Category Archives: human rights

9-year-old schoolboy with brain tumour is first to have testicular tissue frozen to save fertility – Telegraph – {Crass commercialization, exploitation, and experimentation on children!}

“Tissue freezing gives children hope not just for the future but it also means that they suddenly believe they are going to survive their cancer.”They have the same options as all their peers. It makes a big difference to them.”The NHS does not fund the freezing of testicular tissue but money from fertility firm IVI has helped boost the clinical service in Oxford so patients can access it for free.Dr Lane said she hopes to be able to secure NHS funding for testicular tissue freezing but is still gathering the data needed to put to bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).Martin Ledwick, Cancer Research UK’s head cancer information nurse, said the new procedure is promising and gives hope to young cancer patients.He said: “Thousands of young people are diagnosed with cancer every year so finding ways to preserve their chance of having a family later in life is a really important part of their treatment.”

Source: 9-year-old schoolboy with brain tumour is first to have testicular tissue frozen to save fertility – Telegraph

Chris Christie Loosens NJ Gun Restrictions To Show What A Great Republican He Is: Gothamist – The Blood from the Next Gun Murder Will Be on Governor Christie’s Hands

Permitting was found to have been “unevenly” applied across New Jersey’s townships, so regulations will be broadened to apply to more people who desire firearms for protection. The qualifications for “justifiable need” have also been expanded, and applications from victims of domestic violence will be expedited.In some cases, out-of-state residents passing through New Jersey with firearms legally owned in their home states will not be prosecuted. For instance, gun owners are required to go from point-to-point unless a stop is deemed “reasonably necessary,” the criteria for which does not currently exist.Lastly, the Attorney General will crack down on towns that fail to speedily process gun permit applications, and processing times will be collected and published in an effort to create greater transparency.”New Jersey citizens should be permitted to defend themselves and not encounter unlawful delays and impediments,” Christie said a statement released to media, adding that the commission provided “a set of recommendations that I am proud to wholeheartedly embrace. We will work through the Attorney General to put these changes into effect as quickly as possible.”

Source: Chris Christie Loosens NJ Gun Restrictions To Show What A Great Republican He Is: Gothamist

Police union slams plan to strip refugee jewelry – The Local – Government theft planned from refugees

Denmark’s Minister for Integration has hit back at police criticism of the government’s highly controversial proposal to confiscate valuable items from refugees by saying “most people” can judge the value of jewelry.Outrage at Danish plan to strip refugee jewellery (17 Dec 15)The proposal to strip refugees of their valuables is contained in a draft bill which was submitted to the Danish parliament on December 10th and which is not expected debated by MPs until some time in January. But the furore over the plan is rumbling on with Police Union leader Claus Oxfeldt now entering the fray by going public with concerns about the practicality of the scheme.“I don’t have a good enough imagination to envisage us taking things like wedding rings from refugees coming to this country,” Oxfeldt was quoted by national broadcaster DR.Oxfeldt also stated his belief that estimation of specific values of items was outside of police jurisdiction.“It is not possible for us to judge whether a ring has a value of 1,000 (€134), 5,000 or 10,000 kroner,” Oxfeldt said. “If there is a large amount of cash, perhaps we should confiscate it,” he added.But integration minister Inger Støjberg stated her disagreement with Oxfeldt’s assessment.“I think most people can tell whether something is worth a thousand or 20,000 kroner, and if there is any doubt, you can have it valued or choose not to take it,” she said, also on DR.This does not mean that valuation experts would be brought in, according to Støjberg.“This is about very general principals in Denmark. If you can provide for yourself, you will provide for yourself. This also applies to refugees… The Police must see whether, for example, large amounts of money are being brought in. If they are, stays at asylum centers must be paid for [by the refugee] for as long as possible.“It is important to say that if anyone comes here with a wedding ring, we will not take it. I have said this from the start, when we presented the proposal.”Under the proposal, items needed for everyday use such as mobile telephones would also be exempt from confiscation, as well as items of sentimental value – unless these are of very high monetary value, in which case their confiscation can be considered “reasonable”.Refugees carrying the equivalent of over 3,000 kroner in cash would also see this confiscated.

Source: Police union slams plan to strip refugee jewellery – The Local

Muslim Teacher Fired for Mentioning Islam in Class

In case anyone was still wondering whether American Islamophobia is an emergency: Recently, a Muslim-American high school history teacher of Palestinian descent, Sireen Hashem, was fired from her job at Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey after being banned from mentioning Islam in class.As if that wasn’t enough, Hashem and her attorney report that soon after she was dismissed, she received a knock on the door from… Jesus Christ, the FBI.Hashem’s apparent offense? Using the same teaching materials as everyone else.Hashem had shown a video about Malala Yousafzai in class — a pedagogical move apparently unoffensive in the classrooms of other, non-Muslim teachers. Hashem also used a writing prompt touching on Osama bin Ladin. Both pedagogical moves, reads the suit contesting the dismissal, were considered acceptable from other (non-Muslim) teachers. According to the suit, Hashem was told that “she could not teach current events in the same manner as her non-Arab, non-Palesinian, and non-Muslim colleagues.”Racism in the age of Trump is not the territory of ignorant people totally unlike “us,” but fundamental to everywhere from our most prestigious universities to the places we grew up.This incident — Hashem’s firing — literally happened in the place I grew up. Hunterdon County, New Jersey is the sixth richest county in the United States. According to the 2010 census, It is 91 percent percent white. It is not the abstract working class white Trump middle America of wealthy liberal fantasies. It is a place full of nice, white college graduates who smile at each other in the grocery store. I am ashamed, but not surprised, that this has happened at home.

Source: Muslim Teacher Fired for Mentioning Islam in Class

Interviewing Luis Moreno Ocampo\a reflection | nadiaharhash

Ocampo is the first assigned Prosecutor to the International Criminal Court (ICC), who was sworn to the position for nine years as of June 2003. When he took the position, observers said that he would surely turn the ICC into a “sexy court”. It will take anyone five minutes to understand how true this sentence is, and later to realize how the mixture of brilliance and modesty are the perfect combination that form “sexy” in this situation.Aside from the flirting ideas about the man; what he has to offer was inspiring for me. As usual, we are also confronted with the complexity of the situation. In this particular situation, it was about Ocampo’s visit and lectures in the Hebrew University. A debate that will remain ongoing, between “us” and “them”. Between “us”, “them” and “those from outside this zone of conflict”.What Ocampo had to offer in advices to the Palestinians wasn’t particularly new. It was actually what everyone who wants to give an advice to the Palestinians say: “ Follow Gandhi. Adopt non violence as an approach to resistance”. And each time the quick Palestinian response is: “ how do you want us to stop violence with non violence? How do we defend ourselves amid this vicious aggression that never seize to stop. Occupation is violent by its very nature. What we do, even if it is not resistance, it is the only way for us to survive.”Ocampo wasn’t different from the rest in this call: “Teach your children to leave the stones and use their cameras in the confrontation with the occupation. This is more effective. Document the crimes and the violations and use it as a weapon of resistance.”

Source: Interviewing Luis Moreno Ocampo\a reflection | nadiaharhash

Passenger says Muslims protect Christians in Islamist attack on Kenyan bus | Reuters

Somali Islamist militants sprayed a Kenyan bus with bullets on Monday, killing two people, but a passenger said he and fellow Muslims defied demands from the attackers to help identify Christians traveling with them.The attack took place in Mandera, in northeast Kenya. A year ago, al Shabaab gunmen stormed a Nairobi-bound bus in the same area and killed 28 non-Muslim passengers execution-style.Abdi Mohamud Abdi, a Muslim who was among the passengers in Monday’s incident, told Reuters that more than 10 al Shabaab militants boarded the bus and ordered the Muslim passengers to split away from the Christians, but they refused.”We even gave some non-Muslims our religious attire to wear in the bus so that they would not be identified easily. We stuck together tightly,” he said.”The militants threatened to shoot us but we still refused and protected our brothers and sisters. Finally they gave up and left but warned that they would be back,” he said.In previous attacks, al Shabaab has often killed both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Source: Passenger says Muslims protect Christians in Islamist attack on Kenyan bus | Reuters

Franco Galdini: Kyrgyz Mercenary, Friend or Foe? – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Last time I saw Manas, he was at his wits’ end. All his attempts to leave the country had come to naught and he seemed resigned to a life on the run. His tone was more conciliatory than threatening, but as usual self-criticism was conspicuously absent. It was everyone else’s fault that he had driven himself into a corner. In his mind, he was still a misunderstood Kyrgyz hero, as the pseudonym he had chosen for himself made abundantly clear (the Epic of Manas is considered the national heritage of the Kyrgyz people).Apparently, this is not so uncommon. A former Russian volunteer in eastern Ukraine interviewed by Dozhd TV channel stated that “most of those who came back either went on fighting, but for Kiev, or were jailed. They get into fights with the police or other people, trying to prove they are heroes back from the war. But come to think of it, are we really heroes?” Addressing President Putin, he concludes that the war “isn’t worth it.”Just how not worth it all was becomes painfully evident on assessing the state of the Donbass region today. “The war has come and gone, leaving behind poverty and pain,” writes Novaya Gazeta special correspondent Pavel Kanygin.If the conflict has passed its peak intensity, the situation on the ground remains extremely volatile, as recent incidents show. The media spotlight may have moved on, but left behind are the shattered lives of the thousands upon thousands of civilians who have to pick up the pieces.

Source: Franco Galdini: Kyrgyz Mercenary, Friend or Foe? – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Minority Sheet Metal Workers in New York Get Back Pay After Decades of Bias – The New York Times

The union’s white members have received more work and larger pensions, data show. In contrast, minority members, who have lagged for decades, often struggle to find steady jobs and to earn enough credit to retire on time with full pensions.Continue reading the main storyRelated Coverage Settlement in Bias Suit That Stalled for 37 YearsJAN. 16, 2008Last month, the union began paying the first installments of $12.7 million in back pay to hundreds of black and Hispanic members in a partial settlement of a bias lawsuit decades old — the oldest such case in the hands of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Source: Minority Sheet Metal Workers in New York Get Back Pay After Decades of Bias – The New York Times

Erdogan says Kurdish militants will be ‘annihilated’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East – Armenian Genocide Deja Vu – The Turkish Caliphate Sticks Again!

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish militants Dec. 15 that “you will be annihilated,” and pledged that Turkish security forces will continue their massive military assault on Kurdish towns in southeastern Turkey until they are “completely cleansed and a peaceful atmosphere established.”Metin Gurcan reports that the escalation in military operations in towns where Kurdish militants associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have taken hold has increased the possibility of a civil war.

Source: Erdogan says Kurdish militants will be ‘annihilated’ – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Demographic change a threat to Hindus: Giriraj Singh – Times of India {Religious Racism despite his protest that it is not}

“The geography and history of vast Aryavart are still there but many parts of this Aryavart have no Sanatan dharma followers,” he added. He also advocated a wide discussion on the definition of minority.Citing examples, he said that population of Hindus had declined in 60 districts of UP and 26 districts of Bihar, while they have turned into minority in five districts of Kerala.On the issue of intolerance, the minister said that tolerance was in the blood of India, which firmly believes in the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ and ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina’. “It is the country’s tolerance that the court sat at night for a terrorist Yakub Memon and thousands of people took part in his funeral,” he said, adding that some people were questioning the country’s tolerance by raising the issue of increasing intolerance but the world accepts India’s tolerance.

Source: Demographic change a threat to Hindus: Giriraj Singh – Times of India