Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

Meanwhile TUV leader Jim Allister kept up the pressure on the DUP not to merely seek alterations to the protocol, but to seek its total abolition, saying the EU must surrender its sovereignty over the Province.

Last week, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson threatened to withdraw his ministers and bring down the powersharing institutions if his demands over the protocol were not met.

He stressed that the timeframe he had in mind was weeks, rather than months.

And yesterday at the first ministerial question time at Stormont following the summer break, Mr Givan was questioned by Sinn Fein about the New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) deal.

This deal was struck in 2020 between Sinn Fein and the DUP, and was basically responsible for reviving Stormont.

Mr Givan said: Within NDNA there is a commitment by the UK Government that when it comes to the internal market, Northern Ireland will be an integral part.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, however, has caused damage economically, damage to our wider society.

It has created political tension and therefore that has to be addressed.

The Belfast Agreement is very clear on where the delicate balance was struck between unionists, nationalists and others and whenever one aspect of that is damaged it causes harm across all others.

The east/west relationship has been harmed by the Northern Ireland Protocol and that has an impact when it comes to north/south.

I want to see these issues resolved, I want to see these institutions working because I believe that we are best placed to represent the people who elect us in terms of how we run a country, that we can do that better than other jurisdictions.

He added: But we have to address the fundamental problems which have now occurred as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

And I hope that the UK Government and the European Union seize the window of opportunity that exists; but that window of opportunity is closing. Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan said that the DUP was totally responsible for the Northern Ireland Protocol, because the party backed Brexit.

Mr Givan responded: When it comes to the issue of where did it all go wrong in respect of Brexit, it has been the outworking and implementation of that by the UK Government.

We were very clear that Northern Ireland should be treated just as the rest of the United Kingdom.

There was no approval of anybody in Northern Ireland for the changes which flowed from the Northern Ireland Protocol.

It is vital when you are going to make these sorts of changes that it is done in a way which has consensus.

The protocol doesnt.

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath echoed Mr Sheehan, telling the chamber that the threat to bring down Stormont was reckless in the middle of a pandemic.

Mr Givan said: Our party is very clear. We want this Executive to continue work, we want this Assembly to continue to operate and to take the type of decisions that we are taking.

However, he also went on to say that the fundamentals on which the Executive is formed have to be right and that is why there is a window of opportunity for both the UK Government and the European Union to make sure that the changes which need to be made, are made.

Jim Allister also rose to speak during the debate, telling fellow MLAs: I want to make it abundantly clear in the House that tinkering with the Union-dismantling protocol, extending grace periods doing all those cosmetic things will not change the fundamental objection to that obnoxious protocol.

Whatever changes are made (I note that the vigorous implementers have toned down their foolhardy demands and are talking about tinkering etc) the fundamental test of all of that is whether Northern Ireland is still left in a foreign single market for goods subject to a foreign customs code and a foreign VAT regime, overseen by foreign laws and adjudicated on by a foreign court.

If that is so, any such change is useless in removing the obscenity that is the protocol and does nothing to render it acceptable.

What needs to be done is for the EU to surrender its sovereignty over Northern Ireland back to the United Kingdom.

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DUP warns that clock ticking to Stormont shutdown over NI Protocol - Belfast News Letter

BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) Chuck Culhane is traveling to Attica Prison Thursday to participate in a vigil honoring those who lost their lives 50 years ago within the prisons walls.

He does not believe the vigil will garner any headlines.

Thats emblematic of the attitude towards prisoners, he said. Towards people inside, that they dont exist. They werent killed. And so a few of us are going to go out there and just read the names of individuals at the prison. The names of all the people, including the guards.

What is the lasting legacy of Attica a landmark event that encapsulates a generation of social progression, yet an event that also left at least 43 incarcerated persons and prison guards dead? On the 50thanniversary of the uprising, the conversation around its legacy is varied.

Culhane serves as a Prison Task Force Coordinator at the Western New York Peace Center:

I was back in prison, he says. I was sent to a maximum security place and it was, I recall, low grade terror. I did quite a few years inside. I never experienced anything like that. I mean, people were just terrorizing and really ways every day, and it was very dispiriting to see that kind of behavior with the guards.

Culhane said lessons regarding the rights of incarcerated people have yet to be learned.

And unfortunately, the vast majority of the changes have been for the worse, not for the better, he said.

The prison population has shrunk to just under 32,000 in New York State in the last 50 years, but the conditions the men living within the walls of Attica advocated for improvements to food and medical care, religious freedom and wages were abandoned in Atticas aftermath, said Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of Alliance of Families for Justice.

Sadly though, most, if not all of those improvements have now disappeared, she said. So the concerns and the demands that the men raised 50 years ago are still major concerns today.

Elijah was formerly the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York. Her insight on the plight of incarcerated people leaves her believing more can be done to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society.

I would say when it comes to incarcerated people, we can clearly see that were not living in a more enlightened society, she said.

Elijah points to how hard it has been to get incarcerated people supplies to fight against contracting COVID-19 as an example of how little attention is paid to their welfare.

From not giving them PPE, from not giving them tests, not providing for vaccines, she said, advocates had to work day and night to push for those things, advocates and family members of incarcerated people.

And racism within a prison system where a majority of the incarcerated are non-white is a problem.

The racism amongst staff, the virtual lack of any Black and brown staff members and most of the Upstate prisons, Elijah said. That was a problem back in 1971 and remains a problem to this day.

One lasting legacy of Attica that both Culhane and Elijah agree on is growing prison reform and prison abolition movements in the state.

The advocacy groups on the outside have been somewhat successful, Elijah said, and reaching out to elected officials to bring these concerns to their attention so that more members of the New York State Legislature are aware and have been using their role as legislators to visit the prisons, to inquire, to question and to challenge whats happening inside the prisons.

A recent example of the success of these movements is the signing of the HALT bill by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April. The bill bans long-term solitary confinement in prisons and jails across the state.

Culhane said the push towards rehabilitation programs and restorative justice practices within the prison system are ways to keep people out of prison for good.

Well in New York, he said. I would say, yeah, just in numbers, getting people out, you know, not sending them to prison for offenses that are not, you know, particularly nonviolent and where theres alternatives like restorative justice programs that do something for victims of crime and do something for society instead of this punishment ethic thats insane.

Elijah still believes the prison system as a whole is rotten and must be abolished.

I dont believe at this point you can do this form any more than slavery could be formed, she said. I think it has to be completely destroyed. I think it is incumbent upon all of us in society to figure out a much more people-centered approach to addressing aberrant behavior by human beings.

In a society still separated by the haves and have-nots, Elijah said these issues can be solved if we all worked together.

If we can put human beings on the moon and other planets, she said. Then we can figure out how to level the playing field so that everybodys dreams and aspirations has a fair chance of being realized.

The legacy of the Attica uprising has given us many teachable moments to reflect and improve on.

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50 Years Later: The Legacy Of The Attica uprising - WSKG.org

When rogue cops abuse, mistreat and police Black men, women and children and patrol Black communities with a shoot first ask questions later approach the question that often arises is where are the good cops? However, on the rare occasion officers do step in, intervene, deescalate, and do the right thing, they are often punished and suffer retribution.

Police Sgt. Javier Esqueda is a prime example. In January 2020, 37 year old Eric Lurry died in police custody. There was no public outcry. His death was, in essence, a cover up. That is until Joliet, Ill., Sgt. Javier Esqueda leaked police bodycam footage of what transpired to a local television reporter months later.

The result? Sgt. Esqueda was suspended within days and arrested on felony charges. According to Joliet Police Chief Dawn Malec, violations include conduct unbecoming an officer, improper release of evidence and making a public statement about the department without prior permission from the police chief. Meanwhile, the officers involved in Eric Lurrys death faced no criminal charges for what happened, and three are still working on the force.

The video depicts two officers arresting Mr. Lurry and placing him in the back of a squad car. He is chewing on something and breathing heavily, and an officer concludes he has drugs in his mouth.

When an officer believes someone in custody requires medical attention, it is department policy to take that person to the hospital. Yet as Mr. Lurry slowly started to become unconscious, and as he displayed at least three of the four signs of an opiate overdose, according to the departments protocolno response, the presence of drugs and shallow breathingthe paramedics werent called. Instead, officers held Mr. Lurrys nose and called for a flashlight or baton to be stuck in his mouth. Paramedics were only called after an officer noticed Mr. Lurry, who is Black, had stopped breathing.

The incident has prompted Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to launch a civil investigation into the Joliet Police Department.

After receiving the request from Joliets mayor and city officials, my office began a preliminary review of Joliet Police Department records and other information. It is clear that a formal investigation is needed to look at whether the department has engaged in patterns or practices of unlawful or unconstitutional policing, he said. In the coming weeks, the Attorney Generals office will conduct a thorough, impartial and independent review of whether reforms are needed under the law.

The investigations questions, findings and conclusions will be focused on whether systemic problems exist within the Joliet Police Department and will not reconsider criminal charging decisions within the jurisdiction of local prosecutors, according to a Sept. 8 press release.

Javier Esqueda is one of countless officers who have been retaliated against for either exposing other officers wrongdoings or questionable behaviors on the force or for intervening in an incident.

Double standards

Cardia X, a police officer in Harvey, Ill., a Chicago suburb, who arrested a security guard for hitting a suspect, told The Final Call via email that there is no fundamental difference in the relationship between Black and White in the police department than anywhere else in society.

He quoted words from the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who wrote in a December 6, 1968, edition of the past Nation of Islam newspaper Muhammad Speaks, In the past and maybe the present, the White officer chooses from among us the Uncle Tom-like men to serve as law enforcement officers over us. This type of Black officer makes more trouble in the community than the trouble that is made by the community, because he wants to be loved and honored by the W hite officer at the expense of his Black Brother. Surely he does not want to place on the force a Black Man who loves his Black people and wants to see them at peace with each other.

So when a Black or Brown officer violates this unwritten policy and stands up for their own in the way of stopping and reporting misconduct, it reveals to the White-often administrative staff at the department that they made a miscalculation in picking the perfect Uncle Tom-like Black Officer, Cardia X said. And of course, once this miscalculation is revealed, White officers go to work to correct it by getting rid of the Black officer who is not willing to tow the line. The bottom line is, as a Black officer, your acceptance into the Brotherhood of Blue is predicated on how you mistreat and/or let Whites mistreat your own people, he added.

Brenda James story is a testament to how Black officers are treated differently even in issues not dealing with stopping fellow officers from abusing citizens.

I dont feel like Im being treated as if I was an officer. I just feel like Im only being looked at as a Black woman whose life isnt valued, she told The Final Call.

She served as a liaison between the Boston Police Department and the community. In 2010, the department failed to clear Ms. James of an injury and later charged her with Absence Without Leave in November 2011 instead of injured leave. She was medically cleared and returned to full duty in January 2012, but later that year, on June 8, 2012, the departments captain met with her at the station at about 1 a.m. without a union representative. She was assaulted with her loaded firearm when it was unexpectedly wrangled out of her holster without provocation or any reasonable justification, and she was issued a suspension. She has been fighting to get justice for over a decade.

I dont want this to happen to anyone else, she said. To read the incident report, excerpts from transcripts and the list of facts regarding her case, visit her Facebook page Black Woman with a Badge.

Is reform even possible?

When Cariol Horne heard about Mr. Esquedas case, she expressed to The Final Call, Thats crazy, because he had no other choice but to leak it, because they would have covered it up like they did. She is the author of Cariols Law.

In 2006, Ms. Horne, a former police officer with the Buffalo, New York, police department, stopped White officer Gregory Kwiatkowskis chokehold on a Black suspect. She was fired in 2008, one year before she was set to receive her pension. After more than a decade, she won a lawsuit in April and is now eligible to receive back pay and benefits for the period of July 26, 2008 to Aug. 4, 2010.

She is still waiting to receive compensation, but she said in the meantime, she wants to get Cariols Law passed nationwide and internationally. Cariols Law, which was passed in the city of Buffalo, makes it mandatory for officers to intervene when another officer is using excessive force. It also offers protections for officers who intervene.

Many places have duty to intervene laws, but Ms. Horne said those laws still dont protect the people who blow the whistle.

On the streets people will say, Hey, if you see something, say something, as the cops will tell people. But then in the cop culture, nobodys saying anything. Everybodys being quiet, she said. You cant tell the public to do one thing and youre totally going against what youre supposed to be doing. That is the very purpose of the law, to add protections for officers who do stand up against the brutality of violence, the lies.

Ms. Horne has been working with Strategies for Justice, which she said is building a network of officers who arent just going along to get along.

In Prince George County, Md., Black and Latino officers are receiving $2.3 million as part of a settlement for a workplace discrimination lawsuit against the police department. Members of the Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association and the United Black Police Officers Association said they faced systemic racism in promotions and discipline and also accused the police department of retaliating against those who tried to expose wrongdoing.

Several laws to protect whistleblowers across the country are being proposed or have already passed. Maryland passed a police reform act earlier this year that provides protections for a police officer who reports wrongdoing by another officer. In May, 171 advocacy and law enforcement organizations signed a letter asking congressional leaders to include anti-retaliation rights for reporting law enforcement misconduct in any justice reform legislation regarding policing.

In many cases, accountability requires testimony from those willing to bear witness, which are often fellow officers and law enforcement personnel, the letter says. However, the blue wall of silence, compounded by the lack of anti-retaliation protection for law enforcement, forces law enforcement officers to risk their careers, safety, or even their lives when they choose to blow the whistle. That is why we are asking Congress to include whistleblower rights in police reform bills.

Very little change from the 60s to present day

Howard Saffold and Ron Hampton were fighting corruption in police departments as early as the 60s and 70s. Mr. Saffold is a founder of the Afro-American Patrolmens League in Chicago, where he helped challenge the double standards of how police performed in the Black community. He also co-founded the National Black Police Association and the Positive Anti-Crime Thrust.

We actually had to sue the city of Chicago. And we didnt have a consent decree. We actually took them all the way to the United States Supreme Court, challenging their hiring practices, their promotion practices, the assignment practices and their disciplinary practices, Mr. Saffold told The Final Call.

He said there was constant retaliation. They retaliated like any racist institution would. And so that gave us an opportunity to learn how to fight back, he said.

Mr. Hampton was on the police force in Washington, D.C., from 1970 to 1994. He is a former executive director of the National Black Police Association. He described that there were times when he had to report police officers for striking handcuffed citizens and a time when he spoke out and testified on behalf of someone who was on death row in Houston, Texas. But there were consequences, he said. He received personal threats and threats on his family.

I wanted to be true to myself. I was Black. I wasnt a police officer. I was a Black person who had a job in policing, and I was very much aware of the unequalness of justice and everything else in our society, he told The Final Call.

He said there have been some changes and success stories regarding policing today versus back then, but nothing permanent.

Its almost like you got to start over again. In the police reform movement, they talk about abolition. But thats almost like what you have to do if you really want to clean the system out. You got to abolish the present system that it operates within and then start all over again, he said. I also happen to believe that thats not impossible. I dont believe thats impossible.

I think we can give it up and just start all over again. We can even rename it, give it a name thats going to really mean what it is that were going to be doing every day, he continued. Like justice and healing system. No, we dont have to call it the criminal punishment system. We can call it the justice and healing system, and it can do those kinds of things.

Mr. Saffold also said he has seen some change, but that its worse. Its worse because of the lack of consistent accountability mechanisms being put in place to discourage misconduct, and it encourages people who normally would not have even tried it had they seen an example of what happens to you when you do it the wrong way, he said.

He explained that its inaccurate to describe police as a few bad apples and instead, described it as cancer thats metastasized over the years. When referring to policing, he uses an acronym: CERNcorruption, excessive force, racism and nepotism.

We need to pay attention to the long-term effect of not correcting this and institutionalized retaliation in terms of in Chicago right now, having something they call a consent decree, that as you track their performance and trying to correct these things that the city was accused of, the federal government weighed in from a civil rights violation perspective, he said.

And then their unwillingness to do whats right when they get caught. So the enforcement of laws is more important. I mean, what difference does it make if you have a litany of dont yall do this and dont yall do that and then nobody enforces or causes any kind of redress on the part of the victims that are complaining in that category.

Mr. Saffold said when good officers face backlash, like that of Javier Esqueda, the community should rise up in support and that it shouldnt solely fall on Black police organizations. Cardia X said the community has an obligation to stand up for officers who risk their reputation, salary, freedom and sometimes their lives.

We have to be solution-oriented, and I have to say that certain things like policy reform and training will only bring marginal benefits because it circumvents the real issue instead of adequately addressing it, Cardia X said.

He also said Black police organizations need to be stronger and that the relationship between the Black police officer and the Black community must be repaired.

He quoted the Honorable Elijah Muhammads words from the Dec. 6, 1968 article: Throughout the country, let us take over where we are dominant in the towns and cities and have Black officers in control of enforcing the law upon us.

Editors Note: In Volume 40, Edition 4 of The Final Call, Brenda James is quoted saying, I noticed that the White officers were White supremacists. Her words were I noticed that White officers, really well White superiors

Continue reading here:

Blue Wall of Backlash - Cops punished for trying to do the right thing - FinalCall.com News

In this weeks Career Focus, Thats Farming, speaks to Iarla Hughes, a UCD AST (Agricultural Systems Technology) graduate. The Meath native discusses his dairy farming roots, and the ag-tech industry, including his work at Moocall.

Resilience, patience, and hard work are the three key ingredients to succeed in the agricultural industry.

If you want to make it to the top, you need to be a little different, stand out from the crowd, and push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Those are the sentiments of 24-year-old, Iarla Hughes, who graduated from University College Dublin in 2020 when Ireland was at the height of its first lockdown.

However, the Agricultural Systems Technology (AST) graduate did not view this as a negative despite the timing.

I tried to look at the positives, and as we all know, food production never ceased, so it was probably the best sector to be searching for employment, he told Thats Farming.

You will have setbacks along the way, but if you stay focused, you can get to where you want to be, he added.

The Summerhill, Co Meath native hails from a 125-cow dairy farm and secured a role with one of Irelands most progressive ag-tech companies earlier this year.

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The farm comprises 125-cows, mostly Kiwi-cross-breds and some Holstein Friesians, alongside 33 in-calf heifers and 40 spring-born replacements, as part of a compact spring calving grass-based system.

The family increased their herd size and changed to a cross-bred system in 2013 with the abolition of quotas on the horizon. They aim to produce 500kg of milk solids from 500kg of concentrates, placing emphasis on an extended grazing season.

We focus a lot on grassland management as this is key to running this system. We aim to measure grass every week throughout the grazing season. I am passionate about grass-based dairy systems. They are particularly suited to harness our favourable climate and leads to our quality milk supply.

My father is the main man. Most of the family help throughout the busy periods. My mother helps a lot around spring, calving as this is an important and busy period.

We have put a lot of effort into calf-rearing the last five years. As a result, we recently installed an automatic calf feeder, which is a massive labour-saving tool.

My younger brother and I help whenever we are around. He will be starting college soon and works with a local contractor throughout the summer. My sisters and I work full-time off-farm. So, it is a family effort to chip in whenever we are about, he added.

His interest in technology aiding the daily life of farming unearthed a desire to further his studies in this field.

The fourth-generation dairy farmer is most passionate about implementing technology to increase efficiency, productivity, and sustainability across farming systems.

In his view, these are the core principles that can lead to a more profitable farming system with less labour and stress on farmers.

There are many constant challenges like milk price, new regulations and weather. Not all of these are in a farmers control.

I suppose the main challenge that a farmer can control to a certain degree is the type of farming system they are running.

I believe for young people in agriculture it is more about getting a good work-life balance at the same time. That is where I developed my interest.

This interest led him to UCD in 2016, where he studied a four-year degree immediately after completing his Leaving Certificate.

After graduating from the world-renowned educational institution, he desired to enter the working world and immerse himself in how technology impacts modern-day agriculture.

In recent months, he secured his first position as a technical product executive with Moocall.

Moocall is a farmer-founded company based in Ireland, specialising in providing world-class innovations for the dairy and beef industries since 2014.

After closely studying specific animal behavioural patterns, Moocall has designed patented technology that utilises IoT connectivity platforms, providing life-changing, accurate and real-time information to a farmers fingertips.

According to the UCD graduate, the company brings revolutionary solutions to farmers in what is typically a very traditional sector.

Iarla moved to fill the position in March 2021 and is responsible for supporting customers and responding to any technical questions.

In our busy periods, I am primarily based on the phone lines assisting our customers in Ireland but also as far away as USA and Australia.

I also help our research and development team with routine maintenance and the technical side of things in our quieter periods. We are a small but passionate team here. The great thing is that we are all multi-skilled, so we can help each other when required.

He works closely alongside the companys multilingual customer service team and liaises with its R&D team as the firm is constantly reviewing our products and making refinements.

Besides, he also engages with its marketing and warehouse team to ensure customers receive their products in a timely manner.

Being a part of an Irish ag-tech company like Moocall makes me very proud. This company has gone from strength to strength over the years, collecting numerous innovation awards in its short existence.

As I play a lot of sport too, it is like working with another team here at Moocall, and everyone helps each other. It is a very enjoyable atmosphere. I get great satisfaction helping customers gain full advantage of our products to make their everyday life easier.

Furthermore, I would say the adoption of technology can sometimes be a daunting challenge to some farmers. I think getting over the initial hurdle of this is key. Technology may sound complex and sophisticated, but it is made to be simple and user-friendly.

Most of us here at Moocall are all farmers ourselves, so we know what the consumer wants. We are all about connecting the customer to their animals through technology to make their life a lot easier.

As I am still at the early stages of my career, getting my foot in the door with Moocall has been my highlight to date. It is the perfect fit for me as it merges my passion for mixing technology and my dairy farming background.

Furthermore, he is also incorporating his degree by assisting with the research and development function.

He has worked from the companys HQ in Dublin from day one, and that will be the case going forward. Here, he experiences a team atmosphere, which, in his view, remote working cannot replicate.

I have a short commute too. That makes life a little easier and gives me more time to do other stuff in my day, the UCD graduate added.

Coming from a dairy farm background, I have always had a passion for agriculture. I wanted to be a little different from the crowd and study what the future of farming holds.

Specialising to study ag-tech was the cornerstone of getting to work with a company like Moocall. I endeavour to continue a career in the ag-tech industry in the future.

I think adopting technology is the way forward to farming more efficiently and sustainably into the future. Moreover, I am excited to continue my journey in the ag-tech industry as this is my main career focus now.

The open-minded Meath native believes mixing dairy farming and technology is his strong point, so a career in this area will always be where he feels most comfortable.

Recently at home, they have been discussing a second farm business in the form of selling their milk directly to consumers.

There may be an opportunity in our area for this, and it is something that we can research over the coming months, he revealed.

Agriculture is such a broad industry; you never know where it might lead you to. One thing for certain is that it is an industry we are very passionate about, and you need to be too to succeed at the top.

Go for it, and do not be afraid to try things. If you are unsure what area you want to study or work in, I think it is best to adopt the trial-and-error approach. I believe you will quickly begin to find your interest and dislikes.

You will have setbacks along the way, but if you stay focused, you can get to where you want to be, the UCD graduate.

He strongly advises building a career plan and setting long and short-term goals. It is nearly like working backwards and thinking how I can achieve my long-term ambitions, he added.

Furthermore, he said building contacts and networking with different people within the industry is paramount.

There are going to be times where you might have to challenge yourself and do things out of your comfort zone. However, it will stand to you in the long run.

I predict the future ahead for farming in Ireland to be very positive. I suppose I am lucky in a sense the dairy sector is thriving at the moment, so we are in a good place at home.

However, there are so many opportunities out there, I would not put anyone off a career in any agriculture-related discipline, he concluded.

Moocall Ploughing 2021 offers: Save 143 when purchasing a calving sensor and 564 on moocall HEAT more information

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To share your story like this UCD graduate, email catherina@thatsfarming.com

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UCD graduate on forging a career in the ag-tech industry with Moocall - Thats Farming

For more than three centuries the Dutch shipped more than half a million Africans across the Atlantic

Descendants of African slaves have told the BBC they will change their surnames after a Dutch city decided to make the procedure free of charge.

Utrecht council has decided to remove the 835 (715) cost and bureaucracy to help people shake off their slave names and have the option to adopt one that recognises their African ancestry.

Under existing Dutch rules, if you have a surname considered ridiculous such as Anus, Garlic, or Naked-born, there is no requirement to prove it is undesirable. However, if your name has its origins in the Dutch colonial legacy, an expensive psychological examination is often required on top of the fee.

Its not right to then ask for money to turn back the procedure, says Linda Nooitmeer, chair of the national institute for Dutch slavery history.

Her own name translates as Never Again. Even though shes relatively happy as it was chosen by her ancestors, she is thinking of changing it. She sees Utrechts move as part of the healing process, to give people the freedom and identity back.

Between 1596 and 1829 the Dutch shipped more than half a million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to work on plantations.

They were treated as objects and possessions and their names were erased, part of what Linda Nooitmeer describes as the dehumanising process.

Everything is stripped. You were part of the cargo, like cattle. Its not only the name but rituals, language, your identity, all evidence that you were African was taken away.

The Netherlands was one of the last countries to abolish slavery in 1863, 30 years after British abolition. Even then slaves in Suriname, on the northeast coast of South America, had to wait 10 years to be fully free. Slaves were also shipped to Brazil, as well as Haiti, Curaao, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Anyone enslaved in Suriname had to be on a slave register, so it is known that some 80,000 people lived in slavery there in the 30 years before abolition.

Freed slaves were given artificial names, often tied to the slave owner, the plantation, or random amalgamations of Dutch cities or Dutch-sounding words, although regular Dutch surnames were banned.

Berghout and Seedorf were used as was Madretsma (Amsterdam spelt backwards) and Eendragt, a plantation name that means harmony. Other names translate as Obedient, Cheap, Tame, and Submission.

Linda Nooitmeer believes these names serve as a reminder they were once subordinate, and that the chain was never fully relinquished.

With that link to their ancestral home long destroyed, many have gone in search of their African roots to find a name that better represents who they are.

Among them was Yaw, who went to Ghana. And now Utrecht is removing the cost, he plans to make Yaw official, replacing his existing name Guno Mac Intosch.

As soon as that door opens, he gestures to the city hall, Ill be at the front of the queue.

Last year almost 3,000 people opted to switch their surnames, but only one mentioned colonial connotations. Utrechts promise to cancel the fee and paperwork has already resulted in hundreds of expressions of interest.

Maybe its not the exact same name our ancestors had, Ms. Nooitmeer explains, But it was given within the spirit from Africa. And thats really powerful to give your children and descendants. Their names are an integral part of their identity, she says.

After emancipation, some created collectives and bought the cotton fields.

For them, adopting a new name was an act of empowerment, as the owned became the owners. Ms. Nooitmeer believes they would have understood why their descendants were trying to rediscover what she calls their African energy.

A slavery exhibition was recently held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, curated by its head of history, Valika Smuelders.

We meet in The Hagues historic centre, in Lange Voorhout, which she explains was built on wealth generated by the slave trade.

Ms Smuelders is mixed-race and descended from the enslaved, enslavers and contractors. Her name incorporates Dutch, Scottish, and Portuguese and she considers it very much colonial history. For her, changing a surname is a complex, personal choice and unlikely to create an immediate rush among as many as one million people in the Netherlands.

People react very differently to circumstances. So for some, [their name] might be something that they want to embrace, she explains.

Many people who have a Dutch name plan to keep it, because numerous studies have shown a foreign-sounding name in the Netherlands can expose you to discrimination in education, housing or employment.

Yaws son pointed out that the Scottish name Mac In Tosch probably opened doors in his corporate life.

Sitting in the shadow of the slave memorial in Amsterdams bustling Oosterpark, Linda Nooitmeer remembers the moment Mayor Femke Halsema apologised for the councils role in the slave trade.

It really did something to me. I would never have imagined that even four years ago, never. So were making steps.

As I speak to Yaw outside Utrecht city hall a man comes over shouting racial abuse: Youre not African, just because youre black. If you think you are African, go back! Coming here for our benefits.

People glance up until another white man intervenes.

It is a shocking moment but Yaw takes it in his stride. For him the Netherlands is still on a journey and the recognition of peoples desire to drop their slave names represents a small but significant step.

Dutch people claim that they are really liberated and the country is liberated, then you see these things, this behaviour, he says.

The world-wide Black Lives Matter movement has made a difference, he believes, and the name-changing move is part of a process that shows greater awareness.

We are here, we built this country, and we dont let people chase us away because they say that we do not belong here.

Read more:

'I'll be at front of queue to change my slave name' - Mac Intosch - Myjoyonline

Ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday threw an open challenge to opposition party leaders to give an account of work done during their respective tenures in the state.

He also launched Booth Vijay Abhiyan' in a bid to repeat the party's performance in the 2017 state polls.

I challenge the leaders of the SP, BSP and Congress to come forward with an account of their respective terms and our booth-level workers are ready for an open debate with them over the same. None of the governments led by these parties did as much work as has been done in over four years of the Yogi Adityanath government, he said at a virtual function to launch the party's Booth Vijay Abhiyan.

The saffron party had clinched 312 seats in the 403-member legislative assembly, decimating its rivals to form the government in the last assembly elections.

Claiming that the Adityanath government did in over four years what other governments could not do in 60 years, the BJP chief targeted the opposition parties for not extending enough support to people during COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the pandemic outbreak, these parties did politics only through tweets and virtual press conferences by confining themselves in closed rooms.

History will remember that when people were in trouble, they (opposition leaders) turned themselves away from the people, he alleged.

The BJP leader noted that the UP government and BJP workers helped not only people of the state, but also those who came from other states.

He said while the BJP government worked for sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas', the previous regimes connived to benefit only one family as they had nothing to do with the people of UP.

Lauding the UP government for the work done by it for developing religious places like Mathura, Kashi, Chitrakoot and Ayodhya, Nadda said, "There was a time when taking the name of Lord Rama in UP was difficult and Ram sewaks' were fired at. The Congress had refused to accept the existence of Lord Rama, but today these parties (SP, BSP and Congress) have started indulging in the politics of convenience'.

He asked as to why a grand temple of Lord Rama was not built during their governments and went on to enumerate the work done during the Adityanath government like holding grand Kumbh in Allahabad, Deepotsav in Ayodhya, Krishna Utsav in Mathura and resuming the tradition of Dev Deepawali in Varanasi.

During the previous regimes, the BJP national president further said there was crime, corruption and anarchy but now the scene is different and it is development all round, adding that UP has become riot-free, women are safe and there is law and order.

Seva is our dharma and the target is poverty alleviation and we have zero tolerance policy for corruption and terrorism. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance and CM Adityanath's leadership, UP has written a new chapter of development by working for the progress of villages and the poor, he noted.

The northern state is leading in 44 development schemes, he said.

In an apparent reference to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Nadda said there are some leaders who go abroad for vacation when parliament is in session.

In an assurance to the farming community, the BJP president said there will be no change in minimum support price (MSP) and there is no need for the farmers of the country to worry.

Today, the Modi government has given freedom to the farmers in the country to sell their crops anywhere at their preferred prices, he added.

Elaborating on the achievements of the central government in the past seven years, Nadda said, "Abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution (giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir), ending of the practice of triple talaq, starting construction of Ram Janmabhoomi temple and the surgical strikes took place during the tenure of the Modi government.

View post:

Nadda throws open challenge to opposition leaders to give account of work done by them in UP - Economic Times

Etta Riley has learned to listen for a hiss when she hears pops erupt outside her Minneapolis townhouse.

The hiss brings relief. It means that bottle rockets are being fired in her neighborhood, not guns.

Riley, a 57-year-old school bus driver, remembers waiting for that reassuring sound one night in May. A group of strangers had gathered on a boulevard near her house again to throw dice, blast cussing music and drink from beer cans that would litter the street come morning. The gambling worried her. She has seen it lead to fights, which lead to guns. She called 911 and watched out the window as a police cruiser passed by and didnt even slow down.

Soon a crackle filled the air. This time, there was no hiss.

Riley stepped outside that night and watched police cordon off the nearby convenience store with yellow tape. She found out Aniya Allen, a kindergartner, had been shot there. She wonders if it would have made a difference if police had really shown up that night.

Theres just too much killing going on, Riley said.

Riley lives on a block of the North Sides Cleveland neighborhood that saw a 200% rise in gunfire compared with a dozen-year average before the pandemic. The dramatic surge in shots fired there and in other pockets of the city has brought a grim new reality for some residents across Minneapolis, who are now in the throes of what is shaping up to be overall the most violent two-year period in a generation.

After decades of declining violent crime, Minneapolis recorded 84 murders last year, up from about 48 in 2019, and a toll not seen since a dark chapter known as the Murderapolis years. The 67 murders so far in 2021 are on pace to surpass that. Four of those killings took place this week in a span of 29 hours, among them one with a 12-year-old victim. At least five kids 10 years old or younger have been caught in the crossfire this year, leading to news reports featuring images of picture-day smiles over descriptions of children on life support or inside tiny coffins.

The murder count represents only a small fraction of gun crimes. Data show a record number of gunshot wounds reported since last year. In the first six months of 2021, Minneapolis surpassed shots fired citywide in all of 2019, according to ShotSpotter activations, shooting reports and other data tracked by local law enforcement agencies. This year is on track to surpass 2020s record-high 9,600 gunfire reports. The past 20 months now account for almost a quarter of the 70,000 gunshot incidents reported in Minneapolis since 2008.

You hear gunfire, its like hearing birds chirping in the morning, said Juliee Oden, 55, who lives in the Jordan neighborhood, where shots have doubled. Odens street has seen an even larger increase in gunfire. She has moved her bedroom from the front to the side of her house and acquired a steel plate to place behind her headboard in fear of being struck by the shots she hears at night. Ive listened to two situations where people have actually died, she said.

If not for the grisly news reports, many residents in Minneapolis may not have noticed the violence. Nearly 90% of the gunfire reports since 2020 came from five neighborhood clusters: Near North, Camden, Powderhorn, Phillips and Central. An analysis of gunfire incidents by census blocks further revealed how specific locations are driving up the citywide numbers. The Star Tribune interviewed dozens of people who live and work in these areas, which are by and large more ethnically and racially diverse, younger and lower income.

Its never been like this, said Kia Banks, 42. Banks works in an assisted living home in the Folwell neighborhood, where shootings are up about 140%. Her clients love their community but feel unsafe walking outside in the afternoon. I dont like to stay after dark and be driving around at night. Im afraid of that.

A block away, a mother is selling her house, fearing her kids could be the next to get caught up in a hail of stray bullets.

I just keep my kids away from the windows, and mainly I sit on my floor, because just in case, I dont want to be hit or have my kids hit, said the woman, who feared that her name appearing in this article would make her a target.

Five miles south, in the Loring Park neighborhood, Kim Valentini has started locking the doors to her store even when its open.

Living in this area for about 30 years, Valentini, 60, has seen it grow into a beautiful center of the city. A mix of new apartments and the ones built a century ago have made it one of Minneapolis densest and most eclectic neighborhoods. Thats why she chose Loring Park to open the retail arm of her charity, which provides oral surgeries for impoverished kids around the world.

But about 19 months ago, the neighborhood abruptly changed. The bottom fell out, Valentini said.

Her business has been burglarized five times. Her car has been stolen twice. Her family wakes to gunshots in the night.

Gunfire reports in Valentinis neighborhood are up almost 400% through August compared with prepandemic averages, and the neighborhoods first homicides in years have put the small community on edge.

Shots fired in neighboring Stevens Square-Loring Heights are up about 200% from average. Adjacent Lowry Hill and Lowry Hill East, part of the Calhoun-Isles cluster, jumped from a combined average of nine gunshot reports through August each year to more than 60 in 2021. Violent crime is up in all four neighborhoods.

Valentini believes police want to help, but theyre stretched too thin. At the same time violent crime is rising, police data show arrests for these offenses dropped by around one-third this year. I feel guilty, frankly, about making calls to 911 about hearing shots fired, she said. If there isnt imminent danger, I dont call.

Blocks away, Sam Turner, 40, has stopped serving dine-in customers at his 24-hour restaurant at night because gunfights, usually coming from a dice game across the street, have made the area more dangerous for staff and customers.

They shoot straight up in the air, because they dont even realize those bullets land somewhere, Turner said.

Bullets have rained down on cars, the trees and facade in front of the Nicollet Diner and nearby apartments, in one case lodging into the drywall of a neighbors bedroom, he said. Hopefully the election comes and we get some politicians who give a crap about public safety, he said.

In a city election year, the blame is pointed in all directions. Some are searching for their own ways to better their situations.

Business owners meet and share tips from north Minneapolis preachers on how to disrupt violence. The nearby Wooddale Church hosts nighttime cookouts to draw out neighbors who badly need a hot meal and much more.

Its not only violence that lurks in these streets at night. The opioid crisis never loosened its grip. Heroin and meth are easy to find and cheaper than ever. And the pandemic has taken away badly needed social services.

Its like a perfect storm of brokenness, said Wooddale Pastor Trent Palmberg.

Those who have lived in Minneapolis long enough remember the only other time the city saw these levels of violence.

It started in 1985 with 16-year-old Christine Kreitz turning up dead at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Kreitz belonged to the Black Gangster Disciple Nation, a Minneapolis faction of the Chicago Disciples. The gangs leader ordered her assassination after mistakenly suspecting shed informed on him.

The murder marked a new era for Minneapolis crime. No one not even the skeptical police chief whod come from New York City could any longer deny that Chicago gangs real gangs had arrived in Minneapolis.

The turf wars fed an unprecedented rise in killings in what had been one of the safest major cities in America, hitting the high-water mark in 1995 with 97 murders. The city held the 12th-highest homicide rate in the nation, passing New York Citys. Residents made shirts that read Murderapolis: City of Wakes, a moniker which the New York Times canonized in a front-page story about the downfall of a city that seemed to have all the answers.

Then, for reasons still being debated, the crime rate plunged. By 2001, the murder count dropped to less than half of the mid-90s years. Violent crime has ebbed and flowed in years since, but its continued to trend downward until June 2020.

There are varying theories for whats driving the violence among those who live in the areas most affected: the Highs and Lows gangs divided by north Minneapolis geography are beefing, and leaving a trail of bodies, sometimes the wrong ones, in their wake; the illegal gun market makes it too easy to find a firearm; and the pandemic left people out of work and home from school. Theres also the movement to defund the police, which many in these areas believe is tied to the violence one way or another. Some say it is sending a message to good police that they are not wanted, driving hundreds to quit and leaving the remaining force too small to respond. Others believe police are retaliating against the movement by slowing productivity, showing how bad the city can get without them.

Riley sees the bad cops, like the ones who caught a man trying to rob the convenience store near her house, then continued to beat him after putting on the handcuffs. She thinks the ones who quit in response to calls for more accountability are cowards. But she knows there are good ones too, the ones shes met in public meetings and sees patrolling her alley the next day, trying to help. Shes known Charlie Adams, the Fourth Precinct inspector, since they were kids in the projects and everyone called him Boobie. Today she calls Adams and his kids the North Side Blue Bloods, after the Tom Selleck TV show about a multigenerational law enforcement family.

If [police] do wrong, discipline them, said Riley. I aint saying defund them or get rid of them, because you know there are good cops. You cant punish the good ones for the bad ones.

Jordan neighborhood resident Dave Haddy, 48, says he supports reforming police, but he doesnt believe politicians have laid out a sufficient plan to replace the current model if the charter amendment to do so passes. We need good police, Haddy said. Im sorry, but the people advocating [defunding police] the most dont live in these scenarios. Ask North Siders, at least the ones I talk to. They are not for abolition. They are for competent, just policing.

Danecha Gipson, 28, says the problems date back further than just last year, and the answer is more complicated than more uniforms on the streets. Weve got a lot going on that the communities have been sweeping under the rug for years, she said.

A few years ago, Gipson left her job as a nursing assistant to work for the Cleveland Neighborhood Association. She helped start programs that gave kids stipends in exchange for delivering groceries or doing chores for elders. But there arent enough constructive opportunities to keep youth off the streets, especially during a pandemic, she said.

These kids here are taking their hurt from home and taking it out on the community, she said.

Tears spill down Julie Wards cheeks when she thinks about Trinity Ottoson-Smith, the 9-year-old girl shot while jumping on a trampoline at a birthday party this year. Ward lives two blocks from the shooting site with her granddaughter Aubrey and heard the shots.

That girl was the same age as [Aubrey], said Ward, 66. We have a trampoline. That vision, I just cant get it out of my head. If she got shot, oh, my God, it would kill me.

Aubrey skips across the street, her long braids bouncing with each stride, to where neighbors host an ice cream social on a humid evening in August. I do want to move, said Aubrey. I want to see what that feels like.

Her street is lush and dotted with character-rich homes, many well-maintained by their owners, interspersed with long-neglected and wilted ones. Some are recently vacant. Ward moved here in the late 1980s. One day she was in the backyard with her kids when two men darted through her property with guns akimbo. Shes known since then her neighborhood has a dark side. But she fell in love with her house and her neighbors. Not until this year has she ever contemplated moving. Im scared, she said. I dont want to go. But its too close.

Ogi Carter hears the shots in her Folwell neighborhood, too. She woke up recently to someone firing slowly into the air from a moving car. The next morning she found shells in front of her home. It shouldnt be like that, she said.

But Carter, 47, who immigrated from Bosnia, wishes people could see the North Side she sees. When a tornado hit in 2011, her neighbors helped remove a tree that landed on her house. Carter fell in love with the neighborhood then. What makes it a community is really the people that live here, she said. We look out for each other.

Haddy says the lack of concern for rising crime is emblematic of a difficult truth: Some people have always valued north Minneapolis less than the rest of the city.

If any other neighborhood in this city had three children shot in the head in a span of three weeks, the National Guard wouldve been called out, he said. But we didnt get [anything.] We get excuses and we get finger-pointing. And the people who say they are supporting us with all of their efforts, where are they?

Outside Rileys house, the community built a memorial for Aniya Allen. Rest in Heaven, reads one sign. Another shows Aniya and two other children killed this summer under the caption: Do you know who shot me? Police offered a $180,000 reward for that answer. The cases remain unsolved.

Riley sees the memorial every day. Politicians rallied here after Aniyas death, but now they dont come by. The raucous partyers have reclaimed the block to gamble.

I just feel like were the forgotten area, she said.

Andy Mannix covers federal courts and law enforcement for the Star Tribune.

Jeff Hargarten is a data journalist for the Star Tribune focusing on data-driven reporting and visualization.

This story is part of a collaboration with the Star Tribune through FRONTLINEs Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Excerpt from:

Minneapolis' bloody summer puts city on pace for most violent year in a generation - FRONTLINE

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Macleans Politics Insider newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered straight to your inbox in the morning.

Jason Markusoff, of Macleans,has the rundown you need on Thursday nightsEnglish language debate, which did not go well for the prime minister.

Time and again, the Liberal leader was attacked on his governments record and tried to swing back aggressively. If it wasnt Jagmeet Singh hitting him on taking Indigenous kids to court, it was Erin OToole criticizing his ability to meet climate change targetsto which Trudeau replied that 2030 remains nine years away, in one of multiple moments in which he flashed visible irritation, or got unusually combative. At the outset of this campaign, it seemed Trudeau might coast to victory on the strength of his record. But some of the Liberals shortcomings look glaring if cannily framed, and his opponents did that on Thursday.

Markusoff writes that the moderation squeezed most of the light out of this affair.

Lead moderator Shachi Kurl, a pollster and former journalist, rapidly cut off many attempts to pivot from one topic to the next, and hawkishly watched the clock to ensure all of the myriad elements of the program had their slotted times. It led to a moment thatsome observersbelieve will raise anger in Quebec, and potentially draw votes to the Bloc: Kurl wound up arguing with Yves-Franois Blanchet, the Bloc Qubecois leader, who claimed hed been shorted when it came to timing. This came after shed begun the debate with a tense exchange with Blanchet over Quebecs controversial Bill 21 banning religious symbols from public workplaces. At another point, Kurl offered Trudeau an absurdly paltry five seconds to respond to various critiques of his record. Some past debates have gone wildly off topic or off-kilter and would have benefited from a moderator with a tighter leash. Kurls leash often seemed like a choke chain, stifling many exchanges from blossoming into actual, you know, debates.

Also in Macleans:

Shannon Proudfoot finds Trudeau still struggling to explain why we are all engaged in this exercise.

The greater energy hes displayed over the last week, as his campaign finally seemed to get its shoes on, was turned up too high and of the wrong kind to be useful to him on Thursday. Of course, as the incumbent he went in with more baggage and more soft underbelly exposed than the other party leaders. But the very first question he had facedamid a barrage of similarly pointed questions to each of the leaders in successioncentred on the core question hovering over the entire proceedings: why are any of us here right now?

Your correspondent is inclined to think that OToole looks likelier to be prime minister after he did well, Trudeau did not, and the moderator picked a fight with Blanchet.

The election isnt over, but it almost is. Advance voting begins today. Millions may vote by the mail. Trudeau will surely try to pivot before long to making pleas to soft New Democrats, but it will get harder to make that work as more votes go into boxes. And the Blanchet storywhich looks set to take off in Quebec todaycould put the Liberals on the defensive in the territory they desperately need if they are to stave off a Tory challenge.

Justin Ling thinks Jagmeet Singh did a good job of roasting Trudeau but a poor job at selling himself as a PM-in-waiting

But when it came to offering voters specifics of how he would govern, or even a compelling emotional reason why hes better suited to lead than the others, Singh largely repeated the script hes been reading for the whole campaign. Would he scrap the Trans Mountain pipeline upon being elected? Who knows. Where would his investments go to get CO2 emissions down by 50 per cent? Couldnt say. How would he protect Indigenous ancestral rights to logging, fishing and hunting? No idea. Voters at home would certainly come away from Thursdays debate knowing that Singh wants to make the rich pay their fair share, as if that were ever in doubt. But that often sounded like the deepest policy proposal he had under his belt.

Quebec plot twist: A dispute between the moderator and Blanchet made headlines in Quebec on Thursday night, seeming to presage a vote-moving phase of the campaign in that province.Le Devoirled with the dispute (translation), as did La Presse (translation).

The only debate in English by the leaders of the electoral campaign turned into a trial of the laws adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec on the secularism of the State and the protection of the French language. During an evening when cacophony also reigned supreme, Bloc Qubcois leader Yves-Franois Blanchet was forced to defend Legault government policies in his second language while the other leaders, with the exception of the Party leader green, remained silent. Raising the curtain of the debate, Mr. Blanchet received a frontal affront. The affront did not come from one of his opponents, but from the moderator of the debate, Shachi Kurl, who launched the exercise by repeatedly asking him how he could support discriminatory legislation, by speaking of Bill 21 and Bill 96.

Francophone Quebecers appear to be affronted by the conflict, whichmay rattle an until-now fairly stable campaign in that province, and raise questions about the conduct of the debate.

Aside from that, the consensus seems to be that Trudeau struggled.

In the Star, Susan Delacourt concludes that Trudeau must be asking himself why he called the election.

Every one of the leaders walked into these debates with a lot to save even political careers but no one as much as the Conservative and Liberal leaders. OToole needed to preserve the fragile momentum hes accumulated to date in this election. In effectively batting away Trudeaus standard anti-Conservative attacks, he may have succeeded. Trudeau, meanwhile, needs to save his Liberals from defeat in the election he unleashed on the country. This pile-on wont have helped.

In the Globe, John Ibbitson comes to a similar conclusion.

On Thursday night, as the minutes ticked away, Mr. Trudeau failed to launch his attack, because he so seldom had an opening.

Where we stand: As the leaders gathered for the debate, Macleans polling wizardPhilippe J. Fournier concluded that the race is tightening: CPC 34 (0), LPC 32 (-1), NDP 20 (+4), BQ 6 (-2), PCP 4 (+2), GPC 3 (-4). Projected seat count: LPC 142 (-15), CPC 134 (+13), NDP 34 (+10), BQ 26 (-6), GPC 2 (-1). Bracketed numbers show changes since 2019 election. Fournier wonders if the Conservatives have room to grow.

Before dissolution, I had hypothesized that the CPC was stuck in a high-floor, low-ceiling scenario with Canadian voters. The CPC surge early in the campaign was testament to Erin OTooles effectiveness at getting himself better known to Canadian voters, and several early polls in this campaign showed OTooles personal numbers rising days prior (see thisAbacus Data pollfrom Aug. 20). However, while some would suggest the Conservatives may have peaked too soon in this campaign, it is plausible that they simply peaked, and that the 34 to 35 per cent mark represents the partys new ceiling.

Enter Legault: On Thursday, after the second of two French language debates, Francois Legault pronounced himself concerned with the centralizing tendencies of the Liberal, NDP and Green platforms and said nationalists should hope for a Conservative minority, La Journal de Montreal reports(translation).I am a nationalist.I want Quebec to be more autonomous, to have more power, and there are three parties, the PLC, the NDP and the Green Party, which want to give us less autonomy.I find it dangerous.

Rescue operation: Writing in the Gazette,Tasha Kheiriddin theorizes that Legault may have felt the need to come to OTooles rescue after a flat debate performance.

Quebec commentators were not impressed with OToole, including columnistChantal Hebert, who quipped that On his last big opportunity to establish a stronger connection with Quebec voters and to impress them, (OToole) missed the mark. So in rode Legault to the rescue. If his endorsement turns the tide for OToole, it could put the Tories over the top and put the new government firmly in Legaults debt.

A lament: Speaking of debates, the reviews of Wednesday nights French language debate are mixed. In Macleans, Paul Wells laments that the debate wasnt what it could have been even though good people were doing their best.

For starters, the participating news organizations want maximum on-screen time for their journalists. Every organization that participated in the consortium sent a prominent colleague. None preferred to sit the night out, for the sake of simplicity and clarity. Thats how you get five people in moderator/interrogator roles. And ifLa Presses Paul Journet wasnt all that interested in pressing leaders on their non-answers to questions from Hlne Buzzetti of the newspaper syndicate Les Coops de lInfo well, that brings us to the parties interest. The parties want minimum on-screen time for their leaders. Or at least, they want the smallest amount of risk for every second of screen time. How much time did Erin OToole want to spend explaining that the only source of cost reduction in his platform is the abolition of Liberal day-care plans, and that in every other way his party has become as spendy as Trudeaus? Zero.

In La Presse,Michel C. Auger, writes that the debate was over before it began, because the Conservative platform calls for the elimination of child-care deals, aquestion (OToole) will have to explain himself on for the remainder of the campaign. (Translation)

PPC gravel link: The Peoples Party of Canadaremoved the Elgin Middlesex London riding association president Shane Marshall after it was allegedthat he isthrew gravelat Justin Trudeau at a rally in London on Monday, CBC reports.

Marshall is known in anti-lockdown and white-supremacist circles, said Peter Smith, of theCanadian Anti-Hate Network.This is a person who expresses, through memes and videos as well as his appearances at multiple protests dressed in a balaclava waving a flag from Canadas colonial past, an explicitly white nationalist view. Police are investigating.

Far right haters: The hate we are seeing in this campaign is alarming, writes Fatima Sayed in Macleans, pointing out the links between white supremacy and the anti-vax movement.

Hate, too, is a virus and it grows rapidly if left unaddressed. And its been left unaddressed in Canada for far too long. There is alinkbetween the anti-vaxx movement and far-right groups that we need to talk about. (Note: the movement is separate from vaccine-hesitant people who have legitimate concerns.) An upcoming study by Amarnath Amarasingam, Stephanie Carvin and Kurt Philips for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue documents the connections, finding that anti-mask, anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination movements in Canada are predominantly propagated by the far-right. Some of the most vocal critics of lockdown measures and vaccines are leaders of far-right groups or political parties, including People Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier.

BTW: If this newsletter hasnt slaked your thirst for debate and election commentary, join Macleans all stars at 12:30 p.m. for a Twitter Space discussion:https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1ynKOBlBQLrxR?s=20

Originally posted here:

Last nights debate: Trudeau gets caught up, OToole has his moments and Singh misses the mark - Maclean's

Back in June, the Baltimore City Council approved a $22 million budget increase to the Baltimore Police Departments budget, going against the demands of hundreds of Baltimoreans who showed up for two taxpayers nights to tell Mayor Brandon Scott and members of Baltimore City Council, defund the police.

That the City of Baltimore has to scramble together on two nights to say something and hope that it changes is not a participatory process, Rob Ferrell of Organizing Black said at the time.

As Battleground Baltimore previously reported, the budget increase was, at least in part, a done deal before Taxpayers Night. Thats because even if the council and the mayor had been motivated to vote no to an additional $22 million for the police, the federal consent decree likely would have fined the city for defunding. It is just one more example of how police are rewarded for their corruption and dysfunction, and the rest of the city loses. A consent decree imposed on the city after Freddie Gray died in police custody in 2015 now nullifies the will of the people and gives elected officials who dont actually want to defund a convenient excuse.

None of this is exactly newpolice officers in Baltimore are often failing miserably to keep people safe while burning through their departments $500 million-plus budgetbut the stranglehold police have over the city and its elected officials has been made especially stark over the past month or so. The month of August, especially, offered up a laundry list of dysfunction and misconduct by Baltimore Police that made a strong case for defunding.

The departments crime lab is backlogged, among many other problems, as the Baltimore Sun reported. The police are disproportionately enacting traffic stops in majority Black neighborhoods, as The Real News reported. As Baltimore Brew reported, it was only last month that it was publicly revealed that a police officer who killed a teenager in 1993 had remained with the department for years despite being stripped of his duties, collecting a paycheck and racking up overtime for almost three decades. The BPDs move to the former Baltimore Sun building continues to skyrocket in cost, as Baltimore Brew reported. The Baltimore City States Attorneys Office indicted Baltimore police officer Christopher Nguyen for reckless endangerment. It was also only last month that the longstanding practice of allowing police officers to work overtime shifts even if they were on vacation ended.

And the Baltimore Police unions stance on vaccination is not encouraging.

On Aug. 31, Baltimore Citys Fraternal Order of Police and the Baltimore City firefighters union released a joint statement, commenting on Mayor Brandon Scotts policy requiring all city employees to either be vaccinated or take a weekly COVID-19 test.

It is our desire to remain engaged in collective bargaining over the implementation of this policy, the statement said. We look forward to working amicably with members of Mayor Scotts administration to ensure this policy and its associated procedures are implemented fairly, equitably while protecting our members [sic] personal concern and autonomy.

In April 2020, towards the start of the pandemic, a Perkins Homes resident recorded a Baltimore Police sergeant intentionally coughing on people after they greeted him with, Hey Officer Friendly with the cherry cheeks. The name of that sergeant, who was suspended, was never released by the police. In Jan. 2021, Baltimore Police Sergeant James Rhoden used his influence to get the then-hard-to-obtain COVID-19 vaccine for a family member. He is no longer with the police department.

In other cities, the police have aggressively negotiated against vaccination. In Portland, police were simply exempted from the citywide mandate for vaccination. In a scene that might seem familiar to Baltimore residents who are used to a Democratic mayor regularly caving to police, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said, I am disappointed that we cant hold all of our City employees to the same vaccine requirement.

COVID-19 is the leading cause of death for cops in 2021, killing 110 police officers nationwide so far.

Baltimore City public school students didnt only have to worry about returning to school in person amid a surging pandemicmany also stepped into schools without functioning air conditioning. Temperatures upwards of 90 degrees forced the early dismissal of hundreds of students at two dozen schools without working AC when schools reopened on Aug. 30.

Despite their school closing early on the first two days of class, Baltimore City College High School senior Samreen Sheraz told Battleground Baltimore that school is off to a good start.

Students are getting the normal school environment back, which means they have motivation, and support from peers and teachers, Sheraz, a member of Students Organizing a Multicultural and Open Society (SOMOS), said. It is much easier to get it in person rather than online.

While Sheraz approved of the districts mask mandate and social distancing policies, they said a better job could be done enforcing it.

The safety protocols are implemented efficiently in classrooms only, Sheraz said. The protocols get a little ignored during lunch and dismissal, which can be dangerous to many.

In cities like Baltimore with a large digital divide, being able to learn in person again has been a helpful; 200,000 mostly low income Baltimore households with school-aged children lack access to high speed internet or a computer, a May 2020 Abell Foundation report found.

Being in school helps the brain to be focused on studying and the improvement of our grades, Sheraz explained.

The districts COVID-19 dashboard reports a .15% COVID prevalence rate among 88,000 students and staff. 132 positive cases have been reported in the past 10 days, according to the district, which says 80% of staff and 90% of principals are vaccinated.

There could be much better communication with the schools, staff, and students, because as of now I dont believe that Baltimore City Schools has been very transparent about their plans, if cases keep rising, Blanca Rosalez, a SOMOS member and high school junior, told Battleground Baltimore.

Some parents and teachers have taken to social media to express frustration over the lack of a district-wide plan for students who are forced to quarantine when weekly testing of all unvaccinated students and staff begins next week.

There is no plan for quarantined kids; instead there is only school-by-school, teacher-by-teacher. More inequity for kids. Likely to worsen as asymptomatic testing begins and more kids are quarantined, public school parent Melissa Schober said.

Brittany Johnstone, a school psychologist and special services vice president of the Baltimore Teachers Union, tweeted: Were just at the tip of the iceberg. Testing beginning on 9/13 will mean a rapid increase in known positive cases (which the district admitted to in their email to staff) and we have absolutely no clarity on how to educate students who are required to be at home.

This past week, Gov. Larry Hogan called the lack of AC in some city schools unbelievable. Back in 2018, City College students protested Hogans lack of funding for city schools when high heat forced students that attended schools without functioning AC to be dismissed early.

With its history of disinvestment, Sheraz worries about whether city schools will have enough resources while the pandemic continues with no end in sight.

School funding is a recurring issue and it has been repeating over the years, Sheraz said. Schools would need more resources such as hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, and tissues to maintain the safety of students and staff.

This week, the House Cannabis Legalization Workgroup had its first meeting to discuss how legalization and regulation of cannabis would be implemented and how legalization could be implemented in a more racially equitable way.

During the meeting, the workgroup noted the tax revenue generated in Colorado, the first state to establish a legal, regulated industry and a state whose demographics reflected Maryland. Colorado has gone from generating around$600 million in 2014, when the regulated industry began, to more than $2 billion in 2020.

But racial equity was the workgroups focus.

We will do this with an eye towards equity and in consideration to Black and Brown neighborhoods and businesses that have been historically impacted by cannabis use, Delegate Luke Clippinger, the chair of the workgroup said.

Maryland has remained woefully behind on cannabis. In 2014, cannabis was decriminalized if a Marylander was in possession of 10 grams or less, and as of 2017, there is medicinal cannabis, but legalization has yet to happen. Actually, even increasing the decriminalization threshold to the more-common one ounce has not happened. A legalization workgroup in Maryland announced in 2019 that it would not recommend legalization during the 2020 session, and so, the energy happening right now is welcome but also falls woefully behind where many advocates believe the state should be at this point. Getting legalization right has long been a concern in Maryland, and even now, the workgroup is discussing a referendum in 2022 with the regulated industry arriving, if that passes in 2023.

In the meantime, as those in Annapolis figure out how to get legalization and racial equity right, Maryanders continue to be arrested on cannabis charges, and those who are arrested are disproportionately Black.

A 2020 ACLU report noted that a Black Marylander is more than two times as likely to be arrested for cannabis as a white Marylander, and possession arrests still made up 50% of all drug arrests.

When The Maryland Food & Abolition Project asked J.G., someone who was incarcerated during COVID-19, about the food situation inside the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, he did not hold back.

Its not like its sometimes you get a pretty good meal now and then. No, this is consistent. This is an everyday situation. And the kitchenI dont think theyve ever passed an inspection. Because OSHA would close the place down. Thats how bad it is, J.G. said. Roaches and mice and other insects and stuff crawling all over the place. So they prepare your meals in filth, basically.

That comes fromthe first part of the Maryland Food & Abolition Projects I Refuse to Let Them Kill Me: Food, Violence, and the Maryland Correctional Food System, a shocking report on how poor the food given to prisoners is, released earlier this week. The report was published by the Maryland Food & Abolition Project on Sept. 9, the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising, and just a couple of weeks after their report Violence, Hunger, and Premature Death: How Prison Food in Maryland Became Even Worse During COVID-19.

For lunch, you get a bag, and everything in the bag tastes and smells the same. You get a juice box. You get a sandwich, which is two pieces of bread, some cheese, and a slice of meat, Mark, who was formerly incarcerated at Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland, said. The meat is bad. They call it sweaty meat, because lunch meat sweats, it gets the oily skin on it or stuff on it and then it turns white. You also might get a piece of fruit and a pack of cookies, but everything tastes the same. It tastes like the sandwich. And thats lunch.

These reports offer the kind of deep dive into the cruelty endured by Marylands prisoners that local press rarely covers at alllet alone comprehensively. As journalist and political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal observed in 2013, far too often, the media offer the episodic, while they ignore the systematic.

You can read the first part of The Maryland Food & Abolition Projects I Refuse to Let Them Kill Me here and Violence, Hunger, and Premature Death here. Over the next two weeks, the Maryland Food & Abolition Project will release the next five parts of I Refuse To Let Them Kill Me.

Read more:

Battleground Baltimore: The past month or so of Baltimore police malfeasance - The Real News Network

Chuck Culhane is traveling to Attica Prison Thursday to participate in a vigil honoring those who lost their lives 50 years ago within the prisons walls.

He does not believe the vigil will garner any headlines.

That's emblematic of the attitude towards prisoners, he said. Towards people inside, that they don't exist. They weren't killed. And so a few of us are going to go out there and just read the names of individuals at the prison. The names of all the people, including the guards.

What is the lasting legacy of Attica a landmark event that encapsulates a generation of social progression, yet an event that also left at least 43 incarcerated persons and prison guards dead? On the 50th anniversary of the uprising, the conversation around its legacy is varied.

Culhane serves as a Prison Task Force Coordinator at the Western New York Peace Center:

I was back in prison, he says. I was sent to a maximum security place and it was, I recall, low grade terror. I did quite a few years inside. I never experienced anything like that. I mean, people were just terrorizing and really ways every day, and it was very dispiriting to see that kind of behavior with the guards.

Culhane said lessons regarding the rights of incarcerated people have yet to be learned.

And unfortunately, the vast majority of the changes have been for the worse, not for the better, he said.

The prison population has shrunk to just under 32,000 in New York State in the last 50 years, but the conditions the men living within the walls of Attica advocated for improvements to food and medical care, religious freedom and wages were abandoned in Atticas aftermath, said Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of Alliance of Families for Justice.

Sadly though, most, if not all of those improvements have now disappeared, she said. So the concerns and the demands that the men raised 50 years ago are still major concerns today.

Elijah was formerly the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York. Her insight on the plight of incarcerated people leaves her believing more can be done to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society.

I would say when it comes to incarcerated people, we can clearly see that we're not living in a more enlightened society, she said.

Elijah points to how hard it has been to get incarcerated people supplies to fight against contracting COVID-19 as an example of how little attention is paid to their welfare.

From not giving them PPE, from not giving them tests, not providing for vaccines," she said, "advocates had to work day and night to push for those things, advocates and family members of incarcerated people.

And racism within a prison system where a majority of the incarcerated are non-white is a problem.

The racism amongst staff, the virtual lack of any Black and brown staff members and most of the Upstate prisons, Elijah said. That was a problem back in 1971 and remains a problem to this day.

One lasting legacy of Attica that both Culhane and Elijah agree on is growing prison reform and prison abolition movements in the state.

The advocacy groups on the outside have been somewhat successful, Elijah said, and reaching out to elected officials to bring these concerns to their attention so that more members of the New York State Legislature are aware and have been using their role as legislators to visit the prisons, to inquire, to question and to challenge what's happening inside the prisons.

A recent example of the success of these movements is the signing of the HALT bill by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April. The bill bans long-term solitary confinement in prisons and jails across the state.

Culhane said the push towards rehabilitation programs and restorative justice practices within the prison system are ways to keep people out of prison for good.

Well in New York, he said. I would say, yeah, just in numbers, getting people out, you know, not sending them to prison for offenses that are not, you know, particularly nonviolent and where there's alternatives like restorative justice programs that do something for victims of crime and do something for society instead of this punishment ethic thats insane.

Elijah still believes the prison system as a whole is rotten and must be abolished.

I don't believe at this point you can do this form any more than slavery could be formed, she said. I think it has to be completely destroyed. I think it is incumbent upon all of us in society to figure out a much more people-centered approach to addressing aberrant behavior by human beings.

In a society still separated by the haves and have-nots, Elijah said these issues can be solved if we all worked together.

If we can put human beings on the moon and other planets, she said. Then we can figure out how to level the playing field so that everybody's dreams and aspirations has a fair chance of being realized.

The legacy of the Attica uprising has given us many teachable moments to reflect and improve on.

See the rest here:

50 years later: The legacy of the Attica uprising - WBFO