It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, May 06, 2019
House Bill Would Withhold Military Aid to Israel Over Detention of Palestinian Children
More than 10,000 Palestinian children have been arrested, detained, abused and prosecuted by Israeli security forces in the Israeli military court system since 2000, Rep. Betty McCollum’s statement said
Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, has introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would withhold funding from Israel over its detention of Palestinian children.
The bill is to “promote human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation and require that United States funds do not support military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children, and for other purposes.”
It also establishes the Human Rights Monitoring and Palestinian Child Victims of Israeli Military Detention Fund, authorizing $19 million annually for nongovernmental organizations to monitor human rights abuses associated with Israel’s military detention of children.
“Israel’s system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian children and their families,” McCollum said in a statement. “It must be condemned, but it is equally outrageous that U.S. tax dollars in the form of military aid to Israel are permitted to sustain what is clearly a gross human rights violation against children.”
More than 10,000 Palestinian children have been arrested, detained, abused and prosecuted by Israeli security forces in the Israeli military court system since 2000, McCollum’s statement said, citing monitoring groups such as Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem.
McCollum had introduced the bill in November 2017 with at least nine co-sponsors. It never came to a vote, in committee or on the House floor.
She has previously called for the withholding of military aid to Israel over its detention of minors, citing the so-called Leahy Law, which bars the State and Defense departments from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., last month praised McCollum for her efforts during an interview when she said that cutting military and economic aid to Israel “is certainly on the table.”
"Peace can only be achieved by respecting human rights, especially the rights of children."
"Israel's system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian children and their families."
IS THAT A STRESS VEIN ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HIS HEAD ?
May 5 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Sunday named Mark Morgan as the new head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Trump hailed Morgan, a former FBI agent and chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, as a "true believer and American Patriot" as he introduced him as the newest leader of the agency.
Morgan has publicly endorsed Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the border, including support for the wall.
"The president had no choice, Congress has failed, they continue to fail," Morgan said in a February interview with CNN.
Trump withdrew his nomination of then-Acting ICE Director Ronald Vitiello to permanently lead the agency last month, saying he wanted to go in a "tougher direction."
National security adviser John Bolton says any Iranian attack on US or its allies will be met with 'unrelenting force'. Julian Borger World affairs editor. Sun 5 May ...
The United States is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a clear message to Iran that any attack on U.S. interests ...
CBC.ca
Trump retweets QAnon account spreading conspiracy theories and Islamophobia
On the same day the president defended far-right activists recently banned from Facebook, he also happened to retweet a video from a conspiracy theory account spreading Islamophobic messages.
The tweet in question came from an alt-right account called "Deep State Exposed", which regularly posts conspiracy theories and Islamophobic content. Some of its previous conspiracies include Kim Jong Un being a CIA asset, and that well-known Democrats are being secretly being monitored.
The tweet Trump retweeted to his 60 million followers contained a video in which a man says they would "kill Americans" if they don't allow Muslims to follow their religion.
It came alongside the caption: "The 'elite' proclaim America must submit to Islam or else", with intent to spread Islamophobia.
The video has since been watched over half a million times, with the account's creator, Jeremy Stone, boasting that the president has retweeted his account nine times.
He also recently posted an edited video on Twitter suggesting links between Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar and the 9/11 attacks.
Trump Retweets Far-right, 9/11Conspiracy Theorist Recently Banned From Facebook
Trump retweeted Paul Joseph Watson, former editor-at-large of Alex Jones' InfoWars.com, who once pushed the theory that 9/11 was perpetrated by the U.S. government
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized social media companies after Facebook banned a number of extremist figures, declaring that he was “monitoring and watching, closely!!”
Trump, who tweeted and re-tweeted complaints Friday and Saturday, said he would “monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms.” He has previously asserted that social media companies exhibit bias against conservatives, something the companies have rejected as untrue.
The president’s comments came after Facebook this week banned Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and other extremists, saying they violated its ban on “dangerous individuals.” The company also removed right-wing personalities Paul Nehlen, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson and Laura Loomer, along with Jones’ site, Infowars, which often posts conspiracy theories. The latest bans apply both to Facebook’s main service and to Instagram and extend to fan pages and other related accounts.
On Saturday, Trump retweeted a message from Watson urging his followers to “keep up the pressure,” and a second wondering why his opinions should be deemed “dangerous.” Watson previously served as editor-at-large of Alex Jones' website InfoWars.com, promoting conspiracy theories online - including the theory the 9/11 terror attack in the U.S. were perpetrated by the U.S. government.
Facebook’s move signaled renewed effort by the social media giant to remove people and groups promoting objectionable material such as hate, racism and anti-Semitism. The company said it has “always banned” people or groups that proclaim a violent or hateful mission or are engaged in acts of hate or violence, regardless of political ideology.
On Twitter, Trump cited a number of individuals he said were being unfairly treated by social media companies, including Watson and actor James Woods. He insisted it was “getting worse and worse for Conservatives on social media!”
Woods, one of Hollywood’s most outspoken conservatives, has had his Twitter account locked. Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough said Woods will need to delete a tweet that violated Twitter rules before he can be reinstated.
Trump tweeted: “How can it be possible that James Woods (and many others), a strong but responsible Conservative Voice, is banned from Twitter? Social Media & Fake News Media, together with their partner, the Democrat Party, have no idea the problems they are causing for themselves. VERY UNFAIR!”
Rosborough said Twitter enforces its rules “impartially for all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation.”
Trump, who uses Twitter extensively to push his message, recently met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at the White House after attacking the company and complaining that it was not treating him well because he was a Republican. He later described it as a “great meeting.”
The president had more than social media on his mind Saturday. Trump also tweeted that he was holding out hopes for a deal with North Korea on its nuclear program, as well as improved relations with Russia, now that he feels the special counsel investigation is behind him.
Social media posts keep repeating Trump's lies — and the way they do it
is a problem
Trump is really good at lying, something major media outlets
don't know how to handle.
With 10,000 lies
to his name, Donald Trump is a pro at putting out false
or misleading information. Unfortunately, many of the people who are tasked
with informing the public are inadvertently helping him do just that.
A new study from
the journalism watchdog organization Media Matters for America (MMFA) has found
that news outlets frequently amplify Trump’s falsehoods by putting uncontested
For example, an outlet will tweet out something like “President Trump says
the Russia investigation was a ‘coup’,” rather than something like “President
Trump falsely claims that the Russia investigation was a ‘coup.'”
How frequently does this occur, precisely? According to the study, 35
percent of the time, major media outlets amplify, rather than report and
contest, a false Trump statement — that’s an average of 19 times per day.
The study examined over 2,000 tweets sent out from 32 Twitter accounts
belonging to major news outlets. All tweets were sent between January 26 and
February 15, the period of time from the end of the 2018 federal shutdown to
the final agreement, and Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the
border.
Of all the tweets about Trump's statements, 30 percent referenced
something he said that was false and misleading. Of those tweets, 35 percent
did not refute the false statement. That’s a total of 407 tweets that
amplified, rather than corrected, Trump’s misinformation — an overall
average of 19 tweets per day during that stretch of time.
The outlets analyzed included wire services like the Associated Press and
Reuters, network outlets and television shows like NBC and ABC, newspapers like
the New York Times and Washington Post, and
online publications like Politico and The Hill. The Washington Post had
the best track record, simultaneously reporting on and correcting Trump’s
statements, 89 percent of the time. The Hill was the biggest offender,
repeating Trump’s false claims with no correction 88 percent of the time.
Of course, only 8 percent of Americans are on Twitter
(based on Twitter’s most recent
user numbers). But the tweets these outlets send could
reflect how they’re presenting the news in headlines and elsewhere. That’s
concerning since research has shown that reading headlines and social media,
not full stories, is a common way people get their news; one recent
studyfrom the American Press Institute found that, in
the past week, 60 percent of Americans had not delved deeper into a story than
the headlines.
This means that, through the
power of repetition, not only might media outlets be
helping Trump spread lies — they could be cementing those lies as truth in the
minds of readers.
Burger King’s attempt to use mental health to sell meals has badly backfired
Well, now Burger King can apparently cure your depression with their latest "Real Meal" Whopper boxes, labelled in different moods and colours.
The fast-food chain attempted to throw shade at rival McDonald's and its "Happy Meals" for Mental Health Awareness Month by rolling out a new campaign called #FeelYourWay (a reference to its slogan "Have It Your Way").
Its promoted "Real Meal" boxes come in five different moods, including Salty in teal, Pissed in red, YAAAS in purple, DGAF (Don't Give a F***) in black and Sad in blue. Every mood box includes a Whopper, fries and a drink.
The company partnered up with the non-profit organisation Mental Health America to promote the "overall mental health of all Americans".
In a press release for #FeelYourWay, Burger King said:
With the pervasive nature of social media, there is so much pressure to appear happy and perfect.
With Real Meals, the Burger King brand celebrates being yourself and feeling however you want to feel.
Alongside the campaign, the company also released what looks like a bad music video, featuring several young people with different problems. There's a sad man complaining about his student loans, a teenage girl who is bullied at school, and a woman who was just fired from her "creepy boss". But don't fret, because even if you're a young single mom, all of your woes can be solved by simply going to Burger King.
The nearly two-minute video ends with the phrase:
No one is happy all the time, and that's OK.
But Burger King's attempt to be "woke" quickly backfried, as people took to Twitter to criticise the company for using mental health as a means to make money.
Show this selfie from the top of Everest to a flat Earth conspiracy theorist. Immediately
In a Reddit post, captioned “Checkmate flat Earth society”, user amazed_spirit shared an image of a person posing for a selfie at the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. To Flat Earthers’ dismay, the image clearly shows the curved edge of the planet in the backdrop.
Reddit users stated that this evidence finally debunks the flat Earth theory, with one saying:
Forget about curvature arguments. The fact that you can only see 2.5 per cent at a time proves it isn’t flat. If it was flat you should be able to see the whole thing from even just the top of the tallest mountain or on any commercial flat.
Though it is unclear whether the photographer was using a fisheye lens, which could have distorted the image.
As of yet, there has been no comment from the most prominent voices in the flat Earth movement, but it is doubtful that the image will have swayed their belief the earth is not round.
Brunei won’t impose death penalty for gay sex after global protests
The country’s ruler, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, addressed the nation and the world in a televised speech on Sunday, where he revealed he would provide a moratorium on capital punishment and ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
His decision comes following mass condemnation of the small southeast Asian country’s initial decision to extend the death penalty for gay sex, with the likes of actor George Clooney, musician Sir Elton John and comedian and host Ellen DeGeneres among those who protested the loudest.
Ahead of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Sultan said: “I am aware that there are many questions and misperceptions with regard to the implementation of the SPCO. However, we believe that once these have been cleared, the merit of the law will be evident.”
As evident for more than two decades, we have practised a de facto moratorium on the execution of death penalty for cases under the common law. This will also be applied to cases under the SPCO, which provides a wider scope for remission.
Some crimes already command the death penalty in Brunei, including premeditated murder and drug trafficking, but no executions have been carried out since the 1990s.
Though this is a progressive move, LGBT+ citizens are still facing punishment in the country
Human Rights Campaign Director of Global Partnership Jean Freedberg told CNN:
The world has turned its eyes to Brunei in recent months and we urge the countless advocates, activists and organizations who seized this moment to speak out against these human rights abuses to continue to do so.
And campaigners continue to fight to overturn the laws completely
Tomorrow, the country of #Brunei will start stoning gay people to death. We need to do something now. Please boycott these hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Raise your voices now. Spread the word. Rise up.
In a recent article for The Spectator, feminist activist Julie Bindel wrote: “Why are boringly straight women claiming to be lesbians?” In it she accuses singer Miley Cyrus and others of being “lesbian tourists” masking their heteronormativity in a bid to be more “interesting”.
Not long ago, Cyrus, who identifies as queer, described her marriage to Liam Hemsworth as “redefining, to be fucking frank, what it looks like for someone that’s a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship”.
While Cyrus’s statement is hyperbolic – she is far from the first queer woman to be in a relationship with a man – Bindel’s argument is far more problematic, ignoring the idea that people can be attracted to more than one gender. And it speaks to a broader issue of biphobia in the lesbian community, where dismissing bisexual women as “confused” or simply non-existent can be rampant.
Bisexuals exist, I promise. There is a clear “B” in the LGBT+ acronym that so many seem unable to acknowledge. If you’re struggling to remember, it’s the “bacon” in the new M&S Stonewall sandwich.
The argument that women who date multiple genders won’t face violence also couldn’t be further from the truth. A United Nations report claims bi women are “especially at risk” of sexual violence. Other studies have found that bisexual women are more likely to be abused by their partner than lesbians and five times more likely than heterosexual women when it comes to sexual assault.
I understand Bindel’s frustration. Of course we all low-key hate the girl who tells you she’s queer but “could never go below” with a woman, but that doesn’t mean we get to pick and choose people’s sexuality.
There is no question that a minority of people use the term queer to hide behind their privilege. I will always remember an acquaintance explaining to a closeted me that she understood oppression as she was now a “political lesbian” – despite not being attracted to women.
Queerness has, for some, become a way to disown the privilege you hold. But the truth is that it doesn’t work that way.
The privilege I experience as a white, middle class woman didn’t go away when I came out. Oppression doesn’t negate privilege and in queer spaces those dynamics are often replicated and amplified – with racism rife.
You can’t be the gatekeeper of other people’s sexualities, and for every woman that details their thrilling festival threesome, there are far more who are desperately trying to find their place in the world. Those are the ones who sidle up at parties, tentatively asking when I knew I was gay.
Make no mistake, limiting who gets to be a woman, or queer, hurts everyone. In the same way the hyper-regulation of trans bathrooms affects non-conforming women, so too will Bindel’s bumbling attempt to define who can and can’t be a lesbian.
When anti-trans lesbians invaded Pride last year, for example, most lesbians were appalled, myself included. A minority of lesbians are using their struggle to perpetuate hate, whilst most recognise that trans women’s invaluable place within our community, with many on the front-line of women’s rights for decades.
Using Bindel’s logic, you have to ask what it does take for someone to be considered a “real lesbian”. Is there a graduation ceremony, a member’s club or a quota? Was I not a lesbian before I had sex with a woman?
Do I need to sleep with multiple women in order to identify? Does watching The L Word while frantically googling the Kinsey Scale count or do I need to have been in a couple of serious long-term relationships first?
I have cried on the shoulders of bisexual women and fallen in love with non-binary people. I’ve protested alongside those who refuse to be pigeonholed by their sexuality and gender and the intersections of our identities has been a source of strength not dispute.
The need to put ourselves into boxes and reject those who don’t fit may provide a sense of comfort in a harsh world, but it won’t solve homophobia. Suffering shouldn’t be a condition of one’s sexuality. I’m not more of a lesbian because my family initially rejected me than my friend whose mum marches at Pride.
As a younger lesbian, I am grateful to my elders, like Bindel, who fought for my right to live my life openly and I don’t take my identity or their struggle for granted. But what’s the point in liberation if it’s not everyone?
In a world where queer people are still fighting to be in the curriculum, and gay white men dominate our nightlife, shouldn’t we be standing in solidarity with each other as a community to create a safe space for everyone?
