There was a report on evening news, and an article in today’s Chronicle (1/27/2018, C2) about how ICE can use the data collected by license-plate readers to track down immigrants they want to arrest. When Berkeley bought into the license-plate reader technology, it did so with the assurance that the data collected by those readers would not be available to the federal government. But according to these reports, it is the vendor of the technology that also absorbs the data of these readers into their own database. And they will sell it to the government, or to specific agencies.

I do not know the name of the technology vendor that Berkeley purchased its l-p readers from, but the company mentioned in these reports was Vigilant Solutions.

If the BPD is sharing its data collections with the technology vendor, then its promises not to share its data with the federal government is seriously compromised, to the point of being in violation of all the principles of sanctuary that we support. This needs to be investigated, and steps taken. -more-

"You know how to keep a wage slave? Scare the piss out of them." - Mike Zint

United Nations representative Leilani Farha and a recording crew dropped by Berkeley's Old City Hall on Sunday, January 21st, 2018. But they didn't want to talk to Berkeley officials or politicians. They wanted to talk to the people living in tents on the front lawn.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha is including housing conditions in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley for an international human rights report documenting the crisis of people living in poverty on the streets. The UN crew sat in the midday chill on the Old City Hall steps surrounded by tent dwellers, local advocates, and concerned community members to hear their stories.

First They Came for the Homeless is the group nearest Old City Hall steps, the group the City of Berkeley has chased repeatedly from location to location in sweeps well-documented with video, news stories, and photographs. Berkeley has easily a dozen tent groups or more, but this group is committed to documenting and confronting Berkeley's cruel and unconstitutional responses to the human necessities of sleep, warmth, food, and shelter. -more-

Brace yourselves, the tweeter-in-chief is off to be dined and wined by the world’s economic titans in Davos, Switzerland. The Swiss are certain to give him a “warm welcome”. The weather Gods are not happy, dumping 6 feet of snow in 6 days. Trump is expected to address the Forum in a speech prepared by one his intellectual superiors. The remainder of the time he is expected to wallow in comfort at US taxpayer’s expense. -more-

We are sad to report the death of The Planet’s much appreciated SENIOR POWER columnist, Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, in the first week of January. -more-

On January 19th the federal government shut down. Two days later, Democratic leaders blinked and called off the shutdown. Even though Dems didn't get what they wanted, there were important lessons learned.

The brief shutdown accomplished two things. First, Democrats finally secured an extension to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that benefits 9 million children in low-income families. Second, the Senate effort to resolve the shutdown was led by a bipartisan group of 24 Senators; this suggests that, when the Senate votes on immigration, there may be enough moderate Republicans to ensure that the resulting bill is reasonable.

Nonetheless, on January 22nd Senate Democrats didn't get what they wanted and lost the first major DACA battle. There are five lessons to be earned from this experience. -more-

On January 26, 2018, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump threatened to withhold aid money from the Palestinians until they return to the peace talks with Israel. The U.S. has contributed over $6 billion in economic and security aid to the Palestinians since the mid-1990s, and around $500 million annually since 2008, mostly for development projects. Trump had already moved to withhold some -- $65 million of $125 million -- of scheduled aid to the UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees.

This threat to withhold money comes on the heels of Trump's December 6, 2017, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The process began in 1995, with the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which required the U.S. to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by a set deadline, but permitted the move to be put off for six months at a time as long as the President “determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.” Trump refused to put off the move for another six months. -more-

Although some mental health practitioners may ascribe to the belief that the brain of a mentally ill person is impaired and has useless output, you should not absorb this projection. Many persons with psychiatric disabilities have wonderful brains that can do wonderful things. The fact of being medicated, as many of us are, should not make us give up on our brains. -more-

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. In celebration of the 262^nd anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the New Century Chamber Orchestra offered to Bay Area audiences a series of concerts featuring Mozart’s music. I attended the opening concert of this series on Thursday evening, January 25, at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church. Opening the program was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488, featuring German pianist Sebastian Knauer as soloist. The orchestra was led by British violinist Daniel Hope, who serves as the group’s Artistic Partner for the 2017-18 season. -more-

Coming Week:

Two key meetings are City Council Tuesday Evening – surveillance technology and Landmarks Preservation Commission Thursday – Campanile Way, landmark hearing.



Comment Deadline Jan 30, Community Choice Energy under attack again, fax (best) or email, details in link https://350bayarea.org/event/stand-up-for-cce-by-jan-30th



Indivisible Berkeley list of actions you can do from home, https://www.indivisibleberkeley.org/actions -more-