https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/garchik/article/Sharp-eyed-Good-Samaritan-of-BART-3184031.php
Sharp-eyed Good Samaritan of BART
By Leah Garchik
Published 4:00 am PDT, Monday, June 21, 2010
Your rosy Bay Area image: Heading to BART near the end of an A's game, Saundra Wane was unaware that she'd lost her wallet on the way to the game. So just as she approached the platform, she was surprised to hear an agent call for her over the PA system.
Yes, she got back the wallet. The amazing part of this story is that heroic BART employee Gloria spent hours scrutinizing riders going home as they went through the gates, looking for a face that would match the photo on the license. "Miraculously, she saw me and called my name!" e-mailed Wane.
And another view: City Brights blogger David Steinberg was at Polk and Geary when he saw a woman in a hand-powered wheelchair, swerving to miss another wheelchair and then shouting back over her shoulder:
"The only reason I didn't run your ass over is that yours is electric."
After the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing 15 years ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton planted the seed for Vital Voices, a nongovernmental organization that works worldwide to support "emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs." Cissie Swig, profoundly committed to a host of global causes, political campaigns, women's rights and the arts, is on its board. And last Monday, she invited about 30 friends, mainly women with parallel passions, to dinner at Villa Taverna to meet Vital Voices President Alyse Nelson, who described the group's work: identifying those women, educating and training them in financial skills, marketing, communication, leadership.
This gathering wasn't just about providing financial support. After Nelson described projects in nearly 127 countries and suggested the possibility of a Bay Area council, guests leaped in with ideas for participating. Mills College President Janet Holmgren said Mills would be excited to be "the nexus" for a Bay Area presence; Anette Harris, board member for the International Museum of Women, suggested that institution and Vital Voices might work together on a speakers' series; retired Bishop William Swing of the United Religions Initiative said, "A lot of times religion keeps women from taking a place at the table; we would like to sit down and talk with you about that"; radio producer-writer-Woodhull Institute founder Margo Magowan talked about training women for on-air appearances; and Cissie's daughter-in-law Darian Swig, whose passion is Human Rights Watch, discussed the importance of supporting Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and suggested joining forces on a Liberia working group.
Cissie Swig had accomplished the evening's goal, as she expressed in a goodnight wish: "Stay connected."
There was a brass band outside the Castro Theatre on Thursday before the Frameline34 opener ("The Secret Diaries of Miss Ann Lister") playing rhythmic music that set pulses a-thumping merrily. But as I approached, I realized there was not much merry about two crowds of protesters in front of the theater:
Frameline34 is showing three Israeli movies, and the Israeli Consulate is providing support to bring in the documentarian who made "Gay Days." One large group carried signs: "Israeli Government Out of Frameline"; "Don't Pinkwash Israel's Crimes." A flyer from the anti-Israel group said, "We are not so desperate for acceptance that we will ally ourselves with racists and murderers."
A separate, smaller group of demonstrators waved blue and white flags and identified Israel as "one of the most progressive countries on LGBT issues in the world, even while it sits in a neighborhood of some of the worst offenders."
"We understand this is a very sensitive subject for both sides," Frameline Executive Director K.C. Price said Friday morning. "As an arts and cultural organization, we try to stay nonpartisan."
The fracas reminded me of the controversy that erupted last summer when the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival showed a movie sympathetic to the Palestinian point of view. They're movies, guys, and they reveal to us aspects of life we don't see in front of us. Broadening our worldviews, listening to everyone, is the whole point. Sitting there in the dark is supposed to be illuminating.
Public Eavesdropping
"My brother has ADHD." "Is that like HDTV?"
among attendees
of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference,
overheard by Chris Morano