Category Archives: human rights

Denmark faces backlash over ‘despicable’ ‘jewellery law’ – The Local

Legislation agreed in Denmark to seize the valuables of refugees in the hope of limiting the flow of migrants is “despicable”, US-based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. “I think it’s despicable that Denmark and also in a sense Switzerland are moving to seize the last remaining assets of people, who by virtue of their movement and vulnerability tend to be impoverished and have very little on them,” the executive director of HRW, Kenneth Roth, told a news conference in Istanbul, referring to a Swiss law that since the 1990s has required asylum seekers to contribute to the costs of hosting them in the wealthy Alpine country. “Does a rich country like Denmark really need to strip the very assets of these desperate asylum seekers before providing them basic services?” asked Roth, who was presenting HRW’s annual report in Istanbul.

Source: Denmark faces backlash over ‘despicable’ ‘jewellery law’ – The Local

Quote of the Day: We are “destroying” our “white culture” with abortions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsuNP5uZhsc

The 1920’s were in full effect at a Florida state House subcommittee meeting on Monday where an anti-abortion activist insisted that “white culture” is being destroyed because white women are “outside the home, not having babies.” The House Criminal Justice subcommittee discussed HB 865, which would essentially ban all abortions except in cases where the health of the mother was at risk and could punish anyone who performs abortions or operates an abortion clinic with up to 30 years in prison.In support of this legislation, the activist in question went on a rant about the moral obligations of lawmakers to act in accordance of his interpretation of the Bible’s views on family and children. He also thinks the fact that the United States is “so fat and sick” is evidence that we are “under judgement.” His final statement was “It’s either repent or perish America. That’s the way it is.”But what stood out the most was this activist’s not-so-subtle dive into eugenics thinking when he made the bold claim that the United States is a “white culture” and is under attack when white women are choosing not to carry their pregnancies to term. To make his point, he said: “The Muslims, they don’t kill their babies,” and the Mexican race “is through the breeding of having families, children.”If you think these are just the ramblings of an extreme religious fanatic that don’t hold much weight, you should know that the subcommittee passed the bill 8-3.

Source: Quote of the Day: We are “destroying” our “white culture” with abortions

Avian Flu Diary: CDC Adds Two Destinations To Zika Travel Advisory

Twelve days ago the CDC issued a Level-II travel advisory for 14 countries and territories over the Zika Virus threat, asking pregnant women to considered postponing travel to regions that were affected. Seven days later they added 8 additional countries and/or territories.   Last night two more travel destinations were added to the list (United States Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic) both having recently reported confirmed local transmission of the virus.  It should be noted that while evidence of a tentative link between the introduction of Zika to the Americas and the sharp rise in microcephalic births in Brazil continues to grow, a causal link has yet to be established.  Doing so could take months. Given the potentially dire outcome of maternal infection, the CDC is acting out of an abundance of caution and is recommending that pregnant women avoid travel to these affected regions until more is known.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: CDC Adds Two Destinations To Zika Travel Advisory

German Muslim soldier criticizes racism following Cologne attacks | News | DW.COM | 26.01.2016

She even had to contend with people who accused her of not understanding the plight of the women who had been harassed. “Sexual harassment – against women, men or children- is bad,” Reinke said. “I don’t want anyone to experience this.”Reinke’s Facebook post begins with her saying she is a “German and a Muslim.” She says she was “ashamed” and felt “sick” when she heard that there were several Moroccans among the men who harassed women in Cologne on December 31.”My parents worked very hard to establish themselves here …” Reinke told DW. “I cringe when I hear these people who sexually assaulted women were from Morocco.”Reinke said she also feels bad when she hears about a refugee home being attacked. “For me it is attempted murder … because then people say, ‘All Germans are Nazis.’ And that makes me cringe too.”Reinke’s message unleashed an outpouring of reactions. She said her supervisors at the Bundeswehr and her organization Deutscher Soldat, which volunteers for refugee causes, were very cooperative. “I did not realize that it had been shared so much,” she said, adding that she was on holiday and looking for wedding dresses with her best friend who was getting married.

Source: German Muslim soldier criticizes racism following Cologne attacks | News | DW.COM | 26.01.2016

Man Killed by Chicago Police Called 911 Before Being Shot – The New York Times

A man who was fatally shot by the police in December as he emerged from a home with a baseball bat had called 911 seeking help from the police three times in the minutes before the shooting, but was met with curt dispatchers, according to audio of the calls made public on Monday. One of the dispatchers hung up on him when he was unwilling to elaborate on what was wrong.The man, Quintonio LeGrier, a 19-year-old college student whose family members have said experienced emotional troubles in the months before his death, first called 911 from his father’s house at 4:18 a.m. on Dec. 26. He said he needed a police officer to come to the house, but would not give details about why or provide his last name.

Source: Man Killed by Chicago Police Called 911 Before Being Shot – The New York Times

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Fraud | Inter Press Service

The modest benefits projected make it crucial to consider the nature and scale of costs currently ignored by all available modelling exercises. The TPP will impose direct costs, e.g. by extending IPRs and by blocking or delaying generic production and imports.The TPPA’s investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions will enable foreign investors to sue a government in an offshore tribunal if they claim that new regulations reduce their expected future profits, even when such regulations are in the public interest. As private insurance is already available for this purpose, ISDS provisions are completely unnecessary.Jagdish Bhagwati, a leading advocate of free trade and trade liberalization, along with others, have sharply criticized the inclusion of such non-trade provisions in ostensible free trade agreements. Instead of being the regional free trade agreement it is often portrayed as, the TPP seems to be “a managed trade regime that puts corporate interests first”.The TPP, offering modest quantifiable benefits from trade liberalization, is really the thin edge of a wedge package which will fundamentally undermine the public interest. Net gains for TPP partners seem doubtful at this stage.Only a complete and proper accounting based on the full text can settle this key question. The TPP has, in fact already been used to try to kill the Doha ‘Development’ Round of multilateral trade talks, but may well also undermine multilateralism more broadly in the near future.

Source: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Fraud | Inter Press Service

Before You Unlock a Woman’s ‘GDP Potential’, Why Don’t You Improve Her Financial Life First? – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Of course, individual women who want to move into higher productivity jobs because that improves their own lives deserve the world’s support. But can’t productivity (i.e. higher pay, to continue the decoding), better working conditions, unionisation, vacations, insurance, and pensions themselves be shifted to the work that women currently do, if they want to continue doing it? Can it be that traditional women’s work will never be compensated in the way that, say, STEM work will be, because our age of compulsive technology-mongering and war-mongering needs (or thinks it needs) STEM more than “less skilled” “women’s work”?

Source: Before You Unlock a Woman’s ‘GDP Potential’, Why Don’t You Improve Her Financial Life First? – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

[Update] [NSFW] Video: Topless Activists Disrupt Saturday’s Anti-Abortion Rally, Get Arrested: SFist

 

The group, reports Jezebel, is called Femen, and specifically sought to disrupt the speech of David Daleiden. Daleiden, you may remember, is the guy whose highly edited Planned Parenthood videos caused an uproar among anti-choice activists last year. He was scheduled to speak at Saturday’s event, and that’s when Femen made their move.”Seconds after Daleiden took the stage,” reads a press release from the group, “FEMEN activist Anni Ma set off a personal security alarm from within the crowd, and took her shirt off to reveal ‘FREEDOM MEANS CHOICE’ painted on her chest. Activist Carly Mitchell joined Ma in chanting ‘Fraud! Hypocrite! Liar!’ at Daleiden.””Ducote and Marston climbed up the wheelchair lift and tossed 200 fake subpoenas at Daleiden,” continues the group’s statement, “featuring his face stamped with ‘Fraud,’ ‘Fake,’ and ‘Liar.'”Ducote and Marston were charged with violating a park code prohibiting women from being topless, notes Jezebel, after six rally attendees physically restrained the women (you can watch a partial video of the arrest below).“I have written to SF Board of Supervisors at length about changing this park code, but they have not risen to the occasion,” notes Ducote.As we’ve learned before, SF’s current ban on public nudity does not extend to certain sanctioned events, beaches, and permitted protests, and activists have claimed successfully in court that other instances of nude protest might be legal as well.Update: Houston Public Media is now reporting that David Daleiden, the focus of Femen’s protest and featured speaker at Saturday’s anti-abortion rally, has been indicted by a Texas grand jury.Both David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt have been indicted for Tampering with a Governmental Record, which is a felony. Daleidan was also indicted for Prohibition of the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs, meaning he illegally offered to purchase human organs in the video recording. A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

Source: [Update] [NSFW] Video: Topless Activists Disrupt Saturday’s Anti-Abortion Rally, Get Arrested: SFist

Spanish Member of Congress Causes Controversy after Breastfeeding in Parliament | Inter Press Service

The idea, however, was to set an example of the difficulty that thousands of women face in juggling their private and professional lives and to highlight the need to share responsibilities and rights between both men and women.“In this country, there are millions of mothers who unfortunately cannot raise their children as they would like, who cannot go to work with their children as if it was something normal,” Bescansa said to reporters ” I think that the fact that coming to parliament with a breastfed baby makes the news says a lot about this country. That means we need to give more visibility to this.”It is not the first time a European politician has taken a stand by bringing their children into parliament. Iolanda Pineda, of the Socialists’ Party of Catalonia took her baby in 2012 into Spain’s upper house of parliament, and Licia Ronzulli, a former Italian member in the European Parliament, has frequently taken her daughter to sessions.The issue has opened a debate on the role of women both professionally and privately. Breastfeeding, which is a natural part of childbearing and caring, is still seen in many places as obscene and something to be done in private.It is important to mobilize at all levels of society in order to change the shame associated with breastfeeding and to incorporate it as part of the natural daily tasks of women both in public and in the workplace.

Source: Spanish Member of Congress Causes Controversy after Breastfeeding in Parliament | Inter Press Service

2 Abortion Foes Behind Planned Parenthood Videos Are Indicted – The New York Times {ROTFLMAO)

Gov. Greg Abbott said on Monday that the inspector general of the state’s Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas attorney general’s office were continuing to investigate Planned Parenthood’s actions.“Nothing about today’s announcement in Harris County impacts the state’s ongoing investigation,” Mr. Abbott said in a statement. “The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue.”CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY259COMMENTSMr. Daleiden has been praised as a hero by some religious opponents of abortion. On Thursday, Mr. Daleiden was a featured guest at an Evangelicals for Life conference and was interviewed by Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family.Asked by Mr. Moore whether it was morally consistent to engage in lies and deception to obtain information, Mr. Daleiden said that undercover work is “fundamentally different from lying,” according to BaptistNews.com, because its underlying purpose “is actually to serve the truth.”

Source: 2 Abortion Foes Behind Planned Parenthood Videos Are Indicted – The New York Times