Tuesday, July 21, 2009

"Obama not American" believers: are they just racist?

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You know, I'm sick of racists. Just plain tired of em. You know who they are - or maybe they're you. People who are really upset that America elected Barack Obama, a black man, as president but since they feel they can't say so without the anonymity of the Internet, they craft other means of expressing their anger, like hanging on the to the crazy idea that President Obama's not an American citizen.

Even when there's a birth certificate:

Obama's birth certificate

Driven by racism

You know, some contend that racism is a mental illness and if you followed this story you'd get hard evidence to back that claim. It doesn't matter than President Obama's been through election after election, that he has a proven birth certificate, and that his birthday was listed in the Hawaiian newspaper where he was born, nope.

It's not enough for a small group so angry that the President's not white, they've hyped themselves into having faith the president's not American. They get up at meetings and yell and scream and generally talk crazy talk, hoping someone will listen, but then only the site Free Republic, which is conservative, does.

Think about it.

Have you seen a large number of blacks saying "Obama's not American?" Of course not. You've only heard one black guy: Allan Keys and as much as I personally like him, have observed him use white racism for his own purposes yet cry when someone's being racist toward him and employ a steady diet of nutso conservatism as a tool to achieve his own political ends.

Keys loves playing the "harmless-to-whites-black-guy" role, a black catholic who blindly sides with Israel only for political score points, all the better to raise money for some future campaign. Alan's angry that Barack was the first black elected official to score with whites; he's jealous because he's tried to get elected to something so many times and lost time and time again; Barack's success just pisses him off.  Obama beat him for the Illinois Senate in 2004, and now he's President of The United States, and Alan just can't take it.

Alan's the crazy brother you tolerate and like, even as you feel sorry for him, and I do. When racists want to say they're not racist, they hold up their Alan Keyes puppet for show.

Oh brother. Oh, God, save us from these people for they no not what they do. They include Rush Limbaugh, who's wickedly stupid statements on this are so entertaining, I can see why he gets $400 million because while some believe this guy, others love to listen to a great mental train wreck. Only Limbaugh would get it wrong by stating Obama lacks a birth certificate and that Liberals don't love God.

I do and I'm Liberal.

But back to the main point, FactCheck.org has seen, and reportedly touched the birth certificate. Period. Obama was born in the U.S.A.  Of course, some people want to believe otherwise, but then while they claim to believe in God, they've certainly got the Devil in them.

Chris Brown: in poll most don't believe him, Rihanna silent

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In my second poll of the actions (or potential actions in the case of Michael Vick) of a pop star, in as many days, singer Chris Brown, who released his ill-advised video apology for violently hitting and biting singer and girlfriend Rihanna (leading Perez Hilton to tweet that it seems as authentic as a a $3 bill) does not score well with the World public in the poll results thus far today.

As for Rihanna herself, she has remained silent for now.

Of a whopping 2,338 voters (in less than one day) 39.02 percent have stated essentially that they don't believe Chris Brown's statements, versus 28.75 percent who do, the second largest category. To round out the choices, 18.94 percent believe it was a career move (like me), 8.94 percent want to "see more from him", and just 4.36 percent responded that he doesn't need to apologize for anything (I'm surprised that moved beyond zero. )

Here's my video on the poll and Brown's statement followed by the poll itself:



If you've not taken the poll, here's your second chance:

More on pollsb.com

Meanwhile - and ok, this may impact your view of Chris - Brown was reportedly seen making-out with another singer, Amber Rose at something called the "All White" party in Los Angeles, something Rose denies. Rihanna's moved on, first sitting away from Brown at Game Four of the 2009 NBA Finals, then recently seen with Pharell Williams, the star of N.E.R.D, according to The Star Online.

Chris Brown seemed to forget that Rihanna was the target of his anger and thus should have said more too her via the video - he didn't do that. Something like "Baby, I'm really sorry and I love you very much" would have gained more miles than the garbage he put our yesterday.

I'm serious.

Amber Rose better watch out because she won't like Chris Brown when he's angry; Rihanna certainly didn't and after today will not like him for a long time.

Oakland's Green Building: 1100 Broadway



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Consistent followers of my videos and Oakland Focus Blog will remember my coverage of the proposed 1100 Broadway building in downtown Oakland at the historic Key System Building site, as well as the terrific Rocky Rische-Baird-created mural at the corner. The 20-story structure is planned as a spec office building that will dramatically transform the center of Oakland and give the American President Lines (APL) office building across the street on Broadway a lovely sibling.

Its construction next to the giant APL Building will mark the first time two modern skyscrapers were constructed right next to each other but from different developers and not part of an overall master-developer plan in the history of Oakland. By contrast, the Kaiser and Ordway buildings were erected by The Kaiser Corporation, and the Federal Building and ASK.com building are part of the overall City Center Development Complex.

But the shiny new building to come, has gained an award today: it's the recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council's "LEED" award, for "Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design." 1100 Broadway is one of just a few buildings in America to be blessed with this award. It's a true "Green Building."

1100 Broadway will have solar cells, a special HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system, and other green technologies such that it will make efficient use of daylight to heat its interior and reduce energy expenses.

It's really a great step in our society that we're finally making buildings that help maintain and improve our environment rather than harm it. 1100 Broadway's a building Oaklanders can and will be proud of.

Chris Brown: do you accept his apology? A poll.



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On YouTube.com

Today, singer Chris Brown, who violently struck his girlfriend the lovely and talented Rihanna earlier this year, gave a video-based apology to his fans and the World on his website and YouTube.

To review the story, Brown was arrested in the early morning hours after he and Rihanna had an argument over a text message she found in his phone from one of Brown's lovers that Rihanna didn't know the existence of. What Brown did during the argument was horrifying, CNN.com reports:


The incident began when Rihanna, who was riding in the sports car driven by Brown, found a text message on his cell phone from "a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with," according to a sworn statement by Los Angeles Police Detective DeShon Andrews.


"A verbal argument ensued," followed by the physical attack, the statement said. It went on to describe the assault in great detail, saying Brown punched Rihanna numerous times and put her in a headlock, restricting her breathing and causing her to start to lose consciousness. He threatened to beat her and kill her, according to the statement, and he bit her ear and her fingers.


Eventually, "Robyn F. began screaming for help and Brown exited the vehicle and walked away," the statement said. "A resident in the neighborhood heard Robyn F.'s plea for help and called 911, causing a police response. An investigation was conducted and Robyn F. was issued a Domestic Violence Emergency Protective Order."


That's a terrible level of violence and so much so that I personally find it hard to believe the appology he gave, and you can see in my video above. In an effort to gauge public opinion in the wake of Chris Brown's video, I created this poll:

More on pollsb.com

The poll captures not just the "Yes, I believe him" or "No, I don't" choices, it has three others: Yes, but I believe he cares more about his career than Rihanna; Sort-of. I need to see more from him; and Chris doesn't need to apologize for anything.

The last choice is deliberately controversial. It came from an episode of Oprah I happened to see where she and Tyra Banks had what could be called a kind of "town-hall" studio meeting on the incident in March. There, a teenager said "I kind of think she deserved it. If a girl has enough nerves to hit a boy, she should get hit back." That (not mentioned in the Salon blog article for some reason) set both Oprah and Tyra into orbit, and me too. I could not believe what I was hearing, but she said it.

I wanted to capture that view with this poll, if possible. Of course, given the fact that I'm focusing on it here, that it's rather ugly, and a choice in the poll, means those who would normally pick that choice may avoid it here. Still, one never knows so here it is in the poll.

What do you think? Take the poll and let's see what you and the public thinks. My view is Chris made the video for himself; he only once mentions Rihanna in the video and since she was the focus of his anger, she should be the first person on his mind beyond his fans. That's telling and may also mean Brown really feels no remorse for what he did to her, but what he did to his career.

The sentence of "labor" was really stupid. Brown's a public figure and should have been made to be a spokesperson against domestic violence, not just taking some course in anger management. What the judge was thinking here, I don't know, but it was the wrong way to go.