After reading Peter Hartlaub's report on the winners of the Firehouse Decorating Contest this morning, I went a few blocks out of my way to see it!    It's at 1935 32nd Avenue.  Happy Holidays! 
 

 

I love San Francisco and Muni and am thrilled to have my new ugly Christmas sweater emblazened with the Muni worm, cable cars, Coit Tower, the Pyramid Building, and the parrots declared the City's official animal by Total SF devotees and written about recently by Peter Hartlaub:  https://www.sfchronicle.com/totalsf/article/wild-parrots-transamerica-pyramid-19962695.php

 

I think it's shameful that, aside from Supervisor Dean Preston's assistant Jennifer Bolen, no official showed up for the December 10th reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not even members of the Board of Supervisors, who made a resolution ten years ago in support of establishing December 10 each year as “Human Rights Day” in SF to remind everyone about the UDHR.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/resolutions14/r0480-14.pdf

This year, this document is particularly important:

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Christiane and I walked around Union Square before Happy Hour at the SF Playhouse, and then we went back later to see it all lit up.

I was happy to get this picture on Post and Powell of the Cable Car coming through.  Jack Ohman had a political cartoon showing the Cable Car being taken away, one of the proposals made to cover the huge public transit deficit.  (I think this is a scare tactic, but the fear is grounded in losing our wonderful transit system.)

 

 

Today's San Francisco Chronicle was particularly interesting because it's the first Sunday edition since the election results were determined!

Here are some of the article that interested me:  

"(Lurie) Victory a 'shock' to political system" and "Lurie says he may forego mayoral salary"

"Dems ponder how to move past big defeats"

"A divided nation that denies reality" by Marya Hornbacher

"Analysts see boom for tech sector under Trump"

"Trump may threaten California's ban on gas cars" and  "Sweeping impact on health care"

"Rich men spent--and won big in elections" (Joe Garofoli) and "Turns out billionaires can't  buy SF" (Nuala Bishari)

"Success best answer to Trumpism" (editorial)  

Letters to the Editor

I've listened to podcasts and read numerous explanations for why Trump won this election.  Even though I appreciated all coverage in the SF Chronicle, I think Michael Tomasky of the New Republic had the best analysis.  

Early afternoon today (October 7) Maxine, a Jew and an anti-Zionist, texted me about Manny's having been vandalized.  We both love that place.  I looked for info and found only some comments made on X (formerly Twitter, as we say).  I responded and shared the picture above.  

But an hour or so ago, I found something online from the SF Standard.  I wrote to the reporter, George Kelly/  (I see that it doesn't work for me to just copy and paste!)

Dear George Kelly,

Thank you for your article on the vandalization at Manny's yesterday.  I was there from 4 to 6 and saw no sign of the vandalization.  No one mentioned it, either!  We just sat and wrote letters to get out the vote in Las Vegas, as on so many other Sunday and Monday nights.

Leaving sometime after 6:00 pm, I took this picture: 

Thanks again for the report.

Tina Martin, a fan of Manny's and an anti-Zionist

 

This anti-Prop L is really disgusting!  I'd like to believe that even the filthy rich care about our city, not just their exploitation of it.  But Uber and Lyft are putting thousands of dollars into defeating public transportation!  It preposterous to say that this tax (which the corporate heads will add to the cost of a ride so they don't lose any profit--maybe 45cents to a $25 ride) will hurt seniors and people with disabilities.  We in SDA-Senior and Disability Action--have made calls in support of Prop L.  We're for public transportation and this measure to fund it.  

The anti-Prop L people are car-centric and against public transportation, and I see that groups like Altogether SF Action are behind this disgusting anti-Prop L propaganda.  

 

 

I'm a big fan of Kevin Fisher-Paulson, so I was happy that the SF Chronicle printed my letter today, but I don't know why they changed the headline I quoted!  His last  column (for a while, I hope.  Not forever) had the headline "A break from writing about life to focus on living," which is more poignant than "taking care of myself."  He hopes to survive!  He is not going gentle into that good night! I hope he's rewarded as all of us are when we read his column. 

 

 New terminal seeks to create seamless experience—a full security checkpoint that greets transit users when they exit the terminal’s AirTrain link from BART

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-francisco-chronicle-late-edition-sunday/20240623/281500756431878

 Here's what Fred Sanchez is sharing with us and the AFT 2121 Retiree Chapter is passing on:

I know this isn't ready for posting, but I'll be back!

• From: Protect Our Benefits Team <information@protectourbenefits.org>
  Date: June 22, 2024 at 9:48:26 AM PDT
  To: f1257@aol.com
  Subject: ALL HANDS ON DECK to Stop SF Budget Committee from Downgrading Retirees Healthcare Plan at City Hall Mtg 6.24.24 at 10 am
  Reply-To: information@protectourbenefits.org
  
  

  

  Message from Protect Your Benefits Attention City Retirees and Supporters: No More Broken Promises. Don’t Let Mayor Breed and Supervisors Take Away Your Retiree Healthcare Here we go again!  City Hall will stop at nothing to balance the budget on the backs of retirees by downgrading our hard-earned United Healthcare Plan and replace it with the inferior Blue Shield of CA.   We must stand our ground and SAY NO! Many of us have given our lives and health to this city. We need a show of force to let our elected officials know they must be responsive to us.   Make your voice heard on Monday June 24, at 10 am at the SF Budget & Appropriations Committee  in San Francisco City Hall, Room 250 where they will vote to discontinue United Healthcare.   Public comment is limited to one minute. Be prepared to speak about your experiences and why this change is devastating to you and your family.   Can’t make it? Click on links below to email your comments in.   Click on links for agenda & additional information: June 24, 2024 Budget & Appropriations Meeting Agenda Email your comments to the committee: Brent.Jalipa@sfgov.org For more information on the changes under consideration, click here: https://sfhss.org/   Thank you. POB: We Are The Watchdogs For San Francisco's 36,000 Public Sector Retirees We appreciate your continuing contributions to our non-profit to help offset our operating costs. Your donations are tax-deductible.   Please mail them to Protect Our Benefits Trust P.O. 210250 San Francisco, Ca. 94121-0250 or CLICK HERE to donate today! FORWARD TO A FRIEND  |  To help further POB's mission and keep our community up-to-date, please forward this email to your contacts and encourage them to sign up. Thank you for support for Protect Our Benefits!

 

Isn't it good that we Muni passengers have the chance to commend Muni operators who help us in a special way?  Today I made it the 1/2 mile to West Portal, something that was easy before I had a torn meniscus, and then I took the streetcar to Church and the #22 to Mission Bay for an appointment with Kaiser.  But going back I wasn't sure where to wait for the bus, so I approached the driver of the #22 bus, who opened the door and confirmed that his was the bus I needed, but the bus stop was across the street.  "Since the door's already open, you can get on," he said--saving me more walking and the certainty that I'd miss his bus if I cross the street walking.  

This was driver 6977 on bus 5732.  So I called 3-1-1 to let them know how he had helped me, and someone took the report, which he said would be read at a Muni meeting.

Dear tina_martin: Thank you for providing your feedback. This email serves as an acknowledgement and confirmation that the request you submitted is being tracked in our system as Muni Customer Service Case 1044196. Your feedback has been documented and will be forwarded to the appropriate party for review and follow up as applicable. Please note that due to staffing shortages, follow up response may be delayed. We appreciate your patience and understanding.  You can track your case here: Muni Feedback Case Status If you have any additional questions, please reply directly to this email or you may contact the 311 Customer Service Center at 311 or 415.701.2311.  We value your feedback and thank you for riding Muni. Sincerely, Muni Customer Service Team

 After making brief public comment on the elevator at Hallidie Plaza at the meeting of the Capital Planning Committee this past Monday, I took the #5 Fulton and the #28 Daly City bus to SFSU, where President Lynn Mahoney had agreed to "bargain" with student representatives from the 60-tent Pro-Palestinian encampment there on campus. 

It was as if she'd read and respected what David French wrote in an opinion piece April 28th in the NYTimes:

In my experience as a litigator, campus chaos is frequently the result of a specific campus culture. Administrators and faculty members will often abandon any pretense of institutional neutrality and either cooperate with their most intense activist students or impose double standards that grant favored constituencies extraordinary privileges. For many administrators, the very idea of neutrality is repugnant. It represents a form of complicity in injustice that they simply can’t and won’t stomach. So they nurture and support one side. They scorn the opposition, adopting a de facto posture that says, “To my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law.”

Here's what Nanette Asimov wrote up--exactly what I experienced.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/sf-state-gaza-protests-meeting-19441856.php

It wasn't empty rhetoric.  She soke of revising their investment policy so that they can add to their "socially responsible" investing (to avoid investments in regions engaged in war), creating a website making endowments much more transparent, and creating a proposal to present to trustees.  

 

Two days after the horrific crash at the West Portal Muni Stop--I guess the L Taraval going West to the Zoo--there was a vigil at that spot, and I really don't think there was a dry eye.  There were also sobs. Under each letter of SF GRIEVES, there was a photo of the man, woman, and child who were killed when a 78-year-old woman (my age) crashed through a Muni stop. The father was a 40-year-old Brazilian, Diego Cardoso d Oliveira, and the mother was Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto.  Their toddler son was Joaquin.  Ramos Pinto de Oliveira.  At that time, we didn't  know that the fourth victim, the baby  Cauê was in intensive care.  He died later too.  The caregiver for the children, sobbing, placed a vase of white flowers on the memorial.

 

I hate to drive--I much prefer to take public transportation and walk.  But I couldn't very well ask my guests to take public transportation to the Portola District, especially when one of them has a physical problem that makes it difficult for her even to walk to a bus stop.  So on March 16th,  I was driving like the stereotype of the "little old lady," which I'm now qualified to be.  I drove to Maxine's in Noe Valley, and Maxine drove us from there to  Imperial Gardens and then back to her house, where I took my turn again.  Just as I was approaching the roundabout on Dewey near Clarendon, a police alert flashed on my iPhone,  saying to avoid the area from Claremont to Wawona.  I saw that someone had tweeted that a driver hit and killed two people.  I drove slower still.

 

Kevin Fisher-Paulson's columns are always engaging because of his wit, warmth, and wisdom.  Today's resonated with me in a special way, so even though I'd just started cleaning out my closet and need to clear the way for Gloria Concepcion and then Dana, I wrote him an e-letter.

Dear Kevin,

I just read your column "Climbing past fear of heights, with a little help from friends."  (They could have added "And Eleanor Roosevelt.")

I'm very impressed that you made all those steps.  I'm also relieved that you didn't wind up like Roof Cow.

I have vertigo when I'm in high places without an enclosure. But I can make it if someone takes my hand or if I have some physical contact with another person.  I was in the dome of  St. Peter's in Rome, and I my Camino partner went ahead of me.  The only way I could go on was to touch the backpack of the person walking in front of me.  Of course, he was alerted to the "fact" that I was trying to steal something, and I was--just a little help in making it on.  I was quickly cleared as a thief.  But I do think sometimes of the metaphor.  Connectedness matters!

There's a crosswalk on Bayshore leading to Bernal Heights, but the number of encampments made it hard to see.  A person there directed me and even took me to the beginning of it.  I told him I had a fear of heights, and he offered to walk across with me.  I took his arm, and he kept telling me  "You're almost there."  When we got to the other side, I gave him all the cookies I'd made for the friends I was joining in Bernal Height, and then I gave him a $20.  Some good deeds do go unpunished.

I'm still going through my books, step by step, book by book, listing the ones I'm giving away and thinking of you and your 1000 books goal.

Tina

 

I was happy to see this email message today, but why did it take an expose from the SF Chronicle to get this to happen?

Hi OWL PAC,

See from SDA housing organizer Anakh Sul Rama--the Great News--Still need to keep following up--I can give report-backs at PAC meetings.  Betty     PS: Good it was an election year also?  And Chron had that big article.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Anakh Sul Rama <anakhsul@sdaction.org>

Sent: Monday, February 19, 2024 at 11:00:13 AM PST

Subject: Great News!!! SRO Elevator NOFA finally released!

Hi All! 

After years of organizing on SRO Elevators and against the delays, a Notice of Funds Availability for the $10 Million in elevator repairs was finally issued on Friday! Yay! Thanks to everyone who participated in surveys, elevator action at city hall, sending in letters and signing the petition! This is a huge win for the tenants that will get their elevators fixed! Thank you everyone for your advocacy! 

Here is an article from the Chronicle that ran on Friday further pushing the Mayor to release the funds! 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-sros-homeless-elevators-tenderloin-lawsuit-18668254.php

in solidarity and community, 

Anakh Sul Rama

Housing Community Organizer

Senior & Disability Action

415.424.0957

Anakhsul@sdaction.org

 

Ruthe Gets an Oscar at Presidio Kebab

Maxine, Leah Garchik, and Allen Johnson chat

I meet Allen Johnson while wearing my filmy tie and earrings!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xcyg2l1wj5xisly5jbarc/h?rlkey=emqte6585n1d2kyh7u5wx6v6c&dl=0

 

Here we have four writers reading from the COVID-19 novel 14 Days.at the Book Passage in the Ferry building this past Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm--before the SuperBowl game began.  

Those reading were from left to right Joseph Cassara, Ishmael Reed, Charlie Jane Anders, and Dave Eggers.

As the Guardian says, Fourteen Days is "a collaborative novel...a starry patchwork inspired by the dark days of COVID."  The idea of a collaborative novel was Margaret Atwood's, and I think Douglas Preston did the writing that stitched the 36 stories together.  

I've been listening to the book on audio, and I really can't figure out who wrote what even when I see the names and sections listed at the back of the book because there are several creators in a given section.  I wish they'd give us page numbers when they read.  Only Joseph Cassara did. I know his story had to do with rabbits!       

 

Two articles in the San Francisco Chronicle "Outrage as activist removes campaign sign" and "Bar sets new speech rules after hecklings" point to a serious problem:  People who self-identify as progressives are demonstrating very un-progressive behavior.  

I would support Supervisor Chan over her opponent Marjan Philhour, but I would not take down a sign for Marjan Philhour as activist Julie Pitta did at Royal Ground Coffee!  That's really foul play, and it connects with the heckling that shuts down speakers as in the March 2022 appearance of Ilya Shapiro at the UC College of the Law San Francisco when he was unable to speak because of protesters interrupting, banging on tables, and chanting because Shapiro had earlier tweeted something they found offensive.    Progressives used to champion free speech;  now they censor it.  Here are sections I think need to be posted:

“Becoming an effective advocate or counselor requires learning how to conduct candid and civil discourse in respectful disagreement with others while advancing reasoned and evidence-based arguments,” the ABA declared. “Concerns about civility and mutual respect, however, do not justify barring discussion of ideas because they are controversial or even offensive or disagreeable to some.”  

Keith Hand, a professor at UC College of the Law SF, welcomed the ABA’s action and said law schools must now change “the institutional signals that show only certain viewpoints are welcome.”

The schools, he said, should “sponsor viewpoint-diverse speakers, promote ideologically diverse perspectives in their institutional communications and provide training to faculty and students on academic freedom.”

https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-francisco-chronicle-late-edition/20240207/281745569288225

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/american-bar-association-free-speech-18650038.php