Mission Mission

Here’s the latest in a series of shocking fake ad campaigns that have been popping up on Muni buses. The text reads: “Fartine Bakery & Cafe. Wait in line for five hours to buy a fucking donut.” Someone should smash the windows of that place before they sell any more pastries.

[Muni Diaries via Grubstreet SF]

As you already know, a bunch of local businesses were vandalized last night, causing what could be upwards of thousands of dollars in damage. An anonymous community member has stepped up and started a donation page, and the collected funds will go toward helping repair the businesses that were affected in last night’s riots.

These businesses include (but may not be limited to):

• Brick and Mortar
• Taca Airlines
• 299 Valencia
• Tradesmen
• Property Management Systems
• The Voyager Shop
• Four Barrel
• Pica Pica Maize Kitchen
• Art Zone 461 Gallery
• Locanda
• Bar Tartine
• Tartine Bakery
• Therapy
• Weston Wears
• Mission Police Station
• Farina

UPDATE: A lot of you are wondering whether this is a real donation page or a scam. I contacted the creator of the fund, and here’s what he had to say.

So I just moved into the area a little over a week ago and am very big into people taking care of their community. My Facebook account is facebook.com/ben if that helps put my name and reputation behind it. Also if there’s a way to give more authenticity to this please let me know.

As far as distribution and goal amount, I’m trying to crowd source it a bit by getting businesses to contact us with the extent of the damage but if that doesn’t work i’ll go out there and try and get hard numbers myself.

The dollar amount was simply something to shoot for that felt meaningful enough and doable. I’m open to ideas as to how to fairly distribute it, but rather than spend days debating that I’d rather get people mobilized and inspired to show their support.

I will say that I think other shows of support could be fantastic as well. I don’t know if it’s a day where we go and visit each business together, or send them something… I think something in addition to the money would be great.

UPDATE #2: It has been brought to our attention that there is a small transaction fee when you donate. Ben has generously offered to cover this fee.

[Photo via Mission Local]

The group of people who went around the neighborhood tonight smashing up local business storefronts were not involved with the Occupy movement, according to a source who is heavily active in the movement. He concedes that there easily could be overlap in terms of people who also go to Occupy rallies, or support the cause, but that this is not action that is generally acceptable with the vastly peaceful protesters.

The source points out that wording in this post, where the above image was found, implies Black Bloc tactics, frowned upon by many Occupy protesters, and does not specifically call itself Occupy. Though it appears on a site that seems to be affiliated with Occupy Oakland.

Let’s hope that the damage done tonight ends tonight and tomorrow’s peaceful actions will strengthen, rather than overshadow, the strike’s important messages.

You may have noticed that many of your favorite websites are blacked out today in protest of SOPA, the epicly-clueless internet regulatory legislation currently making the rounds in Congress.  If this insanity somehow ends up passing, then any site that has comments, a forum, video streaming, or user content in any form could be blocked in the US, removed from search engines, and thus effectively destroyed on the basis of a single errant comment left by a reader.

That means that any one of you comment trolls (you know who you are) could inadvertently get Mission Mission shut down for one of your typically vile statements!  Lucky for us, MM reader Joey concocted this handy dandy flow chart to help explain all you need to know and what you can do about this business.

Check it out here.

“Surrender those truffles!  Pour out that Four Loko!”  Perhaps it’s not too far-fetched after all?

(via Marginally Yours)

Previously:

A Sunday Afternoon in Delores [sic] Park – Georges Seurat, 2011

Watch a cop pepper spray a bunch of peaceful protestors right in the face at UC Davis

Asian Art Museum Blog explains:

This weekend the museum is hosting  a special event at our Target Free Sunday. Be The Match Marrow Registry, a nonprofit organization that matches patients with unrelated bone marrow donors, will be conducting registrations at the museum—complete with cheek cell swabbing!

Why? Great question. Be The Match approached the museum because they have a shortage of South Asian donors in their registry. Bay Area entrepreneur Amit Gupta shared his experience:

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why. He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got acute leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.” I have a couple more months of chemo to go, and then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. Minorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

With the Maharaja exhibition in full swing and Sanjay Patel’s show opening next week, the museum is quite a hub for South Asian cultural happenings right now. Be The Match thought it would be a great opportunity to reach out to the South Asian community, and we agreed.

Volunteers from Be The Match will be at the museum from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm this Sunday, November 6. No matter what your background, Be The Match would be grateful for your participation!

Read on for further info, and for goodness’ sake take advantage of this opportunity.

[Photo by Rosencruz Sumera]

Our buddy Lindsey headed across the bay yesterday to join the fray and saw some wild sights. First there was the truck that floored it into a group of people:

Then there was the line of fixed-gear hipsters waiting for tacos:

Oh and then she got teargassed. Here’s how it started:

Lately, the idea of occupying foreclosed homes has been bouncing around. People have been saying a lot of things about a lot of homeless people, and a lot of homes without people. I am going to keep my opinion out of this, but nonetheless, it appears valid on paper. So protesters started “occupying” a foreclosed building on 16th, and I watched people bring in stacks & stacks of books to turn it into a makeshift learning community. Cool in concept, obviously never going to work. Word got out that cops were coming, and people started barricading 16th, along Broadway & San Pablo. Dumpsters, doors (???), newspaper dispenser things, all building a blockade. People started to get anxious about police presence. I was on the San Pablo side, but I looked over & saw that people had lit the barricade along Broadway on fire. I mean, come on. Enough is enough, people. Riot squads started pouring out of vans, and standing without action. I can’t speak for what happened at the East end of the street, but on the San Pablo side, people started to try & provoke them. Graffiti, bricks through windows, broken bottles. It started to get so vandalism-centered, that when I heard the two booms from Broadway, I thought they were “protesters” dismantling something.

Whoa. It’s a much longer story than that. Read the rest here. Quite an ordeal.

But the good news is it’s working:

Urban refuse demonstrates solidarity by occupying Valencia.

Or, perhaps it’s viral marketing for the Garbage reunion world tour.

Tucked away in the back of Viracocha on Valencia Street is a tiny lending library, carefully curated and impeccably kept. Founded by Kristina Kearns, Ourshelves was inspired by all the talk of the publishing industry’s impending death and Kearns’ personal desire to preserve books. “I wanted to create something between a bookshop and a library,” Kearns said. Ourshelves has been open since July, and has since gained over 90 paid members. Her philosophy is simple: good books and an active librarian to help readers find them. The space also features desks and a cozy reading nook.

Kearns now plans to open and curate 10 free sister libraries in safe houses, shelters, and student centers around San Francisco, with personalized collections based on the requests of residents. With help from a donation from the Awesome Foundation, the first will open next month in the Riley Center for victims of domestic abuse, located in the Women’s Building on 18th Street, and will feature books in several languages for adults, young adults, and children.

Turning left on 16th with police pursuit slowly in tow.