(2022-02-18). Unite for Feb. 26 — Workers Power Day! workers.org 
Solidarity with Starbucks, Amazon and all workers who are organizing and fighting back Fight against racism and all forms of oppression and exploitation — these struggles are part and parcel of the workers movement. Black Lives Matter! Unite our many struggles into one powerful force! Starbucks workers are leading an . . . |
(2022-02-18). How Glib charges of "Anti-Semitism" at every Human Rights Report on Israel undermines Jewish Civil Rights. juancole.com Madison, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) — The unqualified branding of people, organizations, reports, and movements as "anti-Semitic" for their criticism of Israel is having a boomerang effect. Labeling every condemnation of Israel as "anti-Semitism" silences those whose voices are most needed. The repeated charge of anti-Semitism debases its actual meaning—and provides cover for those …
(2022-02-18). Attorney Steven Donziger detained for five days in a Bronx halfway house. wsws.org Donziger, who won a $9.5 billion class action lawsuit against Chevron for polluting the Amazon rain forest, was detained because prison authorities claimed he violated the terms of his home confinement by going to a lower floor in his apartment building.
(2022-02-18). Filmmaker Stanley Nelson on Police Brutality, Black History & His First Oscar Nomination for "Attica" democracynow.org 
Legendary filmmaker Stanley Nelson's new documentary "Attica" has been nominated for the first Oscar in his three-decades-long career documenting the Black American experience. The film tells the story of the deadliest prison uprising in U.S. history, when men at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York rebelled on September 9, 1971, overpowering guards and taking over much of the prison to protest conditions, before New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller called out state troopers, who opened fire and killed at least 39 men, including 10 guards. Attica is one of the most "importa…
(2022-02-18). Miami demands 'Free Alex Saab'. fightbacknews.org Miami, FL – 20 activists gathered at the Federal Courthouse here, to demand the release of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who has been detained in Miami since October when the United States government kidnapped him from Cape Verde. Saab's supporters brought banners and signs with messages of solidarity, chanted "Free Alex Saab" and answered questions from reporters who converged on the courthouse. | Eminent Puerto Rican freedom fighter and longtime political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera delivered a powerful speech to the crowd. He explained ,"The Venezuelan people as well as the Puerto Rican people are fighting f…
(2022-02-18). Dozens sentenced to death for major terrorist attack. rt.com 
An Indian court has handed down punishments for a series of bombings in Ahmedabad in 2008 | A special court in India sentenced 38 defendants to death and 11 others to life imprisonment on Friday for their role in a series of deadly bombings in 2008. | Each convict was also fined and ordered to pay compensation to the victims and their families, the court in India's western Gujarat region ruled. | The court acquitted 28 people due to either insufficient or no evidence against them. One of the 28 was previously released on bail because he was suffering from a mental illness, while the rest have spent nearly 13 y…
(2022-02-18). Oklahoma executes Gilbert Postelle despite clear evidence that state's lethal-injection protocol causes extreme pain and suffering. wsws.org At a trial set to begin February 28 in Oklahoma City federal court, more than two dozen death row inmates are asking a judge to find the state's execution procedure unconstitutional due to the danger of it causing severe pain to the condemned prisoner.
(2022-02-17). Headlines for February 17, 2022. democracynow.org NATO Defense Ministers Gather in Brussels, Dispute Russia's Claims of Troop Drawback, COVID-19 Pandemic Claimed 75,000 Lives Last Week, U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prepares to Roll Back Guidelines for COVID Restrictions, Hospitals in War-Ravaged Syria Forced to Close Amid Cuts in International Aid, U.N. Says 8 Million Yemenis Could Lose All Humanitarian Aid Next Month Due to Funding Shortages, Colombia Forced Displacement Crisis Worsened in 2021, Mexican Journalists Interrupt Congress to Demand Justice for Assassinated Colleagues, Amnesty International Condemns "Sham Trial" for Jailed Russi…
(2022-02-17). Father of exiled Navalny ally jailed. rt.com 
Yuri Zhdanov given three years behind bars for fraud | The father of a close aide of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has been given three years in prison for fraud, in a case the activist's allies have called politically motivated. | Yuri Zhdanov, the father of Ivan Zhdanov, was given a suspended sentence last year. However, on Thursday, a court in the Russian city of Naryan-Mar overturned Zhdanov's probation, citing a violation, opting instead to replace it with a real jail term, meaning he will now be forced to serve the entire three years behind bars. | Naryan-Mar is a small city around 1,500 kilom…
(2022-02-17). Our Vision to Achieve True Public Safety. aclu.org For decades, local, state and federal public officials from both political parties and powerful interest groups engineered the system of mass incarceration. They did this in part by constructing a narrative of fear fueled by racism through which they passed laws, spent billions of dollars, and separated millions of families. It was a disaster of epic proportions that unfolded in slow motion and for which we are still paying the price today as a nation. | The movement to end and repair the damage of mass incarceration has made some gains, but that progress is now at risk. As we near the second-year anniversary…
(2022-02-17). Students sue school over book banning. rt.com 
US students suing a St. Louis school claim books are being banned as part of an effort to "remove" ideas on race and sexuality | The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of two young students against the Wentzville School Board in St. Louis, Missouri, claiming they violated civil rights by banning a handful of books from school libraries. | The students in question were not identified as they are minors, but they have been referred to as C.K.-W and D.L. | According to the class action lawsuit, the recent vote to ban certain books is part of a "targeted campaign by the St. Charles…
(2022-02-17). Your Guide to Talking About Attacks on Trans Youth. aclu.org Misinformation is fueling an attack on trans youth in state legislatures. These attacks overwhelmingly focus on youth and schools. They try to make being trans shameful — but they won't stop youth from being trans. They will only make it harder for kids to grow up at all and make it harder to access the support, education, and community that all young people deserve. | While everyone should be contacting lawmakers and expressing their support for trans youth, we know that these attacks aren't limited to statehouses. The lies about trans youth spread at the dinner table, PTA meetings, and many other place…
(2022-02-17). Palestinian women's rights activist Khitam Saafin sentenced to 16 months in prison. peoplesdispatch.org Khitam Saafin, who was arrested in November 2020 and kept in administrative detention for the last 15 months, was sentenced on charges of being the director of a banned organization as well as other related accusations…
(2022-02-17). America's racist prison society produces profits but not safety. peoplesworld.org 
The United States is infamous for its prison system. With less than 5% of the world's population, the U.S. houses 25% of the world's incarcerated people. Nearly seven million people live in prisons, jails, immigrant concentration camps, and related facilities. They are on probation or parole and subjected to scrutiny and surveillance that leaves them …
(2022-02-17). Danish Defense Intelligence Chief Is Jailed by Social Democratic Government—Possibly to Protect U.S. Spy Programs. covertactionmagazine.com Part 1 of a 2-part series on U.S. penetration of Denmark's National Security State [BREAKING NEWS: As we go to …
(2022-02-17). Native Tribe Sues Bureau Of Land Management And Lithium Corporation. popularresistance.org Orovada, NV — The Winnemucca Indian Colony filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuits against Lithium Americas Corporation's planned Thacker Pass lithium mine on Friday, February 11th, stating that "to build that Thacker Pass lithium mine on lands held sacred to Colony members would be like raping the earth and their culture." | They are the third Native American Tribe to seek to join litigation against the proposed mine, along with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Burns Paiute Tribe. The tribes argue that Thacker Pass is a sacred and culturally significant site, and that the federal government failed to…
(2022-02-17). Bigger than bomb threats: The political violence of national oppression. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL – Throughout the months of January and February, there were over 20 bomb threats directed towards historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Black churches, most of which were in the South. These concentrated actions over the last few months are a microcosm of the extensive history of racism and national oppression that Black people have faced within the United States, particularly its southern region. | In general, all Black communities within the United States face systemic racism. The evidence is in the economically depressed ghettos of every city (big and small), riddled with de…
(2022-02-17). Father sentenced in college admissions scandal, ordered to pay $200,000. rt.com 
A wealthy parent arrested as part of Operation Varsity Blues was convicted of bribing US schools with $1.2 million | The head of a private equity firm in Massachusetts was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison for his involvement in a US college admissions scandal that also saw high-profile Hollywood celebrities including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman face time behind bars. | John Wilson was charged with using $1.2 million to bribe his three kids' way into college as Division I athletes, despite the fact that they were not athletes competing at such a high division. Wilson's arrest was par…
(2022-02-17). Outsourced Facebook content moderators face trauma, exploitation and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode of the Daily Round-up we look at an investigation by TIME into the condition of workers at Facebook's outsourced content moderation office in Nairobi, Kenya; the UN's urgent funding appeal to address the severe crisis in Yemen as fighting escalates; the imprisonment of activist and head of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, Khitam Sa'afan, by an Israeli military court; and the arrest of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez in an extradition appeal filed by the U.S. on charges related to drug trafficking.
(2022-02-17). "It Can't be Illegal to Help a People" — The Persecution of Alex Saab. orinocotribune.com By Leonardo Flores — Feb 14, 2022 | "It's not a crime to fulfill a diplomatic mission. It's not a crime to evade sanctions that are harming an entire country. It can't be illegal to help a people." Camilla Fabri Saab made these impassioned remarks Alex Saab is virtually unknown in the United States, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela's ability to survive…
