Oakland parking problem: Rebecca Kalplan should explain this one

The Oakland Parking problem of high ticketing rates, high parking ticket prices, and aggressive parking enforcement practices in low income areas continues. This blogger just received an email from Nick Mitchell, a PhD. candidate at UC Santa Cruz, that he asked me to print in full. Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who's defended Oakland's parking practices very loudly in the recent past, should read and explain this one.

I also have a somewhat nightmarish story about Oakland parking drama. I live in West Oakland, and I love my neighborhood, but the parking ticket situation is starting to get absurd. Last year, my registration sticker got stolen. I didn't notice this until I received a ticket for not displaying it. Never mind the fact that my registration was fully up to date. Having one's sticker stolen, I guess, is a ticketable offense, and one that resulted in my receiving $70 tickets on two different weeks.

The thing is that the CA DMV is slow and I work every day. I simply don't have the time to stand in line and get the sticker replaced if I want to work enough to make rent. This means that I wasn't able to get a replacement sticker within the meager and arbitrary-seeming 3-week period in which one can contest these tickets (why only three weeks?). I filed a police report so that I would have official documentation that my registration was stolen, which I included in a letter to the City of Oakland. But when I applied to the DMV by mail for a replacement sticker, I never received one at all! Eventually, I had to reluctantly use one of my holidays and go to the DMV myself to get a sticker replacement. By that time, when I applied to have the parking tickets cancelled, I was told that I had contested them too late, and that now my fines had increased to nearly $200 for each of them. They now amount to something like $249 each.

This is absurd.

Effectively, what is happening here is that the City of Oakland is punishing me not only having been robbed, but also punishing me again for the sheer inefficiency of the state bureaucracy! I'm a graduate student and don't have the nearly $500 that these tickets now amount to. This essentially means that the DMV is now preventing me from registering my car! Notwithstanding the irony of this all, if I start receiving tickets for not displaying my 2010 registration sticker next month, the snake will truly have bitten its Kafkaesque tail. Oakland needs to find a better way to solve its financial crisis than punishing people who have done nothing wrong.

From what's recalled in this space, Councilmember Kaplan thinks parking problems like this are just part of the process. It's OK, as long as the City's budget receives parking revenue.

Raising the sales tax is a better and more efficient way to go than this practice. Moreover, another source reports that the City of Oakland's actually losing money when compairing parking enforcement costs versus revenue collection.

Councilmember Kaplan, what say you on that?

Silence...

Carly Fiorina blasts Barbara Boxer's hair and Meg Whitman on hot mic

The Internet is abuzz with Carly Fiorina' gaffe about U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's hair and Fiorina's comments about Meg Whitman going on Fox News' Sean Hannity Show.

In the video below, one of many copies making the rounds on YouTube, Carly Fiorina, the Republican GOP representative in the race for the Senate seat currently held by her Democratic challenger Barbara Boxer, talks on a hot mic about Meg Whitman (the Republican GOP representative in the California Governor's race against Jerry Brown) making a "bad choice" in going on Fox News' Sean Hannity Show, saying "You know how he is" and saying that Sean's "not an easy interview" (Come on, Sean Hannity's a lightweight.) But then the former Hewlett Packard CEO sounds really catty in blasting U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's hair for being "so yesterday."



The number one television lesson is that when a mic is placed on your, assume it's hot. Period. When I've appeared on national television, that's the rule I always follow. Someone is always listening to you and Carly should know that. What the video shows is an error in judgement, but nothing more than that.

If liberal men start blasting Carly for making the "hair" comment about Barbara Boxer and press the point, the criticism will morph into a counter charge of sexism. It's said that women dress for women, so from that perspective, and I'm a liberal, Carly's statement is natural. But what can be questioned is Carly's judgement - does she know when to keep her mouth closed, and why? That's the issue.

Now, will Meg Whitman blast's Jerry Brown's hair?

Stay tuned.

NCAA USC punishment calls Pete Carroll move to Seahawks to question

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, via a source to ESPN, is set to announce that it is going to strip the University of Southern California or "USC" of the ability to play in a bowl game for two years, a forfeiture of wins at least from the 2004 season and possibility the loss of the 2004 National Championship. All of this after an investigation of activities in football and basketball, and related to former students Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo, was completed.

The death blow to future USC success calls former USC Coach Pete Carroll's move to the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks into question, and casts a giant black cloud over all that Carroll did while he was at USC. At first, this blogger believed Carroll's departure was just because a 6 and 6 season and the criticism was too much to stomach...



But in light of the NCAA investigation and its decision to essentially destroy USC Football as we've known it, now it seems that Pete Carroll knew this was coming, even as he told Dan Patrick on The Dan Patrick Show that he "would be surprised" if the NCAA took any action.

Well, Pete Carroll has to express surprise now, but really also has a lot of explaining to do. This level of punishment is too great for Pete Carroll to avoid. He should talk about it, and soon. Indeed, he will have to at some point.

Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis (ESPN)

And one has to wonder what former Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis thinks of this news. Weis famously implied that Pete Carroll gets a pass from the media, and dropped an allegation about Pete Carroll that he later retracted. But it's clear Pete Carroll has not been one of Charlie Weis favorite people because he thinks Weis got special treatment from the media.

Also, how does the NCAA action impact the 2010 Pac-10 race, which was already wide open? Does Cal or Stanford have an open shot at the Pac-10 title? Will the Cal Stanford Big Game finally have real meaning for the first time in years?

Stay tuned for updates.

Tila Tequila: One of Tiger's Mistresses by: Nikky Raney

Tila Tequila claims she slept with Tiger Woods, seriously.

I don't know how this hasn't gotten more publicity.

Tila Tequila claimed to be one of Tiger Woods' mistresses.

Don't believe me?

Tila tries to give him ADVICE?

How the hell did we let this lie slip through the cracks?

Other people covered this, but not WELL ENOUGH.

How did we let this slip through the cracks?

I am serious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdS2Qfl04L4&feature=related

Dear Tila Army, how do you respond to this one?

You really think She was one of Tiger's mistresses?

Nikky Raney

The Future of Journalism

Tila Tequila, I will expose you for all your lies.

I don't care if everyone else covered this story "months ago"

It obviously did not make a big enough impact.

And I think it needs to.

I think Tila needs to address this, because I think that this is a lie.

And people covered this on other blogs, but there was no real reaction.

I want a reaction. I want a confession. I want it now.

And if this IS true..

Why are her fans still backing her up?

Why would anyone condone this?

She attacks Jesse James, but it's okay for Tiger Woods.

Are her fans really all right with this?

Remember when Tila posted tweets claiming to be a virgin?

I wish i could find the tweets from her old twitter where she PROMISES she is a virgin.. hmm, maybe I'll go digging.

Kamala Harris victory speech in San Francisco - 2010 California Primary

Fresh from an undisputed victory over her Democratic competitors in the race for California Attorney General, current San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris took the podium at The Delancey Street Foundation and, flanked by Assistant Attorney General Tony West, his wife Maya Harris, and their daughter Meena, gave the best speech of her young life in accepting the nomination as the Democratic representative in the California Attorney General race.

Kamala Harris and Meena Harris 

The Kamala Harris Acceptance Speech started off stilted at first, then when Kamala Harris relaxed and got her sea legs, soared to greatness after the eight minute mark of the video. Harris talked about the "embarrassment of riches" the Democratic Party enjoyed with so many talented candidates working together.

And resisting the crowds obvious desire for her to do so, did not take a jab at former Facebook Lawyer Chris Kelly, instead thanking him for bringing a new face to the process.

Harris stressed the need for Californians to pull together and help cause the state to realize its lost greatness. It was a speech less about, in fact not even a story of, how to better lock up criminals, but more an uplifting hope for a better future.

The entire speech is in the video above. Kamala Harris will give a lot more speeches, but few, if any, will top the one she gave last night.

Stay tuned.

Angry, Violent Luxor Cab Driver in San Francisco on election night

For this blogger, 2010 California Primary Election Night will be remembered for an emotional, stirring speech by Kamala Harris, now the California Democratic Representative in the race for the Attorney General seat now held by Jerry Brown, and an angry, irrational, and racist cab driver who really should be off the streets of San Francisco, or at least not allowed to drive a cab.

It started at 9:15 PM PDT as I walked up the escalator at The BART Embarcadero Station to Market Street on the side in front of the San Francisco Federal Building. The initial plan was to walk over to the cab stand on Drumm Street in front of the Hyatt Regency. Then I saw a white cab drive slowly by, so I yelled "Hey taxi" and on cue, the cab slowed more and turned from the second lane to the first lane and to me. I clapped my hands in delight, opened the door, and got into the cab.

That was the end of my joy.

Angry Luxor Taxi Driver 

I told the man to take me to Delancey Street where the party for Kamala Harris was being held. He started to move, then stopped a bit and said "I think that man wanted the cab." I looked up at a guy who was texting on his iPhone and had zero interest in getting a cab. Moreover, no one said "Hey, that's my cab." Nothing.

So I told the cab driver that was me, not him yelling for a cab. The cab driver said I was wrong, and turned the corner. He said, it was the other guy and kept looking back to see if he was there. No one was chasing his cab.

I was a bit annoyed and said "Frankly, I think you wanted to pick up a white guy and was upset that you got a black guy." At that he stopped the cab and ordered me out, as the video shows. When he stopped the cab, I took out my video camera.

I use cabs a lot of late and the experience has been weird and disheartening. Many cab drivers tell me they are most afraid of "East Oakland" patrons, and when I quiz them, I find they mean black men.  It's one reason I carry a video camera.

Cab drivers in San Francisco and Oakland hold a great prejudice against black men, especially African cab drivers. White drivers are generally the best to deal with, followed by African American cab drivers. The driver of Luxor Cab #1046 from last night was Nigerian, I later learned.

At any rate, the Nigerian cab driver came over and opened the door and tried to pull me out of the cab. I told him he was going to get arrested. I repeated that over and over again. I also said "You don't know who I am, do you?" He said he did not care.

He then said I'm calling the police, which I welcomed as I wanted them to see what he was doing. As he was dialing the phone I got out of the cab to get a video of him. Then he came over and pushed around me, shut the door, then got in the cab and drove off. At that point, I had all the evidence I needed for an assault charge.

The cab driver was lucky he got me and not some gang banger, I suppose. But regardless, and humor aside, how many other people does he treat that way and gets away with it? There's no mental screening or testing for cab drivers in San Francisco or Oakland, so you don't know who you're dealing with. The last time this happened to me, the cabbie, also African, told me to get out of the car, but did not touch me. See:



By contrast, the Nigerian cab driver did touch me and for no good reason. In the time he took to be violent or try to be, as really I was strong enough to hold my camera and hold my place in the car, he could have taken me to Delancey Street. Instead, he sped off. But I got his information: Luxor Cab #1046 CA License number 8L46060.

I hope the San Francisco Taxi Commission takes him off the road. He told Luxor that I "took a cab that was meant for someone else" but that's a lie as reported by the driver himself who said on the video that he was upset that I simply mentioned that he favored a white passenger over a black one.

I'll bet he didn't tell Luxor he put his hands on me.

But the truth is, not only did he, the so-called white passenger was never there. The Nigerian cab driver was just being psychotic, but that should be enough to get a person off the streets of San Francisco.

The Brick Yard SF's open in time for World Cup Soccer!

For about four years, or until 2007, The Bay Side Restaurant was one of the most popular meeting and eating places in San Francisco and The SF Bay Area, and a prime spot during the 2006 World Cup Soccer games. Then, in 2007, the landlord wanted a dramatic increase in rent, much more than the Bay Side's owners could stomach. The Bay Side was closed that year. The Brick Yard would come much later.

The Brick Yard on Union Street

The space at 1787 Union Steet remained empty for two years until a new ownership group took it over and built The Brick Yard Restaurant; a totally new and welcome take on the sports bar, just in time for World Cup Soccer action.

The blogger checked out The Brick Yard while at last weekend's Union Street Festival without an invitation from the owners. That didn't stop them from providing the royal treatment, and in general treating every one of the 300 or so patrons as if they mattered.

Darren Matte, one of the owners, said they were trying to create what is best called a "home-away-from-home" place that's a sports bar inside out, "We want to be known as a restaurant where you can watch sports," he said, "We put a lot into the kitchen. We've got a killer chef. The menu's going to be healthy California cuisine; we don't want to be a grease pit."

What I like about The Brick Yard is it feels like a giant living room with hard wood floors, earth tones, and plantings. It's the kind of place that makes you want to avoid dropping your food just to help keep it looking good. So don't be surprised if The World Cup Soccer games bring well-behaved beautiful people to The Brick Yard.

For more information it's best to call 415-400-4712.

The website is http://www.brickyardsf.com/

FBI denies giving Joran Van Der Sloot $25K by Suzannah B. Troy

The FBI denies giving Joran Van Der Sloot $25K that Der Sloot supposedly used to fund his Peru trip to gamble and to murder.

My readers know I continue to compare this misogynist sicko to the characters in "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson.  It so happens that Joran Van Der Sloot was researching the currents and one possible theory is to dispose of his latest victim's body in the water just like one of the serial killers in Larsson's book who's real title in Swedish is "The Men Who Hate Women".

The question is are there more victims that have been tossed in the water and small animals?

The prison he hopefully will be going to for life in Peru is scary to look at and has a very rough reputation. Inmates have been murdered in there so maybe he will be given prison justice and be treated the way he treated women.  He is 6 foot 3 so over powering his victims would be easy.  I use the word victim and I mean it in the sense of any woman he may have over powered, roughed up and or intimidated.

He was not able to hide the evidence of how he treated her like a Barbie doll when she wouldn't act the way he wanted,  breaking her neck.  So far there is no proof of sexual assault, however her body was only partially dressed.  More important than sex is this sicko's ego and clearly she shook him up in some way and paid with her life; a complete tragedy.

When he did confess he cried and he said he was high on pot.   He blamed the victim of course, no surprise there.


My readers know I made up a term, "The Barbie Doll Syndrome", about abusive, controlling men that want women to be their dolls.  They  are obsessed with women and want females as  their Barbie's and do their bidding in reality and fantasy.    Intimacy and a relationship is not required for these sickos....

As mentioned before, Robert Chambers literally snapped a Barbie doll's head off and had a laugh with his adoring groupies making a reference to the murder of Jennifer Levin.  As I have said before, jurors were never allowed to see this infamous video.

Men suffering from The Barbie Doll Syndrome  are liars and  blame the victim.


Chambers said a cat scratched his face and that if he did kill her it was self defense because of rough sex on her part.  Yeah right.

There is talk of law enforcement attempting to make a reenactment but now that Joran Van Der Sloot has lawyered up, he is not going to be sharing more info.

There is said to be enough evidence to put him away.

I do believe she found information on his computer that he did not want her to see.  Some people think it had to do with him trying to force some sexual attention on her and she said no which enraged him but I don't buy it.   I am going with the theory she found disturbing info on his computer and he got violent.  He is such a sicko he may have made it sexual as well but DNA and evidence gathered at the scene of the crime will give us more information.

He needs to found guilty and jail in a Peruvian prison sound appropriate.  Most of all Natalee Holloway's body has to be found.

I can't imagine what these families are going through and clearly either can the murders family because they continue to attempt to cover for him.  His mother has said something to the effect his confession was coerced.  Yeah right.

Like Robert Chambers he is blaming the victim.

I have never met a misogynist that doesn't blame the victim.   We have all met creepy men that are abusive and of course blame the women the are victimizing and no actual murder is required.  Just rejecting these types or there fantasy world  is enough to enrage misogynists.   Sometime act out in creepy ways and don't murder their victims but all blame them.

Twilight Fans Rule The World or just MTV Movie Awards - by Nikky Raney

I am trying to understand how Twilight beat out Avatar for the "best movie of the year."

I know I am a little late on posting this, but my 20th birthday was on June 7th, and I think I am allowed to take a break from blogging.

What bothered me the most about Twilight winning was the lack of enthusiasm on the part of Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson. The reason that Twilight won and beat out the other movies is undoubtedly due to the fans and the crazy popularity. I will admit, I liked the Twilight movies, but the movies were not better than some of the others in the category. Especially not any better than Avatar. Avatar was an amazing movie, and Twilight should not have beat that movie out.

When Robert and Kristen won the award for best kiss, I felt like they didn't really take it seriously. I felt like they "knew" they were going to win all the awards that they did. They expected to win. They weren't surprised

I was definitely not the only one questioning if Kristen deserved to win "best female performance," or if the only reason she won was because of the "twi-hard fans." Did it even matter if she performed terribly, the fans would vote her anyway right?

She was up against:

• Zoe Saldana, Avatar - Zoe just used her voice. There was no body language to judge on. I don't even think she deserved to be nominated
• Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Emma does such a good job playing the wise yet annoying Hermione
• Sandra Bullock, The Blindside - I haven't seen this film, but I hear it won some sort of award. I'm pretty sure MTV's 15-year-old audience could care about Oscars though
• Amanda Seyfriend - Dear John - Ehhh. Lame movie. Haven't seen it, but the trailer looks terrible. This girl doesn't deserve it.

And I don't know if she truly deserved to win versus those. "I guess Twilight is really awesome and I agree..." That's how she accepted the award.

Aziz did an amazing job hosting. I was extremely entertained.

This blog is being written at midnight on June 10, EST time. (I am in New Hampshire, but please don't stalk me).

This is definitely not my best work, I have not been "in the zone" I have had "blogger's block," but let's hope that it goes away soon.

I will be doing more on Tila Tequila, because it is unacceptable for her to continue doing what she is doing. I am not a hater, I am someone who thinks that her lies need to be brought to light. I am going to make some videos with the help of one of Zennie's new bloggers, Josh Grattan. I am not trying to turn people against her or attack her in anyway, but I want people to see the lies that she has caused her fans to believe. I want to show what the truth is that has been hidden under the lies. I am amazed that her "fans" and "Tila army" Are willing to believe the lies that she has been letting flow from her mouth from the start. I used to really admire Tila, but after the suicide hoax, I am going to make sure my blog entries make a difference. I want to make an impact on the way she presents herself and the way others perceive her.

She is NOT a Mogul.

She is NOT the female Tupac.

She has lied about everything, and this needs to come to an end.

The fake television show that she has supposedly started filming.

Sighs.

I'll post more later.

I need some sleep.

Expect some more videos.

And I will finally do my Interview blog on THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM. :)

P.S. Welcome new blogger "Josh Grattan!"

Follow me on twitter

Joran van der Skool -FBI funded trip by Suzannah B. Troy

Joran van der Skool, a  vile creep. is like a character out of the Stieg Larsson book, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" except the real title is "The Men who Hate Women". Don't forget this cowardly, sicko had his father saying, no body no crime attempting to cover up for his son regarding Natalee Holloway's murder. I wonder how many other causalities or perhaps victims there are?  Note: For now Joran van der Skool is technically innocent of the Natalee Holloway murder until proven guilty but he comes off as guiltier than sin.

According to The New York Post the FBI funded the Jordan van der Skool trip to Peru with money they paid him thru an intermediary as part of a sting operation to attempt to find Natalee Holloway's body and or any info plus get him on charges for something like extortion. 

It is very sad the FBI was not able to act quicker; actually it is also angering. They need evidence first and they said the did not have enough.

The FBI defends their actions or lack there of.

The article states Natalee Holloway's Mom is angry and I am sure if they reporter could have asked the parents of the newest victim, I am sure they would be quite upset and angry as well.

What a twisted, sadistic, misogynist, murdering creep der Skool is and who knew he would use the Mother of Natalee Holloway, taunting her yet again with false hope, to lie and extort money from her to fund a trip to go gamble and murder a woman in Peru; Stephany Flores Ramirez rest in peace. 

I wonder what der Skool's creepy dad is saying right now to cover for his son and in some way I see him as an accomplice because he covered up for his murderous, sadistic son....is the son just like his father? Both will be remembered for their heinous actions, arrogance and words.

How did this happen? It is too bad the global community could not have a warning that goes off when monsters like this are on the move and someone could have warned his latest victim to stay away.

How about an Ap (short for application) for your iphone "misogynist alert" with warning so when these creepy men approach you can run their name or photo through the program and find information posted on their hateful acts towards women?

How many other women or animals has this guy sadistically murdered, I wonder? After all his father's attitude is no body no crime so maybe there are other bodies that have been disposed of?

Oakland Mayor's Race: Don Perata wants Ron Dellums to declare intent

The latest news from the Oakland Mayor's Race comes in the form of a communication from Don Perata's Office specifically stating Perata's intentions with respect to participation in Oakland Mayor's Race candidate debates or forums.

The letter states the following:

I regret that I will not attend any mayoral forums until the official filing deadline for mayor has closed and the full field of aspirants is known.

Holding mayoral debates before all candidates are declared is undemocratic and misleads voters.

In particular, Mayor Dellums has yet to announce his intentions as is his right as an incumbent. The mayor is running for re-election until he says he's not, or when filing closes in August. Ron Dellums has served our community for almost four decades. He's well entitled to such consideration.

Sincerely,
Don Perata.

Presumably, Perata's statement also applies to Oakland At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who's not offically said she's running for Mayor, even though she's reportedly participating in the Thursday forum.

The letter is also here.

Get Chis Kelly off my SFGate.com blog!! I'm for Kamala Harris!

California Attorney General Candidate Chris Kelly's people have smartly bought up a lot of Internet ad real estate in promoting Kelly's run for the seat currently held by Jerry Brown. But enough is enough. Chris Kelly's ad appears on the top of this blogger's SFGate.com / San Francisco Chronicle website blog. It wasn't placed there after consultation with this space, so here's the message: ZENNIE ABRAHAM IS NOT VOTING FOR CHRIS KELLY. I'M VOTING FOR KAMALA HARRIS.



Ok. And yeah, screaming.

Chris Kelly does not have the connections or the experience to be a good top lawyer for California; Kamala Harris does. Being California Attorney General is not an issue of evaluating the legal impact of Facebook code, as was the case when Kelly was Facebook's legal representative.

Being California Attorney General is about knowing who to call, when, and why to accomplish an objective for people in a region. There's little if anything in Chris Kelly's background that shows he can do this.

By contrast, Kamala Harris, the current District Attorney for San Francisco, has shown an ability not just to make sure conviction rates for violent offenses are up, but also to increase services to help victims of crimes. Moreover, Kamala Harris has been particularly focused on fighting human trafficking; something Chris Kelly does not mention as a primary focus at all.

Get Chris Kelly's ad off my blog!

Thanks!