Salem-News.com Civil Rights articles Page 5

NSA has Direct Access to Servers of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple and Others

Breaking: New PRISM slide leaked by the Guardian...

(WASHINGTON DC ) - Breaking news -- this is one of the biggest stories of our lifetime -- it is critical for all internet users to read and understand this.

The Guardian has just released a new slide today from its collection of 41 PRISM slides detailing the top secret NSA spy program that has, for years, granted the U.S. government "back door" access to the servers of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, AOL, Facebook and others.

GOP Senators Kill Paycheck Fairness Act

The PFA, introduced in both the House (H.R. 377) and the Senate (S. 84) would have updated and strengthened the EPA in important ways.

(SAN FRANCISCO) - The entire cast of Republican Senators voted June 4 to kill the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), equal pay legislation intended to close loopholes and strengthen the Equal Pay Act (EPA), first signed into law by President Kennedy.

The vote was 52 to 47 with all Republican Senators voting against the legislation. Passage of the PFA would have been a much needed 50th anniversary present to American women, indeed to all Americans.

The Guardian: Verizon Has Been Giving all of the Company`s US Phone Records to NSA

After The Guardian broke news of a secret court order that compels Verizon to feed massive amounts of data to the NSA without publicly commenting on the practice, The Washington Post cited experts who believe the practice has been ongoing since 2006.

(LONDON) - For more than a month, Verizon Wireless has regularly provided the National Security Agency with logs of every phone call that Verizon Wireless customers make in the United States.

Several weeks ago a secret federal court apparently created a three-month window that’s still ongoing, and which compels Verizon to hand over to the NSA daily logs for all calls involving its customers in which one or both parties are physically located in the United States.

Oregon Ready to Add Sexual Orientation Question to College Forms

The bill has already passed the House on a vote of 40 to 19.

(SALEM) - An Oregon Senate committee will consider legislation Thursday that would require colleges and universities to ask students about their sexual orientation.

The goal of the bill is to collect data that would help address the issues lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual students may face during college.

18-Year Old Girl Faces Felony Charges Over Lesbian Romance

Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman: Stop the prosecution of a girl in a same-sex relationship

(PALM BEACH) - My daughter Kaitlyn is a wonderful 18-year-old who is not guilty of anything other than a high school romance, but is being prosecuted for 2 felony counts of “lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12--16 years of age,” because she has a girlfriend who is 15.

Kailtyn’s girlfriend’s parents are pressing charges because they are against the same-sex relationship, even though their daughter has stated that this is a consensual relationship.

54 `Moral Monday` Protesters Expect Arrests in Civil Disobedience Over `Extreme Public Policy`

North Carolina NAACP leads fourth wave of direct action at state capitol to protest General Assembly’s Extreme Package of Legislation.

(RALEIGH, NC) - At least 54 individuals will assemble today to oppose extreme policies in the North Carolina General Assembly.

It's the fourth week of nonviolent civil disobedience, led by the NC NAACP. The “Moral Monday” pray-in and teach-in largely focuses on the constitutional right of equal protection under the law.

Police Accountability

I very much thank and admire the agencies who are using the appropriate tools to help prevent officers from breaking the very laws they are sworn to uphold.

(LOS ANGELES) - In California, the Peace Officers Bill of Rights needs to be reviewed and revised. Especially section 3007 and others.

This article by the Orange County Register says it all, "California laws strengthened wall of silence around officers."

How Soon We Forget

Radical, religious extremists are all over the world and are bad for humanity. They use religion to justify bigotry and violence against other people.

(OKINAWA) - When the word radicals and terrorists are mentioned, what is your first thought?

Since the horrific events of 9/11, people of a certain skin tone or religious preference have been stereotyped, profiled, harassed, and pre-judged as being anti-American or terrorist.

Intellectuals and Race: Getting it Wrong from Eugenics to `Social Justice`

Intellectuals and Race" can help bring us back to a serious examination of a question which has not received the empirical examination it deserves.

(WASHINGTON DC) - Intellectual theories, which have largely bypassed complex reality, have had a dramatic influence upon the way Americans view race---and racial differences.

In an important new book, "Intellectuals And Race", tests the underlying assumptions about race that have prevailed among intellectuals and which have led to a variety of crusades...

Statement from Chris W. Cox on U.S. Senate Defeat of Manchin-Toomey-Schumer Amendment

We are grateful for the hard work and leadership of those Senators who chose to pursue meaningful solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems.

(WASHINGTON DC) - Today, the misguided Manchin-Toomey-Schumer proposal failed in the U.S. Senate.

This amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution.