http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/sanders-lawyers-threaten-to-disrupt-dnc-694626371717THE RACHEL MADDOW -more-

There's been a lot of discussion lately about how Berkeley housing has gotten too expensive for teachers in Berkeley schools to live here. It's true that most of the construction boom visible all over town has been for apartments too pricey for BUSD employees, who would be required to spend at least 40% of their salaries to live here. But here's another idea: If Berkeley teachers got just a 20% raise, they'd be able to afford local rent. Could we give that a try? -more-

A savvy community organizer correctly commented that "injustice never takes a vacation". As a result millions of Americans are victimized by the outrageous and growing inequality that dominates their daily lives. Their standard of living suffers and it is getting worse. Even a growing number of full time workers are compelled to support themselves and their families by being employed in poverty wage jobs. In fact, the hardships experienced by many workers is so oppressive that they rarely experience the joy of living.

Our East Bay Tax the Rich Group has for over 4 1/2 years attempted to address issues of inequality. Among our tasks has been to work in coalition with other organizations and activists to improve wages. As a result, the Berkeley City Council was persuaded to enact a minimum wage law. What was won is certainly better than before. But it is nowhere near enough. So a coalition of labor, community organizations, and activists have gathered enough signatures to place an improved minimum wage initiative on the ballot in November.

In Contrast, the majority of the Berkeley City Council, taking its cues from the Chamber of Commerce, wants no raise at all for poverty wage workers. But not surprisingly, they are attempting to kill the ballot measure in a way that makes them look like good guys and gals. Briefly, rather than enacting its own minimum wage law, the Council prefer to put on the ballot an alternative minimum wage measure. As those who are experienced with ballot measures realize, with two minimum wage options on the ballot box, the chances of either one obtaining over 50% will be at best extremely difficult. So the good fight continues--uphill of course. -more-

I hear from candidates for President that their agenda will bring everyone a brighter tomorrow. In particular, they propose to make education free for all. I am happy to hear about the plan to make Americans well educated and therefore adaptive. But I do wonder where the money to support education will come from. -more-

A former senior Pentagon official, John Crane, has spoken out about how his superiors violated the law to punish a key NSA whistleblower, Thomas Drake, for leaking information about waste, mismanagement and an illegal widespread domestic surveillance program. Crane was a long time employee for the DOD Inspector General’s Office, whose mission is to expose federal abuse. Embarrassed by Drake’s revelations, the Pentagon charged him with espionage based on information he freely provided to the Pentagon inspector general. The unmistakable message is extremely troubling; expose our dark secrets and we will destroy you. -more-

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money.

This is a Very Good Deal. Go for it! -more-

Republicans are handing their presidential nomination to a know-nothing billionaire bully, Donald Trump – the worst nominee in modern times. How did Republicans get to be so stupid? -more-

The Presidency is up for grabs, and with it, the destiny of the U.S., as well as the rest of our Earth. For me, the election is having a somewhat destabilizing effect. I can't speak for other persons who have mental illness, but I can guess.

Millions are frightened of what will happen to us when we have a new President. Most are particularly fearful of what will happen of Donald Trump is elected, and I am guessing that some are worried that Hillary Clinton could put us at risk.

Either way, we are looking at change. A counselor once said to me that mentally ill people are not good at handling changes. Yet, to be perfectly cliché, change is the only thing we can be certain of. -more-

On Friday evening, May 27, SF Opera opened its summer season with a new production of Bizet’s immensely popular opera Carmen. This Carmen was directed by the daring and controversial Catalan director Calixto Bieito, dubbed “the bad-boy of opera,” in his U.S. opera debut. This production, which premiered in Catalonia back in 1999 and has been performed on several continents since, is here staged by Bieito’s longtime collaborator, Joan Anton Rechi. A San Francisco Opera press release noted that “this production contains violence, nudity and suggestive behavior. Parent discretion advised.”

Well, let’s see about that. There was no nudity I detected on opening night, although Carmen, played in exquisitely sultry fashion by mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts, at one point hiked up her skirt and removed her panties before mounting a supine but fully clothed Don José. On the other hand, there was considerable violence, usually inflicted by men, (especially the Spanish soldiers of the Gaurdia Civil), against women, although some violence was directed against men, as in the savage beating of Lieutenant Zuniga, Don José’s superior officer, by Carmen’s gypsy men in Act II. Ultimately, what struck me as most controversial about this pro-vocative production was its initial premise, which situates the drama, at least in the opening two acts, in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. -more-

Marion Fay's starting up her convivial and very interactive Theater Explorations adult ed class for the summer, running Mondays from 1-3 p. m., June 13 through July 25 (no class Monday, July 4) at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, near the top of Solano Avenue and the tunnel. -more-

Ars Minerva ‘s Founder and Artistic Director Céline Ricci has done it again. Last year she brought us La Cleopatra, an opera by Daniele da Castrovillari that premiered in Venice in 1662 and was never performed since till Ricci revived it in San Francisco. This year she brings us Le Amazone nelle Isole Fortunate (The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles), an opera by Carlo Pallavicino that premiered at the Villa Contarini outside Venice in 1679 and was never performed since till Ricci staged it Saturday, May 21, and Sunday, May 22, at Marines Memorial Theater. Ricci discovered the existence of the scores for these long-forgotten operas in the Contarini Bequest collection in Venice’s Marciana Library. -more-

Take a break from the Bernie vs. Hillary battle and step back in time 100 years to an era when the idea of a woman governor, much less a woman president, was the subject of futuristic fiction. -more-

The 15th San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (aka SF DocFest) is revving up its traditional rambunctious roster of party-nights and screenings DocFest with run for two weeks, from June 2-16. This year's line-up includes 32 premieres—including seven world premieres. Screenings are set for the Roxie Theater (16^th & Valencia), Vogue Theater (Sacramento & Presidio) and Chinatown's newly restored Great Star Theater (Jackson & Kearny). -more-

The Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra (BCCO) marks its 50^th anniversary with performances of an anti-war classical masterpiece concerts on June 3, 4 and 5 at Hertz Hall on the U.C. Berkeley campus. For the past five decades, BCCO has operated on the principle that great music should be available to all. BCCO’s concerts are always free. -more-

Richard Schwartz will give an illustrated talk on the hidden Indian Life in Berkeley and the evidence surrounding it. He will demonstrate how the discovery and protection of artifacts and history combine as a powerful tool to begin to understand the extent Native Americans lived within what became the city of Berkeley. He will demonstrate how a culture can be learned or lost by the efforts and actions of current residents and how this history might exist in your own back yard. Community Room, Berkeley Main Library, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley, 94704. 1pm. tel 981-6100. -more-