Mission Mission

The Believer takes a look at the phenomenon in a piece titled “Haterade“:

[M]any readers seem to be approaching their commenting privileges like teenagers with newly minted driver’s licenses. Belted in by anonymity and often distracted by the equally reckless ravings of their peers, they take potshots, spread untruths, and, at their worst, spew racism and bigotry that would put a professional writer out of business in a nanosecond. In so doing, they spread a rancor that can eclipse not only the original article but also the comments of readers who take a more constructive, civil approach. They take the very privilege the internet has afforded all of us—the privilege of equal opportunity, instant expression—and spit on it, making the very notion of “speaking your mind” seem almost like a dirty practice, the national pastime of the lowest common denominator.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

Lindsey knows:

Last night I asked a couple people who they were voting for mayor.

[...]

But more importantly, Omer told me:

“I’m voting for MYSELF. Now go the hell home.”

Of course. Me too. Read on.

In an effort to help out the city of San Francisco as well as all of us Muni riders, one Mission resident and his crack team of programmers took to the internet and did in one weekend what city officials said would take 5 years to complete. SFGate has the details:

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has every intention of spending a few years and untold dollars creating its own, more robust version of the tool. But the team hacked together the basic parameters of the SMART Muni app in a 48-hour stretch in late July, fueled by pizza and beer.

Read on.

Previously:

• Pink-clad superhero team unsticks a stuck Muni bus
• Man vs. 14 Mission vs. being punched in the face
• Flight to San Diego faster than Muni ride from Lower Haight to Downtown

Where do you stand in the raging indie/Indian turf wars? (Oh, you hadn’t heard about that?)

Y’know, now that nobody reads newspapers anymore. Check it:

No Hope has the video from whence this still came right here. It’s a good watch.

Reader J9 sends us this:

These weird developer people came by my apartment today telling me that were going to build a bunch of gross loft condos down the street from my apartment at 15th street and S. van ness.

Take a look here:http://www.1501-15thstreet.com/

These condos don’t even look inhabitable- the buildings look like weird Darth Vader office buildings.

In case you’re a part of the Rebel Alliance, there’s a meeting tonight where you can discuss your concerns with the lack of neo-Victorian detailing in these chic living obelisks. Maybe you can glance at the plans and locate an unshielded thermal exhaust port:

Come to the 1501 15th Street Neighborhood Meeting on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011. The meeting will be held in Annunciation Cathedral at 245 Valencia Street @ 14th Street.

The Empire appears to be trying to evade dissent by not posting an actual start time, but rest assured, we have a contacted them and will update with the relevant info when we get it.

Update: Meeting starts at 6pm

Katie over at Refinery 29 says a “source close to the project” revealed that the bike polo courts (AKA “tennis courts”) might be removed as part of the Dolores Park renovation. And just what do they propose to put in its place? A dog park, where your respective pit bulls and yorkshire terriers can frolic and socialize in perfect harmony.

Not sure of the validity of the claim, but true to San Francisco form, there is already a petition about it, so go sign that if you hate dogs and love bike polo (or tennis).

In other news, Mission Mission is now considering starting a petition to install outdoor ping pong tables in the “fruit shelf” area of the park. Stay tuned.

[via Refinery 29]

If you’re one of the cool kids who DVR’s Jeopardy, you may have noticed the category “Streets of San Francisco” on Saturday’s episode. If you’re not one of the cool kids, you missed out on watching the Mission get a shout out not once, but twice. Remember, you must answer in the form of a question:

And for $2000, Alex:

Sure, I can jump on this bandwagon.

So, you think this whole anti-gentrification thing is unique to the Mission? Think again. It’s happening in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, as you can see in this found racist rant accusing a loosely-defined group of people of being racist.

i don’t know, man astutely points out:

Pilsen is named for the Czech town of Plzen — Pilsner, a delicious type of lager beer is, too — because it was populated mainly by Czech immigrants in the early part of last century. As Czechs made a better life for themselves and probably moved out of the city to the suburbs, Chicago’s growing Latino population moved in.

What we have here is a chicken-or-the-egg problem. Who’s the most entitled to live anywhere? Amoebas floating in primordial soup, I reckon.

Anyway, I’m glad Asian hipsters are off the hook (not that I am one).

[chicagoist via beerandrap]