therealnews--2020-11-24--Justice means abolition, not more jails

Justice means abolition, not more jails

Kim Brown has been covering national and international politics for over 10 years and has been a sought-after voice on @ @ @ @ @ .

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therealnews--2020-11-27--The double struggle of Black Native Americans

We ’ re joined by Marilyn Vann , president of both the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes @ @ @ @ @ the 5 Civilized Tribes Foundation ; Johnnie Jae , journalist and co-host of Decolonized News @ @ @ @ @ , Indigenous activist , economist , and beekeeper from Detroit .
We look back on @ @ @ @ @ ownership , examine how that history influences anti-Black attitudes today , and discuss the push @ @ @ @ @ Rep. Deb Haaland to urge tribes to honor the Treaties of 1866 requiring freedmen to @ @ @ @ @ as full citizens .
Burn It Down with Kim Brown returns live on Tuesday , @ @ @ @ @ EST !

We’re joined by Marilyn Vann, president of both the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association and African Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes Foundation; Johnnie Jae, journalist and co-host of Decolonized News Hour; and Antonio Cosme, Indigenous activist, economist, and beekeeper from Detroit.
We look back on the history of Indigenous slave ownership, examine how that history influences anti-Black attitudes today, and discuss the push by Black Native Americans for Rep. Deb Haaland to urge tribes to honor the Treaties of 1866 requiring freedmen to be admitted to tribal nations as full citizens.
Burn It Down with Kim Brown returns live on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 5:00 p.m. EST!
Studio: Dwayne Gladden
Production: Genevieve Montinar, Taylor Hebden
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therealnews--2020-11-30--The long, chilling legacies of ‘Russiagate’ and ‘Obamagate’

Visual Producer Raised in southern New Jersey outside Philadelphia , and now residing in Baltimore Maryland , Andrew Corkery works as a Visual Producer / Editor/ Researcher for the Real News Network .
Prior to that he worked for nearly four years as Video Editor for CBS 3 Eyewitness News , and an Investigative Journalist for Spirit News both in Philadelphia .
He graduated from Rider University in Lawrenceville , New Jersey in May of 2014 with a Bachelor 's degree in Digital Media .
While in college Andrew completed a media education and co op work program at CAPA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video editor for COAST , a digital strategy and brand film content production company .
Andrew maintains a relentlessly keen interest in all things geopolitics in almost every corner of the globe .
He has since applied this passion and interest to his creative and investigative work as a producer , editor , journalist and videographer .
One of his most impactful pieces focused on a story outlining how to combat Islamophobia in communities across the world , articulating the differences between Radical Islamists and the vast majority of people who follow Islam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuance , both in politics and religion more broadly .
That Story , `` Islam in the Riverwards : PART 1 AND 2 , '' along with `` Being Black in Bridesburg '' , a story highlighting the impacts and legacy of racial injustice in a largely white community within Philadelphia , were both published in Spirit News and later featured in write ups from The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine .
With Andrew 's career expanding experience of living and working abroad in mind , he recognizes the importance of staying connected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Andrew 's work can always be found in uncovering the expansive impact of global events and political issues , while relating them to people 's everyday lives , through the mediums of online video , film and writing .
Finally , Andrew is currently the Lead Singer and Member Manager of a successful original alternative rock band called Shadowplay , based in Mt .
Laurel , NJ , founded in 2008 at Lenape High School .
The band has since performed over 200 shows , including performances at such festivals as SXSW , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guns , Weitz and The Parlor Mob .

Visual Producer (former)
Raised in southern New Jersey outside Philadelphia, and now residing in Baltimore Maryland, Andrew Corkery worked as a Visual Producer / Editor/ Researcher for the Real News Network. Prior to that he worked for nearly four years as Video Editor for CBS 3 Eyewitness News, and an Investigative Journalist for Spirit News both in Philadelphia. He graduated from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey in May of 2014 with a Bachelor's degree in Digital Media. While in college Andrew completed a media education and co op work program at CAPA London, working as a researcher and video editor for COAST, a digital strategy and brand film content production company.
Andrew maintains a relentlessly keen interest in all things geopolitics in almost every corner of the globe. He has since applied this passion and interest to his creative and investigative work as a producer, editor, journalist and videographer. One of his most impactful pieces focused on a story outlining how to combat Islamophobia in communities across the world, articulating the differences between Radical Islamists and the vast majority of people who follow Islam, while showing the many layers of nuance, both in politics and religion more broadly. That Story, "Islam in the Riverwards: PART 1 AND 2," along with "Being Black in Bridesburg", a story highlighting the impacts and legacy of racial injustice in a largely white community within Philadelphia, were both published in Spirit News and later featured in write ups from The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine.
With Andrew's career expanding experience of living and working abroad in mind, he recognizes the importance of staying connected to the world. The cornerstones of Andrew's work can always be found in uncovering the expansive impact of global events and political issues, while relating them to people's everyday lives, through the mediums of online video, film and writing. Finally, Andrew is currently the Lead Singer and Member Manager of a successful original alternative rock band called Shadowplay, based in Mt. Laurel, NJ, founded in 2008 at Lenape High School. The band has since performed over 200 shows, including performances at such festivals as SXSW, and opening up for bands like Tracy Guns, Weitz and The Parlor Mob.


therealnews--2020-12-01--Cabinet of the living dead

Cabinet of the living dead

Neera Tanden ?
Rahm Emanuel ?
Here ’ s the deal , Jack : President-elect Joe Biden ’ s cabinet @ @ @ @ @ far comprise a who ’ s who of neoliberal ghouls from the Obama and Clinton @ @ @ @ @ political consultant Adriel Hampton and Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic about whether the battle lines @ @ @ @ @ and establishment Dems .


therealnews--2020-12-02--Update: Forced-hysterectomy victims in ICE detention deported

Eddie Conway talks to Azadeh Shahshahani , Project South Legal and Advocacy Director and lawyer for Dawn Wooten , a @ @ @ @ @ Center and the whistleblower who sounded the alarm on ICE abuses , including the case @ @ @ @ @ to have hysterectomies while in custody .
Six of the victims who filed complaints have @ @ @ @ @ more women may be deported soon , resulting in the loss of critical witnesses .
@ @ @ @ @ report on alleged abuses at Irwin County Detention Center below :

Eddie Conway talks to Azadeh Shahshahani, Project South Legal and Advocacy Director and lawyer for Dawn Wooten, a nurse at Irwin County Detention Center and the whistleblower who sounded the alarm on ICE abuses, including the case of ICE detainees being forced to have hysterectomies while in custody. Six of the victims who filed complaints have now been deported. Seven more women may be deported soon, resulting in the loss of critical witnesses.
See Conway’s September report on alleged abuses at Irwin County Detention Center below:
Studio: Cameron Granadino
Production: Ericka Blount
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
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therealnews--2020-12-02--Black Panthers Eddie Conway and Paul Coates’ revolution wasn’t televised

Marc Steiner , interim co-Editor at TRNN , is a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has spent his life working on @ @ @ @ @ He walked his first picket line at age 13 and at age 16 became the @ @ @ @ @ for Civil Rights protests , in the Freedom Rides through Cambridge .
As part of @ @ @ @ @ Campaign in 1968 , Marc helped organize poor white communities with the Young Patriots , @ @ @ @ @ the Black Panthers .
Early in his career he counseled at-risk youth in therapeutic settings @ @ @ @ @ in the Maryland State prison system .
He also taught Theatre for 10 years at @ @ @ @ @ Arts .
From 1993 through 1997 his signature “ Marc Steiner Show ” aired on @ @ @ @ @ airwaves , both WYPR – which Marc co-founded – and Morgan State University ’ s @ @

Host, The Marc Steiner Show
Marc Steiner is the host of "The Marc Steiner Show" on TRNN. He is a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has spent his life working on social justice issues. He walked his first picket line at age 13, and at age 16 became the youngest person in Maryland arrested at a civil rights protest during the Freedom Rides through Cambridge. As part of the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968, Marc helped organize poor white communities with the Young Patriots, the white Appalachian counterpart to the Black Panthers. Early in his career he counseled at-risk youth in therapeutic settings and founded a theater program in the Maryland State prison system. He also taught theater for 10 years at the Baltimore School for the Arts. From 1993-2018 Marc's signature “Marc Steiner Show” aired on Baltimore’s public radio airwaves, both WYPR—which Marc co-founded—and Morgan State University’s WEAA.
marc@therealnews.com
@marcsteiner


therealnews--2020-12-03--200K wrongfully purged GA voters fight to be heard in Senate runoffs

Georgia may have illegally purged nearly 200,000 citizens from its voting rolls before the 2020 election , and a lawsuit filed Dec. 2 by civil rights group Black Voters Matter seeks an injunction that would allow these voters to participate in the state ’ s high-stakes Senate runoff elections in January .
Georgians must be registered by Dec. 7 in order to vote in the Jan. 5 elections , and early voting begins on Dec. 14 .
Black Voters Matter claims Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrongfully removed over 198,000 people from the voter rolls based on the false @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were registered to vote : “ It is imperative that the State of Georgia take steps to ensure that the voter rolls are accurate and citizens who wrongly had their registrations cancelled are restored to the rolls so they may be allowed to vote in the upcoming run-off elections , ” the complaint states .
The suit was filed amid attempts by Donald Trump to overturn the results of the November election based on false claims that voter fraud resulted in him losing states such as Georgia .
These claims have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration officials , including , most recently , Attorney General William Barr .
“ What has happened in the state of Georgia is not voter fraud , it is voter suppression , ” said LaTosha Brown , a plaintiff in the case and the founder of Black Voters Matter , in a press conference held hours after the suit was filed .
“ We literally are not seeing the same kind of traction around people being really upset and disturbed by this.
” The alleged voter suppression targeted people of color and is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Crow ” operation by the GOP to counter unfavorable demographic shifts , argues investigative journalist Greg Palast , who described the voting roll purge in a report published with ACLU Georgia in September .
“ The only way they can win Georgia ” is through voter suppression , Palast said in an interview with The Real News earlier this year .
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams says the GOP ’ s recent voter suppression efforts backfired , leading to the high voter turnout in November ’ s election that helped Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state since 1992 .
“ That fight is what I think helped make the difference , because voters who wanted to be heard had the ability this time to actually make it through the gauntlet , get to the ballot box , and cast their votes , ” she told The View .
In Georgia , like the rest of the United States , Black voters overwhelmingly vote for Democrats .
The upcoming Georgia election—which remains virtually tied , according to polls—will determine if Republicans keep their majority in the Senate .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Raphael Warnock can defeat the two Republican incumbents , David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler , splitting the Senate 50-50 , Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can cast tie-breaking votes in Democrats ’ favor .
But if Republicans retain control they can obstruct the Biden administration from delivering on its campaign promises .
The Black Voters Matter lawsuit was filed the same day Raffensperger , a Republican and Trump supporter , said multiple investigations in Georgia have found no evidence of widespread fraud , as alleged by Trump .
Last week , Trump called Raffensperger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” for not overturning the results of the election .
Raffensperger has earned some praise for rejecting pressure to throw out mail-in ballots , which overwhelmingly skewed Democratic , 849,000 for Biden to 451,000 for Trump .
Meanwhile , Raffensperger says officials in Georgia are investigating whether voting rights groups registered dead people to vote , but hasn ’ t commented on the lawsuit .
Election official Gabriel Sterling all but dismissed the allegations as baseless .
“ There ’ s nothing more reprehensible than when a state operates in a sloppy manner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters who have the right to vote , ” said Barbara Arnwine , a plaintiff in the case and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition during the press conference .
“ Georgia has been not only Ground Zero [ for voter suppression ] it has been a national disgrace by failing to uphold the rights of voters to have access to the ballot box .
”

Georgia may have illegally purged nearly 200,000 citizens from its voting rolls before the 2020 election, and a lawsuit filed Dec. 2 by civil rights group Black Voters Matter seeks an injunction that would allow these voters to participate in the state’s high-stakes Senate runoff elections in January. Georgians must be registered by Dec. 7 in order to vote in the Jan. 5 elections, and early voting begins on Dec. 14.
Black Voters Matter claims Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrongfully removed over 198,000 people from the voter rolls based on the false claim that they no longer lived where they were registered to vote: “It is imperative that the State of Georgia take steps to ensure that the voter rolls are accurate and citizens who wrongly had their registrations cancelled are restored to the rolls so they may be allowed to vote in the upcoming run-off elections,” the complaint states.
The suit was filed amid attempts by Donald Trump to overturn the results of the November election based on false claims that voter fraud resulted in him losing states such as Georgia. These claims have been rejected by multiple courts and multiple Trump administration officials, including, most recently, Attorney General William Barr.
“What has happened in the state of Georgia is not voter fraud, it is voter suppression,” said LaTosha Brown, a plaintiff in the case and the founder of Black Voters Matter, in a press conference held hours after the suit was filed. “We literally are not seeing the same kind of traction around people being really upset and disturbed by this.”
The alleged voter suppression targeted people of color and is part of a large scale “Jim Crow” operation by the GOP to counter unfavorable demographic shifts, argues investigative journalist Greg Palast, who described the voting roll purge in a report published with ACLU Georgia in September.
Hundreds of thousands of #Georgia voters were purged before the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Are you one of them? Go to https://t.co/2ANIrTzkY7 to find out — before it’s too late!
URGENT: The deadline to reregister in time to vote in the #GeorgiaRunoff is Dec 7.#SaveMyVote2020 pic.twitter.com/igzZA6FzY9 — Greg Palast (@Greg_Palast) December 2, 2020
“The only way they can win Georgia” is through voter suppression, Palast said in an interview with The Real News earlier this year.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams says the GOP’s recent voter suppression efforts backfired, leading to the high voter turnout in November’s election that helped Joe Biden become the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. “That fight is what I think helped make the difference, because voters who wanted to be heard had the ability this time to actually make it through the gauntlet, get to the ballot box, and cast their votes,” she told The View.
In Georgia, like the rest of the United States, Black voters overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. The upcoming Georgia election—which remains virtually tied, according to polls—will determine if Republicans keep their majority in the Senate. If Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock can defeat the two Republican incumbents, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, splitting the Senate 50-50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can cast tie-breaking votes in Democrats’ favor. But if Republicans retain control they can obstruct the Biden administration from delivering on its campaign promises.
The Black Voters Matter lawsuit was filed the same day Raffensperger, a Republican and Trump supporter, said multiple investigations in Georgia have found no evidence of widespread fraud, as alleged by Trump. Last week, Trump called Raffensperger an “enemy of the people,” for not overturning the results of the election. Raffensperger has earned some praise for rejecting pressure to throw out mail-in ballots, which overwhelmingly skewed Democratic, 849,000 for Biden to 451,000 for Trump. Meanwhile, Raffensperger says officials in Georgia are investigating whether voting rights groups registered dead people to vote, but hasn’t commented on the lawsuit. Election official Gabriel Sterling all but dismissed the allegations as baseless.
“There’s nothing more reprehensible than when a state operates in a sloppy manner, or purposefully sets out to block voters who have the right to vote,” said Barbara Arnwine, a plaintiff in the case and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition during the press conference. “Georgia has been not only Ground Zero [for voter suppression] it has been a national disgrace by failing to uphold the rights of voters to have access to the ballot box.”
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therealnews--2020-12-04--Obama knows something about slogans that disappoint people

Sociologist Taure Brown and editor from Hood Communist , Onyesonwu Chatoyer join us to set the record straight on Obama @ @ @ @ @ rewrite his own legacy and his dogged insistence on crushing leftist movements .
We also @ @ @ @ @ The People ’ s City Council about the inhumane and forcible removal of families by @ @ @ @ @ day before Thanksgiving .

Sociologist Taure Brown and editor from Hood Communist, Onyesonwu Chatoyer join us to set the record straight on Obama’s flimsy attempt to rewrite his own legacy and his dogged insistence on crushing leftist movements. We also speak with Ricci Sergienko from The People’s City Council about the inhumane and forcible removal of families by police from state-owned housing the day before Thanksgiving.
Studio: Dwayne Gladden
Production: Genevieve Montinar, Taylor Hebden
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therealnews--2020-12-04--He bought a car at police auction and got arrested for what was in it

The Police Accountability Report examines the arrest and prosecution of Texas resident Randal Thompson for drugs found in a car @ @ @ @ @ auction .
The story highlights a continuing trend in law enforcement of apparent policing for @ @ @ @ @ to billions of dollars in property seized from people who have not been convicted of @ @ @ @ @ is a Texas resident and the author of “ Heroin , Meth and Death , @ @ @ @ @ his encounters with law enforcement and his perspective on the continuing damage wrought by the @ @ @

Host & Producer
Stephen Janis is an award winning investigative reporter turned documentary filmmaker. His first feature film, The Friendliest Town was distributed by Gravitas Ventures and won an award of distinction from The Impact Doc Film Festival, and a humanitarian award from The Indie Film Fest. He is the co-host and creator of The Police Accountability Report on The Real News Network, which has received more than 10,000,000 views on YouTube. His work as a reporter has been featured on a variety of national shows including the Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries, Dead of Night on Investigation Discovery Channel, Relentless on NBC, and Sins of the City on TV One.
He has co-authored several books on policing, corruption, and the root causes of violence including Why Do We Kill: The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore and You Can’t Stop Murder: Truths about Policing in Baltimore and Beyond. He is also the co-host of the true crime podcast Land of the Unsolved. Prior to joining The Real News, Janis won three Capital Emmys for investigative series working as an investigative producer for WBFF. Follow him on Twitter.


therealnews--2020-12-07--Obama slams ‘Defund the Police,’ but his failed reforms fueled the movement

Activists are firing back at former President Barack Obama for his comments in a recent interview promoting his new memoir , “ A Promised Land , ” in which he called activist demands to “ defund the police ” ineffectual and said they should push for reforms , instead .
“ If you believe , as I do , that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it ’ s not biased and treats everybody fairly , I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘ Defund The Police , ’ ” Obama said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you lost a big audience the minute you say it , which makes it a lot less likely that you ’ re actually going to get the changes you want done.
” The concept of defunding the police has roots in the decades-old prison abolitionist movement , but it went mainstream this summer during Black Lives Matter protests following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor .
According to The New York Times , the protests constituted , by sheer number of participants , the “ largest movement in U.S. history.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in part the result of long-brewing dissatisfaction with the police reforms advanced by the Obama administration .
Representative-elect Cori Bush , a Black Lives Matter leader who helped organize protests after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson , Missouri , responded to Obama on Twitter : “ With all due respect , Mr. President—let ’ s talk about losing people .
We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor .
We ’ re losing our loved ones to police violence .
It ’ s not a slogan .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people alive .
Defund the police.
” Since the Nov. 3 election , establishment Democrats have adopted the talking point that “ Defund the Police ” is the reason for the party ’ s down-ballot losses .
House majority whip James Clyburn blames the movement ’ s radical rhetoric for alienating potential support for Democrat Jaime Harrison , who lost his bid to unseat Republican Senator Lindsay Graham by 10 points despite spending a record $ 104 million dollars .
“ Jaime Harrison started to plateau when ‘ Defund the Police ’ showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ran across his head , ” Clyburn claimed on NBC News on Nov. 8 .
Clyburn neglected to mention that protests against police violence coincided with a large spike in Democratic Party voter registration .
Writer , attorney , and activist Malaika Jabali noted that defunding the police is overwhelmingly popular in cities like Minneapolis , Minnesota , where the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in May sparked a wave of mass demonstrations that spread throughout the country and beyond .
Obama is the latest high-profile Democrat to blame the party ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on progressive messaging without presenting evidence .
In the interview , Obama urged activists to change their messaging .
“ If you instead say , ‘ Let ’ s reform the police department so that everybody ’ s being treated fairly , ’ you know , divert young people from getting into crime , ” he said .
“ And if there was a homeless guy , can maybe we send a mental health worker there instead of an armed unit that could end up resulting in a tragedy ?
Suddenly , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ otherwise listen to you are listening to you.
” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( whom Obama praised during the same interview for her ability to bring fresh energy into the Democratic Party ) pushed back against Obama ’ s comments , arguing that “ Defund the Police ” was a strategic success because it forced politicians to take activists ’ demands seriously .
“ The thing that critics of activists don ’ t get is that they tried playing the ‘ polite language ’ policy game and all it did was make them easier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until they made folks uncomfortable that there was traction to do ANYTHING even if it wasn ’ t their full demands , ” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted .
In 2015 , the Obama administration released a 59-page report calling for police reforms such as increased oversight , training , and body-worn cameras—all of which required increasing already bloated police budgets and helped to further justify austerity measures for schools , healthcare , and housing .
These reforms have failed to substantively change policing .
According to Mapping Police Violence , police have killed 1,016 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an example of the limits of Obama-era police reforms and federal oversight after the killing of 25-year-old Freddie Gray by police in 2015 .
While the Baltimore Police Department was under investigation by the Department of Justice , the Gun Trace Task Force ( GTTF ) , a specialized Baltimore police unit , was robbing drug dealers and planting evidence , and it continued to operate with impunity for years .
This organized corruption was finally exposed in 2017 and has cost taxpayers millions in settlements to date .
This is in part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts at reform , Baynard Woods and Brandon Soderberg argue in their recent book , “ I Got A Monster : The Rise and Fall of America ’ s Most Corrupt Police Squad.
” “ In our book about the Gun Trace Task Force , we illustrate how police were running a criminal enterprise within the department right under the nose of Obama ’ s DOJ .
And reporting the book out , we noticed police fought federal oversight and sabotaged reform , ” Soderberg told The Real News .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reforms are not enough .
The police here opposed reforms on principle and claimed that it made their jobs harder and even threatened actions such as slowdowns .
They literally leveraged violence against the city they ’ re supposed to protect and serve to prevent even rudimentary reforms.
” For his part , President-elect Joe Biden has proposed increasing police spending by an additional $ 300 million .
Activists have rejected this plan outright , arguing that it doesn ’ t address the root causes of violence .
If anything , the Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police doesn ’ t magically improve the quality , nor curb the brutality , of our criminal justice system .
“ We know that policing in this country hasn ’ t worked for a long time and Biden ’ s response shows how out of touch the Democratic Party is with its base of Black people , ” said Ralikh Hayes , deputy director of Organizing Black , a grassroots member-led collective , in an interview with The Real News earlier this year .
Activists in Baltimore are demanding the city halve its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fund education and social services in disinvested Black communities .
The city spends more on policing than housing , civil rights , wage enforcement , healthcare , and education combined .
Hayes ’ sentiments about Baltimore , which is wracked with police corruption scandals and has endured five straight years of 300-plus homicides , are shared by other “ Defund the Police ” supporters about their own cities .
“ Violent crime stems from years of disinvestment in communities like mine , ” Bush tweeted last week .
“ St .
Louis City @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but announced plans to shut down 11 public schools .
We can ’ t defund education and expect to fix violent crime .
We have to invest in our communities .
”

Activists are firing back at former President Barack Obama for his comments in a recent interview promoting his new memoir, “A Promised Land,” in which he called activist demands to “defund the police” ineffectual and said they should push for reforms, instead.
“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘Defund The Police,’” Obama said. “But, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done.”
The concept of defunding the police has roots in the decades-old prison abolitionist movement, but it went mainstream this summer during Black Lives Matter protests following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. According to The New York Times, the protests constituted, by sheer number of participants, the “largest movement in U.S. history.”
The movement’s energy was in part the result of long-brewing dissatisfaction with the police reforms advanced by the Obama administration.
Representative-elect Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter leader who helped organize protests after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, responded to Obama on Twitter: “With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence. It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police.”
Since the Nov. 3 election, establishment Democrats have adopted the talking point that “Defund the Police” is the reason for the party’s down-ballot losses. House majority whip James Clyburn blames the movement’s radical rhetoric for alienating potential support for Democrat Jaime Harrison, who lost his bid to unseat Republican Senator Lindsay Graham by 10 points despite spending a record $104 million dollars.
“Jaime Harrison started to plateau when ‘Defund the Police’ showed up with a caption on TV, ran across his head,” Clyburn claimed on NBC News on Nov. 8. Clyburn neglected to mention that protests against police violence coincided with a large spike in Democratic Party voter registration.
Writer, attorney, and activist Malaika Jabali noted that defunding the police is overwhelmingly popular in cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in May sparked a wave of mass demonstrations that spread throughout the country and beyond.
Good morning, here to remind people that defunding the police is actually popular in the city that has grappled with it the most this year across nearly ALL groups polled: pic.twitter.com/YhcaMH7gUn — Malaika Jabali (@MalaikaJabali) December 4, 2020
Obama is the latest high-profile Democrat to blame the party’s failure to win a congressional majority on progressive messaging without presenting evidence. In the interview, Obama urged activists to change their messaging.
“If you instead say, ‘Let’s reform the police department so that everybody’s being treated fairly,’ you know, divert young people from getting into crime,” he said. “And if there was a homeless guy, can maybe we send a mental health worker there instead of an armed unit that could end up resulting in a tragedy? Suddenly, a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (whom Obama praised during the same interview for her ability to bring fresh energy into the Democratic Party) pushed back against Obama’s comments, arguing that “Defund the Police” was a strategic success because it forced politicians to take activists’ demands seriously.
“The thing that critics of activists don’t get is that they tried playing the ‘polite language’ policy game and all it did was make them easier to ignore. It wasn’t until they made folks uncomfortable that there was traction to do ANYTHING even if it wasn’t their full demands,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
In 2015, the Obama administration released a 59-page report calling for police reforms such as increased oversight, training, and body-worn cameras—all of which required increasing already bloated police budgets and helped to further justify austerity measures for schools, healthcare, and housing. These reforms have failed to substantively change policing. According to Mapping Police Violence, police have killed 1,016 people in 2020 so far.
Baltimore became an example of the limits of Obama-era police reforms and federal oversight after the killing of 25-year-old Freddie Gray by police in 2015. While the Baltimore Police Department was under investigation by the Department of Justice, the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a specialized Baltimore police unit, was robbing drug dealers and planting evidence, and it continued to operate with impunity for years. This organized corruption was finally exposed in 2017 and has cost taxpayers millions in settlements to date. This is in part because police and their unions successfully resisted efforts at reform, Baynard Woods and Brandon Soderberg argue in their recent book, “I Got A Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.”
“In our book about the Gun Trace Task Force, we illustrate how police were running a criminal enterprise within the department right under the nose of Obama’s DOJ. And reporting the book out, we noticed police fought federal oversight and sabotaged reform,” Soderberg told The Real News. “It’s a good example of why Obama-era reforms are not enough. The police here opposed reforms on principle and claimed that it made their jobs harder and even threatened actions such as slowdowns. They literally leveraged violence against the city they’re supposed to protect and serve to prevent even rudimentary reforms.”
For his part, President-elect Joe Biden has proposed increasing police spending by an additional $300 million. Activists have rejected this plan outright, arguing that it doesn’t address the root causes of violence. If anything, the Obama era illustrated how throwing more money at police doesn’t magically improve the quality, nor curb the brutality, of our criminal justice system.
“We know that policing in this country hasn’t worked for a long time and Biden’s response shows how out of touch the Democratic Party is with its base of Black people,” said Ralikh Hayes, deputy director of Organizing Black, a grassroots member-led collective, in an interview with The Real News earlier this year.
Activists in Baltimore are demanding the city halve its $500 million annual police budget to fund education and social services in disinvested Black communities. The city spends more on policing than housing, civil rights, wage enforcement, healthcare, and education combined. Hayes’ sentiments about Baltimore, which is wracked with police corruption scandals and has endured five straight years of 300-plus homicides, are shared by other “Defund the Police” supporters about their own cities.
“Violent crime stems from years of disinvestment in communities like mine,” Bush tweeted last week. “St. Louis City is nearing its record in homicides, but announced plans to shut down 11 public schools. We can’t defund education and expect to fix violent crime. We have to invest in our communities.”
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therealnews--2020-12-07--COVID-19 spikes four times higher in prisons and jails: ‘This lack of concern for human lives is cal

COVID-19 spikes four times higher in prisons and jails: ‘This lack of concern for human lives is calculated’

The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice—whose mission is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system—reports that the rate of COVID cases in federal and state prisons is more than four times the national rate .
Eddie Conway talks to Jose Saldana , director of Release Aging People in Prison , about the public health threat , why prisons and jails are hotbeds of contagion , and how punitive measures for infected prisoners are making everything worse .
This is a rush transcript and may contain errors .
It will be updated .
Eddie Conway : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of cases of COVID-19 in the prison system across the nation is four times higher than the national average .
I recently spoke to Jose Saldana from RAPP about this .
All right , so Jose , the ACLU has filed over 50 suits on behalf of prisoners and people held in ICE detention in relationship to this COVID-19 .
They have very little success in litigating these things because of the Prison Reform Act of 1995 , I believe it is .
Jose , can you talk a little bit about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get relief and in this case , where their lives in jeopardy ?
What ’ s the situation there ?
Jose Saldana : Yes .
You know , the authors of this act , this federal act that drastically restricted the use of federal habeas corpus by state incarcerated people at the time , these very same legislators referred to our youth as super predators .
So this was the mindset .
So by having that perception of human beings , calling them super predators , it kind of gives you that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about those who were incarcerated .
So when they enacted this law , they restricted the federal access to the federal habeas corpus so drastically that men and women actually lost the right to go to federal court to challenge the constitutionality of their state convictions and even attorneys had a difficult time meeting those time restrictions .
Eddie Conway : Well , since they ’ re not given relief , at least it don ’ t appear to be so in the court system , what is the situation in terms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison systems ?
It ’ s the epicenter of the pandemic now in America .
How is that going to affect the general public ?
Jose Saldana : Well , the general public in prisons , as you know , we can not socially distance in a prison environment .
It ’ s just impossible .
And to make matters worse , they are actually depriving incarcerated men and women of preventive measures , PPEs .
And in addition to that , when they appear or request to go to sick call to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is feeling ill , he has that right to go to sick call .
They make it difficult .
I know in New York state and I ’ m in contact with literally hundreds of people throughout the state , maybe thousands .
In fact , over a thousand people because we send a newsletter out every month .
And we ’ ve been getting information throughout the last eight , nine months that incarcerated people , rather than go to sick call and report that they have symptoms of COVID-19 , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their cell .
Or if the symptoms are severe , they will be placed in isolation with no property whatsoever .
So this is punitive .
This is how the Department of Corrections in New York state , they responded to COVID-19 spread in their prisons with punitive measures .
They didn ’ t do it as a health crisis because they didn ’ t respond to it as a health crisis .
So men actually rather just rough it out in their cell and risk death than to be punished for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Okay .
Now experts , public health experts , are suggesting that one of the main factors of this increasing spread among prisoners , and I think it ’ s like four times the national average is the no social distancing , the use of dormitories , and they are advocating that dormitories be shut down , that prison populations be cut in half .
Are you aware of any states that ’ s moving toward that or what ’ s the situation in New York now in terms of shutting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe distances ?
What ’ s the status in New York ?
Jose Saldana : In New York , first , the response , the initial response was to suspend all visits .
That means that incarcerated people will not be receiving any visits for the duration .
They opened it back up after several months , but that was their first response , a response that is punitive in nature because in suspending all visits , the virus spread in prisons across New York space is spread because correctional staff was bringing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but they do not require their employees to wear masks .
They do not test their employees .
So the suspending visits didn ’ t accomplish anything .
They are not considering , the governor who has the power , unrestrained authority to grant clemencies to the elderly people who languishing in prisons or to those who have underlying health conditions , no matter whether they are in a dormitory setting or in a cell setting , the conditions are basically the same .
Even if you limit the numbers in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women living in an environment where they can not successfully social distance and they are not being provided the every day PPE that is necessary to at least slowed down this virus .
Instead , what they are doing is they ’ re actually the neglecting the very same preventive measures that all public health experts say should be enforced .
They are actually not giving out PPE on a regular basis .
They think one mask is supposed to last an entire month .
It loses its value after a couple of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Which brings me to another question of serving food in the dining room , preparing food , cleaning the tiers .
Prisoners apparently has no way of knowing who ’ s been infected or who hasn ’ t been infected because like you say , a lot of people don ’ t even go to sick call because they fear the punitive measures of being punished or being put in an environment where they would be at risk .
So prisoners have no way of knowing who inside the system is impacted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that affecting the spread and the psychological conditions of prisoners ?
Jose Saldana : Just recently in an upstate prison , you have quite a few upstate prisons now that there ’ s been a real surge in the COVID-19 positives .
You have a prison with nearly 500 men have tested positive .
If you have 500 men that test positive in a facility that houses 12 or 1300 men , you would figure that you must test the rest , but they don ’ t .
They are not transparent in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting from incarcerated people is that they are not testing people .
And yet on their website , the Department of Corrections states that they have started the program of testing everybody in New York state correctional facilities when in fact they have not done that .
They probably have tested less than 15,000 out of close to 40,000 men and women that are languishing in New York state prisons .
And in that testing , we don ’ t know who has it , who doesn ’ t have it and as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this virus , it is spreading .
Eddie Conway : Well , and I ’ ll go back to that Washington Post article that says that in the prison populations , the spread of COVID-19 is four times that of the national average .
And I look at the transfer of prisoners that ’ s been tested positive into prisons with no positive cases like San Quentin and in Ohio and other places .
And I wonder , or I ’ m going to ask you , this is like the concentration camps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the German concentration camp experiments .
Are prisons being used right now to see how this will spread , if it ’ s not checked or if people are thrown together or some sick , some not sick ?
What ’ s your take on this ?
I mean , it ’ s too deliberate .
Everybody knows prisoners are there , they can ’ t do anything .
So are they being used now or what ?
Jose Saldana : Well , it would appear that this lack of concern for human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at what the governor did when he took 125 elderly people , 65 and over all with health conditions , every single one of them and he transferred them from a facility that is a hotbed for the COVID and then transferred all of them to a new facility .
They did not test them .
They did not test a single one .
So you have older people coming from a hotbed of COVID facility with other older people being transferred there from other facilities , all coming together and not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arriving in the new facility .
So , you would think that anybody would say , these men , these older men are coming from a facility that has the highest infective rate .
You would think that it ’ s just common sense to test them , but when they don ’ t test them , they are just inviting catastrophic consequences , like the nursing homes .
And this is why we protest against this .
And we said that instead of putting them in a prison nursing home , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can have multiple people dying of this disease , especially the elder people .
Instead of inviting that , we ask that you grant them clemency because most of them have already languished in prison for decades .
They pose no risk to public safety .
Eddie Conway : So , and this is off the beaten path , probably , prisoners can ’ t file and get relief .
The stories in the papers , the public attitude about what ’ s happening in prisons is falling on deaf ears .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities can do about this , because the way I see it , if nothing happens and we ’ re looking at a spike of cases all across America now , and if prisons are spiking four times that level , then I ’ m looking at a national disaster in the prison system that ’ s going to automatically come out to the community eventually .
It ’ s going to spread throughout society .
Is there something people outside can do about this to maybe bring it to the attention or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saldana : Yes .
I believe that there ’ s a lot our communities can do .
And as you know , COVID-19 disproportionately impacts black and Latinos people or communities .
And the people in prison are black and Latinos from poor communities .
So our families are very concerned with those who are incarcerated , but society as a whole don ’ t seem to be too concerned .
And it ’ s on us .
It ’ s on us to start making a lot of noise about this , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison , who they are placing in a concentration type nursing home that , if this thing hits with the force that it is capable of hitting , we will have a lot of men and women dying in prisons across the country .
So our communities has to stand up for the humanity of their incarcerated loved ones .
We have to set our differences aside and demand our elected officials , especially our elected officials representing our communities , that they do something about this , that they enact legislation that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because the thing , there are some release mechanisms that can decarcerate prisons , and take away that a hundred percent threat , lower it , lower the infection rate , and one of these things is , start paroling these men and women .
Men and women who within two years of their parole , they expedite they parole date so that they can be released by the parole and demand the governor to use his executive authority to grant compassion to people who are the most vulnerable to this disease and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men and women are my age , who are the least likely not only to commit another crime , but they will in fact do exactly what I ’ m doing and enhance public safety , because this is what we do once we are released from prison .
Eddie Conway : Okay .
Jose , I ’ m sorry .
We have to keep coming back and we ’ re probably going to have to come back and revisit this again in the very near future , but thanks for sharing that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joining me .
And thank you for joining this episode of Rattling the Bars .

The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice—whose mission is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system—reports that the rate of COVID cases in federal and state prisons is more than four times the national rate. Eddie Conway talks to Jose Saldana, director of Release Aging People in Prison, about the public health threat, why prisons and jails are hotbeds of contagion, and how punitive measures for infected prisoners are making everything worse.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Eddie Conway: The Washington Post reported recently that the number of cases of COVID-19 in the prison system across the nation is four times higher than the national average. I recently spoke to Jose Saldana from RAPP about this.
All right, so Jose, the ACLU has filed over 50 suits on behalf of prisoners and people held in ICE detention in relationship to this COVID-19. They have very little success in litigating these things because of the Prison Reform Act of 1995, I believe it is. Jose, can you talk a little bit about how difficult it is for prisoners to get relief and in this case, where their lives in jeopardy? What’s the situation there?
Jose Saldana: Yes. You know, the authors of this act, this federal act that drastically restricted the use of federal habeas corpus by state incarcerated people at the time, these very same legislators referred to our youth as super predators. So this was the mindset. So by having that perception of human beings, calling them super predators, it kind of gives you that they really didn’t give a damn about those who were incarcerated. So when they enacted this law, they restricted the federal access to the federal habeas corpus so drastically that men and women actually lost the right to go to federal court to challenge the constitutionality of their state convictions and even attorneys had a difficult time meeting those time restrictions.
Eddie Conway: Well, since they’re not given relief, at least it don’t appear to be so in the court system, what is the situation in terms of the high amount of cases in the prison systems? It’s the epicenter of the pandemic now in America. How is that going to affect the general public?
Jose Saldana: Well, the general public in prisons, as you know, we can not socially distance in a prison environment. It’s just impossible. And to make matters worse, they are actually depriving incarcerated men and women of preventive measures, PPEs. And in addition to that, when they appear or request to go to sick call to address the illness, when a person is feeling ill, he has that right to go to sick call. They make it difficult. I know in New York state and I’m in contact with literally hundreds of people throughout the state, maybe thousands. In fact, over a thousand people because we send a newsletter out every month. And we’ve been getting information throughout the last eight, nine months that incarcerated people, rather than go to sick call and report that they have symptoms of COVID-19, because they will just be sent right back to their cell. Or if the symptoms are severe, they will be placed in isolation with no property whatsoever. So this is punitive. This is how the Department of Corrections in New York state, they responded to COVID-19 spread in their prisons with punitive measures. They didn’t do it as a health crisis because they didn’t respond to it as a health crisis. So men actually rather just rough it out in their cell and risk death than to be punished for being ill.
Eddie Conway: Mm Hmm. Okay. Now experts, public health experts, are suggesting that one of the main factors of this increasing spread among prisoners, and I think it’s like four times the national average is the no social distancing, the use of dormitories, and they are advocating that dormitories be shut down, that prison populations be cut in half. Are you aware of any states that’s moving toward that or what’s the situation in New York now in terms of shutting the dormitories down, getting PPE, practicing safe distances? What’s the status in New York?
Jose Saldana: In New York, first, the response, the initial response was to suspend all visits. That means that incarcerated people will not be receiving any visits for the duration. They opened it back up after several months, but that was their first response, a response that is punitive in nature because in suspending all visits, the virus spread in prisons across New York space is spread because correctional staff was bringing it in here. They suspend visits, but they do not require their employees to wear masks. They do not test their employees. So the suspending visits didn’t accomplish anything.
They are not considering, the governor who has the power, unrestrained authority to grant clemencies to the elderly people who languishing in prisons or to those who have underlying health conditions, no matter whether they are in a dormitory setting or in a cell setting, the conditions are basically the same. Even if you limit the numbers in a dormitory, you still have men and women living in an environment where they can not successfully social distance and they are not being provided the every day PPE that is necessary to at least slowed down this virus. Instead, what they are doing is they’re actually the neglecting the very same preventive measures that all public health experts say should be enforced. They are actually not giving out PPE on a regular basis. They think one mask is supposed to last an entire month. It loses its value after a couple of days.
Eddie Conway: Hmm. Which brings me to another question of serving food in the dining room, preparing food, cleaning the tiers. Prisoners apparently has no way of knowing who’s been infected or who hasn’t been infected because like you say, a lot of people don’t even go to sick call because they fear the punitive measures of being punished or being put in an environment where they would be at risk. So prisoners have no way of knowing who inside the system is impacted. So, I mean, how is that affecting the spread and the psychological conditions of prisoners?
Jose Saldana: Just recently in an upstate prison, you have quite a few upstate prisons now that there’s been a real surge in the COVID-19 positives. You have a prison with nearly 500 men have tested positive. If you have 500 men that test positive in a facility that houses 12 or 1300 men, you would figure that you must test the rest, but they don’t. They are not transparent in their testing because the information we are getting from incarcerated people is that they are not testing people. And yet on their website, the Department of Corrections states that they have started the program of testing everybody in New York state correctional facilities when in fact they have not done that. They probably have tested less than 15,000 out of close to 40,000 men and women that are languishing in New York state prisons. And in that testing, we don’t know who has it, who doesn’t have it and as long as people are walking around with this virus, it is spreading.
Eddie Conway: Well, and I’ll go back to that Washington Post article that says that in the prison populations, the spread of COVID-19 is four times that of the national average. And I look at the transfer of prisoners that’s been tested positive into prisons with no positive cases like San Quentin and in Ohio and other places. And I wonder, or I’m going to ask you, this is like the concentration camps to me. It reminds me of the German concentration camp experiments. Are prisons being used right now to see how this will spread, if it’s not checked or if people are thrown together or some sick, some not sick? What’s your take on this? I mean, it’s too deliberate. Everybody knows prisoners are there, they can’t do anything. So are they being used now or what?
Jose Saldana: Well, it would appear that this lack of concern for human lives is with calculation. Just look at what the governor did when he took 125 elderly people, 65 and over all with health conditions, every single one of them and he transferred them from a facility that is a hotbed for the COVID and then transferred all of them to a new facility. They did not test them. They did not test a single one. So you have older people coming from a hotbed of COVID facility with other older people being transferred there from other facilities, all coming together and not a single test, leaving the facility or arriving in the new facility. So, you would think that anybody would say, these men, these older men are coming from a facility that has the highest infective rate. You would think that it’s just common sense to test them, but when they don’t test them, they are just inviting catastrophic consequences, like the nursing homes. And this is why we protest against this. And we said that instead of putting them in a prison nursing home, where if one person had the disease, we can have multiple people dying of this disease, especially the elder people. Instead of inviting that, we ask that you grant them clemency because most of them have already languished in prison for decades. They pose no risk to public safety.
Eddie Conway: So, and this is off the beaten path, probably, prisoners can’t file and get relief. The stories in the papers, the public attitude about what’s happening in prisons is falling on deaf ears. Is there something people outside in the communities can do about this, because the way I see it, if nothing happens and we’re looking at a spike of cases all across America now, and if prisons are spiking four times that level, then I’m looking at a national disaster in the prison system that’s going to automatically come out to the community eventually. It’s going to spread throughout society. Is there something people outside can do about this to maybe bring it to the attention or get some kind of relief?
Jose Saldana: Yes. I believe that there’s a lot our communities can do. And as you know, COVID-19 disproportionately impacts black and Latinos people or communities. And the people in prison are black and Latinos from poor communities. So our families are very concerned with those who are incarcerated, but society as a whole don’t seem to be too concerned. And it’s on us. It’s on us to start making a lot of noise about this, because these are our loved ones in prison, who they are placing in a concentration type nursing home that, if this thing hits with the force that it is capable of hitting, we will have a lot of men and women dying in prisons across the country. So our communities has to stand up for the humanity of their incarcerated loved ones.
We have to set our differences aside and demand our elected officials, especially our elected officials representing our communities, that they do something about this, that they enact legislation that will release these men and women, because the thing, there are some release mechanisms that can decarcerate prisons, and take away that a hundred percent threat, lower it, lower the infection rate, and one of these things is, start paroling these men and women. Men and women who within two years of their parole, they expedite they parole date so that they can be released by the parole and demand the governor to use his executive authority to grant compassion to people who are the most vulnerable to this disease and there was no risk involved because these men and women are my age, who are the least likely not only to commit another crime, but they will in fact do exactly what I’m doing and enhance public safety, because this is what we do once we are released from prison.
Eddie Conway: Okay. Jose, I’m sorry. We have to keep coming back and we’re probably going to have to come back and revisit this again in the very near future, but thanks for sharing that information.
Jose Saldana: Thank you.
Eddie Conway: Thanks for joining me. And thank you for joining this episode of Rattling the Bars.
Studio: Cameron Granadino
Production: Ericka Blount
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
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therealnews--2020-12-08--Was Andrés Guardado the target of a police gang initiation?

On June 18 , 2020 , 18-year-old Andrés Guardado was shot in the back and killed by an L.A. County @ @ @ @ @ disappearing and officers involved pleading the Fifth , the investigation into the police killing of @ @ @ @ @ sketchy .
We speak with Memo Torres , director of partnerships for L.A. Taco , @ @ @ @ @ , the Seattle City Council voted to cut their police budget by 20 % , @ @ @ @ @ should be slashed by more .
We speak with Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant about what @ @ @ @ @ principle and looks like in practice .

On June 18, 2020, 18-year-old Andrés Guardado was shot in the back and killed by an L.A. County deputy sheriff. With witnesses disappearing and officers involved pleading the Fifth, the investigation into the police killing of Guardado is looking pretty damn sketchy. We speak with Memo Torres, director of partnerships for L.A. Taco, about the case. Also, the Seattle City Council voted to cut their police budget by 20%, but some residents argue it should be slashed by more. We speak with Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant about what defunding the police means in principle and looks like in practice.
Studio: Dwayne Gladden
Production: Genevieve Montinar, Taylor Hebden
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therealnews--2020-12-09--College athletes sacrificed as universities focus on profits; Biden’s economic plans come up short

In this episode of “ The Marc Steiner Show , ” Marc talks with David Zirin , author , sports @ @ @ @ @ and host of the “ Edge of Sports ” podcast , and Alejandro “ Ali @ @ @ @ @ author of “ The Boys of Dunbar , ” and producer of ESPN Films ’ @ @ @ @ @ about the dilemma college athletes face in a deadly pandemic .
Zirin and Danois discuss @ @ @ @ @ as games continue ( with politicians cheering on ) while hundreds of players , many @ @ @ @ @ , test positive for the virus .
In the second segment , Marc talks with @ @ @ @ @ Popular Resistance , co-host of Clearing the FOG , and former co-chair of the Green @ @ @ @ @ , and Andy Ellis , former co-chair of the Baltimore City and Maryland Green Party @ @ @ @ @ of being lulled into complacency by neoliberal rhetoric while substantive changes to address poverty , @ @ @ @ @ and economic and social inequities remain off the table .

In this episode of “The Marc Steiner Show,” Marc talks with David Zirin, author, sports editor for The Nation, and host of the “Edge of Sports” podcast, and Alejandro “Ali” Danois, journalist, author of “The Boys of Dunbar,” and producer of ESPN Films’ “Baltimore Boys,” about the dilemma college athletes face in a deadly pandemic. Zirin and Danois discuss the fallout for college athletes as games continue (with politicians cheering on) while hundreds of players, many of whom are African American, test positive for the virus.
In the second segment, Marc talks with Margaret Flowers, director of Popular Resistance, co-host of Clearing the FOG, and former co-chair of the Green Party of the United States, and Andy Ellis, former co-chair of the Baltimore City and Maryland Green Party. We explore the dangers of being lulled into complacency by neoliberal rhetoric while substantive changes to address poverty, racism, global warming, and economic and social inequities remain off the table.
Studio: Cameron Granadino, Tunde Ogunfolaju
Production: Ericka Blount
Post-Production: Sebastian Pituscan
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therealnews--2020-12-09--A statement from The Real News

A statement from The Real News

As a grassroots left media organization , The Real News Network has , up until now , been comparatively well-resourced financially , thanks to generous foundation support , as well as the support of our viewers and readers .
Unfortunately , the financial realities of COVID-19 have changed our situation , making some very hard decisions necessary .
The leadership of The Real News was recently notified that due to the impact of the pandemic on investments behind our organization ’ s major foundation support , we were going to be facing a major and completely unexpected shortfall in our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informed that we were to expect a drop from an annual amount of funding that was projected to be $ 3.3 million in 2020 to one that is just $ 1.5 million for 2021 .
While The Real News also has meaningful and deeply appreciated financial support from many generous and committed viewers and readers , this cut to core funding meant that we had to act immediately in order to save as many jobs as we could .
Our budget is overwhelmingly composed of expenses for staff salaries and benefits , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deep reductions in both union and non-union staff levels , and to do so fast enough to prevent even further cuts from becoming necessary .
We want to make it clear that we regret every single layoff we had to announce yesterday .
None of the talented , creative , and dedicated workers at The Real News—journalists , hosts , studio technicians , producers , and others—who lost their jobs were laid off for any reason other than the massive and unexpected funding shortfall we were forced to address .
We are committed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help the staff members affected by these layoffs find new employment , and to working with the staff union as we navigate this crisis .
We are also committed to supporting the staff whose jobs we have been able to save at The Real News , and to building back a more resilient base of financial support for our work together .

As a grassroots left media organization, The Real News Network has, up until now, been comparatively well-resourced financially, thanks to generous foundation support, as well as the support of our viewers and readers. Unfortunately, the financial realities of COVID-19 have changed our situation, making some very hard decisions necessary.
The leadership of The Real News was recently notified that due to the impact of the pandemic on investments behind our organization’s major foundation support, we were going to be facing a major and completely unexpected shortfall in our 2021 funding. Specifically, we were informed that we were to expect a drop from an annual amount of funding that was projected to be $3.3 million in 2020 to one that is just $1.5 million for 2021.
While The Real News also has meaningful and deeply appreciated financial support from many generous and committed viewers and readers, this cut to core funding meant that we had to act immediately in order to save as many jobs as we could. Our budget is overwhelmingly composed of expenses for staff salaries and benefits, so we had no choice but to make deep reductions in both union and non-union staff levels, and to do so fast enough to prevent even further cuts from becoming necessary.
We want to make it clear that we regret every single layoff we had to announce yesterday. None of the talented, creative, and dedicated workers at The Real News—journalists, hosts, studio technicians, producers, and others—who lost their jobs were laid off for any reason other than the massive and unexpected funding shortfall we were forced to address. We are committed to doing anything in our power to help the staff members affected by these layoffs find new employment, and to working with the staff union as we navigate this crisis.
We are also committed to supporting the staff whose jobs we have been able to save at The Real News, and to building back a more resilient base of financial support for our work together.
John Duda
Executive Director
The Real News Network
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therealnews--2020-12-10--Securitizing climate change can lead to more surveillance and eco-fascism

President-elect Joe Biden ’ s plan to use heavy-handed climate diplomacy and incorporate climate debate into the national security apparatus could prompt a new round of geopolitical friction—to the detriment of the environmental justice movement at home and abroad , experts warn .
Biden ’ s “ Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice ” lays out the policy and implementation pathways for his administration to advance the global climate agenda .
One of these measures is to “ name and shame global climate outlaws ” —countries that don ’ t live up to their climate commitments under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s plan , the State Department will publish a new Global Climate Change Report that rates and ranks countries according to whether they are adhering to their commitments under the Paris climate agreement .
This State Department-led initiative is meant “ to hold countries to account for meeting , or failing to meet , their Paris commitments and for other steps that promote or undermine global climate solutions , ” Biden ’ s plan states .
Duncan McLaren , professor in practice at Lancaster University ’ s Environment Centre , said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate diplomacy plan .
“ As the biggest cumulative emitter , the U.S. owes a huge climate debt to the world , and it won ’ t be a good look to lecture other countries—especially those with non-white majority populations , ” McLaren said in an interview with The Real News .
“ It will be very easy to heighten tensions in climate diplomacy that way.
” For Biden ’ s climate diplomacy to work , McLaren explained , Washington will need to acknowledge its own faults before pointing fingers at other countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the heart of its national and global efforts .
“ The U.S. can and should increase its nationally determined contributions ( NDC ) , ” McLaren said .
“ The second big tool available to the U.S. is to increase dramatically its contributions to adaptation finance for the world ’ s poorest countries .
That would provide help for countries facing sea level rise , water scarcity , heat stress , and so forth.
” While experts debate the merits of Biden ’ s climate diplomacy , his proposed plan to call out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ met its first diplomatic setback .
During the September presidential debate , Biden threatened Brazil with “ economic consequences ” if Amazon deforestation didn ’ t stop .
In response , Bolsonaro tweeted that Brazil would not accept bribes or heed threats .
“ Our sovereignty is non-negotiable , ” he tweeted .
On Nov. 10 , days after Biden won the presidential election , Bolsonaro took another swipe at Biden , referring to him as “ candidate ” and criticizing Biden ’ s Amazon remarks .
The Biden administration will need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and shaming countries if his global climate diplomacy is to bear fruit in days ahead : “ It will be good to see the U.S. adding its voice to calls for effective action , but to be influential , will be really quite tricky , ” McLaren said .
McLaren added that without some degree of diplomacy , Biden ’ s plan to restore the U.S. to global climate leader status will be met with resistance as countries such as Brazil refuse to cooperate with the United States and look for more compatible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even bigger challenge to domestic and global struggle for environmental justice is likely to come from pushing climate change as a national security issue .
Biden ’ s plan says “ he will fully integrate climate change into our foreign policy and national security strategies , as well as our approach to trade.
” The plan calls climate change a “ threat multiplier ” that magnifies existing geopolitical and weather-related risks , and goes on to say that “ Biden will add climate change as a national security priority ” to address the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security .
John Kerry , Biden ’ s pick for climate envoy , has also been given a seat on the National Security Council ( NSC ) .
According to Kevin Surprise , visiting lecturer in environmental studies at Mount Holyoke College , climate security has been ingrained in the thinking of the defense and security establishment since 2003 .
“ The first time climate change was formally put on the U.S. security agenda in a serious way was 2003 , when the Pentagon commissioned a report titled An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security , ” Surprise told the Real News .
Under Obama , Surprise explained , the CIA established a Climate Intelligence Unit .
In 2016 , Obama issued an executive order mandating that security and intelligence agencies incorporate assessments of climate threats to national security into their operations and analyses .
Even under the Trump administration ’ s climate denialism , the military continued to focus on climate change as a security threat .
To McLaren , a security narrative runs the risk of distracting from questions of justice , and the fundamental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the U.S. , both internally and internationally .
“ I can see why this framing might be useful in the USA .
You have a high degree of respect for the military—especially on the political right , which is also the home of climate denialism , ” McLaren said .
“ Turning the climate into a question of national security might be a good way to get Republicans on board.
” Narrowing the climate issue to security means neglecting the complex political and economic questions that animate the climate conversation while also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate policy .
“ The Pentagon and the wider security community expanded into ‘ environmental ’ and ‘ climate ’ security because , framed that way , myriad environmental issues around the world became part of the military purview .
It expands the domain of operation , ” Surprise said .
“ Securitizing the climate or environment opens more space for military intervention.
” Biden ’ s plan to securitize climate issues also tends to favor geoengineering approaches such as carbon dioxide removal technologies , which are widely seen as the means to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for decades : “ It is in the U.S. interest to push models and agreements that place primacy on large-scale carbon drawdown through carbon dioxide removal technologies after 2050 .
This pushes the problem down the road , minimizes action in the present , and relies on new , unproven technologies that play into the rhetoric of American ‘ innovation , ’ ” Surprise said .
The security narrative also allows dubious geoengineering approaches to be deployed without proper scrutiny .
“ Some scientists have speculated that countries might try to use stratospheric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate conditions that they prefer , ” McLaren said .
SAI refers to blocking a fraction of solar radiation by continually spraying megatons of sulfur dioxide into the lower stratosphere , theoretically cooling the planet quickly and cheaply .
This rhetoric could also very easily play into the hands of ecofascists concerned with “ national territory , ” and justify violence against climate-displaced persons .
“ National security in its modern sense has always been about expanding the realm of imperialism and protecting elite members of society .
It ’ s linkage to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Surprise said .

President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to use heavy-handed climate diplomacy and incorporate climate debate into the national security apparatus could prompt a new round of geopolitical friction—to the detriment of the environmental justice movement at home and abroad, experts warn.
Biden’s “Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice” lays out the policy and implementation pathways for his administration to advance the global climate agenda. One of these measures is to “name and shame global climate outlaws”—countries that don’t live up to their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
According to Biden’s plan, the State Department will publish a new Global Climate Change Report that rates and ranks countries according to whether they are adhering to their commitments under the Paris climate agreement. This State Department-led initiative is meant “to hold countries to account for meeting, or failing to meet, their Paris commitments and for other steps that promote or undermine global climate solutions,” Biden’s plan states.
Duncan McLaren, professor in practice at Lancaster University’s Environment Centre, said the Biden administration should tread carefully on its climate diplomacy plan.
“As the biggest cumulative emitter, the U.S. owes a huge climate debt to the world, and it won’t be a good look to lecture other countries—especially those with non-white majority populations,” McLaren said in an interview with The Real News. “It will be very easy to heighten tensions in climate diplomacy that way.”
For Biden’s climate diplomacy to work, McLaren explained, Washington will need to acknowledge its own faults before pointing fingers at other countries, and need to put justice at the heart of its national and global efforts.
“The U.S. can and should increase its nationally determined contributions (NDC),” McLaren said. “The second big tool available to the U.S. is to increase dramatically its contributions to adaptation finance for the world’s poorest countries. That would provide help for countries facing sea level rise, water scarcity, heat stress, and so forth.”
While experts debate the merits of Biden’s climate diplomacy, his proposed plan to call out the “climate outlaws” has already met its first diplomatic setback. During the September presidential debate, Biden threatened Brazil with “economic consequences” if Amazon deforestation didn’t stop. In response, Bolsonaro tweeted that Brazil would not accept bribes or heed threats. “Our sovereignty is non-negotiable,” he tweeted.
On Nov. 10, days after Biden won the presidential election, Bolsonaro took another swipe at Biden, referring to him as “candidate” and criticizing Biden’s Amazon remarks.
The Biden administration will need to rely more on diplomatic tact than naming and shaming countries if his global climate diplomacy is to bear fruit in days ahead: “It will be good to see the U.S. adding its voice to calls for effective action, but to be influential, will be really quite tricky,” McLaren said.
McLaren added that without some degree of diplomacy, Biden’s plan to restore the U.S. to global climate leader status will be met with resistance as countries such as Brazil refuse to cooperate with the United States and look for more compatible partners elsewhere.
Experts warn that an even bigger challenge to domestic and global struggle for environmental justice is likely to come from pushing climate change as a national security issue. Biden’s plan says “he will fully integrate climate change into our foreign policy and national security strategies, as well as our approach to trade.” The plan calls climate change a “threat multiplier” that magnifies existing geopolitical and weather-related risks, and goes on to say that “Biden will add climate change as a national security priority” to address the challenges it poses to global stability and security.
John Kerry, Biden’s pick for climate envoy, has also been given a seat on the National Security Council (NSC).
According to Kevin Surprise, visiting lecturer in environmental studies at Mount Holyoke College, climate security has been ingrained in the thinking of the defense and security establishment since 2003.
“The first time climate change was formally put on the U.S. security agenda in a serious way was 2003, when the Pentagon commissioned a report titled An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and its Implications for United States National Security,” Surprise told the Real News.
Under Obama, Surprise explained, the CIA established a Climate Intelligence Unit. In 2016, Obama issued an executive order mandating that security and intelligence agencies incorporate assessments of climate threats to national security into their operations and analyses. Even under the Trump administration’s climate denialism, the military continued to focus on climate change as a security threat.
To McLaren, a security narrative runs the risk of distracting from questions of justice, and the fundamental need for reparations for past harms done by the U.S., both internally and internationally.
“I can see why this framing might be useful in the USA. You have a high degree of respect for the military—especially on the political right, which is also the home of climate denialism,” McLaren said. “Turning the climate into a question of national security might be a good way to get Republicans on board.”
Narrowing the climate issue to security means neglecting the complex political and economic questions that animate the climate conversation while also expanding the role of the military in climate policy.
“The Pentagon and the wider security community expanded into ‘environmental’ and ‘climate’ security because, framed that way, myriad environmental issues around the world became part of the military purview. It expands the domain of operation,” Surprise said. “Securitizing the climate or environment opens more space for military intervention.”
Biden’s plan to securitize climate issues also tends to favor geoengineering approaches such as carbon dioxide removal technologies, which are widely seen as the means to keep the fossil fuel industry in business for decades: “It is in the U.S. interest to push models and agreements that place primacy on large-scale carbon drawdown through carbon dioxide removal technologies after 2050. This pushes the problem down the road, minimizes action in the present, and relies on new, unproven technologies that play into the rhetoric of American ‘innovation,’” Surprise said.
The security narrative also allows dubious geoengineering approaches to be deployed without proper scrutiny.
“Some scientists have speculated that countries might try to use stratospheric aerosol injection [SAI] to establish climate conditions that they prefer,” McLaren said.
SAI refers to blocking a fraction of solar radiation by continually spraying megatons of sulfur dioxide into the lower stratosphere, theoretically cooling the planet quickly and cheaply.
This rhetoric could also very easily play into the hands of ecofascists concerned with “national territory,” and justify violence against climate-displaced persons.
“National security in its modern sense has always been about expanding the realm of imperialism and protecting elite members of society. It’s linkage to climate change does not change that,” Surprise said.
Studio: Tunde Ogunfolaju
Post-Production: Oscar Leon
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therealnews--2020-12-11--The sinister science behind Ketamine use during arrests

Host & Producer Before joining TRNN as an investigative journalist , Taya worked in Baltimore ’ s neighborhoods of color @ @ @ @ @ and was awarded the Coalition of 100 Black Women ’ s Torchbearer Award and YANA @ @ @ @ @ Never Alone ) “ Love in Action ” award .
Her years of outreach to @ @ @ @ @ her to connect with city residents .
Now she cultivates relationships with Baltimore ’ s @ @ @ @ @ on the ground .