AC Transit hits a snag
I saw this bulletin posted at a bus stop as I was headed home from school today. Basically it seems that due to the economic downturn negotiations between AC Transit and their employees have bogged down. The employees want to bring in a third party arbitrator to resolve the dispute whereas AC Transit is forging ahead and just impose what they want on their drivers and mechanics. So the employees are left with two options, fight it out in court or go on strike. Or both, if they get really pissed off.
What this means for the rest of us is poorer transit options, higher fares and more headaches. Republicans like to crow about how raising taxes, or even the mere existence of taxes, in a recession would lead to terrible things. Yet the flipside of that is that it is quite often the poor and disadvantaged who are hurt most by bad economic times and things. Recessions necessarily lead to less revenue for the state as people lose their jobs and pay less in taxes while taking more in government services.
Services, like for example public transit, that often get cut or reduced making things more difficult for people who are already on hard times.
Right now it’s looking like things will go towards arbitration, as a judge ruled today but while it gets resolved – which could take quite a while – AC Transit will continue operating under the new provisions it decided to impose after negotiations fell apart. So buses will continue running for now.
All you need to know about Prop 8 in 5 minutes
Heard about this Day of Decision stuff and not have any idea what’s going on? Been hiding under a rock for the past two years and miss the hubbub about Proposition 8? Well fear not for this guy has got you covered.
Truth and Reconciliation (via Can’t Win For Losing)
Here’s a pretty good story I came across last week that I thought deserved reposting given all the crap that’s happened in SF over the past few weeks:
HIV Community Listening Session with Candidates for Board of Supervisors, San Francisco
Date: |
Friday, July 23, 2010 |
Time: |
2:00pm – 5:00pm |
Location: |
State Building, Milton Marks Auditorium |
Street: |
455 Golden Gate Avenue |
City/Town: |
San Francisco, CA |
View Map |
Join the HIV community for this informative dialogue with candidates for the Board of Supervisors.
People with HIV/AIDS have enough votes to elect the next supervisor in District 6 (Tenderloin), District 8 (Castro) and District 10 (Bayview). Come make sure that our concerns are at the top of their agenda, such as: LGBT/HIV friendly shelters and affordable housing, access to medication, dental care, supportive employment, safety in our low-income communities, and much, much more.
HIV Community Panelists: Cecilia Chung – Community Advocate, Tim Durning – President, SF4Democracy, Randy Allgaier – Director, HIV/AIDS Planning Council, Jason Riggs – Deputy Director, Stop AIDS Project, Curtis Moore – Director, Bay Area Young Positives and Brian Basinger – Director, AIDS Housing Alliance/SF.
Sponsored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, AIDS Housing Alliance/SF, SF4Democracy, Stop AIDS Project, Project Inform, Bay Area Young Positives, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Shanti, HIV/AIDS Provider Network, and more.
QN to expand national footprint (via Queer Networks)
via Queer Networks
San Francisco Pride (via Queer Visalia)
I’m still recovering from Pride in SF over the weekend, three days of partying, drinking and walking across half of San Francisco left my brain confused as to why the room wasn’t spinning and my stomach not knowing how to handle solid food now that there wasn’t any alcohol to soak up. So I’ll share a fresh view of Pride from our friend A.J. down in Visalia who got to experience his first ever Pride this year:
via Queer Visalia


UPDATE: Sonoma County Settles Case Involving Elderly Gay Couple (via Queer Visalia)
Opponents of same-sex marriage like to talk about how letting gay folks get hitched would destroy the institution of marriage. I’d like to them to tell me which is more appalling: letting two guys say their vows or, as the article below details, completely destroying a life that two people have built together.
Luckily Harold Skull and Clay Green’s case turned out alright, but who knows how many other couples have been separated and lost everything they have built because they weren’t allowed to get married?
via Queer Visalia