Savecalifornia.com

It's that time of the year when Save California, a "family values group" (aka anti-gay group) begs parents to keep their kids home from school today so as to not expose the children to anything related to Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist who was assassinated at City Hall in 1978.

Today would be his 83rd birthday, and to honor Milk, California public schools plan to teach students all about the contributions of the city's first openly gay supervisor. And that really freaks Save California out. The "pro-children" group has been running controversial radio ads, asking rhetorical questions like "why is a predator of teens being honored in schools?"

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Meta reporting

You know crime has gotten out of control when thieves are not only victimizing news reporters, but also the security guards specifically hired to protect news reporters from would-be thieves.

Today another crew of journalists was burglarized during an interview in broad daylight, just a week after Oakland was named the nation's robbery capital, followed by a turnover of two police chiefs in two days.

According to the Chron, a KGO-TV news crew was interviewing the owner of Loakal, an art gallery and boutique at the corner of 2nd and Clay streets at Jack London Square, when unidentified crooks smashed the window of the news van and then made their way to the security guard's Chevrolet Cobalt parked across the street and broke into it.

See Also: Oakland Is Officially More Exciting Than S.F.

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Animal Care & Control

What kind of monster would abuse a puppy?

Staff over at the Animal Care & Control have been finding work a little more stressful than usual, as they've noticed a disturbing increase in animal-abuse cases as of late. In the last several weeks alone, they've had to investigate four felony cruelty cases and even more over the last few months.

In one case, several dogs -- living in filthy conditions with no food or water -- attacked one of their own pack (probably due to hunger pains) killing one of the pups. But ACC is blaming the irresponsible owner who is now facing possible jail time for animal cruelty and neglect charges, according to investigators. In another recent case, someone allegedly tossed a dog from a second-story window, badly fracturing its hind leg.

While coping with that tragedy, staff then discovered a third dog who had been abandoned by trash on the street; the dog had starved to death, according to ACC.

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This is usually what BART inspires

It's damn near never that you're going to get on BART and feel better about yourself no matter how many accounts you scored that day at work. The nausea will always win.

And even when the BART ride home doesn't make you feel sick, the prolific and profane graffiti will.

Unless of course, you just so happen to stumble upon this BART car, where a nurturing someone graciously scribbled inspirational words to make your ride home a tad more uplifting.

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Don't cry, we hear you taste delicious

A new item on the menu at a Bay Area restaurant has pitted foodies against animal activists.

Mokutanya Yakitori Restaurant in Burlingame is now serving lion's meat, which is reportedly as tough as the animal itself. The restaurant, which is known for its exotic meats, including peacock and swan, received its first shipment of the cat meat yesterday.

And it's not cheap.

As CBS News reports, the meat, which is farm-raised African lion shipped from from Illinois, costs $70 for one skewer, which is three cubes or five ounces of meat.

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cia ABC News

Has great skin

Dirty crook does not apply to this thief.

San Francisco police reportedly busted a 62-year-old man who was operating a truly sanitary shoplifting ring that pilfered local stores -- including Walgreens, Target, CVS -- for hygiene products.

In an undercover sting operation -- one of a kind for SFPD -- police found a truck load of Oil of Olay, Tide, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant and other bathroom items in a two-bedroom apartment on Commercial Street in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood. In addition, they found $100,000 worth of disposable razors and $40,000 worth of batteries, according to ABC News.

"This is a first for us," Lt. Ed Santos told the news station.

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Pray they find a new home

Early this morning, police moved in on a church in the Ocean View neighborhood where two dozen squatters had taken up residency (aka trespassed) over the last eight months

Officer Albie Esparza says police learned of the squatting a few weeks ago, but because the group has been there for at least eight months, police first had to check with the City Attorney's Office to see if this was a civil matter or a criminal matter.

"The owner was pissed-off, obviously, because they are trying to tear down and build mix-use condos there," Esparza told us. "But the problem is since they had been there for eight months, we had to confer with the city attorney. We don't want to violate civil rights -- in San Francisco once you have been at a place for over a month you can technically say it's your residence."

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Now try to make him sing that stupid rainbow song

Go ahead and add killer frog to the list of bewitching things you might find in Golden Gate Park.

Researchers at Stanford University tested 23 African clawed frogs and identified three that are carrying a deadly infection, including one found in Golden Gate Park. The other two that tested positive were found in San Diego.

Bay City News reports that an African clawed frog taken from Lily Pond in Golden Gate Park tested positive for a fungal pathogen that is responsible for the decline or extinction of about 200 amphibian species worldwide, the report said.

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UGH

If your usual shopping trips to American Apparel have been filling you with an unusual amount of self-loathing, perhaps this is why.

People are sick of your fixies and Rollie Fingers mustaches, so much so that they'd like to slap you bow-tie wearing beatniks with a special tax for being so damn annoying.

A new poll released today from the Public Policy Polling shows that a declining number of Americans have a favorable view of hipsters (aka people who pay more than $80 for a haircut that promises they'll look as though they haven't showered in days.)

A growing 42 percent are sick of hipsters and 43 percent aren't quite sure how they feel about the denizens of the Mission Districts of America.

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Yikes

Authorities say they believe the human head that was found at an Oakland recycling center last week probably belongs to a homicide victim who may have been killed months or even years ago.

California Waste Solutions employees on Wednesday found the mummified skull in a load of debris that had been dropped off for recycling. Investigators have not determined whether the head belonged to a man or a woman, but they do believe the person has been dead for a very long time.

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