Public Comment

A timely note from the Economic Policy Institute:

"In honor of April Fools’ Day, we give you three charts that should be April Fools’ jokes—but unfortunately are all too real.

"CEOs make 351 times as much as typical workers
"From 1978 to 2020, CEO compensation grew by 1,322%, far outstripping S&P stock market growth (817%) and top 0.1% earnings growth (which was 341% between 1978 and 2019, the latest data available). In contrast, compensation of the typical worker grew by just 18.0% from 1978 to 2020.

"The minimum wage is worth 21% less than in 2009
"While pay for top executives is skyrocketing, low-wage workers are losing ground. A worker paid the federal minimum of $7.25 today effectively earns 21% less than what their counterpart earned 12 years ago, after adjusting for inflation.

"Worker productivity has risen significantly—their pay, not so much
"American workers are producing much more than they were 40 years ago, but the financial gains are not being shared equitably. Productivity and the typical worker’s hourly pay rose in tandem from 1948 until the early 1970s. Then, because of policy changes that began in the late 1970s, accelerated through the 1980s, and largely remain with us today, productivity and pay began to sharply diverge. 

"Together, these three charts tell a story of rising inequality and economic injustice that is so extreme it would be funny…if only it weren’t true. This April Fools’ Day, it looks like the joke is on us." 

Fashion Plates 

A salute to some of the personalized license plates seen around town. 

UCB4EVER. On a car driven by an ever-loyal UC Berkeley graduate. 

SUMNERV. On a Subaru Forester, whose owner appears very self-confident. 

GRRRETA. On a VW that looks like it's getting ready to roar. 

NOUSWAR. On a BMW from Marin celebrating Bumpers for Peace. 

FISHHAWK. On an orange-and-black Toyota Cruiser sporting a BF Goodrich "Rugged Trail" rear tire. 

GOTLOVE. On a Lexus, in a frame engraved with the words: "I am so blessed by the people I love!" 

R49OTO. Not sure about this message. Maybe "this is OUR 49^TH AUTO"? 

Celebrando César y Dolores! 

This is a special time of year for friends of the César Chávez Memorial Solar Calendar and, especially, for Santiago Casal, the driving force behind the inspiring site, located atop one of the highest hills on the César E. Chávez Park on the north tip of the Berkeley Marina. These are the days that mark the birthdays of César Chávez (March 31) and fellow farmworkers' advocate Dolores Huerta (April 10). 

Casal recently shared some memorial memories with The Planet: "Every year it seems someone places flowers at the Birthday Stone of César Chávez at Chavez Park—a small but heartfelt honoring of the labor leader. We are, at this very moment, having a similar stone made for Dolores Huerta, whose birthday falls on April 10. She will be 93. These two stones will be about 5’ apart, with Dolores’ 5’ to the left.  

"We have set it up with the solar cycle, so that, at the moment of sunrise on their respective birthdays, a shadow is cast from the gnomon (pole) at the center of the site on the left side of each stone as it moves across its face over a 5-minute period." 

"We expect to install the stone this summer, upgrade Cesar’s, and add some sculptural signage between the two stones. 

In addition to upgrading the Chávez stone, there are plans to install additional signage to the newly unveiled on-site presentations. And a "GPS-guided smart phone Tour of Park" is coming soon as part of a Mobile Tour called "Giving Chávez Park A Voice." 

And here's something to consider marking on your calendar: San Francisco will be hosting a Parade and Festival to honor Chavez and Huerta on Saturday, April 9th. The Parade begins at 11 at Dolores Park at 19th and Dolores Street and travels on Mission Street to 24th St. and Bryant Street—the location of a festival that will run from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The festival will feature "live performances, arts and crafts, a lowrider car show, food, health and wellness, games for children and vendors." 

How's That Again? 

A fund-raising letter from the good folks at the Southern Poverty Law Center gets off to a confusing start. "Hate frays at the social fabric of our country," it begins, before adding: "To knit it back together again, all segments of our society… must join together…." 

To knit hate back together again? 

The SPLC's letter gets back on track noting that, according to FBI figures, right-wing and white supremacist upstarts were responsible for "almost 8,000 reported crimes of violence" in 2021. And the letter concludes with the rock-solid observation that "it is our shared vision for unity and peace that unites us." 

Home Depot Takes a Little Off the Top 

The checkout counters at Home Depot's Richmond outlet show evidence of a team-building exercise gone bad. Customers waiting in line to pay for their purchases may notice the counters are covered with dozens of photos of employees hugging and mugging for face-masked photos above a caption at the bottom of each snapshot that reads: "Cashiers Rock!" 

At the top of each photo there's another line that spells out the message "We Love Our Cashiers!" 

Unfortunately, the photos were trimmed to make them fit on the counter-space and, in the process, the last four letters were lopped off the top, leaving behind a message that is the opposite of worker appreciation. 

The declarations on the clipped pix now read: "We Love Our Cash." 

How a Guilty Politician Confesses  

When it comes to being a corrupt politician, being vague is in vogue. Case in point: Congressmember Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska) who recently tendered his resignation while claiming his decision was "due to the difficulties of my current circumstances." 

That circumspect statement was missing all the juicy details. 

The reason Jeff stepped down was because he got caught lying to the FBI about hiding a $30,000 illegal campaign gift from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent—a gentleman the AP described as a "foreign billionaire." 

An Encounter with Allure 

While waiting for a long-overdue haircut at a local salon, I encountered a stack of magazines on display to occupy clients awaiting their appointments. One was a publication I would never have encountered otherwise—Allure: a ladies' monthly devoted to "new hair ideas, makeup looks, skin-care advice, the best beauty products and tips, trends, and more." 

The table of contents in one issue contained this description of the model whose face graced the cover: "To create a similar look: 12 Flash Color Case in Flash by Make Up for Ever." Even though the cover showed only a close-up of the model's face, credits were given for Hair, Manicure, and Fashion Stylist. There was only one thing missing: the name of the woman whose face adorned the cover. 

Inside, there were several pages devoted to a blonde-coifed drag queen named Gottmik whose beauty credits consisted of the following: "Full Spectrum So Saturated Eyeshadow. Exhibitionist Lipstick in Bombshall Pink. So Flushed High Pigment Blush in Sweet Seduction by CoverGirl." 

This kinky fascination with creams, rogue, and beauty-goo was not just limited to the photo captions. In an exclusive interview, an Allure reporter asked actress Natalie Portman: "If you were to be reincarnated as a beauty product, what would it be?" 

Portman's unvarnished reply: "Maybe eye cream. I feel like that's the top thing that helps a tired mom. So that's what I would do: come back and serve the mothers of the world." 

Slap-schtick at the Oscars 

Re: "The Slap Heard Round the (Western) World." There was a lot of demonizing of Will Smith as The Aggressor but surprisingly little praise for Chris Rock's pacifist response. Instead of retaliating with a toxically masculine counter-slap, the smarting comedian responded with verbal de-escalation. His motto could have been: Jibes Not Jabs. (Of course, it was his jibes that got him jabbed in the first place.) 

The news that Academy officials asked Smith to vacate the premises (and he refused) raised some new questions. Clearly the Film Academy honchos were not about to call the Police Academy broncos and risk a further physical escalation. But what if Will had been willing to leave? He was still up for a major acting award. How would the evening have proceeded if Smith were to win the Oscar for Best Actor and not be on hand to receive it? Did the Academy hosts (even for a minute) consider asking Chris Rock to accept the award in Smith's absence? 

The Putin-Trump Connection Is Alive and Well in Russia 

An item found posted in JuliaDavisNews on Twitter reads: 

"Meanwhile on Russian State TV: Host Evgeny Popov says it's time for the Russian people to call on Americans to change 'the regime in the US' before its term expires 'and to again help our partner Trump to become President.'" 

Also on display, this headline: "Kremlin TV Hopes Russia’s Unhinged Bioweapons Claim Will Help Re-Elect Trump" followed by the news: "State TV pundits are delighted that Russian propaganda about Hunter Biden’s supposed funding of bioweapons in Ukraine has 'served up a beneficial deck of cards for Trump.'” More details available from The Daily Beast. 

In Washington, Things Go Bitter with Coke 

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) was recently in the news after making claims that unnamed Congressmembers had invited him to engage in a surprising form of off-duty recreation—cocaine-fueled sex-orgies. 

The Crazy Eight Political Action Network pointed out that Cawthorn was a perfect recruit for participating in drug-doing sex-a-thons, noting: "With one of the worst attendance records in Congress, Cawthorn’s got free time." 

House Minority Leader and GOP Morals Cop Kevin McCarthy publicly promised to "speak to" Cawthorn about his accusations. 

The Crazy Eight was not impressed by the Bakersfield Rep's etiquette-enforcement record noting: "Whenever his members say something racist, sexist, or absolutely insane, spineless Kevin McCarthy promises to 'speak to' them instead of holding them accountable. 

Like when… Paul Gosar posted a cartoon of him beheading AOC [Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], Marjorie Taylor Greene called for Nancy Pelosi’s execution and spoke at a white nationalist conference, [and] Lauren Boebert accused Ilhan Omar of terrorism." 

Cawthorn responded by shifting blame for his comments to his critics: “The left and the media want to use my words to divide the GOP," he proclaimed. "I will not back down to the mob, and I will not let them win.” Something else he would not do: name the congressmembers who offered the invitation. 

Cawthorn was also quoted as saying: “Some of the people leading the movement to try and remove addiction in our country, and then you watch them do a key bump of cocaine right in front of you." 

Not helping: the aptly named Roger Stone. 

Stone, one of the more outlandish of D. Trump's flacks and flunkies, came to Cawthorn's "defense" by telling extremist radio host Alex Jones: “I can tell you first hand that these parties happen. I can tell you that they continue to happen." 

One of the oddest exculpatory statements came from Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR). According to Politico, Womack protested that it was improper for Cawthorn "to paint lawmakers with such a broad brush, saying that many of them go to bed at 9pm and still use fax machines and flip phones." (So Boomers can't be druggies?) 

Cawthorn may be confined to a wheelchair but that doesn't stop him from gunning a car above the speed limit and driving without a license—as captured on this police video posted on April 1. (This was Cawthorn's third speeding violation in five months.) 

A Child's View of the Adult World 

This little snippet from an online journal has been making the rounds. A grandfather writes:
I spent the weekend with my six-year-old twin grandchildren, Ben and Bella. Ben is very troubled by the war. He said, "Why can't the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia stop fighting and make a big group hug?" I said, "It's complicated." 

He said, "What makes it complicated?" I said, "Guns, missiles, politicians."  

He shook his head, "Instead of fighting, what if a soldier and a person hug? People will see it, and they'll want to hug too. And even more people will hug. And soon, they'll have a group hug all across both countries."  

I said, "You're right, but sometimes, love is complicated."  

He said, "No it isn't. It's on my Lin Miranda t-shirt: 'love is love is love'."