‘Checkpoint Charlie’ the famous, and notorious, crossing point between East and West Berlin – 1961-1989
Watching this video report on Deutsche Welle about the American who relocated to Berlin makes the blogger’s Heart ache.
The blogger and Liz have made several trips to Berlin and are totally infatuated with this international City. Life is often all about unfulfilled dreams and missed opportunities.
The blogger is envious of an American who fulfilled her dream. Something that the blogger can only wistfully think about from his home in San Francisco.
Should the opportunity present itself the blogger would be on board United Airlines (UAL) daily flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt and via the Deutsche Bahn to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof.
Smiling faces.The blogger and Liz in Potsdam – November 2023
New York City is justifiably often insufferable. Think Donald Trump.
Last night the Big Apple braggadocio is now fully warranted.
Everyone loves the winning New York Knicks
The often woe begone New York Knicks, one of the National Basketball League’s original teams founded in 1946, haven’t won an NBA title since 1973. And have not reached the finals since 1999.
The opportunity has now presented itself at long last. After the denizens of Madison Square Guardian obliterated the Cleveland Cavaliers in a humiliating four game sweep. To capture the NBA Eastern Conference crown.
New York Post headline ‘They Did it!’ – 5.25.2026
New York can cheer for now and await their next potent foe. Either the San Antonio Spurs of reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently even at 2-2 in their Western Conference battle.
Wall Street Journal – 5.26.2026
The Whole Basketball World will be watching when the seven game series opens on June 3rd.
Wall Street Journal – 5.26.2026
The New York Knicks Will Play for the NBA Championship. I Can’t Believe It, Either.
Riding a historic winning streak, a former punchline books a ticket for the Finals
Some commentators describe The Atlantic piece as War Hawk neo con talking points blasting Trump for “surrendering”to Iran.
Such talk is only correct by half. Yes Trump may be surrendering. But not for the reasons the War Hawks argue.
Trump is the prototype, for better and worse, transactional operator. He realizes belatedly the entire assault on Iran, pushed by Israel, has been a disaster from Day One on February 28, 2026. Now he is seeking an exit ramp realizing he’s made a shambles of the global economy and guaranteed the MAGA brand is going to take a beating on election day next November 3rd.
Excerpted from The Atlantic 5.21.2026 – Robert Kagan
According to one U.S. official, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “hair was on fire” after the May 20th call with Donald Trump—for good reason.
The outlines of President Trump’s endgame in the Iran war are now emerging. In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu May 20th, Trump reportedly explained that the United States was negotiating a “letter of intent” with Iran that would “formally end the war and launch a 30-day period of negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Trump’s repeated threats to resume attacks since then have proved to be bluffs. The leaders in Tehran have been calculating for two months that Trump would not launch another attack, and for this reason they have made no concessions despite the damage they suffered from 37 days of relentless strikes. On the contrary, their terms for a settlement are those of a victor: They demand war reparations, no limits on uranium enrichment, recognized control of the strait, and an end to sanctions.
The purpose and effect of such an agreement should be clear: The United States is walking away from the crisis. Trump may launch another limited strike to look tough and satisfy the demands of the war’s supporters, but it would be a performative gesture. Endgame in this case is a euphemism for “surrender.”
Trump no doubt hopes that he can slip away without Americans noticing the magnitude of this defeat. The financial markets may stabilize if it is clear that oil will eventually start flowing again through a reopened strait, even if under the new Iran-controlled system.
The Iran war may end up as the single most devastating blow to Israel’s security in its brief history. On the present trajectory, Iran will emerge from the conflict many times stronger and more influential than it was before the war. It will exercise leverage with dozens of the richest nations in the world, all of which will have an acute interest in keeping Iran happy. They will be unlikely to take Israel’s side in any conflict that it has with Tehran or with its proxies in Lebanon and Gaza, because Iran will have the means to punish them if they do. Israel will emerge more isolated than it has been at any time in its history—and not least from its only reliable protector, the United States. When Trump turns his back on Israel, as he must do to implement this policy, MAGA will gladly follow. The bipartisan anti-Israel consensus in the United States will grow and harden.
Matthew Spivey, from left, San Francisco Symphony CEO; Priscilla Geeslin, chair of the Board of Governors; Elim Chan, music director designate; Eugene Izotov, principal oboe; and Edward Stephan, principal timpani, take part in an event announcing Chan as the orchestra’s next music director at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday, May 21, 2026.Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco has been a leader culturally and politically for decades.
The international City by the Bay has broken ground with its hiring of renowned Elim Chan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elim_Chanto be its 🎶 music director. The first woman to take the podium as director at Davies Hall in the symphony’s 115 year storied history.
Ms. Chan, 39, will formally assume her role in September 2027.
Elim Chan will take the helm next year and will follow in the wake of the late Michael Tilson Thomas. His recent death has left a tremendous void in the hearts and mindsof San Franciscocultural life.
Elim Chan conducting the SF Symphony in 2023. She will conduct the Symphony June 5-6
“After the opening glow wears away Ms. Chan will be subjected to the brutal political, cultural, and media commentariat Power Elite which has run San Francisco since its inception in the 19th century. I can only hope Emil Chan is possessed with a thick skin”.Lee’s Perspective comment. Published in The New York Times – 5.22.2026
Chan leading the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2024. Credit…Isaac Lawrence/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Emil Chan and her husband Dutch percussionist Vleeshouwers
It’s a long way Connie Chan to the top if you want to Rock ‘n Roll.
‘Progressives’ are being taken in by Saikat Chakrabarti’s political pandering to the ‘Progressives’. Saikat is nothing more than a Carpetbagger coming to San Francisco. Thinking he can bamboozle the electorate. Saikat can’t and won’t. I am posting this is as a registered Green Party member for most of the past 35 years. For the record I am voting for Connie Chan, a San Francisco Supervisor whose politics lean left with a very practical outlook,
State SenatorScott Wiener totally disrespected Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi by trying to force her out of the race announcing his intention to challenge this San Francisco icon and speed her retirement. It was a fatal political error on his part.You just don’t make that play with San Francisco royalty.
San Francisco Chronicle – 5.18.2026
It took too long. It is a long time in coming. And long overdue
New York Times – 5.18.2026Mission Local. San Francisco – 5.18.2026KQED 88.5FM – San Francisco – 5.18.2026
Nancy Pelosi finally endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in her race to succeed Ms. Pelosi in Congress.
SFiST – San Francisco – 5.18.2026CNN Politics – 5.18 2026
This endorsement vastly increases Connie’s chance to enter the runoff in the November election
With no country to attack this month Trump is declaring War on the Press. Ordering Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to launch criminal investigations against the media.
The same Todd Blanche who was Trump’s defense counsel when he was convicted of over 30 felonies in a New York courthouse in May 2024.
Making a mockery of the Justice Department as an independent agency.
The latest assault on the 🇺🇸 American media.
Issuing Subpoenas to the business friendly politically conservative Wall Street Journal for its reports on the war against Iran 🇮🇷
Crowded buses. Unhoused on the streets. Rampant street drug use.
A beaming Mayor Daniel Lurie. A product of the San Francisco ruling class aristocracy
“Why is this Man smiling?”🤨
It’s hard to take the San Francisco Chronicle poll seriously showing billionaire Levi’s scion Mayor Daniel Lurie has a high in the sky 74 percent approval rating.
There is an obvious chasm between the haves and have nots in San Francisco.
For the blogger who spends a lot of time amongst the common citizens he can only ask, “Who did The Chronicle poll?”
The real World 🌎 of AI ‘ChatGPT’s Chilling Queries – Wall Street Journal-5.4.2026+
I never thought that Michael Connelly, the Master criminal fiction writer with over 40 published novels, would create a masterpiece on the perils of Artificial Intelligence.
The tale tells the story of an AI creation ‘Clair’ whose 16 year old user, utilizing ‘Clair’ on his home computer, forges a relationship with ‘Clair’ and at the AI Bot’s urging murders his girlfriend for her presumed “disloyalty”.
‘STOP HIRING HUMANS’ – AI ad in San Francisco
Michael Connelly’s protagonist ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Mickey Haller takes on the case on behalf of the slain girl’s mother.
‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ brings a civil action against Clair’s creator Tidalwaiv.
It’s a sobering riveting saga. As a crime saga and courtroom drama. More importantly it introduced me to the inherent dangers of the burgeoning world of Artificial Intelligence.
The San Francisco Chronicle poll reports Scott Wiener is a shoo-in to replace Nancy Pelosi in Congress next year.
The November runoff, presuming the front runner fails to garner 50% in June, will be a contest with the runner up.
June’s runner up will be a candidate The Chronicle rhetorically labels a sacrificial lamb standing between Wiener and Washington.
Congressional candidate Supervisor Connie Chan
Connie Chan is no Lamb. She’s a 🦁 Lioness.
There are several reasons why Connie Chan, the District Supervisor, should get the nod.
For Connie it would be five months of local and national media exposure. It would be a boon for Connie Chan and the Asian Chinese community in San Francisco.
This exposure will propel Connie Chan to the Presidency of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors next January. Her Board mates would be remiss in not selecting Connie Chan for the second most important and influential elected position in San Francisco.
Lee's Perspective 