Category Archives: Viva!

Davos and Its Threat to Democracy

Problem really is that most elected governments with our leave already give too much power to those who think nothing about killing the planet for a profit because they mistakenly believe they know what they are doing. Walk softly, carry big stick and bust them up!

Egyptian Aak 2016 – Week 2 ( Jan 11- 17)

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Egypt extends state of emergency in North Sinai until April. Tuesday
  • Egypt’s Cabinet has approved a draft law criminalizing the use of “terrorist” symbols. Wednesday
  • Egypt extends participation in Yemen conflict for up to one year. Thursday
  • As Jan 25 looms, more activists arrested today, police also raid news site Masr al-Arabiya. Friday
  • Admin court turns down denaturalization suit against Wael Ghoneim. Sunday

 

I participated in Januray 25

‘I participated in January revolution’ tops Twitter trends in Egypt. Via Ahram

Main Headlines

 Monday

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Settlers spray “Slaughter the Christians” slogans on walls of Jerusalem monastery

PNN/ Jerusalem/
A group of extremist right-wing Israeli settlers on Sunday dawn have sprayed slogans that call on slaughtering Christians, on the walls of an old monastery in Jerusalem.

The slogans are thought to have been written by the extremist “Pay The Price” group, which  has repeatedly attacked Palestinian homes, churches and mosques overnight, which included the church of loaves and fishes (Tabgha) in Tibereas, and mosques in Ramallah and Nablus.

Following the attack on the church back in May, The Rabbis for Human Rights group said that there have been 43 similar attacks against churches, mosques and monasteries in Israeli-occupied land, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2009, Reuters reported.

Slogans read “Death for Christians, the enemies of Israel,”  and calls to “Slaughter Christians and send them to hell,” in addition to anti-Christ words.

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Israeli police claimed to have opened an investigation in the case, but the Jewish extremists are expected to not be punished in Israeli law.

According to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, Israeli police closed 85.3 percent of investigations due to the failure “to locate suspects or find sufficient evidence to indict suspects”; only 1.9 percent of Palestinian complaints against Israeli civilian/settler attacks resulted in a conviction, and 7.4 percent of investigations generated indictments against suspects.

Moreover, a Yesh Din report published this month found that in the past five years, only 3 percent of the criminal investigations launched by the Military Police Criminal Investigations Division into alleged offenses by Israeli soldiers against Palestinians resulted in the indictment of suspects.

These groups are also responsible for deadly attacks on Palestinian families.

In July, they have torched the home of the Dawabsheh family overnight in Duma village near Nablus, killing 11-month-old baby Ali Dawabsheh and both his parents. Only one member of the family survived, Ahmad Dawabsheh (4), and he is still recovering in the ICU.

They are also suspected in the murder of Mohammad Abu Khdeir (16) whom they abducted and burned alive in July 2014.

Israeli Occupation Authorities claim to start an investigation, but often fail to hold the attackers accountable for their crimes, as in the Dawabsheh case, where Israel said that the evidence against the Jewish suspects was “not enough” to try them.

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How Syrian refugees helped an American student during the Cologne attacks | Germany | DW.COM | 17.01.2016

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But the police outside weren’t much use. Overwhelmed by the mass of people in the main square in front of the station and trying to keep the situation under control, the authorities ended up forcing Duncan back into the crowd. From there, she found herself surrounded by another group of young men who started grabbing her body, pulling her hair and trying to push her down.”At that point I was pretty stressed-out, and pretty scared, ” she said.Unbeknownst to the American at the time, she was caught up in an event that would make headlines around the world and throw intense scrutiny on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies in Germany. Hundreds of women reported being assaulted around the train station that night, mostly by men who appeared to be of North African or Arab descent. Since then, concern has grown in some circles about the possibility of truly integrating Middle Eastern refugees into Germany, and Merkel’s government has ramped up efforts to deport many of them back to their home countries.While the media coverage of that night shed light on many horrifying episodes, it also had the effect of obscuring some of the more positive developments. Duncan’s experience is one such example.After she managed to break away from the crowd, the American once again talked to the police – who, once again, seemed incapable of helping her. Desperate to find her boyfriend, who had her wallet and her phone, she hung around the edges of the crowd, scared and frustrated.Around that time, a young Middle Eastern man came up to her and asked, in German, if he could help her. Since she didn’t speak German and he didn’t speak English, the man called over one of his friends, Hesham Ahmad Mohammad, who did speak English.’We can help you’ Despite the fallout from the events, Ahmad Mohammad says he’s not afraidA 32-year-old former teacher, Ahmad Mohammad had, along with his four friends, braved an arduous journey from his native Syria to reach Germany, where he had been living for six months. The trek had taken the group to Turkey, then to Greece by boat, then through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria, until finally they reached the Bavarian city of Passau.The five men, all of whom now lived in different parts of western Germany and had therefore not seen each other since their arrival, had chosen to reunite in Cologne for New Year’s Eve. But what they saw when they arrived at the central station shocked them. The people were extremely rowdy, Ahmad Mohammad said, and he even witnessed an attempted robbery.”We knew [shortly after we arrived] that that’s a dangerous place for us, because we saw that many people were drinking and they lost their minds,” he told DW.When he and his friends came across Duncan, he said the American was crying and clearly “afraid of all men.”After a while he convinced Duncan to let them help her. “At that time she said to me, ‘I’ve lost my friend and I am alone. I am American. I am here alone.’ I said to her, ‘You must stop crying. We can help you.'”As she set out once more to find her boyfriend, Ahmad Mohammad accompanied her. He said ten other men attempted to harass her, but he shielded her from them. Soon, his other friends also came to her aid, forming a circle around her.

Source: How Syrian refugees helped an American student during the Cologne attacks | Germany | DW.COM | 17.01.2016

Happy 8th Birthday, Flickr Commons! (LOC)”

The Library of Congress posted a photo:

Happy 8th Birthday, Flickr Commons! (LOC)”

Make your wish on this bridge with “birthday candles!

The Commons has connected us all so well to a bounty of historic photo collections that we’ve selected glorious pictures of bridges to count down to the Jan. 16th official anniversary. Please celebrate with us and explore the infinite possibilities of the Commons. Pick your 8 favorite photos and tag them “Happy Birthday Flickr Commons.” Or, make a gallery and share the link here.

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer
Lion Bridge, St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida
[1936 or 1937].
1 negative : safety film ; 8 x 10 in.

Notes
Title from photographer’s inventory.
Building/structure dates: 1927.
Corresponding reference print in LOT 11834-55-F.
Forms part of: Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South (Library of Congress).
Subjects:
Bridges
United States–Florida–St. Johns County–St. Augustine.
Format: Safety film negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, http://1.usa.gov/1D9d3AE
More information about the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South is available at http://1.usa.gov/1ZDTGzt
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ csas.00448
Call Number: LC-J7-FLA- 1094