as a result of supervisor mirkarimi's legislation, san francisco became the first american city to ban plastic bags from use at large grocery stores and pharmacies. all other san francisco stores or restaurants currently may still offer single use plastic bags. supervisor mirkarimi, the department of the environment, and others, have always contemplated since 2007 that the legislation would be a first step and imagined event at all stores and a charge for bags. that has now been done overseas for many years and now-in number of california communities as well. san francisco was in the lead on the issue in 2007 and is now trailing other jurisdictions in terms of charges. san francisco's legislation was not new in 2007. in 2002, ireland placed a 15 cents charged on plastic bags and now charges roughly 33 cents. other countries like france, switzerland, and belgium charge for bags while italy has banned all non-, postal bags -- non- compostable bags. santa cruz and san jose have just approved laws that would also charge for bags. santa cruz, malibu, and others expanded their plastic bag ba

good to have the newly- elected mayor with us, it elected a few days ago as the first chinese-american mayor of the city. a great city. many of us do not get here as often as we like. we are often in awe of this place. i think what he brings to the city is an important thing in the time of this city's growth, and as sean said, as all big city in america does, we have pockets of poverty, pockets of trouble, and i think the mayor is really looking at this with fresh eyes, and it is terrific

first in our city's history. three years ago, district 3 elected the first chinese- american to the board of supervisors, and immediatelyer he was sworn in, history was made again as he was sworn in as the board president. please welcome supervisor david to come here on behalf of the sentences go board of supervisors -- david chiu. >> aloha. it is an incredible honor to be here with you tonight. after 163 years, this is a glorious sight. i have spoken with mayor lee about the history of our community and we talk about what happened in 1870's with the first anti-asian exclusion acts. we talk about what happens after the 1906 earthquake when chinese residents were fighting not to be moved to a different part of the city. we talk about the japanese- american internment in the 1940's and we talk about the anti-communist purge of the asian-american communities here in san francisco in the 1950's. moving along to 1977 and the fall of the international hotel. our friends, we have come a long way. [applause] i have to tell you the most amazing moment of the year of 2011 was the first meeting of the board of supervisors this yea

mayor lee is the first asian- american mayor in the city's history. 2010, mayor lee was appointed to a second term by mayor newsom. his appointment at the time was confirmed unanimously by the board of supervisors. as city administrator, he spearheaded reform that would be reduced the size and cost of government, from reducing the vehicle fleet, to consolidating departments, to saving tax dollars. he implemented the city's move to cleaner vehicles and infrastructure to support electric vehicles. mayor lee also developed and oversaw implementation of his first 10-year capital plan, to guide our capital and infrastructure investment. mayor lee has a long and distinguished career in san francisco. since 1989, has held a number of senior leadership positions. he is a fellow cal graduate. as you probably all know, last tuesday, november 8, the people of san francisco elected edwin lee in his own right, to serve as mayor of san francisco. let me say, on a personal note, the day before the election, i was having coffee at my favorite cafe in glen park, and lost in my e-mail, whatever i was

here in the city of san francisco that these challenges wrb certainly ones we are confronted by every day but amazing things are happening here. we have just now selected our first chinese-american of san francisco. [applause] on the board of supervisors, 11 of us, eight of us, eight members of the board of supervisors are people of color. this is true representation. but what has laid the foundation of the great muscle that has made san francisco well known in its reputation as being forward thinking also obligates us to answering the other questions some of the chals that i remarked on especially as it concerns the african-american population in after. i'm not so sure that the numbers really have dropped to 3.%. that's a quick drop from 6.2 two years ago. but whatever the case is, that decline in population is a healthy reminder that even the most forward-thinking cities have incredible work to do. thank you, everybody, and happy black history month. >> thank you, supervisors cohen and mirkarimi. just want to announce also that thanks to the efforts of lamont bishop and others, we do have for the kinseys proclamations or certificates of recognition for shirley and bernard kins

good to have the newly- elected mayor with us, it elected a few days ago as the first chinese-american mayor of the city. a great city. many of us do not get here as often as we like. we are often in awe of this place. i think what he brings to the city is an important thing in the time of this city's growth, and as sean said, as all big city in america does, we have pockets of poverty, pockets of trouble, and i think the mayor is really looking at this with fresh eyes, and it is terrific to welcome you. [applause] >> thank you. well, thank you very much. it is my pleasure to be here. philip, thank you for that introduction, and as many of you may have heard, we just had a recent election here, the voters have asked us to step up for another four years. i do not know if you know this -- i have been a very reluctant politician. i think the real story is that i would never have been in the position i am in today of my cell phone had not worked in hong kong. [laughter] literally a year ago. but it is a government and a city i have had the pleasure of working in for the last 22 years. it has been a wonderfu

. >> reporter: as the first asian- american mayor of a major city quan has a lot to prove. she commented about the recall efforts during a press conference last week. >> i think i have done enough leadership in those 11 months, but to take on the tough problems of oakland to expect me to resolve them in 11 months i don't think is fair. >> reporter: some voters also point out she became mayor at the worst time with the diseconomy, unemployment and "occupy" movement at the same time. but yolanda rivera doesn't buy it. >> obama came at a wrong time but he made some positive things. >> reporter: you're talking a live look at a sign that says vote yes on oakland, recall quan. it's a sign with that table set up in front of trader joe's. they will be gathering petitions for the next hour or so many this is their first day. we did try to get ahold of mayor quan for comment about today's activities. her spokesman says she won't be commenting since she commented on it at a press conference last week but that she is also resting from yesterday's port shutdown. >> gil, were there a lot

the americans never managed to fix the electricity supply. in sadr city, u.s. army engineers put in the first decent sewers of water supplies, but that's all being forgotten. instead, people remember the american attacks on sadr city. this man keeps the pictures on his mobile. these are pictures from the internet and that's america. the meat market as well as anyplace here, you won't find any love for the united states. the butchers of baghdad are happy to see the back of americans. this man says they brought poverty and killed our children. >> according to jaba who sells cow hearts, they destroyed our country. >> the seller of sheep's heads, even thinks things with better under saddam, and yet, the united states has done a really good job of training the security forces here. these checkpoints are everywhere and they're the front line of the continuing civil war. there are attacks on them every day. can the iraqis sort out their own defense now? the answer is almost certainly yes. you can see how well trained and self-confident these men are, how well equipped as well, and on the other side,

city. he was the first asian-american nightclub owner who against all odds opened a nightclub in -- near sadrtter and grant, to help the troops and the visitors to san francisco. i met andy wong who was in charge of the sky room in chinatown. well i -- i threw my first outside party when i was 21 and met the owner of bimbo's. i see all these pictures of frank sinatra and glen campbell and i said, what is this place? he was telling me, my place was the place where everybody would go to see big-name entertainers. that kind of inspired me. through my course of my career, and promoting, i felt that the only way to reach salable of any promoter is to own a nightclub. as you know, a lot of the city places are owned by former promoters of san francisco. what happened is, i built a business plan, the trucadero nightclub. a sister club of studio 54. the owner -- the neighborhood wanted to shut it down. abc and the police wanted to shut it down. the guy was definitely on his last leg. he asked me to propose something to put to renovate this club. first i thought it was a great idea. at the same idea it

city. he was the first asian-american nightclub owner who against all odds opened a nightclub in -- near sadrtter and grant, to help the troops and the visitors to san francisco. i met andy wong who was in charge of the sky room in chinatown. well i -- i threw my first outside party when i was 21d

the americans never managed to fix the electricity supply. in sadr city, the u.s. army was putting in the first decent sewers and water supplies. but that is all forgotten. instead, people remember the american attacks. this man to pictures on his mobile. are pictures from the internet, and that is american laughter. at this meet market, there is no love for the united states. the butchers of baghdad are happy to see the departure of the americans. this chicken seller says they brought poverty. according to jabar, who sells cal arts, but " they destroyed our country." this man thinks things were better under saddam. and yet, the united states of done a really good job of training the security forces here. these checkpoints are everywhere and they are the front line of a continuing civil war. there are attacks every day. there were 79 bomb attacks last month. this one targeted the prime minister. in 2007, there one -- there were 1000 bombs per month. the insurgency is visibly winding down. iraq has known little more than dictatorship, war, and isolation. but now people are daring to hope there t

first iranian-american elected to office in san francisco. said there is a great affinity between our communities and one that i have not lost sight of since taking office when we were the first city hall in the united states and opening our doors for the persian new years. many in our community have celebrated together. this is not an occasion i would miss. very proud to be here. [speaks for the language] >> thank you, mayor lee and supervisor mirkarimi. next i would like to introduce the ceo of art.com which has sponsored a moderate iraqi art exhibit. he will give a few words about this amazing collection. >> thank you. thank you, nearly peter i am and and a grid myself, a french- american. i became american in the beautiful city of san francisco three years ago, so i can relate a lot to what you said earlier. i am here today because we are presenting a collection, an important collection of original art from iraq, and i wanted to share a very brief story about how i came across this article and why we are sharing it today. it is back in 2003, there was just a ceasefire in baghdad, right after, you know the second world war,. and someone flew straight into jordan, hired two body

of civil rights, not to he thinks his reluctance to be the first american president since grant to dispatch federal troops into a southern city, causing him to compromise. he this h that wrong. -- he had that prong. he played for time, he skipped a hearing, and his lawyers at the hearing moved for judge davis to rescue himself, was not granted, and they stormed out on behalf of the plaintiffs. in their absence, davis ordered the desegregation plan to resume and ordered him not to be ob instruct the. that was fried afternoon, and -- friday afternoon, and being in a frenzy, abruptly withdrew the guard at 6:25 that evening. the citizens counsels and clansmen and thugs drawn to little rock had the run of the town spending the weekend agitating and they were ready when monday morning came. that theme is the most destructing one in the country. four black reporters were beaten and protesters were wheeling on a knot of dignified black students have images of the dignity of the black pioneers and debasement of the white antagonists. the students made it inside the high school that morning, but by 11:30, the mob outside was such a fre

supreme court not to mention his extreme reluctance to be the first american president since grant to dispatch federal troops into a southern city would cause him to seek a compromise and allow faubus to save face. he had done wrong. he played for time over the next few days and was scheduled to appear in court on september 20 but he skipped a hearing. his lawyers at that hearing before judge davies to recuse himself and he predictably did not grant that and when he declined they stormed out to the amazement of thurgood marshall marshall berrigan on behalf of the plaintiff. in their absence davies ordered ordered the disintegration plan to resume and this time specifically ordered faubus not to obstruct him. that was friday afternoon and faubus having with little rock into a friends a abruptly with chew the guard at 6:25. suddenly the citizen council and klansman and thugs who have been drawn to little rock had the run of the town. they spent a week and caressing and agitating and they were ready on monday morning. the scene that morning ranks among the most distressing in american history. a seething, spreading mob turned on ev

city of. american someplace showing he still got it teaming up with leith the first ever asian to win a major tennis title for victory in the doubles spectacle. that is all the sport for a nod to be sure is here in the next two hours for more sport whether it is next though. wealthy british style. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at financial headlines to cause a report. to . brighten the. sun from funds to. come.

the americans never managed to fix the electricity supply. in sadr city, the u.s. army engineers put in the firstent stores and water supplies, but that has all been forgotten. -- sewers and water supplies, but that has all been forgotten. instead, they just remember the attacks. this man keeps pictures on his mobile phone. these are pictures on the internet and that is american laughter. the meat market, as everywhere else here, he will not find any love for the united states. the butchers of baghdad are happy to see the backs of the american spirit >> -- of the americans. >> they brought poverty and killed our children. >> according to this man, they destroyed our country. this man, a seller of sheepsheads, even things things were better under saddam hussein. and yet, the united states has done a really good job of training security forces here. these checkpoints are everywhere and they are the front-line of the continuing civil war. there are attacks on them every day. the worst 79 bomb attacks last month, this one targeted the prime minister. at the still, in 2007, there were 1000 bombs a mon

only argentina's first female president she's also the first female latin american president ever to win re-election. >>> panama's foreign minute city said the former dick dayor noriega will kprab dicted from france tomorrow. they are working to guarantee his safety in a prison. they want noriega to face charges there. >>> a syrian group says a prominent doctor is dead as violence flares again today. security forces reportedly killed at least 60 people across the country. amateur video showed gunfire friday as mourners tried to bury the dead. the u.n. says over 4,000 people have died during the eight month government crackdown. >>> a former fbi agent missing for years pleading for his life on a recently released videotape. the heartwrenching case for his family and a story with more questions than answers. cnn's jill daugherty reports. >> reporter: in the video -- >> i've been held here for 3 1/2 years. >> reporter: a gaunted bearded robert levinson pleads for help. >> i'm not in very good health. i am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine. i have been treated well. i need the help of the united states government to answer t

city of. american some pre-show and he's still got it teaming up with leith the first ever asian to win a major tennis title for victory in the doubles spectacle. that is all the sport for long to be sure god is here in the next two hours for more sport whether it is next though. wealthy british. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headline is joining to cause a report on our. which brightened. the balance from silence to pressure. for instance on t.v. dot com. a very warm welcome to you this is r.t. with continuing updates on our breaking news story the tragedy in this area hosken russia's far east where one of the country's biggest oil rigs has gone down in a storm let's get the latest details now from. tom the recap size some nine hours ago there how the rescue operation turned into a recovery one yet or is there still hope. well as at the moment in the a two hundred kilometers off russia's fall.

have said publicly that the executive order i will sign on the first day would reinstate reagan's mexico city policy which blocks any american payment for abortions overseas and i would move to de-fund planned parenthood and move it into adoption services so young women have a choice of life rather than death and i think planned parenthood is the biggest advocates for abortion in america and they should not get any funding. >> what you think about the attacks so far? don't you need to fight fire with fire? plateauedy you have and you're going down the other way. >> the three national surveys show me tied with romney. it virginia survey shows me beating and decisively. and i was survey shows run: first place and in second place and run a distant third. i dunno. you can have seven-$9 million of false astir net to and not have some impact. i expected i would that we will have to fight our way back. the last two days in iowa have been very positive. we did six or seven events yesterday with very large crowds. i emphasized a couple of things -- i will remain positive. i will talk about what i would like to do. i will talk about w

lisicki armley for an exhibition match in the central chinese city of american some pretty showing he still got it steaming up with lee who was the first ever asian to ever win major tennis title they won the doubles. and now there's all the sport for now i'll see you in under two hours time whether she's next. well. science technology innovation all the least developed mince from around russia we've dumped the future covered. limitations. cretaceous free. free. free. free. free live free blog. for your. free. live. cluck.

lisicki on li for an exhibition match in the central chinese city of american some pretty showing he still got it steaming up with lee who was the first ever asian to ever win major tennis title and they won the doubles. and that is all the sport for now i'll see you in under two hours time whether she's next. well for science technology innovation and all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. plug mission free accreditation free transport chargers free. range month three per treif stereotypes freeze plug the old free broadcast plug in video for your media projects a free media dog r.t. dot com. play. play play. play . breaking news on a russian oil rig off the country. during a storm with more than sixty people on board. in the water. and just three were plucked to safety by helicopter. this is r t with continuing updates on the tragedy in the sea of a hot skin the country's far east where russian oil rig has gone down in a storm let's get the latest details now tom tom capsized seven hours ago how is the rescue operation going.

gaithersburg gary giordano was in new york city, giving his version of events the day his travel companion went missing. back on american soil gary giordano gives his first network news interview this morning since being arrested in aruba, he appeared on good morning america, telling his side of what happened on the island the day his travel companion and frederick native robyn gardner went missing. >> i feel -- >> -- she -- >> -- cared about, okay, a companion, if you or you, has disappeared on my watch. >> he says gardner was swept out to sea while the two went snorkeling and he frantically searched for her afterwards. he also discussed the $1.5 million life insurance policy taken out on her before the trip. >> there is a holland hand handbook for travelers it tells you what to do. the first thing is call authorities, the second thing is call your insurance company. >> back in august they raided his home. his attorney is the same man who represented casey anthony, he says her disappearance is nothing more than a tragic accident. also in the interview he said that aruba is known for human trafficking and that if he had known that he would have never tak

city's mission district. the first attack happened in november, the second on thursday. he's described as african- american man in his mid 30s with a medium build. investigators say in both cases the victims were attacked from behind as they walked along 24th street between 3:00 and 6:30 in the morning. anyone with information is asked to call san francisco police. >>> funeral services were held today in menlo park for a transgender woman shot to death last month in hollywood. family and friends of 32-year- old nathan vickers gathered this morning. vickers who preferred to be called cassidy died november 17th. some have called it a hate crime but the mother says the motive didn't matter to her. >> no, because he was my son. he was a good child. i raised him well. my son -- you see the church was packed. everybody loved my son. he wasn't a bad kid or anything. you know? he was a good child. >> police say they suspect the same man who killed vickers robbed a second transgender woman a short time later fired at her, but missed. >>> in san francisco today, an unusual summit aimed at teaching tolerance and prot