All posts by nedhamson

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

Flaming Moon

yaskhan

A mauve sky tumbles
On glowing jack-o'-lanterns;
Dew-laced breeze dances golden.

Tugging at the tides
Moon breaks water on the shore;
Artemis prepares to hunt.


#Sedoka
Sedoka is an unrhymed poem made up of two three line Katauta.
5/7/7 5/7/7

View original post

The Fairy Tale of Equality in Europe – GERMAN-FOREIGN-POLICY.com

The socio-economic gap between the rich North and the impoverishing South of the Eurozone will continue to grow, according to a recent study by the business-oriented Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW). The gap within the eurozone had already significantly grown between 2009 and 2018, with the economy of the North having grown by 37.2 percent, while by only 14.6 percent in the South. This development will continue over the next 25 years, the IW predicts. The IW notes a certain catch-up effect in Eastern Europe, which, however, will not lead to their catching up to the West, due to the desolate starting point following the deindustrialization of the 1990s. The region’s basically unaltered function as an extended workbench, particularly for the German export industry, does not provide for a perspective of independent growth. Observers expect that the corona crisis will additionally widen the gap between the North and the South. German trade surplus and Berlin’s austerity dictates are the real reasons for this inequality. Source: The Fairy Tale of Equality in Europe – GERMAN-FOREIGN-POLICY.com

L’arte di Martin Scorsese

t’s hard to say what Martin Scorsese’s best film is . I can tell you which is my favorite, the one I am most fond of “sentimentally” speaking. Well, it’s Out of Hours : a film where a lot of weird things happen seamlessly in the New York night. And about a novel that I really like, Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer .

I also remember what the first Scorsese film I saw was. It was actually an episodic movie and we rented it in a video store with our middle school friends: it was New York Stories . Seeing it after many years made me realize how our perspectives change over time, and in fact I noticed several things that I didn’t notice at first glance.

The Room

Uno dei registi del quale ho visto il maggior numero di film è Martin Scorsese. E mi piacciono quasi tutti.

È difficile dire quale sia il miglior film di Martin Scorsese. Posso dirvi qual è il mio preferito, quello cui sono più affezionata “sentimentalmente” parlando. Be’, è Fuori orario: una pellicola in cui accadono un sacco di cose strane senza soluzione di continuità nella notte newyorkese. E in cui si parla di un romanzo che mi piace molto, Tropico del Cancro di Henry Miller.

Mi ricordo anche quale sia il primo film di Scorsese che ho visto. In realtà era un film a episodi e con le amichette della scuola media lo affittammo in videoteca: era New York Stories. Vederlo dopo molti anni mi ha fatto rendere conto di come le nostre prospettive cambino con il tempo, e infatti ho notato diverse cose che alla prima visione…

View original post 69 more words

After Trump tweets Defcon hacking video, voting security experts call BS | Ars Technica

“Anyone asserting that a US election was ‘rigged’ is making an extraordinary claim, one that must be supported by persuasive and verifiable evidence,” the computer scientists wrote. “Merely citing the existence of technical flaws does not establish that an attack occurred, much less that it altered an election outcome. It is simply speculation.”

The letter continued:

The presence of security weaknesses in election infrastructure does not by itself tell us that any election has actually been compromised. Technical, physical, and procedural safeguards complicate the task of maliciously exploiting election systems, as does monitoring of likely adversaries by law enforcement and the intelligence community. Altering an election outcome involves more than simply the existence of a technical vulnerability.

We are aware of alarming assertions being made that the 2020 election was “rigged” by exploiting technical vulnerabilities. However, in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent. To our collective knowledge, no credible evidence has been put forth that supports a conclusion that the 2020 election outcome in any state has been altered through technical compromise.

Source: After Trump tweets Defcon hacking video, voting security experts call BS | Ars Technica

Washington county warns of at least 17 positive tests after 300-person wedding | TheHill – (self-serving stupid is endemic nation wide)

A county in Washington is advising attendees of a large wedding to get tested for COVID-19 after at least 17 people in attendance tested positive.

More than 300 people attended a wedding held at a private location near Ritzville on Nov. 7, the Grant County Health District (GCHD) said on Tuesday. Under current coronavirus restrictions, wedding ceremonies in Washington state are limited to 30 people.

GCHD said there have been 17 new cases associated with the event to date, with more being added daily. Attendees who were diagnosed with the virus have also been linked to two subsequent outbreaks.

Source: Washington county warns of at least 17 positive tests after 300-person wedding | TheHill

North Dakota records world’s highest COVID-19 mortality rate | TheHill

The analysis, first reported by HuffPost, shows that North Dakota has a rate of 18.2 deaths per 1 million people. South Dakota, meanwhile, has 17.4 deaths per million, the third-worst rate in the world. The states have a total population of under 2 million. Source: North Dakota records world’s highest COVID-19 mortality rate | TheHill

Fewer international students cost the country $1.8 billion last year

  • At the start of the 2020-21 academic year, the number of international students studying in the U.S. sank 16% due to the coronavirus outbreak and travel restrictions.
  • The sudden decline in international student enrollment has already cost the country $1.8 billion, according to a report.

Source: Fewer international students cost the country $1.8 billion last year