EDITOR'S NOTE: The message below has been distributed on social media to once again persuade Wienerites and other greedy young White men in spandex bicycle shorts to flood the Zoom of a Berkeley meeting with public comments from all over the country. This has become a favorite recreation of the idle privileged caste. If you don't agree that old houses in Berkeley should be torn down to build cash register multiples—this one would be at least ten units—you might want to call in, or even (so old school) write to your councilmember. 

 

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Last August, a group of affluent NIMBYs in Berkeley (including famous "progressive" figure Robert Reich) tried to landmark a dilapidated house to prevent ten new homes from being built.
In response, pro-housing groups organized almost a hundred people to call into the Landmarks & Preservation Committee meeting to support the project (you can read more about it here), and by a 5-2 vote, the landmarking was rejected, allowing the new homes to move forward. It was a huge victory and the hypocrisy of the NIMBY opposition was noted by journalists and commentators across the country.

Unfortunately, the NIMBYs have regrouped and filed an appeal to the City Council that will be heard this Thursday, January 21st at 6PM.

As a result, we're mobilizing too, and here's how you can help:
Step 1) Share the petition with your friends! 

 

Step 2) Email the city council at council@cityofberkeley.info to express your support for this project

Step 3) Public Comment: the City Council is meeting at 6PM on Thursday, January 21st to discuss this project - please dial in and express your opposition to landmarking 1915 Berryman and support for building more housing! 

To access the meeting remotely: Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device: Please use this URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83612924326. To request to speak, use the “raise hand” icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.

To join by phone: Dial 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) and enter Meeting ID:836 1292 4326. If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair. 

Step 4) Vote in the ADEMS election! YIMBY Action has endorsed ADEM candidatesthroughout the state that will fight for pro-housing candidates and policies at the state levela

Some highlights from the Berkeley City Council agenda for January 19, 2021:

Berkeley commissions to hold secret meetings (Item 3)

Council will likely pass on consent a rule change that allows Berkeley commissions to appoint subcommittees which then meet in secret. Why? To save staff time during a pandemic emergency that will likely continue for at least half this year’s legislative session and probably beyond.

Under the Brown act such a subcommittee is legally permissible but only under a strict rule that no member of the public may participate in the meetings, not even through asynchronous communications.

Place your bets on whether or not such closed-door appointed subcommittees will really discuss issues with nobody but each other. Hint: of course they won’t. They’ll just pick and choose who gets to provide public input privately.

Protecting fossil fuel producers, killing humans (Item 23)  

Climate scientist Michael Mann was invited to appear on the TV show “60 minutes” this past October. He reiterated something very well known in the climate science community: If global emissions don’t fall sharply in 2021-2025, then they would need to fall so quickly thereafter that it is all too likely to be socially impossible – too late. Mann called that outcome “game over for climate”. 

Mann is not alone. It is hard to find climate scientists who would disagree. It is not hard to find climate scientists who think Mann is being optimistic. 

“Game over” means that every child you see today will live in a world of deaths that dwarf every previous war combined, a world of massive crop yield falls, water shortages, greatly accelerated sea level rise, loss of species beyond all imagination, and a profound destabilization of human civilization itself. Everyone alive today, not only today’s children, will suffer. 

With awareness of those facts, more than a year ago former council member Cheryl Davila proposed to urgently ban the sale, in Berkeley, of new fossil fuel burning cars by 2025. She proposed to urgently explore how rapidly petrol sales could be ended. It was a bold idea and one of only two pieces of proposed legislation in Berkeley history that are consistent with the physical demands of the actual climate emergency. (The other example, a proposal to adopt as policy consistent with the Paris Accord goals, was also by Davila.) 

The proposal coming up on the 19^th was suppressed in committee by Council members Robinson and Harrison for more than a year. 

Now that Davila is gone, the item has miraculously been passed out of subcommittee, but not before amending it to make it toothless. The subcommittee watered it down to protect car sales for the foreseeable future. It is the kind of political subterfuge every fossil fuel company board member and executive loves. Their dismantling of Davila’s item differs from Trumpian climate policy only in the tone of its delivery. 

Why did they do this, aside from the general hostility these council members regularly showed council member Davila? A last minute addition to the item, made by Harrison, reveals: they are willing to protect greenhouse gas emissions because they fear the loss of taxes. Jesse Arreguín expressed the same concern to the S.F. Chronicle recently. (“Berkeley considers banning the sale of gas-powered cars by 2027. But is it feasible?”, January 11, 2021) 

I look forward to them sitting on a panel, someday soon, with an audience of BUSD students, explaining their decision to let a tax revenue concern justify sacrificing their chances at a future. 

Requiring pay-raises for grocery store employees (Item 26)

With no visible consultation with unions or employers, and no visible analysis of the impact, Terry Taplin has proposed requiring all grocery stores to give employees a five dollar per hour pay-raise until the pandemic emergency is over. 

In related news, Amazon, a company accelerating its plans for automation in response to the economic crisis, owns Whole Foods and has already been working for some time on replacing employees with machines. 

Council members Bartlett and Arreguín have signed up to co-sponsor.

Mayor who ran as a progressive sides with developer-friendly plan for Adeline Corridor.

On December 8, the Berkeley City Council made its most important land use decision of 2020: It approved the Adeline Corridor Plan, authorizing much greater density in a historically Black neighborhood that has undergone significant gentrification and displacement.

The plan area encompasses 86 acres along Adeline Street and Shattuck Avenue, stretching from the Oakland-Berkeley border north to Dwight Way. The stated intent is to facilitate the construction of 75,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,450 new homes, including 850 units on the parking lots at the Ashby BART station, which has yet to be rezoned. '

[Read the rest of this story on 48hill.org.]

If you're the kind of person who keeps track of such things, be aware that new Planet issues will, starting from last week on, bear a Sunday instead of a Friday date. That reflects reality somewhat better, though reality gets crazier all the time. Sometimes new articles are added mid-week, though not very often anymore. You can use the inimitable feature of our archaic masthead buttons to select "Previous", "Current" and sometimes "Next" Issues, as well as searching the archives.

While we denounce the actions of President Trump and his enablers for inciting violence let us remember the crimes the US has committed on weaker nations to advance its geopolitical agenda. As recently as last week, media pundits were urging the new Biden administration to return to our traditional role of SHORING UP DEMOCRACIES AROUND THE WORLD. What “bleep” balderdash! The US has spent decades orchestrating coups around the world.

Here are a few examples:

On Jan. 17, 1893, Hawaii’s beloved monarchy was overthrown when a group of US businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate. The coup led to the dissolution of the Kingdom of Hawaii.Hawaii was targeted for annexation because it offered strategic economic and military opportunities.

In 1916 the US orchestrated a coup to overthrow the Dominican Republic.
 

1930 Palestine.
Jewish terrorism in Palestine began during 1930s and 1940s. There were three basic para-military Zionist organizations in Palestine, working to drive the local inhabitants, the Palestinians, out of Palestine. The US funded the Zionists with $billions of weapons and logistical support. Thousands of Palestinians were killed or fled to neighboring countries. The Palestinians in Israel are living under extremely repressive conditions much like apartheid South Africa. While Americans are suffering hunger, poverty and extreme hardship, $billions of economic and military aid continue to flow to Israel.
 

In 1953 in a blatant theft of Iranian oil, Britain’s MI6 and the CIA orchestrated a coup to overthrow the democratic government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq and installed US puppet and tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. No howls of protest from the mainstream media. Reza unleashed the hated secret police, the Savak, to kill or “disappear” thousands of Iranians dissidents. $billions of weapons were purchased to enrich US Defense contractors. This generated fierce anti-US sentiments which still linger today.
1954 A Guatemalan coup was carried out t by the CIA to depose the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz.

In 1973 the people of Diego Garcia, a British colony in the Indian Ocean, were thrown off their island to make way for a US military base. Many of their beloved dogs were gassed or drowned. The displaced Chagossians, raised within a largely barter economy, got nothing. They have a Kreol word for how they feel: sagren – unbearable sadness.

In 1973 President Nixon on the advice of Henry Kissinger” gave orders to the CIA to orchestrate a coup to depose the popular unity government of President Salvador Allende. Tens of thousands died or “disappeared” under General Augusto’s military junta.  

1975 – 1999 East Timor's landmark Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) found that U.S. "political and military support were fundamental to the Indonesian invasion and occupation" of East Timor. The US was charged with aiding and abetting the genocide. Over 100,000 men, women and children were slaughtered.

2001 After the 9-11 attack the US and its allies dispatched Special Forces and launched its fearsome military power to hunt for the elusive Bin Laden and his supporters. 15 out of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Black sites were quickly established where the CIA engaged in the most brutal forms of torture. Hundreds of innocent Afghans were swept up and tortured. The full 9-11 report has never been released to avoid offending our staunch ally, Saudi Arabia. $978B has been squandered in America’s longest war. Hundreds of returning vets suffered appalling injuries leading many to take their own lives. Prisoners serving their 20th Year of indefinite detention have never received a fair trial but continue to languish in GITMO to cover up monumental political blunders. The cost per prisoner is $13 million.

In 2003 The US orchestrated a coup in Iraq on bogus claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The “shock and awe” was lauded by the US media. Tens of thousands of Iraqis perished and their infrastructure decimated. Saddam Hussein’s elite guard was fired by the US. They had no employment but did have access to large cache of weapons. They coalesced to form ISIS, The US offered no apologies, or reparations for their monumental blunders.

In 2009 The US back coup ousted Honduran President Zelaya which caused a major civilian exodus creating the current day migrant crisis.

In 2012 Secretary of State, John Kerry, under President Obama, gave tacit approval to the Egyptian Army to stage a coup and overthrow the elected president. Incredulously, Kerry said they were acting to restore democracy.

In 2019 a US backed coup forced Bolivian president Evo Morales from office to gain access to the country’s vast lithium resources. Following the coup, Elon Musk, tweeted on July 24th 2020, “we will coup whoever we want! deal with it.”
Throughout this period the notorious US ‘School of the Americas’ trained and financed some of the most vicious thugs in the world to murder and ‘disappear’ tens of thousands of their people “yearning to be free”. The Taliban and bin Laden were the creation of the CIA who in 1979 recruited the most vicious and radical fundamentalist fanatics from Saudi Arabia and other Arab and Muslim countries and utilized their enormous budget train, arm and finance them.

The insurrection at the Capitol brought protestations that participants were extremists who don't represent America. They ranged from face-painted Halloween leftovers to elected officials, and were directed to the Capitol to stop the certification of the election results on the false grounds that it was fraudulent. 

Proclaiming "this is not who we are" separates us from the rioters, strengthens the idea that most Americans would never do such things, and shores up the hope that we're not armchair racists who prefer a juicy story to the often mundane truth. But this is who we are. We decided decades ago only certain people should attend school, learn to read, vote, things we still only allow reluctantly and make extremely difficult. We casually let newspapers die and schools starve. We don't read the fine print on internet platforms because we're in hurry to share silly photos and buy online while local merchants suffer. 

We may be exactly the people who've learned to let politicians sell our parks, landmarks, and neighborhoods to developers for a quick buck and a ribbon-cutting photo. We've adjusted suspiciously quickly during the pandemic to allowing only those with internet access to have a clue about what's on any public agenda. We are the ones who might have been able to explain to Uncle Dave why huge tranches of ballot data are reflected suddenly in a state's count, but we worry that he might throw us out of the book club. Or that we might look weak if we try to engage our neighbor about the purpose of his impressive collection of guns. 

It won't be difficult to find people among the Capitol marauders with whom we have little in common, whom we can look down on. But others will have commonalities we have with most human beings, the people with whom we might have shared interests or at least a joke in more connected times. Disdain is easy, and comes naturally to those who use division to clarify their identify. But make no mistake. This is who we are.

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! 

Who are they?

Why do they follow the misogynist, racist, narcissist, con-man, liar, cheater, bully?

What can be done to heal the division in our society?

From the beginning of his career as a public personality, and certainly since he glided down his escalator into politics, Donald trump's character has been obvious and visible to all with a modicum of life experience. Bad boss, misogynist, racist, narcissist, con-man, liar, cheater, bully; trump has fit these descriptors with astounding consistency. So, the question that's been dogging me over the duration of his presidency is how can so many people follow this creep? 

There are lots of reasons, all fragmentary. It's not complete nor entirely accurate, to say that his followers are stupid, uninformed, ignorant, or brainwashed by deceptive disinformation media and foreign interference, although these are valid factors. Nor is it clearly a matter of economic disparity. The gulf between a few with uncountable wealth and the many struggling day to day to barely subsist is real and dangerous to our nation, yet his followers come from every socio-economic tranche, including the most elite. 

Some followers resent "undeserving" people (whom they see as lower in the social order than they are) getting "free stuff" from the government. Their racism, xenophobia, misogyny, are unleashed when non-whites, foreigners and women are given a step up (actually a half-step, to try to equalize opportunity). trump marshals their resentment into a group identity, giving it a name, a slogan, a color and a hat. Whenever he doesn't get what he wants, trump models this underlying emotion with one of his most-used expressions, "it's not fair." 

What motivates his followers to prefer an information ecosystem of falsehood and anger? Why do they recklessly cling to untrue and illogical denial of reality (whether about the results of an election, for instance, or the efficacy of wearing masks to prevent Covid infection)? Why do they give this man a devotion that is usually only offered from the hearts of fervent religious believers? 

An insight to these questions appeared as I watched the President of the United States incite his followers to attack the citadel of our country's most precious political treasure: democracy. He invited them with a tweet to "be wild," to be angry, to become a mob. At the rally just before the insurrection, he exhorted them with, "Let's go to the Capitol," after his enabler, Rudy Giuliani, inflamed them with "trial by combat." He gave his followers explicit permission to rampage through the halls of Congress, and stop the peaceful transfer of power taking place. 

When trump acts like a bully and says words that denigrate a person's race, gender, origin or physical impairment - doing so without shame or regret - he gives his followers permission by example to do the same. Even in the face of visible facts that he lied, he doubles-down on a falsehood, refusing to be wrong, ever. His example gives his followers permission to be similarly obstinate, allowing them to feel that they, too, are unassailable, undoubtable, untouchable. 

But why would they want to adopt such despicable characteristics? How could they even have the notion that trump's "permission" is valid? What causes one to seek and find a permission-giving father figure in such a character as trump? 

trump's followers, maybe 35% of the population, seem to believe that being tough is the way to behave, that being anything else - empathic, caring, or self-reflective - is weak, is being a loser. They emulate the lead of the celebrity who acts like a "tough guy," hoping that his toughness will trickle down on them, unaware that his is an act, a sham, a con. 

Were they trained, as young Donald was by his father, that the only way to behave was to dominate? Was their spirit similarly broken when, as children, a harsh and inflexible parent withheld love and abused them whenever they lost or showed vulnerability? Were they taught, 

"Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,  

I will fear no evil, because I'm the toughest mothafricker in the Valley"? 

Did they suffer so much abuse that they learned to become abusers themselves? 

Some people compensate from such emotional, physical and spiritual abuse, by aspiring to become bullies themselves. They need to cover over their feelings of low self-esteem, the fear that they may be losers, with trump-like braggadocio. Inherently, they know that they must give loyalty to stronger bullies and demand loyalty from those weaker than themselves. 

Even many "elite" members of trump's Administration, the actual in-crowd, suffer from an unfulfilled need for approval, recognition, and permission. They fall prey to trump's tactic of dividing and setting the parts against each other, long practiced on his TV show, "The Apprentice." They compete for the leader's attention under an unpredictable, erratic regime that never allows anyone to feel secure in their position. They are unfazed when they see some other loyal follower getting "thrown under the bus" for a perceived infraction of absolute loyalty, apparently believing that it wouldn't happen to them. 

Those outside the inner circles are offered a feeling of belonging with "inside information" through trump-supporting media that feeds them conspiracy theories and propaganda. Needing external validation, they yearn to be included in the "in-group" where they can feel unique and special. No one doubts the leader; doubting is for losers. 

Is there a way to get through these followers' hard shell of faith-based misinformed belief, of their determined self-identification with their chosen leader? Or are we condemned to remain a divided society? Throughout history, caring and nurturing tendencies have clashed with those of forceful domination. Often, the "softer" tendencies get overwhelmed by violence from the hard "untouchables." Yet, within two or three generations of stark authoritarianism, liberalism arises again, like verdant vegetation emerging from a fire-storm burned forest. Can this pattern be broken? Can we, at this time, avoid another descent into a reign of ignorant, unfeeling domination? 

Liberals like to believe that love trumps hatred. If the diagnosis is correct that a yearning for love long withheld during childhood is the reason people chose a father-figure to follow, is there a way for love to melt through their hard shells? Their chosen leader says, "I love you" with shameless insincerity while his actions clearly reveal his only love is for his own self-serving aggrandizement. Yet, those who are thirsting for love, desperate for the promise of quenching, will drink his muddy water. 

Can those who see the distinction between the nurturing and the domineering ideals actually offer love sincerely to those who view such an act as weakness? How can people who grew up learning to hold resentment and anger turn to self-reflection, which leads to understanding that leads to compassion? How can a person show compassion for trump's followers without being interpreted as condescending? Can compassion respect a bully?  

How do we reach out to those who think they are just fine, that they are the ones who see the truth, and think that it is we who are misled by our own echo chamber of values and information? Can love trump hatred and anger? Could love trump Trump? 

I envision this historic polarity struggle as if we were crawling out of a dank and slippery-sloped hole. 

The ground gets less slippery and more horizontal the further we emerge.  

We are tied to those further down the hole with invisible ropes.  

Can we help pull them up? Or will the weight of their mass drag us back down?  

Perhaps the warmth and light we feel above us, around us, and within will give us the strength to keep pulling, upward.  

Is Love that strength? 

At the same time, I yearn for justice, accountability, and consequence for the bad actions trump and his supporters have committed. I was in Chile when an unsuccessful coup was attempted against the Allende government, in June 1973. The perpetrators were allowed exile to Ecuador, where they planned the coup that became "successful" in September, 1973 (9-11-73, to be exact). That is what happens when attacks on Democracy go unpunished. 

Do trump and his enablers have any incentive NOT to try another insurrection, perhaps during the inauguration of President Biden? The lesson from the last impeachment with its failed conviction is NO, crime does pay, and even when it doesn't payoff, there is no consequence for trying. trump must be held accountable, or else this attempted coup, this insurrection, will only serve to encourage future actions, which may be more successful than the current shameful attempt. 

Can his followers be held accountable as well? Should they be? 

How can we help them fulfill their psychological need to be loved, included and special, yet dissuade them from similar bad action? Would deterrence help or hinder? 

People change their predilections and behaviors only after they want to change. What kind of example can we offer to encourage them to become more caring of others, more connected to the ideal of America as a mutual community of equals? If we were to embrace them, would they warm to a more respectful way of being? Could we even embrace those who would like us to yield under their own domination? 

May Love's energy manifest throughout this year and may we learn to use it to heal. 

https://athousandbubbles.weebly.com/a-thousand-bubbles/understanding-trumps-followers

If you have a severe mental disability and you are reading these words, I owe you the following word: "Congratulations!" If gyou've made it this far, it is likely that you are one of the strong and the few mental health consumers who can weather the severe conditions that our country and our Earth have been enduring. 

It is a tremendous challenge to continue to track reality when reality has gone haywire. Psychosis is characterized by splitting off from reality. Trump followers can fit this qualification, not because of their psychotic disorder, but because they are collectively bamboozled by the pathological liar, who, at the time you are reading these words, has been ejected from office through impeachment, or will (more than likely) be in office but will be out of office within two more days. 

Certainly, an attempt at impeachment is a valiant thing to do. But to get both houses of Congress to agree on anything is a near impossibility. So, if Trump is impeached by now, it is a miracle. But I'm getting off track... 

Mental health consumers need to know that our country is in good, capable hands. Thousands of dedicated persons in government are making certain that our people and institutions will survive the attacks of this demented and evil leader. We, as mental health consumers, are not required to do anything--we should leave this up to others. The best thing we can do for our country and our people is to stay out of the way, and to stay out of harm's way. 

The above entails turning off the news when it is too upsetting. It involves keeping current on our medications and therapy. It involves getting adequate sleep. And it involves reassuring oneself and getting reassurance from others that everything will turn out just fine. And let's not forget the oral hygiene--dental decay does not wait for changes in government. 

In my column I hope that I'm creating a good example. Examples are the most effective way to impart something, good or bad. When things are too difficult, my habit is to back off. When someone asks me to do something I can't reasonably do, I refuse, even when doing this is unpopular. Taking care of yourself sometimes involves saying no to unreasonable requests and/or demands. I'm sorry if this paragraph leads to unanswered questions. 

I will say that, if you've made it this far and if your mind is in good condition, it is a signal that you've done something right. It is not a signal that you are no longer mentally ill. If taking medication and participating in treatment have led to you being able to weather this insanity, keep it up. If you've gotten through this and if you are not compliant, it may be a good time to get yourself checked out under the hood, so that you can be certain that you are not headed for a relapse due to a delayed stress reaction. 

At age nineteen, I was threatened by armed robbers when I was otherwise alone, overnight, for ten hours, when I worked at the job I had at the time. These robbers meant business and they had weapons. I believed after surviving this that I no longer needed to keep the spare bottle of medication I kept. I was very wrong. I had a delayed stress reaction that affected my mental health for years to come. 

For people with schizophrenia, medication is essential. It is almost a defining factor in your diagnosis. If the medication is working to restore you to reality, it indicates that you probably have this condition. And you should realize there is no shame in this. 

It is hard to track reality when reality has gone insane. If you can do that, you should be proud of yourself. 

Additional note: If you live in the Concord/Martinez/Pleasant Hill area, the Putnam Clubhouse is a great resource and source of support. They are functioning virtually, but in that manner, they are up and running. Staff is friendly, helpful, and flexible. If you live elsewhere, check local listings for resources. 

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Jack Bragen is a commentary, self-help, and fiction author and lives in Martinez, California with his wife.

Each year Foreign Policy In Focus columnist Conn Hallinan gives awards to individuals, companies and governments that make reading the news a daily adventure. These are the awards for the past year

The Golden Lemon Award goes to Lockheed Martin for its F-35 fifth generation stealth fighter, at $1.5 trillion the most expensive weapons system in history. The plane currently has 883 “design flaws,” including nine “category 1” flaws. The latter “may cause death, severe injury, or severe occupational illness” to pilots and “major damage” to weapons systems and combat readiness ( which sounds like those TV ads for drugs that may or may not treat your disease, but could also kill your first born and turn you into a ferret).

But the company got right to work on those flaws, not by fixing them, mind you, but by reclassifying them as less serious. As for the rest of the problems, Lockheed Martin says it will fix them if it gets paid more.The company currently receives $2 billion a year to keep some 400 F-35s flying, a cost of $50 million a plane. It costs $28, 455 an hour to fly an F-35. 

US aircraft are following industrialist Norman Augustine’s prediction that war plane costs increase by a factor of 10 every decade. He predicted that by 2054 the Pentagon will be able to buy just one fighter plane 

The Silver Lemon goes to the U.S. Navy for moth-balling four of its Littoral Combat ships after less than two decades in service. All 10 Littoral ships apparently have a “fundamentally flawed” propulsion system. The ships cost over $600 million apiece. There are plans to build six more. 

The Navy plans to build 82 ships overall in the next six years at a cost of $147 billion, including--at $940 million apiece-- 20 frigates to replace the Littoral Combat ships. 

The Bronze Lemon to the U.S. Army for spending $24 billion to replace its aging, 27-ton Bradley Fighting Vehicle with---ah, nothing? Not that it didn’t spend all that money. First there was the M2, but its armor was too thin. Then it built the Future Combat System, but it was too big and also had inadequate armor. Then they built the Ground Combat Vehicle, which was a monster and weighed three times more than the Bradleys.Solution? Keep the old Bradleys. 

The ET Award to the new U.S. Space Force for the design of its uniforms: jungle foliage. As George Takei (Helmsmen Hikaru Sulu from “Star Trek”) commented, “Unclear why there is a need for camouflage in space.” 

The Golden COVID-19 Award to Solange Vierira,Brazil’s Superintendence of Private Insurance in President Jair Bolsonaro’ rightwing government. According to former Health Ministry official and epidemiologist Julio Croda, when told that older people were more likely to die from the virus, Vierira told him that “it’s good that deaths are concentrated among the old. That will improve our economic performance as it will reduce our pension deficit.” The virus has killed over 184,000 Brazilians as of December.
 

The Silver COVID goes to US Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross, who told Fox News that the virus has a silver lining: “I think it will help accelerate the return of jobs to North America. “ Unemployment in the US passed 20 million this past summer. The virus also has killed more than 335,000 Americans. 

The Bronze COVID goes to the Italian medical supply company, Intersurgical, which threatened to sue a 3-D printer startup for producing the company’s ventilator valve during last spring’s COVID emergency in northern Italy. Intersurgical, which charges $11,000 for each valve, had been unable to meet the needs of hospitals overrun with desperately sick patients. So Alessandro Ramaioli and Christian Francassi of Isinnova, a 3-D printer company, reverse engineered the part because Intersurgical refused to release the design specifications. The 3-D supplied valves cost $1 apiece. 

Now Intersurgical is threatening to sue the two Isinnova men for patent violation. The virus has killed over 97,000 Italians as of December. 

The Revolving Door Award goes to former Marine Corps General, Joseph Dunford, who oversaw the testing of Lockheed Martin’s troubled F-35 fighter. According to the tests, the plane “could not demonstrate that the ...F-35B is operationally effective or suitable for use in any kind of limited combat operation,” and if the plane encountered enemies it should “avoid threat engagement” (translation: run for your life). The test also found that pilots under 165 pounds had a 25 percent chance of death, and an almost certainty of serious neck injuries, if they ejected from the plane. 

But Dunford said he had “full confidence” in the F-35 (generals don’t fly them). A little over four months after Dunford retired as head of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, he was appointed to the Lockheed Martin Board of Directors. 

He has lots of company. After retiring, Admiral William Crowe joined General Dynamics, Gen. John Shalikashvili joined Boeing, Gen. Richard Myers joined Northrop Grumman, and current Defense Secretary nominee, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, is on the board of Raytheon, one of the prime contractors for the new Space Force. 

The Culture Sensitivity Award to the Trump Administration for appointing Darren Beattie to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad that oversees the conservation of Holocaust sites in Europe. Beattie has appeared on a panel with Peter Brimelow from VDare, a anti-immigrant site that the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a “hate website.” The Trump White House also put out a statement on Holocaust Remberance Day that never mention the word “Jewish.” 

Co-winner is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for appointing former general Effi Eitam to head the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Eitam, a West Bank settler, refers to Palestinians as a “cancer” and advocates expelling them from the Occupied Territories. “We cannot be with all these Arabs,” he says, arguing that the army could “expel the population there overnight.” He also calls for ousting all Palestinians from the parliament. 

Honorable mention goes to the White House for unleashing Border Patrol Agents, Arizona state troopers and State Department of Public Safety officers on O’odham tribal members who were protesting the border wall that divides up their lands. Tribe members were tear gassed and struck with rubber bullets, and a number of children were arrested. The day was Oct. 12, Indigenous People’s Day. 

The Blind Justice Award goes to the conservative Greek government for charging a 25-year old Afghan man with killing his six-year old child, who drowned when a refugee-filled boat overturned. Adriana Tidona of Amnesty International said the charge was “just one more way to discourage” asylum seekers and could violate the Geneva Conventions on the protection of refugees. 

Runner up in this category is Egypt’s National Election Authority, which was angered by the low turnout of voters in the first round of the Senate elections this past August. Voting in Egypt is a requirement. But Egypt is in the middle of the pandemic and an economic crisis. Many of the polling places were also located away from residential areas, making it difficult for voters to get to them. Only a little over 14 percent of Egypt’s 64 million voters made it to the polls. The Commission’s response? Charge 54 million people with violating the election law, which carries a fine of 500 Egyptian pounds (about $31). 

The Mati Hari Award to the rightwing Indian government of Narendra Modi for breaking up a highly sophisticated Pakistani spy ring. The agent--a pigeon painted pink and wearing a ring with a number on it-- was turned over to the police, who are continuing their investigation. The official story is that locals saw the pigeon fly over the border and seized it, but suspicion is that it was an inside job: a stool pigeon. 

There are also people and organizations that do their best to make the world a better place to live in. Here are a few: 

Hallel Rabin, an 19-year old Israeli conscientious objector who has served three jail sentences for refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. “People in power institute a policy of occupation and oppression of an entire nation,” she said, “I will not take part in a system that is based on inequality and fear.” 

Melati and Isabel Wijsen, 19 and 17 respectively, who lobbied successfully to ban all throw away plastics in Indonesia. After China, Indonesia is the second largest source of marine pollution. The sisters have also taken on climate change.”Us kids may be only 26 percent of the world’s population, but we are 100 percent of the future,” said Isabel. 

The Irish, who raised over $3 million to purchase water, food and medical supplies for the Hopi Reservation and the Navajo Nation. Both tribes have been hard hit by COVID-19. The money was payback. In 1847 the Choctaw Nation sent $170 to Irish families caught up in the 1845-49 potato famine that killed more than a million people, and forced more than a million others to emigrate. The Choctaw were the first tribe to be forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in 1831, the so-called “Trail of Tears,” in which thousands died of disease and starvation. When tribal members heard about the famine they raised money and sent it to the Quakers to be distributed. 

---30--- 

Conn Hallinan can be read at dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com and middleempireseries.wordpress.com 

The Loser in the White House

Back in November 2020—two months before his second impeachment—Donald Trump became the target for an astonishing blast of verbal vitriol from Down Under. An Aussie writer who goes by the name "Grumpy Geezer" produced a beyond-scathing, bum-whupping, verbal take-down of Trump, using "the language of Shakespeare" to roast King Don on the griddle of adjectival excoriation.

As Trump reluctantly prepares for his last day in the White House, this flamboyant grilling of the Orange Lobster of Mar-a-Lago begs to be read aloud. Here's a sampling. The full article can be read here. 

No grace, no dignity, no humility, no magnanimity, no class, no morals, no empathy, no soul. He has no friends, not even a dog. 

His wife can’t bear his touch, his daughter can’t avoid it.  

Devoid of humour, he doesn’t make jokes, he doesn’t laugh. Not ever. An occasional dismal rictus, a necrotic gash in his ochre-lacquered face-bladder signifies nothing more than his satisfaction in transacting failing with no compensating virtues. A craven coward. A sociopath. A serial rapist. A racist. A quisling. An opportunistic grifter. An inveterate cheat. A deceitful toad. A chronic liar. A shameless braggart. An ignoramus who lacks curiosity. He doesn’t read, he doesn’t care . . . . 

Rake the forests, nuke the hurricanes, inject the bleach, water bomb Notre Dame Cathedral, trade Greenland for Puerto Rico. Trump’s pompous idiocies are exceeded only by his appalling ignorance. Crediting the British with the foresight to build airstrips in the War of Independence (110 years before the Wright Brothers first took flight), revealing the hitherto unknown Himalayan countries of Nipple and Button, accusing Baltic leaders of starting Balkans wars! . . .  

It’s beyond our imagining that we’d ever have a bloated braggart, a liar, a hypocrite, a lazy shirker, a crony-stacking blame shifter at the helm filtering Murdoch’s kidney stones through his teeth . . . . 

After 4 years of what-the-fuck-has-he-done-now, 46,123 tweets and 20,000 documented lies while in office to 9th July 2020 he’s been reduced to pathetic whimperings from his puckered-sphincter pout, playing his invisible accordion to an audience of gormless dullards, fellow hucksters and his retinue of fawning toadies, thralls, invertebrate lickspittles and hangers-on . . . . 

Trump's Invisible Accordian Made Visible 

 

Karmic Strips 

Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau scored a hit and a miss with his January 10 Sunday comic strip. The strip, which was submitted before the Capitol riots, showed Trump cheating at golf with his hands covered in blood. (Trudeau made a pledge last month to portray Trump with blood-stained hands until the end of his presidency.) If the blood dripping from Trump's fingers was eerily prophetic, Trudeau scored a miss when his golfing companion observes it's "a bit unseasonable for golf" and Trump replies: "What else is there to DO now but golf and tweet?" Not even Trudeau could see Trump's Twitter-ban coming. 

Nit-picking note: The foregoing paragraph contains an error. In Trudeau's Sunday strip, the word "unseasonable" is hyphenated as "un-seasonable"—as is a sentence that reads, "I need a new dis-traction…." 

What's up? No other comic strip hyphenates. Some adjacent Sunday strips managed to cram up to 48 words into their word balloons without hyphenating a single verb, noun or adjective. 

The Race for 2022 

One of the upsides expected to follow the end of an election year is supposed to be a welcomed end to political campaign solicitations. No longer. This year desperate cries for money to save the Georgia runoffs continued to appear in Democrat email boxes well after the Ossof-Warnock victory had broken Mitch McConnell's GOP-block in the Senate. 

On January 7, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) fired off a fundraising letter announcing "I'm not wasting one second in making it official. I'm running for re-election." The letter went on to ask for "a donation today of $50 or more." 

Kudos, then, to Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) who did something unusual: she mailed a postcard to supporters thanking them for funding her successful campaign. And she didn't ask for any additional contributions. 

There's something else that's bothersome: The flood of emails rightly accusing members of the GOP of threatening democracy by catering to the greed of the oligarchy only to have the righteous indignation (from heroes like Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee) undermined by an invitation to "Sign a Petition" that immediately links to a page asking for financial donations. 

Memorable Head-hunting Headlines 

From the Huffington Post—posted after the huffing-and-puffing surrounding the January 6 invasion of the Capitol Building—a headline that read: 

"GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn Was Armed With Gun During Insurrection He Helped Incite." 

While it's illegal to carry weapons around in the District of Columbia, Cawthorn gets a pass thanks to "the rights afforded to him as a member of Congress." Still, the rules of Congress are supposed to deny him the "right" to carry a pistol or rifle while in the House chamber. However, it looks like Cawthorn fudged that restriction. As he boasted to the Smoky Mountain News, the day after lawmakers were forced into hiding by a hoard of lawbreakers swinging zip-ties and nooses: "Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves." 

It seems Cawthorn's concern about "protecting ourselves" doesn't extend to "protecting others." According to the Asheville Citizen, the North Carolina Congressmember told a local crowd "There is a new Republican Party on the rise . . . that will go and fight in Washington." Even more troubling, in December, Cawthorn encouraged his followers to "Call your congressman and feel free, you can lightly threaten them and say . . . 'If you don't start supporting election integrity [i.e. insisting that Trump won the last election], I'm coming after you." 

Lauren Boebert: Keep Your Eyes on the Glock 

Colorado's newly minted Congressmember Lauren Boebert is a gun-loving agitator from the town of Rifle who rose to right-wing fame by running an "open-carry" restaurant where both diners and wait-staff enjoy the dining experience while wearing pistols strapped to their hips. Boebert has expressed her eagerness to show up for elected duty wearing her Glock at the US Capitol. During the right-wing takeover of the Capitol building (during which, one demonstrator was heard boasting that he was looking to "put a bullet in [Nancy Pelosi's] noggin"), Boebert used social media to live-stream House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's location inside the Capitol building while armed thugs were searching the chambers looking to take politicians hostage. 

According to Denver's 9News TV, Boebert has accused Democrats of spawning most of the violence in America, "specifically pointing to Madonna, Johnny Depp, and Robert DeNiro." 

According to a provocatively worded report from the Denver Channel, Boebert "wants to be able to carry her Glock at the US Capitol. She's already taking aim at some of the politicians she'll join there, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of her favorite targets." [Emphasis added.] 

Back on November 28, Boebert fired off a tweet asking Time magazine if it was planning to feature AOC on its cover for "Communist of the Year." 

The Name of the Game 

A January 13 note from Berkeley Agitator-Emeritus Arnie Passman bemoaned: "This violence in the Nation's capitol over not knowing what the new nickname of the Washington football team will be is unacceptable." 

AP's suggested a new team name: "The Washington Washtubs" 

My suggestion: "The Washington Supremacists" 

It's Not Easy Being Prez 

According to CBS correspondent John Dickerson (whose new book on the history of the American presidency, is titled "The Hardest Job in the World") Founding Dad Benjamin Franklin didn't much like the idea of a president to rule over the new country. Instead, he recommended a committee of trusted individuals to rule as a collective. Ben figured that would prevent the risk of any single individual becoming a tyrant. 

Dickenson's book also shares Bill Clinton's memory of his first order of business the morning following his inauguration. That's the moment when the Pentagon takes the new Leader of the Free World aside for a special "lesson on how to launch nuclear weapons." As Clinton remarked after leaving his personal introduction to DIY Apocalypse: "I left Blair House with my eagerness tempered by humility." 

"Humility"? How about "abject horror"? 

Honest, Abe? 

In the run-up to the assault on the Capitol building, an eager enlistee using the hashtags #1776Rebel and #OccupyCapitols, sent an email headlined "Operation Occupy the Capitol" that announced he would be among a group intent on "Taking back our country from corrupt politicians. January 6, all 50 states at noon." And the call to action included this quote: "We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." This wasn't a Proud Boys quote. These words were penned by . . . Abraham Lincoln. In the 1859 letter in which those words appeared, Lincoln also noted: "We must prevent the revival of the African slave trade," however, “We must not disturb slavery in the states where it exists . . . ." 

And then there's Thomas Jefferson's November 1787 letter from Paris in which he wrote: "[W]hat country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it’s natural manure." 

Hardly comforting words in these dire and trying times. 

Invoke the 25^th Amendment 

The Founders Sing 

 

On January 13, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Donald J. Trump by a vote of 232-197. Ten Republicans voted to impeach. 

The Article of Impeachment states, “President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.” 

Some have argued that impeachment will be divisive; it is time to heal, a time to move on. Actually inciting an armed mob to invade the Capitol and threaten the lives of members of Congress, resulting in five deaths, numerous injuries, and damage to the Capitol building, is divisive. 

The process of healing requires accountability first. If we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again. 

Impeachment by the House and conviction by the U.S. Senate followed by criminal prosecution of all those involved are musts before this country can truly move on.

If all the newspapers I subscribe to arrived as paper editions, my house might look like the one I entered as a nurse years ago with newspapers in a mound filling the living room to the ceiling and the bedroom where I found my patient so full of papers and magazines that I couldn’t see the size of the bed or the rest of the room. I miss daily newspapers in hand, but limit myself to just the Sunday paper to read and set aside for my parrot Zorro. It is interesting how older articles take on a different meaning and that is what happened when I pulled out Joe Matthews’ editorial on why City Councils should be bigger.

Now that we are giving our Mayor and City Council members pay raises, enlarging the Council has little appeal and less justification with one Councilmember per 15,000 residents. Besides, we have a readymade city structure with commissions to foster city engagement and new ideas. As I wrote last week Berkeley commissions provide significant contributions. They could still use a review of their mission statements, broader diversity, more complete minutes and encouragement to dispense with meeting rules when engagement of attendees is of benefit. The Agenda and Rules Committee announced on Monday that a special meeting will be called to discuss the Councilmember Droste’s proposal to reorganize and eliminate not quite half of the commissions. If saving money in the city budget was really the issue, there are a lot more places to look starting with consultants. Police overtime is supposed to be getting a hard look. 

Since the three members of the Agenda and Rules Committee, (Mayor Arreguin and Councilmembers Wengraf and Hahn) couldn’t see beyond the BDS Movement( Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions to end Israel’s oppression of Palestinians) they voted for no action on The Right to Boycott resolution submitted November 28, 2020 by Cheryl Davila. It is unfortunate they didn’t see the broader issue. Maybe the Peace and Justice Commission can take this up as non-violent peaceful boycotts are an important part of free speech. 

Maybe these three members could tune into Democracy Now, https://www.democracynow.org/ 

more often. In all this chaos we’ve been living under, I certainly like the calm monotone of Amy Goodman although she almost broke out in laughter the day she reported on the Rudy Giuliani press conference in front of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping next to the Fantasy Island Adult Books and across the street from Philadelphia Crematories. 

A worthwhile commission that is likely safe from the reorganizing axe is the Youth Commission, composed of members between the ages of 12 and 25. Councilmember Rigel Robinson, who is signed on as a supporter of the commission reorganizing, extolled the work of the Youth Commission on Monday. The Youth Commission, just as in its title, addresses issues of youth. They did not make a final appointment of their representative to the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force and will be meeting Tuesday for that purpose. 

If you happened to notice that the three banners, BE YOU, YOU’RE OKAY, IT’S NOT A DUMB IDEA, by local artist Susan O’Malley that could be seen from Civic Center Park have disappeared, they are down for repairs of the bolts holding them and will go back up. Susan O’Malley, who was pregnant with twins, died suddenly. A painful loss to all. The little girls survived only a week. The banners are “temporary” which brings up another issue pointed out by the Civic Arts Commission Public Art Subcommittee on Friday, the amount of “red tape” needed to have a permanent art exhibit. 

The Community for a Cultural Civic Center (CCCC) continues to move along. The Civic Arts Commission Civic Center Visioning Subcommittee is taking up the uses of the Veterans Building and the Maudelle Shirek Old City Hall). They will meet this coming Wednesday. 

It is hard to stay focused on City meetings when the cloud of the January 6 attempted coup hangs over us and the safety and security of President elect Biden and Vice-President Harris in this transition, Inauguration and after is a constant worry. I keep thinking back to the book Caste and the Taylor Branch quote from page 352, “…if people were given the choice between democracy and Whiteness how many would choose Whiteness…” Stuart Stevens went further in his book It Was All a Lie to write that the Republic Party is the White party. Declare Racism as a Public Health Crisis, item 25 in Tuesday’s agenda does not feel like enough. 

We have made different ways of carrying ourselves through this pandemic and constant chaos. I will be relieved when the news gets boring and a calming voice takes over, but there will still be a lot to do. My love of reading was given an enormous boost during these months of sheltering and it’s not going away. I’ve barely started the Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder, but I did finish the Address Book by Dierdre Mask and The Color of Water by James McBride. Since nearly all my reading is loans from our fabulous libraries, I’ve started a journal to keep notes so I am giving proper credit to any quotes. 

The Address Book is a fascinating look at the implications of the absence and presence of a street address and the history that surrounds how addresses have been created. It’s a non-fiction book that is a lot lighter in content than my usual selections. There is a chapter on the homeless describing the complications encountered by not having an actual street address. Consider all the places where giving a street address is requested or required for example applying for a job or finding a place to live. Maybe this is a task for the Homeless Commission: to ensure that every homeless person who wants a real address is able to get one. 

Enough for one sitting.

Worth Noting:

The Inauguration virtual activities start Saturday, January 15 at 2 pm PST. The actual Inauguration is supposed to be at 12 noon EST, 9 am our time, but the schedules are subject to change. The website with the most complete information listing all the activities is https://www.krqe.com/news-resources/2021-inauguration-day-schedule-president-elect-joe-biden-and-vice-president-elect-kamala-harris/



Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the busiest days so far for City meetings in 2021 with 20 meetings.



Tuesday is City Council Day with the adopted Ballot Initiatives at 4 pm and the Regular meeting at 6 pm with several important items. Item 3 on the agenda is to allow Commission subcommittees to meet under open meeting law without staff support, posted agendas or public participation. Item 23 Terminate the sale of gasoline, diesel and natural gas passenger vehicles by 2025. Item 25 is Declare Racism as a Public Health Crisis. Item 26. Is Hazard pay for Grocery Workers.



Wednesday when many of us just want to watch the Inauguration and check out for the rest of the day is packed with 6 meetings starting at 2:30 pm with Facilities Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability (FITES) with plastic bags on the agenda. The Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) and the Planning Commission meet jointly at 7 pm on gentrification and displacement. 

 

Thursday there are 9 meetings including two appeals to City Council at 6 pm #2 on the agenda is the Group Living Accommodations (GLA) at 2435 San Pablo, the Pier/Ferry Planning Study at 6:30 pm, Fair Campaign Practices at 6 and 7 pm and Community for a Cultural Civic Center at 12 and 5 pm. 

 

The City Council Regular Meeting agenda for January 26 is available for comment and follows the list of City meetings. 

 

Sunday, January 17, 2021 & Monday, January 18, 2021 - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday 

No City meetings or events found 

 

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 

Youth Commission, 5 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Youth_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/98549717574 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 985 4971 7574 

AGENDA: 5. Selection Youth Representative to Reimagining Public Safety 

 

Community for Cultural Civic Center (CCCC) Parks Subcommittee, 11 am 

Co-leaders Deborah Durant and Erin Diehm, email debdurant@gmail.com for meeting notices and premeeting reading/work assignments. 

 

Berkeley City Council, 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

Special Closed Meeting, 3 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82448498273 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 824 4849 8273 

AGENDA Pending Litigation a. Popper v. City of Berkeley Dept of Industrial Relations State RCI-CM-810610, b. Loach v. City of Berkeley, Alameda Co, Superior Court, HG19041598 

 

Special Meeting, 4 pm  

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84342904842 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 843 4290 4842 

AGENDA: 2020 Adopted Ballot Measures 

 

City Council Regular meeting, 6 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84342904842 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 843 4290 4892 

AGENDA: CONSENT: 1. New Reading Amended Annual Appropriations – numerical error, 3. Suspend Commissioner Manual meeting procedures to enabling ad hoc Commission Subcommittees to meet while allowing City staff to continue COVID-19 response - Allows Commission Ad-Hoc Committees to meet under open meeting law without notice of meetings, posting of agendas or public participation and relieves staff of supporting ad hoc subcommittees, 7. Adopt New Housing Trust Fund Guidelines, 8. Revised Agreement with CA State Historic Preservation Officer, 9. Predevelopment and Acquisition Loan for 2527 San Pablo, 10. FY2021 Block Grant, 11. FY2021 Health Plan Changes, 13. MOU Firefighters and Chief Fire Officers, 14. Amend contracts add $500,000 to each total $1,500,000 each West Coast Consulting, Telesis Engineers, 15. Fill vacancies Human Welfare and Community Action Commission, Denah Bookstein, Carols Hill, 16. Amendments to Berkeley Lobbyist Act, 17. Renaming Four City Paths for Founders of Berkeley Path Wanderers Eleanor Hall Gibson, Ruth Armstrong, Jacque Ensign, Patrician DeVito, 18. Revisions to City Legislation for Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 19. Resolution calling on National Parks to assess suitability of lands to honor the Black Panther Party, 20. Make Child Care Providers eligible for grants and assistance under Berkeley Relief Fund, 21. Reaffirm support Roe v Wade, 22. Support for AB 15 and AB 16 Tenant Stabilization Act, ACTION: 23. Referral to draft Ordinance terminating sale of gasoline, diesel, and natural gas passenger vehicles throughout City of Berkeley by 2025 (is a phase out of sales beginning in 2025), 24. Call on supermarkets, restaurants and other food corporations in Berkeley to implement Proposition 12 (cage free eggs and meat – ballot passed in 2018) ASAP, 25. Declare Racism As a Public Health Crisis (original and revised included with item), 26. Guarantee COVID-19 Hazard Pay for Grocery Workers, 27. Extend Time for Temporary Parklets and Sidewalk Seating Post COVID-19, INFORMATION REPORTS: 28. Condo Conversional Annual Report, 29. Referral Response Housing/Homeless Uses for 1631 Fifth. 

 

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 

Civic Arts Commission Civic Center Visioning Subcommittee Meeting, 3 – 4 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81923274095 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 Meeting ID: 819 2327 4095 

No agenda posted 

 

City Council Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee (FITES), 2:30 pm, 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Facilities,_Infrastructure,_Transportation,_Environment,___Sustainability.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88069076724 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 880 6907 6724 

AGENDA: 2. Adopt Ordinance to Regulate Plastic Bags at Retail and Food Establishments, 3. Prohibition on sale of Gasoline, Diesel and Other Carbon-Based Transportation Fuels by 2045, 4. Prohibition of use of City Streets for Operation, Parking or Idling Combustion vehicles by 2045, 5. Amend BMC 7.52 Reducing Tax Imposed for Qualifying Electrification, Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation retrofits, 6. Initiate Citywide, Regional and International Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy to Address Climate Emergency, UNSCHEDULED: 7. Recognize Rights of Nature, 8. Potential Bonding and Funding Opportunities for Improving PCI. 

 

Commission on Labor, 7 – 9 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Commission_on_Labor_Homepage.aspx 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/91328731421?pwd=TkdsZHFDbG1raWlwbjZwaVBxOWoyZz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 913 2873 1421 Passcode: 063782 

AGENDA: 4. In Memoriam Margy Wilkinson, 5. election, 6. 2021 Workplan 

 

Housing Advisory Commission and Planning Commission joint meeting, 7 – 9 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Housing_Advisory_Commission/ 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Planning_Commission_Homepage.aspx 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/94802421193 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 948 0242 1193 

AGENDA: 6. Presentation from Healthy Black Families, 7. Presentation on Partnership for the Bay’s Future & Berkeley Initiatives, 8. Policies to Prevent Displacement and Gentrification of Berkeley Residents of Color and African Americans. 

 

Independent Redistricting Commission, 6 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/redistricting/ 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81155234355 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 811 5523 4355 

AGENDA: 1. Selection of five At-Large Commissioners and alternates 

 

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts, 4:30 - 6:30 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Commissions/Commissions__Sugar-Sweetened_Beverage_Product_Panel_of_Experts.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84962084828?pwd=U2VLYjJEK1VTUFc3NlMxZ0Q1QzBMQT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 849 6208 4828 Passcode: 462984 

AGENDA: 6. Procurement Resolution not to sell, provide or distribute Sugar Sweetened Beverages in performance of City Contract or Grant. 

 

Thursday, January 21, 2021 

City Council Land Use, Housing & Economic Development Committee, 10:30 am 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/Home/Policy_Committee__Land_Use,_Housing___Economic_Development.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89171032744 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 891 7103 2744 

AGENDA: 3. a&b Amending Source of Income Discrimination Ordinance to Establish Admin Enforcement Procedure, 4. Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act Ordinance, 5. Amendment BMC 23C.22 Short Term Referrals to clarify ordinance, host responsibilities, tenant protections and remedies for violating the ordinance. 

 

Community for a Cultural Civic Center (CCCC), 12 noon and 5 pm 

A website is in process. Email Johncaner@gmail.com to receive meeting announcements and agendas or join BerkeleyCCCC@googlegroups.com to receive meeting notices and documents. 

12 noon AGENDA: Single item agenda - Report on Water Intrusion at Veterans Building and Maudelle Shirek Building (old city hall) 

5 pm AGENDA: to be announced, later meeting to facilitate BHS students joining planning process. 

 

Berkeley City Council, 6 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83612924326 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 836 1292 4326 

AGENDA: 1. Appeal LPC decision to deny 1915 Berryman designation as Landmark or Structure of Merit, 2. Appeal of ZAB approval of 0 (2435) San Pablo 42 Group Living Accommodation with 42 rooms approximately 200 sq ft for single occupancy.  

 

Pier/Ferry Planning Study – Community Meeting #1, 6:30 – 8:30 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Parks_Rec_Waterfront/Home/PRW_Capital_Improvments_Program_(CIP).aspx 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/93212728437 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 932 1272 8437 

 

Design Review Committee, 7 pm 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/designreview/ 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/96775827171 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 967 7582 7171 

1. 3031 Adeline – Preliminary design – demolish existing 1-story commercial structure and construct 5-story mixed use 42 residential unit, 18 vehicle spaces, 54 bicycle spaces
2. 800 Dwight – Preliminary design – 97,274 sq ft 3-story 80 ft high production facility with partial 4^th floor for mechanical systems on Bayer Campus along 4^th Street north of Carleton

 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission / Open Government Commission,  

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/FCPC/ 

Videoconference: same for both the 6 pm and 7 pm meetings https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83031834935?pwd=MGl6T0VMZ0k4V3dGZUcvYy9WRUhoUT09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 830 3183 4935 

Special Meeting Fair Campaign Practices Commission 6 pm 

AGENDA: 4. BMC 2.12.335 consideration of pending enforcement matters: 1) Rent Board candidates Bahman Ahmadi, Dan McDunn, Soulmaz Panahi, Wendy Saenz Hood Neufield, Pawel Moldenhawer, 2) Re-elect Mayor Jesse Arreguin 2020, 3) Rent Stabilization Board candidates Leah Simon-Weisberg, Mari Mendonca, Any Kelley, Dominique Walker, Xavier Johnson. 

 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission / Open Government Commission Regular Meeting, 7 pm 

AGENDA: FCPC 6. Complaint violation of BERA by candidates Bahman Ahmadi, Dan McDunn, Soulmaz Panahi, Wendy Saenz Hood Neufield, Pawel Moldenhawer, 7. Complaint alleging violation of BERA by Wayne Hsiung, 8. Referrals re outstanding campaign Committee amendments investigation Maria Poblet and Berkeley Community for Police Oversight, 9. Referrals from City Clerk re Public Finance Program Andrew for Berkeley Council, Wayne Hsiung for Mayor, OGC 11. Referral from Office of City Clerk re failure by multiple City lobbyists to file quarterly reports; possible creation of rules, procedure and regulation to guide Lobbyist Registration Act enforcement process, 12. Complaint filed by Olga Schwartz alleging violations to ZAB proceedings 

 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, 7 pm, 

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/rent/ 

Videoconference: https://zoom.us/j/97892225390?pwd=aCtINGNNQmFOS1JRd25vbVEzYVFvZz09 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 978 9222 5390 

AGENDA: 5. Presentation on Housing Legislation, Recommendation to endorse AB 15 Tenant Stabilization Act & AB 16 Tenant, Small Landlord and Affordable Housing Provider Stabilization Act. 

 

Friday, January 22, 2021 & Saturday, January 23, 2021 & Sunday, January 24, 2021 

No City meetings or events found 

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City Council January 26, 6 pm Regular Meeting available for comment, 

email council@cityofberkeley.info 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Agenda_Index.aspx 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87354849181 

Teleconference: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-877-853-5257 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 873 5484 9181 

CONSENT: 1. Contract add $49,000 total $97,850 thru 1-31-2022 for Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Innovation (INN) Planning and “Help@Hand” Technology Suite Project Coordination Services with Resource, Development Associates for Planning and Project Coordination Services, 2. Contract $150,000 4/1/2021 – 6/3-/2023 with Easy Does It for Wheelchair services for Seniors and Disabled, 3. Accept Surveillance Technology Report for Automatic License Plate Readers, GPS Trackers, Body Worn Cameras and Street Level Imagery Project, 4. Contract $3,477,475 with Sposeto Engineering for Central Berkeley Transportation & Infrastructure Improvements Project, 5. Contract $2,074,469 (includes 10% contingency $188,588) Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation, 6. Contract $979,349 2/1/2021 – 3/31/2024 with Toole Design for Planning, Design and Engineering of Southside Complete Streets Project, 7. Resolution 2^nd addendum to Berkeley Strategic Transportation Plan (application for funding grant from Alameda Co FY 2022-2026), 8. a&b, People’s First Sanctuary Encampment, 9. Confirm Community Appointments to Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, 10. Budget Referral to reinstate partial funding for Gun Buyback, 11. Short Term Refferal to City Manager, Disaster and Fire Safety Commission, Planning Commission to Amend ADU Zoning ordinance and Berkeley Fire Code, ACTION: 12. ZAB Appeal 1850 & 1862 Arch removed from agenda, 13. Berkeley 2020 Pedestrian Plan, 14. Public Works Commission Recommendation for the Five-Year Paving Plan, 15. Authorize goBerkeley Parking Program at all Parking Meters, 16. $8000 to Support Community Refrigerators for homeless, 17. Declare Juneteenth as City Holiday, INFORMATION REPORTS: 19. Phase 3 to Underground Utility Wires, 

 

Public Hearings Scheduled – Land Use Appeals 

0 (2435) San Pablo (group living) ZAB - 1/21/2021 

1915 Berryman (Payson House) LPC – 1/21/2021 

1850 Arch (add bedrooms) ZAB – 1/26/2021 (removed from agenda) 

1862 Arch (add bedrooms) ZAB – 1/26/2021 (removed from agenda) 

Notice of Decision (NOD) and Use Permits with End of Appeal Period 

None listed 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications_in_Appeal_Period.aspx 

 

LINK to Current Zoning Applications https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Division/Current_Zoning_Applications.aspx 

___________________ 

 

WORKSESSIONS 

Feb 16 - BMASP/Berkeley Pier-WETA Ferry, Systems Realignment 

March 16 – Capital Improvement Plan (Parks & Public Works), Digital Strategic Plan/FUND$ Replacement Website Update, Update Zero Waste Priorities 

May 18 – date open for scheduling 

 

Unscheduled Workshops/Presentations 

Cannabis Health Considerations 

Berkeley Police Department Hiring Practices (referred by Public Safety Committee) 

Ballot Measure Implementation Planning 

Pedestrian Master Plan 

 

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This Summary of City of Berkeley meetings is the available published public meetings that could be found and they are important. If anyone would like to share meeting schedules including community meetings to be included in the weekly summary so we can be better-informed citizenry, please forward the notices to sustainableberkeleycoalition@gmail.com before Friday noon of the preceding week. 

 

To Check For Regional Meetings with Berkeley Council Appointees go to 

https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/City_Council__Committee_and_Regional_Body_Appointees.aspx 

 

To check for Berkeley Unified School District Board Meetings go to 

https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schoolboard/board-meeting-information/ 

 

_____________________ 

 

This meeting list is also posted on the Sustainable Berkeley Coalition website. 

http://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html and in the Berkeley Daily Planet under activist’s calendar http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com 

 

If you wish to stop receiving the Weekly Summary of City Meetings please forward the weekly summary you received to kellyhammargren@gmail.com,