Texas Tech Stuns Number One Texas 39 to 33

This was one of the most amazing college football games I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of them.  In a thrilling pass-o-rama, Texas Tech's Mike Leach showed the nation what an incredible passing game he's developed on ABC television and I watch it.  Wow.  Texas Tech 38, Number One Texas, 33 .  A game that people will talk about for years to come.

Internet Overtakes Newspapers As Source Of Political News

According to a study by the the Pew Research Center , the internet is now the major source of election news.  The study shows that the Internet is beating newspapers in audience draw.  Also, but no surprise, Fox News draws a Republican audience, whereas CNN and MSNBC were mostly Democratic.  Here's what they report:

Many more Americans are turning to the internet for campaign news this year as the web becomes a key source of election news. Television remains the dominant source, but the percent who say they get most of their campaign news from the internet has tripled since October 2004 (from 10% then to 33% now).

While use of the web has seen considerable growth, the percentage of Americans relying on TV and newspapers for campaign news has remained relatively flat since 2004. The internet now rivals newspapers as a main source for campaign news. And with so much interest in the election next week, the public's use of the internet as a campaign news source is up even since the primaries earlier this year. In March, 26% cited the internet as a main source for election news, while the percentages citing television and newspapers remain largely unchanged.

Paul Cobb On Chauncey Bailey, Mayor Ron Dellums & Oakland

 

Paul Cobb is a long-time Oakland, California writer, activist, community organizer and now publisher of the Oakand Post. I met Paul at his office in Downtown Oakland to talk about a wide range of subjects, but the two I was most interested in talking about were who killed Chauncey Bailey and what Paul thought about the current Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums.  

Bailey was an Oakland journalist who was supposedly murdered by people associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) on August 2, 2007.  But Cobb and others believe that the chain of events that led to someone, perhaps Devaughndre Broussard of YBMB,  murdering a journalist in the line of duty is more complicated and may lead to people and institutions one would not expect. 

Cobb's assertions regarding the relationship between Bailey and members of the Oakland Police Department would seem to match the concerns expressed in this website article by the Chauncey Bailey Project.  The person who shot Bailey was wearing a ski mask so true identification was never done.  Broussard confessed to the killing, but this to may be a coverup.

Related blog post on Bailey's passing:

http://zennie2005.blogspot.com/2007/08/oakland-journalist-chauncey-bailey-in.html

In our talk for this video, Paul got in some interesting information.  Without coming out and saying it directly, Cobb believes that an Oakland Police officer had some role in Bailey's eventual death.  He says this twice in the video.   In this video, Cobb also said that California Attorney General Jerry Brown took Bailey's research files from him and never returned them.  A view that's controversial, considering that Mayor Dellums has asked Brown to investigate the matter of Bailey's murder. 

Cobb talks about Barack Obama and what his friend the late Dr. Martin Luther King, would think about Barack's historic success in becoming as of this writing the first African American presidential nominee of either party.  What Cobb says is not just that he would be proud, but it is the culmination of his dream.

Those are some of the highlights of a man who's life goes back to his personal relationship with Martin Luther King.

Dr. Cornell West On Riz Khan's Show - "Free Market Fundamentalism"

Dr. Cornell West of Princeton is one of America's foremost intellectuals and an expert on sociology and race in America. I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Dr. West at the Democratic National Convention. Dr. West's comments are featured on Riz Khan's show on AlJazeera English.  


Here, West first talks Barack Obama's impact on how Black America sees itself, then about how a social industrial relationship between politcs and the military serves to hold the lower classes in their place and hamper social mobility.  


Part 1




Part 2: 

Baffle the exit poll pundits - show unity November 4th

There is a special feeling pervading the polling place on voting day, a sense of participation that transcends the partisan posturing of the preceding weeks and months. If you’ve never voted before I hesitate to shape your anticipation, but there’s no denying the sense of being a part of something that’s happening nationwide. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wish that there were fewer people exercising “early voting” options, though I grant that there are fine, legitimate reasons that every state and territory should make that not merely possible, but easy.

I also understand the desire to flash your allegiance in a year when the focus is on national politics, particularly as the rhetoric from certain candidates has been more inflammatory than inspirational. I feel strongly about who I’ve campaigned for - there are signs in my yard right down to the level of my choice for city council, my car is practically a rolling billboard, and there’s no time I’m seen in public when there’s any doubt which candidate I support in the presidential election.

But on Tuesday, I’ll wear purple.

No matter who you think is the best candidate or party there is one truth Barack Obama articulated way back in 2004. “The pundits like to slice and dice us…" It makes for better television coverage, and they want you watching their network(s) to insure their ad revenues are high, so every year they seek to make it more compelling coverage of what they seek to portray as a more dramatic election. Despite that, on Tuesday when we make our communal pilgrimage to express our preferences, “there are not red states or blue states. There is the United States of America.”

On Tuesday, November 4th, what will you wear while you cast your ballot?

Got purple?

Zennie Abraham on CNN International - Video

I was featured in a discussion on the role and impact of bloggers in the political campaign that was hosted by Errol Barnett, who's a reporter for CNN International and produced by Jessica Ellis, of CNN's Special Projects unit.   If you remember Errol's name, he is the same person who interviewed me regarding my use of New Media at the Democratic National Convention.


The idea was to have two bloggers, one Democrat (me) and the other Republican.  The Republican choice was Adam Brinkley .  Adam's the blogger known for the "Draft Sarah Palin" movement, and since it obviously succeeded, he's due a measure of both congratulations and blame for Governor Palin's political rise and her gaffs along the way.


That aside, one has to give him his props on his achievement.


The talk appeared on CNN International, which means that it was seen around the World, but not in the United States (Rats!)  Which at first may read as a "less than" until you realize that you're seen in probably every airport and hotel in the industrialized World.  I even got an email -- right off the bat of the airing of the segment -- from a friend of mine who lives in Oakland, but was visiting Africa!


Regarding the segment, it was a short, but great conversation which one can see below in the embeded video.  But that written, either Errol or someone edited out the part of the conversation where I pointed out to Adam that more than one McCain advisor was openly critical of Governor Palin (I thought I'd liven things up a bit), and Adam said that whomever was doing that should be fired.


He's totally right.  McCain should listen to Adam more often.  Plus, Governor Palin should give part of whatever riches she gets from now on to Adam.  Were it not for him, she'd still be hunting moose in Alaska.


Here's the video:

Woman Yells "N-Word" On Obama, Sarah Palin Says Nothing

Ok.  This is not right.  Sarah Palin, who's known for stopping in the middle of a rally to take on a heckler, didn't do so this time, and let a woman in the crowd who yelled the "N-word" when Palin referenced Barack Obama go on without a verbal correction of the heckler.  Does that mean she agrees?  


At least the Alaska Gov. could have said "Now, you know, that's not allowed here!  Barack Obama is a true Patriot that we disagree with."