All posts by nedhamson

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

‘Apology rings hollow’: judge rebukes Roger Stone and slaps stricter gag order

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Longtime Donald Trump ally was spared prison for posting an Instagram picture lambasting Judge Amy Berman Jackson

His swagger gone and his humiliation complete, political operative Roger Stone took the witness stand on Thursday to deliver an abject apology for attacking the judge in his case on social media only to be told it “rings quite hollow” and warned he could have incited violence by his supporters.

The longtime confidante of Donald Trump was spared prison for posting an Instagram picture lambasting Judge Amy Berman Jackson but he was slapped with an expanded gagging order that prevents him speaking publicly about his ongoing criminal case.

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What Backlash Against “Political Correctness” is Really About

Discussions about political correctness often center around free speech, with the implication that free speech applies to some people—those with power and privilege—and not others. It’s incumbent on all of us to shift the conversation, and talk more about how to protect the free speech and voices of marginalized people, whose demands for basic respect too often remain the butt of jokes.

Source: What Backlash Against “Political Correctness” is Really About

Pinterest Is Trying to Curb Anti-Vaxxer Misinformation

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Pinterest—the social media site of choice for DIY crafters, home decor enthusiasts, and my Aunt Melanie—has banned search terms related to “vaccines” in order to curb anti-vaccination propaganda from spreading on the platform. According to the Guardian, anti-vaxxer rhetoric has been an ongoing issue on Pinterest: In…

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China Uses DNA to Track Its People, With the Help of American Expertise – The New York Times  “If you believe they did not know how they were helping Chinese inhumane rights – I have a bridge, I can sell you cheap!”

To bolster their DNA capabilities, scientists affiliated with China’s police used equipment made by Thermo Fisher, a Massachusetts company. For comparison with Uighur DNA, they also relied on genetic material from people around the world that was provided by Kenneth Kidd, a prominent Yale University geneticist.

The Disappeared Children of Israel

In the state of Israel’s early years, a number of parents in immigrant transit camps were told that their babies had died. Their families believe the babies were abducted by the Israeli authorities in the 1950s, and were illegally put up for adoption to childless Ashkenazi families, Jews of European descent. A younger generation is demanding answers.

Alabama Woman Who Joined ISIS Can’t Return Home, U.S. Says – The New York Times

Ms. Muthana’s father was a Yemeni diplomat, and children born in the United States to active diplomats are not bestowed birthright citizenship, since diplomats are under the jurisdiction of their home countries. That law does not apply in Ms. Muthana’s case, said Charlie Swift, the director of the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America, who is representing her family. Ms. Muthana, he said, was born a month after her father was discharged from his position as a United Nations diplomat. After she joined the Islamic State, Mr. Swift said, Ms. Muthana’s family received a letter indicating that her passport had been revoked. Her father sent the government evidence of his nondiplomatic status at the time of his daughter’s birth, but did not receive a response. Mr. Swift said Ms. Muthana had in fact been issued two American passports: one when she was a child, and a renewal she applied for herself just before leaving for Syria. In the case of the first, he says that her father provided a letter from the United Nations proving that he had been discharged, to overcome the jurisdictional challenge. Hassan Shibly, a lawyer with the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida w