Leftnews.org » Rights

Documentary film: To See If I Am Smiling

Faiz — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:11:14 +0000

Synopsis: “To See If I Am Smiling, the frank testimonials of six female Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza and the West Bank pack a powerful emotional punch. The young women revisit their tours of duty in the occupied territories with surprising honesty and strip bare stereotypes of gender differences in the military. The former soldiers share shocking moments of negligence, flippancy, immaturity and power-tripping as they describe atrocities they witnessed and participated in.”

Community reaction to Caterpillar’s London plant shutdown | CBC

Faiz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:19:04 +0000

“What I would like is for the general public to wake up and understand that as these good paying jobs disappear so to do our tax dollars. I paid close to $25,000 in income tax alone in 2011. At $18 an hour I wouldn’t pay even close to that. As a country we have the lowest corporate tax rate of all the G7 countries. As jobs like mine disappear where do the federal tax dollars come from to sustain our fantastic country? This is slowly becoming a country of haves and have-nots.”

Unpaid intern sues Harper’s Bazaar for minimum wage | Yahoo News

Faiz — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:42:05 +0000

“[T]he [magazine] does not pay its interns but instead offers them academic credit, a practice that is widespread among publishing companies and in other competitive industries. … Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a company may legally offer unpaid internships so long as they are educational and benefit the intern and not necessarily the employer, according to information published on the Department of Labor’s website.”

Israel citizenship ruling slammed as ‘racist’ | The Telegraph

Faiz — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:48:00 +0000

Another apartheid-law is created by Israel’s judiciary.

“Israeli rights groups and MPs on Thursday denounced a court ruling upholding a law that prevents Palestinians married to Arab Israelis from obtaining Israeli citizenship or residency.”

Recognizing the “Unpeople”

Jeff — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:26:51 +0000

Whatever one thinks of capturing a soldier from an attacking army, kidnapping civilians is plainly a far more serious crime – unless, of course, they are mere unpeople | By Noam Chomsky

Richard Stallman Was Right All Along

Graham — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:58:56 +0000

–Well, we certainly knew that, but it is good to see others identify it.

Copyright and the Academy — Citizens’ Press

Graham — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:42:03 +0000

–A rather long article on copyright and the academy and how we need to keep fighting for fair implementations of copyright and the “copyleft” alternatives to allow sharing of data and analysis in an increasingly commercialised academy and monopoly publishing world.
Oh, and I wrote it.

Wilkerson: New Military Powers the Road to Tyranny

Jeff — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:58:30 +0000

Larry Wilkerson: National Defense Authorization Act that passed the Senate giving the military power for indefinite detention without trial is a draconian violation of our rights | The Real News

Vermont Pols Push to End Corporate Personhood

Jeff — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:52:41 +0000

By Greg Guma | “We need to abolish corporate personhood and destroy the fiction that money is speech”

No Means No and December 6 #cfsfcee launch new resource site

Graham — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:22:47 +0000

–New resource site launched to commemorate December 6 and to support the struggle against violence against women.

Education is a Right #cfsfcee

Graham — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:52:51 +0000

–New Education is a Right campaign website from the Canadian Federation of Students was launched today. The Federation is calling for a national day of action on February 1, 2012.

Strauss-Kahn says sex with maid was ‘stupid’, book says | BBC

Faiz — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:32:45 +0000

“Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn believes his sexual encounter with a New York hotel maid was “consensual but stupid”

Strikes over public sector pensions hit services across UK as 2 million walk out | The Guardian

Faiz — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:26:37 +0000

“Up to 1,000 marches and rallies were due to take place across the UK.”

Agreed to recognize the sovereignty of Palestine

Graham — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:01:53 +0000

–Iceland stepping-up.

Target digs in heels as labour union applies to keep unionized status – The Globe and Mail

Graham — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:16:40 +0000

–Support the workers. Target needs to hear from the public.

Occupy Wall Street’ protest camp in L.A., Philadelphia remain despite arrests | The Washington Post

Faiz — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:15:03 +0000

“Early Monday morning, police surrounded the camp, but eventually said they would not evict the protesters. Reuters reports that around 2,000 protesters joined the camp to show their support.”

The politics of occupation continued | Counterfire

Graham — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:37:13 +0000

–Occupy.

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Findings

Jeff — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:46:26 +0000

Israel subjecting Palestinian people to apartheid, as defined under international law

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly and The ILWU Local 10 | MR Zine

Faiz — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:24:48 +0000

Clarence Thomas Speaks at Occupy Oakland General Strike from John Hamilton on Vimeo.

Battle rages over Ohio’s union-limiting law | The Globe and Mail

Faiz — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:42:14 +0000

“On Nov. 8, voters in [Ohio] will decide whether to keep a new law passed by the Republican-dominated legislature that all but eliminates collective bargaining in the public sector. … The new law is sweeping. It limits public-sector collective bargaining to wages only and eliminates binding arbitration, allowing state and local governments, as well as school districts, to dictate contract terms if no agreement is reached. The bill forces public workers to contribute more for their pension and health benefits, while allowing employers to roll back benefits unilaterally. It eliminates mandatory union dues and lowers the decertification threshold to 30 per cent of workers.”