San Diego’s mayor announced July 17 a lease deal to convert a commercial building near the city’s airport into a 1,000-bed homeless shelter and resource center, but the city’s budget analyst raised concerns over the cost.
“For years, past mayors and city councils have only engaged in ad-hoc, piecemeal, temporary approaches to addressing homelessness,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement.
“With this proposal, we are looking to deliver the change that San Diegans want to see with regard to addressing homelessness on our streets.”
The 30-year lease, which awaits approval from the city council on July 22, includes a cost of $1.95 per square foot for the property—with annual 3.5 percent rent increases—and an estimated $12.5 million in facility maintenance costs over the term.
The 64,939-square-foot property at Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street in Middletown spans 1.8 acres over two parcels. It features a two-story building and 134 parking spaces, including rooftop, gated, and surface parking areas.
While the city’s Office of Independent Budget Analyst acknowledged the project’s potential to help with the city’s homeless situation on a July 15 report, it raises questions about its affordability.
The decades-long lease will amount to $72 million in rent for the city, which, according to the report, is above market rates of $1.44 to $1.54 per square foot for similar properties.
Besides the more expensive rates, the report raised concerns over “significant upfront and ongoing costs associated with rent, lease operating, tenant improvement, and program operating costs.”
Instead, the budget analyst suggested that the city purchasing and renovating the property itself could be a more economical option, potentially saving $15.7 million.
However, the mayor said that the property is not available for sale and highlighted several benefits of the agreement:
Nineteen months of rent would be waived, saving $2.4 million.
The property owner would contribute $5 million to the property.
The owner would be responsible for mitigation of any potential hazards identified during the renovation process.
The city has first right of refusal should the landlord sell the property.
If the property is sold within five years, the city would receive 14 percent of the net profit.
The deal would include an adjacent parcel of land that can serve “multiple uses including for additional shelter and services.”
Another concern raised by the report is the project’s operating costs, noting that the source of funding is unclear and could place an additional burden on the city.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria speaks at the press conference at H Barracks on June 6, 2024. (Jane Yang/The Epoch Times)
According to the mayor, the city would need to pay an estimated $26.4 million to operate shelter beds, a commercial kitchen, laundry facilities, dining areas, recreation spaces, and showers. Proposed services at the shelter campus would include job training, meals, housing navigation, and behavioral health support.
However, the report said only $13.7 million in existing operational funds can be reallocated from other homeless programs if no new funds are approved, leaving the remainder uncertain.
The report also detailed a monthly cost of $32,000, covering property taxes, maintenance, utilities, and insurance.
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
LA Sheriff Investigated, “Urged” AG To Prosecute Reporter Who Leaked List Of Problem Deputies
After the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department leaked a list of problem deputies to Los Angeles Times reporter Maya Lau, it then turned around and investigated her.
The investigation began in 2017 when then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell’s team sought to identify who leaked a list of roughly 300 names to reporter Lau, the report says.
The case lost momentum but was revived in 2018 after Alex Villanueva took office, as revealed by a recent 300-page investigative file.
The department eventually labeled Lau as a criminal suspect for allegedly receiving “stolen property” and identified Diana Teran, its constitutional policing advisor, as the leaker, despite Teran having reported the leak and denying involvement.
In 2021, the case was sent to Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office declined to prosecute in May, citing “insufficient evidence”, the Times wrote this week.
In 2021, Lau said: “I’m glad this investigation is over, and it’s an outrage that the Sheriff’s Department would criminally investigate me as a reporter for doing my job. It’s the kind of action that’s aimed at intimidating journalists from digging into government agencies.”
“Under the leadership of Sheriff [Robert] Luna, we do not monitor journalists and we respect the freedom of the press,” the department commented this week.
David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, explained Lau’s immunity as a journalist: “You’re not authorized to break into a file cabinet to get records. You’re not authorized to hack computers. But receiving information that somebody else obtained unlawfully is not a crime. Publishing that information is protected under the 1st Amendment.”
The leaked records at the center of the investigation date back to 2014 when Diana Teran, working at the Office of Independent Review, began compiling a Brady List of officers with problematic disciplinary histories.
Teran relied on information from the district attorney’s office and Sheriff’s Department databases but stopped adding names in late 2014, believing the Sheriff’s Department had started maintaining its own list.
In 2015, she joined the Sheriff’s Department as a constitutional policing advisor. In 2017, Teran discovered that reporter Maya Lau and others were inquiring about deputies on the Brady List, leading her to suspect her list had been leaked. She tracked down public records requests and identified similarities between her list and the reporters’ list.
The case made it all the way to Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2021, who declined to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.
Courtney Furlong, 36, had always considered modern dating a hit-or-miss prospect, even before COVID-19 vaccines, masks, and lockdowns turned the world upside down.
But today, Ms. Furlong said it’s downright “terrible” trying to find a suitable dating partner who isn’t vaccinated.
Having chosen to avoid taking the COVID-19 shots over concerns about their safety, the Phoenix resident now finds the dating market more restricted and challenging than ever.
She said that many vaccinated people refuse to date the unvaccinated, and vice versa.
“I’m at the age now where I want to have children. My situation now is, who should I have a baby with?” Ms. Furlong said, standing at the vegan bar at The Giving Tree in Phoenix, watching 50 other unvaccinated people mix and mingle on a hot Monday evening.
Who knows? Tonight could be the night she’ll meet her significant other, she said—or at least make new like-minded friends.
“I’m at a place where I’d like to meet someone and have a child,” Ms. Furlong told The Epoch Times. “A huge factor is: Did you get the vaccine or not?”
Sponsored by the dating website Unjected.com, the informal gathering of unvaccinated men and women took place on July 15 at The Giving Tree.
Other social mixers, dubbed “pure blood parties,” are also planned in Canada, New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
“These unvaccinated mixers are starting to pop up everywhere,” said Shelby Hosana, 28, who launched Unjected.com in the spring of 2021 to bring the unvaccinated singles community together.
She said a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status is “the biggest ice-breaker and deal-breaker in the modern dating world.”
And it cuts both ways—vaccinated and unvaccinated alike.
Many online dating sites, such as Tinder, Match, and Bumble, now include COVID-19 badges, stickers, and filters to help singles better navigate the post-pandemic landscape.
“It’s the very first question asked in the dating scene for many,” Ms. Hosana told The Epoch Times. “Especially now that we can anticipate all vaccines on the market will be mRNA. It’s quite literally choosing partners who choose zero vaccination.”
Jill Crosby, owner and founder of Conscious Singles, a dating site “for those who value freedom and sovereignty,” said that unvaccinated singles appear to be more concerned about dating within their group.
“Many of our non-vaccinated members will only date other non-vaccinated members,” Ms. Crosby told The Epoch Times.
However, vaccinated members are usually less likely to care whether a potential partner is vaccinated.
In early 2022, a sufficient number of unvaccinated members asked to declare their vaccination status to aid them in finding other unvaccinated members.
Ms. Crosby said Conscious Singles responded by creating unvaccinated and vaccinated badges to post on dating profiles.
“Since then, we’ve had a close to equal number of members post a nonvaccinated or vaccinated badge on their profile,” she said, “and about the same amount of members [about 30 percent] selected ”prefer not to say.”
The dating site also provides multiple-choice “Match Questions” in many categories and recently added, “Will you date someone who has been vaccinated?”
Ms. Hosana said not long ago some dating sites banned profiles that required a person’s vaccination status.
Moreover, the recent data point to a distinct social divide with online dating following the rollout of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for COVID-19 in early 2021.
A July 2022 Pew Research Center survey, found that nearly 25 percent thought it “very important” to include one’s COVID-19 vaccination status in a dating profile.
On the other hand, nearly half (47 percent) said it was “somewhat important” for people to provide their vaccination status, according to the survey.
The survey showed that roughly 9 percent of U.S. adults had used a dating site or app between 2021 and 2022.
More telling was the partisan split in survey responses: According to the report, Democrats were “far more likely” than Republicans to say that vaccination status was “important for them to see.”
In Las Vegas, Ms. Hosana said she was curious to learn about what other people thought about dating and COVID-19 vaccination status.
So she and her marketing director, Scott Armstrong, conducted a random “man on the street” survey that asked people whether they would date a vaccinated or unvaccinated person.
“Some [vaccinated] people said they would never date an unvaccinated person—someone as ’stupid’ as an anti-vaxxer,” Ms. Hosana said.
“It’s going both ways,” she said. “They don’t want to be with us. And we really don’t want to be with them.”
“To me, it’s like the first question they ask—did you take the COVID shots?” Mr. Armstrong told The Epoch Times about online dating.
“It’s sad, too,” he said, to think that a man or a woman rejected as a potential dating partner over their vaccination status could have been “the one.”
“It’s tough [but] this is the world we’re living in now,” he said.
And, given the number of vaccinated people versus the unvaccinated, singles who have not taken one or more COVID-19 shots appear to be at a disadvantage, Ms. Hosana said.
According to USAFacts, more than 270 million Americans (81 percent of the U.S. population) have received at least one COVID-19 injection; more than 230 million (70 percent) are considered fully vaccinated.
The website added that of the roughly 1 billion doses distributed since 2020, more than 676 million (68 percent) doses were used nationwide, with almost 64 percent reported as fully vaccinated in Arizona.
As new strains of the virus develop, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people should receive an updated 2024–25 COVID-19 and flu vaccine for the fall and winter seasons.
Among unvaccinated singles, the CDC’s advice falls on unwelcome ears.
“It’s a whole new wild navigation in the world,” Ms. Hosana said.
“Of course, the desire to match with someone who also is aligned with protecting personal freedoms is paramount. But the need to protect reproductive health and overall health has been the biggest concern since day one,” she said.
Kristen Feuerstein, 58, and her friend Melanie Dias, 54, are both Phoenix residents who attended the July 15 social mixer hoping to connect with like-minded people.
As unvaccinated health care workers, both women are divorced, single, and currently dating vaccinated men.
Ms. Feuerstein said she is trying to make her relationship work despite her concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines and alleged spin-off effects, like spike protein “shedding.”
She said her biggest fear is “investing” in a relationship in which her partner gets sick with the vaccine down the road.
Overall, her COVID-19 vaccination status has “really niched me down” in terms of charting a dating course, she said.
“Such trippy days,” Ms. Feuerstein said. “I’ve actually given up [on internet dating]. It’s just made dating really challenging.”
Ms. Dias said her goal is to seek out other people who are “on the same page” as herself regarding the mRNA vaccines and who “see the world the same as you.”
“At my age, I don’t want to invest time and energy in somebody who’s going to keel over,” she said jokingly.
The vaccinated man she’s now seeing is someone from her past. During the pandemic, her friend had assured her that he would not be taking the injection.
“We met up again last year,” Ms. Dias told The Epoch Times. “I assumed he didn’t get it. But he didn’t tell me [he received it] until we were already dating”—just “one” shot, she said, “but it was a tough call.”
“It was the only way he could fly into Chicago to visit his family. He visits his family every year. What am I going to say to that? Don’t see your aging parents?” Ms. Dias said.
John Ahlgren, 40, of Phoenix, said his plan at the social mixer was to meet other unvaccinated people and “have a good time.”
“For dating, I don’t know if [taking the vaccine] is a deal-breaker,” he said, “but when I find someone, I want to spend the rest of my life with them.”
“It’s just that the culture has changed. COVID certainly had a part to play in it. Social media has changed the landscape too,” Mr. Ahlgren told The Epoch Times.
Being single, he said he prefers face-to-face “organic engagements” with people and views online dating as a “big waste of time.”
Would you date a vaccinated person?
“Not fully vaxxed,” Mr. Ahlgren said. “Once [vaxxed] twice shy, I guess.”
Mike, 45, of Scottsdale, said he wasn’t expecting to meet the unvaccinated woman of his dreams on July 15, but he was open to the possibility.
“That’s what this whole thing is pretty much about,” he said. “It’s about people who don’t want to meet someone vaccinated.”
Ms. Furlong said the natural choice is to be with someone whose morals and values align with her own.
“When I told one of my best friends I wasn’t getting [vaccinated]—he’s had five boosters—well, he said if you don’t get your vaccine, you’re never going to meet my parents,” Ms. Furlong said.
“I feel like I’m the only person out of 20 people in my family who didn’t get injected. My parents said they only did it because they felt pressured.”
Ms. Dias said she intends to “stay present” in her current relationship, as she is a romantic at heart.
“They say it’s better to have loved than not at all—and if a person is really kind—you know what I mean,” she said.
The Israeli army ordered the sudden evacuation of over 400,000 Palestinians taking shelter in eastern Khan Yunis Monday, dropping leaflets in the besieged city moments before warplanes began their raids.
At least 35 deaths, including five children, were reported in the initial aftermath of the attacks. Dozens of injured Palestinians have also been pouring into the barely functional Nasser Medical Complex.
Authorities at Nasser Medical Complex appealed for urgent blood donations, saying it faces a shortage of blood units, “which poses a serious threat to the lives of the sick and injured in light of the ongoing massacres carried out by the occupation forces against the innocent and civilians.”
The Israeli military said in a statement on Monday morning: “The IDF is about to forcefully operate against the terror organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,”
Israeli Army Radio reported that Monday’s air raids in Khan Yunis are the most violent since the end of the military operation in the city earlier this year.
Local reports say many victims are still under the rubble and scattered along the streets, with ambulance and civil defense crews unable to reach them due to the violent and continuous shelling.
The brutal attack on thousands of displaced families comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to the US capital to meet with top authorities before addressing a joint session of congress.
Chaos as civilians flee the assault at the last minute…
Speaking to reporters before his trip, the premier said his visit to Washington would be “an opportunity to discuss with [US President Joe Biden] how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries – achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south.”
Netanyahu is on a direct flight to the US capital, deciding to avoid stops in any European nation under fears of being detained in compliance with an expected arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes committed in Gaza.
Proof Of Life? Biden ‘Phones In’ During Harris Campaign Event
President Joe Biden has made his first live remarks since dropping out of the 2024 presidential race – phoning in to let staffers know at campaign headquarters that “the mission hasn’t changed at all.”
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising and it was hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” said Biden – and definitely not AI – during the call with no video.
“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden continued. “And by the way, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be out there in the campaign with her, with Kamala.”
JUST IN: President Biden dispels rumors that he is dead, calls into Harris HQ to say he thinks he made the right decision to drop out.
“You know, yesterday’s news was surprising and it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do.”
“I won’t be on the ticket, but I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged,” the voice which sounds like Biden continued, adding that he would do anything needed to support Harris.
Proof of Life?
The call was likely intended to serve as ‘proof of life’ after nobody has seen or heard from the president since he stepped out of the race on Sunday – less than an hour after his campaign manager was on television insisting he was in it to win it – and with no address to the country.
Just this morning, Biden’s campaign chair said he wasn’t leaving the race. Then Biden suddenly posts a resignation letter with no address to the country. Wreaks of a coup. https://t.co/snB2iu7qeW
Which White House aides learned by reading the news on X.
Just this morning, Biden’s campaign chair said he wasn’t leaving the race. Then Biden suddenly posts a resignation letter with no address to the country. Wreaks of a coup. https://t.co/snB2iu7qeW
No wait, dangit to heck. Who could have known that was fake!?
A deepfake video of President Joe Biden bearing our logo is circulating on social media. Biden did not make this statement. PBS News did not authorize the use of this video and we do not condone altering news video or audio in any way that could mislead the audience.
California will have the nation’s first so-called hydrogen hub—a network that produces hydrogen for various needs including powering vehicles and generating electricity—after federal officials announced July 17 they have signed a $12.6 billion agreement to bring the technology to the state, according to the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The grant stems from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 and championed by California state Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat.
“California is leading the nation with the first hydrogen hub to sign a cooperative agreement, and we will continue to lead by decarbonizing goods movement, the energy sector, and heavy industry,” Mr. Padilla said in a statement July 17.
According to the governor’s office, the hydrogen hub will facilitate renewable hydrogen production that will cut fossil fuel use throughout California by 2 million metric tons annually.
It is projected to create up to 220,000 jobs in California and generate $2.95 billion annually from “better health and health cost savings,” per the governor’s office.
The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and will be carried out by the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems—known as ARCHES—a state initiative working to accelerate hydrogen projects by building necessary infrastructure.
It’s not clear when the infrastructure for the hub will be complete. ARCHES officials only said that they hope the project helps the state get closer to achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2045.
Leaders behind the initiative said they plan to build, as part of the hub, more than 10 sites to produce renewable hydrogen to provide energy for the ports of Long Beach, Oakland, and Los Angeles.
“The Department of Energy’s announcement to fund ARCHES is a monumental step forward in the state’s efforts to achieve its air quality, climate and energy goals, while improving the health and well-being of Californians and creating new green jobs across the state,” said ARCHES CEO Angelina Galiteva in a statement July 17.
ARCHES also plans to build more than 60 hydrogen fueling stations for more than 5,000 electric trucks and 1,000 electric buses in cities across California, and to assist the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Northern California Power Agency in transitioning “key power plants” to hydrogen.
A spokeswoman for ARCHES told The Epoch Times that the hydrogen hub project will encompass the entire state of California.
In addition to the projects at major state ports, “power plants in Northern California, Southern California, and Lancaster, as well as on the federally recognized reservation of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, will all be part of this initiative,” she said.
The announcement comes after California was also selected in 2023 as the recipient of a $1.2 billion grant from the Department of Energy to accelerate the development of renewable hydrogen.
Also, on July 19, the San Francisco Bay Ferry will launch the world’s first-ever hydrogen-powered ferry, the “Sea Change,” for a six-month demonstration period showcasing zero-emission maritime technology.
The governor’s office highlighted the achievement as an example of California’s leadership in hydrogen-powered transportation innovation in a statement.
Police Departments Advertise Six Figure Salaries , Better Quality Of Life, To Lure New Recruits
Big cities are struggling badly to hire police. And, in the day and age of “all cops are bastards” and “defund the police”, it’s easy to see why: policing has become more of a thankless job than ever.
But a new Wall Street Journal report detailed some of the strategies police departments are using to “hustle” for new recruits.
In Plano, Texas, they are offering $108,150 a year and putting the salary figure on billboards to attract attention.
Officer Andrae Smith, the recruiter at the Plano Police Department told the Journal: “The No. 1 attraction is the pay.”
“Our goal was to pull at the shirttail of every individual who had interest in being in law enforcement,” he added.
Officer Karina Hinojosa transferred to Plano from New York City for the lower cost of living and better pay. She commented: “For me, it was quality of life.”
To attract candidates, cities have increased perks. For instance, Bellevue Police Department in Washington state now offers take-home cars and allows officers up to three on-duty hours per week for workouts.
Wendell Shirley, the police chief, told WSJ they had 750 applications last year and hired 33 officers: “For me, it’s really important for you to find the right organization that has the right culture.”
To attract recruits, some states are easing restrictions. Dallas recently relaxed its tattoo policy, Pennsylvania dropped its college credit requirement for state troopers, and Seattle now accepts applications from DACA recipients, the report says.
In 2023, the average annual wage for police officers was $76,550, a 13% increase from 2019, while the average wage for all occupations was $65,470, a 22% increase.
As the job market cools and violent crime rates fall, more officers were hired in 2023 than in the previous four years, although resignations remain higher than pre-pandemic levels but have decreased since 2022.
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office in Wyoming promotes a culture-war incentive, highlighting that “breaking the law is still illegal” in their state.
The Journal writes that since the pandemic, policing has faced difficulties in recruitment and retention, similar to teaching and nursing. Many burned-out employees have resigned or retired, resulting in nearly 19,000 fewer officers in 2023 compared to 2019, a 3% drop according to Labor Department data.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, notes that officers used to move from smaller cities to larger ones, but now the trend has reversed, especially after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
A survey of over 200 police departments shows that small and medium agencies have more officers than before the pandemic, while large agencies have fewer.
Short of Joe Biden staying in the race while exemplifying the energy and lucidity of an empty bag of Lay’s Sour Cream and Onion potato chips on the floor of a basement frat party, “passing the torch” to Kamala Harris is the best thing Republicans could have wished for — and simply “the next worst thing” for Democrats who, in their hail mary hour, reached into their quiver and pulled out the political equivalent of a Fran Drescher laugh track on repeat.
The entire party all of a sudden throwing their endorsement behind a woman who polled worse than a quart of cottage cheese that was left to sit in the sun for six months during the 2020 primary exemplifies the point I made a month or two ago when I argued that politicians have a talent for making the worst possible decisions.
QTR’s Fringe Finance is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Not only did Tulsi Gabbard publicly humiliate Kamala Harris on the debate stage during the 2020 primaries, but both polling and the results of Harris’ campaign forced us to one conclusion: most Americans find Harris detestable. And, in 2024, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that this attitude has changed.
Democrats’ disingenuous logic continues to whack them in the face when they least expect it like Chevy Chase in the attic, stepping on two-by-fours in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
I can’t describe the pleasure I get from watching the stupid decisions the Democratic party makes—namely, selecting Kamala Harris based on her gender and race to be Vice President of the f*cking United States —come back to bite them in the ass.
The fact is that if Harris was not vice president, she would never be next in line to be the Democratic nominee. She was picked to be vice president only because Joe Biden made his selection based on race and gender hustling, completely ignoring the fact that nobody seemed to like Harris and she doesn’t appear to have the brain torque necessary for the job.
By circumventing an actual legitimate selection process for Vice President, which should always boil down to a meritocracy as one of the most important positions in the world, Democrats planted a political seed in a pile of horse manure that has now blossomed into poisonous, cackling political fungus. And by moving Kamala Harris into position to be the next Presidential nominee, the party is officially taking the first bite of the fungi they began growing on the dung heap four years ago.
Beyond identity politics coming back to bite Democrats, the Harris pick makes no obvious sense because she is easily tethered and tied to the horrific last four years President Biden had in office. We are voting to “continue to be burdened by what was”, to use the parlance of Kamala’s time.
Putting aside the fact that the Democratic Party shamelessly lied about Biden’s mental condition literally up until the day they forced him from the nomination, his presidency was littered with endless miscues and palpable lack of leadership. And those four years are always going to be the Biden-Harris administration, not just the Biden administration.
🔥 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Zero Hedge readers take 50% off a Fringe Finance annual subscription for life by using this link: ZH50
And so rather than pick somebody new, who doesn’t have a record of taking a blowtorch to civility and law and order in the country over the last four years, the Democrats are actively choosing to retain all of the worst f*ck ups from the last 4 years and try to put the lipstick of a new candidate on them.
However, nothing in the realm of the political world surprises me anymore. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Hillary Clinton made a run for the position at the upcoming convention — or if the party decided the Presidential candidate by a nationwide non-binary pan-sexual twerking contest, or a round robin “burn the flag” tournament.
But at least the next time they tell you they’re going to change the world, remind them that their candidate sat idly by in office for the last four years while the nation went to hell. And the next time they remind you that they’re the party of democracy, remind them that they all but forced the voters’ choice for their nominee to step down, all so they could make the brilliant strategic move of replacing him with “the next worst thing”.
The circus freak show of life continues, like the worst reality TV show we never even sat down to watch. Have a great week.
QTR’s Disclaimer:Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only.In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. These positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.
Dearborn, Michigan Is “America’s Jihad Capital” And Has Descended Into “Civil War”
The city of Dearborn, Michigan has been bestowed with the title of “America’s Jihad Capital”, and has fallen into civil war with itself over the war in Gaza, the Daily Mail reported last week.
Dearborn, near Detroit, Michigan, hosts the largest Arab American community in the U.S. As the death toll in Gaza rises with no political solution in sight, local sentiment has shifted.
Residents feel American political leaders are complicit in the ongoing Middle East conflict, diminishing their interest in the upcoming election.
The Mail interviewed Abu Bilal, owner of Oriental Fashion on Warren Avenue, who questioned the lack of humanity regarding the deaths of 90 Palestinian civilians.
Another man, at Al-Rehab Barber Shop in Dearborn, expressed apathy toward the upcoming presidential election, saying it wouldn’t make a difference to him.
His barber, who didn’t vote in 2020, echoed this sentiment.
As the Daily Mail notes, the implications for the upcoming election in Michigan could be enormous.
Joe Biden won Michigan in 2020 by 154,000 votes, with Dearborn’s turnout 10 percent higher than in 2016.
However, local enthusiasm has waned, with many Arab American voters protesting Biden’s support for Israel.
In the Democratic primaries, 6,432 Dearborn voters chose ‘uncommitted.’ Despite a recent campaign rally near Dearborn, Arab Americans are rejecting Biden’s bid for their votes, according to the Daily Mail.
Jenin Yaseen, an artist whose family is from a village outside Nablus in the occupied West Bank told the Mail: “The whole community was aware [that the administration had sent campaign officials to meet with the community], and I think it says a lot, that he sees us as no more than votes and that it’s been normalized for our people back home to be killed.”
She added: “Dearborn is made up of people from Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere that have been directly impacted by American imperialism.”
In January, Biden’s campaign team visited Dearborn, but Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and two other Arab American state representatives refused to meet them, as the meeting focused on elections rather than the war.
Hammoud criticized President Biden’s remarks on an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, delivered while he was eating ice cream, and later voted ‘uncommitted’ in protest of Biden’s stance.
In April, Muslim protesters in Dearborn chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel” during a rally supporting Palestinians and opposing Israel.
The Philippines said on Sunday that it reached a deal with China to reduce tensions around Second Thomas Shoal, a Philippine-occupied reef in the South China Sea that’s also claimed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Manila did not disclose any details about the deal but said it would allow the resupply of the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship the Philippines grounded on the reef in 1999 and uses as a base of operations for the area.
China has been blocking Philippine vessels attempting to resupply the ship, and sometimes the encounters lead to collisions. In some instances, the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons at the Philippine boats.
The incidents risk major escalation since the US is strongly backing the Philippines in the dispute and has repeatedly warned attacks on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea apply to the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty. That means if the Chinese and Philippine boats start shooting at each other, the US could intervene and be in direct conflict with China.
The encounters in the South China Sea became much more frequent after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came into office in June 2022. Emboldened by the US, he pushed hard against China’s claims to the waters and broke from the Beijing-friendly policies of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Earlier this year, China released the details of what it said was an unwritten agreement between Manila and Beijing over Second Thomas Shoal and other hotspots in the South China Sea.
Duterte had acknowledged that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to maintain the “status quo” to avoid war.Part of that status quo was the Philippines not delivering construction materials to the BRP Sierra Madre, only food, water, and other basic supplies.
The security agreement could already be unraveling amid fresh denunciations by Beijing…
👀 As quickly as it began, it appears to be over. Just inked China-Philippines pact on how to properly behave at Second Thomas Shoal is already trash. Beijing denies it ever agreed to not inspecting Philippine resupplies or to allow unannounced resupplies–key sticking points. pic.twitter.com/5PrfHmZZ5Y
China has made that demand in recent negotiations, along with the demand to be able to inspect boats making the deliveries, but a Philippine official told AP that Manila had not conceded to that as part of the new agreement.
