Jesus Malverde
Jesus Malverde's JournalS.F. rolls out 3 miles of free Wi-Fi along Market Street
It's a bit like free citywide Wi-Fi on the installment plan.
After announcing a deal in July to bring free Wi-Fi to San Francisco's public parks, the city will officially roll out free wireless connectivity Monday along a main transit spine - Market Street.
It's not the sweeping citywide access that then-Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed in 2007, but it is 3 miles of coverage along the city's main thoroughfare from Castro Street to the Embarcadero.
"A quarter of a million people traverse Market Street every day, from all walks of life," Mayor Ed Lee said of the new Wi-Fi service. "Now they can access information, find out when their next bus is coming, or peruse local job listings, all for free. This is a significant first step in my vision of connectivity for our city."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-rolls-out-3-miles-of-free-Wi-Fi-along-Market-5067616.php
Gordon Getty's 80th Birthday.
Gordon Getty never had a 75th birthday party, but he more than made up for the absence of a celebration five years ago with an 80th bash Saturday night as he and his wife, Ann, opened the doors of their Gold Coast mansion for 600 guests to revel in old-school glamour.
Gordon's late father was oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.
http://www.sfgate.com/style/article/Celebration-of-note-for-composer-Getty-s-80th-5067080.php
Attending were the A-list of SF Politics.
Willie Brown, Former Mayor
Gavin Newsom, the Lieutenant Governor of California
Paul and Nancy Pelosi and Gordon Getty.
Paul and Nancy Pelosi
Jackie Speier, the U.S. Representative for California
Looks Fabulous
NSA sixty minutes interview...NSA speaks out on Snowden, spying
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-speaks-out-on-snowden-spying/No U.S. intelligence agency has ever been under the kind of pressure being faced by the National Security Agency after details of some of its most secret programs were leaked by contractor Edward Snowden. Perhaps because of that pressure the agency gave 60 Minutes unprecedented access to NSA headquarters where we were able to speak to employees who have never spoken publicly before.
Student debt crisis: Many private college presidents make $1M
Presidents at 42 private colleges scaled the $1 million annual mark in total pay and benefits in 2011 — a slight bump from the year before, according to a survey based on the latest federal tax information from the 500 private schools with the largest endowments.
Total median compensation was $410,523, or 3.2 percent more.
A high salary can be a sign of prestige for presidents, but it also opens them to criticism. The Obama administration and consumers are pressuring schools to rein in tuition costs, increase graduation rates and strengthen the value of a diploma.
The Chronicle of Higher Education's report released Sunday used federal tax information from 2011, the most recent available.
The top earner in the survey was Robert J. Zimmer, the president of the University of Chicago. His base pay was $918,000, but his total compensation was $3.4 million. About 40 percent of his total earnings stem from deferred compensation — a retention tool commonly used to keep college presidents on the job longer, according to the Chronicle.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Report-Many-private-college-presidents-make-1M-5066825.php
Export the unemployed: More jobs for Americans abroad than at home
Although North America and Europe have finally emerged from the darkness of the global financial crisis, and although the stratospheric growth rates of Brazil, China and India have come down to earth, the economies of the West still lag behind those in the rest of the world. That’s particularly the case when it comes to jobs. The unemployment rate in the United States, for example, remains stubbornly around 7 percent. In Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mexico and South Korea, however, the official unemployment rate is way lower. Faster growth is key to high employment just as recessions produce welfare queues.
So here’s a novel solution to America’s problem: Move the people to where the jobs are.
Exporting the unemployed may sound radical, even cruel, but the quest for jobs has been a driving force behind global migration — and population growth in the New World — for centuries.
More than 55 million Europeans, many desperate and poor, migrated to the Americas between 1846 and 1940, for example — often with a “good riddance” from their home governments. And in the past few years, those movements have started up again. When crippling unemployment throttled Spain, some 30,000 Spaniards upped and moved to Argentina between June 2009 and November 2010. The Portuguese, meanwhile, beset by debt and slow growth at home, are heading to Brazil and oil-rich Angola. Between 2008 and 2011 alone, more than 1 percent of the Portuguese population moved to just that one African country. (In terms of relative population, that would be the same as 3 million Americans packing up and shipping off to their country’s ex-colony, the Philippines, in search of a better life.)
But Americans haven’t been searching for a better life somewhere else on nearly the same scale. According to the State Department, only about 6.3 million U.S. citizens live abroad, or around 2 percent of the domestic population. In relative terms, that’s pathetic. About 5.5 million British people live permanently abroad, almost five times the U.S. level in per capita terms.
Maybe they’re trying to escape the lousy weather, but it isn’t like Brits have natural advantages over Americans as travelers. British people are almost as bad at speaking other languages as Americans are, and in terms of haughty isolationism and disdain for foreigners, surely Brits are worse. (I’m allowed say this — I’m British.)
So why shouldn’t America send out some huddled masses for once?
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2013/12/15/Export-the-unemployed-More-jobs-for-Americans-abroad-than-at-home/stories/201312150136
Trail raised the bar for tipplers in old S.F.
For three decades, a legendary trail ran through the heart of San Francisco. Its zigzag course was famous throughout the world. It could be dangerous: To venture down it too often was to risk one's hearth, home and marriage. But that did not prevent intrepid explorers from setting out to conquer it day after day.
It was the Cocktail Route - the highest highway in history.
The Cocktail Route was one of the glories of San Francisco's Gay '90s, that lighthearted, often lightheaded era that started in the 1880s and whose last call was the earthquake and fire of 1906.
The Cocktail Route was an actual route. It started on Montgomery Street around Washington, headed unsteadily south six blocks to Sutter, stumbled over a block to Kearny, staggered up to Powell and passed out around Eddy and Mason.
Along the way, the Cocktail Route passed no fewer than 20 saloons, which included the most famous and well-appointed drinking establishments in the city. All of them served, in addition to the potent beverages that gave the route its name, a mouthwateringly munificent free lunch.
The Route's all-male ranks of regulars included respectable businessmen and politicians, as well as a miscellaneous crew of drink cadgers, skirt chasers and opportunistic gourmands known as "free-lunch fiends."
They followed an unvarying routine. Around 5 p.m., these gentlemen would close down their offices, don their Prince Albert frock coats and hats, and stroll into the street, lighting up their stogies. Ten blocks and as many as 20 Champagne cocktails, Bonanzas or Pisco punches later, they would finish up and be delivered to their Nob Hill homes, to be greeted by the icy stares of their wives.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Trail-raised-the-bar-for-tipplers-in-old-S-F-5063281.php
SoMa development would put new twist on commune living
The property would be broken up into 28 “houses” with common kitchens, dining areas, living rooms, and outside space. The 235 private spaces — suites — would range from 327 square feet to 409 square feet. These would have bathrooms, sinks, two-burner stoves, and private balconies. The three buildings would be joined by a series of sky bridges and would be separated by two 25-foot mid-block alleys. The project could have up to 470 individual beds.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/12/soma-development-would-put-new-twist.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2013-12-09
Sex worker fights for victims of rape, assault
Like many expert witnesses who testify in front of Sacramento bureaucrats, Kristen DiAngelo announced her name and occupation before she spoke at a public hearing last week.
"Sex worker," she said.
DiAngelo and other activists had visited the Capitol on Thursday to lobby against a law that bans rape victims, if they had been attacked while involved in an act of prostitution, from receiving victim compensation funds.
After members of the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board listened to DiAngelo's plea - which included a story of her own rape on the job - they promised to return with a verdict later in the day.
"I'm always nervous about saying what I do for a living in public," DiAngelo said before the meeting. "People can target you. You're out there. But I take a deep breath, and when I say it, I'm proud."
DiAngelo, who lives in a tony suburban neighborhood outside the Bay Area among neighbors unaware of her occupation, is still getting used to her new life as a crusader for sex workers' rights.
It's a role she took on publicly last year, after more than 35 years in the business, when she released a documentary, "American Courtesans." It examines the lives of a dozen sex workers and their family members to make a simple point: They enjoy their work.
"We have nothing to be ashamed of," said Pearl Callahan, who appears in the film and has known DiAngelo since they worked together in the 1980s. "This lifestyle helped me raise my son. The relationships I've made through it enriched my life. I look at where were we came from and where we are now, and I feel good about my life."
'Not victims'
DiAngelo and the women in her film seek to make a clear distinction. They are not coerced or trafficked into the trade. They do not need saving.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sex-worker-fights-for-victims-of-rape-assault-5065287.php
Swarthmore Jewish students break with Hillel policies
Source: philly.com
Jewish students at Swarthmore College have become the first in the nation to break with the global student association Hillel and agree to open their doors to groups and speakers who do not support Israel.
The Swarthmore student board unanimously voted to renounce Hillel International's restrictions, which bar chapters from sponsoring events, hosting speakers, or partnering with groups that oppose Israel's right to exist or support a movement for universities to end investments in Israel because of its policies toward the Palestinians.
Students at the liberal Quaker college say they wanted to start a dialogue on Israel-Palestinian issues by holding joint events or inviting speakers who may have differing opinions about Israel.
"We felt like we needed to stand up for what we believe and the values we've always held," said Joshua Wolfsun, a board member of the 100-student group.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131214_Swarthmore_Jewish_students_break_with_Hillel_policies.html
"All are welcome to walk through our doors and speak with our name and under our roof, be they Zionist, anti-Zionist, post-Zionist, or non-Zionist."
Undressing Israel (Trailer)
When many people think of Israel, it is often in terms of modern war or ancient religion. But there is much more to the Jewish state than missiles and prayers. In his debut as a documentary filmmaker, Lucas examines a side of Israel that is too often overlooked: its thriving gay community. Undressing Israel features interviews with a diverse range of local men, including a gay member of Israel's parliament, a trainer who served openly in the army, a young Arab-Israeli journalist, and a pair of dads raising their kids. Lucas also visits Tel Aviv's vibrant nightlife scene—and even attends a same-sex wedding—in this guided tour of a country that has emerged as a pioneer for gay integration and equality.
Profile Information
Name: Jesus MalverdeGender: Male
Hometown: SF
Current location: Japan
Member since: Fri May 17, 2013, 11:44 PM
Number of posts: 10,274