On the evening of Feburary 6, Berkeleyside tweeted a photo of Berkeley Councilmember Lori Droste and her son at the Berkeley School Board meeting. The tweet read: -more-

The last time you had water to drink, were you able to get it directly from your tap? If you answered yes, you are one of the lucky Californians that have easy access to safe and affordable drinking water. Many communities throughout the state do not have share this privilege. -more-

We all know the drill. We go to City Council session with specific issues, and sit and wait. When the mayor calls our agenda item, we line up in the aisle for a chance to speak. Its called “public comment.” Fortunately, it is not called “public participation,” nor “democracy in action,” because that would not be truthful. It is more like people lining up to buy tickets at a multiplex movie theater, a structure designed to admit (to a domain) rather than include in a process. Ideas that should play in a multi-dimensional space of dialogue find themselves relegated to a disorganized linearity (aka "commenting"). Our contributions become like cartoon balloons, each with its own monologue firmly encircled. -more-

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was swept to power five years ago he promised to create millions of jobs to lift India out of poverty. -more-

Just a few weeks ago, when the new year was still fresh and dewy, I woke up to the horrid realization that the 2020 presidential election season was already up and running. Twenty-two long miserable months to go. -more-

If you just arrived in the United States and wanted to understand the difference between the Republican and Democratic vision for America, a good place to start would have been Donald Trump's State of the Union address followed by Stacey Abrams' Democratic rejoinder.

Donald Trump is a 72-year-old privileged New York white man who made a fortune in real-estate and reality television. His near-record-length SOTU address -- 82 minutes -- was framed in military images: Trump noted that June 6th marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day when the allies invaded the European mainland. He said, "Now, we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure." He continued with the most controversial remarks in his speech, "An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous, partisan investigations. If there is going to be peace in legislation, there cannot be war and investigation." -more-

Social expectations aren't intrinsically good or bad, despite what many people might think. Social expectations are simply the things that people currently expect of others. For example: in the past, African American people in the U.S. were expected to be obedient and subservient. And in Germany under the Nazi's, it was the social norm for children to report their parents, if the parents were disloyal. These were two of the social norms in the past. -more-

Democracy v. Gopocrisy

Enemy of Democracy Mitch McConnell says a bill that would make Election Day a federal holiday is a nothing more than a "power grab" on the part of devious Democrats. I guess that means Mitch doesn't think elections should be accessible to the working class.

Bernie Sanders, for one, thinks it's a good idea. If you agree, you can check out Bernie's website and read his "Democracy Day" bill.

Reich On! -more-

It is difficult to reconcile our outrage over Russia’s interference in our elections with our present interference in Venezuela’s affairs. I’m sure everyone would agree that Venezuelans deserve a better government. But let’s face it, the late Hugo Chávez's vision of a modern day "Bolivarian revolution” — a Latin American political block with a socialist bent as an alternative to U.S. hegemony. — has descended into repression and economic decline. -more-

Oakland Symphony presented “An Evening with Emanuel Ax” on Friday, February 8 at the Paramount Theatre. Renowned pianist Emanuel Ax was certainly the centerpiece of this concert, but this might have just as suitably been dubbed “An Evening with Beethoven,” for all five works on the program were by Ludwig von Beethoven. We heard, in the following order, the Egmont Overture, Op. 84, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15, the Coriolanus Overture, Op. 62, the Prisoners’ Chorus from Act I of Fidelio, and the Choral Fantasy in C Major, Op. 80. -more-

Sunday, February 10, 2019 -more-