Monthly Archives: January 2021

2021-01-11: News Headlines

CP Editor (2021-01-12). Behind These Prison Walls. counterpunch.org

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 . . . |

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.

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…

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.

Paul Dobson (2021-01-11). Detention of Venezuelan Abortion Activist Prompts Continental Pressure Campaign. venezuelanalysis.com Vannesa Rosales is facing charges for counselling a pregnant 13-year-old rape victim.

Death Penalty Abolition (2021-01-11). 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.

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-11). As 'Dark Stain' of Guant√°namo Begins 20th Year, Groups Demand Biden Close Offshore Prison. commondreams.org "Biden must reaffirm his commitment to closure and take the necessary action to accomplish it before we have to mark the 20th anniversary next year," says the Center for Constitutional Rights. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/huovu_ou.jpg

commondreams (2021-01-11). Education and Civil Rights Groups Send Letter to Biden Education Transition Team, Urging Them to Protect English Learners by Postponing Proficiency Testing. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-11). Muslim Advocates Calls on Facebook's New Civil Rights VP to Ban Trump, Prioritize Anti-Muslim Hate. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-11). Guant√°namo Advocates Condemn 19th Anniversary of Indefinite Detention. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Aaron Maté (2021-01-10). UN torture expert on Julian Assange's persecution and the lies behind it. thegrayzone.com As a UK judge rejects Julian Assange's extradition but keeps him caged in Belmarsh prison, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer discusses Assange's persecution and the lies used to wage it. A UK judge has rejected a US attempt to extradite Julian Assange, citing the Wikileaks founder's risk of suicide and the poor conditions of US prisons. But Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted the basis for the US government's espionage case against Assange and ruled against releasing him on bail. …

Paul Craig Roberts (2021-01-10). Is America's Future a Civil War? thealtworld.com As a person who grew up in the glorious aftermath of World War II, it never occurred to me that in my later years I would be pondering whether the United States would end in civil war or a police state. In the aftermath of the stolen presidential election, it seems a 50-50 toss up. | There is abundant evidence of a police state. One feature of a police state is controlled explanations and the suppression of dissent. We certainly have that in abundance. | Experts are not permitted forums in which to challenge the official position on Covid. | Teachers are suspended for giving offense by using gender pronouns. | Re…

Staff (2021-01-10). New Google Union Will Help Build Labor Struggle Against Technological Oppression. truthout.org Last Monday, workers at Google and other companies under the umbrella company Alphabet formed a "minority union," affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). This Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) claims it aims to include workers of all job descriptions at Alphabet, including temps and contractors, who are normally excluded from union activities recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. These workers have explicitly said why they are unionizing: thousands of workers a…

_____ (2021-01-10). Assange Ruling Is A Blow Against A Free Press — A Closer Look. popularresistance.org Judge Vanessa Baraitser's decision to prevent Julian Assange's extradition to the United States to face trial on espionage-related criminal charges is a partial victory for Assange, his family, and his supporters. Baraitser was not satisfied that US prison authorities would be able to prevent the award-winning journalist from taking his life, given the conditions of solitary confinement and isolation that he would likely face during pre-trial detention and in the event of his conviction. | However, in her ruling, the judge made clear that Assange would have been extradited, if it weren't for his "substantial risk…

Rescue Pacifica (2021-01-10). KPFA LSB Members From Rescue Pacifica Protest The Lawsuit Against Pacifica. indybay.org KPFA Local Station Board members who are supporters of Rescue Pacifica protest a lawsuit to put Pacifica into a receivership with a judge in charge of the radio foundation.

A Guest Author (2021-01-09). Pa. prisoner on COVID crisis — Guards were the transmitters. workers.org Since Workers World received this letter, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has confirmed nearly 7,000 cases of COVID-19 among prisoners and over 2,500 among staff, who are not subject to mandatory testing. Many prisoners who report COVID-19 symptoms have been placed in restricted housing units, reviled as "the hole." Prisoners . . . |

Sara Flounders (2021-01-09). The Pentagon, corporations and slave labor in U.S. prisons. workers.org This article was originally published in Workers World June 11, 2011. It is not only federal prisons that contract out prison labor to top corporations. State prisons that used forced prison labor in plantations, laundries and highway chain gangs increasingly seek to sell prison labor to corporations trolling the globe . . . |

Devin Cole (2021-01-09). Eleven Alabama prisoners begin hunger strike! workers.org Occupied Muscogee Creek land — Montgomery, Ala. Ronnie Miller, after assault by guard. With the announcement of the Alabama prison strike/30 Day Economic Blackout, 11 incarcerated workers in the segregation unit of Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery, Ala., have begun a hunger strike. (See "Alabama prisons: On Strike!" Workers World, . . . |

_____ (2021-01-09). During Civil Rights Era, Native American Communities In The South Armed Themselves Against The KKK. popularresistance.org I first heard this story when I was probably eight or nine years old—old enough to know what the Ku Klux Klan was and why it was so dangerous, but young enough to believe the story had clear heroes and villains. My family and I are members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the largest Indian tribe east of the Mississippi, headquartered in the southeastern part of the state. I was born there, in Robeson County, but my parents raised me in Durham, where they taught at North Carolina Central University, one of the state's 12 historically-Black colleges and universities. Between my African-American elders…

Michelle Morse, Delan Devakumar (2021-01-09). [Perspectives] Building power. thelancet.com It was a raw response to yet another social injustice. A response to the not guilty verdict in the trial of the murderer of Trayvon Martin. A response that many people had, but Alicia Garza's response became a global movement. As she describes in her book The Purpose of Power, this was a moment decades in the making. Garza's courageous reflections document her personal transformation alongside the growth of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the USA. As public health physicians of colour from the USA and UK humbly engaging in the work of social change to advance global health equity, for us Garza's words ar…

WSWS (2021-01-09). Detainees protest inhuman conditions on Australia's Christmas Island. wsws.org After being denied the right to peacefully demonstrate, detainees set fire to mattresses and buildings in the immigration prison.

Staff (2021-01-08). Battleground Baltimore, Jan. 8. therealnews.com Local leaders react to the insurrection that happened just 45 minutes away in Washington. D.C.; why a move to end home detention fees might not go far enough; and a "spy plane" that has been flying in Baltimore (ostensibly to solve crime) is headed for St. Louis.

ACLU (2021-01-08). For Muslims, Even Prayers Aren't Private. aclu.org We generate droves of personal data every time we use the apps on our phones, make a call, or make an online purchase. While we might hope that our data is kept private, hidden away from people or entities that may want to surveil our usage or capitalize on these private choices, it often isn't., , In November, news reports revealed that the federal government had purchased location data mined from apps used by Muslims. One of those apps is Muslim Pro, a GPS-reliant app that signals prayer times to its users, which has been downloaded by millions. It's not yet clear exactly how the data is being used, bu…

Iliana Hagenah (2021-01-08). White Rioters Are Treated Differently than BLM Protesters. progressive.org On January 6, MAGA insurrectionists overtook the Capitol. Meanwhile, states are criminalizing nonviolent Black Lives Matter protests.

2021-01-10: News Headlines

_____ (2021-01-10). Assange Ruling Is A Blow Against A Free Press — A Closer Look. popularresistance.org Judge Vanessa Baraitser's decision to prevent Julian Assange's extradition to the United States to face trial on espionage-related criminal charges is a partial victory for Assange, his family, and his supporters. Baraitser was not satisfied that US prison authorities would be able to prevent the award-winning journalist from taking his life, given the conditions of solitary confinement and isolation that he would likely face during pre-trial detention and in the event of his conviction. | However, in her ruling, the judge made clear that Assange would have been extradited, if it weren't for his "substantial risk…

Staff (2021-01-10). New Google Union Will Help Build Labor Struggle Against Technological Oppression. truthout.org Last Monday, workers at Google and other companies under the umbrella company Alphabet formed a "minority union," affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). This Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) claims it aims to include workers of all job descriptions at Alphabet, including temps and contractors, who are normally excluded from union activities recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. These workers have explicitly said why they are unionizing: thousands of workers a…

Rescue Pacifica (2021-01-10). KPFA LSB Members From Rescue Pacifica Protest The Lawsuit Against Pacifica. indybay.org KPFA Local Station Board members who are supporters of Rescue Pacifica protest a lawsuit to put Pacifica into a receivership with a judge in charge of the radio foundation.

_____ (2021-01-09). During Civil Rights Era, Native American Communities In The South Armed Themselves Against The KKK. popularresistance.org I first heard this story when I was probably eight or nine years old—old enough to know what the Ku Klux Klan was and why it was so dangerous, but young enough to believe the story had clear heroes and villains. My family and I are members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the largest Indian tribe east of the Mississippi, headquartered in the southeastern part of the state. I was born there, in Robeson County, but my parents raised me in Durham, where they taught at North Carolina Central University, one of the state's 12 historically-Black colleges and universities. Between my African-American elders…

Michelle Morse, Delan Devakumar (2021-01-09). [Perspectives] Building power. thelancet.com It was a raw response to yet another social injustice. A response to the not guilty verdict in the trial of the murderer of Trayvon Martin. A response that many people had, but Alicia Garza's response became a global movement. As she describes in her book The Purpose of Power, this was a moment decades in the making. Garza's courageous reflections document her personal transformation alongside the growth of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the USA. As public health physicians of colour from the USA and UK humbly engaging in the work of social change to advance global health equity, for us Garza's words ar…

Sara Flounders (2021-01-09). The Pentagon, corporations and slave labor in U.S. prisons. workers.org This article was originally published in Workers World June 11, 2011. It is not only federal prisons that contract out prison labor to top corporations. State prisons that used forced prison labor in plantations, laundries and highway chain gangs increasingly seek to sell prison labor to corporations trolling the globe . . . |

A Guest Author (2021-01-09). Pa. prisoner on COVID crisis — Guards were the transmitters. workers.org Since Workers World received this letter, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has confirmed nearly 7,000 cases of COVID-19 among prisoners and over 2,500 among staff, who are not subject to mandatory testing. Many prisoners who report COVID-19 symptoms have been placed in restricted housing units, reviled as "the hole." Prisoners . . . |

Devin Cole (2021-01-09). Eleven Alabama prisoners begin hunger strike! workers.org Occupied Muscogee Creek land — Montgomery, Ala. Ronnie Miller, after assault by guard. With the announcement of the Alabama prison strike/30 Day Economic Blackout, 11 incarcerated workers in the segregation unit of Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery, Ala., have begun a hunger strike. (See "Alabama prisons: On Strike!" Workers World, . . . |

WSWS (2021-01-09). Detainees protest inhuman conditions on Australia's Christmas Island. wsws.org After being denied the right to peacefully demonstrate, detainees set fire to mattresses and buildings in the immigration prison.

commondreams (2021-01-08). 100+ Civil Rights, Racial Justice, Labor, and Grassroots Groups Demand Trump Be Immediately Removed from Office, Co-Conspirators Held Accountable. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Iliana Hagenah (2021-01-08). White Rioters Are Treated Differently than BLM Protesters. progressive.org On January 6, MAGA insurrectionists overtook the Capitol. Meanwhile, states are criminalizing nonviolent Black Lives Matter protests.

Staff (2021-01-08). Battleground Baltimore, Jan. 8. therealnews.com Local leaders react to the insurrection that happened just 45 minutes away in Washington. D.C.; why a move to end home detention fees might not go far enough; and a "spy plane" that has been flying in Baltimore (ostensibly to solve crime) is headed for St. Louis.

Ria Tabacco Mar (2021-01-08). Requiring Men but not Women to Register for the Draft is Sex Discrimination. aclu.org The requirement that only men — but not women — register for the draft is one of the last examples of overt sex discrimination written into our federal law. Today, we joined two young men and the National Coalition For Men (NCFM) to

ACLU (2021-01-08). For Muslims, Even Prayers Aren't Private. aclu.org We generate droves of personal data every time we use the apps on our phones, make a call, or make an online purchase. While we might hope that our data is kept private, hidden away from people or entities that may want to surveil our usage or capitalize on these private choices, it often isn't., , In November, news reports revealed that the federal government had purchased location data mined from apps used by Muslims. One of those apps is Muslim Pro, a GPS-reliant app that signals prayer times to its users, which has been downloaded by millions. It's not yet clear exactly how the data is being used, bu…

_____ (2021-01-07). Police Reform Advocates Press Minnesota Legislature For More. popularresistance.org Civil rights organizers were back at Minnesota's Capitol as a new legislative session got underway Tuesday, ready to mount another push for changes to police accountability laws less than a week after another fatal police shooting in Minneapolis. | "We know that George Floyd is not an anomaly," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "George Floyd represents the history of state violence against people of color in this country and particularly against Black people." | Floyd's death last May in the custody of Minneapolis police officers made M…

_____ (2021-01-07). Police Arrest Several People Near Court After Assange's Bail Denied. popularresistance.org London – The police arrested several supporters of Assange who did not have press IDs and refused to disperse as the city is currently under a lockdown and public gatherings prohibited. Among the detained are several women and an elderly man. | Journalists with proper identifications were allowed to continue their work. Earlier in the day, Westminster Magistrates Court refused to release Assange on bail, leaving him incarcerated while a US appeal against the decision not to extradite him to the United States is considered. | Assange was arrested in London in April 2019 and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jump…

Kevin Gosztola (2021-01-07). British Judge Keeps Assange in Prison, Despite Ruling Against Extradition. globalresearch.ca A British district judge denied bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after a hearing in which the prosecution argued he had helped NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden "flee justice" and would abscond if released from the Belmarsh high-security prison. | "As far …

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-07). Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail. dissidentvoice.org History, while not always a telling guide, can be useful. But in moments of flushed confidence, it is not consulted and Cleo is forgotten. A crisp new dawn can negate a glance to the past. Having received the unexpected news that Julian Assange's extradition to the United States for charges of breaching the Espionage Act …

teleSUR (2021-01-07). Guatemala: Former Military Charged for Indigenous Leader Murder. telesurenglish.net A Guatemalan court sentenced on Wednesday the former head of security at Central America's largest nickel mine, Mynor Padilla González, to two years in prison for the murder of indigenous leader Adolfo Ich Chamán, committed in 2009. | RELATED: | Adolfo Ich, a Maya Q'eqchi' teacher, and community leader, was killed during violent evictions in the Las Nubes community. The evictions would give space for the operations of…

teleSUR (2021-01-07). Chile To Condemn Murderers of Indigenous Mapuche Catrillanca. telesurenglish.net A Court in Angol city on Thursday is set to hand over its verdict on the murder of the Indigenous Mapuche community member Camilo Catrillanca, aged 24, who was killed by Special Police Operations Group officers (GOPE) in 2018. | RELATED: | The Prosecutor's Office asked for a 19-year in prison sentence for former GOPER sergeant Carlos Alarcon who was accused of both Catrillanca's assassination and the attempted m…

Vera Eidelman (2021-01-07). Clearview's Dangerous Misreading of the First Amendment Could Spell the End of Privacy Laws. aclu.org Secretly, and without consent, a company called Clearview AI has captured billions of faceprints from people's online photos, amassing what it claims to be the world's largest face recognition database. Much like our fingerprints and DNA profiles, our faceprints rely on permanent, unique facts about our bodies — like the distance between our eyes and noses or the shape of our cheekbones — to identify us., , Using our faceprints, Clearview offers its customers the ability to secretly target and identify any of us, and then to track us — whether we're going to a protest, a religious service, a…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). Hirak activists on hunger strike against pre-trial detention hospitalized in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org The three Hirak activists – Mohamed Tadjadit (25), Noureddine Khimoud (25) and Abdelhak Ben Rahmani (38) – began a hunger strike on December 27 last year after they were denied bail and their pre-trial detention was extended by the authorities…