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OAG · 02-01-2008, 03:29 AM

Shades of the late 60's and early 70's raises its ugly head in central California.

cute fuzzy bunny · 02-01-2008, 06:29 AM

My favorite from having lived there a short time were the signs "welcome to berkeley...this is a nuclear free zone!" you found on each road leading into town.

I wonder how many foul plots were actually foiled by this strategy...

saluki9 · 02-01-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb

Good ol' Berkeley!

Middle americans from fly-over country are missing something by not being exposed to Berkeley unless perhaps they are from Madison or Ann Arbor.

I guess I'm also missing something by not having genital herpes. That being said it's about as appealing as going to Berkley.

deserat · 02-01-2008, 05:39 PM

I work in Berkeley for a very liberal and diverse healthcare organization and am a Reservist in the military - talk about living in two different worlds.

My first thought was -I'm not surprised - however, did you read where other business owners were not amused as it affected their businesses? Although I defend the right of Americans to have free speech, one needs to understand that your right to free speech doesn't mean you shut out the others guy's right to free speech.

As for the Marines - it would be interesting to see how many people they actually recruit from that office anyway. I'm sure it's not very high. I also wouldn't be surprised if they don't take any of it too personally - most of them have seen a *hell* of a lot worse several times over and probably find the whole thing amusing......

mb · 02-01-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat

As for the Marines - it would be interesting to see how many people they actually recruit from that office anyway. .....

Maybe from some of the surrounding areas in Oakland, Richmond, Rodeo, Pinole, Vallejo? Very different culture than Berkeley.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat

I also wouldn't be surprised if they don't take any of it too personally - most of them have seen a *hell* of a lot worse several times over and probably find the whole thing amusing.....

I know the guy that ran the ROTC program at UC Berkeley. He told me that there was some minor harassment but no big deal.

MB

mickeyd · 02-02-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

I work in Berkeley

Why are the Marines the only branch of service that is being targeted this way?

mb · 02-02-2008, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd

Why are the Marines the only branch of service that is being targeted this way?

Don't know but I would assume that they are the only service with a recruiting office in that particular location. In addition to having micro-climate zones the bay area also has micro-political zones.

mb · 02-02-2008, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saluki9

I guess I'm also missing something by not having genital herpes. That being said it's about as appealing as going to Berkley.

Ha, ha.

Don't know until you try it. (The Berkeley part I mean.)

Had a couple of Illini in grad school with me. They all decided to stay after finishing their degrees. No Salukis though.

On the other hand we already have 34M people in the state and don't particularly need any more. Luckily I usually don't have to resort to RE-wahoo-isms to convince people not to move to CA. The real estate prices are enough.

MB

clifp · 02-02-2008, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb

Maybe from some of the surrounding areas in Oakland, Richmond, Rodeo, Pinole, Vallejo? Very different culture than Berkeley.

I know the guy that ran the ROTC program at UC Berkeley. He told me that there was some minor harassment but no big deal.

MB

Back in the late 70s I was in Air ROTC at Berkeley. I had several incident with street people calling me a baby killer and worse when I was in uniform. One time they spat at me but missed.

mb · 02-02-2008, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp

Back in the late 70s I was in Air ROTC at Berkeley. I had several incident with street people calling me a baby killer and worse when I was in uniform. One time they spat at me but missed.

My friend was there in the 90s. Probably less antagonism to the military during that time.

Of course I know people that have been spit on by street people in Berkeley for not giving them money.

clifp · 02-02-2008, 02:30 PM

The campus is much more conservative now than when I went. Heck the Young Republican club is one of the largest groups on campus now. Of course the Republican booth in Sproul Plaza was right next to the Youth Spartacus League (a communist youth organization) so not every thing has changed.

However, the city of Berkeley in general and the city council is still as left-wing nut cases as always.

haha · 02-02-2008, 03:10 PM

I have usually had moderate Republican politics. Democrats often have ideas that are more attractive to me emotionally, but I know that I will get none of the swill and pay for a lot of it, so I vote Republican even if Republicans are sometines not as likeable.

But I have lived my whole adult life in liberal communities, by choice I guess. Berkeley was one of them. So I hide the way I feel. For me that is the least of several other evil possibilities. I do remember walking down Haight Street in 1968 with my uniform on. I felt out of place, but was not hassled. Of course, there were uniforms everywhere back then. I think I did have enough good judgment not to walk down Telegraph Ave wearing it.

Ha

JPatrick · 02-02-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mb

On the other hand we already have 34M people in the state and don't particularly need any more. Luckily I usually don't have to resort to RE-wahoo-isms to convince people not to move to CA. The real estate prices are enough.

MB

From what I see your prices may not be able to keep folks out much longer.
The crash in CA home prices has dried up the migration of your "people" and their delicious cap gains to the hills.

But not to worry, we're sending our/your illegals back to you. Chances are, with a little subprime action they should be able to take over some of those foreclosures. Something for everybody in this deal.
Gotta love it!

deserat · 02-03-2008, 07:32 PM

Yup - most in CA can't afford the real-estate unless they bought in awhile ago - the 'universal healthcare' bill sputtered because the state is broke again - I pay quite a bit in taxes for this state, county, and city. My husband and I are looking forward to leaving soon - although the scenery and activities are beautiful and diverse, it's become quite unaffordable for the most part. Pretty sad.......

mb · 02-03-2008, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick

From what I see your prices may not be able to keep folks out much longer.
The crash in CA home prices has dried up the migration of your "people" and their delicious cap gains to the hills.

But not to worry, we're sending our/your illegals back to you. Chances are, with a little subprime action they should be able to take over some of those foreclosures. Something for everybody in this deal.
Gotta love it!

Prices in San Diego, the Central Valley and the peripheral communities in the Bay Area are tanking but prices in the San Francisco-Silicon Valley corridor seem to be holding up enough to keep the riff-raff out

Not sure about LA ?

Just for kicks I logged on to Zillow and was surprised to find that according to their estimate the value of my house is up in the last month. That estimate appears to be driven by a recent "comp" sale of $930k for a 50 year old, 1400 sq ft house on a 7000 sq ft lot

Seems ridiculous doesn't it? I've been predicting a "regression to the mean" for Bay Area RE prices for years but so far I have been wrong. I've decided that perhaps the Bay Area "premium" is just larger than I realized. After all you just can't get the good weather, the Silicon Valley culture, etc. elsewhere in the country!

So maybe as you suggest I'll take out a home equity loan and buy a town in Texas

On second thought I'd rather have a beach house in San Diego

Since this is a "Berkeley thread" I thought that I would also mention that I recently read that Berkeley has some of the most expensive real estate in the nation relative to income. So apparently the "free market" is saying that despite all those radicals Berkeley is still a pretty good place. Now that just might piss off people on both ends of the political spectrum!

MB

Nords · 02-03-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger

The Marines didnt comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat

As for the Marines - it would be interesting to see how many people they actually recruit from that office anyway.

Hey, what's all this fretting about the Marines' delicate sensibilities? They probably asked BCC to put those people in front of their recruiting station for the free publicity. It also puts "the enemy" right where they can keep an eye on them.

I bet the Marines not only enjoy the free entertainment but end up making quota while getting hazardous duty pay.

I just hope nobody taunts the Marines. If they mess with a sergeant then she'll snap Code Pink vertebrae like dry twigs before the police can arrive to save the remains...

jazz4cash · 02-03-2008, 10:34 PM

Takoma Park is known as an extremely liberal community, sometimes called "the Berkeley of the East" [1], [2] or "The People's Republic of Takoma Park." The City Council voted unanimously in 1983 to become a nuclear free zone. As a result, no city purchases or investments can be carried out with entities that make nuclear weapons, components or delivery systems. In accordance with the city's principles, Takoma Park allows non-U.S.-citizen residents to vote in their own municipal elections.

Source: Wikipedia

MikeD · 02-04-2008, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords

I just hope nobody taunts the Marines. If they mess with a sergeant then she'll snap Code Pink vertebrae like dry twigs before the police can arrive to save the remains...

Years ago, I knew a small-framed, petite Army MP who held the record for shooting drunk servicemen. She would be called to a public disturbance and when she tried to arrest them the big ol' drunk servicemen would always mouth off with something like "Whattya gonna do honey, shoot me?"

She was always ruled in the right.

Mike D.

MikeD · 02-04-2008, 10:55 AM

Contains, as Radar O'Reilly would say, nuditity. I laughed out loud at the comments under the pictures. I really liked a few of the Art Cars on the link at the bottom.

How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade, September 19, 2004

Mike D.