All posts by nedhamson

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

Ukrainian Roma face threats of violence [VIDEO] – UPI.com

Doesn’t take long for Russian Racism to Raise its Ugly head Again! –

Ukrainian Roma are claiming armed, masked men threatened and robbed several of the 150 Roma families in Sloviansk.

“They began shooting here, at the windows,” said Natasha Cheripovskaya as she pointed to her house with shattered windows. “They were in masks, about 15 people. And they had automatic weapons. Some had guns. They started to shoot to provoke fear. They asked for money and gold. We were very scared and said, ‘We don’t have any gold or money.’ Even the neighbors saw this but they are afraid to speak out.”

via Ukrainian Roma face threats of violence [VIDEO] – UPI.com.

Sherpas abandon Everest climbing season after deadly avalanche | World news | The Guardian

Good on them! Nepalese guides on Mount Everest have decided to abandon this year’s climbing season, to honour 16 colleagues killed in an avalanche last week.

The decision throws the plans of hundreds of foreign mountaineers into chaos, with many of them waiting in base camp after paying tens of thousands of dollars to scale the world’s highest peak.

The Sherpas perform essential tasks on the 8,848-metre (29,029ft) mountain, carrying equipment and food, as well as repairing ladders and fixing ropes to reduce risks for their clients.

“We had a long meeting this afternoon and we decided to stop our climbing this year to honour our fallen brothers. All Sherpas are united in this,” one local guide, Tulsi Gurung, told AFP from base camp.

“Some guides have already left and others will take about a week to pack up everything and go,” said Gurung, whose brother is among those missing after an avalanche last Friday killed 13 Sherpas and left three missing, presumed dead.

via Sherpas abandon Everest climbing season after deadly avalanche | World news | The Guardian.

High court upholds Mich affirmative action ban – The Washington Post

{Cannot believe that the rest of court went along with this but can believe it – just wish they would wake up to what they are doing to the country!}

Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor in dissent.

via High court upholds Mich affirmative action ban – The Washington Post.

230 girls abducted in school attack by Nigerian extremists still missing, 1 week later

At Chibok, the scene of the attack, weeping parents cried on Monday, begging the kidnappers to “have mercy on our daughters,” and for the government to rescue them. “I have not seen my dear daughter, she is a good girl,” cried Musa Muka, whose 17-year-old Martha was taken away. “We plead with the government to help rescue her and her friends; we pray nothing happens to her.”

Although at least 200 remain missing, dozens of the students managed to escape their captors, jumping from the back of an open truck after they were kidnapped in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday last week or by running away and hiding in the dense forest. The number who escaped depends on whom you speak to — 39, 43, maybe more than 50.

via 230 girls abducted in school attack by Nigerian extremists still missing, 1 week later.

Releasing a World Gone Mad

Letting go is always the right thing, the hardest, and in the end, the easiest thing to do…

1620771_10151978166688297_85367076_nMoss Creek, Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller Gardens, Desert Island, Maine

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” ~ Emily Dickinson

A – Z Challenge – Day 19

Riding the Waves

In my dreams lately, I’m walking through the forest of my youth, heading toward the sea. Sometimes the dreams are reminders to let something go; sometimes they act as a remembrance of what was and how that experience molded my current life.

If you are awake, you know we’re riding the waves right now.

We’re floating in boats without oars, under a dome of blinking stars, surrounded by glowing sea life, and the occasional hump back whale.

We’re on our way somewhere new, but we don’t know where. Yet.

We’re just certain that a lot of the baggage we’ve been hauling from place to place, must go overboard. As it sinks into the dark waters around…

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Idealists in Action » Blog Archive » Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!

Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!

posted by April Greene on April 21, 2014

Filed under: Idealist Community

We’re hiring!

If you love big ideas, have led large-scale multimedia campaigns, and are experienced in building and leading a communications team, become our Director of Communications in our New York City office.

Check out the full description and application instructions. The application deadline is Monday, May 5th.

via Idealists in Action » Blog Archive » Idealist is hiring a Director of Communications!.

News Scan for Apr 21, 2014 | CIDRAP – Spin on Deaths

{Yesterday, there were reports that deaths had been double counted – se shall see but this makes sense – some spin over the number by reporting lab confirmed deaths and not all deaths from Ebola.}

Guinea’s number of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases has reached 203, including 129 deaths, according to the latest update, on Apr 19, from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. The numbers represent an increase of 1 case and 4 deaths since the previous update on Apr 17.

So far 109 of 158 patients tested had lab-confirmed infections. Of the deaths, 61 are lab confirmed.

via News Scan for Apr 21, 2014 | CIDRAP.

Israeli extremist tries to remove Palestinian flag, gets caught on barbed wire (Video) – Ads Against Apartheid | Ads Against Apartheid

“Why are you on my roof?” asked Sidr in broken Hebrew.

The settler, who had a Russian accent, also spoke in broken Hebrew as he answered Sidr.

“I’ve come to talk with you,” the settler said. As he spoke, he hung onto the building’s stone ledge, his shirt stuck in the barbed wire and his feet still on the ladder.

His antics attracted the attention of Hebron’s Jewish community, which gathered below to watch the spectacle.

The settler, undeterred by his precarious position, asked Sidr to remove the two Palestinian flags.

Sidr refused and asked the settler how he would feel if Sidr attempted to climb onto his roof to remove an Israeli flag.

“Would that be good?” asked Sidr.

“But this roof is my roof.

This is all mine, this is my country and my land,” said the settler.

“No. This is my house.

Why are you here?” asked Sidr.

“You just think it’s yours.

But this whole country is the Land of Israel,” said the settler.

“Hebron is not in Israel.

This is Palestine. I am not in Tel Aviv,” said Sidr.

“What is Palestine? It is only what the Romans called it. This is the Land of Israel. This is my country.

And everything that is here is mine,” said the settler.

via Israeli extremist tries to remove Palestinian flag, gets caught on barbed wire (Video) – Ads Against Apartheid | Ads Against Apartheid.

Mapping More Than a Century of Major Earthquakes Around the World – The Wire

It must be frustrating to be hit by a huge earthquake, and then have experts inform you that the “Big One” might still be coming. Yet that’s part of life in Chile: Despite being rocked by a major temblor earlier this month, the country seems to have gotten off relatively easy this time. As one geophysicist said: “Could be tomorrow, could be in 50 years; we do not know when it’s going to occur. But the key point here is that this magnitude-8.2 is not the large earthquake that we were expecting for this area.”

via Mapping More Than a Century of Major Earthquakes Around the World – The Wire.