Now that we may be renaming the rebuilt eastern span [pdf] of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge after 19th century character (and sometime MeFi topic) Emperor Norton I, the question remains: when the time comes, what shall we name after his devoted widow? [cached last link]
posted on Dec 15, 2004 - View this thread

Libraries? Sports? Music Programs? Guidance Counselors? Not on my bill, buddy! That crap is for nerds and jocks. It's all good here in sunny California.
posted on Mar 10, 2004 - View this thread

Where is my gay apocalypse?
I have been waiting patiently. I have been staring with great anticipation out the window of my flat here in the heart of San Francisco, sighing heavily, waiting for the riots and the plagues and the screaming monkeys and the blistering rain of inescapable hellfire. I have my camera all ready and everything.
posted on Mar 5, 2004 - View this thread

A concealed weapon that's not allowed in Texas. Mother of three, Joanna Webb, could be put into jail for a year for holding a Passion Party where she sold a vibrator to undercover narcotics agents. Don't they realize it's just for "therapeutic massage?"
posted on Dec 21, 2003 - View this thread

"She didn't seem to care for the hawker selling goats' heads. But she did stop when a young, well-dressed fellow ambled over to her and said: 'You have captured my liver.'" This and other stories from a very well-detailed article on the three-day dating festival of the Berbers of Morocco.
posted on Sep 12, 2003 - View this thread

SFGate is running an article on an internet assisted suicide that's worth reading. Not because of the minutiae, or any implied morality/immorality regarding suicide, but simply because it's a well-researched, well-written story of the culture of those who are about to die.
posted on Jun 14, 2003 - View this thread

Judge, citing al-Qaida-Iraq link, awards $104 million to Sept. 11 families A judge ruled yesterday that lack of evidence should be no barrier to suing people who cannot be found. "The judge wrote that lawyers relied heavily on 'classically hearsay' evidence, including reports that a Sept. 11 hijacker met an Iraqi consul to Prague, Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks to the United Nations about connections between Iraq and terrorism, and defectors' descriptions of the use of an Iraq camp to train terrorists." --This would hardly be the first documented example of a court being overtly political, but the judge himself has no problem commenting on how shoddy the case was. "The judge noted that the experts provided few actual facts that Iraq provided support to the terrorists." --Apparently, the judge had just been waiting for Saddam to cease to be a diplomatically immune head of state before ruling against him. Is the low standard of evidence needed for civil rulings allowing the courts to begin establishing something that the military and intelligence can't? [more inside]
posted on May 8, 2003 - View this thread

A man riding his lawnmower across the country started off by going in the wrong direction. Brad Hauter has his own lawnmower buisness, and in order to demonstrate how great his mower is, he's riding it from coast to coast. The problem is, he started on the west coast and headed west. Oops. (Link via Relevant Magazine.)
posted on Mar 21, 2003 - View this thread

"I'm the commander in chief of this goddam place, and there is no way the command staff of my Police Department is going to step down at this time. It's a matter of public safety."

So responded San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to the indictments of ten SFPD members, which included Police Chief Earl Sanders. The convictions were passed after police officers assaulted two men who wouldn't hand over a bag of steak fajitas. Top brass deliberately delayed handing over records to the DA. Has Brown committed political suicide standing by an old friend? Are his words a realistic portrayal of municipal operations? And what does an indicted command staff still on the job say about justice being served?
posted on Mar 1, 2003 - View this thread

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster - Scientists poring over 'infrasonic' sound waves Federal scientists are looking for evidence that a bolt of electricity in the upper atmosphere might have doomed the space shuttle Columbia as it streaked over California, The Chronicle has learned.
posted on Feb 7, 2003 - View this thread

Dow and Their PR Agency got more than a pie in the face, more like egg all over 'em. Two different activist parody productions exposed their continuing despicable behaviour toward the Union Carbide release in India back in '84 when thousands died and many more continue with serious health problems. Dow and said PR firm tried to get the sites shut down, which just generated a WHOLE BUNCH more negative publicity. The sites were moved, but remain for you viewing pleasure.
posted on Jan 9, 2003 - View this thread

Shooting the messenger. "The Bush administration, under fire for its handling of the economy, has quietly killed off a Labor Department program that tracked mass layoffs by U.S. companies." (via madamjujujive)
posted on Jan 4, 2003 - View this thread

Photos of neked boys popping up during your powerpoint presentations at work? Could be a computer virus.
posted on Nov 23, 2002 - View this thread

A "spiritual perspective frappé" for the war weary. Some things are perfect, just as they are. Go now and refresh your weary soul with wisdom and a wry smile or two.
posted on Oct 18, 2002 - View this thread

Davis signs $9.95 billion bond bill to boost high-speed rail
"Gov. Gray Davis signed a $9.95 billion bond measure Thursday that would clear the way for a high-speed rail system linking California's major cities."
this may be the first step in getting a decent rail-system going in the states. what do folks think about high-speed rail in general, do you think acela's recent problems are indicative of what we have to look forward to?
do those of you who have direct experience with existing high-speed rail systems have insights about the kind of obstacles this project might run into? will it revolutionize travel in the united states, or turn into a massive boondoggle?
posted on Sep 19, 2002 - View this thread

What's our government doing right now? Nobody cares. (via David Cogswell) "There is this gap, you see, this enormous, gaping separation between what the honest and ardent and yet often shockingly misinformed populace believes drives the heart of this great nation, and what actually drives it." Slap a new adhesive flag over the one bleached by the summer sun and let's get to it. This really has to stop.
posted on Sep 15, 2002 - View this thread

How creepy is this? Man poses as sportswriter for USAToday and/or SI For Kids who wants to interview female collegiate athletes. Some he only gets as far as the phone, one met up with him with her family acting as Scooby Gang. Police say he hasn't done anything to merit charges. Harmless person with mental disorder or person perfecting routine before he escalates?
posted on Jun 29, 2002 - View this thread

Spitballs It's always fun until someone loses an eye and you get charged with battery causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and mayhem and are found guilty of two of the charges [via ObscureStore].
posted on May 15, 2002 - View this thread

SFMOMA appoints Neal Benezra as new director. Benezra was formerly the deputy director and curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, and replaces David Ross, who left the museum in a hurry last August to become chairman of the board of Eyestorm. During his tenure, Ross spent $140 million on acquisitions for the museum; Elaine McKeon, chairwoman of the Museum's board told the NYTimes that "We will still continue purchasing works of art, but we are going to move more slowly." Benezra has ties to Hunk and Moo Anderson, and wrote the catalog essay for the 2000 show of the Anderson collection. Could this mean that the Anderson collection will eventually be gifted to SFMOMA? (sfgate story, nytimes story)
posted on Mar 14, 2002 - View this thread

What fun it must be to be gay and in the military. Seems like the military can't make up its damn mind about whether or not gay people are ok to serve.
posted on Feb 15, 2002 - View this thread

SF Chronicle article about a condition that I have seen but didn't know had a name. . . .Orthorexia Nervosa. . .The obsessive quest for healty food. . .I would suspect that your average computer-active person would NOT experience this condition but perhaps you know someone or perhaps live with someone who could be described in this way. . .
posted on Jan 7, 2002 - View this thread

Religious ferver? Or just fascism in new clothes. Why do we continue call these people religious fundamentalists? Osama is closer to Stalin.
posted on Oct 4, 2001 - View this thread

I feel represented. I live in the East Bay, and I cannot believe my feelings towards all this have been represented in congress. Does anyone else feel that petitioning their rep's may be a good idea? I understand the need for retribution, but, really, is it worth more innocent death? We have carried out search and destroy missions before with zero civilian casualty. I'm sorry to not understand "death to all", I just think that this is WAY more delicate.
posted on Sep 15, 2001 - View this thread

Fear of flying? New security measures are being discussed. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says, "These terrorist acts are designed to steal the confidence of Americans. We will restore that confidence."
posted on Sep 12, 2001 - View this thread

Toy Yoda... Expecting a Landcruiser, but getting the land speeder instead, a Hooter's waitress uses the Force to fight against her employer's dark side in court.
posted on Jul 28, 2001 - View this thread

Let your three pit bulls maul a young child, hide them, go to jail. This would be a lot less appalling if the SF Chron had not chosen to run it underneath the story about "poodle boy".
posted on Jun 20, 2001 - View this thread

Smuggle teenage girls into U.S. for sex, go to jail. Worse than throwing a dog into traffic?
posted on Jun 20, 2001 - View this thread

Chinese-American congressman denied entrance to Department of Energy offices U.S. Rep David Wu (outspoken and rather instrumental in the Wen Ho Lee case) was denied entrance twice, despite having Congressional identification. "Energy Department officials told Wu's office the caution was justified because congressional IDs are easy to fake... But Capitol Police recalled only one incident of possible congressional ID forgery, 20 years ago and never proven."
posted on Jun 4, 2001 - View this thread

Shock the prisoner It's the details of this story that horrify me. This guy is a repeat offender. Still, it's seems extreme to send him to jail to die for stealing painkillers. Oh and by the way, while the judge is doing that she doesn't want him to talk back.
posted on May 31, 2001 - View this thread

Some Straights Can Go Gay, Study Says.

Just as I've always suspected.
posted on May 18, 2001 - View this thread

YES! You can help save the US Postal Service! With the USPS raising rates every month, it seems, and continuing to run with a $2 billion deficit, it's beginning to look like this quasi-public agency is going to lose the battle to those other overnight delivery companies. But since there are some people who can't afford the luxury of email or the high prices of FedEx, there must be something the common man can do to help keep Ben Franklin's baby afloat. There is! via Pigs & Fishes
posted on May 17, 2001 - View this thread

Apparently arrogance isn't a job qualification I've read some attacks on dot-commers for being self involved yahoos. So the Chron found someone willing to own up to being a self involved yahoo in print. It's painful to read.
posted on May 12, 2001 - View this thread

The dog mauling case in San Francisco continues to make for some bizarre news. Turns out that the possible sexual abuse of the animals did in fact happen. The dogs had also previously attacked another woman.
posted on Apr 1, 2001 - View this thread

Jon Carroll has a few ideas on the Culture War in this SFGate article from June. He's right, of course.
posted on Sep 16, 1999 - View this thread