San Francisco should be embarassed that its local elected officials are bowing to a well meaning but politically tone deaf group who do not want to shine a light on America’s history of violence and racism. The advocates for obliterating history seem to think that by destroying a symbol of the past, people can forget these events took place. I posted an earlier piece on 4.28.2019

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 7.8.2019

The San Francisco school board “voted to destroy a significant monument of anti-racism. This is a gross violation of logic and sense,” according to a petition already signed by over 400 academics and educators from around the world

“What remains is a mistake in the way we react to historical works of art — ignoring their meaning in favor of our feelings about them — and a mistake in the way we treat historical works of art — using them as tools foor managing feelings, rather than as objects of interpretation.”

Despite the San Francisco school board’s recent vote to destroy a controversial school mural, the debate over the role of art and history is still raging. The Petition will be sent to the district this week urging it to reconsider the decision.

The reason? Painting over the “Life of Washington” fresco is illogical, according to the petition circulated on nonsite.org, a peer-reviewed academic journal focused on politics, history, art history and literature.

The San Francisco Unified School District’s board voted 6-0 on June 25 to paint over the mural, which features slavery and white settlers stepping over a dead American Indian.

American Operation Condor was involved  in the overthrow of the Socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile on 9.11.1973.  Nearly 46 years later people either forget, don’t remember, dont care, have no idea or experience political amnesia.  Yes, the violent overthrow of Salvador Allende took place 28 years to the day before the 9.11 all Americans will never forget.

Photo above. Chilean presidential palace under siege 9.11.1973

Deutsche Welle 7.8.2019

An Italian court has handed life sentences to 24 ex-officials from South America over their role in Operation Condor. It’s estimated that thousands of people were murdered under the secret US-backed campaign.

Judges in Rome’s Court of Appeal on Monday sentenced a group of former military and police officials from Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Uruguay to life imprisonment for voluntary homicide.

Chilean President Salvador Allende

The individuals were found guilty of the abduction and killing of 23 Italians in the 1970s and 80s as part of Operation Condor — the code name for a campaign of political repression that led to an estimated 60,000 deaths under South America’s dictatorships.

Monday’s verdict reversed an earlier ruling in 2017, in which eight officials were given life sentences and 19 others were acquitted.

Read more: South American leaders on trial for Condor Plan crimes

Among those sentenced were former Bolivian Interior Ministor Luis Arce Gomez, Peruvian ex-President Francisco Morales Bermudez, former Uruguayan Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Blanco, and a former deputy intelligence chief from Chile.

All were sentenced in absentia, except for former Uruguayan naval intelligence officer Jorge Nestor Troccoli, 69, who had been living in freedom in Italy after escaping justice in his home country in 2007. He had also been acquitted in the previous judgement.

Significant sentence

The ruling provoked a sigh of relief from victims’ relatives who had packed into the courtroom.

“It is an important and emotional sentence for Uruguay and for the victims,” Uruguayan presidential secretary Miguel Toma, who traveled to Italy for the sentencing, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He was joined by Javier Moncada, Bolivia’s deputy justice minister: “We have come this far, to Rome, to continue the fight against impunity, and because we have the obligation not to forget,” he told AFP.

The verdict is “a great victory of justice,” said Alicia Mejia, a lawyer representing the relatives of Jaime Patricio Donato Avendano, who disappeared in Chile in 1976.

The trial, which began in 2015, was the first of its kind in an Italian court. More than 100 witnesses were called on to give testimony over the course of the proceedings.

The sentencing comes some 20 years after Italy first started investigating the murder of its citizens under Operation Condor. The right-wing dictatorships of six Latin American countries collaborated under the secret campaign, often with US support, to repress and eliminate perceived leftist threats.

Chilean soldiers burning books following the September 11, 1973 military coup

Under Italian law, prosecutors can investigate cases involving the murder of Italian citizens abroad. Monday’s ruling must be confirmed by the Supreme Court of Cassation before the sentences are served. Many of the defendants are already serving jail time in their home countries.

https://www.dw.com/en/italy-jails-24-south-americans-over-condor-era-killings/a-49517886

The Guardian 7.7.2019

Brash but brilliant.

They can attack in waves, from the Rapinoe-Morgan-Heath front line to Lavelle in midfield and back to overlapping backs.

If they could give the Golden Ball to a unit, it should be given to the US midfield and defense, which has been stifling. The “expected goals” stat may have favored France and England in those games, but that’s misleading — the USA had it in control most of the time.  Final score 2-0.

And today, despite strong Dutch resistance, the USA were a level above. Only strong goalkeeping kept it scoreless at the half.

The US are a team worth celebrating. Enjoy.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/jul/07/womens-world-cup-final-usa-netherlands-live?page=with:block-5d2222ff8f0845f89e308633#block-5d2222ff8f0845f89e308633

This is better than The Tabloids.  Talk about the obvious. The only surprise here is that the starchy Brits see the Huckster in the White House for what he is. A Shameless, Incompetent Loser.

Excerpted from The Guardian 7.6.2019

Britain’s ambassador in the United States has described President Donald Trump and his administration as “inept” and “uniquely dysfunctional”, according to ‘leaked’ diplomatic memos published by the Mail on Sunday.

Ambassador Kim Darroch reportedly said Trump’s presidency could “crash and burn” and “end in disgrace”, in the cache of secret cables and briefing notes sent back to Britain and seen by the newspaper.

“We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept,” Darroch allegedly wrote in one dispatch.

The paper said the most damning comments allegedly made by Darroch described Trump, who was received by the Queen during a state visit to Britain just last month, as “insecure” and “incompetent”.

A memo sent following the controversial visit allegedly said the president and his team had been “dazzled” by the visit but warned Britain might not remain “flavour of the month” because “this is still the land of America First”.

He reportedly wrote that the “vicious infighting and chaos” inside the White House – widely reported in the US but dismissed by Trump as “fake news” – was “mostly true”.

Darroch is one of Britain’s most experienced diplomats whose posting in Washington DC began in January 2016, prior to Trump winning the presidency.

The Mail on Sunday said the memos, likely leaked by someone within Britain’s sprawling civil service, cover a period beginning in 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/07/donald-trump-inept-and-dysfunctional-uk-ambassador-to-us-says

Being downtown on July 5 I snapped photos of the urban scene.

Photo above. A street person foraging for food nearby nice hotels, restaurants and stores.

First row. A photo montage of Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett at City Hall (the street out front is named after the iconic newspaper publisher), Caffe Trieste in North Beach and Downtown Trader Joes on 4th Street.

Middle Photo. A dog napping oblivious to the scene around her.

Bottom row.  Three San Francisco public transit riders.

Photos – Lee Heidhues

The French will have a place in Sunday’s Final in Lyon.  The teams on the Pitch will be  Holland and The USA.  The French will be  represented by Stephanie Frappart.  She officiated last weekend’s match between Sweden and Germany. Ms. Frappart will keep a firm hand on the activities on the Pitch.  She made history as the first female official in the French men’s Amien’s Ligue.

The Guardian 4.24.2019 (archive)

A French top-flight match will be refereed by a female official for the first time when Stéphanie Frappart takes charge of Amiens’ Ligue 1 home match against Strasbourg on Sunday.

Frappart, who will officiate at her second Women’s World Cup in France this summer, has been picked by the French Football Federation to prepare her for “World Cup conditions”.

The 35-year-old Frappart first refereed a Ligue 2 match in 2014 and has overseen 13 matches in the men’s second tier this season as well as one French Cup tie. She took charge of England’s semi-final defeat by the Netherlands in the 2017 Women’s European Championship.

“Fifa has invited the federations with a chosen referee for the World Women’s Cup, to prepare them under the best conditions for this high-level competition,” an FFF statement said.

“Their preparation, technical and athletic [ability] will also be focused on the use of video assistance, which will be in function at this World Cup.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/apr/24/stephanie-frappart-to-make-history-as-ligue-1s-first-female-referee

The Women’s World Cup Final this Sunday between Holland and America is getting the well deserved Buzz.

It’s Outrageous  that the Men’s World Cup 2022 was awarded to Qatar. The foul atmosphere surrounding the selection of Qatar shows no sign of going away.  The world’s top sporting event must be moved to a more suitable venue when the corruption and payoffs finally see the light of day.

The Team USA leader has a point.  Guys can say anything. The women are supposed to be polite. Look what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016 for a political example.

It gets worse when women criticize women for expressing themselves in a robust manner.

The Netherlands meet Team USA on Sunday in the World Cup final.

Excerpted from the Guardian 7.5.2019

• USA striker mimed sipping tea after goal against England

Alex Morgan has said that criticism of her goal celebration during USA’s defeat of England in the Women’s World Cup semi-final is an example of double standards.

Morgan mimed sipping a cup of tea after she scored what proved to be the winning goal against England, provoking a backlash with some claiming she was guilty of gloating. Former England international Lianne Sanderson, who played alongside Morgan at Orlando Pride, called the celebration “distasteful”.

“I feel that there is some sort of double standard for females in sports,” Morgan said, “to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate, but not too much or in a limited fashion. You see men celebrating all over the world in big tournaments, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is. And when I look at sipping a cup of tea, I am a little taken aback by the criticism.” She added that she was disappointed Sanderson was among her critics.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jul/05/alex-morgan-celebration-usa-england-womens-world-cup

Germany, responsible for the horrors of Nazism, has since 1945 addressed the issue head on. Time spent in Germany makes it perfectly clear that Germany has not buried the Holocaust it perpetuated from 1933-1945. This Deutsche Welle article is just one example of shining a light on anti-semitism. Still, in Germany anti-semitism, neo-nazism and xenophobia are on the rise.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 7.4.2019

Young Jewish Europeans believe anti-Semitism is on the rise in their countries. An EU report shows young Jews are concerned about safety and blame social media networks for a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment.

More than 80% of European Jews aged 16 to 34 strongly identify with being Jewish, and an equally high number of respondents believe anti-Semitism is a growing problem in their countries.

According to the “Young Jews in Contemporary Europe” report by the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Human Rights (FRA), close to 90% of those surveyed think that anti-Jewish sentiment has risen on social media channels and the internet in general in the last five years.

The report comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic crimes in Germany, with the country’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, cautioning Jews against wearing the yarmulke — or kippah — in public.

Other key findings

• Young Jews are “considerably more likely” to experience anti-Jewish harassment than their elders.
• 44% experienced at least one incident of harassment in the 12 months before the survey.
• 73% of respondents say that they have not worn anything that may identify them as Jewish on at least one occasion due to safety concerns.
• 41% have considered emigrating from their country because of safety concerns, mostly to Israel.
• Holocaust denial or trivialization, suggesting “nefarious uses of power by Jews” or that Jews themselves are to blame for anti-Semitism top the list of anti-Jewish “tropes.”
• 52% said they are being blamed for anything done by the Israeli government “frequently” or “all the time.”
• 31% of those harassed identified the perpetrator as “someone with a Muslim extremist view.”
• “Violent physical anti-Semitism” was most likely to be attributed to Muslim extremists.
• 21% of harassment was attributed to “someone with a left-wing view,” closely followed by “someone with a right-wing view” at 14%.
• Young Jews are “noticeably more likely” than their elders to identify intolerance towards Muslims in their countries as a problem.

Read more: Opinion: Is the only safe Jew in Germany an invisible one?

Sample size: The survey polled some 2,700 Jews aged 16 to 34 in 12 EU member states where more than 96% of the bloc’s Jewish population live.

https://www.dw.com/en/anti-semitism-a-growing-concern-for-majority-of-europes-young-jews/a-49477327

Skin color makes a difference whether it’s in Israel, France, Germany, USA. Everywhere.

Deutsche Welle 7.3.2019

Solomon Teka, a 19-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian origin, was shot dead by an off-duty police officer on Sunday in a town near Haifa. The teenager’s killing stoked accusations of racism and police brutality in Israel.

Teka’s killing has sparked a debate in Israel about racism and police brutality. The Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel is particularly outraged by the incident, saying they live in constant fear of police harassment due to their black skin color.