The mystery surrounding betrayal of Anne Frank and her family has been an unanswered question since 1944 when their Amsterdam hideout was raided by the Gestapo.

The diary Anne Frank kept during her family’s period of hiding from the Nazis has become a best seller and classic story of personal human suffering.

Now the story of who betrayed the Frank family has generated a controversy of its own.  This is a tragedy which has no end.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 2.17.2022

The director of HarperCollins Germany, Jürgen Welte, has justified the decision to publish Rosemary Sullivan’s “The Betrayal of Anne Frank” by saying that they want to enable “all interested readers […] to form their own independent opinion of the book and the associated media discussion,” he said in a press statement.

They are currently working on a “corrected, supplemented and annotated German-language edition,” the publisher added.

“The Betrayal of Anne Frank” was published in several languages in January.  In it, author Rosemary Sullivan lays out the investigative work of a Dutch-American team led by former FBI agent Vince Pankoke.

The team had claimed in February to have discovered who betrayed Anne Frank and her family to the Gestapo in Amsterdam during World War II. A Jewish notary was named as the guilty party, with “85% probability.” The presumption of innocence did not seem to apply in this case.

Critics found the book to be written in the style of a true-crime story, and the investigators’ actions appear speculative and dubious.

The book caused heated debate in the Netherlands. Historians found numerous factual errors. Jewish associations also sharply criticized the book’s publication.

In response, the Dutch publisher Ambo Anthos apologized for the publication and announced that it would not publish a second edition until the team of investigators had answered the questions raised.

Anne Frank and her family were murdered in Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Only her father Otto survived, and after the war, he published Anne’s diary, which has since reached millions of readers around the world.

Following the controversy surrounding the book upon its publication in English and other languages, HarperCollins Germany decided to postpone the publication of the German-language version. Initially planned for March, the publisher has yet to announce a new publication date.

Welte’s written statement goes on to say that it will not comment on remaining questions “until the book’s publication date, which has not yet been set.”

https://www.dw.com/en/disputed-anne-frank-book-to-be-published-in-german/a-60814773

Lee Heidhues 2.14.2022

Mayor London Breed is the Chief Executive of San Francisco. She needs to stop casting blame and making excuses for the cops. Change comes from the top and The Mayor needs to step in, step up and shake up the SFPD.

The San Francisco Police Department continues to be mired in incompetence and questionable activities which call into question the judgment of Chief Bill Scott.

The latest revelation that DNA of sexual assault survivors is being used to finger suspects in totally unrelated crimes speaks volumes about the SFPD culture, attitudes and policies. This disturbing news comes on the heels of Chief Scott’s unilateral cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the District Attorney who has been responsible for investigating SFPD use of force incidents.

This decision by the Chief was nothing more than a cave in to the powerful Police Officers Assocation which has been a vicious foe of the District Attorney going back to his time as a candidate in 2019.

The Chief has forgotten he works for The People. Not the POA.

The SFPD is being deservedly hammered for its incompetence, sloppiness, laziness and ineptitude in responding to citizen complaints of crime even when some of these unlawful events are occurring before their very eyes.

The SFPD is relying on a lame excuse that the cops don’t want to do their job because prosecutions aren’t being pursued. That just doesn’t cut it and the time for the cops to blame the DA for their incompetence should not be permitted.

Today’s story of this DNA abuse is just the latest sorry tale coming to light.

Excerpted from The Standard 2.14.2022

District Attorney Chesa Boudin on Monday accused San Francisco police of using DNA evidence collected from sexual assault survivors to identify suspects in unrelated crimes, a practice he said raised legal and ethical issues and could dissuade reporting of sex crimes.

Boudin said he learned of the practice several days ago after an assistant district attorney discovered police allegedly used DNA evidence collected from a sexual assault survivor years ago to identify and arrest her in connection with a recent, unrelated property crime.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen said Monday that she asked the City Attorney’s Office to draft legislation prohibiting police or any other city agency from using DNA evidence obtained from a sexual assault victim for any other purpose than investigating their case.

“It never occurred to me in my wildest dreams that DNA evidence from a rape kit would be used against the victim,” Ronen said. “We need to stop this practice immediately.”

Boudin said the practice could compromise his ability to prosecute cases by violating the unreasonable search and seizure rules of the Fourth Amendment as well as Marsy’s Law, the state statute meant to protect the legal rights of crime victims.

Boudin announced his discovery Monday amidst an ongoing conflict with Police Chief Bill Scott, which escalated this month with the trial of a police officer accused of using excessive force. The two law enforcement officials accused each other of violating an agreement that makes the District Attorney’s Office the lead investigator of all police shootings, in-custody deaths and other serious uses-of-force in San Francisco.

In a statement, Chief Scott did not confirm the allegations and instead raised the possibility that the suspect “may have been identified through a DNA hit in a non-victim DNA database.” He said that the department’s “existing DNA collection policies have been legally vetted and conform with state and national forensic standards.”

“We must never create disincentives for crime victims to cooperate with police,” Scott said.

DA Boudin Accuses Police of Using DNA from Sexual Assault Survivors to Probe Unrelated Crimes

The presence of Muni minders on San Francisco public transit could be in for legal scrutiny if a case before the State of Washington Supreme Court rules in favor of a transit rider.

The Justices is the northwestern State are considering whether the transit minders are engaging in an unreasonable search and seizsure when they shakedown passengers and ask for proof of payment. The Maryland Supreme Court in a similiar case sided with the transit passenger.

Oral arguments are being held on February 17.

Excerpted from Seattles Times 1.26.2022

On March 18, 2018, three Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies boarded a bus in Everett and asked Zachery Meredith to prove he’d paid for his ride. That act of fare enforcement violated his civil rights under the state constitution, Meredith’s lawyer argues.

The argument is similar to one made in Maryland last year. The state’s highest court there sided with the train passenger, concluding his Fourth Amendment right against a suspicionless search and seizure had been violated when the agency conducted a “fare sweep.”

After being rejected by lower courts, the argument has now found its way to the Washington state Supreme Court, where the justices will weigh whether fare enforcement represents an unconstitutional incursion into passengers’ right to privacy.

If Meredith’s case is successful, transit agencies could be stripped of the authority, granted by the state, to pace the aisles of trains and buses, querying riders for evidence they’d tapped their ORCA cards or bought a ticket.

The implications for Sound Transit, King County Metro’s RapidRide routes, Snohomish County’s Community Transit and other agencies that employ fare enforcement officers are significant.

“There are statewide ramifications for transit in Washington state that will flow from this case,” said Nathan Sugg, a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office who’s representing the state in the case.

But for Tobin Klusty, attorney for Meredith, a rejection of the case — which is being supported by the ACLU of Washington, King County Department of Public Defense and the Washington Defender Association — would signal an endorsement of unlawful search and seizures by law enforcement officers. The government “could conduct investigations without any reasonable suspicion or any suspicion of unlawful activities simply because they want to make sure the law’s being enforced,” he said.

 

Proof of payment

The question at the center of the case is not whether it’s legal to charge for public transit but whether it’s legal to ask for proof of payment.

In district court in Everett, Meredith’s lawyer sought to have the statement to officers and the evidence collected from the fingerprint device suppressed, arguing that the act of officers asking for proof of payment constituted an unlawful seizure. The court denied the motion and a jury sided against Meredith. The conviction was upheld in Superior Court.

Meredith then brought his case to the Division I Court of Appeals. The court also rejected the argument, saying that, by choosing to board the bus, Meredith had consented to the seizure.

Klusty then petitioned the Supreme Court to take the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 17.

Legal arguments

Meredith’s case relies on whether fare enforcement officers asking for proof of payment constitutes a warrantless seizure or restraint. Klusty argues yes because, in that moment, Meredith had no choice but to engage with the officers.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/washington-state-supreme-court-to-hear-case-arguing-fare-enforcement-is-unconstitutional/

Time has Come Today to make JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park a permanent People’s Park devoid of polluting and climate killing cars.

On a gorgeous Saturday morning hundreds of people of all ages gathered to express an unwavering commitment that this movement will not be denied. Elected officials and City officials along with representatives from various NGOs participated in a show of solidarity.

The crowd was entertained by Lion Dancers to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

San Francisco Supervisors Matt Haney and Rafael Mandelman spoke up for a Car Free JFK Drive.

David Miles, the Mayor of Golden Gate Park, who has worked on this project for decades, exhorted the crowd.

Ruth Malone, a Health Professional, talked about the physical danger cars pose to people. She has witnessed the carnage as a long time medical professional and is outspoken in her support of a car free JFK Drive.

During the past year there have been rallies with increasing numbers of participants. Today’s was by far the largest and most enthusiatic.

With the recent Court decision turning back a group of litigants who sought an immediate Order to bring back climate killing cars rally goers were enthused.

People of all ages throughout San Francisco show their support for car free JFK Drive

This is a People power movement and it will prevail.

Now the push is on to convince San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors to look forward and make this City a beacon for the Planet in the time of climate change.

Lee Heidhues 2.10.2022

The absurd and vitriolic din that spoiled and entitled motorists have dumped on and polluted Social Media with for the past year has received a big Time Out from the San Francisco Superior Court.

The past year I, personally, have been attacked, vilified and pilloried on various social media platforms for my advocacy for a car free Great Walkway at the Pacific Ocean and JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park.

Along with thousands of other environmentally conscious citizens of all ages, genders, and physical abilities we have continued to stand and fight for our beliefs that cars are not first and foremost.

One Court victory is nice and the entitled motorists may be smarting tonight. But they are relentless in their goal to maintain their hegemony over the roadways.

Make no mistake we will continue to wage this fight until the goal is attained.

People and the environment come first.

Those spoiled petulant motorists I labeled The Entitled, dissatisfied with the government effort to find an equitable solution, have been jumping up and down, screaming, yelling threatening like spoiled children.

The Entitled have besieged bureaucrats, elected officials and NGOs. When surveys are conducted and The Entitled don’t like the results The Entitled claim the methodology is unfair and undemocratic.

So. What did The Entitled do? The All American thing. The Entitled hired a Redwood City attorney and sued The City and County of San Francisco. Next, not wanting to go through the entire litigation process, The Entitled rolled the legal dice and sought an injunction to order cars back onto car free areas while the litigation proceeds.

Judge Richard Ulmer ruled against The Entitled.

The Entitled lost. Now The Entitled can DEAL WITH IT!!!!

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 2.10.2022

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled that the city is within its authority to have closed west side roadways, including the Great Highway, during the pandemic — quashing an effort by a group of residents to immediately reopen the highway to car traffic seven days a week.

In his ruling, Judge Richard B. Ulmer expressed doubt that the plaintiffs who filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to reopen the roadway to cars presented a convincing case capable of winning a trial.

He also said the courts should not be the ones to settle one of the city’s most caustic debates, if city leaders are already planning to make a decision on the matter.

City officials responded to Ulmer’s ruling ecstatically.

“One of the pandemic’s few bright spots was our city’s willingness to try out bold new ideas, such as allowing safe, healthy recreation on streets previously open to vehicles,” Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the Recreation and Park Department, said in a statement.

“JFK Drive and the Great Highway became respites from isolation, places to connect with each other and improve our mental and physical health,” Ginsburg said. “I’m pleased these streets will continue to be a source of joy while the City continues to engage with the public on their long-term future.”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/S-F-judge-quashes-effort-to-reopen-Great-Highway-16848990.php

Liz and Lee Heidhues 2.9.2022

Tuesday evening we arrived at Chase Center in high anticipation of seeing the Icelandic icon Björk for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Liz and I went through the obligatory myriad security checks. Once inside we approached an Usher to ask directions to our seats. Instead of directions the Usher, Titus, informed us he was upgrading our seats to sit on the main floor of Chase Center in close proximity to the stage. Amazing! To receive this prize.

 

Our seats were in Row 1 of a raised section looking directly onto the stage and behind Bjőrk’s three-man technical crew with multiple screens and sound systems. It was not a sellout in all likelihood to the requirement to present proof of vaxxed and boosted.  A good-sized crowd waited in anticipation of the Icelandic muse.  The show started 30 minutes late to allow everyone to be seated. It was worth the wait.

The choreography, the visuals, the music …. Bjőrk.

It is impossible for me, technologically challenged, to describe the visuals, the acoustics, the incredible light acrobatics, the music and Bjőrk. It all synched.

Prior to the Performance, Bjőrk made it abundantly clear to the audience that she preferred we refrain from taking pictures and video, reminding the crowd it is very distracting. Bjőrk’s fans respectfully complied.

The most stunning was a 10-minute piece one hour into the extravaganza. It was a jangled montage of bodies and colors, mostly blood red. It was Dystopian to say the least. A powerful musical creation about the destruction we are wreaking upon the planet, ourselves, and ancient pagan mythologies. The intertwining of the bodies blended themselves into the most bizarre tapestries.

Bjőrk was exotically dressed in a white feathered outfit and dazzling platform shoes as she stomped about the stage in her unique vocal style, whipping her collaboration of vocalists and instrumentalists into an unforgettable performance. The crowd went wild. The applause and screams of the audience rose and fell.

The Performance lasted 1 hour 45 minutes. The entire production was extremely disciplined.

I keep asking myself how Bjőrk has so much creativity. She projected onto the stage an appearance by Swedish 19 year old environmentalist Greta Thunberg who scolded the world – leaders and public – about the future of our endangered planet and the horrors of climate change.

It’s more than Music. Bjőrk. A musical conscience about the strange beauty of Planet Earth and what we are doing in our heedless path of its destruction.  

Accompanied  with her supporting cast of flutists, drummers, and vocalists Bjőrk’s concert “Cornucopia” was a memorable experience!

Björk Guðmundsdóttir OTF (/ˈbjɜːrk/ BYURK; Icelandic: [pjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtouʰtɪr̥] (listen); born 21 November 1965) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and actress. Over her four-decade career, she has developed an eclectic musical style that draws on influences and genres including electronic, pop, jazz, experimental, trip hop, alternative, classical, and avant-garde music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rk

Review: Climate dread fuels Björk’s dazzling ‘Cornucopia’ in San Francisco

 

Lee Heidhues 2.7.2022

The mainstream media in America continues to beat the drums of Russian aggression in Ukraine and rev up the Cold War anti-Communist hysteria which gripped the USA for decades.

It’s fair to say that American mainstream media is a government vehicle to promote the party line. Particularly when it comes to the Big Power rivalry.

The People’s World definitely has a pro Russian bias. It’s articles are laced with commentary about “Nazis” and “Fascists” governing Ukraine and the Russians are simply upholding their territorial integrity.

The following should be read with a dose of skepticism. Still, it’s worthwhile to read the party line from the other side.

Excerpted from People’s World 2.7.2022

Over the weekend, on Saturday, Americans heard on corporate news media reports that anonymous U.S. government officials confirmed the Russians are “70 percent ready” for an immediate invasion of Ukraine. Only a day later, they heard that the invasion, which had been described as almost a certainty, would come instead in late February when the ground in Ukraine is frozen enough so that Russian tanks won’t sink in the mud.

Also this weekend, more stories appeared in the media about Germany allegedly harming the “unity” of NATO. Germany has continued to refuse to forego Nord Stream 2, a pipeline designed to carry Russian gas to that country at a time when it needs the gas to meet its energy needs.

The new German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, leads a party that has often called for cooperation with rather than confrontation with Russia. Scholz met with President Joe Biden on Monday, who was expected to turn up the pressure on Germany to get in line with Washington’s war message.

The supposedly pending invasion, described as imminent since last December, still fails to materialize.

The media topped this with an even worse scare story coming from U.S. “intelligence”—a claim that as many as 50,000 Ukrainians could die and as many as one million could become refugees flooding into Poland and other countries in Europe when the Russians invade.

As for Ukrainians being killed, the reality ignored by the media is that tens of thousands have already died, but those have been killed by Ukrainian government forces and fascist organizations allied with it attacking people in Eastern Ukraine. There, separatists have been trying to establish two small autonomous republics under the terms of an agreement reached with the Ukrainian government in 2014. Ukraine has reneged on that treaty and instead continues its assaults in the east.

As for refugees, there have been tens of thousands of them already, but they’re not people fleeing a Russian invasion. Instead, they are Russian-speaking Ukrainians fleeing into Russia to escape the Ukrainian military and its allied fascist militias. In order to alleviate that refugee crisis and simultaneously help protect the population in the east, the Russian-speaking Ukrainians have been granted the Russian passports they have demanded. The hope is that this “escape route” will give them the safety and confidence to stay in their homes in Ukraine unless or until it becomes absolutely necessary.

U.S. continues to foment war hysteria in Ukraine crisis

 

Lee Heidhues 2.6.2022

The California city of Woodside is roaring with its policy that housing cannot be constructed where mountain lions have lived since long before humans occupied the land.

It’s too much to expect the Attorney General, who deals with paperwork and arcane legal doctrine, to admit that humans are destroying the planet and  the Woodside policy is in no way radical.  

Protecting endangered species makes sense in this era of climate change. It’s going to take a lot of tough love to realize limits must be set and the avaricious human race will be forced to change its ways.

I say let’s give a shout out to Woodside and its feline population.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 2.6.2022

 A Jan. 27 memo by the Woodside town planner, Jackie Young, that declared that because the entire town is in a region that is habitat for mountain lions, Woodside would not issue any permits for SB9 construction pending a California Fish and Game Commission ruling as to whether the animal will be listed as an endangered species.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sternly rebuked the Peninsula town of Woodside on Sunday for using its mountain lion population as an excuse to avoid SB9, the state law that lowers construction barriers in a bid to ease the housing crunch. He said his office would not “stand idly by” and let the policy go forward.

“Woodside declared its entire suburban town a mountain lion sanctuary in a deliberate and transparent attempt to avoid complying with SB9,” Bonta said in reference to the new law that allows lot splits and construction of accessory dwelling units to encourage construction.

“This memorandum is — quite clearly — contrary to the law, and ironically, contrary to the best interests of the mountain lions the town claims to want to protect,” Bonta stated.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/State-attorney-general-threatens-Woodside-for-16837159.php

Lee Heidhues 2.4.2022

A German pollster has taken a look at how German voters are feeling two months after the new Coalition government took office. A partnering of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP).  Voters are disapproving of the new government which is dealing with the Pandemic, a fragile economy and the tension over Ukraine.

What is more intriguing is that by a large majority all spectrums of political thought in Germany oppose weapons being given to Ukraine. The comments of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock earlier in the year that Germans don’t want  to provide  weapons that could be used to kill Russians is shown in the poll results.

The memory of the Nazi regime invading Russia in 1941 and the resultant slaughter on both sides still impacts Germany.

https://www.dw.com/en/why-germany-refuses-weapons-deliveries-to-ukraine/a-60483231

Germany’s stance regarding Ukraine is heresy to American political leadership where the Mainstream Media is beating the drums to take a strong stance against Russia.

The Wall Street Journal has been particularly critical of the German government, labeling them a weak ally and a country which can no longer be depended on to look out for Western interests.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 2.4.2022

“Where is Olaf Scholz?” That’s a question that has been circulating on social media in Germany since the beginning of the year.

Whether it’s about arms deliveries to Ukraine, the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China, the debate about introducing a general vaccine mandate to combat the COVID pandemic or measures against galloping inflation figures — the chancellor seems all but invisible, his statements seem vague.

This negatively impacted his approval ratings in the latest survey by pollster Infratest Dimap, in which 1,339 individuals across the country were polled by telephone (876) or online (463) between January 31 and February 2.

Only 43% of respondents said they were satisfied with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. One month ago that figure still stood at 60%.

The majority of respondents side with the German government and oppose arms deliveries to Ukraine, and only 43% are in favor of economic sanctions against Russia. The respondents were split on the question of whether NATO should issue security guarantees to Russia. There is more sympathy with Russia in eastern Germany, the part of the country that until 1990 was the communist East German GDR and a staunch ally of the government in Moscow.

Top photo.  German Foreign Minister Baerbock with US Secretary of State Tony Blinken

https://www.dw.com/en/new-german-government-sees-drop-in-opinion-polls/a-60652398

Lee Heidhues 2.3.2022

The battle for holding San Francisco’s notoriously abusive Police Department is reaching critical mass.  The Chief of Police has summarily withdrawn the Department from the agreement that has given the District Attorney responsibility for investigating police use-of-forces cases.

Why?

The incumbent District Attorney Chesa Boudin is adhering to the letter the terms of the agreement and the cops don’t like it.

The San Francisco Police Officers Association will leave no rhetorical stone unturned and will spend whatever monies it takes to try and unseat Boudin in the June 7 recall.

This unilateral action by the Chief of Police is just one skirmish in the political warfare enveloping San Francisco between the lock ’em up law and order crowd and those who are fighting for progressive justice embodied by Chesa Boudin.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 2.3.3022

San Francisco’s two most powerful law enforcement officials on Thursday deepened a rift that threatens police reform in the city, trading accusations over Police Chief Bill Scott’s move to sever an agreement that makes the District Attorney’s Office the lead investigative agency in police use-of-force cases.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Thursday that it was “no coincidence” that Scott made the decision just days before the beginning of a trial in which San Francisco police Officer Terrance Stangel is accused of needlessly beating a man with a baton — the first of a handful of police use-of-force cases Boudin plans to bring in front of juries.