Category Archives: human rights

Bratton: There’s An “Epidemic” Of People Filming Police: Gothamist – doing the one foot in and one foot back dance!

Bratton’s defense of Martinez is inconsistent with his stark condemnation of four undercover NYPD officers that were caught on video harassing and arresting Crown Heights postal worker Glen Grays without cause. “You do not have a right to resist arrest and in so many of those videos, people are resisting violently and being encouraged by the crowd,” Bratton said Wednesday. Two years ago, Eric Garner was arrested and put in a chokehold by plainclothes NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo on Staten Island. Garner was killed in the incident, and his death was ruled a homicide. (A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo.) His deadly arrest was filmed by Ramsey Orta, and the footage ignited heated nationwide debate about police brutality, racist policing patterns, and the potential benefits of placing mandatory body cameras on law enforcement officers. Filming police with your cellphone is completely legal, but plenty of NYPD cops will still arrest you for it.

Source: Bratton: There’s An “Epidemic” Of People Filming Police: Gothamist

US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | {The final “oops!”?}

US health officials reported Thursday that they had discovered the first case in the country of a patient with an infection resistant to all known antibiotics. The discovery raises fears that the so-called superbug could pose serious danger for routine infections if it spreads. “We know now that the more we look, the more we are going to find. We risk being in a post-antibiotic world,” said Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman who had not travelled within the prior five months. “We need to do a very comprehensive job of protecting antibiotics, so we can have them and our children can have them,” Frieden added.

Source: US warns of nearly invincible superbug | News | DW.COM | 26.05.2016

Quote of the Day: “You’re a Bigot, Lady”

The witness, University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot, lambasted the recent Departments of Justice and Education guidance on transgender students’ rights, declaring that “[i]f someone had said in 1972 that one day Title IX would be interpreted to force schools to allow anatomically intact boys who psychologically ‘identify’ as girls to use the girls’ locker room, he would have been greeted with hoots of laughter.” Heriot went on to dismiss trans students’ gender identities as “a fantasy,” asserting that, “I [am not] a great-horned owl just because, as I have been told, I happen to share some personality traits with those feathered creatures.”

Lofgren wasn’t having any of it. She condemned Heriot’s transphobia, noted the disproportionately high rates of violence and discrimination that trans students suffer, and declared her objection that Heriot’s hateful comments — many of which, by the way, are legally suspect in addition to unethical and bigoted — were ever entered into the record to begin with. Then, over the objections of Republican Chairman King — who demanded “civil” language from Lofgren but (of course) not from Heriot — Lofgren declared: I think you’re a bigot lady. I think you’re an ignorant bigot. Mic drop.

Source: Quote of the Day: “You’re a Bigot, Lady”

To those who get/have been bullied or have been put down by others… – ISVI RAMOS

I don’t exactly know why people choose to hurt others. Maybe they’re jealous of you, or don’t like you, or just have nothing better to do…But that is no excuse. No matter what the reason is for their actions towards you, it is not okay. When people try to bring you down, you often question why, you? What have I done to them? And sometimes those questions remain unanswered because you’ve literally done nothing wrong. Don’t ever feel like it’s your fault, like you deserve it, like you’re unworthy, not good enough, or popular enough and that those are the reasons why they’re picking on you. Never believe what others tell you to try and break you because they’re wrong.

Source: To those who get/have been bullied or have been put down by others… – ISVI RAMOS

Is Trump bump triggering dump USA move in America? Not much beyond the jokes – Times of India

A Canadian radio DJ launched a website earlier this year inviting Americans to move to an island off Nova Scotia if Donald Trump wins the race to the White House. A Canadian advertising firm set up a webpage called Trump Clause that includes legal advice for people or businesses choosing to migrate north. Net searches for ”moving to Canada” have soared since the start of the ”Trump bump,” and at one point, the Immigration Canada website was said to have crashed from the traffic. Meanwhile, sharp-eyed online entrepreneurs are hawking everything from ”Canadian Clothing Brands to Familiarize Yourself With Before You Move to Canada” to Canadian spouses to facilitate immigration (the website is appropriately called MapleMatch). The online music streamer Spotify has come up with a ”Moving to Canada” playlist (featuring Canadian singers), while in the U.S, one realtor recently advertised: ”Leaving the country if TRUMP is elected PRESIDENT? Give me a call and LET’S GET YOUR HOME SOLD!!”

Source: Is Trump bump triggering dump USA move in America? Not much beyond the jokes – Times of India

Mario Torero: The ‘Artivist’ Who Changed the Face of Chicano Park | La Prensa San Diego

1970 marked a turning point in San Diego’s Chicano movement. Mere days after his near-death experience, Mario Torero met Salvador Torres, another artist and muralist with whom a few months later he would co-found – along with other artists – the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park. On April 22 of that same year, Torero was among the Chicano activists who occupied Barrio Logan’s Chicano Park in order to keep it from being turned into a California Highway Patrol (CHP) station. They won the fight, and today the park has become an icon for Chicano, Latin American and Mexican-American culture in the United States. Once the community took over the space, the effort began to turn it into a place where art could converge. Mario Torero recalls how difficult it was in the beginning to find Latinos or other minority groups in museums, galleries, or any other art centers in San Diego. So, he decided to bring art closer to these communities through murals. Three years after Chicano Park was founded, he painted the first of what is today dozens of murals. From there, the Congreso de Artistas Chicanos en Aztlán, an art collective whose membership includes Torero, took on the mission of covering the rest of the park in murals that showcased Latin American culture and history. For the Peruvian painter, the murals are a reflection of  Barrio Logan’s essence, which has slowly morphed into an arts district, as evidenced by the new galleries opening their doors in the neighborhood. “The hood needed to heal, and it was the artists who brought the healing,” shared Torero, who is also an activist. “That’s the way it was when we started the movement, and that’s the way it is to this day.”

Source: Mario Torero: The ‘Artivist’ Who Changed the Face of Chicano Park | La Prensa San Diego

Homeopathic practitioner hacked to death in Bangladesh | News | DW.COM | 20.05.2016

Both Rahman and Zaman were fans of a mystical musical tradition known as Baul, which is popular in the region. The doctor’s brother-in-law said Rahman used to arrange concerts at his home. The Bauls, or “mystic minstrels” as they are known locally, have long been dismissed as hippies and even killed after being branded heretics by the country’s religious extremists.

Source: Homeopathic practitioner hacked to death in Bangladesh | News | DW.COM | 20.05.2016

Moshe Yaalon, Israeli Defense Minister, Resigns – The New York Times

“This morning I informed the prime minister that following his management in the latest developments, and in light of my lack of faith in him, I am resigning from the government and the Knesset and taking time out from political life,” he wrote on his Facebook page. The addition of Mr. Lieberman to the government, which has not been announced, would not represent an enormous right-wing shift for Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition.

Source: Moshe Yaalon, Israeli Defense Minister, Resigns – The New York Times

Woman attempted to set fire to Oslo mosque – The Local

The woman went to the World Islamic Mission’s mosque on Tuesday and asked to use its toilet. Video from the facility’s surveillance cameras show that she set fire to a paper towel that she brought with her out of the restroom, Aftenposten reported.    While she attempted to use the paper towel to start a larger fire, 15 people were praying one floor above her.    Those praying were able to extinguish the fire.    The World Islamic Mission has up until now been open to anyone who wants to look around or use the facility to pray. School groups have also been welcome. But now, management said it will reconsider both the mosque’s safety measures and opening hours.

Source: Woman attempted to set fire to Oslo mosque – The Local

Netanyahu agrees to give defense portfolio to ultranationalist Lieberman | News | DW.COM | 18.05.2016

Lieberman is a polarizing figure, questioning the loyalty of Israel’s Arab minority. He tried and failed to require Israelis to sign a loyalty oath or have their citizenship revoked. He is also skeptical about pursuing peace with the Palestinians, and now wants to pass legislation that would impose the death penalty against Arabs convicted of terrorism. He has become an influential voice within Israel, while alienating many of the country’s allies. Israeli and Palestinian peace talks have been in the deep-freeze for some time, and by elevating extreme nationalists into government, the chances of any thaw in the near future are made that much more remote.

Source: Netanyahu agrees to give defense portfolio to ultranationalist Lieberman | News | DW.COM | 18.05.2016