13 January 21
Pulling Teeth to Get (Some of You) Donating
Truth: We love RSN, we love what we do. More Truth: Getting (some of you) folks to donate takes too long. The time expended every month to pull in what relatively little funding is required to sustain the project is disproportionate to the point of being counter productive. Yes we get the necessary donations eventually, but the time we expend should rightly be dedicated to the mission. Timing is everything.
For your consideration.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
If you would prefer to send a check:
Reader Supported News
PO Box 2043
Citrus Hts
CA 95611
13 January 21
It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News
Justin Blake | There Are Two Justice Systems in America. Ask My Nephew, Jacob Blake
Justin Blake, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "One system lets armed white insurrectionists attack our nation's government. Another tear-gasses and beats people defending Black lives."
ast week, I was again reminded that we live under two justice systems. One lets armed white insurrectionists violently attack our nation’s seat of government. Another gasses, beats, and shoots rubber bullets at people defending Black lives. And even though I live nowhere near Washington DC, this is personal for me.
The day before the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol, Rusten Sheskey got off scot-free. He is the Kenosha cop who shot my nephew, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back. The Kenosha district attorney, Michael Gravely, declined to charge Sheskey, and he faces no consequences. Jacob is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Sheskey is just like the thousands of Trump-supporting, white nationalists who laid siege to the US Capitol in broad daylight. They broke windows, stole federal property, and ransacked offices. They endangered lawmakers, their staff, and other employees in the complex. They may have exposed countless people to Covid-19. They had flex cuffs and placed pipe bombs. They were out for blood.
This justice system calls these people “protesters”, and they are protected by the first amendment. Sheskey operates under this justice system, and it is unacceptable. He claimed self-defense after he shot Jacob in the back, in front of his kids, also in broad daylight. No plausible explanation exists for this escalated response.
The fact that the Capitol insurrection and Jacob’s shooting both happened in broad daylight shows how barefaced state-sanctioned violence has become.
Gravely is the top prosecutor in Kenosha. His decision makes crystal clear to Black people in Kenosha and Wisconsin that we are not safe in our communities. It’s proof that police are allowed to shoot us at will. And the Kenosha police department lives off our backs – they are funded by our taxes. Cops will take our money and shoot us right after.
But it’s not just the police. Violent militias stalk our neighborhoods, taking community security into their own hands to defend businesses. It is despicable that Gravely chose to announce his decision when he knew these militias, who support shooting protesters, are planted within our community.
If we lived under a justice system that valued Black lives, this is what would happen next.
The Kenosha Police and Fire Commission would immediately terminate Rusten Sheskey. Kenosha police chief Daniel Miskinis and Kenosha county sheriff David Beth would realize they have tolerated racism within the police department and let the militia kill community members. In response, they would resign. Armed militias threatening our community would be treated as the violent terror groups they are, and authorities would protect us from them. The Kenosha police department would adopt the #8cantwait platform, which includes requiring de-escalation and comprehensive reporting to prevent future police shootings. In the meantime, body cameras would be implemented by the Kenosha police department. The investigation of Jacob’s shooting would be fully transparent and all related documents would be released to the public. Jacob would get justice.
But we’re not there yet. That’s why we’re rising up. Jacob deserves better than this. Kenosha deserves better than this. Black lives may not matter to Gravely but they matter to us.
We will fight this decision in every single way. We will march to demand Sheskey’s firing. We will support our community like we always have. We will continue to protect each other in the face of police violence and of those who invade our community to hurt us.
We are committed to nonviolence and we ask the Kenosha police department and the national guard not to harm peaceful protesters as they did last summer. We ask them to do their job and protect us from armed militias instead of turning a blind eye to them like they did last summer. We ask people from out of town not to come and burn our buildings, but instead, to stand strong with our community to demand an end to violent, racist policing in Kenosha, in Wisconsin, and in the United States.
We ask our community to stay safe. Our fight for justice continues.
New Jersey rep. Mikie Sherrill addressing the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol. (photo: Facebook)
ALSO SEE: On Day of Attack, Ayanna Pressley Discovered
Her Office's Panic Buttons Were Torn Out
Mikie Sherrill: Lawmakers Held 'Reconnaissance' Tours Day of the Capitol Before Pro-Trump Rioters Attacked
NBC10
Excerpt: "Ahead of New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill's vote on Tuesday calling on Vice President Mike Pence to activate the 25th Amendment, the Democrat claimed she witnessed lawmakers giving 'reconnaissance' tours just a day before last week's attack on Capitol Hill that left five people dead."
Speaking in a Facebook Live video, Sherrill detailed her account of what occurred on Jan 6., starting with the House’s vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win. She vividly described Nancy Pelosi being evacuated from the House chamber, getting gas masks ready as glass shattered and pro-Trump riots attempted to disrupt the proceedings.
As Sherrill and her colleagues were moving to a secured location, she said they were concerned for their safety.
“I was told later that members of that mob had zip ties, were wearing body armor and were looking to take prisoners…members of Congress,” the 48-year-old congresswoman said.
Vowing to not only impeach the president and making sure he never runs for office again or receives access to classified materials, Sherrill said she also intends to take action against members of congress who she saw taking groups through the Capitol on Jan. 5. She described it as “a reconnaissance for the next day.”
The congresswoman didn’t name any colleagues who were allegedly involved.
“Those members of congress who incited this violent crowd, those members of congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy. I am going to see that they are held accountable and if necessary ensure they don’t serve in congress,” she said.
Separately, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday said she felt unsafe with some of her colleagues while congressmembers were being extracted away from the chaos inside the U.S. Capitol. The Democrat said she thought they might share her location with violent rioters and put her at risk to be kidnapped or hurt.
“I myself did not even feel safe going to that extraction point because there were QAnons and white supremacists sympathizer and frankly white supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point who I know and who I had felt would disclose my location,” she said in an Instagram live video.
Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday also called on members of congress to resign who voted to overturn the results of the election to resign.
Both congresswomen were among those in the U.S. House who voted Tuesday to approve a resolution urging Pence to remove Trump with a Cabinet vote, although the vice president had already said he would not do so.
With Pence’s agreement ruled out, the House will move swiftly to impeachment on Wednesday.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett talks with Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during her ceremonial swearing-in ceremony to be a US Supreme Court Associate Justice. (photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty)
The Supreme Court Hands Down Its First Anti-Abortion Decision of the Amy Coney Barrett Era
Ian Millhiser, Vox
Millhiser writes: "The Court's decision may be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade."
READ MORE
A 2018 protest in lower Manhattan against ICE, family separations and US border policies. (photo: M. Stan Reaves/Shutterstock)
Immigrant Groups Sue Trump Administration Over "Last Ditch" Rule Change
Beth Fertig, WNYC
Fertig writes: "With just over a week to go before the end of the Trump Administration, immigration advocates filed a federal lawsuit in the Washington, D.C. district court against a Department of Justice rule they claim would create 'devastating' new barriers to those with cases in immigration court."
READ MORE
Audience members react as President Trump delivers remarks in January 2020 at an Evangelicals for Trump coalition launch at the King Jesus International Ministry in Miami. (photo: Tom Brenner/Reuters)
'How Did We Get Here?' A Call for an Evangelical Reckoning on Trump
Rachel Martin, NPR
Martin writes: "As fallout continues from the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol, Ed Stetzer, head of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, has a message for his fellow evangelicals: It's time for a reckoning."
Estonia's prime Minister Juri Ratas. (photo: Johanna Gerson/AP)
Estonia's PM Resigns Over Corruption Scandal in His Party
Jari Tanner, Associated Press
Tanner writes: "Estonia's prime minister resigned Wednesday over a corruption scandal involving a key official of his Center Party suspected of accepting a private donation for the party in exchange for a political favor on a real estate deal, prompting new talks on forming a new ruling coalition."
READ MORE
Rabbi Yosef Chesed, left, helps unload bottled water being donated by Lorie Lutz, right, at a Detroit food pantry in March. (photo: Paul Sancya/AP)
ALSO SEE: The Pandemic Is Forcing
Cities to Rethink Water
Coalition of 600 Groups Urges Biden to Impose National Moratorium on Water Shut-Offs
Joseph Guzman, The Hill
Guzman writes: "A coalition of more than 600 environmental, racial justice, labor and faith groups is calling on the incoming Biden administration to impose a national moratorium on utility shut-offs on day one of the administration to help struggling Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic."
Too many people are struggling to pay their bills, advocates say.
The No Shutoffs Coalition on Wednesday presented the incoming Democratic administration with a draft executive order that would instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enact a moratorium on shut-offs of water, electricity, broadband, heat and other necessary utility services nationwide.
“People need access to water to wash their hands, cook, and drink; electricity to heat their homes through the winter, keep food and vital medicines, and charge communication devices; and broadband to be able to stay updated on safety measures, complete online schooling, and work remotely,” the coalition said in a letter to the Biden-Harris administration.
“Enacting a nationwide moratorium on utility shutoffs is an important and urgent measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” the letter read.
The order would last at least 12 months after the pandemic ends and restore utilities to homes that were previously cut off.
“The public health crisis created by this pandemic has exacerbated long-standing racial and economic injustices,” Rianna Eckel, senior national organizer with the advocacy group Food & Water Watch, said in a statement.
“A national moratorium on utility shutoffs will help protect us from a deadly pandemic, and provide emergency relief for families struggling with basic necessities. The Biden-Harris administration should take immediate action that will help working families and protect public health.”
The group notes that while Congress allocated $6 billion in funding toward electricity bill relief and $638 million for a low-income water assistance program in December, more needs to be done to take the burden off Americans following record unemployment caused by COVID-19 restrictions. At least 226 utilities that issued moratoriums across several states last year have since let the bans expire, according to The Guardian.
“Last year, more than 600,000 customers were officially at risk of service termination or behind on their water bills in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina. Between September and November, the country’s largest private water utility, American Water, disconnected over 12,000 households, affecting an estimated 32,000 people, in just three states,” the coalition said in a statement.
Last year was the worst for U.S. job losses since 1939 due to lockdowns and restrictions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The economy last year shed a net 9.37 million jobs, surpassing the more than 5 million lost in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.