(2021-12-21). New Program Is Secretly Privatizing Medicare. popularresistance.org A new program is placing Medicare recipients into private health insurance plans without their knowledge or consent in a final effort to fully privatize our national Medicare system. Known as "Direct Contract Entities (DCEs)," this program is putting more of our healthcare system into the hands of private equity to generate enormous profits at the expense of our health. Clearing the FOG speaks about this with Kay Tillow, a long time health care, civil rights and union activist. Tillow explains what these entities are, why they threaten the future of our entire healthcare system and how they block our ability to a…
(2021-12-21). "Shut Down Those Tanks": Anger Grows in Hawaii After U.S. Navy Fuel Site Contaminates Water. democracynow.org 
The United States Navy is facing growing calls to permanently shut down one of their fuel storage facilities in Hawaii after a petroleum leak contaminated the water supply that serves over 90,000 families around the naval base of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. The storage site, called the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, has long been protested by environmental activists in part because of its location just 100 feet above the primary groundwater aquifer for Honolulu and the rest of Oahu. We speak with two Native Hawaiian guests: civil rights lawyer Camille Kalama and Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former comm…
(2021-12-21). In a Pennsylvania prison, a COVID-19 related death. workers.org 
A 52-year-old man, Melvin James Anderson IV, died while incarcerated in the Chester County Correctional Complex and Youth Center in Pocopson, Pennsylvania, Dec. 7. He was jailed while waiting to be tried for a charge of burglary, which he may or may not have committed. How did he die? He . . . |
(2021-12-21). Mexican Cartels Blamed for Increased Violence in Ecuador's Prisons. america.cgtn.com 
Ecuador was left reeling when at least 120 inmates were killed in a Guayaquil jail. Local gangs linked with Mexican drug cartels were behind the slaughter in what is believed to be a fight over territory. The riot was the worst prison massacre in Ecuador's …
(2021-12-21). 5 Years for a Retweet: Egyptian Rights Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Sentenced by Emergency Court. democracynow.org 
An emergency court in Egypt has sentenced leading human rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah to an additional five years in prison on the charge of "spreading false news undermining national security" for sharing a post on Twitter. El-Fattah has been imprisoned since his arrest in September 2019, just six months after he was released following a five-year prison term for his role in the peaceful demonstrations of 2011 that led to the fall of Egypt's longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. "Alaa wasn't even in the courtroom," says El-Fattah's aunt, the acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, who was in the courtroom at t…
(2021-12-20). Israeli court rejects appeal to release administrative detainee on hunger strike. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinian detainee Hisham Abu Hawwash has been on hunger strike for 125 days now to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel. His release has been rejected despite serious life-threatening health issues…
(2021-12-20). Inmate Sues California Prison System Following Targeted Raid Against Black People. scheerpost.com 
Talib Williams performing one of his spoken word poems at his Defy Ventures graduation in 2019. | By Claude Marks / Original to ScheerPost | California prisoner, Talib Williams, is bringing a class action lawsuit on his behalf as well as other Black incarcerated people who were targeted by a July 20, 2020 raid at Soledad, California's Correctional Training Facility (CTF). The suit seeks a reprieve from the state-sponsored terror that is their norm. Injunctive and declaratory relief, among other remedies, are necessary to stop the violence, change CDCR policy, and compensate the prisoners for the degradation t…
(2021-12-20). "A Big Relief": Haitian Immigrant Rights Leader Jean Montrevil Wins Victory in Fight to Stay in U.S. democracynow.org 
Longtime immigrant rights leader Jean Montrevil has been granted three years of protection from deportation as part of a settlement for the First Amendment lawsuit Montrevil filed against the U.S. government that argued federal immigration officials targeted him for deportation due to his activism. Montrevil was abruptly deported to Haiti in 2018 but was allowed under the Biden administration to return home to New York in October to reunite with his family. We speak with Jean Montrevil, who says the news has given him "peace of mind" to enjoy the holiday season without fear of getting detained or deported, as wel…
(2021-12-20). Prisoners Sue California Prison System Following Targeted Raid Against Black People. scheerpost.com Talib Williams performing one of his spoken word poems at his Defy Ventures graduation in 2019. | By Claude Marks / Original to ScheerPost | California prisoner, Talib Williams, is bringing a class action lawsuit on his behalf as well as other Black incarcerated people who were targeted by a July 20, 2020 raid at Soledad, California's Correctional Training Facility (CTF). The suit seeks a reprieve from the state-sponsored terror that is their norm. Injunctive and declaratory relief, among other remedies, are necessary to stop the violence, change CDCR policy, and compensate the prisoners for the degradation t…
(2021-12-20). Unpacking Political Power: SPLC, LDF and NAACP urge Louisiana city to reconsider redistricting plan that dilutes Black representation. splcenter.org
(2021-12-20). bell hooks's Trailblazing Critique of "Imperialist White Supremacist Heteropatriarchy" zcomm.org Working in the tradition of intersectionality and Black radical feminism, hooks's critiques of "imperialist white supremacist heteropatriarchy" called attention to the interlocking systems of oppression in hopes of eradicating them…
(2021-12-20). UK trade unions betray National Health Service workers pay struggle. wsws.org That the government has been able to enforce a pay cut is entirely down to the trade unions' suppression of mass opposition in the million-strong National Health Service workforce.