I am a Terrible Human Being - I Paid for Paper Grocery Bags

Remember that time I said I hated San Francisco's new paper bag law that banned plastic bags, and forces all customers to pay ten cents for each paper bag when checking-out?

Since October 1, 2012, I've been a good puppy, obeying my government masters by bringing my own reusable grocery bags to the store.

Bad Akit!  Bad!

Now it's June 2nd, 2013 (eight months later) and I've been a bad dog; I pooped on the Mayor Ed Lee's carpet and got hit with a newspaper.

I finally had to cave in and purchase not just one... but three paper grocery bags at ten cents a piece.  I usually have tons of bags in my trunk, but I emptied my trunk so I can pick-up my co-workers from the airport, and they have a lot of luggage.

Mother Nature is pissed and it looks like I'm going to hell.

Hello, Board of Supervisors? I think your 10 cent bag fee is stupid.

Now that I have three paper bags that I can't return to get back my 30 cents, what am I going to do with them?  I could punch a few holes and put a frowny face on it... perfect!  I'll wear it at the next Board of Supervisors meeting.

Paper bag head photo by Mark Sebastian, using a Creative Commons License.

Dear Candidates for Mayor of San Francisco: Stop Calling Me!

Dear Candidates for Mayor of San Francisco:

You suck. That's right, you suck.

Why do you suck? You call my house to bother me to ask for their votes or do some touch tone phone survey to ask who I would vote for mayor.

Getting calls from your volunteer scumbags telling me who to vote for is just annoying, and I know that you are robocalling me because if I answer my phone and say "hello" and hear silence for about two or three seconds means I'm about to be bothered by another jackass.

To give you a good example, here's the last phone call I got at 8:45PM (yeah, 8:45PM) last night:

I'm quietly reading a book in bed and I get a phone call from some volunteer for David Chiu for Mayor. I quickly interrupt the jackass who disrupted my peaceful time by saying: "Now that you called, I just changed my mind, I won't vote for him." I hung up my phone without letting the guy get one word after that.

Here's a fact, it's NOT FUN to call me. Anyone who dares to ask me to vote for someone or something will get a rude reaction. Another time when someone called me, I said, "is that you Jesus?" then hung up. It's worse if you call me after 8PM because I'm busy enjoying watching a good TV show, writing my blog, or just reading a good book.

I've been also getting robocalls asking me to use my touch tone phone to pick who I would vote for mayor. They gave me nine options (press 1 through 9), instead, I picked option zero: "Get the fuck off my phone."

Here's other annoyances I hate about election time:

• You folks like mailing junk to my house on who I should vote for? Here's what I do: It goes straight into the recycling bin. Oh, Alioto wants to be mayor? Cram it; into the blue bin you go. Stop wasting trees.
• Mayoral candidate cronies (possibly paid ones) who abuse twitter by retweeting every single tweet from the candidate's account. The worst offender: Phil Ting's and his ResetSF (Reset San Francisco) account. Here's one of their "political consultants" and another one. Makes using Hootsuite and other third party programs to keep tabs on hashtags like #muni a nightmare.
  
• And while I'm on the topic of Reset San Francisco, how many of you actually knows that Reset San Francisco is actually a website for Phil Ting to be Mayor? It's not as obvious as other candidate's websites; ResetSF's website mentions it in very little print on the bottom of the site. If it wasn't a political candidate's website, it would win awards for being a pretty good blog, but because it's a candidate's website, it's just using his cronies to write twisted articles, like this one full of incorrect facts about Clipper. Even I put out a tweet asking people if they knew if that website is for a candidate and some of the reaction I got back was: "agreed," and "I don't think most know he's even running."
  

So to all you political candidates who wants to be Mayor of this city: Stop calling me, mailing me, and cramming Twitter. I've got better things to do.

Disrespectfully,
Akit

UPDATE: [Retracted due to error]

My Write-In Candidates for Mayor of San Francisco

I'm no fan of politics, basically I hate politics. I feel that many people who get elected are scumbags, and I've openly admitted it when a politician got in my face at a Farmers Market and I yelled out: "YOU ARE SCUM!"

I thought for laughs, who would I vote for Mayor of San Francisco? No, I'm not picking some person off the ballot, I would do a write-in. Here's my choices:

1. Tony Bennett. Who else but the man who sings "I Left My Heart in San Francisco?"
2. Brian Wilson. The beard can kick ass any day.
3. R. Lee Erney. The sarge can scream and make life a living hell for those who pisses him off.
4. SF's World Famous Bushman. He'd scare the crap out of the BOS.
5. Frank Chu. He doesn't have to say a word; he just flashes his sign and people understand.
6. Any person from that TV show "Extreme Couponing." We can save millions on city toilet paper and motor oil for Muni buses with just a bunch of coupons.
7. Stone Cold Steve Austin (pro wrestling). Drinking on the job, doesn't play nice with the press, and does stunners on the Board of Supervisors.
8. Michael Tilson Thomas, SF Symphony. He can bring his symphony with him to press meetings and play dramatic music when he says there's a budget problem, and soothing music to calm the public.
9. The Cast of Wicked. Glinda and Elphaba doesn't need to rely on gasoline or city owned cars, they can save tons by riding on a bubble or broomstick. They could also cast a spell on Muni to run on-time and under budget.
10. Dirty Harry. Okay, it's a movie character, but we need a guy who can run this city with a "I don't give a shit" attitude.
11. Emperor Norton. He might be dead, but fining people for calling SF "Frisco" is respect in my books.

What's your suggestions? Leave it in the comments.

The sorting garbage law absurdity of San Francisco - Makes me want to move to Daly City

Remember the slogans I posted here a year ago? Here's why I would move to Daly City:

• "We still use plastic bags and styrofoam boxes."
• "Lower sales tax rate and we've got TARGET!"

We can add to the list for literally any city other than San Francisco: "at least I don't have to sort my trash without a garbage company rat reporting to the city government." (News stories at SFist and Chronicle).

Can I just say, I really hate the way our city operates. We now have this new law that if we don't sort our trash correctly, we will get fined. What the hell is this bullshit? Why does this city need to be some kind of "nanny state?"

Sure, I'm proud this city has the highest recycling rate in the country as it sets a good example for other cities and towns to do the same, but now making it a law to tell people to do it or be fined with $100 fines is total crap.

So like... what's the standard to get a damn citation?

• Finding one piece of paper in a garbage bin full of legitimate trash in the black bin?
• Finding a non-greasy pizza box in the compost bin?
• Finding a plastic fork in the garbage bin?
  

What happens if your neighbor wants to seek revenge or some random person on the street dumps the wrong items in the trash? Is this city going to have to buy every citizen a padlock to secure their three garbage bins?

Isn't torturing us citizens with the ban on styrofoam and plastic bags at the grocery store enough? Sheesh.

SFO Airport Incentives for Hybrids - Bad Idea Mayor Newsom

If you did not know, San Francisco International Airport is owned by the City and County of San Francisco, even though it is situated away from city borders and next door to South San Francisco and Millbrae.

Mayor Gavin Newsom announced today (courtesy of KPIX news) that alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles rented from the airport will receive a $15 incentive. The incentive is not per day, but just a one time offer regardless of length of rental.

But reporter Jeffrey Schaub noted that while the incentive will reduce the rental cost slightly, it still costs (on average) $15 more per day to rent one of the hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles. So basically... if you rent an AFV/hybrid for more than one day, you are not getting such a bargain after all. In fact, Schaub noted that a conventional fuel vehicle after a week of renting it, you would pay $75 less than getting the AFV/hybrid.

In my opinion... what a bad idea Newsom! Here's my reasons why:

• Mayor Newsom did it too late. If he offered the incentive during the high cost of fuel prices, people would pay more attention. If you rent a car, you will drive it around the Bay Area, and you can literally fry half a tank driving from SF to San Jose (round-trip) on a conventional vehicle with average gas economy. If Newsom offered the incentive during the rise in fuel prices, visitors and business people would rent the hybrid because of it's fuel savings, and after a lot of driving, that slightly higher cost for the car rental would reduce the amount you pay at the pump.
• If you are visiting San Francisco, have hotel accommodations in downtown, and don't plan to go outside of city borders (unless if you can access BART and the ferries) you don't need a rental car. Nothing against the rental agencies; let's all remember that parking your car at at downtown hotel's parking lot will cost you PLENTY. If you plan to rent a car, find a hotel or inn with free parking or street parking (without 2-hour parking zones and meters). Areas in the Sunset and Richmond districts that have inns and hotels offer free parking and usually next to a major Muni line. Seal Rock Inn on 48th and Pt. Lobos offers free parking, and you are just steps away from the 38L, 38AX, and the 18-46th Avenue.
• Smart tourists know the ways to save money on car rentals. You just don't pick-up your car from the airport. You go to one of the rental agencies (a.k.a. "local" centers) to get your car. Go to a fancy hotel, call Enterprise, and like they say, they'll pick you up.
  
• The economy is in a terrible state and people are trying to save money as much as they can. If they can find a cheaper car (a conventional fuel vehicle) and know about it's fuel efficiency, they'll rent it and say, "no thanks" to the hybrid.

So really Mayor Newsom... this is just a PR stunt. The news report states that a representative of one of the agencies said it is a better deal if the city did not enforce this $15 incentive. It looks like the city is not forking any money, just forcing the rental agencies to discount, even though the agencies can simply raise the price $15 to spare its losses.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums - Hilarious Screen Capture

This came from KPIX/CBS 5's "Eye on Blogs" where editor Brittney Gilbert made a posting showing a YouTube video of Mayor Ron Dellums talking to citizens about the riot in Oakland due to the police involved shooting and death of a passenger at the Fruitvale BART platform.

Whoever made this YouTube video chose the perfect screenshot of Dellums. Doesn't he look kinda high or drunk? Makes me want to use this on some of my username photos.

I don't usually blog about other Bay Area cities, but this is one exception since Dellums looks totally funny. And if you don't know who Ron Dellums is, join the club. It seems many people don't like the guy, and people on the SFgate comment boards likes to make fun of him.

Castro Halloween 2008 Lives Again & AT&T Park Halloween Fizzled

Hot from the news folks at KPIX, their 11PM news broadcast reports that while the streets are closed in the Castro for this Halloween 2008, people still came to celebrate in the sidewalks and the businesses were wide open. Looks like the Castro's economy will prosper from this event, you need food and drink when you wear a costume and sweat to death in a mask.

And as for the city's "Official" event in the parking lot at AT&T Park... it fizzled! KPIX reports that attendance was only 2,000 and an official from the Entertainment Commission was expecting five times that number. The city estimates the event they planned, costs $500,000, and it looks like by the very dismal attendance, the city would have likely lost about $430,000 (2000 people, and multiply that by $35 admission fee per person, subtract that by 500,000).

The Entertainment Commission representative blames poor publicity (naa, blame yourself for thinking of this idea out your asshole).

Well hell, it was poor publicity from the start. Who the hell would want to party at a parking lot, where the vendors charge insane prices for food, charge money for admission, get pat searched down before entering, the T-Third line only runs single train cars (limited capacity), and AT&T Park's insane parking rates for these "special events."

So once again, our beloved (now moronic) city officials, and as always, David Perry, screwed-up again!

Let's point out the real bad things that went wrong:

• The city more than likely wasted even more money than last year. Last year was just a shut-down of the Castro (estimated $300,000) with anti-Halloween promotion by David Perry ($40,000), but this year is the huge financial loss of the AT&T Park festival ($430,000) and still paying for cops and city officials at the Castro (unsure, but at least $50,000).
• The retailers who paid for a space at AT&T park with the expectation of 10,000 people, got no business.

Oh hell, I'll just make it simple, Castro next year!

If you went to the Castro, thank you for giving a big middle finger and "FUCK YOU" to Gavin Newsom, Bevan Dufty, and David Perry. Now do you trust your city officials? No... that's why I should be Mayor. I'd kick anyone's ass who really deserves it. Up first, Muni's union.

Lastly, my poll shows a landslide victory for me to wear the Arnold outfit. So here's the photos!

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!