Daily Archives: 2020-12-20

2020-12-20: News Headlines

Tiago Correia (2020-12-20). Elderly 110 lb. woman shot and killed by jail guard in Spokane, Wa. liberationnews.org "We demand justice for Nancy King, which begins with a thorough and independent investigation and by jailing killer cops."

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-20). At least 140 Palestinians contract COVID-19 in Israeli jails. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 20 (MNA) — At least 140 Palestinian inmates in the Zionist regime's jails have contracted COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in early March this year, a Palestinian official said.

_____ (2020-12-20). 2020 Saw Resurgence Of Strikes Around the World. popularresistance.org Like every other social movement in the U.S. this year, the compounding crises of 2020 proved a catalyzing force for the labor movement, compelling essential and frontline workers to join picket lines to ensure basic protections and increased pay as they continue to face disproportionate risks and increasingly perilous working conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. | But essential workers weren't the only sector on strike this year: Prisoners and tenants across the country also withheld their labor and rent to fight for their fundamental human right to life and housing. Building momentum after major strike waves…

Fight Back (2020-12-20). National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression demands release of Filipino trade unionists. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) demanding the release of jailed trade union leaders in the Philippines. | Greetings of solidarity to the Filipino people as they struggle courageously for the national liberation of their people from the bondage of U.S. imperialism | As always, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Filipino people for national democracy and call for the immediate release of the HRDay7. Six trade unionists with the…

Online News Editor (2020-12-20). Thailand defends lese-majeste law after UN voices concern. laprensalatina.com Bangkok, Dec 20 (efe-epa).- The government of Thailand has defended its lese-majeste law, which stipulates up to 15 years in prison for criticizing the royal family, after the United Nations called for its reform and cautioned against using it on pro-democracy protesters. Government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said in a statement on Saturday that the law …

Patricia Gorky (2020-12-19). The penalty for half a million deaths? A stern talking-to before Congress. liberationnews.org Corporate drug kingpins are given the privilege of choosing to appear before Congress in a video conference, while more than 2 million prisoners are forced into squalid conditions.

Devin Cole (2020-12-19). Swift Justice: 'A fight from the inside out'. workers.org These slightly edited comments are from a Dec. 10 webinar organized by the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. Swift Justice is currently incarcerated within the Alabama Department of Corrections system. For more on prison stoppage by the Free Alabama Movement, see Workers World, Dec. 4. Co-moderator Devin C.: . . . |

A Guest Author (2020-12-19). Ramsey Prison Unit: The terror of Texas. workers.org By Nanon M. Williams Nanon Williams was arrested in 1992 at age 17 for capital murder and spent years on death row. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled people under 18 could not be sentenced to death. His sentence, along with 70 others, was commuted to life and he . . . |

WSWS (2020-12-19). One in five US prisoners has contracted COVID-19, more than 1,700 have died. wsws.org The staggering totals for infections and deaths show that the ruling elite's policy of "herd immunity" is even more concentrated within prison walls, where prisoners are confined to close quarters and social distancing is nearly impossible.

teleSUR, ce (2020-12-19). Chilean Police Arrest at Least 30 Anti-Piñera Protesters. telesurenglish.net Santiago de Chile was again the scene this Friday of protests to demand the resignation of the President Sebastián Piñera, which ended with the arrest of at least 30 protesters. | RELATED: | The militarized police reported that they had arrested that number of participants in the demonstrations, whose objective was also to demand the freedom of people who were imprisoned during the protests that broke out in October…

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2020-12-19). Health Care and Black Lives Matter. zcomm.org "The backlash in which white people proclaimed All Lives Matter clearly had no understanding of the issue. Blacks weren't saying that Black lives mattered more, they were emphasizing that, the way the system works now, Black Lives Matter … Less."

Special to People's World (2020-12-18). Remembering protest singer Phil Ochs on his 80th birthday. peoplesworld.org For those not fortunate enough to recall, Phil Ochs was one of our nation's most profound singer/songwriters in the period that bridged the Civil Rights, antiwar, and feminist movements. He was born on December 19, 1940: This week, he would have been 80 years old. His topical songs called for peace and an equitable society. They called for …

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-12-18). As Pandemic Rages On, Analysis Finds 1 in 5 People in US Prisons Infected With Covid-19. commondreams.org The new data follow the ACLU's warning that America's "unique obsession with incarceration has become our Achilles heel when it comes to combating the spread of Covid-19." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/covid-prisons-1in5.png

Staff (2020-12-18). 2020 Saw Resurgence of Strikes as a Key Tactic for Labor Around the World. truthout.org Like every other social movement in the U.S. this year, the compounding crises of 2020 proved a catalyzing force for the labor movement, compelling essential and frontline workers to join picket lines to ensure basic protections and increased pay as they continue to face disproportionate risks and increasingly perilous working conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. | But essential workers weren't the only sector on strike this year: Prisoners and tenants across the country also withheld their la…

commondreams (2020-12-18). ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Census Ruling. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-12-18). Abuse on the Mainland: Australia's Medevac Hotel Detentions. counterpunch.org Governments that issue press releases about the abuse of human rights tend to avoid close gazes at the mirror. Doing so would be telling. In the case of Australia, its record on dealing with refugees is both abysmal and cruel. It tends to be easier to point the finger at national security laws in Hong

John Laforge (2020-12-18). Air Force Veterans of Plutonium Dust Disaster Win Class Action Standing. counterpunch.org Air force veterans exposed to plutonium after a first-ever US nuclear weapons disaster in Spain have won extremely rare recognition as a class in a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. On Jan. 17, 1966, an air force B-52 bomber exploded over the village of Palomares, Spain during a routine airborne refueling. Seven airmen

Ashley Curtin (2020-12-18). Google faces major antitrust lawsuits for alleged search monopoly. nationofchange.org "As the gateway to the internet, Google has systematically degraded the ability of other companies to access consumers."

ACLU (2020-12-18). The Winner of the 2020 Election: Drug Legalization. aclu.org The 2020 election was notable for many reasons, but one winner really stood out: drug legalization. Five states legalized either medicinal or adult use of marijuana. Oregon and went even further, becoming the first state to decriminalize the personal use and possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The momentum garnered from these cross-country wins helped push the

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-18). Workers of Leica plant in Portugal protest wage discrimination. peoplesdispatch.org The workers at the Lousado plant of the German company Leica in Portugal organised a protest demanding a salary hike and an end to the harassment faced by workers…

Direct Action Everywhere (2020-12-18). Sunday 12/20: Jail Support Simulation Training. indybay.org Online Zoom…

Greg Hyver (2020-12-18). Free Speech Protest in Downtown Santa Cruz. indybay.org Watch the free speech protest held on Church Street on December 11th in downtown Santa Cruz, challenging for city of 1st and 14th Amendment rights violations. Also, recently published survey results of Santa Cruz County residents on political issues ranging from their media to Black Lives Matter. Eye-opening.

Eric Foner (2020-12-18). We Are Not Done With Abolition. zcomm.org The framers of the 13th Amendment did not intend to establish an empire of prison labor…

MEE staff (2020-12-17). Saudi Arabia: British MPs urge UK to impose sanctions on Riyadh for detaining royals. middleeasteye.net Saudi Arabia: British MPs urge UK to impose sanctions on Riyadh for detaining royals | Cross-party probe concludes that Mohammed bin Nayef and Prince Ahmed are being mistreated in detention | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 13: 30 | Saudi Arabia did not accept the MPs request to see Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (right) after he was detained in an unknown location since March 2020 (AFP) | British MPs have called on…

Johnnie Lewis (2020-12-17). Incarcerated rise up against COVID deaths, raging infections. workers.org Coffin of a Stafford Creek incarcerated person. On Dec. 9 an incarcerated person at Stafford Creek "men's" prison, near Aberdeen, Wash., died of COVID-19. The same week, coronavirus infections tripled from 85 to 237 among the imprisoned there. In response to this person's death and the alarming increase in infections, . . . |

Pip Hinman (2020-12-17). NSW government under scrutiny for strip searches, 'war on drugs'. greenleft.org.au The push back against NSW Police's 'war on drugs' is growing as they pay up hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits and restrictions on strip-searches are being considered by the parliament. Rachel Evans reports.