Category Archives: Viva!

DOJ Abruptly Drops Effort To Deport Freed Pizza Delivery Worker Pablo Villavicencio

DOJ Abruptly Drops Effort To Deport Freed Pizza Delivery Worker Pablo Villavicencio

The Department of Justice appears to be abandoning its effort to deport Pablo Villavicencio, the pizza deliveryman detained by ICE while dropping off a catering order at the Fort Hamilton army base in Brooklyn this summer. The abrupt reversal comes just three days after the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to appeal a court ruling that permitted Villavicencio to remain with his wife and two daughters while he continued his application for permanent residency. [ more › ]

If Brett Kavanaugh makes it through, women’s anger will be unstoppable | Suzanne Moore

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Women are sick of being silenced and controlled. The rage unleashed by Trump’s supreme court pick will not subside

“Do you want to be arrested?” the cop asks Amy Schumer. “Yes” she says simply. She was one of the 302 women held after protesting at a Senate office building against the likely confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the US supreme court. They were arrested for “unlawfully demonstrating”. One of the chants in the crowd was: “This is what democracy looks like.” Indeed, this is what democracy looks like when trust in its institutions has been shattered and civil disobedience appears to be the only option. Women’s silence explodes into anger. Anger and disbelief. What does it take to be listened to many asked, after Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the “perfect victim”, gave her testimony in what was a job interview, not a trial.

What does it take to be believed?

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Florida red tide sweeps away Republican Rick Scott’s Senate poll lead

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  • Governor blamed for weakening environmental protections
  • Red tide spreads to Atlantic waters off Miami and Palm Beach

Barely a month ago, Republican Rick Scott held a clear lead in the race to become Florida’s next US senator. Now a tidal wave of toxic algae threatens to engulf the campaign of the outgoing state governor, whom critics have dubbed Red Tide Rick.

Wildlife officials confirmed on Thursday that the same deadly algae bloom that overran Florida’s south-west coastline this summer, killing dolphins, fish, manatees and turtles and devastating the area’s tourism industry, had washed ashore on several Atlantic coast beaches.

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Trump and Kavanaugh claim we live in a meritocracy. Don’t believe a word of it | Arwa Mahdawi

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The president and his supreme court nominee have been claiming they rose to the top all on their own. Sadly, stretching the truth is not confined to them

If you are very clever and work very hard, you can achieve anything. We know this because successful people are always telling us so. They got where they are because of their work ethic: rich parents, the right connections and random chance had little to do with it.

See, as exhibit one, man of the moment Brett Kavanaugh. You know, the judge who really likes beer and seems to hate women having autonomy over their reproductive systems. When Kavanaugh appeared before a committee to defend himself against accusations of sexual assault, in between sniffles he argued that he has earned everything he has achieved, including his undergraduate place at Yale University. “I have no connections there,” he said. “I got there by busting my tail.”

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Chicago jury convicts police officer Jason Van Dyke of murder in shooting death of Laquan McDonald – Los Angeles Times

A Chicago jury reached a verdict in the closely watched trial of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago police officer whose Oct. 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald set off protests across the city and led to a federal investigation of policing in Chicago.

Source: Chicago jury convicts police officer Jason Van Dyke of murder in shooting death of Laquan McDonald – Los Angeles Times