Pope Benedict XVI took to his popemobile after meeting with President Bush at the White House this morning. The pontiff, who is celebrating his 81st birthday today, rode west beginning around noon on Pennsylvania Ave. through Washington Circle before heading north on Rock Creek Parkway before exiting at Massachusetts Ave. to arrive at the Vatican embassy. A large, enthusiastic crowd of about 10,000 gathered to cheer on the Pope as he rode by, rather swiftly......

Attention conspiracy buffs: There's a secret project underway to seize control all of San Francisco's traffic lights, just like how the terrorists did in Live Free or Die Hard. Well, okay, the civic initiative (called "SFgo") isn't TECHNICALLY a secret; while it's true that nobody talks about it and current information is hard to come by, that's just because the project is really really boring. But here's something to spice it up: President Bush......

After House Democrats rescued him from censure today, Fremont Democratic Representative Pete Stark then apologized to members of the House and President Bush for his recent remark about "'soldiers getting their heads blown up...for the President's amusement."...

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. ...

-The saga of that unfunny police video skit continues on...

-Three fires raged in Rockridge last night and police think it's all due to arson. What the hell is going on in Oakland these days? -Former HP head honcho, CEO Carly Fiorina, can't understand why she was fired and replaced by a bunch of people who just got indicted. We would imagine that would kind of hurt, but we're also pretty sure all the millions she got as a buy out would probably ease some of that pain. ...

-A 51 year old Nuclear Power Plant engineer from Sacramento is in custody for sending a letter containing a powdery substance to a Country Club President Bush is scheduled to appear at today. Did Homer Simpson just threaten the President?...

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a......

SFist interviews Barb Traub, author of "Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography"...

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

SFist goes to the President Bush protest at Stanford...

For those people feeling down that it's been weeks since the last good rally, cheer up, cause there's going to be a rally tomorrow in front of the Danish embassy. The Free Republic will sponsor tomorrow’s rally. The Free Republic? Yep, the Free Republic. As in one of the largest and most notorious conservative organizations in the land. As in an organization that has on its Web site a whole section titled "Pray for President Bush" and mean it in a completely sincere, non-snarky way. Do conservatives rally? Do they even know how to? Do they do drum circles? Will people hold up signs calling for the execution of Mumia? We thought they were too busy running everything to protest. ...

Dick Cheney and President Bush can draw a sigh of relief this morning as Chris Daly's resolution calling for the impeachment of the President was scuttled off to committee by Sean Elsbernd. The resolution directs the Clerk of the Board of Supes to send copies of the resolution to statewide political leaders, the Democratic National Committee, and members of the House Judiciary Committee where it will probably sit in a very large in-box on all of their respective desks along-side credit card offers, Value Pak coupons, and pleas from Hurricane Katrina victims for more money to keep them from being evicted. ...

As you might imagine, Bill O'Reilly's comments about our fair city deserving a terrorist attack managed to raise a few hackles. Including from Chris Daly who was so angered by Bill's hot-headed comments that he got hot-headed himself and called on Fox News to fire him (editor's note-- wouldn't you love to see a Celebrity Death Match type battle go down between O'Reilly and Daly? Wouldn't that be Awesome? Our money would totally be on Daly too 'cause nobody puts Daly in the corner) . And Aaron Peskin said something along the lines about Bill being hyped up on Oxycontin, just like Rush Limbaugh. So O'Reilly went on the radio and tried to set the record straight. ...

The Schiavo bill passed without almost any input from Bay Area lawmakers. How did that happen?...

Nothing like senate confirmation hearings to get the partisan juices flowing. Kos reports that Senator Barbara Boxer would speak her mind [link via 1115] as part of Dr. Condoleeza Rice's confirmation as Secretary of State. Dr. Rice, former Provost at Stanford, and Boxer, the only Senator to request an investigation into voter disenfranchisement in Ohio, are two of Washington's most powerful women. While SFist would rather have seen this settled in a steel-cage match, the......

Yes, you're seeing what you think you're seeing -- the trademark white earbuds of the iPod sprouting from the head of our President. All the better to block out the sound of Iyad Allawi's cries to delay the elections in Iraq! Photo from a series on the private life of President Bush by Christopher Morris, link via the fine folks at Engadget. But even a tacit endorsement by the POTUS isn't enough to quell the......

Sean Hannity brings his Fox News ventriloquism act (look, Hannity's lips hardly move when Alan Colmes is talking!) to De Anza College's Flint Center for the Performing Arts tonight. Topic: Why godless liberals won't let Steven Williams teach the Declaration of Independence to fifth graders. Unfortunately, it seems tickets are no longer available, but you can tune into KSFO or watch Fox News. If you haven't been following the story of religious oppression at the......

Okay, so SFist isn't always as impartial as we'd like to be. We're bloggers - our prejudices are bound to shine through from time to time (well, okay, always). With all this talk of the red states and theocracy, good, Kerry-voting Christians all over the country are having to defend themselves and their faith from being pigeonholed into the Ralph Reed and Billy Graham camp. But the PICO National Network, a multifaith organization from Oakland,......

Speaking of Ralph Nader, looks like his options in California are running out. Last night the state Green Party executive committee, in an 11-7 vote, rejected Nader's request that the party hold its own nominating convention, which may have led to Nader's being on the ballot for President under the Green banner rather than David Cobb, who took the nomination in the national party convention in Milwaukee two months ago....