Letters for the week of November 16-22, 2005

“Burning the Faithful,” Music, 10/19

I won’t buy them
Sony is smoking dope if they think many music buyers are going to go for copy-protected CDs. I’ve been a rock music fan for years. I have over two thousand LPs and hundreds of CDs. I’ve bought fewer in recent years because of high prices, homogenized music, and — often overlooked — the general lack of great rock radio. I don’t seek out nor am I usually given copies by friends (even when they’re offered). As a collector, I want the record company’s version with all the artwork and labeling. However, as a hobbyist, if I can’t make copies of CDs freely so that I can enjoy my hobby, I just won’t buy any such CDs. Unless we’re talking the Second Coming of the Beatles, I won’t buy. It’s that simple.
Joe Scanlon, Oakland

Mistakes were made
Your story about Ray Hrdlicka was interesting but light on a few facts. His “innovative methods” of taking little or no money down and no collateral on some bail bonds may have been the reason that his license to practice bail in Washington state was revoked. Once Washington state revoked his license, the state of California did the same. To view the ruling, go to www.insurance.ca.gov/license-status and read for yourself those “financial missteps” that your article mentioned in passing.
Tony A. Suggs, Richmond

“Maudelle’s Consolation Prize,” Bottom Feeder, 10/5

What’s the rush?
A person can’t be put on a postage stamp until ten years after their death, and I don’t understand why we don’t have at least as strict a rule for important public buildings and facilities. It shouldn’t be difficult in Berkeley to imagine a high public official, with a good reputation, performing a surprising act that makes having their name on a building extremely embarrassing. I think it’s a good idea to memorialize people with the names of public facilities, to remind future generations of who has come before, but not in their lifetimes.

Aaron Priven, Oakland

Or perhaps a gulag
Iowa Republican Steve King may be a political reactionary, but he was right for leading the fight against the renaming of the main Berkeley Post Office after ancient ideologue Maudelle Shirek. When asked by a Chronicle reporter if Shirek was a member of the Communist Party, pro-Palestinian propagandist Barbara Lubin, a fellow traveler who has long been in a position to know, retorted, “So what if she was?”

Indeed, Shirek, married for years to long-term CPUSA member Brownlee Shirek, regularly acknowledged that her politics echoed that of her husband. It was simply not politically expedient for her to openly join the CP herself. Nevertheless, when Shirek made frequent “goodwill” trips to Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, and other Soviet satellites, she had nothing but praise for those oppressive regimes.

Now some Berkeley lefties want to honor Shirek by naming something local in her honor. May I suggest a cemetery? After all, it would be appropriately symbolic of the estimated forty million murdered by the Stalinist dictatorships Shirek so ardently defended.
Dan Spitzer, Kensington

Bush-Anderson 2005
Oh, the horror, the horror! Republicans, in a direct display of political conviction, do not want to name a post office after Berkeley’s leftist icon Maudelle Shirek. All of the local handwringing does not obliterate the fact that no such postal monument would be needed if Ms. Shirek had not been dirty-tricked out of her city council seat by a campaign filing “mistake” made by one of her staffers. Every single political insider in Berkeley knows that the likelihood of this being a mistake was about the same as Shirek’s lucky council replacement, Max Anderson, voting for George Bush.

On another equally off note, Berkeley’s left political establishment will not be happy until every school, public building, street, park, and possibly tree is renamed in homage to themselves.
Barbara Gilbert, Berkeley

“Teflon Don Employs Jacko’s Dick,” Cityside, 10/5

Sophomoric and unfair
I was disappointed to read the recent article “Teflon Don Employs Jacko’s Dick.” Using a headline not fit for a Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, the article proceeds to besmirch the name of an outstanding private investigator and his firm. The sophomoric penile double entendres are bad enough, but then to prominently play up insinuations against another private investigator who worked for Bill Clinton so you can justify saying in your lead paragraph that this a “connection to a certain private dick from Emeryville” is quite a distortion.

The disclaimer near the end of the article that there has not even been a hint of impropriety by Eric Mason nor anybody at his firm is too little, too late, and cuts against the apparent premise and need for publishing this article.

Bad investigative journalism feeds public distrust. The readers of the East Bay Express deserve and demand better.
Sean Broderick, Berkeley

“Touchy Feely,” Feature, 10/5

People need to be held
I found your article intriguing, funny (I laughed out loud several times), and not at all strange. People need to be held, and so many have not been held in their childhoods that they aren’t “holders.” That sucks, but there is hope now.

L. Donaldson, Oakland

And she’s walked the walk
The voters of Oakland have already tried the celebrity politician with ties to Sacramento/DC, and we got a mayor who never attended council meetings unless he needed to pitch the latest development because the residents were mounting a protest. Do we really need another celebrity who has to be BEGGED to take the job? What is wrong with the progressive black and white and brown and yellow voters in Oakland that they do not recognize that Nancy Nadel has been walking the walk and talking the talk for West Oakland and now wants to do that for all of Oakland?

One of the most diligent and intelligent public servants to sit on council, Nadel has spent these years serving her constituents for the greater good of Oakland. She is one of the rare ones to actually read all the proposals that come before council; she doesn’t depend upon big business or corporate funding or the “machine” to tell her how to vote and what to support. There is no reason to believe that potholes wouldn’t be filled under a Nadel mayorship or developments wouldn’t be critically assessed for community needs, affordable housing needs, and Oakland worker needs.

We don’t need to beg a retired guy who only wants to help Oakland if he gets to be the boss. (Where has Dellums BEEN these past years that he only now sees that crime is a problem and poor education is afflicting the teenagers in our city???) We have a clear choice this mayor’s race: Dellums, an aged warrior who only wants to work for some of us; De La Fuente, a loud-mouthed crony of Perata who has been elected with the fewest votes of any councilmember; or Nancy Nadel, who will prove to be the first female mayor of Oakland and the hardest-working and most dedicated mayor we will have had in a long, long, time.
Maureen Dorsey, Oakland

Once a hypocrite …
Chris Thompson hit the nail on the head with his comment on the circus mounted by Ron Dellums to announce — oh, surprise! — that he was going to run for mayor of Oakland. This is the same old hypocrite who posed as “progressive” and antimilitary while fighting to keep the military bases open in the Bay Area. I lived in Oakland for sixteen of the almost thirty years that Dellums spent in Congress; it was during those years that crime in Oakland reached its highest levels. Ron Dellums didn’t do anything about that then, and it’s unlikely he’ll do anything if elected mayor.

Leo T. West, San Leandro

Win, Ron … win
Think back … when was the last time there was an authentic, grassroots movement to actually draft a candidate to run for mayor of a major city? Name a time where there has been a groundswell — an impassioned plea from literally thousands of citizens for seasoned, heartfelt, and dynamic leadership? I have been moved, like thousands of my fellow citizens, into action for my hometown of Oakland like never before, and it is because Congressman Ron Dellums is running for mayor. We need a leader with patience, expertise, history, experience, compassion, and, above all, vision. Congressman Dellums embodies all of these qualities and he has motivated a lot of folks who have not been inspired in a long, long time to be involved in the political process. Win, Ron …win.

Robin Raveneau, Oakland

Working 24/7 for Oakland
I found your description of the “campaign rally” both affirming and distressing. The latter because, undoubtedly, numerous individuals present at the event will remain in their self-induced delirium of Mr. Dellums’ capabilities as Oakland mayor.

I take issue, however, with your final paragraph. The foul-mouthed “Nacho” who, according to Bottom Feeder, is open to “sway” from “Perata’s developer pals,” is not the only frontrunner in the Oakland mayor race. In recent polls, Oakland City Councilperson Nancy Nadel has garnered similar numbers of prospective voters as has Nacho. And Nancy is neither foul-mouthed, nor does she kowtow to developers. Moreover, Nancy embodies multicultural Oakland, living for many years in West Oakland, working for environmental and economic justice for both her constituents and Oakland as a whole. To paraphrase Mr. Dellums, Nancy is just a gal and not a superwoman, but she has worked, sometimes 24/7, for Oakland and our residents and will continue to do so.
Kathleen A. Dadey, Oakland

Nasty, biased, and wrong
What in the fuck is Chris Thompson’s problem??? The one part that pissed me off highest was his jab at public service workers — in effect calling us the major problem with Oakland. This was inferring that the budget problems are our fault. Your paper has told countless stories of city overspending, corruption, mistakes, and financial crises which happened under Ignacio’s rulership of the council — but no mention of that here. All of his faults were ignored; you pointed out Dellums’ faults, then you blamed the city’s problems on gardeners, street workers, security guards, custodians, and other low-paid workers instead of pointing out how much administrative personnel are gouging the city for (should a secretary by any other name be paid $6,000-$10,000.00 a month?). Your article is nasty, biased, and WRONG. You owe us an apology.

Bruce Baxter, Oakland

They kick! They miss!
You should get your facts right. Ajax is not the owner of the Earthquakes. Home attendance is higher than away attendance. In fact, home attendance is one of the highest in MLS if you throw out the other teams’ special attendance nights like 4th of July and high-drawing double headers with foreign teams.

Al Stitt, Saratoga

Kelly Vance replies
A careful analysis of the Earthquakes’ published attendance figures for 2005 shows the top five Quakes home games drew 101,068 fans, while the top five away games drew a total of 98,054. So we overstated the case by 3,000. As to the Quakes’ ownership, it’s evidently still the Anschutz Entertainment Group, although Ajax America has expressed interest in buying the team.