Category Archives: human rights

Police ‘told me to leave’ Rinkeby: US journalist Tim Pool – The Local – Not a journalist but a fake news producer!

Describing himself as a “conflict and crisis journalist”, Pool has been reporting in Sweden since last week. His visit included a trip to Malmö partially funded by Paul Joseph Watson, editor of conspiracy theory website Infowars, who promised to pay for a trip to the city for any journalist who claimed it was safe.

Source: Police ‘told me to leave’ Rinkeby: US journalist Tim Pool – The Local

Richmond District Indian, Eritrean Restaurants Shot At During Dinner: SFist Happy David Duke, Trumpster?

Diners and staff at two Richmond District restaurants a half a mile apart were terrified but uninjured by gunfire in the same five minute span on Sunday night, incidents that an SFPD spokesperson called “very similar” in speaking to the Chronicle.“People heard a loud pop,” said officer Giselle Talkoff. “A window shattered. No one saw any suspects.” The restaurants appear to be Star India on the 3700 block of Geary Boulevard, fired into at 7:21 p.m., and Assab Eritrean on the 2800 block of the same street at 7:26 p.m.“Through the course of the investigation, they’ll try to determine whether this was a specific, targeted [crime] or see if it was something random,” Talkoff added. No arrests have yet been made as investigators scour the neighborhood for leads like surveillance footage and witnesses.

Source: Richmond District Indian, Eritrean Restaurants Shot At During Dinner: SFist

This Interview With Shirtless Alex Jones Will Ruin Your Day: Gothamist “Putin wannabe pose – next Trump on a horse and no shirt – my eyes, my eyes! My brain is melting!”

Alex Jones—a red-faced screaming sack of flesh who thinks the Obama administration faked the Sandy Hook massacre so they could take away Americans’ guns and now has the ear of the President of the United States—was the subject of a sprawling profile in German news magazine Der Spiegel today. At some point, the reporter had lunch with Jones, who was dressed like this:

Source: This Interview With Shirtless Alex Jones Will Ruin Your Day: Gothamist

Abortion law in Latin America: Uruguay court rules man can stop ex-partner from having abortion | In English | EL PAÍS

The woman in the current case says she has no feelings for the father of the child and is not a stable relationship with him. For his part, the man has promised to take care of the child.The young woman’s lawyer has appealed the magistrate’s ruling, saying her client’s paperwork is in order, while the Coordinator of the Legal Abortion in Uruguay group has called the judge’s decision “abhorrent,” arguing the decision to terminate a pregnancy is that of a woman alone.

Source: Abortion law in Latin America: Uruguay court rules man can stop ex-partner from having abortion | In English | EL PAÍS

“My take is that the man is most likely a liar and would not take care of the unborn child.”

Ohio clergy first to recognize proposed ‘Pastor Protection Act’ is bogus: the Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess (Opinion) | cleveland.com

Three times this month, the Ohio House has held committee hearings on the so-called “Pastor Protection Act” (HB 36), a bill purportedly designed to protect clergy and places of worship from performing marriages against their wishes. This is bogus legislation, designed to confront a non-existent problem, and a complete waste of taxpayers’ money. Clergy already exercise unfettered discretion over marriage decisions.So what’s this legislation really about? There’s no other answer: It’s about protecting the falsehood, and perpetuating the stereotype, that LGBTQ Ohioans and our relationships are inherently secular, unholy, anti-faith, anti-church and, thus, anti-pastor, under the dual guise of exclusive religion and bad public policy. It’s about casting another net of shame over an already vulnerable group of citizens that still lack any statewide protections in housing, employment and public accommodations. This is Ohio masquerading itself as regressive North Carolina or Indiana, and it’s bad for business.  The God I worship is about loosening the bonds of oppression, not piling on. I serve the One whose burden is light, not made excessively heavy. But most importantly, as a citizen of this state, I smell rotten legislation when it’s foisted upon us.My clergy colleagues widely agree: we don’t need these protections; we already have them. Instead, as concerned Ohioans, let’s turn our legislative energies toward those who really do need our watchful love and compassion.

Source: Ohio clergy first to recognize proposed ‘Pastor Protection Act’ is bogus: the Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess (Opinion) | cleveland.com

U.S. detains and nearly deports French Holocaust historian – The Washington Post “When you really don’t know what you are doing but trying to please the boss – crap like this is inevitable!”

It remains unclear what about Rousso was identified as suspect by immigration authorities.Egypt — from which Rousso and his family, as Jews, were exiled in 1956, after a slew of anti-Semitic measures imposed by the administration of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz — was not among the seven nations in the travel ban, which had been suspended by the time he arrived in the United States.[Who is affected by the travel ban?]Furthermore, France is a beneficiary of the U.S. visa waiver program, which permits French citizens to enter the United States without a visa. All that is required is an online ESTA application before departure.For Marouf, Rousso’s ordeal was indicative of a strict new U.S. border control regime: “It seems like there’s much more rigidity and rigor in enforcing these immigration requirements and technicalities of every visa,” she told the Eagle.

Source: U.S. detains and nearly deports French Holocaust historian – The Washington Post

Mem Fox, Australian author, gets apology after being wrongfully detained at LA airport – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Fox, who was questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers for two hours earlier this month as she was on her way to Milwaukee to address a conference, said she collapsed and sobbed at her hotel after she was released.She said the border agents appeared to have been given “turbocharged power” by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump to “humiliate and insult” a room full of people they detained to check visas.That executive order was eventually halted by Federal Courts and it was expected a new order would be signed this week, designed to avoid the confusion caused by the original.

Source: Mem Fox, Australian author, gets apology after being wrongfully detained at LA airport – Donald Trump’s America – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

I Was a Muslim in the Trump White House—and I Lasted Eight Days – The Atlantic

The evening before I left, bidding farewell to some of my colleagues, many of whom have also since left, I notified Trump’s senior NSC communications adviser, Michael Anton, of my departure, since we shared an office. His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence––almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway.I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country’s most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim. I told him that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy. I told him that I hoped that they and those in Congress were prepared to take responsibility for all the consequences that would attend their decisions.He looked at me and said nothing.It was only later that I learned he authored an essay under a pseudonym, extolling the virtues of authoritarianism and attacking diversity as a “weakness,” and Islam as “incompatible with the modern West.”My whole life and everything I have learned proves that facile statement wrong.My parents immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh in 1978 and strove to create opportunities for their children born in the states. My mother worked as a cashier, later starting her own daycare business. My father spent late nights working at Bank of America, and was eventually promoted to assistant vice president at one of its headquarters. Living the American dream, we’d have family barbecues, trips to Disney World, impromptu soccer or football games, and community service projects. My father began pursuing his Ph.D., but in 1995 he was killed in a car accident.I was 12 when I started wearing a hijab. It was encouraged in my family, but it was always my choice. It was a matter of faith, identity, and resilience for me. After 9/11, everything would change. On top of my shock, horror, and heartbreak, I had to deal with the fear some kids suddenly felt towards me. I was glared at, cursed at, and spat at in public and in school. People called me a “terrorist” and told me, “go back to your country.”My father taught me a Bengali proverb inspired by Islamic scripture: “When a man kicks you down, get back up, extend your hand, and call him brother.” Peace, patience, persistence, respect, forgiveness, and dignity. These were the values I’ve carried through my life and my career.I never intended to work in government. I was among those who assumed the government was inherently corrupt and ineffective. Working in the Obama White House proved me wrong. You can’t know or understand what you haven’t been a part of.Still, inspired by President Obama, I joined the White House in 2011, after graduating from the George Washington University. I had interned there during my junior year, reading letters and taking calls from constituents at the Office of Presidential Correspondence. It felt surreal––here I was, a 22-year-old American Muslim woman from Maryland who had been mocked and called names for covering my hair, working for the president of the United States.

Source: I Was a Muslim in the Trump White House—and I Lasted Eight Days – The Atlantic

American anti-Semitism rises, and the Israeli Right remains silent | +972 Magazine

If you have ever wondered just how much the occupation and the settlements have corrupted Israeli society and have held the Right and the political leadership hostage, look no further than the shameful silence of just about every Israeli official vis-a-vis American anti-Semitism. Notice that the absolute majority of figures condemning them come from the Left. This is because the Israeli Right has become a single-issue movement: it is willing to sell out the State of Israel for the entire Land of Israel, not to mention worldwide Jewry in exchange for a vague, unreliable statement by an unstable American president.

Source: American anti-Semitism rises, and the Israeli Right remains silent | +972 Magazine