All posts by nedhamson

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

In Private Letters, Benedict Rebukes Critics of Pope Francis

Benedict XVI, the pope emeritus, rejected the idea of being part of a rival power center within the Vatican, as some conservative critics of Pope Francis have hoped.

‘I’m hard-left, hard-remain’: grassroots bid for Labour Brexit seachange

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Constituency groups could force Jeremy Corbyn to agree to a ‘people’s vote’ at the conference

Few people in Labour have heard of Michael Chessum, the self-described “hard-left, hard-remain” campaigner, who concedes he is an unusual frontman for a campaign that could transform the Labour party’s Brexit policy.

“Last year the faces were Chuka Umunna, Heidi Alexander, I can’t really believe that this year, it’s people like me, it’s weird,” he says in his shared south London office, surrounded by anti-Brexit paraphernalia and protest signs.

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‘Treating protest as terrorism’: US plans crackdown on Keystone XL activists

Fascism Merican style

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Documents suggest an aggressive response to possible protests against the oil pipeline amid fears of another Standing Rock

Angeline Cheek is preparing for disaster. The indigenous organizer from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana fears that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could break and spill, destroy her tribe’s water, and desecrate sacred Native American sites.

But environmental catastrophe is not the most immediate threat.

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Thursday Open Thread | Willie Nelson: “I don’t care” if my fans get angry that I support Beto O’Rourke

Musician Willie Nelson said Tuesday that he’s not bothered by the fact that many of his fans are boycotting him because he’s headlining a rally for Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) later this month.

“I don’t care,” Nelson said on ABC’s “The View. “You know, they’re entitled to their opinions and I’m entitled to mine.”

Nelson added the he’s been supporting Democratic lawmakers his entire life and that he didn’t know why this latest event sparked outrage from a contingent of his fans.

“Everybody has an opinion,” he said. “Everybody has a right to an opinion.”

O’Rourke, who is running to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this November, announced last week that Nelson would headline a rally in Austin, Texas on Sept. 29.

Rolling Stone reported that the appearance from Nelson would mark his first-ever public performance on behalf of a political candidate.

Fans quickly took issue with the announcement, with many posting angry comments on the singer’s Facebook page, where he had shared a post on his plans to headline an event for the Democratic Senate candidate.

“Open your eyes Willie!” one user said on his Facebook. “Beto is a Socialist who probably has lied to you. This is a real shame you support him.”

“I am no longer willing to watch that hippie guitarist who supports that … socialist running for Senate,” another user said on Twitter.

Nelson in a statement said he and his wife “share [O’Rourke’s] concern for the direction things are headed” in the U.S.

While Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in three decades, polls have continued to show that Cruz and O’Rourke are in a tight race.