San Francisco // Current

Man sets up live webcam on notorious street

"I live in the worst neighborhood in San Francisco. This camera is not a reflection of me or my way of life but it's... more

Rhys_Bonney
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California dreaming

L’area di San Francisco Bay punta a diventare la capitale mondiale delle auto a energia elettrica entro il 2012.... more

EffettoTerra
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Video: How to make your Thanksgiving 'green'

Organic Thanksgiving

shaiDeljo
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Artist: Ian Scalzo

This Current Gallery profiles the work of San Francisco, California Artist: Ian Scalzo http://www.fabric8.com,... more

aferraro
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MILK: Air America Interviews Activist Cleve Jones

Maybe director Gus Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, actor Sean Penn, and everyone involved with Milk thought they were... more

DanPersons
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$1 billion electric car charging grid planned for San Francisco

In keeping with its progressive reputation, San Francisco is looking to pave the way for widespread electric vehicle adoption in... more

YesWeDid
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Officials unveil plans to turn San Francisco into electric car capital of the world

Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay Area into one of the leading centres of... more

bansheewail
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Bill O' Reilly Disses San Francisco In Documentry

All of us know how the 'comedian' Bill O' Reilly, never fails to amuse us in his comedy show The O' Reilly... more

insanejain
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California Supreme Court to Reconsider Proposition 8, the Amendment Which Banned Gay Marriage

I believe that one day, Americans will see gay rights like they now see minority rights, women's rights, and the rights of... more

sunkisthappy
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Bill O'Reilly Smears San Francisco with Surreal Pseudo-Documentary

While much has changed, it's good to know Bill O'Reilly is still a total douchebag. This profile of San Francisco is so... more

rnaber
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Beaten,Molested,Chased by Gay Mob

Eye-witness account by member of Christian group VICTIM OF HATE CRIME

I went to the Castro District like we usually do on Friday nights.

Normally, we sit on 18th and Castro, and someone plays the guitar, and we all worship God.

Sometimes a person will yell at us, or maybe a few. Sometimes people will ignore us. Sometimes people will let us pray with them.

This time was not a normal night. It was the first time we'd been back in the Castro to do our normal outreach since California Proposition 8, which defined marriage as 'one man with one woman,' was passed. We played the guitar and sang together and worshiped the Lord. After just singing and worshiping God for a while, Roger decided that we should all hold hands in a circle and continue singing. So we did

Then some guy who was dressed up like one of the sisters — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is a group of men who dress up like nuns and call themselves the spiritual authority of the Castro, took a curtain-type thing (Which I think they use to curse people) and wrapped it around us.

Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing "Amazing Grace,"and basically sang that song the whole night. At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like 'haters' and 'bigots' Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us.

Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us. At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said, 'Hey, that;s not yours, can you please give it back?' He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said, 'No, tell him I forgive him.' Afterwards, she didn't rejoin us in the circle, but she made friends with one of the people in the crowd, and really connected heart to heart.

Roger got death threats. As the leader of our group, people looked him in the eyes and said, "I am going to kill you,"and they were serious. A cop heard one of them, and confronted him. It wasn't long before the violence turned to perversion. They were touching and grabbing me, and trying to shove things in my butt, and even trying to take off my pants - basically trying to molest me. I used one hand to hold my pants up, while I used the other arm to hold one of the girls. The guys huddled around all the girls, and protected them. Soon after, the cops came and stood between us and the mob.

Probably half our team got their jackets stolen. Eventually, as the crowd was getting more and more uncontrollable, the cops were afraid for our lives, so they escorted us to our van. (The cops were very nice to us from start to finish.) Our van was parked pretty far [away] because it was hard to find parking that day. As the cops escorted us, the mob followed us, until the cops formed a line and held off the people so we could drive away.

We took the long way home, just in case anyone tried to follow us. When we got home, we prayed and sang more, and then prayed over each other. Please know my heart. All of what we do is for the Love of Jesus Christ, and the love for those in the Castro. The Bible says to love God, and then love people. We can only love because He loved us first. We can’t hate the people because they are just broken and blinded by the spirit of this age. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers. It's not a political thing, we just love the people. This is the raw footage of the walk from 18th and Castro Street to our car. It was only the very tail end of the night.Eye-witness account by member of Christian group VICTIM OF HATE CRIME I went to the Castro District like we usually do on... more