All posts by nedhamson

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

England limits gatherings to six people in order to curb spread of COVID-19

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Health minister Matt Hancock said limits on gatherings could last until Christmas.

Belarus opposition figure Maxim Znak taken from office by masked men

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Lawyer was one of few remaining leading members of coordination council still free

Belarusian authorities have detained one of the last leading members of an opposition council who had remained free, moving methodically to end a month of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.

Maxim Znak, a lawyer and member of the coordination council created by the opposition to facilitate talks with the country’s leader on a transition of power, was taken out of the council’s office by unidentified people in ski masks, his associate Gleb German said. He said Znak only had time to text message “masks” before they took the phone away from him.

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Texas ordered to fix flaws in method used to reject some mail-in ballots | The Texas Tribune

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia on Tuesday ruled the state’s process for determining whether there is a mismatch between a voter’s signature on their ballot envelope and the signature the voter used on their application to vote by mail “plainly violates certain voters’ constitutional rights.”

In his order, Garcia ordered the Texas secretary of state to inform local election officials within 10 days that it is unconstitutional to reject a ballot based on a “perceived signature mismatch” without first notifying the voter about the mismatch and giving the voter a “meaningful opportunity” to correct the issue.

Additionally, to “protects voters’ rights” in the upcoming election, Garcia said the Texas secretary of state must either advise local election officials that mail-in ballots may not be rejected using the existing signature comparison process, or notify them that they are required to set up a rejection notification system that would allow voters to challenge a rejection.

Source: Texas ordered to fix flaws in method used to reject some mail-in ballots | The Texas Tribune

India coronavirus: Rumours stall testing in Punjab – BBC News 

Ms Kaur says she has heard of people’s organs being harvested under the guise of diagnosing and treating coronavirus. She is echoing the fears of countless others in rural Punjab who are sceptical of the virus.
Rumours are flying fast in Punjab that the virus is a hoax, that people who don’t have Covid-19 are being taken away to care centres, where they are being killed for their organs, and that bodies are being swapped to allay suspicion.
This has led to protests and even attacks against health workers. Ms Kaur’s village was one of several in Sangrur that did not allow health workers to collect samples for testing – crowds pelted them with stones, screaming “Go back, we don’t want to be tested”, until they left.

Source: India coronavirus: Rumours stall testing in Punjab – BBC News

Proud Boys Attack BLM Protesters in Salem, Oregon

Video footage from a pro-Trump rally in Salem, Ore., on Monday that shows Trump-supporting Proud Boys chasing down and attacking BLM counter protesters is also unlikely to change those people’s minds.

Newsweek reports that during the Labor Day rally, in which Proud Boys members drove to Salem from a pro-Trump vehicle rally at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City to join several dozen Trump supporters outside the Oregon State Capitol, at least two members of the right-wing group were arrested after being recorded chasing down, beating and macing BLM demonstrators on multiple occasions.

One man was seen hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat and knocked to the ground after being rushed by a group of Proud Boys in a video posted on Twitter by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos.

He was then seen being repeatedly punched in the face by another Proud Boy and then maced in the face by a woman.

“That’s for everything that you did to me, b****. Told you I’d get you!” She can be heard saying in the clip.

According to Olmos, police arrived and told the Proud Boys to turn around, but no arrests were made at that time.

A short time later, videos showed a group of Proud Boys chasing down a sole Black Lives Matter supporter in a park near the state capitol. “Get out of here, you f*g!” one of the Proud Boys is heard saying.

Seconds later, a group of local police officers are seen stepping in and detaining people.

Source: Proud Boys Attack BLM Protesters in Salem, Oregon

Speaker at Far-Right Salem Rally Demands Democrat Leaders Be ‘Shot Dead in the Streets’

Video has emerged showing a speaker at a rally in Salem, Oregon, urging that democratic leaders be “shot dead in the streets” for pushing a so-called “pedophile agenda” and being greeted with cheers and applause from the crowd.

The man, who has not been identified, is seen speaking at the Labor Day rally which was attended by supporters of President Donald Trump, members of far-right groups Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys, as well as believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

During the clip, which has been viewed more than 300,000 times on Twitter, the man is seen hitting out at those who called people “crazy” and “homophobic” for speaking out against what he referred to as the “LGBT agenda.”

Source: Speaker at Far-Right Salem Rally Demands Democrat Leaders Be ‘Shot Dead in the Streets’

What you need to know about George Soros, center of conspiracy theories – The Jerusalem Post

Soros, who turned 90 last month, has given billions of dollars to an array of progressive causes, becoming a bogeyman for Republicans and conservatives in the United States and across the globe. He’s also become perhaps the leading target of those who have used Soros as a stand-in for the age-old antisemitic trope of the rich Jewish financier who pulls the strings of politicians and political movements from behind the scenes. 
But conspiracy theories about Soros and his control have not stopped at the fringes. The past few years have seen conspiracies about Soros pushed by public figures like President Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Yair Netanyahu, son of the Israeli prime minister.
Soros’ work in finance is often cited in antisemitic invective against him, while another conspiracy theory about him falsely posits that he was a collaborator with the Nazis rather than a child survivor. For more detail on those theories, see below.
Soros has poured billions of dollars into funding pro-democracy efforts, liberal causes worldwide and left-wing groups in Israel.

Source: What you need to know about George Soros, center of conspiracy theories – The Jerusalem Post