Mastodawn

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 8, 2023

Headlines for August 8, 2023

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/8/headlines

Headlines for August 08, 2023

ECOWAS to Hold Emergency Summit Thursday on Niger Coup as U.S. Freezes Funds to Niger; Mali and Burkina Faso Warn Against Foreign Military Intervention in Niger; Ukraine: Russian Missile Strikes in Pokrovsk Targeted Rescue Workers; Ohio Election Day: Anti-Abortion GOP Megadonor Funds Effort to Make It Harder to Amend State Constitution; George Floyd Murder: Ex-Cop Tou Thao Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Prison; Judge Dismisses Trump Defamation Countersuit Against E. Jean Carroll; Over 1 Million Lose Power in Deadly U.S. Storm; Death Toll Rises from Record Heat Waves; Mass Flooding Kills Six in Slovenia in Nation’s “Worst Natural Disaster”; South American Leaders Gather in Brazil to Discuss Preserving Amazon Rainforest; India: 300 Muslim Homes & Businesses Demolished in Possible “Exercise of Ethnic Cleansing”; Britain Begins Housing Asylum Seekers on a Barge Described as a “Potential Deathtrap”; New York City to House as Many as 2,000 Migrants in Tent Complex on Island; Biden to Preserve a Million Acres of Land Near Grand Canyon as New National Monument; Chicago Police Arrest Man Who Fatally Shot 9-Year-Old Girl Riding Scooter for Making Too Much Noise; Alabama Brawl: Police Issue Arrest Warrants After White Boaters Attacked Black Dockworker; 11,00 City Workers in Los Angeles Begin One-Day Strike

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 8, 2023

Will Biden Stop Texas from Separating Asylum-Seeking Families at Border Under Operation Lone Star?

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/8/texas_immigration_operation_lone_star

Will Biden Stop Texas from Separating Asylum-Seeking Families at Border Under Operation Lone Star?

We get an update from the Texas border, where human rights advocates are condemning Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” for its human rights abuses. Texas troopers have reportedly separated over two dozen migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border in a major change of policy. This comes amid a deadly heat wave and after the first deaths linked to floating barrels wrapped in razor wire that Abbott put in the Rio Grande to block asylum seekers from crossing. “We’re calling for an end to the use of all of these detractions that are getting in the way of people being able to seek protection,” says Marisa Limón Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, which is based in El Paso, Texas.

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 8, 2023

Will Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Finally Get Their Day in Court? CACI Lawsuit Will Proceed to Trial

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/8/abu_ghraib_torture_lawsuit_caci

Will Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Finally Get Their Day in Court? <span class="caps">CACI</span> Lawsuit Will Proceed to Trial

A federal lawsuit brought by Iraqi torture survivors appears finally headed to trial after a federal judge refused to dismiss the case last week. The Iraqis are suing the U.S. military contractor CACI, which provided interrogators at Abu Ghraib, the notorious Iraqi prison where the men were tortured by U.S. guards. The lawsuit, which alleges CACI was complicit in that torture, was first filed in 2008. Since then, CACI has attempted 18 times to have the case dismissed. Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing the torture survivors in the case, says the men suffered a range of abuse including sexual humiliation, beatings and more. “They’re all suffering the aftereffects, psychological and physical, of their time at Abu Ghraib,” he says.

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 9, 2023

Headlines for August 9, 2023

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/9/headlines

Headlines for August 09, 2023

Ohio Voters Reject GOP Attempt to Impose Higher Barrier to Enshrining Abortion Rights in Constitution; SCOTUS Allows Biden Admin to Regulate Ghost Guns for Now; Sudan Conflict Rages On: 4 Million Displaced, 24 Million in Need of Aid; U.N. Warns Burmese Military Is Escalating Attacks on Civilians; Brazil Summit Produces Pledge to Protect Amazon But Fails to Adopt Vow to End Deforestation by 2030; King Center Backs Referendum on Cop City; ACLU, NAACP Call for Probe into Targeting of Activists; Hawaii Wildfires Prompt Evacuations as People Take to Ocean to Escape Fire and Smoke; Community Members, Loved Ones of Murdered Dancer O’Shae Sibley Pay Tribute at Philly Funeral; Zoom’s Altered User Policy Language Raises Alarm over Privacy Rights, Use of User Data in AI; L.A. City Workers Go on 1-Day Strike; Hotel Workers Report Retaliation from Security for Striking

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 9, 2023

Nina Turner: Ohio Voters Have Rejected GOP Power Grab in Victory for Democracy & Abortion Access

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/9/ohio_abortion_constitution_restriction_nina_turner

Nina Turner: Ohio Voters Have Rejected <span class="caps">GOP</span> Power Grab in Victory for Democracy & Abortion Access

Voters in Ohio overwhelmingly rejected a Republican attempt to restrict abortion rights on Tuesday. The supermajority of Republicans in the Ohio Legislature had pushed for a ballot initiative that would have made it harder to amend the state constitution ahead of the November election, when voters will decide if the right to an abortion should be enshrined in the Ohio Constitution. A majority of Ohio voters support the right to abortion. “The voters of the state of Ohio did not buy what the Republicans were selling,” says former Ohio state Senator Nina Turner, now a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, who notes the victory also prevents Republicans from restricting support for other popular measures that could become ballot initiatives, such as raising the minimum wage.

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 9, 2023

"Horrendous": Black Men Tortured by White Mississippi Police "Goon Squad" React to Guilty Pleas

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/9/michael_jenkins_eddie_parker_police_torture

“Horrendous”: Black Men Tortured by White Mississippi Police “Goon Squad” React to Guilty Pleas

Six white former police officers in Mississippi who called themselves the “Goon Squad” have pleaded guilty to raiding a home on false drug charges and torturing two Black men while yelling racist slurs at them, and then trying to cover it up. We speak with Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker about how, on January 24, six deputies in Braxton, Mississippi, raided the home they were staying in and attacked them, and how they are speaking out to demand justice. Meanwhile, the deputies have been linked to at least four violent attacks on Black men since 2019, in which two of the men died. We also speak with civil rights attorney Malik Shabazz, who is representing Jenkins and Parker in a federal lawsuit against the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department. Shabazz asserts that the majority-white Rankin County, which is 20 miles away from majority-Black Jackson, Mississippi, is “infested with white supremacists” who “have decided 'Rankin County is for whites'” and seek to enforce it through state-sanctioned violence and torture, overseen and covered up by Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey. “We demand that Bryan Bailey step down,” says Shabazz. Parker adds, “We want justice for everyone that has gone through this with Rankin County.”

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 9, 2023

Meet Porcha Woodruff, Detroit Woman Jailed While 8 Months Pregnant After False AI Facial Recognition

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/9/porcha_woodruff_false_facial_recognition_arrest

Meet Porcha Woodruff, Detroit Woman Jailed While 8 Months Pregnant After False AI Facial Recognition

Porcha Woodruff was eight months pregnant when Detroit police mistakenly arrested her for robbery and carjacking based on a faulty facial recognition match. She was held in jail for 11 hours, where she started having contractions, and had to be taken to the hospital upon her release on a $100,000 bond. “Being under that type of stress could have ultimately led me to lose my child,” says Woodruff. According to the ACLU, Woodruff is at least the sixth person — all of whom are Black — to report being falsely accused of a crime as a result of facial recognition technology. It is yet another case of what has been termed algorithmic bias, in which technology is trained on biased information, automating and further cementing existing oppression. “No one would take what I was saying seriously. It was as if I was already a suspect,” says Woodruff about her experience. She and attorney Ivan Land are now suing the city of Detroit for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 10, 2023

Headlines for August 10, 2023

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/10/headlines

Headlines for August 10, 2023

At Least 36 Dead, Town of Lahaina Burned to the Ground as Wildfires Devastate Hawaii; Ecuadorian Anti-Corruption Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio Assassinated; Biden Seeking More Funding for War in Ukraine, Arming Taiwan; Niger Coup Leaders Accuse France of Destabilizing Country as ECOWAS Summit Kicks Off; The Intercept: U.S. State Dept. Pushed for Pakistan’s Now-Imprisoned Ex-PM Imran Khan to Be Removed; Death Toll from Mediterranean Refugee Shipwreck Rises to 41 as Black Africans Expelled from Tunisia; Venezuela Wins Fight to Recover $1.5B of Frozen Funds from Novo Banco; Biden Bans U.S. Companies from Investing in Chinese High-Tech Goods; Trump Indictments Expected Next Week over Attempts to Reverse 2020 Election Loss in Georgia; FBI Kills Utah Man Who Threatened to Assassinate President Biden; CNN: Former U.S. Coast Guard Leadership Covered Up Sweeping Rape and Sex Abuse Report; Report Reveals Justice Clarence Thomas Received Even More Gifts from Right-Wing Billionaires; Palestinian Bedouin Community Forced to Evacuate Due to Violent Threats from Israeli Settlers

Democracy Now!

Anthony Aug 11, 2023

Democracy Now! Headlines RSS Aug 10, 2023

Horace Campbell on Opposing Military Intervention in Niger & Disastrous U.S./French Role in Africa

http://www.democracynow.org/2023/8/10/niger_ecowas_nato

Horace Campbell on Opposing Military Intervention in Niger & Disastrous U.S./French Role in Africa

West African leaders from ECOWAS, backed by the United States and France, met today to consider military action to restore the ousted Niger President Mohamed Bazoum following last month’s military coup. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have threatened that any intervention in Niger would amount to a declaration of war on them, as well. This comes as leaders of the coup in Niger have appointed a 21-member cabinet as they forge ahead with building a new government. The coup “is a consequence of the militarization of Nigerien society” by the United States and France, which both have strong military presence in the region, explains Horace Campbell, chair of the Global Pan African Movement, North American delegation. He notes anti-French sentiment is a powerful force in Niger and across Africa as people reject the former colonizer’s influence: “The French are inordinately dependent on the exploitation and plunder of Africa.”

Democracy Now!

Anthony Jul 11, 2023

Rolling Stone Jul 10, 2023

Twitter may be struggling to court advertisers, keep the site actually running, and prevent users from fleeing to eager competitors — but at least the Taliban likes it. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/taliban-spokesman-endorses-twitter-threads-1234785692/

The Taliban Endorses Twitter Over Threads

The fundamentalist group thinks Meta’s content policy, which includes a ban on support or praise for terrorist or hate groups, is “intolerant”

Rolling Stone