SAN FRANCISCO – SUTRO HEIGHTS PARK
Lee Heidhues 1.26.2024
When I sent this week’s earlier blog: https://leesperspective.com/2024/01/24/are-the-feds-about-to-ruin-sutro-heights-park-close-by-the-pacific/ Are the Feds about to Ruin Sutro Heights Park Close by the Pacific my good friend Charly wrote back, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”
The last two days I have made my way around the work site and documented what is happening.
Judge for yourself.
SAN FRANCISCO – SUTRO HEIGHTS PARK
Lee Heidhues -1.24.2024
It was a rainy morning in Sutro Heights Park. The historic landmark at the northwest corner of San Francisco. Part of the Federal Golden Gate Recreation Area which stretches from San Francisco all the way north across the bay deep into Marin County to the north.
I came upon the sign posted on the pathway announcing that a major renovation project is soon to begin. Most distressing is Number 3-VIEWSHED which will “Selectively prune and/or remove trees to restore or maintain historic views of Ocean Beach.” I walk by this spot on an almost daily basis. There is absolutely no need to touch this spot. It is beautiful in its current status.
The already small tree canopy in San Francisco is dwindling. The Feds should not be contributing to the diminution of a declining environmental asset.
Sutro Heights Park with its beautiful canopy of trees is an urban treasure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutro_Heights_Park
The gardeners who spend their time maintaining the massive Golden Gate Recreation Area (GGNRA) could make better use of their time and the taxpayers dollars.
Top Photo: A Sutro Heights Park Viewshed regular casts a skeptical eye on the changes about to disrupt a native resident’s life.
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.24.2024
Liz received a very kind message in today’s mail from The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco “Thank you for supporting the Fine Arts Museums.”
Ironically this positive message from the Fine Arts Museums, to which Liz has been a member for well over a decade, came on the same day the SF Chronicle published a letter decrying JFK Promenade. The car free oasis in Golden Gate Park.
A political brawl for which Liz and I were at the front lines battling for its permanent status. A long sought goal which we could only have dreamed about until it actually happened. When the voters overwhelmingly approved JFK Promenade in November 2022 despite fierce opposition led by Supervisor Connie Chan, entitled motorists and certain advocacy groups. Funded by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to the tune of nearly 1M.
I wrote a letter to the editor of the Chronicle expressing my dismay. The Chronicle is unwittingly relitigating a legal and political battle which has ended. Hopefully my letter is published. Here it is.
My wife and I are seniors. In response to Carl Nolte, Mr. Cardoza’s letter complaining about JFK Promenade is unrepresentative of many seniors. The only “difficult option” confronting some seniors is that they may have to walk a small distance. There is an 800 space parking garage underneath the DeYoung Museum in the “center of the park.” There is a free shuttle service on JFK Promenade. The unfounded contention that 90 percent of those using JFK Promenade are under age 50 is unsupported with any statistics. We advocated vigorously for the creation of this car free oasis. Many seniors and people with disabilities worked to see JFK Promenade become a reality. Proposition J was approved by the voters with a 63 percent majority. Overcoming a nearly 1M campaign to defeat it. My wife and I cycle regularly on JFK Promenade. It is hardly “underutilized” on weekdays. At all times, weekdays and weekends, we see seniors and mobility impaired people enjoying JFK Promenade. It is one place in San Francisco where we can escape the noise and pollution caused by motorists and their vehicles.
Here is the letter to the editor which drew my ire.
Top photo: Liz holding her homemade “GRANNY LOVES CAR FREE JFK” sign at the May 7, 2022 celebration for JFK Promenade after Mayor Breed signed legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors making the car free oasis permanent. Little did we know at the time opponents were already preparing a ballot measure to bring back cars. The People United Will Never be Defeated. The Board of Supervisors put JFK Promenade on the November 2022 ballot as Proposition J. The well funded attempt by the De Young Museum to defeat Proposition J was crushed. Proposition J got a 63 percent YES vote.
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.23.2024
Israel continues to destroy the infrastructure of Gaza as it continues its campaign against the children, women and men of Palestine.
Over 25,000 have been killed so far by the American supplied Israeli Defense Forces.
Attached is a clip of Associated Press reporter Matt Lee putting the tough questions to a State Department spokesperson. Who completely evades and dissembles. Regarding the Israeli destruction of Gaza University.
Excerpted from Al Jazeera 1.23.2024
“They fell in battle near the border fence, during a defence operation in the buffer zone between the Israeli communities and Gaza. This is a task whose entire purpose is to create the security conditions for the safe return of [Israeli] residents to their homes,” said Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi.
There is ample footage online of Israeli soldiers blowing up buildings in Gaza in apparent controlled demolitions.
If Israel is trying to raze Palestinian neighbourhoods in vacant areas of Gaza in the name of safety, the effort would defy US policy and may be in violation of international law.
Washington says it opposes the permanent displacement of Palestinians as well as any “reduction in the territory of Gaza”.
Moreover, the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits “any destruction” of property by the occupying power except when it’s deemed “absolutely necessary by military operations”.
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.22.2024
Last week one of Donald Trumps’ lawyers bailed on his client.
Now we have been enlightened as to why Joe Tacopina may have decided he’s representing a Loser. And doesn’t want to be sitting next to Trump in the courtroom when he goes down.
Excerpted from The Hill 1.24.2024
When pressed in an interview with Al Sharpton if it is possible Trump could end up convicted in one of his criminal cases, Joe Tacopina said, “Oh, is it possible? Absolutely.“
Joe Tacopina, one of former President Trump’s New York trial lawyers, offered an unfavorable prediction for his former client’s ongoing legal battles and contended it is “absolutely possible” Trump will be convicted in one of his federal criminal cases.
In an interview with MSNBC’s the Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday, Tacopina called some of Trump’s federal cases “serious” and “not to be taken lightly.”
The former president faces 91 felony counts across four federal and state indictments. This includes 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York City in connection with alleged hush payments to cover up an alleged affair.
Tacopina previously represented Trump in the hush money case, along with his appeal of a sexual battery civil lawsuit brought by longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, but confirmed earlier this month he would withdraw from both cases.
“You have a jury of 12 who’s going to ultimately decide this,” Tacopina continued. “Jack Smith is a federal prosecutor who I knew from his days in Brooklyn. … They’re serious prosecutors, and these are federal cases and you have a jury here.”
Trump faces four felony counts in Washington, D.C., over allegations he was involved in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and stood at the center of a campaign to block the certification of votes for President Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a follow-up question, Sharpton asked Tacopina to clarify if he believed they are “good cases” and “not just politics.”
“Look, do I think there’s a political bent to some of this, some of the way this was gone about? Yes, I do,” Tacopina responded. “Do I think these cases are invalid cases? Look, the grand jury voted to indict, and he’s going to have to face a jury in Washington, D.C.”
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.21.2024
There will be plenty of ink spilt and sports talk in the coming week about Jared Goff. The Detroit Lions quarterback who will make a big time return on the national stage to his native territory
Jared will be making a homecoming. Leading his Lions to battle the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Trying to best the favored Niners. The team he grew up following. His hero, according to media reports, 49er Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Number 16. The number worn today by Jared Goff.
Two number 16 on the gridiron –
Jared Goff and Joe Montana
Jared was born in Marin County. Attended Marin Catholic HS in Greenbrae.
Played two years at UC Berkeley before turning pro in 2016. First with the Los Angeles Rams. The last three seasons with the Detroit Lions.
The last time Detroit won a championship was 1957. Back then there were only 12 teams in the National Football League. That year the 49ers were instrumental in the Detroit march to the championship. That season the Niners and Lions ended the season with identical 8-4 records. There was a playoff game at the old Kezar Stadium at eastern edge of Golden Gate Park. Before 60,000 fans in the rickety arena the Niners led 27-7 early in the third quarter. Improbably, the Lions roared back and beat San Francisco 27-31.
I was at Kezar Stadium with my step-father and remember the 49ers epic collapse to this day.
The following week the Lions devoured the Cleveland Browns 59-14. That win in Kezar Stadium was the last time the Detroit Lions have won a playoff game on the road.
https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/1957-playoff-game/
Jared Goff looks to change all that next Sunday.
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.20.2024
The Israelis have killed nearly 25,000 Palestinian children, women and men since its military began its retaliatory onslaught in Gaza last October. In retaliation for the brutal Hamas attack in Israel which killed 1200 people on October 7.
This week the Palestine national football team played its first match at the Asian Cup games in Qatar. The players received a joyous welcome and overwhelming support.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 1.17.2024
Palestine have never won an Asian Cup match, but the usual laser focus of professional athletes is impossible for players like Mohammed Saleh. The defender told news agency AFP that he had not heard from his family for days.
“They are living in a tent on open land… May God help them,” he said after the match, explaining that his home in Gaza City had been destroyed and his family constantly had to relocate during over 100 days of fighting in the Palestinian territory.
Shortly before the tournament kicked off, the defender was told that his uncle, his aunt and their children had been killed in the conflict. “We play football for them… for Gaza… for our cause,” he added.
Palestine men’s national football team coach Makram Daboub admitted it had been difficult to control his players’ emotions for their opening game at the Asian Cup, a match that coincided with the 100th day of the Israel-Hamas war.
Captain Musab Al-Battat took to the stage for the players’ oath and Palestinian music at the beginning and end of the opening ceremony, while shouts of “free Palestine” were heard during the Iran match.
“In the previous game the focus at the start was not what we intended,” Daboub said on Wednesday ahead of the country’s second group-stage game vs. the United Arab Emirates.
“No coach would want the scenario we had against Iran, but the game against UAE is different because we have the same chances and it is important for us to get the three points.”
In purely sporting terms, Tamer Seyam’s strike in the 4-1 loss was a mere consolation, but Palestine’s first goal of the Asian Cup was greeted with a huge roar from the stands.
Palestine started their Asian Cup with their domestic league suspended amid the war in Gaza and the support for them was clear from the off in Qatar.
In addition, fans of a number of nationalities in Qatar came dressed in Palestine shirts or draped in its flag and keffiyehs.
https://www.dw.com/en/asian-cup-emotion-high-for-palestine-football-team/a-67997968
Top photo: Palestine team on the pitch in Qatar
SAN FRANCISCO DE YOUNG MUSEUM
Liz and Lee Heidhues – photos and text -1.18.2024
Fashioning San Francisco – A Century of Style had its members preview today. On display are the finery worn by the aristocracy of San Francisco during the past 100 years.
Liz was born in San Francisco. Both of us were raised in neighborhoods close by the homes of the women who wore these gowns and ensembles. A Century of Style is a fashion show only a genuine San Francisco native can truly appreciate.
Liz has always been interested in fashion. She designed and sewed her own clothing. And to this day has her Bernina sewing machine.
An influence on my life was my grandmother Mimi. A genuine fashion plate. She subscribed to VOGUE Magazine. A periodical I occasionally thumbed through as a boy.
I worked for Levi Strauss & Co. in the international division over 10 years. While the Levi’s brand is not on display at the Fashioning San Francisco it reminded me that clothing is an integral part of the history of this City.
SAN FRANCISCO
Liz and Lee Heidhues 1.17.2024
Connie Chameleon Chan’s 2024 reelection political revisionism.
The same Connie Chan who eked out a 125 vote victory in 2020 after making promises to Sunrise Bay Area and gaining their endorsement. Once in office in 2021 Connie turned her back on the environmentalists. Became arguably the biggest foe of JFK Promenade, The Great Walkway and Slow Streets on the Board of Supervisors.
San Francisco progressives cannot allow themselves to be duped again by the election season campaign promises of Connie Chan. Actions must have consequences.
Almost singlehandedly Connie destroyed JFK Promenade, the now permanently car free sanctuary in Golden Gate Park. Supe Chan met nearly 30 times with lobbyists for the DeYoung Museum, whose deep pockets and political influence waged a vicious battle to bring cars back to JFK Promenade. Connie was their front person at City Hall.
Now, it’s election season. Connie wants the voters to forget about and ignore her chameleon like behavior. Joining up with San Francisco Bike Coalition in Street Audit under the guise of advancing pedestrian safety.
Where were Connie’s Audits during the fight Motorists waged on pedestrian sanctuaries of Slow Streets, Car Free JFK Drive, The Great Walkway’s Car Free corridor between Connie’s District and car drenched District 4?
Answer: Connie wasn’t leading Pedestrian Audits! Connie was leading the Motorists’ war to destroy car free areas in San Francisco.
Lee uncovered Connie’s use of her political office in attempt to destroy JFK Promenade. Connie’s July 27, 2021 text to De Young Museum’s lobbyist, Ryan Blake, from Platinum Advisors, Calif’s Premiere Gov’t Relations and Lobbying Firm to arrange a meeting with CEO Thomas Campbell. “She will be reaching out to chat about everyone’s favorite subject, JFK Drive.”
SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 1.15.2024
The Zone of Interest is a sobering tale of the horror of Nazi Germany. Depressingly portrayed in mundane fashion. The family of the Auschwitz commandant lives life seemingly oblivious to the genocide going on just yards away from their palatial home.
The viewer witnesses everyday scenes of family life. A family which is served by Auschwitz inmates acting as The Help. Interrupted only by smoke billowing from the Auschwitz incinerator chimneys, the occasional gunshots and screams of the doomed Jews behind the walls.
The final Auschwitz product
Yet, despite this seeming ability to ignore the human disaster being perpetrated in their name, there is a pervasive unease which permeates their cloistered existence.
The Zone of Interest is a surreal viewing experience. It starkly illustrates how people can mentally bury the genocide around them and go about their daily lives. For example:
We sit transfixed through the 105 minute film on slain American civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s annual birthday commemoration.
The Zone of Interest is grim story which has not one scene of Jewish people being murdered in the Auschwitz killing factory. It’s all in the mind’s eye. Made all the more remarkable because the primary location of the story is the Auschwitz commandant’s palatial family home right on the other side of the killing compound.
The Zone of Interest has won numerous awards.
Inexplicably, some critics have criticized the film as trivializing The Holocaust. One reviewer even going so far to call it “Holocaust kitsch.” The critics who are disparaging the film tend to be American. Which is depressing. Yet no surprise.
America historically has never come to terms with its own history of slavery, racist and criminal war actions. Against Native Americans and people of color. Waging war around the globe all in the name of protecting American hegemony.
Lee's Perspective 