Public Comment

A Pox on Kiosks!

Berkeley's plan to install huge "tourist-friendly kiosks" on local sidewalks raised some hackles when Berkeleyans discovered the 8-foot-tall edifices not only broadcast commercial advertising on their huge screens but also (1) beamed WiFi EMFs, (2) were built to capture videos of passing pedestrians and (3) equipped to track neaby electronic devices. In response to complaints that surveillance cameras violated public privacy protections, the kiosk boosters promised the hidden cameras would be "turned off."

But now other concerns are cropping up. In addition to the physical, visual, and electromagnetic blight inherent in these hulking info-edifices, there's a new concern: pathogens!

With Covid variants and Monkeypox viruses infecting human populations around the world, these Kommercial Kiosks are now being seen as potential "super spreaders"—eye-catching gizmos designed to attract pedestrians and draw them within touching distance for extended periods of time.

The screens on the IKE company's kiosks are designed with virtual "buttons" that provide read-outs about local events and resources. Each of these screen patches needs to be activated by the touch of a human hand. The more popular these screens become, the more likely they are to become viral touchstones—vertical Petri dishes covered with collections of microbes, pathogens, and viruses.

This design flaw is a doozy. While the IKE kiosks come equipped with 24-7 cooling fans, none of them come with hand sanitizers.

Headlines from Abroad 

A recent headline from Britain's The Economist was both irascible and irresistible. It read: "Britain’s Tories are overwhelmingly male, pale and stale." That baleful banner came with a promising subhead: "But on social issues their views are pretty close to the wider electorate." 

Gruff Encounters of the Weird Kind 

(1) After checking my mail at the Berkeley Main PO, I shuffled off in the direction of the Berkeley Main Library. Halfway down Harold Way, I spotted a parked car with a personalized license plate. I fixed by eyes on the plate but I couldn't decode the mix of letters and numbers, so I moved on. But I stopped after passing the rear of the car to take one last look. That's when I heard an angry shout: "You got a problem?!" 

Turns out the parked car was occupied and the driver was paranoid. Also annoyed. 

When I explained that I was just trying to decode his personalized plates, he proffered that the plates offered a riff on his name. He didn't volunteer his name—and I didn't ask. 

(2) A few days later, while exiting the 7-11 at University and Sacramento, a shaggy panhandler walked up and greeted me with an unusual request for a handout. "I need five bucks!" he announced. 

I explained that I didn't have a Lincoln in my wallet and asked if he could use a Washington. He seemed to take offense. "No!" he repeated before stomping off in a snit, "I need five dollars!" 

Do Butterflies Dream of Electric Caterpillars? 

The Smithsonian Institute's self-named Smithsonian magazine includes a wiggy feature on the last page of every issue. It's called "Ask Smithsonian: You've got questions; We've got experts." 

The July-August edition includes a question from a reader in Pasadena who wondered: "Does the brain of a butterfly or moth retain memories from when it was a caterpillar?" 

I'm not sure which is stranger: that someone came up with this question or that someone came up with an answer. An entomologist at the National Museum of Natural History cites a 2008 study that trained caterpillars to "associate the smell of ethyl acetate with a mild electrical shock." 

After emerging from their cocoons, these newly-minted butterflies were found to display an aversion to the presence of ethyl acetate. Conclusion: "While adult moths and butterflies probably don't remember the details of what it was like to be a caterpillar, certain associative memories can persist into adulthood." 

The Gastly Price of Gas 

The Natural Resources Defense Committee is aghast that "the three biggest US oil companies—ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—made a whopping $17.6 billion after taxes in just the first three months of 2022!" 

Despite this prolific profiteering, the NRDC notes, Big Oil compaies "are pressuring the White House for more of our lands and waters to pillage. Multi-billion dollar energy corporations are looking to get even wealthier." 

With our forests and homes going up in flames, going down in earthquakes, going under in floods, and being blown asunder by hurricanes and tornados, the NRDC suggests it might be time to "get our government out of the fossil fuel business." 

Gavin Knocks DeSantis While Promoting Nukes 

California's Gov. Gav drew a heap of media attention (and political speculation) after taking out full-page ads in Florida papers to diss Gov. Ron "Don't Say Gay" DeSantis—a potential presidential rival. 

Author and Green Energy activist Harvey "Sluggo" Wasserman isn't on board Newsom's campaign train. In a piece for Reader Supported News, he notes that while Florida's right-wing governor recently "vetoed a bill designed to kill solar power in Florida," California's "progressive" champion is "standing by as pro-utility regulators embrace new taxes and metering restrictions set to devastate California's solar industry." 

Q: Why is DeSantis pro-solar? A: There are more than 400 solar companies in "The Sunshine State." 

Back in the Golden State it only gets worse since Newsom is also pushing for the continued operation of the state's last two nuclear reactors—located at the "high-cost Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which is surrounded by active earthquake faults." 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified Diablo Canyon's Unit One reactor as one of the most dangerously embrittled nukes in the US. It's not a new problem. Back in 2018, former governor Jerry Brown ordered that both reactors be closed and decommissioned by 2024 and 2025. 

Manchin Finally Opens a Door so Biden Can "Build Back Better" 

Public Citizen writes: "it looks like Joe Manchin has finally agreed to stand with his fellow Democrats and support a slew of major reforms from the proposal once known as Build Back Better." Instead of a super-ambitious $3 trillion program, Manchin has whittled Biden's BBB budget down to a still sizable $433 billion. 

As Public Citizen notes, while Manchin's downsized to-do list contains "some infuriating carveouts, and includes some harmful pro-fossil fuel measures" it still stands as "one of the most progressive set of reforms in recent times." 

This new legislation (re-dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) would:
• Invest $369 billion in climate and energy proposals — making it the most substantial step Congress has ever taken to confront climate change.
• Devote $64 billion to lower Affordable Care Act premiums for millions of Americans.
• Save $288 billion on drug spending — including by giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prices for some prescription medicines.
• Generate $313 billion in revenue through a 15% minimum tax on multinational corporations.
• Raise another $138 billion in revenue by increasing IRS enforcement against billionaires and Big Business and by closing a tax loophole exploited by venture capitalists and private equity firms. 

We can urge Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act by signing on here. 

WTFuhrer? 

This didn't receive much press in the US, but back in December 16, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at "Combating Glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and other Practices that Contribute to Fueling Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance." The resolution was adopted by 130 of the UN's 193 nations. Only two countries voted against the No-to-Nazis measure—the US and Ukraine. 

Prior to the vote, Nicholas Hill, a US representative to the UN stated: "the United States must once again express opposition to this resolution, a document most notable for its thinly veiled attempts to legitimize Russian disinformation campaigns denigrating neighboring nations [ read: "Ukraine"] and promoting the distorted Soviet narrative of much of contemporary European history, using the cynical guise of halting Nazi glorification." 

Russia has introduced the anti-Nazi resolution every year since 2015—and the US has voted against it every time. In 2020, CounterCurrents notes, the "US envoy to the UN argued that a ban on glorifying Nazism would clash with the First Amendment protection of free speech in the U.S. Constitution. 

On the latest vote, 51 countries (all US allies) abstained from voting. 

Pelosi's Fund-raising Fib 

July 23 email from Nancy Pelosi arrived bearing the subject line: "Asking for your input, not your money." The message invited fellow Dems to "Complete my July Priorities Survey"—consisting of a few check-off boxes followed by a request for personal comments. 

Despite the "no money" promise, the last page contained five request bars for financial donations ranging from $10 to $28. Honoring the "not your money" promise, I simply hit the "Submit" bar. But, instead of registering my "input," I was sent back to the start page. Turns out, if you don't make a donation, the "survey" is nullified and you're sent back to the beginning to start over. 

Since the online survey was rigged, I'll be sending my response to Pelosi's office via USPS. Here's what I wrote: 

"End US support of foreign wars (Yemen, Syria). End Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and reassert Congress' Constitutional power to decide whether to declare wars. End Washington's Policy of Provocation—targeting Russia and China. Wake up from the dream of US Global Hegemony. The real threat is the common threat facing every nation on Earth—climate chaos. The Pentagon is a major source of greenhouse gases. Start closing 800 US bases in other countries. Start ending the Pentagon's costly, polluting, provocative, military exercises around the world. Dismantle NATO, Washington's ever-expanding imperial army." 

Wings, Halos and Harps: The Heaven Myth 

The vision of Heaven that we honor today—in movies, artwork, and endless comic strips—is populated by halo-sporting angels lounging on clouds and plucking harps. But these images do not arise from the Scriptures. They are a legacy from Medieval and Renaissance painters. 

Here's how Catholic Answers responds to the question: What does Heaven look like? 

"Wings and halos. Robes and harps. Sitting on clouds. Being greeted by St. Peter at the pearly gates: These are the images of heaven we get from movies, TV, and newspaper cartoons." 

The Heavenly truth? Well, for starters, Catholic Answers notes: "People in heaven do not have bodies (with rare exceptions such as Jesus and Mary), but that’s a temporary state of affairs. At the end of time, we will be raised from the dead and reunited with our bodies (cf. 1 Cor. 15:16–18)…. 

"Of course, ordinary bodies are not able to survive for all eternity. Paul explains that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50)." 

The idea that we will sprout majestic wings in the Afterlife has "absolutely no basis in Scripture or Tradition." 

Neither does the idea that we will become angels. According to Catholic Answers: "Angels are created beings that are pure spirit and have no bodies … humans and angels don’t turn into each other…. 

"It is common to picture people in heaven wearing robes, but we have no idea what clothes (if any) we may wear." 

And what about St. Peter at the Pearly Gate? As CA explains: "Peter does not (so far as we know) personally approve each person’s admission to heaven." 

Also, there is no singular Pearly Gate offering access to Heaven. According to Revelations 21:21, the heavenly city is described as having "twelve gates." 

The Bible doesn't mention a Heaven paved with streets (there are no Porsches in Paradise) let along streets "paved with gold." 

The Book of Revelations describes Heaven (aka in the Bible as "New Jerusalem") as a temple populated by worshipers carrying incense, censers, trumpets, bowls, and harps. (How you heft a harp without a corporeal body, still leaves me mystified.) 

The New Testament describes Heaven as a "feast"—but not a modern Western-style wedding: according to Catholic Answers Paradise is more like "a first-century Jewish wedding feast." So you might want to drop those halos and don some yarmulkes—instead of a band of angels, the Hereafter may come with a klezmer band. Hollywood has made a number of films featuring "scenes shot in Heaven." Here's one we can dance to. 

People's Park Update 

Harvey Smith has some breaking news from the People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group regarding the legal scramble over the future of our sacred-Sixties-battleground-turned-open-space-refuge. 

"Our lawsuit was heard in Alameda County Superior Court [on July 29]. It was a consolidated hearing that combined all three challenges to UC's Long Range Development Plan/Environmental Impact Report under the California Environmental Quality Act. 

"The stay of demolition from the court of appeal remains in effect until Judge [Frank] Roesch signs the order denying our petition. When he signs it, our lawyers will file a new appeal and file a new petition for supersedeas and a new request for a stay of demolition. 

"We will continue the battle for People's Park! Support for these ongoing legal efforts is still needed." Donations to cover growing legal costs, can be sent to: http://www.peoplesparkhxdist.org/donate-now/ 

Padilla and Warren Want to Tax the Rich 

According to Sen. Alex Padilla (citing a 2021 ProPublica report), "hardworking American families pay approximately 14 percent of their income in federal taxes on average. Meanwhile, the 25 wealthiest Americans paid as little as 0.1 percent of the increase in their wealth from 2014 to 2018 in federal taxes. It is time for the ultra-wealthy to start paying their fair share." 

The solution could be the “Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act” introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Warren's Senate Bill 510 calls for a 2% annual tax on households and trusts with a net worth between $50 million and $1 billion, and a 1% annual surtax on households and trusts worth more than $1 billion. S. 510 is awaiting action by the Senate Committee on Finance. 

President Biden’s “American Jobs Plan” and “American Family Plan” (both incorporated into the “Build Back Better Act” [H.R. 5376] and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [Public Law 117-58]), calls for re-writing the federal tax code to raise enough revenue to repair our nation’s infrastructure and expand critical social programs. As Padilla notes: "These plans include establishing a minimum corporate tax, increasing taxes for the wealthiest Americans, closing various tax loopholes, and eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels." 

Clang, Clang, Clang… 

Speaking of taxing wealthy politicians, here's an inspired take on Judy Garland's "Trolley Song" from the 1944 movie, "Meet Me in St. Louis." This inspired parody (which comes to us from somewhere over the Randy Rainbow) racked up more than a million views in the first two months after it appeared online.