Pacificapocalypse

“We are made to believe when we cannot understand, and to obey so that we will never understand”

It’s been 30 years, and I still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news that a bunch of crazy people had killed themselves in some jungle somewhere. I was at the now closed James D. Phelan middle school in San Jose, and I had just turned 11 years old.

Crazy people in a jungle somewhere.

That’s all I knew then, but as time progressed and the story unfolded, I and the rest of the world, learned how absolutely bug shit insane the situation was.

I still don’t understand what really happened. There is, and always will be, a strong San Francisco connection to the People’s Temple. The majority of his followers came from Hunters Point, Bay View and Vis Valley and they still have relatives here. He had his fingers in City Hall and was courted and valued by politicians, as a guaranteed ‘vote getter’. So perhaps that’s why, people, good people, looked the other way (shame on you Chronicle, you fucking knew better) when word got out, before they fled to the jungle, that things were going very wrong inside the People’s Temple.
What force drives, what are to all expectations, reasonably intelligent people, to give up their lives, their homes and deny their families and move to a jungle, an absolutely primitive campsite really, thousands of miles away on an entirely different continent.
What makes committing, logically and methodically an incredibly illogical and insane act, seem reasonable?
They killed their children. They squirted the Kool-Aid down their throats and killed their children.

Kool-Aid in a jungle or new Nikes in San Diego. Something moves these people to commit these horrific acts.I don’t think I’ll ever understand, and frankly I’m not entirely convinced that I want to understand what drives these people.

There’s a lot of info out there; here’s a good place to start.
Jonestown 30 Years Later - SFGate.com

Seriously.

Sidewalk graffiti at 18th and Dolores in San Francisco’s hipster-heavy Mission district.
(Photo by Melissa Gira Grant)
Via Valleywag

In addition to the weirdness from last week and over the weekend, the body count continues from the buyout offer from management. So far 25 people have opted for the buyout AND they’ve pushed back the final filing date from August 22nd to the 29th. Does that mean that they have a large number of applicants or that they don’t have enough? No ones sure.
Of the three people in my department that I’m sure were taking the buyout, two were told that the offers had been accepted and their last day was Monday this week. Holy crap! Gone! Poof! Just like that.
Three more that I know of are on the fence… it’s an odd feeling, the sense of uneasiness. There’s talk of just disbanding the department but they need local people who know the marketplace, so I highly doubt that’s going to happen. I’m guessing we’ll be downsized ( christ I hate that word ) to the minimum number of staff and be done with it. Time will tell. Life goes on, blah blah blah, but coupled with the break-in, this is making me very uneasy.

*sigh* ok so the score is now officially three people from my department are taking the buyout; two more are considering it and I learned yesterday that the remaining supervisor has put in her request, which, if she gets it approved, will leave the department with no management at all.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I see the department being reduced to no more than five people in the future and eventually folded into SFGate.com which makes sense to me.
More later.

Ok, look, I’m all for activism, social change, inclusiveness and public demonstration, but this is just plain stupid.

From today’s issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian in the Alerts section:

Freeze and chant? It’s like the joke when the robber stick the gun in the victims face and says “Don’t move! Put your hands up!” “So wait, do I not move or do I put my hands up?” And I *despise* flash mobs and their associated nonsense; they’re annoying and no longer the unique occurrence they were once upon a time. That time was a Tuesday afternoon, for about 20 minutes, in late 2002. Just ask this girl if they’re still a good idea.
These guys need to take a clue from Improv Everywhere.
Now they know how to do a public scene.

So the fallout continues; another person in my department is taking the buyout; she’s been with the company for 15 years, so again, it sort of makes sense. That’s two definite and two maybes.

What other fresh, disturbing revelations shall the day bring?

Yeah I wasn’t going to post about this but…
We received a company wide email announcing a buyout program starting today, Monday, August 4th.

Dear Chronicle Guild Members:

As you may already know, Hearst management intends to reduce staff by about 125 positions through voluntary buyout packages. The packages will be similar to the last round of buyouts and will include: 2 weeks pay per year of service, with a minimum of 4 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks; COBRA commensurate with weeks of service, with a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months and members can cash out COBRA if they choose; and uncontested unemployment benefits. The 3-week offer period is from Monday, Aug. 4 to Aug. 22, 5 p.m. Once you sign, you have 5 business days to rescind. End dates will be worked out with your supervisor or manager, but all must be finalized by the the end of the year.

This reduction will affect all departments and also include management. We will hold meetings on Monday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the third floor Guild Conference Room at 433 Natoma St.

We know that this a difficult time and will assist you in any way possible. Please check mediaworkers.org for the latest updates.
I wasn’t too concerned (I being an absolutely integral part of the Hearst Corporation’s long term financial plan) but today is weird, people are huddled in small groups in cube farm intersections speaking in low tones. There are these odd wondering, sideways looks from people: who’s taking the buyout? Will they get enough volunteers to avoid layoffs? You can smell the fear and desperation.
Or is that lunch? Anyway, there’s a strange vibe in the office and I don’t know which way people are going to jump. Certain managers have already indicated that they might take it, leaving the department in even more precarious straights.

Time to polish the resumé.

Stayed tuned for further developments.

UPDATE: Wow, one person in my department is definitely taking the buyout and two more are seriously considering it. All three of them have, on average, been here 20 plus years, so it makes sense.
Dame this might be serious.

Or hostile precession? San Francisco high-quality street art?

I love the zoo.
Yeah, yeah I know, “zoo’s are cruel” whatever Peta dude, go suck down some organic Humus and let me get my zoo on. So last Saturday, we took a little day trip to the San Francisco Zoo. It was hotter than the hinges of hell and there was no way we were going to stay indoors. We still had Kaitlin with us and she couldn’t remember if she’d ever been before (the 12 year old female mind is…  a mystery of Bermuda Triangle proportions.)
I dig the Africa Savanna scene with the Giraffes, Zebra, Lesser AND Greater Kudu. Come on man! Baby Giraffes are awesome. The ginourmous Silverback Gorilla and all the primates. The birds and reptiles. I like the Tapirs and the big Black Swan. I dig the Penguins and the petting zoo with all the farm critters. I love them all.
The Zoo gets a bad rap I think. Yes, ok, I agree, the 1930’s architecture of some of the paddocks are horrific when compared to modern standards, but the new habitats are so much better and they never seem to stop improving. Ok, the whole ‘Death by Christmas Tiger‘ thing was pretty bad for the tiger and the guy that was killed (though in retrospect the two other guys involved come off as world class douchbags.) but I still think the Zoo serves a grand purpose - to allow people and families to see and learn about these animals that they might never otherwise get the chance. Besides. they *did* save those two bear cubs that were up for destruction, and got a nifty new Grizzly bear habitat out of it as well.
So all you naysayers can go fish.
It’s all happening at the zoo.

More pictures here.