This table shows who's endorsed which candidates and/or ballot measures: -more-

[Editor's note: Do you believe that giving developers free rein to build all and any skyscrapers they want downtown will end Berkeley's problems with the Bay Area's housing crisis? Do you plan to vote against Measure R2.0? You might change your mind after you read this piece on the Truthout web site which disproves common pro-building myths.]

It starts:

"Activists marauding Google buses, the hippie enclave turning into a playground for the rich, the threat of beautiful Victorians being plowed over for boxy condos. The housing crisis in San Francisco is capturing the world's attention, and it seems like every day there's someone putting forward the magic bullet to mow down the housing boogeyman. But many of these solutions are obsessively focused on saving the day with a build, build, build strategy.

"Affordability for working-class people in San Francisco isn't going to come from letting profit-driven developers have their way. After months of research and interviews by a journalist who has worked as a developer and on housing policy, this feature dismantles the arguments driving housing policy in the city and offers real solutions instead of "trickle-down" approaches.

"San Francisco is the epicenter of the changing US economy. The gap between rich and poor in the United States is growing as the middle class and manufacturing sector are being squeezed out. A recent study equated San Francisco's income gap with Rwanda's. City living is ideal for young professionals and, increasingly, the suburban elite. US cities need to look at smarter ways to thrive and not simply rely on the invisible hand to provide housing for working-class Americans.

See the whole piece here: -more-

Parker Place is the name of a monstrous residential/commercial development planned for the corner of Shattuck and Parker Street, extending to Carleton Street, in South Berkeley. From its birth some six years ago, it was almost universally opposed by neighbors because of the excessive traffic it would bring onto already overcrowded streets, the known toxic materials in the soil that would be spewed into the air by excavations, and many other reasons. -more-

[Editor's Note: If you're still confused about how to vote, now that mail ballots are out, you should pay attention to Margot Smith. She's been an activist throughout her long life, currently working with groups like the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Save the Post Office and the Gray Panthers. She knows from experience what she's talking about!]

Margot's recommendations: -more-

Even though Greens and other third parties have been disenfranchised by “top two” in the other state races, Assembly 15 voters have a real choice in this race. Emerging from the pile of the eight-candidate primary are two Democrats, former Richmond City Councilmember and former West Contra Costa School Board member Tony Thurmond, and Elizabeth Echols, the local democratic party machine’s handpicked successor to Nancy Skinner, with no elected experience. -more-

Neighbors have been asking which candidate(s) Susan Hunter and I are supporting in the District 8 election. As some of you know, despite a referendum and with little time remaining before ballots were to be printed, a judge ordered our Nov. 4 election to be held based on the mayor’s majority redistricting plan. That gerrymandered plan was designed to get rid of progressive Councilmember Kriss Worthington, our longtime District 7 representative, under the guise of creating a “student-majority district,” where a UC student would presumably run. This would rid the mayor’s majority of an inconvenient progressive with integrity (Kriss, who’s willing to say when the emperor has no clothes — i.e., when the Council is assuming the guise of being progressive while acting otherwise — watering down a much stronger new minimum wage ordinance, as just one recent example). -more-

We call our Slate for the November 4 election the Pro-Rent Control Slate for a reason: voting for James Chang, Paola Laverde-Levine, John Selawsky, Katherine Harr and Jesse Townley is voting to keep active enforcement of Berkeley’s strong rent ordinance. -more-

"No one is quite willing to claim that adding some cents to the wholesale price of a can of soda pop will guarantee to reduce consumption enough to cause a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of diabetes, or even in the incidence of obesity. " - Editorial, Berkeley Daily Planet

With all due respect to your Coke-drinking ancestors, it was no accident that schools which used to have working drinking fountains to satisfy children's thirst began to sprout vending machines full of sugary drinks. And there is no question, as the tobacco industry and the sugary beverage industry (which are sometimes the same corporation) know, that young people's willingness to spend money on items like tobacco and sugary drinks takes a precipitous nosedive when such products get more expensive. -more-

Deirdre Eberly Lashgari, Professor Emerita of English at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, died August 16, 2014 in Los Angeles. A specialist in ethnic and world literatures, Lashgari translated both classical and modern Iranian poetry, and wrote, published, and lectured on Iranian fiction and film as well as on women writers of fiction and poetry in Iran, China, India, Ghana, and the United States. At UC Berkeley in the sixties, she studied Farsi, Arabic, and French, and worked to translate unknown women’s poetry into English. -more-

After the previous election some readers complained that they couldn't locate the Planet's endorsements when they went to vote. To make it as easy as possible, between now and the election we're going to maintain this corner of the front page where you can always find our endorsements along with links to editorial material with more detail about specific candidates and issues.

Measure D: no endorsement

Alameda County Measure BB: Yes

Yes on Berkeley Measure R.

Then, click here for the candidates: Which Berkeley City Council Candidates Should You Support?

Short Answers: District 1, Alejandro Soto-Vigil; District 4, Jesse Arreguin (unopposed); District 7, Kriss Worthington; District 8, Jacquelyn McCormick (rank her first, followed by George Beier, second, and Lori Droste, third. Skip fourth place. )

Finally , check out this May editorial with a self-explanatory title: Tony Thurmond is the Best Choice for California Assembly ...

We're pleased to see that Berkeley Councilmember Jesse Arreguin has added his endorsement to Tony's long list of fans.

In this video you can see Tony explain his campaign in person at a Berkeley house party: -more-

Most people in general and not just those with mental illness are hard on ourselves, and often think we should be doing better or doing more—especially in relation to work, but also concerning other obligations. This is a form of guilt which can make us work harder or, surprisingly, can cause people to avoid tasks altogether. -more-

A month before the November 4th mid-term elections, the competition for control of the Senate is neck-and-neck. The improving US economy hasn’t increased Democratic prospects. What explains this? -more-

At the very moment that the Americans and their allies are trying to squeeze Russia and Iran with a combination of economic sanctions and political isolation, alternative poles of power are emerging that soon may present a serious challenge to the U.S. dominated world that emerged from the end of the Cold War. -more-

An article in The New York Times Magazine (July 6) "Zoo Animals And Their Discontents" by Alex Halberstadt, raised this question: do animals think and feel? A number of scientific studies has shown that animals are far closer to us than recently believed. In fact, the Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness in Human and Nonhuman Animals, signed by a group of leading animal researchers, asserts that mammals, birds and other creatures posses consciousness and, in all likelihood, emotions and self-awareness. -more-

In Giuseppe Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, soprano Julianna Di Giacomo made her San Francisco Opera debut on Saturday, October 4, 2014; and a sensational debut it was! Sounding like a young Beverly Sills, Di Giacomo, a Santa Monica native and Merola alumna, has a very bright and focused soprano, which was heard to wonderful effect in the role of Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. From the moment she came on stage, in Act I’s scene in Ulrica the soothsayer’s den, Di Giacomo thoroughly dominated every scene in which she appeared. Only veteran baritone Thomas Hampson, who sang the role of Count Anckarström, Amelia’s husband and friend of King Gustavus, managed to hold his own vocally with Julianna Di Giacomo. Unfortunately, as King Gustavus, tenor Ramón Vargas sounded thin and lacking in power in a role I heard him perform here in far better voice back in 1999. -more-

"He must have been the gentlest composer. The most gorgeous texture ... for me the music of angels," said virtuoso cellist Steven Isserlis before playing Boccherini's Concerto for Violincello No. 7 in G major (probably from the 1760s) with Philharmonia Baroque under Nicholas McGegan's direction on Wednesday night at SFJAZZ in San Francisco--the second of two concerti he played with brilliance and great feeling. The same program will be performed this Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 7:30, First Congregational Church in Berkeley. -more-