A's Stadium San Jose vs. Oakland update: SJ Council approves Gen Plan

ALERT! A's Stadium San Jose vs. Oakland update.

A quick follow-up on yesterday's post regarding opposition to the San Jose effort to build a stadium for the Oakland A's (Athletics): the San Jose City Council passed it's much discussed amendment to its General Plan.

Three San Jose Councilmembers, Oliverio, Liccardo, and Herrera, voted against the proposal. Councilmember Pierluig Oliverio was the one to sound the call that the amendment would "erode the city's tax base."

What that means is more housing where industrial property is currently situated, and more urban costs and less tax increment revenue generation from a tax base that some San Joseans feel has already suffered a "death by a thousand cuts."

This decision is a major blow to the city's ability to afford a stadium for the Oakland A's. That is, of course, assuming San Jose withstands a court challenge from both the San Francisco Giants and The City of San Francisco, as well as The City of Oakland.

Stay tuned.

Obama made right call; Democrats didn't get the votes

President Obama reminded everyone, including us Democrats, that politics is the art of compromise. Facing votes on two tax-cut deals that didn't go the way most Democrats wanted, Obama struck a deal that restored unemployment insurance funding while retaining tax cuts for Americans making over $250,000.

Great move. Why?

While U.S. Money Supply is rebounding from this time a year ago, and the highest it has been, as it should be because that wasn't the case earlier this year, it's not appreciably higher. Meanwhile, the more-often reported unemployment rate is still near 10 percent. And more to the pedestrian point, people who are drawing unemployment need their checks.

The President wasn't going to use them in a political game, unlike many Democrats and Republicans who have money coming in. But Democrats who say they stand for the working person should be ashamed. Working people can make over $250,000 a year - great. I support that. But I don't support taxing them while the economy is in recovery mode out of the weakest recession in history.

If Democrats really feels so strongly, why the hell didn't more of us vote in the 2010 Midterm Election? Stop whining. Start working.

That includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D - California), who's first job should be to back the Democratic President. It was on Speaker Pelosi's watch that the Democrats lost the House of Representatives. Pelosi must realize that the politics of division don't work. Still, given her statements against the President on this issue, it seems she has no problem applying such politics to her own party.

Speaker Pelosi and other Dems must realize the U.S. economy is not back to full health.   Not even close.  Obama made the right call.

Cam Newton for The Heisman Trophy

Suburban Atlanta - This blog post is complicated because the motivation for writing it was because, first, of my good friend Oakland Tribune Sports Columnist Monte Poole's passive agressive Heisman Trophy take. Second, my current proximity to Cam Newton's College Park residence, just outside Atlanta, Georgia.  Third, seeing Newton and Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck (who Poole picked for the Heisman) play, and finally Southern Culture and the fact that I can't sleep.  Blogging should knock me out.

Cam Newton (photo by euroweb.com) is quite simply the best quarterback talent I've ever seen and should be the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner.

The main difference between Newton and Luck, is that for all of his accomplishments, Luck is a product of an offensive system formed by Cardinal Offensive Coordinator David Shaw, who gets little credit for his work. Cam's success has little to do with a particular offensive scheme, but his god-like talent. Consider this is Newton's first year in Auburn's system, and his third system in three years, where Luck has played in the same system for the three year span.

We've seen Cam do things, like score six touchdowns in the SEC Championship, that even the most rabid college football fans only dream of.  And all in his first year in a new system with new players and at a new school.  That's wild.

Cam's only problem is he's in an area of the country known for scams. To one from the San Francisco Bay Area (I go back and forth to help my Mom, who's here) it seems an inordinate number of people have their hands out, selling this or that. Robocalls are rampant. Newton's only hell has been growing up black, male, and physically gifted in football-crazed, dollar-sign-driven Georgia.

Frankly, I find the young man impressive. He handled himself extremely well when being questioned by CBS Sideline Reporter Tracy Wolfson.  He never broke his winning smile, and came off quite charming.  He certainly passed the Mom test, as mine was sold on his presentation at the SEC Championship.

What Cam knew or did not know, does not matter. Spend a little time down here and you don't have to be a genius to know that someone made Cam the focus of their sell / scam efforts. That's not Cam Newton's fault, yet it's being held against him.

Look, let's be honest with each other.  What we're tired of is yet another example of the African American male student who's great on the sports field, but has questions about his character off of it.  The Reggie Bush Heisman give-back has left a bad taste in the mouths of many.   But Cam Newton is not Reggie Bush.   Cam's not the smart, militant, chip-on-shoulder guy that Mr. Bush can be at times.  Cam Newton is an innocent kid with King Kong talent.   And like Kong, Newton can't help how society responds to him.

The question is, did Cam do well on and off the field this year in Auburn?  Yes.  He did.  And what Newton did on the field was jaw-dropping amazing.

Cam Newton for The Heisman.

Kid Sister Pro Nails Remix used in Michelle Wie - Kia Commercial

In case you're wondering, here's the woman behind the music that informs the Michelle Wie - Kia Commercial. She's Chicago's Melisa Young, AKA, rapper Kid Sister:

Kid Sister - Pro Nails from WBEZ on Vimeo.

For more, here's Kid Sister's website and MySpace page.

Kia Soul and Michelle Wie - Wie really is that strong

Golfer Michelle Wie currently stars in a Kia commercial that strongly implies she has amazing strength. Wie hits a ball and in the clip it just keeps going at supersonic speed. It's so fast, it captures the attention of people who aren't even watching her golf, and shocks the hell out of every man watching.

Here's the Kia commercial:




Folks. Wie really is that strong. Take a look:



And don't think for a moment that Wie doesn't think all the boys are checking her out. Especially since she went "Miley Cyrus" last year.

Oh, and the music's from Kid Sister - check her out!

A's Stadium has opposition in San Jose: Better Sense San Jose

Over all of the talk about an Oakland A's baseball stadium in San Jose instead of Oakland, the San Jose Murky News failed to mention the organized opponents in the form of Better Sense San Jose.  

Better Sense San Jose describes itself as:

a community based all volunteer organization founded to promote open and transparent government, and sensible, prioritized spending in the City of San Jose.

It has a simple position on the Lew Wolff proposal, stating that San Jose can't afford it, and that it's a "poor economic deal" for the city and a lousy investment. Here are the reasons Better Sense San Jose gives:

- land purchases and infrastructure improvements for a stadium will cost San Jose an estimated $100M in present value initially, plus a loss of roughly $1M a year from foregone property taxes.
- the net ROI (Return on Investment) for San Jose is 2% or less, while the Redevelopment Agency bonds supplying the capital cost 5% or more per year. A bad deal.
- a stadium will create just 138 new, seasonal, mostly low wage jobs at stadium; with $100M in public costs for the stadium, the cost for the 138 new stadium jobs is almost $725,000 per job. That's a terrible value.
- a stadium will not by itself create new businesses, and will not increase property values (according to San Jose Neighborhood Economic Impacts of the Proposed San Jose Stadium.

While this blogger would quibble with the stadium jobs estimates, the point is, there's an organized opposition to it.  The website is just part of their efforts to kill the proposal, but some members claim the San Jose City Council is trying to ram it down the collective throats of the people of the city.

There's also opposition to the stadium from the perspective of those who say San Jose's redevelopment tax increment revenue production ability is being harmed by "tax base erosion," which is caused when industrial land uses are converted to residential uses.

In fact, there's a meeting tonight on that issue at 7:30 PM, according to San Jose District 6 Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, who calls it Tax Base Erosion Night in his blog, San Jose Inside. The SJ 6 Council Dude says that San Jose's suffering a "death of a thousand cuts" with so many requests to change land use to fit residential plans.

That includes A's Owner / Manager Lew Wolff's proposal to convert industrial land to housing in the case of land owned by something called iStar Financial, a commercial mortgage Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that's not doing well, with $3.5 billion in non-performing assets it reports.

Wolff tried, and failed, to get San Jose to pay him for a soccer stadium, but the City Council balked at the land use.  But from SJ 6 Council Dude Oliverio, it looks like the proposals coming back to them, but with a baseball stadium instead of soccer.

This is what Oliverio wrote:

iStar-

was proposed as a conversion from industrial to housing so as to give a higher land value and therefore money to the developer to pay for soccer stadium however that did not go forward since it is not really appropriate. However I would not be surprised if it resurfaced

This is why Oakland must makes sure it has all hands on deck, and that its baseball effort has a clear leader in the form of the Mayor of Oakland.   San Jose has three major problems in the pursuit of an A's stadium: the Major League Agreement being against them and for Oakland, the opposition, and the San Francisco Giants.

(Oh. If I see one more article in either the San Jose Murky or the San Francisco Chron that fails to mention the Giants fan base in San Jose, I'll scream.)

Got an issue?  Don't get stadium and baseball business dynamics?  Ask this blogger and play his game.

Elizabeth Edwards With Tim Russert, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins

Tim Russert on the primary trail in NH, 2008, originally uploaded by headshotsphoto.

In thinking about Elizabeth Edwards after the announcement of her death today, it was hard to erase the memory of this photo of her with the late NBC Meet The Press legend Tim Russert, and Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.   I originally stumbled on it serendipitously in 2008, and just after Russert's passing.

Here's what I wrote:

I found this photo on Flickr, with this explaination:


Tim Russert died on June 13, at the age of 58. He was photographed while covering a house party for presidential primary candidate, John Edwards, in Bedford NH on the eve of the NH primary in January 2008. Elizabeth Edwards speaks to Tim Russert. Also pictured are Matt Lauer, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.


He really enjoyed getting out there it seems. Russert will be missed.

Edwards will be missed too.

Really sad day.

Dave Wannstedt: No Longer Coaching Panthers

Dave Wannstedt will no longer be coaching for the University of Pittsburgh after a disappointing season where the Panthers went 7-5.  During his career Dave Wannstedt coached the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins and has been coaching for the University of Pittsburgh for 6 years now.  Dave Wannstedt made a statement saying that.  "The past six years have been among the most gratifying of my career.  To be the head coach at my university was the realization of a lifelong dream."

Dave Wannstedt will continue to work for the University of Pittsburgh as a special assistant to the athletic director Steve Pederson.


John Bobst aka The Force of Nature


To check out my comic strip and other pieces of writing go to my website.  www.theforceofnature.net  

Google admits its algorithm is opinion; but its decision process is dangerous

That title is important and look at it again:

Google admits its algorithm is opinion; but its decision process is dangerous

Note the existence of the semicolon. It means that there are two independent ideas. It does not say that Google said anything about it's decision process - I'm saying its dangerous and prove why it's so.

Google News is operating in a fashion that is hostile to media competition, and it must be called out on it.

Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards wife, dies of Breast Cancer at 61

Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Senator and Presidential Candidate John Edwards, has died of Breast Cancer at the age of 61. This news is both shocking and sudden, as it was just Sunday that Mrs. Edwards was taken off her cancer treatments as doctors told her they were no longer effective.

Mrs. Edwards cancer had metastasized to her liver.

Elizabeth Edwards Was A Political Wife

Elizabeth Edwards (photo by www.sugarslam.com) was every bit the political wife of John Edwards. I've never met her, but did have the pleasure of being in the same room as she: the Pepsi Center for The Democratic National Convention. 

What I can't help remembering, because as a blogger, I was in the middle of it, was just how her husband was cheating on her as was diagnosed with had Breast Cancer. That was back in 2007 going into 2008, as Edwards was seen to be the rising star of the Democratic Party, and the front-runner for the Democratic Primary. They, the Democratic Party establishment, gave "that Obama guy" little chance of winning.

But for me, all of that changed when we got word from, of all places, the National Enquirer, that Edwards had established a relationship with a woman named Rielle Hunter. There were only a handful of blogs - The Huffington Post, and what I then called Zennie's Zeitgeist - that ran with the story. And being an open and very aggressive supporter of Obama for President, I pushed the blog post with gusto on January 8th 2008.

Why?

Because the news that Hunter was about to have a child by Edwards was being swept under the rug by too many people.  A number of big donors saw Edwards as their "Golden Boy" and didn't want the news of his affair known.   They were also standing in the way of Obama's assent at the time.

And yes, even with these problems, their was a powerful pull for an Obama / Edwards ticket, even as then-Senator Clinton was the front runner.

But all of that changed when Edwards finally admitted to his affair on August 8th 2008, and just days before the 2008 Democratic National Convention.   That was the game-changer that put Obama firmly in the driver's seat and Clinton at number two, with Edwards' delegates searching for a new home.

But what was sad to witness was John Edwards basically turn his back on Elizabeth Edwards.  And as a person who's Mom's a Breast Cancer survivor, and lost both a Stepfather and Father in 2005 to Prostate Cancer, the last thing a cancer patient needs is more stress.  John was bringing just that to his wife.

Sad.

It's good to read that he was by her side, but what he did will live with him forever.  Edwards can't get a do-over now.

Obama Press Conference Adds Insult to Injury for Millions of 99ers

In an attempt to justify his compromise with Republicans on extending the Bush Tax cuts, President Obama held a Press Conference which added insult to injury for millions of 99ers.

President Barack Obama vigorously defended his agreement with Republicans to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts on Tuesday, arguing that it was a price that had to be paid to spare the middle class from crippling tax hikes.

My "number one priority is to do what's right for the American people, for Jobs and for economic growth." Obama said at a hastily scheduled White House news conference. "Because of this agreement, middle class Americans won't see their taxes go up on January 1...."

Exactly how is it good economic policy to leave millions of 99ers and their families out in the cold and exempt from any help this so called deal would provide the unemployed? A Tier 5 for 20 weeks would put back into the economy between 2.7 and 3.5 billion per week. That is sure a great deal of help for the economy Mr President and a much better return on the US investment than any stimulus to date - certainly more than tax breaks for the wealthy compared to what that is going to cost us.

The overall cost to the U.S. treasury of the controversial compromise will be between $600 billion and $800 billion over two years, according to estimates.

At the heart of the deal is an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for two more years, which would keep income tax rates at their current levels for everyone, including the wealthiest Americans who do not need them. What is conspicuously missing from the bad deal all around is any help that should have been negotiated for millions of Americans hurting the worst: the 99ers.

The deal Obama and Republicans struck also includes a one-year cut in payroll taxes, from 6.2% to 4.2%. The tax is applied to a worker's first $106,800 of wages.

The estate tax -- currently scheduled to return in 2011 to a top rate of 55% along with a $1 million exemption -- would instead come back with a lower top rate of 35% along with a $5 million exemption.

Seems as though the Republicans got everything they wanted except permanency of the tax cuts - which most economists adamantly declare we cannot afford. In a concession to Democrats, Republicans agreed to 13 additional months to file for extended federal unemployment benefits already in place. That will not, however, affect how long someone can collect unemployment benefits the maximum will remain 99 weeks in states hardest hit by job loss.

The plan also would continue tax breaks for students and families contained in the 2009 stimulus bill and allow businesses to write off all investments they make next year.

It is not a done deal yet, however - Democrats seem to be fuming mad about this “Deal with the Devil” as Congress rumblings abound on Capitol Hill today. Many taking to the floor indicate that Democrats will not have the votes to pass the deal unless they agree to add a Tier 5 to sweeten the pot for true liberals.

I will keep you posted on the details of those rumblings as they develop. Video below of today's press conference.

WikiLeaks Creates Scientific Journalism

On Fox News show Studio B with Shepard Smith it was revealed that Julian Assange, WikiLeaks creator, wrote a piece for an Australian publication where he says that he has created a new form of journalism called "scientific journalism." He also compares himself to Daniel Ellsberg, but not before he makes mention that he wants to be like Rupert Murdoch.

In The Australian he writes:

"WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?"

More information will be provided as is released.