(2021-01-22). The Eric Brandt story: How a controversial cop watcher became one of the most successful police reformers in the US. therealnews.com 
Known for his role in the Occupy Denver movement and his controversial, even profane, manner of exercising his First Amendment rights, Eric Brandt has been arrested roughly 200 times while protesting police brutality and advocating for reform. But he's also quietly racked up key victories in court.
(2021-01-21). Politicians among 48 arrested in huge Italian bust on 'Ndrangheta mafia, hundreds of millions in cash seized. rt.com 
Anti-mafia police carried out sweeping early-morning raids against Italy's most powerful mafia, the 'Ndrangheta, on Thursday, arresting 48 people and placing the leader of a political party under investigation. | Officers from the Direzione Investigativa AntiMafia (DIA) immediately jailed 13 people, while 35 were placed under house arrest, with multiple politicians, low-level mob bosses and businessmen among those detained, according to local media. | The crackdown on the organized crime syndicate, based in Calabria, southern Italy, primarily targeted the economic arm of its operations, which prosecutors said…
(2021-01-21). France vows 'symbolic actions' but no apologies for colonisation of Algeria. middleeasteye.net 
France vows 'symbolic actions' but no apologies for colonisation of Algeria | While a new French report highlights moves to reconcile Paris and Algiers on 132 violent years of colonisation, some thorny issues remain | Thu, 01/21/2021 – 16: 15 | Algerians arrested during a French military operation on 21 April 1956, during the war of independence, in Algeria's Tablat and Bir Rabalou region (AFP)
(2021-01-21). Tunisian groups say police arrested 1,000 people over six days of protests. middleeasteye.net 
Tunisian groups say police arrested 1,000 people over six days of protests | Rights groups said civilians who voiced support for protests on Facebook during the crackdown were also detained | Thu, 01/21/2021 – 14: 17 | Police used rubber bullets and water cannons against anti-government protests who hurled rocks and petrol bombs (AFP) | Tunisian security forces have arrested at least 1,000…
(2021-01-21). Milwaukee Common Council reverses earlier vote, approves COPS Grant. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – Late in the morning on January 19, the members of Milwaukee's Common Council gathered for a second vote on the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant. People watched, angered as the council voted 9-6 to accept the grant. | The first time the council voted, back on December 15, the vote was the same (9-6) but to deny the program. In a curious – and perhaps revealing – decision, Alderperson Nikiya Dodd (a previous "no" voter) put forward a motion for the second vote, which was then passed. This time around, Dodd voted "yes," as did Alderpersons Ashanti Hamilton and Chantia Lewis. Hamilton…
(2021-01-21). Police Obedience and Racialization. counterpunch.org What good is a constitution if you can't use it? What good is it if it tells you how to govern and you say: "we can't govern that way." What good is it if it proclaims democracy and you use it to dominate people? When the cops enact their brutality toward black people, are they
(2021-01-20). Racist County Commissioner arrested for breaching US Capitol. nationofchange.org "And I will embrace my Second Amendment, I will keep my right to bear arms, my vehicle is an extension of my home in regard to the constitution law, and I have a right to have those firearms in my car."
(2021-01-20). New York City police attack striking Hunts Point warehouse workers. wsws.org The NYPD arrested five workers as the warehouse workers' strike extended to day 3.
(2021-01-20). US-backed Thai Mob Stages Own Abduction. thealtworld.com US-backed mobs in Thailand continue following the US-funded "Hong Kong model," including staging their own abductions and blaming it on state security organizations. | I explain how little sense it would make for Thai security to "abduct" criminals who could easily be arrested well within the law and how such claims only serve to boost an unpopular opposition — just as was tried in Hong Kong.
(2021-01-19). Respected Israeli Rights Group B'Tselem declares Israel an Apartheid State. zcomm.org Apartheid is one of the listed "crimes against humanity" along with enslavement, torture, war rape, and forcible deportation. A crime against humanity is the systematic and continuous commission of war crimes…
(2021-01-19). Spraying Cotton in Bolivar County, Mississippi, the Summer Following My First Year of Medical School. jamanetwork.com The John Deere wheels cut hard coming to the turn row that runs along the county line near the evergreen copse in Paradise's south forty acres. In the wake of the tire tread, a dull patch flashes within the white blur beneath me. Exposed bone blooms among lobed leaves of cotton. Five vertebrae lie bleached and unstrung. I idle the machine, lurching to rest as diesel fumes rise in a dirge to these remains at the field's edge. I stand to see better. They are lumbar (without facets for ribs) but unknown. All bones being the same beneath skin. I have seen others, too: a woman's, this past fall. The instructors starte…
(2021-01-19). Protests over economic decline continue for third day in Tunisia; hundreds arrested. peoplesdispatch.org According to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, the country saw more than 6,500 protests last year alone over the many socio-economic and political issues afflicting the people…
(2021-01-19). B'Tselem head defies ban, addresses students. peoplesdispatch.org Education minister had announced a ban on members of organizations that called "Israel false and derogatory names." The ban came shortly after human rights group B'Tselem termed Israel an apartheid state…