Human Rights Policy

"Press Conference" Against Iran Government Produces No News, Much Political Support in Irvine

Rep. Laura Richardson (inset), Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rep. Ed Royce, together at last.If the goal of a press conference is to produce a "big announcement" that makes news and warrants coverage--the usual reason one calls a press conference in the first place--then the Iran Sup ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Will Defend a Kid in Vietnam But Refuses to Support Kids Here?

Photo by Christopher VictorioWhat was Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez thinking today when she took to the floor in Congress to fight for the rights of a youth activist in Vietnam while she continues to ignore the youth activists pleading for her support in her own backyard? It's not that Nguyen Tien T ... More >>

'Slave Hunter' Aaron Cohen Throws the Book at Human Trafficking

"Slave Hunter" Co-Authors Chime in on Technology, Internet

CORRECTED VERSION...You'll find separate interviews on this site with Aaron Cohen and Christine Buckley, the co-authors of Slave Hunter: One's Man's Global Quest to Free Victims of Human Trafficking (Simon & Schuster). One thing you won't read in those Q&As is their shared beliefs that techn ... More >>

Laguna Beach Settles Lawsuit Over Homeless Ordinance

Laguna Beach agreed today to settle a lawsuit over the city's treatment of disabled homeless people, according to the ACLU of Southern California.   "Under the agreement, the city's police officers will not cite, arrest or harass people under state law simply for sleeping in public places, ... More >>

New Free Iran Movement to Hold Teach-in at UCI's Aldrich Park

Courtesy of PersianoEvents.comIt begs the question.The Iranian government now says Neda Agha-Soltan--the 26-year-old martyr in the struggle for freedom in that tense country--may have been killed by a gunman who mistook her for the sister of an Iranian "terrorist," the Islamic Republic News Agency r ... More >>

Tuesday is a Big Night for Darfur in Orange County

Photo by Rev. Wilfredo Benitez for Orange County for DarfurMia Farrow may have ended her hunger strike for Darfur last week, but the spotlight remains on the lingering effects of genocide in the Sudan--at least in Orange County tomorrow night. Orange County for Darfur was formed in June 2007 to rais ... More >>

Spain, Chapman University Debaters Are Out to Get John Yoo

So the big question when John Yoo speaks at Chapman University next week about presidential power is: Will he be shackled? Probably not, seeing as how this is not Spain, but were Orange within the Iberian Peninsula nation and NATO ally, he'd be under criminal indictment for sanctioning torture at Gu ... More >>

ACLU Suing Newport-Mesa Schools Over "Rent" Debacle

MOVING UP AND UPDATING WITH DISTRICT REACTION, MORE BACKGROUND.Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials say they were attempting to resolve a complaint stemming from the staging, cancellation and re-staging of the musical Rent at Corona del Mar High School when they learned today the American ... More >>

Tom Morello's Nightwatchman Brings Chord Changes We Can Believe In

Arrogance, Thy Name is Robert Morey

Our post earlier today about the turmoil at Irvine's Faith Community Church has already sparked discussion on its friend's blog (more below) and a comment from the church's leader, Robert Morey. And it's not just any comment--it's one so pompous and hilarious it deserved its own post. Here it is: W ... More >>

"Friends of Monsignor John" Already Deletin'

Scroll for updates after the jump... A support group for embattled Orange diocese Monsignor John Urell isn't even a day old, and already site administrators are deleting messages critical of Urell and his peers' handling of the diocese's sex-abuse scandal. You won't know this from reading their web ... More >>

Sanchez Returns From Vietnam?

Amid gifts of flowers, hand-made placards and shouts of "We love you Loretta!" from a crowd of approximately 20 people, Rep. Loretta Sanchez--Orange County's lone Democratic voice in Congress--returned from a trip to Vietnam. A website, perhaps tied to Sanchez, has posted a video of her arrival ce ... More >>

From Hunter to Hunted

In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought hed seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week: Crossing Arizona

Money for Nothing

Iraq for Sale loads more anti-war cannon fodder

A Bad Day for Bush, and maybe waterboarding

The Supreme Court today ruled the Bush administration must do one of those things it is always extremely reluctant to do: obey the law. By a vote of 5-3, the Supremes said the administration can't proceed with its plans to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay before military tribunals. Writing for the m ... More >>

Toture Awareness Month

Over at Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World, Jonathan Schwarz points out that June is Torture Awareness Month. Quoting from the announcement on TortureAwareness.org: June 26th is the date that the United Nations has marked as the International Day in Support of Survivors and Victims of Torture. This y ... More >>

Unflinching Sincerity

Unitarian Human Rights Forum

I Have a King Day

Our pal Rebel Girl at Dissent the Blog has a dream: it is a dream for a week worth of activities at Irvine Valley College dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., and kicking off on his birthday today. Those activities include: a new on-campus Peace and Justice Center; an institutional adoption of Amne ... More >>

'Gwen, We Hereby Disown You'

Losers Again

Communists, Bush defeat Little Saigon in human rights war

F. Yoo!

UC Irvine protesters humiliate torture-memo author

Genocide Reloaded

Rerelease of When the Mountains Tremble is bad news for Guatemalan generals

Bring Us Your Torturers Yearning to Breathe Free

U.S. Plans to Boot OCs Thi Dinh Bui. How about the rest?

Weaponless Warrior

Newport Beachs Radhika Sainaths War on Terrorism

The Kids Are Not All Right

Fear and Loathing on Death Row

Death Letters explores injustice of capital punishment

The Failure of (Almost) All Pop

Handicapped Parking

Diary of a Mad County

Human Rights and Wrongs

UC Irvine fest exposes worldwide injustice

The Little Engine Who Took His Place in the Underclass

And other new-millennium stories for American kids

Shut Up and Take It

Joan Didions insiders guide to the insiders

Winged Monkeys!

Our smoky links to unsavory characters

Rave Off

Drug paranoia killed B3Cande desert rave

Welcome to Kissinger Country

Former secretary of state dazzles OC press but fails to explain his alleged complicity in war crimes

Show Us Your Scars!

Anaheim cops discover long-ignored law, enforce it

Shut Em Down!

Green Party candidate Medea Benjamin brings trade politics to OC

Letters

A Gray Area

OC judge is wild card in Citizens Drug Inquiry

Guerrilla in the Midst

The man behind the human-rights rhetoric

Diver Down

Shut Up, Again

Senate takes another whack at free speech online