UPDATE: Suggestion successfully submitted.

Well, I tried to submit this to recovery.gov but it failed. I can only assume it's due to a spike in traffic during Obama's address to Congress.

It's a small thing, but many small things together make a big thing.
I'm so glad "clean coal" wasn't mentioned :-)

An oft-overlooked aspect of energy independence is local food production and distribution.

I just thought I'd point you at a local San Francisco organization that is doing that now, by developing private gardens and distributing organic produce. I am not affiliated with MyFarmsSF, but my sister, a gardener in Ireland, approves of this effort. She was considering similar possibilities during my last visit to Ireland, when the Celtic tiger had recently disappeared and the recession was in full swing.

http://www.myfarmsf.com/

Best regards,
Richard Walker

See last updates for SF MoMA response and others' reactions.
See very last updates for:

More proof that this is not a fluke, not a "Hawk" or "Blint" issue, but a disturbing national trend that should transcend partisan politics in my opinion.

Mr. Hawk recounted the events of Friday, August 8, 2008 on his blog.

Recently I blogged about my excitement regarding the San Francisco MOMA's decision to begin allowing photography in their permanent collection after years of maintaining a closed no photography policy. Directly because of this change in policy, I decided to purchase a family membership in order to support the museum, both with my artistic energy and financially. I was excited to begin spending regular time exploring and documenting the museum.
...
After purchasing my family membership and visiting the museum today I was forcibly thrown out of the museum by two museum security guards at the direction of the Director of Visitor Relations Simon Blint...

FriendFeed had three very impassioned conversations:

1. Thomas Hawk's FriendFeed discussion

2. Jeremiah Owyang's FriendFeed discussion

Thomas Hawk's skewering of Simon Blint: Thomas is a community leader (and photo site CEO) he needs to wield his power with responsibility. Tagging Simon Blint and "*sshole" has damaged his online reputation for years on end, and will likely impact job screenings.

3. Cyndy's FriendFeed discussion

When FriendFeed Creates a Mob

SFist covered the incident (thanks, Brock!)

...Hawk talked to Blint who (allegedly) told him "he did not care" and that he needed to "protect" his employees -- employees that might appear in my photographs." Hawk goes on to say, "I was not shooting with a tripod. I was not shooting with a flash."

Was Blint, in fact, being an *sshole? Was Hawk putting up a pissy fight, which led to his ejection? We don't know yet. But we think banning of any type of photography is inane, especially if you work in the arts.

But what say you? Should photographers be subject to this kind of harassment? Or does Blint deserve a serious tongue lashing?

BoingBoing didn't miss the story.

Robbo sez, "Thomas Hawk was forcibly removed from the San Francisco MOMA by two security guards at the direction of the over-zealous Simon Blint, Director of Visitor Relations. How ironic is that? Why? Taking photos in the atrium. SF MOMA policy on this? Their own web site specifically allows photography in the atrium. Hawk had also previously confirmed this personally with Thea Stein in the Marketing and Communications Department of the museum...

Consumerist covered it as well.

Despite What Their Website Says, Taking Pictures In San Francisco's Museum Of Modern Art Is Cause For Ejection

The Guardian covered it. Oh dear, it crossed the pond. Unexpected, to say the least.

The power of the Hawk is a problem for SF-MoMA
Throwing the esteemed Thomas Hawk out on his ear is not the way to win friends and influence people 

It was the top story on Digg.com on Saturday.

Takeaways (not done yet, in progress, subject to change)

• SF MoMA is apparently clarifying its policies, not re-banning photography (add links)
• Mistakes were made: Hawk & Blint (links)
• Blog & "web2.0" commentators are opinionated (links)
• Blog commentators are lazy (links)
• You can't win: online activism is ineffectual, or a mob (links)
• Character assassins often don't disclose personal motivations (profit motives)
• Allegations of pseudonyms being a cowardly shield, easily falsifiable here (links)
• Allegations of perversity, child abuse and privacy violations still pervade
• Even the least noisy conversations have a very wide difference of opinon (friendfeed links)
• Pervasive tendency is subjectivity, not objectivity; big picture reduced to a thousand tiny icons
• Definitions of public v. private space, rights and violations, still an issue
• If Photography is a privacy violation, why is there wide acceptance of surveillance cameras?

Some of my comments are gathered here:

Disclaimer:
I've concluded that I was confused as to whether "galleries" includes the permanent collection, or refers to the "special exhibits." My initial impression was that the change in policy would allow for photography of the stuff that's owned outright by the SF MoMA. Apologies for any confusion, and perhaps this would be a point of clarification, i.e. if photography of any "exhibited" piece is disallowed, say so. Perhaps discuss stairs, hallways, elevated walkways, etc., as these are not "galleries," may not be part of the "atrium" and yet provide unique vantage points from which to take photos (of the architecture.)

FYI, even though I understand it's not a Thomas v. Simon issue: an anonymous commenter claims to have worked with Simon before: "I worked with this douche at ZEUM one block down from SF MoMA. I can attest to his short temper and general lack of people skills. He found no trouble in bullying the teens who worked there."

"Director of visitor relations" is a poor match for his behavior. He should apologize, resign, or try to otherwise repair the situation. Since it's a PR-related job, he seems uniquely unfit and uneducated about the causes and effects of negative PR. He'll probably have a "rich learning experience" though.

dianachen and ScribeGuy, I'm glad you signed up to SFist just to comment about the incident. It's too bad Blint or other SF MoMA person hasn't spoken up. So, thanks for giving your opinions. Someone else who has worked with Blint did not have kind things to say. I find the less agreeable sites engage in character assassination on both sides. Perhaps you aren't finding the best conversations.

RobinSF, you are a piece of work. Photography w/o flash is allowed in the permanent collection, atrium is OK always, if you use a flash in the atrium it must be a hand held point-and-shoot. While the policy is imprecise and ambiguous, you manage to completely miss the intent. Can YOU read? Do YOU know flash photography can damage the pieces? Do you seriously think they are mandating the use of a flash in the atrium? Does the point-and-shoot restriction refer to the Atrium, or the use of flash? Go ahead, rant some more, it's entertaining.

UPDATE: December 23, 2008

Sousa Family Sues SF, SF Zoo Over Wrongful Death (SFist.com)

... the victim's family sued the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Zoo today for wrongful death....According to reports, Marilza and, Carlos' parents, claim that "the zoo and the city, as owners of Tatiana, the Siberian tiger that jumped over its enclosure and mauled Sousa and two of his friends, are liable for Sousa's death, according to their attorney Michael Cardoza." The bumbling Dhaliwal brothers, Carlos' "friends," were also injured when the Tatiana jumped out of her pit. Word is the brothers, while drunk and/or high, taunted the tiger, which prompted the attack. Allegedly.

One person was killed and two were injured at the zoo on Christmas day. 

A large tiger escaped and was later killed as it mauled a victim.  Police are continuing to search the area for other possible victims. The zoo is closed today.

San Francisco Chronicle -
Investigation continues into fatal tiger attack at S.F. zoo

Entries from SFist tagged with 'tiger'

Digg.com
Revision3.com
Diggnation show

Disclaimers:

• digg.com scales well. That is no small achievement.
  
• Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht do seem like nice young men, even though Kevin often betrays his youth by making uninformed, false, or offensive comments.
  
• I was a digg user at one time, but not a submitter or "power user."
  
• I have no "business" credentials. 
• Recent rumor has it that Rose took a million dollars "off the table."
  

UPDATE: Kevin Rose not quite so popular with the ladies today (Inquisitr)
UPDATE: Was Digg Right to Ban Diggboss for his Helpful Script? (SheGeeks)
UPDATE: The Grim Reaper has visited Digg (GetSmartBlog)
UPDATE: Track top 100 Digg contributors here (Social Blade)
UPDATE: Msaleem, MrBabyMan and Zaibatsu Interview:

Lifestyles of the Digger Famous: 3 Top Diggers on Social Fame (Gear Crave)

UPDATE: See also: Michael Arrington of TechCrunch:
Want On The Digg Home Page? That’ll Be $1,200.
UPDATE: Kevin Rose starts false "RIP Jared" story on Twitter.
One founder apparently has a very loose definition of "news." Here's a tip: Snopes.com
Summize search on "RIP Jared kevinrose"


Invention

Digg.com has developed an algorithm (secret sauce) that controls the front page. The front page is the Holy Grail for heavy digg users.

Inception

I understand the genesis was some sort of observation like:

slashdot.org is cool but wouldn't it be great if we could vote on the submissions?

Profit

Stating the obvious, Digg.com is a privately held for-profit business that encourages you to spend a lot of time with their community. Less clear is whether any Digg users are paid or bribed for front page access. Diggnation the show is produced and hosted by another for-profit privately held business Revision3.com, run by Jim Louderback.

Power Users

MrBabyMan (Andrew Sorcini) is one of if not the top Digg contributor.  Angry (jealous?) Digg users accused him of nefarious digging and he was subjected to personal attacks. MrBabyMan does his digging in addition to a full-time career. He is a film editor (Mr. Sorcini's Imdb page here) and co-produces "The Drill Down" podcast.

Algorithm Fiddling

The Invention is continually fiddled with to prevent "gaming" and to provide at least the appearance of "fairness." Unfortunately all software and algorithms are proprietary and aren't discussed on a technical level, so one has no way of evaluating the effectiveness of the algorithms. This post will track follow-ups to the alleged money-for-digging story (cited above.) 

Motive

This is where I part company with many digg users. The only question I think interesting is "do I want a job at digg.com?" My answer to "Why should I use or contribute to Digg?" is "You shouldn't."

The Success

That one's the easiest of all. New York Times LA Times Washington Post Wall Street Journal... hello!

The Fail

The answer to the obvious question "Why should I spend time making certain individuals wealthy (wealthier)?" has not been addressed, and so again my answer must be "You shouldn't."

UPDATE: The AMC channel is planning on re-making this classic as a cable television series. Read more here: Coppola's The Conversation to become AMC series

In The Conversation, written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Gene Hackman stars as a surveillance expert based in San Francisco.

What's not to like? Gene Hackman, San Francisco, Coppola, a lovely soundtrack, and subject matter that is extremely relevant today.  If you haven't screened this flick, you are missing out.

It gives new meaning to the question "Can you hear me now?"

I enjoy reading this poet.  Please chime in if you know who it is!

I must have missed the roll-out of this feature, so I may as well mention it here.

Google Maps has a new major mode: "More" (next to Street View and Traffic.) Under "More" I now find "Photos" and "Wikipedia."

This shows that North Beach in San Francisco is perhaps overrepresented in photography, and underrepresented in Wikipedia.

The Google Maps plus Wikipedia feature may be defective or incomplete. For example, I find it very difficult to believe that Fog City Diner has a wikipedia entry while City Lights Bookstore does not. See for yourself, then weep for the forgotten poets.

Browse and watch at the Site or their YouTube channel

A TV show within a TV show based in San Francisco, Break a Leg is hilarious and very original:

You've found Break a Leg - The Sitcom, the award aspiring Internet sitcom brought to you by the acclaimed fans of Arrested Development, Scrubs, and The Office.

Break a Leg is the story of David Penn, a writer who just got his first sitcom deal. Groomates, his show about three ex-grooms living with their two ex-wives, replaces the previous hit, Swamblers – a rollicking story of gambling cowboy swingers roughing it in the Wild West, Swambler-style. The writer/creator died – which is good news for David, because now he gets his own show.

The show is the brain child of the Baranovsky brothers Yuri [David Penn] and Vlad, natives of the "deadly serious" city of Kiev.