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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 &q

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