Top Story

Caption here (*required)
Sorrow, tears, blood -- and dance

Old friends and inspired musicians revisit Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti's influence at Saturday's World Wide Dance Party

This Week's Paper

The state of cannabis in 2012. Plus: pot club updates, new spirits, Occupy's return, Baby Jaymes, more. Flip through the digital edition.

Listings

From the Blogs

pixel_vision

Headshots for the homeless? Photographer Joe Ramos connects art and social work

01.27.12 - 9:23 am | Ali Lane |
(0)
"Hannah" by Joe Ramos
"Vanessa, Garry, and Son" by Joe Ramos
"Ethel" by Joe Ramos
"Lacretia, Jannine, and Tacora" by Joe Ramos
"Denise and Greg" by Joe Ramos

Images of homelessness are not hard to come by. These scenes are often pathetic, clichéd. In the worst cases, the homeless are portrayed as inhuman heaps of blanket and facial disfigurement, people reduced to their time spent sleeping on the streets or begging for money. But in “Acknowledged,” photographer Joe Ramos’ exhibit at the Main Library that opens Sat/28, unhoused subjects are shown in a way that’s truly radical: as people just like us. Read more »

politics

Mayor Lee's call for more hearings gets wary reception

01.26.12 - 9:19 pm | Steven T. Jones |
(14)

Labor and the Left came out strongly against Mayor Ed Lee’s proposed charter amendment to require all city legislation be delayed and subjected to hearings by the Small Business Commission and other commissions if it might cost private sector jobs, putting its prospects of making the ballot in doubt.

 “This legislation is one, unnecessary; two, unbalanced; and three, divisive,” Mike Casey, president of the San Francisco Labor Council – whose executive committee voted unanimously to oppose the legislation – said during today’s Rules Committee hearing on the measure.Read more »

noise

“So this will really be a doggie disco.”

01.26.12 - 5:03 pm | Emily Savage |
(0)

Let’s just get this out of the way immediately: there’s going to be a doggie dance this Sunday at the Stud. I could say no more about it and there would still be a segment of people, myself very much included, that would need to go, no questions asked. I mean, it’s a dance for dogs. Read more »

politics

Can SF follow Berkeley in dumping the big banks?

01.26.12 - 3:47 pm | Tim Redmond |
(1)

The City of Berkeley is considering dropping its contract with Wells Fargo and moving the city's money to a credit union or a smaller community bank. That makes perfect sense -- the Move Your Money Project has been urging individuals to do that, and there's no reason why cities (which are huge customers of banking services) can't do the same.

In fact, San Francisco ought to be next on the list.Read more »

politics

America’s Cup moves forward, but economic concerns remain

01.26.12 - 3:08 pm | Yael Chanoff |
(4)

In past weeks, several environmental and community organizations filed two appeals of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the America's Cup yacht race in 2013.

Jan. 24, the Board of Supervisors rejected the appeal, allowing for construction on the several major projects contained in the America's Cup proposal to move forward.

But some supervisors say that the many groups with environmental concerns about the America's Cup brought up important issues, including economic issues that will still need to be addressed.

Read more »

politics

Why the public thinks government is fat

01.26.12 - 2:54 pm | Tim Redmond |
(4)

Polls from the PPIC are typically pretty accurate, so I have no reason to doubt the results of a recent one showing that a majority of Californnians still think government can be cut substantially without a reduction in services. It's hard to fathom; as Brian at Calitics notes,Read more »

sexsf

The sex heard ‘round the world: [SSEX BBOX] documentary premieres

01.26.12 - 2:41 pm | Soojin Chang |
(0)

Scenes from [SSEX BBOX], the global sexuality documentary project whose long-awaited first episode will premiere at the Center of Sex and Culture on Mon/30:

One. A protest in Berlin, where a presentation is being made on the 16th century physical punishments that religious institutions imposed on sexually “immoral” people. 

Two. A conversation between two transgendered men living in Brazil. Read more »

pixel_vision

This is our country, too: Fred Korematsu's daughter on her father's civil rights legacy

01.26.12 - 1:18 pm | Soojin Chang |
(1)

“One never knows after someone dies what happens to their legacy. Sometimes it becomes a part of history and sometimes it grows,” Karen Korematsu -remarked in a phone interview with the Guardian this week. Her father, civil rights activist Fred Korematsu, will be honored statewide with his own official day on Mon/30. You can celebrate his legacy locally at the Oakland Museum of California’s Lunar New Year event on Sun/29, where Karen will be speaking about her dad’s contribution to our cultural heritage. Read more »

noise

Party Radar: Cheap, GO BANG!, DDP, Mosca, Stacey Pullen, more

01.26.12 - 1:11 pm | Marke B. |
(0)

In this week's Super Ego column I bitched that club cover charges were getting too high -- and pumped some affordable, worthwhile upcoming parties. Here are even more for this weekend, including one called, yes, Cheap. You know it!

Read more »

Dome rock

Carlton Melton — ex-Zen Guerrilla — creates psychedelic noise in a geodesic structure

01.26.12 - 11:55 am | Emily Savage |
(0)

MUSIC "I don't know if you've ever been in a geodesic dome," says drummer-guitarist Andy Duvall, formerly of Zen Guerilla, and currently one third of the improvisational space rock outfit Carlton Melton. "But if you stand right in the middle, there's a sweet spot."Read more »

What are people?

Occupy protesters and progressive politicians call for end to corporate personhood

01.26.12 - 10:23 am | Shawn Gaynor |
(1)

Protesters from the Occupy movement and beyond gathered in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Jan. 20, calling for the adoption of a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution aimed at refuting the idea that corporations should have the same rights as people, a legal doctrine know as corporate personhood.Read more »

politics

How should San Franciscans vote?

01.25.12 - 7:20 pm | Steven T. Jones |
(34)

The Board of Supervisors Rules Committee will consider competing proposals for changing how elections are conducted in San Francisco tomorrow (Thu/26) at 2 p.m., taking public testimony and voting on which ideas should go before voters in June.Read more »

politics

Milk Plaza vote raises public-space issues

01.25.12 - 4:52 pm | Tim Redmond |
(0)

The supervisors will vote Jan. 31 on new rules for the use of Harvey Milk Plaza and Jane Warner Plaza, rules that could have an impact on the future use of small public parklets. Sup. Scott Wiener introduced the legislation, which has stirred up a lot of opposition -- and in the end, the decision will probably come down to how Sup. David Chiu decides to vote. Read more »

politics

Redistricting: A Guardian Forum

01.25.12 - 4:31 pm | Tim Redmond |
(7)

The new supervisorial districts could change the makeup of the board and have a lasting impact on local politics. There's been a lot of discussion about individual districts -- but not so much talk about how the new map will affect progressive politics citywide. We're holding a Guardian forum Jan. 26 to look at that issue, discuss different scenarios and come up with some alternatives. Read more »

politics

Occupy and the State of the Union

01.25.12 - 3:45 pm | Tim Redmond |
(2)

Have all of the Occupy actions made any difference? Gee -- I wonder.

I wonder if a president who acted a year ago as if economic justice wasn't even an issue in this country would have devoted a substantial part of his State of the Union speech to fairness in tax policy. I wonder if he would have said this:Read more »