| Fine. So they don't kill bacteria. |
The EPA seemed to be suggesting there might be something unsafe about the shoes, which it called "unregistered pesticides," but it turns out that everything about the shoe, and its bacteria-inhibiting insert, was registered with the EPA. The only problem was an overstatement in VF Outdoor Inc.'s marketing materials (which resulted in the EPA reclassifying the shoes as "unregistered pesticides").
The North Face was claiming that an AgION antigmicrobial silver agent in the shoe would inhibit the grown of disease-causing bacteria. Although it's unclear how this is an overstatement (AgION is registered with the EPA as a pesticide), it apparently is, and the EPA is apparently going after VF Outdoor for a cool million, even though it has gone soft on similiar, relatively insignificant violations in the past.
I have a weird relationship with the mail. Sometimes it sends me chocolate. Sometimes it sends me champagne. Sometimes it sends me sexy calendars. And sometimes it sends me nothing. And I cry and cry, and beat my fists on my cubicle desk and pull my hair, all to no avail. Well, the tides have turned and there is so much mail flooding into the Weekly that I could build a fort with all the books based on blogs; I could stock an armory with all the samples of crappy candy and sub-par soda pops. Here is some of the strangest schwag to float my way recently.
But most conference attendees didn't pull themselves out of bed before 9 a.m. to hear the pot mitzvah. They came to hear the pot luminary -- San Francisco Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano. Ammiano recently introduced the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act" (AB 390), which would legalize, tax, and regulate Marijuana in California. So it goes without saying that this crowd gave Ammiano a rousing standing ovation before he even took to the mic.
In his talk this morning, Ammiano emphasized his hope that with a sea change in the body politic and its stance on Marijuana, both the public and the politicians will start to take the issue more seriously. He added that he believes the vehicle of legislation gives the issue the kind of gravitas it deserves. "This is a public policy issue, in my mind ... I'm looking for this perfect storm," he said, adding that the tone in legislature these days is much more "user-friendly" than it was before.
Earlier this week, we wrote a guide on how to avoid being trampled beneath the Clarks-shod feet of book lovers driven to a frenzy by the wonders of the ongoing annual Friends of the San Francisco Public Library book sale. We thought there might have been a touch of the theatrical in descriptions of patrons amassing outside the closed doors like Dawn of the Dead or filing through the aisles "like Supermarket Sweep" -- but videos sent our way by Friends of the SFPL spokeswoman Katie Ambellan prove it's all too true.
In fact, the video above captures the very first customer entering Fort Mason on Wednesday; he had been waiting since 10 p.m. the night before. Note his almost military gait as he marches forward and slams his cardboard box into a shopping cart. The expression on his face recalls that of Russell Crowe in Gladiator as he strode into the ring to fold, spindle, and mutilate human prey. This is a serious man -- and he's being seriously chased by throngs of other book lovers. In short, I adore this video.
But wait -- there's more!
That, however, is exactly what an officer was caught doing by a friend of The Snitch who e-mailed us the above photo (that's a $250 fine for members of the general public). When queried if this is something the San Francisco Police Department has a position on, spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka noted "We don't condone it." Officers "are trained. They are expected to know better." When she asked how SF Weekly knew this wasn't an emergency matter the officer was dealing with, we informed her that our photographer noticed the policeman inside Pete's Bar-B-Q ordering his lunch. In his defense, however, we are told that restaurant is excellent.
Many of you may be wondering why a pair of youthful, right-wing provocateurs with a sartorial taste in pimp 'n' ho outfits were able to film employees of ACORN unashamedly breaking the law while major media outlets sat on their hands.
Not to wholly excuse the press for leaving a legitimate story to hatchet men, but there is a good reason journalists didn't tote hidden cameras into ACORN offices. Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe is facing a multi-million dollar lawsuit in Maryland - and, considering at least two of his now famous videos were shot here in California, this could just be the opening act. Local media law experts told SF Weekly that secretly taping a conversation -- as O'Keefe did -- is a blatant and unambiguous violation of state law.
In fact, Terry Francke, the general counsel for the open-government group CalAware, told SF Weekly that should ACORN opt to up the ante and take O'Keefe to court here in California as well, he cannot conceive of how the filmmaker could prevail. "I don't know how ACORN could lose this other than by making procedural mistakes," he said. He left out scenarios involving a rogue meteor, but his point is made.
