Oakland's Jack London Inn Called "Second Dirtiest Hotel" In America

Oakland, California's Jack London Inn could use better publicity than this, but at least it's getting noticed. This YouTube video presents the hotel in a condition that reportedly is far afield from normal, which is to say "clean."



Gawker called the place right across the railroad tracks from Jack London Square the "Second Dirtiest Hotel" in America.

Moreover, the blog post includes an at best unflattering and at worst horrifying example of what a guest is likely to witness if they stay at the JL Inn:

Because the Jack London Inn has that mirrored film on the windows, I didn't notice the 4 VERY salty cops in the lobby conducting an investigation of what sounded like a murderous brawl until I was standing among them in the cramped lobby. A person I inferred was a WITNESS was handcuffed to a chair. The cop was basically telling a nervous young man in a ghetto fab ensemble, "Look, if we take in we'll have to process you for this huge, no-bail, extradition warrant out for your arrest. Or, we can take you in the back and you can give us GOOD INFO about what happened up there and you can handle your business before you get arrested again, 'cuz next time you go away, it's gonna be for a long time." I was kind of surprised they would be doing this in a publicly accessible area, but they seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see them. This shit was straight out of "Training Day."

That should give the managers and owners of the JL Inn cause for concern.  But maybe they just don't have the cash for improvements?  Regardless, the hotel needs to clean up its image.

The Jack London Inn is a great example of why we have and need the California Redevelopment Agencies California Governor Jerry Brown wants to wrong-headedly get rid of. The area's blighted and Oaklanders know it.   The JL Inn needs to be declared a safety hazard, sold, and rebuilt.

U-Cubed Response to Obama's State of the Union Address

Here is the U-Cubed response to Obama's State of the Union Address yesterday. It is short and directly to the point (so unlike my own 99er response on YouTube earlier today).

From the U-Cubed Website:

Last night President Barack Obama issued a BURN NOTICE for jobless Americans. They are to remain in limbo — without jobs, without relief, without hope — until long after his term ends. Their careers, credit, savings and homes are forfeit. And the government he leads will do little to alleviate their distress.

For the 99ers whose benefits are exhausted and the 62 percent of the jobless who never qualified for unemployment, President Barack Obama had neither kind words nor new policies. In fact, he spoke as if they did not exist.

As a result, millions of jobless Americans were left to their own devices. Now they must rely on friends and family to simply survive. And survive they will. But they will never forget nor will they forgive the BURN NOTICE issued during this State of the Union.

Acting Executive Director,
Rick Sloan

Wow - very well put!

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A 99ers Response to the State of the Union Address - Offered by Paladinette

The following is a 99ers response to the State of the Union Address - offered by Paladinette. Nobody asked me to do this, but if Michele Bachmann can give the Tea Party response, I have certainly earned the right to express my take on what I see as an entirely ineffective, inadequate SOTU address. Besides I think I have proven myself up to the task of speaking intelligently on at least a few subjects so that puts me just a peg or two above Bachmann (even if I am blonde).

Now, before anyone gets their knickers in a knot, PLEASE NOTE: as the title suggests - this is just one 99ers’ response to Obama’s SOTU speech and is NOT intended in ANY WAY to speak for all 99ers. With that said, lets get to it:

Well if is true, as Obama said at the beginning of last night’s SOTU address, that we are all part of one American Family - then I guess we 99ers are the red-haired step children or just outright illegitimate ******* off spring whose very existence must be denied at all costs.

Personally I could care less about the stock market doing well - where are the jobs Mr. President? How are the 99ers who have been without UI benefits for nearly a year - with NO JOBS IN SIGHT supposed to survive the winter even? By refusing to talk about the 99ers or any of the shameful 45 other millions of Americans living in abject poverty, you once again proved that Washington DC only cares about the rich - and the poor be damned.

America will not have the largest most productive economy in the world for long unless things change very fast and the Belt Way leadership finally puts Main street ahead of Wall Street and corporate interests NOW!

Well we cannot prosper when we do not have enough money for even food and shelter Mr. President.

America’s greatness has never been about prosperity for the elite or only the few. America’s greatness has always been because of the potential for prosperity of all her citizens.

The 99er Nation can’t see to 2015 or to 2037 we need help NOW. We want a future - we want to be part of America’s success as we have always been prior to this non-declared depression. All we have ever asked is for a fighting chance to survive this jobless recovery and thrive by re-entering the work force. Being forced into poverty has ripped away our American dream and being ignored by you and Congress has destroyed our faith in Washington completely.

Preparing 100K teachers to step in as the baby boomers retire is admirable but Washington DC sits idly by watching state after state lay off tens of thousands of teachers on a regular basis. We need more than idle talk and meaningless rhetoric. We need action and help from our Government. We need a commitment to the well being of all American citizens hurting so bad for years now as Washington wastes time and ignores the suffering of her most vulnerable people in favor of the wealthy campaign donators.

It is great to have a vision for where America will be in five,15 or 25 years, but too many 99ers do not know where they will be next month or even 15 days from now. I did not hear anything which leads me to believe You or your administration give a damn about the millions of suffering 99ers you threw under the bus to get your deal with the devil done last December.

If you hate the mistreatment of those with pre-existing conditions so much then why can’t you help those with the pre-existing condition of Unemployment past the 99 week mark? Remember most of these folks have been out of work for over 3 years, as there have been many gaps in our UI benefits over the 4 tiers now in place - unlike those who have more recently become unemployed. Yet you helped those who were hurting the least and left those of us hurting the worst to fend for ourselves. May God forgive you for helping the top 3% richest Americans get wealthier and leaving the 99ers to die in the streets.

Why is it the only tough job you weren't willing to tackle in your speech was the tragic plight of the 99er Nation?

I do not know about you but I find nothing funny about smoked salmon - especially because nobody in the 99er Nation has been able to afford that for quite a long time.

I heard you Mr.Obama talk about restoring faith in the US government? Well faith requires trust and trust takes unwavering honesty. To that end, how about being honest about the true unemployment rate and the number of 99ers to start with eh? That might be a good beginning toward your stated goal Mr. President. Just saying.

Thank goodness Mr. President you made it a point to talk about the debt our nation owes to our sons and daughters in uniform, but only to tout your DADT victory and boost your own ego.

Gay marriage is only a priority to about 15% of the population of this country. Unemployment is effecting 1 in 6 families in America. So why not address the elephant in the room sir? Isn’t that why we pay you the big bucks? You seemed more worried about the immigrants getting a fair shake than hurting 99ers or other Americans barely hanging on and losing what little they have left. We should be your priority but you act as if by ignoring us we will just go away. I fear you have sorely misjudged the spirit, fight and anger of the millions you pretend do not exist. Continue to do so at your own political peril, as we can see to it you have only 1 more SOTU address to make next year, before the 2012 election.

I was only listening to the speech, not watching it as I typed these replies at my computer. Can anybody tell me if the Speaker cried during the speech? On second thought, never mind - I really don’t care to tell you the truth. 99ers and their families cry themselves to sleep every night all over this land and those tears are real.

Yes Obama, we do big things! We solve the big problems but we cannot solve the issues we refuse to admit need resolution.

To those inspired by the mention of jobs being a priority to Washington last night, just remember that Obama’s 2010 SOTU speech had the same theme and NOTHING was done all the rest of last year to make that goal a reality either.

So the President believes that the State of the Union is STRONG. Hmmmm well sir the State of the Union SUCKS for the 99er Nation, you know - the millions of UI exhaustees who you decided to ignore once again last night. I am now officially ashamed that I voted for YOU and that makes more disconsolate than I have words to adequately express....I feel like playing Speaker and having a good long weep. Food stamps do not allow you to purchase toilet paper - did ya know? So Anyone have a tissue?



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President Obama's State of the Union Address

President Obama gave his State of the Union Address last night. All members sat with one another regardless of which political party he or she belonged to: John Kerry was sitting beside John McCain for example. It was a bit ironic that the two were both losing presidential candidates.

Obama gave a very memorable speech which really showed that he was trying to bring Republicans and Democrats together.

Some people on Facebook turned the State of the Union Address into a drinking game by taking a drink every time President Obama said the word "jobs" which ended up being 22 times - others took a drink every time members of Congress clapped - which was about 80 times.

But more importantly than that the President truly showed a yearning for bipartisanship and support between the parties, and it was really a powerful message that came across.

Of course the GOP was critical afterwards, like always - but it's undoubtable that the President spoke quite eloquently and spoke of issues that were truly important to both parties; creating more jobs, pushing for clean energy, the need for fiscal responsibility, etc.

CNN's poll shows that the majority believes that President Obama gave a good speech, but that is only based on those who visited and voted at CNN.com.

Now people must wait and see how things change in lieu of this speech.

Jersey Shore Shoots Season 4 in Italy

This this not a joke. According to CNN the Jersey Shore cast is going to shoot season 4 in Italy - season 4? It seemed like this would be the final season, but surprisingly there is more Jersey Shore to be watched.

CNN

Of course - it's not clear how many of the cast members actually speak Italian, but maybe that won't matter.

After the State of the Union yesterday this news may not be what America needs, but it will definitely bring a lot of controversy.