Category Archives: Viva!

Held for 16 Months, a Detained Immigrant Recounts His Experience After Hurricane Irma

Ibrahim*, an African asylum seeker, has been in ICE detention for 16 months. He’s been held at the Krome SPC near Miami, FL, the Broward Detention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and also in regular prisons. Here, in his own words, is his story as translated by Barbara Woshinsky.

I was transferred from Krome in Florida to New Mexico. In that prison, the water was not drinkable, nor was the water we washed with; that water had a strange smell. When I washed, my body turned white and I itched all over. From there I was transferred to BDC [Broward Detention Center] where I am now, but what happened during the transfer was horrible and risked our lives.

We had taken off in a plane that didn’t have enough fuel and had mechanical problems, for the plane hadn’t yet reached normal altitude when there was a change in pressure that blocked everyone’s ears followed by a violent shaking, as if we were in a turbulent zone, even though we had just taken off. This went on for half an hour until we landed again. We were told we would take off again in an hour.

That hour became 10 hours in the plane, shackled. We’d had nothing to eat since that morning. We spent all day at the airport until around 6:30 p.m., when they told us we couldn’t travel that day because the plan had problems and we had to go back to detention in New Mexico where another flight would be scheduled. So we were taken back to detention in a minibus and finally transferred to BDC.

All in all, the conditions we live under in detention are unacceptable. We live in hell because we have no rights. Everything that’s written down about detainees’ rights is only words, because none of it is respected.

We are treated like criminals.

* not his real name

Editors note: We recently learned that Ibrahim has been deported.

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Held for 16 Months, a Detained Immigrant Recounts His Experience After Hurricane Irma was originally published in IMM Print on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Opinion | James Comey: This Report Says I Was Wrong. But That’s Good for the F.B.I. – The New York Times

The report concludes that I was wrong to announce the F.B.I.’s completion of the investigation without coordinating with the attorney general and that I was wrong to inform Congress in late October that we had reopened the investigation. In both situations, the inspector general’s team concludes, I should have adhered to established norms, which they see as mandating both deference to the attorney general on the public announcement and silence about an investigation so close to an election.

Tory rebellion back on after MPs reject May’s Brexit amendment

tally ho!

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Dominic Grieve says government’s new wording over MPs’ ‘meaningful’ vote is unacceptable

Theresa May is heading for a fresh confrontation with Conservative rebels next week after they rejected a government-drafted amendment to the EU withdrawal bill.

The former attorney general Dominic Grieve held talks with the government over the precise wording of the clause, which was aimed at making it more difficult for the government to take Britain out of the EU with no deal without consulting MPs.

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Mike Pence to be greeted by giant LGBTQ dance party during Ohio visit

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Protest during Columbus Pride inspired by vice-president’s pitiful record on LGBTQ rights

Mike Pence is going to a drag show on Friday. It’s not listed on his official itinerary for the trip, but when he arrives in Columbus, Ohio, he’ll be greeted by drag queens, soundsystems and hundreds of LGBTQ revellers.

The delightfully festive crossover comes as the US vice-president is set to speak at an event being held by at the controversial pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policies, just as Pride weekend in Columbus kicks off. To commemorate the visit, the LGBTQ community has decided to throw him a party outside the downtown hotel where he’s speaking. In tow will be a dozen drag performers, two DJs, and speeches from politicians like Rick Neal, the gay Democratic candidate for Ohio’s 15th US congressional district.

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Stories behind old family photos by Feng Keli

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Feng Keli is the founder and the editor-in-chief of “Old Photos,” a Chinese-language series of publications that collects images of the country’s modern history. Since 1996, these publications showcased countless family portraits taken during the 19th and 20th centuries. They allow us to catch a glimpse of the everyday lives of Chinese people during the course of the country’s tumultuous recent history. Feng Keli recently wrote several articles about these publications for Sixth Tone, an online publication that produces informed and insightful content on contemporary China. 

Spotted on: www.sixthtone.com

Thursday Open Thread | This is why the kids will win

I am so impressed with the Parkland kids. I think they are the leaders that we have been waiting for. They just need for us to have their backs.

The latest from the kids is that they are going on a Summer Bus Tour. At each stop, not only are they having town halls, but there will be also VOTER REGISTRATION.

March for Our Lives: Road to Change

This summer, the students of March For Our Lives are making stops across America to get young people educated, registered, and motivated to vote. We call it March For Our Lives: Road to Change.

When people across the country rallied at the March For Our Lives just over 2 months ago, we showed our politicians that we refuse to accept gun violence as an unsolvable issue. Now it’s time to turn our energy into action.

If you want to be alerted as to when the tour will hit your area, just click on the link above and sign up for notifications.

This is brilliant on so many levels.

School is out. So, there will be no school shootings. But, taking these young people and using their energy when they are out from school. They can relate to other kids out from school.

Someone wrote on another board that this reminds them of the Freedom Rides, and why not?

The Voter Registration is great on another level.

1. It’s practical

2. It’s useful

3. You can get anyone involved in it.

Know that song ‘ stay in your lane’….well, not everyone can be on television…not everyone is a great public speaker.. not everyone can do policy papers with politicians…but, pretty much anyone can be in the ‘Voter registration’ lane. And, it’s a way to keep people involved, because there are ALWAYS people that need to be registered to vote. Always someone young just turning 18. Always someone moving into a new voter jurisdiction. Always someone out there that needs to update their voter registration.

The Parkland students led America beyond thoughts and prayers—and they’re just getting started

The March for Our Lives cofounders are finding new ways to hold politicians and businesses accountable for gun safety.#MarchForOurLives https://t.co/IEZKjcyYOf

— Jon Cooper 🌊 (@joncoopertweets) June 1, 2018

I love that the kids have hooked up voting and registering to vote with EVERYTHING that they send out. I appreciate that.

When you scan the QR code on the flag, you’re taken to our website and can register to vote.

Real change comes at the polls. No matter who you’re voting for, get out this November and be part of the change.

Designed by the man to my left. #RoadToChange #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/bSAhLRe5OS

— Cameron Kasky (@cameron_kasky) June 9, 2018

People look at this

This should not be hanging in my soon-to-be-kindergartener’s classroom. https://t.co/mWiJVdddpH
Georgy Cohen (@radiofreegeorgy) June 06, 2018

and go…

No No…MY child should NOT have to be reading this….and, it steels the spine to fight. The kids get a new ally.

 

 

Trump’s School Safety Commission Won’t Look at Guns, Betsy DeVos Says

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the federal commission on school safety set up this year after the Parkland, Fla., school massacre will not focus on the role guns play in school violence…

“That’s not part of the commission’s charge, per se,” Ms. DeVos said in response to a question from Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, about whether the commission would look at the role of firearms in the gun violence that has plagued the nation’s schools.
“So we’ll look at gun violence in schools, but not look at guns? An interesting concept,” Mr. Leahy said in response.

Think that they’re going to be so smart. Naw, you unqualified piece of garbage…folks see right through this. And, they are not going to let you and your ilk just lie about it.



They really think that they’re gonna just shove some bullshyt about arming teachers, and force folks to just accept their fealty to the NRA.

Well….someone needs to tell the insurance companies, because they haven’t gotten the message…

Efforts To Arm School Teachers Run Up Against A Problem: Insurance Companies

In the end, it may be insurance companies that have the biggest voice in the debate over arming teachers.

Doug Mataconis

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Kansas has a problem: It has a law allowing teachers to carry guns in the classroom, but almost no schools are using it because insurance companies refuse to provide coverage if they do. As EMC Insurance, the largest insurer of schools in Kansas, explained in a letter to its agents, the company “has concluded that concealed handguns on school premises poses a heightened liability risk.”

Then came the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February, leading frustrated Republican legislators in Kansas to try forcing the issue with a bill banning “unfair, discriminatory” rates for schools that arm staff. The insurance industry held firm. Last month, the bill failed.

“I don’t think insurance companies are notorious anti-gun liberals,” said Mark Tallman, associate executive director for the Kansas Association of School Boards, “so we think they’ve got good reasons for not doing it.”

As proposals to arm teachers sweep across the nation, insurance companies are being forced to weigh the risks of these controversial plans. Some insurers are balking. Some are agreeing to provide policies but lamenting the lack of evidence about whether it makes schools safer – or increases the chances of people getting shot. Others are raising rates.

“There’s not a lot of carriers that want to insure that risk,” Nate Walker, a senior vice president at insurer AmWINS Group.

And, then, you have those who have pledged fealty to the NRA, AND have the nerve to NOT DO THEIR DAMN JOBS over the little legal gun laws that actually exists:

Florida Didn’t Conduct Gun Background Checks for a Year Because an Employee Couldn’t Log In

By Alana Abramson

June 8, 2018

The Florida government did not conduct background checks on thousands of applicants for concealed weapons for a year because the state employee was unable to log into the system.

According to a February 2016 investigative report from Florida’s Inspector General, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, a state Division of Licensing employee identified as Lisa Wilde was unable to log into the system to actually complete these background checks. She never mitigated this issue.

When determining eligibility for purchasing a firearm, applicants must undergo a background check known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is administered by the FBI. In Florida, these background checks are used as indicators of eligibility for concealed weapon licenses.

In March 2017 — over a year later — an employee with the Bureau of Licensing realized the NICS records were not being reviewed. The report was issued in June of 2017.

He needs to ba nailed to the wall and voted out of office. He DID NOT PROTECT THE PUBLIC.

HE DID NOT DO HIS JOB.

And, you think he’s the only one? Of course, not.

He will be made an example of in the next election. As will others.

We need to connect the dots. We need to help these kids connect the dots. We need to have their backs.

Updated – this just came in last night.

Don’t think the kids are winning?

THE.NRA.PULLED.THEIR.GRADES.FOR.LAWMAKERS.FROM.THEIR.WEBSITE!

Now, WHY would they do that?

Could it be this?

“Our grades are a member service,” she explained. “Our members vote and one of the services that we provide them is to assess — to the best that anyone can — the candidates’ position on the Second Amendment and make a determination what candidates in a very specific election are the best candidates to protect and defend their constitutional rights.” The grades are issued as close to the election as possible in order to have the most relevance to that election.

Pressed on the rationale for the change to the website, Baker first expressed frustration at the question.

“I don’t understand– Why are you asking? What does it matter to you?” she asked. “The grades are not relevant after the election.”

Oh no Dear..the grades are RELEVANT—before the election….so that voters can judge accordingly.

London Breed to become San Francisco’s first black female mayor

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After lengthy vote count, moderate community activist beats Mark Leno, who would have been first openly gay mayor

London Breed, a longtime community activist who grew up in public housing, has won San Francisco’s mayoral election, becoming the city’s first black female mayor.

“No matter where you come from, no matter what you decide to do in life, you can do anything you want to do,” Breed said Wednesday on the steps of City Hall. “Never let your circumstances determine your outcome in life.”

Continue reading…

Don’t have sex with men from ‘different race’ during World Cup, warns Russian politician

How racist are Russians that #45 loves so much?

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Tamara Pletnyova warns Russian women not to have sex with non-white men as their children may face discrimination

Russian women should avoid sex with non-white foreign men during the football World Cup because they could become single mothers to mixed-race children, a senior lawmaker in Moscow said on Wednesday.

Even when Russian women marry foreigners the relationships often end badly, said Tamara Pletnyova, head of parliament’s committee for families, women and children. Women are often stranded abroad or in Russia but unable to get their children back, she said.

Continue reading…

Senators Press Ajit Pai on DDOS Attack His Agency Made Up –

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Last week e-mails obtained by Freedom of Information Attack revealed that Ajit Pai’s FCC completely made up two different DDOS attacks in an attempt to downplay public opposition to the agency’s net neutrality repeal. The fake DDOS attacks stemmed from periods when the FCC’s website failed both times HBO Comedian John Oliver discussed net neutrality on his popular show (here’s the first and second bits). Whereas the FCC website failed due to the volume of angry users trying to contact the FCC, the agency tried to claim these floods of outraged consumers were actually malicious attacks.

The problem is they provided no evidence for those claims, and the evidence that does exist strongly indicates they made the DDOS attacks up to try and downplay massive public opposition to their large-ISP friendly policies.

The FCC is already facing a GAO investigation into the DDOS attacks that weren’t. Smelling a little political blood in the water, Senators Brian Schatz and Ron Wyden are also now pressuring the FCC for more information on what occurred:

quote:


In a letter shared with Gizmodo, Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) tell the FCC that they would like to see evidence of either cyberattack beyond initial internal analyses, such as subsequent government or third-party security firm investigations. They also ask the FCC to clarify on what grounds they determined the comment system downtime on either date was best classified as a cyberattack, as well as ask Pai whether he is cooperating in full with the Government Accountability Office (GOA) investigation to determine exactly what happened.


The bogus DDOS attacks, as well as the FCC’s failure to do anything about the identity theft and bogus comments during the public comment period of the repeal, are likely to both be subjects of interest during the looming court battles over net neutrality. They’re also ongoing evidence that the Trump FCC is more than a little eager to try and stifle public, Democratic opposition to what by any measure are extremely unpopular, corporate-friendly policies.