Bethany McLean
the author, along with Joe
Nocera, of
"All the Devils are Here."
11/20/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
You can mess with your mind
or just get some insight into our ruling class by carefully watching
Charlie
Rose converstion with authors Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean,
They talk about their new book "All the Devils are Here:The
Hidden History of the Financial Crisis" and more.
Rose is curiously ill-at-ease.
Maybe because as he hints, McLean knows more than he does, or
more darkly, because some of "the devils" are his friends
and acquaintances.
On 8/10/10 I posted.
"Following are links
to Bethany McLean's Miller
Center Forum and her 2001 Fortune article 'Is
Enron Overpriced?' that helped bring Eron down.
'Is Enron Overpriced? In
March 2001, Fortune pointed out that Enron's financial statements
were nearly impenetrable.
(Editors note--Remember when
it seemed outrageous to suggest that Enron shouldn't be the golden
child of Wall Street? Before the congressional hearings, before
Arthur Andersen was indicted, before the SEC and the DOJ got involved,
Fortune's Bethany McLean asked whether a company that traded at
55 times earnings should be so opaque. Here is what she wrote.)
"Is Enron Overpriced?
It's in a bunch of complex
businesses. Its financial statements are nearly impenetrable.
So why is Enron trading at such a huge multiple?
In Hollywood parlance, the
'It Girl' is someone who commands the spotlight at any given moment
-- you know, like Jennifer Lopez or Kate Hudson. Wall Street is
a far less glitzy place, but there's still such a thing as an
'It Stock.' Right now, that title belongs to Enron, the Houston
energy giant." ' "
Paul Solman gives a hard-hitting
interview, largely a product of tight editing, with Joe Nocera
and Bethany McLean on the PBS News Hour. Brief and succinct, it
is here
And Lt Andy Greenwood BPD
emails
Ron,
Check the out authors [ Joe
Nocera and Bethany McLean ] on Jon
Stewart's Daily Show from two days ago, . . . Comedy Central/Daily
Show website. Interesting stuff.
best regards,
Andy
11/22/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
"Unions Yield on Wage Scales to Preserve
Jobs" Louis Uchitelle,
nytimes.com.
"Organized labor appears
to be losing an important battle in the Great Recession.
Even at manufacturing companies
that are profitable, union workers are reluctantly agreeing to
tiered contracts that create two levels of pay.
In years past, two-tiered
systems were used to drive down costs in hard times, but mainly
at companies already in trouble. And those arrangements, at the
insistence of the unions, were designed, in most cases, to expire
in a few years.
Now, the managers of some
marquee companies are aiming to make this concession permanent.
If they are successful, their contracts could become blueprints
for other companies in other cities, extending a wage system that
would be a startling retreat for labor."
A tipping point or a blip?
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
Pete's Potter Creek rain
gauge showed 1.5 inches for Friday through Sunday morning.
Pete's
Grampy's' biplane
Pete Hurney's Grandfather
flew this Curtiss off of Long Island in the 1930's.
photo from his
Dad's collection
Check out Pete's KALX show,
Scratchy Vinyl Monday 3-6PM.
His last Scratchy Vinyl playist
is here.
" Jewish Activists Fight in California"
by Elad Benari, israelnationalnews.com.
"A physical altercation
broke out on Sunday between right-wing and left-wing Israel activists
in Berkeley, California, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
The incident took place during
a meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace at the South Berkeley Senior
Center. Activists from San Francisco Voice for Israel/StandWithUs
arrived at the meeting and began to heckle the Jewish Voice for
Peace speakers. The incident escalated and resulted in pepper
spray being used by a StandWithUs member against two Jewish Voice
for Peace members.
Berkeley Police and paramedics
were called to the scene; however, no arrests were made."
Aw jeez.
"NorCal cities bring pot growing into the
light" by Marcus
Wohlsen at washingtonpost.com.
"As cities get set to levy taxes on medical marijuana retailers,
some localities in Northern California are already moving toward
creating government-sanctioned marijuana farms to help supply
them.
Cities hope to rake in even
more tax revenue from medical marijuana cultivation, which has
remained in the shadows although it has been legal in the state
since 1996.
On Monday, Oakland will begin
the application process for four permits to run industrial-scale
marijuana farms within city limits.
In Berkeley, a successful
ballot measure to allow medical pot cultivation in industrial
zones has would-be growers scrambling to score scarce real estate.
Farther north, the small
towns of Sebastopol and Eureka have also passed ordinances allowing
for the creation of major cultivation operations."
"Hold the Doom and Gloom on Climate" by Kate Sheppard, motherjones.com.
"Is all the mounting
evidence that humans are warming the planet only making us less
likely to take action? That's the conclusion of a new study by
two University of California-Berkeley researchers, 'Apocalypse
Soon? Dire Messages Reduce Belief in Global Warming by Contradicting
Just World Views.' "
"UC May See Increase in Out-of-State Enrollment" by Alisha Azevedo at dailycal.org.
"Higher Costs, Less
Aid Could Turn Away Many Nonresident Applicants From Enrolling
in UC."
"UC Berkeley's 33rd Annual Real Estate
& Economics Symposium"
at tradingmarkets.com.
"Silicon's Long Good-bye:Researchers make
transistors out of a material that's better than silicon" by Katherine Bourzac at technologyreview.com.
"Sometime in the coming
decades, chipmakers will no longer be able to make silicon chips
faster by packing smaller transistors onto a chip. That's because
silicon transistors will simply be too leaky and expensive to
make any smaller.
People working on materials
that could succeed silicon have to overcome many challenges. Now
researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found
a way past one such hurdle: they've developed a reliable way to
make fast, low-power, nanoscopic transistors out of a compound
semiconductor material. Their method is simpler, and promises
to be less expensive, than existing ones."
11/23/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
"Amy Luna Manderino of Berkeley CA won
the title of Miss Cougar California 2010 at The Standard in Fresno,
CA" is a press release
at wireservice.ca.
"She won a free week
at Hedonism II Resort & Spa at Negril Beach in Jamaica, during
International Cougar Week, March 27 April 2, 2011. Previously
she won the title of Miss Cougar East Bay and a free berth on
The International Cougar Cruise, December 3-6, 2010, aboard NCL's
Norwegian Sky, departing from Miami and visiting The Bahamas,
courtesy of www.SinglesTravelCompany.com. Ms. Manderino was elected
by the cubs (younger men) who attended the conventions."
Well, Ok then.
Da Boz emails (excerpts)
Chief Michael Meehan presented
the Department's report at the November 16 Council meeting.
The report shows a 17% drop in violent crime and a 7% drop in
property crime for the first nine months of the year compared
to the same period in 2009. The police department's goal was for
a 10% reduction in crime. I would like to commend BPD for
their effective services.
Despite this positive trend,
we have seen a recent increase in pedestrian robberies (especially
in North Berkeley) that the Berkeley Police Department are currently
working on.
I'm all in favor of less
crime. Still, I'm wondering, . . . in early community meetings
the Chief felt strongly that our crime statistics were inadequate
yet now he uses them as a base line from which he concludes crime
has dropped. Just wondering.
"Although the final touches are still in
the works, the long-awaited Ed Roberts Campus opened" is a story at examiner.com.
" Located at the Ashby
BART station in south Berkeley, the Campus is a universally and
sustainably designed center for services, advocacy, education,
training, and policy related to disability rights."
Our Swerve furnished the
majority of the campus offices--photos to follow.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"Suspect sought in Berkeley home-invasion
rape" Demian
Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer.
"Authorities are looking
for a 27-year-old Berkeley man suspected of climbing through an
unlocked bedroom window in the northern part of the city and sexually
assaulting a girl early Sunday morning.
But detectives believe the
suspect, Omar Sosa, quickly fled from the Bay Area and may try
to escape into Mexico.
The attack at a home on Evelyn
Avenue was reported at 6:11 a.m., police said. The girl's age
was not released.
Within hours, investigators
had obtained a warrant for Sosa's arrest on suspicion of rape,
sodomy, false imprisonment, oral copulation, burglary and sexual
battery.
Police said Sosa may be driving
a gray 1997 Ford Ranger with a double cab and a white camper shell."
"Seismically Unsafe" by Garvin Thomas is at nbcbayarea.com.
"A recent investigation
uncovered nearly 180 buildings on UC and CSU campuses are seismically
unsafe
So, which buildings on University
of California and California State University campuses do you
not want to be in when the big one hits?
Well, there is no, single
place where the state keeps that information."
"UC Berkeley vows to build museum
despite finances"
report Matier & Ross at sfgate.com.
"UC Berkeley is pledging
to find the money to replace the seismically unsound Art Museum
and Pacific Film Archive.
Even as financially strapped
UC Berkeley is preparing to raise tuition 8 percent next fall,
it has pledged to spend as much as $20 million in campus funds
to help build a $96 million art museum."
"Berkeley High struggling with alcohol,
drug use among students, survey says" by Doug Oakley, Contra Costa Times.
"When it comes to marijuana
and alcohol use, Berkeley High School students surpass their California
counterparts, according to a recently released survey.
Students who took the survey
also reported coming to school drunk or high at almost double
the rate of other California students."
"New Ways to Pick the Best College for
You" by Lynn O'Shaughnessy
moneywatch.bnet.com.
"Social
media sites are dramatically changing the way teens and colleges
connect with each other to find the perfect match. Today, a teenager
can take a tour of a campus, attend a class, chat with an admission
officer and accumulate enough reconnaissance on a school to fill
a book - all from thousands of miles away.
"Manipulating the charitable mindset"
at theglobeandmail.com.
"Let's call it corporate
givernance.
"By this time of year,
about 80 per cent of large Canadian companies have launched their
annual charitable fund-raising campaigns, the explicit goal being
to spur a big pot of pooled donations from their employees. Behind
the scenes, there is also the hope that raising money together
will foster group cohesion and motivate people to work better
as teams. So what if there's in-house competition for resources
and recognition? At least there's this common cause, so pony up!
But can you really manipulate
people's mindsets to prompt them to give more?
Apparently, you can. A research
team of Stéphane Côté and Bonnie Hayden Cheng
of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, along
with several psychologists from the University of California,
Berkeley, recently published two studies that suggest that the
key to encouraging more empathetic and charitable behaviour is
to make people feel like the underdog - if only temporarily. "
11/24/10
"Lawrence Berkeley lab worker killed in
crash remembered fondly by family: A gifted mechanic, Craig Hopkins
loved to help others whenever a need arose" by Doug Jastrow, Contra Costa Times.
"A day after his fatal
accident Friday on a steep and rain-slicked road in Orinda, friends
and family of Craig Hopkins spent the day remembering a man known
as a talented mechanic who delighted in sharing his skills to
help others.
'He just loved to be able
to fix things, anything with an engine,' his brother Kevin Hopkins,
a Concord resident, said Saturday. 'He had a love of that his
whole life.'
Craig Hopkins, 49, was driving
home from his job at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where he had
worked as a mechanical engineering technician since 2001, when
he crashed his pickup truck on the hilly Fish Ranch Road near
the Caldecott Tunnel, according to police. His brother believes
Hopkins simply lost control on the windy road, slick from the
recent rain."
"New Southside joint safety patrol already
a success" is a
press release from UC Berkeley Community Relations.
"After only a few months
of operation, a pilot program on the city's south side that set
up a joint safety patrol by the University of California, Berkeley,
Police Department (UCPD) and the Berkeley Police Department (BPD)
is showing successful results.
Like all patrols city- and
campus-wide, the new Joint Southside Safety Patrol's main charge
is to suppress violent crime. It also is focused on what has been
a troublesome town/gown issue: unruly parties of 10 or more people
in off-campus student rental housing and fraternities that create
a significant public nuisance.
Since its launch in August,
the joint patrol has received approximately 135 calls for service
and issued 79 warning citations for noise complaints. Officers
have only had to return to eight locations to cite repeat violations,
which carry fines starting at $750 if issued within a 120-day
period. In fall 2008, police received 384 calls during a similar
period, but officers issued only 72 warnings.
'The community sees the increased
police presence and enforcement of public nuisance violations.
We're seeing quieter parties that are more respectful of the neighborhood,
which can be attributed to the increased visibility and responsiveness
of the Joint Southside Safety Patrol,' said Caleb Dardick, director
of UC Berkeley's Local Government and Community Relations office.
Both campus and city police
agree that the joint patrols are effecting positive change."
"Re-imagining California higher education" is a report by Sarah King Head at universityworldnews.com.
"A report from the Center
for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California,
Berkeley, has analysed the challenges faced by tertiary education
in California and its relationship to economic growth - and proposes
some radical solutions for rejuvenating a faltering public higher
education system that was once the envy of the world."
"How Much Does Birth Order Shape Our Lives?"
by Allison Aubrey at
npr.org.
"There are lots of expectations
and assumptions about how birth order may shape our adult lives,
and many of them go back ages. Centuries ago, the oldest son had
huge incentives to stay on track and live up to family expectations
- that's because, by tradition, he was set to inherit almost everything.
'Historically the practice
of primogeniture was very common in Europe' says Frank Sulloway,
a visiting scholar at the Institute of Personality and Social
Research at the University of California, Berkeley. 'So firstborns
had every reason to preserve the status quo and be on good terms
with their parents.'
Now you may think any 'first-born'
effect would have completely disappeared in modern times. But
not so, say experts who study birth order. Researchers first examined
the status of firstborns among Washington power brokers in 1972."
11/25/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Pete's thermometer showed
39.9 degrees Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Richard who doesn't
have an outside thermometer said simply "Damn cold."
This, "This Week with
Christiane Amanpour" is a special with rich people
including Warren Buffett
and Bill and Melinda Gates. Check it out, Sunday morning November
28th at 8AM on ABC Channel 7.
If The Rich are insensitive
to "the needs of others" what group is most sensitive.
In my 73 years' experience,
not a "scientific survey" mind you, it's Black Folks.
Not only are they sensitive to the needs of others but are helpful
to others in need.
A memory from "The Day"
sticks in my mind. One weekday afternoon on my way back from Berkeley
Hardware, I found myself coming up to the corner of Berkeley Way
and Oxford. There standing in the middle of the intersection was
a middle age white woman, distraught, pacing, screaming and throwing
her clothes to the ground. People and cars ignored her. Cars continued
to drive through the intersection. Students going to and coming
from class "didn't see her"
Then, a young black man walked
up to her through the traffic and began talking. After a short
while, now less animated, he helped her pick up the clothes. He
took her to the curb sat her down now calm and continued talking.
I remember he had on a knit,
rainbow-floppy-cap.
HAPPY
THANKS GIVING!
"Tuning In To The Brain's 'Cocktail Party
Effect' " by Jon
Hamilton, npr.org.
npr graphic
"Scientists are beginning
to understand how the human brain accomplishes a remarkable trick
known as the cocktail party effect. It's what allows us to pick
out the words from just one speaker even when we're in a room
full of other voices that are just as loud.
For decades, scientists have
puzzled over how our brain is able to focus on certain sounds
while filtering out others. Now they say they're finding clues,
thanks to new research on birds and bats."
"Upper-Class
People Bad at Reading Others Emotions" by Catherine Donaldson-Evans
at aolhealth.com.
"They may seem like
they have it all, but new research has found that upper-class
people are lacking one thing: the ability to decipher people's
feelings.
A study by a team from California
and Canada found that those from lower socio-economic backgrounds
can read people's emotions better than their wealthier, more educated
counterparts, according to the Association of Psychological Science,
which sponsored the project.
That's because people from
the lower echelons of society must rely more on others for success,
said co-author Michael W. Kraus of the University of California
San Francisco.
He used child care as an
example, saying that those who can't afford to pay for it have
to depend on family, friends or neighbors to watch their kids
while they're working, going to school or running errands. Those
who can afford care and other services tend to act more independently,
he said.
The findings, published in
the association's journal Psychological Science, were based on
a series of experiments.
One looked at volunteers
who worked at a university, some of whom had college degrees and
some of whom did not. Participants were told to examine several
photographs of faces and describe the emotions each face was expressing.
Surprisingly, people who had a higher level of education did worse
on the perception test than those who were less educated.
In another exercise, university
students were asked to read a stranger's emotions during a group
job interview. Those with a higher socio-economic status, gleaned
from reports the students filled out about their family background,
had a harder time accurately guessing what the stranger was feeling
than those of lower social standing."
Or more blunt"Rich
People Don't Care How You Feel" at courant.com.
"Something money can't
buy: The ability to read others' emotions.
A new study published in
Psychological Science finds that people with lower incomes and
less education are more adept at emotional perception."
"New, public-private 'WPA' needed, Reich
says" a report by
Onell R. Soto at signonsandiego.com.
" 'Don't be discouraged,'
former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said during a visit Thursday
to San Diego. 'Here in San Diego there's people of good will.
You, working together, can do more than the federal government.'
The way out of the depths
of the Great Recession is putting people to work, and San Diego
can lead the way through a public-private partnership, former
Labor Secretary Robert Reich said during a visit Thursday."
" Microsoft' of Machine Tools Runs Plants
From Mount Fuji Base"
by Jason Clenfield, bloomberg.com.
"At the base of snowcapped
Mount Fuji sits a bright yellow compound that is home to one of
Japan's most profitable -- and secretive -- companies.
Fanuc Ltd.'s systems tell
lathes, grinders and milling machines how to turn steel into an
Apple Inc. iPhone case or aluminum into the rib of a Boeing Co.
747. More than half of the world's computerized tools, including
those used by suppliers to Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors
Co., use Fanuc controls.
'They're the Microsoft you've
never heard of,' said Scott Foster, an analyst at BNP Paribas
in Tokyo. 'If Mount Fuji erupted and took them out, the world
would stop running.'
Fanuc's operating margin
rose to a record 44 percent last quarter, the company said, making
it the third highest on the Topix 100, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. To further boost profits, President Yoshiharu Inaba
is focusing on China and India, Asia's two fastest-growing major
economies.
'We're working harder than
ever to penetrate the Chinese and Indian markets,' Inaba, 62,
said last month at company headquarters. 'All of our capacity
is running full-out.' "
"Audi aims to be luxury-EV leader; plug-in
hybrid due in 2014" at
autoweek.com.
"Audi has big plans
for its electric vehicle business.
'By 2020, we want to be the
leading premium seller of electric vehicles,' Franciscus van Meel,
Audi's manager for electric mobility strategy, said at a recent
technical workshop at the company's headquarters in Ingolstadt,
Germany."
From Chief Meehan's 11/16
report to our City Council.
"Organizational Restructuring
The Berkeley Police Department has implemented a significant restructuring
of the
organization. The overall purpose of these changes is to improve
communication and
information sharing across functions and to coordinate and align
resources where they
can most effectively reduce crime and victimization, enhance crime
prevention efforts,
and respond to community concerns. With this reorganization each
of the major
divisions of the Department is under new leadership.
Organizational changes include the consolidation of two previous
divisions into one
Support Services Division under Director Lynne Ohlson. This realignment
places
records, dispatch, property and evidence and jail management information
under one
manager.
Creation of a new Professional Standards Division under Captain
Cynthia Harris. This
newly created Division, which includes Personnel and Training,
brings BPD in line with
national standards and best practices. The focus of this Division
is to streamline
procedures and improve systems and processes to make BPD more
efficient, effective
and accountable.
Consolidation of several Units in Investigations under Captain
Dennis Ahearn. Homicide
and Robbery formerly separate, now work together in a joint Crimes
against Persons
Unit. Additionally, Crime Analysis has been expanded. We are working
to better utilize
data and information when making both tactical and strategic decisions.
Establishment of Operational Area Commands in Patrol under recently
promoted
Captain Erik Upson. Patrol Lieutenants now each command a different
geographic area
of the city and will serve as Area Commanders. Each of the Area
Commanders is
working directly with his/her respective Area Coordinator. This
shift will allow for better
coordination and information sharing among operational units,
provides Area
Coordinators access to more resources, and ensures community concerns
are
addressed at a higher, more coordinated, level.
Comp-Stat
Comp-Stat, short for computer statistics or comparative statistics,
has a proven record
of reducing crime and improving the overall operations of major
metropolitan police
departments. Police Departments in New York, Boston, Philadelphia,
Miami, New
Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond have
experienced
reductions in part 1 crime since their adoption of the Comp-Stat
crime reduction and
accountability model. The essence of the model is to provide a
basic road map for
getting police officers back in the business of proactively addressing
crime trends rather
than just reacting to them. A vital component of the model is
its emphasis on holding
police managers directly accountable for combating the crime in
their assigned area and
providing them the authority to deploy their resources to achieve
the desired results.
The Berkeley Police Department implemented this model beginning
in May of this year.
Crime Analysis
The Crime Analysis Response Strategies (CARS) team has been formulated
to provide
up to the moment crime analysis throughout the city. Rather
than waiting to compile
statistics at the end of the month, the CARS team is mandated
to identify crime
problems as quickly as possible. The team has 2 formal meetings
each week, but
distributes information amongst its members on a constant basis.
Once a problem is identified, the team explores the dimensions
of the problem,
including the determination of dates, times, specific locations,
and persons of interest.
Each member of the team brings a different perspective and set
of resources to the
table. Representatives from Operations Division, Investigations
Division, the Crime
Analysis, and the Community Services Bureau collaborate to focus
BPD resources on
the most significant and current crime problems.
Once the problems are defined the team moves on to strategies
for eliminating the
problem. The strategies employed have included both traditional
enforcement
responses, and more creative responses that tap into resources
and groups outside
BPD. "
Chief Meehan's full report here.
"Turkey dinners handed out in Alameda Co" is a story at abclocal.go.com.
"In Berkeley, members
of the city's Police Department, the Berkeley Boosters Association
and the University of California Police Department met at 6 a.m.
to assemble 250 food baskets.
Each basket contains a turkey,
fresh produce and enough canned and packaged food to serve about
eight people. They will be handed out by uniformed Berkeley police
and parking officers.
Twenty Berkeley and UC police
officers raised about $8,000 for the food baskets earlier this
year when they rode more than 200 miles in three days on their
bicycles."
"Morning Benders" a story and photo essay at brooklynvegan.com.
"Berkeley, California-bred
four-piece band The Morning Benders are the Muhammad Ali of pop-rock:
their summery melodies float on leader Christopher Chu's airy
vocals like butterflies, but their lyrics sting like bees that've
crawled under your sleeve when you weren't looking."
The Morning Benders finish up their tour tonight in a big way,
with a headlining show at Webster Hall and a stacked bill of indie
pop rising stars with both Twin Sister and Cults opening the show."
11/26/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Our Potter Creek Berkeley
Bowl had a couple of mentions on local TV Wednesday. Channel 2
Evening News devoted a few minutes to interviewing bowl shoppers
and Channel 4 did a minute on Thanksgiving shopping, taped at
the Bowl.
Be careful when inviting
a friend to dinner unfamiliar with our Thanksgiving holiday. Our
French friend, Gerard arrived with a wicker-basket filled with
Spanish wine, French cheeses, Italian and German sausages, French
and German breads, Spanish desserts, and candles. All mixed deliciously
with our traditional fare. Oh yes, he even brought his own rustic
side-board and of course his Kim.
Our Geralyn just returned
from a ten day vacation in Hawaii.
Rumors persist of a Fourth
Street Apple Store--more about this sooner-than-later.
If imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery, then is continous imitation more flattering?
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
"Lemony Snicket's 'Composer is Dead' comes
to Berkeley Rep"
by Jackie Burrell, Contra Costa Times.
"There are hundreds,
perhaps thousands of children's plays, television series and Hollywood
flicks, but when it comes to the classical music arena, pickings
are slim indeed.
There's Saint-Saens' century-old
'Carnival of the Animals,' Prokofiev's 74-year-old 'Peter and
the Wolf,' and 'Tubby the Tuba,' the Danny Kaye album penned by
Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger in 1945. So the very idea of
a brand new children's work for the 21st century, 'The Composer
is Dead,' sent shivers of delight through the classical music-loving
crowd -- even if the plot was a tad startling."
"New on the California Music Scene, Connie
Lim" is a press
release at entertainmenttoday.net.
a Margie Barron
photo
"Hey music lovers, there's
something special about the charismatic Connie Lim. The former
pre-Med student at U.C. Berkeley is poised to make an impact in
the recording world with her infectious music. It's an exciting
new California sound, with songs that are modern, but also feel
nostalgic. The kind of music you might hear in background of Hellcats,
One Tree Hill, or Gossip Girl, which helps create a mood with
the storytelling."
"A tribute to canned cranberry sauce: Nature's
perfect (processed) food"
is at sfgate.com.
"Jet lag causes memory loss" is a report at timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
"A new study by researchers
at the University of California has indicated that chronic jet
lag alters the brain in ways that cause memory and learning problems
long after one's return to a regular 24-hour schedule."
"Developing countries can cut greenhouse
gas emissions and help the poor:Clean energy investments in rural
areas go hand-in-hand with alleviating poverty" is a story at eurekalert.org.
"In the developing world,
reducing greenhouse gas emissions is often seen as being in conflict
with alleviating poverty, since improving the standard of living
is usually associated with increased energy use.
A clean energy development
initiative in rural Nicaragua, however, demonstrates that there
are cost effective steps developing nations can take to reduce
carbon emissions and at the same time help the rural poor reduce
their energy expenses, according to researchers from the University
of California, Berkeley.
In a report in this week's
issue of the journal Science, UC Berkeley graduate student Christian
E. Casillas and professor Daniel M. Kammen analyze simple steps
taken by Nicaragua's Ministry of Energy & Mines and the nonprofit
blueEnergy to reduce the cost of energy while reducing carbon
emissions for a community of 172 households on the country's Mosquito
Coast."
"Tom Campbell Joins Berkeley Research Group
as a Director" at
businesswire.com.
"Berkeley Research Group,
LLC (BRG), a preeminent expert services and data analytics firm,
today announced that Dr. Tom Campbell has joined the firm as a
Director in the Emeryville, California office."
"U.S.G. and P.T.A" is an op-ed piece by Thomas L. Friedman at
nytimes.com.
"For me, the most frightening
news in The Times on Sunday was not about North Korea's stepping
up its nuclear program, but an article about how American kids
are stepping up their use of digital devices: 'Allison Miller,
14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking
at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations
at a time. She texts between classes, at the moment soccer practice
ends, while being driven to and from school and, often, while
studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking
for the three B's on her recent progress report.' I'll be reading
a book for homework and I'll get a text message and pause my reading
and put down the book, pick up the phone to reply to the text
message, and then 20 minutes later realize, 'Oh, I forgot to do
my homework.' "
our Susan Brooks emails
Susan Brooks Berkeley Artisans
Holiday Open Studios
http://www.susanbrooks.com
Jewelry & Works
on Paper
Sawtooth Building
2547 Eighth Street, Studio 24a
(between Dwight & Parker) West Berkeley
4 Weekends
11-6 pm
November 27-28,
December 4-5,11-12, 18-19
& open Dec. 20-23 11-5 pm & Dec.24 11-2 pm
Also open 11-5
pm Thursdays (except Thanksgiving)
and by Appointment plus extra days during the week through the
end of
the year.
Please join me
@ the studio During The20th annual Berkeley Artisans
Holiday Open Studios
A Free Self-Guided Tour of Artisan Workshops.
100 handpicked artists & craftspeople open their studios during
this
annual event, 25 in our building.
http://www.berkeleyartisans.com
I co-founded this
event 20 years ago because I believed strongly in the
work of the hand and the survival of craft as an art form and
a viable
livelihood.
Artisans not only create their work, they also create their jobs.
Hope you'll stop
by.
Susan
Susan Brooks
http://www.susanbrooks.com
2547 Eighth Street 24a
Berkeley, California 94710
510 845-2612
11/27/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
"Last-minute Thanksgiving shopping can
be stressful. KRON 4's Stanley Roberts was at a popular Berkeley
grocery store on Wednesday and saw many shoppers get angry in
the parking lot" is
at kron.com with video from our Potter Creek Berkeley Bowl.
It's from Robert's KRON feature "People Behaving Badly."
Myself, I've thought parking
problems at our Bowl are often the product of commom-sense-challenged
drivers as much as design flaws or over-crowding.
But KDFC-FM,
102.1, has beautiful and varied, tastefull holiday music.
end Miscellaneous Ramblings
post from the past
11/23/06
There is
a God and She loves old Jews
Lipofsky at a Chicago
deli with a bagel, cream cheese, tomato, onion, and lox
end post from the past
"Worthington and Arreguin Supporters Celebrate
Victory" by Steven
Finacom at our Planet.
"Re-building a progressive
coalition in Berkeley, and enjoying a sense of accomplishment
after beating back an election attack orchestrated by Berkeley
Mayor Tom Bates, seemed the informal themes of a post-election
victory party organized by Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and
Jesse Arreguin on Monday, November 15, 2010.
By my count, nearly 150 people
showed up to the early evening gathering in the patio of the Bateau
Ivre restaurant on Telegraph Avenue. Scores stood outdoors in
the Daylight Savings darkness and unseasonably warm weather to
congratulate the winners, while volunteers passed out donation
envelopes .
Near the beginning of the
event Worthington introduced a previously unannounced guest, Oakland
Mayor-elect Jean Quan. She was met with cheers.
'I had to come today because
Kriss Worthingon has been one of those people you can count on
as always being there', Quan told the crowd."
"Which Shipping Company is Kindest to Your
Packages?" is asked
at popularmechanics.com.
"We mailed a bunch of sensors on an epic journey to find
out which shipping company is the most careful with your packages.
Here's what we found."
"Field guides help identify garden pests" by Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan at sfgate.com.
"What's bugging your
garden - and is it a pest or a protector? Good field guides will
help you find out."
"Cal player's imprint left on and off field"
by Jonathan Okanes at
insidebayarea.com.
"When Derrick Hill returned
from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio in 2006, one
of the first things the Oakland native did was hop on BART and
get off at the Downtown Berkeley station. Hill had announced his
commitment to play football at Cal during the high school all-star
game and figured he should become more familiar with the town
he was about to call home.
'I just walked around and
it felt like somewhere I needed to be,' Hill said.
As it turned out, the Berkeley
community needed Hill just as much, if not more."
11/28/10
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Today is 900 GRAYSON owner
Chris Sulnier's daughter, Margot's birthday.
After 25 years, I've had
my first mediocre meal at Juan's. Juan's food has always been
ordinary in the best sense of the word. Nothing fancy but always
the same, hot, fresh and alot. Last week's was luke-warm of small
portion, served on a cold plate and with a glass of flat beer.
Our Bowl is selling Christmas
trees.
A city worker was clearing
leaves from sewer-openings early yesterday morning.
Around 9 AM yesterday morning
there was a police action on San Pablo just south of Caffe Trieste--three
black and whites and more officers.
If you want to find something
in past Scrambled Eggs go to Google search ronpenndorf.com plus
your key word. I've found more often than not you'll find it.
For instance click on ronpenndorffrankel
for stories about, links to our Berkeley PD Ofc Andrew Frankel
in Scrambled Eggs & Lox.
When I was a kid in the mid-West
I saw Ben Hogan play at Tam
O' Shanter just outside of Chicago. I remember it still, Hogan
the private man followed by a small, quiet and respectful gallery.
Sam Snead was more fun to watch but my Old Man insisted we follow
Hogan. Now a friend of Hogan's has written about the man she new,
very different from man, we the public knew.
"Mr. Hogan, the Man I Knew" by Kris
Tschetter
"An LPGA Player Looks Back on an Amazing Friendship and Lessons
She Learned from Golf's Greatest Legend
Ben Hogan is known as the greatest ball striker of all time, and
he was also one of the most private. These are the Hogan stories
that you've never heard, stories that unlock the mystery to who
he was as person.
As a collegiate golfer in
the 1980's, Kris Tschetter was fortunate enough to gain membership
to the prestigious Shady Oaks Country Club in Texas where Ben
Hogan was a member. There was an unwritten rule at the club: Don't
bother Mr. Hogan. But 18-year-old Tschetter was unaware of the
spell he held over the golf world when she first passed him in
the halls of Shady Oaks. Maybe it was Tschetter's work ethic,
or maybe it was just her youthful enthusiasm, but Hogan noticed
her practicing and offered to help her with her swing. And a unique
friendship began."
"This Week with Christiane
Amanpour"
"The Giving Pledge"
with Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates and Ted Turner, is
here.
end Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
"Cal's Memorial Stadium farewell isn't
so fond" Monte Poole
at mercurynews.com.
"Trudging out of this
incarnation of Memorial Stadium for the last time were a stream
of Cal folks, players, coaches and fans, chins to chests, looking
as if they didn't believe what they had seen.
As if it all had come too
suddenly -- the conclusion Saturday's game, the finality of this
unremarkable season and maybe even the end of this 88-year era
for the facility."
the full chart and more are
here
"Willie
Nelson charged with pot possession in Texas" is a story
at sfgate.com.
"A U.S. Border Patrol
spokesman says country singer Willie Nelson was charged with marijuana
possession after 6 ounces was found aboard his tour bus in Texas."
post from the past
9/21/06
Willie Nelson was busted
this week. During a routine traffic stop of his bus in Louisiana,
the officer found a pound of weed and some mushrooms. Willie was
charged with misdemeanor possession and released. "WANTED!
The Outlaws" is my favorite Willie Nelson CD--an effort with
Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, check
it out!
end post from the past
11/29/10
posts from the past
11/9/03
And
just what is it that Albert's smoking in that pipe?
Back
in The Day Selling Records on Telegraph Avenue--Holiday Sales
and Bittersweet Tales
What
I remember about working during the holidays at Campus Records
in the '60s was that Albert didn't have central heat in the shop.
Recently, when I mentioned to him that I was thinking of moving
to Vermont, he reminded me that it gets really cold there and
observed, perceptively; "Hell, in the shop you use to stand
in front of that electric heater in Fall." I remember "the
cold" more than the holiday madness.
Though
I do vividly recall a late-Christmas Eve when Albert and I were
selling records almost faster than we could ring them up-having
begun celebrating with brandy in early afternoon we were, of course,
happily drunk.
But
generally the holiday rush worked against staff happiness and
Albert's policy of careful attention to the customer's needs-accompanied
by informed and slightly snobbish opinion. "Come back after
the rush . . . and you don't want that Bernstein performance anyway,"
Albert would exhort.
You
really couldn't take care of the customer's needs during those
hectic weeks just before Christmas and I particularly remember
ignoring my regulars just so I could sell pop Christmas albums
to last minute shoppers.
Of
course, the entire staff were non-believers-and cultural elitists-but
that didn't stop us from aggressively selling those popular holiday
albums. Mitch Miller Sing Along albums sold very well and, to
ourselves, we justified selling these records by working in, "He's
a classical oboist you know."
Few
cared.
But
much more importantly, the rush interfered with "hitting
on the chicks." In these tense times of retail combat, often
after a sale when you were just about to strut your music knowledge
in front of some impressionable coed, Albert would bark in his
best ex-infantry manner "Disengage!"
Of
course he was much more understanding in ordinary times and only
when he was fighting with Connie, his wife, would he so explode.
It was during one of those times that the famous "Play Boy"
incident occurred.
Campus
Records was located behind Campus Smoke Shop-also owned by Albert-and
the two shops were connected by a short, wide passage way. And
at this passage way, on the Smoke Shop side, were the magazines.
(Magazine profit was very small, for the there is little markup
and magazine profit depends on large sales-and the return of worn,
dog-eared copies could be difficult and cut dramatically into
an already small profit.)
For
months a fellow would come in on magazine-delivery-Thursday looking
for the new "Play Boy"-not to buy, but to dog ear. Ordinarily,
this just annoyed Albert. But one Thursday, after continuous phone
confrontations with Connie, he'd had enough.
I can
clearly see the fellow eagerly take up the new magazine and become
absorbed in its pages-one can easily imagine his bliss.
But
not Albert.
Albert
could only imagine a difficult return and a difficult Connie.
He quietly walked up next to the fellow, pulled his Zippo lighter
from his pocket, and set the lower left-hand corner of the magazine
on fire. The guy didn't immediately grasp what was happening-probably
sensing only that his passions were hotter than he'd imagined.
Eventually, forced back to reality by the flames licking his hand,
he fitfully dropped the object of his reverie.
Albert
stomped out the flames and I think Albert and Connie separated
shortly after.
There
are more tales here.
end posts from the past
"Librarian, 91, enjoys a car buff's dream
job" by Alan Elias,
Contra Costa Times Correspondent.
"Gazing across the car
collection, the 91-year-old archivist for the Blackhawk Museum
knows he's enjoying a car buff's dream job.
The Blackhawk Museum, the
brainchild of Blackhawk developer and car collector Kenneth Behring,
opened its doors in 1988. Now affiliated with the Smithsonian
Institution, the museum boasts two spacious buildings and about
100,000 square feet of upscale exhibition space that plays host
to a rotating display of nearly 100 automobiles.
For the past 22 years, Jorgensen
has overseen the building of the museum's modest-size research
library, a collection that currently stands at approximately 100,000
publications. Many are in excellent condition, while others, including
a 1904 Auto Car magazine, have covers that are a bit dog-eared
and showing their age. All of them, however, provide a glimpse
into the history of a machine that has changed the world.
'It probably is as good a
library on old cars that you'll find anywhere,' Jorgensen said."
"Unlikely Tesla, Toyota alliance quickly
results in an all-electric RAV4" by Hiroko Tabuchi at mercurynews.com.
"It was over glasses
of red wine on a May evening in Palo Alto that Akio Toyoda, president
of Toyota, and Elon Musk, founder of the electric-vehicle startup
company Tesla Motors, first talked through the particulars of
a partnership they had just announced.
By the end of their chat,
according to Toyoda, they had settled on at least one project:
an electric version of Toyota's RAV4 sport-utility vehicle. On
Wednesday, a mere six months later, the two automakers showed
a prototype of an all-electric RAV4 at the Los Angeles Auto Show."
"Some
vehicles defy easy classification. Take the plug-in electric Peraves
E-Tracer, headed for California roads next year. Balanced on two
wheels and operated with a throttle, it's similar to a motorcycle"
writes Susan Carpenter of the Los Angeles Times.
" But it's also fully
enclosed in a Kevlar fiberglass shell, two bucket seats, a floor-mounted
brake, windows, even a windshield wiper, its interior feels more
like a car - a toppled-over, traveling egg with windows all around,
providing fantastic visibility.
It is, at once, an electric
automobile and a motorcycle - and a prizewinner.
'It's not a hybrid. It's
a hybris, a snake, a serpent with two heads,' said Roger Riedener,
the Swiss chief executive who dreamed up the idea and who walked
away with $2.5 million in Septemberfor winning the 2010 Automotive
X-Prize Alternative Class.
Beating 127 other X-Prize
entries competing to build the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle,
the E-Tracer can travel more than 200 miles on a single gallon
of gas equivalent and reach a potential top speed of 200 mph.
It is the only X-Prize winner
scheduled to go into production. About 100 of these 'less than
$100,000' vehicles will be built each year, their shells assembled
in Thailand and their drivetrains installed in San Dimas at AC
Propulsion, which developed its electric motor and battery system.
The target market for the
E-Tracer: California, home to 'real men and women' who like a
challenge, said Riedener, 53. Recently, I was given the first
media test drive of this intriguing, and daring, vehicle.
My having test-ridden almost
200 motorcycles and dozens of cars was a good baseline, but I
wasn't sure it was adequate preparation for a vehicle whose stats
were both impressive and terrifying. The E-Tracer weighs 1,260
pounds, about three times as much as an average motorcycle. Its
wheelbase is 120 inches, more than twice as long as a Harley."
"Tracer video: Susan Carpenter takes the
X-Prize winner for a spin"
latimes.com.
"Susan Carpenter writes
about cars and motorcycles, and this week she kills two birds
with one stone. She test-drives the E-Tracer, the X-Prize-winning
electric vehicle that looks like a cross between a car and a motorcycle.
The E-Tracer beat 127 other
X-Prize entries competing to build the world's most fuel-efficient
vehicle. The 'cabin motorcycle' can travel more than 200 miles
on a single gallon of gas equivalent and reach a potential top
speed of 200 mph.
"CD rates in Berkeley, California"
by Mitch Strohm at bankrate.com.
"Shopping CD rates in
Berkeley, CA, can be time consuming, especially when institutions
throughout the nation seem to be offering only dismal rates to
the conscientious investor. CD rates have been sinking like the
Titanic, but some better-than-average yields can still be found
in your area of California."
11/30/10
post from the past
12/4/07
No
Andrew
and Kirsten's condo isn't on fire
This is the
often-seen-at-night Potter Creek cloud forming at about 6:00 AM
this morning. It forms up from the ground some where around Dwight
and 4th. I believe it to be vaporized waste-water.
Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
Traffic at Scrambled Eggs
"almost daily page" is up 30% 2010 over 2009.
A very reliable source says
there will be a Berkeley Apple Store in the old Slater & Marinoff
location sooner-than-later, Patsy Slater now retirering to dog
walking and volunteer work. She's hooked up with "Students
Rising Above."
For a more than irreverent
look at medical marijuana, Kentury Fried Chicken, and aberrations
of the male anatomy check out southparkstudios medicinal-fried-chicken
episode.
For what verge on mind numbing
revelations watch Charle Rose conversation with film maker Charles
Ferguson. They talk of Ferguson's documentary about the 2008 financial
collapse, Inside Job.
end Penndorf's Miscellaneous
Ramblings
"Scientists are one
step closer to learning how to program cells the way other people
program computers" by Tina Hesman Saey, Science News.
"Researchers led by
Christina Smolke, a biochemical engineer at Stanford University,
report the accomplishment in the Nov. 26 Science.
Click here to find out more!
Smolke and her colleagues
created RNA devices that could rewire cells to sense certain conditions
and respond by making particular proteins. Such technology might
be harnessed for creating cell-based therapies and cancer-fighting
treatments. Someday, scientists might also be able to flip an
RNA switch to make plants more tolerant to drought or coax yeast
to produce industrial chemicals.
Other researchers have reported
building RNA-programming components before, but Smolke's group
is the first to integrate all the pieces into a fully functional
system, says Adam P. Arkin, a systems and synthetic biologist
at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of
California, Berkeley. 'It's sort of like building the first functional
car,' says Arkin, who was not involved in the study. 'Yeah, combustion
was around and there were things that rolled, but actually putting
them together' was the real breakthrough.
http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/11/29/rna-obey.html
"Contract between UC,
academic student employees challenged" in the Santa Cruz
Sentinel.
"A significant movement
has emerged among the University of California's academic student
employees to not ratify the agreement reached by UC and union
negotiators two weeks ago.
On Nov. 16, after negotiating
since June, representatives from UAW 2865, which represents over
12,000 teaching assistants, graduate student instructors, readers
and tutors on UC campuses, reached a tentative agreement with
UC on a new contract.
Union members on various
campuses who are unsatisfied with the terms of the agreement started
to organize a 'Vote No' campaign almost immediately.
By Monday a web site dedicated
to the campaign had logged over 700 pledges to vote no on the
contract."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16736716
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e03-medicinal-fried-chicken
"Novey, CA Police, Prison
Union Adviser, A Political Loser This Year" is a story at
thecrimereport.org.
"California labor leader
Don Novey placed a multimillion-dollar bet on Meg Whitman to become
California's next governor and lost, says the Sacramento Bee.
He played the game with other people's money. A lot of it. Now
one of the state employee unions that the labor legend advised
to oppose Gov.-elect Jerry Brown must negotiate a new contract
with the incoming administration. The California Correctional
Peace Officers Association, which Novey is credited with building
into a political powerhouse before he retired eight years ago,
is going after its former leader over a contract dispute."
http://thecrimereport.org/2010/11/30/novey-ca-police-prison-union-adviser-a-political-loser-this-year/
"Tesla Motors stock
shows strong gains since IPO" by Dana Hull, contracostatimes.com.
"Doug Cheeseman of Saratoga
tapped into his retirement savings to buy 700 shares of Tesla
Motors early on, when it was $17 a share. On Friday, Tesla's stock
closed at $35.32, just shy of Wednesday's all-time high close
of $35.47.
'I wish I had more shares,'
said Cheeseman, a biologist who travels the world leading wildlife
safaris and who drives a blue Tesla Roadster when he is home.
'At the time I bought the 700 shares I thought "This is risky.'"Now
I think that in two to three years it will be near $100 a share.'
Cheeseman is not the only
one bullish about the Palo Alto-based electric-car company that
began publicly trading shares June 29. Although Tesla has yet
to turn a profit, several recent announcements have boosted investor
confidence."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_16717610?
"Richmond-based ship
search for ways to clean up offshore garbage patch" by Mike
Taugher in the Contra Costa Times.
"It might be easier
to clean up if the lawn chairs, water bottles and fishing nets
all clumped together like a giant island of trash.
But the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch is more scattered, which makes things challenging for the
crew of a Richmond-based ship trying to find ways to clean up
the mess."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_16735548?
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.