Texas passes landmark abortion restrictions, Texas DPS officers taser and sexually assault protestors immediately afterwords
The Texas Senate passed a landmark bill restricting abortion access last Thursday in a second special session called by the Governor. At the same time, the Capital of Texas building was filled with protestors, despite draconian access restrictions and the presence of armed and sometimes violent pro-life partisans.
The measure, which Governor Rick Perry signed today, would restrict abortions to 20 weeks. The bill requires all abortion clinics to be licensed as “surgical centers,” a provision that would require most of them to widen their hallways. Such cost-prohibitive renovations will force the closure of all but five of the state's 42 clinics by the end of the year. Planned Parenthood's gulf coast affiliate has already announced the closure of clinics in Bryan, Lufkin and Huntsville. These closures affect 130,000 patients, of whom only 3% sought abortions last year.
The measure, which Governor Rick Perry signed today, would restrict abortions to 20 weeks. The bill requires all abortion clinics to be licensed as “surgical centers,” a provision that would require most of them to widen their hallways. Such cost-prohibitive renovations will force the closure of all but five of the state's 42 clinics by the end of the year. Planned Parenthood's gulf coast affiliate has already announced the closure of clinics in Bryan, Lufkin and Huntsville. These closures affect 130,000 patients, of whom only 3% sought abortions last year.
Trayvon Martin: A Jewish response
The acquittal by jury of Goerge Zimmerman who shot and murdered the unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was emblematic of the consistent racism and double standard used in the treatment of minority groups or those deemed "Other" in the U.S. and around the world. Where is there justice in a world in which so many people suffer oppression and in which those who choose to use violence as a way to address and deal with their hatred and fear often seem to triumph?
Jewish theology holds that there is a karmic order, so that evil actions will not always run the world. Justice and compassion are both essential to the survival of the planet. Unlike many religions that focus on individual sinners and imagine that they will be punished in some future not currently verifiable--for example in a heaven or hell after life, or in a reincarnation in some form that provides rewards or punishments for how one lives in this world, most of Jewish theology sees karma as playing out on a societal scale, and over the long run.
Jewish theology holds that there is a karmic order, so that evil actions will not always run the world. Justice and compassion are both essential to the survival of the planet. Unlike many religions that focus on individual sinners and imagine that they will be punished in some future not currently verifiable--for example in a heaven or hell after life, or in a reincarnation in some form that provides rewards or punishments for how one lives in this world, most of Jewish theology sees karma as playing out on a societal scale, and over the long run.
White privilege: Innocent; Trayvon Martin: Guilty
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I can't say I was surprised at the verdict. Because, to apply the famous words of George Zimmerman, these assholes always get away. There is a lot of blame to go around for the fact that there is no Justice for Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17- year old African American kid who was profiled, hunted, and killed. High on the list of what killed Trayvon and what allowed his murderer to go free is the white privilege and systems of racism and oppression that this country was built upon and executes (pun intended) with full force, in a slightly more nuanced form, today.
I can't say I was surprised at the verdict. Because, to apply the famous words of George Zimmerman, these assholes always get away. There is a lot of blame to go around for the fact that there is no Justice for Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17- year old African American kid who was profiled, hunted, and killed. High on the list of what killed Trayvon and what allowed his murderer to go free is the white privilege and systems of racism and oppression that this country was built upon and executes (pun intended) with full force, in a slightly more nuanced form, today.
Investigate the racial context behind Martin's death
If Trayvon Martin were not a young black male, he would be alive today. Despite the verdict, it's clear that George Zimmerman would never have confronted a young white man wearing a hoodie. He would, at the very least, have listened to the cops and stayed back. Trayvon Martin is dead because Zimmerman believed that "these guys always get away" and chose not to wait for the police.
Trayvon Martin's death shatters the convenient myths that blind us to reality. That reality, as the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board wrote, is that "black men carry a special burden from the day they are born."
Both the prosecutor and the defense claimed that the trial was not about race. But Trayvon Martin was assumed to be threatening just for walking while being young, black and male.
That is the reality that can no longer be ignored. Through the years, gruesome horrors -- the murder of Emmitt Till, the shooting of Medgar Evers in his front yard -- have galvanized African Americans and public action on civil rights. Trayvon Martin's death should do the same.
Trayvon Martin's death shatters the convenient myths that blind us to reality. That reality, as the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board wrote, is that "black men carry a special burden from the day they are born."
Both the prosecutor and the defense claimed that the trial was not about race. But Trayvon Martin was assumed to be threatening just for walking while being young, black and male.
That is the reality that can no longer be ignored. Through the years, gruesome horrors -- the murder of Emmitt Till, the shooting of Medgar Evers in his front yard -- have galvanized African Americans and public action on civil rights. Trayvon Martin's death should do the same.
Embedded Racism
Did the ghosts of our slave-holding and Jim Crow past high-five each other in the Florida courtroom on Saturday? George Zimmerman was acquitted, but does that mean that American history was, too?
The experts who weighed in on the legal battle essentially noted that, in the absence of any witnesses other than Zimmerman, the prosecution couldn’t prove what had happened, or more to the point, couldn’t convincingly counter-argue his version of events – that he was returning to his car when Trayvon Martin assaulted him and threw him to the ground, forcing him to kill the boy in self-defense. Trayvon was dead; that left him, legally, voiceless and out of luck.
Hmm . . . wasn’t that the case anyway?
The incident blew into a national outrage because, initially, the boy’s killing was nothing at all in the eyes of the law. He was walking through a white, gated community, wearing a hoodie. Stand your ground! The police held the killer for a few hours, then let him go without charges.
The experts who weighed in on the legal battle essentially noted that, in the absence of any witnesses other than Zimmerman, the prosecution couldn’t prove what had happened, or more to the point, couldn’t convincingly counter-argue his version of events – that he was returning to his car when Trayvon Martin assaulted him and threw him to the ground, forcing him to kill the boy in self-defense. Trayvon was dead; that left him, legally, voiceless and out of luck.
Hmm . . . wasn’t that the case anyway?
The incident blew into a national outrage because, initially, the boy’s killing was nothing at all in the eyes of the law. He was walking through a white, gated community, wearing a hoodie. Stand your ground! The police held the killer for a few hours, then let him go without charges.
Operation Mockingbird: New York Times confesses to role in subverting First Amendment
For the NSA to succeed in spying on Americans and violating the Constitution without mass demonstrations you must first understand how the security industrial complex compromised the mass media. In the Monday, July 14, 2013 New York Times, we get a rare glimpse into that historical tragedy fittingly on its obituary page.
The death notice, “Austin Goodrich, 87, Spy Posing as Reporter,” detailed seldom seen facts about the legendary “Operation Mockingbird.” The aptly named “Mockingbird” was a covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) campaign to create a mass media echo chamber during the Cold War. The Times' lead is telling: “In the 1950s and ‘60s, Austin Goodrich was far from the only journalist doubling as a secret agent for the United States.”
Indeed. Alex Constantine, in his Mockingbird: The Subversion of the Free Press by the CIA, estimates “some 3,000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts.”
The death notice, “Austin Goodrich, 87, Spy Posing as Reporter,” detailed seldom seen facts about the legendary “Operation Mockingbird.” The aptly named “Mockingbird” was a covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) campaign to create a mass media echo chamber during the Cold War. The Times' lead is telling: “In the 1950s and ‘60s, Austin Goodrich was far from the only journalist doubling as a secret agent for the United States.”
Indeed. Alex Constantine, in his Mockingbird: The Subversion of the Free Press by the CIA, estimates “some 3,000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts.”
Starving for justice in America's gulag from Cuba to California
This morning in the Oval Office they had a weekly event called “Terror Tuesday.” Terror Tuesday is when the meeting where President Obama, leader of the free world, looks over his disposition matrix and decides who will be killed by drone and who will be taken from their homes by Special Forces to torture and indefinite detention without trial. The Columbus Free Press has previously discussed how this technocratic extrajudicial process results when a terrorist or wedding is incinerated for the profit margin of the President's Democratic party cronies. The other results, eternal detention without trial, have not been recently examined. This practice, which presents itself as a feature of the war on terror, has it's actual root in America's vast domestic prison system. Thousands of people under its heel are literally willing to die to escape.
Tell Attorney General Eric Holder to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman
Trayvon Martin is dead, and his killer is walking free. The injustice of the situation is both palpable and maddening.
It is clear that had George Zimmerman not acted as an armed vigilante almost a year and a half ago, Trayvon Martin would still be alive.
It was Zimmerman who took it upon himself to determine that Trayvon Martin, a young African American, was "suspicious." Zimmerman then disregarded the instructions of a 911 dispatcher, first stalking and then initiating a confrontation with Trayvon Martin that left the unarmed youth dead.
But while a jury in Florida incomprehensibly decided not to hold Zimmerman responsible for this senseless murder, the federal government can still take action.
Tell the Attorney General Eric Holder to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. Click here to automatically sign the petition.
It's hard not to conclude that Trayvon Martin was a victim of this senseless crime because of his race.
And whether intended or not, the message sent by Zimmerman's acquittal is that the value our culture places on a human life depends upon our skin color.
It is clear that had George Zimmerman not acted as an armed vigilante almost a year and a half ago, Trayvon Martin would still be alive.
It was Zimmerman who took it upon himself to determine that Trayvon Martin, a young African American, was "suspicious." Zimmerman then disregarded the instructions of a 911 dispatcher, first stalking and then initiating a confrontation with Trayvon Martin that left the unarmed youth dead.
But while a jury in Florida incomprehensibly decided not to hold Zimmerman responsible for this senseless murder, the federal government can still take action.
Tell the Attorney General Eric Holder to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. Click here to automatically sign the petition.
It's hard not to conclude that Trayvon Martin was a victim of this senseless crime because of his race.
And whether intended or not, the message sent by Zimmerman's acquittal is that the value our culture places on a human life depends upon our skin color.