Category Archives: Fail!

Denmark faces backlash over ‘despicable’ ‘jewellery law’ – The Local

Legislation agreed in Denmark to seize the valuables of refugees in the hope of limiting the flow of migrants is “despicable”, US-based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday. “I think it’s despicable that Denmark and also in a sense Switzerland are moving to seize the last remaining assets of people, who by virtue of their movement and vulnerability tend to be impoverished and have very little on them,” the executive director of HRW, Kenneth Roth, told a news conference in Istanbul, referring to a Swiss law that since the 1990s has required asylum seekers to contribute to the costs of hosting them in the wealthy Alpine country. “Does a rich country like Denmark really need to strip the very assets of these desperate asylum seekers before providing them basic services?” asked Roth, who was presenting HRW’s annual report in Istanbul.

Source: Denmark faces backlash over ‘despicable’ ‘jewellery law’ – The Local

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Fraud | Inter Press Service

The modest benefits projected make it crucial to consider the nature and scale of costs currently ignored by all available modelling exercises. The TPP will impose direct costs, e.g. by extending IPRs and by blocking or delaying generic production and imports.The TPPA’s investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions will enable foreign investors to sue a government in an offshore tribunal if they claim that new regulations reduce their expected future profits, even when such regulations are in the public interest. As private insurance is already available for this purpose, ISDS provisions are completely unnecessary.Jagdish Bhagwati, a leading advocate of free trade and trade liberalization, along with others, have sharply criticized the inclusion of such non-trade provisions in ostensible free trade agreements. Instead of being the regional free trade agreement it is often portrayed as, the TPP seems to be “a managed trade regime that puts corporate interests first”.The TPP, offering modest quantifiable benefits from trade liberalization, is really the thin edge of a wedge package which will fundamentally undermine the public interest. Net gains for TPP partners seem doubtful at this stage.Only a complete and proper accounting based on the full text can settle this key question. The TPP has, in fact already been used to try to kill the Doha ‘Development’ Round of multilateral trade talks, but may well also undermine multilateralism more broadly in the near future.

Source: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Fraud | Inter Press Service

Danish teen fought off her attacker – now she’ll face fine – The Local

The teenager told police that she was attacked in central Sønderborg on Wednesday at around 10pm by an English-speaking man in dark clothing. She said the man knocked her to the ground and then unbuttoned her pants and attempted to undress her.  The girl was able to save herself from further assault by using pepper spray on the attacker, but now she may be the one who ends up in legal trouble.  “It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will likely be charged for that,” local police spokesman Knud Kirsten told TV Syd.  The case has sparked a backlash among some Danes who point to increasing reports of sexual harassment in Sønderborg and other Danish cities at the same time that police say they are stretched too thin to properly carry out their duties.  Numerous readers wrote in the comments section on TV Syd’s story about the incident that they would be willing to pay the girl’s fine, which will most likely be 500 kroner.  The man who attacked the 17-year-old fled from the scene and has not been charged.

Source: Danish teen fought off her attacker – now she’ll face fine – The Local

Dr. Francis Collins | NIH Director’s Blog  Zika Virus

For decades, the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus was mainly seen in equatorial regions of Africa and Asia, where it caused a mild, flu-like illness and rash in some people. About 10 years ago, the picture began to expand with the appearance of Zika outbreaks in the Pacific islands. Then, last spring, Zika popped up in South America, where it has so far infected more than 1 million Brazilians and been tentatively linked to a steep increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, a very serious condition characterized by a small head and brain [1]. And Zika’s disturbing march may not stop there.

Source: Dr. Francis Collins | NIH Director’s Blog

Netanyahu: We will allow settlers to return to Hebron houses – PNN

The Israeli prime minister,  Benjamin Netanyahu during cabinet meeting on Sunday said that “Israel will allow the settlers evicted from two houses in Hebron to return once the proper paperwork is in order,” Haaretz reported.Haaretz cited Netanyahu saying that “The government supports the settlements, especially in days like these, when they are under terror attacks,” adding that “at the same time, we are a lawful country and must respect the rule of the law. The moment that the purchase process is authorized, we will allow the population of the two houses in Hebron.”

Source: Netanyahu: We will allow settlers to return to Hebron houses – PNN

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu calls for execution of Palestinians – PNN

Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported him saying: “Should we leave them alive in order to then free them in another gesture to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas? The fact that they still have a desire to commit terrorist attacks shows that we are not operating strongly enough,” he said.Explaining more about his fatwa, Eliyahu wrote on his facebook page that “The Israel Police officers who do keep terrorist Palestinians alive should be prosecuted under the law.”He went on: “We must not allow a Palestinian to survive after he was arrested. If you leave him alive, there is a fear that he will be released and kill other people.” He added: “We must eradicate this evil from within our midst.”

Source: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu calls for execution of Palestinians – PNN

Cologne imam: Women provoked sex attacks by ′wearing perfume′ and being ′half-naked′ | News | DW.COM | 22.01.2016

{Too many males of all different religions and a number of women believe this foolishness and evil blame the victim position that lets gross men off the hook of being inhumane.}

 

In light of the attacks, women’s rights groups have taken to the streets of Cologne in recent weeks to protest against violence directed at women. Organizers of the demonstrations have strived to highlight a wider problem, however, arguing that women are facing assaults and harassment on a daily basis, regardless of who’s committing them.

Source: Cologne imam: Women provoked sex attacks by ′wearing perfume′ and being ′half-naked′ | News | DW.COM | 22.01.2016

Viewpoint: The Flint Water Crisis from the Ground Up | Labor Notes

It would be one thing if those responsible for this crisis were democratically elected officials. We could just vote the bums out, right? Well, that isn’t the case in my hometown.Through a bill called P.A. 436, better known as the Emergency Manager law, Governor Rick Snyder appoints an “emergency manager” who answers to the governor and the governor alone.The emergency manager has the power to dismantle everything from local laws to public sector union contracts. All the local officials who were voted in, and all the public sector workers, are under the control of this state-appointed dictator.It was the Snyder-appointed emergency manager, Darnell Early, who initially switched Flint over from the long trusted-source of Lake Huron water, provided by Detroit, to the more corrosive water of the Flint River. It was the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, also answerable solely to Snyder, that deemed the move safe.This was only intended to be a temporary measure, but it didn’t take long for the damage to be done. The aging pipes in Flint were leaching lead into the city’s drinking water and into people’s homes. An entire community was poisoned, just like that.There is no safe level of lead; lead damage is permanent and irreversible. It can cause a staggering array of physical and behavioral problems, from lower IQ to miscarriages.To add insult to injury, the emergency manager in his infinite wisdom raised water rates to astronomical levels. So we’re paying $100-plus per person, per month, for water that is basically poison and practically useless.

Source: Viewpoint: The Flint Water Crisis from the Ground Up | Labor Notes

Israeli settlers seize West Bank buildings in Hebron | News | DW.COM | 21.01.2016

Dozens of Israeli settlers entered two homes in a building in the center of the Palestinian city of Hebron on Thursday, sparking violent clashes over disputed ownership claims, witnesses told news agencies.”A group of dozens of settlers accompanied by rabbis broke into a building on Shuhada Street,” Jawad Abu Eisheh, an activist with the local Youth Against Settlements group, told the news agency AFP on Thursday. He added that Palestinians lived in the building, described by some settlers as empty.Israeli forces were deployed to protect the settlers. Some demonstrators threw stones and soldiers, in turn, used sound grenades, taking a number of injured Palestinians to the hospital, AFP reported. An army spokeswoman said the clashes subsided later.

Source: Israeli settlers seize West Bank buildings in Hebron | News | DW.COM | 21.01.2016

WHO reports more local Zika confirmations, GBS spike | CIDRAP

Local transmission on St. Martin, GuadeloupeMeanwhile, the WHO today confirmed the first two locally acquired Zika infection cases in the French part of St. Martin and in Guadeloupe. It said French health officials notified the WHO of both cases on Jan 18.The two territories already appear on PAHO’s list of affected locations in the Americas, which stands at 20. Like most other parts of the Caribbean, both areas have been affected by the chikungunya virus outbreak over the past year.WHO urges no travel restrictionsThe WHO said in both statements today it does not recommend any trade or travel restrictions to the affected areas.So far the WHO has held off on recommending that pregnant women, or those planning to become pregnant, avoid the affected countries due to the microcephaly threat. In its most recent update on the

The two territories already appear on PAHO’s list of affected locations in the Americas, which stands at 20. Like most other parts of the Caribbean, both areas have been affected by the chikungunya virus outbreak over the past year.WHO urges no travel restrictionsThe WHO said in both statements today it does not recommend any trade or travel restrictions to the affected areas.So far the WHO has held off on recommending that pregnant women, or those planning to become pregnant, avoid the affected countries due to the microcephaly threat. In its most recent update on the

WHO urges no travel restrictionsThe WHO said in both statements today it does not recommend any trade or travel restrictions to the affected areas.So far the WHO has held off on recommending that pregnant women, or those planning to become pregnant, avoid the affected countries due to the microcephaly threat. In its most recent update on the

The WHO said in both statements today it does not recommend any trade or travel restrictions to the affected areas. {Deja vu – same thing they said too long about ebola outbreak last year – giving in to local government’s fears of losing trade dollars and further increased the impact of the epidemic}

So far the WHO has held off on recommending that pregnant women, or those planning to become pregnant, avoid the affected countries due to the microcephaly threat. In its most recent update on the disease it urges pregnant women to take steps to protect against mosquitoes and to consult with their local health officials before traveling.

Source: WHO reports more local Zika confirmations, GBS spike | CIDRAP