SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.23.2024

Americans are too blissfully lazy and somnolent.

Ignoring the threat of the incipient fascism in America and the real possibility its standard bearer Trump could be president, again.

It’s a sad day when the most voluble outspoken critics of Trump come from the right wing of the American political spectrum. Nikki Haley and Liz Cheney.

In any civilized country, except America, this fascist Trump would be forever banned from being allowed to even visit the White House. Let alone preside over it.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 2.23.2024

Catholic bishops meeting in the city of Augsburg this week strongly condemned the rise of ethnic nationalism and right-wing extremism in German society.

“Right-wing extremist parties and those that run rampant on the fringes of this ideology can therefore not be a place of political activity for Christians and are also not electable,” they said in a statement.

On this point, the bishops made an explicit reference to the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). They said the party’s beliefs are “incompatible with the Christian image of God and humankind.”

The statement is highly unusual because for the past 25 years, the Catholic bishops have been reluctant to offer any assessments of political parties.

The head of the Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, explained that the more than 60 bishops deliberated at length over making a statement, but agreed it was necessary. He also pointed out that the declaration had been adopted unanimously.

“After several spurts of radicalization,” the statement reads, “the AfD is now dominated by a nationalistic attitude.” It goes on to point out that the AfD oscillates between genuine right-wing extremism, which the domestic intelligence agency has documented in some regional branches and in the party’s youth organization, and less radical right-wing populism.

The statement specifically denounces hostility toward refugees, migrants and Muslims, and “to an increasing extent” Jews.

The bishops indicated that they will hold full-time church employees and volunteers to account. “Moreover, the circulation of right-wing extremist slogans — which includes racism and antisemitism in particular — is incompatible with full-time or volunteer service in the Church.”

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-catholic-church-speaks-out-against-far-right/a-68352341

Top photo: German Christians have been speaking out against the far right using the slogan ‘our cross has no hooks’ (in reference to the swastika Nazi symbol)

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.22.2024

My reliable political source tells me politically savvy, hard working and blunt spoken Supervisor Aaron Peskin will enter the November 2024 San Francisco mayoral race shortly after the March 5th primary voting.

San Francisco progressives have been reeling since the 2022 recalls of District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three members of the School Board.

Help is on the way for beleaguered progressives. Now we have a genuine mayoral race in 2024.

This week Peskin, who has represented the North Beach/Chinatown District 3 for over 16 years, confirmed what has widely been rumored during a dinner with close allies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Peskin

With the Mayor being chosen by ranked choice, “Progressive” Peskin will undoubtedly have a strong vote in the first round. He needs to convince enough voters not scared off by the attack ads which will blast his record to vote for him as their second choice. He is a veteran someone who knows how City Hall works and gets things done.

Excerpted from San Francisco Standard 1.26.2024

The president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has a message for progressive supporters hoping he’ll run for mayor in November: hard pass.

“I’m not afraid of running,” said Aaron Peskin in an interview on Thursday. “I’m not afraid of losing. I’m afraid of winning.”

Aaron knows the four candidates in the race are law and order moderate/conservatives feeding at the trough of GrowSF, Garry Tan and assorted venture capitalists trying to takeover San Francisco.

Top photo: Aaron Peskin points the way to room 200 in City Hall.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.20.2024

Words cannot describe the revulsion I feel watching the video of the 33 year old Russian/American ballerina being blindfolded, handcuffed and carted off to jail by Putin’s thugs.

https://t.me/rian_ru/232202

Excerpted from Moscow Times 2.20.2024

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested a U.S.-Russian woman suspected of collecting money for the Ukrainian military, the law enforcement agency’s press service announced Tuesday. 

The independent news website Mediazona and legal rights group Perviy Otdel identified the woman as Ksenia Karelina, who had previously written on social media that she obtained U.S. citizenship in late 2021 after marrying an American man.

Ksenia Karelina – When will she smile, again?

Russian authorities placed the U.S.-Russian woman in pre-trial detention, where she faces between 12 and 20 years of imprisonment if found guilty of high treason.

Video shared by state-run news agencies showed FSB agents escorting a handcuffed and blindfolded woman out of an apartment building and later into a courtroom where she was placed inside a glass defendant’s cage.

The arrest of the “33-year-old resident of Los Angeles” took place in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, over 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow. 

The FSB said the unidentified woman is accused of “proactively collecting funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“In addition, the citizen in question repeatedly took part in public actions in support of the Kyiv regime while in the United States,” the law enforcement agency added.

According to Perviy Otdel, Karelina donated $51.80 to a Ukrainian human rights non-profit from her American bank account on the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The Moscow Times could not independently verify either of the two reports.

Top photo: Jailed Russian/American ballerina Ksenia Karelina

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/02/20/russia-arrests-us-russian-woman-accused-of-treason-a84158

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.20.2024

The United States cannot call itself a beacon of human rights and press freedom as it pursues the extradition of Julian Assange from Britain.

Julian Assange shone a light on American perfidy in its overseas military intervention and catastrophic meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Julian Assange made public, for all the world to see, the real militaristic bent of American foreign policy. It has never been about human rights and freedom. American policy is to protect American hegemony.

Excerpted from The Guardian 2.20.2024

Julian Assange faces the risk of a “flagrant denial of justice” if tried in the US, his lawyers have told a permission to appeal hearing in London, which could result in the WikiLeaks founder being extradited within days if unsuccessful.

Assange, who published thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, could be jailed for up to 175 years – “a grossly disproportionate punishment” – if convicted in the US, the high court heard on Tuesday.

Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, also argued that his client could be targeted by US state agencies for “extra-legal attack elimination” if he was extradited, particularly given “the real possibility of a return of a [Donald] Trump administration”.

Assange’s lawyers are seeking a full appeal hearing. If the two judges deny permission, all challenges in the UK courts will have been exhausted, leaving an intervention by the European court of human rights (ECHR) as Assange’s only hope to avoid extradition to the US.

Outside the court, scores of his supporters held placards and chanted, demanding his release. The WikiLeaks founder was granted permission to attend the two-day hearing but Fitzgerald said Assange was unwell.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/20/julian-assange-risks-flagrant-denial-of-justice-if-tried-in-us-london-court-told

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.18.2024

Convicted financial fraudster and soon to be convicted criminal felon. Donald Trump has uttered not a word about the mysterious death of Russian opposition leader, now martyr, Aleksei Navalny in a Russian prison.

Aleksei Navalny in death. Larger than life.

Nor has shyster con man Trump said anything about Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on Russians. Citizens courageous enough to speak out and protest Navalny’s death in a Russian Siberian gulag.

Why? Thug Putin is Trump’s kind of guy. Trump would like to treat Americans exercising their right to protest in the same vicious manner.

Excerpted from The The New York Times 2.18.2024

A bishop who planned a public prayer for the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was detained as he left his house. Two men were arrested for having a photograph of Mr. Navalny in a backpack.

A man who lay flowers at a memorial said he was beaten by police officers for the small act of remembrance.

Someone else placed a copy of Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” at the Solovetsky Stone , while others hung chains of paper cranes, candles, and a photo of Mr. Navalny smiling with fellow opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015 in the shadow of the Kremlin.

Lena, who gave only her first name for fear of reprisal, started to cry. “They are scared of Navalny in jail,” she said, “they are scared of dead Navalny, they are scared of the people who bring flowers here to the Solovetsky stone.”

As thousands of Russians across the country tried to give voice to their grief for Mr. Navalny, who died in a remote Arctic penal colony on Friday, Russian police officers cracked down, temporarily detaining hundreds and placing more than two dozen in jail.

Until Mr. Navalny’s death at the age of 47, many observers had believed that the Kremlin would limit repression until after presidential elections in mid-March, when President Vladimir V. Putin is all but assured a fifth term. But many now fear that the arrests portend a broader crackdown.

Top photo: Police officers detained people who were paying tribute to Mr. Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone in St. Petersburg on Saturday. Credit…Associated Press

PLANNING COMMISSION – CITY HALL SAN FRANCISCO 2.15.2024

Lee Heidhues 2.17.2024

• MYOPIA – lack of imagination, foresight or intellectual insight.

After only a cursory hearing and without any detailed probing of the applicants or neighborhood opponents arguments the San Francisco Planning Commission waved through a building project doubling the height of a single family home. A decision only favorable to the self-centered property owners. It can only be described for what it is. LAND USE GLUTTONY.

The day after the Planning Commission approved this project I called the Planner, David Winslow. I told him the action the Commission took was “disgraceful in general and you in particular were disgraceful.“

David responded, “I’m glad you got it off your chest.”

MY PRESENTATION TO THE SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING DEPARTMENT IN OPPOSITION TO THE MONSTER BUILDING PROJECT AROUND THE CORNER FROM THE HOUSE WE HAVE OWNED AND LIVED IN SINCE 1984.

“With all due respect to Jeremy Paul and the property owners at 4820 Anza Street this project is all about LAND USE GLUTTONY and playing the Zoning Code to the maximum extent possible. This project (doubling the size of the existing building) should be rejected out of hand.

My name is Lee Heidhues,. My wife and I have lived around the corner 40 years where we raised our family.

I would simply ask you, Planning Commissioners, if you lived next door to this project “How would you feel?”

I have done a Public Records Request. The Commission asked this Project be scaled back in late 2021. Three months later the property owners said NO. A position they still maintain today.

A brief walk down Anza Street between 39th and 40th Avenues makes obvious these are all single family homes. A garage and one floor above. This project is totally out of scope with the neighboring single family homes. The owners at 4820 Anza Street know it. Their hired gun Jeremy Paul knows it.

This project should be rejected and sent back to the property owners.”

TOP PHOTO – LAND USE GLUTTONY

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.14.2024

Someone had to take a walk out the door following the 49ers shocking loss at the Super Bowl this past Sunday in Las Vegas.

For those who may have forgotten or weren’t paying attention the 49ers lost in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs, 25.22.

All season the 49ers defensive coach Steve Wilks had received criticism for some of his play calling. After the 49ers were defeated in the most depressing fashion. In overtime. After leading much of the game and taking the lead in overtime. Someone had to go. Three days later it was Steve Wilks.

Excerpted from The Athletic – Steve Kawakami – 2.14.2024

49ers’ scapegoat?

Steve Wilks’ firing is a bad look. The mistake was hiring an ill-fitting defensive coordinator.

A year ago, Kyle Shanahan gave Steve Wilks a great opportunity that was also mostly unfair to him at the very same time. Both things. Built upon each other.

A great job because it was difficult enough that anyone who succeeded would be heralded as a great defensive mind and possibly delivered a head-coaching job at the next convenient moment. Difficult because it was loaded with great players, great resources, great responsibility and the greatest expectations.

Which is why it’s logical to say that Shanahan’s decision to fire Wilks as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator on Wednesday was two partially contradictory things at the same time — an extremely awkward moment of very public Super Bowl-loss scapegoating and also the logical conclusion of a failed year-long experiment.

It could’ve worked, if Wilks developed more chemistry with Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and the rest of the defense in the short time he had, but he didn’t. Wilks, who came up as a defensive secondary coach, was a bit more reserved and much more focused on the defensive backfield than they’re used to. And it became clearer every week that the 49ers’ top defensive players just didn’t fully believe in their DC.

It could’ve worked if Shanahan was willing to adjust some more, but he wasn’t.

It could’ve worked if the 49ers’ defense was a little more focused and a lot less confused during the playoffs. But those distracted moments kept piling up through the Green Bay and Detroit games and then all the way into the last minutes against the Chiefs, when Shanahan at one point called timeout to get the 49ers out of a defensive call he hated and then another when linebacker Oren Burks pinballed around the formation, looking anxiously toward the sideline, before a critical third-down snap trying to figure out where he was supposed to line up. Patrick Mahomes quickly completed a pass for a first down on that play, of course.

And then, in his postgame session, Bosa flatly said that the defense was not prepared well enough to defend Mahomes running the ball on two back-breaking plays. Once Bosa said this, it was pretty clear that Wilks’ status was in serious jeopardy.

Three days later, he was out of a job.

https://theathletic.com/5276062/2024/02/14/steve-wilks-fired-49ers-kawakami

SAN FRANCISCO 2.13.2024

Car free Market Street was not suffering prior to the Pandemic. It was a healthy oasis in car centric San Francisco. And still is today. But, not if Mayoral wannabe Mark Farrell has his way.

Mayoral wannabe Mark Farrell is engaging in a total distortion when he claims without evidence this car free oasis is the source of the downtown slump.

Wealthy businessman Mark Farrell. The Pacific Heights guy. Former Supervisor and one time six month interim Mayor wants the job, again.

What’s the lede on his law and order hooray for big business campaign?

Bring climate killing cars back to San Francisco’s premier thoroughfare. Market Street.

A wide street which City Hall, in a moment of enlightenment and concern for pedestrians and cyclists, banned private vehicles in January 2020.

Now, here comes Mark, who rather than pushing for cars on Market Street, should get out of his car and get some exercise on Market Street.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 2.13.2024

 He’d (Mark Farrell) like to let private cars once again drive on Market Street downtown, which would reverse a ban put in place four years ago. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/mayor-breed-mark-farrell-election-18659461.php

Top photo: Mark Farrell points the finger at car free Market Street as being responsible for the non-existent economic Doom Loop.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.12.2024

Quote of the Day

Nikki has finally taken the gloves off and fired one (a rhetorical golf ball) right into Donald Trump’ golf cart.

I am no fan of Nikki Haley. But I must give her credit for this Zinger.

Excerpted from The New York Times 2.12.2024

“The most harm he’s (Donald Trump) ever come across is whether a golf ball hits him on a golf cart, and you’re going to go and mock our men and women in the military?” Haley said. “I don’t care what party you’re in, that’s not OK.”

Top photo: Donald Trump drives his golf cart on the links. He needs to be walking the golf course and lose some of that excess baggage.

SAN FRANCISCO – 2.12.2024

UPDATE – The Athletic writes some 49ers didn’t know the overtime rules.

https://theathletic.com/5269985/2024/02/12/49ers-super-bowl-overtime-rules

Some San Francisco 49ers players said following the team’s Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that they were unaware of the overtime rules that allowed for both teams to possess the ball.

Lee Heidhues 2.11.2024

As BB King sang, The Thrill is Gone. This time for the San Francisco 49ers. Shocked in Vegas.

The 49ers bring something akin to heartbreak for their fans. During the past several seasons they’ve come oh so close. Two Super Bowl appearances and four times in the NFC championship game.

Yet they can’t make the final leap.

The 49ers Super Bowl hopes have been dashed once again. By the Kansas City Chiefs.

This time in Las Vegas. In overtime no less. Only the second overtime in Super Bowl history. The score was 25-22.

The media and many fans will blame kicker Jake Moody who missed an extra point. Which might have made the difference in regulation time. But, having said that, Jake also made three field goals. Two of which were over 50 yards. 

The 49ers in regulation time made long drives and had to settle for field goals. Likewise in overtime. Had the 49ers made one more first down just over two minutes remaining in regulation time they could have run down the clock. Attempted a field goal and probably won the Super Bowl in regulation time.

It was not to be.

I turned off my App when the game started at 3:30PM. Including a g’zillion commercials, a long halftime show and overtime the game ended disastrously for the 49er faithful at 8:00PM.

Of course there have been some glory moments in 49er history. Five Super Bowls. I attended the Super Bowl in 1985 at Stanford Stadium when the Niners, led by Joe Montana, scored three TDs in the 2nd quarter and demolished the Miami Dolphins 38-16.

I was at The Catch game in January 1982 when Dwight Clark broke the Dallas Cowboys heart and sent the Niners to their first Super Bowl.

Sadly for much of the past decades there has been too much frustration and heartbreak. I think of more than 10 years ago when Richard Sherman intercepted Colin Kapernick’s pass in the end zone in the final seconds. Sending archrival Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl. I was so upset I retreated to my downstairs bathroom and furiously scrubbed out the bathtub.

In 2024 I just unhappily and disgustedly exited the kitchen quietly. Came downstairs and folded my clean wash.

I must ask myself why the 49ers have had such a hold on me. I went to my first game at Kezar Stadium when I was nine years old. A year later I witnessed my first heartbreak when the Niners lost to Detroit in a playoff game 27-31. after leading 27-7 in the third quarter.

I possessed season tickets for two years when I was in high school. A season ticket for seven games was only $31.50. In adulthood I attended several games at Candlestick Park. So, as I look back on my life I can glance backwards and remember it all.

Kansas City is definitely excellent. Their quarterback Patrick Mahomes is top notch. The coach Andy Reid, early in his career, coach at San Francisco State University in the 1980’s.

In 2026 the Super Bowl will be played at Levi’s Stadium. So, if the Niners make it in 2026 the game will be home field advantage for the locals.

Top photo: Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes, 15, and wide receiver Montrell Washington, 12, as the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers 25 to 22 in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV, on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024.Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle