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What's the cop union pissed about now?

02.05.07 - 4:45 pm | G.W. Schulz |
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By G.W. Schulz

Welcome to another edition of "What's the cop union pissed about now?" where we summarize the open contempt and paranoia filling the POA Journal, the official publication of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which leads each month with a generally aimless yet sometimes hilarious diatribe on somebody or something in the city from the union's outspoken president Gary Delagnes.

The mayor seeks "counseling"

02.05.07 - 4:04 pm | Tim Redmond |
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By Tim Redmond

So Gavin Newsom admits he has a drinking problem and is going to get counseling. Good for him. I hope he joins AA, goes to meetings, takes it seriously and cleans himself up. If he really has an alcohol problem, it won't be easy, and he deserves all the support he can get.

But frankly, his brand of treatment sounds a bit weak. He's not going into residential rehab; he's not giving up any of his duties. Read more »

JOSH'S 169th DAY

02.05.07 - 3:33 pm | Amanda Witherell |
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by Amanda Witherell

Well, it's not exactly cause for celebration, but Tuesday, February 6 will be Josh Wolf's 169th day in jail and he'll now be known as the journalist with the longest record of incarceration for contempt in US history. Read more »

Fascinating tidbits

02.05.07 - 2:22 pm | Tim Redmond |
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By Tim Redmond

From the what-did-they-know-and-when-did-they-know-it department:

Fog City Journal reported friday that the folks at that online pub had asked Ruby Tourk in December about the rumors of her affair with the mayor. A short excerpt:

When we asked Ms. Tourk in early December about the deafening whispers, she denied everything and clammed up. Read more »

Now THIS is funny

02.02.07 - 3:01 pm | Tim Redmond |
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By Tim Redmond

Newsom backs same-wife marriage

Take a deep breath,everyone

02.02.07 - 1:37 pm | Tim Redmond |
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By Tim Redmond

Our editorial on this whole mess is here

"Suturb, ut te"

02.02.07 - 11:41 am | Sarah Phelan |
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By Sarah Phelan

"Eturb, ut te" is "Et tu, Brutus" spelled backwards.

As such it seems a fittingly ass-backwards phrase to sum up the dynamics of the Newsom affair, which is so Shakespearian in terms of the lust, the lies and the betrayals, which ultimately led to yesterday's potentially career-shattering revelations, yet seems so ass-backwards in so many ways. Very very suturbing.

Newsom's other Peter problem

02.02.07 - 11:01 am | Steven T. Jones |
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By Steven T. Jones
At the end of yesterday's sex scandal whirlwind, I finally got a chance to talk with Newsom press secretary Peter Ragone about the scandal that got pushed aside by the larger scandal: Ragone being caught using pseudonyms in online posts and then lying to cover it up. Read more »

Newsom's apology

02.01.07 - 3:42 pm | Steven T. Jones |
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By Steven T. Jones
There were lots of different ways that Gavin Newsom could have reacted to news that he was having sex with an at-will employee who was also married to his close friend and top adviser, but almost all of them involved an apology. Here’s what he chose to say this morning, in its entirety, followed by why I think he has fallen short and sown the seeds for dragging out this scandal longer than necessary:

“Thank you for coming here on such short notice. Read more »

It’s Getting Hot in Here

02.01.07 - 2:35 pm | Sarah Phelan |
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It’s Getting Hot in Here
Sarah Phelan
Hours before all hell broke loose over at City hall over news that he'd been having an affair, Mayor Gavin Newsom showed up at the SFPUC's Climate Change summit to endorse long overdue efforts to combat global warming.

“God’s delays are God’s denials,” began Newsom, blissfully unaware that his former appointments secretary Roby Rippey-Tourk was about to confess to her husband Alex Tourk about the affair, and that Tourk would immediately confront the mayor--and resign from his post as Newsom's campaign manager. Read more »