Basic background resources for those who not familiar with Saydnaya (also Sednaya/Seydnaya/Sadnaya) & other notorious Syrian prisons such as Tadmor (destroyed 2015), Mazzeh (Air Force Intelligence/Mazzeh Mil Airport), & Qism Falastin (Palestine Branch/Branch 235).
The sheer magnitude of this. 1/6
The White Helmets has deployed 5 specialized emergency teams to Sednaya Prison to investigate hidden underground cells, reportedly holding detainees according to survivors. The teams consist of search and rescue units, wall-breaching specialists, iron door-opening crews, trained dog units, and medical responders. These teams are well trained and equipped to manage such complex operations. 2 teams arrived about an hour ago and have already begun their mission, accompanied by a guide familiar with the prison's layout. The remaining teams are expected to arrive gradually, delayed by challenging security conditions on the roads and severe traffic congestion.
The White Helmets are sending teams to Saydnaya to help rescue the remaining prisoners
BREAKING
The Russian government state media agency Tass reports that Bashar Al-Assad and his family are in Moscow and have been granted political asylum.
US, Canadian universities hire Israeli firms to curb pro-Palestinian protests: Report A report published on Saturday by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth says that several universities in both the US and Canada have entered into agreements with Israel-linked security companies to suppress pro-Palestinian protests occurring on their campuses. The report notes that after the election of Donald Trump, who pledged to penalise academic institutions that failed to control “radicals and Hamas supporters,” a number of universities in both countries turned to Israeli security firms to manage pro-Palestinian protests.
The year 2024 saw a wave of campus uprisings across the West in support of Palestine and against Israel’s war on Gaza. Students largely demanded their institutions end investments in Israel and Israeli companies. The City University of New York (CUNY), a major hotspot for protests last year, has recently signed a $4m contract with Strategy Security Corp. This company, owned by Yosef Sordi, a former New York City police officer, has publicly disclosed his professional training in Israel. Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, also enlisted two Israeli security firms: Perceptage International, led by Adam Cohen, the former head of security for the Israeli Central Court in Jerusalem, and Moshav Security Consulting, operated by Eyal Feldman, a former Israeli army reserve commander and ex-advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
US & Canadian universities hire Israeli firms to curb pro-Palestinian protests.
Screenshots from @aljazeeraenglish.bsky.social live updates from today
Link to archived article w/more details here: archive.ph/qY0kr
@cairnational.bsky.social @dropsitenews.com @taliajane.bsky.social @self.agency
if we defund the police, who'll put crack cocaine on the streets?!
I’ve donated, I’m sorry I can’t give more. I shared too.
WTAF?!?
Zaina Erhaim & @ZainaErhaim Follow #Sednaya prison is not emptied YET! The 100s that we have seen being liberated are only the detainees of the "White prison", there is another underground "Red" one that rebels are failing to access. They say it's 3 floors under the ground & they can't reach it. #Syria 11:54 am • 8 Dec 2024 • 5,336 Views 110 Reposts 10 Quotes 164 Likes
The absolute horrors of the Assad regime exemplified by Saydnaya prison. Many prisoners are not freed yet bcs the rebels cannot get to them as they are 3 floors underground. #Syria
Whatever comes next in Syria, don't deprive or diminish this feeling of liberation for Syrians by caveating their celebrations.
There are several reasons to be sceptical. But for today, let Syrians savour this hard won moment, which came at a tragic price for so many people over many years.
Seeing the thousands of unjustly detained women and men freed from prisons across Syria, particularly Saydnaya, fills my heart with a happiness I haven't felt since Mubarak was forced to resign.
May you know that feeling & may we work to build societies that are so much better.
This is it. Syrians have lived through at least one dictator, a civil war, brutal repression a decade of war crimes, ISIS, and devastating sanctions. They freed themselves. I’m worried too but no one in London or DC knows better than Syrians what is at risk.
Every one of my Syrian and non-Syrian colleagues is aware of the huge risks surrounding the post-revolutionary order in Syria.
But if everyone pre-emptively abandons hope then the world flees into paralysis that fails to encourage many hopeful trends that can be found too.
A powerful moment:
“I’ve been in prison for 10 years. What happened?”
“The regime fell.”
His laughter echoed with a mix of disbelief and newfound hope—a sound that speaks of freedom long overdue.
Seeing an uptick in accounts claiming all Gazans on here are scams because ‘there is no electricity in Gaza’ and encouraging people to report Gazans - again, I need folks to be proactive in stopping this shit from spreading.
You can always share Molly’s post below!
bsky.app/profile/momm...
Half a decade. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was five years ago today.
Yes, 100% this!
A blind man with brown hair in a grey suit and sunglasses uses a walking stick to walk down a ramp. Above the man, the text says “NYPD asking the public for help in identifying the CEO shooter”. In front of the man, the text says “The entire US public”.
Law-Abiding Immigrants: The Incarceration Gap between Immigrants and the US-Born, 1870–2020† By Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan, Elisa Jácome, Santiago Pérez, and Juan David Torres* We provide the first nationally representative long-run series (1870–2020) of incarceration rates for immigrants and the US-born. As a group, immigrants have had lower incarceration rates than the US-born for 150 years. Moreover, relative to the US-born, immigrants’ incarceration rates have declined since 1960: immigrants today are 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated (30 percent relative to US-born Whites). This relative decline occurred among immigrants from all regions and cannot be explained by changes in observable characteristics or immigration policy. Instead, the decline is part of a broader divergence of outcomes between less-educated immigrants and their US-born counterparts.
Panels plotting incarceration rates for immigrants and US-born men between 1870 and 2019. Data are restricted to males ages 18–40. Data spanning 1870–1940 are from the full-count decennial censuses. Data spanning 1950–1990 are from the largest available subsamples from the corresponding decennial censuses. Data from 2005 onward are from the annual ACS. Cross markers indicate that fewer than 10,000 immigrants were used to calculate the corresponding incarceration rate. Panel A compares US-born men to all immigrants. Panels B–F compare US-born men to immigrants from a particular country-of-origin group. “Old Europeans” are immigrants from countries in the north and west of Europe. “New Europeans” are immigrants from countries in eastern and southern Europe. The “Rest of the world” category includes immigrants from countries not included in panels B–F. Migrants typically show lower incarceration rates
accounting for individual-level characteristics, migrants as a group or by subgroups (old Europeans, new Europeans, Chinese, Mexicans and Central Americans, or Rest of the World) are incarcerated at lower rates
I've posted several times about the working paper, but the publication on "AER: Insights" is a good occasion to do it again: immigrants to the US have been less likely to be incarcerated for over 50 years **even without controlling for demographic characteristics.**
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
I know everyone is talking about Matt Gaetz but please don't miss this:
Georgia fired every single person on its maternal mortality review committee. Why? They didn't like that reporters found out that the state's ban killed two women www.propublica.org/article/geor...
Did you see the woman literally dressed as Katniss Everdeen on TikTok?? It’s not even hyperbole!!
This right here. If Democrats can’t defend the basic civil rights of their elected colleague, what the hell are they even doing?!
This isn't a culture war. This is the only trans congresswoman, ever being bullied through the press and legislation, and having only 1 of hundreds of colleagues stand up for her. They can do more than 1 thing at a time. Defending her will not take so much effort that they can't do their jobs.
So accurate. I’ve already seen all the “alt” government accounts come back and all the white cis woman who want to cosplay as the hero in a YA novel, it’s annoying.
Hmm, who would have thought catching my first block on this site would be because of something as innocuous as making a comment about the Hep B vaccine not being giving to babies because they’ll grow up to have sex someday.
Just because an infection can be sexually transmitted, doesn’t mean it’s only sexually transmitted.
That’s not why they get it, though. Hep B can be spread through multiple bodily fluids, including faeces + the younger a person gets Hep B, the more likely they are to have long term issues like liver disease and cancer. It can be sexually transmitted, but it’s by no means only sexually transmitted.
*two terms, dang it!
