Opinion

In the latest New York Review of Books. Garry Wills does something I’ve been intending to do for a long time: He speaks up for American nuns, who are now under attack by the Vatican, clueless as ever. -more-

Have you gotten all lathered up over news reports that Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan sent Berkeley police on the trail of his son's stolen cell phone, following the electronic signal which the phone's tracking device provided? There's an excellent story on the Berkeley CA Patch website by Rebecca Rosen Lum, an experienced reporter who has written for the Contra Costa Times, exploring the question of why the story has just surfaced. One possible explanation: the city police union is out to get Meehan, who's been reported as trying to get them to shape up a bit. You can find the piece here. -more-

The cost of a proposed Sunshine Ordinance in Berkeley continues to be inflated by the city government, but the projected costs have been shrinking due to continued community pressure to justify their projections.

When an early draft of the Berkeley Sunshine Ordinance was submitted in 2009, the city tabulated that it would cost $2.9 million each year to implement the proposed open government law, according to city documents the Berkeley Sunshine Ordinance received through a public records request.
Among these costs were $689 office-chairs and more than $3,000 to install three new cubicles. The city also said it would need to buy 13 portable PA systems at a cost of $10,000 a piece in order to record its meetings, and that it would add nearly a million dollars to the photocopy budget in order to make copies of the complete agenda available to the public. -more-

I strongly disagree with the introductory statements from Ms O’Malley and can’t seem to understand how an ex-Jesuit [Garry Wills] be a “still practicing catholic” after trying to destroy the same doctrine that he claims to “still” profess. -more-

I am delighted to report that at Monday's rally at the Bank of America in Albany over 70 of us participated, giving out leaflets, talking to people passing by, carrying informative placards, and not least, providing music led by Hali Hammer which expressed our political concerns with intelligent and meaningful lyrics. -more-