All posts by nedhamson

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

Ein göttliches Meisterwerk / … A Divine masterpiece – Stella, oh, Stella

Du bist ein göttliches, prachtvolles Meisterwerk.

Erlaube dem Teil von dir, das zutiefst kraftvoll, liebend, intuitiv und aufnahmebereit ist
zu fliessen, zu expandieren, und dann lebe von diesem Ort.
– Marie Cornelio

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You are a Divine magnificent masterpiece.

Allow the part of you that is deeply powerful, loving, intuitive and receptive,
to flow, expand and then live from that place.
– Marie Cornelio

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Alles Liebe zum Wochenende!

… Much love for the weekend!

Source: Ein göttliches Meisterwerk / … A Divine masterpiece – Stella, oh, Stella

Misinformation from Trump, far-right hampers Helene recovery – CSMonitor.com

Debunking conspiracy theories takes time away from recovery efforts

As rescue work continues and authorities try to separate fact from fiction, the conspiracy theories are not helping. Elected leaders from both parties have had to set the record straight and urge people not to give into fear and rumor.

“If everyone could maybe please put aside the hate for a bit and pitch in to help, that would be great,” posted Glenn Jacobs, the retired professional wrestler known as Kane, who is now the Republican mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Mr. Jacobs’ post was intended to rebut rumors that workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were seizing relief supplies from private citizens.

Many of the conspiracy theories focus on hard-hit North Carolina, a state key to winning the White House. Rumors circulated that FEMA was raiding storm donations and withholding body bags, forcing local hospitals to stack the bodies of victims. One claim suggested federal authorities would condemn the entire town of Chimney Rock and prohibit resettlement in order to commandeer a valuable lithium mine nearby.

False claims of blocked relief flights and aid withheld from Republicans

Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX, posted that private relief flights to North Carolina were being blocked by the Federal Aviation Administration, a claim dismissed as false by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Despite the tradition of Democrats and Republicans putting aside politics for disaster response, many conspiracy theories suggest Democrats such as President Joe Biden or North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper are intentionally withholding aid from Republicans. Mr. Trump has pushed the claim, as has North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, the embattled GOP nominee for governor.

“They’re being treated very badly in the Republican areas,” Trump told Fox News, ignoring reports and photo and video evidence of recovery efforts underway throughout the region. “They’re not getting water, they’re not getting anything.”

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones endorsed Mr. Trump’s fact-free allegation. Mr. Jones, the founder of InfoWars, popularized the idea that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut that killed 20 children in 2012 was faked. “Exclusive: Victims of Hurricane Helene Confirm The Federal Government is Purposely Blocking Rescuers and Stealing Aid In an Attempt to Keep Deep Red Areas From Voting,” Mr. Jones posted Thursday on X.

Disinformation campaigns by China and Russia amplify the misleading claims

State-run media and disinformation campaigns run by China and Russia have amplified false and misleading claims about the response to the storm. Both countries have used social media and state news stories to criticize responses to past U.S. natural disasters, part of a larger effort to stoke division and distrust among Americans.

State and local officials from both parties have condemned the conspiracy theories as rumors, saying the focus should be on recovery, not political division and hearsay. Responding to the hoaxes is taking up time that should go toward assisting victims, said North Carolina state Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Republican who urged his constituents not to give into hoaxes.

“Friends can I ask a small favor?” Mr. Corbin posted Thursday on Facebook. “Will you all help STOP this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet. … Please don’t let these crazy stories consume you.”

After Mr. Robinson, the GOP candidate for North Carolina governor, posted that state officials had not prepared for the storm, a spokesman for the governor accused Robinson of mounting “an online disinformation campaign.” North Carolina officials say the response to Helene is the largest in state history, including thousands of members of the National Guard and other recovery workers, millions of meals, dozens of aircraft, and more than 1,000 chainsaws.

Source: Misinformation from Trump, far-right hampers Helene recovery – CSMonitor.com

JD Vance Lied About The Flow Of The Iron River – LoneStarLeft’s Newsletter

During this week’s VP debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz, Vance lied about many things. He spoke really fast, and he lied a lot. Presumably, that’s just who he is. While there have been plenty of fact-checks this week, there’s one topic we must drill down on and know the facts about because this topic has been one of the biggest drivers of mass migration over the years, and his like wasn’t only stupid. It was done with malice.

Only a moron from Ohio, which is nowhere near a border, who peddles lies would come up with such a tall tale. JD Vance was referring to the Iron River, and it’s essential in the immigration discussion that we all know that it flows from North to South.

What is the Iron River?

The term “Iron River” refers to the large-scale trafficking of firearms from the United States to Mexico, where these weapons fuel cartel violence and crime. The term likely emerged from the constant, unrelenting flow of weapons, like a river, moving across the US-Mexico border. This metaphor emphasizes the steady and overwhelming volume of guns moving southward, often from states with looser gun regulations, into the hands of criminal organizations in Mexico.

Between 70% and 90% of firearms recovered from crime scenes in Mexico can be traced back to the US. Most of these guns are purchased in border states with more relaxed gun laws, particularly Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Florida. These five states accounted for 79% of the firearms traced back to the US between 2017 and 2021, with Texas alone responsible for more than 14,000 guns smuggled into Mexico. Trafficking networks exploit loose regulations, using “straw purchasers” to buy firearms legally and then transport them across the border.​

This lie from Vance distorts the fact that the trafficking flow is mainly in the opposite direction—guns legally bought in the US are fueling violence in Mexico, not the other way around.

  1. Republican states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona strip away all regulations when it comes to firearms. Guns, guns, guns for everyone. Guns for the mentally ill, guns for children, and guns for people who have grudges.
  1. Legal citizens go to gun stores and buy all of the guns they can carry.
  2. They drive down to Mexico with those guns, never being stopped by border patrol because our government only cares what comes into our country, not out.
  3. The cartel purchases the guns and distributes them to their cartel members.
  4. These guns are used in crimes and violence all across Mexico and the Northern Triangle…

Source: JD Vance Lied About The Flow Of The Iron River

Los retratos de la casa – Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

La pared luce repleta de cuadros, marcos que atrapan rostros y siluetas, perfiles y miradas, retratos en sepia y en blanco y negro, o a color, como si los personajes, reflexivos y silenciosos, en masculino y en femenino, en mayúsculas y en minúsculas, desearan salir de aquellos instantes del ayer en que las cámaras los captaron sonrientes, pensativos, serios, alegres o tristes, y los atraparon en el papel, con la intención de desentrañar sus secretos, las historias calladas que se llevaron, e invitar a abrir las puertas y las ventanas para recibir las caricias y los rasguños de la vida y del tiempo que, indiferentes y sin apegos, se desvanecen o se marchan.

Personajes familiares que, en ciertos lapsos de sus existencias, hicieron un paréntesis breve, una pausa, con el objetivo de que las cámaras, al disparar, los atraparan en sus momentos fugaces y significativos -nacimientos, ceremonias religiosas, bodas, paseos, convivencias-, como si alguien, en sus cavilaciones ontológicas, preguntara: cuando ya no me encuentre en este mundo, ¿alguien me recordará? ¿Quién evocará mi imagen?

Una fotografía, cualquiera que sea, es la presentación de un hombre o una mujer, con todo lo que es, a cualquier edad. Refleja sentimientos, educación, pensamientos. A través de los años, con la incorporación de la tecnología a la existencia diaria, se han perdido la belleza, el encanto y la magia de los retratos. Con los equipos actuales, desde cámaras tradicionales hasta celulares, drones y otros sistemas, la gente se acostumbró a las fotografías instantáneas y ya no asombran.

De las figuras humanas que asoman en los cuadros que orgullosamente cuelgan en la pared de mi casa, la mayoría ya no se encuentran en este plano. Casi todos pasaron por la transición y no están físicamente, aunque en esencia los sienta en mi interior, en mi alma, en mi mente, en mi ser. Son antepasados, familiares que veo todos los días, al amanecer y al anochecer, al mediodía y en las tardes, al partir y al llegar a la casa, como si cada uno tuviera su espacio en mi ser, en mi memoria y ante mi mirada, a los que, desde los minutos de mi infancia, aprendí a amar, respetar y admirar.

No es que viva atado a los otros días, a los del ayer; simplemente, se trata de una afición, un motivo, un sentimiento auténtico que me impulsa, desde la aurora de mi existencia, a conocer sus biografías y sus momentos, sus vidas y sus destinos. Es como poseer una galería, un museo, y tener oportunidad de narrar la historia de cada hombre y mujer impreso en el papel, con el aprendizaje que dejaron durante el devenir de sus existencias.

Tampoco es que perdí el equilibrio y, por lo mismo, ande errante en las horas de antaño. Tengo la fortuna y el privilegio de conocer la historia de cada una de mis ramas familiares, tanto paternas como maternas; pero a fuerza de caminar aquí y allá, por los rincones del mundo, aprendí que el hoy es irrepetible, pasajero, y, en consecuencia, se va irremediablemente. Es primordial aprender a vivirlo y disfrutar plenamente cada momento, siempre en armonía y con equilibrio.

¿Algún día, entre nuestros descendientes, habrá alguien que se interese en conservar toda la colección de retratos familiares del pasado y colgar el mío? No lo sé, pero tengo la convicción de que la gente me recordará no por una imagen, sino por el bien que haga a los demás. Mis sentimientos, ideales, palabras, acciones y pensamientos serán los que recordará la gente de mí, o al menos lo que más valdrá. Eso me lo han enseñado, también, los retratos antiguos de la familia.

Me acompañan en mis soledades. Me inspiran cuando escribo. Aquí están, en la pared, inmersos en sus rumores, pausas y sigilos, quizá ausentes, tal vez atentos, mientras yo aprendo a vivir y transito por las estaciones de mi existencia, en busca de un destino grandioso e inmortal.

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Source: Los retratos de la casa – Santiago Galicia Rojon Serrallonga

Endorsement: Reelect Los Angeles County D.A. George Gascón – Los Angeles Times

Now voters must decide whether to stick with Gascón’s reform orientation or step backward into a failed mindset in which justice is defined by the toughest charges and the longest sentences.

Voters would be wise to step forward, not back. They would be wise to reelect Gascón over challenger Nathan Hochman’s throwback policies.

He is correct about the American justice system: It is precious and unparalleled but falls short of its promise. It dispenses justice unequally, favoring people with financial resources who can, for example, afford to pay bail rather than sit in jail pending trial. It magnifies the racial bias that taints our history and sentences a greater proportion of Black and Latino people more severely, including with the death penalty, than white offenders who committed the same crimes. It too often treats juvenile offenders as if they were adults, failing to consider that their still developing brains should be met with less criminal culpability and greater opportunities for rehabilitation.

The death penalty is a good example of Gascón’s reorientation of the office. Before he was elected, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office sought and obtained more death sentences than any of its counterparts around the nation. Even though the state no longer executes people, L.A. County prosecutors still sought the penalty, in part as a signal that they were tough on crime. In doing so, they excluded jurors who opposed death sentences on principle — and who therefore, studies suggest, would have been more skeptical of all evidence against the defendants.

Gascón transformed the conviction review unit, helping to identify, so far, 14 innocent people who were falsely tried, convicted and imprisoned. Their freedom — and the partial redemption of a justice system that grievously failed to do justice — are results of his reform program.

He adopted policies against gratuitous and duplicative sentencing enhancements, including, for example, extra time for a defendant’s use of a gun when the charges already included armed robbery, or for gang affiliation. He requires that juveniles be tried and sentenced in juvenile court, as they should be, and as state law now generally requires, and not adult court, except in rare exceptions.

Gascón’s critics say these “blanket” policies are an abuse of prosecutorial discretion, but they are in fact the opposite. As with the death penalty ban, they are an exercise of judgment and discretion, and a statement to his prosecutors and the public of how his office will do its work. Though he has been criticized for being inflexible, Gascón has permitted the occasional departure from his guidelines when extraordinary circumstances warrant.

Source: Endorsement: Reelect Los Angeles County D.A. George Gascón – Los Angeles Times

After a deluge, the lies: Misinformation, hoaxes cloud Helene recovery – Los Angeles Times

The facts emerging from Hurricane Helene’s destruction are heartrending: Businesses and homes destroyed, whole communities nearly wiped out, hundreds of lives lost, hundreds of people missing.

Yet this devastation and despair are not enough for the extremist groups, disinformation agents, hucksters and politicians who are exploiting the disaster to spread false claims and conspiracy theories about it and the government’s response.

Former President Trump falsely claims the federal government is intentionally withholding aid to Republican disaster victims. Far-right extremist groups falsely warn on social media that officials plan to bulldoze affected communities and seize the land. A tale straight from science fiction asserts that Washington used weather control technology to steer Helene toward Republican voters in order to tilt the presidential election…

Source: After a deluge, the lies: Misinformation, hoaxes cloud Helene recovery – Los Angeles Times

Doctor accuses Israel of waging “war on children” in Lebanon as in Gaza – Egypt Independent

He said children were being wounded in their homes and in some cases seeing multiple family members killed.

According to UNICEF, more than 690 children in Lebanon have been injured in the past six weeks and at least 100 killed over the past 11 days as Israel has ramped up strikes against Hezbollah.

Israel says it takes steps to minimize civilian harm, such as making phone calls and sending text messages to residents in buildings designated for attack. Human rights groups like Amnesty International say such warnings do not absolve Israel of responsibilities under international humanitarian law to limit civilian harm.

Abu-Sittah, who serves as director of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department at the prestigious American University hospital, also spoke of the similarities between the injuries inflicted by the two Israeli offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 96,006 injured since Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group’s October 7 attack, according to the Gaza health ministry. The health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its figures but says most of the dead are women and children. Israel earlier this year said it had killed more than 17,000 combatants in Gaza since the start of the war.

Source: Doctor accuses Israel of waging “war on children” in Lebanon as in Gaza – Egypt Independent

Hurricanes, Wildfires, Floods … | Filosofa’s Word

…During the disastrous 2018 wildfire season, Trump’s initial response was to deny a request from California for federal disaster aid. According to two former Trump White House aides, that decision was political; Trump refused to help because of California’s heavily Democratic leanings. He publicly blamed the state government for the fires, stating that better mitigation measures were needed, such as “raking the forest.”

An investigation by Politico found that, on at least three occasions, Trump hesitated to give disaster aid to areas he considered politically hostile, or conversely, ordered special treatment for pro-Trump states.

Ultimately, Trump was persuaded to change his mind on California when Mark Harvey, Trump’s senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, showed him that he had more voters in Orange County, California alone than in the entire state of Iowa.

“We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas… to show him, ‘these are people who voted for you,’” Harvey said.

The 2018 wildfire season in California resulted in 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed, and at least $26.34 billion in property damage and firefighting costs.

Trump’s record on disaster relief while in office was monumentally poor. The focus of his administration was largely on cutting or diverting spending on FEMA, as well as attempting to reduce funding for NOAA weather prediction programs, despite the increasing threat of climate change and larger storms.

Trump’s philosophy toward disaster relief mirrors that of most Republicans in Congress today, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz of Georgia and Florida, respectively, who pushed to strip supplemental funding for FEMA in September—right at the start of hurricane season.

Here is a partial list of Trump’s questionable actions on disaster aid, in addition to his politicization of California wildfires:

  • Trump diverted over $150 million in FEMA disaster funds ahead of Hurricane Dorian, which hit the Southeast, to the border—exactly what he falsely accused Biden of doing.
  • He rolled back flooding standards intended to prevent the very kind of devastation currently being seen in Western North Carolina and other parts of the South in order to benefit his wealthy donors.
  • He threatened to veto legislation providing nearly $5 billion in disaster relief funding after extreme earthquakes.
  • He dangled federal aid for Michigan over his opposition to the state’s mail-in ballot program.
  • He called for cuts to numerous programs that help prepare, manage, and mitigate wildfires.
  • He proposed budget cuts to NOAA that would have left the US unprepared for extreme weather.

Then, of course, were the controversies that put Trump’s incompetence on full display, such as when Trump, during Hurricane Dorian in 2019, said that “South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.” No weather forecaster had predicted that Dorian would impact Alabama, and eight National Hurricane Center forecast updates over the preceding 24 hours showed Dorian steering well away from Alabama and moving up the Atlantic coast.

This forced the National Weather Service to issue a tweet contradicting Trump’s claim, noting that Alabama “will NOT see any impacts from Dorian.” Despite it not being true, Trump continued to insist that the storm threatened Alabama, even after it passed beyond the state. When he was fact-checked by a reporter, he lashed out at the fact-check as “phony.” Later, Trump, in the Oval Office, displayed a large map depicting the storm’s path, which curiously had a black curve extending out from the path showing the storm. This newly added section, thought to be added by a Sharpie marker to massage Trump’s ego, inaccurately added to the storm’s path a section that covered parts of Alabama. Trump denied knowing how the map came to be modified. The incident quickly came to be known as “Sharpiegate.”

Source: Hurricanes, Wildfires, Floods … | Filosofa’s Word