text:
Punitive Drug Policies Fuel Human Rights Abuses
Niamh Eastwood
In December 2016 five year old Francis Mañosca was shot dead by masked gunmen in Manila. His death is a result of the Philippines 'war on drugs'; a war that was escalated by President Rodrigo Duterte in June 2016 when he came to power and called on citizens and the police to kill those who use drugs and those involved in the drug trade. Since then, it is estimated that nearly 9,000 Filipinos have been massacred. These practices are not limited to the Philippines.
In 2003, Thailand launched its own war on drugs which saw nearly 2,800 people killed. Between 2010 and 2013, Brazilian police killed over 1,200 people in the favelas of Rio De Janeiro. In one favela, Amnesty International estimated that 90 per cent of the deaths should be classed as extrajudicial killings.
This piece was originally published by Bright Blue. The original may be viewed here.
There are 33 countries which retain the death penalty for drug offences, leading to the execution of several hundred people every year. This is a flagrant violation of international law, as The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that the death penalty should only be used for the "most serious crimes".
The escalation of law enforcement approaches has also led to significant loss of life in Mexico where, in the last ten years, there have been 175,000 homicides. The majority of these deaths have been linked to the drug war, particularly a 2006 government decision to militarise drug law enforcement.
These are some of the more egregious examples of the human rights abuses that are directly linked to the 'war on drugs', but government drug policies are fuelling human rights abuses around the world. When the primary tool for tackling drug use is criminalisation, people's fundamental human rights are undermined.
In South East Asia and China, the use of compulsory detention centres for people who use drugs is promoted under the guise of "treatment" - but in reality, reports of torture, rape, and forced labour are common in these facilities, where both adults and children are detained.
The right to health is also undermined significantly by punitive drug policies. Nowhere is this more evident than in Russia, where, as a result of tough drug laws and a lack of sufficient healthcare, one in 100 adults is HIV positive. This has been directly attributed to the prohibition of opiate substitute prescribing, and a lack of government support for effective interventions such as needle exchange programmes.
In Colombia, where the coca plant is cultivated, the state deploys aerial eradication using glyphosate, a possibly carcinogenic herbicide. This chemical has been linked to a number of health harms including skin conditions, miscarriages, and respiratory problems. It has also led to the destruction of food crops, resulting in the displacement of thousands of Colombian farmers.
Prohibitionist drug policies are also driving mass incarceration across the globe. The United States has five per cent of the world's population but 25 per cent of the world's prison population, and more than 50 per cent of US federal prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offences. One of the most heinous aspects of the US criminal justice system is the racist nature of how drugs laws are implemented. Black people are far more likely to be targeted for drug offences, and drugs which are wrongly associated with the black community attract harsher penalties.
Until 2010, someone caught in possession of crack cocaine would receive a sentence that was 100 times more punitive compared to someone caught in possession of the same amount of powder cocaine. This was despite there being no pharmacological difference between the two, except the removal of hydrochloride from powder cocaine to allow crack to be smoked. This ratio has now been reduced to 18 times, which is still a shocking disparity. Whilst crack cocaine prevalence rates are about the same among white and black populations, law enforcement continue to focus their efforts on poor, black neighbourhoods. This has led to a situation where an estimated one in four black men in America will end up in jail.
These discriminatory practices are not limited to the US; drug policing in the UK disproportionately impacts black communities. In England and wales, black people are six times more likely to be stopped and searched for drugs than white people, despite the fact that drug use is higher amongst the white population. Racial disparity for drug offences is evident at all stages of the criminal justice system, with black people caught in possession of drugs receiving harsher penalties compared to white people. A recent review by David Lammy MP found that black women in England and Wales were 2.3 times more likely to be imprisoned for a drug offence than white women. This undermines the principle of equal treatment under the law and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The violation of people's rights in the UK is also apparent in health and social policies. Legislation introduced in 2014 allows for the mandatory eviction of a tenant if they, a member of their household, or a guest, commits a drug offence (excluding possession). This can include a supply offence, and it is important to remember that UK drug laws do not distinguish between supply for profit and supply between friends.
In the UK, those who use drugs problematically also face significant hurdles when accessing treatment due to a postcode lottery, whereby the quality of treatment varies significantly by region. People who receive methadone as a substitute for street heroin are experiencing an increasingly punitive treatment environment, including drug testing, daily supervised consumption of their medication, and forced reductions of their dose. This is resultant of policies that focus on abstinence as the primary goal of treatment, rather than improving the individual's quality of life; where policy, rather than clinical need, is the driver for reducing medication. This type of approach would simply not be accepted for any other health condition.
The core of the issue for those who use problematically is that they are defined by their drug use which is identified as a criminal act, and this does not apply equally across socio-economic groups; it is those who live in poverty who are the focus of police. The war on drugs is a war on people, particularly poor people.
In my experience the vast majority of people who use drugs problematically have suffered trauma during their lives and are self-medicating to deal with memories of abuse, abandonment, or bereavement, or to aid mental health issues. Yet they are one of the most stigmatised and marginalised groups in society.
Importantly, not all those who use drugs do so problematically. It is estimated that 90 per cent of people who use drugs do so recreationally for pleasure; the biggest risk they face is criminalisation.
Other parts of the world though are doing it differently. Over 25 countries have ended criminal sanctions for drug possession and use – in some jurisdictions, like many US states, this is just for cannabis but countries like Portugal have decriminalised the possession of all drugs. None of these countries have seen increased levels of drug use nationally, and many have experienced positive health, socials and economic benefits.
Ultimately, drug use in and of itself causes little to no harm to society. The wider policy environment causes harm, but, as demonstrated above, this is largely due to governments actively choosing to criminalise their citizens and implement repressive policies that drive human rights violations. This is all being done with the sole aim of trying to stop people from consuming certain drugs. We have two choices: continue on a path that causes so much destruction, or choose an approach that recognises the principles of human dignity, harm reduction, and public health – an approach that has human rights at its core, and is evidenced-based.
Niamh Eastwood is Executive Director of Release. Niamh has co-authored Release's two most recent policy papers 'The Numbers in Black And White: Ethnic Disparities In The Policing And Prosecution Of Drug Offences In England And Wales' and 'A Quiet Revolution: Drug Decriminalisation Policies Across the Globe'. Niamh is also responsible for drafting many of Release's briefings for parliamentarians and policy makers. She has presented at international and national conferences and is regularly invited to comment in the media.
Niamh is also an Associate of The London School of Economics IDEAS International Drug Policy Project, a technical advisor to the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and a member of the Expert Steering Group for the Global Drug Survey.
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An antiwar sermon at All Saints Church in Pasadena two days before the 2004 presidential election triggered an Internal Revenue Service investigation that threatened the church's tax-exempt status.
But that hasn't stopped All Saints from taking on contentious issues, as it did on a recent Sunday when the Rev. Mike Kinman preached about sexual assault against women. He also spoke of another hot-button issue: the Republican tax plans.
Tucked within the House version of the tax bill — which still must be reconciled with the separate Senate version — is a proposal that likely would have kept the feds away from All Saints 13 years ago.
The House version significantly weakens the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 law that bars tax-exempt organizations from engaging in political activity. The provision would give churches and other nonprofits much more leeway to endorse candidates.
Whether the provision remains in the tax bill could be known as early as Wednesday, when Republican leaders are expected to unveil a new version that would reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions.
Even if the proposal is removed, other efforts to roll back the Johnson Amendment are underway in Congress.
Despite his church's history with the IRS, Kinman said the Johnson Amendment should remain.
Nixing the Johnson Amendment is seen as a nod to President Trump's base. Evangelical Christian groups have argued the amendment is an unconstitutional violation of a pastor's right to free speech.
"We hear from hundreds of pastors across the country fearful of jeopardizing their churches' IRS status," said Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian advocacy group that has been at the forefront of trying to overturn it.
But in California — among the nation's most religiously diverse states — there is little desire from religious leaders to revoke the amendment.
Many of the state's congregations are traditionally conservative, and others are very liberal. Others, like the Catholic church, hew to conservative positions on issues like abortion but strongly support the rights of immigrants in the country illegally.
It is absolutely not my role to tell someone, 'You should vote for this person' as a a faith issue.
Trump's base is small in California, even among Christians, said Tommy Givens, an assistant professor of New Testament studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.
"I expect that a repeal [of the Johnson Amendment] would be greeted broadly in California with widespread concern about the erosion of institutional separation between church and state," Givens said.
Polls show that Catholic voters in 2016 were split between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and Catholics "come down on both sides of most issues today," said Father Thomas Rausch, professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University.
Whitlock — who has served as pastor of Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Irvine for two decades — said black churches have long supported candidates they believe will help the disenfranchised.
Most of the crowd cheered. A group of Clinton supporters walked out, furious. Whitlock got calls from Republican members of his congregation and from others worried the church would lose its 501(c)(3) status.
Trump has vowed to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment since he was on the campaign trail. Changing the law would require an act of Congress.
Doing so is deeply unpopular with the American public.
A recent survey by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland found that 79% of voters oppose scrapping the Johnson Amendment. The results, released last month, show 71% of Republicans, 88% of Democrats and 78% of independents were against doing so.
"People are just so tired of the level of partisan polarization, and the idea that it would creep into yet one more area of their life doesn't sound very appealing," said Steven Kull, director of the Program for Public Consultation.
The anti-politicking rule has not been widely enforced. Since 2008, thousands of pastors have participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a nationwide, coordinated preaching effort promoted by the Alliance Defending Freedom in which they challenge the ban by getting political in sermons and sending recordings to the IRS. Only one participating church has been investigated, Holcomb said.
Givens, of Fuller Seminary, compared the push to get rid of the Johnson Amendment to the so-called war on Christmas. He said it's a superficial move that plays well with conservative Christians who believe their faith is under attack.
Even now, Givens said, plenty of politicking happens in churches. There are certain issues — like abortion on the right and LGBTQ rights on the left — that congregations take stands on that are linked with certain candidates, Givens said.
"There are all sorts of dog whistles that are blown," he said.
Erwin said the church is bound by Christian duty to stand against racism, anti-immigrant prejudice and mistreatment of the poor.
There are all sorts of dog whistles that are blown.
At All Saints Church, activism dates back to the 1940s, when the church's rector stood in front of trains to protest the internment of Japanese Americans.
The 2004 sermon that prompted the IRS investigation — which did not include an endorsement — included an imagined dialogue between Jesus, Sen. John F. Kerry and President George W. Bush. Jesus chided both for supporting the war in Iraq and speaking so little about the poor.
In 2007, the IRS said it thought the church had tried to influence votes but that officials would not revoke its tax exemption.
Outside the church on a recent Sunday were tables touting the church's LGBTQ, Middle East and racial justice ministries. An "action table" each week details a cause and includes forms for writing to elected officials.
Elizabeth Tatum, 52, chatted with church-goers at an action table focusing on the plight of Palestinian children. Tatum, who has attended the church since she was 2 and was present for the controversial 2004 sermon, loves its activist spirit.
But she, too, favors the Johnson Amendment.


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EU Commission Official Slams Italian Populists, Demands Italy Become 'Pro-EU'
European Union Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic has claimed that he is "worried" about the anti-establishment Italian coalition government and attacked the populists saying they make "false promises".
Mr Sefcovic, who is a member of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) EU parliamentary group, commented on the rapid rise of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and his party the League saying, "we are all worried," and that Italy should be more pro-EU, Il Giornale reports.
"I have been many times in Italy and I have always been impressed by how much this great and important European country is honestly pro-EU," Sefcovic said and added: "We have to make sure that in the future Italy will once again be the big country of the strongly pro-EU G7."
Setting his sights on the populist Italian coalition, Sefcovic attacked the League and the Five Star Movement saying both parties "play with fire to destroy our European cooperation and our European dream".
Italian Interior Minister Salvini responded to the attack saying: "Europe's umpteenth attack on Italy, the League, and the government.
"Now they are interested in us, but for years the euro-bureaucrats have ignored the requests for help of our country to stop the landings and have saddled us with 700,000 immigrants. They'd better apologise and keep quiet."
Anger After European Commissioner Blasts 'Little Mussolinis', 'Problem' Italy https://t.co/rjfJhENH3b
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 14, 2018
The attack is just the latest in a series of attacks from the European Union toward the Italian government over the last several weeks which have included European Commissioner responsible for the budget Günther Oettinger claiming the Italians and other populists want to "weaken" or even "destroy" the EU.
Alexander Winterstein, spokesman for the EU Commission, slammed the Italians last month after Five Star Movement leader Luigi di Maio threatened to pull Italian funding from the political bloc due to a lack of consensus on migrant policy.
"In Europe, threats are useless and do not lead anywhere. The only way to solve things in Europe is to work together constructively and with goodwill, which is what the Commission has been trying to do for some time," Winterstein said.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com
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99 Classic Thriller Short Stories: Works by Philip K Dick Edgar Allan Poe Arthur Conan Doyle HG Wells Wilkie Collinsand many more !
Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, O. Henry, E. Nesbit, E. W. Hornung, Edgar Wallace, Sax Rohmer, Algernon Blackwood, Philip K. Dick, Rafael Sabatini, H. G. Wells, Alexander Pushkin, Arthur Conan Doyle, William Macleod Raine, W. W. Jacobs, Fred M. White, Cleveland Moffett, H. Bedford-Jones, Mary Heaton Vorse, Harold Bindloss, Frank L. Packard, Gilbert Parker, Barry Pain, Stewart Edward White, Edward S. Ellis, Arthur Stringer, Guy Boothby, Wadsworth Camp, Arthur Quiller-Couch, James B. Connolly, H. C. Bailey, Compton MacKenzie, Arthur Train, JACK HOLT, Emma Orczy, H. A. Lamb, Ethel Turner, Arthur O. Friel, Henry C. Rowland, Harvey J. O'Higgins, Charles E. Van Loan, G.B. Lancaster, Hapsburg Liebe, Cy Warman, Eugene Manlove Rhodes, George Newnes, Harold Titus, James Aquila Kempster, Josephine Dodge Daskam, Mary Shipman Raymond Andrews, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, Wilbur Daniel Steele, Readym Anthologies
Publisher: Oregan Publishing
1. The Queen of Spades
ALGERNON BLACKWOOD:
2. Confession
3. S. O. S.
4. The Wings of Horus
5. B. 24
ARTHUR O. FRIEL:
6. The Spider
7. The Vulture
ARTHUR QUILLER-COUCH:
8. Statement of Gabriel Foot, Highwayman
9. The Affair of Bleakirk-on-Sands
10. The Countess of Bellarmine
ARTHUR STRINGER:
11. The Adolescence of Number Eighty-Seven
12. The Button Thief
13. The Wire-Tappers
ARTHUR TRAIN:
14. Extradition
15. The Baron de Ville
16. The Golden Touch
17. The Nth Power
BARONESS ORCZY
18. Needs Must
BARRY PAIN
19. The Undying Thing
CHARLES E. VAN LOAN
20. For Brodie's Benefit
CLEVELAND MOFFETT:
21. The Mysterious Card
22. The Mysterious Card Unveiled
COMPTON MACKENZIE
23. Carnage
CY WARMAN:
24. A Locomotive as a War Chariot
25. A Wild Night at Wood River
26. The Express Messenger
27. Wakalona
E.NESBIT
28. John Charrington's Wedding
E.W. HORNUNG
29. The Man at the Wheel
30. The Fall of the House of Usher
EDGAR WALLACE:
31. The Man Who Died Twice
32. The Man Who Hated Earthworms
33. The Man Who Lived at Clapham
34. The Man Who Was Acquitted
35. The Man Who Would Not Speak
EDWARD S. ELLIS
36. A Stirring Incident
37. A Young Hero
ETHEL TURNER
38. In the Silence of the Sleep-Time
EUGENE MANLOVE RHODES
39. The Long Shift
FRANK L. PACKARD
40. The Blood of Kings
41. The Builder
42. The Man Who Didn't Count
FRED M. WHITE
43. Red Petals
44. The Other Man's Story
45. The Shebeeners
46. The Waterwitch
G.B. LANCASTER
47. The Brand of the Wild
GEORGE NEWNES
48. A Fair Smuggler
GILBERT PARKER:
49. A Castaway of the South
50. As Deep As the Sea
51. The Gift of the Simple King
GUY BOOTHBY
52. The Treasure of Sacramento Nick
H. BEDFORD-JONES:
53. A Personal Problem
54. Gallegher of Beaver
55. Sun, Sand and Soap
56. The Image of Earth
H.A. LAMB
57. Said Afzel's Elephant
H.C. BAILEY
58. Sir Albert's Fall
59. The Devil of Marston
60. The Lone Hand
61. The Treasure in the Forest
62. Through a Window
HAPSBURG LIEBE
63. The Jungle's Accolade
HAROLD BINDLOSS
64. An Unofficial Affair
65. Gillatly's March
HAROLD TITUS
66. The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Put
HARVEY J. O'HIGGINS
67. A Change of Profession
68. Captain Keighley's Men
69. Captain Meaghan's Retirement
HENRY C. ROWLAND
70. At the Break of the Monsoon
71. At the Last of the Ebb
72. In the China Sea
73. Jordan Knapp, Trader
74. Rosenthal the Jew
75. The Shears of Atropos
76. The Treasure Box
77. Two Gentlemen
JACK HOLT
78. The Greaser
JAMES AQUILA KEMPSTER
79. The Vengeance of the Wolf
JAMES B. CONNOLLY
80. The Illimitable Senses
JOSEPHINE DODGE DASKAM
81. The Warning
MARY HEATON VORSE
82. The Wallow of the Sea
MARY RAYMOND SHIPMAN ANDREWS
83. The Butler
MRS. BELLOC LOWNDES
84. The Lodger
85. The Phonograph and the Graft
86. Adjustment Team
87. The Crystal Crypt
88. The Golden Man
89. The Hanging Stranger
90. The Fool's Love Story
91. The Prize
SAX ROHMER
92. The Green Mist
93. The Yashmak of Pearls
STEWART EDWARD WHITE
94. A Man and His Dog
W.W. JACOBS
95. Jerry Bundler
WADSWORTH CAMP
96. The Signal Tower
WILBUR DANIEL STEELE
97. Free
WILKIE COLLINS
98. The Angler's Story Of The Lady Of Glenwith Grange
WILLIAM MCLEOD RAINE
99. The Winning of Miss Jimmie Tolliver
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Haven Theatre's world premiere is a rip-roaring, hair-raising horror story that'll have you clutching for the person next to you, even if you have not previously met. Stark terror in confined spaces has a way of engendering unanticipated introductions.
To paraphrase the old adage, tragedy is hard and comedy is even harder. To which I'd add: Horror is diabolically difficult. It's been almost half a century since novelist William Peter Blatty unleashed "The Exorcist," setting the bar for tales of possession as high as the heavens. The tropes of the genre — think innocent maids spewing pea soup vomit while levitating and screeching about sewing socks in hell (also a paraphrase, as this is a Family Newspaper) — jumped the shark long ago. Lord knows it takes a fiendishly creative mind to spin a genuinely surprising, camp-free, truly terrifying tale of demons among us.
Directed by Jo Cattell, "The Displaced" accomplishes all of the above. Along with the scares, Gomez has written a pointed exploration of gentrification, blending supernatural horrors with the all-too-real nightmare of being priced out your beloved home. The gentrifiers in Gomez' Pilsen-set screamfest are Marisa (Karen Rodriguez) and Lev (Rashaad Hall), a couple with sizzling sexual chemistry and equally volatile issues with trust.
As the troubles of the home's previous tenants come to light, Cattell ramps up the fear with a virtuosity that made me think of frogs being slowly boiled alive. Frogs, so science tells us, don't realize how hot the water has gotten until it's too late to escape. So it goes for Marisa and Lev. By the time they realize the extent of the danger, their odds of escape are slimmer than the sliver of ghastly greenish light slithering in under their front door.
Rodriguez is a wonder, charisma oozing from her pores even when she's growling blasphemies and contorting her limbs like a Cirque du Soleil performer in the grip of ten thousand Hecates. Hall is her match, making Lev so recognizable and likable you will want to leap on stage and save him (don't) as matters careen irrevocably south.
The other key character is the collective design elements. Sarah D. Espinoza (sound), Erik Barry (lights), Arnel Sancianco (set), Emily Boyd (props) and Ryan Plunkett (magic consultant) take the most mundane items — a broken faucet, a malfunctioning computer, a family photo — and create a rollercoaster nightmare that both thrills and terrifies. With Rachel Flesher's design of the intimate and violent elements, "The Displaced" whipsaws between eroticism and evil to dazzling effect.
Whether or not you are among those who understand that Halloween and Day of the Dead are holidays far superior to Christmas and Easter, you will be sucked into the production's diabolically fine vortex. Pro tip: Post show, you may well find the sight of hammers or your local grocery's poultry aisle profoundly triggering. Also, buy some sage. You'll want to smudge your darker corners when you get home.


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Winter a no-show as Games near
As Olympians arrive by the day, the Winter Games seem to be missing something. Namely, winter.
There's more snow in D.C., as in District of Columbia, than B.C., or British Columbia.
Vancouver Olympic officials have touted these as "The Green Games," but Mother Nature might be taking that to an extreme. Some Vancouverites are now referring to them as "The Brown Games," given the muddy conditions at Cypress Mountain.
"When I got off the airplane it was like, 'What's this green grass doing here? This is the Winter Olympics,"' U.S. speedskater Trevor Marsicano said Sunday, recalling his reaction after flying in last week from Milwaukee, Wis. "For me it's nice, because I'm used to, like, zero-degrees. This is awesome."
Trouble is, with opening ceremonies only five days away, the above-freezing temperatures in Vancouver — it got above 50 on Saturday — continue to raise concerns for other sports, particularly snowboarding and freestyle skiing, two events being held on the mountain overlooking the city.
The biggest test comes Monday, when freestyle moguls training sessions are scheduled to begin. Those sessions will provide the first onsite test after organizers spent much of the past few weeks hauling in snow by helicopter and by truck.
"It's not so much the warm weather; it's the wind that does the most damage," said John Furlong, head of local organizing committee VANOC. "We may get help from Mother Nature, but we're not counting on it. The team is calculating what they have to do. The effort for the past 10 days has been super human. They've moved an extraordinary amount of snow."
Although organizers have stressed the courses on Cypress are almost complete, they did announce Sunday that they've pushed back training sessions on the parallel giant slalom snowboarding course by two days. The event begins Feb. 26.
Training on the halfpipe was cut earlier from five to three days.
"The forecast is looking positive this week, and we'll hopeful see some colder temperatures," Tim Gayda, vice president for sport for the Vancouver organizing committee said Saturday.
The outlook, however, still appears as gray as the clouds that hung over the city and clung to the North Shore Mountains for most of Sunday.
An intermittent drizzle fell on Vancouver, and temperatures hovered around 40. It was colder on Cypress, with temperatures in the 30s, with a light rain.
The long-range forecast has temperatures dropping to as low as 19 on Wednesday, and a light snowfall projected for Saturday. And yet there are chances of daytime showers for much of this week, too.
It's even relatively warm in Whistler, where numerous events — including Alpine skiing, bobsled and biathlon — will be held in the mountain-locked community two hours north of Vancouver. The forecast for this week has temperatures hovering at the freezing mark.
"What everyone is counting on is a bit of magic, a bit of snow," Furlong said. "As far as the visuals in Whistler, I just don't have the words to describe how fantastic it is."
In Vancouver, along the city streets and gardens, crocuses are starting to sprout and apple blossoms are starting to bud on trees, making for an unusual sight for a Winter Games host city.
The warm temperatures are somewhat unseasonable even for Vancouver, which like Seattle to the south is warmed by the Pacific currents and traditionally enjoys a mild year-round climate.
What is unusual is the lack of snow on the North Shore Mountains, which have experienced one of the warmest months of January on record.
This is not the first time a Winter Olympics has faced a lack of snow.
In 1998, Nagano had major concerns about a lack of snow in the months before the games, only to see some events canceled and spectators stranded by heavy snow during the Olympics. In 1988 in Calgary, bobsled competition was postponed when ice on the track melted.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the 1964 Innsbruck Games also faced a lack of snow. The Austrian army rushed to the rescue, carving out 20,000 blocks of ice from the mountainside and transporting it to the luge and bobsled tracks. They also carried 1.4 million cubic feet of snow to the Alpine ski slopes.
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Q: Has anyone ever added google pay to a cybersource integration in shopify plus Cybersource is the payment provider for my Shopify plus store. Within that I have payment methods which include VISA/Mastercard/Applepay. Google pay should also be available here but doesn't exist in the list of options. I can't believe Cybersource doesn't support Googlepay. When I have asked Cybdersource they say that the integration is managed by Shopify, but Shopify tell me I should use ShopifyPay if I want to have GooglePay, I can't believe this, it seems more likely that someone needs to refresh the API to make G-pay appear in the list of options.... does anyone have experience of this?
Thanks so much
I have been bouncing between Shopify help and Cybersource help they both just say it's down to the other.

A: Cybersource does support Google pay, their API's can facilitate any Google pay, Apple Pay, PayPal transaction. Shopify chose not to allow Google pay with their cybersource plug in shopify created to force you to switch to shopifys gateway

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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From Palestine to Chicago's Little Palestine
As told to Ata YounanJanuary 5, 2021January 19th, 2022As Told To, Organizing
Queer organizer Samer Owaida on how to link global struggles against oppression to local movements for change.
Photo by Michelle Kanaar
Palestinian organizer Samer Owaida outside his home in Edgewater on Dec. 10, 2020 in Chicago, Ill.
When Samer Owaida left Palestine in 2001, he placed over 6,000 miles between him and his extended family. He was just five years old then. He and his mother and sister left their home during the Second Intifada, when over 4,000 people were killed.
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A longtime organizer who has stood with various social justice organizations like Black Lives Matter Chicago and Anakbayan, Owaida lived in Little Palestine for over a decade. The stretch of Chicago's southwest suburbs is likely home to more Palestinian immigrants than anywhere else in the U.S. But he left last year: Finding a sense of belonging in an Arab community that often admonishes queerness was hard.
Today Owaida organizes with the Palestinian Youth Movement, a collective of Palestinian and Arab youth who seek an active role in the liberation of Palestine from Zionist occupation and underscore joint struggle amongst all oppressed and indigenous people. At the Unversity of Illinois at Chicago, he also researches the structures that inform gay and bisexual Arab men's understanding of HIV. He is quickly learning that community organizing often means having difficult conversations with people who have different worldviews and values.
I've definitely had to censor myself, especially in the beginning stages. My community, unfortunately, is not in a place where they are able to navigate queerness.
I moved out of Little Palestine because of how toxic it got. My first job out of undergrad was at an Arab nonprofit there. It was right when I got my ears pierced. I remember coming into work some days, and women would just stare at me and whisper. Sometimes a coworker would come to me and be like, "The client I just had—do you know what he said? He said your kind was sent here as a curse by God."
Moments like that hurt a lot, in hindsight, because I didn't do anything to them to deserve their hate. I'm really here trying to fight for Palestinians. But I don't love my immediate Palestinian community any less. I love them deeply, which is why I continue to do this work.
Samer Owaida participates in a downtown protest in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in September 2017 in Chicago, Ill.Photo courtesy of Samer Owaida
And there has been change. When I went to a protest in Chicago's southwest suburbs this summer, I got to see aunties and uncles chanting "Black lives matter" in Arabic. It was so cool. Granted, there were only about three or four of them, but this would not have happened 10 or five or two years ago. It's starting. It's very slow, but we're getting there.
The change happens much slower in a more complicated way because you're working with actual human beings who believe these things. All of our communities believe in anti-Blackness because it is global and permeates every society. It's not a matter of disagreeing. It's a matter of pushing people on it, slowly.
Read More of Our Coverage
Photo by April Alonso for Borderless Magazine/ CatchLight Local
Elvira* and Mari Posa* and Pura* of Femme Defensa, and Pura's daughter work on structuring garden beds on a plot of land in Little Village on April 9, 2021 in Chicago. Ill. This farm will be known as The Ruda Farm, named for a plant with healing capabilities. The farm is created as a sustainable way to provide fresh food. Femme Defensa will use the fresh produce grown at this farm to supply their Free Store in Pilsen.
How a Femme Liberation Collective is Practicing Community Care
April Alonso	· May 13, 2021
And that's really the difference between activism and community organizing. Activism is individual by nature. Activism is you going out and presenting the change you want to see in the world. Community organizing, which is what I wanted to be involved in, is not about the individual. And so it's also a little bit harder for capitalism to co-opt.
The biggest challenge—and triumph—is actually having to exist with people that have different opinions. For the case of Palestine, I have to organize with people who believe in a two-state solution or with people who believe in dialoguing with Israel. I have to work with people who might think homosexual people are not human. I have to work with people who think that Palestine should be for Muslims only. An activist wouldn't engage with those people.
Samer Owaida during an #Arabs4BlackLiberation rally and car caravan organized by the U.S. Palestinian Community Network in Little Palestine on June 13, 2020 in Bridgeview, Ill. USPCN estimates that 175 community members attended.Photo courtesy of the US Palestinian Community Network
When shit was popping off this summer, I was getting into a lot of arguments with my mom. She's anti-Black in a way that reinforces horizontal oppression. As a hijabi woman, she's experienced racism from Black folks, so she can't see beyond that.
She's like, "I don't get it. Look at us. We came to this country. We're the model minority. It was hard for us, but we did it." And I say, "Yes, mama, we did it because we're not Black." She's like, "OK, fine. I get that. You're right."
Then moments later, she says, "But Obama became president." And I say, "Okay, mama, let's look at Palestine. Look at who our president is. He's a piece of shit. Does that mean we're freed?"
"OK, but the looting," she says. And I'm like, "Don't talk to me about fucking looting, mama, because when the Intifada was happening in Palestine, you were all burning Israeli stores. You were throwing rocks."
I held her hand on the phone for two and a half hours. And I felt I made maybe five percent progress.
Most folks from my community—most immigrants who come from war-torn countries—don't really understand this country's really deep and evil history. I always find myself translating to cousins back home how America was founded. Sit down. Let me tell you. What they're doing here in Palestine is what they did in America in the early stages. They came on this land. They killed the indigenous people on this land. They put them in little enclaves.
And It's all connected. The U.S. military is the global police—a police we send into other countries. ICE is the police we send into people's homes. And the police are the police we send into people's neighborhoods.
So many Muslims or Arabs probably think that prison is natural or normal. It's where bad people go. For Palestinians who don't understand prison in this country as an industrial complex, let's translate it in a way so they can. Since 1967, over a million Palestinians have been imprisoned. That is over 40 percent of the male population of Palestinians. Almost one in two Palestinian men has been imprisoned. What does that mean for us?
Yeah, the face of the enemy changed. It's Israel. They did this to our people, they hurt us, they came into our land, and they turned it from heaven on earth—one of the most beautiful places in the world—to a place of military bases and checkpoints and pollution and fucking warheads. They've turned it to gray. Look what they did to us.
Samer Owaida outside his home in Edgewater on Dec. 10, 2020 in Chicago, Ill. Owaida is Palestinian and a longtime organizer. "The difference between activism and community organizing is trying to build that structure where you aren't alone in the work you do," said Owaida. Photo by Michelle Kanaar
Can I get you to start thinking about how that happened on this land, too? We are all struggling globally. Liberation is global and intercommunal.
I can never be happy in this life as long as I know that there are people who are experiencing unjust oppression somewhere because I know what it feels like to be unseen. I was also unseen, historically and politically, as a Palestinian. I don't want anyone to ever experience that. Because when I think of a liberated world, it doesn't just stop at the border of Palestine.
My friend Lamis, who I consider an elder in the Palestinian movement—she told me to slow down. I was talking to her about desirability politics, about everything going on in my life.
She's like, "Why do you do what you do? You need to find that.
"Do you do it because you miss how Palestine smells? Do you do it because you miss your aunt? You need to sit. Sit and breathe and find that."
And I don't think I've found that yet.
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Expanded Polystyrene is an incredibly flexible material that is widely used within the Construction Industry. As pressures increase politically, environmentally & socially for zero carbon sustainable housing, the Construction Industry is now realising the potential of EPS as a preferred long term solution to new increasingly demanding building regulations.
The Government announced in December of 2005 that 3 million new houses are to be built in the UK alone by the year 2020. In conjunction with ever increasing energy prices, rising temperatures and growing CO2 emissions, there is an immediate need to fully optimise the thermal performance of all these new dwellings.
As the Construction Industry focuses on these issues with the growing demands on output for both masonry and concrete products, EPS is now accepted as a key material to support the attainment of both thermal performance and the speed of build that will be required in order to meet these new demands. Please click on the Construction tool bar above to look at how Moulded Foams is supporting and developing new products and technologies within this sector.


Kids of all ages love a photo booth party! Photo booths have been trending for several years in the party world and they seem to be only gaining popularity lately! If you are looking for a fun activity for kids – and adults – at your upcoming party, a photo booth is a great addition. The best part is that it's really easy, and the kids can keep coming back again and again for new poses and new fun. All kids love making funny faces and posing for the camera!
And now, Birthday Express is making it SO EASY to create your own photo booth at home!
All you do is pick the theme you like, and they send you everything you need to create an adorable photo booth at your next party. How fun and easy is that? Included in the kits are backdrop materials, photo stand-ins, cut-out additions for your backdrops, wooden dowels to create signs and props with, and even three-dimensional props and costumes for your kids to wear! You can also customize the amounts of items in the box for parties large and small.
There are 12 different themes for you to choose from, and every one of them comes with all the supplies you need to make it look awesome! I picked two different themes, construction and pirates, because I knew that my boys would love both. There are themes for girls, for boys, and for both! The themes coordinate with all the Birthday Express party supplies, too.
The construction party kit comes with hardhats, sunglasses, and precious orange vests. I created my backdrop by using that faux-wood vinyl wall covering and then adding some caution tape and some of the cute road signs. We tried doing our best "Stop" faces and serious construction work poses. My big guy even posed with his iPad so that it looked like he was doing some important construction business!
The pirate kit comes with eye patches (one in pink!), bandanas, hoop earrings, telescopes, inflatable swords, and fun masks! I used the vinyl wall covering that looks like sand and then put up a pirate flag and a treasure map for our backdrop. The kids loved making their best "argggghhh!" faces for the camera! Some of their faces were pretty intense!
We had a blast trying on all the props and posing! My husband and I did a few shots too.
It's pretty hard to resist putting on an eye patch and a bandanna because they are just so cute!
Our St. Bernard puppy, Coco, even got in on the action! She's a pretty great poser too!
The kids could hardly decide which props they wanted to use because there were so many fun ones! And the kids can keep all the props for dress-up later!
You also get these great picture stand-ins, so the kids can pose right in the scene!
Seeing the kids ham it up for the camera is really fun and makes for awesome keepsakes from your party. You will absolutely love this kit and it will make your next party so much fun!
For some more tips on creating your own photo booth, watch my video about our party!
Has Brittany inspired you to throw a photo booth party for your little one?
Did you enjoy this post? Want to see more like it? Then follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and tell us what you think!
Click here for all our photo booth kits at BirthdayExpress.com!
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Méric has become an icon for antifa activists in France, who claim his death amounts to a "political killing." Conversely, right-wing groups have classified the actions of the three defendants as "self-defense." As the trial unfolds, answers are expected to unanswered questions, such as whether or not the intention was to kill the activist, and if a weapon was used.
Outside of the apartment, words turned to blows. Méric was beaten badly, later dying from his wounds in the hospital. The violence led to large protests in the French capital, as many residents rose up in support of the dead activist and against the rise of the far-right.
"The death of Clément Méric is a political murder. He was targeted because he was recognized as an anti-fascist activist," an unidentified spokesperson for Action Antifasciste Paris Banlieue (AFAPB) told Agence France-Presse at a Monday rally in support of the victim.
Méric's death is "not a minor news item; it is symbolic of the rising power of the far right, in France and in Europe" with "the complicity of governments' fascist, racist and ultraliberal policies," the spokesperson added.


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Net Worth Stefan Hell
Stefan Hell
Stefan Hell's source of wealth comes from being a physicist. How much money is Stefan Hell worth at the age of 60 and what's his real net worth now?
As of 2023, Stefan Hell's net worth is $100,000 - $1M.
Stefan Hell (born December 23, 1962) is famous for being physicist. He currently resides in Romania. German physicist who received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for the advancement of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy. He founded the Nanobiophotonics department at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and has served as a professor at the Heidelberg University Faculty of Physics and Astronomy.
December 23, 1962 (age 60)
Stefan Hell is a Capricorn and was born in The Year of the Tiger
Stefan Hell was born in Romania on Sunday, December 23, 1962 (Baby Boomers Generation). He is 60 years old and is a Capricorn. Stefan Walter Hell is a Romanian-born German physicist and one of the directors of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy", together with Eric Betzig and William Moerner. He is also an inventor who created what came to be known as the 4Pi microscope.
He grew up in Santana, Romania before leaving for West Germany with his parents in 1978. The education details are not available at this time. Please check back soon for updates. Stefan Hell is a member of Richest Celebrities and Physicists.
Stefan is turning 61 years old in
Like American neurobiologist Roderick MacKinnon, he is the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Stefan is a Capricorn. Capricorn is represented by the sea-goat, a mythological creature with the body of a goat and tail of a fish. People born under this sign are skilled at navigating both the material and emotional realms. Capricorns are excellent at taking action and launching initiatives. Their can-do attitude leads to success in pretty much any industry. Capricorn is ruled by taskmaster Saturn, the stoic planet that governs time and restrictions.
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Stefan Hell's net worth
Online estimates of Stefan Hell's net worth vary. While it's relatively simple to predict his income, it's harder to know how much Stefan has spent over the years.
Continue to the next page to see Stefan Hell net worth, estimated salary and earnings.