November 2011

Potter Creek Sunset

10/22/11

after 11/11/11 here

11/1/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday, November 6th--set your clocks back an hour.

 

I may have arrived !?

witness the

STOP

DORF 

signs in west-Berkeley

 

"Stop Dorf?!?! Never! We need more Dorf, not less!"
 
 Carolyn Jones, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

Councilman Kriss worthington emails

Berkeley Pride, Oct 30 from 5 to 10 pm
at David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley
Performers include Know Jazz; Opus Q; Ball and Chain; Momma's Boys (drag act); Average Dyke Band; Marga Gomez; Pacific Center LOUD Youth Group , Kriss Worthington as Robin Hood, [ Aw jeez! ] and Darryl Moore intro to Assemblymember Skinner's Proclamation
Costumes welcome but not required

www.berkeleypride.org

 

 

"Historic Andronico's Markets to Continue Under New Ownership" is a press release at marketwatch.com.

"One of the Bay Area's best known family-owned specialty supermarkets today announced the end of its bankruptcy proceeding with the sale of its assets to an affiliate of Renovo Capital for $16 million. The sale allows the remaining Andronico's Community Markets to continue to serve its strong and loyal customer base while preserving the jobs of more than 330 employees dedicated to ensuring its historic markets continue to serve future generations of shoppers."

 

 

 

"Occupy Oakland: inspiration, frustration at return" at sfgate .com.

"Dozens of new tents sprang up outside Oakland City Hall on Friday, a sight that encouraged some Occupy Wall Street supporters but infuriated others, who expressed frustration at the city's about-face on the encampment.

In a matter of weeks, Oakland has welcomed campers at Frank Ogawa Plaza, warned them to leave, forcibly removed them, blocked their return and then allowed them to retake the grounds."

Filmmaker Michael Moore is in the Bay Area for a booksellers convention and also addressed Occupy Oakland, "This is a leaderless movement with tens of millions of people."

 

"Table cloth trick" is a video from Richmond Rambler, Cliff Miller.

 

And abclocal has a short video that includes Moore speaking to the crowd.

 

 

"Occupy Oakland makes plans for citywide general strike" by Scott Johnson and Angela Woodall, contracostatimes.com.

"Occupy Oakland protesters debated Thursday evening the practical difficulties of organizing a citywide general strike with the aim of shutting down the city of Oakland on Nov. 2. Speakers urged teachers, students, union members and workers of all stripes to participate in whatever way they could, and said the entire world was watching Oakland. 'Oakland is the vanguard and epicenter of the Occupy movement,' said Clarence Thomas, a member of the powerful International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union who urged the hundreds of assembled people to support the strike. " 

"Vanguard" is a Marxist/Leninist term defining the leadership of "The Revolution." In these times of potentially accelerating socio-economic change it is helpful to understand Marxist dialogue, whether or not one accepts it.

Vanguard also just means vanguard.

 

The size of the "General Strike" is critical to determining the future and direction of the Occupy movement--possibly an historic moment.

 


new cactus flowers

in Potter Creek

END

 

 

 

 

 

POSTS FROM THE PAST

11/1/09

So, . . . in keeping with the culture of change in west-Berkeley and understanding that harmony would be refreshing, I offer the Lipofsky/Penndorf Plan--the laser development.

Projected on a cleared acre, every few days the laser image changes, so pleasing all. A few days of high-end mixed-use followed by an acre of park with childrens' play ground, trees, paths and then a low income artisan and manufactures' time followed by some days of just residence, and, of course, a bio-tech park with 90 foot buildings. But it's not real? Is the west-Berkeley Plan?

 

And, in keeping with Berkeley's innovative thought and action we introduce, shortly, the Lipofsky/Penndorf Laser-Mayor--a mayor neutral product.

After we complete the Lipofsky/Penndorf Laser-Mayor project, we will launch our much anticipate Virtual-Activist. We hope at the same time to release the less anticipated Laser-Realtor, and issue both in a two-for-one package.

 

A couple of Sundays ago, during Lipofsky and my outlining the development plan which bears our names, I noticed Marvin had on one of those nifty baseball caps with the beak in the front. I've been looking for one of the old-fashion caps but all I see are those with beaks in the back. Can anyone let me know where to get the older caps?

 

 

 

While searching for origin of the quote "I could never be a socialist, they have too many night meetings" I coincidentally found this pdf/html "'The Ten Commandments If Moses Had Been An Infill Developer', Patrick Kennedy, Berkeley, Cal"

Don't always agree with the SOB but I love his style.

Go the html page and click on the pdf link. His pdf's worth a look.

 

Whatever you think of Patrick Kennedy, giv 'um that he has had perfect timing. Kennedy got out of real estate at "the absolute right moment." But did he make any money? I'm told he paid our city millions in taxes.

In his pdf, Patrick quotes a report from Patrick Killelea--for Kennedy's pdf go his html page and click on the pdf link.

Here is a link to essential the same Killelea report.

 

"US Housing Crash Continues:It's Still A Terrible Time To Buy" writes Patrick Killelea. "Falling House Prices Are The Solution, Not The Problem ,

1. House prices will keep falling in most places because those prices are still dangerously high compared to incomes and rents. Banks say a safe mortgage is a maximum of 3 times the buyer's yearly income with 20% downpayment. Landlords say a safe price is a maximum of 15 times the house's yearly rent. Yet on the coasts, both those safety rules are still being violated. Buyers are still borrowing 6 times their income and putting only 3% down, and sellers are still asking 30 times annual rent, even after recent price declines. Renting is a cash business that reflects what people can really pay based on their salary, not how much they can borrow. Salaries and rents prove that prices will keep falling for a long time. Anyone who bought a 'bargain' this time last year is already sitting on a very painful loss."

Here is a link to Killelea's Google.

 

On about the same subject, when talking to Don Yost a few weeks ago I said that the old normal is "they built too much housing" and the new normal is "housing is too expensive."

 

From Patrick Kenndey's The Ten Commandments if Moses Had Been An Infill Developer.

5. Encourage mixed-use projects, and allow them in areas zoned for commercial-use only.

"Why undertake such [mixed-use] projects?
Because they intensify the richness of living, enhance people's range of
experience, and create easy access to a nearly inexhaustible variety of activities.
Mixed use developments are designed at a human scale, and represent a
positive attempt by the development community to achieve the public object of
keeping central cities alive and making cities a living organism"
­ Edmund Bacon, Philadelphia Planning Dept. Dir. (ret.)

 

8. Identify the existing successes in the designated area ­ a landmark, institution, or local hot spot ­ and build around that.

END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

11/2/11

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Merryll sent a Jacquie Lawson "Have a Spooky Halloween" card to Scrambled Eggs. I'm taking the liberty of linking it here.

 

And there's Paul Dukas' composition

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

 

As the Sorcerer, Mickey Mouse performes this work in Disney's Fantasia.

 

AND

 

Pierre Monteux

conducts it in this 1961 filmed performance of with the London Symphony. Under Monteux The Sorcerer's Apprentice becomes a work with the excitement of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring"--a piece that "caused a riot" on its premier.

 

 

 

and then there's

 

 

École Bilingue Halloween Parade

more photos here

END

 

 

 

 

Included in Our Town's "Current Business License Classifications & Tax Rates" 
at
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4258

toward the almost very bottom we find

 

"Banks (BK) are exempt from business license taxes"

 

Anybody who knows about this exemption, please email

ronpenndorf@earthlink.net

 

Councilman Moore's aide emails

This is what I got from our Finance Director:
Section 23182 of the California Revenue & taxation Code allows financial corporations to pay a tax to the state in lieu of all other taxes and licenses, state, county and municipal,  except taxes upon their real estate, local utility user taxes, sales and use taxes, state energy resources surcharge, state emergency telephone users surcharge, and motor vehicle and other vehicle registration license fees and any other tax or license fee imposed by the state upon vehicles, motor vehicles or the operation thereof.

Sincerely,
Ryan Lau
Council Aide
Councilmember Darryl Moore

 

 

Waz up with this?

"California Revenue & taxation Code allows financial corporations to pay a tax to the state in lieu of all other taxes and licenses, state, county and municipal, . . . except . . . , sales and use taxes . . ."

According to my reading "sales and use taxes" could be collected for they are not among the taxes that the financial corporations pay "in lieu of " to the state.

 

 

City meetings concerning Potter Creek

On 11/10/11 there is a meeting of the Zoning Adjustment Board considering the 2830 9th Street use permit to "Demolish storage building, legalize overflow parking lot for Berkeley Bowl,. . . legalize storage of goods for retail sales of both Berkeley Bowl stores . . . and establish retail and wholesale sales of bulk groceries;staff recommends relocating parking lot driveway from Heinz Ave to Eight Street." The meeting is at 7:00 PM in the Council Chamber, Maudelle Shirek Bldg, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr Way.

On 11/3/11 there is a Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave at 7:00 PM.The meeting is about the proposed demolition of there 2830 9th Street Berkeley Bowl West warehouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

11/3/11

END

 

 

 

"Occupy Oakland, police taking different approaches to public safety at upcoming strike" by Cecily Burt and Sean Maher, Oakland Tribune.

"Thousands of people are expected on downtown streets Wednesday in the Occupy Oakland's planned general strike and mass day of action, prompting a flurry of planning by police, transit agencies, labor unions and, of course, the Occupy organizers themselves."

 

And Cecily Burt and Sean Maher also write "Police union 'confused' by mayor's stand on Occupy Oakland.

The city's police union on Tuesday blasted Mayor Jean Quan and city officials for sending mixed messages about the Occupy Oakland encampment and upcoming general strike.

The Oakland Police Officers Association, which represents the 645 remaining police officers in the department, posted a letter on its website saying officers are getting numerous mixed signals from City Hall regarding how to handle the movement and its camp. First they were ordered to shut down the camp and then, later, to let it return and settle in.

'As your police officers, we are confused,' states the letter, addressed as 'An Open Letter to the Citizens of Oakland.' "

 

 

 

"The Shadow Superpower" at foreignpolicy.com.

"Forget China: the $10 trillion global black market is the world's fastest growing economy -- and its future."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/4/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

"An Unexpected Alliance" by Lee Siegel at moreintelligentlife.com. ". . . the weird comedy of letters between T.S. Eliot and Groucho Marx . . .

The St Louis-born American poet, who had transplanted himself to London for an extended impersonation of an Englishman, knew all about the suppressed comedy at the heart of role-play. Appalled by humourless modern ideologies like communism, Eliot might have been drawn to Groucho's alternative mode of revolution. It seems he agreed with Irving Berlin that 'the world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl.' Eliot was also experiencing matrimonial happiness for the first time with his second wife, Esmé Valerie Fletcher, so much so that he had stopped writing poetry altogether. With sex, perhaps, came laughter'

As for Groucho, his love for books and culture was unabashed and unabated. 'Outside of a dog' he once proclaimed, 'a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.' "

 

 

 
"Spirit is missing at Occupy Berkeley camp" Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer.

"While the international spotlight is on Occupy Oakland, Berkeley finds itself in an unusual position: wallflower at the revolution."

 

 

 

"Joe Kittinger: Supersonic Parachutist!" at juniorflyer.com.

"On Aug. 16, 1960, as research for the then-fledgling U. S. space program, Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger rode a helium balloon to the edge of space, 102,800 feet above the earth, a feat in itself.

Then, wearing just a thin pressure suit and breathing supplemental oxygen, he leaned over the cramped confines of his gondola and jumped­into the 110-degree-below-zero, near-vacuum of space. Within seconds his body accelerated to 714mph in the thin air, breaking the sound barrier."

story link courtesy

Bob Kubik

 

 

 

On 11/1/11 I wrote

"The size of the 'General Strike' is critical to determining the future and direction of the Occupy movement--possibly an historic moment."

 

"Thousands of Occupy protesters rally in Oakland, shut down operations at busy shipping port" reports AP at washingtonpost.com.

"Occupy Wall Street protesters declared victory after thousands of demonstrators shut down one of the nation's busiest shipping ports late Wednesday, escalating a movement whose tactics had largely been limited to marches, rallies and tent encampments since it began in September."

Crowd estimates range from 2,000 to 8,000 people--go figure.

 

" Occupy Oakland protests erupts into violence" is a video report at ktvu.com.

 

END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/5/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

"Bay Area's five poorest neighborhoods show up in study" by Matt O'Brien, Contra Costa Times.

"The Bay Area has fewer concentrations of extreme poverty than a decade ago, according to a report released Thursday.

That may not console the people living in the Bay Area's five poorest neighborhoods. In five census tracts, four of them in the East Bay, more than 40 percent of residents live below the poverty line, according to the Brookings Institution report.

The neighborhoods are in downtown Berkeley, uptown Oakland, Alameda Point and parts of West Oakland and San Francisco's Hunters Point."

 

 

 

Though not the first world-wide, still "Occupy Wall Street, brought to you by social media" John Boudreau, contracostatimes.com.

"This revolution is being tweeted.

Occupy Wall Street has spread around the country at Internet speed as participants tap into Twitter, Facebook and microblogging site Tumblr to call Americans to the streets to protest what they see as a broken global financial system. What would have taken months to unfold in a different era has occurred in days and hours.

The Economist magazine calls it America's 'first true social-media uprising.' "

 

 

"William Cohan: 'MF Global collaps biggest Wallstreet failure since Lehman Brothers' " is an "interesting if true" video from Democracy Now.

 

END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/6/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

In "I don't know what Medved learned" at

"Back in The Day: Selling Records on Berkeley's Telegraph Ave"

I wrote about Record City

"Jim Harper managed the store for some time. He was a good manager for I never thought of him as a boss. I think we sold a lot of records and had some good times.

For all the fun, Sandy ran a tight shop. Most tight was the inventory system. The number of records in each section was written on the back of the section's divider card. Also the name and quantity of each title was kept on 3 X 5 cards in a file box. Sandy prided himself on knowing exactly what he had and where it was. Inventory could be taken two or three times a day and Sandy knew within minutes if something was missing or misplaced. It made him as crazy if the inventory was off as it did if a record was stolen.

Without telling him we used to bring records from home and put them in stock."

 

Recently Harper emailed me about another of his pranks

"Proof that you can't underestimate the creativeness of this Canadian boy for mischief.
 Considering all the brilliant, devious minds we had in college, I don't know how I was the first to do this.
 At Cal Poly San Luis Obisop, I played a prank by borrowing 3 goats from the goat unit and let them loose on the campus.
 But before turning them loose, I painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1, 2, and 4.
 The School Administrators spent most of the day looking for No. 3.
 
Jim

 

 

Nacio Brown's photo website, ragtheater.com, is now up. RagTheater is a photo essay of The Ave mostly in the block of Moe's Books and Records.

Moe Moskowitz

A friend of Bob Baldock, I remember Nacio hanging around the store and taking photos. Happily he kept them and they are here.

 

 

 

I'm told LBNL will be announcing their decision on the location of the second campus not as scheduled in November but at the end of January 2012,

And word on the street is that a Cal prof and her grad students are working on a study dealing with LBNL and west-Berkeley.

 

 

 

Sarah emails

Important Zoning Adjustments Board Meeting Next Week 

City Proposes Moving Bowl's Heinz St. Parking Lot Entrance to 8th St, Across From Neighbors & Businesses
 
Thursday, November 10, 2011  7:00 PM in the Old City Hall Council Chambers  2134 MLK Jr Way, 2nd Floor
 
 
 I would like to inform you of an important Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Meeting next week affecting our neighborhood.
 
The City of Berkeley is proposing closing the entrance of the Bowl's Heinz St parking lot and moving it to 8th street.  This will place the burden of  this (150 space) lot's traffic on a neighborhood street with children, seniors, and businesses.  The new entrance would be 75 ft from Heinz, directly across from the Ed Jones Company and two houses with 6 children, one of which is mine.
 
 This move is apparently in response to one complaint about the jaywalking across Heinz at mid-block to the store's midblock entrance.  
 
 The Yasudas, the owners of this site and the Bowl, are against this as is every single person I have talked to about this.
 
 An entrance to a parking lot on any of the residential streets would never have been allowed as part of the initial Bowl approval process and it shouldn't be permitted now.
 
 Please plan to attend this meeting.
 
Sarah Klise

 

 

 

On 11/2/11 I posted

Waz up with this?

"California Revenue & taxation Code allows financial corporations to pay a tax to the state in lieu of all other taxes and licenses, state, county and municipal, . . . except . . . , sales and use taxes . . ."

According to my reading "sales and use taxes" could be collected for they are not among the taxes that the financial corporations pay "in lieu of " to the state.

 

Apparently Wells pays no municipal tax and . . . "Wells Fargo & Co., paid no federal taxes over the past three years, according to a report released Thursday. . . . Wells Fargo, also benefited greatly from various tax subsidies." More at "Bay Area firms among 30 not paying federal taxes" by Andrew S. Ross, Chronicle Columnist.


END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/9/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

"UC Berkeley launches initiative to increase faculty salaries, improve retention" dailycal.org.

"A campus initiative with $1.5 million allocated for UC Berkeley professor salary increases is scheduled for implementation this year and will operate until 2015."

 


"Thousands protest higher education cuts at UC Berkeley protest" by Matt Krupnick, Contra Costa Times.

"More than 1,000 students have gathered at Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley as part of a statewide day of action to bring attention to higher-education cuts they say were caused by banks."

 

"UC Berkeley students plan to set up Occupy camp" The Associated Press.

"Student activists at the University of California, Berkeley are planning to set up an 'Occupy Cal' camp on campus despite official warnings that such encampments are not allowed."

 

momentum builds

 

 

 

 

BPD and BFD gear Up For Toys For Tots 2011

In one of the many events
throughout the year in which members of the City of Berkeley Police and Fire
Departments give back to the community, BPD and BFD are again teaming up with the
U.S. Marines Corps Foundation Toys for Tots program 2011. Each year, toys are given
to Berkeley children who might not otherwise receive any toys during the holidays.
Members of BPD and BFD expect to give over 3000 new toys to youth during this year's
event.



Some toys given to Berkeley children

The goal of the program is to deliver a message of hope to youngsters whose families are
in need and to support each of them in becoming responsible, productive community
members and future leaders.

Toys for Tots is open to all City of Berkeley families who pre-register through
Eden I & R, Inc. Community members should call 2-1-1. The Berkeley Police Department
does not accept any registrations. Toys for Tots registrations must be made through
Eden I & R. The following are requirements for eligibility:

Applicants must verify Berkeley residency with a utility bill that contains
the same name and address.
Applicants must have photo identification.
Applicants must have a Client Code Number that is assigned at the time
the application is made over the phone.
Applicants must show up for the give away ­ no substitutions accepted.

Qualifying families can register anytime after November 1, 2010. Registration ends at
5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 14, 2010. Toys will be given out to registered
families on Saturday, December 17th at the Ronald T. Tsukamoto Public Safety Building,
2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Community members who want to support Toys for Tots are invited to drop off new
unwrapped toys at any of the City of Berkeley Fire Stations and the Ronald T. Tsukamoto
Public Safety Building.

Lt. Diane Delaney
Traffic & Parking
Bureau
(510) 981-5983

Sgt. MC Kusmiss
Public Information
Officer (PIO)
(510) 981-5780



growing up here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

at Christmas time

was "just like" growing up in Gary Indiana in Christmas Story

but my Dad was a Ford Man

 

 

 

The beginning of the era of warefare when drones fight drones and robots, robots, so saving lives?

"X-47B UCAS First Cruise Flight"video at military.com.

"Musical revue of the first 'cruise' flight of the U.S. Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstration aircraft. During this flight, conducted Sept. 30, 2011 flight, the aircraft's landing gear was raised and lowered for the first time, a key milestone in the envelope expansion phase of flight testing. The X-47B was designed, developed and produced by Northrop Grumman, the leader in unmanned systems."

 

 

"High-Speed Video Shows How Hummingbirds Stay Dry" video at wired.com.

"It's a question with the deceptive simplicity of a zen koan: How does a hummingbird keep dry?

"It's not by staying out of the rain. Instead, as shown in a series of high-speed videos that reveal what's hidden to the naked eye by time, hummingbirds shake themselves like dogs."

 

END

 

 

 

 

11/10/11

MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS

This morning, Disney's John Lasseter and the Pixar crew, including Pete Docter, had breakfast at our 900 GRAYSON.

 

Charlie Rose talks to Robert A. Lutz & Elon Musk.

Robert "Bob" A. Lutz is a former Vice Chairman at General Motors Company and upper level manager at several car companies.

Elon Musk s an American engineer and entrepreneur of South African-Canadian heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity.

Potter Creek's Jerry Victor was a few years ahead of Lutz in his belief in electirc cars and he now advocates the full electrification of 21st century life.

 

 

BPD, PIO Sgt Mary Kusmiss emails

We are writing this as we have received inquiries, calls and emails and wanted to offer accurate information to those who have questions or inquired.

City of Berkeley Participation in Occupy Cal the Evening/Night of November 9, 2011

"There has been some widespread confusion as to the law enforcement entities that were involved in the Occupy Cal events of last evening. Members of the City of Berkeley Police Department (BPD) were not part of any mutual aid or assistance last evening/night. We have received calls and emails about our presence there.
Out of respect and policy, we defer to UCPD to speak to their jurisdiction, activities and what assistance they sought."

"City of Berkeley Police department (BPD) did manage the protest/demonstration during a part of the afternoon of November 9, 2011 when the group of several hundred marched onto City of Berkeley streets which are our jurisdiction. Groups have often done this when protesting or demonstrating in the past. BPD had bike officers, motor officers, parking enforcement officers and patrol officers to maintain community safety, the safety of participants, officer safety and to monitor the group for any unlawful activity.

There was much verbal energy but no arrests were made. It went fairly smoothly. BPD managed the march until the group returned to UC campus."

Sgt. Mary C. Kusmiss

END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/11/11

Veterans Day

Rolling Stone contributor, Evan Wright was embedded with the elite Marine First Reconnaissance Battalion in our our Iraq War. He writes in Chapter Two of his book, Generation Kill. "War fever, at least among reporters, was running pretty high. . . . A Canadian wire-service reporter, bitterly opposed to the war, knocked down a loudly patriotic American photographer in favor of it. While stunned Arab security guards looked on, the Canadian peacenik clenched the American patriot in to sort of LAPD chokehold and repeatedly slammed his head into the back of a chair. The American was saved from further humiliation only after several tough women from Reuters and AFP waded in and broke apart the one-sided combat."

Wright describes Dartmouth graduate, Lt. Fick, the commander of the platoon in which he's embedded "Despite his cavalier humor Fick finished in the top of his class in Officer Candidates School and near the top of the Marine Corps tough Basic Reconnaissance Course. He's also something of a closet idealist. 'At Dartmouth, there was a sense that an ROTC program, which the school did not have, would militarize the campus' he explains. 'They have it backwards. ROTC programs at Ivy League campuses would liberalize the military. That can only be good for the country.'"

"One of the first men to greet me is Navy Hospitalman Second Class Robert Timothy 'Doc' Bryan. . . . Doc Bryan . . . is always pissed off at something, if not the presence of the reporter, then the incompetent military leaders or the barbarity of war. He's a self-made man, son of a steamfitter from a small town outside of Philadelphia, the first of his family to attend college. . . . In his younger days, Doc Bryan had a lot of ambient rage he used to burn off in weekend bar fights. 'I'm always angry,' he later tells me.'I was born that way, I'm an asshole.'"

"Top dogs in the platoon are the team leaders. . . . Sergeants Eric Kocher and Larry Shawn Patrick are the more obvious alphas of the pack. . . . Kocher . . . tells dirty stories that make everyone howl, but he has the kind of eyes that never seem to smile, even when the rest of his face is laughing. . . . Patrick, his fellow Marines call him .'Pappy,' and behind his back they speak of him in the most reverential terms. 'You'd never think to look at him' a Marine tells me 'but Pappy is straight up the coldest killer in the platoon.' Colbert, the platoon's top team leader, is in charge of Team One. The year before, he was awarded a Navy Commendation for helping to take out an enemy missile battery in Afghanistan. . . . There is about him an air of Victorian rectitude. [And] he can tell you the exact details of just about any weapon in the U. S. or Iraqi arsenal. He once nearly purchased a surplus British tank. . . but backed out only when he realized that just parking it might run afoul of zoning laws in his home state, the'Communist Republic of California.'"

Evan Wright reports of the build up in Kuwait "you begin to get a sense of the undertaking. . . . It has the feel of a monumental industrial enterprise. Somehow all these pieces are being put together--the people and the equipment--to function as one large machine. Though at the small unit level all I see is the friction among the moving parts--Marines shouting at other vehicles to get out of the way, guys jumping out to hurriedly piss by the road, people taking wrong turns--the machine works. It will roll across 580 kilometers to Baghdad. It will knock down buildings, smash cars and tanks, put holes in people, shred limbs, cut children apart. There's no denying it. For certain tasks, the machine put together in this desert is a very good one."

"Fick repeats a mantra, echoed by every commander throughout the Corps. 'You will be held accountable for the facts not as they are in hind-sight but as they appeared to you at the time. If, in your mind you fire to protect yourself, you are doing the right thing. It doesn't matter if later on we find out you wiped out a family of unarmed civilians. All we are accountable for are the facts as they appear to us at the time.' "

"Following Fick's talk, Gunny Wynn addresses the men. Gunny Wynn serves as Fick's loyal executive. In Somalia he headed a sniper team and scored numerous confirmed kills . . . . Gunny Wynn describes himself as a as a 'staunch conservative' who never smoked marijuana. He almost never barks at his men the way platoon sergeants do in the movies. His conservatism boils down to a rigid adherence to his own personal code. 'The most important part of my job,' he tells me, 'is to care about my men.' His leadership philosophy is based upon 'building confidence in my men by respecting them.'"

"Both Person and Colbert have radio transceivers clipped to their helmets to communicate with vehicles in the platoon, as well as with the battalion and with pilots when there is air cover. It is arguable that comms--radio communications--are as important to a team's survival its weapons. But comms seldom work as they should. Dust, magnetism and sun spots all interfere with radios constantly. In addition, the radios in the various battalion networks rely on encryption codes that constantly need to be loaded and synchronized. The system is prone to bad connections, dead batteries, software crashes and as Person explains, 'retards in the battalion who keep changing the frequencies without telling us.' "

At the beginning of the campaign "the US commanders are concerned only with fighting regular Iraqi forces. . . . It will take a few days before American Commanders realize there most dangerous opponents are the Fedayeen, who are gearing up to fight a guerrilla war."

The First Recon Battalion have already encountered foreign fighters, and the Iraqi regulars whose surrender to the Marines has not accepted are afraid they will now be killed by Fedayeen.

In some cases Wright does not use proper names in his narrative. Not a popular officer "Captain America revealed another side of himself which further eroded his standing among his men. He's prone to hysterics. . . . While it's perfectly fine for officers to shout dramatically in the movies, in the Marines its frowned upon. [Eventually] Captain America will lose control of his platoon when he is temporarily relieved of his command."

"Colbert brings up a mutual friend in the battalion who listens to death metal and hangs out in vampire clubs in Hollywood. 'Remember that time when he went out dressed in diapers and a gas mask?' Person says, laughing appreciatively. Tombley, who seldom jumps into conversations between Colbert and Person, can't hide his disgust. 'That's sick. Can you believe we're defending people's freedom to do that.?' Colbert corrects him, delivering a sharp civics lesson. ' No,Trombley, That's good that people have the freedom to do that. We're even defending people like Corporal Person, too.'"

"There's a tremendous blast as Dill steps on a mine at the edge of the road. . . . Redman jumps onto the highway. . . . He sees Valdez wandering beside the road holding his hands over his eyes, moaning. . . . Redman gently pulls Valdez's hands away from his face 'Are my eyelids there?' asks Valdez. 'Yeah' Redman says, not really certain if they are. 'Are my eyes there?' Vladez asks. 'I can't see nothing,' Redman suppresses the urge to vomit. Both of Valdez's eyes are filled with pebbles and debris. His left eye is packed, bloody tissue puffs out around it like a blossom. 'Dude, your eye is gone,' Redman says."

 

 

 

 

 

POST FROM THE PAST

10/31/04

Former Potter Creek resident Edward "Fast Eddie" Saylan has died. Though the Nazi's couldn't shoot him down over Europe in WW II, The Reaper finally caught up with the big-hearted, tough-guy yesterday morning.

END

 

 

After 11/11/11 here

 

 

 

 

from my log

10/29/11--Off and on all AM and PM--irritation warehouse front and front of warehouse, burning dirty dry air, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, nausea, overrides four HEAP filters, wear respirator.

10/29/11--Off and on all AM and PM--irritation warehouse front and front of warehouse, burning dirty dry air, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, nausea, overrides four HEAP filters, wear respirator.

 

11/1/11--11:01 PM--SERIOUS irritant in front room, burning dry air, mucus membrane irritation.

11/2/11--8:!2 AM--VERY SERIOUS irritation in front room, burning dirty dry air, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, nausea, overrides four HEAP filters, wear respirator.

11/8/11-Off-and-On ALL AM AND PM--dry dirty air in front room, "hot asbestos" odor.

11/9/11--Off-and-On ALL AM AND PM--dry dirty in front room, "hot asbestos" odor. 5:21 PM--similar with mucus membrane irritation. 8:28 PM--VERY SERIOUS irritant in warehouse front and front of warehouse, burning dirty dry air, STRONG "asbestos" odor, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, nausea, overrides four HEAP filters, wear respirator.

11/10/11--8:46AM--dry dirty air in front room, "asbestos" odor. 12:17 PM--similar.

11/11/119:44 AM--"glass manufacturing odor" in front room.1:21 PM--dry dirty air in front room, "asbestos" odor, mucus membrane irritation. 7:44 PM==irritation in warehouse front and front of warehouse, burning dirty dry air, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, overrides four HEAP filters, wear respirator.

11/12/11--9:52 AM---dry dirty air in front room, "asbestos" odor, mucus membrane irritation. 6:06 PM--SERIOUS irritant in front room, burning dry air, mucus membrane irritation. 6:51 PM--dry dirty air in front room, "asbestos" odor, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, blurred vison. 8:25 PM--dry dirty air in front room, "asbestos" odor, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, overrides HEAP filters, wear respirator.

11/13/11---12:59 PM--SERIOUS irritant in front room, burning dry air, mucus membrane irritation, watery eyes, blurred vison. Only appartent surrounding activity, worker at Adams and Chittenden Scientific Glass.

 

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, Berkeley PD - 981-5774.

AND check out BPD feature "Who are these Suspects."

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.