All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Brazil: Indigenous Rights Under Serious Threat | Human Rights Watch

The Brazilian government has adopted policies that seriously threaten the rights of Indigenous peoples, Human Rights Watch said today, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

The administration of President Jair Bolsonaro has undermined the government agency tasked with protecting those rights, issued regulations that are harmful to Indigenous people, and halted the recognition of their traditional lands. The government has also weakened the federal environmental protection agencies, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA, its Portuguese acronym) and the Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio), leaving Indigenous territories even more vulnerable to encroachment.

“The Brazilian government has transformed an agency charged with promoting and protecting Indigenous rights into an agency that jeopardizes them,” said Maria Laura Canineu, Brazil director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s anti-Indigenous rights policies and statements have emboldened miners, loggers, land-grabbers, and poachers to encroach on Indigenous territories with impunity, leading to devastating consequences for Indigenous people and the environment.”

Source: Brazil: Indigenous Rights Under Serious Threat | Human Rights Watch

Several long Covid clinics set to close as virus still spreads – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio (Me: US not alone in being dumb about long Covid)

  • Covid-19 continues to spread in Sweden while several regions are moving to close their specialized clinics for patients with persistent symptoms from the virus.
  • Of the country’s 21 regions, 12 of them said in a Swedish Radio survey that they have a specialized unit for post-covid patients. But several regions are starting to phase the units out.
  • Anneli Järlfors has been on sick leave for more than two years after getting Covid in March 2020 and says she feels sorry for the ordinary outpatient health centers who will receive long Covid patients.

Source: Several long Covid clinics set to close as virus still spreads – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio

German Catholics reject Vatican′s abortion stance — report | News | DW | 09.08.2022

A new survey reveals a large gap between German Catholics and church leaders when it comes to abortion.

The survey, conducted by INSA Consulere pollster on behalf of German Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, asked the responders for their stance on the following sentence: “It is good that the pope and the Church speak out against abortion.”

Only 17% of surveyed Catholics said they agreed with it, compared to 58% who oppose it.

The same survey also showed that only 13% of Protestants were in favor of the anti-abortion statements. Over two-thirds of Protestants disagreed with anti-abortion comments made by Pope Francis and Catholic leaders.

The pollsters questioned a total of 2,099 people in late July and early August.

Source: German Catholics reject Vatican′s abortion stance — report | News | DW | 09.08.2022

In Dry California, Salty Water Creeps into Key Waterways | Food Manufacturing

In dry winters like the one California just had, less fresh water flows down from the mountains into the Sacramento River, the state’s largest. That allows saltier water from Pacific Ocean tides to push farther into the state’s main water hub, known as the Delta. It helps supply water to two-thirds of the state’s 39 million people and to farms that grow fruits and vegetables for the whole nation, playing a key but sometimes underappreciated role in the state’s economy.

A drought that scientists say is part of the U.S. West’s driest period in 1,200 years plus sea level rise are exposing the fragility of that system, forcing state water managers, cities, and farmers to look for new ways to stabilize their supply of fresh water. The Delta’s challenges offer a harbinger of the risks to come for critical water supplies elsewhere in the nation amid a changing climate.

Planners and farmers are coming at the problem of saltwater intrusion with a desalination plant, an artificial rock barrier and groundwater pumps. Those who can’t engineer their way out of the problem are left with a fervent hope that things will change.

Source: In Dry California, Salty Water Creeps into Key Waterways | Food Manufacturing

‘Like a bad 1980s spy film’ Brittney Griner’s imprisonment reveals Russia’s embrace of pariah identity — Meduza

The war in Ukraine and Brittney Griner’s case have reinforced the worst Cold War-era Western stereotypes and ideas about Russia, from the “Communist” totalitarian state to the “Eastern” menace. The difference, it seems, is that Russia is now leaning into these descriptions. On television (still the most popular source of information in Russia), the state media regularly broadcasts support for the depravity of Russian violence in Ukraine and for using Americans like Brittney Griner as bargaining chips with Western powers.

What remains to be seen for Griner is if Russia will negotiate with the United States in good faith for her and Paul Whelan’s release. In exchange for these two wrongfully imprisoned Americans, Russia has asked for two dangerous Russian nationals: a convicted arms dealer, Viktor Bout, and a convicted murderer in German custody, Vadim Krasikov.

It’s as if Russia is replaying the script from a bad 1980s spy film.

Under Vladimir Putin’s rule, Russia stands at a historical precipice from which it may not be able to return. It is isolated, violent, and increasingly dependent on Western antagonism for its self-image. Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, and Viktor Bout will probably return to their respective home countries in the coming months. But the damage Russia has done in Ukraine and the harm it has inflicted on its standing in the world are irreparable.

Source: ‘Like a bad 1980s spy film’ Brittney Griner’s imprisonment reveals Russia’s embrace of pariah identity — Meduza

Read My Books for Free

A Voice from Iran

Dear friends:

As my appreciation for your wonderful friendship my books;

SOROOSH will be a free ebook on amazon, from August.11.2022 to August.15.2022

And;

THE ENDLESS SUNSET

will be a free ebook from August.16.2022 to August.20.2022

Please share with your friends. I would love to read your comments and reviews after you read them.

Best Regards

Laleh Chini

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and you are my light…

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem in Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài

Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm


Within the darkest of nights

I am your moon

and you are my light…


Lê Vĩnh Tài, the Vietnamese poet and translator born in 1966 in Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak, Vietnam. The retired doctor is still a resident of the Western Highlands and a businessman in Buon Ma Thuot.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the blogger, poet and translator, born 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.

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