Stories & Opinions Worth Knowing but Maybe Not Quite Threadworthy 8/3

[SVPete]

There was a massive fire in San Francisco, nearby residents had expressed concerns about homeless camps months earlier

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/08/02/there-was-a-massive-fire-in-san-francisco-nearby-residents-had-expressed-concerns-about-homeless-camps-months-earlier-n568796

Yesterday there was a massive fire in San Francisco at a construction site next to some occupied homes. The city’s Fire Chief said her first impression on seeing the fire was that it had the potential to take out an entire city block. Thanks solely to the hard work of about 140 SFFD firefighters that didn’t happen.
...
No one was hurt but eight people were displaced from their homes because of damage caused by the fire. Like probably half the people in they city, I immediately had my own suspicious about how this got started but didn’t write about it yesterday because I didn’t want to speculate.

Today, we still don’t know for certain how this got started but we have learned their residents in the area had previously written a letter to elected officials sharing their concerns about homeless camps nearby, in particular about fires at those camps.

Hayes Valley is in or near the Tenderloin, a seedy area longer than I've been around and now a haven for The Sacred Homeless. This fire probably was not a question of "if", but of "when".

[ADsOutburst]

There was a massive fire in San Francisco, nearby residents had expressed concerns about homeless camps months earlier

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/08/02/there-was-a-massive-fire-in-san-francisco-nearby-residents-had-expressed-concerns-about-homeless-camps-months-earlier-n568796

Hayes Valley is in or near the Tenderloin, a seedy area longer than I've been around and now a haven for The Sacred Homeless. This fire probably was not a question of "if", but of "when".

Didn’t I see this story already? Oh no, wait. That was Portland.

[SVPete]

The fire could have been due to NIMBY-Luddites or something else Prog, but for now I think The Sacred Homeless are the prime suspects.

[SVPete]

Oregon Clinic Drops Woman Battling Breast Cancer Over 'Transphobia'

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/lincolnbrown/2023/08/03/oregon-clinic-denies-a-woman-breast-cancer-treatments-over-transphobia-n1715704

In the health care system, doctors can “fire” an uncooperative patient for things such as a lengthy pattern of non-compliance with their treatments or because they repeatedly fail to pay their bills. It has to be a longstanding situation and it has to be willful. Patients cannot be fired simply because they happen to be forgetful or sloppy about their finances. It does not happen often, but it is an option in extreme circumstances. That being said, political views are not a reason for releasing a patient from care. ...

According to an article in Reduxx, Barbera noticed a trans pride flag in the reception room of the clinic. She is what is known as “gender critical.” This means she rejects the notions of gender identity. She contacted her doctor via the medical app MyChart, stating:

I have been threatened on Twitter by trans activists with rape and death — so it is daunting to go for medical treatment with that banner proclaiming that what I am, an adult human female, is a mere opt-in category for any gender non-conforming male and not a reality. May I please have a telephone appointment to discuss how I may access your medical care without walking under a banner that seeks to negate all I am?

Barbera was under the impression that the message would be a private one between her and her doctor. However, the clinic staff saw her comments. The doctor, who had been her primary care provider for 12 years and had also treated members of her family, refused to remove the flag.
...
Not long after, Barbera received a MyChart message from Oregon Health Science University Practice Manager Stein Berger. She was informed that Richmond is an “all-inclusive clinic and we value and advocate for diversity.” She was also told that her “transphobic” remarks were “harmful” to the staff. Later that day, she got an email from the clinic stating in part:

Effective immediately, you are discharged from receiving medical care at the Richmond Family Medicine Clinic. This action is being taken because of ongoing disrespectful and hurtful remarks about our LGBTQ community and staff … Please note that you are also now dismissed from all OHSU Family Medicine clinics, including Immediate Care clinics.

In a sane state, that doctor, clinic staff, and the Health Science University would be forced to do a whole lot of 'splainin'. But this happened in Oregon.

[SVPete]

Three resign from Human Relations Commission amid outcry over antisemitic comments

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/local/story/2023-07-28/human-relations-commission-resignations-martinez-stephan-raufi-antisemitism

A commissioner’s recent antisemitic comments have prompted a rash of resignations from the San Diego County Human Relations Commission, along with growing calls for overhauling the body.

At a meeting last week, while coming to the defense of a fellow commissioner who had drawn outrage for earlier comments on Israel, Khaliq Raufi made offensive remarks of his own, falsely asserting that Judaism teaches Jews to kill.

Raufi stepped down this week, as did county District Attorney Summer Stephan and county Sheriff Kelly Martinez — the only two elected officials who were seated on the commission.
...
During the July 18 meeting, Raufi — an Afghan Community Islamic Center member and refugee who served alongside U.S. troops before immigrating to San Diego in 1992 — made inflammatory claims about Jewish scripture. “It states ‘Go kill Palestinians. Wipe them all out,’” he said. “So it’s a teaching that they, on a daily basis, teach their followers in their synagogues.”

Ucky-ducky ... probably unlike Raufi, I have read the Books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, to which he alluded - not quoted - multiple times. They do command wiping out a people group, as justice for several centuries of being horrific (e.g. sacrificing children as offerings to their gods). They are very specific as to that people group, and while Israel disobeyed the command (e.g. the Book of Judges), the people group basically ceased to exist as a distinct people group at least a century or two before the time of Jesus. This was due to successive conquests by Israel, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome (including the Pumic Wars, which wiped out the Canaanite colony Carthage and its colonies in Spain), and centuries of intermarrying with their conquerors.

[SVPete]

Anheuser-Busch lost a staggering $390 MILLION in second quarter as Bud Light's sales to retailers plunge 14% in wake of brand's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12369087/Anheuser-Busch-lost-staggering-395-MILLION-sales-plunged-14-year-Bud-Lights-partnership-transgender-influencer-Dylan-Mulvaney.html

Anheuser-Busch has lost a whopping $390 million in US sales in the wake of its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The parent company blamed the 'volume decline' of Bud Light for the drop in revenue in its second quarter - with figures showing that total US revenue dropped by 10.5 percent in the April-to-June period compared to a year earlier.

The world's largest brewer said Thursday that sales to US retailers had plunged 14 percent, adding that it had been 'underperforming the industry.' This was a direct result of the tie-in with Mulvaney.

This is actual revenue loss, not loss of value due to their stock price dropping.

[SVPete]

Welcome to Oakland! CNN reporter's car gets broken for the 3rd time in a year (Plus Bay Area Batman speaks)

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/08/03/welcome-to-oakland-cnn-reporters-car-gets-broken-for-the-3rd-time-in-a-year-plus-sfs-batman-speaks-n568948

In March, Jazz wrote about CNN reporter Kyung Lah who was doing a story about crime in San Francisco when her rental car windows were smashed and several bags were stolen.

(Embedded Tweet)

You may have noticed that Lah’s tweet opened with “Got robbed. Again.” That’s because this was the 2nd time this had happened to her. In fact, because it had happened before, CNN had hired private security to stay with the car while she was inside City Hall doing an interview. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to stop the robbers, though the security guard did stop the thieves from taking everything.

Today, Lah was doing another story on crime in the Bay Area, this time in Oakland, when her rental car was hit again even though it was completely empty.

(Embedded Tweet)

This was a rental car so Lah had to return it to the rental lot with a missing window. It turns out that didn’t make her anything close to unique.

27 out of 250 returned cars had suffered break-ins. SF and Oakland are in different counties, with SF Bay between them.

[Eupher]

Anheuser-Busch lost a staggering $390 MILLION in second quarter as Bud Light's sales to retailers plunge 14% in wake of brand's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12369087/Anheuser-Busch-lost-staggering-395-MILLION-sales-plunged-14-year-Bud-Lights-partnership-transgender-influencer-Dylan-Mulvaney.html

This is actual revenue loss, not loss of value due to their stock price dropping.

I don't understand why Bud Light's sales haven't dropped to zero. It's crap.

[Ptarmigan]

The institutional left has been hit by a wave of layoffs (but they aren't sure why)
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/08/03/the-institutional-left-has-been-hit-by-a-wave-of-layoffs-but-they-arent-sure-why-n569067

It seems high profile leftist groups are running out of other people’s money. A story published today by HuffPost says Justice Democrats, the group which helped elect the Squad, just laid off about half its staff.

From 2018 to 2020, the activist left experienced something of an electoral renaissance. It started, of course, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then an obscure primary challenger, ousted Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), the chair of the House Democratic Caucus…

Just over six years since its founding, however, Justice Democrats’ opposition is more organized while its mission is more muddled and its coffers depleted. Faced with a shortage of funds, the group laid off nine of its 20 staff members in mid-July, a move that took many prominent progressives by surprise…

“We have huge champions like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ilhan Omar, who are able to be successful political fundraisers,” the second aide said. “But movement-wise, we’re not in a great place right now.”

HuffPost reports there is disagreement on the left about what led to this failure. Is it a general downturn in support for leftist groups among small dollar donors or had the big money donors turned against Justice Democrats because they were primarying Democratic incumbents? Put another way, is this a temporary bump in the road or is the left in general in decline.

In support of the idea that this downturn is not limited to Justice Democrats, the article cites other recent layoff announcements, like this one from May:

Union officials representing Planned Parenthood employees say they have been told to expect layoffs affecting 10 to 20% of the national workforce, or at least 80 people.

In a joint statement from unions representing employees in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., union officials expressed dismay at the news, saying that Planned Parenthood leaders are “pushing out some of our movement’s brightest minds. This comes at a time where reproductive freedom is in jeopardy and when our members are struggling under difficult economic conditions.”

Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder why.

[Ptarmigan]

Mysterious Firm Bought 55,000 Acres Near Travis Air Force Base in California
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/mysterious-firm-bought-55000-acres-near-travis-air-force-base-in-california/

It is being reported that a mysterious investment firm is buying up vast acreage around a Travis Air Force base. The company has also sued farmers in that area, accusing them of conspiring to inflate the value of the property.

The investment firm Flannery Associates has bought around $800 million worth of land around Travis Air Force Base in northern California’s Solano County, which is midway between Sacramento and San Francisco.

Flannery Associates filed a lawsuit in May against a group of landowners, accusing the farmers of conspiring to inflate the value of the property — drawing further scrutiny from policymakers including Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.).

Since 2018, Flannery, registered as an agricultural company, has purchased more than 50,000 acres in Solano County, according to public records and detailed maps obtained by The Hill. The acquired property runs directly up to Travis Air Force Base.

Garamendi has a ‘deep suspicion’ the chunks of land are being bought by a group linked to China.

Garamendi told NewsNation he has spoken with the families who sold their land to Flannery who claim they didn’t want to sell in the first place.

He also said that there was nothing obligating Flannery to pay what it now claims is more than market value for the land.

Someone is buying a lot of land near Travis Air Force Base. Makes you go hmmmmmmmm.

[DefiantSix]

...Garamendi told NewsNation he has spoken with the families who sold their land to Flannery who claim they didn’t want to sell in the first place.

He also said that there was nothing obligating Flannery to pay what it now claims is more than market value for the land.

Sure there is, Comrade. The land is worth whatever the current owner is willing to part with it for. Especially if your masters in Beijing are adamant enough about buying land the landowner doesn't want to sell to you.

This ain't a ****ing command economy like that Communist shithole on the other side of the Pacific, where land prices are set by your political masters. Here, if the market knows you want it bad enough, you can bet the "seller" can jack up the price well beyond what you think market value should be, for any reason or no reason at all.

[SVPete]

Mysterious Firm Bought 55,000 Acres Near Travis Air Force Base in California
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/mysterious-firm-bought-55000-acres-near-travis-air-force-base-in-california/

Someone is buying a lot of land near Travis Air Force Base. Makes you go hmmmmmmmm.

The mystery of one California land grab is solved... mostly

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/08/27/the-mystery-of-one-california-land-grab-is-solved-mostly-n574065

Earlier this month, we looked into the mystery of a small company named Flannery Associates that has been buying up tens of thousands of acres of farmland surrounding Travis Air Force Base in California. They dropped nearly a billion dollars into the purchases, snapping up empty lots and farmland. But who would be doing that and why? At the time, people were speculating that it might be a front group acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, which wouldn’t have been surprising given how much U.S. land they’ve been grabbing lately. But now the new owners have stepped forward and it’s a very different situation indeed. Flannery Associates was funded by a group of elite Silicon Valley mega-investors from the tech sector. And they’re planning on building a brand new city there from scratch, designed to be their own private paradise away from the decay of San Francisco. How nice for them, eh? ...

I'm sure there are some folks who want to believe differently, but here are some reasons this reality is not far-fetched:

* SF Bay Area housing is some of the most expensive in the US;

* Enviros, NIMBYs, and money-hungry city and county gooberments have all but locked down housing development in the SF Bay Area;

* Companies have been moving out of the Bay Area and/or doing expansions outside of the Bay Area for decades, increasingly so in the last decade or so as recruiting new college grads became more difficult;

* Fairfield is near the junction of I-80 (access to the NE Bay Area, Berkeley, Oakland, and SF) and I-680 (access to the East Bay and Silicon Valley);

* USAF use of Travis AFB increased with the shutdown of Sacramento area AFBs and there is tech and other industrial development in the Fairfield, Benicia, Martinez, Vacaville, and Davis-Woodland area.

[Ptarmigan]

The mystery of one California land grab is solved... mostly

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/08/27/the-mystery-of-one-california-land-grab-is-solved-mostly-n574065

I'm sure there are some folks who want to believe differently, but here are some reasons this reality is not far-fetched:

* SF Bay Area housing is some of the most expensive in the US;

* Enviros, NIMBYs, and money-hungry city and county gooberments have all but locked down housing development in the SF Bay Area;

* Companies have been moving out of the Bay Area and/or doing expansions outside of the Bay Area for decades, increasingly so in the last decade or so as recruiting new college grads became more difficult;

* Fairfield is near the junction of I-80 (access to the NE Bay Area, Berkeley, Oakland, and SF) and I-680 (access to the East Bay and Silicon Valley);

* USAF use of Travis AFB increased with the shutdown of Sacramento area AFBs and there is tech and other industrial development in the Fairfield, Benicia, Martinez, Vacaville, and Davis-Woodland area.

I read about it. They want to build a utopia.

[SVPete]

I read about it. They want to build a utopia.

Utopia is great, until humans enter it.

[DefiantSix]

Utopia is great, until humans enter it.

Utopia as envisioned by socialists is a hellscape even before it's populated. Adding socialists to a socialist utopia only makes bad, worse...