AltWeeklies Wire
How One San Fran Woman Helped Nail a Notorious Weapons Smugglernew
Investigator Kathi Austin helped expose notorious arms dealer Victor Bout and awaken the world to a key human rights struggle.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
G.W. Schulz |
07-23-2008 |
Crime & Justice
What if Courageous California Pols Had Put a $2/Gallon Tax on Gas Five Years Ago?new
The SUVs and Hummers would be long gone. Public transit would be booming. And with 1.5 billion gallons of gas sold per year in the state, there would be $3 billion more each year in new revenue. Enough to fund huge improvements in urban transportation systems. The high-speed rail line to Los Angeles would be well underway. Traffic (and pollution, and global warming) would have dropped dramatically.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Tim Redmond |
07-10-2008 |
Transportation
Death of 17-Year-Old Pregnant Farm Worker Incites Campaign Against Trader Joe'snew
The California Division of Industrial Relations has opened an investigation of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez's death and her employer, Merced Farm Labor. But activists connected to the case want to send the message even further, to stores like Trader Joe's that market products made with cheap or exploited agricultural labor.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amanda Witherell |
07-10-2008 |
Business & Labor
Big Pharma is After Your Confidential Medical Recordsnew
A state bill that would have eroded California's strong medical privacy laws nearly passed last month. The Mental Health Association of California, the National Association of Cancer Patients, and other important health advocacy organizations supported the measure, saying they believed it would improve compliance and save lives. But the bill's opponents, which included the California Medical Association and many consumer groups, asserted that the legislation was not really about helping patients.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Jake Whitney |
07-02-2008 |
Science
The International Towards Carfree Conference Didn't Just Spin its Wheelsnew
Many attendees noted that global warming, high gasoline prices (and the specter of Peak Oil), worsening public health, and persistent traffic congestion have made many big city leaders more open to carfree concepts than they're ever been.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Steven T. Jones |
07-02-2008 |
Transportation
Buying into Same-Sex Marriage is Rejecting Queer Strugglesnew
While San Francisco has a long history of sheltering dissident queer cultures of incendiary splendor, the rush for status within the status quo threatens to delegitimize everyone who isn't ready for the Leave It to Beaver lifestyle.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Mattilda Sycamore Bernstein |
06-25-2008 |
LGBT
Too Many Journalists are Just Genetically Modified Mouthpiecesnew
In 2003, when I was working as an anchor for a San Francisco TV station, newscasters and reporters across the country were asked by the White House to refer to the Iraqi invasion as Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). We were asked to call the war in Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). With press releases in hand, journalists repeated genetically modified words as if their DNA depended upon it.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Leslie Griffith |
06-11-2008 |
Media
Tags: Iraq, War on terror, journalism, media, Afghanistan, language, war & peace, rhetoric, public relations
House Built on High Hopes Goes Down in Flamesnew
A cauldron of squatters and property owners, stirred by green dreams and the bursting housing bubble, set an unusual Oakland house ablaze.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Shane Bauer |
05-28-2008 |
Housing & Development
Are Chicken Farm Cages Humane?new
Although the egg industry says the cage systems are science-based and humane, animal welfare activists say they are cruel and restrict natural behaviors. In November, voters will decide whether to ban the cages in California, thanks to a six-month signature-gathering effort sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States along with other animal welfare groups.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Alex Felsinger |
05-22-2008 |
Animal Issues
San Francisco Makes History with Successful Case for Marriage Equalitynew
Less than two hours after the California Supreme Court announced its 4-3 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, San Francisco City Hall filled with smiling couples and local politicians of various ideological stripes to celebrate the city's central role in achieving the most significant civil rights advance in a generation.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Steven T. Jones |
05-22-2008 |
LGBT
Why is San Fran Falling Behind Other Cities on Bike Safety and Visibilty?new
The city still has a higher per-capita rate of bicycle use than any major city in the U.S., and that number has been steadily rising in recent years, even as construction of new bike facilities has stalled. Yet there are still political barriers to overcome in a city where cars are the dominant transportation option -- and the first barrier is Mayor Gavin Newsom.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Steven T. Jones |
05-14-2008 |
Transportation
Union Shuts Down West Coast Ports, But Media Misses the Historic Storynew
Workers, students, immigrants, and antiwar activists came together on May Day in San Francisco, but it was hard to tell from the next day's mainstream media coverage, which adopted its usual cynical view of the growing movement to end the Iraq War. Sure, there were articles, but each missed the main point: this was the first time in American history that such a massive job action was called to protest a war.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Steven T. Jones and Amanda Witherell |
05-08-2008 |
Business & Labor
If Green is the New Black, Eco-Populism is the New Environmentalismnew
There's good reason to be excited about capitalists pouring money into saving the planet. But is it really the panacea that true believers say it is?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Vanessa Carr |
04-30-2008 |
Environment
Why is it So Hard to Get Solar Power in San Francisco?new
Across California, citizens are jumping at the chance to decrease their carbon output. Yet in San Francisco, where environmental sentiment and high energy costs ought to be driving a major solar boom, there's very little action.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amanda Witherell and Sarah Phelan |
04-16-2008 |
Environment
San Francisco's Zoo Bluesnew
A scathing report shows how the privatized zoo spent its bond money on tourist traps, not animals.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
G.W. Schulz |
04-09-2008 |
Animal Issues
