My Opinion on the San Francisco Zoo Tragedy

The San Francisco Zoo has had some bad incidents in the past years, from an elephant dying, to a lady being mauled by a tiger. Even more tragic is that one man was killed, and two were mauled (and survived) by the same tiger that attacked a keeper. AND THIS WAS ON CHRISTMAS DAY!

Now, this story has hit the national headlines big time, and this story is not going away that easy... OK, maybe in a month, just like the Cosco Busan oil spill incident. Our local news outlets don't even talk about the oil spill anymore.

There's this huge blame game going around, and it always seems that when things get really f-ed up, you always call the best "spin" public speakers and lawyers in the nation to screw around with the story. Lets see what they have to say:

The Zoo: They claim that the tiger was taunted by the three (now possibly four) people that were allegedly involved. They also claim that they had a quick enough response.

The lawyer for the mauled men: They did not taunt the tiger and zoo employees at the nearby cafe refused to let the men hide in the facility.

My analysis: The zoo is responsible for this incident. Regardless if an animal is taunted or not, it is the responsibility of the San Francisco Zoo to build safe exhibits that prevent animal escapes in the first place. For the tiger grotto, the wall was NOT HIGH ENOUGH to repel the animal.

Also, there's word that the tiger had some cement in her claws, which is a sign that somehow the animal was able to climb the wall. I wonder what the condition of the wall is? Was it in good condition, where it is smooth and not possible to break apart so that the animal could not climb the wall? Or was the wall in poor condition, where the wall was not smooth (rocky) or in bad condition, that even a human could do some rock climbing on that thing?

So what's going to happen now?
-- I think that the zoo better be ready to take on a million dollar settlement. The zoo is held responsible for holding a DANGEROUS animal that is their responsibility. They built a grotto that is not high enough, and did not provide quick enough response to evacuate the area and respond to the incident. And now... they are to install a PA system... yeah, could have been installed decades ago; idiots.

I'd fire the entire zoo management for this fuck-up. Especially the guy who's getting paid over $100,000+ a year to "manage" this bullshit facility. Even better, close down the damn place if they cannot pay to maintain the facility. Why waste my tax dollars on a place that is inadequate in the name of safety?

What's wrong with this city?

1. Muni sucks.
2. The cops can't control the lower east side of town.
3. A zoo that is basically unsafe.
4. A Mayor who went to rehab.
5. A Mayor involved in a sex scandal.
   
6. Overpaid city "managers."
7. The 311 operators are operated by a bunch of retards.
8. Things change only when someone gets killed, such as the zoo incident.
   

Halloween in the Castro 2007 - Financial Bust & Stupid Campaign

I'm not sure to say if the "stay at home" campaign really was successful, but there is one thing that I can be clear about this:

• There were far fewer people, but there were still hundreds of people on the sidewalks.
• Now sure, it kept people off the street, but at least nobody not stabbed, shot, or went on live TV to say "Fox news is bullshit!"
  

In one way, it could be a success, but just at what financial cost?

Critics (including myself) say that this was a financial nightmare.

1. 600 police officers in the area alone, at an estimated $50/hr for six hours (6PM to midnight) = an estimated $180,000 in taxpayer money. $210,000 if it was seven hours.
   
2. Additional parking/meter maids to enforce parking policies: Definitely thousands of dollars.
3. City paid portable toilets: Thousands of dollars, and neighbors smelling blue chemical toilet scents.
4. Steel fencing on the sidewalks: Gotta pay the city workers to put those up.
5. Tow trucks: $250 towing fine
6. Closing down BART at 16th street & Mission station: Paying for transit employees to transport riders and ADA passengers by van from 24th st. & Mission.
7. Providing a bus bridge due to closure of Muni Metro stations: Plenty of dollars to pay for diesel gasoline.
8. Hiring Muni drivers to transport 600 cops: Bus driver salary + gasoline cost.
   
9. And of course, my favorite: Hiring David Perry & Associates to make a lame poster campaign and cheap youtube quality videos: $40,000.

Talking about party poopers, here's a list of people who had to ruin the event for everyone:

1. Mayor Gavin Newsom
2. Chief Heather Fong
3. The FBI (what the hell? Was Osama going to pee on the sidewalk?)
4. Supervisor Duffy (hmmm... hiding the fact to the press that porta toilets were coming? Fuck! They were going to find out anyway!)
   
5. David Perry & Associates
6. The SFPD's SWAT Team for putting sharpshooters on the roof (as stated by KTVU).
7. Restaurant and Bar Operators who shut down (if you have two dozen people waiting in line at an open bar, sure as hell, you should have opened-up!)
8. Muni (a.k.a. SFMTA)
   
9. BART
10. The SFPD for arresting a person for j-walking (damn, they usually just give a ticket)

The city is promising for the 2008 Castro Halloween party. Supervisor Duffy said on the news that since 2008's Halloween will be on a Friday, they will organize an appropriate Halloween party. THE ORGANIZING OF NEXT YEAR'S SHOULD START TODAY.

Ok... then why didn't you organize this year's? Since there was "9" shootings, you had since November 1, 2006 to organize something safe, sure seems that they pulled this one off in their butthole at the last minute.

LET'S SEE IF THEY WILL KEEP THIS PROMISE.

Party in the Castro? It is still going to happen!

WATCH MY BRAND NEW ANTI-PSA VIDEO: YES TO CASTRO HALLOWEEN!


As many local Bay Area residents know, the Castro Halloween party is always a popular street event in the Castro district of San Francisco. But last year's developments, including a shooting and some stabbing have made the the government leaders of San Francisco turn their backs on this popular event.

I don't usually go to Halloween parties in the first place, because I enjoy staying home and giving out candy to the neighbor kids who always visit. But I support the Castro party for these particular reasons:

1. The City and County of San Francisco FAILED to follow through with an alternative event to be held somewhere on the Port of San Francisco or at AT&T Park. By being a sanctioned event, there can be an appropriate investment into assuring the safety of guests.
2. The campaign to force people to stay away from the Castro has gone cheap. Have you seen their PSAs lately? They just look like shit. See the three ads on Youtube here, here, and here. Also, who the fuck are these people? Never heard of them in my life. Also, I've learned that the ads were produced in the KRON studios... yeah, KRON, San Francisco's shittiest news station in town. The only thing good about KRON is getting my lotto numbers and staring at Darya Folsom in the morning before I switch back to "Morning's on 2." If KRON viewership is at a low, why would people watch these PSAs in the first place?
1. The city gave a lot of money to do ad campaigns to resist this event, but by looking at the quality of their child made posters and TV ads, you could have asked those media majors at a college to make much better quality material.
   
3. Do you really think the cops will be arresting and beating-up people? Looks like we are going back to the days when the SFPD dragged gays out of the bars of the Castro to seek revenge for burning their cop cars during a protest rally after Dan White got a slap on the wrist for assassinating Moscone and Milk?

I'm really going to bet that something bad is going to happen, and if the police really fucks this event up this year with arrests and riot gear, get ready for a big backlash. Remember SF Citizens, Mayor Newsom is up for election on November 6, 2007, just seven days after the Halloween party. You can vote for someone else to make him lose the race if his idea of shutting down the Castro fails.

IF YOU DO GO:
Bring a camera and/or a digital video recorder.
--Record cops in action if things start going wrong.
Go in large numbers.
Don't bring alcohol or weapons.
The big goal: Make it look like things are normal and that the event is going so well that everyone is happy.

Has Gavin Newsom Gone Crazy?

Don't we love city government? Word around town is that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants all his appointed employees to file their resignation so that he can start with a clean slate (assuming that he gets re-elected).

Is our Mayor just flat out nuts? I would never try to terminate so many employees, especially for a complex system like the government just so that things can possibly be "better." If we eliminate all the top positions at once, we are going to expect some hell from our government when it comes to services. Lets say that the police commission is all fired and a new one is put into place, doesn't it just seem that the new commission will not be in full swing for at least several months? Sigh... we'll be having some out of control cops for a while...

Also, I know some great city commissioners that might lose their positions in the city government. One of them was appointed when Mayor Willie Brown was in charge, but I hope he is able to keep his position or leave without a fight.

Just one more thought, if Newsom wants to wipe out all his appointees, then he will have a government that simply works in favor of him for everything; honestly, we need some past appointees to question the mayor's every single move around here. Remember, always question authority!