A Stunning New Verdict Rewrites the Rules of Corporate Morality; The New York Times, April 17, 2026

M. GESSEN, The New York Times; A Stunning New Verdict Rewrites the Rules of Corporate Morality 

"At the conference I met Rebecca Hamilton, a cheerful war-crimes lawyer who is now a law professor at American University in Washington. Corporate complicity is her area of study. In a 2022 law review article titled “Platform-Enabled Crimes,” she wrote that Facebook (now Meta) could have acted to help prevent the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar in 2017 but that it had chosen not to. The decision not to act, Hamilton wrote, had been driven by both the profit motive and a lack of interest in local context. Now Hamilton is working on a book on corporate enablers of atrocity crime. “Securing profit isn’t some abstraction achieved in pristine boardrooms in capital cities,” she wrote in an email to me on Monday after the Lafarge verdict, which had made her, too, very happy. “It is a process that plays out in real locations, with real people, including those living through conflict.”"

Repression of Uyghurs persists as the world moves on; Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), April 19, 2026

 Yalkun Uluyol, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); Repression of Uyghurs persists as the world moves on

"Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, is participating in a panel discussion of the ethical and legal dilemmas at the heart of international human rights, The Attention Economy of Suffering, presented by The Ethics Centre in partnership with Human Rights Watch, on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

Dozens of my family members, including my father, Memet Yaqup, have disappeared into China’s system of mass incarceration over the past decade simply for being Uyghurs. When international attention to our plight surged — through joint statements at the United Nations, extensive media coverage, national parliaments recognising atrocity crimes — I believed there would be enough pressure to secure the release of my loved ones. 

Yet, eight years into my father’s enforced disappearance, I still have no information about his whereabouts, health or the allegations that led to his imprisonment. Meanwhile, the world’s attention has moved on.

My father is one of the hundreds of thousands who since 2016 have suffered the Chinese government’s grave human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Chinese authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to mass arbitrary detention, unjust imprisonments, intrusive surveillance and forced labour.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded in a landmark 2022 report that the Chinese government may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. That acknowledgement marked a rare moment when the Uyghur people appeared to have the world’s attention. Yet even then, China’s global influence was on full display. 

Efforts by a group of countries who tried to place Xinjiang on the formal agenda of the UN Human Rights Council were narrowly defeated after heavy pressure from Beijing. What happened read like a page taken from the Beijing playbook: intimidation of critics, the cultivation and mobilisation of allies, and a steady erosion of momentum for such criticism.

In Xinjiang, the Chinese government weaponises information about people’s everyday lives — lawful and peaceful behaviours — and uses it against them. The authorities have put mass surveillance tools in place, including one called the Integrated Joint Operations Platform, to track everyone, their movements, contacts, phone use and contents, vehicle location and interaction with people abroad."

Minnesota authorities investigate arrest by ICE of a Hmong American man as a possible kidnapping; AP, April 13, 2026

MARK VANCLEAVE AND STEVE KARNOWSKI , AP; Minnesota authorities investigate arrest by ICE of a Hmong American man as a possible kidnapping

"A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by federal officers that was captured on video as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday. 

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they are pursuing information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, on Jan. 18. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bashed open the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint — without a warrant as far as Choi and Fletcher have been able to determine — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There’s not a dispute over that,” Fletcher said. “There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around.”"

Ugandan human rights leader Frank Mugisha to be awarded 2026 Inamori Ethics Prize; Case Western Reserve University, April 3, 2026

 Bill Lubinger, Case Western Reserve University; Ugandan human rights leader Frank Mugisha to be awarded 2026 Inamori Ethics Prize

"Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), has devoted his life to advocating for basic human rights for all people—not only in his home country, but globally.

A recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize, Mugisha has been recognized internationally for his activism and courage. He was a 2014 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, chosen one of Fortune magazine's 2017 World's Greatest Leaders, and named among the 100 Most Influential People of 2024 by TIME magazine. 

And now, add one more honor to the list: The Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellenceat Case Western Reserve University will award Mugisha with the 2026 Inamori Ethics Prize. 

"It is truly humbling to be recognized alongside the inspiring work of previous Inamori Ethics Prize recipients,” Mugisha said. “This recognition inspires me greatly and means so much—not only to me personally but also to the communities I have the privilege to serve. It strengthens our resolve to continue advancing human rights, equality and ethical leadership.”

Mugisha will be awarded the prize, deliver a free public lecture about his work, and participate in a symposium panel discussion during the 2026 Inamori Ethics Prize events Sept. 17-18 on the Case Western Reserve campus.

“Mr. Mugisha’s dedication to and advocacy for human rights is inspiring. Driven by impact and propelled by purpose, Mr. Mugisha is changing lives around the world,” said Case Western Reserve President Eric W. Kaler. “We look forward to hearing about his life’s work this fall and honoring him as the 2026 Inamori Ethics Prize winner.”

The Inamori Ethics Prize has been awarded since 2008 to honor outstanding international ethical leaders whose actions and influence have greatly improved the condition of humankind.

“Frank Mugisha reflects the very spirit of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence—grounded in human dignity, global awareness, and moral courage. His leadership challenges us to see beyond differences and to strengthen our common humanity,” Provost and Executive Vice President Joy K. Ward said.

Grassroots movement

Mugisha has led the grassroots movement to save thousands of LBGTI Ugandans from persecution, incarceration, and death.

During his undergraduate studies, Mugisha founded Icebreakers Uganda in 2004, an organization created as a support network for LGBTI people who are out or in the process of coming out to family and friends. 

Icebreakers Uganda offers counseling, suicide-prevention, and education services to those who are sexual minorities and open about their identity—because it is viewed by law and some public opinion in that country as criminal. 

Mugisha has expanded his efforts while at SMUG, now an umbrella organization of over 40 groups, including the first and only LGBTI health center in Uganda. 

In addition to promoting equality for the LGBTI community in Uganda, Mugisha and his team at SMUG have been fighting legal and ideological battles with Ugandan Parliament and championed legal efforts in U.S. District Court against anti-LGBT activists for years. 

Mugisha has led the movements to abolish Uganda’s anti-homosexuality and sexual-offense legislation which makes it a crime to identify as queer, considers all same-sex conduct to be nonconsensual, and allows for the death penalty in certain cases. 

Ugandan courts upheld the large majority of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2024. However, SMUG’s advocacy efforts did convince legislators to eliminate sections that restricted healthcare access for LGBTI people, criminalized renting premises to LGBTI people, and required alleged acts of homosexuality to be reported. Mugisha and advocates continue to seek a full annulment of the Act before the Supreme Court of Uganda.

Mugisha was 14 when he told his brother he was gay. Both brothers were born and raised in a strict Catholic family in suburban Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where anti-LGBTI laws are among the harshest in the world. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say “coming out” in the East African country could draw a beating, land you in prison, or even cost your life.

“Frank Mugisha embodies moral courage in its highest form,” said Inamori Center Director Eileen Anderson, Inamori Professor in Ethics and the Anne Templeton Zimmerman, MD Professor of Bioethics at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. “For more than two decades, he has led the fight for human dignity and equality in Uganda, transforming personal risk into global impact.”"

Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked; Smithsonian Magazine, March 26, 2026

Kayla Randall - Digital Editor, Museums, Smithsonian Magazine; Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked

"When nine Black college students walked into a segregated public library in Mississippi on March 27, 1961, they knew what to expect next: Staff would call the police, and they would probably be arrested if they refused to leave. According to local laws, being Black in a space designated only for the white public constituted a breach of peace. By stepping through the doors of the Jackson Municipal Library, they would be risking physical harm and verbal abuse. They might even face an angry crowd.

But the students, from the historically Black Tougaloo College, had trained for this moment. This was a sit-in, a nonviolent direct-action protest, and they were prepared. They’d been guided by the likes of Medgar Evers, the NAACP’s first Mississippi field officer, who was known for his public investigation into the murder of Emmett Till and his fight against Jim Crow laws in the state; Ernst Borinski, a Jewish lawyer who’d fled Nazi Germany, then accepted a position teaching sociology at Tougaloo after World War II; and Tougaloo chaplain John Mangram.

The civic-minded students wanted to effect change in Mississippi. Entering that library would boldly oppose the state’s unyielding system of segregation and highlight the disparities they experienced as Black residents."

Donald Trump poses a threat to civilization; The Guardian, January 6, 2025

 Robert Reich, The Guardian; Donald Trump poses a threat to civilization

"Trump’s domestic and foreign policies – ranging from his attempted coup against the United States five years ago, to his incursion into Venezuela last weekend, to his current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland – undermine domestic and international law. But that’s not all.

They threaten what we mean by civilization.

The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we’d be permanently immersed in a brutish war in which only the fittest and most powerful could survive.

This principle lies at the center of America’s founding documents – the Declaration of Independence, the constitution and the Bill of Rights. It’s also the core of the postwar international order championed by the United States, including the UN charter – emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law...

A direct line connects Trump’s attempted coup five years ago to his capture of Nicolás Maduro last weekend. Both were lawless. Both were premised on the hubris of omnipotence.

That same line connects to Trump’s current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland.

You see much the same in Putin’s war on Ukraine. In Xi’s threats against Taiwan. In global depredation and monopolization by big tech and big oil. In Russian, Chinese, and American oligarchs who have fused public power with their personal wealth.

But unfettered might does not make right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and war.

History shows that laws and norms designed to constrain the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth eventually bring them down – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten world war.

Trump’s blatant lawlessness will haunt America and the world – and civilization – for years to come."

Iranian boxing champion at imminent risk of execution as retrial request rejected; The Guardian, December 19, 2025

Sarah Johnson , The Guardian; Iranian boxing champion at imminent risk of execution as retrial request rejected

[Kip Currier: It's gut-wrenching to see such barbaric human rights violations and the specter of state executions against people like Iranian boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani who advocate for basic democratic rights.]

[Excerpt]

"A boxing champion in prison in Iran is thought to be at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected by the country’s supreme court.

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and put in solitary confinement...

Vafaei Sani was convicted of “corruption on Earth” and sentenced to death for a third time in September 2024 after “a grossly unfair trial”, according to Amnesty International. The supreme court upheld his death sentence on 4 October.

Nassim Papayianni, Amnesty International’s senior campaigner on Iran, called on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt any plans to carry out Vafaei Sani’s execution and quash his conviction and death sentence."

Trump’s Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy; The New York Times, December 5, 2025

Anton Troianovski, The New York Times; Trump’s Security Strategy Focuses on Profit, Not Spreading Democracy

[Kip Currier: At the heart of this heartless Trump 2.0 National Security Strategy is an ethos of naked transactionalism and moral bankruptcy.

The transparent inhumanity, unbridled avarice, and indifference to the wellbeing of fellow human beings are a shameful repudiation of fundamental American democratic values and ethical principles.]

[Excerpt]

"The world as seen from the White House is a place where America can use its vast powers to make money.

President Trump has shown all year that his second term would make it a priority to squeeze less powerful countries to benefit American companies. But late Thursday, his administration made that profit-driven approach a core element of its official foreign policy, publishing its long-anticipated update to U.S. national security aims around the world.

The document, known as the National Security Strategy, describes a world in which American interests are far narrower than how prior administrations — even in Mr. Trump’s first term — had portrayed them. Gone is the long-familiar picture of the United States as a global force for freedom, replaced by a country that is focused on reducing migration while avoiding passing judgment on authoritarians, instead seeing them as sources of cash."

Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges; The Guardian, December 4, 2025

Richard Luscombe, The Guardian; Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges

"Detainees at the notorious Florida immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” were shackled inside a 2ft high metal cage and left outside without water for up to a day at a time, a shocking report published on Thursday by Amnesty International alleges.

The human rights group said migrants held at the state-run Everglades facility, and at Miami’s Krome immigration processing center operated by a private company on behalf of the Trump administration, continue to be exposed to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” rising in some cases to torture.

The cage, known to detainees as “the box”, is used by guards for the arbitrary punishment of trivial or non-existent offenses, according to the report compiled from interviews with detainees and advocacy groups, and a site visit to Krome made by Amnesty workers in September."

Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome in Florida; Amnesty International, December 4, 2025

Amnesty International; Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome in Florida

"This report presents Amnesty International’s findings from a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025 to document:

• Human rights impacts of federal and state migration and asylum policies on mass detention and deportation
• Access to due process and
• Detention conditions since President Trump took office on January 20, 2025.

In particular, it focuses on detention conditions at the Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome) and the Everglades Detention Facility, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Krome is an ICE detention facility located in Miami-Dade County on the edge of the Everglades. In 2025, the facility has faced heightened scrutiny after reports of severe overcrowding and several deaths. Amnesty International documented delays in intake procedures, overcrowding in temporary processing areas, inadequate and inaccessible medical care, alarming disciplinary practices including the use of prolonged solitary confinement, and challenges in access to legal representation and due process at Krome.

“Alligator Alcatraz” opened in July 2025 with the capacity to detain around 3,000 people. Amnesty International’s research concludes that people arbitrarily detained in “Alligator Alcatraz” are being held in inhuman and unsanitary conditions, including overflowing toilets with fecal matter seeping into where people are sleeping, limited access to showers, exposure to insects without protective measures, lights on 24 hours a day, poor quality food and water, and lack of privacy.

Amnesty International considers that detention conditions at both facilities amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The use of prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and the use of the ‘box’ at “Alligator Alcatraz” amount to torture or other ill-treatment.

Amnesty International calls on the Government of the United States to:

• End its cruel mass immigration detention and deportation machine
• Stop the criminalization of migration
• Bar the use of state-owned facilities for immigration custody detention
• Ensure thorough investigations into all deaths, abuses, and allegations of torture in custody, and
• Comply with international human rights law and standards."

Trump’s $2 Trillion Plan to Cash in on Ukraine ‘Peace’ Leaks; The Daily Beast, November 29, 2025

Adam Downer , The Daily Beast; Trump’s $2 Trillion Plan to Cash in on Ukraine ‘Peace’ Leaks

[Kip Currier: Notice that there's no Trump 2.0 substantive discussion of human rights violations or accountability for Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, abduction of Ukrainian children (see 11/20/25 Euronews "Back from captivity: Ukrainian children abducted by Russia share their stories", attacks on churches, schools, and hospitals (see also 2023 National Library of Medicine (NLM) study "Attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities during the first year of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine"), and atrocities like the Bucha massacre in March 2022.]

[Excerpt]

"At the center of President Trump’s contentious plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war isn’t peace: it’s profit.

Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are negotiating with Russian officials to ensure U.S. businesses—and Trump’s friends—are in position to make a killing once the war ends, according to an exhaustive Wall Street Journal report published Friday...

Witkoff spoke to the paper about a future where Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine are all business partners. 

“If we do all that, and everybody’s prospering and they’re all a part of it, and there’s upside for everybody, that’s going to naturally be a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving,” Witkoff said...

Europe balked at President Trump’s 28-point peace plan—which Witkoff drafted based on a Russian plan— arguing it was overly generous to Russia. The deal had Ukraine concede territory and cut its military capacity, effectively neutering the nation’s sovereignty. The plan wasn’t popular in America either, as it received significant pushback from the GOP...

Though the Journal’s report details the many ways in which Americans and Russians could profit from an eventual peace deal, it’s unclear how Ukraine would benefit."

Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and human rights: mapping the legal landscape in European health systems; npj Health Systems, November 25, 2025

 

Robin van Kessel, Jelena Schmidt, 

Hannah van Kolfschooten, 

Sam Feudo, 

Katie Young, 

Laura Valtere, 

Timo Minssen & 

Elias Mossialos 

, npj Health Systems ; Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and human rights: mapping the legal landscape in European health systems

"Abstract

Intellectual property (IP) rights and IP-related rights, such as trade secrets and regulatory exclusivities, play a crucial role in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. However, possible interactions may be anticipated when comparing the legal relationships formed by these rights with those established by human rights. This study synthesises 53 laws and treaties illustrating the IP landscape for AI in health systems across Europe and examines their intersections with health-focused human rights. Our analysis reveals that a great variety of datasets, software, hardware, output, AI model architecture, data bases, and graphical user interfaces can be subject to IP protection. Although codified limitations and exceptions on IP and IP-related rights exist, interpretation of their conditions and scope permits for diverse interpretations and is left to the discretion of courts. Comparing these rights to health-focused human rights highlights tensions between promoting innovation and ensuring accessibility, quality, and equity in health systems, as well as between human rights ideals and the protection of European digital sovereignty. As these rights often pursue conflicting objectives and may involve trade-offs, future research should explore new ways to reconcile these objectives and foster solidarity in sharing the risks and benefits among stakeholders."

‘Things Happen’: Trump Brushes Off the Murder of Khashoggi; The New York Times, November 18, 2025

 Shawn McCreesh, The New York Times; ‘Things Happen’: Trump Brushes Off the Murder of Khashoggi

"“Things happen.”

That was how President Trump described the murder of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday afternoon while sitting beside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi ruler whom the C.I.A. believes approved the killing.

In an Oval Office meeting full of news-making moments, that comment by Mr. Trump was perhaps the most astonishing one, and it came just a few moments after he opened up the room to questions.

It was the ABC News journalist Mary Bruce who asked about the finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi. “Your royal highness,” she said, turning to Prince Mohammed, “the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust—”

At that moment, the president cut in, his voice vibrating with anger.

“Who are you with?” he demanded to know.

The earlier part of Ms. Bruce’s question, which had been directed at Mr. Trump, concerned his family’s business entanglements in Saudi Arabia. He brushed off those ethics concerns (“I have nothing to do with the family business”) and then addressed the question about Mr. Khashoggi.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the murdered columnist. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

The crown prince spoke more like a politician, condemning the 9/11 attacks and Osama Bin Laden. Then he turned to the question about Mr. Khashoggi. “About the journalist,” Prince Mohammed said, going on to give a lengthy answer, casting it as “a huge mistake” that the kingdom never wants to happen again.

Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed said, “did all the right steps” to investigate Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

Mr. Trump’s concerns were different.

“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” he said to the reporter."

How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’; The Guardian, September 10, 2025

Liz Cookman, The Guardian; How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’

"Sonya spent a month at the Avangard camp, which has several other branches across Russia, and had sanctions imposed on it by the UK in November for its role in the forced deportation and brainwashing of Ukrainian children. She says she and other children faced a programme of activities that included being taught to dig trenches and rig them with booby traps and trip wires, load machine guns, take part in military-style formations and carry other children on their backs to simulate medical evacuations.

Similar to Soviet-era youth camps, these centres have escalated in number since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Critics say they are used to indoctrinate children to prepare them for future service in the Russian military.

Now large numbers of children from occupied regions of Ukraine are reportedly being sent alongside the young Russians. The Kremlin portrays these facilities as physical and cultural learning opportunities for children."

How the Vatican Is Shaping the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence; American Enterprise Institute, July 7, 2025

Shane Tews , American Enterprise Institute; How the Vatican Is Shaping the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

"Father Paolo Benanti is an Italian Catholic priest, theologian, and member of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. He teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University and has served as an advisor to both former Pope Francis and current Pope Leo on matters of artificial intelligence and technology ethics within the Vatican.

Below is a lightly edited and abridged transcript of our discussion...

In the Vatican document, you emphasize that AI is just a tool—an elegant one, but it shouldn’t control our thinking or replace human relationships. You mention it “requires careful ethical consideration for human dignity and common good.” How do we identify that human dignity point, and what mechanisms can alert us when we’re straying from it?

I’ll try to give a concise answer, but don’t forget that this is a complex element with many different applications, so you can’t reduce it to one answer. But the first element—one of the core elements of human dignity—is the ability to self-determine our trajectory in life. I think that’s the core element, for example, in the Declaration of Independence. All humans have rights, but you have the right to the pursuit of happiness. This could be the first description of human rights.

In that direction, we could have a problem with this kind of system because one of the first and most relevant elements of AI, from an engineering perspective, is its prediction capabilities.Every time a streaming platform suggests what you can watch next, it’s changing the number of people using the platform or the online selling system. This idea that interaction between human beings and machines can produce behavior is something that could interfere with our quality of life and pursuit of happiness. This is something that needs to be discussed.

Now, the problem is: don’t we have a cognitive right to know if we have a system acting in that way? Let me give you some numbers. When you’re 65, you’re probably taking three different drugs per day. When you reach 68 to 70, you probably have one chronic disease. Chronic diseases depend on how well you stick to therapy. Think about the debate around insulin and diabetes. If you forget to take your medication, your quality of life deteriorates significantly. Imagine using this system to help people stick to their therapy. Is that bad? No, of course not. Or think about using it in the workplace to enhance workplace safety. Is that bad? No, of course not.

But if you apply it to your life choices—your future, where you want to live, your workplace, and things like that—that becomes much more intense. Once again, the tool could become a weapon, or the weapon could become a tool. This is why we have to ask ourselves: do we need something like a cognitive right regarding this? That you are in a relationship with a machine that has the tendency to influence your behavior.

Then you can accept it: “I have diabetes, I need something that helps me stick to insulin. Let’s go.” It’s the same thing that happens with a smartwatch when you have to close the rings. The machine is pushing you to have healthy behavior, and we accept it. Well, right now we have nothing like that framework. Should we think about something in the public space? It’s not a matter of allowing or preventing some kind of technology. It’s a matter of recognizing what it means to be human in an age of such powerful technology—just to give a small example of what you asked me."

They Are All Warriors, Too.; Ethics, Info, Tech: Contested Voices, Values, Spaces, June 4, 2025

Kip Currier, Ethics, Info, Tech: Contested Voices, Values, Spaces; They Are All Warriors, Too.

Late yesterday afternoon I saw the following Guardian article: Hegseth orders US navy to strip Harvey Milk name from ship amid Pride month. That generated two reactions:

Oh, no...Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth couldn't have done such a mean-spirited, petty thing, right?...

And, oh, yeah...this is exactly the kind of thing Hegseth would do. Especially with Pride Month just underway.

What was the Pentagon explanation for why this was done? The article says that "The renaming is being done to ensure “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture”, referring to Donald Trump, Hegseth and Phelan, according to the memorandum."

It goes on to note that not just the USNS Harvey Milk but more than half a dozen naval ships named for civil rights pioneers will be stripped of their names and renamed:

"Documents reviewed by CBS showed that vessels on the US navy’s “recommended list” include USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers." 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/03/harvey-milk-ship-name-hegseth

A few points in rebuttal to Hegseth and those who support this decision:

The timing of this action is clearly not an accident. It was unveiled at the beginning of June's Pride Month, the month-long recognition of LGBTQ+ people and their long-waged civil rights efforts to be legally recognized and included in all aspects of societal life, like other Americans.

At the same time as Hegseth's announcement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on June 3 that the Trump Administration would not be recognizing Pride Month. Leavitt added that “I can tell you this president is very proud to be a president for all Americans, regardless of race, religion or creed.” Leavitt's words on behalf of Trump may sound good to some, but there's really no substantive meaning or truth behind the platitude. To the contrary, the actions of the Trump administration indicate that Trump is in fact not a "president for all Americans." As just one example among many, recall that this is the president who decided via a "Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness" executive order on January 27, 2025 that transgender persons will no longer be permitted to serve in the U.S. military, a decision that was upheld by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court on May 6. How is that decision playing out in our society? The Advocate reported on June 3 that Cadets who met all Air Force Academy graduation standards denied commissions because they're transgender. Consider the fundamental unfairness of this new reality for persons who have committed themselves to serving this country. Keep in mind as well that all branches of the U.S. military have been unable to meet their recruiting goals in recent years, except for the U.S. Marines and Space Force. Transgender persons, like these Air Force Academy graduates, are ready, willing, and more than able to serve. Yet, they are being ushered out of all military branches under this president.

It's important to note that among the naval ships set to be renamed, three of the people for whom those ships were named are veterans: Harvey Milk (U.S. Navy), Cesar Chavez (U.S. Navy), and Medgar Evers (U.S. Army). Milk served for four years and was forced out of the Navy in 1955, with an "other than honorable" discharge because he was openly homosexual. Evers served for three years, from 1943-1946, in a segregated army unit during World War II. Chavez served two years in the Navy, from 1946-1948, and was placed in a unit for persons of foreign descent. We can easily imagine if we were to place ourselves in the shoes of these three veterans how the experience of being categorized and set apart from other people in ways that discriminate them from one another might affect us and impel us to work for inclusion and equal treatment, which all three of these men would later do. Moreover, all three of these veterans enlisted of their own free will and were part of a military warrior culture that was ready to fight for freedom and protect democracy.

The other civil rights activists and notable historical figures for whom the naval ships were named, such as Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman and suffragist and slavery abolitionist Lucy Stone, did not serve in the U.S. military. However, each of these individuals in their own way represents the spirit of a warrior. Each person confronted significant obstacles and discriminatory treatment, both as individuals and members of groups that suffered from systemic unfairness and disadvantage. Yet, they all found the courage and strength within themselves to fight back against unjustness to help our country become "a more perfect union". 

America is an exceptional nation that has been a beacon for the ideals of democracy for nearly 250 years. Yet, the patchwork of American history is also made up of time periods in which those ideals were not realized and groups experienced discrimination, ostracism, and injustice. One of the ways we can work toward becoming a more perfect union is by acknowledging that past and the inherent value of individuals and the various communities within which they are situated. Honoring the societal achievements of individuals from groups that have experienced intolerance and unjust actions by naming military ships after them is a way to promote "representation" of these groups; groups who are all too often unseen and unrecognized. It's a way of saying "we see you", "we know you are here", "we value you". Hegseth's stripping the names of civil rights contributors from these ships is an effort to send the opposite messages; namely, "we don't see you or welcome you", "you don't exist and we don't want you here", "you are of no importance and do not matter". Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, counters the negative messaging of people like Hegseth by providing free LGBTQ+ ally signs that people can display in their yards. One of the designs says: We see you. We love you. We stand with you. Another design simply says Lebo [the township's nickname] sees you!

Returning to the topic of the timing of this development, the cruelty and spitefulness of Hegseth stripping these naval ships of their names, and doing it during Pride Month, is indeed the point. The announcement was made at this time to try to make people feel bad who believe in the morality and legitimacy of recognizing people and communities that have experienced discrimination. Hegseth's actions are both a tacit and implicit message to members of the communities from which these honorees came that "you don't matter", "you aren't part of this America anymore", "we who are in power can literally erase you from history and existence at any time". It's also part and parcel of the "culture and history wars" that the Trump administration is waging against libraries, museums, and the arts, as Margaret Sullivan identifies in her June 2, 2025 Guardian piece "Parks, libraries, museums: Here's why Trump is attacking America's best-loved institutions". As Sullivan observes, drawing from the work of 20th century authoritarianism expert Hannah Arendt (author of a series of articles in 1963 on the "Banality of Evil"):

Take away natural beauty, free access to books and support for the arts, and you end up with a less enlightened, more ignorant and less engaged public. That's a public much more easily manipulated. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/02/national-parks-libraries-museums-trump

Here's the thing about Hegseth's erasure of the names on those naval ships, though: each one of the people for whom those naval ships was named experienced years and years of being erased, of being segregated, of being "othered". But they still manifested a warrior ethos and pressed on. They never gave up. They persevered. And they made progress and advances for themselves and others who like them were experiencing unfair treatment and inequality. Despite the Pete Hegseths of the world then and the Pete Hegseths of the world now. I picture each one of them (and Dolores Huerta as of this writing is still alive and with us at the age of 95), shrugging their shoulders, saying something like "consider the source" in reacting to Hegseth's actions, and getting back in the game to fight for social justice and human dignity for disadvantaged people as well as everyone.

Finally, it's vital for us to put Hegseth's behavior in perspective: his time as Secretary of Defense will one day end. His edicts and pronouncements that attempt to make lasting policy relating to the worth of others won't last forever. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." And a less well-known observation made by Dr. King in 1956 is good for us to always keep at hand:

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom."

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/mlk?page=4&iframe=true 

Hegseth's actions can be undone. And no matter what Pete Hegseth does to the names of human rights pioneers on a ship, the legacies of those honorees are still intact and unbroken. Those honorees held on to an intrinsic sense of their own value and goodness in spite of the adversities they faced. Hegseth cannot strip them of that. And here in the present, he can't strip that same sense of value and goodness from any person who finds themselves in a group that Hegseth and his ilk demean and devalue.

Ultimately, Hegseth doesn't get to define for all of us who a warrior is. Yes, as the head of the Defense Department for this short period of time as a public servant he can talk about "warrior culture" and institute policy changes. But he can't really define what a warrior is unless we cede that ground to him. Indeed, there are countless ways to be a warrior in this world and still maintain a sense of decency, compassion, and respect for the dignity of all human beings.

Each of us can define for ourselves what it means to be a warrior. And we can thank and say the names of the warriors -- those who are are veterans and those who have served in other ways -- who have fought and sacrificed for all of us (in alphabetical order below), while keeping their memories alive and ensuring that others can learn about them and be inspired to become warriors for good, too.

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)

Medgar Evers (1925-1963)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)

Dolores Huerta (1930- )

Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993)

Harvey Milk (1930-1978)

Lucy Stone (1818-1893)

Harriet Tubman (1822-1913)