So, yesterday, I had one of the most annoying experiences of my life. On Tuesday, I got a notice on the door that I had a package being delivered by DHL (connected sadly to Deutsche Post). They had tried, but as a signature was necessary, they couldn't do it. They would try back again, or I could come pick it up between 5 and 7 at their main warehouse (or whatever).
So, yesterday, I called them and after being rooted around on the money-grubbing, capitalist, automated phone machines, I finally got to talk to a person. She told me that they could deliver it between 5 and 7, but that the drivers carry no cell-phones, so I would have to wait in front of the building, or buzz the driver in. As I don't have "buzz-in" capabilities and I didn't want to wait outside for 2 hours, I told them that I would like to just come pick it up.
I was then told that the office was at 23rd St. and 3rd St. Well, that is in the middle of nowhere, roughly equivalent to 45th Ave. and Thomas (but with absolutely no transportation out there). Then, I realized that the new T-Line goes right out there, and I said, ok, and the woman on the phone said, ok, let me confirm this, and I will be right back. After about a 5 minute wait (this entire conversation is costing me cell-phone minutes, of course), she came back and said, it has been confirmed, and you will receive a phone call within the hour confirming this confirmation. This seemed excessive of course, but I couldn't really be against it. An hour later, I got a voice-mail saying I could come between that time and 6:30 at night.
At 5:15, I left work and got to the T-Line metro station at 5:20. The train (which is supposed to come every 10 minutes, came along at about 5:45 and then, it took us 30 minutes to go 3 stops to the end of the Market Street Tunnel (should be about 3 minutes). Apparently, a train had gotten stuck at Montgomery Station going in the other direction and thousands of people were angrily clogging stations and trains in front of us. Finally at about 6:30, I arrive at DHL (I could have walked faster). I walk out to the edge of civilization (it's a warehouse district right on the bay, and this one is at the very end of it). I walk in and they are about to close. I said, "Why does it say 5-7 on this sheet if you close at 6:30?" The man replied "because our drivers are idiots". They then informed me that my package had been delivered to the doorstep of 999 Bush St. Apt. 206. After fighting through the other 5 people lodging complaints, the original guy tells me, "strange too, they can't just leave alcohol sitting in front of a door. that's illegal" (that's when i realized it was the beer of the month club stuff, and i got excited). So, they got their supervisor, and he said, "what's the problem?" I very clearly said, "First, the driver put an incorrect time down on the slip on my door. Then, I have to fight the phone machine to talk to anyone. Then, I have to buy a metro ticket and suffer through the most annoying ride of my life. Then, I arrive here and your workers flippantly ignore me and tell me that my problem is strange because it's illegal to do such a thing. And now, my package is likely stolen because I live in a large apartment building. What should I do?"
The manager apologized. I believed him. He told me that if the package was not there when I got home, I should call him personally (he gave me his number) and he would attempt to rectify the problem. I found him to be incredibly respectful, aware and intelligent, and I said, thank you, and shook his hand.
When I arrived home, Marty helped me unload the box of beers into the fridge and we drank 2!
The John Coltrane Quartet - Up 'Gainst the Wall
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Book of Revelation
I just read the Book of Revelation, and I must say, I am still not convinced.
Current Music - John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Current Music - John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Mayor of Castro Street
From today's Chronicle
Mayor of Castro Street
Editor -- May 22 will be Harvey Milk's 77th birthday. My wife Helen and myself met Harvey in 1973 when he moved into his home at 573 Castro St. and opened his camera shop at 575 Castro with his lover Scott Smith. Harvey, along with many other gays, is responsible for saving this great district. In the few years he had, Harvey did so much for the Castro district. There is not enough space to list all that Harvey did to improve this district. He was a very proud gay, and I never saw gay people holding hands until Harvey and his lover Scott walked down Castro Street. The rest is history.
A couple of weeks after Harvey Milk became supervisor, I went to visit him at his office in City Hall. He was receiving calls from all over the United States from gay persons asking him if it were true that gays would be safe in the Castro district. Harvey said "you will be safe.'' On Harvey's birthday next year, May 22, 2008, a bronze bust of him will be placed in City Hall for people from all over to see.
Everyone who lives or works in the Castro knows that this district is a special place. During the next year, I invite you to see for yourself. Go to the Harvey Milk Library in the Castro and read Randy Shilts' book, "The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life & Times of Harvey Milk." Read and look at all the history about the Castro in Strange de Jim's photo history, "San Francisco's Castro.'' When you visit the Castro, go to the Muni station and walk downstairs, and you will see pictures of Harvey on the wall. Go to 573 Castro and look up, and you will see a mural of Harvey looking out the window. Look at Harvey's old camera shop at 575 Castro and read the plaque on the sidewalk. Thank you, Harvey Milk, for making the Castro a nice place for everyone to enjoy. You will always be the mayor of Castro Street.
Current music: Os Mutantes - Dom Quixote
Mayor of Castro Street
Editor -- May 22 will be Harvey Milk's 77th birthday. My wife Helen and myself met Harvey in 1973 when he moved into his home at 573 Castro St. and opened his camera shop at 575 Castro with his lover Scott Smith. Harvey, along with many other gays, is responsible for saving this great district. In the few years he had, Harvey did so much for the Castro district. There is not enough space to list all that Harvey did to improve this district. He was a very proud gay, and I never saw gay people holding hands until Harvey and his lover Scott walked down Castro Street. The rest is history.
A couple of weeks after Harvey Milk became supervisor, I went to visit him at his office in City Hall. He was receiving calls from all over the United States from gay persons asking him if it were true that gays would be safe in the Castro district. Harvey said "you will be safe.'' On Harvey's birthday next year, May 22, 2008, a bronze bust of him will be placed in City Hall for people from all over to see.
Everyone who lives or works in the Castro knows that this district is a special place. During the next year, I invite you to see for yourself. Go to the Harvey Milk Library in the Castro and read Randy Shilts' book, "The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life & Times of Harvey Milk." Read and look at all the history about the Castro in Strange de Jim's photo history, "San Francisco's Castro.'' When you visit the Castro, go to the Muni station and walk downstairs, and you will see pictures of Harvey on the wall. Go to 573 Castro and look up, and you will see a mural of Harvey looking out the window. Look at Harvey's old camera shop at 575 Castro and read the plaque on the sidewalk. Thank you, Harvey Milk, for making the Castro a nice place for everyone to enjoy. You will always be the mayor of Castro Street.
Current music: Os Mutantes - Dom Quixote
Monday, May 21, 2007
Immigration
The Immigration Debate isn't really a debate. It's generally just a contest to prove how nationalistic one can appear. I no longer respect Governor Napolitano after hearing her pander to the right on Late Edition with Wolf Biltzer.
This issue is so clear. Illegal immigration is merely a designation given to an occurrence. This does not reflect it's general merits, just its status under our current laws. Any true immigration reform will restructure the program so that poor people (whose economic status is assured by the neo-liberal policies of the global north and its organizations like the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF) are no longer seen as criminals. The criminals aren't the immigrants and they aren't those who employ foreigners for low wages. The criminals are the Americans who think they deserve better than other humans because they were born within an imaginary line.
There will always be immigration from poorer countries into their richer neighbors. Creation of a guest-worker program is criminal. It is wrong to put limits on how long someone can stay in one place. Someone comes in, works hard, starts a family and poof! they have to go "home". Disgusting. Requiring people to return to their countries of origin to apply for citizenship is criminal. Haitians not being recognized as refugees, while the much healthier, safer and richer Cubans being welcomed with open arms is criminal. Requiring those who are obviously extremely poor to pay $5,000 to be legalized is not only NOT AMNESTY, it's nonsensical, it ignores the root of the problem and is just asking for more "illegal" activity. Who will be able to pay that?
Go watch Karen, a twelve yr. old at Palomino Elementary School who had her broken-arm taped to her chest and fell on it scream in agony, because she is not of a correct status to go to a hospital. "§$& our government. Where on this earth is there a compassionate government that governs a country I can move to? Sadly nowhere. We as a nation are still quite a bit more compassionate than most places. We should fight to keep it that way.
Jon Kyl seems to have surprisingly changed his tune from wanting to put illegals in cages to pushing for a guest-worker program. The problem is, the only real change for him is that 2 years of being in a cage called "poor in America" will now be followed by a forced-removal from the country and placement in a cage called "poor in country other than and poorer than America".
The worst thing is that under this program no one will leave, and in 20 years we'll get an even more ridiculously inhumane bill vilifying the needy from a yet more plutocratic government.
Stop the war on the poor!
Current music: Matisyahu - What I'm Fighting for
This issue is so clear. Illegal immigration is merely a designation given to an occurrence. This does not reflect it's general merits, just its status under our current laws. Any true immigration reform will restructure the program so that poor people (whose economic status is assured by the neo-liberal policies of the global north and its organizations like the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF) are no longer seen as criminals. The criminals aren't the immigrants and they aren't those who employ foreigners for low wages. The criminals are the Americans who think they deserve better than other humans because they were born within an imaginary line.
There will always be immigration from poorer countries into their richer neighbors. Creation of a guest-worker program is criminal. It is wrong to put limits on how long someone can stay in one place. Someone comes in, works hard, starts a family and poof! they have to go "home". Disgusting. Requiring people to return to their countries of origin to apply for citizenship is criminal. Haitians not being recognized as refugees, while the much healthier, safer and richer Cubans being welcomed with open arms is criminal. Requiring those who are obviously extremely poor to pay $5,000 to be legalized is not only NOT AMNESTY, it's nonsensical, it ignores the root of the problem and is just asking for more "illegal" activity. Who will be able to pay that?
Go watch Karen, a twelve yr. old at Palomino Elementary School who had her broken-arm taped to her chest and fell on it scream in agony, because she is not of a correct status to go to a hospital. "§$& our government. Where on this earth is there a compassionate government that governs a country I can move to? Sadly nowhere. We as a nation are still quite a bit more compassionate than most places. We should fight to keep it that way.
Jon Kyl seems to have surprisingly changed his tune from wanting to put illegals in cages to pushing for a guest-worker program. The problem is, the only real change for him is that 2 years of being in a cage called "poor in America" will now be followed by a forced-removal from the country and placement in a cage called "poor in country other than and poorer than America".
The worst thing is that under this program no one will leave, and in 20 years we'll get an even more ridiculously inhumane bill vilifying the needy from a yet more plutocratic government.
Stop the war on the poor!
Current music: Matisyahu - What I'm Fighting for
Friday, May 18, 2007
Sex-trafficking in my city
17 massage parlors closed by task force
Undercover drive by the city against human trafficking
A special San Francisco task force designed to combat human trafficking has closed 17 massage parlors suspected of forcing immigrant Asian women into sex work.
In the past 18 months, a team of undercover police officers, along with city fire, building and environmental health inspectors, has been conducting surprise inspections of suspected erotic massage parlors.
The 17 Asian massage parlors were closed after incurring at least three health and safety violations within a year. Four others were fined, suspended and allowed to reopen after a temporary closure. Two others closed voluntarily.
But a handful of parlors shut by the city have since reopened illegally, and one has applied for a new permit as an acupuncture clinic with massage.
"Enforcement has not been as effective as we had hoped, but we are making a dent," said Johnson Ojo, San Francisco's principal environmental health inspector.
"It's much harder to open a massage parlor in San Francisco now because we are taking a hard look at an owner's past history, and denying permits if they have been involved in prostitution before."
Enforcement has been difficult, but Mayor Gavin Newsom said the task force is making headway into a problem that until now has gone largely undetected.
"There is momentum and a commitment to resolve this," Newsom said. "We are moving away from looking at this issue as harmless prostitution to a criminal act against human dignity and human rights."
San Francisco is a major hub for the $8 billion global sex trafficking industry, and is home to more than 100 erotic massage parlors listed online and in Asian-language newspapers.
Traffickers abroad charge women tens of thousands of dollars to smuggle them into the city, and then force them to work off their debts in erotic massage parlors, sometimes servicing more than a dozen men a day. Sometimes the women are lied to about the type of work they will be doing in the United States.
Often the women are forced to live in the same parlors where they work, and are watched on surveillance cameras and kept inside by metal security doors.
Newsom convened the massage parlor task force after federal agents investigating a South Korean sex trafficking ring raided 10 San Francisco massage parlors in summer 2005.
After a sex trafficking investigation by The Chronicle, Newsom increased surprise inspections last fall from once to twice a month, and the Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring public hearings of all proposed massage parlors. The city and nonprofit agencies placed human trafficking posters with hot line numbers in bus shelters.
Ojo has issued cease and desist orders to the parlors that have illegally reopened after their permits were revoked, and he is working with the city attorney to get court warrants allowing him to send sheriff's deputies to shut the places.
On Wednesday, the inspection team returned for a second visit to CEO Health Club, on the sixth floor of an office building on Sansome Street.
Inside the club, six women were cited for wearing inappropriate attire -- lingerie and clear plastic heels -- and one of them was cited for working without a massage practitioner's license. The business was also cited for employing an unlicensed masseuse.
One woman, in tears, said she left a dying father in China and that she didn't like working in the massage parlor. She said she wants to teach piano to children.
The new citations at CEO Health Club, and similar violations recorded in August, are enough to revoke the club's permit, Ojo said.
"We have to build up a case against each one, and while it takes a long time and uses a lot of city resources, it is starting to show results," he said.
Newsom said he plans to begin enforcing a rarely used 1913 "red light" abatement law that allows authorities to fine and jail California landlords who let massage parlors operate as brothels in their buildings. He will also deliver a speech on human trafficking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Los Angeles in June.
Puppetmastaz feat. Angie Reed - Give Peace a Chance
Undercover drive by the city against human trafficking
A special San Francisco task force designed to combat human trafficking has closed 17 massage parlors suspected of forcing immigrant Asian women into sex work.
In the past 18 months, a team of undercover police officers, along with city fire, building and environmental health inspectors, has been conducting surprise inspections of suspected erotic massage parlors.
The 17 Asian massage parlors were closed after incurring at least three health and safety violations within a year. Four others were fined, suspended and allowed to reopen after a temporary closure. Two others closed voluntarily.
But a handful of parlors shut by the city have since reopened illegally, and one has applied for a new permit as an acupuncture clinic with massage.
"Enforcement has not been as effective as we had hoped, but we are making a dent," said Johnson Ojo, San Francisco's principal environmental health inspector.
"It's much harder to open a massage parlor in San Francisco now because we are taking a hard look at an owner's past history, and denying permits if they have been involved in prostitution before."
Enforcement has been difficult, but Mayor Gavin Newsom said the task force is making headway into a problem that until now has gone largely undetected.
"There is momentum and a commitment to resolve this," Newsom said. "We are moving away from looking at this issue as harmless prostitution to a criminal act against human dignity and human rights."
San Francisco is a major hub for the $8 billion global sex trafficking industry, and is home to more than 100 erotic massage parlors listed online and in Asian-language newspapers.
Traffickers abroad charge women tens of thousands of dollars to smuggle them into the city, and then force them to work off their debts in erotic massage parlors, sometimes servicing more than a dozen men a day. Sometimes the women are lied to about the type of work they will be doing in the United States.
Often the women are forced to live in the same parlors where they work, and are watched on surveillance cameras and kept inside by metal security doors.
Newsom convened the massage parlor task force after federal agents investigating a South Korean sex trafficking ring raided 10 San Francisco massage parlors in summer 2005.
After a sex trafficking investigation by The Chronicle, Newsom increased surprise inspections last fall from once to twice a month, and the Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring public hearings of all proposed massage parlors. The city and nonprofit agencies placed human trafficking posters with hot line numbers in bus shelters.
Ojo has issued cease and desist orders to the parlors that have illegally reopened after their permits were revoked, and he is working with the city attorney to get court warrants allowing him to send sheriff's deputies to shut the places.
On Wednesday, the inspection team returned for a second visit to CEO Health Club, on the sixth floor of an office building on Sansome Street.
Inside the club, six women were cited for wearing inappropriate attire -- lingerie and clear plastic heels -- and one of them was cited for working without a massage practitioner's license. The business was also cited for employing an unlicensed masseuse.
One woman, in tears, said she left a dying father in China and that she didn't like working in the massage parlor. She said she wants to teach piano to children.
The new citations at CEO Health Club, and similar violations recorded in August, are enough to revoke the club's permit, Ojo said.
"We have to build up a case against each one, and while it takes a long time and uses a lot of city resources, it is starting to show results," he said.
Newsom said he plans to begin enforcing a rarely used 1913 "red light" abatement law that allows authorities to fine and jail California landlords who let massage parlors operate as brothels in their buildings. He will also deliver a speech on human trafficking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Los Angeles in June.
Puppetmastaz feat. Angie Reed - Give Peace a Chance
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The Death of the Neocons
Wolfowitz resigns, effective June 30th. The man behind the screen on Iraq has fallen. This is more important than Rumsfeld.
Cheney is all but gone. Bush is a joke. Everyone is pushing for the removal of Gonzalez. Ashcroft is long gone. Rumsfeld resigned. Bolton was removed. The only slightly viable one left is Condi Rice. Look at the Republicans running for President. They are bad, but not soooooo bad. The end of the nightmare is in sight!
Current music: Matisyahu - King without a Crown
Cheney is all but gone. Bush is a joke. Everyone is pushing for the removal of Gonzalez. Ashcroft is long gone. Rumsfeld resigned. Bolton was removed. The only slightly viable one left is Condi Rice. Look at the Republicans running for President. They are bad, but not soooooo bad. The end of the nightmare is in sight!
Current music: Matisyahu - King without a Crown
Monday, May 07, 2007
so....
So, I moved in! I went to Ross/Walgreens (imagine that) and bought the following:
2 more shower curtains
A frying pan
A sauce pan
Tupperware
3 sharp knives
Mixing bowl
Cutting boards
a ladel
a cable car magnet
I found a little shelf thing on Jones on the street and I snapped that up
I went to Ikea and bought the following (I'm sure I'll forget something....):
A trashcan
Big coaster-like cork thingies for putting under hot pans
A wooden spoon set
Dish towels
Bathmat
4 drinking glasses
dish set (6 each.... large plates, small plates, bowls)
silverware set (4 each.... big and large spoons, big and large forks, knives)
a silverware holder thingy
an ikea screwdriver/hammer/pliers/wrench set so i could put together:
2 wooden chairs
a wooden dining table
a dresser with three drawers
a kitchen island thingy
As of now, I have built the table, chairs and half the dresser.
Justin drove me to Ikea and then I bought some beer and Agnieszka cooked food for us while Justin and I put the furniture together. I ate a meal on my new table and chairs! The people are coming to repair the things I asked them to repair. And an attorney on my case has expandable closet rods for hanging clothes and will be bringing them soon. I'm almost done with everything and I still have a significant amount of space on my floor. Maybe I'll get a comfortable chair someday.
2 more shower curtains
A frying pan
A sauce pan
Tupperware
3 sharp knives
Mixing bowl
Cutting boards
a ladel
a cable car magnet
I found a little shelf thing on Jones on the street and I snapped that up
I went to Ikea and bought the following (I'm sure I'll forget something....):
A trashcan
Big coaster-like cork thingies for putting under hot pans
A wooden spoon set
Dish towels
Bathmat
4 drinking glasses
dish set (6 each.... large plates, small plates, bowls)
silverware set (4 each.... big and large spoons, big and large forks, knives)
a silverware holder thingy
an ikea screwdriver/hammer/pliers/wrench set so i could put together:
2 wooden chairs
a wooden dining table
a dresser with three drawers
a kitchen island thingy
As of now, I have built the table, chairs and half the dresser.
Justin drove me to Ikea and then I bought some beer and Agnieszka cooked food for us while Justin and I put the furniture together. I ate a meal on my new table and chairs! The people are coming to repair the things I asked them to repair. And an attorney on my case has expandable closet rods for hanging clothes and will be bringing them soon. I'm almost done with everything and I still have a significant amount of space on my floor. Maybe I'll get a comfortable chair someday.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Once in a while...
Once in a while a story in the news about an unknown individual really gets me. The Chronicle is good at writing stories about everyday people, not just rich blonde girls.
This time, it was about Canon Christian Jones II, a freshman at Tuskegee University and a graduate of Berkeley High. For those of you who don't know, Berkeley High is in downtown Berkeley on MLK and is the only high school in Berkeley (I believe). Canon was a leader of the Communications, Arts and Sciences program, a sort of minischool within the 3,000 students at Berkeley High. He had been a volunteer at a Senior Housing facility since the 7th grade.
He was out walking by himself at Tuskegee University, when two people, a man and a woman, pulled over, and the man put a gun in his face and demanded his money. He gave him an empty wallet. The woman then searched his pockets and told the man, "Quentin, I found some keys" or something like that. Quentin, fearing that he could now be identified shot Canon in the neck. A passerby found Canon dead in a pool of blood. This boy was at King Middle School and Berkeley High at the same time I was three blocks up the road at CAL.
Yet another murder, NOT committed by a person with a gun. OH WAIT.
Current music: Miles Davis - What I Say
This time, it was about Canon Christian Jones II, a freshman at Tuskegee University and a graduate of Berkeley High. For those of you who don't know, Berkeley High is in downtown Berkeley on MLK and is the only high school in Berkeley (I believe). Canon was a leader of the Communications, Arts and Sciences program, a sort of minischool within the 3,000 students at Berkeley High. He had been a volunteer at a Senior Housing facility since the 7th grade.
He was out walking by himself at Tuskegee University, when two people, a man and a woman, pulled over, and the man put a gun in his face and demanded his money. He gave him an empty wallet. The woman then searched his pockets and told the man, "Quentin, I found some keys" or something like that. Quentin, fearing that he could now be identified shot Canon in the neck. A passerby found Canon dead in a pool of blood. This boy was at King Middle School and Berkeley High at the same time I was three blocks up the road at CAL.
Yet another murder, NOT committed by a person with a gun. OH WAIT.
Current music: Miles Davis - What I Say
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