The San Francisco Citizen

That could be the only reason why this Parking Control Officer tagged each one of these illegally cars parked in the middle of the damn street on Fulton in Civic Center yesterday. A passerby from some do-good organization shared a few words about how DPT doesn’t tag cars parked in this fashion on Sundays.

The PCO said she was doing as she was told, and then proceeded to write $60 citations in this target-rich environment.

Can you see one of the tickets? Can you see the PCO?

Whenever you feel that parking laws don’t apply to you because you’re part of a special group and DPT has a tradition of non-enforcement, you shouldn’t feel angry when the rules all of a sudden start getting enforced.

You should be happy about all the tickets you avoided when you parked for free all those many weeks, months or years. Plus, it’s a piece of cake parking legally for free in Civic Center on Sundays.

So you’re doing a good deed in the Mission District of San Francisco, and then when you come back to your very-well-made, made-in-China ride, you see that somebody has taped a handbill to your bike. Then you see it says:

“HELICOPTERS COULD SOON BE FLYING OVER OR NEAR YOUR HOME AT ALL HOURS OF BOTH DAY AND NIGHT!”

And then you think, wow, somebody has finally bought off all those NOT IN MY BACK YARD Nimby people who were standing in the way of Progress, and San Francisco will no longer have the only Level One Trauma Center in the country to lack a helipad or access to a heliport.

Click to expand

But then you read on and see that the handbill is from the Nimby’s themselves. Disappointed. They think a helipad is a bad idea for them.

Read on to see the fruits of the labors of the Stop the Helipad people:

“A head-on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge in Maythrew the evening commute into chaos and drew immediate cries for new safety measures. Lost in the flurry of traffic reports and debate about possible barriers, however, was the aftermath of the crash for the most seriously hurt victim. Dr. Grace M. Dammann had to be transported by helicopter about 25 miles to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek because San Francisco General Hospital lacks a helipad for its acclaimed Level 1 Trauma Center.”

Mmmm. According to an American College of Surgeons Consultation Survey of San Francisco General Hospital’s Trauma Program:

“The lack of a helipad and helicopter service is a major deficiency in providing optimal trauma care for San Francisco General Hospital and San Francisco. It is difficult to understand why a city the size of San Francisco does not have any medical air transport. The congested roads and bridges with the surrounding water make helicopter service an essential medical support service.”

Will the YES HELIPAD people win this one?

Eventually…

What’s a Sustainable Resource District? We’ll found out soon enough in the Civic Center on October 20. The goals of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan are:

80% potable water use reduction
45% wastewater discharge reduction
35% peak power demand met by renewables
33% annual energy reduction
Reduction of the community carbon footprint by 2,225 tons annually; the equivalent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1,286 San Francisco households

It will all look a little like this. Click to expand:

KMD Architects

This was all promised to us back in January 2008 and now it’s on:

“Although implementing the overall vision will take several years, the 3-year Commitment to Action is anticipated to launch on October 20th, 2008 with a formal partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI)” [Sadly, there's no mention of Nobel Prize-winning Al Gore, who is practically a San Franciscan these days what with his place just down the street, and a TV station in SOMA, and a daughter attending UCSF medical school in the Sunset district. Oh well.]

Anyway, It’s starting in late 2009:

Potential initial projects include the installation of solar rooftop photovoltaics, water conservation fixtures, living roofs, and a public Wi-Fi connection, among others.

So, we’re going to get wind and solar together, living roofs and water reclamation.

It’s on!

Say what you will about Chicago-based (and formerly Seattle-based) Boeing Company’s ability to field a competetive replacement for the U.S. Air Force’s (basically) obsolete KC-135 air tanker fleet, but it sure knows how to kill a contract it doesn’t like.  

There’s no question that continuing production of the 767 would be good for Boeing and its workers, but would that be good for America? That’s the question of the day. Of course Boeing could rework the popular 777 or (soon to be popular, despite what Dan Rather says) 787 into a tanker, but those planes are selling well these days. If the best reason to buy the KC-767 is just to employ Boeing workers then that smacks of corporate welfare, does it not?

Yet another aging Boeing 767 put out to the boneyard. Now it might make sense to buy one used and fly it around as a wide-bodied corporate jet, as the founders of Google do, but what’s the logic behind cobbling together a new 767 FrankenTanker or modifying a 767-400? Click to expand:

via the Photostream of Danny McL

Now back in 2004, Senator john McCain:

“…intimated that Boeing’s problems were its own making, referring to last month’s guilty plea by former Boeing executive Darleen Druyun, who admitted talking to Boeing about a job during the time she served as an Air Force negotiator on the tanker proposal.

“I’m sure it was Airbus that motivated Ms. Druyun to negotiate with Boeing for a job. I’m sure they were behind that. I think it’s hilarious.”

Is the only way out of this mess a compromise deal where EADS gets half the contract and Boeing gets the other? Stay tuned.

San Francisco is where the founding United Nations Charter was signed, so we get more than our fair share of attention from the UN and there are various plaques around town to remind us.

The 60th Anniversary of the United Nations has come and gone, but this sign at the Civic Center / UN Plaza BART station underneath Market Street still calls for renewal.

People called for renewal during the 50th Anniversary as well.

Who will call for renewal when the 70th Anniversary comes along?