Daily Archives: June 8, 2013

HumanLoving

Thousands join Turkey protests defying PM | Maan News Agency

Thousands of angry Turks poured into the streets on Saturday to join mass anti-government protests, defying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to end the worst civil unrest of his decade-long rule.

Protesters blew whistles and waved flags in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the epicenter of the protests which erupted on May 31, while others brought blankets and food to settle in for the weekend at the adjoining Gezi Park, now a festival-like camp site.

“A week ago, I could never imagine myself sleeping out on the streets of Istanbul,” said 22-year-old Aleyna, wrapped up under a blanket with a stray kitten, pointing to her dirty clothes. “Now I don’t know how I can ever go back.”

Fresh rallies were also held in the capital Ankara, with over a thousand people gathering peacefully in the central Kizilay Square, singing revolutionary songs and dancing.

via Thousands join Turkey protests defying PM | Maan News Agency.

environment, Frankenfood, pandemic

MMWR: MERS-CoV Update – June 7th – Pandemic in making?

Number of confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (N = 55) reported as of June 7, 2013, to the World Health Organization, by month of illness onset — worldwide, 2012–2013 – CDC MMWR

via MMWR: MERS-CoV Update – June 7th.

So the real big question is what else was going on in Saudi Arabia in April and May that could possibly have an influence on such an outbreak? New or different people working in the hospital or local area – Lots of immigrant workers coming and going from Saudi Arabia from South Asia all the time. Any significant changes in environment – date palms all in fruit so more bats? My point is that people need to broaden their view a bit if they are going to find links  of causation and thus prevention.

Uncategorized

Green revolution technologies will benefit a few at the expense of the majority (AfricaFiles)

Corporations from EU and fronts will profit and ship food globally – Africans can work for day wages until robots take over… Bad deal.

DESERTIFICATION

Read at :

AfricaFiles

No. 26656: Corporate takeover of agriculture & land will increase hunger, groups claim  — Food and Land

http://www.acbio.org.za/index.php/media/64-media-releases/432-g8-qhunger-summitq-initiative-rejected-by-african-civil-society-corporate-takeover-of-agriculture-a-land-will-increase-hunger-groups-claim

 G8 “Hunger Summit” initiative rejected by African civil society

At the heart of the leading initiatives to “modernise” African agriculture is a drive to open markets and create space for multinationals to secure profits. Green revolution technologies – and the legal and institutional changes being introduced to support them – will benefit a few at the expense of the majority.

As world leaders gather at the high profile ‘Hunger Summit’ in London this week to endorse the spate of on-going initiatives to ‘modernise’ African agriculture, 57 farmer and civil society organisations from 37 countries across the continent have slammed these efforts as ‘a new wave of colonialism’. Harmonisation, free trade and the creation of institutions and infrastructure to facilitate multinational companies’ penetration into Africa are presented as…

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Uncategorized

Latino Texans almost blocked from voting-but for the Voting Rights Act, they say

NBC Latino

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Victoria and Nicole Rodriguez turned 18 in 2012, and they were excited about voting for the first time. Twins who finish each other’s sentences, they grew up on the heavily Latino south side of San Antonio, and started college last fall at St. Mary’s University a few miles away. Their Mexican-American family has been in Texas for generations.

“At 18, you can’t do much, but you can vote,” Nicole told MSNBC in an interview at the university’s student center. ” So why not just look forward to it?”

But a strict voter ID law passed by Texas Republicans in 2011 and signed by Gov. Rick Perry threatened to stand in their way. The law, so restrictive that Attorney General Eric Holder called it a “poll tax,” required election-day voters to present one of several forms of photo identification, including a driver’s license or passport.

To read the rest…

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