UPDATE:  6.11.2019 Warriors Management being questioned for downplaying severity of Kevin Durant’s May 8 “calf injury.”

Watch Warriors GM Bob Myers post game presser. I have rarely seen such raw emotion live on television.

Game Six will be the final game at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Thursday night. Next season the Warriors will move across the Bay to the new Chase Arena.  The final game at Oracle should be emotional and a classic.

Excerpted from New York Times 6.10.2019

Senator Warren is the  Candidate who will dismantle Trump and reverse the damage he will have done by the time President Warren takes the oath of office on January 20, 2021.

Excerpted from The Guardian 6.9.2019

The senator’s ‘I have a plan’ mantra has become a rallying cry as she edges her way to the top – but is it enough to get past the roadblocks of Biden and Sanders?

Plan by plan, Elizabeth Warren is making inroads and gaining on her rivals in the 2020 Democratic race to take on Donald Trump.

But despite the burst of momentum, Warren’s path to the nomination has two major roadblocks: Sanders and Biden. Her success will depend on whether she can deliver a one-two punch: replacing Sanders as the progressive standard bearer while building a coalition broad enough to rival Biden.

Warren has pointedly distinguished herself as a capitalist as opposed to a socialist or a democratic socialist, but she has not backed away from a populist platform that embraces sweeping economic reforms.

In her address to the California Democratic party last weekend, Warren rejected appeals for moderation.

“Some say if we all calm down, the Republicans will come to their senses,” she said. “But our country is in a time of crisis. The time for small ideas is over.”

The former Harvard law professor’s policy heavy approach made an impression among activists at the She the People forum in Texas last month and was well-received at the California state party convention earlier this month.

This week a Morning Consult poll saw Warren break into the double digits at 10%, putting her in third place behind Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.

A recent Economist/YouGov poll found Warren was making gains among liberal voters, with Democrats considering the Massachusetts senator for the Democratic presidential nomination in nearly equal measure with Sanders.

Her intense campaigning on a vast swathe of specific issues has achieved viral moments on the internet – even including one woman whom Warren advised on her love life – as well as playing well during recent television events.

At a televised town hall in Indiana this week, Warren listened intently as a woman who voted for Trump in 2016 described her disillusionment – not only with a president who failed to bring back manufacturing jobs as he said he promised but with an entire political system stymied by dysfunction.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/09/elizabeth-warren-2020-race-momentum-biden-sanders

Another outrageous assault on a working journalist.  This time it’s happening in Russia. 

Excerpted from Committee to Protect Journalists. 6.7.2019

New York, June 7, 2019 — Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, release him, and investigate allegations that he was beaten in police custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

“Russian authorities should immediately drop their charges against Ivan Golunov, release him, and investigate allegations of mistreatment of the journalist in police custody,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said. “Russia has a long history of politically motivated charges against independent reporters. Investigative journalism is treated as a crime where it ought to be viewed as a public service.”

Yesterday, in Moscow, two men approached Golunov, an investigative reporter for the independent news website Meduza, grabbed him, handcuffed him, and dragged him to a nearby vehicle, according to a statement by his employer. After Golunov demanded to speak to a lawyer, the men identified themselves as police officers, according to the statement.

Photos- Protestors supporting Ivan Golunov in above photos rally at Moscow Police Headquarters

The officers detained Golunov at a Ministry of Interior building, where they charged him with possessing and attempting to sell illegal drugs after allegedly finding amphetamines in his backpack, according to a statement by the Moscow division of the ministry, which oversees the city’s police force.

Following his arrest, officers punched and slapped Golunov in the head and chest, pushed him to the ground, and dragged him on the floor, according to the Meduza statement. For the first 14 hours of his detention, Golunov was not allowed to contact a lawyer or his family, according to the Meduza statement and mediareports.

Ivan Kolpakov, editor-in-chief at Meduza, told CPJ the drug charges were “absurd,” and said, “I have no doubts that the charges are fabricated and are related to Golunov’s journalism.”

Golunov is detained at the Ministry of Interior Main Division for the Western Administrative Area, Kolpakov told CPJ. He said Golunov will appear before a judge tomorrow, who will rule whether the journalist will remain in detention or if he will be released while the drug investigation is pending.

https://cpj.org/2019/06/russian-investigative-journalist-ivan-golunov-deta.php

Every Picture Tells a Story – Ongoing Series

June 8, 2019

The Warriors may be on the brink of elimination in the NBA playoffs.  The diehard fans still carry on and party on as they look forward to Game 5 on Monday evening in Toronto.

Liz Heidhues celebrates her team by feasting on a treat during annual National Donut Day June 7. Check out the color of the donut.  Blue and gold, of course. 

Longtime fan Liz is attired in San Francisco fashionista  style sporting a Warriors team jacket.

Every Picture Tells a Story – Ongoing Series 6.7.2019

My daughter and I spent this beautiful June morning  visiting the “Early Rubens” Exhibit at the Legion of Honor located on a cliff with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the Marin Headlands.

I took the photo below of the Marin Headlands while soaking in the view from the Legion of Honor.  My other photos are a representative sampling of  Peter Paul Ruben’s early work.  I was enthralled while studying Ruben’s realistic and gritty  Head of Medusa shown above.

“Early Rubens” is impressive and well curated.  Each piece of art is exquisitely described along with historical overviews for many of the paintings. This exhibit is educational and artistically impressive.

Massacre of the Innocents (circa 1610)

The Raising of the Cross (ca. 1638)

The Boar Hunt (circa 1615-1617)

A link to a review of the Exhibit written by art critic Charles Desmarais in the San Francisco Chronicle  4.10.2019 follows.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/art-exhibits/gothic-tales-in-baroque-style-early-rubens-at-the-legion-of-honor

This is a place America needs to be politically

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 6.7.2019

The opposition Greens have hit a record high in a new opinion poll, pulling ahead of Angela Merkel’s conservatives. The center-left SPD have dropped even further, slipping behind the far-right Alternative for Germany.

A Deutschlandtrend poll by Infratest dimap has put the environmentalist Greens up 6 percentage points at a record 26%, one point ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and sister party Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), reflecting a similar sampling last week.

In last month’s European Parliament elections, the Greens came second among German voters with 20.5%, behind Merkel’s bloc, with a mandate focused on issues such as climate change and a renewables-based economy.

In another boon for the Greens, the party’s dual leadership of Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock polled at 36% and 26% respectively, placing them fourth and sixth as preferred national politicians in Thursday’s findings published by Germany’s ARD public broadcaster.

https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-greens-hit-poll-high-ahead-of-merkels-bloc-survey/a-49094285

The Golden State Warriors created an international incident, bringing a little global excitement to the NBA playoffs between America’s team and Toronto’s Raptors. By the way, the Raptors won the Game.

Excerpted from the Wall Street Journal 6.6.2019

The NBA announced that Mark Stevens would be banned from attending all games and league activities for one year and is subject to a $500,000 fine

Until now, some light trash-talking by Drake provided the only off-the-court drama in this year’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. That all changed Wednesday night with an incident between Toronto guard Kyle Lowry and an aggressive fan—who turned out to be a minority owner of the Warriors.

The “Progressive” Congresswoman shows some Class in standing up for the unjust treatment of Paul Manafort and Chelsea Manning, shining a spotlight on the torture of Solitary Confinement.

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