Thusly:
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At first I was thinking…Easter?
And then I thought Boston Marathon.
And then I realized it was for the GSW.
Is it a little cheesy to do this so far ahead of time?
Yep, IMO.
Oakland doesn’t have much, you know.
They were going to get a pair of pandas from China, but that didn’t work out.
Oh well.
That’s Venus, the Evening Star, to the right of the dome, BTW.
And that’s a #5 Fulton hover bus heading inbound on McAllister…
Oakland, poor Oakland:
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Oh, so Gavin Newsom “wrote” a book what’s due to be released early next year?
And the ghostwriter did so much work on it she gets her name on the cover too? Delicious.
Enjoy:
Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government
Now, here’s Gavin Newsom’s brief dalliance with San Francisco politics, in a nutshell:
Boasting about planting a bunch of trees but not caring about paying for taking care of the trees he planted.
Multiply that by 1000 and that was what he accomplished here.
So it’s a little humorous to read the blurb below about how great Mayor Gavin Newsom was, you know, when he was here.
Of course, he moved on up to Marin County with his kids a few years back.
Hey, remember this from 2007?
“…a quote from @GavinNewsom, speaking to SF parents in 2007: “Please stay in SF and don’t move to Marin!”
What a jackass.
Anyway, here it is.
(Please note the critique of the Willie Brown administration.)
(And note the nonsensical Angry Birds reference.)
(And note the claim of “amazing results.”)
“By integrating democratic government with cutting-edge American innovation, the lieutenant governor of California charts a bright future for open-source America
Citizenville is the story of how ordinary citizens can use new digital tools to dissolve political gridlock and transform American democracy. As social networking and smart phones have changed the way we communicate with one another, these technologies are also changing our relationship with government.
In a world where people can do anything at the touch of a button—shop, communicate, do research, publish a blog, transfer money—government cannot keep functioning in a twentieth-century mind-set. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom explores the many ways in which technology can transform government and empower citizens: Opening up vast troves of government data, then letting people create apps to use them wisely. Harnessing the popularity of online games to establish a kind of “Angry Birds for Democracy.” Inventing new feedback loops so people can take active part in every facet of governing.
Drawing on wide-ranging interviews with thinkers and politicians, Citizenville is the first book by Lieutenant Governor Newsom. He broke new ground as the mayor of San Francisco, one of the most high-tech, experimental, and progressive municipalities in the nation. But when Newsom’s tenure as mayor began, he found that San Francisco was behind the likes of Estonia and South Korea in terms of digital governance. Newsom’s quest to modernize one of America’s most modern cities—and the amazing results he achieves—form the backbone of this far-reaching book.
Lieutenant Governor Newsom explains how the problems of twenty-first-century America are too big and too expensive for the government simply to buy solutions. Instead, we must innovate our way out. Just as the post office and the highway system provide public infrastructure to channel both personal and private enterprise—a platform upon which citizens can grow—so too could a modern digital government house the needs, concerns, information, and collaboration of an enlightened digital citizenry.
Citizenville shows that the only way Americans can secure their future is by reinventing their relationship to government, just as they have countless times before.”
Here’s the cover:
And here’s the early review: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
On It Goes…
Apparently.
Some people think it’d be a great idea to move this WWII monster from Alameda to San Francisco, in order to get more visitors the thinking goes.
But where would we put it?
The USS Hornet what didn’t get sunk by the Japanese Navy – click to expand
Seems like a long-shot, but who knows?
In the meantime, don’t forget about Living Ship Day, September 17th, 2011 in Alameda.
All the deets:
“USS Hornet Museum Receives $100,000 Matching Grant From Texas Foundation
KINGSLAND, Texas, Sept. 12, 2011 – The Wreyford Family Foundation has awarded a $100,000 matching grant to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA. The grant will assist in the museum’s relocation effort to move the USS Hornet to San Francisco.
“Our organization is proud to be a partner with the USS Hornet Museum on its relocation plans and believes that this effort will ultimately be as successful as the USS Intrepid and USS Midway are in their own communities,” said Deborah A. Wreyford, President, Wreyford Family Foundation.
For more information, contact www.WreyfordFamilyFoundation.org
The Wreyford Family Foundation is a privately funded non-profit organization founded in 2009 by prominent businessman Donald M. Wreyford and his wife Annette. With keen interest in aerospace science, the organization supports The W Foundation and co-sponsors the “Navy in Space” exhibit on display during San Francisco Fleet Week.
SOURCE Wreyford Family Foundation
CONTACT: Deborah Wreyford, President, The Wreyford Family Foundation”
Now you kids are too young to remember, but back in the day Furniture Mart was the thang, full of visiting Midwestern honeys ready to par-tay in the 415. Good times.
But really, the reason why all those Midwest farmers daughters came back to San Francisco all those years, well it had to do with history, the history of when the 415 was the Capital of the West as opposed to Just Another Ci-tay Near the West Coast, you know, beneath L.A., Fun Diego, San Hoser, Seattle and Portland (yes, sometimes even Portland).
So now, all the furniture-crazy party girls par-tay every year in Vegas, baby, thanks to a whole lot of corporate welfare. But, somehow, a little bit of tiny, half-assed corporate welfare is going to make that all better. Somehow.
Gerry Shih of The Bay Citizen has some of the deets, anyway, or all the deets so far:
“Prospective Twitter Landlord Gave Newsom Rent Deal“
Ten points for Gryffindor.
Click to see through the see-through-building
And San Francisco Business Times, you expect people to pay for your half-assed editorial about ineffective, half-assed corporate welfare? You’re dreaming.
And if getting rid of the payroll tax is so great, why don’t we do it everywhere instead of just in one place?
(Oh what’s that you say, Bidness Times? YES YES YES, you say? Well then, we agree one thing, anyway. But doesn’t this whole Mid-Market deal smack of corruption, BT? Discuss.)
And Twitter, this is how you roll? (Donkeys live a long time, Twitter.)
Answer: It _is_ corporate welfare, the practice of government picking corporate winners and losers, something any govmint isn’t really so hot at doing. Oh well.
“Corporate Welfare – Free Market Fundamentalism often leads to corporate welfare because deregulated markets often allow corporations to become so overgrown, even to the point of monopoly, that their influence over the government balloons and balloons. They can game the system so that government programs end up funneling money straight into their own pockets.”
Is the Furniture Mart building covered in this deal? Don’t know. It shouldn’t be.
As seen from Fell Street. They used to have furniture shows here twice a year, don’t know if they still do.
What’s that? You say, “This boondoggle isn’t just for Twitter?”
Oh yes it is! Right now it is, anyway. Next question.
“But this scheme is ‘revenue neutral’ right?”
Nooope.
“But at least we saved the Twitter from moving away.”
Uh, maybe. The problem with the proposed corporate welfare is that it won’t save Twitter all that much money. So it’s like the Mayor recently signing up for the Twitter service – it’s a nice gesture, it shows we care about Big T, but we’re not talking big bucks here anymore. Maybe there was talk of that last year, but the current proposal is pretty weak tea.
So it’s corporate welfare, but Twitter won’t benefit too much from it. Is this really going to keep Twitter here? And if they end up staying, how do you know they based their big decision on such a small amount of money?
And then they’re saying how Twitter will have 3000 employees in San Francisco in 2020. Can I get in on this action? Can I place a bet saying how that’s not going to happen? What color is the sky in your world, the world where you know The Future? Why did you change your green eyeshades for rosy rosy rose-colored glasses?
Oh well. Maybe we’ll end up loving the Twitter from afar. But that’s O.K.
How do you handle things when the Twits (do they call themselves that?) from Twitter start Tweeting about migrating down to Brisbane for the winter and beyond?
Choose one:
1. “We are going to do everything in our power to keep Twitter’s headquarters here” [Ooh, sounds expensive] or;
2. “Love your stuff, Twitter babe, too bad about that whole hacking thing a while back, yep them passwords, OMG, really? – she just flew up from Hollywood and she’s in your office right now? that’s swell, hey we’re going to miss you if you all actually decide to leave us, let us know if you need a temporary permit for the moving trucks or whatnot. Bon courage, gotta go…“
And then somebody else would move into that space at Third and Folsom. You see how that works?
Does the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development “pay for itself?” Nope.
Does the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development “create jobs?” Nope.
Does the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development have the competency to pick winners and losers? Nope.
Anyway…
Our San Francisco Zoo just had to move a 156-pound anaconda. See?
“The San Francisco Zoo’s anaconda moves to his new home. The zoo’s keeper staff moves its giant green anaconda to his new home in the South American Tropical Forest.”
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It takes a village to move a boa.
(Unless Ice Cube and J Lo are available – they wouldn’t need any help.)
(Cue Heavy Action. Oh, if only H.C. were still around to introduce the QB’s on one more Monday Night…)
It’s on! The SaveMUNI.com First General Meeting is on!
Excellent, excellent SF FYI Net has the deets:
Get all the deets after the jump.
Let’s take a look at what Mayor Gavin Newsom had to say at a recent editorial meeting over at the San Francisco Chronicle, talking about how the City of San Francisco might take on the City of Santa Clara over the 49ers wanting to move on down the Peninsula. These days, there’s talk of the San Francisco 49ers continuing on in the South Bay without any kind of a name change. Says Mr. Mayor:
“We can sue… we’re a 49 square mile city, founded in 1849 by the 49ers. The city [Santa Clara] can’t take the name ’49ers‘.”
Ooh, numbers!
1. So let’s see here, the name of the Niners has something to do with the land area of the City of San Francisco? Really? Never heard of that. Actually, S.F. is a 46-something square mile city, and it used to be a lot smaller especially back in the day. You can add up everything, all our filled-in areas (like the FiDi and the Marina) and then throw in the islands (like the Farallones and Red Rock) and then sprinkle in the parts of islands that are part of San Francisco that shouldn’t be (like Angel Island and Alameda(!) Island) and all that totals just 46. 7 square miles.
(Of course people use the term “7 by 7″ but that’s just an approximation.)
So, how can you sue over something like this?
Strike one.
The Mayor seems to do better calm and prepared, as shown, as opposed to pissed off and off-the-cuff, as he was for at least a brief moment at the Chron’s Ed Board.
2. San Francisco was founded in 1776 and incorporated in 1850. So, 1849 is close, but no cigar. What other cities can also claim 1850 incorporation? Well, how about all the big ones? El Lay, Fun Diego, San Hoser, Sactown (Sacramento, Sacramento where you at?), the list goes on. (Something to do with the Compromise of 1850, they learned us in school in Sacratomatoe.)
How can you sue over something like this?
Strike two.
Do the Gold Rush cheerleaders know the way to San Jose? They seemed to be baffled by San Francisco’s Civic Center / Tenderloin / Little Saigon area, thereby causing a stir a few years back.
The little girl, nobody notices the little girl being ignored, if ever so briefly, by her caretaker(s), with a loud sigh and a dramatic crossing of the arms.
3. Now if you want to talk about how San Francisco was incorporated by 49ers, people who came here in 1849 looking for gold and whatnot, well, feel free to say that. But so were other cities, specifically Grass Valley, CA and, indeed, Santa Clara. I don’t know how you can use that as an argument. How can you sue over something like this?
Ball one.
We’ll have to leave this at a count of one and two. (Gavin could have thrown in our 49-Mile Scenic Drive as well, but that would only encourage Santa Clara to follow suit with their own. Can you imagine going on that tour? You’d have to handcuff the tourists to their seats after the first half-mile.)
Could jazzy New Orleans have sued when the Utah Jazz basketball team wanted to move to Salt Lake City and yet still keep the green, purple and gold colours of Mardi Gras? Sacre Bleu!
Could somebody today sue Mill Valley-based ”Ferrari of San Francisco” for not actually being ”of San Francisco”?
The World Wonders.
