Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Friday, 12 July 2013
'Day of Struggle': Protesters block ports, highways across Brazil as unions aim to take control
Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse masked protesters in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, as demonstrations continued throughout Brazil.
Unions are demanding better work conditions and tougher government measures to tackle inflation.
The rest of the story, photo's and video here
Tens of thousands of union members marched throughout the country, blocking roads and grinding traffic to a crawl in dozens of cities.
The rest of the story, photo's and video here
Tens of thousands of union members marched throughout the country, blocking roads and grinding traffic to a crawl in dozens of cities.
Statement by Edward Snowden to human rights groups at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport
Edward Joseph Snowden delivered a statement to human rights organizations and individuals at Sheremetyevo airport at 5pm Moscow time today, Friday 12th July.
The meeting lasted 45 minutes. The human rights organizations included Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and were given the opportunity afterwards to ask Mr Snowden questions.
Transcript of Edward Joseph Snowden statement, given at 5pm Moscow time on Friday 12th July 2013. (Transcript corrected to delivery)
Hello. My name is Ed Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort.
I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyone’s communications at any time. That is the power to change people’s fates.
It is also a serious violation of the law. The 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution of my country, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance.
While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize an illegal affair. These rulings simply corrupt the most basic notion of justice – that it must be seen to be done. The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law.
Accordingly, I did what I believed right and began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice.
That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets.
Since that time, the government and intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have. I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression. The United States Government has placed me on no-fly lists. It demanded Hong Kong return me outside of the framework of its laws, in direct violation of the principle of non-refoulement – the Law of Nations.
This willingness by powerful states to act extra-legally represents a threat to all of us, and must not be allowed to succeed.
The meeting lasted 45 minutes. The human rights organizations included Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and were given the opportunity afterwards to ask Mr Snowden questions.
Transcript of Edward Joseph Snowden statement, given at 5pm Moscow time on Friday 12th July 2013. (Transcript corrected to delivery)
Hello. My name is Ed Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort.
I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyone’s communications at any time. That is the power to change people’s fates.
It is also a serious violation of the law. The 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution of my country, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance.
While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize an illegal affair. These rulings simply corrupt the most basic notion of justice – that it must be seen to be done. The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law.
Accordingly, I did what I believed right and began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice.
That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets.
Since that time, the government and intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have. I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression. The United States Government has placed me on no-fly lists. It demanded Hong Kong return me outside of the framework of its laws, in direct violation of the principle of non-refoulement – the Law of Nations.
This willingness by powerful states to act extra-legally represents a threat to all of us, and must not be allowed to succeed.
Texas woman cries after trooper seizes Maxi-Pads: ‘I’ve never been so humiliated in my life’
And one more, because this is just so crazy!
Video taken by a demonstrator at Friday’s protest of an anti-abortion bill at the Texas State Capitol showed a woman saying she was publicly embarassed by Republican senators’ ban on tampons and sanitary pads from the premises.
In the footage, the unidentified woman says a state trooper “took away my Maxi-Pads, and made a huge deal out of flashing them around, and then saying that I couldn’t go into the gallery, you know, that I couldn’t take Maxi-Pads into the gallery. I’ve never been so humiliated in my life.”
“She was crying when she came in crying, talking about how someone had confiscated her sanitary pads and was waving them around like a trophy,” Hughes said. “[The woman said] the state trooper was chasing her to the elevator, yelling at her that if she didn’t like it, she could get out of the Capitol.”
“This is too much,” the woman says in the video. “This is like some kind of third-world country that we’re in all of a sudden.”
After the Senate became the target of online derision, the ban on hygienic products was revoked Friday afternoon
Video taken by a demonstrator at Friday’s protest of an anti-abortion bill at the Texas State Capitol showed a woman saying she was publicly embarassed by Republican senators’ ban on tampons and sanitary pads from the premises.
In the footage, the unidentified woman says a state trooper “took away my Maxi-Pads, and made a huge deal out of flashing them around, and then saying that I couldn’t go into the gallery, you know, that I couldn’t take Maxi-Pads into the gallery. I’ve never been so humiliated in my life.”
“She was crying when she came in crying, talking about how someone had confiscated her sanitary pads and was waving them around like a trophy,” Hughes said. “[The woman said] the state trooper was chasing her to the elevator, yelling at her that if she didn’t like it, she could get out of the Capitol.”
“This is too much,” the woman says in the video. “This is like some kind of third-world country that we’re in all of a sudden.”
After the Senate became the target of online derision, the ban on hygienic products was revoked Friday afternoon
Texas Officially Loses It, Bans Tampons and Diabetic Supplies from Senate Chamber, Guns OK
There's a few important issues going on in the world right now and Texas decided to do this!! What is wrong with these people??
The Texas Department of Public Safety forced women to hand over their tampons and pads before entering the Senate chamber today. Not only that, but they were also forcing diabetics to hand over sugar packets and other diabetes supplies which are lifelines when dealing with low blood glucose levels.
And the kicker — those with concealed handgun licenses who wanted to enter the Senate chamber were not only allowed to keep their handguns, but they were allowed to bypass the long lines and enter through a “special” CHL (concealed handgun license) line.
So to summarize, the Texas Department of Public Safety was hard at work confiscating dangerous and deadly maxi-pads and tampons, as well as scary diabetic supplies, while Jimbob with his two teeth and his Ruger .380 was allowed immediate access to the Senate chamber. Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like they’ve been transported on a first class ride to the Twilight Zone.
It’s a story so sickeningly shocking that it really makes you question humanity and how we got to this point. Kudos to everybody who showed up and had to deal with this nonsense first hand just to make their presence and feelings known, and shame on the morons who put these “rules” in place to start with. For anybody who was forced to hand over diabetes supplies and necessities, I’d encourage you to get in touch with the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES and let them know ASAP.
The Texas Department of Public Safety forced women to hand over their tampons and pads before entering the Senate chamber today. Not only that, but they were also forcing diabetics to hand over sugar packets and other diabetes supplies which are lifelines when dealing with low blood glucose levels.
And the kicker — those with concealed handgun licenses who wanted to enter the Senate chamber were not only allowed to keep their handguns, but they were allowed to bypass the long lines and enter through a “special” CHL (concealed handgun license) line.
So to summarize, the Texas Department of Public Safety was hard at work confiscating dangerous and deadly maxi-pads and tampons, as well as scary diabetic supplies, while Jimbob with his two teeth and his Ruger .380 was allowed immediate access to the Senate chamber. Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like they’ve been transported on a first class ride to the Twilight Zone.
It’s a story so sickeningly shocking that it really makes you question humanity and how we got to this point. Kudos to everybody who showed up and had to deal with this nonsense first hand just to make their presence and feelings known, and shame on the morons who put these “rules” in place to start with. For anybody who was forced to hand over diabetes supplies and necessities, I’d encourage you to get in touch with the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES and let them know ASAP.
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