WikiLeaks demands answers as Twitter account LOCKED ahead of Assange extradition hearing
rt.com | 2020-02-17
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson is seeking answers after the publisher's official account was mysteriously locked, ahead of an extradition hearing for founder Julian Assange, who faces life in a US jail (or worse). | Hrafnsson claimed the @wikileaks Twitter account had been locked "shortly before Assange extradition hearing" and for no apparent reason, in a post from his personal account on Monday. Lamenting he had been unable to "reach a human at Twitter" for answers, Hrafnsson tagged both the platform's tech support and CEO Jack Dorsey. | WikiLeaks twitter account has been locked, shortly before…
rt.com/news/481049-wikileaks-locked-twitter-extradition-assange/

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-17
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison. On February 24, a court in the U.K. will hold a hearing to determine whether to grant Trump's request. The treaty between the U.S. and the U.K. prohibits extradition for a "political offense." Assange was indicted for exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is a classic political offense. Moreover, Assange's extradition would violate the legal pr…
truthout.org/articles/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/

Netanyahu Boasts That He Destroyed Free Speech in America
Juan Cole | truthdig.com | 2020-02-17
This piece originally appeared on Informed Comment. | Israeli caretaker prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption and is facing an election soon, just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine First Amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel. | Anti-boycott laws of the Old South were used against Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists in the civil rights movement to keep Africa…
truthdig.com/articles/netanyahu-boasts-he-destroyed-free-speech-in-america/

Netanyahu Boasts He Destroyed Free Speech in America
Juan Cole | truthdig.com | 2020-02-17
This piece originally appeared on Informed Comment. | Israeli caretaker prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption and is facing an election soon, just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine first amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel. | Anti-boycott laws of the Old South were used against Martin Luther King, Jr. and other activists in the Civil Rights movement to keep Afric…
truthdig.com/articles/netanyahu-boasts-he-destroyed-free-speech-in-america/

Head of India's IT industry accuses US of labor rights discrimination
rt.com | 2020-02-17
The president of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Debjani Ghosh, has accused Donald Trump's government of discriminating against Indian workers seeking H-1B visas to work in the US. | "We're at a loss trying to figure out why we're seeing the kind of discrimination when this is actually benefiting the US," Ghosh said, as quoted by the Financial Times. He argued that Indian workers help to fill a vital skills gap. | Ghosh's accusations come ahead of the US president's visit to India this month. He has asked for a meeting with the Trump delegation. | Also on rt.com…
rt.com/business/480992-india-it-us-discrimination/

China accuses Australia of political bias against Huawei
rt.com | 2020-02-17
The Australian government's decision to ban tech giant Huawei from its 5G rollout is "politically motivated," according to the Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye. | "It has become a sore point or thorny issue in the bilateral relations as it damages mutual trust between the two sides," he told Sky News on Monday, calling it "a discrimination against the Chinese company." | The ambassador's criticism comes amid Australia's dispute with the UK over London's decision to allow Huawei to set up its 5G network. | According to Cheng, the UK government made a "sensible" decision to not kowtow to "external pressure" from…
rt.com/business/481027-australia-accused-discriminating-against-huawei/

Las Vegas anti-homeless ordinance enforcement begins
wsws.org | 2020-02-17
Passed by the Las Vegas, Nevada, city council in November, the ordinance makes it a misdemeanor crime, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, for "sleeping or camping" in a public space.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/17/lvho-f17.html

This week in history: February 17-23
wsws.org | 2020-02-17
25 years ago: Algerian regime massacres prisoners after uprisingOn February 21, 1995, an uprising by Islamic political prisoners at the Serkadji prison in the Kasbah neighborhood of Algeria began, resulting in the death of four guards. This was followed by a brutal crackdown in which dozens of inmates were slaughtered. Official reports counted the prisoner death toll at 96, while other sources maintained that up to 110 prisoners were killed in the suppression of the rebellion.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/17/twih-f17.html

2020 Films of Remembrance of Japanese Descent Imprisonments WWII (San Jose)
Nichi Bei Foundation | indybay.org | 2020-02-17
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, 640 N. 5th Street, San Jose Japantown…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/02/17/18830741.php

Gangster-climate ally? Greta gets flamed for posing with crime-glamorizing rapper (PHOTO)
rt.com | 2020-02-17
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has exposed herself to intense internet mockery after posing with a controversial Swedish rapper who purportedly spent several years in prison. | The musical artist, 1.Cuz, performed at Thunberg's recent "Fridays for Future" rally in central Stockholm. Known for always wearing a mask and keeping his real identity a secret, 1.Cuz raps about crime, drugs and his hatred of the cops. | In a recent interview with Swedish media, the rapper reportedly revealed that he had served two years in prison for a "serious" crime

2020 Films of Remembrance of Japanese Descent Imprisonments WWII (San Francisco)
Nichi Bei Foundation | indybay.org | 2020-02-17
New People Cinema, 1746 POST ST., San Francisco Japantown 94115…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/02/17/18830740.php

California to Apologize for Internment of Japanese Americans
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-16
SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Yemen's Warring Sides to Exchange Thousands of Prisoners
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-16
Yemen's warring sides agreed to exchange thousands of prisoners at the start of critical peace talks sponsored by the United Nations (U.N.) and started Thursday morning in the locality of Rimbo, north of Sweden's capital Stockholm. | RELATED: | 'Yemen One of The Worst Places to Be a Child': Unicef | The announcement was made Sunday by the U.N. which said in a statement that both sides decided to "immediately begin with exchanging the lists for the upcoming release" of prisoners. | "Today…
telesurenglish.net/news/Yemens-Warring-Sides-to-Exchange-Thousands-of-Prisoners–20200216-0014.html

Video reveals mother of 5 starving to death in jail cell
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2020-02-15
"…since this incident, our employees have received comprehensive training in crisis intervention."
nationofchange.org/2020/02/15/video-reveals-mother-of-5-starving-to-death-in-jail-cell/

MN: County Attorney Mike Freeman's house picketed after cops who killed Brian Quiñones escape charges
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-15
Minneapolis, MN – In response to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's decision to not press charges against the Richfield and Edina police officers who killed Brian Quiñones, the groups Justice for Brian Quiñones, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J), the Racial Justice Network and others gathered for a spirited picket of Mike Freeman's residence the evening of February 11. | About 50 people chanted, sang and played clips of Brian's music for about an hour. The most popular chant was "Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell!" Family and friends o…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/2/15/mn-county-attorney-mike-freeman-s-house-picketed-after-cops-who-killed-brian-qui-ones-esca

Mayor Mike, Worse Than Mayor Pete
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-14
Michael Bloomberg is essentially an old school Republican. He hates Trump, the worst American president ever, but he loved George W. Bush, the second worst president in modern times. He may honestly think that black and brown lives matter, but, as mayor of New York City, he showed, time and again, that, for him gentrification

Mayor Mike, Worse Than Mayor Pete
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-14
Michael Bloomberg is essentially an old school Republican. He hates Trump, the worst American president ever, but he loved George W. Bush, the second worst president in modern times. He may honestly think that black and brown lives matter, but, as mayor of New York City, he showed, time and again, that, for him gentrification

Detroit Overtaxed Residents by $600M, Causing Foreclosure Crisis. Residents Are Now Fighting Back
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-14
In Detroit, a showdown between progressive lawmakers and the city is taking on racist housing policies that robbed African Americans in Detroit of their homes and widened the racial wealth gap. On Thursday, the Coalition for Property Tax Justice announced a class-action lawsuit against the city of Detroit, Wayne County and the state of Michigan in response to unfair property tax foreclosures. One in four Detroit properties have been subject to property tax foreclosure, a level comparable only to tax foreclosure rates during the Great Depression. According to legal experts, many of the foreclosures were caused by…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/14/detroit_class_action_lawsuit_foreclosures

Major anti-war groups join the Coalition to March on the DNC
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-14
Milwaukee, WI – As the July 13 start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) draws closer, the Coalition to March on the DNC has risen to the occasion. Since the start of the new year, the coalition has seen tremendous gains. | Between leading a 2000-person demonstration against Donald Trump when he visited Milwaukee on January 14 and butting heads with the city while trying to host a press conference to announce a lawsuit for our right to protest, traffic to the Facebook page has increased dramatically, including numerous inquiries about how people can get more involved. | Perhaps the most significant indica…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/2/13/major-anti-war-groups-join-coalition-march-dnc

Reconciliation Is Dead: RCMP Invade Unist'ot'en Territory
UnistotenCamp | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-14
Canada invades. Invades on behalf of industry. Invades during ceremony. Canada tears us from our land. Tears us from our families, from our homes. Takes our drums away. Takes our women away. Jails us for protecting the land, for being in ceremony, for honouring our ancestors. On February 10, RCMP invaded unceded Unist'ot'en territory, arresting …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/reconciliation-is-dead-rcmp-invade-unistoten-territory/

Weekend Read: Department of Justice may force Mississippi to fix deadly prison system
splcenter.org | 2020-02-14
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/14/weekend-read-department-justice-may-force-mississippi-fix-deadly-prison-system

The Corporate Media Is Directly Profiting from Mike Bloomberg's Rise as He Spends Fortune on TV Ads
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-14
Billionaire Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is rising in the polls in the wake of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Democracy Now! co-host Juan González speaks with us about Bloomberg's approach to campaign spending, the administration's policies during his three terms as mayor of New York City and the scores of lawsuits filed against Bloomberg and his company. "It's amazing to me that Michael Bloomberg is getting as much attention as he is," González says.
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/14/michael_bloomberg_tv_ads_corporate_media

Bill Barr Wants Sheriffs to Join His Attacks on State and Local Governments
Brian Tashman | aclu.org | 2020-02-13
Attorney General Bill Barr, speaking at the National Sheriffs' Association conference in Washington, D.C., encouraged sheriffs to join the Trump administration as it launches a "significant escalation" in the federal government's efforts to retaliate against cities and states with policies designed to protect immigrant communities. | For | Barr's Department of Justice, that escalation includes new lawsuits against | states and municipalities with immigrant-protective policies.
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/the-attorney-general-wants-sheriffs-to-join-his-attacks-on-state-and-local-governments

The Epidemic of Hunger Strikes in Immigrant Detention Centers
John Washington | thenation.com | 2020-02-13
The Epidemic of Hunger Strikes in Immigrant Detention Centers…
thenation.com/article/society/immigrant-detention-hunger-strike/

Did Amy Klobuchar Send an Innocent Teenager to Life in Prison? Questions Mount over Her Record as DA
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-13
After a surprising third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is attempting to gain ground in the national polls. But Klobuchar is also facing mounting scrutiny over her record as a district attorney in Minnesota. The Minneapolis NAACP, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities and other racial justice groups recently called on Klobuchar to suspend her presidential campaign following a shocking investigation by the Associated Press. The AP report centered on the case of Myon Burrell, an African-American teenager who was sentenced to life in prison over the 2002 murder of 11-year-old Tye…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/13/amy_klobuchar_myon_burrell

'Pay them triple' U.S. soccer men's union backs women's team's call for pay equity
Al Neal | peoplesworld.org | 2020-02-13
The U.S. men's national team player's union publicly challenged the U.S. Soccer Federation to do right by all its players: Significantly increase the pay of the women's team, and stop low-balling during contract negotiations. Clean and simple. The players union for the women's national team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the USSF last year …
peoplesworld.org/article/pay-them-triple-u-s-soccer-mens-union-backs-womens-teams-call-for-pay-equity/

Time's Up for Harvey Weinstein? Closing Arguments Begin in Rape Trial in NYC
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-13
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Thursday in the trial of disgraced Hollywood mogul and accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. The jury is expected to begin deliberating on Tuesday. Weinstein faces five felonies based on accusations by two women and, if convicted, could face up to life in prison. The trial comes more than two years after initial accusations against the film producer were published in The New Yorker and The New York Times, fueling the #MeToo movement that swept Hollywood and beyond. Since then, over 100 women have accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. During t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/13/harvey_weinstein_trial_nyc

"Traumatizing from the Get-Go": Weinstein Trial Exposes Flawed Approach to Sexual Assault Cases
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-13
We continue our conversation about the trial of alleged sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, ahead of the scheduled start of opening arguments today. Weinstein is facing five felony charges, based on accusations brought forth by two women in the case, and, if convicted, could face up to life in prison. Last week, one of his accusers, Jessica Mann, broke down and went into an apparent panic attack during questioning from Weinstein's lawyers, forcing the judge to adjourn proceedings for the day. Mann was made to read past emails to a boyfriend, in which she disclosed she had been sexually assaulted before meeting Wein…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/13/harvey_weinstein_trial_trauma_louise_godbold

FRSO calls for the immediate release and repatriation of political prisoner Facundo Molares
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-13
Facundo Molares Schoenfeld is an Argentinian photojournalist who was illegally arrested by the Bolivian dictatorship, and who is currently held in terrible conditions in a Bolivian prison. His life is in danger, as he does not receive adequate medical attention for a life-threatening condition. | This photojournalist was on assignment, for the Argentinian left-wing magazine El Centenario, in Bolivia to document the election of Evo Morales and its aftermath in October, 2019. Bolivia suffered a coup d'état by fascist elements and the military, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, on November 10, 2019. A…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/2/12/frso-calls-immediate-release-and-repatriation-political-prisoner-facundo-molares

Congress Should Outlaw State Attacks on Abortion Access
Yashica Robinson, MD | aclu.org | 2020-02-12
Before I finished | high school, I learned I was pregnant. As a result of fear and a lack of | resources, by the time I confided in my mother and grandmother, I had no choice |

Deadline Looming, Strongest Surveillance Reform Bill Yet Emerges
Neema Singh Guliani | aclu.org | 2020-02-12
Congress has just five weeks to decide the fate of key foreign | intelligence surveillance powers

Gruesome Details Emerge of Israel's Torture of Palestinian Prisoners
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-12
One prisoner was hospitalized for kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. Another had his genitals bitten by a security dog while a third man was left wheelchair-bound and unrecognizable.
mintpressnews.com/gruesome-details-israel-torture-palestinian-detainees/264857/

Gruesome Details Emerge of Israel's Torture of Palestinian Prisoners
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-12
One prisoner was hospitalized for kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. Another had his genitals bitten by a security dog while a third man was left wheelchair-bound and unrecognizable.
mintpressnews.com/gruesome-details-israel-torture-palestinian-detainees/264857/

The Trump Administration Wants Health Insurance Companies to Drop Abortion Coverage from Your Insurance Plan
Meagan Burrows | aclu.org | 2020-02-11
From denying | access to abortion | for unaccompanied immigrant minors, to gutting | the Title X | family planning program, to trying to roll | back the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers and universities cover | contr…
aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/the-trump-administration-wants-health-insurance-companies-to-drop-abortion-coverage-from-your-insurance-plan

Desperate asylum seekers 'starving for justice' in immigrant prison hunger strikes across Louisiana
splcenter.org | 2020-02-11
Guards shackled Sai Mahad to a chair, placed a mask over his mouth and snaked a long tube through one of his nostrils.
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/12/desperate-asylum-seekers-starving-justice-immigrant-prison-hunger-strikes-across-louisiana

Desperate asylum seekers 'starving for justice' in immigrant prison hunger strikes across Louisiana
splcenter.org | 2020-02-11
Guards shackled Sai Mahad to a chair, placed a mask over his mouth and snaked a long tube through one of his nostrils.
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/12/desperate-asylum-seekers-starving-justice-immigrant-prison-hunger-strikes-across-louisiana

How Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Broke Through in Iowa
Ronald Newman | aclu.org | 2020-02-10
Our next president | must be committed to protecting and advancing the civil liberties and civil | rights guaranteed to all of us in the Constitution, and the current goal for | our Rights for All campaign is to educate voters on where the candidates stand on these | key issues. We now have most of the results from the Iowa caucuses last week, | and one thing stood out to us: Voters overwhelmingly supported candidates who | made specific commitments to Rights for All policies. | When we launched | the Rights for All effort last year, we were determined to elevate ke…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/how-iowa-elevated-civil-liberties-and-civil-rights

Hey Clearview, Your Misleading PR Campaign Doesn't Make Your Face Surveillance Product Any Less Dystopian
Jacob Snow | aclu.org | 2020-02-10
In the last few weeks, a company called Clearview has been in the news for marketing a reckless and invasive facial recognition tool to law enforcement. The company claims the tool can identify people in billions of photos nearly instantaneously. And Exhibit A in support of their claim to law enforcement that their app is accurate? An " accuracy test" that Clearview boasts was modeled on the…
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/hey-clearview-your-misleading-pr-campaign-doesnt-make-your-face-surveillance-product-any-less-dystopian

The Government's Nightmare Vision for Face Recognition at Airports and Beyond
Jay Stanley | aclu.org | 2020-02-06
The Department of Homeland Security has a scary vision for expanding face recognition surveillance into our everyday lives, threatening a dystopian future in which the technology is used throughout our public spaces to scrutinize our identity, check us against watchlists, record our movements, and more. Work on building the infrastructure for this pervasive monitoring has already started, with U.
aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/the-governments-nightmare-vision-for-face-recognition-at-airports-and-beyond

Using Bail as Ransom Violates the Core Tenets of Pretrial Justice
Andrea Woods | aclu.org | 2020-02-05
Rebecca Gill was out of | options. At 39 years old, she was arrested and though not convicted of a crime | and presumed innocent, confined to a jail cell. This happened because of a cash | bail requirement that she couldn't afford. Her friends didn't have extra money | to help, and she was unlikely to see a judge until she'd been in jail for two | full weeks. | Stuck in jail, she was in | jeopardy of losing her job and her driver's license. Losing her license would result | in myriad consequences, such as preventing her from getting to work and making | it more difficult to take care of her son and mother. | T…
aclu.org/news/smart-justice/using-bail-as-ransom-violates-the-core-tenets-of-pretrial-justice

The Government is Using its Foreign Intelligence Spying Powers for Routine Domestic Investigations
Ashley Gorski | aclu.org | 2020-02-05
More than forty years ago, Congress | gave the executive branch a set of exceptional surveillance powers to pursue | foreign spies on U.S. soil. Now, the government is increasingly relying on those | powers to advance ordinary domestic criminal investigations. | In United States v. | Osseily, a fraud prosecution in California, the government appears to have used | this surveillance

Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results
Tyler Durden | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-04
American democracy–ain't it grand?>…
theantimedia.com/biden-threatens-lawsuit-to-halt-release-of-real-iowa-caucus-results/

SPLC and the SPLC Action Fund Hire Internationally Renowned Human and Civil Rights Leader as New President and CEO
splcenter.org | 2020-02-02
Margaret Huang brings 25 years of experience advocating against discrimination and oppression around the world.
splcenter.org/news/2020/02/03/splc-and-splc-action-fund-hire-internationally-renowned-human-and-civil-rights-leader-new

Alive and Well: Voter Suppression and Election Mismanagement in Alabama
splcenter.org | 2020-01-24
splcenter.org/20200210/alive-and-well-voter-suppression-and-election-mismanagement-alabama

Alive and Well: Voter Suppression and Election Mismanagement in Alabama
splcenter.org | 2020-01-24
splcenter.org/20200210/alive-and-well-voter-suppression-and-election-mismanagement-alabama