Opinion

Never thought I’d hear the word “empathy” used as a pejorative. (Definitions, for the one or two Republicans who might be be reading this: “Empathy: …the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another” and “pejorative: having negative connotations; especially: tending to disparage or belittle.” ) -more-

MEMORIAL DAY -more-

Will policies proposed to turn Berkeley “green” eventually eliminate real local green spaces, particularly our backyards and private gardens? If the proposed Climate Action Plan (CAP) doesn’t change, it’s quite possible. -more-

The City Council is scheduled to open the discussion of the Citizens’ Sunshine Ordinance at the June 2 Council Meeting. Mayor Bates has said that the discussion will be restricted to the fiscal impact the proposed ordinance would have on the city budget. -more-

In 1964, Stanley Kubrick produced the Cold War film Dr. Strangelove, or “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” By upholding Proposition 8, the California Supreme Court has learned to stop worrying and love the initiative process. It’s an apt analogy, because yesterday’s decision leaves an unchecked power of the voters to strike a “bomb” through our basic Constitutional protections. Not only did the court minimize Prop. 8’s effect on the right to marry, using logic that contradicted last year’s decision on the same subject. It set up a dubious distinction between “amendments” and “revisions” to the state Constitution, which will allow virtually any ballot measure to pass as a mere “amendment.” Without adequate safeguards that a “revision” was meant to place, equal protection is no longer sacred—because the power of the ballot is supreme. At the same time, the court ruled that the 18,000 same-sex couples who legally wed last year are still married—because to invalidate these licenses would be an undue violation of due process and property rights. While that was a wise decision, it remains a mystery why such a right is more important than equal protection. -more-

From time to time I receive alerts, usually by email, from the Berkeley Police Department and neighborhood groups, about criminal activity in Berkeley. I like getting this information. It helps me be on the lookout for criminals and is a good reminder to lock my doors and windows. -more-

In the old movie Three Days of the Condor Robert Redford discovers renegade CIA agents plotting a cover up of one of their crimes. Confronted in the street by the CIA agents Redford is told there is no where he can run to and there is nothing he can do about it. He is told to remain silent and pray that he does not have an accident. -more-

Since Jan. 21 the Obama team has been struggling—with mixed success—to stabilize the ship of state, to plug its leaks, to change its direction and set a new course. The ship our 44th president took command of cannot be righted easily or quickly; it is foundering due to two terms of venal management by its previous captain. -more-

I have a confession to make. I have fruit trees and vegetable beds in my front yard and on the median strip in front of my house. My neighbors and I think this is gorgeous, but Berkeley’s code-enforcement officers disagree. These compliance “enforcers” think my gardens are code-violations worthy of fines of $3,000 dollars a day, $90,000.00 dollars a month. (These fines are substantially larger than the development fees paid by Berkeley’s multimillion dollar development projects!) -more-

In a recent commentary, Richard Phelps attacks me and several others as “responsible for this crisis” at our sister station, WBAI in New York. I am a reporter and not prone to hyperbole: so please believe me when I tell you that the man’s rambling attack is nothing short of delusional. -more-

On May 6, College Preparatory High School—a private high school located in Oakland on Broadway between Brookside and Golden Gate Avenues—presented its three-year expansion plans to neighbors and a couple of Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) members. Unfortunately, the invitations arrived two days before the meeting, and many neighbors whose lives would be directly impacted by the development were unable to attend. Of those who did attend, many were seriously troubled by what they heard. -more-