World Politics

Nevada Sends S.F. Trove of Public Records Related to "Patient Dumping"

To many Californians, perhaps the only thing more outrageous than the idea of Nevada dumping hundreds of mentally ill patients into the Golden State is the idea that Nevada's Governor would have the audacity to deny it. But last week, Gov. Brian Sandoval did just that, acknowledging no more than o ... More >>

Gavin Newsom Urged to Take it Easy, Stop Talking So Much

On Gavin Newsom's recent book tour, Stephen Colbert noted that our lieutenant governor's tome ought to come with a "bullshit detector" and added that all of Newsom's trite Newsomisms should be carved onto a rock and tossed onto someone's front lawn. Put that one on your back cover. Writing a book wa ... More >>

"No": Out-Advertising a Dictatorship

Ryan Andresen, Gay Boy Scout Denied Eagle Award, To Be Honored by California Pols

Ryan Andresen, the incredibly badass 18-year-old who was booted from boy scouts because he's gay, is getting the recognition he so deserves. After scoring a spot on the Ellen Show and Anderson Cooper 360, the East Bay teen's next stop is the state capitol where he'll be honored by the California As ... More >>

Prop. 34: California Keeps Death Penalty, Once Again Shows It's Not as Liberal as Some Think

California: that big blue state that handed President Obama 54 free electoral college points and gave his campaign more money than any other state. The state that is on the brink of Democratic supermajorities in both the state House and state Senate and contains a voting population in which register ... More >>

Gov. Brown Won't Let Reporters Have Easy Access to Prison Inmates

Assembly Bill 1270, passed by both chambers of the state legislature, would have allowed journalists to set up interviews with specific inmates in state prisons. Eight times over the past two decades a similar bill had passed through to the governor's desk, and all eight times it was vetoed.The stre ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown Has a Chance to Usher in Major Prison Reforms in California

With a couple strokes of his pen, Gov. Jerry Brown can significantly alter the way California's prison system works. Yesterday, the state Senate passed a bill that would give parole opportunities to juvenile offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. This week, that body will ... More >>

True Blue

Peter Magowan, Former Giants President, Among Romney's Top Bay Area Donors

Californians would have loved 2002 Mitt Romney. That guy was the bleeding heart who pushed universal health care in his state; the conservationist who would attack a coal plant by saying "I will not create jobs that kill people!"; a man who signed a Planned Parenthood candidate questionnaire affirmi ... More >>

Leland Yee, Champion of Shark Fin Soup, to Tout More Politically Correct Broth

​State Sen. Leland Yee, the enigmatic San Francisco politician known for his past brushes with the law and diverse array of stances on major policy issues, positioned himself last year as an opponent of a ban on shark fin soup, the Asian delicacy that depends on grisly fishing methods. That turned ... More >>

Leland Yee, Champion of Shark Fin Soup, to Tout More Politically Correct Broth

Leland Yee likes all types of soup​State Sen. Leland Yee, the enigmatic San Francisco politician known for his past brushes with the law and diverse array of stances on major policy issues, positioned himself last year as an opponent of a ban on shark fin soup, the Asian delicacy that depends on ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill That Heads Off Local Ban on Circumcisions

​The controversy over male circumcisions has officially been nipped in the bud. Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday signed off on a new law that puts the kibosh on local cities and counties looking to criminalize circumcision for males younger than 18.Lawmakers passed the bill last month, claiming a ci ... More >>

Senator Lou Correa, Author of Vetoed Medical Marijuana Restrictions Bill, Just Wanted to Help

The LiberalOCHere to help​Medical marijuana advocates celebrated Wednesday with Governor Jerry Brown's veto of SB 847. The brainchild of State Senator Lou Correa (D-Orange County), the bill would have made a 600-foot barrier between medical cannabis dispensaries and homes state law (except in citi ... More >>

Gavin Newsom's House Sells

It's official: Newsom's out​Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom can no longer play coy about whether he is or is not a resident of San Francisco. According to news reports, the former San Francisco mayor's house has officially sold, which means he is officially no longer a denizen of our fair city. S ... More >>

Labor Union May Be Able to Set City Manager Paychecks

Nancy Pelosi's Wealth Just Keeps Growing

What the hell does she know about being broke?​While the rest of us have been languishing in what seems like a never-ending recession, one of top San Francisco lawmakers just keeps getting richer. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's (D-San Francisco) personal wealth grew by 62 percent over the last year, ... More >>

Antismoking Bill May Mean the End of Hookah Houses

Anarchy in the U.S.

Hey Rich Assholes: Are You Shorting Your Nanny? Tell It to the Judge

Don't even think about shorting her...​The cost of living for the Meg Whitmans of the world might become much more expensive. California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D- San Francisco) announced today that he is introducing legislation to improve the lives of domestic workers in the state.The bill, whi ... More >>

Mayoral Selection: What the Hell Is Gonna Happen Today?

Should he stay or should he go?​To paraphrase T.S. Eliot, the ongoing showdown between the progressive supervisors and erstwhile Mayor Gavin Newsom regarding the naming of his successor will end with a bang or a whimper. Or lots of whimpering. Or lots of banging. The supes are slated today to vote ... More >>

Return to Sender

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

FAIR-y Tales

The Examiner's Hilarious Political Endorsements

​God help me, but it's true: I love America's Funniest Home Videos. Thanks to YouTube, you can find more than enough old episodes. You turn the sound off -- be gone, Bob Saget! -- and bliss. It's so predictable, yet so hilarious. Men working on roofs are gonna fall. Skateboarders will not land whe ... More >>

Workers' comp covers retired cops who get cancer

Her House Divided

The most powerful female politician in the country now teeters between long-term victory and instant defeat.

S.F. Legislators Approve $400K Gift to Insurers. Will Governor?

It's unanimous: let's screw San Francisco​In a year when San Francisco faces a $787 million budget shortfall, how do our representatives in Sacramento propose to help out? By unanimously supporting a measure transferring $400,000 annually in health care expenses from insurers to local San Francis ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

Held Captive

Coyotes who smuggle immigrants torture and extort their victims, helped by out government's failure to enact immigration reform.

Republicans tastelessly milk cow-shooting controversy

Election 2010: Democrats Look Safe in Bay Area -- For Now

Rep. Jerry McNerney: First off the island?​With all the sturm und drang gripping the Democratic party as the fall election approaches -- some observers are forecasting a Republican take-back of the House of Representatives, prompted by widespread anger over the economy and some of President Barack ... More >>

Who Should Progressives Root for In World Cup?

If you were a true progressive, you'd pull for a World Cup outcome that'd help Lula hold onto power. You know this to be true. ​Last week we wrote about how the U.S. World Cup team's thrilling, last-minute victory over Algeria wasn't due to any kind innately American traits hard-wired into players ... More >>

Badlands: From Ground Zero of the Immigration Crisis Along the Mexican Border

Media's 'Man on the Street' in Facebook 'Liberal Hunting' Piece Actually Story's Tipster

Screen capture | KTVUFar from being a 'Man on the Street,' Republican voter Jim Freeman was the originator of the Facebook 'liberal hunting' story​We reported earlier today on a Bay Area GOP Congressional candidate's bizarre Facebook post, in which he fantasized about issuing hunting permits f ... More >>

No Justice

Despite Obama's promises of change, corporate crooks are still going unpunished for their roles in the financial collapse.

Bay Area Profs Speak Out Against Stimulus

Did stimulus really help them?Washington's elected officials and punditocracy have of late been consumed in hashing out the shape of an economic stimulus package. While no love has been lost between Republicans and Democrats in the pit fight over the bill's final shape, both sides say they recognize ... More >>

Earth's Richest Man World's Greatest Newspaper? Damning San Francisco Archive Suggests it's a Match Made in Hell

As Sunday news reports described Mexican monopolist Carlos Slim Helu's bid to become the largest shareholder of The New York Times, readers and staffers were no doubt wondering precisely what kind of scoundrel he is.Everyone knows Slim controls Telmex, the politically connected monopoly that has dri ... More >>

Dear God: If you can't stop Mark Morford, please teach him to use the internet

Japan: Things Just Got More Awesome.

Hugo Chavez "Shut Up" Ringtone: Spanish King Juan Carlos a Ringtone Hit

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?

Gay Rights in High Places

As the king fights a Maoist insurrection, the Nepali Supreme Court decides whether homosexual acts are "bestiality"

Letters to the Editor

Week of October 29, 2003

The Unlikely Environmentalists

International environmentalists claim they stopped a Mexican salt plant that endangered the gray whale. Actually, though, the Mexican government canceled the plant for reasons of its own.

Letters to the Editor

Letters from March 21, 2001

Letters to the Editor

Published April 26, 2000

From Russia With Diamonds

In 1995, Golden ADA Inc., a San Francisco diamond-importing firm, collapsed, unveiling an international trail of theft and betrayal that embarrassed San Francisco luminaries involved with the company. Now, newly unsealed court files show that high-level m

Building a Better Bomb

While condemning India for its nuclear testing, the U.S. government quietly funnels billions to research programs aimed at creating an ever-more-virulent nuclear arsenal

Give Me Your Healthy

The immigration crackdown has Latinos fleeing mainstream medicine