Public Comment

Spring Equinox: Celebrate at the Chavez/Huerta Sundial
Tuesday, March 19
6:30 to 7:30 pm
Sunset at 7:20 pm
Chávez/Huerta Tribute Site @ Solar Calendar

This year's Equinox Celebration—high atop the northern-most summit of the Berkeley Marina—will be led by Alan Gould, from the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Alan will address the timely question: “What is the meaning of the vernal (spring) equinox." (Alan's FAQ page is here: https://gss.lawrencehallofscience.org/the-solar-calendar/.)

The Vernal Equinox marks the traditional start of spring planting. The Tribute Site, which honors "the social and environmental justice legacy of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta," is organized around four cardinal directions—Tolerance, Courage, Determination, and Hope. As site overseer Santiago Casal notes, spring is the time to honor the virtue of Hope—and the United Farm Worker rallying cry "¡Viva La Causa!" 

Here’s a Bird’s Eye Flyover of the Park and Tribute Site 

Site-master Casal suggests: "You can also check out the Mobile Tour in the comfort of your own home but you will not have the benefit of the wonders of an outdoor park experience, nor all the informational/interactive signage along the path of the Tour." To access Mobile Tour, point your camera or phone at the QR Code. For best sound, use earbuds. 

Click on “bicell.mobi.” If prompted, click on “Don’t Allow.” It may seem counterintuitive, but “don't allow’” will allow you to view on your cell phone, instead of at Chávez Park itself. 

Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted about town.
JOB4ALL
ARICON (Arizona Icon?)
NONIWGN (Noni Wagon?)
AMNPLMN (Am In Plumbing?)
MAXSLN (Max Salon? MA Ex-Esalen?) 

Bumper Snickers
Don't Grow Up. It's a Trap!
Keep Calm and Go Vegan
A Good Bumpersticker Makes You Think
Exercise? I Thought you Said "Extra Fries"
I Enjoy Long Romantic Walks to the Fridge
I Don't Need Google. My Wife Knows Everything
After Monday and Tuesday, Even the Calendar Says "WTF"
At My Age "Getting Lucky" Means Finding My Car in the Parking Lot 

Tuition as a Deductable Business Expense
Melanie D/Arrigo is winning a lot of thumbs-up emojis for the following proposal on Facebook: 

"If your job requires a college degree, you should be able to write-off your student loan payments as a business expense—the way CEOs write off their private jets and yachts for their jobs, which require neither." 

In the meantime, forgiveness of student debt is another civilized response. 

Bernie and the Bombs
From Kiji Noh, a peace activist and scholar specializing on the Asian continent who participates with the Veterans for Peace China Working Group, recently knocked Senator Bernie Sanders for the following statement, which condemned war profiteering but stop short of condemning war itself. 

"These companies' greed is not just fleecing the American taxpayer; it's killing Ukrainians," Sanders contended. "A contractor padding its profit margins means that fewer weapons reach Ukrainians on the frontlines. Corporate greed is helping [Russian President] Vladimir Putin." 

Noh was not pleased with Bernie's position, writing that Sanders "doesn't want a more peaceful world, he wants a better killing machine." 

As Noh notes, the US spends more on the military than 189 countries combined. 

The actual military budget is closer to $1.5 trillion—double what is usually quoted—more than the rest of the world combined. And, adding insult to injury, the Pentagon has never passed an audit. 

TIkTok on the Block
TikTox is under assault because of its alleged allegiance to China. But, as Senator Rand Paul recently pointed out, TikTok isn't owned by China—60% of the company is actually in the hands of international investors. 

According to Newsweek, Paul recently challenged Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade's on-air assertion that ByteDance is owned by the Chinese government. "No, it's not," Paul declared, "that's a lie. 

"You're defaming the company," Paul insisted. "Sixty percent of it is owned by international investors, 20 percent is owned by the software developers who are Chinese and 20 percent is owned by the employees, 7,000 of whom are Americans." 

So why is Washington targeting China's influence on TikTok? According to reporter Glenn Greewald, there's strong evidence that the House vote to ban a Chinese-owned TikTok was driven by the fact that there's a lot of anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian content on the popular platform—content the CIA can't control—like it can FaceBook and X (nee Twitter). 

The Divided States of Warmerica
The global, anti-war organization, World BEYOND War has recently announced a campaign to punish the US for its support of militarism at home and around the world. WBW is calling for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement to use these economic tools that have proven so effective against the South African Apartheid State to punish today's leading humanitarian outlaws. In addition to calling for a BDS campaign in response to Israel's war on Palestinians, WBW has also called of the world community to apply economic sanctions against Washington for its militaristic global meddling in the service of empire. The campaign's cry is a simple one: BDS the US. 

Here are some excerpts from the outline recently posted to the WBW website. The entire statement can be read here. 

BDS The US — The World Must Hold the US to the Rule of Law 

Since 1972, the US government has been far and away the leading user of the veto in the UN Security Council, often blocking the will of every — or nearly every other — national government on Earth. It has vetoed UN condemnation of South African apartheid, Israel’s wars and occupations, chemical and biological weapons, nuclear weapons proliferation and first use and use against non-nuclear nations, US wars in Nicaragua and Grenada and Panama, the US embargo on Cuba, Rwandan genocide, the deployment of weapons in outer space, and much more…. 

Using a US-funded listing (by Freedom House) of the 50 most oppressive governments, one finds that the US government approves US weapons shipments to 82% of them, provides military training to 88% of them, funds the militaries of 66% of them, and assists in at least one of these ways 96% of them. 

Few war-torn regions manufacture significant weapons. Few wars fail to have US-made weapons on both sides. The US government exports more weaponry than all other nations but two combined. Examples of wars with US-made weapons on both sides are: Syria, Iraq, Libya, the Iran-Iraq war, the Mexican drug war, World War II. … 

The US withdrew from: 

• The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty,
• The Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty,
• The Open Skies Treaty 

• The Iran nuclear agreement. 

The US government stands outside and disregards:
• The Landmines Treaty,
• The Arms Trade Treaty,
• The Convention on Cluster Munitions…. 

Since 1945, US military has fought in 74 other nations, while the US government has overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in at least 85 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders, dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries, and killed or helped kill some 20 million people…. 

The US has waged wars in violation of: 

• The 1899 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes,
• The Hague Convention of 1907,
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928,
• The United Nations Charter of 1945,
• The Geneva Conventions of 1949,
• The ANZUS Treaty of 1952,
• The 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights…. 

The US military maintains at least 75% of the military bases in the world that are on foreign soil. The United States has three times as many bases abroad (approximately 900) as US embassies, consulates, and missions…. 

Bases, like military spending, have an established record of making wars more, not less, likely. US installations are found in at least 38 non-democratic countries and colonies. 

(Full disclosure: I'm a member of the WBW board.) 

UC Berkeley Faces Another Free Speech Trial
A report in The Forward, describes a recent confrontation on the Berkeley campus as follows: 

“Last month, a violent mob of pro-Palestinian activists shut down a planned talk by Israel Defense Forces reservist Ran Bar-Yoshafat on campus, breaking windows and reportedly attacking other students." 

The incident has triggered a federal civil rights investigation and university officials are treating the confrontation as a hate crime.” 

In response, a Jewish member of UC Berkeley's 1964 Free Speech Movement was moved to write the following: 

"Sadly, there were also Jewish Groups [IfNotNow - INN] who 'shut him down.' I objected to their trampling free speech but was ignored. Attacks on free speech from the left are more upsetting to me. I identify with the left; I am [was] a member of INN…. 

"A proper protest against Ran Bar-Yoshafat, an Israel Defense Forces reservist, is needed. Proper meaning sit and listen to him, carry signs and speak up at the Q&A session. Oh, but we were not invited. Invitations went to a small group of Genocide Apologists. Hummm. Is that consistent with Free Speech?  

"We cannot allow these Jewish murderers to equate being Jewish with Zionism. This UC Department of Genocide Apologists does not represent Jews. It is NOT anti-semitism to call Zionism what it is: violent occupation, apartheid and now, active genocide. Zionists are effectively co-opting all Jews. That’s why it is so important for Jews who are opposed to Israel’s genocide to speak and act out against Zionists. But not at the expense of preventing free speech." 

GG