It’s been a long road to fruition for the Green Party in Germany which started off as a fringe political organization in the early 1980’s.

Now, after coming in third in the national election and winning a robust 118 seats in the German Bundestag, the Greens are on the verge of becoming a governing partner.

The presence of the Greens in Berlin will have ramifications within the European Union and beyond as they will be able to promote their environmental and climate change agenda.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 9.28.2021

The environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) emerged from the federal elections as kingmakers in a possible three-way coalition with either the Social Democrats (SPD) or the CDU/CSU conservative bloc. Both the major parties intend to court the support of the two smaller groups.

The Greens and the Free Democrats have held a first meeting on the long road to forming a new German coalition government. Both the SPD and the CDU/CSU hope to secure the support of the two kingmakers.

The leaders of Germany’s Green Party and the Free Democrats (FDP) met Tuesday for two-way negotiations seeking common ground before future coalition talks.

After the meeting, FDP leader Christian Lindner posted a photo on Instagram of himself and General Secretary Volker Wissing, alongside the Greens’ co-leaders Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck.

The caption read: “In the search for a new government, we are seeking out common ground and bridges over our divisions. And we are even finding some of those things. Exciting times.”

More details on what had been discussed were not provided.

Greens celebrate in 2021

The Greens and FDP have diverging political agendas on addressing issues such as climate change and economic policy, but do come together in areas such as progressive social policy.

https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-greens-and-fdp-meet-for-preliminary-two-way-talks/a-59346191

Top photo – Greens take to the streets in early days.

Lee Heidhues 9.28.2021

The written record shows there is no doubt Supervisor Connie Chan is personally responsible for killing the San Francisco Pacific Coast oasis Great Walkway.

Connie Chan artfully badgered City Hall officials to walk back the proposed two year study of the Great Walkway. The message is couched in the most anodyne bureaucratic language. Its message was clear.

Connie Chan’s goal was to ensure the Great Walkway received a City Hall burial. She was successful.

On August 16, 2021 Connie Chan was the lead recipient of a Memo from Jodie Medeiros, executive director, Walk San Francisco.

Ms. Medeiros wrote, “an incredibly popular 17-acre oceanside park and promenade was taken away from our City.”

Further, Ms. Medeiros wrote, “We are counting on the Board of Supervisors to right this wrong when the vote on the future of the Upper Great Highway is before you this fall. Whether you support a two-year pilot of a 24-7 Great Walkway will shape our city’s future and define your legacy as a city leader.”

Just over an hour later at 10:41PM Connie Chan wrote Jeffrey Tumlin, head of the SFMTA and Phil Ginsburg, head of the Rec and Park Department.

Her message was clear. “Is Jodie confirming that the pilot project that you will propose for SFMTA Board of Directors and Rec Park Commission approval is a Two-Year pilot to close Great Highway 24/7?”

The next day Connie Chan was the main recipient of an email from Sarah Jones, SFMTA Planning Director. It read in part, “Thank you for reaching out about next steps on the Great Highway. With the Mayor’s announcement about the Great Highway in early August RPD and SFMTA are revising our next steps and approach to a recommendation for use of the Great Highway post-pandemic.”

The four page email chain follows.

Your vote on the Great Walkway this fall

Artwork – Liz Heidhues

My Response to San Francisco Supervisor Chan to her article in the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 

Lee Heidhues 9.27.2021

“Supervisor Connie Chan has done more than any elected politician in San Francisco to destroy The Great Walkway and a car free JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park.

Her backroom action during the Supervisor’s August recess to totally torch the process in place to study the Great Walkway along the Pacific Ocean was a blatant abuse of power.

Her plans and words about a car free JFK Drive are the worst kind of sophistry. Actions and language that would make George Orwell happy.

Like a spoiled child, The Supervisor has already rejected proposals for JFK Drive put forth by the SFMTA. Connie’s actions which has the entitled motorists jumping for joy on their gas tanks are a total betrayal of the “progressives” who helped Connie eke out a 125 vote victory in 2020.

Her campaign slogan “In solidarity” is a cruel joke. “In solidarity” with whom her duped supporters should be asking.

https://sfrichmondreview.com/2021/09/27/city-hall-connie-chan-10/

Liz Heidhues – Chameleon cartoon and Environmental Shame art

Germany is electing new Chancellor after Angela Merkel steps down after 16 year in power. It appears the Center left parties, including the Greens, will come to power in Berlin.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 9.26.2021

Angela Merkel’s conservatives have suffered their worst post-war result. The center-left SPD now lead, projected results show. Both have said they are ready to form the next coalition. DW has the latest.

German party leaders are holding a round-table debate, following the close of the elections.

Greens may come with a high price

The large number of votes that went to the Green Party clearly shows that German voters are worried about climate change. Off the back of this result, the Greens will go into the coalition talks to form the next government with plenty of self-confidence. They will be the much-courted star and so can make a greater push for their demands.

However, Germany is perhaps less ready for change than the Greens, along with their chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock, had hoped. Especially — as the results also show — when that change costs money.

“I’ve always said that there is a lot of overlap with my neighbor,” center-left Social Democrat leader Olaf Scholz said, gesturing to Greens chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock.

“Just the two of us won’t be enough. I think it will have to be three parties. But let’s wait until all the votes are counted,” Scholz added.

Armin Laschet, the leader of center-right Christian Democrats called their drop in votes “not good,” laying partial blame on the losing the advantage of incumbency.

Laschet also claimed a mandate for his party, saying: “The voters have given us the job to do. We’ll have to find commonalities probably between three political parties.”

“It’s not getting together a government using mathematics. We want a government that we end with a coalition that we enjoy. What we need is an alliance that unifies Germany,” he said.

Markus Söder, leader of the Christian Democrats’ Bavarian sister CSU party, praised Laschet. He said he thought the CSU leader was treated unfairly, referring to the incident where Laschet was caught laughing amid a somber speech by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Annalena Baerbock said “we are a team in all the exploratory talks. We want to lead the country but we still have a clear mandate for the Green Party to implement what we want to do in the next government.”

She dismissed suggestions that the result from the Greens that showed a drop compared to polls in the summer meant that co-leader Robert Habeck would now take up the reins as leader.

https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-2021-live-updates/a-59312264

Lee Heidhues 9.25.2021

The inhumane slaughter of gray wolves will continue unabated while the Federal government talks about the genocide being waged against an endangered species.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a thorough going Trump myrmidon, has no problem with permitting the slaugher of the gray wolves which have roamed the land in Montana for centuries. His action and the  hunters who kill the gray wolves will pay a psychic price in this life or the next.

Excerpted from Montana Free Press 9.15.2021

On opening day of Montana’s expanded wolf-hunting season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it has decided to conduct an in-depth status review to determine whether state management plans aiming to aggressively reduce wolf populations threaten the recovery of gray wolves.

“It’s tragic — and perhaps not coincidental — that this finding comes on the same day that the state of Montana has unleashed hunters to kill hundreds of wolves throughout the state, including on the edge of Yellowstone National Park,” WildEarth Guardians Executive Director John Horning said in an emailed statement. WildEarth Guardians is one of the groups that filed the later petition. 

The agency now has a year to conduct a further review of the species using the best available science to determine whether listing under the Endangered Species Act is warranted.

The process was initiated this summer when environmental groups asked the agency to relist the animals through two separate petitions. The groups filed the petitions after lawmakers in Montana and Idaho passed laws that encouraged aggressive population reduction by broadening the methods hunters could use to harvest wolves and expanding the trapping season.

In a release about the decision, the agency wrote that the two petitions presented “substantial information that potential increases in human-caused mortality may pose a threat to the gray wolf in the western U.S.” and that the “new regulatory mechanisms in Idaho and Montana may be inadequate to address this threat.” The two other options before the agency included denying the petition, which would have maintained the status quo, or implementing an emergency relisting, which was what the environmental groups had asked for.

For now, existing management plans in Idaho and Montana will not be impacted by the agency’s review, according to FWS spokesperson Joe Szuszwalak, which means current hunting regulations in those states will remain in effect.

“FWP looks forward to working with the USFWS on the review they’re undertaking and will provide them with any information they need. Montana has successfully managed wolves for more than a decade and can continue to do so in a fashion that keeps their numbers at sustainable levels above minimum thresholds,” FWP spokesperson Greg Lemon said in an emailed statement.

Measures passed by Idaho and Montana lawmakers this spring drew intense scrutiny at both the state and federal level, with Montana’s legalization of snaring, expanded trapping season and hunter reimbursement proposals collectively garnering more than 2,200 comments, most in opposition.

After Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law proposals that expanded the trapping season, removed bag limits, authorized reimbursement for wolf harvests, and legalized neck snares and bait-aided and night hunting, the pressure campaign shifted.

Comments poured into the inboxes of Montana Fish and Wildlife Commissioners and federal agency heads, including U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Forest Service leadership, which was asked to ban wolf trapping in wilderness areas.

The latest request came in the form of a letter submitted by dozens of tribal leaders asking Haaland to place wolves back on the endangered species list due to concerns about states’ management policies for wolves.

https://montanafreepress.org/2021/09/15/fws-to-study-wolf-management-for-endangered-species-act/

 

Why do the cops deserve special treatment in the time of Covid-19?

These people serve the public which needs to be assured that the cops who protect the citizenry are themselves protected.

If they don’t want to get with the program and comply with the Covid-19 mandate, FIRE THEM ALL.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 9.24.2021

Nearly 200 members of the San Francisco Police Department have applied for a religious exemption from the city’s employee vaccine mandate, the highest number of waiver requests from any city department, by far.

Some jobs, like being a police officer, can’t be performed from behind a desk or online. And if unvaccinated officers continue to interact with those in the community, they could put themselves or others at risk, the Department of Human Resources said.

About 91% of the city’s 35,140-person workforce is fully or partially vaccinated, but 2,706 employees, or 7.7%, still have not been vaccinated. Meanwhile, 1.4% of workers — 489— haven’t reported their status.

The rules require employees who work in high-risk settings, like police officers, to be vaccinated by Oct. 13. All other employees must be fully inoculated by Nov. 1.

In the 2,835-member police force, 366 employees are unvaccinated. Of the unvaccinated, 193 want religious exemptions and eight have requested medical exemptions. The others have not requested any waivers.

It’s unclear how many of the unvaccinated police staff are front-line officers and how many work in administrative roles.

The Department of Human Resources said 157 exemptions have been tentatively approved, but officials are still reviewing the requests.

San Francisco was the first large city in the country to require all of its employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, unless they have a valid religious or medical exemption.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/Nearly-200-S-F-police-staff-want-religious-16486136.php

Is the denial of a woman’s right to choose a form of sexual violence perpetuated by the government?

If so the recently passed draconian denial of a woman’s right to choose in Texas and affirmed by the reactionary US Supreme Court generations of American women could be at risk.

Excertped from Deutsche Welle 9.24.2021

More than one in three women in North America experience sexual violence at least once over the course of their lives. That’s according to statistics published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Globally, the number is roughly the same: An estimated 736 million women across the world “have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life,” writes the United Nations body UN Women. It cites a study by the World Health Organization. 

That amounts to 30% of all girls and women aged 15 years and older.

So, the problem is pervasive. And now, a US study has found that women who experience sexual violence might be confronted with more than the injuries sustained during the attacks, as well as the mental health consequences like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression. They may also have a higher risk of a certain type of brain disease that’s a precursor for dementia and stroke.

“Sexual assault is an unfortunate, yet all-too-common, experience for women,” says Rebecca Thurston from the University of Pittsburgh, lead author of the study.

“This distressing experience is not only important for women’s mental health, but also their brain health. This work is a major step toward identifying a novel risk factor for stroke and dementia among women,” says Thurston.

Thurston is a professor of psychiatry and the director of the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. She presented the results of the study at the 2021 meeting of the North American Menopause Society. It will be published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior.

For the study, Thurston and her team examined 145 women of “midlife” age in the US. Of the participants, 68% reported having had at least one trauma, with the most common trauma being sexual assault reported by 23% of the women.

The researchers wanted to find out whether there was a connection between trauma and white matter hyperintensities, which are signs of disruptions in blood flow and can leave damage in the brain. 

Brain scans of the study participants showed that the women who had experienced a trauma had more white matter hyperintensities than women without trauma ― and that the specific traumatic experience associated with the white matter hyperintensities was sexual assault.

In an earlier study in 2018, Thurston had found that women who had experienced sexual assault had significantly higher chances of developing depression or anxiety, and of sleeping more poorly than women who had not been assaulted.

Thurston says the new study builds on those earlier results. Even when the researchers had accounted for mental or other health conditions in the new study, they found that women who had been assaulted still had more white matter hyperintensity — irrespective of whether they had developed other health problems, like depression or PTSD after an assault.

https://www.dw.com/en/study-finds-sexual-assault-can-lead-to-dementia/a-59264369

 

 

Lee Heidhues with artwork by Liz Heidhues 9.23.2021

A special Environmental Shame Hall of Fame award is in order for the San Francisco legislator who has done more than any politician in 2021 to wreak havoc on the City’s reputation for being a leader in environmental issues.

Supervisor Connie Chan has almost single handedly destroyed the urban oasis referred to as The Great Walkway and turned it over to the fossil fuel consuming environmentally destructive automobile.

Following are emails from two citizens who have been deeply involved in the campaign to have The Great Walkway designated a 24/7 car free oasis.

 Their dismay is palpable. Their names have been redacted to protect their privacy.

Author 1: I wholeheartedly agree with all the facts and arguments that Author 2 has written below. I am shocked, angered, disappointed and frustrated that you did not ask us, your XXXXXXXXXXX for input and went ahead with your support of this executive order without following protocol, and listening to the majority of your constituents on this issue. In fact, it seems that you ignored the resolution we passed unanimously on July 26th in support of the car free SFMTA Great Highway pilot. Until I know you have read our resolution, I will continue to believe that you are ignoring the evidence and data before you, and pandering to a certain group of voters. Finally, I agree that your desire to build out concept 2 is pure climate denialism.

Author 2:  To me it is unnecessary (at best) to change the existing health emergency order (that is otherwise still in place!) before the vote in September, and disrespectful of the SFMTA and public’s time (at worst) who have been diligently working to collect the data that the supervisors asked for, spend hours and hours on multiple public comment sessions, and follow the process laid out that the supervisors agreed to, just to have the great highway reopened to cars without any process (even if more process is coming in the future). Doing this during the BOS recess without any advance notice, while legal, is frustrating and disrespectful to those following the process you laid out, and listing this reopening now as an option for routes to drive to school seems disingenuous considering the Great Highway does not have entrances within the Sunset District and couldn’t really be used to drive to any schools – this is thin cover for what the Great Highway is actually used for, which is driving to the Peninsula, an option that will no longer exist once the southern portion is closed soon anyway.

Top photo – Great Walkway rally – August 15, 2021

San Franciscans behaving badly, again.

Environmental destruction edition.

Only the entitled Swells can afford to litigate their way through the judicial system and get a Court ordered destruction of a beautiful environmentally friendly tree.

The worst part of it is the tree destroyer is in her 80’s.  One would think that age would make even San Francisco Swells more magnanimous.  Sadly not.

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 9.23.2021

Trees are among nature’s wonders — but a neighbor’s growing arbor can also eliminate a resident’s treasured scenic views. Now a state appeals court, relying on a San Francisco ordinance that seeks to resolve treetop feuds, has ordered a Pacific Heights couple to take down a sprouting Monterey pine that stands between their next-door neighbor’s home and the bay.

The neighbor, now 81, moved into the San Francisco home with her now-deceased husband in 1976 and testified that they chose the site largely because of its unobstructed view of San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and lands to the north. The pine was planted next door by a prior resident in 1999 and, by the time the case went to trial in 2019, had grown to 30 to 32 feet, with widening, thickly growing branches.

Lee Heidhues 9.22.2021

The US Supreme Court majority is imposing a Taliban system of Justice on a woman’s right to choose.

The American Supreme Court is totally out of touch from the mainstream. A large majority of Americans support a woman’s right to control her body. All Americans must complain loudly about a Justice system when it comes to women and the right to control their bodies.

If is terrifying that the high court, now firmly entrenched, with a super conservative majority, fortified with three appointees by disgraced Donald Trump including Amy Coney Barrett looks to continue its assault on women.

Deutsche Welle 9.222.2021

Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are among more than 500 US female athletes who have petitioned the Supreme Court. The state of Mississippi wants to ban the right to abortion in the US.

Without the right to terminate a pregnancy, “the physical stresses of forced pregnancy and childbirth would undermine athletes’ ability to reach their full potential,” the letter states. “Pregnancy fundamentally alters a woman’s body, interferes with and potentially impedes an athlete’s access to higher education, elite competition, and a professional athletic career. Female athletes must have the power to decide if and when to dedicate their bodies to sport, pregnancy or both.”

Known collectively as Athlete Amici, the athletes signed a formal appeal to argue that the right to abortion is essential for women athletes to pursue their sports at the same level that men are afforded. The group urged the court to reject a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

“As female athletes and people in sports, we need to have the power to make important decisions about our bodies and have control over our reproduction,” Rapinoe said. Laws restricting abortion rights were “outrageous and un-American,” the 36-year-old former world footballer said.

Signatories include football superstar Megan Rapinoe, women’s national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn, two-time water polo gold medalist Ashleigh Johnson and basketball stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

Bird, who is married to Rapinoe, and Taurasi won Olympic gold with the US team in Tokyo. A total of 26 female Olympic athletes and 73 professional athletes supported the appeal, along with various representative bodies such as the US player unions in football and basketball.

The Supreme Court on Monday scheduled arguments in a case from the state of Mississippi for December 1. In the case, the state is seeking to reverse the US Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision that made abortions legal nationwide. Mississippi wants to ban all abortions after the 15th week. Exceptions are to be made only for medical emergencies or in the case of “severe foetal abnormalities.”

Mississippi’s state government had tightened the course on abortion rights after conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court last year shortly before President Donald Trump was voted out of office. She gave the conservatives a majority of six votes to three in the Supreme Court.

https://www.dw.com/en/us-sports-stars-stand-up-for-abortion-rights/a-59252734