As Anuradha Biswa Karma waits for her grade-four textbooks in an obscure part of the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, little does she know that there is someone working in Berkeley to send her the money to buy them. -more-
Single-payer universal health care advocates in California begin their second try in two years to make their cause state law when the state Senate Health Committee holds a hearing in Sacramento this Wednesday afternoon on state Sen. Shirley Kuehl’s (D-Santa Monica) SB 840. -more-
UC Berkeley faculty will cast their ballots Thursday on competing resolutions triggered by the largest corporate grant in the history of the American university. -more-
To Alan P. Rudy, the furor surrounding the developing half-billion-dollar research pact between BP and UC Berkeley is deja vu writ large. -more-
Assemblymember Loni Hancock sponsored her second major public gathering in her assembly district in two months, holding a town hall meeting on global warming at Berkeley City College that attracted several hundred participants and presentations from several local and state agencies. -more-
The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) will make a second try Wednesday at revising a report on city policies regarding UC Berkeley’s plans for the city center. -more-
Helios in Greek myth was the sun god who drove a chariot daily from east to west across the sky and sailed across the ocean each night in a huge cup. -more-
The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) set the appeal of an application for an administrative use permit for 933 Keeler Ave. for public hearing at the board meeting Thursday. -more-
Somebody should ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (or whoever takes his job) about Petrona Tomas. -more-
How strong is your commitment to the environment? Is it strong enough to make you alter your lifestyle, switch from favored products or seek out and support environmentally conscious businesses? -more-
In 1943 Robert Oppenheimer left the University of California at Berkeley to become director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the first atom bomb was built. He maintained a connection with the university for several more years but never really returned. Instead, he became director of Princeton’s Center for Advanced Study and a consultant to the government on issues raised by atomic weapons. After his political “disgrace” for supposed disloyalty in 1954, he devoted himself to writing, producing essays and books, notably Science and the Common Understanding. President Kennedy cleared his name and “rehabilitated” him in 1963. -more-
It’s the school bus from Neverland. And yet it sends a message to the powers-that-be in a way that could never have been imagined. -more-
In a decision that will mean public access to in excess of 15,000 pages of documents from Wal-Mart corporation, a California Appeals Court has ruled that an Alameda County Superior Court judge erred in sealing thousands of pages of documents in an employment lawsuit against the retail giant. -more-
The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) emerged victorious in the American Civil Rights Foundation vs. Berkeley Unified School District lawsuit when Judge Winifred Y. Smith of the Alameda County Superior Court ruled in favor of the school district Monday. -more-
Members of the Homeless Commission slammed Mayor Tom Bates’ Public Commons for Everyone initiative as “mean spirited,” “punitive,” “vindictive,” and too vague to address effectively. -more-
The City of Berkeley scored a first-round legal victory when a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the City Council’s agreement with UC Berkeley that paved the way for the new downtown plan. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education refrained from approving a resolution that would have allowed staff to move forward with the Solar Project at Washington Elementary School at the school board meeting Wednesday. -more-
The tree sitters at the Memorial Stadium Oak Grove got a visit from the UC Berkeley Police Department once again Wednesday. -more-
The upbeat voice that greets callers to Longfellow Middle School belongs to Barret Donahue, school secretary with the Berkeley schools for 10 years—and with San Diego Unified for 10 years before that. -more-
Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) meets Monday night to finish up work they weren’t able to finish by the mandatory midnight closing time last week. -more-
In the wake of a multi-million dollar employment discrimination lawsuit settlement by the City of Emeryville and charges of further, widespread racial discrimination in City of Emeryville employment, the Mayor of Emeryville is defending her city’s minority hiring policies, and is rejecting a proposal that one councilmember hopes will solve employee disputes before they go to court. -more-
If oil and water don’t mix, what about oil and academic freedom? -more-
Joy Holland—artist, poet, scholar, actor, fashion designer, neighborhood activist—died peacefully in her sleep April 3. She always declined to disclose her age, but she was a grandmother and great-grandmother. -more-
The recent passing of former Berkeley City Council Member John Denton, who served on the Council from 1975 through 1986, calls for remembering his enormous contribution to civic life. John Denton was an informal leader of the many Berkeley residents who cared about preserving Berkeley’s unique character and livability, and who did not strictly identify with either the Berkeley Citizens Action—BCA/left/progressive—or Berkeley Democratic Club—BDC/moderate/conservative—political factions. John was never politically correct enough to please many on the left, while the moderate/conservative faction tended to view him as a pro-tenant radical. But to his many supporters in the community, John was the conscience of the City Council. -more-
The digging of a vegetable bed of all gardening activities seems to elicit a passion like no other in the bosom of the horticultural writer. -more-
Editor’s Note: In early April, a South Korean cab driver set himself on fire in protest of the new free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea. The trade agreement, opposed by most Koreans according to a recent poll, would have a negative impact on working class Americans as well argues Christine Ahn, a policy analyst with the Korea Policy Institute and the national coordinator of Korean Americans for Fair Trade. -more-
Ah yes, parking. Glad you asked. Today we’re exercising a little-used editorial prerogative, reading an opinion submission before it’s published and responding in the same paper. -more-
So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. -more-
In thinking about what I ought to tell you regarding these dark days various clichés come to mind: I see no light at the end of the tunnel. The American dream is a nightmare. The American experiment failed. Pride precedeth the fall. -more-
In 1944 Roosevelt’s call to plant a Victory Garden was answered by 20 million Americans. Amazingly,these gardens in a short time produced 40 percent of all vegetables consumed in this country. (The rest was grown mostly by local farms) Gardens grew in backyards, in empty lots, and on rooftops or public gardens in cities. Even some portion of Golden Gate park was alloted to community gardens.) -more-
We say that global warming is the result of the burning of fossil fuels, but it might also be said that global warming has happened because the human species has not recognized that all systems on the earth are mutually related, alive and sacred. -more-
If corporations are threatened to be taxed or regulated by the government in ways that may reduce their profits, they use their riches to invest on K Street (otherwise known as “Lobbyist Boulevard”) in Washington. Currently, there are over 34,000 lobbyists in the United States. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Citizens for Tax Justice, and Public Campaign, “41 companies (including GE, Microsoft, and Disney) ‘contributed’ $150 million to political parties and campaigns for U.S. Federal candidates between 1999 and 2001, and enjoyed $55 billion in tax breaks in three tax years alone.” The pharmaceutical industry employs the highest number of 3,000 lobbyists and has spent $759 million to influence 1,400 congressional bills between 1998 and 2004. -more-
Mark Sapir’s angry April 6 commentary about KPFA includes the following sentence: “When people...behave provocatively and are unwilling to clarify and negotiate over their differences within the institution, this advances the surreptitious attack on KPFA.” -more-
The superior court’s decision should ensure that the UC-City settlement continues to receive deserved examination, both legally and politically. That is because one premise of the court’s judgment—that the city could lawfully cut the public out of the settlement of a significant CEQA case—conflicts with the leading appellate decision on that subject, and thus deserves its own appellate review. -more-
It is indeed exciting for an alumnus of UC Berkeley to read in the Daily Planet stories related to citizens’ concern for greener and sustainable development in Berkeley city, particularly the stories on Sustainable Berkeley and the People’s Park renovation. -more-
If Berkeley is to lead the world in greatly reducing emissions, the city needs to set a target year of 2020 rather than the 2050 of Measure G. The looming crisis of climate change requires swift action. We can reduce emissions most effectively with a green tax shift. -more-
The latest Gallup Poll indicates that Americans continue to be deeply divided about Iraq. What’s been ignored in this bitter debate is the issue of political stability: How long should the United States stay in Iraq if the elected government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fails to meet its commitments? Most Americans believe that while the United States should bolster Iraqi security, the government of Iraq must function on its own. The commander of U.S. Forces General David Petraeus acknowledges this: “A military solution to Iraq is not possible;” there has to be a political solution. The key to the future of Iraq is the Bush administration’s willingness to hold the Iraqi government accountable. -more-
March 20, 2007 -more-
I know: another corvid column. But bear with me. Every now and then I trawl the technical literature at the UC library, and this time I found a jay-and-crow story in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology that’s too good to keep. -more-
Our conservative friends—the traditional ones, not the pretenders who currently set White House policy—have long cautioned us to be careful about making new law. It is often accomplished in haste, but repented at leisure. Sometimes, we should listen to our conservative friends. They are not always wrong. -more-
Facing Albany Hill at the extreme northwestern corner of Berkeley is the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, subdivided in 1909. Noted for its scenic beauty, Thousand Oaks is also the land of a thousand rocks. These silica-rich volcanic rocks, named Northbrae rhyolite by geologist Andrew Lawson, are scattered wherever the eye may fall. Some of the largest may be found in public parks donated to the city by the Mason-McDuffie realty company, but many more are hidden from view in private gardens or under houses. -more-
It’s a little off the gardening track, but who could resist a title like Flower Confidential? Actually, anything by Amy Stewart would be hard to resist. Her previous book, The Earth Moved, was a quirky introduction to the world of earthworms, touching on the giant worm of the Willamette Valley (three feet long and lily-scented) and Charles Darwin’s late-in-life fascination with worms (his long-suffering wife Emma played the piano for them; they were unresponsive). -more-
I don’t know about you but my eyes are often bigger than my stomach. It’s a constant problem. Well my column last week suffered for this malady and left so much unaddressed that I just have to devote another page to these worthy issues. -more-
CAHILL, KUBERA PLAY RILEY’S ‘WALTZ’ -more-
After the audience has been seated in Live Oak Theatre to a medley of old hits arranged thematically, like “Prisoner of Love,” “It’s a Man’s World,” “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” and “I’m Glad That You’re Sorry Now” (as well as “Please, Please, Please,” particularly poignant), there’s a drumroll, some commotion behind—and strange glances under the hem of—the draped red curtain, then the entrance of the masked chorus, two young women who toss their masks into the audience with, “Okay, we’re, like, the chorus ... 411—a very bad year to be an Athenian. It’s sucky!” -more-
All serious readers, whether scholarly or general interest, place a special value on first-hand accounts of historical events. Memoirs, autobiographies, interviews of “regular people” who find themselves immersed in historic times bring that history to life as no author can. This is why the new book, Our History Is Still Being Written, has such an important role to play in modern Chinese history. -more-
I know: another corvid column. But bear with me. Every now and then I trawl the technical literature at the UC library, and this time I found a jay-and-crow story in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology that’s too good to keep. -more-
When I was 5 years old my kindergarten class, for whatever reason, took a field trip to the home of one of my classmates. Too young to have any notion of the local geography, I had no idea where the house was located. It was only when I stepped out the back door of the boy’s house into his backyard that I recognized the yellow playhouse and battered metal slide and realized that this was the house directly behind my own. I peeked through a hole in the fence and saw my own backyard: the lawn, the patio, the rusted swingset, the family dog sniffing about in the tall grass, the soccer ball under a tree where I had left it the day before. -more-
Manzi: The Adventures of Young Cesar Chavez will be performed by Active Arts Theare for Young Audiences at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 14, and 2 p.m. Sunday, as well as the following weekend, at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. -more-
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others ... One ever feels his twoness—an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. -more-
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven made his mark in 1977 with Soldier of Orange, a film about the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. Now, after a 20-year-stint in Hollywood making films such as RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Showgirls, Verhoeven has returned to Holland to make another World War II epic, Black Book. But unfortunately the director took home with him every unpalatable and hackneyed trick he’d picked up in his travels. -more-
Facing Albany Hill at the extreme northwestern corner of Berkeley is the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, subdivided in 1909. Noted for its scenic beauty, Thousand Oaks is also the land of a thousand rocks. These silica-rich volcanic rocks, named Northbrae rhyolite by geologist Andrew Lawson, are scattered wherever the eye may fall. Some of the largest may be found in public parks donated to the city by the Mason-McDuffie realty company, but many more are hidden from view in private gardens or under houses. -more-
It’s a little off the gardening track, but who could resist a title like Flower Confidential? Actually, anything by Amy Stewart would be hard to resist. Her previous book, The Earth Moved, was a quirky introduction to the world of earthworms, touching on the giant worm of the Willamette Valley (three feet long and lily-scented) and Charles Darwin’s late-in-life fascination with worms (his long-suffering wife Emma played the piano for them; they were unresponsive). -more-
I don’t know about you but my eyes are often bigger than my stomach. It’s a constant problem. Well my column last week suffered for this malady and left so much unaddressed that I just have to devote another page to these worthy issues. -more-
