Denial of Mumia’s appeal: An affront to basic justice and the law

Mumia Abu-Jamal, his family and his supporters around the world had every reason and right to hope that all their hard work would pay off in persuading Judge Lucretia Clemons from the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to follow and apply the law, as has been done in other cases involving Brady and Batson violations.

Denial of Mumia’s appeal: An affront to basic justice and the law

Senator Warner’s RESTRICT Act Is Designed To Create The Great Firewall Of America

from the we-become-what-we-fear dept

Thu, Mar 30th 2023 10:49am – Mike Masnick

Earlier this month, we wrote about Mark Warner’s RESTRICT Act, mainly in the context of how it appeared to be kneejerk legislating in response to the moral panic around TikTok.

Senator Warner’s RESTRICT Act Is Designed To Create The Great Firewall Of America

America with Chinese Characteristics?! /sarcasm

Hypocritical White House Wants to Form a Bogus Tribunal to Prosecute Russian Leader for War Crimes

Oh, the irony!?

After months of indecision, the Joe Biden administration has come out in favor of using international mechanisms to punish Russian officials for the “crime of aggression” in Ukraine. The White House has resisted Kiev’s effort to prosecute President Vladimir Putin and other Russian leaders at the International Crime Court (ICC) over fears that American officials could face similar accountability

White House Wants to Form International Tribunal to Prosecute Russian Leader for War Crimes

Related:

Iraq, Ukraine, And a World Without Accountability

Two Barrels Aimed at African People’s Socialist Party

With new FBI and Department of “Justice” (DOJ) attacks expected in early January, a defense, mobilization and information session attracted hundreds of allies of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP). On Friday, December 23 they zoomed into the “Emergency Mass Meeting: Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!” The APSP told its supporters that it expects indictments in early January 2023 and possibly sooner.

Two Barrels Aimed at African People’s Socialist Party

Related:

The FBI wants to put me on trial for fighting for black freedom. Put the colonial state on trial! We will win!

Congress’ Best Idea to Save Local Journalism Would Actually Hurt It + Some Temporary Good News

Congress’ Best Idea to Save Local Journalism Would Actually Hurt It

Meta reported $114.93 million in ad revenue in 2021, whereas Google reported $209 billion. But determining how much of that publishers should get is difficult—and the JCPA doesn’t even try. One version of the JCPA proposed platforms and publishers negotiate an agreed-to payment, and if they couldn’t come to a consensus, they’d enter forced-arbitration with no formula for what is fair. But whether the money would end up being vast or a modest bump to the bottom line, not every publication stands to benefit if the JCPA becomes law. While the JCPA’s alliances allow for partnerships, exclusionary elements of the JCPA would encourage big brands to unite selectively at the expense of smaller ones and shut out niche independent journalistic outlets altogether.

Related:

JCPA Update: The Dangerous Link Tax That Still Won’t Save Local Journalism

The original text of the JCPA already authorized print media companies to form one or several cartels and collectively bargain with the largest online platforms—defined in terms that single out Facebook and Google. Although the bill hinted at these news cartels being able to demand payment for merely linking to their content, or hosting snippets like the results you get from Google News, the mechanism by which they would be paid was left vague. However, the fact that the bill allowed news companies to withhold content strongly suggested a claim to some sort of property right, or ancillary copyright, that the targeted platforms would owe for hosting links and snippets.

Some Temporary Good News: None Of The Really Bad Internet Bills Seem To Have Made It Into The NDAA

This would also hurt independent media and bloggers (you would have to pay a ‘link tax’ to corporate media for linking to their articles—see below image)! So far, it hasn’t passed (it was attached to the NDAA) but there’s still the omnibus spending bill and the next session of Congress!

Source.

[2017] Why vaccine manufacturers are exempt from liability

In 1986 Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), creating a no-fault compensation program to stabilize a vaccine market adversely affected by an increase in vaccine-related lawsuits and to facilitate compensation to claimants who found pursuing legitimate vaccine-inflicted injuries too difficult and cost prohibitive.

Why vaccine manufacturers are exempt from liability