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Muslim beliefs are barely understood in the United States, if not intentionally distorted. It can also be hard for outsiders to know who speaks for Muslims, a diverse and complex group still finding its footing in America. **snip** Leaders hope that someday they will create a statewide body, a coalition for what may be the largest Muslim population in the nation.

BAY AREA (KRON) -- The unsolved murder of two San Francisco police officers has languished as cold cases for 30 years until now. A federal grand jury has been looking into the murders. Many of the people now under investigation both as potential targets and witnesses in this case are scattered across the country. Many of them are now in their 50s and 60s. Investigators believe the crimes were politically motivated and committed by militant radical groups. On August 29, 1971, sergeant John Young is killed in a barrage of gunfire when two men walk into the Ingleside police station...

A San Francisco radio host billed by his station as the "Lion of the Left" was sentenced yesterday to seven years of prison on a charge of e-mailing images of child pornography. Bernie Ward, a former Catholic priest who is now married with four children, hosted a Sunday radio program called "God Talk" on San Francisco-area radio station KGO-AM 810 and another program on weeknights devoted to news and politics. According to several reports, Ward earned his "Lion of the Left" nickname for his outspoken and staunchly liberal viewpoints. Ward came under FBI investigation last year after a woman with...

SAN FRANCISCO – Bernie Ward, the popular radio talk-show host disgraced by federal child-pornography charges, was sentenced Thursday to seven years and two months in prison. Ward, who is married and has four children, was fired in December 2007 from KGO-AM in San Francisco after a grand jury indictment accused him of actively uploading and sharing images of child pornography on the Internet. His KGO-AM shows included the Sunday morning “God Talk” program.“I feel very sorry for you and your family,” Judge Vaughn Walker told Ward. The judge said he was troubled by Ward’s hypocrisy — while the former priest...

Kaiser Permanente is contacting 960 mothers whose babies may have been exposed to a health care worker in San Francisco who has an active case of tuberculosis. The worker was assigned to the postpartum unit in the maternity ward of Kaiser's San Francisco Medical Center to care for mothers and infants. Kaiser officials say the infection risk for patients is very low, but testing will be provided along with treatment if necessary. Kaiser also is notifying 115 employees who may have been exposed. The Oakland health maintenance organization learned of the worker's infection Aug. 18. The part-time night shift employee...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama used his own name and heritage to make a point about change at a fundraiser that raised a record $7.8 million for his campaign in San Francisco Sunday.Others wrote checks for as much as $14,000 for the special Asian-Pacific Islander VIP reception filled with CEOs, executives and spouses - a few in elegant saris - that included a meeting and individual picture with Obama.Obama told the group - which included many Indian and Pakistani immigrants - that he is not only familiar with their cultures - but also proud of his lifelong association with them....

A quick reading of the measure that will go before San Francisco voters in November to decriminalize prostitution easily could leave you with the misimpression that the measure is an exercise in fairness that demands that prosecutors go after men who abuse prostitutes and implement policies "to reduce institutional violence and discrimination against prostitutes." A careful reading of the initiative, "Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and Sex Workers," however, shows a measure that shields child prostitution and traffickers of human beings. "If I had just heard from the proponents, I would probably vote for it myself," said the Rev....

In early June, a handwritten note appeared on the front door of Bing Ling Zeng's San Francisco apartment, written in a language she couldn't understand. "You will be needing to vacate this property soon," it said. The following month, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. shut off the power. The food in the refrigerator spoiled, forcing Zeng to go out several times a day to buy groceries and milk for her three young children. Her 62-year-old mother-in-law couldn't recharge her electric wheelchair. Zeng and the other Chinese family sharing the space hadn't fallen behind in their rent or bills. The only...

The San Francisco Democratic Party has veered dramatically to the left, telling voters that on Nov. 4 they should elect a raft of ultra-liberal supervisorial candidates, decriminalize prostitution, boot JROTC from public schools, embrace public power and reject Mayor Gavin Newsom's special court in the Tenderloin. That's just what some party members feared after Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Chris Daly and Jake McGoldrick along with others who billed themselves as "The Hope Slate" were elected to the Democratic County Central Committee in June. The powerful, 34-member panel worked late into Wednesday night deciding endorsements that could play a big role in...

This November, while California voters will consider several important ballot initiatives – among them one protecting marriage and another requiring family notification before a minor gets an abortion – San Francisco voters will be asked whether they want to legalize prostitution and rename a sewage treatment facility after the outgoing president. “Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and Sex Workers” is the title of a local San Francisco measure. The text of the proposed ordinance notes that, last year, the city of San Francisco allocated $11.4 million to the city’s Task Force on Prostitution – nearly $4 million more than...

In a city that has a reputation for being home to more dogs than children, the number of families planning to move out of San Francisco has decreased in recent years -- and on Thursday Mayor Gavin Newsom said he hopes to be able to reverse the trend of family flight. The population of children living in the city has dropped by more than 33 percent since 1960, and today there are just 112,000 young people under the age of 18 living in San Francisco, Newsom said. But the mayor painted an optimistic picture of what the future will look...

Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the city the first in the country to ban the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies such as Walgreens and Rite Aid. And that's only the city's latest effort to make us all healthier. The supervisors also voted to require chain restaurants to post nutritional information, including calories and fat content, on menus. This follows the creation of a program to recognize restaurants that don't use trans fats and an idea by Mayor Gavin Newsom to levy a fee on retailers of sugary sodas. The board is also taking up...

Now hear this: According to the The Associated Press, the gay city's Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed inspecting its residents' garbage. Anyone not properly sorting their garbage will be fined. Do it again and you'll face delousing or perhaps beheading. That is all.

I went to purchase my copy of the just released “The Obama Nation” (by Jerome R. Corsi, PH.D.) – “Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality” at a San Francisco Bay Area Barnes & Noble book store. The book is all the buzz on talk radio, and even among the Leftist media which hates America and which is currently supervising the election campaign for Obama. The is no question, the book is going to be a top seller. This Barnes & Nobles has a New Releases / Just Arrivals section which is always prominently displayed when you walk into the...

By Michelle Malkin  •  July 28, 2008 03:16 PM Just how out of touch is Nancy Pelosi? Go look at her defense of San Francisco values, if you must.See what’s missing?Not a word about the San Francisco values that led to illegal alien Honduran crack dealers getting subsidized escort shuttle service back home to escape deportation and proseuction.Not a word about the San Francisco values that led to illegal alien drug lords getting sent down and dumped on San Bernardino group homes– only to walk out of them scot-free. Not a word about the San Francisco values that gave bloody sanctuary...

Reports on automobile sales were almost uniformly weak across Districts. Sales were especially poor for large vehicles such as trucks, SUVs, and some minivans. Indeed, auto dealers in the San Francisco District were increasingly reluctant to accept trade-ins of trucks and SUVs due to a lack of a wholesale market for these vehicles...

The mayor of San Francisco has obtained the password to the city's multimillion-dollar computer network password from a disgruntled employee during a secret jailhouse visit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. On Monday night, Mayor Gavin Newsom met Terry Childs, a Department of Telecommunications and Information Services employee charged with computer tampering, in a secret meeting and walked away with the password to the city's new FiberWAN (Wide Area Network), the Chronicle said. The system stores such records as officials' e-mails, city payroll files, confidential law enforcement documents and jail bookings. Childs has been held since July 13 and had reportedly...

The man charged with killing a father and two sons on a San Francisco street was one of the youths who benefited from the city's long-standing practice of shielding illegal immigrant juveniles from possible deportation. Edwin Ramos, 21, is being held on three counts of murder. Ramos is a member of a violent street gang and was found guilty of two felonies as a juvenile. In neither instance did the city's Juvenile Probation Department alert federal immigration authorities, because it was the agency's policy not to consider immigration status when deciding how to deal with an offender. Three months before...

(Notice that the one on the left was wearing a red kaffiyeh around his neck.)

SAN FRANCISCO -- A reputed gang member - who moved out of San Francisco after beating a murder charge when the star witness against him was slain - was ambushed and shot to death Saturday night when he returned to the city for work at a construction site in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, authorities said. Daniel "Dango" Dennard, 23, of Antioch was attacked as he was stopped on his motorcycle at a red light on Bayshore Boulevard at Industrial Street, a busy roadway near the intersection of Highway 101 and Interstate 280. San Francisco homicide Inspector John Cleary said Sunday...

Petitioners have succeeded in moving a measure that would effectively decriminalize prostitution in the city of San Francisco to the Nov. 4 ballot. While prostitution is unlawful under the California Penal Code, the measure – if passed by voters – would ban the San Francisco Police Department from allocating any financial resources for the investigation and prosecution of sex workers on prostitution charges. Section four of the ballot measure – under the heading "Prostitution Shall Be Decriminalized" – further states that the city, county, and district attorney "shall not subject sex-workers to life long economic discrimination associated with having a...

Another step toward the persecution. My emphases and comments.  FAITH UNDER FIREMajor U.S. city officially condemns Catholic ChurchInstructs members to defy ‘Holy Office of Inquisition’ Posted: July 15, 2008 San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church’s moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution’s prohibition of government hostility toward religion.Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican...

A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church's moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution's prohibition of government hostility toward religion. Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican of being a "foreign country" meddling with and attempting to "negatively influence (San Francisco's) existing and established customs." It said of the church's teaching on homosexuality, "Such hateful and discriminatory rhetoric is both...

. . . Palace plots: No sooner did San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announce he was forming an exploratory committee for governor than state Attorney General Jerry Brown made a move of his own - one that's likely to get under Newsom's skin. Reliable sources tell us that Brown has approached San Francisco PR consultant Alex Tourk to help launch his own campaign for governor, and the two were in serious talks this past week. Tourk, who once headed Newsom's Project Homeless Connect program, had a falling-out with his boss when he found out the mayor had slept with Tourk's...

They did it! High school students fighting anti-military bigotry in the Bay Area collected 13,600 signatures and submitted them to save the JROTC program in San Francisco. (I blogged about their signature-gathering efforts last month here.) Keep the counterinsurgency going.

San Francisco is a city that wants to do the right thing. The problem, as always, is when our politicians get carried away. Certainly, no one has any problem with standing up for someone's right to express themselves or control their own life. San Francisco has a long and proud record of backing those kinds of issues. Same-sex marriage? Absolutely. Universal health care? That, too. Banning the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps from local high schools - despite the fact that there has been no complaint about the program - because you disagree with the American military's policy on gay...

A citizens group in San Francisco wants to pay an ironic tribute to President George W Bush when he leaves office - by naming a sewage plant after him. The group, calling itself the Presidential Memorial Committee of San Francisco, wants the issue voted on at this November's election. "It's important to remember our leaders in the right historical context," said petition organiser Brian McConnell. The Republican Party thinks the plan stinks, and it will fight the measure. Mr McConnell's group has submitted more than 12,000 signatures on a petition to the San Francisco Department of Elections. If at least...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who previously said the issue of gay marriage should be left up to each state, has announced his opposition to a California ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriages. In a letter to Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club read Sunday at the group's annual Pride Breakfast in San Francisco, the Illinois senator said he supports extending "fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law." "And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution...

The National Rifle Association has challenged San Francisco's ban on handguns in public housing, trying to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling this week which found a constitutional right to own guns for self-defense in the home. In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, lawyers for gun rights advocates are asking a federal judge to invalidate San Francisco's handgun law based on the Supreme Court's decision striking down a broader Washington, D.C., law forbidding residents to own handguns. The San Francisco challenge includes an anonymous plaintiff, identified as "Guy Montag Doe," a gay...

A powerful gun lobby group in the United States has filed legal challenges to handgun bans in San Francisco and Chicago. The lawsuits come a day after the US Supreme Court ruled that a ban on the private possession of handguns in Washington DC was unconstitutional. A National Rifle Association lawyer said the cases were necessary to expand the ruling to other states and cities. San Francisco's mayor says he plans to fight the NRA challenge. The San Francisco lawsuit challenges the city's handgun ban in public housing, while in Chicago it challenges a ruling that makes it illegal to...

(06-26) 19:20 PDT San Francisco -- San Francisco public high schools will no longer award physical education credit to students enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the Board of Education voted today in a hastily scheduled meeting. The 4-to-1 vote will likely cripple the 90-year-old military education program that serves 1,200 students because most use it to satisfy their p.e. requirement. "If students really love the program, they'll take it anyway," said board president Mark Sanchez, who has led opposition to JROTC because of its ties to the military. Gregory Wing, who will be a sophomore at Lowell...

Gun-control advocates across the country reacted with shock and outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns today, saying the ruling would threaten gun-control measures in other states. If there was any doubt that other bans would be in peril, the National Rifle Association quickly put those questions to rest when it announced shortly after the ruling that it would file a flurry of lawsuits challenging restrictions in San Francisco, Chicago and several Chicago suburbs. The law in Washington, which spelled out rules for the storage of weapons and made it extremely...

SAN FRANCISCO: Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital, and a state, too. But President George W. Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom. prize-winning water-treatment plant on the shoreline to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Not surprisingly, those Republicans in a city that voted 83 percent Democratic in 2004 are not thrilled with the idea

At 4:18pm PDT there was some kind of large explosion in the financial district here in San Francisco, people have come out of their buildings to see. Police have taped off the area south of Pine on California Street. Cable Cars have stopped running. More to follow...

After being assailed by the police officer whose satiric videos earned him and nearly two dozen others suspensions in 2005, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong acknowledged that she has gone years without taking the target practice required for officers who carry guns. Department rules require all police officers who carry guns to pass shooting range tests every six months... The issue of Fong's proficiency with a gun was raised last week by Officer Andrew Cohen. He wrote to Police Commission President Theresa Sparks that the chief had gone five years without being certified, which he called "an egregious matter...

After being assailed by the police officer whose satiric videos earned him and nearly two dozen others suspensions in 2005, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong acknowledged that she has gone years without taking the target practice required for officers who carry guns. The head of the city's Police Commission said today that the panel was likely to take disciplinary action against Fong, which could range from a letter of reprimand to something more severe. Department rules require all police officers who carry guns to pass shooting range tests every six months. Fong said in a statement this week that...

There must be a lot of SF fans here. Who are you favorite authors or books? What are you currently reading?I enjoy SF books that focus on character development over hard scifi themes. Robert Silverberg, IMO, is about the best there is. I also enjoy Gardner Duzois' short stories--some gut-wrenching stuff. Jack Vance's are also very entertaining. Orson Scott Card is pretty good too.I am currently reading Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan...it's kind of slow and hard to follow. Not likely to read his other novels.I have enjoyed some, but not all, of Niven and Pournelle's works.

With Thursday's California Supreme Court ruling regarding same sex marriage, we can expect a resurrection of one of the most shopworn political epiteths: San Francisco values. GOP Rep. Sam Graves unveiled an ad this week using the money phrase to disparage his Democratic challenger Kay Barnes, aka the "Big City Mayor" (formerly that is, of Kansas City.) Barnes' sin: She attended a fundraiser thrown by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and she shares Pelosi's "San Francisco Values." You know what that means. Or at least what it is supposed to mean. Nevertheless, you've GOT to see Graves' commercial only to check...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had barely been on the job a month back in 2004 when he ordered the city to issue marriages licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Thousands of same-sex partners flocked to City Hall to exchange vows. For four weeks, a steady stream of ceremonies stretched into the night, and lines of eager couples wrapped around the block. And as quickly as the couples could say, "I do," the scene of women marrying women and men marrying men sparked a nationwide uproar. Proponents called the move bold. Opponents called it defiant and blatantly illegal. People on...

KUSI reporter Rod Luck has been placed on an extended leave of absence after his recent arrest. He was arrested Friday in San Francisco on misdemeanor domestic violence and battery charges. Luck is accused of punching his girlfriend in the mouth while staying at a hotel. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen says there's no timeline for the leave of absence. Luck is a live reporter for Good Morning San Diego and Inside San Diego. He's been at KUSI since 1990.

(05-08) 18:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, the most prominent liberal voice on Bay Area talk radio for more than two decades, admitted Thursday to distribution of child pornography by e-mail in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Ward, 57, a former Roman Catholic priest, was a fixture on KGO-AM 810 for three hours every weeknight, known in recent years for his fervent denunciations of President Bush and the war in Iraq during his news talk show. He also hosted "God Talk," a Sunday morning program on religion, and was...

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - San Francisco would become the first city in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco in pharmacies if legislation that was quietly introduced by Mayor Gavin Newsom is approved. If the Board of Supervisors adopts the legislation, hundreds of pharmacies in The City would have to stop selling tobacco products — including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and chewing tobacco — as soon as October. “This is a sensible measure to deal with health problems before they start, and it’s consistent with our prevention-focused efforts such as Healthy San Francisco and Shape Up SF,” Newsom said....

On April 6, 2008, Barack Obama visited the San Francisco region, zipping from event to event all day long, from one end of the Bay Area to the other. What? you might ask. How did I miss that? If only I had known, I would have gone to see him. Well, there's a reason you didn't know about it. Obama didn't want you to know about it. Because the events he was attending weren't for people like you. They were for people with lots and lots of money, who use that money to gain access and influence with politicians --...

A Tibetan supporter, right, argues with a Chinese supporter at a rally for China's Olympic torch at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) I love these "peaceful" liberals out in San Fran. DO AS I SAY CHINESE WOMAN! I KNOW MORE ABOUT TIBET THAN YOU DO! I AM FROM SAN FRANCISCO!!

SAN FRANCISCO - Officials say the planned closing ceremony for the Olympic torch at the San Francisco Bay waterfront is canceled and another one will take place at an undisclosed location. The ceremony had been slated to take place Wednesday at Justin Herman Plaza, where thousands had gathered to support and protest the Beijing-bound flame's visit to the city. Just before the relay began, the torch was rerouted about a mile away from the demonstrators and spectators. Officials say they changed the path because of security concerns. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom tells The Associated Press that a closing ceremony...

S.F. ban on handguns dealt a final defeat Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, April 9, 2008 (04-09) 17:19 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court dealt a final blow Wednesday to San Francisco's voter-approved ban on handguns, rejecting the city's appeal of a lower-court ruling that sharply limited the ability of localities to regulate firearms. The court's unanimous order was a victory for the National Rifle Association, which sued on behalf of gun owners, advocates and dealers a day after the measure passed with 58 percent of the vote in November 2005. The initiative has never taken effect....

Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco Formed to Honor George W. Bush Looking to honor the forty-third President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, the recently formed Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is looking to change the name of the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility. It seems the group would like to rename the SF Zoo adjacent facility to the "George W Bush Sewage Plant." Genius. The local grassroots movement, helmed by "Wayne Pickering," is proposing an ordinance initiative for the November 2008 San Francisco ballot in order to get the poop/pee/vomit plant's title changed. Why? To...

Lance Farber, the fire-starting, tomato-tossing boyfriend of new San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim, is out of jail - but only after the city took him to the cleaners. Farber, who had been sitting in jail for almost six weeks on $1 million bail, pleaded guilty last week to one count of unlawfully and recklessly starting a fire and one count of vandalism with over $400 in damage. The 47-year-old New Age chiropractor was accused of setting a bed on fire and tossing an open can of tomatoes through the city's historic fire chief's house - staining the walls -...

The city of San Francisco has started an advertising push with a very specific target market: illegal immigrants. And while the advertisements will come in a bundle of languages — English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese — they all carry the same message: you are safe here. In what may be the first such campaign of its kind, the city plans to publish multilanguage brochures and fill the airwaves with advertisements relaying assurance that San Francisco will not report them to federal immigration authorities. Mayor Gavin Newsom said the campaign was simply an amplification of a longstanding position of not cooperating...

By Vic Lee SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco is launching a new campaign tonight to tell illegal immigrants they're welcome in the city. San Francisco is a so-called sanctuary city. What that means exactly-- and how officials are getting the word out. The city's message will appear on TV, radio, posters and brochures in five languages. The extensive outreach campaign will be directed at undocumented workers and their families in San Francisco. "We're going to spend resources, time and energy to do PSA's, to do campaign outreach into community clinics, into public schools, into our police stations to let...