I love your comments. Please send me all updates. Happy New Year too!

Hey, Jeannette, good to see you posting again!
Check your snail mail; I sent ya' a little something to ring in 2003. Is your new e-mail address in addition to, or in place of, the one I've been using? Keep raising hell, and drop me a line when you get a chance!

Thank you, thank you -- and mainly thanks to Mr. B who is wonderful beyond words.

Sarah, the snailman banged on my door today while I was on phone and did not identify himself, so they are holding onto
whatever you sent. Thank you in advance.

Let's keep this quiet, but I am banned from speaking for next 10 days. Severe hoarseness due to second big case of bronchitis
in 6 months. Heh heh heh -- don't tell Jane! Or Annette or any of my other
opinionated and chatty female friends who would all love this chance to talk at me w/out me
having ability to reply. Heh heh heh.

By the way, Kije is back!

Happy new year everyone!

Hope you feel better real soon, Jeannette.
I totally stand by comments in response to
Leal's 10 worst things about Oakland. I forgot
I know him, Nina's a friend of his partner.
On the KJIE people, who are they ? Their
comments in response to my criticisms of local
braindead liberals like Judge Conger was stupid
and knee jerk beyond belief.
My criticism of you several years back was wrong
because you were right about the black racism
in Oakland as we have found out the hard way.
Hope you will accept my apology. Yes, I'm am
a libertarian, hardcore. I think Ayn Rand was
a bumbling compromiser.
Best wishes for a great 2003 !

We stand by our comments.

KIJE is a perfect example of brain dead kneejerk
left liberalism, they offer no argument, no logic,
no reasoning, no intelligent rebuttal but simply
spurious namecalling and a childish reiteration
of their previous erroneous assumptions. I can
give chapter & verse specifics on Conger as well
as a host of other so-called public officials
in Oakland. I think hiding behind the name of a
"project" is cowardly. This could be one person.

Stop it.
1) The argument between the KIJE Project and Michael Hardesty doesn't appear in OaklandNews,so don't fight about it here.
please.
2) Michael, you're the one doing the name-calling. We reserve name-calling rights for politicians and bureaucrats within Oakland, not for fellow readers of OaklandNews.
3) Also Michael, thanks for your good wishes and apology -- this might be a first.
4) I like Julie Conger, too.

Julie Conger is outrageous. We have been harassed
for years by a black tenant on welfare who simply
doesn't like whites, she has dumped garbage on our
property for years, put nails in two tires of
Nina's car almost killing her when they exploded
on the freeway, removed the grille lights on
Nina's car, threatened her, assaulted her once,
the OPD does nothing, we tried to get a restraining order but to no success, however when
Nina complained to this person's black live-in
landlord, he sought & got a restraining order
against Nina from Conger ! There was no basis
in the law for Conger's ruling. We tried to present our case to Conger but she would never
hear it. One of our attorneys, who is black,
said Conger never ruled against blacks IF
whites were involved. We were in her court
several times trying to get a new Judge,
first she said she would disqualify herself,
then she lied and said she hadn't said that !
On and on and on. We are going to write about it
but in the meantime it has cost us thousands of
dollars for appeals. I'm just skimming the
surface here on details but Conger uses the
law to push her own political agenda on gun
control & race. There's no shortage of explicit
examples I can give here. She should not be on
the bench. It's been an eye-opening look at the
Judiciary for us, we hope she isn't typical.
As far KIJE goes, they certainly did namecall
and they attacked me first. I RESPONDED solely
to their attacks. And their standing by their
attacks. I did respond in the particular area
of your website where they attacked me but it
never was published. Also as a new reader I'm
not sure what is and isn't Oaklandnews on this
board. I thought all of it was Oaklandnews.
Good luck to you personally and to your good
fight against City Hall.

Sounds very bad.
Here's the problem -- where did you and KIJE suddenly start arguing about Julie Conger?
If I can't find it, and I'm the editor, then I doubt OaklandNews readers can.
There's a Comments section for every item we publish. I guess we need a
free-floating Comments section too -- or you can post matters like this as
a Letter.

Dear Jeannette,

I posted it on Leal's 10 things he couldn't
stand about Oakland because I really enjoyed
his thoughts on the subject.
Then KIJE, whom I had never heard of, made an
odd attack on me insinuating that I wasn't the
author of my own comments ! They threw out "neanderthal" and a couple of other
uncomplimentary adjectives and then they stated
that Strom Thurmond was probably the author of
my comments !
I recalled that you had a bad situation with a
neighbor and that James Vann pulled the race
card on you. I was a friend of Vann's but we have
long since become mortal enemies. I was briefly
involved with the Committees of Correspondence,
which was a 1992 spin-off from the old CPUSA.
The way James, Larry Shoup and some others ran
that group was out of the old CP handbook.
That's one of the reasons I won't have anything
to do with the local Greens even though Nina & I
were Nader voters.
Anyway I appreciate tremendously your free speech
forum and giving me the opportunity to speak my
mind here.
There are so many things we need to do to get Oakland to shape up and I think your making a
great contribution here.

Best Regards,
Michael

Dang, how did I miss those early battles? Oh well, she writes sheepishly.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I read the Trib articles re Conger letting
the self-professed pimp go the other day...and was as flipped out as anyone.
I wondered how fast you'd post a Conger letter -- did you miss what she did?
She (a) cleared the courtroom of the public 3 times, no reason given and
(b) gave the defense the final argument. No lawyer in Alameda County can
remember ever seeing that happen.

Kije, it pains me to say this, but I think the Honorable Judge Julie has sort of
flipped out. A lot.

Sigh.

Dear Jeannette,

Thanks for the Conger update. I'll look this up.
I see the Trib three or four days a week, so I
missed this.
Not surprised though. We've been talking to many
attorneys and though she has many defenders &
friends, there are also a number of attorneys
who have reported all sorts of crazy happenings
in her count. One strong feminist group in Berkeley that originally supported her told Nina
that they thought she flipped out.
I think we all, on principle, to keep a much closer eye on the Judiciary, it seems out of
kilter (in some cases)with the balance of powers.

Best As Always,
Michael

Dear Jeannette,

Just downloaded the article from the February 8
Oakland Tribune. Wow ! Thanks.
Don't know how I missed this because I had the
lead letter to the editor in that day's issue.
I was raking Bob Valladon of OPA over the coals
for his stupid attack on Charlie Plummer.
Plummer had sharply criticized the OPD's
handling of the second Raiders riot.

Best,
Michael

Charlie Plummer is one of the best public servants in the Western world, and Bob Valladon is...not. At one meeting with Valladon, he was defending the need of OPD officers to live outside of Oakland. "And," he snarled, "Do you know what I'm gonna do if there's an earthquake? Get on my bike (motorcycle) and go home and make sure my family's okay, because _that's_ where my obligation is." You do that Bob, and I hope to God you get fired.

Charlie Plummer believes that, on average, every year there should be roughly a 10 percent change in personnel in government, business, you name it. He
believes this because, "The job changes. People burn out, or they can't adapt. Or their life changes. They retire." Charlie was contemptuous of the city of Oakland where everyone seems to stay on forever and ever, and no one ever gets sacked for incompetence.

I love Charlie Plummer, and am glad he stayed on as Sheriff. He's also as good as he is smart, and is that rare?

Right on, Jeannette, Charlie's a great guy.
I pulled no punches in my letter published
in the 2/8 Saturday Trib. I let Valladon have
it, he had written a disgusting, patronizing,
extremely nasty letter attacking Charlie.
The funny thing is, The Trib called me to say
they were going to publish it but leave out
Valladon's name because they were not sure he
was a public figure ! I convinced them he was
most definitely a public figure and in fact
The Trib had quoted him in a front page news
story attacking Plummer the same day they
published his letter attacking Charlie.
Maybe they need to pay people at The Trib so
they can retain some institutional memory.
I agree with Charlie's 10% philosophy too.
Valladon's comments are shocking but not
surprising. One of the young cops who we
called to deal with our harassing neighbor
actually told me that he could go home
afterwards (he did not live in Oakland)and
forget about it all. That's the problem.
I might have to endorse that old Left
proposal going back to the 60s that cops
live in the communities they serve. There
may be constitutional problems with this
idea but we need to do something.

Our lovely little two year old kitty, Gina, was
killed by a vet at Broadway Pet Hospital here in
Oakland last Wednesday afternoon, March 26, 2003.
Here's what happened: Gina was diagnosed with FIV
on November 19, 2002 by Dr. Arnold Gutlaizer,the
owner of Broadway. We had several tests including ultrasound, bone marrow, tests for other diseases
which all turned up negative. She had lost weight,
then got her blood cell counts, which had been
very low, particularly the white cells, back up
to normal and was getting the red cell count
back up, with some fluctations. She was on
prednisone and some other meds, pills & liquids.
In the week before last Monday she had gained
8 ounces, was eating like a horse, was able to
go outside when we were home, was purring,
walking, talking, eating, washing herself,
she was a real trooper.
Last Monday I took her in for twice weekly
shots & fluids. Gutlaizer decided to do a
BUN test for kidneys. He called me the next morning to say the kidneys were perfect.
We still decided to go through on the ultrasound
just to make sure there were no other problems.
I brought her in for the ultrasound that morning,
as soon as I get home, Gutlaizer called to say
that he needed to aspirate the left enlarged kidney. I bring her back. After the procedure he
tells the results should be back in a day or two.
At noon the next day, Wednesday, he calls back to say that I needed to bring her in for a biopsy
because the ultrasound results were "indeterminate." I was miffed because this
would be the 4th visit in three days but he
insisted it was urgent, which was absurd.
His young doctor, Roger Schulze, did all the
ultrasounds & biopsies, he was going to be out
of town after Wednesday until today.
A friend told me about a very bad experience
she had with Schulze over a botched ultrasound
and she had stopped patronizing Broadway because
of it. My wife, Nina, is a medical writer, and
has never trusted Dr. Gutlaizer, last December
he wanted to do "exploratory surgery" on Gina
when her blood counts were very low and she
was in a much weakened condition. Nina vetoed
that at once, and if she had been home I never
would taken Gina in for the fatal biopsy.
I get there at 12:30, no one is around, finally
some one comes out to take her. I never did sign any consent forms. Dr. Schulze calls
me after 2:30pm and after some beating around the bush, he tells me she died. I reamed him and then
Gutlaizer, had Nina go pick up her body. I've
ordered a casket & an engraved gravestone, then
I'll bury Gina when it comes tomorrow. In a few
weeks we'll have a memorial service for her.
She is a beautiful jet black cat who is partly
Siamese, she has that wonderful grating sound
that Siamese have, and a more affectionate cat
never lived. We are now down to four cats.
Elizabeth, a beautiful black & white with one
eye, died at the old Broadway facility late last August, she was only 8 & I wasn't too happy with
the way Gutlaizer handled that but she was much
sicker than Gina and I stupidly gave Gutlaizer
the benefit of the doubt. I had been going to Broadway since 1994 and had spent about 6K on
Gina alone since November. Anyway, we are going
to write about this, we are filing with the
State Vet Board and looking into other options.
I don't want money from Gutlaizer, I just want to prevent him from doing this to other cats in the
future, or dogs. The first rule of medicine is
Do No Harm.
Interestingly enough Gutlaizer told Nina that a
lot of people have wanted to sue him, which I
find to be a revealing remark. I don't know if
that is a real option but we're looking into everything.
I think one of the lessons here is you pay attention to your gut instincts at times.
And question doctors, many are unbelievably
arrogant bastards. Sometimes even listen to
your partner, I had been defending Gutlaizer
against Nina's doubts ! No more.
I would appreciate any suggestions or feedback.
Please no one write me claiming what a great guy
Gutlaizer is. This experience more than cancels out anything positive.

Michael and Nina,
I am so sorry. Many years ago I had bad experiences at that clinic and with that vet, although with a dog.
Please go to Mark Udall at the Cheshire Cat Clinic on Park Blvd to see a great vet.
Michael, give me a call over the weekend, 655-5119.
Again, I am so very sorry.
Jeannette

Dear Jeannette,

Thnak you very much for your comments.
Very sorry to hear about your dog,
unfortunately I'm not surprised it
was Gutlaizer and Broadway.
A friend, Vic Prada, once highly
recommended Mark, I ended up
calling him for a second opinion
on Gina and some diagnosis
Gutlaizer had made. He was
very helpful.
Our remaining four cats are due
for their shots next month, I may
use Cheshire. I'll call you today,
Sunday.

Best As Always,
Michael

Michael,

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how enraged you feel. I had to deal with many dishonest and negligent vets too. I hope you and your family is healing.

I will not go to see the vet. I hope you can sue him. Maybe on the basis of your emotional anguish, since it is harder to sue for the death of the animal. I talked to a malpratice attorney about this already. It seems really hard to sue.Thank you for yur honest comment on this vet.

I am trying to find a great guinea pig vet. Anyone know where? I live in Fremont but can commute to Berkeley area.

With deepest sympathy,

Nalyne

Dear Nalyne,

Thank you very much for your gracious comments.
I have retained an attorney in SF who is experienced in animal law and she is filing suit against Gutlaizer and Broadway Pet Hospital for one million dollars.
She is filing on behalf of Gina, Elizabeth, a cat who
died at Broadway last summer & about aspects of
her condition they lied about, recently got the full
medical records, and Tina, our beautiful 14 yr old
cat, otherwise in excellent condition but whom has
contracted cancer from Broadway's practice of
giving annual shots in the name of the neck instead
of the safer hindquarters area. Tina is being treated
with chemo at UC Davis every few weeks and with
some holisitic supplements.
The East Bay Express is going to be doing a stroy
on our situation and the State Vet Board in next
Wednesday 's (6/11) edition. They had a photographer at Gina's memorial service.
It is very hard to find an attorney to take these
cases. The Animal Legal Defense Fund in Petaluma was very helpful in this regard.
Best wishes on finding a good vet for your lovely
little creature.

Best Regards,
Michael Hardesty

Dear Nalyne,

Thank you very much for your gracious comments.
I have retained an attorney in SF who is experienced in animal law and she is filing suit against Gutlaizer and Broadway Pet Hospital for one million dollars.
She is filing on behalf of Gina, Elizabeth, a cat who
died at Broadway last summer & about aspects of
her condition they lied about, recently got the full
medical records, and Tina, our beautiful 14 yr old
cat, otherwise in excellent condition but whom has
contracted cancer from Broadway's practice of
giving annual shots in the name of the neck instead
of the safer hindquarters area. Tina is being treated
with chemo at UC Davis every few weeks and with
some holisitic supplements.
The East Bay Express is going to be doing a stroy
on our situation and the State Vet Board in next
Wednesday 's (6/11) edition. They had a photographer at Gina's memorial service.
It is very hard to find an attorney to take these
cases. The Animal Legal Defense Fund in Petaluma was very helpful in this regard.
Best wishes on finding a good vet for your lovely
little creature.

Best Regards,
Michael Hardesty

I have veterinarian friends who refer to Broadway Pet Hospital as "The Dungeon." While my animals received good care, I felt that the staff had a cavalier attitude to strays brought in for attention. Not what I'd expect.

Anyway, I now take my cats to Oakland Veterinary Hospital (MacArthur & High). Mauren kept my cat (kidney failure) going for an extra year. When it came time to put Ralph down, the entire staff was compassionate.

We agree that Maureen, the owner of the Oakland Veterinary Hospital, is a good vet. She is another Girl Rock Thrower and friend of OaklandNews. She did very, very well by my rescue dog, Jones, especially when we thought he might have been blinded in a sudden dog fight at that grim Rockridge dog park. I am happily blanking on its name, but will never forget the stench.

I am crazy about Mark Youdall at Cheshire Cat Clinic because he's a sweetheart, he also likes OaklandNews, he specializes in cats -- cats only, actually -- and is a great diagnostician. He is funny, gentle and takes home his concerns over the animals he sees. His clinic, on Park Blvd., is much closer to me than Maureen's. Mark's new partner (though older than Mark), Dr. Sodakof, can be sort of gruff but you cannot fault the care he gives the cats.
Finally, Cheshire Cat has a vet assistant who goes by the name of "Monique" who is...who is...perfect.

I agree with the author.

Thank you, Betsy, for your comments. I never brought the many strays
I have caught over the years to Broadway to be fixed. Always went to
Dr. Tan at St. Louis in Fruitvale or Dr. Prutton at Abbey in El Cerrito.
After they were fixed, I took them to Broadway. A serious mistake.
We lost our 14 1/2 yr old cat, Tina, on August 19, to vaccine-induced
fibre sarcoma because Broadway gave her shots in the nape of the
neck for too many years. We had adopted Tina when she was 10
weeks old in May, 1989 and threw a birthday party for her every year
on March 9. We had a vet nurse come to the house so at least Tina
didn't die at that horrible Broadway place like Gina and Elizabeth.
Mark Youdall totally finked out on us during that horrible day two
weeks ago Tuesday. Then he had the bad taste to send us a letter
dismissing us as clients even though our interactions with him
had been positive and we had recommended his clinic to many
people. I met him only once in May when I took my four cats
to him. We will probably try Thornhill next time, my first
goal is to keep my three survivors away from vets, the ones
that have lived longest, 189, 20, 22, etc., almost never went
to vets. There may be a lesson there.

No, Monique is far from perfect, she was the one who refused
to honor Youdall's promise to come out three weeks ago today
after work. Fortunately we had a vet nurse from Vallejo who did
show. Youdall was a real weasel in this whole matter. We lost
all respect for him.

Just a note, we do cat rescue, and have seen
many cases where Mark Udall (Cheshire) has been
very incompetent with diagnoses. Just because
someone is pleasant doesn't mean they're a good
vet!

When a cat has a complicated case, it's a good
idea to get a consult with a specialist --
you can usually self-refer.

KG

KG, I would be very careful with accusation made in public like those you have just made. The vet in question is _not_ a public figure; you don't even know how to spell his name; and you are so cowardly that you use only your initials. Almost all of us who have taken many cats to the Cheshire Cat Clinic
for the past 25 years have been delighted with the care our animals have received from Dr. Youdall.

Some of the comments from Michael Hardesty slipped in without me seeing them. The fact is that Hardesty was so abusive to the Cheshire Cat Clinic staff that he was put on the "No Further Services" list according to both his partner and the Clinic.

There is a further fact: When Hardesty's cat was dying, and he finally called a travelling vet, he then called the Cheshire Cat Clinic to see if they had heard of her answas she qualified? What a strange, strange person.