Archive for 2024

AND I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH I HATE GASLIGHTING: Shooting Your Own Foot.

OPEN THREAD: Rock into the weekend.

SOMETHING YOUR GRANDMOTHER KNEW: 30 Years of Research Reveals Surprising 10-Minute Mental Health Boost. “A study reveals that even 10 minutes in nature benefits adults with mental illness. Reviewing 30 years of research, it shows positive effects from various nature exposures, including urban parks and wilderness. Activities like camping and gardening had notable benefits.”

Go play outside.

HOW IT STARTED: In December of 2009, SF Weekly had this classic Fox Butterfield-esque line: “Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, [San Francisco’s] homeless problem is worse than any comparable city’s.”

How it’s going: San Francisco Mayor Orders City Staffers to Offer Homeless Bus Tickets Out of Town.

For several years, San Francisco has struggled with crime, drug abuse, and homelessness, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The degradation and talk of a “doom loop” has turned away tourists and driven out businesses.

In 2022, the Coalition on Homelessness sued the city, accusing it of violating its rules for removing camps. At one point, the city was hit with a wave of suspicious lawsuits from homeless residents who claimed that city workers had illegally disposed of their valuables – electronics, “priceless” baseball card and stamp collections, art, and “business prototypes.” In early 2023, a federal judge blocked the city from clearing camps.

That changed with the Supreme Court’s ruling in June. During a debate last month, Breed vowed to take action against the sprawling homeless camps that have taken over city parks and sidewalks. “Effective August, we are going to be very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments, which may even include criminal penalties,” she said, according to the San Francisco Standard.

In addition to directing staff to offer relocation services to the homeless, Breed is also requiring police officers, firefighters, and paramedics to carry handouts with information about the city’s relocation services. The city will also establish a tracking system that will publish data about the effectiveness of its relocation efforts.

I’m so old, I can remember when San Fransisco leftists purported to be against bussing.

ME: At least by August 2024 can’t get any weirder.

August 2024:

MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES:

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Her Bag of Drugs Was Labeled ‘Bag of Drugs.’ “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week we have a little too much truth in advertising, scooter and golf cart mayhem, and New Jersey Man’s flight through the overly friendly skies.”

IT’S DIFFERENT NOW BECAUSE REASONS:

Meanwhile…

On a more serious note, Harris managed to be unprepared for the hostage swap that took weeks to negotiate and defaulted to another one of her meaningless word salads.

AFTER TEN MONTHS, BIDEN HAS YET TO MENTION THE FIVE AMERICAN HOSTAGES BY NAME:

But are you surprised?

Flashback: Joe Biden advised against Osama bin Laden raid, Barack Obama writes.

HMM: Lukashenko Says Biden Had ‘Nothing to Do With’ Historic Prisoner Exchange.

“You saw it happen, the [prisoners] were released. We were asked [to participate] and we got involved, helped in what ways we could,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by Belarusian state media. “People who were sentenced for life in the West were freed.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Lukahsenko on Thursday for his “gesture of goodwill and the pardon of a German citizen sentenced to death, R.Krieger.” Earlier this week, the Belarusian leader granted the pardon for Krieger, who was convicted on six criminal counts including terrorism in a secret trial held in late June.

“Of course, someone like the U.S. President will boost his authority with this, even though he had nothing to do with it,” Lukashenko said, referring to Thursday’s exchange.

It’s Lukashenko, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he were lying. But in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised for once if he were telling the truth.