It’s quickly becoming clear that these resource posts can’t encompass every dire event going on, even focusing mainly on the United States. But hopefully it gives you a starting place to stay informed.
How tear gas may be wreaking havoc on protesters’ reproductive health (Mic, Vanessa Taylor)
Multiple protestors with uteruses have described heavy bleeding after exposure to tear gas.
In 1988, tear gas was linked to miscarriages in Palestine and, in 2012, Physicians for Human Rights — which has condemned tear gas — linked the irritant to miscarriages in Bahrain. For a short time, tear gas was banned in Chile because of its suspected effects as an abortifacient, although the government eventually began using it again. However, Thill cautions that searching for a definitive study to say, without a doubt, that tear gas causes miscarriages or irregular periods misses the larger point.
“Proving a link between tear gas and reproductive health is not the point,” Thill wrote to Mic. “Governments should not harm people expressing dissatisfaction with their services. Full stop.”
“To be certain, there are known bodily risks to tear gas exposure: asthma exacerbations, arrhythmias, permanent vision changes or vision loss, etc. The police use this weapon despite these known risks,” Thill added. “Even if a perfectly designed study showed — without a doubt — that tear gas caused miscarriage, police would continue to use it. We are not fighting with those that respect science or bodies.”
Albuquerque Police Engaged in Secret Intelligence Gathering Operation, Leaked Documents Show (CounterPunch, David Correia – Keegan James Sarmiento Kloer)
The data collection has been carried out in secret since roughly 2006.
There is nothing particularly unique about public-private information gathering partnerships. Nearly every police agency, local or federal, relies on information collected from corporate or private security firms. Some police rely on information purchased from data aggregating companies such as ChoicePoint, which maintains enormous databases of information that it tailors for clients, including law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security has developed a network of “fusion centers”—including one in Santa Fe—that serve as a public sector version of this data aggregation. But the BlueLeaks documents show the extent to which APD pursued its own, largely secret, and fully privatized, information gathering operation, merging multiple different data gathering operations.
The privatization of data and information gathering, and the private sector control of intelligence collected for police, raises troubling implications for a department already under intense scrutiny. In 2014, the Department of Justice concluded that APD had demonstrated a long-standing “pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing.” Since 2015, and following the federal investigation, APD has operated under a federal court-ordered settlement agreement that has imposed significant reforms on APD. Among the deficiencies identified by the Department of Justice in its 2014 report were “inadequate accountability standards.” In addition, the DOJ noted a pattern of “insufficient oversight” within APD and “external oversight” that DOJ concluded was “broken and has allowed the department to remain unaccountable to the communities it serves.” The BlueLeaks information, and previous reporting about Albuquerque police by AbolishAPD, shows that these issues run much deeper than what the DOJ revealed in its investigation.
Associated Press Does Not Find Evidence of Mass Hysterectomies at ICE Detention Center (Law&Crime, Matt Naham)
However, many women reported receiving hysterectomies when they were unable to give informed consent, as performed by a doctor who is not a board-certified OB-GYN.
Wooten’s co-counsel Dana Gold, the Government Accountability Project’s Senior Counsel and Director of Education, said in statement to Law&Crime that the group has “heard from multiple attorneys representing numerous women who have suffered abuse.”
“It’s no small task to ask these women to speak out, just as it’s difficult to track down women who have already been deported, or are afraid to speak out due to the fear of retribution–both personal and professional,” Gold said. “What we know for certain is that Dawn is stepping forward and calling for a full investigation into all the issues she’s disclosed.”
The attorney said that investigations of this magnitude do not happen in one business week.
Justice Dept. brands NYC an ‘anarchist jurisdiction,’ targets federal funds (New York Post, Steven Nelson)
The move potentially cuts off federal funding as retribution for the cities’ moves to defund their police forces.
Portland made the “anarchist’’ list over its more than 100 consecutive nights of protests and because Mayor Ted Wheeler expressly rejected federal help in a letter to Trump, the feds said.
The city has been roiled in violence between Black Lives Matter protesters and cops — as well as skirmishes with pro-Trump factions. Aaron Danielson, a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, was fatally shot by Antifa activist Michael Reinoehl during one protest there at the end of August, before Reinoehl was killed by authorities days later.
The Portland City Council voted to cut its police department budget by at least $15 million in June.
Seattle was included on the Justice Department’s list because of a long-running protester “autonomous zone” and associated crime, the administration said.
What to Do When You Can’t Afford Food (Lifehacker, Kate Dore)
A beginner’s guide listing food stamp application sites and databases for local pantries.
Another program to consider is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which Congress funds each year through state agencies.
To qualify, you must meet four levels of criteria—categorical, residential, income, and nutritional risk—and you can see a break-down of each one here. The income thresholds are a little higher for WIC benefits—currently $37,296 per year for a family of three.
THREAD: Information regarding the settlement paid to Breonna Taylor’s family.
TWEET: Infographic of starter rebuttals to antiblack rhetoric.
TWEET: Call script regarding how to contact Senators and demand the next Supreme Court Justice not be chosen until after inauguration.
Fundraisers
TWEET: Fundraiser for Black Trans Artists in the Pacific Northwest.
TWEET: Fundraiser for two gender-affirming surgeries.
TWEET: Donation info for the Black Trans Travel Fund.
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