You Hear That!?

Sometime around 12:30 PM on March 25, the deafening roar of a jet engine pummeled neighborhoods in Berkeley and Albany, sending residents to their windows, causing joggers to stop in their trackshoes, and prompting cars to swing to the curbs as alarmed drivers jumped from their vehicles to search the sky for the source of the commotion. Most people were baffled to discover that—while the eerily prolonged noise was overwhelming and seemed to cover a wide area—there were no immediate signs of any aircraft overhead.

Twitter accounts captured the impact, with some reporting two jets spotted overhead.

Jason wrote: "What just happened in Berkeley? I heard a loud jet-engine-style sound that was very loud and sounded nearby."

Stacy asked: "Were those really fighter jets flying low in #Berkeley just now?"

Mephisto wrote: "Just got buzzed by tandem fighter jets in #berkeley. Probably F-16s but swear they looked like F-15s. Made the ground shake and my heart pound. I guess they're serious about the quarantine."

The Berkeley Police Department had no information on the identity of the aircraft.

 

This is not the first time Berkeley has been subjected to acoustic assault by Defense Department overflights. 

In January 2015, a US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, terrorized residents during a low-altitude fly-over. One resident complained it "scared the bejeezus out of me. And my cat fell off his perch on the neighbor's porch." 

Other reports described the noise as "crazy loud," "15 seconds of literally earthshaking jet roar," where "faces went pale in the office. Outside everyone was looking up, but I couldn't see anything." 

When the jet fighter roared over Berkeley High School and Longfellow, the younger children "began screaming out of fear" and one parent went home thinking: "So this is what chidren in Iraq and Afghanistan hear when US fighter planes zoom in to drop bombs on them." 

People were not placated by the discovery that the pilot was engaged in a family prank. 

A UC student who identified himself as "The Culprit" sent an email explaining that his brother, a Navy pilot, was "moving to Texas at the end of the week so he thought it would be cool to fly over campus while I was there before he left." 

There was another frightening fly-over on September 6, 2017 when a F-16 Fighting Falcon based at Naval Air Station Fallon in Reno, Nevada screamed over the East Bay alarming residents in Walnut Creek, Danville and across Contra Costa County. This time the plane was visible. It was flying so low that the air-to-air missiles attached to its wings were clearly visible. "Fighter jet just flew overhead," one shaken resident reported. "Changing pants when I get the chance." 

Joe Biden's Pandemic Panaceas 

In a time of existential angst, we need selfless leadership, wise counsel, and swift action. But this (thanks to COVID-chronicler Will Thomas) is what we get from the lips of the Democratic front-runner:  

1. “We have to depend on what the president’s going to do right now.” 

2. “First of all, wait to the cases before anything happens.” 

3. “The whole idea is he’s got to get in place things we’re shortages of.” 

It's a Bright New World 

The world may be dangerously unsafe for humans these days but there's a bright side . . . outside. The skies are bluer than they've been in ages. Without heedless humans mucking up the environment, air and water pollution is down dramatically. 

One thing to watch: California's still in a drought condition so, if we want to have enough water to fight the next round of seasonal wildfires, we might want to turn off the taps when doing the 20-second hand-wash. Just turn the tap on at the start and the finish. And don't forget to slather you face with an occasional HandyWipe. 

One other thing to watch: It's amazing to see so few cars on our streets. It's also amazing to see how many people are out in the neighborhoods jogging! (Well, we do know that sunlight is a great disinfectant.) 

Comic Strip Contagion 

The COVID-19 infection continues to spread. It has now infested the SF Chronicle's comicstrips. The first mention cropped up in the fourth week of March in Darrin Bell's Candorville strip. A week later, on March 30, the contagion spread exponentially, with coronavirus references breaking out in four adjacent strips—Candorville, Non Sequitur, Lio, and Mutts.  

The grimmest appearance came in Mark Tatulli's Lio, which depicted a beachball-sized coronavirus knocking on Lio's door while the strip's demented moppet (outfitted in a mask and hazmat suit) eagerly awaits inside. 

Patrick McDonnell's Mutts was a bit more somber: A cat emerges from a door to greet the sunrise, immediately falls into a funk, and issues a depressing verdict: "Another Monday mourning." 

Is the Census Rigged? 

The Census Bureau, in its campaign to solicit critical input from millions of citizens and residents, appears to be skewing the results by favoring the well-connected. This isn't about influence-peddling. It's about pandering to people with wi-fi and cable. 

The Census Bureau recently mailed postcards warning that anyone who fails to "save taxpayer money by responding online" can expect that "a Census Bureau interviewer may visit you." 

Almost as an afterthought, the postcard notes, the CB can "mail . . . a paper questionnaire." But instead of simply sending a paper questionnaire in the first place, the CB raises the specter of Census agents banging on your door. 

Is this policy of disadvantaging people without computers or Internet access intended to diminish the number of poorer Americans who will be counted in the 2020 Census? Can't help but wonder. 

Overcoming Ad-versity 

When campaigning for public office, its good to have an inspiring agenda and a good surname—preferably one that's short, punchy, and looks good on a campaign sign. So it's a marvel to discover the Mayor of Atlanta, a fierce progressive who faced up to the COVID-19 crisis by insisting on a stay-at-home shutdown of her Southern capital and ordering a special $500 monthly salary boost to the city's front-line workers. 

And here's the proof of her ability to overcome: Her father was a rock pioneer named Major Lance so when she married a fellow named Derek Bottoms, the mother-of-four became none other than "Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms." 

In a profession where candidate's asses are always on the line, one can only imagine the wisecracks that Mayor Lance Bottoms has had to endure. On the plus side, with a surname like that, it's a good bet that she's found a way to prod her fellow pols to get off their . . . duffs. 

Petition: End Live Coverage of Trump’s Daily COVID-19 Briefings

Favreau is promoting a MoveOn petition that calls on TV news directors to stop live-casting Trump's dangerous, lie-filled briefings. "In typical Trump fashion, he’s using this crisis to boost his poll numbers," Favreau writes. "Yesterday, the President tweeted about the 'ratings' his press conferences are getting on the same day that we learned more than 2,000 Americans have already died from the coronavirus. Trump only cares about Trump. He thinks that higher television ratings lead to higher approval ratings." 

The pressure is growing. MSNBC's Chris Hayes has refused to play audios of Trump's briefings calling them a "genuine threat to public health." NPR Seattle says it will not air the briefings at all. "While this is a start," Favreau says, "all the major networks need to get on board. Lives are at stake." 

Watch the new ad calling on networks to stop airing the Trump Show live. 

In late March 2020, after Priorities USA Action (a Democratic super PAC) launched another critical TV ad, Trump’s reelection campaign threatened to sue any television stations that aired it. Calling the ad "false, misleading, and deceptive," Trump's lawyers even warned that any TV station that dared to broadcast the ad risked having its Federal broadcasting license revoked. 

Political Activism in a COVID-19 World 

At the same time COVIC-19 rages across the US, thousands of immigrants are stuck in ICE detention centers, risking disease and death owing to a lack of adequate medical care and proper sanitation. 

From April 2-4, the activists with #FreeThemAll marked three days of anti-ICE demonstrations to demand the release of all the detainees "while practicing social distancing and following general CDC guidelines." 

So how do you demonstrate when it's no longer safe to gather in crowds? Here's a list of #FreeThemAll's planned actions:
• Hang banners or signs on your windows, doors, cars, etc.  

• Stand alone outside with signs/banners (at a safe distance of six feet from others) 

• Chalk messagers on public sidewalks, jogging paths, other visible areas 

• Project campaign images on building walls 

• Song, music, dance 

Photos and videos of these virus-free protests are posted on the Close the Camps Facebook page. 

More Suggestions for Virus-free Activism 

CODEPINK's National Resource Guide is chock-full of ways to take political action from the safety of one's home. New tips are added daily. There's a CODEPINK peace-and-love coloring book for the kids, world peace and covid playlists for adults and instructions on how to plant seeds for the spring garden (and, more critically, if the contagion lasts, for the autumn harvest).  

And how can the US martial the resources to outlast the pandemic? Here's CODEPINK's answer: "We need #HealthcareNOTWarfare!" CODEPICK has a petition demanding a doubling of the CDC budget by divesting from the Pentagon. 

And at 7PM, this Saturday, April 4, you can join a virtual meeting with CODEPINK co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans to discuss ongoing campaigns and how we can take care of each other during this uncertain time. RSVP here for the log-in details and meeting agenda. 

Help Farm Workers Left Out of the Federal Aid Package 

The United Farm Workers are righteously outraged. On Cesar Chavez’s birthday, March 31, the $3-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package failed to address the needs of farmworkers and their families. While $9.5 billion was handed out to support US farm owners, the UFW says "it's unclear if any of those funds will support farm workers taking risks to put food on our tables." And because at least 50% of farm workers are undocumented, "they won't get the relief payment most other households will." Far from "sheltering-in-place," the farm workers will spend the coming months sweltering-in-place in hot fields, working to feed America with no "time off" to avoid the pandemic. Please take action to help them. 

Meanwhile, Santiago Casal, founder of Berkeley's Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar, observes that "Dolores Huerta’s birthday is coming up on April 10th. Given the Covid-19 crisis, I'm not sure if our proposal to make April 10th Dolores Huerta Day has got any traction for her 90th birthday." 

Hopefully, that Day will come. In the meantime, for an eye-popping, online overview of the Chavez-Huerta Memorial Solar Calendar, click here. 

Trump Does TIME