Opinion

Editorials

Learning From the UC Theater Success

By Becky O'Malley
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:17:00 AM

The Zoning Adjustment Board’s recent approval of plans by a new company in which Berkeley and San Francisco entrepreneurs have combined to revive the old UC Theater as a music venue has been universally applauded. In this very space last February we suggested that someone around here should learn from the example of Oakland’s recently reopened Fox, and lo-and-behold, it seems to be happening. That stretch of University Avenue is an ideal location for a music club—some of us old-timers remember hearing Jerry Garcia, on his nights off from the Grateful Dead, playing Keystone Berkeley across the street where yet another boring condo-to-be now rises. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:16:00 AM

STUDENT PARTIES -more-


A Failure of Transparency At KPFA

By Brian Edwards-Tiekert
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:15:00 AM

In J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s latest article about Pacifica’s moves on KPFA’s money, Grace Aaron is quoted as saying “[Brian Edwards-Tiekert] should have attempted to verify his facts.” To be clear, I asked KPFA’s Business Manager to confirm with the bank that they were under orders to transfer $100,000 out of KPFA’s account; they did. I also wrote two e-mails to Pacifica’s Interim Chief Financial Officer (ICFO) seeking clarification of the issue (Grace Aaron was copied on them). In five days, I received no response. I’m not sure what other verification efforts she wanted me to make—I guess I could have waited for the bank to actually move money out of KPFA’s account and asked for a receipt. -more-


Putting the Community Back in Community Radio at KPFA

By Akio Tanaka
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:15:00 AM

As many Berkeley Daily Planet readers are aware, the 2009 election for the KPFA Local Station Board has now begun. Although most candidates running for the board claim to espouse progressive politics, there is a clear difference in the direction each wants to take KPFA. -more-


Top Five Healthcare Reform Lies

By Ralph E. Stone
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:15:00 AM

MoveOn’s Real Voices for Change campaign put together this list of healthcare reform lies that are spreading via anonymous e-mail chains. Remember when Sarah Palin bizarrely said that President Obama was going to set up a “death panel,” whatever that is. Here is MoveOn’s list of lies and their efforts to set the record straight. Spread the word. -more-


Bike Safety as Political Fodder

By H. Scott Prosterman
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:13:00 AM

Bike safety has been part of the script for every Berkeley politician since the Free Speech Movement. Unfortunately, this generation of Berkeley politicians has done nothing to improve it. They talk big about asking people to give up their cars and ride a bike but have done nothing to initiate an education program, improve existing laws, or even enforce them.   -more-


Where Is Robin Hood?

By Winston Burton
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:14:00 AM

For many years I thought that the Robin Hood Syndrome—taking from the rich to give to the poor—was a no brainer, so why make such a big deal about it? Why would anyone want to steal from the poor and give to the rich? The wealthy have the resources and the money so who would waste their time robbing people who don’t have anything?  Seems logical, right? Boy was I naïve! -more-


Bugs, Lies, and Special Effects

By Nan Wishner
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:12:00 AM

Imagine children morphing into swarms of bugs. See fruit falling to the ground and rotting instantaneously. Many who view these images in the new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) commercials about invasive species (“They’re here and they're hungry”) will likely find them disturbing, even haunting.  -more-


Going After Cheney

By Cynthia Papermaster
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:12:00 AM

To borrow terminology from Dick Cheney’s world, it’s open season for hunting Dick Cheney. -more-


Welcome to the Twilight Zone

By David Esler
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:13:00 AM

The regrettable emergence of the “Birthers” movement, in which a desperate and disenfranchised neoconservative fringe is attempting against all evidence to prove President Obama was not born on U.S. soil (and therefore has no right to office), shows once again the power of conspiracy theory to palliate those not content to live with reality.  -more-