Welcome to Europe, Poland!

Today is a historic day for Eastern Europe and for Europe as a whole. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Malta and Hungary have, as of today, become members of the Schengen Treaty. They have a common border with the rest of Europe. You can now travel without a passport within Eastern Europe. The EU common boarder now reaches to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, etc. Switzerland and Liechtenstein will enter in 2008, Cyprus in 2009 and Romania and Bulgaria in 2011.

Witamy do Europy, Poland!

January 3rd, 2008

Wow. This election is actually incredibly exciting and I feel somewhat about values and issues rather than just "rockstarness".

So, I was sure that Hillary would win, so I was just deciding which loser I liked the best to vote for here. I lost some respect for Obama after his horrifying pandering to homophobes moment, and I put my support behind Edwards. I figured that any vote, including one for Hillary, was irrelevant as far as the end result goes. I think I'm still supporting Edwards more than anyone else (although I have a ton of respect for Biden), but now, it's a real race. Obama is doing incredibly in many of the early states. According to many polls, he's now winning or tied with Hillary in Iowa, SC and NH.

So now, I have to rethink my idea. I no longer think that the race is irrelevant. It may come down to Feb. 5th or even later. In all of the later states, other than Illinois, Hillary has a commanding lead. However, this could be due to Obama's underexposure in these states, which could change. Also, if he wins in early states, he'll get a boost in the others, especially if Edwards drops out and throws his support to Obama, which I'm hoping he'll do.

God help us if Hillary wins and names Wesley Clark as her running mate. She wouldn't be great, I think, but I wouldn't be opposed to her, but W. Clark is a nincompoop.

It looks like I'm voting for Obama on Feb. 5th!

On the Republican side, I love it. Huckabee is a lackluster, friendly and fairly non-confrontational fellow. He is not opposed to social programs for the poor. Anti-tax nuts hate him. He seems to honestly discuss issues and have real answers. I also think he can't win. I think Obama or Hillary will mop the floor with him. I'm also no longer afraid of Giuliani to the extent that I was before. I think he has a much better chance of winning against Hillary or Obama, so I'm rooting for Huckabee, but as long as we don't get Romney (which I consider to be an impossibility), we'll be relatively alright, and much better off than now.....

Obama/Edwards, Obama/Webb, Obama/Biden, Obama/Villaraigosa or Obama/Napolitano 2008!

Where would we be without the Baghdad by the Bay?

San Francisco is about to become the world's first major city to introduce a program to subsidize the outfitting of houses with solar panels. Berkeley is planning a loan from the city to be paid back over 25 years to completely outfit homes with solar power. San Francisco is gonna give a 50% discount! This plan will be released on Thursday. Go SF go!

Independence for Kosovo!

Hey Bush, Merkel, Brown and Sarkozy, recognize Kosovarian indepence!

STOP ROMNEY NOW!

"Of all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. Every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in, but this attempts a stride beyound the grave and seeks to pursue us into eternity."
- Thomas Paine

Governor Romney just became public enemy number one. I will vote for Newt Gingrich for every office for the rest of my life to avoid this man becoming president. His answers at the Youtube debate on torture were horrific. He had McCain (who looks liberal and sane compared to Romney) screaming, "So you would do away with the Geneva Conventions?" He all but told Romney that he wasn't fit to stand on the same stage.

And then comes his speech today. I am no longer a friend of America or of freedom according to Romney:

"Any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me."
- Well, I guess I cannot be his friend and ally.

"I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from ‘the God who gave us liberty.’"
- WHAT?!

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."
- So, those without freedom (read: the Axis of Evil, right?) can never know religion? Conversely, those who are not religious (read: ME and much of Europe) cannot know freedom?

"We should acknowledge the Creator."
- SHOULD? According to your morals or your political beliefs? ARE YOU F§$%ING NUTS?

This horrifying bigot has just disenfranschised me, most of my friends, most of Europe and almost the entire Muslim world. He does this while attacking the constitutional ban on the establishment of a religion (Christianity). Finally, he still refuses to allay any of the legitimate fears surrounding his religion.

This man would be the final key in our turn towards fascism/tyranny, a la Sinclair Lewis/Thomas Paine. STOP ROMNEY NOW.

Why San Francisco is the best!

On top of the fight towards covering everyone with health insurance (they're moving towards it already, have already insured thousands of uninsured in Chinatown), there are now four other fields SF is forging ahead with.

The second is a bit silly and really has not so much to do with the city, but it cannot be separated. At 9th & Brannan, right off the freeway, you can see the world's first solar billboard outside of South Africa (strange, huh?). PG&E has powered a billboard and more that advertizes for PG&E by saying simply, "This is not a billboard. It's a power plant." I hope PG&E does something real soon. At least they're trying something.

The third is of course mandatory paid sick-leave for all SF employees, even if you work part-time. This allows people to go to the doctor, care for a loved one or even avoid work for up to 2 days without a doctor's note. (This time is accrued and therefore can never really be abused, but it can be very useful).

The fourth is something called Bank on San Francisco. It has been in effect since 2006. It allows those who do not qualify for a bank account at a major bank because they are too poor to get a bank account with the city. This allows them to avoid the fees to cash Social Security checks and not worry about being mugged when they carry their money out the door. New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta have contacted San Francisco officials about the effort. Los Angeles and Seattle are starting their own programs as we speak.

The final is to create city identification cards for all residents regardless of legality.

Socialism here we come!

Current music: Paprika Korps - Riddim

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds will be arraigned at my building, as we house the 9th Circuit Federal Court, on Friday, Dec. 7th. First Pearl Harbor, now Barry Bonds. Ha.

Robert F. Kennedy

"When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of Heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun."

-William Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet", used by Bobby Kennedy to open his speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention after a 22-minute standing ovation, in reference to his brother, JFK, less than a year after he was assassinated

My Neighborhood

My neighborhood has been rechristened by the city. On a map on the ferry building, there was a new designation, from approximately Vanness to Taylor, from O'Farrell to wherever Nob Hill started. I know live in NOMA (NOrth of MArket). I moved from NOPA (NOrth of the PAnhandle) to NOMA (NOrth of MArket). Heh, now I have to SOMA (SOuth of MArket) and then, it's on to NOLITA (NOrth of Lttle ITAly), SOHO (SOuth of HOuston St.), NOHO (NOrth of HOuston St.), TRIBECA (TRIangle BElow CAnal St.) DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), and RAMBO (Right After the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) all in NYC. The final destination would of course be Soho (possibly South of Holborn St.) in London.

Do other cities have this? Perhaps my parents live in SOTO (SOuth of ThOmas Rd.)? or EaSe (EAst of SEventh)? or NoDo (NOrth of DOwntown)? That won't work.......

Any suggestions?

JROTC

I attended a meeting two nights ago at the SF School Board. The point of my presence was to lend support to those who oppose a resolution that would grant JROTC another year of existence. Last year, the SF School Board voted to end JROTC programs at all San Francisco high schools, effective at the end of this year. They voted to end it, because they believed it is a recruitment tool for the military. Also, as it is tied to the military, which the SF School Board termed a "homophobic organization", they wanted it out of schools. Those who want to keep it claim that it is about community building and discipline. Therefore, included in the resolution to end it was the recommendation for a new JROTC-like program, sans militarism.

Tuesday night's meeting was supposed to be dedicated to a vote on a resolution that would extend JROTC for one extra year, but close it at 2 of the 7 high schools (presumably those with the lowest enrollment), block freshman enrollment, and disallow the use of JROTC for PE credit (as many of the JROTC instructors don't even hold a teaching certificate (let alone a PE-teaching certificate)). This would allow for more time to come up with a new program, which detractors argue, has not been done. Upon arrival, there were about 400 students and several parents completely filling the room. I stood at the back with my friend Melissa. The nuts from Berkeley (you know, the older women who wear corduroys and don't wash their hair, etc.) were out in full force to scream about the war in Iraq and detract from real concerns. The only speaker with a brain from either side was a father of an 11-year old who railed against the militarism and the wasted tax money. He made the point that it was unfair to his son to lack a sufficient after-school program because he doesn't want to be trained to fight in a war. He spoke about the lack of teaching credentials. He directly quoted, from the Department of Defense, statements on recruitment intentions.

It didn't matter. Before the meeting even started, the School Board announced that the resolution was off the table and they were unsure if they would bring it again. Therefore, as it stands, JROTC is done in SF. Health care for all, military out of schools, plastic bags out of our city, further development of public transportation. For all of our faults, San Francisco values should be a beacon to the nation.

Oil

The cover of the Chronicle today featured a duck drenched in oil. The headline read "Heartbreaking". There was a major oil spill in the bay when a ship smashed into the bridge dumping its fuel on the marine life. Disgusting. Filth.

Sad

Last night around 6pm a man jumped in front of a BART train at Powell Station. What a sad event. I also feel sorry for all the other people who had to stand and watch. And the BART driver. And the train passengers who could apparently feel it. I am also eternally grateful that I decided to walk to Powell Street after work at 5:50 and did not take a train. There are only a few trains that go through there... Really sad though.

Jesus Barabbas

For anyone who has ever wondered about the origins of Anti-Semitism, one must at least go back as far as, if not much further than, the composition of the Bible. The figure of Barabbas, depicted in different places as thief, murder or most recently, terrorist is important to the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus was brought before a group of people, the identity of which is the key, and was placed next to the figure of Barabbas, or more completely, Yeshua bar-Abbas. Pontius Pilate gave the crowd the choice of setting either Barabbas or Jesus free and they picked Barabbas. Jesus was crucified.

The identity of the crowd is disputed. The word used to describe it is "masses", "people" or sometimes "Jews". This is the origin of the seemingly specious claim that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. Obviously the Romans did the actual killing, but the responsibility was often placed on Jews because they chose to free Barabbas and not Jesus. This was used by Mel Gibson in "The Passion of the Christ" and is one of the reasons many see the film as anti-Semitic.

The story becomes much more interesting when you research the identity of Barabbas, or Yeshua bar-Abbas. He was born in the city of Galilee between 7BCE (BC) and 7CE (AD). Jesus was born in Nazareth between 8BCE and 2BCE. Galilee is another name for Nazareth. Yeshua is the actual Hebrew name of Jesus. The years overlap. Finally "bar" means "son of" and "Abba" is "father". When Jesus Christ prayed to God, he called God "Abba". So, one could translate "Barabbas" as "Son of God". The "s" on the end of "Abbas" is an ending for the possessive or genitive case.

This means that Jesus Barabbas) Son of God the Father was born in Nazareth in 7BCE-7CE and was crucified next to Jesus Christ, Son of God, who was born in Nazareth btw. 8-2BCE. This seems too large a coincidence to ignore. There was likely only one person crucified and the choice offered by Pontius Pilate is different than it seems.

Jesus Christ was seen by his adversaries as in insurrectionist against the Roman Empire. He was crucified as a revolutionary.

The story goes like this. The two are brought before the crowd and Pontius Pilate asks which one should be saved. Let's say for the sake of argument that the crowd was actually mostly Jewish. The Jews yell out "Save Barabbas!" or translated "Save the Son of the Father". The Romas decided to crucify Jesus. Why the second figure? The possibilities here are plentiful. One is that it was a common parable in stories from the time to free one person while lynching another. Another is that it was a misinterpretation in translation or relating the story over time. The third is that it was added in by Paul of Tsaurus around 310. This is the most interesting account. The Christian religion was legalized in the Roman Empire to Emperor Constantine between 310 and 315. The Romans did not want to be seen as the murderers of Jesus, so Paul shifted the blame onto the adversaries of the Romans, the Jews. This could have been done in order to allow for its legalization. The question would then be, were there Jews there calling for Jesus's freedom, calling him Yeshua bar-Abbas, but not referring to someone else.... OR, were there no Jews at all, and the Jews and the second figure were fabricated in the story?

This assumes a lot. There are other ideas. One is that early Christians were persecuted by Jews and therefore sought revenge by putting anti-Semitic statements in the Bible, using the word "Jews", when it shouldn't have been there, or fabricating the whole aspect of the second figure (same as above, only it was not done to appease the Romans, but rather to propagandize Anti-Semitism). Or that anti-Semitism largely predates this and this was one in a long line of attacks on Jews through propaganda.

Either way, assuming that it would be difficult for a Roman convert to accept that his own people murdered the only Son of God, thus inflaming anti-Semitism, or assuming that an anti-Semitic attitude was placed in the Bible to inflame hatred, it would seem quite interesting for the history of anti-Semitism.

The final, most controversial interpretation, is that Jesus was actually somewhat violent. That he was more of the wrathful righteous one than the peaceful righteous one. This would claim that Pontius Pilate said, "Should we kill this violent terrorist?" and the Jews responded with, "No, please save him, he's the Son of God!" The result is the same as the first one above, that the idea that someone was actually freed was either an intentional fabrication, a parable, a metaphor or a mistake.

Anyway you see it, it's pretty interesting stuff. In the end, it seems that in the original story there was likely only the one figure of Jesus, either peaceful or violent and that over time the story was altered, either mistakenly due to retelling, or intentionally in order to either to shift the blame away from the Romans, to satisfy the propaganda needs of anti-Semites, or both. Interesting stuff, huh?

GREs and Obama

I did quite well on the GREs. At least 2 out of the 3 sections. The third section is theoretically being graded as we speak and I will know in the next 2 weeks. Now, I'm writing my essays.

Just when I'm sure I can vote for someone in the primaries I like, Obama, he goes and does a stupid stupid thing. He puts an openly homophobic singer on stage at his gospel tour concert and does nothing to speak against the man's message. First of all, he should not be having a gospel tour for crying out loud. The Democrats should not try to take over the religious nut vote from the Republicans. They should let it realize it has no party and let it mire in obscurity. Secondly, the singer once said on the 700 Club that gay people kill children and he openly propagates the ridiculous falsehood that homosexuality is a choice. He said so at the Obama event.

Lest you think I'm being intolerant (the last argument of the truly intolerant), imagine a white preacher who defames black people as sinners. Or Hitler speaking against Jews. Or a Minuteman trashing Latinos. Or a Neo-Nazi German bashing Turks. Or a Wahabi bringing down women. Should an American politician put one of them on stage and allow them to perform and espouse their hatred? Good job, Obama, you stupid f@$k. You just lost my vote. Back to Edwards?

Presidents Roosevelt, Wilson, Carter and now... GORE

Contratulations on your receipt of the Nobel Peace Price! You are a true (American) hero.

Dear me, to think what was, then wasn't, and what should've/could've been.

Current music: Radiohead - Morning Bell (Amnesiac)

The Blue Angels

Every year on the weekend after my birthday, the Blue Angels fly their massive jets over our city for 4 looooooooong days. I have only lived here for the past year, but I remember vividly enjoying some bluegrass in the park when all of a sudden this ridiculous display of military machismo totally stopped the pleasant song. Yesterday, I felt the building shake and it was frightening. They are flying directly over our little town and doing tricks. Tomorrow, they will disrupt my visit to the Bluegrass Festival again.

People in favor of them say "How much fuel is wasted on our freeways everyday?", "I don't like the Folsom Street Fair (the leather festival), but I put up with it, why can't you put up with this", "Commercial airliners are more dangerous." Let me clearly respond. Military displays of power do not allow people to travel, visit their friends and families and conduct business which develops our economy, while commercial airliners do. We also aren't trading commercial airliners for Blue Angels, so the Blue Angels are merely adding an unnecessary danger. The same argument can go for cars. Cars will still be there, doing many functional things, while the Blue Angels are wasting massive amounts of fuel. Cars are largely USING it, not WASTING it. Lastly, the Blue Angels disrupt my daily life and I have no say. If you don't like the Folsom Street Fair, walk one block in the other direction and continue on your bigoted way. I can't escape these jets, something I politically (and without bigotry) oppose without leaving the city. They are wasting fuel, my tax money and my patience. They are wowing young people into thinking that flying a small fighter jet is cool. It never was and never will be. It might be necessary in certain situations, but not non, when our government is bombing innocent people in poor countries. Lastly, the sound is deafening and frightening. I applaud the progressive members (something I almost never do) of the board of supervisors for opposing this ridiculous self-gratification for ignorant war-mongers.

STAY THE HELL OUT OF SAN FRANCISCO, BLUE ANGELS!!!!

San Francisco Falling and Rising

Two very interesting things developing here today. First the fun: The final decision on which tower will be built atop the new Transbay Terminal has come. It is a 1,200 foot tower (Empire State is 1250), with a 5.4-acre rooftop park (at the moment called City Park) atop a new terminal. Access to the park will be via funicular railway through a grove of oak trees from "Mission Square", a huge covered square on Mission St. It will be built by architecture firm Pelli Clarke, who built the twin Petronas Towers in Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia, which were the tallest buildings in the world until the Burj Dubai passed it very recently. It will house local and East Bay buses, with a direct connection to the Bay Bridge. In the future, it will house commuter trains to San Jose (Caltrain) and hopefully someday CHSR (California High-Speed Rail). It will likely have an one-block long underground tunnel connecting the station to Montgomery Station. Therefore, it will, in effect, if all is built, house BART trains, MUNI metro underground trains, MUNI trolley-bus lines, MUNI hybrid bus lines, AC (Alameda County) Transit buses, Caltrain to San Jose and CHSR trains to Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. Grand Central indeed. Add to that the Renzo Piano plan to build 5 towers accross the street, two of which (The Twin Towers...... i know, i know, i know, dear god) would also be 1200 feet. I think that would help make the height of the transbay tower look a little less silly. The new San Francisco will begin to play in the same league as Chicago and New York.

The other interesting tidbit, is that Ed Jew, Supervisor in the Sunset was here in my work building today, and news teams from around the bay were present, as Jew was arraigned for yet another federal felony count. The first count is of bribery, and the new one is of mail fraud. He allegedly solicited a bribe through the mail. He is also charged by the state with somewhere around 8 counts of electoral fraud, as he registered to vote and voted in the Sunset, when his actual residence was in Burlingame, a separate city near SFO. If convicted of any of these 10 or so federal and state counts, he will surely be removed from his supervisorial position and for the federal crimes, he will likely face jail time.

Look here for pictures: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2007/09/21/BAO7S9J2H.DTL

September 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden

Apparently this poem became popular after September 11th, 2001 via NPR. I came to it via wikipedia. It's pretty great, I think. And "imago", in the poem, is not a typo. Apparently it is an entymological term meaning "adult stage" of a flying insect, or something like that. Enjoy. September 1, 1939
by W. H. Auden
I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night. Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again. Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong. Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good. The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone. From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; "I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work," And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the deaf, Who can speak for the dumb? All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame. Current music: Max Roach - Body and Soul

Justice and Sadness

Today, in the United States Court in my building in the case The United States of America v. Judy Green, the verdict was read. The case dealt with the E-Rate scandal, which involved defrauding the government of millions of dollars that was supposed to be for funding underprivileged schools. On all 21 counts, guilty. She will never again see the light of day. This is fair justice. Thank you fair federal court system. At least we still have something. Way to go, Antitrust!

On a much sadder note, this is Katie's last minute. I will miss you. You were a good one.

Yet again, SF shows itself to be the city that CAN and WILL

San Francisco Takes Unique Approach to Providing Medical Care for All
New York Times
By KEVIN SACK
Published: September 13, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 5 — Diagnosed with polio at age 2, Yan Ling Ho has lived with pain for most of her 52 years. After immigrating here from Hong Kong last year, the soreness in her back and joints proved too debilitating for her to work.

That also meant she did not have health insurance. Not wanting to burden her daughter, who was already paying her living expenses, Ms. Ho delayed doctor visits and battled her misery with over-the-counter medications.

“Sometimes the pain was so bad, I would just cry,” she said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Last month, unable to bear her discomfort any longer, Ms. Ho came to North East Medical Services, a nonprofit community clinic on the edge of Chinatown, and discovered to her delight that she qualified for a new program that offers free or subsidized health care to all 82,000 San Francisco adults without insurance.

The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first of its kind in the nation, and represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a broken federal system.
It is financed mostly by the city, which is gambling that it can provide universal and sensibly managed care to the uninsured for about the amount being spent on their treatment now, often in emergency rooms.

After a two-month trial at two clinics in Chinatown, the program is scheduled to expand citywide to 20 other locations on Sept. 17.

Whether such a program might be replicated is difficult to assess. In addition to its unique political culture, San Francisco, with a population of about 750, 000, has the advantages of compact geography, a unified city-county government, an extensive network of public and community clinics, and a relatively small population of uninsured adults. Virtually all of the city’s children are covered by private insurance or government plans.

At the bustling North East Medical Services clinic, where the staff and signage are multilingual, doctors and nurses are trying to build trust with patients who may have last sought treatment from an herbalist. Families crowd the elevators, as teenagers help parents and grandparents navigate the system. Patients like Ms. Ho say they hope their access to the clinic’s services will bring them independence, and a chance to work.

Healthy San Francisco provides uninsured San Franciscans with access to 14 city health clinics and eight affiliated community clinics, with an emphasis on prevention and chronic diseases. It is, however, not the same as insurance because it does not cover residents once they leave the city.

After a phased start-up, the city plans to bring private medical networks into the program next year, expanding the choice of doctors. Until November, enrollment will be limited to those living below the federal poverty line ($10,210 for a single person; $20,650 for a family of four). Then it will open to any resident who has been uninsured for at least 90 days, regardless of income or immigration status.

Only then will city officials learn whether the program appeals to middle-class workers, who comprise a growing share of the uninsured. And only then can they test whether San Francisco has the medical infrastructure to handle the desired increase in demand, and to do so without raising taxes. So far, enrollment has exceeded expectations. The city projected that between 600 and 1,000 people would sign up by the end of August. More than 1,300 did, even though officials have done little marketing. They hope to enroll about 45,000 people — more than half of the city’s uninsured — in the first year. Some clinics are adding night hours and small numbers of staff.

“We really didn’t know what the interest level would be so we’ve very pleased,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “At the same time, we don’t want over-exuberance yet because we don’t want to fall of our own weight.”

At the two pilot clinics, efforts are first made to qualify patients for Medicaid or other state and federal insurance programs. Those left over receive a Healthy San Francisco card that makes them eligible for primary care, dental exams, mental health and substance abuse services, hospitalization, radiology and prescription drugs.

Because the coverage is not portable, officials believe that those with private insurance will have little incentive to drop their policies to take advantage of the city’s cut-rate services.
Like Ms. Ho, many of those enrolling were already using the city’s health clinics — or the emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital — in times of acute need, like an asthma attack or stroke. About 57,000 of the 82,000 uninsured San Franciscans have used the city’s health system at some point.

But the new program hopes to persuade them to become regulars who regard their neighborhood clinic as a medical home. Once enrolled, patients are assigned a physician and encouraged to get blood pressure checks, mammograms and other screenings.

“We had a system that was not a system, and was based on episodic visits for chronic and acute care,” said Dr. Mitchell H. Katz, the city health director. “The idea that you should come get a cholesterol test, that didn’t happen.”

It was also common for patients to ignore doctors’ orders because of cost. Before the program started in July, a clinic doctor had ordered X-rays and blood tests for Ms. Ho, but she never got them.“Now I feel more comfortable coming in to get services and following the doctor’s instructions,” she said, speaking through an interpreter. She added that she recently took the recommended tests and is waiting for results.

The program was born of the city’s impatience with federal and state inaction, said Dr. Katz. In 1998, voters overwhelmingly endorsed universal access to health care in a citywide referendum. In ensuing years, city officials explored ways to provide universal insurance but, like other governments, could not figure out how to pay for it.

“What we did next,” Mr. Newsom said, “was profound and simple. We asked a different question. We asked: how do we provide universal health care to all uninsured San Franciscans? And that one modest distinction allowed us to answer the question we hadn’t been able to answer for a decade.”

Tangerine M. Brigham, the program’s director, projects it will cost $200 million the first year, and Mr. Newsom expects to finance it without a tax increase. The city already spends about that much on care for the uninsured, and those funds will essentially be redirected to Healthy San Francisco.

The program was also selected by the state to receive a three-year federal grant worth $24 million a year for expanding access to care. And because enrollees are still uninsured, they remain eligible for state and federal benefits, like discounts on AIDS drugs.

Patients are asked to contribute nominal amounts through membership fees and co-payments that vary by income.

Those from families with incomes below the federal poverty line pay nothing. Those who earn more pay quarterly fees that range from $60 to $675. That is the rate for those with incomes above 500 percent of the poverty level ($51,050 for a single; $103,250 for a family of four), which is where the subsidy ends. The co-payments range from $10 to $20 for a clinic visit and from $200 to $350 for an inpatient stay.

A final funding mechanism has placed the program in legal jeopardy. To make sure the new safety net does not encourage businesses to drop their private insurance, the city in January will begin requiring employers with more than 20 workers to contribute a set amount to health care. The Healthy San Francisco program is one of several possible destinations for those funds, with others being private insurance or health savings accounts.

Late last year, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association challenged that provision in federal court, arguing that it violates a law governing employer health benefits. A judge has scheduled a hearing for early November.

Mr. Newsom, a restaurateur and former member of the association, said the program would only work if accompanied by an employer mandate. But he said the city will have contingencies if it loses in court. “It may set us back” he said, “but it’s not going to end this program.

Current music: OutKast - Dracula's Wedding (feat. Kelis)

As Virginia goes, so goes our country

Wow, I'm prescient. As Virginia goes blue, one of the most conservative democrats in the country continues to look more and more like our messiah. I like his economic message and his attitude on the war. This is what wikipedia says about my pick for Democratic VP candidate.

"Webb is expected to be on the top of the Vice Presidential list for the Democratic nominee in 2008 due to his credentials as former Secretary of Navy, his early opposition to the War in Iraq and his ability to attract military voters to the Democratic side and fulfill the "military" imbalance that could occur if either Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) were the nominee, as neither of them has military credentials. Also, Virginia is seen as a emerging swing state and Webb's presence on the ticket could swing the state on the Democratic side."

He was swept into office by percentage points after Republican incumbent George Allen arrogantly referred to a Webb campaign worker of Indian descent using a racial slur.

Webb is known for holding Reagan and Jackson to be our two best presidents. He is against gun control. He served as Asst. SecDef and Sec. of the Navy under Reagan. He resigned as Sec. of the Navy because he refused to decommission 16 ships out of use. He wanted to INCREASE the size of the navy. His father was in World War II. He (and his brother) fought in Vietnam, where he earned a Navy Cross, the second highest decoration in the Navy and Marine Corps for heroism in Vietnam. He also earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. His son is now serving in the Iraq War, though he recently returned to the US inbetween deployments. Webb is married (3rd wife) to a Vietnamese-American lawyer and he speaks Vietnamese. He has opposed the current war from the start, writing op-ed pieces in the NYTimes and USA Today as early as March, 2003. He is also the author of many books including at least one novel and many books on international relations.

I'm not sure I want him to be President, but he could definitely pull Clinton or Obama along with the right-wingers. He knows his rhetoric and he quotes Republican heroes to make Democratic points.

Jim Webb is the only senator who has a child fighting in Iraq. He refused to have his picture taken with George Bush in 2007 as all other incoming senators did. When Bush asked him, "How's your boy?", Webb answered, "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President". The President responded with, "That's not what I asked you. How's your boy?", to which Webb responded, while suppressing the desire to punch Bush in the face, according to sources close to Webb, "That's between me and my boy, Mr. President."

"On March 5, 2007, Webb introduced his second piece of legislation, S.759, which is intended to prohibit the use of funds for military operations in Iran without the prior approval of Congress. In a statement on the floor of the Senate, Webb said: 'The major function of this legislation is to prevent this Administration from commencing unprovoked military activities against Iran without the approval of the Congress. The legislation accomplishes this goal through the proper constitutional process of prohibiting all funding for such an endeavor.'" (from Wikipedia)

Here is the text of Webb's career-making rebuttal to Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, in its entirety:

"Good evening.

I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown – an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.

Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.

There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy – how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy – how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
When one looks at the health of our economy, it’s almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it’s nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.

In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy – that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We’ve established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We’re working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.
With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.

I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.

Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues – those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death – we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm’s way.

We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us – sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.

The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable – and predicted – disarray that has followed.

The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq’s cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves “as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.” And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

Thank you for listening. And God bless America."

Obama/Webb '08!

Thank you, Gov. Warner!

It's become painfully obvious to me that our candidate should be Obama. My hope is that Edwards fails early and throws his support behind Obama. Most Edwards supporters would rather relieve themselves in their own bedrooms than vote for Hillary. I think that attitude is rather silly, but I'll take any vote "surge" on Obama's side. However, if Hillary wins, that's ok too.

I'm becoming less and less sure that a Democrat will win in 2008. It's also becoming less important to me. We need to win that 60th Senate seat and retain our majority in the house. Then, President Giuliani will be the only person able to block sensible legislation. 60 stops the filibuster and Giuliani will be hated with a passion if he refuses that large of a majority. Kerrey has a good chance in Nebraska for the good guys and Warner in VA is a lock. Democrats look likely to pick up 5-7 seats. There are a further 5 seats in play. It's a stretch, but with the Republican implosion, it's becoming ever more possible. Democrats are only defending a handful of seats, none of which are in danger, whereas Republicans are defending something around 20, more than half of which are unsafe and many of which they have no chance of keeping.

GO BLUE! (If Michigan doesn't need the phrase for this season, we should co-opt it for the Democratic Party)

Current music: OutKast - Spread

Caffe Bella Venezia

I met an old friend from undergrad who works at a yoga studio in the city. She was always a good friend of mine, but we had divergent lives and never hung out much. Now, we have less to do so we thought we'd meet up and hang out again.

We decided to try Caffe Bella Venezia, a very cheap Italian restaurant two blocks from my house. We went in and I ordered a small pizza and a glass of wine. She ordered lasagna and a glass of wine. All of that cost less than $20. Amazing prices for SF.

We walked in the door and it was empty inside as it was only about 5:30. The owner greeted us with an Italian accent and gave it menus. We noticed a fruit fly flying about and I mentioned to my friend Joey that there were lots of fruit flies in the neighborhood. It was a little bit apologia, a little bit fact. There was no music, so tt was a little eerie, but then the nice owner man started some Italian music. Then, the flies started flying. There were lots of them. We both started to get annoyed. We got bread and it was wonderful, so we started to feel that everything was ok, but the flies would not dissipate!

A group of four people came in. They were kind of white-trashy. They did not appear to be from the city. They sat on the other side of the restaurant. They were kinda loud, but not a problem at all.

We had already ordered our food so we couldn't leave, but we decided that maybe the table was the problem. We got up and told the man we were gonna take the table next to ours. We figured that since the other people were having fun, there must be flyless tables.

We ended up at a less fly-infested table, and we got our food. It was pretty good. It was definitely good for the price and the sit-down-ness of the restaurant. However, there were still a few flies. Joey's pretty damn cool though and we laughed it off. This whole experience made me quite sad when I surmised that the owner man was also the cook. Here is a man who comes from Italy to SF and opens a restaurant. He features food from his home for cheap prices, which he cooks all on his own. It's his life, his home, his food. His restaurant is empty and fly-infested. All he gets are low-budget tourists, many of which must scowl and write his place off due to the flies.

At this point, the other guests start taking pictures and they go ask the owner if he knows any clubs. The owner looks slightly flustered and mumbles something about a place named Dragonfly. The woman who asked him, who is around 35, overweight, with tight jeans, a leather jacket and frizzy brown hair, returns to her seat and a second later, we hear, "Dragonfly, dragonfly, dragonfly."

The whole scene freaked me out. Sad man from Italy and the tourists who come to SF and this dump is the highlight.

I don't know though. At one point, the man opened the door to street up wide. I wondered if maybe he knew that the flies were a problem and it was only today, so he opened the door up.... Or maybe, this is a constant issue.... I don't really know.

I came home and looked it up on yelp. No one mentioned the flies and it got very good reviews, for being so cheap and good. I would never wanna harm this man's business, so I figured I'd just write my review on my blog instead.

I get sad at the weirdest shit.

Current music: OutKast - A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)

The Mayor of Castro Street

The title is unclear, but the upcoming docudrama based on the life of Harvey Milk has finally released the names of the actors and director. And the names are big.

Director: Gus Van Sant
Harvey Milk: Sean Penn
Dan White (Assassin of Milk and Moscone): Matt Damon
George Moscone: still unknown
Dianne Feinstein: still unknown

Impressive names. Shooting will start this December in and around City Hall.

Clinton/Webb (or Richardson or Villaraigosa) 2008

I vote for that ticket. Hillary has proven to me that her campaign knows exactly how to not answer anything while still fighting the good fight. However, unlike our current president, she hides what she really means behind rhetoric designed to say nothing. Whereas Bush says nothing and hides that fact behind bellicose machismo, Hillary says something of substance and hides that behind slogans that only appear to be nothing.

Read her response to the questions: "What is a liberal?" and "Are you a liberal?": "I lament the fact that the word liberal has been turned on its head and has been made to seem as though it’s a word that describes big government, totally contrary to what its meaning was in the 19th and early 20th century.... I consider myself a modern progressive. Someone who believes strongly in individual rights and freedoms, who believes that we are better as a society when we’re working together."

So, she skillfully attacked stereotypes, outlined what she wanted to be, redefined the term and brandished herself a progressive. She tied freedom to working together, rather than as economic independence. She's manipulating the right and they won't even recognize it. She has learned from George Lakoff and Karl Rove.

When asked about the war, she should bitingly decry the Bush administration. When asked about healthcare, she should remind everyone of how she was the first one and how she got lampooned by the Republican hate-machine. She should push through a few populist quips about being a downtrodden woman and how she understands minorities. Then, she should just cloak vague platitudes in language containing just the right mix of intelligence and humor.

Hispanics as a voting bloc will continue to grow every election and Democrats have to work to keep them in their camp. Richardson is a terrible candidate, but he might just make a good VP. Villaraigosa is popular and philandering should not be an issue if Giuliani or Thompson is the GOP nominee. They are the two most successful hispanic politicians of all time. The choice of one over the other may be a discussion of whether a hispanic name would be a plus or a negative.

Then again, Webb would mop the floor with anyone. He'd probably pull every gun-toting hunter in the land behind him. I agree with the man and he still scares me. His rebuttal to Bush's SoTU in January showed him to be a stronger populist than even Edwards AND he managed to push for a New Deal attitude without invoking the words New Deal or FDR!!! He quoted Andrew Jackson. I don't recall any Republican vitriol against Jackson.... Webb ain't no dummy.

With Hillary at the helm and Webb backing her up, who's gonna stop them?

Slam them all, it's so easy, it's fun!:
GIULIANI: mafia, sleazeball, democrat-lite, inexperienced, temper, sadistic, mean, New-Yorker, 9-11 exploiter, firefighters hate him, etc. etc. etc., divorced, cross-dresser, non-Christian, Catholic
MCCAIN: old, Bush-lover, old, skin-cancer, warmonger, old, democrat-lite, old, non-christian
ROMNEY: flip-flopper, Mormon, Tax-achussetts, Mormon, out-of-touch, hypocrite sons, Mormon, flip-flopper, TV father from the 50s, flip-flopper
THOMPSON: lazy, old, cradle-robber, alcoholic, lazy, inexperienced, old, Hollywood
TANCREDO: violent, psychopath, racist, warmonger, insane

HOWEVER, THERE IS:

HUCKABEE: that man scares me. i hope to god noone discovers him. he's friendly and solid on all of the conservative notes, doesn't revolt me, way wrong on everything

Current music: Lou Reed - Satellite of Love

Human Rights Campaign

The Democrats are truly stupid. Karl Rove is smart. It's so clear.

Karl Rove pushed the Republicans violently towards the far right, and realized that they could make the Democrats constantly bow and play defense. They played towards the base, rather than the middle, turning the Democrats into the middle and the middle into the right.

Last night, the Democrats attended a debate hosted by the Human Rights Campaign in Los Angeles. This group advocates for civil rights for gays, lesbians, etc. This is an issue that is important for a large portion of the left, and it is pallatable to another chunk. It's distasteful to the right.

If any of the major candidates had made an impassioned speech calling for the end of bigotry, if they had invoked the scientific consensus on the fact that there is merely a spectrum that we are all born into that ranges from gay to straight, and that denying someone rights by law is discrimination and is contrary to our country's history and morality, if he/she had tied into the global issue of human rights, of compassion, of equality, if he/she had attacked Civil Unions as "Separate but Equal", and called on the USA to accept a higher morality, a higher equality, etc., he/she would be an immediate rock star and the darling of the liberals.

The Democrats, however, are cowards who still don't get it. You don't win an election by sulking around, attempting to not step on your opponents' toes. They call you socialists, you call them bigots. Guess who's more correct? Instead, they pussyfoot around the issue and let Kucinich make them look stupid. Kucinich will not win, the left will be unimpressed with the Democratic nominee and the door will be open for a Bloomberg or a Gingrich or a Thompson, and then where will we be. Obama doesn't know anything about being a minority and neither does Hillary. Edwards thinks he is a straight-talker? I call bullshit on him. Maybe I won't vote. I don't care anymore about anyone's grandiose theories of how to win elections. Try advocating good things and pushing for positive changes in our culture, instead of doing what the crooked lobbyists make you think the public wants. We are sheep, but you must lead.

I'm sick of 'em. F%§$ing hypocrites.

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

Board of Supervisors

San Francisco does not have a functional government. We are run by a mayor who has my respect, but is met with violent vitriol by a sizable minority. He will win in a landslide and the issues will continue.

This would not really matter, except that the activist population is represented on the Board of Supervisors. There are two groups on the Boards, the Democrats (conservatives) and the Democrats who call themselves Progressives (liberals). The Progressives have a 6-5 majority on the Board, and the President of the Board, Aaron Peskin, is a Progressive (and my Supervisor).

One of the "Democrats", Ed Jew, representing the Sunset, is currently on trial for 11 counts of voter fraud, amongst other things. He allegedly took a bribe from a business in the Sunset after being elected in a district where he allegedly does not live. He registered to vote and voted in a district where he allegedly does not live. He refuses to step down.

One of the "Progressives", Chris Daly, representing the Tenderloin and the northern Mission, is currently being censured by the board for personal attacks on Newsom. He has claimed that Newsom has a cocaine problem in the middle of a board meeting. Then, one of the other supervisors, (I forgot his name), came up and told Daly to punch him in the face, cuz "you know you want to".

Newsom has enough of his own problems, like sleeping with his campaign manager's wife, paying her off and then paying him off, and going into rehab for an alcohol problem. But he's going to win by a landslide, because no one will oppose him.

I'm gonna vote for him forever because he legalized gay marriage and likely destroyed any highly political hopes for the future!

Vote Newsom in 2007!

Current music: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3

Halloweenless SF

SF Supervisor of the district containing the Castro, Bevan Dufty, has announced that there will be no Halloween party this year. Last year's ended in violence, as 9 people were shot. There had been plans to have a party on Justin Herman Plaza, in front of the Ferry Building, with Pink performing and motorcross performances. Sounds worse to me, but at least it was something. Now, the promoter has pulled out of the show, citing difficulties in organizing the party and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park earlier in October. Dufty has announced that he is asking the bars and restaurants in the Castro to close, that there will be no public toilets set up, no streets blocked off, but still the same number of police patrols.

I find this revolting. Every city is known for a festival or two. NY has New Year's Eve, Chicago and Boston have St. Patrick's Day, SF has Gay Pride and Halloween in the Castro. Halloween is fun for all, everyone dresses up and it is remarkably tolerant. Everyone is attacking the festival, saying that it has devolved into the "bridge-and-tunnel crowd" (read African-Americans and Latinos) gawking and slurring the "freaks". It may have been different in the past, but I loved it. I saw mostly people in constumes. I saw the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (a transsexual group that organizes the group) and they were dancing and everyone was taking pictures. The negative thing to me was how the police were (not) dealing with the party. They took away Agnieszka's flimsy, plastic dagger and made sure there was no alcohol. However, they clearly let at least 9 men without costumes on (meaning easier to search) with loaded firearms. One guy asked me if he could sleep with Agnieszka, but he was a drunk white guy.

This is a bunch of snotty rich people trying to turn this city into a quiet, dignified ritzy place, which it has never been and never should be. They are capitalizing on racial tension, something that should never occur in a place as supposedly-tolerant as San Francisco. We are the city of the Beats and the Hippies and Gay Activists. We are not a city of businessmen/businesswomen holding their noses above the riffraff.

Interesting. The same week the Board of Supes (which is a downright disaster) announces this, they also unveil plans for the tallest building on the west coast....

Current music: Tom Waits - Martha

San Francisco Rising

San Francisco unveiled plans yesterday for the western United States' first supertall. The shortest of the three proposals is 1,200 feet, the tallest 1,375. For reference's sake, the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft. At the base of it will be California's "Grand Central Terminal" and push back against Los Angeles. San Francisco will be the global center of California again! To hell with Los Angeles! And all three design have wind turbines for clean energy, a subway station, access to BART, commuter rail down the peninsula, buses to all carriers in the Bay Area, Greyhound and, someday soon, California High-Speed Rail to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento. By 2014! But where will I be?

Current music: Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San Francisco

Long Live the 70s!

So, the more I listen to music these days, the more I am impressed with the music out there. This is obviously a huge shift for me. I think that this whole theory of a ressurgence of 80s music is really misplaced. It has recently hit me that music had formerly been based on certain heroes of the past, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, etc. I think that rather than term the latest movement a throwback to the 80s, we should just suggest that the heroes have changed. I think my generation's heroes have become Bryan Eno, Bryan Ferry, David Bowie and David Byrne. I've recently gotten into David Bowie a little bit more via a Brooklyn band of today called TV on the Radio! which is amazing. Talking Heads, Roxy Music and David Bowie are the root of all that's new and wonderful. Possibly early Elvis Costello as well. So, maybe this is a resurgence of the 70s. Roxy Music, Talking Heads and David Bowie all had their most interesting breakthroughs in the 70s. So, long live the 70s.

Oh, and let me note what an enormous Berlin had on Eno, Ferry and Bowie. Maybe this resurgence is somehow connected to the recent popularity of European travel for every hipster and Berlin as the new center (yet again) of the avant-garde.

David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging

Earthquake!

Yesterday, I went for a walk after work, down Market and then Mission to The Embarcadero. Upon arrival, I noticed a sidewalk extending a good distance into the bay and became interested in taking a walk. I wondered whether or not it was public, but then I saw a few joggers and a guy on a bike exiting it and I made my way towards the end. I got to the end, soaked in the beauty and turned around to face the city. I shielded my eyes from the glaring sunlight and walked back listening to Thom Yorke's jarring sound on my iPod. It was both idyllic and foreign in some fashion and I felt like a tourist in the city of San Francisco. At this point, I thought about all the San Francisco-centric images, songs and moods and tried to feel like an outsider. All of sudden, it hit me: you live in earthquake country. We may be more famous for that than for anything else. I have fear-pangs from time to time and I imagined the earth rocking, jolting the bridge and everyone's screams and cries. I thought about how interesting that would be, were it to happen.

I returned home, ate a sandwich, listened to some music and went to sleep about midnight. At approximately 4:42, was rudely awakened and I felt sick. Something I didn't understand was occurring. Was I dreaming? Was it the big one? A horrible rumble, as if I was in a jeep with bad shocks in the mountains. But I was lying in my bed. EARTHQUAKE! It shook and then petered out. Then, an second rocked my bed again.

I was frightened, but I drifted back to sleep, and forgot it, like a dream. Then, after arriving at work, I read the paper:

From various news sources:
-An earthquake jolted San Francisco Bay area residents awake early Friday, breaking glass and rattling nerves.
-The earthquake was centered about 2 miles northeast of downtown Oakland on the Hayward fault.
-The actual epicenter was in the Oakland Hills near Joaquin Miller Park and the Mormon Temple and had a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
-It could be felt for up to 10 seconds on both sides of the San Francisco Bay.
-According to the USGS, 4.2-magnitude quakes are felt indoors and may break dishes and windows, and overturn unstable objects. Pendulum clocks may stop.
-This quake was strong enough to set off alarms and shatter windows. Pacific Gas & Electric reported 4,600 people in Oakland without power.
-"This is the biggest quake we've had in awhile," reported Rufus Catchings of USGS. "This was a strike-slip mechanism," he said. "These give very strong, if you're nearby, initial jolts from the (primary) wave and then rattling for a couple seconds from the (secondary) wave. It's possible that the temblor was a foreshock that could be followed by stronger seismic events," said Catchings.
-Several business owners in the Montclair District, about 2 miles from the epicenter, arrived at work today to find their merchandise in shambles.

I will be moving my John Coltrane picture from above my bed to a different spot. I don't need that smashing my head in and shattering.

Current music: Roxy Music - There Is Something

Canadian music

It has recently come to my attention that Canada has amazing music. When I was younger, all that I knew of Canada's music was Neil Young, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Alanis Morrisette, Barenaked Ladies and Our Lady Peace. Only one of those turned out well...... I am now aware that Leonard Cohen, The Band and Joni Mitchell are from Canada and that's definitely better, but that was a while ago.

Today, it continues with bad acts, but they are much more popular in the US: Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, Simple Plan, Sum 41. Canada seems to be as big here as England is!

Now, it has hit me how much music I have that I love that's from Canada.

Black Mountain (opened for Coldplay, from Vancouver)
The Dears (got it from a friend from Vancouver, from Montreal)
Propagandhi (punk/hardcore, grew up listening to them, from Winnipeg)
The Weakerthans (evolved from Propagandhi, saw them live at 17 at the Nile in Mesa)
Godspeed You Black Emperor (silly name, but good music, from Montreal)
Hot Hot Heat (dancy rock, from Vancouver)
Nelly Furtado (dance-pop a la Madonna, from Victoria)
Rufus Wainwright (wrote a popular song for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, from Montreal)
Arcade Fire (my vote for best new band, just got into them and makes me think that something new is happening in music, from Montreal, fronted by a Texan)

Innumerable other bands that I don't know, but have heard of, are also from Canada. I may be checking them out:

The Pink Mountaintops (related to Black Mountain, from Vancouver)
Broken Social Scene (from Toronto)
A Silver Mt. Zion (related to Godspeed You Black Emperor!, from Montreal)
The New Pornographers (from Vancouver, fronted by a Virginian)
Death from above 1979 (from Toronto)

So, Montreal is the artsy city, Vancouver the eclectic one and Toronto is largely absent...... hmm.....

All in all, I'm sure these cities have always had good music, and I am just left to wonder "why now are they getting recognition here in the us?" Anyway....

Current music: Arcade Fire - Intervention

Sicko

I would like to sum up "Sicko" with one word, "DUH". It's a great movie.

Also, as I walked home along Geary from the movie, I saw the various drug addicts, homeless people and even a dead guy lying on the pavement. The policeman was calling it in. A store owner was frantically trying to distance himself from it and meanwhile, there was A DEAD MAN ON THE SIDEWALK!

What would FDR think of us now? "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." Well, our world is failing that test miserably.

The beginning of the end for Bush/Cheney?

A response by Senator Leady and Congressman Conyers to White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding concerning the White House's invoking of executive privilege in its refusal to reply to the subpoenas conerning the Attorney firings. This provides insight into the coming actions of Congress against the Executive Branch if (and when) it claims Executive Privilege concerning the subpoenas in the NSA-wiretapping case (served two days ago):

Dear Mr. Fielding:
...We had hoped our Committees’ subpoenas would be met with compliance and not a Nixonian stonewalling that reveals the White House’s disdain for our system of checks and balances.
We urge the President to reconsider this step and withdraw his privilege claim so the American people can learn the truth about these firings. If he is unwilling to withdraw these claims, we call on you to provide more specific information to facilitate ruling on those claims and our consideration of appropriate action to enforce our subpoenas. [...]
Our Committees rejected your "take it or leave it" offer of off-the-record, backroom interviews and severe limits on the scope of our requests as unacceptable, more than three months ago. Since that time, despite our many attempts to narrow the dispute and begin to obtain the information we need, you have not made any effort to work with us on a voluntary basis. Even now, in response to subpoenas authorized by our Committees, you have again merely restated your initial, unacceptable offer. Your proposal is not commensurate with our exercise of the broad investigatory power of Congress. [...]
Please provide the documents compelled by the subpoenas without further delay. If you continue to decline to do so, you should immediately provide us with the specific factual and legal bases for your claims regarding each document withheld via a privilege log as described above and a copy of any explicit determination by the President with respect to the assertion of privilege. You have until July 9, 2007, at 10 a.m. to bring this and any other information you wish to submit to our attention before we move to proceedings to rule on your claims and consider whether the White House is in contempt of Congress.
We were disappointed that we had to turn to these subpoenas in order to obtain information needed by the Committees to learn the truth about these firings and the erosion of independence at the Justice Department. We are even more disappointed now with yet further stonewalling.
Whether or not we have the benefit of the information we have directed you to provide by July 9, we will take the necessary steps to rule on your privilege claims and appropriately enforce our subpoenas backed by the full force of law.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, Rep. John Conyers, D-MI

Pride Not Prejudice

In the last week of June, 10's of millions of people around the world stand up and say no to homophobia. It is at this time of year in order to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, in which gay people on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village for the first time fought back against homophobic police brutality.

For reference's sake: Largest Pride event in Europe: Christopher St. Day Parade in Köln/Cologne (1,000,000+); Largest in North America: Pride in San Francisco (1,000,000+); Largest in the world: Parada do Orgulho GLBT de Sao Paolo (3,500,000). (Oh, and Phoenix has one too in April at Steele Indian School Park and a parade along 3rd St.) Moscow's and Belgrade's festivals have been banned due to violence.

Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards, was the keynote speaker at a breakfast to kick off this year's Pride festival in San Francisco. She came out in full support of gay marriage. Moreso even than her husband. This is monumental. This is the first time a major candidate or major candidate's spouse has ever supported marriage equality. Bravo. Of course, Bloomberg participated in New York....

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Agnieszka came over, dressed in white with a self-made rainbow flag taped to her dress. We went down the hill through the Tenderloin to Market St. As we got close, we could hear the crowd. We arrived at Market and Jones and we found a spot behind a gay couple that had made the journey from Dallas for the parade. We started watching, and this, not in the actual order it happened, is what we saw.

There were the obvious characters present: men, women, transgender and third-gender people, etc. dressed in all types of colorful and/or leather costumes, which ran the gammut from extravagant to er, um, minimalist. A few men skated by on rollerblades naked.

Then, of course, there were the politicians: Gavin Newsom the mayor; both gay supervisors as well as three or four others from the city; the city DA; the Police Commissioner; the County Sheriff; lesbian CA State Senator Carole Migden and gay CA State Assemblyman Mark Leno; Mike Gravel, Democratic Presidential Candidate from Alaska.

There were the pet (haha) causes: PETA; Greenpeace; the Humane Society.

There were the political groups, including Ramsey Clark's A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition with a float which included a Cheney and a Bush in a cage snarling at the crowds. The caption read: STOP WOMEN-HATING, THEOCRATIC, FASCIST HOMOPHOBES. Several groups held signs reading: IMPEACH!

There was the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and also the Latinos de Ambiente waving flags of all spanish-speaking countries.

But the most interesting parts were the groups you would never expect: groups of trash collectors; police cars flying the rainbow flag and hundreds of policemen and policewomen holding the hands of their gay and lesbian partners; countless companies or product-lines including Tylenol, Macy's, Google, Wells Fargo, the San Francisco Chronicle, Delta Airlines, Comcast, AAA and Diet Pepsi all had floats. AND THE CHURCHES: Evangelicals for Gay Rights; Unitarian Universalists; Methodists; Reform and Orthodox Jews; and the Catholics. A line of Catholic Priests waved gay flags as they traversed Market St.

The highlights that brought us all to tears were: Gays and Lesbians against Deportation; People for Equal Adoption Rights; Marriage Equality Now! This last group included a float of couples who have been denied marriage rights and the time they have been together. The most touching were two men at the crest of the float, easily in their 80s with a sign that said: "Joe and Bill. 59 years. Denied."

I'll leave the parade with the captions from some of the best signs:

-"Don't Deport Our Partners" (from the group for immigrant rights)
-"If God made you, we want you" (from the evangelicals)
-"We love our 2 gay fathers" (from 2 little 6 yr. old girls from the group for adoption equality)
-"We love our son, even if he turns out to be straight" (same group but from 2 fathers)
-"Love is not a sin" (from the Catholics)
-"Closets are for clothes" (from Carole Migden)
-"Who says God didn't create Adam and Steve?" (from the Methodists)
-"My boss knows I'm gay" (from Macy's)

After the parade, we met up with Connor and his band again and sat in front of Civic Center and watched Gay and Lesbian Hip-Hop and a gay punk band I used to listen to from Lookout! Records (Green Day's original label) called Pansy Division.

Agnieszka and I discussed throughout the day how this parade would have been viewed in Poland. She is sending pictures of the parade, including our blatant critique of Bush and the massive crowds in support of gay rights to her parents. She is proud to be here in San Francisco and I was proud to go with her and to stand next to her at the festival.

1 million or so people came from all over the world to celebrate in the de facto world capital of gay rights.

Today, I couldn't possibly be prouder to be a San Franciscan or an American.

Bob Dylan - Corrina, Corrina

Santa Cruz

So, on Saturday, Agnieszka, the other Agnieszka and I drove to Santa Cruz. After parking, we walked through downtown a bit and then the two Agnieszkas left for the beach. I stayed and walked around a bit. Then, I sat down and read the George Lakoff book, which I'm almost done with. I went into a few bookstores, a used cd store and some other shops. Santa Cruz appears even more relaxed than Berkeley. Half the men were shirtless. Some guy was loudly drumming on the city's trashcan. Another guy had a didgeridoo. A lot more teenagers than in Berkeley or San Francisco. It actually felt more like suburbia than I would have thought.

Then, we went to the beach again and played frisbee. Connor's band was playing in Santa Cruz that night, and so at about 7:30, we went over to the club and Connor and I sat out back and talked while the Agnieszkas went shopping for something to drink on the way home. It was good to see him. I recommended to him that he drive up to San Francisco for the parade on Sunday. Then we left. The most interesting thing was the show. i say about 2 minutes of a group of 16 yr.-olds playing screaming hardcore and another group of 16 yr.-olds listening. It was strange to see where I was 8 years ago. Odd.

the car shop on the corner

Well, I know that this was a big weekend for the city, but for awhile now, I've been wanting to tell you about a mechanic shop accross the street from my work. They have a large marquee facing the intersection of Turk and Larkin and they like to put up interesting phrases. From now on, I will put up each new one that is placed. Right now, I can only think of the last two and the latest one that has gone up today (or presumably earlier this weekend).

Oldest: "You never know what you have said until you find out what others have heard." - Gore Vidal

Next: "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Abraham Maslow

Currect: "Pride Not Prejudice" - theme of this years Gay Pride festival/parade

Learning

I learn lots of things living in this city. More than learning via answers though, it all uncovers itself through questions. For instance:

Why are their at least a few, if not many, Slavic-looking, old women with their heads wrapped like Eastern-European village peasants trying to sell me random bits of food as I walk along the road? Yesterday, a woman of this description, almost crying, tried to sell me a jar of Jiffy peanut butter and/or a bag of some kind of grain that was not in a sealed package. I don't understand who these women are, or where they're from....

Why is their a public food spot along the wall on Larkin between Eddy and Ellis? There is a little shelf spot on the side of a building where there are infinite half-eaten bags of chips, or loaves of bread, or cup-of-soups. I've seen people go up and grab some, taste them, and then walk on, eating their meal.

What is in the heads of prositutes? At least once a day, if not more, I'm made painfully aware of all the prostitution in this city. I already know that we are the mecca of human-trafficking for sex in the Western Hemisphere. The path seems to be from Bangkok or Seoul to Tijuana and up through LA to SF where the money is. But the women I see are not locked in basements, they are not Asian. They are generally white women. Yesterday at about 5:30, a woman got out of a car yelling, and she looked distraught and then immediately threw herself at a man sitting in his car. "Your girlfriend around?...... Can I be your girlfriend?" She was probably 25 and highly addicted to something. Today, on my way to work at 9:30 it was almost unbearable. An older woman, around 45, looking horrified of life, almost crying, with defeat in her eyes, saw me looking at her. She almost cried to me: "Hi...." I walked on.

Why do so many people nonchalantly pick food out of trash cans and cigarette ends off the street? In this city, there really is no middle-middle class. There are the ultra rich and fairly rich. There are masses of people of comparatively humble means like me who spend all their time buying swanky clothes and expensive meals to emulate the rich. On the other side, there are the working poor who barely make it and then there are the street people. There are so many people who live out of the trash can, it's not even alienating for them to dive right in.

Why does nobody care? I finally met my neighbors accross the hall. They seem nice, and are about 33. I sat with them for about 45 minutes while they (primarily) discussed three topics: their dog, their plans for tomorrow and the legal industry. The dog comments were about taking him for walks. In one story, the woman ridiculed the homeless around on their walks and mocked them using a really insulting voice. The legal industry comments were about the arrogance of lawyers, because she is one (like 10% of San Franciscans). The point discussed about tomorrows plans for them and the guy's mom were primarily about one question: Man:"Should I tell them to eat light for lunch?" Woman: "No, because then they might be expecting more and not enjoy the chips and salsa." Man: "You're right, they will have walked a lot and would really enjoy something to eat." Woman: "But don't have them eat too much for lunch, or they won't be hungry". This went on for 15 minutes and was punctuated by giving directions to the bar they were going to meet at. "You know "Score"? Well, go own that street and turn right before the "Siesta Lounge". Then "Red Room" will be on your left. (I made up these names). Crazy me, I thought streets had names. Good thing I've been to every elitist restaurant in town and have based my entire understanding of the city on the geography of hipster places.

One last story: Agnieszka and I were on Bush, a half a block from Chinatown Gate at the French church. We wanted to sit on the steps and rest, but on one side a man was sleeping, so we went to the other. After about an hour a man showed up, jerking his head crazily about trying to take off his jacket. He was cowering in another doorway to the church and it suddenly occurred to me that our conversation had stolen this man's bed. So, we decided to leave. As we did, he stumbled into some bushes and I fugured he was going to relieve himself. Instead, he picked up a pile of sleeping stuff: sleeping bag, blankets, etc. and I figured it out. He sleeps on the steep, cold steps of this church on busy Bush St. every night and then stashes his stuff in the bushes during the day so he doesn't get yelled at. He's obviously mentally ill.

How can we live in this city when tens of thousands of people are drug addicts, dying of AIDS, mentally ill, malnourished and dying on our streets. Tens of thousands more live in a world of violence where they shoot at, get shot at, or live in fear of getting murdered. Shootings occur here everyday. But no matter. All is well over in Pacific Heights. San Francisco is repositioning itself as a major city of power. We are going to go from a world-class city that tries to avoid living like a big city, to an all-out Manhattan carbon-copy, while we blatantly ignore the statistic that we have 14th largest city in the US, but the 2nd most homeless people. We have almost as many as LA with about 20% of the population. Around 80% of our homeless are known as "hardcore", meaning they've lived on the street for longer than 3 months. Some haven't had a permanent bed in 30 years.

What's the difference again between San Francisco and the third world?

Wir sind Helden - Endlich ein Grund zur Panik

The Free World

So, I have for years decried the popular division of the world during the Cold War into the Communist World and the Free World. I always thought that it was silly and arrogant. I may have changed by mind. The division is far different than I thought.

I'm reading George Lakoff's book called "Whose Freedom?" about the different concepts of freedom.

I always thought of "freedom" as a fairly nebulous concept that people used to sound good. I have begun to find it a detestable word and I've now learned why. Freedom has come to mean, amongst conservatives, freedom from economic restrictions, freedom to live without the moral degradation that they see in homosexuality, the freedom to practice and spread one's religion, the freedom from evil, the freedom from government imposition on one's wallet.

Freedom in my mind has always been much more up FDR's alley. Freedom from want (restrictions on the ultimate freedom of the market, according to conservatives), freedom to not be controlled by someone else's religion (restrictions on your ability to express your religion, according to conservatives), freedom to be, even if it deviates from someone's conception of normal (harming morality, according to conservatives), the freedom that derives from government support of health (taxation, imposition on one's wallet, to conservatives).

In the Soviet Union, it becomes even more interesting. You had government-alleged freedom from want through the restriction of anyone's excelling in the economy, but the masses ended up poor. This is an attack on economic freedom for both conservatives (restrictions on the free market) and progressives (restrictions on ACTUAL freedom from want). You had restrictions on religion. This is an attack on religious freedom for both concservatives (restrictions on the propagation of your religion) and progressives (restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression). You also had restrictions on security and civil liberties in the progressive sense (an attack on freedom from fear and freedom of expression) but also for conservatives (the conservative ideal of "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" didn't really work in the Soviet Union. You might still have something to fear, as it was often random).

So, in reality, in both conceptions of freedom that have ever been used in America, we were more free than the Soviets, thus making us the Free World. I would argue, though, that I fear the conservative form of freedom as much as I fear the Soviet lack of freedom. Everything I hold dear and moral in this world is diametrically opposed to exactly what conservatives believe in. They attack my freedom, differently than the Soviets, but to similar effect. I have grown up in a time when radical conservatives have been on the rise and I have always thought it a major portion of society. If George Lakoff is correct however, it hasn't always been that way. The Republicans and Democrats both used to support taxes as part of the Common Wealth (the Commonwealth of Virginia, for example). Now, we have these violently individualistic plutocrats who are threatening our way of life. I was SO born at the wrong time.

Under the Soviets I would have had no safety net for food, but I wouldn't under the conservatives either. I would have had no freedom to decide my own religion under the Soviets, but the conservatives oppose my atheism. I would be under surveillance under both systems, restricting my freedom. The Soviets would have promised me health care, but I'm sure not whether they would have funded it. The conservatives would simply not give it to me at all. The conservatives are pretty scary people. The conservatives are not Soviets, but neither of them agreed with my conception of freedom. Can anyone explain to me why the conservatives aren't just as bad?

I think Angela Merkel is a progressive in many of these senses. I'm beginning to think that even if I didn't always agree with politicians like the Kennedys, I may have misjudged them all along. I'm becoming ever more interested in earlier American politicians.

Current music: Avril Lavigne - Imagine (much better thank you'd think - it's on the Save Darfur album)

Good thing I moved.

This happened less than two blocks from Alamo Square, for those of you who know where that is. Also 5 blocks from where I used to live.

7 injured as feud rages in the Western Addition
Housing complex's residents terrified -- 2 attacks in 12 hours

A feud between groups from two Western Addition housing developments, which flared Tuesday when a 19-year-old man was shot in the foot, exploded Wednesday and Thursday as packs of gunmen wounded seven people in a pair of brazen shootings, San Francisco police said.
Police said they were increasing patrols near both housing developments -- the privately owned Friendship Village Apartments and the city's Yerba Buena Plaza East, just five blocks away -- in response to shootings at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:50 a.m. Thursday that deeply frightened residents.
The latest two shootings happened at Friendship Village, a three-story complex of wood shingles on Friendship Court, where police said young men and teens are battling rivals from Plaza East, a collection of newer townhouses centered at Eddy and Buchanan streets. That's where the 19-year-old man was shot Tuesday.
"We're making headway" on identifying the shooters, Police Chief Heather Fong said Thursday afternoon at City Hall, after emerging from closed-door meetings with Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes the crime scenes.
Fong said officers would be stationed outside the housing developments 24 hours a day until investigators from the city's gang task force decide the situation has cooled down. Leaflets will be passed out, she said, asking residents to give information that could help solve the cases.
Police also will be keeping an eye on the Juneteenth festival on Fillmore Street this Saturday and Sunday, which celebrates African American history and culture.
Mirkarimi, who went to Friendship Court after each shooting, said he was angry that the second attack was not averted. He said he spoke with Fong by telephone at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, after the first shooting, and that she had promised him that officers would be stationed there.
"The fact is, it didn't happen," Mirkarimi said.
Capt. Kevin Dillon, who heads the Northern Police Station, said he took responsibility for officers not being posted at the location at the time of the second shooting. "There was a communication breakdown," he said. "It's being addressed."
In the first shooting, police said, seven assailants attacked a group of people on the 1100 block of McAllister Street, at the end of Friendship Court. One victim was driven to Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center and three others, including a bystander, were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. None had life-threatening wounds, said Sgt. Neville Gittens, a police spokesman.
Jason Steinberg, a 32-year-old photographer, said he was the bystander. He said he was walking toward his apartment on Fulton Street, a block away from the shooting, when he was knocked to the ground. He initially thought he had been hit by a bottle rocket, but soon realized a bullet had blasted through a metal gate and struck him in the left thigh, leaving him with a deep bruise.
"I'm looking to move out immediately," he said.
The second shooting happened near a playground, a central management office and a laundry room along Friendship Court, which bisects the apartment complex. Police said three or four suspects on foot attacked a group, wounding a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys. One of the victims had life-threatening injuries, Gittens said.
The shootings left nearby cars and homes scarred by bullet holes. Yellow chalk circles on the pavement, which typically indicate where a bullet casing has been found, were scattered over a wide area, as if the victims of the second shooting had been chased.
"I dove to the floor both times," said Virginia Womach, a 58-year-old woman who lives in Friendship Village. "I couldn't count how many shots there were."
Womach said violence had been a factor when she recently made plans to move away, after nearly 30 years in the complex. She said she and her boyfriend were moving next month to Redding, where she has a grown son.
"That's good countryside," she said.