American Airlines flights leaving the San Francisco area will soon be testing an in-flight program that eschews cash. From Sept. 10-Sept. 30, certain flights from the carrier will allow you to purchase cool stuff like $3 headphones and $[way too much] snacks using your major credit or debit card--and ONLY those cards. No legal tender allowed....

While the Powers that Be continue to dicker around with the idea of a very expensive Central Subway that will go from Market through Chinatown, one man has an idea to save us all the trouble and expense. That man is Howard Strassner of Rescue Muni....

To get you psyched for tonight's game, here's some news on the Warriors front: -Here are Ten Reasons why you should jump on the Warriors bandwagon. -Baron Davis is the happiest guy alive. -The Betting Fool tells everyone to calm the f---- down. -Is this series a grudge match between Nellie and Cuban? Or are they one, but not the same? -Will the Mavs continue to go small or give it to Nowitzky? -Nellie, with......

There's been a spirited debate over at the Rescue Muni group ever since a local woman was killed under the tires of a bus in the Tenderloin last week. Some folks are saying that "fender skirts" (they're like covers over the wheel) could have prevented the pedestrian from being thrown under the wheels as the bus turned a corner. Fender skirts show up on some more modern buses, like those used by many of......

With Rita's blessing, we bring you a brand new column called "We Read the Glossies." It's just like "We Read the Weeklies" only with monthly glossies. Here we review the February issues of Diablo, San Francisco Magazine, San Jose Magazine, and 7x7....

-Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. -Or maybe not-- the Governator declares a state of emergency after a potential loss of $1 billion dollars in losses to citrus farms. ...

In the spirit of New Year's Eve, we present to you the bad idea that is the Art Shell drink....

Ahh, signs of Summer in the Bay Area: Blackberries ripening at creekside. Long lines of cars headed to Stinson Beach. Warm evenings as the sun lingers above the Pacific. And fresh dissent rising within your Raiders' camp. ...

Drag-racing on 101 -- such a bad idea, even if you don't kill members of the Tongan royal family. Grieving Tongans have left so many mementos at the site of last Wednesday's accident that CHP determined the area was a traffic hazard and removed everything that had been left. When the reporter was there, six vehicles pulled off by the side of the road to pay their respects, which CHP says isn't the safest thing......

Recently, the Senate voted on the Republicans biennial attempt at saving America from the horrible threat of flag burning. Goodness gracious, imagine the hullabaloo if a bunch of gay Mexicans ever decided to burn a flag. Anyways, we hoped that the bill would fail miserably and the Democratic Party would have nothing to do with it but it didn't happen. Instead it came a vote short of passing. We did happen to notice, however, that the bill was labeled as "bipartisan" as it was co-sponsored by a Democrat. And the particular Democrat who cosponsored it? Our very own Diane Feinstein. Which we knew about but totally forgot because what with the war still raging, government eavesdropping programs going unfettered, and our complete and total obsession with "Battlestar Galactica," had moved onto bigger and more important things to concern ourselves with. ...

Nancy Pelosi maybe the second most powerful Dem in the country, but that doesn't mean she's getting any love from us hometown folks. For some, it's because if it wasn't for the fact she was constantly referred to as a "San Francisco Liberal" most of us wouldn't know she was our Congressman (Congresswoman? Congressperson? Congresswomyn?). For others, it's because she hasn't used her position as minority leader of a minority party to end the war, impeach the President, AND pass laws only allowing dolphin free tuna. As a result, progressive types have started up a movement to draft up Matt Gonzalez to run against Pelosi. Because nothing makes progressives swoon more than when the Shaggy Haired One bats his big, beautiful eyes in their direction. ...

With the advent of this Internet thingamabob, newspapers are finding themselves in quite a world of Darwinian hurt. In short, adapt or die. Lately, the Chron has been adapting by having some of their most favored writers do blogs on the SFGate side. Not a bad idea really as we're sure the idea of paying $30 a year to read Jon Carroll's cat columns is not going to bring in the cash money. How they've been getting the writers to do it is a good question as we have a feeling not many of them were that psyched on the idea. We're thinking either by gun point or with long-lost incriminating photos. ...

Wine tasting parties are all the rage these days. Lifestyle mags offer tips for throwing them, and our friends seem to go to them all the time (why aren't we invited?). It's not hard to figure out the appeal. You get a bunch of people together in a friendly environment with a half-dozen or so bottles of wine, and people get to unearth new finds or expand their tastes a bit. But unless you've......

Norv Turner, late of our Raiders, now has been hired to be our 49ers' offensive coordinator. Please, remain calm. Now, before anyone leaps to the logical conclusion that this is a very, very bad idea, let us consider the possibility -- however unlikely -- that this may be a good idea. ...

A suspected gang member is in custody after shooting dead an East Palo Alto cop who was responding to a call about a disturbance at a taqueria. The cop had an Explorer Scout in his car on an officer ride-along when he was killed. The Explorer Scout, who was not injured, immediately called in for help and gave a detailed description of the killer. It's like the opposite of the lady who faked running the Boston Marathon -- a bus driver for the Santa Cruz Transportation Authority was arrested for fraud and grand theft, after his employer found out that despite claiming total disability and collecting workers' comp payments, he had actually run the Big Sur Marathon. No word on his time. And a man fleeing the cops in Rodeo, near Hercules, decided his best way out of his situation was to run onto I-80 (despite folks telling him it was a bad idea) where he promptly -- boom! -- got hit by a truck. He's now in the same hospital as the two people he attacked with a deadly weapon, and as soon as he gets better, will be booked for attempted murder. As the officer said, ""The gentleman decided to try it [running across the highway] and it didn't work out. It just is so idiotic." ...

In keeping with the general SFist holiday gift guide, the Cares columns for December will feature gift ideas for the more philanthropic of our readers. We love stuff, don't get us wrong, but it can be a big relief when you and your friends decide to exchange charitable donations. Hopefully, we'll have some ideas you can use and feel free to chime in in the comments with more. First, up, we've got some ideas......

Whenever we see persimmons, we remember one of our first encounters with the matte orange fruit. Some joker had set out a bowl filled with pretty persimmon wedges and so of course we tried one. This, it turns out, is a Bad Idea. If you make the same mistake we did, the tannins in the fruit will wither your tongue and completely dry out your mouth. It's a distinctive, odd, and not very pleasant......

Special "We don't know how SFist Rita does it" edition. First up, last week's winner, the San Francisco Weekly. Dan Savage is on vacation! We have a feeling it will be a tough few weeks for the Weekly here at WRTW -- look for the Guardian, Metro and Express to land a few punches. Hint: you can read 'classic' Savage Love over at The Stranger. Are you an Arnie apologist? Speaking of steroids, Matt......

Okay, SFist admits that the dating scene is ugly. Really, really ugly. We've never had much luck at hooking up with folks at bars or clubs, though granted the line between consuming enough alcohol to overcome our anxiety and blacking out for us is very, very fine. People are strange and prone to say hateful things that make you feel bad. Better to have your senses dulled as much as possible so that if......

SFist has been known to be a little crafty - and not just in our excuses why we can't buy that next round of drinks either. We've got some skills and one of them is knitting. We've made scarves for everyone we know and, well, we hope you like what we got you for Christmas this year too. And now we can put our skills to greater use. Afghans for Afghans is an organization that......