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Clinton: “Disturbing Trend” of International Repression of LGBT People

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointedly referenced a “disturbing trend of 2010 was the repression of vulnerable minorities, including racial and ethnic and religious minorities along with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,” internationally, in announcing the 35th State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices, released Friday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

Clinton reiterated her assertion, as well as the U.S. government’s position, that gay rights are human rights–and accentuated the U.S. government’s concerns about the threatened lives of LGBT people in Uganda by stating:

“And because I believe, and our government believes, that gay rights are human rights, we remain extremely concerned about state-sanctioned homophobia. In Uganda, for example, homosexuality remains illegal, and people are being harassed, discriminated against, threatened, and intimidated.”

This may be the first time a U.S. official has publicly uttered the words “state-sanctioned homophobia” in connection to a State Department human rights report. I am no longer surprised by anything Hillary Clinton says or does–she continues to break ground and set new milestones as America’s chief diplomat and advocate for human rights. Despite her formal diplomatic presentation, Clinton’s words today challenge autocratic regimes to do more to protect the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people around the world.

Certainly, hopefully, officials of the Uganda government are probably shocked by being named publicly as state sponsors of hatred toward gays by the U.S. Secretary of State for their unabashed efforts to aid, abet, and harm Ugandan LGBT citizens, which resulted in the murder of gay activist David Kato in January 2011.

Read: “Ugandan Kill The Gays Bill Returns With 2 Million Signature Petition

Clinton’s words matter, especially in light of continuing efforts to bring Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill back before the parliament for a vote before recessing.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

The report also focuses on state-sponsored extrajudicial killings, torture, detention, and disappearance, along with government corruption.

Clinton, who is arguably the most visible and forceful leader in the Obama Administration on LGBT rights, ordered formal reporting on gay rights to be included in the annual human rights country reports when she became Secretary of State in January, 2009.  The 2010 report reflects the first such report that includes a new emphasis on LGBT rights and a renewed emphasis on women’s rights in more than 190 of countries throughout the world.

The report was delayed by a few months due to the North Africa uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and the current humanitarian intervention in Libya, forged by the UN Security Council Resolution 1973.  It takes in account the fluid situation in North Africa and the Middle East and states that the outcome remains to be seen if human rights will be respected in those countries where revolutionary changes are currently underway.

The other two trends reported in the overview of the 2010 human rights report indicate that “more than 90 governments have sought to pass restrictive laws and regulations, hampering the ability of organizations to register, operate freely, or receive foreign funding,” and that, because of “the explosive growth in the use of the Internet, mobile phones and other connective technologies that allow instantaneous communications to billions of people across the globe,” a number of governments have resorted to Internet censorship and sought to block access to the Internet by human rights activists who work to overturn such harsh tactics.

The report also shows that more than 40 governments are now “using a combination of regulatory restrictions, technical controls on access to the Internet, and technologies designed to repress speech and infringe on the personal privacy of those who use these rapidly evolving technologies.”

Since the Iran “Green” uprising in June 2009, the State Department has continually sought to enable activists access to Facebook and Twitter, even when hostile governments strove to deny them access by turning off the Internet. Most recently activists used these social media platforms in Tunisia and Egypt to help organize, eventually overthrowing two dictators who had been in power for decades, all occuring since the beginning of 2011.

Read: “Wikileaks, Twitter, Cable News Fuel Tunisia Uprising Perfect Storm

In another move toward transparency, today also marked the unveiling by Clinton of a new website– humanrights.gov— open to everyone, and empowers human rights defenders with access to information about human rights abuses in countries which deny such information to their own citizens. In a brief peruse of the site, I was quite impressed by the depth and breadth of information contained on it and its nuanced approach to organizing human rights abuses, such as using the term “human integrity,” to report a number of incidents and violation of LGBT persons.

This website marks the first time the Universal Bill of Human Rights is listed on a U.S. government website that also includes the status of all international human rights treaties. Appropriately, this website showcases a famous photo of Eleanor  Roosevelt, unveiling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted under her leadership  and adopted by the UN as its base document in 1948, from which all human rights treaties emanate. This website marks a symmetrical moment–from Eleanor Roosevelt, a controversial First Lady of the United States in her day, who wrote the framework for all human rights documents as an outcome from one of the darkest periods in human history–to that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also an equally controversial First Lady, and who has broken new ground by forcefully articulating the new human rights of the 21st century.

A more detailed regional and country report analyzing the human rights report’s contents on the status of global LGBT rights is forthcoming.

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

 

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Musk Complying With Federal Laws White House Says — Will Not Release Disclosure

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insists President Donald Trump’s Director of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, is complying with all federal laws. The Trump administration is under growing pressure to release Musk’s financial disclosure form and any conflict of interest waiver the President may have signed, if there is one.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, who wrote the best-selling book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” made a rare appearance inside the White House Press Briefing Room on Wednesday to challenge Musk’s actions.

“You talked about the transparency with DOGE and Elon Musk,” Haberman reminded Leavitt. “There is a conflict of interest law in place that says that people who have personal interests can’t interact with government entities that could touch on those. Has President Trump signed a waiver for Elon Musk, does such a thing and exist, if it does, will you guys release it in the interest of transparency that he’s committed to?”

READ MORE: ‘Demolition Plan’: Dems Warn DOGE Guts Government to Empower Billionaires, Harm Americans

“I have not seen the law that you are referring to,” Leavitt was quick to respond. “What I can tell you is that Elon Musk is, I’ve confirmed before, is a special government employee. He is filing the proper financial disclosure. And he is complying with all applicable federal laws.”

“As you also heard, Elon addressed this directly yesterday in the alleged conflict of interest, and he said everything he’s doing is very public, and if you all perceive a conflict of interest, you’re welcome to bring that up.”

“And as the president said, if he feels like Elon is engaging in something that’s a conflict of interest, he will tell Elon not to do that,” she claimed. “Elon also said yesterday that before he moves forward with anything, he consults with the president of the United States. So, um, we’re very confident with the ethics and the guardrails that have been put in place here.”

On Tuesday during his Oval Office press conference, Elon Musk told reporters that there is no conflict of interest.

Musk’s SpaceX reportedly received a $38.8 million contract from NASA this week.

CNN on Tuesday reported that Musk has not filed and will not file a public financial disclosure form.

“Musk, speaking in the Oval Office, sought to underscore his belief that ‘transparency is what builds trust,’ and insisted that all of his team’s efforts were being made public on DOGE’s social media accounts and website,” CNN reported. “But he also seemed to chafe at some of the scrutiny he was receiving, likening it to a ‘daily proctology exam.'”

READ MORE: ‘Trumpflation’: Blaming Biden, Trump Slammed for Breaking ‘Day One’ Promise as Prices Jump

“Earlier in the day, a White House official said Musk would not need to file a public financial disclosure, allowing the world’s richest man to skirt public scrutiny of his potential conflicts. Musk’s various companies have billions of dollars in government contracts.”

“As an unpaid special government employee who is not a commission officer, he will file a confidential financial disclosure report per the norm,” a White House official told CNN, the news outlet reported.

“We wouldn’t let him” have a conflict of interest or a lack of transparency, President Trump assured reporters Tuesday.

But The New York Times on Tuesday reported that the White House had not responded to its request “for a copy of the waiver, a document that is required under federal law to be released. Ethics waivers are typically drafted based on conflicts identified through a financial disclosure filing, so it is possible that no waiver has been prepared yet.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

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‘Demolition Plan’: Dems Warn DOGE Guts Government to Empower Billionaires, Harm Americans

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During Wednesday’s DOGE Subcommittee Hearing on Government Waste, House Democrats slammed President Donald Trump’s Director of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, and DOGE, which they accused of being a “demolition plan” for the federal government designed to empower billionaires while harming everyday Americans, and especially those who rely on social safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare.

In a damning display, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia detailed what he said were Musk’s plans to launch a “power grab” inside the federal government, hurt “the American social safety net” and destroy “our institutions.” The California Democrat also made a few mocking remarks about the billionaire he called “President Musk.”

“I find it ironic, of course, that our chairwoman, Congresswoman Greene, is in charge of running this committee,” Rep. Garcia said of far-right Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. “Now, in the last Congress, Chairwoman Greene literally showed a dick pic in our oversight congressional hearing, so I thought I’d bring one as well.”

“Now, this, of course, we know is President Elon Musk,” Garcia joked, as a staffer put up a huge photo of the billionaire in white tie and tails, to laughter from the gallery. “He’s also the world’s richest man. He was the biggest political donor in the last election. He has billions of dollars in conflicts of interest, and we know that he is leading a power grab, also abided by and encouraged by Donald Trump and of course, the chairwoman, Congresswoman Greene.”

READ MORE: ‘Trumpflation’: Blaming Biden, Trump Slammed for Breaking ‘Day One’ Promise as Prices Jump

Garcia pointed to a large board listing several federal agencies he suggested DOGE is trying to destroy.

He called DOGE “a demolition plan that’s going to run through our government,” and said that “DOGE is trying to abolish the Department of Education. That means opportunities denied to kids. It means you’re ripping away opportunities for children with disabilities, who are dependent on this money.”

“You’re also halting medical research, which is also critical, which we have to also stop. The idea that we are going to eliminate or destroy the National Institutes of Health, the NIH, is crazy.”

“Let’s talk about the Department of Labor. We’re talking about protections for working people across this country, where people can actually complain about abuses their companies are making against them and their coworkers. Workers are now going to be in danger,” he warned.

“And let’s also talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Another huge issue for us. Think about the scammers and fraudsters that’ll be empowered across this country, because Elon Musk,” he alleged, “wants — essentially, these companies [to] have more power over consumers and over people across this country.”

“Look at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Garcia continued. “That is actually what’s being discussed partly today. Healthcare, we’re talking about being denied to millions of poor people, working-class people across this country. And now, of course, they’re onto their largest target: The U.S. Social Security Administration. We’re talking about this the destruction of the actual social safety net in this country. We know that one in five Americans collect Social Security — seniors, disabled people. This entire plan is about hurting the American social safety net and destroying our institutions.”

The California Democrat continued to attack DOGE.

“This committee wants to empower the richest person in the world to hurt people so they can take all of this money that they so-call want to save and then give it to themselves, their companies, and their billionaire friends,” he charged. “That is the attack that is happening in this committee and across this country, and it’s important that we call it out.”

“We also know, of course, that Elon Musk is sending his unqualified DOGE staff to carry out this agenda across all these agencies. And in some cases, actually teenage staffers. No accountability, no experience, and problematic records. They’re trying to rob you and they’re probably a minor.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar also attacked Musk and President Trump, for firing numerous Inspectors General while ignoring what he says is the $8 million per day the federal government gives to Musk and his companies.

RELATED: ‘Not Legal’: Trump May Dissolve Dept. of Education in Days, Democrat Warns

“Five Inspector Generals that were looking into Elon Musk’s companies were fired by the Trump-Musk administration,” the Democrat from Texas charged. “TheseInspector Generals who are independent, protected by law, they are the people that find the waste, fraud, and abuse and found many of the cases of waste, fraud, and abuse that have been brought up today — fired because they were looking into Elon Musk at the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board, which is supposed to protect workers from getting their unions busted by folks like Elon Musk — made functionally broken by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that really is the Department of Government Efficiency for Elon Musk, not for you.”

“They are trying to shut down the Department of Education, the Department of Labor,” he continued. “You know what he doesn’t seem to be looking into? His own contracts.”

“Just last year, Elon Musk was promised three billion from close to 100 contracts with the federal government,” Casar alleged.

He also said that “the average person in this country who survives on Social Security, one of our seniors who’s worked their entire life,” gets $65 a day from Social Security.

“We’re not looking into Elon Musk’s eight million dollars a day. This subcommittee, chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene and the House Republicans, is looking into your grandmother’s $65 a day.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Serious Injuries to Public Health’: Judge Scorches Trump Removal of Health Websites

 

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‘Trumpflation’: Blaming Biden, Trump Slammed for Breaking ‘Day One’ Promise as Prices Jump

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President Donald Trump is blaming his predecessor, President Joe Biden, after inflation jumped far more than expected.

“Biden inflation up!” Trump wrote on social media Wednesday, taking no responsibility for breaking his campaign promise to lower prices “on day one.”

On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Labor reported inflation jumped to levels not seen since last June, and Americans are being forced to pay far higher prices at the supermarket, especially for basic staples like eggs.

“Consumer prices roared higher in January, driving inflation up to 3%,” CNN reported, calling it “the fastest monthly pace since September 2023.” Economists had expected inflation to come in at an annual rate of 2.9%.

“Egg prices shot up 15.2% from December to January, the fastest increase that index has seen since 2015, according to the report,” CNN added. “They’re up 53% year over year.”

READ MORE: ‘Not Legal’: Trump May Dissolve Dept. of Education in Days, Democrat Warns

The jump in inflation makes it far less likely the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, which remain high as they try to battle inflation. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday, “the cost of groceries, gasoline and rents rose, a disappointment for families and businesses struggling with higher costs and likely underscoring the Federal Reserve’s resolve to delay further interest rate cuts.”

“Grocery prices have skyrocketed,” candidate Trump said back in August on the campaign trail. Trump has bragged that he won the election on his promise to lower the cost of “groceries.”

“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one,” Trump said, as multiple news outlets, including The New York Post and CNN, have reported.

After the election, Trump acknowledged his pledge to reduce the price of groceries.

“I won on groceries,” Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker in December.“Very simple word, groceries. Like almost — you know, who uses the word? I started using the word — the groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that. We’re going to bring those prices way down.”

But Trump appears to have done little to even try to bring down prices, including the cost of food.

“Now, maybe Americans did send Trump back to the White House to lower prices,” MSNBC‘s Jen Psaki wrote late last month, “but during his first week in office — a period of time when presidents typically use their power to make clear what their priorities are — he focused on anything but.

The one step he did appear to take to lower prices was to sign an executive order telling agencies in the executive branch to “take actions that lower prices.”

READ MORE: ‘Serious Injuries to Public Health’: Judge Scorches Trump Removal of Health Websites

“President Trump, who while campaigning vowed to end the ‘inflation nightmare,'” CBS News reported last month, on Inauguration Day “signaled his focus on the high cost of living in the U.S. by signing an executive order that requires ‘all executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief’ to Americans.”

“It is critical to restore purchasing power to the American family and improve our quality of life,” the executive order stated.

“To accomplish that, Mr. Trump is ordering the departments and agencies that fall under the executive branch, including the departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Energy, to take actions that lower prices for everything from housing and health costs to food and fuel,” CBS added. It is unclear what steps they were supposed to take, or if any did.

Meanwhile, consumers appear to be growing angry, and Wednesday’s inflation news — coupled with Trump’s imposition of a new tariff on all aluminum and steel coming into the United States — is not making it easier for average Americans.

On social media, critics were quick to blame and blast the President.

“Meat prices up 0.6 percent in January, egg prices up 15.2 percent. Too bad Trump is so busy doing corrupt deals with Musk and planning to take over Greenland and Gaza that he can’t pay attention to food prices,” remarked Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Former Biden White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates posted video of Trump’s interview with NBC’s Welker.

“The thing is,” Democratic strategist and Kamala Harris alum Mike Nellis wrote, “Trump didn’t just promise to cool inflation—he said prices would go down. And they aren’t. His tariff threats are already driving prices up everywhere, from groceries to housing, cars, and appliances.”

“Trump took office and inflation immediately went UP. But instead of fixing the economy, he spent his time banning DEI, renaming water, going to the Super Bowl and trying to put hotels on the Gaza strip,” observed frequent commentator Alex Cole, who has nearly 275,000 followers on X.

“They’re calling it TRUMPFLATION. Beautiful word, maybe the best word. The most luxurious inflation—nobody does inflation better than me!” Cole also wrote, mocking Trump and his speaking style.

“Wow,” remarked Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett. “Inflation in the US rose 3% in January, higher than experts predicted for Trump’s first month report.”

After noting increases in the cost of groceries, energy, and eggs, he snarked, “Renaming the Gulf of America should help…”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: General Slams Pentagon’s ‘Racist’ Decision to Drop Key Black Engineers Recruitment Event

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