Just a brief take on the Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival held on this lovely weekend in Oakland and before the video's up in this space. First, congratulations to Race Director Gene Brtalik, who was a one-man band, meeting with officials, politicians, the media and people, even making sure that cups of water were filled for runners.
Regardless of who is named, Gene Brtalik of Corrigan Sports, and newly-minted Oaklander, made the Oakland Running Festival not just a reality, but a smoothly-running event.
What's annoying was the TV coverage by ABC Channel 7, who on Sunday afternoon ran a brief but oh-so-insulting clip that featured an unfortunately disabled and down-on-his-luck African American man saying that he essentially thought something bad was going on but saw something good, the event.
Then Channel 7 ran a story about another crime committed in Oakland - East Oakland. Channel 7 didn't bother to talk to anyone else at the Oakland Marathon who was having a good time, African American, and obviously doing OK. Perhaps they will change this by the Sunday 10 PM news, but as of this writing what they did was to misrepresent Oakland.
The reality was that many Oaklanders and a lot of people from as far away as Denver, Colorado entered the Oakland Marathon and proved what I've said and tried to show for years: that Oakland needs a sports commission to follow on the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission I created in 1999, and to form the organizational seat for our bid for the 2005 Super Bowl.
The Oakland Marathon, like other large sports events in Oakland (the NBA All-Star game and the NCAA Elite Elight of 2006) happened by accident. (In the case of the All Star game it happened just because Oakland finished the rebuilt Oracle Arena. In the case of The NCAA Elite Eight, it was then-USF Athletic Director Bill Hogan who led the bid process; the City of Oakland had little to do with it.) Had Gene Brtalik not come to Oakland, the Oakland Marathon would not have happened. An Oakland Sports Commission can place Oakland in annual competition for events as well as house the intellectual and fiscal ability to stage the Oakland Marathon yet again.
While Oakland has a special events office, it's not focused on bidding for sports events. Indeed, Oakland's not a member of the National Association of Sports Commissions; it was after this blogger created the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission. But after my resignation from the City of Oakland in 2001, their was no effort to keep it going.
The Oakland Marathon's success should not surprise anyone and Channel 7's take was irresponsible and racist. What should surprise is that Oakland has no formal organization to draw, produce, and promote sports events.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Baylor University falls to Duke University; now Duke v. West Virginia
Related searches: baylor, duke university, where is baylor university located at, waco texas, duke
It wasn't the greatest game but it did have the nation on the edge of its collective seat. Baylor University falls to Duke University 78 to 71 in the NCAA Elite Eight game played at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Now, it's Duke playing West Virginia for the right to go on to the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, Indiana one week from Monday.
Even though Baylor lost, it had its chances to win. But the main difference was Baylor's lack of discipline versus Duke's almost android-like mix of efficiency and emotion. Adept ball handling, offensive rebounds and second shots, and smooth threes made up for Duke's spotty defense. Eventually Duke seemed to wear down and frustrated Baylor.
Finally, the last three minutes and 36 seconds decided the game, but for this blogger it wasn't Duke overcoming its shooting slump, or Nolan Smith's threes, or their 18-5 second-half scoring run, but one play that ssealed the deal for Duke and drew curtains for Baylor.
It was Baylor's Quincy Acy rushing in to play enforcer after Duke's Jon Scheyer swung an elbow that looked like it connected with LaceDarius Dunn. Dunn could have got his SAG card with just a fall to the court, but he kept fighting for the ball; Acy rushed in and got Baylor the foul that should have went against Duke's Scheyer.
Baylor's lack of discipline was evident.
After the near-bench-clearing incident, Baylor was never the same, and Duke cruised to its eventual win. Now, Duke takes on West Virginia in a game that has the Blue Devil's giving 2 points to the Mountaineers.
Congratulations to Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who once again heads to the NCAA Final Four. While the lat time Duke was in this position was 2004, it's the 11th trip and seems like just yesterday even as wave after wave of improved NCAA basketball program has come and gone, there's Duke - always at least competitive.
Stay tuned.
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| Coach Mike Krzyzewski leads the Blue Devils |
Even though Baylor lost, it had its chances to win. But the main difference was Baylor's lack of discipline versus Duke's almost android-like mix of efficiency and emotion. Adept ball handling, offensive rebounds and second shots, and smooth threes made up for Duke's spotty defense. Eventually Duke seemed to wear down and frustrated Baylor.
Finally, the last three minutes and 36 seconds decided the game, but for this blogger it wasn't Duke overcoming its shooting slump, or Nolan Smith's threes, or their 18-5 second-half scoring run, but one play that ssealed the deal for Duke and drew curtains for Baylor.
It was Baylor's Quincy Acy rushing in to play enforcer after Duke's Jon Scheyer swung an elbow that looked like it connected with LaceDarius Dunn. Dunn could have got his SAG card with just a fall to the court, but he kept fighting for the ball; Acy rushed in and got Baylor the foul that should have went against Duke's Scheyer.
Baylor's lack of discipline was evident.
After the near-bench-clearing incident, Baylor was never the same, and Duke cruised to its eventual win. Now, Duke takes on West Virginia in a game that has the Blue Devil's giving 2 points to the Mountaineers.
Congratulations to Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who once again heads to the NCAA Final Four. While the lat time Duke was in this position was 2004, it's the 11th trip and seems like just yesterday even as wave after wave of improved NCAA basketball program has come and gone, there's Duke - always at least competitive.
Stay tuned.
Jean Quan for Oakland Mayor kickoff draws 200 supporters
Oakland Councilmember and candidate for Mayor of Oakland Jean Quan held her kickoff event Saturday at "Humanist Hall" one block from Broadway Auto Row (or what's left of it after the economic downturn).
The event was a rousing and surprising success.
Surprising to this blogger because of not just the number of people who came but the range of people from the perspective of well-known Oaklanders, like Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, Assemblywomen Mary Hayashi, and longtime Lakeshore Business representative and politico Pam Drake, a number of people from the Oakland School Board and the education community, and a lot of new Oaklanders.
The idea that Councilmember Jean Quan would lose votes to Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan always seemed silly in this corner, and because Kaplan's relatively new to Oakland, doesn't have the history of working with Oakland's school system, and is young. That was confirmed Saturday.
Quan's event was more like a "Jean-fest" with a Latino rap group opening it, and a group that made a song about Jean after the event wound up. Councilmember-emeritus Dick Spees was present and really showed a level of support that rivaled the young people in the audience when he led a chant for Quan. Spees was having a lot of fun.
There's a part two for this blog entry which will include the video, but it was important to report Jean's success. My only reservation is that Jean simply must develop a thicker skin when it comes to media criticism. The frank fact is many people in the room didn't care what Chip Johnson wrote about Jean or me for that matter, and probably didn't have it on their mind until she mentioned it to them and to me in the video.
The other problem was the few number of African Americans in the room. Swanson and others aside, the ranks were mostly white, Asian, and Latino - it's not enough to say "some blacks were there." What this says is Quan's not reaching the young African Americans who are politically involved in Oakland. That could be a weakness but right now, there's only Mayor Dellums to exploit that, and he's done an awful job of it. Running a stelth campaign for Mayor will not help.
If Jean can improve in those areas, she will be even more successful in the Oakland Mayor's Race. Indeed, she could beat Don Perata. I state that because Quan's got a great foundation of grass roots supporters and enough energy to fuel an election win.
Still, the Oakland Mayor's Race is still weak such that a name person like Van Jones or Robert Bobb could walk in and be the game changer. But the clock's ticking and Councilmember Quan's building support by the day. With that, the real star-in-the-making is Libby Schaaf, who's running for Jean's current seat in District 4. Her event's this Wednesday.
Stay tuned.
The event was a rousing and surprising success.
Surprising to this blogger because of not just the number of people who came but the range of people from the perspective of well-known Oaklanders, like Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, Assemblywomen Mary Hayashi, and longtime Lakeshore Business representative and politico Pam Drake, a number of people from the Oakland School Board and the education community, and a lot of new Oaklanders.
The idea that Councilmember Jean Quan would lose votes to Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan always seemed silly in this corner, and because Kaplan's relatively new to Oakland, doesn't have the history of working with Oakland's school system, and is young. That was confirmed Saturday.
Quan's event was more like a "Jean-fest" with a Latino rap group opening it, and a group that made a song about Jean after the event wound up. Councilmember-emeritus Dick Spees was present and really showed a level of support that rivaled the young people in the audience when he led a chant for Quan. Spees was having a lot of fun.
There's a part two for this blog entry which will include the video, but it was important to report Jean's success. My only reservation is that Jean simply must develop a thicker skin when it comes to media criticism. The frank fact is many people in the room didn't care what Chip Johnson wrote about Jean or me for that matter, and probably didn't have it on their mind until she mentioned it to them and to me in the video.
The other problem was the few number of African Americans in the room. Swanson and others aside, the ranks were mostly white, Asian, and Latino - it's not enough to say "some blacks were there." What this says is Quan's not reaching the young African Americans who are politically involved in Oakland. That could be a weakness but right now, there's only Mayor Dellums to exploit that, and he's done an awful job of it. Running a stelth campaign for Mayor will not help.
If Jean can improve in those areas, she will be even more successful in the Oakland Mayor's Race. Indeed, she could beat Don Perata. I state that because Quan's got a great foundation of grass roots supporters and enough energy to fuel an election win.
Still, the Oakland Mayor's Race is still weak such that a name person like Van Jones or Robert Bobb could walk in and be the game changer. But the clock's ticking and Councilmember Quan's building support by the day. With that, the real star-in-the-making is Libby Schaaf, who's running for Jean's current seat in District 4. Her event's this Wednesday.
Stay tuned.
Sarah Palin says reload to Tea Party movement, blames media
Only Sarah Palin, who's chance of being President of the United States is a lot of Hot Air, can get away with using a term like "reload" on her Facebook page and to fire up the Tea Party movement, and then blame the media for it. The bottom line is Sarah Palin creates her own PR mess that becomes new online and television content about her, which Palin then turns into even more content about her by blaming the media. In this case, here's her tweet from her Twitter account @SarahPalinUSA:
"lovers of America"? In other words, if I think like Sarah Palin then I love America, right? Then she uses the term in capital letters - which in Internet style is like yelling - RELOAD. Considering Sarah Palin's love of using guns to hunt, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get the violent message. She could have picked another term. Sarah Palin could have thought to chose her words carefully, but that's not Sarah.
It would be great if Sarah Palin would think before she writes or talks, but if she did she would lose all the content juice she's created about herself. Once again Palin falls up rather than down after doing something less than smart. Amazing. There's no question that the Lord has blessed her, but one wonders if she appreciates it.
The answer will be in how far she goes in her haphazard way.
Stay tuned.
Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" Pls see my Facebook page.
"lovers of America"? In other words, if I think like Sarah Palin then I love America, right? Then she uses the term in capital letters - which in Internet style is like yelling - RELOAD. Considering Sarah Palin's love of using guns to hunt, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get the violent message. She could have picked another term. Sarah Palin could have thought to chose her words carefully, but that's not Sarah.
It would be great if Sarah Palin would think before she writes or talks, but if she did she would lose all the content juice she's created about herself. Once again Palin falls up rather than down after doing something less than smart. Amazing. There's no question that the Lord has blessed her, but one wonders if she appreciates it.
The answer will be in how far she goes in her haphazard way.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Impact of Health Care Reform on Mental Health Treatment
Congratulations to President Obama and Congress for the historic passage of the health care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), along with the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HR 4872) which makes improvements to the Senate bill. The reforms should provide quality, affordable health care to nearly all Americans for the first time in our nation's history.
So what does this mean for mental health care? As a Clinical Psychologist in private practice for the past 3 years, I have seen many patients struggle to afford the psychological treatment they needed for their mental health. When I first began my practice in 2007, essentially all of my patients were paying for therapy out of pocket, or without the help of their insurance benefits. In the Bay Area, the average cost is $150 per therapy hour, with some therapists allowing a sliding scale fee for therapy. My patients’ average length of treatment is approximately 4 months of weekly therapy, with some coming in for brief, specific types of treatment, and others choosing to engage in long term treatment for 2 years or more. While many of these patients have health insurance, their insurance benefits frequently do not cover their psychotherapy because their mental health diagnosis is not considered parity. (see What The California Mental Health Parity Law Means: AB 88.) Further, in the face of many job loses and the rapid decline of the American economy in recent times, many patients found themselves no longer able to afford to pay for psychotherapy out of pocket.
"These reforms will allow Americans to achieve full health and recovery through significant investments in expanded health care access, including mental health, substance use, rehabilitation and prevention services, as well as collaborative care and chronic care management," said Laurel Stine, director of federal relations at the - The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "This is particularly notable given that four of the ten leading causes of disability in the United States are mental disorders and 87 percent of Americans cite lack of insurance coverage as the top reason for not seeking mental health services," Stine added.
"Furthermore, these reforms are truly significant triumphs in the integration of mental health in health care," said Stine. "Building upon the recent congressional victory of mental health parity in 2008, millions of Americans will have parity benefits and the guarantee of mental health coverage and will not live in fear of being denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, such as a mental disorder."
Only time will tell to what extent the health care reform will significantly influence the management of mental health problems in the United States. However, this appears to be a step in the right direction in addressing the dilemma of untreated mental illness in this country.
This article was composed by Christina Villarreal, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist in Oakland, CA
So what does this mean for mental health care? As a Clinical Psychologist in private practice for the past 3 years, I have seen many patients struggle to afford the psychological treatment they needed for their mental health. When I first began my practice in 2007, essentially all of my patients were paying for therapy out of pocket, or without the help of their insurance benefits. In the Bay Area, the average cost is $150 per therapy hour, with some therapists allowing a sliding scale fee for therapy. My patients’ average length of treatment is approximately 4 months of weekly therapy, with some coming in for brief, specific types of treatment, and others choosing to engage in long term treatment for 2 years or more. While many of these patients have health insurance, their insurance benefits frequently do not cover their psychotherapy because their mental health diagnosis is not considered parity. (see What The California Mental Health Parity Law Means: AB 88.) Further, in the face of many job loses and the rapid decline of the American economy in recent times, many patients found themselves no longer able to afford to pay for psychotherapy out of pocket.
"These reforms will allow Americans to achieve full health and recovery through significant investments in expanded health care access, including mental health, substance use, rehabilitation and prevention services, as well as collaborative care and chronic care management," said Laurel Stine, director of federal relations at the - The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "This is particularly notable given that four of the ten leading causes of disability in the United States are mental disorders and 87 percent of Americans cite lack of insurance coverage as the top reason for not seeking mental health services," Stine added.
"Furthermore, these reforms are truly significant triumphs in the integration of mental health in health care," said Stine. "Building upon the recent congressional victory of mental health parity in 2008, millions of Americans will have parity benefits and the guarantee of mental health coverage and will not live in fear of being denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, such as a mental disorder."
Only time will tell to what extent the health care reform will significantly influence the management of mental health problems in the United States. However, this appears to be a step in the right direction in addressing the dilemma of untreated mental illness in this country.
This article was composed by Christina Villarreal, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist in Oakland, CA
Sarah Palin gets reality show; political career in the tank
But Sarah Palin was never really interested in being POTUS; Sarah wants to be known. Famous. Rich. Palin smartly - yes, smartly - cashed in on the spotlight she was thrown into after what initially seemed to be an angry reaction to first, being the whipping girl of the Republican Party after GOP Presidential Candidate Senator John McCain's loss to now-President Barack Obama in 2008, then being cast as sort of a pop-culture sex-symbol of buffoonery, Sarah Palin found her sea-legs as a Fox News Commentator and worked more in the direction of TV personality than future elected official.
The problem Palin created for herself is the vast array of recorded statements that may seem harmless today, but would come back to destroy her run for president, if she decided to do that. Sarah Palin did not know Africa was a continent and that was widely reported by Fox News:
And there are other examples of Sarah Palin's lack of knoweledge that would be thrown right back in her face if she ran for president.
But Sarah Palin the reality TV show star is real. She's going to make a lot of money from it and gain even more fame, but viewers will also watch to see if Palin makes any other stupid comment. Sorry to say, but that's the reputation she's carved for herself.
Stay tuned.
Sandra Bullock and Jesse James: Tim McGraw supports Bullock
Related searches: Brigitte Daguerre, Melissa Smith, Michelle McGee, Bombshell McGee, Jesse James mistresses, Jesse James affairs, Sandra Bullock news and updates
This Sandra Bullock and Jesse James update: Country Music Super Star Tim McGraw, who also played Bullock's husband in The Blind Side, offered words of support and encouragement in the wake of the news that Jesse James allegedly had affairs with as many as four women, from Michelle "Bombshell" McGee to Melissa Smith and Brigitte Daguerre, and another woman, not named as of this writing.
According to People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight in Canada, Tim McGraw said he had not reached out to Sandra Bullock, but "You know, she's got a lot on her plate. I just wish her nothing but the best." McGraw said Sandra Bullock was tough and "I'm not that tough."
Not many people are.
According to People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight in Canada, Tim McGraw said he had not reached out to Sandra Bullock, but "You know, she's got a lot on her plate. I just wish her nothing but the best." McGraw said Sandra Bullock was tough and "I'm not that tough."
Not many people are.
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