All posts by nedhamson

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

Hurricane Harvey: How the big-hearted Indian community in Houston is helping with relief efforts – Times of India

Here’s a list of all the help being provided by the Indian community in Houston:* Curry House in Cypress is providing free food for 50 to 100 or more people as required. The food packets can be picked up the restaurant at 10728, Cypress Creek Parkway, Houston 77070. Phone: 713-725-9805.* The Universal Volunteers Group is helping with evacuations from flood-affected residences. Contact any of these people for help: Prasad 281-685-8016, Arvind 650-619-7563, Vasu 281-253-0085, Sankar 832-276-9175, KB 518-505-8484* Biryani Express in Pearland has food packets for distribution. Contact Nishanth at 281-707-9574* Deep Foods is providing free gift hampers with juices, cookies and candles. These can be picked up for distribution at Biryani Pot’s Katy location or at Swagath Groceries, also in Katy, any day after 3 pm.* Dr Minni Malhotra is offering free medical consultation at 606-854-2551.* Hyderabad, a restaurant in Woodlands is providing free food for those affected by Harvey. Contact Chandramouli at 361- -815-0166 for more information* Masala Radio is broadcasting live continuously to keep Houston updated with information about the hurricane and news about the various shelters and rescue centres being set up. The radio station also has a hummer truck that can travel in up to three feet water. Anyone needing help using it to evacuate please contact Sunil Thakkar 281-277-6874 or text him at 713-545-1595.*Universal Bakery and Biryani, a restaurant in Katy is providing food and accommodation and its party hall at 27131, Cinco Ranch Boulevard Ste: 900, Katy,77494. Contact Surya Anakala 732-447-5886 for more details.*Cafe India and Bollywood Chowpaty Chaat, located Sugar Land is happy to help with dry or cooked food, milk and water, and is offering free delivery. Please call or text Dinesh Purohit 732-593-9650* Biryani Pot’s Katy location is offering free food for those in need around Katy/Fulshear/Richmond/Rosenberg area. Please call Vijay 610-714-2123. The restaurant is open all day.*Surya Raguthu & Manjula Raguthu from Ace Pain Management are offering free medical consultations. Please call for any medical help. Dr Manjula Raguthu 956-639-8699, Medwin family medicine, Dr Surya Raguthu 956-639-8666* Meridian Springs Primary Care is offering free e-consults through video chats or phone calls. Please call Dr Bhavana Rao, and Sunil Gopalkrishna at 281-826-1359.* Narender, Raghveer and Shreedhar from Houston and Sugar Land area are volunteering to serve food to up to a 1,000 people in shelters, please let us know. Contact them at 979-481-9999, 832-798-0394 or 832-728-2873.* Biryani Pot Restaurant on Westheimer@Hillcroft is serving hot packed meals for those who in need. Please contact Ravi at 614-558-7597 or Sreedhar at 832-727-5620.* Bawarchi Houston will be extending their help with free lunch and dinner. Contact Naveen at 973-393-7117* Vishala Restaurant is providing free lunch and dinner for those who doesn’t have electricity or gas. They want to help families as much as possible. If required they are willing to deliver food to communities from Alaina to Riverstone. Please call Manoj Paladugu at 248-778-8855.* Hyderabad House in Katy will be providing free lunch, snacks and dinner boxes. Please contact Sudheer at 713-714-7124* Anyone needing help with electricity, plumbing or HVAC, free help is available from Sanjay Gupta at 281-857-5474.

Source: Hurricane Harvey: How the big-hearted Indian community in Houston is helping with relief efforts – Times of India

This Week in Egypt 2017: Week 34 ( Aug 14-20)

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Italy to return its ambassador to Cairo, ending standoff over murdered student
  • US military will take part in a joint military exercise with Egypt for the first time since the toppling of Mubarak in 2011
  • Hamas commander killed in ISIS suicide bombing at Rafah crossing
  • Calls for gender equality in inheritance is ‘against Islamic teachings,’ says Egypt’s Al-Azhar
  • Striking Mahalla workers suspend 2-week strike after company pledges to provide response to their demands
  • German-backed Arabic website blocked is blocked by Egypt
  • Daily News Egypt to be taken over by state run newspaper
  • Student allegedly detained by Egypt’s army forces appears in new ISIS video

 

Main Headlines

 Monday

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Egyptian cinema and glamorizing violence

Nervana

It is a pleasure and honour to join many liberal voices writing in the new Al-Hurra digital Arabic platform.  Here is, with permission, an english version of my first piece, which you can read it in Arabic here

Omar Sherif film Alhurra

Film “There isa man in our house” – Photo via Al-Hurra

Fans of black and white Arabic movies adore the classic masterpiece, “There is a man in our house.” The well-crafted drama featuring a top cast of Egyptian stars, including actor Omar Sharif, tells the story of a young radical leader, Ibrahim Hamdy, who seeks refuge in the house of an apolitical Egyptian family after assassinating the Egyptian Prime Minister. This movie has succeeded in captivating hearts and minds across the Arab world.

Yet it is surreal and deeply disturbing to see a film that glamorizes political assassination being broadcast regularly on various Egyptian TV channels, while their news tickers simultaneously announce…

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The Road to Barcelona | Nervana

Empires rise then eventuality fall. Al-Andalus was no exception. It is not a model that can be replicated. The context in which Al-Andalus existed is impossible to emulate in our modern time. We should not let the Islamists manipulate our psyche. Romanticising the past will neither resurrect it – nor bring a better future for the Arab world.

Source: The Road to Barcelona | Nervana

Trump was wrong to pardon controversial sheriff, Ryan says

“Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon,” Ryan said in a statement.“The speaker does not agree with the decision,” Ryan’s spokesman Doug Andres said.Some other prominent Republicans, including Arizona Senator John McCain and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, have also criticized Trump for the controversial pardon.

Source: Trump was wrong to pardon controversial sheriff, Ryan says

UK opposition Labour Party makes dramatic shift on EU single market and customs union | News | DW | 27.08.2017

The change in the Labour Party policy comes days before the next round of Brexit talks in Brussels. A deal for the same basic terms of the UK’s current membership beyond 2019 would be proposed by a Labour government.

Source: UK opposition Labour Party makes dramatic shift on EU single market and customs union | News | DW | 27.08.2017

My great uncle was alienated in postwar France. Now Americans know how he felt | Hadley Freeman | World news | The Guardian

I still haven’t yet figured out how criticism of a billionaire who bagged the support of America’s highest earners by promising them lower taxes represents “snobbery”, so maybe I’m just slow, but here is what I think of this argument: I think it’s disgusting. There is a word for people who support and normalise Nazis and Nazi defenders, and that word is “appeasers”, and that now includes, shockingly, Israel, as well as the conservative Jews in Trump’s circle such as Jared Kushner – like me, a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor. But a heads up to those groups: this tactic generally does not work out well for you. A Vice documentary from Charlottesville, in which a white supremacist gripes about how Donald Trump “gave his daughter to a Jew, that bastard Kushner”, gives a hint as to why.Alex knew that De Gaulle’s words would embolden antisemites in France, and he was proven right. His speech marked the moment attacks on the character of the Jews became part of anti-Israel rhetoric. That Trump has encouraged antisemites and racists in America is proven every day: just this month, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke thanked Trump for suggesting that those who fight against racists are morally equivalent to racists.Alex didn’t want to leave France, but he felt alienated from the country he called home. Right now, a lot of American liberal Jews are feeling exactly the same way.

Source: My great uncle was alienated in postwar France. Now Americans know how he felt | Hadley Freeman | World news | The Guardian

Aquí, estoy atorado / Here, I am stuck – IMM Print – (40 years in US but now caged – WTF!)

Sergio has been caged for 18 months inside of a county jail in California that is contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The government is trying to deport him, even though he has lived in the United States for over forty years.Sergio says he volunteers to do different jobs in detention. It keeps him busy and his mind occupied. His day starts at four in the morning when he begins to pass out clean clothes to each of the men in immigration mods. For the past few weeks, he has been re-painting the walls. He is paid a dollar a day. He insists that he doesn’t mind the work. It keeps him busy, he says, and outside of a cell.He tells me that there are men from all over the world inside here with him. They each are fluent in different languages so they begin to communicate with each other through signs. He and many others spend their time helping one another fill out forms that are needed to support their cases. He tells me he has learned a lot about immigration law as he’s been working on his case himself. But he’s come to a point where he can no longer move forward without the resources that he can only access from the outside.

Source: Aquí, estoy atorado / Here, I am stuck – IMM Print