Sam Spade's San Francisco

This is a photo of Falun Gong members protesting outside the office of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco.

Members of the Falun Gong in San Francisco are just not rational. They live in Disneyland, not in the real world.

On February 16, 2005 Falun Gong activists staged a protest in front of the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce, demanding admission into the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. They had been repeatedly denied last year and in past years because they are a political organization. Their application for this year's parade has also been denied ... repeatedly.

The Falun Gong just don't get the picture. The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is a time to celebrate the lunar new year. It is not intended to be a platform for overt political protest.

Preaching to a tiny group outside the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce office, Mr. Huy Lu of the Falun Gong said that this incident "is another example of the Chinese Communist regime's extension of its persecution against Falun Gong through its Consulates to other countries." If Mr. Lu thinks the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce are controlled by the Consulate of the People's Republic of China, well, I suppose Mr. Lu is a few bricks short of a full load. Maybe he is on the same wave-length as the fellow who walks about the City carrying a sign proclaiming that 12 galaxies want to change the world. They are both nuts.

Lu and Falun Gong have managed to get Supervisor Chris Daly on their side. Chris Daly is the loose-cannon clown of the Board of Supervisors who represents the (obviously not politically astute) citizens of the Tenderloin. Now Daly is banging the Falun Gong gong as well.

Full-page ads in Monday's Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao and International Daily News said the Falun Gong have disrupted the Chinese American community by politicizing the parade. The newspaper ads are right. Falun Gong are trying to use political force to change the nature of the Chinese New Year Parade from a celebration to a political protest. I have been attending and sometimes participating in San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade for almost 50 years. I know what the parade is about and, frankly, Falun Gong does not belong in or anywhere near our parade.

I suggest the 12 galaxies fellow and Mr. Lu lead their followers to a galaxy far, far away ... and I hope they don't forget to take Chris Daly with them.

What a combination! Not only does San Francisco host the largest Chinese New Year celebration anywhere in the world outside of Asia, but we also have the fineset Asian Art Museum outside of Asia. Living in San Francisco and missing all the events ought to be a crime!

The term "Chinese New Year" is not really accurate. Throughout Asia the event is known as "Lunar New Year" and that is the correct term. Still, for many decades San Franciscans have known the celebration as Chinese New Year and it remains the traditional moniker by which we know it today.

In celebration of the Lunar New Year, which falls on January 29th, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum will host a series of diverse and interactive programs that honor various Asian cultural traditions observed throughout this festive time of year. Visitors will be able to enjoy performances, artist demonstrations, hands-on activities, a hunt in the galleries for the year's fortune forecasts, and a family-friendly Lunar New Year Festival celebrating the Year of the Dog.

To learn about the variety of programs being offered by the museum visit http://www.asianart.org/lunarnewyear0506.htm

To learn more about the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade please visit: http://www.chineseparade.com

Did you read this story in today's San Francisco Chronicle?

Have you seen this poster?

Five teachers at San Leandro High School have refused to comply with a school district order to display a rainbow-flag poster in their classrooms that reads, "This is a safe place to be who you are," because they say homosexuality violates their religious beliefs, Principal Amy Furtado said.

"This is not about religion, sex or a belief system," said district Superintendent Christine Lim, who initiated the poster policy. "This is about educators making sure our schools are safe for our children, regardless of their sexual orientation."

Superintendent Lim is dead-on right. The teachers who are protesting the posters are trying to enforce their personal religious beliefs on the district, the school and the students. These teachers are placing their own personal preferences and choices ahead of the safety of school students. They should be forcefully disciplined, admonished and corrected immediately!

It is against my own spiritual conviction to approve of, endorse, or allow racism or homophobia anyplace it is encountered. There are students in the district who feel as I do. Why do our religious and spiritual convictions take back seat to those of a few crackpot prune-hearted teachers? (prunes, by the way, are dried-up and wrinkled ... just like those teacher's hearts)

This is all happening in San Leandro. It is unlikely anyone in the San Francisco Unified School District would be so stupid as to follow suit. If we do have any rabid Bible-pounding Christian fanatics teaching in SFUSD schools they tend to keep their hate-thinking to themselves at the risk of losing their jobs.

But what about this cancer in San Leandro?

San Leandro is a Bay Area community and that's why I'm mentioning it here. They have homophobes and conservative Christian fanatics trying to impose their own small-minded values on Bay Area children in their care. This is completely unacceptable here.

Superintendent Christine Lim needs to gag those teachers and let them know in the strongest terms possible that their values are not the values of the greater San Francisco Bay Area. We in the San Francisco Bay Area protect our children from injustice, we accept them for who they are, and we defend their rights to their individuality and their identity.

Call Superintendent Lim and give her your support in disciplining those renegade teachers and ending this shameful and embarrassing anomaly in Bay Area education. Her number is . You may email her at:

You can read the original Chroncle story here.

San Francisco Police are seeking witnesses in a fatal hit and run involving a bicyclist that occurred shortly after 2:00 A.M. Thursday, January 12, 2006. In this incident, Sarah Tucker, a 26-year-old woman bicyclist was traveling southbound on Polk Street when a motorist traveling westbound on Geary Street reportedly ran a red light, causing the bicyclist to strike the passenger door of the vehicle and catapulting her, resulting in her striking the front area of the vehicle before landing on the street. The driver fled the scene. He was aware that he had struck Sarah and he responded to his actions by turning off his lights and speeding away.

The popular 26-year-old nightclub party founder, filmmaker, and queer community member died at San Francisco General Hospital several hours later at about 9:45 a.m.

Investigators are asking witnesses and anyone with information about the accident to call the hit and run detail at , or to call the confidential tip line at . The suspect's vehicle is described as a black Honda CRV, and the driver is described only as a black male. There were no passengers in the vehicle. There was, however, a large scrape on the passenger door, and possibly a missing mirror, and SFPD has asked all auto repair shops, auto parts yards, and insurance companies to be aware of anyone with a damaged vehicle that fits the above description. A photograph of a similar vehicle model is posted online at here.

Police investigators are asking for additional witnesses or for anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact Hit and Run, , or to call the Confidential Tip Line, .

Let's get this scum bag coward off the streets and into a cell at San Quentin where he belongs!

One-hundred-seventy-four million dollars ($174,000,000.00)

That's the size of the San Francisco Symphony's endowment. They are well-endowed indeed!

The San Francisco Symphony is also fortunate to have the amazing talent of Michael Tilson Thomas as music director and they perform in the stunning Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall.

The Musicians Union Local 6 says the Symphony management's proposed pay and benefit package is inferior to those of other major U.S. symphony orchestras. The San Francisco Chronicle broke the story and it can be read here.

Symphony management reported a $2.4 million operating deficit last year and that is the stated reason for a scaled-down pay and benefits package. Management at the San Francisco Symphony seems to be missing a basic business premise: To make money, money must first be spent.

By offering musicians a dazzling and impressive pay and benefits package the San Francisco Symphony will continue to attract the world's finest musicians and keep the musicians they have. San Franciscans would not only enjoy one of the world's greatest conductors (MTT) and enjoy one of the world's most beautiful performance halls, San Franciscans would also enjoy the finest and best and brightest musicians in the world.

Let's dip into that $174 million endowment and let's work with Michael Tilson Thomas to create the absolute finest symphony orchestra anywhere. The long-term results will be a financially sound and vibrantly thriving symphony and an absolutely delighted citizenry.

Take a few minutes to send a message of support to the Musicians Union Local 6. Here are the three primary union officers and their email addresses:

President: David Schoenbrun -

Vice President: Steve Meicke -

Secretary -Treasurer: Gretchen Elliott -

San Francisco City College and SF Works (a non-profit organization sponsored by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Committee on Jobs and the United Way) received $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation to fund and expand the CCSF Bridge to Biotech program which prepares low income adults with skills at the 6th to 9th grade levels to successfully attend CCSF classes that will prepare them for employment in the biotech industry. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but it has created a quiet disaster at City College.

Serious, intent students who have an eventual transfer to SFU in mind and higher degrees in their plans find themselves sitting in classrooms with students who have not only 6th grade skills, but also have 6th grade behavior patterns. City College is not free for many. Some students pay upwards of $2,000 for their tuition. Others sacrifice good jobs and live marginally in order to attend classes. Imagine the shock when they end up in a classroom with ill-prepared, noisy, disrespectful, loud-mouthed, disruptive "adults" with 6th grade behavior.

Not all Bridge to Biotech students fit this stereotype, but there are more than enough who do fit the stereotype to create a war-zone environment in "college" classrooms. Bridge to Biotech may be able to provide some young people with low-level jobs in the biotech industry thus saving them from a life of washing dishes or pushing brooms, but it also inflicts a severe and unjust handicap on intelligent, well-mannered, serious students who want an equally serious education.

Is City College a true academic college or a nursery school for culturally-deprived and behaviorally-challenged juvenile brats in adult bodies?

Mayor Gavin Newsom's half-way point was officially reached on January 8th. What kind of job is Gavin REALLY doing? What happened to all the promises he made during his campaign? How many of his promises to San Francisco voters have been kept?

The Newsom Policy Index tracks the status of 327 pledges made by the Mayor during his 2003 campaign and his administration to date.

To answer the question the Mayor's office released an index of all policy pledges he has made both as a candidate for mayor and as mayor. The index provides a comprehensive summary and the current status of the administration'’s policy pledges. It identifies 327 policy promises, of which 54% are done and ongoing, meaning a policy has been created and is being implemented , 42% in progress, and 4% have been reconsidered, having proven unworkable.

Updated on a weekly basis, the policy index is a working document that the Mayor uses to manage departments and to measure results. It tracks the status of policy pledges, like the Mayor's pledge to create universal affordable WiFi, remove all seniors from the homeless shelter system and establish a local Earned Income Tax Credit. The matrix also identifies pledges the administration is still working to implement, like instituting a more equitable payroll tax system.

Unlike past mayors, including Willie Brown and Frank Jordan, Gavin Newsom seems to be able to actually deliver on the majority of promises he has made, but not everything has been a success and not all problems have even been recognized and addressed. Judge for yourself if Gavin Newsom is proving to be a successful mayor at his midway point.

You can read and download a copy of the Newsom Policy Index in Adobe Reader (.pdf) format at: http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_index.asp

New Year's Flower Market Fair
Saturday, January 21, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sunday, January 22, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Flowering quince, gladiolas, orchids and blooms and produce of all kinds are for sale in a street fair along with traditional Chinese dance, music, art, and cultural displays. Saturday, on Grant Avenue, from Broadway to Clay Street. Sunday, on Pacific Avenue, from Kearny to Stockton. Free.

Chinese New Year Carnival
January 27 - February 2, daily, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Walter U. Lum Place, Washington & Clay Streets.






Chinese Community Street Fair
Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Chinese cultural arts such as kite and lantern making, fine arts demonstrations, folk dance and puppet shows. Traditional and modern entertainment perform on the main stage throughout both days. Saturday, on Grant Avenue, from California to Broadway, and Sunday, on Pacific Avenue from Kearny to Stockton. Free.






The Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. This year's theme is Year of the Dog and highlights include elaborately decorated floats, school marching bands, martial arts group, stilt walkers, lion dancers, Chinese acrobatics, the newly crowned Miss Chinatown U.S.A. and the Golden Dragon ("Gum Lung"). The Golden Dragon is over 201 feet long, made with layers of silk, gauze and velvet which cover a bamboo frame. It's always featured at the end of the parade as the grand finale and will be accompanied by over 600,000 firecrackers. The parade starts at Second and Market streets and ends at Kearny and Jackson streets. Click here for map. Free, but bleacher seats are $30 (plus s/h charge on total order), children under 2 are free. No refunds. Call or for tickets.

"OUR TRAGIC LOSS"

Commentary By Molly McKay, EQCA Field Director

Written for the Bay Area Reporter, January 12, 2006



When Becki Jones, our Tulare County chapter leader called me on December 15, I couldn't believe the news. Nathan Christoffersen, the 28-year-old, sunny, bright volunteer who ran our Madera County chapter, had been found by his father that morning, dead on their front porch. According to a handout from his father entitled "What happened," Christoffersen was found "down on his knees with his head on his knees and his butt on his heels, facing away from the house."

I had spoken with Christoffersen just the day before; he was happy, excited about a job interview with Planned Parenthood. He asked me for a letter of reference and a copy of the latest handout on fighting the proposed constitutional amendments aiming to eliminate domestic partnerships and marriage equality. He and I talked weekly about the challenge of getting people in the Central Valley active for LGBT rights. He told me that it was hard for him to live at home with what he described as his "homophobic parents," without a car in the outskirts of a tiny farming town. He joked about how his house was the central organizing headquarters for those both for and against the constitutional amendments. He told me that his parents were leaders of a local church and how they refused to accept that he was an out, proud gay man. According to Christoffersen, his parents repeatedly threatened to throw him out if he was ever interviewed or photographed by the media.

But Christoffersen was a positive, brave, upbeat person. He was a fantastic journalist for the online LGBT community newspaper called www.GayFresno.com, which was owned and run by our Fresno County chapter leader, Jason Scott.

Christoffersen's death was shocking and didn't make any sense. Scott told me that according to Christoffersen's father, he had complained of not feeling well, having switched medications that day, but went Christmas shopping with a friend for an hour or so anyway. Scott explained that Christoffersen had been taking a variety of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.

Scott forwarded an e-mail from Christoffersen's sister stating that the coroner had found no cause of death. She simply concluded that "Nathan had been called home by God" and reported that he had already been cremated. She invited Scott to Christoffersen's funeral. How could a 28-year-old die of "nothing" – Christoffersen's legacy deserved better than that. An inquiry to the coroner confirmed that indeed there was no "medical finding for Nathan's death" no signs of trauma, healthy heart and vital organs. The coroner was waiting on toxicology reports.

De-gayed

The day before the funeral, Christoffersen's obituary was published. There was no mention of his gay rights leadership, just a notation that "he played in the school band." In a total outrage, the family asked for donations in Christoffersen's name to the New Creation Ministry, a church linked with the ex-gay movement and an active proponent of the debunked "conversion therapy." This wasn't the church the family attended, this wasn't some coincidence or mistake, they were soliciting donations to an antigay organization in Christoffersen's memory.

Though we knew we'd be wading in unwelcome waters, Scott, Jones, and I committed to attending Christoffersen's funeral on December 21 to honor our colleague and friend.

At the chapel, we reviewed the memorial table, which was white-washed of any mention of his civil rights leadership – nothing but a mention that "Nathan was fortunate enough to attend several Cher performances" and how he loved the musical Annie .

Speaker after speaker came to the microphone to lament Christoffersen's "struggles," "demons," "conflicts" – how they "continued to pray for him and never gave up on him." Once the minister rose to give his message, the gloves came off, the words became less guarded and more explicit about just exactly what that "demon" was that Christoffersen was fighting. The minister acknowledged Christoffersen's sensitive nature, his extraordinary singing and songwriting talents, but instead of acknowledging his gayness as part of that rare gift, he characterized his gayness as "an affliction." The minister explained how Satan was jealous of the "vulnerable, the sensitive" with talents, and how Satan "harassed" Christoffersen from an early age. He explained that Christoffersen's death was God calling him home before Satan could cause anymore torment in his life – in the air was a collective sigh of relief.

I bit my lip mercilessly trying to keep myself from standing and shouting "Nathan was a proud gay man – this isn't a memorial service, this is twisting Nathan's memory to reaffirm your agenda at Nathan's expense" – the hypocrisy of their "love for Jesus" and the hatred of Christoffersen's true being was killing me.

The service finally over, Jones and I expressed our disbelief at this being "Nathan's service." I had pictured us staying and trying to have "equality" conversations with the attendees, but the knot in my stomach threatened to explode and my tears would not stop. We wanted to get the hell out of there – and we resolved to immediately go to meet with the coroner and find out what really caused Christoffersen's death.

We tracked down the Madera County coroner's office down a long desolate road. The coroner had received preliminary toxicology reports that confirmed no alcohol, no street drugs, but an alarmingly high level of antidepressants and anti-anxiety prescription medications – all within the recommended dosage levels for each drug, but the coroner reported, combined and cumulatively, enough to cause his system to shut down. We blinked in disbelief. I asked him to reconfirm there were no other substances. He shook his head. We thanked him for his time and stood out in the parking lot trying to make sense of it all.

Christoffersen was one of the few people courageous and committed enough to reach out and make a difference – we don't have many people like that. He had so many plans, he had never been in love, he had just started to find his voice, he had just started on his journey to be a great civil rights leader – how could antidepressants taken to help him survive the homophobia be the cause of his death?

Searching for a way to counteract his parent's request for donations to the ex-gay movement in Christoffersen's memory, we discussed asking for donations in his name for pro-equality causes – but which one? We concluded that the best thing we could do was to share Christoffersen's story – to ask people to double their contribution of time and/or money to whatever LGBT cause they were already involved in, in his memory.

I can't end the story like this. I can't walk away from this all with me having such negative feelings about his church and his family. There has to be something that comes of Christoffersen's death. Ironically, I found the answer from Christoffersen's own words – sifting through his articles after the funeral I found one titled "Leaving your Legacy" written on June 30, 2005:

"I've been doing a lot of reflecting on my life the past several weeks. It's been a time of soul searching for me ... thinking about the present, trying not to dwell too much on the past, but mainly looking toward the future. ... I'm eternally grateful to those older gentlemen that I met in my early years as a young gay man. I believe it was those men that instilled in me the importance of fighting for what I believe is right. Today, I'm an activist for HIV prevention as well as marriage equality. I'm not afraid to protest when we need to, and to speak out against discrimination when appropriate. If you are a member of the LGBT community and you're reading this, you may feel beaten down, you may feel like your country has turned against you, you may feel a sense of hopelessness ... that we're never going to be treated like 'them' (heterosexuals). There is hope, though. Hope and action are all we have. Many have come before us ... they have fought hard for equality, have battled prejudice and continue to promote tolerance ... all of this so that our community can have such things as gay pride, gay clubs, antidiscrimination laws, and the ongoing fight for our civil rights. They have left their legacy, and I plan to leave mine."

You did, Nathan. Thank you for your tremendous spirit, your tenacity, and your sense of humor.

Where there is hope and action there are limitless possibilities. Thanks Nathan, that lesson is the best legacy of all – you will be missed in body and riding with us in the wind in spirit.

The San Francisco Clean and Green City Summit is presented by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Department of Public Works, the SF Clean City Coalition and the Recreation and Park Department. This all day FREE event will feature cleaning and greening experts, interactive workshops, inspirational speakers, a vendor gallery and more.

Participants will receive a rich learning experience on the city’s and the country’s best practices while developing new ideas and solutions for our year round cleaning and greening programs.

The summit will be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The summit is free of charge, however, advanced registration is required. Please register today. Space is limited.

This all day event will team up a coalition of city residents, community leaders, and merchants with city government leaders and frontline staff to exchange ideas, develop policy initiatives and provide direction for the City as it continues to clean and beautify its public plazas, parks, and merchant corridors.

You will attend two workshops of your choice and these sessions will be both educational as well as interactive. At the end of each workshop, attendees will have prioritized city functions with an understanding of the opportunities and challenges the City faces as it cleans and greens San Francisco.

In addition to workshops, there will be speakers, lunch and a vendor gallery.



(A) What is Greening?
This workshop will discuss the challenges to building a comprehensive citywide greening program. What is the city’s vision for greening, and how will it change the city? An initial presentation will focus on the Mayor’s “Livable City Initiative” and streetscaping projects underway as part of the Better Streets Program.

(B) Community Benefit Districts
This workshop will explore how Community Benefit Districts (CBD) improve neighborhoods and commercial corridors. CBDs are revitialization and beautification efforts that are funded through private property owners. Base line services provided by the City will be detailed. Technical Assistance will be provided for developing a work plan to establish an increased level of service.

(C) Neighborhood Beautification Projects
Permeable Landscaping and Street Parks This workshop will review recent innovative street landscaping projects in San Francisco and elsewhere, and discuss several new initiatives to promote sidewalk landscaping and the creation of usable public open space in unused rights-of-way.

(D) A Plan for San Francisco’s Urban Forest
With the Mayors commitment to greening San Francisco’s streets, city agencies and community-based organizations must implement creative solutions to expand their tree planting, maintenance, and conservation programs beyond current capacity. This workshop will review efforts underway to develop a framework for promoting green streets. Presenters will summarize urban forest plans underway, developing legislation, and evolving partnerships with a perspective toward the future of San Francisco’s urban forest.

(E) Growing Greener Schoolgrounds
This workshop will inform the participant about innovations taking place in our schoolyards around the city. Traditional asphalt playyards are being replaced by educational gardens tended and stewarded by schoolchildren. Learn who the players are and how to get involved in this collaboration between the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance and the San Francisco Unified School District. Presentation will include discussions about existing school gardens and new greening projects under the Prop. A school bond.

(F) Creating World Class Standards in our Parks
Learning from the past, looking toward the future. The Recreation and Park Department is creating new park maintenance standards. Come and learn what they are and add your input. National models will be reviewed and presented.



(A) Enforcing Quality of Life Laws
How can we stop people from trashing our City? Education and enforcement are keys to changing behavior that leads to a littered and graffitied city. This workshop will present information on quality of life laws, graffiti prosecutions, camera programs, and the City’s Citation Walk Program and Special Patrols as models for deterring bad behavior. Participants will discuss how to make these programs more effective and how current city ordinances can be improved.

(B) Neighborhood Beautification Projects- Community Challenge Grants
Presentation on how to develop and apply for improvement and beautification projects from the Neighborhood Beautification Fund/Community Challenge Grant Program. Neighborhood-based groups can apply for and receive funds to carry out neighborhood-initiated planning, organizing, or improvement projects in their community. All projects must provide a public benefit as well as emphasize neighborhood involvement.

(C) Moving Toward Zero Waste by 2020
San Francisco has set ambitious goals for reaching zero waste by the year 2020. Participants in this workshop will hear San Francisco's waste diversion strategies and best practices from other cities. Come with your suggestions for increasing both residential and commercial waste diversion.

(D) Equipment and Tools to Clean and Green our City
This workshop will provide participants with the resources and methods to evaluate and procure the various types of equipment currently used to clean and green our City. Equipment demonstrations will be provided and environmentally friendly purchasing options will be reviewed.

(E) Plazas & Gateways
This workshop will engage the participant into thinking about creative new approaches to beautifying San Francisco’s public spaces and gateways into the City. Transforming freeway off ramps, city plazas and street medians into places of intrigue and exploration through community participation, space activation, art enrichment, lighting and landscaping.



1) Register online here.

2) Fax Registration Form to: . Click here to download a .pdf (Adboe Acrobat) version of the registrartion form.

3) Mail Registration Form to:
Department of Public Works
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 348
San Francisco, CA 94102-4645

On his website Mark Bittner writes:

"In the spring of 1990 I saw something on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill that astonished me: wild parrots. I was so curious about their presence that I kept trying to get closer until finally I had them eating out of my hand. Thus began this friendship and study. My book The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill documents the friendship ... When I first started watching them, there were only 26 parrots, and I was able to recognize and name every bird. Today there are around 160, and I recognize only a handful."

The film made as a result of Bittner's passion for San Francisco's wild parrots has been a runaway success. It seems that the success of the book and the subsequent film has prompted an avalanche of calls to City Hall about the parrots.

San Francisco Board of Supervisor's member Bevan Dufty recently published a "state of the parrots" report that foretells the future of our red and green feathered friends. He wrote:

"Our Mayor, Gavin Newsom, has been facilitating negotiations between the Property Owner and a neighbor conservation organization to address these Cypress Trees -- trees that have provided such an excellent perch and protection when the Parrots visit Mark Bittner, author of the book "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill."

"City Arborists/Urban Foresters have visited the backyard and determined that the existing trees have reached an age and condition where they may not be viable and, in fact, could fall causing tremendous damage and even loss of life in neighboring homes. Unfortunately, protection alone for these trees would not serve the best interests of the public or the Parrots, as the trees are likely to naturally fail in the near future. However, through the Mayor's stewardship, the Property Owner and conservation organization will work cooperatively on a program to plant new trees that, within three years, would approximate the size and habitat value of the existing trees. These new trees would provide for structural support for the existing trees in the short term and eventually would replace the existing trees as alternate roosting habitat for the Parrots. Within days, I anticipate finalization of an agreement between the Property Owner and conservation organization addressing care and maintenance of the
existing Cypress Trees and replacement plantings."

"Unquestionably the world's attention has motivated our City to participate in the forging of an unprecedented agreement that will lead to the protection of an important habitat for these Wild Parrots."

"In January, our Board of Supervisors will consider tree legislation providing for the designation and protection of landmark trees as well as significant trees on private property. The Cypress Trees would not qualify for this designation because of their poor condition and the fact that they are not within 10 feet of the public right-of-way. But this agreement between the Property Owner and conservation organization is far more important in terms of ensuring the continued viability of the Wild Parrots than this legislation could be."

This is Larry Ellison eating a hot dog.

Lately it seems that he's been eating crow around his Pacific Heights neighborhood. The Oracle founder's daughter, Megan, hosted a party at Ellison's upper Broadway mansion. It appears that some of Megan's guests decided to demonstrate their unique sense of entitlement by vandalizing a 10-foot robot sculpture owned by Robert Mailer Anderson, the author of the book Boonville, who also lives in a Pacific Heights mansion.

The San Francisco Police are investigating and the crime worked its way into Matier & Ross' lead story in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

It's time for a reality check. We all know about the slow and steady gentrification of San Francisco, but why does the vandalism of a tin robot structure in front of a multi-million dollar Pacific Heights mansion rate prime coverage in the Chronicle from Matier & Ross and a police investigation when hundreds of lesser San Franciscans face real and serious crimes every day?

Instead of hearing about a billionaire's daughter's guest vandals and a tin robot, why don't we hear more about these unresolved issues:

Tony "Duc" Luong. This creep entered a San Francisco restaurant and demanded $1,600 for protection and security at knifepoint. (no million or billionaires involved)

Nelson "Luis" Barrera. This scum bag shot Roberto Mariano to death this past December on a San Francisco street. (no million or billionaires involved)

Parrish Broughton. This animal has a $1,000,000 warrant for a San Francisco kidnapping for ransom and robbery. (no million or billionaires involved)

Tu Minh Doung. He's wanted by the SFPD for murder, kidnapping and false imprisonment. (no million or billionaires involved)

Not only were none of these crimes committed in Pacific Heights, there were no white people involved in these crimes. The crimes were all committed by non-white people against non-white people, and none of the people involved in the crimes were million or billionaires.

So, what do Matier & Ross cover in the Chronicle? What gets the attention? Is it the murders, the kidnappings, or the knife-point extortion of minority people?

No. It's the wealthy Pacific Whites tin robot story that gets the ink.

Welcome to the Gentrified Enclave of San Francisco

The Anti-Defamation League is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for new information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of an anti-Semitic hate crime.

According to police reports, on Oct. 15, 2005, Cameron Matthews and Josh Feinerman were brutally beaten outside a San Francisco pizza parlor. A witness stated that Matthews and Feinerman became targets after Feinerman responded to one of the assailants who had been making anti-Semitic comments. A passing police officer apprehended Andrew Crawford in the act of kicking an already unconscious Feinerman in the head. Crawford is now awaiting trial. His alleged accomplices have not been identified. The Anti-Defamation League has been working with the victims' families in pursuing hate crime charges against those responsible.

The ADL is now enlisting the help of the media in locating anyone who might have new information about this horrific crime. The distribution of ADL's reward will be handled by the Police Department which will evaluate the information it receives and determine who will collect the $5,000 or a portion thereof.

"A hate crime is not a crime against one person, but against a community," said Regional Director, Jonathan Bernstein. "We all must stand up to let the perpetrators know that we will stand together as a community against hate and violence."

If you have any information about the assault, contact Inspector Julian Hill with the San Francisco Police Department at , or if you wish to remain anonymous you can call twenty-four hours a day.

San Francisco is big enough to welcome, accept and embrace people of every race, ethnicity, nationality and gender identification, but San Francisco will never be big enough for vermin like the four cowards who came to our city and decided to express their blind raging hatred by sending two San Francisco men to the hospital.

Let's send a powerful and emphatic message to the hate-cowards of the world:


As for you, Andrew Crawford, after you serve your jail time, get the hell out of San Francisco and go back home to San Diego ... and stay there.

A MUST SEE classic-to-be!

In response to critical acclaim and record-breaking box office, Brokeback Mountain began national release before the holidays. As Variety has noted, critics' honors and media buzz have increased with each passing week, all without a single dollar of TV advertising.

To experience for yourself the remarkable artistic achievement that is Brokeback Mountain, visit a nearby showing of the movie at your earliest opportunity.

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee comes an epic American love story, Brokeback Mountain, the winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at this year's Venice International Film Festival.

The film is based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx and adapted for the screen by the team of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film tells the story of two young men -- a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy -- who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys, and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love.

For more information on Brokeback Mountain, visit the film's web site at: http://www.brokebackmountainmovie.com/splash.html

For San Francisco movie times, visit the San Francisco Chronicle at: http://www.sfgate.com/eguide/movies/playing/theaters.shtml