The Pi Clown comedy troupe performed in front of hundreds of adults and children in Pauley Ballroom at Cal Performance's Free for All day in Berkeley.
Andy Liu
The Pi Clown comedy troupe performed in front of hundreds of adults and children in Pauley Ballroom at Cal Performance's Free for All day in Berkeley.

Page One

Patient at Alta Bates Summit Dies from Lethal Dose Allegedly Given by Temporary Nurse

By Bay City News
Monday September 26, 2011 - 11:13:00 AM

Police are investigating the death of a patient at an Oakland hospital who appears to have been given a lethal dose of medication by a replacement nurse. -more-



Unofficial Mayor of Telegraph Released from Jail Saturday

by Ted Friedman
Monday September 26, 2011 - 11:34:00 AM

The unofficial mayor of Telegraph, who was busted last week for interfering with a cop outside Caffe Mediterraneum was back on the ave late Saturday after the Alameda County district attorney refused to charge him with resisting arrest. -more-



Early Rain on Telegraph Stroll

By Ted Friedman
Monday September 26, 2011 - 07:47:00 AM
We're so outta here. We're going to Beaverton, Oregon; notice the glistening walk

A little unexpected September rain sprinkled a stroll on Telegraph avenue Sunday.

It wasn't a stroll--the way Solano stroll is--and it wasn't a music festival, but as event organizer Al Geyer, 63, put it, "there'll be a little strolling and a little music, and a little strolling into businesses; the street will not be closed." -more-



Public Comment

Why the Berkeley College Republicans are Wrong

By Thomas Lord
Monday September 26, 2011 - 08:02:00 AM

The Berkeley College Republicans have taken a strong stance against a proposed law that would allow, among other things, race to be taken into consideration during the admissions process. They say on a Facebook event page: "The Berkeley College Republicans firmly believe measuring any admit's merit based on race is intrinsically racist."

In this note I'll show that their belief is wrong. Not only is the use of race in admissions not intrinsically racist - the failure to consider race and other similar factors is intrinsically racist. This is not some subjective interpretation of histories of oppression. This is not some radical ideological interpretation of "fairness". Rather, I'll point out some ways in which if race is not considered, some minority students who are objectively more qualified are likely to be turned away in favor of white students who are objectively less qualified. -more-


Perry's Claim to Fame

By Ron Lowe
Monday September 26, 2011 - 04:01:00 PM

A quick snapshot of Rick Perry, leading contender as the Republican presidential nominee. 139 countries (72% of the countries in the world) have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. What is Rick Perry's claim to fame? Perry has presided over 234 executions, a record number, while governor of Texas. -more-


Editorial

What's the News Today, and Why?

By Becky O'Malley
Wednesday September 21, 2011 - 02:26:00 PM

The eternal paradox about what is commonly called journalism is why so many people who commit it manage not to see what’s going on before their eyes, even as a reasonable number of others, in and out of journalism, do.

Ever wonder about what’s happening in the global economy? Well, here it is, a summary which could fit on the back of an envelope, and it’s even perversely funny:

“Quarterly GDP data don’t, on the whole, tend to make the person studying them laugh out loud. The most recent set, however, are an exception, despite the fact that the general picture is of unrelieved and spreading economic gloom. Instead of the surge of rebounding growth which historically accompanies successful exit from a recession, we have the UK’s disappointing 0.2 per cent growth, the US’s anaemic 0.3 per cent and the glum eurozone average figure of 0.2 per cent. That number includes the surprising and alarming German 0.1 per cent, the desperately poor French 0 per cent and then, wait for it, the agreeably frisky Belgian 0.7 per cent. Why is that, if you’ve been following the story, laugh-aloud funny? Because Belgium doesn’t have a government. Thanks to political stalemate in Brussels, it hasn’t had one for 15 months. No government means none of the stuff all the other governments are doing: no cuts and no ‘austerity’ packages. In the absence of anyone with a mandate to slash and burn, Belgian public sector spending is puttering along much as it always was; hence the continuing growth of their economy. It turns out that from the economic point of view, in the current crisis, no government is better than any government – any existing government.”

(From an opinion article by John Lanchester in a recent London Review of Books.)

That paragraph alone is worth column inch after column inch of sententious pieces in the American press attempting to convey what the hell the U.S. Congress is up to—yes, even in the New York Times, most of whose staffers appear not to read what Professor Paul Krugman writes on their own op-ed page. We’d be better off without this current Congress, wouldn’t we, so why not just say so? This is not an endorsement, by the way, of the Tea Party anti-government ideology, just a glum statement of observable fact. -more-


Arts & Events

Despite Rain, the Show Goes On at Free Cal Performances Day

By Steven Finacom
Monday September 26, 2011 - 07:45:00 AM
Cal students in the Bare Troupe group performed show tunes at Sather Gate. They were among several student singing groups featured during the day.

The first rain storm of the season dampened the morning of the second annual Cal Performances “Free For All” on the UC Berkeley campus and drove many of the attendees and some of the shows inside. But by mid-afternoon the sun was coming out and thousands of spectators had made their way to dozens of free events spread out over several concert halls, auditoriums, and plazas.

The all day, second annual, September 25, 2011 event showcased performances from Gamelan Sari Raras to African music and dance, to Cal spirit songs and improvisational clowning. No tickets were needed, and seating was first come, first served. -more-


Berkeley Arts Festival Concerts this week

Monday September 26, 2011 - 07:43:00 AM

Thursday, September 29, 8 pm Mark Miller/Henry Kaiser/Allen Whitman, drums, guitar, bass Improvisation $10-$20 -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

What's the News Today, and Why? 09-21-2011

The Editor's Back Fence

Yet Another Schedule Update 09-25-2011

Speak Out on Issues for Tuesday's Berkeley City Council Meeting 09-24-2011

New Feature: "The Week" Button 09-23-2011

About the New Schedule 09-22-2011

It's a New Schedule for the Planet 09-21-2011

Keep Those Comments Coming under the Planet's New Schedule 09-20-2011

Cartoons

Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins, BOUNCE 09-21-2011

Public Comment

Why the Berkeley College Republicans are Wrong By Thomas Lord 09-26-2011

Perry's Claim to Fame By Ron Lowe 09-26-2011

Join "Tax the Rich" Demonstration in Berkeley on Monday Evening By Julia Ross 09-25-2011

Response to "Laura's Law in A Nutshell" By Jack Bragen 09-25-2011

New: Letters 09-22-2011

Death Panel Machine By Bruce Joffe 09-21-2011

City Stalls Its Response to Report about Unfunded Liabilities By James Fousekis 09-21-2011

Is Arreguin's "Vacancy Registration Fee" a Solution to Downtown Berkeley Problems? By Thomas Lord 09-20-2011

A New Paradigm for Downtown Berkeley's Retail Spaces? By Thomas Lord 09-20-2011

News

Patient at Alta Bates Summit Dies from Lethal Dose Allegedly Given by Temporary Nurse By Bay City News 09-26-2011

Unofficial Mayor of Telegraph Released from Jail Saturday by Ted Friedman 09-26-2011

Early Rain on Telegraph Stroll By Ted Friedman 09-26-2011

UC Berkeley Graduates Detained in Iran Expected to Return to U.S. Today By Bay City News 09-25-2011

Nurses at Alta Bates in Berkeley and Other Hospitals Told to Stay Away Until Thursday By Sara Gaiser (BCN) 09-23-2011

Two Arrested During Protests on UC Berkeley Campus By Patricia Decker (BCN) 09-23-2011

Fall Budget and Fee Protests Begin at UC Berkeley By Steven Finacom 09-23-2011

9/11 in the Comics By Gar Smith 09-23-2011

New: Protesters in Berkeley March against Tuition Hikes, Occupy Classrooms By Scott Morris (BCN) 09-22-2011

Press Release: Bayer Biotech Workers in Berkeley Send Company a Stinging Rebuke From Craig Merrilees, ILWU 09-22-2011

New: "Unofficial Mayor" of Telegraph Busted for "Interfering" with a Cop As Medheads Get Front-Row Seats By Ted Friedman 09-22-2011

Updated: California Nurses Strike at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley and Elsewhere By Laura Dixon, Bay City News Service 09-22-2011

Nurses Strike Throughout California By Bay City News Service 09-22-2011

Just Another Berkeley South Side Crime Story: Who Killed People's Park Activist Gina Sasso? by Ted Friedman 09-22-2011

Mark Coyote By John Curl 09-22-2011

Updated: Families Say Release of Hikers is "Best Day of Our Lives" By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 09-21-2011

Flash: Two UC Berkeley Graduates Released in Iran By Bay City News 09-21-2011

Berkeley's Public Housing Units May Be Bought by Billionaire (Analysis) By Lynda Carson 09-21-2011

Columns

Setting Limits With Obama By Bob Burnett 09-24-2011

New: Dispatches From The Edge: Arms, China & the Obama Administration By Conn Hallinan 09-22-2011

New: Laura's Law in a Nutshell By Ralph E. Stone 09-22-2011

Senior Power… The Only Disease By Helen Rippier Wheeler 09-22-2011

My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader.) By Dorothy Bryant 09-22-2011

New: On Mental Illness: Something for Nothing By Jack Bragen 09-22-2011

Wild Neighbors: Post-Communist Birds By Joe Eaton 09-21-2011

Arts & Events

Despite Rain, the Show Goes On at Free Cal Performances Day By Steven Finacom 09-26-2011

Berkeley Arts Festival Concerts this week 09-26-2011

Farmageddon: America's War Against Small Farmers Reviewed by Gar Smith 09-25-2011

Architecture, Dance, Music in Berkeley This Weekend By Steven Finacom 09-23-2011

Theater Review: Golden Thread Premieres Night Over Erzinga By Ken Bullock 09-21-2011

Theater Review: Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup at Berkeley Rep By Ken Bullock 09-21-2011

Theater Review: Remember the Ladies: Poor Players at Unitarian Fellowship and Live Oak Theater By Ken Bullock 09-21-2011

Around & About Music: Fall Free For All; Inga Swearingen's Swedish Farm Jazz By Ken Bullock 09-21-2011