December 10, 1948 The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” Since 1950 the anniversary of the declaration has been known as Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day
December 10, 1950 Ralph Bunche the Peacemaker Detroit-born U.N. diplomat Ralph J. Bunche became the first Black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was in recognition of his peace mediation during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.From his acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway. “There are some in the world who are prematurely resigned to the inevitability of war. Among them are the advocates of the so-called “preventive war,” who, in their resignation to war, wish merely to select their own time for initiating it. To suggest that war can prevent war is a base play on words and a despicable form of warmongering. The objective of any who sincerely believe in peace clearly must be to exhaust every honorable recourse in the effort to save the peace. The world has had ample evidence that war begets only conditions which beget further war.”
December 10, 1961 Chief Albert Luthuli, President-General of the banned African National Congress, appealed for racial equality in racially separatist apartheid South Africa after accepting the Nobel peace prize for 1960 in Oslo, Norway. Albert Luthuli Mr. Luthuli said he considered the award “a recognition of the sacrifices made by the peoples of all races [in South Africa], particularly the African people who have endured and suffered so much for so long.” “It may well be that South Africa’s social system is a monument to racialism and race oppression, but its people are the living testimony to the unconquerable spirit of mankind. Down the years, against seemingly overwhelming odds, they have sought the goal of fuller life and liberty, striving with incredible determination and fortitude for the right to live as men – free men.”
December 10, 1964 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded Nobel Peace Prize. From his speech in Oslo: “After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that [civil rights] movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.” King’s Nobel acceptance speech:
December 10, 1997 Julia Butterfly Hill, age 23, climbed “Luna,” a 1,000-year-old California redwood, to protect it from loggers. She stayed up in the tree for more than two years. Julia Butterfly Hill atop Luna Julia’s web site
December 10, 2003 Shirin Ebadi Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman (first Iranian and only the third Muslim) to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway “for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.” More about Shirin Ebadi
There was always waiting in our mother’s eyes, Anxiety and wonder and surmise, Through the long days, and in the longer, slow, Still afternoons, that seemed to never go, And in the evening, when she used to sit And listen to our casual talk, and knit. And when the day was dark and rainy, and Not fit to be abroad in, she would stand Beside the window, and peer out and shiver, As small sleek raindrops joined to make a river That rushed, tempestuous, down the window pane, And say, “I wonder what they do in rain? Is it wet there in the trenches, do you think?” And she would wonder if he had his ink And razor blades and toothpaste that she sent; And if he read much in his Testament, Or clean forgot, some mornings, as boys will. But always the one wonder in her eyes Was, “Is he living, living, living, still Alive and gay? Or lying dead somewhere Out on the ground, and will they find him there?” She closed her lids each night upon that look Of waiting, as a hand might close a book But never change the words that were within. And when the morning noises would begin A new day, and a young sun touched the skies, Again she woke with waiting in her eyes.
But that is over now. She does not read The lists of casualties, since that one came A week or two ago. There is no need. She’s making sweaters now for other men And knitting just as carefully as then. There is no change, except that as she plies Her needles, swift and rhythmic as before, There is no waiting in our mother’s eyes, Anxiety or wonder any more.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on December 7, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Nick Dumont, the actor who played Jackie Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer, has come out as transmasculine and nonbinary.
As first reported by TMZ on Thursday, the actor recently changed their pronouns and name on their Instagram bio. Though their handle is still @emmadumont, their name is now listed as Nick Dumont on their profile, and their pronouns are listed as “they/them.” Their bio includes a collection of heart emojis that appear to correspond to the lesbian and nonbinary flags, as well as the phrases “Carmy coded,” as in the main character from The Bear, and “McCutcheon apologist,” as in the polarizing anti-hero Shane from the original L Word. Now that’s a transmasculine nonbinary Instagram bio if ever we’ve seen one.
Though Dumont has changed their pronouns and name on their Instagram profile, they have not yet directly posted about their coming out to social media. A representative for the actor told TMZ that they identify “as a transmasculine nonbinary person.” “Their work name is still going to be Emma Dumont, but they will go by Nick with friends and family,” the rep said. (snip-MORE)
December 7, 1964 A leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, Mario Savio, was arrested. One-third of the 27,000 students at the University of California campus, along with faculty, were on strike to protect their first amendment right to distribute political literature and to organize on campus. A faculty resolution passed 824-115, supporting the rapidly growing Free Speech Movement. “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop.” – Mario Savio Mario Savio as remembered by journalist Robert Scheer ——————————————————————————– December 7, 1993 The arrested: Phil Berrigan, John Dear, Lynn Fredriksson, and Bruce Friedrich Four Plowshares activists were arrested for disarming an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Pax Christi-Spirit of Life Plowshares newspaper article
Another person who takes a job requiring that they serve LGBTQ+ people equally with straight people who think their religious beliefs should exempt them from the rules everyone else in the job must follow. Because you know fundamentalist Christians are special … right? Look if you don’t want to do the job because of your religious beliefs find a different job. Seriously what you believe doesn’t make you special or allow you to violate your job protocols. Just as you can’t refuse to serve black people at the lunch counter or refuse to marry mixed race people, you have to follow the laws in your state. Plus I don’t understand the hate. Christians don’t own marriage. Marriage is not a religious ceremony alone. This is even a civil setting. Plus no church or religious figure can marry anyone legally without state permission. It is a civil right, not a religious one. Hugs
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh issued statements after a Syracuse.com | Post Standard article revealed that City Court Judge Felicia Pitts Davis refused to officiate a wedding of two women.
The article reported that on Nov. 16 Pitts-Davis declined to marry the couple on the same day she married a heterosexual couple. The judge cited her religious beliefs as the reason she would not perform the marriage, two sources told Syracuse.com.
Another city court judge, Mary Anne Doherty, came into court to officiate the women’s marriage.
Hochul said on X that marriage equality is a fundamental right in New York. She said judges do not get to pick and choose who they will and won’t marry.
“No one should be subject to hate or discrimination simply because of who they love. Any judge willing to officiate a wedding in their courtroom cannot pick and choose who deserves a wedding,” Hochul said in a post on X.
The governor linked to the Syracuse.com article.
Mayor Ben Walsh said Syracuse is a growing city that embraces diversity and creates opportunity for all.
“Judge Pitts-Davis’ refusal to perform a wedding ceremony for a same-sex couple doesn’t align with this vision and, importantly, doesn’t comply with state law,” the mayor said in a statement.
The mayor called on the state Commission on Judicial Conduct to review the matter “expeditiously.”
Onondaga County Democratic Chairperson Max Ruckdeschel said in a statement that the judge’s behavior is contrary to the values of the Democratic Party and that the judge should resign.
“It is the role of every judge to provide equal justice under the law to every American, no matter their race, creed, or sexual orientation,” Ruckdeschel said. “A judge literally turning her back on two people looking to be married is an outrage and Judge Pitts Davis should face repercussions for her actions.”
The Democratic Party committee had previously declined to endorse Pitts Davis for city court judge, according to Ruckdeschel. And her refusing to fulfill her judicial oath “disqualifies her from any future consideration for our endorsement,” he said.
Pitts Davis won a primary to run on the Democratic line in the general election and was elected to office in 2020.
The Syracuse Republican Committee issued a statement Thursday calling for Pitts Davis to resign or be removed.
“Judge Davis’ refusal to perform a same-sex marriage is not only inexcusable and reprehensible, but is ground for immediate removal from the bench,” the statement said. “If Judge Davis has any shred of integrity or respect for the law and the people of the city of Syracuse, she should step down.”
If Pitts Davis doesn’t step down, the state Office of Court Administration should swiftly remove her from the bench “before any further damage can be done to our sacred judicial system,” the statement said.
CNY Pride, a local LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and City Auditor Alexander Marion put out statements Wednesday calling for Pitts Davis to resign.
CNY Pride said her actions were a “disgrace” to her position as an elected judge. They also called for a “full ethical investigation” into Pitts-Davis’ conduct since she took the bench in 2020.
“Judge Pitts Davis’s refusal to marry same-sex citizens of Syracuse and Onondaga County is despicable and contrary to her judicial oath,” CNY Pride said in the statement.
Marion, an LGBTQ+ elected citywide official in Syracuse government, is also calling for Pitts Davis to resign. He put out a statement saying the judge should quit or be suspended by the state Office of Court Administration.
Saying he was “deeply disturbed” by the Syracuse.com article, Marion said Pitts Davis was violating judicial guidelines that guard against discrimination.
State Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Hoylman-Sigal also called on Pitts Davis to resign.
“If a judge can’t follow the law and do her job as directed by the New York state constitution and the United States Supreme Court, she should step down,” the senator told the New York Post. “I find it appalling that someone who professes to work on behalf of the public takes a piecemeal approach to their responsibility.”
Davis for nearly two weeks has not responded to repeated inquiries from Syracuse.com.
Under state law, judges may not unlawfully discriminate by officiating a marriage for a male-female couple, but refuse to do the same for a same-sex couple, according to a state court spokesperson, Al Baker.
The state court system is aware of the allegation and referred the matter to a state disciplinary commission, Baker told Syracuse.com.
For nearly two weeks, local and state court officials would not answer questions from Syracuse.com about what happened in court that day. They would not even acknowledge that any weddings happened in court that day.
On Tuesday, Baker responded with a one-sentence email: “We are aware of the allegation and have referred the matter to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.” He again did not respond to questions about that statement.
Earlier, Baker emailed to Syracuse.com the judicial standard Pitts Davis appears to have violated but would not confirm she had refused to marry the same sex couple or that another judge had to step in:
“Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated by the UCS. Under New York Law, Judges are authorized, but not obligated, to perform marriages. Judges who choose to perform marriages may not unlawfully discriminate when deciding which couples they will marry.”
In 2011, the Marriage Equality Act was passed in the state of New York, granting same-sex couples the ability to enter into civil marriages. The act declared that marriage is a fundamental human right. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples.
Shawntay Davis, 33, and Niccora Davis, 29, on Tuesday confirmed to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard they were the same-sex couple ditched by Pitts Davis and instead married by Doherty on Nov. 16.
Shawntay Davis and Niccora Davis are married by Judge Mary Ann Doherty in Syracuse City Court on Nov. 16, 2024. The judge is behind the two women.Provided photograph
Editor’s note: This article updated on Thursday with a statement by the Syracuse Republican Committee.
Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
Yesterday I was reading Oliver Willis’s Substack (with a great photo of Kal El, as always,) and he’s begun a news aggregator for liberals/progressives called Breaking News USA. Oliver Willis knows of what he speaks, so I’ve bookmarked it to look at every day. Today, I ran across 2 I want to post here today.
Women walking into the bathroom on Capitol Hill Thursday morning found a buoyant dance party in progress: A group of trans artists and activists staged a protest in a women’s restroom in the U.S. Capitol, dancing to the song “Meeting in the Ladies Room” by the all-women pop and R&B band Klymaxx.
Thursday’s dancing protesters include trans actor James Rose, nonbinary influencer Jerome Trammel, comedian Elizabeth Booker Houston, influencer Alexis Rose, transgender model June Raven Romero and activist Hope Giselle-Godsey. A video posted online starts with a panorama of the Capitol building’s interior before panning to a nearby restroom filled with dancing women. Some wear shirts with the colors of the transgender pride flag, pink, blue and white, and slogans like, “Flush the Hate, Not Our Rights” and “Trans People Are NOT Dangerous. You Are!” (snip-MORE)
The campaign is over; the election is done. The cases against Donald Trump—for the theft and improper storage of sensitive and classified government materials; for the effort to obstruct election administration in Georgia; for the attempt to overthrow the government of the United States on January 6, 2021—are wrapping up, unfinished in some cases and never really started in others. His sentencing for the 34 felony counts where he was found guilty of falsifying business records to hide election interference has been postponed indefinitely. In the executive branch, the transition is underway, complete with smiling photo ops and assurances from President Biden that he won’t stifle or undermine the incoming administration the way he was hampered—by the very man Biden is welcoming back to power. Everything is on track for January 20, 2025: the day that Joe Biden will cease to be president, and Donald Trump will be crowned as king.
There is no question that Donald Trump will not be limited by the Constitutional strictures on the presidency. Not only has the Supreme Court granted his absurd and expansive view of executive power as per Trump v. U.S., but Trump has spent the last four years out of office actively campaigning for the right to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants, without consequences. The incoming Republican Congress won its power on much smaller margins than Trump took the presidency, and he is barely two million votes ahead of Harris in the popular vote. Neither the slim and chaotic majority in the House nor the thoroughly Trumpified Senate will reject his whims, either because they’ll agree with his interests or they’ll be too cowardly to object if they don’t. Trump’s early appointments—sex pests and conspiracy theorists, incompetents, lackeys, bootlickers, and sycophants—reveal the nature of what this administration will be. These aren’t people put into place to work for the American people; they will be installed to preserve, protect, and defend the interests of one Donald J. Trump, damn the country.
Yet King Trump, first of his name, is not an inevitability.
It’s his blatant disregard for the Constitution, the disinterest and disrespect for its limitations, checks and balances, that provides us with one last chance to derail the coming coronation. On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood at the Capitol of the United States and swore an oath to the country, the one every president has taken, as prescribed in Article 2, Section 8 of the Constitution. And on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump broke that oath in an attempt to overturn the election, overthrow the duly-appointed government of the United States, and install himself as dictator. It was, in word and deed, an insurrection. And, despite our republic’s long history of peaceful transfers of power, we have an answer for that, if we will only ask the question.
Does the 14th Amendment apply to Donald Trump? (snip-MORE)
I only got up about 2 hours ago; I was up late again, and stayed abed like a lazy person. I just read this in email, and it really hit the spot for me! Enjoy.
“Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding, the third.”
Scottie's Playtime 