Yesterday I blogged, maintaining that “anger” is motivating the motoring community in San Francisco which feels its sense of entitlment threatened by the Pedestrian/Cyclist Great Walkway along the Pacific Ocean.
I simultaneously placed the blog post on Nextdoor in my San Francisco neighborhood. There have been nearly 60 responses, none of which addressed the issue I discussed 24 hours ago.
In 2014 San Francisco firmly rejected a ballot measure affirming cars are the priority mode of transportation. In the same election the voters approved financing for transit, pedestrian and cyclist enhancements. The post is included below dated 6.20.2021.
A short time ago I received the attached post on Nextdoor.
It is an expression of “anger,” harassment and a threat to break the law.
Lee Heidhues 6.20.2021
“Anger” is what motivates the motorists is an observation I read from a fellow neighbor.
This neighbor quite perceptively says that motorists feel completely “entitled.” Because motorists have not gotten their way motorists are angry. A sense of entitlement and anger has manifested itself during the past several months.
Fortunately the SFMTA will not permit itself to be bludgeoned and intimidated.
Neither will the Board of Supervisors.
It’s worth noting that in 2014 the voters emphatically rejected with a 62% NO Proposition L. Its objective was to have Cars designated the priority transportation mode in San Francisco. In the same election the voters approved Proposition B. Allocating money for transit, bicycle and pedestrian enhancements.
City Hall by designating The Great Walkway is following the will of the Voters. That’s Democracy, folks.
“Anger” is what motivates the motorists is an observation I read from a fellow neighbor.
This neighbor quite perceptively says that motorists feel completely “entitled.” Because motorists have not gotten their way motorists are angry. A sense of entitlement and anger has manifested itself during the past several months.
Fortunately the SFMTA will not permit itself to be bludgeoned and intimidated.
Neither will the Board of Supervisors.
It’s worth noting that in 2014 the voters emphatically rejected with a 62% NO Proposition L. Its objective was to have Cars designated the priority transportation mode in San Francisco. In the same election the voters approved Proposition B. Allocating money for transit, bicycle and pedestrian enhancements.
City Hall by designating The Great Walkway is following the will of the Voters. That’s Democracy, folks.
Israel’s new Prime Minister may be sharing a laugh with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid but he is deadly serious when talking about the government in Tehran. The coming months will be a time of tension and stress in the always volatile Middle East cauldron.
Excerpted from Times of Israel 6.20.2021
Israel Prime Minister says Islamic Republic ‘must never be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction’ as negotiators meet in Vienna; Iran’s nuclear envoy says sides are closer to deal than ever
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday opened the first cabinet meeting of his new government with a condemnation of the newly elected Iranian president. He said Iran’s choice was a sign for world powers to “wake up” before returning to a nuclear agreement with Tehran.
“A regime of brutal hangmen must never be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction that will enable it to not kill thousands, but millions,” the prime minister said, speaking briefly in English.
Iran’s hardline judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, was elected Saturday with 62 percent of the vote amid a historically low voter turnout and as all major competitors were disqualified or pulled out.
Iranian President elect Ebrahim Raisi on the campaign trail
He is sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Raisi has not commented specifically on the event.
Bennett said at the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that “of all the people that [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei could have chosen, he chose the hangman of Tehran, the man infamous among Iranians and across the world for leading the death
committees that executed thousands of innocent Iranian citizens throughout the years.”
He said that the new government would follow the previous Israeli administration’s policy of determinedly opposing Iran reaching a nuclear weapon.
The world communtity is weighing in with its opinion about the victory of an “arch conservative” to be Iran’s next President.
Predictably much of the insular American press has little to say about Iranian politics. Americans interest in foreign affairs is minimal at best and disinterested in the mainstream.
There is another reason to be thankful Trump and Netanyahu are gone from power. Were both men still around the airwaves would be full of bombastic rhetoric about Ebrahim Raisi. It’s good the adults are minding the store once again in Washington, DC and Israel.
While regional allies welcomed the Islamic hard-liner’s win, exiled opposition groups decried the vote as a farce — and Western nations remained largely silent.
The 60-year-old arch-conservative cleric will replace outgoing moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who could not run again after holding office for two terms.
Raisi is known as a fierce critic of the West. He will become the first serving Iranian president to already be under US sanctions before entering office, due to his involvement in mass executions in 1988.
Iran’s regional allies were quick to congratulate Raisi, but analysts say his win could spell difficulties in improving ties with regional neighbors and the West.
Who welcomed his win?
One of the strongest messages of support came from Russia, with President Vladimir Putin saying Raisi could help strengthen “bilateral cooperation.”
“This responds entirely to the interests of the Russian and Iranian people and goes towards reinforcing regional stability and security,” Putin said in a message.
Syrian President Bashar Assad was one of the first to welcome the win, sending his “warmest congratulations” in a statement. Iran has been a key player in helping Assad hold power in Syria’s decade-long conflict.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan echoed Putin’s remarks — saying he was ready to work with Iran’s newly-elected president. Erdogan said he believed “cooperation between our two countries would be strengthened further.”
Congratulations also came in from the United Arab Emirates as well as Oman, which has served as a mediator between Tehran and the West.
How did others respond?
Israel voiced concern over Raisi’s win, saying the international community should be alarmed over his commitment to a “rapidly advancing military nuclear program.”
The United States said it regretted Iranians were not able to participate in a “free and fair electoral process.”
A State Department spokesperson said, “Iranians were denied their right to choose their own leaders in a free and fair electoral process.”
The European Union also did not react immediately. Brussels did, however, release a statement on Saturday evening saying negotiations on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will resume on Sunday.
The EU statement said representatives from Iran will be present at the talks in Vienna, along with the other signatories of the 2015 deal. The US also said it would participate in indirect negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.
A conservative Cleric the 60 year old has been sanctioned by the American government for his long time role in the crackdown of political protests and the execution of political prisoners.
Al Jazeera 6.19.2021
Tehran, Iran – Conservative judiciary head Ebrahim Raisi has been elected Iran’s eighth president, the interior ministry has announced.
Raisi has become the first Iranian president to be sanctioned by the United States even before assuming office as he was designated in 2019.
The US blacklisted him for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, his involvement in the crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests, and “administration of oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime”.
Following the revolution, Raisi joined the prosecutor’s office in Masjed Soleyman in southwestern Iran. Over the next six years, he added to his experience as a prosecutor in several other jurisdictions.
A crucial development came when he moved to Iran’s capital, Tehran, in 1985 after being appointed deputy prosecutor.
Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini the first post Iranian revolutionary leader (1980-1989) looks down on Ebrahim Raisi
Human rights organisations say three years later, just months after the gruelling eight-year Iran-Iraq War ended, he was part of a so-called “death commission” that oversaw the disappearing and secret executions of thousands of political prisoners.
Despite previously opposing Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Raisi said during the presidential debates earlier this month that he will uphold the landmark accord as any other state commitment.
He did, however, point out that he will form a “strong” government to steer the agreement in the right direction.
Raisi’s election marks a consolidation of power by the conservative and hardline camp, which already controls the parliament and will likely have a replacement for the judiciary as well.
The Muslim scholar, who wears a black turban to signify he is a descendent of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, is also seen as the country’s next supreme leader.
The ministry confirmed on Saturday that Raisi won 61.95 percent of the vote on a voter turnout of 48.8 percent – the lowest turnout for a presidential election since the 1979 revolution. Raisi got 28,933,004 votes.
At 3,726,870 votes, void votes finished second in the race, also for the first time since the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
Former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei finished third in Friday’s election with 3,412,712 votes and was followed by moderate candidate Abdolnasswer Hemmati with 2,427,201 votes, and conservative Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi with 999,718 votes.
“We didn’t have any violation that would have a significant impact on the outcome of the election,” Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli said during a press conference.
Rezaei, Hemmati and Hashemi had conceded ahead of the announcement on Saturday.
Iranian President elect Ebrahim Raisi
Raisi will take office in early August, replacing moderate President Hassan Rouhani who was not allowed by the constitution to run for a third consecutive term.
“I congratulate the people on their choice,” said Rouhani on Saturday.
Raisi grew up in the northeastern city of Mashhad, an important religious centre for Shia Muslims where Imam Reza, the eighth Shia religious leader, is buried.
He attended the seminary in Qom and studied under some of Iran’s most prominent Muslim scholars, including Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei.
After becoming the prosecutor for several jurisdictions, Raisi moved to the capital, Tehran, in 1985 after being appointed deputy prosecutor.
After moving up the ranks in the judicial system, in March 2016 he was appointed by the supreme leader as the custodian of the Astan-e Quds Razavi, the influential shrine of Imam Reza, where he controlled billions of dollars in assets.
He had run for president unsuccessfully against Rouhani in 2017, garnering 38 percent of the vote.
Raisi had promised to improve Iran’s economy that is ailing under US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic that has exacerbated decades-long infrastructural issues caused by local mismanagement.
The San Francisco Chronicle has blown up the apparent theft of Petitions seeking to recall several School Board members into a cause celebre.
The Chronicle for months has been aggressively advocating to bring down School Board member Allison Colins. The Chronicle has published lurid details about Ms. Colins problems with the Department of Building Inspection, her interactions with members of the public and her remarks directed towards the Asian-American community in its nonstop campaign.
Beleaguered School Board member Allison Colins
The apparent theft of Recall petitions has given the Chronicle another opportunity to put the School Board recall with Alison Collins front and center as its target.
In addition to the attached article the Chronicle ran a lengthy feature by its award winning columnist going into granular detail about this incident.
An employee for Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco was fired after a now-viral video caught him allegedly stealing petition signatures for a recall campaign against three members of the city’s school board.
A statement from JVS, published online Thursday, stated that the company had begun a fact-gathering mission about the employee after becoming aware of the video. The company said the employee was off-duty at the time and “apparently interfering with the petition-gathering process of the San Francisco Board of Education recall.”
“We immediately placed the employee on administrative leave and, now, after a thorough review we have dismissed the employee,” the firm’s statement read. “We are grateful for the guidance and support we’ve received from the San Francisco community, of which we have been honored to be a part of for almost 50 years.”
San Francisco police last week said they were investigating the alleged theft, and had no updates to report Thursday.
Alleged theft of San Francisco School Board Recall petitiions
“We appreciate the thoughtfulness of @JVSBayArea in making this decision and upholding democracy and the rights of the people to hold our elected leaders accountable without fear, intimidation or disruption,” the tweet said.
Police said that about 11:20 a.m. on May 30, officers responded to a reported theft at Third Avenue and Clement Street and spoke to a campaign volunteer who said a man approached him during the signature drive, took the petition paperwork and then walked away.
“The victim confronted the suspect and after a verbal confrontation the suspect returned the petition paperwork back to the victim,” police officials said in a statement. “The suspect then fled on foot. Officers also met with witnesses that gave their accounts of the incident.”
San Francisco police said they were aware of the possible identification of the suspect being posted on social media and said they are working “diligently”on the case.
Buried in San Francisco Chronicle Megan Cassidy’s thorough report about the latest assault on an elderly Asian American is the following:
“(Daniel) Cauich has been arrested in recent months as well, most recently on May 18 for burglary allegations. Court records show prosecutors filed charges including first-degree burglary in this case, and requested that Cauich be held in jail while he awaited trial. A judge denied this motion and Cauich was released on June 7, court records show.”
Former acting District Attorney Suzy Loftus, who was defeated by incumbent DA Chesa Boudin in November 2019, willfully ignored the truth. She saw fit to break her political silence and launch an attack.
“This cannot become normal in our city. SF is meant to be a refuge & a safe place for all – but it has turned into a hotbed for Anti-Asian hate. This is not my city — I urge all of our leaders to demand accountability & challenge the excuses and blame coming from @chesaboudin “
This completely baseless and unfounded political assault by @suzyloftus on the DA is the latest indication there are powerful forces behind the Recall attempt trying to oust Chesa Boudin from office.
Suzy Loftus is a City Hall political creature. Prior to her appointment by Mayor London Breed as acting DA less than a month before the 2019 election she was a Police Commissioner and a staff attorney for the Sheriff’s Department.
Suzy Loftus is a protege of disgraced ex Chief of Police Greg Suhr, who was forced from office in disgrace by late Mayor Ed Lee following a number of police shootings of civilians. Suzy Loftus was a Police Commissioner at the time.
DA Boudin in Court
It is high time that the voters of San Francisco realize who is behind the attempted Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
It is a blatant City Hall power grab by the entrenched interests. Politicans, bureaucrats and the Police Officers Association who opposed Chesa Boudin’s candidacy and are resentful of his incumbency.
These same forces are doing everything within their power to take him down.
This cannot be allowed to happen.
Top photo – Chesa Boudin being sworn in by Mayor London Breed as his wife Dr.Valerie Block looks on – January 8, 2020
UPDATE – The Wall Street Journal has an OpEd on 6.21.2021 bemoaning the election of Pedro Castillo. I posted the following comment.
The main point here is that the WSJ looks askance that yet another “Marxist-Leninist” (whatever that means in today’s Social Media parlance) is about to take the reins of power in Peru. Thank goodness we are way beyond the days of “Marxist Menace in Latin America” Salvador Allende when the Nixon Administration pulled out all the stops and successfully engineered a coup and assassination of a democratically elected leader on a day in 1973. September 11. Thus, ushering in nearly 20 years of political repression and the introduction of Milton Friedman capitalism in Chile under the not so benign rule of Augusto Pinochet.
Lee Heidhues 6.16.2021
The South American nation of Peru has apparently chosen an avowed Marxist-Leninist as its new President, former school teacher Pedro Castillo (pictured above). His opponent, Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of imprisoned former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, currently imprisoned for corruption and alleged human rights abuses.
Should the election result stand Pedro Castillo will have a difficult task implementing his political agenda. The Peruvian legislature will be dominated by conservatives and supporters of defeated candidate Fujimori. Still the election of an avowed radical as President of Peru will be a closely analyzed event in the coming months.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 6.16.2021
Until four years ago, Pedro Castillo was a teacher in a rural school in the Andes. Then he gained national notoriety as the leader of a teachers strike, and now he’s president of Peru.
Born in Tacabamba in 1969, Castillo served as a young man in the local Rondas Campesinas — patrols organized by farmers during height of the the internal conflict to protect communities from guerrilla attacks in the 1980s and ’90s, when the armed forces, as well as the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path and the Marxist-Leninist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, terrorized rural Peru. The state did little to help, and many believe that the government continues to neglect the rural poor.
In 2002, Castillo failed in his bid to become mayor of Anguia, a district capital in Cajamarca. But in 2017 he rose to prominence as the leader of a nationwide teachers strike, playing a key role in its success. Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, president at the time, eventually met a number of their demands, including higher salaries.
Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Castillo at campaign debate
Castillo’s party, Free Peru, takes a Marxist-Leninist vanguard approach to socialism, which has led some opponents of the new president to say they fear that democracy may now be in jeopardy. But the members of the right wing in Peru are always quick to maintain that their leftist opponents are jeopardizing democracy. There’s even a word for it: “terruqueo” — often groundless accusations that leftists are sympathizing with communism-based terror organizations.
Guillermo Bermejo, a member of Free Peru who was elected to Congress in spring, does have ties to Shining Path, according to the public prosecutor’s office. “We are socialists, and our path to a new Constitution is a first step, and, if we take power, we are not going to leave it,” Bermejo says on recording that he says was made a year ago. “If, in the worst-case scenario, it were to go bad for us, it must go bad under our flag — not under someone else’s.”
Castillo leads the socially conservative faction of the otherwise-left-wing Free Peru. An evangelical Christian, he has been vocal in his opposition to legalizing abortion and allowing same-sex marriage.
The new president has proposed nationalizing the mining industry, including oil and gas extraction, if contracts with companies are not renegotiated satisfactorily, and overhauling the pension system to favor workers. He aims to ensure that the private sector benefits a majority of Peruvians and plans to boost state spending on agriculture and education.
Castillo has announced plans to “deactivate” the Constitutional Court and create a tribunal to which members are voted in by the public rather than by the legislature. He has also proposed a Constitutional Assembly to rewrite Peru’s constitution “with the color, scent and flavor of the people.”
Just under 50% of voters cast their ballots against Castillo in the second round, and he received 19% support in the first round. Free Peru has 37 of the 130 seats of the unicameral legislature, giving it just under 30% backing from lawmakers. Over half the seats are occupied by Fujimorists, neoliberals and conservatives. “Before he assumes power, Castillo needs to reach some agreements,” the Peruvian political analyst Gonzalo Banda said. “He cannot introduce reforms without the support of Congress.”
Pedro Castillo supporters work out during the campaign
Given the extreme partisanship in Washington and throughout the country it is a surprise that Congress is going to designate Juneteenth a Federal Holiday.
It is a moment for reflection and celebration that the American government, which permitted the enslavement of Black for decades, is recognizing the cruelty and injustice its Black citizens were forced to endure.
Associated Press 6.15.2021
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, or June 19th, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
The bill would lead to Juneteenth becoming the 12th federal holiday. It is expected to easily pass the House, which would send it to President Joe Biden for his signature.
Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word didn’t reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas. That was also about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the Southern states.Oakland, CA – Black cowgirl during George Floyd protest May 2020
“Making Juneteenth a federal holiday is a major step forward to recognize the wrongs of the past,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “But we must continue to work to ensure equal justice and fulfill the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and our Constitution.”
The Senate passed the bill under a unanimous consent agreement that expedites the process for considering legislation. It takes just one senator’s objection to block such agreements.
Red: the blood that unites all people of Black African ancestry, and shed for liberation; Black: for the people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the flag; Green: the abundant and vibrant natural wealth of Africa, the Motherland.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., had objected in the previous Congress to a bill to celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday because of the cost and lack of debate, he said. Johnson noted that he has supported resolutions recognizing the significance of Juneteenth, but he was concerned the new holiday would give federal employees another day off at a cost of about $600 million per year.
“While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter. Therefore, I do not intend to object,” Johnson said in a statement before Tuesday’s vote.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors. He tweeted Monday: “We have a long road towards racial justice in the United States and we cannot get there without acknowledging our nation’s original sin of slavery. It is long past time to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”
The vast majority of states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or have an official observance of the day, and most states hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington.
Under the legislation, the federal holiday would be known as Juneteenth National Independence Day.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s apology was trumped by the political catcalls between Board President Shamann Walton who represents the City’s rapidly gentrifying Hunters Point neighborhood and Mayor London Breed, born and raised in the Western Addition.
This is more than a dispute between two San Francisco neighborhoods involving the Mayor and the President of the Board of Supervisors. Pictured above in happier times.
It is the two most powerful politicians in San Francisco getting down to business and getting down. There is always tension between the legislative and executive bodies in this town. It is now more pronounced as the Board of Supervisors has a “progressive” majority while the Mayor is considered moderate by San Francisco standards.
One area of dispute between the branches of government is the attempted Recall of “progressive” District Attorney Chesa Boudin. At least seven of the 11 members of the Board have come out against the Recall effort. The Mayor’s office has been publicly silent while it is a fact that two women spearheading one of the Recall efforts are allies of the Mayor.
DA Chesa Boudin and Mayor London Breed
One of my favorite songs encapsulates San Francisco’s latest political cat fight. “The Thrill is Gone” by the late blues great B.B. King
Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 6.15.2021
Supervisor Aaron Peskin issued an emotional apology for his past behavior and expressed remorse for his conduct at Tuesday’s Board meeting, days after he announced plans to enter alcohol treatment.
Peskin’s behavior, which included aggressively berating a department head during last week’s Board meeting, exacerbated existing tensions between the board and the Mayor. During Tuesday’s meeting, Board President Shamann Walton and Mayor London Breed accused each other and their respective staffs of bullying, and called for more respect.
Walton said the board would support Peskin in his recovery.
Earlier on Tuesday, the mayor criticized the board for what she called mistreatment of her staff. She also said Walton “should manage this board appropriately and not be someone who’s also inflicting harm on city staff and other people who are coming forward to testify with the board.”
Walton responded during Tuesday’s meeting that several staff members and some of her department heads are the “true bullies.”
“This is the pot calling the kettle black,” Walton said. “Our Board meetings have never been more efficient and respectful, including when the mayor was president of the board.”
Lee's Perspective 