(2020-09-21). From Mass Incarceration to Plan Colombia: Biden's Role in the Failed War on Drugs. mintpressnews.com Former vice president Biden has a sordid history of opposing progressive criminal justice legislation, spearheading draconian police and immigration measures, and playing a central role in waging America's failed war on drugs.
(2020-09-21). "A National Tragedy": Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Friend & "Favorite Client" Remembers the Legal Icon. democracynow.org 
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg first gained fame in the 1970s when she co-founded the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and argued six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court. One of those cases was Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, which centered on a widower who was refused Social Security benefits after his wife died during childbirth. We speak with Stephen Wiesenfeld, who was told his gender made him ineligible and that only women were entitled to survivor's benefits. Ginsburg argued in the Supreme Court that denying fathers benefits because of their sex was unc…
(2020-09-21). The Lekra spirit lives: Martin Aleida on Indonesia's revolutionary cultural group. peoplesdispatch.org 
Literature that defends victims, not power. | Martin Aleida gives a testimony at the International People ¥s Tribunal in The Hague in November, 2015 | "It was the worst when I was released. That's the biggest prison I had to face." | Martin Aleida recalls the moment he was released from prison at the end of 1966. The then 22-year-old writer emerged from nearly a year behind bars to a Jakarta where his friends could not be found. His workplace, Harian Rakyat ('The People's Daily'), the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was no longer. His Party and cultural organization, Lekra, was ba…
(2020-09-21). Australian-Egyptian man jailed in Egypt for liking a Facebook post. middleeasteye.net 
Australian-Egyptian man jailed in Egypt for liking a Facebook post | Waled Youssef was visiting his sick mother in Egypt when he was arrested in January, lawyers and family said | Mon, 09/21/2020 – 13: 45 | 'Get Waled Home' is a petition launched by Waled Youssef's supporters to call on the Australian government to secure his release from Cairo's notorious Tora prison (Change.org) | An Egyptian man from Sydney…
(2020-09-21). Police Operation Arrests Anti-Racist Organizers. popularresistance.org Aurora, CO – Police agencies in the Denver area arrested anti-racist organizers in a coordinated assault today. People were arrested in a Home Depot parking lot, at their homes, and after they were pulled over while driving. Those arrested were the leaders to demand justice for Elijah McClain, who was brutally murdered by the Aurora Police Department. They are still in jail, with the exception of one person. They are facing multiple felony charges and years in prison in an obvious frame-up aimed at stopping the movement for justice for Elijah McClain.
(2020-09-21). Life In The US Has The Hallmarks Of A "Low-Grade War Zone" popularresistance.org Countless red flags have sprung up in recent months indicating a creeping authoritarianism coming into full form. Vigilante forms of far right "justice" have become commonplace, as in the high-profile case of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the numerous cases of far right violence and intimidation directed at Black Lives Matter activists since nationwide protests erupted in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in May. The president dog-whistles to his white supremacist base regularly, and may not even accept the election results this November if he loses.
(2020-09-20). Activists call jailing of Long Island homeless activists a political arrest. liberationnews.org 
Protests planned for Sept. 22 and Sept. 25…
(2020-09-20). Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg 1933-2020. indybay.org By now, we have seen the TV tributes and read the many thoughts on the Internet regarding Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who died today at age 87. My favorite is from the ACLU at www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/in-memory-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-1933-2020/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=200919_rbg_obit_tw&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=rbg&utm_content=200919_obit&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=200919_rbg_obit_tw…
(2020-09-20). Dallas Alliance marches again for Black lives. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – On September 19, the Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, together with a number of other groups, held a march for Black lives. The group met at a downtown Dallas park before marching to city hall. According to the group's social media, a main demand of the march was that the Dallas City Council, which is now finalizing the budget, "redirect a significant portion of the police budget to community needs." | Before the march, the group held a rally in the park. One speaker was DAARPR chair Sydney Loving, who condemned the recent arrests of Black Lives Matter protesters in Color…
(2020-09-20). Mutual Aid Response During Fires Shows Black Lives Matter Is Building Community. zcomm.org "We have come together efficiently and quickly because we know each other."
(2020-09-20). Frame-up in Aurora, Colorado of Black Lives Matter Protesters. indybay.org Once again, as done in labor history and in the black liberation struggle, the State of Colorado is framing at least 4 organizers of protests on behalf of Elijah McClain, a black violinist, murdered by the police in Aurora, Colorado. See www.pscp.tv/w/1PlJQNLoPYXxE…
(2020-09-20). I'm Living in Fear of COVID as New People Get Transferred Into the Prison I'm In. truthout.org Washington State's Department of Corrections (WDOC) is continuing to transfer prisoners between facilities during COVID-19 outbreaks, a practice that public health experts warn dramatically increases the risk of the virus spreading. It matters to me because as an incarcerated individual, the WDOC is responsible for my health and well-being, and it should matter to you, because prisoners can't protect themselves from the spread of the virus and the impact of infected prisoners goes far beyon…
(2020-09-20). Labor Must Make Defense Of Black Lives Its Own Imperative. popularresistance.org Black trade unionists across the U.S. are calling on the labor movement to defend Black Lives Matter protesters and to fight racism in their own ranks. The attacks by police and increasingly violent armed racist militias evoke the memory of many such violent incidents against Black people in earlier periods, from slavery to segregation to the civil rights era. | For Labor Day 2020, Truthout reached out to Christopher Silvera, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 808 in Long Island City, NY; Elise Bryant, executive director of Labor Heritage Foundation and president of the Communication Workers of America's Coal…
(2020-09-20). Irish republican prisoners in Belfast go on hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian activist. thecanary.co As
(2020-09-19). RBG Death Means Two-Headed Uniparty Will Threaten Americans With Removal Of Civil Rights. thealtworld.com US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg The opportunistic galvanization process has already begun before Ginsburg's body is even cold, with liberal influencers calling Democrats to rally to a November win for "the notoriou…
(2020-09-19). Kafka On Acid: The Trial Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Julian Assange needs to wake before dawn to get from Belmarsh Prison to the Old Bailey courthouse, where his extradition hearing resumed on 7 September, for four weeks. He gets dressed for court only to be strip-searched before being placed in a ventilated coffin Serco van for a 90-minute trip across London in peak-hour traffic. After waiting handcuffed in the holding cells, he is placed in a glass box at the back of the courtroom. Then he is forced back into the Serco van to be strip-searched back at Belmarsh to face another night alone in his cell.
(2020-09-19). Campus workers in Georgia defend Black and Brown lives. workers.org 
Atlanta This is a slightly edited version of a talk given at the Workers World Party Sept. 10 webinar, "Workers Defend Black Lives." View webinar at tinyurl.com/y6m9z593. In and around Atlanta, labor unions have been connecting the issues of labor to racial justice. Unions are recognizing that issues of labor . . . |
(2020-09-19). A Kenosha activist demands justice. workers.org 
By Katrina Miller This slightly edited talk was given at the Workers World Party Sept. 10 webinar, "Workers Defend Black Lives." View webinar at tinyurl.com/y6m9z593. Hello, everyone! I'm an activist in Kenosha, Wisconsin — a town that wouldn't be where it is without United Auto Workers Local 72. I'm a . . . |
(2020-09-19). Talib Williams/ 'Imagine a world without prisons'. workers.org 
By Talib Williams Talib Williams spoke from Soledad prison Aug. 29 via a recording, introduced by his spouse Tasha Williams, at the webinar "Black Lives Matter: Justice for Peaceful Black Soledad Prisoners." Williams blows the whistle on injustice inside Soledad and reaches beyond the walls to report the truth, suffering . . . |
(2020-09-19). 'You will see another angle of life here' — stories from refugees in Calais. thecanary.co 
Video project 'People of Calais' tells stories of refugees in northern France waiting to come to the UK | By | Mohamed is talented a writer, poet and rapper. He lives in desperate conditions in Calais, waiting to cross to the UK. He is one of thousands of refugees who have travelled from war-torn countries and settled in northern France."You will see another angle of life here," the 34-year-old says in a new video.Mohamed fled Sudan after being arrested for political writings. He travelled to Slovenia, where he was imprisoned, stripped and beat…
(2020-09-19). In Memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020). aclu.org Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who first rose to national prominence as an ACLU lawyer fighting for equal rights for women, has died at 87 years old., , She began Harvard Law School as a young mother and one of only nine women in her class, and became the architect of a legal strategy to eradicate gender discrimination in the United States. She modeled her approach after that of Thurgood Marshall on race discrimination, planning for a series of cases at the Supreme Court, each precedent paving the way for the next that would further expand rights and protections. In 1993, she joined the court a…
(2020-09-19). Why We Need an Antiracist Education System. progressive.org In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests this summer, there's a growing movement for antiracist education across all subjects—especially history.
(2020-09-19). Workers vs. the Coronavirus Depression. zcomm.org This summer has seen two significant national strike actions—for Black Lives and for safe reopening of schools. These are hardly conventional strikes—indeed, they represent historically unprecedented forms of protest…
(2020-09-19). [Correspondence] Mistreatment during childbirth — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Maria Helena da Silva Bastos and colleagues, Natasha Housseine and colleagues, and Caitlin Williams and José Belizán for their interest in our Article,1 in which we described how more than a third of women experienced mistreatment during childbirth, including physical and verbal abuse, discrimination, and non-consented procedures in four countries.
(2020-09-19). GOP's Strategy for 2020 Election Looks Like an All-Out Assault on Voting Rights. truthout.org The Republican Party and its allies have relied on voter suppression tactics for decades, but this year they are pulling out all the stops. | "
(2020-09-19). Anti-police crimes group demands Green Bay Packers honor memory of Jonathon Tubby. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement issued by the Wisconsin Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (WAARPR) in conjunction with the Tubby family. | Green Bay, WI – The resurgent movement for Black lives and against police crimes, sparked by the public execution of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, is maintaining momentum as summer draws to a close. This is because the police continue to kill Black men and other people. 288 people have been killed by police since Floyd's murder. | Like many other aspects of life in the U.S., sports have been impacted by…
(2020-09-18). Coups on allies: HTS rids Syria's Idlib of opponents. middleeasteye.net 
Coups on allies: HTS rids Syria's Idlib of opponents | HTS was a magnet for foreign fighters from Europe, but now they are in its prisons as part of the group's efforts to gain international support | Fri, 09/18/2020 – 11: 59 | The car of a Hurras al-Deen second-ranked leader after being targeted in Idlib by the international coalition on 14 September (MEE/Ali Haj Suleiman)
| At the foot of…
(2020-09-18). PDF of September 17 issue. workers.org 
Download the 12-page PDF. Philly encampment: 'Housing now!' ALSO: COVID: Is it genocide yet? 'Disability Visibility'; TPS workers' Journey for Justice; New poll tax on voting; Climate crisis fires; Editorial 9/11—pretext for war. Labor Defends Black Lives Work stoppage call; Athlete strikes inspire; 'Workers move the world'; Kenosha activist for . . . |
(2020-09-18). Sudan filmmaker Hajooj Kuka one of five artists jailed in Khartoum. middleeasteye.net 
Sudan filmmaker Hajooj Kuka one of five artists jailed in Khartoum | Authorities accused of 'criminalising artists' after group rehearsing play sentenced to two months and fined for causing a public nuisance | Fri, 09/18/2020 – 14: 02 | Filmmaker Hajooj Kuka, one of the sentenced artists, won the People's Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival (AFP) | Five Sudanese artists, including an intern…
(2020-09-18). Facebook sued for allegedly spying on Instagram users through phone cameras. rt.com 
Social media giant Facebook secretly used iPhone cameras to obtain "extremely private and intimate" information about the uses of its Instagram picture and video sharing app, a new US lawsuit claims. | The legal action follows Instagram users reporting in July that they had noticed the FaceTime symbol, which indicates that an iPhone camera is on, was showing up when they scrolled their feeds. | At the time, Facebook denied spying accusations and blamed the issue on a bug, which, it said, triggered false notifications that Instagram was accessing cameras. | However, now a lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Sa…
(2020-09-18). Watching Sports While the World Spins Out of Control. counterpunch.org Confined and anxious because of the pandemic? Fearful for your home and having trouble breathing because of smoke from raging wildfires? Overwhelmed by high winds and floods because of Hurricane Sally? Afraid to go out because of violent altercations between police and Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrators? Worried that your partial employment checks will run
(2020-09-18). 'This Is What Voter Suppression Looks Like'. popularresistance.org Two tribes in South Dakota and a voting rights group are suing four state officials, accusing them of failing to offer adequate voter registration services. | The complaint says South Dakota "is depriving thousand of tribal members and other citizens of their federally guaranteed opportunities to register to vote and to change their voter registration addresses when these citizens interact with state agencies." | The Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe and Four Directions filed a federal court complaint on Wednesday.
(2020-09-18). Scheer Intelligence: How Today's Uprisings Compare To The 1960s Rebellions. popularresistance.org The 1960s live on in U.S. memory as an era of counterculture rebellions and the civil rights movement that changed the course of the nation's history. The mass uprisings that took place from coast to coast have been immortalized in myriad films and books, but these often focus on well known figures rather than the everyday Black and Chicano youths that fueled the movement. In their new book, Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the 1960s, renowned historians Mike Davis and Jon Wiener set out to capture the complete history of the city's revolutionary political scene by focusing on the working class Americans who are so…
(2020-09-18). Party for Socialism and Liberation denounces arrests of anti-racist organizers in Denver. peoplesdispatch.org The party which has been at the forefront of the anti-racist protests since May denounced that the arrests are part of efforts to crack down on the Black Lives Matter movement…
(2020-09-18). Jon Wiener: How Today's Uprisings Compare to the 1960s Rebellions. scheerpost.com Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play The 1960s live on in U.S. memory as an era of counterculture rebellions and the civil rights movement that changed the course of the nation's history. The mass uprisings that took place from coast to coast have been immortalized in myriad films and books, but these often focus on well known figures rather than the everyday Black and Chicano… |
(2020-09-18). Thursday 9/24: Virtual Speak Out: Tell UC Health System to Protect LGBTQ+ and Reproductive Healthcare. indybay.org Online…
(2020-09-18). Federal Judges Are Failing Incarcerated People During the Pandemic. commondreams.org The words "help we matter 2" are seen written in a window at the Cook County Department of Corrections (CCDOC), housing one of the nation's largest jails, in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 2020. (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/help_we_matter_2.jpg …
(2020-09-18). ACLU Comment on TikTok and WeChat Transaction Prohibition. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-09-18). What Was Trump Thinking When He Appointed an Enemy To Head The FBI? thealtworld.com As I wrote in 2016, Trump had no idea who to appoint to his government. According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, it is Russia, not the Democrats, Antifa, and Black Lives Matter, who "sows divisiveness and discord" among Americans. | Wray says that it is the Russians who "trash Democratic nominee Joe Biden." | How can Trump hope to survive when he appoints to the FBI, CIA, and Pentagon his enemies? He appoints enemies to the Department of Justice who somehow just…
(2020-09-17). Nurse Alleges Forced Sterilizations, Medical Malpractice At Immigrant Detention Center. popularresistance.org A whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of a nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in southern Georgia until July alleges that a number of immigrant women detained there were subjected to sterilization through hysterectomies without their consent. | In the complaint, filed by the legal advocacy group Project South, the former nurse describes conditions at the center as akin to an "experimental concentration camp." | The complaint also details the refusal of the center's administrators to carry out COVID-19 testing or implement protective measures, putting detainees an…
(2020-09-17). 'Anti-Russian hysteria': Moscow hits back after EU Parliament calls for sanctions over alleged poisoning of activist Navalny. rt.com 
After EU MEPs, on Thursday, called for sanctions over the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, Moscow said the move merely fuels anti-Russia hysteria and is aimed at disrupting the Nord Stream 2 project. | The European Parliament resolution urges an international probe into the Navalny incident. Its approval followed comments by the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who floated the idea of naming a new anti-Russian sanctions package after the anti-corruption campaigner, in a similar move to the US Magnitsky act. | That was named after a Russian tax auditor who died in a Moscow prison…
(2020-09-17). Journalist Carlos Rabascall replaces Rafael Correa as vice-presidential candidate. peoplesdispatch.org The Union for Hope (UNES), an alliance of progressive forces, on September 16, elected journalist Carlos Rabascall as the new candidate for the vice-presidency of Ecuador in the general elections scheduled for February 7, 2021. The decision was taken after Rafael Correa was Last week, on September 7, Ecuador's national court of justice ratified the 8-year prison sentence and the 25-year political ban for Correa in the "Bribes 2012-1…
(2020-09-17). No charges in Missouri police murder of 25-year-old Hannah Fizer. wsws.org As another killer cop goes free, protesters against the police killing of Ricardo Munoz in Lancaster, Pennsylvania remain in jail, with bail set at $1 million.
(2020-09-17). Wednesday 9/16: Emergency Action: Forced Sterilizations in ICE Detention Centers (urgent webinar). indybay.org Online via zoom…
(2020-09-17). Build Back Better with Reform, Justice, Equality, Democracy, Truth… indybay.org Want reform, equality, justice, liberty? Want Black Lives to Matter?Learn about how you can help Biden and Harris Build Back Better.