All posts by nedhamson

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

Inoreader – Privilege or Right? A segregating question

Certainly, there are varying degrees of privilege but they all have one thing in common – privilege acts as a prejudicial filter to how a person perceives the world.

  • A person with privilege may not understand, or forgotten, what it’s like living paycheck to paycheck.
  • A person with privilege may not understand why the Civil Rights Act is still needed.
  • A person with privilege may not understand why, for some, Obamacare was a godsend.
  • A person with privilege may not understand why in some communities law enforcement is feared rather than seen as an agency of help.
  • A person with privilege may not understand why or how life is so bad somewhere that people are willing to risk their lives and personal safety to reach the US side of the border.
  • A person with privilege may not understand how some parents choose to pay rent over buying food for their children.
  • A person with privilege may not understand someone working 18-hour days, at two jobs, still doesn’t have healthcare but will have a smartphone.
  • A person with privilege may not understand why can’t everyone just get along.

Source: Inoreader – Privilege or Right? A segregating question

Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally, Officials Say – The New York Times – “Who needs e-mail? #TraitorTrump just blabs sensitive info to impress his bosses!”

The intelligence disclosed by Mr. Trump in a meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, was about an Islamic State plot, according to the officials. A foreign ally that closely guards its own secrets provided the information, which was considered so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies.Mr. Trump’s disclosure does not appear to have been illegal — the president has the power to declassify almost anything. But sharing the information without the express permission of the ally who provided it represented a major breach of espionage etiquette, and could jeopardize a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship.

Egyptian Aak 2017- Week 19 ( May 8- 14)

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • IMF reaches staff level agreement for second loan installment to Egypt
  • Thomas Cook cancels hundreds of flights to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on Foreign Office guidance
  • Egypt’s Sisi receives an invite to upcoming Riyadah Trump summit
  • Egyptian armed forces foils attempt to smuggle arms through Libyan border
  • Egyptian Muslim Cleric who called Christians ‘unbelievers’ to face trial for contempt of religion
  • Egypt ‘uncovers 3700 year-old burial chamber of a Pharoah’s daughter
  • Mubarak-era interior minister Habib al-Adly escapes arrest  

Main Headlines

 Monday

 Tuesday

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The dismal state of some of Egypt’s Islamic scholars | Nervana

In contrast, other Muslim scholars have moved away from such medieval nostalgia, and view Islam from a progressive stance that matches current realities. For example, Dr. Abdalla El Naggar, a member of the Islamic Research Centre, said that religion aims to unite people and it is not permissible for anyone to invalidate the faith of another because, in the end, God is the only Judge of all of us.The stark difference between Abdel Galil and Naggar defines the struggle for the soul of Islam in today’s challenging times. It is time for our scholars to abandon their obsession with blasphemy. Many challenges face Muslims today; the faith of others is not one of them. The era of medieval dominance of one faith over others has gone. We must not allow religion to be used as a time machine enacting harmful regressive ideas that can only ruin our current fragile societies.

Source: The dismal state of some of Egypt’s Islamic scholars | Nervana

Noga Erez: ‘I get told by people not to talk about what is happening in Israel’ | Music | The Guardian

If there’s any hope to be found, it could come from among Israel’s small but diverse underground music scene. In Tel Aviv, at venues such as the Block, Jewish and Arab audiences are said to dance together, united by electronic DJs. “It’s all about trying to form a new conversation and trying to be normal,” says Erez. “This is probably the only idea that I believe in now 100% – building communication through normalising the connection. If that’s something that we aim for, I think it could create some change.” Erez says that she hopes one day to collaborate with Palestinian artists but her ambitions are also that of any global pop artist: to break out of her local scene and make her songs “something that people can relate to from different parts of the world. As personal as the music is, it’s as universal as it can be.”

Source: Noga Erez: ‘I get told by people not to talk about what is happening in Israel’ | Music | The Guardian

A Shocking Diagnosis: Breast Implants ‘Gave Me Cancer’ – The New York Times

Late last year, an alliance of cancer centers, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, issued treatment guidelines. Experts agree that the essential first step is to remove the implant and the entire capsule of scar tissue around it. Otherwise, the disease is likely to recur, and the prognosis to worsen.Not all women have been able to get the recommended treatment. Kimra Rogers, 50, a nursing assistant in Caldwell, Idaho, learned last May that she had lymphoma, from textured implants she had for more than 10 years. But instead of removing the implants and capsules immediately, her doctor prescribed six rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation. A year later, she still has the implants.“Unfortunately, my doctor didn’t know the first line of defense,” Ms. Rogers said.She learned about the importance of having the implants removed only from other women in a Facebook group for those with the disease.Her health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, covered the chemotherapy and radiation but has refused to pay for removal of the implants, and told her that her appeal rights were “exhausted.” (Translation: health insurance companies don’t care if you die!)

New Ohio House GOP efforts emerge to toss otherwise eligible Ohioans off Medicaid: Thomas Suddes | cleveland.com

House Medicaid amendments were less about Medicaid than about lassoing Republican “yes” votes on the budget rewrite, and, two, that the Ohio House Republican caucus is shifting. To the right.

Source: New Ohio House GOP efforts emerge to toss otherwise eligible Ohioans off Medicaid: Thomas Suddes | cleveland.com

Russian Oval Office Pix: Team Trump Done in by “Dual Hatter” – Reading The Pictures

Let’s not ascribe intent or malice in the place of deluded bumbling. As far as the White House thought, the meeting was supposed to be private, except that the Russians said they were bringing an official photographer so Trump team invited theirs. The fact that the Russian Foreign Ministry posts obsessively to a Flickr page, or Russia has been playing Trump all along, or there is no Russian division between media and state, or Russia would use the photos for something other than a thank you card seemed to escape the Trump communicators entirely. Given that cluelessness, you’ve got to love this administration quote (via WAPO): “We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency.”

Excuse me if the statement reminded me of the “Mad Hatted.” It’s the same ignorance that caused a political uproar after Trump’s meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister during the transition, given Ivanka Trump’s prominent presence. In that instance, Mr. Abe showed up with a photographer and a translator, and the photos were distributed the next day as official handouts of the Japanese Government Press Office.

Nothing like learning from your mistakes.

Source: Russian Oval Office Pix: Team Trump Done in by “Dual Hatter” – Reading The Pictures