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On the historic election night three weeks ago, Malia Obama wore a dress designed by Oakland-based Biscotti, a company that started two decades ago in president and design director Bernadette Reiss's basement.... Read the story here....

I found this story on the Oakland. It's maddening and makes me sick. I really hope they catch these guys. Reward doubled in Oakland beating of woman, 80 By Kelly Rayburn Oakland Tribune Updated: 11/24/2008 10:38:49 PM PST OAKLAND — Mayor Ron Dellums and the Oakland Police Department on Monday increased to $10,000 the reward the city will offer for information leading to the arrest of three people suspected of attacking an 80-year-old woman. The woman, whom police have not identified, was beaten unconscious Thursday by three men in the 2700 block of Grande Vista Avenue. The men stood over her laughing after the attack, police said. The woman was fighting for her life Friday but was upgraded to critical but stable condition during the weekend. She suffered swelling of the brain, bleeding from the brain and an orbital fracture near one of her eyes. "I offer my heartfelt condolences to this woman and her family," Dellums said in a statement. "This was a senseless act o...

This is listed under the file heading of "What was he thinking?"  I've learned using Huffington Post's "Fundrace" system that our own Robert Bobb, who's listed as a "consultant" with the adress P.O. Box 77556, Washington, D.C.,  gave $1,000 to Hillary Clinton's run for president, but nothing -- zip -- to Barack Obama! That's disappointing to learn for this Obama backer and volunteer. I got after Mayor Dellums for not backing now President-Elect Obama because doing so would send a message to young Black men in Oakland that he supports the future, but I would have guessed Mr. Bobb would have certainly backed Obama.   Now, that colors a lot of thoughts I had about Bobb and makes me reconsider past his actions when we were involved with The Super Bowl. I crossed-checked the Robert Bobb listed in Chicago and who did give to Barack's campaign and he's a lawyer in the windy city. But it says something not so good when older Af...

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson has had a field day -- or year -- going after Mayor Ron Dellums and pointing to his shortcomings, and today's no exception  : As he nears the halfway point in his four-year term, Dellums must decide whether to hire former City Manager Robert Bobb to his old position or continue with Dan Lindheim, a political appointment with little experience in city government. The national search to replace former City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, fired in July amidst a corruption scandal, has fizzled, leaving Lindheim to run day-to-day operations while Bobb, hired in July as a consultant, shows up twice a month and acts as the de-facto city administrator, City Hall sources say. The arrangement leaves Lindheim feeling undermined and Bobb in limbo, the sources say, while city residents are without leadership or clear direction. It's an uncomfortable situation that must be resolved. Well, Robert Bobb's certainly in limbo but fortunatel...

Today features jury instructions and closing arguments in the trail of Bowoto v. Chevron. In the accounts of the trial, I've noticed an interesting pattern of the perspective of what I know call "White Activist Guilt". From that perspective, Chevron is the rich, bad "white" company, and the Nigerian militant groups attacking that company's employees and facilities are all good, non-violent folks.   This is the kind of view that has been presented by blogger Scott Gilmore , and others.  But his blog's arguably the best one solely dedicated to the Bowoto trial, so I'll start there. The story he tells of a peaceful demonstration by Bowoto is just not true. But the real story of this case is the poor Nigerian economic development and that government's neglect in making life better for Nigeria's poor, who've formed militant groups to take whatever wealth they can. 

As the Oakland Raiders went into the 2nd half ahead 10-3 this Sunday, the Raiders had still failed to score an offensive touchdown. The Raiders stretched their scoreless streak to 15 quarters and only took the lead with another spectacular Johnnie Lee Higgins kickoff return... read more | digg story

After a first half and drive that had the feeling of "here we go again" the Raiders finally found the end zone with their offense in the third quarter. They liked it so much they added two more offensive touchdowns en route to their biggest win since 2005. read more | digg story