All posts by nedhamson

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

Race Report: Paradise Coast International Triathlon

Fit and Feminist

Two weeks after a race and I finally get around to writing the race report.  Ugh, I am the worst blogger ever. Sorry, y’all.  First it was just that my capacity for responsibility (TM Hyperbole and a Half) had been exceeded, which happens about once every other week or so, but then it was compounded by my faltering immune system, which decided to surrender to the germs and assorted funk that all but coats my office and let them march right into my sinuses and make themselves at home in my mucuous membranes. The only way I could cope with life was to take medicine that has the letters “PM” somewhere in its name and then roll myself into a ball on the couch while watching hours of my favorite movies.

Now all is well again! And so let me get this race report out of the way so I…

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Why They’ll Die On This Hill

The Dish

The Democratic group headed up by Stan Greenberg and James Carville has just put out a report on their recent focus group discussions with Republican voters. It’s a sobering read (pdf) – and definitely helps explain the primal scream now threatening to take down the entire American system of elective government.

Here, for starters, is the word cloud for what these voters say when talking in like-minded focus groups about president Obama:

Screen Shot 2013-10-04 at 11.30.54 AM

The base Republican voters in these focus groups view themselves as besieged by minorities seeking free benefits, and see Obama as the Pied Piper of those hoping to abuse the system. They are not explicitly racist about the president or about the beneficiaries of the new goodies (though they had no such qualms during Bush’s Medicare D entitlement). But they believe they are losing an America that a Roanoke evangelical describes like this:

Everybody is above…

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The Film | The Borinqueneers

The Borinqueneers, the first major documentary to chronicle the never-before-told story of the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment, the only all-Hispanic unit in the history of the U.S. Army.  A one-hour version of this award-winning film premiered nationally on PBS in 2007 and on WTJX (the U.S. Virgin Islands\’ PBS station) in 2011.  A Spanish expanded version was broadcast on WIPR (Puerto Rico\’s PBS station).  The Armed Forces Network (AFN) is airing the film to more than 850,000 U.S. troops overseas.   Many screenings have been organized in various major cities throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

via The Film | The Borinqueneers.

Ahead of olive harvest, settlers chop down trees near Nablus | Maan News Agency

Extremist Jewish settlers chopped down more than 100 olive trees Saturday morning in Deir Sharaf village south of Nablus, a Palestinian official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that settlers from Shave Shomron settlement stormed olive fields in the al-Ghazan neighborhood of Deir Sharaf and destroyed more than 100 trees. He highlighted that the attack came a few days before the olive harvest.

The trees belong to Yasser Fuqaha, Sidqi Fuqaha, Mustafa Fuqaha and other farmers from the Meri family.

On Friday, a mob of settlers assaulted Palestinian farmer Abdul-Rahman Ibrahim Awad while he was picking olives in his field in Jammain village south of Nablus. He was forced to leave the field at gunpoint after the assailants completely destroyed his private vehicle.

via Ahead of olive harvest, settlers chop down trees near Nablus | Maan News Agency.

Woman shot by stray (celebration) bullet at Nablus wedding | Maan News Agency

A woman was shot in the neck by a stray bullet at a wedding in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus.

Tahrir Hashaash, in her 30s, was struck by the bullet which had been fired in the air in celebration at the wedding. She was taken to Rafidia Hospital with serious injuries, locals said.

Police arrived at the scene and opened an investigation into the matter. They subsequently arrested a man suspected of firing the gun, security sources said.

via Woman shot by stray bullet at Nablus wedding | Maan News Agency.