All posts by nedhamson

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

I’ll Never Be Ashamed of My Abortion

I want my daughters to have the same agency over their bodies as I did. I’m worried they won’t.

Make no mistake: Poland and Hungary aren’t the only EU states abusing the law | Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska

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Countries from Britain to Greece are guilty of democratic backsliding. And that threatens the integrity of the EU itself

Mention concerns about the rule of law in certain EU countries, and people, even EU officials, automatically assume you are referring to Hungary and Poland. Without doubt, the state of democracy in both countries is worrying. Buoyed by strong electoral mandates, their populist governing parties are interfering with the independence of the judiciary and increasing state control of other institutions, including the media. But an equally worrying trend is less talked about. The decline in respect for the rule of law is happening elsewhere in the EU – indeed, it is an EU-wide issue and it has the potential to undermine the functioning of the entire bloc.

The World Bank’s governance indicators show a deterioration in Bulgaria, France, Italy and Greece

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Planned Parenthood chief: we have to ‘undo the damage’ of abortion bans in the Trump era

Find a Senator with enough guts to offer a bill to create a Constitutional Amendment to absolutely legalize abortion. Then forget Supreme Court and not allow states to pass a law or regulation against the Constitution.

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Alexis McGill Johnson is focusing on systemic issues in her fight against the wave of abortion bans sweeping across the US

The Planned Parenthood president, Alexis McGill Johnson, was stuck on the tarmac in Washington DC, and not happy about it. She’d raced to catch a flight and now she was sitting in the stale air of a plane grounded by stormy weather. Then, the woman next to her asked a question common among strangers: “What do you do?”

“I work for Planned Parenthood,” Johnson said, and the woman asked, “Did they ever find a president?” Well, actually, they did, Johnson replied.

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Utah bans LGBTQ conversion therapy for children

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Conservative state to bar discredited practice following Mormon church’s support of new legislation

Utah has voted to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy for children, becoming the 19th US state to outlaw the discredited practice.

Related: Sanders on Clinton’s ‘nobody likes him’ claim: ‘On a good day, my wife likes me’

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Trump downplays brain injuries suffered by US troops in Iran missile strike

He has no clue about what he is saying – just the hack salesman trying to downplay any problems with his brand and policies!

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‘I heard they had headaches … but it’s not very serious,’ Trump said after 11 service members were treated for concussion symptoms

Donald Trump has downplayed the brain injuries suffered by US personnel in Iran’s missile attacks on bases where they were stationed earlier this month, as the military announced additional troops were being flown from Iraq for treatment for possible injuries and that more may follow.

Though the US president initially said no US troops were harmed in the 8 January attack on two Iraqi bases housing them, the Pentagon announced last week that 11 service members had been flown to medical hospitals in Germany and Kuwait to be “treated for concussion symptoms from the blast”.

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Elon Musk on road to $50bn payout as Tesla’s value passes $100bn

When his bubble bursts – how much does he get to keep?

Under pay scheme, founder must build electric carmaker into $650bn company by 2028

The Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has taken the first step to becoming $50bn (£38bn) richer after the value of the electric car company surged past $100bn.

Musk, already a multibillionaire with a net worth estimated at about $30bn, secured approval in 2018 for a pay deal that would dwarf existing records for renumeration if it was paid out in full.

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Hubei Province Reports 69 New Coronavirus Cases – Deaths Jump to 17

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While we still wait for official details from the Hong Kong CHP on their first (and possibly 2nd) imported case, Hebei Province officials have reportedly recently held a press conference where they announced 69 new cases, and a death toll that has jumped to 17.

2020-01-22 22:39:31 Beijing News reporter: Xu Wen editor: Liu Mengjie

Newly added 69 cases of new coronavirus pneumonia in Hubei, with 17 deaths

The Beijing News (Reporter Xu Wen) Hubei Province held a press conference on January 22 to inform the province of the prevention and control of pneumonia caused by new coronavirus infection.

As of 20:00 on January 22, Hubei Province had reported a total of 444 cases of pneumonia and 17 deaths. Between January 22 and 0200 on January 22, 69 cases of pneumonia of new coronavirus infection were added in Hubei Province.

While much has been made of the relatively low fatality rate of this emerging coronavirus, until we have a substantial number of patients who have been treated, and their outcome is known, we are dealing with insufficient data.

Today’s jump from 9 fatal cases to 17, with only 28 pronounced as `cured’, reminds us that we have a lot left to learn about the ultimate public health impact of this virus.

ICE Quietly Lowers (Already Low) Standards at Some Immigrant Detention Facilities – The Texas Observer

ICE broadened the reasons a detainee can be placed in solitary confinement and removed language preventing officers from using “hog-tying, fetal restraints, [and] tight restraints.” The agency also extinguished requirements for new facilities to have outdoor recreation areas and provisions guaranteeing that nonprofit organizations have access to the detention centers. There were also significant revisions to protocols in the case of serious injury, illness, or death, such as allowing guards to notify ICE “as soon as practicable” (as opposed to immediately) that a detainee needs to be transferred to a hospital and removing any mention of how to proceed if a detainee dies during the transfer. Attorneys worry the revised standards will have a real impact on the way immigrants in custody are treated.

Source: ICE Quietly Lowers (Already Low) Standards at Some Immigrant Detention Facilities – The Texas Observer