Category Archives: Viva!

Monday Open Thread | Donald Trump LIED about thousands cheering in New Jersey after 9/11

Fact-checking Donald Trump’s claim about thousands cheering in New Jersey after 9/11. http://bitly.com/1kQGdSL http://pic.twitter.com/No5HCdorNi

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) November 23, 2015

Mass drug administration credited with stopping malaria in Greece

A mass drug administration (MDA) program has been credited with preventing malaria from spreading throughout Greece, which experienced a resurgence in 2011.

In 1974, Greece was named free of malaria. With P. vivax malaria reappearing in 2011, Southern Greece traced the virus to agricultural workers who traveled from regions that are endemic with malaria. There were 1,270 immigrant workers involved in the implemented program.

To stop the spread, health professionals enforced standard control measures for 12 months. These measures included active case detection and intesified vector control. After these measures were complete, the health administration implemented an MDA program.

From 1974 to 2011, Greece had just a few, sporadic malaria cases. With the arrival of 21 P. vivax cases in immigrants, there were an additional 36 local cases. The control program required immigrants to be screened at house visits. The screen involved rapid diagnostic tests that included blood sampling as well as molecular testing. Anyone who tested positive for malaria received directly observed treatment.

Health care workers also conducted indoor residual spraying. Residents who lived near mosquito breeding sites were given long-lasting insecticide nets.

In 2013 and 2014, Greece reported no new malaria cases.

Massive Rolling Strikes Shut Down Quebec | Labor Notes

After provincial bargaining stalled, 400,000 public sector workers across Quebec walked out in October and November on rolling one-day strikes.The government is proposing pension cuts and only a 3 percent salary increase over five years. Since coming to power in April 2014 it has already begun cuts to services, including slashing health and education funding.The Common Front, a coalition of Quebec public sector unions, is coordinating the strikes, which include teachers, health care workers, and government employees. Members voted to authorize six days of strikes per union. These began with one-day strikes, staggered by region. The Common Front vowed that if no agreement was reached, all members would strike at the same time December 1-3.Labor Notes interviewed Benoit Renaud and Philippe de Grosbois, who have both been on strike. Renaud is an adult education teacher in the city of Gatineau and a member of the La Fédération Autonome de L’enseignement. de Grosbois teaches in a pre-college program in Laval and is an executive of his local, which is part of the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux.At the time of the interview, a December general strike was still planned. However, the Common Front recently announced it’s postponing the strike while negotiations continue.

Source: Massive Rolling Strikes Shut Down Quebec | Labor Notes

Russell Brand: The Usefulness (or Not) of a Working-Class Celebrity Activist | Working-Class Perspectives

It is true that Brand does sometimes appear to take over and speak for the people he is supporting, and this could be frustrating for activists wanting to talk about their issues on their own terms. And some of his commentary has been arguably misguided or counter-productive. He famously stated in an interview prior to the most recent British general election that voting was not useful, and this may have influenced some working-class people (particularly young people) to not vote, which was against their interests.Brand also doesn’t always acknowledge his privilege – particularly his white privilege. In an episode of his YouTube web series The Trews, he suggested that anti-austerity protestors should show some love for the police in order to bring them into the fold. This might be fine for a white man with resources to fight police charges, but not so easy for people of colour who are subject to police harassment. This demonstrates a level of naivety and the cushioning effects of his fame and fortune.Despite this, the class-based criticisms of Brand point to the threat he poses as a working-class background celebrity activist. His fame allows him a platform and his popularity among his fans means many people listen to what he says and are potentially influenced by his views. At the Sydney show, fans cheered at his mention of causes which mainly affect working-class people.The mainstream media is very middle-class. Journalists and commentators tend to be privately educated. There has been a ‘gentrification of the left’, and few working-class voices are heard in politics and the media. Most Left-wing commentators are middle or upper class and despite their good intentions and commitment to social justice causes, their voices dominate. There’s much to admire in the work of Owen Jones, for example, but his social and educational capital means he is not likely to be ridiculed due to his accent or choice of words.When Emma Watson made her gender equality speech in the United Nations she was applauded for her restraint and simple eloquence. When Brand speaks he is accused of being verbose. The combination of working-class accent and intelligent speech is one that seems to particularly irk middle-class commentators across the political spectrum. Brand has the kind of visibility and fan adoration that most political commentators or journalists will never experience. Dismissing him as a narcissistic loud-mouth is arguably a way to silence him and to diminish the working-class causes he has championed.Brand is a comedian, and comedy is a powerful weapon. Comedy can educate, enlighten, and empower. Comedians often speak truth to power, and a celebrity comedian with a political message for working-class people has the potential to be quite powerful indeed. Brand deserves the same respect as middle-class commentators. His ideas should be discussed, debated, and even dismissed at times. But not because he doesn’t have the benefit of an expensive private education or a university degree or because he is loud (or ‘mouthy’ as English people say). He has as much right to occupy the public sphere as any Oxbridge or Ivy League graduate. Brand might not be responsible for starting a working-class revolution, but he might just inspire some of his working-class fans to get involved with politics, to join activist groups, to demand social justice.

Source: Russell Brand: The Usefulness (or Not) of a Working-Class Celebrity Activist | Working-Class Perspectives

Automatic OPML backups

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Every now and then you can stumble upon a situation where you want to restore your subscriptions because of some error. In such cases the first question is “When was the last time I made a backup of my OPML file?”. We are now making this question obsolete. As soon as you have a Plus or a Professional account, Inoreader starts to automatically backup your OPML file whenever there is a change to your subscriptions or folders. We will keep your last 10 backups even if they are months or years old. You can access them by going to Preferences -> Import/Export and download each file from the provided link:

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The Inoreader team

Egyptian Aak 2015 – Week 47 (Nov 16 -22)

Nervana

Top Headlines

Two Egyptians confirmed dead in the Paris terrorist attacks. (Monday)
• Russia confirmed that a bomb brought down Russian jet in Egypt. (Tuesday)
• Second phase of parliamentary elections launched in Egypt. (Sunday)

Week 47 C

Egyptians vote in the second-round pf parliamentary elections-

 via Ahram

Main Headlines

Monday

Tuesday

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Another Palestinian shot dead by settlers since morning

PNN/ Bethlehem/
The Palestinian ministry of Health on Sunday morning announced the death of the second Palestinian youth this morning, after shot by Israeli settlers, shortly after the killing of a teenage girl in Nablus.

Israeli sources claimed that the martyr’s vehicle “bumped into” the settlers’ car, who then got off and shot the Palestinian, claiming that the former tried to stab him.

The shooting happened near Kfar Adummim settlement, East of Jerusalem.

This morning, the former head of Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, Gershon Mesika, ran-over a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, under claims that she tried to stab a settler. Immediately after she was run-over, Israeli soldiers rushed and shot her dead immediately.