Category Archives: human rights

Birth Control via App Finds Footing Under Political Radar – The New York Times

The development has potential to be more than just a convenience for women already on birth control. Public health experts hope it will encourage more to start, or restart, using contraception and help reduce the country’s stubbornly high rate of unintended pregnancies, as well as the rate of abortions. And as apps and websites, rather than legislative proposals or taxpayer-funded programs, the new services have so far sprung up beneath the political radar and grown through word of mouth, with little of the furor that has come to be expected in issues involving reproductive health. At least six digital ventures, by private companies and nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood, now provide prescriptions written by clinicians after women answer questions about their health online or by video. All prescribe birth control pills, and some prescribe patches, rings and morning-after pills. Some ship contraceptives directly to women’s doors. Some accept insurance, including Medicaid for women with low incomes; some charge modest fees. Some send prescriptions to local pharmacies, where women can present their insurance information when picking up the contraceptives.

Source: Birth Control via App Finds Footing Under Political Radar – The New York Times

British rock band Radiohead slams Islamist attack on fans in Istanbul | News | DW.COM | 18.06.2016

Similar attacks like those on the Velvet IndieGround record store and altercations during gay pride events have taken part also at art galleries in the area in the past. Critics say that Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government under the leadership of the AK Party (Justice and Development Party) has been undermining the country’s secular tradition, culminating in the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013, which resulted in 22 deaths without leading to any change.

Source: British rock band Radiohead slams Islamist attack on fans in Istanbul | News | DW.COM | 18.06.2016

Rebel US diplomats won’t be heard on Syria, ex-ambassador says – France 24 – “51 Neo-Cons in US State Department attempting – along with Neo-Con elements in the press – to con public that US should go to war with Syria!”

It is a message telling Secretary of State John Kerry that the current policy is failing and that it cannot succeed, that it will continue to fail. It is a memo that says that more must be done to put pressure on the Assad government. It is suggesting that we need limited American strikes against Assad government targets so that Assad understands the ceasefire must be respected, and that there must be compromises and more acceptance of the moderate Syrian opposition in the negotiations.

Source: Rebel US diplomats won’t be heard on Syria, ex-ambassador says – France 24

Zakia Jafri’s Fight Isn’t Over: Only 11 Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Gulbarg Massacre – The Ladies Finger

On 28th February, 2002, during the infamous Gujarat riots, 69 people living in Gulbarg Society, a Muslim locality in Ahmedabad, were dragged out of their homes by a Hindu mob. At least 35 were burnt alive, and 69 were killed in total. Over 14 years later, on 2nd June, 2016, a Special SIT Court convicted 24 people of the murders, and yesterday, completed their sentencing. Eleven people convicted for murder were sentenced to life imprisonment. Of the remaining 13 convicted on charges like arson and rioting, 12 were sentenced to a term of seven years imprisonment, while one was sentenced to 10 years. The Court has requested the Centre not to remit the sentences of those accused to life imprisonment even after they complete a term of fourteen years in prison, at which point the Centre has the discretion to remit the sentences. Amongst those brutally murdered in this massacre was Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. His widow Zakia Jafri has been relentlessly fighting for justice for him and the other victims of this massacre for 14 years. In June 2006, she filed a complaint alleging that the police refused to register an FIR against Narendra Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and several other ministers and top administrative officials. Her plea went unheard by the Gujarat High Court in 2007. In 2008, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter and ordered the Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat to re-investigate some cases from the riots, including the Gulbarg Society one.

Source: Zakia Jafri’s Fight Isn’t Over: Only 11 Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Gulbarg Massacre – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Back home alone: ​​the viral short narrating street harassment – Red Harvest

The short French ‘Au bout de la rue “(” At the end of the street’), shown in a very simple and clear.   That was published in March on Youtube and in the last hours began viralizarse. The film, directed by Maxime Gaudet shows in just three minutes and seconds how a woman can feel harassed at night if walking alone. And, in a very subtle way, how that live in fear is naturalized.

Source: Back home alone: the viral short narrating street harassment – Red Harvest

Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found, Forcing Big Brother Out of Hiding – The New York Times

“It’s the whole mother lode,” said Gideon Oliver, a civil rights lawyer who two years ago filed a lawsuit on behalf of a historian seeking records about a group that was a target of surveillance. The boxes, according to a written index, contain extensive files about the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam and the Young Lords, as well as public demonstrations and civil unrest. Files on individuals are also among the documents; at least 15 boxes primarily contain photographs, Mr. Oliver said. The city’s Records Department, in a statement, said it was working to develop rules regarding public access to the documents, though no timetable or process has been set.

Source: Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found, Forcing Big Brother Out of Hiding – The New York Times

Not Politically Correct Reflections on Brexit | Inter Press Service

What then is the positive side of Brexit? While I do not see any for Britain or Europe, this could have a great influence on the tide of history. It could give birth to a new Europe, much more homogenous, formed by what could be called the Carolingian Europe. Charles the Great, in the 8th century, was able to unify most of Europe, and made France and Germany the basis of the kingdom. As Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he also brought the south of Europe into the Empire. That Empire was based on the values of Christianity, with the strong support of the Pope. This new Europe will have to discuss foundational values to be viable, beyond its economic basis. And the errors made during this present version of “Europe”, will have to be discussed and avoided in the new one. Eventually it could become attractive to those who have left, who will have mean while found out that integration is a crucial issue in our globalized world. But more relevant, the turmoil and decline of England after Brexit, will be a extraordinarily message to other European countries. It will show that populism, nationalism and xenophobia, that the European integration was supposed to consign to the dustbin of history, can be useful tools for winning an election, but not to run a country. The England of the past will never come back, and reality will creep in. When England invaded China, to oblige its citizens to buy opium from the British Empire, there were 30 million British, and 323 million Chinese. Today Britain has over 60 million people, immigrants included, and China 1.374 millions. England was supposed to be a cradle of democracy. If a campaign of fear can win in a supposedly civilized country, it means more education must be done for a vibrant democracy. There is only one problem in this scenario of hopeful thinking, and it is the Germany to which Lord Hume was referring 50 years ago. His dominant Germany, from which the only way to be free was to become second to the US, will be in place and more reinforced by the end of the Great Kingdom, and the exit of Poland and other countries. Today’s Germany is not the Germany of Bonn, cofounder of Europe, with European statesman like Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohll, placing Europe at the top of their priorities. Today’s Germany Is the Germany of Berlin, with politicians basically intent to achieving German priorities. They will have to solve a fundamental problem: they want to run or do they want to integrate? And Brexit would have the advantage of also bringing this issue to the fore..

Source: Not Politically Correct Reflections on Brexit | Inter Press Service

Blood center testing shows rapid Zika rise in Puerto Rico | CIDRAP

In what may be the most accurate real-time picture of Zika activity in Puerto Rico, a sensitive test for screening blood donations shows rapidly rising levels that could result in thousands of infections in pregnant women, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned today. At a media briefing, CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said high levels of Zika activity in the US territory could result in dozens to hundreds of babies born with microcephaly. Puerto Rico has been using a highly sensitive investigational test since Apr 3 to screen local blood collections. Frieden said that though it’s not a stand-in for a serologic survey and doesn’t reflect a random sample, “it gives us a window to see what’s happening with infection rates.” Illnesses probably haven’t peaked yet, and disease activity—in view of dengue and chikungunya patterns—may last through summer and into the fall.

Source: Blood center testing shows rapid Zika rise in Puerto Rico | CIDRAP

Russia’s Track and Field Team Barred From Rio Olympics – The New York Times – Let those who test clean now to compete!

Russian authorities have vehemently disputed Dr. Rodchenkov’s account, calling it the “slander of a turncoat.”It is unclear whether the I.O.C. can or will overturn the I.A.A.F.’s blanket ban when it meets on Tuesday. The I.O.C.’s president, Thomas Bach, has emphasized in recent weeks “the difficult decision between collective responsibility and individual justice,” suggesting the possibility that the I.O.C. can allow Russian athletes with clean histories to make it to Rio.

Source: Russia’s Track and Field Team Barred From Rio Olympics – The New York Times

Save