Image from SF Party Party

By Steven T. Jones

San Francisco's latest plan for Halloween, which falls on a Friday this year, is a ridiculously naive recipe for disaster. Even worse, mayoral flak Nate Ballard is still trying to peddle the ludicrous assertion that creating a police state and ending the Castro party early by turning water hoses on the costumed participants is sound civic policy, telling the Chronicle: "We're optimistic this strategy will deliver a peaceful Halloween for the second straight year."
I got news for you, Nate, Gavin Newsom, Bevan Dufty and the rest of the nervous nellies who are afraid to throw a decent party: occupation isn't the same as peace. And it's certainly counter to San Francisco's values and economic interests. These people earlier this year hired Laura Fraenza at a ridiculously high six-figure salary to come up with a plan for Halloween and all they could do is propose a no-name concert in the baseball stadium that will appeal to none of the people who are drawn to the Castro each year. Lame, lame, lame.
Between trying to cancel the plan to issue identification cards to city residents, including those without immigration documents (which Newsom has no authority to do under the charter given that the Board of Supervisors created the program on a veto-proof 10-1 vote) and his efforts to end San Francisco's Sanctuary City status, Newsom's flirtation with running for higher office has made him scared of his own civic shadow. Toughen up, Mr. Mayor, because we don't intent to sacrifice San Francisco's most laudable initiatives and best civic gatherings on the altar of your political ambitions.

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 12:41 PM • Comments (1)

by Amanda Witherell

After we ran an article on the remarkable coincidences between opponents of the Clean Energy Act and people who take money from PG&E, reader J.J. Hollingsworth sent the following anecdote. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Hollingsworth wrote:

"Regarding Eric Jaye’s comment, “They’ve pledged enough to educate every voter in San Francisco.”

On August 19th, I received a call from Focus Point Marketing Group which promised to pay me $100 for two hours of my time provided I call back for an interview in order to be a part of a group seminar on August 21st which would address social issues.

I called the lady back and asked what the social issue was about.

She said it was about the administration of public utilities in San Francisco. We established a rapport and I said that the subject would interest me and I checked my schedule and indeed was available for the two-hour seminar at 450 Sansome on August 21st from 6-8 p.m. The pay at $50 per hour was intriguing.

I proceeded with the interview which was a question tree about if I’m registered to vote, how likely I am to vote in November, etc. When we got to the part about whether I consider myself conservative, moderate, or liberal. My answer was, “I guess I’m liberal.” She said something to the effect of, “Well, you are in San Francisco where people are liberal, but unfortunately I can’t sign you up.”

Still intrigued by the $100, I said something to the effect of “Well, let’s mark me down as ‘moderate’ because some people out here think I’m conservative on certain issues.” So we proceeded with the interview. The next question was “What political party are you affiliated with?” I told her that I registered with the Green Party over twenty years ago. (It’s not easy being green and my voting record does not always concur with the Green Party line.)

The sweet lady at the other end of the phone replied, “Ma’am, I can’t win for losin’ here.” And so we left it cordially, and with humor – I could not attend the August 23rd ‘party’ and go home with $100.

My main point here is that despite all the fundraising bravura, I believe PG&E considers at least some of the population here in San Francsico uneducable."

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Posted by Amanda Witherell at 08:34 PM • Comments (1)

Newt Gingrich, that great three-times-divorced defender of family values, has made a new ad for Prop. 8. I wonder who the Yes on 8 people think ol' Newt still appeals to.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 06:03 PM • Comments (1)

You know why some School Board members and top administrators are walking around with tote bags emblzoned with a pic of Jimi Hendrix?

School Sup. Carlo Garcia, it turns out, has a theory about the district's new Strategic Plan. As one person who received a bag told us, "He said reading the plan is like the first time you ever hear a Jimi Hendrix song -- you don't know whether you like it or not, but you realize it's something totally amazing. And after you hear it a few times, you really come to appreciate it."

Gentle Blythe, the district's spokesperson, confirmed that that was the theory behind the bags. "He's said it various different ways, but you have it basically right," she said.

If you try to think about Arlene Ackerman ever doing or saying something like that, you get a sense of how different (and how much more upbeat) the school administration is under Garcia.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 04:51 PM • Comments (0)

By Tim Redmond

I think Randy Shaw is right that Dianne Feinstein won't run for governor. I don't think the prospect of her entering the race is having much of any impact on Gavin Newsom right now (except for the possibility that some donors will hold off to see if Feinstein, who they would fear snubbing, is a player or not).

But there's another element to this: As long as Feinstein is talking about the race, her presence will probably keep some other candiates, especially other women, on the sidelines. If Feinstein has a favorite -- her dear friend Rep. Ellen Tauscher?) -- she might be able to hold someone like Jackie Speier, who clearly is interested in the job, out of the race for a while.

So there are games aplenty here.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 04:44 PM • Comments (0)

My brother, who runs a small construction company in Putnam Valley, New York, just called with his thoughts on the Palin nomination.

"It might not be that stupid after all," he told me. "She hunts, she fishes, she has a pregnant 17-year-old daughter, her husband has a DUI and her brother in law tasered his 11-year-old kid ... So she's got the redneck vote. And there are a lot of them."

That, of course, is what McCain was thinking -- solidify the base, and try to attract working-class people in heartland and southern states who have been badly hurt by Bush but might have trouble relating to a Harvard-educated African American.

There's really no secret about the strategy here: The GOP has used race-based and culture-based fearmongering for years.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 02:56 PM • Comments (4)

Marry my daughter or else!

By Tim Redmond
I feel sorry for the kids.

Sarah Palin's daughter is 17. Her boyfriend is either 17 or 18, depending on which reports you read. The New York Post, bless it, has the scoop on the dad: According to his MySpace page, Levi Johnston

boasts, "I'm a f - - -in' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

"But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in' chillin' I guess."

He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."

Too late now, Levi. If you weren't screwing the daughter of a woman who wants to be vice president, perhaps there would be other choices. Abortion is legal in Alaska, whatever Gov. Palin thinks, and there are plenty of pregnant 17-year-olds who choose to give babies up for adoption. There might have been a chance for you to go to college, go on with your life.

But not now. These two kids will be forced to get married whether they want to or not, because that's what the Republican Party needs them to do.

You think that happy marriage is going to last? Family fucking values.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 01:44 PM • Comments (8)

Ed Note: Some great coverage of how different women are reacting to the choice, including highlights of Palin's introduction speech, can be found on Slate's XX Blog. PS: And how bad is it that I've now counted more than 10 "MILF" comments on YouTube about her?

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Posted by Sarah Phelan at 04:14 PM • Comments (1)

The hockey mom's got a gun!

Ed Note: Not scary enough? Check out this blog post on Jezebel which really lays it out.

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 03:38 PM • Comments (0)

By Mirissa Neff

Here was my perspective for most of the evening... there was a lot of vying for position:

I got to the stadium around 1:30pm and got in line for the security check:

It goes without saying that security was extremely tight... here's a shot of the lookout standing atop the stadium:

Continue reading "Thursday's images from the DNC" »

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Posted by SFBG at 10:37 AM • Comments (0)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Steven T. Jones

Barack Obama finally took center stage as the Democratic National Convention drew to an explosive close tonight in a packed Mile High Stadium. Most on hand thought he gave a great speech and left smiling and enthused, but I and some other progressives had a few cringing moments that left us slightly unsettled.

While Obama and the Democrats made a clear and compelling case for how much better for the country they are than McCain and the Republicans, there were also many points of concern for progressives and the alienated Left. Obama did little to address their issues while reaching out to Republicans, churchgoers, and conservatives.

“All across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don’t understand is this isn’t about me, it’s about you,” Obama said in one of his biggest applause lines of the night.

If this is really about me and my people – those in the streets protesting war and the two party system, people at Burning Man creating art and community, those of us on the coasts frustrated by the political influence of heartland voters – then it appears the election of Obama is just the beginning of the work we need to do.

Continue reading "American Dreamer: Man in the Middle" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 11:59 PM • Comments (2)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Kid Beyond

Wednesday afternoon: the nominating speeches. They’re playing against
type. Third-youngest delegate Jordan Apollo Pazell, from a 720-person
town in Utah, seconds Hillary’s nomination on behalf of his two great-
grandmothers -- both still alive and in Utah, both born before women
had the right to vote. Nominating Obama is Michael Wilson, a young
Iraq War vet and lifelong Republican.

Speaker after speaker, the talking points are the same. The failing
economy. Health care. A swift exit from Iraq. A more nuanced foreign
policy. Clean energy, and clean energy jobs. Restoring the American
Dream -- prosperity through hard work.

Conspicuously absent: Gun control. Capital punishment. Climate change.
Immigration. Gay marriage, of course. And barely a peep about
abortion. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz offers the first
mention of Roe v. Wade I’ve heard all week; Hillary never touched it.

Continue reading "American Dreamer: Notes from Underground" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 03:42 PM • Comments (0)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Steven T. Jones

Gavin Newsom threw a great party last night, drawing a mix of young hipsters, youngish politicos, and a smattering of corporate types in suit and tie. Even though he didn’t get a speaking slot at the convention, Newsom is widely seen as a rising star in the party, far cooler than most elected officials, maybe even too cool for his own good.

Comedian Sarah Silverman did a funny bit to open the program at the Manifest Hope Gallery (which featured a variety of artworks featuring Obama), then introduced Newsom by saying, “I’m honored to introduce a great public servant and a man I would like to discipline sexually, Gavin Newsom.”

Apparently Newsom liked it because he grabbed Silverman and started to grope and nuzzle into her like they were making out, then acted surprised to see the crowd there and took the microphone. It was a strange and uncomfortable moment for those who know about his past sex scandal and recent marriage to the former Jennifer Siebel, who watched the spectacle from the wings.

But it clearly shows that Newsom is his own biggest fan, someone who think he’s adorable and can do no wrong, which is a dangerous mindset in politics.

Continue reading "American Dreamer: Newsom's party" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 01:41 PM • Comments (1)

By Mirissa Neff

After picking up my photo credential downtown this morning I got a bicycle from one of the "Freewheeling" stations. It's a free bicycle program set up specifically for the convention. Then I rode over to grab lunch at an amazing taqueria in the Highlands:

Things were just starting up at the convention center and on the way to the security check Reverend Al Sharpton was holding court:

After making it into the building and finding a seat in the nosebleeds, Pelosi began the role call:

At that point I knew I had to get down to the floor...

Continue reading "Wednesday's images from the DNC" »

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Posted by SFBG at 11:27 PM • Comments (1)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Steven T. Jones

San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly was giddy when I joined him in the two-thirds full California delegation this afternoon during the nominating speeches for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It was partly because he was finally an official delegate, having gotten called up from his roll as alternate a couple hours earlier. But an even bigger reason for his joy was that he’s a serious political wonk and just loves the Roll Call, the only official business of the convention.

“This is the best part of the convention, roll call. It’s cool,” Daly, the consummate vote counter, told me as we watched the chair ask each state for their votes. “The speeches are OK, but this is what it’s about.”

And pretty soon, this kid in the candy shop was losing his mind as we watched a series of genuinely newsworthy developments in an otherwise scripted convention: California party chair Art Torres saying “California passes” rather than reporting our votes, states like New Jersey and Arkansas awarding all their votes to Obama and causing the room to go nuts, and the series of states yielding to others that culminated in Clinton herself, after a dramatic entrance into the hall, making the motion to end the count and name Obama as the nominee by acclimation of the whole convention.

Continue reading "American Dreamer, at the convention: Roll Call" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 06:46 PM • Comments (1)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Kid Beyond

On Tuesday afternoon, to a half-filled hall, Dennis Kucinich gives the best speech you won't see on any front page, at the top of any news hour. He has the audacity to shout from the rooftops that the Emperor Has No Clothes. "Wake up, America! The insurance companies took over health care! Multinational corporations took over our trade policies! Wake up, America! We went into Iraq for oil!"

The man is en fuego. He's a mean, green, righteous-indignation machine. In the crowd, mouths are agape. Check out the short guy! Incredulous jaws are hitting the floor. He's whipping them into a frenzy. Black folks, white folks. It's like Showtime at the Apollo, when the audience finally realizes, "Hey, that white boy can sing."

Content-wise, it's old news to most Guardian readers. But in the centrist halls of the DNC, speaking naked truth to power is a subversive act indeed. They're still cheering Kucinich 30 seconds into the next speaker, the unfortunately-slotted California Controller John Chiang.

Continue reading "American Dreamer: Dreams Deferred" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 04:39 PM • Comments (0)

by Amanda Witherell

Berkeley-based Disability Rights Advocates filed suit in US District Court today against the city of San Francisco for denying access to shelter beds for disabled homeless people. The suit alleges that Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Care not Cash program sets aside a certain amount of beds that are thus unavailable to disabled people who are banned from the program.

“There are limited resources in the shelter system and there are large numbers of beds that are set aside that people with disabilities don’t have access to as a statutory matter,” said Julia Pinover, DRA’s attorney on the case. “The city has a responsibility to provide services equally.”

Care not Cash, which was passed by voters in 2002, pools the General Assistance money that used to go to individuals into a fund for financing housing and supportive services. People still receive small portions of their $395 GA cash -- $29 checks every two weeks – and they’re guaranteed shelter beds in exchange for giving the rest of the cash to the city. Not everyone uses their allocated beds, but they still must be set aside – thus eliminating them from the pool of beds available to other people seeking shelter.

Homeless people who receive Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, or veterans and disabled benefits do not get GA money and therefore cannot participate in Care not Cash. The suit alleges there are 60 to 80 Care Not Cash beds that go unfilled every night while hundreds of people seeking shelter are turned away. At least 50 percent of homeless people self-identify as disabled, though many consider that a low figure. “Because any person who is eligible for disability benefits is not able to participate in the CNC program even is there is an empty CNC bed at a shelter, a homeless person with a disability may be denied shelter solely because of his or her disabled status,” states the claim.

“Right now the shelter system for disabled people with mental illness is the equivalent to having a shelter at the top of a hill with a giant staircase and you’re in a wheelchair,” said Paul Boden of Western Regional Advocacy Project, a nonprofit homeless rights group based in San Francisco that is party to the class action suit. “It’s being run more like a capitalist venture than a social program. If it was a social program with a soul then disabled people, seniors, and women would be your priorities.”

Continue reading "City Sued over Care not Cash, again" »

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Posted by Amanda Witherell at 03:55 PM • Comments (0)

Steven T. Jones and Kid Beyond are driving to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, stopping by Burning Man on the way there and back, reporting on the intersection of the counterculture and the national political culture.

By Steven T. Jones

The Big Tent, which is the central hub for bloggers and progressive activists here in Denver, offers more than just free beer, food, massages, smoothies, and Internet access. It offers up the amplified voice of grassroots democracy, something finding an audience not just with millions of citizens on the Internet, but among Democratic Party leaders.

New media powerhouses including Daily Kos, MoveOn, and Digg (a Guardian tenant in San Francisco which sponsors the main stage in the Big Tent) have spent the last year working on the Big Tent project with progressive groups in Denver, many of whom have offices in the Alliance Building, the parking lot of which houses the Big Tent (a simple wood-framed floor, stairs, and decks above it, covered by a tent).

“This is where we have the people on the ground doing the work on progressive causes,” said Katie Fleming with Colorado Common Cause, one Alliance Building tenant. “It’s been a year in the planning. The idea was having a place for blogs to cover the convention,…It’s a way for us to all come together for the progressive line that we carry.”

But it’s really more than that. It’s a coming together disparate, ground-level forces of the left into something like an real institution, something with the power to potentially influence the positions and political dialogue of the Democratic Party.

“When we started doing this in 2001, there just wasn’t this kind of movement,” MoveOn founder Eli Pariser told me as we rode down the Alliance Building elevator together. “The left wing conspiracy is finally vast.”

Continue reading "American Dreamer: The Big Tent's vast left-wing conspiracy" »

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Posted by Steven T. Jones at 12:19 PM • Comments (0)

Renowned LGBT activist Del Martin died today, according to a press release from State Senator Carole Migden.

Del Martin, 87and her partner Phyllis Lyons, 83, became the first gay couple in the nation to legally marry on Feb. 12, 2004, after having spent almost 50 years as a couple.

Their marriage was deemed void later that same year, but this summer, when the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, Del and Phyllis were, once again, the first to wed.

State Senator Carole Migden’s (D-San Francisco/North Bay) released the following statement today in response to Martin's death:

“Del Martin slipped away from us just moments ago but her spirit and legacy will never be extinguished within the LGBT community. Del and her loving, longtime partner, Phyllis Lyon, were harbingers for change and activism long before lesbian issues became au courant and socially acceptable. All people and movements in search of true liberation owe an immeasurable debt to Del Martin who, along with other early brave souls, was determined to speak out and change the world to better the plight and lives of those whose voices are not heard. “

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Posted by Sarah Phelan at 12:01 PM • Comments (3)

By Mirissa Neff

Just back from a day of DNC madness. After haggling to get my press pass I walked through downtown Denver to meet up with Steve Jones and Kid Beyond at the "Big Tent." Along the way were some young protesters and some local color:

Kid Beyond was interviewing a delegate as I arrived then he and Steve blogged away:

Continue reading "Tuesday's images from the DNC" »

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Posted by SFBG at 12:15 AM • Comments (0)