Our gigantic staff of 1+1 is taking a bit of time off. The new issue will appear sooner or later.

Trumpeter/composer/arranger Erik Jekabson, who's arranged for the San Francisco Symphony and accompanied Illinois Jacquet on the road, will lead his eight piece chamber String-tet, including violinist Mads Tolling, saxophonist Michael Zilber and guest vocalist Kalil Wilson, in an exploration of the music of Duke Ellington "from new angles," Friday May 17th at 8 at the Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar (between Spruce & Arch). Tickets: $25 general, $15 seniors & students, $10 Club members. (510) 845-1350; https://bhcweb.wixsite.com/hillsideclub 

The String-tet also includes Charith Premawardhana, viola; Dan Neville, vibes; Adam Schulman, piano; Shimpei Ogawa, bass & Dylan Vado, drums. 

Erik Jekabson's Electric Squeezebox Orchestra plays every Sunday at the California Jazz Conservatory on Addison off Shattuck, downtown Berkeley.

Eminent economic geographers say that deregulation and upzoning will make gentrification in cities like SF much worse.

Pretty much everybody who’s paying attention to the housing crisis in San Francisco – except, apparently, the Chronicle – is talking about the new study by eminent economic geographers Andrés Rodríguez-Pose and Michael Storper that argues against looser zoning rules as a solution to the housing crisis.

Even Richard Florida, who used to love the idea of cities attracting the young “creative class” (before he discovered gentrification) says the study is important. It’s the latest in a series of studies that challenge the notion that allowing the private market to build more housing will bring down prices. 

I want to point out that building housing near BART cannot reduce Berkeley's carbon footprint... all it can do is limit how much it increases as our population grows. 

You may already know that UC Berkeley is in the planning stage for a large new development at Hearst Avenue and La Loma Avenue, in the northeast corner of campus. The Campus is also attempting to justify its current enrollment of 42,519 full-time students, which is 44% over the baseline 1998 campus enrollment -- far over the anticipated 13% increase stipulated in the University's 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). 

The UC Capital Projects office has released the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) for this project. This final report includes the University's responses to the hundreds of individuals in the community and the Berkeley City government who submitted comments about the proposal. 

For readers who may not have time to read the complete environmental impact report, here is the abridged version (with some unnecessary content and technical data omitted): 

------------------------------------------- 

UC Regents  

Upper Hearst Project Final SEIR 

Page 1 of 1 

------------------------------------------- 

FINAL SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT  

Upper Hearst Development for the Goldman School of Public Policy 

Hearst Avenue and La Loma Avenue, Berkeley, CA 

Section 1.0 Environmental Impacts and Mitigations 

Careful examination has led the University to set a new standard for evaluating the environmental impacts resulting from the unprecedented campus population growth and the major construction projects planned for Upper Hearst: 

There are no environmental impacts because there is no longer an environment. We own everything. 

Section 2.0 Campus Enrollment 

The University acknowledges that it went far over its original campus population projections. Our solution is to designate the wildly-inflated new enrollment figure as the revised "baseline" for campus enrollment: 42,519 full-time students. This will allow us to increase our enrollment to 45,000 students -- or even 50,000 students -- in the near future without any additional environmental review.  

The University wants the public to understand that this increase came as a big surprise to us because we have no discretion or control over population growth. This is simply a biological fact of life according to researchers in our Cell & Developmental Biology Department. Further questions about this issue should be directed to this Department. 

Section 3.0 Responses to Questions and Comments from the Public 

The answer to all questions and comments is: NO. 

Section 4.0 A Message from the Regents 

The Regents of the University of California wish to express their gratitude to City officials and community members in Berkeley for their invaluable participation in this broad and inclusive effort to ensure that all stakeholders' views are heard and incorporated into the final project design.  

We pledge to continue to work closely with the City and its residents to enhance the trust and goodwill that form the basis of our successful cooperation. We will all be able to take great pride in the final result of this process: the creation of high-quality new facilities that will attract even greater numbers of students to our ever-growing campus.  

Because housing will remain scarce for the foreseeable future, the University would appreciate it if as many current Berkeley residents as possible would move out of their homes and apartments so that their living spaces can be turned over this fall to our new incoming students.  

Also, before you depart, please make sure that your residence is fully stocked with food and household supplies, and that you have provided a reliable means of transportation. Remember that most of our new students will be coming here from out of state, so they will be unable to bring these things with them. We should all strive to be good hosts, as these new students are truly honored guests in our community.  

Plus, because each out-of-state student pays much higher tuition and fees, each one represents more money for the University to address our severe structural debt problems resulting from the ill-advised reconstruction of Memorial Stadium and the athletic training center right on top of the Hayward Fault. What were we thinking? 

Taking into account the debt servicing for these projects, the total expenditures could approach more than $1,000,000,000 (that is, $1 billion). Gosh! Perhaps we should declare 50,000 as the new enrollment baseline and expand upwards from there. What noticeable difference could 30,000 or 40,000 additional new students make? 

*** 

Note: The article above is meant to be humorous, but the issue is serious. 

There is still time to submit comments to the UC Regents about the proposed Upper Hearst construction projects and the proposed increase in campus baseline population. However, the meeting where the Regents will consider these items will take place this week from May 14 - 16, so you need to do this very soon. 

How to submit remarks by email: 

1) The email address to submit these comments is: regentsoffice@ucop.edu.  

2) Put this phrase in your subject line: Upper Hearst Project, UC Berkeley 

3) Even a brief note expressing your opinion is fine. 

4) If you want to make sure that your comments will be forwarded to the Regents before the meeting begins, you must submit them before 2 PM on Monday, May 13. 

5) If you want to make sure that your comments will be part of the official record, you should submit them as soon as possible and not after 9 AM on Thursday, May 16. 

How to make oral comments during the Regents meeting: 

There will be two public comment periods: 

a) Wednesday, May 15, beginning at 8:30 AM and  

b) Thursday, May 16, beginning at approximately 9 AM or 10 AM (depending on when the Regents' closed session ends). 

If you plan to speak, you should call Anne Shaw at (510) 987-9302 and sign up in advance. There are already a number of people on the speaker's list, so do this as soon as possible. Anne Shaw is the Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Regents. 

For further information about written or oral comments, here is a link to the Regents' website: 

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/public-comment.html 

I happened to be innocently watching television news. I was very unsettled when the news blithely reported that coming now, police will have access to your living room. You know the great home security cameras installed by Xfinity and others, marketed to keep us safe from all the boogeymen? Police are hooking up to that. The television news reported as a good thing, that everybody will be safe from all of the threats of burglars and so on. But I ask you, who is going to keep us safe from the abuses of the police departments? This new thing is right out of George Orwell's 1984, and I thought naively that it would never happen. It has begun. For now, this is "voluntary." Yet, we are only a couple of stepstones away from the ominous television that sees and hears everything we do. Will they have access to our bedrooms and bathrooms? Will they someday have access to all of our thoughts? No doubt, in the not too distant future, this new surveillance will become mandated by law, but "only to keep us safe." After all, we must be protected from all the boogeymen! 

My fellow North Berkeley Neighborhood Alliance neighbors have raised many important issues about the development of the North Berkeley BART station. I agree with many of their observations about the one-size-fits-all plans of BART for our unique, totally residential BART station neighborhood. 

However, in the interest of equity and spreading the benefits of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), I’d like to view the broader context and suggest a project that would bring the benefits of development to another area of Berkeley. This idea came to me when I noticed that there’s a seven-story development slated for the Goodyear Tire store on Martin Luther King near University. I realized people in Berkeley are going to stop using their cars and will be taking bicycles and Uber and Lyft from the Berkeley Hills to the North Berkeley BART so no need for parking there and no need for tire stores, gas stations or auto repair in Berkeley. The folks in the gig economy can get their autos repaired wherever they come from. 

Taking this further I thought of the transportation corridor along Highway 13 and the unnecessary gas station and auto repair shop across the street from each other and close to the Claremont Hotel. Why not spread the benefits of TOD to that neighborhood? I’m certain UC Regent and mega real estate mogul Richard C. Blum and his wife, Senator Dianne Feinstein, would not mind some development near their hotel. Just the kind of development that would have been enabled if Blum’s real estate company had sold the Downtown Berkeley Post Office. We all know high rise development brings “vibrancy” to any neighborhood. 

Now envision this. Two glitzy towers of at least ten stories, but perhaps up to 18, would not dwarf the Claremont. These LEED certified, market rate apartments would have wonderful views of the Bay and the tennis matches at the Berkeley Tennis Club. Of course, we’ll throw in a few low-income and affordable apartments on the lower floors, with a separate entrance, to sweeten the deal. 

Between the two towers would be hung a permanent sign reading “Welcome to the City of Berkeley and Ohlone Territory.” After all, what could be more fitting? I mean saving open, green space like the Shellmound and People’s Park is so ground level, so non-residential. A high rise sign would signify Berkeley is going up and up and up. 

Berkeley: Consider the Homeless! (CTH), an organization devoted to alleviating the suffering of Berkeley’s homeless - our brothers and sisters who are living and sleeping on the streets of our fair city - will be sponsoring a candlelight march on Tuesday evening, May 14^th, from Berkeley’s City Council Meeting at 1231 Addison, beginning at 7:30 PM, to New City Hall at 2180 Milvia. 

CtTH is aware of at least eight of our unhoused neighbors who have died in the last twelve months, but you would never know these deaths occur because the County Coroner keeps no tally, and the press is most often silent. 

After the march an overnight vigil will be held on the steps of New City Hall, 2180 Milvia, dedicated to all of these individuals, followed by a memorial ceremony with speakers at 12:00 Noon on May 15^th at the same location. 

Barbara Brust, one of CTH’s volunteers and its founder and director, said: 

"I saw NOTHING in the papers about three of the people I’ve known on the streets who died recently, and am sadly reminded that officially, there is NO count of how many un-housed die every year. None of these have had any street vigil nor memorial! Consider The Homeless! intends to correct this oversight.” 

https://www.facebook.com/ConsiderTheHomeless

A few days ago I heard of Eric Sibbald’s death… He was one of the resident’s of the old 9^th St. Shelter, and one that we interviewed while trying to save it. You can watch it on FB at https://www.facebook.com/ConsiderTheHomeless/videos/453801608448409/ 

Eric was lucky enough to get one of the few spaces that were available for the 9^th St. Shelter’s residents. The reduced size was only capable of sheltering one-half of what they were able to do on 9^th St. Last week, an ambulance was called to the new Vet Bldg Shelter, as Eric was having another heart attack. Eric died at the hospital. 

Sadly, he was one of three residents I had met while on this campaign to Save The Shelter that have died since shelter moved to ½ capacity. 

Last month I was informed that Frank Bomba died. I did not interview Frank but knew him as one of the un-housed workers at the shelter. When 9^th St. Shelter closed, he lost the job there, and ended up back on the streets battling his personal demons. Sometime, in April of 2019, Frank lost that battle and died of an overdose. 

Another guest at the old 9^th St. Shelter that I had the opportunity to meet and interview was Mary Evans and her husband , David. Both were sick, and in need of regular care. At the time, Mary was doing a series of kemo trearments and was worried about what they would do after the shelter closed. Both Mary and her husband were also lucky enough to get space to remain with the Dorothy Say House Shelter when it moved to the Vet Bldg. I am not sure of the circumstances of Mary’s death, I only know she crossed over in February 2019. 

I saw NOTHING in the papers about these three friends and am sadly reminded that officially, there is NO count of how many un-housed die every year.

I spoke with our Board and was granted permission to have a MEMORIAL/VIGIL for all I can find that have died in Berkeley in the last 12 months. I already know of FIVE more. Many CTH Volunteers will remember KK… died June 2018, and Michelle Larson, died October 2018. Some may remember hearing about Lisa Blowers, found dead on Telegraph Ave with her wheelchair and her dog back in May 2018, about a week after her encampment was raided…. About a month later, her partner RICHARD died. I have also heard that within the last month a woman was found dead in her tent, her name was MELINDA, I am gathering more details on her.

NONE OF THESE HAVE HAD ANY STREET VIGIL nor MEMORIAL!
Consider The Homeless! will correct this oversight.

CANDLELIGHT MARCH from City Council meeting Tuesday, May 14^th to Civic Center (time TBA)
VIGIL Civic Center steps until MEMORIAL Wednesday, May 15^th at NOON with speakers and the press. 

The Planet has been contacted by the family of the King Middle School student whose experience with bullying precipitated an uproar yesterday on the school site. Before it was over, it brought numerous Berkeley police with drawn guns to a locked down campus, responding to a report that a suspect with a gun had been sighted. This turned out not to be true, according to a family member familiar with the situation (who asked that her name not be used because of fear of reprisals) who called the Planet on the family’s behalf this morning.

She told us that the child in question, an 11-year-old boy, had recently moved to this area. He is a small special needs student, with problems including seizures and tics which he can’t control. He has experienced several episodes of being beaten up by fellow students since he entered King, which have been reported to school administrators, but, as reported by his relative, “there were no consequences”. She says that these instances have been recorded on video.

By her account, yet another such incident was reported on Thursday, which prompted the boy’s mother, accompanied by two other family friends, to go to the school to see if he needed their help, since school administrators had not been able to stop the bullying. One of these friends, an African-American young man with dreadlocks, was the person reported—it’s not clear by whom—to be in possession of a gun, which turned out not to be true, despite reports in local media to the contrary.

Yesterday’s Berkeley Police Department press release, reprinted in the Planet, described “a report of a man armed with a handgun” and said that “the suspect… appears to be a parent or caregiver of a student.”

The Police Department release said that “ witnesses described the suspect as a 20- to 30-year-old black male, 5’7” tall, with a medium build and long “twisty” braids. He was reportedly wearing a white hooded top, and blue jeans.”

Our contact said that when the family friend who matched that description learned that he’d been accused of carrying a gun onto a school site, he voluntarily went to the Berkeley Police and told them what had actually happened. As a result, no charges of any kind have been filed about the incident.

It’s possible that the panicky response of students and administrators might have been caused by stereotypical views of a young Black man with dreads and a hoodie, ironic in that recent school shooters have overwhelmingly been White.

Family members of the 11-year-old bullying victim are still not satisfied with the school’s lack of success in ending the attacks.  

“We want to see some consequences for these kids,” our source said.  

She said that she was a 35-year Berkeley citizen, and another relative was a recently retired longtime BUSD employee, and that they’d encouraged the child’s immediate family to move here from another state because they hoped he’d get more help from the Berkeley schools.  

The Planet has not been able to contact school authorities for comment. 

Calls to Berkeley Police Officer Byron White, supposed to be BPD’s press contact, have not been returned. 

People's Park Anniversary Marked with a New Book

Berkeley-based Heyday Books has created a massive 50^th anniversary tribute to the people and events surrounding the creation of People's Park, and recalling its bloody and brutal seizure by armed police, the helicopter tear-gassing of Berkeley during the National Guard occupation, and the eventual nonviolent liberation and reclamation of the park.

Heyday Books will host a special book-release party from 7-9PM at the Art House Gallery and Cultural Center (2905 Shattuck) on Saturday, May 11. On Wednesday, May 15, Heyday will stage a Peoples Park "Teach-in" from 7-9PM at the David Brower Center (2150 Allston Way). Speakers will include the book's editor, Tom Dalzell, and a host of activists involved in the battle for People's Park including—Michael Delacourt, Judy Gumbo, Ruth Rosen, Donovan Rundle, Dove Sholom Scherr, Jane Scherr, Dan Siegel, and Nacio Jan Brown. The event will be moderated by Steve Wasserman. Mayor Jesse Arreguin will be a featured speaker. (Note: some community members critical of the mayor's policies toward the homeless have signaled plans to be outside protesting "possibly as early as 6.") The Brower Center event is free but reservations are required. Contact Emmerich Anklam at Heyday Books.

People's Park 50^th Anniversary Commemorations 

On Wednesday, May 15, the People's Park Committee invites the community to meet in front at Dwight and Telegraph in memory of Bloody Thursday, which took place May 15th 50 years ago. 

Berkeley Hosts Annual Peace Flag Event on May 15 

Members of the War Resisters' League, Courage to Resist, Vietnam Veterans for Peace and Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission will host a public commemoration to honor anti-war activists past and present. The yearly Conscientious Objectors' Day will feature a raising of the peace flag on Milvia near Allston, in front of City Hall. The celebration runs from11:30-12:30 and will feature singers Nancy Schimmel and Max Ventura leading a chorus of peace ballads including "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and the Phil Ochs' standard, "I Ain't Marching Anymore." Song sheets provided. 

The Aeroflot Syndrome 

Two horrific stories hit the news last week and they shared a chilling connection. First, an alarming United Nations report warned that 1 million species on planet Earth are on the brink of extinction because of human activity. The second was a report from Moscow detailing the horrifying crash of a Russian Aeroflot passenger jet that erupted in a flaming fireball as it careened down a runway. 

While the image of the damaged jet, half-consumed by flames was terrifying, there were other images that were even more nightmarish: scenes of passengers escaping down the evacuation slides—grasping their handbags and luggage. 

It's hard to accept but it's essential to grasp what this means: passengers in the front of the plane were more concerned about saving their possessions then they were about saving the lives of the people burning to death in the seats behind them. 

What does this say about our ability to respond to climate change and the mass-extinction of life on this planet? It says: We're doomed. 

While some humans are capable of exceptional acts of heroism—like the two young students who sacrificed their lives in an attempt to disarm campus gunmen—the majority appear to be more devoted to their material comforts and digital playthings than to any living thing in the world around them. 

Good-bye "Climate Change" 

Back in February, Andrew Kimbrell, an environmental lawyer and executive director of The International Center for Technology Assessment, posted a think piece called "Say Goodbye to Climate Change." Kimbrell argued that it was time to dispense with "the lame term 'climate change' (which was invented by a Republican PR operative)." In 2003, Kimbrell explained, GOP publicist Frank Luntz circulated a private memo proposing that growing public alarm over "global warming" could be side-tracked by substituting the phrase "climate change" to suggest "a more controllable and less emotional challenge." 

Now, Kimbrell argues, we need even more alarming and galvanizing terms to describe the potentially terminal threats facing the planet. Panic-inducing phrases like: "Nuclear Holocaust," "The Plague," "Acid Rain," and "Bioengineered Pandemics." Kimbrell suggests "Climate Chaos (or perhaps Climate Destabilization for those more academically inclined)." It appears that Kimbrell is not alone. 

Notes from Nader, McKibben and Hawkin 

On May 3, Ralph Nader picked up on Kimbrell's theme. In a short essay titled "An Open Letter to the Environmental Community," Nader argued: "It's time to change the words to meet the peril!" Nader's suggestions included: Climate Crisis, Climate Disruption, Climate Catastrophe, Climate Upheaval "or even 'Global Warming'." 

Environmental activist and author Bill McKibben already has adopted the graver term, "Climate Chaos," while author/activist Paul Hawken prefers the phrase "Climate Volatility." 

Kimbrell concluded his essay by inviting one and all to "join the Nomenclature Revolt and pick and use your favorite powerful term that appropriately depicts the dire crisis we face." Kimbrell wrapped up with a favored phrase created by anti-corporate crusader Richard Grossman who characterized our planetary peril as: “Toxic Furnace Syndrome.”  

In response, I emailed Kimbrell the following: 

Agreed: no more "climate change." (Dealing with the Bio-backlash of human misbehavior is not going to be as easy as changing clothes, changing cash, or changing TV channels.) It's hard to match "Toxic Furnace Syndrome," but here are some other options: Climate Collapse. Climate Calamity. Climageddon.
And this is more than just the climate. It's Planetary Extermination. Global Annihilation. Terracide. 

Time for a Change on Climate Change 

Climate change has emerged as a leading issue for Democrats in the 2020 election. Presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren, Jay Inslee, Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders all have produced programs to address the climate crisis. 

Because of the existential threat of global warming and extreme weather, citizens action groups are calling for a special presidential debate devoted exclusively to the issue of climate chaos. Toward this end, the Action Network has created a petition demanding that the Democratic National Committee host a formal "Climate Debate." 

So far, Elizabeth Warren appears to be the front-runner on the climate front, having declared that, if elected, on Day One she would sign an executive order halting all fossil fuel drilling on our public lands.  

Heroes of the House 

In a rare and welcome display of homegrown anti-imperialism, Congress has introduced a resolution (H.R.1004) to block Trump/Bolton/Pompeo from ordering US troops to invade South America. The "Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act" was introduced by Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1) and now has 71 co-sponsors. Proud to report that 17 of the sponsors are from California. They include Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna, Anna Eschoo, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, and Jackie Speier (who signed up on May 9). 

Democracy Activists Trapped inside Venezuelan Embassy 

In a recent dispatch from Washington's embattled Venezuelan Embassy, World BEYOND War founder David Swanson revealed another classic Trump policy hypocrisy. Not so long ago, Trump argued that the elected government of Venezuela needed to be overthrown "because it wouldn’t allow in humanitarian aid." Now, in an attempt to expel a community of peace activists (including members of Codepink, Popular Resistance, and the ANSWER Coalition) legally occupying the embassy at the invitation of the elected Venezuelan government, the US government has deployed the FBI, the Secret Service, and local police to facilitate a siege of the building, preventing food and medicine from reaching members of the self-declared Embassy Protection Collective. And now, the government has ordered that all water and electricity to the building be shut off. 

DC Police Abetting Pro-Coup Demonstrators 

Lawyers for the Collective have filed complains accusing police and security personnel of ignoring crimes committed by anti-Maduro demonstrators while targeting nonviolent protesters for arrest. The pro-coup crowd has assaulted the occupiers and their supporters with verbal insults, threats, physical attacks, eye-blinding strobe lights, and blasts of high-volume air-horns. 

A week ago, when a 70-year-old supporter attempted to deliver a supply of toothbrushes to the Collective, he was pushed to the ground and beaten unconscious while the crowd mocked him. 

Earlier this week, CODEPINK activist Ariel Gold was arrested for trying to toss vegetables to hungry activists in Embassy's upper-floor windows. Gold was arrested and charged with "throwing a missile at a building." 

The next day, Veterans for Peace president Gerry Condon was busted for trying to throw a cucumber to Popular Resistance activist Kevin Zeese, who was leaning out of a second-floor window. 

The Vietnam War vet was grabbed by police, roughed-up, thrown on the ground, punched, and left bleeding from a large wound on his head. One of his friends reported that Condon had been accused of throwing "a cucumber of mass destruction." Even more disturbing, while videos of Condon's arrest showed that he did not resist the officers. Nonetheless, he was charged with "assault" and "resisting arrest" before being rushed to a local hospital. 

From Kevin Zeese, inside the Embassy. (May 9: 5:41 AM): 

Our hope is the Venezuela embassy becomes a galvanizing moment for the movement and hundreds, then thousands and tens of thousands show up to support us. Over the coming days, our batteries will die and we will be silent. We will still be here, depending on our allies outside. 

Rage Against War? 

Militarism has not only infiltrated our language but the macho threat of force has even become embedded in the imagery of the peace movement.  

A recent example: an anti-nuclear campaign poster that prominently displays a clenched fist (a cliche so common it goes unnoticed) alongside another graphic that shows someone physically ripping apart a weapon. The message on the peace poster read: "Rage Against War." 

There are alternatives. Instead of a fist ready to deliver a powerful blow, how about two fingers spread in a peace sign? Instead of showing the bare-handed physical destruction of a weapon, how about a simple negation symbol (the slash-within-a-circle) stamped over the weapon, or a sign reading "abolished"? 

Instead of invoking “Rage”, how about inviting peace activists to "Resist" war? Rage can be a useful fuel for social change, but only when anger at injustice is channeled into constructive nonviolent action. To quote Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  

"It is purposeless to tell Negroes they should not be enraged when they should be. Indeed, they will be mentally healthier if they do not suppress rage, but vent it constructively and use its energy peacefully but forcefully to cripple the operations of an oppressive society. Civil disobedience can utilize the militance wasted in riots.”  

A Bill to End Trump's "War Orphan Tax" 

A previous Smithereens column mentioned how Trump's tax plan cut corporate taxes by nearly a third (from 35% to 21%) while nearly quadrupling the tax on some military families. Gold Star Families—families of soldiers killed "in service"—receive "survivor benefits" from the government. And these payments are considered taxable income. In order to offset the billions lost to tax-cuts for the One Percent, Trump introduced a so-called "Kiddie Tax" that jacked up the tax on income assigned to Gold Star war orphans from 10% to 40%. Now, freshman Congresswoman Elaine Luria hopes to help these families with a bill that would return the tax on survivors' benefits to the previous, lower rate. VoteVets has created a petition asking Congress to pass a law to reduce the egregious tax that Gold Star families are being asked to pay on the "income" of "survivor benefits." The bill reportedly enjoys broad bipartisan support. 

DeTweet Trump 

Twitter has long been Donald Trump's Trumpet and many people have been wondering whether Trump's tweeted insults, denigrations, and threats are even legal. After all, under Twitter Law, fomenting violence against one's perceived enemies would appear to be a violation of Twitter's content protocols. 

Twitter’s rules stipulate that the company's administrators “do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse”—including direct or indirect violent threats, harassment, or hateful conduct.  

Many of Trump’s tweets (which have included threatens to incinerate North Korea "with fire and fury") constitute blatant violations of Twitter’s Terms of Service. Trump has retweeted provocative images of journalists being assaulted and has promoted xenophobia, misogyny, and Islamophobia—including tweets that seemed designed to invite attacks on Ilhan Omar, a Democratic member of Congress. Finally, a new petition has been launched demanding that Twitter finally do what millions of Americans have been praying for: "Kick Trump off Twitter." Tell Twitter and Facebook it's time to make Trump respect the rules or give him the boot, a la Alex Jones. 

There were several lessons to take from last month’s Spanish elections, some special to Spain, others that resonate continent wide. Since the 28-member European Union is preparing to vote on the makeup of the European Parliament at the end of May, those lessons are relevant. 

On the surface the outcome seemed pretty straightforward: Spain’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) picked up lots of seats—but not enough to form a government—the country’s traditional center-right Popular Party (PP) took a pounding, the ultra-right edged into parliament and the center did well. 

But Spain’s politics are as complex as the country’s geography, and certainly not as simple as the New York Time’s analysis that the outcome was a “strong pro-European Union vote” that will allow Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “to tackle Spain’s neglected economic challenges.” 

For starters, the majority did not vote for the EU, but, to the contrary, against the devastation the huge trading bloc has inflicted on Spain through a decade of austerity measures. The Spanish Socialists ran on a platform of jobs creation, implementing a US-inspired “Green New Deal,” a 22 percent jump in the minimum wage and greater funding for education and science, all issues that run counter to the tight-fisted policies of the EU. 

Indeed, if the European Union had been on the ballot it might have gone badly for Brussels, not exactly a Spexit, but hardly a ringing endorsement. 

Part of the Socialist victory reflected the profound ineptness of the opposition on the right. 

For more than 40 years, the Popular Party has been an umbrella for the Spanish right, ranging from conservative businessmen and small farmers to unreconstructed supporters of the fascist dictator, Francisco Franco. But when the left-wing Podemos Party won 20 percent of the vote in 2015, it unleashed centrifugal forces that smashed up the old two-party system that had dominated the country since the death of Franco in 1975. 

Besides opening the political landscape to multiple parties, including the center right Ciudadanos , or “Citizens” Party, it put immeasurable strains on the Socialist and Popular parties. 

In the case of the latter, the PP’s extreme right jumped ship and formed “Vox,” whose policies are little different than Franco’s: opposition to abortion, equal rights for women, gay rights, immigration, and regional autonomy. The Party won almost 11 percent of the vote in a recent election in Andalusia, Spain’s most populous province. It is currently part of the province’s ruling coalition, which includes the PP and Citizens, but underperformed in last month’ vote. 

The PP’s turn to the right as a strategy to peel off Vox votes was a disaster. Women, in particular, felt threatened by some of the Party’s anti-abortion talk, and the PP’s candidates handpicked by Party leader Pablo Casado were underwhelming. 

The Socialists also had their divisions. In 2016 the PSOE’s rightwing engineered the ouster of Sanchez after he considered forming a government with Podemos and several small regional parties. The rightwing of the Socialists then allowed the PP to form a minority government, a move that did not sit well with the Party’s rank and file. 

Sanchez barnstormed the country, rallying the Socialist’s left wing and taking back the Party’s leadership seven months later. In this last election the PSOE stayed united, a major reason why Sanchez is in a position to form a government. 

Was the election a victory for the center? There is not a lot of evidence for that. While Citizens did well—it bypassed Unidos-Podemos to become the third largest party in the parliament with 57 seats—most of its votes came from former PP members alienated by the Popular Party’s sharp turn to the right and the profound corruption that has enmeshed many of its leaders. 

The PP, Citizens and Vox all pounded away at the Catalan independence movement and immigration, two issues that did not resonate very strongly with the electorate. A poll by Spain’s Centre for Sociological Research showed that voters were most concerned with unemployment (61.8 percent), corruption (33.3 percent) and the state of the political parties (29.1 percent). Only 8.9 percent felt immigration was a major issue, and Catalan independence was a concern for only 11 percent. 

In short, when the right was railing away at the Catalans and immigrants, most of the voters tuned out. 

The leftist UP also took a beating, dropping from 71 to 42 seats, but that was partly due to a falling out between the two major Podemos leaders, Pablo Iglesias and Inigo Errejon, and disagreements on how closely the leftist alliance should align itself with the Socialists. In contrast, the leftwing Catalan parties did well. 

The Socialists now face two major problems. 

First, there is the PSOE’s program that, if instituted, would certainly ease the austerity policies of the EU and the PP that have inflicted such pain on the bulk of Spaniards. While unemployment has come down from its height during the years following the 2008 financial crash, many of those jobs are low paying, benefit-free, temporary gigs. 

A Green New Deal would confront climate change and create new jobs. Repairing the social safety net that the PP and the EU have shredded would not only make people’s lives easier, it would stimulate the economy. 

But the EU is pressing for almost $28 billion in government spending cuts, that, if agreed to, would make much of the Socialists’ program stillborn. Faced with the demands of capital, on one hand, and the misery of yet more austerity, many socialist parties—with the exception of Britain’s and Portugal’s—have gone along with the strictures of the EU. 

When they do, they pay the price: center-left parties all over Europe have been decimated for buying into the debt reduction strategy of the EU. Socialist parties tend to run from the left and govern from the center, but if Sanchez does that, the Party’s support will evaporate. 

Secondly, there is the Catalan problem. While Sanchez has pledged to open a dialogue with the Catalans, he has steadfastly refused to consider their demand for a referendum on independence. The Socialist leader argues that he is constrained by the Spanish constitution that explicitly forbids provinces from seceding. But the constitution was drawn up only a few years after Franco’s death and is deeply flawed on a number of different levels, including giving rural regions greater representation than urban areas. 

The refusal of Sanchez to consider a referendum makes “dialogue” an empty phrase. It is not even clear if the majority of Catalans would vote for independence, although the policies of Madrid—in particular the brutal crushing of a referendum effort this past October, and the arrest and imprisonment of Catalan leaders—certainly seems to have increased separatist sentiment. In the recent election Catalan independence parties won a majority in the Provence. 

Sanchez may try to construct a coalition without the Catalan parties, which would be a major mistake. Many of the Catalan parties are more simpatico to the PSOE on economic and social matters than some of the other regional parties the Socialists will try to recruit to form a government. And, as the recent election showed, people want some answers to their economic problems. 

The Socialists will certainly be attacked by the right if they allow a referendum, but the PP labeled them “terrorists” in this last election and the majority of voters didn’t buy it. The referendum could require a super majority—maybe 60 percent—to pass, because it would be folly to take the province out of Spain on the basis of a narrow win. 

But the Catalan question cannot be dispersed with tear gas, billy clubs or prisons, and constitutions are not immutable documents. 

For European parties on the center-left, Spain’s elections had a message: the old days of campaigning on left social democracy when you’re running for office and ruling with careful centrism once you get into power are over. People want answers. 

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States and many Americans were hopeful. We were in the throes of "the great recession" but we trusted Obama to guide us out of it. We'd elected our first biracial President and many of us hoped that racism would soon be gone. By the way, the U.S. was thought to free of measles -- there were only 131 cases of circulating measles reported in 2008.

Things have changed. Donald Trump is the 45th President. Although the economy is good, two-thirds of Americans are pessimistic about the future. Racism is back -- White Supremacists threaten domestic security. And there's a measles epidemic; so far, 764 cases of measles have been reported in 2019 (https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html).

The social and mental attributes that characterize Donald Trump have promoted the measles epidemic. These same conditions have produced other epidemics, such as opiod addiction, Hepatitis A, and gun violence. 

1.Critical Thinking: Donald Trump is not a deep thinker. He's hardly the first President with this characteristic -- most of us remember George W. Bush. But Trump is the first President to flaunt his lack of perspicacity. He revels in the notion that he shoots from the hit and makes no effort to learn from his mistakes -- he doesn't even acknowledge his mistakes. 

I don't believe that Trump is stupid -- although he says and does stupid things -- but rather lazy. He does not read the many reports brought to him but instead relies upon verbal briefings from a small set of advisors and the rantings of sources like Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. 

Trump also lacks impulse control. He'll see a news item scroll across the bottom of the screen and immediately fire off a Tweet, treating the chyron as legitimate news. 

Trump has no depth. He's a creature of the moment and, therefore, incapable of the thoughtful analysis that leaders typically display when they encounter complex problems. Thus, the North Korea situation is reduced to "Kim likes me." 

Many of the parents who refuse to vaccinate their children share Trump's characteristic lack of critical thinking. 

2.Social Media as a news source: Donald Trump is the first President to treat social media as a legitimate news source. In this regards, he's like many Americans who do not get their news reports from conventional newspapers (books or magazines) but instead rely upon television, the Internet, or radio. (a 2018 Pew Research study (https://deadline.com/2018/12/how-americans-watch-news-study-tv-online-pew-research-center-1202512745/ ) found that 44 percent of respondents got their news from TV, 34 percent got their news from the Internet, 14 percent got their news from radio, and 7 percent read newspapers.) 

Trump gets his news from Fox News, his Twitter correspondence, and to a lesser extent from Facebook -- he occasionally uses Instagram. (It appears that he uses the Internet to access certain websites such as Alex Jones' infowars.) He gets his news predigested. 

As a result, Trump has a strange set of beliefs. For example, he believes that most Mexican and Central American refugees coming to the southern border are "criminals" or worse. Trump believes that Arab-Americans cheered the 9/11 attack; for this reason he thinks Muslims hate us and should not be allowed to enter the U.S. Donald describes Vladimir Putin as a "great leader" and believes that reports of Russian interference of 2016 are a "hoax." Trump thinks NATO is "a ripoff." Finally, he does not believe that global climate change is a crisis; recently he minimized it as "weather" but not so long ago described it a hoax. 

A couple of years ago, Trump tweeted there was a link between childhood vaccination and autism. (However, on April 26th, in response to the measles epidemic, Trump changed his tune and urged families to vaccinate their children, "they have to get their shots.") 

Many parents, who have not allowed their children to be vaccinated, share the (one time) belief of Donald Trump that childhood inoculations increases the likelihood of autism. Who knows how many of these have been influenced by Trump and from obtaining their "science" information from social media. 

3.Selfishness. Donald Trump is a profoundly selfish person; he only cares about taking care of himself, and his family. As President, he seems to have no concern for "the common good" or actions that will serve "the best interests of the country." When making a decision, his guiding principle is "what's in it for me?" (For example, Trump continues to support the treacherous Saudi regime that murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi because the Trump family has business interests in Saudi Arabia.) 

Of course, parents who fail to vaccinate their children are also profoundly selfish; they care only about their "intellectual position" and not the health and safety of their children or other members of the community who might be exposed to measles. 

Summary: Donald Trump didn't cause the measles epidemic but his profound character defects -- lack of critical thinking, addiction to social media, and pathological selfishness -- have made it worse. And Trump's deficiencies have worsened other epidemics such as opiod addiction, Hepatitis A, and gun violence. Trump's a menace to our health and safety. 

Therefore, House Democrats have to work doubly hard: get after Trump and, at the same time, generate meaningful legislation.