Bernie Sanders | The US Must Put Human Rights at the Center of US Foreign Policy

25 September 19

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25 September 19

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DO NOT LET RSN STRUGGLE FOR BASIC FUNDING - You collectively have the power to ensure that a truly independent voice can stand in opposition to the commercial giants. Drop your drop in the bucket. Don’t wait. - Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Bernie Sanders | The US Must Put Human Rights at the Center of US Foreign Policy

Bernie Sanders, The Houston Chronicle
Sanders writes: "When President Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, we will hear much about the friendship between the American and Indian peoples. However, there will be a deafening silence when it comes to a human rights crisis unfolding right before our eyes - and that is unacceptable."
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump Tuesday on Capitol Hill. (photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

Pelosi Announces Impeachment Inquiry Into Trump Over Ukraine Scandal
Domenico Montanaro and Susan Davis, NPR
Excerpt: "After months of expressing caution on a push for impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump Tuesday."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders. (photo: Mary Schwalm/AP)

Bernie Sanders Just Proposed the Campaign's Most Aggressive Wealth Tax
Daniel Newhauser, Vice
Newhauser writes: "If millionaires and billionaires are squirming at the prospect of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax, wait until they get a look at what Sen. Bernie Sanders has in store for them."
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Migrant families are gathered inside the fence of a makeshift detention center in El Paso, Texas, on March 27, 2019. (photo: Sergio Flores/WP/Getty Images)

Immigrant Families Arrested at the Border to Be Sent Back to Mexico
Nicole Narea, Vox
Narea writes: "Starting next week, the Trump administration will begin sending most immigrant families arrested along the southern border back to Mexico to await their immigration court hearings."
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Kaia Rolle was arrested for having a tantrum. (photo: Radharc Images/Alamy)

The Arrest of a Black Six-Year-Old Girl Exposes the Rotten Heart of US Policing
Arwa Mahdawi, Guardian UK
Mahdawi writes: "There is very little evidence that armed officers and stricter discipline measures have made US schools safer."

A girl was detained last week for kicking a school staff member. This reflects a zero-tolerance system that fuels the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ and disproportionately affects minorities

 black six-year-old girl called Kaia Rolle had a temper tantrum at her school in Florida last week and kicked a staff member. While that may not be ideal behaviour, she is six. Not exactly a hardened criminal, is she? Well, a school resource officer (a trained police officer who works in a school) called Dennis Turner would beg to differ. Turner handcuffed Kaia and arrested her on a battery charge. Turner also arrested a six-year-old boy in another, unrelated, incident on the same day.

The Orlando police department has apologised to the children and emphasised that Turner did not follow protocol. He was later fired. But make no mistake, what happened to these kids wasn’t just the fault of one bad officer; it was the fault of a rotten system. Over the past couple of decades, the US’s schools, particularly its public schools, have become militarised zones, patrolled by an increasing number of armed police officers. This has been coupled with a rise in zero-tolerance discipline policies that result in kids being suspended or expelled for minor infractions.

There is very little evidence that armed officers and stricter discipline measures have made US schools safer. There is, however, a lot of evidence that they are fuelling the “school-to-prison pipeline”, by which kids are pushed out of education and into the “criminal justice” system.

Not all kids, mind you. These policies disproportionately affect minorities. A 2018 governmental report found that, while black students make up fewer than 16% of US public school students, they account for 39% of suspensions. This has serious long-term consequences – studies show that kids who are suspended are more likely to be incarcerated as adults. So, don’t treat what happened to Kaia as an unfortunate accident. It was the result of deliberate policies.

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Hani al-Bazoni, who was deported from the U.S. to Iraq under Donald Trump's strengthened immigration enforcement, shows a picture of his family. (photo: Reuters)

Iraqis Deported From US Face Fear, Isolation, Threats in Iraq
teleSUR
Excerpt: "U.S. congressmen, lawyers, and human rights activists say Iraq, still riven by sectarian divisions 16 years after the U.S.-led invasion, remains unsafe for returnees."
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The WECAN Indigenous Women's Tongass Delegation on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. (photo: Melissa Lyttle/Grist)

Indigenous Women Traveled 3,000 Miles to Save an Alaskan Forest From Trump
Nicole Javorsky, Grist
Javorsky writes: "In March, Wanda Culp and three other indigenous women traveled to Washington, D.C., from their home in Southeast Alaska, to meet with lawmakers in an attempt to persuade them to protect the Tongass National Forest."
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RSN: These Teens Were Jailed for Wearing Saggy Pants. This Isn’t Unusual at All, Noam Chomsky: Paris Attacks Are Result of Western Policies in Middle East

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Noam Chomsky: Paris Attacks Are Result of Western Policies in Middle East

Sputnik News
Excerpt: “By increasing airstrikes against the Islamic State, the West increases the likelihood of large-scale terrorist attacks similar to what happened in Paris on November 13, according to celebrated US scholar Noam Chomsky.”
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Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, can’t be defeated by military force; by increasing airstrikes against the terrorist organization, the West increases the likelihood of large-scale terrorist attacks similar to what happened in Paris on November 13, according to celebrated US scholar Noam Chomsky.

f the West wants to reduce the possibility of further terrorist attacks, it needs to address the root causes of the terrorist attacks in Paris.

These root causes are the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the Wahhabization of Sunni Islam, which in turn resulted in the rise of global radical Islamism, Professor Chomsky explained.

Thus, before jumping in and bombing Daesh in the Middle East, the West needs to ask first and foremost why it occured.

"If you want to end it, the first question you ask is: why did it take place? What were the immediate causes and what were the deeper roots? And then you try to address those," Professor Chomsky stated in an interview with acTVism Munich, an independent and non-profit global online media network.

Otherwise, the simple bombing strategy will do nothing but increase the likelihood of more terrorist attacks.

Furthermore, Chomsky added that it's probably impossible to defeat Deash by military force; but even if it happened and the West managed to destroy the terrorists, something worse would emerge in its place if the underlying root causes aren't properly addressed.

A series of suicide bombings and shootings shook Paris on November 13. Several extremists launched coordinated attacks across the city, killing some 130 people and injuring over 360 at several locations, including restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium.

Daesh, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other countries, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/34046-noam-chomsky-paris-attacks-are-result-of-western-policies-in-middle-east

Political Theater? Rahm Emanuel Cries for Laquan McDonald
Kari Lydersen, teleSUR
Lydersen writes: “Many see only crocodile tears, noting that it took the release of the video and the days of public outcry that followed to provoke Emanuel’s reaction, even though the mayor had been well aware of the incident and willing to shell out millions in taxpayer money in previous months.”
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Hate Crime Investigations Opened in Vandalism of California Mosques
Margaret Hartman, New York Magazine
Hartman writes: “The FBI and police in Southern California opened a hate-crime investigation into the vandalism of two mosques in Hawthorne, California.”
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On Sandy Hook Anniversary, US Activists Call for Gun Restrictions
Scott Malone, Reuters 
Malone writes: "U.S. gun control activists called for expanded background checks for firearms purchasers and for a ban on sales to people on federal watch lists on Monday, in a protest marking the third anniversary of the massacre at a Connecticut elementary school."
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These Teens Were Jailed for Wearing Saggy Pants. This Isn’t Unusual at All.
Casey Quinlan, Think Progress
Quinlan writes: “Two seniors at Bolivar Central High School in Bolivar, Tennessee, were arrested for wearing sagging pants to school and spent 48 hours in jail. Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for cities to criminalize people for wearing sagging pants, and for schools to lend a helping hand — a trend that social justice advocates say is discriminatory and targets young black men.”
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wo seniors at Bolivar Central High School in Bolivar, Tennessee, were arrested for wearing sagging pants to school and spent 48 hours in jail.

A school resource officer brought attention to the students’ wardrobe choices, and the students were charged with indecent exposure — although, according to WMC Action News, the local television station that first reported the story, saggy pants may not actually constitute indecent exposure under Tennessee law.

Although four seniors were charged for indecent exposure over two weeks in November, only two students spent time in the Hardeman County Criminal Justice Complex. At least one of the students has to pay $250 in court fees and fines. The school did not return WMC Action News’ request for comment.

Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for cities to criminalize people for wearing sagging pants, and for schools to lend a helping hand — a trend that social justice advocates say is discriminatory and targets young black men.

In September, a black college student who attended Hinds Community College in Mississippi was stopped by a campus police officer who said his pants violated the college dress code. When the student refused to show his ID, he was arrested for a failure to comply, which means he could receive up to six months in prison time and a $500 fine. After the incident, the college came to the conclusion that he had not violated the dress code and students protested, telling the college to “stop criminalizing black expression.”

A Dadeville, Alabama city councilor named Frank Goodman received national attention earlier this year for proposing an ordinance prohibiting anyone from wearing sagging pants (as well as whatever dresses and shorts the city council deemed too short, lest the council members showed “favoritism” to women). Goodman said his motivation was partly religious, declaring that God would never wear saggy pants. Anyone breaking the ordinance would have to pay a penalty of up to $500 and spend 60 days in jail.

Towns’ and cities’ saggy pants bans have attracted the attention of the NAACP. The organization met with Ocala, Florida city leaders last year and threatened to sue after the city prohibited saggy pants, a ban that was unanimously approved and included a $500 fine. The NAACP said the law was “clearly discriminatory” and Dale Landry, of the NAACP Florida chapter, said, “I’m sorry, it’s going to be black males that are the subject of this.” Soon after the controversy erupted, the city council repealed the saggy pants ban.

However, there is a question of whether students of color are going to avoid time in jail regardless of whether cities or towns bans saggy pants. Research shows teachers can practice a racial bias when penalizing students for breaking school rules, and students of color receive harsher punishments, such as suspension or expulsion.

In Texas, school resource officers have issued tickets for misbehavior that is not criminal to students as young as four years old, and there are fines and outstanding warrants for arrests if students do not appear in juvenile court. School resource officers, or SROs, have increased in the past 15 years following the Columbine High School massacre. The increased presence of SROs, some of whom are not properly trained to shift their behavior to a student population, have coincided with an increase in zero tolerance policies, which some racial justice advocates say contribute to the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34042-these-teens-were-jailed-for-wearing-saggy-pants-this-isnt-unusual-at-all

Torture by Iraqi Militias: The Report Washington Did Not Want You to See
Ned Parker, Reuters
Parker writes: “Two unpublished investigations show that the United States has consistently overlooked killings and torture by Iraqi government-sponsored Shi'ite militias.”
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Kumi Naidoo | The End of Fossil Fuels Is Near
Kumi Naidoo, EcoWatch
Naidoo writes: "Parts of this deal have been diluted and polluted by the people who despoil our planet, but it contains a new temperature limit of 1.5 degrees. That single number and the new goal of net zero emissions by the second half of this century, will cause consternation in the boardrooms of coal companies and the palaces of oil-exporting states and that is a very good thing. The transition away from fossil fuels is inevitable."
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RSN: Shoot the Kid 16 Times

In the upper left hand corner of this page is a SEARCH feature. 
Much has been written about the Chicago Police Department, Homan Square and police killings of BLACKS.

Ignorance of what has transpired in Chicago and elsewhere is simply no excuse. 
Injustice has created the SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE for which we all pay. 



In many communities, members of the Police Force live locally, know their communities and take pride in their jobs, conducting themselves professionally. 

In Chicago, we know that Chicago Police operated a BLACK HOLE [Homan Square] where they tortured BLACKS into false confessions, inter alia.  

RSN: Chicago Cop Beat Wife in Homan Square 'Black Site,' Document Shows

RSN: Republicans Deserve Credit for Creating a Budget This Cruel, Bill Gates' "Charity" Org Holds $1.4 Billion in Fossil Fuel Investments

RSN: "Irresponsible & Reckless": Environmentalists Decry Obama's Arctic Drilling Approval, Homan Square Detainee: I Was Sexually Abused by Police at Chicago 'Black Site',

"Collective Psychopathology" And US Police State Methods 
By Jon V Kofas

http://www.countercurrents.org/kofas040315.htm

In February 2015, The Guardian published a couple of new stories about the connection between the Chicago police department “black site” at Homan Square and the Guantanamo prison where terror suspects have been kept as political prisoners without ever been charged. Neither the national media in the US nor the Chicago media organizations, including African-American, have pursued this story. Even after the British paper brought these issues to the attention of the public, the mainstream media in Chicago and across the US are ignoring the revelations, a subject in itself revealing about the role of the US media in a democratic society where human rights and civil rights violations occur

The disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden 'black site' --Secret interrogation facility reveals aspects of war on terror in US | 24 Feb 2015 | The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site. The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago's west side known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights. Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into Chicago police abuse, include: Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases. Beating by police, resulting in head wounds. Shackling for prolonged periods. Denying attorneys access to the "secure" facility. Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours, including people as young as 15

FOUND HERE: 

Net Neutrality: Look whose side Republicans are on! Not yours! CLG: Israel cuts off electricity to thousands of West Bank Palestinians

The Disappeared: Chicago Police Detain Americans at Abuse-Laden 'Black Site' 
Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian 
Ackerman writes: "The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site." 
READ MORE

FOUND HERE:
RSN: Science's Embarrassing Fossil Fuel Problems, Renewable Energy Skyrocketing, From Solar Mosques to Wave-Powered Naval Bases

The tapes of a recent shooting were erased. 
Witness accounts differ from Police statements and autopsy results contradict Police accounts. 




PLEASE NOTICE HOW WHITE THE CHICAGO POLICE FORCE IS. 

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FOCUS: Charles Pierce | Shoot the Kid 16 Times

Charles Pierce, Esquire
Pierce writes: "If you're wondering what went through the mind of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke as he emptied his service piece into Laquan McDonald a year ago, it was confidence. The confidence that comes with being licensed to carry a gun as a defense against your fellow citizens."
READ MORE

Most of the time, when you're a white cop, you shoot the kid and nothing happens. Will that finally change?

hoot the kid.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times, mostly when he's already down.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Make the body bounce.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that your buddies have your back.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that your buddies will grab the tapes.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that your buddies will bully the witnesses.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that the city will settle quietly.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that the city will bury the case.

Shoot the kid 16 times and know that nobody ever will know that you did.

Shoot the kid.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

If you're wondering what went through the mind of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke as he emptied his service piece into Laquan McDonald a year ago, it was confidence. The confidence that comes with being licensed to carry a gun as a defense against your fellow citizens. The confidence that comes with the knowledge that almost every powerful institution in your city will come to your aid if every powerless individual in the city is outraged by what you've done. The confidence that comes with knowing that the tapes will always be taken care of, the autopsy buried, and the official story spread far and wide before the truth ever is known, assuming that it ever is. The confidence that comes with being a white police officer in a major city in a terrified country. That was the spirit in which Jason Van Dyke allegedly fired his last rounds into what soon became the dead body of Laquan McDonald.

But the rules changed on Van Dyke. They changed in Ferguson, and on Staten Island, and in Tulsa, and, most recently, in Minneapolis. Dogged local reporting dug out the autopsy report, which showed that Laquan McDonald had taken 16 bullets. Dogged local reporting, and an overwhelming public outcry, forced the release on Tuesday of the dashcam video. The videotape was proof enough. Jason Van Dyke stands charged with first-degree murder in the death of Laquan McDonald, whom he shot 16 times.

It's hard to know whether this story will end well or not. Truth be told, the first-degree murder charge may be very hard to sustain in this case against a Chicago police officer. At least one juror likely will have imbibed the line that Van Dyke's life was endangered by McDonald because that juror has been fed a steady diet of black criminality on the news, on the radio, and by his favorite television pundits. This is not an easy prosecution, but the fact that it is being brought at all is something of a small miracle. That is, of course, very easy for me to say. I am not the threat, walking down the street with my Skittles and my iced tea. I am not the threat, peddling my loosies on the sidewalk. I am not the threat, acting bizarrely outside the Burger King. I am not the threat.

Shoot the kid.

Shoot the kid 16 times.

Shoot the kid 16 times, and see what happens next.


 http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/33773-focus-shoot-the-kid-16-times

Ben Fields, School to Prison Pipeline, Targeting Blacks, American Racism

DemocracyNow had a decent discussion of how wide-spread this is, despite lack of real statistics, this morning:

When School Cops Go Bad: South Carolina Incident Highlights Growing Police Presence in Classrooms

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/28/when_school_cops_go_bad_south

Texas Student Spent 52 Days in Coma After Being Tased by Police at School

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/28/texas_student_spent_52_days_in

Criminalizing the Classroom: Inside the School-to-Prison Pipeline

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/28/criminalizing_the_classroom_inside_the_school

Fire the officer who attacked a Black student in her classroom

We can agree that being a police officer is a difficult job and most officers conduct themselves professionally, doing their best to protect their communities, reduce crime and violence and calm difficult situations. 

It's truly difficult to justify the actions of Richland County SC Sr Dep Ben Fields. 
There are links below indicating Ben Fields has been responsible for other violent assaults and lawsuits. 

When fellow officers step forward to defend this level of targeted physical abuse against blacks, they do themselves a disservice. 

If this level of abuse were conducted in white communities.... 

This is NOT acceptable! 

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION BELOW AND SHARE WITH FRIENDS! 

Deputy Ben Fields: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Yesterday, a school police officer in South Carolina was caught on video brutally attacking a Black female high school student as she sits in her classroom. It has to be seen to be believed.

Click here to see the video and join us in demanding that the officer be fired and prosecuted.

Officer Fields has a history of attacking students, who say they’ve complained about him for years.1 This time, his violence was caught on camera, and it's clearly unnecessary, malicious, and brutal.

Local police have asked the FBI and DOJ to investigate.2 But the videos of what happened provide more than enough evidence for local authorities to immediately fire Fields, arrest him, and prosecute him.

Join us in demanding that officer Fields be fired and prosecuted immediately, and that all charges are dropped against students already victimized by Fields.

Once you’ve signed the petition, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Officer Fields is already facing a lawsuit from another student who says Fields targets Black students with false allegations of gang activity. Fields was also sued by a couple who say he viciously attacked and arrested them without provocation, kicking the man as he lay on the ground and emptying a bottle of pepper spray into his face.3

Students at the school say they are afraid of Fields, a bodybuilder who can lift hundreds of pounds, and who has often attacked and intimidated students. One student said on social media that she once witnessed Fields “slamming” a pregnant woman.4

Tony Robinson, the student who shot the video of this incident, says that the girl who Fields violently arrested had done nothing wrong. Robinson says she took out her cell phone for a minute during class, and a teacher asked her for it. She refused to give the teacher the phone, and the teacher called the vice principle. The vice principal asked the student to leave, and she refused, but she was very apologetic. The vice principle then called the police officer, who confronted the student and escalated the situation — and that’s when Robinson started taking video on his cell phone.5

It's a perfect example of the school to prison pipeline that thwarts the education of Black children and criminalizes them unnecessarily.Over the last few decades, the number of police in schools has skyrocketed. Every year, thousands of students — a disproportionate number of them Black — are needlessly arrested and abused for simply being kids.

The student attacked by officer Fields has now been charged with "disturbing schools," a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a thousand dollar fine.6 Another student who shot one of the videos was also charged, and she says she was arrested just for standing up for her classmate.7 Meanwhile, officer Fields — whose violence not only victimized one student, but also disrupted and traumatized an entire classroom — still has his job and is still being paid.

It's outrageous. If enough of us speak out, we can shine a spotlight on local authorities that will create massive pressure for them to hold officer Fields accountable. But we need to act now, before the media moves on to the next story and we’re left to wait for an "investigation" that goes nowhere.

Join us in demanding accountability for officer Fields, and justice for the students he abused. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.

References:

1. “Deputy Ben Fields: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know,” Heavy, 10-26-2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5441?ak_proof=1&t=8&akid=4938.698467.kCy3i8

2. “FBI investigation sought in S.C. school incident caught on video,” USA Today, 10-27-2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5442?ak_proof=1&t=10&akid=4938.698467.kCy3i8

3. See reference 1.

4. See reference 1.

5. “Watch: Student Who Filmed Officer Dragging Girl Asks, How Did A Cop 'Let It Get To That Point?',” New Civil Rights Movement, 10-27-2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5443?ak_proof=1&t=12&akid=4938.698467.kCy3i8

6. “Outrage grows after South Carolina officer throws student in classroom,” CNN, 10-27-2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5444?ak_proof=1&t=14&akid=4938.698467.kCy3i8

7. “Student Arrested Says She Was Standing Up for Classmate,” WLTX, 10-27-2015 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5445?ak_proof=1&t=16&akid=4938.698467.kCy3i8