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We have more on this over at Zennie's Zeitgeist , but here a video of the Obama camp slamming the offensive cartoon:

If you find you parked your car in the wrong place at UC Berkeley today, this may be the day you're in the clear. Workers went on strike represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union Local 3299, and are being joined by lab techs. The story reported i n the SF Chronicle only refers to a judge's order that was violated not to strike, but it does not refer to the reasons why they did. Sloppy. This story from San Diego's Channel 10 does: UCSD Medical Center custodian Angie Mendoza said union members have been working without a contract since Jan. 31, and have been unsuccessfully negotiating a new contract since last Aug. 31. The union had a one-day strike three years ago, Mendoza said. "It helped a lot," she said. According to union spokesman William Schlitz, demands include a livable wage of at least $15 per hour, a "step pay" system that includes an annual compensation increase, and protection for benefits like

California (Oakland) 13/3-08 , originally uploaded by NicolaiKiessling . If you've never been to Arizmendi's on Lakeshore near Lake Merritt for pizza or just a morning coffee, go there. The pizza's served starting at 11:30 each day, and it's worth the wait. The place is known for its pizza much more than for its coffee.

If you've never taken a canoe ride on Lake Merritt, and I have yet to do so, this is what it looks like, thanks to YouTuber laurenneutral -- the screen name:

In yet another example of piling on, we have the California Report comparing Oakland's governance to a Keystone Cops movie. I'm not sure I'd go that far at all. But 30-year Sacramento veteran and former speaker Willie Brown staffer Bill Cavala -- who has a haircut right from a Keystone Cops movie -- thinks so. In the California Report, Cavala writes: “Cronyism” is one the charges made about virtually all elected officials. Unlike most work, political activity engenders opponents, those that would like you or your allies out of political office and replaced by themselves or their allies. To protect yourself from those opponents, politicians seek what others find in privacy in the company of people they trust. “Loyalty”, a political virtue, really means trustworthy under pressure. So when picking subordinates or employees, those of us in the political world add “loyalty” to the list of attributes we look for – along with skills, intelligence, judgment that everyone looks

I happened over to Flopping Aces , a political blog, and noticed their reference and post on a study that questioned the infuence of bloggers in politics. The study was done in the "olden" days of blogging, circa 2006, and so is already questionable because there were 2 million blogs then, versus over 100 million today. But the main point missed by Flopping Aces is that with ad dollars moving toward the Internet, and reporters being laid off left and right, blogs remain the one place to go to get news. Yes, biased -- for example, we tend to be pro-Barack Obama -- but that is why people surf blogs. The bottom line is that the way we're getting our news is changing fast and in this sea of alteration is difficult to question the power of blogs. We're at a point where almost every major news channel on television looks like blogs for news, then uses their content or story idea to some degree. That fact is not in the study's discussed.

In what has to be the greatest example of editorial contrast in mainstream media, we have the Oakland Tribune's loving praise for Senate Pro Tem Don Perata's political style during sessions on the California budget, and then East Bay Express reporting on his rumored investigation by the FBI. On that, Robert Gammon, who was with the Tribune until about six years ago, seems to have spent much of his adult life trying to get Perata for this of that. If not him, then it was the SF Bay Guardian for a time takikng wacks at him. It's like an old saw. It can only sell papers for so long. Now, the industry's in free fall. But I digress. You be the judge. Here's the Oakland Tribune : Perata takes "textured" approach to foes By Steven Harmon MediaNews Sacramento Bureau Article Last Updated: 07/14/2008 06:54:25 AM PDT SACRAMENTO — Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has what experts say is a textured approach to dealing with his Republican foes on the budget. Th

California High Speed Rail Authority Bypasses Oakland After My Work to Avoid This California High Speed Rail , an issue I birddogged for Elihu Harris when he was Mayor of Oakland, is still alive and kicking. One of my major objectives was making sure Oakland was not bypassed in the formation of the route; something I also warned Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown about when he took office in late 1998. At the time I encouraged Mayor Harris to hand off the issue to Jerry Brown, which led to the pair arriving at a "Mayor's meeting" to advocate for Oakland's inclusion in the route system. In 1997, I successfully pushed for this article to be developed and ran in the SF Chronicle, to get the "Oakland View" in the public eye. At the time, Mayor Harris didn't believe the system would ever be funded, and so viewed it as a lost cause. But I argued that we could not afford to take a chance on that outcome and that at least Oakland should be considered. Mayor Harr

"Yes We Can" is the new musical and video tribute to Senator Barack Obama for President by Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt. I was asked to co-produce and distribute the video on behalf of Maria Muldaur and Joel Jaffe of Studio D Recording in Sausalito , CA. It's not to be confused with the first great "Yes We Can" video and song by Will-I-Am, which is a terrific and pioneering work of its own. Also see www.yeswecanthevideo.com "Yes We Can" - Tribute to Obama By Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt Press Release: Singing Legends Team Up For Obama Tribute Song and Video Here's the video: > On Metacafe. > On Google > On My Space > On Crackle > On Sclipo > On Viddler > Dailymotion > On AOL "Yes We Can" by Zennie Abraham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License . Based on a work at www.yeswecanthevideo.com . Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.yeswecanthevi

This video is nothing less than a monologue on how some remaining female supporters of Senator Clinton for President are, in pointing out sexism, being sexist themselves. I point to Salon.com's Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh as a main example and as one who looks the other way when Michelle Obama is the target of sexism and racism, but not Senator Clinton, followed by Harriet Christian, the terrible and outwardly racist Clinton supporter who gained national attention for her racist and sexist rant against Senator Barack Obama at the DNC Rules Committee Meeting of May 31st..... click for the rest at Zennie's Zeitgeist .

Long time Oakland Tribune reporters Bill Soliday and Dave Del Grande were two of the 24 Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times reporters let go for "financial reasons" as the newspaper industry continues to fall with the steady transfer of ad dollars from print media to online sources. I leaned of the two reporter's demise while out with friends. This story on the blog Mediafade, fills in some blanks. One reporter thinks their layoffs have to do with support of the union, The Newspaper Guild. Ha. She does not get it. Many old media folks don't get it. Just last year, the top ad buyers shifted $1 billion away from print and TV and to the Internet . It giving way to publicaions like, for example, Zennie's Zeitgeist , which is rounding up sponsors for its DNC Convention coverage. The times are a changin.

According to ResistRacism and SF Gate , the City of Oakland will pay $2 million to settle a case where Oakland Police Officer Richard Valerga sexually harrassed 16 Asian American women under the color of his role as police officer. Hopefully, the officer spends six-months in jail at least. But here's his lawyer's argument against that: When Valerga entered his no contest plea, his criminal defense attorney, Paul Brennan, said he could ask that Valerga not receive any jail time because he has no criminal history and had distinguished records as a police officer for six years and as a member of the U.S. Navy. The problem with this argument is the officer's admission of "no contest" is that it throws open to question just what he was doing during his six years of police work, and how many other women were harrassed -- I don't mean comments, but GROPING -- over that time? Come to think of it. What was he doing in the U.S. Navy?

Earlier this week I flew to Denver for the DNC Convention Media Walkthrough, which was more of a briefing on various issues concerning the facility than just a walkthrough of Pepsi Center. The video's here: And you can read about my trip here > DNC Convention Media Walkthrough

Someone's watching my blog posts about Chevron and its battle to clear its name in Ecuador and Nigeria, and sent an email I can't trace, but it provides a good counter to the East Bay Express' article which reads as a clear attack piece on the oil giant. This is what the person who calls themselves "Blind Emailer" -- anything but -- sent to me: The Richmond City Council has an excellent opportunity to improve the quality of life for its residents on July 15. That’s the day when it will meet to decide whether to allow Chevron to make important improvements at its Richmond Refinery. Chevron is proposing to make upgrades to its machinery that will enhance environmental controls, reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency and increase the amount of gas produced that meets California’s tough environmental standards – all without expanding the refinery or increasing the overall amount of fuel it produces. One would think that any responsible elected official w

Oakland City Attorney John Russo and Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby held a press conference calling for reforms in City of Oakland personnel and ethics policies on Wednesday, July 9th in Hearing Room Two at Oakland City Hall. Russo and Ruby (sounds like a law firm) put together a press package that's quite extensive and calls for more study than most press people will give it. But the initiatives are broken down into the following categories: 1) Strengthen Anti-Nepotism Rules 2) Reform Personnel Department Procedures 3) Fix Records Management 4) Protect Whistleblowers 5) Establish Employee Ethics Program Press from KGO Radio, KTVU, KPFA Radio, NPR, and others were there. But this is the only full video of not just the press conference speakers, but the questioners as well. The press conference was well-attended, and even drew people like Pat McClough, who ran against incumbent Councilmember Jane Brunner in this year's election battle for the Oakland District One City Coun

To provide another example of the non-systemic, biased, and arbitrary nature of the establishment and application of laws in Oakland, I present our own Oakland City Charter . The Charter reads: Section 1212. Gender References. All gender references in this Charter shall be considered neutral in form and context. (Amended by: Stats. November 1988.) Right? Well, look at this: Section 504. Duties. The City Administrator shall have the power and it shall be his duty: (a) To execute and enforce all laws and ordinances and policies of the Council and to administer the affairs of the City. (b) To attend all meetings of the Council, and its committees, unless excused, and such meetings of boards and commissions as he chooses or which he is directed to attend by the Council, and to participate in discussions at such meetings. (c) To recommend to the Council such measures and ordinances as he may deem necessary or expedient and to make such other recommendations to the Council concerning

I'm sure where this is headed -- court -- but for now, the mortar shells keep firing. Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Thompson -- Deborah Edgerly's Number Two -- was fired today in what seems to be Mayor Ron Dellums' Summer Massacre. The other problem is that Cheryl Thompson was supposedly promissed a severance package by Edgerly. Oakland City Attorney John Russo and Dellums Chief of Staff David Chai assert that Cheryl Thompson was not to receive a five-month's pay severance package that Cheryl Thompson says was promised to her by Edgerly. Russo told the Oakland Tribune that "Our position is, 'Where's this employment agreement in 2004 that you're mentioning?'" Russo said. "Does it exist? Without a written agreement, it's not even possible for us to even consider it." But here's the potential problem: if Edgerly and Thompson assert that there was a verbal agreement, then Russo or anyone else can't say it's n

A blooger who calls himself "Marine Layer" -- not his name -- says that Oaklanders don't go to Oakland A's games, but there's a reason for that. Marine Layer writes : Pro-Oakland types often say that ownership has in effect spit on them and driven them away. Some non-Oaklanders have concluded that the fandom really hasn't been there in the first place. Honestly, I think it has more to do with numbers: Oakland's population is only 1/6th of the East Bay, even less of the Bay Area's 7 million. One thing I've pondered is how many former Oakland residents attend ballgames. As the Oakland Hills has taken in transplants from San Francisco and the rest of the country, certainly many longtime Oakland residents were displaced. Some have left the flats for opportunities elsewhere, especially with the erosion of the manufacturing sector. It's likely a combination of the above factors, which is rather inconvenient for partisans looking for an easy scapegoa

Look, I'm not writing this to defend fired Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly' entire performance, but to act as a reasoned corrective. Phil Mattier and Andy Ross ' column today listed what Edgerly was entitled to in the way of monetary compensation: The bennies include: -- Nine weeks of vacation. -- Two weeks of management leave. -- Three weeks of executive leave. -- Ten weeks of sick leave (paid out at 33 cents on the dollar). It's a grand total payment of $90,024, city officials confirmed. Right. But what "city officials" forgot to tell Matier and Ross is that because Edgerly worked so many hours, she didn't take sick leave or management leave, or vacation pay. I like Phil and Andy, but I have to not only disagree with the way they present this information, but point an accusatory finger at the "city officials" who confirmed this information, because they could have took effort to tell Matier and Ross of the nature of the compensati

If you want to express your political or sports or hollywood view unfettered and are looking for an outlet to get your blog and video work seen or just your view, send an email to zennie@sportsbusinesssims.com . You will become part of our " SBS Personalities " if you wish, which gets you your very own page and more exposure. Just send an email. We're building the next great political and pop culture blog!!

I received an email on YouTube from"joshuahaskellcarr" which was a Death Wish, pure and simple, and explains how much this person wanted me "gone." So I informed YouTube, blocked the user, and now I'm informing you. I'm also "Defining The Relationship" between guests and me in my channel, or "my house." Please do not use nasty words or harass me or any other commenter. And behavior like the one I described in this video will be met with a ban and a report to YouTube and the FBI. I'm serious about this. We can disagree and still be civil toward one another. Please bring your debate hat and your "A" game, as Ron Paul supporters have done. They're the masters of civil debate; love em.

According to Katy Murphy , Alice Spearman, the incumbent for the East Oakland - Elmhurst seat on the Oakland School Board, avoided a run-off in the contest against Doris Limbrick and Beverly Williams. She won 50.4 percent of the vote. Talk about winning by a hair!

On Thursday July 3rd, U.S. District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton forced YouTube to give Viacom -- which owns shows like "The Daily Show", and "The Colbert Report" -- records that show what videos you and I have been watching. Here in this video , I explain that the implications are dangerous and could help, for example, the Chinese Government find and kill Tibetan protesters. In this, a private company could purchase the data from Viacom and then resell it to the Chinese Government. The Chinese Government could use the IP address information to find the general location of Tibetan protesters, go to their areas, and kill them. That's a possible scenario. I considered the court's "restriction" on use of the material by Viacom. But that's the problem: the block is on how the data is used -- there's no specific prohibition of the sale of the information. The reason for all of these actions, if you've not followed the story is t

Donna Brazile , originally uploaded by AFSCME.org . CNN's Donna Brazile Comes To SF For Obama Fundraiser July 15th, Palace Hotel CNN's Donna Brazile is coming To San Francisco For a Fundraiser for the "Obama Victory Fund" July 15th from 12 noon to 1:30 PM at The Palace Hotel, (2 New Montgomery, downtown San Francisco and just off Montgomery BART Station), and you can join us with a $150 contribution or a $1,000 contribution for a VIP reception to host Ms. Brazile. To join us, just click on this link: https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/BrazileJuly15 And as you sign up and donate, type in "Zennie Abraham" in the field "PLEASE LET US KNOW WHO ENCOURAGED YOU TO MAKE THIS CONTRIBUTION:" About Donna Brazile Donna Brazile is Founder and Managing Director of Brazile and Associates, LLC and is the first African-American to direct a major presidential campaign, having done so for Gore-Libermann 2000. Brazile is perhaps best known as the weekl

In this installment of our video show, Oakland Personal Injury Lawyer Bob Schock talks about "Slip and Falls" and what to do if you believe you've been a victim of such an occurence. You can contact Bob at 510-839-7722 or visit his website: http://robertgschock.com

Charlie Pine of " Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods ", who was recently interviewed at TagamiVision , and who unsucessfully ran for the at-large seat in the 2008 Oakland City Council race, posted this web article which features the actions of activist David Mix: City Tampered with LLAD Tax Vote The City of Oakland gave a privileged property owner – the Port of Oakland – extra votes in the recent mail ballot on a proposed increase of the Landscape and Lighting Assessment (LLAD) tax. ORPN previously reported how the City rigged the LLAD vote with outlandish determinations of how much "benefit" one property or another receives from park maintenance, tree trimming, and street lighting. Although a flagrant violation of any democratic standard, it is not automatically illegal. However, citizen activist David E. Mix has uncovered outright vote tampering. The votes of homeowners, apartments, and other properties were weighted by the proposed increase in their

Nancy Nadel - Councilmember Releases Statement On Mayor Dellums / Deborah Edgerly Issue Oakland District Three Councilmember Nancy Nadel issued this statement on the City Hall circus that surrounded Deborah Edgerly's firing by Mayor Ron Dellums: Dear Oakland Resident, We are in the midst of troubled times in Oakland. I have been receiving many calls and emails about the issues surrounding the City Administrator and the Mayor’s response. As a scientist by training, I am intent on getting all the facts before rushing to judgment as I determine the best course for the city and continue my work to empower our residents to be active, productive and proud of their city. As I become aware of the need for deeper investigation, I will approach the appropriate level of government to provide it. I want to assure my constituents and all the residents of Oakland, that I will work diligently to expose and eliminate any corruption and just plain sloppy practices that diminish our city and dev

Easy Lounge Fun On Wednesday Nights Ok. Those of you who are frequent readers of this blog space know that I've had problems with the Easy Lounge and some "unusual" bar service in the past. But I'm here to explain that's all gone. I went Wednesday night and had a fantastically relaxing time. To be totally frank, the vibe at Easy Lounge is different when two female bartenders are at the helm as opposed to the normal set of males and testosterone-laden service. The star of the show is Sylvia, who's an informative and personable image for Easy. Indeed, she's "easy to get along with and fun to talk to after a day of work. It's also the first time I've ever seen Tom Cruise' movie Cocktail. Ok. Stop with the frowning.

Ok. First, you wonder what this is doing here on this blog. Simple. It's a part of life in Oakland, just as much as Lake Merritt Farmer's Market, Whole Foods Market, Salsa dancing, or any of the good things about this city. This is one of the bad aspects of it, and one reason I avoid riding AC Transit and drive the car -- even with these high gas prices. Sorry, but someone's got to get their kids under control. This is terrible.

I have seen this group of people dancing and moving only once, and as I was in a car on the way to somewhere else, wasn't able to stop and discover when they met again. This video -- not mine -- was taken as these Oaklanders (I hope) were doing the Salsa thing under the "columns" at the end of Lake Merritt near Mac Arthur Blvd. If anyone watching this can add more detaills, please do in the comments section!

The call for a City of Oakland "hiring audit", given by both Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Mayor Ron Dellums in the wake of the firing of Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Edgerly on Tuesday (and the focus of a July 15th City Council meeting), is a terrible, emotional, knee-jerk idea adopted by two elected officials who need to take three steps back and rethink their entire approach to this matter. They've already made a ton of errors. Dellums mistake is in appearing as if he has all of the managerial stability of a switch-hitter, changing from one way of dealing with Deborah Edgerly, then opting for a nuclear approach. Ignacio does, what he does all too well, pounce in to take advantage of a perceived weakness in his opponent. But his mistake is in his execution of this action. Remember that Dellums beat De La Fuente in the last Oakland Mayor's race, and now public perception of Dellums has reached rock-bottom, so low that Ignacio's playing

Yesterday, I was tipped off by an Oakland Resident that the Oakland Police have been wiretapping now-former Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Edgerly and say that the resulting evidence is incrminating. Now, I can't, as of this writing confirm this. It may be a couple of police officers trying to score points with an influential person, but I'm taking the claim seriously. Why? Well because it comes from people -- Oakland Police -- who can do it. I found this analysis of current California law, which reads: Both federal and California law enforcement officials may eavesdrop on and record telephone conversations without a court order under the so-called "one party consent provision" (18 USC 2511(2)(s); California Penal Code 633). In other words, if state or federal authorities have the consent of one party to a conversation (such as a government informant), the conversation may be monitored. This provision applies only to eavesdropping by law enforcement official

Today, it was annouced that Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums fired Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Edgerly after sending signals that he was going to first leave the process such that he could retire, then placed her on administrative leave, then on Tuesday of this week, decided to fire her. Regardless of where you look, it's hard to find a cool head in all of the Oakland City Hall mess. For more, read: "Chip Johnson's right about favoritism."

Today, it was announced that Rush Limbaugh signed a %400 million contract with Clear Channel. In this video , I explain that Rush's success came at a price. Michelle Sixta is a friend of mine and at one point lived on Madison, across Lake Merritt from me in Oakland, Ca. Michelle was a lot of fun. She and I would go on something called the "Back Yard Bird Watch" and generally had a good time, then lost touch after a few years. She was also -- prior to our meeting -- married to Rush as his second wife. She didn't talk about him much at all, but when she did, she explained that at first their marriage was fine, but as the years went on, Rush was more into himself than into her. He'd rather read a book than have sex. I hope she's going to get part of that $400 Million. Meanwhile, Rush has taken aim at Senator Barack Obama's run for president by employing his call screener James Gould as "Bo Snerdley" the official Obama criticizer. In my view, pick

This is a video of a fundraiser I attended on July 1st at Yoshi's In San Francisco. The hosts of the event were Hala Hijazi, the President of Professionals VIP, and Former and Legendary Speaker of The Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco Willie L. Brown, Jr. Speaker Brown was at his best, holding court, and at the end of her speech, he encouraged the crowd to "Drink. Drink. Drink. And then let me represent you for driving drunk!" Brown is now an attorney at Kay and Merkle. It was a great turn out, with everyone from Art Torres the head of the California Democratic Party, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and several SF supervisors like Aaron Peskin and Sophie Maxwell, to Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, and business leaders like Michael Johnson, who owns Yoshi's in San Francisco to Kofi Bonner of Lennar, and Steven Kay of Kay and Merkle, and my friend Beth Schnitzer who heads marketing for Pier 39 and Melissa Galliani who's the local sales manager of KFRC.

I want to be the first Oakland blogger to affirm Chip Johnson's article today charging favoritism in the City of Oakland. My response is that it doesn't start or stop at the CAO's office or with Deborah Edgerly herself, and a really complete look should go back 10 years, not just 2004. Look, I was treated so terribly by the City of Oakland when I was trying to bring the Super Bowl here , that my own mother -- who's still cancer-free by the way -- observed that "Between Blacks who are jealous of you and Whites who think someone White should be doing what you're doing, you're going through a terrible place." She was right. Oakland's government has a long history of hating well-educated Black men who don't follow the normal ethnic stereotypes. I remember 1998, when all of us from Elihu Harris' office -- I was economic advisor -- were being placed in various departments of the City of Oakland after Jerry Brown won a landslide victory to

This is my video blog on the need for Bill Clinton to be part of the Obama for America campaign effort. I feel that Obama can't win without President Clinton's support. But then the Clinton's have some image repair work to do and helping Barack's the best way to do it. ( See more over at Zennie's Zeitgeist. )