Winning Hearts & Minds

American Cops Don’t Belong in Canada

"The United States protects, obsessively, their sovereignty. But here in Canada, armed American police officers will now be able to stop Canadians, in Canada, inspecting, checking and asking questions. Again, the Conservatives will tell us that an armed American cop in Canada is all about trade, jobs and security, not sovereignty. If this is true, then can we not expect to see Mounties stopping Americans on the Buffalo side? Harper did promise though that when he's done, we won't recognize Canada. Perhaps we can all reminiscence about that when stopped and questioned by an American police officer, in our own country." Continue reading →

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Atlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

"On June 27, IJ asked the court to clarify that Atlanta does indeed have a vending law in place under which the vendors can work. Shortly thereafter, we helped more than 75 vendors and their supporters march on City Hall. Three major civil rights groups joined us, as did most of Atlanta’s major media outlets who covered the protest. The very next day, the court clarified that the law authorizing the vending monopoly was 'wholly void' and should be treated 'as if it were never passed.' Because that law repealed an earlier vending ordinance, its invalidation meant that the old ordinance, which allows public property vending, was once again the law of the land." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtlanta Pursues Scorched Earth Policy Against Street Vendors, Loses

Anaheim & the Feds Use Civil Forfeiture to Subvert State Law

"When IJ client Tony Jalali fled Iran in 1978, he came to America seeking protection of the rule of law, due process, and justice. He never would have imagined that 35 years later he would be battling in federal court to save the small Anaheim, Calif., office building that represents his family’s life savings. Although Tony has never been charged with any crime, the federal government is attempting to use civil forfeiture to take his entire $1.5 million commercial building merely because he used to rent office space to a medical marijuana dispensary that was entirely legal under state law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnaheim & the Feds Use Civil Forfeiture to Subvert State Law

For Smoking Marijuana, the Government Ruined This Man’s Family Forever

"For the simple crime of smoking marijuana, Texas man Joshua Hill’s family is destroyed forever. The government took Hill’s two-year old daughter away from him because he was caught smoking pot while she was asleep. But under the watch of Child Protective Services (CPS), Hill’s child was abused and eventually murdered by foster parents. Was Hill’s 'crime' of smoking marijuana worse than the state’s prescription of removing his child from the home and placing her into a foster system with as much as 10 times higher risk of abuse?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFor Smoking Marijuana, the Government Ruined This Man’s Family Forever

Chinese baby ‘sold by doctor’ reunited with parents

"Zhang Suxia, the doctor responsible for the birth, allegedly persuaded the parents to give up their child last month after informing them he had serious congenital diseases. The paper reported that a farmer with three daughters bought the baby boy from the alleged traffickers for 60,000 yuan ($9,800). Trafficking of children is a serious problem in China, blamed in part on the 'one-child' policy which has put a premium on baby boys, with girls sometimes sold off, abandoned or put up for adoption. Chinese police rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects in December after breaking up a series of child trafficking rings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese baby ‘sold by doctor’ reunited with parents

CFR Admits Drones May Be Creating Sworn Enemies of the United States

"With its so-called signature strikes, Washington often goes after people whose identity it does not know but who appear to be behaving like militants in insurgent-controlled areas. The strikes end up killing enemies of the Pakistani, Somali, and Yemeni militaries who may not threaten the United States at all. Worse, because the targets of such strikes are so loosely defined, it seems inevitable that they will kill some civilians. The drone campaign has morphed, in effect, into remote-control repression: the direct application of brute force by a state, rather than an attempt to deal a pivotal blow to a movement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCFR Admits Drones May Be Creating Sworn Enemies of the United States

Meet Tian Yu: The woman who nearly killed herself making your iPad

"Tian Yu worked more than 12 hours a day, six days a week. She had to skip meals to do overtime. Then she threw herself from a fourth-floor window. Without its No 1 supplier, the Cupertino giant’s current riches would be unimaginable: in 2010, Longhua employees made 137,000 iPhones a day, or around 90 a minute. That same year, 18 workers – none older than 25 – attempted suicide at Foxconn facilities. Fourteen died. Tian Yu was one of the lucky ones: emerging from a 12-day coma, she was left with fractures to her spine and hips and paralysed from the waist down. She was 17." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMeet Tian Yu: The woman who nearly killed herself making your iPad

Japan calls on U.S. to suspend military chopper operations in Okinawa

"Japan’s prime minister on Tuesday called on the US military to suspend helicopter operations in the country’s southern Okinawa island chain after a fatal crash. An American HH-60 helicopter with four personnel on board crashed at the Camp Hansen Marine base on Monday. The base is located on Okinawa, which is home to tens of thousands of US military personnel, with the latest incident stoking renewed concerns among many residents about the vast American presence there. Okinawans have mounted protests against both the US military and its deployment of the controversial Osprey aircraft on the island." Continue reading →

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When “Diplomats” Aren’t Suborning Another Country’s Rulers, They’re Killing Its Citizens

"US diplomat Joshua Walde killed Haji Hassan Ali Lukindo, 43, when his car crashed into the minibus carrying Mr. Lukindo. The deceased leaves his wife of fourteen years, now expecting their fourth child. 'We have been left destitute since Haji was killed,' the widow says. 'I have no means to support our three children, and have to depend entirely on a well wisher for rent, food, school fees and daily living expenses.' And the diplomat? 'He has left Kenya…he is a diplomat so had immunity and was free to go,’ a senior police officer said…” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhen “Diplomats” Aren’t Suborning Another Country’s Rulers, They’re Killing Its Citizens

Guitarist completes first-ever paddleboard journey from Cuba to U.S.

"A Tennessee musician on Friday became the first paddleboarder to cross the Florida Straits between Cuba and the United States, making the 110 mile journey in 28 hours as his father watched from a support boat. Ben Friberg, 35, arrived in Key West dehydrated and exhausted but otherwise in good shape. Before leaving Cuba on Thursday, Friberg said he was 'doing this to promote peace and understanding between Cuba and the United States and to promote a healthy lifestyle.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuitarist completes first-ever paddleboard journey from Cuba to U.S.