All posts by nedhamson

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

The OAS Votes to Isolate Ortega, Negotiations Unlikely – Havana Times

The OAS Permanent Council passed a resolution calling for the liberation of all the political prisoners in Nicaragua, and for integral reforms aimed towards holding new presidential and parliamentary elections. The resolution, passed with 25 votes, puts the regime of Daniel Ortega in a complex situation, warned political analyst Alberto Cortes Ramos, professor of Political Science at the University of Costa Rica. Source: The OAS Votes to Isolate Ortega, Negotiations Unlikely – Havana Times

Indulgence

Inhale Peace; Exhale Love. Joy will Follow! - RUELHA

I used to be a very stuck- up person With very rigid beliefs and notions That was all up until a year ago, I've changed a lot since then; I did grow There'd be people doing all sorts of things all around me But I sat levitating amidst with my idea of morality I never even smoked or abused substances And I never got myself into questionable circumstances I consumed alcohol ever-so-rarely And even stayed away from coffee and tea I didn't want to catch a caffeine addiction I lived by a lot of these self-imposed restrictions And although I'm always happy Because I've made peace and joy a priority I understand adult life is really not that easy And it is a sordid labyrinth full of complexities Most adults are really exhausted Many people live lives that are so contorted A great percentage contemplate suicide Fortunately, not many follow…

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Germany: Chancellor Scholz and state leaders plan measures against online ′COVID incitement′ | News | DW | 09.12.2021

In their first meeting with the new chancellor, the 16 state premiers asked that online incitement laws be expanded to include pandemic-related violence and threats. Scholz agreed to address the problem quickly. Source: Germany: Chancellor Scholz and state leaders plan measures against online ′COVID incitement′ | News | DW | 09.12.2021

Stricter measures than plan B may be needed to rein in UK’s Omicron growth | Coronavirus | The Guardian

“People working from home makes a lot of sense as it can massively reduce contacts at a population level,” says Dr Deepti Gurdasani, a clinical epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. “Having said that, the other measure that has the largest effect is reducing gathering sizes. For me it makes no sense to be instituting working from home policies and saying go ahead with parties. That is frankly ridiculous.”

The problem is that we are on such a steep trajectory that hospitals could easily be overwhelmed by January, depending on how case numbers translate into severe illness. “What we are doing now is very unlikely to be sufficient,” said Gurdasani.

Source: Stricter measures than plan B may be needed to rein in UK’s Omicron growth | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Tropical forests can regenerate in just 20 years without human interference | Conservation | The Guardian

An international group of researchers has found that tropical forests have the potential to almost fully regrow if they are left untouched by humans for about 20 years. This is due to a multidimensional mechanism whereby old forest flora and fauna help a new generation of forest grow – a natural process known as “secondary succession”.

These new findings, published in Science, could play an important role in climate-breakdown mitigation and provide actionable advice on how to act next. They also suggest that it is not too late to undo the damage that humanity has done through catastrophic climate change over the last few decades.

“That’s good news, because the implication is that, 20 years … that’s a realistic time that I can think of, and that my daughter can think of, and that the policymakers can think of,” said Lourens Poorter, professor in functional ecology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and lead author of the paper.

This idea of natural regeneration is frequently disregarded in favour of tree plantations, but according to Poorter, the former yields better results than restoration plantings. “Compared to planting new trees, it performs way better in terms of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and recovering nutrients.”

Source: Tropical forests can regenerate in just 20 years without human interference | Conservation | The Guardian

Omicron could be spreading faster in England than in South Africa, Sage adviser says | Coronavirus | The Guardian

Edmunds told a Royal Society of Medicine webinar on Thursday that it was “extremely likely” there were many more cases of Omicron in the community than those confirmed by testing, and that the numbers were set to soar in the weeks ahead.

The UK Health Security Agency identified a further 249 Omicron cases on Thursday, almost twice the number announced the day before, bringing the UK total to 817. Edmunds said that if the UK had 1,000 cases today, then a doubling time of two to three days would drive the number up to 8,000 in a week and 64,000 in two weeks. Those would come on top of the continuing wave of Delta infections.

“Nobody wants to have to reintroduce these measures. It’s very damaging for parts of the economy – the hospitality and retail sector, in particular, are going to be affected – but unfortunately we have to do it,” he said.

“With the speed of spread of this virus, we may well have really significant numbers of cases by Christmas,” he added. “I suspect that whatever we do now, we are unlikely to overreact.” Given the rate of community transmission, he said, travel restrictions were “not really going to do much now”.

Source: Omicron could be spreading faster in England than in South Africa, Sage adviser says | Coronavirus | The Guardian

What the first Starbucks union means for workers everywhere – Vox

For the Starbucks employees at the union store, this means they’ll begin to negotiate a contract for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. For everyone else, this could spur more unionization across the US — whether at more Starbucks locations or anywhere else — thanks to the company’s high profile.

“Sometimes strikes and union organizing victories can be very contagious,” said Johnnie Kallas, a PhD candidate at Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations school, which hosted a panel ahead of the vote tally on Thursday. “We saw this in 2018 with teacher strikes. They began in West Virginia; they quickly spread to North Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma, and other states.”

He added, “[This vote] could inspire a lot of workers across the country in a low-unionized sector to fight for union rights.”

Source: What the first Starbucks union means for workers everywhere – Vox