Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 3.16.2018

Yellow vest protesters have set fire to stores and clashed with police in a return to violence on the streets of Paris. Organizers are trying to give new momentum to their movement, after weeks of dwindling numbers.

On the Champs Elysees, rioters set fire to a bank, an upmarket handbag store and two newsstands. The high-end Fouquet’s restaurant was also damaged.

Hooded demonstrators in Paris fought with police and set several stores alight on Saturday, as yellow vest organizers sought to breathe new life into a movement that has rocked the administration of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Police said 42 protesters, 17 of their own officers and one firefighter were injured during a day of violence that followed weeks of relative calm. Nearly 240 protesters were arrested, out of an estimated 10,000 participants.

https://www.dw.com/en/france-violence-flares-at-yellow-vest-protest-reboot/a-47945793

 

Excertped from The New Republic 3.15.2019

President Trump condemned the March 15 Christchurch, New Zealand attacks in which Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant, 28,  killed 49 people at Muslim mosques, but his administration has spent the last three years emboldening white nationalists and neo-Nazis, cracking down on left-wing activists, and mainstreaming anti-immigration conspiracy theories tinged with anti-Semitic undertones not dissimilar to those promulgated by Tarrant.

Trump called the attacks a “horrible, horrible thing” before quickly pivoting to the topic of immigration. “People hate the word invasion, but that’s what it is,” he said.

In October, the president addressed an audience of supporters at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas. He prompted “USA!” chants from the crowd when he declared himself a “nationalist” fighting against “power-hungry globalists.”

During the 2018 midterm elections, Trump maligned a U.S.-bound caravan of refugees and migrants as an “invasion,” a conspiracy theory repeated by white nationalist Robert Bowers when he gunned down worshippers at a Pittsburg synagogue last November. The Christchurch shooter used eerily similar language in a blog post on Thursday: “I will carry out an attack against the invaders,” he wrote, apparently referring to Muslim immigrants.

The similarities are not going unnoticed. “In this case, a killer attacked Muslims worshiping at two mosques. In November, a killer massacred Jews at a synagogue in Pittsburgh,” Southern Poverty Law Center President, Richard Cohen said Friday. “Though the victims were different, and the attacks came in different parts of the world, the terrorists shared the same ideology of white supremacist hate.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/153329/white-nationalism-international-threat

March 15, 2019

Oregon, California’s neighbor to the north, recently instituted statewide Rent Control.  See Blog post 3.3.2019. Perhaps, California has the political will to keep up with the neighbors and provide renters  relief from soaring rents and no cause evictions.  Beware. The real estate industry will throw every resource, mainly money and lobbying, to bring some equity into the rental housing market.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 3.15.2019

SACRAMENTO — The push to expand rent control in California returned to life in the Legislature on Thursday, just months after state voters overwhelmingly rejected an initiative that would have removed barriers to new tenant protection laws.

“The rent is too damn high. It’s time for us to act,” Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said at a Capitol news conference.

Gov. Gavin Newsom told lawmakers in his State of the State address last month, “Get me a good package on rent stability this year and I will sign it.”

A group of Democratic legislators introduced bills to cap annual rent increases statewide, prevent evictions without just cause and return to cities the authority to adopt rent control ordinances for newer homes and apartments.

Supporters said urgent action is needed to address what has become a statewide emergency, as families face soaring housing prices and the prospect of homelessness. About half of California renter households spend more than 30 percent of their income on shelter, which experts consider to be a cost burden, according to U.S. census estimates. More than a quarter spend at least half their income on housing.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Rent-control-back-on-California-s-agenda-with-13688715.php#photo-17072096

Every Picture Tells Story. Ongoing Series

The New Republic 1.4.2019

I found this article by Jillian Steinhauer in the January-February 2019 issue. Ms. Steinhauer takes a deep look at  photographer Martha Rosler, who mixed art and politics in a very adept and intellectual manner.This is my first encounter with the work of  Martha Rosler.  The retrospective on her work at the New York Jewish Museum , regrettably, concluded earlier this month.

The article provides a link to the retrospective and is an opportunity to view her work and listen to her discuss several topics from both an artistic and political perspective.  It’s fascinating.

https://newrepublic.com/article/152663/martha-rosler-irrespective-jewish-museum-shows-how-world-works

Excerpted from The Guardian 3.14.2019

French Health minister Agnes Buzyn calls protest about lack of medical insurance ‘taking women hostage’

A French gynaecologists’ union has threatened to halt pregnancy terminations in an attempt to force the country’s health minister to meet disgruntled doctors.

Health minister Agnès Buzyn (pictured below) and feminist organisations said the threat was “unacceptable” and amounted to “taking women hostage”.

 

The feminist organisation Osez le Féminisme tweeted: “Syngof threatens an abortion strike. They could have had a cervical smear strike, non? This from the same union which called abortion a homicide”.

The Syngof union wrote to its 1,600 members calling them to be prepared to stop carrying out abortions to “make ourselves heard” and force the government’s hand.

Syngof, which represents about a quarter of France’s gynaecologists and obstetricians, published the letter as a protest over what it claims is a lack of insurance funds for colleagues convicted of medical errors.

In a statement Buzyn wrote: “In no case should taking women hostage in this way be used as a lever for negotiations or for media coverage of an issue the department is following very closely.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/14/french-gynaecologists-union-threatens-to-stop-performing-abortions

People like Gary Delagnes  deserve a special place in the wasteland of respectable society. Good riddance.  Enjoy your retirement.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 3.14.2019

Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young, who co-chairs the San Francisco Public Defender’s Racial Justice Committee, said she was “revolted” after seeing former POA boss Gary Delagnes’ post about her former boss.

“I did feel that Jeff, who was an extremely powerful presence in our city and in our lives, would reach out from the grave and undo that man permanently — I was sure of it,” she said.

Gary Delagnes Facebook post, which came six days after Adachi died from a suspected heart attack on Feb. 22, characterized Adachi as a “vile, despicable, bottom feeding human being” and included accusations involving the late public defender’s family.

Delagnes, 64, retired from the department in 2013, but stayed on with the union as a paid private consultant.

Tony Montoya, the current president of the union, said the post not only crossed the line by mentioning Adachi’s family, but damaged the recent work he’s been doing to generate goodwill in City Hall and the community.

Montoya said he understood Delagnes was venting, which “was his prerogative,” following a string of mostly positive media stories on Adachi, a longtime adversary of the department.

“But when it got back to me that I was somehow complicit in Gary’s rant, I knew I had to take action for the betterment of my membership,” Montoya said. He called Delagnes and informed him he was out of the consultant job.

“I had a great run,” Delagnes told The Chronicle on Wednesday night. “No regrets. My time is over. I wish everybody well.”

News of Delagnes’ departure from the association was welcomed from his longtime foes at the public defender’s office.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-police-union-cuts-ties-with-former-head-over-13687003.php

Photo Above: Francoise Demulder picture of massacre at Palestinian Refugee Camp

While America is angsting out over Trump, here’s another perspective on the World outside the borders of Pax Trump Americana

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 3.8.20919

Long considered a man’s domain, conflicts have also been captured by women photographers. Their images often add a unique perspective to the sight of war and its toll on civilians, as a new Dusseldorf exhibition reveals.

Women photojournalists have been capturing war on film for nearly a century now — starting with the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, when portable cameras first made spontaneous snapshots possible. Yet conflict has long remained a field dominated by men, not only as war photographers but also actors and perpetrators of atrocities.

“Women War Photographers,” an exhibition that opened March 8 at Dusseldorf’s Kunstpalast Museum, hopes to change that. It draws the works of eight women conflict photographers into focus. The exhibition covers a large swath of 20th-century conflicts in images and sheds new light on the view of women’s roles in war. Women are seen both as victim and perpetrator in the photographs chosen for the show.

“The images on display do not confirm the stereotype that there is such a thing as a ‘female’ perspective but rather show that these eight photographers employed different methods and visual imagery to bear haunting witness to these events,” the curators write in the exhibition catalogue. The exhibition includes images by Gerda Taro, Anja Niedringhaus, Carolyn Cole, Susan Meiselas, Lee Miller, Francoise Demulder, Christine Spengler and Catherine Leroy.

Those images of war, even in distant lands, have likewise come closer to home with the advent of digital photography and plethora of images available online. They have made the realities of war something accessible to all who seek it out.

As the exhibition makes clear, a plurality of perspectives — including those of women — is necessary to gain a full understanding of war and its full capacity to harm. As the curators write, women do not necessarily have their own “female” view on conflict, yet the scenes they present to the world are just as vital in creating an accurate picture of the atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries.

“Women War Photographers” runs at the Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf from March 8 through June 10.

https://www.dw.com/en/on-the-frontlines-with-women-war-photographers/a-47828435

March 12, 2019

You won’t need a cup of coffee after watching Run Lola Run. You’ll be wired up totally.

There has been too much serious news in this Blog during the past couple of weeks. It’s time to take few moments to relax and watch Franke Potente Run Run Run.

Run Lola Run, a German film released in 1998 by then young Director Tom Tykwer is 81 minutes of non stop action and techno music filmed in that most international city, Berlin. This is the same Director who is behind the fantastic  Babylon Berlin, set in 1929 Berlin during the Weimar Republic. See Blog Post 12.29.2018.

Following is a link to the review by Roger Ebert written after its American release in 1999.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/run-lola-run-1999

 

 

 

March 11, 2019

Matt Gonzalez will not be the San Francisco Public Defender.

Matt is an incredible attorney.  The Public Defender’s office and the public is fortunate to have someone of his caliber, honesty and intellect.

Mayor London Breed selected an 11-year veteran of the office Manohar Raju, head of the Public Defender’s felony trial unit.

By appointing Manohar Raju, who interned for Matt 20 years ago, The Mayor succeeded in politically neutralizing someone she did not want to name, satisfied a traumatized department, and picked someone well respected within the Public Defender’s office and the legal community at large.

Mayor Breed, Matt Gonzalez and Manohar Raju

Photo-Lee Heidhues

Matt Gonzalez made a gracious congratulatory speech to Jeff Adachi’s successor.

It appears Matt will stay on as the Chief Trial Attorney in the department which is reassuring, particularly to those who pushed for him to be selected as Public Defender.

The story being put forth in the local media is that Matt told The Mayor he did not want to be appointed.  A review of the news shortly after Jeff Adachi’s death indicates otherwise. Two weeks ago, Matt told The San Francisco Chronicle he would be “honored” if The Mayor selected him.

It is logical to conclude that Matt was told he would not be named Public Defender

Given the incredible stress and sense of loss it may very well be that Matt genuinely did not want to face an adversarial electoral campaign to secure the position.

Mayor Breed, if nothing else, is a savvy politician. Raised in the Western Addition she is a serious woman who values brains, competency and loyalty. The Mayor will make it clear when she believes someone is insufficiently loyal.

 

 

 

 

San Francisco Chronicle – Heather Knight 3.10.2019

As someone who looks forward to Heather Knight’s columns, I am disappointed after reading her feature Page One article in today’s, March 10, 2019 Chronicle.

Looking at the Big Picture, I sincerely believe the purpose of her article is to discourage the appointment of Matt Gonzalez as Public Defender.

In every situation, a researcher can find anecdotal evidence to buttress her argument. 

There is nothing to statistically confirm that the Public Defender engaged in a widespread and consistent policy of not informing its clients about plea offers.

It is rumors, water cooler conversation at the courthouse, and a way for SFPD and the District Attorney to settle scores. Ms. Knight is the vehicle, perhaps unwittingly.

Given the statistical reality that the Public Defender handles thousands of cases every year, if this was a pervasive strategy, there are plenty of aggrieved misdemeanor clients who could have come forward earlier.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/Did-late-SF-Public-Defender-Jeff-Adachi-keep-plea-13672451.php