All posts by nedhamson

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

Jewish extremists cut down fruit trees in revenge attack | Maan News Agency

“Reminds one of how the KKK used to operate in in the American South.” Suspected Jewish extremists cut down fruit trees belonging to Israeli-Palestinians overnight in an apparent revenge attack for Palestinian villagers detaining Jewish settlers, police said Friday.

The vandals left placards in the orchard reading

“Regards from Esh Kodesh,” the West Bank settlement outpost whose residents were assaulted and briefly detained on Tuesday when they entered the Palestinian village of Qusra, some wearing masks.

The vandals struck near Kfar Qasim, an Israeli Arab town that borders the West Bank some 40 kilometers west of Qusra, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Seven of the dozen settlers involved in the original incident were meanwhile remanded in custody on Thursday night, Samri added.

via Jewish extremists cut down fruit trees in revenge attack | Maan News Agency.

US pair accused of illegally importing rare snake from Brazil, breeding it to make money

A brother and sister from the U.S. have been indicted on charges of illegally importing a rare boa constrictor from Brazil.

The U.S. Attorney\’s Office in Utah says 39-year-old Jeremy Stone and 34-year-old Keri Stone brought the snake into the country through a shipment that went through Miami.

Authorities say they paid thousands of dollars to administrators at a Brazilian zoo to get the white leucistic boa. They say the two falsely reported the snake had been caught in the wild in Guyana.

Prosecutors say Jeremy Stone bred the boa constrictor with other snakes at his reptile business and sold the offspring for tens of thousands of dollars.

Stone sold the snakes he bred to buyers in the United States, Canada and Italy, the indictment says.

via US pair accused of illegally importing rare snake from Brazil, breeding it to make money.

Nathan Fox stirs up creativity for SVA’s Subway Poster series – The Fox Is Black

I’ve been a long time fan of Nathan Fox, a New York based illustrator and chair/founder of the MFA Visual Narrative Department, who has a penchant for drawing over-the-top work that will blow your mind. Recently he created some amazing work for SVA’s Subway Poster series and I’m mildly obsessed with them.

via Nathan Fox stirs up creativity for SVA’s Subway Poster series – The Fox Is Black.

Grad Employees Re-Unionize at New York University—First in the Country | Labor Notes

Victory cries rang out across campus the night of December 11. Tears of joy were shed.

The American Arbitration Association had just announced that New York University graduate employees had voted 98.4 percent in favor of union representation—after eight years of struggle for recognition.

This makes NYU once again the only private university with unionized graduate employees.

The Graduate Student Organizing Committee/Science and Engineers Together (GSOC-UAW)—which brings together two organizing drives across NYU’s campuses—is affiliated with the United Auto Workers and includes more than 1,200 graduate employees.

via Grad Employees Re-Unionize at New York University—First in the Country | Labor Notes.

Keep Farming Northampton report urges city to pursue a permanent farmers market | GazetteNet.com

The city should pursue a permanent, year-round farmers market downtown that would not only serve as a draw for local food growers and consumers but also include a community center hosting a variety of other events.

The farmers market is among the top recommendations emerging from a comprehensive, four-year study on the local food movement in Northampton. The “Keep Farming Northampton” study outlines a series of recommendations its authors believe will boost the local food economy and raise awareness about local food.

via Keep Farming Northampton report urges city to pursue a permanent farmers market | GazetteNet.com.

New Jersey’s New Years Resolution: Tackle Pregnancy Discrimination | National Women’s Law Center

It’s 2014 and it’s hard to believe that pregnant women still face discrimination in the workplace. Many women can work through their pregnancies without changes in their jobs, but some women need temporary, often minor adjustments in their work duties or schedules to continue working safely during their pregnancy. Unfortunately, many times these women are being fired from their jobs, forced onto unpaid leave, or forced to quit when employers refuse to provide temporary accommodations for pregnant women to continue working without jeopardizing their health and the health of their pregnancy.

First day back to work in 2014 and New Jersey decided to do something about this. Monday, the New Jersey Assembly voted 77-1 (!) to pass a bill that bans pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, including by requiring employers to make the same sorts of accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions that they do for disabilities, allowing pregnant workers to continue to do their jobs and support their families. If signed into law, this means that pregnant workers in New Jersey who need temporary modifications in their jobs to continue working safely during pregnancy—like, a reprieve from heavy lifting, or the ability to sit on a stool while working a cash register—will be able to respect their doctor’s advice without losing their paycheck.

The bill unanimously passed the New Jersey Senate in November, so now the bill heads to Governor Christie’s desk. Governor Christie has until Tuesday to follow the lead of New Jersey legislators and ensure protection against pregnancy discrimination for the women in New Jersey.

via New Jersey’s New Years Resolution: Tackle Pregnancy Discrimination | National Women’s Law Center.

PMEL Arctic site – Polar Vortex – Jan 6, 2014

Colder temperatures to the north and warmer temperatures to the south create winds that generally blow from west to east around the northern hemisphere. This atmospheric river of strong winds can vary from a straight west-to-east pattern, to a more wavy pattern. With the wavy pattern, cold air from the north can be carried south.

via PMEL Arctic site – Polar Vortex – Jan 6, 2014.

Berlin pledges annual ‘Day of German expellees’ | Germany | DW.DE | 08.01.2014

Current government  leans more to the right to counter neo-Nazis or to pander to aging super-nationalists who were used as an excuse by Hitler to begin WWII?

In the early 1950s, the expellees organized in territorial groups “to remember the culture and history of their lost homelands, and to represent their demands,” historian Kittel says. The communities formed by the associations helped many get over their loss.

Initially, the groups had close ties to the Social Democrats – until Chancellor Willy Brandt recognized Germany’s eastern borders, drawn after World War Two, dashing all hopes the expellees may have had of a return. Today, the 20 remaining exile groups in Germany are affiliated mainly with the Christian Democrats – and are grappling with waning membership.

It’s not a surprising development, says Franke: some things can only be kept alive if they are shared in a community like a village. When people move elsewhere, it’s normal that they should find no resonance for their traditions. “You just have to fit in,” he says: even if a memorial day won’t bring back the traditions, it will at least make it possible to commemorate the people.

A date for the day of remembrance has not yet been set.

via Berlin pledges annual ‘Day of German expellees’ | Germany | DW.DE | 08.01.2014.