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Artist, writer, working to promote a clean healthy planet, society and economy.
OpEdNews Member for 886 week(s) and 1 day(s)
5 Articles, 137 Quick Links, 370 Comments, 0 Diaries, 0 Polls
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(1 comments)
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Beating our heads against the wall SHARE
Opinion
— This story was written about the San Francisco experience, but the
same schemes are being played out all over the country. Watch for the
process to unfold in your city and neighborhood. (download doc)How many times must we make the same mistakes before we try something different?There
is a lot of talk about the failures of the MTC and ABAG and the loss of
trust the public has in our state government to solve the housing and
traffic problems they are accused of creating. I will take a more local
view of the effects the plans have had on San Francisco neighborhoods...
Beating our heads against the wall SHARE
Opinion
— This story was written about the San Francisco experience, but the
same schemes are being played out all over the country. Watch for the
process to unfold in your city and neighborhood. (download doc)How many times must we make the same mistakes before we try something different?There
is a lot of talk about the failures of the MTC and ABAG and the loss of
trust the public has in our state government to solve the housing and
traffic problems they are accused of creating. I will take a more local
view of the effects the plans have had on San Francisco neighborhoods...
(3 comments)
Friday, September 14, 2018
Canary in a Coal Mine SHARE
For the first time in our state’s history, state legislators are threatening to pass targeted legislation
to strip a single city of its authority over its own land. This is not
just a threat to the City of Brisbane. It’s a threat to every city in
California. Brisbane is the canary in the coal mine.
State legislators hijacked the public review process for a proposed
mixed-use development on the Brisbane Baylands. Their highly
questionable rationale for taking this drastic action is the contention
even little cities are responsible for the crisis in affordable housing.
In fact, corporate job creations, State policies, income inequality,
and builders focused on the high end of housing construction are more
responsible. Small communities like Brisbane have not been responsible
for any of these phenomena.
Canary in a Coal Mine SHARE
For the first time in our state’s history, state legislators are threatening to pass targeted legislation
to strip a single city of its authority over its own land. This is not
just a threat to the City of Brisbane. It’s a threat to every city in
California. Brisbane is the canary in the coal mine.
State legislators hijacked the public review process for a proposed
mixed-use development on the Brisbane Baylands. Their highly
questionable rationale for taking this drastic action is the contention
even little cities are responsible for the crisis in affordable housing.
In fact, corporate job creations, State policies, income inequality,
and builders focused on the high end of housing construction are more
responsible. Small communities like Brisbane have not been responsible
for any of these phenomena.
(1 comments)
Saturday, July 21, 2018
The billionaire who bought the LA Times: 'Hipsters will want paper soon' SHARE
Patrick Soon-Shiong despises clickbait and says the future belongs to quality journalism. Will his gamble pay off?...Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, a former surgeon, is ushering the legacy newspaper into a new era.
Photograph: Dan Tuffs for the Guardian
Patrick Soon-Shiong has spent decades trying to cure cancer and made a
biotech fortune in the process, making him one of California’s most
successful, enigmatic billionaires...
The billionaire who bought the LA Times: 'Hipsters will want paper soon' SHARE
Patrick Soon-Shiong despises clickbait and says the future belongs to quality journalism. Will his gamble pay off?...Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, a former surgeon, is ushering the legacy newspaper into a new era.
Photograph: Dan Tuffs for the Guardian
Patrick Soon-Shiong has spent decades trying to cure cancer and made a
biotech fortune in the process, making him one of California’s most
successful, enigmatic billionaires...
(1 comments)
Friday, February 24, 2017
Gov. Jerry Brown Should Be Ashamed of Attacking Measure S SHARE
'Jerryfication' and LA City Hall hand over too much power to developersIt's no surprise that Gov. Jerry Brown has come out swinging against Measure S, the citizen initiative to reduce undue developer control of City Hall, and of what kind of city Los Angeles becomes.Brown emerged last year as the key force fighting to undo the California Environmental Quality Act,
siding not with people but with wealthy developers who blast away these
protective state rules that make sure corporate interests don't harm
the environment or our health.
Last year, major environmental groups and the Yes on Measure S
coalition fought against Brown's proposal to gut CEQA and Coastal Act
environmental protections for virtually any urban project where
developers agreed to add an insignificant number of affordable housing
units...
Gov. Jerry Brown Should Be Ashamed of Attacking Measure S SHARE
'Jerryfication' and LA City Hall hand over too much power to developersIt's no surprise that Gov. Jerry Brown has come out swinging against Measure S, the citizen initiative to reduce undue developer control of City Hall, and of what kind of city Los Angeles becomes.Brown emerged last year as the key force fighting to undo the California Environmental Quality Act,
siding not with people but with wealthy developers who blast away these
protective state rules that make sure corporate interests don't harm
the environment or our health.
Last year, major environmental groups and the Yes on Measure S
coalition fought against Brown's proposal to gut CEQA and Coastal Act
environmental protections for virtually any urban project where
developers agreed to add an insignificant number of affordable housing
units...
(1 comments)
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
YIMBYs, Smart Growth - and unanswered questions SHARE
By Zelda Bronstein :48hills - excerptThe real-estate industry loves smart growth; here's whyOn February 1 I flew to St. Louis for the New Partners for Smart Growth conference, the largest gathering dedicated to dense, transit-oriented/walkable/bikeable development in the United States.
For many years the event has been run by the Local Government
Commission, a non-profit, i.e., private, organization headquartered in
Sacramento. In 2014 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded LGC
a $208,000 grant to organize and plan the annual conference for five
years (2014-2018). The 768 people listed on the 2017 roster of
participants included public officials, consultants, developers,
educators, health care professionals, and others. To my knowledge, I was
the only member of the press in attendance...
YIMBYs, Smart Growth - and unanswered questions SHARE
By Zelda Bronstein :48hills - excerptThe real-estate industry loves smart growth; here's whyOn February 1 I flew to St. Louis for the New Partners for Smart Growth conference, the largest gathering dedicated to dense, transit-oriented/walkable/bikeable development in the United States.
For many years the event has been run by the Local Government
Commission, a non-profit, i.e., private, organization headquartered in
Sacramento. In 2014 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded LGC
a $208,000 grant to organize and plan the annual conference for five
years (2014-2018). The 768 people listed on the 2017 roster of
participants included public officials, consultants, developers,
educators, health care professionals, and others. To my knowledge, I was
the only member of the press in attendance...
(1 comments)
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
The year that local zoning control comes under attack SHARE
SF Skyline with cranesA new move to usurp the ability of cities to control development moves forward, quickly and quietly
By Zelda Bronstein - January 9, 2017
2017 is already shaping up as a year in which local
control of development will come under unprecedented assault in
California and in the Bay Area in particular.
We have rookie State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 35,
submitted only a few hours after Wiener was sworn in to office on
December 5. Still in placeholder form, the measure would put legal teeth
into the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation and force cities to
“meet” the allocation allotted to them by the state. This radical proposal—as Tim Redmond has observed, it could set off a housing war...
The year that local zoning control comes under attack SHARE
SF Skyline with cranesA new move to usurp the ability of cities to control development moves forward, quickly and quietly
By Zelda Bronstein - January 9, 2017
2017 is already shaping up as a year in which local
control of development will come under unprecedented assault in
California and in the Bay Area in particular.
We have rookie State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 35,
submitted only a few hours after Wiener was sworn in to office on
December 5. Still in placeholder form, the measure would put legal teeth
into the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation and force cities to
“meet” the allocation allotted to them by the state. This radical proposal—as Tim Redmond has observed, it could set off a housing war...
(1 comments)
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Does Newsom want to be the guv who turns SF into Miami Beach? SHARE
By Tim Redmond - January 5, 2017The Lt. Gov is pushing a lawsuit to strip voter control over waterfront developmentGavin Newsom seems to want to be the governor who turned the San Francisco waterfront into Miami Beach.Newsom, who as Lite Guv chairs the State Lands Commission, is suing
his former hometown to try to block the voters from limiting height
limits on the waterfront.
The whole country is rebelling against forced to change and loss of
personal liberty. For a list of many other cities do a search for images for “save our neighborhood”...The Coalition to Preserve LA is a citywide movement that aims to
reform L.A.’s broken, rigged and unfair planning and land-use system
through Measure S, which has been placed on the March 7, 2017, ballot.
Does Newsom want to be the guv who turns SF into Miami Beach? SHARE
By Tim Redmond - January 5, 2017The Lt. Gov is pushing a lawsuit to strip voter control over waterfront developmentGavin Newsom seems to want to be the governor who turned the San Francisco waterfront into Miami Beach.Newsom, who as Lite Guv chairs the State Lands Commission, is suing
his former hometown to try to block the voters from limiting height
limits on the waterfront.
The whole country is rebelling against forced to change and loss of
personal liberty. For a list of many other cities do a search for images for “save our neighborhood”...The Coalition to Preserve LA is a citywide movement that aims to
reform L.A.’s broken, rigged and unfair planning and land-use system
through Measure S, which has been placed on the March 7, 2017, ballot.
(1 comments)
Monday, December 29, 2014
A Google Gentrification Fight That Doesn't Involve San Francisco SHARE
A Google Gentrification Fight That Doesn't Involve San Francisco. This story could be written about many American cities that are being overtaken by developers, intent on expanding their wealth at the expense of the middle class citizens who built the cities they now want.
A Google Gentrification Fight That Doesn't Involve San Francisco SHARE
A Google Gentrification Fight That Doesn't Involve San Francisco. This story could be written about many American cities that are being overtaken by developers, intent on expanding their wealth at the expense of the middle class citizens who built the cities they now want.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco's longest running independent voice, was shut down SHARE
By Mari Eliza, zrants -- excerpt
This story is a fast moving train which I will attempt to follow and share as it unfolds.
The demise of one of the oldest, most consistently progressive, liberal, left-leaning publications, in one of the most liberal cities in the America, is disturbing to all journalists at a time when the profession is under attack from many angles, and independent voices are being silenced.
Even though we didn't always agree with the editorial slant, and were not favored by the SFBG's recent endorsements, the possible loss of open dialogue in the press is of grave concern to all of us, and one that we hope will be corrected soon. We need to hear from all sides in order to make informed decisions.
The San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco's longest running independent voice, was shut down SHARE
By Mari Eliza, zrants -- excerpt
This story is a fast moving train which I will attempt to follow and share as it unfolds.
The demise of one of the oldest, most consistently progressive, liberal, left-leaning publications, in one of the most liberal cities in the America, is disturbing to all journalists at a time when the profession is under attack from many angles, and independent voices are being silenced.
Even though we didn't always agree with the editorial slant, and were not favored by the SFBG's recent endorsements, the possible loss of open dialogue in the press is of grave concern to all of us, and one that we hope will be corrected soon. We need to hear from all sides in order to make informed decisions.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Supreme Court Makes Sweeping Endorsement Of Digital Privacy SHARE
Police officers must get a warrant before searching the contents of a cell phone seized during an arrest, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, an opinion that amounts to a sweeping endorsement of digital privacy.
"Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans 'the privacies of life,'" Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
"The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought. Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple -- get a warrant."
Supreme Court Makes Sweeping Endorsement Of Digital Privacy SHARE
Police officers must get a warrant before searching the contents of a cell phone seized during an arrest, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, an opinion that amounts to a sweeping endorsement of digital privacy.
"Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans 'the privacies of life,'" Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
"The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought. Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple -- get a warrant."
(1 comments)
Friday, June 13, 2014
SFPD Refuses To Discuss Their Constitutionally-Dubious Cell Phone Tracker SHARE
SFPD Refuses To Discuss Their Constitutionally-Dubious Cell Phone Tracker
Warrantless use of a little known, and controversial technology the San Francisco Police Department uses to track cell phones via GPS -- and possibly intercept voice, SMS, and data transmissions -- was ruled a likely Fourth Amendment violation by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit this week.
If such technology was used by the SFPD in the course of an investigation or submitted as evidence in a criminal trial, the decision may present defendants in criminal cases with a greater chance of suppressing such evidence, and result in overturned criminal convictions of past cases.
SFPD Refuses To Discuss Their Constitutionally-Dubious Cell Phone Tracker SHARE
SFPD Refuses To Discuss Their Constitutionally-Dubious Cell Phone Tracker
Warrantless use of a little known, and controversial technology the San Francisco Police Department uses to track cell phones via GPS -- and possibly intercept voice, SMS, and data transmissions -- was ruled a likely Fourth Amendment violation by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit this week.
If such technology was used by the SFPD in the course of an investigation or submitted as evidence in a criminal trial, the decision may present defendants in criminal cases with a greater chance of suppressing such evidence, and result in overturned criminal convictions of past cases.
(1 comments)
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Are Foreclosure Cases Rigged? SHARE
In early 2006, as California's real estate bubble was beginning to burst, an elderly Los Angeles couple, Fannie Marie and Milton Gaines, fell behind on their mortgage payments and received a notice of default from their lender, Countrywide Home Loans. Hoping to avoid foreclosure, the couple agreed to a plan suggested by Countrywide: They would obtain a loan modification provided by a third party, a businessman named Joshua Tornberg. What the Gaineses didn't know, however, was that Tornberg was the fiancee of the Countrywide employee who made the recommendation. And instead of saving the Gaineses' house, Tornberg scammed the elderly couple, recorded an altered deed, and extracted $240,000 from the property before walking away, according to court documents.
Are Foreclosure Cases Rigged? SHARE
In early 2006, as California's real estate bubble was beginning to burst, an elderly Los Angeles couple, Fannie Marie and Milton Gaines, fell behind on their mortgage payments and received a notice of default from their lender, Countrywide Home Loans. Hoping to avoid foreclosure, the couple agreed to a plan suggested by Countrywide: They would obtain a loan modification provided by a third party, a businessman named Joshua Tornberg. What the Gaineses didn't know, however, was that Tornberg was the fiancee of the Countrywide employee who made the recommendation. And instead of saving the Gaineses' house, Tornberg scammed the elderly couple, recorded an altered deed, and extracted $240,000 from the property before walking away, according to court documents.
(1 comments)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Breaking News: Nuclear Zero Lawsuits Filed SHARE
Breaking News: Nuclear Zero Lawsuits Filed
Big news today out of The Hague and San Francisco. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has filed unprecedented lawsuits against all nine nuclear-armed nations for their failure to negotiate in good faith for nuclear disarmament, as required under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The suits were filed against all nine nations at the International Court of Justice, with an additional complaint against the United States filed in U.S. Federal District Court.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation applauds the courage of the RMI's leaders in bringing lawsuits against the nuclear-armed nations. The people of the RMI continue to suffer today from U.S. nuclear weapon tests that took place on their territory in the 1940s and 1950s, and they want to ensure that such devastation -- or worse -- is never brought on anyone ever again.
Breaking News: Nuclear Zero Lawsuits Filed SHARE
Breaking News: Nuclear Zero Lawsuits Filed
Big news today out of The Hague and San Francisco. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has filed unprecedented lawsuits against all nine nuclear-armed nations for their failure to negotiate in good faith for nuclear disarmament, as required under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The suits were filed against all nine nations at the International Court of Justice, with an additional complaint against the United States filed in U.S. Federal District Court.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation applauds the courage of the RMI's leaders in bringing lawsuits against the nuclear-armed nations. The people of the RMI continue to suffer today from U.S. nuclear weapon tests that took place on their territory in the 1940s and 1950s, and they want to ensure that such devastation -- or worse -- is never brought on anyone ever again.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Why Corporations Are Freaking Out About Obama's Big Trade Deal SHARE
WASHINGTON -- Steve Biegun is not exactly a left-wing radical. During the Bush years, he served as an adviser to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee. When John McCain named Sarah Palin...
Why Corporations Are Freaking Out About Obama's Big Trade Deal SHARE
WASHINGTON -- Steve Biegun is not exactly a left-wing radical. During the Bush years, he served as an adviser to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee. When John McCain named Sarah Palin...
(2 comments)
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Obama Faces Growing Rebellion Against The Secure Communities Deportation Program SHARE
WASHINGTON -- Last Wednesday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) announced a significant change to the city's law enforcement policies. Going forward, Philadelphia officials would no longer acquiesce to the federal government's requests that they ...
Obama Faces Growing Rebellion Against The Secure Communities Deportation Program SHARE
WASHINGTON -- Last Wednesday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) announced a significant change to the city's law enforcement policies. Going forward, Philadelphia officials would no longer acquiesce to the federal government's requests that they ...
(1 comments)
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Privatization of public housing SHARE
By Yael Chanoff : SF Bay Guardian
Many residents feel they're moving from the frying pan of Housing Authority control into the fire of developer and nonprofit management.
Like so many San Franciscans, Sabrina Carter is getting evicted.
The mother of three says that if she loses her home in the Western Addition, she'll have nowhere to go. It's been a tough, four-year battle against her landlord â?? a St. Louis-based development company called McCormack Baron â?? and its law firm, Bornstein & Bornstein. That's the same law firm that gained notoriety for holding an "eviction boot camp" last November to teach landlords how to do Ellis Act evictions and sweep tenants out of rent-controlled housing.
But Carter's story isn't your typical Ellis eviction. Plaza East, where she lives, is a public housing project.
Privatization of public housing SHARE
By Yael Chanoff : SF Bay Guardian
Many residents feel they're moving from the frying pan of Housing Authority control into the fire of developer and nonprofit management.
Like so many San Franciscans, Sabrina Carter is getting evicted.
The mother of three says that if she loses her home in the Western Addition, she'll have nowhere to go. It's been a tough, four-year battle against her landlord â?? a St. Louis-based development company called McCormack Baron â?? and its law firm, Bornstein & Bornstein. That's the same law firm that gained notoriety for holding an "eviction boot camp" last November to teach landlords how to do Ellis Act evictions and sweep tenants out of rent-controlled housing.
But Carter's story isn't your typical Ellis eviction. Plaza East, where she lives, is a public housing project.
(1 comments)
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Signatures for S.F. waterfront height limit measure filed - SFGate SHARE
If passed, the measure would put a check on high-rise hotels and condo towers along the bay and require voter approval for height increases for three major waterfront development plans: the Golden State Warriors' proposal for an 18,000-seat arena complex, the San Francisco Giants' plan for an urban neighborhood on what is their main parking lot, and the development of the industrial Pier 70 area. Proponents, including the San Francisco chapter of the Sierra Club and limited-growth activists who in November helped defeat a luxury condo development planned near the Ferry Building, say the measure is about protecting the waterfront from politically connected developers trying to skirt rules that voters required when they backed the creation of a comprehensive waterfront development plan in 1990.
Signatures for S.F. waterfront height limit measure filed - SFGate SHARE
If passed, the measure would put a check on high-rise hotels and condo towers along the bay and require voter approval for height increases for three major waterfront development plans: the Golden State Warriors' proposal for an 18,000-seat arena complex, the San Francisco Giants' plan for an urban neighborhood on what is their main parking lot, and the development of the industrial Pier 70 area. Proponents, including the San Francisco chapter of the Sierra Club and limited-growth activists who in November helped defeat a luxury condo development planned near the Ferry Building, say the measure is about protecting the waterfront from politically connected developers trying to skirt rules that voters required when they backed the creation of a comprehensive waterfront development plan in 1990.
(1 comments)
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sunday Shows To West Virginia: Drop Dead! SHARE
Some 300,000 residents of West Virginia are without safe drinking water this weekend after 7,500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked into the Elk River. It's a news story of great importance to ordinary human Americans, and so let's round up all of the coverage the Sunday shows gave to one of the most significant (and potentially scandalous) environmental disasters in America since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Sunday Shows To West Virginia: Drop Dead! SHARE
Some 300,000 residents of West Virginia are without safe drinking water this weekend after 7,500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked into the Elk River. It's a news story of great importance to ordinary human Americans, and so let's round up all of the coverage the Sunday shows gave to one of the most significant (and potentially scandalous) environmental disasters in America since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Techpreneur's Friends Won't Let Him Retract His Facebook Rant Calling SF's Destitute 'Trash' SHARE
AlterNet / By Rod Bastanmehr
comments_image Comments
Yet another indication of the callousness of some of the city's 'haves.'
December 12, 2013 |
At 7 miles by 7 miles, it seems San Francisco may not be big enough for both the haves and the have-nots. At least not according to Greg Gopman, founder of AngelHack, the world's largest hackathon competition, who found himself in hot water this week when he went on a Facebook rant about the state of the city's downtown district, and the number of homeless people on the city streets.
Techpreneur's Friends Won't Let Him Retract His Facebook Rant Calling SF's Destitute 'Trash' SHARE
AlterNet / By Rod Bastanmehr
comments_image Comments
Yet another indication of the callousness of some of the city's 'haves.'
December 12, 2013 |
At 7 miles by 7 miles, it seems San Francisco may not be big enough for both the haves and the have-nots. At least not according to Greg Gopman, founder of AngelHack, the world's largest hackathon competition, who found himself in hot water this week when he went on a Facebook rant about the state of the city's downtown district, and the number of homeless people on the city streets.
(1 comments)
Monday, October 14, 2013
Map: These are the cities that climate change will hit first SHARE
Map: These are the cities that climate change will hit first
Map: These are the cities that climate change will hit first SHARE
Map: These are the cities that climate change will hit first
