San Francisco

Prop 47 Destroying Inner Cities (Theft Rings)

Published by Papa Giorgio

CBSN has info before we get to the real newsworthy comments/news sources:

ROCKLIN (CBS/AP) — Perry Lutz says his struggle to survive as a small businessman became a lot harder after California voters reduced theft penalties 1 1/2 years ago.

About a half-dozen times this year, shoplifters have stolen expensive drones or another of the remote-controlled toys he sells in HobbyTown USA, a small shop in Rocklin, northeast of Sacramento. “It’s just pretty much open season,” Lutz said. “They’ll pick the $800 unit and just grab it and run out the door.”

Anything below $950 keeps the crime a misdemeanor — and likely means the thieves face no pursuit and no punishment, say retailers and law enforcement officials. Large retailers including Safeway, Target, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies say shoplifting increased at least 15 percent, and in some cases, doubled since voters approved Proposition 47 and ended the possibility of charging shoplifting as a felony with the potential for a prison sentence….


The video was found because of TEXAGS, so a shout-out to that site. NATIONAL REVIEW has a good comment on this:

…The underlying premise of Proposition 47 was to free up funds so the state could focus on violent and serious offenders. Savings would be diverted to school-based prevention and support programs, victim services, and mental-health and drug treatment. Therefore petty thieves, who might be drug addicts, would avoid costly and ultimately detrimental incarceration. The referendum had the support of California Democratic party and the American Civil Liberties Union, and the state’s voters passed it into law in 2014.

What could possibly go wrong?

That question is best asked of the people in California who are robbed and call the police for help. Overall, they’re blindsided by the slow (or non-) response. The surprise and anger they feel is tremendous. Nearly a thousand dollars in stolen property is hardly minor, especially to those who have little to lose. It’s not just the loss of personal possessions they’ll probably never see again that is so distressing, but the ruined trust in the system that they assumed was designed to protect the innocent.

For law enforcement, however, there is little incentive to chase down low-level criminals. Even if the person is escorted to the station, odds are great he’ll be back on the street in an hour or so.

Outrage in these circumstances is apolitical. A liberal Berkeley student studying in a café whose laptop is swiped from a table feels just as violated as the right-leaning visitor to Los Angeles whose luggage is stolen. A struggling small-business owner wonders how long he can withstand the damage done by constant pilfering.

“Every bicycle in our building has been stolen,” says Karen Burns, president of a San Francisco condo association. “I’ve caught so many people stealing packages. They don’t care. They know nothing will happen to them. It’s crazy. It’s horrible. I feel like these people need to go to jail.”

Proposition 47 didn’t stop with theft. The personal use of illegal drugs was also reclassified to a misdemeanor. Although the intent may have been kind (it’s cruel to punish people for having an addiction) and practical (they’ll emerge from prison hardened, and a felony on their record makes it more difficult to reintegrate into society), the downstream impact on the community at large has been disastrous. In San Fransisco, for example, shooting up in public is commonplace, whether it’s on the steps of City Hall, in front of a supermarket, or at the entrance to a children’s playground.

Residents who are experiencing an uptick in so-called low-level crimes in their neighborhoods are baffled by studies indicating otherwise. For example, a December 2017 Center on Criminal and Juvenile Justice report shows property crimes down by an average of 18.1 percent across the state. Those numbers are false, says Michael Rushford, president of the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a nonprofit public-interest law organization: “More, not fewer, of these crimes are being committed, but people aren’t reporting them. In most cases they have to do it online, and they end up not doing it. They don’t believe anything will happen, so don’t see the point. And they’re right.”

In fact, Magnus Lofstrom, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California, pointed to a 12 percent jump in larceny-theft (essentially, unlawfully taking someone’s property) in the state immediately after Proposition 47 took effect. “Crime rates always fluctuate, and the data isn’t always accurate,” says Lofstrom.

CertainlySan Franciscans aren’t debating whether or not crime is up. They know it is. In January, Police Chief William Scott acknowledged a 24 percent jump in property crimes from 2016 to 2017. Auto break-ins have soared in every district, and the arrest rate for them is an astonishing 1.6 percent….

(FLASHBACK to Feb, 2017) John and Ken interview Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a nonprofit, public interest law organization dedicated to improving the administration of criminal justice. Through the failures of California AB 109, prop 47 and prop 57 we all knew would happen but Jerry “MOONBEAM” Brown did not, quite a few violent crimes and the killing of our first defense has happened. (A previous similar upload). But hey, let’s spend billions on a train… effe the police and women.

Politically Left Leaning Cities Are “Shitholes” (John Stossel)

Published by Papa Giorgio

Parts of San Francisco resemble the poorest slums in the world — even though the city is one of the richest in America.

  • “There is more feces on the sidewalks than I’ve ever seen growing up here,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed told KNTV. “That is a huge problem and we are not just talking about from dogs — we’re talking about from humans.” (DAILY CALLER)

UPDATE

“It’s A Literal Shithole” – San Fran Sees Over 16,000 ‘Feces Complaints’ In One Week

A website and related app that allows local residents to request maintenance or non-emergency services from the city has received 16,034 complaints with the keyword ‘feces’ in the last week at the time of this writing, and many pertain to human waste in public places.

The point is, here, that when a city becomes very Left leaning in it’s culture and years run (city council, mayors, etc.), it becomes a “shithole” city. LITERALLY.

  • “The city suffers from an excess of [human] excrement on public streets and even in the innards of subway escalators, where it renders them unusable.” (FAST COMPANY)

SAN FRANSICO GATE’S paper (online) had an interesting article:

…HotPads  used “reports made to 311 in San Francisco from DataSF,” mapping 4,000 data points (a.k.a. poop sites) from January to June 2013.” Mapping S.F.’s most pooped-upon neighborhoods–and their paradoxically pricey real estate

Most of us might guess this list, but in case we need confirmation, the top 3 poopy neighborhoods are:

  • The Tenderloin
  • Mission District – 16th Street BART Station
  • South of Market

But prices therein do not reflect the frequency of feces. Witness:

The “Loin”

Poop strewn though it may be, the Tenderloin has enjoyed some new-found glory (and inflated home/rent prices) in the recent past, thanks to a tech surge led primarily by Twitter anchoring itself in that area. See Redfin’s data at right.

For instance, there is this home, in the heart of it all on O’Farrell: the price tag, given the location—despite its obvious ostentatious glory—should raise an eyebrow. $3,950,000 with HOA dues at $4,299/mo. It’s been on the market almost a year.

[…..]

South of Market

Of all of these pooped-upon neighborhoods, SoMa has increased in value the most dramatically, thanks to a combination of new construction, UC Mission Bay, and the aforementioned tech boom in the city. Again per Redfin, “The asking price of homes for sale in SoMa has increased 96% since December last year, while the number of homes for sale has increased 83.3%.”

Here’s a choice example: for $4,300,000 and HOA dues of $1,949 per month, buyers can snap up this 4-bed, 4-bath loft conversion on Jessie, nicely situated near Blue Bottle Coffee, and likely, plenty of feces. [editor’s note: every architects dream]

(read more)

RED ALERT POLITICS notes:

When technology and (lack of) toilets collide.

A web developer named Jennifer Wong created interactive maps entitled “(Human) Wasteland” that illustrate the concentrations of human excrement in San Francisco, as reports Reuters.

The maps are intended to shed light on the amount of individuals living homeless in San Francisco. Wong created the maps using a city database that organizes telephone complaints to the Department of Public Works about human poop and urine….

Seattle as well has companies moving due to the feces/urine soaked business areas.

….But she says perception is sometimes the reality to clients. The drive to get to her parking space is often trashed, where people have also used the bathroom, and she says the homeless on the street make for an uncomfortable arrival for her clients.

So she’s considering not renewing her lease and moving elsewhere.

“Who wants to come to a place where there’s litter on the streets, the bouquet of urine is in the air, I mean it will eventually take a toll,” she said….

One commentator said this of a story reported on the issue:

  • Finally an example of a run down, shot-up, burned out, poverty-stricken, urine-soaked, rat-infested, crime-ridden, feces-friendly city run by democRATS actually delivering on their promise of Free Shit!!

Another story from KGW.com (NBC Portland) notes:

Survey: 34% of Portlanders considered leaving because of homelessness

….The average Portlander sees someone living in a tent and someone panhandling five times a week. Residents said they see drug paraphernalia and human waste or urine more than twice a week….

Los Angeles, etc. It is all the same story. Many of these places pass out free, sterile, needles to the drug addicted… offer food and comfort, and a “no harass” policy for the police. Then they raise the taxes to grow these services on the businesses affected by them.

Here is an update via HOT AIR:

How dirty is San Francisco? An NBC Bay Area Investigation reveals a dangerous mix of drug needles, garbage, and feces throughout downtown San Francisco. The Investigative Unit surveyed 153 blocks of the city – the more than 20-mile stretch includes popular tourist spots like Union Square and major hotel chains. The area – bordered by Van Ness Avenue, Market Street, Post Street and Grant Avenue – is also home to City Hall, schools, playgrounds, and a police station. …

The Investigate [sic] Unit spent three days assessing conditions on the streets of downtown San Francisco and discovered trash on each of the 153 blocks surveyed. While some streets were littered with items as small as a candy wrapper, the vast majority of trash found included large heaps of garbage, food, and discarded junk. The investigation also found 100 drug needles and more than 300 piles of feces throughout downtown.

 

Two Examples of Democrat Lawlessness ~ The Renegade Republican

Published by Papa Giorgio

Above Video Description:

Dan Bongino explains with two examples (this being the first) about how Democrats ignore Federal Law when it suits their purposes, but then they demand that Republicans follow Federal Laws, such as Obamacare.

This is a great example because it shows a double-standard in a tyrannical way about laws passed (right or wrong) and how the left views freedom and government — which is merely to suit their “power” goals.

Above Video Description:

Dan Bongino explains with two examples (this being the second) about how Democrats impose restrictions on free speech when it suits their needs… often times with violence. This is a historical trend that in the past has led to heinous crimes against humanity.

The example shown in the audio is video of a Black Lives Matter woman using force and threat of violence to get her way against Milo Yiannopoulos and others. In leftist-Democrat-fairyland, this is acceptable… but sitting politely on stage and fielding dissenting questions is not.

The other issue Dan brings up is of the Westboro Baptists… apparently he is not aware that Fred Phelps and his wife were life-long Democrats. Fred Phelps even ran for office 5-times, each time as a Democrat.

For more of Dan Bongino’s stuff, see here:

✦ Conservative Review: https://www.conservativereview.com/authors/dan-bongino
✦ His blog is here: http://blog.bongino.com/
✦ Make sure to follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dbongino

Liberals Have Visions of Their Future ~ Jobless

Published by Papa Giorgio

See also: Businesses Forced To Hurt The Poor ~ Thanks Dems

  • “I’m hearing from a lot of customers, ‘I voted for that, and I didn’t realize it would affect you.’” (IJ-Review) 

Powerline has a great short article about minimum-wage laws pushed by Democrats bumping into the steel reinforced wall of reality:

Via InstaPundit, a lesson in economics for liberals. This time, it’s the minimum wage:

San Francisco’s Proposition J, which 77 percent of voters approved in November, will raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 by 2018. As of today, May 1, [Brian] Hibbs is required by law to pay his employees at Comix Experience, and its sister store, Comix Experience Outpost on Ocean Avenue, $12.25 per hour. That’s just the first of four incremental raises that threaten to put hundreds of such shops out of business. …

Hibbs says that the $15-an-hour minimum wage will require a staggering $80,000 in extra revenue annually. “I was appalled!” he says. “My jaw dropped. Eighty-thousand a year! I didn’t know that. I thought we were talking a small amount of money, something I could absorb.” He runs a tight operation already, he says. Comix Experience is open ten hours a day, seven days a week, with usually just one employee at each store at a time. It’s not viable to cut hours, he says, because his slowest hours are in the middle of the day. And he can’t raise prices, because comic books and graphic novels have their retail prices printed on the cover.

If he can’t stay in business, all of his employees will lose their jobs.

[….]

“Why,” he asks, “can’t two consenting people make arrangements for less than x dollars per hour?”

Exactly. Conservatives should oppose minimum wage laws on fairness grounds. If a person is willing to work for, say, $8 an hour, how dare liberals tell him he must remain unemployed instead? There are many, many people whose best offer of employment will be for less than the $15 an hour that San Francisco will soon mandate. Liberals are, in effect, making it illegal for these people to work, even though they are ready, willing and able to do so.

Minimum wage jobs are overwhelmingly entry level employment. They provide valuable training, experience and opportunity for advancement. Making it illegal for young people, especially, to seek employment at the wage they can command isn’t just economically stupid, it is deeply unfair.

…read more…