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Veterans Arrive at Standing Rock to Act as ‘Human Shields’ for Water Protectors

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“I signed up to serve my country and my people.”

By Nika Knight / Common Dreams

As tensions grow in North Dakota, with multiple eviction orders facing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, U.S. military veterans on Friday began arriving at the Oceti Sakowin protest camp.

The 2,000 veterans, which include Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), plan to act as an unarmed militia and peaceful human shields to protect the Indigenous activists from police brutality.

“I signed up to serve my country and my people and I did that overseas,” Indigenous U.S. Navy veteran Brandee Paisano told the CBC. “I didn’t think I’d have to do it here, on this land, so here I am. This is what I need to be doing.”   [Read more…]

Get an IUD While You Can

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With a new Congress threatening birth control access, millions of women are looking at long-term solutions.

By Olivia Alperstein / OtherWords

As soon as the presidential election results were announced, alarm bells went off for anyone who cares about reproductive rights.

Lawmakers around the country have been moving for years to restrict abortion rights. But for millions of women who’ve taken proactive steps to prevent unplanned pregnancy, there’s a much more direct threat: the next administration coming after their birth control.

As organizations like Planned Parenthood put out urgent calls for resources and support, ordinary women are asking: What do we do if we no longer have access to affordable birth control next year?   [Read more…]

Chilling ‘Professor Watchlist’ Aims to ‘Expose’ Leftist Educators

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By Deidre Fulton / Common Dreams

“I am dangerous not to America but to the people soon to be in charge of it.”

So says one of roughly 200 college professors recently named to a conservative website’s “Professor Watchlist”—a round-up of academics accused of “discriminat[ing] against conservative students and advanc[ing] leftist propaganda in the classroom.” The list is based on “pre-existing news stories,” though readers are encouraged to “submit a tip” if they become aware of “professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls.”

The list, which first appeared on November 21, is a project of right-wing non-profit Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a group whose stated mission “is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.”

According to a blog post written by the organization’s founder and executive director Charlie Kirk: “Throughout the next 120 days, Turning Point USA will be running ads to make sure students, faculty, and administrators see that these professors made the Professor Watchlist…We believe these people need to be exposed.”   [Read more…]

Immigrants’ Rights in Trump’s America: Know Them

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By Andrés Dae Keun Kwon and Julia Harumi Mass / ACLU San Diego-Imperial Counties

California has been a national leader at the forefront of our struggle for immigrants’ rights, having already enacted a series of protections for immigrants. In passing the TRUST Act in 2014 and the TRUTH Act earlier this year, California created protections for people who come into contact with immigration authorities through local law enforcement. In a recent joint statement, state legislative leaders affirmed: “California is—and must always be—a refuge of justice and opportunity for people of all walks, talks, ages and aspirations—regardless of how you look, where you live, what language you speak, or who you love.”

There are also important rights under the U.S. Constitution that protect all Californians—regardless of immigration status. While we wait to see how the Trump administration’s policies unfold, here are some of the most important ways you can protect your rights right now:   [Read more…]

Trump’s Seven Techniques to Control the Media

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Robert Reich / RobertReich.org

Democracy depends on a free and independent press, which is why all tyrants try to squelch it. They use seven techniques that, worryingly, President-elect Donald Trump already employs.

1. Berate the media. Last week, Trump summoned two-dozen TV news anchors and executives to the twenty-fifth floor of Trump Tower to berate them for their reporting about him during the election. For twenty minutes he railed at what he called their “outrageous” and “dishonest” coverage. According to an attendee, “Trump kept saying, ‘we’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong,’” and he called CNN a “network of liars.” He accused NBC of using unflattering pictures of him, demanding to know why they didn’t use “nicer” pictures.

Another person who attended the meeting said Trump “truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.”   [Read more…]

What Does A Trump Administration Mean for the Desert?

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Shaun Gonzales / Mojave Desert Blog

The outlook for desert wildlands is dismal under a Trump Administration, and we will have to be even more vigilant and vocal to stop Washington from undermining the legal and administrative pillars that protect our public lands and wildlife and to keep bulldozers off of intact habitat. I have been critical of some of the Obama Administration’s choices and policies regarding wildlife and wildlands, but there was always give and take within the bounds of existing laws and a relatively strong role for science in how policies were formulated; that probably will not be the case under Trump.

Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress probably will slow or reverse progress we have made greenhouse gas emissions, and they will severely weaken or eliminate the legal and bureaucratic institutions that protect our wildlands and wildlife. Science will be ignored in policy formulation and decision making. Budgets for the folks at the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency – the Federal arms that that manage public lands and keep our air and water clean – will be slashed further.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Absurd Plan To Dismantle Government’s Protections

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By Dave Johnson / OurFuture.Org

Donald Trump released a video announcing his agenda for his “first day in office.” One of the things he said is, “I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated.” Can we count the number of ways this is absurd and dangerous?

Under Trump’s 2-for-1 idea, if we want to have a regulation that a company can’t store explosives next to an elementary school, we have to eliminate a regulation that protects us from food poisoning AND a regulation that stops companies from taking money out of your bank account for no reason? (Or how about creating fake accounts and charging them fees?)   [Read more…]

Indigenous Resolve ‘Stronger Than Ever’ as Feds Order DAPL Protest Camp Shut Down

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By Deirdre Fulton / Common Dreams

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday informed Indigenous water protectors and their allies that they have nine days to vacate the main Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp—or else face arrest.

“This decision is necessary to protect the general public from the violent confrontation between protestors and law enforcement officials that have occurred in this area, and to prevent death, illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh North Dakota winter conditions,” Col. John Henderson of the Corps said in a letter to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe chairman Dave Archambault II.

The Oceti Sakowin camp, on the banks of the Cannonball River, will be closed Monday, December 5, the letter warned. Any individuals found on Army land north of the river after that date would be considered trespassing and could be prosecuted.   [Read more…]

Pay More and Get Less: The Ryan Plan to Privatize Medicare

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By David Akadjian / Daily Kos

One of the fights likely to come up early during the next administration is privatizing Medicare.

Tom Price, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has indicated Republicans will try to privatize Medicare in a budget reconciliation bill (a sneaky filibuster proof attack).

You’re going to hear a lot about “choice” and “efficiency” and the amazingness of markets, but Ryan’s plan basically comes down to two things: 1) you will pay more, and 2) you will get less.   [Read more…]

Jill Stein Raises Millions for Recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania

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“We deserve elections we can trust,” Stein said.

By Nadia Prupis / Common Dreams

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein on Wednesday called for a ballot recount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and and Pennsylvania, and apparently took less than a day to raise more than her campaign’s initial goal of $2 million.

“After a divisive and painful presidential race, in which foreign agents hacked into party databases, private email servers, and voter databases in certain states, many Americans are wondering if our election results are reliable,” Stein said in a statement. “That’s why the unexpected results of the election and reported anomalies need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified. We deserve elections we can trust.”

In total, the campaign raised $2.5 million in time to reach Wisconsin’s filing deadline of November 25 and fee of $1.1 million. The extra funds are enough to pay for Pennsylvania’s filing fee, and part of Michigan’s.   [Read more…]

Should You Apply for DACA Following the Election?

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By Ignacia Rodriguez, NILC immigration policy advocate / National Immigration Law Center

There are many concerns about what could happen to the DACA program—and DACA recipients—once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump said during his campaign that he intends to end the DACA program, though he has not said exactly if, how, or when this might actually occur. We also won’t know until after Trump takes office on January 20, 2017, what Trump administration officials might do with the information that DACA applicants have submitted on their applications.   [Read more…]

Two Million More Americans Voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump

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By Hunter / Daily Kos

Hillary Clinton may have lost the Electoral College and therefore the presidency, but her lead in the popular vote just topped the 2 million mark.   [Read more…]

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