January
2011
after 1/10/11 here after 1/19/11 here
posts from the past
1/1/06
Hawaii,
a Rick Auerbach photo © from the Audubon calender
1/5/09
Anthony Saulnier's father-in-law
is a Marine colonel stationed in Hawaii. While working out
at the base facility this week he heard "Good morning sir"
from the man on the next machine. Turning, he found Barack Obama
and replied "Good morning to you, sir." Anthony is one
of the owners of 900
GRAYSON.
end posts from the past
1/1/11
Chip Johnson's
2011 Oakland predictions include much kudos for Da Boz
"Berkeley as the model:
Quiet as it's kept, the lovely City of Berkeley has not experienced
the economic shortfalls that have afflicted virtually all of its
neighboring East Bay cities. Three-term Mayor Tom Bates, who served
two decades in the California Assembly, should receive his due
as a city leader. Berkeley has retained its ultra-liberal image
while providing some of the best services in the region."
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY GERALYN AND SARAH!
1/2/11
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Traffic to this web site
is up 12%, 2010 over 2009. But more dramatic is the over 100%
increase in traffic in the last months to Almost Daily Posts.
Largely I assume, the result of my new Miscellaneous Ramblings.
Also, I've taken some time
to browse a few websites-of-websites and found some serious errors.
One site gives our November hits as around 2000 when in fact my
server, Earthlink, shows just under 23,000. Another example, I
suppose, that there is a lot of information on the Internet, less
fact and even less knowledge.
Reading printed material
involves all our senses. You see, feel, smell, even hear the medium.
And so sense its great variety--the crackle of magazine pages,
the roughness of newsprint, the smooth slickness of the glossy
magazine, the old of used books, the exploding color of the new
book cover. All this is part of reading the printed page. Computer
reading on the other hand is less fully involving, more a head
trip--all keyboards"the same" all monitors "glowing."
Does this mean you write differently for each medium? Maybe.
Things happened here in 2010.
While surrounding cities
and towns are in financial difficulty including bankruptcy, Our
Town is somewhat financially stable in large part because of the
policies and administration of our City Manager, Phil Kamlarz.
Yet unfunded liabilities loom large.
For the first time in over
thirty years, the new Police Chief was chosen from outside the
department. The full effect of this is yet to be felt.
Our West-Berkeley Bowl has
become wildly successful, as has its traffic plan largely drawn
up under the guidance of our city workers.
The composition of our City
Council has remained the same, for all incumbents were re-elected--boring.
The results of our West-Berkeley
Project affirm Leon Trotsky's axiom "A camel is a race horse
made by a committee." Apologies to the city workers who labored
long and hard to bring some sort of order out the political mishegas.
In less than a year our,
our Chamber of Commerce has gone through two Chief Executive Officers
and at last count had not yet found a third, proving that success
in business does not necessarily include "playing well with
others."
And the Ed Roberts Campus
has opened, allowing its members to do their good works, affirming
that indeed "The meek shall inherit the earth."
And there is in 21st Century
Berkeley something to live-by in addition to "Do unto others
as you would have others do unto you." Which would be "That
which you resist, persists."
Yet, we all seemed to have
survived and are more or less well.
And what are the least interesting
happenings here of 2010. Well, those that I haven't posted.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
post from the past
1/12/10
Rumor persists that the San
Pablo Ave medical marijuana people have an interest in the old
chocolate factory--either in leasing or buying it. I'm told the
present owner paid five-mil some years ago.
end post from the past
"See Burrowing Owls at Cesar Chavez Park
This Weekend" is
a story at albany.patch.com.
"For more than a decade,
and by some reports longer, a small coterie of migratory Western
Burrowing Owls has been spending the winter at Cesar Chavez Park
in Berkeley. So far this year at least four have returned.
These small ground-dwelling
owls roost quietly during the day but are normally alert and looking
around. They are very easy to miss and most casual park visitors
never see them. Three years ago, after noticing that some of the
owls liked the habitat available in the north-east corner of the
park, members of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, in cooperation
with the Berkeley Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department
began a program of fencing off a small 'For Owls Only' area between
October and April when the owls are present."
"Agriculture apps gaining momentum"
by Pamela Kan-Rice, UCANR
Green Blog.
"When the great outdoors
is your research laboratory, gathering data can be a challenge.
To get a broader perspective on the extent of damage caused by
sudden oak death, a UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension geographer
is using crowd sourcing to enhance her research on the disease
that has killed over a million of California's iconic oak trees
since 1995."
"Solar Plant to Generate Power After Sundown"
by Rebecca Smith at wsj.com.
"Something new is headed
for the Southwest desert: solar power plants that can make electricity
whether or not the sun is shining.
Abengoa Solar Inc. expects
to start construction in mid-2011 on a plant in Arizona that will
store sun-generated heat to provide six extra hours a day of electric-generating
capacity. The heat creates steam that is used to turn power turbines.
Rebecca Smith looks at solar
power plants that can make electricity whether or not the sun
is shining, including one scheduled to be built in Arizona in
mid-2011."
"Kansas City Pays for First Renewable Energy
Farm:Missouri Governor Nixon confirmed Nordic WindPower would
move California facilities to Kansas City to create jobs, clean
energy" Meaghan
Clark at energydigital.com.
Nordic Windpower
photo
"Former California based wind turbine manufacturer Nordic
Windpower USA is moving to Kansas City International Airport,
creating an abundance of jobs over the year six years. Nordic
Windpower USA will be part of the latest renewable energy development
project plan by way of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who fronted
$5.6 million to help move the company to his state."
"Question for California's future: Should
I stay?" by Alice
Tu at sacbee.com.
"Thirty years ago
my parents immigrated to California. They came for a chance to
build a better future. In a few weeks I have an appointment with
the embassy of another country to secure my passport and citizenship
to a place I have never visited.
I recognize that I would
be choosing a path that my parents were forced to take, but I
suppose I share their impulse to carve out a life in a hospitable
place. I am 22 years old, three months out of college and challenged
by questions about my future in California. I haven't packed my
bags yet I'm working to build a business here, and yet I'm
unsettled enough to plan for the possibility of a life beyond
my native state."
"Tesla tying profit hopes to lower-cost
batteries" Alan
Ohnsman, Bloomberg News.
"Electric car manufacturer
Tesla Motors Inc. says cheaper batteries will make its Model S
sedan profitable with much lower sales than Nissan Motor Co. seeks
for its Leaf car.
Tesla photo
The $57,000 electric Model
S, which uses cells similar to those in laptops, is designed to
make money for Palo Alto's Tesla at 20,000 annual deliveries,
Chief Technology Officer J.B. Straubel said. Nissan CEO Carlos
Ghosn has said combined battery-car sales for Nissan and affiliate
Renault SA may need to reach 500,000 vehicles a year to be profitable
without government aid."
"Patois Records: The Little Label That
Could" at jazzcorner.com.
"What do a radio promoter
in Livingston, Texas, an entertainment lawyer in Berkeley, California,
a publicist in Lincoln, Massachusetts, a sales rep who is a grandfather,
and an operations & marketing director balancing her laptop
in one hand and young child in the other have in common? They
are all on the team of San Francisco-based Patois Records strategizing
a campaign around the upcoming CD release and recent Grammy nomination
of label head and Latin Jazz trombonist Wayne Wallace."
1/3/11
posts from the past
5/1/09
Tameka Lim
is now teaching in Spain
Da Boz et al, 11 o'clock
Tuesday morning
touring our
Potter Creek Acme Bread
you know, I think Da Boz
and the lady facing him are dancing together
"Dellums should take some cues from Mayor
Bates" writes Chip
Johnson at sfgate.com.
end posts from the past
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Yesterday, driving past the
Tom Bates sports complex off Frontage road it was good to see
the facility in full use by among others, serious soccer players--four
teams with proper uniforms.
Also yesterday, in my half
dozen trips past the Bowl there were always 4, 7,10 vehicles,
bicyclists, pedestrians milling around expecting it to be open,
wondering why it was closed.
And at OSH next to the Bowl,
I found a great little halogen pocket-flashlight for $3.00--a
bargain, but only a great value if they are long lasting. Well
built, I bought several on the chance that they are.
Da Boz and his administrations'
major focus on change is moving--has moved, will move--from west-Berkeley
to downtown.
A work in the printed-word
has happened, it's accomplished. A work in the computer-word can
also be happening, a process. Sfgate, for instance will update
a story so that under the same head-line it becomes, in fact,
a different story. Whoa, . . . heavy!? Not sure, but this is another
difference between printed and computer media. Does it require
a different sort of writing, perhaps even thinking? Maybe.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"Book now!" at miamiherald.com reports
"The 44th International
Antiquarian Book Fair at San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition
Center Feb. 11-13, 2011, features a special music theme, including
a special exhibit of rare musical books and manuscripts dating
back as far as the 1300s from the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library
of the University of California at Berkeley."
"Hallidie Building, Berkeley City Club
need repair" John
King, Chronicle Urban Design Critic at sfgate.com.
"BP Brews Up an Ethanol Breakthrough with
Engineered Yeast"
by Danny Bradbury, BusinessGreen.
"A BP-backed research
project has produced a variety of yeast designed to process cellulosic
material into ethanol more effectively than before.
Researchers at the University
of Illinois, in conjunction with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Seoul National University, and the University of California, have
engineered a yeast strain that can process two types of sugar
at once."
"Women closing the job, wage divide"
by Tom Abate at sfgate.com.
"The recession that
began in 2007 accelerated changes that had already begun to reshape
the landscape of labor in subtle ways that help women in their
quest for earnings equality, while making it tougher for men to
remain the family's primary bread winners.
'This has been a male recession
more than a female recession,"'said Wesleyan University economist
Joyce Jacobsen.
While the overall U.S. unemployment
rate is 9.8 percent, 10 percent of men are jobless, compared with
8.4 of women, reflecting the fact that this recession hit guy-fields
like construction and manufacturing harder than gal-industries
such as health care and education."
"In Investing, It's When You Start. And
When You Finish"
at nytimes.com.
"The Standard &
Poor's 500-stock index has posted double-digit gains for the second
year in a row. But the index is still below where it was in early
1999.
So what is the proper perspective?"
1/4/11
post from the past
4/17/10
Uncommon Café
is hidden away behind V&W
Windows, 2813 Seventh Street, 510-845-5264
cold and hot sandwiches are
served with freshly roasted coffee
(a truly superior coffee,
it is also served in the deli-section of The Bowl RP)
a favorite is Italianova-two
eggs, black forest ham, gruyere cheese and basil pesto on a sweet
french panini
open Mon-Thurs 10AM-5:30
PM, Friday 10AM-3PM, closed weekends
(FREE coffee on Tuesdays!)
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Créma Cafe, 2865 Seventh
Street
is now open weekdays for
breakfast 8AM-11 AM and lunch 11AM-4 PM
The University's Lawrence
Berkeley Nuclear Laboratory Request for Qualification (RFQ) was
just released. The 14 page document sets forth their qualifications
for the Second Campus. West-Berkeley is the possible location
if it meets these qualifications in a competition.
The RFQ Introduction includes
"The University intends
to identify several sites from the responses to this RFQ and enter
into
more detailed negotiations with the landowners and/or land representatives
("Respondents").
The results of these more detailed negotiations would be the final
selection of a preferred site
for the second campus. It is the University's expectation that
all short listed Respondents will
engage an entity with appropriate development experience to participate
in the detailed
negotiations and that the third party developer will construct
the infrastructure and facilities. The
University intends to finance the development of the site. However,
the University will also
consider third party financing, or a combination of public and
private financing, if such financing
would be more beneficial. "
Underlining of particularly
significant and/or new information is mine.
Among the attributes the
University seeks for its second campus are
"*1. The site should
allow for the development of a state-of-the-art facility with
a beautiful
environment that will be the location of choice for internationally
recognized researchers.
It should allow for sustainable land use and circulation patterns,
maximizing density to
reduce overall building footprints and conserve open space. The
site should allow for the
placement and massing of buildings to maximize shared views.
*2. The location should be
within an approximately 20 to 25-minute commute from the
existing LBNL main entrance at Blackberry Gate.
*3. The site should have
development capacity for approximately 2 million gross square
feet
of laboratory, office, and support facilities.
?4. The site should be
able to accommodate future large-scale research activities, including
potential structures approximately 3,000 feet in length.
5. The second campus should
be located in a welcoming community with a positive civic
expression of interest in development of the site and the resulting
creation of high quality
jobs.
*6. The second campus should
be located in a safe community to ensure that employees,
visitors, and guests are safe when coming to/returning home from
work.
*7. The site should be readily
accessible to a variety of modes of public transportation,
inclusive of local buses, mass transit (BART, Amtrak, and AC Transit),
and shuttle
services. The site should allow for ADA accessible grade-level
connections. The site
should allow safe bicyclist access from a designated bike path
such as the Bay Trail.
*8. The site should be proximate
to either existing or planned restaurants and cafes which
offer a range in price and food types, preferably within walking
distance. The site should
be proximate to either existing or planned convenience stores,
a post office, banks
and/or ATMs, auto repair/gas stations, child care facilities,
hotels, and motels. These
establishments should be no more than a 10-minute commute. The
site should be
proximate to existing or planned publicly-accessed recreational
facilities such as
gymnasiums, health clubs, and outdoor fields.
9. The site should facilitate
efficient constructability of facilities (buildings, parking
structures, bridges, etc.), infrastructure development (roads,
underground utilities,
pedestrian walkways, etc.), and open space.
*10. The site should allow
for the development of sustainable land use and circulation
patterns which maximize bicycle, pedestrian and shuttle services.
11. The site should allow
for electrical, natural gas, and water utilities for the lowest
possible
cost.
12. The site should have, or it should be reasonably feasible
to attain, unimpeded (not
crossing public roads) access to public fiber optic paths (telephone,
cable company or
third party) and dual cable entrance facilities.
13. The site should require
minimal or no environmental remediation or have a funded plan
approved to address remediation. Any prior decontamination of
the site should have
been in accordance with state and federal requirements.
?14. The area surrounding
the site should provide adequate separation from sources of
vibration (e.g. railways, freeways, etc.) or electromagnetic radiation
(e.g. overhead
transmission lines or power substation) and the potential research
facilities areas.
15. The site should have
minimal overdraft (groundwater depletion) and groundwater related
subsidence. It should not be located in areas where there is the
risk of flooding caused
by storm-related events, potential dam failure, or coastal hazards
(including sea water
rise) that cannot be mitigated at a reasonable expense. If buildings
exist on the site, they
should include systems for appropriate storm water management
and wastewater
discharge related to existing aquifers, waterways, and storm water
systems.
16. The site should have
minimal occurrence of highly-compressible ground surface
conditions (e.g. areas known or considered prone to liquefaction).
17. Any existing buildings
that the Respondent proposes for use by LBNL must meet the
current version of the University of California seismic requirements
(or be rehabilitated to
meet those requirements)."
Asteriks are mine and indicate
those qualifications we well meet. Question marks are of questionable
qualifications for us. Underlining is of important/outstanding/unusual
qualifications.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"Xoma, Laboratoires Servier to Develop
Diabetes Drug" by
Rob Waters, bloomberg.com.
"Xoma Ltd., an unprofitable
30-year- old biotechnology company, will get an initial payment
of $35 million and may earn as much as $800 million more from
Les Laboratoires Servier to share development of an experimental
medicine for diabetes and other disorders.
Laboratoires Servier, France's
largest closely held drug company, will get worldwide rights to
develop and market Xoma- 052 for diabetes and cardiovascular disease,
the companies said in a statement. Xoma, based in Berkeley, California,
will retain rights for use in Behcet's uveitis, a rare condition
that inflames blood vessels in the eye and can cause blindness,
and other inflammatory and oncology uses in the U.S. and Japan.
"
1/5/11
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
If LBL' s requirement for
a new site that would accommodate a 2 million square foot facility
and 3000 foot long buildings is firm, I'd hedge my bet on a west-Berkeley
location. And if the 20-25 minute commute time from the present
LBL site is firm, any location that includes rush hour freeway
driving wouldn't get my big-money bet either.
Then again, perhaps the University's
Request for Qualification can best be understood through Alice's
Looking Glass. I've certainly found that helpful in understanding
our West-Berkeley Plan.
And, in keeping with my understanding
that an Internet story can be a "work in progress" see
my above revisions to The University's Lawrence Berkeley Nuclear
Laboratory Request for Qualification (RFQ).
I had breakfast with Patrick
Kennedy at 900 GRAYSON Monday morning. Patrick is more interested
now in building housing in San Francisco where he believes there
will be more jobs and so more people. And he is excited about
multi-famly prefabricated construction as it is very cost effective.
As to my question "What is the one thing we should know about
Berkeley in 2011?" He answered "That Berkeley is on
the right track now."
And, what is the state of
commercial real estate in west-Berkeley today? A year ago I could
walk into Norheim and Yost and schmooze with Don, John and/or
Steve at leisure. Today more than likely they are, one-or-all,
out showing property, have desks filled with work, have busy schedules,
and little or no schmooze-time. I can't even get John to take
time and talk about sailing.
the kitchen
at Créma
Kubik emails
Nine Words Used by Women
(1) Fine : This is the word
women use to end an argument when they are right and you need
to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she
is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is
only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes
to watch the game before helping around the house.
(3) Nothing : This is the
calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be
on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in
fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare,
not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually
a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men.
A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why
she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about
nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is
one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man.
That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding
how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks : A woman is thanking
you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want
to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks
a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all.
DO NOT say 'you're welcome' . that will bring on a 'whatever').
(8) Whatever : Is a woman's
way of saying...Go to Hell
(9) Don't worry about it,
I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something
that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing
it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?'
For the woman's response refer to # 3.
Land use issues too tiring?
Check out The Insider.
Snooki's interview about her new book is worthy.
Insightfully lucid, it
is not to be missed.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"David Brower Center - Integral Group's
8th LEED Platinum Building"
is a press release at csrwire.com.
"Integral Group (formerly
Rumsey Engineers) today announced that the David Brower Center
in Berkeley, California was awarded a LEED Platinum certification
by the USGBC. This is the firm's 8th LEED Platinum certified building.
The project earned 55 out of a possible 60 points (42 points is
the minimum for Platinum certification)."
"Kay Kerr, co-founder of Save the Bay,
dies at 99" mercurynews.com.
"Catherine 'Kay' Kerr,
co-founder of the first environmental organization dedicated solely
to protecting San Francisco Bay, has died. "
1/6/11
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Vintage European Posters Hosts
David Lance Goines for Exclusive Book Signing in Berkeley
Vintage European Posters proudly welcomes David
Lance Goines for an exclusive signing of his new book, The Poster
Art of David Lance Goines: A 40-Year Retrospective. Poster
art is meant to catch your eye. It is meant to make you
want something. No one understands this better than Berkeley
Poster Artist David Lance Goines who has made people want to visit
Pacific Film Archive and eat at Chez Panisse for more than 30
years with his tantalizing posters. Guests are invited to
meet the famed Berkley poster artist in the new showroom
of Vintage European Posters and explore his work through the context
of the history of advertising.
Art enthusiasts, posters connoisseurs and collectors
alike will have the opportunity to purchase an autographed copy
of Goines' book while perusing his works and the extensive collection
offered by European Vintage Posters. Refreshments will be
served.
Vintage European Posters New Showroom
2201 Fourth Street (corner of Allston Way) Berkeley, CA 94710
Sunday, January 16, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. free
admission.
For more information about Vintage European Posters or the David
Lance Goines book signing, please call 510 843 2201, visit us
at www.vepca.com or find us
on Facebook .
The VEP Collection www.vepca.com
consists of over 1,000 original posters from Europe and the US
which touch on every topic from bicycles to wine and food to military
recruiting. All of the posters have been preserved by a
paper conservator and are available for purchase and framing.
The Berkeley Bowl Cafe is
now open 'till 7 PM Monday through Saturday with the kitchen open
'till 5 PM. The menu is the same as the lunch menu so a light
early dinner can be had. On Sunday the Cafe is closes at 6PM with
the kitchen closing again at 5 PM.
"An update on Afghanistan" is a Charlie Rose conversation with Alissa
Rubin and Rod Nordland of the New York Times. I left the half
hour better informed "It isn't about Afghanistan but about
Pakistan" but more confused.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
posts from the past
1/1/09
"Passive houses guard against waste of
heat energy" is
a report by Elisabeth Rosenthal in the International Herald
Tribune.
"Nabih Tahan, an architect
who worked in Austria for 11 years, is completing one of the first
passive house for his family in Berkeley, California, and heads
a group of 70 Bay Area architects and engineers to encourage adoption
of the standard.
'This is a recipe for energy
that makes sense to people - why not reuse this heat you get for
free?' he said.
But ironically, when California inspectors came to assess whether
the house met green building codes (it did) he could not get credit
for the heat exchanger, a device unknown in the United States."
"India, US cos join hands to electrify
Bijlee research"
is a report in the India Times.
"Fancy owning cars painted
with particles that will cool your vehicle drawing solar power
and still not leave a trace of carbon in theair?
Or buildings that remain
cool while consuming far less energy than they do now?
These and several other sustainable
energy solutions for a wide variety of everyday needs could become
a reality with India and the US deciding to bring together scientists
in both the countries with support from corporate groups.
The ministry of science and
technology is all set to launch 'BIJLEE' or the Berkeley-India
Joint Leadership on Energy and the Environment, under which the
US government will spare its top scientists and engineers to develop
sustainable energy solutions for India, said an Indian government
official, who declined to be identified."
"Oakland's Fox Theater returning to life" is a story by John King, Chronicle Urban
Design Writer.
"It's difficult to say
what is more remarkable about the hallucinogenic interior of the
Fox Oakland Theater: the Moorish details that flood the ceilings
and walls, or the fact it survived decades of neglect.
'It's a wonderful glimpse of the past,' said Kurt Schindler, a
principal of the Berkeley architecture firm ELS. 'These picture
palaces were about glitz. They were designed to take you into
another era, offering fantasy and escape.'"
1/5/09
Potter Creek's Maurice Levitch
made the Chron with "Featured
Property: 2 green condos in Berkeley" by Tracey Taylor.
"Every house has a story to tell, but when the home is newly
built you don't expect it to be a very long one. Architect and
builder Maurice Levitch is determined, however, that whoever buys
one, or both, of his recently completed condos on Seventh Street
in West Berkeley will know as much as there is to know about the
history of the land and whatever it is that came before them.
'I like to acknowledge the past in a new home,' he says. 'It gives
the structure a story and places it in the context of its location.'
This focus on heritage also sits well with Levitch's desire to
build homes that salvage and reuse materials as much as possible
and have a minimal impact on the environment.
A visit to the two four-bedroom,
three-bath townhouses at 1411 and 1413 Seventh St. therefore includes
the opportunity to see a small display of the artifacts unearthed
during their construction, as well as information on the 240-square-foot
home that was built on the site in 1895. It is believed to have
belonged to Jennie Morris, dressmaker, which may well explain
the rust-encrusted hand iron that can be examined in the mini-exhibition."
end posts from the past
"Keeping Women in Science on a Tenure Track" by Steven Greenhouse at nytimes.com.
"More women are obtaining
Ph.D.'s in science than ever before, but those women - largely
because of pressures from having a family - are far more likely
than their male counterparts to "leak" out of the research
science pipeline before obtaining tenure at a college or university."
"Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory Issues RFQ" at nawindpower.com.
"The U.S. Department
of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with support
from the University of California (UC), has issued a request for
qualifications (RFQ) for a second campus to consolidate current
programs that are located throughout the Bay Area.
The laboratory's existing
campus is located in the Berkeley hills above the University of
California, Berkeley. The RFQ seeks expressions of interest for
a site with a combination of attributes, including that it be
located within 25 minutes of the original campus, have land capacity
to accommodate any future growth and have easy access to public
transportation and other amenities.
'Our lab has a significant
need for a second campus to accommodate both current and future
programs, as far as 30 to 50 years into the future,' says Paul
Alivisatos, director of the laboratory. 'Berkeley Lab has been
the home to some of the most innovative scientific research in
the last 80 years. Now we need to ensure that it has the discovery
space to meet today's needs and those that will certainly arise
in the future.'
Most of the laboratory's
4,200 employees work at its main site, but approximately 20% of
them are dispersed around the East Bay in four facilities: the
Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, the Joint Genome Institute
in Walnut Creek, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing
Center in Oakland and the Life Sciences division in West Berkeley."
1/7/11
post from the past
1/1/09
"Being homeless in high school is tough" writes Doug Oakley of our Times.
"But a new bicycle will
help lessen the sting for 90 Alameda County youngsters this holiday
season, said education officials who handed them out at 16 homeless
shelters Monday.
The Alameda County Office
of Education spent $4,000 on new bikes and delivered 11 of them
to kids at the Ursula Sherman Village, a homeless shelter for
individuals and families, on Harrison Street in Berkeley."
end post from the past
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Donna and Peter Christy,
owners of Far Leaves Tea bought the 2626 San Pablo building for
a tea warehouse and tea room. Specializing in imported Chinese
teas, the tea room will be in front facing the street, the warehouse
in back. 2626 San Pablo is south of Black Oak Books on the same
side of the street.
Check out their website for who they are.
If the LBNL Request for Qualification
(RFQ) is "cast in stone" the math and economics favor
their Richmond Field Station location. Nice of them to offer,
though.
"Photographer Alec Soth
showcased his work in Minneapolis' Walker Art Center, including
exhibits entitled '33 Movie Theaters and a Funeral Home' and 'Broken
Manual.' Twin Cities Public Television profiled him, and it's
part of our NewsHour Connect series highlighting public media
reporting from around the nation."
Soth shoots with a vintage
"plate camera" and his images are extraordinary because
of this alone. He also has "The eye." Video is at pbs.org.
During this tumultuous time
in California's history, it is more important than ever to have
leaders who are willing to take on the difficult challenges ahead.
This Saturday, January 8th, you will have the opportunity to cast
your vote to help move California forward.
Assembly District 14 Election Meeting
1:00 to 2:55 p.m. on Saturday, January 8th, 2011
Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline Street in Berkeley
You will be asked to vote for 6 men and 6 women to fill 12 delegate positions
for the 14th Assembly District of the California Democratic
Party. I am supporting the following people because I believe
that they will work hard for the progressive causes that we value.
Men: Ryan Lau, Nicky Yuen, Jael Myrick, Dan Kalb, Michael
Barnett and Ron Bishop
Women: Nicole Drake, Karen Weinstein, Eleanor Moses, Cecilia
"Ces" Rosales, Kathy Klein, and Janet Abelson
To be eligible to vote, you must be a registered Democrat as of
October 18, 2010 and live in Assembly District 14 (which includes
Albany, Berkeley, East Richmond Heights, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Kensington,
Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo,
and parts of Oakland).
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"New Imaging Method Makes Brain Scans 7
Times Faster" dailytech.com.
"Combining functional
magnetic resonance imaging and echo planar imaging making MRI
technology faster than ever.
Researchers from the University
of California - Berkeley, Washington University in St. Louis,
the University of Minnesota, and Oxford University in the United
Kingdom have discovered an advancement in magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) technology that is capable of making brain scans seven times
faster than before."
"Journal's Paper on ESP Expected to Prompt
Outrage" by Benedict
Carey at nytimes.com.
"One of psychology's
most respected journals has agreed to publish a paper presenting
what its author describes as strong evidence for extrasensory
perception, the ability to sense future events."
1/9/11
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
In my 1/2/11 Miscellaneous
Ramblings I wrote
"Things happened here
in 2010.
While surrounding cities
and towns are in financial difficulty including bankruptcy, Our
Town is somewhat financially stable in large part because of the
policies and administration of our City Manager, Phil Kamlarz.
Yet unfunded liabilities loom large."
Of our unfunded liabilites
Daniel Borenstein now writes at contracostatimes.com "Berkeley
benefit debt at least $310 million.
Two years ago, as Berkeley
City Council members gave City Manager Phil Kamlarz a hefty salary
increase, they credited him with running a fiscally sound organization.
'We are in better fiscal
shape than virtually any other jurisdiction in the Bay Area and
I would suggest even California,' Councilman Laurie Capitelli
declared.
But a report by City Auditor
Ann-Marie Hogan and new numbers from the California Public Employees'
Retirement System show that the city has an unfunded liability
for promised employee benefits of $310 million.
That's equal to more than
two years of city general fund revenues. It works out to about
$197,000 for every full-time city employee. Taxpayers must pay
it off, at a cost of about $3,000 for every city resident.
The city has spent beyond
its means, racking up huge debt that will be pushed onto future
generations. They will be forced to choose between more taxes
-- in a city that's already paying some of the highest -- and
fewer services.
The biggest factors driving
the debt are the city's unfunded liability for a pension plan
that allows some workers to collect more in retirement than on
the job; overly generous promises of health care coverage for
police in retirement; and a ridiculous vacation and sick leave
accrual policy that costs the city millions and enables employees
to spike their pensions.
If anything, the estimates
are conservative because the city's pension liability, the biggest
part of the debt, is calculated by CalPERS. The state retirement
agency's formulas don't yet include much of the investment losses
of the past 2 1/2 years and make overly optimistic assumptions
about future investment returns. Indeed, Berkeley's total debt
might be as much as $200 million more."
Early last year, our Bob
Kubik and others spoke at a council meeting warning of the "liability
of unfunded liabilities."
Yesterday I emailed to subscribers
that "U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords dies after a gunman opens
fire at a public event in
Arizona on Saturday, law enforcement tells NPR and CNN."
Thankfully the story has
become"Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot and at least five people
were killed during a rampage in Arizona.
Arizona Rep. Giffords Shot, At Least 5 Killed. At Least 10
People Wounded."
On 1/3/11 I wrote about the
difference between reporting in the printed word and reporting
on the Internet
"A work in the printed-word
has happened, it's accomplished. A work in the computer-word can
also be happening, a process. Sfgate, for instance will update
a story so that under the same head-line it becomes, in fact,
a different story. . . . this is another difference between printed
and computer media. "
The attempt to assassinate
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has reminded me of the night in 1979,
radical and attorney for the Black Panthers, our Faye Stender,
was gunned down in her Berkeley home. She survived though, paralyzed
by the six shots fired into her body and in constant pain, she
later took her life.
Beethoven as you've never
heard or seen before can by heard and seen at
choralnet.org.
And certainly over the top,
The
Insider's Lingerie Football story is worth watching if only
because it's so completely, insanely off-the-wall.
However, perhaps still over-the-top,
I believe full-uniform, professional female football has a future.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"Sunshine on a plate:We savour three delicious
takes on California cuisine" by
Joanne Sasvari, Calgary Herald.
"The waiter sees me
dithering over the menu and leans over to whisper, 'Alice would
want you to have the tomato salad.'
Alice being Alice Waters,
chef-owner of the famous Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. Well,
then of course I'll have the tomato salad. After all, Waters is
the woman who for the past 30 years has led the North American
culinary revolution from this funky arts-and-crafts-style eatery,
encouraging us all to eat organic, local, fresh and delicious.
Whatever she suggests is fine by me.
The salad arrives, thick,
sweet, multi-hued slices of organic heirloom tomatoes drizzled
in olive oil and scattered with just-plucked basil leaves. It
tastes of sunshine. It is, in short, California on a plate."
"Chevrolet Rolls Out First Bay Area Volt"
reports Steve Schaefer
of the San Leandro Times.
"Patrick Wang of Berkeley
was the first in the Bay Area to receive a 2011 Chevrolet Volt
- 10th off the production line."
1/10/11
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Yesterday, I posted
"Of our unfunded liabilities
Daniel Borenstein now writes at contracostatimes.com 'Berkeley
benefit debt at least $310 million.' "
Understand this figure is
an estimate and an additional liability "The state retirement
agency's formulas don't yet include much of the investment losses
of the past 2 1/2 years and make overly optimistic assumptions
about future investment returns. Indeed, Berkeley's total debt
might be as much as $200 million more" is conjecture. And
still I wrote "Yet unfunded liabilities loom large."
I've been browsing my archive of eight years and it seems
clear that history will be more kind to our Mayor Tom Bates than
we all have. And, we can be forgiven our myopia for we are altogether
players in this sometimes Goetheian drama.
This story was written in
1991 and refects that and earlier times. Diana Russell writes
of "Faye
Stender and Politics of Murder."
"I have chosen to write
about the death of Fay Stender, a well-known California attorney,
because I was very deeply affected by it. In part this was because
I knew her. Her lover was a close friend of mine. In addition,
Stender lived in my neighborhood; I was with her only 24 hours
before she was shot. As a political radical, I also identified
with her. Consequently, I found the attempt to kill her for political
reasons particularly horrifying.
Stender was shot six times
at pointblank range in her Berkeley home by a man later identified
as 27-year-old, exconvict Edward Brooks. One .38 caliber bullet
hit Fay's head, narrowly missing her brain. Three other bullets
stuck her in the abdomen and chest, damaging her spinal cord and
right lung. The remaining two bullets fractured bones in her arms
causing nerve damage. When Brooks ran from Stender's home, he
'left her for dead.' Stender was 47 years old at the time, a feminist,
the mother of two children, Neal and Oriane, and had recently
separated from her attorney husband, Marvin.
Stender was on the critical
list for the next few days and in the intensive care unit at a
Berkeley hospital for several weeks. When she was discharged,
she was permanently paralyzed from her waist down.
Unable to endure the profound
disillusionment and the relentless physical pain, Stender herself
eventually completed Brooks' attempt to terminate her life. 'I'm
just living for this [Brooks'] trial,' she told friends. 'I want
to see him put away.' Three months after Brooks was sentenced
to 17 years in state prison for attempted murder, an overflowing
congregation of grieving family, friends and acquaintances attended
Stender's funeral - a year to the day (May 28,1980) after Brooks
forced his way into her home and shot her.
Stender died in Hong Kong
from a drug overdose. She had fled there in an effort to quell
the terror of another assassination attempt. But with the diminution
of this terror, Stender's grief, disillusionment and anger came
to the fore. Try as she might, she was unable to obliterate these
feelings and the state of profound despair that accompanied them.
She killed herself after less than two months in the country she
had chosen for selfbanishment, half a world away from her home."
Gabrielle Giffords, a Jew
is the first Jewish congress person from Arizona.
The city will not submit
a plan for the new LBNL campus but will support any developers
who do.
A downtown Business Improvement
District (BID) has broad apporval of the busines community and
looks likely to become a reality. And so, look for some version
of a BID to be re-introduced in west-Berkeley?
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
post from the past
2/3/08
David Snipper
emails his thoughts on my 1/24/08 post--my post follows
"Recently, when west-Berkeley
could have made a real difference by challenging the constitionality
of Benefit Districts in court, where a victory would have wide-ranging
effect for citizens of California, our re-Activists chose to build
their opposition around a [ pocket-book-issue ], sugar-coated
in unfair-representation."
David's email continues
"For the average home
owner or small non-residential occupant in southwest Berkeley
the hit on our pocket books would clearly have been less
than a drop in the annual bucket. The authors proposed removing
most of us small players. . . . The objections didn't go away.
This was and is still a very strong negative response to our being
cut out of the decision making process thereby leaving
us with little or no say-so in determining the future
of our neighborhood.
Challenging this issue in court as being un-constitutional may be an
admirable alternative but I believe it would have less than a
fifty-fifty chance against the combined money and legal might
of the big players . . . and we would be looking
at very large pocket-book hits for a long, long time.
. . .
David"
end post from the past
"Autopsy To Enter Studio Next Month" is a report at roadrunnerrecords.com.
"Resurrected U.S. gore
legends Autopsy will enter Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California
in early February with producer Adam Munoz to begin recording
their new album, 'Macabre Eternal', for a spring release via Peaceville
Records."
"Iconic Berkeley seafood eatery pairs with
top California brewer" is
a mention at examiner.com.
"Spenger's Fish Grotto,
the iconic seafood restaurant on Fourth Street in Berkeley, is
showcasing Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s best beers for a special
Hawaiian-flavored dinner event on January 20. The five-course
feast will match South Sea-styled seafood delicacies with Sierra
Nevada's most well-liked brews, resulting in an unlikely but likeable
luau at the famed East Bay eatery."
"UC commission's report seeks new sources
of funds" by Sarah
Duxbury at San Francisco Business Times.
"In November 2010, the
University of California Board of Regents published its Commission
on the Future report, intended to help the University of California
system navigate the state's fiscal crisis and the forecast $5
billion more that the entire system will cost to run by the end
of the next decade.
The 20 recommendations contained
in the 41-page report touch on education and research, as well
as the administrative and operational aspects of the University
of California system.
They range from speeding
time to graduation to exploring the feasibility of online education
to increasing out-of-state enrollment and proportionally distributing
out-of-state students across all 10 U.C. campuses. The recommendations
also include recovering all research costs, getting campuses to
find sponsors for new internships, fellowships and visiting professors,
and increasing private fundraising."
"Dirty Business film debunks 'clean coal'
myth" at guardian.co.uk.
"Documentary reveals
the true cost of US dependence and the murky realities of marketing
'clean coal' technology."
1/11/11 and following
HERE
from my log
12/31/10--2:19 PM--SERIOUS
irritant in warehouse front and IMMEDIATELY in front of warehouse,
mucus membrane irritation, light head, nausea, chills, over rides
HEPA filters, wear respirator. 4:31 PM--lights flicker. 4:41 PM--mucus
membrane irritation. 4:44 PM--Marsha has cough attack. 4:49 PM--cough
attack. 4:57 PM--SERIOUS mucus membrane irritation. 6:20 PM--similar.
6:35 PM--SERIOUS cough attack, short breath, overrides HEPA filter,
wear respirator, leave.
9/8/11--5:21PM--dry dirty
air, mucus membrane imitation, Marsha similar. 6:14 PM similar,
6:36 PM--similar.
1/9/11--7:11 AM--dry dirty
air, mucus membrane imitation.
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 Area
Coordinator is Officer Karen Buckheit, Berkeley PD - 981-5774
kbuckheit@ci.berkeley.ca.us
AND check out BPD feature
"Who
are these Crooks."
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.