New Transgender Law going into effect in California
End of the Age News
By Hollye Robbins
The Requirement of Drone strikes to follow International Law
A resolution has been approved by the UN General Assembly that is commanding states who use drones as a measure to fight against terrorism to conform to the international law. It was reported by the Associated Press of Pakistan on Thursday, that this resolution was a product of the Pakistan delegation acting on problems, which relate to human rights.
On Wednesday, this command for monitoring these distant-piloted planes which are used against possible terrorists, has been given the title of, “Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism”. This has been the first time for the General Assembly to speak out about the armed drones which are an important but disputed tool of the US in the war on terrorism. Some of the targets that have been used are in Pakistan.
The following statement is in the resolution encourages states, “to ensure that any measures taken or means employed to counter terrorism, including the use of remotely-piloted aircraft, comply with their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the UN, human rights law and international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of distinction and proportionality”.
This resolution also commands consideration for the following, “relevant UN resolutions and decisions on human rights, and encourages them to give due consideration to the recommendations of the special procedures and mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and to the relevant comments and views of UN human rights treaty bodies”.
New Transgender Law going into effect in California
At the beginning of the New Year, 2014, there will be a new law concerning trans genders that is planned to go into effect in the schools of the Valley in California.
Governor Jerry Brown has signed a law that allows any transgender pupils, ranging all the way through grade school, to choose to use the bathroom of choice that matches with the gender they choose to be. The option of playing sports on either a girl’s or a boys’ team is also being given to these students. The staff of Hanford Joint Union High School District is being trained to facilitate the changes that this new law will bring.
Ward Whaley from this school district stated, “From a district perspective we have to understand we have to provide an environment that is safe and appropriate for every single student on our campus. That’s a big challenge and we take that seriously,” He also stated concerning the students that, “They may say I saw that you referred to me as a male but I would like you to refer to me as a female please. Under the new legislation it is really our role and our job to facilitate that,”
The opposing side has been getting signatures in order to get this law repealed. They will need approximately 505,000 signatures in the state for this to be addressed on the ballots in November of 2014. The secretary of state is counting these signatures at this time.
The Real ID in Vermont
There have been several states that have rejected the implementation of the “Real ID” among their citizens. But Vermont has taken a different stance on this issue. The Department of Motor Vehicles in Vermont has posted on its website that it will adhere to the federal government’s plan and it will start to give these ID cards to its citizens in January of 2014.
“His agency is excited to offer the new ID.” stated Robert Ide, Commissioner of the DMV in Vermont. He further stated that, “there citizens of Vermont will be prepared when and if the federal government makes this ID a requirement for everything from air travel to entering a federal building.”
There are other people that are discouraged that this state did not go along with a large amount of states that went against this mandatory law of Homeland Security. Many people view this Real ID as card that is not only state wide, but national wide. People that support privacy are afraid that this card will give the government even more ability to track the populace without adding extra protection.
The executive director of Vermont’s American Civil Liberties Union, Allen Gilbert, stated, “Once you have a national ID, you will have it for all kinds of things. One of the things Americans prize is privacy and anonymity, and when you have to have identification all the time, it’s not American,”
At this time, the DMV of Vermont is letting people that were born after December 1, 1964, that they will need to get a card by next December and that the people that were born before then will be given extra time. If they do not comply then they could possibly not be allowed on flights or into federal facilitlies.
This has been postponed several time by the Department of Homeland Security and even Ide stated that the area he worked in was not sure if they will actually ever enforce this.