Columnists

It may be hard to imagine but, a couple of decades ago, Republicans described themselves as "the Party of personal responsibility." The Grand Old Party imagined itself as the Party of rugged individualists, folks who clawed their way to the top with an unstoppable combination of ambition, perseverance, and moral rectitude. Republicans claimed the moral high ground. No more.

In the last year, we've seen Donald Trump, and his Republican cohorts, dodge responsibility for the Coronavirus pandemic and for the January 6th insurrection. Each of these actions was shameful and should be sufficient to tarnish the GOP for decades.

In every regard, Donald Trump mismanaged the pandemic. When he left office, at noon on January 20th, he was responsible for 25 million U.S. Covid-19 cases and 400,000 related deaths. It's an understatement to say that Trump did a terrible job; it's more accurate to say that he made a bad situation much, much worse. The prestigious medical journal Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32545-9/fulltext) recently observed: "Trump's mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic—compounded by his efforts to dismantle the USA's already weakened public health infrastructure and the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) coverage expansions—has caused tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. His elimination of the National Security Council's global health security team, and a 2017 hiring freeze that left almost 700 positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unfilled, compromised preparedness... The number of people without health insurance had increased by 2·3 million during Trump's presidency, even before pandemic-driven losses of employment-based coverage increased the number of uninsured people by millions." -more-

We with psychiatric disabilities have some of the hardest lots in life. These diseases will attack a person from deep within. When consciousness is compromised from the ground up, you should know life can't be easy. At the same time, mentally ill people don't get treated well by most of the public. Most people do not have empathy for mentally ill people, and view us as sick, dangerous, and/or dishonorable. -more-

On March 16, eight people were killed, including six Asian-Americans, at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area. The shooter purchased the handgun legally the same day as the shootings. On March 22, ten people were killed, including one police officer, at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. The shooter used an assault weapon he purchased less than a week earlier. On March 28, a gunman killed his parents, two others at a convenience store, and then himself near Baltimore. On March 31, four people, including a child, were killed at an office complex in Orange, California. -more-

Now in the Works: Berkeley's Biggest, Block-long Mural

A majestic new mural is being created in West Berkeley on the north wall of the Community Energy Services Corp—near the intersection of Carleton and Ninth. The block-long expanse provides the backdrop for a huge parking lot built to serve Kaiser Permanente's new Berkeley facility, which is set to open in May.

Since the mural is near my West Berkeley office, I've watched it slowly evolve from a vast, black-and-white sketch into a blossoming montage of spray-painted images depicting messages of health and healing. Although I drive by the project every morning and evening, I never spotted the crew of painters responsible for the work.

On Wednesday, I got lucky. I met the entire crew. His art-world name is Desi Mundo.

Mundo explained that he's been working on the wall—all alone and without assistants—for several months and hopes to be finished sometime in May.

The project is being sponsored by KP and the message behind the art is appropriately "Thrive-worthy." As Mundo explained, the images depict the world's fundamental healing sources—sunshine, clean air, clear water, trees, food, music, dance, companionship, natural medicine, traditional healers, and modern doctors.

Mundo was relaxed and affable, referring to detailed illustrations on an electronic tablet before reaching for various cans of spray paint and adding six-inch-long updates to the 30-foot-tall canvas. He revealed that he is a teacher at the Oakland Unity Middle School and is Artist-in-Residence at Freemont High. Mundo kindly agreed to be photographed—but only while wearing his protective breathing apparatus.

While Michelangelo had assistants who helped paint the Sistine Chapel, Mundo is going it alone. But he has one advantage Michelangelo lacked—his own mechanized cherry-picker crane to lift him into position to paint the upper reaches of his monumental mural. -more-

“Life is lived looking forward and understood looking backward,” Reverend James Reynold Anderson.

Tuesday evening was the Berkeley City Council’s meeting, and this is where history gives insight to the action taken by Mayor Arreguin.

On November 12, 2019, the city council passed the Bird Safe Berkeley Requirements Ordinance as a referral to the Planning Commission and the City Manager to consider-and that is where it has been sitting for sixteen months, sixteen months of inaction while construction of multi-story mixed-use buildings continues at a feverish pace, buildings that need bird-safe glass to protect a bird population in decline. Consider this; North America has lost 2.9 billion birds since 1970. Birds crashing into glass causes the death of an estimated 600 million birds annually nationwide.

The work to get the Bird Safe Ordinance into the November 12, 2019 council agenda began with a presentation by the Audubon Society February 14, 2019 at the Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC). This was followed with five months of committee work at CEAC to develop the Bird Safe Berkeley Ordinance. The proposed ordinance was passed by CEAC June 13, 2019 and sent to council to sit another five months before making it into the council November 12, 2019 agenda. -more-

A recent Gallup Poll found that Americans, in general, are happy with the Biden Administration. Except for Republicans. Another poll indicated that most of us want to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Except Republicans. What's wrong with the GOP? -more-

Emerging from depression is an uphill battle. After a bout with psychosis, often a patient will experience depression. We may mistakenly believe the symptoms of depression are caused by being medicated with antipsychotics. However, this is mostly not so. When we return to tracking reality, the brain needs an extended recovery period, and part of that may include being depressed. The reader should realize that this depression will eventually clear up. -more-

Teachable Moments at Trader Joe's -more-

From the week that is just ending, the big event was Thursday and not much else mattered. -more-