DonaldTrump is using his presidential powers to drive America into chaos. It’s going to be a rough ride.
The face of American fascism
It didn’t take long for the fascist felon Donald Trump to bring the military to the streets of America.A military takeover of Los Angeles. Steven Miller, his home grown Joseph Goebbels (Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist), justifies. Labeling protestors against the ongoing ICE immigration crackdown “insurrectionists.”
Last year the movie ‘Civil War’ predicted a second American Civil insurrection. Life may be imitating art.
Washington Post 6.7.2025
‘Trouble Comin’ Everyday’ Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention (1966) – Video San Francisco protestors physically thrown out by cops after protesting House American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearing in City Hall – 1960
“Mr. Trump claimed (his medical deferment) was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery,” Michael Cohen told members of the House Oversight Committee. “He told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment.
“He finished the conversation with the following comment: ‘You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.’”
Several bloody and bandaged soldiers ride on top of a tank used as a make-shift ambulance after the Battle of Hue in the Vietnam War, Hue, Vietnam, February 15, 1968. (Photo by John Olson/Getty Images)
The convicted felon and Vietnam War draft dodger Donald Trump is going to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on himself to celebrate his 79th birthday on June 14th.
How? By staging a military parade through the streets of Washington DC. A blatant political stunt glorifying himself and using the military as a prop.
The Vietnam War memorial which commemorates the real American heroes, 58,000 servicemen and women who perished in this misguided war, will be closed. So that Trump can engage in his boy toy military fantasies.
SAN FRANCISCO – SAINT MONICA’S PARISH HALL – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT
6.1.2025 Liz Heidhues
“Who is going to replace Sister Noreen?”
Father Ben asked the approximately one hundred folks at St. Monica’s Parish Hall gathered together to say goodbye to the 90-year-old nun and to thank her for her years of duty and devotion to us – the parishioners of St. Monica-St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, and beyond, the families, the friends, the residents of the Outer Richmond District which the two Catholic churches serve.
Sister Noreen practices her ministry comforting her parishioners.
The answer is – no one! No one will replace Sister Noreen.
She is one-of-a-kind, a feisty Irish nun, who entered the convent as a teen-ager and spent the past 70 years of her life performing small acts of love every day for people of all ages, from all walks of life, caring for them, praying for them, and simply lending them a friendly ear when they needed someone to listen and comfort them.
A family Sister Noreen has taught gather around their teacher.
Sister Noreen helped build up the parish school at St. Thomas the Apostle Church and, when the Archdiocese ordered the two churches near each other to merge due to a shortage of priests and amid dwindling church-goers, she took on the task of the religious education of St. Monica’s Catholic School students as well as of those at St. Thomas, which eventually shuttered its Catholic school.
A ubiquitous cold, foggy and windy backdrop for St. Monica’s Church in the outer Richmond District.
Sister Noreen was there for me when I needed her most.
She helped me defeat an egregious harm, a miscarriage of justice, testifying on my behalf as to my good character and good standing in our Catholic church. Her letter of faith in me countered the harmful lies about me that had portrayed me as a malevolent villainess to a court of law. I placed her letter first in the pile of letters I had to present to the court to fight for the truth to prevail and the law to be upheld. I will be forever indebted to Sister Noreen for doing this good work on my behalf.
Sister Noreen beams before cutting the cake celebrating her 70 plus years as a leader in the Church.
Sister Noreen deserves her retirement.
Her empty pew at St. Thomas the Apostle Church this morning reminded me that nuns get to retire like everyone else, even though nuns continue to work well past the retirement age, entering their religious life as teen-agers and leading long and arduous careers as women devoting themselves fully to spiritual and intellectual pursuits.
Sister Noreen teaches the children about the Christ child.
Sister Noreen told us as we celebrated her retirement potluck luncheon today:
Sister Noreen’s legion of long time parishioners dig into the Pot Luck celebration.
“Thank you very much for being here. We are family and we are community. And that says a lot.”
“The many beautiful days cannot be lived again. But they are compounded in my spirit and flesh and I will take them with me for whatever lies ahead.”
Liz, Sister Noreen and Lee. A stabilizing influence in our lives through both good and difficult times.
Sister Noreen will be moving away to a senior living facility in Daly City. Her convent is now empty, as well as her pew at church. All of the senior citizen nuns living in the convent near us will be going to live in the same community with Sister Noreen. She described her new home as a community moved by a spirit of peacefulness, gentleness, and joy.
A parishioner shows off the beautiful bouquets which adorned the tables at St. Monica’s Church.
Sister Noreen deserves her retirement. But no one can, nor will they ever, replace her friendly ear, her ability to teach children and adults how to love one another, and her vision of a better world that she vibrantly embodies.
Our congratulatory card in which was pasted a photo of Liz in front of Sister Noreen’s Uncle Jack’s house which we have owned and cared for the past 41 years. Sister Noreen told us when she was growing up in San Francisco she spent time in the house.
Sister Noreen will be dancing down the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Daly City
I finished Katie Kitamura’s ‘Audition’. It certainly is a dark story. I am still trying to make sense of it. I can only conclude the unnamed narrator decides at the conclusion of this short 197 page story, “I can’t take it anymore.”
Particularly since the plot line has two distinctive threads. In the first half of the story the narrator, an accomplished stage and screen actress, establishes a relationship with a young man, Xavier. He claims to be the narrator’s son. He most definitely is not as the story unspools.
In the story’s second half Xavier is indeed the narrator’s son in a quick and jarring juxtaposition in the story line. He returns home to live with his mom, the narrator, and his father, Tomas. The entire relationship inevitably collapses. I must read ‘Audition’ a second time. It’s not so much that the story is difficult to follow, particularly in the second half.
What’s challenging is the relationship with her son Xavier, the narrator is dissecting. Why would the narrator know Xavier is not her son in the first half of the story. When in the second half, Xavier is portrayed as the son and proceeds to destroy the entire family relationship.
Xavier’s father Tomas is an integral part of this mind bending story. Initially Tomas is the strong, elusive, silent parent who welcomes Xavier home. But when Xavier precipitates the ruination of the family unit the father Tomas is a willing collaborator. He is both psychologically and physically battered in the end.
Part of which has to do with the eerie demonic Hana who moves into the New York City apartment with Xavier and his parents. The narrator has a very frosty relationship with Hana from the outset. While Tomas is obviously smitten in a way which leads to a very perverse denouement.
This is the kind of dark story which would benefit by Katie Kitamura concluding the novel with an essay about the thought process which went into the creation of this novel. The development of the plot and characters.
Katie Kitamura’s novels, and I have read several, are different in the sense the protagonist is never named. There are never any quotation marks. The sentence construction is often disjointed which ads to the fascination with her writing style. Katie Kitamura’s books are best digested in a quiet contemplative setting, Because the story lines are invariably so deep. ‘Audition’ in particular
The nuts and bolts of ‘Audition’ are straight forward.
It’s the psychological impact which merits a lot of scrutiny. And for the simple literary consumer there’s a lot to digest in ‘Audition’. As there is with the narrator who concludes without saying it, “I can’t take it anymore.”
I can’t believe what I am reading and seeing. I should.
Who said, “It can’t happen here.”?
Well, less than five months into the oligarchy of Felon Donald Trump the feds have been unleashed to terrorize and abuse. Even congressional aides are not exempt from the Police State tentacles of the wannabe American dictator.
Excerpted from The Gothamist and Politico 5.30.2025
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NYC) slammed both DHS and President Donald Trump in a statement Saturday afternoon for demonstrating “aggressive and heavy-handed tactics” and “sowing chaos” not only in his district, but across the country, as the Trump administration escalates its crackdown on immigration.
“President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner. In the most recent and deeply troubling incident, DHS agents forcefully entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff,” Nadler said, adding that he was “alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country.”
The New York representative also cautioned that the incident showed a “deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries,” and warned that “if this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening.”
In a dramatic incident captured on video, U.S. Department of Homeland Security police Wednesday handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler aides in the congressmember’s Manhattan office, which is in the same federal office building as an immigration courthouse.
In the video, which was shared with Gothamist and filmed by a person who was monitoring activity in immigration court, DHS officers entered Nadler’s district office and accused staff members of “harboring rioters.” A Nadler staffer is seen crying and being handcuffed. Another officer is at a door trying to enter a private area of the office while a staffer asks for a warrant.
DHS later said in a statement that “one individual” — the woman seen being handcuffed — had blocked police from performing a security check they intended to do based on information there were protesters in the lawmaker’s office. Later that day, protesters gathered outside of the federal building, demonstrating against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
SFiST says it best, “the ship already sailed and Sunset Dunes (is) already open as a park.”
The barnacle clinging motorists have had their tantrum and qualified the Recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio, leader of the Sunset Dunes initiative, for the ballot.
The motorists will never acknowledge they don’t own every street in San Francisco.
Never mind that the special election will be held September 16, 2025. Less than 14 months until the Supervisor would face the voters in the November 3, 2026 vote. Just 523 days away.
Never mind that San Francisco is facing an 800M budget deficit with Mayor Lurie planning to announce the layoff of 1500 city workers.
Never mind that ousting Supervisor Engardio will do absolutely nothing to bring cars back to what was formerly known as The Great Highway.
Call this mindless Recall for what it is. A political temper tantrum.
Excerpted from SFiST 5.29.2025
SF’s First Recall Election of a Sitting Supervisor Gets a Date.
A special election has been called for September 16, 2025 in which only voters in San Francisco’s District 4 will be voting, marking the first time in city history that a sitting supervisor is facing a recall. Proponents of the recall, who are largely upset about one issue alone — the closing of the Great Highway to car traffic — have been vowing for months to punish Supervisor Joel Engardio for his support of the project and the proposition that made it permanent.
The San Francisco of 1925. The barnacle like fantasy world in which those who want to Recall Supervisor Engardio exist.
Proponents of the Supervisor Joel Engardio recall would also like to see the question of reopening the Great Highway put to another vote — something that Richmond District Supervisor Connie Chan has vowed to get on the ballot again — though it’s far from clear that the results would be any different the second time around. So, with the ship already sailed and Sunset Dunes already open as a park, it’s possible that Engardio could get recalled out of spite, but the result will not be what those voters really wanted, which is the reopening of the roadway to cars.
SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT – BALBOA THEATER
Liz and Lee Heidhues 5.25.2025
Movies are forever. When I was 12 years old my parents took me to see “North by Northwest.” It was quite racy fare for a pre-teen and remains one of my favorite films of all time.
As part of a Memorial Day weekend special the soon to be 100 year old Balboa Theater is holding an Alfred Hitchcock retrospective.Last night Liz and I went to this neighborhood theater in our corner of San Francisco where we have lived nearly 50 years.
We walked into a packed theater which included people of all ages and found comfortable seats in the next to the last row. It had been mysteriously roped off and was waiting for us. It goes to show that good movies are timeless.
The ‘A-List’ cast including Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo J. Carroll is stellar. I was duly impressed when I look up Eva Marie Saint and learned she will be 101 years old on the Fourth of July. One of the most entertaining performers in the film is Jessie Royce Landis who gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s mother. It’s classic stuff.
Jessie Royce Landis in the brown overcoat gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s “mother.” It’s classic stuff.
Liz’ review says it all
No trip to the movie house is complete without popcorn. Kitchen master Liz dug out our 40 year old West Bend popcorn maker. Found a recipe for caramel corn and went to work. Producing a tasty treat which Liz dumped into a double paper sack and munched away as she sat transfixed during “North by Northwest.“
Blogger Lee beams as he admires the caramel popcorn. photo-Liz Heidhues
The iconic crop duster scene. It’s worth watching all nine minutes.
The scrub jay nests in the foliage awaiting another peanut snackThe crow rests on a neighboring rooftop waiting to swoop downThe tuxedo cat rests in the sun with his friend the Heron
What will the Recall election of Supervisor Joel Engardio, visionary leader of Sunset Dunes Park along the Pacific Coast shoreline, accomplish?
Nothing.
Except to allow a cadre of spoiled rotten entitled motorists to waste millions of taxpayer dollars when San Francisco is facing a nearly 1BN budget deficit.
Should the Recall succeed it won’t bring cars back to what was formerly known as the Great Highway.
The motorists who feel it their birthright to drive anywhere anytime will spew forth rhetorical gas fumes in the form of political posturing applauding themselves. The motorists are well aware a regularly scheduled election will be held in just over 17 months.
They don’t care. These entitled luddites have frolicked in the Sunset Dunes Park sand. They will now have their wasteful and expensive temper tantrum.
A little ‘Brand New Car’ Temper Tantrum music for the spoiled motorists
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.24.2025
“This was the definition of grassroots effort,” Albert Chow said. “We went through a ton of effort to prescreen every signature before turning it over” to the elections department.
Selena Chu, chair of Sunset United Neighbors, rallies recall supporters outside A.P. Giannini Middle School in March. Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle
San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio, who came to prominence by ousting officials through recall campaigns, now appears all but certain to face his own after recall organizers said Saturday that city election officials verified that more than 99% of signatures they sampled Friday were valid.
Supervisor Joel Engardio at opening of Sunset Dunes Park – April 12, 2025 – photo: Lee Heidhues
“I feel like David beat Goliath,” said Chow, one of the organizers of the recall. “No one told us we had a chance in hell to pull this off.”
Campaign organizers needed 9,911 valid signatures from registered voters in District 4 by May 22 to qualify for a recall election.
Lee's Perspective 