All posts by nedhamson

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

4th yr in a row, 65k H-1B visas exhausted in 5 days – Times of India

The US Citizenship and Immigration Service did not give out the number of applications it got, but it is believed to be higher than last year’s 230,000. This will trigger a computer-generated process -also known as the lottery -to randomly select the petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced-degree exemption.

Source: 4th yr in a row, 65k H-1B visas exhausted in 5 days – Times of India

Five years into ban, burqa divide widens in France | Europe | DW.COM | 10.04.2016

Roy says burqas were never popular in France. “The bulk of the Muslim population didn’t oppose the ban openly because they don’t ask for the freedom of the burqa,” Roy says. “There has been a feeling among people of Muslim origin, believers and nonbelievers, that the ban of the burqa is in fact part of pressure and attack against Islam as a religion.” France is home to the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe, with about 5 million. When the law went into effect, it was estimated that fewer than 2,000 women wore the full veil.

Source: Five years into ban, burqa divide widens in France | Europe | DW.COM | 10.04.2016

Spices Of Life: Health Benefits Of Ginger. | Rebelle Society

Ginger has been found to prevent motion sickness, lower blood cholesterol, stimulate respiratory function, thin blood, reduce inflammation, raise low blood pressure and may help to prevent cancer. Additional actions of ginger may include helping to return the uterus to normal size after childbirth, treat rheumatism, relieve post-operative and chemotherapy-related nausea, and increase bile production to aid in digestion. Ginger is also believed to have topical analgesic properties when applied directly to the skin. The use of ginger in treating infectious and inflammatory illnesses, such as colds, flu, food poisoning and malaria, has been widely noted, and ginger root may be active against infectious agents such as E. coli, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, Pseudomonas and Candida.

Source: Spices Of Life: Health Benefits Of Ginger. | Rebelle Society

Baldwin Hills 1963 – the first fracking failure

The role of central graben subsidence, accelerated by oil extraction, supplemented by reinjection of waste brine into the ground, on fault movement beneath the reservoir is indicated in the animated graphic following. Injection pressures exceeded hydrofracture pressures and the recorded timing of the fault offset (which was dutifully recorded by the reservoir owner) indicate the injection as being the decisive factor.

Source: Baldwin Hills

Who Was Fritz Schumacher? by Diana Schumacher

The Gandhi Foundation

Who Was Fritz Schumacher?

by Diana Schumacher

E F Schumacher, the economist-philosopher, was born 100 years ago this year. The following article is edited from a longer paper written for the Schumacher Society in 2008.

Ernst Friedrich (Fritz) Schumacher was an unlikely pioneer of the Green Movement. He was born in Bonn in 1911, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and returned to England before the Second World War to avoid living under Nazism. He died prematurely on a visit to Caux, Switzerland, in September 1977.

Although from a distinguished intellectual background, and having himself experienced a short but meteoric academic career in Germany, England and America, Schumacher always believed that “an ounce of practice is worth a tonne of theory”. Like Gandhi in both his outer and inner life he was a searcher of truth and dedicated to peace. Unlike so many of his contemporary academics, however, he needed to see these ideals translated into practical…

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Avian Flu Diary: UK PHE: Scarlet Fever Still Rising – And Tories still want to cut NHS – duh!?!

Public Health England (PHE) has reported a continued increase in cases of scarlet fever across England with 1319 new cases between 21 to 27 March, the highest weekly total recorded in recent decades (data available from 1982 onwards).  A total of 10,570 cases of scarlet fever have now been reported since the season began in September 2015.  Scarlet fever is a seasonal illness which should be treated with antibiotics and cases of the illness usually peak at this time of year. An increase in invasive disease caused by the same bacterium group A streptococcus (GAS) which causes scarlet fever has also been seen in England. A total of 593 cases of invasive GAS infection, such and bloodstream infection or pneumonia, have been notified so far for 2016 compared to 440 cases for the same period last year (January to March). This year GAS seasonal activity coincides with the seasonal influenza activity owing to the late flu season. Influenza and invasive GAS co-infection is a rare but well-recognised occurrence.  Whilst the elderly remain most at risk of invasive GAS infection, increased levels of disease compared to last year have been seen in young adults and children less than 5 years old, the age groups most affected by influenza in recent weeks. There’s no suggestion of an increase in invasive GAS infection in patients diagnosed with scarlet fever. This is the third season in a row in which elevated scarlet fever activity has been  noted. A total of 15,637 notifications were made in England and Wales in 2014, rising to 17,590 in 2015. Weekly activity so far this season has been similar or slightly above for that last year.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: UK PHE: Scarlet Fever Still Rising

Early reports show mumps on the rise in 2016, including on campuses | CIDRAP Adult mumps = risk of male infertility – get vaccinated!

Recent headlines about US college mumps outbreaks appear to herald the start to a busy year for the disease and underscore the ongoing challenges that campuses face. While mumps hit a low point of 229 cases in 2011, in the past 2 years, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recorded more than 1,000 cases annually. In updating its numbers yesterday, the CDC said that, as of Apr 1, public health departments have reported 467 mumps cases already this year. Although mumps cases have seen a sharp decline since the CDC began recommending a two-dose vaccine prevention plan in 1988, outbreaks are still prevalent, particularly in high-contact social settings like college campuses. Mumps is transmittable through the air or by touching unwashed, contaminated surfaces, and the rising cases bring into question vaccination practices, waning immunity, and college healthcare.

Source: Early reports show mumps on the rise in 2016, including on campuses | CIDRAP

Don’t tell me to smile – LEO Weekly

Telling women to smile is a societal issue that goes far beyond the service industry, and women all over the world are taking a stand. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh of Brooklyn, New York, began a traveling street-art project in 2012, “Stop Telling Women to Smile.” It addresses gender-based street harassment in mural form — in public, where women are often the most vulnerable to physical and emotional harassment. I asked some of my male friends if they’d been told to smile at bus stops, walking down the street or while lifting weights at the gym? Few answered yes, while my lady friends are victim to such behavior daily — even multiple times per day. A girlfriend picking out tomatoes at Kroger was told, “Smile, it can’t be that bad!” Should she have taken this as a compliment, or a public accosting with a smile?  I hope I can speak for my lady bartender brethren when I say: I am not complaining about my job. I adore my job and the relationships I’m able to cultivate daily. Believe it or not, this bitchy bartender actually strikes up great conversations with her guests! I’m simply speaking out for progress in hopes that most men (and women) who tell us to smile will reconsider their desire to emotionally project. The evolution and growth needed for a more progressive society takes place in all workplaces, even bars, and you can be an ally by understanding that women are humans and are allowed to experience the spectrum of natural human emotions, even behind the bar. And, at the end of the day, we’re the ones who decide when and if you get another drink. Don’t worry, you can order it with whatever facial expression you please. Cheers!

Source: Don’t tell me to smile – LEO Weekly

Bangladesh Activist Is Killed After Criticizing Militants – The New York Times

Witnesses said a group of cleanshaven men surrounded Mohammad Nazim Uddin, a law student, around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and slashed his head, then shot him when he fell to the ground, said Syed Nurul Islam, the deputy commissioner of police for Wari, the area of Old Dhaka where the killing took place. Mr. Uddin, 26, was an atheist who frequently expressed his views on Facebook, often posting as many as five times a day. His family had asked him to stop, fearful that the posts would make him a target, and for about four months, ending in January, he had complied, said Gulam Rabbi Chowdhury, a childhood friend. “To tell the truth, he was always a little detached from his family; he had trouble with them because of his views on religion,” he said. “He was very outspoken. He didn’t worry about whether you were with him or not.” Mr. Uddin’s killing deepens the sense of dread among those campaigning for secular causes, said Mr. Chowdhury, an official in a regional chapter of the Communist Party of Bangladesh.

Source: Bangladesh Activist Is Killed After Criticizing Militants – The New York Times