The San Francisco Experience

California's Summer surge in C-19 cases has put the Golden State in the dubious first place position of 452,000 cases versus 412,000 for New York. What went wrong ? Back in March and April, California had an enviably low number of cases versus New York which was being ravaged by the Coronavirus. But a series of missteps in the last two months set California on its current downward track.  Mea...

California’s powerful teachers’ union the CTA and Governor Gavin Newsom seem to be taking a very slow and hesitant approach to reopening the state’s schools. He has announced that online learning rather than in person classroom instruction is the way to go. But Santa Clara County, Silicon Valley’s HQs is taking the lead asking for waivers to reopen its schools. The state’s Catholic bishops are als...

Tik Tok the popular lip syncing video app has exploded in popularity globally during the Covid 19 lockdowns. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to ban it in the US. India and Australia have already done so. Is Tik Tok a Trojan Horse for Chinese Communist Party espionage ?

Over 20 European countries have re-opened their schools but the US lags far behind. Our decentralized and locally controlled as well as politicized schools - school boards are elected and funded with local property taxes - are slow off the mark to re-open. Meanwhile our kids suffer.

The world's population stands at 7.8 billion today and has increased by 5.8 billion since 1950. But the British medical journal The Lancet and the University of Washington in Seattle have authored a study which posits that the 21st Century will end with a net decline of 1 billion people. 23 countries will see their current populations cut in half and 90 countries will experience net declines.  Aft...

With San Francisco"s gyms closed for four months, hiking the urban environment of one of America's most beautiful cities affords lots of opportunities for vigorous exercise. But how is urban hiking different from walking ? We want some physical challenge which is demanding and satisfying at the same time. Listen to today's podcast for some tips on changing your city scape into an exciting outdoor...

The Social Media giant is weathering a month long boycott by some of its advertisers, a critical civil rights audit and controversy about political speech. Yet Mark Zuckerberg’s founding principles for Facebook remain: voice and inclusion. How is the company faring ?

With the 2020 Presidential election less than 4 months away, Social Media and with it Fake News stories will loom large no doubt, much as they did in 2016.  The BBC has a dedicated weekly program called BBC Trending which focuses on Disinformation stories. Why would the world's most respected broadcaster want to give any oxygen to conspiracy theories and disinformation stories ?  It is a...

35 million Californians live within 50 miles of one of the 21 historic Franciscan Missions: They are a key part of the California identity. But the recent destruction of statues of Father Junipero Serra, have challenged the legacy of the Missions.  Urban legend versus a large, detailed historical record. Set the record straight !

The mushrooming of 443 homeless tents on the sidewalks of the Tenderloin, one of San Francisco's poorest and most disadvantaged neighborhoods, caused a group of neighbors, including the well-connected UC Hastings Law School to sue San Francisco on May 4, 2020. A settlement between the parties was announced on June 12, 2020 which provides for dismantling 300 of the tents and housing each homeless p...

The destruction of statues of Junipero Serra in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and in front of Los Angeles' founding church, Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, was a wanton act of vandalism. Serra, a Franciscan Friar was canonized a saint by Pope Francis in 2015.  As well as being one of California's Founding Fathers, literally and figuratively, he is one of the most if not the most prominent H...

Cutting edge research coming out of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the antiviral field. Are Kinase Inhibitors the magic bullet to kill the Coronavirus ?

When Steven Carrillo scrawled BOOG in his own blood across the hood of his white van, the US Air Force Sergeant cast his fate with the extremist anti government movement, the Boogaloo Bois. Facing two death penalty charges for killing both a federal security officer and a Santa Cruz County Sheriff deputy, his murderous acts have skyrocketed Boogaloo to national prominence. But who are they ? Can t...

San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk serves to acknowledge and memorialize Great men and women of the LGBTQ Community.  44  large bronze plaques have been laid along Castro Street and Market Street sidewalks to memorialize people like James Baldwin, Frida Kahlo, Tennessee Williams, Virginia Woolf to cite but a few. The plan is to eventually place 500 plaques to memorialize luminaries of the LGBTQ co...

In the closing days of World War II, San Francisco hosted the organizing conference which created the UN. The conference took place at the War Memorial Opera House from April 25 to June 26, 1945. Why did San Francisco get this honor ?

Many of our changed behaviors during the Covid 19 confinement are being translated into new policies and procedures by Employers, Healthcare Providers, Retailers and even Significant Others. The overriding theme of the changes is : Don’t be Dense. In other words, give me space. Avoid crowds to stay healthy.

As the statue removal movement sweeps across America and England, it has hit the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Artists, academics and art historians are demanding that a bust of its' founder, Avery Brundage be removed from the Museum's foyer. He bequeathed his 8000 piece Asian Art Collection to the people of San Francisco and it is the cornerstone of the the 18,000 piece Asian collection. He...

The SFPD, LAPD and SJPD police unions announced a reform agenda to combat racist police officers. The plan lays the groundwork for new policies and procedures to be crafted for their departments and beyond. But is the problem one bad apple or systemic racism ?

San Francisco has seen a 47% drop in Use of Force Incidents involving the police and the public from 2016 through 2019. But racial disparities remain. Mayor Breed’s 4 point reform plan is reasonable. But her first attempt to defund the SFPD by $23 million was unanimously rejected by the Police Commission, which includes her own appointees. She’s also calling to redirect those police budget savings...

Swedish prosecutors have named Stig Engstrom as Palme's assassin.  It's taken  34 years of mystery, conspiracy and botched investigations in which 130 different people claimed to be the assassin since 1986 to reach a conclusion. Engstrom himself claimed to have tried to resuscitate Palme at the scene. The assassin attempting to revive the man he had just assassinated ! A comedy of errors...

Three issues are covered in this episode: 1) Abolition of the Minneapolis Police Force, 2) the Justice and Policing Bill of 2020, 3) political fallout of Police Reform on the 2020 Presidential Election. #Joerogan. #8cantwait #benshapiro. #policebrutality

The killing of George Floyd has unleashed a flood of police reforms. Minneapolis is considering abolishing its force while Los Angeles and San Francisco are planning to defund their police departments. And what impact will abolition and defunding urban police departments have on the 2020 Presidential Campaign ? Donald Trump wants to run as the Law and Order candidate.

While the President and former President acknowledge that reform is necessary, they approach the issue from opposite ends of the political spectrum. What impact will the call for police reform have on the November Presidential Election ? Is reform even achievable given the fact there are 17985 police entities in the United States, and control is at the local not national level.    My June 2nd podc...

The proximate cause of the riots and looting is the heinous murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin.  But the ensuing civil unrest has been co-opted by a host of bad actors like Antifa who have exploited the tragedy. Weak and uncoordinated responses by the nation's Mayors and Governors has made a bad situation much worse. Tragically, the neighborhoods in Minneapoli...

The Covid 19 pandemic has spawned many conspiracy theories. Cutting through misinformation and getting to the facts is key. But what is fact and what is fiction ?