Like the age of the horse and buggy, the age of BART and other government run, failed, rider less, costly, dirty, disease carrying, crime vehicles, home to the homeless, is over.

“It is so bad; they may have to shut down 2-3 lines in 1-2 years. As I rode the train through the tunnel between Orinda and Rockridge, I had to put in my earplugs as the track noise was so deafening! Yuk! On my vacation to Germany, I rode their Metro systems all around. Silent running, clean on-time trains with very helpful personnel.

Suggestion: revoke BART’s Special Interest status, fire all the employees, and hire the Germans to run the system. I, and many of my colleagues, are at the end of the rope in putting up with these bureaucratic and dysfunctional government organizations.”

We can no longer afford to pay off unions, incompetent bureaucrats, greedy corporations and politicians for an ancient system that does not work.  Maybe we should sell it for $1 to the Germans—that would save us billions.

Tears shall drown the wind by Richard Eber

Richard Eber, Exclusive to the California Political News and Views,  3/28/23

In the course of writing about the wacky world California of politics, I receive more suggestions of topics to cover than Dear Abby might inspire. The poison pen letter received below is a good indication of what can be found in my correspondence file.

What makes this memo so unique is that it was sent by an 80 year old plus stalwart liberal Democrat.  It would appear even those on the left are getting frustrated by the increased incompetence of government.

In the Bay Area. Where I reside, public transportation is the focus of complaint by a body politic whose patience is severely tested each day

Thus I was told

“My turn to get on the soapbox. I have tickets to the SF Broadway productions at the Orpheum and Golden Gate Theaters. Unfortunately, my best travel option is to take BART. In a simple sentence, BART is totally mismanaged and dysfunctional

Let’s go down the list:

1. Super noisy trains

2. Dirty stations

3. Safety concerns

4. Rude station employees

5. High fares. How does this happen and continue to happen?

Well, they are organized as a Special District in the State of California. That basically means they manage themselves with practically no oversight. The BART management votes themselves salaries in the $350K range.

The employees are among the highest paid transit workers in the nation. And, they deliver 1-5 above. Oh sure, they blame Covid, but the problems were there way before Covid. You could start with the initial design of the cars and tracks which are non-standard and cost 2.5 times the cost of an equivalent car say in Washington DC’s metro.

If you recall, there was a strike several years back that ended up caving into the employees demands for super high salaries, benefits and retirement packages. If you have been following the East Bay Times articles, you may be aware that they are about to run out of the emergency Covid money they got from the Federal government.

It is so bad; they may have to shut down 2-3 lines in 1-2 years. As I rode the train through the tunnel between Orinda and Rockridge, I had to put in my earplugs as the track noise was so deafening! Yuk! On my vacation to Germany, I rode their Metro systems all around. Silent running, clean on-time trains with very helpful personnel.

Suggestion: revoke BART’s Special Interest status, fire all the employees, and hire the Germans to run the system. I, and many of my colleagues, are at the end of the rope in putting up with these bureaucratic and dysfunctional government organizations.”

Unfortunately, what was recounted above is not an isolated incident.  BART’s mishandling has been repeated from Sacramento to Los Angeles. The volume of ridership of these systems has declined by at least half in the Covid-19 era.  It will take a long time to recover because of a stay at home work force and high fares which only the affluent can afford.

Meanwhile State government is unwilling to intervene to cut costs with Bart and other transit agencies because their workers are all union.  Layoffs or reducing wages is simply not on the table. The solution of politicians residing in Sacramento is always raising taxes and finding more Federal money to fund their multi-billion public transportation empire.

Going along with this foolishness is the Bullet Trade debacle which is a total joke was it at all funny.  This service which is supposed to be utilized by those driving or flying between Southern and Northern California, will likely take at least 20 more years and 60 billion dollars more to build.

It is not difficult to understand why the critic of BART wants to bring in Germans to operate the system.   The same could be said for the Bullet train where it would be wise to import Chinese workers to speed up construction and reduce costs.

The problem is when the Bullet Train is finished, who will be willing to ride it?  The answer is likely to be hardly anyone.

Meanwhile Interstate 5 and US 99 are overused.  Except when they are in close proximity to cities, they have only two lanes in each direction on pothole infested roads. Driving is a necessity, even with the highest gasoline costs in the nation.

Unfortunately, the incompetence of government in California does not end with mass transit or the Bullet Train shooting blanks.  Green New Deal-Climate Change environmental crazies in charge of the Sacramento legislative asylum want to force residents to follow their dystopian vision for the future.

This includes forced use of electric cars, banning natural gas powered stoves, driers, and heaters; along with eliminating fossil fuels prior to when there is technology to accomplish this goal.

But wait there’s more!

The genius’s running State Government are passing laws to eliminate the construction of single family in favor of Multi-Unit Project Development communities located near mass transit.  Transport by autos would be discouraged as few parking spaces will be allocated as it is assumed public transportation will be utilized.

It is also assumed families might be willing to trade in their backyards and play areas in favor of work out facilities, bike racks, and small community parks.  Such a notion is pure insanity but “Big Brother’s” colleagues in charge of the Legislature simply don’t care.   There are not enough Republicans and middle of the road Democrats to provide viable opposition to the continued destruction of the former Golden State.

At the same time middle class and wealthy continue to flee for green pastures. Moving to Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida, and beyond,  they are putting the insanity of California behind them.

For the rest of us Macbeth’s lament “That tears shall drown the wind” is a reality we must endure each day

In a series of tweets Sunday night, Fletcher says he’s suffered many years from “devastating post traumatic stress” tied to combat “piled on top of intense childhood trauma that’s been exacerbated by alcohol abuse.”

Yes, Nathan Fletcher, the former Republican, the former independent, now a Progressive/Klan Democrat is “halting” his race for State Senate.  In a couple of months, when he is rehabilitated, he can get back into the race.  With union support—his wife is the radical head of the California AFL-CIO, and the sympathy from his situation and “courage” to face his problems, he could get in the race on Labor day—still four weeks BEFORE filing opens.

With all that said, the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem.  Glad to see he is getting help.  Maybe when he is finished with his treatment he will remember why he became a Marine?

Supervisor Fletcher Quitting State Senate Bid to Recover from PTSD, Early Trauma

by Ken Stone, Times of San Diego,  3/27/23 

San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher says he is quitting his campaign for state Senate to focus on his fight with PTSD tracing to his Marine combat days and childhood.

In a series of tweets Sunday night, Fletcher says he’s suffered many years from “devastating post traumatic stress” tied to combat “piled on top of intense childhood trauma that’s been exacerbated by alcohol abuse.”

“While I’ve shared some of these challenges publicly, they run much deeper than I’ve acknowledged,” Fletcher said.

The former Assembly member married to Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, another Assembly veteran, added: “I have to seek help. With the recommendation of my therapist and the insistence of my wife, this week I will be checking into an extended inpatient treatment center for post traumatic stress, trauma and alcohol abuse.”

In her own tweet, Fletcher’s wife said: “I love my husband and appreciate his willingness to put our family first.”

Fletcher said he projected calm and composure outwardly but internally has been “waging a struggle that only those closest to me have seen — the detrimental impact on my relationships, mood and inability to sleep.”

He said he had no doubt he would make a full recovery and “come back stronger, more connected and present.”

“However, it is clear I need to focus on my health and my family and do not have the energy to simultaneously pursue a campaign for the state Senate.”

Fletcher had combat tours in Iraq, the Near East and the Horn of Africa.

San Fran, the Bidet by the Bay, is just pretending to want to solve the housing problem in the city.  Though the city has lost over 100,000 populations, Sacramento is demanding it build 82,000 new housing units.  Why build more when your population is fleeing?  What has happened to the homes those who fled left?

“It is a complicated topic, to be sure, as well as an expensive one. The homelessness department report estimated that the cost of solving the homelessness crisis in the next three years would total $992 million. That nearly $1 billion figure, which is a $400 million decrease from the department’s initial estimate in December, doesn’t account for already-budgeted items or an annual $378 million in subsequent costs.

Further, other considerations may make the goal impossible to achieve. For example, in the Mission District, a plan to build 70 to 80 tiny homes at a price of $7.4 million was shot down after neighbors came out against the project. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who had championed the project, said that the foiled plan left her depressed. 

There is NO homeless problem in San Fran.  There is a mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism problem.  Solve those and you “solve” homelessness”.  Work for the homeless, and you will grow the number of homeless.

Plan to Solve Homelessness in SF Is Unfeasible, Says Department Tasked With Doing It

Written by David Sjostedt, SF Standard,   3/21/23 

The department tasked with solving the homeless crisis in San Francisco has deemed its own plan to do so unfeasible. 

During a Board of Supervisors hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers discussed a plan by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to end unsheltered homelessness citywide by 2026—a noble goal, but one that department head Shireen McSpadden has come to believe is unworkable. Citing staffing shortages and the difficulty of finding usable properties, the report concludes that the parameters under which it is expected to alleviate the crisis are simply unfeasible.

“We were just trying to be realistic about some of the challenges,” McSpadden said. 

The department’s 23-page report struck some supervisors as defeatist in tone.

“Why would you put these numbers down and then say we can’t do it?” said Supervisor Dean Preston. “It makes no sense whatsoever.”  

It is a complicated topic, to be sure, as well as an expensive one. The homelessness department report estimated that the cost of solving the homelessness crisis in the next three years would total $992 million. That nearly $1 billion figure, which is a $400 million decrease from the department’s initial estimate in December, doesn’t account for already-budgeted items or an annual $378 million in subsequent costs.

Further, other considerations may make the goal impossible to achieve. For example, in the Mission District, a plan to build 70 to 80 tiny homes at a price of $7.4 million was shot down after neighbors came out against the project. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who had championed the project, said that the foiled plan left her depressed. 

Ronen said during Tuesday’s hearing that, even with the necessary funding and political will, efforts to house and shelter every homeless person would meet too much pushback to succeed. 

“I’ve been here trying to work on this issue for 13 years, and I’m just out of ideas,” Ronen said. “If we can’t find a way to show our communities that these sites improve conditions in a neighborhood and don’t make them worse, I just don’t know how we ever find more sites.”

At least 4,379 people sleep on San Francisco’s streets on any given night, while as many as 20,000 people experience homelessness citywide during the course of a year, according to the most recent count. The issue has continually topped the list of concerns for residents while taxing vital infrastructure such as public transportation and law enforcement. 

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who called for the hearing, took issue with what he deemed as the department’s fixation on permanent housing over shelter  

Mandelman argued that the city is not responsible for permanently housing everyone who arrives in San Francisco, and asked the homelessness department to shift its focus to more temporary options. 

“I simply don’t believe this department is serious about ending unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco,” Mandelman said. “It seems that you’re almost unwilling to contemplate a more transitional housing-based approach.”

Representatives from the department contended that an excessive focus on shelter would require the perpetual addition of new beds. Therefore, it could be more expensive in the long run. The department plans to release another five-year plan to address homelessness next month. 

While Preston contended that the the city does have a responsibility to permanently house all of its unhoused residents, he took issue with the department’s assertion that the plan is unfeasible. 

Preston pointed to the city’s recent promise to stand up 47,000 affordable housing units by 2031 as well as a $25 million budget supplemental for the San Francisco Police Department that was passed earlier in the meeting.  

“Tell us what you need,” Preston said. “Let’s not start from a place of assuming that you can’t do it.” 

McSpadden said that the department’s reluctance stems from staffing shortages that hinder its ability to quickly execute and monitor contracts. The department is currently under contract with many nonprofits that are out of compliance with state law.

“We’re seeing some organizations that are really struggling to keep up now before we’re even trying to do this,” McSpadden said. “We were just trying to be realistic about some of the challenges with staffing, both on the nonprofit side and within our department.”

When you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer.  Asking about the reasons the drought is not over is a nice question—but worthless.  The right question is why there is a lack of water—and that question can be answered in one word; GOVERNMENT.

If we had built dams in the past ten years, we would have a surplus of water.  If we stopped allowing water to flow into the ocean, we would have enough water.  It is government policy to create a water shortage.  Until government gets out of the why NPR and others will detract you from the real question and the real answers.

3 reasons why California’s drought isn’t really over, despite all the rain

By Lauren Sommer, NPR,  3/24/23

Transcript

Ask a water expert if California’s drought is finally done, and the answers sound something like this:

“Yes and no.” “Kind of.” “Depends what you mean by drought.”

The state has been deluged by storms this winter, hit by 12 atmospheric rivers that have led to evacuation orders, rising rivers and broken levees. In some parts of the Sierra Nevada, more than 55 feet of snow have fallen.

With reservoirs filling up, many Californians are eager to put the severe, 3-year drought behind them. A major water supplier in Southern California recently lifted mandatory conservation rules that limited outdoor watering. Large parts of the state are now free of drought, according to the federal government’s Drought Monitor, which looks at rainfall and soil moisture.

But in California, water shortages aren’t just due to a lack of rain, and the state’s chronic water problems are far from over.

“While we’ve seen some pretty fantastic wet weather and we’ve seen conditions improve, in a whole lot of places we still have some lingering impacts that still challenge California,” says Mike Anderson, the state’s climatologist.

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Decades of drought have taken their toll, and experts say that deeper issues need to be addressed before California can be fully-drought free. Here are three reasons why:

#1 – California’s groundwater drought is still bad

When California’s reservoirs declined, many cities and farmers turned to another water source: vast aquifers underground.

In drought years, groundwater has supplied up to 60% of California’s water. But the pumping has been largely unregulated. So over the decades, water levels have fallen dramatically in California’s aquifers. Before this winter, some groundwater wells were at the lowest points ever recorded. That’s because in the Central Valley, groundwater hasn’t been replenished after previous droughts.

“Groundwater is the dark matter of the hydrologic cycle,” says Graham Fogg, professor emeritus of hydrogeology at the University of California Davis. “The fact that these are such huge volumes of water allows them to take a lot of abuse and to be depleted year after year.”

As a result, more than 2,000 household wells went dry over the last three years in California, many in low-income communities of color. Temporary water supplies, including bottled water, had to be brought in.

“We’re not out of a drought,” says Susana De Anda, executive director of the Community Water Center, an environmental justice organization in the Central Valley. “In California, the human right to water was passed in 2012. Unfortunately to this day, many Californians don’t have that reality, and it’s important to recognize that.”

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This winter, a new effort is underway to use some of the floodwaters to fill aquifers. California is also in the process of implementing a new groundwater law, intended to get over-pumping under control. Water users are currently writing plans for keeping groundwater use in balance with supply, but they won’t be fully implemented until 2040.

“Over the years, pretty consistently, California has been using a lot more water than its surface water and groundwater system can supply,” Fogg says. “So that has to change.”

#2 – California’s other water source is still in drought

Most of California’s major cities exist today because their water is delivered from hundreds of miles away. In Southern California, that distance is thousands of miles, because the region uses water from the Colorado River.

A two-decades long drought has hit the Colorado River hard, causing its massive reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, to plummet. Climate change is shrinking the snowpack that feeds the river, and the seven states that use it have long made claim to more water than is available on average.

Those states are now in emergency negotiations over cutbacks to their water supply, but are struggling to agree. With some of the oldest water rights on the river, California has seniority and is technically last in line for cuts. But its water supply will still be impacted. Many Southern California cities have been working on conserving and recycling water locally, so they’re less dependent on faraway supplies.

“We just have to get better at managing the more limited resources that we have there, and that means figuring out how to share a smaller pool of water than what we’ve been using up till now,” says Ellen Hanak, director of the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California.

#3 – The next drought is coming…

Cue the John Steinbeck quote – it’s easy to forget about the dry times once the rains come. But drought will return.

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“We always have to be ready,” Hanak says. “Drier times could come again as soon as next year.”

As the climate gets hotter, California’s extremes are expected to get more extreme. That means droughts will be drier, putting even greater strain on the state’s water supply.

After the last major drought ended in California in 2017, some water conservation behavior seemed to stick. Water use didn’t rebound to pre-drought levels, because some residents made lasting changes, like replacing water-hungry lawns and swapping for more efficient fixtures and appliances.

Still, experts warn that keeping a drought-mindset can only help California weather future challenges. So there’s a risk in acting like drought is a thing of the past. Saving water now could help keep reservoirs fuller, a safe bet in a state where next year’s winter storms are never guaranteed.

BART, which is losing money and riders, has decided to spend $90 million on new fare gates.  It seems most do not want to pay high fares to ride a dirty, disease and crime ridden homeless housing vehicle.

Looks like another greedy corporation got its hands into the taxpayers pockets.  No surprise.

BART to move forward with $90M new fare gate project

by: Alex Baker, KRON4,  3/23/23 

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — BART announced Thursday it would be moving forward with plans to purchase and install new fare gates systemwide. Upgrading the existing fare gates for more secure models are part of the transit system’s broader effort to win back ridership in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The new fare gates will “bring a new look and improved experience, offering state-of-the-art technology that will boost safety by reducing fare evasion,” BART said in an announcement on its website. The new gates will also enhance access for people in wheelchairs and people who ride BART with bikes and strollers.

At a meeting Thursday, the BART Board of Directors staff recommended that the Board move forward with the first purchase of the $90 million Next Generation Fare Gate project, BART announced. Staff also recommended awarding up to $47 million to Traffic America to implement the project.

An installation timeline will be developed by BART staff and STraffic that will see the new fare gate stress tested at a yet-to-be-determined station later this year. The project calls for the new fare gates to be installed at all stations by 2026.

The design for the new fare gate has yet to be finalized, but the gates will have clear swing barriers that will be difficult to be pushed through, jumped over, or maneuvered under, according to BART.

“New fare gates will transform the rider experience and will deliver immediate improvements to safety and reliability,” said BART Board President Janice Li. “BART researched world-wide best practices in fare gate designs to help guide this pivotal purchase. I want to thank the local, state, and federal funding sources who have stepped up to support this impactful project. I am committed to seeing this project fully funded and fully implemented without delay.”

Since government would not give a man back his mothers home—allowing swatters to take it over—this real person did the job needed, without the help of courts or cops—both of which were either too expensive or refused to help.  He got the home back, literally over the objections of government.  Glad you pay your taxes?

Handyman turns the tables on squatters who took over his mother’s house

Hannah Ray Lambert, Fox News,   3/25/23  

A handyman turned the tables on suspected squatters who took over his mother’s Northern California home.

“If they could take a house, then I could take a house,” Flash Shelton of the United Handyman Association said in a YouTube video. “They’re the squatter, and they have rights. Well, then, if I become the squatter on the squatter, then I should have rights, right?”

Shelton’s video detailing his quest to reclaim the California home has garnered more than two million views on YouTube.

Shelton said his father recently passed away, and his mother couldn’t live in the house on her own. So they put it up for rent.

A woman who identified herself as a prison guard asked to rent the house, according to Shelton, but she didn’t have any money or credit, so he said no. Then he learned a truckload of furniture and other belongings had been delivered to the home.

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“She said that it was delivered by accident and she was getting rid of it,” Shelton said.

Instead, the handyman started hearing from realtors that the house was full of furniture and people. Neighbors said the lights were on at night. Shelton called the police, but like many Americans facing squatters, the answer he got was unhelpful.

“They basically said, ‘You know, I’m sorry, but we can’t enter the house, and it looks like they’re living there. So you need to go through the courts,'” Shelton recalled law enforcement telling him.

Homeowners across the nation have been embroiled in costly legal battles to try to remove squatters, with no resolution in sight.

“Even though you’re at your house, and you’re paying the mortgage … at some point, squatters feel like they have more rights than you, so they don’t have incentive to leave until a judge tells them to,” he said. “And that could take months, six months, it could take years. I don’t know. I didn’t want to take that chance.”

So he hatched a plan. Shelton wrote up a lease agreement between himself and his mother designating Shelton as the legal resident of the home.

He loaded some guns and his dog into his Jeep and set off for California, arriving at 4 a.m. to find cars in the driveway. Shelton said he parked down the street and waited until everyone left the house several hours later.

Shelton let himself in using the keys to the house. Video shows a bed and other furniture sitting inside the home as well as boxes of belongings and what appears to be a California Department of Corrections uniform.

Shelton said he started installing security cameras when two women pulled up to the house.

“I’m really sorry about all this,” one of the women can be heard saying in a video Shelton recorded. “It’s a nightmare and beyond.”

Shelton told the woman that if she didn’t have everything out by midnight, he’d have it hauled away. The alleged squatters missed the deadline, but were gone by three, Shelton said.

“I think just the fact that I was there was enough,” he said. “It was actually fun to do it. I won’t lie about that. I’m glad it was successful.”

But Shelton cautioned against following his lead in a second video.

“Not everyone should walk through that door not knowing what you’re gonna find,” he said. “It’s not always going to be peaceful like that.”

Ridership on all government transportation systems is falling, fast.  Decent people stay away from dirty, disease and crime ridden buses and trains.  But, we have now found a use for the trains—shelter for the homeless and a “safe” location to use drugs.

“From the moment you hit the stairs in the underground parking garage, it smells like pee. Wash the stairways, Metro. And then stop people from peeing in them. As I entered the car — waiting only a few minutes for a train — the first thing I noticed was trash, on the floor, and on my chosen seat, which I brushed off with the back of my hand. Pick up the trash, Metro. I sat down and started counting. Two guys were passed out, completely, slouched over in their seats. Bruised, cut, battered, sunburned — they were homeless drug addicts. Then I counted around the car, and was going to go with six housed people as well. But I had to revise that — two of those were wrapped in a dirty blanket, as if they were going to stay on the train forever. So, total, with me: Four homeless, five more fortunate.

Nothing scary, as such. Just heartbreakingly sad.

The story shows that even those paid to be on the train, as an Ambassador, do not like using it.  Why aren’t they gett5ing the druggies and the homeless off the trains.  Not to do so seems like another waste of tax dollars.

Riding a Gold Line train in the age of LA Metro anxiety

By LARRY WILSON, | Pasadena Star News, 3/22/23 

I hadn’t been on an LA Metro light-rail train in slightly over three years.

I am willing to wager that the majority of you readers would say the same.

Driving past the mostly empty Gold Line train cars on the 210 Freeway, we knew something was wrong with mass transit in these parts.

We knew, as the taxpayers who have funded Los Angeles County’s attempt to catch up with the rest of the big-city world over the last three decades, that just when it seemed as if there were enough connectivity to make it all work, it all went south with the pandemic.

For years, during the worst of the pre-vaccine pandemic, we weren’t even getting into cars with friends and family. What would make us get on a public train, crowded or not?

And yet. That was more than partially an excuse. When I thought about it last week, I had been on trains in Scotland, and in Spain, over the last three years. For God’s sake, I had been on the New York City subway.

So what was keeping me from the hometown version?

Then, last week I read my former editorial board colleague Rachel Uranga’s front-page story in the Los Angeles Times, where she is now a staff writer. She and photographer Wally Skalij hung out at the Red Line station at MacArthur Park, where the classical music blares in order to keep the riff-raff away. But the riff-raff, in the person of fentanyl smoker Matthew Morales, quickly showed themselves anyway, and persevered. The scribe, the photog and the junkie boarded the train together at rush hour, and the smoker fired up, chasing the dragon of smoke through the plastic hull of a repurposed ballpoint pen. Morales collapsed in a stupor. The train operator walked by and barely noticed.

Really? We’ve just given up?

Monday, I grabbed the disused TAP card and boarded a southbound train at Del Mar. It was the easiest assignment ever: Get off at Chinatown, walk two blocks and have a French-dipped sandwich at Philippe’s, forever filled with characters — rich guys, poor guys, cops, city workers, families — that remind us we live in a real city.

I saw no crime, as such. I was never afraid. But, man, if I was running that railroad …

From the moment you hit the stairs in the underground parking garage, it smells like pee. Wash the stairways, Metro. And then stop people from peeing in them. As I entered the car — waiting only a few minutes for a train — the first thing I noticed was trash, on the floor, and on my chosen seat, which I brushed off with the back of my hand. Pick up the trash, Metro. I sat down and started counting. Two guys were passed out, completely, slouched over in their seats. Bruised, cut, battered, sunburned — they were homeless drug addicts. Then I counted around the car, and was going to go with six housed people as well. But I had to revise that — two of those were wrapped in a dirty blanket, as if they were going to stay on the train forever. So, total, with me: Four homeless, five more fortunate.

Nothing scary, as such. Just heartbreakingly sad.

•  

I glanced into the next car and saw two tall, young, athletic men with slick gray jackets identifying them as Metro Ambassadors.

I walked back to talk with them. I did not identify myself as a reporter, so won’t quote them. Had they read Rachel’s story? They had.

Did they agree with her portrait of a transit system in crisis, given the open drug use and the unsavory characters? They did.

Would they themselves use Metro when off-duty? One wouldn’t; the other did, though buses seemed safer to him.

I pointed to the two guys passed out in my car, and to the one guy fidgeting wildly and talking to himself in ours. Was it their job to wake up such sleepers? It was not; could be dangerous for all, though they would stop someone igniting, say, a crack pipe, same as they would any smoker.

What should riders do if worried for our safety or someone else’s? Download the Transit Watch App or call 888-950-7233 and report your train car number and location; real cops will board the train within one or two stops. “We’re not guards, we’re not officers,” one ambassador said. But they’re good guys. So that’s good.

Fourteen minutes after boarding, we were in Chinatown. It was great to not have to park. Excellent sandwich. Nice double espresso at Homegirl Cafe up the street, where the reformed gang members with tattoos on their faces are positively angelic. Zero people passed out on the train home to Pasadena. As with other things in this life, if we all got together and took back the streets — or the light rail — and if our society found homes for the homeless, we would be in a better place.

Remember, when you use an Apple phone, computer or laptop, you are supporting the totalitarian, slave State of China.

While American students are taught to hate this country and it heritage, laws and Constitution, Apple is financing the education of Chinese students, who, at the end of the day BELONG to the Communist Chinese Party.  Why does Apple hate America?  Who does Apple want to finance communism and a slave State.  Why do Americans buy these products that will finance our own enslavement?

Apple enjoys ‘symbiotic’ relationship with China, Cook says

AFP, Yahoo,  3/25/23 

Apple enjoys a “symbiotic” relationship with China, CEO Tim Cook said on Saturday, as the iPhone giant looks to move production out of the country.

Cook, who is in China to attend the high-profile China Development Forum, said “Apple and China grew together,” during an interview on the role of technology in education.

“This has been a symbiotic kind of relationship that I think we both enjoyed,” he said at the state-run event attended by top government officials and corporate leaders.

Cook’s visit comes as Apple, the world’s biggest company by market value, is trying to move production out of China.

Last year, Apple sales were hit by curtailed production at factories as a result of China’s zero-Covid policy.

US export controls on high-tech components are also threatening the company’s supply chain.

Cook did not address supply chain issues during his discussion.

Instead, he focused on the need to bridge the education gap between urban and rural schools and encouraged young people to learn programming and critical thinking skills.

He also pledged to increase Apple’s spending on its rural education program in China to 100 million yuan ($15 million).

Cook visited an Apple Store in downtown Beijing on Friday, and a photo of him posing for a selfie with singer Huang Ling has gone viral on Chinese social media.

There is more to this story than is being reported.  The Blackstone Group is a Santa Monica based company that is buying up affordable housing in San Diego.  First, why does any corporation get to buy affordable housing.  Second, where is the money coming from?  Is this just San Diego or are companies around the nation using affordable housing as a way to make money from the government/corporate cabal?

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  “Affordable “ housing is a scam for corporations to make money form the poor, with the active assistance of government.

“What these women have in common is they both rent from the Blackstone Group — one of the largest private equity companies in the world.

The Blackstone Tenants Union released a report on Saturday morning called “Blackstone Comes to Collect: How America’s Largest Landlord and Wall Street’s Highest Paid CEO are Jacking Up Rents and Ramping Up Evictions.”

The report highlights San Diego County, where Blackstone purchased thousands of affordable housing units in 2021. As renters moved out, the company raised rents in some units between 43-64% in two years.

New Report Claims Blackstone Group is Buying San Diego’s Affordable Housing, Hiking Up Rent Prices

Shandel Menzos, NBC San Diego, 3/25/23 

Blackstone purchased thousands of San Diego’s affordable housing units in 2021, then raised rent for some units between 43-64% in just two years, the report says

The report highlights San Diego County, where Blackstone Group purchased thousands of affordable housing units and raised rents in some units between 43-64% in two years.

As homelessness surges across San Diego County, pressure on affordable housing increases.

San Diego tenants in apartment complexes are rallying against one of America’s largest landlords: The Blackstone Group.

Celeste lives in El Cajon. She didn’t have any heat in her home with her toddler daughter while temperatures plummeted this winter.

Affordable Housing in San Diego

CITY HEIGHTSNOV 10, 2022

Affordable Housing Complex With Unique Building Design Opens in City Heights

 “October was really cold in 2022 and the [leasing consultant] basically told me, ‘Well, you only have a few more months of this, just, hang in there.’ This is illegal. I’m not a fool,” Celeste said.

Viviana lives in Chula Vista with her husband and six children.

“We want to live in peace and we want to be able to have, you know, a manager that we can rely on when something goes wrong. As of right now, we don’t have that,” Vivana said.

What these women have in common is they both rent from the Blackstone Group — one of the largest private equity companies in the world.

The Blackstone Tenants Union released a report on Saturday morning called “Blackstone Comes to Collect: How America’s Largest Landlord and Wall Street’s Highest Paid CEO are Jacking Up Rents and Ramping Up Evictions.”

The report highlights San Diego County, where Blackstone purchased thousands of affordable housing units in 2021. As renters moved out, the company raised rents in some units between 43-64% in two years.

Imperial Beach mayor, Paloma Aguirre, showed her support for tenants.

“I’m committed to sending a letter to Blackstone because I don’t know … in what world does it make sense for somebody to make $1.3 billion a year on the backs of working-class people?” Aguirre said.

Blackstone responded in a statement to NBC7:

“The report and statements are riddled with inaccuracies and mischaracterizations. We believe we

San Fran Nan continues the canard that she is a practicing Catholic.  In fact, her views are 180 degrees different than the Catholic Church.  Now she is on a tear to destroy the Catholic Church.

““I think I’m pro-life because I care about children and the rest,” she proudly stated.

Pelosi then proceeded to condemn Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for refusing to offer her communion due to her extreme pro-abortion position. In 2021, Cordileone accused Pelosi of endorsing legislation that promotes “child sacrifice,” likening her views to those of a “devout Satanist,” rather than a “devout Catholic.”

The Archbishop demanded that she acknowledge her wrongdoing, but Pelosi refused to repent for her stance on the matter.

How do you care for children, when you goal is to kill them?  Is she nuts?  That is not care, it is murder.  Then she mocks those that really do care for children.  Pelosi is just another Democrat politician claiming a religion, when she has none.

Nancy Pelosi Mocks Her Archbishop After He Calls for Her to Repent for Abortion Views

By Chris, Trending Politics,   3/24/23   

During an event at Georgetown University on Thursday, Nancy Pelosi, an abortion activist, declared that she is “pro-life” because she values the lives of children after they are born. Additionally, she dismissed her Archbishop’s demand for her to repent for endorsing abortion.

Despite professing to be a devout Catholic, Pelosi promotes several policies that conflict with Christian doctrines, such as advocating for unrestricted access to abortion.

“I think I’m pro-life because I care about children and the rest,” she proudly stated.

Pelosi then proceeded to condemn Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for refusing to offer her communion due to her extreme pro-abortion position. In 2021, Cordileone accused Pelosi of endorsing legislation that promotes “child sacrifice,” likening her views to those of a “devout Satanist,” rather than a “devout Catholic.”

The Archbishop demanded that she acknowledge her wrongdoing, but Pelosi refused to repent for her stance on the matter.

“I have a problem with my archbishop, well the archbishop of the city I represent,” Pelosi said Thursday. “But I figure that’s his problem, not mine.”

Pelosi’s advocacy for unrestricted access to abortion conflicts with the core Christian beliefs. By dismissing the value of human life in the womb, she is promoting Democrat policies that directly contradict the Christian faith’s stance on the sanctity of life.

The refusal to acknowledge the sinfulness of promoting such policies, as demanded by her Archbishop, shows a lack of repentance and humility, which are also important tenets of the Christian faith.