Category Archives: human rights

“Love Knows No Bounds” Demonstrators Gather at Border

On Monday, a peaceful demonstration of over 400 people led by faith leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and indigenous communities took place at the U.S.-Mexico border separating San Diego and Tijuana. The event was held in solidarity with migrants facing violent anti-immigrant rhetoric and persecution from the U.S. government, and an increasingly militarized U.S. border. “I’m here to declare that every person has inherent worth and dignity,” said Joyce Ajlouny, general secretary for the American Friends Service Committee. Held on International Human Rights Day, the demonstrations kicked off a week-long national call for actions called Love Knows No Borders: A moral call for migrant justice.

Source: “Love Knows No Bounds” Demonstrators Gather at Border

We all fell for Facebook’s utopianism, but the mask is at last being torn away | Jamie Bartlett | Opinion | The Guardian

Will anything change? Surveys show that people are suspicious of social media platforms – but keep on sharing and clicking regardless. And, yes, there are some good things about Facebook too. But resentful users do not make for a sound business model, and I suspect the coming years will see competitor platforms that promise greater privacy, built on a different approach to the “free, for data” cul-de-sac we’re trapped in. True, network effects are hard to overcome – everyone is on Facebook because everyone else is on Facebook – but the ghost of the once dominant MySpace haunts every tech CEO. One thing I’m sure of, however, is that nothing will change Zuckerberg’s mind. When the next scandal breaks, as it surely will, he’ll apologise, and then talk about connectivity – no matter how disconnected it is from reality.

Source: We all fell for Facebook’s utopianism, but the mask is at last being torn away | Jamie Bartlett | Opinion | The Guardian

US the only country not to support UN Refugee Pact  DW | 09.12.2018

The world is talking about the Migration Compact, but the UN says its Refugee Pact is just as important. The agreement is up for a vote this week at a conference in Marrakesh. Can it win over the United States?

Source: US the only country not to support UN Refugee Pact | World| Breakings news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 09.12.2018

How US billionaires are fuelling the hard-right cause in Britain | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian

he Kochs’ chief political lieutenant, Richard Fink, developed what he called a three-stage model of social change. Universities would produce “the intellectual raw materials”. Thinktanks would transform them into “a more practical or usable form”. Then “citizen activist” groups would “press for the implementation of policy change”. To these ends the Kochs set up bodies in all three categories themselves, such as the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the Cato Institute and the “citizens’ group” Americans for Prosperity. But for the most part they funded existing organisations that met their criteria. They have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a network of academic departments, thinktanks, journals and movements. And they appear to have been remarkably successful. As researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities have found, Americans for Prosperity alone now rivals the Republican party in terms of size, staffing and organisational capacity. It has pulled “the Republican party to the far right on economic, tax and regulatory issues”. It was crucial to the success of the Tea Party movement, the ousting of Democrats from Congress, and the staffing of Trump’s tra

Source: How US billionaires are fuelling the hard-right cause in Britain | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian

Revealed: the hidden global network behind Tommy Robinson | UK news | The Guardian

A separate study of about 600 Twitter accounts, believed to be directly tied to the Russian government or closely aligned with its propaganda, found significant numbers had tweeted prolifically in Robinson’s defence.

Source: Revealed: the hidden global network behind Tommy Robinson | UK news | The Guardian

John Kelly interviewed by Mueller’s team and expected to quit – report | US news | The Guardian – “Building their own wall and circling the wagons for last stand”

Chief of staff answered questions related to potential obstruction of justice, CNN reported, and is not on speaking terms with Trump

Source: John Kelly interviewed by Mueller’s team and expected to quit – report | US news | The Guardian

What led Chicago to shutter dozens of majority-black schools? Racism | Eve Ewing | Opinion | The Guardian

In other words, the question of whether something is racist may be more complicated than it appears on the surface. We might consider events and policies racist not because an individual is hurling epithets or explicitly trying to harm black people but because they result in the systematic disenfranchisement of black people and harm to black children – regardless of intent – and because they are bound up in the perpetuation of historical policies rooted in more explicit racism. And this, in part, is why people fight so hard for their schools: because the fight is actually about a great deal more than just one building.

Source: What led Chicago to shutter dozens of majority-black schools? Racism | Eve Ewing | Opinion | The Guardian

More Ebola in DRC as WHO says it has outbreak ‘covered’ | CIDRAP – Trump US Government “afraid” to help stop Ebola outbreak.

In September the US State Department under White House orders pulled US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff and other personnel from the region citing local violence and security concerns. CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, has gone on record saying he disagrees with the decision. The CDC is currently sharing data and analysis with the WHO. “We can mobilize from other parts, from those institutions who don’t have very strict security provisions like that,” Tedros told reporters at WHO headquarters, the AP said. “We can cover it.”

Source: More Ebola in DRC as WHO says it has outbreak ‘covered’ | CIDRAP

G20: Merkel calls on Putin to free Ukrainian sailors | News | DW | 01.12.2018 – USA no longer a world leader – wonder why?

During her talks with Putin, Merkel pushed for “freedom of shipping into the Sea of Azov.” The two leaders agreed to initiate talks between Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine to reduce tensions in the region.

Source: G20: Merkel calls on Putin to free Ukrainian sailors | News | DW | 01.12.2018