Die-ins

In response to the New York Grand Jury decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, angry protesters, both young and old and of all races, have participated in ‘die-ins’ across the US. The protests have even sparked die-ins for the same cause in London, UK.

Specifically medical students across several different colleges in the United States have created their own “White Coat Die In” to highlight the lack of diversity in the medical field. Activists dropped to the ground in their white lab coats and used the hashtag “#whitecoats4blacklives” to promote their cause.

The die-ins usually last lengths of times that are representative of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two unarmed black men who were both killed by officers. For instance, a die-in consisting of Harvard Medical students lasted 15 and a half minutes: 4 and half minutes that represented the 4 and a half hours that Michael Brown’s body lay on the ground after his death, and 11 minutes for the 11 times that Eric Garner told the cops he could not breathe before his suffocation.

For the latest on the most recent die-in that just occurred in London, check out http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-30424338.

Congress Reaches Deal

Finally agreeing on a $1.1 trillion bill for government spending on Thursday night, Congress avoided another government shutdown — but narrowly.

A 219-206 vote was the final result of the vote to pass the bill, supported significantly more by Republicans than Democrats, despite Obama’s attempts to urge his fellow Democrats to vote in favor of the bill. Some Democrats criticized Obama for his support of the bill.

The bill is predicted to fund most the government throughout next September, but the Department of Homeland Security will only be funded until February since Republicans are likely to pass new restrictions on the agency working on Obama’s new immigration laws.

“This bill puts a big bow on a holiday gift for the Wall Street contributors who get special treatment in the provisions of this bill. It’s all about stuffing the silk stockings, and these people want to gamble with our money,” said Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas before the vote occurred.

For more in-depth information on the passage of the spending bill in congress, read http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/11/politics/spending-bill-brink/index.html?hpt=hp_t1.

Rollins: Beloved Phillies player traded to Dodgers

After a 15-year run with the Philadelphia Phillies, the beloved shortstop Jimmy Rollins has been traded to the LA Dodgers. Loving and dedicated fans mourn the trade of the three-time all-star who spent his entire career with the Phils.

Rollins will serve as a bridge between the Dodgers’ ex-shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who just recently signed with the Boston Red Sox, and Corey Seager, the team’s 20-year old prospective player.

After earning full no-trade rights by spending 10 seasons in major league baseball and 5 years with the Phillies, Rollins himself approved the trade. Despite his approval, the trade was very sudden for him, as he fully expected to return to Philadelphia in the 2015 season. He will not return, unfortunately, until the Dodgers play the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Read http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20141211_Phillies_trade_Jimmy_Rollins_to_Dodgers.html for more details about Rollins’ legacy on the Phillies and his trade.

Protests in Hong Kong

“I want real democracy; I want universal suffrage,” a protester said as he was hauled away by police, CNN reports.

For weeks, protesters have gathered on a site in the heart of Hong Kong to fight for democracy in the Chinese government. However, police removed the protest site piece by piece on Thursday, dismantling barricades and barriers to temporarily stop the protesters.

The Chinese government has rejected the protesters’ demands for open elections and ordered local authorities to deal with the ‘illegal occupation’ of the site on which students and politicians alike fight for their civil rights. Despite a lack of success to sway the governments, protesters warn that they will be back, and that these protests are only the beginning of a movement.

The protests in the city of Hong Kong are non-violent; the leaders and influential faces of the group have helped their fellow protesters remain peaceful.

Read more about the Hong Kong protests at http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/10/world/asia/hong-kong-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews.

Torture Report

After years of reading and analyzing CIA documents to examine “enhanced interrogation techniques” after the post 9/11 era, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the brutal report that confirms that these enhanced techniques included torture.

The CIA has vehemently claimed that these interrogations “saved lives” in order to justify the report.

However, the Senate committee believes just the opposite after a close analysis.

“The use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information,” the report stated.

In addition, the report stated that 26 of 119 prisoners ‘interrogated’ at the prison at Guantánamo should not have even been detained. One detainee died as a result of hypothermia after being chained to the concrete floor, nearly naked. US Agents were said to abuse the prisoners very violently and that doing so lead to very little important information, if any, during the search for Osama bin Laden.

The most crucial information acquired from a prisoner was found during a traditional interview before the Iraqi man was subject to any form of torture.

For more in-depth information about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings, read http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/09/politics/top-takeaways-cia-torture-report/index.html?iref=allsearch. To read the actual report, visit http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/12/politics/torture-report/?hpt=us_t3.