Happy Friday! Here are some stories you may have missed this week.
Chefs Aren't Happy Federal Judges Upheld California's Foie Gras Ban, Grubstreet
The future's not looking great for foie gras in California. Fans of the controversial delicacy got dealt a new blow on Friday, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said it was okay to reinstate a ban, first passed in 2004, that a lower court first overturned in 2015. After about a decade's worth of legal drama, this decision marks the biggest victory yet for animal-rights groups that argue that gavage (the force-feeding process done by tube) is cruel. Read more...
Gin Wong, Who Designed Futuristic Buildings in Los Angeles, Dies at 94, The New York Times
Gin Wong, a Chinese-born architect whose modernist designs (including SF's Transamerica building) helped define the postwar landscape of Los Angeles in structures as diverse as a gas station, CBS Television City and Los Angeles International Airport, died on Sept. 1 in Beverly Hills. He was 94. Read more...
Songwriter Spotlight: Shel Silverstein, Wide Open Country
Playboy beatnik, poet, and satirist, Shel Silverstein was one of the 20th century's most interesting minds; but it was his songwriting that shaped country music.
You know him as the author behind children's books such as The Giving Tree and The Missing Piece. You know him for his poetry collections filled with verse and rhyme, often macabre or silly, such as A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends. But Shel Silverstein was much more. And a lot of what Silverstein was, was perverse, deliciously tongue-in-cheek and sometimes outright bawdy. Read more...
Is Trump Mulling Peter Thiel for a Top Intelligence Advisory Post?, Vanity Fair
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has been quietly advising the Trump administration for months. Now—as sources say he could be in line for a top intelligence oversight role—Steve Bannon, White House officials, friends, and foes gauge the billionaire's motivations, and his Washington mojo. Read more...
San Francisco is officially America's wealthiest urban area, SF Business Times
San Francisco is the richest of America's 25 largest metropolitan area by median household income, according to new data from the U.S. Census, and has the fastest-growing incomes of anywhere in the nation. Read more...
California 'Puppy Mill' Ban Would Also Cover Kittens and Bunnies, The New York Times
California could become the first state to outlaw so-called puppy mills with legislation that bans pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that do not come from rescue organizations or shelters.
California legislators passed the bill, AB 485, on Thursday and sent it to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Oct. 15 to act. Read more...
