#METOOAUSTRALIA

Government leaders won't attend '#March4Justice' on Parliament, inspired by Brittany Higgins rape allegation

3/14/2021

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says he appreciates it is an important issue, but he won't attend a march to demand action on violence against women.(AAP: Mick Tskikas)

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack won't attend a public march on Monday planned to demand action on violence against women at Parliament House, following a month of accusations that it harbours a toxic workplace.

Key points:

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack won't attend the demonstration because he has meetings all day

The protest follows a month of accusations that Parliament House harbours a toxic workplace

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says he will attend the protest, along with other colleagues

Appearing on Insiders, Mr McCormack was asked why he couldn't take 10 minutes to speak with the women and men expected to descend on the nation's capital tomorrow.

"No, I have meetings all day," Mr McCormack told David Speers.

"Look, at the end of the day, we want Parliament to be a place which is a fit and proper workplace, and I know that indeed in my office I've said that to my staff, I've made sure that they know all the proper processes and protocols.

"If there are issues that people feel that they are not being supported in and there are issues that indeed are very grave, then they should be dealt with by the proper authorities, so department in cases of harassment and the police if the matters are more serious than that."

Women like Brittany Higgins have inspired the marches.(Supplied)

The black-clad protesters plan to demonstrate on the first day of parliamentary sittings since the scandal-plagued fortnight in which allegations about the culture in the building were raised.

The national day of action will also see marches held across the country, though the main event in Canberra had to be changed due to COVID-19 safety measures.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he also would not attend the march, but would be happy to meet with the organisers to hear what they wanted the government to do.

"I would be happy to meet with a delegation from the group that is coming to Canberra," Mr Morrison said.

"I will meet them as I do with many groups. I will meet them privately in my office and I will listen carefully."

VIDEO Duration: 1 minute 7 seconds1m 7s

WATCH

PM rules out attending march set to take place outside Parliament House

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said he would attend the March4Justice protest with colleagues to show his support for the campaign.

"It is important we listen to what the community is saying — that was the message that Grace Tame, the Australian of the Year, said at the national press club," Mr Albanese told Sky News.

"We do have a scourge of violence against women and against children — we do need to listen to what people are saying and tomorrow is an opportunity to do that."

What's happening?

Janine Hendry is calling on people to surround Parliament House in silent protest against discrimination and alleged sexual abuse.(ABC News: Tamara Penniket)

The protests are being organised by Melbourne academic Janine Hendry, who initially outlined her hopes for "extremely disgruntled women" to link arms and form a human chain around Parliament House in Canberra.

Monday is the first day of parliamentary sittings since late February, when Parliament was engulfed by an allegation made by Brittany Higgins that she was raped inside the office of then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds.

Separately, Attorney-General Christian Porter has also emphatically denied a historical rape allegation going back more than 30 years and is currently on mental health leave.

Organisers hope the Canberra march will see thousands of protesters take to the lawns of Parliament House, but protests will also be held in all major cities and dozens of regional locations.

Will it be COVID-safe?

The main event in Canberra has been approved by ACT Health authorities, though concessions have been made to ensure the protests are in accordance with the rules there.

Organisers initially wanted to encircle Parliament House in Canberra.

(ABC News: Jenny Magee)

While the initial plan was to form a human ring around Parliament, that plan had to be ditched for safety reasons.

"Due to COVID restrictions, we can't do this but we will be still making an impact," Ms Hendry said.

Anyone attending the main march will be required to check in with the ACT's Check In CBR app, and hand sanitiser will be available at the event.
What do the protesters want?

The march on Parliament House will culminate in organisers delivering a petition calling for a range of actions including:

Independent investigations into cases of gendered violence

Strengthening of the Sex Discrimination Act

Mandatory gendered violence and sexual harassment training for MPs and their staff

For all Australian parliaments to have a 50:50 gender split by 2030

At least one of the protesters' demands has already been met, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week announcing sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins would conduct a review into the workplace culture at Parliament House.

Sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins is reviewing

 the workplace culture at Parliament House.(AAP: David Moir)

At the time, Mr Morrison acknowledged the culture in Parliament had to change.

"The Parliament of Australia should set the example for others to follow," he said.

"The Parliament of Australia should reflect best practice in the prevention of, and response to, any instances of bullying, sexual harassment, or sexual assault."

Ms Hendry said she believed the marches, which she labelled apolitical, would ensure that lasting change.

"Women who have never marched before are joining us in action. Women who have been marching all their lives are still here," Ms Hendry said.

"There are people from every political party and no political party."

Advocates push to outlaw gender assignment surgery on intersex children in Tasmania

By April McLennan
3/14/2021

Robert Wilson is frustrated by the lack of support available 

for intersex people in Tasmania.(ABC News: April McLennan)

Robert Wilson is not your average chicken farmer.

Key points:

Some members of Tasmania's intersex community are frustrated at a lack of dedicated health services and support available in the state

Advocates say operations should be delayed until children can consent to procedures, but some medical professionals say operations earlier in life are necessary

Surgery on intersex children without their consent could be criminalised by the state government if it accepts a proposal by the Tasmania Law Reform Institute

Born intersex, he has a variation of both male and female genitalia.

Mr Wilson said he began to notice something different about his body when he was about eight years old.

"All the kids were in the bath together and my brother use to say to me, 'you're not like me, you're like half Marg, our sister, and half me.'"

"The average person knows what a male looks like and what a female looks like, but to try and explain when you've got a mix of the two … people just can't comprehend," he said.

Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics, affecting about 1.7 per cent of all births.

In Australia, children with intersex variations may be given hormone treatment or have surgeries to 'normalise' their bodies.

Three days after he was born, Mr Wilson underwent surgery.

"The doctors decided, because I peed out of a penis, that I'd be made a boy.

"So, they just incised out the women's uterus and stitched it up."

Robert Wilson had his first operation when he was just three days old.

(ABC News: April McLennan)

Concerns around consent

Equality Tasmania and Intersex Peer Support Australia's Tasmanian representative Simone-Lisa Anderson said everyone should be able to choose what happens to their bodies.

"Unfortunately, the harms that happen because of these normalisation surgeries are life-long," Ms Anderson said.

"When they're older and they can choose, there's a lot better outcomes, there's less life-long issues, there's less psychological issues because they got to choose."

But some medical professionals believe surgery is necessary despite concerns around child consent.

Helen McArdle says surgery is sometimes necessary for intersex children

(Supplied: Australian Medical Association)

The Tasmanian president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Helen McArdle said only essential surgery should be performed on children.

"If surgery is required to enable appropriate functioning, as opposed to gender reassignment, then it may be that we shouldn't wait until a child is 18 to undertake the consent, because that could cause a lot of health problems in the meantime," Ms McArdle said.

"If say a boy can't go to the toilet appropriately, then it may be that the surgery is necessary for medical reasons."

Better support services needed

Mr Wilson said the surgery performed on him as a child has led to ongoing health problems, leaving him frustrated at the lack of health services and support available in Tasmania.

"The local doctor didn't want to know about it," he said.

"So, I went to another one at the surgery and she was a gynaecologist and she sent me to the [Launceston] General.

"I went round to the General and I think it was show and tell."

Mr Wilson said after spending 14 hours at the Launceston General Hospital he was sent home without help.

Mr Wilson says he's had difficulty accessing the support services he needs close to home.(ABC News: April McLennan)

The AMA said assistance can be provided for intersex patients to access medical procedures interstate.

"It's very difficult to develop the expertise locally to deal with that group," Ms McArdle said.

Ms Anderson says there needs to be better support for intersex people who have undergone surgery.(ABC News: Janek Frankowski)

"So, if we don't have the service, either in a regional area or in Tasmania as a whole, then patients are supported to go and seek advice elsewhere, mostly that's Melbourne."

However, Ms Anderson said there needed to be more support for people who had undergone the surgeries.

"Especially psychological support and support to reduce some of these life-long issues that are physical," she said.

"It's basically, let's do these surgeries while these kids are young and then forget about them."

Performing sex-assignment surgery on intersex children without their consent could be criminalised in Tasmania if the state government accepts a proposal put forward by the Tasmania Law Reform Institute.

The state government said it would consider the recommendations made by the institute.

Trade war? China was buying goods from Australia long before 1788


By business reporter Gareth Hutchens
3/13/2021 ABC.AU

A drawing of a Macassan sea captain known as Pobassoo 

(by William Westall in 1803.(Supplied: Campbell Macknight)


What is international trade?

In a simple sense, it's the exchange of goods and services between countries.

It allows people to have access to items from foreign lands.

When practised, it can also encourage cultural exchange and promote friendships (or antagonisms) with other groups.

It just depends how it's conducted.

Australia has a long history of trade

From the 1700s (at least), well before the colony of New South Wales was established in 1788, the Aboriginal people of northern Australia were trading trepang (sea cucumber) with fishermen from Makassar, a port-city on the island of Sulawesi (now Indonesia).

The "Macassan" fishermen would sail to Australia around December each year, with the north-west monsoonal winds.

They would spend months living on Australian beaches, collecting and processing the trepang, before returning home with their haul.

Their catch was destined for China.

"The north coast of Australia, southern China and Makassar were all connected by an international trading network that centred on trepang," curator Alison Mercieca, of the National Museum of Australia, said in a 2008 lecture.

That trade network matured over centuries, and became a popular source of food for the Chinese market.

"Throughout the nineteenth century it would appear that a majority of trepang traded from Makassar was supplied by the fleets which sailed to Arnhem Land and perhaps even supplying about a quarter of the total Chinese market by the mid-nineteenth century," she said.
Islam arrived in Australia before the British

That trepang industry facilitated an important cultural exchange.

Hundreds of foreign words from the Indonesian archipelago and beyond were absorbed by local languages in northern Australia.

"As a result of this longstanding contact, Yolngu languages are tinted with Malay, Bugis and Makassarese inflections much like English is inflected with French," wrote Regina Ganter, an historian specialising in interactions between Indigenous, Asian, and European peoples in Australia, in 2013.

According to oral tradition, when the Macassans returned home with their cargo, Aboriginal people would sometimes join them, sailing back on the small Macassan boats called praus, to spend the dry season in Sulawesi or travel further afield.

The Muslim Macassans also shared their religious ideas with their trading partners from the south.

"According to descriptions by Yolngu elders, prayer-men (or imam) accompanied the Macassan trepang fleets," Professor Ganter wrote.

"These were the ceremonial leaders, a role referred to as 'sick-man' (buwagerul) in the Yolngumatha language of north-east Arnhem Land.

"David Burrumarra [a Yolngu elder] remembered in the 1980s with amazing detail how an imam or 'sick-man' would climb to the top of the mast to chant when the fleet departed, and pray at sunset, resounding an 'ama!' towards the setting sun, then bow his head to the ground and exclaim 'walata'walata!'"

Walitha'walitha is also the name of the creation spirit which belongs to the Wuramu song cycle of northeast Arnhem Land, Ganter noted.
The 'Malay Road' in the ocean

In 1803, the navigator Matthew Flinders, after completing his survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria, recorded in his journal an encounter with a number of Maccasan sailing boats.

"These people were Mahometans," he wrote in one entry, using an old-fashioned term for Muslim.

"According to Pobassoo [a Macassan chief with whom Flinders spoke] sixty praus belonging to the Rajah of Boni and carrying a thousand men, had left Macassar with the north-west monsoon, two months before."

Boni was one of the most powerful states in Sulawesi at the time.

Flinders was so impressed by the number of praus he saw off the north-eastern tip of Arnhem Land, he called the channel of water through which they were passing the "Malay Road".

Trepang trade collapses

That traditional trepang trade network was shut down after the 1906-07 season by the South Australian government, which administered the Northern Territory at the time.

The government refused to grant fishing licences to non-Australian operators, putting an end to the Macassan voyages.

At the time, sophisticated alternative networks of Australian international trade had already been established, for products such as whale oil, wool and gold.

Indeed, by the 1880s, the United Kingdom was colonial Australia's largest trading partner, supplying 70 per cent of its imports and accepting 80 per cent of its exports.

After federation in 1901, Australia's heavy dependence on British trade continued.

"The new nation accepted its dependence on British capital and diplomacy and felt no immediate pressure to communicate with its neighbours to the north," wrote Paul Thomas, an affiliate researcher at Monash University, in Macassan History and Heritage: Journeys, Encounters and Influences, in 2013.
Twentieth century sees trade shift away from Britain

Through the 20th century, Australia's trade relationships evolved and deepened.

But it took decades to shed its reliance on Britain.

From 1901 until the Second World War, a small number of major agricultural products were exported to markets in the British Empire.

The UK bought 50.7 per cent of Australia's total exports in 1901, rising to 62 per cent during the First World War, and remaining above 50 per cent until the start of the Second World War.

It wasn't until the 1940s that Australia's exported goods began diversifying significantly, towards manufactured goods and resources.

By 1963-64, the United Kingdom was still Australia's largest destination for exported goods, but it was deepening its trade ties with its European neighbours (after joining the European Free Trade Association in 1960).

In 1966-67, Japan became Australia's leading export destination.

It retained that dominant position for the rest of the century, while Australia kept diversifying its export and import bases as it reduced tariffs and joined the global market.

Japan surpassed by larger trading partner

In 2009-10, China surpassed Japan as Australia's leading export destination.

It is now Australia's biggest trading partner for exports and imports.

In 2019-20, 39 per cent of all goods exported by Australia went to China, and 27 per cent of all goods imported were from China.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, the value of Australian exports to China doubled in the five years between 2014-15 to 2019-20, from $75 billion to $150 billion.

That growth was driven by exports of resource commodities, with iron ore accounting for 56 per cent of exports in 2019-20 alone.

More than a century after northern Australia's trepang trade was scuppered, modern Australia has emphatically returned its attention to its northern neighbours.

Concerns about China?

However, some analysts are now asking if Australia has become too reliant on China.

In the late 1940s, Australia's top five merchandise export markets accounted for around 70 per cent of its exports, but that fell to 50 per cent in the 1970s, 80s and 90s with the trend towards greater diversification in its export markets.

"However, from the start of the resources boom in the last half of the 2000s, the share has risen again with the top five markets now accounting for just over 65 per cent of Australia's merchandise exports in 2014-15 (with China accounting for 32 per cent)," DFAT warned a few years ago.

Since then, analysts have noted a growing asymmetry in the trade relationship too.

"Australia has no realistic alternative market to China for a third of its exports and no viable source but China for almost a fifth of its imports," wrote David Uren, for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in November.

"By contrast, it is only as a supplier of minerals that Australia has any significance to the Chinese economy.

"The asymmetry in the trade relationship has been laid bare by Beijing's exercise of economic coercion, with interruptions to Australia's sales to China of barley, coal, cotton, beef, lobsters and threats to more, including wine, sugar, timber, copper, wool, education and tourism," wrote Uren in November.
The 'Quad' regional meeting

Last week, the leaders of the United States, India, Japan and Australia held an historic quadrilateral meeting, where they discussed the global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, and the threat posed by China's emerging power.

It was a delicate position for Australia to be in, given relations with its powerful northern neighbour are so volatile.

Asteroid Discovered Just Three Days Ago Will Skim Earth Closer Than The Moon On Monday

PIXABAY | URIKYO33

SPACE

Alexandra Lozovschi


March 13, 2021

A newly discovered asteroid is on course for an extremely close encounter with Earth on Monday and will skim the planet from just 167,400 miles away, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have announced.

Known as 2021 EQ3, the object was first picked up by NASA asteroid trackers on March 10, just five days before its impending close brush with Earth. The rock is believed to be up to 124 feet wide and will safely pass by our planet at 23:48 p.m. EST on March 15.

Closer Than The Moon

Countless asteroids of different sizes fly past Earth every month, most of them only getting within a few million miles from the planet’s surface. Monday's celestial visitor, however, will creep in closer than the moon.

Earth's natural satellite sits at an average distance of 238,900 miles. This means that, during its close flyby next week, asteroid 2021 EQ3 will be cruising by at exactly 0.72 the distance to the moon.

While a close brush with an asteroid of any size is certainly unnerving, these occurrences are a lot more frequent than we might expect. According to The Watchers, 24 other known asteroids have flown past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the beginning of the year, four of which zipped past us this month alone.

No Reason To Panic

PIXABAY | URIKYO33


Monday's near-miss is no cause for concern, as 2021 EQ3 is expected to harmlessly dart past Earth and then exit the inner solar system.

“Scientists determine the orbit of an asteroid by comparing measurements of its position as it moves across the sky to the predictions of a computer model of its orbit around the sun,” explained NASA.


“The more observations that are used and the longer the period over which those observations are made, the more accurate the calculated orbit and the predictions that can be made from it.”

In this particular case, scientists used a total of 16 observations to gauge out the asteroid's orbital path and establish when and how close the rock will pass by Earth, showed a JPL report issued on March 11.

Buzzing The Moon

Based on the characteristics of its orbit, 2021 EQ3 has been labeled as an Apollo-type asteroid, a group of space rocks that can potentially cross Earth's orbit as they zip around the sun.

The asteroid takes about 3.21 years to complete a full orbit around our star and will linger in the Earth-moon system a few hours, just enough to do a flyby of the moon about four hours after its swoops past our planet.

The rock is predicted the hurtle past Earth at a little over 26,750 mph, picking up a bit of extra speed as it gears up to buzz the moon at 28,655 mph at 03:52 a.m. on March 16.

It Fares On The Smaller Side

As far as near-Earth asteroids go, 2021 EQ3 is not among the heftiest to wander this close to our planet. While the space rocks' maximum diameter is estimated at 124,67 feet, the object can range in size to as little as 55,77 feet across, data from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) indicates.

At the upper end of that size estimate, the asteroid is almost twice as big as the famous Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded in the sky over Russia in 2013, wreaking havoc in the city of Chelyabinsk.

Days after Monday's close encounter, a much larger Apollo asteroid will fly by Earth on a momentous close approach. As The Inquisitr previously reported, a massive 2,230-foot rock will swing by on March 21 on the largest asteroid flyby of the year, passing at a safe distance of 1.25 million miles.

Belgian cops injured after violence break out on sidelines of BLM protest

A Black Lives Matter march was held in the eastern Belgian city of Liege to protest against the arrest of a woman for "rebellion" who has since accused the police of racism.

File image: Police look at a screen of a collapsed house after an unknown type of explosion in Liege, Belgium, December 2, 2020. (AP)

Several police officers have been wounded as a result of violence and looting that broke out on the sidelines of a Black Lives Matter demonstration in the eastern Belgian city of Liege, police said.

The march was held to protest against the arrest of a woman for "rebellion" in the city on Monday who has since accused the police of racism, a police spokeswoman said.

The police have rejected that charge, claiming that the woman had resisted arrest.

The spokeswoman said that on Saturday "young people joined the group of peaceful protesters and then left the demonstration to go and wreck the city centre".

They "threw stones at the central police station and police vehicles," she told AFP.

An officer on a motorcycle who was knocked to the ground and assaulted has been hospitalised, while several other officers were also wounded, she added.

"We are dealing with two hundred young people, 'casseurs', who move very quickly, in groups, and loot stores."

"Casseurs" is a French term which translates as "breakers" and describes black-clad protesters who infiltrate protests to smash property and provoke clashes with police.

"They ransacked a whole McDonald's," said the spokeswoman in the city in Belgium's French-speaking Wallonia region.

Clashes were continuing into Saturday evening and police reinforcements were being deployed, she added.

The police urged citizens not to go to the city centre, and the mayor had told shops in the affected area to close.

In photos: Louisville marks 1 year since police killing of Breonna Taylor

Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath  AXIOS  3/13/2021

Breonna Taylor's family leads a march as Louisville marks one year since her death. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Hundreds marched in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday to mark one year since the police killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman.

The big picture: The families of other Black and Brown people shot by police, including Jacob Blake, Danny Ray Thomas and Sean Monterrosa, joined Taylor's family in Louisville to remember the 26-year-old and renew their calls for justice.

What they're saying: "It's a good day for the DOJ to arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor," Benjamin Crump, Taylor's family lawyer, told Saturday's crowd in Louisville.
Sadiqa Reynolds, president of the Louisville Urban League, said "this is bigger than me and you. This is about justice. ... This is so we make sure that not another person dies at the hands of the police."
President Biden tweeted, "Breonna Taylor’s death was a tragedy, a blow to her family, her community, and America. As we continue to mourn her, we must press ahead to pass meaningful police reform in Congress. I remain committed to signing a landmark reform bill into law.

Context: Police fatally shot Taylor on March 13, 2020, as they barged into the 26-year-old's home in plain-clothes while serving a search warrant.
Louisville Metro Department Police officers returned fire after Taylor's boyfriend, who said he believed someone was breaking into the home, fired a shot as officers broke down the apartment's door.
No officers were directly charged for Taylor's death. Three officers were fired and others were disciplined. One was charged for firing shots into neighboring apartments. An FBI investigation into the case is ongoing.
Louisville's Metro Council last year passed "Breonna's Law," which bans no-knock warrants, like the one used in the raid on Taylor's home. The state's Senate also passed a bill that would limit the use of no-knock warrants, though protesters have called for a complete ban

.

Protesters march in Louisville to mark one year since the police killing of Taylor. Photo: Laurin-Whitney GottbrathTamika Palmer, Taylor's mother, and lawyer Ben Crump lead a march in Louisville. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters in Louisville chant, "hands up, don't shoot," as they march past police. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters in Louisville took to the streets for more than 180 consecutive days last year to demand justice for Taylor. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters have repeatedly called for the officers involved in Taylor's death to be charged. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters chant, "Breewayy," to honor Taylor on Saturday. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters call for justice for all Black people killed by police. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters chant, "no justice, no peace," as they march in downtown Louisville, on Saturday. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Hundreds march in Louisville to remember Taylor on the first anniversary of her death. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Protesters sign a banner to honor Taylor's memory. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

The Louisville park, known to protesters as "Injustice Square," has been the center of protests calling for justice for Taylor. Photo: Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

A Year After Breonna Taylor's Killing, Family Says There's 'No Accountability'


By BRAKKTON BOOKER & RACHEL TREISMAN • 3/13/2021

A makeshift memorial in downtown Louisville, Ky., for Breonna Taylor in September 2020. Taylor was killed a year ago in her home during a botched narcotics raid carried out by Louisville police.
JASON ARMOND / LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES

Originally published on March 13, 2021 

Before Breonna Taylor's name became synonymous with police violence against Black Americans, she was an emergency medical technician in Louisville, Ky.

The 26-year-old Black woman's friends and family say she was beloved, and relished the opportunity to brighten someone else's day.

Exactly one year ago, Louisville police gunned her down in her home. Now, her name is a ubiquitous rallying cry at protests calling for police reforms, and many social justice advocates point to her story as an example of how difficult it can be to hold police accountable for violent acts.

The Louisville incident unfolded during a botched narcotics raid, when officers forced their way into her apartment in the early morning hours of March 13, 2020. Taylor was not the target of the raid and the suspect police were searching for was not at Taylor's home.

A year after Taylor's death, none of the officers who fired their service weapons — a total of 32 rounds — face criminal charges directly over Taylor's killing. At least three officers with connections to the raid have been terminated from the force.

In September, the city of Louisville announced a $12 million settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor's family, which also included several police reforms.

"Her death has ignited a movement in Louisville and the nation for racial justice, sending thousands into our streets and cities all across the country and the world all crying out for justice for Breonna," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said at a press briefing announcing the settlement.

City officials have also banned no-knock warrants.

The push for justice continues

But many advocates believe justice has not been done, citing the lack of criminal charges and saying they want to see broader criminal justice reform.

Demonstrators plan to gather in downtown Louisville on Saturday to mark the anniversary of Taylor's death, member station WFPL reported. Activists say they hope to keep her memory alive and renew calls for justice, after the winter dampened on-the-ground protests.

Some advocates are calling for Kentucky's Republican-controlled legislature to pass "Breonna's Law," which would ban no-knock warrants statewide.

The Kentucky Senate passed a bill late last month restricting such warrants in certain situations, which many activists and Democratic lawmakers say does not go far enough. They had introduced a similar bill in the House in August, called "Breonna's Law," but the House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday to move forward with the Republican-sponsored proposal, according to WFPL.

Louisville Democratic Rep. Attica Scott, the primary sponsor of Breonna's Law, told NPR's All Things Considered on Friday that committee officials have said they will consider proposed amendments that would bring the two bills further into alignment.

She also said she had written a letter to newly-confirmed Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, asking him to fully investigate Taylor's killing.

"Justice has not been served," Scott said. "Folks on the front line have been very clear that they're continuing to call for all of the officers involved in Breonna Taylor's murder to be fired, arrested and charged for her murder. They have not wavered from those demands."

She said she will be attending the gathering on Saturday, describing it as one of "love, community and solidarity." Local activists have characterized it similarly.

"To the LMPD and the mayor and everyone involved, we're still going to keep applying pressure," protest leader Rosie Henderson told WFPL. "But as a whole in the movement, we want to unify. That's a day that we're going to come together and unify as one."

A year later, the pain is still fresh for Taylor's loved ones.

Ju'Niyah Palmer, Taylor's sister, wrote on Instagram earlier this year that her heart was "heavy because we are only 2 months away from me not hearing, seeing or cuddling you for a whole year."

Her mother, Tamika Palmer, recently filed complaints with the police department's professional standards unit against six officers for their role in the investigation that included the raid. In an Thursday interview with a Louisville CBS affiliate, Palmer expressed her frustration with the lack of accountability in the case and called on the community to continue demanding justice.

"I can't believe it's a year later and we're still just asking people to do the right thing," she said. "Not to say all officers are bad, but there's no accountability."

No criminal charges in Taylor's death

Last September, after months of protests in and around Louisville, the city was braced to hear whether a grand jury would hand down criminal indictments for LMPD officers Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove.

At a press briefing Sept. 23, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced no charges directly tied to Taylor's death. The grand jury handed down three criminal counts of wanton endangerment to Hankison, over shooting through Taylor's apartment into a neighboring residence.

The grand jury did not charge Mattingly, who shot six times, and Cosgrove, who fired a total of 16 rounds, including what federal investigators determined to be the round that ultimately killed Taylor.

Cameron, whose office took over as special prosecutor in the case in May, said at the press conference that both Mattingly and Cosgrove "were justified in their use of force."

After the two officers forced their way into Taylor's apartment, her boyfriend Kenneth Walker fired on them. Walker, a licensed gun owner, has maintained that he did not hear the officers announce themselves before entering and mistook them for intruders. He fired a shot, which hit Mattingly in the leg.

After Mattingly was struck, officers returned fire, according to officials.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during a press conference to announce the grand jury's decision in the Breonna Taylor case last September in Frankfort, Ky.
JON CHERRY / GETTY IMAGES

Complicating matters is the absence of video evidence in the case.

Cameron, Kentucky's first Black attorney general, told reporters that "evidence shows that officers both knocked and announced their presence at the apartment."

He cited the officers' statements and one additional witness as evidence, but also acknowledged there is no video or body camera footage of the officers executing the search warrant.

Cameron's announcement sparked fresh outrage and demonstrations in Louisville, Atlanta, Denver, and Portland, among other cities.

It added fuel to an already tense period in American society, where national protests focusing on racial justice inequities became a near-daily occurrence following high-profile police incidents with Black Americans, including George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Jacob Blake, Daniel Prude and others who were killed or seriously injured.

Days after Cameron's press conference, Taylor's mother, Palmer, said she was "reassured ... of why I have no faith in the legal system, in the police, in the law. ... They are not made to protect us Black and brown people."

"It's kind of ironic when you think about the message that is being sent from this grand jury ruling," Taylor family attorney Benjamin Crump said in September.

"It's like they charged the police for missing shooting bullets into Black bodies. But not charging the police for shooting bullets into Black bodies," Crump said.

In that same press conference, Crump raised questions about what evidence Cameron presented on behalf of Taylor to the grand jury.

He also publicly called for the release of the transcripts of the proceedings, something that is extremely rare in grand jury cases. The court did so several weeks later, after some jurors took issue with Cameron's explanation for why no officer was directly charged in Taylor's death.

Officer says Taylor shooting was "not a race thing"

In October, Mattingly characterized the Taylor incident as tragic, but said it was different from other recent killings of Black Americans.

"It's not a race thing like people try to make it to be," Mattingly said in an interview with the ABC News and Louisville's Courier Journal. "This is not relatable to George Floyd, this is nothing like it. It's not Ahmaud Arbery. It's nothing like it."

"These are two totally different type incidences. This is not us going, hunting somebody down, this is not kneeling on a neck. This is nothing like that," he said.

Mattingly also vehemently denied that he is racist.

Three LMPD officers fired, Mattingly exonerated

Hankison was terminated from LMPD in June, after the department found he fired "wantonly and blindly" into Taylor's apartment.

In January, some nine months after Taylor's killing, the department formally terminated Cosgrove and another officer connected to the incident.

Both Cosgrove and Detective Joshua Jaynes, who secured the warrant for the raid on Taylor's home, were found to have violated department protocols, according to the termination letters made public on Jan. 6.

LMPD officials said that for Jaynes, "the evidence in this case revealed a sustained untruthfulness violation based on information included in an affidavit completed by you and submitted to a judge."

LMPD said Cosgrove violated the department's protocols on use of deadly force and failed to activate his officer-worn body camera.

"The shots you fired went in three different directions, indicating you did not verify a threat or have target acquisition," the letter to Cosgrove stated. "In other words, the evidence shows that you fired wildly at unidentified subjects or targets located within the apartment."

In that same batch of documents, LMPD also said that Mattingly, who was shot during the raid, was exonerated on both counts of violating department procedures on use of deadly force and de-escalation. It added, "no disciplinary action taken and the complaint will be dismissed."

The disciplinary documents were released the same day Fischer, the Louisville mayor, formally announced that Erika Shields would be the city's next permanent police chief.

Shields resigned her post as Atlanta's police chief in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who was shot in the back during an encounter with white officers in a Wendy's parking lot in June.

UK

A COPPPER KILLED SARAH

London police criticised for ‘deeply disturbing’ clashes at Sarah Everard vigil

STUPID COPPERS

While the vigil in Clapham, south London, was largely peaceful, scuffles broke out at the front of a crowd of hundreds as police surrounded a bandstand covered in floral tributes to the 33-year-old

THE LADS PROTECT THEIR OWN

.
(Victoria Jones/PA)

SAT, 13 MAR, 2021 - 

PA REPORTERS AND GREG MURPHY, IRISH EXAMINER

The London Metropolitan Police has faced intense criticism for its handling of a London vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, with officers accused of “grabbing and manhandling” women during clashes with the crowd.

While the vigil in Clapham, south London, was largely peaceful, scuffles broke out at the front of a crowd of hundreds as police surrounded a bandstand covered in floral tributes to the 33-year-old.

At one stage, male officers could be seen grabbing hold of several women before leading them away in handcuffs, to shouts and screams from onlookers.

In response, the crowd chanted “shame on you”, while during another confrontation a distressed woman could be heard telling officers “you’re supposed to protect us”

The clashes prompted a chorus of criticism from MPs, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who described the scenes as “deeply disturbing”.

“Women came together to mourn Sarah Everard – they should have been able to do so peacefully,” he tweeted.

“I share their anger and upset at how this has been handled. This was not the way to police this protest.”

People talk to police as they gather at the band stand in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Hundreds of people converged on the south London park despite an official vigil being called off earlier in the day due to police warnings over coronavirus restrictions.

While the Clapham clashes took place, many other peaceful vigils were held around the country in locations including Glasgow, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol – despite warnings over lockdown.

A virtual event was also held at 6pm in which campaigners called for more to be done to tackle violence against women.

Campaign group Sisters Uncut, which had representatives present at the demonstration, claimed that “male police officers waited for the sun to set before they started grabbing and manhandling women in the crowd”.

Campaign group Reclaim These Streets, which had planned to hold the Clapham vigil before it was cancelled, also urged people to take part in a doorstep vigil at 9.30pm on Saturday.

People in the crowd turn on their phone torches as they gather in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

But crowds of people made their way to Clapham Common’s bandstand at around 6pm on Saturday, with many laying flowers in what has become a growing floral tribute.

Some held placards reading “we will not be silenced” and “she was just walking home”, while the crowd chanted: “Sisters united will never be defeated.”

There were boos, jeers and shouts of “shame on you” from the crowd as Metropolitan Police officers walked on to the bandstand where some demonstrators were chanting.

Officers later walked through the crowd as people dispersed, encouraging those who were left to move away from the area once they had finished paying their respects.

One video posted online showed police officers grabbing women standing within the bandstand before leading them away, to screaming and shouting from onlookers.

A woman holds up a placard as people gather in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

A nurse who works in the Clapham area said she felt “conflicted” about attending the gathering because of pandemic restrictions, but decided she had to go.

Mel Clarke said: “I felt very conflicted (about coming) but I just felt that I needed to be here.

The 33-year-old added: “I’m really pleased that there are a lot of men here. I hope that this is kind of an opportunity for men to learn how women feel, how vulnerable we are.

“I hope that this is the start of justice being served for Sarah.”

Two friends who live locally said they attended to “show our respects”.

Megan Taylor, 23, said: “It’s a good sense of community, when it’s so scary in these times, seeing people come together like this.”

She said it was “quite nice to see so many“ men in attendance “who want to pay their respects as well”.

 

Police surround the band stand in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Twenty-two-year-old Sophie, who did not wish to give her surname, said people appeared to be following the coronavirus rules as best they could

She said: “It is difficult. Obviously everyone’s hopefully wearing masks and being sensible in terms of how long they’re staying in the proximity of people. I do think things like this (demonstration) are important

Eve James and her boyfriend Joe Webster, both aged 26, also attended.

Ms James said: “I was on the fence about whether to come or not because I have been following the rules as closely as possible but all week I have not been able to stop thinking about Sarah.

“I used to live in Clapham, I only moved to Fulham about a year ago and I just felt so strongly that it could have been any of us.”

Mr Webster said: “With Covid guidelines or whatever, it doesn’t matter. This is way more important than that.”

Asked if he felt it was important men attended the event, he said: “Of course.

“Men need to learn themselves how to make things better for women so if this is part of the process then yeah, let’s make it happen.”

A woman holds a candle at the band stand in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

As emotions ran high at the gathering, police said it had become “unsafe” and urged people to go home.

A tweet from the Lambeth police account said: “The gathering at #ClaphamCommon is unsafe. Hundreds of people are tightly packed together in breach of the regulations and risking public health.

“We are urging people to go home and we thank those who have been engaging with officers and who are leaving.” The Metropolitan Police was criticised for its policing of the gathering, with one MP describing it as “heartbreaking and maddening to watch”.

Labour’s Sarah Owen added: “No one can see these scenes and think that this has been handled anything but badly by @metpoliceuk. It could and should have been so different.”

A woman holds a candle at the band stand in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Charlotte Nichols, shadow minister for women and equalities, tweeted: “If @metpoliceuk had put the resources into assisting @ReclaimTS to hold the covid-secure vigil originally planned that they put into stopping any collective show of grief and solidarity (both through the courts and a heavy-handed physical response), we’d all be in a better place.”

Streatham MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy tweeted footage of the clashes, adding: “This could have been the socially distanced vigil the community needed to remember Sarah and all the women who have lost their lives to violence. We knew what was going to happen if the event was shut down.”

Meanwhile, more than 100 people defied a police request by turning up to a Birmingham city centre vigil.

The hour-long vigil, which was addressed by several speakers and included a minute’s silence for Ms Everard, passed off without incident and with no obvious sign of uniformed police.

Factbox: Energy firms seize on carbon tech, environmental goals to build new businesses

By Reuters Staff
MARCH 13, 2021

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Major energy companies are turning their carbon sequestration technologies and projects into business ventures, converting some efforts that help pump more oil and gas into profit-making ventures while burnishing their environmental reputations.

The efforts could help big greenhouse gas emitters reduce their carbon emissions intensity and move closer to Paris Agreement climate change targets. Energy giants view these efforts as balancing customer demands for more oil and gas while fitting in a lower-carbon energy world.

Carbon removal technologies will be necessary to limit the increase in planetary warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the United Nations has said.

KINDER MORGAN INC

Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has formed a business unit to acquire assets and build new services around carbon storage, renewable gas and diesel, hydrogen and power generation and transmission.

Its Energy Transition Ventures unit aims to broaden low-carbon projects already in development, the company said. The operation will have its own financial, commercial and engineering staff to develop and commercialize new projects.

BAKER HUGHES CO

The oilfield equipment and services firm acquired Norwegian technology firm Compact Carbon Capture (3C) and plans to commercialize its solvent-based products. 3C says its scalable designs can be as little as a quarter of the footprint of other carbon-capturing systems.

Baker Hughes will market the rotating 3C equipment alongside its products and services to industries including oil and gas, liquefied natural gas, shipping and pipeline operators. 3C’s industrial-scale unit designs could capture up to 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.

EXXON MOBIL CORP

Exxon Mobil formed Low Carbon Solutions LLC, offering to make available its technologies and projects that Exxon deployed to sequester its planet-warming CO2 emissions. The business also aims to leverage Exxon’s experience in producing hydrogen gas.

The Low Carbon business will leverage Exxon’s CO2 storage caverns along the U.S. Gulf Coast and under the North Sea. It also will market emissions-reduction credits from the use of its sequestration projects.


OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP

Occidental formed Oxy Low Carbon Ventures to marshal its carbon capture, utilization and emissions reduction operations. It and private equity investor Rusheen Capital Management formed 1PointFive, a Texas business that aims to capture CO2 directly from the air and bury it underground.

United Airlines pledged a multimillion dollar investment in 1PointFive and will become a customer of the business, aiming to absorb the equivalent annual carbon emissions of 10% of its aircraft.

TOTAL SE

Total has pledged to put 10% of its research and development budget to advance carbon capture, utilization and storage technology. It invested in a project to study the costs of capturing CO2 generated by a LafargeHolcim cement plant in Colorado and bury the emissions underground.

CHEVRON CORP

Chevron invested in Blue Planet Systems, a startup commercializing a technology that makes a substitute for limestone in concrete and building materials from CO2. The two firms are planning pilot projects that commercialize the Blue Planet carbon capture process.


Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Dan Grebler

RIP

Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler 

dead at 66

The former undisputed middleweight champion of the world’s widow announced his death on social media

By Bloody Elbow Mar 13, 2021

Marvin Hagler has passed away at age 66

 Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the former undisputed middleweight boxing champion of the world, has passed away at age 66. His wife Kay Hagler posted the sad news on Facebook today.

“I am sorry to make a very sad announcement. Today unfortunately my beloved husband Marvelous Marvin passed away unexpectedly at his home here in New Hampshire. Our family requests that you respect our privacy during this difficult time. With love, Kay Hagler.”

Hagler reigned over boxing’s middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, successfully defending his title 12 times. He lost his titles in a controversial decision to “Sugar” Ray Leonard. Hagler retired with a 62-3-2 record featuring 52 K0s.

Hagler defeated Thomas “Hitman” Hearns in April, 1985 in one of boxing’s most celebrated bouts. He also earned victories over Roberto Duran, John Mugabi, and Mustafa Hamsho.

Hagler took the middleweight title from Alan Minter in September, 1980.

He was born in New Jersey and raised in Massachusetts. He was a member of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame. Hagler legally changed his named to Marvelous Marvin Hagler from Marvin Nathaniel Hagler in 1982.

Hagler was one of the first superstars of boxing’s pay cable era and helped make HBO a leader in the sport. He will be remembered by fight fans for his skill and ferocity.

Mark Madden's Hot Take: Tom Brady's contract shows why salary cap is a sham

MARK MADDEN | Saturday, March 13, 2021 


AP
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski, left, and quarterback Tom Brady celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.

 the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

Tom Brady reconfigured his contract to ignite the latest barrage of “Tom Brady makes less so his team can win more” propaganda.

Like most propaganda, it’s primarily fiction.

Brady’s wife is supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She has earned more than a half-billion dollars. Brady has earned $263 million playing football. When you’ve made over a quarter-billion and your missus nearly doubles that, it’s a lot easier to be selfless for the sake of the team.

Not that Brady necessarily is.

Brady’s new restructuring clears $19 million cap space, quite opportune given that Tampa Bay has a few key free agents to re-sign, mostly notably outside linebacker Shaq Barrett and tight end Rob Gronkowski. Ex-Steelers receiver Antonio Brown also needs a new deal.

But Brady’s four-year extension makes it possible for him to get paid approximately the same as last year, $25 million. Most of that will be in a roster bonus, enabling the Buccaneers to spread out Brady’s cap hit over those four seasons, three of which he likely won’t play.

Brady is making the same, but Tampa Bay gets major cap relief. So, what the heck is the point of the salary cap? So much about the cap is a sham.

Every time Brady “does right by his team,” it’s good PR for him and bad PR for every other quarterback in the NFL.

That includes Ben Roethlisberger of this parish, whom Yinzer Twitter lambasted in the immediate aftermath of Brady’s new perceived good deed. “Ben should have done more, like Brady!” This despite Roethlisberger actually taking a pay cut of $5 million for this season, while Brady will be making roughly the same as he was originally set to.

But Brady has won seven Super Bowls. That’s the best PR of all. Roethlisberger has won “only” two.

The last time Congress created a new state

March 12, 2021 

On March 12, 1959, Congress approved Hawaii for admission to the union as the 50th state, marking the last time statehood was subject to votes in the House and Senate.



President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Admissions Act a week later on March 18, 1959, and Hawaii officially became the 50th state on August 21, 1959, after Hawaiians voted to become a state in June 1959 under terms specified in the Admissions Act.

The Constitution grants general state-creation powers to Congress in Article IV, Section 3, under the Admissions Clause, which reads: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”

Since 1789, states have joined the union in various ways. The usual process has been for Congress to grant territorial status as a precursor, with a territory creating a local constitution for its citizens that conforms to the federal Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In other cases, such as Texas, West Virginia, Vermont and Kentucky, the admission process differed. But since West Virginia’s admission to the union in 1863, the state admission process has been restricted to territories.

On the Interactive Constitution, Eric Biber and Thomas B. Colby describe the general evolution of the statehood process in recent times:

“The Admissions Clause provides that admission of a state requires at least one Act of Congress. However, Congress has often followed a more complicated process. For many admitted states, Congress first passed an Enabling Act, which authorized the population of a territory to convene a constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the new proposed state, and to apply for admission to Congress,” they explain.

“Often in the Enabling Act, Congress specified a range of conditions that the proposed state had to meet in order for admission to occur. … Once the proposed state constitution was drafted, it was sent to Congress, which then decided whether to pass an additional act or resolution admitting the state. One variation in the Enabling Act process involved Congress delegating the final approval process to the President.”

Efforts to add Alaska and Hawaii as states with “an equal footing with the other States” had picked up in their intensity after World War II when the strategic importance of both territories became more urgent. However, politics played a role in the statehood process in a divided Washington.

The admission of a state brings with it new electoral votes and new representatives in Congress. The Democrats during the 1950s favored Alaska as the 49th state, while the Republicans wanted Hawaii admitted by itself, with both sides believing there was a political benefit to the admissions process.

President Eisenhower had publicly supported Hawaiian statehood, but he had not supported Alaskan statehood until 1958 when it became clear that both territories would need to be admitted as states to keep a political balance in Washington.

In January 1959, Alaska became the 49th state, which accelerated the Hawaii statehood process. On March 11, 1959: the Senate voted 75-15 in favor of the Admissions Act, with the House approving the same bill in a 323 to 89 vote on March 12, 1959.

During the 1940s and 1950s, there was also a serious debate about the status of Puerto Rico as a potential state, or as an independent nation. Today, the statehood debate for Puerto Rico remains controversial. There is also a statehood movement in the District of Columbia.

Filed Under: Article I

The last time Congress created a new state - National Constitution Center