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Especially in the bay area, it's easy to feel like large progress is being made, but this article shows that that's not really the case throughout the country, especially with states like Texas passing anti-trans sports bills. I'm not really sure what the solution is to create national change, but it is clear that we need one.

I wonder if this rise in discrimination is caused by people who are anti-LGBTQ+ getting a chance to express their opinions more or a rise in the number of people who are anti-LGBTQ+. The article seems to suggest the first hypothesis, because the public appears to accept the LGBTQ+ community more, but I think we need further investigations.

An article about Tunisian racism, where a recent poll showed that 80% of Tunisians believe racial discrimination is an issue in their country. Tunisia also passed a law that declared discrimination on the basis of race illegal, and punishable with up to 3 years in prison or a fine. However, the president just abolished parliament, and this development could make future civil rights projects much more difficult.

A quote from the end of the article: "The scope of Law 50 is not just about tackling isolated events of racism, but also about addressing a legacy of discrimination in Tunisia. Kamal Atig Zeiri, a taxi driver, said he has faced racism all his life and wants to drop the "Atig" in his surname because of the history of the word, describing it as "embarrassing". Atig means "freed by". His ancestors were among millions of black Africans sold as slaves throughout the Arab world over the centuries. Tunisia became the first Arab country to abolish this trade in 1846. "It worries me a lot and I won't rest until I delete it from my surname," Mr Atig Zeiri told the BBC. "This word has caused me a psychological problem," he continued. In theory, Law 50 should give Mr Atig Zeiri the freedom to change his name, however, he is still waiting for the courts to approve his request. His daughter, Lena, has been able to alter her surname."

A record-breaking 137 economies around the world have established reforms that make starting and operating small/medium-sized business easier. "Doing Business" is the World Bank Organization's annual report that measures the ease of business, and better scores on the report has a correlation with more income equality and less poverty. An especially interesting aspect of the 2017 installment is that it also added gender discrimination to the criteria when assessing a state.

"FEBRUARY 21, 2003 GLASS CEILING No Way to Treat a Lady? As a sex discrimination suit unfolds, studies of Wal-Mart practices show a big gap in the status of men and women"

Interesting article about how brazenly the Chinese government is discriminating against Muslims and shutting down Islamic Churches and anything that has to do with Arabs

A recent court ruling in Kenya states that Christian schools cannot ban Muslim girls from wearing hijabs as part of their uniforms. Judges state that schools must embrace diversity and non-discrimination. About 83% of Kenya's population is Christian, with 11% being Muslim.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France sharply criticized on Monday a New York Times article in which French Muslim women described being ostracized by non-Muslims, discriminated against when they sought jobs and made to feel persecuted.

In the past Russia had always prohibited gay rights demonstration, beating the protestors. Here the European Court stepped in and ruled that it violated their policies on human rights because they stopped them from assembling and discriminated against their sexual orientation. This action of the European Court shows one of the downsides to Russia for being involved in a transnational organizaiton - the government was not able to do what it wanted (even if it wasn't the right thing) and they had to pay a fine - they had surrrendered their autonomy and had to pay.

France is out of line on several different measures here: their laws include the right to equal housing, they may be violating EU freedom of movement laws, the ignored a European Parliamentary decision to suspend Roma deportation. In addition to not following laws, France also appears to be majorly discriminating against the Roma people: the legislature that cracked down on illegal camps ordered "systematic action to dismantle illegal camps, priority given to those of Roma", and there has been campaigning directly associating them with crime. Furthermore, "France denies that it has any minority populations and is the only EU member state that has not signed the Council of Europe's convention on the rights of minorities."....Wow.

Both Japan and France rank in the top 50 for Global Peace Rankings-- Japan 8th and France 48th. The biggest difference in their rankings comes from France's possession of heavy and nuclear weapons. The Japanese have limited possession of heavy and nuclear weapons as a result of the pacifist constitution they were forced to adopt following WWII which limited their ability to arm for war. Furthermore, France is involved in more conflicts and exports more weapons than Japan, which is also heavily related to the restrictions placed on Japan following WWII. However, Japan has a worse record when it comes to relations with neighbors which may be related to actions from WWII and rising tensions between Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, perhaps unrelated to WWII and relating more to culture of society, France has a higher level of violent demonstrations and internal organized conflict than Japan. Japan has a homogenous population that has a main focus of work and a culture that accepts the social and economic hierarchy, but France has a more heterogeneous population with many disenfranchised groups that were once colonized that continue to face discrimination.