TW: Suicide: Guantanamo attorney found dead in apparent suicide
May 1, 2013

An attorney who represented prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay was found dead last week in what sources said was a suicide.

Andy P. Hart, 38, a federal public defender in Toledo, Ohio, apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hart left behind a suicide note and a thumb drive, believed to contain his case files. It is unknown where Hart died, what the suicide note said or whether an autopsy was performed.

Hart’s death comes amid escalating chaos that has engulfed Guantanamo over the past three months—from a mass hunger strike to military commissions and renewed pressure on the White House to shut down the prison facility. Hart was one of three-dozen Guantanamo attorneys who signed a letter in March urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to take immediate action and bring about an end to the hunger strike.

Because Hart was a federal employee working on sensitive legal issues the FBI was contacted about his death. It is unknown if the agency has been investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

Neither the FBI nor local law enforcement officials in Toledo, Ohio returned calls for comment. A phone number listed for Hart was disconnected Wednesday.

Truthout learned about the details of Hart’s death Wednesday from an investigator who has been tapped by attorneys to work on a number of cases involving Guantanamo prisoners’ habeas corpus petitions. The investigator requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Dennis Terez, the top federal public defender in the Northern District of Ohio, where Hart worked, declined to comment on his colleague’s death.

“At this time and out of respect for Mr. Hart’s family and friends, we have no comment,” Terez said.

Hart’s name has since been removed from the federal public defender’s website.

Hart worked closely with attorney Carlos Warner, who was based out of the federal public defender’s Akron, Ohio office. Warner referred requests for comment about Hart to Terez.

With Warner, Hart was assigned by the government to defend Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, who was detained by the CIA and allegedly subjected to torture methods until his transfer to Guantanamo in March 2008. The government maintained that al-Afghani was Osama bin Laden’s translator and a top al-Qaida official.

Hart also represented Saudi Khalid Saad Mohammed, who was transferred back to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo in 2009. He was also the attorney for Adel Hakeemy, a Tunisian who has been detained at Guantanamo for 11 years.

The Guantanamo prisoners he represents have not yet been notified about Hart’s death, according to the investigator.

In addition to defending Guantanamo prisoners, Hart also was the defense attorney for Richard Schmidt, an alleged white supremacist and convicted felon who was under federal investigation over allegations he amassed high-powered weapons and ammunition.

In 2011, Hart was assigned to represent Jeff Boyd Levenderis, 54, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on suspicion of concealing a biological toxin, ricin, and making false statements to federal investigators. An 11-year-old daughter survives Hart.

Source

April 25 - Update from Gitmo: The military reported on Wednesday that 92 of the detainees at Guantanamo are now considered hunger striking, 17 are being force-fed, & 2 are in the hospital. Get the latest at: www.GitmoJustice.com

Among these other great quotes by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935):

• It is the duty of youth to bring fresh new powers to bear on Social progress. Each generation of young people should be to the world like a vast reserve force to a tired army. They should life the world forward. That is what they are for.

• The first duty of a human being is to assume the right relationship to society — more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.

• Love grows by service.

• The women who do the most work get the least money, and the women who have the most money do the least work.

• In our steady insistence on proclaiming sex-distinction we have grown to consider most human attributes as masculine attributes, for the simple reason that they were allowed for men and forbidden to women.

• Habits of thought persist through the centuries; and while a healthy brain may reject the doctrine it no longer believes, it will continue to feel the same sentiments formerly associated with that doctrine.

• The softest, freest, most pliable and changeful living substance is the brain — the hardest and most iron-bound as well.

Source of quotes

(Source: belchingfuckvoice, via punx-n-pancakes)

Hungarians have protested by the thousands against proposed changes to their constitution that they believe will limit their democratic rights.
March 9, 2013

Opponents of the proposed constitutional changes say they fear they will curb citizens’ democratic rights. This led to two days of protests in Budapest, the first taking place on Thursday with dozens of protesters. On Saturday, thousands turned out to voice their concerns.

The parliament is to vote on the proposed amendments on Monday.

“A really worrying oppressive system is being built up here, like a dictatorship,” Milan Rozsa, a 25-year-old protester, told the AFP news agency.

Critics argue that the proposals seek to reinstate measures that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government had previously introduced, but which were struck down by the country’s constitutional court in recent months.

They say the proposed changes would have restrictive implications for higher education, by requiring students who receive state grants to stay and work in Hungary after their studies.

Another provision would restrict election campaigning to state media, something critics say would damage Hungary’s democracy. Among the other proposals is a ban on sleeping on the streets.

The changes would also curb the powers of the constitutional court by rendering any of its decisions made before the current constitution came into force last year invalid.

International concern over the upcoming vote is growing.

The European Commission, the Council of Europe and human rights organizations have expressed concern over the upcoming vote.

In a phone call on Friday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Prime Minister Orban that his government and the parliament should address concerns “in accordance with EU democratic principles.”

Orban responded in writing to Barroso, pledging that Hungary would conform to the norms and rules of the European Union, but he failed to offer details.

The Council of Europe, the European institution responsible for defending human rights, also weighed in on the issue last week, urging Budapest to postpone the vote. The Hungarian government rejected the request.

Saturday’s protest was organized by various human rights organizations, including Amnesty International.

Source

& check out that 99% sign in the background of the top picture! <3

Sorry - I haven’t responded in the past because I haven’t wanted to be rude and I don’t have anything nice to say about Alex Jones or InfoWars. But I guess it’s important that I have this conversation. Because of the tone of my response (out of respect for you) I’m going to black-out your user name.

I’ve heard the show, I’ve seen him around Austin (driving and shouting), I’ve watched documentaries about him and I occasionally will browse InfoWars. I think Alex Jones is a racist fool and his opinion is honestly worth less-than-nothing to me. 

Most significantly, he is regularly and loudly racist. All racists, but particularly that special brand of unapologetic, red-in-the-face, mad-as-hell, immigrant-hating, foaming-at-the-mouth cis-hetero-self-righteous-white-man-with-a-microphone have no place in struggles to end oppression or fights for freedom, democracy, social-justice & a better world.

Jones indulges in actual conspiracies, while simultaneously exposing real news that is ignored by the main stream media, which does a disservice to projects like ours, and to communities who are fighting those very real battles against destructive corporate interests and state-oppression that are sometimes highlighted by Jones. It confuses people, it puts ignored-struggles, systemic police brutality, oppression, drone strikes, the war on drugs and real violations of civil-liberties into the same category as secret-reptile-politicians, Illuminati, the “New World Order”, ‘Free-market’ principles, and Revelations-style evangelical Armageddon. That’s some shit I don’t have time or patience for and it’s all I can do to ignore the other media-projects out there who follow this bizarre & harmful narrative.

It takes the mean-spirited nature of conservative racists in the deep-south and it lets them feel like they are fighting oppression (which they endorse and participate in when it is self-serving). Unfortunately they aren’t even willing to confront or acknowledge those problematic tendencies within themselves that are spilling evil out into the world every day. There are LOTS of FB pages (BlindFold, The Peoples Uprising, Truth ‘Whatever’ to name a few) with these same themes advocating for suppression of women’s right to autonomy over their own bodies while simultaneously posting great pictures of marijuana and images of police brutality (especially highlighting the more-rare cases of brutality against white people). This combination is so harmful that I wouldn’t be surpised to find out one day that Alex Jones worked for the CIA or some shit like that. I don’t have any evidence of that; my point is just that what Jones does is literally perfect for those with an interest in perpetuating oppression and dismissing struggle.

And just because I stand against drone attacks & police violence & want drugs to be decriminalized in the U.S. doesn’t mean that I stand with those racist, foolish jerks.

The best thing that anyone who shares this particular brand of politics can do (in my opinion) is confront some of the socially-instilled racist & sexist tendencies within themselves, pursue empathy, develop more critical metrics for judging what sources they are willing to believe and why, read social-justice blogs, theories critical of capitalism, and humanist philosophies and until-such a time that they’ve outgrown their oppressive & problematic tendencies, they should STFU & get out of the way.

I apologize for taking an out-of-character un-empathetic tone in this post. I just really dislike Alex Jones & the like and believe strongly that he is an enemy of liberation. I’m sure you’re not like that though (or at least I hope not and will assume you aren’t until I see evidence otherwise).

Thanks for reaching out persistently and prompting this post. Sorry it took me so long to respond.

-Robert (contributor @ ThePeoplesRecord)
http://thepeoplesrecord.com
Facebook.com/ThePeoplesRecord
Twitter.com/ThePeoplesRec

Thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails are staging a one-day hunger strike to protest the death of a fellow inmate
February 24, 2013

“About 3,000 prisoners announced that they would refuse meals,” Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman, told the AFP news agency on Sunday.

Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old father of two, from the village of Sair near Hebron in the southern West Bank, died on Saturday in an Israeli jail from what prison authorities said appeared to have been cardiac arrest.

Palestinian officials and the detainee’s family alleged that Jaradat was mistreated by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence service, saying he was healthy at the time of his arrest last week.

An autopsy on Jaradat’s body was due to take place at Israel’s national forensic institute on Sunday and Issa Qaraqaa, the Palestinian minister in charge of prisoner affairs, said a Palestinian doctor and Jaradat family members would be present.

Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from outside Ofer military prison, near Ramallah, said there were about 800 to 900 Palestinian prisoners there taking part in the hunger strike over Jaradat’s death.

Johnston said there was a “heavy Israeli police presence” outside the prison.

In the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians from Hamas, which governs the territory, Islamic Jihad and other factions, also gathered to protest against Jaradat’s death.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Fawzi Barhoum, an Hamas spokesperson, said: ”This is a crime against our prisoners committed by the Israeli government.

“There must be a third Intifada [uprising] and a revolution … to pressure Israel to protect our prisoners.”

Jaradat’s death could exacerbate tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories which have been rocked in past weeks by protests of solidarity with four other prisoners detained by Israel who are on hunger strike.

‘Unequivocal demand’

Protests in solidarity with Samer Issawi, one of the four hunger strikers who has refused food since August to protest against his detention, were also held on Sunday. 

Issawi’s family recently told Al Jazeera he would be close to death if he continues his action.

Protesters in Issawi’s village and in different parts of Hebron city hurled stones at Israeli security forces who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, witnesses said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy has made “an unequivocal demand” to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to quell the wave of protests in the West Bank, a government statement.

Sunday’s statement added that Netanyahu had also ordered the transfer of January arrears of tax revenues that Israel collects on the behalf of the Palestinians but has been withholding.

Israel holds more than 4,600 Palestinians in jail on charges that range from stone-throwing to deadly attacks on Israeli targets. Of the detainees, 159 are being held without charge or trial. 

Source

John Owen Brennan is chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama; officially his title is Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Assistant to the President. He supports drones and will not admit that water-boarding is torture. He was nominated to be the new CIA director and has supported water-boarding and drone-terror in his nomination hearing.

Lyrics to Torture Memos above, a song written & sung by Jonathan Mann in 2009 - lyrics were taken directly from official memos on torture. It was the 109th song in his song-a-day project, which is still on-going: 

the detainee is lying on a gurney
that’s inclined at an angle: 10 to 15 degrees
a cloth is placed over the detainee’s face
cold water is poured on the cloth

the wet cloth creates
a barrier through which
it is difficult or in some cases not possible
for the detainee to breathe

if the detainee 
makes an effort to defeat the technique 
by twisting his head to the side and breathing
out the corner of his mouth
the interrogator may cup his hands around 
the detainees nose and mouth
in which case it would not be posible for him to breathe!

As we explained 
in the Section 2340A Memorandum, 
“pain and suffering” 
(as used in Section 2340) 
is best understood as a single concept, 
not distinct concepts 
of “pain” as distinguished from “suffering”… 

The waterboard,
which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever, 
does not, in our view inflict “severe pain or suffering”. 
Even if one were to parse the statute more finely 
to treat “suffering” as a distinct concept, 
the waterboard could not be said to inflict severe sufering. 

The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering.

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Sex trafficking and the Super Bowl
February 3, 2013

On the Catholic liturgical calendar, February 5 is the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the U.S., where professional football is sometimes referred to as a “religion,” February 5th is the highest holy day of the sporting year: Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl attracts tens of thousands of fans to the host city, and millions of television viewers, making it the most watched broadcast each year. But it also attracts a sector of violent, organized criminal activity that operates in plain sight without notice: human sex trafficking.

Human trafficking is defined by the United Nations as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat, use of force or other forms of coercion, for the purpose of exploitation.”  Sex trafficking is particularly heinous: Young women are abducted and sold into an underworld network where they are forced to engage in sexual activity for no pay, and from which it is extremely difficult to escape.

There is evidence that human trafficking increases where major sporting events are held.

Exact numbers are hard to come by, as trafficking is an underreported crime, but host cities, law enforcement, and civil society are becoming increasingly more aware of it. They are promoting educational campaigns and strengthening laws against trafficking to send a strong message to traffickers: You are not welcome here. If we find you, you will be prosecuted. There is a message for trafficking victims as well: If we find you, you will not be arrested; you will be rescued.

In preparation for Super Bowl LXVI in Indianapolis, 11 congregations of Catholic women joined the fight against human trafficking in a unique way: They decided to use their investments as a means to address human trafficking with Indianapolis area hotels. These 11 congregations belong to CCRIM, the Coalition for Corporate Responsibility in Indiana and Michigan.

CCRIM members bought shares of stock in major hotel chains in order to address the issue of trafficking as shareholders with hotel corporate management, as well as with the local franchises in the Indianapolis area. As shareholders they have a stake in how the business is run, and they decided to work with the hotels to help them recognize and report any incidents of human trafficking.

The sisters set up a database of 220 hotels within a 50-mile radius of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. On January 5, the managers of these hotels received a fax from CCRIM that said, your shareholders want to know: Have your staff members been trained to recognize the signs of human trafficking? Do you have plans in place so your staff members can safely report any trafficking incidents? Do you know who to contact in the Indianapolis area in order to protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers? Would you be willing to make educational materials on trafficking available to your staff and your guests?

For the next 10 days, 40 sisters called the managers to get answers to those questions. Although 20 managers were reluctant or refused to speak to them, they did speak with 200 hotel managers. The results? Seven hotels requested help in setting up a training session, and the sisters linked them to trainers.

Forty-five hotels already had conducted training for their staff members. Ninety-nine hotels asked for the local contact list, which includes the Attorney General’s Office, the Indianapolis police department’s Anti-Trafficking Division, safe houses for victims and 24-hour hotline numbers.

They also asked for informational brochures, provided by the Polaris Project (an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services) to help their staff and guests recognize the signs of human trafficking. The sisters delivered this information to each manager personally and thanked them for their cooperation in stemming the tide of trafficking at this year’s Super Bowl.

Source

Malala stable after surgeries today
February 3, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, has undergone two successful surgeries to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing.

A statement released on Sunday by Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the British hospital where the 15-year-old is being treated in, said Yousafzai is currently in stable condition.

“She is awake and talking to staff and members of her family,” said the statement, adding that she would continue to recover in the hospital until she is well enough to be discharged.

The teenager drew the world’s attention by being shot and critically wounded by Taliban fighters on October 9, as she walked home from school in northwestern Pakistan.

The group said they targeted her because she promoted girls’ education and “Western thinking”.

At age 11, Malala began to write a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley, where she lived.

After Pakistan’s military ousted the Taliban in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls’ education. She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country’s highest civilian honours for her bravery.

Malala was airlifted to Britain from Pakistan in October to receive specialised medical care and protection against further Taliban threats.

She is expected to remain in the UK for some time after her father, Ziauddin, was given a diplomatic post based in the English city of Birmingham.

So far, doctors say she has made very good progress. She was able to stand, write and return home, and doctors said they have seen minimum signs of brain damage.

Source

Check out the source, megmclain.com. It’s a pretty cool collection of activist infographics and graphic videos, other than an overabundance of the word ‘liberty’ which translates to me (biasedly, I’ll admit) as ‘freedom to be an asshole’. I don’t know, the focus on ‘liberty’ instead of on life or humanism or empathy or love or social justice seems so self-indulgent and it just really irks me. It reads with such an amoral connotation imho.

Also, I’d love to see some more infographics breaking down how monstrously disproportionately the prison-industrial-complex affects black, latino & trans people. 

Listen Up, Ladies: Here’s Everything Real Men Think Is Wrong With You

A friend just shared this with me - I literally laughed out loud several times. I probably should have cried too. :(

—

I’ve been doing some scholarly research, and I noticed this thing that’s been really dragging society down for the past few millennia: it’s that everything is wrong with you. You are gross. First of all, your hair is gross, because it is not long and thick enough. But don’t strap fake hair to your head! That’s also gross! Also, what the fuck is up with your skin? It is so dry and scaly like a lizard (but not one of those sexy lizards)! Except uuuuuuugh, do you have to take so long putting on your idiotic woman-lotion? This penis isn’t going to fondle itself! CHOP CHOP. Now, I know all this contradictory minutiae regarding your attractiveness can get confusing (especially with your lipstick-encrusted walnut brains!), but luckily, plenty of guys are generous enough to explain what they don’t like about you in great detail. Over and over. You’re welcome.

For your edification, the good folks over at Yahoo have compiled a list of the “15 Biggest Beauty Turnoffs from Real Guys“—yet another survey of “real guys” to reinforce the precise line of shit we women need to walk to remain attractive to them (it’s the least we can do, really). Because that media trope never gets tired. Let’s jump in!

If you are looking to attract a man with your fluffy false lashes and your flowing fake mane, it is time to take a different approach. We scouted the truth and discovered the things women do that make men turn the other way. All in all, men love to see the woman underneath the makeup, so ditch the dramatic routine and go natural for once.

First of all, I am neither an empty man-socket nor a fucking venus flytrap. I am not looking to “attract a man.” I am just trying to do my stuff and then maybe meet a person who likes me because I am also a person. I didn’t want to get all serious right off the bat, BUT SORRY: Women’s grueling, lifelong, losing battle to transform themselves into magical, flawless creatures with Disney hair and 15-inch waists and massive ham-lips is not for the benefit of women. And when men say that they “love to see the woman underneath the makeup,” they’re not saying they want to see your leg stubble and greasy bangs—they’re saying they want you to be better at hiding your maintenance routine. Because the maintenance spoils the fantasy.

“My wife spends 20 minutes after the shower putting on body lotion. Apparently it has to be applied evenly. For me, it is just a time suck.” -R.D.S.

TICK TOCK, WIFE! QUIT SUCKING R.D.S.’S TIME AND START SUCKING SOMETHING ELSE.

“It gets on my nerves when women take too much time on makeup. You would think after a lifetime they would have the process down to less than 45 minutes!” -Christopher

Yeah, women! You’re sooooo high-maintenance! To be clear, we definitely don’t want you to stop painting that prettier face over your regular face every day—because gross—but could you just hurry it up? You’re late for Christopher’s blowjob.

“I can’t stand when she has wet hair after the shower and lays on my pillow, I usually roll over on the wet spot.” -Jeff

Okay, that one is legit rude. But “wet hair” is not solely a woman’s domain. Fun fact: Dudes are also capable of becoming wet in a shower and then lying on a bed. Equality! Look at us go!

“If she has to be at work at 6am and uses the hair dryer, it wakes me up. Then, just when I get back to sleep. She is wearing her heels in the bathroom and the kitchen. Click. Click. Can’t you wear slippers?” -Pablo

So don’t have wet hair but don’t use the hair dryer. Got it.

Also, definitely wear sexy heels (sensible flats are for lesbians, obv!), but don’t walk in them. At least not when Pablo is sleeping. If you could just scoot yourself around on the carpet like a dog with butt-worms, and then put your heels on outside in the beauty bark, that would be ideal for Pablo. Thx.

“I don’t like extensions because when you put your hands in her hair you can feel all the lumps. It might be good to look at but not to touch.” -Robert

Jeez, all this hair stuff is confusing! So…don’t have wet hair, don’t have dry hair, don’t have natural hair, don’t have fake hair. GOT IT.

And, you know, Robert, when you teach women that they need to be objects to even qualify as women, then why are you surprised when they start to literally integrate with objects?

“I’m picky about oral hygiene - brushing, flossing, mouthwash. She has to brush her teeth before bed and in the morning before we kiss. That extra care once we reach a certain level of intimacy is important.” -Rod

Have you tried Milk Bones?

“They don’t put caps back on things or they put it on but they don’t screw it on so when I go get something it spills.” -Connor

Oh, for fuck’s sake, Connor. Women don’t put caps back on things!? This is a woman thing now? ARE YOU SURE THIS ISN’T A “CONNOR’S SISTER” THING? My boyfriend leaves his wet towel on the bed, but you don’t see me e-mailing fucking Kirk Douglas and President Obama and Bobby Flay about it.

“Those thick eyelashes that women put on are annoying. It makes a woman stick out and people know that they aren’t real. I like a woman who looks nice and natural. Regular people don’t need all those eyelashes.” -Lindsay

Regular people don’t need all those eyelashes.

“My wife doesn’t dye her hair often enough. I don’t like to see those dark roots.” -Anonymous

Full size

“I wish my girlfriend would get a manicure more often instead of doing it herself. She is pretty low-maintenance.” -Shaun

:-|

First of all. I find it hard to believe that Shaun can even tell the difference between a salon manicure and an at-home manicure, unless his girlfriend has some sort of tremor-inducing palsy, or multitasks by combining nail maintenance with trampoline practice. Which means this whole thing is just about signaling—Shaun wants to be with the kind of woman who gets her nails done at a salon. Nevermind the fact that going out to get your nails done can eat up several hours a week (I presume he also wants his girlfriend to have a career and a social life and to take care of her family and do her taxes and maintain her home and feed herself and possibly sleep once in a while), and can cost hundreds of dollars a month (I also presume Shaun is not footing the bill).

And second of all, let’s all just take a second to note that women have now been criticized for being high-maintenance, maintenance, and low-maintenance.

And third of all, MAYBE SHE JUST LIKES DOING HER NAILS BECAUSE IT’S FUN. Sometimes women get to make our own decisions and do things because those things make us happy.

I can’t believe we’re even still having this conversation, but dudes, LISTEN: Women’s bodies, even ones into which you get to stick your penis, are not yours. Women have the right to be gross, to have hair, to be slow, to put on make-up, to not put on make-up, to wear fake eyelashes, to smell good or bad, and to be human beings. Women are not your dog our your lawn or your living room, you do not get to prune and groom and design us, and negotiating things like hygiene and style within a relationship is a matter of mutual respect. My right to do my own nails does not stop where your personal boner for trimmed cuticles begins.

Also, women: If you are single, it is not because your fake eyelashes are too bushy or Kevin doesn’t like cucumber lotion. This shit is an oppressive waste of your time. Here’s my new beauty tip for everyone on earth: Go read a book or something.

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