All posts by nedhamson

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

The Bikes of Vietnam

Karen Hewell and Marc Forster-Pert go in search of Vietnam’s wide and varied collection of bikes. Here’s the best of what they found. Photos by Mads Monsen and Francis Roux

via The Bikes of Vietnam.

Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ is pop art must-see | Arts and Culture | Music | Mail & Guardian

But the so-called real art in musems will not be seen by the 15-million people that have seen Gaga’s video since its release a few days ago. That may be an indictment on the supposedly uncultured state of the world, or it may be a triumph to Gaga’s ability to appeal, inspire and grasp the idea of pop culture.

via Lady Gaga’s ‘Applause’ is pop art must-see | Arts and Culture | Music | Mail & Guardian.

U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program

While dogs work as effective sentries on land, dolphins and sea lions cannot be outmatched as sentries in the water. In the MK 6 MMS, dolphins and sea lions effectively protect piers, ships, harbors, and anchorages against unauthorized swimmers, SCUBA divers, closed-circuit divers, and swimmer delivery vehicles.

via U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program.

Egypt arrests two more top Islamist figures | South China Morning Post

On Wednesday, cleric Safwat Hegazy, a fiery Salafi preacher and top Brotherhood ally, was captured at a checkpoint near the Siwa Oasis in eastern Egypt and close to the border with Libya, according to the state-run MENA news agency. The cleric is wanted on charges of instigating violence.

According to the website of the state-run Al-Ahram daily, Hegazy had shaved off most of his beard, dyed his hair and covered his face with a niqab, a head-to-toe woman’s dress that leaves only a slit for the eyes uncovered. Egyptian state TV aired a photo showing him sitting next to army soldiers, dressed in white robe with the new shaven look.

MENA said Hegazy, who joined ranks with the Muslim Brotherhood in campaigning for Mursi’s presidential bid, showed no resistance during his arrest and was flown to a detention centre in Cairo.

Hegazy was a key speaker at the main pro-Mursi sit-in that was dispersed by security troops last Wednesday in Cairo’s Nasr City suburb. He told protesters to hold their ground and promised to deal blows to the military. He is wanted on charges of instigating deadly clashes last month with security forces outside a Republican Guard building that killed 54 people, most of them Mursi supporters.

via Egypt arrests two more top Islamist figures | South China Morning Post.

Georgia shooting: We tamper-proof Tylenol, but gun control is a no-go – latimes.com

Fortunately, this time — unlike in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., and Virginia Tech and, oh, you get the idea — no one was hurt.

Not that that matters. Because as everyone knows by now, nothing, absolutely nothing, will be done about gun violence in this country, at least not by this Congress. The National Rifle Assn. and the conservative representatives and senators it owns have made sure of that. Remember the great background check loophole fiasco?

On Tuesday, a police officer reported that the alleged gunman said “I’m sorry — I’m off my meds,” as he was taken into custody. So see? What good would background checks have done? Would they have stopped a disturbed person taking medication from getting a gun?

Uh, well, yes, actually, they might have. But we’ll never know.

Speaking of meds, though, here’s a thought: I’ve had a cold this week. I’ve been trying to take medicine. But, of course, every pill I try to take comes encased in tamper-proof packaging. You can’t open them with a crowbar.

via Georgia shooting: We tamper-proof Tylenol, but gun control is a no-go – latimes.com.

Senator Cruz may have to wait eight months to stop being Canadian | Reuters

Cruz, a Texas Republican who has fueled speculation that he may run for president in 2016, was born in Canada, which would in virtually all cases automatically entitle him to citizenship. On Monday he offered to renounce that citizenship in the event that he has it.

“Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator, I believe I should be only an American,” Cruz said in a statement.

Cruz would be in rare company if he goes ahead, as efforts to give up Canadian citizenship are rare. The website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the go-to site for questions about nationality, offers far more information about becoming Canadian than about renouncing citizenship.

via Senator Cruz may have to wait eight months to stop being Canadian | Reuters.

One-legged man accused of benefit fraud after DWP examined wrong leg (not satire!)

Pride's Purge

(not satire – no really, it’s not!)

Here’s another one to file under “headlines which look like satire but aren’t

Officials from the Department of Work and Pensions have wasted huge amounts of taxpayers’ money and given a year of hell to a disabled man after they prosecuted him for benefits fraud when they examined the wrong leg he was having amputated.

Here’s the full story from local South Devon paper the Herald Express:

One-legged man falsely accused of benefit fiddle after officials examined the wrong leg

This is outrageous.

As a satirist I must object in the possible strongest terms to the DWP for managing to satirise themselves much better than I ever could.

It’s just a pity the DWP has to put so many disabled and sick people through so much suffering in the process.

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Please feel free to comment – you don’t need…

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The Allegory of the Mallawi Museum: History Lost

Egyptian Streets

More than 1,000 artifacts spanning 3500 years of history looted or destroyed during Egypt’s violence

By Giacomo Crescenzi, contributor, EgyptianStreets.com

The Mallawi Museum, in the city of Minya, Upper Egypt, was allegedly looted and ransacked in the night between Thursday 15 and Friday 16 of August 2013. 

You can really get an idea of the scale of damages since pictures and videos have started to circulate in numbers on the web. What you can see are mutilated ancient statues and broken glass cases once displaying rare artifacts, now emptied of their treasures.

An itemized list of the stolen objects has not been officially released yet but over 1000 artifacts are reported to have gone missing from the Mallawi Museum.

Among certain people in Egypt there is an overall feeling of loss and literal fury for a blatant attack to the cultural heritage of the country.

According to a statement released by…

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Russia Warns It Will Arrest Openly Tory Athletes at Winter Olympics

Pride's Purge

(satire?)

Are you openly Tory or an ‘out and proud’ Conservative supporter? Thinking of taking a vacation to Russia this summer or going to the Winter Olympics next year?

If you’re a member of the Conservative Party and a trip to the iconic city of Moscow or Sochi is on your bucket list, an anti-Tory law recently passed in Russia may have you thinking again.

In a throwback to the country’s authoritarian ruling, Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial law that punishes people for propagating what it calls “Conservative propaganda.”

Russia has also said it will enforce the new law cracking down on public displays of Conservatism by pro-Tory athletes when it hosts international athletes and fans during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Russian Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth policy, Vitaly Mutko, said in an interview with state news agency RIA Novosti:

Athletes of unconventional political orientation like Tories…

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