In My Inbox
is it just me or this series pretty fun?
I have loved sharing the stories I am following and what’s been keeping me engaged. This list is usually non-exhaustive, but it’s always diverse. I don’t recommend feeling like you have to stay on top of information at all times, so don’t feel pressured to read story after story. Come back and bookmark as you must!
cover photo belongs to me
From NPR
“WWII Sex Slaves Demand Justice”
“Narcisa is one of the last survivors of a system of sexual servitude set up by the Japanese imperial troops during World War II. They used abduction, coercion and deception to force women and girls to provide sexual gratification to military personnel. Researchers cited in court cases say that large numbers of them did not survive.” - PHOTOS: Why These World War II Sex Slaves Are Still Demanding Justice
Cheryl Diaz Meyer for NPR
“Inside China’s Online Fentanyl Chemical Networks…”
“For years, China has been a primary source of fentanyl trafficked into the United States. It is a powerful prescription drug for severe pain that's made and sold illegally. It led to more than 37,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2019, part of a national opioid crisis that has worsened this year during the coronavirus pandemic, according to federal health authorities.
Under international pressure, China's government banned the production and sale of fentanyl and many of its variants in May 2019, resulting in a significant reduction in the country's illicit fentanyl trade.
But more than a year later, Chinese vendors have tapped into online networks to brazenly market fentanyl analogs and the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, and ship them directly to customers in the U.S. and Europe as well as to Mexican cartels, according to an NPR investigation and research from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, or C4ADS, a nonprofit data analysis group. (The center receives some of its funds from the U.S. and U.K. governments.)
Some of the substances are outlawed in China and internationally. Others are so new they are not yet banned, are harder to detect and regulate, and they can be used in basic chemical processes to produce illegal drugs.”- 'We Are Shipping To The U.S.': Inside China's Online Synthetic Drug Networks
“Fentanyl drug traffickers are sentenced in court last year in Xingtai in northeast China's Hebei province. The court sentenced at least nine fentanyl traffickers in a case that was the culmination of a rare collaboration between Chinese and U.S. law enforcement to crack down on global networks that manufacture and distribute lethal synthetic opioids.”
Jin Liangkuai/Xinhua via AP
“Imagine Waiting 6 Hours to Buy A Couple of Bags of Bread”
“Syrians across the country are facing shortages of subsidized bread at a time when, for many, it is one of the only foods they can still afford. The United Nations' World Food Program says that in this once middle-income country, some 9.3 million people, approximately the population, are food insecure.”- Imagine Waiting 6 Hours To Buy A Couple Of Bags Of Bread
“How Much COVID-19 Vaccine Has Each Country Claimed?”
“When the pandemic began, rich countries went on a buying spree. Some have even called it "panic buying." These countries started making agreements with pharmaceutical companies to purchase experimental COVID-19 vaccines, even before clinical trials had finished. The details of many such agreements are not public, NPR has reported.”- How Rich Countries Are 'Hoarding' The World's Vaccines, In Charts
“Bangladesh Begins Relocation….”
“Authorities in Bangladesh are pushing ahead with the relocation of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, despite concerns raised by human rights groups and the United Nations.
On Thursday, the first group of about 1,500 Rohingya were placed aboard several navy vessels heading toward to Bhashan Char, located about 120 miles south of the capital, Dhaka.
Bangladeshi officials first proposed the island in 2015 as an option for some of the hundreds of thousands who have been housed for years in camps since fleeing brutal crackdowns by the military in neighboring Myanmar. But the idea was put on hold because of potentially unsafe conditions on the cyclone and flood-prone island.”- Bangladesh Begins Moving Displaced Rohingya Muslims To Island
David Dinkins
“David Dinkins, New York City's only African American mayor, died Monday night at 93.”- David Dinkins, New York City's 1st Black Mayor, Dies At 93
Listen
“Democrats went into the election expecting to gain seats in the House. Instead, they lost at least eight of them.”- Stunned By Congressional Losses, Democrats Debate The Future
Rent & Mortgage
“Congress has ordered banks to allow most homeowners hurt financially in the pandemic to skip mortgage payments. Some renters are covered by eviction protections.
If you're asking for this kind of help, NPR wants to hear from you.”- Have You Skipped Rent Or Mortgage Payments During the Pandemic?
Black Church Defaced
“We worship. We liberate. We serve.”- Pastor Of Black Church Defaced In Protests: 'An Assault On Our Historical Resolve'
The New York Times
Opinion
“Some things are true even though President Trump says them.
Trump has been demanding for months that schools reopen, and on that he seems to have been largely right. Schools, especially elementary schools, do not appear to have been major sources of coronavirus transmission, and remote learning is proving to be a catastrophe for many low-income children.
Yet America is shutting schools — New York City announced Wednesday that it was closing schools in the nation’s largest school district — even as it allows businesses like restaurants and bars to operate. What are our priorities?”- When Trump Was Right and Many Democrats Wrong
The Church and James Baldwin
“Although he ultimately rejected Pentecostalism, the writer captured its pathos and ability to bear witness to Blackness in America in his first novel.”- What the Church Meant for James Baldwin
Opinion
“Barack Obama continues his rather strange mission to confront and correct young liberal activists. It is an odd post-presidential note: A man who is beloved and admired on the left is using his cultural currency as a corrective against those who are on a quest for change.
Wednesday morning on Peter Hamby’s Snapchat show, “Good Luck America,” Obama said this:
“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘Defund the police,’ but, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done.””- Obama’s Curious Cautiousness
Prisons and COVID-19
“Federal officials have suggested that corrections staff receive high priority for a coronavirus vaccine, but not the millions of vulnerable inmates held in U.S. facilities.”- Prisons Are Covid-19 Hotbeds. When Should Inmates Get the Vaccine?
Opinion
“New York’s congressional representatives can make sure that prisoners are treated humanely.”- Stop the Coronavirus Outbreak at Brooklyn’s Federal Jail
William Barr
“Mr. Barr was one of the most powerful members of President Trump’s cabinet and faced widespread criticism over his willingness to advance Mr. Trump’s political agenda.”- William Barr Is Out as Attorney General
The New Humanitarian
War Photography
“Pulitzer Prize-winning American photojournalist Lynsey Addario has spent the last 20 years documenting humanitarian crises. Her work has shaped the way the public sees conflict, shining light on wars and their aftermath – from Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 2000s to Syria and Yemen more recently.
But lately she has turned her sights on emergencies confronting Western governments at home. She speaks to The New Humanitarian about what has surprised her most, and why she thinks the pandemic is making it harder to garner attention for crises overseas. “-
On Colombia
“Even as the fourth anniversary of a landmark peace accord came and went in late November, conflict and extortion were driving rising numbers of people from their homes in Colombia’s most lawless regions.”- COVID-19 fuels growing conflict and displacement in Colombia
On Bangladesh
‘We are not able to build our houses again.’- Bangladesh’s hidden climate costs
What’s Next?
“Despite so-called “zero tolerance” policies and pledges from the UN and aid organisations to root out perpetrators, harrowing accounts from survivors keep surfacing, as we discovered in our recent investigation about how 50 women described being lured into sex-for-work schemes by aid workers during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But what happens to survivors after the headlines fade? “- What happens to sexual abuse survivors after the headlines fade?
On Senegal
“Like many compatriots, Abdou Diakaté didn’t feel he had much choice when he boarded a long, wooden boat on the Senegalese coast in October with around 100 others and set off into the Atlantic Ocean. The boat was heading for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off West Africa that has seen a surge in migration this year.”- What’s driving the deadly migrant surge from Senegal to the Canary Islands?
The Marshall Project
ICE and COVID-19
“An investigation reveals how Immigration and Customs Enforcement became a domestic and global spreader of COVID-19.”- HOW ICE EXPORTED THE CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19 Relief
“Filing taxes with an undocumented immigrant means the whole family loses out on payment.”- Why Millions of Americans Still Can't Get Coronavirus Relief Funds
Undoing Trump’s Immigration Agenda
“Restoring asylum claims and judges’ independence will be uphill work.”
“As President-elect Joe Biden moves deliberately to transition towards the White House, even while Trump refuses to accept defeat, he has laid out a fast-paced agenda to unwind Trump’s harsh immigration policies. But even if Biden quickly orders a final end to family separations and re-opens the border for asylum-seekers, his plans could stall without action at the Justice Department, which holds extensive power over the immigration system.
To carry out Biden’s proposals, his attorney general will have to reverse decisions by Sessions and Attorney General William Barr that sharply limited asylum, particularly for people like L.M. who are fleeing from Central America. Biden’s justice officials will have to contend with an immigration appeals court loaded by Barr with conservative judges known for denying asylum.”- Biden Will Try to Unmake Trump’s Immigration Agenda. It Won’t Be Easy.
Anti-Lockdown Sherrifs
“Opposition to stay-at-home orders is the latest example of a history of powerful sheriffs, which stretches back to the end of slavery and the settling of the frontier.” - The Rise of the
Anti-Lockdown Sheriffs
The Next To Die
https://www.themarshallproject.org/next-to-die
Freed From Prison
“During the COVID-19 crisis, people coming home after decades behind bars find loved
ones in quarantine, dire job prospects and overwhelmed social services agencies.”- Freed From Prison After 26 Years—Into a Coronavirus Hotspot
Prison and Disability
“State officials often fail to identify prisoners with developmental disorders, a group that
faces overwhelming challenges behind bars, from bright lights to noises to social dynamics.”- Prison Is Even Worse When You Have a Disability Like Autism
No-Show
“Prisons across the country, both public and private, are struggling with staff shortages. But the circumstances that led to the attack on Adams illustrate a perverse financial incentive unique to private prisons: While fewer workers means more danger for staff and incarcerated people, it can create more profit for companies like MTC.
This problem is acute in Mississippi, where state officials failed to enforce contractual penalties that punish short staffing. Instead, they continued to pay MTC the salaries of absent employees, aka ghost workers.”- No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions
Election Week Behind Bars
“From time to time you hear someone shout something like, ‘Trump cannot be stopped!’ or, ‘Let’s get this White Nazi out of power!’ There is no gray area.”- Notes From a Wild Election Week Behind Bars
Foreign Affairs
Samantha Power
America’s Advantage and Biden’s Chance- The Can-Do Power
Hillary Clinton
How Washington Should Think About Power- A National Security Reckoning
Fukuyama, Richman, Goel
Ending Big Tech’s Information Monopoly- How to Save Democracy From Technology
Westad
What the State Department Gets Wrong About Beijing- The U.S. Can’t Check China Alone
The Conversation
Genocide Claims
“A Russian-brokered cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan this week halted fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, where long-standing hostilities reerupted on Sept. 27.
The deal leaves Azerbaijan, which was given Nagorno-Karabakh by the Soviets in 1923, largely in control of the majority-Armenian territory. Leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh, located in Western Azerbaijan close to Armenia, continue to demand independence.”- Genocide claims in Nagorno-Karabakh make peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan unlikely, despite cease-fire
On Oregon
“Oregon became the first state in the United States to decriminalize the possession of all drugs on Nov. 3, 2020.
Measure 110, a ballot initiative funded by the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy group backed in part by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, passed with more than 58% of the vote. Possessing heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs for personal use is no longer a criminal offense in Oregon.
Those drugs are still against the law, as is selling them. But possession is now a civil – not criminal – violation that may result in a fine or court-ordered therapy, not jail. Marijuana, which Oregon legalized in 2014, remains fully legal.”- Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here’s why voters passed this groundbreaking reform
Flu-Shot
“The Latino population is more reluctant than most other groups to get the flu vaccine and often pays a high price with their health. An analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 10 flu seasons showed the Latino community had the third highest flu-related hospitalization rates of any demographic group.”- Latinos are especially reluctant to get flu shots – how a small clinic in Indiana found ways to overcome that
Paris Climate Agreement
“This month marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement – the commitment by almost every country to try to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.
It’s an ambitious goal, and the clock is ticking.
The planet has already warmed by about 1 C since the start of the industrial era. That might not sound like much, but that first degree is changing the planet in profound ways, from more extreme heat waves that put human health and crops at risk, to rising sea levels.”- 5 years after Paris: How countries’ climate policies match up to their promises, and who’s aiming for net zero emissions
Do You Wear A Mask?
“Governments around the world have recommended or mandated various behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. These include staying at home, wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.
Yet individuals continue to flout these recommendations and ignore explicit rules about wearing face masks. In the U.S., U.K. and Australia, crowds have gathered closely together to protest against lockdowns.
All this poses the question: Why are people not following the rules that protect not only their own health but the health of their community and nation? And how can policymakers and public health officials design better messages to encourage uptake?”- Pro-mask or anti-mask? Your moral beliefs probably predict your stance
Ethics and Foreign Policy
“Donald Trump’s foreign policy has, in the judgment of many analysts, damaged U.S. moral standing around the world. During four years of “America First,” the Trump administration has gotten cozy with governments that disdain human rights norms and laws, restricted immigration on the basis of religion and withdrawn from treaties aimed to bolster international well-being.
Joe Biden has promised to set a different course, to “reclaim” America’s “position as the moral and economic leader of the world.” Doing so might be vital as the U.S. competes for international influence against rival powers China and Russia.”-
International Law
“In Ethiopia, the national army claims to have taken “complete control” of Mekelle, the capital of the dissident region of Tigray. But since the fighting started in November, there have been concerns for civilians in the region who may have been injured or displaced due to the conflict.
What is known is that providers of humanitarian aid haven’t been able to reach civilians. There are also reports that hundreds of civilians have been killed. However, because parts of the region have been cut off from mobile phone and internet network, it’s hard to ascertain the exact situation on the ground.
As an expert on human rights and international criminal law, I wanted to provide insights into the legality of the government’s actions and whether the armed intervention violates international law.”- Did Ethiopia’s attack on Tigray violate international laws?
On “Individual Rights”
“I’ve realized – through talking to friends, and thinking about the protests against COVID-19-related restrictions that have taken place around the country – that many people do not understand that individual rights and state power are not really opposites.”- Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free society
Puerto Rico
“Puerto Ricans requested statehood on Nov. 3, 2020, with 52.3% of voters asking to change the island’s status from unincorporated territory to U.S. state.
This is the sixth time statehood has been on the ballot since Puerto Rico ratified its Constitution in 1952. Voters rejected the status change in 1967, 1993 and 1998.”- Puerto Rico wants statehood – but only Congress can make it the 51st state in the United States
“Food Pharm”
“Being food-insecure – unable to get enough nutritious food to meet your needs – can take a toll on your health. So Dayton Children’s Hospital has begun to screen its patients and their families for this problem and refer them to what it’s calling the “Food Pharm.”
This program, which launched about two years ago, currently aims to provide about 55 families per month with enough healthy food, such as whole grain pasta, beans and green beans, to feed a family of four for three days while also connecting them with other resources to help them get through the rest of the week.”-
Police in Schools
“I believe that stationing large numbers of police officers inside public schools is one reality ripe for reform. I say this not only as a scholar of the politics of education, but as former deputy chancellor of New York City’s public schools. I served right before New York City’s mayor at the time – Rudolph Giuliani – moved to have the police department take over school security for the city’s school system.”- Why getting back to ‘normal’ doesn’t have to involve police in schools
Global Finance
“COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system”
The Atlantic
#45’s Legacy
“To assess the legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency, start by quantifying it. Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country. In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 “excess deaths”; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic. The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius. Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties. The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.”- A Political Obituary for Donald Trump
Intimate Look at COVID-19 at Hospitals
“You likely know that the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is surging across the country. But headlines from distant states do not capture the horror of a hospital without enough intensive-care beds. I was an anesthesiology resident in a large academic medical center at the peak of the pandemic in New York City this spring.”- Headlines Don’t Capture the Horror We Saw
Biden’s Next Move
“The misdeeds and destructive acts are legion. The new president should focus on these three.” -How Biden Should Investigate Trump
The New Republic
On the Democratic Party
“Feinstein’s declining health points to a larger problem. The Democratic Party is ruled by a gerontocracy. Much has been made of Joe Biden being the oldest first-term president in history, but he is younger than Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democrats continue to win young voters by huge margins but look nothing like them. Instead of grooming younger talent, House and Senate leadership is full of members in their seventies and eighties who seem hell-bent on retaining their plum positions. This is a party that desperately needs to get younger, or else it will continue to bungle basic governance and alienate both its future leaders and the base.” -
On Fox News
“The network is facing real, sustained competition from the right for the first time in its history.”- Fox News Is in Trouble
On The Future
“A.I. research scientist Timnit Gebru raised red flags about Google’s most exciting new tech. She says she was forced out for it.”- Who Gets a Say in Our Dystopian Tech Future?
ProPublica
Immigrant Teen Labor
“During the day, immigrant teenagers attend high school. At night, they work in factories to pay debts to smugglers and send money to family. The authorities aren’t surprised by child labor. They’re also not doing much about it.”- Inside the Lives of Immigrant Teens Working Dangerous Night Shifts in Suburban Factories
Textbooks
“When the pandemic started, several school districts in Indiana halted a long-standing practice: suing families for unpaid textbook fees. But one school district has filed nearly 300 lawsuits against parents, and others also have returned to court.”- The Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped This School District From Suing Parents Over Unpaid Textbook Fees
To Be Poor In America
“We reported how Memphis’ largest hospital system sued thousands of poor patients. Now, new data shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley shows the system collected $169 million in past-due bills, but only 1% received financial assistance during collections.”- Nonprofit Hospital Almost Never Gave Discounts to Poor Patients During Collections, Documents Show
Hawaii’s Beaches
“Hawaii’s beaches are public land, which officials are obligated to protect and preserve. But a state agency has repeatedly allowed homeowners, including surfer Kelly Slater, to use tactics that protect property while speeding up the loss of beaches.”- How Famous Surfers and Wealthy Homeowners Are Endangering Hawaii’s Beaches
Environmental Degradation
“Federal regulators and West Virginia agencies are rewriting environmental rules again to pave the way for construction of a major natural gas pipeline across Appalachia, even after an appeals court blocked the pipeline for the second time.”- Federal Regulators Are Rewriting Environmental Rules So a Massive Pipeline Can Be Built
Misc.
Aeon
“A collaboration between the London-based electronic musician Max Cooper and the visual artist Kevin McGloughlin in Ireland, Repetition invites viewers to take a mind-bending dive into an audiovisual world of infinite regress. Extrapolating from everyday images, McGloughlin constructs roads and traffic lights that intertwine endlessly, and escalators and elevators that traverse high-rise buildings with no top floor. These mesmerising visuals are accentuated by the ceaseless, steady pulse of Cooper’s ambient score. Intermittent land- and oceanscape imagery seems to draw out parallels between patterns in human engineering and nature, as well as tensions between human expansion and the natural world. But, ultimately, what Repetition offers viewers most forcefully isn’t social commentary, but an immersive experience that’s somehow at once meditative, disorienting and thrilling – and best viewed at full screen.”- Dive into a boundless cityscape with an immersive artwork inspired by the infinite
“The phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty entwines us, via our own beating, pulsing, living bodies, in the lives of others”- The body as mediator
Psyche
“Whether for a paper or a thesis, define your question, review the work of others – and leave yourself open to discovery”- How to plan a research project
“‘Dark’ personalities come in various shades, but at the core of all of them is a tendency to callously use others for personal gain. What is it that these types of people are really gaining, though? Might a benevolent approach to life and others be even more advantageous?”- Are people with dark personality traits more likely to succeed?
Sapiens
“Sickness is not just biological—it’s social. That’s why social science should be central to controlling and preventing diseases.”- The CDC Needs Social Science
CBS
“U.S. border officials have expelled at least 66 unaccompanied migrant children without a court hearing or asylum interview since a federal judge ordered them to stop the practice, the Trump administration conceded on Saturday.”- U.S. border officials expelled dozens of migrant children in violation of court order
Open Global Human Rights
“This project seeks to identify opportunities and challenges for educators committed to social justice and healing to critically examine their practices and engage in cross-community and cross-border collaborations.”- Public Education as Reparative Justice in two Settler Colonial Contexts
Undark
“A new California law aims to curb what sponsors say is profiteering by dialysis centers. But are there any easy answers?”- Kidney Dialysis Is a Booming Business. Is it Also a Rigged One?
“We can’t expect people to avoid risks entirely. Instead, we should embrace the policy of harm reduction.” - Opinion: Pandemic Shaming Can Backfire. Here’s a Better Way.
“Trump’s ‘public charge’ rule penalizes immigrants for using benefits even though the pandemic leaves them few options.”- Opinion: To Fight Covid-19, Suspend the ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Rule
Fortify Rights
“Fortify Rights, Doha Debates, and three Rohingya refugee photographers in Bangladesh won a prestigious Shorty Award for promoting photography in the world’s largest refugee camp, said Fortify Rights today. The group received the top honor in the category of “Best Work for Immigration and Refugees” during the 5th Annual Shorty Social Good Awards.”
ARC
“In light of these developments and the importance of the U.S. Department of State reports to the asylum determination process, ARC decided to undertake a detailed review of selected country reports to assess the way human rights issues were being recorded or omitted by the U.S. Department of State under the current administration.”- Comparative Analysis: U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2016–2019)
AP
“A Black man who has spent nearly two decades behind bars says he’s grateful that a panel of legal experts was able to review his case with “fresh, unbiased eyes,” helping to expose serious flaws in the police investigation that put him away for life as a teenager.”- Black juvenile lifer thanks legal panel for reviewing case
“An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.”- 'Under the rug:' Sexual misconduct shakes FBI's senior ranks
The Intercept
“After two men died of Covid-19 while in jail for technical parole violations, there are growing demands for drastic reform.”- THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS EXPOSED THE ABSURDITIES OF NEW YORK’S PAROLE SYSTEM
Lawfare
“The news about the federal investigations of Hunter Biden in Delaware and, at least incidentally, in New York highlights the growing spate of politically fraught federal law enforcement investigations of prominent political officials or their family members.”- The Glut of High-Stakes Cross-Party, Cross-Administration Investigations
“From a global pandemic that has shown no signs of slowing to regional instability across the world, President-elect Biden will have no shortage of issues to address. Unlike nearly all other challenges, however, Biden and his incoming national security team can make demonstrative progress in cybersecurity within hours of taking office. Too frequently, American policymakers have approached and treated “cyber issues” as a purely technical problem requiring a technical solution. Despite this presumption, many solutions to cyber issues are not technical at all and are solidly grounded in how humans use technology, rather than in the technologies themselves. The measures presented here highlight that tangible results are within reach and that the Biden administration can hit the ground running on day one.” - Four Ways for President Biden to Fix Cyber on January 21
”David Sanger, building on a Reuters story, reports in the New York Times that some country, probably Russia, “broke into a range of key government networks, including in the Treasury and Commerce Departments, and had free access to their email systems.” The breach appears to be much broader. “[N]ational security-related agencies were also targeted, though it was not clear whether the systems contained highly classified material.” The Department of Homeland Security appears to be one of those agencies. Sanger says that the “intrusions have been underway for months” and that “the hackers have had free rein for much of the year.” The original Reuters story on Dec. 13 noted that people familiar with the hacks “feared the hacks uncovered so far may be the tip of the iceberg.” On the evening of Dec. 13, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an Emergency Directive to all federal civilian agencies to review their networks for indicators of compromise.”- Quick Thoughts on the Russia Hack
Vice
“In the last months of the Trump administration, other immigrant youth in government custody have been drugged and isolated for long periods, according to court records. The documents describe children languishing for months, including a young “nonverbal” girl who was separated from her father at the border over a year ago and is now unable to directly communicate with her family in Guatemala.”- Immigrant Teens Say They're Being Forcibly Drugged in US Custody
Farmland Grab
“The climate crisis has turned water into a valuable commodity, triggering a frenzied rush to control access to this resource – a phenomenon known as water grabbing.
Agriculture is the most important use of freshwater in the world. Production of food and other agricultural commodities account for over 80% of fresh water use. Water grabbing linked to land grabbing by agroindustry has led to countless cases of social conflict and environmental destruction around the world. The industry boom in the demand for palm oil as a cheap vegetable oil alternative, is a clear example of this. It has come at the high price of rainforest destruction, labor exploitation, and brutal land and water grabbing.”- Toxic river: the fight to reclaim water from oil palm plantations in Indonesia
“A really important report from the International Land Coalition and Oxfam is just out called ‘Uneven Ground: Land Inequality at the Heart of Unequal Societies’, along with 17 supporting papers. Through new analysis it shows that land inequality is even larger than previously thought, and that this has dramatic effects on poor people’s livelihoods, particularly those of women and young people.
In the rhetoric around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) there’s lots of talk about rising inequality, and pleas to ‘leave no one behind’, but most discussion barely touches on land, despite land access being vital for so many people’s lives. The corporate-driven concentration of land holding has been well researched around discussions of the ‘land grab’, but this report goes further, digging into the dynamics of inequality and how changes in the agri-food system are driving it.”- Unequal land, unequal societies
Info Migrants
“The three men, of whom the son of one died during the attempt to cross the Atlantic, were sentenced to two years in jail, with 23 months suspended. The Senegalese court passed its judgment on Tuesday, December 8.
According to the news agency Associated Press (AP), Mamadou Lamine Faye’s son, 14-year-old Doudou, died after setting off from the coastal town of Mbour in Senegal in mid-October. The court was told his father had paid the equivalent of about €380 to a smuggler to take his son to Spain.”- Fathers in Senegal sentenced to jail for pushing their sons to migrate
Prison Policy Initiative
“In 2020, a decades-long American policy failure — mass incarceration — collided with a brand new American policy failure: the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. After decades of needlessly locking up ever more people in jails and prisons, state and federal lawmakers now faced a public health disaster if they were unable to decarcerate quickly. In this report, we show that the persistent overuse of incarceration — despite decades of evidence of its inefficacy and harms — has had serious consequences. Mass incarceration and the failure to reduce prison and jail populations quickly led directly to an increase in COVID-19 cases, not just inside correctional facilities, but in the communities and counties that surround them.”- Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread
BuzzFeed News
“"ICE put their MAGA hat on. They’re gonna try to take it off come January, but I don’t know how successful that will be."- How ICE Became The Face Of Trump’s Immigration Crackdown And Where It Goes From Here After Biden Is In Charge
Columbia Journalism Review
“Every reporter-source interaction is unique. Some sources are in it for revenge, while others are seeking justice, or just the quiet satisfaction that comes from knowing that they instigated an important story. To get the goods, reporters can deploy a mix of flattery or wheedling, subtle threats or promises of grandeur. What makes this case unusual is that such conversations rarely become public. Indeed, few editors ever see the negotiations that their reporters carry on.”- A court case reveals the dance between reporter and source
Baltimore Sun
“Americans want tighter gun control; will Biden and Harris come through?” | COMMENTARY
“She stepped into prison at 18 years old. She gets out at age 61.
Eraina Pretty, the longest-serving female prisoner in Maryland, won her freedom Monday from a Baltimore Circuit Court judge. The Northwest Baltimore woman has served more than four decades behind bars for her part as a teenage accomplice in two 1970s murders.”- ‘Worthy of mercy’: Maryland’s longest-serving woman behind bars wins her freedom amid coronavirus concerns
The Kansas City Star
“Black and women firefighters are ostracized, put in danger, shut out of the most desirable posts, and passed over for promotions.”- Racism in the KCFD: Black and women firefighters face discrimination and harassment
The Washington Post
“Incarcerated people are suffering from COVID-19 more than most. They should be among the first vaccinated.” - Opinion
Brennan Center for Justice
“From policing to prisons, the Biden administration and Congress must act to make our systems of public safety less punitive and more equitable.”- A Federal Agenda for Criminal Justice Reform
Carr Center
How Are Human Rights Universal
LA Times
“The question of who qualifies as a tenant could hinge on a nuance of state law. If a person lives somewhere longer than 30 days, he or she is considered a tenant with a litany of rights afforded through state and federal law, including eviction protections, said Navneet Grewal, a lawyer for Disability Rights California who has been helping some of the people staying in the Studio 6. Often, she said, residential motels will force people to leave just before they hit 30 days so they don’t qualify for protections.
This is sometimes referred to as the “28-day shuffle” and is banned by state law, she said.”- Formerly homeless motel residents were kicked out — to make room for L.A.’s homeless
CNN
“The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed three Muslims who had been placed on no-fly lists to sue for financial damages against FBI officials under a federal law meant to protect religious liberty.”- Supreme Court allows 3 Muslims put on no-fly list to seek damages against federal officialsComparative Analysis: U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2016–2019)
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“I want to share with you this recent work I made for NPHM. I hope this will remind you that your voice is important and that it is crucial to continue to show up in this broken world. I hope this work offers you the strength you need to take resolute action towards justice for all.”
-Jen Delos Reyes