Alex Tourk, a lobbyist and head of Ground Floors Public Affairs, is the official proponent of the proposed Saturday Voting Act. Alls he needs is about seven thousand signatures and he’ll qualify this baby for the November 2010 elections. And then, if all goes to plan, you’ll be able to vote on the Saturday before Election Day plus on Election Day as well, starting 2011.
Do I think that it’s some big deal that San Franciscans don’t vote all that much? No. Am I embarassed that our voting participation rate is “worse than Bulgaria’s?” No. Do I think that non-voters in America should be deined their paychecks for three months the way they do it down Bolivia Way? No.
OTOH, it wouldn’t be necessarily a bad thing to be able to vote on Saturdays as well as Tuesdays, assuming all the deets could get worked out. But As Always, You Make The Call.
“The political campaign organized to convene a constitutional convention in California is, in the words of a top campaign official, “pausing” its efforts to get the measure on the November ballot.“
It seems that these putative conventioneers would be in great shape if somebody just handed over a spare million or four:
“Campaign chief John Grubb tells KQED that they are ‘hoping there are some angels out there’… State campaign finance records show the group has raised less than $500,000 so far; one source said today the campaign probably needs an additional $4 million to get the measures qualified.”
He had San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu on hand to warm up the crowd. Seems they’ve known each other 17 years, ever since their days at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Turns out that Phil speaks Twitter. His latest missive regarding the company called “Property Tax Adjusters”
“Dont be scammed. Ignore the letter frm Property Tax Adjusters. Apply in our office 4 a reduction btwn 1/4 – 3/31/2010″
OK then.
Here’s the mise-en-scene last night with Phil addressing the crowd. Click to expand:
The freshmen emphasised the importance of adding progressive women to their group, and they just might get that from Districts 6 and 10 after the November elections next year.
Where:Influsion Lounge, 124 Ellis Street, San Francisco
What: BOMA is co-hosting fundraiser reception for Scott Wiener, 2010 candidate for San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and District 8 Supervisor.
What:Happy hour with Rafael Mandelman – candidate for Supervisor in District 8
Information: rafael4supe at gmail.com
So much for this week. Are the other candidates having some of their own partays soon? Maybe, but how would we know if they’re not listed on the indispensabile SF FYI Net? Mmmm…
*It’s remarkable how supersmart the major candidates in this race are. It’s unprecedented, actually. Each of them is smarter than you, anyway.
After seeing who was there at the victory party and the gauging the mood of the crowd, you gotta consider DH the front-runner in the race to become the next mayor of San Francisco.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera today applauded a move by Kellogg to end its controversial recent marketing practice of claiming that Cocoa Krispies and other cereal products “now helps support your child’s immunity.”
On Oct. 27, Herrera invoked his consumer protection authority under California’s Unfair Competition Law in a letter to the president and CEO of the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company in which the City Attorney demanded substantiation for the health claims. Boxes of cereal prominently boasting the alleged immunity benefit had reportedly begun to appear on the shelves of San Francisco stores against the backdrop of heightened concerns about a potential swine flu epidemic. In his letter last week, Herrera wrote, “The Immunity Claims may also mislead parents into believing that serving this sugary cereal will actually boost their child’s immunity, leaving parents less likely to take more productive steps to protect their children’s health.”
In response to Kellogg’s announcement today, City Attorney Herrera issued the following statement:
“I am gratified that Kellogg listened to our concerns, and recognized the obligation we all have to convey accurate information in the context of a serious public health concern like swine flu. I know many critics viewed this as a cynical marketing ploy to prey on parents’ fears about their kids’ health, to sell sugary cereal as some kind of new health food. Notwithstanding the health benefits of vitamins, prudence and integrity demanded this step, and I’m glad Kellogg took it.”
Well of course the 17 photos used for this standard one-minute commercial on YouTube were PhotoShopped – I mean they’re all black-and-white, so most likely they were converted from color using Adobe’s awesome B&W converter, or something similar. Fine, lots of contrast there, so they look good. But what about the sign that says “Constitutional Convention!” that appears at around :27?
Look at Gallagher over there on the right, dude wearing the natty cap. He has two signs? What’s holding up his “Constitutional Convention!” sign? Would you hold two signs like that? Is the higher sign glued to his fingers or something? Why is Our Mayor in focus, along with the sign, but nothing else? Does Gallagher’s left thumb go through the lower sign?
Here’s a close-up view. Like, why is the lower right corner of the higher sign in sharp focus when the lower sign appears to be out of focus?
Now, if the person making this video spot diduse Photoshop and maybe made up a sign to fit the commercial, then s/he would have most likely have used the Horizontal Type Tool. Now isn’t it funny that some of the more recent versions of PhotoShop (like CS2 and CS3) use Myriad (out of scores of options), as the default font and Myriad is the very same font as in the sign?
Rather interesting, non? (And by the way, Dan, that Plastic Planes bit you had a couple years back about the “unsafe” composite Boeing 787 Dreamliner? You’re totally wrong on that one.) Anyway, my PS defaults to Myriad Pro, so this is what you get when you start typing away and then center the result:
I don’t know, maybe it’s a real sign that just happened to be created with Photoshop – that would go a long way to explaining part of the mystery.
In conclusion, that sign look’s a littlefunny to me, and it looks a little funny to people (who, unlike me, actually know how to use PhotoShop) on the YouTube.
Keep in mind that this horse race story is written for the national and international audience. And realize that it’s from Snoozeweek’sGaggle Blog - and of course blogs are oftentimes in error, as they say.
