Sam Spade's San Francisco

Following the Memorial Day Ceremony at San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio (read the full story of the ceremony at the Presidio immediately following this story) there was an Interfaith Memorial Day Service at the Main Post Chapel at the Presidio. It was a remarkable event. It was remarkable in that the theme of the service was an end to war ... not only the current war in Iraq, but an end to all war. It was a Celebration of the Spirit of Peace.

It was a time and place for doves. None of the hawks of war were present. Reverend Paul Chaffee, founding executive director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio and a well-known peace advocate in the Bay Area, lead an impressive list of speakers and performers.

Iftekar Hai from the Muslim community lead the Call to Prayer chant in Arabic and spoke softly and gently about the need for immediate peace in the world.

Colonel Stanley Grogan (Ret), whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all U.S. Army officers and who himself fought in World war II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, told the assembled guests that his greatest desire and hope is to end war forever and always.

Reverend P. Gerard O'Rourke, ecumenical and interfaith officer emeritus of the Archdiocese of San Francisco spoke of the need for a peaceful world and the end to war.

Memorial Day in San Francisco was a celebration of peace. Although the official ceremonies at the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio included military personnel, both active duty and retired, the theme presented by speaker after speaker was our urgent and essential need for peace and the end of war. It was the way Memorial Day should be celebrated.

Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced the theme of peace and an end to war. That message continued with brief addresses by Supervisor Fiona Ma, Speaker of the California State Assembly Leland Yee and Congressman Tom Lantos.

Major General Bruce Zukauskas, Commanding Officer of the 91st Division, U.S. Army Reserve reminded us all that peace is our objective and that freedom has never been free. From our nation's beginning we have paid for our freedom and our liberty.

Commander Chris Peterschmidt, Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Pinckney and dozens of members of his crew, all in dress whites, provided a special salute to San Francisco and to our veterans, living and dead. The Pinckney was named after Navy Cook Third Class William Pinckney, an African-American who received the Navy Cross for his efforts while onboard the U.S.S. Enterprise during the Battle of Santa Cruz. The Pinckney was docked at San Francisco for the day and returned Tuesday morning to San Diego. The U.S.S. Pinckney is an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer commissioned May 29, 2004.

The Pleasanton Community Concert Band under the direction of Bob Williams, provided music for the ceremony which was conducted at the National Cemetery at the Presidio overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.

Local officials present included San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Police Chief Heather Fong, Assessor Phil Ting, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd and former Supervisor Sue Bierman.

Also present were Consul General of the Republic of Korea Sang-Ki Chung, 23rd Marine Corps Regiment Commander Colonel Timothy Hunter, and the man who has lead the Memorial Day celebration for many years, Wallace Levin.

Happy Birthday, Golden Gate Bridge!

The photo on the right was taken May 28, 1937, the day Golden Gate Bridge was opened to vehicular traffic. The day before, May 27th, it opened for pedestrian traffic and thousands of people made the walk.

The History Channel prepared an interesting report on the opening of the bridge and it is reprinted here:

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, a stunning technological and artistic achievement, opens to the public after five years of construction. On opening day--"Pedestrian Day"--some 200,000 bridge walkers marveled at the 4,200-foot-long suspension bridge, which spans the Golden Gate Strait at the entrance to San Francisco Bay and connects San Francisco and Marin County. On May 28, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic.

The concept of bridging the nearly mile-wide Golden Gate Strait was proposed as early as 1872, but it was not until the early 1920s that public opinion in San Francisco began to favor such an undertaking. In 1921, Cincinnati-born bridge engineer Joseph Strauss submitted a preliminary proposal: a combination suspension-cantilever that could be built for $27 million. Although unsightly compared with the final result, his design was affordable, and Strauss became the recognized leader of the effort to bridge the Golden Gate Strait.

During the next few years, Strauss' design evolved rapidly, thanks to the contributions of consulting engineer Leon S. Moisseiff, architect Irving F. Morrow, and others. Moisseiff's concept of a simple suspension bridge was accepted by Strauss, and Morrow, along with his wife, Gertrude, developed the Golden Gate Bridge's elegant Art Deco design. Morrow would later help choose the bridge's trademark color: "international orange," a brilliant vermilion color that resists rust and fading and suits the natural beauty of San Francisco and its picturesque sunsets. In 1929, Strauss was selected as chief engineer.

To finance the bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District was formed in 1928, consisting of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Del Norte, and parts of Mendocino and Napa counties. These counties agreed to collectively take out a large bond, which would then be paid back through bridge tolls. In November 1930, residents of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District voted 3-1 to put their homes, farms, and businesses up as collateral to support a $35 million bond to build Strauss' Golden Gate Bridge.

Construction began on January 5, 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. Strauss and his workers overcame many difficulties: strong tides, frequent storms and fogs, and the problem of blasting rock 65 feet below the water to plant earthquake-proof foundations. Eleven men died during construction. On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to great acclaim, a symbol of progress in the Bay Area during a time of economic crisis. At 4,200 feet, it was the longest bridge in the world until the completion of New York City's Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964. Today, the Golden Gate Bridge remains one of the world's most recognizable architectural structures.

To visit the official web site of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, click here.

It's a three-day weekend with warm and sunny weather in San Francisco. The rain and chill have gone (for the moment) and The City is calling us!

There are literally hundreds of attractions and events going on in and around San Francisco this weekend. Yet, not everybody can get out for one reason or another. Some people will spend their weekend quietly at home. So, for those of you who will stay home this weekend, here are some online browsing suggestions.

Make a cup of coffee, put some snacks on a plate, and settle down in front of your computer and try these cyber-destinations ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) operate the National HIV Testing Resources. The site uses a zip code look-up for HIV testing sites anywhere in the United states. I typed in 94109, one of the central San Francisco zip codes and I specified a 5-mile radius. The site returned an impressive 45 HIV testing sites in San Francisco. Clicking on any one of the returns took me to a page detailing the address, testing policies, telephone number and a link to the test site's own web site. It is an impressive service. Find it here.

This is one of the best sites devoted to Alcatraz Island that I have come across. The site was developed as a companion to KQED's television special about this island in San Francisco Bay that was "a 'super-maximum' security prison for incorrigible and long-term offenders" from 1934 to 1963. The site features a timeline, lesson plans, and interactive material on topics including famous criminals housed there (such as Al Capone and the "Bird Man of Alcatraz"), the occupation by Native Americans, native plants, swimming from Alcatraz to San Francisco, and more. Find it here.

This collection of articles from Salon.com reports on the effects of climate change and global warming on regions throughout the world. Topics include retreating glaciers on Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and in Ecuador, and rising saltwater along the coast of Bangladesh. A joint project of the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Salon, and NPR's "Living on Earth." Note: for nonsubscribers of Salon.com,a brief advertisement appears before the articles display. Includes links to related programs from National Public Radio (NPR). Find it here.

There is a plaque on the side of an old brick building at the foot of Telegraph Hill that commemorates the invention of the television on September 10, 1928. The inventor was Philo T. Farnsworth. This Memorial Day weekend, if you have absolutely nothing better to do, visit the Official web site about Philo Farnsworth. Find a brief chronology, photos of Farnsworth (who died in 1971) and his wife Pem (who died in 2006), early television tubes, and the controlling patent for television. Includes a list of patents held by Farnsworth and a bibliography. Site created and maintained by the Farnsworth family. Find it here.

Here's an illustrated guide to the flags that have flown over California, such as the Spanish flag, the flag of England, the Russian-American Company flag, the Mexican Republic flag, the Fremont flag, and various versions of the bear flag. The site also provides the text of laws related to the look and display of the California state flag. The link will open directly to a PDF document. The site is provided by the California National Guard. Find it here.

Librarians' Internet Index (LII) is a publicly-funded website and weekly e-newsletter serving California and Washington state, as well as the nation and the world. You can search and browse the website for the best of the Web. They have tens of thousands of entries, all maintained by professional librarians, and organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related topics. They also offer featured collections. These have ranged from The Grapes of Web (a companion to the 2002 California statewide Steinbeck reading program) to such topics as taxes, elections, and September 11. A simple search for "San Francisco" produced 500 returns. A Google search for "San Francisco" produced 1,070,000,000 results. The difference is that the LII results are all very high quality, carefully screened and all useful. Google, on the other hand, gave me a million referrals to anybody and everybody who uses the word "San Francisco". Some were relevant, many were not. The Librarians' Internet Index is a winner! Find it here.

The San Francisco Community Services Directory (SFCSD) is a comprehensive listing of community organizations and the services they provide to people in San Francisco. It is a database which contains information about government agencies, health and human service providers, community-based organizations, neighborhood-oriented groups, merchants' associations, occupational associations, and organizations that offer arts and educational opportunities. It is designed to provide the most complete and up-to-date information that is accessible and easy to use. The online directory is a service of the San Francisco Public Library. You can browse by category, neighborhood or organization, or, you can search by subject, organization or program. Find it here.

When I was a child I spent a lot of time at Playland-at-the-Beach. Like most little kids I hated Laughing Sal. She scared the devil out of me! That's one of my strongest memories: that big, ugly toothy robotic woman. If you don't know what Sal looked like, just think: Chucky's Mama! You can see old Sal and hear her cackle on this web site. Find it here.

Another strong memory of summer days at the beach are the deaths of swimmers at Ocean Beach. For many decades tourists have been discovering Ocean Beach and they think it is a swimmer's beach. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Ocean Beach is a deathtrap and here's a great article from the San Francisco Chronicle that will make it all crystal clear. Find it here.

And finally there is MisterSF.com. If you have not yet been introduced to Mister SF, then it is my pleasure to make the introductions. His real name is Hank Donat and he has a passion for this magnificent City. Visit his web site and spend some time browsing. You will be very glad you did. Find it here.

Senator Barbara Boxer announced the U.S. Department of Justice has decided to give more than $300,000 to fund Operation Ceasefire, a campaign born out of Gavin Newsom's Mayor's Crime Summit.

Operation Ceasefire will have two basic elements:

1) The strategy will bring the problem directly into the faces of chronic offenders. Law enforcement will set crystal clear standards for their behavior. If the chronic offenders thumb their noses at the police, as they have consistently done in the past, law enforcement will jump into action with a variety of tools to get them decicisively off the streets as quickly as possible.

2) The second half of the plan will involve tools to try and break the cycle of violence that is passed down from father to son endlessly. Operation Ceasefire will offer job training, employement and other programs intended to break the cycle.

The communities to be targeted with Operation Ceasefire are the Bayview - Hunters Point area and the Western Addition, the two neighborhoods in the City most prone to senseless violence, lawlessness, robbery and murder. Both these neighborhoods are primarily African-American. In those neighborhoods the prospect of injury or death from gunfire is greater than anywhere else in the City. They are the two most dangerous neighborhoods in which to live or even to visit. More information on city-wide gunfire injuries and death may be found here.

Operation Ceasefire is a transferable strategy that may also be employed in other San Francisco neighborhoods if needed. Operation Ceasefire is a strategy from which the entire City will benefit, not only in the present moment, but in the future as well.

The Operation Ceasefire task force will be comprised of the San Francisco Police Department, U.S. Attorney'’s Office, FBI, ATF, DEA, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, State Parole, District Attorney'’s Office, Adult Probation, Juvenile Probation and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.

Not in My Home, Not in My Town is a citizen organization that has developed as result of the growing number of killings. Endorsements for Not in My Home, Not in My Town include an impressive list of San Francisco community leaders and activists. The list may be read here. Visit their web site and sign the pledge to help stop the violence now!

Operation Ceasefire is a step in the right direction. However $300,000 sounds like a lot more money than it really is. It will take much more than that amount and a dramatic increase in community support before we can effectively stop the cycle of violence. The effort must involve a three-part strategy involving education, employment programs and law enforcement.

An ideal, fully-funded program would be a three-pronged effort involving a coalition of law enforcement agencies, as we see with Operation Ceasefire, and two other vital coalitions: one involving educators, teachers, counselors and therapists to provide education-related services, and the other coalition involving local businesses and major San Francisco employers to provide employment opportunities.

For the moment we have only Operation Ceasefire. Let's hope it helps!

Mindjet Corporation, a leading provider of productivity software for visualizing and managing information, is moving its headquarters from Larkspur in Marin County to a two-floor, 47,000 square-foot space at Levi's Plaza One in San Francisco's Financial District.

The company currently has about 100 employees and hopes to significantly expand in the near future. Mindjet had revenues of approximately $30 million in 2005 and is experiencing consistent annual growth of more than 40 percent. The new headquarters will provide space for a total of 250 employees.

Mindjet was founded in 1993 and is based on technology created by co-founder Michael Jetter while in a German cancer hospital undergoing treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia. The company moved its global headquarters from Germany to the Bay Area in 1998 to capitalize on the region's high-tech talent pool and entrepreneurial spirit.

Mindjet has a number of career positions available. You can see a full list of all available job opportunities here.

Most residents of the Bay Area know of the Nimitz Freeway. It was named after U.S. Navy Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. He held the rank of Fleet Admiral and was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. After retirement Nimitz moved to naval officers' quarters at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. His photo is shown at the right.

Chester Nimitz is just one part of the rich history of San Francisco's involvement in World War II. The National Park Service has launched a fascinating web site titled World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area and you will find it here

San Francisco has a large number of World War II historical sites to visit and you can see a complete list here.

The site is produced by the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, assisted by Rosie the Riveter--World War II Home Front National Historical Park, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, the Organization of American Historians, San Francisco Public Library and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

Zone Labs is a San Francisco based Internet security software company. This week they decided to try guerilla marketing. They began dropping "lost wallets" throughout San Francisco.

The company then tracked what happened to them after they were discovered. Inside each of the 5,000 wallets was information on how to report the discovery on Zone Labs' Web site. Those who follow the directions in the wallets and go online to the Zone Labs site have a chance of winning prizes, including discount coupons for one of the company's software products.

Panhandlers, drug addicts and drunks seem to have found most of the wallets. Upon discovering the wallets held neither cash nor credit cards, the wallets were dumped in trash cans and back alleys ... not exactly what Zone Labs expected.

Those of us who make San Francisco our home know all too well that panhandlers are aggressive, pushy and invasive. Most of the common panhandlers that plague tourists and visitors coming to San Francisco are addicted to crack cocaine. A smaller percentage are addicted to heroin and there are, of course, a percentage who are alcoholics.

Dropping 5,000 wallets on San Francisco streets in an experiment to draw attention to Zone Labs is not a well-thought plan. This scheme emphasizes the fact the Zone Labs and many of the silicon valley cyber giants are real-life naive and generally street-stupid. Any San Franciscan who has been here a few years could have told them as much.

Many of us remember when IBM paid some guerilla advertising firm to stencil message logos on San Francisco sidewalks. They did so without getting permission. The advertising scheme backfired in IBM's face. IBM was guilty of vandalism against city property. They became a public nuisance. They also paid $100,000 to the City to have the stenciled graffiti removed.

Zone Labs appears not to have learned from the IBM error in judgment. Leaving 5,000 wallets on city streets is a tactic that will accomplish nothing more than stirring-up and exciting the criminal element. Zone Labs is creating problems for San Francisco and creating an atmosphere in which further crime is entirely likely.

Next time Zone Labs has a half-baked idea I hope they talk to the SFPD and the Mayor's Office to get the City's input before executing a guerilla advertising gimmick. If this is an example of Zone Labs maturity and professionalism, I'm afraid I am not at all impressed. When it comes to a secuity software firm, I want one that is sharp as tacks and tough as nails ... not a company that demonstrates that it is clueless when it comes to real life.

Tonight the San Francisco Board of Education will debate whether they should ban Junior ROTC programs from San Francisco schools because of the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. A resolution introduced by Board of Education member Mark Sanchez, (shown in the photo) calls the Department of Defense policy "unjust, indefensible, unintelligent, state-sanctioned act of homophobia."

A ban on Junior ROTC would effect 1,625 students from Balboa, Burton, Galileo, Lincoln, Lowell, Mission and Washington High Schools. In a San Francisco Chronicle report, which can be read here, Sanchez described the resolution in these words: "If the military said, 'You can't be openly Jewish or you can't be openly Catholic,' I don't think we would have stood for it this long," he said. "It's an ethical issue more than anything, and if we stand by our policies of nondiscrimination, we should be able to stand by this policy as well."

Fellow board member Eric Mar said, "A discriminatory institution like the U.S. military really should not be running programs in our school district."

The resolution will go to committee and likely be voted upon in late June. For more information on the San Francisco Board of Education or this resolution, please email Esther Casco, the Board's Executive assistant at:

Board of Education meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month in the Bryer Board Room at the San Francisco Unified School District Office, 555 Franklin Street, San Francisco.

What the hell is wrong with six of the seven members of the Board of Trustees of City College of San Francisco (CCSF)?

This past Tuesday, May 16th, the CCSF Music Department celebrated 70 years of educational service to the community through an amazing three-hour musical extravaganza that was a genuine knockout!

A living legend in jazz, John Handy has performed in the world's great concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonic Auditorium, San Francisco Opera House, Davies Hall; the major performance venues including Tanglewood, Saratoga (NY), and Wolf Trap; and the pre-eminent jazz festivals including the Monterey Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Pacific Coast Jazz Festival; and international jazz festivals at Montreaux (Switzerland), Antibe (France), Berlin (Germany), Cannes (France), Yubari (Japan), Miyasaki (Japan), among others.

John Handy performed live at the CCSF Music Gala.

Jeremy Pelt began his career as a jazz trumpet performer with the Mingus Big Band. Since then he has performed and recorded with artists such as Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Charli Persip, Keter Betts, Frank Foster, Ravi Coltrane, Winard Harper, Vincent Herring, Ralph Peterson, Lonnie Plaxico, Cliff Barbaro, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Short, Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Skatalites, Cedar Walton, and many, many more.

Jeremy Pelt performed at the CCSF Music Gala.

The CCSF Gospel Choir performed a dazzling array of numbers under the direction of Charles Hudspeth. Hudspeth has conducted the Festival Art Show at the San Francisco Opera House, has performed at the famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem, and has performed along side artists like Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson and James Cleveland. Under Hudspeth's direction, the CCSF Gospel Choir performed a moving rendition of Center of My Joy, a song brought close to the hearts of many San Franciscans by the late Roosevelt Washington of the Glide Ensemble who used to pour his heart into the song on the stage at Glide Memorial Church.

Rebecca Mauleon-Santana brought the audience to their feet with a powerful and driving demonstration of energized jazz piano. Mauleon-Santana has performed with Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, Steve Winwood and Mickey Hart. She is author of the critically acclaimed Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble. She is also a tenured professor of Latin American Music at CCSF and a CCSF graduate!

The Tuesday Night Stage Band was something to see and hear! Under the direction of David Hardiman, Jr., the big band pumped out powerful tunes by Charlie Parker, George and Ira Gershwin, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and others. David Hardiman, Jr. is not only a precise and disciplined band leader, he is also half of an absolutely amazing father-and-son trumpet team. David Hardiman, Sr. joined David Hardiman, Jr. and the two of them engaged in a battle of the jazz trumpets that left the entire audience on their feet after being treated to their trills and high notes and jazz combinations. The junior Hardiman, by the way, is a music professor at CCSF.

There were many others. Joshua Law, a CCSF professor with a rich, golden baritone voice, joined soprano Helen Dilworth and pianist Madeline Mueller at the piano for a perfectly-executed performance of Wheels of a Dream from Ragtime. Dilworth, who has been a soloist for both the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet, holds a doctorate degree and is also a professor on the CCSF faculty. Madeline Mueller is Chair of the Music Department at CCSF.

What an amazing evening!

But ... why were six of the seven members of the CCSF Board of Trustees not there?

Only Dr. Anita Grier was present.

Dr. Natalie Berg, President of the Board of Trustees was a no-show
Johnny Carter, Jr, the Board's Vice-President was a no-show
Rodel Rodis was a no-show
Milton Marks III was a no-show
Julio Ramos was a no-show
Lawrence Wong was a no-show
and most humiliating of all ...
Dr. Philip Day, Jr., Chancellor of CCSF was also a no-show

If they had other committments from which they could not escape, or perhaps if some of the Board members were ill or out of town, perhaps there would have been reasonable explanations for the absences. However, there were no announcements, messages of good will or other mention of why so many Board members were absent.

Wanna-bee politicians have used school boards and college districts as stepping stones to local elected office for decades. That is tolerable. However, it is completely unacceptable behavior for any Board member and certainly for the Chancellor to snub an event as important as the 70th Anniversary CCSF Music Gala.

Day is not a politician. He is an employee of CCSF, but the others are all men and women who have their eyes on some future elective office. So, those six people ... Berg, Carter, Rodis, Marks, Ramos and Wong ... should be thoroughly ashamed of their decisions not to attend the gala and, by so doing, fail to show their support for the college they are supposed to be serving.

Anita Grier, the lone member of the Board of Trustees who did attend the gala, holds a B.A and M.A. from San Francisco State University and a doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco. Dr. Grier has extensive experience in education, having served in the posts of administrator, principal, program manager, special education teacher and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Director. Anita Grier is also a graduate of City College of San Francisco!

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget Analyst, Harvey Rose, will submit a review of the San Francisco Office of Emergency Services on Monday. The report is expected to be critical of SF-OES Director Annemarie Conroy. The report is also expected to reveal major flaws in the City's disaster response plan.

If Rose does his job properly he will emphasize that the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street is a dangerous, substandard building that is likely to collapse to the ground in a major earthquake. Three times engineers hired by the City have concluded the building is an unsafe structure. Despite the report, no earthquake retrofit projects have begun at the Hall of Justice.

The Hall of Justice is build on landfill ... junk ... dumped at the site after the 1906 earthquake and Fire. Before that the land under the Hall of Justice was an estuary of San Francisco Bay. Although pilings supporting the foundation were driven 50-feet into ground, they do not reach through the layered garbage, fill and bay muck. When a major earthquake strikes San Francisco, the Hall of Justice will likely crumble and crash to the ground, likely killing everyone inside.

Chief Heather Fong and the entire Command Staff of the San Francisco Police Department have offices in the Hall of Justice. The SFPD Southern Station is housed in the building. Additionally, two floors of the seven-story building house the City's Main Jail. District Attorney Kamala Harris and her staff have offices in the building an on any given weekday about two-dozen judges hear cases in the building.

Rear Admiral John Bitoff, former commander of all combat logistics ships for the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet and who directed the SF-OES before Conroy told the Chronicle, "It would be terrible if you had catastrophic failure during a time when all the top people were there."

What will happen to our City when the "Big One" hits if Chief Heather Fong, her deputy chiefs and command staff are all killed instantly?

Mayor Gavin Newsom put his reputation and possibly his career on the line with this statement: "As Mayor I will assure the City's updated emergency plan gives our first responders the tools they need to protect themselves while they protect San Franciscans". The report in which this statement was made may be read here.

Mayor Newsom and the Board of Supervisors absolutely must act on this situation immediately and house Chief Fong and her command staff in a safe, earthquake-resistant building. If they do not, and we lose the command structure of the San Francisco Police Department, they will collectively be guilty of gross negligence. No matter what action we take to discipline them at that time ... be it recalls, law suits or even criminal charges ... it will be too late for Chief Fong and the SFPD command staff.

Mayor Newsom and the Board need to get those officers out of harm's way ... RIGHT NOW!

This blog does not normally cover federal issues and politics. However, at this point in our history, we see the Bush Administration pushing the nominations of four ultra-conservative and under-qualified people to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Bush wants to send one of his most notorious henchmen to San Francisco!

One of the nominations is for an opening on the bench of the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals headquartered here in San Francisco which is located in the restored building on 7th Street that was once San Francisco's main post office.

William G. Myers III has been nominated to the 9th Circuit, even though his nomination was successfully filibustered in July of 2004. The Judiciary Committee reported his nomination to the Senate floor in March of last year despite vocal opposition from more than 180 environmental, Native American, labor, civil rights, disability rights, women's rights and other organizations who signed a letter opposing Myers' confirmation. Bill Myers is NOT the kind of federal judge we want in San Francisco or anywhere in the 9th Circuit.

Although the 9th Circuit maintains branch offices in Pasadena and Seattle, the central court is located here in San Francisco. We don't want Myers anywhere near this or any other U.S. Court of Appeals bench.

Myers served as "Of Counsel" with the law firm of Holland & Hart, LLP where he represented primarily conservative big-business clients who wanted to skirt around public lands, natural resources and environmental law.

As Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy in the late 1980's and into the early 1990's, he supervised department attorneys in pushing the Bush Administration's rape of the environment. In July 2001, President George Bush, with the advice and consent of the Republican-controlled Senate, appointed Myers to serve as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior. In that position as the chief legal officer and third-ranking official at the Department, Myers supervised over 300 attorneys in 19 offices located across the country. He was instrumental in forcing upon the American people the disastrous environmental policies of the Bush Administration.

Now George Bush wants to plant this guy into a federal court of appeals seat and he wants to send this guy to San Francisco. President Bush's nomination of Myers to a seat on the federal judiciary is emblematic of his commitment to big-business and corporate interests.

Bill Myers is a man loyal to George Bush. This time his loyalty is at the expense of our nation's natural treasures and the rights of Native Americans. The 9th Circuit includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, states that contain many of America's natural treasures, making the issue of environmental protection particularly significant in considering nominations to that court.

Myers has demonstrated a dangerous legal philosophy that would sharply narrow the power of Congress to protect the rights of Americans and elevate private property rights. For example, Myers has said that there is "“no constitutional basis" for federal authority to protect wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

It is essential that we very strongly, loudly and emphatically oppose the appointment of William G. Myers III to the court. Contact Senators Feinstein and Boxer and let the know your opinion. They will either vote for or against the Myers nomination. Both senators have expressed strong opposition to Myers' appointment, but they need your help! It will be very persuasive if they can stand on the Senate floor and announce a huge groundswell of public opposition to the Myers appointment. Give Diane and Barbara the support they need. ... and do it today, right now, while it is on your mind.

U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein: http://feinstein.senate.gov/contact.html

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer: http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm

For more information on William G. Myers III please visit Independent Judiciary, a project of the Alliance for Justice.

Working Assets, through it's Act for Change web site, has drafted a letter to our U.S. Senators urging them to actively oppose and vote no on the appointments of Bush's four bad judges.

To have the letters sent in your name, click here.

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. A reader contacted me by email and asked me to describe the Asian-Pacific culture.

As I thought about the task, I realized I would need to take into consideration the largest landmass and ocean area in the world. I also had to account for people from nearly 30 different countries and thousands of South Pacific islands, each with a distinct culture and unique history.

May was chosen for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month partly because the transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869. The majority of the back-breaking work of laying steel rails across the country was done by Chinese immigrants, most of whom came into the United States through San Francisco.

Asian-Pacific Americans came to this country first in the 1800's when thousands of Chinese, mainly Cantonese, came to San Francisco. Many went on to work on the railroads and some to take their chances in the Sierra-Nevada panning for gold.

Japanese immigrants favored Hawaii, although a number of Japanese farmers settled in the great Central Valley of California.

Later, following the Spanish-American War, many Filipinos began migrating to the United States. Also, when parts of Samoa came under U.S. control, the continental United States became a popular destination for American Samoans.

Relatively few Hawaiians migrated to the continental U.S. after Hawaii joined the Union. The reason is obvious. Hawaii is a true paradise and most Hawaiians saw no reason to leave.

Throughout the 20th century people from throughout Southeast Asia migrated to the U.S., particularly to California. Today there are large numbers of people from Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar living in California.

Today, there are more than 13 million Americans who claim their heritage to be Asian-Pacific. Many events are taking place this month in San Francisco and throughout the United States to celebrate the rich contributions made by Asian-Pacific Americans to our nation.

Here are some information sources you may wish to visit:

The Asian-American Journalists Association is a good place to learn more about Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.

The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center of San Francisco is a rich source of information about local events planned for May.

The National Park Service put together a very interesting web site that is particularly impressive at listing a number of events of interest to Pacific Islanders. The site may be found here.

IMDiversity.com offers a unique experience called Asian-American Village and is a must-see for anyone interested in Asian-Pacific American heritage Month.

San Francisco's PBS television station, KQED, is producing an impressive list of programs and resources that may be found here.

The Bay Area Discovery Museum has designed a fascinating series of events and programs titled Monkey King: a Journey to China that will run from May 27th to September 3rd. The opening ceremony event will take place on Sunday, May 28th from 10 AM to 5 PM when their will be free admission to the museum and to all events! Details may be found here.

Finally, the venerable Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco is sponsoring a number of very interesting learning experiences. The Center is a major community-based non-profit organization established in San Francisco in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese-American art, history and culture in the United States.

One of the highlights of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in San Francisco is the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, Saturday, May 20th from 11 AM to 6 PM. It will take place on Irving Street in the Sunset District, between 20th and 25th Avenues. For more information about this exciting event, visit their web site here.

Several Additional resources for Immigration Rights activists have been brought to my attention by readers who sent links to me by email.

Suggestions and questions may be sent to: .

Comments may be posted on this site by clicking on the comments link at the end of each story.

Here are the latest additions courtesy of Sam Spade's San Francisco readers:

Borders and Law Enforcement
An overview of legal issues related to the border between the United States and Mexico. From the U.S. State Department's U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

The Mexico Migration Project
A history of Mexican migration into the U.S. The site includes current statistics and direct interviews with immigrants.

Guide for the Mexican Migrant
This is the English translation of a guide for Mexican nationals seeking employment in the U.S. The guide answers questions about both legal migration and illegal border-crossings and entry into the U.S. It is also available in Spanish.

Non-Immigrant Visa for Entering the U.S. from Mexico
Published by the U.S. State Department

Office of Immigration Statistics
A fact-filled site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Hold it there, friend. Stay right where you are!

Read this ...

The Immigration Rights issue has exploded. This blog has received a surprising number of emails about the two immigration reports published here on Sam Spade's San Francisco.

To make it easier for readers to access the two stories we have re-printed them back-to-back following immediately below. The first story, Immigration Rights, Tools, Resources and Support, offers references and resources important to anyone fighting the immigration battle. The second story, Immigration Rights in San Francisco, provides a list of local organizations and contacts that will surely prove useful.

Please help share these resources with others. Use the envelope icon at the bottom of each story to send the entire story, together with any posted comments, to whomever you wish.

Please feel free to leave any comment you wish by clicking on the comments link below each story.

- Sam Spade's San Francisco

There are a lot of San Franciscans fighting on the front lines of the Immigration Rights Movement. Unfortunately, many blossoming activitists are only half as effective as they could be because they have poor information, resources, tools and support. They need help. Here is a short list of MUST HAVE resources and tools for Immigration Rights activists:

Worldmapper offers a series of world immigration maps here that I found to be very useful and informative. The maps presented on the site are density-equalizing maps. The cartograms resize each country according to the variables being studied. Details of the process and methods used may be found here. Worldmapper is a project of the University of Sheffield, England.

The Office of Immigration Statistics of the Department of Homeland Security offers a variety of immigration information resources and may be found here. Their document, "Legal Permanent Residents 2005" provides information on the number and the characteristics of persons who became legal permanent residents in the United States during fiscal year 2005. This is an important study tool for anyone seriously interested in the immigrant rights movement. That report is available in .pdf format here. Other very helpful tools include maps showing the distribution of legal permanent residents and their region or country of birth here and the "2004 (most current edition) Yearbook of Immigration Statistics" which may be found here.

The American Immigration Home Page is a web site devoted to immigration statistics. It is a varied and interesting site and highly recommended for any serious researcher. The site may be found here. The American Immigration Home Page also offer a wonderful collection of quotes about immigration from a number of famous Americans. Did you know, by example, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said: "Remember, remember always, that all of us ... are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." You will find this quote and many others here.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association provides valuable and timely news on the legal and political realities of immigration reform. Their web site may be found here.

The National Immigration Forum displays this motto on their web site home page: "To embrace and Uphold America's Tradition as a Nation of Immigrants". They offer a number of valuable resources including a booklet which can be downloaded in .pdf format titled "Know Your Rights". You will find the booklet here.

National Public Radio (NPR) offers a large variety of reports, tools and radio programs and interviews which can be downloaded from their site, which you will find here.

The Immigration History Research Center of the University of Minnesota (here) develops and maintains an immigration library and archival collection, provides research assistance, produces a long list of publications for sale that are essential to immigration reformers and activists. The catalog may be found here.

Policy statements and other useful materials about the rights of immigrants, refugees and other non-citizens of the U.S. from the ACLU. Topics include workplace rights, discrimination, asylum, detention, judicial review and court access. The Immigration Rights section of the ACLU web site may be found here.

Finally, the National Immigration Law Center is a treasure house of information, resources, links and tools for anyone interested in Immigration Rights. The mission of the National Immigration Law Center is to "protect and promote the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their family members." They provide technical advice, training and publications to community groups and pro bono attorneys.

Everyone active in the Immigration Rights movement in San Francisco should have these links. Use the envelope icon below to email this report to anyone and to everyone you wish. Do what you can to get these valuable research tools and resources into the hands of those who need them so desperately.

The immigration issue is a San Francisco issue. San Franciscans of Caucasian - European ancestry and origin are a minority in San Francisco. San Francisco is largely an Asian city and also very much an Hispanic city. For most San Franciscans the immigration debate hits home hard.

There are a lot of voices demanding tighter security along our borders and a "tough love" approach to people living in the United States without benefit of official sanction. These voices are heard every night on network news, but what about the people of San Francisco? We march to different drums. Ours are drums of peace, not drums of war.


What do San Franciscan's believe?

The majority of my fellow San Franciscans are committed to certain basic and fundamental convictions. They are:

1) We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

2) There must be justice, equity and compassion in all our decision-making.

3) The goal of the San Francisco experience is to build a community that truly does offer peace, liberty and justice for everyone in our City.

4) We have and we intend to continue developing respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part.


Rev. Bill Sinkford

Rev. Bill Sinkford recently put some of these ideals into words. Bill no longer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, but he is from here and he graduated from the Union Theological School's Starr King School for the Ministry, which is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley.

His current job requires him to live in Boston where he serves as President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, a faith community with over 1,000 member churches in the United States. They are represented in San Francisco by First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco.

Here is an excerpt of Bill's statement on the immigration debate. It is well worth reading:

"People of many faiths have been moved by the current debate over the immigration and labor policies that present a profound dilemma for our nation. We are seeing that our willingness to ignore the injustices that maintain our economic system weakens the moral fabric of our society. We know that illegal immigration is driven by two factors: the prospect of economic opportunity for the newcomers, and the voracious need of American businesses for cheap labor."

"Those of us lucky enough to be born into US citizenship can thank our ancestors, some of whom came here in bondage, but many of whom saw a shining City on a Hill and were inspired by its promise of freedom and opportunity. Today's immigrant workers are following that same beacon, and they come to this land filled with hope. That hope gradually dims, however, as they struggle to support loved ones back home while hiding in the shadows of US society. As years pass, family reunions are deferred and the American Dream is denied. In the meantime, our comfortable middle-class standard of living is secured at the price of these workers' hopes. As a result, America has, once again, created a permanent under-class of residents who are refused the dignity and civil protections that come with citizenship. To people of conscience, this situation is intolerable."


Mayor Gavin Newsom

San Francisco is tremendously fortunate to have one of our own sons, fourth-generation San Franciscan Gavin Newsom, as our mayor.

Commenting on the current debate in Congress on immigration reform, the Mayor said, "I call on Congress to pass a common-sense immigration bill, which creates a clear path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented workers who already work, pay taxes, and contribute to our economy."

The Mayor expressed opposition to any efforts to criminalize undocumented workers or the people who help them. "Today, 1 in 3 San Franciscans were born overseas. We should not make felons out of those who are working hard in our country, nor should we build a new Berlin Wall along our border with Mexico," said Mayor Newsom.


References and story tools:

Statement by Rev. Bill Sinkford on immigration rights here.

Mayor Newsom's statement in support of immigration rights here.

The Unitarian Universalist Association statement on immigration rights here.

ACLU statement on immigration rights here.

Immigration Rights, an LGBT organization dedicated to promoting immigration justice here.

American Friends Service Committee action for immigration rights here.

The City of San Francisco Immigration Rights Commission here.

The Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area here.

San Francisco Chronicle article and links on the immigration controversy here.

Immigration Solidarity Network here.

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco here.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the primary governing body of the Democratic Party. Each state also has a Democratic State Central Committee. News from the DNC is important to San Franciscans. More than 54% of all registered voters in San Francisco are Democrats. Republicans account for only 11% of San Francisco's registered voters. The Green Party, which is larger and more active in San Francisco than elsewhere in California, accounts for 3% of the San Francisco populace. See voter statistics here.

With 54% of all registered voters, the Democratic Party is clearly the dominant political party in San Francisco. News from the DNC about gay and lesbian Democrats is particularly important.

On May 3rd the Democratic National Committee announced that Brian Bond will join the DNC as the new Executive Director of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council (GLLC). Bond brings to the DNC a proven record of success in reaching out to and organizing America's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and a commitment to confronting the critical issues facing LGBT families.

"We are pleased that Brian has agreed to join our team here at the DNC," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "Brian's proven and effective leadership will be crucial to our effort to confront the issues facing the Party and the LGBT community. The Democratic Party has a long history of standing against discrimination and standing up for equal rights for every American.

Unfortunately, the Republicans are again taking a page from the Karl Rove playbook and using issues to scapegoat the LGBT community with the divisive Federal Marriage Amendment and hate-filled ballot initiatives aimed at dividing and distracting America from critical issues facing our country. Brian will help lead our fight to end the Republican politics of fear and division."

In his role as Executive Director of the GLLC, Bond will coordinate political strategy related to LGBT issues, strengthen efforts to organize in the community, and lead the DNC's efforts to consult with strong Democratic-allied groups like the National Stonewall Democrats, the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and the Alice B Toklas Democratic Club and reach out to groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. See a list of Democratic Party clubs in San Francisco here.

Bond is past Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.