San Francisco, led by Supervisor Dean Preston a long time advocate for tenant rights, is moving to have evictions banned during the Coronavirus outbreak.

The Supervisor’s legislation appears to have wide spread support within City Hall.

This ultimate tenant protection could soon be a reality.

48 Hills – 3.12.2020

She also said she would work with Preston’s office on the directive and to requesting that the governor waive any state laws that could limit the directive, including restricting the City’s ability to enforce a moratorium on no fault or nonpayment of rent evictions.

Preston said he met with the mayor on Wednesday. “I’d like nothing more than to see the mayor or the governor ban evictions so we wouldn’t need to pursue legislation,” he said, but had some reservations. “I have to see what the scope of the directive is. We’re hoping it can be as strong as possible.”

The scope that Preston said he’s looking for is a ban on both evictions for nonpayment of rent and “no fault” evictions, including owner move ins, Ellis Act evictions, and evictions involving capital improvements.

His legislation would also ban evictions in private, public, and nonprofit housing. Most tenant legislation excludes public and nonprofit housing, such as permanent supportive housing, where more than 7,000 formerly homeless individuals live and are also subject to eviction. Preston said his legislation, which was also introduced at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, would include all types of housing.

Tenants who are evicted for nonpayment of rent would be required to notify and provide documentation to their landlord of an inability to pay. The legislation also would prohibit landlords from collecting late fees on late payments of rent. Tenants would still be expected to pay in full following the end of the state of emergency.

Preston’s office is in consultation with the city attorney to determine how quickly legislation can be passed, and he said the measure may take a month or two before implementation. However, if passed, the ordinance would apply to eviction notices starting the day it was introduced, March 10.

“As people lose income because of the coronavirus, many of them will be subject to evictions,” said Preston. “The danger now is that some of the bigger corporate landlords might use the fact that people have lower income as an opportunity to evict — for profit.”

At least one San Francisco landlord — GreenTree Property Management — has voluntarily instituted a moratorium on evictions for those experiencing financial hardship due to the virus.

https://48hills.org/2020/03/sf-heads-toward-eviction-moratorium/

Amongst all the horrific Coronavirus news and the obscene reaction by the American President, there is one piece of good news today.

Justice has been served. I hope. Chelsea Manning can now resume her life and, hopefully, will never be incarcerated again.

It took a suicide attempt and a Federal Judge’s Order who said her testimony is no longer needed to end her outrageous jailing.

What was Chelsea’s offense?  Having been jailed already for  years, Chelsea refused to testify before yet another Grand Jury in its inquisition into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and was imprisoned in May 2019.

Deutsche Welle 3.12.2020

A US federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of whistleblower Chelsea Manning from prison. Judge Anthony Trenga, in an order filed at a US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, said her testimony was no longer required in the grand jury investigation into WikiLeaks.

Read more: WikiLeaks and Julian Assange: The never-ending story

He also rejected a request by Manning to cancel fines imposed on her for refusing to testify. The total amount — in fines — stands at $256,000 (€229,000).

The former Army intelligence analyst has been behind bars since May 2019, but this isn’t the first time she has been imprisoned.

The US government has accused her of colluding with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to release classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Manning was sent to prison in 2010 and convicted of espionage in 2013. She received a 35-year prison term, before then-President Barack Obama commuted the sentence and ordered her release in 2017.

The order for Manning’s release comes a day after her legal team said she was recuperating under medical care after a failed suicide attempt.

https://www.dw.com/en/us-judge-orders-chelsea-mannings-release-from-prison/a-52749227

The report may be a bit apocalyptic.

Nonetheless, it indicates the total lack of trust that Americans and the world in general have in the current White House incumbent.

Coming on top of the National Basketball Association (NBA) cancelling its season and megastar Tom Hanks being afflicted with Coronavirus the situation is spiraling into foreign territory.

The Guardian 3.11.2020

Donald Trump’s first Oval Office address – that almost sacred altar for US presidents on prime time television – came in January 2019 amid a partial government shutdown and asserted that only a border wall can keep out dangerous illegal immigrants.

His second such address on Wednesday night was again couched in terms around the need to resist a foreign invasion that is someone else’s fault. The problem is that the coronavirus is already inside America and spreading.

And the message was delivered by a 73-year-old man with a sniffing habit who did not seem to be a glowing picture of health nor entirely at ease reading from a TelePrompter. His bold assertion last week – “I like this stuff. I really get it … Maybe I have a natural ability.” – seemed even more incredible than before.

On Wednesday he wore a blue suit, white shirt and blue patterned tie – not his favourite red. He also sported a stars and stripes pin and had hands his folded before him (he said nothing about the potential perils of shaking hands). His face looked undeniably orange. Behind him were framed photos, including portraits of his parents, and flags and gold curtains.

The president touted his own sweeping travel restrictions on China and, far from expressing sympathy and solidarity with allies, argued the European Union “failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hotspots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.”

Trump announced the US will bebanning travelers from many European countries to the US for the next 30 days with exemptions for Americans, permanent residents and family of US citizens who have undergone screenings and, mysteriously, the UK, despite it having a higher caseload than some other European countries. Could Brexit be the new TSA PreCheck?

The president then made an awful bungle. He said “these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval”. Such words could trigger global economic panic. Trump was forced to hastily clarify on Twitter: “… very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people not goods.”

He went on to talk of the pathogen as if it was a foreign army or terrorist network. “The virus will not have a chance against us,” he said. “No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States.”

And seen in the midst of an emergency, Trump could not resist some campaigning. “Because of the economic policies that we have put into place over the last three years, we have the greatest economy anywhere in the world by far,” he said.

“This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.”

Many observers found the address unreassuring and downright weird. Susan Glasser, a staff writer from the New Yorker, tweeted: “The militaristic, nationalistic language of Trump’s speech tonight is striking: a ‘foreign virus,’ keeping out China and Europe.”

David Litt, who wrote speeches for Obama, posted: “As a former presidential speechwriter, my careful rhetorical analysis is that he’s gonna get us all killed.”

Trump’s second Oval Office address was over in 10 minutes. Then a man off camera said: “We’re clear.” The president unbuttoned his jacket and exclaimed with relief: “OK!”

To millions of viewers, it was anything but.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/11/donald-trump-us-coronavirus-address

I always thought Trump would be brought down by an event totally beyond his control.

It’s happening.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are going down with him.

Vanity Fair 3.11.2020 – Gabriel Sherman

San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection (DBI) has for years been considered a department where relationships go a long way in getting permits approved.

Now the Mayor is calling for the ouster of the Director, Tom Hui. He has become enmeshed in the Federal and local probe involving City Hall.

Director Hui is just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is with the entrenched civil service building inspectors who run DBI. If San Francisco is really serious about getting to the root of the systemic problem a thorough house cleaning of Building Inspection management is in order.

Ousting Director Hui will make for good press but the barnacle like influence the building inspectors wield will continue unabated.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 3.10.2020

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is urging that Tom Hui, the chief of the city’s Department of Building Inspection, be removed after the city attorney’s office alleged Hui abused his official position. The city attorney’s allegations came out of an investigation into corruption launched after the arrest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.

Breed sent a letter to the president of the Building Inspection Commission, Angus McCarthy, on Tuesday, recommending the commission remove Hui. Only the commission has the power to fire the building inspection director, though the mayor appoints four of the commission’s seven members. The Board of Supervisors appoints the other three.

“While this recommendation is pending, I have placed Mr. Hui on paid administrative leave from his position,” Breed wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The Chronicle.

Hui’s annual city compensation, including salary and benefits, is $347,662. Hui, who joined Building Inspection in 1996, has been its director since 2013.

The department’s budget for the current fiscal year is $96.5 million, enough to fund around 269 full-time employees.

The city attorney’s office opened an investigation into corruption within city government following Nuru’s arrest on fraud charges in late January. The investigation has already yielded a flurry of subpoenas to construction firms, nonprofits and individuals suspected of playing roles in corruption schemes.

San Francisco City Attorney – Dennis Herrera

The city attorney’s office presented Breed with a lengthy memo Tuesday revealing the evidence they found tied to Hui. The memo, which was also reviewed by The Chronicle, indicated that Hui was initially cooperative with the investigation last month, but has since retained a criminal defense attorney. Whether he would continue to participate in the investigation was unclear, the memo said.

Breed’s letter to the Building Inspection Commission lays out that the investigation uncovered evidence that Hui “provided intentional preferential treatment and access to Walter Wong, a permit expediter who regularly conducts business with DBI.”

The city attorney’s memo also indicates that Hui and Wong corresponded for years on a variety of topics, including Building Inspection Department policy, suggesting a close relationship between the two men.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Mayor-Breed-looks-to-fire-SF-building-inspection-15120965.php

The stock markets are crashing, the Coronavirus is sweeping the planet and the American so-called President claims everything is fine.

There is more to life than stocks and virus.

The Guardian 3.9.2020

US Federal Court appeals panel in San Francisco reinstates 2016 judgment that found no proof 1971 song breached copyright of Taurus by Randy Wolfe.

A US appeals court has reinstated a ruling that British rockers Led Zeppelin did not steal part of their song Stairway to Heaven from another band.

The San Francisco 11-judge panel affirmed a 2016 judgment that found no proof the classic 1971 Zeppelin song breached the copyright of Taurus, written by Randy Wolfe from a Los Angeles band called Spirit.

In 2018 that ruling was overturned by a three-judge panel in San Francisco, which said certain instructions to the district court jury had been “erroneous and prejudicial”, and failed to clarify that the arrangement of elements in the public domain could be considered original.

Led Zeppelin took the case to a larger panel whose decision on Monday, based on the 1909 Copyright Act, put the original ruling back in place.

Stairway to Heaven is estimated to have grossed $3.4m during the five-year period that was at issue in the earlier civil trial.

The Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page – who was sued along with the group’s singer Robert Plant and another surviving bandmate, John Paul Jones – testified in 2016 that the chord sequence in question had “been around forever”.

But Wolfe’s trustee, Michael Skidmore, said the songs had similar chord progressions and Page may have written Stairway to Heaven after hearing Taurus while Led Zeppelin and Spirit toured together.

“Obviously the court got it wrong,” said the trustee’s lawyer, Francis Malofiy. “This is a big loss for creators, those who copyright laws are meant to protect.” Malofiy said he may appeal to the US supreme court.

Lawyers for Led Zeppelin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/10/led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven-not-partly-stolen-court-affirms

Amy Klobuchar is the logical choice for Joe Biden should he become the Democrats candidate.  First and foremost, a woman will greatly enhance the electability of Biden.

Senator Klobuchar is smart, competent, politically savvy and someone who is qualified to be a Chief Executive.

Independent – UK 3.8.2020

Amy Klobuchar had a slip of tongue when speaking to a crowd of supporters, suggesting she might be Joe Biden‘s pick for vice president. 

The Minnesota senator was speaking at a campaign rally for Mr Biden on Saturday in Michigan when she sparked the rumours.

“I could not think of a better way to end my candidacy, as hard as it was to do with our beloved staff and everyone else, than to join the tick–” she’s heard saying to the crowd. 

People in the Grand Rapids crowd thought the same thing, and they started cheering and chanting the senator’s name. 

Ms Klobuchar then corrected herself by saying she was going to say “terrific” not “ticket”.

“Guys, I was going to say … ,” she said over chants of her name, “than to join the terrific, the terrific, terrific campaign of Joe Biden.”

Ahead of Super Tuesday, the senator dropped out of the race to earn the Democratic nomination and endorsed the vice president shortly after. Her endorsement helped boost him in the polls and come away as the frontrunner ahead of Bernie Sanders.

Mr Biden has not revealed who he will select to be his running mate, but Ms Klobuchar’s name has been tossed around as a potential option for him. Senator Kamala Harris‘ name has also been floated around after she dropped out of the race. She endorsed his run in a statement on Sunday morning.

Last fall, the vice president mentioned several possibilities, including former Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. But whether he’s asked anyone to officially join his ticket remains unknown.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/amy-klobuchar-joe-biden-vp-vice-president-ticket-michigan-rally-a9385356.html

The post-mortems on Elizabeth Warren’s withdrawal as a Presidential candidate continue to pour in.

It is sad but true but the most incisive reporting about Senator Warren’s run for the Presidency are being published when she is no longer in the race.

Excerpted from The Guardian 3.7.2020 –  Moira Donegan

She faced the impossible: be competent but not condescending, cheery but not pandering, maternal but not frumpy, smart but not haughty

A woman cannot be elected president.

If that statement was not true when Elizabeth Warren announced her intent to run, on New Years Eve 2018, it has become true now. With her exit from the race, the last serious female presidential candidate has now dropped out, and what was once a historically diverse field has narrowed to two very old white men, the former vice-president Joe Biden, 77, and the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, 78. The next president, it is now assured, will be a man. Again.

The message to the children was that women can do anything, that when they grow up their talents won’t be ignored, their intelligence won’t be mocked, their horizons won’t be narrowed because of their sex.

But if anything, Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy proved that this is not true. There is no way for a woman to be enough to overcome misogyny – there is no amount of smart she can be, there is no amount of good she can be, there is no point at which she will be so overpoweringly hardworking and so obviously qualified that people who do not want women to have positions of prominence and authority will have to give her one anyway. What happened to Elizabeth Warren is proof that women’s lives are still constrained and narrowed by sexism, that women’s talents and ambitions still matter less than men’s.

I don’t think that Elizabeth Warren lied very much during this campaign. I don’t think she lied about her principles, or her policy agenda, or about Bernie Sanders. If she ever lied, it was to those little girls.

All of this could have been avoided if the media and the electorate were less blinded by cynicism, sexism and fear and more willing to see Warren for who she was – the most capable, competent and kindest candidate in the race.

As a woman, the Massachusetts senator always faced an uphill battle of double standards and misogynist resentment. She had to be competent but not condescending, cheery but not pandering, maternal but not frumpy, smart but not haughty. As she rose in the polls last summer and fall, she came under the kind of scrutiny that male frontrunners are not subjected to, and faced skepticism about her claims and character that male candidates do not face.

This is the fate of a lot of women who come close to attaining power, and empirical data backs up the phenomenon: writing in the Washington Post, the Cornell philosopher Kate Manne cited a 2010 Harvard study that found that women are viewed more negatively simply by seeking office. “Voters view male and female politicians as equally power-seeking, but respond to them quite differently,” Manne writes. “Men who seek power were viewed as stronger and tougher, while power-seeking women provoked feelings of disgust and contempt.”

As a result, all of Warren’s virtues were recast as vices in the public eye. Her impressive credentials and superlative intellect became out-of-touch elitism. Her joyousness and enthusiasm were cast as somehow both insincerely pandering and cringingly over-earnest. This kind of transformation of neutral or positive character traits into negative ones is not something that happens to men in similar positions. Sanders can aestheticize his practiced cantankerousness for laughs and sympathy without anyone asking if its a put-on. Biden can use slang from the 1930s without anyone ever questioning whether the ostentatious folksiness of his “no malarkey” messaging might be just a tad affected. But for Warren, every smile was interpreted as a sign of concealed hatred, of secret, nefarious motives.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/07/elizabeth-warren-campaign-sexism

Thousands of Germans take to the streets to voice in no uncertain terms their disgust and sense of apprehension at the rise of Neo-Nazi sentiment in Germany.

Similiar street action needs to happen in America in the aftermath of a Nazi sympathizer displaying the Swastika at a Bernie Sanders campaign event.

The only way to stop the pestilience of Neo-Nazism is to stamp it out.

Deutsche Welle 3.6.2020

Germany is experiencing a steady increase in far-right, racist and anti-Semitic hate crimes. At least 7,500 people in Munich gathered to protest against the trend, pointing a finger at far-right Alternative for Germany.

More than 7,500 people gathered in Munich on Friday to rally against far-right terror, racism, anti-Semitism. The protest was also angled against the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The demonstration was organized in light of the rise of far-right attacks in Germany in recent months, such as in Hanau.

Organizers had expected at least 5,000 participants, and police estimate over 7,500 attended.

“Hate, agitation and anti-Semitism have no place here,” wrote Bavarian Premier Marcus Söder on Twitter, after giving a speech at the demonstration.

“We need to be certain that the poison does not trickle down into the groundwater of our democracy,” he said at the rally, according to the dpa news agency, echoing words used by German Chancellor Angela Merkelafter the Hanau attack.

AfD ‘want to drag Germany back to the 1930s’

Söder also strongly criticized the AfD for their part in the rise of the far-right in Germany, saying that they wanted to drag Germany back to the 1930s, according to Bavarian broadcaster BR.

Protesters brandished signs with slogans like “colorful not brown” and “grandmothers against the right.” The Left party and the Greens were also among the protesters.

A small group of critics of the demonstration tried to disturb Söder’s speech.

The AfD has 22 seats in Bavaria’s state parliament in Munich, a part of Germany known for its conservative values. The AfD has caused controversy in the state of Thuringia, with political parties floundering over their promises not to cooperate with them on any level.

America is now living in its own Weimar (1918-1933) Republic which led to the ascension of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany and the Holocaust which followed.

The political atmosphere in America is very dangerous right now and politics have moved way beyond the normal political discourse.

Bernie Sanders needs protection of the Secret Service to ensure his safety to the greatest extent possible.

The Times of Israel 3.6.2020

‘It is horrific. It is beyond disgusting that, in the United States of America, there are people who would’ display Nazi symbols, Sanders says.

A suspected white nationalist unfurled a nazi flag at a Bernie Sanders rally in Arizona late Thursday, before it was pulled down by other members of the crowd and he was thrown out of the building by security.

In video from the scene, the crowd can be seen cheering as Sanders takes the stage. The man then unfurls the swastika banner. Jeers erupt as those around him notice the Nazi flag and rip it down. Security officers then escorted him out the building.

One attendee at the rally told Buzzfeed that the man shouted anti-Jewish slurs at Sanders and gave the Nazi salute.

Apparently, Sanders did not see the flag in real time. But his spokesman, Mike Casca, told Buzzfeed that: “The senator is aware of the flag with the swastika on it and is disturbed by it.”