(2018-12-09). Top Democrats: Trump May Face Impeachment, Jail over Hush Money. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Donald Trump could face impeachment and jail time if hush money payments reported by his former lawyer are proven to be campaign finance violations, Democratic lawmakers said on Sunday. | RELATED: | Trump Announces Chief of Staff Kelly Will Leave End of The Year | Court filings on Friday in cases that stemmed from a federal probe into Russian a…
(2018-12-09). 'Always Left of Center': Janelle Monáe's 'Dirty Computer' (Video). truthdig.com The musician's "emotion picture," a short film including songs from her latest album, is replete with queer imagery, repudiation of racism and a celebration of progressive American values.
(2018-12-09). Democrats Raise Prospect of Impeachment, Jail for Trump. truthdig.com WASHINGTON—Top House Democrats on Sunday raised the prospect of impeachment or almost-certain prison time for President Donald Trump if it's proved that he directed illegal hush-money payments to women, adding to the legal pressure on the president over the Russia investigation and other scandals. | "There's a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time," said Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee. "The bigger pardon ques…
(2018-12-09). Alameda and Contra Costa County Sheriffs Flew Drones Over Protests. indybay.org Interestingly, the mission logs show an exclusive focus on protesters associated with left-wing, anti-racist, anti-fascist, or other groups opposing the Trump presidency. There is little mention of the alt-right, nationalist, or pro-Trump groups also involved in the altercations.
(2018-12-08). A day after a neo-Nazi is convicted of murder, associates of the country's oldest, most violent skinhead groups charged with hate crimes. splcenter.org Individuals associated with some of the country's oldest and most violent racist skinhead groups have been charged with hate crimes in Washington state, just hours after a jury convicted a neo-Nazi of murder for his actions at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
(2018-12-08). Myanmar: Quash Conviction of Kachin Activists. hrw.org 
| | People displaced in the conflict between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army are seen at a church in Tanai Township, Kachin State, June 14, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | (Bangkok) — Myanmar authorities should quash the convictions of three ethnic Kachin activists found guilty of defaming the military, Human Rights Watch said today. Zau Jat, Lum Zawng, and Nang Pu were each sentenced to six months in prison and a 500,000 kyat…
(2018-12-08). Wall Street Journal warns of stock "stampede" wsws.org The longest bull market in history has rested on the suppression of the class struggle by the trade union bureaucracy, which is breaking apart.
(2018-12-07). CIA Torture Killed My Father. I Want to Know What They Did With His Body. aclu.org The truth hurts, but it also helps. | This piece was originally published by The Washington Post. | I believe there are two paths in life — the paths of right and wrong — and that all people know the right path in their hearts. So I believe that people in America, if they can read this, will know the right thing for their government to do is tell me and my family what happened to my father's body. | My father was Gul Rahman. Sixteen ye…
(2018-12-07). A Team With a Racist Name Passes Judgment on Colin Kaepernick. thenation.com A Team With a Racist Name Passes Judgment on Colin Kaepernick…
(2018-12-07). No Relief: William Barr Is as Bad as Jeff Sessions — if Not Worse. aclu.org Barr's record suggests he will continue the former attorney general's worst policies while promoting a sweeping view of executive power. | Donald Trump's nomination of William Barr to succeed Jeff Sessions as attorney general ought to raise alarm bells across the country. Barr is as bad as Sessions was on the full range of civil rights issues that fall with the Justice Department's purview. And he's a longstanding advocate of expansive executive power. | It's almost certainly the latter view that attracted President Trump, whose own power is likely to be called into question should the Mueller investigation…
(2018-12-07). New NYPD Drone Policy Represents a Serious Threat to Privacy. aclu.org The police department's drone policy places no meaningful restrictions on the invasive technology's use and threatens New Yorkers' privacy. | The New York Police Department announced this week that it will deploy 14 new drones as part of its policing activities across New York City. The use of this highly invasive technology represents a new frontier for both public safety and abuses of power. | The department did reach out to the NYCLU to ask us for input on a draft of the policy governing the use of its dr…
(2018-12-07). USA Gymnastics files for bankruptcy after sex-abuse scandal. peoplesworld.org 
USA Gymnastics is turning to bankruptcy in an attempt to ensure its survival. The embattled organization filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Wednesday in an effort to reach settlements in the dozens of sex-abuse lawsuits it faces and to avoid its potential demise at the hands of the U.S. Olympic Committee. USA Gymnastics filed …
(2018-12-07). Neo-Nazi sympathizer found guilty in 'Unite the Right' trial of murdering Heather Heyer. splcenter.org James Alex Fields Jr., a young neo-Nazi sympathizer from Ohio, was found guilty of first-degree murder and multiple other charges on Friday in a trial stemming from last year's racist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
(2018-12-07). Prosecutors request 'substantial term of imprisonment' for ex-Trump lawyer Cohen. rt.com 
Trump lawyer turned federal informant Michael Cohen may be going to jail for a long time. New York prosecutors and "Russiagate" special counsel Robert Mueller both released their separate sentencing recommendations on Friday.
(2018-12-07). Russia: Human Rights Defender Jailed. hrw.org 
| | Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomarev at an All-Russian convention on the protection of human rights. | © 2017 Anton Novoderezhkin\TASS via Getty Images | Update: On December 7, the Moscow City Court reduced Ponomarev's sentence to 16 days detention, after hearing an appeal in his case. | (Moscow) — A Russian court has unjustly jailed one of the founders of Russia's human rights movement for a Facebook post about a peaceful protest, Hum…
(2018-12-06). Rattling the Bars: Stopping Corporate Exploitation in Prisons (Pt 2/2). therealnews.com 
Eddie Conway talks with Bianca Tylek, founder of the Corrections Accountability Corporation about thousands of corporations funding private prisons and immigration detention centers and what citizens can do about it
(2018-12-06). Re-education Camps, Infiltration, Surveillance: China Criticized over Persecution of Uyghur Muslims. democracynow.org 
The United Nations and human rights groups have accused China's government of setting up massive anti-Muslim "re-education" camps in the northwest Xinjiang province to disappear, jail and brainwash Uyghur Muslims. Some estimates put the population in the camps at up to 2 million. After months of denials, China acknowledged their existence in October, saying they are part of efforts to counter extremism. But Uyghurs say it's a form of collective punishment—and that they live under a high-tech surveillance state designed to eradicate Islam. We speak to Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur-American activist based in Washing…
(2018-12-06). Americans Endorsed Voting Rights in 2018, but Some State Lawmakers Want to Sabotage These Victories. aclu.org 
State legislators are ignoring their voters' wishes and engaging in new tactics to suppress the vote. | The 2018 election ushered in a wave of voting rights victories. Voters in Florida, Michigan, Maryland, and Nevada all made it easier to register and vote, showing that voters reject voter suppression efforts and <...
(2018-12-06). How George H.W. Bush and Other Conservatives Undermined his Americans with Disabilities Act Legacy. progressive.org Bush deserves credit for what he did to make the ADA happen. But federal civil rights laws are just empty symbolic gestures unless the executive branch vigorously enforces them and judges take them seriously.
(2018-12-06). Triumph of the Swill: New Doc Puts Roger Ailes in the No Spin Zone. progressive.org The best exposé on Fox in years dives into its former chief's history of racism and the sexual misconduct that would ultimately be his undoing.
(2018-12-05). This State Agency Is Refusing to Help a Trans Woman Who Says She Was Assaulted by Police. aclu.org New York's Division of Human Rights says it cannot investigate alleged police and corrections abuses because they are not public accommodations. | DeAnna LeTray of Watertown, New York, was arrested in September 2017 during a domestic dispute with her daughter's boyfriend, who she says pointed a gun at her. | LeTray, who is trans, says the Watertown police officers who arrested her mocked her gender expression and questioned her gender identity. Then, at the police station, LeTray says police ripped her hair off her head and, once she got to the jail, she was stripped naked and sexually assaulted. | LeTray filed…
(2018-12-05). President Trump Is Accelerating the Militarization of the Southwest Border. aclu.org Under President Trump, the slide toward a fully militarized border between the U.S. and Mexico is happening rapidly to the detriment of civil rights. | For decades, the ACLU has fought back against the militarization of domestic law enforcement agencies and the use of the military in our communities. Nowhere is this militarization more pronounced than on the border between the U.S. and Mexico — and President Trump is only making it worse. | The creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 accelerated the government's operations on the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP…
(2018-12-05). Headlines for December 5, 2018. democracynow.org Senators Say Crown Prince Is Guilty in Khashoggi Murder After CIA Briefing, Mueller Not Seeking Jail Time for Flynn, Cites "Substantial Assistance", Politico: NRCC Emails Hacked in 2018 Midterms, Georgia Voters Elect Republican Secretary of State, Congressmembers Call for Labor Sec. Acosta Probe over Epstein Plea Deal, DOJ Senior Official Allowed to Get Away with Sexual Assault, Federal Gov. Shuts Down for Nat'l Day of Mourning, Somalia: U.S. Reopens Permanent Diplomatic Presence, Pompeo Gives Russia 60 Days to Comply with Nuclear Treaty, West Bank: Israeli Forces Kill Disabled Palestinian in Overnight Raid, Moro…
(2018-12-05). Does the Second Amendment Protect Only White Gun Owners? aclu.org Recent police killings of Black men for possessing guns they were legally carrying shows the racial double standards of "the good guy with a gun." | The most common refrain from gun rights supporters in the wake of mass shootings or other gun violence is that the best response to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Yet in recent weeks, we have seen two Black men, a group already disproportionately victimized by police use of lethal force, shot and killed by police while protecting those around them w…
(2018-12-05). Why I Ended the Horror of Long-Term Solitary in Colorado's Prisons. aclu.org 
Long-term isolation has disastrous physical and mental health effects that can amount to torture. The practice must be abandoned across the nation. | In Colorado, long-term solitary confinement used to be a tool that was regularly used in corrections. The problem is that it was not corrective at all. It was indiscriminate punishment that too often amounted to torture and did not make anyone safer. | The practice was pervasive because it was considered reasonable and effective. It was neither. In practice, long-term isolation punished people in a way that not only lacked humanity but sense. And when a program lack…
(2018-12-05). Humanitarians Released on Bail in Greece. hrw.org 
| | Sean Binder, a search-and-rescue volunteer who helped migrants and asylum seekers at sea, has been detained in Greece on unfounded charges. © Private, 2018 | Four humanitarian activists who had been imprisoned on baseless charges in Greece were released on bail today by an investigative judge. The authorities should now drop the ridiculous charges against them. | Among those bailed is 23-year-old Syrian refugee Sarah Mardini. Mardini traveled by boat from Turkey to Greece in 2015. When the engine failed, she and he…
(2018-12-04). Thomas Farr's Judicial Nomination Defeated. naacp.org Late in the afternoon on Thursday, November 29, 2018, Senator Tim Scott (SC) announced that he intended to vote against NAACP-opposed Attorney Thomas Farr's nomination to a life-time appointment to the Federal Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Senator Scott's decision, along with the objections of 50 of his colleagues, was the deciding […]
(2018-12-04). Five things to know from the third day of testimony in the 'Unite the Right' murder trial. splcenter.org The injuries that took Heather Heyer's life after last year's racist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia captivated the court on the third day of testimony in the first-degree murder trial of neo-Nazi sympathizer James Alex Fields Jr.
(2018-12-04). The Effects of the Muslim Ban One Year Later. aclu.org We've had one year of the Muslim ban. Congress must ensure it's the last. | Exactly one year ago today, the Supreme Court allowed the full implementation of Trump's Muslim ban. It would be months still before it heard oral arguments in Hawaii v. Trump and issued its ruling on June 26, allowing the ban to remain in place. But on Dec. 4, 2017, America began to ban millions of Muslims from the United States, even if they have family members, jobs, academic spots, or other compelling connections here, and even if they would otherwise be fully…
(2018-12-04). Sorry To Bother You offers rich lessons in seeking radical social change. greenleft.org.au 
Sorry to Bother You
| Written & directed by Boots Riley
| In cinemas now | This review includes mild spoilers. | As an Australian living abroad, incidents of Australians being racist and/or misogynistisic that attract attention from international media outlets are frequently forwarded to me in anticipation of a seething refrain. | My response is typically motivated by a mix of rage and embarrassment, as well as a deep concern for how racial capitalism has been almost completely normalised. I am deeply concerned by the fact that not only is our social and political climate ill-equipped to address racism, i…
(2018-12-03). There's No Real Difference Between Border Walls and Border Fences. aclu.org 
Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, are playing word games when it comes to funding Trump's border wall. | Sometime between now and Dec. 21*, when the current appropriation for the Department of Homeland Security will expire, Congress needs to provide the agency with another's year's funds. A single word has become a sticking point for the politicians who will vote on that funding: "wall," as in President Trump's border wall. | Trump and his Republican allies are demanding billions of dollars for walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats, wanting to be seen as opposing Trump, say that they won't vote for b…
(2018-12-03). Mehdi Hasan on George H.W. Bush's Ignored Legacy: War Crimes, Racism and Obstruction of Justice. democracynow.org 
George H.W. Bush died in Houston on Friday night at the age of 94. Bush was elected the 41st president of the United States in 1988, becoming the first and only former CIA director to lead the country. He served as Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981 to 1989. Since Bush's death, the media has honored the former president by focusing on his years of service and his call as president for a kinder, gentler America. But the headlines have largely glossed over and ignored other parts of Bush's legacy. We look at the 1991 Gulf War, Bush's pardoning of six Reagan officials involved in the Iran-Contra scandal and ho…
(2018-12-03). SPLC brings first lawsuit challenging Florida sheriffs' latest collaboration agreements to detain people for ICE. splcenter.org The SPLC sued Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay today for illegally holding a U.S. citizen in the county jail on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold.
(2018-12-03). Hatewatch Headlines 12/3/2018. splcenter.org Black workers recount Tesla factory racism; Facebook report targeted George Soros; Milo's court documents reveal he is deep in debt; and more.
(2018-11-30). The five most compelling moments so far in the 'Unite the Right' murder trial. splcenter.org A juror clasped his hand over his mouth in court on Thursday as prosecutors played a video showing a young neo-Nazi sympathizer plowing his car into a group of anti-racist protestors after last year's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
(2018-11-30). Not So Black & White: NYT Touts Rural Voters, Buries Racism in Mississippi Election Analysis. fair.org 
The New York Times ( 11/24/18) warns that Democrats speaking "boldly" risk turning off approximately one-seventh of the electorate. | Stop me if you've heard this one before: During a high-profile election, a major newspaper decides to stubbornly focus its coverage on an increasingly narrow sliver of white voters, while minimizing the racism that colors the electorate and the eventual Republican victor's campaign. | If this sounds like a repeat of the mainstream press's response to Trump's 2016 campaign, well, it is.
(2018-11-30). US condemned for tear-gassing refugees, children. greenleft.org.au 
Legal experts and human rights advocates have denounced the tear gassing of children and other asylum seekers by US forces at the Mexico border on November 25. | "The migrants at our southern border include mothers and small children exercising their legal, human right to seek asylum," declared the ACLU in a tweet on November 26. It told the US Customs and Border Protection agency: "Tear gassing children is out…
(2018-11-29). Farr vote postponed until next week. naacp.org Due to a serious personal matter which has taken a solid vote in support of the Farr nomination out of Washington, DC, until next week, Senate leadership has postponed the final vote on the Thomas Farr confirmation until next week. This gives us more time to contact our Senators and let them know of our deep […]
(2018-11-29). Statement of Derrick Johnson on Postponement of Vote on Thomas Farr. naacp.org "The NAACP is encouraged by the Senate's decision today to postpone the vote on Thomas Farr's nomination to the Eastern District of North Carolina. The Senate does not have the votes to confirm Farr, and it hopefully it will never will. This week, a smoking gun was uncovered demonstrating that Farr himself coordinated voter suppression […]
(2018-11-29). Hatewatch Headlines 11/30/2018. splcenter.org Vote-suppressing judge's appointment falls shy; GOP offended by its racists being called out; Tucker Carlson is neo-Nazi site's favorite pundit; and more.
(2018-11-29). Farr vote at noon TODAY. naacp.org Despite the fact that a large number of North Carolina NAACPers, led by North Carolina State Conference of NAACP branches President Rev. Anthony Spearman, spent all day yesterday on a bus to come the Washington, DC, to join President Derrick Johnson and others to express their strong opposition to the confirmation of Thomas Farr to a […]
(2018-11-29). NAACP Statement on Black Voter Turnout in Mississippi Elections. naacp.org The incredible Black voter turnout in Mississippi on November 6 — and again in the November 27 runoff election — provides a powerful example of what can happen when African Americans and other voters of color are encouraged to participate actively in our democracy. This election illustrates what can happen when voters and politicians alike […]
(2018-11-28). NAACP Statement on Recent Criminal Justice Reform Compromise Introduced in Senate. naacp.org NAACP released the following statement in support of the Crimianl Justice Reform Compromise: Our American criminal justice system is broken. Sentencing is disproportionately weighted against African Americans, and the current political climate continues to devalue black lives by reviving the same failed policies of the war on drugs that fueled mass incarceration," said NAACP President […]
(2018-10-18). Trump Administration's Warped View of Religious Freedom Abroad. zcomm.org Religious freedom arguments are increasingly being used to challenge anti-discrimination policies and access to services…
(2018-10-18). A Tribute to Ron Dellums, Radical. zcomm.org Ron Dellums appreciated the struggle against racism is permanently joined with those against sexism, militarism, and capitalism…