All posts by nedhamson

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

Go Set a Watchman on Fire: Reddit and Ellen Pao’s Resignation

Then there was what many, myself included, hoped was the beginning of a new approach to harassment on Reddit. The site announced that it was formally banning five subreddits for fomenting targeted harassment that spilled beyond the subreddits’ borders. This included the fat-shaming forum r/FatPeopleHate (which does what it says on the tin) and r/ShitNiggersSay. In a move that surprised no one, these particularly odious forums became martyrs for the cause of “free speech” on the site. Their closure, further, led to the cresting of misogynist and racist hatred for Pao — rape and death threats, as well as fantasies of violence, came pouring in, and the “Chairman Pao” meme was generated, which quickly cluttered the front page and even became its own subreddit, r/ChairmanPao.

via Go Set a Watchman on Fire: Reddit and Ellen Pao’s Resignation.

Momentous times for democracy in Europe | openDemocracy

We know we need reforms – we need to end the sclerosis of the nation-state. But reforms cannot mean cuts in pensions, increasing the precariousness of work, and declines in income that lead to even more debt.

Yet even though this is said over and over again, the creditors and their political associates don’t seem to get it.

Nevertheless, this debate about austerity and reforms is beginning to be reproduced in the media. Indeed the solidarity shown by people all over Europe towards Greece perhaps marks the beginning of a European public space. It is a debate we need to have – how to reduce inequality, how to reduce unemployment and homelessness, how to save the planet’s resources, how to bring peace to the Middle East. How we get out of the current impasse depends on our contribution to that debate.

We need to recapture the European project, to take it back from the global market, to reinstil the original values and more. That’s how we can construct institutions that are different in kind – relevant for the world we live in. It is a huge responsibility.

via Momentous times for democracy in Europe | openDemocracy.

Egyptian Aak 2015 – Week 28 ( July 6-12)

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Egypt’s Sisi approves new parliamentary election law. (Thursday)
  • The Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif died on Friday at the age of 83. (Friday)
  • Car bombing at Italian Consulate in Cairo kills one

Italian consulate bombing

Main Headlines 

Monday

Tuesday

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