Daily Archives: 2020-09-19

2020-09-19: News Headlines

Arielle Robinson (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 . . . |

A Guest Author (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 . . . |

A Guest Author (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 . . . |

The Canary (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…

Anthony D. Romero (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…

The Struggle Continues (2020-09-19). 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

Jeremy Brecher (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…

Stop the Frame-Up (2020-09-19). 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

Meghan A Bohren, Kwame Adu-Bonsaffoh, Theresa Azonima Irinyenikan, Thae Maung Maung, Mamadou Dioulde Balde, àñzge Tunàßalp (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.

Staff (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. | "

Fight Back (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…

Rayhan Uddin (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…

A. Majumdar (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 . . . |

Harun al-Aswad (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…

RT (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…

Daniel Warner (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.

Peoples Dispatch (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…

Editor (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). 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…

ACLU Northern California (2020-09-18). Thursday 9/24: Virtual Speak Out: Tell UC Health System to Protect LGBTQ+ and Reproductive Healthcare. indybay.org Online…

commondreams (2020-09-18). ACLU Comment on TikTok and WeChat Transaction Prohibition. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Andrea Woods (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

Abdul Rahman (2020-09-17). WikiLeaks' Guantanamo files exposed inhumane American 'war on terror'. peoplesdispatch.org The documents published by Wikileaks in 2011 revealed how top US officials were directly involved in the torture and illegal detention of many innocents. This explains the US attempt to punish Julian Assange for revealing their failures…

_____ (2020-09-17). Assange Court Report September 16: Afternoon. popularresistance.org A famous Vietnam era whistleblower, 89-year-old Daniel Ellsberg, has told a court that he feels "a great identification," with both Julian Assange and his source Chelsea Manning, who, he said, "were willing to suffer the risk of imprisonment or even death to get information to the American public." | Ellsberg, a former US Marine officer who served with the US State Department in Vietnam during the war years, is best known for leaking a huge tranche of US government documents on the war to the New York Times in 1970, documents that showed that the government had been lying to the American people about the conflict…

_____ (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…

MEE and agencies (2020-09-17). Coronavirus: More than 200 cases at Lebanon's biggest prison, union leader says. middleeasteye.net Coronavirus: More than 200 cases at Lebanon's biggest prison, union leader says | Head of doctors' union blames prisoners for the spike in infections, saying they were not abiding by health measures | Thu, 09/17/2020 – 12: 59 | Roumieh prison houses more than 4,000 prisoners, around three times its intended capacity, and has long been infamous for its poor conditions (AFP) | Lebanon's larg…

MEE and agencies (2020-09-17). UN experts call on Algerian authorities to release jailed journalist. middleeasteye.net UN experts call on Algerian authorities to release jailed journalist | Khaled Drareni was given two-year prison sentence for coverage of Algeria's year-long protest movement | Thu, 09/17/2020 – 16: 50 | Journalists rallied in Algiers in support of Khaled Drareni earlier this week (AFP) | Independent experts at the United Nations have called on Algerian authorities to release journalist Kha…

Liberation Staff (2020-09-17). Police operation arrests anti-racist organizers in Denver area. liberationnews.org Police agencies in the Denver area arrested anti-racist organizers in a coordinated assault today. Those arrested were the leaders to demand justice for Elijah McClain, who was brutally murdered by the Aurora Police Department. 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.

Shakeer Rahman — Brendan McQuade (2020-09-17). Police Bureaucracy and Abolition: Why Reforms Driven by Professionals will Renew State Oppression. counterpunch.org The demands are clear: defund and abolish police. As those calls grow, so will efforts by reformers to propose new rules and regulations that they say will "improve" and restore "legitimacy" to policing. These bureaucratic reforms reflect the failed thinking that built up the carceral state, and they will make policing harder to dismantle.

RT (2020-09-17). Big Brother for sale: Moscow woman sues city authorities after 'buying data' on her own movements from dark web. rt.com A Moscow woman is suing the city's mayor's office and demanding that it stops using a facial recognition system on the Russian capital's streets, after she bought data on the dark web about her own movements. | Anna Kuznetsova filed a lawsuit for 100,000 rubles ($1,300) of compensation, after she found a person selling data online and anonymously ordered information about herself. Kuznetsova works for Roskomsvoboda, a project which promotes freedom of information and privacy on the internet. | "She sent a photo, and two days later received a report for the previous month with detailed information about where h…

RT (2020-09-17). Princeton president's letter decrying 'racism' of institution BACKFIRES as Dept of Education announces investigation of university. rt.com The Department of Education has announced it will investigate Princeton University after President Christopher Eisgruber wrote a letter decrying his school's "racism" and the US's "anti-blackness." | A formal records request has been sent to the university to make sure they are not using racist practices and violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says that no person "on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." | If found…

RT (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…

WSWS (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.

Peoples Dispatch (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…

Families Belong Together (2020-09-17). Wednesday 9/16: Emergency Action: Forced Sterilizations in ICE Detention Centers (urgent webinar). indybay.org Online via zoom…

Build Back Better (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.

Build Back Better (2020-09-17). Build Back Better with Reform, Justice, Equality, Democracy, Rights… indybay.org Want reform, equality, justice, liberty? Want Black Lives to Matter? Learn about how you can help Biden and Harris Build Back Better.

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-09-17). Civil Rights Commission Calls for End to Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities. commondreams.org "Paying workers with disabilities a subminimum wage is discrimination—plain and simple—and it's way past time we repeal this outdated policy." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/disability_rights.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-09-17). House Passes 'Historic' Legislation to Protect Pregnant Workers From Discrimination, Prompting Calls for Senate to Follow Suit. commondreams.org Labor rights and women's rights advocates called on the U.S. Senate to follow suit on Thursday after the Democratic-led House passed an historic bipartisan bill to protect the rights of pregnant workers—but expressed little hope that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would prioritize the legislation. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-533768447_1.jpg

Asiah Williams (2020-09-17). Of Course Republicans Want to Suppress the Youth Vote. thenation.com Of Course Republicans Want to Suppress the Youth Vote…

_____ (2020-09-16). Day Nine: Julian Assange Extradition Hearing. popularresistance.org Things became not merely dramatic in the Assange courtroom today, but spiteful and nasty. There were two real issues, the evidence and the procedure. On the evidence, there were stark details of the dreadful regime Assange will face in US jails if extradited. On the procedure, we saw behaviour from the prosecution QC that went well beyond normal cross examination and was a real attempt to denigrate and even humiliate the witness. I hope to prove that to you by a straightforward exposition of what happened today in court, after which I shall add further comment.

WSWS (2020-09-16). London bus drivers resolve to fight for Assange's freedom. wsws.org The first action of the newly formed London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee was to pass a resolution calling for the defence of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange on Trial: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures. counterpunch.org DAY FIVE Having had a coronavirus scare towards the end of last week, necessitating a brief suspension of proceedings for September 11, the extradition proceedings for Julian Assange resumed with Eric Lewis. The chairman of the board of Reprieve, who has cut his teeth on representing Afghan detainees in US custody and those in Guantánamo,

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange's Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions. dissidentvoice.org September 15. Central Criminal Court, London. Today, witnesses appearing in the extradition trial of Julian Assange fleshed out some points touched upon the previous day: the fate awaiting the WikiLeaks publisher in the US prison system, and the political nature of process. Before commencing, Judge Vanessa Baraitser was a touch peeved. She noted that one …

Staff (2020-09-16). Noura Erakat: Trump's Bahrain-UAE-Israel Deal Won't Advance Palestinian Peace & Will Up Repression. democracynow.org As the Trump administration celebrates deals establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, we speak with Palestinian American legal scholar Noura Erakat, who says Trump's "peace" agreements are a sham. "This is not about advancing any kind of meaningful, enduring peace, but instead about entrenching a geopolitical alliance that would otherwise increase oppression for people of the Middle East," says Erakat, assistant professor at Rutgers University and author of "Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine."

Staff (2020-09-16). Continue to Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor's Family Wants Cops Arrested After Historic $12M Settlement. democracynow.org The city of Louisville, Kentucky, will pay a historic $12 million settlement to the family of Breonna Taylor, more than six months after police shot and killed the 26-year-old Black emergency room technician in her own apartment and Taylor became a household name as part of the nationwide uprising in defense of Black lives. It is one of the largest payouts ever for a police killing of a Black person in the U.S. The city will also institute major reforms to the police department responsible for Taylor's death. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced the settlement at a press conference, where he was joined by memb…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Nearly 3,500 Palestinians killed during Netanyahu era. yenisafak.com During the prime ministry of Benjamin Netanyahu, who signed an agreement with the UAE and Bahrain to normalize relations, nearly 3,500 Palestinians, including many women and children, were martyred and thousands of others injured in the attacks of Israeli forces.Netanyahu, shown as one of the chief architects of Israel's oppression and violations against Palestine, served as the prime minister during the two bloody attacks on the Gaza Strip under the blockade by the Israeli army.According to the data of the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, nearly 3,500 Palestinian Palestinians have been martyred in the attacks of t…

WSWS (2020-09-16). Nurse alleges forced sterilizations, medical malpractice at Georgia immigrant detention center. wsws.org The chilling report provides further evidence of the sadistic abuse meted out by the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants.

commondreams (2020-09-16). HHS is Withholding Health and Safety Data on Active Migrant Detention Center. commondreams.org ______________________________…