All posts by nedhamson

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

Egyptian Aak- Week 31. The Anatomy of Defiance

Ignoring the failed regime may well be the best strategy to diffuse it…

Nervana

Main Headlines

 Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

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Venice Boardwalk Hit-And-Run Victim Identified As Italian Woman On Honeymoon: LAist

(So sad – RIP Alice)

The woman killed in last nights horrific hit-and-run on the Venice Beach Boardwalk has been identified as an Italian woman who was honeymooning in California.Alice Gruppioni, 32, died just hours after a car plowed through the crowded boardwalk, injuring a dozen. Gruppioni was on a honeymoon with her new husband Christian Casadei, an architect and planner. The pair were married on July 20, and they were building a home together in Pianoro, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.Gruppionis aunt, sister and father-in-law are headed to Los Angeles to meet Casadei, who is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. His injuries were not serious.

via Venice Boardwalk Hit-And-Run Victim Identified As Italian Woman On Honeymoon: LAist.

Brown Shirts and Jack Boots for Profiling Police! Government adviser’s warning over spot checks for illegal immigrants | UK news | The Observer

The dispute over the Home Office’s controversial spot-check searches for illegal immigrants has escalated, as one of the government’s own migration advisers warned that Britain should not adopt the draconian tactics of countries such as Singapore in dealing with the issue.

Last week Home Office officials, accompanied by police officers wearing stab vests, conducted a series of checks, mainly at railway stations, as they sought to find immigrants illegally living in the country. It followed the rollout of a number of vans displaying signs encouraging illegal immigrants to “go home” in a pilot that has been widely criticised as heavy-handed.

via Government adviser’s warning over spot checks for illegal immigrants | UK news | The Observer.

Noa: my visit to the Knesset in support of peace!

Everybody, Arabs and Jews alike spoke beautifully, it was truly inspiring. I too had a chance to speak, and urged my fellow artists on both sides of the fence to step out and raise their voices, fearlessly, for peace (personally I think e should ALL be out on the streets!)

But what was MOST striking was the fact that for the first time in the HISTORY of the Knesset, the Palestinian flag was waving alongside the Israeli one!! what a sight to see!! (see photo)

via Noa: my visit to the Knesset in support of peace!.

Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Taylor Farms Salad, Some Served at Olive Garden and Red Lobster | Food Safety News

  1. News of who held up because Red Lobster and Olive Garden would have screamed loud if evidence not solid.
  2. Think twice now – why can’t they buy local and make their own salads? What’s going on with the rest of the “food” being prepared at these and similar outlets. 

The outbreak of Cyclospora in Iowa and Nebraska that has caused hundreds of confirmed illnesses has been linked to Mexican-grown Taylor Farms salad mix, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some of the contaminated salad mix was served at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, according to the Des Moines Register. Other restaurants may also have used the salad mix.

It is not yet clear if concurrent Cyclospora outbreaks in other states are also connected to the Taylor Farms salad mix or the restaurant chains. At least 418 people across 16 states have been found ill with Cyclospora infection between early June and early July.

No grocery store products have yet been connected to the outbreak, as it is considered exclusively restaurant salad at this point.

via Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Taylor Farms Salad, Some Served at Olive Garden and Red Lobster | Food Safety News.

Breaking News: I Almost Died

Almost funny but people are injured and some die every year because of people shooting in the air to “celebrate.”

A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Well, not quite.

I was in Tripoli when Saad Hariri’s long-awaited Ramadan speech was taking place. I couldn’t care less about what he had to say so I just sat with my friends on a porch, enjoying an afternoon August breeze.

“He’s ten minutes in and we haven’t heard bullets yet,” Ismail said jokingly. And, as if on queue, the bullets started getting fired up the air.

So as we discussed some inescapable politics through the distant shots, we heard something ricochet off the wall and land immediately next to us. We were four people. This surprisingly heavy bullet could have hit anyone:

Bullet tripoli lebanon

I’m not the kind to immediately freak out so we simply retreated inside as they cursed the morons shooting on the streets in celebration. The shooting soon ended as the speech died down.

Then I wondered: what if this actually hit one of us?

Any kind of…

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Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | Today’s Jobs Report in Pictures

Today’s jobs report shows a familiar pattern. Private employers added jobs for the 41st straight month, yet nonfarm payroll employment remains lower than it was at the start of the recession in December 2007. It’s well below what’s required for full employment. The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent, but as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated recently, the current unemployment rate “overstates the health of our labor markets.” In particular, the share of the population with a job remains stuck near levels reached in the depth of the recession.

Below are some charts to show how the new figures look in historical context. Check back soon for my full statement with further analysis.

via Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | Today’s Jobs Report in Pictures.

Producing exclusively food for human consumption (Science Daily)

If we went vegan and walked or rode buses and trains – enough food for everyone at a reasonable price!?!

DESERTIFICATION

Read at :

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130801125704.htm

Existing Cropland Could Feed Four Billion More by Dropping Biofuels and Animal Feed

Aug. 1, 2013 — The world’s croplands could feed 4 billion more people than they do now just by shifting from producing animal feed and biofuels to producing exclusively food for human consumption, according to new research from the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

Even a smaller, partial shift from crop-intensive livestock such as feedlot beef to food animals such as chicken or pork could increase agricultural efficiency and provide food for millions, the study says.

(continued)

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Why did Home Office tweet about arrest of 139 immigrants out of 5,000 other arrests yesterday?

Same reason a peacock fans his tail – to see if anyone would notice how wonderful and powerful they are (not).

Pride's Purge

(not satire – it’s the UK today!)

We already know the answer to this one, don’t we?

Why did the Home Office decide to tweet about the arrest of 139 immigrants yesterday when around 5,000 other people are arrested every day in the UK?

According to civil service guidelines, the Home Office isn’t allowed to publicly comment on anything which may be construed as party political and must not “act in a way that is determined by party political considerations, or use official resources for party political purposes”.

With Tory campaign ‘guru’ Lynton Crosby making immigration one of the corner stones of the Tories’ re-election campaign, couldn’t Home Office civil servants tweeting about the arrest of 139 immigrants – while not mentioning anything at all about the other approximately 5,000 people who are arrested every day in the UK – be construed as using official resources for party political purposes?

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Manus Island

antoine cassar

manus-island

Manus Island, part of the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north-east of Papua New Guinea. 100 km by 30 km, population 50,321 as of the 2011 census. Known for its sea cucumbers (served as bêche de mer), the endemic emerald green snail (now an endangered species), and for its copper and gold deposits. In global focus, more recently, for hosting an “offshore refugee processing centre” on behalf of the Australian government. Having closed in 2003, the centre was re-opened in November 2012. To learn more about the conditions inside the centre, visit the website of Australian NGO ChilOut (as in CHILdren OUT of detention), or click here to watch an investigative report that goes inside the centre (ABC).

atlasThe new Atlas poem below is part of a growing series on islands and peninsulas. Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands, a cartographical and poetic

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