During the Cold War days spying between the US and Russia was part of the game. A whole genre of movies and books told the real life story in fiction form.

Now that the Cold War is, at least officially, over the spies need to justify their existence and continue creating more invasive tools of surveillance.  So, it comes as no surprise that the American National Security Agency (NSA) for years spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  What is, perhaps, surprising is that Denmark thought to be a quiet NATO member was a main player in this cyber espionage.

Deutsche Welle 5.30.2021

An investigation has uncovered that Denmark’s secret service helped the US to spy on German politicians. It’s not the first time there have been reports of the NSA monitoring German leaders, but it is the first time Denmark has been named as a direct partner.

Denmark’s secret service helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a European media investigation published on Sunday revealed.

How was the Danish government involved?

The Danish government knew of the involvement of their country’s secret service in the NSA scandal by 2015 at the latest.

They began to collect information on the FE’s cooperation with the NSA between 2012 and 2014 in the secret Dunhammer report following the disclosures by the former NSA employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden, NDR reported.

The information they gathered made it clear that the FE had helped the NSA to spy on leading politicians in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and France, as well as Germany.

Danish intelligence also helped the US agency to spy on the Danish foreign and finance ministries as well as a Danish weapons manufacturer. The FE also cooperated with the NSA on spying operations against the US government itself.

Upon discovering exactly how far the cooperation between the two countries’ intelligence services went, the Danish government forced the entire leadership of the FE to step down in 2020.

What drove Danish spies to help the NSA?

A Danish expert in secret service operations Thomas Wegener Friis believes that the FE was faced with a choice about which global partners to work more closely with.

“They made a clear decision to work with the Americans and against their European partners,” he told NDR.

Patrick Sensburg, who led the German parliamentary committee to investigate the NSA spying scandal, was not surprised by the news. For the lawmaker from Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), it is important to understand what drives secret services.

“It’s not about friendships. It’s not about moral-ethical aspirations. It’s about pursuing interests,” he told NDR.

The NSA, FE and Danish defense ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the research, however, a general statement from the defense ministry said that “a systematic bugging of close allies is unacceptable.”

The disclosure that the US had been spying on its allies first started coming to light in 2013, but it is only now that journalists have gained access to reports detailing the support given to the NSA by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE).

The report showed that Germany’s close ally and neighbor cooperated with US spying operations that targeted the chancellor and president.

The then chancellor candidate for the German center-left socialist party (SPD), Peer Steinbrück, was also a target, the new report disclosed.

Secret service sources passed on the information to a team including Danish, Swedish and Norwegian broadcasters (DR, SVT and NRK respectively), as well as the French newspaper Le Monde, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and German public broadcasters NDR and WDR.

How did German officials react?

Steinbrück spoke to the German members of the research team upon finding out about the spying operations against him.

“Politically, I consider this a scandal,” Steinbrück said. While he accepted that western states require functioning intelligence services, the fact that Danish authorities had been spying on their partners showed “that they are rather doing things on their own.”

Neither Merkel nor Steinmeier had “any knowledge” of the spying operations carried out by leading Danish government officials. A spokesperson said that the chancellor had been informed of the revelations.

https://www.dw.com/en/danish-secret-service-helped-us-spy-on-germanys-angela-merkel-report/a-57721901

After 12 years in power the hard line corrupt thug Netanyahu, whose policies were encouraged and enabled by Donald Trump, may be on the way out of power.  

It will be a day of rejoicing for those who want to see Peace in Palestine/Israel and the banishment of an impediment to that goal.

Sadly the policies which Netanyahu has put in place likely will not change. Nonetheless, the fact this hard line politician and one responsible for the continuing theft of Palestinian lands will be officially, at least, out of power.

Excerpted from AlJaazera 5.30.2021

Israeli far-right politician Naftali Bennett, a kingmaker whose Yamina party has six key seats in parliament, has said he would join a governing coalition that could end the rule of the country’s longest-serving leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said on Sunday after meeting with his own party, Yamina.

A Palestine Liberation Organization official said, after Bennett’s speech, that the prospective government would be “extreme rightist” and no different than the administrations headed by Netanyahu.

Centrist Lapid has been tasked with forming a new cabinet by 11:59pm (20:59 GMT) Wednesday.

Bennett’s announcement is a key step towards ending Netanyahu’s 12-year rule.

He said he had made the decision to prevent the country from sliding into a fifth consecutive election in just more than two years.

Minutes after Bennett’s announcement, Netanyahu lashed out, calling the plan “a danger for the security of Israel”.

He accused Bennett of betraying the Israeli right-wing and urged nationalist politicians who have joined the coalition talks not to establish what he called a “leftist government”.

Netanyahu said such a coalition was a danger to Israel’s security and future.

“What will it do for Israel’s deterrence? How will we look in the eyes of our enemies,” he said. “What will they do in Iran and in Gaza? What will they say in the halls of government in Washington?”

A Bennett-Lapid agreement had already been reported to be close when violence broke out between Israel and Hamas fighters on May 10 and Bennett suspended the discussions. The fighting ended with a ceasefire after 11 days.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/30/israeli-far-right-leader-bennett-joins-anti-netanyahu-camp

Every Picture Tells a Story – Abusive motorists edition

Liz and Lee Heidhues – 5.29.2021

San Francisco’s entitled motorists continue to ignore Slow Streets with impunity. In the most cavalier manner motorists blithely drive around and through the signs. Everyone is at risk, including birds as the sad photo of a dead pigeon sprawled on Cabrillo Street in plain view clearly indicates.

Motorists have to get the message they don’t own the Planet.

Lee Heidhues 5.27.2021

There is a close relationship between the current battle in San Francisco to create The Great Walkway and stories involving big energy. Royal Dutch Shell lost a legal battle in Holland. Exxon Mobil shareholders, led by a group of investors based in San Francisco, have elected climate change advocates to the Board of Directors.

In San Francisco a battle is being waged over which way this supposedly “progressive” City will go in the Climate Change war. Will environmental advocates prevail? Or will the auto addicted mob have its way?

The Great Walkway along the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco is coming. The San Francisco Metropolitan Transit Authority (SFMTA) has been very thorough and inclusive. The Howling Mob of self entitled motorists is unhappy with the public input which debunks the Mob. Its bullying and intimidation will not prevail.

As a real life example of the future I invite people to read today’s news about Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil. It’s on page one of the Wall Street Journal and The Nation. The Great Walkway is in step with the future. 

The Nation 5.27.2021 – Mark Hertsgaard

Legal News of the Day

A big story in summer 2020, when we weren’t obsessing over Trump, was the Central Park dog walker who summoned the cops.  She felt threatened by a Black man taking his bird watching walk through the Park. The story, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, went viral worldwide.

The woman who called the cops was fired from her job.  Now, like any good American, Amy Cooper is seeking relief in the Courts.  She’s suing her employer for wrongful terminaton.

Daily Beast 5.27.2021

Amy Cooper, the white woman who called 911 on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against her former employer for firing her when video of the incident went viral.

Cooper, who was charged with making a false report but then let off the hook after attending therapy sessions, says the firm Franklin Templeton canned her without doing a basic investigation into the confrontation, basing its decision on her race and gender, the New York Daily News reports.

“Franklin Templeton perpetuated and legitimized the story of ‘Karen’ vs. an innocent African American to its perceived advantage, with reckless disregard for the destruction of Plaintiff’s life in the process,” the suit says.

It also brands Christian Cooper, the man on whom she called the cops, “an overzealous birdwatcher engaged in Central Park’s ongoing feud between birdwatchers and dog owners.”

Franklin Templeton said in a statement: “We believe the circumstances of the situation speak for themselves and that the Company responded appropriately. We will defend against these baseless claims.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/central-park-karen-amy-cooper-sues-ex-employer-franklin-templeton-for-discrimination?utm_source=web_push

Photo above:  Bird watcher Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper

Lee Heidhues – 5.25.2021

It was one year ago Derek Chauvin knelt on Georg Floyd’s neck and murdered him. The killer cop was convicted of murder last month and will spend decades in prison.

People took to the streets worldwide to condemn this action, all too symptomatic of American law enforcement treatment of Blacks. Derek Chauvin is just one symbol of the racism which permeates America at all levels.

The question today is, “One year after George Floyd’s murder by American law enforcement will there be any substantive change in how the cops treat Black people?”

Liz Heidhues – Blog Post and photo Contributor 5.25.2021

Let’s preserve our Slow Streets for the fast times of San Francisco’s post-pandemic recovery.

San Francisco motorists are angry. They plow through intersections where Slow Streets barriers are placed, honk their horns at me when I am walking in Protected Lanes, and careen through the Avenues.

Reckless driving and road rage in America are on the uptick. The National Highway Traffic Safety cited a report showing a 22% increase in the median speed of drivers in 2020.

San Francisco’s not doing any better than the rest of the country.

There are at least 800 people hit every year in San Francisco. In fact, San Francisco has more motor vehicle accident injuries per-mile-driven than any other sizeable city in California.

Traffic fatalities in San Francisco claimed 29 lives in 2020, the same number as 2019, an increase from prior years.

San Francisco is failing abysmally at meeting its goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2024, the Target of the Vision Zero SF program.

Since the inception of Vision Zero SF in 2014 more than 200 people died and another 20,000 suffered serious injuries from traffic accidents in the streets of San Francisco.

Slow Streets debuted in 2020 as a therapeutic response to the social isolation, economic upheaval, and online exile of the pandemic. Streets in San Francisco’s neighborhoods were transformed for the use of pedestrians, bicyclists, joggers, kids playing, wheelchair users, and urban animals to prowl without winding up as roadkill.

Rancorous drivers believe that San Francisco’s streets are solely for them to drive their cars on. Drivers are enraged to see their entitlement removed.

Motorists will never cede over ownership of residential streets to the rightful heirs. Neighborhood streets were built for people to enjoy and interact with – not for 2-ton vehicles that kill and maim.

The core experience of San Francisco is walkability.

Liz Heidhues is a life long San Francisco resident. Her means of transportation are her bicycle and her feet with an occasional trip on public transit.

Top photo – Road rage crashes into Slow Streets – 40th Avenue and Cabrillo, San Francisco

Housing is a human right.

Everyone must have a place to live at a reasonable price. In April one of Germany’s highest courts over turned a strict rent control measure instituted by the Berlin government. On Sunday in Berlin several thousand demonstrators took to the streets and the River Spree to vocally protest this abridgement of the right to fair housing.

High rents are a problem worldwide as the population increases, wages remain flat and landlords seek to gain more profit. The reality is that governments and courts side with the landlord class to the detriment of renters.

Governments and courts forget that renters are people. Not a disposable item to be bartered away to satisfy the landlords bank accounts.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 5.23.2021

Protesters voiced anger over rising rents in the German capital and a court ruling that overturned a major price control measure. However, police said the number of participants was much smaller than expected.

Some 2,500 people marched through Berlin against high rent prices in the German capital, police said on Sunday.  The organizers, however, claimed “at least 10,000” people took part.

The protest took place after Germany’s constitutional court overturned Berlin’s rent cap, leaving tenants across the city suddenly facing price hikes. The constitutional court overturned the Berlin measure on April 15, ruling that the state government didn’t have a right to impose the cap.

The main rally, under the slogan “Stop the rent madness!” moved from Potsdamer Platz to the neighborhood of Schöneberg, starting one hour later than previously announced.

Protesters were seen carrying banners such as “To reside is a human right” and “No interest on rents.”

Separately, some 30 participants organized a demonstration of their own by sailing boats on Berlin’s river Spree (pictured below), and displaying the banners against the rising rents.

The rent cap was a measure implemented by the city-state’s government that went into effect in late February 2020. It froze the prices for nearly all apartments in Berlin for five years, locking them in place at their June 2019 level. New rental contracts were not allowed to exceed that rate — and some rents had to be reduced.

The Berlin state government said the measure was intended to reduce pressure on renters and buy time for more housing to be built.

The regulation also allowed for tenants to sue their landlords to reduce rents.

The measure was strongly criticized by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), who lodged a legal complaint against it.

https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-protesters-urge-end-to-soaring-rents/a-57635183

Freed from the constraints of  the Pandemic San Franciscans took to the streets on a sunny day in late May to show their love and support for the Palestinian people. The marchers included a number of Jews who support the Palestinians and deplore the recent military actions of the Israeli government in occupied Gaza.

The 11 day assault on the people of Gaza by the Israeli military supplied with weaponry by the American government is an outrage.

San Francisco has consistently shown its support for the people of Palestine whose land was taken from them in 1948 when the State of Israel was created after the Holocaust and World War II.

The living conditions for people in the occupied territories of Palestine are grim. There is not much of material value we in San Francisco can do.  By showing its support the world knows that San Francisco has the people of Palestine in its collective heart.

San Francisco Chronicle 5.22.2021

A ceasefire is in place — for now — between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but the international conflict prompted yet another outpouring in the Bay Area on Saturday, as hundreds of people rallied for the Palestinian cause in San Francisco.

A diverse crowd chanting “Free, free Palestine” and carrying signs marched from the Mission District to Civic Center Plaza, where they promised to keep demonstrating for a peaceful resolution to the latest military clash. A protest last Saturday drew several thousand in San Francisco, while one in front of the Israeli embassy on Tuesday attracted several hundred.

The demonstrations arose, in part, because of the heavy casualities sustained on the Palestinian side since the fighting began more than a week ago during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

Lisa Rofel of San Francisco, a national board member of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the organization has 18,000 members and supports boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel as nonviolent means “to bring Israel to finally negotiate the end to their occupation.”

“The Israeli government claims to speak in our names as Jews,” she said. “We have the right and the responsibility to speak back, to support the end to the violent occupation. Jews need to speak out for justice for Palestinians just as we spoke out for justice for African Americans, for Native Americans.”

Dozens of Jewish people also showed up to say that being Jewish doesn’t mean they support the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s painful to see my Jewish identity weaponized against the Palestinian people and used to justify atrocities,” said Sarah Small, a UC Davis law student and San Francisco native.

The ceasefire that took effect Friday paused 11 days of combat in which Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire left 248 Palestinians dead, including at least 66 children and 39 women, according to the latest estimates from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Rockets fired by Hamas forces killed at least 12 in Israel, two of them children.

Protesters said the temporary stoppage in fighting wasn’t enough.

 Dr. Hatem Bazian, a Palestinian and UC Berkeley professor of Middle Eastern languages, said he wanted the Israeli government to pull its settlements out of the West Bank and to provide aid to the Palestinians who lost homes and businesses to the settlements, and called on the U.S. to stop providing military aid to its longtime ally.

“A ceasefire does not end or resolve any of the issues we’re dealing with,” Bazian told The Chronicle. “There’s still the siege, still the suffering that has been visited upon the people.”

The contentious dispute over who has rights to occupy an area east of Israel on the west bank of the Jordan River that contains a number of Jewish holy sites goes back decades. But it also involves a nation, Israel, that has been defending its right to exist since its creation in 1948, and a group of people, Palestinians, advocating for their own nation state.

Local demonstrators said on Saturday that they felt a surge of multiracial and multi-ethnic support for the Palestinian cause, as they marched down Van Ness Avenue alongside Black and Jewish allies.

Ahmina James, a 30-year-old legal assistant from Oakland, carried a handmade sign with gold letters reading “Black power for Palestine liberation.” She said she that support for Palestinian human rights dates back the Black Power movement.

“Before Black Lives Matter,” she said, “with the Black Power movement in the ‘70s there was huge solidarity with the liberation of Palestine. That solidarity is surfacing again.”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Hundreds-rally-in-San-Francisco-for-a-free-16196803.php#photo-21028630

Liz and Lee Heidhues 5.21.2021

It’s a proud day as  parents when you can say your son is a law school graduate and will forever have the title, JD (Juris Doctor) after his name.

The past nearly four years Paul has worked, raised a family and attended University of San Francisco Law School at night. Paul has overcome many hurdles, not the least of which is the fact Paul is visually impaired. Paul fought for the accommodations he needed from the USF Law School Administration. Paul prevailed. He attended class and completed the arduous workload before and during the Pandemic when San Francisco was transformed into a Virtual City.

Paul’s fight was tough.  He’s always been a battler. When admitted to the California Bar, Paul will be a zealous advocate in whatever field of law he practices in.

The commencement speaker was Hon. Martin Jenkins, an Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court and USF Law school graduate (class of 1980).  Justice Jenkins told the virtual audience, “I was proud that I had finished such a rigorous curriculum at USF. A curriculum that required intelligence, tenacity, and courage in equal parts.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who earned a Masters Degree from USF in 2013, told the graduates, “You have achieved this incredible milestone during an unprecedented and challenging time…I am so very proud of you.”