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
December 9, 1917 British troops, known as the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and under the command of General Edmund Allenby, entered Jerusalem, ending 700 years of Muslim rule of the city, 400 under the Ottoman Turks. The Turkish army withdrew, the city surrendered without a battle. Thus began 30 years of British control over Palestine.
December 9, 1949 U.S. Representative John Parnell Thomas, former chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was sentenced to 6 to 18 months in federal prison for “padding” Congressional payrolls and using the money himself (embezzlement). He had pled no contest to the charges, and was pardoned by President Harry Truman shortly before the end of his presidency. John Parnell Thomas
December 9, 1961 Members of the National Committee of 100, a movement of non-violent resistance to nuclear war and to the manufacture and use of all weapons of mass extermination, joined with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and held demonstrations at various U.S. air and nuclear bases in Britain. Bertrand Russell and the “Committee of 100″at an earlier action in 1961. Members of the Committee of 100, including Bertrand Russell, considered civil disobedience a legitimate means in their struggle. The CND avoided all illegal activities. The CND is still active today
December 9, 1990 Solidarity trade union founder and leader Lech Walesa won Poland’s presidential runoff election in a 3-1 landslide. He thus became the first directly elected Polish leader. Poland only became an independent country at the end of World War I. About Lech Walesa
(This is a valid POV. Also, if you go ahead and click the links, you’ll get simply the embed you clicked on. If you click the link above, you can see the whole story with the embeds. The whole story is here, with the embed links.)
The response to UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson being shot and killed in Manhattan last week has been…interesting, to say the least. Dude, whose identity remains unknown and is probably somewhere cooling in Istanbul while the Feds and everyone else continue searching for him, has turned into a something of a pop culture icon.
The online reactions of Black folks to the killer and Thompson himself have run the gamut, from outright hostility, like this guy…
…to intellectually nuanced and dense articulations of why they are unmoved about the killing of this white man who theoretically became rich off the back of the misfortunes of the sick. (Let’s call this intellectual hostility.)
What’s most surprising is the amount of love this hoodie wearing, N95-masked gentleman who used a silencers to kill a man in broad daylight in the heart of New York City is receiving. There has not been this much adoration for a white man since Channing Tatum took his clothes off dancing off beat in Magic Mike. I mean, there’s already been a lookalike competition:
…ain’t no damn way a Black man would get this kind of love if he pulled the trigger. I’m quite positive that there are white people in the sundown town of Cullman, Ala. who are fine with a white man doing this crime but would pull out their big ass trucks with a Confederate flag on the front to find the perpetrator if he was Black.
Denzel Washington could have pulled the trigger, and folks would have thanked him for the years of joy he brought to their lives and thrown his ass under the jail.
The response to this murder (I refuse to call it an “assassination” because Thompson could have caught some lead for something as simple as sleeping with the nanny and her boyfriend pulling out the .44 on him.) is at once expected in our society and, well, pretty nonsensical.
And like all things that make no sense anymore, I blame this on Donald Trump…and that dude hasn’t even moved into the White House yet. I’m just glad the killer wasn’t a Black man, because we’d all be face-down in handcuffs getting profiled throughout the damn country.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal is accusing Pete Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, of witness intimidation because Parlatore suggested that Hegseth may sue the woman who accused him of sexual assault and received a settlement if he doesn’t get confirmed.
Trump NIH pick "considering a plan to link likelihood of receiving research grants to some measure of academic freedom…Bhattacharya wants to counter what he sees as a culture of conformity that ostracized him over his views on masking and school closures" http://www.wsj.com/health/healt…
The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity.
The above-named group is a dark money organization that does not reveal its donors. Their leader is a former staffer for nutbag Sen. Ron Johnson.
These people what a Russian style military of only white cis straight males which Ted Cruz gave such praise to over our US military. The thing is the Russian military was stopped and driven out of a country by the rag tag Ukrainian military with gifted supplies dripping in. A diverse military of the entire population is the strongest one, which has been demonstrated over and over again. Talk about a group wanting purity in a place, this is what these bigot racist haters want. Hugs
Among Hegseth’s alleged “mistakes” are sexual assault, countless incidents of adultery (including with a coworker), at last one bastard child, drunkenly attempting to climb onto a strip club stage, on the job drinking, being fall down drunk at corporate events, shouting “kill all Muslims,” having white supremacist tattoos, belonging to a far-right misogynist Christian nationalist church, and running two nonprofits for veterans into the ground with what former colleagues call questionable spending on partying and travel. It’s what Jesus would want.
1. Bondi asked for a $25,000 campaign donation from Trump, and got it. 2. Then she dropped her state’s investigation into Trump University. 3. Now she’s Trump’s nominee for Attorney General.
Watch the clip and you’ll see an excited Lummis wave a copy of her bill, calling it a “present for President Trump.” Hayes calls the bill an “enormous heist” and an “explicit bailout” of bitcoin holders should the price plummet
December 8, 1886 Samuel Gompers, a founder and leader of the American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded at a convention of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio. It was an alliance of autonomous unions, each typically made up of workers within a particular craft. Samuel Gompers, a leader in the Cigarmakers’ union, was a key person in creating the AFL, was elected its first president, and served as such virtually continuously for nearly 40 years. On Samuel Gompers from the AFL-CIO
===================================== December 8, 1941 Jeanette Rankin (R-Montana), the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1916, cast the only vote (she was among eight women in the Congress at the time) opposing declaration of war against Japan, despite their attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day . She had also voted against the U.S. entering World War I (at the time called the war to end all wars). Rankin served served just two single terms in the House. She spent her early career working for women’s suffrage, later very active in several peace and justice organizations. Jeannette Rankin in 1940 Jeanette Rankin timeline Chronology and oral history transcript of interview of Jeanette Rankin ===================================== December 8, 1953 U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the United Nations General Assembly, proposing the creation of a new U.N. atomic energy agency which would receive contributions of uranium from the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries “principally concerned,” and would put this material to peaceful use. The speech, known later as Atoms for Peace, included: “My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreement, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom, and in the confidence that the people of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life.”
======================================== December 8, 1987 U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers. The Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty eliminated and banned all ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (300-3,400 miles). By May 1991, all intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, launchers, and related support had been physically dismantled.
========================================= December 8, 1988 On the first anniversary of the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Force) Treaty, twelve Dutch peace activists, calling themselves “INF Ploughshares,” cut through fences to enter the Woensdrecht Air Force base in The Netherlands. They made their way to cruise missile bunkers where they hammered on the missiles, carrying out the first disarmament action in Holland. Read more about this action
This one address the mistaken idea that anti-trans stuff worked to win the presidency for tRump. In fact it was not a factor according to surveys however the only ones talking about it were the tRump people. Harris never mentioned trans except for one time saying that they followed the law on treating trans prisoners with the hormone care they were prescribed or needed before incarceration. Again it is the law and tRump also did it in his first term. Hugs
More on the trans issues and the bathroom ban for trans people in the capital. Trans issues in the 2022 midterms showed that trans issues was a losing issue for them. It was the same this election. The larger problem is the democrats being too cowardly to stand up for the abused minority. Hugs
We hear about the genocide by Israel of the Palestinians. He talks about hate on the internet by right wing forced paid for and encouraged by people who want to normalize this level of violence and convince people it is good to be this bloodthirsty. Hugs
To the hostages of our policies, my apologies— the petty stenographers of the crooked rulers in the once fancy now crumbling cities of our fading Empire lied then. They lied then and they lie now. Everything they say and write is a lie, about law and freedom, about equality and justice, in the rubble of the bombs we make and sell, in the silent cries of limbless orphans, in the night lit by white phosphorous and the relentless sound of buzzing drones. They tell us we used to have things of value, even things we ourselves made, and that it was a place like no other. All I know is that Sinbad once sailed to Gaza and so to Gaza he’ll sail once again.
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
