Earth Day is this weekend. The real questions: what is the state of our home the earth and what are we willing to do to save it?

The only paper I get in print is the Sunday Chronicle. The first thing I look for is the 3 ¾ inches at the bottom of the Sunday weather page, Steven Newman’s Earthweek: a diary of the planet. There isn’t a lot of room. This week Newman included the nearly five inches of sea level rise in the last twelve years in the Gulf of Mexico and left off the twenty-five inches of rain in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That was covered in the third hour of Thom Hartmann on Thursday in Hartmann’s interview with Michael Mann.

Hartmann asked Mann if this is the new normal. It was Mann’s response that should be unsettling and shake us into action. Mann answered it this way,

“It’s a new reality, it’s worse than a new normal.

“A new normal makes it sound like this is what we have to deal with now, just adapt to the changes that have been made. But it’s worse than that. If we stop the warming, then things will stop getting worse, we are still in the realm of our adaptive capacity.

“If we don’t rein in our carbon emissions, if we continue business as usual all of this gets worse. The hurricanes become more extreme, more intense. You get larger coastal flooding, larger storm surges on top of sea level rise, from melting ice. -more-

We Warned You

TV news is a medium that has been accused of sensationalism. That charge arose again following the April 8 comments of a reporter on KRON's "We Investigate" broadcast.

The Investigative Team's report that evening raised concerns over the safety of Muni, San Francisco's transit fleet—specifically, whether the buses' dim headlights posed a collision hazard.

The broadcast began with the death of a woman who was walking in the street when she was struck by a Muni bus. There was video footage of the collision and, as frequently happens, the on-air reporter cautioned the viewing audience by announcing: "Warning: The video you are about to see is disturbing."

But, as the dash cam video clip began to play, the "We Investigate" newscaster quickly added one more piece of advice for her audience: "Don't blink or you might miss it!"

Catalytic Converters and Cat Shields

Catalytic converters: they've been around for more than ten years. Likewise, catalytic conversion thefts. So why haven't the automakers bothered to install catalytic conversion protection shields in the factory before sending these at-risk vehicles out to be sold at dealerships? Why do the carmakers continue to produce vulnerable cars?

Why hasn't law enforcement made it illegal to walk into a recycling yard with a load of converters to sell? Why are stolen catalytic converters openly up for sale on the Internet? Why are recycling centers still offering to purchase illicit stashes of stolen converters?

No one has a legitimate excuse to be walking around with a bunch of loose converters stuffed in a bag. Anyone trying to fence a converter might as well be wearing a T-shirt that says: "I'm a CAT Burglar."

When cars are vandalized, why do the car companies simply advise victimized owners to purchase protective shields from the Cat Shield company? It leaves one to wonder: Does Toyota receive royalties for encouraging customers to install trademarked Cat Shields? -more-

Mental illness is serious business, and if you fail to treat it, you will reap dire consequences.

In 1982, I was given the diagnosis of "Schizophrenia: Paranoid-type," by Dr. Trachtenberg at Kaiser Inpatient Psychiatric Ward. And at the time the diagnosis appeared correct. But in the past twenty years, give or take a few years, my diagnosis was changed to "Schizoaffective," to allow for being smart. I was told by a close friend in the mid- 1990's that she didn't believe I was schizophrenic, because she believed I was too high-functioning.

I have substantial mood problems and communication problems when medicated. Off medication I become a lost cause, the psychosis will completely take over. And in the aftermath upon restabilizing back on medication, I will have lost ground in my ability to function, equivalent to a setback of twenty years or more--but without the return of youth. I can't afford another full relapse--even if I physically survived it, it would ruin my life.

While medicated, a lot of the symptoms persist. I have to fend off delusional thought through a lot of cognitive methods and a lot of reality-checking. In recent times, my condition is somewhat worse in terms of psychotic thought, but I'm better off in some behaviors.

In modern times, it is harder not to be psychotic and delusional, for anyone, because of the misinformation that exists everywhere, and because more people have become liars for the sake of convenience, for power over people, and to avoid accountability. -more-

Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for more than $787 million. Prior to the settlement, the Court had already ruled that 20 Fox News broadcasts from late 2020 contained blatantly untrue assertions that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion is also seeking $1.6 billion from Newsman and One America News, alleging that both companies overtly tried to boost their ratings and directly appeal to disgruntled MAGA fans angry by helping to “create and cultivate an alternate reality where... Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud.”

And finally, Smartmatic, an electronic voting systems maker, is suing Fox News and hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell allegeng that defendants invented a story that the election was stolen from Trump and decided to make Smartmatic “the villain in their story.” The suit seeks more than $2.7 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. Smartmatic also asks for defendants to retract “false statements and implications.”

Have the chickens finally come home to roost for Fox News? Consider that Fox News is not, and never has been, a legitimate news network. They began as a project by right-wing propagandist Rupert Murdoch and the late Republican media strategist Roger Ailes to spread disinformation and promote GOP politicians. (Ailes, as you may remember, resigned in 2016 from Fox News amid allegations of sexual misconduct.) -more-

After more than four decades as one of the world’s premier string quartets, The Emerson String Quartet is disbanding later this year. They have embarked on a farewell tour, and under the auspices of San Francisco Performances they performed Friday, April 14, at Herbst Theatre. The Emerson String Quartet, named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, consists of Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer on violins, Lawrence Dutton on viola, and the cellist, who joined the group in 2013, is Paul Watkins. -more-

Worth Noting:

The April 25 City Council Regular Meeting Agenda is available for public comment and follows below this calendar of meetings.

The bolded phrases are to encourage your attendance, public comment and reporting back. Picking a commission or a council committee that covers your issues and then attending those meetings regularly is the best way to influence and have a say in the outcomes for our community.

• Sunday: Fifth & Gilman Street Fair from 11 am – 4 pm
• Monday:

• 9:30 am Public Safety Committee meets in hybrid format on Public Surveillance Fixed Cameras and Drones use for the BPD
• 2:30 pm the Agenda Committee meets in the hybrid format and plans the May 9 City Council Agenda with Police Chief confirmation of Jennifer Louis as item 4 on consent in the agenda
• 5 pm the 3 x 3 Committee meets online on housing
• 5:30 – 7:30 online meeting on Cedar Rose Park playground renovation
• 6-7 pm Speaking Up for Point Molate is online on Pogo Park Community Engagement

• Tuesday:
  • 10 am the Solano Business District meets in person
  • 3 pm the Civic Arts Commission subcommittee on Public Art meets online
  • 5 pm City Council conducts a special meeting on referrals in the hybrid format followed by the regular City Council meeting at 6 pm.
  • 6 pm the Zero Waste Commission meets in-person
• Wednesday:
  • 12 pm CCCC meets online
  • 6 pm Civic Arts Commission meets in person on public art discussion and approvals
  • 6 pm Environment and Climate Commission meets in person with a staff update on the court decision on the natural gas ban
  • 6:30 pm the Police Accountability Board meets in the hybrid format
  • 7 pm the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets in person
  • 7 pm the Homeless Services Panel of Experts meets on Measure P and Russell House
• Thursday:
  • 10 am the Budget Committee meets in the hybrid format on 2024 Mid-biennial Budget
  • 7 pm the Zoning Adjustment Board meets in the hybrid format with eight projects on the agenda with five as state density bonus projects
  • the Community Health Commission is expected to meet but no meeting notice is posted
• Saturday is Arbor Day: 9 am – 2 pm is tree planting at San Pablo Park