How’s it going in San Francisco? Another large firm plans to leave the city

In July 2022 San Francisco Mayor appointed Brooke Jenkins as District Attorney. She promised at that time to “fight the city’s lawlessness.”

Apparently she’s not fighting hard enough to keep KPMG (accounting firm renting 100,000 square feet) in downtown San Francisco.

From Daily Mail:

KPMG moving out of $400million ‘KPMG building’ in downtown San Francisco with nearby besieged mall loses another tenant as doom loop continues

“Accounting firm KPMG is set to move out of its $400 million namesake building, another high-profile exit from San Francisco’s beleaguered downtown.

The consulting and accounting giant first leased space in the 25-story office tower when the building opened in 2002.  Its name hangs above the entry to the skyscraper where the company currently occupies more than 100,000 square feet. It comes as shoe store Alto prepares to exit San Francisco Centre, the city’s biggest mall, next week.

Businesses and residents have fled downtown San Francisco since the pandemic with groups blaming crimehomelessness and work-from-home keeping people from downtown. 

Nearly 100 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent, according to a recent report. 

KPMG, a large accounting and financial firm, originally took 90,000 square feet at 55 Second St. in a 10-year contract, marking the second-largest office deal of 2003. It has since grown its footprint to span nearly one-third of the 380,000-square-foot building, leading to it being widely known as ‘The KPMG Building’.

The company is now considering ending its two-decade-long relationship with the building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s the latest tenant looking to exit the downtown area. 

Now, another business is set to leave the area’s largest shopping center as Aldo moves its store from the San Francisco Centre. The mall lost Adidas last Saturday, as well as other recent losses including Hollister, Lego and J. Crew.”

Read the whole story here.

DA Brooke Jenkins isn’t trying hard enough to fight the “lawlessness” when the statistics from her first full year (2023) indicate that less than 50% of those arrested had cases filed against them and the “filing rate” and “action taken” rate are both declining.

With statistics like that, I guess San Francisco can expect more businesses to leave.

DCG

Cry Harder: Illinois Governor begs Greg Abbott to quit sending illegal aliens to his state

Illinois became a sanctuary state for illegal aliens in August 2017. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is sending illegal aliens to sanctuary states/cities since the border is wide open and a record number of people are illegally entering the U.S. Texcas cannot handle/house/give free stuff to all of them.

And now, surprise, surprise, apparently those who claimed to welcome all have had a change of heart.

Big Mad: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker

From Daily Mail:

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker begs for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has begged his Texas counterpart Greg Abbott to stop busing migrants to Chicago as inclement weather is set to hit the Windy City this week.

The Democrat‘s request comes as new census numbers show Chicago has 4,468 more recently-arrived asylum seekers than previously thought, bringing the total number to 34,562.

‘While action is pending at the federal level, I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves,’ Pritzker wrote in a letter to the Republican send on Friday and seen by the Chicago Sun-Times.

‘Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state.’

Pritzker added that Abbott’s ‘callousness’ in flying or busing migrants to Chicago during the weather conditions was ‘now life-threatening to every one of the arrivals’ as temperatures are expected to plunge.

Gov. Abbott’s office replied by saying he will stop sending migrants to Chicago when the president “secures the border,” and claimed bus drivers were taking extra precautions due to the weather.”

Read the whole story here.

Good on Gov. Abbott!

DCG

NYC “rat czar” doing a bang up job…not!

NYC Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi

New York City has many problems, one of them being an out-of-control rat population. Mayor Adams appointed Kathleen Corradi as the “rat czar” in April 2023, with an annual salary of $155,000.

It’s been almost a year, so how are things going for Corradi in her new position? Just about how you’d expect:

Eric Adams’ war on rats ‘smoke and mirrors’ as NYC rodent complaints spike nearly 8%

From NY Post:

“Rodent complaints have spiked nearly 8% across New York City since Mayor Eric Adams took office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, troubling 311 data shows.

There were 41,748 rat sightings and other vermin-related complaints made through the city’s 311 hotline in 2023, up 1.5% from 41,120 a year before; up 7.6% percent from the 38,809 complaints fielded in 2021 during Bill de Blasio’s final year as mayor; and 32% more than the 31,644 complaints in 2019, a Post analysis of city records found.

For at least the fifth straight year, Brooklyn — where Adams previously served as borough president — was home to more rat complaints than any other NYC borough with 15,769, up 5% from 15,032 in 2022.”

Read the whole story here.

I’m fresh out of sympathy for these democrat-run cities. Y’all voted for this. They got one choice at this point since they never change their voting habits:

DCG

Baby born with spina bifida survives in-womb surgery & goes on to walk & run

This is very good news for the advancement and treatment of birth defects in the womb. Many women whose babies are diagnosed with spina bifida before birth will go on to have an abortion.

Piper-Kohl Kelly is living proof that modern technology can save children.

Piper-Kohl Kelly happy & healthy at five years old/SWNS photo

From The Irish Sun:

A girl whose parents were told she may never walk is now running around — after surgery in the womb. Mum Georgia Axford and dad Tyler Kelly discovered at the 20-week scan their unborn baby had spina bifida, which can paralyse the legs.

They got a £9,000 loan and travelled to Germany for an op where a collagen patch helps repair the spine.

Piper-Kohl Kelly, named after surgeon Dr Thomas Kohl, was then born early (in 2018) but healthy, and a fundraiser helped pay back the loan.

Now aged five, she can walk and run and has taken part in school sports day.

Georgia, 24, from Yate, South Gloucs, said: “Seeing her run on the tracks was amazing. I never thought she’d be able to do something like that. Sometimes it doesn’t feel real. I think back to what we were told, and they were really negative about Piper’s diagnosis. We were prepared to give Piper whatever support she needed. I can’t believe it – we’re so lucky to see Piper achieve what she does.”

Such a happy ending!

DCG

Sunny the Frenchie has a unique way of communicating…

Sunny is cute! Frankly, I don’t know if I could listen to this all day long. Thankfully his momma sure loves it!

Have a Happy New Year!

DCG

NASA captures amazing “Christmas Tree Cluster” of stars

From NASA:

“This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. NGC 2264 is, in fact, a cluster of young stars — with ages between about one and five million years old — in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. The stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the Sun to others containing about seven solar masses.

This new composite image enhances the resemblance to a Christmas tree through choices of color and rotation. The blue and white lights (which blink in the animated version of this image) are young stars that give off X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryOptical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak shows gas in the nebula in green, corresponding to the “pine needles” of the tree, and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise by about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upward, so that it appears like the top of the tree is toward the top of the image.”

Read more about the cluster here.

Truly amazing!

DCG

Momma bear saves her pup Pixel from moose attack

Don’t mess with a momma bear!

DCG

Baby swept away in Tennessee tornado found alive!

Last Sunday Tennessee had a EF-3 tornado which killed six people. A four-month-old baby was swept away and miracously survived!

More from NY Post:

“A Tennessee couple and their two children are seeking a new home after a large tornado ripped through their community and swept up their 4-month-old child, who was found alive in a nearby tree following the tragedy.

Sydney Moore, her boyfriend and their children were inside their home last Saturday in Clarksville when the EF-3 tornado, which left six people dead and more than two dozen injured, touched down in Montgomery County.

Moore said the tornado, which destroyed the couple’s mobile home and other belongings, picked up her 4-month-old child, who managed to survive the horrific event.

Recalling what exactly happened that evening, Moore told the outlet that her boyfriend could see the tornado envelop their home before it was ripped to shreds and the baby’s bassinet was picked up. “The roof came off first, the tip of the tornado came down and picked up the bassinet with our baby,” she said. “He was the first thing to go up.”

“I thought he was dead,” she said. “I was pretty sure he was dead and we weren’t going to find him. But he’s here, and that’s by the grace of God.”

Read the whole story here.

So glad that this baby was found alive!

DCG

The Climate-Czar’s Fart Caption Contest

This is our  world-famous 277th Caption Contest!

Here’s the video (go to the 0:18 mark for the fart, LOL):

John Kerry Blasts Fart During COP28 Climate Change Conference Remarks (Video)

You know the drill:

  • Enter the contest by submitting your caption as a comment on this thread (scroll down until you see the “LEAVE A REPLY” box).
  • Body and Soul‘s writers will vote for the winner.
  • Any captions proffered by our writers, no matter how brilliant (ha ha), will not be considered. :(

This contest will be closed at the end of Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023.

‘To get the contest going, here’s my caption:

If cow farts contribute to global warming, that makes Biden’s climate czar John Kerry a danger to global health and wellbeing.

For the winner of our last Caption Contest, go here.

~E

Christmas funnies!

Less than two weeks to Christmas, enjoy!

DCG