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Councilmember Pat Kernighan On Oakland's Economic Crisis

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At the press conference explaining the settlement between the City of Oakland and the Oakland Housing Authority I talked with District 2 Councilmember Pat Kernighan about Oakland's Economic Crisis. In our talk, she explained that $38 million was cut from the budget, but that she expects to see a shortfall of about $50 million by the spring of 2009. She explains there was "no choice" in the cutting decisions that were made. Either layoff people or everyone takes a paycut. They opted for the latter. On a happy note, we talked about how Lakeshore had revived, the Grand Lake Market on Saturdays as well as Trader Joe's and the number of new restaurants opening in downtown Oakland. This talk was before the BART shooting, as a note.
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Comcast Cable Has Terrible Service; Oakland Should Cut The Franchise Agreement

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Comcast Cable has enjoyed a long standing franchise agreement in Oakland, which is why it seems every apartment has the service at the exclusion of any alternative.  That monopolistic setup has led to some very bad behavior on the part of the cable giant.   For example, Comcast has a system where if one is late for a payment, then pays it to get current, they still count a penalty charge for the number of days the payment was late, which is charged on top of what is owed but does not show up until months later.   In other words, you could late pay, think your bill is current, then three months later be informed that you still owe them for past months, even if you thought and they told you that you were current. It's a very weird billing system that does not serve customers well and could cause customers to think Comcast was scamming them.   That's why I stopped Comcast and went to satellite service.  I'm of the view that I should not have to pay to get a c...
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Richmond Hate Crime Claimed - Alarm To Those Who Think All Is Well

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This story below reminds me -- in a remote way -- of a small but disturbing matter that happened at Cafe Van Kleef and to me. I was talking to a couple of fellow Cal grad friends who were both white and female when I made a motion that accidentally bumped into this person as he walked by. No big deal, to me. But this guy said "That was intentional" and after I said it wasn't and he was reacting weirdly, then said "It's reverse discrimination in Oakland" -- he was White. I told him to go away as that was sick. This matter r eported in the Sf Chronicle is worse: (02-01) 18:40 PST -- Brandon Manning says he never saw it coming. One minute he was hanging out with seven seemingly friendly guys in a park, the next he said he was on the ground, the blows coming from all sides, a fist or foot landing hard enough to fracture six bones in his face. But it was the words accompanying the blows that made Manning, 24, think he was about to die. ...
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Michael McGuire: Funeral Services for Michael McGuire on Wednesday February 4, 2009

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My friend Michael McGuire passed away of a sudden heart attack Saturday night January 24th. The Berkeley High and U.C. Berkeley grad was just 46 years old and lived in Berkeley. The funeral services for Michael McGuire on Wednesday February 4, 2009. Here's the full schedule of events. Public Viewing Fouche's Hudson Funeral Home 3665 Telegraph Avenue Oakland, CA. 94609 510 654 8558 Tuesday - 2/3/09 12noon - 5:00pm Funeral Services for Michael McGuire on Wednesday February 4, 2009 The Church By the Side of the Road 2108 Russell Street Berkeley, CA. 94705 510- 644-0954 Viewing/Visitation 11am - 12pm Service 12noon - 1:00pm Repast 1pm - 2pm Directions: The church is near Shattuck and Ashby Avenues. The most recognizable Street is Ashby Avenue. Russell Street is one block North of Ashby Avenue, and the church is one block east of Shattuck Avenue. If you need additional information feel free to call 510 326 0093 or ...
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