Martha Bridegam
@mbridegam.bsky.social
Lawyer, writer. https://mastodon.social/@mbridegam https://www.marthabridegam.com
Repeat after me: Yes on 40, no on 41 and 42, which are designed to cancel out 40!
CalMatters@calmatters.org · 16h agoGavin Newsom backs measure to kill the billionaire tax and ban future wealth taxes Gov. Gavin Newsom isn't just fighting the billionaire tax. He's backing Prop. 42, which would ban future wealth taxes in California, too.
Just being told that The Independent's US division is laying off a large number of employees today and that it impacts pretty much every department, including the news desk, culture, politics, etc. Some journalists have already posted that they've been let go, such as @ericmgarcia.bsky.social.
“She asked the powers at NASA to let her add a safeguard to prevent that error in a real flight, and they laughed it off as too unlikely… When an astronaut did make that blooper during the Apollo 8 mission, it caused necessary navigational data to vanish, and they called Hamilton in to get it back.”
cara giaimo@cjgiaimo.bsky.social · 4d agoi was fortunate enough to profile Margaret Hamilton in 2019. A really kind and curious person. This was my favorite story she told me:
This is a remarkable map of current San Francisco elected officials' politics. Also remarkable: Supervisor Matt Dorsey expressing concern for the rights of the accused. missionlocal.org/2026/10/sf-d...
We asked every San Francisco politician: Should Dem Party Chair Nancy Tung step down?
San Francisco Dems will meet in an Oct. 11 special meeting to reconsider their District 8 endorsement. It promises to be a fraught affair.
missionlocal.org
Every week, Mission Local has been asking the congressional candidates a question and publishing their answers. See Connie Chan and Scott Wiener's responses here: via @io-y-g.bsky.social @yujie-z.bsky.social missionlocal.org/2026/10/sf-c...
Meet the Candidates: San Francisco's congressional race
Wiener and Chan are competing to represent San Francisco in Congress. Here are their answers to questions on policy, ideology and more.
missionlocal.org
What I would like to see someone ask Supervisor Dorsey: What percentage of his District 6 constituents does he like or approve of? missionlocal.org/2026/10/meet...
Meet the Candidates: San Francisco's District 6 supervisor race
Matt Dorsey and Alex Behrend are competing to represent San Francisco's District 6. See where they stand on policy issues.
missionlocal.org
The Nobel Academy in their announcement said when Anne Carson was reached by phone she was very taken by surprise. They spoke with her very briefly. "All she had time to tell me was that she is for the moment in Iceland 'listening to the wind.'"
Cheryl in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦🍁🍁@minibubbly.bsky.social · 3d agoCanadian Anne Carson awarded Nobel Prize in Literature Carson, 76, has previously won several prestigious literary prizes www.cbc.ca/news/enterta...
Here are the megadonors bankrolling California’s voter ID ballot measure Packaging magnate and Illinois businessman Richard Uhilein and venture capitalists Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are among the big spenders bankrolling California’s voter ID measure.
Here are the megadonors bankrolling California’s voter ID ballot measure
Packaging magnate and Illinois businessman Richard Uhilein and venture capitalists Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are among the big spenders bankrolling California’s voter ID measure.
cal.news
Livestreaming added! Before you cast your ballot, join us for this event on money in San Francisco politics @lwvsf.bsky.social @sfpublicpress.bsky.social @cacommoncause.bsky.social @missionlocal.org & SF Ethics Commission 📅 Thu, Oct 8, 6-8pm 📍 @archive.org or online 🎟️ RSVP luma.com/3tgmuo29?utm...
Elders often die soon after they are evicted.
weloveallthat@weloveallthat.bsky.social · 4d agoMaricarmen - the 87-year old woman whose eviction from her Madrid flat for not paying rent that had been bumped up to three times more than she was paying previously after the building was allegedly purchased by a vulture fund sparked the occupation of the Puerta del Sol - has died in hospital.
Connie Chan has asked Nancy Tung to resign as chair of the disgraceful San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. Good. I am tired of seeing people of goodwill outside San Francisco blaming "San Francisco Democrats" in general for the behavior of this board. sfstandard.com/2026/10/06/s...
The SF Democratic Party is in tatters
Pressure is mounting on local party Chair Nancy Tung after the Manny Yekutiel endorsement.
sfstandard.com
For the second time in two years, the San Francisco district attorney’s office is refusing to try cases before Judge Michelle Tong, a former public defender, alleging that she is biased against the DA.
S.F. prosecutors again boycott judge over alleged anti-police, anti-DA bias
San Francisco prosecutors allege bias by Judge Michelle Tong and refuse to try cases before her for the second time in two years.
missionlocal.org
Rather than investigate poor living conditions or economic inefficiency, the current HUD OIG seems increasingly sure that the problem with U.S. subsidized housing is tenants. www. hudoig.gov/newsroom/press-release/hud-oig-announces-results-operation-clean-house-multi-city-enforcement
hudoig.gov
San Diego is not expendable. Our lives are not bargaining chips. The President’s words were reckless, dangerous, and a betrayal of the people he swore to protect. I love this city, and I will never stay quiet when someone treats our families, neighbors, and communities like they are disposable.
today on @coyotemedia.org: @emmaruthless.bsky.social discovers her 6-y.o. may have been opted into AI testing — and dives into the $200+ billion edtech world, SFUSD's marriage to "benevolent" tech grants, & parents' attempts to get any kind of regulation in place. www.coyotemedia.org/sfusd-ai-ami...
In Which I Decline to Let an AI Company Experiment on My Kid at School
Living in San Francisco means being a guinea pig for the tech industry — but I draw the line at my second-grader.
coyotemedia.org
“The powerful are getting what they want.”
Josh Renaud@kirkman.bsky.social · last mo.These layoffs at McClatchy newsrooms are devastating: 30 at the Miami Herald, 12 at the Lexington-Herald Leader, 7 at the KC Star. And who knows how many more. Across this country, the powerful are getting exactly what they want — fewer watchdogs and less accountability.
Column by @christinevans.bsky.social endorsing a big NO on San Francisco's mayoral power grab: Propositions A, D, E, and F on the November 3, 2026 ballot. www.streetsheet.org/mayor-lurie-...
Mayor Lurie Wants to Silence the Voice of the People: Vote No on A, D, E and F
by Christin Evans There are four so-called “Charter Reform” ballot measures on the November ballot that we should all oppose: Propositions A, D, E and F. While each measure does something sli…
streetsheet.org
🚨Meta got $3.9 BILLION in federal tax breaks last year to build AI data centers. Scott Wiener opposes a national moratorium on data centers and California’s billionaire tax. I support both because working families can’t afford to keep subsidizing billionaires and corporations.
Also: Where's our Bd of Supervisors on Flock? Why was this only a self-regulating edict from the Mayor after pressure from the Human Rights Commn.? And with a strong-mayor system in SF already, why would anyone vote for Props. D, E, F, or A to shift more power to the Mayor from the Supes & voters?
Martha Bridegam@mbridegam.bsky.social · 2w agoCan't reach the KQED article at the link below -- it seems to be gone -- but here's the Mission Local writeup: missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-... .
Can't reach the KQED article at the link below -- it seems to be gone -- but here's the Mission Local writeup: missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-... .
S.F. sticks with Flock surveillance cameras, but mayor tightens police use
New rules put forward by Mayor Lurie will cut data retention time, link police searches to investigations and add regular audits.
missionlocal.org
KQED News@kqednews.kqed.org · 2w ago
"A labor department survey and two other federal datasets that included child labor injury data have also ended." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Key data missing for half of US child labor deaths, official report finds
Over half of 260 workplace child fatalities between 2013 and 2023 lacked data on cause of death or the industry worked
theguardian.com
Let this sink in. Cornell University refused to refund Jane Doe's tuition the semester she was raped. Without this money, she could not transfer to another school. Essentially, she was forced to stay on campus where she saw those seven rapists frequently. Eventually she dropped out of college.
Anyway student journalists have been and remain one of the best reasons to have hope for this country
There it is again, that phrase, "not real people."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w agoAssistant AG for Fraud Colin McDonald: "Apparently 35% of people have never even used their Obamacare account for any health services. That is a statistical impossibility and it's because these are not real people seeking real care. These are fraudsters."
Scott Wiener is opposing the Prop. 40 billionaire tax as quietly as he can, avoiding saying so directly in his statement to @missionlocal.org . He probably has a conscience but he's willing to cut it to fit his techbro supporters. Connie Chan does support Prop. 40. missionlocal.org/2026/09/scot...
Meet the S.F. congressional candidates: Who would you tax more?
To raise federal revenue, which taxes would you raise or create? And who should pay more? The top 0.1 percent? The top 1 percent?
missionlocal.org
“Text messages from Zanello and other officials that were previously exposed during the case revealed they were aware of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, running rampant inside 26 Federal Plaza.”
Hunter Walker@hunterw.bsky.social · 2w agoA scathing court ruling decrying the overcrowded and "inhumane" conditions at NYC's notorious ICE detention facility included diagrams that are eerily reminiscent of slave ships. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/federal...
The infantile mascots that Meta uses to promote their AI service look a lot like the parasitic Adipose creatures who emerge from weight-loss patients' bodies in the 2008 Doctor Who Tennant/Tate episode, "Partners in Crime". tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Adipose...
In which @esksf.bsky.social conducts an exploration worthy of Joe Mitchell through a vortex of uniquely San Francisco batshit.
Mission Local@missionlocal.org · 3w agoWalter Wong was San Francisco's biggest fixer. His 95K square foot former HQ was bought by adult film company Kink.com These are not squeamish people. When they saw what as in here, they called the FBI. Latest column from @esksf.bsky.social missionlocal.org/2026/09/walt...
This awful vote is being read in the larger world as the fault of every San Franciscan who votes Democratic -- when it's the result of a poorly understood, poorly publicized party representation contest in March 2024 in which a well-financed campaign by a right-leaning slate won a majority.
Mission Local@missionlocal.org · 2w agoThe S.F. Democratic Party voted to back Flock cameras and reject tighter safeguards, despite community concerns. from @frankiesd.bsky.social missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-...
