Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 3/31

[SVPete]

85 bikes seized after authorities stop planned Bay Bridge takeover

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bikes-seized-bay-bridge-takeover/4060098/

Authorities said they stopped a large group of cyclists that intended to take over the Bay Bridge on Saturday.

The California Highway Patrol said they alerted San Francisco police of a large group of cyclists riding recklessly on city streets, believed to be heading to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to enter the roadway and take over the bridge.

Officials noted the cyclists were seen riding directly at moving cars, swerving in and out of traffic and coming close to pedestrians on city streets.

As CHP and San Francisco PD responded to the area, authorities said SFPD Real Time Investigations Center began tracking the group and updating the officers.

Eventually, the group entered the bridge riding the wrong way up the Harrisson Street off-ramp, according to police. There, they met a group of CHP and SFPD personnel.

The California Highway Patrol said 85 participants were detained, cited for riding a bicycle onto a freeway and released. 85 bicycles were also seized by law enforcement on scene, according to authorities.

Back in the 90s there was a group of bike riders, "Critical Mass", that did a monthly Friday evening commute hours ride through SF, intentionally bleeping up traffic and harassing car drovers. I thought they finally went away, but maybe after 20 or 30 years they're indulging their nostalgia ... or tried to.

I'm sure there are Progs in SF and Sacto who are attacking CHP over this.

[SVPete]

Lawyers for Rep. Swalwell demand that FBI director halt any plan to release old investigative file

https://apnews.com/article/fbi-patel-swalwell-california-2695734ad8aa7d9db550e94078f7a27b

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Rep. Eric Swalwell demanded Monday that FBI Director Kash Patel immediately end any effort to release records from a decade-old investigation involving the California Democrat and a suspected Chinese operative that resulted in no criminal charges.

The cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys advises Patel that he would run afoul of both federal law and longstanding Justice Department policy if he moves forward with releasing records from the FBI’s investigative file. It seeks a response from Patel within three days confirming that he will comply with the demand, and warns that any further effort to publicize the files will result in legal action.

“The Congressman has never been accused of wrongdoing in that matter and your attempt to release the file is a transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for Governor of California,” said the cease-and-desist letter from Swalwell’s attorneys, Sean Hecker and Norm Eisen. “Your actions threaten to expose you, others at the FBI, and the FBI itself to significant legal liability. Indeed, disclosure of the investigative file would violate federal law in several respects.”

Swillwell may be having an Epstein moment. What does he fear? That the FBI has videos/pics of him and Fang Fang making the beast with two backs?

More seriously, in the real world:

1. Swillwell has been widely accused of, at best, being duped by a Chinese spy-siren into letting other possible spies into his campaign inner circle.

2. Incestigating a possible spy infiltration, even a decade ago, is within the duties of the FBI director and FBI agents, i.e. well within the bounds of Qualified Immunity. Swillwell's threats of legal liability are hollow.

[SVPete]

Powerful human rights chief who led San Francisco defund the cops push has spectacular fall from grace

https://nypost.com/2026/03/30/us-news/former-san-francisco-human-rights-commission-chief-and-ex-nonprofit-head-arrested/

A city department head and her longtime boyfriend have been arrested, accused of siphoning millions in taxpayer funds meant to uplift the black community after George Floyd’s death.

Sheryl Davis, a former head of the Human Rights Commission, and her nonprofit boss partner James Spingola were taken into custody Monday on suspicion of multiple felony counts of misappropriating public funds and conflicts of interest.

Davis allegedly engaged in a “pervasive pattern of self-dealing” while in charge of the Dream Keeper Initiative — a $120 million plan to assist black residents spun up after the high-profile police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The initiative was a scandal-ridden program launched by former mayor London Breed in 2021 — described as plan to redirect police funding towards economic opportunities for needy black residents.

Throwing $$$$ at issues, whether private (e.g. BLM) or government commisions like this, is an invitation to fraudsters willing to hide behind a cause.

[SVPete]

WRT the confiscated bikes, I wonder how many are sub-$200 Walmartian brand and how many are north of $1000 higher end bikes.

[SVPete]

U. Cincinnati ‘destroyed’ professor’s career after he defended white journalist, lawsuit claims

https://www.thecollegefix.com/u-cincinnati-destroyed-professors-career-after-he-defended-white-journalist-lawsuit-claims/

A former tenured professor at the University of Cincinnati has filed a lawsuit claiming officials retaliated against him and essentially “destroyed his career” after he spoke up against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Former Professor Brian Calfano, an award-winning journalist who served as the journalism department chair since 2021, filed the lawsuit in late February.

“First, he objected when the University imposed an unauthorized, race-based hiring policy that violated its own bylaws,” the lawsuit alleges. “Second, he supported a female colleague who reported sexist conduct by a male faculty member.”

These actions prompted a series of events in which “administrators systematically destroyed his career, his reputation, and nearly his life,” the lawsuit alleges.
...
But Goth’s hiring was initially stymied by university officials, and when Calfano raised concerns of racial discrimination over an unofficial DEI hiring process he was told he must follow, an associate dean reportedly told him to “check himself,” the lawsuit alleges.

Calfano also supported Goth when, after she had been hired, she filed claims of sexism against a fellow journalism faculty advisor at the university, another thing that upset campus officials, who launched two pretextual investigations against Calfano, the lawsuit alleges.

The first was over alleged misconduct, and the second was a Title IX sexual harassment investigation initiated by administrators, it states.

Calfano was removed as department head in March 2024, barred from teaching, and faced severe stress leading to weight loss, a suicide attempt, hospitalization, and medical leave, according to the complaint. He resigned entirely as a faculty member in January 2025.

There's a strange flexibility in how tenure works: it protects Prog crazies, as long as they don't do something so serious that they don't end up in jail; it means almost nothing when a conservative goes deviates from Prog orthodoxy.