Category Archives: Global Politics

Standing in the Firing Squad: An Interview with Brianna Wu

The culprit is obvious. It’s male privilege. And, if there is a mecca of male privilege, it’s gamedev.

It’s filled with men that frequently harbor resentment towards women they don’t understand. While they intellectually feel we should be here, they unconsciously assume it’s their space and that their comfort is paramount. There’s no way to describe it but really, really shitty. I think we all address it in our own way. I try to make it better by never taking any shit, and speaking up on this stuff. I don’t accept excuses. That’s not going to work for everyone, but I think I’m helping make it better.

via Standing in the Firing Squad: An Interview with Brianna Wu.

US airstrikes hit Nusra Front in Syria | News | DW.DE | 06.11.2014

Slopes getting slippery!

US-led airstrikes targeted the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria Thursday, marking only the second time coalition airstrikes have hit jihadists outside of the ” Islamic State,” activists reported.

The coalition carried out “several raids after midnight” against Nusra Front targets in northwest Syria, killing several jihadists as well as two children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory also reported that another radical Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham, had been hit for the first time with airstrikes. There was no immediate US comment on the strikes.

Militants reportedly confirmed the airstrikes on Twitter, claiming they were undertaken by “the alliance of Crusaders and Arabs on Al-Nusra positions, causing deaths, mostly of civilians.”

The al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front was once the most powerful militant group in Syria, but has been eclipsed by the “Islamic State”

The US-led coalition has been primarily hitting Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria for the past several weeks, and the recent strikes against the Nusra Front are only the second instance of coalition airstrikes hitting non-IS targets.

The coalition had previously targeted the Nusra Front in September during the first wave of airstrikes, accusing it of harboring a terror cell called “Khorasan” that was plotting to attack US and Western interests.

The strikes come after Nusra Front fighters made gains against Western-backed Syrian fighters in the country’s northwestern Idlib region. The US is attempting to train what it describes as a moderate rebel force to combat both jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces.

via US airstrikes hit Nusra Front in Syria | News | DW.DE | 06.11.2014.

Liberian Women Push Back Against Ebola Scare | Inter Press Service

“I am a Liberian, not a virus.” That’s the loud and clear message of a campaign launched online by a group of Liberian women who refuse to be shamed by thoughtless outbreaks of rejection and cruelty that link African people with the epidemic that has taken thousands of lives.

“If I am Liberian, that doesn’t mean that I have Ebola,” Carolyn Woahloe, a registered nurse, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is not a Liberian problem. This is a world problem.”

Misinformation about the virus has sparked fears around the country and around the world, prompting some national leaders to deny visas to West Africans despite medical guarantees that this was unnecessary and unsafe. As with the AIDS virus in the early days, Africans have been singled out for slurs and rejection even when they present no threat at all.

In Texas, for example, Liberians living in the Dallas area where the first Ebola death was recorded were taunted with “Go back to Liberia.” Students from Rwanda were ordered to stay away from a New Jersey school where they were enrolled.

An Oregon high school canceled a planned visit by 18 African students – all from countries untouched by Ebola – citing a “fluid” situation on the continent.

In response, Shoana Clarke Solomon, a Liberian photographer and TV host, created a hashtag “#IamaLiberianNotaVirus,” (I am a Liberian, Not a Virus) that quickly went viral.

“We are Liberians, Sierra Leoneans, Guineans and Nigerians. We live in a region that has been devastated by a deadly disease, but we are not all infected,” she said.

“It is wrong to stereotype and stigmatize an entire people. Remember we are human beings.”

via Liberian Women Push Back Against Ebola Scare | Inter Press Service.

Ned Link Resources

If you would like to dip into the sources, I looked at each day, the Links below will take you to my resource bundles:

Human Rights: http://www.inoreader.com/bundle/0014cd635acc

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Viva-Innovators-Creatives: http://www.inoreader.com/bundle/0014cd635a84

Feministas: http://www.inoreader.com/bundle/0014cd635a9b

Anti-war/for peace: http://www.inoreader.com/bundle/0014cd635acb

Israel bans Muslim call to prayer in Hebron 61 times in October | Maan News Agency

Religious Oppression – JBTC – Just Because They Can!

Israeli forces have forbidden mosque leaders from calling for prayers through loudspeakers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron 61 times in October under the pretext that it bothers nearby Jewish settlers, the Palestinian ministry of endowment said Sunday.

sraeli forces have forbidden mosque leaders from calling for prayers through loudspeakers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron 61 times in October under the pretext that it bothers nearby Jewish settlers, the Palestinian ministry of endowment said Sunday.

The ministry of endowment’s Hebron office said in a statement that banning the call for prayer “is racism and clear violation of freedom of worship which all international conventions maintain.”

via Israel bans Muslim call to prayer in Hebron 61 times in October | Maan News Agency.

Maine, attorneys could be headed for showdown over Ebola-negative nurse – Central Maine

 

 

 

 

JERKS – SHE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR EBOLA – GET YOUR ROCKS OFF ON SOME OTHER MADE UP ISSUE TO SCARE UP SUPPORT FOR YOUR LOONEY GOVERNOR!

JERKS – SHE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR EBOLA – GET YOUR ROCKS OFF ON SOME OTHER MADE UP ISSUE TO SCARE UP SUPPORT FOR YOUR LOONEY GOVERNOR!

The events in Maine took center stage in the national debate over protocols used to stop the spread of Ebola, with states offering differing views on how to protect the public while maintaining individual rights. Art Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University, said actions taken by Maine health officials were not based on science.

“This quarantine has nothing to do with Ebola,” Caplan said. “It has everything to do with fear.”

A hastily arranged news conference by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services late Tuesday afternoon capped two days of conflicting, confusing messages from the LePage administration.

via Maine, attorneys could be headed for showdown over Ebola-negative nurse – Central Maine.

JERKS – SHE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR EBOLA – GET YOUR ROCKS OFF ON SOME OTHER MADE UP ISSUE TO SCARE UP SUPPORT FOR YOUR LOONEY GOVERNOR!

JERKS – SHE TESTED NEGATIVE FOR EBOLA – GET YOUR ROCKS OFF ON SOME OTHER MADE UP ISSUE TO SCARE UP SUPPORT FOR YOUR LOONEY GOVERNOR!

Nasrallah: Takfiris present Muslims as ‘savages’ | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR

Jihadist terrorism poses “a threat to Islam as a religion [as well as] its principles and values,” Nasrallah said, warning that “takfiris”

This takfiri trend “will instill this false understanding of Islam,” he said, warning that the nature of modern day communication would allow radicals to spread a false image of Islam across the world.

“This would push non-Muslims away from Islam, because the [takfiri] method presents Muslims as a savage and bloodthirsty group,” he added.

via Nasrallah: Takfiris present Muslims as ‘savages’ | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR.