All posts by nedhamson

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

‘Leave UK immediately’: scientist is latest victim of Home Office blunder | UK news | The Guardian – A Prequel to what Trump would like to see in US?

Danaie holds Canadian-Iranian joint citizenship. He is an electron microscopy scientist who has worked since October 2016 at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, based at Harwell science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire. He has a work visa valid until September 2019 and previously worked at Oxford University’s department of materials.Danaie went public with his case after the Guardian highlighted the introduction of “hostile environment” immigration status bank account checks last week, and following an assessment by the chief inspector of borders that there was a 10% error rate in Home Office records used for some forms of enforcement action.“I happen to be in that 10% statistic. Despite having a valid work visa, I received this letter,” he said. “It hurts on so many levels. They even have a typo in my name. Such disarray is astonishing in an office responsible for security.”

Source: ‘Leave UK immediately’: scientist is latest victim of Home Office blunder | UK news | The Guardian

Hijab: Empowering or oppressive? – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

My belief, that women should not be dictated to on what they should or shouldn’t wear by French or any other public policy, is grounded in the principles of free choice. Similarly, women should not be forced to cover up to satisfy a strict interpretation by men, based upon their patriarchal cultural framework, and little girls, absolutely not!

Source: Hijab: Empowering or oppressive? – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Fair Immigration Reform Movement | Senate Republicans Join White Supremacists Ranks, Introduce Bigoted Immigration Bill

The Succeed Act introduced today is more of the same: another bill brought forward by Republicans that continues to criminalize immigrant communities. The bill calls for the extreme vetting of immigrants, and restricts family reunification and legal migration.We’ve seen this all before and we’re not going to stand for it. We demand that a clean Dream Act is brought to the floor for a vote. The overwhelming majority of the country is on our side. It’s time for Republicans to grow a spine, get on board and say no to bigotry.”

Source: Fair Immigration Reform Movement | Senate Republicans Join White Supremacists Ranks, Introduce Bigoted Immigration Bill

Oakland Raiders Follow A’s Maxwell, Kneel During National Anthem Sunday: SFist

As ABC 7 tells it, attendees at Sunday’s game cheered in support as the players moved to kneel or link arms during the anthem.But in talking about protesting the national anthem and the potential backlash that lies in doing so, it’s impossible to not bring up former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose career has been in limbo since he first sat during a 49ers preseason game last year.When he was asked what that demonstration meant back in 2016, Kaepernick told NFL.com, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”With Maxwell and the Raiders joining many other athletes across multiple professional sports leagues, it’s clear that Kaepernick’s message has not only spread, but expanded as well.

Source: Oakland Raiders Follow A’s Maxwell, Kneel During National Anthem Sunday: SFist

Charlottesville’s white awakening: ‘We were living in a bubble,’ say residents | World news | The Guardian

Charlottesville was definitely not the first time Trump had said something that made Cronk uncomfortable, and it was was not the first time friends had shared their fears with him about how their race might make them vulnerable. When it came to police brutality, Cronk said, he listened, but he also had his own relationship with the police as authority figures, and wanted to believe that most police officers would not simply racially profile people. “This was different,” he said. The white supremacists’ attitude towards other races was absolutely clear.Whether Trump was a white supremacist himself, he said, he did not know. But together with Trump’s “Rocket Man” jabs at North Korea, the president’s reaction to Charlottesville had convinced him that he would not be voting for Trump again, and that he needed to vet his candidates more carefully in the future.

Source: Charlottesville’s white awakening: ‘We were living in a bubble,’ say residents | World news | The Guardian

NBA champion coach whose dad was assassinated by terrorists destroys Trump’s fake patriotism – Shareblue

“We stand for the things we think our country should stand for — inclusiveness, equality, diversity, joy and love. It sounds corny, but that’s what we stand for.”Kerr does not come by his deep sense of patriotism and love of country lightly. His stance against Trump’s hateful rhetoric against athletes, just as his previous public opposition to the Muslim travel ban, is in part informed by personal tragedy.In 1984, when Kerr was just 18 years old, his father, Malcolm, was killed by Islamic extremists in a terror attack on the American University of Beirut, where Malcolm was president.With that painful part of history, Kerr was clear that Trump’s ban was exactly the wrong thing to do.“I would just say that as someone whose family member was a victim of terrorism, having lost my father, if we’re trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country, by really going against the principles of what our country is about and creating fear, it’s the wrong way of going about it,” he said in January.The tragic loss of his father to hate-driven violence informed Kerr’s outspokenness on many thorny topics, from Middle East policy to gun control. Rather than turn him sour on other people, it gave him a broader outlook.It’s crucial to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes and look at it from a bigger perspective,” Kerr said.One person who could benefit mightily from such a worldview would be Trump. And the whole nation would be better off for it.

Source: NBA champion coach whose dad was assassinated by terrorists destroys Trump’s fake patriotism – Shareblue

Myanmar: How the military still controls the country, not Aung San Suu Kyi – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Finally a bit of truth about who is in control of what in Myanmar!

While Ms Suu Kyi’s party can easily pass normal legislation, the army bloc makes it almost impossible to amend the constitution.Importantly, that constitution makes sure the military keeps control of the three key ministries — Defence, Border and Home Affairs.Unlike Australia, where the Prime Minister is the commander-in-chief, Myanmar’s army operates completely independently of the Government.The guns and the borders are the exclusive realm of the Generals.Then there’s the Home Ministry.

Source: Myanmar: How the military still controls the country, not Aung San Suu Kyi – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Push for Gender Equality in Tech? Some Men Say It’s Gone Too Far – The New York Times The Tech Equivalent of the KKK – “Keep the Women Down to Protect Male Privilege!”

Their complaints flow on Reddit forums, on video game message boards, on private Facebook pages and across Twitter. They argue for everything from male separatism to an end to gender diversity efforts.Silicon Valley has for years accommodated a fringe element of men who say women are ruining the tech world.Now, as the nation’s technology capital — long identified as one of the more hostile work environments for women — reels from a series of high-profile sexual harassment and discrimination scandals, these conversations are gaining broader traction.One of those who said there had been a change is James Altizer, an engineer at the chip maker Nvidia. Mr. Altizer, 52, said he had realized a few years ago that feminists in Silicon Valley had formed a cabal whose goal was to subjugate men. At the time, he said, he was one of the few with that view.

From the Shadows of Men to the Roots of Human beings

Good on you!

نادية حرحش

After a year of publishing in the Shadows of Men, I was honored to present in in Haifa at Haifa’s Cultural Club. I have been introducing and discussing the book consecutively throughout the year, and I admit that each time the event was a new one, and inspiring by all means. This time, however, I was because I have been doing this for more than a year, I am about to publish my next book, and maybe this book has taken its portion of publicity in Palestine. I did not expect that this experience will make me in a whirlpool to the starting point. IT felt as if this book is being written by every person that reads it. It was such an honor to be presented and hosted by four individuals that humbled me with speeches that made e think: Wow, how far did these words go?
When what…

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