49ers

(NOTE: An earlier version of this essay dates from 2006.)

Currently, one of my favorite sites is Found Magazine. In the collegial spirit of the Internet, I am starting to post similar items, but only those that land directly in front of my house in the Mission District of San Francisco.

My side of the street -- the west side -- is the recipient of many lost items, courtesy of a wind tunnel that swirls through here much as those that used to cause those legendary pop-ups at old Candlestick Park. This one I am posting tonight came drifting into my front yard the other day. 

The note reads: 

Michelle & Justin:

I am trying to sell my car. I need bus money only to get hom(sic) to Detroit. Michelle this is your moms(sic) car. Do you want it? My food stamps didn't come. I don't want to cause anyone any trouble. I just want to get home!! I'll see you later.

The author shares my original hometown -- Detroit -- which makes his story more poignant to me. But San Francisco is not for everyone. I do hope he gets enough bus money to make it back to the Motor City. 

***

Most of us who live here, in this city perched unsteadily above the San Andreas Fault on the tip of a peninsula that measures almost precisely 7 by 7 miles square come from elsewhere, and have spent many years hearing references to a certain number -- 49. 

But how many of us realize how mathematically perfect this number is for our town? We all know, of course about the Gold Rush that built San Francisco back in 1849, and therefore we probably can guess the origin of the moniker "49ers" that in the present day also refers to our professional football team.

But 49 can convey other qualities as well, one of which is boom or bust. You might even call it the San Francisco Sound. It's our cycle of life here, and we all know it goes with the territory, all 49 square miles of it.

LINKS:

• UK promises attack drones, more missiles for Ukraine as Zelenskyy meets Sunak on European tour (AP)

• Wagner chief offered to give Russian troop locations to Ukraine, leak says (WP)

• Fewer than expected migrants arrived at the border after Title 42 expired, but officials remain on high alert (CNN)

• Over Decades, Congress Failed Repeatedly to Address Immigration Dysfunction (NYT)

• Durham report criticizes FBI investigation into Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia (PBS)

• Debt-Ceiling Talks’ Late Start Amps Up Pressure on Congress (WSJ)

• For Biden, negotiating the debt ceiling may be the safest option (The Hill)

• Abortion Showdown in North Carolina May Hinge on a Single Vote (NYT)

• AI Lets Microsoft Target Google and Google Target Amazon (Bloomberg)

• AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters (AP)

• OpenAI’s new tool attempts to explain language models’ behaviors (TechCrunch)

• The Luddites of Hollywood — The writers’ strike is a struggle to give workers a say over how new technologies like artificial intelligence are adopted. (Atlantic)

• The apocalypse isn’t coming. We must resist cynicism and fear about AI (Guardian)

• ChatGPT get-rich-quick schemes are flooding the web (WP)

• I’m an ER doctor. Here’s how I’m already using ChatGPT to help treat patients (Fast Company)

• The Disappearing White-Collar Job (WSJ)

• States are sending people to college for free to fight a teacher shortage. Apprenticeships allow trainees to make money while they learn the craft and earn their credentials. In the past 17 months, programs have been certified in 16 states. (WP)

• Mormon church has $100bn ‘clandestine hedge fund’, says whistleblower (Guardian)

• The “return to the office” won’t save the office (Vox)

• A Low-Tech Money-Saving Hack Is Thriving on TikTok (Wired)

• The Second Amendment Allows a Ban on the AR-15 (Bloomberg)

• VIDEO: ‘I Don’t Know What the Future Holds’: An Afghan Family at the U.S. Border (NYT)

• China sentences 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for spying (BBC)

• Vice Media to Sell Itself as It Files for Bankruptcy (WSJ)

• Elizabeth Holmes Isn’t Fooling Anyone (Atlantic)

• Before His Killing, Tech Executive Bob Lee Led an Underground Life of Sex and Drugs (WSJ)

• He defied Alzheimer’s for two decades. Scientists want to know how. (WP)

• World’s Wealthy Call For Removal Of Stars Obstructing View Of Universe (The Onion)