You have got to be kidding me!  Berkeley spends a million bucks on "Citizen Committees"???  Here is a key quote from that SFGate article:

"[$200,000 was spent on that whole Marines thing] And that’s on top of the $1 million the city spends annually on domestic and foreign policy matters hatched by its 45 citizen commissions, which outnumber those in virtually every other city in America and debate everything from regime change in Iran to the plight of nonneutered dogs.

"We in Berkeley have one of the top universities in the world, which brings in people from more than 100 countries. Delving into foreign policy is unavoidable," said Mike Sherman, a longtime member of the Peace and Justice Commission, which sparked an uproar two months ago with its resolution telling the Marine Corps that its recruiting center was not welcome in the city."

Here is the link to the Commissions webpage.   I am sure some of these Committees are necessary, like ones for zoning and whatnot.  But do we need one focusing on the situation on Haiti??  I am sure the situation in Haiti is not good for human rights and international peace.  I’m also sure the situation in Haiti is none of Berkeley’s business, no matter how diverse Cal may be. 

When I read that article, it made me very frustrated.  Berkeley is such an amazing place to be.  But the City focuses so much of its time on unimportant things like international policy, allowing the infrastructure and business plan to fall apart around them.  If I was still a Berkeley resident, I’d be very frustrated to know that $200,000 (marines) plus $250,000 (stadium lawsuit) plus $1,000,000 (these Commissions) of my tax-payer money was being wasted.  At least!

Just another example of how the City has its priorities in all the wrong places.  At least Cal is handling its business well.  The UCPD police chief just sent out a very reasonable letter explaining why its treating the tree-sitters the way it is.  Instead of C+Ping the whole thing here, it was posted up on CyberBears.  Check it out. 

I was also frustrated to see Ryan Anderson declare for the draft.  I understand he has to protect his interests.  Given the uncertainty with the coaching staff at Cal, it would be foolish not to do this.  See what his options are, see who Sandy hires.  He can always come back for one more year, though.  This just means if he declares again after next year, he’s gone.  

What made my blood less boil-y (is that a word?) was the fact that going into the final weekend here, I’m totally winning the California Golden Blogs Bracket challenge.  My Yahoo! Fantasy Ranking is totally gonna kick butt now!  Of course, the difference between 1st place and 10th place is 14 points.  And correct choices in the Final Four are worth 16 points.  And correctly choosing the National Champion is worth 32 points.  So, it’s still up in the air.  Of the top 10, only Brain Pesto and I chose UNC.  Save for Tommy choosing Texas, all the rest chose UCLA.  Most of the Top 20 chose UCLA.  If UNC beats Memphis, I win.  If UNC beats UCLA, Brain Pesto wins.  If Kansas wins, Zoo News wins.  If Memphis wins, Avinash probably wins (esp. since UCLA will have lost in the Final Four rendering all of the UCLA people pointless).  And if UCLA beats Kansas, Josh In Portland wins.  If UCLA beats UNC, Oh So Easy- Paulieside wins.

Man, a lot of combos here.  And if you aren’t in the challenge, you don’t care.  But hey, if you didn’t join the challenge, you don’t count!  Go Tar Heels and Tigers!  But, most importantly, GO BEARS!