Columnists

On July 24th, Special Counsel Robert Mueller made his long-anticipated appearance before the Democratically-controlled House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Here are ten takeaways:

1. Mueller was not a great witness. Whatever your political persuasion, if you actually watched a segment of the hearings, you probably felt that Mueller came across as enervated, evasive, and -- particularly in his morning testimony before the Judiciary Committee -- doddering. That's not to say that Democrats didn't score points with Mueller's testimony, but rather that he was disappointing.

2. Mueller cared more about Russian interference in the 2016 election than he did Trump's obstruction of justice. For whatever reason, Mueller seemed more animated when he appeared, in the afternoon, before the House Intelligence Committee. He was particularly emphatic when he spoke about Russian interference in the 2016 election. -more-

My wife and I arrived in San Francisco in 1971. Since at least that time, getting the homeless into housing or shelters has been a “concern” or a “priority” for every administration. Given the latest point-in-time count & Survey of San Francisco’s homeless, it has been a losing battle so far.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition of homelessness includes only those people living on the streets, in vehicles, or in temporary shelters. Using the HUD definition, the point-in-time count & Survey conducted in January 2019, found 8,011 homeless people in San Francisco, a 6.8% increase over 2017. -more-

When I was in high school, I was brilliant but undisciplined. I often skipped homework but usually got very good test scores. If a subject interested me, effort didn't feel like effort. What stopped me from attending college was the ostracism, bullying, physical attacks and harassment of other male students. (When I tried junior college with the idea of transferring to a university, I discovered that the same awful young men who'd come after me in high school were there and would continue.)

Instead of college, I obtained employment that did not involve any brainpower, and it was night shift. The origin of my ensuing mental illness could have partly been working nights at too young an age. However, there were other, additional factors that made me ill, including genetic ones. A history of social difficulties was included in the mix. -more-

With the long-awaited Mueller hearings now behind us, I find myself fixated on one unexpected take-away from the historic multi-network simulcast. -more-