Lost amid the reports of Rush Limbaugh’s recent arrest is the fact that he was returning from the Dominican Republic with a bottle of Viagra.

Why is that significant? Maybe because the Dominican-Viagra connection is not that random:

Evidence of the sex trade is everywhere as men in shorts and sandals duck into rent-by-the-hour “love motels” with Dominican women in bright dresses.

“There is always a demand for sex,” said one Dominican prostitute as she lounged at one of the town’s waterfront bars. “Men will always pay for it, especially in here … where they can get anything they want at a discount.”

Newcomer is one of the jewels of SFUSD. Students throughout the world come to San Francisco and if they are between the ages of 14-18, they have a good chance of attending Newcomer for their first year.

Its campus is located on Jackson Street in Pacific Heights. As any real estate person can tell you, any investment in a building depends on three things “Location, Location, Location.” So it was deemed that the Newcomer campus would be sold or rented. City College’s staff saw the location and immediately saw the possibilities. So a deal was struck between the two district’s staff that City College would rent the site for $4.2 million over two years.

The Board of Education meeting of June 27 began 45 minutes late at 7:45 p.m. due to a long closed session. Eddie Chin was absent from the meeting.

The Board said farewell to Student Delegate Jason Wong who has graduated (as the president of the student body) from SOTA and is headed to Harvard. Wong has served on the SF School Board for three years as a student delegate. All of the Board members and Dr. Chan complimented Wong on his years of service and his contributions to the Board. Commissioner Wynns and Student Delegate Jason Wong are good friends (he invited her to attend his graduation and thanked her for her mentorship at TACT)-and Commissioner Wynns conveyed her heartfelt gratitude for their friendship and the years that they served together on the Board.

In yesterday’s Boston Globe, reporters Tracy Jan and Maria Sacchetti reported that Deborah Sims, SFUSD’s assistant superintendent of K-12 operations and Arlene Ackerman, former superintendent of SFUSD are on the short list for the next superintendent of schools for Boston’s public schools.

According to the Globe, a 12-member search committee selected the five finalists behind closed doors. The next step is for a private search consultant to see if the five contenders would be willing to meet will meet with assorted community groups in public forums during a two-day visit to the city. The public process may deter candidates, the sources said, and more names may be added if that occurs.

The Board of Supes is pushing for a ban on polystyrene (styrofoam) takeout containers in San Francisco. The stuff is apparently pretty nasty–even McDonalds stopped using the stuff a few years ago. Even the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, opponents of things like living wages and health insurance, is OK with it.

Nathan Nayman, on the other hand, is against it:

Nathan Nayman, director of the Committee on Jobs, a lobbying group for big business in San Francisco, accused Peskin of drafting his legislation to satisfy environmentalists without any consideration of what it will cost companies.

American Leftist points to warning signs that the US Military is gearing up to fight for oildemocracy in Latin America as well as the Middle East:

This is a fascinating story, because it suggests that the US military is adopting the doctrine that a rejection of neoliberal economic policies, as in Venezuela and Bolivia, constitutes a threat to the US justifying military action, especially when it involves oil and natural gas production.

Photo by Bill Wilson

Supervisor Chris Daly speaking. Sup Dufty and Treasurer Jose Cisneros in the back.

Trans March!

Friday June 23rd, the Friday before Pride, 7 pm March.
3 pm - 7 pm Speakers and Performers
Dolores Park, Dolores and 19th Street
Calling all transfolks, friends, allies and admirers!

Noon to 1:00pm
Oshun Center
June 22, 2006
101 Taylor Street,
San Francisco

Join us for a commemoration reception and for the unveiling of a historical plague at the corner of Turk and Taylor.

At the SF Board of Education’s Committee Meeting of the Whole, Myong Leigh on Tuesday, June 20, Chief of Planning and Policy and Nancy Waymack, District’s liasion to the Board presented the Superintendent’s recommended 2006-07 budget.

The overall proposed 2006-07 budget is $606,254,445 for total district revenues and an additional $140,208,914 for county and child development fund revenues. Last year’s adopted 2005-06 budget was $398,992,392 for total district revenues with an additional $35,590,396 for child development and $99,377,021 for the county office of education’s restricted programs.

Myong Leigh characterized the budget as tight but that the District only had to give “haircuts” to trim the budget to balance the proposed 2006-07 budget with its projected revenues.