I was nearly in tears when I read of the passing of Golden State Warriors legend Al Attles at age 87. From the time I was 15 and the Warriors arrived in San Francisco I have been an avid follower.
Nothing better exemplifies Al Attles career than the 1975 game four NBA finals playoff between the Warriors and Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_NBA_Finals.
The on court brawl in Landover, Maryland which found Al Attles being ejected is one of the all time classic moments in Warriors history.Following his ejection the incensed Warriors proceeded to rally and win the game 96-95 to complete a four game sweep and with it the NBA championship.
Liz and I were living on Waller Street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Liz was pregnant with our soon to be born daughter, Atlanta. We did not have a television and listened to games on radio. Bill King was an audio television. His description of this moment is classic. It is attached.
Warriors all timegreat radio announcerBill King in all his announcing glory. Go to the audio clip at 2:53 through 4:10 as he breaks down Al Attles vs Mike Riordan fight NBA finals May 1975 – Game 4.
The never to be forgotten brawl in the fourth game of the 1975 NBA playoffs between the Warriors and Washington Bullets
San Francisco Chronicle article on Al Attles passing – August 21, 2024
Top photo: Al Attles, incensed that Washington Bullet Mike Riordan viciously fouled Rick Barry, argues with Richie Powers prior to his ejection from game four of the 1975 NBA playoffs
A story is major news when the British tabloids blast a story on the front page.
This is not the kind of publicity which shines a favorable light on San Francisco which sees itself on the global stage through rose tinted glasses.
The reality is totally different to long time residents who have experienced the venal nastiness of San Francisco officialdom. It begins with the Mayor’s office and slithers down into the agencies which oversee life on the streets in this densely populated City of 800,000 people packed into 50 square miles.
This incident of police overreaction is sadly too often a way of life in 2024 San Francisco.
Shameless political creature San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins who compared legitimate peaceful protesters to Hamas terrorists is using her office to harass and abuse.
Indicting 26 citizens who are protesting the ongoing war crimes by Israel against the people of Palestine.
Seeking reelection this November Brooke Jenkins, an opportunistic political hack who destroyed her predecessor DA Chesa Boudin, owes her livelihood to Mayor London Breed. This malicious prosecution is nothing more than an election year ploy which needs to be seen for what it is.
OUTRAGEOUS: Civil rights protesters in handcuffs at San Francisco jail 8.12.2024
An abuse of prosecutorial discretion. These indictments need to be tossed from the criminal court docket immediately.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 8.12.2024
On Monday morning, as the remaining individuals suspected of taking part in an April 15 protest that shut down the Golden Gate Bridge turned themselves in, demonstrators marked the occasion with another protest, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and railing against the prosecution of those dubbed the “GG 26.”
Each of the suspected demonstrator’s cases includes 38 counts of false imprisonment, which accounts for the 37 victims named in the complaint. The 38th charge is a catchall for hundreds of others who were stuck on the bridge that day, officials said.
Civil rights protesters on the Golden Gate Bridge – 4.15.2024
Twenty-one of the 26 people filed into the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office building downtown around 8 a.m., while dozens of others chanted, banged on drums and scrawled notes of support in chalk on the nearby sidewalk. One of the people charged raised a defiant fist as their group entered the building, prompting an eruption of cheers from the crowd.
“This is not about us, this is about what’s happening in Gaza, and we are demanding a cease-fire,” said Jeff Wozniak, who is part of a group of attorneys representing the defendants. “We are here trying to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide and that has always been the message, that has always been the reason for these actions.”
Political audacity obviously has no boundaries at election time.
San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan facing a tough reelection campaign has wrapped herself in the garb of being a staunch supporter of the police. Which, understandably, is the road to drive on to be awarded a safe parking space from the electorate.
Connie Chan parked herself this week on JFK Promenade during National Night Out. The annual celebration lauding the cops.
CONNIE CHAN’S RE-ELECTION TABLE ON JFK PROMENADE DURING NATIONAL NIGHT OUT – 8.6.2024
This is the now car free JFK Promenade which Connie Chan worked feverishly to dismantle. This pedestrian and cycling oasis in historic Golden Gate Park. Meeting 14 times with lobbyists for the well heeled DeYoung Museum. Which expended money and its political power to bring cars back to JFK Promenade. Connie Voted against JFK Promenade when the Board of Supervisors voted to create JFK Promenade in April 2022. Connie opposed JFK Promenade in November 2022 when it received final approval with a 63 percent YES vote from the San Francisco electorate.
Car-Free JFK Drive supporters enjoy during the sunset while celebrating the Prop J victory and continuation of Car-free JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park San Francisco Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. | Camille Cohen/The Standard
Connie Chan has also been a strident foe of Ocean Beach Park along the Pacific Coast shoreline. She supported the ballot measure in November 2022 which would have brought cars back full time to this roadway. It is currently car free on weekends. The measure was soundly defeated with a 65 percent no vote. Connie Chan now opposes the ballot measure for this November which, if passed, will make the area between Lincoln and Sloat Boulevards, approximately two miles, permanently car free.
Now, in a frenzied effort to have four more years in City Hall Connie hangs out with the cops on National Night Out, taking a seat on JFK Promenade. The pedestrian cyclist oasis she tried to bury.The hypocrisy is stunning as an obviously upset citizen posted the following after National Night Out.
SUPERVISOR CONNIE CHAN HAS BEEN A KEY OPPONENT OF ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE CAR-FREE SPACES FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS
Top photo: Liz Heidhues, lifelong cyclist and car free space advocate, parleying with Mayor London Breed at the fourth anniversary celebration of JFK Promenade – April 28, 2024. Mayor Breed signed the enabling legislation creating JFK Promenade on May 7, 2022. Mayor Breed also supports the November 2024 ballot measure which will create a permanently car free Ocean Beach Park. – photo by Lee Heidhues
The USsupreme court has declined to halt Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing for his conviction in state court in New York on felony charges involving hush money paid to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, and a related gag order until after the 5 November election.
Waving goodbye to a convicted Felon
The decision by the justices came in response to a lawsuit by the state of Missouri claiming that the case against Trump infringed on the right of voters under the US constitution to hear from the Republican presidential nominee as he seeks to regain the White House, Reuters reports.
Trump is set to be sentenced on 18 September in Manhattan. He was found guilty in May of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
He is the Republican party nominee for president in the election in November, facing Kamala Harris for the Democrats.
Convicted Felon Donald Trump in Manhattan courtroom. Due for sentencing on 34 felony counts on September 18, 2024
The anti-immigrant hate stirred up by Donald Trump in the past nine years has gone global.
The intolerance, xenophobia and racism spewed forth by the former and now wannabe president has found a receptive audience in Europe. Now Britain.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 8.4.2024
Police in the northern English city of Rotherham struggled to hold back a group of far-right activists on Sunday, who broke into a hotel believed to be housing asylum-seekers.
The disturbance is the latest in a series of violent protests by anti-immigration groups in British towns and cities this week after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport in northwest England on Monday.
Protesters can be seen storming the building and removing chairs from inside to use as weapons. Footage aired on British TV showed officers with shields targeted by a barrage of projectiles outside the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, near Sheffield.
The riots began last week due to misinformation over a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party at a studio in Southport, a seaside town in northwest England.
Three children were killed in the knife attack, and 10 other people — eight of whom were children — were injured.
A 17-year-old boy, Axel Rudakubana, has been charged with several offenses, including the girls’ murder, which happened during a Taylor Swift-themed workshop.
Since the Southport attack, far-right social media channels have been awash with false claims that the suspect was an asylum-seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
Police have emphasized that Rudakubana was born in Britain. He was remanded to a youth detention center and will next appear in court in October.
Close to 100 people were arrested after skirmishes broke out at far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland on Saturday.
In Liverpool, in the northwest, protesters threw chairs, flares and bricks at police officers. Manchester also saw clashes between officers and rioters.
In the city of Hull, protesters broke windows of a hotel that was housing migrants, the BBC reported.
In Belfast, fireworks were thrown due to a clash between an anti-Islam group and anti-racism protesters.
Opposing groups also faced off in the cities of Nottingham and Bristol.
In Leeds, anti-immigration protesters carrying British flags chanted, “You’re not English anymore.” They were met with counter-protesters shouting, “Nazi scum off our streets.”
On Friday, Sunderland saw violence erupt as a police station and an overturned car were set on fire.
In London, a pro-Palestinian demonstration was carried out as usual despite counter protesting nearby.
San Francisco, The City of Saint Francis, is going full speed ahead with its cruel and insane crackdown on its homeless population.
Having been freed up from any legal constraints by the Republican Trump MAGA dominated Supreme Court, Mayor London Breed has unleashed the full power of law enforcement to abuse and disrespect the most down and out people in the City.Breed is blatantly pandering to the law and order voters in her quest to win election for another four years in office on November 3rd.
Life of the homeless in San Francisco is growing worse with Mayor Breed’s political crackdown to assist her reelection campaign
It was San Francisco’s Brief in the Grants Pass (Oregon) case which Justice Neil Gorsuch cited eight times in the Court’s 6-3 ruling in June unleashing the power of the state.
San Francisco is a mean, nasty town. This annihilation of its homeless population if one of the most treacherous acts in the long history of the city.
London Breed in party mode as her cops launch ‘barbaric’ crackdown
Nine people have been arrested during sweeps on San Francisco streets since July 29.
Tracy Oxsen, 53, called the crackdown “cruel” and said Breed is abusing the homeless population for “political gain.”
Homeless people say they’re worried about being arrested and losing their belongings as the city ramps up encampment sweeps. | Source:Garrett Leahy/The Standard
“It’s inhumane,” said Oxsen, who sleeps under the Central Freeway. “They made us this way.”
What’s going to happen to this man when the cops show up?
“They’re gonna get worse, be barbaric,” said 59-year-old Jeff “Tex” Connick, sitting in front of his tent on Treat Avenue, behind Best Buy. “They’re gonna throw our things away, arrest people.”
Homeless people are voicing their fears as the city moves forward with “very aggressive” sweeps promised by Mayor London Breed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision. The ruling gives cities broader authority to punish people for sleeping or camping outdoors, even if there is no available shelter space.
San Francisco cleans out an encampment of the unhoused – 1.2.2024 – photo Lee Heidhues
Emboldened by the decision, Breed has said the city will clear tents from sidewalks and underpasses without warning people first, as has been the norm for years. On Thursday, the mayor went further, issuing an executive order directing city workers to offer bus tickets to homeless people before offering them shelter beds.
Where are these people going to go?
Top photo: The homeless a block away from Mayor Breed’s office in San Francisco City Hall
Have his hired thug assassin Vadim Krasikov return to Russia. Krasikov gunned down a Chechen dissident execution style in broad daylight in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten Park in August 2019.
I am well familiar with this spot, having run and walked in the park during several trips to Berlin. The park is directly across the street from the Tiergarten Hotel where Liz and I stay when visiting Berlin.
Kleiner Tiergarten Park, Berlin – near site of the “execution-style” killing in August 2019 – Photo Lee Heidhues
Deutsche Welle 8.1.2024
Germany confirmed the prisoner swap with Russia involving the United States and European allies.
Among those returning to Russia was Vadim Krasikov, convicted in 2021 of shooting to death a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity in Kleiner Tiergarten Park in Berlin in August 2019.
The victim, 40-year-old Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was shot in an “execution-style” killing The killing was carried out the drive-by style shooting on a bicycle in broad daylight — shooting the victim in the head and chest, prosecutors said
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement the deal had involved close and trusting cooperation with the United States and European partners.
US President Joe Biden, when asked by reporters about what Germany wanted in return for its cooperation, replied: “nothing.”
According to the German statement, the exchange agreement secured the release of 15 people who were unlawfully detained in Russia and a German citizen, Rico K. who had been sentenced to death in Belarus.
Condemning migrants, supporting the January 6 insurrectionists and disrespecting Kamala Harris.
Trump tells Rachel Scott (ABC News) he would “ABSOLUTELY” pardon January 6 insurrectionists
Make no mistake bloviating mendacious racist Donald Trump knows exactly what he is doing.
TIME – If He Wins – May 2024
Every utterance coming out of his mouth is geared toward one audience. The racist know nothing MAGA crowd to whom Donald Trump throws political red meat.
These are the people, primarily white and marginally educated, this convicted Felon expects will return him to the White House next January.
Rachel Scott is the senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, reporting from Capitol Hill across all programs and platforms, including “Good Morning America, “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline,” “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” “20/20,” ABC News Live, ABC News Digital and ABC Audio.
Particularly obscene was Trump’s assertion that he has done more for American black people than any President since Abraham Lincoln.
In May 2019 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance regulating surveillance technology used by the San Francisco Police Department.
It’s obvious the cops have failed to get the message.
The willful non-compliance has resulted in a lawsuit against The City and County of San Francisco and possible dismissal of criminal prosecutions which fail to follow the Law.
The case is Secure Justice Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco – CPF-24-518631 attached below.
San Francisco Chronicle – Bob Egelko – 7.18.2024
Five years ago, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require police and other agencies to seek approval from elected officials before using new methods of technology to conduct surveillance. But a lawsuit says the city has ignored its law for at least four years and allowed officers to use whatever surveillance techniques they choose.
SFPD Chief Bill Scott and then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Chesa fought the cops to guarantee transparency. Boudin paid the price for his advocacy. Recalled from office in a 9M MAGA funded campaign led by Mayor London Breed and his one time employee Brooke Jenkins. Jenkins was awarded for her political dirty work. She was named DA by the Mayor.
The Chronicle reported in 2020 that San Francisco police may have sidestepped the ordinance by using technology from a regional law enforcement agency, not covered by the law’s disclosure requirement, to investigate an illegal-gunfire case. Then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin said he was uncertain about using such evidence in a criminal prosecution.
Four years ago, the suit said, the San Francisco Police Department “quit complying with the Surveillance Ordinance and has not submitted to the (Board of Supervisors) any further proposed use policies for pre-existing technology.”
“Police surveillance technologies may help reduce crime,” lawyers for the nonprofit Secure Justice said in a suit filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. “But they also pose a clear and present threat to the civil liberties of the citizens of San Francisco.”
The technology is “controversial and error-prone,” particularly for racial minorities, the suit said. It said one study found a 35% error rate in identification of darker-skinned women.
The San Francisco ordinance took effect in June 2019 and similar measures have been adopted by many other local governments, including Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda. It requires police and other agencies using facial recognition technology to notify city officials of the technology they were already using, and to obtain approval from the Board of Supervisors for any new methods they planned to use.
Secure Justice said it identified 42 recognition technology programs in June 2023 that had not been approved by city officials, and asked for an explanation but received no reply. Police Chief Bill Scott confirmed to the city’s Committee on Information Technology in January 2023 that his department was using technology the Board of Supervisors had not approved and attributed the actions to two officers, the suit said.
While the ordinance allows police to continue using unapproved surveillance methods for a short period while they seek approval, that is not a “a get-out-of-jail-free card, wherein a guilty party can merely promise to do better next time by simply posting a notice and promising not to do it again,” Mitchell Chyette, a lawyer for Secure Justice, said in the suit.
Lee's Perspective 