The Alcatraz Conversion Experience.......is one helluva trippy trip, one of those moments that makes me truly thankful to be covering politics in San Francisco.
It's not just the bejeweled image of a converted Alcatraz by night, or the the image of a white-domed daytime Alcatraz 'Peace Center" Island that got me tripping.
No, to get the full impact of the trippy conversion experience, scroll down the Global Peace Foundation's website to their YouTube video clip. It's an election prelude quite unlike anything I've seen before.
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Comments (2)
They're talking about blowing up the cliffs so the island is "smoothly rounded." Those cliffs are home to nesting sea-birds. In addition they show a lush, green island, more reminiscent of Hawaii than the Bay Area. Native plants and grasses from the Bay Area aren't lush and green. Where is all the water going to come from to water their lush green garden?
This, out of all the stupid ballot initiatives we deal with every election, is quite possibly the stupidest. It calls for destroying the island to save it and mandates the City to spend tax dollars on what is essentially a religious mission. It's patently unconstitutional and anti-environmental. In short - it's something The Guardian and its writers can get solidly behind!
Posted by Shane | November 30, 2007 08:49 PM
What the hell? I couldn't make it past the first couple minutes of that tripped out video, but I can say with confidence that the whole "the island was sacred to native americans" thing is a line of bullcrap. Beyond the way that all land held spiritual significance to the coastal tribes here, Alcatraz didn't have any special powers. In fact, some local tribes probably used it as a place to send ostracized community members!
Plus that place is naturally cold and barren - much better suited to be a nesting place for sea birds than a new-age tourist trap!
Posted by Felix | December 1, 2007 02:24 PM