Ever since he moved into the neighborhood earlier this year, Don Oppenheim wished for the demise of Grove Liquor in the heart of the fledgling Ashby Arts District. -more-
Berkeley police waited too long to call for paramedics as a man died in their custody last year, a three-person panel of the Berkeley Police Review Commission concluded. -more-
Former gubernatorial and vice-presidential candidate Peter Camejo told a gathering of progressives in Oakland Saturday that recent events in New Orleans and the drop in American support for the occupation in Iraq “is a tremendous opening for the Green Party. This is a peculiar moment where we can win over people massively by explaining to them what is happening in our country and in the world.” -more-
What is the shame of the American nation? -more-
Amtrak passengers no longer have to leap onto commuter trains at Berkeley’s rail stop. -more-
String is not a material known for its lasting qualities. Just right for tying up a package, substituting for a shoelace or belt, fashioning a phone between two cans or serving as a memory enhancer tied around your finger, you wouldn’t expect to find your accountant’s office hung with string assemblages. String wouldn’t be your first choice for a grocery list or message to a friend. -more-
BATON ROUGE, La.—The New Orleans Stare. You can see it in the faces of Katrina survivors here at the evacuation shelter at the River Center in Baton Rouge. -more-
On Sept. 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo gave the grito (shout) and launched the Mexican war for independence from Spain. Meanwhile, a convention in the Kingdom of Spain was debating a constitution for representative government for the homeland and the colonies. Similarities appear in having debates in Spain for a constitution for Mexico, and debating one for Iraq, not in Iraq proper, but in the Green Zone, under the watchful eye of the U.S. top representative. -more-
NEW DELHI—In Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh is an “Indian spy’’ whose death sentence has been upheld by the country’s Supreme Court for his alleged involvement in 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore. In India, Sarabjit is an innocent man, a farmer and father of two teenage girls, who mistakenly ventured into Pakistan 15 years back in an inebriated condition and was picked up by Pakistani security personnel, as happens quite often. -more-
http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work -more-
“Pregnant,” people echo, their faces lighting up—most with true hormonally induced baby fever, others because they sense it’s expected of them. And then—“Congratulations!” -more-
I have to go to the bank today because it is payday at our house. Every day is payday at our house so, in fact, it will be my 292nd visit to the bank this year, but who’s counting? -more-
Jonathan Wornick, Councilman Wozniak’s appointee to the Peace and Justice Commission, has already written at least two op-eds in the Daily Planet attacking a U.S. Department of Peace (DOP). His most recent, entitled “Is Free Speech Dead in Berkeley?”, not only continued that attack, but personally tried to brand me and others in the peace movement as radical leftists. In fact, he used that term no less than eight times. -more-
“We don’t care, we don’t care” was the chant of pro-war, pro-Bush hecklers across the street from the Camp Casey peace vigil in Crawford, Texas, in late August 2005. This “we don’t care” chant pretty much sums up the attitude of the Bush Syndicate toward the rest of us in America. Actually, Bush, Cheney and the rest of this idiotic neoconical government believe that the only true function of the federal government is to create private moneymaking opportunities for themselves, their friends, and their corporate contributors. Any activity other than waging aggressive war to invade, colonize and steal other countries’ natural resources falls into the category of “we don’t care.” -more-
In the year 2001, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was created in response to the lack of international presence in Palestine. ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources: international protection and a voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming and brutal military occupation force—a military occupation fully funded by U.S. tax dollars. -more-
As we longtime residents know, Berkeley can be an odd place. We have led the nation in some great directions. But sometimes our national reputation for nuttiness is actually well deserved. I happened to be in Germany the day the Berlin Wall fell. It was an amazing scene watching hordes of East Germans flood across the old barrier for their first look at freedom. Several days later I arrived back at SFO and grabbed a cab home. As soon as I said I was going to Berkeley, the driver identified himself as a Berkeleyan. He proceeded to give me a long harangue about how wonderful it was that the Wall had fallen because now everyone will know what an evil Stalinism had been, and what an evil Leninism had been. Now the whole world, at long last, will welcome the great truth of Trotskyism. Right! Only in Berkeley. -more-
In a stark circle of light a man sits on the floor, shackled, humming “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” the title—not title song—and the opening scene of Frank McGuinness’s play about hostages in Beirut, now at the Berkeley City Club as staged by Wilde Irish Productions. -more-
Long before Labor Day, the shorebirds began moving south. I’ve been seeing good numbers since early August: black-bellied plovers still in their dapper breeding plumage, least and western sandpipers working the tidelines, red knots, dowitchers, curlews. Among the migrant throngs, in singles and small clumps, are a couple of personal favorites, the small chunky sandpiper relatives called turnstones. -more-
Berkeley Planning and Development Director Dan Marks unveiled the draft work program for the joint city/UC Berkeley Downtown Area Plan (DAP) at Monday night’s meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). -more-
Planning Commissioners made clear Wednesday that they want to take the lead as the city and UC Berkeley begin rewriting downtown zoning laws. -more-
Did George W. Bush steal America’s 2004 elections? -more-
With disaster preparedness suddenly on everyone’s minds, the Berkeley Unified School District published its District Emergency Response Plan in last week’s school board packet for the first time in what school officials called “many years.” -more-
Sensitive Data Said to be Uncompromised -more-
Bowing to pressure from a well-organized opposition, Oakland Vice Mayor Jane Brunner has withdrawn her plan to expand an existing redevelopment district to include 800 acres immediately south of the Berkeley border. -more-
Just 21 years old, Jesse Arreguin, a UC Berkeley senior and tenants’ rights advocate, has made a name for himself in Berkeley. -more-
The Berkeley City Council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. Items on the agenda include: -more-
The Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to reopen the main branch of the public library on Sundays starting Sept. 25. -more-
Last Sunday night I stood with another reporter in the middle of the street in a neighborhood near downtown New Orleans. I had been sent to capture photographs of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, but at that moment all I could see in front of me was blackness, interrupted only by the occasional lights from a passing police car and the yellow glow from a nearby light run by a generator. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Palo Alto Daily News is a free daily newspaper published by Knight-Ridder, which also publishes Berkeley’s East Bay Daily News. The East Bay paper uses the same “Town Talk” format found in its Palo Alto counterpart. -more-
Robert Purdy, 85, a World War II veteran, ex-P.O.W., hero, and activist, died in Berkeley on Sunday, Sept. 11 after a short illness. -more-
Christopher Wilson, the 20-year-old charged with murder in the death of his friend, Berkeley High graduate Meleia Willis-Starbuck, was given a three-week extension to enter a plea. -more-
Here’s the story of my attempt to virtually join the U.S. Army. -more-
Landmarks commissioners gave their blessing to Roy Nee’s plans for the venerable Shattuck Hotel on Monday, while casting a more critical eye at Darrell De Tienne’s plans for the former Durkee Famous Foods warehouse at 740 Heinz Avenue. -more-
Immigrant and civil rights activists have managed to get several key questions, including some from Berkeley attorney James Brosnahan, into the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts. The questions spotlight their growing concerns about the vulnerabilities of immigrants and ethnic minorities. -more-
In the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 17, 1862, a division of Confederate soldiers moved into place just south of a cornfield near where the Hagerstown Pike runs past a white, clapboard church on its way to the town of Sharpsburg, Md. Northeast of the Confederates, Union Major General Joseph Mansfield was getting his XII Corps into line facing a small forest. -more-
The traditions of community service and citizen participation have been at the heart of American civic culture since before the nation was founded. Historically, our greatest strength as a nation has been to be there for one another. Citizen participatio n has been the lifeblood of democracy. -more-
http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work -more-
My teacher anxiety dreams started in mid-July, even though I retired in June. The dreams keep coming, warning me of my failings and of imminent disaster. Never mind that I will not ever have to step back in any classroom again. The dreams are vivid attacks on my confidence. They aren’t true nightmares, filled with chasing or falling, but they are enough to make the next day gloomy. -more-
You ever wonder what happens to sensational stories that hit the local media, get everybody talking for a few days, and then just drop off the face of the earth? How many times in these situations do you see a follow-up story—either in the media or in some government agency—to find out how much of the original story was true? And if we don’t have a follow-up, how much effect does the original story—true or not—have on city policies? -more-
Your brief Sept. 2 item on the ZAB subcommittee on 3045 Shattuck may have misled some readers to believe that the subcommittee’s purpose is to seek a compromise between neighbors and the developer, Christina Sun. In fact its purpose is simply to work with Ms. Sun’s architect to find a more attractive, less blocky, higher-quality design that she and ZAB would both find acceptable. -more-
I have seen New Orleans clinging to a tower. -more-
Can Berkeley elect and maintain a government worthy of our progressive ideals? Can we once again ignite a movement? -more-
“I ask you to remember: with used furniture, you cannot be emotional!” -more-
Arlene Blum, a chemist who contributed to the banning of three toxic chemicals, leader of mountaineering expeditions and founder of Berkeley’s annual Himalayan Fair, will appear at two local celebrations of her new book, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life. -more-
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Directors meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Items on the agenda include: -more-
Looks like the jackals are already gathering in New Orleans, before the flood waters have been pumped away. The areas which took the worst of the flooding were the homes owned and rented by poor people, who have traditionally lived in the bottom lands of southern American cities, where the residents were subject to malaria, cholera and other hazards of life in swampland. Despite all the evidence that the Katrina disaster was made worse by disregarding environmental axioms about building in marshes, the speculators are clearly looking at the ravaged zones as one big building site, this time controlled by the right people. On the radio Thursday, a New Orleans economic development honcho was interviewed saying that from now on it was going to be a city for middle-class people, and another city employee rhapsodized about how new programs were going to turn all those poor folks middle class. (Tell me again about the rabbits, George….) -more-
