Sam Spade's San Francisco

If you are not yet familiar with Google Earth, I suggest you visit and come up to speed.

Google Earth is a free service that offers everybody a chance to visit any place on the planet. It is very much like having a world globe on your screen. You can spin the globe anywhere you like and then start coming in closer and closer (like an astronaut returning to Earth) until you can make-out actual buildings, streets and even the shape and color of cars parked in the driveway. It is amazing technology and tons of fun. Download it .

A CNet News blog posting asked the question, "Why isn't Beirut Burning in Google Earth?" The satellite photos of Beirut were showing green tree-lined streets, clear skies and absolutely no sign of bombings, burning buildings, destruction, chaos or war. Just how old are those satellite photos that Google earth uses?

Google Earth is free. The images used in Google Earth come from Digital Globe. Digital Globe assures Google that the images are never more than 18 months old. That's the free version.

If money is no object to you and you want to see what buildings are still standing in Beirut after last week's missile attack, or, if you want to take a look at just exactly what kind of building projects are underway out at the former Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard here in San Francisco and you absolutely must have it up to date ... then the folks at Digital Globe will be happy to provide you with what you want ... for a fee.

I don't have much need for close-to real-time imagery. Google Earth works fine for me. However, if you want to see some of the wizardry Digital Globe has to offer, visit their Sample Imagery pages here.

The Israeli-Arab War is a complex matter. One of the elements that contributes to the complexity is the fact that we see radical organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah attacking Israel. Hezbollah's mission is to "liberate Arab lands", which is a way of putting a more acceptable spin on their true mission, which is to annihilate the State of Israel.

Neither Hamas nor Hezbollah are nations or national authorities. They are radical para-military political powers. The government of Lebanon is helpless to control Hezbollah. In Palestine control is clearly not vested in any form of democratic government. Power in Palestine is clearly in the hands of Hamas.


It would be easier to support Israel if their record for support of human and civil rights was at least minimally acceptable. Unfortunately Israel has a dismal record of defending and promoting the civil and human rights of all her own people, let alone others who are their neighbors.

Consider this excerpt from a main news article in the Jerusalem Post. It paints a clear picture of just how much Israel and the Israeli people support civil and human rights:

"Opposition to the Gay Pride parade seems to be the only issue Christian, Muslim and Jewish spiritual leaders in Israel, involved in interfaith dialogue, are able to agree upon lately. The representatives of the three major monotheistic religions have easily joined forces to declare that the parade planned for Jerusalem is a blatant desecration of religious sensibilities. A relatively weak community with little political clout, the gay event has created a cause for rare brotherhood among religions."

My response to the State of Israel is thus: Your rejection of gay and lesbian civil rights for Israeli citizens is a blatant desecration of human rights sensibilities. Until such time as you are able to provide your own citizens with a modicum of justice and equality, you will get no support from me.

I took this following statement from the Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 web site. The more I read this statement, the more it strikes me as being Israel's most sensible voice for peace, freedom, democracy and human rights. Here it is: "Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 will bring a new focus to an ancient city through a massive demonstration of LGBT dignity, pride, and boundary-crossing celebration. In these times of intolerance and suspicion, from the home of three of the world's great religions, we will proclaim that love knows no borders."

This is not about choosing sides. It is not about supporting Arabs or Jews. This is about human rights. Period.

Listen Israel: If you want to win our sympathy and support, then become the kind of people you claim to be! It is not too late.

Learn more about Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 here.

Daniel Libeskind is one of the most cutting-edge architects in the world. In 2003 he was awarded the commission to design the master plan for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York.

Libeskind, the son of Holocaust survivors, rose to the top of his profession in 1989 when he was awarded a commission to design the Jewish Museum of Berlin. He also designed the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, the Wohl Center at Bar llam University in Tel-Aviv, the New Center for Arts and Culture in Boston, the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, and now he is designing the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco.

Libeskind's design for the new San Francisco museum calls for reuse of the historic Jessie Street Power Substation and a stunning new design addition. The long-abandoned Power Substation next to Saint Patrick's Church on Mission Street, across from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, will be transformed into a spectacular and memorable 60,000-square-foot cultural destination. Libeskind's design will feature a majestic blue stainless steel structure that rises into the air and will be based on the Hebrew character for l'’chaim, (to life) .

On his website Libeskind writes, "The magic of architecture cannot be appropriated by any singular operation because it is always already floating progressing, rising, flying, breathing. Whatever the problems - political, tectonic, linguistic which architecture exposes, one thing I know is that only the intensity and passion of its call make it fun to engage in its practice."

Buildings rise in San Francisco continuously, but few hold the promise of new creation as much as the work of Daniel Libeskind.

The U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, shown here in the photo giving a special gift of friendship to President Bush, was a no-show for today's breakfast with the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He was scheduled to speak to the Chamber's membership at Medjool Restaurant in the Mission, but something went terribly wrong. Word got out.

His scheduled appearance was reported by this blog and others. Later, the San Francisco Chronicle covered the story as well. Dozens of protest groups were hastily making plans to bring bullhorns, signs and lots of angry demonstrators to form a human shield around Medjool Restaurant. Gonzales, like the entire Bush Administration, is persona non grata in San Francisco.

The Attorney General of the United States, America's top cop, got scared and changed his plans at the last minute rather than face the people of San Francisco. It looks like we won this latest skirmish without even a single person out in front of the restaurant. Gonzales was easy-pickings and he turned-out to be just another White House Turkey.

Good job, San Francisco.

But what about the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce? What kind of brainless idiot in the SFH Chamber thought it would be a good idea to invite Gonzales to breakfast and, by so doing, anger and alienate the people who the Chamber's members depend upon for business?

Maybe it would be a good idea to look through the SFH Chamber's membership roster and send a few of them an email or give them a phone call and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere ... to other people who are more in tune with San Francisco politics.

You will find the roster here.

There is a great photo-story on today's CNet News. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)has released a fascinating series of high-tech computer-enhanced images revealing what the bottom of San Francisco Bay and the approach to the Golden Gate looks like. The image shown here reveals a vast rippled field of underwater sand dunes that stretch well out into the Pacific Ocean on the continental shelf.

To see the entire collection go to the CNet slide show here.

Most of us have seen the Bushman. He is an enterprising fellow who sits on a milk crate at Fisherman's Wharf holding bush branches in front of him to hide from sight. As tourists stroll along Jefferson Street the Bushman rattles the branches and growls. The tourists are almost always startled and most drop something into the donations can always by the Bushman's side.

There is a video circulating across the Internet of the Box Monster. This is a great idea for an enterprising street performer. All the performer needs is a few cardboard boxes and a good corner where a lot of tourists pass.

Watch the short video of the Box Monster and you will see the opportunities!

A box monster would be a great addition to the Bushman's performances. A box monster would also be a refreshing change from those I-can-stand-perfectly-still-with-a-panhanlding-cup-in-my-hand street performers who have become so tired and annoying.

And by the way ... if you would like to see the now-famous video of George Bush attempting to massage the German Chancellor's neck (and the Chancellor throws up her arms with an expression on her face that can best be described as yuck), you will find it here.

What you see here are the faces of two rather unpopular people.

What are you doing next Friday, July 21st?

If you are a fan of the Bush Administration and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, you have an opportunity to have breakfast with the AG and spend a little time talking to him. Gonzales will meet with members of the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for breakfast next Friday at 7:30 AM. He is slated to hang around and talk with the attendees until 10:30 AM.

The event is open to the public and tickets are available at $45 each for non chamber members. For information call or send an email to: . The venue is Medjool Restaurant, 2522 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Now, if you are not a supporter of the Bush Administration, which is likely to be the case with just about everybody in San Francisco, except the City's tiny contingent of die-hard Republicans, then you probably want to know more about joining one of the many organizations that are planning be be outside the restaurant to protest everything from the immigration issue to wiretapping to human rights violations to medical marijuana laws to equal civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans to the War in Iraq. The list is long. Contact your local organization of choice and find out where to meet and what to bring with you.

Finally, if you are just interested in avoiding traffic congestion and a mass of protestors, then by all means plan to avoid the area of 21st and Mission next Friday morning.

But Wait ... There's More!

Just like the TV Infomercials ... the opportunities just get better! If the morning breakfast in the Mission is not good for you, how about an 11 AM appearance at the Commonwealth Club. Gonzales will speak before in the Grand Ballroom of the Santa Clara Marriott, 2700 Mission College Boulevard. The Attorney General is speaking as part of the Commonwealth Club's "Taube Family American Values Series". Tickets are $25 for non-members of the Commonwealth Club and $15 for members.

Security will be tight. No large bags, packages, back-packs or briefcases allowed! Organizers are anticipating a lot of animated, angry protestors, so be prepared for a lively demonstration against Gonzales, the Justice Department and the Bush Administration.

This report was first published in this blog on May 16th. I decided to bring it back because of a report in today's (July 18th) San Francisco Chronicle covering the tsunami that hit Pangandaran, Indonesia this past Monday. More than 300 poeple were killed in this latest tsunami. More than 216,000 people died in the 2004 tsunami.

In both cases the victims were given no warning.

Although regional early-warning centers notified Indonesia that this latest deadly tsunami was approaching, the country has no system in place to warn its residents.

What happened in Indonesia can just as easily happen in California.

This is a second warning call to us here on the West Coast of the United States. WE HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Here then, is the original posting from May 16th:


Scientists tell us that San Francisco is much more likely to suffer a major catastrophe not from an earthquake on the San Andreas fault as in 1906, but from a mega-tsunami generated by a major earthquake occurring along the Pacific Ocean floor at the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

University of Washington student scientists Ray Flynn and Kyle Fletcher, with input from Ruth Ludwin and Bill Steele, produced a clear and concise report on the danger of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates.

New ocean floor is being created offshore of Washington and Oregon on an a continual basis. As more material wells up along the ocean ridge, the ocean floor is pushed toward and beneath the continent. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is where the two plates meet.

This is where all hell will break loose.

Great Subduction Zone earthquakes are the largest earthquakes in the world, and can exceed magnitude 9.0. Earthquake size is proportional to fault area, and the Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates. Because of the very large fault area, the Cascadia Subduction Zone could produce a very large earthquake, magnitude 9.0 or greater, if rupture occurred over its whole area.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

The last known great earthquake in the northwest was in January, 1700, just over 300 years ago. Geological evidence indicates that great earthquakes may have occurred at least seven times in the last 3,500 years, suggesting a repeat time of 300 to 600 years.

The Indonesian earthquake and tsunami of December 26th, 2005, produced an ocean surge that in some areas was more than 90-feet high. Trillions of tons of water were instantly raised from the ocean floor, creating a tsunami and quake that began some 60 miles off the northwestern shore of Sumatra and ripped along the seabed at 2 miles per second, traveling for nearly eight minutes, leaving a "rupture zone" that stretched to the north about 750 miles.

A 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone of our coast would likely create a tsunami so powerful that the ocean surge slamming into San Francisco would be as high as the base of the Ferry Building Clock Tower. It would sweep houses and buildings from their foundations throughout the Richmond and Sunset Districts and would scour much of San Francisco right down to the sand and bedrock.

A devastating tsunami is due ... any day now.

The last known major earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone was 306 years ago. Scientists estimate another major, devastating earthquake in the 9.0 range may be expected somewhere between every 300 to 600 years. It can happen any time. It is due.

Get ready now! Learn what to do to save your life ...

The best way to prepare is to enroll in one of the San Francisco Fire Department's Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) training programs. They are free and conducted by professional firefighters of the SFFD. You may learn more about the SFFD NERT program here.

Story tools and references:

ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments) Tsunami Page
Cascadia Megathrust Earthquakes
USGS Pacific Northwest Tsunami Facts
Cascadia Subduction Zone Info, USGS
Cascadia Subduction Zone Strain Monitoring
72-Hours.Org - San Francisco Office of Emergency Services
San Francisco Fire Department NERT

Everyone has a favorite song. Mine is Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens. It is as if Saint-Saens wrote the soundtrack for a theatrical production that is just now unfolding upon the world stage.

Enter: the four pair of dancers.

There are Hamas and Hezbollah. They are locked with each other in a dance of death against their hated enemy, Israel. Beside them, swirling like mad Dervishes are the governments of Syria and Iran, both seeking to control the events around them, and by so doing, destroy Israel. Beside them two other governments dance in maddening circles around each other: Palestine and Lebanon, united in hate for Israel, both do fire dances, running in and out of their adversary's land. Finally, there is the stately grand waltz. It is a restrained dance of testosterone between the George Bush White House and Israel for dominance over the dance.

Hamas and Hezbolah are the major political powers standing in opposition to Israeli involvement with Palestine and Lebanon. Israel is simultaneously attacking both Palestine and Lebanon. Syria and Iran have positioned themselves as supporters of Hezbollah and Hamas.

The fourth pair of dancers, the United States and Israel, are repeating political and military mistakes that have consistently failed to produce any positive results over the past four decades.

These four pairs are all dancing different dances to different music. If there has even been a need for the United Nations, it is now. We need to get all four of these pairs of performers dancing the same dance to the same music. Only when the dance is defined and described and orchestrated can all the performers hope to end the show in harmony.

The 20th annual San Francisco AIDS Walk is over. It was beautiful Sunday with temperatures in the mid-seventies, a slight fresh ocean breeze and clear, sunny skies. More than 25,000 people came to participate in AIDS Walk San Francisco and do their part in ending the devastating pandemic that has taken so many lives and is threatening so many others.

The Walk in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on a picture-perfect summer day raised nearly $3.8 million. In this San Francisco Chronicle photo by Katy Raddatz, participants mingle in Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadows before the event.

With Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) calling global warming the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people and former Vice-President Al Gore touring the country promoting his book and documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, the issue of climate change is on everyone's front burner. You can read some of Inhofe's claims here.

Inhofe, who branded himself as a shallow-thinking Bible-pounder with his rambling comments on the Senate floor regarding the failed Federal Marriage Amendment (read them here) is stepping up to the plate a second time to prove once more he is swinging at a ball that's not there.

Tonight at 9 PM on the Discovery Channel Tom Brokaw will be examining the facts with an unprecedented network of scientists from around the globe. Global Warming: What You Need to Know is a 2-hour special that skillfully decodes the buzzwords and provides viewers with an arsenal of clear definitions. Brokaw interviews scientists who set the story straight on greenhouse gases, rising sea levels in America's coastal cities (like San Francisco!), and exactly what we can expect in the future, both far and very, very near!


Perhaps most interesting is Brokaw's interviews with NASA's top climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen and Princeton University scientists and professors Michael Oppenheimer and Stephen Pacala. In clear and unambiguous terms they outline the real and true state of the planet and predict Earth's climactic future.

I was invited to attend a seminar conducted by Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program to hear about the latest treatments and advances being made toward a cure for hepatitis C (HCV). HCV is recognized by the medical and public health community in San Francisco as being a very serious and growing challenge. Some of the most advanced and cutting edge research being done in the country is taking place right here in San Francisco. So I decided to attend.

The venue was the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Van Ness Avenue. I arrived early and was in my seat for the 8:00 AM start.

A little before 8:20 the panel was introduced. There was an herbal health advocate from Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, a naturopath from out of town, a physician from Arizona and two or three others. There was one fellow on the panel who is from San Francisco, and in fairness to the panel, he may have been a local physician. However, there were no physcisians present from the San Francisco public health or medical community whose name I recognized.

The physician from Arizona was first to speak. The first thing he wanted us to know was that he would be absolutely certain to keep every speaker to their allotted time. That statement coming from a speaker who was himself 20-minutes late. His first official act was to ask us all to get up and go out into the lobby area where Master So-and-So would lead us all in "healing movement".

After a half-hour of ... s-l-o-w ... motion movement we were asked to take our seats. It was now 9:30. Surely, I thought, the program would begin now.

Wrong.

The physician from Arizona rose to inform us that he had decided to scrap the printed agenda and introduce someobody else ... also from out of the area. That fellow asked us all to close our eyes and hold hands with the people on either side of us. Then, while soft mood music played in the background, he began his sermon (or speech or prayer or whatever it may have been called).

"Oh, Oh, Ohhhh", he crooned, "help us to know that we are not alone in this journey" ... ad nauseam infinitum.

Now, in fairness to Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program, it might have become better and may have seemed a little more legitimate had I stayed awhile, but the Hallelujah-style prayer service was more than I could stomach on a Saturday morning. I got the hell out of there.

So, if you hear about a seminar conducted by Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program ... AND ... you happen to be an adult who still feels a deep need for Mommy and Daddy to hold your hand, then this is the kind of crap you might enjoy. If you are interested in medical, public health and scientific material, these people are not your cup of tea.

The Military Equality Alliance (MEA) was launched July 5th.

MEA is national organization with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. The purpose of MEA is the grassroots mobilization of veterans, active-duty military, LGBT civil rights organizations and allied communities to win the right of all Americans to serve in the United States military.

While MEA wades through the bureaucracy involved in setting up a 501(c)(3) corporation, Equality California (EQCA) has agreed to act as the new organization's fiscal agent.

A number of other organizations have expressed support for and interest in MEA. Those organizations include:

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

Log Cabin Republicans

American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)

MEA has begun publication of Gay Military Times, which may be found here.

The photo at the upper right is courtesy of Gay Military Times and photographer Tony Bretton. Willet Fields, the veteran shown holding a sign reading, "Gay WWII Vet", is 91 years old. Fields entered the U.S. Army as a private in 1941 and retired 28 years later as a major.

In San Francisco the battle flag for GLBT rights in the military has been carried for years by the members of the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion. If you are not familiar with Post 448, click on the link and visit their web site.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, Les Natali, owner of Badlands in the Castro, has had enough and he's decided to fight back. He has filed suit against the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and Director Virginia Harmon. He is asking for damages from the Commission for causing harm to his reputation and to his business.

To fight his case Natali hired an attorney who the San Francisco Chronicle calls one of the "Top Ten Layers" in San Francisco, Dennis Riordan.

Riordan told the B.A.R., "Nothing came of this. None of these allegations were ever substantiated and yet there are news articles and Internet reports that say he is guilty of discrimination, which is not the case. It is a very damaging thing to have someone plug in your name and find something on the Internet that says you are a racist. People take what they see as gospel. It is out there and it shouldn't be. The good and fair thing to do is withdraw the findings."

Question: Did the Commission properly and correctly chastise a racist, or, did the Commission become swept up in a politically convenient witch hunt and, in so doing, fail to provide the prudent leadership it is mandated to do? '

Les Natali has clearly demonstrated to the Community that he is a fair and honorable businessman and a responsible citizen.

I cannot help but see the terrifying similarity between this case and the facts surrounding the Salem Witch Burnings, the single most humiliating and disgraceful event in this nation's history. For too many people, then and now, it is easy to be swept up in the emotion of justice and civil rights and equality and blah, blah, blah.

The problem is ... there is a HUGE difference between being swept up in emotional fervor, and, having a conviction based on sound reasoning that is balanced with a sense of justice.

And if it is true that Les Natali has been subjected to injustice, we are all diminshed by it much more because of our silence and cowardice and unwillingness to support him, than we are diminished by the weakness of our convictions.

The court will weigh this decision carefully. Very carefully.

Stay tuned.

I subscribe the the Cole Hardware e-letter. Cole Hardware is a locally-owned business that I support 100%. Here is an excerpt from the newsletter that is important and useful information to everyone living in San Francisco.

An adequate supply of water is one of the highest priorities of disaster preparedness. A major earthquake could damage the pipes that bring water into San Francisco, break water mains, or even break water lines leading into your building. AFTER a disaster is NOT the time to search for water or water containers! Plan ahead.

Preparation:
Responding to a major disaster will require heavy exertion. Plan on each person drinking a gallon of water each day. Add to this a minimal amount of water for cooking and hygiene. Altogether you should store enough water for two gallons per person per day. Expect and prepare to be without utilities for several days to several weeks -- store 10-15 gallons of water per person.

Storage:
Thoroughly clean sturdy 3- or 5-gallon water storage containers with handles. Add about four drops of regular unscented household liquid bleach per gallon of water (approximately one scant teaspoonful per five gallons of water). Use chlorine bleach with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite as its only active ingredient (e.g., Clorox). Seal containers tightly, date and label them as drinking water and store in a cool, dark place that is likely to be accessible after a major earthquake. Pour out, clean and refill water storage containers at least once a year.

In an emergency, you may be able to use the water stored in your water heater, your building’s plumbing system or the reservoir tank of your toilet (not the bowl). Purify water from the toilet reservoir tank before using. To access water in the plumbing system, open the highest water faucet in your home (to let air in), and draw water from the lowest faucet.

Purification:
The easiest methods are chemical purification using chlorine bleach or boiling. Use two drops of ordinary liquid bleach per quart of water (four drops per quart if the water is cloudy). Shake and let stand for at least 30 minutes. Boiling water for three to five minutes should kill most harmful microorganisms. After boiling, pour water back and forth between two clean containers to improve the flavor by putting oxygen back into it.

Conserve but never ration.
Going even one day without water will severely deplete your strength and effectiveness. In a water shortage, refrain from watering plants or washing clothes, but don’t fail to stay well hydrated. If supplies are short, drink what you need and try to find more later.

For more disaster preparedness information see www.colehardware.com/tipscats/disaster.htm.

Did you know that almost 75 percent of the world population relies solely on botanical remedies as their primary medicine? Here in the U.S., doctors write a whopping 12.5 million prescriptions a year for drugs derived from plants. Plants and other natural products are an important part of our health care and with more than 200,000 plants out there that have yet to be evaluated, the possibilities for cures are enormous.

With the exhibition Nature’s Pharmacy: The Healing Power of Plants, the Conservatory of Flowers takes visitors on a virtual journey to Africa, Asia, South and North America to learn about the many plants that find their way into our medicine cabinets. Giant interactive models of important plants like the Calabar Bean and culturally themed markets from throughout the world’s tropics will create an intriguing and information-rich environment. Visitors will also be able to view living specimens of many of the plants and learn how they are cultivated and processed into medicines.

WHAT: Nature’s Pharmacy: The Healing Power of Plants
(an exhibition about the many plant-based medicines used around the world)

WHEN: Through October 16, 2005 (Closed Mondays)

TIME: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays – Sundays

WHERE: Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

TICKETS: $5 general; $3 youth 12-17, seniors and students with ID; $1.50
children 5-11, children 4 and under FREE

INFORMATION: www.conservatoryofflowers.org,

San Francisco wants to be the home for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. One of the current ideas is to develop an Olympic Village to house visiting athletes from around the world at the old Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and conduct the grand opening ceremonies at an as-yet-unbuilt new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Point.

My first thought was that we must be nuts to consider housing the best athletes from all over the world in the Bayview - Hunters Point war zone. Who in hell would want to be in that kind of drug-infested liquor-store-dotted decrepit neighborhood? The answer is obvious: NOBODY!

In order to make the Bayview - Hunters Point area habitable and attractive we would need to start right now and launch a major sweep of the area by:

1) Building attractive new housing in a garden-like atmosphere at the old naval ship yard. When the Olympic Village closes after the games, make the housing available to local families at deeply subsidized rent levels.

2) Creating an SFPD task force sub-station at Hunters Point. Let's crack down on the gangs, dope dealers and punks who are denizens of the infamous Hunters Point projects.

3) Going after federal funding and developing more partnerships with the DEA, FBI and state Highway Patrol and send the many Bayview - Hunters Point droopy-panted corner dope dealers to San Quentin.

4) Working with District Attorney Kamala Harris and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control to shut down all those raunchy little corner liquor stores.

5) Setting aside major funding and working with our major corporate employers to provide permanent full-time job opportunities to the young men and women in Bayview - Hunters Point who presently find their only financial opportunities to be selling crack cocaine and methamphetamine or producing babies for welfare dollars.

6) Using the existing City College campus located in the Bayview - Hunters Point neighborhood to develop job skills training and certificate programs specifically designed to reach these young people with hope for a future free of criminal activity.

It is not good enough to spend money on winning over the Olympic Committee. We must first spend money ... lots of it ... to change the fundamental nature of the Bayview - Hunters Point area from a crime-ridden, gang-infested ghetto dump into a peaceful, low-crime attractive family neighborhood. It's a big job and a daunting task, but if it can be done, we will substantially change the face of our City for the better.

Learn more about San Francisco's bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games here.

We all want to give the Mayor and Board of Supervisors our two-cents worth. Now we have just such an opportunity. The San Francisco Economic Goals and Strategy Survey is now online.

The official city government web site describes the survey in these terms:

In 2006, the City is undertaking its first-ever comprehensive planning process devoted to economic development, as initiated by passage of Proposition I in November of 2004. Proposition I mandated the preparation of a long-term economic development plan and survey of employment barriers by the Mayor'’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. This mandate is a unique opportunity for the residents and businesses of San Francisco to come together around formulation of our key values and priority goals for economic development and for the City and its economic development partners to coordinate implementation of strategies and programs. Throughout the 2006 planning process, this website will serve to inform the community of progress on the Economic Strategy and of opportunities to participate in its formulation.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the Economic Strategy, please email .

To take the survey online, click here.

Are you currently a fence sitter pondering the idea of evolving into a park walker?

If so, you should know that this coming Saturday and Sunday are expected to be in the high 90's inland and may even hit triple digits in parts of the valley. San Francisco, however, is expected to be in the mid 70's ... which is just about perfect.

This Sunday is the 19th annual AIDS Walk San Francisco. The 10k (6.2 mile) trek is the largest AIDS fundraiser in California with over 25,000 registrants.

The walk begins in Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadows and then winds its way through the park to Ocean Beach. Take a short break and enjoy the Pacific Ocean on a delightful summer day, and walk back on a different route through the park. The route is clearly marked and refreshment stations with portable restrooms and drinking water are provided all along the route.

While you're in Golden Gate Park, either before or after the walk, consider visiting the National AIDS Memorial Grove.

Later, plan to have lunch at one of the many neighborhood restaurants in the Sunset District that are centered around 9th and Irving Streets. If you want a view and don't mind waiting a bit for a table, try the Beach Chalet or the Cliff House. Just around the corner from the Cliff House you will find Louie's, a little spot perched on the side of the cliff overlooking the ruins of the Sutro Baths and the Pacific Ocean beyond. One block up, at the corner of Geary Boulevard and Point Lobos Avenue, you will find Seal Rock Inn, another good spot for lunch with an ocean view.

For information about planning this weekend in The City, try these links:

San Francisco AIDS Walk

National AIDS Memorial Grove

San Francisco MUNI (public transportation)

BART

Find more good restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, attractions by visiting one of these two excellent sites:

Mister SF.com

SF Station

You will find a good San Francisco street map here

Only in San Francisco ... the SF Convention and Visitor's Bureau site

The Cliff House (reservations accepted)

The Beach Chalet (reservations accepted)

SF Gate, the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle offers a information-packed Entertainment section.

The Bay Area Reporter is a major San Francisco's Queer newspaper and information source.

The Bay Times newspaper is another major Queer news source for San Francisco.

The glory days of Chrysler Corporation's major brands, Chrysler Imperial, Dodge, Plymouth and DeSoto are largely gone. Dodge trucks and cars are still reasonably popular, but the DeSoto and Plymouth brands are a memory from the past.

Today's DaimlerChrysler has a different focus.

Consider the new Daimler-Chrysler Orion VII hybrid diesel bus. The new transit bus is powered by BAE Systems' HybriDrive technology that drastically reduces emissions. Orion VII produces 90% less particulate matter and 40% less NOx gases than standard diesel buses. Additionally, the Orion VII coach achieves 45% better fuel economy that regular diesel buses.

San Francisco MUNI will take delivery of 56 new Orion VII clean-air hybrid buses this year. When all the buses have been delivered MUNI will be operating the third largest fleet of clean-air hybrid buses in the United States.

It has been 40 years since San Francisco opened a new library branch. At a time when libraries across the nation are losing patrons and providing service to fewer and fewer people, the San Francisco library system is expanding. Mayor Gavin Newsom, former Mayor Willie Brown and San Francisco Librarian Luis Herrera opened a new 7,500 square-foot branch this past week.


The new Mission Bay branch will serve the fast-growing SOMA residential neighborhood. It is located at Fourth and Berry Streets, a neighborhood once populated only by Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, warehouses, and empty lots. Today Fourth and Berry is surrounded by high-rise condominiums, the Giants ballpark, the busy CalTrain station, Safeway and Whole Foods, the UCSF Mission Bay Research Center and the new Stem Cell Research Center.

In addition to a collection of 34,000 books and audio-visual items, the new branch features a state-of-the-art community meeting room which is expected to be heavily used right from its opening day. The San Francisco Public Library system also offers an extensive online history center here and the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco has a collection of nearly a quarter-million historical photographs, many of which are available online here.

The Bank of America is being praised this morning because they have ended years of support for the Boy Scouts of America. Without question the decision is a positive one, but I want to stop short of singing BofA praises.

In 1998 Nations Bank bought Bank of America. That was the end of the proud banking institution created by Amadeo Giannini in San Francisco known first as the Bank of Italy. Giannini and his bank became famous after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Sifting through the ruins of his bank building, he loaded $2 million in gold, coins and securities onto the bed of a produce wagon, spread a layer of produce to disguise the real cargo and then drove home.

The next day Giannini, who was known to his fellow bankers and the San Francisco business community simply as "A.P.", went down to the docks very near present day Pier 39 and put a wooden plank between two barrels and declared that his Bank of Italy was back in business. He offered to make a loan to anyone who came up to his makeshift office and extend credit on nothing more than a face, a signature and a handshake. At a time when the other San Francisco banks were closed and many had removed their cash, gold and securities from San Francisco and relocated elsewhere, it was Giannini and his bold move that spurred the rebirth and rebuilding of San Francisco. My great-grandfather was one of the people who stood in front of Giannini's plank-and-barrel office and got a loan.

Understandably it was a sad day in 1998 when the Bank of America came to an inglorious death when it was sucked-up by Nations Bank. The name "Bank of America" had so much more goodwill attached to it than Nations Bank, which had changed its name from North Carolina National Bank seven years earlier, that a decision was made by the new owners to change the bank's name to Bank of America.

One of the first corporate changes made was to move the world headquarters of Bank of America from it's birthplace, San Francisco, to the new owner's real home, Charlotte, North Carolina, birthplace of the North Carolina National Bank. The new bank's policies became much more conservative and the social commitments and values important to the real Bank of America and San Franciscans were unceremoniously dumped in favor of policies more in tune with the Bible-belt politics of many North Carolinians.

Last year the North Carolina-based BofA bought FleetBoston Financial Corporation and with that merger came a flow of fresh, more liberal thinking. Now, the boys in Charlotte are buying MBNA Corporation, the world's largest independent credit card lender. MBNA's headquarters is in Wilmington, Delaware. Even more fresh thinking and common sense is penetrating the Charlotte board room.

The result is that the new corporation, with new non-Charlotte thinkers, has decided to end a tradition of supporting the Boy Scouts of America. A letter from BofA to the Boy Scouts states, in part, "under the non-discrimination policy, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation cannot provide funding to any organization that practices discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or veteran or disability status."

My reaction is not as congratulatory as others. If Bank of America was still alive and still the same bank created by A.P. Giannini and still headquartered in San Francisco, it would not have taken so damn long for them to wake-up and recognize the reality of the LGBT civil rights movement. It would have happened years ago.

Bank of America gets no gold star from me.

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, (shown at right) has just announced a new wiki devoted to the hot political issues of the day like gay marriage, North Korean war rumblings or the global warming pandemic. Anyone may register for a free account and then edit any section of the wiki they choose.

On July 4th, Wales launched Campaigns Wikia with the following Open Letter to the Political Blogosphere which is reproduced here:



For more than 50 years now, we have been living in the era of television politics. In the 1950s television first began to have a major impact on politics, and the results were overwhelming.

Broadcast media brought us broadcast politics. And let's be simple and bluntly honest about it, left or right, conservative or liberal, broadcast politics are dumb, dumb, dumb.

Campaigns have been more about getting the television messaging right, the image, the soundbite, than about engaging ordinary people in understanding and caring how political issues really affect their lives.

Blog and wiki authors are now inventing a new era of media, and it is my belief that this new media is going to invent a new era of politics. If broadcast media brought us broadcast politics, then participatory media will bring us participatory politics.

One hallmark of the blog and wiki world is that we do not wait for permission before making things happen. If something needs to be done, we do it. Well, campaigns need to sit up and take notice of the Internet, take notice of bloggers, take notice of wikis, and engage with us in a constructive way.

The candidates who will win elections in the future will be the candidates who build genuinely participative campaigns by generating and expanding genuine communities of engaged citizens.

I am launching today a new Wikia website aimed at being a central meeting ground for people on all sides of the political spectrum who think that it is time for politics to become more participatory, and more intelligent.

This website, Campaigns Wikia, has the goal of bringing together people from diverse political perspectives who may not share much else, but who share the idea that they would rather see democratic politics be about engaging with the serious ideas of intelligent opponents, about activating and motivating ordinary people to get involved and really care about politics beyond the television soundbites.

Together, we will start to work on educating and engaging the political campaigns about how to stop being broadcast politicians, and how to start being community and participatory politicians.

How will we do that? Is it possible? Jimbo, are you crazy?

Ok, I might be crazy. I founded Wikipedia, which is of course about as crazy an idea as anyone might imagine. And you know what? I was not and I still am not smart enough to figure out how to make Wikipedia work. The Wikipedians figured that out, my role has only been to listen and watch, and to guide us forward in a spirit of sincerity and love to do something useful.

So, I will frankly admit right up front: I don't know how to make politics healthier. But, I believe that you do. I believe that together we can work, this very election season, to force campaigns to use wikis and blogs to organize, discuss, manage, lead and be led by their volunteers.

We can turn this into the first beginnings of what is to come. This can be the start of the era of net-driven participatory politics. And it does not matter if you are on the right, on the left, moderate or extreme, socialist or libertarian. Whoever you are, and whatever you believe, you can share with me my sincere desire that the process start to be about substance and thought, rather than style and image.

Here is what to do:

First, sign up for the mailing list here. Let's start a conversation, let's start teaching each other how to reach out and get the attention of the campaigns. Or drop me a personal email at jwales @ wikia.com to talk more.

Second, sign up here on the wiki, and let's start building the knowledgebase to make this happen.

Third... blog about it, email about it, talk about it, contact your local politicians and help them to get involved. Make a big noise that there is a broad non-partisan effort to making politics smarter, in engaging people at a personal level. Politicians will respond, but they need to hear us demand it, in a big way.

For now, just sign up on the mailing list and give a shout out about what you are interested in. We will get this ball rolling.

Fireworks?

What could possibly beat the sight of the Discovery blasting off on the Fourth of July?

Happy Birthday, America!

San Francisco is moving forward with a plan to make free wi-fi Internet service available to everyone throughout the City. Google will provide service to the public and EarthLink will provide service with a few more bells and whistles to the San Francisco corporate and business community. As we edge closer to creating the system it is a prudent idea to keep an eye on both the strengths and the weaknesses of the two principal players.

A ZDNet post by Donna Bogatin listed potential issues Google suspects may affect their future success. The list was taken from a report made to Google investors for the first quarter 2006. In a summary provided by Google Reader eight problem areas are identified. They are:

1. Google may have scaling problems with increased traffic.

2. Google relies on bandwidth providers, so they’re vulnerable to their actions in that way.

3. Ad blockers could block Google AdSense/ AdWords.

4. Google might have problems searching proprietary document formats on the web, e.g. if Microsoft adds indexing “protection” mechanisms to Word files.

5. Search engine spam harms the results relevancy of Google

6. Google could face more privacy concerns, and a damaged reputation coming out of that.

7. Google isn’t fully prepared if the mobile web takes off, as their apps don’t work across all mobile browsers.

8. Google faces click fraud.

The original ZDNet article may be read here.

More than 750,000 Americans are HIV positive. Throughout the world there are 36 million people infected with HIV. The truly frightening statistic, however, is that over 10% of all new infections are children under the age of 15. There is high probability that as many of those children go through their teenage sexual exploration years they will engage in unsafe sex at some point and by so doing continue the worldwide spread of the virus.

The virus is every bit as dangerous and volatile today as it was 25 years ago when it first infected Patient Zero. Prevention of the disease is as important as the research being done to cure the disease.

The Know Now Organization (TKNO) is a physician-owned and physician-based service that offers in-home HIV testing, education and results in minutes. For a fee, TKNO will come to your home, administer the FDA-approved OraQuick Advanced HIV antibody test and provide you with results within 20-minutes. Both pre-test and post-test counseling and education are included. The service is professional, reliable and can be completely anonymous if desired.


With new laws in California that require public clinics to report the names of those who test positive for HIV to a state-maintained database, the new TKNO service is likely to be the option of choice for those who can afford the service. Because it is owned and supervised by physicians, the counselors and technicians are highly trained and most come out of the medical or health education field.

Dr. Frederick Brown, the CEO of TKNO, talked recently about why they are offering this new service. "We are excited to bring this much needed service to the public to help prevent the transmission of the HIV virus. For a variety of reasons, a lot of people just don't get tested as frequently as they should. Some are concerned about privacy issues in our public health clinics or physician offices, while others would simply want to be tested and educated in the comfort of their own home."

TKNO plans to utilize a network of licensed nurses and certified health educators who will administer the rapid HIV tests and provide the counseling. Each test performed will be under the auspices of a licensed medical doctor. TKNO hopes to expand throughout the country with franchises run largely by registered nurses.

TKNO has been offering its services in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Washington, D.C. They are currently setting up shop in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New Orleans.


Story References:

The Know Now Organization (TKNO)

OraSure Advance


Other Related References:

UCSF AIDS Research Institute

UCSF Center for Aids Prevention Studies (CAPS)

UCSF HIV InSite

National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA)

CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

World Health Organization (WHO) HIV/AIDS Topics

The Body, Complete HIV/AIDS Resource