Sam Spade's San Francisco

Yesterday, Mayor Gavin Newsom was joined by Police Chief Heather Fong, members of the Entertainment Commission and local nightclub owners and promoters to announce new legislation aimed at reforming the nightclub industry. Four pieces of legislation will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors at the next full Board meeting and are co-sponsored by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.

"People are going to these nightclubs, carrying guns, and committing violent crimes," said Mayor Newsom. "This violence will not be allowed to continue, and we are telling nightclub industry officials that we are here to help you, but we are going to make some changes."

Three of the proposed ordinances focus on reforming permitting protocol for promoters and nightclubs, and a final ordinance will prohibit loitering around nightclubs during the late evening and early morning hours.

"The areas directly outside nightclubs have become locations for assaults and shootings, and nightclub goers have become fearful for their safety," said Chief Fong. "This proposed anti-loitering legislation is another crime-fighting tool for our officers, and our hope is to reduce the incidence of violent crimes around these entertainment venues."

The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) held the first Nightlife Safety Summit in January, convening owners of nightclubs, event promoters, and other members of the nightlife community to discuss violence occurring outside of late night entertainment venues. Participants were asked to act as partners in public safety activities to reduce violent crime and accept accountability reforms in light of recent incidents involving nightclub patrons.

"The entertainment community is proud to be a partner in the development of this legislation, as our venues benefit most when our customers feel safe." said Entertainment Commission President Audrey Josephs. "This legislation gives greater authority to the Entertainment Commission to act quickly and effectively when violations do occur."

Resources:
Mayor Gavin Newsom
Police Chief Heather Fong
Entertainment Commission
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell
Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice

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I like State Senator Leland Yee. He's proved himself to be a good San Francisco Supervisor and now he is proving himself to be a good California State Senator. Unfortunately Leland Yee is like all the rest of us. He makes mistakes. Tearing down the Cow Place is one of those mistakes.

In the photo: Map showing the location of the Cow Palace. Directly across the street is Sunnydale Avenue, site of one of the most notorious and dangerous drug-infested public housing projects in San Francisco

The plans are to raze the Cow Palace and replace it with a supermarket and a mini strip mall.

One of San Francisco's most notorious public housing projects is across the street from the Cow Palace. Right now the Cow Palace is an anchor that prevents the dope-dealing punks who infest the area from making the entire Southern boundary of San Francisco a Crime and Narcotics Paradise.

True, people living in the area need a good supermarket, but replacing an anchor like the Cow Palace with a supermarket on the same site will condemn the neighborhood to ghetto status. Within two years after its opening, the market and strip mall would be gathering places for curbside crack sales and other assorted crimes.

Build a market and strip mall someplace else. If we destroy the Cow Palace, then San Franciscans will no longer have any reason to visit the southern boundary of our City. The entire neighborhood will be left to the devices of people who have already demonstrated a unique ability to destroy whatever they encounter.

It's a bad idea. It's a very, very bad idea.

If you would like to join a fast-growing number of San Franciscans and Bay Area residents in opposing the destruction of the Cow Palace, contact .

Here's how to reach Save the Cow Palace:
by Internet:
by Email:

Learn more about the Cow Palace:
Wikipedia article about the Cow Palace and its rich history
Cow Palace website

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Former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzales has been asked by Ralph Nader to join him on Nader's independent no-party effort to be elected President of the United States. While Nader and Gonzales have absolutely zero chance of being elected, they will be a clear and definite benefit to Senator John McCain and the Republican Party.

In the photo: Matt Gonzales and Ralph Nader. Photo by Molly Riley and courtesy of Reuters

Although neither Nader or Gonzales are Republican Party members, their independent campaign will successfully drain votes from Senator Obama (or Senator Clinton, although her chances are looking pretty dismal) and, by so doing, they will support John McCain's bid for the White House. They may not be on McCain's payroll, but they should be.

Nader and Gonzales are spoilers. They are nothing less and certainly nothing more. This latest move by Gonzales, who is known for shooting from the hip without thought or planning, will further alienate him from the Democratic Party power structure in San Francisco. Gonzales is fast headed for political oblivion.

Gonzales is becoming one of the Republican Party's most potent weapons in San Francisco politics. Matt Gonzales is persona non grata to many San Francisco Democrats and a buffoon to the Republican Party, even though the GOP will likely benefit from his independent candidacy.

Remember: a vote for Nader and Gonzales is a vote for John McCain and his 100-Year Iraq War.

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa will be in San Francisco on Tuesday, April 8th to accept an award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

Desmond Tutu is the retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. In 1984 he was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism. Also in 1984 he was warded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2007 he was awarded the Ghandi Peace Prize by the President of India. He has been honored with more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees from universities across the globe.

On Tuesday, April 8th, Archbishop Tutu, now 76, will be in San Francisco to accept the Outspoken Award from the IGLHRC.

For more information about the venue, which is still being planned, visit the IGLHRC web site or contact the Development Department at .

The following story was first published Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by San Francisco Business Times. The story was written by Sarah Duxbury:

New College of California has lost its WASC accreditation.

The 36-year-old progressive, nontraditional college has faced charges of fiscal and operational mismanagement and has undergone a lengthy review by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. That body notified New College's acting president, Luis Molina, in a letter dated Feb. 26 that it was withdrawing its accreditation of the university.

This is the final blow in an investigation that has lasted almost one year.

The San Francisco school has been on probation since June 2007, aware that it must make massive changes to its administrative, financial and academic systems if it was to retain accreditation. Its president, Martin Hamilton, resigned in July 2007, and Molina, a former New College board member, has served as acting president since September 2007. Molina has tried to implement a turnaround strategy which included closing New College's North Bay campus last fall and selling off property it owned.

Federal financial aid funds were held during the investigation, which contributed to the current fiscal crisis, and enrollment has plummeted.

WASC visited the school in November 2007 to investigate the school's deteriorating financial situation as well as compliance and ethical issues.

The WASC investigators found that the school is insolvent, according to the letter. Even its effort to sell off real estate has helped reduce debt, but generated little revenue. New College has not been able to meet its payroll since November 2007, and it delayed indefinitely the spring semester for most of its programs.

On the operational side, WASC found that New College had no systems in place, such as a standardized semester schedule, to meet basic standards for accreditation.

New College will have to wait a full year should it wish to reapply for WASC accreditation.

In the meantime, there's not much point in registering or attending classes at New College. Try City College of San Francisco or San Francisco State University for a legitimate and fully accredited college education.

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The following story was first published this week in San Francisco Business Times. The story was written by Stephen E. F. Brown:

Visa Inc. said in a regulatory filing that it might raise as much as $17 billion in its initial public offering of stock.

The San Francisco company will offer 406 million shares for between $37 and $42 a piece.

Such a large IPO would be the largest in U.S. history. AT&T Wireless raised $10.6 billion in its 2000 IPO.

Underwriters will have an option to buy 40.6 million more shares.

Visa Inc. had 5,436 workers at the end of 2007. Its largest customer, JP Morgan Chase and its affiliates, supplied $408 million, or 10 percent, of Visa sales in 2006 and $454 million, or 9 percent of sales, in 2007.

Visa U.S.A., one of Visa Inc.'s predecessor companies, is involved in a number of lawsuits relating to its business, and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice asked it in September last year for documents describing its agreements with banks that issue Visa debit cards.

Joseph Saunders, a former Providian and Washington Mutual executive, is chairman and CEO of Visa Inc., while Byron Pollitt is its chief financial officer. Pollitt was CFO at clothing seller Gap Inc. for four years before coming to Visa.

Saunders' base salary at Visa last year was $804,519 (he was hired in February), and his total compensation for 2007 was $11.14 million.

Pollitt's 2007 salary was $27,083 (he was hired in September) and his signing bonus was $250,000. His base salary is $650,000 per year.

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An earthquake and a parade - what a way to start a new lunar year!

It was a wild San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade for 2008!

The parade took place faithfully as it does every year despite strong gusts of wind and a steady rain on the parade. The bright colors of the lion dancers, the lions themselves and even the venerable and historic dragon of San Francisco, Gum Lung, were protected by transparent plastic raincoats. Gum Lung's raincoat was 201-feet long.

In the photo: The Bottle Rock Power Plant at the Geysers. Photo courtesy of The Geysers Geothermal Assn.

To help celebrate the Year of the Rat, Mother Nature, deep within the hidden bowels of the Earth, decided to rumble and grumble and shake things up a bit. At 9:32 PM on Saturday, after the parade was over, a 4.1 earthquake struck almost 2.5 miles below the surface of the planet. The epicenter of the earthquake was The Geysers, which is about 25-miles from Santa Rosa. The exact longitude and latitude is 38.818°N, 122.809°W.

The Geysers is an active geothermal area within the Clear Lake volcanic field in Northern California. The Geysers is a steam field that is comprised of 30 square miles along the Sonoma and Lake County border. It is the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world.

Of the 21 power plants at The Geysers, Calpine owns and operates 19 of them. They generate about 750 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 750,000 homes, or a city the size of San Francisco. The towns of Pine Grove, Cobb, Forest Lake and Whispering Pines, all along Highway 175, are located right on on the edge of the geothermal field. The town of Anderson Springs pretty much sits right on top of the field.

The Geysers geothermal field is actually a place where maars come very close to the surface of the earth. Maars are flat-floored craters that are formed after extremely violent expansion of super-hot magmatic gas or steam. Often the intense pressure drills upward through solid rock and creates vent holes, or diatreme, that carry the super-heated steam under intense pressure to the surface where it spurts out as steam or hot water geysers.

The largest visible feature of the geothermal field is Mount Konocti, which is not a normal mountain at all. It is a composite dacitic lava dome along the South shore of Clear Lake. It is dacitic in that when Mount Konocti is active it spews out molten dacite, which is about 65% silica. The flows erupt at the surface between 1470 and 1830 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 800-1000 degrees Centigrade).

There is no reason for immediate alarm, however. The last time Mount Konocti erupted was about 10,000 years ago. Tourist literature often refers to Mount Konocti as an extinct volcano. That is absolutely not true. It is not extinct. Konocti is active - just very, very patient between eruptions.

Mount Konocti, however, is a soundly sleeping giant. Beneath it's slopes bordering Clear Lake on one side and world-class vineyards on the other, rests a large dacitic magma chamber with gurgling and bubbling molten lava. As water seeps down into the earth it encounters intense heat coming from the magma chamber. That heats the water to steam and it makes its way to the surface. The result is the world's largest producing geothermal field.

Yesterday's steam-boiler earthquake was little more than a burp in the grand life of the living, breathing Planet Earth as we know it here in Northern California. We are, after all, part of the Great Pacific Ring of Fire that is the most active volcanic area on Earth.

Resources:
Map of The Geysers - after opening, click on the map to enlarge
The Geysers and Clear Lake Volcanic Field
Calpine - The Geysers Geothermal Production Field
History of Geothermal Production at The Geysers
The Geysers Geothermal Association
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - for more information on recent earthquakes
Mount Konocti - Wikipedia article
The Pacific Ring of Fire - map from the USGS

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Since 1956 the Black & White Ball has been the premier event of the San Francisco Symphony season. If you were to choose only one major event to attend each year in San Francisco, the Black & White Ball would be a superb choice.

For 2008 the Grammy award-winning recording artist Seal will headline the Black & White Ball and will perform with the San Francisco Symphony at the Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday, May 31st at 8 PM.

Seal was born Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Ongowe' Bongota Adelo Samuel in London, England to a Nigerian father and a Brazilian mother. Seal won three Grammy Awards and has become an internationally respected vocalist with a rich and unique soulful style.

In addition to the performance by Seal and the SFS in Davies Symphony Hall, the Ball will feature special pre- and post-concert VIP events, multiple venues with live music, dancing, food, beverages, and the traditional Midnight Surprise.

The 2008 Black & White Ball® offers patrons a variety of new options. The Party Pass ($200) provides Ball entry at 9 p.m. and access to all five Performing Arts Center venues and outdoor stages for live dance music, food and refreshments until 1:00 a.m. Additional details regarding venues, food, and specific Latin, rock, jazz, and pop music bands will be announced in April.

The special Seal concert + Party Pass ($325) allows patrons to start off the Ball in grand style with the legendary performer on stage in Davies Symphony Hall.

Three additional VIP options are also available: beginning at 5:00 p.m., the Patrons’ Dinner ($1000-$2500) will be set in a magnificent tented pavilion resplendent with décor by Robert Fountain Design. Those who purchase the Harlequin-level ticket ($2500) at the Patrons’ Dinner will have a chance to meet Seal in an intimate and elegant reception following the concert.

Also at 5:00 p.m. the SF Symphony League’s Supper Club ($375-$600) will offer up its own swank cocktail reception and dinner in the elegant Veterans Building Green Room.

A third VIP event will be the high voltage Bash Beyond the Ball presented by Symphonix ($375-$600), the Symphony’s young professionals group. Robert Fountain will design both Green Room events. The Bash follows the Seal concert in a transformed Veteran’s Building Green Room.

All three VIP dinner packages include seating in Davies Symphony Hall for the Seal concert performance and the Party Pass to the live dance music, food and refreshments until 1:00 a.m.

All three dinners include premium concert seating for the Seal concert and the Party Pass. To order by phone, call or visit www.sfsymphony.org/ball.

Resources:
Seal
San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
Directions, Seating Charts & Parking Info for the Davies Symphony Hall
Davies Symphony Hall - SFS
Hayes Street Grill - nearby restaurant
Jardiniere - nearby and one of the best dinner restaurants in San Francisco!
Ovation at the Opera - nearby restaurant
Absinthe Brasserie and Bar - nearby and very nice!
Citizen Cake - nearby patissiere, restaurant and bar - excellent!
The Garden Court at the Palace Hotel - Historic, magnificent, ornate, first-class restaurant - best choice for a decadent breakfast - does not serve dinner.

Relevant Reviews and Information from Sam Spade's San Francisco:
Coffee in the Castro - The Best Spots in the Castro for a Cup of Joe
San Francisco's Fabulous Lesbian Chefs
San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace - Complete Guide
Presidio of San Francisco - Well worth the time and effort to behold
St. Francis Hotel Gets $150-Million Makeover
Taxicab Crooks and Scam Cabs in San Francisco - If you take taxis, be sure you read this!

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I generally make it my practice to stay out of issues that involve other San Francisco Bay Area cities. Today, however, is a clear exception.

True, I am a very proud San Franciscan whose family first came to this City in the late 19th Century. Yet, it is also true that I am a very proud American Citizen by birth and I am veteran.

That's why I decided to voice my distaste for the City of Berkeley's decision to insult the United States Marine Corps. Berkeley's actions are an embarrassment to the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

Click on the image to enlarge in a separate window. Image courtesy of Move America Forward

Berkeley has insulted every veteran in this country and Berkeley has insulted the sons and daughters of Americans who, unlike the Berkeley City Council and Mayor, are proud of their country and serve their country in uniform.

Politically I am a 100% Obama Democrat.

"Keeping faith with those who serve must always be a core American value and a cornerstone of American patriotism. Because America's commitment to its servicemen and women begins at enlistment, and it must never end."

— Barack Obama, Speech in Kansas City, MO, August 21, 2007

The Move America Forward organization is a conservative right-wing group and I seldom agree with any of their positions. Today, however, I am promoting them and I'm asking you to consider signing the petition they are organizing.

The petition will be delivered by KGO Radio host and Move America Forward Chairwoman Melanie Morgan to the Mayor of Berkeley, the Berkeley City Council and to the Berkeley City Manager.

Here is the wording of the petition:

"To: The City Council, Mayor and City Manager of Berkeley, California."

We, the undersigned, do register our complete outrage with the City of Berkeley for the recent resolutions that criticized our Marines, as part of an effort to harass the Marine Recruiting Center and chase all vestiges of the United States military outside of the city of Berkeley, California.

"We take particular umbrage with your refusal to apologize for telling the United States Marines that they are, 'uninvited and unwelcome intruders'."

"It is shameful for you to attack our military men and women who nobly and bravely serve this nation to protect our security and defend our freedoms and liberties. Those liberties include the right to Freedom of Speech, which you seem to believe should not be afforded to the members of the United States Marine Corps and service personnel in other branches of the Armed Forces."

"I call upon you to immediately revoke all the resolutions passed on January 29th, 2008 that defamed and insulted our U.S. Marines and issue a full public apology to this nation, and in particular, the honorable and heroic men and women of the United States military."

To sign the petition, follow this link to Support Our Marines!

Resources:
Berkeley City Council
Mayor of Berkeley
Berkeley City Manager
United States Marine Corps
Move America Forward
Veterans for Obama
Leatherneck.Com
Marine Corps League
Barack Obama

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The news reports I have read about the destruction of a U.S. spy satellite by a U.S. Navy Missile Cruiser offered very few details. I've taken the time to find those details and I want to share them with you here.

In the photo: The USS Lake Erie (CG-70) firing the AEGIS missile at sea. Click to enlarge in a separate window. Photo by U.S. Navy.

At 10:26 PM yesterday evening, Wednesday, February 21, 2008, the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) launched a missile and destroyed the satellite as it orbited above the Pacific Ocean. The USS Lake Erie is a Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser and she is armed to the teeth.

She carries two 61-cell Mark 41 Vertical Missile Launch Systems. Her arsenal of missiles includes over 100 SM-2 and SM-3 Aegis missiles, Tomahawk missiles and VLA-ASROC weapons systems. She also carries Harpoon missiles and an assortment of other weaponry including torpedoes, Phalanx CIWS, and 50-caliber guns.

The Lake Erie fired a single modified SM-3 and struck the satellite 133 nautical miles above the Pacific Ocean as the satellite was whizzing by overhead at the incredible speed of 17,000 miles per hour. The missile made a bulls eye strike. The SM-3 blasted the satellite and its fuel tank into thousands of small pieces with none being larger than a football.

One-thousand pounds of hydrazine contained within the fuel tank was also blasted into microscopic particles that pose no threat to life on Earth.

Most of the debris fell toward Earth and was destroyed by the intense friction-produced heat of re-entry. Pieces that remain in space should re-enter the atmosphere and burn-up within the next month.

Resources:
USS Lake Erie (CG-70)
SM-2 and SM-3 missiles
National Reconnaissance Office
NRO Satellite Photos
hydrazine
Phalanx CIWS Weapons Systems
Harpoon Missile System
Aegis Weapons Ssystem
Mark 41 Vertical Launch System
VLA-ASROC missiles
U.S. Navy Cruisers (CG series)
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Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was hospitalized yesterday, Monday, February 17th at St. John's Health Center near her home in Bel-Air. She slipped and fell at her home. Falls can be very serious for octogenarians. Nancy Reagan is 86.

X-Rays disclosed that Mrs. Reagan did not break her hip, something that is always a concern when an elderly person falls.

The room where Mrs. Reagan spent the night is the same room where her husband stayed after he broke his hip at home in 2001.

President Ronald Reagan died June 5, 2004, after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. The two were married, were deeply in love and were each other's best friend for 52 years.

Resources:
The White House Biography of Nancy Reagan
National First Ladies' Library: Nancy Reagan
The Reagan Library

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WHO: The San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS)

WHAT: The 56th Pacific Orchid Exposition, ‘Orchids Gone Wild’

WHERE: Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion

WHEN: February 28 – March 2, 2008

Prepare yourself for orchids that were born to be wild when you step into the 56th annual Pacific Orchid Exposition (POE), hosted by the thriving San Francisco Orchid Society, one of the oldest and most active orchid societies on the West Coast. Over 150,000 orchids from all over the globe, in every color, shape and size, will be viewable at this award winning show. The POE will bring out the wild side of all who attend, ensuring a mind boggling, jaw dropping, and eye popping experience. This provocative showcase of orchids will take place at Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion February 28 through March 2, 2008.

Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants, and grow in every part of the world. The intricately structured orchid is known for its long-life span, revealing its compelling beauty or bizarre nature for months on end. More then 50 growers will be displaying their unique breeds and rare hybrid forms, giving orchid lovers the chance to purchase a one-of-a-kind treasure to gaze at in the comfort of the home, office, restaurant or shop.

The 2008 San Francisco Orchid Society’s Pacific Orchid Expo will offer tours and educational demonstrations of the latest developments in orchid horticulture. This award winning show is judged by local Society experts and judges from throughout the country who are certified by the prestigious American Orchid Society (AOS). Preview night, Thursday, February 28, includes delicious appetizers and wine tasting from 28 wineries, including varietals from four of the 2008 International San Francisco Chronicle Wine Tasting winners. The POE is praised every year for maintaining its position as one of the top three orchid shows in the country. Come celebrate the amazing display of orchids this year, as the San Francisco Orchid Society anticipates the shapes and colors to be more unusual and the species and hybrid breeds more outrageous than ever. Let the imagination run wild as the exotic nature of orchids is unveiled.

February 28 – March 2, 2008

• Gala Benefit Preview, Thursday, February 28, 2008, 6:30-10:00 p.m.
• Friday, February 29, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 1, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
• Sunday, March 2, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

COST:

• Preview Night: $30.00 in advance, $35.00 at the door
• General Admission: $14.00 or $12.00 online
• Seniors (65+), disabled: $8.00
• Children 12 and under free when accompanied by an adult, except at the Gala Benefit Preview

INFO: Call 415.665.2468

RESOURCES:
San Francisco Orchid Society
Fort Mason Center
Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park
American Orchid Society

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NOTE: You have reached an out-dated post. For the 2009 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade details, please go to: San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade 2009.

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The 2008 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade: Details, times, parade route, parking garage info, public transit. It's all right here.

The information is all here: Where to park, where to get public transit, a map of the parade route, how to buy bleacher seats to watch the parade plus a complete list of important links.

The annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is just a little more than a week away. It's time to get all the plans settled upon and start getting ready for one of the most spectacular parades on the planet.

In the photo: Rachel Fong of the Foster City Chinese Club performing in the 2007 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. Photo by Kristina Koci Hernandez and courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Since the 1860's the parade has combined the 5,000-year-old traditions of the Lantern Festival along with a good old American parade. It is one of the few remaining lighted nighttime parades in the country and (counting both the people watching along the parade route and the television viewers) is the most watched parade on Earth.

It is also the largest celebration of Asian culture outside of Asia. You're going to have to hop a flight to Shanghai, Hong Kong or Beijing to see a bigger celebration.


Chinatown Community Street Fair

Saturday, February 23, 2008 10am-4:30pm
Sunday, February 24, 2008 9am-5pm
Grant Avenue from Clay to Broadway & Pacific Avenue from Kearny to Stockton & Jackson Street from Kearny to Stockton

Become immersed in the sights and sounds of Chinatown. The Chinatown Community Street Fair takes place the weekend of the Chinese New Year Parade and is an opportunity for attendees to experience Chinese cultural arts such as lantern and kite making, calligraphy, fine arts demonstrations, folk dance, and puppet shows. Traditional and modern entertainment perform on the main stage throughout both days. Enjoy colorful folk dance from throughout Asia, acrobats, lion dancing, and magic demonstrations. Attendance at the two day fair is about 500,000. Come be a part of all the fun and magic as well as the incredible "Block of Fortune"


Chinese New Year Parade

Saturday, February 23rd, Lunar Year 4706
Starts at 5:30 PM
See map below for locations

Named one of the world's top ten parades, Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. Over 100 units will participate in the parade, many of the floats and specialty units will feature the theme of this year's Chinese zodiac sign.

Nowhere in the world will you see a lunar new year parade with more gorgeous floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, and exploding firecrackers. Some of the parade highlights include elaborately decorated floats, school marching bands, martial arts group, stilt walkers, lion dancers, Chinese acrobatics, the newly crowned Miss Chinatown USA and the Golden Dragon.

The Golden Dragon is over 201 feet long and is always featured at the end of the parade as the grand finale and will be accompanied by over 600,000 firecrackers! The Golden Dragon was made in Foshan, a small town in China. The Foshan dragonmasters formerly made all the costumes for the Cantonese opera, and the Golden Dragon bears many operatic touches, such as the rainbow colored pompoms on its 6 foot-long head. It is festooned from nose to tail with colored lights, decorated with silver rivets on both scaly sides and trimmed in white rabbit fur. The dragon, made on a skeleton of bamboo and rattan, is in 29 segments. It takes a team of 100 men and women to carry the Golden Dragon. This is also considered an honor to be chosen for the grand finale.

Rain or shine, come watch the parade!

The parade starts on Market, goes up Geary to Powell, down Post and ends on Kearny at Columbus.

Best locations to view the parade:

• Bleacher seats you can buy along the parade route. (links below)
  
• TV broadcasters area along Union Square.
• Many people line the area around Portsmouth Square. Pick up some food and enjoy the parade.
• Review stand area at the end of the parade, where floats are judged
• A street-view hotel room in the St. Francis Hotel, overlooking Union Square. (links below)
  

Take BART to the Chinese New Year Parade

Exit at the Montgomery or Powell Street Stations. The parade starts on Market, goes up Geary to Powell, down Post and ends on Kearny at Columbus. To plan your trip, visit BART.gov. To avoid long ticket lines, buy a round trip ticket for the parade in advance at any BART station (tickets have no time limit). This is particularly helpful for families or groups traveling together -- each person must have their own ticket and will skip long lines at the ticket machines by purchasing them in advance. To calculate your round trip fare ahead of time, visit BART Ticket Calculator. Discount BART tickets for children! Don't forget, children 4 and under ride FREE! Plus, BART offers discounted tickets for Children 5 to 12 Years Old - a $24 ticket costs only $9. You must purchase these red discount tickets PRIOR to the parade date - you will not be able to purchase them at the station on the date of the parade. To purchase your discount tickets in advance: Purchase online at BART Discount Tickets or at one of the locations listed at BART Retail Sales. Enter your zip code to find the location closest to you to purchase tickets, and make sure to call first to make sure that they have the tickets you need available. (Note - you can visit BART Ticket Types for information about discount tickets for Seniors or Persons with Disabilities.)


Public Transportation

AC Transit: Serves Berkeley, Oakland and other East Bay communities. In SF, buses depart from the Transbay Terminal and Financial District. .

BART: Links San Francisco with the East Bay and Daly City. In SF, trains run underground along Market Street. Stops at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, Civic Center. .

CalTrain: Rail service to the Peninsula, San Jose. In SF, trains depart from the San Francisco Cal-Train Station. 4th St./Townsend .

Golden Gate Transit: Serves Marin County, parts of Sonoma. In SF, buses stop on Lombard St., Van Ness Ave., Geary Blvd., Financial District, Transbay Terminal. . SamTrans: Serves San Mateo County including the San Francisco International Airport, Palo Alto, Daly City. In SF, buses stop in Financial District, Transbay Terminal. .

Muni: For complete schedule information call (415) 673-MUNI.

San Francisco Taxi Information: Note:If you plan to take a taxi, be SURE you read this important information! Go to: Taxicab Crooks and Scam Cabs in San Francisco

Additional Ferry, Bus, Rail, Transit Information:

• Baylink Ferry
  
• 511.org Transt Info
  
• 511.org Transit Provider List

MUNI Parade Reroute Information The Chinese New Year Parade begins at 5:30pm at Second and Market Streets, proceeds west on Market and then west on Geary Street to Union Square. It turns north on Powell Street, east on Post Street and north on Kearny Street to Columbus Avenue, where the parade will disperse. Streets along the route will close to traffic beginning at 5 p.m. and will reopen once the parade has passed and the route has been cleaned. Market Street between Second and Fremont Streets and Second Street between Market and Mission Streets will be closed beginning at 4 p.m. to accommodate the parade staging area. Market Street cross traffic will be allowed until 5 p.m. For more info, download the MUNI Reroute Information.


Parking Garages:

Union Square

• Ellis-O'Farrell Garage
  123 O'Farrell St.
  
  
  
• Union Square Garage
  333 Post/Geary
  
  
  
• Sutter-Stockton
  330 Stockton/Sutter
  
  
  
• Fifth & Mission Garage
  833 Mission/5th St.
  41582-8522
  
  
• Four-Fifty Sutter Garage
  450 Sutter Street
  
  

Chinatown

• Portsmouth Square Garage
  733 Kearny/Clay
  
  
  
• Savoy Garage
  170 Columbus Avenue
  
  
  
• St. Mary's Square Garage
  433 Kearny Street, SF
  
  
  
• Vallejo Street Garage
  Vallejo At Powell Street

Embarcadero

• Embarcadero Center Garages
  

Moscone Center/Yerba Buena Gardens

• Moscone Center Garage
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Barack Obama is the clear choice for the Queer Community.

Senator Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because he believes the Non-Discrimination Act should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because he has already taken steps to protect all Americans from biased-motivated violence. As a United States Senator Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of Local law Enforcement Enhancement Act that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes perpetrated because of the race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or physical disability of the victim.

Barack Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because he has steadfastly made a commitment to continue the Ryan White Care Act (RWCA) and protect the multifaceted care upon which RWCA beneficiaries depend.

Senator Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because he sponsored legislation to provide full Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV positive Americans.

Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because in addition to supporting the REAL Act (would create a federal grant program to channel money to states that teach comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education for students that includes science-based prevention methods), Senator Obama is a co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act, which will increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education including safe-sex methods.

Barack Obama believes that same-sex couples have the right to adopt and raise a family. He believes a child will benefit from a healthy, loving home, whether the parents are gay or straight.

Senator Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because as someone who believes that queer couples should have the same legal rights as straight married couples and that our immigration laws should unite families, Barack Obama supports the Uniting American Families Act in concept. He believes changes need to be made to the bill to make sure there are added protections against fraud and abuse of the immigration system.

Obama is the clear choice for the GLBT community because he is firmly against the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy. He believes the key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty and a willingness to serve - whether queer or straight.

While Barack Obama does not support same-sex marriage, his position is closer to being in line with us in the queer community than anyone else in the race for the White House, regardless of party. Barack Obama is convinced the 1,100 federal benefits, rights and privileges provided to straight couples but not to gay couples, should be made equally available to gay and lesbian couples in America.

Here's what Senator Obama says about Marriage Equality:

I believe civil unions should include the same legal rights that accompany a marriage license. I support the notion that all people – gay or straight – deserve the same rights and responsibilities to assist their loved ones in times of emergency, deserve equal health insurance and other employment benefits currently extended to traditional married couples, and deserve the same property rights as anyone else.

However, I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman. If I was President, however, I would oppose any effort to stifle a state’s ability to decide this question on its own. Whether it was a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or a bill like the Defense of Marriage Act, I would oppose such efforts. I think the President should do all he or she can to advance strong families. Whatever the make-up of the family, it is the President’s role to provide policies and leadership that enable the family to thrive.

Learn more about Barack Obama at BarackObama.com

Quotation source: The Human Rights Campaign's 2008 Presidential Questionnaire completed by Barack Obama. Read or download it in .pdf format here.

Buy the ObamaPride Rainbow button here.

Visit the ObamaPride page here.


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The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

In the photo: A-20G Havoc. Attacking with forward-firing .50-cal. machine guns and bombs, the A-20G lived up to its name by creating havoc and destruction on low-level strafing attacks. Click to enlarge in a separate window.

They are 2nd Lt. John F. Lubben, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; Sgt. Albert A. Forgue, of North Providence, R.I.; and Sgt. Charles L. Spiegel, of Chicago, Ill.; all U.S. Army Air Forces. They will be buried on April 18 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On Dec. 12, 1944, these men crewed an A-20G Havoc aircraft departing from Coullomiers, France, to bomb enemy targets near Wollseifen, Germany. The aircraft was last seen entering a steep dive near Cologne, Germany. Several searches and investigations of this area and reviews of wartime documents failed to provide information concerning the incident.

In 1975, a German company clearing wartime mines and unexploded ordnance near Simmerath, Germany, reported the discovery of a gravesite northeast of Simmerath where American servicemembers were buried. U.S. officials evaluated the remains and determined they represented three individuals, but they could not make identifications at that time. The remains were subsequently buried as unknowns in the Ardennes American Military Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium.

In 2003, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) was notified that a group of German citizens had information correlating the three servicemembers who were buried as unknowns with the crew from the 1944 A-20G crash. Based on that information, JPAC exhumed the three unknown graves from the Ardennes American Military Cemetery in 2005.

Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

A-20G Havoc Technical Notes:
Armament: Eight .50-cal. machine guns; 4,000 lbs. of bombs
Engines: Two Wright R-2600s of 1,600 hp each
Maximum speed: 317 mph
Cruising speed: 230 mph
Range: 1,025 statute miles
Ceiling: 25,000 ft.
Span: 61 ft. 4 in.
Length: 48 ft.
Height: 17 ft. 7 in.
Weight: 26,580 lbs. loaded

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site or call .

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On Wednesday evening, February 20th, the full Moon over the Americas will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010.

Click on the image to enlarge in a separate window.

The Sun goes down. The Moon comes up. You go out and look at the sky. Observing the eclipse is that easy. Maximum eclipse, and maximum beauty, occurs at 7:26 pm PST.

A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the shadow of Earth. You might expect the Moon to grow even more ashen than usual, but in fact it transforms into an orb of vivid red.

Why red? That is the color of Earth's shadow.

Consider the following: Most shadows we're familiar with are black or gray; step outside on a sunny day and look at your own. Earth's shadow is different because, unlike you, Earth has an atmosphere. The delicate layer of dusty air surrounding our planet reddens and redirects the light of the sun, filling the dark behind Earth with a sunset-red glow. The exact tint--anything from bright orange to blood red is possible--depends on the unpredictable state of the atmosphere at the time of the eclipse. "Only the shadow knows," says astronomer Jack Horkheimer of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.

Transiting the shadow's core takes about an hour. The first hints of red appear around 7 pm PST, heralding a profusion of coppery hues that roll across the Moon's surface enveloping every crater, mountain and moon rock, only to fade away again after 8 pm PST. No special filter or telescope is required to see this spectacular event. It is a bright and leisurely display visible from cities and countryside alike.

While you're watching, be alert for another color: turquoise. Observers of several recent lunar eclipses have reported a flash of turquoise bracketing the red of totality.

"The blue and turquoise shades at the edge of Earth's shadow were incredible," recalls amateur astronomer Eva Seidenfaden of Trier, Germany, who took the picture at right during the European lunar eclipse of March 3-4, 2007. Dozens of other photographers have documented the same phenomenon.

The source of the turquoise is ozone. Eclipse researcher Dr. Richard Keen of the University of Colorado explains: "During a lunar eclipse, most of the light illuminating the moon passes through the stratosphere where it is reddened by scattering. However, light passing through the upper stratosphere penetrates the ozone layer, which absorbs red light and actually makes the passing light ray bluer." This can be seen, he says, as a soft blue fringe around the red core of Earth's shadow.

To catch the turquoise on Feb. 20th, he advises, "look during the first and last minutes of totality." That would be around 7:01 and 7:51 pm PST.

Blood red, bright orange, gentle turquoise: it's all good. Mark your calendar in vivid color for the Feb. 20th lunar eclipse.

This story courtesy of NASA at nasa.gov

Here's a website where you will find the location and info about all San Francisco's hilltop lookouts: http://gridskipper.com/346798/the-hilltop-views-of-san-francisco

The highest Bay Area spot would be atop Mount Tamalpais. Here's where you can get more info: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471

The Lick Observatory up on top of Mount Hamilton has a pretty active special events calendar. I wouldn't be surprised if they have something special going on for the eclipse. Here's their website: http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/

For more information about the eclipse visit the special website set up by NASA just for this event. You will find it here: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_lunareclipse.htm

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Blasting Blue Cross to smithereens is fast becoming a favorite pastime of state legislators, statewide office holders and both county and city level legislators. The deeper one digs into Blue Cross the more one finds that it's not a cross at all. It's a plus-sign and just beneath the blue is the real color of the plus-sign. It's green. The kindly-appearing Blue Cross is really the greedy and sinister Green Plus! It's all about Making More Money for Blue Cross.

One of the best comments about Blue Cross and the health care industry in California that I've heard came recently from California State Assembly Member Mark Leno. Mark answered a reporter's questions in a hallway and exposed Blue Cross for what they really are: arrogant, greedy, unethical, invasive and detrimental to the good and welfare of the people of California.

See what Assemblyman Leno has to say about Blue Cross in his always polite, calm and reserved manner in the following video:



For more information visit the Mark Leno for State Senate website.
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