[Mick]

I grew up in Santa Cruz, and not too far from my place was a psychopathic, steroid abusing drug dealer. His brother was a serial killer who died in prison, another brother did prison time. This guy was on a murder trial in 2022, when his DNA was found under the fingernails of a woman who was strangled to death. Hung jury (11-1), DA wanted to retry, judge said no, he’s acquitted, insufficient evidence. Felony parole violation in 2014, DWI late last year. He’s out, walking around.

No idea why he’s not permanently locked up. He wanted to take me out permanently when I was 17, told our friends in our common circle. He came close, too.

So…no. I don’t know why we would let out felons.

 

[Mick]

Two Three final additions. On January 26, the last store in the San Francisco Town Centre is closing, ECCO and so is the Peet’s at 595 Market Street. New closings in bold:

1. 24-Hour Fitness
2. 7-Eleven
3. A Miner Miracle Shop
4. Abercrombie & Fitch
5. Adidas
6. Agent Provocateur
7. Aldo
8. Alessi
9. Alexander McQueen
10. AllSaints
11. Amazon Go
12. American Eagle Outfitters
13. Amy Kuschel Bride
14. Anthropologie
15. Archive
16. Arc’teryx
17. Armani Exchange
18. AT&T
19. Athleta
20. Babette
21. Banana Republic
22. Bank of America (brand on 1 Market Street)
23. Barneys New York
24. Bed Bath & Beyond
25. Benefit
26. Blondie’s Pizza (relocated)
27. Bloom Room, The
28. Bloomingdale’s
29. Bristol Farm
30. Brooks Brothers
31. Bucherer / Rolex
32. Burke Williams Spa
33. California Girl Jewelry
34. Camper Shoes
35. CB2
36. Charley’s Cheesesteaks
37. Christian Louboutin
38. Century Theaters
39. Cinemark Multiplex
40. Coach
41. Coco Republic Furniture
42. Cole Haan
43. Container Store, The
44. Crate & Barrel
45. Crunch Gym
46. Cuyana
47. CVS Pharmacy
48. Denny’s
49. Diana Slavin
50. Diesel
51. Disney Store
52. Doc Martens
53. DSW/Designer Shoe Warehouse
54. Ecco
55. eDressit
56. Ethos
57. Express
58. Fabric Outlet
59. Façonnable
60. Farinelli Decorative Arts
61. Fires of Brazil Express
62. First Republic Bank
63. Forever 21
64. Forum
65. Gallery of Jewels
66. GameStop
67. Gap, The
68. Good Vibrations
69. Goorin Brothers
70. Green Arcade Bookstore
71. G-Star
72. H&M
73. Harputs
74. Hollister
75. Huntington
76. Icebreaker
77. In-N-Out Burger
78. It’Sugar
79. IWC Schaffhausen
80. Izzy & Wooks
81. J. Crew
82. Jamba Juice
83. Jeffrey’s Toys
84. Jimmy Choo
85. Jimmy Choo Men’s
86. Jin Wang Bridal
87. Jins Eyewear
88. John Varvatos
89. Johnny Was
90. Jos. A. Bank Clothier
91. Journeys
92. Jug Shop
93. Kate Spade
94. Klaus Murer Swiss Jeweler
95. Kohl’s (27 closings nationwide)
96. KPMG – Leaving their $400 million name building
97. L’Occitane
98. La Cocina
99. La Perla
100. Lacoste
101. Lego Stores
102. Lily Samii Collection
103. Longchamp
104. Lucky Brand
105. Lululemon
106. Lush
107. Madewell
108. Makeshop by Brit + Co.
109. Margaret O’Leary
110. Marlowe
111. Marmot
112. Marni
113. Marshall’s
114. Mashaallah Halal Pakistani Food
115. MCM Worldwide
116. McDonald’s (closed after 30 years)
117. MedMen
118. Mephisto
119. Merrell
120. Michael Kors
121. Mija Cochinita
122. Milk Tee
123. Miller & Lux Provisions (Tyler Florence owner of Wayfare Tavern closed this patisserie and sister rotisserie cafe. SF gave him a grant of $440k just two years ago to open it)
124. New Balance
125. Nordstrom – Closing all San Francisco stores, not just Union Square
126. Nordstrom Rack
127. North Face
128. Oak & Fort
129. Oakley
130. Office Depot
131. Old Navy
132. Omega
133. Ordinary, The | DECIEM
134. Panda Express
135. Panerai
136. Paper Source
137. Peet’s
138. Psycho Bunny
139. Puma
140. Rae | Costumes
141. Ray Ban
142. Razer Computer
143. RealReal, The
144. Richemont
145. Ria’s Shoes
146. Rims & Goggles
147. Rolex
148. Saks Fifth Avenue
149. Saks Off Fifth
150. Samsonite
151. San Francisco Town Centre
152. Sarku Japan
153. Scotch & Soda
154. See’s Candies
155. Sentiero
156. Sephora
157. Shake Shack
158. Shreve & Company Jewelers
159. Starbuck’s (Two closings three more by 2025)
160. Steve Madden
161. Subway
162. Sunglass Hut
163. Taco Bell
164. Tad’s Steakhouse
165. Target
166. Ted Baker
167. The Body Shop
168. Theory
169. Thomas Pink
170. Tina’s Jewelry
171. T-Mobile
172. Tourbillon Boutique
173. TSE
174. TUMI
175. Umai Savory Hot Dogs
176. Uniqlo
177. V Boutique
178. Vans
179. Veo Optics
180. Vilebrequin
181. Walgreen’s (closed nine SF stores between 2021 and 2024, twelve more closed in February 2025, two were in Union Square)
182. Warby Parker
183. Westfield Mall
184. Wetzel’s Pretzels
185. Whole Foods
186. Williams Sonoma
187. Wolford
188. World of Charms
189. Yotel
190. Zadig & Voltaire
191. Zara
192. Zumiez

[Mick]

Body blow to USPS

Amazon ends USPS partnership after $9.5 billion loss; 100,000 workers affected

[Mick]

Excellent reply, and by that I mean that I feel the same way.

I can’t recall the time I last interacted with the government in any way that seemed positive or efficient. About 20% of the time, I get the sense that the person behind the desk is interested in arriving at a positive conclusion for both of us. I have never thought dealing with any government (or non-profit for that matter) was efficient in any way.

I don’t think you can make government or non-profits efficient. The instinct isn’t there, the desire isn’t there, the knowledge isn’t there, and people go home at 5:01 p.m. When I was at Andersen, our biggest client (by far) was PG&E. They didn’t have anyone internally who knew what to do.

Here’s the problem in microcosm: I was at a post office some years back, very long line. An elderly lady walked up to the clerk (finally) and asked for a bit of tape to close off a weakly-sealed part of her parcel. The clerk behind the desk declines, and she says “just some of that tape from your dispenser right there” pointing to a tape dispenser three feet away. Bureaucrat that he is, he declines, politely. She leaves, irritated and bemused. He says loudly to his four co-workers “I wonder why she thought we would give her some tape?” They all laughed. The guy in front of me says “Because UPS does it.” Someone else says “So does Federal Express…and Emery…and Airborne.” (Note: The USPS changed their policy at some point in the past).

The government isn’t built to be efficient. It’s an employment agency for not-very-employable people who generally wouldn’t succeed in the private sector (absent the nosebleed-high people). You don’t get fired for following the rules, but you might get disciplined or fired when you try to do something different and better.

So…you’re right. What will they do with all that money? One would hope pay down the debt, or apply it to transfer payments to the elderly, sick, etc. But no, they can’t be trusted with it. They’d just waste it.

Interestingly, the government is convinced that they spend our money better than we do. Former White House employee and creator of “The West Wing” wrote this exchange:

Donna Moss: “What’s wrong with me getting my money back?”​
Josh Lyman: “You won’t spend it right.”​
Donna Moss: “What do you mean?”​
Josh Lyman: “Let’s say your cut of the surplus is $700. I want to take your money and combine it with everybody else’s money, and use it to pay down the debt and take steps toward universal health care. You won’t like that, will you?”​

This is the Josh/Donna version of the “I know better than the government how to spend my money” vs. “we know better than you what to do with it” argument.

Later in the episode, Donna argues for her taxes returned to her:

Donna: What’s wrong with me getting my money back?

Josh: What do you mean?

Donna: The surplus is money the government collected from us but doesn’t need.

Josh: We’re going to need it eventually.

Donna: Give it back and collect it later.

Josh: You won’t spend it right.

Donna: What do you mean?

Josh: You’ll spend it on cigarettes and beer and tattooed boyfriends.

Donna: I’ll buy an American car.

Josh: We don’t trust you.

Donna: Why not?

Josh: We’re Democrats.

Donna: I want my money back.

Josh: You shouldn’t have voted for us.

[Mick]

Intended to replace cuts, I think…

[Mick]

You obviously don’t understand the concept of limited government. Yes, the Republicans support limited government — not small government. You will note that small government is not listed anywhere here — but limited government is.

Republican Party (United States) – Wikipedia

Limited government, incidentally, is a concept favored by liberals. I’m guessing you didn’t know that either. The Magna Carta, the U. S. Constitution, John Locke (liberal philosopher) and his Two Treatises of Government reasoned that men would voluntarily join a social contract, or a “commonwealth,” one in which the powers of the government were restricted to only what the people allowed it to do.

Limited government – Wikipedia

Here’s a century of federal spending. I don’t see any evidence that Republicans held back — ever. So I guess I don’t know what you’re talking about.

[Mick]

Trump sends military to Portland and authorizes full force. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-27/trump-orders-us-troops-to-portland-authorizes-full-force i feel so much safer now with the party of small government and states rights sending the Gestapo and the military.

The Geheime Staatspolizei (German State Police) were (a) German, (b) secret police, and (c) disbanded in 1945. There is literally nothing to connect them with anything in present-day America. The only reason to continue claiming that Americans are identical to WWII German war criminals is to both desire and cause literal physical attacks on American politicians of the party you don’t like.

Congratulations. You got your wish. Multiple prominent Republicans and Christians attacked. You must be proud.

[Mick]

BTW, Mexico has an enlightened approach to property taxes. Mexican property taxes are due in March. If you pay in February, you get 10% off. If you pay in January, they knock of 20%.

[Mick]

And yet I have 20-something’s that work for me who own homes and nice cars. I’m thinking the American dream is dead if you think the dream is to own nyc or Silicon Valley real estate as a young person with a normal job. If the American dream is to work hard for a chance to own property and make a good life for yourself, I’d argue it’s still alive. It’s just that if you live in a bastion of greed you have to deal with monetization of everything.

Both of my kids turned out fine and have their piece of the American dream. But you have to agree that it is much, much more limited than it was for our generation and certainly the generation prior to that one.

[Mick]

Zohran is inheriting a $12 billion city deficit in a city which has the highest taxes in the country. Can’t wait to see how he addresses it.

NYC faces $12B budget deficit, drawing comparison to 2008 financial crisis – as Zohran Mamdani uses dire forecast to push taxing the rich

His comptroller said that overwhelming spending is the problem, so of course Mamdani wants to increase taxes on the rich…

[Mick]

I’m 63 years old, and I’ve seen a lot of bizarre things in my life, we all have. Kamala Harris as Presidential candidate, for example. But politically speaking, I cannot conceive of a more bizarre possibility than that of AOC running for President, much less her actually being President.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vs JD Vance: 2028 jockeying begins

More bizarre than Hillary Clinton. HRC was a Yale grad, married to a successful former President. More bizarre than obviously senile Joe Biden. More bizarre than Mike Dukakis and considerably more bizarre than Gavin Newsom.

She is the lowest of low watt bulbs, who didn’t even know the three parts of the U. S. Government when she entered office as a bartender-turned-politician. She drove an enormous potential employer away from her district and has Socialist tendencies.

Part of me wonders how this could happen here. But given the erosion in academic standards and the propensity for low-information voters to buy into political BS, well maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

[Mick]

Like Mamdani now getting hammered because none of his deputy mayors are Black:

Zohran Mamdani dinged in New York Times report for ‘problem’ of not having Black deputy mayors

FWLIW, Mamdani had almost no support from Black voters. Sounds like Latinos are unhappy that only one of his five deputy mayors are Latino.

[Mick]

That freak show of a Mayor in Seattle won’t allow money losing grocery stores to close.

Seattle’s New Socialist Mayor Goes Full Communist, Says She Won’t Allow Private Grocery Stores To Close – IJR

She wants corps. to give a 90 day notice for closures. WARN act is already 60 days for 100+ employees. And she wants government grocery stores.

This hits home for me, a little bit. My dad owned a grocery store in Santa Cruz, a health food store essentially. Had about 8-10 employees at any one time. I worked it, my stepmother worked it. Operated on decent margins, but the grosses weren’t very high and given that Dad’s lease was a percentage of the gross, he was fine with that. Never made a ton of money, but was profitable, in no small part due to his business acumen.

Four points:

1. Mayor Wilson says grocery stores should not be allowed to only sell food to those who can afford it. Right. That’s why there are SNAP benefits.
2. Most grocery stores operate on very narrow margins. There are plenty of discount stores that are extremely efficient; Dollar General, Food4Less, DollarTree, Save-A-Lot, WinCo, Grocery Outlet (and United Grocery Outlet), to say nothing of Costco, Target, and WalMart (there are 20 of those alone in Seattle). And Mayor Wilson? There are 214 grocery stores in Seattle’s city limits that include grocery stores, outlets, supermarkets. That doesn’t include corner stores, bodegas, farmers markets, drug stores…there are 493 stores in Seattle that have permits which allow retail sales of groceries, including 41 farmers markets, 20-40 drug stores, 200-300 corner stores, on top of the 214 grocery stores. Seattle is 84 square miles of land mass, that averages six stores per square mile.
3. Customer pilferage is an enormous problem in all grocery stores, but employee pilferage is a far worse in government owned stores, because there’s no profit motive. No one’s minding the store, so to speak. Typically, a store manager is incentivized towards profitability. No incentives = no profitability = quality managers and quality employees depart, no one cares if anything gets stolen. I once chased a guy who stole an orange for two blocks. It wasn’t the orange, I wanted the thief to tell his friends you can’t steal from my store. Kansas City had a government-run grocery store, it closed down in less than a year because of these problems.
4. In the bad old evil early 1970s, I was 11 years old and living in Pacifica, about as blue collar a town as there was back in the day. My single mom would send me to walk to the Safeway to pick up bacon, eggs and orange juice. Just over three miles each way. Never had an issue at all. Given that Mom smoked three packs a day, I could see why she didn’t want to walk it, even though she would only be in her early 30s. She just wanted me out of the house to get two hours’ worth of time with no arguments between me and my sister.

My dad ultimately sold the store to his store manager, who cratered the business in two years after it was profitable for 19 years.

[Mick]

I am updating the list one final time with the last two closures from San Francisco Centre (two blocks south of Union Square on Market between 4th and 5th). They were down to their final two restaurants, the only businesses operating in the entire mall.

I am also adding 13 businesses that I had overlooked, but with the help of AI, I am adding to the list.

Also, I removed Macy’s, Parc 55 and Hilton Union Square from the list. They announced they would close, then they announced they would stay. Call it the endangered list.

New closings in bold:

1. 24-Hour Fitness
2. 7-Eleven
3. A Miner Miracle Shop
4. Abercrombie & Fitch
5. Adidas
6. Agent Provocateur
7. Aldo
8. Alessi
9. Alexander McQueen
10. AllSaints
11. Amazon Go
12. American Eagle Outfitters
13. Amy Kuschel Bride
14. Anthropologie
15. Archive
16. Arc’teryx
17. Armani Exchange
18. AT&T
19. Athleta
20. Babette
21. Banana Republic
22. Bank of America (brand on 1 Market Street)
23. Barneys New York
24. Bed Bath & Beyond
25. Benefit
26. Blondie’s Pizza (relocated)
27. Bloom Room, The
28. Bloomingdale’s
29. Bristol Farm
30. Brooks Brothers
31. Bucherer / Rolex
32. Burke Williams Spa
33. California Girl Jewelry
34. Camper Shoes
35. CB2
36. Charley’s Cheesesteaks
37. Christian Louboutin
38. Century Theaters
39. Cinemark Multiplex
40. Coach
41. Coco Republic Furniture
42. Cole Haan
43. Container Store, The
44. Crate & Barrel
45. Crunch Gym
46. Cuyana
47. CVS Pharmacy
48. Denny’s
49. Diana Slavin
50. Diesel
51. Disney Store
52. Doc Martens
53. DSW/Designer Shoe Warehouse
54. Ecco
55. eDressit
56. Ethos
57. Express
58. Fabric Outlet
59. Façonnable
60. Farinelli Decorative Arts
61. Fires of Brazil Express
62. First Republic Bank
63. Forever 21
64. Forum
65. Gallery of Jewels
66. GameStop
67. Gap, The
68. Good Vibrations
69. Goorin Brothers
70. Green Arcade Bookstore
71. G-Star
72. H&M
73. Harputs
74. Hollister
75. Huntington
76. Icebreaker
77. In-N-Out Burger
78. It’Sugar
79. IWC Schaffhausen
80. Izzy & Wooks
81. J. Crew
82. Jamba Juice
83. Jeffrey’s Toys
84. Jimmy Choo
85. Jimmy Choo Men’s
86. Jin Wang Bridal
87. Jins Eyewear
88. John Varvatos
89. Johnny Was
90. Jos. A. Bank Clothier
91. Journeys
92. Jug Shop
93. Kate Spade
94. Klaus Murer Swiss Jeweler
95. Kohl’s (27 closings nationwide)
96. KPMG – Leaving their $400 million name building
97. L’Occitane
98. La Cocina
99. La Perla
100. Lacoste
101. Lego Stores
102. Lily Samii Collection
103. Longchamp
104. Lucky Brand
105. Lululemon
106. Lush
107. Madewell
108. Makeshop by Brit + Co.
109. Margaret O’Leary
110. Marlowe
111. Marmot
112. Marni
113. Marshall’s
114. Mashaallah Halal Pakistani Food
115. MCM Worldwide
116. McDonald’s (closed after 30 years)
117. MedMen
118. Mephisto
119. Merrell
120. Michael Kors
121. Mija Cochinita
122. Milk Tee
123. Miller & Lux Provisions (Tyler Florence owner of Wayfare Tavern closed this patisserie and sister rotisserie cafe. SF gave him a grant of $440k just two years ago to open it)
124. New Balance
125. Nordstrom – Closing all San Francisco stores, not just Union Square
126. Nordstrom Rack
127. North Face
128. Oak & Fort
129. Oakley
130. Office Depot
131. Old Navy
132. Omega
133. Ordinary, The | DECIEM
134. Panda Express
135. Panerai
136. Paper Source
137. Psycho Bunny
138. Puma
139. Rae | Costumes
140. Ray Ban
141. Razer Computer
142. RealReal, The
143. Richemont
144. Ria’s Shoes
145. Rims & Goggles
146. Rolex
147. Saks Fifth Avenue
148. Saks Off Fifth
149. Samsonite
150. Sarku Japan
151. Scotch & Soda
152. See’s Candies
153. Sentiero
154. Sephora
155. Shake Shack
156. Shreve & Company Jewelers
157. Starbuck’s (Two closings three more by 2025)
158. Steve Madden
159. Subway
160. Sunglass Hut
161. Taco Bell
162. Tad’s Steakhouse
163. Target
164. Ted Baker
165. The Body Shop
166. Theory
167. Thomas Pink
168. Tina’s Jewelry
169. T-Mobile
170. Tourbillon Boutique
171. TSE
172. TUMI
173. Umai Savory Hot Dogs
174. Uniqlo
175. V Boutique
176. Vans
177. Veo Optics
178. Vilebrequin
179. Walgreen’s (closed nine SF stores between 2021 and 2024, twelve more closed in February 2025, two were in Union Square)
180. Warby Parker
181. Westfield Mall
182. Wetzel’s Pretzels
183. Whole Foods
184. Williams Sonoma
185. Wolford
186. World of Charms
187. Yotel
188. Zadig & Voltaire
189. Zara
190. Zumiez

[Mick]

US talks pose ‘conundrum’ for Greenland, Denmark: Analysts

Vance and Rubio are meeting with the Danish Foreign Minister and the Greenlandic Foreign Minister.

Should be an interesting conversation. I wonder what the U. S. is prepared to offer to Greenland and Denmark. $57 billion each?

[Author]

Posts