Some images of today's torch relay/protest/insanity/Newsomness as the torch run turned into, well, complete chaos. Whew, what a day. Brian Brooks, Jessica Kraft, and Chase Tingley: thanks for the sharp shots today of the Olympic torch melee.......

Pretty sneaky, Gavin. The torch, as of 2 p.m., is over at Pine and Van Ness. The run is taking place over there now. Only security people are there and lucky pedestrians get to see it in action. Lots of Bay Quacker boat/buses near the flame. Confusion blanketing the city today. This torch route is being made up as it goes along. Very San Francisco. Heh. Check out our Twitter copy-paste post for continual updates.......

Watch live video from Olympic Torch - Live Feed 1 on Justin.tv Care of Justin.tv. Also, for more live blog coverage, visit studentsforafreetibet. Update: Torch relay over. Alas.......

Show is over, everyone. The torch is on its way to South America now. To check out images of today's flame switcheroo acrion--including "No MSG" man and more--go here. Whew. brochtrup: "no ceremonies. at all. pft." (3:52) njudah: "flight of the valkryies: the helis covering the torch are swarming my house!" (3:50) brochtrup: "'torch relay over;' presidio park area to hold closing ceremonies now. what?" (3:30) brochtrup: "coming out of a federal police radio......

Earlier Also, still no sign of torch. SFPD motorcycles are seen zipping up Third and Second Streets."No reports of serious violence," declares Barbara Rodgers of CBS 5.Eerie sensation of local on-air talent far too close to SFist HQ right now. There is a presence in this neighborhood.British PM Gordon Brown boycotts opening ceremonies; Bush still debating similar boycott.Barbara Rogers calls bullshit on current torch run path on King Street. Wonders if it might be......

Photo credit: Sumanth Sukumar Ta-da. Now it's really on, folks.......

According to KCRA 3, a 64-year-old man with a "Free Tibet" strung around his neck killed himself "late Monday night outside the Marina District home of his former landlord." It seems that the still unidentified man used a gun to take his own life. Described as an "Asian male," police spokesman Sgt. Wilfred Williams says that the man "'appeared to have committed suicide' at about 11:46 p.m. in the 2200 block of Beach Street."......

Photo credit: Dollar Bin/Flickr The calm before the storm: McCovey Cove (just outside AT&T Park) awash in red flags, taken late this morning.......

Although, according to fine Mayor Gavin Newsom, the torch route change at a moment's notice, the path is currently starting at AT&T Park (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place), running along the Embarcadero Park (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place), and ending at Justin Herman Plaza (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place). If you get any shots of the flame or hot-headed behavior, be sure to tag them with "sfist" in......

Before today's Olympic torch run, check out some images from yesterday's Tibet Rally and Peace March, brilliantly shot by local photogs 37 °C, Jim Herd, Steve Rhodes, and Dave Schumaker.......

[Live cam view dumped from main page since Mogulus is testy on Firefox. Will replace shortly. In the meantime, visit NBC 11 or CBS 5 Blogs for live streaming action.] Above we have Students For A Free Tibet's directorial debut of today's Olympic torch relay action. Sure, you could check out any local news site, but why not look at the above live stream from SFAFT. Hopefully, these guys--the ones responsible for Monday's Golden Gate......

Photo credit: Steve Rhodes Supervisor Chris Daly speaking in UN Plaza today, drenched in ivory. Hot.......

While we can say for sure where the torch route will go tomorrow--KTVU confusedly announced the "official map route" during today's noon broadcast and KPIX interviewed a fake Bono, so we can't be sure of anything anymore--we can take a stab at it, yes? Yes. Rumor ia that the torch run might--might--go through Berry Street. You know, that little strip of street near the AT&T park? That borders China Basin? Near SF Weekly's office?......

Watch live video from Olympic Torch - Live Feed 1 on Justin.tv Can't make it to today's Tibet rally? Well then, check out the live feed above, or head over to justin.tv to catch to watch/chat about it. Be sure to visit OlympicTorchSF for additional coverage, as well as their Twitter updates, which we highly recommend for culling up-to-the-second torch route specifics. It's so interactive and Web 2.0-y, your head could very well explode. Exciting......

The divisive Olympic flame arrived in SF today all the way from Paris (how chic!) under a shroud of security normally "reserved for head-of-state visits." It touched down at SFO with no protesters in sight (it arrived at 3:40 a.m.) A few notable were there, waiting with anticipation. Ed Lee and Rose Pak--who was "giggling like a teenager" upon its arrival--and a smattering of Olympic athletes greeting the tiny blaze, which was kept in......

In light of today's Golden Gate Bridge scaling/protest incident, Mayor Gavin Newsom--according to Brittney Gilbert at CBS 5's Eye On Blogs--"announced the route of the Olympic torch has been changed from the published course to a new route whose details will not be made public." ...

Currently three protesters are climbing the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, attempting to hang up a sign on the bridge in protest over the Olympic torch run through San Francisco, which is scheduled to make its only U.S. run in San Francisco on Wednesday. Check out KPIX's live cam for what's going down right now....

Jim Herd, currently at the Golden Gate Bridge, sent us the above shot, taken just before the (pretty damn brave) protesters unfurled their messages. Check back here for updates on the situation going on at the Golden Gate Bridge.......

In an attempt to make protesting -- and cheering, we suppose -- easy, the mayor's office has unveiled the route of the Olympic torch as it makes its way through *ahem* the city. Included in the article is a link-happy sidebar discussing the problems residents have with the Olympic torch running through our fair city. There was something about China oppressing Tibet, San Franciscans not liking that and how running around with an open flame......

In our continuing Beijing Olympic-boycotting coverage, Dave Eggers--the scribe ever well-educated San Franciscan loves to hate (because he's successful at what he does)--wrote a piece in this Sunday's New York Times about the Olympic Torch's run in San Francisco. He claims that the protests that will occur during the run will be a strong statement, especially since it's the torch's only run in Northern America and its an election year. China’s "complicity in the......

Tibetan activists and the San Francisco Darfur Coalition (who, by the way, are trying to turn the holy day of "Casual Friday" into "Darfur Friday") are demanding to know exactly where the torch will be going during its San Francisco run so they can protest that they can protest the China's ongoing human rights violations. Grrr....

The battle to keep the Olympic torch from hitting the streets of San Francisco is looking grim. Yesterday outside City Hall, around 40 people rallying for a free Tibet/damning the Olympic flame were allegedly "snubbed" by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Ouch. According to KCBS: Nearly three dozen protestors stood outside City Hall Monday, hoping to enlist the mayor's support in pressuring Beijing to stop the military crackdown on dissidents in Tibet. But Newsom entered the......

A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games. According to CBS......

We always hate it when we see a new Seymour Hersh article in the New Yorker, because we know it's going to be something really upsetting that the Bush Administration's done. Last week's article detailed just how badly Donald Rumsfeld treated Gen. Antonio Taguba, who did the investigation on the abuses and torture at Abu Ghraib. Give Gen. Taguba a hero's welcome and hear his story in person at the Commonwealth Club tonight at 6......

One could hop on the snark wagon and refer to Darfur, the current Third World cause célebre, as the new Tibet or appreciate the 21st Century sensitivity to the non-universality of Christmas, but we are not that "one." The genocide going on in Darfur is pretty shocking and awful, and thus we applaud the efforts of the folks at Distortion 2 Static and Pumpkin Cutter Projects who are putting on The Save Darfur Tour......

Remember how years ago, everyone was running around yelling "Free Tibet?" Well, Africa is the Tibet and has been for a while. There's Darfur and the rush of Hollywood celebrities stealing babies and whatever Bono is prattling about but there's also a need for help in the Congo. To help the Congo, local Executive Coach and Keynote Speaker Fran Zone (that's what the bio says) is having World of Good Holiday Auction. It's online and ends Thursday, November 30th. ...

More takes on the launch of Google.cn: the company's response on the Official Google Blog, and protests from the Students for a Free Tibet Blog. Elinor Mills of CNet News.com posted her roundup on her CNet blog. Ars Technica covers a few other Google-related stories this week: Ken Fisher gives his review of Google Video, his disappointment with the service, and what he thinks is the company's reasoning for introducing it early. Nate Anderson......

Where's Frank Chu these days? Maybe at one of these protests: Over 800 hospital workers walked off the job at Cal Pacific this morning, to protest their lack of input on appropriate patient staffing levels (and pensions and money for continuing education). SEIU had reached an agreement with the hospital's owner, Tenet Health, but Tenet backed out of the deal late last month. Unlike other recent hospital strikes in the area, this is not a one-day walkout and will continue until the outstanding issues are resolved. Cal Pacific says 600 "replacement workers" (cough scab cough) were hired and no medical procedures were rescheduled. At Civic Center on Saturday, "dozens" of Tibetans and Tibetan supporters protested outside the Asian Art Museum, over its cooperation with the Chinese government in presenting the Tibet: On The Roof Of The World exhibition, which ended last weekend. Protestors are particularly upset that the museum refused to display a picture of the Dalai Lama in the show. Picture on left from KGO 7, picture from right from the Times of Tibet....