Category Archives: human rights

Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”

Despite this hostile atmosphere, this courageously 14-year-old girl, took the microphone, to explain what it is like to be a Native student in a school with a racist mascot. She bravely told them about harassment, despite her voice shaking. When speaking about the killing of Native men, women, and children, and the selling of their scalps (known as r*dskins), she became emotional and had to stop for a moment to compose herself. Because of this pause, her time ran out, but she tried to conclude her thought, just as the many of adults who spoke prior to her had.However, adults in the crowd began shouting at her, just as they had us, prior. She courageously told them “I’m almost finished”, to which someone in the crowd shouted “Get off the stage, squ*w!” Understandably upset at being called the worst vulgarity that can be directed towards a Native women, she expressed her disgust at the barbaric behavior and returned to her seat, as the crowd yelled “Go, R*dskins!” at her.So, yes, she did become emotional and stormed off, for which she personally apologized to each board member. However, as a Native women, I think that her response showed a great deal of restraint and grace, considering the verbal assault that she had just been subjected to. That the board would tolerate such verbal violence in their presence, and still characterize keeping the very mascot that embodies and encourages such racism as an “ethical” choice, gives me grave concerns for the safety and welfare of Native children in their district.You see, the emotional pleas from mascot supporters who tearfully said “it’s more than a mascot” are absolutely correct. It is more than a mascot. It is evidence of a much deeper problem that continues to divide our communities, and plague our future generations. When towns like McLoud, and many others, are presented evidence of the harms, yet take the stand that “this is who we are”, embracing the racism and accepting the resulting victimization of members of their community, the impact is not limited to only their closed minded communities. We all have to interact in this world with the generations who are reared in that environment. Racism and division hurt us all.

Source: Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”

Jihadi US couple deal blow to fiancee visa – Times of India

“Somebody entered the US through the K-1 visa program and proceeded to carry out an act of terrorism on American soil. That program is at a minimum worth a very close look,”‘ White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday.The United States issued around 35,000 fiance/fiancee visas in 2014 and slightly fewer in 2013. Among those who slipped into the country through the normal vetting process was Pakistani terrorist Tashfeen Malik.

Source: Jihadi US couple deal blow to fiancee visa – Times of India

Spain arrests man known as ‘The Nurse’ for forced abortions on Colombia rebels | World news | The Guardian

Montealegre said there was evidence that Farc fighters used forced abortions to avoid losing female fighters “as an instrument of war”. In the past the Farc has denied forcing women and girls to undergo abortions and said contraception is provided to female fighters in their ranks.Spanish police said that according to Colombian authorities, victims of “The Nurse” had been raped by Farc fighters and included at least 50 underage girls. Some were forced to abort in the late stages of pregnancy.Most of the abortions were carried out between 1998 and 2000, the police added.

Source: Spain arrests man known as ‘The Nurse’ for forced abortions on Colombia rebels | World news | The Guardian

As Cruz rises in presidential polls, Trump calls him ‘maniac’ | Reuters – {Right versus right versus right}

But last week he questioned Trump’s judgment at a private fundraiser, according to the New York Times, after the billionaire businessman advocated temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.That got Trump’s attention.”I don’t think he is qualified to be president,” Trump said on “Fox News Sunday.””I don’t think he has the right temperament. I don’t think he’s got the right judgment. When you look at the way he has dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a, you know, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac – you are never going to get things done that way.”Trump touted his ability to get along with liberals and conservatives and said that was the hallmark of the “world-class businessman” he is.The front-runner, whose comments on Muslims drew widespread criticism but may not dent his lead in several national public opinion polls, made a sarcastic reference to Cruz’s respectful treatment of him.”He’s been so nice to me. I mean I could be saying anything and he’d say, I agree I agree,” Trump said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”On the Fox program, he also criticized Cruz for talking about him behind his back.Cruz rose to 31 percent, above Trump’s 21 percent, in an Iowa poll released on Saturday by the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg News. That’s a 21-point jump from October.His rise came at the expense of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who dropped to third with 13 percent in the poll, while U.S. Senator Marco Rubio hovered at 10 percent. Jeb Bush was at 6 percent, a 1 percent increase from October.Rubio, who has seen an uptick in his own poll standings in recent weeks, criticized his Senate colleague on defense spending, saying Cruz talked about carpet-bombing Islamic State while voting to cut the military budget.Rubio was measured in his criticism of Trump on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” saying, “There’s a lot we have a difference of opinion on, but we can’t ignore that he’s touched on some issues that people are concerned about.”Trump made the same point on Sunday, saying Americans are living in fear of being attacked. He linked his proposal to ban Muslims temporarily to his tough-on-immigration ideas, which included building a wall at the border with Mexico.”One of the reasons I’m sitting here and one of the reasons I’m so high in the polls is because it all started with the borders,” Trump told CNN. “I took much more heat when I said illegal immigration and southern borders and the wall and all of that than I ever took for this.”

Source: As Cruz rises in presidential polls, Trump calls him ‘maniac’ | Reuters

Statue to Hungarian fascist sparks outcry | News | DW.COM | 13.12.2015

Around 300 protesters gathered Sunday in the city of Szekesfehervar where a life-size bronze statue of Balint Homan is slated to be unveiled at the end of the month.Homan was a civic leader and academic widely seen as an architect of anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s. He also called for the deportation of Jews from Hungary in 1944, while part of a fascist Hungarian government propped up by Nazi Germany.The prospect of paying tribute to Homan with a statue has led to widespread outcry inside Hungary and among international diplomats.”An openly anti-Semitic, fascist politician should never get a statue anywhere in this country,” Andras Heisler, head of Hungary’s largest Jewish group, the Federation of Jewish Hungarian Communities (Mazsihisz), told the crowd at the protest

Source: Statue to Hungarian fascist sparks outcry | News | DW.COM | 13.12.2015

Exit Polls in France Show National Front Losing Regional Elections – The New York Times

A week after the National Front came out on top in the first round of voting, France sent a far different message, with the party losing even in a northern region where its charismatic leader, Marine Le Pen, had been widely expected to win.

Source: Exit Polls in France Show National Front Losing Regional Elections – The New York Times

Larry Flynt Offers Up to $1 Million for Information on Ben Carson Advisor – Hollywood Reporter

“Dr. Carson, Heal Thyself!” the Hustler publisher begins in the paid ad, then goes on to describe a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit against Armstrong Williams, a conservative radio personality whom Carson has described as being part of a “package deal” should he be elected president. “Armstrong Williams, your brother in faith and the person you say you trust more than anyone else outside of your immediate family,” Flynt writes, “settled a lawsuit out of court after affidavits provided allegations that he initiated unwanted sexual advances toward other men.”In 1998, Williams was accused by former personal trainer Stephen Gregory of more than 50 separate incidents of sexual harassment. In the filing, Gregory says that Williams repeatedly “kissed him on the mouth, grabbed his buttocks and genitals and climbed into bed with him on business trips.”When Gregory refused the advances, Gregory claimed in the suit, Williams retaliated by firing him. Gregory sought $200,000 in damages but ultimately settled with Williams out of court.

Source: Larry Flynt Offers Up to $1 Million for Information on Ben Carson Advisor – Hollywood Reporter

ISIS launches app to spread terror agenda – Times of India

For IS, social media is prominent in formulating recruitment strategies.According to theconversation.com, Facebook is a key platform to gather young fans, supporters and recruits to incite them to acts of violence by the means of propaganda and the use of Islamic grievance.When it comes to real-time orchestrating of terror strikes, IS network works with encrypted messaging applications — including Kik, Surespot, Wickr and Telegram — that are very difficult to hack.

Source: ISIS launches app to spread terror agenda – Times of India

Attacks on Stop the War coalition harden Jeremy Corbyn’s resolve to stand by his old allies | Politics | The Guardian

This was a pretty clear message about the Labour leader’s allegiances – although he then went one step further. In a 15-minute speech, in which he acknowledged Stop the War’s faults, and joked about the abuse he had received in recent weeks, Corbyn insisted to cheers from the 200 people eating meze: “The antiwar movement has been a vital force at the heart of our democracy. Branding it as somehow illegitimate is an attempt to close down democratic debate and campaigning.”

{true that!}

Source: Attacks on Stop the War coalition harden Jeremy Corbyn’s resolve to stand by his old allies | Politics | The Guardian

Why Fascism is Rising Again (And What You Can Learn From It) — Bad Words — Medium

My story is nuanced. I have tried to distinguish between proximate cause, and ultimate cause. The ultimate cause of fascism is the right — but the proximate cause is the left. More simply, the origins of fascism are in the right’s extremism — but it is the left’s self-imposed irrelevance that allowed it to rise, and perhaps propelled it. You may disagree with my story, and you are welcome. It is just one synthesis among many. And yet, I caution you against the oppositional extremism that so defines our age. To fully account for fascism’s rise, because it is the most poisonous alloy of both, we must speak openly and honestly about the failures of both the left and right.For in the story of the rise of New Fascism, we see precisely the same elements at work as in Eternal Fascism. The pie shrinks. Leaders and institutions squabble — while the pie keeps shrinking. And then, the critical moment. The center breaks. The demagogue is free to sing his song of darkness. Night falls. And the golden age of the volk, the long march to the promised land, through the valleys of blood and despair, begins.I have written too much. I am tired now, as are you. So let us stop here to pause and reflect. Fascism, the poisonous admixture of the worst of both left and right, is a cancer that may infect the body politic at anytime that body is dulled and slowed, rendered infirm and frail, by stagnation. And the obligation of all reasonable people is to fight it. Not just because it destroys, and calls destruction glorious destiny, nor because it kills, and calls murder noble justice. But because in its glorification of destruction is the end of all that civilization can be said to stand for. Not just the fabric of our societies, but the possibility of our humanity.

Source: Why Fascism is Rising Again (And What You Can Learn From It) — Bad Words — Medium