A progressive group is urging supporters of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to back the other candidate in the Iowa caucuses on Monday should their preferred candidate not reach the required threshold to be counted.

THEY CAN DO THAT BY MAKING EACH OTHER THEIR SECOND CHOICE FOLLOWED BY THIRD AND FOURTH ETC. AS IT IS A PREFERENTIAL BALLOT 

Charles Chamberlain, chairman of Democracy for America (DFA), which has voiced support for both Sanders and Warren in the 2020 race, emphasized that Democrats should be united behind the progressive candidates heading into the caucuses.

“What we’re saying is if you’re a supporter of a candidate who gets less than 15 percent, then it’s absolutely critical that you don’t go home — make sure you move to one of the top two progressives, so that we make sure that a progressive wins the caucus," he said.

During the first round of the caucus, caucus goers walk around and stand in different areas indicating their support for a candidate. Candidates who fail to secure 15 percent of the total voters are removed and their supporters can then back another contender. 

“Making sure that we’re supportive of all of the progressives that are in this race and that we’re not attacking our own is really important because President Sanders or President Warren’s going to need Sen. Sanders or Sen. Warren to make sure to actually pass their agenda and that’s the best situation we could be in,” Chamberlain said.

DFA was among a number of progressive groups who signed a three-part unity pledge vowing to focus their fight on the “corporate wing” of the Democratic Party, ensure that a progressive candidate wins the party's presidential nomination and that they'd join forces to make sure the candidate they back defeats President Trump.

The move came after Sanders and Warren became embroiled in a bitter dispute earlier this month.

Though the two progressives had agreed not to attack one another, that comity broke down after reports that Sanders’s campaign was instructing volunteers to question whether Warren was electable.

Warren later alleged that Sanders told her in a private meeting in 2018 that a woman could not win the White House. Sanders, meanwhile, has denied ever making such a claim.

The spat culminated in an exchange following the Iowa debate. Warren confronted Sanders on the debate stage, and accused him of calling her a “liar on national TV.”

It is unclear whether the two candidates have spoken since, though Sanders’s campaign co-chair Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) came to Warren’s defense amid the public fallout and joined calls for unity.

“There are ups and downs in campaigns, but I have tremendous admiration and respect for Sen. Warren,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told Hill.TV, noting Warren’s record on anti-corruption and founding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Both progressive heavyweights have polled near the top of the Democratic field for most of the primary race, though Warren appears to have lost some momentum recently in state and national polls while Sanders has seen a surge going into the Iowa caucuses.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released on Sunday showed Sanders with 25 percent support followed by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 18 percent, former Vice President Joe Biden at 17 percent and Warren at 15 percent.

However, other Iowa polls show Biden holding a narrow lead. According to a poll by Park Street Strategies, the former vice president garners 20 percent support and is trailed by Sanders with 18 percent. Warren and Buttigieg were tied at 17 percent each.

—Tess Bonn

BAM! TAKE THAT 

The Virginia House of Delegates passed seven Democratic gun reform laws 10 days after large protests at the state capital over the proposed measures.

The bills include regulations implementing universal background checks and “red flag” legislation allowing officials to take guns from those determined to be dangerous to themselves or others.

The other regulations involve requirements to report lost and stolen firearms, a limit of one handgun that can be bought per month, rules to ensure those under protective orders cannot own a gun, child access prevention and legislation giving local officials the authority to determine how firearms are regulated in public spaces.

“Today we answer the majority of Virginians who called for gun violence prevention legislation at the polls last November,” state House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D) said in a statement. “Our goal is to save lives and promote responsible gun ownership in the Commonwealth. Public safety is our number one concern.”

The legislation will now move to the Virginia Senate for consideration. The state’s upper chamber has already passed four gun reform bills, including red flag and mandatory background checks bills.

The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence celebrated that the bills' passage “put us one step closer” to Gov. Ralph Northam's (D) signature.

“These are sound public policies that do not violate individual rights and will make our communities safer,” Brady Campaign President Kris Brown said in a statement. 

Virginia Democrats ran on a pro-gun control agenda last year and captured united control of the state government for the first time in more than two decades.

The nation had its eyes on Virginia when pro-gun activists took to Richmond earlier this month to protest the reform bills, prompting Northam to declare a state of emergency.

At least 91 out of 95 Virginia counties, in addition to other localities, have now declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” where local officials say they will not enforce gun restriction laws.

Gun Owners of America condemned the bills’ passage, saying the legislature is “ignoring the voice of the people on gun control.”

“Gun-grabbing Democrats in Virginia seem to be headed for that same electoral cliff, because voters will ‘remember in November,’ ” group President Erich Pratt said in a statement.

---30---

Executed by Hitlers Army Noor Khan’s Last Word : Liberte (Azadi)!

A Gandhian in Europe

MEHRU JAFFER | 30 JANUARY, 2020 

The story of Noor Inayat Khan is popular on European television to this day. The film was screened again this winter about an Indian Muslim woman who sacrificed herself so that countless European lives could survive the terror unleashed on the continent by Adolf Hitler throughout the 1930s.

Noor’s last word before her execution by the German military was azadi!

Noor had imbibed sufi values from her musician father Inayat Khan, and her American mother. Inayat Khan was founder of a sufi order in 1910. He was an Islamic mystic and a lover of peace. He was a follower of Gandhi and practiced non violence. He valued human life and enjoyed what is common to all cultures. He talked to Noor about Buddhists and their attempts to practice non-violence and compassion.

He admired Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun and an ally of Gandhi. Since 1912 Khan had talked about gaining independence from the British by participating in a non-violent movement called Khudai Khidmatgar, or the servants of god.

Inayat Khan died in 1927 but Noor must have known how hurt her father would be to see Hitler spew such hatred for other human beings. The mass murder of human beings at the orders of Hitler would have pained him no end.

The values she had inherited from her family of concern for others, of faith and patience surely inspired Noor to challenge divisive nationalism and ethnic genocide in Europe.

Born in Moscow in 1914, Noor’s family had fled Russia at the break of the first world war. She grew up in Paris and studied music. She wrote books for children, translating 20 Jataka Tales from the voluminous body of literature about the various births of the Buddha in human as well as animal form. From the life of the Buddha Noor learnt that challenging circumstances give rise to courage and the capacity to love conquers all problems. Her elders taught her that hope and patience have the power to open the way to solutions against impossible odds.

Noor’s world was shattered when Hitler marched his army into France, in 1940. She was 25 years old and her family was forced to flee their home once again. She moved to London and was hurt to see the Germans drop bombs on France. While in England she joined Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive and offered herself as a spy in Hitler occupied France. She worked with French resistance fighters against Hitler’s troops and as a wireless operator she passed on critical information back to Britain. Unfortunately she was betrayed by a colleague and imprisoned in Paris. She was later sent to a concentration camp in Germany where she was killed a year before World War II ended, in September 1945.

As she knelt on the ground, and before she was shot at the back of her head she had shouted, liberte in French or azadi!

This was the last word uttered by the 30 year old Noor before her death on a continent that had looked upon Muslims with suspicion.

Throughout the 19th century it was popularly believed by Europeans that Islam was spread by the sword and that Muslims preferred warring to peaceful co-existence. This impression was formed by groups of Muslims who challenged the invasion of their homeland by European imperial powers in different parts of the world. As far as European colonisers were concerned, the Muslim population behaved like warriors when it came to giving up their homeland. As a cover up of European economic ambitions in the Middle East in contemporary times that reputation of Muslims as warriors, or terrorists is deliberately kept alive.

Islamophobia is fuelled by those who allow irrational hostility, fear and hatred of Muslims to continue. The idea is to divert annoyance with non performing governments to a section of ordinary citizens. Minorities have always been made scapegoats by unimaginative politicians without talent in times of economic and political difficulties.

There are approximately 20 million Muslims living in the European Union today. Vested interests pretend that Muslims are a threat to the European way of life although they have lived in some parts of Europe for generations. It is in the interest of vested interests to keep myths alive that Europe will be Islamised. Any talk of invasion by Islam is enough to whip up xenophobia especially by populist political parties that have tasted success at the ballot box across Europe in recent times.

Most European governments do not see the disturbance they cause by meddling in the affairs of Muslim populated areas of the world. The chaos that they cause is not seen as something that merits local resistance. They look upon all resistance to their interference in local affairs as Muslims being inherently opposed to living peacefully with other human beings.

However lofty traditions inherited from her peace loving family inspired Noor to resist evil that was let loose around her. She could not sit in the comfort of her home and ignore what Hitler’s armed forces did to other human beings.

Therefore she chose to take sides in the last world war without fear of losing her own life.

 

---30---

‘India is Secular and Will Remain that Way, Even After We Have Left this World’

“In the longer run it will hurt everyone’

UTKARSH ROSHAN | 31 JANUARY, 2020

PATNA: Salma Khatoon has never ever gone out for any public rallies or protests, but seeing what has happened on university campuses and the overall scenario in the country, she could no longer sit at home. “Maybe it wasn’t our children who were beaten and brutalised at JNU and Jamia, but they were still somebody’s kids, and we can’t sit and wait for something like that to happen to our kids, that’s why we sit here,” she says.

It’s been more than ten days since the protests started in Sabzibagh. Women from around the locality join the dharna when they can and sit out in the cold. Halma Noori, who has been part of the protest since it began, says “I come from Kankarbagh every day, I cook for the family, take my medicines and come here.”


Many women also take turns within their family to balance household chores with protesting. “In the morning when I come here, my daughter and daughter-in-law look after the home. Then in the evening when I go back, they come here and I look after the home, but we all make sure that we sit in and take part in the protests,” says Noor Jahan, who has also been protesting for the last ten days.

Much is said about how protestors don’t even know what they are protesting for, or have been misinformed. The women at Sabzibagh completely disagree. “We understand what is going on, and we know that it’s not only about Muslims, in the longer run it will hurt everyone,” says Noori.






For Salma Khatoon, who has joined protests for more than a month now, “It’s not about us or any individual, it is about our Constitution, and I’m here to protect it.” She says she has kept her household work and other responsibilities at stake to be part of this. “India is secular, and will remain that way even after we have left this world,” she adds.

Recent allegations that the protestors at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi are “paid protestors” have also made these women wary of the media. “It shows that what they’ve been doing for years: they think we do the same. Earlier we would feel about news like this that the government was stating the truth, but now we know that’s not the case!” Salma Khatoon exclaims.

Pained by the media’s portrayal, Noori adds “It’s sad to see how the media, instead of understanding our plight, tries to discredit our movement.” She further states that if the protestors are being paid, “they should try to pay us more money and make us stop, we won’t.”

Noor Jahan agrees: “This rumour that’s been going on that we are being paid is absolute rubbish. We sit here all day without proper food, all these assertions by the media anger me.” Their lack of trust in the press could also be gauged by their constant questioning of what I was going to do with their quotes, whether I was going to spin it a certain way.

The demonstrators emphasise that it is out of dire need that they have come out on the streets. Daziya, who was at the protests with her little girl, says, “My girl studies and her schoolwork is also getting affected, but we are still here, because this is more important.”

Noori tells The Citizen she has been suffering from illness and the doctor has advised her to take rest, but says she comes and sits here after taking her medicines. “One day I forgot to take my medicines, so my husband came and gave me them. But it wouldn’t stop me from coming here.”

They say they are not afraid of police action any more, and while their protest has continued without any such incidents, they are prepared to endure anything. “We are ready to take bullets even, kill us once and for all, but don’t do it through a slow and painful process,” says Noori.

“I am not afraid of anyone, and no matter what happens I will continue the protest,” Jahan tells The Citizen.

The women are looking to the courts with hope. “I hope the Supreme Court will give us our justice, because this is not about Hindus and Muslims, it is about our Constitution.” In any case, Noori thinks the struggle of the people will not go in vain: “I hope all the efforts and blessings of all these people will work. I believe the tears of so many mothers will not be treated with injustice.”





  Shaheen Bagh Echoes in Bengaluru, Women on Indefinite Sit-in

 Power Shut Off, Toilets Locked but Women at Lucknow’s Ghanta Ghar Refuse to Budge

‘If Women Come Together Their Non Violence Will Crush the Atom Bomb’: GANDHI 

ABOUT
CONTRIBUTORS
CONTACT
ARCHIVES
CITIZENS KEEP THE CITIZEN INDEPENDENT. DONATE.

‘If Gandhi Were Alive, He Would Be at Every Protest Today’

ANANYA SINGH | 30 JANUARY, 2020

“I think if he (Gandhi) was alive, he would be at every protest site,” Tushar Gandhi, journalist and great-grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi told The Citizen on the eve of January 30, Gandhi’s 72nd death anniversary.

With the citizens of the country up in arms against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens and the alleged first step to implementing both of these, the National Population Register, Tushar Gandhi remembers the iconic leader of the Indian Independence movement, reflecting on what Gandhi would have done were he alive today to witness the nationwide protests.

Gandhi would have actively participated in the ongoing protests, according to Tushar Gandhi. “But if he was alive, I am also confident that we wouldn’t have reached this state… He would have been working to prevent this much much earlier,” he added.

Holding true to his ideals of non-violence, Gandhi “would have endorsed the non violent protests that are happening”, Tushar Gandhi stated. “He would have endorsed the individual statements of displeasure being voiced. He would have created public opinion against the situation and he would also have kept a door open for negotiation,” he told the Citizen. In fact, Gandhi and his ideals remain alive today, having been invoked at protest meetings across the country.

Citizens have taken to the streets to express their opposition to the CAA and NRC. Sloganeering and chanting are widespread, but so are poetry sessions, music, speeches, singing and artwork. Whether it is a 24X7 sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh or a march in Malegaon, women have come out across the nation to express their dissent and lead the movement along with the youth.

If Gandhi were here today, would he have led the anti-CAA protests himself? Tushar Gandhi believes otherwise, stating that his great-grandfather would have given the responsibility of the protests to the citizens of India instead. “He would have been the iconic leader or the inspiration behind the protests but he would have made the ordinary citizens responsible for protecting the nation as he had done in his Non-Cooperation Movement and in the Quit India Movement,” he told The Citizen.

January 30 is designated as Shahadat Diwas or Martyr’s Day. Today, in remembrance of Gandhi, massive protests have been organised across the country. From Rajghat to Shanthi Van, a “human chain across Delhi” will be built, scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm with the singing of the national anthem taking place at 5:17 pm—the exact time Gandhi was martyred on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Godse.

Speaking about the significance of the protest, Tushar Gandhi stated, “I don't even care if it’s a mammoth protest or not. Even a few human beings coming together, few concerned citizens coming together and standing up in defiance counts.”

“Maybe it won't be noticed as an event but it will have an impact over all,” he said. “So I think that is the way the protests should develop. I support the idea, I feel that everything possible and everything that an individual is capable of doing from within their comfort zones also is of importance,” Tushar Gandhi added.

Organised by Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan (JEJAA), with 109 social organisations under its ambit, the human chain will cover Hanuman Mandir, Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate, as per the JEJAA statement released on January 28.

Delhi is not the only city where a human chain will be built. A group of eminent citizens, including Rajmohan Gandhi, Mahadev Vidrohi, Medha Patkar, H.S. Doreswamy, Harsh Mander among others—under the banner ‘We the People of India’—have issued a call for a nation-wide human chain today. The call was endorsed by the Working Group of the All-India Coordination for National Action Against Citizenship Amendment.

The All-India human chains will begin forming from the afternoon and will end at 5:17 pm. The group has also urged lamps or candles to be lit outside every home to commemorate Gandhi’s martyrdom. “The programs will collectively be called Bharat Jodo and the value that will be upheld is “Fraternity” (from the Preamble of the Constitution of India)” reads their press release.

Following a human chain in Jaipur, programs that celebrate “multicultural interfaith music” has been organised at Central Park. Bangalore too, will witness the formation of a “harmony chain” from Town Hall to Mahatma Gandhi Statue after “paying homage to the Mahatma”.

A human chain is scheduled to be formed at Dharna Chowk, Indira Park, Hyderabad at 4 pm. Lawyers in Chennai will venture out on a “Peace and Unity Padayatra” around the Madras High Court this morning, resolving to defend the Indian Constitution.

“Safeguarding the Constitution Rally”, a candle light march organised by Dwarka Collective will also be taken out at 6 pm today from Sector-12, Dwarka “to resist every assault on the constitution including the CAA, NPR and NRC.” A long march is scheduled to take place from Jamia Millia Islamia University to Rajghat. Humari Urdu Mohabbat (HUM) is also organising an evening of “Gandhi in Poetry and Recitation” at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi.

Cities and small towns across India will observe a day of marches and cultural programmes in ‘Baapu’s’ memory. “It is very essential in times like this when we feel bereft of iconic leaders, we need to restore the memory of our icons and get inspired by them,” Tushar Gandhi told The Citizen, reflecting upon the protests organised. It becomes even more essential today, “when the idea of India that our founders had envisaged is under such grave threat.”

Kinder Morgan secures all land needed for pipeline, despite protests from Central Texans

SO CALLED CONSERVATIVE SCOTUS JUSTICE; TONY SCALIA APPROVED THE STATIST RULE OF EXPROPRIATION AKA EMINENT DOMAIN WHICH RESULTS IN THIS: 

Kinder Morgan secures all land needed for pipeline, despite protests from Central Texans

By Christian Flores Friday, January 31st 2020

In just a matter of weeks, Kinder Morgan may soon break ground on construction in Central Texas for a massive natural gas pipeline, after months of back-and-forth with landowners that continue today.

Earlier this week, the energy infrastructure company announced they have secured 100 percent of the right of way for the Permian Highway Pipeline Project, which is a 42-inch, 430-mile pipeline extending from West Texas to the Gulf Coast. They can now begin construction in Central Texas once they get the necessary federal permits.

"To have that piece in a manner that is fair, that takes into account hundreds and hundreds of issues and concerns raised by landowners has led us to adjust the pipeline route almost 200 times," said Kinder Morgan Vice President Allen Fore. "These projects are absolutely critical, not only for the economic benefit for the state of Texas, but for the energy security of the United States. We're confident we followed the regulations."

This development comes amid months-long protest from Hill Country neighbors who own land the pipeline will go through.


Kay Pence says she moved to Fredericksburg for the peace and solitude the countryside has to offer. However, she knows that may soon become a thing of the past when construction begins.

"The quiet we enjoy at night will be gone," Pence said.

Last week, Pence joined a lawsuit with other Hill Country landowners, claiming the pipeline will be carrying natural gas that's not only from Texas, requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate the pipeline, not the Railroad Commission of Texas.

This week, Hays County commissioners voted to join a lawsuit set to be filed against Kinder Morgan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in order to try and stop construction, claiming the pipeline will go through environmentally sensitive areas and put endangered species at risk.

Pence says these are attempts to at least slow down the start of construction.

"I give it a 50-50 shot that they won't have issues with their permitting, or I know there's several lawsuits pending, that that may hopefully have a judge place an injunction, and stop any building until it's finally decided in the courts once and for all that will decide whether or not they have the right to put the pipe through here," Pence said.

A court has already dismissed a lawsuit aimed at Kinder Morgan by the City of Kyle.

Fore says they have done everything by the book.

"We've always been confident not only in our legal position, but for the overall public purpose of this project," Fore said.

Pence says she feels she and other landowners never had a chance to decline Kinder Morgan's offers to place the pipeline through their property because of a lack of protections from eminent domain laws.

During the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers did not pass laws that sided with landowners, and throughout the process, Pence and other landowners have fought the assertion that the pipeline is considered a public benefit, which is protected under eminent domain.

Currently, Hill Country neighbors are still in the process of having condemnation hearings, which allows a court to hand down land values after hearing from both sides. More than 70 percent of Hill Country residents have taken this route.

Pence had her hearing after asking Kinder Morgan for $1.8 million to build through her land. The company provided two offers close to $100,000, before a final offer of $45,000. The court awarded Pence just more than $1.2 million.

Kinder Morgan has deposited the $1.2 million in the court registry, allowing them to begin construction. However, Pence is not withdrawing that money yet.

"If I leave it in the registry of the court, I am making a statement that I don't believe they have the right to take my land in the first place."

Pence says now, all she can do is wait for the court process to carry out.

"There is no process. We have no voice. We need a voice in this process," Pence said. "They're taking our land, so myself and the rest of the landowners in Gillespie County are frustrated. We haven't given up the fight. We'll continue the fight until the first shovel goes into the ground, and we'll probably continue to fight during that also."

---30---

Florida pastor and Trump spiritual advisor prays for 'all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now'

NOT SO PRO LIFE NOW, EH

Posted By Colin Wolf on Mon, Jan 27, 2020 

Screenshot via Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons/TwitterWhile Florida Republicans are on their way to further limit women’s healthcare, a Central Florida pastor who also serves as the Trump administration’s spiritual advisor is arguing that it’s somehow fine for God to terminate a pregnancy as long as it’s “satanic.”

Apopka preacher Paula White, the Special Adviser to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative also known as Trump’s “God Whisperer,” gave a sermon on Jan. 25, and an absolute batshit insane clip of the event was posted to Twitter last weekend.

In the video, the televangelist can be seen shouting, “We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now!” and urging “anything that has been conceived in satanic wombs, that it will miscarry and not be able to carry forth any plans of destruction,” not to mention how she comes against the “marine kingdom” and the “animal kingdom,” whatever that means.


“We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now” — Special Adviser to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative Paula White pic.twitter.com/gtdZyGfkxy
— Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons (@GuthrieGF) January 25, 2020
White has since stated that the clip is being taken out of context, and that she wasn’t actually praying for literal miscarriages of satanic pregnancies, but for metaphorical miscarriages of satanic pregnancies. Thank you, Lord.

Keep in mind that White, who leads a congregation of 10,000 at her megachurch New Destiny Christian Center, is prone to saying things that often leave moderate Christians scratching their heads. Besides pushing fringe Christian teachings like “the prosperity gospel,” which holds that God prefers rich people who donate to the church, White has also said radically stupid things like “To say no to President Trump would be saying no to God,” and “demonic” forces were coming after Trump to stop him from achieving Supreme Court picks.

Obviously, this hasn’t stopped her from amassing a small fortune through various now-bankrupt ministries over the years.


Screenshot via Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons/Twitter

THIS WOMAN IS POSSESSED BY THE SPIRITS SHE CONDEMNS AND EVOKES, SHE IS NOT A CHRISTIAN SHE IS A CHARLATAN, A SPIRIT RAPPER, A NECROMANCER, HER JESUS IS DEAD AND WANTING, IT IS THE VAMPIRE JESUS SHE IS A BLACK MAGICIAN, A MEMBER NOT OF THE LEFT HAND PATH NOR THE RIGHT HAND PATH, SHE IS IN THE ABYSS ROARING OUT ITS DEMONS INTO THIS WORLD JUST WATCH HER DO HER POSSESSION DANCE OF EVOCATION, LIKE ALL PENTECOSTALS ( AN AMERICAN CULT) SHE SPEAKS IN TONGUES, AND ALLOWS THE SPIRITS TO POSSESS HER CLAIMING THEY SPEAK FOR GOD, SHE NEVER DOES MENTION HER GOD'S NAME......

Third Women's March at Orlando City Hall hustles to 'box out' bigotry

Posted By Solomon Gustavo on Mon, Jan 20, 2020

Photo by Alex DixonArms extended, Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan stood in front of the masses gathered for the Women's March Orlando 2020 on the steps of City Hall, spreading out fabric designed to look like butterfly wings.

"Excuse me, I was busy boxing out foolishness," said the city's first openly gay commissioner, referring to a group of counter-demonstrators waving signs condemning abortion and getting in heated back-and-forths with Women's March participants. A group of people, including Sheehan, formed a circle around the aggressive anti-abortionists, spreading their arms to unfurl their fabric butterfly wings and locking hands.

Most of the third Orlando iteration of the march organized by the Orange County Chapter of the National Organization for Women followed this theme of seeking out, circling and eradicating hatred in its many forms. It was the latest protest on behalf of women and femmes after the inaugural Women’s March on the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.


Photo by Alex DixonIntersectionality was clearly the priority for the event's speakers, who dove into passionate diatribes against the scourge of epidemic levels of violence against Black trans women, or the needs of those surviving natural disasters in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, or the moral imperative to uncage children and enact humanely welcoming immigration, as often as they discussed consent and reproductive rights.

"Hold the door," said Nicolette Springer to the crowd, and asked that everyone take a moment at the beginning of every day to ponder how they use their privilege. A group from Hope Community Center, an Orlando organization providing immigration advice, made their way to the lip of the plaza in front of City Hall. Springer asked them to come to the front.


Photo by Alex DixonCynthia Harris, a Black woman running to represent Florida House District 46 covering neighborhoods including Parramore and Pine Hills, spoke at the event. She emphasized that the Women's Suffrage moment secured voting rights for women with the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1919 – but that Black women couldn't vote until the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965.

"We have to do a hostile takeover," said Harris to Orlando Weekly, describing how Black women can make their voices heard.

Many speakers, some white, bailed from the Women's March in Los Angeles in solidarity with the local Black Lives Matter chapter who voiced concern that the mainly white women organizers were boxing out Black voices. Harris said that was not the case with the march in Orlando. She said when she went to Florida NOW organizers about speaking, they made sure that her voice was heard.


Photo by Alex DixonThe majority of the people in attendance were white. But there was plenty of diversity.

"You see white faces, Black faces, brown faces. You see queer people, you see cisgender, straight people, you see people all across the spectrum," said gun reform and LGBTQIA rights activist and Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf, the lone man who spoke at the event.

As many speakers emphasized the notion that a better, more just nation for all begins with helping the most disadvantaged, the two other points of priority for speakers and those in attendance were women's bodily autonomy and electing a replacement for Trump. There were Planned Parenthood representatives and staffers from various campaigns offering to register people to vote.

Among the speakers were state Rep. Amy Mercado and Rep. Anna Eskamani, the first Iranian American to be elected to the Florida House; House District 43 candidate Tamika Lyles, who if elected, would be the first woman and first Black woman to hold that seat; and Florida Senate District 5 candidate Melina Barratt, the first openly transgender woman to run for state senate.

After listening to speakers, participants marched to Lake Eola and took a lap, delivering chants and waving signs for gawking and cheering passersby.

"Women's rights are being trampled," said Debbie Deland, 64, who came from the MetroWest neighborhood of Orlando.

"Everybody's rights are being trampled," said 58-year-old Ocoee resident Karen Riveland, piggybacking off her fellow marcher as they made their way around the lake. Chants of "Hey-hey, ho-ho, Donald Trump has got to go," rang in the background. "I think we can build our nation back up if we help the people on the lowest rungs."

High school activist Abby Fussell, 18, began heading up the issue of decriminalizing sex work after beginning a project on the matter at Tavares High School. Disappointed with how little she saw reports directly engage with them, Fussell reached out to speak with sex workers herself. She says the most common theme "is that decriminalization is the most important thing to end violence against sex workers and to end rape culture."

"This is why we need change," said Elaine Danzig, 59, sitting next to her marriage companion of 42 years, Bobbie Yvonne Danzig, 62. "We have 19 grandchildren and I want there to be a better future for them."


Photo by Alex DixonStay on top of Orlando news and views.

RELATED The best signs and most passionate protesters at Sunday’s Orlando Women’s March

Bloggytown

Rally outside of Orlando City Hall says 'no more endless wars'

TRUMP'S NEW HOME STATE PROTESTS HIS WAR AND SANCTIONS ON IRAN

Posted By Lillian Hernández Caraballo on Fri, Jan 10, 2020

Photo by Maya JamesAmid uncertainty and anxiety over Iranian-American conflicts, public officials and locals stood in solidarity outside Orlando City Hall on Thursday evening, protesting against further violence or war.

"There is no evidence that war leads to democracy," Rep. Anna Eskamani of District 47 said. "We've seen this in many countries, like in Iraq."

The group of demonstrators cited the ineffectiveness of war and the dire importance for diplomacy as reasons to stand against further escalations.

"It serves no purpose to perpetuate constant war and violence in that region," said Grayson Lanza, a local activist who organized the event in under 24 hours. "We want diplomacy. Diplomacy works, and with Iran we have evidence of that.

Many also stated it was important to show resistance against the inconsistent and volatile leadership that has led to rising xenophobia.

"We have to be out here because we have to show that, while our president may be responsible for these actions, he does not represent all of us," said Diego Molina, an activist and member of the College Democrats at University of Central Florida. "As the general community, as people, as Americans, it's shocking and abhorrent that we have to be here doing this."

During a phone interview, attorney Katerina Kurbatova, Esq., of the law firm Smith and Kurbatova, said their Iranian clients with immigration cases have had their immigration interviews cancelled, after waiting long periods of time – some of them years – and with no end in sight, as rescheduling has been discontinued for now.

"Iranian cases have been waiting 1.5 to 2 years in an 'administrative processing' stage," Kurbatova said. "Some finally had their interviews, some were waiting to be scheduled. Now all cancelled and nothing definite for rescheduling."

Kurbatova is of Russian descent and her partner Smith is of Iranian descent. They handle a lot of immigrant cases and have first-hand seen the results that fear-mongering has had in these communities.

"It's affecting regular people in ways it shouldn't be," Kurbatova said. "They're just people who have nothing to do with politics."


Photo by Maya JamesThe speakers and attendees at the protest focused strongly around the ongoing travel ban affecting Iranians and on the recent issue at the U.S.-Canada border, where around 200 Iranian-Americans were detained for hours, harassed and questioned, before being allowed passage back to their homes in America.

"Iranian-American communities are being unfairly targeted," Lanza said. "It's terrifying the fact that this can just happen at any moment. They're just as American as anyone else; they are just as human as anyone else.

Congressman Darren Soto, representing Florida U.S. District 9, said he could not be at the event, but sent district director Sheyla Asencios, who spoke for Soto.

"I will proudly vote for peace," Asencios read aloud in behalf of Soto. "One thing is clear: war with Iran is not the answer. We don't need another endless war in the Middle East. We don't need another generation of Americans dying halfway around the world in a conflict that does not directly threaten the homeland." (Ed. – Quote corrected to "homeland" from earlier "whole land.")

Lanza said the event is but the Orlando part of a nationwide movement. He said over 300 other events like it are going on concurrently around the U.S.

"This is just the City Beautiful standing in support of peace," said Ida Eskamani, an Iranian-American grassroots organizer. "We do not want another endless war."

Rep. Anna Eskamani said she is proud American who will forever fight for peace in the U.S. and the world abroad. Eskamani is Florida's first elected Iranian-American to any public office. She and her sister Ida Eskamani have been helping their family in Iran cope with their fears and anxieties of war.

She also said that the President's rhetoric is unpredictable and that his tweet about targeting cultural sites for military attacks, a war crime, was used in Iran as propaganda to inspire fervor for anti-American sentiments.


Photo by Maya James"My family [in Iran] is super anxious, 

super nervous," said Rep. Anna Eskamani. "Nobody wants war."

The protest had a final total of over 100 attendees and lasted about three hours. Some of the folks participating looked committed, others angry and indignant, many looked happy to have their voices heard, as cars passing by honked their horns in support.

"Together united we can accomplish anything," Lanza said. "And to all of you who came today, take pride in that because you're standing on the right side of history."

RELATED All the best signs from Orlando's 'No War with Iran' protest

1/50

Amid uncertainty and anxiety over Iranian-American conflicts, public officials and locals stood in solidarity outside Orlando City Hall on Thursday evening, protesting against further violence or war. The group of demonstrators cited the ineffectiveness of war and the dire importance for diplomacy as reasons to stand against further escalations. Many also stated it was important to show resistance against the inconsistent and volatile leadership that has led to rising xenophobia.

The speakers and attendees at the protest focused strongly around the ongoing travel ban affecting Iranians and on the recent issue at the U.S.-Canada border, where around 200 Iranian-Americans were detained for hours, harassed and questioned, before being allowed passage back to their homes in America. The protest had a final total of over 100 attendees and lasted about three hours. Some of the folks participating looked committed, others angry and indignant, many looked happy to have their voices heard, as cars passing by honked their horns in support.

---30---

Bloggytown

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won't talk about texts with donor indicted for foreign influence of U.S. elections

THE GOP IS NOT A POLITICAL PARTY IT IS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE 

Posted By Solomon Gustavo on Tue, Jan 14, 2020


Texts have surfaced between Gov. Ron DeSantis and a right-wing donor indicted for helping Rudy Giuliani siphon foreign cash into American elections from Ukraine.

The texts between the second-year governor and Lev Parnas were turned over, reports The Wall Street Journal, as evidence in Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.
Today, when DeSantis was asked to address the texts during a media gaggle at the capital, he said he had nothing more to add and ignored follow-up questions, according to Politico reporter Matt Dixon on Twitter.

This is not the first time DeSantis has attempted to shrug off a connection to Parnas and Igor Fruman, another pro-Trump donor charged in October by U.S. prosecutors with helping Giuliani funnel money from an unnamed Ukrainian politician into U.S. elections, both of whom have donated to DeSantis' political committee.

When the donor duo, who were arrested the same night, were facing federal heat last October, DeSantis claimed to have no relationship with Fruman and Parnas even though they donated tens of thousands of dollars to his cause. Shortly after, feeling some of the heat himself emanating off his two donors, DeSantis agreed to turn the donation over to the federal government.

There's a lot here DeSantis is asking us to ignore between him and two guys the feds have arrested for tampering with elections.click to tweetBack in June 2018, while DeSantis was still campaigning for governor, Parnas and Fruman donated $50,000 to DeSantis' political committee Global Energy Partners. Also, before the indictment, Parnas was on the host committee of fundraisers for DeSantis in June, July and October 2018. In November 2018, Parnas and Giuliani went to two DeSantis rallies, one in Daytona Beach and one in Boca Raton. On election night, Parnas and Fruman were spotted at DeSantis' party. Parnas was pictured hugging DeSantis. Orlando Weekly photographer Joey Roulette even shot video of Parnas with Ron and Casey DeSantis.

Still, DeSantis took another opportunity in October to say there is little to read into all of these sightings with Giuliani's accused Ukraine associates, spinning the accumulation of hangouts as Fruman and Parnas being random guys who happen to frequent conservative political events. All the while, more reports came out showing DeSantis and Parnas sharing an embrace and photos suggesting the two have traveled together by private plane.

There's a lot here DeSantis is asking us to ignore between him and two guys the feds have arrested for tampering with elections. The Florida Democratic Party surely isn't buying it; they've made a records request for all the correspondence between DeSantis, Parnas, Fruman and Giuliani while DeSantis has been in office.

---30---