From Nov. last year, but posted recently as a NASA image of the day we bring you a killer 3D view of the San Andreas Fault running up the peninsula and out to see north of Pacifica. This project is about mapping which parts of the fault are creeping past each other with little “stickiness,” and which parts appear to be locked together—places where pent-up stress may be released suddenly in a major earthquake.
Earlier today the Mayor signed into law the nations most ’stringent’ green building codes, for both residential and commercial construction. This being a continuing effort by the mayor to put San Francisco in the spotlight when it comes to progressive politics. All politics is local as they say, and energy policy is probably the most pressing issue the world is facing today.
From the Chron earlier today:
The new codes are to be phased in by 2012. Projects will be evaluated on a point system with credit given for materials used in the building, the location of the building site and water and energy efficiencies…..
Despite those predictions, the city’s Office of Economic Analysis estimated that the new codes would cost the city between $30 million and $700 million a year in economic output, as it could lead to higher rents and businesses choosing to locate elsewhere.
Newsom called that report inaccurate and predicted the new regulations would actually attract businesses to the city. That opinion was echoed by Phil Williams, an executive at San Mateo-based Webcor Builders, who sat on the city task force on green building that developed the new regulations.
The LEED certifications for green building will apply to larger projects, both residential and commercial and the Greenpoint system will apply to smaller projects.
The opposition are crying that the added expense will further drive up the cost of owning a home or a business in SF, and I cry bullshit on that. For far too long people have not paid the true cost of housing, energy and other resources. And this is where government certainly has a role, protecting the commons.
There will be cost savings aplenty as people fall in line with the added up front expense of building to codes that make sense in today’s world.
I saw that occasional SF Metblogs contributor and relentless self promoter and sex book author Violet Blue is the latest recipient of the tempest in a web teapot award. The LA Times website has David Sarno covering a fracas in which any Violet Blue mentions or posts have been deleted from Boing Boing and it’s archives.
Writes Sarno:
“I’ve been wracking my brain thinking of what issues I might’ve come down on the wrong side of,” Blue told me on the phone. “There’s been no argument, there’s been no disagreement, no flame war, none of the usual things.”
Could Boing Boing really be a Stalin era throwback that wants to erase it’s own history, and somehow have the world to believe the widely read SF Gate columnist doesn’t exist?
At AdRants they speculated a possible conflict with blog ad provider Federated Media, which seemed somewhat unlikely to be involved in editorial concerns (IMHO ) since they supply ads for dozens of popular sites including the Metblogs network.
BoingBoing eventually issued it’s own terse comment and explanation after the web “sh*tstorm” lapped up on it’s serenely acerbic shores:
“[Violet's] posts were removed from public view a year ago. Violet behaved in a way that made us reconsider whether we wanted to lend her any credibility or associate with her. It’s our blog and so we made an editorial decision, like we do every single day. We didn’t attempt to silence Violet. We unpublished our own work. There’s a big difference between that and censorship.”
In an effort to keep church and state separate I give you the Ten Commandments of SF!
1. Thou shalt always vote on principal and not political party
2. Thou shall move your family to the suburbs when your children are of school age
3. Thou shalt always have an earthquake preparedness kit in your home
4. Thou shalt drive a hybrid car
5. Thou shalt always yield to a bike if driving, and a ped if driving/biking
6. Thou shalt not pay for muni
7. Thou shall hate the dodgers like the devil himself/herself. Unless of course you are a satanist. Then thou shall hate the dodgers like god himself/herself
8. Thou shalt be tolerant, to the point of absurdity
9. Thou shalt pickup after your pooch, homeless denizen, drunk buddy defecates
10. Thou shalt keep your winter clothes out of storage all summer long
See things differently? Let’s hear your commandments in the comments!
An amazing day at the park last week, been offline for a few days, otherwise I would have had this up sooner. Nice to see the Giants on a tear for a change. In this shot Aaron Rowand is attempting to pwn John Maine. Enjoy!
A couple of weeks back we posted about a court battle that is raging in sf between a tenant and his alleged slumlords. The alleged were brought up on criminal charges and were jailed at the time with an amazingly high bail for their crimes. The judge has decided to lower bail and the fur is still flying as the husband paid bail and the wife sat in jail. And I guess the Chron published a picture of one of the accused today, although I missed that, maybe in the paper today?
Prosecutor Max Peltz urged that bail remain the same, saying Morrow was hardly a vexatious litigant. He also stressed that Morrow was just one of four tenants who allegedly had been victimized by the Macys.
Peltz said that over nine years, Morrow has filed four legal actions: a still-pending lawsuit against the Macys, one against the building’s prior owners in which he won a settlement, and the failed request for restraining orders against both Macys. Labeling Morrow a vexatious litigant was a baseless effort to “malign the victim,” Peltz said.
Thank you to the mayor and thank you to all the great people who lobbied and supported the right for all people to be married in the eyes of the law. Proud to be a californian today.
Great MLK quote from Dennis Herrera, “The arc of history is long, and it bends toward justice”.
Go Connecticut Go!
Here’s some video footage of the Gav at city hall yesterday.
The Green Roof Industry Association has awarded the new Cal Academy of Sciences with an award of excellence for their green roof installation. The new Academy opens on September 27, 2008. The living roof is a key part of the platinum LEED certification the museum has accomplished. From the southeast view the building truly blends in to the landscape. From the west, see picture below, still a sight to behold.
The roof also retains 2 million gallons of rainwater, preventing 70% of the rainwater that falls on the roof from becoming runoff. The water that does run off the roof is collected in basement-level cisterns and reused for roof irrigation. No potable water will be used to irrigate the living roof.
The roof covers an ambitious 197,000 sq. ft. to a depth of 6-7 inches and cost $17 per sq. ft. In conjunction with the building’s other innovative sustainable features, the living roof contributes to many of the anticipated LEED® points, which, when achieved, will make the Academy the world’s largest LEED® Platinum -certified public space
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