As hurricane approaches Puerto Rico, Trump transfers funding to border cages
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-28
WASHINGTON–With Hurricane Dorian poised to smash into Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and then Florida, GOP President Donald Trump's decision to transfer disaster relief money and Coast Guard funds from those uses to — among other things — to build migrant detention camps in the Southwest has sparked outrage. The catch is that there's …
peoplesworld.org/article/as-hurricane-approaches-puerto-rico-trump-transfers-funding-to-border-cages/
Trump Reportedly Moving to Deport Kids With Cancer and Deadly Illnesses
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-28
| The Trump administration has reportedly ended a program which allowed immigrants with serious illnesses to temporarily remain in the U.S., a move by the White House that rights advocates decried as " a death sentence" for children receiving treatment for c…
truthout.org/articles/trump-reportedly-moving-to-deport-kids-with-cancer-and-deadly-illnesses/
Wednesday's Daily Brief: Guterres talks technology for Africa's development, 'extinction crisis' prompts stronger wildlife protection, Greta Thunberg reaches New York, funding shortfalls in Iraq, a positive step for Indigenous women
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-28
A recap of Wednesday's stories: Secretary-General António Guterres says 'winds of hope are blowing ever stronger' for Africa's development; Swedish climate youth activist Greta Thunberg reaches New York by boat; Chief of UN Mission for Iraq warns on funding shortfalls; and in Canada, a new bill recognizes the rights of indigenous women.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1045131
The Open Amazon and Its Enemies: A Call for Action and Optimism
Francesc Badia i Dalmases | commondreams.org | 2019-08-28
Tree in the Brazilian rainforest. (Photo: Pablo Albarenga, all rights reserved.) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/28/open-amazon-and-its-enemies-call-action-and-optimism?cd-origin=rss
Labour's latest promises on animal welfare have brought widespread praise
Glen Black | thecanary.co | 2019-08-28
Labour has just published its newest Animal Welfare Manifesto. Its pledges are informed by public consultation and, as a result, tackles many conservationist and animal rights advocates' concerns. And the public's glowing response to the manifesto shows this. | "Drive up standards": | La…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/08/28/labours-latest-promises-on-animal-welfare-have-brought-widespread-praise/
As Tropical Storm Dorian Barrels Toward Puerto Rico, Trump Shifting $155 Million in Disaster Aid Funds to Migrant Detention
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-28
"The money that could be used to help Puerto Rico will instead be used to detain more children and parents in concentration camps." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/28/tropical-storm-dorian-barrels-toward-puerto-rico-trump-shifting-155-million-disaster?cd-origin=rss
Viral Video of Mississippi Voting Machine Changing Man's Vote Prompts Calls for Paper Ballots and Election Security Reform
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-28
A viral video showing a voter in Mississippi attempting to cast a vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday had been retweeted more than 10,000 times by Wednesday morning, as voting rights advocates pointed to the video as evidence that a return to paper ballots would make U.S. elections far more secure. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/28/viral-video-mississippi-voting-machine-changing-mans-vote-prompts-calls-paper?cd-origin=rss
Protesters tell Greyhound, ICE off our buses!
Makasi Motema | workers.org | 2019-08-27
About 200 demonstrators gathered Aug. 23 outside Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal, demanding an end to collaboration between Greyhound Lines, Inc. and Customs and Border Patrol agents, who have been illegally boarding buses to racially profile and detain migrants. The protest was the result of a month of planning by . . . | Continue reading Protesters tell Greyhound, ICE off our buses! at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/27/protesters-tell-greyhound-ice-off-our-buses/
Clampdown on Housing Rights Activists in Bolsonaro's Brazil
Michael Fox | thenation.com | 2019-08-27
Clampdown on Housing Rights Activists in Bolsonaro's Brazil…
thenation.com/article/brazil-bolsonaro-activists-housing-homeless-rights/
Counting Deaths for Dollars: The Rise and Fall of Nicaragua's 'Human Rights' Organizations
John Perry | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-27
In their hunger for US funding, Nicaraguan "human rights" NGO's inflated the death toll during last year's coup. Today, these groups are in a state of complete disarray. | *** | When political conflict results in people being killed — especially at …
globalresearch.ca/rise-fall-nicaragua-human-rights-organizations/5687333
Stripped of Their Rights
aclu.org | 2019-08-27
In 2011, guards at an Illinois prison violated the constitution when they carried out a mass strip-search of incarcerated women. | In March 2011, a tactical team of guards at a state prison in Lincoln, Illinois gathered 200 women and ushered them into a gymnasium, where they were brought in small groups into a separate room nearby. Inside that room, they were told to strip naked in plain view of other guards, cadets, and civilians, without any explanation. Women on their periods were ordered to remove their tampons and sanitary pads. One-by-one, each woman was ordered to lift her breasts, cough and squat, and dis…
aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/women-prison/stripped-their-rights
Woman Goes Into Premature Labor After Aggressive Arrest; Judge Still Sends Her to Jail
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-27
Join us Thursday, August 29th 9PM EST on Youtube and Facebook for the live premiere of The Police Accountability Report. Click on the image for more info. In this episode we will look at a federal lawsuit accusing police of violating the civil rights of a then-pregnant woman that has cleared a major hurdle. Court…
therealnews.com/stories/woman-goes-into-premature-labor-after-aggressive-arrest-judge-still-sends-her-to-jail
DNC Kills Climate Debate Compromise
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-27
Days after rejecting the proposal to sanction debate focused on the climate crisis, the DNC voted 222-137 against allowing candidates to participate in even a non-sanctioned one…
therealnews.com/stories/dnc-kills-climate-debate-compromise
"Kochland": How David Koch Helped Build an Empire to Shape U.S. Politics & Thwart Climate Action
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-27
Billionaire conservative donor David Koch died Friday at the age of 79 from prostate cancer. David Koch — who was worth some $42 billion — and his brother Charles poured massive amounts of money into funding climate change denial through conservative think tanks and politicians. The Koch brothers founded the political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity in 2004, which is credited with turning the "tea party" into a full-fledged political movement. They also backed "right-to-work" efforts, which aim to weaken labor rights and quash union membership. The brothers made their fortune running Koch Indu…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/27/christoph…
We Are Not Fooled By The Hong Kong Protests
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-26
Agnes Chow and Nathan Law accept the 2018 Lantos Human Rights Prize on behalf of Joshua Wong in Washington, DC. (Facebook) Update: Protests continued in Hong Kong this weekend. The protesters returned to the use of violence and the police responded. The South China Morning Post reported: In a now familiar pattern, the protesters threw …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/we-are-not-fooled-by-the-hong-kong-protests/
Marginalized groups hit hardest by inequality and stigma in cities
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-26
Millicent Auma Otieno, a Kenya-based human rights and community activist, campaigns on behalf of women and persons with disabilities who face stigmatization, as a result of cultural and religious beliefs. In an interview with UN News, Ms. Otieno reinforced the message that inequality is prevalent in Africa where, she said, political power often remains in the hands of wealthy elites, adding that many people in cities are forced to live in informal settlements, which have proven to be hotbeds of unemployment, violence, drug abuse and early pregnancies.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044981
Sri Lankan authorities must work 'vigorously' to ease simmering ethno-religious tensions, urges UN rights expert
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-26
A United Nations human rights expert warned on Monday that Sri Lankan authorities must take urgent action to strengthen respect for freedom of religion or belief and address simmering ethno-religious tensions.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044931
"The Situation Was Very Bad": Feminist Activist Kavita Krishnan on What She Saw in Kashmir
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-26
In Kashmir, residents have entered their fourth week of a severe lockdown after India revoked the special status of the Indian-controlled part of the Muslim-majority territory. On August 5, India imposed a curfew and cut off all communications to the region. More than 4,000 people, including many political leaders, have been detained, while local residents report facing increasing shortages of food and medicine. Over the weekend, India blocked a delegation of Indian opposition politicians from visiting Kashmir, including Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Indian National Congress. India's actions have led…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/26/kavita_kr…
Union criticises PM's hypocrisy on public service
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-26
Workers rights Australian Public Service Jim McIlroyIssue 1235 Australia Community Public Sector UnionAugust 26, 2019The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has cr…
greenleft.org.au/content/union-criticises-pm-hypocrisy-public-service
Syria: A new low in nasty propaganda
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-26
It may be a new low in propaganda. National Public Radio (NPR) used the news that Syrian First Lady Asma Assad had overcome breast cancer to mock her and continue the information war against Syria. They interviewed a Human Rights Watch staffer named Lama Fakih who is an American from Michigan now based in Beirut. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/26/syria-a-new-low-in-nasty-propaganda/
Max Blumenthal: US sanctions on Venezuela are 'sociopathic'
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-25
The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal discusses his heated exchange with a former Obama official and a member of Venezuela's far-right opposition…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/25/max-blumenthal-us-sanctions-on-venezuela-are-sociopathic/
Women's Equality Day speak-out and march in Los Angeles
Brian Carrillo | liberationnews.org | 2019-08-25
On Aug. 25, a coalition of human rights and activist organizations, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation Los Angeles, held a rally and speak-out for Women's Equality Day, in MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles.
liberationnews.org/womens-equality-day-speak-out-and-march-in-los-angeles/
Counting deaths for dollars: The rise and fall of Nicaragua's 'human rights' organizations
John Perry | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-25
In their hunger for US funding, Nicaraguan opposition "human rights" NGOs inflated the death toll during the 2018 coup attempt….
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/25/deaths-for-dollars-nicaraguas-human-rights-organizations/
Trump's Concentration Camps for Children
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-24
This week, the Trump Administration declared that immigrant children can be detained indefinitely, and in conditions that can be described as concentration camps. We talk to Sasha Abramsky of The Nation…
therealnews.com/stories/trumps-concentration-camps-for-children
Corporate Interests Use Voter Purges To Disenfranchise Citizens
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-24
The SCOTUS decision in Shelby County v Holder ruled that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is unconstitutional. Greg Palast talks about how what followed has been the expansion of the very issue that the VRA was implemented to curb…
therealnews.com/stories/corporate-interests-use-voter-purges-to-disenfranchise-citizens
Activists demand Minnesota divest from border militarization contractor
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-23
St. Paul, MN – On August 22, immigrant rights and Palestine solidarity activists presented over 1000 signatures of Minnesota residents petitioning the State Board of Investments (SBI) to divest state pension funds from the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. Elbit sells cluster bombs and weaponized white phosphorus to the Israel Defense Forces, whose indiscriminate use on besieged Gaza has been widely condemned by international organizations. Elbit also manufactures surveillance equipment for the Israeli apartheid wall, and drones used in targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders. | Advertisi…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/23/activist…
South Sudan: UN rights experts see little headway on peace deal amid spike in local-level violence
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-23
A United Nations expert group looking at human rights in South Sudan said on Friday that it is "deeply concerned" that, although the overall armed conflict has waned, there has been little progress in adhering to the peace agreement that guided the country thus far.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044831
Friday's Daily Brief: Education in Africa, Sudan flash-floods, WHO on Ebola, spike in South Sudan violence, Rwanda, Uganda move to normalize relations
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-23
A recap of Friday's stories: Education under fire in Central and Western Africa; Sudan flash-floods wreak havoc; Ebola outbreak spreads, albeit with fewer transmissions; UN rights experts on South Sudan; and UN chief welcomes understanding between Rwanda and Uganda…
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1044861
U of MN Teamsters demand year-round work
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-23
Minneapolis, MN — While the University of Minnesota top officials gathered for the opening of newly renovated Pioneer Hall, August 21, about 50 members of Teamsters Local 320 and other campus unions held an informational picket line to demand the year-round, full-time employment for workers in M Dining. The U of M has curtailed summer work opportunities for Teamsters and is trampling on seniority rights. | Mick Kelly, a member of the negotiating committee for U of M Teamsters told the crowd, "The university is plunging us into poverty, and this is something that we will never put up with. It is unacceptabl…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/22/u-mn-tea…
Suddenly West is Failing to Overthrow "Regimes"
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-23
It used to be done regularly and it worked: The West identified a country as its enemy, unleashed its professional propaganda against it, then administered a series of sanctions, starving and murdering children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. If the country did not collapse within months or just couple of years, the bombing would …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/suddenly-west-is-failing-to-overthrow-regimes/
Sen. Merkley Condemns Trump's War Against Migrant Families as U.S. Moves to Indefinitely Jail Kids
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-23
The Trump administration is moving to indefinitely detain migrant children and their families, reversing decades of U.S. policy. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to issue a new rule today to withdraw from a 1997 federal court settlement known as the Flores agreement, which put a 20-day limit on migrant family detentions. We speak with Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who made headlines last year when he was barred from entering an old Walmart where the government was detaining about 1,500 immigrant children in Brownsville, Texas.
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/23/jeff_merk…
Statewide protest says 'Black Lives Matter'
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-23
Indigenous rights Zebedee ParkesIssue 1234 Australia #Black Lives Matter justice SydneyAugust 23, 2019Aboriginal rights activis…
greenleft.org.au/content/state-wide-protest-says-black-lives-matter
Interview: Lebanese solidarity with Palestinian refugees
Joyce Chediac | liberationnews.org | 2019-08-23
"For the first time in Lebanon, and possibly in any Arab country, banners supporting the rights of Palestinian refugees were carried along with queer and trans flags."
liberationnews.org/interview-lebanese-solidarity-with-palestinian-refugees/
A Louisiana Parish Jailed a U.S. Citizen for Being Latinx. We're Suing
aclu.org | 2019-08-22
Officers in a Louisiana jail held a U.S. citizen for four days on an immigration hold simply because of his skin color and name. | Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold — despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver's license, and a Social Security card, and despite that fact that a court ordered his release. | Torres' ordeal began in August 2018, when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Torres, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2009, was carrying multiple forms of identification, inclu…
aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/louisiana-parish-jailed-us-citizen-being-latinx-were
'Anti-alien Hysteria:' Journalist Elizabeth Glendower Evans and the Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
Norman Stockwell | progressive.org | 2019-08-22
In a case perhaps more relevant now than ever, the trial of the two immigrants became a rallying point for 1920s progressives, labor activists, and human rights advocates around the globe.
progressive.org/dispatches/anti-alien-hysteria-elizabeth-glendower-evans-sacco-vanzetti-stockwell-190822/
DNC Rejects Call for a Climate Debate
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-22
Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials reversed the previous ban on candidates participating in non-sanctioned climate forums, but Carmen Bouquin of the Sunrise Movement says that's not enough…
therealnews.com/stories/dnc-rejects-call-for-a-climate-debate
Warren Apologizes to Native Americans; Sanders Backs Rescinding Medals for Wounded Knee Massacre
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-22
This week 10 Democratic candidates and one independent in the 2020 presidential race, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, addressed indigenous communities at the first-ever Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum in Sioux City, Iowa. During the two-day event, candidates individually answered questions from a panel of tribal leaders and Native American youth and elders on issues including treaty rights, voter suppression, and murdered and missing indigenous women.
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/22/frank_lam…
An Arizona Law Requires Surveillance of People Who Are Presumed Innocent
aclu.org | 2019-08-21
The government cannot take shortcuts around constitutional rights. | A pillar of our democracy is the presumption of innocence: before a person has been convicted of a crime, they are considered completely innocent under the law. Yet across the country, people who have not been convicted are punished–both explicitly and implicitly–based on the mistaken assumption that they are dangerous, purely on the basis of an accusation. We do not live in a society where you can be incarcerated or monitored simply because you have been accused of a crime. Doing so violates constitutional rights, fuels mass incarce…
aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/arizona-law-requires-surveillance-people-who-are
Hong Kong: Flashpoint of Class Struggle in China
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-08-20
What began as isolated protests against a standard criminal-extradition law has somehow erupted into a violent fury throughout Hong Kong. The Chinese city's American-and-British-flag-waving protesters are, on the one hand, calling for "freedom, human rights, and democracy" while, on the other, assaulting police and even random bystanders alike. Western media have already been on the …
uwidata.com/4966-hong-kong-flashpoint-of-class-struggle-in-china/
SPLC, allies sue ICE for ignoring medical, mental health and disability needs of detained immigrants
splcenter.org | 2019-08-19
Faour Abdallah Fraihat, who ran a successful construction business for years in California, is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/19/splc-allies-sue-ice-ignoring-medical-mental-health-and-disability-needs-detained-immigrants
Trump is Taking More Money for Raids and Detention. Congress Should Stop Him
aclu.org | 2019-08-19
Without congressional checks, ICE and CBP will continue to overspend and overstep. | 08/27/19 Update: Congress made public today a document outlining the Department of Homeland Security's plan to take nearly $280 million in funds meant for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the TSA, among other critical priorities. Over $115 million of these funds will go towards President Trump's growing detention and deportations of immigrants, with the rest being used for sham border courts to…
aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/immigrants-rights-and-detention/trump-taking-more-money-raids-and-detention
Ernest Coverson on Guns & Human Rights, Carey Gillam Under Attack From Monsanto
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-08-16
Media…
fair.org/home/ernest-coverson-on-guns-human-rights-carey-gillam-under-attack-from-monsanto/
The Challenges of Breastfeeding as a Black Person
aclu.org | 2019-08-15
How our workplaces and healthcare system create barriers to breastfeeding. | The fight to protect individual choices about reproductive care, including breastfeeding, is an ongoing battle. The central lesson of the reproductive justice movement is that choice means little without access. That lesson applies equally to breastfeeding. | Though laws, in the workplace and other contexts, are in place to protect the right to breastfeed, many low-income women and w…
aclu.org/blog/womens-rights/pregnancy-and-parenting-discrimination/challenges-breastfeeding-black-person
SPLC joins brief opposing Kansas law targeting immigrants
splcenter.org | 2019-08-13
The SPLC and 29 worker and immigrant rights organizations filed an amicus brief today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a court decision stating that a Kansas identity theft law cannot be used to turn local law enforcement into immigration agents.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/13/splc-joins-brief-opposing-kansas-law-targeting-immigrants
Unequal Justice: John Roberts' Dark Legacy of Voter Suppression
Bill Blum | progressive.org | 2019-08-13
Plaintiffs are litigating voting rights cases in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and several other states. Some will succeed, some will fail, but all will be more uncertain and expensive thanks to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
progressive.org/dispatches/unequal-justice-john-roberts-dark-legacy-of-voter-suppression-blum-190812/
Expanding Involuntary Confinement is Not the Answer to Solve Gun Violence
aclu.org | 2019-08-13
Institutionalizing people against their will is usually a mistake. | In the wake of last weekend's tragic shootings, President Trump did what he does best: stoked fear and cast blame. He proclaimed that "we must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people, not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement." | There are two things wrong with the idea of involuntary commitment as a solution to gun violence. First, focusing on people with identifiable mental disabilities won't help. The data is clear: men…
aclu.org/blog/disability-rights/integration-and-autonomy-people-disabilities/expanding-involuntary
Venezuela Secures New Chinese Oil Investment
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-08-12
The move defies the US embargo's secondary sanction provisions targeting foreign firms trading with Venezuela.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14625
Washington Escalates Venezuela Sanctions into Full-Fledged Embargo
Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-08-06
The latest measures amount to a total trade embargo impacting both US and foreign entities.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14615
New Civil Rights Memorial to be installed on 54th anniversary of Voting Rights Act
splcenter.org | 2019-08-05
Jimmie Lee Jackson was beaten and shot by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful voting rights march on Feb. 18, 1965.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/06/new-civil-rights-memorial-be-installed-54th-anniversary-voting-rights-act