Joseph Belbruno Blog

  Liberal San Francisco Is Deporting Migrants to Fight Fentanyl Crisis A billboard mocking harm reduction policies near the San Francisco Federal Building. Photographer: Manuel Orbegozo/Bloomberg The city has adopted more hardline policies as the human and economic pain from the deadly drug mounts. Save San Francisco has long celebrated its progressive values and immigration sanctuary policies. A deadly fentanyl crisis is testing its commitment to those ideals. Open-air drug markets dot a downtown already struggling to recover from the pandemic. A record number of people died from overdoses last year. Faced with a deepening emergency, city leaders have quietly embraced a controversial tactic to combat the epidemic: deportation. More than 100 people, mostly undocumented immigrants, have been charged in a federal  crackdown  on San Francisco’s open-air drug markets since last year, according to a review of cases and data from the US Attorney for the Northern District of California. Those

  Chameleon Runs for President as Businesses Flee Her State Listen (6 min) Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom wave at a campaign event for the governor in San Leandro, Calif., Sept 8, 2021.   Photo:  saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Good vibrations aren’t a policy platform. While  Kamala Harris  is campaigning on a promise to create an “opportunity economy,” employers are fleeing her home state of California. Over the past decade, companies from banking to aerospace have decamped from the Golden State, taking large numbers of middle-class jobs with them. California has shed major companies including  Charles Schwab , pharmaceuticals supplier  McKesson  and commercial-real-estate giant  CBRE . More recently the exodus has extended to high tech, with the loss of  Hewlett Packard Enterprise ,  Oracle ,  Palantir ,  Tesla  and SpaceX. Chevron ’s decision to relocate its global headquarters is the latest evidence of the Golden State’s increasingly hosti

  Tencent-Backed Job Site Stock May Extend 45% Drop on Weak Demand Save Translate Listen 3:01 A lackluster jobs market is pressuring shares of China’s top online recruitment firm as the nation’s economic struggles sap demand for workers. US-traded shares of  Kanzhun Ltd.  have slumped 45% from a high in May, with a push last week from a report of quarterly revenue that missed analyst estimates for the first time since its trading debut in 2021. Backed by  Tencent Holdings Ltd. , the firm operates a site called  Boss Zhipin  — akin to LinkedIn — that connects enterprise customers and jobseekers via direct messaging. Despite its leading position in China, comments by Kanzhun management in the results briefing have raised concerns. “The company had a negative outlook that suggested a lack of visibility due to macroeconomic soft demand for recruitment services,” Morningstar Inc. analyst Kai Wang wrote in a note. “We recommend waiting for Boss Zhipin to show greater incremental users and en

  Father of NRL star accused of drug trafficking could be sent to Indonesia in exchange for accused Chinese spy Accused drug trafficker Gregor Haas and accused Chinese spy Alice Guo are at the centre of a proposed deal between Indonesia and the Philippines. (AAP/AP/ABC) In short: An Australian accused of drug trafficking could be sent to Indonesia as part of a deal with the Philippines. Former Philippine mayor Alice Guo has already been sent back to Manila by Indonesia, after leaving in July. What's next? Officials say negotiations to get Gregor Johann Haas from the Philippines to Indonesia are ongoing. The father of Brisbane Broncos NRL star Payne Haas could be sent to Indonesia to face drug charges in a detainee swap with the Philippines involving a former mayor accused of being a Chinese spy.  On Thursday, Indonesia deported Alice Guo, a former Philippine town mayor accused in Manila of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam centre and evading an investigation by th

  Putin: I’m backing Kamala Harris as I love her laugh Despite the Russian president’s remarks, US intelligence thinks the Kremlin would prefer a Trump victory as he is less committed to maintaining support for Ukraine Kamala Harris “laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her”, President Putin said REUTERS Kamala Harris has said she laughs “from the belly”, like her mother. For her supporters the chuckle is a selling point, broadening the Democratic presidential nominee’s popular appeal and producing countless online tributes. Donald Trump, though, has sought to use the laugh against Harris, offering a nickname for the vice-president — “Laughing Kamala” — and telling one rally: “You ever watch her laugh? … You can tell a lot by a laugh. No — she’s crazy. She’s nuts.” Watch: Putin discusses the American presidential candidates Now, President Putin has joined the debate, suggesting that Harris’s “infectious” laugh made him prefer her over Trump