Category Archives: Gun-violence

Pipeline news – AP

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Latest on the proposed four-state, $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline (all times local):7:25 p.m.Authorities say they arrested 76 Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters after they refused to leave a camp set up on private land.Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rob Keller says they repeatedly warned the protesters to leave the camp.On Wednesday afternoon, officers moved in and evicted the protesters. They were transported to several county jails.Law enforcement officials say they have made 696 arrests during protest activity since August, 2016.Protest spokesman Chase Iron Eyes couldn’t be reached for comment because his cellphone wasn’t accepting messages.

Source: News from The Associated Press

Trump’s Black History Talk: From Douglass to Media Bias and Crime – The New York Times

The president also repeated claims that American communities are not safe:We need safer communities, and we’re going to do that with law enforcement. We’re going to make it safe. We’re going to make it much better than it is right now. Right now it’s terrible.Recent F.B.I. data indicates that crime rates have been dropping for decades, despite a slight uptick in violent crimes in 2015 that was mostly concentrated in urban areas, including Chicago, which Mr. Trump referred to as “totally out of control.”

Trying to set up Chicago – President Obama’s home town and with powerful Democratic mayor for an invasion by US Army!

The entire threatening of Chicago….. | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Just in case anyone has doubts about Chicago and why President Bannon and Co. are so focused on it:1. It’s where is from.2. They need a place to make an ‘example’ of ‘ those people’ (and you know who those people are)3. Chicago ran his ass out of town during the election cycle, and prevented him from having one of his Klan rallies. Been pissed ever since. But, we know which way is up…in cast you’ve forgotten, here’s an on point and educational Twitter feedI will post this Twitter feed:Mikki Kendall Verified account‏@KarnythiaTrump is going to use Chicago to test drive a plan to break cities with military force. They’re going to try to normalize racist violence.Mikki Kendall Verified account‏@KarnythiaIt will look like the Red Summer of 1919. Like Black Wall Street in Tulsa. And they will claim they did it to save the city.

Source: The entire threatening of Chicago….. | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Trump’s whisperer-in-chief is treading on dangerous ground | Southern Poverty Law Center

It’s important that we all never forget who and what Bannon is.He is the media executive who, in his own words, turned the Breitbart News website into “the platform for the alt-right.” The alt-right is simply a rebranding of white nationalism for the digital age. At an alt-right gathering held shortly after the election just a few blocks from the White House, Richard Spencer – a man who has been lauded by Breitbart as one of the movement’s leading intellectuals – quoted Nazi propaganda and prompted sieg heils from the audience.During his campaign, Trump shared links to Breitbart’s racially charged content with his Twitter followers more often than he linked to any other media outlet. Another outlet that linked to Breitbart more than any other: the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, whose proprietor on election night exulted that “[o]ur Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor.”Now, Bannon sits at the right hand of the president and wants to silence the legitimate news media. He wants Americans to get their “news” from the website favored by neo-Nazis.We should all be very alarmed.

Source: Trump’s whisperer-in-chief is treading on dangerous ground | Southern Poverty Law Center

These are the Palestinian children killed by Israel in 2016 | The Electronic Intifada

Ruqayya Abu Eid, 13Ruqayya was shot dead by a private security guard after she allegedly attempted to stab him in the Anatot settlement near Jerusalem on 23 January.A Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, condemned the girl’s slaying. “Even if she had a knife, it would have been possible to arrest a girl that age instead of killing her,” Esawi Frej of the Meretz party said.Haaretz reported that Ruqayya died of a single bullet wound to the heart.“I have no explanation for her decision,” the girl’s father told the paper. “There were two guards there, and they could have overcome her. A little girl. They are trained and armed, you know, so how is it they could not arrest a little girl of 13? Was a girl of 13 a threat to them? Whatever she planned to do, they could still have arrested her.”Ruqayya was laid to rest in the village of al-Karmel east of the West Bank town of Yatta, near Hebron.

Source: These are the Palestinian children killed by Israel in 2016 | The Electronic Intifada

The Humiliation of Entering The United States As Arab | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Ten years later, after months of back and forth with the Embassy and papers flowing in and out, I was finally given a visitor’s visa for 5 years on my third try, routine for Lebanese citizens who were granted the document as far as I know. A few months later, I visited the United States of America for the first time ever.On my second visit, the border control officer said his system “couldn’t process” me, so I was taken into another room where, an hour and another interrogation later, I was permitted entry to come into the US to do my medical residency interviews. This happened again on my third entry, with longer waiting times. Entering the US has been the most invasive thing to my being, and I’ve survived medical school.It’s also what has been happening to many of my colleagues and friends: doctors, scientists, researchers, humans. Just because they were unfortunate enough to be born in countries that are not worthy of enough of having their citizens treated with the minimum of human decency. I can tell you stories about physicians who were kept in those rooms for four hours, waiting for who knows what. It’s never easy to sit there and not know what’s going to happen to you, just because you dared seek entry of a foreign country that you’ve already been thoroughly vetted to be given a visa to.

Source: The Humiliation of Entering The United States As Arab | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

100+ Asian American & Pacific Islander Organizations Pledge to Resist Repression Under Trump Administration | Race Files

Mr. Trump’s campaign used explicit racial appeals to win the support of disaffected white voters, promising to restore their economic and social standing by deporting millions of immigrants, building a wall, creating a Muslim registry, banning Muslim immigration, and punishing Black dissent. He also engaged in deeply misogynistic language and behavior throughout his campaign. He insulted all people of color; people with disabilities; and women – all of whom amount to the majority of America. In the global arena, he has signaled at a new nuclear arms race, promised to expand the use of torture, and disparaged the United Nations.Since his election, Mr. Trump has chosen known white nationalists, corporate moguls, religious zealots, climate deniers, hawkish ex-generals, anti-Islam spokespersons, and anti-government crusaders to serve in his Administration. Right-wing extremists now dominate his party, which will control all three branches of the federal government and the majority of state legislatures, and are positioned to jeopardize the future of the Supreme Court for the next generation and beyond. Together this new realignment of forces seeks to turn back the clock on civil rights and environmental protections, to maximize corporate profits by privatizing the public sector, and to create a racially and culturally exclusive America.This is not business as usual, and we will not engage in business-as-usual tactics and strategies.

Source: 100+ Asian American & Pacific Islander Organizations Pledge to Resist Repression Under Trump Administration | Race Files

I Kept Feeling the Women’s March on Washington Lacked Passion, But Then I Figured the Real Problem – The Ladies Finger The Ladies Finger

As I chanted “No Trump. No KKK. No Fascist USA,” I looked into the faces of the marchers around me, and I got my answer: Americans are not accustomed to this. Most of these hundreds of thousands of people had probably never been to a protest before, and never marched with their children and their parents and screamed at the top of their lungs in the middle of a metropolitan road. This was their first time, their introduction to taking the streets. What I assumed was a lack of passion turned out to be something equally important: a first step. The million people: women, men, children, and allies who marched on Washington, did not have the experience of fighting against overt oppression, but they knew they needed to show up; they knew they must be united in the face of a new era that will have them fight for the rights they have long taken for granted. On this day, the American Woman showed up, she rose to the occasion, and though she was hesitant, she was determined.We arrived at the White House, filling the National Mall with pink pussy hats and chants of “my body, my rights”, and made our presence known. Soon after people started to scatter, but for the rest of the day, one could not go anywhere without running into someone with a sign or a pussy hat. This may not be the desperate protest that started a revolution against a Middle Eastern dictatorship, but it is the American woman beginning her fight. The movement has begun.

Source: I Kept Feeling the Women’s March on Washington Lacked Passion, But Then I Figured the Real Problem – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

The Anti-Fascist Scouting Report: What The Left Can Learn From the Right | Race Files

The cutting edge of Trump’s offensive against civil and human rights has been attacks against immigrants, Muslims, and Black radicals, leading many to believe that Trump will go directly after those groups first. While that may be true, in many ways LGBTQ people are the low hanging fruit where targeting groups to make good on campaign promises is concerned. Producing wins like “hate the sin, love the sinner” religious exemptions that equate discrimination with religious freedom, as well as attacks on same sex unions, insurance claims for sex reassignment surgery, and queer-friendly bathrooms is a lot easier than, say, building a border wall or executing millions of deportations. But, success in attacking LGBTQ rights could set the stage for much deeper cuts into civil rights and civil liberties that may, in the end, clear the way for Trump to consolidate the kind of anti-democratic authority necessary to dig even deeper into his xenophobic and discriminatory agenda.If Trump comes good on the anti-LGBTQ front (and abortion), conservative evangelicals may well look the other way if he reaches for policies that victimize those more likely to be viewed by the broader Christian community as innocents. After all, no one, no mainline or evangelical Christian denomination, stood in the way when Japanese Americans and Alaska Natives were interned during WWII (supposedly for our own safety, which is an argument the Trump regime may be laying the basis for by inciting anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant hatred and inviting and even condoning violence).It’s a frightening prospect

Source: The Anti-Fascist Scouting Report: What The Left Can Learn From the Right | Race Files

Anne Applebaum Interview About President Donald Trump – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Applebaum: I don’t want to predict calamity. But I am afraid of a new Russian occupation of parts of Eastern Europe. Also of a new Russian campaign to exert influence in Germany or other parts Europe, aimed at making continental politics less democratic. I am afraid of a US trade war and even a shooting war with China.

Source: Anne Applebaum Interview About President Donald Trump – SPIEGEL ONLINE