Lee Heidhues 9.4.2022

Germany certainly knows about War.

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ – the classic 1929 anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque – is in its third cinematic interpretation. The latest version, made in Germany, will be the European nation’s entry as best international film at the 2023 Academy Awards.

The film will begin streaming on Netflix October 28, 2022.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 8.25.2022

A jury in Munich decided on Wednesday evening which production should get a chance to win the best international feature film Academy Award in 2023 — and selected “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Edward Berger, who also directed the “Deutschland 83” TV series.

“Erich Maria Remarque wrote a book almost 100 years ago that is, unfortunately, more relevant today than we expected,” director Berger said after the announcement by German Films, the foreign representative of German cinema. He added that it’s a great honor to enter the race for the Oscars with the film.

The last time Germany won the best international feature film Oscar was 15 years ago, with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others.” Last year, Maria Schrader’s futuristic tragicomedy “I’m Your Man” made it onto the short list but not into the final round.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” is based on Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel of the same name, which is regarded as the epitome of the anti-war novel. The German author paints a portrait of a generation of young men who are in an upbeat mood when they leave school for the front; they end up perishing in the murderous war machine of World War I.

At the time, “All Quiet on the Western Front” was the biggest success in German literary history.

The novel was first adapted for the screen in the US in 1930, a film that won two Oscars. A second film version followed in 1979.

Berger’s production is the third version, albeit the first from Germany.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-sends-all-quiet-on-the-western-front-to-oscars/a-62920598

Lee Heidhues 9.3.2022

Nightcrawler Heather Knight needs to take a look in the Mirror.

She, as much as any columnist, has contributed to the political atmosphere in San Francisco she now piously bemoans.

Her non stop attacks on the The Real DA Chesa Boudin. Columns complete with innuendo, falsehoods, misstatements and exaggeration and, when it fits her bias, slavish toadyism, contributed to the Recall of an ethical honest District Attorney.

The latest example of Heather’s toadyism is the nonsensical fawning column she published after hanging out with the 153K “Volunteer” Puppet DA Brooke Jenkins. Complete with a trip to the ice cream shop.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 9.3.2022

The biggest difference between here and Sacramento, as new Assembly Member Matt Haney tells it, is the political mood. It’s not nasty. It’s not toxic.

People acknowledge each other’s differences in a state Legislature with real, live Republicans. They work to find common ground rather than tear each other apart. And they actually get a fair amount done.

In just the past several weeks, behavior at City Hall seems to have worsened.

Board President Shamann Walton, for example, acknowledged he used racial slurs when a sheriff’s cadet asked him to remove his belt before passing through a City Hall metal detector. The cadet says Walton also threatened to “whoop your ass.” Both men are Black. Walton, who disputed the cadet’s account, didn’t apologize.

Leanna Louie, a candidate for District Four supervisor who was stricken from the ballot in light of evidence she doesn’t live there, referred to a Jewish journalist as a Nazi on social media after he revealed her suspicious residency claims.

The toxicity at City Hall has existed for a long time.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin apologized last year for “the tenor that I have struck in my public relationships” and said he sought alcohol treatment. He and other supervisors have bullied department staff in meetings, driving some to tears, and he’s famously berated people in late-night phone calls.

Mayor London Breed has been known in the past to yell at staffers and freeze out supervisors with whom she doesn’t agree.

There’s the constant thrum of Twitter fights (of which Haney sometimes partakes), mansplaining and personal attacks by many City Hall denizens. Calling fellow liberal Democrats right-wingers advancing a Trumpian agenda has become just part of the landscape. Several meetings in recent months — from the school board to the redistricting committee — have descended into chaos.

Sometimes the nastiness at City Hall spills into the neighborhoods. Supervisor Gordon Mar, who as far as I can tell is one of the nicest people at City Hall, had his reputation smeared with flyers posted around the Sunset calling him a “communist pedophile.” It’s unclear who posted the hateful screeds.

If this was the culture in a city government that was solving San Francisco’s big problems and improving the lives of its residents, that would be one thing. But it’s not.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/San-Francisco-City-hall-17416623.php

Lee Heidhues 9.1.2022

The saga of Leanna Louie’s attempt to force her way back onto the November 8, 2022 ballot after the City Attorney disqualified her will be resolved on September 7.

Following are the instructions to Leanna Louie’s attorneys and the San Francisco City Attorney issued by Judge Richard Ulmer.

When I saw the City Attorney’s pleadings are due at 5:00AM on Labor Day I contacted the office to ask if this was a “typo.” No. It’s not.

1. Petitioner shall file and her serve her opening memorandum of points and authorities and any supporting papers by noon on Friday, September 2, 2022.

2. Respondents shall email their responsive memorandum of points and authorities, as a Word document, and any supporting papers to the Court at rulmer@sftc.org and to Petitioner’s counsel by 5:00 a.m. on Monday, September 5, 2022.

3. No reply brief shall be filed.

4. This Court will hear Petitioner’s petition on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. in Department 302 and the Court shall issue its order ruling on the petition by the end of Wednesday, September 7, 2022.

SO ORDERED

Hon. Richard Ulmer

Judge of the Superior Court

Attached is the Declaration filed by Director of Elections John Arntz setting forth the time frame to send the November ballot to the printer.

Arntz Declaration 9.1.2022

https://www.sfsuperiorcourt.org/online-services

Lee Heidhues 8.31.2022

Leanna Louie went to San Francisco Superior Court this morning in an attempt to force her way onto the November ballot.

Ex Parte Application 8.29.2022

Leanna Louie, bounced from the San Francisco ballot for her illegal residency, has gone to San Francisco Superior Court in a last gasp attempt to save her candidacy as District 4 Supervisor.

City Attorney David Chiu investigated Louie’s illegal residency and issued a 13 page report which resulted in her disqualification by the City’s Elections Director. See attached.

Review-of-Ms.-Leanna-Louies-Residency

Never one to accept the law and reality, Leanna Louie found counsel willing to push the City into having her way.

Attached are all the pleadings which can be found on the San Francisco Superior Court website.   https://www.sfsuperiorcourt.org/

Petition 8.29.2022

Notice OSC 8.29.2022Dec Stanley Shen 8.29.2022

Dec Stanley Shen 8.29.2022

Lee Heidhues 8.30.2022

Every Picture Tells a Story – Disgraced politician edition

Disgraced and rebuffed for her illegal residency.

Leanna Louie is suing The City and County of San Francisco to force her way onto the November 8 ballot as a candidate for election as District 4 Supervisor.

Standing in front of City Hall on August 30, 2022 the photo is sending Leanna a message

STOP!!!!!

Photo: Leanna Louie, who is attempting to run for District 4 supervisor, rallies with supporters outside City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. Noah Berger for The Standard

https://sfstandard.com/politics/leanna-louie-district-4-candidate-struck-from-ballot-says-shes-suing-the-city/

Lee Heidhues 8.29.2022

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is bankrolling Proposition I, the November 8 ballot measure to destroy JFK Promenade.

This effort comes after FAMSF spent a year lobbying San Francisco politicians in its failed effort to kill legislation creating JFK Promenade on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park.

Proposition J would affirm the legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors on April 26, 2022 and signed into law by Mayor London Breed on May 7.

Follow the money.

I have been digging through the San Francisco Ethics Commission website to dissect the finances of :

ACCESS FOR ALL, YES ON I, NO ON J, SPONSORED BY CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS AND OPEN THE GREAT HIGHWAY ALLIANCE.

https://sfethics.org/

Since launching its campaign in early June to destroy car free JFK Promenade the backers of Proposition I on the November 8, 2022 ballot the backers, primarily Dede Wilsey and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) have spent:

$412,128.03.
At the end of July 2022 backers of Proposition I had received contributions totaling:

$258,725.65.

The biggest contribution was from Dede Wilsey: $200,000.00

At the end of July 2022 the backers of Proposition had a debt of:

$187,469.96.

Thus far in August the Proposition I has received several large contributions to erase this debt:

$50,000 from Jason Moment. President of the FAMSF Board of Trustees. His worth is approximately 589MM

$140,000 from the FAMSF.

In early September the total August report will be available on the Ethics Commission website.

Financial details about the FAMSF campaign to destroy JFK Promenade can be found at the San Francisco Ethics Commission website.

Lee Heidhues 8.27.2022

Let there be no doubt the effort to destroy JFK Promenade is a wholly owned and funded project by The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and its primary patron Dede Wilsey.

Diane Dede Wilsey gave $200,000 to Proposition I – aka Access for All – to pay mercenaries to qualify their insidious ballot measure for the ballot.

As of the end of July 2022, the FAMSF has collected $285,000 in its profit driven effort to destroy JFK Promenade

Following are two links.

The first is the complete July 31, 2022 Statement filed by Access for All with the Ethics Commission.

FAMSF contributions YTD 258K 7.31.2022

The second attachment is a list of all the Paid arguments submitted by proponents of Proposition I – Access for All. These arguments will appear in the San Francisco voters handbook.

PaidYes_I

Lee Heidhues 8.27.2022

An enthusiastic crowd of all ages gathered on JFK Promenade to kickoff the campaign to make sure that JFK Promenade, the car free oasis in Golden Gate Park, stays that way forever.

Recreation and Park Manager Phil Ginsburg, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Walk SF Director Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Janelle Wong, State Senator Scott Wiener, longtime cycling advocate Andy Thornley were just a few of the local luminaries who participated in the kickoff event.

Election Day is just 73 days away and it will be a tough fight.  

Opponents of the initiative, led by San Francisco power player Dede Wilsey and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, spent at least $200,000 paying mercenaries to qualify their self serving measure for the ballot.  The goal. With their deep pockets and unlimited funds their insidious goal is simple. Destroy car free areas in San Francisco.

The People United Will Never be Defeated. This selfish attempt to turn back the clock in a time of climate change must be crushed on November 8.

The campaign will remind voters to Vote Yes on J for JFK and NO on Proposition I, the Measure backed by Dede Wilsey and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco whose only Goal is Profit for their wealthy patrons to the detriment of The People of San Francisco.

Lee Heidhues 8.26.2022

Julian Assange has been been persecuted by the Brits and the Americans long enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictment_and_arrest_of_Julian_Assange

The Wikileaks Whistleblower who exposed American  human rights abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq performed a heroic public service.

Assange has been under house arrest, first in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, and for three years in a British prison while his fight against extradition continues.

This is a human rights violation of the first order. The American government needs to stand down and let Julian Assange, now 51, get on with his life.

Excerpted from The Guardian 8.26.2022

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has previously stated “enough is enough” regarding Assange’s ongoing detention.

Lawyers for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange have filed an appeal against his extradition to the US, as the United Nations human rights chief lends support to the Australian’s cause.

Assange, 51, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges in the US and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of military and diplomatic documents leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.

WikiLeaks says Assange’s legal team filed “perfected grounds of appeal” in the UK’s high court against the US and the UK home secretary, Priti Patel, who approved his extradition in June.

Assange’s lawyers argue he is “being prosecuted and punished for his political opinions”.

His wife said the prosecution was unlawful. “Overwhelming evidence has emerged proving that the US prosecution against my husband is a criminal abuse,” Stella Assange said on Twitter on Saturday.

“The high court judges will now decide whether Julian is given the opportunity to put the case against the US before open court, and in full, at the appeal.”

Assange remains in London’s Belmarsh prison, where he has been in detention since April 2019.

A UK judge blocked his extradition last year but the US government successfully appealed in the high court.

The appeal comes after the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, met with Assange’s lawyers and his wife in Geneva.

Advocacy group the Assange Defence Committee told AAP they detailed to her his deteriorating health, with the Australian publisher suffering a mini-stroke recently.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/aug/27/julian-assange-files-appeal-against-us-extradition

There are limits to Free Speech.  In Germany.

In America people can voice any opinion they want.  No matter how racist, anti-Semitic or misogynist.

Words can hurt. Words have consequences.

A Judge in Germany used such quaint language in handing down a sentence. The Judge called the defendant’s extremist blogs “revisionist history.”

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 8.26.2022

The Berlin-Tiergarten district court on Friday sentenced far-right video blogger Nikolai Nerling to a nine-month probation sentence.

Judge Stephan Markmiller said that Nerling had used provocative, far-right content in order to gain attention and influence in the far-right scene, and said that some of his content amounted to “revisionist history.”

The 42-year-old, who calls himself “The People’s Teacher,” was convicted, among other things, of insult and incitement in two cases and the use of signs of either organizations either deemed terrorist or otherwise outlawed in Germany.

What did Nerling actually do?

In one example from March 2018, Nerling was accused of uploading an interview he conducted with notorious Holcaust denier Ursula Haverbeck to YouTube.

In the video, the 93-year-old denied the Holocaust, as she had done many times before. For that and other acts, the Berlin regional court sentenced her to a one-year prison term back in January. The prosecution accused Nerling of having known that Haverbeck’s statements were contrary to established historical facts.

He was also charged with publishing another video in which he “deliberately wanted to attack and ridicule a man in his Jewish identity.”

According to the indictment, in 2019 he also published images on his channel showing someone giving the Hitler salute.

The Hitler salute, and various other Nazi symbols or gestures, remain outlawed to this day in Germany.

Another video shows Nerling visiting the city of Lüneburg. During this visit, he commented on and defaced an information board on the crimes of the 110th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht.

In his comments, he questioned the proven fact that the infantry division had deported people to extermination camps, before covering the board in tape.

Nerling, a former elementary school teacher in Berlin, lost his job several years ago because of the extremist content on his YouTube channels.

What did the judge say?

He said Nerling had intentionally played with voicing nationalist or ethnic sentiments or other provocations that were “on the knife edge of what can be prosecuted,” looking to test the law to its limits. In the cases in question, the judge said, he had crossed a line.

In addition to the probation period — slightly less than the prosecution’s request of eleven months — the bench fined Nerling €3,000 (roughly $3,000) to be paid to the anti-racist anti-far-right Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

The judge also warned Nerling’s supporters, about a dozen of whom had shown up at the court, that he would not tolerate them shouting statements or clapping during the proceedings.

https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-sentences-former-teacher-over-far-right-video-blogs/a-62947778