Occupy DC: A Warm Place for Protest
in the Heart of Wintertime Washington

February 03, 2012 | 3 Comments

Except for a single taser incident, protesters interviewed Friday by Fog City Journal couldn’t recall any clashes with the authorities. One Dallas protester brought some Texas twang to the scene, located in McPherson Square, a park a few blocks from the White House. Volunteers run a small library. On Friday there was a free dinner of donated stew and raspberry cheesecake. A couple of denizens smoked dope in a pipe fashioned from a whole red apple.

Doomsday Clock: Five Minutes to Midnight

February 03, 2012 | 1 Comment

Obama taught constitutional law. As President, he has ordered the assassination of at least two US citizens. Not only is this unconstitutional, there was no public discussion of whether or not it was justified. Like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, it is the sudden “Off with their heads!” The Founding Fathers could not imagine such disregard for their craft of openness and free argument.

Collection Agency Picked On the Wrong Lou Correa

February 03, 2012 | 2 Comments

Collection agencies and their attorneys file hundreds of thousands of lawsuits every year in California, many of which are filed against debt-free individuals such as Senator Correa with no connection to the original creditor. Incredibly, these lawsuits rarely include the information needed to prove the claim is legitimate, because current law doesn’t require it. Consequently, innocent Californians wind up with a judgment on their record or have their wages garnished because they were sued for someone else’s debt.

Group Seeks Condo Lottery Bypass,
Raise Funds for Affordable Housing

February 02, 2012 | No Comments

The City instituted a curb on condo conversions in response to increases in “no fault” tenant evictions, limiting conversions via a lottery to 200 per year. Currently there are 2,391 homeowners waiting in line for their chance to convert their tenancy-in-common mortgages into less costly and restrictive joint tenancy instruments.

Bill Would End Journalist Lockout at State Prisons

February 01, 2012 | No Comments

This month, the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously passed AB 1270, also known as the “California Prisons: Media Access” bill, and it is expected to sail through the Senate in March.

Of course, lawmakers have repeatedly approved nearly identical legislation in the past, only to see it fall victim to vigorous lobbying by the Department of Corrections and victim rights groups.

But neither opposes the current bill, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.

Michael Goldstein Remembered

January 31, 2012 | No Comments

Eileen Hanson, mistress of ceremonies, painted a sensitive and authentic picture of a “complicated person,” who could be “sweet,” but also “really bitchy.” According to Hanson, Michael loved gossip and the “blood sport that is San Francisco politics.”

Herrera Files Lawsuits Against Tenderloin Markets
for Alleged Facilitation of Drugs Trafficking

January 30, 2012 | No Comments

The lawsuits were filed following a two-year undercover police investigation which documents “numerous instances in which the markets operated as virtual safe havens for the sale of cocaine, crack, heroin, prescription painkillers and other drugs,” in violation of the Drug Abatement Act, according to Herrera.