Category Archives: Government Oppression

Yet the really bewildering part of the cartoon is the clear identification of the church as part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the use of its logo. As leaders of the two ELCA congregations in Dickinson, we were surprised to see a political cartoon so directly pointed at our denomination.

While it is not true to say that the ELCA resettles refugees in North Dakota, it is true that the ELCA works very closely with Lutheran Social Services (LSS). LSS is the only intuition in the state of North Dakota that resettles refugees. If the cartoon version of Craig Cobb was hoping to be resettled in a town like Leith or Nome, he would likely be disappointed to find out that refugees are only resettled in Fargo, Bismarck, and Grand Forks. If he was angry at the ELCA for their work with refugees, he would also be disappointed to find many other denominations (like Catholics, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Episcopalians) that support the Christian effort to provide hospitality, safety, and refuge to those who flee from violence, fear, and oppression.

Craig Cobb is no refugee. He is not fleeing the threat of death by an oppressive government or war. He does not have the proper UN designation. He has not been vetted for years by both the UN and the US a process he would undoubtedly fail.

But in the meantime, if Craig Cobb would like to visit one of our ELCA churches in Dickinson, we would be more than happy to tell him all about the radical love of Jesus Christ - a love that does not distinguish between race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion. It is a love with the power to transform even the most stone-hearted people. And unlike the cartoon depicted, that would not be the work of the devil. That would be the work of the Holy Spirit, who brings all kinds of people to our churches doorsteps.

Sincerely,

Pastor Joe Natwick, St John Lutheran Church

Pastor Lisa Lewton, St John Lutheran Church

Pastor Ellery Dykeman, Peace Lutheran Church

Deacon Anna Dykeman, Peace Lutheran Church

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LETTER: Evangelical Lutheran Church respond to political cartoon - The Dickinson Press

Palestine Israel Action Group

Amid a strong push by the Israeli government to increase construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the Knesset approved a bill on Feb. 6 that will retroactively legalize the construction of 4,000 settlement homes and the robbery of private Palestinian land. While the settler-colonial state of Israel is no stranger to land theft, this move comes just weeks after yet another UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction.

While the law states that the original landowners are compensated monetarily or with alternative land, they do not have to agree to concede their property rights. It is important to note that since the occupied Palestinian population does not have citizenship rights in Israel, they have no participatory role in the lawmaking process nor the ability to vote on Israeli policies.

Israel is an apartheid state in which the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza live under belligerent, military occupation. The passage of this law highlights the complete contempt and disregard that Israel has shown towards the Palestinian people since its formation. The law itself is illegal and will no doubt be challenged. Back in November of last year, even Benjamin Netanyahu recognized that the passage if this bill could bring Israel to The Hague, the city that hoststhe International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.

Israels occupation of Palestine, its brutal treatment of the Palestinian people, its demolition of Palestinian homes, and its blatant disregard for international law has brought sharp criticism from activists and organizations all over the world. Last year, the Movement for Black Lives Policy Platform called out the complicity of the U.S. government in the oppression of Palestinians through its financial support to Israel, all while Black communities, schools and services in the United States remain underfunded.

We will not sit idly by while the Palestinian people have their land ripped out from underneath them. We will continue to stand in solidarity with Palestine and all nations suffering imperialist plunder. Long live Palestine!

See the article here:

Israeli Knesset 'legalizes' robbery of Palestinian land - Liberation

Student leader says black-on-black crime is not a thing, wants to censor those who say it is

Alternative facts sure are popular on campus these days.

A student government leader at Regis University went so far as to deny that black people commit crime against each other, or at least that the subject is worth discussing (that would be news to former President Obama).

Campus Reform reports that the Jesuit university in Denver just concludedAnti-Oppression Week, which included sessions such as Introduction to Privilege and Oppression for Teachers and The Oppressive Power of Language.

But the most head-scratching comments came fromJack Flotte, director of the student governmentsSocial Justice and Spirituality Committeeandwhite male.

Heaccused his fellow whites of white fragility in leading a Tuesday session titled White Guilt, White Feelings, and the Struggle for Liberation:

He then outlined several paradigms that he considers counterproductive, starting with the demand that white people quit mythologizing black-on-black murder by isolating statistics, boldly claiming that Black-on-black murder is not a thing. Its just a bad argument. Black-on-black crime is not a thing. Dont talk about it. Shut it down when people talk about it.

Ironically, Flotte encouraged his audience to research everything. They could start with Obamas remarks about black-on-black crime at a televised town hall:

It is absolutely true that the murder rate in the African-American community is way out of whack compared to the general population, Obama said. And both the victims and the perpetrators are black, young black men.

Though faculty werent ordered to attend the events, Anthropology Prof. Damien Thompson who led or co-led three events encouraged his colleagues to go to as many events as possible and said he would attend like 98 percent of them, according to Campus Reform.

The publication also notes this Friday event listing prodding faculty to attend:

10:30am 12:00pm Steps of Dayton Memorial Library. Call to Action Rally (This event in a student planned and organized rally; faculty, administration and staff who have not attended one of Thursdays faculty anti-oppression training sessions, should attend the anti-oppression training that begins at 9:00am). Multicultural Affairs Committee.

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Student leader says 'black-on-black crime is not a thing,' wants to censor those who say it is - The College Fix

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In a column at The Hill, Robert Holland explains that while the teachers unions and grandstanding Senate Democrats received much of the attention in the controversy over DeVos, the magnitude of the opposition facing the new secretary from the grassroots base of her own party is not a factor to be ignored. In fact, Holland says DeVos could dispel a significant portion of the controversy surrounding her confirmation by letting these grassroots parent groups know she intends to use her new authority to free state and local governments from the oppression of federal control.

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Holland writes:

As incongruous as it may seem, given DeVos championing of a parents right to select the best possible school for a child, parents organized in grassroots groups in all 50 states were among the most adamant critics of President Donald Trumps nominee to lead federal education policy.

On social media, these groups have names such as Stop Common Core in Florida (or New Jersey, or Oregon, or Michigan, or insert your own state). Their reach is enormous. The concern for many of these activists boils down to this: While choice may be desirable, it is not feasible when big government imposes uniform requirements on all schools for such central policies as curricula, testing, and teacher evaluation.

Where is the choice, Holland asserts, when a child movesfrom a school in one zip code to another, but the standards, curriculum, and testing remain the same due to federal mandates?

Calling attention as well to reports of Common Core supporters on her staff, Holland observes that grassroots parent activists see DeVos longstanding support of powerful organizations that pushed Common Core standards on schools nationwide as rendering null and void any choice that might emanate from Washington, DC under her leadership.

He urges the new secretary to invite onto her staff as well education scholars who understand the federal government has no constitutional authority to dictate education policy, and thatthe U.S. education department should be phased out of existence.

Holland also confirms what the parent groups have been saying all along, despite touting to the contrary by Republican leadership: the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which replaced No Child Left Behind places final control over state standards and tests with the federal education department.

Observing these factors, Holland urges DeVos to make local control of education and not school choice her first order of business.

A push for federal school vouchers in the current regulatory climate could backfire big-time either by flopping in Congress or, if enacted, drawing more private and religiously affiliated schools into the freedom-killing Common Core web, he warns. Having a dedicated school choice activist as U.S. education secretary does not alter the reality choices are properly made in communities and homes, not in Washington, DC.

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Education Expert: Betsy DeVos Should Address Local Control Before School Choice - Breitbart News

Palestinian girls hold red cards in front of an Israeli soldier. (Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

Below is an open letter signed by luminaries such as Angela Davis and Alice Walker as well as athlete-activists such as John Carlos and Craig Hodges, and organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. The letter asks NFL players to consider the political ramifications of a propaganda trip organized by the Israeli government that aims to prevent players from seeing the experience of Palestinians living under military occupation. It is a trip, as the letter makes clear, that aims to use your fame to advance their own agenda: an agenda that comes at the expense of the Palestinian people. Details of the trip, which was supposed to be private, were , and this letter is the response. (Note: the Times of Israel article states that New England Patriot Martellus Bennett is a part of this delegation. I have confirmed that this is not the case. Also please note that other players mentioned in the Times of Israel article are reevaluating whether they will attend.)

We are writing to you as individuals and groups who work in support of human rights and collective liberation and admire many of you who have been outspoken in movements for freedom and justice in the United States.

We have been especially inspired by you using your celebrity to shed light about and support various struggles including Black Lives Matter. The decision by Martellus Bennett to boycott the upcoming Patriots team visit to the White House following the Super Bowl win is especially brave and sends a clear message that one must take a stand against racism and oppression.

Based on the public dedication to social justice that many of you share, it came as a surprise to us to see that you will be going on a tour of Israel next week sponsored by the Israeli government as part of an effort to get you to become ambassadors of goodwill for Israel. We would ask that you reconsider attending. These trips bringing celebrities to Israel are part of a larger Brand Israel campaign to help the Israeli government normalize and whitewash its ongoing denial of Palestinian rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dedicated a lot of resources to this campaign, which is designed explicitly to improve Israels image abroad to counter worldwide outrage over its massacres and war crimes. Speaking about your trip, Israels head of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister Gilad Erdan said, The ministry which I lead is spearheading an intensive fight against the delegitimization and BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanction] campaigns against Israel, and part of this struggle includes hosting influencers and opinion-formers of international standing in different fields, including sport. In other words, they are aiming to use your fame to advance their own agenda: an agenda that comes at the expense of the Palestinian people.

Palestinians have chosen boycott as a tactic only after exhausting so many other approaches, and with the guidance of black South Africans who called for BDS against the apartheid regime until it ended. As you are probably aware, the cultural boycott, including sports, was of particular significance in challenging apartheid in South Africa.

What Palestinians face due to Israeli policies is familiar to black and brown communities in the United States and vice versa. That is why when activists in Ferguson were facing tear gas by police while organizing to demand justice for Mike Brown during the summer of 2014, Palestinian activists were tweeting them advice about how to deal with its effects and people in Ferguson were holding up signs in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombs in Gaza. That is why in 2015, more than 1,100 Black activists, artists, scholars, students and organizations, including Angela Davis, Cornel West, and Talib Kweli, signed a Black Solidarity Statement with Palestine, declaring their commitment to working to to ensure Palestinian liberation at the same time as we work towards our own. That is why more than 60 leading Black and Palestinian artists and activists, including Ms. Lauryn Hill, Alice Walker, and Danny Glover were featured in a video highlighting challenges that both communities are confronting, including militarized policing and the prison industry. That is why in rallies across the United States today people are chanting: From Palestine to Mexico, All These Walls Have Got to Go.

Palestinians have for decades been fighting policies similar to the ones people are protesting in cities across the United States. This May, Palestinians will mark 69 years since they were forcibly displaced off their lands during the establishment of the state of Israel. Since then Israel has continued to expel, deny, and ban Palestinians, tearing apart families and keeping millions of refugees from returning home. Israels brutal military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem has now lasted 50 years and has included the building of illegal Jewish-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land, the construction of an apartheid wall to further keep Palestinians out, and the destruction of more than 25,000 Palestinian homes. Within Israel there is a purposeful policy to divide people based on their nationality and religion, with more than 50 laws that privilege Jewish citizens over non-Jewish citizens. Palestinian athletes have been subject to violence by Israeli soldiers and not been allowed to travel to participate in competition, including the Rio Olympics. And this summer will mark three years since Israels deadly assault on Gaza, when Israel dropped an estimated 20,000 tons of explosives, killing at least 2,200 Palestinians, including 500 children. All of these war crimes against Palestinians are funded by the United States, which sends at least $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel every year.

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Your trip to Israel comes at a time of growing cooperation between the US and Israeli governments, as evidenced by the close relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, who both are eager to work together to continue implementing their right-wing, racist agendas. The dehumanizing language US politicians use against refugees fleeing to the United States and the decision to ban them is reminiscent of Israeli officials calling asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea infiltrators and detaining them in the desert. Your visit also comes at a time of growing public outcry against all oppressive policies. Palestinians are struggling today for their rights just like those who struggled in the U.S. Civil Rights and South African anti-Apartheid Movements, and just like brown and black communities are doing so across the United States now.

In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a historic, rights-based call for people of conscience worldwide to stand with them and launch boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns targeting Israel and institutions complicit in its oppressive policies until its complies with international law and guarantees Palestinian rights. Since the call there have been hundreds of BDS successes worldwide. Just like in other struggles, celebrities are taking a stand against Israels crimes and supporting the Palestinian call for international solidarity. Musicians like Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, and the late Gil Scott-Heron have canceled concerts or refused to play in Israel. Other cultural figures, including Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Angela Davis, and Alice Walker have joined the impressive ranks of those supporting BDS as a time-honored nonviolent tactic to achieve for freedom, justice, and equality.

You now have an opportunity to speak out against the injustices facing Palestinians. We urge you to rethink your participation in this trip to Israel and the message it will send to your millions of fans who look up to you. The power athletes have in contributing to the fight for justice is evidenced in the legacy of the late Muhammad Ali, who himself was an advocate for Palestinian rights. Angela Davis recently said at the Womens March in DC attended by tens of thousands of people: Womens rights are human rights all over the planet and that is why we say freedom and justice for Palestine. Please reconsider taking this trip to ensure you are standing on the right side of history.

Signed, Organizations: US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, US Palestinian Community Network, The Dream Defenders, Jewish Voice for Peace, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Individuals: Angela Davis, Dr. John Carlos, Alice Walker, Craig Hodges, Bill Fletcher Jr., Alicia Garza, Marc Lamont Hill, Boots Riley, Umi Selah, Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, Jasiri X

See original here:

Open Letter to NFL Players Traveling to Israel on a Trip Organized by Netanyahu's Government - The Nation.

Left party launches 'NO' campaign for Erdogan's referendum

Photo: HDP Womens Assembly

Turkeys Peoples Democratic Party, or HDP, Womens Assembly launched its No campaign for the upcoming referendum on Turkeys constitution, with an event in Ankara on February 5. The proposed changes would award President Erdogan more executive powers.

Here is the full text of the HDP Womens Assemblys declaration: (Emphasis has been added in bold for ease of scanning)

Dear Women;

We have struggled for our freedom against dominance based on singularity throughout history.

We have opposed the domination of one gender over the other; the dominance of one person over the entire family; the rule of kings, emperors and sultans over the peoples; the oppression of one nation over others; capitalists domination over labor and nature, and the oppression of a single belief system over other belief systems.

We have struggled hand in hand against all oppressive forms of government in cities, in the countryside, at work, at home, on the street, at the resistance and intifada zones.

While the Turkish Penal Code and the Civil Code were enacted during 2000s, we have made sure that changes empowering women were included. We, tens of thousands of women, have raised our voices/risen up against abortion law, femicide, remissions to sentences and the and the rape-law.

We have pushed back the sexist pressures and achieved great gains. On the International Womens Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with our female comrades all over the world, we have been out on streets to realize freedom, equality. We have raised the womens rebellion to establish cohabitation.

As women from HDP; we have been the subjects of the fight for freedom and equality through historical experience, and the tradition of womens liberation struggle.

We struggled to build the New Life with the help of transforming power of women. We put womens will and management style into practice in all areas of life by co-chairing and equally acting in all institutions, specifically within political parties and local governments.

We have not only pushed the AKP government back in June 7 elections, but also entered the parliament with 26 women MPs and established the first Female Deputies Group. We stood by the women of Rojava, [northern Syria] who have been struggling against ISIS selling women in slave markets, building female revolution step by step.

Consequently, the AKP government first attacked women, trying to destroy womens achievements. Women who resisted were slain, their bodies exposed, detained, arrested.

Our Co-chair Figen Yksekda, the Speaker of the Womens Assembly Besime Konca and female MPs, DBP Co-chair Sebahat Tuncel, KJA spokeswoman Ayla Akat Ata, Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Co-chair Gltan Kanak, municipal co-chairs, municipal councilors, party executives and members were taken hostage through arrests.

Our elected local governments, representatives of the will of the people, were usurped by appointed trustees. The first thing these trustees did was to stop municipal practices pertaining to women.

Women Centers and Violence Relief Lines were shut down, womens directorates were abolished, and femaleemployees were fired.

With statutory decrees issued during the state of emergency period, many female employees were fired; womens associations, womens cooperatives and news agencies were shut down. Attacks purging women from political life, working life, media, and social life have accelerated.

The AKP/palace ruling dictates how we should live each and every moment. They continuously talk and talk about how we should speak, how we should laugh and work, whether we should wear headscarves, how many children we should have.

In the environment of violence and hatred created by the war and militarist policies of the current government, we do not feel safe as women on the streets, buses, or on the metro trains, even in our homes and workplaces, for those who attack women can comfortably wander around.

Impunity leads to new violence practices every day. Femicides do not stop; everyday a woman is murdered by men.

Bombs fall on our lives; our daughters and sons have been losing their lives due to wars raged in the country and abroad. War and death are the only pledges of the government, while we, women, pledge to live and let live.

That is why we say NO to the politics of war and death. Once again we declare that we will provide permanent and fair peace through our struggle for equality and freedom.

We are getting poorer due to the economic policies that ignore the people but favour the interests of business and a handful of government cohorts!

The economic crisis deepens everyday. Our bread is getting smaller, our food diminishes with the price hikes coming one after the other.Unemployment is on the rise; we, the women, are the first on the firing line.

For these reasons we say NO to business-focused and war-oriented economic policies. Together we are going to build a secure new life in which we share what we produce on the basis of equality, a life in which the rights of labor is respected, a life in which the nature and life is protected.

They want to hand over the authority to a single person, as if it was not enough that they undermined our democratic rights and freedoms by using their power in an unlimited way during their 14 years of government.

Under the name of constitutional amendment, they are trying to make the regime that gives all power to one person, permanent.

Process of negotiating the constitutional amendment in the parliament was initiated by arrests of our co-chairs and our deputies. Later, the methods amounted to violence during the parliamentary sessions gave the clues about the type of administration they aimed.

Under the attacks of racist and misogynist hostility, the speeches of the members of the parliament were restricted, votes were carried out by orders, female deputies were physically attacked and the proposal was passed through the Assembly by force.

Now a vote awaits us all that will predestine all our future, polarize the society, deepen the war, enlarge the poverty, and purge women from every aspect of life. They call this freak a Presidential System, which actually is a ONE MAN REGIME.

This monist and authoritarian regime they intend to bring aims to make the rule of state of emergency and statutory decrees permanent by sustaining fascism, oppression and exploitation, based on hostility against women.

Power that can not be controlled by any other power is absolute power. History has also shown that all absolute powers are dictatorships. There is no democracy where everything is monist. This change aims at engulfing our existing rights and abolishing them as well.

We know that the ONE MAN REGIME is even worse than junta legislation of September 12 1980 coup, and it is determined to institutionalize fascism.

However, they know us well, too. We, women, have not bowed to repression, and we will not. We are not giving up our achievements obtained through struggles. No matter how it is formulated, we as women have said NO to fascism hidden behind epaulettes or neckties, we will continue to say NO.

We know how the centralization of legislative, executive and judiciary powers under under a single person poses a threat against the non-hegemonic and masterless New Life we have been aiming to establish; making politics more male-dominated, reinforcing the sexist and nationalist structures and excluding women.

We will not allow this. We say NO to both the ONE and the MAN regime.

Women are the guarantee of pluralism, diversity, and different people living together in equality and respect. The ceaseless struggle of women for equality and freedom is at the same time the struggle of building A NEW LIFE. We will not allow ONE-MAN RULE to stand in the way of our hope, we say NO!

-Say NO to stop polarization, to stay friends with our neighbors -Say NO for the responsibility we owe to those burned in Cizre basements, and those who were killed in the middle of the street by stray bullets -Say NO for Taybet Ana -Say NO to put a stop to rape and violence -Say NO to put a stop to violence against women -Say NO to the darkness of ISIS and its backward repressions being made law. -Say NO to provide freedom of religious beliefs -Say NO for our ways of life -Say NO for our labor, our body, and our identity -Say NO to the mentality of obey and be comfortable -Say NO to serving others slavishly -Say NO for equal representation, equal life -Say NO for a safe future against the exploitation of labor and workers deaths -Say NO for living together, for growing old together -Say NO for local democracy -Say NO for ecological life -Say NO for nature, for our cities, for our villages to not be plundered -Say NO for hope -Say NO for smiling children and a peaceful future -Say NO for peace, justice and freedom -Say NO for a democratic republic, a common homeland, a new life

Rally, women!

We are turning our faces to the sun we are going house to house, square to square and calling women to the colour of the earth; on behalf of life in all its colors, we say NO.

With the spirit of resistance of March 8 [International Womens Day] and the enthusiasm of [the Turkish Newroz festival], we are calling women to come together everywhere, in every language, hand in hand, to be the rainbow, to turn WINTER into SPRING.

Against all forms of hegemony; for the sake of equality, freedom, peace, hope and happiness, we are calling to build and organize in full force to say NO. This is our call Let us not forget that we succeeded on June 7 [see above]! We will succeed again. WELL DEFINITELY WIN

Peoples Democratic Party Womens Assembly February 5th, 2017

The Peoples Democracy Party (HDP) is a left-wing coalition in Turkey. Follow HDP on Twitter @HDPEnglish

Adam Barnett is staff writer for Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter@AdamBarnett13

See:Turkeys Left calls for democratic front against military coups and Erdogans iron fist

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Turkey's HDP Women's Assembly issues feminist call-to-arms against 'one man rule' - Left Foot Forward

Mike Ozekhome, whose account was frozen last week by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said that the action was a calculated attempt to ridicule him for defending Governor Ayodele Fayose in court.

The lawyer has vowed to challenge the EFCC in court in due course and ensure the reversal of the action.

A federal high court had placed restriction on the lawyers account which contained N75m domiciled at the GTB alleging the sum was a crime money.

Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the lawyer accused the anti-graft agency of turning out to be instrument for political oppression and intimidation against perceived opponents of the All Progressives Congress-led federal government.

He said: I cant be ruffled for this action , because I have not done

illegal , illegitimate or illicit or something out of ordinary.

Governor Fayose paid me my professional fee , which was a sum of N75m out of the humongous amount owed me over cases I am holding for him, his aides and friends.

I am currently prosecuting eight cases on his behalf . The one involving Abiodun Agbede and Zenith bank, Femi Fani-Kayodes wife and others. As a professional, I had given my professional fees but thegovernor could not pay because his accounts had been frozen by EFCC, which makes the governor financially strangulated.

But last year December, Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court unfrozen and unblocked the account. He then transferred the money into my Chambers account .

In recent time, I had defeated EFCC in five different cases and so it has developed a complex for me and they thought they can embarrassme. When has payment of legal fee become or translated to a commission of a crime?

The transfer of money was not done by force, or done under false pretence or through the barrel of gun. The money is legitimate and legal. EFCC is bringing itself to the level of becoming the enemy of the people.

Ozekhome said he has been a consistent critic of Buharis governmentand this he said he did out of the passion for the liberation of thedowntrodden Nigerians.

He, however, said that n every criticism, he had always proffered solutions adding that he had always been speaking for the rejected, dejected, depressed, oppressed, repressed and the hapless in the society.

So, this allegation of money laundering by EFCC is insidious, odious and invidious and it came from the pit of hell.

The lawyer said he will soon file a suit against EFCC for the reversal of the action.

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EFCC is an instrument for political oppression Ozekhome - Naija247news

A lot has been said about Africans being able to find ways to thrive in the face of near-impossible circumstances and a 17-year-old Cameroonian, Collins Nji, personifies that school of thought perfectly.

Collins is the first Black person and also the first African to win Google's yearly Code-In hacking competition. But his win is not the real gem here, it's how he won.

Google Code-In Logo.

Google Code-In is a competition for pre-university students between the ages of 13 and 17 where the students are given a variety of bite-sized tasks to hack open source software.

The government of Cameroon has shut down internet access in Anglophone parts of the country (for the past 23 days now) after English-speaking Cameroonians protested marginalization and systemic oppression in the country.

Bamenda, where Collins lives, is one of the locations where Internet has been shut down.

But he didn't let that stop him. In true African spirit, Collins defied the odds stacked against him and travelled to Bafoussam in Francophone Cameroon to work on, and submit, his solutions before returning to Bamenda despite unrest in the country.

ALSO READ: A secondary school student has invented a phone that doesn't need airtime, SIM

When GCI started I was anxious and nervous to some extend I had to find ways to turn my nervousness into creativity and fun. Participating was super exciting and really exhausting, and at the end, I discovered that I gained a whole new level of experience in the Open source world," says Collins.

On January 30, 2017, Google announced Collins as the winner of this year's edition of the competition, crowning his efforts and sheer will-power.

As a result, Collins will be travelling to the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California to meet with Google's Open Source team and other members of the Google Software Engineering team.

The #BringBackOurInternet campaign is a protest of the government-sanctioned Internet shut down in Cameroon.

His victory stands as a beacon of ambition and tenacity buried somewhere in Africa's collective spirit.

It is indeed unfortunate that African governments have made a habit to systematically hinder the progress of their own citizens but stories like Collins' are a reminder of Africa's potential despite its many problems.

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Collin Nji: The first African to win Google's CodeIn Challenge - Pulse ... - Pulse Nigeria

CARSON CITY The Senate Committee on Government Affairs approved a bill Wednesday authorizing the governor to proclaim the second Monday in October as Indigenous People Day, replacing the traditional Columbus Day.

Senate Bill 105, sponsored by State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, follows other state and local governments around the country to shun the Columbus Day recognition to instead honor Native Americans.

Segerblom said the bill recognizes the millions of Native Americans who died in conflicts when European settlers moved into the country and claimed land as their own, and shows an appreciation for their contributions to society.

Columbus Day was declared a federal holiday in the 1930s in honor of the Italian explorer who for a long time was credited with discovering the Americas. But historians have debunked that as myth, saying he sailed around the Caribbean but never came to North America.

Nevada last celebrated Columbus Day in 1992. The state instead honors its admission as a state on Nevada Day, traditionally Oct. 31 but celebrated on the last Friday in October for a three-day weekend.

Critics also object to Columbus being portrayed as a hero, arguing he engaged in brutal acts against native peoples.

There are many Italian-Americans we can celebrate, Sondra Cosgrove, a history professor at College of Southern Nevada, told the Senate Committee on Government Affairs. But today its time to go down a new path that recognizes are native communities.

Arlan Melendez, chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, spoke in favor of the bill.

Far too long Native Americans have not been depicted fairly in history, he said. Weve endured oppression, discrimination, poverty broken treaties.

He said 27 tribes in Nevada have been here since time immemorial.

The committee voted 4-1 to approve the bill, with state Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, being the lone no vote. Hardy asked for more information about other local governments that have adopted Indigenous People Day and suggested he may vote for it when it comes to a full vote in the Senate.

That vote is expected next Tuesday, when the Legislature recognizes Nevada Tribes Legislative Day.

Read the rest here:

Bill passage would rename Columbus Day, honor Native Americans in Nevada - Las Vegas Review-Journal

A fact-finding trip to Seoul has left Joe McDonald contemplating the quality of freedom and privacy back in the UK, and the difference between placing your trust in the citizen or the state.

Samsung DVD/VHS player: on the horns of a dilemma?

At 35,000 Feet above Moscow a little turbulence rattled the ice in my gin and tonic as I reflected on my visit to South Korea and in particular the museum in Samsungs Global Headquarters in Seoul. South Korea is a remarkable country full of remarkable, resourceful and charming people.

The country has gone from the third world to first world economic powerhouse in just 40 years, The Miracle on the Han River they call it. Meanwhile just 35 miles to the North, the people of North Korea remain oppressed, frequently hungry and devoid of basic human rights.

Freedom to choose

My mind went back to the pictured exhibit in the Samsung museum, a combined VHS and DVD player which clearly captures a tipping point in the history of video technology and also how nimble Samsung are in their product development. Not sure which way the video market is going to go? Doesnt matter, well design another one in 3 months when we have a better idea.

The freedom versus state oppression and central planning. No contest.

I was a little disappointed to find no wifi on board the flight so I couldnt work during the 12-hour return trip. Never mind, plenty of inflight entertainment was available. By the time we were over Moscow Id already watched Bridget Jones Baby (not bad) and a re-make of The Magnificent Seven (why would you do that?). I didnt really fancy Snowden but, hey-ho, still many hours to go.

Snowden above Moscow

Snowden is a biographical film of the events surrounding Edward Snowden, a young CIA agent who became disillusioned with the work of the NSA and eventually blew the whistle on Americas widespread intrusive surveillance operations which allowed government access to citizen communications on a massive scale. Snowden fled from Hawaii with material stolen from the CIA and went to Hong Kong where he shared all of the embarrassing truths with the Guardian Newspaper and then the world.

The resulting revelations sparked massive global outcry at industrial spying on their own citizens by the US and UK and renewed demands for citizens right to privacy and not be spied on by their governments.

Those in the know, started to put Elastoplast over the webcam on their laptops, as Mark Zuckerberg famously did. Oliver Stones direction of the film leaves the viewer in no doubt that Snowden should be regarded as a hero but the fact that Barak Obamas government issued a warrant for his arrest as a traitor would suggest it is not quite as black and white as Stone would have it.

Care.data partly sunk by suspicion of surveillance state

Here in the UK the backlash of mistrust caused by our governments complete disregard for our digital privacy rights, together with playing fast and loose with consent, helped scupper the Care.Data database, and has seen NHS Digital have three re-brandings in as many years.

And it turns out that the concerns of privacy campaigners about use health data by government agencies for purposes that have nothing to do with health were spot on.

NHS Digital gave Home Office details of 10,000 patients a year

NHS Digitals former chairman is having his own Snowden moment. The story quotes former NHS Digital Chairman, Kingsley Manning, stating that he felt pressured into releasing patient data to the home office at a scale of 10,000 patients per year, largely used to track immigrants.

He is also quoted as saying that new arrangements announced last month maximise Home Office powers to the absolute Limit.

Time to choose on privacy and consent

It strikes me that we have spent 10 years arguing the toss about privacy and consent models, maybe we are at the tipping point now where we have to choose which way to jump. VHS or DVD? North or South Korea?

Will the citizen become more and more relaxed about sharing their health data over the coming years, after all theyre letting it all hang out on Facebook and Twitter, right? We can just pass legislation that lets us use patients anonymised patient data however we want? If the Home Office want access to NHS data thats OK, right? The innocent have nothing to fear, nothing to hide, right? Democracies always elect reasonable people, right?

Privacy of health data not an optional extra

It seems unlikely to me. A generation of digital natives is growing up who understand privacy, theyve seen Snowden, he is a heroic figure for them. They have seen Zuckerbergs Elastoplasted webcam and they look up to him. They are going to get more passionate about privacy, not less.

Theyve had their identity stolen, a card cloned, been fraped, trolled and they can explain two factor authentication to their parents? NHS Digital cannot afford to slip up with another approach to patient data from the Donald Trump school of seduction and truth.

We are, I think, at a tipping point alright and the next chief executive of NHS Digital will have to play a key role in deciding which way to go.

Can NHS Digital become the guarantor of patient privacy?

Is NHS Digital to be the champion and guarantor of information and data as the essential lifeblood of patient-centred, personalised health and care?

Will the next leader of NHS Digital ensure the organisations driving purpose is about empowering the individual to control their data and who gets to see and use it?

Or will NHS Digital be more statist, primarily inward looking, serving the health system and other arms of government. The agency clearly has a vital role to play in terms of providing data required for research, planning and operation of the health and care system, but how should it weigh these responsibilities against the rights of the citizen?

Its a tricky balance, but might we get a leader who can deliver both for the nation and the individual citizen? Only if they understand that the secret of consent is to get consent. Freedom versus state oppression. No contest. Right?

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Joe's View: Privacy, where next? - Digital Health