lisa 06-15-07 ICX 0615icxrichards

BROKER
KNOWLEDGE
Archie Richards
Avoid Adding
Clean-Energy
Investments to
A Portfolio
Byron writes, “I’m hearing and reading a
lot about clean technology, involving companies developing alternative forms of energy.
New exchange-traded funds based on clean
technology, GEX, PZD and QCLN, have
been moving up. Should these be included
in a balanced ETF portfolio?
In the long run, Byron, any seemingly-favorable investment that you “hear and read
a lot about” is likely to turn out poorly. Hot
investments tend to turn freezing cold.
Solar energy merits development,
certainly. But alternative biofuels don’t.
Ethanol, for example, requires more energy
to produce than it supplies. It’s more expensive than gasoline, throws off nasty toxins,
and creates smog. It also raises food costs,
especially for poverty-stricken Mexicans,
making them want to emigrate to America
all the more.
Take it for granted that five or ten years
See RICHARDS, Page 5
CITY ATTORNEY
City Will Appeal
Tossing of Handgun Ban
BY DONNA DOMINO
FROM THE DAILY JOURNAL
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco City
Attorney Dennis Herrera pledged Tuesday
to appeal a trial judge’s decision overturning
a voter-approved ban on handguns, saying
case law supports the city’s right to regulate
firearms.
Approved with a strong majority in November, Proposition H would have outlawed
handgun possession by San Francisco residents except police officers and would have
forbidden the sale and distribution of guns
and ammunition in the city.
San Francisco County Superior Court
Judge James Warren agreed with the
National Rifle Association’s assertion that
See HANDGUN, Page 6
(
FORECLOSURE LISTINGS
SINCE 1909
FOR PROPERTY INVESTORS
)
THE INTER-CITY EXPRESS
Vol. 103, No. 46 X 1109 Oak St., #103, Oakland, Calif. 94607 X (510) 272-4747 X
$1
X
Friday, June 15, 2007
GLOBAL WARMING
FEDERAL COURT
Governor Calls
EPA Emissions
Suit ‘Inevitable’
BY DENNIS PFAFF
FROM THE DAILY JOURNAL
PHOTO BY S. TODD ROGERS
San Francisco’s The Mint Karaoke Lounge and its like can keep the music alive after a federal judge
ruled against a new licensing requirement.
Judge Spares Karaoke Club New Fees
BY LAURA ERNDE
FROM THE DAILY JOURNAL
SAN FRANCISCO — Amateur singers
rejoice.
A federal court judge in Utah has
blocked a lawsuit that threatened to put
small karaoke companies all over the
country out of businesses.
“From our perspective, it’s pro competition and it’s pro consumer,” said Richard Sybert, the San Diego intellectual
property attorney who won the ruling on
behalf of his client, a company that sells
commercial karaoke products.
EMI sued Priddis Music in Utah for
copyright infringement, accusing the
company of playing songs such as “Louie
Louie” and “Stand by Your Man” without
the proper licenses.
EMI argued that karaoke operators
need to buy a “synchronization” license,
an expensive type of license commonly
used in movie soundtracks, because the
words change in time with the music.
“To try to argue that a word is a picture
is kind of Orwellian,” Sybert said.
U.S. District Court Judge Bruce S. Jen-
kins said that a “synchronization” license
is not necessary. Two other licenses are
sufficient to satisfy copyright law — a
“compulsory” license for reproduction of
the musical composition and a “reprint”
license for display of the lyrics on screen.
In granting Sybert’s summary judgment motion on May 21, Jenkins clarified
what has been a gray area in copyright
law.
Lawyers for the music publishing giant,
who are based in Salt Lake City, could not
be reached for comment Wednesday.
A law professor at Santa Clara University, Tyler Ochoa, agreed that the ruling
could potentially be significant.
But he said that EMI might have
grounds to appeal because the judge did
not examine the language of the reprint
license that Priddis bought.
Sybert said music publishers were
cracking down on the karaoke licenses in
an effort to boost income being siphoned
away through free Internet downloads.
“They’ve been pretty aggressive and
See FEES, Page 6
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ratcheted up his war of words with
the Bush administration over global warming
Wednesday, saying it is practically “inevitable” that California will sue for the right to
regulate emissions from cars and trucks.
In a letter to Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson,
Schwarzenegger calls on the agency to grant
immediately the state’s 18-month-old request
for permission to impose its own standards.
Disputed Claim
“It is the right thing to do, it is urgent, and
it is the law,” the governor wrote.
The letter came days after Johnson told a
congressional panel studying global warming
that the EPA probably will not decide until
next year whether to issue regulations controlling vehicle emissions. Johnson is faced
with the decision because of a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling in April.
Late Wednesday, though, Johnson maintained that Schwarzenegger is incorrect
in claiming that a separate decision about
California’s rules will be delayed. Johnson
wrote the governor that he will unveil next
week the EPA’s timetable for handling the
state’s request.
Other States to Follow
Allowing California to regulate vehicle
emissions would pave the way for 11 states to
take identical actions. Another six states are
considering following California’s lead, the
governor’s office said.
Under the Clean Air Act, California can set
its own emissions standards, and other states
can adopt those benchmarks, subject to the
EPA’s waiving federal pre-emption.
According to news reports, Johnson did
not tell Congress when he will decide on
California’s request to impose its own standards. But Schwarzenegger interpreted the
statement to mean that decision also was
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FORECLOSURE LISTINGS, REO PROPERTIES & BULK SALES
See EPA, Page 6
3
The Inter-City Express
Friday, June 15, 2007
RESTAURANT
REVIEW
Scoma’s — Over 40 Years at the Wharf
BY MIKE SHER
e’re sitting at one of Fisherman’s
Wharf’s best-known restaurants,
joining tourists from every corner
of the United States and probably a smattering of locals - there should be more, we
muse.
They grew from a little café, and grew
and grew.
But we’re not at one of the corner landmarks like Sabella’s or Tarantino’s.
We’re about a block and a half to the
west, a little past Lou’s blues club. We’re at
Scoma’s, Pier 47, on Al Scoma Way.
The statistics of Scoma’s are incredible.
Every day, they use 700 pounds of crab, 150
pounds of calamari, 125 pounds of prawns
and 75 of shrimp. 175 loaves of sourdough
get sliced up every day. You can see the
fish arrive every day at their exclusive Fish
Receiving Station.
It gets inspected and then filleted, peeled
or deveined, or hand cracked, in the case of
crab. Al Scoma, after a five-year stint as an
inspector with the Health Department, became one of the six original partners with
Castagnola’s down the street.
He changed careers and became a top
car salesman, but the restaurant business
lured him back.
Scoma’s evolved from a six-stool counter to a 350-seat restaurant, serving over
450,000 people a year.
It’s the highest volume independent restaurant west of the Mississippi.
Well, what’s the bottom line? We have
the same feeling here as when we visited A.
Sabella’s several years ago.
W
This is truly outstanding seafood. San
Franciscans look down their noses at the
Wharf as noisy and touristy, but a number
of the restaurants here serve great food,
and that’s why people come.
You don’t even have to deal with the
Wharf - drive up to the place and let the
free valet park your car.
We start with the mixed shellfish platter
for two ($25), with oysters and clams on the
half shell, prawns and Dungeness crab legs.
Everything’s impeccably fresh, and there’s
a cocktail sauce dip. If you’d rather, try the
crab and prawn cocktail ($18), offering a
generous portion of meat out of the shell.
To get an introduction to hot appetizers,
try the Sampler Plate. ($25) It’s not greasy
at all, and lets you try mini crab cakes, fried
calamari and popcorn shrimp.
Fried Oysters ($15) yielded an incredibly generous portion, and they were juicy
when you bit into them. You could dip them
in a wasabi aioli, which gave a little zing.
The table favorite dish was the smallest
in size. We couldn’t keep our hands off the
lobster bisque.
A cup was $5.50, and we should have
gotten bowls at $7.50 each. Whispers of
tomato, cream and lobster all swirled to-
gether, and the cup made a Houdini-like
disappearance.
Our tablemate enjoyed a nonseafood
dish - spinach salad ($16), and we’re so
glad to see spinach back after the recent
health scare. Baby spinach leaves had goat
cheese, pine nuts and pancetta swirled in.
There were also eggs, Kalamata olives and
tomatoes.
A lemon vinaigrette topped all.
You might think we had run out of
steam by this point, but no, dear reader, we
pushed on, just for you.
Our main dish choice was the result of
an evolution, a little like squid evolved to
calamari, a sexier sounding name.
Our Cioppino benefited from a more
radical evolution. The dish started as a
conglomerate of leftovers at the end of
the fisherman’s day, but it now has luxury
meats. Ours contained prawns, shrimp,
clams in the shell, sea scallops, fresh fish
and a half cracked crab.
We paid $35 for the lazy man’s version
with crab out of the shell, but wondered
if we might have gotten more crab if we’d
paid $5 less and gotten the more industrious version.
Our tablemates tried broiled swordfish
($31) and wild salmon (29). Both were well
cooked but still juicy. A little card on the
table told us what was fresh that day.
Desserts included vanilla and raspberry
cheesecake, and a floating sundae.
We just wish more people would realize
that Fisherman’s Wharf has some very
good restaurants that are worth a try.
We had a lovely evening at Scoma’s
and think you will.Scoma’s, Pier 47, on Al
Scoma Way, San Francisco. (415) 771-4383.
OpenMonday-Thursday12:00 PM - 10:00
PM; Friday & Saturday11:30 AM - 10:30
PM; Sunday 11:30 AM - 10:00 PM. Days
Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve,
Christmas Day.