(2020-12-24). Wearing a Cross But Violating Basic Christian Values. counterpunch.org Everything that comes out of the White House today — the lies, the false claims of election fraud, the absurd lawsuits — makes me retreat and recoil. But I feel a particular sense of dread whenever I am watching the TV news and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany steps up to the podium in the White
(2020-12-24). Court orders release of those accused in Daniel Pearl killing. laprensalatina.com Islamabad, Dec 24 (efe-epa)- The Sindh High Court in Pakistan on Thursday declared null and void a warrant for the pre-trial detention of the main accused in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and ordered his release. "The court ordered to release Khalid Sheikh and three other accomplices," the prosecutor general of the southeastern …
(2020-12-23). COVID and prisons: No walls, no borders in the workers' struggle. workers.org 
Texas "It's a nonviolent protest going on right now because the officers [in an unnamed Texas prison], in the middle of the coronavirus, have refused us electricity for several hours, no showers or anything." The voice is that of an incarcerated human being on video taken inside a Texas prison. . . . |
(2020-12-23). Black Lives Matter and France's Global Security Law. workers.org 
It is sometimes hard to realize the worldwide impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. Language, culture and media indifference can all get in the way. Some countries just don't have the type of events — protests, marches, rallies — for a variety of reasons, where the influence of BLM . . . |
(2020-12-23). Black Panther in struggle: The continued imprisonment of Russell Maroon Shoatz. workers.org 
Since 1972 — nearly half a century ago — Russell Maroon Shoatz has languished in a prison cell built on stolen land, poisoned and irradiated by the fossil fuel industry. A Black Panther Party member and soldier in the Black Liberation Army, Shoatz was falsely accused of killing a cop . . . |
(2020-12-23). My wish for 2021? We all start fighting back, now. thecanary.co 
Boom. Bam. You know who it is. Yung Drilly, aka Drillminister — writing for The Canary. I'm running for London Mayor in 2021. And with the mess that our politicians have made in the past 12 months, we need radical change and quickly. So, here's my message as we head to towards the New Year.Black Lives Matter. But do they really?: This year has laid bare the open corruption and political violence in our society. It held a magnifying glass to the hate. And even though it's obvious for all to see — nothing has changed.The UK saw the reverberations of George Floyd's murder echo across the streets of…
(2020-12-23). Palestinian American released from US prison after serving 15 years in Holy Land case. middleeasteye.net 
Palestinian American released from US prison after serving 15 years in Holy Land case | Abdulrahman Odeh was convicted in case denounced by rights groups for using 'unsubstantiated evidence' | Wed, 12/23/2020 – 16: 39 | US designated Holy Land Foundation 'terrorist organisation' after 9/11 attacks (AFP/File photo) | Palestinian American Abdulrahman Odeh was released from a US prison after serving 15 years foll…
(2020-12-23). Best of 2020: I'm a public defender. My elderly client might die in prison from COVID-19. salon.com Our 2020 retrospective continues with this essay on why releasing some from prison won't fix a broken system…
(2020-12-23). Arkansas Politicians' Relentless Push to End Abortion Access, and Humiliate and Shame Abortion Patients. aclu.org This week, the ACLU is back in court working to protect the constitutional right to abortion in Arkansas. In 2017, the state legislature passed four anti-abortion laws to severely restrict access to abortion. If allowed to take effect, these laws would ban the only method of abortion provided in Arkansas after approximately 14 weeks in pregnancy; require that patients' partners or others be notified of their abortion; force the health care center to report teenage patients' abortion to local police where there is no reason to suspect a crime; and force physicians to request a vast number of medical records for…
(2020-12-23). Turkey sentences former Kurdish parliamentarian to 22 years in prison. peoplesdispatch.org Leyla Gàºven — former Kurdish parliamentarian in Turkey has been sentenced to over 22 years in prison for alleged links with a "terrorist group" and disseminating "terrorist propaganda." Gàºven has been vocal about the plight of Kurdish people.
(2020-12-23). Remembering William Winter: Mississippi governor championed public education and civil rights. splcenter.org  …
(2020-12-23). A Tale of Two Body Camera Videos. aclu.org Over the past month, two high-profile incidents reaffirmed why police body cameras cannot serve as a police transparency and accountability tool as long as state law empowers the police to determine what footage the public gets to see. As we have said
(2020-12-23). Colombian social organizations hail release of peasant leaders, condemn 'frame-up'. peoplesdispatch.org Following mobilizations calling for their release, the judge overseeing the case ruled that the three leaders – Teófilo Acuña, Adelso Gallo and Robert Daza – will not be held in preventative detention while they await trial…
(2020-12-23). Chile: Court Ratifies Detention for Ex-Cop Who Blinded a Man. telesurenglish.net Santiago City's 7th Guarantee Court Tuesday ratified the preventive detention of former Military police lieutenant colonel Claudio Crespo, who is accused of blinding young Gustavo Gatica during a protest in 2019. | RELATED: | After an eight-hour hearing, Judge Cristian Sanchez ruled in favor of maintaining the precautionary measure despite Crespo's defense claims. | The officer commited "a grave crime and will remain in p…
(2020-12-23). Jacobin glorifies Dolores Ibárruri, Stalinist executioner of the Spanish Revolution. wsws.org The Stalinist suppression of the Barcelona working class and ensuing blood purge broke the back of the revolution and ensured the victory of Franco's fascist forces. Ramon Mercader, the GPU operative who murdered Leon Trotsky in Mexico in August of 1940, cut his teeth as a Stalinist killer during the mass repression in Spain. None of this is even mentioned in the Jacobin article.
(2020-12-23). NY Police Continue To Combat The Release Of Disciplinary Records. popularresistance.org In the Syracuse suburb of Manlius, police transparency carries a hefty price tag. | In June, the Manlius Police Department received an open-records request from MuckRock. The request sought documents detailing any allegations of misconduct against current or former officers and any discipline the department imposed. | The department replied with a bill. For $47,504. | Six months ago, New York lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo repealed Section 50-a of the state Civil Rights Law, a once-obscure provision that had been used to shield police disciplinary records from public view for decades. | The repeal came amid nati…
(2020-12-23). Black Lives Matter. thenation.com Black Lives Matter…
(2020-12-23). Outrage After Sacramento Police Illegally Detain and Terrorize 14-Year-Old African-American. indybay.org An African-American mother has expressed outrage at the ongoing practice of illegal detention by the Sacramento Police Department after the City's police officers detained and harassed her under aged son without provocation for the second time in fifteen months.
(2020-12-23). NY Attorney General subpoenas pro-Trump troll Jacob Wohl for voter suppression scheme. salon.com Wohl and Jack Burkman have been criminally indicted in Ohio and Michigan in connection with the robocall scheme…
(2020-12-23). The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project (GERD) and the Quest for African Unity. globalresearch.ca Since November 4, the focus of the international community in their observations of the internal conflict in Ethiopia has largely been centered on the central government's suppression of a rebellion against its authority in the northern region of Tigray. | Within …
(2020-12-23). Women's Climate Justice Group Joins Lawsuit Targeting Trump Administration's Elimination of Tongass National Forest Protections. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-12-22). Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ): The Suppression of a Proven COVID Remedy. globalresearch.ca Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been an FDA approved drug for over 65 years. It has been on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines since the list began in 1977. People have been safely treated with HCQ billions of times …
(2020-12-22). Freedom Denied: Minor parole violations keep Alabama man tangled in state's prison system. splcenter.org  …
(2020-12-22). Solidarity with the trade unionists in the Philippines, Human Rights Day 7. fightbacknews.org We strongly condemn the repression that has been unleashed against leading trade unionists in the Philippines and stand in solidarity with the militant labor federation Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) / May First Movement. | On Human Rights Day, December 10, the Philippine National Police raided the homes and jailed Dennise Velasco of Defend Jobs Philippines; Romina Astudillo, Deputy Secretary-General of Kilusang Mayo Uno-Metro Manila; Mark Ryan Cruz, Regional Executive Committee of KMU-Metro Manila; Jaymie Gregorio Jr. of KMU-Metro Manila; Joel Demate of Solidarity of Labor Rights and Welfare (SOLAR); Rodrigo Esparago o…
(2020-12-22). The FBI is Secretly Breaking Into Encrypted Devices. We're Suing. aclu.org The FBI is secretly breaking the encryption that secures our cell phones and laptops from identity thieves, hackers, and abusive governments, and it refuses to even acknowledge that it has information about these efforts — even though some details have been filed publicly in federal court. We're suing to get some answers., , Between our emails, text messages, location information, social media activity, and more, our cell phones hold almost our entire lives. In recent years, governments have stepped up efforts to gain access to the information on our cell phones and personal computers. The federal govern…
(2020-12-22). What If the Christ Child Had Been Born in the American Police State? dissidentvoice.org When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the …
(2020-12-22). Number of Journalists Murdered in Retaliation for Their Work More Than Doubled in 2020: Report. commondreams.org "The fact that murder is on the rise and the number of journalists imprisoned around the world hit a record is a clear demonstration that press freedom is under unprecedented assault." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/af.jpg …
(2020-12-22). People Incarcerated in Alabama Are Pushing for a New Year's Prison Strike. truthout.org The Free Alabama Movement (FAM), a group of incarcerated people and supporters who were involved in organizing the famed prison strikes of
(2020-12-21). Arabic press review: Saudi Arabia and UAE bankrolling Arab states' Israel deals. middleeasteye.net 
Arabic press review: Saudi Arabia and UAE bankrolling Arab states' Israel deals | Meanwhile, Jordanian prisoner numbers soar and Egypt revokes citizenship of 17 people under nationality law | Mon, 12/21/2020 – 16: 12 | A Moroccan diplomat said that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were sponsoring normalisation agreements on behalf of the US (AFP) | Saudi Arabia, UAE bankrolling normalisation agreeme…
(2020-12-21). Political Science and the Fate of the Wolverine. counterpunch.org 
On December 14, 2020, 24 organizations and one individual (me) filed two different lawsuits to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decision not to list the wolverine as a threatened Distinct Population Segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The plaintiffs are arguing the FWS decision was capricious and arbitrary. The wolverine,
(2020-12-21). Donald Trump Administration's Approval of "Radioactive Roads": Lawsuit against EPA. globalresearch.ca Environmental, public health and union groups The EPA has long prohibi…
(2020-12-21). Detroit is Suing Black Lives Matter Protesters for "Civil Conspiracy" zcomm.org The city's lawsuit came after protesters won a restraining order against Detroit cops for their violent response to the George Floyd protests…