09 January 21
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09 January 21
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SERIOUS CONCERN ON THE PACE OF DONATIONS — Once again we are off to a sluggish start on donations. Rather than let this go another few days it's better to address the situation now. We need the RSN community to step up to this challenge now. Throw something in the hat, please. Thank you sincerely. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News
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RSN: John Kiriakou | For Julian Assange Freedom Is in View
John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
Kiriakou writes: "A court in London ruled on January 4 that, while the US government had 'made its case' for the extradition of Julian Assange, the Wikileaks co-founder would not be sent to the United States to stand trial because he was 'likely to kill himself if held under harsh US prison conditions.'"
British judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected Assange’s attorney’s contentions that the US prosecution was politically-motivated. But she called Assange “a depressed and sometimes despairing man” who had the “intellect and determination” to circumvent whatever suicide prevention measures US authorities might implement. Assange has been held in the maximum-security Belmarsh Prison for more than 18 months awaiting the ruling.
The decision raises several different issues. First, it was narrowly defined on two points. The British government in the past has refused to extradite prisoners to the United States because the US practice of solitary confinement constitutes torture, according to Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur for Torture. That was not the reason the judge decided to use in denying Assange’s extradition. It had nothing to do with solitary confinement or torture. It had to do with suicide. Second, the judge said that the US had “made its case” for Assange to be charged with espionage. But it hadn’t made a case. It argued only that Assange had “provided national defense information to any person not entitled to receive it,” a precedent set in my own case in the notorious Eastern District of Virginia, where Assange also has been charged. This is not generally-accepted law and has never been ruled on by an appeals court. But it is the definition used by the British judge.
The Justice Department has two weeks to appeal the decision and prosecutors have indicated that they would do so. The judge in the meantime is refusing to release Assange, and an appeal won’t be scheduled for another two or three months. But that appeal will be solely over the issue of whether or not the US federal prison system’s use of solitary confinement and administrative segregation units is humane and within the letter and spirit of international law and whether the way US prisons are run does not encourage suicide. That’s a losing argument. I’m no expert on the British appellate process, but I can tell you about solitary confinement in the United States, and I can confirm that it is indeed a form of torture and that people in US prisons commit suicide literally every single day.
The solitary confinement that Julian Assange would have faced at the “Supermax” federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado (ADX Florence) is hell on earth. There is no human contact for prisoners. The prisoner is kept alone in a seven-foot by eleven-foot cell for 23 hours a day. On five of those days, he is allowed to walk through a small door at the back of the cell that leads into an outdoor seven-foot by eleven-foot cage, where he can walk in circles for an hour. On the remaining two days, he’s allowed a brief shower. Visitors are limited solely to the prisoner’s attorneys, and those meetings are through thick glass and with the use of a telephone intercom. The prisoner is allowed to write one letter per week, up to three pages long, but it can be sent only to attorneys or to immediate family members pre-approved by the Bureau of Prisons. All outgoing mail is censored by an FBI agent. Letters can be received, but not physically. Each cell has a computer monitor mounted along the ceiling, out of reach. When a prisoner receives a letter, its text is put on the monitor for five minutes so that the prisoner can read it. It is then deleted. Doors are opened and closed electronically. Prisoners speak with guards only through intercoms. Again, there is no human contact.
Imagine living like this for years at a time. And remember that the United Nations has deemed treatment like this for more than two weeks as a form of torture. The New York Times in 2016 wrote about ADX Florence and the US Penitentiary at Pelican Bay, California. It noted that some prisoners were so desperate for human contact that one ate the glass of a broken window just so that he could injure himself enough to be taken to a doctor. That prisoner said that he had not spoken to another human being in years. He couldn’t even remember the last time. One prisoner, when he came into only momentary contact with another prisoner, killed him so that he could get the death penalty, which he said was more humane than solitary confinement.
As things stand, and as they’re likely to play out, Julian Assange won’t be subject to this kind of sick treatment. It was a close call. But freedom is in view. The Mexican government has offered Julian asylum. In the meantime, it’s up to the rest of us to make sure that the world doesn’t forget how the US treats its prisoners and what the inhumanity of our system looks like.
John Kiriakou is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act – a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration's torture program.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. (photo AP)
ALSO SEE: Multiple Republicans Are Considering
Supporting Impeachment, Sources Say
Democrats Ready Impeachment Charge Against Trump for Inciting Capitol Mob
Nicholas Fandos, Maggie Haberman and Luke Broadwater, The New York Times
Excerpt: "Democrats laid the groundwork on Friday for impeaching President Trump a second time, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California threatened to bring him up on formal charges if he did not resign 'immediately' over his role in inciting a violent mob attack on the Capitol this week."
The threat was part of an all-out effort by furious Democrats, backed by a handful of Republicans, to pressure Mr. Trump to leave office in disgrace after the hourslong siege by his supporters on Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Although he has only 12 days left in the White House, they argued he was a direct danger to the nation.
Ms. Pelosi and other top Democratic leaders continued to press Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to wrest power from Mr. Trump, though Mr. Pence was said to be against it. The speaker urged Republican lawmakers to pressure the president to resign immediately. And she took the unusual step of calling Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss how to limit Mr. Trump’s access to the nation’s nuclear codes and then publicized it.
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Twitter's ban specifically addresses 'the @realDonaldTrump account,' not Trump personally. (photo: WRCB)
Twitter Permanently Bans Trump, Citing 'Risk of Further Incitement of Violence'
Brian Fung, CNN
Fung writes: "Twitter has suspended President Trump from its platform, the company said Friday evening. 'After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,' Twitter said."
"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."
Twitter's decision followed two tweets by Trump Friday afternoon that would end up being his last. The tweets violated the company's policy against glorification of violence, Twitter said, and "these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President's statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks."
The first tweet was about Trump's supporters.
"The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"
The second indicated Trump did not plan to attend Joe Biden's inauguration.
"To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."
Twitter said the tweet concerning inauguration could be viewed as a further statement that the election was not legitimate. It also said that the tweet could be interpreted as Trump saying that the inauguration would be a "safe" target for violence because he would not be attending.
Trump's other statement about American patriots suggested that "he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election," Twitter said.
Twitter's ban specifically addresses "the @realDonaldTrump account," not Trump personally.
Twitter will enforce its policy against ban evasions to ensure that Trump does not circumvent his personal account's suspension, the company told CNN.
"If it is clear that another account is being used for the purposes of evading a ban, it is also subject to suspension," Twitter said in a statement. "For government accounts, such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse, we will not suspend those accounts but will take action to limit their use. However, these accounts will be transitioned over to the new administration in due course and will not be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary to alleviate real-world harm."
Twitter's policy would also prohibit Trump from directing a third party to operate a Twitter account on his behalf.
Trump sought to test Twitter's ban evasion policy at roughly 8:30 pm ET Friday evening, when he or someone acting on his behalf published four tweets from the @POTUS account.
"As I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me," Trump tweeted.
The tweets disappeared almost instantly.
Twitter told CNN that the Trump campaign's account has also been permanently banned. Before @TeamTrump was suspended, it had been seen sharing the same four-tweet thread that Trump had attempted to post from the @POTUS account.
After Twitter permanently banned the Trump campaign's account, Mike Hahn, the campaign's social media director, objected.
"We copied and pasted a White House pool report," Hahn tweeted.
Earlier in the evening, a White House pool report was distributed that contained the exact language that Trump had attempted to share from the @POTUS Twitter account.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to CNN that what prompted @TeamTrump's ban was its attempt to share the same language Trump tried to tweet earlier.
Hahn argued it is nonsensical for journalists to be allowed to share Trump's words but that the Trump campaign is not.
"A serious question that needs to be asked by journalists: If you post exactly what the president said will you be suspended as well? Because that is all we did," Hahn said.
Asked whether it saw a difference between journalists reporting Trump's words and the Trump campaign repeating Trump's words, Twitter told CNN that there was a distinction.
"There's a difference between someone reporting on the President, and someone attempting to allow their account to be used by the president to essentially get around the ban," a Twitter spokesperson said.
Civil rights leaders who have long criticized tech platforms for spreading hate speech and division welcomed Twitter's decision.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, called it an "excellent step."
"A fitting end to a legacy of spewing hate and vitriol," Greenblatt said. "President Trump incited the violent riots at the Capitol using social media & paid the price."
Eric Naing, a spokesman for Muslim Advocates, said Twitter "is showing real leadership."
"As Twitter notes, letting Trump continue to post tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos for his white nationalist supporters risks 'further incitement of violence,'" Naing said. "Now it is up to Facebook and Google/YouTube to follow Twitter's lead."
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Trump supporters stand on the U.S. Capitol Police armored vehicle as others take over the steps of the Capitol. (photo: Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/ZUMA)
ALSO SEE: Insurrectionists' Social Media Presence
Gives Feds an Easy Way to ID Them
How Law Enforcement and Internet Detectives Are Identifying the Capitol Rioters
Sara Morrison, Vox
Morrison writes: "Capitol Police may have allowed nearly every member of a mob of pro-Trump rioters to enter, vandalize, and leave the Capitol building scot-free, but internet sleuths and official investigators are determined to hold them accountable."
How law enforcement and internet detectives are identifying the Capitol rioters.
After insurrectionists crashed through barriers surrounding Capitol Hill, overwhelmed police, rampaged through the Capitol building, and left dozens injured and five dead, there were relatively few arrests, and many people were allowed to simply walk out. There were few consequences then — only about a dozen of the hundreds of invaders were arrested at the scene — but that’s very likely to change in the days and weeks to come. Law enforcement and civilians alike are attempting to identify those who allegedly participated. Thanks to the brazenness of many members of the mob, there’s plenty of evidence at their disposal.
Many participants willingly — and quite happily — posed for photos and videos at the scene, or boasted of their exploits on social media and verified livestream accounts during or shortly after the melee, even though many of their actions may well be serious crimes. Apparently believing they weren’t doing anything wrong or that law enforcement wouldn’t go after them for their actions, the Trump supporters paraded in front of cameras wearing distinct (and thus easily recognizable) costumes and, in some cases, even ID badges.
In short, those who stormed the Capitol didn’t leave social media breadcrumbs for law enforcement to follow to their front doors — they left entire loaves of bread.
Their arrests are likely imminent. The FBI is calling for “tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, D.C.”
“Let me assure the American people the FBI has deployed our full investigative resources and is working closely with our federal, state, and local partners to aggressively pursue those involved in criminal activity during the events of January 6,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement Thursday. “Make no mistake: With our partners, we will hold accountable those who participated in yesterday’s siege of the Capitol.”
The DC Police Department has also requested “assistance in identifying persons of interest responsible for unlawful entry offenses,” posting on its website a series of photos showing rioters inside and around the Capitol building. One person who brazenly held pieces of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s door aloft is suspected of “receiving stolen property,” while another who was photographed vaping while seated behind a desk and using a phone is suspected of “unlawful entry.”
And social media detectives — who deservedly don’t have the best reputation for tracking down potential criminals — are also on the case. An Instagram account dedicated to identifying and naming members of the mob has already accumulated nearly 100,000 followers.
At least three participants have already been fired from their jobs.
Goosehead Insurance confirmed Thursday on Twitter that Paul Davis, an associate general counsel at the company, was no longer employed there. Davis posted a video on Instagram from outside the Capitol in which he complained of being tear-gassed.
Another man was wearing a clearly visible employee ID badge. He is no longer an employee. Navistar Direct Marketing fired him “after a review of photographic evidence.” Another former employer of the man, Glory Doughnuts, identified him as Nicholas Rodean on its Instagram account.
Libby Andrews, a Chicago real estate agent, was fired from her job on Thursday after @properties said it received “a tremendous amount of outreach” about Andrews, “who acknowledged on social media that she took part in ‘storming the Capitol.’” Andrews told the Chicago Tribune that she didn’t realize she was doing anything wrong and that “it was like a party.”
Tim Gionet, better known as alt-right white supremacist provocateur “Baked Alaska,” livestreamed his stroll through the Capitol building (and attempted to use a desk phone to call Trump) to thousands of followers on DLive, where he is a verified partner.
Two of the most prominently featured members of the mob — the shirtless man wearing facepaint and a furry horned hat and the man who put his feet up on a desk in Pelosi’s office — were identified within hours of the riot by press in their hometowns. The horned man is known as Jake Angeli, of Arizona, a QAnon supporter and right-wing rally fixture whose costume made him easily recognizable. Richard “Bigo” Barnett, of Arkansas, was quickly identified by his local news station as the man in Pelosi’s office. He later bragged to the New York Times that his time inside Pelosi’s office included “scratch[ing] his balls” and taking an envelope, for which he said he paid a quarter. Barnett was arrested on Friday and has been charged with entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property.
Another befurred pro-Trump rioter was identified as the son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge. Aaron Mostofsky was photographed wearing multiple fur pelts, a vest that said “police” on it, and carrying a police riot shield as well as a large stick.
Former and current local politicians also broadcast their presence at the scene. Connecticut’s Joe Visconti, who ran for governor in 2014, tweeted an image of himself on the Capitol stairs next to graffiti that said “our house” and made sure to tag local publications to alert them of his actions (Visconti has since removed that post). Former Pennsylvania state representative Rick Saccone boasted on Facebook that he was “storming the capitol” and “our vanguard has broken through the barricades.” The next day, Saccone resigned from his adjunct teaching position at Saint Vincent College.
And Derrick Evans, a freshly sworn-in Republican member of West Virginia’s House of Delegates, livestreamed himself entering the Capitol building. (He has since deleted that footage and now claims he was there as an independent member of the media.) West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw said in a statement that he will “evaluate all the potential consequences once the totality of the situation is understood.” Evans was arrested on Friday and has been charged with entering a restricted government building.
Finally, the much-circulated photo of a cheerful and waving bearded man walking through the Capitol with the speaker’s podium has been identified by the Bradenton Herald as Florida man Adam Johnson (not “Via Getty”).
Law enforcement has been happy to make use of social media and internet activities to track down alleged criminals in the past. Social media feeds and livestreams led to the arrest of protesters in Portland last July, and the FBI used Instagram, LinkedIn, Etsy, and Poshmark to identify a Philadelphia woman who allegedly set two police cars on fire during the George Floyd protests last June. Arguably, if law enforcement had previously paid this much attention to social media, where Trump fans were openly organizing ahead of the insurrection on Capitol Hill, they would have been better prepared for the riot that followed — and perhaps may have prevented it from happening at all.
So far, few of the Capitol building rioters have been arrested aside from the 14 who were taken into custody on the scene. With seemingly everyone very motivated to hold them accountable — and many of the alleged rioters already identified — expect that number to increase very soon. Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said on Thursday afternoon that 55 cases had been filed relating to the riot.
“This is just the beginning,” he said.
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A migrant family. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A New ICE Policy as Trump Is About to Leave Office Could Make It Harder for Immigrant Children to Get Asylum
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed
Aleaziz writes: "Immigrant children could have a harder time obtaining asylum in the US under a new policy issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the waning days of an administration that has spent the past four years restricting access at the nation's southern border."
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Members of the Siona Indigenous group say their ancestral territories have been invaded. (photo: Mateo Barriga Salazar/Amazon Frontlines)
Colombian and Ecuadorian Indigenous Communities Live in Fear as Drug Traffickers Invade
Ana Cristina Basantes, Mongabay
Cristina Basantes writes: "The Siona are a binational people, their territory straddling two countries: SucumbÃos province in northeastern Ecuador and in the Putumayo department in southeastern Colombia."
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A wildfire in California. (photo: Getty Images)
US Witnesses a Record Year for Climate-Driven Catastrophes
teleSUR
Excerpt: "According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), a total of 22 major disasters each causing at least $1bn in damage swept the United States last year, six more than the previous record."
The U.S. experienced a record number of weather and climate-driven disasters in 2020, with hurricanes in quick succession pummeling the East, extensive wildfires scorching the West, and extreme heat sweeping across the heart of the country, according to a U.S. federal agency.
The federal agency reported on Friday that at least 262 people died in these events, with $95bn in total damages recorded.
The year was marred by extremes on both the East and West coasts, including the most active wildfire year on record in the US West, with California recording five of the six biggest fires in its history, an outbreak destroying thousands of homes and causing the sky to turn an apocalyptic orange over the San Francisco Bay Area.
Across the US west, a total of 10.3 million acres burned in wildfires in 2020, an area larger than Maryland and above this century’s average.
In the East and the Gulf of Mexico, a record 12 tropical storms hit the U.S. during a year when forecasters had to turn to the Greek alphabet for storms’ names because the number of events had exhausted the list of planned names.
Three hurricanes and two tropical storms hit Louisiana alone, while seven storms caused more than $1bn in damage, including hurricanes Laura and Sally, which hit the U.S. South in quick succession in August and September.
Last year, a major drought and heatwave blasted the US West, where there were three major tornado-related disasters and a highly destructive derecho, an event driven by fast-moving thunderstorms, that downed power lines, damaged houses and flattened crops in various Midwestern states.
Noaa found that 2020 was the fifth hottest on record across the contiguous US, following a pattern of national and global heating. In fact, all of the five warmest years on record in the U.S. have occurred since 2012.
While hurricanes and wildfires have always hit the U.S., scientists have reported that the storms' strength is increasing as the atmosphere and ocean heat up, while the area consumed by fire has grown as rising temperatures dry out soils and vegetation.
Accoridng to Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State, “The record number of climate change-exacerbated weather disasters this year drives home the fact that, as I like to say, the impacts of climate change are no longer subtle."
“We’re seeing them play out in real time. Hopefully this is the year where we finally see the sort of action, by the US and the rest of the world, that is necessary to prevent things from getting worse,” Mann assured.
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