There's a war brewing in the streets of San Francisco, and a lot of people could get caught up in it if the tech world doesn't start changing its self-centered culture.
Every day in every way, from rising rents to rising prices at restaurants to its private buses, the tech world is becoming an object of scorn. It's only a matter of time before the techies' youthful lustre fades, and they're seen as just another extension of Wall Street.
And when that happens, tenant advocates, community activists, labor unions and Occupy types are going to start asking why we're giving away the city to all these white-male-dominated businesses that don't even hire locals.
At which point, the politicians will do what they always do - count votes. And by my last count, for all of their hype and money, tech types were still a decidedly small part of the vote. If they even vote at all.
What the tech world needs to do is nip this thorny plant in the bud. They need to come off their high cloud efforts to save Africa or wherever they take adventure vacations and start making things better for folks right here.
They need to start helping in Hunters Point and in Chinatown.
Most of all, they need to start hiring locals.
Otherwise, the next time it comes to a tax measure or a vote at the Planning Commission, they could find themselves getting skinned.
Mayor Ed Lee, the next ambassador to China? Even Rose Pak was laughing at that rumor.
If anyone should be offered the Beijing posting, it's Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She was the first mayor to establish a Sister City relationship with Shanghai, and she chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, so she's well aware of the challenges and tensions of our relationship with China.
It would be a fitting sunset for a great career. Plus, it would give Gov. Jerry Brown the chance to appoint his wife, Anne Gust Brown, as Feinstein's replacement in the Senate.
It appears that, as I predicted, Nancy Bechtle has taken it upon herself to keep George Lucas and his proposed museum out of the Presidio.
And from the coverage so far, I'd say The Chronicle agrees with her.
Bechtle's position has put her at odds with many of her Gold Coast neighbors, including the Gettys, Maryon Lewis, Dede Wilsey and even Dianne Feinstein.
It's much the same story we saw when the late Donald Fisher wanted to install his modern art collection at the Presidio. At least those works stayed in town, at the Museum of Modern Art. Don't look for Lucas to do the same.
So California is suddenly swimming in a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. If Gov. Jerry Brown is smart, he'll hold a press conference tomorrow and pledge to use the money to pay down the state's Wall of Debt.
But he needs to make the call right away, before my fellow Democrats or the teachers or the doctors or the other special interest groups with pull start demanding a cut.
I'm sitting at the Battery the other night next to three women, all of whom were trying to find their husbands. They started talking about a new app that lets them fix on another cell phone and figure out exactly where it is.
Then they demonstrated how it works with each other's phones.
I immediately decided to start leaving my cell phone at home.
Movie time: "The Book Thief." This is the first movie I can recall that shows what Nazi Germany was like from the perspective of Germans who opposed Hitler. The title character, Sophie Nélisse, is terrific. Add in the always-worthwhile Geoffrey Rush, and you have a movie well worth seeing.
If it's laughs you're looking for, try "The Best Man Holiday," starring a roguish Terrence Howard and a talented supporting cast. Good any time, day or night.
After writing about the homeless lined up along Mission Street, I received a number of notes from people telling me to visit the Embarcadero BART Station after 11 p.m.
Sure enough, the homeless encampment in and around the station has gone from bad to worse, and it's somewhat scary for everybody. Even me.
Maybe we should have a receiver, a person in charge with unlimited powers, run BART for a while. I'm almost certain that would eliminate mistakes in contracts as well as software screwups. So goodbye, elected officials and union leaders.
I was in Best Buy the other morning looking at the new TV sets. They have one that lets you use your hand as the remote.
You hold up your hand and a little target flashes up on the screen, and you move the cursor wherever you want with your fingers.
The salesman said, "Go ahead and do it."
"Just one problem," I said.
"What's that?"
"I can't see where the little dot is."
If you buy one, I hope you can spot the dot.
Want to sound off? E-mail wbrown@sfchronicle.com.