Key staffers working for VP Kamala Harris say they feel abandoned by her and say she has yet to form a coherent agenda. Several confidants told CNN that Harris feels politically constrained by the Biden administration, with which she reportedly enjoys a slightly strained relationship at the best of times.

“It’s hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a White man,” one former aide told the network, “knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn’t want to take themselves.”

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris is not from the United States. Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, and attended high school in Montreal after her mother accepted a job as a teacher and researcher in the Canadian city. “There’s a lot we don’t know about Kamala Harris,” said Carlson on his show when commenting on her nationality, and her growing up in Canada, “that doesn’t mean she is not going to be a good vice president,” he continued.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Great new movie books

STAR STRUCK:  MY UNLIKELY ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD  BY LEONARD MALTON   

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: THE NOVEL FROM THE MOVIE   BY QUENTIN TARENTINO  

MGM STYLE:  CEDRIC GIBBONS AND THE ART OF THE GOLDEN AGE BY HOWARD FUTNER 

FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD  BY MARK VIERRA  

FOREVER YOUNG BY Hayley Mills  

HOLLYWOOD EDEN  BY JOEL SELVIN  

VANDERBILT:  THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN DYNASTY  BY ANDERSON COOPER 

CARY GRANT:  A BRILLIANT DISGUISE   BY SCOTT HYMAN 

MADE MEN:  THE STORY OF GOODFELLAS  BY GLENN KENNY 

THIS WAS HOLLYWOOD:  FORGOTTEN STARS AND STORIES    BY CARLA VALDERAMA   

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The vaccine-or-test requirement was implemented as an emergency temporary standard. OSHA can issue such standards if it determines “that employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards,” and that the rule is “necessary” to protect workers from that danger.

The administration told the court earlier this week that OSHA had acted within its authority and that a stay of the requirement "would likely cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day."

It remains unclear whether the legality of the rule will ultimately be addressed by the Fifth Circuit or by another circuit. Because multiple lawsuits have been filed in various appeals courts, a lottery has been triggered to determine which circuit will hear the challenge. The lottery is scheduled to take place next week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Biden administration is likely to appeal the panel's decision to the full court.

Engelhardt was appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump. The other two members of the panel, Judge Kyle Duncan and Judge Edith Jones, were appointed by Trump and former President Ronald Reagan, respectively.

More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed in various appeals courts by businesses, religious organizations and states arguing that the vaccine-or-test requirement goes beyond OSHA’s authority and runs afoul of the First Amendment, the Constitution's Commerce clause and laws protecting religious freedom.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Susan Dyer Reynolds joins John to discuss the state of the City of San Francisco

Both recalls are headed for the ballot.

The school board still wants to spend money on the Washington HS murals.

Both Scott Wiener and London Breed come out in favor of school board members being recalled..

Boudin supporters say it is a Republican right-wing effort led by out of town billionaires.

Only 22,000 of 33,009 Republicans reliably vote in SF elections and 83,000 signed the petition — which was majority signed by Democrats and Independents.

SFDA’s new dashboard tells us nothing!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have a rogue former president.

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday his "Envoy Ambassador" Ric Grenell—a former ambassador and staunch Trump partisan—visited the Serbia-Kosovo border in an attempt to promote peace between the two countries, in what appears to amount to a foreign policy mission on behalf of the former president.

Tensions have grown in recent weeks between the neighboring Balkan states, with clashes occurring near the border after Kosovan police tightened security in the area in what's been described as an anti-smuggling operation.

Officials from the two countries signed an economic normalization agreement inside the Oval Office at the White House on September 4, 2020, even though Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's sovereignty, after the country declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

The agreement also stipulated that Serbia would for one year suspend its efforts to keep Kosovo from being internationally recognized, while Kosovo would stop applying for membership in international organizations.

 

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is ending its practice of transferring immigrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody nearly a week after residents expressed concerns over the county’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities at a Truth Act Forum.

“It has become apparent to me that complying with those requests regarding the pending release of undocumented individuals ... is undermining the trust we need to protect the community,” Bolanos said.

He said the agency’s decision to stop notifying ICE of an inmate’s release or responding to requests for an inmate’s transfer to ICE custody comes after listening to hundreds of residents who said the community will be safer when residents understand sheriff’s officials are “here to protect the public, not enforce immigration laws,” Bolanos said.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Thomas Fallon statue in downtown San Jose is riding off into the sunset and into storage.

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the bronze sculpture.

Many see Fallon as a colonizer and oppressor, including Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, president of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. “It’s not just a statue, it’s the symbolism and legacy tied to it; colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy and the obliteration of indigenous peoples and their land through history,” she said.

For 30 years, community protests have swirled around the statue, which some residents say represents colonialism and oppression. Emotions surrounding it came to a boil during the summer of 2020 amid Black Lives Matter protests. The statue has been burnt, tagged and painted red to symbolize the blood on Fallon’s hands during the Mexican American War. Since May 2020, city officials say the statue has been vandalized on a weekly basis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Early last week, some symptomatic players tested positive for COVID-19. Those positive cases prompted UC Berkeley and the city health department to test all players and staff, regardless of symptoms.

After that, 24 players and coaches became unavailable for the school’s game against Arizona. The team also put into place a new “testing schedule” prompting all players and staff to get tested again this week, Knowlton said, eventually leading to the discovery of 20 more cases in the program, for a total of 44 lab-confirmed cases.

Because there were more than 20 cases, the outbreak was classified as “major” by Cal-OSHA’s workplace safety rules. That prompted the university and the city of Berkeley to implement state testing guidance for a major outbreak, which requires twice-weekly tests going forward until there are fewer than three COVID-19 cases detected in the exposed group for a 14-day period. After that, the state guidance is for weekly testing until there are 14 days with no cases.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why have we degenerated and what has happened to civility?

School board members across the country are being intimidated and threatened. Now the National School Boards Association wants the federal government to step in. The group said in a recent letter to President Biden that acts of school board harassment and confrontations seem to be coordinated.

Across the country, parents have threatened board members and vandalized their homes. One board member scans his driveway before walking to his car.

While there has not been serious violence yet, there have been a handful of arrests for charges such as assault and disorderly conduct. The National School Boards Association has likened some of these incidents to domestic terrorism, though the group eventually walked back that claim after it triggered a backlash from its state member organizations.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.