2020-03-12: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-12). A lot more than baby on board: Woman caught trying to sneak insane amount of contraband into prison (VIDEO). rt.com Guards at a Brazilian prison were truly baffled when a 'pregnant' woman attempted to visit her husband but when asked several routine questions, revealed she was in fact attempting to smuggle in everything but the kitchen sink. | The 22-year-old woman was visiting her hubby who was banged up in the Nelson Hungria Penitentiary Complex near Belo Horizonte. Guards noticed she was wearing a rather fetching, if oddly-shaped, jumpsuit. | | © Twitter/ Coronel Tadeu | Pregnant women are not normally subjected to body scans when visiting inmates in Brazilian prison but, when officers attempted a pat down, the yo…

RT (2020-03-12). A lot more than baby on board: Woman caught trying to sneak insane amount of contraband into Brazilian prison (VIDEO). rt.com Guards at a Brazilian prison were truly baffled when a 'pregnant' woman attempted to visit her husband but when asked several routine questions, revealed she was in fact attempting to smuggle in everything but the kitchen sink. | The 22-year-old woman was visiting her hubby who was banged up in the Nelson Hungria Penitentiary Complex near Belo Horizonte. Guards noticed she was wearing a rather fetching, if oddly-shaped, jumpsuit. | | © Twitter/ Coronel Tadeu | Pregnant women are not normally subjected to body scans when visiting inmates in Brazilian prison but, when officers attempted a pat down, the yo…

Joe Sims (2020-03-12). "You like Trump" — Biden, Sanders, socialism, and the Black vote. peoplesworld.org Years ago, during the early days of the Clinton administration, I was outraged, first by the Sistah Souljah episode, and later by the president's treatment of Lani Guinier, who became the object of a vicious red-baiting campaign. Guinier had been nominated to become the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, until a gigantic whispering campaign …

Al Neal (2020-03-12). Soccer prez: "We're sorry for…(checks notes) our blatant sexism." peoplesworld.org The world of professional sports is plagued by sexism. And the U.S. Soccer Federation is doing its best to keep it that way. In a legal brief filed March 5 by the federation, part of the ongoing equal pay lawsuit filed by 28 players of the women's national team, attorneys argued the case should be dismissed because: …

RT (2020-03-12). Duterte puts Philippines capital on lockdown 'to stop spread of coronavirus'. rt.com Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday announced strict immigration curbs and a halt on domestic land, sea and air travel to and from Metro Manila, in a "lockdown" of the capital to stop the spread of coronavirus. | The president approved a resolution allowing a raft of measures including bans on mass gatherings, a month of school closures and community quarantining, and threatened to jail local officials who defied government orders, Reuters reports. | Duterte, who underwent a test himself on Thursday due to possible exposure, said the measures would include banning foreigners traveling from countri…

WSWS (2020-03-12). Chelsea Manning hospitalized after attempting suicide in federal detention. wsws.org Manning, who has not been charged with a crime, has been subjected to imprisonment and punitive fines for the last year for refusing to testify against Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange.

Stephen Lendman (2020-03-12). Chelsea Manning Hospitalized After Reported Suicide Attempt. globalresearch.ca Manning was unlawfully imprisoned last March (again in May after briefly released) for invoking her constitutional right of silence — refusing to give grand jury testimony to aid the Trump regime's attempted crucifixion of Julian Assange. | For the past …

Manuel García, Jr. (2020-03-12). Don't Trust Anyone Over 30 (40?), Says This 70 Year Old. counterpunch.org The Sanders movement, the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), the BLM (Black Lives Matter) and BAR (Black Agenda Report) types,…

Julia Conley (2020-03-12). Advocates Warn US Prison Conditions Risks Intense Coronavirus Outbreak. indybay.org Prisoners' rights advocates are warning that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. may soon have dire implications for the 2.2 million people living in the American penal system, as prison officials across the country shared little about their plans to keep inmates safe and many of the precautions Americans are being advised to take are unavailable in detention facilities.

WorkWeek (2020-03-12). "Prisoners On The Grand Princess Petri Dish" Will The Crew Be Quarantined To Die On Ship? indybay.org Over 1,000 Grand Princess crew members have been held hostage on the ship at the Port of Oakland. Pence and Newsom have said they will not be getting off the ship. Instead they will be quarantined at sea in this contaminated death ship.

Bill Quigley (2020-03-12). Six Quick Points About Coronavirus and Poverty in the US. counterpunch.org In the United States, tens of millions of people are at a much greater risk of getting sick from the coronavirus than others. The most vulnerable among us do not have the option to comply with suggestions to stay home from work or work remotely. Most low wage workers do not have any paid sick days and cannot do their work from home. The over two million people in jails and prisons each night do not have these options nor do the half a million homeless people.

WSWS (2020-03-12). Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison: "Obscene" culmination to a travesty of a trial. wsws.org Judge Burke handed out nearly the maximum possible sentence. Weinstein was found guilty February 24 on charges of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.

WSWS (2020-03-12). No to right-wing "anti-Semitism" lawsuit against New York University! wsws.org The state-led campaign against BDS and the lawsuit at NYU are an assault on democratic rights having nothing to do with the fight against anti-Semitism.

WSWS (2020-03-12). No to right-wing "anti-Semitism" lawsuit against NYU! wsws.org The state-led campaign against BDS and the lawsuit at NYU are an assault on democratic rights having nothing to do with the fight against anti-Semitism.

The Canary (2020-03-12). Tim Berners-Lee warns 'web not working for women and girls' on 31st anniversary. thecanary.co World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has warned that "the web is not working for women and girls", in an open letter to mark the 31st anniversary of its creation. | Berners-Lee said a continued lack of web access is fuelling discrimination against females, threatening global progress on equality. | It comes as new research from Berners-Lee's Web Foundation — which advocates for a free and open web for everyone — and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts indicates that more than half of young women and girls have experienced online abuse, including threatening messages, sexual har…

yenisafak (2020-03-12). Israeli prison isolated over coronavirus fears. yenisafak.com The Israeli prison authority on Thursday isolated a prison in Jerusalem in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.The Israel Broadcasting Corporation said the decision was taken after a jailer said she was in contact with an infected patient.As a result, all entries and exits from the Moscovia Detention Centre were blocked pending test results.The prison will neither accept new detainees, nor take them to court.The inmates who are released will be kept in domestic quarantine.The coronavirus was first detected last December in Wuhan, China but has since spread to more than 114 countries.The global death toll from…

yenisafak (2020-03-12). Sweden bans gatherings exceeding 500 people. yenisafak.com Sweden has introduced a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government statement.The ban includes Friday prayers in mosques with capacity of more than the said number.Sport events will also see no fans due to new restrictions and breaches may cause punitive action of up to 6 months of imprisonment, according to the statement.Fittja Ulu Camii, one of the biggest mosques in Stockholm belonging to Presidency of Turkish Religious Affairs (Diyanet), has also temporarily closed its doors for Friday prayers.Mosque's President Ismail Okur told Anadolu Agency that they…

Tom Anderson (2020-03-12). More prisoners reported dead after police repression of revolts in quarantined Italian jails. thecanary.co Revolts have been taking place in prisons across Italy after the Italian state The state

RT (2020-03-11). Chelsea Manning attempted suicide while in jail for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks — lawyers. rt.com Former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, jailed a year ago for refusing to testify before a federal jury investigating WikiLeaks, has attempted suicide ahead of a court hearing, her lawyers said. | Manning is in the hospital and recovering, Gizmodo reported on Wednesday citing the imprisoned activist's legal team. The 31-year-old reportedly used a sheet to hang herself inside the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, according to the Daily Mail. That report has not been officially confirmed. | Manning has been locked up since March 2019, when she refused to appear before the federal grand jury a…

Staff (2020-03-11). Samidoun: Germany escalates attack on Khaled Barakat, Palestinian rights with four-year ban: Fight back against repression! imemc.org By Samidoun — Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network: The German state has once again escalated its harassment and repression directed against Palestinian speech and advocacy. In the latest order issued by the Berlin immigration office, received yesterday, 9 March, German officials escalated their attacks on Palestinian writer and activist Khaled Barakat, …

commondreams (2020-03-11). ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Stay Ruling in Remain in Mexico Challenge. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Nicole Hansen (2020-03-11). Keep Calm and Carry on Voting: How to Vote By Mail During the Coronavirus Outbreak. aclu.org Coronavirus should not be a political issue, but with presidential primaries and the general election coming up, it could soon directly impact our politics. We should protect not only our health, but our civil liberties at this time — and one of those civil liberties is our fundamental right to vote. , , For many, the best way to vote while safeguarding your health during this time may be to vote by mail. It's easy to request an absentee ballot and there's still enough time to do so for most states with upcoming primaries. While some states limit who can vote absentee — for example, to people with…

teleSUR (2020-03-11). Court Condemns Filmmaker Harvey Weinstein to 23 Years in Jail. telesurenglish.net New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke Wednesday sentenced 23 years in prison to film producer Harvey Weinstein, whose case triggered the RELATED: | On Feb. 24, the 67-year-old man was convicted of sexual assault on his fo…

teleSUR (2020-03-11). Taliban Rejects Afghan Govt's Phased Release of Prisoners. telesurenglish.net Afghanistan's Taliban rejected Wednesday the proposal from President Ashraf Ghani to release prisoners in phases arguing that the "conditional release" of the Taliban prisoners is against the accord signed with the United States. | RELATED: | "We reject Ghani's phase release of prisoners," Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for Taliban, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, adding that they "will also make sure…

Common Dreams staff (2020-03-11). Convicted Rapist Harvey Weinstein Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison. commondreams.org "He is going to jail—but no amount of jail time will repair the lives he ruined." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/weinstein-sentenced-23-year.jpg

RT (2020-03-11). Hollywood producer Weinstein sentenced to 23 years on sexual assault charges. rt.com Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually assaulting two women, close to the maximum sentence he faced in the landmark case. | Judge James Burke handed down the harsh sentence to the 68-year-old former Miramax producer on Wednesday, siding with prosecutors' call for a stiff punishment for the erstwhile Hollywood titan. While scores of women have accused Weinstein of sex crimes, he was convicted last month specifically of third degree rape and first degree sexual assault charges against former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and aspiring actress Jessica Mann.

Shawgi Tell (2020-03-11). Charter School Oversight Remains Weak. dissidentvoice.org In 2016, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for a moratorium on new charter schools, citing many problems with these privatized schools, including poor performance, extensive waste, widespread segregation, and inadequate accountability. Oversight, transparency, accountability, and good governance have never been the strong suits of charter schools or charter school …

Medea Benjamin, Ariel Gold (2020-03-11). Saudi's Brave Women Pull Back the Curtain on Crown Prince MBS. commondreams.org The fact that MBS lifted the driving ban and simultaneously put in prison those who had campaigned and suffered for such reforms makes clear his actual motive: to silence dissent and prevent these women's voices from being heard. (Photo: @noconversion/Twitter) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/letsdrive.png

Staff (2020-03-10). Immigrants in WA Detention Center Demand Protection from Coronavirus, Not Posters in English. democracynow.org As the world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak, we look at how the Trump administration's immigration policies may put everyone at risk. We go to Seattle, Washington, not far from the Life Care Center in the suburb of Kirkland, which was the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In nearby Tacoma, Washington, our guest says she saw posters in English only when she went to visit immigrants held in the Northwest Detention Center, which is run by private prison company GEO Group. We speak with Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist and undocumented immigrant with the groups La Resistencia and Mijente, who issued a…

Staff (2020-03-10). Prisons Worldwide Face Coronavirus Crisis: Overcrowding, Lack of Sanitation & Labor at Slave Wages. democracynow.org As Italy went on lockdown, nearly 30 prisons across the country broke into riots Sunday and Monday after visitation rights were suspended in response to the outbreak. In a prison in southern Italy, a riot left at least six incarcerated people dead and caused 50 people to escape. Prisoners have reportedly lit fires, charged guards and even escaped at multiple facilities. This comes as the United Nations confirmed that coronavirus had reached Iran's prisons, as the number of cases there continues to soar. Iran has temporarily freed some 70,000 prisoners in response to the coronavirus. And concerns are growing about…

splcenter (2020-03-10). Civil Rights Memorial Center closed through March. splcenter.org The Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC) in Montgomery, Alabama, is closed and will remain closed through the end of March 2020.

Chelsey Birgisdóttir (2020-03-10). San Diego Police Stop Black People at a Rate 219 Percent Higher Than White People. aclu.org "They did what human beings looking for | freedom, throughout history, have often done. They left." | These | are the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson in her book, "The | Warmth of Other Suns." The book | follows the story of three Black Southerners and their journey escaping racial | violence — a sharecropper's wife who | left Mississippi in the 1930s for Chicago, an agricultural | worker who left Florida for New York City in the 1940s, and a doctor who left Louisiana in the early 1950s. | Their | journey was part of the Great Migration that occurred between 1916 and 1970,…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-03-10). Abuse, Oppression and Murder: The PA Does Israel's Dirty Work in the West Bank. mintpressnews.com Arbitrary arrests, torture, and violence are regular occurrences in occupied Palestine. While Israel is responsible for the greater share of the violation of Palestinian human rights, the PA is part and parcel of that same Israeli strategy.

Ali Salam (2020-03-10). 41 Palestinian Children Arrested by Israeli Forces in February. imemc.org Israeli authorities, in February, arrested a total of 41 Palestinian children, imprisoning 20 of them in Ofer prison, according to the Committee of Prisoners and Former Prisoners. The Committee explained that, of the children arrested last month; 20 were kidnapped from their homes, 6 from the streets, 1 for not …

RT (2020-03-10). 'Missing the mark': Ex-Warren staffers face outrage over campaign tattoos eerily similar to Holocaust concentration camp numbers. rt.com Former staffers for Elizabeth Warren have been taken to the woodshed over tattoos meant to memorialize her ill-fated campaign — which just happen to closely resemble markings given to Holocaust concentration camp prisoners. Oops! | Intending to commemorate the Democratic senator's failed bid for the presidency, at least two former Warren staffers thought tattoos displaying the hex code for the campaign's "Liberty Green" theme would be a clever tribute — until Twitter caught wind of it. In an avalanche of criticism, netizens wasted no time in pointing out the obvious — albeit accidental — r…

Maria Morris (2020-03-06). Are Our Prisons and Jails Ready for COVID-19? aclu.org The | country and the world face a public health emergency in the new coronavirus | causing COVID-19. The media is filled with concerns about how we will respond. | Will we close schools? Cancel sporting events and other large gatherings? Work | from home? Avoid public transportation? | But | little has been said about one of the most vulnerable sectors of our | population: the people in our prisons and jails. Although people often think of | prisons and jails as closed environments, they are not. Medical staff, correctional | staff, and visitors come from the community into the facilities every day and | then…

Naureen Shah (2020-03-05). Trump is Sending Special Forces-style Agents into Pro-Immigrant Cities. aclu.org As part of its governments that choose not to collaborate with Immigration and Customs | Enforcement (ICE), Trump administration officials have confirmed plans for two new tactics in their anti-immigrant | agenda. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will deploy Border Patrol's | special forces-style unit, known as BORTAC, and other Customs and Border | Protection (CBP) agents — dressed in plainclothes [m…

Janine Jackson (2020-03-03). 'We Are Going to Be Back to Where We Were After Reconstruction—Unless We Stop It' – CounterSpin interview with Carol Anderson about voter suppression. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed Emory University's Carol Anderson about voter suppression for the Media…

Ashoka Mukpo (2020-03-03). TRAP Laws are the Threat to Abortion Rights You Don't Know About. aclu.org This week, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case | that will have wide-reaching consequences for reproductive freedom and abortion | rights in America. It's the first time the Court has weighed those rights since | gaining a new conservative majority with the appointments of Justices Neil | Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. And the stakes are high. | The case that the court will | hear, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, | is being argued by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CCR), and it involves a | law in Louisiana known as a "TRAP" — Targeted Restriction on Abortion | Providers. The detai…

Staff (2020-03-03). Headlines for March 3, 2020. democracynow.org Super Tuesday Kicks Off as Moderate Dems Coalesce in Support of Joe Biden, 6 Dead in Washington from Coronavirus, as Criticism Mounts over CDC Handling of Outbreak, U.S. to Start Troop Withdrawal as Taliban Vows to Resume Attacks and Afghan Gov't Rejects Prisoner Swap, Migrant Child Drowns Off Greek Coast, Refugees Attacked as Asylum Crisis Deepens, Iraqi Power Vacuum as Caretaker PM and Designated Successor Both Walk Away from Post, Benjamin Netanyahu Holds Lead Over Rival Benny Gantz But Falls Short of Outright Majority, Report: 80,000+ Uyghur Muslims Forced into Factory Labor for Nike, Apple, Revolutionary Nic…

Marjorie Cohn (2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…

Ben Norton (2020-03-02). Contra-supporting CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for corrupt right-wing Latin American governments. thegrayzone.com Bernie-bashing "Never Trump conservative" CNN pundit Ana Navarro lobbied for El Salvador's right-wing government, whose president was imprisoned for corruption,…

Jay Stanley (2020-03-02). Can We Trust the Government to Respond to the Coronavirus in a Fair and Effective Manner? aclu.org A group of over 450 public health experts signed a It is essential that all govern…

CounterSpin (2020-02-28). Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org Media…

splcenter (2020-02-26). As Alabama primary nears, voter suppression is alive and well. splcenter.org All across this country, the right to vote is under attack. But with your support, we're fighting back in Southern courts and state legislatures with a newly formed team of legal, policy, and grassroots advocates.

splcenter (2020-02-21). Weekend Read: SPLC files civil rights complaints as asylum seekers wage hunger strikes. splcenter.org

Tyler Durden (2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>