Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

The City of Oakland and Alameda County must reject AEG, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, from being even considered as stadium manager for the Oakland Coliseum, and for one reason: AEG does not have the best interest of the Oakland Coliseum in mind. Why would an organization openly court the Oakland Raiders to move to Los Angeles, work to buy a portion of the team at a cut-rate price (something that Colts Owner Jim Irsay has threatened to block), and yet turn around and even think to ask to replace SMG (Spectacor Management Group) as manager of the Oakland Coliseum? A one-word-answer: power. And its that interest in power that would wreck the Oakland Coliseum for the foreseeable future. Right now, the Oakland Coliseum, and the City of Oakland, is under a wave of negative sports industry PR not of its own making. The Oakland A's were making noise about leaving for San Jose. The Golden State Warriors have made noise about wanting a new stadium in San Francisco. And Oaklan...

In an action that comes as no surprise to anyone, an Ecuador appeals court confirmed the decision by Ecuador to award an $18 billion damage award to Ecuador. Ecuador's court, long accused of bribery and beset with scandal, would not dream of going against the wishes of that country's President Rafael Correa. Consider that President Rafael Correa recently sued a popular local newspaper and its columnists and editors for $80 million, as I explain in this video, when the cost was just $10 million.... ...then took the "pledge" (if you will because those news guys don't have $80 million in their pockets) and attached it to the $116 million that he said would stop Ecuador from drilling in the Yasuni park region. And Correa has allowed his state-run oil company Petroecuador to continue oil drilling and environmental damage, and to the point where it and other foreign oil companies have committed over 100 oil spills since Chevron left the country in 1992. St...