Hundreds of restaurants closed in San Francisco in 2019

KRON4  "It’s a disturbing trend in a city where foodies come from all over the world to taste the treats.
"A new report by Yelp shows that nearly 500 restaurants closed in San Francisco last year — and some local restaurant owners say they don’t see that trend stopping.
"Jardinare, which closed in the spring after 21 years in business, was one of 464 restaurants that closed its doors in 2019. 
"That number also includes food trucks and deli’s like Lucca Ravioli in the Mission, which shut down after 94 years.  
"The owners of Dosa, a small chain of South Indian restaurants, shut down it’s Valencia Street location in September after 15 years.
"“It’s not surprising to me at all, I think we’re witnessing the death of restaurants as we know it in San Francisco,” said Ben Bleiman, San Francisco Bar Owner’s Alliance. “I think it’s a slow extension but it’s happening and I think 2020 is gonna be even worse.”
"Bleiman is with the San Francisco Bar Owners Alliance.
"One of his businesses is a bar and restaurant in the Mission called Dr Teeth.  
"He says the City of San Francisco makes it very hard and very expensive for small businesses with employer mandates like Healthy SF, skyrocketing payroll tax, as well as taxing things like tables and chairs. 
"He says that financial burden of doing business is passed on to the customers, which makes going out more of a luxury.

“It doesn’t make financial sense to go out anymore. At my bar Dr. Teeth a burger and a beer, a burger with cheese and a beer after taxes tips and fees is $27 and we can’t blame millennials or whoever.”
"He says the high cost of food is due to policies implemented by the City of San Francisco. 
“The reason the burger and the beer is $27 is primarily because of policies that our San Francisco City Hall have implemented in the last 10 years that have forced us to raise our prices to the point where some tenable,” he said. " . . .

Ted Cruz Blasts Pete Buttigieg for Blaming Downed Ukrainian Plane on Trump Administration

Such a lack of class, especially from someone I expected better of. This is more the style of Warren and Biden. But we knew it would happen from this party of demagogues. TD

Breitbart  "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blasted Pete Buttigieg (D) after the former South Bend mayor claimed that the 176 individuals aboard the Ukrainian airliner that crashed after taking off from Tehran were victims of an “unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat” spurred by the Trump administration.

"The Ukrainian airliner’s crash coincided with Iran launching over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. U.S. officials suspect that the plane may have been shot down by Iran, calling the scenario “highly likely.”

“ 'Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat,” Buttigieg tweeted in part, subtly hinting at President Trump’s decision to eliminate Iran’s top terror chief, Qasem Soleimani: . . ."

. . . "Cruz took issue with Buttigieg’s implication that the Trump administration was responsible, in part, for the tragic loss.

“ 'Uh, Pete, they weren’t ‘caught in the middle.’ They were shot down BY IRAN. Military incompetence by the leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Cruz responded.

“ 'Just because Dems hate Trump doesn’t justify false equivalence w/ Iran,” he added. “Soleimani was a brutal terrorist who killed hundreds of Americans”:  . .  .

Democrats, CNN, Hollywood, and Iran: soulmates to the end

Rich Terrell

Graham accuses Republicans dissenting on Iran of ‘empowering the enemy’

NY Post  "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) accused two Republican senators of “empowering the enemy” for supporting a Democratic war powers resolution that would limit President Trump’s capacity to use military force amid escalating attacks and tensions with Iran.
"Responding to comments from Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in which they slammed a meeting with Trump administration officials on Iranian aggression, Graham offered some choice words for his colleagues.
“ 'They’re libertarians. I think they’re overreacting, quite frankly. Go debate all you want to. I’m going to debate you. Trust me, I’m going to let people know that at this moment in time to play this game with the war powers act…whether you mean to or not, you’re empowering the enemy,” the Senate Judiciary chairman told reporters Wednesday.
"Following a Tuesday evening briefing for senators on the unfolding situation with Iran, Lee and Paul expressed their fury and exasperation at the meeting to reporters." . . .
. . . 
"Paul jumped in with a similar sentiment, saying, “They have justified the killing of an Iranian general as being something that Congress gave them permission to do in 2002. That is absurd, that’s an insult.”
"Following Graham’s remarks, the Kentucky Republican went on CNN to slam his GOP colleague’s choice of words" . . .

So where do dissenting Republicans go for a sympathetic ear? Why CNN, of course!

Trump Unbound

J.R. Dunn  "One major point is being overlooked concerning the “impeachment”: now that the impeachment weapon has been unsheathed, and swung, and shattered into myriad pieces without so much as scratching its target, the Dems have absolutely nothing to use against Trump. In fact, it can be doubted that they will ever again have anything to use against Trump.
"Impeachment is over – Pelosi admitted as much when she issued her pro forma State of the Nation invitation to the President only days after the impeachment vote. She has still failed to present the articles to the Senate, but it’s all anticlimax at this point. Only a few hysterics on either side of the spectrum have any doubt as to how this is going to work out.

So what do they come up with next? Well, nothing much. Al Green (I’m convinced that he got most of his votes from people who confused him with the great gospel singer) may bluster all he likes about “another impeachment,” but it’s all gas. A second impeachment on the heels of a failed first attempt would simply be a plunge into the depths of absurdity. If impeachment is an awe-inspiring spectacle of a democratic government arisen in wrath, a second attempt scarcely rises to the level of a joke. Best just to appoint Green to the chairmanship of the Permanent Trump Impeachment Committee and be done with it.

"No – they hit him with an attempt to subvert electors, with the Mueller investigation, with the emoluments clause, with the 25th Amendment, and then with impeachment. And all of it simply bounced off. As it stands, Donald Trump is now beyond any legal, procedural method of harassment. He has been investigated to a fare-thee-well, and less has been found than would on you, me, or the Dalai Lama. Consider how much we know about his persecutors – Pelosi, Tlaib, Omar -- and then look at Trump." . . .

Cocaine Mitch pounds Nancy Pelosi into a powder  ("Cocaine Mitch"? Declared false)
. . . "It's gotten so bad it's now Senate Democrats who are warning Pelosi to drop the clown show, because her delay as leverage was starting to render Democrats irrelevant." . . .
. . . " The impreachment process is not only rendering Democrats irrelevant as voters get bored of hearing each day of Pelosi's delay, coming on the heels of her rush-rush impeachment, it's actually damaging them." . . .
. . . "Now she's blown it. Caught between the baying-for-impeachment Squad and the solid wall of Mitch McConnell, who like her, understands power, she's trapped. It's either get impeachment over with, or let it bleed her party out of power." . . .

Pelosi now has Democrats calling her out

Earl of Taint

Tick...tick...tick -- The stench of Epstein closing in on Bill Clinton

Monica Showalter  "Much of the fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophilia among the powerful scandal has fallen onto Prince Andrew of U.K., an insignificant second son of Queen Elizabeth II. The pervert's suicide, though, and the increasingly suspicion-arousing circumstances point to much more important people. As I've argued before, the media scrum around Andrew seemed to be an attempt to deflect attention from more powerful players involved with Epstein as the story burns out and the public loses interest.

"Beneficiary number remains is Bill Clinton, whose associations with Epstein are pretty astonishing. He's been listed on the flight logs of more than two dozen Epstein "Lolita Express" flights. He's been a regular at Epstein's "cowboy village" in New Mexico with its group showers which, based on the word of maintence staff, seemed to be all about perversion out of the public eye. He's been seen with all those candy stripers.

"Well, now the lid's starting to bounce on that boiling pot, and maybe too soon for Bill's tastes. The Sun of the U.K.'s new U.S. edition, now has an astonishing series of photos of Clinton livin' it up on Epstein's airplanes, Clinton posing with Epstein's accused pimp, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Clinton whooping it up with underage staff, generally partying hearty on the pervert's dime. Yet to this day he claims to know nothing about what Epstein was about, never noticed a thing." . . .

PRESIDENT AND THE 'PIMP' Bill Clinton poses with Epstein’s ‘pimp’ Ghislaine Maxwell . . . on board private jet, the ‘Lolita Express’
"However, it will further raise concerns about how some of the world's most famous and powerful people were drawn into Epstein's circle at a time when he was committing horrific sex crimes."


Apparently  cigars are acceptable on flights.

Obama Granted Amnesty to Terror General as Part of Iran Deal

Sean Adl-Tabatabai via Doane Barile

. . . "Another example of the craven concessions the White House had made to Tehran is the way future inspections will handled. Iran’s disinclination to make full and transparent disclosures on its nuclear programme is well-documented. Given the opportunity to cheat, they will do so. Which is why inspections by qualified teams of nuclear inspectors is so important.
"Only from now on the onus will be on the West to make the case that Iran is not playing by the rules by handing over its intelligence to prove so. For under the terms of the accord, we must “justify” the need for inspections, which in effect means handing over all the intelligence we have on Iran’s illicit activities. Of course Iran has been desperate to find out how Western intelligence learned about the existence of nuclear enrichment sites like Natanz and Fordow and, if we comply with the requirements set out in the accord to the letter, this is what will happen, with all the implications that will have for all our sources who risk their lives to tell us the truth about what the regime is up to.
"If I were Suleimani, I’d be organising an enormous party right now to celebrate a deal that is truly a “historic victory” for Tehran." . . .

From the UK Telegraph; May, 2015: Obama's Iran deal has just granted an amnesty to the world's leading terrorist mastermind:
"As head of the Quds Force in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Suleimani is widely regarded as one of the world's leading terrorists. Now Barack Obama has effectively granted him an amnesty."Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, fully deserves his reputation as one of the world’s leading terrorist masterminds.For a decade a more he has been the driving force behind an array of Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups, from Hizbollah to Hamas, which have orchestrated a reign of terror throughout the Middle East.From a purely British perspective, he was responsible for training and equipping the Shia militias in southern Iraq who killed scores of British troops during the dark days of Iraq’s sectarian conflict following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and was reported to have trained the Taliban in the art of making deadly roadside bombs that killed and mutilated our Service personnel serving in southern Afghanistan.So you can imagine my amazement when, leafing through the more obscure annexes of President Barack Obama’s “historic” deal with Iran (page 86 of the annex, to be precise), I found that Mr Suliemani – as the White House no doubt now refers to him – has been granted an amnesty and taken off the list of proscribed Iranians – together with a number of senior members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Photo added by TD

Photo added by TD

"Thanks to Mr Obama’s scandalous capitulation to Tehran, Mr Suleimani has overnight gone from being one of the world’s most wanted terrorists to the White House’s newest best friend.This is just one of the many troubling indications contained in the detail of the accord struck in Vienna between the P5 +1 and Tehran – that’s the official line, of course. The reality is this shoddy deal was worked out between the ayatollahs and the White House, with countries like Britain – which used to take a robust view of Iran’s endless procrastinations on its nuclear activities – left impotent on the sidelines.
Another example of the craven concessions the White House had made to Tehran is the way future inspections will handled. Iran’s disinclination to make full and transparent disclosures on its nuclear programme is well-documented. Given the opportunity to cheat, they will do so. Which is why inspections by qualified teams of nuclear inspectors is so important. . . .

Townhall

Soleimani, Abu Bakr, the Dem Washington Gnats, and the Corrupt Journalist Corps Ring in the Year

These are different Democrats. They regard themselves as “patriotic,” but they interpret that word as justifying — as their “patriotic” duty — leaking national intelligence secrets to the media, sabotaging the White House at every opportunity. With Adam Schiff long ago having proven himself to be — truly, not just polemically — a bald-faced liar without any scruples, a leaker, how could the President bring in the chair of the House Intelligence Committee? 

The American Spectator  "When Obama got word that Bin Laden was in our sights, he gave the OK to send in Seal Team Six and dispatch Bin Laden to eternal damnation. The Democrats cheered Obama, as though he somehow had done something mighty or brave. I never understood that. What President, other than a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren, would not have given the OK? Where was the courage, the guts, the greatness?

"What was the risk in OK’ing taking out Bin Laden? That our intelligence might have been wrong? The cost-benefit equation was so one-sided. If that was the intelligence the President was given, then that was an incredibly easy call. Even fair-minded Obama opponents would have recognized that, given the intelligence, it still would have made a positive statement even if Bin Laden had not been hiding in the reported compound: that we will get the guy, one way or another, sooner or later. In any event, it was a wonderful American moment, and Republican conservatives greeted the Bin Laden wack with joy, even as Democrats were delirious with glee. No Dem complained that Congress had not declared war or that the President had overstepped his Constitutional authority. He is the commander-in-chief, period. Bin Laden was evil and needed to be wacked. The moment presented itself. All fair-minded Americans understood this.

"Recently, Trump did something amazingly courageous when he authorized taking out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Jeffrey Epstein of the Middle East, who raped dozens of young girls, headed ISIS and authorized their horrible terrors, and predictably was mourned in the corrupt Washington Post’s obituary as an “austere religious scholar.” Trump’s risk was that he had a Democrat Congress actively politically gunning for him, and any mistake in the intelligence would get him personally into a world of negative outrage from the hypocritical left. The intelligence was pretty good but not as solid as with Bin Laden. The location, rather than in the relatively accessible Pakistan urban area where Bin Laden lived, was in the middle of a Syrian wasteland, with Abu Bakr changing locations almost nightly. But Trump gave the approval, and our Special Ops team took him down, as he died like a dog, like a coward, whimpering, crying, screaming all the way, dead as a doornail." . . .  Full article

CNN and Fox News Report on the Rise of Hitler

Why on Earth are our media –- and our president –- consumed with “Whither Iran?” when hundreds of Americans are dying every day at the hands of the country sitting right next door? Ann Coulter

Townhall

Ann Coulter  "While listening to news reports of what a monstrous threat Iran is, I've been wracking my brain to think of a single terrorist attack in this country committed by an Iranian. If there is one, now would be a good time to mention it! But I can’t find any.

"Nor any child rapes, Medicare frauds, heroin dealing or general anti-social behavior making life in America such a pleasure these days.
"Even the 9/11 report could tie Iran to the attacks only on the thin reed of several hijackers passing through Iran on their way to the U.S. -- where our customs officials welcomed all 19 of them with open arms.
"Thirteen of the 19 terrorists had been given Florida drivers' licenses. If we’re going back to 9/11, maybe Trump should consider dropping a drone on Jeb Bush.
"To get killed by an Iranian -- or even to be harassed by an Iranian -- you have to go the Middle East.
"Breaking News: Unrest in the Middle East!
"Why is the solution to this problem always to gather up our best young men ... and send them to the Middle East?
"President George W. Bush tried to pacify that region of the world with the Iraq War. We see how well that worked.
"By 2016, Americans were so sick of pointless Middle Eastern wars that even Trump’s ham-handed attacks on President Bush, saying he had “lied” about weapons of mass destruction, led to Trump’s landslide victory in the most hawkish state of the union: South Carolina.
"But today, Americans are sitting at home being scared out of their wits by news reports of the “threat” Iran poses to their children, their homes, their commute to work, their very lives.
"They can rest easy. It’s more likely that Mars will attack, and we didn’t just kill a Martian general.
"Just in terms of American Lives Snuffed Out, the greatest threat to our country, hands down, comes from Mexico. Doesn’t “national security” have something to do with keeping Americans alive?

"Mexican heroin killed at least 14,000 Americans last year. Mexican fentanyl and methamphetamine killed about 10,000 to 14,000. Hispanic drunk drivers -- Mexicans or other Hispanics given safe passage to the U.S. through Mexico -- kill about 3,000 Americans every year.

"That’s not to mention the random murders, the Kate Steinles, the cartel and gang killings, and even the occasional mass murder committed by Mexicans in the U.S. (Look up Eduardo Sencion and Salvador Tapia.)"
"Number of Americans killed in their own country every year by Iranians: 0 that I know of.
"Number of Americans killed in their own country every year by Mexicans: 30,000, by conservative estimate." . . .

Our Soleimani links for you

Dems Forget Soleimani's Plot to Bomb Washington

Perhaps President Trump should invite some of the families of the soldiers Soleimani murdered and some of the wounded warriors he maimed so Pelosi could look up at them and see why the killing of enemy combatant Soleimani in a war zone as he plotted to turn our embassy in Baghdad into another hostage crisis or worse, another Benghazi, was justified.

 Wait. Didn't Obama's 'Amazing' Shrink-Wrapped 'Iran Deal' Outlaw the Missiles the Ayatollah Used?  . . . "In fact, the Obama administration's Iran deal, the JCPOA – worst acronym ever – did not cover ballistic missiles. It referred to nuclear weapons.

"In other words, the deal covered weapons that the Ayatollah was least likely to use, but didn't cover the ones he could readily use." . . .

Iran Retaliated, Sort Of: So Now What?

Israeli think tank has Soleimani's number . . . "The title of the study just out is "The Soleimani Killing: An Initial Assessment" and it's a must-read at this link here. The essays are short and striking. Here's a bit of sampling of what the short papers contain:". . . 

Time magazine pummeled for 'guide' meant to help parents explain Soleimani killing to kids

If this was Iran's response, then killing Soleimani was a major victory for Trump

I still look for "non-Iranian" parties to target places here in the US, Trump himself possessing many targets.

Rent-a-Mobs Will Not Ease Khamenei’s Grim Future . . . "But the bulk of the demonstrators are there, not because they wish to pay tribute to the fallen martyr, but because they have to be. They have been commanded to be present, and, in addition to their fees, they are getting food and transportation to the various mob sites." . . .

Elizabeth Warren Won’t Criticize Soleimani, Deflects By Bashing Trump Instead (VIDEO)  "Democrats are so consumed by their hatred of Trump, that they can’t bring themselves to admit that Soleimani was an evil man who deserved to be eliminated.
"During a recent appearance on CNN, Elizabeth Warren referred to the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers as a high ranking Iranian government official.
"She then spent the rest of her appearance bashing Trump." . . .

Khamenei: Our military action against US 'not enough'

CNN Gives Platform To Spokeswoman For The 1979 US Embassy Hostage-Takers To Push Iran Propaganda  "CNN has no shame. Via Daily Caller:" . . .

How many virgins does one get for dying in a funeral procession for a terrorist mastermind?

Middle Easterners do not "funeral" well  Watch what happened at the funeral of the Ayatollah Khomeini

In case the video does not play, try this link instead: "Middle Easterners do not "funeral" well"

What Would a Democratic Socialist America Look Like? I Can Tell You—I’m Venezuelan.

Daniel Di Martino

"The closer we get to the 2020 election, Democratic presidential candidates support more socialist proposals, and the more that we Venezuelan immigrants experience déjà vu.
"We’re all-too-familiar with the rhetoric Democrats have delivered over the course of their campaigns. All candidates endorse a transition to Medicare-for-All in one form or another, higher taxes on Americans, and a fresh wave of regulations and government-guaranteed “rights.” And just recently, Elizabeth Warren seemed to endorse government-provided housing. These are the kinds of measures they hope will bring about a paradise similar to the Left’s beloved Nordic countries. Even so, for Americans used to a liberal government, it can be hard to envision what a democratic-socialist America would really look like. 
"But I can. I’ve lived it.
"I saw my home country go from prosperity to starvation in less than two decades. All because the people were tricked into voting for a candidate who sought to punish the rich and give everything away for free. Sound familiar?
"If America buys into the ideas of the Sanders and Warrens of the world, things will go downhill just as quickly." . . .

Kaepernick: the American left packaged into one man

Kaepernick’s disgraceful, ridiculous ‘racial’ lens on Soleimani slay

"In the torrent of idiotic commentary unleashed by the killing of Qassem Soleimani, Colin Kaepernick’s deserves a place of honor.
"The NFL washout and Nike persona who makes sure the company doesn’t produce any overly patriotic sneakers tweeted: “There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against black and brown people for the expansion of American imperialism.”
"For Kaepernick, Soleimani is just another dark-skinned man brutalized by America. The Iranian terror master was, in effect, driving while non-white and paid the ultimate price. For all we know, the operator of the MQ-9 Reaper drone that took him out was making a white-supremacy hand signal while unleashing this racist attack.
"This interpretation of events takes identity politics to a whole new level, defining the blood-drenched hit man for a terroristic, profoundly anti-Semitic, deeply intolerant theocracy as a victim, based on his skin color alone.
"Obviously, no one will mistake Kaepernick for an original thinker; he’s only repeating things he’s read or been told in a slightly more ­lurid form. His worldview is disproportionately represented in academia and on the left, which object to calling Soleimani a monster (hence, Elizabeth Warren’s pathetic backtracking after initially condemning Soleimani)." . . .

Traitorous Democrats hope for American casualties

Iran is our enemy.  They’ve been telling us so for 40 years. Yet, the traitorous Democrats side with Iran.

Diamond & Silk Say Kaepernick Might Be Happy Living in Another Country 
"Conservative activists Diamond and Silk roasted Colin Kaepernick on Monday after he trashed the United States while making millions of dollars on American soil.
“ 'I’m tired of these people talking about [how] they don’t like our policies,” the duo stated during their appearance on The Todd Starnes Show. “Ignore race baiters, haters, and agitators. And that’s what Colin Kaepernick is.”
“ 'They don’t like America, but they make millions and millions of dollars in America,” Diamond and Silk continued. “Then go somewhere where you like it.”
"Kaepernick recently drew criticism for his controversial tweets following the United States’ fatal attack on Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani.
“ 'President Trump has been trying to give Iran a chance,” Diamond and Silk said. Listen to their entire interview here.
“ 'They keep testing the waters. They keep pushing the paper over the edge until it falls.”
"The dynamic duo believes that President Trump’s approach to foreign policy “has the United States of America looking strong,” adding that Democrats are only in it for the money.

“ 'Obama drew a line in the sand and gave them 150 billion,” they said. “[President Trump] took a drone and some missiles up over there.' ” . . .