All posts by nedhamson

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

IOF assault, kidnap two sisters, claim they had knives: Hebron | PNN

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday noon have brutally assaulted and kidnapped two Palestinian girls from Hebron, claiming that they had knives.The Imam of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Munther Abu Al-Feelat said that the sisters who were identified as Nour and Jihan Erekat, were passing in front of the mosque when Israeli soldiers stopped them to search them, but they refused.The Imam continued by saying that then, the mosque guards interfered to stop the soldiers from potentially shooting the girls.The two guards, Salah Al-Ja’bari (52) and Jehad Al-Ja’bari (30) were both arrested for “defending the girls.”

Source: IOF assault, kidnap two sisters, claim they had knives: Hebron | PNN

Rhythm without the blues: how dance crazes make us feel a step closer

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Doing energetic dance routines together makes people feel more connected and raises their pain threshold, psychologists have found

Psychologists in Oxford may have unravelled the mysterious appeal of Gangnam Style, the Macarena, and the Village People’s YMCA, all in one fell swoop.

The dance crazes rose to prominence in three separate decades, but all require an unwavering dedication to synchronised movement and exertion that seems natural only to wedding reception DJs.

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Only 9 Judges Confirmed in 2015, 29 Left Waiting

Posted by: 

Amelia Bell, Fellow

Yesterday evening, the Senate voted 88-0 to confirm Lawrence Vilardo to serve on the District Court for the Western District of New York. The Western District of New York was greatly in need of this confirmation—Vilardo will be the only active judge in Buffalo, where civil cases in federal court take a median of five years to reach trial.

nwlc_judicial_nominations.jpgWhile Vilardo’s confirmation is the second in as many weeks, he is only the ninth judge confirmed by the Senate this year. There are eight more nominees who were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous voice votes, but that Senate Majority leadership has refused to bring to the floor for a full Senate vote. One of these nominees was approved by the Judiciary Committee in February, but the full Senate has never been given the opportunity to vote on her confirmation.

Moreover, there are twenty-one judicial nominees whose nominations are pending in the Judiciary Committee—waiting for long-overdue committee votes, which are required before a full Senate vote on confirmation can take place. Two of these nominees have been waiting since February for the Committee to vote to approve their nominations. One more nominee has been waiting since May, two since June, and twelve since July. Six of these pending nominees would fill vacancies declared official judicial emergencies.

There is no excuse for Judiciary Committee leadership to hold up these nominations in committee and there is no excuse for Senate leadership to refuse to allow a vote on the nominees pending on the Senate floor. These unjustifiable hold-ups force understaffed courts to struggle to keep up with ever-expanding caseloads, while those that rely on the courts for justice are forced to suffer the consequences that come with overburdened and understaffed courts.

Lawrence Vilardo’s confirmation will surely help one of those overburdened and understaffed courts, but twenty-nine nominees remain pending in the Senate. Those nominees, and the courts with vacancies they would fill, are still waiting for confirmation votes.

One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Numair’s best friend and co-worker clocked in early so she could head out to the protest, where she planted herself between two families with children. “In my first 30 seconds of walking out there, I did get called a whore,” Numair said. “One woman was shaking her head. I knelt down to her kid and said, ‘Do you know about yeast infections?’ ”Onlookers gave Numair the thumbs-up, and some passing cars honked in support, but she was the only counter-protester on the scene. Still, with a spontaneous chant, she managed to break up the protest in under a half-hour. “I don’t know why I started chanting ‘Yeast infections!’ but it just came out. I have this cold, so it was just this obnoxious squeak, cheerleader-like. And I started doing high kicks, which I don’t normally do, in my skinny jeans.” A religious leader was guiding a circle of protestors in prayers for Numair—but as her chants got louder and more grating, they stopped.I’m on board with pretty much anything — including being straight-up obnoxious — that makes it as hard as possible for anti-choicers to gather in front of clincs. A recent British study found that patients found the presence of anti-choice protestors outside clinics distressing, regardless of the protestors’ behavior; a silent prayer vigil by so-called “sidewalk counselors” was just as much of an unwanted intrusion as a more aggressive protest with graphic signs.Unfortunately, our legal system apparently thinks anti-choicers’ right to free speech takes precedence over patients’ right to access a legal medical procedure without harassment and intimidation. As long as that’s the case, the only (imperfect) solution is countering their speech with our speech — and if it’s shouting about yeast infections that makes anti-choicers as uncomfortable as they make those seeking abortions, so be it.

Source: One-woman counter-protest breaks up anti-choice vigil by chanting “yeast infections!”

Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

A demand for records—especially an extensive demand such as the one apparently occurring in Texas—is just as much about serving as a warning to future providers and patients as it is about casting as wide a net as possible in the hopes of finding some sort of error or deviance to potentially prosecute. For doctors, it’s a warning that the act of performing an abortion will inevitably put you under a microscope, where a mistake made in another medical profession that would likely be overlooked could in this case turn into a fine, a loss of a medical license, or worse. For patients, it’s an active reminder that someone, somewhere could find out about your medical past, and that there is always the chance that information could get out.  That’s an especially alarming scenario for the women of Texas, who are already learning the hard way that politics will often trump their health and safety, as the state cuts off family-planning services, refuses to expand Medicaid for low income residents, and will even arrest an undocumented mother while she is visiting her gynecologist.Subpoenaing medical records is just the latest salvo of the state of Texas’s vendetta against Planned Parenthood, and regardless of what the health department finds, the state will most likely be successful in frightening some patients and medical professionals away from the clinics. But like every other political attack in the state, it will do nothing to stop the need for reproductive health services, and instead it will just continue to put those services further out of reach for those who need it.

Source: Texas Is Fishing Through Your Abortion Files | Dame Magazine

I Wasn’t Supposed to Get Breast Cancer | Dame Magazine

I feel very fortunate that I’ve been alive and able to experience my daughter’s childhood. It could just as easily have gone differently, as it does, tragically, for so many women.  I think of friends whose lives this disease has claimed in the years since I beat it back, and I feel sorrow, mixed with gratitude. And I try to get on with my life.

A few months ago, my most recent MRI showed a small area of abnormality in my other breast. My oncologist feels it’s most likely benign. I trust her, as I trusted Mary, as I trusted the crystal ball of the Oncotype score. You just have to keep moving the pieces around the board, making the best decisions you can, using whatever information you can get, trying to win the game and get to the end of your life before the cancer does.I have a follow-up test soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Source: I Wasn’t Supposed to Get Breast Cancer | Dame Magazine

Northrop Grumman wins $60-billion Air Force contract to build new stealth bomber – LA Times

{This tells the tale – Northrop which began is California, now based near the Pentagon in DC to be closer to the feedline for dollars. Are the new bombers needed? Or is this just a jobs and budget game for lobbiests and folks planning to cash in when they “retire” and take cushy jobs for companies like Northrop?}

Northrop, based in Falls Church, Va., built the iconic bat-winged B-2 stealth bomber two decades ago. But the company was seen as the underdog in the battle against a team considered better funded and more politically connected.

Source: Northrop Grumman wins $60-billion Air Force contract to build new stealth bomber – LA Times