Category Archives: Viva!

‘What’s free?’, ‘I hope they budgeted’: how the shutdown affects a small rural town

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As federal workers in Jesup, Georgia, fret over the shutdown, many non-federal workers, for now, say the shutdown remains at a distance or not even heard of it at all

A pile of menus sat, untouched, at a table filled with Jesup Federal Correctional Institution employees at Alec’s Sports Bar. A waitress, who wandered over occasionally to fill a round of water glasses lined with lemon wedges, seemed to intuitively know not to ask if anyone needs a soft drink or a plate of chicken fingers.

“I’m not usually a water drinker,” Hannah Gariepy, a teacher – and eight year employee – of the federal prison pointed out, “But I was thinking, what’s free?” Her colleagues erupted in laughter, all of them agreeing. One has a salad in her car. Another ate before coming to the bar.

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Facebook removes hundred of pages ‘linked to Russian site’

Closing some of the many thousands of still open bad data barn doors. Money still rules decision making and that demands do as little as possible to stop flow of income and make small steps appear as big ones.

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Social network says it has taken down 289 pages connected to Kremlin-backed news website

Facebook has removed hundreds of pages believed to be connected to the Kremlin-backed Sputnik news website for allegedly breaching its rules.

The Facebook pages, which were targeted at individuals in former Soviet satellite states, either pretended to be independent news services or had names designed to appeal to fans of particular individuals, regions, or foods.

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S. 158: A bill to prohibit Federal funding of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Rand Paul not at work for America but for hate, ill-health and his fundraising goals. Papa needs a need landscaping job on his home after arguments with his neighbor! Introduced: Sponsor: Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]

This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions which will consider it before sending it to the Senate floor for consideration.

Thursday Open Thread | Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Trump’s State of the Union is off

Nancy Smash dunked on them..

Game. Blouses. B^tches…….

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Wednesday said President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address “is off.”

“The speaker is the one who invites the president,” Hoyer told CNN, adding, “The State of the Union is off.”

Earlier Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Trump telling him to either postpone the annual address — set to be delivered before a joint session of Congress on January 29 — or submit it in writing, citing security concerns linked to the government shutdown.

“Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th,” Pelosi said.

“The U.S. Secret Service was designated as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events by Public Law 106-544, December 19, 2000,” Pelosi added. “However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now — with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs.”

A representative for Hoyer told INSIDER he had “not read Speaker Pelosi’s letter and mischaracterized it” when he told CNN that the State of the Union address “is off.”

The government shutdown, the longest in US history, is a product of Trump’s insistence on obtaining funding for a wall he wishes to build along the US-Mexico border. Democrats have refused to grant the funding.

If Trump were to deliver the State of the Union address on January 29 amid the impasse, it would be the first to occur during a government shutdown.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.

Here’s Why Los Angeles Parents Are Standing with Striking Teachers against Billionaire-Backed Charters

Yesterday for the second day in a row, 50,000 people rallied in support of the striking teachers of Los Angeles.

This time our target was the California Charter School Association, the lobbying arm behind the rapid expansion of unregulated charter schools in Los Angeles. It’s funded by billionaires like Eli Broad and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

The CCSA has pursued a plan to move one million students from public schools into charter schools by 2022.

Human Rights Group—Politically Motivated Use of Death Penalty Widens in Saudi Arabia

Executions have soared in Saudi Arabia amid widening pursuit of politically motivated death sentences, mass death penalty trials, and use of the death penalty against female activists, according to a European-based Saudi human rights organization. In its 2018 Death Penalty Report: Saudi Arabia’s False Promise, issued January 16, 2019, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) said Saudi Arabia conducted at least 149 executions in 2018, more than double the number conducted in 2013, continuing a four-year surge the group associates with the ascension of King Salman to the throne in January 2015. Half of those executed were foreign nationals, including 33 from Pakistan and women from Ethiopia and Indonesia. ESOHR reported that the Saudi government concealed at least one execution and failed to announce the execution of the Indonesian woman, and the human rights group expressed concern that the actual number of executions in the country may be higher. 

The Saudi royal family has sought to deflect international criticism of its escalated use of the death penalty by pointing to the use of capital punishment by the United States and other countries. In an April 2018 interview with TIME magazine, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deflected a question on whether the Kingdom would reduce the number of public beheadings and executions in his country, saying: “I believe until today the United States of America and a lot of states, they have capital punishment. We’ve tried to minimize [its use],” he said, and suggested that the monarchy was working with the Saudi parliament on an initiative to change punishments for some offenses from execution to life in prison. The ESOHR report, however, said bin Salman’s statement “is not reflected in the death penalty statistics of 2018. Execution rates have sky rocketed [sic] in the last four years [and] do not indicate any attempts to ‘minimise’ or ‘reduce’” death penalty use. 

ESOHR’s report catalogues an intensified use of “politically motivated death sentences … against an increasing spectrum of government critics,” including human rights advocates, non-violent clerics, and other political opponents. It lists among the politically motivated death sentences the case of Israa al-Ghomgham, the first female activist to face execution in Saudi Arabia for non-violent human rights-related work. Al-Ghomgham was detained in December 2016 during a raid on her home. Her case is being prosecuted in Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court, which was established to address acts of terrorism. However, Oliver Windridge – an international human rights lawyer who has written briefs supporting al-Ghomgham – says that its “focus appears to have moved from terrorist suspects to human rights defenders and anti-government protesters.” The ESOHR report describes the terrorism charges against al-Ghomgham as “trumped up” and the trial proceedings as “grossly unfair.” UN human rights experts also have condemned the prosecution, saying that “[m]easures aimed at countering terrorism should never to be used to suppress or curtail human rights work.” 

ESOHR says that 59 Saudi prisoners are currently at risk of imminent execution, including eight who were minors at the time of their purported crimes and twelve men convicted of spreading the Shia faith and allegedly spying for Iran. 

(2018 Death Penalty Report: Saudi Arabia’s False Promise, European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, January 16, 2018; Haley Ott, U.S. lawyers “paying attention” as female Saudi activist Israa al-Ghomgham due in court, CBS News, January 14, 2019; TIME, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Talks to TIME About the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s Plans and President Trump, TIME, April 5, 2018.) See International  and Women

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Recycled Christmas trees become spawning ground for fish

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Fish are spawning on the underwater reef that fishery biologist John Kärki is making out of recycled Christmas trees.

Lyssna: Recycled Christmas trees become spawning ground for fish

Old Christmas trees are getting new life on the bottom of lake Mälaren, where they are turned into underwater reefs so that fish can spawn.

A harbour dug out to allow for big boats and cruise ships is not good for fish. That’s why the city of Stockholm and the Swedish Anglers Association have initiated a project to help fish in the lake – and take care of people’s old Christmas trees at the same time.

“Waters that are shallow and have a lot of vegetation are important for the spawning for fish like perch, pike and zander. If we build away these areas, we don’t get enough fish in the sea,” says fishery biologist John Kärki with the Swedish Anglers association.

Kärki and his colleagues have been collecting used Christmas trees from Stockholmers, and use them to create underwater reefs for the fish to spawn in. This winter, over 400 used Christmas trees will be sunk into lake Mälaren.

Ulla Engberg
ulla.engberg@sverigesradio.se