2021-01-13: News Headlines

_____ (2021-01-13). On His Way To Prison, Activist Advocates For COVID-19 Prisoner Release. popularresistance.org On Thursday (Jan. 14), Patrick O'Neill will report to the Federal Correctional Institution near Elkton, Ohio, to serve a 14-month sentence for breaking into a nuclear submarine base as part of a symbolic nuclear disarmament action he took up with six other Catholic pacifists more than two years ago. | But on his way to prison, O'Neill has taken up a new cause: protecting inmates from COVID-19. | Some 329,298 prisoners across the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus and about 2,020 have died, according to the Marshall Project, the online journalism organization focused on criminal justice. | Pris…

Max Blumenthal (2021-01-13). Chaos agent: Right-wing blames US Capitol riot on notorious instigator banished by Black Lives Matter. thegrayzone.com John Sullivan was at the front of the Trumpist mob in the Capitol, egging it on as he recorded the rampage. The far-right is pointing to him as proof of Antifa's role in the riot. But leftist activists call him a dangerous provocateur and have banished him. The most dramatic footage to emerge from the far-right storming of the US Capitol on January 6 depicted the lethal shooting of Ashli Babbit, a pro-Trump activist and military veteran, by a Capitol …

MEE staff (2021-01-13). Rights group calls on US Muslims to be 'extra vigilant' in wake of Capitol riot. middleeasteye.net Rights group calls on US Muslims to be 'extra vigilant' in wake of Capitol riot | Council on American-Islamic Relations says threat posed by far-right white supremacist violence is high and Muslims may be targets | Wed, 01/13/2021 – 21: 17 | CAIR urges mosques and other Islamic institutions to take measures outlined in its safety booklet (AFP) | A leading Muslim-American civil rights and advocacy group urged M…

Mike Garrity (2021-01-13). Alliance for the Wild Rockies Sues Over Impacts on Grizzlies from Widespread Illegal Motorized Use on National Forests. counterpunch.org The Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed a lawsuit in federal district court on Friday over impacts to threatened grizzly bears from widespread illegal road use across the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest in Montana. Illegal motorized use includes motorized use on "closed" roads by driving around gates or barriers or ripping them out, as

Devin Cole (2021-01-13). Building an Inside-led prison abolition movement. workers.org On Jan. 5, Devin Cole spoke with Free Alabama Movement co-founder and freedom fighter Bennu Hannibal Ra Sun about the economic side of the ongoing 30-day Economic Blackout and Alabama prison strike in January, the growth of social media and prison abolition, and what it will take to build a . . . |

William J. Astore (2021-01-13). We're all POWs Now: When Will America Free Itself From War? juancole.com ( Tomdispatch.com) — "POWs Never Have A Nice Day." That sentiment was captured on a button a friend of mine wore for our fourth grade class photo in 1972. That prisoners of war could never have such a day was reinforced by the sad face on that button. Soon after, American POWs would indeed be …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-13). US indigenous group files lawsuit to stop approval for planned copper mine. peoplesdispatch.org The Apache people in the state of Arizona have been fighting against a planned copper mine in Oak Flat by the controversial company Rio Tinto…

Democracy (2021-01-13). Rep. Jim Jordan Projects His Own Vote Fraud Onto Democrats. indybay.org As Trump in 2020 once again hired Nathan Sproul, vote fraudster whose operatives have gone to jail for throwing away Demcratic voter registrations, Jim Jordan, sitting in the nation's perhaps most gerrymandered district, projected vote crimes onto Democrats.

Fight Back (2021-01-13). FRSO online event to mark Martin Luther King Day. fightbacknews.org The The program will draw lessons from the rebellion and offer direction for the peoples' struggle in the year to come. It will feature Frank Chapman, speaking for the Central Committee of the FRSO and Aislinn Pulley, of Black Lives Matter-Chicago. The program will be moderated by Michael Sampson of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression or NAARPR, from Jackso…

Sandra Park (2021-01-12). Tenants' Right to Counsel is Critical to Fight Mass Evictions and Advance Race Equity During the Pandemic and Beyond. aclu.org As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on and worsens, people across the country face the devastation left in its wake. The public health and economic consequences of the pandemic have cost millions of people their jobs and the ability to pay rent — leaving far too many renters facing the added threat of eviction and losing their homes., , The patchwork of responses has yet to slow down the eviction crisis thus far. Congress first responded through the CARES Act by putting a halt on evictions with a moratorium for a fraction of tenants across the country, but this expired in July 2020. In September, the Cent…

Betsey Piette (2021-01-12). Free Maroon! Jan. 18 day of actions. workers.org Prison abolitionists in several Northeast cities are organizing "Justice Is Dead" car caravans on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to demand an end of "Death by COVID" in prisons. The Jan. 18 actions will target governors in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who have allowed genocidal prison neglect to . . . |

MEE staff (2021-01-12). 'Horrific barbarism': UK to ban Chinese imports linked to forced Uighur labour. middleeasteye.net 'Horrific barbarism': UK to ban Chinese imports linked to forced Uighur labour | Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says China's use of forced Uighur prison labour is 'truly horrific barbarism we had hoped lost to another era' | Tue, 01/12/2021 – 18: 41 | Protesters at a rally in Hong Kong in support of the Uighur minority in China, December 2019 (AFP/File photo) | The United Kingdom has accused China of human rig…

MEE staff (2021-01-12). Gym, spa and snooker: Egyptians condemn 'seven-star prison' for Mubarak officials. middleeasteye.net Gym, spa and snooker: Egyptians condemn 'seven-star prison' for Mubarak officials | Former prisoner reveals Mubarak's sons and aides were in luxury jails, prompting accusations of discrimination against prisoners of conscience | Tue, 01/12/2021 – 14: 49 | Alaa (left) and Gamal Mubarak, the sons of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, arrive for their trial on corruption charges in Cairo, 9 July 2012. They were rele…

Nadda Osman (2021-01-12). Egypt: Prison sentences overturned for TikTok influencers. middleeasteye.net Egypt: Prison sentences overturned for TikTok influencers | Young women originally convicted of 'violating public morals' in case internationally condemned | Tue, 01/12/2021 – 14: 39 | The Egyptian content creators were originally charged with 'violating public morals' (AFP) | Cairo's Economic Appeals Court overturned the prison sentences of TikTok content creators Haneen Hossam and Mowada al-Adham on Tu…

IMEMC News (2021-01-12). Former Political Prisoner Dies From Cancer That Went Untreated In Prison. imemc.org The Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Committee has reported that a young Palestinian man who was only released from Israeli detention camps a few months ago, had died, on Monday evening, from cancer that went untreated while he was held captive. The Committee stated that Mohammad Eyada Salahuddin, 20, from Hizma town, east of the occupied …

IMEMC News (2021-01-12). PPS: "Israeli Soldiers Abduct Fourteen Palestinians In West Bank" imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Tuesday at dawn, fourteen Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, after the army broke into and ransacked dozens of homes. The PPS office in Tulkarem, in northern West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Mohammad Wasfi Jallad, 54, …

Caleb Granger (2021-01-12). Sexual assault rampant in ICE detention centers across Texas. liberationnews.org Across the state of Texas, women have been brutalized, beaten and deported before they were able to testify against their abusers.

Brian Tashman (2021-01-12). As Sheriffs Quit ICE, Joe Biden Can Lead the Way in Restoring Trust. aclu.org This month, two newly-elected sheriffs canceled contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The sheriffs in Gwinnett County, Georgia and Charleston County, South Carolina were

_____ (2021-01-12). Driver Lawsuit Says Uber And Lyft's Proposition 22 Is Unconstitutional. popularresistance.org A trio of ride-hail drivers filed a lawsuit in California's Supreme Court on Tuesday alleging Proposition 22 is unconstitutional. The proposition was voted into law by California residents in November and ensures gig workers in the state are classified as independent contractors, rather than employees. | Proposition 22 was authored by gig economy companies, including Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart, which spent more than $205 million to get the ballot measure passed. It exempts the companies from a state law requiring that they treat their workers as employees. | The proposition has only been in effect for one…

commondreams (2021-01-12). Supreme Court Will Hear Big Oil's Plea to Escape Accountability in Climate Damages Lawsuit Jan. 19. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Death Penalty Abolition (2021-01-12). Biden Asked To Withdraw ProExecution Garland As AG. indybay.org Biden chose for AG Merrick Garland, who as a prosecutor called for the death penalty and was instrumental in the passage of the unconstitutional 96 pro execution law, who denied GTMO prisoner rights, upheld draconian marijuana regulations, denied most prisoner mercy appeals, and paved the way for Citizens United ruling that $ is speech.

commondreams (2021-01-12). Latest Lawsuit Challenges Trump Sale of Montana Public Lands for Fracking. commondreams.org ______________________________…

William Astore (2021-01-12). We're All Prisoners of War Now. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-828424640.jpg …

Greg Roest (2021-01-12). Payments to Alaskans are Not a UBI. realprogressives.org Supporters of a federally funded Universal Basic Income (UBI) often incorrectly point to the dividends paid from Alaska's Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) as a proof of concept. This view is detached from reality in both scale and operation. Looking at Alaska for a federal model does not utilize our existing capability to provide a better life for all people and looking elsewhere for a federal model requires the study of macroeconomics and oppression. Further, calls for a UBI should not be conflated with a basic income underneath the umbrella of a Federal Job Guarantee (FJG), and alongside enshrined universal…

Ed Rampell (2021-01-12). By Any Means Necessary: The FBI vs. Civil Rights. progressive.org This new documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the agency's dirty war against the 'Black Messiah.'

VINS (2021-01-12). California Overlooks Formerly Incarcerated Firefighters. projectcensored.org During California's 2020 wildfire crisis, the state exploited prison labor to meet a labor shortage in fire fighters. As VICE's Motherboard reported in September 2020, even as California recruited fire crews from six other states and from Israel, Mexico, and Australia, the current labor shortage was "brought on by the state itself." Though California's reliance on low-paid incarcerated firefighters is "well documented," after they are released from prison "institutional barriers" prevent them from becoming full-time professional firefighters. | As Motherboard reported, inmate firefighters typically make up betwee…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-11). Israel 'declined WHO request' to provide Covid-19 vaccine for Palestinian medics. middleeasteye.net Israel 'declined WHO request' to provide Covid-19 vaccine for Palestinian medics | Israeli authorities accused of 'racial discrimination' for refusing to provide Palestinians with jabs | Mon, 01/11/2021 – 13: 22 | An Israeli senior citizen receives his second Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the northern coastal city of Haifa on 11 January 2021 (AFP) | An official at the World Health Organisatio…

Daniel Greenfield (2021-01-11). Parler and the Problem of Escaping Internet Censorship. anti-empire.com Back when Parler was first taking off, I warned that its app-based dependency meant that two companies, Apple and Google, can eliminate it anytime they like. | It was only a matter of time. | The transition from desktops and laptops to Android and IOS devices mean that users are operating in a walled garden run by two very lefty companies. Those companies can do with the garden what they please. Those users who choose to jailbreak their devices have more options, but most don't. Conservatives can try to distribute the knowledge more widely and encourage that kind of self-empowerment. But the bottom line is most s…

Staff (2021-01-11). TRNN's Eddie Conway: Prisoners have power in their own words. therealnews.com Forty years ago, Eddie Conway spoke to fellow prisoners at the Maryland Penitentiary as part of the "Say Their Own Word" program, which he helped organize as an inmate. A free man now, Conway reflects on the program and the ongoing struggle against the carceral state.

Eds. (2021-01-11). Cedric Robinson, racial capitalism and the return of black radicalism. mronline.org The terms "black radicalism" and "racial capitalism" have become buzzwords in the revitalised international discussion about race that has arisen in parallel with the Black Lives Matter movement since 2013.