All posts by nedhamson

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

Rebel campaign calls Egyptians to boycott Brotherhood businesses – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online

On Thursday Tamarod called on Egyptians to participate in protecting their streets and homes by manning neighbourhood checkpoints to combat “terrorism” as well against “foreign intervention.”

via Rebel campaign calls Egyptians to boycott Brotherhood businesses – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online.

Non-food crops lock up enough calories to feed 4 billion

Non-food crops lock up enough calories to feed 4 billion.

“Globally, 36 per cent of all calories are fed to animals. We found that decreasing grain-fed meat consumption by 50 per cent would be enough additional calories for two more billion people,” says Cassidy.

Reducing meat consumption, or shifting it away from beef to poultry and pork, has the potential to feed more people per hectare of cropland because beef is not energy efficient, Cassidy adds.

“When we feed 100 calories of average corn and soy to beef cattle we get only three per cent of these calories back, while the efficiency is better for pork and chickens,” she says.

Food bank Britain: life below the line | Society | The Observer

Aikens is seeing many more people coming to her door with those vouchers. In the second quarter of this year, she says, they saw a 250% increase compared to the same period last year. Her own experience is backed up by nationwide research. A report, co-written by Oxfam and Church Action on Poverty, that was released in May found that 500,000 people in Britain had resorted to food banks to feed themselves this year, three times more than in the previous 12 months. Campaigners are certain they know why it’s happening. The complex calculus of modern living and expenditure is no longer adding up.

Between 2000 and 2011, food prices rose by 43%, while general prices rose by 28% and incomes stagnated or even fell. If you’re on a low income, food price rises have simply been amplified. On top of that have come draconian changes to the benefits rules, combined with infuriating administrative incompetency.

via Food bank Britain: life below the line | Society | The Observer.

Tories impoverishing it own people to enrich their “friends.”

Kids and Bees at the Farmers’ Market at Harvard

foodliteracyproject

Best Bees at Farmers' Market at HarvardAn observation frame from Best Bees visits the Farmers’ Market at Harvard, 8/16.

This was the first season of skillshares at the Farmers’ Market at Harvard. Below is a partial list of the skillshares offered at the market.

  • BU Advocates for Literacy in Environmental Sciences: The Effect of Till Agriculture
  • Helen Snively and the Harvard Community Gardeners: Bins, Worms, and Tea – Three Ways to Compost
  • Cape Ann Fresh Catch: How to Fillet a Fish
  • Stephanie Zabel and Dr. Jennifer Zartarian: Common Herbs & Their Medicinal Uses
  • Florrie Wescoat and Aline Newton: Harvard Yard Tree Walk, Knowing the Trees of Cambridge
  • David Craft: Foraging for Wild Edible Plants around Boston
  • Anne Zielinski: Fundamentals of Canning with the League of Urban Canners
  • Kelly Allin: Beekeeping Basics with Best Bees

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The quiet pleasures of the athlete’s life

Fit and Feminist

I’ve realized recently that I have a tendency to talk about my life as an athlete in terms of achievements, goals and, sometimes, failures and difficulties.  I imagine that it gives the impression that I am always chasing a new PR or always pushing for longer distances or trying to learn new skills.  This is true to a certain extent, but focusing too much on that obscures the fact that there are a lot of things I love about being an athlete, and not all of them are dependent on measurable goals and achievements.

I began considering this on Tuesday night, when I was driving home from the pool after a swim workout.  I’ve come to love the thirty minutes or so between the time I leave the pool and the time I get home, so much so that I don’t even mind sitting in traffic on the way to…

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Coptic churches burn amid violence in Egypt

Sectarian violence can tear the society apart – sectarian-like government already brought down the elected government. Step back and seek peace and reconciliation.

Egyptian Streets

Coptic Christians call for greater protection as wave of violence sweeps across Egypt

By Mohamed Khairat, Founder, EgyptianStreets.com

Violence in Egypt has taken a dark turn for sectarianism as more than 45 churches and Coptic institutions were torched or stormed across the country.

The wave of attacks against Copts and their houses of worship, businesses, schools and homes came as Egypt’s security forces dispersed two large pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo.

In cities across Egypt, from Sohag and Minya to Cairo and Assiut, Islamists took to the streets attacking churches. In one case in Minya, a Coptic man and his wife were detained before being killed by armed individuals.

In one incident, Islamists torched parts of one of Egypt’s oldest churches that was reportedly built in the 4th Century.

In a frantic email to Egyptian Streets, a Coptic student in Minya said, “They are burning everything we own, and there…

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It’s Just A Bomb

The horrors in the world seem to be stuck on replay – it has to stop before, all that’s left to do is for the last person left to turn off the lights!

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

I was watching a movie today.

What a mundane and worthless sentence to start anything with. But I was watching a movie today.

It was a quiet afternoon. I had seen a dear friend whom I hadn’t seen in a while. We spoke about our lives. We didn’t talk about politics. I drank minted lemonade. She drank coffee. The time passed.

But yes, I was watching a movie today. And it was a theatre full of people who were watching the movie with me. And less than five minutes from where the movie was taking place, part of my country was getting blown up to pieces, people were getting blown up to bits.

And there I was, watching a movie.

The theatre doors closed behind us as we made our way out of the complex. Look, an explosion happened nearby, my friend told me. Make sure you make your way…

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