Hundreds of women and men came out on short notice today to protest sexual abuse and rape. Called by local organizations and a group of female farmworkers, an estimated 500 people assembled in the heart of the Hollywood tourist district. They marched to the headquarters of CNN where a militant rally was held, then marched back to the starting point.
The crowd was lively, well-organized and very spirited. Local feminist and activist groups, as well as a leadership group of female farmworkers who drove 100 miles from Ventura county, made forceful statements, including speaking from personal experience. Speakers included figures in the Hollywood entertainment industry as well as local activists. The farmworkers carried signs in Spanish, and their leader spoke, in Spanish, to the assembled protesters. The event was very diverse ethnically.
One particularly striking aspect was that most of the signs were hand-made.
Police were present and well-mannered. Lots of media people were the and reports went out in the LA TIMES, LA OPINION (Los Angeles’ main Spanish-language daily) very quickly. I’ve been going to demonstrations since 1961, and except for that first march, this was the first time I have EVER been to a protest where I did not know one single individual.
Here are a series of photos I took at the demonstration.
October 26, 2017
A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Local sources reported today that New York actress Jordana Grolnick denounced George HW Bush , who ruled the United States from 1989-1993, for sexual harassment.
The woman recounted an episode similar to that of the first accuser, Heather Lind, who on Wednesday filed a complaint through her Instagram account, which she erased shortly thereafter.
According to Grolnick, Bush grabbed her buttocks in August of last year during a group photo shoot at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine.
The actress told the Deadspin news site that Bush joked that her favorite magician is “David Cop-a-Feel” – a wordplay on the name of the character David Copperfield and the English word “feel” – and he fingered her.
He added that his wife, Barbara Bush, responded, “She’s going to have him sent to jail.”
“We were all around him and his wife Barbara for a picture,” recalled Grolnick, who was currently working on a production of “Hunchback of Notre Dame” at the Maine Theater. “I was next to him and he put his hand on my back.”
On Wednesday, the former president apologized publicly to actress Heather Lind, who accused him of having tampered with her while the president was in a wheelchair.
The former president’s office said in a statement that he often repeats the same joke” and sometimes he has patted women on the butt in a jocular tone.”
He apologizes “to all the people he has offended,” the official statement added.
Bush, 93, was charged first by Heather Lind, 34, in her Instagram account, in a message he later decided to delete.
“When I had the opportunity to meet George Bush four years ago, to promote a TV show I worked for, he sexually assaulted me while we were posing for the picture,” Lind said in her account.
“He did not shake my hand. He touched me from behind. His wife Barbara Bush was at his side. I thought the joke was in bad taste, “he wrote.
(With information from ANSA)
October 29, 2017
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
A survey carried out earlier month in Germany reveals that 43 percent of women and 12 percent of men admit to having suffered sexual harassment, according to data from British pollster YouGov.
The survey also reveals that one in six men confirms that they have sexually harassed someone. Eighteen percent of the men surveyed acknowledge that they have ever had inappropriate behavior that could be perceived as “disproportionate or sexual harassment.”
According to data from the study of more than 2,000 people, inappropriate touch (28 percent) and suggestive observations (24 percent) are common forms of harassment, occurring in 14 percent in places 13 per cent in the private sector and 10 per cent in work.
This study came after about thirty women, including assistants and members of the MEP team, reported having been harassed by several politicians in the European Union (EU).
(Taken from TeleSur)
By Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada
A CubaNews/Google translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
He came to Cuba often. The last time was in February 2015, on the occasion of the International Book Fair in which the Spanish edition of “Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away with Murder” was presented. It was the result of painstaking research and more than ten years demanding access from relevant authorities to official documents jealously hidden.
The work of Michael Ratner and Michael Steven Smith proved beyond doubt that the murder of Ernesto Guevara was a war crime committed by the US government and its Central Intelligence Agency, a crime that does not have a statute of limitations, Although the authors are on the loose in Miami and flaunt their cowardly misdeed.
We met again in July on the occasion of the reopening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington. We were far from imagining that we would not meet again. Michael Ratner looked healthy and showed the optimism and joy that always accompanied him. Then we celebrated the return of our Five anti-terrorists Heroes to the country and also the fact that President Obama had no choice but to admit the failure of Washington’s aggressive policy against Cuba.
Michael was always in solidarity with the Cuban people since as a very young person he joined the contingents of the Venceremos Brigade. That solidarity remained unwavering at all times. His participation in the legal battle for the freedom of our companions, including the “amicus” he presented to the Supreme Court on behalf of ten Nobel Prize winners, was decisive.
A tireless fighter, for him no cause was alien. He stood always on the side of the victims and faced with courage, even at the risk of his life, the oppressors who dominated that judicial system. He also did it with rigor, integrity and love. More than a brilliant legal professional, he was a passionate fighter for justice.
He was present in 1968 at the Columbia University strike before completing his studies, and fought racial discrimination together with the NAACP. The recent graduate represented the victims of brutal repression at the Attica prison. Thus he began a remarkable career –impossible to describe in an article– which knew no borders: Nicaragua, Haiti, Guatemala, Palestine, and so on.
When nobody did, he undertook the defense of the hostages in the illegal naval base in Guantanamo. He convened more than 500 lawyers to do so –also for free– and achieved a legal victory with an unprecedented decision by the Supreme Court recognizing the rights of the prisoners.
Many other cases absorbed his time and energy, working in a team, without necessarily appearing in the foreground. He did not hesitate, however, to legally prosecute powerful characters like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush whose “impeachment” he tried very hard to obtain.
He also accused Nelson Rockefeller, when he was governor, and more recently Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He published books and essays in favor of legality and human rights. He was considered one of the best American lawyers and chaired the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights and founded Palestine Rights. He combined his work as a litigator with university teaching at Columbia and Yale and helped train future jurists able to follow his example.
He was the main defender of Julian Assange and Wikileaks in the United States. An insuperable paradigm of a generation that wanted to conquer the sky, he was an inseparable part of all their battles and will remain so always until victory.
—–
Reposted: https://ajiacomix.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/micheal-ratner/
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Muchas veces vino a Cuba. La última fue en febrero del 2015, con motivo de la Feria Internacional de Libro en la que fue presentada la edición en español de “¿Quién mató al Che? Como la CIA logró salir impune del asesinato”, fruto de minuciosa investigación y más de diez años reclamando a las autoridades el acceso a documentos oficiales celosamente ocultos. La obra de Michael Ratner y Michael Steven Smith demostró de manera inapelable que el asesinato de Ernesto Guevara fue un crimen de guerra cometido por el gobierno de Estados Unidos y su Agencia Central de Inteligencia, un crimen que no prescribe aunque sus autores andan sueltos en Miami y hacen ostentación de la cobarde fechoría.
Nos encontramos de nuevo en julio en ocasión de la reapertura de la Embajada cubana en Washington. Lejos estábamos de imaginar que no nos veríamos más. Michael Ratner parecía saludable y mostraba el optimismo y la alegría que siempre le acompañaron. Celebramos entonces que ya nuestros Cinco Héroes antiterroristas habían regresado a la Patria y que el Presidente Obama no tuvo otro remedio que admitir el fracaso de la política agresiva contra Cuba.
Porque Michael fue siempre solidario con el pueblo cubano desde que muy joven integró contingentes de la Brigada Venceremos y esa solidaridad la mantuvo sin flaquezas en todo momento. Fue decisiva su participación en la batalla legal por la libertad de nuestros compañeros incluyendo el “amicus” que presentó a la Corte Suprema a nombre de diez ganadores del Premio Nobel.
Incansable luchador para él ninguna causa fue ajena. Se puso siempre del lado de las víctimas y encaró con valor, aun a riesgo de su vida, a los opresores que dominan aquel sistema judicial. Y lo hizo, además, con rigor, entereza y amor. Más que un brillante profesional del derecho fue un apasionado combatiente por la justicia.
Estuvo presente en 1968 en la huelga de la Universidad de Columbia y antes de concluir sus estudios combatió la discriminación racial junto al NAACP. Recién graduado representó a las víctimas de la brutal represión en la prisión de Attica. Inició así una trayectoria admirable imposible de describir en un artículo y que no conoció fronteras: Nicaragua, Haití, Guatemala, Palestina, y un largo etcétera.
Cuando nadie lo hacía asumió la defensa de los secuestrados en la ilegal base naval de Guantánamo, pudo incorporar a más de 500 abogados que lo hicieran también gratuitamente y alcanzó una victoria jurídica sin precedentes con la decisión de la Corte Suprema reconociendo los derechos de los prisioneros. A muchos otros casos también dedicó su tiempo y energías, trabajando en equipo, sin aparecer necesariamente en primer plano. No vaciló sin embargo en encausar legalmente a personajes poderosos como Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton y George W. Bush cuyo “impeachment” trató afanosamente de conseguir, y acusó también a Nelson Rockefeller cuando era Gobernador y más recientemente al Secretario de Defensa Donald Runsfeld. Publicó libros y ensayos a favor de la legalidad y los derechos humanos. Considerado uno de los mejores abogados norteamericanos presidió el National Lawyers Guild y el Center for Constitutional Rights y fundó el Palestine Rights. Conjugó su labor como litigante con la docencia universitaria en Columbia y Yale y ayudó a la formación de futuros juristas capaces de seguir su ejemplo.
Era el principal defensor en Estados Unidos de Julian Assange y Wikileaks. Paradigma insuperable de una generación que quiso conquistar el cielo fue parte inseparable en todas sus batallas y lo seguirá siendo hasta la victoria siempre.
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