Nob Hill Community Prevents Fairmont Hotel Demolition Condo Conversion

A group called the Historic Nob Hill Historic Steering Committee, myself included as a local business owner, were miraculously able to stop the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel condo conversion project I posted about a while back.  The plan was to demolish an old section of the historical Fairmont Hotel, a 15 story building, to rebuild a new structure where people could purchase condos.  It would have been the largest demolition project ever in the area since the 1906 earthquake.

The mass mailer (above), newspaper ad and article blitz is what the opposition hotel owners put out in a last ditch effort of desperation to trick San Franciscans into thinking they had no choice but to support the project or the hotel would go under. (Note: This is the same type of scare tactic the banks in Wall Street used to steal trillions from tax payers in 2008).  They even opened up a Facebook page called Save Our Hotel.  The San Francisco Chronicle even obliged to help the hotel owners' cause trying to fool its readers as well.

Concerned Nob Hill citizens, including notable architects such as Alice Carey & Co. Historic Preservation and a pro bono attorney, were among many who protested at San Francisco Planning Commission meetings.  The primary issue was that the new owners of the hotel, in a rush to make money off of selling expensive condos, were implementing a structurally flawed plan without proper consideration for the surrounding community.  For instance, they had some crazy plan for a parking structure to support the condo conversion that had little regard for the real issues of traffic congestion in a tourist area.

Here's an earlier email showing what the local community was up against:

"Heretofore the Fairmont project team has virtually ignored us. Our effort caught them off guard and left them flummoxed an kerfuffled. With your help they will soon realize we are powerful force to be reckoned with."  Alice Carey for Historic Nob Hill Steering Committee

San Francisco has an unusual policy of allowing the public full input it strongly considers prior to its Planning Commission approving new building structure plans.  Other cities could care less and just press forward so it was refreshing to be involved in something of this nature.

"Today the Fairmont signed an agreement with Local 2 (hotel workers) not to pursue the Fairmont condo conversion project. They will withdraw all applications to the Planning Commission, Historic Preservation Commission and the Board of Supervisors.  As many of you may have read Lew Wolff, whose organization owns 50% of the Fairmont, stated his intention to sell.

Thank you all for your letters, public testimony, and support. Alice Carey for Historic Nob Hill

When the people win over greedy developers, it's so refreshing in this day and age.  Clearly, the Fairmont Hotel will survive not having a portion of its rooms converted into condos. Thanks to all those who attended meetings and wrote letters to help the steering committee's efforts!

Physicist Michio Kaku Says Fukushima's A Ticking Time Bomb

This is the kind of article I never wanted to write but unfortunately have to. Even as the Japanese government raised the severity rating of the nuclear crisis to the highest possible level, it's still trying to calm fears about radiation levels and food safety.

"Radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors, the situation is not stable at all," claims physicist and author Michio Kaku in an interview on Democracy Now! on April 13, 2011. 

"The slightest disturbance could set off a full scale melt down at three nuclear power stations—far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl." - Michio Kaku, Physicist and Author- Interview on Democracy Now.

"Dangling from a cliff, hanging by your fingernails, with each fingernail about to crack, that's the situation it is now" - Physicist Michio Kaku

To make matters worse, yesterday there was a huge volcanic explosion from the Sakurajima Volcano.  

As if Japan didn't have enough to worry about, its volcano's exploding!

Here's the latest radiation fallout helpful information from YouTuber Dutchsinse:

A little boring but informative.

Many people want to remain in denial something very serious and threatening to our planet is happening that's far graver than alleged global warming.   I for one want to know the truth so at least I can mitigate the damaging effects of exposure to radiation.  For instance, I won't be buying milk for a long time and most likely will resort to milk powder products in bulk that have already been on the shelves prior to the radiation.  I will also avoid cheese products and ice cream.   I will definitely avoid being outside when it rains if at all possible due to the radiation particulates carried in the clouds through the jet stream to the west coast.  


There's really only so much one can do under these dire circumstances.  I'm sure many will elect to simply pretend it didn't happen and go on living their lives as always.

Ann Coulter's Worldwide Radiated Food Tour Takes Off

After Japanese officials finally admitted they have a Level 7 radiation threat from Fukushima I thought it might be a good idea to purchase Geiger counter to use on fresh produce prior to purchase.  Yesterday Natural News reported that the French research authority on radioactivity CRIRAD has finally admitted the danger posed by radiated food:

"It is now warning expectant mothers and young children to avoid drinking milk or rainwater. They should also avoid certain types of vegetables and cheese due to the dangerously high levels of radiation they may contain thanks to the radioactive fallout spreading across the globe ."  Link

This information must be very hard to swallow for the French who are widely known to have a love affair with their food.  According to author Ann Coulter though, the French should be happy their food's been radiated because "radiation's good for you".  I won't bother to post the video, since everyone's seen it by now of Ann whoring herself for publicity for a buck.  You can instantly know anything that comes out of Ann Coulter's mouth is a fraud since she's clearly a political satire actress along the lines of the Colbert (Coulter) Report program.  Few have caught on that Ann Coulter's making millions of dollars simply because she makes deliberate insane statements to provoke wild controversy.  Ann deliberately provokes disgust and hatred as a self-sacrifice for millions of people's inability to see through her satire act. Ann's so phony, "she" is really a former "he".  Just check out her enormous Adam's apple that's considered by many to be a male's anatomy.

Ann should tell radiation is good for you to this guy, a Frenchman living in Japan.

Speed up to 7:40 and start listening, prior to this point it's tediously slow unfolding because of his heavy accent.  Didn't this guy hear the news radiation's good for him? What's he worried about because, according to Ann Coulter, he should throw a radiation party and be happy.  For anyone who takes Ann Coulter seriously at all, I think it's a sign of something and I won't say what.

Now back to reality.  It's shocking to observe the level of denial the U.S. government and media are in about the seriousness of this Fukushima disaster.  The media probably doesn't want people to know how serious the situation is for fear panic will cause food hoarding.  People like myself have been preparing years in advance for this kind of serious disaster but the majority of Americans don't have any adequate emergency stored long term food back-up supplies.

If you want to ensure your food is radiation free you can also grow your own vegetables indoors using the Aerogrow planters and purchase the EcoloBlue water generator (although who knows if the humidity it uses to generate water will be safe from radiation?).

"Only those who grow food in greenhouses will be largely protected from the fallout. Maybe it's a good time to buy some sprouting seeds, too, because you can sprout seeds in your own kitchen and grow them free of radiation. In just 3 days, you can turn a pile of seeds into a nutritious sprout salad. Add some avocado and balsamic vinegar and you have a delicious lunch!" Europeans Warned to Avoid Drinking Milk, Eating Vegetables. . ..  - Natural News.com

The one thing I haven't gotten yet is a Geiger counter. Whenever radiation's detected, the counter should read "Ann Coulter Approved" to forewarn levels are high.

$5.00 Gas Just Another Reason to Leave California

We're starting to see record highs of $5.00 per gallon gas in California!  CNBC posted a video of a gas station in Burbank being the alleged highest in the state.  The average price for regular unleaded in the state is $4.10.  This is really scary news because, as most everyone knows, high gas prices drives up costs on everything.

California's really losing any appeal it once had as I uncover all these issues I've been posting about lately.  Within just a relatively short period of time things have shifted for the worst.  For instance, the golden state's property values are plummeting, its court system is overly politicized and largely corrupt, its taxes are too high, its public schools rate the worst in the nation, its prison system is too large, expensive and burdensome on tax payers, there are too many bad lawyers and regulations, its politicians are spend happy, illegal immigration is out of control and now this. Record high gasoline in the nation?

Story on new record of $5.00 gas in Burbank, California

Gas and me go way back.  I remember the late 1970's and early 80's era of long gas lines and people sleeping in their cars to get in front of the gas line the next day.  I later vowed never to allow myself in a precarious position regarding gasoline since way back in 1984 when I was a broke student I stole a few tanks of gas.  One could easily say I wasn't a very bright 24 year old.  Back then they didn't have ATM cards so you could filler up and drive off. I got away with it a few times with probably around $50 of free gas until they finally got my license plate number. 

Since 1986 I haven't owned a car having used motor scooters with high mileage per gallon ratios.  It wasn't self-inflicted punishment at all for me to ride scooters since it was a lot of fun.  I also saved tons of money not owning a car.  I was living in the beach areas of Southern California and the scooters had become more high powered and sophisticated so it was no problem at all.  I felt very fortunate with the 100,000 miles I eventually put on motor scooters from 1990-2003 never to have been in any accident or mishap though I had a few close calls like the time I put a karaoke machine on the back end and sang along to people on the road.  Like I said, I wasn't too bright back then.

Last year after doing the walking thing a while, I took the next step and completely got off the gas dependency with the purchase of an eBike.  An eBike is totally doable in San Francisco and more people with applicable biking communities should consider purchasing one.  You can now get a 10% Federal tax break of the total cost of a two or three wheeled plug-in electric vehicle unless you wrote off the purchase as an expense for business.

Zip Cars also make it easy to get your hands on a nice car within 1/2 hour of needing one.  Zip provides a slide card so you don't have to go through the red tape of renting a car. You don't pay for gas or insurance, only a small $50 fee per year and that's it. If you want insurance from potential liability it's up to you but you don't have to purchase it.  Zip Cars are available only in certain chosen cities however.  The costs last year were as low as $7.00/hr for a Toyota Prius but those vehicles were since removed from the Zip Car line due to the recall.  Cars now start at $10.75 per hour, a fairly large jump.  I anticipate more hikes as gas increases.

From my observation, it seems too many people are on the road doing a lot of unnecessary driving.   I anticipate seeing less vehicles on the road if the gas price hike trend continues which it's predicted to do thanks to Middle East unrest.  As I have, people with moderate incomes will be forced to change their lifestyles to accommodate these gas prices.

Why Safe Deposit Boxes Aren't Safe In These Times

Have you ever wondered why the IRS allows a tax deduction for using a bank's safe deposit box? In these hard economic times, there are multiple valid reasons not to trust your bank to keep your valuables in its safe deposit vault.  History tells the story time and time again of the state seizing safe deposit boxes without due process of law especially during hard economic times.

In 2008, 50 U.S. States were holding $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that was used to balance their budgets.  In some cases, "unclaimed" meant the owner simply hadn't contacted the bank in some time over the contents of their safe deposit box.

"As reported by ABC News in 2008, what started out as a program to hold unclaimed property, such as the contents of safety deposit boxes owned by people who have moved away without a forwarding address, has gone wildly out of control. The program is using the flimsiest of excuses to drill safe deposit boxes and sell the contents. 

In a case reminiscent of the Monty Python organ donor skit (or perhaps the movie Repo Men), a San Francisco woman’s jewelry appraised at over $80,000 was sold even though she lived a few blocks from her bank, had not moved, and was current on all of her box rental feeds. In another case, a man’s retirement savings consisting of $4 million of stock certificates were sold; and “A Sacramento family lost out on railroad land rights their ancestors had owned for generations”. Ludwig von Mises Institute - Mises Economics Blog 

All this was happening around the economic upheaval in 2008.  According to the blog article, looting safe deposit boxes required less due process than asset forfeiture.  Attorney Bill Palmer, who represented countless citizens in a class action lawsuit against the state of California, explained:

 "They figured the safe deposit box was safer than keeping it under the mattress," Palmer said. "In the case of a lot of citizens, they were wrong, weren't they?" 

California law used to say property was unclaimed if the rightful owner had no contact with the business for 15 years. But during various state budget crises, the waiting period was reduced to seven years, and then five, and then three. Legislators even tried for one year. Why? Because the state wanted to use that free money. (Blogger note:  You mean wanted to steal their money!)

"That's absolutely correct," said California State Controller John Chiang, who inherited the situation when he came into office. "What we've done here over the last two decades has been dead wrong. We've kept the property and not provided owners with the opportunities -- the best opportunities -- to get their property back." - Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizen's Property to Balance their Budgets - ABCNews.com - 2008

In other words, Mr. Chiang admitted the State of California had been stealing money from its citizens. How can you trust the government after this kind of unjustified action?  How can you trust its courts?  I for one certainly can't trust the government any longer, clearly a criminal syndicate that thinks nothing of manipulating the law to steal from its citizens. 

San Francisco resident Carla Ruff's safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked "owner unknown."  The lady previously described as having her safe deposit contents stolen in San Francisco explained:

"I was appalled," Ruff said. "I felt violated."

Unknown? Carla's name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address -- a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too -- still does -- and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she's the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her.

"They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed," Ruff said.- Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizen's Property to Balance their Budgets - ABCNews.com - 2008

So if you think your valuables are safe in a deposit box, think again.  If you always worried about how safe your valuables were, you weren't being paranoid.  California had already spent $5.1 billion dollars of people's safe deposit boxes prior to the 2008 lawsuit and spent all the money like a crack whore.  Back during the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt stole gold out of people's safe deposit boxes, NAZI's seized money and gold from Jew's banks, etc.  If there's some national emergency imagine the state and banks would be drooling over keeping your items and locking you out of their bank should it become insolvent.

After the class action, California law has since changed but when times get tougher one may want to consider how despicable banks and the government can be.  Imagine the audacity a state government would have to have to steal money from safe deposit boxes?  Do they really think people would simply abandon their valuables?  They knew what they were doing!  The California state legislature had changed the laws to trick people into thinking they didn't have to contact their banks for years over their property since the old standard was 15 years to claim unclaimed property.  This was absolute criminal among these politician law makers! Did they get put in jail for it?  No, of course not.

Here's some tips on how to avoid the fiasco if at all possible:

• Make contact with your bank, your brokerage firm, etc. at least once a year, in a way that creates a paper trail. Make sure they have your current address.
  
• If you own stock, occasionally vote your proxies or take other steps to keep your stock ownership active. Stay in touch with your broker.
  
• Write a list of all your accounts and keep it with your will, so your heirs will know where to look.
  
• Consider insuring valuables even if you keep them in your safe-deposit box. That way, you're covered financially if the bank or state makes a mistake and empties your box. Plus, safe-deposit contents have been known to be destroyed by fire or flooding.
  
• If you want to search for unclaimed property in your name, you do not need to pay other people to do it for you. Check out the following links for more information:

National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators

www.missingmoney.com

Google's Mobile Voice Recognition App for iPhone Listens

I just learned AT&T's offering a special $50 iPhone deal with a two year cell phone contract. I'm considering stepping up from my antiquated Motorola Razor and was looking into the advantages of having an iPhone.  Besides the hefty price and surcharges, what's kept me from the iPhone is I don't like getting or sending text messages.  I also think it's all hard on the eyes so when I heard Google has a Voice Recognition Mobile App for iPhone I became more interested then ever.

As a former legal word processor we often expressed our concerns this new voice technology would replace our jobs.  Now in 2011, the technology is becoming more advanced and far more useful then simply converting words to text. For instance, the voice activation is now tied into the Google search engine, much like to the computer Hal in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. All you have to do is speak into the phone and the search engine responds and even has intelligence because it knows where you're located at all times.  So if you want to see a local movie, all you have to do is ask for show times and locations and it will pop up in your area without further adieu.  This may be old news to some but I've never heard of this app until now and I'm sure there are plenty out there like me.

This video shows the many capabilities of the Google iPhone and Android App:

For iPhone

For Android

I'm hoping this is the next wave of new technology to develop because I think it's insane how much time people have to take to text on their iPhone.

This App also works with Android of course but under a different download title.

Now You're Talking - Google Has Developed Speech-Recognition That Actually Works - Slate.com

Big Yawn On U.S. Government Shutdown

In spite of my being extremely busy, I still managed to keep a promise I wouldn't miss a day's post this year.  I try to avoid being one of those bloggers who mostly reposts other's articles but I only have about 20 minutes because I have to get up early in the morning. If I don't get 8 hours of sleep, I become zombified.  In any event, this info needs to be circulated so people won't panic if the government's shut down.  As you can see the list below really isn't that big a deal. In other words, we're all going to survive this lame Federal government shutdown.  

So here goes, the "big no no" article repost for April 8, 2011 from End of American Dream Blog:

#1 Hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" federal workers will be told to stay home during a government shutdown.

#2 Those in the military will not receive paychecks during a government shutdown but they will be required to keep performing their duties.

#3 The Obama administration is anticipating "significantly lower staffing levels" at the White House if a shutdown happens.

#4 Barack Obama will continue to be paid during a government shutdown.

#5 Congress will also be paid and will continue to operate at close to normal levels during a government shutdown.

#6 The Federal Reserve will continue to operate normally during a government shutdown.  The Federal Reserve is not part of the U.S. government.

#7 In all probability, all government employees will eventually receive any pay that is missed during a government shutdown.  During the 5 day U.S. government shutdown back in 1995, approximately 800,000 "non-essential" government employees were told not to come in to work.  But eventually they all got paid retroactively anyway.

#8 During a government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security will suspend operation of its e-Verify system.  Employers will be unable to verify the immigration status of job applicants and that could have a substantial negative impact on hiring.

#9 The processing of small business loans and FHA mortgages will be delayed during a government shutdown.

#10 The U.S. Postal Service will not be affected by a government shutdown.  You will continue to get your mail.

#11 According to the Social Security Administration, everyone that is currently receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive those benefits during a shutdown.  New applications will be delayed however.

#12 Medicare payments will continue during a government shutdown, but there will be a delay in processing new applications.

#13 During a government shutdown, the processing of paper tax returns by the IRS would be delayed.

#14 If there is a government shutdown, the processing of passport and visa applications could be seriously delayed.  This could have a negative impact on the tourism industry.

#15 National parks, museums and tourist attractions will be shut down.  According to the Washington Post, "about 500,000 visitors could be turned away this weekend alone from the National Zoo and the major Smithsonian museums on the Mall".

#16 The annual Cherry Blossom Festival parade in Washington D.C. that is scheduled for this weekend would be cancelled.

Big whoop de doo. . . yawn.  This gives me an idea for my next article; what makes yawning so contagious?  

The Sun is Good For Us - Vitamin D Key To Good Health

I remember when I was a kid once feeling a cold coming on during a long car trip to Lake Tahoe.  I napped with the sun on my face and was surprised when I woke up that the symptoms vanished. The status quo health industry doesn't want you to know that there's a simple free solution to many people's health problems.

Simple exposure to the sun provides access to what many now consider a miracle, that of Vitamin D.  Many studies have been conducted over the past decade that prove deficiency of Vitamin D is now  linked to many diseases too numerous to mention.  (See Natural News Vitamin D Article Archive)

We've been taught the sun is bad for us by the industries that profit from people not getting enough sun and those that want to block us from it like the sun tan lotion companies.  Vitamin D is free of charge that our bodies naturally produce with sun exposure.  Other good news is that, if one can't get any sun during winter months, taking Vitamin D-3 gels up to 10,000 I.U. a day is the alternative solution.  I buy my Vitamin D-3's at Trader Joes for $4.99 a bottle that's pretty cheap. The front of the bottle says Vitamin D, but the back delineates it as D-3, which is important.

These Health Ranger's Natural News T.V. videos are outstanding.  If you don't believe what he's saying then do your own research.  When they say get sun every day if you can, it doesn't mean get sun burnt, it means just 15-30 minutes a day if you can. I learned a lot from these following videos and kept an open mind when watching them.  My own experience validated the information was true.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Natural News T.V.

Hundreds of Gulf Oil Spill Clean-up Crew Are Dying!

There's apparently a black out on the hundreds of crew personnel dying in the Gulf who helped BP with the oil disaster clean-up.  I'll start off here with a tremendously helpful informative video from the Truth Research Channel explaining why we simply can no longer trust the mainstream media as a valid source of news.  Then I'll follow with a video of a dying Gulf clean-up crew member begging for people to spread the news.

The Truth Research Channel put out this well done video about why we can't trust the mainstream media.

A former Gulf Oil clean-up crew member who is dying says what the government, BP (i.e., one in the same) and mainstream media doesn't want you to know.  I saw this video on the home page of YouTuber The Truther Girls.

Here is the information in the summary of the video:

You won't see this in national headlines! Jennifer Rexford, a BP-hired oil spill cleanup worker has been documenting her condition that is getting worse by the day. Filming herself and her coworkers, all American workers, all are DYING and BP is NOT taking responsibility!!!! Severe neurological damage, paralysis, internal bleeding, death! Check out Jennifer's Youtube page, there are more videos. Watch her story. Watch her talk to BP claims line. Tragic!

SPREAD THE WORD TO GET THIS ON NATIONAL NEWS!!!! BP IS NOT PAYING FOR THEIR HEALTH CARE!!!!!

In the meantime, Obama is starting his 2012 campaign?  The ole saying that people get the government they deserve still applies.

Gerald Celente Sounds Alarm Over First Great War of 21st Century

Trends Forecaster Gerald Celente's sounding the alarm with a passionate video message about what he believes is the first great war of the 21st Century beginning.  Celente opens with saying this is the most overwhelmed and concerned he's ever been in 30 years as a trends forecaster.  This guy is really angry and suggests people take drastic measures to deal with what's ahead.

Gerald Celente Unleashes a Passionate Call of Urgency For Americans to Grow Up.  Good luck with that Gerald!

As for Celente's call for Americans to grow up, that will be a tough call especially for baby boomers raised on Disneyland fairy tales, Looney Tunes cartoons, bubble gum pop music and television.  Decades of watching television, not to mention junk food diets, has turned much of the population into brain dead zombies.  I stopped watching the tube in 2007 and my life changed quickly thereafter.  Today I only listen to alternative radio where I've learned a tremendous amount of helpful information.

"Gerald, what can I do personally to help prevent what's going to happen?  I already cut back as much as I could paying taxes from working overtime. I set out to make a reasonable salary in my businesses so as not to work for the government.  I spread the news whenever I'm able over what's happening for those who don't seem that aware and put up your videos.  I don't really know what to do and have no ideas yet Gerald.  Sorry." - C.M.

In the meantime, on the radiation front a Berkeley study says San Francisco's tap water's 181 times above EPA standards for radioactive isotopes.  

Iodine-131 was measured in a rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT. The 3 Liters of rainwater collected contained 134 Becquerels of Iodine for an average of 20.1 Becquerel per liter, which equates to 543 Picocuries per liter. 

The federal drinking water limit for Iodine-131 is 3 Picocuries per liter, putting the rainwater sample at 18,100% above the federal drinking water limit.

See Radioactive Iodine-131 in Rainwater sample Near San Francisco 18,100% Above Federal Drinking Limit.  -Energy News

I knew I was right staying out of the rain, not!  I got soaked the other day on my bicycle, it was raining down like cats and dogs.  I think what I'll do next is update my Last Will & Testament.

www.TrendsResearch.com