Sunday, November 29, 2020

THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL GAMERS 
Missed Jagmeet Singh And AOC’s ‘Among Us’ Stream? Here Are The 5 Best Moments

Mel Woods 1 day ago

© Twitch/JagmeetSingh Jagmeet Singh plays "among Us" with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and several streamers.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh teamed up with U.S. congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Friday night for a three-hour video stream of the popular game “Among Us” on Twitch with a rotating cast of several high-profile streamers.

Through the stream’s voice chat, Ocasio-Cortez and Singh talked politics in their respective countries, answered questions from the streamers and even virtually murdered each other once or twice. Nearly 100,000 viewers tuned into Ocasio-Cortez’s stream at one point, with close to 30,000 watching Singh’s stream of the event at its peak.

Playing Among Us with @theJagmeetSingh, @aoc, @NorthernlionLP, @Jack_Septic_Eye, @xQc, @theserfstv, @DisguisedToast, @ContraPoints, @TSM_Myth and some other folks as well! Get in now!
HasanAbi - Twitch
i'm a political commentator irl trying to avoid heated gaming moments



For the uninitiated, “Among Us” is a video game based on popular party games like “Mafia” and “Werewolf” where players work together to determine who the “imposter” is, as that imposter tries to kill off the other players.

While Singh said he did several “dry runs” of the game in preparation this week, it still took him some time to grasp the basic mechanics, from not killing people in plain sight, to how to do the in-game tasks. Lying — a key component of the game — didn’t come as easily to Singh, with several of the streamers describing him as a “wholesome liar.”

The whole thing is available to watch up on Singh’s Twitch channel, but here are five highlights if you missed the Friday-night stream.
AOC and Jagmeet bond right off the bat

The stream marked the first meeting — even if virtual — between Singh and Ocasio-Cortez. The two immediately developed a casual rapport, with Ocasio-Cortez even asking Singh to call her “Alex,” since that’s what her friends call her.


Watching chat hopelessly yell at Jagmeet Singh to do shields properly


She said Singh first came across her radar due to his viral response to racist comments made during a town hall.

“I think what the way I was first kind of exposed to your work was when you had this super viral moment when you encountered this woman who was being super racist at a town hall,” she said.
© Twitch/JagmeetSingh Jagmeet Singh plays


Ocasio-Cortez praised Singh’s “compassionate” handling of the encounter, calling it a “model moment.”

And that kinship extended into the game. Throughout the stream, Singh approached Ocasio-Cortez as an ally.

“It’s the progressive politicians united, we’re not about killing people, we’re about making life better for people,” Singh said early on.

Ocasio-Cortez echoed the sentiment: “Yeah. We’re pacifists.”

Even when Singh killed another player right in Ocasio-Cortez’s view, she was hesitant to doubt her fellow leftist politician — even though he was, in fact, the killer. The two also bonded over why the fictional spaceship the game is set on still uses fossil fuels.

Jagmeet Singh AOC
🤝
How come we're in the future and we're still using fuel???


AOC praises Canada

Between games, the pair chatted with the streamers about American and Canadian politics and the difference between the two. That led to some high praise from the U.S. representative about Canada’s health-care system and approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ocasio-Cortez noted that Canada is literally next-door to the U.S., but has vastly different policies.


“What’s so surprising to me is that I live in New York, Toronto is just a day’s drive away,” she said. “It’s just a stone’s throw away from being able to afford your insulin.”

Ocasio-Cortez said Canada is proof that “another world is possible.”


“Another world is possible and exists like a three hour drive away from people who say it’s impossible,” she said.


RELATED
© Provided by HuffPost Canada
Even Jagmeet Singh Is Doing That Viral ‘Dreams’ TikTok


Singh noted that while Canada is far from perfect, it’s not as polarized as the U.S.

“Our electorate, the people of Canada are not as polarized,” Singh said. “You’ll have pretty horrible conservative premiers — or governors — that are bad on so many things but still acknowledge we should follow science advice.”

Singh also had his fair share of praise for his fellow politician, calling Ocasio-Cortez a “beacon of hope” for the progressive movement.
#JagMute

The NDP had some technical troubles throughout the stream, accidentally muting or unmuting his mic at the wrong times.

In one memorable moment, Singh unmuted as he was confessing to being the imposter.

“I thought I was muted. So rookie, so embarrassing,” he laughed.

According to the NDP leader, his staff were inspired to call the moment #JagMute, prompting plenty of memes and praise for Singh’s innocent play style on social media.


Jagmeet Singh just BLEW AOC's mind with public auto insurance formed by CCF-NDP governments


And now not realizing he was muted omg #jagmute@theJagmeetSingh this hashtag better trend— Shannon. (@sionainnkerry) November 28, 2020

More streams in the future?

During Friday’s stream, Singh expressed his optimism at doing it again in the future as a way to reach out to young voters.

Earlier this week he ruled out streaming with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but plenty of NDP caucus members were already scheming about a potential collaboration.

And Alberta’s lone NDP MP was already trash-talking.

If you ask me, I’d love to see B.C. premier and NDP leader John Horgan say that “Among Us” is “lit.” 

And even some actual news

While the stream was largely light-hearted gaming checkered by Canada-U.S. comparisons between Singh and Ocasio-Cortez, the NDP leader did manage to sneak in some actual news for astute political news watchers. About halfway through the stream, Singh hinted that his party would push for domestic COVID-19 vaccine production escalation next week.

“It really speaks to the sovereignty of your country if you can produce them yourself,” he said.

Singh was short on details about what that would look like, but the gamers got to hear it first, which was maybe the point.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost Canada.

MORE TWEETS AND SCREEN SHOTS HERE
Border patrol settles lawsuit with US citizens detained after an agent heard them speaking Spanish

Two American citizens have reached a settlement in a lawsuit they filed against US Customs and Border Protection after an agent asked them for IDs because he heard them speaking Spanish.
© CNN ana suda interview don lemon on border patrol agent

Ana Suda and Martha "Mimi" Hernandez, who live in the small town of Havre, Montana, say they were detained by a border patrol agent while waiting to pay for groceries at a local convenience store in May 2018.

The agent, Paul O'Neill, approached them, commented on their accent, and asked where they were born, according to the ACLU.
When they responded -- Suda is from Texas and Hernandez is from California -- he asked to see identification and questioned them for 40 minutes, they say


O'Neal eventually returned their licenses and told them they could go, the court document says.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, claims O'Neal violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches, and the women's rights to equal protection.

The settlement involves a monetary sum, the ACLU said.

"We stood up to the government because speaking Spanish is not a reason to be racially profiled and harassed. I am proud to be bilingual, and I hope that as a result of this case CBP takes a hard look at its policies and practices," Suda said in a statement. "No one else should ever have to go through this again."

In a statement to CNN, Border Patrol said their agents are trained to enforce laws uniformly and fairly, without discriminating based on religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

"CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe," the agency said.

Speaking Spanish is 'unheard of up here,' agent told them

Suda, who recorded the incident on her cellphone, is shown in the video asking the agent why he questioned them.

"Ma'am, the reason I asked for your IDs is because I came in here and saw that you guys were speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here," he responds.

The area is about 35 miles south of the US-Canada border.

WONDER WHAT THEY WOULD DO ABOUT CANADIAN TOURISTS SPEAKING FRENCH

Suda then asks if she and her friend are being racially profiled.

"It has nothing to do with that," the agent replies. "It has to do with the fact that you were speaking Spanish in the store in a state that is predominantly English-speaking."

About 4% of Havre residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the US Census. About 1.4% speak a language other than English at home.
Award-winning photojournalist injured covering Paris protest

28/11/2020

News outlets including Agence-France Presse joined media rights campaigners Sunday in denouncing the injury of an award-winning Syrian photojournalist during a Paris protest against police brutality.
©Gabrielle Cézard Ameer Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who worked for Polka Magazine and AFP, was wounded covering the Paris demonstrations 

Ameer Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who has worked for Polka Magazine and AFP, was covering Saturday's demonstrations opposing police violence and the French government's plans to restrict sharing images of officers
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© Alain JOCARD Alhalbi has won several international awards, including second prize in the "Spot News" category for the World Press Photo in 2017, mainly for coverage of the Syrian conflict for AFP

In AFP photos Alhalbi's face appears bruised with much of his head covered in bandages.

Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, tweeted that the 24-year-old had been wounded at Place de la Bastille by "a police baton" and condemned the "intolerable" violence.

"Ameer came from #Syria to #France to take refuge, like several other Syrian journalists. The land of human rights should not threaten them, but protect them," he said in a second tweet.

AFP and Polka also condemned the incident in statements Sunday.

"We are shocked by the injuries suffered by our colleague Ameer al-Halbi and condemn the unprovoked violence," said Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s global news director.

"The injuries were sustained as he exercised his legal rights as a photojournalist documenting protests on the streets of Paris.

"Ameer was working together with a group of colleagues who were clearly identified as journalists," he added.

"We demand the police investigate this serious incident and ensure all journalists are allowed to carry out their work without fear or restrictions."

- 'Shocking and reprehensible' -

A statement from Polka magazine also condemned the "police aggression" against Alhalbi.

The magazine's Director of Publication Alain Genestar said the incident was "all the more shocking and reprehensible" because he was clearly identified as a press photographer.

Dimitri Beck, Polka's director of photography, said Alhalbi had suffered a broken nose and injured forehead and been taken to hospital.

Alhalbi has won several international awards, including second prize in the "Spot News" category for the World Press Photo in 2017, mainly for his coverage of the Syrian conflict in his home city Aleppo for AFP.

Police said Sunday that two demonstrators had complained of being hurt by officers in protests outside Paris, while no count had yet been made in the capital itself.

Some 62 police officers were injured during the Saturday demonstrations, the interior ministry said, while 81 people were arrested.

A number of videos shared online showed marchers beating police officers.

The interior ministry added that 133,000 people had taken part in the demonstrations, 46,000 of them in Paris, while organisers said the figure was 500,000 nationwide and 200,000 in Paris.

burs/jj/bp
French protesters decry bill outlawing use of police images


PARIS — Tens of thousands of critics of a proposed security law that would restrict the filming of police officers protested across France on Saturday, and officers in Paris who were advised to behave responsibly during the demonstrations repeatedly fired tear gas to disperse rowdy protesters who set fire to France's central bank and threw paving stones.
© Provided by The Canadian Press

The mood was largely peaceful, however, as dozens of rallies took place against a provision of the law that would make it a crime to publish photos or video of on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity.”

Civil liberties groups, journalists, and people who have faced police abuse are concerned that the measure will stymie press freedoms and allow police brutality to go undiscovered and unpunished.

“We have to broaden the debate, and by doing that, we say that if there were no police violence, we wouldn’t have to film violent policemen," Assa Traore, a prominent anti-brutality activist whose brother died in police custody in 2016, told The Associated Press.

She was among at least 46,000 people who packed the sprawling Republique plaza and surrounding streets carrying red union flags, French tricolour flags and homemade signs denouncing police violence, demanding media freedom or calling for the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron or his tough-talking interior minister, Gerald Darmanin.

The crowd included journalists, journalism students, left-wing activists, migrants rights groups and citizens of varied political stripes expressing anger over what they perceive as hardening police tactics in recent years, especially since France’s yellow vest protest movement against economic hardship emerged in 2018.

Violence erupted near the end of the march as small groups of protesters pelted riot police with small rocks and paving stone. The officers retaliated with volleys of tear gas, prompting minor scuffles. Rioters then set fire to the facade of the central bank and to police barricades; in the melee fire trucks struggled to reach the site.

Macron's government says the law is needed to protect police amid threats and attacks by a violent fringe.

But the chief editor of French newspaper Le Monde, Luc Bronner, argued at the protest that the law against publishing images of officers is unnecessary.

“There are already laws that exist to protect civil servants, including police forces when they’re targeted, and it’s legitimate – the police do a very important job," Bronner said. “But that's not what this is about. It’s about limiting the capacity of citizens and along with them, journalists, to document police violence when they happen.”

While journalists have been the most outspoken over the security bill, it could have an even greater impact on the efforts of non-journalists who film police during aggressive arrests, notably minorities who can try to fight police abuse and discrimination with a few seconds of cellphone video.

“There were all those protests in the summer against police violence, and this law shows the government didn’t hear us... It’s the impunity. That’s what makes us so angry," protest participant Kenza Berkane, 26, said.

Berkane, who is French and of North African origin, described being repeatedly stopped by police for identity checks in the metro or while going to school. while white friends were allowed to pass. “We ask ourselves, when will this stop?”

The cause has gained renewed importance in recent days after footage emerged of French police officers beating up a Black man, triggering a nationwide outcry.

Macron spoke out against the video images on Friday, saying “they shame us.”

Video that surfaced Thursday showed the beating of music producer Michel Zecler, following footage of the brutal police evacuation Tuesday of migrants in a Paris plaza. The officers involved in the beating of Zecler were suspended pending an internal police investigation.

An internal letter from Paris Police Prefect Didier Lallement called on officers to use “probity, the sense of honour and ethics” when policing Saturday's protests, which were authorized by authorities despite France's partial virus lockdown.

Through most of the march police hung back, chatting while holding their helmets or watching silently as protesters shouted “Shame!” at them.

The crowd was overwhelmingly peaceful, but some in the unruly minority came equipped with gas masks and helmets.

Article 24 of the proposed security law criminalizes the publishing of images of police officers with the intent of causing harm. Anyone found guilty could be sentenced to up to a year in jail, and fined 45,000 euros ($53,000).

Many protesters, police and journalists have been injured during protests in recent years, including several Associated Press journalists.

Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Friday that he would appoint a commission to redraft Article 24, but he backtracked after hearing from angry lawmakers. The commission is now expected to make new proposals by early next year on the relationship between the media and police.

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Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.

Angela Charlton And Thomas Adamson, The Associated Press