Category Archives: human rights

Saudi Scapegoats | Inter Press Service

In the days since the attack Saudi authorities have been busy rounding up suspects. According to a report published by Al Jazeera, 19 people had been arrested by July 9. Of these 19, 12 are Pakistani and the remainder are Saudi citizens. In addition, Saudi authorities claim that the Jeddah bomber was also a Pakistani named Abdullah Gulzar Khan, who had been working in the kingdom for the past 12 years. The suspect was reported to have worn a suicide belt before he blew himself up.The inordinate scrutiny placed on Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia is likely to become an even larger problem. Even when criminal charges are not terrorism-based, the Saudi legal system is opaque, providing few explanations of charges or records of proceedings. Owing in part to their inferior status in the kingdom and the intractability of its legal system in general, over 2,000 Pakistanis already languish in Saudi jails with 10 or more executed every year. The 12 arrested last week will simply join their ranks, the truth of the allegations against them never properly explained, the details of trials and prosecutions never communicated to the consulates of a poor country like Pakistan.There are good reasons for the Saudi effort to pin the blame on Pakistanis. For instance, it permits Saudi Arabia to deflect the truth that in past years its propagation of an orthodox version of Islam via countless religious schools around the world has contributed to the creation of the jihadi mindset, whose pupils increasingly if not always provide cannon fodder for suicide bombers who have struck targets across the world.According to an article published last year in World Affairs Journal, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (either officially or via private donors) has funded madressahs and religious centres that have then been used for recruitment by extremist groups. The article quotes US Vice President Joe Biden as estimating the Saudi contribution to jihadi groups as being at “hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons”. Increasingly defensive about its own contribution to the very threat that is now at its doorstep, Saudi royals like King Salman have tried to deflect blame by saying that they cannot be held responsible if the money they gave for good causes is appropriated into the cause of extremism and ‘jihad’.

Source: Saudi Scapegoats | Inter Press Service

Munich man hospitalized in ‘worst racist attack in years’ – The Local – Global Racism

It was late in the evening on Friday when the warehouse worker exited his bus in the north of the Bavarian capital and set off on his way home.The 39-year-old, born and raised in Munich but with African heritage, saw two groups of people in front of him.One of the groups was made up of four or five white young men. The other group seemed to him to be Somalis. Two of them were women.When he realized that the young men were shouting abuse at the Somalis, he stepped in to try and calm the situation, police report.”Leave the people from Somalia in peace,” he told the young men.At first his mediation seemed to have worked. The insults stopped and the men left.But as he started to make his way home, one of the young men approached him and ripped his briefcase out of his hand.He turned and chased the young man into a courtyard, but found himself running straight into a trap that the young men had set for him.The other three or four men were lying in wait and assaulted him.At this point the man’s memory becomes hazy, but he remembers being struck down with a plank of wood and then being kicked several times in the head. It was at this point that he lost consciousness.One resident of the building surrounding the courtyard heard the noise and alerted the police.

Source: Munich man hospitalized in ‘worst racist attack in years’ – The Local

The Media’s Exploitation of the Police Killings of Black Americans| Wake up Black folks! | 3CHICSPOLITICO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj9aqtjurwo

 

The death of black men & women and children are been televised like a reality show. These families of the victims go before the media cameras and spill their heart & Soul. They are being asked to forgive the killer of their family members within hours of their death. These folks are vulnerable, and they think going on TV will help them. While it gives voice to their grief and pain, in the long run, it has not always worked out in their favor.I don’t believe this serves them well. The perpetrators of these killings stays silent on the sidelines, while they build up their defenses, gathering information and building up their counter-defenses using the very words the victim families are issuing.The media DOES NOT care! It’ only goal is to get a story for ratings AND profit$.I also don’t think thee attorneys representing the victim’s families always have their back. If they did, they would not sanction all these TV interviews, before any charges are brought against these killer cops.Philando Castille’s family has a TV judge as their attorney. I’m sorry, but NO. HELL NO. I would not want someone defending my family who makes a living trying cases on TV. I’m not saying she’ isn’t competent. Just hire someone who IS NOT in the spotlight and has no agendas and no secondary gains by parading in front of the cameras. These families need better council, and they need it NOW.Because after that POS George Zimmermans’ TV trial, we have seen time and again the grandstanding and dismal outcomes. Thee TV trials have become common place and used, I believe to appear that justice is coming, when in reality, It has become a sideshow that serves to insult our emotions and our intelligence, when our eyes and ears have seen the truth.Look at the trials of those cops that killed Freddie Gray. It’ absolutely despicable to utter from their dirty, filthy mouths that Freddie killed himself, when we saw him being dragged into the van with his legs flailing in the wind like clothes on a clothesline.Take note, white families of those slain cops in Dallas are not parading in front of the cameras being asked to forgive Micha Johnson or  offer words of wisdom to the protesters, or “what is your opinion of police, in general?” Not one of those slain police family members would sit their child in front of a media reporter and camera and allow them to be asked those FUCKED UP QUESTIONS.Yet, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell are just in awe of Cameron’s composure, his open heart, etc. GTFOHBut isn’t that what’s expected of the NEGRO?I’ll stop here for now, but more to come. I’d appreciate your insights, comments, opinions, links, videos, photos to add to this discussion.

Source: The Media’s Exploitation of the Police Killings of Black Americans| Wake up Black folks! | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Texas reports Zika microcephaly; CDC says Olympic risk low | CIDRAP

Texas’s first Zika-linked microcephaly caseThe Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) said in a news release that it received lab confirmation of a past Zika infection in a baby who was recently born with microcephaly in Harris County. Neither the mother nor baby is infectious, and the case poses no risk to Texas residents, the agency said.In a separate statement from Harris County Public Health (HCPH), officials said Zika test results for the mother were inconclusive, but the infant’s results were definitive, suggesting that the mother was probably infected while she was pregnant, presumably in Latin America.Umair Shah, MD, MPH, HCPH’s executive director, said in the statement, “Microcephaly is one of the worst tragedies related to Zika virus infection. We are sad to report that we now have our first case of Zika-associated microcephaly and our hearts go out to the family.”

Source: Texas reports Zika microcephaly; CDC says Olympic risk low | CIDRAP

For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance – The New York Times

This year, for the first time in decades, overt white nationalism re-entered national politics. In Iowa, a new “super PAC” paid for pro-Trump robocalls featuring Jared Taylor, a self-described race realist, and William Johnson, a white nationalist and the chairman of the American Freedom Party. (“We don’t need Muslims,” Mr. Taylor urged recipients of the calls. “We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.”) David Duke, the Louisiana lawmaker turned anti-Semitic radio host, encouraged listeners to vote for Mr. Trump.Modern political convention dictates that candidates receiving such embraces instantly and publicly spurn them. In 2008, when it was revealed that a minister who endorsed the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, had made anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim remarks, Mr. McCain forcefully repudiated them.Mr. Trump did something different.Asked about the robocall, Mr. Trump seemed to sympathize with its message while affecting a vague half-distance. “Nothing in this country shocks me; I would disavow it, but nothing in this country shocks me,” Mr. Trump told a CNN anchor. “People are angry.”Pressed, Mr. Trump grew irritable, saying: “How many times you want me to say it? I said, ‘I disavow.’”Asked six weeks later about Mr. Duke’s support, he said he had been unaware of it: “David Duke endorsed me? O.K. All right. I disavow, O.K.?” Later, on Twitter, he repeated the phrase: “I disavow.”Mr. Trump has often used those words when confronted by reporters. The phrase is comfortingly nonspecific, a disavowal of everything and nothing. And whatever Mr. Trump’s intentions, it has been powerfully reassuring to people on the far right.“There’s no direct object there,” Mr. Spencer said. “It’s kind of interesting, isn’t it?”Mr. Trump’s new supporters took his approach as a signal of support. In an interview on a “pro-white” radio show called “The Political Cesspool,” Mr. Johnson, of the American Freedom Party, praised Mr. Trump’s handling of the controversy.“He disavowed us,” Mr. Johnson acknowledged, “but he explained why there is so much anger in America that I couldn’t have asked for a better approach from him.”

Source: For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance – The New York Times

Alarming Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Discovered In NYer’s Bacteria Sample: Gothamist

The authors of this most recent report say that “it’s not an immediate threat,” but rather a warning sign. But experts told the Huffington Post that it’s likely the bug is “already in the guts of people throughout the United States and will continue to spread” (through fecal contact and poor hygiene, in case you were wondering), and that “within the next two to three years, it’s going to be fairly routine for infections to occur in the United States for which we have no (effective) drugs available.”As for the NYC patient? Not too much is known, other than the fact that the sample with the Colistin-resistant bacteria was gastrointestinal. One of the laboratory’s research directors told National Geographic that the hospital where it was collected is investigating the patient’s clinical history. The city Department of Health didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but we’ll update if they do.In a fact sheet put out last fall, the World Health Organization called antibiotic resistance “one of the biggest threats to global health today,” and noted that it’s “putting the achievements of modern medicine at risk. Without effective antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections, organ transplantations, chemotherapy and surgeries such as caesarean sections become much more dangerous.”

Source: Alarming Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Discovered In NYer’s Bacteria Sample: Gothamist

Tim’s El Salvador Blog: When police kill

Salvadoran authorities have dismantled an alleged death squad partially made up of police and linked to around 40 killings of gang members since 2014, when a resurgence of gang-related violence began. Five civilians and five police were arrested Friday in the first crackdown in 20 years on a “social cleansing” group in El Salvador. Attorney General Douglas Melendez said the self-described “self-defense” organization was financed by local business leaders and Salvadorans living in the United States. Eleven other suspected members of the gang, which operated in the eastern province of San Miguel, remain at large. “We can’t allow our country to become the Old West and this case is an example of that, where we have evidence of summary executions carried out by the suspects,” Melendez said. Although the group has been linked to 40 homicides, the detainees will be charged with 9 killings, he added.

Source: Tim’s El Salvador Blog: When police kill

Ieshia Evans, woman in protest photo, describes Baton Rouge arrest as ‘work of God’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Ms Evans, the mother of a five-year-old son, travelled to Baton Rouge “because she wanted to look her son in the eyes to tell him she fought for his freedom and rights,” according to R Alex Haynes, who said on Facebook he had known Ms Evans since childhood.A jail log from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office showed an Ieshia Evans, 35, was booked on a charge of simple obstruction of a highway and had been released from custody.Reuters could not reach Ms Evans for comment.After her arrest, Ms Evans ended another Facebook post with: “Peace, love, blk power!#blacklivesmatter.”She asked friends not to give interviews on her behalf, saying she wanted to tell her own story, but later said she was not ready to speak to reporters.”I want to get home to my son,” she wrote. “I’ve been through a lot.”

Source: Ieshia Evans, woman in protest photo, describes Baton Rouge arrest as ‘work of God’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Dismantle Fear and Ignorance to Eradicate Racism, Raise Consciousness, and Embrace Equality. | Rebelle Society

One night after leaving work with my manager, who was also a friend, she asked me to hail her a cab. “Hey, I follow your orders at work, but once we leave the building, we’re equals.” I felt annoyed by her demanding behavior.“Look,” she said, her eyes averted with embarrassment, “they won’t stop for me.”I didn’t get it. I totally thought she was messing with me.“And why won’t they stop for you?”“Because I’m black.”No way. That couldn’t be true. It was the late nineties. Surely, we had evolved to see beyond the color of someone’s skin. I told her as much.She sighed. “Okay, stand back and watch.”She stepped up to the curb and I stepped back by the building. One free cab passed her by, then another. When the third one passed, my jaw dropped and I had tears in my eyes.“See?” she said. She looked embarrassed, and I felt like the biggest jerk in the world for not believing her. Upset that humanity still didn’t seem to remember.We traded places. No sooner did I hold up my hand that a cab came to a screeching halt in front of me. I opened the door for her to climb in.  He looked back at her and then forward, rolling his eyes.

Source: Dismantle Fear and Ignorance to Eradicate Racism, Raise Consciousness, and Embrace Equality. | Rebelle Society

Six More Women Say They Were Sexually Harassed By Roger Ailes: Gothamist

Following Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson’s allegations from earlier this week that she’d been fired from the station after rebuffing sexual advances from CEO Roger Ailes, at least a dozen more women have contacted Carlson’s attorney claiming they too were harassed by Ailes. Six of these women shared their stories with NY Mag, and they are harrowing indeed: one woman even says Ailes once pulled out his genitals, which were “red like raw hamburger,” and asked her to kiss them when she was only 16 years old.NY Mag interviewed Kellie Boyle, a former Republican National Committee field adviser; Marsha Callahan, a former model; and four women who wished to remain anonymous, all of whom say they were harassed by Ailes while trying to get a job from him. Boyle told the publication that Ailes blacklisted her when she was supposed to sign a major contract with the National Republican Congressional Committee in 1989. “[H]e said, ‘You know if you want to play with the big boys, you have to lay with the big boys,'” she said. “[H]e said, ‘Well you might have to give a blowjob every once in a while.’”

Source: Six More Women Say They Were Sexually Harassed By Roger Ailes: Gothamist