I went down to Fourth Street in Berkeley last week to do my part to stimulate the economy (ha!). I arrived just as the sun had set, and as I turned the corner from Hearst onto 4th, I was suddenly overcome with joy. Surrounding me was a spectacular parade of lights. Beads of blue and white lights speckled the sky; vibrant bulbs of reds and greens and blues dotted the trees.

It is at times like these that we forget that unemployment is at its highest in 26 years, we forget that there is a horrific war still happening on the other side of the world, and we forget that the economy is falling apart.

Here on Fourth Street, the world is at peace.