2019-12-07: News Headlines

Eduardo Stanley (2019-12-07). A Renters' Victory in Madera. indybay.org Renters, activists and supporters talk to the media before the Madera City Hall meeting on Nov. 20. City Council Member Santos Garcia is at the right of the image. Photo by Eduardo Stanley…

Staff (2019-12-07). New Orleans Activists Clash With Sheriff Over Jail Expansion. truthout.org New Orleans — Back in 2010, New Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman asked the city government for a 6,000-bed jail to replace buildings damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The proposal faced backlash in a city notorious for the conditions in its jail and the brutality of its criminal legal system. In 2015, a new jail opened with only 1,438 beds. | Gusman continues to push for a bigger jail, and the backlash continues. After receiving a proposal from Gusman earlier this year that would have significantly increased…

Local activists (2019-12-07). Abolish ICE Protest in Santa Rosa. indybay.org Where: Old Courthouse Square, 3rd & Mendocino Ave and 4th & Santa Rosa Ave, Downtown Santa Rosa 95404…

Walden Bello (2019-12-06). How the Battle of Seattle Made the Truth About Globalization True. counterpunch.org The Battle of Seattle in late November 1999 is, for me, memorable in many ways. For one, I still remember being given a good beating by a policewoman when I tried to prevent her buddies from hauling off the irrepressible Medea Benjamin, then the director of Global Exchange, from a sit-in at the entrance to More

Ellen Isaacs (2019-12-06). The Audacity of Hypocrisy. counterpunch.org It is the era of disavowal of Trump. Long despised by anti-racists and humanists of many stripes, his foreign policy has now even offended US empire builders, leaving us with an overlap of interests between those who wish to scuttle Trump's overt policies of hate and those who hate to see US power decrease in More

Jeet Heer (2019-12-06). 'The Irishman' Tells the Story of the Corruption of Empire. thenation.com 'The Irishman' Tells the Story of the Corruption of Empire…

Staff (2019-12-06). Why Are Some of the World's Biggest Polluters Sponsoring UN Climate Summit? truthout.org A group of climate activists walked out of a panel at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Thursday to protest the presence of Shell, BP and Chevron. Representatives from the oil companies were taking part in an event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association. This comes as the Spanish government is facing criticism for reaching out to Endesa, Spain's biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, to sponsor the U.N. climate talks. We speak with Pascoe Sabido, a researcher and campai…

Staff (2019-12-06). Alternative Climate Summit Honors Victims of Corporate Crimes. truthout.org We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, began Monday and will continue through next week, as environmental leaders from around the world gather to negotiate global solutions to the climate crisis. Activists have converged on Madrid for the conference and are hosting an alternative summit of their own: Cumbre Social por el Clima — the Social Summit for the Climate. The alternative summit has been organized by social justice and environmental gro…

Forrest Hylton (2019-12-06). Bolivia's Coup Government: a Far-Right Horror Show. counterpunch.org Since coming to power on November 12, Bolivia's right-wing coup government, led by interim president Jeanine Añez, has quickly consolidated power and achieved international legitimacy. So far, the Añez government has succeeded in calling elections for 2020; persecuting journalists, political opponents, and human rights activists; and, following two massacres of unarmed, mainly indigenous protesters that More

Hatewatch Staff and Rachel Janik (2019-12-06). Trump Officials Address Event Featuring Anti-LGBTQ Activists. splcenter.org A conference ostensibly meant to showcase "family policy" reveals how anti-LGBTQ groups have embraced strong-family rhetoric to push their agenda of intolerance.

Staff (2019-12-06). "It's Our Future": Meet the Youth Activists Behind Fridays for Future Movements in Uganda and Chile. democracynow.org In Spain, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Madrid to take part in today's strike as well as a major march set for 6 p.m. local time. Greta began the climate strike movement last year when she started skipping school every Friday to stand in front of the Swedish parliament, demanding action to prevent catastrophic climate change. Her protest spread, quickly going global. We speak with two youth climate strikers: Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is the founder of Fridays for Future Uganda and Angela Valenzuela is a coordinator with Fridays for Future in Chile, where this year's U.N. clima…

Staff (2019-12-06). Why Are Some of Spain's Biggest Polluters Sponsoring U.N. Climate Summit? democracynow.org A group of climate activists walked out of a panel at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Thursday to protest the presence of Shell, BP and Chevron. Representatives from the oil companies were taking part in an event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association. This comes as the Spanish government is facing criticism for reaching out to Endesa, Spain's biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, to sponsor the U.N. climate talks. We speak with Pascoe Sabido, a researcher and campaigner for the Corporate Europe Observatory, who has been organizing toxic tours of Madrid to expose the corporations a…

Staff (2019-12-06). COP25: Alternative Climate Summit Honors Those "Suffering the Crimes of Transnational Corporations" democracynow.org We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, began Monday and will continue through next week, as environmental leaders from around the world gather to negotiate global solutions to the climate crisis. Activists have converged on Madrid for the conference and are hosting an alternative summit of their own: Cumbre Social por el Clima — the Social Summit for the Climate. The alternative summit has been organized by social justice and environmental groups to draw attention to the ongoing political repression in Chile, corporate influence on the climate su…

Susan Price (2019-12-06). Scores of Papua activists across Indonesia await trial for treason. greenleft.org.au self-determination James BalowskiIssue 1248 Indonesia West Papua Indonesian occupation of West PapuaDecember 7, 2019Surya Anta Ginting, the national spokesperson for the pro-…

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2019-12-06). As Press Swarm Greta, Fellow Youth Activists Stage 'Powerful and Strong' Silent Protest at COP 25. commondreams.org "We need climate action and we need change right now. And the time to act is now." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

patrick (2019-12-06). Brown University corporate responsibility committee votes to divest from companies connected to Israeli occupation. bdsmovement.net Brown University corporate responsibility committee votes to divest from companies connected to Israeli occupation: In the NewsMichael Arria Economic Boycott Student solidarityDecember 6, 2019 | By: | | Mondoweiss

patrick (2019-12-06). Fordham University Students Win Landmark Legal Fight to Establish Palestine Club. bdsmovement.net Fordham University Students Win Landmark Legal Fight to Establish Palestine Club: In the News | Contact: Right To Boycott Student solidarityAugust 6, 2019 | By: | | Palestine Legal

patrick (2019-12-06). Success: Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-BDS Law To Proceed. bdsmovement.net Success: Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Texas Anti-BDS Law To Proceed: In the News A federal district court rejected efforts by the state of Texas to evade judicial review of a law that punishes boycott advocates, and allowed a lawsuit against the anti-BDS law to proceed. | Right To BoycottJuly 25, 2019 | By: | | Palestine Legal

patrick (2019-12-06). UK Labour Party votes to stop arms trade with Israel, apply international law to trade, and support refugee return. bdsmovement.net UK Labour Party votes to stop arms trade with Israel, apply international law to trade, and support refugee return: In the NewsAt the UK Labour party's annual conference, the party voted overwhelmingly for refugees right to return, to stop "any arms trade with Israel that is used in violation of the human rights of Palestinians" and to apply international law to UK trade wi…

Fight Back (2019-12-04). Activists decry Minnesota investments in border militarization, climate destruction. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) held its quarterly meeting at the State Capitol December 2 and got sharp criticism from immigrant rights and anti-war activists, as new documents revealed a nearly $1 million increase in investment in a controversial military technology company. Youth climate strikers also highlighted the SBI's inaction over state ties to environmental destruction. Both groups were met with vacillation and excuses from the board which is tasked with the responsible investment of public pensions and related funds. | At issue was Elbit Systems, an Israel-based manufacture…

David Bacon (2019-12-04). Twenty Years After Seattle's WTO Protests. progressive.org On November 30, 1999, thousands of activists flooded downtown Seattle, protesting the global economic order and forging a new understanding of the world, a vision very much in play today.

Fight Back (2019-12-04). Immigrant rights activists protest ICE detention at Sherburne County commissioners' meeting. fightbacknews.org Elk River, MN – Immigrant rights activists mobilized to the Sherburne County commissioners' meeting at 9: 00 in the morning Tuesday, December 3 in Elk River, a town of around 20,000 people an hour northwest of Minneapolis. They held signs throughout the meeting, and several of them spoke passionately during the public comment section of the agenda, appealing to the commissioners to stop participating in and profiting from immigrant detention in the Sherburne County Jail. | The Sherburne County Jail has a contract for 300 beds to detain immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it the la…

Staff (2019-12-04). "Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists. democracynow.org The Right Livelihood Award is marking its 40th anniversary. The award was established in 1980 to honor and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us." It has since become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, the award has been given to activists and grassroots leaders around the globe. A number of them have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's winners are: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades; Chi…

Fight Back (2019-12-03). Miami activists unite against U.S. imperialism in Latin America. fightbacknews.org Miami, FL – On December 1, immigrant groups representing several different countries in the Caribbean and South America rallied together at the Torch of Friendship to show unity and strength against U.S imperialism and far-right political violence in Latin America. Various groups of immigrant activists united in what they said was just the beginning of a new movement in South Florida to bring together the various struggles in Latin America against neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism. | Activists representing Chile, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Brazil spoke out against neoliberal policies, U.S militarism, and…

Aaron Maté (2019-11-30). Abby Martin: Gaza's fight for freedom needs global solidarity. thegrayzone.com The Empire Files' Abby Martin and Mike Prysner discuss their new documentary "Gaza Fights For Freedom," a vivid account of…

Fred_F (2019-11-28). Vigil for West Papua. greenleft.org.au international solidarity Bernadette SmithIssue 1247 Australia West PapuaNovember 28, 2019Human rights activists are holding regular vigils outside the Indonesian Consulate in Sydney, calling for a United Nations-supervised referendum to allow the people of…

Julie Hollar (2019-11-27). We're Still Waiting for 'Early and Often' Climate Debate Questions. fair.org As the Democratic Party prepared for its first presidential primary debates in June, climate activists pushed the DNC to schedule a single-issue debate on the climate crisis, given the urgency of the problem and the lack of attention given to it in previous debates. DNC chair Tom Perez refused, saying he had "the utmost confidence" that climate disruption would be discussed in the debates "early and often" (FAIR.org, 6/18/19). | Now that seven nights of debates have passed, and multiple…

Joshua Cho (2019-11-26). Media Wonder: Why Can't Venezuela Be More Like Bolivia? fair.org Western corporate media outlets have often cried foul when foreign elections don't go the way the US empire wants them to, and find roundabout ways to label the violent attempts by vocal right-wing minorities to use military forces to overthrow leftist governments as "protests" rather than coups (FAIR.org, 5/16/18, 5/1/19). But it's still rare to see them blatantly call for a right-wing coup without a hint of…

Moon Of Alabama (2019-11-19). There Are Riots In Iran And The Usual Suspect Are On It. thelastamericanvagabond.com There are a few riots in Iran and Amnesty International is on it: Amnesty International @amnesty — 15: 50 UTC ∑ Nov 19, 2019 At least 106 protesters in 21 cities have been killed in #Iran, according to reports we have received. Verified video footage, eyewitness testimony & information gathered from activists outside Iran reveal a harrowing …

Hatewatch Staff (2019-11-13). Evangelical Franklin Graham Addresses Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group's Event. splcenter.org Influential evangelical leader Franklin Graham has continued his anti-LGBTQ associations by speaking to a hate group that brands "trans" activists as guilty of harming children.

Ricardo Vaz (2019-11-01). Venezuelan Leftist Parties and Unions Stage Protest, Demand Gov't Answers. venezuelanalysis.com Dozens of activists demanded better wages and respect for collective bargaining rights.