All posts by nedhamson

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

Congress Finally Agrees To Budget $1.1 Billion To Fight Zika: Gothamist

Yesterday, members of Congress remembered they are obligated to, like, do stuff, when they narrowly avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to allocate $1.1 billion to fight Zika.Initially, the bill was held up thanks to language that would bar funds from Planned Parenthood, since any effort to boost women’s healthcare is akin to slaughtering schoolchildren on national television. (Note that the actual slaughter of schoolchildren fails to prompt any Congressional action.) But yesterday the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 72-26, and later in the day the House of Representatives approved it 342-85, narrowly averting a shutdown that would leave the government without money to operate Friday at midnight.President Obama, who requested $1.9 billion in Zika funding in February, is expected to sign the bill into law by tomorrow. Though an initial iteration of the legislation prohibited funds from going to Planned Parenthood, that language has since been removed. “Women’s health should never be treated like a political football,” Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington, told NPR. “I am glad that Republicans finally agreed to set aside the extreme provisions that would have specifically blocked Planned Parenthood health care providers from accessing critical funding.”

Source: Congress Finally Agrees To Budget $1.1 Billion To Fight Zika: Gothamist

Man Fatally Shot By El Cajon Police Was Holding A Vape Pen: LAist – Classic Excuses to Justify Killing Black People

Alfred Olango, the unarmed black man fatally shot by police in El Cajon Tuesday afternoon, was holding a vape pen, according to a statement issued by the El Cajon Police Department Wednesday evening. Olango was a Ugandan refugee who emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1991, according to NBC San Diego. His death has sparked protests in the San Diego suburb.Two police officers had responded to 9-1-1 calls about a man walking in traffic and acting erratically around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. According to NPR, one of the calls was made by Olango’s sister, who said that she told police her brother was mentally ill and unarmed. NBC San Diego reports that police arrived about an hour after Olango’s sister had made the call, and that the shooting happened within two minutes of their arrival.In a YouTube video shot in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Olango’s sister is seen screaming and weeping as she tells police that her brother was mentally ill, and that she had called for police to help him. “I called for help. I didn’t call you guys to kill him,” she is heard telling the officers.

Source: Man Fatally Shot By El Cajon Police Was Holding A Vape Pen: LAist

Resilience AmeriCorps | Corporation for National and Community Service

Resilience is the ability to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of shocks and stresses. Resilience AmeriCorps recruits and trains AmeriCorps VISTA members to serve low-income communities across the country by developing plans and implementing projects that increase resilience-building capacity. Current Resilience AmeriCorps projects are addressing a wide range of resilience challenges and solutions, including:ChallengesSolutionsClimate changeExtreme weatherFinancial instabilityFood insecurityLong-term planningRisk communicationCommunity loan programsUrban food production

Source: Resilience AmeriCorps | Corporation for National and Community Service

Video of police shooting that killed 6-year-old autistic La. boy released – CBS News

Parish investigators initially said marshals were chasing Few because of an outstanding warrant, WAFB reported.. However, WAFB checked with the Clerk of Court, the District Attorney’s Office, Marksville Police Department and City Court and did not find any outstanding warrants. Col. Mike Edmonson said so far, their investigation shows the same.   WAFB has posted the first minute and 35 seconds from the shooting. They are currently reviewing the rest of the body cam footage. Part of the video can be found below. Video may be disturbing and graphic for viewers.

Source: Video of police shooting that killed 6-year-old autistic La. boy released – CBS News

Unseasonal Flooding in Iowa : Image of the Day

A series of heavy rainstorms has brought unseasonal flooding to parts of the U.S. Midwest. According to the National Weather Service, many areas in northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and western Wisconsin received anywhere from 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain.At 11:47 a.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time (16:47 Universal Time) on September 26, 2016, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 satellite acquired these images of Iowa’s swollen Cedar and Wapsipinicon rivers. These false-color images use shortwave infrared light to highlight the flooding. The artificially light blue water makes it easier to see; during floods, disturbed sediment often colors rivers brown, which can make flood waters difficult to distinguish from land. Vegetation and farmland appear various shades of green.

Source: Unseasonal Flooding in Iowa : Image of the Day

1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada

More than 1,000 members of faculty have condemned a website that blacklists students and educators who criticize Israel.“We reject the McCarthyist tactics used by Canary Mission,” the scholars say in a statement initiated by students.“We urge our fellow admissions faculty, as well as university administrators, prospective employers and all others, to join us in … standing against such bullying and attempts to shut down civic engagement and freedom of speech,” the scholars add.The aim of the shadowy website, Canary Mission, is to punish students for their activism by harming their future academic and professional careers.Its anonymous administrators contact potential employers and graduate student admissions committees, claiming that the students are engaged in anti-Semitic bigotry and sympathy towards terrorism.The site is part of an increasing wave of tactics by right-wing groups on US campuses intending to silence criticism of Israel.

Source: 1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada

Over a hundred prominent women petition UN′s Ban for treaty to end Korean War | News | DW.COM | 27.09.2016

Women leaders from 38 countries have sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to initiate a peace process that would officially end the Korean War before he leaves office.The letter was co-sponsored by Women Cross DMZ, which organized a peaceful walk across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) last year and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, had promised such an initiative before taking office in 2007. North and South Korea technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Source: Over a hundred prominent women petition UN′s Ban for treaty to end Korean War | News | DW.COM | 27.09.2016

Shamed and Angry: Alicia Machado, a Miss Universe Mocked by Donald Trump – The New York Times

In the process, Ms. Clinton, the first female presidential nominee of a major party, elevated a largely forgotten tale of Mr. Trump, when his oversight of beauty pageants collided with his unforgiving fixation with female beauty.And Mrs. Clinton put a spotlight on Ms. Machado, Miss Universe 1996, who says she has never recovered from the experience. Ms. Machado, who grew up in Venezuela, said she had had eating disorders and psychological trauma as a result of the episode.“I was sick — anorexia and bulimia for five years,” she said in an interview with The New York Times in May. “I was 18. My personality wasn’t created yet. I was just a girl.”Mr. Trump has acknowledged pressuring her to lose weight, saying it was her job as Miss Universe to remain in peak physical shape. On Tuesday morning, he made no apologies for that.

Source: Shamed and Angry: Alicia Machado, a Miss Universe Mocked by Donald Trump – The New York Times

Charlotte girl weeps over police shootings at city council meeting | 3CHICSPOLITICO

 

“It’s a shame that we have to go to their graveyard and bury them. And we have tears. We shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.”Zianna made her tearful statements during a highly-charged, emotional City Council meeting — the first after protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott.Charlotte residents packed City Hall, delivering blistering criticisms for how Mayor Jennifer Roberts and the city’s police handled the death of Scott, an African-American man who was shot by an officer last week.

Source: Charlotte girl weeps over police shootings at city council meeting | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Current Zika transmission

As of week 17 in 2016, ECDC extended the period for classifying whether a country or territory has active local transmission from two to three months. This change is based on the fact that Zika virus outbreaks last usually for more than two months. In addition, ECDC added a ‘countries and territories with past vector-borne transmission’ category for countries having experienced transmission since 2007 up to three months ago.

Source: Current Zika transmission