Grandparents from across the Bay Area gathered in Justin Herman Plaza on Saturday to protest the national debt, President Barack Obama, and fashion élan. Members danced to music, applauded vitriolic speeches, and waved "NObama 2012" foam fingers in the air like they just didn't care. Yes, a good time was had by all. Your SFist editor stayed ever so briefly to soak up the sun and the disturbing anti-freedom of religion sentiment for as long as he could, but almost had a seizure due to overwhelming red, white and blue attires. (We took cover at the Ferry Building for some food and wine at Slanted Door.) Here are some photos from the Saturday's scene, snapped by Erik Wilson. Enjoy. more ›

On Saturday, the country's foremost group on anti-government paranoia will descend upon Justin Herman Plaza on to protest the national debt. (Pst, it's tax day on Sunday Tuesday, April 17.) Are we talking Occupy? Nope. We are talking tea. Tea party, that is. Angry people of a certain age will travel to San Francisco to spread their arguably anti-American cheer. Join them, won't you? more ›

For those who've been looking for a chance to ask Republican Presidential Candidate and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann some questions about her enlightening views on HPV vaccinations and race without contributing their hard-earned pennies to the Tea Party campaign, here's your chance. The Commonwealth Club has announced that Bachmann will be giving a lunch-time talk on October 20th entitled "The Revival of American Competitiveness." more ›

Huh. We're a bit surprised (and saddened) to see the SF Young Republicans are helping host a Tea Party Patriots rally tonight at Justin Herman Plaza. We didn't think SFYR supported anti-gay industry sect members -- at least not so blatantly. (It would be like, say, SF Young Democrats hosting a barcrawl championing left-leaning conspiracy theorists one finds living/babbling incoherently in Golden Gate Park.) How odd. Luckily, San Francisco is a place where all voices, not just one, can be heard. So, if limited government (for certain kinds of people), fiscal-ish responsibility, and having a WASP in the Oval Office are the issues you hold near and dear, then head down to the Embarcadero today from 4-7 p.m. for a Tea Party Patriots rally. more ›

SFist commenter fizzandpop captures the mule-like tone of the entertaining Tea Party sect via the following comment on President Barack Obama's re-election bid. Behold: more ›

Sen. Leland Yee received some sort of death threat today - a faxed death threat, no less - after performance artist Rush Limbaugh's humor-free tirade about the Chinese language. more ›

While no one in their right mind could accuse Sarah Palin of fostering an environment of violence that resulted in Saturday's Arizona shooting rampage - as SFist dutifully noted, accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner is sanity-esstrangerd and thus acted alone - her now infamous, career-ending "Don’t Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" map was an unfortunate bit of timing and thoughtlessness. more ›

Members of a local Tea Party group the North Bay Patriots have started gathering the necessary tin hat materials after deciding that PG&E's new SmartMeters are "a threat to public health, personal privacy and consumers' budgets." According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, a gathering of the group in Cotati saw a few radio hosts and conservative bloggers speaking out against the wireless meters which allow the power company to monitor power consumption remotely. Take for instance, radio host and holistic health educator Jeffry Fawcett, who claimed a smart meter "allows PG&E to literally look inside your house." Which: sure the technology allows PG&E to peer in to the tiny part of your house that is a meter keeping track of how much power you've used, but that hardly sounds more intrusive than a technician wandering around your yard looking for your power meter. more ›

Oh gee, this is rich. It seems that the independent gas station at the Castro/Market intersection (opposite the Chevron station) put up this Sarah Palin sign today, one that advertises the Alaskan grifter's visit to San Jose on October 14. more ›

Oakland resident Tuolumne County man Byron Williams, 45, arrested for a shootout with CHP on Saturday, "was reportedly heading to San Francisco to target individuals at liberal nonprofit the Tides Foundation and the ACLU," reports KTVU. more ›

A parolee hellbent on killing San Francisco, or something, began a shootout with CHP officers Saturday night in Oakland that shut down I-580 through most of Sunday. The freeway was shut down in both directions near the Grand Avenue exit in Oakland just after midnight Saturday night, causing massive traffic delays for a whole lot of people. (Scroll down for some amateur video footage of the scene on the freeway just after the shootout -- above, some video shot by someone near Oakland Ave and Harrison, featuring audio of the shootout.) The westbound lanes of the freeway remained closed for most of Sunday, with only the two left-hand lanes reopening at 7 p.m. more ›

Anything and everything but kissing on the lips, you say? We hear that. But, come next Monday, you might change your tune. SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi brings word that the Castro will play host to a gay kiss-in on Monday, a rally where people totally french each other in public. (Tee hee.) more ›

Five teenage boys showed up at school yesterday at Live Oaks High in Morgan Hill wearing American flag t-shirts in order to express their "patriotism" on Cinco de Mayo. The school principal called them all out and told them they were going to have to turn their t-shirts inside out, calling the shirts incendiary, and concerned that they were trying to start a fight with a group of Mexican-American students. more ›

On April 15th, the various Tea Party factions of the East Bay organized an event at the Alameda County Fairgrounds that allegedly drew 10,000 people. Skeptical of what this meant, East Bay Express reporter Jonathan Riley goes in search of the local groups who constitute the party, tracking them down at their scheduled sign-waving events, etc., to try to prove just how small, foolish, and ineffectual he believes them to be. [East Bay Express] more ›

Though touched upon in yesterday's Day Around the Bay, we thought we'd share it with you in a separate post since it's a peek inside the heart of the former VP candidate cum proverbial whore for the blind far-right, Sarah Palin, and some of her not-so-merry band of Tea Party members. See, after daring to raise questions about a questionable speaking engagement by Palin scheduled for June at California State University Stanislaus, Senator Leland Yee, according to KTVU, "says he has received death threats in recent days, along with racist hate messages about President Obama and homophobic hate messages, apparently because he represents San Francisco." more ›

While not every rally in San Francisco is newsworthy, Thursday's 'tea day' tax filing day protest in Union Square was unique due to its heavy right-wing tint. (Other than anti-abortion rallies and lynchings, the far right doesn't come close to the sky high number of progressive public outcries.) more ›

Tea party folks plan on protesting the blacks and the gays tax day today with two protests in San Francisco: one at Union Square (from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and one at Civic Center Plaza (from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m). According to CBS 5, desperate former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina will speak at The Pleasanton Tax Day Tea Party at the Alameda County Fairgrounds from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Looking to legitimize the fear-based movement, tea party fave Orly Taitz was booted from speaking at today's Pleasanton fright fest.) Today's protests, according to Bridget Melson, noted "Psy.D, Jesus loving, conservative" and the organizer of the Pleasanton event, are about people who are "angry and fed up with new taxes, the health care bill, the economy and many members within the current administration." more ›

A Northern California man was arrested in connection with making "threatening phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over health care reform." Sparked by racist hate group The Tea Party (let's just say), the unidentified man, according to Associated Press, "made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office, reciting her home address and saying if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the health care overhaul bill that was recently enacted." more ›

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension on Lincoln Avenue in Oakland was vandalized with hateful graffiti over the weekend. A giant swastika, dirty words and "other racial epithets" were, according to CBS 5, found spray-painted on the exterior walls and ground. Police are treating it as a hate crime, "examining photos of the graffiti to see if it may be linked to local gangs." more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

Man, here we are all nostalgic listening to Endtroducing, and the blogosphere pays us back with some serious synchronicity -- all sorts of funky-fresh music! We're totally drooling over this new Soul Sides compilation from O-Dub, on vinyl no less! Kid Kameleon posts not one, not two, but three mixes from three different DJs, including one of his own. Mesh SF presents a "motherlode" of the 40oz. show. And while this is kinda old, we were reminded by Jason Schulz that Podbop will let you sample lots of bands that happen to be in town. more ›