Columns

Sprouts Gives Loiterers a Pass

Between the parking lot behind the Spouts outlet on San Pablo Avenue and the adjacent forest of the Gill Tract, the powers-that-be have posted a sign.

The sign was meant to punish people for "loitering." But because of a punctuation error (a missing period), it actually grants one and all the opportunity to loiter without fear of consequences.

Here's is the message the sign was intended to send:

"No loitering. Violators will be prosecuted."

But here's what the sign actually promises:

"No loitering violators will be prosecuted."

So feel free to linger, all you local lay-abouts. Period. Full stop. End of sentence. 

A Sign of the Times Simmers on the Sidewalk 

With the global Climate Strike protests underway it was encouraging to find the following message scrawled in chalk on a local sidewalk alongside a child's drawing of planet Earth: 

"We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change. 

We are the last generation that can stop it." 

Thinking Outside the Box 

One sign of summer (and so long, dear season) is the proliferation of drawings chalked on neighborhood sidewalks. One of the most common items drawn on the concrete—alone with sketchings of monsters, space rockets, and animals—is the omnipresent ten-box hopscotch grid. 

A month ago, in one North Berkeley neighborhood, some precocious youngster created a hopscotch challenge unlike any ever seen before. It contained 71 hopping blocks (some large; others as small as a postcard) that stretched well beyond one property line and into another. The last box, topping off the play-zone to the east, contained the message: "You made it!" 

While the overachiever behind this minor miracle remains unknown, I can reveal the street where it appeared. The world's longest hopscotch challenge was discovered on — where else? — Hopkins Street! 

Grab Your Shoes and Get a March On 

This is a busy week. On September 20, the People's Climate Strike begins. (Find a Bay Area Climate Strike event near you—just click here.) 

On September 21, people are preparing to march for Puerto Rican independence. On September 22, crowds will gather in New York's Herald Square for the four-day People's Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine. And September 23 marks both the start of the UN Climate Summit in New York and the convening of activists calling for "A Path to International Peace: Realizing the Vision of the United Nations Charter." 

How Homeowners Can Cut Wildfire Risks 

In the aftermath of the horrific Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, aerial photos of the fire-zone revealed something odd—in the midst of all the devastation, some homes remained intact while all the surrounding dwellings had been reduced to ashes. 

I have a theory and it has to do with rain-gutters. 

A close look at the surviving structures seems to reveal that the owners had installed special "leaf guard" gutters to prevent vegetation from accumulating and blocking the downspouts during heavy rains. 

During firestorms, these gutter guards serve another purpose. 

Secondary fires are started by flying embers that can be blown more than a mile in mere minutes. What happens when these embers fall on a house? 

Embers coming to rest in a gutter filled with paper-dry leaves will quickly ignite a new blaze—one that is particularly dangerous because it erupts at the roofline, directly below the first overlay of roofing tiles. The perfect "ignition point" for a fire that will skate up a sloping roof until it collapses, dumping flaming debris into the home's interior and destroying the entire dwelling. 

Photos from the Paradise inferno appear to show that many of the homes began burning at the roofline, not at the foundation. 

When I questioned several local firefighters about the gutter-clutter threat and the cover-the-gutter solution, they were nonplussed but said they would look into it. 

The California Fire Safe Council recently issued an 8-page guide on "Hardening Your Home to Better Survive Wildfire" that confirmed my suspicions. The CFSC noted that, contrary to popular belief, "the flaming front of a wildfire is often not hot enough to ignite a house" but can ignite plants lining the walls. In fact, the CFSC notes: "Embers cause the majority of wildfire home ignitions." And, when it comes to embers, the CFSC has a specific warning: "They can create spot fires when they land on combustible materials, such as leaves in your gutter." 

The manual repeats the advice to "inspect and clean gutters regularly" but only contains a single mention of the better alternative: "Install a noncombustible gutter guard to reduce accumulated debris." 

So here's a mystery: why isn't this solution being promoted? Why is it that full-page ads for capping devices designed to guarantee "clog-free gutters" never mention their ability to prevent the entire home from going up in flames? 

In the meantime, if you're looking for a fire-fighting solution that's not so simple or cheap, you might want to consider hosing down your home with NovaCool. 

Climate Chaos: Adapt or Die 

The Global Commission on Adaptation—composed of 34 science, business and political leaders—has announced a plan for how much it could cost for humans to survive extreme climate changes that are quickly becoming unavoidable. 

Since we've failed to prevent, mitigate, or slow the human-caused, carbon-fueled transformation of our global climate, it no longer makes sense to debate "How do we prevent it?" Our situation has now become: "We failed to stop it, so how can we survive in a world that's collapsing around us?" GCA's leaders—former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates—have called for spending $1.8 trillion on adaptation strategies. Unfortunately, the to-do list sounds mundane rather than transformational with a series of non-brainer "solutions" that include "better warning systems" to signal the approach of hurricanes, wildfires, and tidal surges and building "suitable infrastructure to handle the altered climate." 

Trump Can't Wait to Trample the Constitution 

In July, President Trump said he believes the US Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” Before he stages a coup, Trump's enablers might suggest that he go online and Google "dictatorship." 

And here's another online asset for the "stable genius." 

In celebration of Constitution Day, September 17, the Library of Congress launched a new website, constitution.congress.gov—"the authoritative source for how the Supreme Court has interpreted the nation’s governing document over the years. The new website makes the US Constitution searchable with Supreme Court interpretations throughout history." 

I doubt that Trump has ever read the document. 

Maybe it's time to amend the Constitution with some new no-nos. For example: make serial lying an impeachable offense. We could call it the First Admonishment. 

Citizen Phil Allen chimes in on the prospect of Constitutional adjustments: "One of my thrills about the Big C is its elegant concision of language. Modern attempts to expand it show the failings of their authors in getting across their hopes in any but cumbersome text. 

"Along with dealing with the Electoral College, what I'd like to see . . . is language added to Article II, Sec.1, Part 3 (presidential qualifications), regarding 'further necessary qualities of fitness'—perhaps in-elegantly including a Body Mass Index level, or ability to pass under the limbo bar three times." 

Class Clash over Housing Hassle 

When the poor sleep on the street they're ordered to move indoors. When they move into tents, they're told to move along and find "more suitable" housing. When they start building secure mini-homes out of wooden pallets on vacant land under elevated BART tracks, they are told their homes are fire hazards and will be torn down. 

Last week, Caltrans officials announced plans to target a neighborhood of hand-built houses beneath an underpass in West Berkeley but, as the Chron reported, "there is no plan for resettling the residents elsewhere." 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Oakland's Department of Human Services explained the department's policy on handling a homeless encampment adjacent to BART tracks in West Oakland as follows: 

"We have a duty and obligation to maintain public safety and pubic health but, at the same time, as a resident, as a citizen, you have certain freedoms and autonomy. But when those freedoms and autonomy starts to jeopardize the general public's safety, the general public's health, well that's the need for government to intervene." 

An interesting argument. This rationale proposes that the rights of mere "residents" and "citizens" are not as important as the rights of something called "the general public." This is problematic thinking that weaponizes vocabulary to justify rank discrimination against fellow citizens who are judged to be "less equal." Orwell would wince. 

Who's Your Presidential Pick: Let Us Tell You 

A few days ago, End Citizens United/Fight for Reform sent out an email inviting recipients to chose from among 20 Democratic candidates and select their preferred presidential and vice-presidential ticket. 

But there was a problem. The form presented on the main page had already been filled in! The sample form began with only two choices for president: Joe Biden and Cory Booker. The pre-selected VP candidates were Sherrod Brown and Stacey Abrams. 

A third box invited recipients to exercise an option to "Select your own combination." This linked to a go-to page where people could select their preferred ticket from the full score of Dem contenders. 

This was followed by one of those "Did you know?" lists. The last question on the list read: "Would you support an aggressive campaign to expose Trump's corruption, lower his approval numbers, and elect Pro-Reform Democrats?" But there was another problem: There was only one box, it was labeled "Yes," and it was already filled in with a checkmark! 

A lingering question: What's the deal with "lowering Trump's approval numbers"? That sounds like a meddling mission designed for Russian trolls. 

And, Finally . . . 

There's a new art exhibit opening at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley. The exhibition, which debuted on September 20 honors National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, the latest recipient of the Brower Center's annual Art/Act Award. Executive Director Laurie Rich saluted Sartore's photograpy as work that "follows in David Brower's tradition of utilizing powerful environmental images to inform, engage, and ultimately inspire people to action." 

Sartore's stunning wildlife imagery will be on display in the Hazel Wolf gallery through February 14, 2020. Exhibition hours: M-F, 9AM-5PM. Sat. 10AM-2PM.