Thomas Lord

Page One

Parking Ticket Scofflaws Take Note! Berkeley's About to Boot Your Car

By Thomas Lord
Tuesday October 04, 2011 - 08:26:00 PM

[Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles about Berkeley's new SmartBoot system. Tomorrow's article will explore the risks to citizens created by the city's use of this technology..]

Have you accumulated too many overdue parking parking tickets? If so, the Berkeley Police Department is putting you on notice: your car may soon be booted.

Beginning October 18th BPD will start using new tools to enforce against parking scofflaws. The "boot van", equipped with cameras, a computer, and wireless network connection, will roam the city scanning the license plates of parked cars, looking for those with too many overdue tickets. -more-



Mumps Outbreak on UC Berkeley Campus Prompts Call for Vaccination Boosters

By Patricia Decker (BCN)
Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 01:37:00 PM

Fever, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue. For members of the University of California at Berkeley community, these symptoms could spell more than a common cold -- they could mean a case of the mumps.

The university community is experiencing an outbreak of the viral infection after several cases of mumps were confirmed in students last Thursday, campus health officials said.

On Tuesday, UC Berkeley's health services website posted an alert about the outbreak, encouraging all Cal students, faculty and staff -- regardless of their vaccination history -- to receive an additional dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, or MMR. -more-



Public Comment

Beware the Hurry to Build at Haste and Telegraph

By Carol Denney
Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 01:43:00 PM

“If people have an exciting idea, certainly we can try and show community support so that we can encourage the property to move forward,” Worthington said. “Having a vacant lot sitting there is costing the city a lot in terms of lost vitality to Telegraph.”

Daily Californian 10-4-2011

This quotation was a prominent part of the most recent story on the vacant lot at the corner of Haste and Telegraph currently being demonized by public officials, press, residents, and students. The latest article in the Daily Californian describes University of California architecture students eagerly offering designs for projects-to-be in an atmosphere of urgency.

The article neglects to mention that the vacant lot at Haste and Telegraph was previously a single room occupancy hotel which provided both retail space and 77 units of crucial low-income housing. The building was the victim of deliberate arson, as the previous residents know who received warning the night before one wing was set ablaze. -more-


How Berkeley Employee Costs Eat Up the Rest of the City's Budget

By David M. Wilson, Berkeley Budget SOS
Tuesday October 04, 2011 - 08:24:00 PM

Berkeley residents are beginning to understand why there is no money for those nasty potholes, decayed play structures, community pools, and safety-net social services. They are also beginning to see cracks in the whole civic structure as the City is forced to cover tens of millions in unfunded pension and infrastructure liabilities. -more-


Obituaries

Charles Rawson Collier, 1935-2011

Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 02:27:00 PM

Charles Rawson Collier, a long time resident of Berkeley, passed away on September 6,2011, just days before his 76th birthday. Charles came to Berkeley in 1964 with his first family to work as a visual artist, producing acrylics, etchings and prints. He soon became involved with the Free Speech Movement, participating in demonstrations and rallies at the Peoples’ Park and elsewhere in Berkeley. He with his wife Corlu founded the Committee for the Rights of the Disabled (CRT), a precursor of the Center for Independent Living in the Berkeley area. Charles advocated for handicapped accessibility on San Francisco transport and many other issues. He himself fought lifelong adversity and disability to live independently in his own home until his recent illness. -more-


Editorial

"Occupy Wall Street" Comes to Berkeley

By Becky O'Malley
Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 12:26:00 PM

As Jimmy Durante used to say, ever’body wants tuh ged in tuh duh’act. (If you’re too young to remember him and/or don’t come from Brooklyn, Everybody Wants to Get into the Act.) After a frustratingly slow start, the Occupy Wall Street action finally has legs.

Over the weekend, it became front page news in the big national papers. They all ran approximately the same story, recounting how the previously invisible campers took to the road and were arrested in impressive numbers while trying to cross the Brooklyn Bridge in the auto lane. Most of the stories featured approximately identical quotes from various Poli Sci professors at second-tier institutions, ones easily located in the metropolitan areas where the newspapers were published, on the order of “If they want to accomplish anything, they’ll need a program and identified leaders.”

Well, no. The most useful analysis of what seems to be going on could be found on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times Science Section, in a fascinating article about slime molds. Here’s the basics: -more-


Columns

Dispatches From The Edge: Why The Drone Wars Threaten Us All

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday October 04, 2011 - 08:25:00 PM

Lost in debate over whether the Obama administration had the right to carry out the extra-legal execution of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Yemini cleric and al-Qaeda member, is who pulled the trigger? It is not a minor question, and it lies at the heart of the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the 1977 additions to the ‘49 agreement: civilians cannot engage in war.

In the main, laws of war focus on the protection of civilians. For instance, Article 48, the “Basic Rule” of Part IV of the 1977 Geneva Conventions, states, “In order to ensure respect for and protection of civilian populations and civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between civilian populations and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives.” -more-


Arts & Events

American Teacher Has a Lesson: Superman Is a Myth; Teachers Are the Real Heroes

Review by Gar Smith
Tuesday October 04, 2011 - 10:30:00 PM

The film opens October 7 at San Francisco's Roxie Theater

Last year, filmmaker David Guggenheim's Waiting for Superman created a mega-buzz by pushing the idea that the problem with US education was: lazy, overpaid, unionized, tenure-protected teachers. Guggenheim's solution: "privatizing" education by promoting charter schools (which, in many cases, were publicly supported).

Well, hold onto your cape, corporate crusaders, because a new documentary is set to hit the screen like a load of kryptonite and is guaranteed to blow holes in that argument. American Teacher, a documentary directed by Academy Award-winner Vanessa Roth and narrated by Oscar-winner Matt Damon, puts the superhero cape where it belongs — on the shoulders of the country's dedicated and self-sacrificing teachers.

Instead of looking at the problem through the eyes of desperate parents, anxious children or an über-administrator like Michelle Rhee, American Teacher offers the missing perspective — education as it's seen and lived by the women and men who dedicate their lives to the classroom. -more-


Theater Review: Patience Worth by Symmetry Theatre Company

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 01:53:00 PM

"Many a singer's career has been ruined by the premature singing of songs."

A play about frustrated personal and social aspirations, about mothers and daughters, men and women, Michelle Carter's new play, Patience Worth was premiered by Symmetry Theatre Company—one of the handful or two of the Bay Area's tiny independent troupes that stage unusual shows with acting and production values that can rival the artistry of the bigger theaters—tells the true story of Pearl Curran (Megan Trout), an almost painfully normal young woman of the nineteen-teens, the pain all her own, a yearning to be somebody better, or of a better class. Pearl had little education besides musical training, but became widely published, the words on the page ostensibly not her own, but those of Patience Worth, a 17th century woman's spirit Pearl claimed to be speaking for. -more-


Friends of Negro Spirituals Heritage Day is Saturday

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday October 05, 2011 - 07:22:00 AM

Friends of Negro Spirituals will hold their 8th Annual Heritage Day this Saturday, 3:30-5:30 p. m. at the west Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline, Oakland. Admission: free. -more-


Press Release: Afghanistan Peace Day: On the 10-year anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan, the Afghan and American people call for peace.

From Adam Hudson and Fatima
Tuesday October 04, 2011 - 08:33:00 PM

Sunday, October 9th, 2011, 3pm - 7pm, Fremont, CA

On the 10th year of the US/NATO war in Afghanistan, the Afghan community along with their American allies will be gathering in Fremont, CA for “Afghanistan Peace Day”. This will be the first time in Fremont that such a gathering for peace will take place. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

"Occupy Wall Street" Comes to Berkeley 10-05-2011

Using Feudal Succession to Keep Berkeley Twee 09-29-2011

The Editor's Back Fence

UC Mines Our Brains for the Sake of Corporate Profit 10-04-2011

This is the Weekend Issue 10-01-2011

Bill Gutting CEQA Passed in Sacramento, Signed by Brown--
Skinner and Hancock Voted Yes
09-30-2011

Cartoons

Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins: The Happy Couple Dan O'Neill 10-04-2011

Public Comment

Beware the Hurry to Build at Haste and Telegraph By Carol Denney 10-05-2011

How Berkeley Employee Costs Eat Up the Rest of the City's Budget By David M. Wilson, Berkeley Budget SOS 10-04-2011

Pepper Spray Times Grace Underpressure 10-04-2011

Official Statement from Occupy Wall Street Forwarded by Estelle Jelinek 10-05-2011

Who has the Right to Remove Benches At Bus Stops? A Bus Stop Bench Story By Lydia Gans 10-03-2011

Laura's Law Revisited: Response to Ralph Stone By Jack Bragen 10-01-2011

Tom Friedman Tries to Scapegoat Baby Boomers -- He Should Remember That We Helped Forge American Prosperity By Ruth Rosen 09-30-2011

Letters: Mental Illness Column; Pension of City Manager; What is the Peak Democracy Open Town Hall Costing Us? 09-29-2011

News

Parking Ticket Scofflaws Take Note! Berkeley's About to Boot Your Car By Thomas Lord 10-04-2011

Mumps Outbreak on UC Berkeley Campus Prompts Call for Vaccination Boosters By Patricia Decker (BCN) 10-05-2011

Charles Rawson Collier, 1935-2011 10-05-2011

Updated: Nobel Prize News Wakes Berkeley Professor By Jeff Shuttleworth(BCN 10-04-2011

Berkeley's Northbrae Neighborhood Called One of America's Great Places 10-04-2011

Updated: Daniels to be Interim Berkeley City Manager 10-04-2011

Press Release: UC Berkeley's Saul Perlmutter awarded 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics From Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley Media Relations 10-04-2011

Press Release: Public Meetings Planned for AC Transit Redistricting Process From Clarence Johnson, AC Transit Media Affairs Manager 10-03-2011

Does Signing a Petition Give Parents a Voice in Schools? By David Bacon 10-03-2011

Dr. Toy's Best Toys By Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. 10-03-2011

Tree-Sit Resumes to Protect People's Park Trees as University Fells Nearby Tree, Threatens to Buzz-Saw Tree Hosting the Sit By Ted Friedman 09-29-2011

Columns

Dispatches From The Edge: Why The Drone Wars Threaten Us All By Conn Hallinan 10-04-2011

My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader.) By Dorothy Bryant 10-04-2011

On Mental Illness: The Expectation of Employment By Jack Bragen 10-03-2011

The Public Eye: There is No Political Middle Ground By Bob Burnett 09-30-2011

Senior Power… My Generation’s War By Helen Rippier Wheeler 09-30-2011

Eclectic Rant: Response to Jack Bragen By Ralph Stone 09-29-2011

Arts & Events

American Teacher Has a Lesson: Superman Is a Myth; Teachers Are the Real Heroes Review by Gar Smith 10-04-2011

Theater Review: Patience Worth by Symmetry Theatre Company By Ken Bullock 10-05-2011

Friends of Negro Spirituals Heritage Day is Saturday By Ken Bullock 10-05-2011

Press Release: Afghanistan Peace Day: On the 10-year anniversary of the US war in Afghanistan, the Afghan and American people call for peace. From Adam Hudson and Fatima 10-04-2011

Eye From the Aisle: PHAEDRA at Shotgun Players—heart-rending, masterful drama By John A. McMullen II 10-04-2011

BAY AREA CHILDREN’S THEATRE brings MAGIC SCHOOL BUS to life at Freight and Salvage thru Oct 23 By John A. McMullen 10-02-2011

Don't Miss This in October By Dorothy Snodgrass 10-01-2011

Sarah Palin: You Betcha! Film review by Gar Smith 09-30-2011

Eye From the Aisle: Lucrezia Borgia at SF Opera—Star Vehicle for a Celestial Soprano By John A. McMullen II 09-29-2011