and webcam monologues. YouTube is betting that a solid stream of good content will attract more revenue from advertisers, bring viewers back frequently and bolster its parent company's fledgling Web-connected-TV platform, Google TV.

The cash has enticed some of TV's biggest stars, including "Fast Five" director Justin Lin, who directs episodes of "Community," ''CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker and Nancy Tellem, the former president of CBS entertainment.

Zuiker is teaming up on a horror series for YouTube after observing his own family's behavior. His three pre-teen sons spend more time on phones, iPads and computers than watching TV these days.

"We want to jointly take the risk with YouTube and roll the dice on the future," Zuiker says. "The old regime is going to falter because everybody thinks the TV is the only device that really counts, and that's just not the case."

For producers, it's a chance to create shows that are completely free of meddling from major studios. They can also stay relevant with a younger crowd whose viewing is moving increasingly online.

Several new channels such as the extreme sports-focused Network A and Spanish-language Tutele have launched already. YouTube hopes to have them all up and running by this summer.

"This was really about galvanizing the ecosystem at large," says Alex Carloss, global head of original programming for YouTube. "We see the portfolio (of funded channels) really representing the best of TV meeting the best of the Web."

YouTube isn't the only Web video service that has started to pay for original content. Netflix Inc. recently launched the original series "Lilyhammer," while Hulu premiered "Battleground." But YouTube videos tend to be under 10 minutes, instead of fitting into traditional half-hour or hour-long TV slots. And aside from a few guidelines, ultimate control is given over to the artist, including what is uploaded and when new episodes appear. YouTubers also get away with far edgier stuff than the middle finger that rapper M.I.A. flashed during the Super Bowl halftime show.

Although YouTube's entire investment is less than half of what some studios spend on one blockbuster movie, about a third of the new channels were awarded to scrappy YouTube veterans who already know how to make it big online while keeping production costs low.
YouTube expects to recoup what it spends on the grants by sharing ad revenue the new videos generate.

At Maker Studios, which received money for three new channels, the funds have turbo-charged an already teeming operation that has about 160 full-time staff spread across several buildings crammed with props and computers in the west Los Angeles suburb of Culver City.

On a recent visit, two scenes were being shot in an alley. One was for a parody of a Christmas movie trailer. The other was for a new series about a crime-fighting van called "Si, Es I, Pepe."

Maker cranks out about 300 YouTube videos each month at a bare-bones cost of about $1,000 each.

The studio's videos generate a whopping 500 million views each month, thanks largely to established hits that include Ray William Johnson's roundup of crazy videos and such viral giants as "Epic Rap Battles of History."

Advertisers pay up to $10 per thousand views for video ads that precede the featured content, according to TubeMogul, a major buyer of YouTube ads for the nation's biggest advertisers including Proctor & Gamble Co. and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox movie studio. Established YouTube partners share roughly half of their revenue with the site. So if Maker videos generate $1 or $2 in ad revenue per thousand views, it would just be scraping by.

Maker co-founder Danny Zappin, who quit film school to buy a high-end camera to start a career on YouTube, says it's a "tricky balance" to keep the studio's share of ad revenue higher than the cost of video-making. The undisclosed amount it got from YouTube, on top of the $4 million venture capital it received about a year ago, lets Maker put up more videos without waiting for the views and cash to roll in. "It gives us resources and runway that we wouldn't otherwise have," Zappin said.

For other less-established players in online video, the money has given them an added reason to get involved.

Former CBS executive Tellem teamed up with TV entrepreneur Brian Bedol to create Bedrocket Media Ventures, an upstart production company behind several new YouTube channels, including Network A. The funding "allowed us, or caused us, to focus on YouTube ahead of other platforms," Bedol says.

Analysts believe YouTube has made a wise investment at a time ad rates for online video are rising.

YouTube can be successful with just a few big hits — think of Rebecca Black's "Friday" — even if thousands of videos fall flat. It's similar to the hit-or-miss approach to traditional TV and movies.

"The investor community does not look at this as money wasted," Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter says.

Since promising to share ad revenue with its most popular uploaders in 2007, YouTube has invested in original content mainly by paying for equipment and training new artists, but it was never as big as this.

Backing up its new strategy, YouTube also revamped its homepage to prioritize channels and recommendations above just the most-viewed videos. The revamp allows advertisers to target popular channels or categories of content more easily.

YouTube's funding plan takes a page from Apple Inc.'s playbook. When the iPhone maker launched its App Store in 2008, a $100 million seed fund created by Silicon Valley investor John Doerr spawned hundreds of thousands of new apps.

"Our developers are not software engineers," YouTube's vice president of global content partnerships, Robert Kyncl, told a convention in January. "Our developers are Hollywood stars, are online stars, are regular folks like you and I."

If nothing else, the injection of funds will spawn content never before been seen on any screen, large or small.

"Fast Five" director Lin, who is teaming up with YouTube stars Ryan Higa and Kevin "KevJumba" Wu on the "YOMYOMF" channel, said his focus is not to try to find audiences with stereotypical Asian-American content. Rather, the idea is to give a platform to people who have unique voices but haven't been heard yet.

He says Higa and Wu didn't follow any set rules when they jumped to popularity with a mix of oddball humor, brutal honesty and rap. "They just did what they loved, and people came," Lin said. "If we're going to fail, I would rather go out with that philosophy."
___ Online: KassemG's parody of Christmas movies, http://bit.ly/yzTt5i Si, Es I, Pepe, http://bit.ly/AquLL8 Epic Rap Battles of History, http://bit.ly/xsjKks Ray William Johnson, http://bit.ly/wYDiaC YOMYOMF, http://bit.ly/ygxnuH Network A, http://bit.ly/wDeiZY Anthony Zuiker's partner, BlackBoxTV, http://bit.ly/yQFM13

Santorum Proves Unfit for Presidency with Bible Attack

COMMENTARY | Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum effectively disqualified himself from the office of the presidency today. Speaking in Ohio, Santorum revealed his inability to govern a pluralistic society. The truth emerged in the context of an attack on President Barack Obama, whose agenda he claimed is "about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology," according to the Associated Press.
For a man running for president to suggest governmental policy should be based on the Bible raises a red flag that proves his unfitness for the job. Santorum calling non-Bible-based religion phony tells voters he will only represent Christians. The U.S. is not a theologically defined society but one governed by a Constitution, whose First Amendment precludes government establishment of religion. The government cannot base public policy on the Christian Bible without running afoul of this governing principle.

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ABC Blatantly Keeps Ron Paul Out of View

Today, I was looking at the ABC 2012 election coverage website, and they show every other candidate but Ron Paul. They are even showing news articles for Herman Cain and Michelle Bachman, But nothing for the guy who is second in the nationwide polls. For Ron Paul this is nothing new, but why would you continue reporting on the people that have already conceded? That would be like filming the Runner that fell, instead of filming the rest of the race. I am asking the MSM to allow Ron Paul to be on national television before he wins the nomination, otherwise all of us watching will know you're lying to us!!! visit this link to see what I am talking about!!