2020-12-07: News Headlines

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-12-07). Arabic press review: Family of Egypt's Mubarak to sue EU over 'illegal sanctions'. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Family of Egypt's Mubarak to sue EU over 'illegal sanctions' | Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia prepares for reconciliation with Qatar, Bashir's health deteriorates in jail, and video of Egyptian man throwing cash from balcony goes viral | Mon, 12/07/2020 – 16: 38 | Gamal Mubarak (seen to right of his late father Hosni) said he will sue the Council of the European Union after winning…

Staff (2020-12-07). Black Voters Matter: Group Sues Georgia for Purging 200,000 Voters Ahead of 2020 Election. democracynow.org On the voter registration deadline for Georgians who want to vote in two Senate runoff elections on January 5, we speak with Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, about why the state is "ground zero" for Republican voter suppression efforts. Black Voters Matter has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Georgia's current secretary of state improperly removed nearly 200,000 voters from the rolls. Those voters "were purged illegally" ahead of the 2020 election and almost certainly affected the results, says Albright. "At the end of the day, this election … should not have even been c…

Staff (2020-12-07). COVID-19 spikes four times higher in prisons and jails: 'This lack of concern for human lives is calculated'. therealnews.com As COVID-19 cases explode exponentially in the U.S., a glaring component of this public health crisis is being ignored: Prisoners are contracting the virus at four times the national rate, and these spikes will spread to the larger community.

Staff (2020-12-07). Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson Wins "Alternative Nobel" for Work Against Mass Incarceration. democracynow.org Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, was one of four human rights defenders to win this year's Right Livelihood Award on December 3. "I work in a country that has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. I work against a system that treats you better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent," he said in accepting the honor. "We work to overturn this horrific era of mass incarceration in America that has been brought about by the politics of fear and anger." We feature his full acceptance speech of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the…

MEE and agencies (2020-12-07). As Sisi meets Macron, Egypt renews detention of human rights activist. middleeasteye.net As Sisi meets Macron, Egypt renews detention of human rights activist | A number of detained members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights were released last week, but Zaki remains in custody pending similar charges | Mon, 12/07/2020 – 10: 39 | Patrick George Zaki has been in custody since 7 February upon his return from Italy, where he had been living and studying (Twitter) | A l…

David Edwards (2020-12-07). Stuck In A Lift With John Pilger — 'News And How To Use It' by Alan Rusbridger. zcomm.org Pilger tells the unfiltered, uncompromised truth about the foundations of power. His focus is on speaking up for the victims of power, not on serving power…

WSWS (2020-12-07). One-quarter of Macomb County Jail inmates test positive for coronavirus. wsws.org The county as a whole has had more than 39,000 cases throughout the year, equal to nearly 4.5 percent of the entire population.

Hallel Rabin (2020-12-07). 'Refusing to Serve in the Army is My Small Act of Making Change'. zcomm.org Hallel Rabin spent 56 days in an Israeli military prison for refusing to serve in the Israel Defense Force. Rabin, 19, talks about her time behind bars, conversations with her fellow inmates, and talking to young Israelis about the occupation…

Staff (2020-12-07). Voters Complained About Threats, Aggressive Electioneering and Racism at Polls. truthout.org While the 2020 election went more smoothly than most had dared to hope, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan election protection group, nonetheless received a steady drumbeat of complaints to its hotline about voter intimidation and harassment during early voting and on Election Day. | Since Nov. 3, ProPublica has followed up on these reports, attempting to verify details with complainants and other witnesses and to review available documentation, including videos…

Pip Hinman (2020-12-07). Labor needs to change policy on refugees. greenleft.org.au Polls show a majority of Australians are fed up with the waste of money and needless cruelty of immigration detention, argues Niko Leka.

Prof. Austin Sarat (2020-12-07). Trump Plan to Revive the Gallows, Electric Chair, Gas Chamber and Firing Squad Recalls a Troubled History. globalresearch.ca The way the federal government can kill death row prisoners will soon be expanded to ghoulish methods that include hanging, the electric chair, gas chamber and the firing squad. | Set to take effect on Christmas Eve, the new regulations

Yusuf Ahmed Nur (2020-12-07). We've Had Enough Death in 2020. Why Add More? aclu.org I was in the middle of reciting Ya Seen, the 36th chapter of the Quran, when the executioner signaled to me that was enough. It was time to kill Orlando Hall. Across a strip of tape dividing us, Orlando received a shot of lethal injection before I could finish the verse's final, essential line. "So glory be to Him in whose hand is the dominion of everything, and to Him you will be returned.", , Orlando lost consciousness while reciting the Shahada, as I, his spiritual advisor, had instructed him., , The execution of Orlando Hall on Nov. 19 was the first I had ever witnessed. As a business professor at Indiana…

MEE and agencies (2020-12-06). Egypt's Sisi arrives in France for controversial visit. middleeasteye.net Egypt's Sisi arrives in France for controversial visit | The Egyptian leader will discuss 'strategic partnership' with French President Emmanuel Macron during his three-day visit to Paris | Sun, 12/06/2020 – 10: 33 | Macron has faced criticism for hosting Sisi after Egypt jailed three rights activists after briefing diplomats from Europe and America on the state of human rights in Egypt (A…

Dave Markland (2020-12-06). Review of Hensman's 'Indefensible'. zcomm.org Defense of the Easily Defensible By Dave Markland In 2018 Haymarket Books published Rohini Hensman's Indefensible: Democracy, Counter-revolution and Anti-imperialist Rhetoric. Its focus is on left journalists and analysts like John Pilger and the late Edward S. Herman who have committed the inexcusable sin of being overly suspicious of United States foreign policy. Many readers

ACLU NorCal; Othering & Belonging Institute (2020-12-06). Wednesday 12/9: Rise Up for Justice: The Surveillance State, Social Safety, and Building Power. indybay.org Online webinar…

ANCSCC (2020-12-06). Thursday 12/17: ACLU Webinar on Alternative Response to 911 Calls. indybay.org Online Event: | us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m4PGnUKRRWCqdVdvdSBWjg

teleSUR (2020-12-06). Colombia: Prosecutors Investigate Directors of La Modelo Prison. telesurenglish.net Colombia's Attorney General Office (AGO) opened a disciplinary investigation against officials of "La Modelo" medium-security prison located in Bogota for the events that occurred during a riot on March 21. | RELATED: | The investigation will target La Modelo director Carlos Hincapie, Major Jorge Gama, and Custody Commander Lieutenant Elizabeth Vergara. | The riot concluded with the death of 24 inmates and 90 people inj…

_____ (2020-12-06). Venezuela Votes To End Neocolonialism, Create Its Own Path. popularresistance.org On December 2, the Embassy Protection Collective (EPC) members, who were arrested in May 2019 when the United States illegally invaded the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC, completed their probation, ending the risk of the 30 days in prison that was being held over their heads. The three who remain marked their freedom this week by traveling on December 3 to Venezuela to serve as official international election observers invited by the National Electoral Council. Travel to Venezuela is challenging at the moment due to the United States' illegal economic blockade.

Ralph Nader (2020-12-05). The Road to a More Just Society Runs Through Congress. commondreams.org Think about all the dreams for a better world that could come to be realized if our elected officials worked for the big majority of Americans instead of for Big Business interests. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/congress_5.jpg

Ajamu Baraka (2020-12-05). Will This Be the Radicalization of Black Lives Matter? zcomm.org The rulers have consciously moved to pre-empt the radicalization of the present moment by propping up what has now become a diversionary movement meant to de-politicize…

Jeff Barrows (2020-12-05). [Correspondence] Freedom from coercion is not discrimination. thelancet.com In the World Report about LGBTQ discrimination in US health care,1 the new US Department of Health and Human Services ruling and the Texas federal court ruling from 2019 are inaccurately portrayed. The Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) was one of the plaintiffs in the case.

ACLU Northern California (2020-12-05). Thursday 12/17: Bill of Rights Day 2020 Celebration Webinar w/ ACLU NorCal. indybay.org Online via Zoom…

WSWS (2020-12-05). Sri Lankan government activates lie machine to cover up prison killings. wsws.org Colombo has reacted to opposition to the shooting of unarmed protesting prisoners with increased repression.

_____ (2020-12-05). BLM Chapters Demand 'Accountability' From Trio That Cashed In On The Movement. popularresistance.org In 2013,three Black women social activist friends working in non-profit organizations in California invented the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter which, along with #Ferguson, became most identified with the mass movement that converged on Ferguson, Missouri, following the police killing of Mike Brown, in August of 2014. Soon the friends created a non-profit pocket to gather funds for favored projects, dubbed the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. The BLMGNF became the principal beneficiary of millions of dollars in individual and corporate philanthropy…

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-12-05). DOJ Prosecutes White Parents for Helping Their Kids Gain Admission to Elite Universities. thealtworld.com White parents whose children are discriminated against by affirmative action and kept out of prestige universities resorted to a scheme run by sports coach Rick Singer that allegedly boosted their chances of gaining admission to prestige institutions. It cost the parents a lot of money and is now costing them prison time. | Harvey Silverglate, a noted defense attorney and former head of the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts says that the parents are fraudulently convicted of a non-existent federal crime and are in fact victims rather than perpetrators of a corrupt college admissions system. Silvergl…

Paul Rosenberg (2020-12-05). Real gun reform without Congress: Lawsuits demolish the "good guy with a gun" salon.com Another example of changing policy without changing Congress: Legal action is rapidly changing the gun industry…

Tony Pecinovsky (2020-12-04). REVIEW: 'Ballad of an American'—Civil rights giant Paul Robeson's illustrated bio. peoplesworld.org This has been a tumultuous year. Millions marched in the streets against police brutality and violence after the killing of George Floyd. They were tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets and percussion grenades, and run over, among any number of other civil liberties abuses. Their demand was "Black Lives Matter!" Their persistence has scored some gains. …

Devin C (2020-12-04). Free Alabama Movement calls 'economic blackout' on prison system. workers.org Occupied Muscogee Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee, Shawnee, Yuchi lands The Free Alabama Movement, led primarily by Black men who are incarcerated in the state of Alabama, has declared a 30-day economic blackout — a boycott of for-profit prison services and a work strike — to protest inhumane conditions at prisons across . . . |

Betsey Piette (2020-12-04). Protesters call for release of incarcerated workers. workers.org Philadelphia Around 50 demonstrators gathered outside the Federal Detention Center at Seventh and Arch streets on Nov. 28 to demand the release of those on the inside — where at least 200 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in less than a month. In the past week, the detention center . . . |

Mirinda Crissman (2020-12-04). Remembering Leslie Feinberg — trans warrior, communist revolutionary. workers.org Six years since hir passing on Nov. 15, 2014, Leslie Feinberg's presence is still unshakable. Leslie Feinberg with Workers World Party founding members Dorothy Ballan and Sam Marcy in 1991. The struggle against oppressions that stem from capitalism rages on. That struggle for liberation has literally been pushed forward by . . . |

Ria Tabacco Mar (2020-12-04). The Biden Administration's Women's Rights To-Do List. aclu.org Over the past four years, the Trump administration has gone out of its way to launch attacks on women — including in housing, the workplace, and schools. When President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris take office, their administration and Congress must make it a top priority to not just undo the damage, but to push forward an agenda that will ensure everyone has the freedom to live, work, learn, and serve free from discrimination based on sex., , Here are just a few of the many items that should top the Biden administration's to-do list: , , Assure safe and stable housing for women and famili…

Project Censored (2020-12-01). #24. Silenced in Savannah: Journalist Abby Martin Challenges Georgia's BDS "Gag Law" projectcensored.org Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that aims to end support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians, was scheduled to give a…

Project Censored (2020-12-01). #25. Studies Document Links between Education, Incarceration, and Recidivism. projectcensored.org Two research studies document links between education, incarceration, and recidivism, as covered in articles published by ColorLines, Usable Knowledge, and Citizen Truth. In September 2019, ColorLines reported that attending a…