Slowing Down the Beast of American Empire: A Salute to the Life and Legacy of William Blum
Michael Welch | globalresearch.ca | 2018-12-16
"I'm a member of a movement which has the very ambitious goal of slowing down, if not stopping, the American Empire, to keep it from continuing to go round the world doing things like bombings, invasions, overthrowing governments, and torture. … | The post Slowing Down the Beast of American Empire: A Salute to the Life and Legacy of William Blum appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/slowing-down-the-beast-of-american-empire-a-salute-to-the-life-and-legacy-of-william-blum/5663057
US sanctions on Iran threaten Iraq's energy supply
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2018-12-16
Iraq relies on Iranian gas for nearly half of its energy, but US sanctions are threatening the supply.
aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/sanctions-iran-threaten-iraqs-energy-supply-181216082623168.html
Iran Can Teach Others The 'Art Of Evading Sanctions': Zarif
Mehr News | iranian.com | 2018-12-16
"Trump has called for negotiations despite his hostile policies, and we have responded to him, [asking] if he was joking," the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said while addressing the 18th edition of Doha Forum in the Qatari capital on Saturday. "Negotiating with Donald Trump's administration is futile," Zarif stressed. "Iran used to be […] | The post Iran Can Teach Others The 'Art Of Evading Sanctions': Zarif appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2018/12/16/iran-can-teach-others-the-art-of-evading-sanctions-zarif/
100% of Congress Approves Anti-Nicaragua Sanctions, HR1918
Register Peace & Freedom or Green | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
All members of Congress in both houses, Democrats and Republicans together, approved the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2017, HR1918 (NICA), placing sanctions on the democratically elected government of Nicaragua which is fighting CIA sponsored gangsters, with the last vote taken in the Senate on November 27, 2018 and in the House on December 11, 2018. See www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/hou……
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/15/18819806.php
Animal Rights Meetup: The Legal Case for Animal Rights
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819795.php
Sustainable Activism Workshop: Berkeley, CA #ChangeMakersTour
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819797.php
Advanced Leadership Training: Emergent Leadership
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819789.php
January Vegan Pop-Up
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819792.php
Advanced Leadership Training: DxE's History and Vision
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819790.php
Animal Rights Meetup: The Power of Nonviolence
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819791.php
Animal Rights Meetup: New Community Member Celebration
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819796.php
Animal Rights Meetup: Organization & How to Become a Leader
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819793.php
Advanced Chicken Care Training
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2018-12-16
Berkeley Animal Rights Center | 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/12/14/18819794.php
Brexit fishing rights: Questions about North Sea ownership
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2018-12-16
Fishing in troubled waters – how Europe's fishing industry could get tangled in Brexit.
aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/brexit-fishing-rights-questions-north-sea-ownership-181216100322915.html
Scandal-Hit CBS to Give $20M to 18 Women's Rights Groups
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2018-12-15
NEW YORK — CBS on Friday pledged to give $20 million to 18 organizations dedicated to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace as the network tries to recover from a scandal that led to the ouster of its top executive, Les Moonves. | The announcement comes as the network's crisis deepens, with details emerging from an ongoing investigation into Moonves' conduct and news surfacing of other instances of sexual misconduct at CBS. | In the latest revelation, CBS acknowledged that it reached a $9.5 million confidential settlement last year with actress Eliza Dushku, who said she was written off the show "B…
truthdig.com/articles/scandal-hit-cbs-to-give-20m-to-18-womens-rights-groups/
Guatemala: Ombudsman Demands Probe Into Migrant Girl's Death
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2018-12-15
Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman Jordan Rojas demanded Friday a thorough investigation be carried out to find out the causes behind the death of the 7-year-old migrant girl who died in United States custody, after being captured by the U.S. border patrol. | RELATED: | Guatemala Prepares Law Punishing Criticism of Politicians | Through an official statement, the prosecutor requested consular authorities in the U.S. to accompany the investigation to verify the treatment and healthcar…
telesurenglish.net/news/Guatemala-Ombudsman-Demands-Probe-Into-Migrant-Girls-Death-20181215-0013.html
The Case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou: American Sheriffs Acting Outside of Their Jurisdictions
Wayne Madsen | globalresearch.ca | 2018-12-15
The December 1 arrest by Canadian authorities in Vancouver of Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, based on a US extradition warrant, represents a draconian extraterritorial application of a dubious US law and claim of Huawei's sanctions violations regarding … | The post The Case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou: American Sheriffs Acting Outside of Their Jurisdictions appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/the-case-of-huawei-cfo-meng-wanzhou-american-sheriffs-acting-outside-of-their-jurisdictions/5663023
We have no choice but to live like human beings
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2018-12-15
One in eight people across the world live in informal settlements. This, despite the "right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family" as declared by the International Declaration of Human Rights. Reality, however, is very far from this. | Source…
mronline.org/2018/12/15/we-have-no-choice-but-to-live-like-human-beings/
This Holiday Season, I'm Standing With Migrants
Shared by Cherise | truthout.org | 2018-12-15
This holiday season — a time so often associated with bringing family together — my thoughts keep turning to the families in the migrant caravans making their way to the US southern border. | I had the privilege of spending four days in Mexico last month with my organization, the American Friends Service Committee, to assess the needs of participants in the caravan and expand human rights monitoring. | As I crept into my children's bedrooms to give them a kiss when I got back, resisting the urge to wake them up for cuddling and conversation, I thought about what would make me pick up with them and…
truthout.org/articles/this-holiday-season-im-standing-with-migrants/
Berta Cáceres supporters: Additional evidence forces Honduran officials to act
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-14
WASHINGTON — The public revelation of additional evidence of higher-up involvement in the 2016 murder of Honduran human rights activist Berta Cáceres has forced Honduran officials to reopen their investigation of the crime, her daughters and their supporters say. But they still aren't sure the criminal justice system in the Latin American country will bring …
peoplesworld.org/article/berta-caceres-supporters-additional-evidence-forces-honduran-officials-to-act/
Know Your Rights or You Will Lose Them
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-14
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." –Thomas Jefferson We are approaching critical mass, the point at which all hell breaks loose. The government is pushing us ever closer to a constitutional crisis. What makes the outlook so much…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/know-your-rights-or-you-will-lose-them/
Principles and Morality Versus Cash and Profit? No Contest
Brian Cloughley | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-14
Imagine Western reaction if a British or American citizen had been detained in Russia or China then subjected to months of solitary confinement followed by being put on trial for less than five minutes without legal representation or an interpreter, and finally sentenced to life imprisonment. The media in Britain and the US would have gone berserk…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/principles-and-morality-versus-cash-and-profit-no-contest/
Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua
Ben Norton | mintpressnews.com | 2018-12-14
After defeating a violent US-backed coup attempt, Nicaragua's elected government faces the NICA Act. The bill aims to force the Sandinistas from power by ratcheting up economic despair. | The post Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua appeared first on MintPress News.
mintpressnews.com/the-nica-act-us-congress-approves-crushing-sanctions-on-nicaragua/252977/
Paul Rosenberg on GOP Power Grabs, Mariana Viturro on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2018-12-14
Media…
fair.org/home/paul-rosenberg-on-gop-power-grabs-mariana-viturro-on-domestic-workers-bill-of-rights/
The Yellow Vest Insurgency — What's Next?
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-14
Paris, France, April 2017: Macron Unveils Assault on Workers' Rights. Paris, France, December 2018: A potential worldwide insurgency of the working class starts in France as Yellow Vests occupy the streets. "Some 75% of the French back the gilets jaunes. And this support has held up despite the violence." (Source: La République en Flammes, The…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/the-yellow-vest-insurgency-whats-next/
The Right to Record Police Doesn't Disappear When You Put Your Phone in Your Pocket
ACLU | aclu.org | 2018-12-14
In Massachusetts, a federal court affirmed that the First Amendment protects secret recording of police performing their duties in public. | The First Amendment right to record the police is a critical check and balance for people living in a free, open, and democratic society. It promotes the free discussion of governmental affairs as well as protects the democratic process. And for some communities, it's a vital tool for uncovering, if not deterring, police misconduct. | But Boston-based civil rights activists Eric Martin and René Pérez were afraid to record the police. Under a state wiretap law passed in 1968,…
aclu.org/blog/free-speech/right-record-police-doesnt-disappear-when-you-put-your-phone-your-pocket
Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua
Ben Norton | grayzoneproject.com | 2018-12-14
After defeating a violent US-backed coup attempt, Nicaragua's elected government faces the NICA Act. The bill aims to force the… | The post Every Single Member of US Congress Approved Crushing Sanctions on Nicaragua appeared first on Grayzone Project.
grayzoneproject.com/2018/12/14/congress-sanctions-nicaragua-nica-act/
France: Police Crowd Control Methods Maim People
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-14
Riot police barricade, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, December 8, 2018. | © 2018 Human Rights Watch | (Paris) — French police used crowd control and anti-riot tactics during demonstrations in Paris in November and December 2018 that caused physical harm to peaceful demonstrators, including high-school students, and journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. Law enforcement should exercise greater restraint in demonstrations planned to take place on D…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/14/france-police-crowd-control-methods-maim-people
Nicaragua: Government Crackdown on Media, Activists
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-14
(New York) — The government of President Daniel Ortega has begun a sweeping crackdown against the free press and activists in Nicaragua, Human Rights Watch said today. The government has shut down nine respected nongovernmental organizations and raided several of their offices. | Between November 29 and December 13, 2018, Congress stripped the nine groups of their legal registration, effectively forcing them to shut down. Congressman Filiberto Rodríguez of the ruling Sandinista Front of National Liberation (FSLN) introduced the motions stripping them of r…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/14/nicaragua-government-crackdown-media-activists
Hungary's Latest Assault on the Judiciary
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-14
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses the supporters after the announcement of the partial results of parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, April 8, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | This week, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling party Fidesz rammed a law through parliament that poses a new threat to the independence of the country's judiciary. | The law creates a separate administrative court system that will handle cases directly affecting basic human rights, such as elections, right to a…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/14/hungarys-latest-assault-judiciary
Australia: Vet Foreign Soldiers Receiving Training
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-14
The Philippine Navy band welcomes the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) vessel Her Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) Adelaide (III) upon arrival for a goodwill visit as part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Task Group, Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017, at the Pier 15, south harbor in Metro Manila, Philippines on October 10, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters/Romeo Ranoco | (Sydney) — The Australian government should require human rights vetting for all foreign military…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/14/australia-vet-foreign-soldiers-receiving-training
7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies in US Border Patrol Custody
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-14
The headline alone made my heart sink. "7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion." I felt a wave of deep sadness, but no surprise. | A girl stands in the lobby of the Adelanto immigration detention center, in Adelanto, Californ…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/14/7-year-old-migrant-girl-dies-us-border-patrol-custody
China: Further information: Singer-song writer activist sentenced: Xu Lin
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Activist Xu Lin was sentenced to three years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" on 7 December 2018. The singer-songwriter has composed and published songs online about his democratic aspirations and critical of the government for various injustices. He has refused to repent and maintained his innocence.
amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/9579/2018/en/
The extraordinary and ordinary story of Gulzar Duishenova
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Gulzar Duishenova is one of the nine women human rights defenders featured in Amnesty's 2018 Write for Rights campaign. She shared her story with Amnesty International. Every possible effort was made to translate the story into English representing Gulzar's style of speaking faithfully and precisely. | Every activist, like any other person, has her or his story. Some have been actively defending human rights since they were young. In other cases, human rights work found the defenders. My story is both extraordinary and very ordinary at the same time. | This year I have been featured, along with other eight wom…
amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/12/the-story-of-gulzar-duishenova/
CAR: Up to 100 civilians shot and burnt alive as UN peacekeepers leave posts in Alindao
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
The United Nations must carry out a thorough investigation into UN peacekeeping troops' response to a recent attack that killed as many as 100 civilians in a displaced persons camp in the Central African Republic, Amnesty International said today in a new report. | According to multiple eyewitnesses, UN peacekeepers did not engage an attack by an armed group but instead retreated in an armoured vehicle to their central base, leaving thousands of civilians unprotected at the camp in Alindao on 15 November. | An immediate and impartial inquiry m…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/car-up-to-100-civilians-shot-and-burnt-alive-as-un-peacekeepers-leave-posts-in-alindao/
Mexico: Bill could further pretrial detentions
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
The Mexican Congress could pass a constitutional amendment in the following weeks that would force judges to order pretrial detention in cases involving a broad series of crimes. Contrary to international law, the reform does not provide that judges can waive it or assess any evidence before determining if such deprivation of liberty is appropriate.
amnesty.org/en/documents/amr41/9574/2018/en/
LA GUARDIA NACIONAL DEL PRESIDENTE LàìPEZ OBRADOR: CINCO REALIDADES QUE HAY QUE SABER
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Uno de los puntos centrales de la estrategia de seguridad propuesta por el nuevo presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador es la creación de una Guardia Nacional, conformada por entre 50 a 60 mil elementos de la Policía Militar, la Policía Naval, y de la Policía Federal, además de elementos del Estado Mayor y "elementos de tropa." | En lo propuesto queda claro que usaría una estrategia muy semejante a gobiernos anteriores, y la realidad es que la Guardia Nacional es una amenaza para la seguridad y los derechos humanos de las personas en México.
amnesty.org/en/documents/amr41/9578/2018/es/
Civil Society Worldwide Demands Answers to the Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Six years after the enforced disappearance of Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, civil society organizations across the world renew calls on the Lao government to conduct an independent, impartial and effective investigation to reveal his fate and whereabouts.
amnesty.org/en/documents/asa26/9581/2018/en/
Nigeria: UNICEF suspended amid absurd smear campaign
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Responding to the Nigerian army's suspension of UNICEF from operations in northeast Nigeria over allegations of spying and collaborating with Boko Haram, Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said: | "Amnesty International strongly condemns attempts by the…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/nigeria-unicef-suspended-amid-absurd-smear-campaign/
Paraguay: Queer artists at risk of going to prison: Bruno Almada Comas
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Bruno Almada Comas, a young queer artist, is being accused of "acts of exhibitionism" based on a performance denouncing violence and discrimination faced by LGBTI people in Paraguay. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for 19 December. If he is found guilty he could face one year in prison.
amnesty.org/en/documents/amr45/9572/2018/en/
The Islamic State's toxic legacy is an environmental catastrophe, too | Opinion
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Note: This originally appeared in Newsweek. | As we drive up, the desolate farm in the shadow of north-western Iraq's Sinjar Mountain looks like many others in the area. The farmhouse is abandoned, the fields are barren. A neighbour, curious about our visit, wanders over and explains that the owner used to grow olives, wheat and vegetables. But, like half of the farmers in this village, he and his family haven't returned since fleeing from the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) four years ago. | Why? One clue is…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/the-islamic-states-toxic-legacy-is-an-environmental-catastrophe-too/
Nijeriya: 'Sun dauke mazajenmu suka tilasta mana zama masoyansu' — Mata a arewa maso gabashin nijeriya da suke fama da matsananciyar yunwa suna kuma fuskantar fyade a hannun masu ikirarin ceto su
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Mata 'yan gudun hijira a arewa maso gabashin | Nijeriya suna fama da gallazawa da cin zarafi | daga sojojin Nijeriya wanda hakan zasu iya zama | laifukan yaki da kuma laifukan da suka shafi kin | jinin bil Adama. Wadannan mata na neman | hakkinsu da kuma neman a hukunta masu | wannan laifi da kawo karshen kama-karya.
amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/9122/2018/ha/
Belarus: Further information: Two prisoners at risk of imminent execution: Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
There is grave concern that the only two known prisoners on death row in Belarus, Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko, are at risk of imminent execution.
amnesty.org/en/documents/eur49/9586/2018/en/
A conversation between Marielle and God
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2018-12-14
Nine months have passed since 14 March and, during this time, Marinete and I have been waiting for answers about the barbaric and cowardly killing of Marielle Franco, our daughter. Nine months was also how long we waited, with great excitement and anticipation, for Marielle's birth in 1979. | I imagine what a conversation between Marielle — still in her mother's belly, before being born — and God might have been like. | Lord, I'm here in this small space, comfortable and protected by this woman who will be my mother, who gives me affection and caresses. She talks to me and takes me to church and to un…
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/12/a-conversation-between-marielle-and-god/
Julian Assange denounces his illegal detention in Ecuadorian embassy
WSWS | wsws.org | 2018-12-14
The WikiLeaks publisher, whose health appears to be deteriorating, made the comments at a hearing against the Ecuadorian government's "Special Protocol," aimed at forcing him into British and US custody.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/14/assa…
Nearly 15,000 children held in detention camps across the US
WSWS | wsws.org | 2018-12-14
The growth of the child detainee population and the Trump administration's escalation of workplace raids represent an attack on the entire working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/14/immi…
EPA slams door to justice on historic Black community
Special to PeoplesWorld | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-13
TALLASSEE, Al. — On December 10, leaders of a historic Black community in Tallassee, Alabama, denounced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for closing a civil rights complaint filed in 2017 against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in the face of clear evidence, acknowledged by EPA, that the state's actions caused "adverse harms" to …
peoplesworld.org/article/epa-slams-door-to-justice-on-historic-black-community/
Supreme Court considers scope of Bill of Rights
David Sobelsohn | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-13
WASHINGTON — December 15 is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights protects our most cherished rights, including free speech, freedom of religion, and trial by jury. But the Bill of Rights starts with the words "Congress shall make no law." It doesn't say "The states shall make no law." In 1833, the U.S. …
peoplesworld.org/article/supreme-court-considers-scope-of-bill-of-rights/
SCOTUS Just Voted in Favor of Planned Parenthood. But Roe Is Far From Safe
Alice Pettway | progressive.org | 2018-12-13
This is a moment anti-choice politicians and activists have been working toward for years. With Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, state-level activism will be front-and-center for protecting reproductive rights in 2019.
progressive.org/dispatches/Supreme-Court-roe-is-still-not-safe-181213/
Canadian Court Hands Important Victory to BDS Movement
Shared by Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-12-13
A Canadian Court ruled that Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activists were denied free speech and campaigning rights when the city of Montreal tore down their posters highlighting an Israeli atrocity during an election campaign in Canada. We discuss the case with Bruce Katz, one of the main plaintiffs in the case | The post Canadian Court Hands Important Victory to BDS Movement appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/canadian-court-hands-important-victory-to-bds-movement