• File this away for an update, though I suspect we won’t get an update if the story turns out as I expect:
University of California President’s Berkeley Home Vandalized
A hate crime investigation is underway after University of California officials say vandals painted racial slurs on the home of the UC president. The hate-filled graffiti has left a Berkeley neighborhood outraged and on edge.
Bruce O’Neill showed NBC Bay Area where somebody spray painted the date of the insurrection on his neighbor’s property. While the graffiti’s has now been removed, Berkeley police said vandals painted racial slurs, profanity and symbols on the home of UC President Michael Drake last week. . .
Neighbors said the house has been targeted before. They said someone recently smashed the windows prompting University officials to install a fence around the home. Residents said that they want Drake and his family to know they are welcome there and hope whoever’s responsible is caught.
I wonder if the security features for the president’s $6.5 million dollar house include any security cameras? Has anyone checked on Jussie Smollett’s whereabouts when this hate crime took place?
• Speaking of the Bay Area:
Downtown San Francisco: Human Waste Increasingly Found in Westfield Mall Elevators, Staff Say
Seeing feces on the ground is not uncommon in the city by the bay. But human waste has been showing up somewhere else: the elevators in Downtown San Francisco’s Westfield Centre.
“It’s like twice a week now. It used to be once a month,” said Abimael Garcia, who manages janitors at Westfield. “So lately, it’s increased.”
Garcia thinks people go in the elevators as they are the closest semi-private spaces to Mission Street, where there are often people camped. Multiple workers said the only regularly used public restrooms at the mall are on the second floor.
“It’s a long way to the bathrooms from Mission [Street],” Garcia said. “The elevators are closest to the street. It’s so easy.” Other restrooms such as those in the food court or retail stores are often closed due to sanitation issues or drug use, workers said. The Standard overheard a manager at the Westfield Bloomingdale’s say one of the store’s restrooms would be closed for the rest of the day on Monday because “something happened in there.”
Meanwhile, the latest San Francisco “poop map”:
• Aw, ain’t this a cryin’ shame:
Climate Alarmists Claim They Are Being Abused On Twitter Since Elon Musk Took Over
Climate scientists are claiming that changes at Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform have unleashed a wave of unfair abuse directed at them.
The platform, they claim, is now flooded with “climate denial.”
Dr. Mark Maslin, professor of Earth System Science at University College London, told The Guardian he’s been the target of “abuse and rude comments” on Twitter as a result of him challenging the position of “climate deniers.”
Maslin also said that, prior to Musk taking over, he used to have meetings with a top Twitter executive to coordinate efforts to ensure that “trusted information” would be pushed to the top of feed rankings. That way, perspectives Maslin disagrees with would be less likely to be seen. Musk laid off that department head during a purge after he bought the platform.
• Keep your eyes on Spain, where the latest populist revolt seems to be gaining momentum. Ian Bremmer reports:
After opposition sweeps local polls, Spain gets early national election
On Monday, Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez responded to the ruling left-wing PSOE party’s dismal showing in local/regional elections by calling an early national votefor July 23.
Although a big loss was expected for the PSOE, this was a bloodbath. The right-wing People’s Party clinched outright majorities in Madrid and flipped control of PSOE stronghold regions and big cities — although the PP will need support from the far-right Vox Party. Thanks to the collapse of the centrist Citizens Party, the PP surged by nine percentage points in the popular vote.
Calling a snap election is a surprise move and a gamble for Sánchez. For one thing, waiting six months until December was probably not enough time to turn around the bad result. For another, the PM might be trying to scare far-left voters into backing the PSOE as their best hope to stop the Vox bogeyman.
It’s the PP’s election to lose. But never rule out Sánchez, who has the survival skills of a political cockroach, an incumbent’s bag of tricks, and a tolerance for risk unmatched in recent Spanish political history.
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