The need for housing in the Bay Area is undeniable. Over forty years of reduced budgets for public services, including public housing, combined with the influx of capital investment to build market rate housing, has created a massive crisis for those on the middle and lower end of the income spectrum. The income gap is as extreme now as it was a hundred years ago in the Gilded Age. We see the evidence of this daily. UC Berkeley, the flagship campus of the world’s greatest public university, has homeless students. There is no denying that Berkeley needs housing, particularly affordable housing.

However, the proposal to develop People’s Park ignores not only its history and listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but the need for open space in the South Campus area.

Going way back historically, we can recall the broader context of the history of urban public space starting with the Greek agora and the Roman forum that are the antecedents to U.S. parks, commons, marketplaces and squares.

Lack of park acreage in Berkeley was noted in 1915 in Walter Hegemann’s city plan report. He noted the backwardness of Berkeley despite “the influence of Frederick Law Olmsted, the elder, the great American genius of park-culture.” (Olmsted was the famous designer of New York’s Central Park.) 

UC’s 1948 plan for the Southside assured “generous open space for recreation and amenity,” and the 1956 Long Range Development Plan by renowned Bay Area architect Arthur Brown, Jr. outlined a specific program of nature conservation. The University’s 1990 Long Range Development Plan actually designated the People’s Park site as “campus and public open space providing active and passive recreation.”  

Berkeley’s population density is over 11,000 per square mile, incredibly higher than the California average, and much higher than the national average. Berkeley’s 1986 Public Parks and Open Space Preservation Ordinance recommends two acres of public open space per 1,000 persons. 

Both the World Health Organization and the American Planning Association have standards for urban green space and outdoor recreational areas that are not being met in Berkeley’s densest neighborhoods. 

Moreover, the California Government Code describes some of the more important uses of open space, including: 

• "Open space for the preservation of natural resources… 

• Open space for outdoor recreation, including…areas of outstanding scenic, historic and cultural value... 

• Open space for public health and safety… 

• Open space for scenic and visual enjoyment for relief from continuous urban development… 

Berkeley’s Department of Planning & Development has also noted the following: The 2.8-acre historically significant People’s Park is located within one of the City’s “high demand” open space districts. In 1990 the City recommended that the University transfer People’s Park to the City of Berkeley, or its designee, as partial mitigation for the University’s proposed development on campus and in the south campus area. 

The Open Space and Recreation Element of Berkeley’s General Plan establishes a policy framework for the maintenance, improvement, and expansion of Berkeley’s open space and recreational facilities. It states that few of Berkeley’s public assets are as highly treasured and as heavily used as the City’s open spaces. 

Policies in this Open Space Element include: 

• Existing open space and parks shall be maintained and preserved for public park and open space use. Measure L, passed by the Berkeley voters in 1986, requires a vote of the people to use or to develop a public open space or park for any purpose other than public park or open space…
• Working with public agencies including the University of California to improve, preserve, maintain, and renovate their open space and recreation facilities. Specifically the policy calls for working with UC to identify and pursue opportunities for active-use (playing fields and courts) recreation space serving University students, particularly those students who are Berkeley residents in densely developed neighborhoods near the UC campus.

Unfortunately, UC Berkeley’s chancellor wishes to ignore student and community need for open space, and the City of Berkeley’s mayor and the city council majority have blithely ignored all of these policies in favor of political expediency and accommodation with UC Berkeley. 

Obviously the present condition of People’s Park is deliberate. UC and the City found shelter for those who lived in the park previous to last August’s destruction of the tree canopy. Nobody can tell us an institution that has managed three national nuclear laboratories cannot maintain in beautiful condition a 2.8 acre park for the use of the entire community. 

Utilizing an alternative site for student housing could provide a win for all sides. The university gets to build its much-needed project, the community gets a renewed and improved park in the city's most densely populated neighborhood, and a site of great national historical importance is preserved, consistent with the intent of both the state Historic Resources Commission and the federal National Register of Historic Places. 

To project a vision of the park’s future, just think of any tree-lined lawn on the UC campus or any Berkeley park. This future is entirely possible. 

More information can be found on the website - peoplesparkhxdist.org - or contact peoplesparkhxdist@gmail.com.

It’s been another comfortable week in Berkeley with temperatures in the 70s while heat domes threaten life across large swathes of the planet. Even the Saguaro Cactus in Arizona is collapsing in the extreme heat. As I pick my way through the news I feel like an observer in a world that is unraveling. And there has been local unraveling too. 

I received a text and then a request to call back with the phone number of where to get help in Berkeley for someone who was in a mental health crisis. I did not have the answer on Tuesday, but I do now. The number for the Mobile Crisis Team is (510) 981-5900, and press 6 in the telephone tree or ask for Mental Health. That is if the situation is not life-threatening and the crisis occurs between 11:30 am and 10 pm on a Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. All other hours, and on Tuesday and Saturday, the choices are to call 911 for the police, take the person to a hospital or clinic or wait it out until the crisis team is available. https://berkeleyca.gov/safety-health/mental-health/crisis-services 

Berkeley’s implementation of a Special Care Unit (SCU) for persons in a mental health crisis is still weeks away, with the end of August as a planned opening. 

Maybe someone with real expertise will respond with better alternatives. 

The Resolution from the Mental Health Commission to Adopt a City-Wide “Care First, Jails Last” Policy, item 31 on the July 25, 2023 City Council Consent Calendar was passed that evening by the Berkeley City Council, but not without Councilmember Humbert throwing a wrench in it first. Humbert asked to refer item 31 to the Council’s Health, Life, Enrichment, Equity & Community Policy Committee (Humbert is a member) for “vetting.” Wengraf agreed, no councilmember objected, and the item was moved as a referral to the committee in the preliminary council discussion before Public Comment and the vote on the consent calendar. 

From my observation of how council committees function, referrals to committees are often just a detour on the road, slowing down the process of getting something done with little to show for all those months in committee, or even the path to killing an agenda item council doesn’t want to pass. 

When Public Comment opened, the Mental Health Commissioners were at the podium, explaining to the Council that the Alameda County Board of Directors passed a resolution on May 25, 2021, and that Berkeley as a separate jurisdiction has been an outlier by not adopting a similar policy. There was considerable detail provided by the Commissioners on their extensive process of research in preparing the resolution, how the resolution gave direction to the Berkeley Police, and how the resolution fit with the SCU and continuum of care. Finally, Mayor Arreguin stepped in to move the item back to consent (for passage without a committee referral), with a minor change in the frequency of reporting, which Humbert accepted, cancelling the referral. 

The big agenda item of the July 25th night was the Fixed Automated License Plate Readers, but before getting to that there was the non-agenda public comment at the beginning of the meeting. A maximum of ten speakers are allowed one minute each. 

I recognized the four Japanese American women turning in their names for non-agenda comment as the same women who attended the Open Government Commission (OGC) on July 20th. At that meeting they were asking how it could be that the resolution to oppose Japan’s Planned Discharge of Wastewater from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant could lose without the mayor and councilmembers even giving a reason for their actions. 

They said publicly at OGC what I had heard but not confirmed, that the Japanese Consulate called councilmembers asking them to oppose the resolution, leaving Berkeley in the position of essentially supporting the discharge of wastewater through taking no action. 

These women were not giving up. They wanted the resolution back on the agenda and they wanted to hear the reasons from the mayor and councilmember. The discussion at the OGC was quite involved over the council process, how agenda items on consent imply approval, and yet five voted against the measure through abstention. 

Mayor Arreguin and Councilmembers Kesarwani, Robinson, Wengraf and Humbert all abstained from supporting the resolution on July 11, sinking it. 

Two speakers were at council to comment on the Berkeley Police Downtown Bike Team Texting Scandal and the results of the investigation by Swanson & McNamara. As reported by Alex N Gecan on the Berkeleyside site, the investigation found, according to Matthai Chakko, “[t]he department does not have a practice of racial bias, the department does not have any arrest quotas…” 

The first non-agenda speaker handed printouts of the texts to the clerk, and then spoke describing the texts as extremely racist, anti-homeless and questioned how the city manager’s office found no wrong doing. He said that a transparent investigation was needed, and invited any councilmember to read the texts. 

During the consent calendar. Councilmember Bartlett read from officer Darren Kacalek’s texts: 

“Did you realize that all 5 people you arrested had something in common. All of the same heritage. I’m selling my white privilege card. It’s 48 years old and it hasn’t done a damn thing for me. No welfare checks, No inheritance, No free college, No free food, No free housing, etc. I may even be willing to do an even trade for a race card. Those seem to be way more useful and more widely accepted. Interested? Contact me on my non Obama cell phone that I have to pay for every month…’81 arrests. We can do 19 by Friday” [from Kacalek’s texts] 

Bartlett followed the text reading with his personal comments: 

“This sounds like Boss Hog of Dukes of Hazard. It’s not. It’s in Berkeley, the most enlightened city in America. It’s two steps forward, two steps back… On the one hand, we have all these amazing initiatives, the Specialized Care Unit, etc., great training, great new protocols, a very diverse force, largely beneficial to the community and I’ve interacted with them a lot. A lot of nice people doing their best. But, again, when you have this, these comments, it kind of throws everything out. 

“It would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous and frightening. And so to all of us here, I know it’s easy to forget that these are weaponized words. What I mean: people with weapons saying it. They may not be saying it to you, but they are saying it to a lot of us. And, it’s scary and it’s wrong and we have a duty to stop it. I’m curious to see the results of the investigation as well. I am an attorney. I have done some investigations. I’m really curious how they came to the conclusions they did, ’81 arrests. We can do 19 by Friday for sure’ [from Kacalek’s text] that’s from the Duke boys.” [emphasis added] 

The investigation report is confidential. Not even the City Council has seen it. The person who sent those racist texts is Sergeant Darren Kacalek. Kacalek was put on leave when the scandal broke and stepped down from his position as president of the Berkeley Police Association (police union). Kacalek will now be returning to active duty in the Berkeley Police Department (BPD), just not on the downtown bike team. 

Later in the evening Deputy City Manager LaTanya Bellow described the Chakko statements as unfortunate and outside the scope of the investigation and reiterated that the report on the police was confidential. 

Those who attended the November 2022 meeting when the appointment of Jennifer Louis as Chief of Police was delayed amidst the Police Department scandal may recall the promise from City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley that a full investigation would be done to ensure public trust before the appointment of the new Police Chief. Jennifer Louis was appointed by City Council as Police Chief on May 9, 2023, before the investigation was complete and the investigation results, described by Chakko as no problem, are confidential. 

**************************************** 

On to the Automated License Plate Reader Surveillance Ordinance (ALPRs). At the June 20, 2023 City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, Councilmember Wengraf pushed for approval of the ALPR Surveillance Ordinance with a qualified positive recommendation so it could be placed on the July 25 council agenda for a vote before council left on summer recess. 

Usually a “qualified recommendation” means that a referral to a committee was modified before being sent on for the full council vote. In this case, Wengraf, Robinson and Taplin all voted to forward the surveillance ordinance to council knowing that revisions and amendments were needed and that in the rush to make the July 25 agenda, they would leave it to the BPD and not review it as would be the normal process. 

When it was Councilmember Hahn’s turn to comment on the ALPRs, she pointed out the policy inconsistencies and asked that during the two year trial period the city attorney would rewrite the policy. Hahn abstained from voting for ALPR ordinance. 

Wengraf gave her full support to the ALPRs referencing 150 letters in favor. It should be noted that Wengraf sent an email to her constituents with a model letter to copy and requested they email council in support of ALPRs. 

Bartlett asked who would determine where cameras would be placed and received an answer that it would be determined in collaboration with the vendor. Bartlet followed with, “What if officer Hate is the one that places the cameras?” Bartlett said he loved technology and low touch criminal enforcement policies, but that he would not support endorsing the ALPR technology for a problematic department.  

The community in their public comment was divided. Many in opposition voiced concern about privacy and the sharing of information. Those in favor looked to ALPRs as reducing crime. 

The Police Accountability Board (PAB) opposed both the acquisition of the ALPR surveillance technology and the draft policy. The PAB identified inconsistencies and omissions in the policy and the potential for bias in selection of sites for camera placement. The PAB provided an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of ALPRs. The deeper the look, the murkier the results, with proclamations of success fading over time. 

While council dismissed much of the work of the PAB, council did accept the PAB’s broad outline of metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the ALPRs. Missing in the motion was using those metrics to establish a baseline before installing the ALPRs for comparison at the end of the trial period. 

Kesarwani, Taplin, Wengraf, Robinson, Humbert and Arreguin all voted for the ALPR Surveillance Ordinance. Harrison was on an excused absence (sick leave ). 

On to the other council meetings. 

The July 18th Council Worksession on the Ashby BART station revolved around the Traction Power Substation (TPSS). BART had been planning to place a new TPSS in the west Ashby parking lot for a year or more but never informed the City of Berkeley. The TPSS space needs about 40 feet wide into the parking lot and 300 feet long with a ten foot tall wall along the Adeline plaza/sidewalk. 

City Council was none too happy. No decisions were made. BART was left with exploring other options like another location or undergrounding. The loss of parking with building housing in the BART parking lot was not discussed. https://berkeleyca.gov/city-council-special-meeting-eagenda-july-18-2023 

At the July 24, 2023 special meeting, City Council voted to reject the Willard Neighbors’ appeal and approved replacing the Willard Park 565 square foot clubhouse with a new 3,301 square foot community center. The Willard Neighbors supported renovating/replacing the clubhouse, but with a smaller footprint than a 3,301 square foot community center and making the new center available to the community. 

City Council voted in the special meeting at 4 pm on July 25, 2023 to approve the Civic Center Phase II Design. The group supporting daylighting Strawberry Creek was happy as the final language included exploring both a full and partial creek restoration. Directions also included keeping the farmers market in the civic center and exploring building out additional spaces at the Veterans’ Building. The renovation plans for the Maudelle Shirek Building (old City Hall) include new city council chambers with around 349 seats. With ZOOM and hybrid meetings, 50 attendees is a big night. The catch for all of this is the cost estimate of somewhere between $125,276,000 and $157,892,000. 

The cigty has other needs, like upgrades to the fire stations so fire fighters can safely decontaminate themselves and equipment, plus being adequately resourced for population growth and hi-rises. The emergency dispatch center is also under resourced.  

Council is set on a ferry service. When I attend Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) meetings, WETA is looking to Berkeley pick up a chunk of that cost and when I hear from Berkeley, it is WETA that will be picking up the tab. 

And there are the groups that want the streets repaved and aging infrastructure repaired. 

On July 20th I left the in-person OGC meeting, the discussion of Fukushima and council meeting procedures to comment at the Design Review Committee (DRC) on 1752 Shattuck a 7-story 72-unit mixed use building with 38 bedrooms which have no windows. 

I’ve been asking the DRC to look at the interior floor plans for the livability of the units not just the exterior design and colors. An interesting discussion followed at DRC and it spilled over to the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) on July 27 when I brought up windowless bedrooms again. 

The California Building code no longer requires bedroom egress (escape) windows in multi-unit buildings with fire-safety features and ventilation. These buildings are considered safer. Bedroom escape windows are only required in wood frame buildings for the first three floors 

This means multi-unit buildings are regularly before DRC and ZAB with interior bedrooms with “borrowed light.” This means instead of a solid door, a door with glass is used to “borrow” light for the windowless bedroom. Since students often rent by “bed” not by “unit” the windowless bedrooms rent for less attracting students anxious to save living expenses. 

I remain concerned about the mental health of students. 

What about the energy demands of buildings? How will that work when there are power failures or we are asked to shut down to save the grid as we were in September 2022. What happens when the e-skateboard catches on fire?  

Phoenix’s daytime high has been over 110 every day in July and it looks like that will hold until July 30. When I checked at midnight the temperature was over 100. The current count of wildfires in Canada is over 700 with 233 listed as out of control. Ocean temperatures off Florida reached 101.1°F on Tuesday, July 25. Wildfires are spreading in Italy, France, Portugal, Algeria, Croatia, France, Spain and then there is Greece where the news described the evacuation from Rhodes as the largest ever. 

Adding to the grim climate and weather news in the peer reviewed article in Nature Communications, Peter Ditlevsen and Susanne Ditlevsen (scientists, brother and sister, from Copenhagen, Denmark) estimate the collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) to occur around mid-century with the outside projections as early as 2025 or as late as 2095. This is very bad news. 

And we keep charging ahead as if everything is fine. 

“It’s as if the human race has received a terminal medical diagnosis and knows there is a cure, but has consciously decided not to save itself.” Prof Lesley Hughes, distinguished professor of biology at Macquarie University, former federal climate commissioner and former lead author in the IPCC’s 4th and 5th assessment report. 

Berkeley is in such an incredible position to lead, please let’s stop squandering it.  

While the rest of the world affirms the necessity of acknowledging and addressing racism, while the rest of the world comes together to organize against systemic racism and teach more accurate history, Berkeley joins Florida in its Trumpian effort to whitewash homeless arrest quotas and racist texts while distancing and silencing its new Police Accountability Board. While the rest of the world celebrates a monument to Emmett Till and his mother, Berkeley absolves itself of racism in a secret report that the City Manager interprets on our behalf as clearing all parties. 

The City of Berkeley need not worry about its own racist name; Bishop Berkeley would be proud of this city. And we could still change the name; we can call it Florida.

All Hail the Queen of Quake
Two recent Taylor Swift concerts in Seattle got stadium-filling crowds of fans hopping about with such glee that local seismographs registered the ground-shaking equivalent of a 2.3 earthquake.

This left me wondering: Did anyone think of appealing to the Swifty congregants who flocked to Bay Area's Levi Plaza for the pop star's two Santa Clara concerts to go easy on the "Shake it Off" jouncing?

The US Geological Service (USGS) has warned of the "likelihood of liquefaction in Northern Santa Clara County during a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on the southern segment of the Hayward Fault." Such a quake could be as damaging as a temblor that hit the region in 1868. 

On July 24 (before the Taylor Swift shook Seattle) the California Earthquake Authority warned it was "keeping a nervous eye on the Hayward fault, which runs along the most urbanized edge of San Francisco’s East Bay. The Hayward fault activity is capable of generating destructive earthquakes. This fault, called a 'tectonic time bomb,' is about 74 miles long." 

According to USGS scientists, the Hayward fault is set to pop off anytime now, and much of the region remains vulnerable. Studies of the fault reveal that it has produced 12 large earthquakes in the past 2000 years. In 2014, seismologists predicted a 3 out of 4 chance of a damaging 6.7 magnitude earthquake demolishing the Bay Area by or before 2044. 

Fortunately, we were spared a Taylor-made Quakathon but it just goes to show the sad truth that, when it comes to facing existential threats, the human tribe still finds short-term thrills more compelling than preparing for long-term survival. 

Oppenheimer
Sitting in the darkened Elmwood cinema to catch the opening screening of Oppenheimer, I was pummeled by Christopher Nolan's booming soundtrack to the point that I found my hands searching for a seat belt to buckle myself in before the next sonic tsunami erupted from the screen. 

While the sound was impressive, I thought Nolan's 180-page script was misdirected. Instead of showing how gifted people can do evil things, the last third of the three-hour film shifted its focus to show (in meticulous detail) how badly Oppenheimer was treated by a committee of congressional Red-baiters. Given no mention (let alone images) was the physical destruction of two Japanese cities and the mass-murder of 250,000 human victims of two US atom bombs. 

The scenes of American soldiers, scientists, and UC Berkeley academics cheering the devastation of Little Boy and Fat Man were difficult to watch. It was painful to watch the numerous shots of the Campanile as Oppenheimer was shown cavorting about the Berkeley campus. These scenes painfully cemented the university's role in the creation of these devastating nuclear weapons. 

While a quarter-million women, children, and men (including 20 US POWs) were burned, blinded, blasted and vaporized, the film's concluding focus ignores this unparalleled war crime and turns instead to portray the inconvenience of Oppenheiner having his loyalty questioned by a Congressional tribunal. 

Closing in on Oppenheimer
Prior to the nationwide opening of Oppenheimer, World BEYOND War Executive Director David Swanson, published a long and densely detailed screed titled "Facing Factsenheimer" that lists a host of "uncomfortable truths" that Swanson correctly predicted were likely to be missing from Nolan's film. Here's a short list of missing history: 

• Germany surrendered before the US bombs were dropped. 

• Germany was not actively seeking to build an A-bomb. They suspended their program in 1942. 

• Japan had indicated its willingness to surrender on July 13, 1945. 

• The bomb did not shorten the war: The US stalled so it could demonstrate its new weapon. 

• The bomb did not save US lives: There was no operational plan for a US ground invasion of Japan. 

• Gen. George Marshall and scores of Manhattan Project scientists secretly petitioned President Truman, pleading that the bomb not be used. 

• Truman lied to the American people, claiming that the bomb had been dropped on an "army base." 

• The US said it dropped leaflets over Hiroshima warning of the forthcoming attack. It did not. 

• The US said it dropped warning leaflets over Nagasaki. It did. The day after the bomb was dropped. 

The Pentagon enlisted Hollywood to make(up) a propagandistic "documentary" about the creation and deployment of The Bomb. When MGM released the Pentagon-approved film "The Beginning or the End," it failed to draw any crowds. It was, in one word, a "bomb." 

The Beginning or the End
 

Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted around town: 

CYCLE41: Cycle for One 

EISHIN1: E Is High an' Number One? 

STY4CZD: Stay for Crash Zone Drawing? (CZD is also an auto parts company.) 

Bumper Snickers
Support Your Right to Arm Bears 

Music Is My Drug of Choice 

I Can't Believe I'm Still Protesting This Crap 

I Dream of a World Where Chickens Can Cross the Road Without Having Their Motives Questioned 

Exit Bleeding
Stay hydrated, folks. I learned that lesson the hard way. 

I came close to passing out on the sidewalk a couple of weeks ago. I was working in a second floor office when I stood up and suddenly felt so dizzy I had to reach out and grab the handles of the closest filing cabinet to keep from careening to the floor. 

I managed to slowly work my way down the hall, bracing myself against the walls until I reached an elevator and made my way to the lobby of the building on Seventh Street. At this point, I had to call 911 to scoop me off the cement. An ambulance crew arrived within minutes and I found myself being loaded on a gurney for a quick trip to an emergency room in Oakland. Once I was safely tucked into a chilly examining room (cool temps help lower the prospects for the transmission of diseases), it took two bags of saline solution to get me re-hydrated and out-the-door. I'm now chugging two glasses of water on an hourly basis. 

Given the medical explanation (not drinking enough water and standing up too quickly from a seated position) it seemed to be a fairly mild experience. 

The worst moment came when I was about to be discharged. 

When I was picked up outside my office building, the ambulance attendant who planted a needle in my arm inserted it on the outside of my left arm instead of the inside. Apparently the needle did some damage to the vein. 

I wasn't aware of any problems until I was back on my feet in the emergency room and waiting for the attending doctor to return and discharge me. 

That's when I looked down and was shocked to see my shirt was covered with blood. 

I looked at my left arm and noticed the needle wound on my left arm. It was dripping blood like a leaking faucet.  

That's when I noticed trails of blood splattered across the floor.  

I grabbed a compression pad and went looking for my doctor. (It's never a good sign when you see a doctor look in your direction and appear to recoil in shock.) He quickly wrapped some tape around the pad and that stopped the bleeding. Before leaving, I took a photo of part of the blood-splattered floor as a memento. 

Heat Stroke Death Coverup?
In an article published in Nature Medicine, researchers estimated that 61,672 people died as a result of heat-waves that raged across Europe between May 30 and September 4, 2022. The research compared temperature and mortality data covering the years from 2015-2022 for 823 regions in 35 countries with a combined population of more than 543 million. Nature Journal put the overall heat-related death count at 62,862 with nearly all of the victims succumbing over a four-month period, primarily in Italy and Spain—the highest heat-related deaths in 30 years. 

In the US, news headlines and broadcast reports have noted that millions of Americans have been sweltering in triple-digit temps for weeks at a time. But there's been little mention of the number of overheated civilians who may have died from this unprecedented Tempocalypse. 

NBC News has noted that this year’s extreme heat has had a devastating toll, "causing more deaths each year than any other form of extreme weather for the last 30 years." The death toll is already higher than both the 10 and 30-year averages. 

July’s heatwave has broken more than 350 high-temperature records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with more than 100 million Americans sweltering under heat alerts, with more than 80% dealing with temperatures topping 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 

What makes these stretches of 110F-and-higher temps so troubling is the fact that ambient heating is known to start killing humans when temperatures reach 105.8 F! 

In 2000, there were 495 heat-related deaths recorded in the US. By 2010, the number was 799. By 2020, the number had more than doubled to 1708. 

Last year in Arizona's Maricopa County, 425 people died from heat stroke. So far this year, there are 249 potential heat-related deaths "under investigation." States with the largest number of heat-fatalities include Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. 

And it's only going to get hotter. Climate Central predicts that by century's end summers in Washington, DC will resemble the toasty temps now broiling Austin, Texas, while Philadelphia will be feeling more like El Paso. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo offered this particularly scary prediction: "This summer, with its oppressive and widespread heatwaves, is likely to be one of the coolest summers of the rest of our lives." 

Meanwhile, the number of global citizens (not just Americans) dying from unprecedented blasts of heat remains a mystery. In June, the New York Times predicted "the death toll will probably remain unclear for weeks, if not months. Even though heat-related illness is known to be a leading cause of death." 

HR 3557: Big Tech's Bill to Take over Local Control
Americans for Responsible Technology has issued a stunning warning: "The wireless industry, with help from Congress, is planning a giant takeover of all decision-making regarding wireless antenna placement." 

According to ART, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to withdraw local oversight over new high-energy wireless radiation-emitting antennas from state and city elected officials and assume final and total authority over where powerful new data-transmitting antennas will be installed in communities across the nation—next to homes, schools, hospitals, and public parks. 

The National Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and other local government groups all oppose this bill, condemning it as a high-tech-powergrab employiing "unnecessary, draconian legislation." (See their statements here.)
The means by which business-friendly government regulators hope to over-ride local health and privacy concerns is HR 3557. 

ART is asking concerned citizens to call local legislators and ask them to press federal legislators to stop this bill.  

To learn more about HR3557, click here. 

Robert Reich on the GOP's 5 Fake Threats 

 

Anosognosia. In a psychotic person, it is the absence of the basic insight that they are ill and need help, and it is nearly intrinsic to the nature of the disease. If we knew we were psychotic, it would be an indicator that we had a partial grip on reality. And this, in turn would mean we'd have a good chance at moderating our actions and getting back into treatment. When in the grips of psychosis, it is effectively by definition that we don't know or understand we are psychotic.

When I've become ill in my past, I suffered from short-term anosognosia. It was resolved after being adequately medicated a few weeks. I have some guesses concerning how this condition might behave in those less fortunate than I, and what could be done to resolve it. But they are only guesses, no more--a clinician should know more.

Here are my thoughts: 

Anosognosia probably has a time factor. A patient is released from the hospital too soon, at a stage of recovery before gaining the insight they are ill. If kept longer and kept medicated, by force, if need be, it might take a little while (weeks to months, or maybe longer for some) to gain essential insight. The insight becomes possible upon sufficient time following restoral of meds and being kept in a safe, supervised environment. 

The time factor of anosognosia is crucial. (Again, I am only taking educated guesses.) Patients are very often released far too soon. This too early release of psychiatric patients is often a financially based policy mistake on the part of hospitals. They have limited funds, limited bed space, and they assess people in too quick a manner. Psychiatrists might only spend fifteen minutes a day speaking directly to a psychiatric inpatient, again because of economic reasons. 

It’s a dumb policy for hospitals to have, but it is common practice. It is bad for the patient because they can't get well. This produces far more economic ramifications compared to helping someone truly get well by giving them the attention and the time they need. It is the actual cause of "the revolving door syndrome"--in which the patient is blamed. 

Too quick and too easy a release can have devastating outcomes. I'm not going into details here because I don't want to disturb the readers. 

Thus, I am saying, part of the cause of what we call "anosognosia" consists of policy and is not necessarily caused by the patient. Yet patients are punished for it by being forced into excessive restrictions. This is all about the taxpayer's money. 

Anosognosia is a popular term to toss around. In some cases, it is not specifically caused by the patients' brains at all; instead, the origin is environmental, and points to inadequate treatment. I question its existence apart from hospital policy. This is not to say it never exists as a medical condition. But as a standalone medical condition it could be rare, and the label of it could be applied far too often. 

If inpatient care became more thorough, we could keep people inpatient longer and give them the attention they need, and this could go a long way toward addressing this condition, in which, once again, we are given an unflattering and hurtful label. 

---

Jack Bragen lives and writes in Martinez, California.  

Sinead O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter, artist-musician, political activist and troubled soul died on July 26, 2023, at age 56.  

When I think of the late John Paul II, I remember his tepid response to child abuse, showing more concern with the effect the scandal was having on the church than the effect on the children. Sure Priests betrayed their vows, but he showed little concern about betrayals of the trust that a child has for their priest. 

And I remember the 1997 letter from the Vatican warning Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all child-abuse cases to the police. The letter is described as the "smoking gun" showing that the church enforced a worldwide culture of covering up crimes by pedophile priests. The letter was signed by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope Joh Paul II's diplomat to Ireland. 

Finally, I remember Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live when she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II. And her March 2010 open letter to Pope Benedict criticizing the Catholic Church's role in, and initial coverup of, the child abuse in Ireland. She was castigated at the time, but Ms. O’Connor was right all along; we just weren’t ready to listen. 

RIP Ms. O'Connor.

Israel reduces U.S. to a whimpering paper tiger.

I write to draw readers attention to an enlightening op-ed titled "With Israel, It's Time to Start Discussing the Unmentionable," penned by Nicolas Kristof, which was recently featured in The New York Times. The article courageously confronts the relationship between the United States and Israel, bringing to light aspects that have often been shielded from public discourse. 

Ever since its founding, the United States has coddled and propped up Israel with tens of $billions with economic and military and that country is now richer per capita than Japan and some European countries.  

But coddling Israel has unintended consequences. We have unwittingly ushered in a far-right government which has given the green light to settler terrorists to drive out Palestinians to build more and more illegal settlements. This has been a gross abuse of U.S. tax-payer funds spanning multiple U.S. administrations. 

The military aid we donate to Israel is usually routed to U.S. defense contractors to complete a tight loop. Little wonder that tens of thousands of Israelis are protesting to voice their opposition to gutting the power of the judiciary. It’s a pity the outrage is not directed at the apartheid policies of the Israeli government. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel could be entering a civil war. 

The coup de grace? Biden phones Israeli Prime Mister Netanyahu and invites him to a warm welcome to the White House, a man who is facing serious charges of corruption. “Oh, America when will you ever learn?”

Worth Noting:

City Council is on summer recess through September 11, 2023 and most boards and commissions do not meet in August.

• Monday: At 12 pm CCCC meets online.
• Tuesday: From 5 – 9 pm, National Night Out, individual neighborhood times vary.
• Wednesday: At 7 pm the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets in person.
• Thursday: At 7 pm the Landmarks Commission meets in person.

Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at: https://berkeleyca.gov/

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BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS 

Sunday, July 30, 2023 – no city meetings or events listed 

Monday, July 31, 2023 

COMMUNITY FOR A CULTURAL CIVIC CENTER (CCCC) at 12 pm 

Videoconference: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81225523461?pwd=aUd1dmNGb3NBWG5jOTJDajF4RkxZZz09 

AGENDA: debrief of July 25 City Council special meeting on the Civic Center Phase II Design Plan 

Tuesday, August 1, 2023 

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT from 5 pm – 9 pm 

AGENDA: Build bonds with your neighbors, police and local leaders, 50 neighborhood events are listed. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/events/national-night-out 

Wednesday, August 2, 2023 

DISASTER and FIRE SAFETY COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: At 997 Cedar 

AGENDA: 4. Election Vice-Chair, 5. Workplan, 6. Hybrid meetings, 7. Discussion regarding the CA Office of the State Fire Marshal’s review of Panoramic Hill neighborhood, 8. State laws pertaining to development fees, 9. Request review of low-cost particulate smoke detectors tailored for high-priority areas. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/disaster-and-fire-safety-commission 

Thursday, August 3, 2023 

 

LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION at 7 pm 

In-Person: At 1901 Hearst, North Berkeley Senior Center 

AGENDA: 6. 2138-2140 Dwight – Davis-Byrne Building – provide guidance and advice on paint colors for a City Landmark Building 

7. 2428 Shattuck – Demolition Referral – Use Permit #ZP2022-0149 – demolish commercial building 

8. 2712 Telegraph – Demolition Referral – Use Permit #ZP2022-0179 – demolish two commercial buildings. 

https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/landmarks-preservation-commission 

Friday, August 4, 2023 - no city meetings or events listed 

Saturday, August 5, 2023 - no city meetings or events listed 

Sunday, August 6, 2023 - no city meetings or events listed 

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LAND USE CALENDAR PUBLIC HEARINGS: 

• 705 Euclid Avenue (new single family dwelling) 9/26/2023
• 3000 Shattuck Avenue (Construct 10-story mixed-use building) – 9/26/2023
• 1598 University Avenue (Construct 8-story miexed-use building) 10/3/2023

WORK SESSIONS & SPECIAL MEETINGS: 

• Dispatch Needs Assessment Presentation (rescheduled from July 11 to September 19 at 4 pm)
• Draft Waterfront Specific Plan (at 4 pm) – rescheduled from July 25 to October 2023
• Fire Department Standards of Coverage & Community Risk Assessment June 13 presentation cancelled due to lack of quorum, report is worth reading (to be rescheduled)
• Re-imagining Public Safety Update (November 2023)

.. 

* * * * * 

Kelly Hammargren’s summary on what happened the preceding week can be found in the Berkeley 

 

Daily Planet under Activist’s Diary at: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com 

 

This meeting list is also posted at: https://www.sustainableberkeleycoalition.com/whats-ahead.html 

 

If you would like to receive the Activist’s Calendar as soon as it is completed send an email to: kellyhammargren@gmail.com. 

 

If you wish to stop receiving the weekly calendar of city meetings please forward the email you received to- kellyhammargren@gmail.com -with the request to be removed from the email list. 

 

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For Online and Hybrid Public Meetings – How to Save the transcript 

CLOSED CAPTIONING, SAVE TRANSCRIPT OVERVIEW, DIRECTIONS and ZOOM SUPPORT LINKS:
.
ZOOM has as part of the program -(for no extra cost)- Closed Captioning (CC). It turns computer voice recognition into a text transcript. Accuracy of the Closed Captioning is affected by background noise and other factors, The CC transcript will not be perfect, but most of the time reading through it the few odd words, can be deciphered--for example "Shattuck" was transcribed as Shadow in one recent transcript. 

 

For the us, the online attendee, the full transcript is only available from the time the attendee activates Closed Captioning. But if Closed Captioning is activated and you sit through a meeting and then remember 10 minutes before it is over to click on CC then go to the arrow/carrot next to CC for the menu and click on Show Full Transcript you will only get the last 10 minutes, not the full transcript – So click often on both Save Transcript and on Save to Folder during the meeting for best results. 

 

When you click on Show Full Transcript it will allow you to scroll up and down, so if want to go back and see what was said earlier you can do that during the meeting while the transcript is running. 

 

At the bottom of the transcript when we as attendees are allowed to save there will be a button for, "Save Transcript," you can click on the button repeatedly throughout the meeting and it will just overwrite and update the full transcript. Clicking on the Save Transcript repeatedly as the meeting is coming to an end is important because once the host ends the meeting, the transcript is gone if you didn't save it. 

 

Near the end of the meeting, after you click on "Save Transcript," click on "Save to Folder." The meeting transcript will show up (as a download to your desktop) in a separate box as a text file. (These text files are not large.) After you have done your last Save Transcript and Save to Folder (after the meeting is over) you can rename the new transcript folder on your computer, and save it (re-read or send or share it). 

 

Remember, allowing us attendees to save the meeting transcript does not require the public meeting host to save the transcript (for public record.) 

 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for how to set up Closed Captioning for a meeting or webinar:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/8158738379917#h_01GHWATNVPW5FR304S2SVGXN2X 

 

Here is the link to ZOOM Support for attendees in how to save Closed Captions: 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360060958752-Using-save-captions#h_01F5XW3BGWJAKJFWCHPPZGBD70