Troubling Alerts (Updated)

Greetings. readers.  Can you believe it's 2017?   I hope there ARE readers out there; please don't be shy ---- do comment!  

It's been hard to even know what to write these days as the news is way too often so bad.  That also just keeps one's mind and spirit troubled and concerned, so I really haven't been writing much lately, on my blog or with my poetry.  I am currently working on a new poem, however (for my long-threatened book) and seeing these stories prompted me to do this blog post.  Everyone should be aware of what's going on.  I often wish to shield myself as well, and yes, some psychological breaks aren't bad (such as watching a detective story, romantic comedy, just walking, listening to music, whatever helps reduce stress - at least temporarily).  But there is that need to know what is being done.

You all know that I am firmly with the water protectors/protesters against the DAPL  In a "Can you believe this?" story, it is reported that two surface-to-air missile launchers (yes, you read that correctly) have been deployed by the National Guard to a work site for this nefarious project.  They say they are totally unarmed and just for "observational purposes," but I'm not sure I would believe them.  Missile launchers to observe protesters?  What are we coming to?  Well, I certainly wouldn't just take their word that this is so innocuous.  No, I would not!  Consider also that there has been a bill introduced in the ND Legislature which would make running over a protester not necessarily an offense.  The bill states: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a driver of a motor vehicle who unintentionally causes injury or death to an individual obstructing vehicular traffic on a public road, street, or highway, is not guilty of an offense."   One problem for sure is that it is highly unlikely that anyone would claim any "intent"  in such a case.  What a horrible bill.

In another alert, another "Can you believe this?" happening,  " !!!!!! " (Yup, I loathe even his name) International Hotel in DC has been banning journalists this Inauguration Week.  And that's not the kicker.  This hotel sits on FEDERAL land!  That's right, We're the landlords.  And what's more, it seems to be against the DC legal code.  What is going on when this nutjob and all are acting as though they're above the law?  I'm shaking my head and feeling such concern for our country now, our democracy, and our Planet.

UPDATE:

What is going on?  There are bills in several state legislatures that would be very chilling to protest and dissent.  Here is more about the one proposed in Indiana.  We must all be vigilant and fight against such threats to our civil liberties!

So please, if you find this post or any post here of value, do comment and/or share. Thanks!

A Little Thing Called "The First Amendment" - Updated!

Do you know what week it will be from 10/17 - 10/23?  Hint - the title of this post might give a clue...
It's Free Speech Week.  All are encouraged to celebrate Free Speech in any number of ways. So Speak out!

I found out about FSW while researching this post - about a little something we call the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.  Do you know what your rights are?  Do you know there are threats to them?  We need to be aware of such challenges and stand together against them and for their continued exercise.

  To begin: a short reminder of the contents of this important text:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Let's consider some recent developments regarding these Freedoms as well as some good resources.

One nice resource is the site of the Bill of Rights Institute.  They have plenty of resources and a great one is blurbs of critical Supreme Court Decisions for various Bill of Rights Issues.  However I find their site a bit hard to navigate.  And I didn't see any landmark Supreme Court cases for freedom of Religion.  However, here's a link to the Freedom of Speech, General section.  Good luck navigating!

Freedom of Religion  This is listed first.  It has been much in the news recently as concerns over Islamophobia have continued.  There are reports of armed groups opposing mosques.  That's just a very recent example.  Many news reports suggest Islamophobia is on the rise - both in the U. S. and elsewhere.  Mother Jones has an article speaking to the effect this is having on young students.

Let's remember that the fight for Religious Freedom isn't new.  Jefferson fought for the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.    We should all listen to the words of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama: “All major religious traditions carry the same message: a message of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, self-discipline — all religious traditions,” he continued. 

Then let's stand together in ways small and large to support Religious Freedom.  Not too long ago I met a nice lady and she and another nice gal and I were chatting (I guess I must have been in a troublemaking mood as I mentioned I quit a mailing list because of the continuing Islamophobic posts. Her reaction was  ---- well they want to kill us.  I told her that some (like the Isis militants might, but not all Muslims were like that.  From the expression on her face when I said that it seemed to be a thought she hadn't considered.  Maybe, just maybe it opened her mind even a tiny bit.

Freedom of Speech  This is next on the list. Certainly one challenge we've noted is the reaction of some to protests started by Colin Kaerpernick to kneel, sit, stand, raise a fist, or otherwise during our National Anthem to protest the treatment of African-Americans.  Some of the comments go on about this being sooooo disrespectful, so un-American,  Participants have been punished or threatened.  Do these folks even stop to think that we were founded on protest and we are supposed to be about something called FREEDOM - including freedom of speech and expression?  Here's an interesting article from common dreams about the spread of protests.  Kudos to Mr. Sherman and the DeSoto, TX School Board for supporting the students' right to protest.   From the statement at the article:  "As an institution of learning, we are charged with preparing our students to become problems solvers and productive citizens; not to stifle their innovation or rejection of complacency. None of us have the right to infringe on the rights extended to our young people as American citizens."  Unfortunately, such support isn't universal.  

An interesting aspect of Freedom of Speech is a trend for online news outlets to stop having their own online comments but go to only social media comments.  I ran across this blog post from the National Coalition Against Censorship about NPR website doing exactly that (disclosure: - I used NPR News site as my home page for a while, but never registered to comment).   The major point made is that these platforms don't have the same legal obligations to the First Amendment and may also have content limitations.  And, I might add, what about those of us who refuse to go on facebook?

Hall of Shame 2

Not feeling very optimistic yet.  But feeling cynical enough to do another edition of  "Hall of Shame."  I hereby present the following exhibits:

• Intolerance Division: Rebbecca Bradley, a WI Supreme Court Justice.  She wrote some extremely intolerant remarks about LGBTQ people when she was a student.  Now, admittedly it was, what, 24 years ago now, and people can (hopefully) grow out of such mindsets. But understand that folks are rightly going to be skeptical, at least.

• Prosecutorial Hubris Division: Kelly Siegler.  After watching the CBS "48 Hours" show on 'Playing by the Rules,' I was totally put off by her blase attitude about giving the defense drips and drops --- and saying still that she gave the defense of David Temple (convicted of murdering his wife, Belinda) 'all he was entitled to.'  But the appeals judge, Judge Gist (who seems to be hard on defendants generally) recommended he be given a new trial, citing 36 points of info the defense should have been given.  Of course the judge, the former prosecutor who looked into the case, and the defense, all of them were wrong but her.  I wanted to find out if the series she was on, "Cold Justice" on TNT would be back or not (hadn't seen or heard anything for some time).  I haven't seen definitely whether or not it has been cancelled, but I did find this:  the show has been sued - twice!  Now I'm all for putting bad folks away but not a) at the expense of a really fair trial and b) not if they're not actually guilty. You readers can decide for yourselves in this case, but I would agree with Judge Gist that a new trial is in order here.  

• Insensitive Racism Division:  Joe's Crab Shack Restaurant in Roseville. MN, where a very racist photo was found embedded on a table.  While the chain apologized and the offending table removed from that restaurant, according to the article, there have been reports of other racist images at other restaurants in the chain in other states.  WHY, in 2016, now are we still going trough this?

• Islamophobic and Misogynistic Division:  The  French Embassy in Wash. D. C..  Saima Ashraf-Hassan said she was harassed at her job there because of her religion, and also that when she informed her supervisor she was pregnant, she was fired.  She sued.  A judge ruled in her favor, although the embassy is still fighting the ruling.

• Intolerance Division (again!): Missouri Republicans. They seem to be intent on passing anti-gay legislation.  Can't they learn that treating some as SECOND CLASS CITIZENS IS WRONG?

• Let's Criminalize the Homeless Division:  LA and its City Council.  They are forcing folks from tiny houses a good-hearted Elvis Summers builds for them.  Believe it or not, other cities have had success dealing with homelessness with tiny houses or other innovative housing solutions.  Unfortunately, there have also been places where homelessness is being criminalized.  Bless Mr. Summers who vows to keep up his activism! 

• The Nasty, Dangerous, Nutjob Egomaniac Division:  You know who.  I hate to give him any more "coverage" here, but if there's one person who still needs to be convinced how awful and dangerous he is, I guess I should include a few links.  The furor over the violence at his rallies, his absolute refusal to take any responsibility, his wanting protesters to be beaten up is absolutely sickening to ANYONE of any good will at all.  First read an excellent article by Robert Mackey at The Intercept.  Then please read Lucia Graves' story at The Guardian.  She has some first-hand perspective on the way the press has been treated by this campaign and what is says about the "candidate."  Then, for a sample of what he has been saying in the wake of this mess here's something from NPR News.  It also covers reactions from other candidates.  Yes, the others SHOULD contemn him, in no uncertain terms, as should we all.  Oh, yes: he supports torture as well.  Although he finally did say he'd abide by laws, a Congressman noted he didn't yet specifically disavow torture.  From the article: The lead Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said that while Trump "has now said he would obey the law, he has yet to specifically disavow torture or killing the families of our enemies."    Schiff also noted that these are war crimes! There should be no place for this type of total disrespect for : protest and dissent, Freedom of the Press, and treating other human beings with a degree of civility and humanity.  He has stoked "anger" and refuses to see the problems with the mob mentality that's floating around.  This needs to be totally rejected by ALL!

 So there's another edition of our "Hall of Shame."  Would love to have some comments or suggestions.  Would really love some encouragement here.  So - let me hear from some of you.

Je Suis Charlie

What can be said in the wake the horrific attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine staff in Paris?  There is a pretty clear sentiment that we must stand united against any threat to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. And that we should keep the victims and their families in our prayers.

Je Suis Charlie.

Nous Sommes Tous Charlie.

I am Charlie.

We are all Charlie.

P. S. 
Let's not forget those who perished aboard the AirAsia Flight and their families - or the Malaysian Air flight - or the flight that crashed in the Ukraine - or victims of torture.  They all still need our prayers as well.

Journalism is NOT a Crime!

Post-holiday greetings, all.

While looking for something on tv, there was a special on Al Jazeera America on the hazards facing journalists today, with a special focus on three of their journalists now held in jail in Egypt for more than a year.  "Journalism is not a crime" is their phrase used to rally support for their colleagues.

They also had a segment on the subject of the new film, Rosewater, Maziar Bahari, and the film's director, Jon Stewart.  Mr. Bahari, a journalist and filmmaker, was jailed in Iran, interrogated daily, and was also tortured.  He was finally released after 118 days.  His family memoir formed the basis for the film.

There was also a segment on some of the statistics on jailed journalists kept by the Committee to Protect Journalists. There is a great summary of the data at their website.  They count 220 jailed journalists worldwide, the second worst total since they've been keeping the statistics.  Reporters Without Borders also has some data on their homepage, which is worth viewing.

All of us should be concerned that Freedom of the Press is observed worldwide.  That includes our own country.  We should take note of how journalists were treated in Ferguson, and how the government is fighting almost all efforts to be transparent and accountable.  Mr. Bahari's book was originally titled:  Then They Came for Me.  That is, of course, a reference to a "golden oldie" quote, whose message we should definitely heed. (and you might like to visit my take on it - here  ).

UPDATE: 

Developments in case of Al-Jazeera journalists held in Egypt

Read Any Good Banned Books Lately?

Nothing like being right on top of things.  I just saw that this has been "Banned Books Week", which has many sponsors and endorsers, including the American Library Association and the American Booksellers Association.  Well, there's still today to go!

There have been read-outs of selections from banned or challenged works, and people can even submit videos for a "virtual read-out." 

There are two lists you may wish to peruse: one of frequently banned classics and another of frequently challenged books (21st Century list).

Full disclosure:  I haven't read many of these.  Very few actually.  I did read Animal Farm in high school; wasn't all that impressed with it and remember very little.  I did start reading 1984 but never read the whole thing.  I also started Catch-22 but didn't get very far as I found it made little sense to me.  As far as what's on the challenge list: I started My Sister's Keeper as it was one of our One Book, One College selections one year, and I didn't like it one bit.  Didn't make it to the end, which I think must be a pretty bad one.  I also have I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which I'm sure is quite good (I really should read it one day...).  However I also did start reading The Glass Castle  by Jeannette Walls (it was also a One Book, One College selection).  I found it very intriguing.  For some reason I haven't finished it - and I was curious as to "what happens next..." - so I think someday I will pick it up again.  And I must shout out to Ms. Walls, who was so very gracious when she signed my copy.

The lists also give reasons for challenges.  One of the most prevalent is "not appropriate to age group."  While I don't agree with censorship, we probably should be somewhat sensitive to content given to say, below high school level students.  Giving alternate reading assignments or holding off on some books until the students are a bit older might be some alternatives.

For older students and of course, adults: have you read any good banned books lately?

Ferguson

After the latest developments from Ferguson, I had to add my voice in decrying the situation.  In going through media reports, more than one person noted we still don't know exactly what happened.  But there is an almost universal condemnation of the tactics the Ferguson police have used against protesters - and against journalists.  If you haven't read reports (and I'll share a link or two in a moment), please note that police in full riot gear, swat teams and snipers, and heavily armed vehicles have been the response to peaceful protests (yes, there has been some looting and such, but for the most part, the core of protests has been peaceful). Not only that, two journalists were arrested, totally without cause, and an Al Jazeera crew was scattered and their equipment dismantled.

In response, the Gov. of MO has replaced the police with the State Highway Patrol and the results so far have been positive.  The U. S. Attorney General has said that Federal entities will get more involved as well and stated that the previous scenes from Ferguson cannot continue.

The situation exposes on so many levels problems in our society.  There is the tendency of police to profile African-American young men.  Many have called attention to the number of fatalities they have suffered at the hands of police (there was just the incident in NYC in which the death of the young man was ruled a homicide).  There are also way too many incidents of brutality by police - often against mentally ill individuals, but women and the elderly have not been immune.  Such reports are very easy to find in a cursory search of the internet.

And there's something else.  The Ferguson situation has given wider exposure to a phenomenon that has been growing and has attracted some attention: the increasing militarization of police forces.  At The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald has an excellent piece which gives an overview of both the situation in Ferguson and the problems fostered by the militarization that was so evident there.  In the article are several links to background and reports on this issue.  If you look at what is happening, it should be clear that this increasing militarization presents real threats to Freedoms of Speech, Assembly, and the Press.

I also found this thoughtful article at The Guardian.  It is definitely worth reading.

Finally, in thinking about the threats to our freedoms, here is one of my previous blog posts which I hope you might read - or reread, as it certainly seems a propos to current events.

How Low?

In case you missed this...

The AP found in e-mails obtained by a FOIA request, that our U. S. NSA and intelligence apparatus had notice of the destruction of hard drives of The Guardian which held Snowden files - and celebrated the news! Remember that at the time of the revelation, the White House was distancing itself from the fray.

The Guardian story on this is here.  There is also a fine post on this at The Intercept, including reaction to other recent Intercept stories.

Every time I think the spooks can't descend any further, they seem to hit a new low.  How do we counter the mentality exhibited by their smug arrogance? Suppose we make them all write the First Amendment, by hand, 100  - no, that's not enough - 1,000 times.  Might it then sink into their minds somehow?  What will it take to get them to start respecting our civil liberties?

Can This Supreme Court Ever Get it Right?

Well, the outrages just keep on coming, don't they?  The Supreme Court declined to review the case of James Risen, NYT reporter who might face jail for protecting a source.  This is especially troubling as it seems his testimony really isn't needed to pursue the case against the source!

In how many ways is this wrong?  How can a Free Press (yes, capitals are deserved) do its job without protecting sources which often might face retribution, prosecution, or even other dangers?  How can the press serve the public in making transparent government misconduct if sources are afraid to talk to the media?  How is allowing only government sanctioned reporting in the public interest?  And why do we have to keep fighting this battle?

As you ponder those questions, here are two quotes which are germane:

First: Justice Hugo Black in the Pentagon Papers case (NYT v. United States) -
"Both the history and language of the First Amendment support the view that the press must be left free to publish news, whatever the source, without censorship, injunctions, or prior restraints."

Second: from James Alexander in the Weekly Journal printed by John Peter Zenger back in the 1730's -
"The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press; for it is an essential branch of liberty, so perhaps it is the best preservative of the whole.  Even a restraint of the press would have a fatal influence.  No nation ancient or modern has ever lost the liberty of freely speaking, writing or publishing their sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves."
You can find out more about the Zenger trial here .

Now back to the case of Mr. Risen.  Many organizations have voiced support for him.  The Freedom of the Press Foundation has a fine post about his case on its blog.  In whatever ways we can, we need to support him.