Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 6.16.2019

UPDATE:

A 45-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the killing of German politician Walter Lübcke, police said on Sunday.

The suspect was detained on Saturday morning by special police units in the central city of Kassel, 160 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of Frankfurt. The individual was then brought before an investigating judge on Sunday and remanded in custody.

“The arrest was based on a DNA match,” the regional public prosecutor’s office and the Hesse state office of criminal investigation said.

https://www.dw.com/en/new-arrest-in-murder-of-german-politician-walter-l%C3%BCbcke/a-49227718

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 6.4.2019

“Welcome to Berlin-Neukölln,” says a man, referring to the inner-city Berlin neighborhood that has come to symbolize crime for some Germans.

The neighbors are trying to imagine what exactly happened at Walter Lübcke’s Kassel house on Saturday night. The village fair was underway over the weekend. It was probably too loud to have heard any shots, they say. The man says he walked past the house on his way home at about the time the murder must have taken place.

“What would you have done if the killer had come out?” asks one woman. “Let him go,” says the other, adding that it would be the only sane thing to do.

Walter Lübcke’s neighbors and co-workers can’t make sense of his death from a gunshot wound in a village on the outskirts of Kassel, in central Germany. They hope for relief from detectives working to solve the crime.

“Did you read the hateful tirades on the internet about him?” one woman asks. “Those are keyboard perpetrators.”

Media reported that Lübcke had received death threats during the refugee crisis, when the region, like all of Germany, was taking in people fleeing war and poverty in Syria and beyond.

“Anyone who doesn’t share these values can leave this country at any time,” Lübcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had said in response to disruptions at a community meeting about the situation in October 2015.

Everyone knew Walter Lübcke in Istha. He didn’t have to be shot dead for people in this quiet village of around 900 to learn his name. As president of the district council, the Regierungspräsidium, or governing presidium, here in the north of the state of Hesse, he was one of the most powerful politicians in the region.

The state police have been investigating what happened on Saturday night. They have not said whether or not they have leads, but that they are looking in all directions. They have also said that Walter Lübcke, who was 65, was shot in the head at close range and that no weapon was found. It was not suicide. He was discovered in his garden around midnight by a family member and pronounced dead in hospital two hours later. They have asked people to refrain from speculating.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-killing-of-kassel-district-president-leaves-locals-aghast/a-49060746

 

June 3, 2019

Every Picture Tells a Story – Ongoing Series

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry reacts to Quinn Cook after Cook hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter during game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday, June 2 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A Stunned SuperRapper Drake looks on in Dismay.

The Warriors won 109-104. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Oakland. The series is tied 1-1.

Photo: Scott Strazzante / The San Francisco Chronicle

 

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 6.2.2019

Photo above – Andre Iguodala after hitting game winning 3 pointer with five seconds left.

TORONTO — Warriors head coach Steve Kerr didn’t question his team’s ability to recover from its Game 1 loss to the Raptors in the NBA Finals.

“These guys have seen it all,” Kerr said Sunday, several hours before they would see a lot more adversity.

Photo above – Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard

In Game 2, they saw a double-digit deficit, a host of injury scares and a raucous Scotiabank Arena crowd and overcame it all to escape with a 109-104 win over the Raptors to even the series at 1-1. Now, as Golden State flies back to Oakland, it stares down some key questions:

How serious is the left hamstring injury Klay Thompson suffered early in the fourth quarter? Will Kevon Looney — the Warriors’ most reliable center this season — miss time with a left chest contusion he sustained early in the third quarter? Can Kevin Durant return for Game 3 on Wednesday from a strained right calf that has sidelined him for seven games?

Regardless of their injury report moving forward, the Warriors can take solace knowing that they’re as well-equipped to weather attrition as any team in recent NBA history.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/warriors/article/XXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXX-13917835.php?psid=6nO7

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 6.2.2019

The Chinese government said the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square – which left hundreds of protesters dead,  perhaps thousands – was not a mistake. The defense came days ahead of the 30th anniversary of the killings.

Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe on Sunday defended the bloody crackdown on protesters Tiananmen Squarealmost three decades after it took place.

“That incident was a political turbulence and the central government took measures to stop the turbulence which is a correct policy,” Wei told a regional security forum in Singapore.

“The 30 years have proven that China has undergone major changes,” Wei said in response to a question from the audience. He said that because of the government’s action at that time “China has enjoyed stability and development.”

Wei said the action was necessary to avoid political instability, and questioned why people still said that China has not handled the situation well.

The response was a rare acknowledgment of the killings, which had followed seven weeks of protests in 1989 by students and workers calling for democracy and an end to corruption.

Hundreds, possibly more than 1,000 people were killed when soldiers and tanks chased protesters and onlookers in the streets around the square. One secret British diplomatic cable put the possible number of dead at up to 10,000.

Within China, online censors have been removing online content — such as memes, hashtags and photos — that allude to the events at Tiananmen Square.

https://www.dw.com/en/china-says-tiananmen-crackdown-was-correct/a-49004281

The scandalous Police State behavior by cops – abetted by three Judges who signed   search warrants and acquiescent local politicians – is a disgrace and a permanent stain on “progressive” San Francisco.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 6.1.2019

San Francisco police obtained a warrant to search freelance journalist Bryan Carmody’s phone records and were authorized to “conduct remote monitoring” on the phone more than two months before a controversial raid on his home and office, according to documents released Friday, May 31st.

“The SFPD appears to have used the illegal warrant to spy on Bryan’s movements, phone calls and communications,” Carmody’s defense attorney, Ben Berkowitz, said in a statement Friday. “This is an alarming and deeply disturbing attack on the free press in an attempt to unmask Mr. Carmody’s confidential source.”

Officers executed the warrant on Carmody’s phone records on March 1 — the first of seven search warrants obtained in the investigation into who leaked him a report on the Feb. 22 death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi.

The revelation that police had broad authority to covertly monitor Carmody adds a new twist to the unfolding case that was thrust into the national spotlight when police used a sledgehammer to raid his home and office on May 10. Officers seized Carmody’s computers, phones and other electronic devices after learning he had sold the report to three television news stations.

It’s still not clear how police justified the searches to at least three judges, how police knew Carmody obtained the report and whether officers listened in on the private calls of a journalist after executing the warrant.

June 1, 2019

Every Picture Tells a Story – Ongoing Series

Photos by Liz Heidhues – Stasi Museum – Berlin, Germany 5.14.2017

June 4th is the 30th Anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre in Beijing

Excerpted from San Jose Mercury News 6.1.2019

The Laney College soccer field hosted Warren’s biggest campaign crowd yet

OAKLAND — Sen. Elizabeth Warren drew thousands of fans to Laney College on Friday night for a town hall that she described as her largest event in the country so far, a show of force for the progressive presidential contender.

As for the misogynistic rhetoric so common in American politics, the successes of politicians like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY and Ilhan Omar, D-MN, have given him hope for 2020.

“Most Americans are sexist – like, 99%,” Long-Copes said. “But with Trump, I think nobody’s going to care anymore. If you’ll be a good president, people will vote for you.”e

“Most Americans are sexist – like, 99%,” Jordan Long-Copes said. “But with Trump, I think nobody’s going to care anymore. If you’ll be a good president, people will vote for you.”

 

An estimated 6,500 people waited in a line that stretched for blocks. Organizers had relocated the event from the gymnasium to the much larger soccer field that morning, but it still took two hours for everyone to make it through the gate, delaying the start by an hour.

Despite the wait, the crowd was in good spirits, cheering at Warren’s proposals to end corruption in Washington and booing references to the Koch brothers. Warren said little about big tech during her speech, focusing instead on the influence of money in politics and issues facing the middle class.

The candidate is in town for the state Democratic convention in San Francisco this weekend, where she and 13 other presidential candidates will make their case to party insiders and activists. California’s March 3 primary is expected to play a more important role than in past years due to its earlier spot on the calendar.

The rally marked the largest presidential campaign event in Oakland since California Sen. Kamala Harris’ kickoff rally in January, which attracted 20,000 people to Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Warren didn’t take crowd questions, which she blamed on the late hour. Instead, she opted to address a few topics she’s been asked about frequently at prior town halls. The first was gun violence.

“It’s not just the mass shootings. It’s the ones that never make the headlines. It’s the kids who are shot at the playground, on the sidewalk, in their own homes. Gun violence touches families every day,” she said. “On the question of gun violence, I will be fearless.”

She also dedicated significant time to student loan debt, the needs of working mothers and the importance of Medicaid, a safety net for millions that often lands in Republican crosshairs.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/31/elizabeth-warrens-laney-town-hall-delayed-by-huge-crowd/

J