Spotted in San Francisco part III: King Quote

While in San Francisco we visited a lovely memorial fountain for Martin Luther King, located in the Yerba Buena Gardens. Underneath a waterfall was a walkway with series of glass panels etched with quotes from Dr. King. I'd never read most of them before and this one was particularly striking to me. If you can't read it in the photo it says, "We must rapidly begin to shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

Spotted in San Francisco part II: Indians Welcome

As part of my recent trip to San Francisco I visited the infamous Alcatraz Island. I was afraid it would be a cheesy tourist destination, but instead the designated National Park was fascinating on many levels. Aside from its history as a military and federal prison I was surprised the island was also an integral part of the Native American rights movement. A documentary on the island explained the graffiti we spotted right after we got off the boat (shown left). In 1969, several years after the Alcatraz prison was closed for good, the island, which had been left dormant, was seized by Native American activists and claimed once again as "Indian Land". The occupation lasted until 1972 at which point in fighting and fatigue had dwindled their numbers from the 100+ that were initially there to just a handful, who were ousted by a variety of law enforcement officials. The occupation is now considered one of the key moments in the fight for Native American self-determination.

A detailed account of this history can be found HERE.

Spotted in San Francisco part I: City Compost Bin

For those of you in S.F., this post won't be a big deal, but for folks like me in places where having a recycling pick up at your house is a big deal* it was quite a shock to learn that the city of San Francisco picks up compostable items as well as the usual trash and recycling. Considering that city dwellers don't often have the yards necessary to do their own composting or the interest in keeping worms under their sinks, this is a fairly awesome thing. Does anyone know if this service exists in other US cities? In other countries?

*Buildings with more than 4 apartment units in Richmond, Virginia don't get recycling pick ups!