All posts by nedhamson

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

Avian Flu Diary: Nigeria’s Bird Flu Outbreak Expands To 11 States

total failure – The Federal Government on Wednesday said the H5N1 influenza virus, also known as bird flu, is now present in 11 states in Nigeria.

It confirmed the presence of the virus in four other states apart from the seven states earlier reported on January 22, 2015.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, outlined the additional states to include Oyo, Jigawa, Gombe and Imo.

He said the total number of birds exposed had risen to 232,385 with 51,444 mortalities recorded.

via Avian Flu Diary: Nigeria’s Bird Flu Outbreak Expands To 11 States.

“It’s frightening that he’s so normal.” trolls

They talked for two hours, and by the end, she’d forgiven him for the terrible things he’d done – the meanest thing anyone has ever done to her. She understood what his life looked like at the time that he was trolling (he’s since stopped, he says) and she felt sorry for him. Still, she says, it’s disturbing to know that there was nothing wrong with him per se. “It’s frightening that he’s so normal,” she says. He’s not your idea of a monster, and unlike a fairy tale troll, he certainly doesn’t live alone under a bridge. He has women coworkers, and a girlfriend, and women friends. “They have no idea that he used to go online and traumatize women for fun.”

via “It’s frightening that he’s so normal.”.

Some Simple Arithmetic on China’s Growth Slowdown | DQ-en

China in 2015 is a very different economy from even just 10 years. China has changed far more than the world has in this time. To point out the obvious, a 7% growth rate is of course lower than an 8% one. So, whatever good comes from a 7% growth rate, at the margin a growth rate a little higher will be even better.  But, quantifying the changes that have taken place in the global economy, in the new world order a 7% growth rate for China means something even more positive than did a 12% growth rate ten years ago.

via Some Simple Arithmetic on China’s Growth Slowdown | DQ-en.

Review: ‘Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal’ | Labor Notes

Meatpacking was once a strong union industry with a mostly Eastern European and African-American workforce. The jobs were dangerous and dirty, but by 1970 the typical meatpacking worker earned 20 percent more than the average factory worker. In the following three decades, urban unionized plants shut down and re-opened on a non-union basis in rural areas actively recruiting Mexican and Central American workers. Wages fell by 45 percent and, by the end of the century, one-quarter of the industry’s workers were undocumented. In 1980, nearly half the workforce was unionized; today fewer than 1 in 5 is a union member.

Construction has followed a similar story. Once a pathway to the middle class, building trades jobs have become poorly compensated outside of union strongholds in the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast. Fifteen percent of the nation’s construction workers are now estimated to be undocumented, and the numbers are even higher in the lower paid non-licensed crafts, such as carpenters, painters, roofers, and laborers. These workers are often paid off the books and subject to unsafe working conditions. A 2013 Texas study estimated that half the state’s construction workforce was undocumented and 41 percent were victims of wage theft. It is a disservice to immigrant advocacy to maintain that existing Americans don’t want these jobs. It’s the sharply reduced compensation and sweatshop conditions they don’t want.

via Review: ‘Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal’ | Labor Notes.

Israeli settlers chop down olive trees near Hebron | Maan News Agency

A group of Israeli settlers on Sunday chopped down dozens of olive trees belonging to an elderly Palestinian man in the village of Sisiya south of Hebron, a local spokesman said.

Ratib al-Jubour, spokesman of a local popular committee, said “a mob of settlers chopped down more than 30 olive trees planted four years ago.”

He said the trees belonged to a man named Khalil Najawaa.

Settlers have been pressuring Najawaa to leave his land, al-Jubour said.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is commonplace but is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

via Israeli settlers chop down olive trees near Hebron | Maan News Agency.

Police Day and human rights – Daily News Egypt

I do not understand how the president can thank the police for “protecting human rights” or for “keeping the peace and security”. What do the powers in this country expect as a result from such brutality and impunity? How can a nation rise when it is down on its knees continually receiving the merciless whip lashes from those who should protect it? How can the January revolution die if its main cause still lives?

via Police Day and human rights – Daily News Egypt.

Bibi Netanyahu — aka ‘The Republican Senator From Israel’ — May Have Made A Fatal Political Mistake

It turns out, the plan to have the Israeli Prime Minister speak to Congress, without first discussing with the White House, was the brainchild of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer who has, for weeks now, been endorsing the re-election of Bibi Netanyahu on American television programs despite explicit Israeli Civil Service regulations prohibiting him from doing so.

An example of Dermer’s breaking his nation’s rules to play politics?

As reported by Israli newspaper Haaretz, Dermer broke those rules while being interviewed by Jorge Ramos on American cable network, Fusion.

During the discussion, Dermer said, “I have no doubt that when they [the Israeli public] look at all the people that stand for the leadership of the country, that they will have confidence in the leadership of prime minister Netanyahu.”

Dermer’s words came despite an admonition issued by Israel Civil Service Commissioner Moshe Dyan noting that, “A state employee must be careful that his actions or behavior cannot be interpreted as being aimed at promoting the interest of any particular party or candidate.” Anyone violating these instructions, Dyan said, “will face criminal or disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the law.”

In addition to Dermer’s apparent violation of Israeli law, he also revealed his penchant for duplicitous behavior by meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry just one day before Speaker Boehner announced his invitation to Prime Minister Netanyahu, yet never once mentioned to Kerry what was about to happen.

Making it all the more offensive, the White House has explicitly gone out of its way, since the announcement of the Israeli elections, to avoid saying or doing anything that could be interpreted as support for the Herzog/Livni ticket.

via Bibi Netanyahu — aka ‘The Republican Senator From Israel’ — May Have Made A Fatal Political Mistake.