Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
Yet another jumper on the Golden Gate bridge...Although California is fiscally irresponsible, immoral, and a sanctuary for illegal alliens, it's still a fun place to visit and explore - kind of like an overpriced, expensive carnival with nice weather!
I'm a former resident of California and have many years of experience there - I was raised in Los Angeles and then served part of my military duty in Monterey, Petaluma, Oakland, and Point Reyes. Also, I've visited San Francisco many dozens of times because I find it to be the most bizarre (and amusing) part of the state!
Despite California's (along with most of our country) overpopulation problem I still enjoy traveling throughout the state - it's a beautiful place with great weather - making it a great destination despite the high taxes, Marxism, and overcrowding.
Heaven knows that my own state (Colorado) is also headed in the wrong direction but as a son of California it's my duty to help turn things around. Here's hoping for change in San Francisco and California in general!
"San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories." - Jack London
San Francisco's self-inflicted 'organized retail crime' problem isn't going away
Washington Post opinion piece by Zachary Faria, Commentary Fellow - October 13, 2021
"Walgreens is closing five more San Francisco locations as the impact of California law and city leadership have led to what another pharmacy chain described as 'one of the epicenters of organized retail crime.'
"Walgreens previously told the city's Board of Supervisors that it had closed 17 stores in the city. In announcing the shuttering of five more, Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said, 'Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that.'"
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Click Here for pix of the Sierra Club training that took me to San Francisco this time around... |
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Click Here for photos from the Sierra Club's 2005 Summit in San Francisco! |
(Click on any of this page's "thumbnail" images for a larger view)
1. The killing of Kathryn Steinle:
32-year-old Kathryn "Kate" Steinle died from a single gunshot wound on July 1, 2015, while walking on Pier 14 along San Francisco's Embarcadero with her father. Her killer, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate (an illegal alien from Mexico, AKA Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez), had been deported several times in the past. Due to San Francisco's status as a "Sanctuary City" the Sheriff's Department had freed Zarate a few months earlier after charges against him were dropped in a separate drug case. San Francisco, and much of California, continues providing sanctuary to illegal aliens, criminals, and killers.
On a related note, it was in July, 2019 that California became the first state in the country to offer government-subsidized health benefits for illegal aliens. The measure was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom (former mayor of San Francisco) and will extend coverage to low-income, undocumented adults ages 25 and younger for the state's Medicaid program. Since 2016, California has allowed illegal aliens under 18 to receive taxpayer-backed health care. State officials expect that this latest giveaway will cover an additional 90,000 illegal immigrants. It was estimated that the cost to taxpayers would be an additional $100 million in the first year alone.
2. Human Excrement in San Francisco:
Forbes, on April 15, 2019, in an aritcle by Adam Andrzejewski, noted that there were 132,562 cases of human feces reported in the public way since 2008. Andrzejewski wrote; "San Francisco hosts an estimated homeless population of 7,500 people. Affluent sections of the city have become dangerous with open-air drug use, tens of thousands of discarded needles, and, sadly, human feces."
3. San Francisco School Board:
On January 26, 2021 (Tuesday) leftists on the San Francisco school board voted to rename 44 schools named for prominent public figures. Schools named for historical figures, including Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, as well as current ones, like Senator Dianne Feinstein, are set to be renamed.
4. Golden Gate Bridge:
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On my last evening of Sierra Club training 14 of my fellow students joined me for a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Even from downtown San Francisco it was easy getting there - $1.25 bus fare took us right up to the visitor center, at the base of the bridge, where we began the 1.7 mile walk to the other side.The view is spectacular! A thick coat of paint protects the bridge from a constant sea breeze that was pretty darn refreshing after a day in class. As you can see from the upper-left photo there was a bit of construction going on to retrofit the bridge for seismic safety - it didn't pose a problem for walkers or riders.
In the lower right-hand corner are two girls huddled beneath a blanket about half-way across the bridge. They sat there for nearly an hour - I'm not sure what they were doing but they happily agreed to having their picture taken!
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5. Oakland Bridge:
Most of these shots were taken from the Farmer's market that takes place along the wharf.
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6. Gay Wedding Ads and Proselytizing:
I saw quite a few advertisements for homosexual weddings around San Francisco during the mid 2000's (something a little unusual around the rest of the country during that time period...). And, not unlike most everywhere else in America at the time, there was a considerable amount of proselytizing going on around San Francisco as well...
 Wedding advert |
 Wedding advert |
 Wedding advert |
 Proselytizing |
 Proselytizing |
7. Governor Schwarzenegger and the Homeless:
In the left-hand photo it appears Arnold's popularity slid considerably from his "Hollywood" start. The next couple of photos are some of his homeless constituents. I captured the first two on camera only because I saw them lying in the exact same spot for over two days. The guy in the orange sleeping bag obviously wasn't too concerned about camouflage...
 Say "No" to Arnold! |
 Homeless |
 Homeless |
 Me |
 Homeless |
8. Haight-Ashbury, Hemp and Water:
Looks like I was 40 years too late for the Haight-Ashbury district! During my mid 2000's visit hemp still wasn't legal for smoking but it was still being sold for other useful purposes. Water, in the right-hand picture, seemed to be an issue at our hotel (the Chancellor) as I think California had been going in and out of drought at the time...
 Haight-Ashbury |
 Haight-Ashbury |
 Hemp |
 Don't waste water! |
Here's what George Harrison had to say about Haight-Ashbury in the first
half of Martin Scorsese's George Harrison: Living in the Material World:
"I mean everywhere we went people were smiling, and you know, sitting on lawns drinking tea. When I went to Haight-Ashbury expecting it to be this brilliant place I thought it was gonna' be all these groovy, kind of gypsy kind of people with little shops making works of art and paintings and carvings. But, instead, it turned out to be just a lot of bums. Many of them were just very young kids who had come from all over America and dropped acid and gone to this Mecca of LSD. We'd walk down the street and I was, like, being treated like the Messiah or something. I was really afraid, because I could see all these spotty youths and they were still under the current of Beatle mania but from a kind of a twisted angle. And there were people kind of handing me things like this big pipe, a big Indian pipe with feathers on it. And books, and incense, and you know, all kinds of stuff. They'd try and give me drugs, you know, and I'd say, 'No thanks, I don't want it.' We were walking quicker and quicker - we went through the park, and back out of the park, and in the end we just said let's get out of here. And we drove back to the airport, got on the jet, and as it took off the plane went into a stall and the whole dashboard lit-up saying, 'Unsafe,' right across. It certainly showed me what was really happening in the drug culture, wasn't what I thought with all these groovy people getting, having, a spiritual awakening, and being artistic. It was like any addiction. So at that point I stopped taking it, actually, the dreaded Lysergic. That's where I really went for the meditation." (transcribed by Roger J. Wendell)
9. Sunset:
On Friday evening I walked from 2nd Street (Sierra Club National Headquarters), through Haight-Ashbury, along Golden Gate Park and finally to the beach at the Pacific Ocean. It was 8.5 miles, one way, and probably the nicest walk I've ever taken through any city. I reached the ocean, just in time, to catch this sunset...
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10. BART:
Almost as good as Japan's transit system, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is clean, efficient, affordable and just downright fun! For about $14, roundtrip, I took it from downtown San Francisco to almost Bay Point and then back to the airport. Add all the bus and Muni connections and you can get just about anywhere without a car! BART is the best!
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11. Miscellaneous:
Playing Chess in San Francisco seemed to be pretty popular in a couple of places. That huge antenna array, up on the hill, is really visible from all over the place. And, of course, what page about San Francisco wouldn't be complete without a picture of a cable car? Even at $3.00 per ride these cars were always full!
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12. Some Personal History:
During the mid 70s, while serving in the Coast Guard, I lived in Petaluma (north of San Francisco) and Monterey (south of the Bay Area).
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13. San Francisco's Howard Langton Garden
(September 9, 2005)
Garden Mirror
Garden Flower
Garden Gate
In the fall of '05 I was in San Francisco for a Sierra Club meeting and found myself in this wonderful city garden at sunset on a Friday evening. There was somebody meditating, in the garden's quiet, so I did my best not to disturb anyone or anything. I must have done pretty well as the person got up and locked the gate behind himself as he left! Luckily I was able to catch him, with just a whisper through the tall bars of the security fence, as he walked away. Apparently he assumed I was a "local" because he seemed so surprised when I asked for instructions to access the gate's lock. So, I enjoyed the garden's peace, a bit longer, before locking the gate behind myself as I, too, re-entered the hectic life of big-city existance...- Roger J. Wendell
September 2005
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