Category Archives: human rights

High court upholds Mich affirmative action ban – The Washington Post

{Cannot believe that the rest of court went along with this but can believe it – just wish they would wake up to what they are doing to the country!}

Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor in dissent.

via High court upholds Mich affirmative action ban – The Washington Post.

230 girls abducted in school attack by Nigerian extremists still missing, 1 week later

At Chibok, the scene of the attack, weeping parents cried on Monday, begging the kidnappers to “have mercy on our daughters,” and for the government to rescue them. “I have not seen my dear daughter, she is a good girl,” cried Musa Muka, whose 17-year-old Martha was taken away. “We plead with the government to help rescue her and her friends; we pray nothing happens to her.”

Although at least 200 remain missing, dozens of the students managed to escape their captors, jumping from the back of an open truck after they were kidnapped in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday last week or by running away and hiding in the dense forest. The number who escaped depends on whom you speak to — 39, 43, maybe more than 50.

via 230 girls abducted in school attack by Nigerian extremists still missing, 1 week later.

Idealists in Action » Blog Archive » Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!

Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!

posted by April Greene on April 21, 2014

Filed under: Idealist Community

We’re hiring!

If you love big ideas, have led large-scale multimedia campaigns, and are experienced in building and leading a communications team, become our Director of Communications in our New York City office.

Check out the full description and application instructions. The application deadline is Monday, May 5th.

via Idealists in Action » Blog Archive » Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!.

Israeli extremist tries to remove Palestinian flag, gets caught on barbed wire (Video) – Ads Against Apartheid | Ads Against Apartheid

“Why are you on my roof?” asked Sidr in broken Hebrew.

The settler, who had a Russian accent, also spoke in broken Hebrew as he answered Sidr.

“I’ve come to talk with you,” the settler said. As he spoke, he hung onto the building’s stone ledge, his shirt stuck in the barbed wire and his feet still on the ladder.

His antics attracted the attention of Hebron’s Jewish community, which gathered below to watch the spectacle.

The settler, undeterred by his precarious position, asked Sidr to remove the two Palestinian flags.

Sidr refused and asked the settler how he would feel if Sidr attempted to climb onto his roof to remove an Israeli flag.

“Would that be good?” asked Sidr.

“But this roof is my roof.

This is all mine, this is my country and my land,” said the settler.

“No. This is my house.

Why are you here?” asked Sidr.

“You just think it’s yours.

But this whole country is the Land of Israel,” said the settler.

“Hebron is not in Israel.

This is Palestine. I am not in Tel Aviv,” said Sidr.

“What is Palestine? It is only what the Romans called it. This is the Land of Israel. This is my country.

And everything that is here is mine,” said the settler.

via Israeli extremist tries to remove Palestinian flag, gets caught on barbed wire (Video) – Ads Against Apartheid | Ads Against Apartheid.

Let them drown? Suspend rescue of migrants at sea, Italy’s Northern League party says – UPI.com

Neo-Fascist Northern League wants to let wannabe immigrants drown?

An official of Italy’s Northern League political party called for a suspension of operations to rescue the thousands of migrants who arrive in Italy by sea, calling it an expensive “invasion.”

Party secretary Matteo Salvini said a proposal will be sent to the two Italian parliament houses, calling for the rescue, called “Mare Nostrum,” to end. He claimed the operation costs Italy 300,000 euros ($414,362) per day.

“That will end the financing of smugglers and the invasion of our shores,” Salvini said. His political party has often taken strong positions against immigration to Italy.

Immigration is a point of conflict in Italy, as thousands of migrants arrive regularly in unsafe vessels regularly from North Africa and other African nations torn by war and poverty. Many die as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea. After about 400 died in sinkings of two migrant boats in 2013, within sight of the Italian island of Lampedusa, Italy began its “Mare Nostrum” surveillance and rescue operation.

Boat arrivals have more than tripled in 2014, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has recommended Italy receive financial help for its efforts.

via Suspend rescue of migrants at sea, Italy’s Northern League party says – UPI.com.

Hot Yoga: So Not Hot. | Rebelle Society

My reason for showing up for that first Hatha Beginners Series was about as boring as it gets. I was tired all the time. So.Fucking.Tired. Not to mention overweight and depressed. And there was a persistent rumor circulating that Yoga helped reduce stress.

At a loss of what else to do and spurred on by a hint of desperation, I signed up for a full five-week introductory class. It was certainly a scary commitment, but I knew something had to change and it had to start with me. That meant trying something completely different.

Every class left me feeling energized and clear-minded. I had no idea how this Yoga thing worked, but as I witnessed my constant brain fog gradually diminishing with each session, I settled into the realization that understanding something is not a necessary element in benefiting from it.

via Hot Yoga: So Not Hot. | Rebelle Society.

No, not never – Yes, you will! Japan will never stop whaling: fisheries chief | The Japan Times

Hayashi, who took the ministerial post overseeing the country’s whaling program in December, said criticism of the practice is “a cultural attack, a kind of prejudice against Japanese culture.”

via Japan will never stop whaling: fisheries chief | The Japan Times.

Someone’s Handing Out Leaflets in Eastern Ukraine Telling Jews to ‘Register’ – The Wire

According to the Times of Israel, Pushilin has gone on record to a Russian paper denying any involvement in the flyers, instead calling them a “provocation.” Olga Resnikova, a Jewish resident of the region who saw the leaflet told Ynet that “we do not know if the leaflet was spread by pro-Russian forces or someone else, but it did manage to create quite a fear.”

No matter where the flyer comes from, the very real issue of anti-Semitism in Ukraine following the change of power there has been a fraught one. Pro-Russian groups have taken pains to paint the new interim government in Kiev as in collusion with anti-Semitic nationalists. But a New York Times look into Jewish life in Ukraine following the change of power found that many in the country were more concerned about anti-Semitism coming from Russia than they were about nationalist backlash from the new Ukrainian government. It seems no matter the crisis, the worst bigots will always find a way to exploit it.

via Someone’s Handing Out Leaflets in Eastern Ukraine Telling Jews to ‘Register’ – The Wire.