The Opinion Pages

Over the weekend, talk at parties was how the project now known as Trader Joe’s got the green light from Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board to set up shop on University Avenue, accompanied by several stories of market-rate condos-in-waiting and a big parking garage. One Berkeley-reared guest at Saturday night’s event thought Trader Joe’s was a nice addition to Berkeley because it’s owned by a southern California family, and expands by bootstrapping, one store at a time. Well, no, we said. Since 1979 it’s been part of a German billion-dollar conglomerate, though the whole empire is indeed owned by two German brothers in a family trust. She seemed shocked, almost disbelieving, so cleverly has TJ’s (as it’s called by its devotees) marketed its downhome image. Founder Joe is long gone. But it treats its employees very well, she said. Well, yes, as long as they don’t try to organize a union, we said. That also seemed to surprise her. -more-

Now that the City Council has passed its community-compromise LPO, after more than six years of stalling and resistance by the hyper-preservationist community who brought us Measure J, we’re faced with the bad dream of a referendum campaign and up to 23 more months of additional delay. And for what? Basically, it comes down to objection to the “request for determination” provision of the new law. So let’s look at RFD and its alleged dangers: -more-

The 2006 elections are over, and the 2008 presidential race has begun. Most news coverage will focus on personalities, and once in a while on issues. What will go mostly unreported is the fact that we have a serious structural flaw in the presidential selection process that renders the issues and personalities almost superfluous. The “inconvenient truth” is that the primary/caucus system is an unfolding disaster, a bad process that produces presidential nominees who are less than America’s best. -more-

The holiday season seems to open the flood gates of compassion, with volunteers and resources pouring in during the one time of the year the less fortunate are fed, clothed, and remembered. Meanwhile economists monitor the sales temperature, hoping feverish shoppers will exceed the boiling point and consumerism will bring balance to a system delicately suspended by a few coins in either direction. -more-