Teenagers held over homophobic attack on two women on London bus

Lesbian couple assaulted by group of young males blame rise of right-wing populism for growth in hate crime

Poppy Noor and Mattha Busby

Fri 7 Jun 2019 

 

Melania Geymonat (R) and her girlfriend, Chris, 

after the attack on a bus in West Hampstead. 

Photograph: Melania Geymonat via Facebook


The two women left needing hospital treatment after they were attacked on a bus in a homophobic assault have blamed a rise in rightwing populism for growing hate crime and called on people to stand up for each other.

Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend, Chris, 29, defiantly announced they would not be intimidated into hiding their sexuality, days after they said they were attacked by several young men when they refused to kiss upon demand.

“I was and still am angry. It was scary, but this is not a novel situation,” said Chris. “I’m not scared about being visibly queer. If anything, you should do it more.

“A lot of people’s rights and basic safety are at risk. I want people to feel emboldened to stand up to the same people who feel emboldened by the rightwing populism that is, I feel, responsible for the escalation in hate crimes,” she told the BBC in a televised interview. “I want people to take away from this that they should stand up for themselves and each other.”

Geymonat added: “The violence is not only because we are women which are dating each other. It’s also because we are women.”

A Metropolitan police statement said: “Four males aged between 15 to 18 have been arrested on Friday 7 June on suspicion of robbery and aggravated GBH. They have been taken to separate London police stations for questioning.”

The attack – in which a phone and a bag were stolen – happened in the early hours of 30 May. A photograph of the couple’s bloodied faces went viral on Friday.

In a Facebook post, Geymonat, a flight attendant originally from Uruguay, said in both English and Spanish that they were subjected to homophobic abuse while being beaten up: “They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions … The next thing I know is that Chris is in the middle of the bus fighting with them.

“The next thing I know is I’m being punched. I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back. I don’t remember whether or not I lost consciousness.”

Politicians roundly condemned the attack.

Theresa May said: “This was a sickening attack and my thoughts are with the couple affected. Nobody should ever have to hide who they are or who they love and we must work together to eradicate unacceptable violence towards the LGBT community.”

The Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said: “We must not, and will not, accept this homophobic and misogynist violence in our society. Solidarity to Melania and Chris, and to all in the LGBT+ community for everything they endure for simply being who they are.”

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, urged witnesses to the “disgusting, misogynistic attack” to come forward. “Hate crimes against the LGBT+ community will not be tolerated in London,” he said.

The women and equalities minister, Penny Mordaunt, said she was “appalled to see this kind of homophobic violence in the UK, there’s no place for this kind of vile behaviour in our society”.

The Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, in whose West Hampstead constituency the attack took place, said on Twitter: “Lesbian women should not have to live in fear of male violence or be treated as though their sexuality exists for men’s entertainment. This vicious attack shows how #homophobia and #misogynyintersect. We campaign for equality to end hate crimes like this.”

Reported homophobic hate crimes across London have increased from 1,488 in 2014 to 2,308 in 2018, according to the Met.


‘We must not accept homophobic and misogynist violence in our society,’ Corbyn says

Pauline PantsdownFollow

3 hrs

"I want people to feel emboldened to stand up to the same people who feel emboldened by the right-wing populism that is, I feel, responsible for the escalation in hate crimes ..I am not scared about being visibly queer. If anything, you should do it more."

OK I'm basically happy to hand over planetary control to these two women.
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Women defiant over homophobic attack

Stop saying "robots are coming for your job"; start saying "Your boss wants to replace you with a robot"
S

Trophy hunter says she's 'proud to hunt' in wake controversy over viral giraffe photo

Kerry Justich
June 7, 2019

KILLING FOR A TROPHY OR SPORT IS NOT HUNTING IT IS MURDER 



Tess Talley is speaking out for the first time after this photo of her beside a rare giraffe — which she killed — went viral. (Photo: Twitter/AfricaDigest)More


The American hunter who drew lots of criticism for a photo of her posing with the body of a giraffe that she killed is speaking out for the first time about how she is “proud to hunt.”

Tess Talley is the trophy hunter who was at the center of controversy in June 2018 when the photo of her alongside her kill surfaced on a Twitter account called AfricaDigest. In the tweet, Talley was called a “white American savage” for shooting a rare black giraffe during a hunting trip in South Africa. Now, after facing widespread condemnation, the hunter told CBS This Morning that she’s still hunting.


NEW: Trophy hunter Tess Talley says she is "proud to hunt" and is "proud of that giraffe.” https://t.co/thQSSkh8jU pic.twitter.com/wvUss8QoUQ— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 7, 2019

“It’s a hobby, it’s something that I love to do,” Talley said in the interview on Friday. “I am proud to hunt and I am proud of that giraffe.”

Although she enjoys hunting and even looks gleeful in the picture alongside her kill, Talley went on to say that the particular hunt was a “conservation hunt.”

“We are preserving the wildlife,” Talley said. “We are managing herds, we’re managing numbers of wildlife.”

Still, many people don’t believe that to be true, especially after Talley shared with CBS that she now has a gun case and multiple pillows decorated with the hide of the giraffe, whose meat she said was “delicious.”


Tess Talley bragged to the press that she was proud of killing the giraffe, even saying that she used the animal’s remains to create decorative pillows and a gun case.https://t.co/fs5au9l1Sf— Dan Broadbent 🚀 (@aSciEnthusiast) June 7, 2019


It’s not a “harvest” #TessTalley

The giraffe had a life, and it had value to our Earth.
You exist to take life for your “hobby” feeding your shallow hubris.

Now this creature’s hide is your gun case, and PILLOWS...which “everybody loves!”

Could you be more heartless? pic.twitter.com/lUR0hx7DX2— 🔥 𝕍𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕧𝕚𝕦𝕤 🔥 (@PentUpPower) June 7, 2019


Native Americans used to hunt animals like buffalo and used every bit of them, for food, clothing, and more. They considered the animals sacred. #TessTalley proud of killing a harmless giraffe, having no need to hunt, no use for the rest of the animal?

Deplorable. 🙄#hunting https://t.co/kpncE79eKm— Darth Continent (@DarthContinent) June 7, 2019


Tess “Cruella de Vil” Talley is proud to shoot a defenseless animal that is on the verge of becoming endangered. What a psychopath. https://t.co/2sdJgj7Sct— Justin McCarthy 🌹🌅 (@jaymac1893) June 7, 2019

That #TessTalley finds joy in killing any animal is disgusting, but the fact that the @IUCNjust issued an alarming report about the rapid rate of decline in the giraffe population, which could push the species to the edge of extinction is horrifying.— Adam (@AdamInChicago) June 7, 2019

When asked to further explain her conservation argument, Talley ultimately said, “It's tough. It's a science. It's really hard. I'm not a conservationist, I'm a hunter.”

Trump's UK visit cost taxpayers £18,000,000 - Obama's was £1,600,000

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Parliamentary Day at the Range – Another Bull's Eye!

Parliamentary Day at the Range – Another Bull's Eye!

FROM THE CANADIAN SPORTS SHOOTING ASSOCIATION AKA THE GUN LOBBY IN CANADA  In The News

Parliamentary Day at the Range – Another Bull's Eye! Fair skies greeted participants on the morning of June 4th. Hosted once again at The Stittsville Shooting Ranges, about a hundred Members of Parliament and staff attended the 8th Annual Parliamentary Day at the Range, expending several thousand rounds of ammunition through all types of firearms over the course of two and a half hours of shooting time. Once shooting finished and the smoke cleared, it was evident that this annual event was another great success. The event is presented annually by the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, in cooperation with the Stittsville Shooting Ranges. It is one of the largest non-partisan events on the Hill, and it just keeps getting better. The keys to the success of this event – no politics, no media and lots of educative fun. No one left the range without a BIG smile. Our deepest thanks to Stoeger Canada, Browning Canada, the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association, Bowmac Gunpar, the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, Savage Arms, Federal Cartridge, Weatherby, Smith & Wesson, SFRC – The Ammo Source, Firearms Outlet Canada, Century Arms, and, of course, Linda, Lisa and Ken and rest of the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Stittsville Shooting Ranges. (If we missed anyone we will make it up to you!) The CSSA would like to give a special mention to Firearms Outlet Canada, SFRC – The Ammo Source, Select Shooting Supplies, Century Arms and Ellwood Epps for their donations of ammunition. THANK YOU! Also, a really big shout out to our CSSA directors, regional directors, volunteers and staff who helped make this event such a huge success again this year. Thanks to Rob, Jeff, Ken, Bill, Steve, Dale, Carlos, André and our event staff, Heather, Sandy and Tony. To see the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus' 8th Annual Day at the Range photo gallery, you can view it on the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus FaceBook page HERE

MONICA FOOT OBITUARY
ANARCHIST FEMINIST
John Foot
Thu 6 Jun 2019 

As part of the early feminist movement, Monica Foot joined demonstrations against the Miss World beauty contest

My mother, Monica Foot, a press and television journalist, who has died aged 80, was an anarchist, a feminist and a trade union activist.

In the early 70s she worked for Weekend World, the London Weekend TV current affairs programme. From 1974 to 1976 she was a producer for HTV’s Women Only. She also wrote book and music reviews for Sunday magazines. After she interviewed Germaine Greer for the Sunday Times in 1969, the two remained friends. In 1970 she was among feminists who participated in demonstrations against the Miss World beauty contest.


After a short period as press officer for the actors’ union Equity, in 1979 she went to work for the Labour party as a press officer. It was a difficult time for the party, with a string of byelection defeats, but she also worked for Tony Benn’s re-election to parliament in 1984 in Chesterfield. In the same year she was offered a post as head of the press office for Birmingham city council and proceeded to help to transform the image and outlook of the city through marketing and the promotion of the arts.


She was born in Castle Bromwich, to the east of Birmingham, to Robert Beckinsale, a lecturer in geography, and his wife, Monica (nee Crump), a teacher and writer. To avoid the blitz, the family moved to Oxfordshire when Monica was a baby, and her father taught at Oxford University. Educated at Oxford high school for girls, she spent a scholarship year at Princeton University in the US and then studied English at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, graduating in 1960.



There she met Paul Foot, a fellow student. They married in 1962 and went to Glasgow, where Paul worked as a journalist for the Daily Record. Both became political radicals in Scotland, supporting leftwing causes. The marriage collapsed in 1966 while Monica was pregnant with her second son, Matt, and she moved to London to work as a journalist.


It later transpired that for her political activities – she had supported the Scottish anarchist Stuart Christie, who was imprisoned in Spain, and marched as an anarchist in 1968 demonstrations in Grosvenor Square – she was blacklisted by the BBC.


She was a longtime National Union of Journalists activist and served on its executive committee. In 1995 she retired early from her job in Birmingham to dedicate more time to her beloved allotment, her voracious reading habit and her aim of seeing every single Shakespeare play performed on stage.


She is survived by her sons, Matt and me, by her grandchildren, Lorenzo, Joe, Natasha and Corinna, and by her sister, Mary, and brother, Robert.

Workers With Disabilities Are Making Cents Per Hour -- and It’s Legal

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U.S. mining sites dump millions of gallons of toxic waste into drinking water sources



Dan Bender, with the La Plata County Sheriff's Office, takes a water sample from the Animas River near Durango, Colo., on Aug. 6, 2015, after the accidental release of an estimated 3 million gallons of waste from the Gold King Mine. Federal officials fear that at least six of the sites examined by The Associated Press could have blowouts like the one at Gold King.

(Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald)

Matthew BrownAssociated Press


Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the U.S. and into surrounding streams and ponds without being treated, The Associated Press has found.


That torrent is poisoning aquatic life and tainting drinking water sources in Montana, California, Colorado, Oklahoma and at least five other states.


The pollution is a legacy of how the mining industry was allowed to operate in the U.S. for more than a century. Companies that built mines for silver, lead, gold and other "hardrock" minerals could move on once they were no longer profitable, leaving behind tainted water that still leaks out of the mines or is cleaned up at taxpayer expense.


Using data from public records requests and independent researchers, the AP examined 43 mining sites under federal oversight, some containing dozens or even hundreds of individual mines.


The records show that at average flows, more than 50 million gallons (189 million liters) of contaminated wastewater streams daily from the sites. In many cases, it runs untreated into nearby groundwater, rivers and ponds — a roughly 20-million-gallon daily dose of pollution that could fill more than 2,000 tanker trucks.


The remainder of the waste is captured or treated in a costly effort that will need to carry on indefinitely, for perhaps thousands of years, often with little hope for reimbursement.


The volumes vastly exceed the release from Colorado's Gold King Mine disaster in 2015, when a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup crew inadvertently triggered the release of 3 million gallons of mustard-colored mine sludge, fouling rivers in three states.


At many mines, the pollution has continued decades after their enlistment in the federal Superfund cleanup program for the nation's most hazardous sites, which faces sharp cuts under President Donald Trump.


Federal officials have raised fears that at least six of the sites examined by AP could have blowouts like the one at Gold King.


Some sites feature massive piles or impoundments of mine waste known as tailings. A tailings dam collapse in Brazil last month killed at least 169 people and left 140 missing. A similar 2014 accident in British Columbia swept millions of cubic yards of contaminated mud into a nearby lake, resulting in one of Canada's worst environmental disasters.


But even short of a calamitous accident, many mines pose the chronic problem of relentless pollution.

AP also found mining sites where untreated water harms the environment or threatens drinking water supplies in North and South Carolina, Vermont, Missouri and Oregon.





Tillman McAdams with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency speaks about cleanup work at the Susie mine in Rimini, Mont., on Oct. 12, 2018, as polluted water from the mine flows near his feet. The mine is one of dozens that have fouled water supplies in the mountain community.

(Matthew Brown / AP)


TAINTED WELLS


In mountains outside the Montana capital of Helena, about 30 households can't drink their tap water because groundwater was polluted by about 150 abandoned gold, lead and copper mines that operated from the 1870s until 1953.


The community of Rimini was added to the Superfund list in 1999. Contaminated soil in residents' yards was replaced, and the EPA has provided bottled water for a decade. But polluted water still pours from the mines and into Upper Tenmile Creek.


"The fact that bottled water is provided is great," said 30-year Rimini resident Catherine Maynard, a natural resources analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Where it falls short is it's not piped into our home. Water that's piped into our home is still contaminated water. Washing dishes and bathing — that metal-laden water is still running through our pipes."


Estimates of the number of such abandoned mine sites range from 161,000 in 12 western states to as many as 500,000 nationwide. At least 33,000 have degraded the environment, according to the Government Accountability Office, and thousands more are discovered every year.


Officials have yet to complete work including basic risk analyses on about 80 percent of abandoned mining sites on federal lands. Most are controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, which under Trump is seeking to consolidate mine cleanups with another program and cut their combined 2019 spending from $35 million to $13 million.






A look at polluted water discharge flow and levels of treatment of polluted discharge at 43 sites in the U.S.

(p.holm / AP)


PERPETUAL POLLUTION


Problems at some sites are intractable.


Among them:


— In eastern Oklahoma's Tar Creek mining district, waterways are devoid of life and elevated lead levels persist in the blood of children despite a two-decade effort to clean up lead and zinc mines. More than $300 million has been committed since 1983, but only a small fraction of the impacted land has been reclaimed and contaminated water continues to flow.


— At northern California's Iron Mountain Mine, cleanup teams battle to contain highly acidic water that percolates through a former copper and zinc mine and drains into a Sacramento River tributary. The mine discharged six tons of toxic sludge daily before an EPA cleanup. Authorities now spend $5 million a year to remove poisonous sludge that had caused massive fish kills, and they expect to keep at it forever.


— In Colorado's San Juan Mountains, site of the Gold King blowout, some 400 abandoned or inactive mine sites contribute an estimated 15 million gallons (57 million liters) of acid mine drainage per day.


AP also found mining sites where untreated water harms the environment or threatens drinking water supplies in North and South Carolina, Vermont, Missouri and Oregon.


This landscape of polluted sites occurred under mining industry rules largely unchanged since the 1872 Mining Act.


State and federal laws in recent decades have held companies more accountable than in the past, but critics say huge loopholes all but ensure that some of today's mines will foul waterways or require perpetual cleanups.


To avoid a catastrophe like Gold King, EPA officials now require advance approval for work on many mining sites. But they acknowledge they're only dealing with a small portion of the problem.


"We have been trying to play a very careful game of prioritization," said Dana Stalcup, deputy director of the Superfund program. "We know the Superfund program is not the answer to the hundreds of thousands of mines out there, but the mines we are working on we want to do them the best we can."


The 43 sites examined by AP are mining locations for which officials and researchers have reliable estimates of polluted water releases. Officials said flow rates at the sites vary.


Average flows were unavailable for nine sites that only had high and low estimates of how much polluted water flowed out. For those sites, the AP used the lower estimates for its analysis.









Water contaminated with arsenic, lead and zinc flows from a pipe out of the Lee Mountain mine and into a holding pond near Rimini, Mont., on Oct. 12, 2018. The community is part of the Upper Tenmile Creek Superfund site, where dozens of abandoned mines have left water supplies polluted and residents must use bottled water.

(Matthew Brown/AP)


QUESTIONS OVER WHO SHOULD PAY


To date, the EPA has spent an estimated $4 billion on mining cleanups. Under Trump, the agency has identified a small number of Superfund sites for heightened attention after cleanup efforts stalled or dragged on for years. They include five mining sites examined by AP.


Former EPA assistant administrator Mathy Stanislaus said more money is needed to address mining pollution on a systematic basis, rather than jumping from one emergency response to another.


"The piecemeal approach is just not working," said Stanislaus, who oversaw the Superfund program for almost eight years ending in 2017.


Democrats have sought unsuccessfully to create a special cleanup fund for old hardrock mine sites, with fees paid by the mining industry. Such a fund has been in place for coal mines since 1977, with more than $11 billion in fees collected and hundreds of sites reclaimed.


The mining industry has resisted doing the same for hardrock mines, and Republicans in Congress have blocked the Democratic proposals.


Montana Mining Association director Tammy Johnson acknowledged abandoned mines have left a legacy of pollution, but added that companies still in operation should not be forced to pay for those problems.


"Back in the day there really wasn't a lot known about acid mine drainage," she said. "I just don't think that today's companies bear the responsibility."


In 2017, the EPA proposed requiring companies still operating mines to post cleanup bonds or offer other financial assurances so taxpayers don't end up footing cleanup bills. The Trump administration halted the rule, but environmental groups are scheduled to appear in federal court next month in a lawsuit that seeks to revive it.


"When something gets on a Superfund site, that doesn't mean it instantly and magically gets cleaned up," said Earthjustice attorney Amanda Goodin. "Having money immediately available from a responsible party would be a game changer."

UN representative finds Canada's Indigenous people are 'disproportionately' affected by toxic waste. Many Indigenous communities "feel they are located in areas that are ... 'sacrifice zones'". he United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances says Canada's Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by toxic waste.

Baskut Tuncak was invited by the federal government to conduct an eight-stop visit between May 24 and June 6 to evaluate the federal government's progress on managing toxic materials and their effect on human rights.

He visited Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Montréal, along with Grassy Narrows and Sarnia in Ontario and Fort McMurray in Alberta, to meet with governments, academics, Indigenous communities and businesses.

"I've certainly heard testimonies from many Indigenous Peoples that they feel they are located in areas that are, quote-unquote, 'sacrifice zones'," Tuncak said.

"When you look at the unique relationship that Indigenous Peoples have with their lands — both the water, the lands, the foods — they certainly are exposed more to pollution that's released from these facilities."

'Quite disappointed' with Grassy Narrows cleanup
Tuncak said he was "quite disappointed" with a lack of clear answers from Ontario and Ottawa regarding why a remedy has not been found for the community of Grassy Narrows half a century after the discharge of 10 tonnes of mercury upstream from the First Nation, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora, Ont.

He, along with community advocates, have been pushing Ottawa to follow through on a promise by Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott in 2017, when she committed to building a health-care facility.

Mercury contaminated the local water and soil after the former owners of a mill in Dryden dumped effluent containing the toxin into the English-Wabigoon River system throughout most of the 1960s and into the early 1970s.

As a result, many residents suffer from debilitating health consequences to this day.

"The inaction for many decades really leaves in my mind questions of discrimination, and to what extent that community and other communities are protected from discrimination," Tuncak said.

"It should've been at the highest of priorities and I can't imagine that, if this were to happen in an urban centre, that it would've taken this long for remediation to take place."

Chief at odds with Ottawa over money
Grassy Narrows is trying to come to an agreement with Ottawa to expand its nursing station and build a new treatment centre. Chief Rudy Turtle said the clinic will conduct medical studies to better understand how mercury affects the human body and develop treatment plans.

But Turtle said he's at odds with the federal government over funding.

"Let's do what's right for Grassy Narrows," Turtle said. "If (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau is serious about reconciliation, than he should fix this 50-year-old problem instead of letting it drag on."

CBC.CA

UN special rapporteur finds toxic waste is hurting Canada's Indigenous communities more than others | CBC News

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances says Canada's Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by toxic waste.

Saudi - an apartheid and slave state - English language video below

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Los árabes saudíes siguen vendiendo esclavos negros castrados ¿Por qué nadie dice nada?

Trump admin tells U.S. embassies they can't fly pride flag on flagpoles

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