All posts by nedhamson

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

Denmark’s daylight robbery of refugees

0,,18928828_404,00.jpg

Denmark is defying international outrage and pressing ahead with plans to force refugees to hand over valuables in return for providing sanctuary. Trine Villemann reports from Copenhagen.

[Update] [NSFW] Video: Topless Activists Disrupt Saturday’s Anti-Abortion Rally, Get Arrested: SFist

 

The group, reports Jezebel, is called Femen, and specifically sought to disrupt the speech of David Daleiden. Daleiden, you may remember, is the guy whose highly edited Planned Parenthood videos caused an uproar among anti-choice activists last year. He was scheduled to speak at Saturday’s event, and that’s when Femen made their move.”Seconds after Daleiden took the stage,” reads a press release from the group, “FEMEN activist Anni Ma set off a personal security alarm from within the crowd, and took her shirt off to reveal ‘FREEDOM MEANS CHOICE’ painted on her chest. Activist Carly Mitchell joined Ma in chanting ‘Fraud! Hypocrite! Liar!’ at Daleiden.””Ducote and Marston climbed up the wheelchair lift and tossed 200 fake subpoenas at Daleiden,” continues the group’s statement, “featuring his face stamped with ‘Fraud,’ ‘Fake,’ and ‘Liar.'”Ducote and Marston were charged with violating a park code prohibiting women from being topless, notes Jezebel, after six rally attendees physically restrained the women (you can watch a partial video of the arrest below).“I have written to SF Board of Supervisors at length about changing this park code, but they have not risen to the occasion,” notes Ducote.As we’ve learned before, SF’s current ban on public nudity does not extend to certain sanctioned events, beaches, and permitted protests, and activists have claimed successfully in court that other instances of nude protest might be legal as well.Update: Houston Public Media is now reporting that David Daleiden, the focus of Femen’s protest and featured speaker at Saturday’s anti-abortion rally, has been indicted by a Texas grand jury.Both David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt have been indicted for Tampering with a Governmental Record, which is a felony. Daleidan was also indicted for Prohibition of the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs, meaning he illegally offered to purchase human organs in the video recording. A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

Source: [Update] [NSFW] Video: Topless Activists Disrupt Saturday’s Anti-Abortion Rally, Get Arrested: SFist

WHO expects Zika virus to spread through Americas, except Canada and Chile | News | DW.COM | 25.01.2016

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the mosquito-borne Zika virus is expected to spread to all countries in the Americas – with the exception of Canada and Chile.Speaking in Geneva, Director General of the WHO Margaret Chan said she was “very concerned” by the outbreak and by the possibility that it could lead to “neurological syndromes” – although she gave no further details.

Source: WHO expects Zika virus to spread through Americas, except Canada and Chile | News | DW.COM | 25.01.2016

Dear People of Facebook, Your “Be Like Bill” Stick Figure Memes Are Annoying, Not Funny

2015 was the year of Bitstrips.

2016 is the year of Facebook stickfigures.

Modern art is so minimalistic.

I wish we can have bitsrips back. At least those were visually appealing.

I have no idea who came up with this “Be like….” meme, but I’m getting super close to wishing they had never existed. I don’t know if it’s the case in other countries too, but the Lebanese populace of Facebook is not only milking the aforementioned meme, they’ve turned it into a monster haunting every single one of our timelines.

I’m now wishing I can see your selfies adorned with Nietzsche quotes again. At least those were actually funny.

So for those sharing those “Be Like You” memes, let me tell you the following:

  • No one cares you have a partner and don’t tell people about him or her.
  • No one cares that you can do a hundred push ups and don’t advertise it on social media.
  • No one cares that you’re single and happy about it.
  • No one cares that you’ve turned your life around and didn’t tell everyone.
  • The fact that you are making a meme out of it means you are propagating whatever fact you are proudly telling people you did not advertise.
  • No one wants to be like you (unless you have a billion dollars stashed somewhere).

So, stop the ridiculous memes. Stop sharing screenshots of them that pop up on our timelines even after we blocked the app making them. If you’re that bored, go read a book, go Instagram your meals, go watch some porn, or watch the only thing about Bill worth watching:

Uma Thurman Kill Bill

Filed under: Entertainment, Lebanon, Random Tagged: Be Like Bill, Facebook, Lebanon, Memes, Social media

Spanish Member of Congress Causes Controversy after Breastfeeding in Parliament | Inter Press Service

The idea, however, was to set an example of the difficulty that thousands of women face in juggling their private and professional lives and to highlight the need to share responsibilities and rights between both men and women.“In this country, there are millions of mothers who unfortunately cannot raise their children as they would like, who cannot go to work with their children as if it was something normal,” Bescansa said to reporters ” I think that the fact that coming to parliament with a breastfed baby makes the news says a lot about this country. That means we need to give more visibility to this.”It is not the first time a European politician has taken a stand by bringing their children into parliament. Iolanda Pineda, of the Socialists’ Party of Catalonia took her baby in 2012 into Spain’s upper house of parliament, and Licia Ronzulli, a former Italian member in the European Parliament, has frequently taken her daughter to sessions.The issue has opened a debate on the role of women both professionally and privately. Breastfeeding, which is a natural part of childbearing and caring, is still seen in many places as obscene and something to be done in private.It is important to mobilize at all levels of society in order to change the shame associated with breastfeeding and to incorporate it as part of the natural daily tasks of women both in public and in the workplace.

Source: Spanish Member of Congress Causes Controversy after Breastfeeding in Parliament | Inter Press Service