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Friday, July 17, 2020

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and an executive order in response to the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law, directing the removal of US restrictions on Hong Kong’s special status. Such as export licence exemptions, SAR passport (Special Administrative Region) concessions and proposed to individuals directly or indirectly involved in the formulation and implementation of theNational Security Law in Hong Kong and entities to impose sanctions. Trump said the decision was to punish China for its oppressive actions against the people of Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is now treated like mainland China, with no privileges, no special economic treatment, no [US] imports sensitive technology”. Trump said at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday. He predicted Hong Kong has lost its competitiveness in the free market.

Trump asked the departments to take action within 15 days, including revoking the US export license exemption granted to Hong Kong, prohibiting the export of defense articles to Hong Kong, revoking preferential treatment for HKSAR passport holders, preparing to suspend the extradition agreement with Hong Kong, and stopping the provision of supplies to Hong Kong police or other security forces.

The President’s Administrative Order also directs that sanctions be imposed on persons who are directly or indirectly involved in the enactment, implementation, and enforcement of national security laws in Hong Kong; oppressing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning persons; undermining the democratic process in Hong Kong; threatening the peace, stability, and autonomy of Hong Kong; restricting and punishing the exercise of freedom of assembly and expression by Hong Kong citizens; tightening press freedom; and committing human rights violations such as extraordinary renditions.

Participating entities, including governments, and individuals or organizations that provide assistance, such as funding or technology, may also be sanctioned. They and their families are barred from entering the United States, their assets in the United States may be frozen, and any transactions aimed at evading the ban are prohibited.

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region issues a solemn statement strongly opposing the United States authorities’ attempts to sign the Hong Kong Autonomy Act passed by the United States Congress into law. The Hong Kong Government said that the SAR Government will carefully study whether the measures taken by the United States violate the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and will not rule out the possibility that the United States may take measures in accordance with the WTO rules, to take action to safeguard the interests of Hong Kong. It is also reiterated that the measures in the Bill and the Executive Order have no legal effect in relation to financial institutions in Hong Kong.

The Chinese Government expresses its resolute opposition to and strong condemnation of this and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China notes that the United States has obstructed Hong Kong’s implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law will never succeed, and China will impose sanctions on the relevant United States personnel and entities. The United States Department of State urges the United States side to rectify its mistake and not to implement the so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Act.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

It turns out that dogs may not be the only ‘man’s best friend.’ A parrot in Muncie, Indiana is being credited with saving the lives of its owners.

According to the owner 33-year-old Shannon Conwell along with his 9-year-old son were watching television when they both fell asleep on the living room couch when a fire began to spread through the house around 3:00 a.m. on Friday October 19.

The Amazon, yellow-headed Parrot named Peanut reportedly imitates the sounds of several objects and began to emit one very similar to a fire alarm, waking the family from their sleep.

“He was really screaming his head off. I grabbed my son and my bird and got out of the house,” said Conwell who also said that the fire alarm was also going off, but the bird woke her and her son. Conwell said that there were several pieces of medical equipment inside the house that also make a lot of noise. The equipment was there due to an accidental finger amputation which occurred only a few hours prior to the fire.

A bedroom, the kitchen and the dining room were all severely damaged in the fire, but no one was injured or killed. The fire department says that they are currently investigating the incident and have not said what the cause was.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

An HIV-positive man was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, one day after being convicted of harassment of a public servant for spitting into the eye and open mouth of a Dallas, Texas police officer in May 2006. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that no one has ever contracted HIV from saliva, and a gay-rights and AIDS advocacy group called the sentence excessive.

A Dallas County jury concluded that Willie Campbell’s act of spitting on policeman Dan Waller in 2006 constituted the use of his saliva as a deadly weapon. The incident occurred while Campbell, 42, was resisting arrest while being taken into custody for public intoxication.

“He turns and spits. He hits me in the eye and mouth. Then he told me he has AIDS. I immediately began looking for something to flush my eyes with,” said Waller to The Dallas Morning News.

Officer Waller responded after a bystander reported seeing an unconscious male lying outside a building. Dallas County prosecutors stated that Campbell attempted to fight paramedics and kicked the police officer who arrested him for public intoxication.

Prosecutors said that Campbell yelled that he was innocent during the trial, and claimed a police officer was lying. Campbell’s lawyer Russell Heinrichs said that because he had a history of convictions including similarly attacking two other police officers, biting inmates, and other offenses, he was indicted under a habitual offender statute. The statute increased his minimum sentence to 25 years in prison. Because the jury ruled that Campbell’s saliva was used as a deadly weapon, he will not be eligible for parole until completing at least half his sentence.

The organization Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund), which advocates for individuals living with HIV, says that saliva should not be considered a deadly weapon. Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the sentence. “It’s been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears,” said Anderson.

The Dallas County prosecutor who handled the trial, Jenni Morse, said that the deadly weapon finding was justified. “No matter how minuscule, there is some risk. That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death,” said Morse. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins stated: “If you look at the facts of this case, it was clear that the defendant intended to cause serious bodily injury.”

A page at the CDC’s website, HIV and Its Transmission, states: “HIV has been found in saliva and tears in very low quantities from some AIDS patients.” The subsection “Saliva, Tears, and Sweat” concludes that: “Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV.” On Friday the Dallas County Health Department released a statement explaining that HIV is most commonly spread through sexual contact, sharing needles, or transfusion from an infected blood product.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Intense violent turmoil in Iraq continued Sunday and Monday when attacks across the country killed more than 80 people. A busy restaurant frequented by police officers was the target of the deadliest attack: a suicide bombing that claimed 23 lives and wounded more than 36 others.

“There were a number of policemen outside the restaurant having tea from Alaa, the tea man. There were two tables with chairs around them where the policemen were sitting. Then a suicide bomber came close to them and blew himself up,” said a 29-year-old witness, Qusay Kaabi, according to the Washington Post. “It was a very loud explosion, and the restaurant was filled with smoke and dust.”

The New York Times reported that, in an aura of resignation, older men just 80 yards away resumed curbside games of checkers even before workers finished cleaning away chunks of flesh. “It’s Iraqis who die like this, not Americans,” Muhammad Jasem, 25 and unemployed, told the Times. “We never saw this kind of thing before they came.” In the capital city alone, more than 600 civilians have perished in the six weeks since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari named his Shiite-led cabinet on April 28.

In Tikrit on Sunday, a man killed himself and five Iraqis while targeting a U.S. military base in a car rigged with explosives. Early Monday, a suicide attacker in Ibril detonated his vehicle in a crowd of police recruits. Local officials confirm the blast killed 15 and wounded 100, some severely. The city was cited just yesterday by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as one of many relatively stable areas of the country.

The surge in violence has occurred while U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops battle insurgents near Karabilah on the Syrian border. British and American warplanes pounded targets to support a 1,000 Marine force. A Marine statement also said patrols in the devastated city of Fallujah came under attack Sunday. According to the statement, 15 insurgents were killed while the attack was repulsed.

Friday, September 23, 2005

On the corner of Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St. in the Tenderloin, San Francisco, right next to the Civic Center you can see a throng of low-income and homeless people lining up outside of St. Anthony’s Dining Room hall which opens up it’s doors everyday at 11:30 a.m. Volunteers dressed in St. Anthony Foundation shirts help keep the lines moving as hundreds of homeless and low income people shuffle their way towards the dining hall underneath the watchful eyes of a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi.

“There’s a lot of people who go hungry out here and it ain’t right.” says Jimmy Scott, a slightly brawny 44-year-old black man who has been living homeless in San Francisco for the past three years. “There are families out here with kids and everything and they have to walk around all night just to stay awake so they don’t get hurt or killed…Right here in the U.S. this is going on…it ain’t right.”

The dining hall, which has been open for the past 54 years, is owned by the St. Anthony Foundation which helps low income and homeless people and families in the Civic Center, Tenderloin, and SOMA areas with clothing, shelter, food, drug rehabilitation, and many other services. St. Anthony’s administrative offices are found at 121 Golden Gate Ave. with the majority of the foundation’s buildings on Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St.

“We are right in the heart of the homeless population of San Francisco,” says Barry Stenger, 55, who’s been working for the St. Anthony Foundation for one year, and is the Director of Development and Communications, “and people are pushed here because of the economic forces of San Francisco because it’s hard to be upper middle class in San Francisco.”

According to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, “San Francisco’s cost of living remains one of the highest in the country” with the average household income in San Francisco being around $76,400 and the average price of housing being $543,000. Average household income for the United States in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was $42,409 and the average price of housing for the United States according to the National Association of Realtors was $185,200 in 2004.

“We served our 32 millionth meal on Tuesday,” said Stenger, “and we serve 2,500 meals a day. Some of our people who work here actually get served [food] here because they spend all their money towards rent and medical costs.”

The St. Anthony Foundation was started by Fr. Alfred Boeddeker in 1950 one year after Fr. Boeddeker became pastor of St. Boniface church on Golden Gate St. where he was baptized as a child. During his lifetime, according to the foundation’s website, he was referred to as the “Patron St. of the Tenderloin” and had Boeddeker park named after him because of his, and his foundation’s, achievements with helping out the homeless and low income community.

“[St. Anthony’s] is a good thing,” said Jimmy Scott, “they provide a good service and they feed people and they clothe them and provide furniture when you get housing and give you groceries when you have AIDS. It’s a good little organization.”

“Our dining room is open 365 days a year.” Said Stenger. “Our other facilities are open seven days a week. We have a residence for senior women and our [free medical] clinic is open five days a week and we also have a furniture and clothing store. We have 12 programs all together.”

Some of those programs are the Father Alfred Center which provides 61 men two programs for getting out of drug and alcohol abuse, the Employment Program/Learning Center which helps participants in educational and employment opportunities and provides each one with a personal staff advisor, and a Senior Outreach and Support Services center which states its mission is to “promote independence, self determination, and alleviate isolation” for seniors who are 60 and older.

A few homeless people who were interviewed complained that St. Anthony’s had some staff who were rude and that they were kicked out of the dining hall; other homeless within the area refuted those claims saying St. Anthony’s has nice staff and only kicks people out who cause trouble.

“It’s a good place and good people. Everybody is so kind and so respectful and everything is under control.” Said John Henderson, a tall and skinny 57-year-old homeless black man who has only been living in San Francisco for close to two months because he recently moved there from Phoenix, Arizona. “It’s pretty cool because they’re under control because yesterday I saw at Glide [Memorial Church which also has services for the poor and low income] and they were handing out food boxes and people were just rushing in and the woman in charge there was freaking out and so she just sat down. That would never happen at St. Anthony’s.”

“And they clean too!” Henderson said laughing with a grin on his face referring to the fact that there are no drugs allowed in the premises. “Not that Glide ain’t clean if you know what I mean.”

“We [also] have a whole division that deals with justice education and advocacy to change the system that brings people to our doorstep.” Said Stenger. “We hear a lot of appreciation from the people we serve. We get a lot of testimony from our clients who have become clean and sober. Sometimes we have to push them a little to get them out the door because they love the [foundation] so much because it has changed their lives.”

Thursday, August 25, 2005

The 30A network has said that it wants to create a carnival atmosphere while protesting at the Forbes Global CEO conference. The protest, which starts on August 30, is expected to attract up to 2,000 protesters. Similar events in the past often had instances of violent confrontations between police and some of the activists. The 30A network is a loose affiliation of groups and individuals co-ordinating the protest.

30A spokesman Bruce Knobloch, of the International Socialist Organisation, made the call for a peaceful protest in a press release last week.

“We want a safe community action showing that people in Sydney oppose Howard¹s plan for a US-style wages system, the war in Iraq and his kow-towing to global corporate chiefs. We pose no threat to the Opera House or the millionaire delegates, or to other users of east Circular Quay,” Mr Knobloch said.

The conference will be held at the Sydney Opera House. The Forbes website says that at the event “senior figures from the world’s leading companies and institutions will discuss the best ways to nurture and capitalize on innovation and reveal the latest global trends.” It was recently announced that George Bush Sr will be attending the conference, along with former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Prime Minister John Howard, and former NSW Premier Bob Carr.

Mr Knobloch described the attendees as “a few hundred neo-conservative corporate chiefs”.

The protesters have been denied access to the Opera House forecourt for the duration of the conference. Mr Knobloch believes that this decision is unjustified. He also accused the police of deliberately creating the conditions for confrontation.

“The police seem intent on creating chaos and confrontation, which is the last thing we need. We’ve urged police to build a barrier in front of the Opera House proper and to allow us to use the public space in the forecourt. By pushing us out into the CBD the police are going to create problems for commuters and business owners,” he said.

30A protestors this week organised a media conference outside Surry Hills Police Station, requesting a meeting to negotiate an agreement. According to an article on Sydney Indymedia, police at the station were unable to discuss the issue, but told 30a representatives that they would be contacted to organise a meeting.

“Minimising the protesters right to peacefully rally dramatically increases police powers and strikes at the heart of protesters’ democratic right to peaceful assembly,” the article said.

ASIO has assessed the conference to be “medium risk”, and this has been used by the police and government to justify the increased security.