Opinion

Last week’s Berkeley city council meeting was yet another Cassandra Moment for me. You remember Cassandra, don’t you?She was the gal in ancient Greek mythology who was stuck with the role of always predicting the worst and having no one believe her until it was too late.

As a social class, pretty much everyone likely to be reading this shared a Cassandra Moment after we marched in the millions to say that we thought invading Iraq was a really bad idea. Turns out we were right, but a lot of good it did us, and the big cheeses who thought it was going to work aren’t nearly as embarrassed as they should be.

At the Berkeley level, we Cassandras don’t get no respect either.A few of us consistently doubt the rosy predictions of the Candides (“this is the best of all possible worlds’) who manage to get elected to office around here, and to mix in another metaphor, we are widely considered to be Chicken Littles (shouting “the sky is falling!” when it’s not).

Yes, I am talking about the profoundly depressing discussion of the late unlamented Downtown Area Plan which was featured at last week’s city council meeting. -more-

The unsung heroes and heroines at Bay City News did themselves proud in Oakland last night, producing a steady stream of accurate on-the-spot reports which appeared online in, at least, the Berkeley Daily Planet, the SF Appeal, the Bay Citizen, and on the website of more than one TV station. The Planet was also fortunate to get a couple of excellent submissions “over the transom” from an Oakland resident we hadn’t known previously. -more-

Here’s a golden opportunity: a local blogger has scored a one-on-one with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, and he’s asking readers what questions he should ask. It’s your big chance to be part of the inner circle. And feel free to copy your questions to opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com to make sure they get heard. -more-

Tearing Down Libraries is Waste, Not Green; Bates and Council Thumb Their Noses at the Public; Anger Management; Fire Wall?; Intimidation; Guns; Palin’s Opinion; Afghanistan — the U.S. between a rock and a hard place -more-

When UC Berkeley planned the “On the Same Page” project to request first year students provide DNA for analysis and subsequent discussion it is doubtful anyone anticipated the vigor of public reaction. One concern cited was is the accuracy of the genetic testing kits and that the testing technology under scrutiny of the FDA. -more-

Arthur C. Clarke and director Peter Hyams proved less than prophetic in the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact, but they gave the audiences of 1984 what they wanted to hear. Cosmonaut David Bowman (Keir Dullea) — who in the movie 2001 disappeared into a mysterious black monolith orbiting Jupiter — reappears as a literally starry-eyed apparition on his widow’s TV set between commercials. He tells her that “something wonderful” is about to happen. It does hours later when exponentially proliferating monoliths send Jupiter critical, igniting a second sun in the solar system. Forewarned by Bowman’s specter, Russian and U.S. cosmonauts hightail it out of the Jovian neighborhood on the cusp of a blast of hot plasma. The two nations at home narrowly avert their own thermonuclear Armageddon. In the closing scene, cosmonaut Heywood Floyd (Roy Schneider) rejoins his wife and son for a happy reunion on the beach under double suns. -more-

Berkeley's City Council is scheduled to vote tonight, July 6, 2010, on a second, and presumably final, passage of legislation that would exempt the Berkeley Public Library (BPL) from having to obtain zoning Variances for any future renovations to, or demolitions with replacement of, existing buildings, including the downtown Central library.

There’s a key Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday July 14^th to decide the future of protected industrial spaces and the location and definitions of research and development. The Planning Commission is set to have their last discussion (before a final Commission Public Hearing in September) on opening up now-protected industrial space, on Wednesday, July 14th, 7pm, at the North Berkeley Senior Center - MLK at Hearst • As at the May 19th meeting, the Commission will likely take a "sense" vote on the issue.* -more-

Response to “The railroading of Michael Vick and the machine gunning of Deondre Brunston", by Jean Damu: -more-

The failure of Measure C last month brought an end to the warm pool at Berkeley High School, and the closing of Willard Pool. The measure was popular, but not popular enough to gain the 2/3 majority mandated by Proposition 13 for local bond issues. -more-

            How does international political deception and distraction work? Take the matter of Iranian nuclear development as a tool for the Israelis to direct attention away from their barbarism in the Palestinian territories. -more-

On May 13, 2010 my only child, Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield, was found guilty of 2 nd degree murder for the tragic death of a UC student in a trial that shattered my belief in the fairness of our court system. To begin with, the DA put me on her witness list, which kept me out of the courtroom, but then she never called me. This manipulation barred me from attending my own son’s trial. -more-