Category Archives: human rights

Why I Have No Sympathy for Angry White Men | Dame Magazine

It’s hard out there for a White man. Political correctness has gotten so bad that White men can no longer wear blackface on Halloween. They can no longer assault women with impunity.  The fundamental promises of White privilege are under attack. They believe that it is only right and good that they should have what they want at the expense of everybody else. That their lives matter most of all. Every time.This is the story we’re being fed about Trump supporters. Not surprisingly given the widespread allergies to facts, the truth is something different. But it turns out that the most ardent Trumpsters aren’t young men in the rural underclass. They are older retirees—former autoworkers, civil servants, small businesspeople and others—with pensions and other resources that put them in the “have” category in depressed small towns. Never mind that these communities have faced economic hard times because Trump and his band of oligarchs have spent decades avoiding taxes and shipping jobs overseas.Despite a narrative that focuses on blue-collar voters, the Trump coalition is far more “diverse” in class, age, and geography. What binds them together?  Whiteness and masculinity! As Bob Cesca argues in Salon, “Generally speaking, Trump supporters are non-college-educated white men, ranging from younger ‘bros’ to, more typically, white male baby-boomer retirees with plenty of spare time to be relentlessly irradiated by Fox News and AM talk radio. If you convince enough men that alleged outsiders (women, minorities, immigrants) are stripping them of their long-held power, as Fox News and others have done, there’s going to eventually be a fight, especially when one of those so-called outsiders is a black president with the middle name ‘Hussein.’ Older white men don’t intend to hand over power quietly, and they’ve been given the green light by irresponsibly influential leaders to bury their humility, their decency and their sense of reality.”

Source: Why I Have No Sympathy for Angry White Men | Dame Magazine

Donald Trump May Have Private Server to Communicate Exclusively With Russia – from one puppet to his puppeteer – How am I doing, boss?

Now computer scientists have unearthed evidence that Trump may have also maintained a private server for exclusive communication with a Russian bank.  Slate’s Franklin Foer conducted a painstaking investigation into the means by which scientists uncovered this data and the extent to which it may be linked to the 2016 election. Currently, sufficient evidence does not exist to bring forth allegations. What evidence does exist, however, is impossible to brush aside.In brief, an anonymous scientist referred to as Tea Leaves discovered that one server registered to the Trump Organization and two registered to Alfa Bank have been in communication. The Trump Organization server was created in 2009 for marketing purposes, but it no longer seems to engage in high levels of traffic. In fact, it has become apparent that these servers exclusively exchanged information with one another — that is to say, there were no communications with other entities.“These organizations are communicating in a way designed to block other people out,” computer scientist L. Jean Camp told Slate. Alfa Bank, helmed by Mikhail Fridman and Pyotyr Aven, does have dealings in the United States. LetterOne, one of the bank’s holding companies, invested $200 million in Uber this year and intends to commit $3 billion to United States health care. And by all accounts, Alfa Bank has not involved itself in shady business; it has even received an award for “Corporate Citizenship.” That said, Fridman and Aven do belong to Putin’s inner circle, albeit the perimeter. And Alfa Bank’s international success has, in the eyes of the Russian government, revealed the country’s business prowess and made it seem a more competitive contender.The relationship between the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank also seems connected to—or at least influenced by—the election. As scientists began to monitor activity between the servers, they noticed a trend. “At election-related moments, the traffic peaked,” explained Camp. For instance, during both party conventions, there was considerably more communication.

Source: Donald Trump May Have Private Server to Communicate Exclusively With Russia

A Syrian Refugee in the US Wants Americans to Understand Their Country’s Vetting Process · Global Voices

 

This is what upsets me, because I love the country, I love America,” Albukaie said. “This country is my mother. When [Trump] said Syrians are coming without any paperwork, he should see my paperwork and other people’s paperwork, it’s huge. We went through a lot of interviews, a lot of background checks … More than 10 interviews, and a lot of them were scary and not comfortable, in small rooms, no windows, like an investigation.“Scary because they ask a lot of questions, and a lot of embarrassing questions too. Like, ‘Answer yes or no, do you want to bomb airplanes?’”I asked Albukaie: What about the people who are scared of Muslims coming from Syria? How do you assure them that you’re not a terrorist?“When people say ‘terrorist’ to me… when I smile and wave and say hello, their face changes from somebody that’s mad to somebody who’s welcoming, more calm,” said Albukaie. “I believe Muslim attitudes can change what American people think about Muslims.”

Source: A Syrian Refugee in the US Wants Americans to Understand Their Country’s Vetting Process · Global Voices

North Carolina Republicans Tried to Disenfranchise a 100-Year-Old African-American Woman | The Nation

The challenge list compiled by Republicans also overwhelmingly targeted black and Democratic voters. “Of the 138 challenged, 92 of them were black and registered Democrats. 28 voters were unaffiliated, 17 were Republicans, and 1 was Libertarian,” reported WNCT.Hardison’s challenge was withdrawn after a local outcry, but 14 voters have been purged so far in recent weeks in Beaufort County, which previously had to approve its voting changes with the federal government under the Voting Rights Act because of a history of discrimination.The North Carolina NAACP says the purge violates the National Voter Registration Act, which “prohibits the mass removal of voters from the rolls within the 90 days prior to the election.”“These purges have a long history of being racial and inaccurate,” says Penda Hair, a lawyer for the North Carolina NAACP.

Source: North Carolina Republicans Tried to Disenfranchise a 100-Year-Old African-American Woman | The Nation

Facebook Allows Advertisers To Exclude Users Based On Their Race: SFist When it comes to race, ethnicity, elitism, Facebook makes money on racism, elitism, sexism… It does not care about your hate for color, as long as it gets its “green.”

In addition to, say, allowing a company to request that their ad be shown to a specific group of people, Facebook permits advertisers to select what “ethnic affinity” they would like to exclude. Some of those options include “African American,” “Asian American,” and “Hispanic.”“This is horrifying,” civil rights lawyer John Relman told ProPublica. “This is massively illegal. This is about as blatant a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act as one can find.”The Fair Housing Act of 1968 states that it is illegal to “make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.”A theoretical ad for housing on Facebook that excluded any of the above groups might run afoul of the law.Facebook, for its part, denies that it’s doing anything wrong and says that it doesn’t even know the race of its users. The company doesn’t directly ask users that information, and Facebook’s privacy and public policy manager, Steve Satterfield, claimed that “Ethnic Affinity,” as Facebook calls it, is something other than a user’s race — although that it is included in the “Demographics” category of the ad tool seems to suggest otherwise. And anyway, Satterfield told ProPublica, the company would pull any ads that were in violation of the law.“We take a strong stand against advertisers misusing our platform: Our policies prohibit using our targeting options to discriminate, and they require compliance with the law,” he said. “We take prompt enforcement action when we determine that ads violate our policies.”However, as a test, ProPublica purchased a housing ad that excluded various minority groups. It was approved by Facebook within 15 minutes. When asked about that ad, a Facebook spokesperson reportedly declined to comment.

Source: Facebook Allows Advertisers To Exclude Users Based On Their Race: SFist

Noa: The Bitch, the Witch and the imminent Switch…..pre-election ruminations

So, I say, to all of you out there, children of the future: President Obama has said, we live in a world of imperfect choices. Hillary is far from perfect, and in that sense, she is every bit human. But I believe, and I am not alone, that she has all the qualifications, experience and talent to lead the US, and with it the world, to a place of hope and change. As a citizen of the United States residing outside her borders, I have already cast my ballot in Clinton’s favor. I wish her, and all of us, the best of luck.

30 facts about Hillary Clinton:

1. First ever student commencement speaker at Wellesley College.

2. Distinguished graduate of Yale Law School.

3. Editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.

4. Co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

5. Former civil litigation attorney.

6. Staff attorney for Children’s Defense Fund.

7. Faculty member in the School of Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

8. Former Director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic.

9. First female chair of the Legal Services Corporation.

10. First female partner at Rose Law Firm, the oldest and one of the largest law firms in Arkansas.

11. Twice named by The National Law Journal as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.

12. Former First Lady of Arkansas.

13. Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983.

14. Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession.

15. Created Arkansas’s Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth.

16. Instrumental in passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

17. First Lady of the United States.

18. Promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses.

19. Successfully sought to increase research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health.

20. Worked to investigate reports of an illness that affected veterans of the Gulf War (now recognized as Gulf War Syndrome).

21. Helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice.

22. Initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act.

23. First FLOTUS ( First Lady of the United States ) in US History to hold a postgraduate degree.

24. Helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative to promote the participation of women in the political processes of their countries.

25. Two-term New York Senator and the first ex-FLOTUS in US History to be elected to the United States Senate.

26. Served on five Senate committees: Budget (2001–2002), Armed Services (2003–2009), Environment and Public Works (2001–2009), Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001–2009) and the Special Committee on Aging.

27. Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

28. Leading role in investigating the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders.

29. Worked with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York on securing $21.4 billion in funding for the World Trade Center redevelopment.

30. Former United States Secretary of State.

Brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in 2012.

Source: Noa: The Bitch, the Witch and the imminent Switch…..pre-election ruminations

Some Donald Trump Voters Warn of Revolution if Hillary Clinton Wins – The New York Times {Keep track of these KKK AMER-ISIS fools-that want to return to Oklahoma city bombing tactics}

Jared Halbrook, 25, of Green Bay, Wis., said that if Mr. Trump lost to Hillary Clinton, which he worried would happen through a stolen election, it could lead to “another Revolutionary War.”“People are going to march on the capitols,” said Mr. Halbrook, who works at a call center. “They’re going to do whatever needs to be done to get her out of office, because she does not belong there.”

Source: Some Donald Trump Voters Warn of Revolution if Hillary Clinton Wins – The New York Times

CDC chief: Antibiotic resistance ‘scary’ threat to modern medicine | CIDRAP

An estimated 700,000 people around the world die each year from drug-resistant strains of common bacterial infections, HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. And a 2014 report from the UK’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance projected that if rising AMR is not addressed, the annual death toll could reach 10 million by the year 2050.Frieden said that antibiotic resistance threatens to turn back the clock to a pre-antibiotic era in which pneumonia and urinary tract infections are potentially fatal conditions. But beyond that, it also endangers the more than 600,000 cancer patients who get chemotherapy each year and rely on antibiotics to protect them from potentially deadly infections. “We presume that we can treat them, but that may not always be the case,” Frieden said.

Source: CDC chief: Antibiotic resistance ‘scary’ threat to modern medicine | CIDRAP

UK student leaders reject “partisan” anti-Semitism report | The Electronic Intifada

In an open letter, the student leaders condemn an influential parliamentary committee’s “selective and partisan” report on anti-Semitism in the UK, which was published on Sunday.The NUS itself has also criticized the report’s politicized approach to anti-Semitism.The student leaders say that the Home Affairs Select Committee’s report is an attempt “to delegitimize NUS and discredit Malia Bouattia as its president.”The parliamentary committee is dominated by the governing Conservative Party.Despite admitting there is no evidence that Labour under left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn is any more prone to anti-Semitism than any other party, the report overwhelmingly focuses on the Labour Party.Corbyn on Sunday hit back that the select committee was guilty of “politicizing anti-Semitism” and neglecting to combat it in the Conservative Party.VilificationThe report has also come in for flak over its call to outlaw criticism of Zionism, Israel’s official ideology.First published Sunday night, the open letter has now garnered the signatures of almost 400 student leaders.The select committee’s report claims that Bouattia’s characterization of the University of Birmingham as an outpost of Zionism “smacks of outright racism.”In a 2011 blog post, Bouattia wrote that the leadership of the university’s Jewish society was “dominated by Zionist activists.”The open letter demands a “revised report that is impartial” and the retraction of what it says are false statements about NUS policy on campus anti-Semitism, “along with an apology to those who have been vilified by the inaccuracies and partisan biases it contains.”The report includes a large section on anti-Semitism in UK universities, which mostly focuses on Bouattia.It criticizes her record as a campaigner for Palestinian rights, saying her “choice of language” suggests “a worrying disregard for her duty to represent all sections of the student population and promote balanced and respectful debate.”Bouattia, an advocate of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, has faced attack from right-wing media and Israel lobby groups since she was elected NUS president in April.Singled outIn their open letter, the student leaders say they are “alarmed” at how Bouattia “is being singled out for her views on Israel by the [Home Affairs Select Committee] in its report, and depicted as the source of anti-Semitism in higher education.”On Sunday, an NUS spokesperson said the report “fails to address the reality for students” and that it was “partial and inaccurate in relation to NUS work in tackling anti-Semitism.”Bouattia welcomed parts of the report, saying that its “data on increasing anti-Semitism and targeting of the Jewish community is deeply concerning.”She affirmed that “there is no place for anti-Semitism in the student movement.”The student leaders’ letter said that the report’s focus on the Labour Party and the NUS “casts doubt upon its authors’ intentions.”They reject the parliamentary committee’s recommendation suggesting that “legitimate criticism of Zionism … be considered as hate-crimes by the government, effectively equating them with anti-Semitism.”“Zionism is a political ideology that continues to express itself through the actions of the state of Israel. It is one that is held or rejected by both Jewish people and non-Jewish people,” the student leaders state. “As with all political ideologies, it should be open to discussion, scrutiny and debate.”

Source: UK student leaders reject “partisan” anti-Semitism report | The Electronic Intifada

Argentinian Women Take to the Streets in the Thousands to Protest the Murder of a 16-year-old Girl – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Women wore black and left workplaces for an hour at midday on Wednesday, “in mourning for all of the dead women, all of the women killed simply for being women, ” as one Ni Una Menos activist described it. They had previously organized on social media under hashtags like #NiUnaMenos (“Not one less” indicating that every day one more woman’s life is lost to violence) and #MiercolesNegro (BlackWednesday).The Argentinian women marching in black are also reminiscent of the victorious Polish women’s protests earlier this month that overturned the government’s ridiculous proposal to ban abortion.The nation-wide protest follows a series of women’s protests, since the march on 3rd June 2015 for the death of fourteen-year-old Chiara Paez and recently, in Rosario, demanding abortion rights. Argentinian President Mauricio Macri has proposed a national plan to combat violence against women in July this year — including measures like a hotline for abuse victims, monitoring of abusers, and shelters for women. Activists have said that this may be a beginning but have astutely placed the focus of the problem as that of machismo (an aggravated masculinity), ingrained into the cultural fabric of Latin America. A woman is murdered every 31 hours in Argentina as many reports note. According to the Secretariat of Human Rights, nineteen women and girls have been murdered in the first eighteen days of October. As in India, Argentinian activists are asking, is violent crime against women on the rise or is it being reported and protested more?

Source: Argentinian Women Take to the Streets in the Thousands to Protest the Murder of a 16-year-old Girl – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger