Columnists

Column: Undercurrents: Dellums Administration Gets Oakland Moving Again

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 20, 2007

Some years ago, in a more energetic time in my life, I used to pick up day work unloading banana boats for Chiquita Brands on the docks at Charleston, South Carolina. By that time they had stopped shipping bananas by the stalk, but instead, they were coming up from Central America in 40 pound boxes. These boxes were stacked up to the roof of each deck of the banana boats, and when you first got on the floor in the morning, there was barely enough room for the 10 man crews to stand in the bare space around the hold, much less start working sending the boxes up the single conveyor belt that took them up the hold to the top deck. -more-


First Person: Compassion and Outrage at the Coffee Bar

By E. S. Hammer
Friday April 20, 2007

As a 50-ish fan of Susan Parker’s column, I am following with keen interest her colorful descriptions of loss and renewal at age 55. I wish her great good fortune in finding or creating the “next right career” for herself. However, I just had to share an anecdote of my own, in case Ms. Parker meant seriously that perhaps she’d apply at Peet’s. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Daniels Excelled in Developing and Marketing Scenic Beauty

By Daniella Thompson
Friday April 20, 2007

Nobody recognized the commercial value of natural scenery better than Mark Daniels. -more-


About the House: Strapping Young Water Heater Turns 10 Years Old

By Matt Cantor
Friday April 20, 2007

I am a total crank. I admit it. I can’t help myself. I think this just the way Lord Shiva made me and there ain’t too darned much I can do about it. Some things just rile me, chafe and get under my pink semi-translucent skin and one of those things is the utter and thorough inability of just about everyone in the building trades to properly strap a water heater. -more-


Column: The Public Eye: Looking for Accountability in Iraq

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday April 17, 2007

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-



Wild Neighbors: En Garde! Jays Discover the Pointed Stick

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday April 17, 2007

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-