(2020-02-01). In Rural Areas, a "Quiet Jail-Building Boom" Is Taking Place. truthout.org I live in Champaign County, the heart of the Illinois cornfields. Our somewhat liberal-minded county of 200,000 is home to the flagship campus of the University of Illinois, the "Fighting Illini." But our county has another distinction: While Black people only comprise 13 percent of our population, they consistently make up 50-71 percent of those in the local jail, resulting in one of the highest racial discrepancies in the country. | For the past decade, rather than attempt to correct this gross inequity, loca…
(2020-02-01). Documents on Homeless Encampments & Civil Rights. indybay.org Cops and rangers in the City of Santa Cruz continue to harass, cite, and arrest those outside without shelter in spite of the 2018 Martin v. Boise decision and its further validation by higher courts. | To assist those making the case to leave homeless folks alone unless real alternate shelter is available (which it is not in Santa Cruz), here are the texts of those decisions.
(2020-02-01). Bolivia's Coup-Born Regime Arrests Socialist Political Refugees. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Former Mining Minister Cesar Navarro and former Agriculture Minister Pedro Dorado were arrested at the El Alto airport on Saturday when they were about to board a plane as political refugees. | RELATED: | For the past 82 days, these Socialists politicians remained at the Mexican embassy. Yesterday, they received a safe-conduct allowing their free departure from the country. | "The Mexican embassy transfer…
(2020-01-31). Libyan government must honor its promise, release 'illegally detained' employees – Russian NGO. rt.com 
A Russian NGO has accused the government in Tripoli of breaking the pledge it made during peace talks by refusing to release two of its employees, arrested last year on charges of "meddling" in an election that never happened. | Maxim Shugalei and Samer Hassan Ali Seifan worked for the Foundation for National Values Protection, a Russian nonprofit. They were arrested in May 2019 by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). | "We consider that one of the objectives of this arrest of Russian citizens was the urge to prevent the leak of the results of their social studies, which prove the absence of…
(2020-01-31). Chile: One Dead and 124 Arrested During a Violent Early Morning. telesurenglish.net One dead person, 124 detainees and several wounded was the balance of the police repression to the protests that Chileans carried out in the early hours of Friday in Santiago. | RELATED: | On Thursday afternoon, citizens went out to protest the death of Jorge Mora, a fan of the Colo-Colo soccer team, who was hit by a Police truck last Tuesday. | His death intensified popular mobilizations against the neoliberal state, which th…
(2020-01-30). "Coded Bias": New Film Looks at Fight Against Racial Bias in Facial Recognition & AI Technology. democracynow.org 
A new documentary looks at the dangers of artificial intelligence and its increasing omnipresence in daily life, as new research shows that it often reflects racist biases. Earlier this month, Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the latest major city to ban facial recognition technology, joining a growing number of cities, including San Francisco, to ban the artificial intelligence, citing flawed technology and racial and gender bias. A recent study also found that facial recognition identified African-American and Asian faces incorrectly 10 to 100 times more than white faces. The film "Coded Bias" begins with Joy B…
(2020-01-30). The Rooney Rule isn't working; diversity in coach/executive hirings must improve. peoplesworld.org 
MIAMI (AP) — Stopping short of saying the Rooney Rule is not working, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted Wednesday the league needs change to its minority hiring policy. Though the league requires teams to interview minority candidates, only two African-Americans have been hired for 19 open head coaching spots over the past three years. The …
(2020-01-30). Maduro on Merlano Case: Duque Does Not Want the Truth Out There. telesurenglish.net The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, said Thursday that his Colombian counterpart, Iván Duque, has not followed the due process for the extradition of former congresswoman Aída Merlano. Merlano, who arrested last Monday in the city of Maracaibo, Zulia state, after running away from her country, seems not interested in knowing the truth, according to the head of state. | RELATED: | During a nationwide broadcast,…
(2020-01-29). Trump's fake 'peace plan' is permanent apartheid for Palestine. thegrayzone.com Attorney, professor, and author Noura Erakat on Trump's "deal of the century": a call for permanent apartheid in Palestine. President…
(2020-01-29). Weekend Read: 2020: African Americans and the Vote. splcenter.org Historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926 established "Negro History Week" to celebrate the contributions to our nation made by Black people.
(2020-01-29). Mehdi Hasan: Trump's Middle East Plan Is a Policy of Apartheid & Settler Colonialism. democracynow.org 
We continue our discussion of President Trump's long-awaited Middle East plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he has described as the "deal of the century." The plan was drafted by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner without any input from Palestinians and would give Israel sovereignty over large areas of the occupied West Bank, control over all of Jerusalem, and keep all illegal settlements built in the occupied West Bank. We speak with Mehdi Hasan, senior columnist at The Intercept, and Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University. Khalidi's latest book is…
(2020-01-29). USPCN Rejects "Deal of the Century" fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). | Three war criminals – Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli politician Benny Gantz – have met in DC this week, and today unveiled the announcement of Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner's self-proclaimed "deal of the century." | As Palestinians and Arabs living and organizing in the U.S., we join the voices of our people in besieged Gaza and all across Palestine and the Arab World in fully rejecting this sham peace process created by the apartheid, settler-colonial…
(2020-01-24). Oakland Moms Who Occupied Vacant Property to Highlight Housing Crisis Celebrate Unexpected Victory. democracynow.org 
In Oakland, California, a months-long struggle between a group of unhoused mothers occupying a vacant home and the real estate firm that owned it ended with an unexpected offer to purchase the property earlier this week. The major win in the mothers' fight against homelessness and real estate speculation comes just a week after Wedgewood Properties forcibly evicted the families — known as Moms 4 Housing — from the home they were living in for more than two months. Two mothers and two of their supporters were arrested in the early-morning eviction after armed police officers battered down the door. The…