“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition,” stated Samuel Johnson, noted 18th-century English literary critic. Over the centuries, this sentiment traversed the waves to America’s shores and found roots in what’s been referred to as “The America Dream.”

The Dream used to include a job you held for 30 years and a cute little home in the ’burbs. With outsourcing to foreign labor markets and the meltdown in housing values, the “Dream” has taken a few hits.

Although including overarching concepts such as religious freedom and, as stated by the Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” what is the heart of the dream? It can’t be, as suggested by Mel Brooks, “Winning ‘American Idol.'"

I don’t often quote Martha Stewart; but, on this topic, she has something to say. She expands Johnson’s ideas, stating: “Our families and our homes are the center of American life. And everything we do is to make those homes — and the lives in them — more beautiful, more comfortable, more functional, and more full of life and light and joy for those we love. At the end of the day, that is the American Dream. All the rest is window dressing.”

And, it appears that, although tarnished by recent events, the idea of owning a home is still imbedded in the Dream. And ownership seems to be a positive experience that manifests itself outwardly into the way we live in our community as well.

The recent NAR-Harris* poll revealed some interesting facts: When asked, “Is owning a home a better financial decision than renting?” 96 percent of home-owners said it was and 71 percent of renters agreed. National surveys agree, showing that the average median net worth of home-owners is substantially higher than those who rent.

The positive affects of homeownership don’t stop there. The poll reveals other startling facts: Students from homeowner families scored higher on Peabody Individual Achievement Tests for math and reading than those from renting families. Owners feel more connected to their communities. Owners score higher on feeling safe in their neighborhoods.

Higher community connection, satisfaction and quality of life, increased levels of civic engagement and volunteerism – it all adds up. Owning a home is still a part of the American Dream – and, apparently, a part of being a more productive member of the community as well.

*NAR-Harris poll conducted by the Nation Association of Realtors.

Carl Medford is a licensed Realtor with Prudential California Realty in Castro Valley and a licensed general contractor. This article is sponsored by the Central County Marketing Association at www.ccmgtoday.com.

I used to think I followed the Giants because I attended college in  San Francisco  or because I liked the National League style of play. But recently I realized it  all started because of Danny.

It’s a good thing I didn’t see that sooner,  because over the years I might have been tempted to smack him with a baseball  bat, like Juan Marichal clubbing John Roseboro.

When I was growing up, Danny was the coolest kid on our block in  Castro Valley. He had the best video games, a  TV that pulled in dirty movies and more baseball cards than anyone else I knew.  He was also a huge Giants fan and had an older brother who drove us to  Candlestick  Park

We lived closer to the Oakland A’s. Some neighborhood kids rooted for more successful teams like the Cardinals. A few interesting girls at school  liked the Yankees or Dodgers. But to fit in with Danny and the gang, I latched onto the Giants. I was only 11 but there was no going back.

Baseball is designed to break your heart, said Commissioner Bart  Giamatti. That proved especially true for Giants fans. Long before broadcaster Duane Kuiper accused the team of “torture,” San Francisco often seemed committed to  psychological warfare against its own fans.

Everyone who has followed the team  for any length of time bears the scars. Mine include the Giants’ trades of my favorite players, Jack Clark and Matt Williams, San Francisco’s agonizing near-miss in 1993, and above all, the excruciating collapse in the 2002 World Series.

But I kept coming back, attending hundreds of games and enjoying  thousands more over the airwaves. The Giants became my companions through radio broadcasts on evening runs in the park and summer backpacking treks through the  mountains.

I had great fun assembling an all-time team of my favorite players like Jim Barr, Bob Brenly, Robby Thompson and Rod Beck, each of whom autographed  a baseball card for me. I even got lucky enough to find a publisher which paid  me to write two books about my favorite team; interviewing Mike Krukow, Will Clark and Dusty Baker was a privilege.

Every win brought joy. Every loss became a forbidden subject. Somehow San Francisco often combined the good with the bad.

The Giants opened a beautiful waterfront ballpark park in 2000, only to lose their first six games there. Barry Bonds  broke home run records while becoming a poster boy for the steroid era. And no  matter what else they did, the team’s championship drought dating back to 1954 always hung overhead like frigid summer fog at Candlestick.

I got used to the  fact that no matter who wore the uniforms or how well they played, sooner or later the team would always crash and burn. Naturally,  the 2010 Giants’ improbable World Series win thrilled me and millions of other  fans who never thought they’d live to our team win it all.

I’m even more  exhilarated at how they did it. San Francisco won with an incredible combination of amazing pitchers like Brian Wilson, hard-working veterans like Aubrey Huff, surprising breakthroughs like Andres Torres, castoffs like Cody Ross and up-and-coming kids like Buster Posey.

Unlike other championship teams from the last decade,  there’s not a drug cheat or a prima donna in sight.

These Giants are among the  most likeable and unlikely teams ever to win the Fall Classic. We may never see  their like again.

It’s tempting  to say that the 2010 World Series made my years following San Francisco worthwhile. It certainly sweetened the deal. But truthfully, it was all worth it even before the Giants’ long-awaited parade down Market Street.

I’ve been fortunate to interview players like Robb Nen, Kirk Rueter, J.T. Snow, Juan Uribe and Edgar  Renteria. I got to see the team play in cities across the country and even tuned  in from overseas.

The game has brought me closer to friends who share my passion for the national pastime, especially those who cheer for the orange and black.

Baseball has helped tie together my family through trips to spring training, dozens of ballpark outings and countless conversations around the dinner table. I had golden memories even before San  Francisco won its first golden trophy.

After we finished high school, I didn’t see Danny for 20 years. But then we reconnected  at a Giants game and now I see him at the ballpark all the time. So when I run  into him next season, I’m going to buy him an overpriced beer, toast the world champions and thank him for helping me make a lifetime friend.

Matt Johanson writes and teaches in Castro Valley and authored the upcoming book, “Yosemite  Epics: Tales of Adventure from America’s Greatest Playground.” His work can be found at mattjohanson.com

Bay Area artist Miriam Klein Stahl during her presentation to the Streetscape artist selection committee.

By Terry Liebowitz

CASTRO VALLEY FORUM

After months of proposals, presentations, interviews, and community feedback, Miriam Klein Stahl, in collaboration with Pippa Murray Mosaics, has been chosen to create the artwork for Castro Valley’s Streetscape Improvement Project.

Their work will be inset in the 35 seat blocks and two gateway markers on the Boulevard. The long awaited top-dressing of the Castro Valley thoroughfare should be completed by early next year, finishing a five-year, $9 million project funded by the County Redevelopment Agency.

Miriam Klein Stahl is a Bay Area artist and educator. She teaches drawing, printmaking and photography at Berkeley High School and is currently co-director of the Arts and Humanities Academy at Berkeley High.

Pippa Murray is a mosaic artist who specializes in large scale installations. Murray’s studio is in Sausalito.

In preparation for her proposal, Stahl spent a lot of time in Castro Valley. Her images included Castro Valley native plants, silhouettes of the surrounding hills and canyons, local landmarks, and community activities. These familiar images will be transformed into marble mosaics within granite slabs.

Choosing Stahl was a long and careful process that started last fall. After narrowing the artist pool, the selection panel met in early January to interview the six finalists. The selection committee included seven Castro Valley residents, County staff and arts professionals.

The artists presented samples of their proposals and described their plans for the benches and gateway markers. An important element of the selection process were the comments submitted by more than a thousand community members during the five weeks the proposals were on view at the Bank of the West and the Castro Valley Library.

In the end, Stahl’s work stood out for its unique, hand-crafted style and its vibrant reflection of the special characteristics of Castro Valley.

In response to community comments, Stahl and Murray were asked to make a few changes in their proposal: more durable granite was substituted for limestone, more colorful stone will be included; and the proposal images will be expanded to include such Castro Valley icons as the new Library and the Center for the Arts.

The artists presented their revised proposals on Feb. 10 and it was at that meeting that the panel members recommended awarding Stahl and Murray the contract.

The Alameda County Public Art Advisory Committee approved the selection panel recommendation a few days later. The artwork proposal will be presented as an informational item to the CV Redevelopment Advisory Committee at 12:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Library and  the Alameda County Arts Commission will vote on the proposal at their monthly meeting at 4 p.m. the same day in Oakland.

The artists’ contract will be presented to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for approval in late March.

For more information about the Streetscape Improvement Project, contact the Redevelopment Agency at 670-5333. For more information about the public art component of this project, call the County Arts Commission at 208-9646. Images of Stahl’s revised proposal will be on the Arts Commission website at www.acgov.org/arts.

Terry Liebowitz is a founding member of the Castro Valley Arts Foundation and was a member of the art selection panel.

By Brittany Cassimus

CASTRO VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

The first in a series of weekly columns focused on the impact of school district budget cuts on the students, sponsored by Save Our Schools Castro Valley! (www.soscv.org) and local businesses.

I am asking the community of Castro Valley to support our schools during this difficult financial crisis. With budget cuts threatening our schools, I am asking for any help you can give. In order to save our sports programs in the Castro Valley Unified School District,we need everyone in the community to help.

Sports have always been vital for the students in our schools. They help students live a healthy lifestyle, teach them social skills, keep them safe, and some even receive college scholarships.

Our sports programs have very important health benefits. Students benefit from all the exercise they get when they play sports. With the increase in juvenile obesity and diabetes in our country, playing in sports keeps our students healthy and fit.

Another benefit of sports is that they provide students with the skills they need to succeed. Students learn many life skills from playing sports. Some of the skills they learn are leadership, compassion, problem solving, determination and how to handle life’s disappointments and successes.

Also, students that excel in sports can obtain sports scholarships. For most students, receiving a scholarship is the only way they will afford college. It would be a shame if even one student missed out on a scholarship because of cuts to our athletic programs.

Who knows, one of our students could become a professional athlete or participate in the Olympics. That will never happen if the sports programs are eliminated.

I ask that you please support the programs at our schools and make a donation to SOSCV!  It would be an injustice to the current students of Castro Valley to be without a sports program.  So please donate any amount, so that your student, your neighbor’s student, and every student in Castro Valley can play the sports they love.

Save Our Schools Castro Valley! is committed to preserving and building upon the excellence that we have in our fine school district.  Take action now!  It will take community donations for Castro Valley to save what we have and continue to move forwards and not backwards.  Go to www.SOSCV.org/donate.html to donate and make an impact on your community!

By Buzz Bertolero

The Dirt Gardener

Q I have a bluish-green fungus-like growth on the branches of my apricot and plum trees. I’ve made two applications of copper sulfate, a week apart, but I haven’t seen any improvement. Can you recommend a treatment that will cure the trees of this problem?

A The bluish-gray-green growth is a plant called lichen. It is quite common to find it growing on trees in the Bay Area, especially near the coast and inland areas where there is a strong marine influence.

The one to three-inch bluish-gray-green patches are not a moss but a unique combination of individual alga and fungus species. The alga is a microscopic green plant that makes food for the duo.

The fungus is a bluish-gray structure that gives the pair support along with soaking up moisture from the air. Hence, tree lichen is unable to sustain itself during dry, warm conditions.

Lichens are able to make their own food with moisture and sunlight. They have no need to parasitize a host plant such as mistletoe, which will slowly kill a tree over a lengthy period. Lichens grow on the tree surface and do not penetrate any plant tissue. Instead, they make use of the trunk or limbs and branches for support.

It is often erroneously thought that the presence of the lichens indicates a declining tree. However, tree lichen will not cause any plant diseases nor will it kill a tree. The one exception is in wet tropical regions where it can be a problem. It’s more likely the lichen was there long before the tree became ill.

I’ve noticed that tree lichens do make a tree more picturesque. They add color, contrast, texture and natural beauty. It’s sort of like Spanish moss that hangs off many of the southern trees. On those overcast days, the blue-gray-green coloration is very attractive against the wet tree branches and stems.

A copper sulfate fungicide applied during the cool, wet winter months is ineffective. Instead, it’s recommended that it be applied after the rainy season has concluded; but, it will only control the fungus and not eradicate it. Tree lichen will reappear when the right conditions occur.

Note: I’ve posted a link to some images of tree lichens on my website — www.dirtgardner.com. The link is at the bottom of the home page in the right-hand corner.

Q  We have several cymbidium orchids on our deck. I would like to divide and repot them, as they’re difficult to water. Why have I been advised not to divide them?

A Dividing and repotting cymbidium orchids affects the blooming cycle. They love to be crowded. The production of flower spikes is maximized when there is little room to grow; hence, there is little incentive to divide the plants.

Orchids can be repotted every two to three years, as the orchid soil mix will decompose. They can be repotted in the same container with new soil or in a larger pot; however, a larger container will delay the flowering cycle.

You should shake off what is left of the old soil, once the container has been removed and then repot with one of the commercial orchid soil mixes widely available.

The recommended time to repot or divide cymbidium orchids is after flowering.

Buzz Bertolero is a California Certified Nursery Professional. His web address is www.dirtgardener.com. Mail in questions to 360 Civic Drive, Ste. “D,” Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, or send them via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Obama’s ‘Sputnik’ Moment

By Mel Lavine

Special to the Times

I have to say, President Obama reminds me of a smart, young boss I once worked for in network news. We’ll call him Joe. Joe was young for the job and the executive producer he replaced was an old pro. The old pro went after stories because they were (a) interesting, (b) they had something important to say, and (c) they sometimes gave notice of what was in the wind.

However, the old pro was fired because a competing broadcast on another network was making headway. Joe came in and the difference between him and the old pro was so plain. Joe studied market reports and based the pieces we did on what the market research told him people wanted to hear — not on the merits of a story or things the public needed to know. Over time, with new faces on the air, the show’s ratings improved.

I liked Joe; we got on, but the shows as they were produced gave me an uneasy feeling. I feel something like that with Obama. I like Obama and want him to succeed. But this bipartisanship business smacks of too many hours spent reading surveys and polls and in-depth analyses.

In his State of the Union Address last month, the president called for another “sputnik” moment or wakeup call for America in its rivalry with China and India for high-tech supremacy. The Soviet’s Sputnik, launched in 1957, was the world’s first space satellite, and set off a costly race for supremacy in science between Soviet Russia and the U.S. for many years.

Absent in the State of the Union was any mention of climate change. It was one of Obama’s most urgent issues when he was in the senate, when he ran for president, when he was elected, when he delivered his first speech to Congress in February of 2009, when he accepted the Nobel Prize in October in the same year, and when he delivered  his first State of the Union in January 2010.

As Hendrik Hertzberg cited in the New Yorker, among other words that did not show up in this year’s speech, were “unemployment,” “inequality,” “gun,” “environment,” “Israel,” “Palestine,” and “Guantanamo.”

This week, the president went out of his way to make peace with business leaders at the Chamber of Commerce. In effect, he proposed a deal: He would get rid of unnecessary regulations and simplify the tax code if they would  help the economy by spending some of the two trillion on which they’re sitting to create jobs. In return, Obama promised to get rid of unnecessary regulations and simplify the tax code.

One executive called Obama’s suggestion too simple. “I think it’s a little outside the bounds to suggest that if we hire people we don’t need, there will be more demand,” he said.

In fact, American corporations may no longer need the government. It’s estimated as much as half their income comes from overseas. Big business is also making an increasing number of products abroad.

Obama is not naive. With 2012 in mind, my guess is he’s polishing a moderate, middle-of-the-road image, what polls say is his best bet for re-election. But is this good for the country? I raise the question because it reminded me of Joe, the bright young man I once worked for. Under him, we told people what they wanted to hear and the ratings rose. But it was at the expense of what they needed to know.

Mel Lavine was a television producer for many years with NBC News and CBS News in New York. Contact him at his e-mail address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today

By Mel Lavine

Special to the Times

“Nuremberg” is a documentary film about the trial of Nazi big shots before an international military tribunal for crimes against humanity duirng the Second World War. Nuremberg was picked as the site for the hearing because it was the German city where Hitler designed the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, depriving Jews of German citizenship and forbidding marriage or sexual relations between Jews and “citizens of Germany.” Those laws, and the massive Nazi Party rallies in the Bavarian city during Hitler’s rise to power and from 1933 through 1938, preordained the mass murders of millions which, today, is known as the Holocaust.

I have a particular interest in the documentary because it was produced and written by an old boss of mine, Stuart Schulberg. In the 1970s, Stuart ran the NBC Today Show when I was one of his writer-producers. A superb journalist, he paid more attention to stories that the public should know about rather than what focus groups targeted. When ratings for a new competitor, ABC’s Good Morning, America, began gaining ground on Today, Stuart was fired. (He died in 1979 at 56.)

Back in the summer of 1945, he was in the Navy; and, along with his brother, Budd (who would write the movie classic “On the Waterfront”), they set out to find films and photographs to be used as evidence in the trial against Hitler’s top lieutenants at Nuremberg. In a hunt for evidence, according to the Wall Street Journal, “Reels of film were snatched from fires thought to have been set by one of the German film editors assisting the brothers. Budd Schulberg personally apprehended Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s favorite film-maker, at her Austrian chalet to work alongside him in the editing room as a material witness.”

When the film was finished — directed and written by Stuart — it was distributed in 1948 all over Germany but never shown in the U.S. Washington probably feared inciting anti-German feelings at a time when the U.S. was building an anti-Communist alliance in western Europe in the early days of the Marshall Plan and the Cold War.

As they say, the past is prologue. Sandra Schulberg, Stuart’s daughter, a filmmaker and Columbia University professor, saw a German-language version of her father’s film at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. Her interest deepened when she took inventory of her father’s papers. Today, thanks to his daughter’s efforts, Stuart’s magnum opus is restored. It has been playing in theatres in New York, San Francisco, Berkeley and San Rafael, among other cities.

“We had to start over from scratch,” she told the Journal interviewer. Only 25 hours of film footage were shot of the trial but the entire proceedings were recorded on audio. Matching sound and image was an act of creative will and filial love.

Stuart hesitated over a title. First he wrote, “Day of Wrath,” and then “A New Day Dawns.” Finally, on the final script dated April 1948 — he wrote in pencil, “Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today.”

Mel Lavine was a television producer for many years with NBC News and CBS News in New York. Contact him at his e-mail address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride

By Mel Lavine

I would like to take heart about prospects for jobs and the economy in America now that President Obama has picked Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, to run his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness which replaced the Economic Recovery Board the president created two years ago.

But it isn’t easy.

As Paul Krugman said in the New York Times Monday, Immelt heads a company “with fewer than half its workers based in the United States and less than half its revenues coming from U.S. operations. G.E.’s fortunes have very little to do with U.S. prosperity.”

Pointing out that some have praised the appointment because Immelt runs a company that “actually makes things, rather than being yet another financial wheeler-dealer,”  Krugman adds: “Sorry to burst this bubble, but these days G.E. derives more revenue from its financial operations than it does from manufacturing – indeed GE Capital, which received a government guarantee for its debt, was a major beneficiary of the Wall Street bailout.”

(The Times ran a correction the next day to say that although G.E.’s financial operations  “did account for roughly half of G.E.’s profits before the financial crisis, that segment has declined in importance since then.”)

Be that as it may, Immelt’s appointment is in synch with the president’s avowed intention, since the “shellacking” his party took last November, to govern from the middle in the last two years of his first term.

In a video preview of his State of the Union address, Obama signaled his  approach to independent voters, business owners and executives. They were  assured they could rest easy. The administration is backing away from moves to expand government and focusing on “finding common ground (with Republicans) even as we’re having some very vigorous debates.”

“My number one focus,” he said in the video, “is going to be making sure that we are competitive, and we are creating jobs, not just now but well into the future. These are big challenges that are in front us. But we’re up to it, as long as we come together as a people – Republicans, Democrats, independents – as long as we focus on what binds us together as a people...”

In the speech he delivered Tuesday night he reiterated much the same, calling on the country to close ranks and join together to out-do our economic rivals in the global market-place. This was our road with the help of advancing technology out of our discontent. The signature word is competitiveness. Bi-partisan solutions for what ails the nation was the theme. He was even open to a bi-partisan solution to  fix Social Security. I thought this a curious thing for a Democratic president to propose since there really is no crisis.

But this is the start of a new election cycle. So buckle up your safety belts, as Bette Davis said in the “All Abut Eve” movie. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Mel Lavine was a television producer for many years with NBC News and CBS News in New York. Contact him at his e-mail address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

An Opportunity Lost

By Mel Lavine

President Obama said some beautiful things in Tucson but I’m with the  reader from Los Altos who wrote the San Francisco Chronicle that he’d hoped the president  “would have pushed for something more immediately practical in the wake of the shootings.” Like making it “simpler for the families of mentally ill people” to get the help they need and to make “it more difficult for “disturbed individuals” to acquire lethal weapons.

That would have been something to take to the new House of Representatives, where the Republicans are planning to begin the process of killing the Obama health care law. A spectacle to be sure, but probably no more than that for even if repeal did carry the day in the senate, which is unlikely, Obama surely would  veto it.

Given the shocking events in Tucson, a presidential funeral oration was the moment to address the concerns raised by the Los Altos letter-writer. The president was speaking just five days before the country celebrated the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was killed by an assassin on April 4 in 1968.  In that same year Robert Kennedy, who well might have gone on to the presidency, was shot and killed after winning the Democratic presidential primary in June in California.

It would have taken only a moment, but Obama had an opportunity to strengthen the case for saner gun laws in this country. It was an opportunity lost. As Bob Herbert, the New York Times columnist, pointed out, about 100,000 shootings occur in the United States every year. More than a million people have died from gun violence – in murders, accidents and suicides since Dr. King and Robert Kennedy were killed.

Ever since he came to power in 2009 with a large plurality and with overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate., the president has been pulling his punches. With the country in economic crisis he put jobs on the back burner and the prosperity of Wall Street on the front. He dropped the public option on his health plan to placate the special interests. He yielded on tax breaks for the rich in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits.

The issue of tax breaks for the rich versus an extension of aid to the unemployed is an argument most Democratic would seize. But not this Democratic president.

Why not? My guess is he’s calculated that the middle road is the way toward winning re-election. Perhaps he’s thinking that once he’s won a second term he’ll have the freedom to do what’s right and  not just what’s pragmatic.

But a reading of history informs us that the presidents who achieve big things are usually those who strike early, that is in their first term. Notable examples in the last 100 years: FDR (Social Security); LBJ (Medicare); Woodrow Wilson (federal income tax).

The novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said there are no second acts in American life. He could also have been speaking of politics.

Mel Lavine was a television producer for many years with NBC News and CBS News in New York. Contact him at his e-mail address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .