Photos of opening day at the new park on the Upper Great Highway at Ocean Beach. They call it Sunset Dunes. People will probably always call it “OB.” It is great how they got things in motion so quickly. So many great ideas! Skate park, public art, open pianos, great spots to view the waves at Noriega Street.
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Sunset Dunes Park – Ocean Beach in San Francisco
Ocean Beach view from the Cliff House in San Francisco
We live in a time when everyone is a customer. People are no longer citizens, patients or students.
People do not see themselves as citizens. Sacrifices are just for suckers. Many people voted for Donald Trump because they liked his brand and product and did not like Harris’s laugh. They chose a president like they would toilet paper. They identified with his selfishness and saw themselves or a version of themselves. Rich, selfish, scatterbrained, pugnacious, white, demanding and full of ego. Game the system. Look out for number one. Greed is the new virtue.
The health care world no longer has patients. Now they are customers. “Would you like a pill for that problem? On a scale of one to ten, what is your pain level? After the visit, please fill out this survey to let us know how we are doing.” It is not about health care but more about money. Customer satisfaction is our goal! Oh. Sorry about that opioid epidemic and all those dead people. We got them hooked on those funny pills.
In universities people are no longer students. If a professor can no longer entertain the class, she gets bad reviews. Make students read books. You must be out of your mind! With the advent of the cellphone, the majority of students go to college having never read a single book from cover to cover. I brought this up online about five years and the parents got quite defensive. It has just gotten worse.
No, our average graduate literally could not read a serious adult novel cover-to-cover and understand what they read. They just couldn’t do it. They don’t have the desire to try, the vocabulary to grasp what they read, and most certainly not the attention span to finish. For them to sit down and try to read a book like The Overstory might as well be me attempting an Iron Man triathlon: much suffering with zero chance of success. Hilarius Bookbinder Mar 31 Guest post – Persuasion Newsletter
The student is now a customer. Anything that makes them uncomfortable and they simply do not show up. An opposing point of view? An angle that is perhaps rarely seen? Reading that is difficult with big words? Learning to expand the mind? No. Sorry. I am here because if I get this degree it will hopefully mean I will not have to work in fast food, microwaving hamburgers for the next thirty years.
The irony is that we live in a world when in past times you were actually a customer. Gas stations pumped your gas. Baggers in grocery stores were common. A travel agent would make sure you got the right flights when things got complicated. When you called a company for information, you could actually talk to a real person. Maybe now we are often just disgruntled customers.
Keep it small and in the neighborhood. That’s what I say.
These novels will give way, by and by, to diaries or autobiographies – captivating books, if only a man knew how to choose among what he calls his experiences that which is really his experience, and how to record truth truly.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
William Finnegan’s – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a memoir. It is mostly a true story of a life where the common thread is surfing. Finnegan grew up in Southern California and Hawaii and at one point when he was just a grom the waves were not far from his family’s humble house near Diamond Head, Hawaii. He took to surfing at a very early age and though he does not admit it, became a big wave surfer, riding huge waves on the North Shore of Oahu, Ocean Beach in San Francisco, discovering a wave in Fiji and later in life, Portugal. When he was a young teenager he began to experience the power of the ocean.
I was shaken to the core by the sound of the waves detonating a few yards behind me. I was convinced that if I had been caught inside I would have died. William Finnegan at fourteen surfing the Rice Bowl in Hawaii
For some inexplicable reason, he kept coming back to these harrowing experiences. He seems to have remembered the minute details of various rides from previous decades were he thought the end was near. Captivating read indeed, and much of it surely somewhere near the truth.
The book is a romp through various times in his life. It is a very fun read not just because of the surfing tales but it gives a window into a time in history when people had the ability to be very mobile, flying to faraway lands, but at the same time communications back home did not exist. A telegram now and then. Regular letter writing but making a call on a phone was far too expensive and not common. People out in the world traveling used random message boards, taping hand writing messages in often feeble attempts to contact others.
In the end, I teamed up with other Westerners, bribed some Bulgarian border guards, made my way through the Balkans and over the Alps and, with the help of an American Express office message board in Munich, found [his girlfriend] Caryn in a campground south of the city. She seemed fine. William Finnegan at nineteen bumming around Europe
For this reader, the chapters where he travels around the world for a few years chasing waves with his friend Bryan is truly amazing. With nautical charts they head off to the South Pacific and discover a phenomenal wave in Fiji, unknown to the world but for a few. Now the spot is an expensive surfing resort destination. A year in Australia surfing and working odd jobs, searching for waves. Buying a beater car and driving it clear across the country, always a bit concerned if it would overheat or the next day would even start. Such road trips are times when living in the moment seems to take precedence. They seem to be not so much in nature but a part of nature.
Then there is the peculiar way that wave size is measured. While this may not be of interest to people who do not surf, it gets pretty funny.
Indeed, underestimation is practiced with the greatest aplomb on the North Shore of Oahu. There, a wave must be the size of a small cathedral before locals will call it eight feet.
Buzzy Trent, an old-time big wave rider, allegedly said, “Big waves are not measured in feet, but increments of fear.” If he said that, he got it right.
Barbarian Days – A Surfing Life is a very fun read, especially if you enjoy travelogues, you are a surfer or just love the outdoors. There may be times when the author delves into the finer points of a two wave hold-down, or the advantages of a certain fin set up or length of board. This talk must be a bit perplexing and perhaps a bit tedious to the non-surfer. One thing that Finnegan claims is that it is just about impossible to get really good at surfing if you pick it up later in life. I am living proof of this theory and would agree.
Getting old as a surfer, I’d heard it said, was just a long, slow, humiliating process of becoming a kook again.
CODA:EVERY SURFER HAS A STORY
I started surfing at the age of thirty-five, an age far too advanced to every actually get really good at the sport. I mostly do it for the exercise, be with friends and to commune with nature. It is amazing the wildlife you see out in the water. I regularly surf with dolphins and certain times of the year there are whales within twenty feet.
Paul Lyons surfing Ocean Beach in his late forties – March 2008. This session was complete luck. I remember paddling out with a board that my friend had found while on the job cleaning out student housing. I found a channel right away and caught three really nice waves. This was a rare session. I have always been a bit of a kook. – Photo by Doug Oakley
I remember the thrill of the first time I took off on a head-high wave and made it. I also remember the first time I took off on big wave on a long period swell. The waves were overhead at Ocean Beach back in the days when you would sometimes be the only person in the water. It did actually get lonely out there. I went right, stayed high on the shoulder and remember just flying down the wave faster than I had ever surfed. I had never ridden a wave with such power. I also remember a day when my surf buddies and I when out at Ocean Beach and the waves were big but seemed at the time nothing scary. I had only been surfing a few years. We made it out past the shore-break and white water only to discover that the swell, in the course of the next hour, had increased quickly. A huge set came and we tossed our boards and dove underneath. I broke my leash, lost my board which eventually washed into shore. We both paddled in a bit terrified by the whole ordeal. I pledged to never to do that again. It scared the bejesus out of me. Later I saw the buoys from when we were out. It had jumped up to 11 feet at 19 seconds. Big waves. That’s my one captivating story and it is all true.
William Finnegan lives in Manhattan and the end of the book loses the wild adventure of earlier years. Parents die. He becomes a father. Life becomes more urban. In his seventies he must still be a really good surfer as he surfs off of Long Island in the winter and will chase waves in the summer and even during hurricanes.
For those who love the adventure of youth and want to escape into that magical time of traveling before the internet, I highly recommend William Finnegan’s – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a Pulitzer Prize winning memoir.
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
Weather
After a very dry January, while Los Angeles burned, San Francisco had weeks on end of glorious sunshine. Then in February we got two major storms. The wind hit from the west and the storms came down good and hard. The roads turned into rivers and snow piled up in the mountains. People had to drive with chains, just like the good ‘ole days. At Donner Summit they have had over 250″ of snow. I think in the next decade or so people will begin to realize that the weather is actually the real news. Water will be all that really matters as we guard our front doors with our Second Amendments rights terrified that someone will steal a few gallons of Hetch Hetchy. March arrives with unsettled weather and reservoirs not quite full. The snow pack in the mountains is less than average.
National Politics
Donald Trump took office in late January and began a sort of mobster data coup. His billionaire henchman Elon Musk and his minions started snooping around the Federal Payment systems causing havoc. Cutting off payments to USAID, various research grants and much more. If I was talented in the graphic arts I would make a comic where you see Donald Trump sitting on a toilet and there on the toilet paper rolls is the constitution: “We the People… ” …in scribe of course. And to top it off he is taking a dump while looking at his phone. Such is the state of our world.
On March 4 he gave an address to Congress were he lied continually. He spews out lies and more lies and people begin to believe the lies. I think people are so numb to his antics that the use of the word “lie” has been purged from the English language. I read a transcript of the speech as I have not time to listen to his performances. It is full of lies.
Local Politics
Daniel Lurie is Mayor of San Francisco. The City is still here. For the average citizen it is difficult to notice that anything is changing. The forces in our world are far greater than any individual. He just started the gig and if he can solve homelessness in San Francisco he could set his sites on running for higher office. I am not holding my breath.
Sporting News
Nothing major to report on the sporting front. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chief in the Super Bowl 40-22. This is important knowledge for when you have to remember such trivia years later. Of course, far more important than the actual Super Bowl are the people that you watch the Super Bowl with. For me this a “third space” type of group who has returned to a sacred ground near a sacred screen often with sacred herbs, tobacco and cigars. Wagers are made. People marvel at the passage of time. Consumption becomes naturally moderated. We marvel at the connections. See you next year. Same place. Same time. We need some constants in life.
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
As predicted they are heading north up Mission Street and repaving the bus stops and intersections. Its and big job and everyone seems to be able to drive around the mess. At some point they may have to actually repave where we drive on Mission Street, but anything is progress.
That is The Quarterly Report – March 2025
Photo Gallery of SF
The Quarterly Report – March 2025
A family commute down San Jose Ave in San Francisco
Beware of Dog
Brass sign at Ocean Beach
Windmill in golden Gate Park
One day in this century it will probably happen and the Ocean Beach Coastal Trail at Sloat will become a reality. The “coming soon” sign is rusting away – not a good sign.
James is a novel by author Percival Everett and is based on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It tells the story in the first person not from the character Huck but through the enslaved person Jim. Huck Finn is a classic work of American literature that everyone has heard of but as I am finding few people have actually read. Ernest Hemingway is quoted as saying “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” A few years ago I wanted to revisit this Twain classic. Thinking I could pick up a copy at a local Goodwill I found myself out of luck. I did find one eventually and when I read the introduction I soon realized I had picked up a sanitized, censored version. I had purchased the 2011 edition of the book, published by NewSouth Books. This version replaced the term “nigger” with “slave” (not even enslaved person) throughout the book. I am sure that Twain would have not approved as he got bent out of shape when his editors simply changed his punctuation.
Huck Finn Illustration
But the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn’t anger me. – Letter to Harriet Whitmore, 7 February 1907
In any event, Huck Finn has been banned from the beginning. I did eventually purchase the original Huck Finn, complete with illustrations. This was the version Mark Twain approved. It is always best to read the original.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a complicated tale that brings up many timeless themes. It makes perfect sense for Everett to use Huck Finn as a springboard for a reimagining of this classic. James tells the story of Huck Finn through the eyes and ears of Jim; in this way he is pulling one on Twain by making a “stretcher” out of his “stretcher.” Additionally Everett goes a step further than Twain and allows the character Jim to not just be freed but to become empowered. James like Huck Finn challenges assumptions about race, sex, gender and identity and in the end through a combination of education, courage, reason and the performative, James finds agency by embracing the ideals of The Enlightenment.James is a book about the “American dream.”
In order to get the most out of James it is best to have first read a few books that are referenced otherwise these references will make no sense. Start with the short novella Candide: or, The Optimist (1759) by Voltaire (it is around 100 pages). Like Huck Finn this book was banned and Voltaire did spend time in prison for his writings. Candide is a bit like a comic book in that it moves very fast – there is sex, rapes and violence, gold and jewels. Like Huck Finn it is really for adults. Characters and places from Candide make their way into James. Of course the next step is to read Huck Finn – the original version with all the bad words. Take your time.
A major theme throughout James is the performative and the anxiety that surrounds identity. In modern times this has been often called code-switching. Jim has to be careful that he does not slip out of the language of being a slave and give away that he can read and write. Of course he pulls it off mostly until at a crucial point in the book (which I will not spoil). An important thing about this code-switching is that it is handed down through generations with the elders teaching their youth how to speak and act like a slave as a means of survival. In modern language, this is perhaps a psychological aspect of what is called systemic racism. You also have a few characters who’s sex or gender are misidentified – Doris and Sammy. This is not thoroughly explained but surely has to do with black people being controlled and abused by their owners. Interestingly, the people concerned are so abused they simply accept their lot in life. Of course the King and the Duke are all about code-switching and impersonating royalty. It think it was a missed opportunity that James does not play around more with these two characters as Twain did, revealing the arrogance, corruption and incompetence of royalty. How soon we forget.
In James, the historical characters Voltaire and Locke enter the novel though Jim’s dreams. The first time is soon after he is bitten by a snake and delirious. In this way, history becomes surreal and less believable than the fiction – we only see historical figures in dreams. Jim’s dream-induced conversations with Voltaire are brief but we get a references to Westphalia and the notion of “tending your garden” and near the end Cunégonde, the love interest of Candide. Besides references to these themes the philosophical themes that Voltaire brings up in his work are not ventured into. There is no Professor Pangloss and his dogmatic “best of all possible worlds” mantra. By the time James reunites with his wife Sadie and daughter, the Voltaire references are long gone. Unlike Cunégonde, Sadie has not lost her charm and is not irritating to be around. And unlike Candide who’s identity is a constant, Jim becomes James and this identity is reinforced with the notion that you claim your identity through courage and the performative. James discards that layer of his self that is disenfranchising. If you no longer speak with the diction of a slave, then you are no longer a slave.
Race in America has a complicated history and Everett helps to illuminate this complexity not dumb it down or simplify it. In the end, James does begin to live his dream of freedom and is empowered by his literacy and the ideals of The Enlightenment that all men are created equal. As the plot twists and turns, by the end James is not anything like Huck Finn. We find ourselves back in Hannibal then another city with Jim looking for his wife and family on a “breeder farm.” Good grief! Things move quickly and become a bit like a Cohen Brothers thriller movie with lots of violence and fireworks. It is probably a good idea to read the book now. It is a thrilling page-turner and James will be in theaters soon.
Can I call you back? Busy helping Elon put “buy” and “share” buttons on all the individual financial records in the U.S. Treasury payment system. Just a minor refactor. – joke by Paul Lyons intended for IT professionals and marketing people
While we read about the Elon coup d’état of 2025 the news reports lack significant information. The system that Elon and his young henchmen are accessing is called “Secure Payment System, or SPS.” They evidently have “read-only” access. Some reports say “read-only” access to the code base. This is very reassuring. I like my Social Security number just the was it is, thank you very much! In another report it states that Elon is running the data through AI Tools to find waste and fraudulent payments. This from a guy who works for a billionaire who somehow gets away with never paying taxes. Elon is part of that billionaire club that does not pay taxes as well. It is so virtuous for him to be looking out for our money!
When I first read that Elon is looking into efficiencies in the federal payment systems I thought that his goal was to somehow modernize the system. Refactor the code base. Get rid of crappy patches. Upgrade the documentation. Review the database design. Traditional systems like banking, healthcare, transportation are notorious for having systems build upon very old systems. They often were created in long defunct languages and architectures. People often get things done via command line. I have worked with such legacy many times proprietary systems. They are often obtuse, clunky and were built for a much early time. Even things ten years old seem antiquated.
One could optimistically surmise that Elon, in his benevolence wanted to upgrade the public system in a content agnostic way out of some sort of altruism. (I always wondered why the San Francisco Public School System never got any love from the tech sector for their systems.) But nothing is further from the truth. The Treasury Department with this Secure Payment System, up until now, has always paid out everything on time. Every invoice, Every tax return. Every bill on time. That is incredible.
What Elon is doing is not content agnostic. He thinks he can shape public policy via cutting payments to things he does not like. He thinks he can undo public policy. He obviously has never read The Constitution and how the U.S. system of government works. What Elon Musk is doing is illegal. He is not an elected official.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday you can ski at Donner Ski Ranch for $69 which they call Old School Days. You buy your ticket at the counter which you attach to your jacket with a metal wire. Ask your dad.
Donner Ski Ranch is one of the last family owned ski resorts. It is a medium-sized place with a lovely backside where on power days runs can remain untouched into the afternoon. It is an historic mountain where the early California skiers made some of the first turns. On the top is Signal Peak.
In early January, as the fires blaze in Los Angeles, the Sierra has clear skies and a diminishing snow base. The slopes are a bit icy and the groomed trails are the way to go. I headed up to Donner Ski Ranch to try out some new boot liners. I had a great day on a sunny Wednesday. Even though it was Old School Days, I basically had the hill to myself.
After skiing I headed down Highway 89 to visit and stay with a friend and then did a day exploring South Lake Tahoe and then headed to Echo Summit, just to look around and figure the place out. Think snow!
In 2024 most of the books I read were courtesy of the San Francisco Public Library. I read parts of books and checked out books that I was simply curious about. The San Francisco Public Library is an amazing resource.
Below is a list of books that I finished. I do this exercise to simply reflect on the previous year. One of my favorite books of the year was Tropical Truth a Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil by Caetano Veloso. It is a book written by the musical artist and illuminates music in Brazil during the 1960s and 70s. It opened up a journey into the music of such great musical artists such as Chico Buarque, Dorival Caymmi and Gal Costa. It introduced me to the concept of anthropophagia that was a large part of the Tropicália musical movement.
Books I Read 2024
Romney A Reckoning
Coppins, McKay
First Scribner see review
My Bike & Other Friends Volume II of Book of Friends
Miller, Henry
Capra Press
Baumgartner A Novel
Auster, Paul
Grove Press
Tropical Truth a Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil
Veloso, Caetano
Alfred A. Knopf
The Free World – Art and Thought in the Cold War
Menand, Louis Farrar, Straus and Giroux
This is a great read of essays. A bit like reading and endless New Yorker issue.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Ballantine Books
One of those classic civil rights era books that is great to read to the very last word.
What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly A Memoir of Resilience and Resurrection
Nunn, Dorsey
Heyday see review
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
The Mark Twain Library
Every time I read this masterpiece I find a different angle. I read the original version, some while camping and bike packing along the Mississippi River.
The Origins of Totalitarianism
Arendt, Hannah
Schocken Books
I read most of this book. It was interesting that the first 100 pages is about anti-Semitism. It was written a few years after the Second World War and it is easy to see how racism is always a prime component of totalitarianism.
The Last Night of the Earth Poem
Buckowski, Charles
This is a very fun book to read if you do not like poetry. Buckowski writes in a very accessible fashion and it is pretty hilarious at times.
Invisible Man
Elison, Ralph
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1995
One of those books that you think you read but when a few chapters in you realize it is your first past.
Hillbilly Elegy A Memoir of A Family and Culture in Crisis
Vance, J. D.
Harper
I read this before the elections. Strange to think that the author is going to be the next vice president. He grew up in a poor broken family with his foul-mouthed grandmother matriarch often the hero. He benefited much from the safety nets created by the New Deal, all things that he now wants to tear down. His main point is that hillbilly instincts are rarely wrong and a sort of untouchable source of wisdom.
We Are What We Pretend to Be
The First and Last Works
Vonnegut, Kurt Vanguard Press, c2012.
Short read of Vonnegut. The first novella is a formally unpublished work when he was a young man and before he developed his style and wit.
Seneca – Fifty Letters of A Roman Stoic
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2021
Something That Will Surprise the World
The Essential Writings of the Founding Fathers
Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison
Basic Books, c2006.
The amazing thing that you realize when reading this book is that the Founding Fathers had respect for the intellectual. Many were amazing writers and often wished only to retreat to their farms to read and study. I always like to read the original documents, not interpretations of the works.
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
Local and National Politics
On November 5th, 2024 Daniel Lurie was elected mayor of San Francisco and Donald Trump is now the president-elect of the United States. Two billionaire white guys defeated two Bay Area Black women. In the case of the presidency it will have have grave consequences. And so it goes.
Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay
– Otis Redding
In San Francisco, Proposition K passed. This means that The Great Highway will be closed seven days a week. Of course many people who live out in the Sunset District are not too happy about this result as they use the highway as an inner-city freeway of sorts. For those who ride bicycles, run and surf, love the sound of the ocean, having The Great Highway closed is amazing.
The Great Highway. Where kids learn how to ride a bikes.
Sporting News
The San Francisco 49ers football team, who but a year ago played a losing game in the Super Bowl are not playing very well as the season drags on and key players get injured. It is such a violent sport. Best wishes on speedy recoveries.
Weather
Fortunately, we started getting some rain in early November, then a full week of rain and good storm. Now the Sierra, at 7000 feet, are covered with about 60 inches of snow. The ski resorts have opened. See https://cssl.berkeley.edu/.
Now in early December 2024 we are experiencing glorious San Francisco weather with clear skies, light east winds and solid long-period surf. The light has been golden. For a week the ocean swell has been around 5 feet and 15 seconds. This means waves are around 8 feet tall. Grab your board and head to the beach!
Ocean Beach
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
Statewide ‘Daylighting Law’ Warnings Begin Nov. 11, 2024 and perhaps one thousand parking spots in this seven-by-seven mile plot of land called San Francisco have vanished. While safety is an important concern, I am not a fan of this law. People need to park somewhere. Perhaps there needs to be more education about how to be a pedestrian in the city. People walking around, looking at their cellphones, oblivious to their surroundings, bumping into telephone poles – walking out into crosswalks without even looking to see if there are cars or other moving objects about. Common sense is not so common anymore.
Furthermore, this law discriminates against people would work third shifts and get home late at night only to discover there are absolutely no places to park.
That is The Quarterly Report – December 2024
Photo Gallery of SF
The Quarterly Report – December 2024
Sunset in San Francisco
Halloween
Day of the Dead in Redwood City
Ocean Beach warnings
Howard Wiley and Jules Broussard at the Royal Cuckoo
If you want to really slow down, there is nothing like hanging out with the buffalo in Golden Gate Park. It is a bit like looking at dairy cows as they usually do not move around much but graze. Slow down. Maybe bring a chair, hang out and chill on a nice day. It’s the least we could do after what you have done to this amazing animal. They may even look up at you and shake their heads. It’s odd. You never hear them “moo” or have much to say about anything. According to the last census in 2000 (really, that is the latest data) there are 360,000 buffalo in the west. .
TIP: The buffalo will often herd together in the back. You can take the path along the fence and get closer if you do not see them at first.
The Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel is a copper–nickel five-cent piece that was struck by the United States Mint from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_nickel
George Washington
Former President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C.Dear Honorable George Washington,November 25, 2024
It is with utmost respect and gratitude that I humbly write you this letter, sent into the abyss of time, and with the knowledge that you are enjoying your eternal rest with our Maker. So much has changed since you left us, but your name lives on into perpetuity. There are schools and Universities, bridges and roads and even a state named after you. It is the most northern state on the west coast of the continent, not far from where Lewis and Clark, Jefferson’s mission west, after a toilsome march finished their journey. They ran out of whisky early on and if it were not for a group of kindly Indians, who saved their feeble asses, they would have starved and froze to death in the snowy mountains. In this region there are vast mountains, once abundant rivers and fertile lands for farming. It is one of the now fifty states that make up The United States of America. Hitherto, your face adorns the currency of the one dollar bill. You look a bit grim as always but all the American currency looks a bit serious. Franklin, that vegetarian prude is on the hundred. I am not sure how he got that honor as I personally think you deserve that celebration (they do call them Benjamins by the way). Forgive me honorable icon of virtue of this Republic. I once again easily digress. So many things have changed since your passing into eternity. With the utmost admiration, I hope you are doing well and that your afterlife is one of happiness and tranquility.
The United States of America, is now almost two hundred and fifty years old. It has survived a civil war, two World Wars, countless wars (most of which were imperial in nature and tragic), many incompetent and corrupt leaders, a few good ones, earthquakes and storms, droughts and floods. Presently, as I write things seem to be getting worse and all is not well with the once fledging Republic. The factions and “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” that you warned about in your Farewell Address are now captains of the ship. Indeed, they have taken the White House and both houses of government.
This president elect is a man of dubious character. While formally in the office of the presidency, and hitherto losing an election, he rallied a mob of deplorable lunatics to charge the Senate with spears and clubs while the senate counted the electoral votes, as outlined in The Constitution for the certification of the Presidency. It became a violent scene with many members of the security at hand losing their lives. This cunning and ambitious man, the president at the time, called for the hanging of his own vice president! It was a murderous and unsightly day. After breeching the capital building, the angry mob went on to various offices of the senate, had instant portraits made of themselves with something called a camera. They then turned over furniture and vandalized the rooms. This now president-elect, a man of vile and scandalous character, to this day, has not been held to account for his attempted coup d’état.
Four years ago, eventually the new president, a man who has lived a life of grave family tragedies and a steadfast servant of the Republic was voted into the office of Presidency. His vice president is a woman of fine character who has dedicated her life to the ordinary citizens. It was not until one hundred and fifty years after the founding of this great country that an amendment (the 19th Amendment) enabled women the right to vote. Do let Martha know about this update as I think it will put a glorious smile on her face. By the way, how is she doing these days?
Unfortunately, the cunning and ambitious man four years later was voted back into the Presidency. He is a man who came from a family of wealth, but who many times squandered his money in scandalous business ventures only to be saved by faulty laws of bankruptcy protection. He is a man who never picks up a book to improve himself, knows very little about history, religion, The Bible, philosophy or agriculture, but spends many hours a day colouring his face an odd sort of orange colour and then gazes adoringly at himself in the mirror – sometimes hours each day. He does not wear a wig but had a surgical operation whereby hair from the back of his head was relocated to the front of his scalp. This he dies an odd yellow colour and combs from one side to the other to cover the skin. With the addition of a modern shellac it takes on a sort of impermeable helmet appearance. For years on end he has made his way into the hearts and pliable minds of the people with odd rants and entertaining falsities too numerous to expound upon. He attacks and makes villains out of the very people who tend to the fields, clean the castles and build the houses and roads.
Upon winning the Presidency for the second time he did not retreat to his farm to study, meditate and pray for the Republic but went to a gruesome gladiator match where two hulking men battled on a stage in a deplorable fashion without any rules of engagement. It does appear now that The Enlightenment has devolved into an Age of Delusion, where Reason and truth matter not and science takes a back seat to gossip and hearsay. Notwithstanding, tribal factions and cunning politics rule the day. Unfortunately, few people take the time to read your works or the works of the ancients or even modern great thinkers but instead get preoccupied and distracted with one entertaining scandal after another. This president elect is truly a man of sordid character and your warnings were correct. May God shine down upon our Republic but I have grave doubts the country will last his term in power.
Notwithstanding, lose not sleep over this letter as these are conditions, as Seneca advised, whereby mortals and especially the dead have no power. However, if you are a ghost or if there are any in the White House that you know of, please give this sordid and cunning character a few scares to humble him and bring him but an ounce of humility. Unexpectedly, on windless nights, slam some doors or blow out some candles. Make strange walking sounds in the attic. Anything, to make this cunning, revengeful man gain an ounce of humility.
I am humbled to have this unique channel of communication, and I extend my deepest thanks for your service and sacrifice.
With the highest esteem and respect,
Yours,
Paul Lyons
Private citizen of the State of California
George Washington
Former President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Honorable George Washington,
November 22, 2024
It is with utmost respect and gratitude that I humbly write you this letter, sent into the abyss of time, and with the knowledge that you are enjoying your eternal rest with our Maker. The postal service, as outlined in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, is still functioning adequately save for towns on the edge of the continent, such as Bolinas, California, where the post, for reasons not made public, has been suspended. Though it may shock you, the entire western coast of America is part of the United States, of which there are now fifty. There are millions of souls and even woman and Black people can vote, though there are forces present to revert to prior voting regulations and rules. Forgive me honorable icon of virtue of this Republic. I easily digress. With the utmost admiration, I hope you are doing well and that your afterlife is one of tranquility.
You probably wonder what has happened with the United States of America, the country that you lead into battle in Harlem Heights long before the existence of even the first bodega grocery store. The country of which you were the first President though you would rather have been recluse with Martha on the farm at Mount Vernon. The Republic that you founded on the modern, fashionable French philosophy of liberty and equality, (save for the slaves and women and others we deem unworthy). My friend: all is not well with the Republic, but that is another matter. This letter is to begin our conversation and update you on advances in the area of medicine and dentistry.
The letting of blood that you carried out with the advice of your doctor, and that which hitherto was common practice was later deemed to be a therapy of little use and perilous for the patient. Voltaire was mostly correct in stating that the “the art of medicine consists in amusing the patient, while nature cures the disease.” Indeed, blood-letting has accounted for the deaths of thousand and thousand of souls. That’s the bad news. The good news is that many years after your death, a potion called an antibiotic was developed. These potions, often taken as pills, would have rid the disease that had invaded your body and you would have experienced relief in a matter of hours. Science does move forward from time to time. The age of reason proceeds sporadically. You apparently came to the festivities a few hundred years too early.
Another piece of good news is that field of dentistry has advanced beyond your wildest dreams. Today, while many in the field of dentistry appear to be charlatans, with twice yearly visits, ordinary citizens can keep their teeth healthy for their entire lives. Additionally, the manufacturing of false teeth and what are now called dentures has advanced to the point were these false teeth look even better than the teeth God provided! Additionally, held in place with a modern sort of adhesive, they are surprisingly comfortable. I know not the dental programmes in heaven so this may be old news. I do hope that dental pain is not part of you daily life. It is extremely difficult to pursue tranquility and virtue when you have a raging toothache and your only remedy is to bite down on a strand of hemp.
I am humbled to have this unique channel of communication, and I extend my deepest thanks for your service and sacrifice.
In the beautiful city of San Francisco, the tourists are back, mostly walking around Fisherman’s Wharf. The days are now mostly clear with some much-needed rain in the forecast. It is the season to head out to Ocean Beach, get some fresh air away from all the madness and enjoy the views.
Powell Street cable cars
JFK Promenade where dancing is allowed
The old Louis’ Diner that closed down during the pandemic. Still no business here.
Dead Man’s point
Baker Beach
Baker Beach
Baker Beach
Golden Gate Bridge
Red-shouldered Hawk by the VA Hospital in the Presidio
From Washington’s Farewell Address – To The People Of The United States, written in 1796 with help from Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, around halfway in you read:
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force—to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party; often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Washington’s Farewell Address – To The People Of The United States
Presidential farewell addresses are the exit interview, whereby the employee can be candid. Calling out systems that do not work. Noting people who are problematic. Reminiscing on administration successes. Ignoring failures and scandals. Predicting future problems. Eisenhower warned us of the “Military Industrial Complex.” Reagan embraced all sorts of immigrants and the “shining city on a hill” but warned that Americans would begin to take for granted their freedoms. A book about presidential farewell addresses is overdue. It would be a great way to teach United States history.
It is eerie how George Washington in 1796 could have predicted the character of a man hundreds of years into the future – “…by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people” explains precisely the method of Donald Trump. And to think that Washington probably wrote the address with a quill pen and inkwell.
Download Washington’s Farewell Address. Print it out and read it. It is slow news that does not break. It is only twenty-six pages.
We ought to take outdoor walks, to refresh and raise our spirits by deep breathing in the open air. Sometimes energy will be refreshed by a carriage drive, a journey, a change of scene, good company and a more generous wine. Upon occasion we should go as far as intoxication, half-seas over, not total immersion. Drink washes cares away, stirs the mind from its lowest depths, and is a specific for sadness as for certain maladies. From The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca – On Tranquility of the Mind
Deep breathing, travel, company, half-seas over quantity of wine. Sounds like stoicism to me.
You see them everywhere is San Francisco these days – driverless cars. Waymo uses a Jaguar with cameras all over the place. George Orwell is probably mumbling “I told you so!” from his grave. Driverless cars are found on slow streets, going up and down hills in neighborhoods, in downtown during rush hour, on crowded streets by Golden Gate Park – sometimes two, one after another. No one in the driver’s seat. Rarely a passenger in the backseat. They creep me out.
I was thinking about these cars that often clog up our busy streets, endlessly mapping the terrain, when at an intersection where everyone was going nowhere -everyone was waiting at a red light. I thought: how hard would it be to put a little artificial intelligence (AI) into urban traffic signals? It seems now the traffic signals all are all on egg timers.
Like most things in large organizations, like cities and counties, large companies and corporations, things move slowly when adopting new ideas and technology. This is both good and bad..
Half of San Francisco’s traffic signals were built more than 30 years ago. This means that they were built to last but the actual technology in the signals is from the 1990s or older.
The failure of many of the technological transformations of our society is that they are done without a very holistic mindset. The larger consequences are rarely considered. Economics and a quick buck seem to be the driving forces.
What if just 10% of the technology of the fancy driverless cars went into more responsive and “smarter” traffic lights? A traffic signal could sense that even though there is a left turn signal there are no cars there, and by the way, the through traffic is backed up due to a sporting event just ending. There are many more scenarios like this, and I would think that the actual programming would be pretty simple if/else statements.
I did inquire with the City or San Francisco and got a quick response. This is what they said:
“To your inquiry about traffic signals and AI, the majority of signals in San Francisco are pretimed, or the timing is predetermined based on minimum requirements and estimated demand. Some locations have sensors that change traffic signals based on actual demand or presence of certain vehicles like buses. But no set of signals operated based on algorithms that optimize based on artificial intelligence.” – sfgov,org
In other words, almost all traffic lights are are on egg timers, or “pretimed.” If any of our readers know of any companies or municipalities developing more modern traffic signals, feel free to comment below.
Poster of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the San Francisco Democratic Headquarters.
Good Grief! As my father used to say. How is this presidential election even close! But then again we are living in what I like to call the “decade of delusion” where, with a straight face, Republican politicians have used the the phrase “alternate facts.”
Kamala Harris was our D.A in San Francisco. She grew up primarily in Oakland, California, with years in Montreal and Madison. She’s qualified and ready for this job. Unlike her opponent, she is not running from the law. She does not have to hire teams of lawyers. She’s buena gente and the only crime for some is that she is For the People and has pledged to tax the billionaires and corporations. Sounds like a good plan! The alternative is just appalling. Vote Harris-Walz 2024!
Even Dick Cheney, the ultra-conservative former Republican Vice President and congressman is supporting Kamala Harris for president. You know things are getting desperate when Dick Cheney supports a Democrat from California.
THE MADISON CONNECTION
An interesting historical fact is that his daughter, the former congresswoman from Wyoming, Liz Cheney was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1966 and lived in Madison the same time as Kamala Harris. In 1968 and 1969, Kamala Harris lived in Madison. Kamala was 5 years-old. It is unlikely that Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris ever played at the same Madison playground as Liz would have been just two years-old, but anything is possible. Madison is a college town and center of state government with a population under 200,000.
Fields in Wisconsin near Madison
Just think, in saner political times, they could have possibly been running for president against each other. Imagine!
Below is a video from an event in Ripon, Wisconsin, at the birthplace of the Republican party.
This is an open thread.
LOCAL ELECTION PICKS
Mayor
Aaron Peskin
Aaron Peskin with supporters
District 11 Supervisor
Ernest Jones
Vote YES on Preposition K
While there are dozens of propositions on the ballot, one seems like it will have a large impact on children being able to ride a bike in this city of many people. Vote YES on Preposition K. Turn the Great Highway into pedestrian only space. The road from Sloat to Lake Merced will close in a few months anyway. The highway is falling into the ocean. The ocean always wins in the end.
Paul Lyons outside City Hall in San Francisco
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The San Francisco Journal is an online journal by Paul Lyons that focuses on Arts & Culture, Book Reviews & Politics. The endorsements above are those of Paul Lyons and not the supporters of the San Francisco Journal.
The Great Highway. Where kids learn how to ride a bike.
The Great Highway – A great place for a walk, ride or run
The weather is looking great for a weekend of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free festival brought to you by the benevolent billionaire Warren Hellman who passed away a few years back but endowed HSB for an undisclosed amount of time. The free festival takes place October 4-6 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Some of the hardest working touring bands play the festival. It is some bluegrass, some country, some Nashville, some Northern California rock, a lot of Indie, some singer/songwriter, some folk and even a little New Orleans. It is people’s music and really all about the song.
Whether you like to fly solo, plan out your itinerary and carefully and catch a lot of different acts or hang out close to a big stage on a blanket with family and friends, it is festival where you can discover bands you never knew existed.
TWO RECOMMENDATIONS
The Bay Area’s own AJ Lee & Blue Summit is playing Sunday at Towers of Gold Stage at 1:15 PM. The band is some homegrown young gun slinger’s bluegrass. The band Fruition, who crashed the festival busking over 10 years ago is actually now on a stage! Saturday on the Swan Stage at 12:25 PM.
I will miss Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024 as I have to attend a Celebration of Life for a cousin who passed away recently. There will be no awards this time around. If you want to read some of my Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Awards, from years past see below.
September 2024 has been a cold and windy month with a lot of fog and wind. If you plan on visiting San Francisco, definitely bring a light jacket and some warm clothes. Usually by this time of year we have some sunny autumn days but not in 2024. Festivals around the city have been a bit fogged-in and blustery. Flower Piano and the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair have taken place mostly on the fog. Always best to head a bit east to see the clear skies and warmer temperatures. The Mission, Crane Cove Park and Potrero have been sunny.
Beautiful Crane Cove Park. Where the sun does shine.
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
Chase Center
Sailboats in the bay. Plenty of wind.
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
A new shoreline park by the Chase Center almost finished
The Giant’s baseball stadium
Embarcadero by the Bay Bridge
Bay Bridge
The marine layer to the west.
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Tourists are back. Weekend traffic is plenty
Municipal pier is still closed. No one talks about this.
Kids play soccer in the marina
Golden Gate bridge in the fog
Golden Gate bridge in the fog
Golden Gate bridge in the fog. Amazing foiling under the bridge. e
The national political scene, with all the pundits and polls, the constant news updates, the never-ending spectacle, the name calling, the disrespect all make for a wild and sometime entertaining ride for our modern-day, short attention spans. What often goes unnoticed is how art, in particular films, have often predicted our political realities and the miraculous turn of events. This is rarely mentioned in the mainstream press.
ACT 1
When Joe Biden decided to retire I could relate. Eighty-one years old and all the slogging through the blizzards of bullshit, spin doctors, fundraising speeches, jet-lag, international turmoil beyond your control, family tragedies so grave and tragic most people would either hit the bottle hard or have just crawled under a rock. So Joe exited stage right and Kamala rode in on her horse.
It all reminds me of the movie Blazing Saddles where instead of Cleavon Little riding into town it is Kamala Harris. Like when another black sheriff rode into town on a horse named Hope, some folk still can’t fathom the concept of a black president. Now the additional shocker is that she is a woman.
And then there is the new sheriff’s sidekick, Tim Walz. Like Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles, Walz can shoot a gun better than most and fortunately does not have a drinking problem. And in an even stranger similarity, in both cases the duos are in town to save the day from a wave of thugs, crooks, liars and big corporate railroad types wanting to buy and control little people’s pocket books and even their souls .
Once again, art becomes reality. Once again art foreshadows the future. Once again, art and imagination pave the way for justice. Mel Brooks was on to something.
“America and think about it. After all the promise of America is what makes it possible for [me and] Tim Walz [to be] together on this stage today. Think about that. Think about that. Think about it. Two middle class kids, one a daughter of Oakland, California who was raised by a working mother. I had a summer job at McDonald’s. The other a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm. Think about it. Think about it. Only in America is it possible that the two of them would be running together all the way to the White House.” – Harris and Walz rally Las Vegas, August 10, 2024
ACT 2
A few months back I was thinking about it… thinking about who would be the best person to run if Joe Biden dropped out. Who could possibly be the hero who saves the day. After much thought I came up with the only person who would easily win – Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks has done it all. He has flown an Apollo mission and returned to earth with the help of a little duct tape. He has had AIDS. After his FedEx plane crashed in a violent storm he survived for years on a deserted tropical island eating only coconuts and killing fish with a spear. He has saved Private Ryan. He has battled against Somali Pirates and won. He has jogged from one side of the country and back again. He has coached an all-woman baseball team. He is a person of mythic proportions and everyone would vote for him. He is someone who always seems to do the right thing. He could get us out of this political mudslinging and toxic delusional silliness. He seems to always play the hero.
So when Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her running-mate, you could tell right away that it was the right choice. Not some buttoned down careful politician whose family had been in the politics for generations. Not an Ivy League type. Not a show business person with perfect hair and a smile made for T.V.. Instead, someone a little like a fictional Tom Hanks.
Tim Walz grew up on a farm in Nebraska and was in the Army National Guard for decades. He has taught internationally and spent a year in China. In a small town in Minnesota he taught high school geography and social studies. The high school football team had lost 27 straight games when he joined the coaching staff as a defensive coordinator. Three years later, in 1999, the team won its first state championship. He sponsored a gay-straight alliance student organization at the small town high school after a student at the school wanted to start the group. You can’t make this stuff up.
In other words, his life is waiting for a Tom Hanks movie. Tim Walz is a Tom Hanks character – someone who deals with adversity and overcomes it through character, good decisions, common sense, great people skills, luck and hard work. And he has a rural way of speaking and communicating that has been missing in American politics since Jimmy Carter.
Hollywood. The script is still writing itself. I am not sure Tom Hanks plays the role but time will tell.
“We have some hard work ahead of us. But we like hard work. Hard work is good work. And with your help this November, we will win.” – Harris and Walz rally Las Vegas, August 10, 2024
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
National Politics
Kamala Harris, the former San Francisco District Attorney is the Democratic Party nominee for president. This turn of events happened quickly and San Francisco and Oakland are generally very proud and excited about her running and winning the election; it was in the nick of time. While Kamala Harris was D.A. of San Francisco I do not remember too many details but you can read an excellent piece What These Decisions Tell Us About Kamala Harris’ Approach to Criminal Justice.
Well I ain’t running from the law
Don’t know a lawyer I could call
And you won’t see me on the six o-clock news
Ain’t no money singing these blues – Down By The Railroad Tracks – Paul Lyons 2024
In 2020, when Kamala ran for president, I remember talking to some folks in their twenties who would not have anything to do with Harris. “My God! She’s a cop! I cannot vote for a cop!” But Kamala Harris, unlike her opponent is indeed not running from the law and seems like someone who wants to fight for justice, the little people and take on the corporate monopolies. This time around young folk seem to be onboard. Kamala Harris, the good cop is the right candidate at the right time. Vote Harris-Walz!
Sporting News
The San Francisco Giants are a five hundred club, meaning they win as many games as they lose. They play in a very tough division and it would be a minor miracle if they make the playoffs. The Oakland A’s are a few games from the cellar in the American League West and playing out their final year at the Oakland Coliseum before heading off the to Las Vegas. Many people and loyal fans are going to the games.
Weather
In late August we are experiencing typical late summer weather. Last weekend the fog pushed back and we had a few warm days where even the ocean looked glassy and inviting. The communal event, Sunday Streets took place on Valencia Street and it seemed everyone was out and about. Golden Gate Park was full of people enjoying the sun and warm days. Come Monday the northwest winds began to pick up and the marine layer hugged the coast making the weekend seem like a dream. In reality it was surely just a teaser for the Indian summer weather around the corner.
Actual Things That Have Happened in SF
It was observed that a young man in his twenties, while looking at his phone and walking north on Third Street, walked into a street lamp which gave off a distinct high metallic ringing sound like a bell (I think it was a C#). He was uninjured but startled and seemed a bit embarrassed by the episode. In another era people would read books while walking and similar events must have happened.
King Street, Ancestry.com and Centaurs
I recently noticed some very interesting, and a bit humorous frescos of centaurs and mermaids, all with the theme of baseball, on a King Street building directly across the street from the Giants baseball stadium.
At some other point in history, baseball players evidently had four legs and tales, and women seemingly could play catcher and the outfield. My how things have changed over time! Ironically, the office for ancestry.com, the genetic testing website, is a few doors down. I wonder if anyone else sees the irony.
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
Mission Street is finally getting some love with new bus stops and asphalt. It is a slow process but much needed out on the edges of town.
That is The Quarterly Report – August/September 2024
All the best things in life are definitely free and one of those free things is Fort Funston. Sonner or later every San Franciscan makes it to Fort Funston, the land at the edge of the continent, on top of the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Fort Funston is a favorite place to walk a dog, explore bunkers and tunnels from World War II, watch hang gliders soar high above the surf or simply look out into the abyss and ponder the meaning of life. Along Skyline Boulevard, not too far from Westlake Shopping center, just past Lake Merced is Fort Funston. If you head south on Skyline, pretty soon you can veer off on Highway 1 and drop down into the city of Pacifica.
Hold on to your hat. Fort Funston features 200-foot high sandy bluffs on San Francisco’s southwest coast where the winds blow reliably wildly. No surprise it is one of the premier hang-gliding spots in the country. A network of trails make it ideal for hiking and horseback riding. Dog owners will be happy to know they can take leashes off here. It is also home to the Fort Funston Native Plant Nursery, plus trails for hiking & horseback riding. – Golden Gates Nation Parks Conservatory
Fort Funston is San Francisco
Fort Funston is San Francisco
Hang glider at Funston is San Francisco
Hang glider at Fort Funston is San Francisco
Fort Funston is San Francisco
The cliffs are a bit steep on the edge so make sure Rover does not go over the side but besides that it is relatively safe. Fort Funston is a great place to go when the skies are clear and the sun is out. You can often see the Farallon Islands and all the way out to Point Reyes.
Hang glider Movie at Fort Funston
How to Get to Fort Funston
The easiest way is by car as there is a large parking lot. It is possible to get there by public transportation as the 58 Bus goes there. Best to get off at John Muir Drive and Skyline Boulevard and do the short hike to the cliffs. The trails are well-marked and obvious.
The release of Julian Assange after years in a UK jail made me remember an op-ed by Bob Garfield on the subject. Garfield’s key point is that Assange is not a journalist but a broker of stolen goods and that the press is under attack but not in this case. His op-ed is nuanced in a way you rarely see in this absolutist political world. I think that Assange, as the quote above illustrates, became a bit of a media darling with his premature gray hair, his smooth, steady Australian accent and his nobel Robin Hood persona. In this case the loot was classified documents.
Indeed, the U.S government has many dirty secrets and does all kinds of immoral things. It has been this way from the beginning. Shining the light on the malfeasance is a small step in the right direction but I doubt it will truly change behaviors. It is better to simply follow the money. Much of that is in plan view. Journalists are simply too scared to bite the few hands that feed them.
The thing is press freedom, defined under U.S. Law and best practices, doesn’t permit libel or extortion or, by the way, burglary–digital or otherwise. With journalistic freedom, comes journalistic responsibility. And Assange, explicitly, disclaims that–at least where other people are concerned. While he preaches that all information, no matter its sources or dangers, is better public than secret, his own organization is shrouded in secrecy.
– Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield was fired from On The Media and NPR. He evidently had a short fuse and would yell at people. I do miss his opines.
4742 Mission Street is now a five-story building. It has been under construction for a few years. It looks to be a mix of residential and first-floor retail but the end result is still a bit of a mystery. The windows are in. The paint has dried. Who knows? It may be fenced-off for months or years as that is what can happen out here in the hinterlands of San Francisco.
The location was once El Tapatio, a dance hall with live bands. A few years back I wrote about this historic location in a piece – El Tapatio Closed for Good – Another Live Music Venue in SF Gone.
San Francisco Carnaval 2024 took place on May 24 and 25. The weather on Saturday was a bit cold and cloudy but on Sunday the sun came out for the parade. It was a glorious day. Below are some photos I took of the parade and the fun on Harrison Street. The Radio Valencia Rumberos were amazing. Grand Marshall Rigoberta Menchú was on a float. A very brave and interesting person. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1992/tum/biographical/
These novels will give way, by and by, to diaries or autobiographies – captivating books, if only a man knew how to choose among what he calls his experiences that which is really his experience, and how to record truth truly.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“My takeaway is human adaptability to almost anything is just like much more remarkably strong than we realize, and you can get used to anything as the new normal, good or bad, pretty fast,” Altman said. “Over the last couple of years, I’ve learned that lesson many times.” Sam Altman – OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he can no longer eat in public in S.F.
Sam Altman is 39 years old and seems to be a darling of the tech industry. He SMS messages usually in all lowercase, was a key player in OpenAI, a new artificial intelligence software company, and seems to use the word “like” in random places.
If Sam were to write a book, it would certainly be a good idea to send it through the AI rewriter. Perhaps it would say instead: “My takeaway is human adaptability to almost anything is just like much more remarkably strongis stronger than we realize, and you can quickly get used to anything, good or bad as the new normal. , good or bad,pretty fast ,”
I am convinced that a lot of the new tools, while remarkable, are making humans less intelligent and dependent. Most people today surely have a hard time writing longhand with a pen. Spelling is an ancient skill. Along comes credit card transactions with predetermined tips and people no longer have to do basic math. Long-form math. Forget about it.
So Sam Altman just realized that being worth billions of dollars and trying to live a life of anonymity is impossible. Probably a good idea to “like” add that algorithm into that “like” ChatGPT thing.
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
Sporting News
Baseball season has begun. Recently a new lovely park opened just south of the ballpark with tables, places to sit and a lovely statue of Willie McCovey. I was riding my bike when I saw the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony seemed a bit subdued – like someone wary of a new luxury car getting its first scratch. The Giants are 17 and 21 as of this report. I will check back in after the All-Star Break. That is my usual mode of operation.
McCovey Cove
Weather
The season changed to spring sometime in mid-April. The 20 knot northwest winds started up and you just knew that the fog was next. The temperature of the water at Ocean Beach went from 58 degrees Fahrenheit to 52. Now in early May we are experiencing some exceptionally warm spring weather with temperatures in the 80s and wind blowing from the east. The real news these days is definitely the weather report. Pay attention, as at anytime the temperature can drop twenty degrees and the fog machine will start up.
Politics
The 2024 mayoral race in San Francisco is going to be one wild ride. There is a lot of outside money coming in with front groups like GrowSF and TogetherSF supporting various well-off candidates. What is different this time around is that there are many candidates that San Francisco Chronicle calls “moderates” running while there are just two “progressive” candidates, Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin. Good grief! The labels that these newspapers bestow on politicians is beyond silly. Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell are not moderates. In another era, in another town, they would simply be the usual pro-business Republicans.
Aaron Peskin, with his years of knowledge of the city, his neighborhood credibility, excellent speaking skills and a new-found sobriety may be a tough candidate to beat. I traveled down to Portsmouth Square and heard Aaron Peskin’s mayoral announcement speech. It was extremely refreshing to hear a politician speak in complete sentences and have something meaningful to say.
Aaron Peskin among supporters
I will be a Mayor who loves this city, and doesn’t beat up on it for political gain. A Mayor who works for everyday San Franciscans and their neighborhoods, not just the well-to-do and the well-connected. And I will be a hands-on Mayor, using my 25 years of governmental know-how to once again make San Francisco the city that knows how. Aaron Peskin – Candidacy Announcement – April 6, 2024 Mission Local
Let me be clear. I support arresting fentanyl dealers and holding them accountable. But arresting drug users, and doing nothing more, is a cynical and dangerous policy that results in more overdoses, and not more treatment for addiction. Aaron Peskin – Candidacy Announcement – April 6, 2024 Mission Local
After the event I was able to talk to former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos who supports Peskin. He said that being mayor was the hardest job he has ever done. He said that when the 1989 Lomo Prieta earthquake hit during the World Series he was at the game and then whisked off to a command center where he found out the head of emergency services had just had had a heart attack. For the next few days he was winging it. I thanked him for the great job he did as mayor during those unpredictable times. He was an awesome mayor.
National Politics
When Donald Trump was asked about whether he raped Jean Carroll he said that it was not possible as she was not his “type.” Isn’t it interesting that he has not said the same thing about Stormy Daniels. Perhaps Stormy is his type?
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
Sooner or later you figure out the plan. Starting at Geneva and Mission and heading north they are repaving the bus stops with concrete. It is about time. What is odd is that they pretty much pour the concrete and then slop asphalt in between the new and the old. Thanks for the effort.
Valencia Bike Lanes and the Sunny Side of the Street
Merchants and many people are still angry about the center bike lane on Valencia. The parking has changed with the installation of individual digital meters. What is strange is that in many places half of the block is for only drop-off parking. This is silly, not practical and a gift to companies like Uber and Lyft.
Valencia Street center bike lane
Parklets, Microclimates and Where the Sun Does Shine
Not much to report. The parklet situation has stabilized but the red-tape for merchants is often too much and they remove their parklets. This is a topic that a city mayor Breed could have a lot of impact and instead it ends up highlighting the incompetence of city government.
I do not know who wrote the Saturday Night Live skit above, but it is very funny. It was probably a team of writers. But nobody knows.
I have always wondered why comedians today do not make more use of historical figures, especially the “founding fathers.” Humor can then merge with irony in a way that reaches a wider audience. It is like slow news, perhaps “slow humor,” where the vantage is long, and the costumes essential. You do not cringe. Instead everyone simply laughs as the truths are often of the everyday, non-political, small world. It is humor that is self-evident.
A while back I had the idea of a skit where Benjamin Franklin uses a time-machine that he had invented but did not tell anyone about as the plans were lost in a fire. Ben travels to the United States in our current era and then to a drawing room where seated are Jefferson, Washington, Adams and probably others. Someone’s wife. Perhaps a black enslaved person or mistress.
Hand on his knee, Franklin would calmly explain what he saw – explain what he had observed in the twenty-first century America on his time-travel. The majority of the content would be the others commenting and asking questions. These comments would be based on history and their actual writings, personalities and known beliefs. The possibilities are endless. It would shine a light on how originalism is an absurd concept. The world changes, but things also stay the same as in the ending line, “where all Black men are free,” to which Washington ignores like a Florida history book. Evidently, we still have much work to do with our weights and measurements. Equality on many fronts is still but a dream.
NOW THE FUN STUFF! FOURTH GRADE WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS
Weights
16 ounces in a pound. 2000 pounds is a ton There is no word for 1000 pounds
Liquids
Liters and milliliters are used for soda, wine and alcohol
Gallons, pints and quarts are used for milk and paint.
There are 3.78541 liters in a gallon (but nobody knows).
1 liter = 33.814 Fl oz
Distances
Inches, feet, yards and miles
12 inches to a foot. 3 feet to a yard,
5028 feet to a mile
1760 yards to a mile (but nobody knows).
Sports
Meters are used in unpopular sports like track and swimming. (Also springboard diving, but no one asked.)
In football, where the field is 100 yards long, an extra-point after the touchdown is worth 1 point. A field goal is worth 3. A touchdown is worth 6. A safety is worth 2.
Temperature
The great nation of the United States of America measures temperature in Fahrenheit. You spell Fahrenheit F-a-h-r-e-n-h-e-i-t.
Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 degrees Celsius.
To convert temperatures in degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 (or 9/5) and add 32
For example
10 C = 50 F
20 C = 68 F
30 C = 86 F
40 C = 104 F
You can also, multiply Celsius by 2 and add 30 to get an approximation.
CODA
Mel Brooks used recent political history and satire in The Producers. He did it very daringly in “Springtime for Hitler” which is over the top. It combines Broadway showtunes and dance numbers in a Busby Berkeley style with the Third Reich. It is absurd and you laugh because of this absurdity. Oddly, it was a premonition for things to come.
Another amazing use of history and satire in humor is Monty Python’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail..
Let us know of other routines that have taken this tack. So far, nobody knows.
Most musicians are much more eclectic than their fans. If he had nothing else to do, Presley sang gospel, as did Jerry Lee Louis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash, three other Sam Philips discoveries. (A recording of the four of them jamming in a studio in 1956 was discovered and released several years after Presley’s death.) Muddy Waters sang “Red Sails in the Sunset.” Robert Johnson sang “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby.” James Brown liked Sinatra and disliked the blues. Leadbelly was a Gene Autry fan. Chuck Berry’s “Maybellee” was a cover of a country and western song called “Ida Red,” recorded in 1938 by a white band, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Race had a lot to do with the music business in the United States. It had much less to do with the music.” Louis Menand – The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War – 2021
Ideas about the quote above. April 5, 2024
Menand is attempting to show that musicians have diverse tastes in music. Many fans do too. James Brown probably did not dislike the blues. He was the blues. He probably did not like the blues when it is played poorly. A more, and better quote is one credited to Louis Armstrong.
“There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind.” Louis Armstrong
Coleman Hawkins, the iconic tenor saxaphonist of the post World War II era loved to listen to Classical Symphonies and operas on his new stereo. Lot’s of people did.
The redeeming point of Menand’s quote is that musicians often gravitate to all kinds of music. In that way race does not matter.
In 2023 I finally got it together and started really using the San Francisco Public Library, putting books I wanted to read on hold, reading parts of books and checking out books that I was simply curious about. The library is an amazing resource. Below is a list of books that I finished. I do this exercise to simply reflect on the previous year.
Books I Read 2023
The Shipping News
Annie Proulx
Charles Scribner’s Sons
Without a doubt you can find this book in any Goodwill or Salvation Army. A very interesting read.
Beloved
Toni Morrison
Vintage; Reprint edition
In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist
Pete Jordan
Harper Perennial;
A Black Woman’s West: The Life of Rose B. Gordon
Michael K. Johnson
Montana Historical Society
This is an interesting book I picked up in a restaurant in Glacier, Montana. It chronicles the life of a black woman and family. What is interesting is that the Gordon family became an integral part of the town that they lived in and according to this account the racism was pretty muted.
Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle
Jody Rosen
Crown
Candide
Voltaire
Penguin Classics
Whenever I get a bit too optimistic about things, I like to read this classic to bring me down to earth.
Micromegas and Other Short Fictions
Voltaire
Penguin Classics
Very cool book that actually has a short story about traveling by space ship and visiting other planets and alien beings. Sort of amazing that this is not talked about more and on reading lists. This was written in the 18th century!
Two Wheels North
Evelyn McDaniel Bibb
Oregon State Press
American Studies
Louis Menand
New York : Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2002.
Mexico City – Cradle of Empires
Caistor, Nick,
Reaktion Books
A Most Remarkable Creature the Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey
Meiburg, Jonathan,
Alfred A. Knopf
My Bike & Other Friends
Henry Miller
Capra Press, 1978.
Gulliver’s Travels
Swift, Jonathan
Doubleday, Doran & co., inc.,
Tropic of Cancer
Henry Miller
MEDVSA
One of the great banned books of the 20th century and I found a signed copy! Miller has the ability to make the ugly beautiful. It is understandable why they banned this book. It should only be for adults in the first place, but then again the youth would surely not even understand most of it.
Zionism – A Brief History
Brenner, Michael
Princeton
A very good book for our times. A “just the facts” look at the creation of Israel. Theodor Herzl, one of the early Zionists obviously began something that we are feeling the ramifications of today.
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?
Kurt Vonnegut
Seven Stories Press
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months. You are now reading “Slow News That Doesn’t Break” – the exotic internet.
Sporting News
After two very close playoff games, the San Francisco 49ers are headed to the Super Bowl to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. A miraculous catch by Brandon Aiyuk on a very deep pass that actually bounced off the defender’s facemask may be the reason they are in the big game. Of course, the entire Bay Area is excited and it will be a wild weekend. Go Niners!
Weather
The new word of the year is “atmospheric river.” San Francisco has been pummeled by this weather phenomenon which is basically a river in the sky that dumps large quantities of rain in short periods of time. Nevertheless the weather has been wet lately mixed with glorious days of sunshine. Often the sunsets have been beautiful. Out at Ocean Beach the parking lot continues to be eaten by the ocean. It is amazing how the contour of the beach changes.
Politics
Nothing to report as all the entrenched powers that be remain in hold of city government. No one seems to be irate that drug overdoes in the Tenderloin and homelessness are still major problems. Chesa Boudin was recalled a year ago and Brooke Jenkins was installed at D.A.. For the most part, things have remained the same on the street, but for most people San Francisco looks like most west coast large cities. People just living their lives in the tidy neighborhoods. We have a tough on crime D.A. but people often drive their cars like there are no laws. Stop signs evidently are simply a suggestion.
The Depths of his Dishonesty is just astounding… He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life. – John Kelly on former President Donald Trump as reported in The Atlantic
The Depths of his Dishonesty is just astounding… He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life. – John Kelly on former President Donald Trump as reported in The Atlantic
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
A street cleaning ticket in San Francisco is now $90. Always best to keep track of your wheels in this town.
Valencia Bike Lanes and the Sunny Side of the Street
The center bike lane has many people up in arms. Merchants say people are not coming into their stores. The center lane is pretty awkward. I have no opinion on the matter but think that the center lane is ugly from an aesthetic perspective. What is more problematic is the fact that the parking is all done with the new digital pay stations and there are no coin meters. This is very confusing as the parking rules are not stated on the street. After some research I have learned that it is basically the concept that between 9am – 6pm you must pay for parking. To me this is discrimination to those not tied into using their phones for everything. Very confusing.
Here are the Valencia Street Parking Rules for you edification
Parklets, Microclimates and Where the Sun Does Shine
Not much to report. The parklet situation has stabilized but the red-tape for merchants is often too much and they remove their parklets. This is a topic that a city major Breed could have a lot of impact and instead it ends up highlighting the incompetence of city government.
In February 2024 rarely do bands play outside – more often the music is inside. Remember to tip the band
That is The Quarterly Report – February 2024
Photo Gallery of SF
The Quarterly Report – February 2024
End of an atmospheric river in San Francisco
Auto dealship sign uncovered on Valencia Street
Blondies Bar. Great spot with live music
Ocean Beach where the ocean is winning
Ocean Beach where the ocean is winning
Ocean Beach where the ocean is winning
McLaren Park
McLaren Park
“The Cloud” along 101. It looks so romantic!
Castle Peak – Pleanty of snow now in the mountains
At the very south end of San Francisco, at the eastern edge by the bay, along Highway 101 is Candlestick Point. At one time it was home to Candlestick Park, the massive concrete stadium where the San Francisco Giants played baseball and the San Francisco 49ers played football. It has surely been home to many events – monster truck shows, rock concerts, soccer matches. It was a large stadium made of concrete and a place best used to watch the 49ers play their gladiator sport. No soft chairs and few cozy luxury boxes. It was made like a parking garage and had that same lack of warmth. You could get a seat high in the upper deck and watch the little ants down below. If you missed the amazing play, there was no instant replay – too bad. You spilled your beer and missed the interception all at once. The accommodations and locker rooms for the players were surely not as they are today. Candlestick was a fitting place to see grown men push and shove each other around for an afternoon.
In the 1960s Willie Mays caught fly balls out in center field. By the 1990s you could get into the bleacher seats in left field for a few bucks, squint your eyes and see Will Clark nervously try to send a runner in from second. Of course, Candlestick is famously known for the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s when the Lomo Prieta earthquake hit and everyone thought for a second the world might end.
In the late fall the weather would often be that Indian summer time of year when the the temperature was at a human ideal, the wind light out of the east and the light would have that warm autumn glow. It was football weather. The 49ers played many classic games at Candlestick. Joe Montana connecting with Jerry Rice. John Taylor running back kickoffs. Steve Young running wild until the doctor said that it may be better just to throw the ball to keep all the marbles upstairs intact. Then there were games in the winter storms when the field would be wet. The storm coming in from Alaska and a high tide would make the field like a pig slop.
When you landed at San Francisco International Airport and caught a cab into town, you would often drive up 101 past Candlestick and see the stadium there poetically on the point. True to its moniker, at night it would often be lit up. It seemed a bit timeless, like the Parthenon, and you innocently thought that it would somehow always be there watching over the bay. For a time the name would be bought out. The speaker cable company, Monster Cable, purchased the naming rights and called it Monster Park, not realizing that people assumed it was for the job website. Other large companies, usually in the telecommunications industries, would then take over the naming rights. No one remembers their names now. People in San Francisco would always just call it Candlestick.
Which brings me to Candlestick Park. The stadium was torn down many years ago. One day it was there and the next it is gone. Phfff! All that concrete surely broken up and hauled away to be recycled one truckload at a time. Now when you get off the plane and drive north along the bay, you have to explain to your friend that once a large stadium loomed there. Remember that hill that you would see from the blimp. That’s the same lonely hill. Where the stadium was is now fenced in. It is mostly grassy fields and when it rains ducks and redwing black birds hangout in the ponds that once was around the fifty yard line. It is quiet save for the never ending hum of Interstate 101 a half mile away.
The 49ers left Candlestick years ago and now play down in Santa Clara. The South Bay and all the tech money bought them out. On Saturday, January 20, 2024 they will play the Green Bay Packers in a classic playoff match up. Two young quarterbacks will duel it out and try as best they can to not make mistakes. They will push and shove, run, pass, block and kick. People will go into the blue medical tent to see if their marbles are still round. There is rain in the forecast so the field may be a bit wet. No one will care how high the tide will be at game time. All that matters now is which team scores the most points and maybe who gets the ball last.
Candlestick Point – Candlestick Park once was here
Candlestick Point – Candlestick Park once was here
San Francisco Bay
Candlestick Point – Candlestick Park once was here
Candlestick Point – Candlestick Park once was here
It was probably just a matter of time. I started paying for a subscription to the NYT after a friend suggested I start playing Wordle, the clever five letter word game. It was sort of like giving a taste just to draw me into your house of mirrors. I have enjoyed the game and have had a streak of fifty-four continuous wins at one point.
With the paid subscription I began reading the news primarily and some of the essays by the opinion writers. The guest essays are often quite fun. Big names like Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates and various U.S. Senators have often been interesting reads. I suddenly felt like I was in the “know,” given a view into the rich and powerful. I tend to open the comments section for articles about Trump. Your readers then go on and on in a sort of cathartic release of how insane our times are and “how in hell that guy is not in jail yet” monologues. I have joined in on the ruckus at times but little lately. It really is a waste of time in the end.
And then in November you began publishing your Presidential race polls, which made it so we should rename out country “The United States of Anxiety,” as somehow the guy who was impeached twice and is in all kinds of legal problems is running neck and neck with the other guy. How is this even possible? One thing is for sure. I do not want to spend 2024 watching this horse race that you started.
In a recent episode of “On The Media” – “Is The New York Times A Tech Company?” does a good look at how the The New York Times refactored itself as not a newspaper or even a news publisher, but as a tech company. Publishing is dead. It is about a “platform.” No longer do you make money with good content and intelligent editors and stagnant ads but the with surveillance of your readers. Cull the ads for a demographic. Tease them with sticky content that will make them stay on the site.
I began to notice the formula. News more often than not started to become not events but merely conjecture and what people said. “Trump has decided to not show up in court tomorrow.” “McConnel says he if feeling just fine.” “George Santos says he may parley his fame and become a gameshow host.” And even Ross Douthat goes so far as staging a hypothetical situation where Hillary Clinton (not Donald Trump) stages a coup.
The sticky content just kept coming. The rich and famous, the shysters and scandal were given prime real-estate on your paper. People would often should be in jail were treated as celebrities. Every time Trump would say something outrageous you would put his photo in a suit and a slick red or blue tie on the front page. Make him and our neurotic political environment seem “normal.” Someone who sent an angry mob on the capital is presented as a slick guy in fancy suits. You give the guy free real-estate on a hourly basis. Enough!
So I’m done. Please cancel my subscription to your echo chamber. I will not follow your polls or read your op-eds by your mostly corporate conservative, neo-liberal columnists. I will not read the witty comments from your dedicated readers. I will no longer have to wade through the 10 Ways to Lose 20 Pounds articles. I am done with your high-brow tabloid corporate journalism.
I decided to free up that time I was sucked in to your world for better things. I will get my national news from the many available sources out there. I am giving money to my local paper, Mission Local and 48 Hills. I subscribe to Matt Stollers BIG. But worry not. I will still play Wordle. That was sold to you with the stipulation that it would always be free.
Below are some of the easy to find examples of the new high-brow tabloid journalism at the New York Times.
In the April 2023 issue of The Atlantic is an article by George Packer that was very insightful that oddly did not seem to stir up any debate. The article brings up something that is under the radar in our current society, but on everyone’s minds. The Moral Case Against Equity Language outlines how language today is being regulated by new equity guideline teams. In marketing lingo these guidelines often are a part of what are called style guides. Words have power and the object is to make language more “equitable.” The article explains how these new equity guidelines are used by The Sierra Club, non-profits, corporations, academia and other large organizations to craft their writing. It explains the complicated way that language and words enforce power structures and define identity. How important it is for everyone to “get it right.” It looks at current efforts to equalize and defang language of some of it historical biases and prejudices. Words matter indeed. One cannot help but think of Orwell’s thought police. The article starts out with:
“The sierra club’s Equity Language Guide discourages using the words stand, Americans, blind, and crazy. The first two fail at inclusion, because not everyone can stand and not everyone living in this country is a citizen. The third and fourth, even as figures of speech (“Legislators are blind to climate change”), are insulting to the disabled. The guide also rejects the disabled in favor of people living with disabilities, for the same reason that enslaved person has generally replaced slave : to affirm, by the tenets of what’s called “people-first language,” that “everyone is first and foremost a person, not their disability or other identity.”
The article goes on with
“Although the guides refer to language “evolving,” these changes are a revolution from above. They haven’t emerged organically from the shifting linguistic habits of large numbers of people. They are handed down in communiqués written by obscure “experts” who purport to speak for vaguely defined “communities,” remaining unanswerable to a public that’s being morally coerced.”
That’s the spooky part that is often the elephant in the room these days. Who are these people? The article closes with an argument that the guidelines maybe doing more harm than good. Whether you are “homeless” or “unhoused,” you still do not have a roof over your head. Changing the language does not solve the problem. It really often simply makes people feel less guilty and temporarily more comfortable.
This huge expense of energy to purify language reveals a weakened belief in more material forms of progress. If we don’t know how to end racism, we can at least call it structural. The guides want to make the ugliness of our society disappear by linguistic fiat. Even by their own lights, they do more ill than good—not because of their absurd bans on ordinary words like congresswoman and expat, or the self-torture they require of conscientious users, but because they make it impossible to face squarely the wrongs they want to right, which is the starting point for any change.
Brilliant thinking and something no one dares touch. I am surprised that the article did not stir up more debate. Indeed, “the guides want to make the ugliness of our society disappear by linguistic fiat” is a fair assessment.
It is important to not confuse the new equity guidelines with other issues of freedom of speech. That someone who commits multiple felonies and then threatens judges and elected officials receives a “gag-order” has absolutely nothing to do with the topic in this article.
And to that point, the writing and thinking of authors from before the equity guidelines, who use “slave” instead of “enslaved person” are no less valid in their works because of this use of language. Furthermore, if authors today use the old nomenclature, it does not invalidate their theories or ideas. A vigorous intellectual pursuit is not meant to be a journey towards making everyone feel comfortable.
UPDATE: OCTOBER 31, 2023: Not a single media outlet celebrated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 25 Year Anniversary. Amazing!
It is now October 2023, twenty-five years after the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Seven years ago I published the piece below about the 18 year anniversary of the DMCA. The DMCA has made it so you can listen to just about any recording made in the last 100 years for free on YouTube after looking at some ridiculous advertisement for five seconds. It has made it so tech companies and publishing empires no longer have responsibility for what is published on their applications, websites and what they now call “platforms.” Safe harbor. Everything is just content. Stuff. No one owns the stars.
I predict that on October 28, 2023 very few media organizations will acknowledge the DMCA 25 year anniversary. The world changes and while it is changing hardly anyone notices; we all just roll with it as that is the only option. So pop the champagne corks. To the liberation of content!
FROM MY POST on OCTOBER 12, 2016
Digital Millennium Copyright Act 18 Year Anniversary
Passed on October 12, 1998, by a unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998, the DMCA amended Title 17 of the United States Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of the providers of online services for copyright infringement by their users. wikipedia.org
It is 1998 – The Senate Now Has E-Mail
Let’s Have a Party!
25 years ago this month the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was passed. I would wager that very few people even know what the DMCA is, but it has affected modern life substantially. It is in many ways just one more version of an old story of plunder by larger more powerful entities, and the taking advantage of the smaller, but often more vibrant creators. In many ways, it has made it so the copyright laws in such industries as music are pointless.
But let’s back up a bit. Everyone can remember the transition that happened when CDs came out and then everyone was ripping their CDs to MP3s and handing off 100 gig drives full of music files to their buddies. Then there was Napster that simply stitched all these drives together in one big mass orgy of free MP3s. Napster got the injunction primarily because the established music industry had no cut of the racket. Along come tech giants like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung and to cover their liability the DMCA made perfect sense. If someone has “illegal” music on their devices, they should not be held accountable. Furthermore, if someone uploads a Beatles tune as a video with a picture of Ringo Starr as the graphics to YouTube, why should YouTube be held accountable for such blatant infringement? All good and well. But that was 1998. Today is 2016. I am certain that in 1998 most members of the Senate had no idea the true implications of the DMCA. In 1998, most of the members of the Senate probably did not even know how to manage their own email. They were still licking stamps.
The DMCA’s principal innovation in the field of copyright is the exemption from direct and indirect liability of Internet service providers and other intermediaries. wikipedia.org
Let’s look back a bit. In 1998 the leading browser of the day was Netscape 2. Internet Explorer was at version 5.5. If anyone remembers IE 6, imagine how terrible IE 5.5 must have been. Windows 98 had probably just been released. Man, that is scary. My point is that the DMCA has not been updated for 18 years and is an extremely flawed piece of legislation. The large tech companies have in many ways based their entire industry on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It allows for basically everyone to break the law everyday and not have to worry about it. When was the last time that a cop pulled someone over and wanted to check if the person had pirated music on their phone? There probably is thousands of dollars of contraband on everyone’s devices. Ain’t gonna happen.
Times Have Changed – Google Is Our Master of Information
But this is what is disingenuous about the DMCA. Companies like Google know just about everything about you. What you buy. What websites you visit. Your birthday. Your favorite color.
In 2016 they have the ability to determine if a piece of music is copyrighted via matching wave forms, and indeed this is how they “monetize” this work. But YouTube refuses to acknowledge this UNLESS they are in a position to make money off of that music – they make money anyway but that is another post. The only way the copyright holder can get the videos of their music taken down is with take-down notices. If a song is popular, this can mean hundreds of separate videos with the same song on it. The artists cannot simply tell the ISP such as YouTube “I do not want my work on your network.” YouTube is sort of like that creepy neighbor running a crack-house who borrowed your weed-whacker last spring and refuses to give it back claiming ignorance. Musicians, songwriters and composers have better things to do with their time than chase down illegal version of their work.
YouTube is sort of like that creepy neighbor running a crack-house who borrowed your weed-whacker last spring and refuses to give it back claiming ignorance. Musicians, songwriters and composers have better things to do with their time than chase down illegal version of their work.
Which brings me back to 1998. Do you really think in 1998 anyone could predict such entities as YouTube or Facebook? And unlike the owners of these companies, I believe these entities are not just platforms, they are simply publishers with free content providers and creators. These publishers have to take responsibility as well for copyright infringement. It is within their technical realm but they are playing dumb as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 suits them just fine. The DMCA is to their advantage.
The real master of deception with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is YouTube. Facebook, Twitter and the like have simply entered personal lives and monetized birthdays and other important life events until people depart from this world. Personalized marketing on steroids that the users all agree to though without really reading the privacy policies.
But all such companies are the modern-day plunderers. Instead of grabbing continents, forests, rivers, enslaving the natives and digging for gold, they are plundering your personal events and consumer habits along with the likes of great artists like James Brown, Elton John, Charlie Palmieri, Vince Gill, Willie Green, Slayer, Bette Midler, Woody Guthrie (the list is endless) and any person who has recorded or published a piece of music in the last hundred years.
Conclusion
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act needs to be reexamined and rewritten every five years to reflect and take into consideration the changes in technology, creativity and platforms. It is an important part of combating the many inequities in our society.
“In November 2022, San Francisco voters reaffirmed the previous legislation, making the new JFK Promenade a permanent car-free route enjoyed by a wide range of visitors. Along the route, visitors can enjoy art installations, public pianos, rest stops and enhanced entrances featuring seating and lawn games, and live music.” JFK Promenade
One of the beautiful things that happened during the COVID 19 pandemic was the creation of slow-streets. Entire blocks where closed to through-traffic cars. San Francisco got outside and walked down the middle of streets. Kids learned how to ride bikes. Roller skaters searched out the best blacktop and did their thing. It was and is a beautiful thing.
After a lot of tussle, local propositions and screaming and hollering, JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park is a permanent car-free route. Ride your bike. Go for a stroll. Play a game of ping pong. Take in the various interesting sculptures. It is great to have this large drive free of cars. It helps to makes San Francisco a great city. It is one of those places to rejuvenate your soul.
With the swell measuring around 8 feet at 12 seconds, on the morning of December 3, it was observed that the Aqua Surf Shop was holding some sort of surf contest. The surf was gnarly and the paddle-out ridiculous – rows and rows of white water to paddle through just to get to the outside. It looked impossible but the contestants, both women and men in their twenties seemed to be able to make their way past the inside close-outs. Just nasty out there.
UPDATE: The contest is what is called the ‘Battle of the Bay’ competition. This has been held in previous years when San Francisco State was victorious. It seems to be surf clubs from local colleges – SF State University, Cal, and UCSF get together and organize this event. Very cool!
From the NOAA Buoy Report and San Francisco https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46026
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months.
Weather
While the world has experienced floods, droughts, earthquakes and hurricanes, the San Francisco weather pattern has been quite normal lately. We had a typical Indian Summer pattern for a while then a bit of rain. The skies are clear and we are now experiencing beautiful sunsets. In the coming week there should be off-shore winds out of the east. If you you come to San Francisco, bring a light jacket and warm hat. It does get chilly from time to time.
Politics
Senator Diane Feinstein died on September 29, 2023. Her replacement chosen by Governor Newsom is Laphonza Butler. So it goes.
So the virtue of the young damsel and the driverless car must wait for another day.
“The fashion in those days, among the ladies, was to to travel around without lackeys or coachmen and to drive oneself; husbands preferred wives to be at all times alone, so as to be more certain of their virtue; which goes directly counter to the view of the moralists, who say there is no virtue in solitude.” -From The One-Eyed Porter – Voltaire
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
The roads are still terrible in the poor neighborhoods. The pavement on Mission Street looks like a war zone. If you are on a bicycle be careful out there.
Bike Lanes, The Great Highway and the Sunny Side of the Street
The Great Highway opened to vehicular traffic on Mondays at 6 a.m. through Fridays at 12 p.m. and opened to pedestrians and bicycles only from Fridays at 12 p.m. until Mondays at 6 a.m. On holidays, the Great Highway is closed to vehicular traffic.
It is a lot of fun to get out to the Great Highway when it is closed to cars. On the weekends it gets busy with people walking, running a riding their bikes
The Great Highway and Ocean Beach – 0ctober 2023
The Great Highway and Ocean Beach – 0ctober 2023
Ocean Beach – 0ctober 2023
Ocean Beach – 0ctober 2023
Ocean Beach – 0ctober 2023
Sporting News
The San Francisco Giants fizzled away. The 49ers are getting a bit beat up and having trouble winning games when they do not have all of their stars on the field. A young quarterback who is getting a reality check was long overdue.
The surfing has been pretty good overall, with some large, long-period swells now showing up every few weeks. 10 feet at 20 seconds was recorded recently and people were surfing Mavericks.
Parklets, Microclimates and Where the Sun Does Shine
Not much to report. The parklet situation has stabilized. Sometimes bands play outside but more often the music is inside. Remember to tip the band
That is The Quarterly Report –October 2023.
updated: 10/31/2023 with more Great Highway photos.
The Quarterly Report: A brief synopsis of the news in San Francisco over the last three months.
Weather
Often chilly and foggy with a marine layer along the coast. Air quality generally pretty good. Bring a light jacket. If you are by the ocean bring more layers.
View of the “marine layer.” Coming to a neighborhood near you soon!
Politics
In a 3-to-1 vote, the commission decided to let self-driving cars expand their programs and allow them to basically operate like taxis. So now these cars can pick up passengers and charge a fare at all hours of the day. Up until now, the companies had pretty limited passenger pickup programs. – NPR from Driverless cars can now operate like taxis in San Francisco, raising safety concerns
That the driverless cars are now taxis was inevitable as that was one of the main goals all along. New technology that ultimately was and has been driven as a money making scheme. For anyone living is San Francisco the last few years, the new ruling will probably not change things much on the roads as we have been inundated with self-driving cars for years. In the last year, we have observed them wandering up and down neighborhood streets in the middle of the night, like the ghost of some long-lost insomniac uncle, organizing his toolset after hours.
In the last year, we have observed them wandering up and down neighborhood streets in the middle of the night, like the ghost of some long-lost insomniac uncle, organizing his toolset after hours.
Many of the self-driving cars have elaborate cameras and look very sci-fi. Some have the brand of Jaguar however the two companies that run these vehicles are Cruise, which is owned by GM, and Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet. They are everywhere, mapping every nook and cranny, sometimes clogging up the streets, other times just being spooky.
The Mission Local has good reporting on this topic and one can always just enjoy a famous movie quote.
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors please, HAL. Open the pod bay doors please, HAL. Hello, HAL. Do you read me? Hello, HAL. Do you read me? Do you read me HAL? Do you read me HAL? Hello, HAL, do you read me? Hello, HAL, do your read me? Do you read me, HAL? HAL: Affirmative, Dave. I read you. Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL. HAL: I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that. Dave Bowman: What’s the problem? HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do. Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL? HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
From 2001: A Space Odyssey
Road Repairs, Parking Tickets, Do Not Parks Signs and Other Treacherous Endeavors
“If you park here they will come.” Very creative, playful and surely effective as all-caps usually gets the point across.
Many of the main roads in San Francisco are a disaster and are in need repair. A partial list of roads that need love.
Mission Street road in need of repair.
Mission Street by Holly Park. (we may lose small dogs in some of the potholes)
Mission Street south of Silver Ave.
Bosworth under the San Jose Ave and the 280 Freeway.
Bosworth under the San Jose Ave and the 280 freeway is treacherous for bicyclists. Use are your own risk. Bring an extra chin strap.
Even though San Francisco may score “adequate” in roads passements, these ranking are meaningless when for a decade you navigate roads that are terrible. It does seem that there is often less focus on roads that get a lot of traffic and are critical intersections. Feel free to contact the editorial board of the SF Journal if you need more examples of locations where roads are in need of repair. Remember to wear a helmet on these routes and perhaps bring an extra chin strap.
Bike Lanes on Valencia Street are in Full Effect
The new bike lanes on Valencia Street are now fully functioning. Bikes now ride in the middle. Cars no longer can take lefts turns at a lot of the intersections.
New bike lanes on Valencia Street
Let’s see how this works out and always remember, whether on two or four wheels, be kind. When driving, it is probably best to simply avoid Valencia Street. One day the city may realize, parts should be 100% for pedestrians and bikes.
Sporting News
For anything relating to football and the NFL, it is best to go to the SF Gate or SF Chronicle as that seems to be the only sport on their minds. It is August and we are suppose to get excited about American football?
In San Francisco there has been a lot of excitement about the Women’s FIFA World Cup. Colombia has a team of many talented players and their fans sang the national anthem with such passion, you wanted them to win just because of the fans. The United States played well but lost to Sweden in a knockout round. France is scoring a lot of goals. Sweden may be the team to beat.
COVID-19 Pandemic Update
Very few people wear masks. Sometimes people riding public transportation will be wearing a mask.
Parklets, Microclimates and Where the Sun Does Shine
Parklets holding firm. The Page on Page Street has live music in the afternoons, often outside.
The sun does shine and clothes can dry on the line in San Francisco, but you must keep your eyes on the weather, direction of the winds and have your fog meter on at all times.
Poor Lucca’s Ravioli! It closed down a few years back and now a police car, while chasing a car, ends up driving through the front door. Is this a scene out of a Buster Keaton movie, or maybe Smokey and the Bandit? Why are cops chasing cars at high speed on Valencia Street one of the most pedestrian oriented streets in the City?
For some reason when Father’s Day comes around I mostly think about my own father. John O. Lyons was my dad. He had six kids and lived a fascinating life full of youthful enthusiasm during his early years, adventure then the pragmatic realism of fathering during his middle years, and a comfortable retirement later in life while he took his pills and struggled with Parkinson’s Disease. One of his books, The Invention of the Self: The Hinge of Consciousness in the Eighteenth Century, Southern Illinois University Press (1978) is an amazing read. The first chapter “Into the Void” should be required reading for undergraduates going into the field of psychology or history. Today, it would no doubt confuse the youth often obsessed with the notion of the authentic self and identity.
In the mid 1960s, my father who was an English professor at the University of Wisconsin, for reasons unknown at the time, took a side job delivering the Wisconsin State Journal on Sundays. We never questioned why he did this side job. Was the price of milk too high? Were five kids just too much? I have two older brothers and on these Sundays we each took turns waking up before dawn to help dad with his rural paper route. We would take off in the dark in the family blue VW bus. My job in the backseat was to collate the stacks of newspapers, put a rubber band around each one and then hand them up to my dad to stuff into newspaper boxes. I was maybe five or six years old.
Years later I was told that on my first day as my dad’s helper, I was surprised to find out that all the newspapers were exactly the same. Obviously, I was way ahead of my time, predicting the demise of a single source of truth years before Facebook, social media and digital journalism monetized silos of falsity. We would deliver hundreds of identical Wisconsin State Journals. In the wintertime it would sometimes get a bit precarious on the icy roads as spinouts did happen and word of uncontrolled donuts on icy farm roads would reach the discussion at the dinner table. For sure, when we got home I would go back to bed and fall asleep in the warm soft sheets that I had left a few hours before.
John Lyons with his daughter Emma in 1966
When I was in high school, while scarfing down a bowl of cereal in the kitchen, my dad informed me out of the blue that he had a son with a previous wife. Anthony, was evidently my half-brother. Even though I had never been informed or this I looked at him and was neither surprised or shocked. When you are a self-absorbed sixteen-year-old, such news means nothing. Later on we learned that Anthony had died young in a car accident in his thirties – our half-brother from another life we never met.
A few years back, after both of my parents had passed, we all started putting the pieces together. The morning paper route in the blue VW bus was surely to help pay for child support for Anthony. The irony is that while I was with my dad on his morning paper route helping him pay for past deeds, it turned out I was the lucky one as I was the one able to spend those magical mornings with my dad. I still remember the smell of the seats in the VW bus, the noisy sound of the motor and can see his hand reaching back for the next paper.
As a celebration of liberation and freedom, on June 10th, 2023, there was a Juneteenth Parade down Market Street in San Francisco. The parade headed west. On bicycle, I headed down to the event going east down side streets then on Market taking in the many floats. There were a few drum-based bands, lots of beautiful and amazing cars, youth groups, a float dedicated to William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. (1810 – May 18, 1848) one of the earliest biracial-black U.S. citizens in California and one of the founders of the city that became San Francisco. (we learn something new everyday), the African American Shakespeare Company more really cool cars and holding down the rear about five Black folk riding horseback. It was a pretty amazing site to see.
I saw Mayor London Breed and the ubiquitous Scott Weiner as well as Supervisor Ahsha Safai. The parade was lightly attended. There was a contingent of unarmed police officers in the parade. Hopefully, this tradition will continue.
…the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn’t anger me.” Mark Twain – concerning the banning of “Eve’s Diary,” a comic short story by Mark Twain
There has been much news about the banning of books of late. A sort of totalitarian energy in our world has emerged in a way reminiscent of earlier times. The “thought police” is hard at work. With opinion becoming increasingly confused for truth and a reactionary strain has entered the body politic. There has been the banning of books on civil rights, African American history, gay rights and history and queer memoirs one of which is Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe perhaps the most banned book in recent years.
Curious what all the fuss is about, I checked out Gender Queer from the public library. The book is actually a comic book. It is memoir of a young person in rural Northern California discovering their gender identity and becoming transgender. It is poorly written, rather naïve and the illustrations leave a lot to be desired. You can read the entire book in a few hours. I highly recommend that people check this book out from the library and read it as this topic will continue to be in the news. It will certainly influence future elections. While you are at the library also check out some Calvin and Hobbes and perhaps Captain Underpants – far better literary works.
Indeed, I think the problem with the books bans, is the quality of the books they are banning. The banning of books seems only to shine the light on these trendy low quality books which few adults have actually read. The book banning types need to go after bigger fish and bring interest to higher quality work. There are so many to choose from. Without further adieu:
SF Journal Official Short List of Banned Books 2023
#1: Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
HarperCollins
The notion that in the future we will become these sex-crazed perverts is simply unacceptable. The explicit drug use is out of control as well. Do not read this book! It will ruin your brain. #2: Slaughterhouse Five – A Children’s Crusade
Kurt Vonnegut
Random House
One of those books that has been banned, and should be banned because there is perhaps a little sex and nudity, but probably because Vonnegut, a pacifist, takes the whole notion of war to task. In our war-mongering world, peace is simply unacceptable. #3: Free People of Color of New Orleans : An Introduction
Mary Gehman
Margaret Media, Incorporated
This “woke” book goes way too far. Why in the world would we even mention New Orleans in the context of geography, Black history or American culture. That the book points out that African Americans were actually free in New Orleans throughout the history of the United States is just plain preposterous.
CONCLUSION
Of course there are many more books that need to be suppressed. To all the censors out there: please work harder at identifying higher quality books to ban.
San Francisco Carnaval takes place every year during Memorial Day weekend It is one of those “under the radar” events that seems to be attended by the locals in the know. Saturday along Harrison Street featured many musical performances on different stages, food vendors and various activities. I particularly enjoyed the lineup on Saturday at the 22nd Street and Harrison Stage with some very talented and prepared local Bay Area musicians. The stage closed the day with Los Van Van from Cuba.
1:00PM BULULU
2:00PM SABOR DE MI CUBA
3:00PM AKHEEL MESTAYER QUINTET
4:00PM LOS VAN VAN
Tragically, Juan Formell, the leader and bass player of Los Van Van had died on stage in New York the night before so it was surely a profound event. Unfortunately I was unable to hear the Los Van Van set as I had a previously booked gig. Reports came in all positive.
All the stages tended to run late as the day when on. I heard that Los Van Van did not go on until around 6 pm.
Sunday is the Carnaval parade. Many different cultures and peoples throughout Latin America participate. It is an interesting juxtaposition to see all the many colorful dance troops and bands on floats perform while in the background is the gritty Mission Street. Many of the Aztec dancers did the whole parade barefoot. Now that is dedication!
The selling and buying of textbooks is a big business and in Florida they are actively controlling textbooks often concerning the instruction of issues of race and social protest. Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis have been much in the news for various censorship bills. Some of the language in the Florida bill CS/HB 7— Individual Freedom is rather strange. It attempts to make it so kids are not made to feel guilty through association. I am not sure whether there are specific incidents of teachers traumatizing kids with guilt through association but maybe that is a Florida thing.
Required Instruction
A person, by virtue of his or her race or sex, does not bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.
A person should not be instructed that he or she must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress for actions, in which he or she played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.
From the Florida Bill CS/HB 7
In Florida, history is evidently not about truth or even the pursuit of truth, but of making sure that certain people feel comfortable.
We’re #1 and Never Question American Exceptionalism
At the core of this sort of legislation is the notion of American exceptionalism. History has always been written and controlled by those in power and the “victors. ” The bills in Florida are just one more explicit example of this phenomenon.
The history of the United States that was taught to me in the 1970s left out a lot of important stuff that I learned about only much later in life. (Juneteenth and the Tulsa massacre are just a few examples). Often, the teaching of U.S. history tended to focus on the the 18th century and the founding of the nation. George Washington and his cherry tree. Benjamin Franklin and his kite and pragmatic habits and little of the fact that he was a vegetarian. The beef industry maybe cut that part out.. The notion that the pilgrims and the Indians had Thanksgiving together and ate turkeys and pumpkin pie. The exceptionalism of democracy itself. The Declaration of Independence and a little of the Bill of Rights until even that started to become uncomfortable.
By the time you finished high school you maybe learned a few details about the World War II but that was mostly to the hum of a film projector playing newsreels of the time – the “Battle of the Bulge” or maybe D-Day. Your history teacher, an audio visual enthusiast, was glad to have the hour of World War II propaganda films so he could grade papers in the dark. The United States saved the world from fascism but what was fascism but some guy with a strange mustache in a large wool coat screaming into a mic and solders saluting with straight arms. Ten minutes on the holocaust. We did not read anything about the Korean or Vietnam wars. Cuba was pure evil. The working of the CIA and the assignations of leaders of various democratically elected leaders around the world was never on the syllabus. Current events were discussed occasionally but always in the context of American exceptionalism. Martin Luther King was but a dream. Books that were banned were more often fiction – Huck Finn, Brave New World, Vonnegut and Henry Miller if they somehow made it to the library stacks. Insulting language and often far to sexy. As is always is the case, censorship had the opposite effect of garnering interest for the forbidden texts.
What I find odd about the whole Florida case and the culling of history textbooks is why would Florida even buy new history textbooks? Are the old history books worn out? If they want to live in the fantasy of the US history as taught in 1965 where America can do no wrong, just use one from a bygone time. Every student knows that the real history is often between the lines. I was often bored to a stupor by the typical history book with the end-of-chapter questions and the summaries meant to fill my brain with often trivial facts. It would be far better to simple use the old history books and teach them in context. See how the American exceptionalism that was promoted is often far more complex than first meets the eye. Fill in the missing pieces with real books that go into detail about all the things that really happened. Read original works from authors of the time.
What is obviously lacking in all of this discussion is the fact what is often not taught is critical thinking and skepticism, two skills that are essential in life. History can perhaps make people feel uncomfortable with the truths of the past but kids, please do not take it personally as it is events beyond your control.
Parking Violations and Fines – SF Transportation Code Penalty Schedule
Effective 7/1/2021
Citations
Div I 7.2.10 Pedestrian Crossings
$77
Div I 7.2.11 Electric Assistive Personal Mobility Devices
$100
Div I 7.2.12 Bicycle Riding Restricted
$100
Div I 7.2.13 NUV Violation
$100
On-Street Parking
Div I 7.2.20 Residential Parking
$97
Div I 7.2.22 Street Cleaning
$85
The Tyranny of Parking Tickets
There is perhaps nothing that can ruin your day in San Francisco more than returning to your car and finding a parking ticket under your windshield wiper.
Every San Franciscan with a car has experienced the wrath of the metermaid – seemingly peaceful and calm people in their blue uniforms driving around in their golf carts issuing pain and misery around town. The reason they wear helmets is surely for self protection. It is a hard job indeed and the fines make it so if there is one thing that San Franciscans take seriously it is avoiding parking tickets. Once you get a rash of these you begin to wonder if you should simply stay in bed all day just so you do not lose money.
The one that is often the most peculiar is the $85 you must cough up for the Div I 7.2.22 Street Cleaning infraction. While you look out your window with your car ticketed and observe the street cleaning truck go by mostly just blowing trash every which way it makes you take a deep breath and hopefully chuckle. I have street cleaning schedule on my calendar with alerts thirty minutes prior to the event.
When you get one of these you soon start think of all the various ways you could have spent the $85. Perhaps a dinner for two at a fine restaurant. Three large pizzas at North Beach Pizza. Six Super Carnitas Burritos at Guadalajara, Tickets for two at SF Jazz, the list is endless.
Whoever said San Francisco is soft on crime never parked their car and forgot to plug the meter!
On-Street Parking (continued)
Div I 7.2.23(a) Parking Meter- Downtown Core
$96
Div I 7.2.23(b) Parking Meter-Outside Downtown Core
$87
Div I 7.2.25 Red Zone
$110
Div I 7.2.26 Yellow Zone
$110
Div I 7.2.27 White Zone
$110
Div I 7.2.28 Green Zone
$90
Div I 7.2.29 Parking for Three Days
$75
Div I 7.2.30(a) Overtime Parking Downtown Core
$96
Div I 7.2.30(b) Overtime Parking Outside Downtown Core
$87
Div I 7.2.30(c) Overtime Meter Parking Downtown Core
$96
Div I 7.2.30(d) Overtime Meter Parking Outside Downtown Core
$87
Div I 7.2.32 Angled Parking
$72
Div I 7.2.33 Blocking Residential Door
$60
Div I 7.2.34 Median Dividers and Islands
$97
Div I 7.2.35 Parking on Grades
$60
Div I 7.2.36 100 Feet Oversize
$110
Div I 7.2.37 Motorcycle Parking
$110
Div I 7.2.38 Parking in Stand
$110
Div I 7.2.39 Parking Transit-Only
$110
Div I 7.2.40 Tow-Away Zone- Downtown Core
$110
Div I 7.2.41 Tow-Away Zone- Outside Downtown Core
$110
Div I 7.2.42 Parking Restrictions
$110
Div I 7.2.43 Parking-Public Property
$79
Div I 7.2.44 Misuse Disabled Parking Placard/License
$866
Div I 7.2.45 Temporary Parking Restriction
$85
Div I 7.2.46 Temporary Construction Zone
$85
Div I 7.2.47 Remove Chalk
$110
Div I 7.2.48 Repairing Vehicle
$104
Div I 7.2.49 Permit on Wrong Car
$110
Div I 7.2.50 Invalid Permit
$110
Div I 7.2.51 Parking Marked Space
$67
Div I 7.2.52 On-Street Car Share Parking
$110
Div I 7.2.54 Large Vehicle
$110
Off-Street Parking
Div I 7.2.60 Parking Facility
$72
Div I 7.2.61 Entrance/Exit Parking Facility
$100
Div I 7.2.62 Blocking Space Parking Facility
$77
Div I 7.2.63 Speeding within Parking Facility
$100
Div I 7.2.64 Block Charging Bay
$110
Div I 7.2.65 Overtime Parking_Off Street Parking Meter
$79
Div I 7.2.66 Misuse Disabled Parking Placard/License Plate
William Finnegan’s – Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a memoir. It is mostly a true story of a life where the common thread is surfing. Finnegan grew up in Southern California and Hawaii and at one point when he was just a grom the waves were not far from his family’s humble house near Diamond Head, Hawaii. He took to surfing at a very early age and though he does not admit it, became a big wave surfer, riding huge waves on the North Shore of Oahu, Ocean Beach in San Francisco, discovering a wave in Fiji and later in life, Portugal. When he was a young teenager he began to experience the power of the ocean.
not show up in court tomorrow.” “McConnel says he if feeling just fine.” “George Santos says he may parley his fame and become a gameshow host.” And even Ross Douthat goes so far as staging a hypothetical situation where Hillary Clinton (not Donald Trump) stages a coup.
