Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com YouTube.com , Yahoo , MySpace , Metacafe , DailyMotion , Blip.tv , StupidVideos , Sclipo and Viddler What started as a calamity threatening to divide America has seemingly ended in a planned beer bust at the White House, courtesy of President Barack Obama himself. The ill-advised ( in my opinion ) arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Lewis Gates by Cambridge Police Officer Sgt. James Crowley four days ago caught the attention of the nation, but it was President Obama's comment that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" and the rather terrible response by the Cambridge Police Union at its press conference , which created a much-needed national conversation about race, law enforcement, and American culture. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, there's no doubt that it has been the political talk of the day, even if much of it was disjointed, nas

Now, I know what you're saying: that's a weird title.  Well it's borne of my unusual Sunday, March 15th 2009.  In this case I was on the indoor rowing machine and saw Van Jones who's a friend -- not buddy buddy so careful there -- getting out of his car and walking to the gym: Gold's Gym on Grand Avenue . Frankly, I've never seen him in the gym, so I was a bit surprised he was headed in.  I finished my 2000 meters in 11 minutes -- hey, I'm finally back to that rowing pace! -- and went over to talk to Van. "Hey!  I thought you were in DC", I said.  Van explained that he was leaving Sunday night and to a morning White House meeting.  He was excited about the opportunity, sad to leave Oakland, but apparenly humbled over the task ahead "We've got to go and make sure people get jobs" he said.  Unless, you've lived under a rock, you know that Jones has carved a niche as a green energy and sustainable jobs advocate.  His latest boo

Oakland resident accepts White House post as 'green jobs' adviser - Inside Bay Area : “Oakland activist and author Van Jones has accepted a White House post as a "green jobs" adviser to President Barack Obama. Jones, 40, will serve starting Monday as special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, helping to shape and implement job-generating climate policy; working to ensure equal protection and equal opportunity in the administration's climate and energy proposals; and publicly advocating the Obama administration's environmental and energy agenda.”

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.”

Hey everyone.  I'm in Washington DC at the last minute just to really cover the experience of it all -- no tickets to events, but then I'm press, so I need a credential.  Didn't think I would be here as recently as Wednesday, but things happen fast:   So with that, if I were in Oakland, what would I do?  Wow, a lot.  There are a ton of events today, Sunday, and through Tuesday.  There's the Tuesday evening event called "Barack and Roll" at ZCafe, and produced by the East Bay Young Democrats (here's their Facebook Page  ).  Then there's the giant event at Oracle Arena that Tuesday morning. There's also an event at The Uptown Nightclub, and again on Tuesday night, and here's their Facebook Page  .  At any rate, there's more than I have time to post.  But the Berkeley Daily Planet has a great breakdown of events  , here's a list of some of them: • Sunday, Jan. 18, 4 p.m., Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. •

For me this was a ton of fun to do. But it's even better when someone takes time to let folks know you did a great job. Such was the case with the CNN iReport and CNN.com, who contacted me regarding my question for CNN's Ali Velshi on what he thought of giving $3,500 to each American taxpayer under $100,000. Here's the video: Embedded video from CNN Video This is what CNN iReport's Rachel8 wrote : Would you go head-to-head with CNN's top economic expert on an economic stimulus plan? How about live on the air? Fearless iReport superstar Zennie Abraham did. After submitting an iReport suggesting a taxpayer stimulus package, he discussed his plan with CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi on CNN.com/live. Velshi said the plan -- which calls for a $3,500 stimulus check to those making less than $100,000 a year -- was not targeted enough to work. But Zennie courageously defended his idea. "I disagree, with all due respect," he said to Vels

Think Progress » Who Is Steven Chu? A Nobel Physicist Who Believes In Bold Energy Transformation : “Numerous media outlets are reporting Dr. Steven Chu will be President-elect Obama’s choice to head the Department of Energy. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California where he has been addressing the climate crisis by pushing breakthrough research in energy efficiency, solar energy, and biofuels technology. Colleagues who know Chu best say “he’s not a manager, he’s a leader.” In an interview with the Wonk Room, David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at UC Berkeley, described Chu as a “very distinguished researcher” and “an extremely effective manager of cutting edge technology initiatives.””