When SFist reader Matt Scully spotted this Department of Homeland Security device at New Montgomery and Mission, he had some questions. Is this thing — whatever it is — Super Bowl related? Is it a bomb sniffer? A radiation detector? Something else?

All great queries, to which I will add, how important can it be if it can easily be unplugged (and if it needs to run non-stop, why not get a battery or a generator)? And, hey, can I charge my phone there? Plug in my curling iron?

So, I started by calling San Francisco's local Department of Homeland Security bureau, which referred me to "Washington D.C. — there are about 20 sub-divisions of Homeland Security it might belong to, and each one has their own media person." OK! So I went to this page, and went down the line, calling every single department listed, talking to folks, and leaving voice mails.

Three hours later, I have exactly nothing to report. No one knew (or was saying) what these devices are. And then I looked at Matt's email to SFist again. Matt Scully, huh? Like Dana Scully, of The X-Files? Which is, in its new season (SPOILER) arguing that there wasn't a cover-up of alien activity on earth after all, and that all the alien abduction/experimentation during the show's earlier run was actually a government conspiracy hidden behind alien guff. Is this some aspiring Deep Throat's way of tipping us off to some nefarious Illuminati plot in our in our fair city? WHAT IS GOING ON GUYS?

Anyway, after placing more concurrent phone calls than I've made in ages, I am none the wiser. Is the truth out there? Reddit suggests it's an air sampler, but, you know, if I were trying to plant misinformation Reddit would probably be my first stop. Anyway! If you know what these things are, drop me a line, comment, or just send me a message in a pack of Morleys.

Matthew Keys, most recently the deputy social media editor for Reuters, was fired today following last month's accusations that he had conspired with Anonymous hackers to gain access to Tribune Company computers and modify a news story on the L.A. Times website. After a long week of retweeting news coming out of Boston, Keys took to Twitter to announce he had been cut from the team:

Echoing his vow to fight hacking accusation, Keys says the Newspaper Guild of New York will be filing a grievance over his dismissal. After a flurry of media types on Twitter immediately connected the firing with the hacking case, Keys says that was not the reason for his dismissal:

Instead, Keys claims he is being fired for violating a written warning he received from Reuters after creating @PendingLarry a parody account of Google CEO Larry Page. Keys posted his "first and final" warning letter online, which states that the parody account violated Reuters' Code of Conduct.

Although Keys has been suspended without pay since the Department of Justice handed down their indictment last month, the former deputy social media editor kept working on his own during last week's tumultuous news cycle, relentlessly tweeting information — not all of it correct — coming out of Boston. His firing today was apparently unexpected and as he told Politico this morning, he assumes his former employers was "looking for an out."

"It’s my understanding that Reuters did not agree with some of the coverage I did on my own during the Boston Marathon events from last week," Keys told Politico. "And they have a specific set of reasons for the termination which I don’t agree with and the union that represents me does not agree with."

Late last week, in a The Awl documented some of Keys' Boston coverage in a post dissecting the recently created role of "social media editor" at various news organizations, which led with this back-and-forth between Keys and Buzzfeed editor Mike Hayes:

Update, 2:30 p.m.: In a response posted to his blog this afternoon, Keys lays out several reasons Reuters gave for his dismissal: his coverage of events in Boston last violated the October grievance regarding his behavior on social media and Reuters had a problem with Keys identifying himself as their employee in his Twitter bio while he was on suspension.

"That is a Catch 22 for me," he wrote, saying that removing the mention from his bio would have also violated the company's police and the earlier infraction. The company also disagreed with Keys' decision to tweet information from Boston Police scanner traffic, even after the department asked media outlets not to do so and called some of his reporting "reckless." Although his firing was apparently unrelated to the earlier hacking and conspiracy allegations, Keys claims, "[t]he suspension has been political from the start."

[Politico]
[TheAwl]

Popular among Bay Area conspiracy-theorist junkies for years, the "Truth About John Lennon" van popped up at the Stonestown Trader Joe's parking lot today. And why not? Even the unhinged who live among us have similar cravings for peanut butter with flaxseed or Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese and Caramelized Onion.

So, what's this van about, those of you not in the know ask? LennonMurderTruth.com reveals "government codes in major magazines" on the identify of Lennon's real killer. Former presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan are involved. As is horror scribe Stephen King.

Wheels within wheels, folks. Wheels within wheels.

Last week we called your attention to this gentleman who used his two minutes of public comment at the Board of Supervisors meeting to creep us out and predict Judgement Day for February 9th, 2011 based on whatever formula he just came up with the Dead Sea Scrolls or something. He has obviously captured our attention ever since we started gluing ourselves to SF Government TV a couple weeks ago, but as SFist commenter jbwinste pointed out, this guy is no stranger to these meetings around the Bay Area.

Acting on that tip, we dug up footage from a 7-hour long San Jose City Council meeting on April 27th of this year. (Don't worry, we edited it down to the important part, embedded below.) Besides learning that the capital of Silicon Valley allows a generous three minutes of speaking time in their "Open Forum" section, we finally found our man tucked in at the end just before the City Council takes their recess.

Laughing Squid featured a photo of a rather poetic letter that's posted in the window of the former See's Candies in Nob Hill written by the building's landlord, which explains that the business has been evicted due to their contribution to the “Enron-sponsored” 9/11 attacks.

The above brilliant graphic explains it all, sort of.

MurrayChass.com broke the story:

"I am convinced that Major League Baseball will never let him put on a uniform ever again," said Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris.

Bonds did not play this year. The last time he played was on Sept. 26, 2007, when he failed to get a hit in three times at bat against the San Diego Padres. Try as he did, Borris was unable to find Bonds a job for 2008. Did he think his client was a victim of collusion, Borris was asked on the telephone Tuesday.

"There's not a doubt in my mind," he replied emphatically.

Baseball officials deny Borris' allegation.

And your evidence iiiiiis... what, then?

More likely than Borris' paranoid postulation, the scenario processed out like this: each MLB team's front office considered what sort of production Bonds could lend to their team versus the public relations apocalypse that Bonds would bring their franchise.

Then we'd imagine that they moved on to their next order of business.