All posts by nedhamson

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

Ruling that upholds B.C. Hydro’s staff vaccine mandate reveals toll COVID-19 has taken on corporation | CBC News

Source: Ruling that upholds B.C. Hydro’s staff vaccine mandate reveals toll COVID-19 has taken on corporation | CBC News

Water, weed and racism: why Asians feel targeted in this rural California county | California | The Guardian

The traffic stop records, which were obtained by the ACLU and the Asian Law Caucus, showed that though Asians make up just 2.6% of the population in the county, they accounted for 27.4% of all traffic stops in 2021 in which officials identified the people stopped.

The data also shows that that more than 61% of the people the sheriff referred for prosecution for violations of the water ordinance were Asian American. Only 8% were white, though white people comprise 75% of the county’s population.

“Based on the records produced by the county, it appears the sheriff rarely ever refers white people to the district attorney for violating the water transportation ordinance or water extraction ordinance,” the groups said in a brief filed with a federal court.

John Do, a staff attorney with the ACLU, said his group spoke with dozens of residents of the subdivision who said they were stopped by police without a cause.

“It is across the board,” he said. “All the data we’ve examined thus far indicates the targeting of the Asian community and the Hmong community.”

 

Source: Water, weed and racism: why Asians feel targeted in this rural California county | California | The Guardian

Testing finds antibiotics in ‘Raised Without Antibiotics’ cattle | CIDRAP

Labels aren’t backed by testing

The problem, as Price and his co-authors explain, is that there is no real enforcement mechanism to prove whether meat producers are adhering to claims of raising animals without antibiotics.

Producers who want to market their products under these labels do have to submit to the USDA descriptions of the controls they’ll use to ensure that animals are not given antibiotics, along with their protocol for tracing and segregating RWA products and a signed affidavit describing how the animals were raised to support the label claims. Sick animals that require antibiotics to treat an infection are supposed to be segregated, and can no longer be sold under the RWA label.

 

Source: Testing finds antibiotics in ‘Raised Without Antibiotics’ cattle | CIDRAP

Who By Fire: Connaître le Personnage d’M. / Meet the Character M.

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

My Work In Progress: Who By Fire: I Will -Book 1, is part of a historical fiction series. I’d been planning to set up a blog for the novel, with each major character posting every so often, but am not sure if there is interest, so I’ll start with just letting a few characters from Who By Fire introduce themselves briefly. Like this:

Bonjour, je m’appelle Martin, ici aux États-Unis , mais j’ai plusiers noms, a vrai dire. Donc, c’est plus facile, je suppose, qu’on m’appelle tout simplement “M.”

Hello, I am called Martin, here in the US, but I have many names, to be honest. So, I suppose it is best if we simply call me “M.”

Our dear M. is a man of few words, in general. 🙂

Progressive Jewish abolitionists befriended and struggled beside members of the Black community over the years in the United States, even…

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The harder the step, the more important it is to take it

psychologistmimi

At times, after a challenging day at school, we tell my son that life is not fair. He hates remote learning and doesn’t understand why his teachers have yet to master the technology. He even takes it personally. Which, of course, he shouldn’t. But I have digressed a bit. Just a bit.

Another kernel of wisdom we try to pass onto him. Hard steps in life are to be expected. They need to be taken. We make sure that he understands that the harder the step, the more important it is to take it. We try to convince that something that is hard, is not to be taken lightly. Plus, you feel a great sense of accomplishment when you take those hards steps. Empowement. Not a bad thing to pursue.

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Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Proud Boys Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Assault Charges in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | OPA | Department of Justice

Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. As part of the plea agreement, Donohoe has agreed to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation.

According to court documents, the Proud Boys describes itself as a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, aka Western Chauvinists.” Donohoe joined the Proud Boys in 2018 and became the president of his local Proud Boys chapter in North Carolina. As of Jan. 6, 2021, he was a fourth-degree member of the Proud Boys, the highest rank within the organization.

In December 2020, according to the court documents, Enrique Tarrio, then the Proud Boys national chairman, formed a new Proud Boys’ chapter known as the “Ministry of Self Defense,” which focused on the planning and execution of national rallies. The first objective of the Ministry of Self Defense was to plan for actions in relation to the Washington, D.C., rally on Jan. 6, 2021. Donohoe was a leader of this new chapter, which eventually grew to include at least 65 members.

At least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, Donohoe was aware that the Ministry of Self Defense’s leaders were discussing the possibility of storming the Capitol. Donohoe believed that storming the Capitol would achieve the group’s goal of stopping the government from carrying out the transfer of presidential power. Donohoe understood from discussions that the Proud Boys would pursue their objective through the use of force and violence.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Donohoe was part of a group of 100 or more Proud Boys who marched away from a rally near the Washington Monument towards the Capitol. Shortly after 12 p.m., the group was assembled two blocks west of the Capitol, and Donohoe understood that other Proud Boys leaders were searching for an opportunity to storm the Capitol. At approximately 1 p.m., the group arrived at the Capitol and began breaching the barriers surrounding the Capitol grounds. While in the West Plaza of the Capitol, Donohoe threw two water bottles at a line of law enforcement officers who were attempting to prevent the mob’s advance in the West Plaza at the Capitol building. As events continued, Donohoe joined with a crowd, including other Proud Boys, to push forward to advance up the concrete stairs toward the Capitol. The crowd overwhelmed law enforcement officers on the stairs, continued toward the Capitol, and ultimately entered the Capitol building after Donohoe’s co-defendant, Dominic Pezzola, allegedly broke open a window of the building.

 

Source: Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Proud Boys Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Assault Charges in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | OPA | Department of Justice

Study finds U.S. COVID-19 vaccinations averted 2.2 million deaths – UPI.com

The White House pointed to the study to criticize Republicans for holding up “critical funding we need to make more progress — to save even more lives.”

A White House statement Friday said, “Inaction will leave our nation less prepared for any future surges and variants.” The White House statement said Congress must act with urgency to continue funding government anti-COVID-19 efforts.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Bloomberg TV’s David Westin he expects an uptick in COVID-19 cases over the next couple of weeks. Fauci said a surge in the fall is likely.

 

Source: Study finds U.S. COVID-19 vaccinations averted 2.2 million deaths – UPI.com