“She was decommissioned in 1995 and as of 2004, she was on loan to the Army, but remained laid up at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. In December 2006, the ship was towed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it now has a high-tech role as a launch platform with the nation’s developing ballistic missile defense program. Three times the ship was towed some 100 miles off shore and used to launch small ballistic missiles, which are then intercepted by Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Missiles, test-fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The last test in the series was performed 26 October, when the ship fired a “Scud-like” missile, which was successfully intercepted. The ship will be towed back to the San Francisco Bay Area for the winter. Kaua’i lacks a suitable land-based launch site, and the costs of building one would far exceed the approximately $600,000 per year it costs to use the old warship, so the vessel returned to Pearl Harbor for a second series of tests in late spring 2008.[1] As of 16 June 2012 she berthed at Pier 80 in San Francisco, CA.”
From 2008:
Well, look what just got towed in from Hawaii. Fresh from testing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, San Francisco’s favorite former helicopter carrier, the former U.S.S. Tripoli (LPH-10), had its ups and downs in the Aloha State.
Oh, no no no no no. The original estimate of the “economic benefits” (whatever the Hell that amorphous amorphism means) of the 34th America’s Cup was $9.9 B-as-in-boy billion.
“America’s Cup organizers are falling short in their efforts to raise private donations to help pay for the cost of bringing the America’s Cup sailing competition to San Francisco — and that could leave the city on the hook for about $20 million. The Board of Supervisors holds hearings Wednesday to discuss the shortfall. Supporters say even without all of the promised private funds, the city still benefits financially from hosting the America’s Cup.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
Jane Sullivan, city spokesperson for the America’s Cup
John Avalos, San Francisco supervisor representing District 11″
I understand that Mayor Ed Lee has a cheerleading function as a part of his job. Fine.
But what’s this? What the Hell?
“We expect to have some 500,000 people on a daily basis…”
Just take a look on the YouTube, at around 9:30 and, mind you, this is AFTER everything blew up and people started realizing that the 2013 America’s Cup won’t be anywhere near as popular as advertised:
So, does Ed Lee actually believe that there’s a chance that the America’s Cup will attract anything close to a half million people “on a daily basis?”
No he does not.
So why does he say it?
Mmmm…
Now, speaking of cheerleading, @olivaglobal is the dude who was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle to promote the America’s Cup over the next 1.5 years. Here he goes:
“The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
Here it is in the flesh:
So, let’s think about this here. I guess the bullshit Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) organization is allowing that the Summer Olympics and the World Cup just might possibly be bigger than an America’s Cup. But what about the Winter Olympics? Oh, and what about the Super Bowl?
Who actually believes that the America’s Cup, that thing where half the staff just got laid off and NBC needs to be paid in order to broadcast, is actually going to be bigger than a Super Bowl?
Nobody.
Not even the cheerleaders.
So why do they say these kinds of things?
All right here’s one more from the messed-up study what’s going to cost the taxpayers of San Francisco tens of millions of dollars. It discusses, and I’m srlsy, the “fleet of super yachts” what are going to be attracted to the bay area due to the America’s Cup, and then it talks about how much money we’re going to make by gassing them up and Windexing the shiny parts and stuff like that.
I’m srsly.
These cheerleaders are members of a modern day Cargo Cult and we’re all along for the ride.
And oh, we’re going to get the Golden State Warriors without funding the stadium at Piers 30-32? All right, so why then are we funding Larry Ellison’s ego trip of a boat race? Why are we allowing Him to get away with this?
I know not.
Screw the America’s Cup.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
A bit mottled – that’s the way they are sometimes – click to expand
Now let’s hear from Redd Rivett, who recorded some of these critters just the other day:
“These bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were on the East side of the Golden Gate Bridge, next to Fort Point, in the cove. We get to see them in the summer and fall, when they come in to Ft Point cove for a while maybe twice a week or so. They live mostly along the outer coast to the south of us, all the way to Monterey Bay. Thanks Bill Keener of Golden Gate Cetacean Research for the info.”
June 21 Pride NightLife
Kick off your celebration of SF Pride weekend at NightLife. In the Piazza, Heklina of Trannyshack will host a fabulous drag performance and “tranimal” costume contest. Carol Queen & Robert Lawrence, co-founders of the Center for Sex and Culture, will give a talk titled “Seven Billion Sexual Orientations” about supporting sexual individuality and diversity. In the planetarium, don’t miss “Stargayzing” at 6:30—a look at the mythology behind some of your favorite constellations—followed by two showings of Earthquake. Plus, hear tales of sex-changing fish and other fascinating animals from an aquarium biologist, and enjoy activities and information from organizations like Hard French SF, Rainbow World Fund, Gay & Lesbian Sierrans, and AIDS Memorial Grove. Entertainment in the east pavilion by San Francisco icon Juanita More and the Stay Gold DJs. Additional music by Hard French DJs Carnita & Brown Amy in the coral reef.
June 28 Gallery Crawl NightLife
For one night only, the Academy will transform into a pop-up art museum, featuring guest curators who will each take over a portion of the space with hand-picked collections that reflect their take on the intersection of art and science. See the selections of Tenderloin art pushers Ever Gold Gallery; Michael Cuffe, founder of online arts publication Warholian; Spoke Art, San Francisco’s newest art gallery and publishing house; writer/curator/street art aficionado Adam Reed Rozan; and Electric Works Gallery, which tends to focus on contemporary art work balancing strong graphic and conceptual elements; and other guest curators others to be announced. Live music performance by Tim Cohen’s band Magic Trick, whose music evokes the early era of rock ‘n’ roll with hints of psychedelic pop. Additional music by Britt Govea, DJ and founder of (((folkYEAH!))), whose sets feature contemporary and cutting edge artists who bridge a large gap of musical sounds and styles. Music presented by (((folkYEAH!))).
July 5 Soundwave NightLife
Celebrate opening night of San Francisco’s innovative three-month art and music festival, Soundwave, presented by MEDIATE and The Bold Italic. The night features a blend of art, science and sound around this year’s festival theme: challenging audiences to question their perspectives on the present and our hopes and fears about the future. Futuristic space rock band Lumerians performs in the piazza, musician Matt Baldwin will play amongst the fish in the coral reef, and guitarist Danny Paul Grody will play the skies of the Aurora Borealis in a mini-planetarium, with DJ Tristes Tropiques spinning the night away with disco house/post-punk tunes. Select Soundwave artists will present interactive demonstrations that explore future experiences of sound and technology, including Les Stuck’s video dance sensors, The Cellar Ensemble’s sound/light oracle instrument, Jay Kreimer’s empathic facial responder and instruments, Drew Detweiler’s Lumisketch, and Stephen Hurrel’s live sounds of the moving Earth. Plus, Apocalypse Cakes author Shannon O’Malley will serve samples and read from her guide to doomsday desserts.
July 12 Disposable Film Fest NightLife
This week, NightLife and the Disposable Film Festival want you to do it yourself. What’s a disposable film, you ask? A short film made on a non-professional device, so DIY is the phrase of the night. At Disposable Filmmaking 101, pick up tips and tricks for creating a masterpiece with whatever camera you have on you (even your cell phone). Discover the latest and greatest gadgets, apps and hacks you should have in your toolkit from the experts at PhotoJoJo, Boom Grip and Veetle, and then practice your storytelling at the flipbook animation booth and interviewing workshop. Attend a food filmmaking workshop and learn how to make food prep look glamorous on-camera. Stop by the Public Bikes station and contribute your story to their bike advocacy video. Disposable Film Festival’s 2012 competitive shorts will be shown throughout the night in the Forum Theater. Music by Slayers Club.
July 19 Mixology, Mixtapes and Remixes at NightLife
NightLife stirs things up with Noise Pop this week. Watch the mixologists at Cocktail Lab work their magic during demonstrations using seasonal ingredients. The San Francisco Mixtape Society will host a mixtape swap, so come prepared with a mix tape, mix CD or mix USB stick inspired by the theme of Night Creatures. You’ll walk away with someone else’s mix and a smile on your face. Watch masterful DJs remix a track before your eyes and ears in the Remix Lounge, featuring Friendzone at 6:00, Yalls at 7:00, and Giraffage at 8:00. Music in the Piazza, presented by Noise Pop, is by Heathered Pearls [Ghostly International, ISO50], followed by Dan the Automator. Renowned in underground circles for spearheading critically acclaimed underground projects Handsome Boy Modeling School with Prince Paul, and Deltron 3030 with Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan the Automator is perhaps best known as a co-founder of the widely successful anime influenced trip-hop project Gorillaz.
July 26 Runner’s NightLife
In honor of the 35th annual San Francisco Marathon, NightLife celebrates athletes who hit the pavement to push their limits mile after mile. Learn how to take care of your soles with a talk on foot and grounding massage by the SF School of Massage; stop by African Hall for a deep tissue massage and Jamba Juice sample; and make your own headbands and wristbands with SCRAP. Learn why ostriches are the fastest animals on two feet, clocking in at up to 43 mph. In the planetarium, catch the “Messier Marathon” at 6:30, a look at some of the 110 deep sky objects documented by astronomer Charles Messier, followed by two screenings of Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet. Enter the “Runners Have Soul” fashion contest with your best 60s-70s soul–inspired look. Plus, Academy microbiologist Shannon Bennett will be on-hand to discuss her work with mosquitoes, and to conduct a eyebrow mite survey of NightLife guests. Hint: chances are you have them, and no, you can’t outrun them. But the good news is, they’re harmless! Music by the soul/boogie DJs Gordo Cabeza & Timoteo Gigante (MOMSF).
NightLife Basics:
What: NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences (for adults ages 21+) featuring music, cutting-edge science, and food and cocktails available for purchase
When: Every Thursday, 6-10 pm
Where: California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Cost: $12 per person ($10 for Academy members); Tickets available at the door or online at https://www.calacademy.org/tickets/nl.phpWeekly Details: Available at www.calacademy.org/nightlife
I understand that Mayor Ed Lee has a cheerleading function as a part of his job. Fine.
But what’s this? What the Hell?
“We expect to have some 500,000 people on a daily basis…”
Take a look on the YouTube, at around 9:30 and, mind you, this is AFTER everything blew up and people started realizing that the 2013 America’s Cup won’t be anywhere near as popular as advertised:
So, does Ed Lee actually believe that there’s a chance that the America’s Cup will attract anything close to a half million people “on a daily basis?”
No he does not.
So why does he say it?
Mmmm…
Now, speaking of cheerleading, @olivaglobal is the dude who was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle to promote the America’s Cup over the next 1.5 years. Here he goes:
“The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
Here it is in the flesh:
So, let’s think about this here. I guess the bullshit Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) organization is allowing that the Summer Olympics and the World Cup just might possibly be bigger than an America’s Cup. But what about the Winter Olympics? Oh, and what about the Super Bowl?
Who actually believes that the America’s Cup, that thing where half the staff just got laid off and NBC needs to be paid in order to broadcast, is actually going to be bigger than a Super Bowl?
Nobody.
Not even the cheerleaders.
So why do they say these kinds of things?
All right here’s one more from the messed-up study what’s going to cost the taxpayers of San Francisco tens of millions of dollars. It discusses, and I’m srlsy, the “fleet of super yachts” what are going to be attracted to the bay area due to the America’s Cup, and then it talks about how much money we’re going to make by gassing them up and Windexing the shiny parts and stuff like that.
I’m srsly.
These cheerleaders are members of a modern day Cargo Cult and we’re all along for the ride.
And oh, we’re going to get the Golden State Warriors without funding the stadium at Piers 30-32? All right, so why then are we funding Larry Ellison’s ego trip of a boat race? Why are we allowing Him to get away with this?
I know not.
Screw the America’s Cup.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
All that fuss about the America’s Cup started with a grossly-distorted report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. Here’s the start of it:
“Executive Summary: The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
UH, WHO MADE THIS UP? WHO BELIEVES THIS? FIRST OF ALL, “THE OLYMPICS” IS ACTUALLY THE SUMMER OLYMPICS AND THE WINTER OLYMPICS, SO THE AMERICA’S CUP WOULD HAVE TO BE NUMBER FOUR AT BEST. SECOND OF ALL, NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT THE AMERICA’S CUP.* SO, THE “INDEPENDENT STUDY” FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF WHATEVER THE HELL CHEERLEADING ORGANIZATION STARTS OFF WITH A LIE. PAR FOR THE COURSE.
Securing hosting rights to the Cup is therefore a prestigious and economically significant prize for any community.
NO, SEE, NO, YOU CAN’T DO THAT, YOU CAN’T START BUILDING YOUR CASE WITHOUT A FOUNDATION, CAN YOU? I SUPPOSE THAT IF ENOUGH PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE AMERICA’S CUP IS “PRESTIGIOUS” THEN IT WILL SOMEDAY BECOME SO, BUT WE’RE NOT AT THAT POINT YET. AC IS NO “PRIZE.”
The economic benefits of bringing the America’s Cup to San Francisco would come primarily through expenditures by racing syndicates, and through spending on hotels, restaurants, and retail and other services by both domestic and overseas visitors and Bay Area residents.
ALL RIGHT, THOSE TWO THINGS. BUT WHERE WILL THE DEFICITS COME FROM? WOULD YOU CARE TO DETAIL THOSE?
If the competition were to run for three months, this could lead to an additional 2.6 million spectators.
AND IF YOU START FLAPPING YOUR ARMS HARD ENOUGH, THIS COULD LEAD TO SUSTAINED FLIGHT.
While these impacts would be primarily concentrated in San Francisco, nearby counties such as Alameda, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and San Mateo would also benefit from increased visitor and maritime activity. This report endeavours to provide estimates of the economic impact of an America’s Cup match on the San Francisco Bay. Other economists have paved the way by providing estimates of the economic impacts of previous America’s Cups, including an analysis of the economic impacts of the 32nd America’s Cup of 2007 in Valencia, Spain. Starting with that study as a rough guide, this analysis makes a number of assumptions: that infrastructure cost and spending will be several billion dollars less; that spectator attendance will be considerably larger; that the media’s presence will be larger; and that the presence of super yachts will likely be smaller.
UH, BUT NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT THE AMERICA’S CUP THOUGH, RIGHT? THIS THING IS A CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENT ALREADY, RIGHT? WEREN’T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE 18 TEAMS? AND THEN THE ORGANIZERS LOWERED THE ENTRY FEE TO A TOKEN AMOUNT BUT THERE’S STILL VERY LITTLE INTEREST?
From this, we estimate that the increase in overall economic activity in San Francisco due to hosting an America’s Cup could be on the order of $1.37 billion.
AND IF YOU START FLAPPING YOUR ARMS HARD ENOUGH, THIS COULD LEAD TO SUSTAINED FLIGHT.
This is three times the estimated impact of hosting the Super Bowl ($300-$500 million).
NOW HOLD ON, PEOPLE ACTUALLY _LIKE_ THE SUPER BOWL, ARE WE CONFLATING THE TWO EVENTS HERE? AND ACTUALLY, NBC _PAYS_ THE NFL FOR THE RIGHTS TO AIR THE SUPERBOWL (SOME YEARS, ANYWAY) BUT THE AMERICA’S CUP PEOPLE ARE _PAYING NBC_ TO AIR THE AMERICA’S CUP, RIGHT? SO ISN’T THE AMERICA’S CUP KIND OF THE OPPOSITE OF THE SUPER BOWL?
The potential increase in employment surrounding the event could be on the order of 8,840 jobs.
AND NEXT MONTH, I’LL INCREASE THE NET WORTH OF ALL MY READERS, ALL 14 OF THEM, BY $8,840, YOU KNOW, I’LL JUST GIVE THEM ALL MONEY, POTENTIALLY.
This increase in output and employment would likely yield a benefit to state and local government coffers of nearly $85 million.
NOOOPE!
Additional taxes alone to the City’s General Fund are expected to net more than $13 million, based on more than $24 million in revenue, and an estimated $11 million in tourism related costs.
NICE USE OF PASSIVE VOICE THERE. EXPECTED BY WHOM?
Looking beyond the Bay Area, California’s economy would see increased economic activity of $1.43 billion. The U.S. economy as a whole would see increased economic activity of $1.85 billion.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE WORLD AS A WHOLE? IT’S A WIN-WIN, RIGHT? EVERYBODY WINS! HURRAY?
This increase would support the creation of 11,978 jobs.
UH, I THINK YOU MEAN GIGS, YOU KNOW, TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT?
The figures produced here are likely to be compared to previous estimates indicating that hosting the Cup on the Bay would result in economic benefits to the region on the order of $9.9 billion.
UH, DO YOU HAVE A CITE FOR THIS PIE IN THE SKY? DOES SOMEBODY OUT THERE THINK THAT HOSTING LARRY’S LITTLE BOAT RACE IS AS GOOD AS BILL GATES GIVING US $10 BILLION? REALLY?
We have consciously made an effort to be conservative in our analysis and to evaluate economic impacts for which there is a factual basis and which would be unique to the venue of the San Francisco Bay, and by focusing on readily quantifiable benefits as opposed to those that are more speculative.
WOW, CONSCIOUSLY? LET’S HOPE YOU DIDN’T STRAIN YOURSELVES.
WHOEVER WROTE THIS REPORT IS DELUSIONAL.
SIMPLY.
*NOW, WHAT ABOUT EVENTS BIGGER THAN THE POORLY-NAMED AMERICA’S CUP? HEY HOW ABOUT SOMETHING CALLED UEFA? I THINK THAT’S GOING ON RIGHT NOW IN EUROPE. PUT THAT ON YOUR LIST OF SPORTS BIGGER THAN LIL LARRY’S BACKYARD BOAT RACE.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
Don’t miss the giant Buddha* – he’s in the mix as well:
Click to expand
Merry Christmas!
* Now, you think, and I’m srsly you guys, you think maybe at some point Gumps could make a replica of the Buddha and then send the original back to Northern China whence it came? Just asking, Gump-bro. I know you have custody of it currently, from Agents of Fortune, though Accident of History, but is that the way it will always be?
“A Qing Dynasty gilded wood Buddha, carved for a summer palace in Northern China, is located in the store. It was carved in the Northern Manchurian Province of Jehol, the summer capital of the Ch’ing Emperors in the early 19th Century. The piece, the largest of its kind outside a museum, is the only item in the store that is not for sale.”
China, China, calling out to history
Is that the way it will always be?