The Battle for People's Park: Berkeley 1969 is an awesome compendium, commemorating the founding, desecration, and resurrection of a plot of land that became known around the world as People's Park. This new book is a handsome and hefty collection of historic photos, personal testimonies, poems, and press accounts that fills 371 heart-pumping, gut-wrenching pages.

Berkeley's Heyday Books is the perfect publisher for this hardbound picture-book whose publication coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the founding of People's Park. Tom Dalzell (whose long-running Quirky Berkeley column appears in Berkeleyside) is the perfect ringmaster to preside over this spectacular high-wire act of "people's journalism." -more-

To: Flight Free USA

CC: Berkeley Daily Planet

I noted with interest your op-ed in Berkeleyside ("Please don't fly in 2020: From Sweden to Berkeley, the 'flight shaming' movement takes off", October 14, 2019). Thanks for trying to raise awareness of the climate emergency and to encourage meaningful action.

I noticed in your Berkeleyside op-ed and on your web site that you significantly understate the urgency and scope of the emergency. In two cases you misrepresent the scientific consensus, at least as expressed in the "IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C" (aka "IPCC SR15").

In the op-ed: "At the same time, climate scientists are warning that we have less than 10 years to make a significant reduction in our carbon emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change." -more-

The main risk of asking the wrong question is that it most likely will yield the wrong answer. The headline caption in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, for example, states that the "Nationwide jobless rate last month is at a 50 year low". The obvious question for those who view this as good news is how do we explain the favorable economic climate for working people. In the same article, a corporate VP provides his explanation. "We're still seeing strong demand, we're still seeing more job opportunities out there than candidates". Apparently this executive thinks that the economy is benefiting from the tremendous impact of spending by America's optimistic consumers.

But is the public really optimistic? Not according to the Conference Board, which is a business organization that surveys the public monthly on its views of the economy. The Conference Board's recent survey found that the percent of the public who expect business conditions to worsen has increased substantially. Surveys by the New York Federal Reserve and the University of Michigan also found a steep decline in public confidence.

Unfortunately, the public is right. Over 330,000 jobs were cut during the first six months of this year. Especially worrisome, this figure is a 35% increase from the same period last year. -more-

American foreign policy continues to sink into a bottomless pit of policy blunders.


In 2003 President GW Bush, his hawkish Vice-President Cheney and British Prime Minister, Tony Blair (Bush’s poodle) crafted a fictitious tale of WMD’s, to justify the invasion of Iraq.


Following the “shock and awe” invasion resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and scores of Americans, Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority d unilaterally disbanded the Iraqi military and began a process of de-Ba’athification of the Iraqi government and police forces which coalesced into the armed ISIS insurgency. -more-

Incensed at being challenged over his “brilliant Syrian policy”, thin skinned President Trump lashed out at his critics calling Speaker Pelosi a “third-rate politician” and former Defense Secretary James Mattis “the world’s most overrated general.” He then sent a warning to President Erdoğan of Turkey “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Americans should be most concerned of Trump’s rapidly declining mental state. He is behaving more and more like a purulent child than the leader of a powerful country. -more-

Ready or not, the Impeachment of Donald Trump is coming. Before the end of 2019, the House of Representatives may vote on a variety of impeachment charges and the issue will be passed to the Senate. Here's what we've learned so far.

1. During the next 90 days, there will be an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives. The House Intelligence and Judiciary committees have already assembled enough evidence to call for a House vote. (It's not a matter of if, but when the vote will occur.) Trump appears to be guilty of multiple violations of the U.S. Government code including bribery, extortion, obstruction, and campaign finance misdeeds. (He's also guilty of obstruction and, quite possibly, conspiracy.) The House Dems are going forward, at a deliberate pace, to build the strongest case possible before year end. Some of the impeachment counts require information that will be provided only if ordered by the Supreme Court. -more-

Many things can affect the amount, type, and quality of cognitive faculties. Environment is one of them. If the environment in which we live is excessively demanding, and if we do not get enough time of not being hassled, it can negatively impact faculties. In order to create and maintain mental faculties, we need peaceful time and space. If we can't get that, deterioration is the result.

Many people believe it is a waste of time to sit and ponder. Sitting and pondering is exactly what Albert Einstein did, allowing him to arrive at longstanding rules of physics. Sitting and pondering is exactly what the ancient Egyptians and Greeks probably did, when they first arrived at and improved upon Geometry, and many other areas of thought that are used to this day.

While we don't need to invent math or physics, there is a place in our lives for sitting and pondering. It can help us understand ourselves much more. It can help us reflect about things, including past behavior patterns or other relevant material, and the fruit of this is better actions. There is a place in our lives for clarity.

You normally can't get clarity without some level of pondering or reflecting. You can't deeply reflect when the environment is excessively demanding. -more-

Favorite Soundbite of the Week

KCBS and Chronicle commentator Phil Matier offered the following during a live radio discussion on the Fate of the Republic:

"On one hand, you've got the Democrats over on one side singing 'We Shall Overcome' and Trump's up there on center stage like Meatloaf, singing 'Like a Bat Outta Hell!'"

PS: For those unfamiliar with this deranged ditty, here's a sampling of the lyrics:

The sirens are screaming, and the fires are howling
Way down in the valley tonight
There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye
And a blade shining oh so bright
There's evil in the air and there's thunder in the sky,
And a killer's on the bloodshot streets
And down in the tunnels where the deadly are rising
Oh, I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter
He was starting to foam in the heat -more-

The impeachment inquiry should continue even though there is already enough evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors” to support impeachment. The evidence so far includes Trump’s admission that he solicited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, his possible opponent in the 2020 election, and his son Hunter Biden for corruption, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. This alone is enough for impeachment.

Trump did not produce any evidence of this alleged corruption by Joe and Hunter Biden and none has emerged so far.

In addition, Trump conditioned the release of $391 million in mother relatives for Congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine and a coveted personal visit to the White House, on this asked for investigation of Joe Biden. A quid pro quo. Then the White House attempted to cover-up the whistleblower’s complaint about the solicitation. -more-

In a series of concerts October 17-19 in Rohnert Park, Oakland, and San Jose, renowned Armenian folk singer Hasmik Harutyunyan teamed up with the Oakland-based women’s choral ensemble Kitka. I attended the Friday, October 18, concert in Oakland’s St. Vartan Armenian Church. The program was entitled “Gorani: Love Songs to Lost Homelands.” Between 1915 and 1923, Armenians lost much of their several thousand year-old homeland when the Turks committed genocide on the Armenian population, driving survivors into the Armenian diaspora. This October 18 concert in Oakland’s St. Vartan Armenian Church thus presented a celebration of the resilience of the Armenian diaspora. It also offered Armenian-Americans the opportunity to celebrate the 150th anniversary of their revered national composer, Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935, generally referred to simply as Komitas), who gathered centuries-old Armenian folk songs and composed his own music based on these folk traditions. Some of the folk songs Komitas transcribed were featured on this concert program. -more-

Worth Noting and Showing Up:

The Update Report on Vision 2020 (racial equity in Berkeley Public Schools) which is to be presented Tuesday evening at City Council is quite startling and can be read online. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2019/10_Oct/City_Council__10-22-2019_Special_Meeting_Agenda.aspx

The links and agenda highlights for the October 29 City Council meeting follow the weekly meeting list.



Sunday, October 20, 2019

City Open House, 11 am – 3 pm, Civic Center Park, Family oriented event to introduce residents to City Services and Staff https://www.cityofberkeley.info/CalendarEventMain.aspx?calendarEventID=16335 -more-