Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

Goodbye Gold Card my old friend! We've seen good-eats on the high-end.. People tell me AMEX has crashed. People say their credit is smashed. But I'll tell you, that's not going to happen to me; I'll set you free. And use, my cash!

Wow. Now I've seen almost everything: The Stork Club in Oakland, California. February 7, 2009. The Ledge is backed by The Altamont Boys bass: Klaus Flouride drums: Joey Myers guitar: Jay Rosen Wait until you see him shoot his gun!

A man was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on Fontaine Street in East Oakland as police investigate.

Dan Spalding - this guy's wacky for sure. He's taken his camera and made a video of himself riding down Telegraph Avenue after leaving LaneSpliter's Pizza. Personally I like this video and feel Dan could have gotten more mileage out of the presentation just by talking to the camera -- us -- about what he's seeing and feeling at the time. But nice start.

A Robert Bobb reminder post from the recent past: More at EBX : “Robert Bobb should have been Oakland's new city administrator. He was easily the most qualified candidate, and was Mayor Ron Dellums' first choice. Last month, the two men were talking salary and benefits, as they closed in on a deal to bring Bobb back to the East Bay. But then Oakland's respected former city manager changed his mind, and decided to take over the financially troubled Detroit public school system. What happened? According to knowledgeable sources, there were several reasons for why Bobb decided to turn down Dellums, and one of them had to do with Oakland's other "mayor" — Cynthia Dellums.” ...Because Bobb may be back.  More soon.  

This is a classic video on Gov. Schwarzenegger 's personality.

The 2009 San Francisco Bay To Breakers was approved by the City of San Francisco on Thursday but not without controversy. With problems of public urination, drunkeness, and nudity, race organizers established a policy of zero tolerance causing formation of a 20,000 person facebook group led by Edward Sharpless.

According to Rich Lieberman (AKA Big Vinny), a source claims that Oakland City Officials are going to make a pitch to the Oakland A's to build a new stadium.. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and City council President Ignacio DeLaFuente are expected to offer the A's any one of three sites available for consideration, including Jack London Square, the Laney College area adjacent to the Nimitz freeway, and the existing Coliseum north parking lot, which has the advantage of nearby BART and mass transit. Now if that's correct, it reads as if the "Jack London Square" option may be Oak To Ninth, the large area of land near Jack London Square which was in the original basball stadium development proposal.  If so , that opens a new controversy over the use of that property.  If you're wondering how all of these plans impact the Oakland A's, you can test different scenarios using my Oakland Baseball Simworld .  Visit Rich Lieberman's site here:   Rich Lieberman...

The San Francisco Chronicle lost $50 million last year and is reportedly going to lose more this year. The reason isn't the Internet, that's a symptom. The reason is bad management and not wokring with New Media people. For example, why didn't the SF Chron make it's own version of Craiglist? Why didb't it work with Craig Newmark, or at least try to? Why -- in the region that invented blogging -- did the SF Chronicle not work with blogger like myself so we can help extend their brand online? It's because of a stupid SF Bay Area habit of not paying attention to someone because they're local. How else to explain why the SF Chron is losing money and having a hard time being successful online in an area that basically gave birth to the Internet? Bad management is to blame. It's true for the Chronicle and for the Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News. They can't fit a square print peg into a round New Media hole as much as they keep trying. I...

Last Night President Barack Obama gave the greatest speech I've ever heard and his best, certainly. We have the text of that speech over at Zennie62, so you can read it with a click here: OBAMA SPEECH .

In his best speech ever President Obama sounded the call for the need to stop sending jobs overseas. It was totally missed by pundits, but Obama just sounded the call for economic nationalism when he said that he would bring jobs back to America.  It's about time. From 1960 to 1999, the USA added 20 million new jobs each decade, but from that point to today, just under 5 million jobs were added. Where did they go? Overseas to other nations in a large process of what economists call import replacing. One example of this is the growth of Airbus Industries in aircraft manufacturing where they got the largest tanker deal in American history -- $35 billion -- and over the Boeing Company costing 25,000 jobs.

For about two years there has been talk of the formation of a Sports Task Force. I first sent an email asking for such a group to the staff of Mayor Ron Dellums during the first two months of his administration but did not receive feedback. Then I twice talked to the Mayor about brieking him regarding what happened to Oakland's Super Bowl Bid and the Oakland Sports Commission I established in 1998. The Mayor said he would get back to me on the matter, er, have his secretary call me, but never did that, so I had lost any faith in his interest in solving Oakland's long-standing sports industry problems. Then I was approached by Steve Lowe and Chris DeBenadetti, both who have been active in Oakland politics and sports journalism respectively. We talked about such a task force with a member of the Mayor's Staff over a year ago. Then we waited, but to Lowe's credit he pushed for it constantly. Now it's formed. The first meeting was Thursday of two week...

More at Inside Bay Area : “BERKELEY — Police released a sketch this morning of a man suspected in an ongoing series of "skirt lifting" sexual assaults. The sketch comes days after the suspect's 12th assault since October, police said. The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s, about 5 feet10 inches tall, with a medium build and short, dark wavy hair. The man is suspected of approaching college-age women from behind, lifting their skirts and trying to touch their genitals, mostly near the University of California, Berkeley campus, police said. The most recent incident occurred Friday, in the 2100 block of Haste Street, police said. The suspect approached the lone victim and tried to grab her dress. When he was unsuccessful, two witnesses gave chase and tried to lead city and university police to him. The suspect escaped.”

OK. 200 of the San Francisco Bay Area's finest Jazzercize women showed us their stuff at halftime during the Oakland Warriors basketball game in Oakland on 2-21-09 -- interesting.

The Oakland Zoo is well built, and the animals have lots of space to roam. For example, the elephants and lions have enclosures of four acres each, which is much larger than most zoos I've been to. read more | digg story

On Friday, the Oakland Raiders released safety Gibril Wilson, defensive end Kalimba Edwards and wide receiver Ronald Curry, saving the team about $6 million against the 2009 salary cap. read more | digg story

A 23-year-old visitor from the East Coast had just gotten money from an ATM when he told his friend on a cell phone that he had a bad feeling about two men approaching him at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland. read more | digg story

"The Trouble With Jerry" Is A group that was formed to protest the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decision to give the humanitarian award to Jerry Lewis because they claim he has exploited the disabled and treated them as second-class people.

This video is of my trip to Denver to meet up with Art Thomas and Steve and Bernard and Meesha to make my tv promotion segment spot. It was a fun time and fun to do. Stay tuned for more info on "The Blog Report with Zennie62". Distributed by Tubemogul.

More at Zennie62 : “John Wolf spent 226 days in jail to protect his videos and sources, and caused the creation of a new law protecting video-bloggers. Now Sierra Choi is directing and producing a documentary - the trailer is here as part of my video blog. ”

More at Zennie62 : “The Obama administration is supporting legislation that, if passed, would allow judges to write down the principle and/or interest of mortgages when mortgage holders file for bankruptcy, and will be releasing new mortgage guidelines, which go into effect in 2 weeks that will standardize the mortgage loan process, including the appraisal process.”

new A's ballpark: For Oakland fans with solutions : “Okay, Oakland-first partisans. Here's your chance. By virtue of the comments at today's SFGate article, many of you think staying in Oakland is the cheapest and most reasonable choice. Instead of just spouting off a comment (you know who you are), lay out your plan. Here's the handy-dandy drawing from a few days ago. Take it and redraw it in the manner you think would work best. I'll even accept the Coliseum option from the HOK study, if you can fulfill the requirements below.” -- Hmm. Marine should use my Oakland Baseball Simworld to come up with a solution. That's what I made the sim for. I even offered Oakland A"s owner Lew Wolff it's use. He's not taken me up on the offer -- and look at the A's situation now. Visit Oakland A's Sim

More at Muni Diaries : “Former Oakland Tribune reporter Bill Brand has succombed to injuries sustained in a February 8 accident. Brand was hit by the N-Judah near Second and King Streets.” -- This is so sad. I remember Brand's work through the years and wondered what happened to him. I pray he finds peace in heaven.

On February 17th, Fremont residents came out against the planned construction of a new stadium for the Oakland A's at this City Council meeting captured by YouTuber fcnwebtv. As I predicted almost two years ago, called a pipe-dream , and told Don Fisher who's an owner of the organization at a Project Red Party, the economics of their proposal would not work. Now, the declining economy, the need for public money, and the distaste of Fremont residents have combined to produce an all but impossible task for the baseball team.

From YouTuber TooWeirdForWork: Views of West Oakland from the BART commuter train

http://oaklandfocus.blogspot.com - At his 50th birthday party hosted by Phil Tagami, Oakland City Attorney John Russo officially says he is not running for Mayor of Oakland because of his family obligations to his twin sons.

More at Inside Bay Area : “Feb. 17: The principalship at Oakland's largest high school is notorious for its political challenges. It's no place for beginners. But from what I've heard, Skyline High School's various factions have accepted Al Sye, a veteran administrator — and the latest in a string of people to inhabit the office. Recently, however, Sye became the subject of a central office investigation, and it remains to be seen how long he'll stay at Skyline or whether he'll return for a second year. Chris Dobbins, a school board member who represents the high school, said Sye is off for two weeks but didn't say why.”

Attorney General Eric Holder is right! Twittering about race causes cancer as toxins build. Best to have a diverse group of friends to talk to, and only a coward would be afraid to have friends of different backgrounds!

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Help is on the way for East Bay school districts, local governments and small businesses through the economic recovery act that President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday, Rep. Barbara Lee said Wednesday. Exactly how and when this help will arrive remains to be seen, she acknowledged. The White House estimates the $787 billion stimulus package will create or save 369,000 California jobs over the next two years. Lee, D-Oakland, said an estimated 7,300 of those would be in her 9th Congressional District, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont, Castro Valley and various adjoining areas. Lee also said about 2.4 million Californians will get $100 more per month in unemployment benefits, and about 506,000 laid-off workers will see their benefits extended. And the Golden State stands to reap millions — $30 million for Oakland alone — to modernize its dilapidated public schools, she added.”

More at Inside Bay Area : “FREMONT — While the Oakland A's have put their move to Fremont on hold, stadium opponents say they still will show up by the hundreds at next week's City Council meeting. "It's not over. This is just another one of (A's co-owner) Lew Wolff's games," said Kathy McDonald, a founder of Fremont Citizens Network. Facing opposition to both of his proposed stadium sites, Wolff notified city officials Monday that he was taking a week to reconsider his options and canceling a scheduled appearance next week at the City Council meeting. As a result, the city has stopped work on an environmental impact report for the ballpark project. However, it is going ahead with a 30-day period for the public to submit comments, all of which must be addressed in the environmental report.”

Mark Zuckerberg is Facebook's Benevolent Dictator who says the social network is 176 million or the sixth largest nation in the World. Electing to preserve member privacy was him being nice. Suppose he didn't do it?

This week I posted a vlog on Oscar Grant and what my source claims is an autopsy where crack cocaine was found in his body. Here is an update and what happened when SF Chronicle's Phil Bronstein picked up the story. First my source said the following: 1) The shooting was an accident, and not a racist hit. There are officers who have taken such actions but not like that. They would make it look like a random murder. 2) My source thinks that what happened to Grant was shameful, contrary to what some commenters have written. The vlog was picked up by San Francisco Chronicle Executive Vice President and Editor-At-Large Phil Bronstein on his "Bronstein At Large" blog, and who focused on the idea that drugs may have been planted on Grant. My source insists that was not the case; they were there in Grant already. For some reason, Bronstein's post was removed and when I emailed to learn why got a response from Zoe Stagg , the star of Citizen Sugar, who told m...

More at Inside Bay Area : “FREMONT — The Oakland A's suddenly are reconsidering a move to Fremont in the face of vociferous opposition from residents who live near the newly proposed site in the city's Warm Springs district. The ballclub postponed indefinitely its planned presentations to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and City Council scheduled for next Tuesday. The discussions were to have included comments from Bob DuPuy, president and CEO of Major League Baseball. "We didn't want to run into a lot of people screaming and yelling at the president of Major League Baseball," A's co-owner Lew Wolff said. Wolff said Tuesday that the team will review its Fremont stadium options with baseball officials during the next week, then determine how to proceed. "It's my decision what we do next," Wolff said. "I really want to have a little more time to think about our situation and discuss it with more people."” -- Look, the Trib headline was ...

John Wolf spent 226 days in jail to protect his videos and sources, and caused the creation of a new law protecting video-bloggers. Now Sierra Choi is directing and producing a documentary - the trailer is here as part of my video blog. At the time in 2006, I met Josh when he worked for the television division at Peralta Community College. He was also in the middle of his battle with the Federal Government, but even then was still focused on his work, and didn't spend a lot of time fretting about what could happen. Then Josh defied San Francisco U.S. District Judge William Alsup's order to turn over the videos Josh had taken from a anti-G8 anarchist protes heldt in San Francisco on July 8, 2005. Wolf feared that the U.S. Government in the form of the FBI simply wanted to identify the people who were protesting and not solve a crime they claim had been committed against a police officer. Wolf's videos did not contain any footage of a police officer being harmed. S...

More at Raiders Gab : “The Desert News reports that the Raiders and owner Al Davis actually were looking to hire Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. Here is the report: Al Davis, the Oakland Raiders eccentric owner who once hired Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham’s father Fred as a defensive coach, called Whittingham after watching Utah dominate Alabama at the Sugar Bowl and tried to hire him to coach the Raiders defense. A little less than a week before the Sugar Bowl that piqued Davis’ interest, Whittingham agreed to a five-year contract extension worth roughly $6 million.” -- If Al can't get an unknown college coach, then is there hope for the Sliver and Black?

More at Inside Bay Area : “SACRAMENTO — Some California lawmakers haven't let the state's financial calamity keep them from enjoying the good life; they've been using campaign cash for first-class travel abroad, expensive dinners, salon makeovers and visits to luxurious spas. Spending reports filed with the state covering the last three months show: Several lawmakers checked into the Fairmont Hotel on Maui in Hawaii on donors' dimes two days after the start of an emergency session on the budget in November. The lead state senator on budget issues joined colleagues who left the fiscal crisis behind to go to India, where they toured the Taj Mahal and stayed in the Four Seasons and other luxury hotels. The former state Senate leader used campaign donations to pay $2,163 in membership fees to an exclusive Northern California social club.” -- And this explains why our policies seem out of step with the times: the lawmakers don't feel the pain so there's no univers...

Newspaper publisher and BART Board Member James Fang is much talked about but seldom talked to. At a BART Shooting meeting where he was accused of being racist, I talked to Fang about the matter of the BART shooting. We also talked about the racism charge, which Fang explains is a result of a "rogue" columnist at Asian Week, which Fang owned, and who wrote "Why I Hate Blacks"..and Whites and pretty much everyone but himself.

In his only YouTube video -- he seems to have stopped making them since he got reelected -- Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates lays out his goals and objectives. This is the only video on his YouTube channel and that's a total shame. The video looks like it was created from his kitchen. Bad idea. Elected officials should make videos while they're walking, not sitting in a kitchen. Walk and talk to the camera, er, the people. It works better.

This is a real cool, feel good vidoe for this event: This is the Second Video Promo for UC Berkeley's Pilipino Cultural Night. Zellerbach Auditorium Saturday, April 11, 2009 UC Berkeley Campus Pilipino American Alliance (PAA)

Folks, I didn't make this, I just found it. This is your Oakland, California: Philip comes home. Semen and White Lace Oakland Asian Cultural Center Feb 20-21, 2009

From "OaklandRusso" On YouTube Firing of Riders Cops Upheld by Arbitrator 2/4/09 OAKLAND, CA City Attorney John Russo today announced the settlement of an 8-year legal battle with two former City of Oakland police officers who were fired for insubordination and multiple acts of police misconduct. Former officers Clarence Mabanag and Jude Siapno were fired in 2000 after they refused to cooperate with an Internal Affairs investigation of misconduct by four officers known as the Riders. Both Mabanag and Siapno filed grievances challenging their terminations. On November 13 of last year, Arbitrator Sara Adler issued an opinion denying the grievances and upholding the citys right to fire Mabanag and Siapno for insubordination. Following the arbitrators opinion, the two former officers signed a settlement, finalized last week, ending their grievances and civil complaints. Neither one will receive any money from the City of Oakland. Artistically it's a good start for ...

Once in a while there are gems around like this one. It's short and basically meaningless, but what the heck?

more at www.sfexaminer.com : “SAN FRANCISCO – In a thinly veiled shot at Mayor Gavin Newsom, former Oakland Mayor and California Attorney General Jerry Brown — who has said he is considering a run for governor in 2010 — said in a radio interview that there are “characters” traveling around the state campaigning for governor while their city is a mess. Speaking on KGO’s morning talk show Thursday, Brown’s comments appeared to refer to criticism that Newsom has been spending too much time traveling to town hall-style meetings across the state while missing budget talks at home." -- I'm wondering who's doing Gavin' PR, because he's not taking the offensive at all. Jerry's a master politician and is not a afraid to deliver a velvet glove punch.

A well-placed source reported to me that BART Shooting victim Oscar Grant was found to have Crack Cocaine in his body, and planted through his buttocks. My source also accuses KTVU TV (Oakland, CA) News of delaying video release. My source is a long-time law enforcement official who has seen cases like this more often than not -- but this case given the video evidence, is different.  My source originally tipped me off to the extense of a third KTVU video of the Oscar Grant shooting by BART Police Officer Johannes Mesherle.   He said that  the video showed that another BART officer was clearly on Grant and beating him.  The source said that KTVU was withholding the video because they did not want to start a race-riot. The second tip regards the Crack Cocaine matter.  He claims that the autopsy, which is to be completed by March according, shows that the drugs were stuffed in his body via his buttocks.   My source holds that this is why -- he co...

More at San Jose Mercury News : “Young Broadcasting Inc., owner of Channel 4 KRON-TV and nine other television stations, filed for bankruptcy court protection in New York, according to court filings. In a petition for Chapter 11 protection, the New York-based company listed assets of $575.6 million and debt of $980.4 million. The company said it has $640 million of publicly traded debt. "Our decision to restructure through a Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to bring its debt in line with current economic realities so that we can emerge a stronger and more financially secure company. It is important to note that we are restructuring our debt, not our operations," says Chairman Vincent Young in a written statement.” -- The slow erosion of traditional media in the Bay Area has started. KRON's first, the question is who's next?

I found this video at TruStack's channel on YouTube. TruStack reports: Before there was BART, before there was AC Transit, there was the Key System, a series of train/bus routes in the east bay and SF. Of, GM bought them up and shut them down. This is a great video. About 20 minutes long. It was made in 1945 and contains a kind of history of the development of transportation in the East Bay. It discusses the "pre-bridge" era of transport, then the opening of The Bay Bridge and how it had a level for trains. The video has great scenes of trains zipping through Oakland and Berkeley low hills areas. It also has scenes of downtown Oakland in that day. You can recognize the 18th and Broadway intersection, for example. It's worth taking time to view the video.

The cell phone gun is now in media view after a raid of an Italian Mafia group last fall. A 28-year old man captured had this device, but the the others got away. I fear this weapon - which is in the United States - would wind up in our high schools.

This press conference was held to announce the settlement between the City of Oakland and the Oakland Housing Authority last fall of 2008. This is the only full-length video of that press conference. Oakland City Attorney John Russo sued the Oakland Housing Authority for not meeting its city-established housing mandates. But unlike most lawsuits, this one ended in an agreement that helped all sides.

This is a great interview of OPD spokesperson Jeff Thomason by DaveyD and done last Friday evening, but it leaves one question open: where is the City of Oakland in the process of the investigation of the BART Shooting? When will it wrap up? How is it being done? By whom?

This video show how the City of Fremont went from being an enthusiastic player in the matter of building the new high-tech stadium for the Oakland's A's to a set of city officials not willing to commit land near a planned Warm Springs BART extention for the stadium. Fremont has changed in four months from a town that wanted the proposed privately financed stadium to one with a now-powerful citizen's group opposed to it. Why? Because, as I've said before, the A's plan will and now does call for public financing. Rather than smartly pulling back on the proposal, A's managing owner Lew Wolff is trying to steam forward with this plan. He's also reopened talks with the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County about a stadium there. What's really not smart about that approach is the Major League Agreement has not been altered to allow the A's to move to San Jose, and there's no guarantee that San Jose would 1) be able to get public approval for a s...

More at EBX : “Robert Bobb should have been Oakland's new city administrator. He was easily the most qualified candidate, and was Mayor Ron Dellums' first choice. Last month, the two men were talking salary and benefits, as they closed in on a deal to bring Bobb back to the East Bay. But then Oakland's respected former city manager changed his mind, and decided to take over the financially troubled Detroit public school system. What happened? According to knowledgeable sources, there were several reasons for why Bobb decided to turn down Dellums, and one of them had to do with Oakland's other "mayor" — Cynthia Dellums.” -- Look, this source is none other than Oakland's leading City Hall Gossip Authority Sanjiv Handa. I know this because Gammon doesn't normally pop-out with articles like this, and the only person who has the level of detail Gammon presents is Sanjiv. Period. As to the story itself, it's true. The way the Mayor's Office is r...

Alex Rodriguez admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs in 2003, and perhaps between 2001 and 2003 while with the Texas Rangers. But I don't blame him, I blame Baseball and the Commissioner of Baseball for the "Golden Home Run Age."

The majestic Fox Oakland Theater reopened with a bang as a lavish gala was held February 5th. The event featured "everything 40s": people dressed in vintage wear. It was Oakland's coming out party.

bbb_0279 , originally uploaded by Mike Rosati Photography . This photo by Mike Rosati Photography captures both the beauty and the size of the main room of the Fox Oakland Theater on Gala Opening Night.

smokers , originally uploaded by chuchi carmelo .

deco belle , originally uploaded by chuchi carmelo .

Fox Theater , originally uploaded by Lucky † 13 .

Pat Dedekian's "Thank You, We Did It" Speech , originally uploaded by kwikway .

Tagami's Fox Project Team Takes a Bow , originally uploaded by kwikway . This was but one of the many great scenes at this terrific event!  The Oakland Fox construction team is on the stage of the building they brought back to life with Phil Tagami of California Commercial Investments introducing them.  Congrats to all including Tagami, Jeff Chew of the Community and Economic Development Agency, The Friends of The Oakand Fox Theater, and our videos -- lots of material -- will start here on Sunday.    The Gala was a complete blast. 

I wrote a blog post over at Zennie62 that I urge you to read.  You can understand the real nature of the compromise bill that's passing the Senate.  Click: Zennie62 on Economic Recovery Act  .

More at SF Gate : “(02-06) 16:48 PST DUBLIN -- Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer accused of murder in the Jan. 1 shooting death of an unarmed man on the Fruitvale Station platform in Oakland, was released this afternoon on $3 million bail, authorities said. Mehserle, 27, posted bail at 3:45 p.m. and was released from Santa Rita Jail without incident, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department said.”

More at Oakland Tribune : “Oakland's Fox Theater, the 81-year-old grand dame of a movie palace, born at the start of Hollywood's Golden Age, is back in business. The downtown theater, closed since 1970, will host a $250-a-ticket reopening gala at 7 tonight (the show is sold out). Then on Friday, the venue will swing open its doors to the general public as it presents legendary SoCal punk band Social Distortion in concert. Thirteen other shows already have been booked for the Fox, including Michael Franti and Spearhead on Saturday, Modest Mouse on Feb. 22 and B.B. King on April 16. The musical acts will be only part of the draw for concertgoers. Some will come out of curiosity, for the chance to finally see the result of the $75 million restoration project. What they'll see should surpass all expectations, a theater that arguably is as grand and gorgeous as any in the nation. "Everyone who has put their blood, sweat and tears into this project can feel so proud in what ...

Rachel (Sears) Casanta is a Professional Triathlete and Coach based in Richmond, California. Rachel's also my friend and someone my company Sports Business Simulations has sponsored since 2003. She's available for fitness / triathlete coaching via the website http://www.hypercatracing.com

This is right out of the small world file. I happened by accident to be sitting next to a friend of Renetto, one of the first "big" vloggers, or vloggers who got big, at Gaylord's Cafe in Oakland today. But we were talking about how small the world is, so I put it on video! What we talked about as well was the small world of video-bloggers and how much enormous potential the industry -- I can call it that -- has. We also talked about the ways vloggers were trying to improve the way community is developed among vloggers online and offline.

In this video I share what the day of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of The United States means to me, set to music - a piece called "ritual".

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.

I talked with Oakland District 3 Councilmember Nancy Nadel at the BART Shooting Community meeting held January 8th 2009. Here, Nadel expresses her concern about the use of police "deadly force" on people of color.

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...

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. ...

The iReport at CNN team wants to know what my do-over-day would be. Well, the one I was thinking of, when I -- as Chairman -- wrote an email to the board of the Oakland Super Bowl Bidding Committee.

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 ...

This Channel 5 Video shows the report of the out come of the BART Shooting bail hearing for Johannes Mesherle and the reaction of protestors. I understand there's another protest planned for Friday of this week, but that's not certain. It's just rumor.