Diaphragms may not be as notorious as the contraceptive sponges immortalized on Seinfeld by Elaine. (“"So, you think you're sponge-worthy?")
But for many, these messy little devices are simply infections-waiting-to-happen. For others, they're just a hassle. And now a new study has found that the use of this less-than convenient method of birth control--diaphragms and lubricant gel-- in addition to condoms provides no additional protective benefit against HIV infection.
Tooru Nemoto, a 56-year-old researcher from Japan, had spent much of the past decade-and-a-half tracking the sexual behavior of San Francisco’s transgender community. While working for UCSF, Nemoto was instrumental in procuring funding for Transgender Resource and Neighborhood Space (TRANS) -- the city’s only transgender drop-in center, which provides substance abuse outreach, HIV prevention, and other services like job training and life skills classes -- and other programs which sought to curb the rise in HIV in the Asian Pacific Islander community. That was until a couple weeks ago, when Nemoto packed up his office after being let go, after 16 years of service, by UCSF.
UCSF supported Nemoto four years ago when Republicans in congress tried to cut funding for his programs. Now Nemoto and his former employer are at odds over money and diversity.
The Colma City Council has approved a transfer of ownership of Lucky Chances Casino from accused tax cheat Rene Medina to two of his sons, Rommel, 34, and Ruell, 30.
The vote Wednesday night was 4-0.
It comes two weeks after the California Gambling Control Commission granted gambling licenses to the sons. As SF Weekly reported in May, the transfer was widely anticipated after Medina was indicted last year for allegedly cheating the government out of nearly $1 million in taxes. He's free on $6 million bail while awaiting trial.
If convicted, state gaming law would preclude the elder Medina from owning the card club. So the time was right for some, shall we say, estate planning.
A Cadillac Hotel resident contemplates the $125,000 piano in the lobby. Photo by Joe Eskenazi.
Wandering through the Tenderloin, one constantly feels as if he’s stumbled across the unholy hybrid of a Hieronymus Bosch canvas and a Tom Waits lament.
You’ll see (and smell) any number of things on these wizened streets. But you’d be surprised at what you may hear. That’s why I dropped in at the Cadillac Hotel at 380 Eddy Street in the heart of the ‘Loin and asked to see “the piano.”
The Alice Griffith housing complex -- “Double Rock” -- is like a gated community, except nobody wants in. Like a prison, it’s made up of about a dozen blocks that form a world all its own.
It’s got a candy store for groceries, a guy who fixes cars, and a hair salon. For some people, that’s enough. Many of the maybe 800 residents on public assistance never leave Double Rock at all -- and for some, that’s safer. The streets outside are rival gang territory and a trip to the T-line just 5 blocks away can be lethal, especially for young men.
