Does anyone think this really has anything to do with Eric Mar’s comments about an earthquake in China? Come on — this is part of the concerted downtown campaign to keep Mar from winning.
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Politics Blog
Tell Obama and McCain to go to Poland
by Amanda Witherell
image courtesy of 350.org
Send the prospective presidents a letter that says “get thee to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Poznan, Poland this December and talk to the rest of the world leaders, with or without preconditions, about rapidly reversing global carbon emissions.”
Or if you’re not feeling your inner environment-in-crisis muse, just click here and 350 will send it for you. It’s easy. I did it and was 9,000th person to do so.
350, an organization founded this past year by environmental writer Bill McKibben, has a mission to incite more public awareness and action on climate change. The name comes from 350 parts per million — what most climate scientists and watchdogs consider the safety mark for atmospheric CO2 concentration. Globally, we were at around 384 ppm in 2007, and despite all the talk and attention, there are no indications it will be any lower this year. Jamie Henn, co-coordinator of the campaign, said the number is an important one to burn into peoples’ minds. “We’re in the climate danger zone right now,” he told me. “For the first time we have a number, we have a target we can shoot for.”
And it’s a number off which to launch some long overdue international policy and action. The campaign began on Oct. 7 and organizers are hoping to get 35,000 people to sign letters, which will be delivered en masse to both Obama and McCain in an effort to get a solid commitment from both that whoever wins will participate in the international talks.
Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Yvo de Boer, has specifically asked that the president or vice president attend the next round of talks, according to 350.org and, as Henn told me, they’re targeting Obama and McCain, “because the US has been so bad, we have been so off the mark on this for so many years it would take the president attending” to repair our international reputation on limiting carbon emissions.
The Poland meeting is considered the precursor to a 2009 Copenhagen event that will hopefully result in an international treaty and agreement, a la Kyoto Protocol, to reduce global carbon emissions.
The US remains the only industrialized country that didn’t sign on to the Kyoto Protocol, the last attempt to curb global warming, and we’re the second-highest CO2 emitter, outpaced only by China.
Big victory for Tom Ammiano
It’s taken 11 years, but Sup. Ammiano has finally convinced the Golden Gate Bridge Board to accept a suicide net on the bridge.
Eleven years fighting that bridge board must have felt like torture. But he hung in, and this will save lives.
Yes We Can Rap
With the race-baiting haters trying to stir things up, here’s a MC Yogi video that will lift your spirits:
Is this ad sexist?
Eric Jaye, the flak for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, must be really worried about defeating Proposition H, the Clean Energy Act. He’s gone so far as to try to convince the Sierra Club to somehow formally denounce a funny ad put out by the Yes on H campaign.
Jaye’s complaint? The ad is “sexist.”
Here’s the ad again, in case you haven’t seen it:
In an email to John Rizzo, the Sierra Club’s political chair, Jaye wrote:
>>As a sponsor of Proposition H, do you also approve of this most recent
>>video?
>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZuwXSbb6WA
>>
>>Will you send out a release denouncing it? (You were pretty quick to
>>send out a press release attacking the Mayor on Monday. I hope you
>>will be as quick to denounce such offensive and sexist behavior).
If this wasn’t a serious campaign, I’d find the whole thing just nutty. Is there anything wrong or politically incorrect about making fun of a pair of corporate weenies who act sexist?
Alix Rosenthal, immediate past president of the local National Women’s Political Caucus and founder of the SF Women’s Policy Summit, doesn’t think so.
“If anyone has credibility on women’s issues, it’s me,” she told me. “And I don’t think it’s sexist.”
In fact, she said, “I could argue that it’s a feminist video — the two PG&E executives are mocked for being sexist.”
She said that the leaders of several local women’s organizations have been talking about this and “we certainly aren’t going to be putting out any kind of statement denouncing it.”
I called Jaye today and he had a hard time expaining why the ad was sexist. He did say he found it juvenile (whoa — that’s a crime in San Francisco politics) and said: “I find it demeaning for an august organization such as the Sierra Club to fund and support this kind of ad.”
The Sierra Club had nothing to do with the ad, by the way.
So lighten the fuck up, Eric. All this is doing is drawing more attention to a funny ad that makes the point that the PG&E executives are assholes and can’t be trusted.
Which is a great reason to vote Yes on H.
Yes we can rock out
In the home stretch of a long presidential campaign, with the economy failing and politicians failing to really speak truth to power, it’s easy to feel fatigue. So if you’re looking for a bit of pro-Obama inspiration, download this awesome, free Obama mix from DJ Z-Trip and play it everywhere you go, loud. You’ll feel better, regain your perspective, and get fired up for the real struggle that begins with our vote on Nov. 4.
And if that doesn’t work, go back and watch this one again:
Who’s flying that Blue Angel …
…. that just buzzed my office window? I’m glad it’s not John “crash” McCain.
Electoral collide-o-scope: smooches and fury
Two snapshots of the right and left — such as! — at this increasingly hysterical election moment that I think say it all:
This month’s cover of The Progressive:
And an AP “shot” from one of Palin’s Florida rallies yesterday. (The one where someone yelled “kill him!” or the one where they screamed at an African American sound man to “sit down, boy!”? And weren’t these kids just at LoveFest last Saturday?)
Of course, it seems right now we’re winning — so say these wonderful things loud and proud, lest you lose your chance soon. And yet, we’re losing ground on Prop 8 — help out already! It’s an upside-down autumn, and I feel like wearing shoes on my feet and hamburgers eating people.
Shout outs: Fierce bloggers and others to help stay sane during all this kerfuffle: Megan at Jezebel (this should be taught at blogging school), Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic, of course the fab Kos who is freaking killing it this election with the wonky deets, and, as ever, Cathy Horyn‘s coverage of the global fashion weeks — because I’m far too busy frantically, panickedly checking the politisphere to measure this season’s hemlines. Plus, that third grade class in Alaska. Stay golden, kids!
The return of Mayor Chicken
Guardian illustration by Joshua Ellingson
By Steven T. Jones
For a politician who aspires to higher office, Mayor Gavin Newsom is surprisingly afraid of public debates. The latest example is his refusal to debate the merits of Prop. H, the Clean Energy Act, and the unusual step that Eric Jaye – the political consultant that Newsom shares with Pacific Gas & Electric – took in convincing the Commonwealth Club to rescind its offer to host the debate.
We’ve seen this before. When voters asked Newsom to engage in monthly public discussions with the Board of Supervisors, he flatly refused to comply, even as his petulant approach to governance began to take a serious toll on the city. And now, he’s content to let PG&E’s deceptive, multi-million-dollar propaganda blitz substitute for a public discussion on an issue vital to the future of the city and the planet.
Meanwhile, like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, Newsom has adopted hypocritical environmental piety and false claims of green progress as the central planks of his political platform. And when we try to ask him, Jaye, or his press secretary Nate Ballard about why Newsom won’t debate, when he changed his position on public power, or about the many contradictions in his public pronouncements, all we get are lies and obfuscation.
Endorsements: How did we do?
Our endorsements are out today. Knowing our readers, I suspect not everyone agrees with everything we said. Comments?
PG&E: F**K ’em all
A very funny Yes on H video:
Same-sex marriage good for the economy
The opponents of same-sex marraige have raised $25 million. That’s amazing: $25 million to stop people from getting married.
But apparently, it’s working. The Newsom ad has been effective, and now No on 8 folks are issuing a wake-up call to their supporters.
In the meantime, I really like the Sonoma State University study that shows how same-sex marriage is good for the economy. Sonoma County alone could see $112 million in benefits.
More jobs, more money into the economy in a depression … and these nut cases are spending $25 million to stop it?
High speed rail debated
By Anna Rendall
Lots of people opposed the creation of BART, but what would the Bay Area be if taxpayers groups and libertarians successfully derailed the campaign that created it in the 1960s?
That’s the same argument proponents give to Proposition 1A, which would build a high-speed train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, allowing riders to get from one end to the other for $55 in two and a half hours, after a nine-year construction period and the sale of nearly $10 billion in state bonds.
For the last 12 years this plan has had its caboose dragged all over the legislative map, and now that it’s on the ballot, it’s time to decide if California adopts a green transportation source that’s proven popular in Europe and Asia or whether its derailed by fears that it will strain taxpayers in the midst of a financial meltdown.
Follow the JROTC Money
You might think that the main money behind the campaign to keep JROTC in the San Francisco United School District is flowing directly from the military.
You’d be wrong.
Think Gap, PG& E and the San Francisco Association of Realtors, instead.
They are among the top contributors to a political committee that is supporting Proposition V, which is the measure on the November election that seeks to keep JROTC in the SFUSD beyond June 2009.
Here are the top five contributors to Choice for Students, the pro Prop. V committee in the November election cycle:
1.SF Chamber of Commerce 21st Century Committee: $20,500.
2. Donald Fisher, Gap, Chairman Emeritus: $20,000.
3. Plan C, San Francisco PAC: $10,000.
4. PG&E Corporation: $7,500.
5. SF Association of Realtors: $7,499.
To put those figures in a deeper political and financia; context, check out the next top six largest contributors:
6. SF Police Officers Association: $5,000
7. Keith Phillips, Founder, Project Homecoming: $500
8. Gerald Paratore, Teacher, SF United School District: $300.
9. SF Chapter, Military Officers Association of America: $250.
10. Gwen Chan, Retired: $200.
11.. Elko Council Navy League: $113.
Choice for Students committee treasurer Quincy Yu gave her explanation of why these organizations are backing Prop. V.
“This is not about the military,” Yu said. “It’s about the 1,600 students who used to be served by the JROTC program, 90 percent of whom are minority students. It’s about preserving programs that work for our kids. If our school systems are not robust, they don’t attract middle class, who are then not going to stay in the City.”
With a son attending a SFUSD high school, Yu makes an articulate spokesperson for the Prop. V campaign, even if her own son decided not to enroll in JROTC, choosing football, instead.
Yu points to what she calls the hypocrisy of SFUSD buying food from the Department of Defense, while trying to drum JROTC out of town.
Which brings us back to questions of who really pays for JROTC to be in our schools. As it happens, the US Department of Defense pays 50 percent of the JROTC’s teachers’ salaries and 100 percent of JROTC’s supplies. So, even if it’s not making campaign contributions, the military does majorly underwrite the SFUSD’s JROTC program, all year round.
The real “blank check” — PG&E spends millions
By Steven T. Jones
Pacific Gas & Electric has already reported spending $5.23 million to defeat Prop. H, the Clean Energy Act, pretty much solely funding the ironically named Committee to Stop the Blank Check. And that’s just through the end of September, according to the latest campaign finance filing. With more than a month of blank check spending to go, PG&E is on pace to spend about $10 million to try to kill a measure that would establish renewable energy goals and call for study of whether public power might be the best way to reach those goals. That would make it the most expensive campaign in San Francisco history.
The major beneficiaries of PG&E’s blank check have been Storefront Political Media, the firm run by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s chief political consultant, Eric Jaye, and politicians such as supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu, who have appeared on the No on H mailers that have been clogging mailboxes for more than a month. But conservative political consultants Jim Ross and Tom Hsieh have also shared in this unprecedented payday, along with a variety of individuals and community groups. Yup, the checkbook is open for anyone willing to accept dirty money and a dirty environment.
Look what the free market does for housing
San Francisco has approved or built thousands of new high-end condos, and if the free-market theory is right, as supply is increased, rents should start coming down.
But look! They aren’t.
San Francisco is an utterly irrational housing market. You can build luxury condos til the cows come home and it won’t bring down rents.
Obamarama
The Barack Obama campaign will host a presidential debate watching party this evening at Temple Prana, 540 Howard near First Street, so come on down to bask in the lefty love as Obama fends off the increasingly desperate (and downright duplicitous) attacks by John McCain. Even Mayor Gavin Newsom will be there. The event starts at 5:30 and the action kicks off at 6.
Do we really need the Blue Angels?
Whoops, too close, everyone’s dead
By Tim Redmond
The Chron did its usual puff piece on Fleet Week today:
Windows will rattle, dogs will howl and a lot of people will complain about the ruckus. But those cries are traditionally drowned out by cheers from enthralled fans, and also drowned out by the jet engines.
I hate to be a killjoy, but there’s more to this story.
I’ll admit — I love cool technology, and the F/A 18 is a boss jet. I always appreciate amazing human skill, and the people who fly in the Blue Angels are phenomenal pilots. In the abstract, it’s a fun show to watch.
But this is a big city, and it’s a city with a big antiwar movement, and this expensive show of military might is really pretty ridiculous.
I got an interesting letter from journalist Rick Knee this morning in response to the KTVU news coverage. He makes some good points.
Nevius: check your facts
by Amanda Witherell
Last week SF Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius waded back into one of his pet issues, homelessness, in a piece on the SF Streets and Neighborhoods workgroup. Convened by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the group is tasked with coming up with a few ideas to improve the street safety for a couple pilot projects centered around downtown. The group is stacked with local law enforcement officials, Newsom staffers, reps from the Chamber of Commerce and tourist groups, and a couple token homeless rights advocates, and the subtext of their mission seems to be implementing new quality of life laws, like a sit-lie ordinance, and double-strength enforcement zones that will further criminalize the already unfortunate condition of being homeless.
I reported on their last meeting here, a markedly different assessment than what Nevius penned.
Oh, where to start? How about the obvious: Nevius reported the wrong date of the next meeting. It’s actually going to be tomorrow, October 7 – though you wouldn’t necessarily know that since the group hasn’t posted its agenda. (Sunshine violation, anyone?) Anyway, Dariush Kayhan, the mayor’s homeless policy director, confirmed to me that the meeting is on Oct. 7, at 11 a.m., at St. Anthony Foundation’s offices at 150 Golden Gate.
Moving on: Nevius spins the group to make it sound like their work will be the first sip of a panacea long overdue – cooperation.
$850 billion reasons to vote for Sheehan
My brother called me this morning a bit upset. He runs a small construction firm in upstate New York and he’s bummed about the bailout bill.
“I think I’m the only company in the United States that isn’t getting something out of this,” he said. “I should be making wooden arrows or importing rum.”
And, indeed, as MSNBC reports, there are lotsa goodies in the bill:
Tucked into pages 262 and 263 of the bill, for example, are provisions that will aid the manufacturers of “certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.” The bill will exempt the arrows from an excise tax of 39 cents. There are also tax breaks for race-track owners, for rum imported from Puerto Rico, for worsted wool makers, Hollywood film and television production companies and on and on.
Cindy Sheehan is having fun with this; she and her pals took to the Hyatt hotel across from the federal reserve with a message:
Will Newsom debate Clean Energy?
The Sierra Club has challenged Mayor Gavin Newsom to debate the merits of Prop. H, the Clean Energy Act that Newsom and Pacific Gas & Electric are opposing. If Newsom accepts, the Commonwealth Club has agreed to host the debate at high noon on Oct. 23. No word yet on who would argue for the measure, but it would most likely be its author, Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, who is mulling a bid for Newsom’s job in a couple years.
The Mayor’s Office is treating the request like any other, with press secretary Nathan Ballard telling me, “We received this invitation this morning, and we’ll consider it along with every other invitation the Mayor has received.” It’ll be interesting to see whether Newsom, who is exploring a run for governor, rises to the challenge. His track record of helping local measures and candidates he supports is fairly dismal, and the case that PG&E (and Eric Jaye, the consultant Newsom shares with the corporate utility) has been making with regular mailers has been based mostly on alarmist lies and distortions.
Hopefully, an open and honest debate would help set the record straight, assuming Newsom has any interest in that sort of thing.
The other October 2
By Stephen Torres
For most, this year’s Oct. 2 will be remembered as the day of the highly-anticipated debate between Veep candidates (if it’s remembered at all). But for our neighbors to the south, it marked the 40th anniversary of one the bloodiest, and what many view as one of the most pivotal, days in Mexico’s history.
It was 1968, the year Mexico City was to play host to the XIX Summer Olympiad. Not unlike the games that just closed in Beijing, the choice had become a contentious one for the International Olympic Committee; as the games neared, it became increasingly evident that the country was under a constant state of unrest and protest. Stories began to circulate of disappearances and rampant political corruption as President Diaz Ordaz frantically tried to silence the dissidence (especially by the student population) against one party-rule, corruption, and the games themselves.
CBC columnist censored over Palin
CBC removed Canadian journalist Heather Mallick September 5 column about Palin after Fox complained
News that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation removed a Palin-critical column from its website after FOX News complained, got me seeking out the column in question to see what the fuss was about, ‘natch.
Just in case that link gets blocked, here’s how Mallick began her censored column:
“I assume John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential partner in a fit of pique because the Republican money men refused to let him have the stuffed male shirt he really wanted. She added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn’t already have sewn up, the white trash vote, the demographic that sullies America’s name inside adn outside its borders yet has such curious appeal for the right.”
So, was it “white trash” that got FOX going? Or her following suggestions that GOP has irreparably messed up its chances of securing the Pissed-Off-Hillary-supporters’ vote?
“So why do it? It’s possible that Republican men, sexual inadequates that they are, really believe that women will vote for a woman just because she’s a woman. They’re unfamiliar with our true natures. Do they think vaginas call out to each other in the jungle night? I mean, I know men have their secret meetings at which they pledge to do manly things, like being irresponsible with their semen and postponing household repairs with glue and used matches. Guys will be guys, obviously.”
Was that got FOX News going? Or the following?
“Palin has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade’s woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression.”
According to today’s New York Times, “CBC ruled that its opinion writers had to stick to the facts even when they were joking around.”
(Now, if only Palin had to stick to the facts, and not duck the questions, during her one and only VP debate.)
Those North Virginia commies
Gee, this campaign is getting weird. John McCain’s brother suggested this weekend that Northern Virginia is “communist country.”
But, ooh, they love Omama there.