I like to have a voice, so I was happy to see my letter to the editor in the SF Chronicle yesterday, January 13, 2026.  But they left out a part about how the billionaires could pay it forward!

 

Yesterday (Sunday, January 11, 2026) I went to the  Ferry Building to participate in a protest against the killing of Renee Nicole Good and thought I was seeing Palestinian flags--though they are red, green, and black.  Instead I found a huge protest by Iranians and Iranian-Americans protesting the regime in Iran, who had shut down the Internet in Iran.  Unfortunately, things are so bad that they're longing for the return of the Shah in the form of his son, Reza Pahlavi, who's still living (in the US), and they're even asking for Trump's help..

I saw a lot of toddlers with iPhones, making it look as if they're celebrating having the Internet here!

I talked to a few of the protesters.  Then I found the group I had been looking for a bit farther west, protesting against Trump.

 

 

Keep Market Street Moving

I've read that since Market Street went car-free in 2020, Muni is running 14% faster, and injury collisions have decreased by 40%.  I have a car, but I really do think taking Muni is the better way to go.  A car is a gated community.  Public transportation is the world, and I like to feel like part of the world.  Other cities have managed to keep the downtown vital without cars.  We can do it too!

 

I used to be able to walk to the Empire Theater from my home, but in its final days as a movie theater, they didn't turn on the heat, and they didn't even provide toilet paper in the restrooms!  I suspected that they wanted it to fail.  Now a housing development has been proposed in its place--a 64-unit, 9 story building, and as a neighbor who loves West Portal as it is, I favor this housing.  I feel for the merchants, whose businesses will be affected, and I wish there were some kind of compensation the city could give them, but I do think they'll benefit once the housing is build.  The estimate is a 2027 ground-breaking and a 2029 completion.  I hope they can stay in business until then.

 

I'm a careless reader, so I had false hopes about the "wokeness" (not a bad word in SF) of the people at Calvary Presbyterian Church, who after performing a special music-infused version of Truman Capote's  Christmas Memory" offered desserts, all of which seemed to be vegan!  I saw that word on all the cards and failed to see that it wasn't checked--ever.  

This is the email I sent to Libby and Maxine to describe Eskenazi's interview with Scott Wiener last night, reported in the Mission Local, which left out a few minor details.  

Dear Libby,

I hope your event last night was as engaging as the one I got to go to but that Maxine missed.  (I'm cc'ing her here.)  I took a lot of notes, but I see that Mission Local covered it quite well with the exception of a couple of dramatic moments the reporter left out.  

Here's what the Mission Local article doesn't mention:

I came in with Scott Wiener--maybe because we were on the same BART train--and he went straight to the restroom.  I took your ticket and went straight to a front seat.  

Manny was there and announced that Manny's was a sushi restaurant before it became this place for "civic and artsy" events.  (Maybe you knew that, but I didn't.)

We met Mission Local's "Donor Engagement Leader," and I'm so impressed by Mission Local, particularly Joe Eskenazi, that I'm thinking of making a small monthly donation to Mission Local.  She said "Pay walls don't serve anyone, especially now."  

Scott Wiener mentioned an interview with Tik Tok.  Here's his Tik Tok Ad:  https://www.tiktok.com/@scott_wiener/video/7564070127835106615

Mission Local doesn't mention what he said about Govern Brown's being a great governor but NOT a fan of public subsidies on housing.  Gov. Newsom is.   (Both Eskenazi and Wiener mentioned that it's no longer public housing but social housing because now it's mixed-income.)

Mission Local does mention the fact that Scott Weiner, born in 1987, has never known a House representative other than Nancy Pelosi, which I thought was an interesting and amusing fact.   It reports most of the other things in my notes.  However, it doesn't emphasize what Scott Wiener said about being known for his housing bills but not as much for the bills that are even more numerous involving health care and affordability.  (That affordability is something we need to look into more.)  

He made a strong statement against Israel (as it is now)--even stronger than reported in Mission Local.  He said he would not support an Israel that doesn't stand for democracy and peace.  Not reported:  Joe Eskenazi's response, "When has Israel done that?  Scott Wiener talked about Rabin, who was assassinated by someone incited by Netanyahu. 

Close to the end, a fairly young, attractive Black woman sitting near me said, "I hope you'll let me ask a question because I flew here to ask it."  Scott Weiner agreed, and she said, "We've got to stop these men who pretend to be women from coming into our restrooms and assaulting our women" or something close to that.  She shouted transphobic comments, insisting that transwomen were men threatening women, and several in the audience shouted back "Trans women are women."  Twice or three times she turned to Scott Wiener and said, "I like other things you do, but we've got to protect women."  Wiener said "We've got to protect all women.  Including Trans Women."  Manny, who had spoken at the very beginning about the importance of being civil and accepting people's views that differed, asked her to leave.  Then he sat down on the front row and looked visibly shaken.  I think he's such an idealist that he really feels it when people aren't civil.  

Here's the link for the Mission Local article:  https://missionlocal.org/2025/11/sf-scott-wiener-pelosi-congress/

Thanks again for the ticket.  

 

At first I thought the SF Chronicle's Art and Culture columnist Tony Bravo was wearing a skirt because he has good legs, but these are really inside shorts by Comme des Garcons and the black jacket is Dries Van Noten. These are names I don't know, but I do know pink, which he encouraged us to wear to the Mechanics' Institute for a screening of the 1957 movie FUNNY FACE with Kay Thompson singing "Think Pink" in the first scene. So...The Mechanics' Institute and The SF Chronicle collaborated on this, and in an indirect way, CCSF was linked because Tony Bravo teaches journalism there. His presence and commentary elevated the movie, which has the fashion world barging into the Greenwich book store where the philosophic idealist Jo, played by Audrey Hepburn, works. Jo is shoved outside, and instead of calling 9-1-1, she waits until the fashion mob finishes with the wreckage. When she finally re-enters, the store is in shambles. Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) makes a token effort to re-shelve two or three of the thousands of books strewn across the floor before giving Jo a kiss he decides she needs.  Astonishingly, Jo appears grateful—breaking into Gershwin’s “How Long Has This Been Going On?”-- instead of slapping him and filing charges for aggravated assault.