After being called “idiots,” thanked profusely, having their manners upbraided, told alternatively during a three-hour public hearing that they were unpatriotic and true patriots, the Berkeley City Council softened rhetoric of a Jan. 29 council item that would have had staff write the Marines, saying their recruiters are “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” in Berkeley. -more-

For a brief moment Tuesday, the warpaint and angry threats outside Maudelle Shirek Old City Hall gave way to sporadic bursts of festivity. -more-

The angry cries of several hundred Pacific Steel workers eclipsed the sound of bullhorns and jeers from the pro- and anti-war demonstrators outside the Old City Hall Tuesday to hear the Berkeley City Council rescind their resolution on the Marine Recruiting Center. -more-

At around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, a weary council passed a motion 7-2 which effectively reversed the council’s vote to tell the Marines they are “unwelcome intruders.” They refused, however, to issue an apology to the Marines. -more-

One of the councilmembers most associated with the drive to increase affordable housing in Oakland believes that after more than a year, the council may be deadlocked on the issue and unable to make any changes. -more-

A sharp schism between city staff and veterans of the panel charged with formulating policies for a new city density bonus law revealed itself at the Planning Commission Wednesday night. -more-

Southside Berkeley residents came to the Planning Commission Wednesday to call for more parks and protest Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). -more-

The longtime District One (North Oakland) representative on the Oakland Unified School District board confirmed that she is not running for re-election but denied rumors that she is running for the Oakland At-Large City Council seat. -more-

Rich Robbins of San Rafael-based Wareham Properties won one more victory at City Hall Tuesday, when the City Council voted 5-1-3 to demolish structures at Robbins’ property at 1050 Parker St. -more-

A Molotov cocktail hurled at a UC Berkeley fraternity forced the evacuation of 50 residents from the Sigma Pi house during the predawn hours Saturday. -more-

RETRACTION REQUESTED -more-

The Planet is only printing letters from locals regarding the ruling on the Marine Recruitment Station. Some of these letters were sent prior to the Feb. 12 City Council meeting and thus do not reflect the council’s most recent ruling. -more-

Back in 1972, near the end of the Vietnam war, I was living in San Francisco, and my close friend, ex-Sgt. Van Dale Todd, a combat veteran of the 101st Airborne, lived next door in the same building, a Victorian on 29th Street. Sometimes Van would take a notion to hit the wall which separated our apartments with his fist and shout, “Who the fuck would join the Marine Corps?” I’d yell back, “Airborne sucks!” “The Marine Corps sucks!” Van’d shout. “Only two things come out of the sky,” I’d yell back again, “Bird shit and fools!” That was how we said good morning to each other. It was our ritualized greeting. -more-

One of the more interesting phenomena to emerge from the U.S. debacle in Iraq is the demise of the unipolar world that rose from the ashes of the Cold War. A short decade ago the U.S. was the most powerful political, economic and military force on the planet. Today its army is straining under the weight of an unpopular occupation, its economy is careening toward recession, and the only “allies” it can absolutely depend on in the United Nations are Israel, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. -more-

We have come to an odd turn in Oakland’s Police and Crime and Politics novel, as if a master storyteller—Arthur Conan Doyle or Scott Turow, perhaps—has suddenly introduced an unexpected twist that makes the reader have to throw out many earlier assumptions, and even go back and revisit some of the first few chapters to see exactly how this spot was reached. We are in the middle of the story, now, so it is difficult to sort out all the narrative threads. I will do my best and if I err, forgive me, as this is being done as things are still developing, and new information is coming forth. -more-

O’Donnell’s Fairfax Nursery is an old favorite of mine, though I pass it maybe 20 times for every time I go in to visit. It’s right on one of our two usual routes to Point Reyes, though over the last five years or so it’s the route we take coming back and they’re often closed by that hour. Besides, on the way out we’re generally in a big fat hurry to go see some birds; on the way back, we’re tired and grouchy and unfit for civilized company. -more-