Primaries promote participation

There are primaries in a dozen states today; many will prove pivotal in shaping the political landscape at the state and local level for the near-term future. Others are nearly two months away, such as in Minnesota, where Democratic insiders are seeing challenges in the primaries to their anointed choices. Here's why primaries matter: they bring the campaign to the attention of more voters instead of leaving the endorsement in the hands of insiders cutting old-school deals in smoke filled back rooms, GOP-style.

Former state Representative Shelley Madore, the first Democrat elected to represent Apple Valley (a southern Twin Cities suburb) in 30 years, said Monday that she's pleased to be in the only DFL (Democrat-Farmer-Labor) primary at the Congressional level with a remaining challenge.

"Our Representative makes speeches about supporting small business growth, but actions speak louder than words.  While Mr. Kline has consistently voted the GOP line in support of big business, and the sort of deregulation that led to the crisis on Wall Street and enabled BP's slipshod Gulf operations, this district deserves somebody more interested in partnering with business and understanding the challenges facing people who work for a living."

Former MN Representative, Shelley Madore

There are two DFL challengers to the party-endorsed candidate in the Minnesota Governor's race, former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton and former state legislator Matt Entenza (who surprised many by picking a political rookie for his running mate,) both mounting substantive challenges to Margaret Anderson-Kelliher's campaign.  In fact, Dayton ascended to the Senate by challenging the party-endorsed candidate in 2000, and although he's been chair of the party he emphasizes that the voters who participate in the primary should have a choice rather than simply accepting what insiders decide.  Maureen Reed, the challenger to convention-endorsed Tarryl Clark in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District, announced Sunday that she was suspending her primary campaign.

Still, Madore isn't looking for her primary opponent in the 2nd District to drop out despite rumors he's finally kicked off fund-raising in the past week.  The election is about Kline, she says.

"He's a good speechmaker, but his voting record shows this Texas transplant is taking the advice of GOP strategists rather than thinking about how to bring jobs to our district. Leaders don't wait for things to get better, they go get things done. My record as a State Legislator tells the voters I'll take personal responsibility representing the district in Washington."

Former MN Representative, Shelley Madore

During her time working in state government, Madore authored dozens of bills each year, and managed to build bi-partisan cooperation moving legislation forward, which stands in marked contrast to Kline's record. She "welcomes the primary process" because it gives district voters who didn't participate in the DFL convention in the district a chance to learn more about her record of accomplishment while promoting the involvement of a much larger number of people.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. He was a delegate to the 2010 conventions in Minnesota, and has served as an officer of MN's DFL party.

Oakland Mayor's Race - candidates forum Thursday May 10th

The Oakland Mayor's Race finally has its first official candidates forum. This Thursday, May 10th, 100 Black Men of The Bay Area will host the "Oakland Mayoral Candidates Forum" at the First Unitarian Church at 685 14th Street in Oakland from 6 PM to 9 PM. Yes, all of the candidates will be there as of this writing.

If Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who has not made an official statement on his future in or out of Oakland, does not show up, don't take it as a sign he's not going to run. It's June and we've got a lot of time before November. We also have a lot of candidates: ten. So many that my sources tell me 100 Black Men almost made a mistake in not inviting all of them.

At first, 100 Black Men extended invitations to three Oakland Mayor's Race participants: Don Perata and Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan. But the other candidates got wind of the event and literally raised hell, threatening to crash the party and present their displeasure at being excluded. 100 Black Men sent an new emailed invite, giving the candidates one day to respond. Each did.

As reported here before, The full list of Oakland Mayor's Race candidates consists of incumbent Ron Dellums, Don Perata, Don MacLeay, Jean Quan, Greg Harland, Maya Dillard Smith, Terrance Candell, and an tenth person who's still not ready for prime time, but will be. Eight of the ten will be at the 100 Black Men event. But what's 100 Black Men?

100 Black Men of The Bay Area is a great organization that holds events and fundraisers that cause the Bay Area's black business and political officials to gather and help African American youth by providing scholarships and mentoring. 100 Black Men is a membership organization that's open to everyone who wants to help, regardless of color or sex.

See you on June 10th.

Chevron Ecuador - NY Times Bob Hebert's failed column

It's funny how a person can be coaxed into wading into a very complicated issue without knowing all of the facts. That's what happened when The New York Times' Columnist Bob Herbert wrote a grossly inaccurate column about Chervron's involvement in Ecuador.

The BP Oil Spill, a totally awful event that British Petroleum should pay the damages for, has opened the floodgates for a torrent of rhetoric on the part of people who just want to point a finger, but not know the truth.

In this case, while this blogger can't make that claim against Bob Herbert, it's clear the NY Times columnist was manipulated into telling a horrible caricature of the truth behind the Chevron Ecuador environmental damage issue. A truth that leaves Ecuador itself untouched.

To put it simply, in talking and listening to the side suing Chevron -- which claims to represent the "indigeous tribes" of Ecuador, but really is representing the Government of Ecuador as well as their own desire to become billionaires...



-- and not doing a bit of independent research, let alone listening to the other side (he talked to them), Bob Hebert made the following errors:

Texaco came barreling into this delicate ancient landscape in the early 1960s with all the subtlety and grace of an invading army. And when it left in 1992, it left behind, according to the lawsuit, widespread toxic contamination that devastated the livelihoods and traditions of the local people, and took a severe toll on their physical well-being.

Wrong Bob Hebert. The first error was in just reading the lawsuit without using the Internet to research the case. The fact is Texaco turned over control of the oil wells to the Ecuador-owned oil company called PetroEcuador in 1992. Chevron noted that it did clean up the land it used in 1992, but this is 2010, and the land's still being used for oil production and not by Chevron.

The undercapitalized PetroEcuador, clearly in over its head, has caused massive oil spills and explosions in the Amazon region between 1992 and today, (and mentioned before in this space). Moreover oil companies from Canada and Europe have produced oil and caused damage too, but you don't see a thing about that unless you read this space or do research.

That set of facts alone is enough to discredit Hebert's article because at no point in it does he mention PetroEcuador's activity or for that matter any other oil company. Sloppy. From Hebert's take, you'd think there was no oil exploration or production in the Amazon after 1992. How not true.

Look, Bob's taking a side, and that's cool, but Hebert doesn't know what he's writing about, that's the problem.

Bob failed to mention how Ecuador President Rafael Correa himself has worked to kick out American oil companies and nationalize oil production. Hebert failed to mention how Correa allowed Brazil to product oil in the Amazon region for compensation. Bob Hebert failed to note the 118 oil spills that have happened in the Amazon region since 1992, and some claim its even more than that.

What was Bob doing when he wrote the column?

The point is the real organization that should be sued, and has not been, is the Government of Ecuador itself, which takes petro-dollars and fails to get them to the poorest citizens. Meanwhile Ecuador and American lawyer Steve Donziger have done a good job in fooling college students into forgetting that Ecuador too has a massive responsibility to its poor that it's failed to take on.

Ecuador is responsible for the damaged Amazon, not American oil companies. Bob should rewrite his column. He's got a right to his view and I defend that. Just get it right.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg helped Kamela Harris in CA AG Race... sort of

Mark Z busts-out Chris Kelly

Smarting from his former lawyer Chris Kelly's attempt to throw Facebook under the bus as he runs for the California Attorney General seat currently held by Jerry Brown, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reported a "maybe" in response to a Facebook page to help make calls for Kelly's opponent San Francisco District Attorney Kamela Harris on Sunday, according to The LA Times.

No word if Zuckerberg actually showed up on Sunday, but the simple action of responding to the Facebook page may be enough to knock Chris Kelly off his campaign game with just one day to go before the Tuesday June 8th primary election. In short, Mark Zuckerberg helped Kamela Harris.

Frankly, what Chris Kelly did, saying that he sides with MoveOn.org in fighting Facebook's privacy policy, after serving as the Facebook lawyer who made the original one that itself wasn't so popular, is too little, too late.

If Chris Kelly so disagreed with Facebook on the privacy policy issue, he should have not waited until five days before election day to say so; he's had a ton of time to do this, and could have added his voice to that of tech stars like Jason Calacanis last year.



Instead, Chris Kelly's campaign is being torpedoed by this great Kamela Harris ad:



In the interest of full disclosure, this blogger will vote for Kamela Harris for California Attorney General.

San Francisco's Union Street needs more businesses, not less

The spaces available on Union Street

The 2010 San Francisco Union Street Festival is history and while it was an overall success, the crowds Sunday were less than in the past and once the tents were folded and the people went home, the empty store fronts were on display once again.

To be sure, new and great restaurants like the home-away-from-home eatery called The Brick Yard at 1787 Union St (at Octavia), and replacing The Bayside Bar and Grill at a space that sat empty for two years, and the upcoming "Unwind" just down the street, promise a brighter future for Union Street, the way still has a long trek to make to recover its past luster.

There are over 20 spaces for lease along Union Street as of this writing, and overall it looks like a ghost town almost totally devoid of the vibrant street scene that once attracted thousands of people. Union Street lacks a book store and a movie house. The Apple Store was not aggressively pursued by the neighbor association; it's on Chestnut Street just four blocks away.  (In fact, I was told they didn't want The Apple Store on Union Street.  That was a bone-headed error.)

In fact Chestnut Street has what Union Street once had and I described it needs. In this still weak Bay Area spending economy, the success of Union Street and Chestnut Street has become a zero-sum game: someone wins and and someone loses. Chestnut is winning over Union Street.

What's the problem? Rather than teaming up with Chestnut and marketing as one, the Union Street minders have elected to go it alone - not that they've approached the Marina Merchants Association, but it would be a good idea.

Why" Joint marketing. With the development of Oakland's Restaurant industry, there's less reason for anyone to go from Oakland and the East Bay to San Francisco without a joint marketing effort.

And an aggressive one.

The other alternative is for the Union Street Merchants to form their own association. That may be the best way to go. But the new group must move to get going. One great start for any Union Street effort is the Facebook page Save Union Street, that has 519 people who "like" it so far. Check it out.

Whatever the case, Union Street needs more businesses. Now.

Sandra Bullock kiss of Scarlett Johansson means no Oscar for Sca-Jo?

Sandra Bullock's kiss of Iron Man 2's Scarlett Johansson has most thinking of her kiss of Meryl Streep in January at The Critics Choice Awards.

But Vanity Fair's Julian Sancton says such a kiss from Bullock is the kiss of death for Scarlett Johansson's Oscar chances. Sancton compares Bullock's kiss to The Godfather's Michael Corleone kissing his brother Fredo before having him murdered in The Godfather, Part 2.

(Oh, and a note on "Sca-Jo", I know someone created the unfortunate term "Scar-Jo" but having not yet met Scarlett Johansson, it's a fair bet having a rapper nickname that reminds someone of a scar is not something she wants. Thus, the dropping of the "r".)

The Vanity Fair blogger then asserts that because Meryl Streep then failed to beat Bullock for Best Actress at the 2010 Academy Awards, and Bullock kissed her before the Oscars, Scarlett Johansson then will not win an Oscar.

Actually, it could be said that while Sandra Bullock's kiss may not mean an Oscar win, it could be the precursor to an Academy Awards nomination. So, this space confidently states that Scarlett Johansson will be at least nominated for Best Actress within the next three years because Sandra Bullock kissed her on Sunday.

Stay tuned for that one!

Apple iPhone 4 operating system causes AdMob problem

The Steve Jobs, San Francisco introduction of the Apple iPhone 4 also causes problems for AdMob, the San Mateo-based maker of mobile ads for devices like the iPhone 4. AdMob was just purchased by Google for $750 million in stock.

According to an interview with TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld on Monday, in New York City for "Internet Week", AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui, said that the new Apple iPhone 4.0 Operating System has a licensing restriction such that phone data can't be sent to third party providers. It's a policy that Omar Hamoui says could be "potentially devastating" to AdMob's iPhone business.

The only good news, so far, is that Apple hasn't enforced the new policy. Hamoui told Erick Schonfeld that "It is not good for developers to have only one choice. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t think it even benefits them. They should want developers to make more money. Having more advertising providers is better than having less."

Hamoui told TechCrunch that 30 to 40 percent of iPhone AdMob ads are actually cross-promiting other apps, and that's why Apple wants to have and control that market using the new iAds system.