All posts by nedhamson

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

‘We are who we are’: what these 100-year-old women teach us about beauty

A glimpse into the lives and rituals of centenarian women, whose beauty is rarely acknowledged

Source: ‘We are who we are’: what these 100-year-old women teach us about beauty

Sweden distributes ‘be prepared for war’ leaflet to all 4.8m homes

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Defence pamphlet shows how population can prepare in event of attack and contribute to country’s ‘total defence’

The Swedish government has begun sending all 4.8m of the country’s households a public information leaflet telling the population, for the first time in more than half a century, what to do in the event of a war.

Om krisen eller kriget kommer (If crisis or war comes) explains how people can secure basic needs such as food, water and heat, what warning signals mean, where to find bomb shelters and how to contribute to Sweden’s “total defence”.

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The pope says God made gay people just as we should be – here’s why his comments matter

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Francis’s reported remarks show a new Catholic acceptance of LGBT people and confirm what many of us have always known: God doesn’t make mistakes

It is immensely powerful to hear that Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic church, reportedly told Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay man: “God made you like this and loves you like this.”

Cruz is a survivor of clerical abuse who spoke privately with the pope a few weeks ago, and has since reported his conversation to Spanish newspapers. His abuser, Fernando Karadima, was found guilty of abuse by the Vatican in 2011.

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The recent mass shootings in the US all have one thing in common: misogyny | Jessica Valenti

Word!

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The longer we ignore the toxic masculinity that underlies so many of these crimes, the more violence we’re enabling

The massacre at Santa Fe high school last week that left 10 people dead – most of them students – seems to have something in common with so many other mass shootings that happen in the US: misogyny. The shooter, one victim’s mother claims, targeted her daughter as the first victim because she rejected his continued harassing advances.

How many more tragedies have to happen before we recognize that misogyny kills? The longer we ignore the toxic masculinity that underlies so many of these crimes, the more violence we’re enabling.

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Trump attacks former CIA director ahead of Haspel’s swearing-in

He smears everyone and everything with his hubris and…

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Trump suggested John Brennan was to blame for Robert Mueller’s investigation, referencing remarks from Fox & Friends

Donald Trump praised the new CIA director, Gina Haspel, at her swearing-in ceremony on Monday, saying there was “no one in this country better qualified” for the job.

Related: After Trump attacks New York Times, Giuliani tells paper Mueller will be done by September

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Scientists find secret behind sweet sound of Stradivarius violins | Science | The Guardian

The researchers found that the early Italian instruments produced human-like “formants”, the harmonic tones that correspond to resonances in the vocal tract. Specifically, the Amati violins produced formants similar to those from bass and baritone singers, while the Stradivari instruments had higher-frequency formants, closer to those of tenors and contraltos. Hwan-Ching Tai, an author on the study at the National Taiwan University, said Stradivari violins are often described as having “brightness” and “brilliance”, both qualities that could be rooted in the higher-frequency tones that make the instruments sound closer to female voices. “Some Stradivari violins clearly possess female singing qualities, which may contribute to their perceived sweetness and brilliance,” he said. Female singers tend to have higher-frequency formants than males because their vocal tracts are shorter.

Source: Scientists find secret behind sweet sound of Stradivarius violins | Science | The Guardian

Danish politician says Muslims stay off work during Ramadan

Crap for brains!

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Critics scorn Inger Støjberg’s ‘completely absurd idea’ that daylight fasting is dangerous

A Danish government minister has asserted that Muslims should not work during Ramadan because the month-long daylight fasting period poses safety hazards in some professions and makes the practice “dangerous for us all.”

The integration minister, Inger Støjberg, an immigration hardliner in Denmark’s centre-right government, questioned in a blog post on Monday how “commanding observance to a 1,400-year-old pillar of Islam” was compatible with modern labour markets.

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Monday Open Thread | The Demonization of Immigrants by Dolt45

ICYMI,

It is now the official policy of the United States Government to TAKE CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS AT THE BORDER.

Now, after they have already LOST OVER 1500 CHILDREN IN DHS CUSTODY…

They are now going to ADD to that group.

You read right – THEY HAVE LOST 1500 CHILDREN…but, since those children are pretty much NON-WHITE, the MSM can’t be concerned about it.

Do, what does Dolt45 have to to say about it?

Trump on breaking up families: “We have to break up families. Democrats gave us that law. It’s a horrible thing we have to break up families.” pic.twitter.com/XkpAYuXQpW

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 16, 2018

You do now that it’s a damn lie. Of course, non of the idiot press in the room could be bothered to follow up with..

” Exactly what law is it that you’re talking about, and how come the Obama Administration didn’t separate parents and children?”

Of course, not, because that would be too much like right.

What else did Dol45 do?

VIDEO: “These aren’t people. These are animals,” says @POTUS. pic.twitter.com/PSuquD3jGn

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 16, 2018

When people rightfully got up in arms, then suddenly, we get the MSM talking about CONTEXT.

CONTEXT?

They didn’t know how to spell the word during 44’s Administration.

But, suddenly, we’re supposed to understand that the animals remark was for MS13.

Bullshyt.

A man who ran an anti-immigrant campaign.

A man, whose policies are nothing but anti-immigrant, if YOU ARE NOT WHITE.

POLICY UPON POLICY to throw out those in this country WHO ARE NOT WHITE.

The ICE raids on people WHO ARE NOT CRIMINALS

And, now, the going after GREEN CARD HOLDERS?

BUT, we have to CONTEXT?

PHUCK OUTTA HERE.

WE already know the context, because we see the ENTIRE RACIST BASED IMMIGRATION POLICY OF THIS ADMINISTRATION.

WE are very clear about what’s happening.

STOP.TRYING.TO.NORMALIZE.THIS. ADMNISTRATION.

At a certain point you run out of language strong enough to describe and condemn the president’s bigotry. It’s vile.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 16, 2018

EXACTLY.

Stat of the Day: 43% of American Families Can’t Afford Basic Expenses Like Rent

The official poverty rate in the United States is 12.7% — but according to a new study by the United Way ALICE Project, 43% of American families don’t earn enough on a monthly basis to cover basic expenses like rent, food, health care, child care, transportation, or a cell phone. 

That figure includes about 16 million families that are in poverty. It also includes 34.7 million families who work and earn enough that, formally speaking, they’re not in poverty. They are technically “middle class” — but as wages stagnate and housing prices skyrocket, the economic security and quality of life we usually associate with the term “middle class” just gets further and further out of reach.  It’s no wonder millennials are the highest-educated but most debt-burdened generation in American history.

United Way calls the people who fall into this gap (not in poverty, but still struggling to make ends meet) the “ALICE” cohort: “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.” ALICE, this report argues, is the new American middle class:

ALICE is your child care worker, your parent on Social Security, the cashier at your supermarket, the gas attendant, the salesperson at your big box store, your waitress, a home health aide, an office clerk. ALICE cannot always pay the bills, has little or nothing in savings, and is forced to make tough choices such as deciding between quality child care or paying the rent. One unexpected car repair or medical bill can push these financially strapped families over the edge.

We tend to measure the health of the economy by the unemployment rate or the stock market. But the unemployment rate has been falling for a decade, stocks are at an all time high — yet almost half of American families still live financially precarious lives. Maybe it’s time to start measuring the economy’s health in terms of how it affects our material lives.

You can check out United Way’s full report here.

Image credit: People Demanding Action