The California Marching Band provided a rousing introduction to the U.C. Berkeley campus for new students.
Steven Finacom
The California Marching Band provided a rousing introduction to the U.C. Berkeley campus for new students.

Extra

Dispatches From The Edge: 10 Myths About Libya? (Column)

Conn Hallinan
Friday August 26, 2011 - 01:27:00 PM

In his essay, “Top Ten Myths about the Libyan War,” Juan Cole argues that U.S. interests in the conflict consisted of stopping “massacres of people,” a “lawful world order,” “the NATO alliance,” and oddly, “the fate of Egypt.” It is worth taking a moment to look at each of these arguments, as well as his dismissal of the idea that the U.S./NATO intervention had anything to do with oil as “daft.” -more-


Comment on Development of Golden Gate Fields for Lawrence Berkeley Lab on Monday (Opinion Communication)

From Kate Looby, Senior Chapter Director, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter
Friday August 26, 2011 - 01:15:00 PM

Tell the developers in Albany/Berkeley to adhere to the Voices to Vision plan! -more-


Friday Night Football at UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium:
The Environmental Impact

Edited by Jacquelyn McCormick
Friday August 26, 2011 - 10:47:00 AM

This is a summary document that was compiled from the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for the Cal Memorial Stadium Project. Information was taken directly from the SEIR and relates specifically to future Friday night football games. Initial cursory comments from the editor are provided at the end of paragraphs and are in italicized bold font. Everything else is a copy of excerpts pulled directly from the SEIR. -more-



Page One

Robert Reich Welcomes New Students to Berkeley

By Steven Finacom
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 11:11:00 AM
ASUC President Vishalli Loomba exhorted her fellow students while the other
                    speakers, including Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard, Mary Catherine Birgeneau,
                    Professor Robert Reich, and Vice Chancellor Harry LeGrande, looked on.

New students at the University of California Berkeley—both incoming freshmen and junior transfers—flocked to the venerable blue and gold balloon festooned Hearst Greek Theatre on the late afternoon of August 22, 2011, to receive an official welcome to the campus in the form of the annual New Student Convocation. -more-



Most Speakers at BART Hearing Critical of Cellphone Cutoff

By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN)
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 06:05:00 PM

Most of the eight speakers at a three-hour public hearing today criticized BART's decision to temporarily cut off cellphone service at several San Francisco stations Aug. 11 because of concerns there would be a violent protest. -more-



Updated: Berkeley's Jesus Jungle Host to "Prime-Time" Jane Fonda

By Ted Friedman
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 10:17:00 AM
Jane, Prime-time, Fonda, 73, addresses the faithful at Berkeley's first Congregational Church last Wednesday

Jane Fonda, 73, Breezed (she copped a '74 Oscar for Bree Daniels in Klute) into Berkeley last Wednesday evening to plug her new book, "Prime Time," at the First Congregational Church in the heart of South side's Jesus Jungle. Jesus Jungle is five block-hogging churches bounded on the North by Bancroft Way and on the South by Haste Street, West of Telegraph—two blocks of churches. -more-



Dear Students: Stop Robbing, Start Learning (Please) (News Analysis)

By Thomas Lord
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 10:28:00 AM

On behalf of the Berkeley Daily Planet I spoke with Director of Student Services Susan Craig. I asked her to help us understand the Berkeley High School's policies about robbery reporting. How does the district exercise its discretion about calling in the police? And why? -more-



Two Quakes Felt in Berkeley, East Bay

By Patricia Decker (BCN)
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 03:59:00 PM

A 3.6-magnitude earthquake rattled the Bay Area for the second time in as many days, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. -more-



Public Comment

My Life Is Jane Fonda

By Cristina Doan
Thursday August 18, 2011 - 10:19:00 AM

I feel really confused after meeting Jane Fonda last night and having her answer my question about the Vietnam War. -more-


Editorial

Politics' Fatal Therapeutic Turn: Two Berkeley Political Organizations Analyzed

By Zelda Bronstein (Guest Editor)
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 03:51:00 PM

Editor's Note: The editor is otherwise occupied today, but this is an ideal opportunity to direct your attention to an excellent piece in the current Dissent magazine, written by Berkeley writer and Planet contributor Zelda Bronstein, in which she analyzes two local organizations that have hoped to be players on the national political scene, Kitchen Democracy and Move On. Click here to read it. An editorial might appear later in the week, as well as some other late-arriving articles and opinions. -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: Why Did Capitalism Fail?

By Bob Burnett
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:32:00 AM

We live in interesting times. The global economy is splintering. US voters hate all politicians and there’s political unrest throughout the world. The root cause of this turmoil is the failure of the dominant economic paradigm – global corporate capitalism. -more-


Wild Neighbors: A Sense of Where You Are

By Joe Eaton
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:24:00 AM
Starlings blacken the sky over Denmark.

I doubt that anyone has captured the internal dynamics of a flock of birds quite as well as Richard Wilbur, in “An Event”: -more-


Eclectic Rant: America's Job Woes

By Ralph E. Stone
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:21:00 AM

As we all now know, the United States is in economic and political turmoil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 9.5 percent in August, partly because of concern about the health of the U.S. and European economies. Some of the causes of our economic woes are well known: eight years of deregulation or lack of regulation of the economy; Wall Street greed; dollar draining wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya; the growing income disparity in this country; a $14.6 trillion deficit; and the Standard & Poor's downgrade. -more-


My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader.)

By Dorothy Bryant
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 03:59:00 PM

“Overachievers don’t generally become writers because the skill set is so different.”

Whitney Otto, NY Times Book Review 5/12/06, on a highly-publicized case of a ‘chick lit’ novel plagiarized by a Harvard student. -more-


Senior Power : ‘A Writing Project’ Through Tri-Focals

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:13:00 AM

Each year, August 26th is designated as Women's Equality Day. Established in 1971, it commemorates passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. -more-


On Mental Illness: Scenarios of "Noncompliance" and Relapse

By Jack Bragen
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 10:37:00 AM

When I met with my first outpatient psychiatrist, he would monitor me for early warning signs of a relapse of psychosis. He would ask me if I was eating and sleeping O.K., and if I had “unusual” thoughts. He would also check me for excessive side effects of the Prolixin. -more-


Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins, BOUNCE

Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 05:08:00 PM

Arts & Events

Don't Miss This

By Dorothy Snodgrass
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 10:04:00 AM

With all those gloomy newspaper headlines and television reports of the unhappy news that the Dow had tumbled 5%, leading to global recession fears, it's hard to feel optimistic about the future. Nevertheless, we may take comfort in some of the pleasant, informative activities lined up for the next several weeks. -more-


Freedom: The Movie that Dares to Defend Ethanol

Reviewed by Gar Smith
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:38:00 AM

Back in the ‘80s, I was in the vanguard of environmental reporters who warned against the adoption of methanol as an alternative to oil-based gasoline. The preferred fuel, I claimed, was ethanol. Made from a renewable plant crops, ethanol was a perfect “green” fuel that burned clean and didn’t emit Greenhouse Gases. But a series of critical scientific studies began to challenge ethanol’s claims and critics attacked the concept of using corn to feed automobiles instead of people. Soon environmental organizations were protesting agrofuel programs as criminal conspiracies against the biosphere. Ethanol was no longer a cool fuel.

And then Josh and Rebecca Tickell rolled into town. -more-


Six Characters Chasing an Author

By Ted Friedman
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 09:38:00 AM
David A. Moss ponders a question in Q & A after his one-man play--"Cracked Clown"

For David A. Moss's one-man play, "Cracked Clown," a work-in-progress staged last weekend at the performance studio at East Bay Media Center in Berkeley, Moss creates at least six characters who chase him around the stage for the entire 60 minute performance. The characters—mostly demons and one angel—seem to have him on the run, until the surprising ending. Caspar the Friendly Ghost, and G.I. Joe appear in cameos. -more-


Film Review: Ripe Tomatoes: Herzog Doc Gets Second Wind at Elmwood

by Ted Friedman
Wednesday August 24, 2011 - 03:54:00 PM
Promotional shot of Werner Herzog's, 'the Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 2010, showing at the Elmwood in the Elmwood--
                    Ooyala

Werner Herzog's The Cave of Forgotten Dreams has been revived for a second run at the Elmwood, Friday, after ending a three month run at Shattuck Cinemas. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Politics' Fatal Therapeutic Turn: Two Berkeley Political Organizations Analyzed 08-24-2011

Cartoons

Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins, BOUNCE 08-24-2011

Public Comment

My Life Is Jane Fonda By Cristina Doan 08-18-2011

News

Dispatches From The Edge: 10 Myths About Libya? (Column) Conn Hallinan 08-26-2011

Comment on Development of Golden Gate Fields for Lawrence Berkeley Lab on Monday (Opinion Communication) From Kate Looby, Senior Chapter Director, Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter 08-26-2011

Friday Night Football at UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium:
The Environmental Impact
Edited by Jacquelyn McCormick 08-26-2011

Robert Reich Welcomes New Students to Berkeley By Steven Finacom 08-24-2011

Most Speakers at BART Hearing Critical of Cellphone Cutoff By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 08-24-2011

Updated: Berkeley's Jesus Jungle Host to "Prime-Time" Jane Fonda By Ted Friedman 08-24-2011

Dear Students: Stop Robbing, Start Learning (Please) (News Analysis) By Thomas Lord 08-24-2011

Two Quakes Felt in Berkeley, East Bay By Patricia Decker (BCN) 08-24-2011

Columns

The Public Eye: Why Did Capitalism Fail? By Bob Burnett 08-24-2011

Wild Neighbors: A Sense of Where You Are By Joe Eaton 08-24-2011

Eclectic Rant: America's Job Woes By Ralph E. Stone 08-24-2011

My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader.) By Dorothy Bryant 08-24-2011

Senior Power : ‘A Writing Project’ Through Tri-Focals By Helen Rippier Wheeler 08-24-2011

On Mental Illness: Scenarios of "Noncompliance" and Relapse By Jack Bragen 08-24-2011

Arts & Events

Don't Miss This By Dorothy Snodgrass 08-24-2011

Freedom: The Movie that Dares to Defend Ethanol Reviewed by Gar Smith 08-24-2011

Six Characters Chasing an Author By Ted Friedman 08-24-2011

Film Review: Ripe Tomatoes: Herzog Doc Gets Second Wind at Elmwood by Ted Friedman 08-24-2011