Liz and Lee interviewed at Ocean Beach Park – videographer David Enloe
During a gathering to launch the campaign Liz and I, decades long outer Richmond District residents, life long bicyclists who have never owned a car, were asked to share our thoughts about the upcoming ballot measure which, if passed, will result in creation of Ocean Beach Park.
It was an enthusiastic crowd which gathered on a drizzly Saturday afternoon to kick off the campaign to make the Ocean Beach Park a reality in the November election. http://www.oceanbeachpark.org
The large throng on Ocean Beach Park to launch the campaign to make this oasis along the Pacific Coast shoreline permanently car free – Photo: David Enloe, The Enloe Creative http://www.theenloecreative.com
Supervisor Joel Engardio, four of his companions on the Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed, placed the measure on the ballot. If the initiative passes citywide the Ocean Beach Park at the edge of San Francisco by the Pacific will become a permanent park.
Should the measure pass San Francisco will have flipped the switch on the motorists. First, it was the eyesore Embarcadero Freeway which was torn down after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Second was the motorists freeway which ruined Golden Gate Park for decades. The voters, by a 63 percent margin in November 2022, banned cars and now JFK Promenade is a pedestrian and cyclist oasis.
Approval of Ocean Beach Park by the voters on November 3rd will complete the San Francisco environmental triple play.
Supervisor Engardio faces a sandstorm of criticism from some constituents for his advocacy.
Motorists are engaged in a never ending fight to preserve what they feel is their birthright to drive their cars anywhere, anytime.
The Supervisor, at risk to his political career, refuses to be bullied and intimidated. Should the measure prevail Joel will be considered an environmental leader who stood up for the environment.
Supervisor Joel Engardio, surrounded by Pacific Ocean sand dunes, speaks to the crowd on Ocean Beach Park – 7.27.2024
George Kelly, a staunch supporter of Ocean Beach Park, acted at emcee at the rally.
Supervisors Engardio and Myrna Melgar enjoy a moment of levity on Ocean Beach Park. Check out those gold sneakers.
The people gather in support of Ocean Beach Park
Liz Heidhues, native San Franciscan engaged rally participants with former District One Supervisor Eric Mar close by. Regrettably Supervisor Connie Chan, who is standing for reelection this November, has been totally missing in action and the leading elected foe during the battle to create Ocean Beach Park.
An attentive crowd on Ocean Beach Park
The house signs in support of OCEAN BEACH PARK are already blooming.
John Mayall is gone after a long productive life on the world stage at the age 90. Several days ago I was thinking about him. This foggy Saturday morning I learned of his passing.
On March 1, 1969 after attending the Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco I went into a record store in North Beach and purchased his classic album, “The Blues Alone.” At that moment I became a Mayall fan. This LP is one of my all time favorites.
I’m Shocked. Hah Hah!!!It’s political payoffs and nepotism in San Francisco, again.Now it’s in the District Attorney’s office.
To be sure the mainstream media will give this story the obligatory 24 hour buzz and then move onto the next dance party at the Embarcadero.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who called herself a “volunteer” while earning 150K from MAGA moneybags for her role in the political lynching of her one time boss Chesa Boudin in 2022, shows herself, once again, to be nothing more than a shameful grifter.
The DA feels so smug and confident in this election year that she feels it’s acceptable to violate all ethical norms. Never mind Jenkins is the chief law enforcement officer in San Francisco.
DA Brooke in shocking pink partying with her political benefactor Mayor Breed and friend
Brooke Jenkins grift now extends to her cronies.
According to the San Francisco Standard, “Nursing professor Monifa Willis took on the $300K (chief of staff) role in March and continues to pull in a six-figure salary at UCSF.
Further Excerpts from SF Standard 7.26.2024
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins in March quietly promoted nursing professor Monifa Willis with no legal license — who is a longtime friend — to run the office as chief of staff, with an annual salary of nearly $300,000.
Willis has known Jenkins since they were on the same high school track-and-field team in Union City, according to a 2022 Mission Local story about the appointment.
The District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the hiring of Willis as chief of staff did not present a conflict of interest for Jenkins. It said Willis was hired for her experience within and outside of the office.
Ryan Khojasteh, who is running against Jenkins for DA, said the decision to hire Willis shows bad judgment and special treatment of a friend. Ryan Khojasteh worked as an assistant DA during the Boudin administration. He was fired without cause by Jenkins. She cleaned house of Boudin staffers after being named DA by Mayor Breed following Chesa’s Recall in June 2022.
“Nepotism erodes public trust,” he wrote in an email to The Standard. “As San Franciscans, we deserve better from our District Attorney’s Office. My administration will not tolerate such abuses of office — assignments will be based on merit, experience and competence.”
Union City. Hometown for DA Brooke and her high school buddy Monifa Willis
DA Jenkins and Willis spent time together socially before Willis’ appointment to the Victim Services Division. According to their public Venmo accounts going back to 2021, the pair have gone to dinner, rented a car, attended a football game and visited a waxing salon together.
That relationship must be disclosed, according to city ethics rules, but was not.
Jenkins’ office said in a statement that the specific ethics rule around such disclosures does not apply to this hire.
Monifa Willis, who still earns more than $100,000 a year for her part-time work at UCSF, was initially hired in 2022 to run the District Attorney’s Office’s Victim Services Division. She was also the CEO of a marijuana dispensary called New Life CA, which is now closed.
While city ethics rules require disclosing close relationships — and bar the hiring of direct family members — the appointment raises questions about the DA’s appointment of a friend who has few of the typical qualifications for the chief-of-staff position and holds down a lucrative second job.
DA Brooke parrots the Justice line but her grift and nepotism paint a darker portrait
“She was given this position because she knew the DA,” a former Victim Services employee who worked under Willis told The Standard. The former employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional backlash, said Willis had little knowledge of the law around victims’ rights.
In Contra Costa County, the job requires not only a law license but 10 years of professional legal experience. San Francisco’s position does not require a license to practice law but does require four years of managerial experience in a legal, legislative or clinical social environment.
Top photo: DA Brooke Jenkins and her high school buddy Monifa Willis, the newly minted chief of staff
I listened to the FRESH AIR interview with Anne Applebaum. An insightful political journalist whose no nonsense commentary and writing needs a wider audience.
Anne is definitely well known amongst the political intelligentsia. Her work is respected.
In this time of coarse political discourse it’s a pleasure to realize there is someone out there whose knowledge is far above the American. norm.
The tape and transcript of the entire interview is attached.
While Donald Trump is discussed briefly I thought what Anne has to say about Trump, given her knowledge of authoritarian leaders, needs special mention. See the excerpt herein.
TONYA MOSLEY: In the case of Donald Trump, he set the narrative by dominating the conversation on social media
ANNE APPLEBAUM: Yeah.
MOSLEY: In 2016.
APPLEBAUM: Yeah. And the constant stream of lies, even incredible, unbelievable ones – I mean, actually, Trump began his presidency with a lie about how many people had appeared on the National Mall for his inauguration. I don’t know if your memory stretches back that far.
MOSLEY: Yeah.
APPLEBAUM: It feels like so many things have happened since then. But it was a very stupid lie. I mean, who cares how many people were on the National Mall? But he wanted the U.S. Park Service to lie about it, and he wanted his press spokesman to lie about it. And again, that was partly to show – who’s in control here? – I’m in control, and I get to decide what the truth is. And it’s also to confuse people and alienate them from politics. I mean, during the Trump administration, we spent a lot of time arguing about what was true and what wasn’t.
And for some people, they hear that conversation and they say, right, this is – how do I know what’s true? I’m just checking out, you know? So constant lies also create this kind of cynicism and apathy. It’s a way of keeping people out of politics and preventing civic engagement.
I mean, a lot of these authoritarian states know that their biggest enemy, their biggest threat to their power, is their own people. And so their goal is to prevent people from ever organizing, from ever being engaged, from ever caring at all. And one of the ways they do that is through this constant stream of lies that make people feel like they’re simply unable to know any more what’s true and what’s not.
Anne Applebaum with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
I’m Tonya Mosley. And my guest today is Anne Applebaum, who’s been writing for years about the rise in authoritarianism around the world and the erosion of democracy. Her latest book, “Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want To Run The World,” is a potent read on how today’s autocracies are not just ruled by one powerful leader, but are instead a sophisticated interconnected network. She reveals how they collaborate and support each other through financial systems, technology, and propaganda that spans well beyond their borders. This loose network, which includes nations like Russia, China, and North Korea, isn’t an alliance. They don’t share an ideology, but they do have one thing in common. They don’t like us, and they’re growing more powerful in the fight against democracy. Applebaum says, in order to fight this threat, democracies like the U.S. have to fundamentally reorient their policies.
Anne Applebaum is the author of several books, including “Gulag: A History,” which won the Pulitzer Prize, “Iron Curtain: The Crushing Of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956,” and the best-selling “Twilight Of Democracy: The Seductive Lure Of Authoritarianism.” She’s a columnist for the Atlantic and a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Anne Applebaum, welcome back to FRESH AIR.
It was 10:57am when I got the first message on my App via The Guardian (of London) that President Biden is dropping out of the presidential race.
“EARTHQUAKE” is what the media calls it. It’s not so shocking.
It was not even unexpected.
The fact that the abdication finally happened after Biden told an interviewer only “God Almighty” could drive him from the race is the “EARTHQUAKE.”
I suppose the fact Biden tested positive for Covid last week and has been home in Delaware recovering is the reason he finally abdicated.
Now Biden is being lionized for the step politicians are loath to take. I replied to a friend after he wrote that he “feels bad for Biden” and posted it on ‘X’. Here it is for posterity. @JOE BIDEN CAN ENJOY HIS FINAL 6 MONTHS IN OFFICE…HAVE A NICE RETIREMENT. BE THOUGHT OF IN HISTORY BOOKS AS THE “STATESMAN” WHO GAVE UP THE PRESIDENCY FOR THE WELL BEING OF AMERICA.” THE STUFF WHICH HOLLYWOOD LOVES. GEORGE CLOONEY CAN DIRECT AND STAR IN THE BIOPIC. 818 PEOPLE HAVE ‘VIEWED’ IT SINCE 1:20PM (Sunday). I included a screen shot from the New York Post with its headline, “IT’S JOE-VER.”
Of course the beneficiary of all this is the American people.
Kamala Harris will now in all likelihood be the candidate. It’s disappointing to read that many people think Kamala won’t win because she’s a black woman and America is not ready. That is totally absurd and obscene.
Never mind that Kamala was has been San Francisco District Attorney, California Attorney General, Senator and Vice President nearly four years. America is just totally fucked up. I know Kamala will run a very aggressive campaign.
The young Senator Biden
The MAGA Republicans are quietly freaking out while Trump is already attacking her. It is going to be a brutal 107 days until November.
It’s another day on the campaign trail close by the Pacific Ocean in the quietly Progressive outer Richmond District.Going door to door on the steep hills for Aaron Peskin where we have lived for most of the last 55 years.
An old funky shingled home set off the street on a steep hill in the outer Richmond district
This is definitely potential Peskin territory. The Richmond District has elected quasi progressive Supervisors for the past 24 years. Things were different in the days of our Ancestors over a half century ago.
Liz comes down one of the many steep staircases she navigated on hot and dry Saturday afternoon
Lee canvassed the outer Richmond in 1972 during George McGovern’s ill fated presidential run against Richard Nixon. He talked with voters who described themselves as “Democrats for Nixon.”
Things were different in the days of our Ancestors over a half century ago – McGovern 72
Sign of the times in the outer Richmond District
A welcome sign in the outer Richmond district
Today, nearly 52 years later, it was hot and dry as we climbed the hills with our sack full of literature in Chinese and English. Lee didn’t bring any water and made a detour to Walgreens.
Lee holds water and clipboard aloft on a summer day canvassing for Mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin
Liz took the blowback quietly she received from an occasional white voter; quick to be rid of her, “Naw, you can keep that (literature). Aaron is the last person I would vote for.” Liz took the slight with aplomb. Knowing she would soon catch up with Asian neighbors who made sure to thank her for giving them election material. In their mother tongue there seemed a stark difference in the standoffish reception Liz received from her white neighbors. No warmth or graciousness.
The Pride flag flies in the outer Richmond district of San Francisco
There were many steep hills. Liz climbed many flights of stairs to distribute Aaron Peskin literature. Armed with a precinct map Liz made sure to correctly distribute the literature in either Chinese or English in this predominantly Chinese speaking neighborhood.
A little cat nap in the window on Saturday afternoon
Taking a ride in the outer Richmond district
Aaron for Mayor – in the countryside of San Francisco
During our campaign walk we took a break and met a friendly dog named Koji or “Ocean” who is half poodle and half labrador.
Liz with Aaron literature close by a neighborly house sign on the steep hills of the outer Richmond district
There were so many flights of stairs for Liz to climb and so many steep hills to challenge our endurance, we called it quits after 3 1/2 hours on the campaign trail.
Liz said, “Let’s go home and finish tomorrow.”
A blast from the past cruises through the outer Richmond district
“YOU’RE IN AHWASTE ON OHLONE LAND!” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohlone Our late companion Jack at the Anza Branch Library in the outer Richmond. Someone had painted a reminder of who were the original inhabitants of the neighborhood
THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS OBSCENE PROSECUTION EXCEPT TO QUOTE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, “JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME.”
Evan Gershkovich’s former colleague at The Moscow Times, Pjtor Sauer, who currently reports for The Guardian, reacted to the sentencing on Friday by writing on X (formerly Twitter): “I have no words to describe this farce. Let’s get Evan out of there.”
Excerpted from The Moscow Times 7.19.2024
A judge in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region on Friday sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a forgone conclusion in a closed trial that has been condemned as a sham by Washington and the journalist’s employer.
The Wall Street Journal slammed the verdict against Gershkovich after it was announced on Friday.
“This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” Almar Latour, the chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said in a statement.
“We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family,” the two said. “Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now.”
“The court finds Evan Gershkovich guilty of committing the crime [of espionage]… and sentences him to 16 years imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony,” the judge said, delivering the verdict as the U.S. reporter listened from inside a glass defendant’s cage in the courtroom.
The judge added that the nearly 500 days Gershkovich spent in pre-trial detention would count toward his prison sentence, which the reporter’s defense team can appeal in the coming days, though it was not immediately clear if they plan to do so.
“Gershkovich, do you understand the sentence?” the judge asked, in response to which the American journalist nodded. After that, the judge adjourned the court and Gershkovich was removed by law enforcement officers.
State prosecutors had asked the judge to impose an 18-year sentence for Gershkovich on the spying charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The U.S. reporter, who was arrested while on a reporting trip in March 2023, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Friday, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court heard closing arguments in the brief trial after resuming hearings the previous day following a request from Gershkovich’s defense team to move the hearing date — originally set for Aug. 13. The trial, which has been closed to the media, began in late June, some 15 months after the reporter’s detention.
Tonight Donald Trump, convicted felon; insurrectionist who tried to overthrow the 2020 election; abuser of women; master mind behind the draconian Project 2025 was anointed by the shameless craven Republicans as candidate for President a third time.
Trump supporters give the Nazi salute
As a reminder of that Fascism is a constant in American life and part of what Donald Trump promotes, I reprise the blog post of February 2019. ‘A Night at the Garden’. The American Nazi rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939.
Last Saturday I walked to the neighborhood Anza Branch library to check out the dystopian film ‘Civil War’ with its not so subtle reincarnated President Donald Trump storyline.
‘Civil War’- Fiction became a harsh reality in 2024 presidential politics. Eightminutes after I checked out the film, America was upended.
Four days following an attempt on the life of Donald Trump the world knows the perpetrator was 20 year old registered Pennsylvania Republican Thomas Crooks. Chilling reality to realize that a young Republican turned on its leader with nearly lethal results for the ex President.
The action was intense at the Berlin Olympic stadium in the EuroCup 2024 final – July 14, 2024
Is the Euro Cup beginning to look like Copa America that has just a few teams dominating the competition — as Spain makes history becoming the first team to win four European championships?
Spain scores the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the EuroCup 2024 final in Berlin
I really wanted England to win. England, birthplace of soccer, where my father’s family tree has deep roots.
Here I am at a tube station in Londonwhere my family tree has deep roots
The underdog of this championship duel, not having won a soccer trophy since 1966, when England won the World Cup. When Cole Palmer scored the only goal for England, I forgot that I was on a lonely barstool in my kitchen watching the shootout match on a tiny TV a continent away, with no backs of fellow fans to pound on.
SPAIN EUFA EURO 2024 CHAMPIONS
I listened as the British announcer on Fox TV Ian Darke exulted, “Pure bedlam among the tens of thousands of England’s fans who have made their way to Berlin!!” I imagined I was back in Berlin.
The Spanish team exults in its victory
Then I flashed back to my favorite movie of all time “Gladiator” when the announcer said, “There’s gonna be a lot of English kids pretending they’re Cole Palmer now.” This evoked the scene in Gladiator where Lucillus’ son Lucius is sparring with the guards, feinting with his sword and Commodus assumes Lucius is playing a Roman soldier. But the kid brags he’s a Gladiator, he’s Maximus. Arousing an ominous foreshadowing of what’s to befall his hero.
The intense action in the final minutes of the EuroCup 2024 final
The announcer yelled dramatically, “That was out of nowhere…the foot stretching…” and I watched the ball hit the net over and over in a score of TV replays, believing this game would be concluded with England as the victors. It was not to be.
The Spanish team fends off a last minute assault by England
The sensation of the match, the teenager on the Spanish team, was everywhere. Kicking balls like there was no such thing as fatigue on the 94 degree Pitch at the historic Berlin Olympic Stadium. Trying to whiz one past the English Jordan Pickford goalkeeper who did an amazing job of defense. “There’s another great save against the teenager,” the announcer intoned.
The English team picked up itself over and over. But in the end it was not enough.
“What kinda game is this?” I asked myself. A teenager who turned 17 the day before the match beating up on a bunch of older, more experienced players? Lamine Yamal, on the Spanish team, was indefatigable.
Spanish national team coach Luis de la Fuente in his team’s moment of historic victory
The announcer admitted, “The 17-year-old. He’s something we’ve never seen before”
Team England in despair as its hopes of winning it first championship in 58 years go a glimmering
In the end, England fell asleep at the switch. Spain scored a goal that at first was discounted. But announcer Ian Darke hollered, “The goal stands!!!” to my chagrin. I had to agree with the announcer, even though I was crushed. “They (Spain) have been the best team in the tournament. They won it in style!”
English striker Cole Palmer tied the match in the 74th minute giving his team hope the Brits would end their 58 year drought
Berlin put on quite a show, too. The fireworks and the blizzard of confetti were amazing in Berlin when the Spanish team hoisted the EuroCup2024 trophy high above their heads. “Spain 4X Champion team: 1964, 2008, 2012, 2024.”
The Olympic Stadium in Berlin explodes in Spanish colors as its team win its record fourth EuroCup championship
Top photo – English fans in despair as its team goes down to defeat.
Text and photos by Liz Heidhues with editorial assistance – Lee Heidhues
