Eye on Blogs

Glen Park has been subject to a wave of robberies in the past six months, mostly random street muggings. The reasons are obvious to anybody who spends as much time there as I do: BART station, freeway on-ramps, and residents who generally have iPods or laptops with them. Residents, I might add, who are smart enough to hand the goods over without a fight. No wonder predators are drawn to the neighborhood from miles away. Nevius writes of them: “No one knows who they are or where they are coming from.” Technically true, but residents have their suspicions, and unlike Nevius I’ll tell you exactly what they suspect: thanks to BART, the sociopaths living in Oakland and Richmond are right next door. What with the downturn in our economy, it’s likely that this is a problem that won’t go away.Glen Park has been subject to a wave of robberies in the past six months, mostly random street muggings. The reasons are obvious to anybody who spends as much time there as I do: BART station, freeway on-ramps, and residents who generally have iPods or laptops with them. Residents, I might add, who are smart enough to hand the goods over without a fight. No wonder predators are drawn to the neighborhood from miles away. Nevius writes of them: “No one knows who they are or where they are coming from.” Technically true, but residents have their suspicions, and unlike Nevius I’ll tell you exactly what they suspect: thanks to BART, the sociopaths living in Oakland and Richmond are right next door. What with the downturn in our economy, it’s likely that this is a problem that won’t go away. [emphasis mine]

After reading Michael Pollen’s In Defense of Food, I’ve been very curious about what my great grandmother cooked for her family of four. Michael advised that when grocery shopping you should think of your grandmother or great-grandmother. If she wouldn’t have recognized the food item, don’t buy it. He argued that because our ancestors kept processed foods out of there diet, they ate healthier. I am here to tell you, after extensively reading through each recipe in this collection, that Michael Pollen did not have my family in mind when writing his book. I’m quite certain that my great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized his example of GoGurt. But I’m also quite certain that once she had figured out what it was, she would have grabbed a handful of them. I was surprised to find in those tin boxes that more than half of the cake recipes called for store bought cake mixes. The salads were full of jello and canned fruit.

I am receiving an incredible amount of flack from my sister feminists for my very strong opinion that Gov. Palin should not advance her career on the back of her daughter. In fact, I believe with all of my heart and mind that it is a feminist ideal for Gov Palin and any mother to protect her daughter from a culture that is vicious to unwed, pregnant teenage girls. Nurturing our children is in the core of feminism. Just ask our feminist kids and feminist husband (and my feminist ex-husband).

I don't want to rain on the parade of life that Sarah pumped into all those white warriors in Minnesota, but has anyone noticed the big VOID? [...]
The "Economy." Not ONE WORD about the "Economy" has been uttered in St. Paul. If you want more of the same Bush-Cheney CRAP, with extremist judges, lawless executives, violations of the Constitution, and kicking butt wherever unemployed Americans can find an asshole, so that neoconservatives can use power to kill Gentiles, then Sarah "McCain" Palin hit the ball out of the park. But, if you want a Polish Frank with mustard and kraut, a beer, pretzel, and prayer in your stadiums prior to your revival hour -- GO ASK CHINA for a handout (or a loan).

The attack on Barack Obama’s work as a community organizer—helping displaced workers deal with shut down steel factories—basically living the social gospel, walking the walk—when he could have had any six figure job in a cushy law firm with having pulled himself up by his bootstraps Horatio Alger like and not only graduated from Harvard Law School but as Editor of the Harvard Law School—is nothing short of despicable.

Aside from wishing to become the First Lady Moose Hunter of America, Sarah Palin clearly and heartily presented an image that transcends her suddenly acquired Hollywood star status.

Without reservation, she endorsed every single element of the Bush-McCain ideology. […]

Yes, now we know. Last night a star was born. The third point of the Bush-McCain-Palin Axis.

Palin needed to give uncommitted voters and some of those Clinton voters substantive reasons to choose McCain, and in this she failed utterly.

I don’t think Palin’s smug and smarmy manner did her or her running mate any favors, either. […] [McCain] seems to respect people who disagree with him. […] Palin, on the other hand, came off as if she were a popular kid running against a loathsome nerd for junior-high class president.

While I disagree with Palin on abortion, guns, sex education – pick an issue – the media’s coverage has been blatantly sexist. […]Did anyone question whether the late Robert F. Kennedy should have run for president? Kennedy had 10 children and a pregnant wife. Fast forward 40 years, did the media call for John Edwards to drop out when his wife was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer?

These three people do not know each other. They all entered the train at different times. The man on the right was talking on his cell phone when all of the sudden he stuck his funk-nasty flip-flop adorned foot up onto the arm rest of the seat in front of him. I kinda couldn't believe it.

Then he started picking at his dirty feet! He was pulling dead skin off the heel of his foot, chatting on his phone, all the while completely invading the space of the lady, who was much more accomodating than I would have been.

There is no question as to whether this is acceptable BART behavior or not. This is straight up disgusting. I've seen flossing, hair plucking and nose picking, but this one takes the cake.

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“Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems - as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines…build more nuclear plants…create jobs with clean coal…and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.”

Where is your very favorite place to go in San Francisco to see a stunning cityscape?

What none of it will do is erase the completely impulsive decision making behind the choice. It won’t provide any response to Palin’s abhorrent (to my mind) views on teaching creationism, denying the human role in global warming, and opposing abortion in any circumstances. Despite the bloviating about her having more “executive experience” than any of the senators in the race, she’ll still have the thinnest set of credentials of any candidate in the last hundred years. It’s a joke.

Politico has a transcript, for those of you who don't have 90 seconds to spare:

Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mic ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.

"It’s over," said Noonan, and then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen.

"The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullshit about narratives," she said. "Every time Republicans do that — because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at and they blow it."

[O]ur local killing fields aren’t generating a meaningful response from our local protesters. They’re too busy fooling around with the trees over at the Berkeley stadium to think about hundreds murdered right under our noses.

Why no marches and protests?

Do people think there’s nothing our government can do about this problem? If so, that’s complete nonsense. Public safety is one of the few functions which governments have historically performed pretty well.

The City of Oakland has an enormous budget. It possesses police powers and lawmaking authority which permit all manner of actions to stop violence. Just take a look at what the mayor of New Orleans told his citizens prior to Hurricane Gustav: Loot and you go directly to the state penitentiary.

Oakland’s epidemic of violence is one of the few situations where activists can make a legitimate difference in a community. Let’s face it — activism didn’t stop the invasion of Iraq. It hasn’t halted global warming. But in this time and place the grass roots has an opportunity to do something.

Want action out of Mayor Oswald Bates and his crook squad? Take to the streets! Hold a general strike! Jam the Bart stations so nothing can move until we get action!

Gumming the edges of popular culture and occasionally rolling the results into a wicked spitball has a noble tradition that includes the best work of of Voltaire, Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, and a handful of people I count as good friends and brilliant editors. There’s nothing wrong with f*cking sh*t up every single day. But you have to bring some art to it. Not just typing.

What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it’s making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I’ve come to despise it.

With this diet metaphor in mind, I want to, if you like, start eating better. But, I also want to start growing a tastier tomato — regardless of how easy it is to pick, package, ship, or vend. The tomato is the story, my friend.

This doesn’t mean I’ll be liveblogging a lot of ham-fisted attempts to turn “everything” off. But it does mean making mindful decisions about the quality of any input that I check repeatedly — as well as any “stuff” I produce. Everything. From news sources to entertainment programming, and from ephemeral web content down to each email message I decide to respond to. The shit has to go, inclusive.

Read more of Mann's thought-provoking post, and then think hard before you publish your next piece. Then it just might matter.

I love this building; it's jutting mass warms my cold, cold heart. It's tied with the Hobart Building for my favorite in downtown SF.

A young couple living in London, but making the move to San Francisco next month, drops us a note looking for some guidance on San Francisco neighborhoods. Or rather more specifically, “[i]f you know London, please try to compare areas!” And as much as we love London (and know San Francisco), beyond the superficial we can't. Any plugged-in ex-Londoners up for the challenge? (We’ll summarize any comments later this week.)

Oh, and then there’s the real reason they wrote, “we're looking to buy a place, for around $500k…[and] finding it pretty hard to find what we want…a nice 2 bed or large 1 bed in a safe part of town.” Of course “nice,” “safe,” "large," and “town” are all subjective (hence the first question). And we can only hope they meant £500,000 and not $500,000. But if not, let's just consider it another little challenge…

[T[he idea behind this is that you need to get a special license to have live music. I think this is annoying, but wev, I understanding the reasoning behind it. And I wouldn’t have any problem with it at all if the City didn’t make it so damn difficult to get the stupid license in the first place. So, it’s the City’s position that you need a cabaret license not just for live music, but also for DJs. I understand the reasoning behind this as well. If you want to open a big dance club, you’re going to have all the same associated issues as you would if you were having bands play every night. So for dance clubs with DJs, it makes sense.

What does not make sense is that the City considers all bars with DJs to be cabarets, including those that do not have dance floors. It’s still considered live entertainment, even though what you’re talking about is basically some guy sitting in a corner pressing buttons on a laptop while people ignore him all night. I’m sorry, this just a stupid requirement that places a totally unnecessary burden and cost on local businesses. But beyond that, just…OMFG. This is what we have police officers doing on a Saturday night? How is this a good use of resources?

This morning this couple was sitting on the floor of a crowded Millbrae-bound train, legs outstretched. She was putting on makeup, he was reading a book. People filed in around them since all the seats were long-ago filled, and took their posts at the poles.

It got more and more crowded with each new stop on the way to the City, yet these two sat, legs uncrooked and comfortable, on the floor. People could have been less squished if these two had stood up, but they didn't, not til Embarcadero.