Asian American Leaders Condemn anti-DA ‘Racist,’ Communist-Style Poster

Lee Heidhues 3.11.2022

Vicious reactionaries whose campaign was funded by hard core right wingers who paid mercenaries nearly 1.5MM to gather signatures trying to oust District Attorney Chesa Boudin have sunk to a new low.

Never mind that some Recall people are trying to distance themselves from this blatant red-baiting anti-Asian hate literature. They are all of the same foul reactionary anti-democracy ilk.

The people who are trying to distance themselves from this awful racist literature are the same people who disrupted Chesa Boudin’s rally a week ago in Alamo Square Park.

The millionaire reactionaries who funded this anti-democratic attempt to oust the District Attorney will stoop to any depth to push their warped and perverse agenda in the run up to the June 7 election.

“Sadly, this comes as no surprise from a campaign that has made bullying and harassment key components of their strategy,” Julie Edwards. anti-DA recall spokeswoman said.

Excerpted from SF Standard – 3.11.2022

One of the two campaigns to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is being accused of using “racist” and “anti-Chinese” campaign materials to criticize the progressive prosecutor with communist-style propaganda.

Nonprofit and civil rights leaders joined multiple retired Chinese American elected officials Thursday in Chinatown to condemn a poster depicting Boudin in a Cold War-era propaganda image, with the DA gesturing in a manner similar to a Mao Zedong poster from the 1970s. The poster also includes images of homeless encampments, a person appearing to consume drugs and a figure slumped over with their pants down.

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DA Chesa Boudin with community leaders Norman Yee, Henry Der and Eric Mar – 3.5.2022

“The recall campaign has exploited the use of a Chinese historical jacket to deceive San Francisco voters,” said Henry Der, a former state deputy superintendent of public instruction and longtime head of the Chinatown-based civil rights organization Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Der, who also spoke at Boudin’s anti-recall rally last weekend, accused the recall organizers of “race-baiting” to achieve their goal of removing Boudin from office.

The image, which was posted online, was created by the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign. The group failed to gather enough signatures to put the recall onto the ballot last year, but another recall campaign, Safer SF Without Boudin, successfully submitted more than 83,000 signatures to qualify for a recall election this June.

2 Recall Disrupters 3.5.2022
Recall campaign disrupt DA Boudin rally with bullhorns – March 5, 2022

Richie Greenberg, a local Republican Party activist who is leading the Recall Chesa Boudin campaign, doubled down Thursday in a statement blasting the DA.

26 Anti-Chesa Poster
A new disgraceful low in San Francisco political history. David Sacks, a bagman in the recent School Board recall, has contributed $75,000 in the effort to oust the DA

“We have to talk about Chesa’s communist, socialist roots,” Greenberg said in a statement, pointing to Boudin’s work for Hugo Chavez, the late President of Venezuela and leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. “The vast majority of the Asian community opposes Maoist ideas and find Chesa offensive, views captured well by this poster.”

Boudin is a registered Democrat and the county’s Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly to oppose the recall.

Greenberg called the officials who attended Thursday’s press conference—including current supervisor Connie Chan, former supervisors Sandra Fewer, Norman Yee, and Mabel Teng, as well as retired judge Julie Tang—a group of “far-left progressive extremists” who are “the reason San Francisco is in such dire shape.”

Supervisor Connie Chan, a Chinese immigrant, was attacked with a similar poster in 2020 that depicted her in a communist-style poster with Fewer.

Julie Edwards, Boudin’s campaign spokesperson, said the district attorney and his supporters were “appalled by these racist, anti-Asian posters.” They also demanded an apology.

DA Chesa Boudin Recall: Asian American Leaders Condemn ‘Racist,’ Communist-Style Poster

Ukraine impact. Germany’s dark rockers Rammstein cancel upcoming Russia gigs

As Thug Putin continues his War Crimes campaign and thousands of Ukranians are dying, Russia continues to feel the consequences. Financially, socially, culturally.

The German group Rammstein whose music and videos are politically controversial has cancelled its upcoming Russia tour. It’s a small statement against the horrific Wa Crimes being committed by Thug Putin and his military.

The Russian people need to know that the treachery and criminality of Thug Putin will not go unpunished.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 3.10.2022

Both Rammstein and its front man, Till Lindemann, have quite a fan base in Russia. Lindemann has given several solo concerts in the country and had plans to perform in Novosibirsk and Moscow at the end of this year as part of his “Ich hasse Kinder” (“I Hate Kids”) tour.

Rammstein II 7.31.2019

He canceled them following the Russian attack on Ukraine, but he pledged to play a concert scheduled in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv if circumstances allow.

On its website, Rammstein took a clear stance against the war and in support of Ukrainians. In a statement in German, Ukrainian and Russian, the band said it’s particularly saddened by the suffering of Ukrainians. “Each member of the band has different experiences with the two countries; all musicians have friends, colleagues, partners and fans in Ukraine and Russia.”

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The band said it is aware of the despair that many Russian fans feel in the face of their government’s actions, and they want to “remind people of the humanity that Russian and Ukrainian citizens share.”

Lindemann recently joined the many volunteers helping out at Berlin’s main train station, where many Ukrainian refugees have arrived in recent days.

‘Russia, we love you’

Since the turn of the millennium, the German band has been hugely popular with Russian fans. To some, their hard metal sound is reminiscent of German war aesthetics while also evoking Soviet heroism, the power of the proletariat and masculinity.

Rammstein V 3.10.2022
The Kiss in Russia

Authorities, on the other hand, have been wary of the band since a 2019 concert in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium during which Rammstein guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers kissed on stage — an absolute no-go in Putin’s Russia, which introduced what is known as the gay propaganda law in 2013 and has harassed and persecuted members of the LGBTQ+ community ever since.

Afterwards, a photo of the kiss was posted on social media along with the words: “Russia, we love you.” Many fans were delighted while politicians made it clear the band must refrain from such performances in Russia in the future.

https://www.dw.com/en/rammstein-shows-solidarity-with-ukraine-ahead-of-new-release/a-61077623

Brittney Griner. Political prisoner and chit in Thug Putin’s Ukraine war crimes

The ongoing detention of Black basketball star Brittney Griner in Thug Putin’s totalitarian Russia is an outrage.  

As Dave Zirin in The Nation  points out Griner is now a political prisoner who Thug Putin is using as a bargaining chip as he continues his vicious war crimes assault against Ukraine.

Women are still not given the love, respect and attention they deserve in the sports world. If Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry was being detained in Russia the outcry would be off the charts.

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Excerpted from The Nation 3.8.2022 – Dave Zirin

The problem is not just what happened to Brittney Griner. The problem is that we don’t know what is happening to Brittney Griner now.

The WNBA superstar was allegedly caught with hashish oil in her luggage at a Russian airport and has been in custody for several weeks. For those first couple of weeks, it was as if no one noticed she was missing, no small feat for an athlete who is six foot nine and one of the most recognizable players in the history of the game.

Whether it started this way or not, we need to understand Griner as a political prisoner. It may have started with airport racial profiling and the idiotic war on cannabis. But now, by the nature of this perilous moment, she has become a chit, a leverage point, in a larger political war.

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Brittney Griner and wife Cherelle Griner

There are online petitions and a predictable uproar given the anti-Putin sentiment in the States. Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, posted a picture of them together on Instagram as the news spread over the weekend.

She thanked their fans and then wrote, “I understand that many of you have grown to love BG over the years and have concerns and want details. Please honor our privacy as we continue to work on getting my wife home safely.”

It is absolutely true that Griner resonates with people, and now many of her fans are up in arms. If the goal was to quietly negotiate Griner’s return, those days are done. At this point, there is really no choice but to shine the brightest possible light on this political injustice and demand that she be sent home. Political prisoners are rarely freed easily. It requires—and demands—an international response. Brittney Griner is a basketball titan who deserves more than to be treated like a pawn.

She also is also well-known in Russia, where she plays for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the WNBA off season. In 2021 she helped the Russian team win its fifth EuroLeague Women’s championship. (Many WNBA players hoop in Russia during the off-season, as they need to supplement their income, an injustice in and of itself.)

Almost certainly, instead of creating an immediate public outcry following her arrest, there were efforts behind the scenes to get her out of Russia, which, we know now, was preparing to invade Ukraine. The goal would have been to make this go away without provoking an international incident. Well, it’s too late for that now.

Britteny Grier III 3.5.2022

In other words, delicate negotiations to get Griner home are almost certainly ongoing in a situation that is spiraling. Griner is detained in Russia at a moment when US-Russian relations are at their worst since Ronald Reagan joked, “We begin bombing in five minutes.” When and how she gets home and how she is being treated right now are anyone’s guess.

As basketball writer Tom Ziller put it, “We don’t have an idea as the public WNBA fandom where Griner is, or how she is doing, or how long she has been detained, or the circumstances of her custody, or what she knows about a timeline for being released, or what she’s being told. We don’t really know anything, and we don’t know whether she or those close to her know anything.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/brittney-griner-russia/

Rising Gas Prices Have American Drivers Asking, ‘Is This for Real?’ Yes it Is!!!

Breaking News 4.15.2019

Wall Street Journal 3.8.2022

The U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, President Biden said, targeting the lifeblood of Moscow’s economy as the West ratchets up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.

“Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine,” Mr. Biden said Tuesday at the White House.

Lee Heidhues 3.8.2022

The only way Americans will be weened off their climate killing vehicles is when the cost to own and operate a private vehicle becomes prohibitive.

The rapidly rising cost of gas, the result of Sanctions in response to Thug Putin’s Criminal War of Aggression against an independent Ukraine, is a small price to pay. Americans are giving lip service to supporting Freedom and condemning Thug Putin’s Aggression.

Now Americans will really show their support for Ukraine. Willingly or otherwise.

Excerpted from The New York Times 3.8.2022

Cat Abad, 37, who lives in the San Francisco area, where prices have hit nearly $6 for the highest-grade gas, said she saw stickers on the pumps at one local station saying that Mr. Biden was responsible for the rise. She took the stickers off, she said, believing that he was not at fault.

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After months of working from home, Caroline McNaney, 29, was excited about going back to work in an office, even if her new job in Trenton, N.J., meant commuting an hour each way.

But when she spent $68 filling the tank of her blue Nissan Maxima this week, she felt a surge of regret about switching jobs.

“Is this for real?” Ms. McNaney recalled thinking. “I took a job further from home to make more money, and now I feel like I didn’t do anything for myself because gas is so high.”

The recent rise in gas prices — which the war in Ukraine has pushed even higher — has contributed to her sense of disappointment with President Biden. “I feel like he wants us to go out and spend money into the economy, but at the same time everything is being inflated,” she said.

Americans everywhere are feeling the sting of rising gasoline, which reached a national average of $4.07 a gallon on Monday, up more than 10 percent from a week ago. The last time consumers dealt with such a period of sharp price increases was when the global economy came undone during the 2008 financial crisis. (At that time, the average price per gallon reached roughly $5.37 when adjusted for inflation.)

How Gas Prices Have Jumped

The average price of regular gasoline on Monday, compared with a week ago, in select states. (See below for a full list of current averages by state.)

Source: AAA

This time, the high gasoline prices are hitting during multiple crises, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a pandemic that is receding but still not over, and the highest inflation levels in 40 years.

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Gas prices were already increasing before the invasion last month, as oil suppliers scrambled to keep up with rising demand from consumers and businesses recovering from Covid disruptions. But calls in recent days from U.S. lawmakers and others to ban Russian oil imports have spurred worries about another hit to global supplies. Prices at the pump, in turn, soared rapidly.

The sticker shock is creating a conundrum for the Biden administration, which is trying to isolate Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, without squeezing the United States economy in the process.

 

The Fog of War at the gas pump. Stocks Fall Sharply After Oil Hits $130 a Barrel

Lee Heidhues 3.7.2022

Thug Putin’s War Crimes of Aggression against The People of Ukraine is now impacting the complacent American consumer wedded to the car.

Perhaps Americans will now pay closer attention to the cruel human disaster being inflicted on a people thousands of miles away from the safe haven of the USA.

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Oil prices rising higher as Thug Putin’s war crimes continue

Excerpted Wall Street Journal 3.7.2022

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 700 points, putting the blue-chip gauge on track to enter a correction, as surging oil prices deepened concerns about economic growth.

The Dow industrials were recently down 2.1%, or about 713 points, following four consecutive weeks of losses. At that level they would close in a correction, down at least 10% from their January high.

Global benchmark Brent crude topped $130, the highest level since July 2008, before easing from its highs. Brent advanced 4.3% Monday to $123.21 a barrel, its highest settle value since April 2012.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.7%, bringing its 2022 decline to almost 12%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 3.2% and is down nearly 18% year-to-date. The S&P 500 entered a correction on Feb. 22, while the Nasdaq Composite fell into correction on Jan. 19.

Monday’s losses were broad-based, with nine of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors down in recent trading. The energy group added to its gains for the year while the utilities segment also advanced. The consumer discretionary segment led the decliners, recently dropping more than 4%.

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“The market’s on increasingly shaky ground,” said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust. “When you combine the price shocks that we’re seeing in the energy complex on one hand and the galloping inflation that we’re dealing with on the other hand, that’s a really tough mix for an equity market to hold valuations where we are right now.”

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Equity investors are worried that sky-high oil prices will fuel inflation and that the war in Ukraine and ensuing sanctions on Russia could hurt businesses based in the U.S.

“The rise in oil is destabilizing the market,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive and portfolio manager at Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “The market is concerned about the war and its impact on U.S. growth and U.S. companies.”

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-markets-dow-update-03-07-2022-11646622021?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Griner as hostage. “If we want her out of jail, Russia is going to have some terms.”

Lee Heidhues 3.6.2022

It’s obvious to  people who study Russia that Thug Putin is holding Basketball all-star Brittney Griner hostage. The ex-KGB agent knows the American public is outraged by her detention in Moscow. Expect Thug Putin to exact a steep price to free this young American who is now caught up in Thug Putin’s War of Aggression against Ukraine.

The Guardian 3.6.2022

“If we want her out of jail, Russia is going to have some terms,” said Evelyn Farkas, who served as the US deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia and Ukraine from 2012 to 2015. “It could be a prisoner swap. They also could use it as an implicit threat or blackmail to get us to do something or not do something. Either way, they find it useful.”

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Brittney Griner (left) in happier times. Inset – luggage search at Moscow Airport

A Texas congresswoman has called for Russia to release Brittney Griner as fears grow Vladimir Putin could use the US basketball star as a pawn during the war in Ukraine.

The two-time Olympic champion has been detained by Russian customs authorities, who claim they discovered vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The arrest took place last month and the 31-year-old faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of bringing drugs into Russia.

The situation comes as the US places sanctions on Russia after Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine last month.

“We know that there were some issues dealing with vape cartridges and other items but let me be very clear,” said Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas, in Congress. “Brittney Griner is a United States citizen, she was a guest in Russia … and I will be demanding her release.”

Lee said that Russia’s actions in Ukraine undermined their detention of Griner. “I don’t want to disregard a sovereign nation but Putin has disregarded sovereign nations his entire service in this world,” Lee said. “Anyone that is killing and attacking and destroying Ukraine, a neighboring country that is not bothering them, has no right to hold Ms Griner. Period.”

Meanwhile, a former Pentagon official told Yahoo Sports she feared Griner could become a “high-profile hostage”.

Brittney Griner

In a statement to the Guardian, Griner’s agent Lindsay Colas said: “We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA.

“As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

The WNBA said in a release that Griner has the league’s “full support” and “our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States”.

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Brittney Griner – a fighter on the Court is now fighting for her freedom against Thug Putin

Griner, like many of her fellow WNBA players, also competes in Russia during the league’s offseason. She has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2015, helping the Russian club to three domestic titles and EuroLeague Women championships in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Her annual salary of $1m with Ekaterinburg is far in excess of her earnings in the WNBA, where the maximum salary is $228,000.

Griner, a 6ft 9in center, is considered one of the best players in the world. She won gold medals with Team USA at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, the WNBA title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 and has been named an WNBA All-Star seven times.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/06/brittney-griner-arrest-russia-drugs-charges-wnba-basketball-wnba-ukraine

 

4,000 arrested in antiwar demonstrations across Russia, human rights group says

While the Ukraine people fight heroically against Warmonger Putin the citizens of his own country put themselves at risk.

Russians have taken to the streets to shout out against the warmongering and threat to World peace brought about by Warmonger Putin.

Excerpted from Washington Post 3.6.2022

More than 4,400 protesters were arrested Sunday at antiwar demonstrations across Russia, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights organization that Russian authorities have declared a foreign agent.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, antiwar protests have occurred daily, OVD-Info reported. Russia has detained at least 10,318 protesters in 121 cities.

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Russian citizens protest Thug Putin’s War and face Police State brutality

https://ovdinfo-org.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

Crowds chanted “No to war!” while streaming through Moscow and St. Petersburg in a pair of videos posted to Twitter. In another, a demonstrator sang Ukraine’s anthem while being hauled away by police.

Authorities arrested at least 4,468 people across 56 cities in Russia, the organization said, as people risked arrest to denounce the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The group reported multiple instances of excessive force against protesters, including beatings and the use of stun guns. Among those detained were 13 journalists and 113 juveniles.

Ukraine LXIII Protests 3.6.2022

Footage shared on social media showed police taking demonstrators into custody, at times using force. Several officers wearing body armor surrounded a person who was flailing on the ground. One officer struck the person with a baton and kicked the person before another shooed away the camera filming the encounter.

Spontaneous mass demonstrations are illegal in Russia, with protesters facing the possibility of fines and jail time.

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State brutality in Thug Putin’s Russia

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/06/russia-ukraine-war-news-putin-live-updates/#link-VYUBYOAVM5HF5IMXVVZXLGYDAI

Brittney Griner. Basketball All-Star a Pawn in Putin’s vicious warmongering

Lee Heidhues 3.6.2022

Thug Putin will sink to any depth to achieve his brutal and violent goals. The detention of American basketball All-Star Brittney Griner is just one example of how this Thug operates.

Putin welcomes Americans when it suits his purposes. When a visitor can be used to achieve his goals the former KGB operative will take any action necessary.

Now that he is waging a war of aggression in Ukraine, Thug Putin will do anything he can to gain an advantage.

Excerpted from The New York Times 3.6.2022

As tensions rose between Russia and the United States, Russian authorities detained Brittney Griner, a W.N.B.A. star, on drug charges. The Russian Federal Customs Service announced Ms. Griner’s detention on Saturday but said she was stopped at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow last month.

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Brittney Griner going through Russian Customs

The detention of Ms. Griner, 31, a seven-time W.N.B.A. All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury and a key figure in two champion Olympic teams, comes during an inflamed standoff between Russia and the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pulls the player in the middle of the most acute crisis between the two countries since the Cold War.

Here is what we know so far about Ms. Griner’s detention.

The Russian Federal Customs Service said that a sniffer dog had prompted it to search the carry-on luggage of an American basketball player at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow, and that it had found vape cartridges containing hashish oil. A state-owned Russian news agency then identified the player as Ms. Griner.

Hashish oil is a marijuana concentrate that has a high concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC, and it is commonly sold in cartridges that are used in vape pens. The Russian Federal Customs Service said that customs officers had noticed vapes after scanning the traveler’s bag.

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The customs service said that a criminal case had been opened into the large-scale transportation of drugs, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

It released a video of a traveler who appeared to be Ms. Griner going through airport security with a trolley suitcase and a small backpack, followed by footage of someone examining a package that appeared to be from the traveler’s suitcase.

“Brittney has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball,” U.S.A. Basketball said on Twitter.

The screening at the airport occurred in February, according to the Customs Service, raising the possibility that Ms. Griner had been in custody for at least several days. She last posted on Instagram on Feb. 5. The timing provided leaves open the possibility that the case could have been underway in secret for weeks before Russian authorities chose to draw attention to it.

It is still unclear whether Russia might have targeted Ms. Griner as leverage against the United States, which has led a widespread effort to impose harsh sanctions on Russia and its elite.

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Citing privacy constraints, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken did not comment on the detention on Sunday at a news conference in Chisinau, Moldova, and did not respond to a question about whether Russia had announced her arrest as retaliation for the economic, military and diplomatic pressure the United States has leveled against Russia in recent days.

But American officials have repeatedly accused Russia of detaining U.S. citizens on doubtful pretexts.

“This follows a pattern of Russia wrongly detaining & imprisoning US citizens,” Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, wrote on Twitter on Saturday, citing the case of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine whom a Russian court sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 on charges of violence against police officers that his family and supporters described as fraudulent.

On Saturday, the State Department released an updated advisory urging American citizens to leave Russia immediately given the “potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials.”

 

 

Putin arrests American basketball star. A woman who plays for a Russian team

Lee Heidhues 3.5.2022

Thug Putin’s warmongering aggression, intimidation and harassment has no limits.

Putin’s State police have now detained  American professional basketball player Brittney Griner, alleging she was carrying vape cartridges of hash oil. It’s easy for the authorities to plant illegal substances and then arrest an innocent citizen.

Putin apparently forgot that Ms. Griner has spent much of her professional career playing for the Russian professional club UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014. Now it’s politically expedient to arrest and terrorize this American woman.

With the World in turmoil over Thug Putin’s blatant warmongering against Ukraine we can expect to read about this reprehensible retaliatory behavior in the coming days and weeks.

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

Britteny Grier II 3.5.2022

SF Gate 3.5.2022

Basketball star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia after vape cartridges were found in her luggage at the airport, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Griner, 31, has played for Russian basketball team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2014. It’s not uncommon for WNBA players to work in Russia during the U.S. offseason; Russian teams often pay better than those in America.

Texas Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is demanding the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner who was detained by authorities in Russia for allegedly possessing a vape with cannabis oil.

“We know that there were some issues dealing with vape cartridges and other items but let me be very clear,” Lee, who represents Griner’s hometown of Houston, Texas, in Congress, said on Saturday. “Brittney Griner is a United States citizen, she was a guest in Russia…and I will be demanding her release.”

Britteny Grier I 3.5.2022

Griner, who rose to fame at Baylor and currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury, was taken into custody at Sheremetyevo airport outside of Moscow. The Russian Federal Customs Service claims it found vape cartridges of hashish oil during a search of her bags and has opened a criminal case on the American. The Times reports transportation of drugs can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in a Russian prison.

It’s not clear if Griner is still in Russian custody.

“We are aware of and are closely monitoring the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia,” Griner’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas said in a statement. “We remain in constant contact with her family, her representation, the WNBA and NBA. We love and support Brittney and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home.”

On Saturday, the State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and urged all U.S. citizens to depart immediately, citing factors including “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” and “the Embassy’s limited ability to assist” Americans in Russia.

Britteny Grier III 3.5.2022.jpg

 

https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Brittney-Griner-arrested-in-Russia-16979646.php

Recall supporters use bullhorns. Disrupt DA Chesa Boudin campaign event

Text and Photos – Lee Heidhues 3.5.2022

It was a sunny day at Alamo Square Park in San Francisco as an enthusiatic crowd kicked off the campaign to fight the Right Wing mercencary campaign to Recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

A posse of Recall supporters, in the best Trump January 6, 2021 insurrectionary style, showed up and attempted to disrupt the rally.  Shouting into bullhorns, yelling and screaming these people showed their true colors. Anti-democratic reactionaries funded by the most Right wing financiers in America these people have no respect for democracy.

The People who cherish democracy can expect more of these Orwellian tactics to rear their ugly head in San Francisco leading up to the June 7 election.

24 Orwellian Disrupters 3.5.2022

Following are several photos displaying the tactics those reactionaries who suppress free speech are utilizing in their attempt to bring down the democratically elected chief law enforcement officer in San Francisco.

This is not democracy. This is harassment.

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