Trade

Drug NAFTA: More Mexican Cartels in the United States, but Americans Are Doing the Smuggling

It can be hard to figure out exactly what to make of the evil, ugly specter known as Mexican drug cartels. A pair of investigative reports, conducted by the Associated Press and the Center for Investigative Reporting, have given us some conclusions to chew on -- and together, they paint an odd pictu ... More >>

Awesome Kid Raises $30K From Lemonade Stand, Uses Money to Fight Human Trafficking

While you all have been lazily basking in the sun this summer, this 8-year-old girl has been working her tail off to change the world, one lemon at a time. In the Northern California city of Fairfax, Vivienne Harr has spent the last 57 days of her summer vacation turning lemons into lemonade -- lite ... More >>

Debates over the Internet Bring Out the Inanity

​The Internet conundrum is so difficult that it, like all difficult problems, has tended to attract people who don't want to address it, but to oversimplify it and then fight full-tilt for whatever far-end-of-the-spectrum "side" they've chosen. This is true of all complicated matters of public c ... More >>

Happiness Economics Says: Quit Your Job and Start Pickling

Every decade has its cult occupations, the subject of a million daydreams​ of the "I'm going to tell my boss to shove it and go [become a DJ / start catering / set up a used-book stall on the banks of the Seine]" variety. In San Francisco, at least, right now the fantasy job seems to involve ... More >>

On Moon Festival Day, We Review Three Local Mooncakes

Jonathan KauffmanGolden Gate Bakery's mooncake.​Today is the date of the Moon Festival, and chances are, you've already been given or re-gifted at least one mooncake, which is still sitting on your kitchen counter, wrapped in its hermetically sealed plastic packet, where it will keep for another m ... More >>

Coco-Zen Delivers Great Packaging, Very Good Truffles

​I get foodstuffs regularly with packaging ranging from non-existent to pretty boxes tied up in a bow, but the packaging for Coco-Zen's Truffles-To-Go made me wish I didn't have to taste the contents. The Pacifica company's truffles come in a stainless steel tiffin which just screams "gift." ... More >>

Tartine's New Focus on Ancient Grains, More About Fair Trade Coffee, Another Questionable Food App

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media.1. Ancient Grains. The Bay Citizen conducted an e-mail interview with Tartine's Chad Robertson, who's been taking trips to Denmark to learn how to bake with ancient varieties of rye an ... More >>

Fair Trade Isn't Really Fair to Coffee Growers, Bon Appetit Justifies Gwyneth Cover

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. 1. Fair Trade Is Not Always Fair. The coffee blog Sprudge sent me to this disturbing story in Canada's National Post: A decade-long study of Nicaraguan coffee farmers by University o ... More >>

A Sermon on Fair Trade, Disguised as a Pop-Up Brunch

Jesse HirschShake it: Ethan Terry.​The ever-present guys behind Stag Dining took a step backwards Saturday morning at the Wake Up the World brunch, letting the cause du jour take center stage. The meal, a benefit for Oakland-based Fair Trade USA, allowed guests a chance to hear about all the f ... More >>

Saturday Morning Stag Party

Aaron Grobler/Stag DIning Group​Stag Dining Group's Wake Up the World Brunch Where: Hub SoMa, 901 Mission (at Fifth St.), 624-5881 When: Sat., May 14, 10 a.m. Cost: $100 The rundown: In celebration of World Fair Trade Day, the altruists at Stag Dining Group are hosting a brunch at design ... More >>

Beijing Restaurant: A taste of Northern China in San Francisco

Return to Sender

How Would Immigration Reform Look if the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

Airlines Accused of Price-Fixing in Class-Action Lawsuit

​A hangar-ful of airlines is facing a class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco that alleges an "international conspiracy" to fix prices and bilk travelers.The suit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court by San Francisco resident Caroline Joy, who is represented by the law firm Moscone Embli ... More >>

Path to Civility

Cyclists jumping lights and drivers blocking bike lanes need to get cited.

More Fair Trade Chocolate Freebies Today!

Fair is good, but free is better.​Hey, it's free chocolate day! Indulge in the sweet life today at Fog City News (455 Market at First St.), where free samples of Divine fair trade chocolate will be available from noon to 2 p.m. Savvy chocolate fans might remember the Divine giveaways in S.F. a ... More >>

Free Chocolate at a Handful of BART Stations Tonight

Promise you won't smudge the handrail of your BART car.​Didja get your free Bay Bridge broken hot dog yesterday at Zog's? Still hungry for schwag? This evening, samples of Divine Chocolate will be handed out at a number of BART stations: from 4 to 8 p.m. at Montgomery in S.F., and from 5 to 7 ... More >>

Obama's stimulus money will increase traffic, but not bridge safety

Billionaire Oilman's Traveling Green Energy Road Show Hits S.F.

Daniel KramerT. Boone PickensAs Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens hits San Francisco tonight in his ongoing tour promoting a curtailing of foreign oil imports and a bolstering of domestic clean energy (in which he is invested to the gills), a long, strange article about Pickens' long, strange trip h ... More >>

"We Are Winning"

Why We Love Oil

Free association economy

Mexican bribes and high gas prices: The May Fire's tour diary

Free Coffee At Harvest & Rowe Cafe

Little GoCars are big polluters

Weezer Visits Bay Area in Oct.

Darker My Love Kicks Off California Residency this Week

Hey DJ! Friday Q&A: DJ Jamie Jams

Gather Your Fiddlehead Ferns While Ye May

Totally Seriously Free

Krist Novoselic Blogging for Seattle Weekly

Richie Unterberger

Free Trade (in Doctors)

If physicians really cared about our health, they'd drop their iron wall against immigrant doctors

Our Foreign Correspondent

Powerful Advice

Leaders should ignore the temptation to over-regulate energy policy and let competition reign

Student of Concern

Will we be more secure -- or just less competitive -- if the government forces hundreds of thousands of international science students to get export licenses simply to look through a microscope?

Art Bandits

What's stealing and what's not, in "Pirated: A Post Asian Perspective"

The Power of Yes

A pair of political pranksters invent the art of "identity correction"

Best Cookie

Morena at Emporio Rulli Gran Caffe

Learning to Compete

Executives involved in outsourcing U.S. jobs should also become involved in sponsoring CA schools

Dead Man Running

"Kucinich is, like, The normal laws of physics don't apply to me.'"

Slippery When Wet

Finding a hidden gem in a Chinese restaurant

Best Yogurt

Total

Paying the Price: Why Are S.F. Gas Prices So High?

Bay Area motorists pay the highest gas prices in the state

Paying the Price

Major oil companies are gobbling up independent gas station operators, all in the name of greed

Best Radical Group

League of Filipino Students

Postscript

Anarchy Through Government (and Vice Versa)

South to the Future

Conservatives Help Fund Anti-WTO Rally

Side Dish

The Cuisinart for You, the Calphalon for Me, Musical Chairs, Shrooming, Debutante Dish, and Down But Not Out

Mulch