There was a time when tons of protesters would gather outside the Bohemian Grove enclave in Monte Rio, organized in part by Sonoma County resident Mary Moore, to call attention to the great big, white, male, Republican, secret-society-like gathering that happens there each July. It's the summer retreat for the Bohemian Club, a men's club founded in 1872 which has that big, fancy clubhouse on Taylor and Post, and it's been said that the Manhattan Project was conceived there, and Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan met there in 1967 and agreed who would seek the presidency first. more ›

(A little late, because we're fixing our servers around here today.) more ›

Shoppers trying to enjoy the a/c at the Oakridge Mall in San Jose on Sunday afternoon got less cool air than they were hoping for when the straining mall transformer outside the movie theater blew up. Witnesses reported seeing the lights flicker, hearing a huge boom, and then seeing sparks. In light of the panic and lack of power for the mall, Oakridge threw up its hands and decided just to close for the rest of the day. more ›

Over here at SFist's fortress of solitude (above Jerry's Tattoo and Java), we've just been informed that "Big" Dick Cheney is currently ensconced at the Mandarin Oriental downtown, and an entire block of Sansome has been shut down in order to protect him (and make your commute extra-fun!). Apparently he's making a west coast swing to lobby members of congress, including Representative Bill Thomas, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to convince them that there really is a crisis with Social Security, and the safest place for hard working Americans to put their nest eggs is Wall Street, where hordes of selfless financiers will happily look out for your best interests instead of their own. more ›