Free Republic

This Thursday, President Barack Obama will be visiting San Francisco for a fundraiser. This is a great opportunity for us to peacefully make our position known about his recent HHS Mandate. The President will be speaking at the Masonic Auditorium, 1111 California Street in San Francisco, Thursday, February 16, at 6PM. We will be gathering at 5:30 PM to show our opposition to his unconscionable violation of the First Amendment.

As The Chronicle reported today, Galileo High School celebrated Valentine’s Day with a “Love Fest” that featured same-sex marriage ceremonies and safer-sex games. In one exercise, students puts on goggles “that made their vision slightly blurry, simulating a drunken state.” A teacher told students “to put a condom on a wooden penis. Most of the students left air in the condom tip, which could lead to breakage, and that prompted an instructional rebuke from (teacher Raina) Meyers.”

A city in ruins: Stunning photo taken from kite that captures devastation from 1906 earthquake in San Francisco This rarely seen image of the city of San Fransisco lying in ruins after the devastating earthquake of 1906 was captured by an ingenious photographer using a camera attached kites. The panoramic shot, which is of outstanding quality considering the basic equipment available, shows the full scale of the disaster which claimed the lives of over 3,000, injured 225,000 and caused $400,000,000 worth of property damage. Commercial photographer George Lawrence, who used home-made large format cameras, was well known at the time...

San Francisco's Catholic archbishop has jumped into the latest national culture war, blasting the Obama administration's controversial requirement that employers - including Catholic hospitals, universities and institutions - provide birth control and other contraceptive services as part of their health care insurance plans. While the rule is not scheduled to take effect fully until August 2013, that isn't stopping partisans from leaping into battle positions in this election year. The issue is reopening the nation's cultural divide at time when voters care most about the perilous economy. The battle is over how to frame this issue - as an example...

One would think that the Occupy movement and San Francisco were made for each other. Perhaps at one time they were, but a new Survey USA poll shows that even the City by the Bay has its limits. The poll of 500 adults in the San Francisco area -- surely the most progressive-friendly poll sample ever taken — shows that almost half of those who supported the Occupy movement in general now have changed their minds.The topline results break down thusly: Supported/Still do: 32%Supported/Now oppose: 26%Opposed/Now support: 3%Opposed/Still do: 31%Not sure: 8% According to this poll, Occupy support in the...

Even though he’s now sheriff, it may surprise some that Ross Mirkarimi owns several guns. As a longtime member of the progressive bloc on the Board of Supervisors, Mirkarimi was a vocal advocate of gun control. But after being arrested on three misdemeanor charges including domestic violence battery, Mirkarimi was forced to turn over all his guns to authorities. Court records show Mirkarimi surrendered three handguns: A Sig Sauer P229, a Beretta 92G, and a Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357-caliber magnum revolver.

SAN FRANCISCO -- City officials have temporarily evacuated a condominium building at the base of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill after several boulders slid down the hill and crushed a parked car, authorities said. The boulders, apparently loosened by the weekend rain, slid down the hill near Lombard and Montgomery streets around 9:30 a.m., officials said. No one was hurt. The bottom floors of a multistory condo complex at 240 Lombard St. next to the hill has been evacuated while engineers from the city determine if any more boulders could fall, officials said.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of pro-life activists lined the streets in front of San Francisco’s City Hall and then filled the city’s main thoroughfare, walking about two miles down Market Street to the Embarcadero. Banging drums, playing guitars and chanting “We are pro-life,” the enthusiastic throngs filled Market Street and stopped all traffic for more than a mile. Organizers estimated more than 40,000 attended the Walk for Life West Coast. “We are here to say life is the choice and women are hurt by abortion,” said Dolores Meehan, co-chair of the Walk for Life West Coast, which is held...

San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is vowing to remain in office and fight charges of misdemeanor domestic violence, child endangerment and dissuading a witness related to a fight with his wife. His wife, stood by her husband... "This is completely wrong." Dist. Atty. George Gascon said police are investigating the possibility that Mirkarimi may have been involved… An emergency protective order that bars Mirkarimi from his home and prohibit any contact between him and his wife, their toddler son, (and) require Mirkarimi to give up all his firearms within 24 hours. Gascon said that he is "not aware of...

It's looking likely that San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will file misdemeanor domestic violence charges against newly sworn-in Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Prosecutors are "convinced this is very real," said a source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation. The case stems from a New Year's Eve incident in which Mirkarimi allegedly grabbed his wife - former Venezuelan telenovela star Eliana Lopez - with enough force to leave a bruise. Lopez has said publicly that she has no complaint against her husband and that the incident had been taken "out of context." Mirkarimi's attorney, Robert Waggener, said Tuesday that the sheriff...

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday said Oakland city officials can - and should - keep the port open in the event of future demonstrations. The governor, speaking to reporters in a wide-ranging news conference at his office in the Capitol, was asked to comment on Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's assertion last week during a meeting with Chronicle editors that the city may be unable to prevent further shutdowns of the port. "There are the resources under mutual aid, there are resources in Oakland - with some leadership and some imagination not only can they keep the port open but they...

Clear Channel is beefing up the lineup on its 910 AM frequency, first by hiring fired KGO hosts Len Tillem and Gene Burns, and now by adding Rush Limbaugh. The new lineup starts Jan. 3. Limbaugh’s move was revealed publicly in a tweet by 910 morning hosts Armstrong & Getty. There are two schools of thought about why Limbaugh is changing stations. One is that his show is expensive and KSFO’s owner, Cumulus Media, is cutting costs. That’s why they laid off most of the talk hosts at KGO and replaced them with less expensive news staffers. Another theory is...

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah. My gift is a take on "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," a humble effort to localize the classic tune to the beat of San Francisco's unique politics. Happy holidays, and thank you for the gift of your indulgence. I'm dreaming of an S.F. Christmas, Where every Christmas is PC, Where no Meal's Happy, Naked guys use nappies, And the Mayor is "still" Ed Lee.  I'm dreaming there'll be no Jesus, Menorah or nativity. All public spaces Are protest places Reserved for Occupy tents and pee.  I'm dreaming of an S.F. Christmas With every column that...

An armed man accused of kicking over garbage cans on a Bayview street was shot by a neighbor following a confrontation Tuesday night, police said. Police responded to the shooting call in the 1100 block of Gilman Avenue around 8:40 p.m. They found a 28-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. According to police, the injured man had been walking up the block “kicking over all of the garbage cans on the street.” One neighbor told him to stop it and go home. The man walked back...

What The Dickens? Occupy Protest Inspires A New 'Christmas Carol' The San Francisco Mime Troupe's resident playwright, Michael Gene Sullivan, has re-imagined the 19th century holiday classic — with its familiar themes of labor unrest, joblessness and starvation — for the troubled 21st century. By Maria L. La Ganga December 17, 2011 Reporting from San Francisco -- Ebenezer Scrooge is a corporate banker, busy foreclosing on the hapless masses. Bob Cratchit and his beleaguered family live in a chilly tent in an anonymous Occupy encampment. The ghost of Christmas future sports a flowing black robe of taped-together trash bags and...

Two former San Francisco environmental health inspectors have been charged with taking bribes and falsifying food safety manager certifications for hundreds of local restaurant managers and owners, prosecutors said Wednesday. Clifton Sanders, 41, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to bribery and falsification of public records charges. Ajamu Stewart, 54, pleaded not guilty to bribery, perjury and falsification of public records at his arraignment Dec. 6. Both Sanders and Stewart are former employees of the city Public Health Department. Each took hundreds of bribes of $100 to $200 apiece from restaurant managers and owners in 2007 and 2008 in exchange for allowing...

Attorneys’ billing shows preparation A grand jury has begun investigating Solyndra LLC, the failed California solar-panel maker that lost more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans, according to law-firm billing records. Weeks after Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September, a judge allowed the company to hire a law firm to represent it in what court records at the time called a “federal criminal investigation.” Now the firm, K&L Gates, has filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware a detailed, hour-by-hour account of how attorneys have been spending their time. Most of their efforts have focused on what the...

San Francisco residents may soon have a chance to power their homes and businesses with "100 percent" certified green energy. But it won't come cheap. Under the CleanPowerSF program adopted Tuesday by the city's Public Utilities Commission on a 4-0 vote, San Francisco's 330,000 utility customers would be able to get all their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources, starting as early as July 1. On the downside, typical residential customers would also see their bills rise - at least in the short run - by anywhere from $7 to $54.50 a month, depending on their usage. That's...

San Francisco officials hope to keep commercial dog walkers on a tighter leash with a new set of regulations governing how they can operate. The proposal, heard at a City Hall hearing Monday, is expected to be considered for approval by the Board of Supervisors early next year. The proposed regulations would require commercial dog walkers, with two or more canines at any one time, to obtain a permit. To qualify, dog walkers would have take a training course that covers topics ranging from dog park etiquette (pick up the poop, keep them out of playgrounds), canine first aid and...

What do the Occupy movement, foreskins, an ice rink, international human rights and the world’s largest gathering of naked Santa Clauses have to do with each other? Under normal circumstances, nothing — but this is San Francisco after all, where anything is possible, so come along on a guided photographic tour of several separate socio-political events that inevitably overlapped and coalesced into an unforgettable political mashup. It’s not often that one must wear a Santa costume as part of one’s job, but on Saturday, December 10 that moment had finally arrived for me: I suited up and made my way...

Early risers Saturday will see a total eclipse of the moon low in the western sky, and if the Bay Area's clear weather persists, the sight should be spectacular. "The full moon should appear even larger than normal when the eclipse is total because it will be so low in the sky that Earth's atmosphere will magnify it into a blood-red monster," said astronomer Andrew Fraknoi of Foothill College in Los Alto Hills. The partial eclipse will begin at 4:45 a.m. and will become total at 6:05 a.m., Fraknoi said. Totality will last until 6:57 a.m.

When President Obama announced his $4 billion initiative to finance energy efficiency programs at the White House on Friday, a number of Bay Area allies were, literally, right behind him. There were senior executives from San Francisco's Metrus Energy, which committed $75 million of private capital to the initiative, and from Sunnyvale's Serious Energy and Santa Rosa's Ygrene Energy Fund, both contributing $100 million. They're among the 60 private companies and other entities "stepping up," in Obama's words, in an effort to retrofit public and commercial buildings nationwide, pitching in approximately half of the $4 billion needed. The rest of...

At long last, the 49ers' turbulent drive for a new home in Silicon Valley is reaching the end zone. The NFL team and Santa Clara announced Friday that they have captured all the money needed to build a proposed $1 billion football stadium next to the Great America theme park -- the largest and final obstacle needed before construction can start. "It's like first-and-goal from the 9-yard line," said Ron Garratt, a consultant helping lead the project for the city. "We think we're going to score from here." The funding deal was spelled out in a development contract that caps...

Absurd Laws: The nannies of San Francisco tried to take the fun out of McDonald's Happy Meal. But enterprising managers found a way to bring joy to the kids anyway. A city ordinance that prohibits fast-food restaurants from giving away toys with children's meals went into effect Thursday. San Francisco — of course — was the first big city in the country to pass such a law. The intent, according to the supervisor who sponsored the prohibition, was to increase awareness of the nutritional makeup of children's meals. That's Eric Mar's story and it seems he's sticking with it. But...

When most people ponder the past at the Transbay Terminal construction site, they imagine the hustle and bustle of gray-suited commuters swarming in and out of the Art Deco-style train depot in the mid-20th century. But archaeologists working at the site during demolition of the dingy old terminal last winter and construction of its grand replacement have unearthed artifacts that help reveal what it must have been like to live in the Irish working-class neighborhood that existed in that part of the South of Market in the mid- to late 1800s. They've dug up bottles that once held soda, booze...

Beginning today, all McDonald’s (MCD) restaurants in the City of San Francisco are forbidden by law to give away toys with Happy Meals. McDonald’s response? Eat it, California. Though Policy Number 471.1 through 471.9 -- otherwise known as the "Healthy Meal Incentives Ordinance” -- will now, as noted by SF Weekly’s Joe Eskenazi, “require Happy Meal purchasers to make a 10-cent charitable donation to Ronald McDonald House in order to receive their coveted trinket,” the world’s largest fast food chain has pulled off a decisive, magnificent win. "This law is not what my customers wanted or asked for, but the...

Here’s a story that’ll tickle your McRibs. On December 1 a law seemingly banning McDonald’s Happy Meals went into effect in San Francisco. The “Healthy Meal Incentives Ordinance” prohibits restaurants from giving away toys with meals that do not meet with the city’s approval — namely, meals with too many calories, too much salt or fat, or insufficient fruits and vegetables. Just a few days before the ordinance took effect, SF Weekly reports, McDonald’s announced it had found a simple way around the statute: Charge customers extra for the toys. Now in order to obtain a Happy Meal toy, parents...

Clear Channel Bay Area Talk Shuffle Clear Channel has announced it will be realigning the programming at its two San Francisco Bay Area AM’s on January 3, 2012. The “Fox Newsradio 910” KNEW branding and calls will move to 960, though most of its current lineup will remain at 910 which will become “Talk 910” KKSF. New lineups: The new lineups for each station will be as follows: Talk 910 6am-10am: Armstrong & Getty (simulcast from sister 650 KSTE Sacramento) 10am-12pm: Clark Howard 12pm-3pm: Tom Sullivan 3pm-6pm: Local Host To Be Named Later Fox News Radio 960 6am-9am: Glenn Beck...

Occupy movement wants to start a financial institutionBy: Dan Schreiber | 11/23/11 2:38 PM Examiner Staff Writer Call it the First Bank of Occupy. The denizens of the embattled tent city on San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza have been pushing for folks to close their accounts at big banks and put the money in credit unions instead. Now, the movement wants to form its own institution to keep their money out of the hands of the reviled 1 percent. A survey circulating Facebook and other social networking sites asks some simple questions that occupiers hope will relay the demand for...

Occupy protests can't stop S.F. shoppersKevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco Chronicle November 26, 2011 04:00 AM **SNIP** Two dozen Occupy protesters began marching around downtown at sundown, chanting protest slogans. They'd hoped to make their anti-consumption point at the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Union Square, but the crowd was so massive they couldn't get near. The marchers then blocked the intersection of Market and Fourth streets for 15 minutes beginning at 7 p.m., but left when police arrived. "Don't use credit cards to show love this holiday," said Occupier Michael Byrnes, 31. Josh Delacruz shook his head...

First Occupy Los Angeles was negotiating with its "host" city for 10,000 square feet of free office space, free farmland and free housing in exchange for abandoning its City Hall encampment. Now San Francisco is negotiating with its occupiers to move from the heart of the city's financial district to a currently empty school in the Mission district. Growing desperation on the part of liberal politicians to defuse a situation they originally supported is leading to yet another stupid decision on their part - incentivizing these small groups of people to disrupt the lives and endanger the safety of others.

San Francisco's new ordinance leveled at pro-life pregnancy centers will face federal court scrutiny. The core of the lawsuit is First Amendment viewpoint discrimination. First Resort is a chain of pro-life centers filing the case. The group's CEO Shari Plunkett claims the Pregnancy Information Disclosure and Protection Ordination was "crafted to target one or two specific organizations and carefully shelter from its scope all groups whose viewpoints the city agrees with." Paul Suis, a longtime board member for First Resort, explains to OneNewsNow that two layers of the ordinance ensure it could only be applied to pro-life pregnancy centers and...

A San Francisco County judge, who yesterday struck down California’s ban on homosexual marriage, today ruled on the same basis that separate restrooms for men and women are unconstitutional. Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer likened the division of washrooms to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be “no rational purpose for denying women access to men’s facilities and vice versa.” “The state’s protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional,” Judge Kramer wrote. “The court finds that the legal principle of lavatorio proportio [potty parity] offers inadequate...

Three events planned for Oakland's historic Rotunda Hall were canceled this month. Four cafes abutting Frank Ogawa Plaza say customers are reluctant to visit, and they've cut employee hours. Several merchants on or around Broadway, including the Oaksterdam marijuana empire, say business is down. Meanwhile, two other cafes at the plaza say sales are better than ever. And a block away at City Center Plaza, the midday flow of office workers grabbing lunch is undiminished. As Occupy Oakland enters its fifth week, the encampment's impact on neighborhood businesses appears to consist largely of reduced sales - and a few increased...

It was the first time the competition was conducted in San Francisco and there was bone-chilling water temperatures along with the usual Bay area wind. But just as surfer Dusty Payne of Hawaii braved the cold to ride a wave, a SHARK (flash scary shark with loud music or sound effect) appeared in the water and SCARED THE DAYLIGHTS out of Dusy who described the sight as quote, "the biggest fin I've ever seen in my life coming at me. I've seen dolphins and it wasn't a dolphin." unquote. So, not only did Dusty lose it, but he also lost...

Ferry Building merchants and managers are fed up with the mayhem that has come with the nearby Occupy SF encampment. A spike in shoplifting, break-ins and reports of abandoned human waste — and a reported drop in foot traffic — has management fuming about the Justin Herman Plaza encampment. There even are reports of occupiers using the building’s restrooms as washrooms — with folks taking sponge baths from toilets. And last Monday, eight men were allegedly escorted out of the building after they attempted to use the bathrooms wearing nothing but their boxer shorts. Property manager Jane Connors has written...

Roberts recently filmed a mouthy man in an Elmo shirt (it kinda suits him) as he was getting ticketed by a police officer. The man loses his composure when he realizes Roberts is filming him for his segment. He goes off on him, calling Roberts a "fat ass" and telling him his fat, lazy ass can only afford food.

Voters approved the project in 2003, to replace a freeway damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Back then, the cost was $647 million. Today, the price tag is $1.6 billion, with the lion's share of the funding still to come from the federal government. In July, San Francisco's Civil Grand Jury concluded the project was poorly designed, won't meet projected ridership levels, and, as the scathing title of its report says, costs "too much money for too little benefit." At about $1 billion per mile, the Central Subway has become a driving force in Tuesday's mayoral election.

<p>With the loss, Coach Mike Shanahan's team falls to 3-5.</p> <p>As the fourth quarter started Sunday at FedEx Field, with the Washington Redskins’ offense and the third quarterback of the Mike Shanahan era struggling mightily, the burgundy and gold clad crowd started to boo, and one fan in earshot of the press box yelled: “We want Norv Turner back!”</p>

There's one for Michael Savage to comment on. Seriously, that city is disgusting. Potholes, junkies, bums, naked gay men walking around everywhere, etc.Yuck.

OAKLAND -- The Bay Area has fewer concentrations of extreme poverty than a decade ago, according to a report released Thursday. That may not console the people living in the Bay Area's five poorest neighborhoods. In five census tracts, four of them in the East Bay, more than 40 percent of residents live below the poverty line, according to the Brookings Institution report. The neighborhoods are in downtown Berkeley, uptown Oakland, Alameda Point and parts of West Oakland and San Francisco's Hunters Point. Two are business districts where many homeless congregate; one, the area around Oakland's Frank H. Ogawa Plaza,...

In a powerful display of profound disappointment with President Obama, some of the Democratic Party's biggest donors gathered Tuesday - not inside his tony San Francisco fundraiser at the W Hotel, but outside on the sidewalks carrying signs in protest of his policies. "I don't even know what he stands for," said Susie Tompkins Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit de Corps clothing company and one of the most generous Democratic Party donors in the nation - instrumental in backing such powerhouse progressive organizations as the Democracy Alliance and Media Matters. Tompkins Buell, a longtime friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton...

President Barack Obama told an audience in San Francisco Tuesday that the famous “hope” poster, popular during his 2008 campaign for president, is “kind of faded” and that it’s “not as trendy to be an Obama supporter” today as it was during his first run for the White House. “We’ve made a lot of change, but we’ve got a lot more work to do,” he told an audience during a campaign event at the W Hotel in San Francisco, California. “And I know that I’m now a little grayer. You know, and it’s not as trendy to be an Obama...

San Francisco Restaurants Propose Standard 25 Per Cent Tip Restaurants in San Francisco have angered customers by proposing to make a 25 per cent tip standard with meals. According to a recent survey San Francisco diners are the worst tippers in America Photo: ALAMY By Nick Allen Most diners in the United States currently give a voluntary tip of between 15 and 20 per cent depending on the service and the quality of the food. But the new measure, which is reportedly supported by high class eateries, would be mandatory. According to a recent survey San Francisco diners are the...

San Francisco bank executives cooked their books and lied to auditors just before they accepted a $298 million taxpayer bailout, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. They now have the distinction of being the first senior executives of a bank that received federal bailout funds to be criminally charged in connection with a scheme to defraud the government and American taxpayers. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged former United Commercial Bank CEO Thomas Wu and vice presidents Ebrahim Shabudin and Thomas Yu with illegally obscuring their bank’s mounting losses. A separate indictment charged Shabudin and Yu with securities fraud, conspiracy, falsifying corporate...

The “Occupy� movement claims to represent 99% of the people (hence their motto, “We Are the 99%�). The US military stands for everything the Occupiers oppose; it is after all the force which imposes the evils of capitalism on the nation and the world.Wouldn’t it be interesting if, as an experiment, we arranged to have the Occupy movement and the US military each hold events in the same city on the same day — and then see which one drew more visitors? If the Occupiers truly represented the 99%, and if the military really were the musclemen for the corporations,...

Our favorite psychotic statesman, Pete Stark from the San Francisco Bay Area, has a rigged poll (analysis of rigging here) to which he invited his socialist-leaning constituents to respond.Might be worth providing your opinions.Drop by the survey site (https://forms.house.gov/stark/webforms/survey.htm) and when asked for your zip code, use any of the following zip codes which are in Pete’s district.9408394536-9453994540-9454694552, 94555, 94557, 9456094577-9457994580, 9458794603, 94605, 94614, 94621950029503595132, 95134, 95152

September 29: Owners and their dogs converge at Fort Funston in San Francisco. San Francisco – There are more dogs than kids in the City by the Bay. So it stands to reason dog owners carry a lot of clout -- so much so they believe their endorsement can sway the upcoming mayoral race. Dog lovers have formed a political action committee to promote the interests of their four-footed friends, namely space to run free in one of the world's largest urban national parks. And they are calling on mayoral candidates to defend their stands on canine affairs. "We expect...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TivVcfSBVSM

Consider yourself warned: those naked guys in the Castro are going to turn out in force on Saturday for a noon-time “nude-in” at what they call The Buff Stop. (For non-nudists, that’s the plaza at the corner of Castro and 17th Street.) Though the naked guys aren’t fans of Supervisor Scott Wiener’s recently proposed legislation mandating that they put a towel down on a public chair or bench before sitting on it, the nude-in is actually unrelated. It was planned weeks ago as a sort of pre-party for Sunday’s Folsom Street Fair. Because, you know, that day-long celebration of all...