Reacting to the Pelosi Assault – Here We Go Again
Join Jim and Greg as they welcome stunningly good news out of San Francisco, where three woke school board members were overwhelmingly recalled. They also cringe as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has no details of any plans President Biden has to bring down energy prices other than to argue that we should be thanking the president for opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last year. And they spend time remembering the matchless wit, prose, insight of author and commentator P.J. O’Rourke, who died on Tuesday.
Ben and Me
San Francisco Cracks Down On Maskless Shoplifting
In an effort to follow through on her promised transition from defunding to refunding the police, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the city would take a zero-tolerance approach to maskless shoplifting, promising stiffer sentences for those who fail to properly mask up when relieving stores of hundreds of dollars in merchandise the proceeds from which are then fenced and laundered before you’re back from lunch.
“Additionally,” added the mayor, “proper masking makes it more difficult for us to identify you, if you know what I mean,” winking a press cameras.
The mayor also warned prospective maskless shoplifters that social distancing guidelines must also be adhered to, warning that failure to “keep distance” may result in a limit on the number of shoplifters permitted to gather at one place.
Ayaan speaks with Michael Shellenberger about the drug addiction crisis taking over major U.S. cities. They also discuss the results of the Virginia elections, the potential of a political realignment and the COP26 conference.
Michael Shellenberger is the founder and president of Environmental Progress and is the author of Apocalypse Never and San Fransicko.
San Francisco Is Pure Hell
It is a bit of a cliché to say that San Francisco is a hellhole.
I remember reading in conservative blogs back in the mid-2000s about gay pride parades in the Castro district in which men would masturbate out of windows and on to passersby as part of the procession. When I moved down there in 2008 and worked for the Business section of the San Francisco Examiner, I remember walking through Van Ness and seeing a big, thick, and unmistakably human turd right there on the sidewalk.
Erica Sandberg joins Seth Barron to discuss how San Francisco’s small-business owners are handling the city’s latest lockdown, how new outdoor dining facilities became a magnet for the homeless, and whether California public officials who violate Covid restrictions will face political consequences.
Find the transcript of this conversation and more at City Journal.
Member Post
From Andrea Widburg, American Thinker: The San Francisco Unified School District is using the Wuhan virus as an excuse to finish destroying what was once one of the best public high schools in the country. Those who object have gotten a snootful of Critical Race Theory (CRT) for daring to believe in academic excellence. Preview […]
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Michael Gibson joins Brian Anderson to discuss San Francisco’s ongoing struggle with public order and his decision to leave the Bay Area for Los Angeles—the subject of Gibson’s story, “America’s Havana,” in the Spring 2020 issue.
“Even before the current Covid-19 pandemic,” writes Gibson, “San Francisco was a deeply troubled city.” The city ranks first in the nation in a host of property crimes, and its high housing costs make it prohibitively expensive for low- and middle-income families. Even tech companies are now considering relocating their operations; any significant exodus of such businesses would be a serious blow to the city’s economy.
Chiefs Defeat 49ers in Super Bowl LIV
At the start of the fourth quarter, the San Francisco 49ers lead the Kansas City Chiefs 20-10. Then they decided to relax. The Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs roared back with 21 unanswered points, winning the game 31-20.
Congratulations to coach Andy Reid, and all the loyal Kansas City fans who have waited 50 years to get back to the Super Bowl.
Okay, it’s not just the poop, it’s also the cost of hotels. Oracle has pulled the plug on San Frnacisco and moving its annual conference to Vegas, Baby! https://www.foxnews.com/tech/san-franciscos-poor-street-conditions-a-factor-in-citys-loss-of-64m-oracle-tech-conference-reports Preview Open
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San Francisco Unleashes Destructive Creation on Silicon Valley
Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, speaks about the deployment of 5G wireless technology during the TechCrunch Disrupt forum in San Francisco.
That’s just not how it seems to work in America. It’s more of an organic, idiosyncratic, indirect thing. As University of Washington historian Margaret O’Mara, author of “The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America,” told me in a recent podcast, the story of Silicon Valley isn’t “a story of big government coming in with giant research labs and command-and-control” although Washington certainly played a critical role.
Heather Mac Donald joins Seth Barron to discuss homelessness on the streets of San Francisco and the city’s wrongheaded attempts to solve the problem.
“San Francisco has conducted a real-life experiment in what happens when a society stops enforcing bourgeois norms of behavior,” writes Mac Donald in City Journal. For nearly three decades, the Bay Area has been a magnet for the homeless. Now the situation is growing dire, as residents and visitors experience near-daily contact with mentally disturbed persons.
It’s a big day on the Three Martini Lunch! Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America start by welcoming the news that Leif Olson has been re-hired at the Labor Department just one day after he was falsely accused of anti-Semitism by Bloomberg Law. Then they are encouraged that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is also quite leery of any peace deal with the Taliban. And they unload on politicians in San Francisco for labeling the National Rifle Association.
Then, as the NFL begins it’s 100th season, Jim and Greg put a political twist on the occasion and have a lot of fun by holding a fantasy football draft involving the Democratic presidential candidates!
San Francisco Declares NRA a ‘Terrorist Organization’
Guess that makes me a “terrorist” by their definition. According to The San Francisco Gate:
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring that the National Rifle Association is a domestic terrorist organization. The officials also urged other cities, states and the federal government to follow suit.
Bullitt: The Car Chase
What was the greatest car chase scene of all time? I don’t really know; but, if I had to pick one – I’d pick the chase scene from the 1968 movie Bullitt. There were car chase scenes in the movies long before Bullitt (lots of ’em), and there have been even more car chase scenes in the movies since Bullitt. But, Bullitt is a dividing line — car chase scenes after were and still are measured against the Bullitt chase scene. That full scene (a little over ten minutes in length) is below. I should note that when I started to put this post together it took a while to find the complete scene (at least in a form that could be pasted here on Ricochet), which was a little surprising.
Erica Sandberg joins City Journal associate editor Seth Barron to discuss the deteriorating state of public order in San Francisco.
The Bay Area’s most densely populated and desirable neighborhoods are being destroyed by lawlessness and squalor. San Francisco now leads the nation in property crime, according to the FBI. “Other low-level offenses,” Sandberg reports for City Journal, “including drug dealing, street harassment, encampments, indecent exposure, public intoxication, simple assault, and disorderly conduct are also rampant.”
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America tackle ESPN’s decision to stop with the politics and stick with the sports. They also cheer Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards for vowing to sign a heartbeat bill if it reaches his desk. And they step carefully while discussing San Francisco spending more than $70 million to remove human waste from the streets – and it isn’t solving the problem.
The Democrats never met a tax they didn’t like. From the land of fruits and nuts: https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/san-francisco-ipo-tax-tech-unicorns-uber-lyft-pinterest Preview Open
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Ray and I will be going on the Hillsdale Cruise to Hawaii (round trip from San Francisco), leaving next Sunday, July 15. We are flying in the afternoon of the 14th, staying at the Airport Hampton Inn Saturday night. We will not have a car. Would anyone like to have a meet up over drinks […]
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