The earliest descriptions of pepper spray and tasers' utility as a useful police tool implied, erroneously, that they would safely and immediately render suspects docile and compliant. When subsequent studies proved that both pepper spray and tasers not only did not produce uniform effects on people, but were lethal for an unidentifiable ratio of the public, the search for a compliance tool by weapons manufacturers interested in the lucrative police market went on.

Tuesday, July 25th, 2017, around 3:00 pm in the afternoon, a group of us working at Expressions Art Gallery suddenly heard very loud screaming. We walked outside to the north east corner of Ashby and Shattuck near the bank and saw several police officers surrounding and forcing a blond, white man face down on the sidewalk. As he screamed, already handcuffed, the officers bound him in some kind of leg restraints, and then forced him into a kind of white hood which they put over his head. He kept screaming while they completely bound him in restraints in full view of the public, which took a lot of struggle and time. He kept asking for help.

We don't know what took place before the screaming. But it had been a very peaceful, sunny afternoon at the Gallery and on the part of Ashby where we were working. We checked with the bank on the corner after at least four police cars and five or six police officers took the man away, and there had been no disturbance there. -more-

Join Citizens for East Shore Parks to demonstrate where the “new” shoreline will be

Saturday, July 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP), a non-profit organization, presents a sea-level rise outdoor display and speakers from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 29 at the entrance to McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, University Ave. and Frontage Rd. (west of I80), Berkeley. This is across from the Seabreeze Market. Maps, showing the submerged Berkeley streets, landmarks, and regions, will be on hand. Then, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. we will hold blue banners to show where our new shoreline will be with a two-meter sea rise, projected by scientists to take place by the year 2100 or sooner. CESP invites the public to join in holding light blue fabric sea rise panels along the 2-meter mark. The panels, each 10 feet in length by 5 feet high, will form a continuous visual banner, some 300 feet long, showing how the shoreline will move inland, submerging whole neighborhoods, thousands of acres of habitat, miles of freeway, the Oakland airport, and the land around the Oakland Coliseum by the year 2100 or sooner. Volunteers will hold the two ends of each fabric panel. -more-

A shooting early this morning at the Berkeley Marina sent a person to a hospital with gunshot wounds, a police lieutenant said. -more-

Ruth was born in Vienna, Austria, on August 22, 1924. Her family was part of the Viennese Jewish community, an educated, cultured, politically active community that produced some of the great Jewish intellectual and political figures of the 19th and early 20th century, and was also a center for the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish state in Israel.

Ruth’s father, Rudolf, was a lawyer who loved education and, without much family support, was able to pursue university and a law degree. Rudolf was raised speaking German, but as an adult he began to study Yiddish. Ruth grew up hearing her parents speaking both German and Yiddish in the home, and she too became fluent in both languages. There were often guests and visitors associated with Zionist politics and the Yiddish Theater who he represented in his law practice staying at Ruth’s home. She went with her father to political rallies, perhaps contributing to her lifelong interest in political causes and political activism. -more-

‘To Defend Berkeley’s Values Against a Hostile Administration Is Surreal’ -more-

The splintering of the powerful Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) into warring camps—with Qatar, supported by Turkey and Iran, on one side, and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), supported by Egypt, on the other—has less to do with disagreements over foreign policy and religion than with internal political and economic developments in the Middle East. The ostensible rationale the GCC gave on June 4 for breaking relations with Qatar and placing the tiny country under a blockade is that Doha is aiding “terrorist’ organizations. The real reasons are considerably more complex, particularly among the major players. -more-

The helplessness of homelessness, as viewed from Oakland, applies to Berkeley too. -more-

In March of 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked: "Your slogan is 'Make America Great Again,' When was America actually great?" Trump responded that America was last great in the late forties and the fifties. Sorry Donald; I remember that period and it wasn't great.Trump explained that after World War II: "We were not pushed around, we were respected by everybody... we were pretty much doing what we had to do." Most Trump voters agree with this sentiment , but their response is influenced by when they were born -- for example, Trump supporters born in the sixties think the eighties were great. -more-

A rationale of some who become noncompliant with mental health treatment is the idea that we could fix our mental illness with "enlightenment." That would be a Buddhist type of enlightenment, or, for some, it might be prayer of a Christian type—or, it might be piousness of some other religious practice. -more-

Dear Trumpsters:

Even after observing Trump's hate-filled, bullying campaign for president, I can understand, but not excuse, why you voted for him.

Perhaps, you thought Trump would bring change for the common folk or you just couldn't vote for a woman who had so much perceived baggage. Of course, you totally disregarded Trump's obvious baggage.

Since taking office, Trump has done nothing for the average working man and woman. Instead, he has championed big business and the wealthy. In sum, Trump's presidency to date is grounded in ignorance, irrationality, and immorality.

You Trumpsters are in deep self-denial that is downright shameful. I implore you to wake up and face reality. You really don't want the America envisioned by Trump. -more-

Summer's Shakespeare time, hereabouts, and excellent productions of two of his best-known plays have just opened--his fantastic comedy 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' staged for free at the old Civil Works administration (CWA) amphitheater in John Hinkel Park, and the most iconic Shakespearean tragedy of all, 'Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,' at the intimate Phoenix Theatre in the Native Sons Building near Union Square in San Francisco. -more-

On Saturday, July 22, West Edge Opera presented an evening of music by Mozart and his contemporaries. This concert was held at Dashe Cellars, an Oakland winery. The performers in this concert will be heard again in West Edge Opera’s forthcoming season, which will include L’Arbole di Diana/The Chastity Tree by Vicente Martin y Soler, Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen. -more-

I don’t know if it was this year’s rainy winter, but something gave us a bumper crop of Merola singers for 2017, as seen – and heard – in a program of three one-act operas presented July 20 & 22 at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. On tap were La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736), Savitri by Gustav Holst (1874-1934), and The Bear by William Walton (1902-1983). All three operas were conducted by Christopher Ocasek and directed by Peter Kazaras, with set designs by Donald Eastman. -more-

Robert Estes, born in Oakland, was for years someone you'd meet at theater productions and events all around the Bay, as a spectator or helping out behind the scenes. I first ran into him at Novato Theatre Company over a decade ago, when he offered me a ride back to Berkeley, saving me an early exit before curtain to catch the last bus to the cross-Bay transfer.

But it wasn't till the approach of his sixth decade, in 2010, that Estes directed his first full-length play, after years of assisting for a wide range of productions & directing staged readings, with 'The Curse of the Starving Class' for Actors Ensemble of Berkeley at Live Oak Theater. (Robert reminded me that I wrote about that show for the Planet; I remember Holly Bradford's impressive performance well ... ) A few years and about a half dozen plays as director later, Estes founded Anton's Well Theater Company, named after one of the great Chekhov's many social projects, water wells and libraries among them.

"Chekhov believed every person should leave something behind. Younger people, with their own concerns and sense of time, usually are the ones to set up new theater companies. I'm 57 years old. I want to bring some fresh water to theater. Like in baseball, which goes from the rookie leagues up to the majors, there's a lot of room between, say, in the East Bay, community theater and Berkeley Rep. By starting a company that's in between layers, I can develop as a director, help others develop, keep people from having to go somewhere else to make theater, help fill the gap. we've premiered several plays new to the Bay Area. [including Sam Shepard's two-hander, 'Ages of the Moon'--it was a Sam Shepard play that was the first professional stage production Estes ever saw, which his father took him to.] And a small company can sometimes put on a better show than the major companies do."

Right now, Estes has a show running through August 6 at the Temescal Arts Center, the Bay Area premiere of another two-hander--though one with a difference--Philip Ridley's 'Tender Napalm.' And by year's end, with another show, title to be announced, at the Berkeley City Club, Anton's Well will celebrate its third anniversary with its seventh production. -more-

Lear. What! art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yon simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?

Glouscester: Ay, sir.

Lear. And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority; a dog’s obey’d in office.

---

I saw a replay of women in soul
Sing at the Obama Whitehouse

Front row Barack and Michele

What love I feel
How much beauty they brought us
What beauty they brought to lead us
Such dignity
Such warmth
As Aretha belts it out, so much
Respect

Michele in her seat gets down and dirty with
Rhythm
Half time clapping
Shining lipstick on such a kind face

I am grateful they brought the strut to the
Whitehouse
Brought the rhythm and the culture in
Radiating dignity and love

I loved my country then
A leader radiating dignity
Calm
peace
love
Dignity again and again
Always

Now, one vote later,
Dogs in Office

Face of pouty rage
Contempt
Resentment
Destruction
Dignity melted like chocolate in the sun
Replaced by infantalism
Schoolboy rage
Meanness

Was Dignity and love so painful that
Contempt and hate were needed?

Dogs in Office
Is all lost?







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