By Rebecca Bowe

Have you ever noticed that when routines are interrupted, people are more likely to strike up conversations with strangers? My morning took an unexpected turn yesterday when I arrived at the Macarthur BART station to find a news van and television crew out front, filming the hordes of commuters who were in line to purchase train tickets. Everyone seemed stressed out. Newspaper headlines everywhere screamed of the Bay Bridge closure. Read more »

By Rebecca Bowe

Naomi Klein showed a portion of this film clip during her lecture at UC Berkeley last night. Read more »

By Rebecca Bowe

The Guardian has received several accounts that paid signature gatherers for a ballot initiative backed by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that could darken prospects statewide for public-power programs were pitching it in a way that, at best, wasn’t entirely straightforward. Read more »

By Rebecca Bowe

The FOX nexus. Click here (PDF) for the full version, with key

If you picked up a print version of the Guardian this week, you might have noticed the relationship web we created to chart the GOP and corporate connections to News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News Channel. Read more »

By Rebecca Bowe

On Sept. 15, 500 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and clerical workers with San Francisco’s Department of Public Health received pink slips informing them that they would be declassified out of their current jobs, and rehired at lower-paying positions.

The difference in terms of job responsibilities is slight, but money-wise, the downgrades represent a $15,000 annual pay cut on average for CNAs, and a $5,000 annual pay cut on average for clerical workers. Read more »

by Rebecca Bowe

Politico has reported that the Yes Men, a left-leaning activist group that has created public-relations messes for big business before, fooled Reuters, CNBC, and the Washington Post this morning by issuing a fake pr Read more »

By Rebecca Bowe

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that he wouldn’t sign any new legislation unless a water plan is in place -- and he has some very concrete ideas about what that plan should be. There are about 700 bills awaiting his signature by Sunday. Read more »