Back From Denver and Invesco Field Tour and New Protestor News

Ok. I'm back from Denver and Invesco Field and a great tour and also meetup and walkthrough with Oreo of the great blog DemConWatchBlog.com Lots of news to report, which I will do in a separate blog.

But some teasing.

I learned that the total convention schedule is not finalized and that the media's premature in what it's reporting -- not that the Hillary Clinton speak date is wrong -- there's more to come.

Invesco Field itself is a huge and well-equipped facility that makes me wish Oakland would wake up and rebuild the Oakland / Alameda County Coliseum. It has miles of storage space, wide cooridors, and a new smell -- still.

I also learned that protest groups have filed suit to be closer to the convention than they are. But as you will see in my upcoming video from my trip, they're pretty close already!!

I also discovered that the best Spinach Salad's at Brooklyn's bar and grill next to Pepsi Center, and that the facility will become "The Politics Grill" by CNN. And while the link is informative on this matter, it does not do it justice as a video would. I even discovered folks working on turning it into the "CNN Grill."

Theu should have bloggers in it. Like us.

Stay tuned for that.

Zennie62 On The Way To Invesco Field For DNCC Walkthrough

As I write this I'm wating to board United Flight 1184 to Denver for my second media walkthrough. This time at Invesco Field, where Senator Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech for the nomination as the Democratic Nominee for President Of The United States.

Washington Post Gets What Charles Krauthammer Missed: Obama Is American Symbol

A week or so back, I got after conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer for missing the fact that Barack Obama is a symbol of America and what's possible here. I wrote:

You miss what leadership is about. Your column demonstrates that your don't get it. And it shows that you don't know or intellectually understand what kind of role the President of the United States serves. That person is considered this: LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.

Do you understand? Ok. I'll repeat it.

LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.

That means to most people, the SYMBOL of freedom. That is what Senator Obama represents to many. To ho-hum or sigh or cringe at the presentation of this mear fact is to show a true ignorance of the intense desire many people in the World have to rid ourselves of the true mentail illness that is racism.

Charles. The bell's ringing. Time to get with the program.

Now it seems the Washington Post understands. Reporting this in the form of an article, the Post explains that Obama is a person who for others have become a symbol for America.

Thank you Rep. Steve Cohen

Yesterday, the House passed H.Res 194, an apology for slavery and Jim Crow, originally introduced by Tenessee Rep. Steve Cohen. The Resolution was cosponsored by 120 House members, including members from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Resolution does exactly what it says: apologize to African Americans for the institution of slavery, the Jim Crow establishment, Congress' role in each, and the legacy of each. Please read the full text of the Resolution below. Click here to see who cosponsored the Resolution. And then click here to thank Rep. Steve Cohen for his efforts and, if one of the cosponsors happens to be your Rep., thank that person, too. An apology may not seem like a whole lot, but it is a critical first step. We must first officially recognize the wrong doing, harm, and lasting legacy before anything else can be done. Here is the text of the Resolution:

RESOLUTION

Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.


Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;


Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;


Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;


Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;


Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation's social fabric;


Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War, which was fought over the slavery issue;


Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;


Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as `Jim Crow,' which arose in certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against persons of African descent engendered by slavery;


Whereas the system of Jim Crow laws officially existed into the 1960's--a century after the official end of slavery in America--until Congress took action to end it, but the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day;


Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow--long after both systems were formally abolished--through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;


Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of American history;


Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery's continuing legacy in American life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery `was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.';


Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery when he initiated a national dialogue about race;




Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;


Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;


Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State legislatures are considering similar resolutions; and


Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens:


Now, therefore, be it


Resolved, That the House of Representatives--


(1) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;


(2) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and


(3) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.



Cross posted to AshPolitics.

1-Maria Ayerdi Has Pelli Clarke Pelli Design For SF Transit Center

Maria Ayerdi Has Pelli Clarke Pelli Design For SF Transit Center

Maria Ayerdi on Flickr

I have to admit I liked the Skidmore Owings and Merrill design, even if their architectural renderings imply they forgot Black folks existed. But the Pelli design focused on a "green" theme and addressed several pressing flow issues that the others did not. Now, Transbay Terminal Joint Powers Authority Executive Director Maria Ayerdi has Pelli Clarke Pelli to work with.

What will we get in San Francisco? This video series holds a clue:

1:



2:



3:



4.



Overall the design is breath-taking. Let's see how much of this design remains as the process of building the structure in a weak economy commences.

LA HIT BY 5.8 RICHTER SCALE QUAKE - NO SERIOUS DAMAGE

On CNN there are extensive reports of a 5.8 Richter Scale Earthquake, centered in Chino Hills, about 29 miles south of LA. The quake wasn't large enough, fortunately, to cause major damage at least as reported thus far. A water main broke, but traffic's still moving through LA.

And now the earthquake was reduced to a 5.4 Richter Scale quake in size by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Do you have hope? New Barack Obama Video Moveon.org

The "funniest ad" award winner in MoveOn.org's "Obama in 30 Seconds" contest is the quintessential counterpoint to the cynicism-mongering ads that McCain and the folks who want to maintain the status quo in Washington have been running. Plus, it was made by actor (and MoveOn member) Rider Strong.

MoveOn is ready to run this ad on MTV and Comedy Central (as their first political ad ever.) Go, watch, it's audacious. Rove may know how to divide the electorate, Republicans may know how to use fear for their political gains, but this is the antidote.

"I laughed, I cried; it became a part of me.
Much better than the videos for McCain.
I want to see it again and again."

*for the sake of comparison, see another post here at Zennie's with a McCain video.

Watch the Video! | digg HopeMongers 4 Obama!

China Discovers Poll Dancing - Video

I'd never considered that poll dancing started to pick up in China! Wow. China! Well, check this out:



It's not an easy thing to do there as it goes against the "code" for women there. "To show off in this way," someone said in the movie," is to make people jealous."

Yep.

M.C Hammer and Speiser at TechCrunch Party

Speiser and Hammer, originally uploaded by drs650.

Ok. This is the first time I was in the same "house" as M.C. Hammer and missed seeing him. Yes, the TechCrunch party was that crowded. I also have not met this "Speiser" gentleman on the right. But the party was awesome and if you didn't see the video I created, you can do so with a click here.

Maria Ayerdi Is The Face Behind The New SF Transbay Terminal

Remember the San Francisco Transbay Terminal Design Competition video I created? Well, the executive director of the effort is none other than Maria Averdi. You can read more about her here.

Cuil Is A Cool Search Site That Launched This Week

So have you tried the website Cuil, well, it's actually a new search engine like Google. Check it out. More later.

Robert Scoble Talks About PodTech Demise At TechCrunch Party

I present my long form video documentary of the TechCrunch | August Capital Party held Friday, July 25th 2008 at
August Capital and hosed by TechCrunch Co-Founder / Editor Michael Arrington. First, let me thank Michael for the opportunity to do this at his event, as well as the time he gave me. Second, let me thank all of you who gave me your time at the party, which was the vast majority of you.

I set out to form a pattern of opinions on what the Democratic Party and Senator Obama should address on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. I also tried to give a view of what people were working on in the tech / web community. There's a lot here. But I also tried to make something fun to watch, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The video is 41 minutes long and some of the highlights: TechCrunch's Michael Arrington explaining that he hope Barack Obama sicks to his concern for "net neutrality" as well as his hope that issues regarding H1 Visas, the FCC, and the avoidance of Internet Taxes are addressed. Technorat Founder and Chairman David Sifty introducing his new venture OffBeatGuides.com. The great EtchStar.com service for devices like iPhones. An iPhone App from VSmax.com. Sara Lacy telling the Democratic Party to "get some balls." Andrew Mager talking about the party and introducing Cathy Brooks of Seesmic, who in turn introduced the Legendary Robert Scoble, and Brooks echoing (unknowingly) Lacy when she says the party should "grow a pair." And Robert talking -- at considerable length -- about what happened to PodTech and what it says, if anything, about the economics of Podcasting.

In all the message to the Democratic Party and Senator Obama was to work to achieve unity, don't fashion policies that tax the Internet or harm Net Neutrality, be courageous, and for Senator Obama to stay the course.

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