Winning Hearts & Minds

Spain Dismisses Catalonian Government, Dissolves Parliament, Fires Police Chief

"Spain dismissed Catalonia's president and Cabinet and dissolved its Parliament on Friday hours after lawmakers in the autonomous region defied Madrid and voted overwhelmingly to declare independence. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called new elections and fired the Catalan police chief, as part of an unprecedented package of measures to seize control of the renegade administration in Barcelona. The European Union has backed Madrid in its handling of the crisis. The United States also voiced its support for the Madrid government."

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Boycott Israel & you won’t get aid donations, Hurricane Harvey victims told

"The city of Dickinson, Texas, told individuals and businesses on Monday that they are now accepting applications for 'grants from the fund generously donated to the Dickinson Harvey Relief Fund' for storm damage repair. In order to apply for the grant, however, applicants must agree to a number of clauses, one of which is asserting that they do not boycott Israel. The clause stems from a Texas law passed in May, which became effective on September 1, that requires all state contractors to verify in writing that they are not participating in boycotts of Israel."

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IRS Still Stealing Cash From Immigrant Business Owners

"After the gas station went under, and Kwon’s wife died amid the stress of it all, after he moved from his neighborhood in shame and the Internal Revenue Service changed its policy so no other small business would get steamrolled this way — the agency won’t give Kwon his money back. That’s $59,117.47 the IRS is holding on to. As recently as August — the last time Kwon, now 73, asked for his money back — the IRS said no. He’s heartbroken that the country he loves is treating him this way."

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Declassified files reveal US supported Indonesia’s fascist massacre

"Declassified files have revealed new details of U.S. government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s. The thousands of files from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta covering 1963-66 were made public Tuesday after a declassification review that began under the Obama administration. The Associated Press reviewed key documents in the collection in advance of their release."

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Trump Has Killed More Civilians in 9 Months Than Obama Did in 8 Years

"President Trump has been in office for just 9 months, and he has already surpassed Obama’s murderous record with estimated numbers as high as 4,500 civilian deaths. Trump made headlines in December 2015, when he declared that if elected, he would not only kill members of ISIS—he would also 'take out their families.' He is following through on that promise, according to a report from Steven Feldstein, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State."

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Spain threatens Catalonia with five-day deadline to overturn vote

"Rajoy said Catalan authorities broke the law by holding the referendum and incited street protests to give an appearance of legitimacy to the vote. He did not refer to the violence with which police cracked down on voting day but said 'nobody can be proud of the image' Spain projected, adding the only ones to blame were the Catalan leaders."

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