Dear Councilmember Humbert:

I understand that you also are an attorney. I practiced law in Washington state for 25 years. As a Cal alum (Class of 1982), I am grateful for my academic and social education at UC Berkeley. I was an elected ASUC Senator, a member of Berkeley Students for Peace, Students Against Intervention in El Salvador, and actively involved in the UC Divestment campaign to end Apartheid in South Africa. I was also involved in the Interfaith community- and worked as the Director of Hunger Education and Action at Unitas (now Free House) in my gap year before USF Law School.

I’m also a supporter of the historic, internationally recognized Commons, the 2.8 acre parcel of land that is known as People’s Park. I along with many others helped build the Free Speech Stage in 1979. I’ve also attended dozens of peaceful, joyful events in the park since my return to Berkeley in 2010. It is a space where diverse groups of people of all ages and backgrounds danced, sang, played music, gardened and held classes, tours for tourists, meetings, and individual conversations about life, current events, traveling, culture, etc.

It is tragic that people have died in People’s Park. The answer to that problem is prevention programs and more support to outreach teams to reduce harm and protect everyone from deadly drugs. We had four deaths in one day from fentanyl in Dr. King Civic Center Park last year, but that was not grounds to close the park. Park supporters are also continually working on keeping people safe - and definitely are proponents for public safety. Have you talked with any of the peace activists connected to the park, or attended any concerts or festivals before the COVID shutdown?

The answer also is to provide supportive housing, which could be provided on six other ‘opportunity sites’ identified by the 2021 UC Long Range Development Plan. If you have not done so, I encourage you to do as I did- read the entire 400 plus page report. I also participated in public comment at UC Regents meetings.

It is an erroneous label to call park supporters ‘anti-housing.’ I have been advocating for affordable housing in Berkeley for the last 13 years: I attended Planning Commision, ZAB, Council and other meetings. The council refused to set aside 20% BMR units despite the city’s own Nexus study confirming that developers would meet their ROI (they could ‘pencil it out’ in terms of profit). Both the City and University have failed to meet the urgent need for affordable housing. Our RHNA numbers are met over 200% for upper income and zero for very low income persons. Our crisis is horrible and preventable. I trust and hope that you will urge developers to do more including by passing a Community Benefits Ordinance.

Also, it was not clear to me that many Berkeley City Council members read the court opinion that suspended construction on People’s Park. Sadly, the council voted to submit an Amicus brief in support of the University. I read the entire opinion and it is based on a sound, rational analysis of the UC’s failure to identify mitigation of adverse environmental impacts, and its failure to consider and discuss alternative sites (which would actually provide many more housing units for students than the proposal for People’s Park).

The city and my alma mater have unleashed a dangerous and troubling situation. I witnessed very peaceful protestors when I was in People’s Park at midnight - early Thursday morning when unmarked white vans pulled up to the park filled with armed police officers. On Friday, I spoke with young people who witnessed a kid smashed to the ground by police (she apparently was treated at the hospital and may have a broken collar bone as a result). I witnessed an officer in the park attempt to rush up to a college student with baton forward - the young man was just standing there asking for his badge number that had been covered up. Another officer pulled the aggressive officer back. We have over 500 officers in our city in riot gear contributing to much anxiety and tension.

I don’t know if you have read the court materials on the Federal Court case captioned Law v. City of Berkeley - but the evidence and past pattern and practice does not support your statement that BPD is well trained and proficient in de-escalation. In a BlackLivesMatter protest, they escalated and bashed me, a journalist, a minister, and Cal students with hard, painful batons, and threw flash bang grenades at our feet, and later tossed tear gas through the streets including along Telegraph. In discovery, the city admitted dispersing so much of the toxic gas that they did not know the quantity.

h I don’t know if you ever attended any of the beautiful gatherings at People’s Park - but many of us are saddened by the overly aggressive, extremely costly actions (24/7 dining operation for 1,400 people for 4 days?) We could have provided meals for 1,000 unhoused people and 100 hotel vouchers for 6 months to a year probably. And low income housing vouchers for 40% of students at Cal who receive financial aid (Pell Grants provide only $900 a month for housing and UC dorms cost much more than that.. off campus housing is average $1,200- $1,400 a month per student .. many of them don’t have enough money to eat three meals a day - fortunately students started an on campus food bank- I helped start the UC Food Collective that is still going over 40 years later).

It is unfair and misleading to blame peaceful protestors for the university’s failure to provide affordable housing. Please examine all of the evidence- and I appreciate your willingness to investigate misconduct by BPD. They are required to wear body warn cameras as a result of the federal court settlement in Law v. City of Berkeley. And the Reimagining Task Force and Mayor’s Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force that I was appointed to by Mayor Arreguin worked tirelessly to ensure BPD operates within the guidelines of Constitutional Policing. The City Council and City Manager will hopefully ensure Best Practices are applied, and new reforms are being implemented. It has not been our experience - there’s often push back, delay and excuses (including the BPD Bike Patrol racist text scandal).

The other problem with this large military style operation in Berkeley this week is the inability to control police units from a dozen other locations. The ‘Mutual Aid’ operation caused significant harm during the BlackLivesMatter peaceful protest where police were a large part of the rioting behavior (see video online of officers beating people, throwing a young woman on the ground, shooting people with ‘less lethal’ but painful pellets, tear gas, etc).

I am also submitting this letter of concern to the Police Accountability Board.

As you have probably heard, UC Berkeley has begun the process of preparing People’s Park for the addition of student and homeless housing, as well as new park space and features celebrating People’s Park’s history. Sadly, given the protests and sometimes violent actions trying to block this project, the University has also had to take unusual and unfortunate measures to protect the site. With everything that’s going on, I wanted to offer you an update and share my thoughts.

First, I want to reiterate that I strongly support creating new housing and open space at People’s Park. Our city and UC Berkeley both desperately need housing to meet demand, lower rents, and prevent displacement, and Southside is an ideal location for it. In a perfect world, the current form of People’s Park could be a monument to Berkeley’s history, progressive movements, and ideals—but it has failed to fill that role for decades. Instead, the park has witnessed violent crime, lonely deaths, and, shockingly, children being drugged. Past efforts to make it function as a park that is safe and welcoming for all have been violently opposed by many of the same people now fighting against the new housing. It is in this context that the UC has been forced to take drastic measures just to allow for site preparation to move forward. Some opponents have pointed to the immense cost of securing the site as a reason to abandon housing at this location. But these costs only exist because a vocal and at times violent minority has decided that their views matter more than the will of the public. Housing opponents trying to impose their will by protesting and making the cost of housing too high is not democracy. Indeed, they are tactics used by housing opponents for decades.

It was just a couple of years ago that housing opponents proved that they were willing to violently storm the site and destroy equipment. This needless drama and the threat of a repeat are why the UC was compelled to act swiftly and on short notice to shield the site. This included restricting access to key roadways and towing private vehicles near the park. The UC has also been forced to construct a barrier made of shipping containers in order to protect workers and the new housing from those intent on vandalism and violence. I want to commend the UC for the care and foresight they put into their efforts to ready the area. With respect to towing, a hotline was set up, no one was ticketed or charged, all affected people were offered rides to their vehicles and $100 gift card for their trouble. I understand that those living and working around the site are unfortunately still facing great inconvenience when it comes to traveling to and from their homes and workplaces. I call on the UC and various law enforcement agencies charged with protecting the project to be accommodating and courteous in this regard. (If you experience any difficulties, please let my office and the UC know right away.)

With respect to law enforcement involvement, I have seen people express concerns regarding the number of officers and the potential for excessive force. But if we want to avoid the use of potentially problematic crowd control methods, we need a large contingent of officers who can engage in more targeted and tailored enforcement. When it comes to the Berkeley Police Department, I believe BPD has a strong track record and training when it comes to deescalation; but I also want to reiterate that the City takes a hard line against excessive force and any alleged instances will be investigated thoroughly and impartially. By the same token, I also condemn any violence or vandalism by protestors. I am firmly committed to the First Amendment and the right to protest; but that right does not extend to indefinite disruption of other people’s lives and certainly not to physical harm or destruction. Freedom of speech and the practice of civil disobedience are not carte blanche. A key part of nonviolent civil disobedience is accepting that one’s actions may result in arrest. Berkeley and the US have a proud history of civil disobedience, but I want to be crystal clear: I believe that building housing and a new People’s Park is the right thing to do and not something to resist.

Not only does the planned project include over 100 units of permanently affordable supportive housing, but the University also made an extraordinary effort to ensure that everyone who was previously staying at the Park found permanent housing. The social worker hired by the University, City homeless services staff, and local nonprofits have engaged in a tremendous effort to provide assistance, services, and shelter to every person who was previously using the park. I am proud of these efforts, and I think that they reflect the caring and community-minded approach that the City and the University have taken with respect to this project. I appreciate that there are some who will disagree, but I continue to proudly support this new student and homeless housing, and I hope it moves forward swiftly. I ask protestors to work with us to tackle our housing and homelessness challenges. And I hope the California Supreme Court will rule swiftly so that actual construction may begin.

I welcome and look forward to hearing your thoughts, even if we disagree. And please let us know if you need information or assistance regarding this stage of the project, which we hope will be concluded soon.

According to reports in the Daily Cal, on the Berkeleyside website and in private communications with several civic sources, as many as 1400 police officers are expected to come to Berkeley in the next week in anticipation of demonstrations against UC actions to continue a dormitory project on the site of National Register People’s Park. According to Berkeley Community Safety Coalition officer and civic activist Moni Law, Park supporters have been asked to join a preliminary gathering at 11 p.m tonight, Wednesday. Construction equipment is expected to arrive at 4 a.m Thursday, possibly to build a fence around the site while most students are out of town. Councilmember and mayoral candidate Kate Harrison told the Planet that UC workers have been asked to expect to provide 24 hour food service to the law enforcement personnel for at least a week.

I am writing this open letter to you in my individual capacity as a Councilmember because I understand that U.C. plans to use significant police force to secure People’s Park in the coming days. This significant action would occur prior to, and pre-judge, the California Supreme Court’s review of its decision regarding UC’s compliance with state law. 

Please commit that U.C.P.D. and agencies offering mutual aid will follow the City of Berkeley’s rules concerning use of “less-lethal” weapons and tactics—including but not limited to tear gas, pepper spray, smoke, Long-Range Acoustic Devices, batons, rubber bullets, launched projectiles, and corralling—against nonviolent protesters, including those participating in nonviolent civil disobedience. These rules, established to protect human life and people’s first amendment rights, are core to our City’s value. Nor should the City be asked to waive them. 

I am supportive in concept of the University’s original plan to build student and homeless housing at the Park while preserving desperately needed and lacking open space in the Southside Campus area. As of today, it is not clear if that original vision is still possible, as the affordable housing developer of the supportive housing has withdrawn from the project, in large part due to the failure of UC to follow NEPA, resulting in the withdrawal of federal housing subsidies. In the meantime, at its own expense, the City of Berkeley continues to make available scarce homeless housing to relocate existing People Park campers, displacing other Berkeley residents. 

Regardless, even if the project as originally conceived is still possible, it would not be worth the human cost to engage in a brutal, heavy handed police action to make it a reality. This would directly contravene the planned acknowledgement of the critical history of the Park in the civil rights, free speech and open space movements, which placement on the National Register enshrines. 

In response to the murder of George Floyd and the protests and police response that followed, on June 9, 2020, the Berkeley City Council unanimously passed a motion to prohibit the use of tear gas by the Berkeley Police Department or by any agency called for mutual aid in Berkeley. This motion also prohibited the use of pepper spray and smoke by the Berkeley Police Department and by any agency called for mutual aid response in Berkeley, during the COVID-19 pandemic and until such time that the City Council removes this prohibition (which it has not done). 

Unfortunately, U.C.’s Police Policies and Procedures allow U.C. Police Department to apply intermediate force against nonviolent protesters displaying active resistance. The international laws of war prohibit the use of tear gas and pepper spray as chemical weapons; the University has no such restrictions. Use of these so-called “less lethal’ weapons in an indiscriminate manner is a denial of First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. 

I believe the University’s time, money, and efforts would be better spent delivering student housing at any of the number of undeveloped sites available to it (which have the capacity for an equal or greater number of beds), including parking lots and tennis courts. Additionally, the University should work to re-engage an affordable housing developer for permanent supportive housing at the Park. These are laudable goals that would benefit our entire community and should be pursued before moving ahead. 

However, if you intend to continue your efforts to secure the site despite the existing legal challenges and absence of an affordable developer, at a minimum protesters should not be harmed in order to do so.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has called for the preservation of People's Park, pointing out that it is “nationally significant for its association with student protests and countercultural activities during the 1960s” and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In a December 2023 letter to the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group, the National Trust says, “(We wish) to express our support for the full exploration of all potential alternatives that result in the preservation of People’s Park. The exploration of alternatives is a core protection provided to historic places by CEQA.” 

“For projects that are not dependent on a single location, such as the proposed construction of student housing, a robust alternatives analysis can often identify superior win-win solutions that allow both preservation and new construction. We hope that just such a solution can be identified that enables both the construction of new student housing in Berkeley and the preservation of People’s Park,” the letter continues. 

In addition to its historical importance, People's Park is also a valuable piece of public open space in Berkeley's most densely populated neighborhood. Destroying the only piece of public open space in the South Campus area of Berkeley would have many negative impacts and would violate international, national, state and city standards for urban green space.

Bob Lalanne, former UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor for Real Estate (VCRE) notes that “People’s Park was off the table for any development while we were completing a number of dormitory projects previous to me leaving my position in 2016. Many alternative campus-owned housing development sites have been available for decades and remain to this day. The VCRE issued a report to the Chancellor in 2015 and actually requested funds from campus leadership to remodel the park and were denied. 

He continued, “We had looked into adjacent retail properties fronting on Telegraph Avenue, particularly the food retailers that back up to the Park to actually open the rear of their properties to the park for outdoor seating to enliven the Park even more. It is in part due to poor planning and the lack of execution of new student housing by campus for the past 20 years that housing did not keep up with enrollment growth and that the Park is targeted for destruction due to “housing shortage.””  

The National Trust agrees. It supports the "full exploration of all alternatives that result in the preservation of People's Park." Like the People's Park Historic District Advocacy Group, the trust believes it is possible to have a win-win solution that includes "the construction of student housing and the preservation of People's Park." 

The Washington D.C.-based trust, chartered by Congress in 1949, acts "to protect significant historic places and advocate for historical preservation as a fundamental value in programs and policies at all levels of government.” 

The National Trust letter is attached in a pdf file here.

I am writing to express deep concern about the recent civil lawsuit filed by hundreds of Yazidi-Americans against Lafarge S.A., the French conglomerate. The lawsuit alleges Lafarge's involvement in providing material support to the Islamic State, which led to grave consequences for the Yazidi population. Lafarge's admission of guilt in a criminal conspiracy to support ISIS and another terrorist group, the Al-Nusra Front, is distressing. The company, along with Lafarge Cement Syria, knowingly engaged in activities supporting armed groups in Syria from August 2013 to November 2014. 

What makes this lawsuit even more poignant is that it was brought forth by Nobel Prize winner Nadia Murad and over 400 Yazidi survivors – all American citizens – who endured a harrowing "campaign of genocide" perpetrated by ISIS. This included horrifying acts such as mass executions, abductions, torture, sexual violence, the use of child soldiers, and the destruction of the Yazidi homeland. 

Ms. Murad's statement reflecting on her own ordeal underlines the gravity of the situation. Her words, "Unfortunately, my story is not unique among Yazidis. It is the reality of thousands of Yazidi women. Even more tragic is that our horror took place under the awareness of and thanks to the support of powerful corporations like Lafarge," should serve as a stark reminder of the complicity of entities in enabling such atrocities. 

The implications of corporate entities supporting terrorism, directly or indirectly, cannot be understated. It's crucial for justice to prevail, not only for the victims but also to ensure accountability and prevent such collaboration in the future.

Blinken Slips, Admits Why Wars Are a "Win-win"

Looking for a favorable argument to keep selling US weapons to sustain wars in Ukraine and Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained: “If you look at the investments that we’ve made in Ukraine’s defense to deal with this aggression, 90% of the security assistance we’ve provided has actually been spent here in the United States with our manufacturers, with our production, and that’s produced more American jobs, more growth in our own economy. So, this has also been a win-win that we need to continue.”

But as former Army Colonel and U.S. State Department official Ann Wright pointed out in a damning critique delivered in a speech before the UN Security Council: "The win-win is for the military industrial complex and the politicians and retired government officials who are offered senior positions in companies immediately after their retirements! And it’s certainly not a win-win for the innocent civilians who are killed in these conflicts." (PS: Wright resigned her post in protest of Washington's illegal Iraq war)

Pope Is No Dope

Pope Francis has long spoken out about the horrors and immorality of war but his Christmas day message from the balcony of the Vatican took his concerns a bit further. The Pope dared to illuminate the root of the War Problem and he dared to speak its name: "The global weapons industry."

The Chronicle chose to run this revelation under a headline that read: "Pope Blasts Weapons Industry." The headline reveals another consequence of "social militarism"—i.e., the weaponization of language. The Chron could have said the pope "deplores," "denounces," or even "curses" the arms industry. Instead, they opted for a word that is wedded to the word "bomb."

As the US Federal Budget makes clear (more than 40% of our tax-dollars go to "defense"): If we want to stop hunger, poverty, and homelessness, let's just stop paying for war. 

Fashion Plates
ROCK VOX
BEL SOLAR
TTYLLS (?)
KTNINPT (Kitten Input?)
LVNGMY (Loving My Car?
XZQVW (ExecueVW? On a VW Golf)
CORRETO (Fan of the Amazon download?)
TAJGLAM (On Taj's glamorous pink jeep complete with artsy wheel-spokes) 

Bumper Snickers 

Honk If You're Horny
Death Eater Punks F---- Off!
Magical Non-linear Thinking for President
Honk! If You Have a Bee in Your Bonnet 

When the Chips are Down 

I recently picked up a bag of Good Health Natural Products' Veggie Chips—self-advertized as a "Positively Snackable TM" potato-based treat sporting a "NonGMO project" label. Good Health is a company that proclaims its goal is "living life to the fullest, aka having a great 'Lifeitude' ®." 

Unfortunately, the small print on the bottom of the flip side of their bag of snacks contains a small notice that says: "WARNING: Consuming this product can expose you to chemicals including acrylamide, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer. For more information go to: www.P85Warnings.ca,gov/food" I left the bag on the shelf in order to protect my Lifeitude. 

The Work and the Wonks Behind the Woke  

Just released on YouTube: "Unschooled: 'The PragerU Curriculum' from Meet the Press Reports." The mini-doc answers the conundrum: "How did one man go from right-wing talk show host to the head of a popular online education program? 

PragerU rejects "woke" education that forces children to discuss "gender pronouns" and critical race theory. Sure, white people enslaved Africans, these self-serving scholars argue, but here's an "overlooked fact." As they proudly point out: "It was white people who ended slavery." 

This and other stunning conservative revelations can be found in this new 33-minute special report. 

Weird Words and Odd Phrases 1
Is it a long-standing example of institutionalized "greenwashing" that has encouraged corporate critics to refer massive, polluting factories as nothing more than "plants"? 

Weird Words and Odd Phrases 2
One of the Christmas season's favorite carols is "The First Noel." The lyrics contain a puzzling line that salutes the birth of Jesus and announces "Born is the King of Israel." 

According to biblical historians, Israel’s Old Testament origins "can be traced back to Abraham, who is considered the father of both Judaism (through his son Isaac) and Islam (through his son Ishmael)." So shouldn't both Jewish and Muslim residents of Israel have shared title to the territory? And what's the story behind Jesus becoming the "King of Israel"? What was Nathanial thinking when he said to Jesus (John 1:49): “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

If that was the expectation—that the Messiah would free the citizens of Israel—why did all-knowing Jehovah allow Judas Iscariot to entrap the Son of God thereby setting up his "only begotten son" to fall victim to a vicious government instead of surviving to become a liberating ruler of His people? 

Billionaires Should "Feel the Bern"
Berkeley rabble-raiser Robert Reich recently posted a stunning stat on his Inequality Media website that proclaimed 1 percent of America's wealthiest citizens now own 40 percent of the nation's wealth. 

Meanwhile, US rebel Senator Bernie Sanders (and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) has stepped forth with an even more stunning estimate of the country's growing Wealth Gap. 

In a fund-raising letter for the Coalition for Human Needs, Sanders stated: "In America today the very rich are becoming much, much richer—they've never had it so good. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans, the top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 92% and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years." 

Reich cites further research by UC Berkeley's Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the London School of Economics, that revealed "the richest one-hundredth of one percent of Americans now hold over 11 percent of the nation’s total wealth. That’s a higher share than the top .01 percent held in 1929, before the Great Crash." 

Putting that revelation in more personal terms, Reich reveals: "We’re talking about 16,000 people, each worth at least $110 million." 

The Other 9/11/ 

As we all know, Salvador Allende was a Chilean physician and the first democratic socialist president elected in 1970. What we didn't know at the time was that the CIA, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger were behind the coup plot that toppled Chile's elected socialist government. Thousands were tortured and thousands were disappeared. The US Twin Tower and Pentagon attacks on September 11 killed around 3,000 Americans. Chile's 9/11 killed more civilians than the US 9/11. 

Here's a link to a song by Dean Reed, a US-born rock idol who became radicalized after traveling abroad and seeing the results of Washington's imperial meddling. Reed (who once topped Elvis Presley on the US song charts) went on to give concerts around the world and become deeply involved in the Chilean struggle for freedom. 

During his years living in East Germany, Reed stared in many movies, including El Cantor, in which he assumed the role of Chilean singer-activist Victor Jarra, who was tortured and killed by the US-backed junta. 

Once known as "the most famous American in the world," Reed was blacklisted in the US and was assassinated shortly before he planned to return to his Colorado home and run for Gary Hart's seat in the US Senate. 

Dean Reed may have been an unsung hero in the US but he was a voice of hope for the world's most desperate and deprived people. 

Dean Reed may have been an unsung hero in the US but he was a voice of hope for the world's most desperate and deprived people. 

It should be obvious to every responsible journalist that anything the Loser of the 2020 election says ought to be fact checked. The number of Trump's documented lies while President exceeds 30,000. By printing the AP story ("Trump claims Ignorance about Hitler comparisons") without doubting Trump's word, the editors lend credence to his claim of ignorance. 

While Trump is undoubtedly ignorant about many things a President ought to know, Hitler's speeches would not be on that list. Vanity Fair magazine reported in September 1990 that ex-wife Ivana Trump told her lawyer that Donald "reads a book of Hitler's collected speeches, 'My New Order,' which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed." 

Trump certainly knows he lifted Hitler's vile language into his recent campaign speeches. He was following the example of a master propagandist and genocidal ogre.  

Editors who republish AP stories, need to fact check that source as well.

The recent reports from Gaza paint a harrowing picture of ongoing devastation. According to Gaza health officials, over 21,500 Palestinians have lost their lives in the past 12 weeks due to Israeli assaults, with civilians targeted, including an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp during Christmas. 

Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, has characterized these actions as an "on-air genocide," urging attention to the wider implications beyond Palestinian oppression. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's acknowledgment of excessive civilian deaths underscores the urgent need for a sustainable ceasefire. 

The admission by Israeli military officials regarding the deadly strikes, alongside UNRWA's plea for a ceasefire due to catastrophic hunger in Gaza, demands immediate global attention and action. 

The suppression of dissent and disregard for international order in this conflicth have ramifications that stretch far beyond the region, impacting fundamental democratic rights worldwide.

Literary fiction is distinguished from genre fiction by the emphasis on meaning over entertainment. Usually, literary fiction is character driven rather than plot driven. 

Four of 2023’s best literary fiction novels are categorized as mystery, thriller, and suspense. 

A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny 

In the 18th Inspector Armand Gamache novel, Louise Penny provides a plotline where one mystery segues into another. “A World of Curiosities” begins with a flashback, where Inspector Gamache investigated the death of a female drug addict and uncovered horrendous child abuse and pornography. A decade later, the addict’s damaged children reappear in Three Pines, where Gamache lives. In a seemingly unrelated incident, the residents discover a hidden room containing a copy of a 17th century symbolic painting. When Gamache studies the mammoth artwork, he realizes that it contains messages directed to him by the infamous serial killer, John Fleming. 

“A World of Curiosities” affords Louise Penny the opportunity to reflect on good and evil how brave men and women move forward in tragic circumstances. Armand Gamache is a troubled hero, struggling to rise to the challenge of being the only person capable of stopping a brilliant killer. 

Holly: Stephen King 

Diminutive private investigator, Holly Gibney, is operating Finders Keepers detective agency by herself when she gets a request to find a missing girl, Bonnie Dahl. Because of the coronavirus epidemic, the mythical town of Brighton, Ohio, is shut down. Nonetheless, Holly is relentless and soon understands that a serial killer is snatching victims off the Brighton streets. 

The thriller is an opportunity for Stephen King to elaborate the character of Holly Gibney. She hasn’t always been treated fairly, but she has persevered. 

Past Lying: Val McDermid 

Because of Covid, Scotland’s Historic Cases Police Unit is quiescent. DCI Karen Pirie and her colleague, Daisy Mortimer, are holed up in Pirie’s boyfriend’s spacious Edinburgh flat. A friend, a librarian from the National Archives, tells them of a strange new acquisition: the last manuscript of a recently deceased mystery writer, “The Vanishing of Laurel Oliver.” The librarian believes the manuscript plot bears a striking resemblance to the unsolved disappearance of a college student, Lara Hardie. Karen Pirie agrees, and her team begins to look deeper into the Hardie case and Lara’s connection to the dead writer, Jake Stein. 

The long mystery is kept entertaining by the quality of McDermid’s writing, particularly the characterizations of Pirie and her team. McDermid provides extended consideration of relationships. 

Small Mercies: Dennis Lehance 

In 1974, a time of Boston racial tension, a black man, Auggie Williamson, is killed and a white teenager, Jules Fennessy, disappears. Her mother, Mary Pat, sets out to find what happened to Jules and runs afoul of the Irish mob. 

Dennis Lehane’s characterization of Mary Pat Fennessy is spot on, as is his description of her hard-scrabble Irish Boston neighborhood 

Summary 

Not every page of these mystery/thrillers is devoted to action; there are moments where the author, speaking through the characters, explores larger themes. 

In A World of Curiosities Louise Penny asks: “how do we remain hopeful when there is evil all around us?” Inspector Gamache carries the weight of moral responsibility and struggles with depression, “How can I go on when the forces of evil are so powerful?” Of the four authors, Louise Penny is the only one to directly deal with this topic, but it surfaces in each novel. 

The common theme that links the four novels is misogyny: men mistreating women. While Inspector Gamache is the only male protagonist, there is opportunity in A World of Curiosities for Louise Penny to discuss situations where women are discriminated against. In Holly misogyny is the dominant theme. In Past Lying there are multiple allusions to sexism and chauvinism. For example, Karen Pirie decides to break up with her boyfriend, Hamish Mckenzie because he’s too full of himself and decides the covid lockdown rules don’t apply to him. Finally, inSmall Mercies, Mary Pat Fennessy lives in traditional Irish culture where women are seen but not heard; searching for her missing daughter, one of the problems she encounters is that none of the men take her seriously. 

In literary fiction, there’s often a connection between the contemporary cultural zeitgeist and the narrative. In 2023, it’s not surprising that the dominant themes of these four mystery/thrillers are “the battle between good and evil” and “misogyny.” 

Happy New year!

Benny Gantz, de facto leader of Israel’s opposition, has now been handed exactly what he needs to topple Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing coalition. In addition to all the vehement critiicism of Netanyahu from the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, there is now the episode, humiliating for Israel, that IDF forces mistook three Israeli hostages in Gaza City for terrorists and killed them on Friday, December 15. 

The three men killed were carrying a white flag on a stick, and calling for help in Hebrew; but it is not clear whether they were released by Hamas or had somehow escaped their captors when they were mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers. Further, Netanyahu’s war on Gaza is not going very well right now. On Wednesday, December 13, the Israeli government acknowledged that Hamas militants successfully ambushed IDF soldiers in Gaza City, killing at least nine of them. Further, On Sunday, December 24, the Israeli government announced that fourteen IDF soldiers had been killed in Gaza over the last two days. 

I have long held that if Benny Gantz wishes to bring down Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing coalition, he should focus on Netanyahu’s failure to prioritise obtaining release of the hostages. Now, it is clear that Netanyahu’s insistent prosecution of the war endangers the safety and chances for survival of the hostages. 

Israel’s relentless indiscriminate bombing throughout Gaza has already killed at least three hostages, and now three more have been killed by IDF gunfire. At the onset of Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas on October 7. Benny Gantz joined Netanyahu’s three-man War Cabinet, comprised of the Prime Minister, Benny Gantz, and Minister of Defence Yoau Gallent. Gantz did so saying on October 8, that “There is a time for peace and a time for war. This a time for war,” This makes it difficult for Benny Gantz to now withdraw his support for Netanyahu’s war on Gaza without it seeming to be a personally motivated power grab. However, if Gantz now says that a time for peace has come, at the very least a peace allowing negotiations for hostage relief, he will gain much popular support.  

By withdrawing his National Unity Party from Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing coalition, Benny Gantz can topple Netanyahu. Then, as de facto leader of the opposition Gantz may be asked by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog to form a new governing coalition. If Gantz does so, his first priority should be an effort to obtain release of all the hostages held in Gaza even if the price involves Israel’s release of thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including Marwan Barghouti. 

Should he succeed in this hostage release endeavour, that will be an enormous accomplishment and will win Gantz overwhelming support in Israel. Perhaps it might even give Gantz a mandate to begin exploratory discussions with Marwan Barghouti over a possible two-state solution. However, if Gantz misses this moment, Netanyahu will no doubt scfuttle any negotiations in Cairo over possible hostage release with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh Instead, Netanyahu will icontinue his all-out assault on Gaza. Despite calls for a ceasefire from many prominent Israeli politicians, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who also calls for Netanyahu to resign — something Netanyahu will surely never do; Netanyahu seems fully entrenched in pursuing his genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza. If Benny Gantz refuses to rise to the moment and topple Netanyahu now, that will no doubt mark the end of any hope that Benny Gantz can be a viable alternative to Netanyahu. It’s that simple. As I see it, it’s now or never for Benny Gantz. Topple Netanyahu now or you’re done.

The sea is bigger than any man or woman is. A human being can't beat up the waves, can't overpower them, or (in many cases) can't outsmart them either. Surfers and swimmers, some of them experienced, probably have respect for the waves.

When I was younger and had physical competence, I could still barely manage a swim in a swimming pool and would never dare venture very far into the water at a beach. That's just because I'm usually aware of my limitations.

When my mind and body were taken by psychosis, the feeling of it resembled being at the beach, going too far into the waters, and being swept out to sea, at the mercy of a massively overpowering undertow.

This is the power of psychosis. You may believe your mind is strong. You may believe your will is strong. Psychosis--that is strong. If you are subject to psychosis, you need help.

Practitioners of Zen Buddhism seem to believe themselves superior to normal human folly. This is not accurate. A reason to feel superior and a feeling of being a "master" as a higher status, that's where Zen seems farcical. I practice mindfulness, but it doesn't make me superior. Human error is inescapable and practicing meditation and/or yoga don't cure schizophrenia. 

When you are subject to psychosis and have aspirations of Buddhist attainment, you had better be careful. Buddhism attracts many people with mental differences, and many who find it hard to manage their emotions. Buddhism attracts a lot of mentally disabled people. Many of us have sought some better path than being medicated, being restricted, and being disabled. 

Zen doesn't bring immunity to the conditions of life. It doesn't cure a substance abuse problem. It doesn't cure a psychiatric condition. It won't make you immune to disability following a stroke. It won't make you immortal. Zen, however, is mostly not farcical. It does attract the worried well who find it hard to like themselves. When they believe they are attained, it symbolizes an accomplishment, one that makes them better, superior, compared to others. 

I studied under two different men who never acted superior. They connected to me as equals. I didn't realize it at the time, but they were my teachers. They never advised going off medication. They were not immune to the effects of aging or of any other of the myriad of human conditions that make people flawed and suffering. 

Schizophrenia is a very rough disease to have. When psychiatric practitioners saw me doing well, they decided to change the diagnosis. This is hypocrisy as opposed to Hippocrates. It is where doctors rule out a person's individual efforts to get well, and where they rule out that a person with schizophrenia could accomplish anything significant. 

But if you are sick, you need medicine. Why suffer when you don't have to? The extreme force of relapsing into psychosis is nothing to play games with. You can't get rid of schizophrenia with mindfulness. You can make life better, but still live with the disease, through mindfulness. You can ease a portion of the symptoms. But medication is needed, and meditation doesn't repair a brain defect. The point is, there are many parts to the brain. And it doesn't matter how good your brain is or isn't. What matters is how well you use it. 

Worth Noting:

The Agenda & Rules Policy Committee is expected to meet on Thursday, January 4 at 2:30 pm.

The draft agenda for the January 16, 2024 City Council meeting is not available as no meeting agenda is posted. City Council is on winter recess through January 15, 2024.

Check the City website after 5 pm Tuesday, January 2, 2024 https://berkeleyca.gov/

Or go directly to the Agenda & Rules Policy Committee webpage for the draft agenda after 5 pm Tuesday. https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/council-committees/policy-committee-agenda-rules

The Landmarks Preservation Committee meeting for Thursday evening January 4 has been cancelled.