Category Archives: Post Human

Three Washington State Senate bills aim to increase awareness of human trafficking and help agencies coordinate efforts to confront the problem.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, in her proposal would require anti-trafficking information to be posted in all public restrooms, including in private businesses.

A notice would be created by the states Office of Crime Victims Advocacy with input from businesses and anti-trafficking advocacy groups. Costs of printing and distributing the notices to businesses, under Senate Bill 5883, would be covered by anti-trafficking non-profit organizations.

The posters would list a hotline number for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which provides mental health, counseling, legal and referral services for victims.

Stephanie Martinez, advocacy manager at Seattle Against Slavery, said Washington is among the states with the highest per-capita call volume, citing the national resource centers statistics. In 2013 the center received 500 calls from within the state of Washington.

Posters with online numbers are one of the top 10 ways people call the center for services, she said. Mandatory-post laws and targeted campaigns significantly affect increasing call volume.

Another Kohl-Welles proposal uses a direct approach to combat human trafficking.

Under Senate Bill 5884, Washingtons Office of Crime Victims Advocacy would create a websiteWashington State Clearinghouse on Human Traffickingto gather information on anti-trafficking efforts around the state.

Its been recommended that we have a single point in state government to coordinate everything because we have many new bills that are being directed to various agencies in our state, Kohl-Welles said.

Statewide task-force reports, a directory of services for trafficking victims and other state and federal information would be gathered for the website.

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Senate package deals with a different transportation issue: Human trafficking

Resolving human rights complaints in this province once took years, and often involved ugly legal battles and plenty of ill feeling.

Before the province's Human Rights Code was amended in 2011, it took an average of four years to settle complaints through a slow and often-combative tribunal system.

Since then, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has focused on mediation, resulting in many complaints being resolved in weeks or a few months at most. Though the tribunals are gone, the commission has speedy access to Court of Queen's Bench for difficult cases. However, mediation is resolving the bulk of complaints without recourse to litigation. We saw a good example of successful mediation in Regina this week, when there were justified smiles all around as a collaborative settlement agreement was signed. The case involved a complaint by wheelchair user Jamie McKenzie that access to facilities at Evraz Place was inadequate for people with disabilities. With the commission serving as a neutral mediator, McKenzie and Evraz Place management collaborated on finding solutions that will result in a wide range of improvements. They include a designated wheelchair viewing area at the Co-operators Centre, additional accessible seating in the Brandt Centre and improved bathroom and washroom facilities.

Kudos to McKenzie for raising these important issues. People with physical challenges have a right to expect the same access to a normal life as the able-bodied.

It's a principle all should support. Whether due to illness or injury, any one of us might need to use a wheelchair one day.

Kudos, too, to Evraz Place CEO Mark Allan, who said the mediation process had been a positive, constructive experience.

Evraz Place didn't intentionally fall short on access requirements - it learned that building code regulations do not always meet the standards set by the human rights commission.

We agree with Chief Commissioner David Arnot that the provincial government needs to implement universal building access requirements that will prevent future problems.

Meantime, we reflect on how much progress has been made on such issues since the days when one wheelchair access complaint to the human rights commission dragged on for 12 years.

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Editorial: Mediation brings the right result to human rights complaints

His voice became hauntingly familiar as the masked man with a British accent who appeared repeatedly in brutal beheading videos from ISIS.

But the identity of "Jihadi John" remained a mystery -- until Thursday, when two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed it.

The man, the officials said, is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner.

The officials, who've been briefed on the matter, spoke to CNN after a Washington Post report first revealed Emwazi's identity.

Emwazi is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2012, according to the newspaper, and later to have joined ISIS there.

Even with a name and face for the man behind the mask, uncertainty still swirled Thursday. London police and British officials declined to confirm his identity. Officials from a London-based human rights and Muslim advocacy organization who've interacted with Emwazi said they couldn't be 100% certain it was him.

And a key question remained unanswered: What inspired him to join ISIS?

The answer depends on who you ask.

Some terrorism experts said Emwazi's history shows someone who'd been on a path toward extremism for years.

But CAGE, the London advocacy group that worked with him, said if he is the man who's appeared in ISIS videos, it's a sign that British authorities' tactics pushed him to radicalize.

Read the rest here:
Report: ISIS fighter 'Jihadi John' identified

Google researchers published a landmark paper in artificial intelligence this week. They created a computerized system that canteachitself how to beat old Atari games. Of the 49 games tested, their system was better than professional human testers at 22 of them:

1. Video Pinball, 2439 percent better than a professional human game tester

2. Boxing, 1607 percent better

3. Breakout, 1227 percent better

4. Star Gunner, 498 percent better

5. Robotank, 408 percent better

6. Atlantis, 349 percent better

7. Crazy Climber, 319 percent better

8. Gopher, 300 percent better

9. Demon Attack, 194 percent better

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Innovations: The 22 Atari games that Googles artificial intelligence algorithm is better at than a human

Human rights group Karapatan said that a jail warden should be immediately relieved from her post in Camp Bagong Diwa as the latter allegedly uses her post to get back to those who filed a case against her.

Warden Michelle Ng-Bonto is in-charge of the Special Intensive Care Area 1 (SICA 1-Camp Bagong Diwa) and is now facing criminal and administrative cases at the Office of the Ombudsman following the filing of cases of political prisoners and human rights group for gross misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross oppression and for conduct unbecoming of a Public Officer.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, said in a statement that on February 24, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General and SELDA national coordinator Jigs Clamor, Desaparecidos Secretary General Aya Santos and two other staff of the Karapatan national office were barred from visiting the political prisoners in SICA-1 in Taguig City without any valid reason.

Officer SJ04 Armando Bautista told Clamor that onNg-Bontos orders, they needed to secure clearance from the National Headquarters of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology before they can visit the political prisoners.

The four Karapatan staff are regular visitors of the political prisoners at SICA-1, Palabay said.

Earlier, onJanuary 27, a Joint Manifestation at the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 266 and Branch 271 requires S/Supt. Michelle Ng Bonto to explain violations of the rights of political prisoners.

Original post:
Human rights group says jail-warden on power trip

Story highlights Advocacy group CAGE says it had contact with Mohammed Emwazi Reports: Militant known as Jihadi John is Mohammed Emwazi London's Metropolitan Police declines to confirm his reported identity

The Washington Post earlier reported that Emwazi is "Jihadi John," citing one of Emwazi's close friends.

A Muslim-led human rights advocacy group in London, CAGE, which had contact with Emwazi over alleged "harassment" by UK security services, also said in a statement there were "some striking similarities" between 26-year-old Emwazi and the man seen in execution videos holding a knife.

London's Metropolitan Police declined to confirm the reported identity. CNN has been unable to confirm the reporting.

"We have previously asked media outlets not to speculate about the details of our investigation on the basis that life is at risk," said Commander Richard Walton of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

"We are not going to confirm the identity of anyone at this stage or give an update on the progress of this live counter-terrorism investigation."

A UK Foreign Office spokeswoman told CNN: "We will neither confirm nor deny the current reporting as to the identity of Jihadi John."

The reporting in the Washington Post, and subsequently reported by Reuters, suggests Emwazi was from a middle-class family and grew up in London. He reportedly graduated from the University of Westminster in London with a degree in computer programming.

The Washington Post report, cited by Reuters, quoted unnamed friends of Emwazi as saying they believed his path to radicalization began when he went on a trip to Tanzania, in East Africa, in 2009 after graduating.

He was supposed to be going on safari there, but was reportedly detained on arrival, held overnight and then deported.

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Sources: Militant in videos is Kuwaiti-born Londoner

TUMAAS ANG tensiyon sa pagitan ng mga pulis at mga raliyista nang mabigo ang huli na magsagawa ng symbolic human chain sa EDSA sa pagdiriwang sa ika-29 na anibersaryo ng People Power Revolution kahapon.

Hinarang ng bulto ng mga pulis ang may 1,500 raliyista na karamihan ay mula sa mga militanteng grupong Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Anakpawis, Gabriela, at Kilusang Mayo Unosa paanan pa lang ng flyover ng Edsa-Santolan southbound dahilan para hindi na makaabante ang mga nagpoprotesta.

Sa plano ng mga raliyista, magtitipon sila sa EDSA sa tapat ng Camp Crame sa Quezon City para roon simulan ang tinawag nilang symbolic human chain na magdidire-diretso hanggang Edsa Shrine.Pero agad na humarang ang mga pulis. Ipinosisyon din ang hindi bababa sa tatlong truck ng bumbero bilang pangharang, kung saan agad na nagkagirian ang mga awtoridad at mga raliyista. Napakaraming pulis din ang itinalaga sa tapat naman ng EDSA Shrine. Gamit ang mga 66 truck ng Philippine National Police (PNP) at Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), sinaraduhan ang service road ng northbound lane ng EDSA bago umakyat ng flyover. Sa panayam kay dating congressman Teddy Casio, hindi umano tinupad ng mga awtoridad ang usapan. Una, aniya, nang napagkasunduan na isang lane lang ng EDSA ang sasakupin nila para sa planong human chain. Himutok ni Casio, Pagdating namin kanina rito nakaharang sila sa buong EDSA, e saan naman kami lulugar niyan? Ganito rin ang ipinakitang pagkainis ni Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes, kung saan sinabi niya sa isa pang panayam na nagkaroon sila ng koordinasyon sa pulis bago pa sila nagtungo sa EDSA.

Kahapon nakipag-negotiate kami sa police. Ang sabi pa ni General Valeroso, hindi na siguro kailangan ng permit pa kasi nationwide celebration naman ito tapos ngayon magbabago sila ng tono? ani Reyes.

Dagdag pa ni Reyes, Sabi ko nga sa mga police, we came in here hindi kayo ang kaaway namin. Pinaglalaban namin katotohanan pero ganito ginagawa niyo sa amin.

Umalingaw naman sa mga nagpo-protesta ang mga sigaw na: Noynoy resign, Mamasapano mastermind!

Kinalimutan nila yung totoong people power eh. Ang gusto lang nila Aquino power, ayon pa kay Reyes.

Kabilang sa mga nagtungo sa EDSA para lumahok sana sa human chain ay sina Juana Change, Manila Auxilliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, at dating congressman Peping Cojuangco na tiyo ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino.

(PARAZZI REPORTORIAL TEAM)

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Mga raliyista, bigo sa human chain sa EDSA

Last Updated Feb 26, 2015 11:36 AM EST

LONDON -- The knife-wielding masked ISIS militant seen in a number of beheading videos and dubbed "Jihadi John" has been named as Mohammed Emwazi, a London man with a college degree, a U.S. intelligence official confirmed to CBS News Thursday.

Emwazi earned his degree from the University of Westminster, the official told CBS News.

Both The Washington Post and the BBC reported Thursday that he was known to British security services by 2011 at the latest.

Friends of Emwazi spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, including one who said that they had "no doubt" Emwazi was the man who appeared in ISIS' execution videos.

"Jihadi John" appeared in a video released in August showing the slaying of American journalist James Foley. A man with similar stature and voice was also featured in videos of the killings of American journalist Steven Sotloff, Britons David Haines and Alan Henning and U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig.

The research director at a British human rights group also told the Post that he believed Emwazi was the man in the videos.

"There was an extremely strong resemblance," Asim Qureshi told the Post. "This is making me feel fairly certain that this is the same person."

At press conference Thursday, Qureshi told reporters that he couldn't be "100 percent certain" that the two men were the same.

"The guy's got a hood on his head," Qureshi said.

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U.S. intel official confirms identity of "Jihadi John"

Longtime State Department diplomat Randy Berry will serve in a new post tasked with improving the situation of LGBT people around the world.

Special Envoy for LGBT Human Rights Randy A. Berry

Human and LGBT rights organizations are hailing the U.S. State Department's choice of Randy A. Berry as the nation's first LGBT human rights envoy.

"We looked far and wide to find the right American official for this important assignment," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a written statement about the much-anticipated appointment, announced today. "Randys a leader. Hes a motivator. But most importantly for this effort, hes got vision. Wherever hes served from Nepal to New Zealand, from Uganda to Bangladesh, from Egypt to South Africa, and most recently as Consul General in Amsterdam Randy has excelled."

The idea of appointing of a special envoy for LGBT human rights was championed by several groups and individuals, including American Jewish World Service, the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights First. and Sen. Ed Markey, who last year introduced a bill to create the envoy post that will now be occupied by Randy Berry.

At a moment when many LGBT people around the world are facing persecution and daily violence, this unprecedented appointment shows a historic commitment to the principle that LGBT rights are human rights, said HRC president Chad Griffin in a statement issued after the announcement that the new post would be filled by Berry.

President Obama and Secretary Kerry have shown tremendous leadership in championing the rights of LGBT people abroad," Griffin continued. "Now, working closely with this new envoy, weve got to work harder than ever to create new allies, push back on human rights violators, and support the brave leaders and organizations that fight for LGBT rights around the world."

Other groups were equally pleased with the administration's choice to fill post of special envoy for LGBT human rights.

We congratulate Mr. Berry on being appointed to this important position," said Human Rights First's Shawn Gaylord. "We look forward to working with him to promote equality for LGBT people around the world, to support the activists who are working for change at great risk to themselves, and to ensure that the United States continues to make the protection of the human rights of all people a key foreign policy priority"

Human Rights First expects to meet with Berry in the near future, presumably to discuss priorities, collaboration strategies for securing a better future for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world.

More:
High Praise for State Department's First-Ever Envoy for LGBT Human Rights

A theory of everything might be impossible to come by but a theory of humankinds potential destruction is not, says Stephen Hawking.

The British theoretical physicist fears that human aggression may be the tragic flaw that could lead to our demise.

The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression, Hawking said, according to a blog post on the website for Londons Science Museum. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all.

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A major nuclear war could be the end of civilization and possibly the human race, he said.

The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state, he added.

Adaeze Uyanwah and Stephen Hawking. Source: Instagram

Uyanwah, who was on a special tour of the Science Museum guided by Hawking, asked which common human features he would most want to magnify or alter.

She beat out 10,000 contestants from around the world to become the citys Official Guest of Honor.

Its incredible to think that decades from now, when my grandchildren are learning Stephen Hawkings theories in science class, she said, Ill be able to tell them I had a personal meeting with him and heard his views firsthand.

Originally posted here:
'Human aggression could destroy us all'