11/18/09

"Homicide suspect featured on 'Americas Most Wanted' arrested" by Kristin Bender Oakland Tribune.

Rafael Campbell

"A man suspected of killing three people during a violent spree in Berkeley and Oakland in May - and who was featured on 'America's Most Wanted' earlier this month - was arrested Tuesday near Sacramento, police said.

Rafael J. Campbell, 25, was the last outstanding suspect wanted in connection with the killing of Charles 'CJ' Davis, 25, in Berkeley and an uninvolved motorist and pedestrian in North Oakland minutes apart May 16. He was wanted on three counts of murder.

At 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, U.S. Marshals, working with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Northern California Fugitive Apprehension Team, and Sacramento police attempted to contact Campbell at a ground-floor apartment in Natomas, Sacramento County. Campbell attempted to flee out the rear of the apartment but was caught by Sacramento officers with police dogs who had surrounded the complex, police said.

It's unclear why Campbell was in the Sacramento area, said Lenny Boyer, acting U.S. marshal for eastern California. Campbell was featured on the Nov. 7 broadcast of 'America's Most Wanted.' "

 

 

 

"UC Berkeley must scale back on downtown museum" is a report by Kenneth Baker, Chronicle Art Critic.

"A shortage of funds has prompted UC Berkeley to abandon its plan to construct a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive downtown."


 

"Energy Management Specialist Wins 2009 Cleantech Open" is a report at cleantechbrief.com.

"EcoFactor of Redwood City, California beat out 277 other companies to carry off top honors at the 2009 Cleantech Open. EcoFactor won with a software system that can communicate with home thermostats to reduce energy use.

The runners-up were also Northern California companies: Alphabet Energy of Berkeley, which is developing a system of generating energy from waste heat; and Micromidas of West Sacramento, which turns carbon from wastewater into bio-plastics."

 

 

"Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation" is a story a reuters.com.

"This study finds that a robust climate bill could boost the U.S. economy by about $111 billion by 2020 and create as many as 1.9 million jobs.

The report is by David Roland-Holst and Friedrich Kahrl of the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with Madhu Khanna of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Jennifer Baka of Yale University. Their findings run contrary to claims made by opponents of climate legislation in the U.S. Senate."

 

 

"Do these genes make my heart seem big? Study finds a gene for empathy" reports the latimes.

"In the long-running nature-nurture debate over what makes us who we are, chalk up a new victory for nature.

A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found a single coding variation in the human genome that appears responsible, at least in part, for individual variations in such personality and behavior traits as empathy and response to stress."

 

 

 

"Reality Check on High-Speed Rail for California" by Christine Cosgrove at berkeley.edu.

"State high-speed rail planners hope to receive $4.7 billion in federal stimulus funding and break ground as early as 2011 on a system that will move trains at speeds of 200+ mph. See animated video of trains on the CalTrain corridor at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/gallery.asp?s=san-francisco-bay.

In November 2008, California voters passed a $9.95-billion bond issue to build a bullet train that would zip passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles via the Central Valley at speeds up to 220 miles per hour. A few months later, the Obama administration threw its heft behind the high-speed rail (HSR) concept by offering nearly $10 billion to HSR projects, and the California High Speed Rail Authority anticipates receiving a good chunk of those funds. Clearly, many Americans-sick of congested roads or padding shoeless through long security lines at airports-are smitten with the romance of the rails.

But last month, at an overflow symposium in UC Berkeley's Alumni House, a panel of experts in the fields of transportation engineering and city and regional planning urged caution. Samer Madanat, director of Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies and CEE professor, moderated the discussion.

'If it is built, it will be the largest infrastructure transportation project in the U.S. since the Interstate was constructed beginning more than a half century ago,' Madanat said. 'It is a complex endeavor and requires a complex understanding of the engineering, economic and environmental issues.'

Panelists' concerns centered on ridership, cost and environmental benefits-all of which are interrelated and will dictate the success or failure of the mega project."


 

 

 

"Answers About Community Colleges, Part 1" is a report by Kay McClennet at nytimes.com

"Each day this week, the Guidance Office - the forum on The Choice where readers ask questions of education experts - will feature answers about community colleges by Kay M. McClenney. Dr. McClenney is the director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement, a research and service initiative of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

An annual survey by the center, which this year draws on interviews with more than 400,000 students at more than 650 community colleges, is being released today. All told, more than 6 million students are enrolled in for-credit courses at community colleges - nearly as many as in undergraduate programs at four-year colleges.

Here, Dr. McClenney discusses the benefits - and challenges - of transferring from two-year to four-year colleges, as well as the prospects for earning four-year degrees at community colleges."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/19/09

"California Man Charged With Killing Girlfriend, Her Son" is a report at foxnews.com.

"Prosecutors say a 38-year-old Oakland man killed his girlfriend's young son, dumped his body in the water, then killed her to stop her from telling anyone.

Charles Martin III was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder with special circumstances, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

Police found the body of 17-month-old Jashon Williams floating near the Berkeley Marina on Sunday - two days after the body of his mother, Zoelina Williams, was found in nearby Aquatic Park.

Martin has not yet entered a plea.

Martin previously was convicted of killing a girlfriend's child. He pleaded guilty in 1994 to voluntary manslaughter in a plea deal that got him 11 years in prison. He was released in six years after getting credit for time served."

 

 

Rick Ballard emails

Groove Yard Jazz LPs/CDs
5555 Claremont Ave. @ Forest           
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 655-8400
email: groove2@earthlink.net
www.myspace.com/grooveyardjazz
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11-6, Sun. 12-5
 
Greetings from Groove Yard.
 
 
The storewide sale has been extended through Sunday, November 22. Every record and CD, including all consignments, is 20% off the marked price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/22/09

"Fears for the Future of the University of California" is opinion at nytimes.com.

" The University of California system has long been one of the gems of American education - a first-rate research university that was one of the most affordable in the country. But it's future is uncertain, my colleague Tamar Lewin reports.

On Thursday, the university's Board of Regents voted to raise fees for undergraduates - equivalent to tuition - by 32 percent. That means student will be paying more than $10,000 a year, about three times as much as they did a decade ago.

Students staged demonstrations to protest the tuition increase. But for the faculty, and for many in the state who are concerned about education, the larger issue is the quality of the university and its reputation in the wake of an $813 million budget cut. . . .

And some professors are leaving.

This year, the University of Texas lured three senior faculty members from the University of California, among them William F. Hanks, and his wife, Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, both anthropologists.

'Last spring, when we made the decision, there were issues, but the budget hadn't quite slammed down to the extent it has since then,' Mr. Hanks said. 'It looks a lot bleaker now.

But in our case, it wasn't so much wanting to leave Berkeley as wanting to come to U.T. Surprisingly, there's more intellectual excitement and dynamism here. The department is growing and expanding, and we're part of a cohort of new people, which is a fabulous feeling, fraught with potential.' "

 

 

"Paul Alivisatos appointed director of Berkeley Lab" is a report at nanowerk.com.

"The University of California Board of Regents on Nov. 19 named Paul Alivisatos director of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed by the university."

 

 

"Hyperlens sharpens sights with sound" is a story at msnbc.

"A versatile, new hyperlens developed by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley could soon give expecting parents high-definition baby pictures as well as provide ship captains incredibly accurate maps of the sea floor. "

 

 

 

"California's budget woes will continue for years, report says" by Shane Goldmacher, latimes.com.

"Tax receipts have leveled off, but revenue won't bounce back until the 2014-15 budget year, according to the chief budget analyst. Near term, the state faces a nearly $21-billion deficit."

 

"Commercial sales plummeted 79% in S.F" is a report in the San Francisco Business Times.

"San Francisco commercial property sales activity dropped 79 percent in the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, according to a report from LoopNet.

Most pronounced was the drop in price per square foot that LoopNet recorded. The average office property sold for $245 a square foot in the year through Sept. 30, compared with $404 per square foot in the previous 12 months.

Total volume in the commercial business district plummeted from $1.8 billion from September 2007 to September 2008 to $596 million in the 12 months ends in September 2009.

In the apartment sector, LoopNet reported a drastic reduction in sales activity as San Francisco's largest landlord, the Lembi Group, stopped acquiring buildings and began defaulting on properties in 2008. Just $180 million in multi-family buildings traded in the most recent September period, compared with $1.3 billion during the previous 12 months. Price per unit also fell, from $297,000 to $199,000.

Nationally, total investment in office properties dropped from $78 billion to $20 billion."

 

I'm told by a usually reliable source that a west-Berkeley commercial property recently sold in foreclosure for 300k. Before the crash, it was listed [unrealistically?] at 2 mil.

 

Kava's parking lot-the old junkyard--is now mostly paved.

 



"California unemployment hits 12.5%" reports Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"California employers added 25,700 jobs in October, the first such gain since April of 2008. But the state unemployment rate still rose to 12.5 percent, its highest level in nearly 70 years, as a report issued Friday depicted a downtrodden labor market struggling to rebound."

 

 

 

 

"At the Peace in Medicine Healing Center in Sebastopol, the wares on display include dried marijuana - featuring brands like Kryptonite, Voodoo Daddy and Train Wreck - and medicinal cookies arrayed below a sign saying, 'Keep Out of Reach of Your Mother' " is a report by Monica Almeida, The New York Times.

"The warning tells a story of its own: some of the center's clients are too young to buy themselves a beer.

Several Bay Area doctors who recommend medical marijuana for their patients said in recent interviews that their client base had expanded to include teenagers with psychiatric conditions including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

'It's not everybody's medicine, but for some, it can make a profound difference,' said Valerie Corral, a founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a patients' collective in Santa Cruz that has two dozen minors as registered clients.

Because California does not require doctors to report cases involving medical marijuana, no reliable data exist for how many minors have been authorized to receive it. "

 

 

 

 

our Angela emails

Important community announcement about our West Berkeley branch library. West Berkeley residents strongly encouraged to attend to provide feedback to architects working on renovations
 
Thank you and hope all is well
  
The first community meeting regarding the upcoming renovation of the West Branch of Berkeley Public Library is scheduled on Thursday, December 3 at 6:30 ­ 8 pm at the library, 1125 University Avenue.  This will be an opportunity to meet the architects, Harley Ellis Devereaux / Greenworks Studio, and to ask questions and give input into what you as a community member would like to see in our new library.
 
I hope that some members of UAA will take advantage of this opportunity to help shape an important piece of University Avenue.
 
Marge Sussman
Branch Manager, West Branch Library
510-981-6278

 

and

 

Cultural Night
 
Dear Friends and Colleagues,


Cultural Competence/Ethnic Services from the Mental Health Division in the City of Berkeley invites you enjoy to a Cultural Night with food, dance and performance.  The purpose of this event is to share diverse cultural experiences with our multicultural community in Berkeley/Albany.  We are also inviting the Mental Health staff, other city agencies, and non-profit community groups so that this evening breaks the barriers that keep us apart.
 
Join us on Friday, December 11, 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. at Finnish Hall, 1819 ­ 10th Street.  Please see the attached flyer (Bilingual), and note that this is a pot luck feast.  Child care provided.  Contact me for any questions, or to help spread the invitations widely throughout our community.

"It takes courage to interrogate yourself.

It takes courage to look in the mirror and see past your reflection to who you really are when you take off the mask, when you're not performing the same old routines and social roles. It takes courage to ask. How did I become so well-adjusted to injustice? "

Cornel West


 Hugo Lucero
Multicultural Services Coordinator
Mental Health Administration of HS Dept
510-981-5232
Fax: 510-981-5235
mailto:hlucero@ci.berkeley.ca.us

 

 

 

post from the past

11/25/04

Café Cacao open house here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/23/09

early winter

in Potter Creek

 

 

 

"California hit by budget deficit, no quick solution in sight" is a report at xinhuanet.com/english.

"California's budget crisis is deteriorating as students in many state universities are protesting a big tuition hike, with no immediate solution in sight.

California's budget deficit will reach 20.7 billion U.S. dollars over the next 18 months, according to report from the State Legislative Analyst's Office.

It also predicts that the gap between the state's projected revenues and spending next year would grow to nearly three times the 7.4 billion estimated just four months ago.

The budget hole is growing after billions in risky budget fixes had failed to materialize and also because revenue projections for next year were too optimistic, the report said.

The state's lawmakers have no other solutions to the budget crisis but further cuts to state programs.

The cuts so far have a serious impact on the operation of the state and local governments. The move has led to layoffs and cuts of social services. Courts have been forced to close on some weekdays to save money and prisons have to release prisoners to meet the budget cut.

The budget cuts also have a serious impact on education in the state. University of California's Board of Regents voted to approve a 32 percent increase in student fees last week. "

 

 

 

 

posts from the past

11/03

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aesop's THE CAT AND THE FOX

Once a Cat and a Fox were traveling together. As they went along, picking up provisions on the way--a stray mouse here, a fat chicken there--they began an argument to while away the time between bites. And, as usually happens when comrades argue, the talk began to get personal.

"You think you are extremely clever, don't you?" said the Fox. "Do you pretend to know more than I? Why, I know a whole lot of tricks!" "Well," retorted the Cat. "I admit I know one trick only, but that one, let me tell you, is worth a thousand of yours!"

Just then, close by, they heard a hunter's horn and the yelping of a pack of hounds. In an instant the Cat was up a tree, hiding among the leaves.

"This is my trick," he called to the Fox. "Now let me see what yours are worth."

But the Fox had so many plans for escape he could not decide which one to try first. He dodged here and there with the hounds at his heels. He doubled on his tracks, he ran at top speed, he entered a dozen burrows, --but all in vain. The hounds caught him, and soon put an end to the boaster and all his tricks.

Common sense is always worth more than cunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/24/09

Early Berkeley PD crime fighter is also a film noir "star."

In It Came From Berkeley, Dave Weintsein writes "One of the first lie detectors was developed by John A Larsen, a Phd in philosophy whom Vollmer brought into the department . The machine was improved in 1920 by [Detective] Leonarde Keeler, the son of Berkeley poet, Charles Keeler,* who was a friend of the chief. . . . You can catch Leonarde Keeler playing himself in the film Call Northside 777".

 

*Charles Augustus Keeler (October 7, 1871 ­ July 31, 1937) was an American author, poet, naturalist and advocate for the arts, particularly architecture.

Keeler was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family to Berkeley in 1887. He studied biology at the UC Berkeley, and was hired in 1891 by the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. That same year, Keeler met the architect Bernard Maybeck on the commuter ferry[2]. They became friends, and in 1895 Keeler hired Maybeck to build his home on Highland Place, just north of the UC campus. It was Maybeck's first residential commission.

 

 

"Police break up UC occupations" at socialistworker.org.

Indybay.org photo

Students occupied Kerr Hall at the University of California Santa Cruz

 

"Rachel Cohen reports from the University of California Santa Cruz, one of a number of campuses where protesting students and staff were confronted by riot police.

Police acting on orders from university and state officials, cracked down on protests and occupations at campuses across California, in a clear escalation of force against the growing movement of students, staff and faculty protesting severe budget cuts and tuition increases."

 

 

"Haves vs. Have-Nots at Public Universities" is opinion at nytimes.com.

"The University of California, which has already received $716 million in federal stimulus funds to offset a $1 billion budget gap, announced on Friday that it is raising student fees by 32 percent. That works out to about $2,500 per student a year.

Student protesters said that the higher costs will make it even harder for middle class and poor students to go to college, and will widen the education gap between the haves and the have-nots. But the students at the 10-campus California system are, on average, from far wealthier backgrounds than the average household in the state. This gap is pronounced at other prominent public universities, like Michigan and Virginia."

 

 

 

 

"Errors riddle accounts of stimulus spending" Gianna Albaum, California News Service.

"Nine months after President Obama promised that his $789 billion stimulus package would be the most transparent spending bill in history, much of the information available to the public for the Bay Area and the rest of the nation is incomplete or inaccurate.

The White House's Recovery Act Web site - www.recovery.gov - shows that $660 million has been awarded to Bay Area transportation projects to create 997 jobs, which amounts to a staggering $661,986 per job.

Last week, the site showed that California Congressional Districts 00 and 99 received millions of dollars in stimulus funding even though neither district exists.

The Bay Area's total also included $1.8 million to purchase buses in Duluth, Minn., which the federal Web site pinpointed with a dot just below San Leandro, and $4.8 million for road work in Laredo - which is in Texas."

 

"'2,000 Year Old Man' still kicking on new DVD" is about maybe THE great comedy album, John Clark, Special to The Chronicle.

"' The 2,000 Year Old Man' is one of those acts that have influenced a whole generation of comedians, whether they know it or not. Recorded and released on a series of albums beginning in the 1960s, the performances featured Carl Reiner as questioner/straight man and Mel Brooks pretending to be something he's clearly not - a 2,000-year-old man. The style might have been rooted in the Catskills, but the targets were contemporary, and so was the giddy improvisation.

Now 87, Reiner has been in show business for more than 50 years as a writer, performer, producer and director. He got his start working on Sid Caesar's 'Your Show of Shows,' created The Dick Van Dyke Show,' and appeared in films as diverse as 'The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming' and 'Ocean's Eleven' (2001) and its sequels. Of course, he's also the father of director Rob Reiner. We spoke to him from Los Angeles."

 

 

 

better-late-than-never

"Berkeley Officials Say Zoning Must Change to Attract High-Tech Firms" reports Debra Levi Holtz, Chronicle Staff Writer on 9/27/99.

"Berkeley business and government leaders say zoning laws governing the city's industrial area ignore the realities of today's economy and prevent the city, home of a world-famous research university, from attracting high-tech companies.

The laws, prompted by a proposal in the early 1980s to convert the Durkee Foods factory into offices and laboratories, were designed to prevent an exodus of blue-collar jobs by protecting traditional manufacturers. Instead, large tracts of industrial sites surrounding Interstate 80 have remained vacant with nothing to replace them.

Even the staunchest supporters of the laws are now joining critics who say Berkeley is being left behind while neighboring East Bay cities are reaping the benefits of the high-tech revolution.

'Berkeley is still looking at the blue-collar world of the 1940s and waiting for the liberty ship to come in,' said Darrell de Tienne, an industrial designer who has worked on numerous projects in Berkeley's Aquatic Park business area. 'It's not going to happen. The world has changed.''

Last week, City Councilwoman Linda Maio, who has been a leading proponent of West Berkeley zoning policies, said she is beginning to realize that times have changed and Berkeley must catch up.

'I waited around for this industrial thing to happen and it didn't happen,' Maio said."

 

CEID's Jill Ellis emails

Ron
 
We are so fortunate to have you here to provide us these important updates.  I read them all!  To you and all your readers, Happy Thanksgiving!
Jill

 

 

 

NOW, much more parking

across from the Bowl, snapped thru a food-service window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/25/09

Thanksgiving shopping, very early Tuesday

at our Bowl

 

 

 

"I Found My Art in San Francisco" by Robert Simonson, playbill.com.

"Much of the cultural history of the United States can be read as an artistic skirmish for supremacy between the two coasts.

New York had theatre; L.A. had movies. New York had punk rock; California birthed the surf sound. Gotham gave the world the bebop of Charlie Parker; California furnished cool jazz of Gerry Mulligan. When artists grow tired of the grind of Manhattan, they typically retreat to sunny SoCal, while West Coast habitues weary of Hollywood come to the East for a recharge.

But, these days - at least in theatre - the two coasts have more in common than ever.

An increasing number of high-profile Broadway productions first saw the light of day on stages in the San Francisco Bay Area. Current examples include Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room and Carrie Fisher's one-woman show Wishful Drinking, both of which had stagings at Berkeley Rep before coming to New York. Another Berkeley Rep premiere, American Idiot, was recently announced to be Broadway-bound. Berkeley also gave Gotham the heralded Stew musical Passing Strange, which played both Off-Broadway and Broadway (and was adapted into a Spike Lee film). "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/27/09

"Berkeley artists ready to open their studios" by Doug Oakley, Berkeley Voice.

"Jim Rosenau makes furniture and sculpture out of found books, pieces that tell a story using the titles on the covers and spines.

Susan Brooks makes paintings and jewelry and Erin McGuiness molds clay into high-end pottery.

The artists in Berkeley's Sawtooth building at Dwight Way and Eighth Street and about 30 others around the city, 100 in all, are getting ready for the annual open studios tour scheduled over four successive weekends

starting Saturday.

Studio hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m."

 

Others are also holding open house. Among them are ActivSpace and independents like Merryll Saylan et al. RP

 

 

 

 

"Students fight tuition hikes" by Caleb T. Maupin at workersworld.org.

"In the early hours of the afternoon of Nov. 19, more than 2,000 students stood outside the office of the University of California's Board of Regents. As it became clear that a motion to raise UC tuition by 32 percent had passed, the students screamed in outrage. Outside the meeting and all across the state, students began to fight back."

 

"The Choices Faced by UC, Students and the Public" is opinion at nytimes.com.

"Over at Room for Debate, there is a good discussion about public universities nationwide and the difficulty balancing fiscal responsibility and access to higher education.

The discussion is on the heels of last week's decision by the University of California's Board of Regents to raise undergraduate fees by 32 percent. That decision sparked protests with people taking over buildings Friday on the Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses. Carly Fiorina, who is seeking to become the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, said on CNN's 'State of the Union' that the increase in fees was 'an outrage.' "

 

 

"Free-range fathering in a fearful world" is a book review at torontostar.com.

"As U.S. cities go, it is hard to imagine one less menacing than Berkeley. A post-hippie enclave serving the brainy elite that studies and teaches at the University of California, Berkeley is a picture postcard of manicured lawns, tree-lined sidewalks and bike-laned residential streets.

In other words, the perfect place for unsupervised kids to tear around freely. What is the worst that can happen? A scraped knee? A barked shin? Or, in rare cases, a broken arm or leg?

And yet, as author and Berkeley resident Michael Chabon observes in his new book Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son, it's not uncommon for children living within a few houses on the same residential street to be virtual strangers to one another."

 

 

"Volunteers, cops team up to help needy in Berkeley" is a story at kgonews.com.

"There was plenty of Thanksgiving spirit in Berkeley [last] Tuesday morning, as community volunteers joined officers from Berkeley and the University of California Police Department to pack food baskets for the needy.

Much of the money for the baskets is raised by Berkeley PD's annual fundraising 'Turkey Ride' to South Lake Tahoe. This is the event's 25th year, which organizers say makes it even more special."

 


"Berkeley-Calif.-based Seeo won a $6.2 million grant to develop and deploy a 25 kWh prototype battery for the power grid using its technology" is part of a report at earth2tech.com.

"The startup was founded about two years ago by Mohit Singh, who developed the nano-structured polymer electrolyte as a post-doctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. Singh explained the company's technology at a UC Berkeley event last May as a nano-structured solid-state battery based on a polymer electrolyte that he said is more stable, safer, and has a higher energy density than current lithium-ion batteries on the market.

The DOE said Seeo's technology would be used to 'demonstrate the substantial improvements offered by solid state lithium-ion technologies for energy density, battery life, safety, and cost,' and the technology would be targeted at 'utility-scale operations, particularly community energy storage projects.' Seeo has raised around $10 million from investors including Khosla Ventures."

 

 

 

"Real estate bargains put some Bay Area retailers in expansion mode" by George Avalos, contracostatimes.com.

"A number of retailers have defied the glum economy and are opening new Bay Area locations amid the tough times. Some are low-cost merchants that cater to those on tight budgets. Others don't typically fit into a discount category."

 

 

"Who creates the jobs?" is a question asked at sfgate.com.

"More economists are saying that continuing job losses and moribund job creation will require a second economic stimulus. What they don't agree on is where to create jobs -- in the private sector or in the public sector.

Michael Bernick, a former director of the California Employment Development Department, says we need jobs in both sectors but that jobs created in the private sector give us more bang for our buck. Others say government jobs paved the way to recovery in the '30s and will do so again. To read more on these views, read today's Sunday Insight.

The Bay Area, with a one of the most highly educated populations in the country, has suffered fewer job losses than other parts of California, most notably the Central Valley. Yet jobs are hard to come by here and those struggling to keep afloat financially are suffering. The region needs to restart the job creation engine quickly for its economic health and, as UC Berkeley social psychologist Dacher Keltner says, for the residents' long-term well-being."




 

"Are home solar panels worth the money?" asks Michael McCutcheon, mercurynews.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/28/09

"Ronald Reagan and the RITE way to plan" is opinion by Craig Galbraith at starnews.com.

"Reagan-inspired Town Economics (RITE) is well grounded in sophisticated economic thought. . . . I argue that RITE is based upon five basic principles. . . .

First, people are a diverse lot. They have different needs and desires. And people have the freedom to choose where they live. . . .

Second, under RITE, communities need to have a clear vision of what they want to be. . . . You can have bedroom communities, high technology communities, beach communities, farming communities, artist communities, industrial communities, and yes, even liberal communities like Berkeley. But what they all share in common is a clear commitment to a well understood local vision. People then choose what community suits them the best, and are happier for it. And for larger cities, this means villages within the city, each run by empowered local advisory councils charged with implementing the particular vision of that community.

The third principle is small government. . . .

Property rights are the fourth principle of RITE. But property rights don't mean that people can do whatever they want. Property rights also means that everybody is protected from the negative impacts of other people's action. . . .

Finally, RITE is based upon trust, openness, and honesty, and ultimately the high ethical standards of local politicians. Reagan was fond of quoting a Russian proverb, 'Trust, but Verify' ".

Well, ok then.

 

 

"UC students' anger over fees misdirected" is opinion at fresnobee.com.

"Protesters chanted, marched and even took over buildings at University of California campuses last week. And, no, these weren't "tea party" protests against "Obamacare." They were students protesting yet another UC Board of Regents vote to increase fees.

California has been in a boom-and-bust cycle with UC fees for 45 years -- increasing fees during economic downturns and decreasing them during economic good times. That's the opposite of what should occur -- the state hits students with new costs just when their families face job losses and uncertainty, and college savings have been decimated in market meltdowns."

Some pretty commanding stats here. RP

 

 

"In a Home to Free Speech, a Paper is Accused of Anti-Semitism" is a story by Jesse McKinley at nytimes.com.

"For the last six years, The Berkeley Daily Planet has published a freewheeling assortment of submissions from readers, who offer sharp-elbowed views on everything from raucous college parties (generally bad) to the war in Iraq (ditto).

Becky O'Malley, front, is the editor of The Berkeley Daily Planet, a California weekly that critics accuse of publishing too many letters and other commentary critical of Israel. Ms. O'Malley, 69, denies any personal or editorial bias. 'I have the old-fashioned basic liberal thing of believing that the remedy for speech you don't like is more speech,' she said.

John Gertz, editor of dpwatchdog.com, a site containing what it calls anti-Semitic writings published in The Planet. He says his goal is not to close the paper.

But since March, that running commentary has been under attack by a small but vociferous group of critics who accuse the paper's editor, Becky O'Malley, of publishing too many letters and other commentary pieces critical of Israel. Those accusations are the basis of a campaign to drive away the paper's advertisers and a Web site that strongly suggests The Planet and its editor are anti-Semitic."

 

Seems pretty clear to me that criticism of Jews, Jewish-culture, Judaism, and/or Zionism is NOT NECESSARILY anti-Semitism, but simply criticism.

On the other hand . . . RP

 

 

 

"Celebrating Miles Davis in Sight and Sound" is a reivew and more by Yasmine Ryan at nytimes.com.

"Examining music in a museum space is no simple task; exhibitions about musicians tend to downplay the music itself. But 'We Want Miles,' an ambitious show about the life and music of the jazz great Miles Davis, at Cité de la Musique through Jan. 17, is a remarkable exception. In this exhibition, the music is central.

The flow and form of the exhibition at Cité de la Musique (221, Avenue Jean-Jaurès; 33-1-44-84-44-84; www.citedelamusique.fr; Métro: Porte de Pantin), in the Parc de La Villette, is infused with the spontaneous and elegant nature of the man and his music: cool and understated in all the right places. Broken into a chronological series of eras, the constant evolutions and revolutions that characterized Davis's work are central themes.

The exhibition itself takes a hands-on approach: plug into various listening stations to experience Davis's tunes. Or sit and lose yourself in a series of 'mutes' - acoustically designed rooms, shaped like the trumpet device that Davis used to great effect, with music piped in. There's also film of 'live' concerts, some projected onto big screens."

 

 

"You Say Potato, I'll Say Potato:How social networks influence our behavior and outlook" is a book review at city-journal.org.

"Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler (Little, Brown, 352 pp., $25.99)

Before Facebook, few of us asked others, explicitly, to be our friends. We didn't monitor how many friends we had as an indication of our status or scroll through listings of friends of friends to pad our own list.

Yet the history of humanity is a history of social networking all the same, according to Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler"

 

 

 

"Dubai debt problems cast shadow over region" is an AP report at sfgate.com.

."For years, Dubai seemed unstoppable, an oasis of excess boasting indoor ski slopes and manmade islands, the world's tallest tower and dreams that reached even higher.

Now the bills are coming due, and the emirate's debt problems are tarnishing a place built on borrowed time and money - and threatening to spill into other Gulf Arab nations.

State-owned conglomerate Dubai World's call for a delay in repaying some of the $60 billion it owes creditors will likely make international investors view even more fiscally conservative countries through a lens of uncertainty, analysts say."

 


"WorLd Economy Roils as Dubai Postpones Loan Payments" is an interview at lehrer news.org.

"Friday's news that Dubai planned to postpone paying off its $60 billion debt threw the world economy into turmoil- big losses were seen in Asia, Europe and in the United States. Margaret Warner sits down with economic expert Simon Johnson for an in depth look into how Dubai's announcement will continue to affect the rest of the world."

 

 

David Snipper emails

Ron,
 
You recently wrote:

"A couple of Sundays ago, during Lipofsky and my outlining the development plan which bears our names, I noticed Marvin had on one of those nifty baseball caps with the beak in the front. I've been looking for one of the old-fashion caps but all I see are those with beaks in the back. Can anyone let me know where to get the older caps?"
 
Look no further, just turn around quickly while holding the beak!
 
Happy Thanksgiving
 
David Snipper

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/30/09

"Telegraph Avenue Merchants Say BRT Threatens Business" by Riya Bhattacharjee of our Planet.

Moe's daughter

Doris

a Daily Planet photo

"Like the majority of businesses on Telegraph Avenue, Moe's Books is against the city's Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for Bus Rapid Transit, a bus route city officials say is designed to have many of the advantages of a rail line without the disruption that comes with laying tracks.

The plan would keep Telegraph Avenue one-way northbound for cars but create a dedicated southbound lane between Durant Avenue and Dwight Way for buses, delivery and emergency vehicles and bikes.

Already struggling in today's challenging economy, Moe's, which has been around for half a century and employs 27 people, feels that two-way traffic on Telegraph would give rise to gridlock and prevent customers from coming to the store.

Standing in front of the store her father founded 50 years ago, Doris Moskowitz watched customers load and unload stacks of books from their cars."

 

 

 

"Berkeley's renaissance: Culture, cuisine and more" by Patrick May of the Mercury News is a slightly over the top appreciation of Our Town.

"Dusk drapes itself over the storied streetscape of Shattuck Avenue, and the thriving conversation that is downtown Berkeley these days begins to unwind.

The air brakes on an AC Transit bus hiss. A religious group chants prayers at the mouth of the BART station. A jazz riff floats from a street musician's trumpet.

Weaving through all this urban chatter are clusters of theatergoers, jazz lovers and folk-music fans, all converging on the city's thriving and nationally recognized arts district two blocks over. As if being home to a world-renowned university and the cradle of California cuisine weren't enough of a draw, Berkeley in the past few years has become a red-hot cultural destination.

For those lucky enough to live a short drive or BART ticket away, it's a no-brainer destination.

'Between the Berkeley Rep, Anna's Jazz Island, the Jazzschool, and the new Freight & Salvage, and talk of a new art museum, you've got a real renaissance going on,' says Scott Slocum, director of sales and marketing for Hotel Shattuck Plaza, the recently renovated 99-year-old landmark.

Nowhere is that renaissance more obvious than in the Downtown Berkeley Arts District along Addison and neighboring streets, where culture vultures can feast at the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the smaller Aurora Theatre Company and the Gaia Arts Center, or hear folk and traditional music at the newly transplanted Freight & Salvage Coffee."

 

 

 

"Relatively Few International Students Enroll At UC Berkeley" by Chris Carassi, Contributing Writer at daiylycal.

"While efforts are under way within the UC system to increase non-resident student enrollment, UC Berkeley will need a significant increase in the size of its international student population to match other American institutions, according to a recent survey.

The campus ranked 26th among American university campuses with 3,506 international students-9.9 percent of its student body-in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs, according to The Institute of International Education, which based the survey off 2008-09 academic year data."

 

Eternally useful links

 

Bay Area home prices from sfgate.com

 

Bay Area foreclosures from sfgate.com


Our City Council update is here.

 

Our Planning Commision update is here

 

 

You can find more information about our current weather conditions than is good for you at www.wunderground.com

Want to see weather coming in, going out, beautiful sunsets, and much, much more? Check out http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/ This very hip site was in an email from reader and contributor, Tony Almeida. Read Tony's Jimi Hendrix story on the only page that routinely gets more hits than Scrambled Eggs.

 

Best gas prices in 94710, as well as all of US and Canada, are here at gasbuddy.com

Kimar finds Costco routinely has the lowest price.

 

Richmond Ramblers' motorcycle club member, Cliff Miller emails a very

useful link

If you ever need to get a human being on the phone at a credit card company or bank, etc., this site tells you how to defeat their automated system and get you to a human being within a few seconds.

http://gethuman.com/

 

Markets is not just a reference for Berkeley-Hills radicals with 1.5 mil homes and considerable portfolios.

 

Our City of Berkeley Boards and Commissions page is here--redone and friendly.

 

 

Berkeley Police reports at insidebay area.com are here.

 

Our Berkeley PD Site with crime statistics and more is here.


Crime Log for 94710 is here

This site is NOT affiliated with Berkeley PD.
Take time to report crime!

 

All reports of crime-in-progress should first go to Berkeley PD dispatch--911 or non-emergency, 981-5900. THEN make sure you notify EACH of these City people.

The contacts are below:

Our new Area Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774 kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Angela Gallegos-Castillo, City Mgr Off - 981-2491 agallegos-castillo@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Ryan Lau, aid to Darryl Moore - 981-7120 rlau@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Darryl Moore, City Councilman dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us

 

More Scrambled Eggs & Lox, here

and

Stories about Berkeley and stories about recorded-music

are at

Journal of Recorded Music 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

 

ronpenndorf@earthlink.net

The original owner of all posted material retains copyright. The material is used only to illustrate.