(2018-12-12). From Myanmar jail, Wa Lone pens children's book on exposing truth. aljazeera.com Jay Jay the Journalist was written in prison by Wa Lone, one of two Reuters reporters arrested in Myanmar a year ago.
(2018-12-12). How the media and elites fuel racism in British football. aljazeera.com The racist abuse suffered by Raheem Sterling on Saturday can not be blamed solely on Britain's 'white working class'.
(2018-12-12). Marc Lamont Hill and the Legacy of Punishing Black Internationalists. mronline.org 
Hill's bold statement to the UN is part of the internationalist Black radical tradition, exemplified by Paul Robeson, the Black Panther Party, and today's Black Lives Matter movement. | Source
(2018-12-12). Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen faces jail. aljazeera.com President Trump's former lawyer will be sentenced by a New York court after he pleaded guilty to multiple crimes.
(2018-12-12). Building a Border Wall is Not in US Pentagon's Undertakings. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Department of Defense stated on Tuesday it does not intend to help build a border wall with Mexico, although President Donald Trump has been insisting that the army will build it if Congress does not fund his project. | RELATED: | US$5 Billion for Border Wall or Govt. Shutdown: Trump Warns | "As of Tuesday, the Defense Department has not been task…
(2018-12-12). Political warfare in Washington escalates to crisis of capitalist rule. wsws.org Trump's embrace of murder, his defense of fascists, his racist attacks on immigrants are blowing up an ideological pillar of US imperialist foreign policy—the pretense that the United States is a bulwark of human rights and democracy.
(2018-12-12). Driven to Consumption and Money out of Nothing. indybay.org Growth originally created a material prosperity about which earlier generations could only dream. However, more economic growth does not lead to people being happier anymore. We are prisoners of a system that forces us to permanent growth. Banks create credits at the touch of a button, wages stagnate, schools decay and Goldman Sachs is in the government. Who benefits from this?>
(2018-12-11). UN Expectations Low for Difficult Yemen Negotiations Now Underway in Sweden. mintpressnews.com Among the issues under discussion in Yemen peace negotiations are potential humanitarian corridors, a prisoner swap, the reopening of the defunct Sana'a International Airport, and the fate of the crucial port city of Hodeida.
(2018-12-11). US Has No Moral Standing to Preach Human Rights: Diaz-Canel. telesurenglish.net "The United States has no morals where human rights are concerned", Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel quipped Tuesday after Washington's demanded the release of U.S. prisoners in Cuba. | RELATED: | US Jeopardizes Cuban Relations by Denying Diplomatic Visas | On Monday, Diaz-Canel received a letter from U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Monday request…
(2018-12-11). James Fields Gets Life in Prison in Charlottesville Car Attack. telesurenglish.net James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday for first-degree murder and nine other crimes for killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 19 other people after the "Unite the Right" gathering on Aug. 12, 2017. | RELATED: | Why Charlottesville Attack Is Part of Fabric of US South | Defense attorneys never disputed that Fields was behind the wheel of a Dodge Charge…
(2018-12-11). 'Terrorism' Database Cites 'Islamophobic' Sources in Muslim Profiles. globalresearch.ca A leading financial risk database that is already facing multiple lawsuits from Muslim organisations which it suggested had links to terrorism is still using as sources websites accused of promoting far-right and Islamophobic agendas, Middle East Eye can reveal. | An …
(2018-12-11). Cyntoia Brown, sex trafficking victim, sentenced to 51 years in prison. peoplesworld.org …
(2018-12-11). Jury recommends life plus 419 years for James Alex Fields in Unite the Right attack. splcenter.org A jury in Charlottesville has handed up a life prison sentence plus 419 years behind bars for a neo-Nazi sympathizer convicted of driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters after the "Unite the Right" rally.
(2018-12-11). Black Women are the Most Rapidly Growing Prison Population, Criminalized and Stereotyped as Aggressive. therealnews.com 
Caryn York, executive director of the Job Opportunities Task Force and Nicole Hanson, director of Out for Justice, talk about why black girls are punished more harshly than any other demographic and are the largest growing population in the prison system. Black women are given stereotypical handles like aggressive and hostile. Instead of dealing with…
(2018-12-11). Why World War II, Not the New Deal, Ended the Great Depression. counterpunch.org 
On November 27th, I wrote an article on how FDR's long-standing racism accounted for the detention of Japanese-Americans rather than security concerns following Pearl Harbor. I also noted in brief that it was WWII rather than the New Deal that ended the Great Depression. That prompted an email to CounterPunch editors taking exception to this More
(2018-12-11). Democrats begin open discussion of impeachment. wsws.org Two top members of the House Democratic leadership said that Trump could be impeached or jailed over alleged campaign finance violations.
(2018-12-11). Thailand: Don't Return Cambodian Dissident. hrw.org 
| | Rath Rott Mony | © Private | (New York) — The Thai government should not forcibly return the dissident Rath Rott Mony to Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. There are strong reasons to believe that Mony would face politically motivated prosecution, wrongful detention, and ill-treatment in Cambodia. | "Thailand should not do Cambodia's bidding by forcibly returning an out…
(2018-12-11). Extradition of Bahraini Football Player Moves Ahead. hrw.org 
This week Bahraini soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi was taken to Bangkok Criminal Court, where bail was denied and his detention was extended for 60 days so Thailand can prepare his extradition to Bahrain, a country where he has said he was tortured. | | | Hakeem Ali Mohamed Ali al-Araibi in detention at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok. | © 2018 Private | Al-Araibi is a former member of Bahrain's national team who was detained follo…
(2018-12-11). Parents outraged after children hit the stage in KKK costumes in Arizona. rt.com 
Parents are furious at an Arizona high school, after their kids dressed up in hooded Ku Klux Klan robes for a school play. But the school insists that it meant no harm, and that the play isn't actually racist. |
(2018-12-11). 'White people are the best!' Columbia probes student's viral racial rant (VIDEO). rt.com 
A Columbia physics student has become famous overnight, not for his research, but for his racially charged rant in front of a group of multi-ethnic students, prompting the university to respond and launch an investigation.
(2018-12-10). How the 'Unite the Right' murder trial helped debunk alt-right myths. splcenter.org Within hours of the arrest of neo-Nazi sympathizer James Alex Fields Jr. and the death of 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer after the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the racist "alt-right" began spinning conspiracy theories about the collision that killed Heyer and wounded multiple other people.
(2018-12-10). As Polish Gov't Promotes Coal, Advocate Warns Coal Hastens Climate Change, Devastates Human Health. democracynow.org 
This year's U.N. climate summit is in Katowice, Poland, and the Polish government is using the summit to promote coal, with several state-owned Polish coal companies sponsoring parts of the talks. Democracy Now! visited the Guido coal mine near Katowice, which has been turned into a mining museum, to speak with Polish environmental lawyer Bartosz Kwiatkowski. He is the director of the Frank Bold Foundation, which is involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the expansion of coal mining in Poland.
(2018-12-10). Doctors Who Facilitate Torture Must Be Held to Account. aclu.org To prevent further stains on the medical profession, the names of those involved in torture and executions need to be made public. | Physicians hold a special position in U.S. society. They are given a place of honor in return for the expectation that they will use their knowledge and skills in the public interest and adhere to a clear set of ethical standards. | Under pressure from the government to misuse their expertise, though, some doctors have been willing to rationalize cooperation in unethical behavior. In recent years, nowhere has such ethical deviation been so starkly on display as in the case of the pa…
(2018-12-10). NRA: You Can No Longer Stay Silent. naacp.org NAACP, the nation's foremost civil rights organization released the following statement to the National Rifle Association (NRA): "The senseless killing of Emantic J. Bradford and the silence from the NRA has confirmed that the 2nd amendment does not apply to legally licensed Black gun owners. Instead of standing by their principles, the NRA continues to demonize and […]
(2018-12-10). WATCH NOW: NAACP Represents Communities of Color at United Nations Climate Conference in Poland. naacp.org Katherine Egland, Member NAACP National Board of Directors and Chairwoman, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee, was among an NAACP delegation at the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties #24.
(2018-12-10). A Marxist theory‚Ä® of women's oppression. mronline.org 
In the new introduction to Lise Vogel's Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Toward a Unitary Theory, Susan Ferguson and David McNally comment on the book's "curious life-history." They describe it, quite correctly, as a book that has lived largely in obscurity in spite of its innovative approach to the question of Marxism and women's […] | Source
(2018-12-10). A GOP Governor Has a Chance to Fix a Blue State's Draconian Approach to Paroling Juvenile Offenders. theintercept.com 
Larry Hogan, re-elected to his second and final term, should give juveniles with life sentences a real chance at parole, criminal justice reformers urge.
(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…
(2018-12-07). 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). 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). 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). 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). 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…
(2018-12-06). 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.
(2018-12-06). 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…
(2018-12-05). 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). 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). 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). 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…
(2018-12-04). 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). 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). 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). 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…
(2018-10-18). 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…