District 5 Diary
Rob Anderson's commentary on San Francisco politics from District 5
Friday, January 17, 2025
Fact-checking the next Attorney Gemeral
Labels: California, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Noem lies abour fire and immigration
Labels: Animal Rights, California, China, Fire, Immigration, The Repugnant Party
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Human Be-In 1967
Labels: Golden Gate Park, History, Neighborhoods, Nostalgia
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Sunday, January 12, 2025
"Just give it up. There’s no one to blame for the LA fires."
Want to vent about the fires? Or read some good venting/blaming as we burn? Try Kevin Drum's blog:
USA Today |
Labels: California, Fire, History, Kevin Drum, Right and Left
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Friday, January 10, 2025
Chief Justice complains about threats to judges
Labels: Punks with Guns
2024: Hottest year on record
Last Year: Hottest on Record |
Trump: Climate change is a "Hoax"!
Labels: Climate Change, Fire, History, Trump
Friday, January 03, 2025
Breeding season in Marin
Photo: Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal |
Drakes Beach: Elephant seal breeding season
Thursday, January 02, 2025
Bob Dylan at the Masonic Auditorium in 1964
Labels: History, Music, San Francisco, Vietnam
Wednesday, January 01, 2025
Back from the nuclear brink
Back from the Brink |
Letter to the editor in the NY Times:
Ojai, Calif.
President Carter in San Francisco
Greg Gaar Photo |
SF Ghirardelli Square Campaign Rally for President Jimmy Carter
Labels: Democratic Party, History, San Francisco
Monday, December 30, 2024
JFK assassination: Case still not closed
Friday, December 27, 2024
Democrats, Republicans and federal judges
Labels: Democratic Party, Right and Left, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Crime boss elected president
The Boss |
US elects crime boss President of the United States.
Labels: Crime, History, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Recall Supervisor Engardio?
San Francisco Public Press |
Editor:
The issue that I and other residents of the Sunset and Richmond districts have with the Sunset supervisor[Joel Engardio] is that, while his conduct did not rise to the standard of a “serious ethical breach” by legal standards, it does meet the standard of ignoring the constituents you were elected to represent.
He could have supported the compromise (as he stated he would time and time again when he was running for office) that the supervisor in the Richmond District supported.
The great majority of the residents of the Sunset and Richmond districts who are behind the recall are not “petulant” nor are we seeking revenge. What we would like to see is politicians held accountable to their constituents for their conduct. I voted for him and donated to his campaign. He’s a nice guy. I will vote for his recall and give money to support the recall. This is just the business of politics!
Underlying this divide are the bigger issues: Values. Sunset and Richmond residents want to raise their families in their neighborhood, go to the schools they choose, go to the churches they support. They are not YIMBYs or bike coalition proponents. We are not going to apologize for espousing middle class values. Most of us are fairly well educated and pragmatic---hence willing to compromise.
Labels: City Hall, Engardio, Neighborhoods
Friday, December 20, 2024
How Kamala Harris becomes president
Vice President Harris |
Kevin Drum's excellent hed yesterday on his blog:
On a strict reading, I think what formally makes somebody president is the action of the VP reading out the tally of electoral votes and declaring who the president is, per the 12th amendment.The timetable in the 20th amendment presumes that this has occurred. And the House has to have elected a speaker and adopted rules so it can be ready to choose a president if no candidate has a majority---even if that isn't a real possibility, they have to be organized as a legislative body just in case. Until then they're just a random mass meeting.The absolutely most interesting sidelight here is that if the House can't pick a president, guess who takes the office? The outgoing administration's VP, that's who.That provision is for a very narrow case that hasn't [ever] happened yet, but I think that situation is a decent analogy, and so a good guide to what should happen if the House can't get itself organized and pick a speaker.The presidency really can't be vacant (a survival of the monarchy the office descends from) so somebody has to exercise its authority.I'd argue that the 12th amendment says that person would be the current VP.
Labels: History, Kamala Harris, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Drones, UFOs? Ask Trump
New York Times |
Labels: Tech, The Cosmos, Trump
The Biggest Lie of the Year? Trump and Vance
Biggest Liars of the Year |
“In Springfield, they're eating the dogs,” Trump said Sept. 10. “The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame.”
Labels: Animals, Biden, Hate/Terrorism, History, Immigration, JD Vance, Racism, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Monday, December 16, 2024
Trump walks back lowering grocery prices because 'It's very hard'
Our know-it-all president-elect
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images |
Labels: Trump
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Trump already walking back campaign promises
Photo: Nicholas Kamm |
Gee, what a surprise: Trump is reneging on his campaign promises even before he takes office.
Kevin Drum on the unsurprising news:
....Trump has been lying for so long about how terrible things are that he can hardly claim they're even worse than that.But that's not stopping him. On Sunday he told NBC's Kristen Welker he "couldn't guarantee" that his tariffs wouldn't raise prices. That's certainly not anything he's said before.Then today he told Time that maybe he wouldn't be able to bring down the price of groceries after all. "It's hard to bring things down once they're up." he said, accurately. "You know, it's very hard." This, of course, was widely known all along. In fact, it would probably be disastrous if prices fell.I expect these are just the first of many walkbacks. He can't do most of the ridiculous shit he promised over and over, and the stuff he can accomplish will mostly be because Biden already accomplished it for him. But he'll figure out a way to take credit for it anyway.
See also Trump "making shit up"
Labels: Biden, History, Kevin Drum, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Monday, December 09, 2024
Trump tries to bully Democrats
“This is not just about retribution against those of us on the committee,” Schiff said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday.“This is about sending a message that no one better hold him to account in his second term.…He is intent on trying to break down these checks and balances in our system,” Schiff added, referring to Trump. “That’s where the danger lies more so than to the members of the committee.”
Labels: Adam Schiff, Biden, Democratic Party, History, The Repugnant Party, Trump
Saturday, December 07, 2024
Old San Francisco
Seals Stadium 1960 |
I was thrilled to see Ted Williams play in an exhibition game at Seals Stadium when the Seals were a farm team for the Boston Red Sox. In his first at bat, he drilled a line drive single to right field. A home run would have been better, but I wasn't disappointed.
Labels: History, Nostalgia, San Francisco, Sports
Friday, December 06, 2024
What's next for the Great Highway?
Labels: Anti-Car, City Hall, Coastal Commission, Engardio, Great Highway, History, Muni, Neighborhoods, Traffic in SF
Group photo
Everybody smile! |
This is the Flaming Star Nebula, aka IC 405, a combination emission/reflection nebula in the Auriga constellation.I took this picture Sunday night after a multi-month layoff, and it was the best night of astrophotography I've ever had. Usually something goes wrong during the imaging session—it's always weird and different each time—but the sky was perfect on Sunday and everything went great.I set up the scope with no trouble, pressed Go, and it took pictures steadily for the next eight hours with no complaints.In the end, I got more than 100 subs of four minutes each, partly because it was a long winter night and partly because everything went so smoothly. This is by far my most productive session ever....
Labels: Atheism and Religion, Kevin Drum, The Cosmos