All posts by nedhamson

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

Reporter arrested in Ferguson: “I was just doing my job” – Reporters Without Borders

I was standing on the sidewalk when I saw a police officer coming towards me, yelling at people in the street. I thought I was doing the right thing as I was on the sidewalk but apparently I was supposed to be on the other sidewalk. It was very unclear. Then I was arrested and taken to jail. It did not make a lot of sense.

They took me to jail for four hours. I had never been to jail before. I was booked, got a mugshot. Originally I was charged with ‘failure to disperse’ and then with ‘unlawful assembly.’ It was very unclear why. A protester who was also charged with ‘unlawful assembly’ had hit a police cruiser earlier in the night.

The police were very inaccurate on how they reported what happened but thankfully there was a video to prove that I was on the sidewalk the whole time (…) and not on the street. I was wearing my media credentials and had a camera. That in my mind was an appropriate ID for a journalist.

I was there in August and I was aware that other journalists had been arrested then but I never thought it would happen to me. It did not cross my mind that I was making a statement: I was just doing my job.

via Reporter arrested in Ferguson: “I was just doing my job” – Reporters Without Borders.

Canadian celebrity radio host charged with sexual assault -police | Reuters

A celebrity radio host was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault on Wednesday in a scandal that has grabbed Canada’s media spotlight.

Jian Ghomeshi, 47, former host of the internationally syndicated music and arts program Q on Canadian Broadcasting Corp radio, surrendered to police and was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of choking, Toronto police said.

via Canadian celebrity radio host charged with sexual assault -police | Reuters.

Canadian celebrity radio host charged with sexual assault -police | Reuters

A celebrity radio host was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault on Wednesday in a scandal that has grabbed Canada’s media spotlight.

Jian Ghomeshi, 47, former host of the internationally syndicated music and arts program Q on Canadian Broadcasting Corp radio, surrendered to police and was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of choking, Toronto police said.

via Canadian celebrity radio host charged with sexual assault -police | Reuters.

I have a dream: that white van man and black cab man can live together in harmony

Amen

Pride's Purge

(satire?)

Some politicians blame white van man – some are attacking black cab man. But I have a dream that one day white van man and black cab man can live together in peace and harmony.

So let us not wallow in the valley of despair, my friends.

Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

I have a dream that our children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour or the mode of their transport but by the content of their character.

I have a dream that one day – even in the UK, with its vicious prejudice, with its leaders having their lips dripping with the words of “immigrant” and “scrounger” – every type of transport shall be exalted, and every car and bus and van and bicycle of every colour shall be treated equally and even the pedestrians shall be blessed with the…

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Collective punishment is also a crime against humanity! Israel to Withdraw “Permit of Stay” from Wife of Abu Jamal, Har Nof Synagogue Assailant

How far does this go? Cousins, 1st, 2nd, 3rd? In-

laws? Friends of friends?

Israeli minister of Interior, Gilad Erdan, on Wednesday decided to strip the permit of stay in Israeli-occupied land, from Nadia Abu Jamal, the wife of Ghassan Abu Jamal, one of the two assailants who attacked a Har Nof synagogue in Jerusalem last week.

According to Israeli websites today, Erden bragged about withdrawing Abu Jamal’s permit and his collective punishments. “I’ve ordered the cancellation of Nadia Abu Jamal’s permit of stay in Israel so that anyone involved in terror needs to take into account that there may be consequences also for their families,” he said.

Yedioth Ahronoth mentioned on its website that according to this order, Nadia will be forced to leave the country and will forfeit along with her children any future monetary and social allowances from the state.

Abu Jamal originally lived in East Sawahra-West Bank before getting married to her Jerusalmite husband, Ghassan, which granted her a “family unification” that allowed her to live in Jerusalem. However, Nadia, a mother of 3, will now get expelled from the Israeli territory.

via Israel to Withdraw “Permit of Stay” from Wife of Abu Jamal, Har Nof Synagogue Assailant.

Breath test that tells you if you have lung cancer – Telegraph

“Think of it as an electronic nose,” Mr Boyle, president of Owlstone, told the Telegraph. “It’s like a sniffer dog on a mobile phone. We can test people with no symptoms – they aren’t coughing, there’s no blood – and catch the disease at a stage where it makes a huge difference.”

via Breath test that tells you if you have lung cancer – Telegraph.

Erdogan: I am defender of women’s rights | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

“It has been confirmed that he is suffering from foot in mouth syndrome”

 

“Nobody can slander me or my colleagues when it is obvious how I have personally defended women’s movement throughout my 40-year political career,” he said.

Erdogan, a devout Muslim, told an international conference on justice and rights for women on Monday that women should not be regarded as equal to men and claimed feminists in Turkey reject the idea of motherhood.

Erdogan also said justice rather than equality was what women needed, adding that manual labor work was against women’s “delicate nature”.

via Erdogan: I am defender of women’s rights | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

125 Photos From Last Night’s Massive Traffic-Blocking Ferguson Protest In NYC: Gothamist

You don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind in blowing!

Several thousand protesters dispersed across the city to shut down access to the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, the entrances to the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, and portions of the FDR and West Side Highways, venting their rage at a grand jury’s decision not to indict Missouri police officer Darren Wilson in the slaying of 18-year-old Michael Brown. “I had hope, I still had hope in our county and in our legal system,” 18-year-old Barnard student Stephanie Rothermel said as she marched down Flatbush Avenue. “But I guess that’s a stupid thing to have.”

via 125 Photos From Last Night’s Massive Traffic-Blocking Ferguson Protest In NYC: Gothamist.

Filipino Farmers Protest Government Research on Genetically Modified Rice | Inter Press Service

Considered by Filipinos as the eighth wonder of the world, the 2,000-year-old Ifugao Rice Terraces represent the country’s rich rice heritage, which some say will be at stake once the golden rice is approved.

The protesting farmers also delivered to the BPI, which is responsible for the development of plant industries and crop production and protection, an ‘extraordinary opposition’ petition against any extension, renewal or issuance of a new bio-safety permit for further field testing, feeding trials or commercialisation of golden rice.

via Filipino Farmers Protest Government Research on Genetically Modified Rice | Inter Press Service.

R.I.P. Lebanese Legend Sabah

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Sabah

You’ve killed her a thousand times over with those senseless jokes, the rumors and then some more jokes when the rumors were debunked. But this morning, Lebanese singer Sabah passed away at the age of 87.

My earliest memory of Sabah is being a kid hovering around my mom’s waist as she sang her song “Sa’at Sa’at” while she cooked, or, if she felt playful, went about a round of “Jib el Mejwez.” Today, my mom is the one who reaches my waist, but she still sings those songs when she cooks, and they’ve become engrained in my mind as a result too.

With over 50 albums in her decade-long career, she is on the same rank as some artists that many consider worthier of more clout, such as Fairuz and Um Kulthum.

More senseless things happen daily that’s for sure, but Lebanon lost one of its giants today and…

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