Daily Archives: December 12, 2020

2020-12-12: News Headlines

_____ (2020-12-12). Military-Grade Weapons Do Not Make Cops Or Cities Safer. popularresistance.org Over the last forty years, state and local police budgets have increased at astounding rates, with billions of dollars going toward military-grade equipment for law enforcement. The premise is simple: a better-equipped police force ought to be able to do their job—protecting the public—better, as well as offer more protection for the officers themselves. But two independent studies have punctured those ideas, finding that militarizing police forces does not reduce crime, nor does it increase officer safety. | As ABC News reports, the two peer-reviewed studies, one coming from the University of Michiga…

Ralph Nader (2020-12-11). Go Vote Yourself a Raise, Georgia — You've Long Earned It. counterpunch.org All political eyes are on Georgia's runoff election on January 5th, 2021. Two Senate seats are up for grabs and will decide whether the evil Trumpster and corporatist Senator Mitch McConnell stays in total control of the U.S. Senate or not. If the Democrats win both seats, the Senate would be split, 50-50. Vice President

Alex MacDonald (2020-12-11). Turkish lawyer on hunger strike sent back to prison after release. middleeasteye.net Turkish lawyer on hunger strike sent back to prison after release | Aytac Unsal re-arrested as a flight risk despite being released on health grounds in September after 213-day hunger strike | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 11: 44 | Aytac Unsal recovering in bed following his hunger strike (People's Law Bureau) | A Turkish lawyer who was released from prison on medical grounds after spending more than seven…

Editor (2020-12-11). Jon Wiener: What Aaron Sorkin Got Wrong in 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'. scheerpost.com Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play " The Trial of the Chicago 7," an Aaron Sorkin film that recently aired on Netflix, brought an important chapter in the history of American activism to screens around the globe. Based on real events, the film dramatizes the 1969 trial of eight activists who were arrested during the Vietnam War protests that took place in Chicago at the 1968… |

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-11). On International Human Rights Day, Chileans demand release of political prisoners. peoplesdispatch.org This December 10, on International Human Rights Day, hundreds of Chileans took to the streets to demand the release of all political prisoners in the country. There was special emphasis on the demand to release the protesters arrested during Several small demonstrations were c…

Annie Levin (2020-12-11). Rebuilding the Solidarity Economy During COVID-19. progressive.org The pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests have shown New York's mutual aid collectives how to navigate the line between mutual aid, solidarity, and charity.

sputniknews (2020-12-11). Videos: Several People Injured as Vehicle Drives Into Manhattan Black Lives Matter Protest. sputniknews.com According to reports, a vehicle has crashed into a Black Lives Matter protest in New York City, injuring at least seven people.

ACLU (2020-12-11). What 100 Years of History Tells Us About Racism in Policing. aclu.org In the middle of the 2020 pandemic, America was shaken by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the protests that erupted in the aftermath. But the disturbing trends we see today in police violence are the same patterns we've seen over the last 100 years. Again and again, commissions convened to examine why police brutality sparks unrest have come to the same conclusion: We must address the poverty and systemic racism that go hand in hand with policing communities of color., , This week, we launched a series of four short films taking a critical look at what we've learned from the last 100 years…

Robert P. Alvarez (2020-12-10). Mass incarceration is declining — but not for women. peoplesworld.org Election after election, voters are turning against mass incarceration and the war on drugs that sustains it. In 2020, the people of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota voted to legalize marijuana, joining 11 other states and the District of Columbia. In Oregon, voters opted to decriminalize possession of all drugs. And even during the deeply divisive …

progressive (2020-12-10). One Question: How Have the Black Lives Matter Protests Impacted the Prison Abolition Movement? progressive.org Q: How Have the Black Lives Matter Protests Impacted the Prison Abolition Movement?

| &#13…

Martha Grevatt (2020-12-09). Capitalist COVID catastropheFIGHT or DIE! workers.org It's December 2020. The working class in the United States is facing a crisis of survival. It is the worst such crisis since the Great Depression, especially for the most oppressed. The statistics are damning: One in six households face hunger; one in five workers are out of work; some . . . |

teleSUR (2020-12-09). Iran Arrests People Involved in Killing of Nuclear Scientist. telesurenglish.net The Special Aide to the President of the Parliament in International Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, claimed that Iranian authorities had arrested people involved in the murder of scientist nuclear Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Nov. 27. | RELATED: | "The perpetrators of this assassination, some of whom have been identified and even arrested by our security apparatus, will not escape justice and will be dealt with severely," Abdollahia…

2020-12-12: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

Military-Grade Weapons Do Not Make Cops Or Cities Safer
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-12
Over the last forty years, state and local police budgets have increased at astounding rates, with billions of dollars going toward military-grade equipment for law enforcement. The premise is simple: a better-equipped police force ought to be able to do their job–protecting the public–better, as well as offer more protection for the officers themselves. But two independent studies have punctured those ideas, finding that militarizing police forces does not reduce crime, nor does it increase officer safety. | As ABC News reports, the two peer-reviewed studies, one coming from the University of Michiga…
popularresistance.org/military-grade-wea…

Go Vote Yourself a Raise, Georgia — You've Long Earned It
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-11
All political eyes are on Georgia's runoff election on January 5th, 2021. Two Senate seats are up for grabs and will decide whether the evil Trumpster and corporatist Senator Mitch McConnell stays in total control of the U.S. Senate or not. If the Democrats win both seats, the Senate would be split, 50-50. Vice President…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/11/go-vote-your…

On International Human Rights Day, Chileans demand release of political prisoners
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-11
This December 10, on International Human Rights Day, hundreds of Chileans took to the streets to demand the release of all political prisoners in the country. There was special emphasis on the demand to release the protesters arrested during the protests of October 2019 and in demonstrations in the following months as well as the Indigenous Mapuche political prisoners. | Several small demonstrations were c…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/11/on-intern…

Turkish lawyer on hunger strike sent back to prison after release
Alex MacDonald | middleeasteye.net | 2020-12-11
Turkish lawyer on hunger strike sent back to prison after release | Aytac Unsal re-arrested as a flight risk despite being released on health grounds in September after 213-day hunger strike | Alex MacDonald | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 11: 44 | Aytac Unsal recovering in bed following his hunger strike (People's Law Bureau) | A Turkish lawyer who was released from prison on medical grounds after spending more than seven…
www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-lawye…

Rebuilding the Solidarity Economy During COVID-19
Annie Levin | progressive.org | 2020-12-11
The pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests have shown New York's mutual aid collectives how to navigate the line between mutual aid, solidarity, and charity.
progressive.org/dispatches/solidarity-ec…

Videos: Several People Injured as Vehicle Drives Into Manhattan Black Lives Matter Protest
sputniknews.com | 2020-12-11
According to reports, a vehicle has crashed into a Black Lives Matter protest in New York City, injuring at least seven people.
sputniknews.com/us/202012111081433970-se…

What 100 Years of History Tells Us About Racism in Policing
aclu.org | 2020-12-11
In the middle of the 2020 pandemic, America was shaken by the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the protests that erupted in the aftermath. But the disturbing trends we see today in police violence are the same patterns we've seen over the last 100 years. Again and again, commissions convened to examine why police brutality sparks unrest have come to the same conclusion: We must address the poverty and systemic racism that go hand in hand with policing communities of color., , This week, we launched a series of four short films taking a critical look at what we've learned from the last 100 years…
aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/what-1…

Jon Wiener: What Aaron Sorkin Got Wrong in 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'
Editor | scheerpost.com | 2020-12-11
Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play " The Trial of the Chicago 7," an Aaron Sorkin film that recently aired on Netflix, brought an important chapter in the history of American activism to screens around the globe. Based on real events, the film dramatizes the 1969 trial of eight activists who were arrested during the Vietnam War protests that took place in Chicago at the 1968… | Source…
scheerpost.com/2020/12/11/jon-wiener-wha…

Portland Community Beats Back Eviction, Erects Barricades
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-10
On Tuesday morning, Portland community members successfully repealed heavily armed and militarized Multnomah County Sheriffs backed by Portland police officers, who were attempting to evict the Afro-Indigenous Kinney family, who has lived in the "Red House on Mississippi" in the North Portland neighborhood for 65 years. The eviction began in the early morning, after officers officers "violently dismantled the 75+ day "Red House" [support] encampment," and then "entered the home itself, destroying its interior, and violently arrested two residents — injuring at least one."
popularresistance.org/portland-community…

One Question: How Have the Black Lives Matter Protests Impacted the Prison Abolition Movement?
progressive.org | 2020-12-10
Q: How Have the Black Lives Matter Protests Impacted the Prison Abolition Movement?
| &#13…
progressive.org/magazine/one-question-bl…

Mass incarceration is declining — but not for women
Robert P. Alvarez | peoplesworld.org | 2020-12-10
Election after election, voters are turning against mass incarceration and the war on drugs that sustains it. In 2020, the people of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota voted to legalize marijuana, joining 11 other states and the District of Columbia. In Oregon, voters opted to decriminalize possession of all drugs. And even during the deeply divisive …
peoplesworld.org/article/mass-incarcerat…