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Boycott On Aisle Three: Avoid These 6 Products That Support Israeli Apartheid

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which supports an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, is growing fast, in part because of how easy it is for people to participate. One of the simplest ways to support BDS is by making the right choices at the grocery store.

More Americans than ever support Palestinian liberation, and the movement is spreading to a record number of college campuses. It’s becoming such a threat to Israeli imperialism that opponents are pouring millions into opposing BDS, even enlisting NBA players and Hollywood celebrities. The U.S. government is consideringlegal options to fight the movement and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton recently declared her opposition to BDS.

However, the campaigns waged by the movement’s wealthy opponents are no match for the Internet. Several websites help consumers avoid companies and products with ties to Israeli occupation. The following list is compiled from bdslist.org, bdsmovement.net and a 2013 report from Alternet’s Alex Kane:

‘Autism Is Not A Crime’: Transit Police Beat St. Paul Teen During Arrest

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Marcus Abrams, a 17-year-old autistic teen from St. Paul, who also suffers from seizures, didn’t belong on the tracks at a Metro Transit station, but his family is questioning the violence of his subsequent arrest during which police tackled him to the platform floor.

A photo collage posted to Facebook by Abrams’ sister two days after the incident shows multiple bruises to his face.

Advocates for the autistic and disabled say the incident highlights the need for better police training.

Police Dogs’ Lives Don’t Matter? 12 Police Dogs Died Of Heat Exhaustion In 2015

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite years of awareness campaigns by animal rights activists, hundreds of dogs still die each year after being left in parked cars on hot summer days. Working dogs are not exempt, and heat exhaustion has claimed the lives of at least 12 police dogs so far this year.

A representative for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals told MintPress News that temperatures in a car can climb faster than many people realize:

Police Shooting Of Larry Jackson Reflects Racism, Inequality In Austin, Texas

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

Two years ago, Austin Police Det. Charles Kleinert shot and killed Larry Jackson, Jr., an unarmed black man, under a bridge near one of the city’s many greenbelt trails. His death was the savage culmination of a wild chase through the city that ultimately led to Kleinert’s early retirement and indictment for manslaughter.

When Austin’s black community gathered on Aug. 24 for a forum on race and policing, it was Larry Jackson’s name on everyone’s lips. Although far from being the only source of tension between residents and police, Jackson’s death has united a diverse community of activists seeking police reform.

Adam Loewy, an Austin lawyer retained by the victim’s family, who sat on the panel at the forum, claims Jackson was “hunted down and beaten” before being murdered.

Native Americans Have ‘Always Known’: Science Proves Genetic Inheritance Of Trauma

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Many have suspected through the years that extreme stress and trauma leave their mark not just on their victims, but on their descendants as well. Now science is catching up to these beliefs through the developing field of epigenetics.

Epigenetics is the study of how environmental factors can change the expression of a person’s DNA, often in ways which are inheritable by the next generation. This science looks at not just which genes are in a person’s DNA — the genetic “instruction manual” — but also how cells choose to read and interpret that instruction manual throughout a lifetime of development.

Earlier this month, Biological Psychiatry published a new study called “Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation,” in which the authors studied 32 Holocaust survivors and their adult children. All of the older generation of subjects had either been interned in concentration camps or otherwise intimately witnessed the torture and horror of Nazi genocide.

4 Million Muslims Killed In Western Wars: Should We Call It Genocide?

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

It may never be possible to know the true death toll of the modern Western wars on the Middle East, but that figure could be 4 million or higher. Since the vast majority of those killed were of Arab descent, and mostly Muslim, when would it be fair to accuse the United States and its allies of genocide?

A March report by Physicians for Social Responsibility calculates the body count of the Iraq War at around 1.3 million, and possibly as many as 2 million. However, the numbers of those killed in Middle Eastern wars could be much higher. In April, investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed argued that the actual death toll could reach as high as 4 million if one includes not just those killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the victims of the sanctions against Iraq, which left about 1.7 million more dead, half of them children, according to figures from the United Nations.