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CVS Caremark Corp is a large national corporation which operated over 7,000 US drugstores under the name CVS Pharmacy. CVS Caremar Corp, or "CVS", or "CVS Pharmacy" for this blog post, has been the focus of lawsuits by state attorney generals in Connecticut and in New York for selling expired products, according to the Boston Globe. In California, CVS Caremark was the focus of California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who in June of 2009, negotiated a $975,000 settlement of a civil lawsuit with CVS Pharmacy along with an agreement to give $2 coupons to anyone who found expired products on their shelves, and designates a toll-free number to call to report such items. Now, there's a charge from a reliable source that CVS (formerly Long’s Drug stores in California) as well as Krogers, Ralphs, and other major chain stores are selling ‘diverted’ or grey market products that may counterfeited. In some cases, the claim is the California consumer is even getting

The matter of the unallocated $175 million in American Red Cross Haiti donations focused on earlier, finally received attention via the American Red Cross' own blog, which this blogger happened to visit Tuesday. The post, written by Gloria Huang , reads as follows: Recently, we’ve been seeing some confusion from readers and bloggers online about the allocation of funds for Haiti relief. We would like to clarify how our Haiti relief funds are being used and how we are planning for their allocation in the future. In just over a month, the American Red Cross has already spent or allocated $80 million of the $276 million donated to meet the most urgent needs of Haiti’s earthquake survivors. The $80 million allocated so far has gone towards immediate relief for Haitians – 69% for food and water, 20% for shelter, and 11% for health and family services. The remaining $196 million will be spent as the Red Cross continues to focus on finding communities and populations in need in H

The 2010 Political Season has no shortage of news, and that's true in Oakland, CA. Tonight, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums gives his State of The City address. And the behind-the-scenes-buzz is the rumor (not as of this writing denied) that Oakland Councilmember Nadel's not meeting with Oakland District Four City Council candidate Libby Schaaf. First, some important news. The City of Oakland has redesigned its website! The Beta-stage Oaklandnet.com is up and operational. That deserves a cheer and not of the Bronx kind. The City of Oakland website had become a visual and navigational mess. The new design, while it still needs a ton of help in the social network area, is a massive improvement over the old 20th Century model, and an example of what Oakland can do when it gets its act together. Bravo! Second, Mayor Ron Dellums. The good Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums is set to give his 2010 State of The City Speech tonight at 5:30 PM at Oakland City Hall. The good news is th

On the matter of the American Red Cross and the $175 million in unallocated Haiti donations, this update: there's still no word from the American Red Cross on how the $175 million in donations was handled. Initial attempts to gain an answer have been ignored as of this writing. Meanwhile, the issue is gaining attention. This blogger was on a Fairfield, Iowa radio broadcast last Friday and more radio talk shows have expressed unsolicited interested in the matter of the American Red Cross and the $175 million in unallocated Haiti donations. For background, it's simple: the American Red Cross reported it collected $225 million in donations over the first month of the Haiti Relief Effort. But of that, $80 million was spent or earmarked for Haiti. The American Red Cross does not explain what happened to $225 million minus $80 million, or $175 million? On Friday, I was on KRUU, "The Voice of Fairfield" in Fairfield, Iowa, on James Moore's Planet Erstwild

The YouTube video channel Zennie62 has reached 12 million video views and 200,000 channel views as of Saturday, February 20th, and continuing a pattern of rapid growth that started in 2009 and has continued through 2010. Zennie62 on YouTube also has over 4,000 subscribers. The YouTube video channel Zennie62 consists over 800 videos covering everything from politics to news, sports, tech, and entertainment and celebrity gossip. Zennie62 on YouTube is connected to the blog Zennie62.com, also at Zennie2005.blogspot.com. The Zennie62 blog is the center publication of a network of 100 blogs ran by Zennie62.com, of which this blogger, Zennie Abraham, is the executive producer. The idea of Zennie62 is to bring "pure form video blogging" to the viewer. It's the simple practice of talking to the audience through a camcorder to tell a story or share a point of view, or as part of an interview with someone else. As video-blogging does not call for an elaborate set

Tiger Woods' speech of Friday has drawn a lot of reactions. In a video, this blogger asked viewers to give their opinion of Tiger Woods speech. While many wrote their perspectives in the comments sections, Steve Saldivar took the time to make a video-blog . Steve Saldivar says Woods could have been more honest: More people can make video blogs, like Steve Saldivar did. This, rather than just comments, is the future of media. It's also more fun. And here's the original video of my view on Tiger Woods speech: ..as well as the ongoing poll" create text & photo polls on pollsb.com

The Winter Olympics has given new light to American athletes who have a good Internet footprint. One of them - Olympics star Gretchen Bleiler - calls her social network home MakeItPro.com . To be sure, the super-hot, super sexy, super athletic and newly married snowboarding star that is Gretchen Bleiler has her own website and any number of blogs, but it's at MakeItPro.com where Bleiler best connects with her fans and friends. But what's MakeItPro.com ? MakeItPro.com is a one-year-old Facebook-style social networking website that's specifically designed for athletes. The site is ran by Founder and President Jill Osur and a 15-person staff based out of Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area. This blogger has known Jill since 1991 and watched her build the social network from a few pages in a beta format to where it is today. From the start, Jill wanted to feature Olympic athletes, and really admired Gretchen Bleiler. Now, Gretchen Bleiler's featured

In today's running news, the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon are set for March 27th and March 28th in Oakland. Oaklanders know that Oakland's had a rich tradition of housing great runners and fostering a healthy running culture. Some, like runner Regina Jacobs, have achieved Olympic fame and stardom. But only once in over two decades has Oakland been the location of a major running event. The Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon will change that when they get going in March. This blogger recently video-interviewed Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival Producer Gene Brtalik at the columns at Lake Merritt on a windy Sunday, and learned about the origins of the running event. Gene Brtalik is from Baltimore and moved in Oakland last year. He worked for running race producer Corrigan Sports in Maryland and wanted to maintain employment with them. Corrigan Sports's representatives told him to check out the running scene in Oaklan

In today's running news, the Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon are set for March 27th and March 28th in Oakland. Oaklanders know that Oakland's had a rich tradition of housing great runners and fostering a healthy running culture. Some, like runner Regina Jacobs, have achieved Olympic fame and stardom. But only once in over two decades has Oakland been the location of a major running event. The Oakland Running Festival and Oakland Marathon will change that when they get going in March. This blogger recently video-interviewed Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival Producer Gene Brtalik at the columns at Lake Merritt on a windy Sunday, and learned about the origins of the running event. Gene Brtalik is from Baltimore and moved in Oakland last year. He worked for running race producer Corrigan Sports in Maryland and wanted to maintain employment with them. Corrigan Sports's representatives told him to check out the running scene in Oaklan

Last weekend, UC San Diego was the site of an off-campus party held that mocked Black History Month. The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was pointed to as the organization that held the party, but its president says that's not the case. California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass called for an investigation and issued this video statement : In the video, Bass said "It seems as though every single year this situation happens." That, in itself, is a chilling report on the state of race relations on California's college campuses. At the party, called "Compton Cookout" women were given these instructions: "Ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary, and attempt to make up for it, by forming new words, such as 'constipulated', or simply cursing persistently, or using other types of vulgarities, and making noises, such as 'hmmg!', or smacking their lips, and making other angry noises, grunts, and faces." Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity P

YouTuber iyannaw08, who filmed the AC Transit Bus Fight video, makes a new video blog to time to clear up some misconceptions in the wake of the video's viral status. First, she says that she did not take the bag that belonged to the Old White Man. iyannaw08 says that she took the bag to the front of the bus and left it for the authorities when they arrived. Second, she says was not dating or related to the black man in the video "I've never seen these two gentlemen in my life." She ends the video by apologizing to anyone who was offended. But what's offensive are some of the comments left on her video page. They call her terrible names and racial slurs, and present the very racist, crazy people I complained about . YouTube should step up efforts to have settings that erase those words all together if the channel manager so desires. It reenforces a statement I've made that if you want to see just how sick, just how screwed up some people r

According to the Daily Cal , and the The Blum Center for Developing Economies , Former President Bill Clinton will visit U.C. Berkeley. February 24th at 3:30 PM at Zellerbach Auditorium. Tickets for President Clinton's speech are available only online and one has to be either a student at Cal, or a faculty or staff member to obtain them. So if you're not any of the three, and know someone who is and haven't been nice to them you might consider getting on the phone to apologize to them first (no texting). Then ask for help with the Clinton tickets. Seriously, their are 2,000 tickets available, 1,200 free for students. You can get them here: berkeley.edu/clinton . The title of President Clinton's speech is "Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action" If you're reading the name "Blum Center for Developing Economies" and wondering who "Blum" is, it's Richard Blum, who's married to U.S. Sena

A AC Transit Bus Fight near Lake Merritt, in Oakland, California was captured on video and from two different perspectives. The AC Transit Bus Fight, which this blogger recognizes as starting on the AC Transit "N" route that serves the heart of Oakland into downtown Oakland, caused the bus to stop at the corner of Harrison and Webster Street, just one long block away from Lake Merritt and at the Kaiser Center's shopping mall area. The first AC Transit Bus Fight video below shows an at first, seemingly harmless and rather misguided and silly conversation apparently about what someone would do based on their race. One young man, black, said the older man white, should get "yo ass back up in there", meaning the front of the bus. Apparently the older white man came to the back of the bus to confront the younger black man. "Why you being so hostile man", was what the older white man said to him. Then the older white man went back to the front of th

The latest 2010 Megan Fox Armani Commercial is out today, Tuesday. Megan Fox is drawing rave reviews for the Armani commercial, where the stunning actress from Jennifer's Body and The Transformers movie series puts on Emporio Armani and becomes the face and body of Armani. Splash News observed that Megan Fox "teases" , while, Mail Online UK gushes... The Transformers star, shot in black and white, pouts seductively at the camera as it pans up and down her enviable figure that has made her an international sex symbol. The commercial is a 30-second-long trip along the semi-nude body of Megan Fox more than an commercial for Armani. To this blogger, it's playful, sexy, seductive, and just a tad boring. Not Megan Fox, the Armani commercial. Make no mistake about it, Megan Fox is a classically beautiful woman. But there's something about the Armani commercial that's missing and it's action. Megan Fox in stiletto heeled sexy shoes and walkin

Doc Gurley, the San Francisco-based physician and public health expert blogger, has made the greatest donation one can give to the effort of helping Haiti after the massive earthquake: herself and her time. Doc Gurley blogs about her first day on the ground in Haiti, and talked with this blogger about her planned Haiti relief trip before she left when we met for lunch at the Lake Chalet in Oakland: Doc Gurley will be posting updates on her Haiti relief trip. Stay tuned.

Today is Fat Tuesday or "Mardi Gras" and according to Wikipedia historically refers to the yummy ritual of eating richer, fatty foods before the fasting of the Lenten Season, which starts on what is called Ash Wednesday. But you know that Fat Tuesday is a synonym for "party Tuesday" in February. It's a day to wear beads and masks and do things you'd normally not do on a "school day" let alone a "school night". But where do you go if you happen to shuttle between Atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area? Good question. In Oakland, Ozumo's on the corner of Broadway and Grand is hosting a celebration that starts at 5 PM PST and features the sounds of New Orleans by live entertainment and "DJ Gray". In addition there will be Fat Tuesday food specials and Brazilian drink specials. Right next door to Ozumo's free event, Pican's hosting a Fat Tuesday celebration, too, and that starts at 5:30 PM PST. Pican will ha

One month ago, singer Wycef Jean's "NGO" (for"Non-Governmental Organization) called "Yelle Haiti" raised just over $1 million to help victims of the 7.0 Haiti Earthquake. At the time, scores of non-profit organizations sprang up to announce some kind of effort to assist the quake-damaged country. But of all of them, Yelle Haiti received the most attention because of alleged past spending patterns, leading to the awful and unfounded accusation that Wycef Jean was using the money for personal use. In this video made one month ago, Wycef Jean answered his critics: Just after The Smoking Gun and The Washington Post blog posts were issued (and with no evidence of having attempted to personally contact Wycef Jean to give him a chance to respond to the accusations) and the rescue efforts ramped up, suddenly the American Red Cross became mentioned in commercial after commercial as the "go-to" nonprofit for donations. Ok, but where

The Oakland Tribune article on the possibility of a shared football stadium between the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers is certainly exciting news, but lost in the hope that the Raiders get a new stadium - 49ers or not - is any attention to the process behind getting to that point. In this case, on Friday February 19th the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority is considering a proposal from CSL International, an event planning and stadium development consulting firm to write a feasibility study of a stadium for the Oakland Raiders. Great, but where's the competitive bid for the consultant? And what about minority involvement in the study's development? Now that the Oakland Raiders have finally succeeded in getting the City of Oakland to see that it needs a new stadium, it's important to make sure the Oakland Coliseum Authority doesn't screw it up. Where public monies are used, sole-source consultant contracts are frowned on and have been fo

Draeger Construction with Zennie62 launch an initiative called Draeger Construction FBI Haiti Program for education on the need for quake-safe construction worldwide. This video from Marc Zboch (not affiliated with Draeger) shows how Haiti buildings were built and why so much quake damage happened:

On the matter of retaining the Oakland A's in Oakland, an email was just released as part of an effort to have Oakland A's supporters contact MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. Here's what it reads: We're at a critical point in our fight to keep the A's in Oakland. Very soon, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will review the City of Oakland's proposal to partner with the Oakland A's to build a world class baseball-only ballpark near Jack London Square. In the coming days or weeks, the Commissioner will decide whether to keep the A's in Oakland. At this crucial time, we need to make sure that Commissioner Selig sees and understands the incredible level of support of tens of thousands of fans like you who have signed our online petition or joined us on Facebook Can you take just a few seconds, right now, to help? Click here to forward Commissioner Selig an email today: Tell him you want him to keep the A's in Oakland and that you would