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More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Business and civic leaders tried to sound a hopeful message Friday as they met to take stock of Oakland's economy in the midst of a national financial crisis. Their meeting at the Oakland Marriott marked the second anniversary of the creation of a public-private initiative called the Oakland Partnership, designed to attract 10,000 jobs to Oakland over a five-year period. Mayor Ron Dellums joined others in saying the partnership has seen success despite the economic doom and gloom, and that the Obama administration's stimulus package could give Oakland a significant boost.”

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! On Saturday, May 3rd, my new television show starts. It's called "The Blog Report With Zennie62" and features the use of my video blogs in a weekly 30-minute format broadcast and co-produced by CoLoursTV in Denver and on Channel 9407 nationwide on the DISH Network , but it's on Comcast in Florida, and Fox and Insight cable systems. The start time is 3:30 PM Pacific Time, 6:30 PM Eastern Time and the show is replayed at 11:30 PM and 2:30 PM respecfully. If you don't have a TV you can see the live stream at CoLoursTV.org . or Zennie62.com This first show focused on selected events that occured after the shooting of Oscar Grant by BART Officer Johannes Mesherle on New Year's Day. It opens with my walk through a riot-ravaged downtown Oakland where I talked with many people about what happened, including a group of kids who were some of the rioters and that was eye-opening. Then we focus on the words

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! In an article written by none other than Academy Award-Winning Actor Leonardo DiCaprio , Oakland's Van Jones was just named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. DiCaprio writes: When Van Jones was tapped to serve as special adviser on green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality earlier this year, the appointment was heralded as a significant development for the green movement. And for good reason. A pioneer in fusing economic opportunity and social justice with environmentalism, Jones, 40, represents an important progression in our country's perception and thus our approach to combatting global warming. It's incredible and, well, just plain cool to see Van rise from Oakland to the White House where he works as Special Adviser on Green Jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and be rewarded for something he would have done and has done without fanfare for years

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! YouTube , MySpace , Blip.tv , Stupid Videos , Sclipo and Viddler Supreme Court Judge David Souter plans to retire at 69 years of age, according to Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio and which she announced today. President Barack Obama has a great opportunity to begin to remake the Supreme Court by installing a real legal scholar who's work and life has impacted many people. That person is Professor Kathleen Sullivan . Professor Sullivan, like President Obama, is a constitutional law scholar which means she focuses on the interpretation and implementation of the U.S. Constitution. The importance of that can't be understated as we see a flurry of new laws to control speech and behavior (think laws curbing the use of "cuss" words for example) and their conflict with civil liberties. And as the Supreme Court is the place for the consideration fo the U.S. Constitution, it's logical to have a consti

Mehserle loses plea to have bail reduced - Inside Bay Area : “Although former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle is free on $3 million bail in his murder case, he recently sought but lost a plea to have it reduced, a court order obtained by the Tribune revealed. Michael Rains, Mehserle's defense attorney, sought a $2.9 million reduction of bail in the case, arguing that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson "manipulated the facts" regarding his client's flight risk when the judge issued the original bail amount in January.”

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! The Worldwide sensation Susan Boyle, who was discovered to rave reviews on the show Britains' Got Talent is now faced with her second "big challenger" in as many weeks on the show, 10-year-old Hollie Steel and a process that threatens to dampen Boyle's chance for real success. The small girl from Britain wowed the crowd last Saturday on yet another show. Steel makes the second talent to emerge as a possible challenge to Boyle for the winner of the competition in as many weeks, as we were introduced to 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi just the weekend before, and calls into question the ability of Boyle to maintain the high level frenzy that catapulted her to stardome. What I fear is that as BGT rolls out new challengers, Boyle's ability to capture a high dollar record deal will be impacted. The only solution for Boyle is to drop out of Britains' Got Talent, and sign a record deal before the end of Ma

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! In a strongly worded letter I just received as of this writing from the office of Oakland City Attorney John Russo (and is reproduced in full at the end of this post), Oakland's lawyer penned what is without a doubt the strongest attack on the Oakland Athletics attempts to leave Oakland by and Oakland City Official. Russo writes: Oakland A’s managing partner Lew Wolff is a talented and smart businessman. But if Wolff thinks anybody is buying his sob story about why the A’s have to leave Oakland, he’s seriously underestimating the intelligence of the team’s fan base, the press and the people of this city.   Oakland City Attorney John Russo with me in 2008 in his office.  What started this has been a process of dissing and trying to excavate the team from Oakland almost since it was sold to Ken Schott and Steve Hoffman after the beloved Haas Family sold the organization in 1994; Schott and Hoffman then sold the t