The need for housing in the Bay Area is undeniable. Over forty years of reduced budgets for public services, including public housing, combined with the influx of capital investment to build market rate housing, has created a massive crisis for those on the middle and lower end of the income spectrum. The income gap is as extreme now as it was a hundred years ago in the Gilded Age. We see the evidence of this daily. UC Berkeley, the flagship campus of the world’s greatest public university, has homeless students. There is no denying that Berkeley needs housing, particularly affordable housing.

However, the proposal to develop People’s Park ignores not only its history and listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but the need for open space in the South Campus area.

Going way back historically, we can recall the broader context of the history of urban public space starting with the Greek agora and the Roman forum that are the antecedents to U.S. parks, commons, marketplaces and squares.

Lack of park acreage in Berkeley was noted in 1915 in Walter Hegemann’s city plan report. He noted the backwardness of Berkeley despite “the influence of Frederick Law Olmsted, the elder, the great American genius of park-culture.” (Olmsted was the famous designer of New York’s Central Park.) -more-

It’s been another comfortable week in Berkeley with temperatures in the 70s while heat domes threaten life across large swathes of the planet. Even the Saguaro Cactus in Arizona is collapsing in the extreme heat. As I pick my way through the news I feel like an observer in a world that is unraveling. And there has been local unraveling too. -more-

While the rest of the world affirms the necessity of acknowledging and addressing racism, while the rest of the world comes together to organize against systemic racism and teach more accurate history, Berkeley joins Florida in its Trumpian effort to whitewash homeless arrest quotas and racist texts while distancing and silencing its new Police Accountability Board. While the rest of the world celebrates a monument to Emmett Till and his mother, Berkeley absolves itself of racism in a secret report that the City Manager interprets on our behalf as clearing all parties. -more-

All Hail the Queen of Quake
Two recent Taylor Swift concerts in Seattle got stadium-filling crowds of fans hopping about with such glee that local seismographs registered the ground-shaking equivalent of a 2.3 earthquake.

This left me wondering: Did anyone think of appealing to the Swifty congregants who flocked to Bay Area's Levi Plaza for the pop star's two Santa Clara concerts to go easy on the "Shake it Off" jouncing?

The US Geological Service (USGS) has warned of the "likelihood of liquefaction in Northern Santa Clara County during a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on the southern segment of the Hayward Fault." Such a quake could be as damaging as a temblor that hit the region in 1868. -more-

Anosognosia. In a psychotic person, it is the absence of the basic insight that they are ill and need help, and it is nearly intrinsic to the nature of the disease. If we knew we were psychotic, it would be an indicator that we had a partial grip on reality. And this, in turn would mean we'd have a good chance at moderating our actions and getting back into treatment. When in the grips of psychosis, it is effectively by definition that we don't know or understand we are psychotic.

When I've become ill in my past, I suffered from short-term anosognosia. It was resolved after being adequately medicated a few weeks. I have some guesses concerning how this condition might behave in those less fortunate than I, and what could be done to resolve it. But they are only guesses, no more--a clinician should know more.

Here are my thoughts: -more-

Sinead O'Connor, Irish singer-songwriter, artist-musician, political activist and troubled soul died on July 26, 2023, at age 56. -more-

Israel reduces U.S. to a whimpering paper tiger.

I write to draw readers attention to an enlightening op-ed titled "With Israel, It's Time to Start Discussing the Unmentionable," penned by Nicolas Kristof, which was recently featured in The New York Times. The article courageously confronts the relationship between the United States and Israel, bringing to light aspects that have often been shielded from public discourse. -more-

Worth Noting:

City Council is on summer recess through September 11, 2023 and most boards and commissions do not meet in August.

• Monday: At 12 pm CCCC meets online.
• Tuesday: From 5 – 9 pm, National Night Out, individual neighborhood times vary.
• Wednesday: At 7 pm the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets in person.
• Thursday: At 7 pm the Landmarks Commission meets in person.

Check the City website for late announcements and meetings posted on short notice at: https://berkeleyca.gov/

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BERKELEY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND CIVIC EVENTS -more-