Category Archives: Viva!

Theresa May rebukes Donald Trump over NHS comments

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British PM rejects US president’s claim that pro-NHS marches showed universal healthcare did not work

Theresa May has rebuked Donald Trump over his claim the NHS is failing, publicly backing her health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, after he tweeted disagreement with the US president’s view.

The response from May – who generally seeks to avoid criticising Trump – came after the president condemned Democrat plans for a universal healthcare system by noting in a tweet Saturday’s protest march in London demanding more NHS funding.

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Researchers find direct correlation between residential segregation and police shootings of unarmed Black victims

LatinaLista — Go to most towns and cities in the country and you’ll most probably find one section where whites live, another for Blacks and still another for Latinos or other residents of color. Some small towns were even known as Sundown Towns, meaning that if you were a person of color, you better not be seen outside after the sun went down.

This kind of racial segregation and outright threatening discrimination underscores the long history US society has with structural racism.

Also known as societal racism, it’s defined in Wikipedia as referring “to racist attitudes within a society…because, according to Carl E. James, society is structured in a way that excludes substantial numbers of people from minority backgrounds from taking part in social institutions.”

It’s against this backdrop that gives greater validity to new findings coming from a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study that discovered that states that had a greater degree of structural racism, especially residential segregation, were also more likely to have fatal police shootings of unarmed minority victims.

Believed to be the first study of its kind to look at data on the state level of structural racism and fatal police shootings of Black victims, researchers created an index of structural racism indicators, such as residential segregation, economic inequality, employment status, education levels, and incarceration rates.

Researchers surprised themselves at the strong correlation revealed in their analysis — the greater the score in any of the index indicators, especially residential segregation, the greater the increase in the state’s ratio of shootings of unarmed black victims to unarmed white victims.

“This research should change the conversation about the problem of police shootings,” said senior author Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at BUSPH. “Part of the resistance to openly discussing this issue is that many people feel offended by criticism of people who are risking their lives to protect all of us. Our study suggests that this problem is not simply about the actions of individuals, but about the actions of all of society. Hopefully, reframing this from an individual to a societal problem will pave the way for a meaningful discussion about institutional racism.”

Uber, the “Metropocalypse,” and Economic Inequality in D.C.

DC is the last “plantation” in the US and is still busy marginalizing Black-Americans in any way they can. Southern block and racist representatives would be entirely happy if all Black-Americans moved out of the District. Until it gets its own Congressperson and 2 senators and taxing authority it will remain a plantation.

Public transit infrastructure in Washington, D.C. is crumbling. Metro and bus services have been cut. Fares have gone up. And, safety remains a problem. After 40 years of deferred maintenance, poor management, and the lack of decent, long-term funding, the Metro system needs $1.4 billion worth of repairs, and it must close a $290 million budget gap just to continue basic operations. Some call this the “metropocalypse.”

Private taxi services haven’t been much better. It’s often hard to get a cab, especially for people of color or people who live outside of the wealthy, White areas of the city. Racial prejudice among the mostly immigrant taxi drivers means that Black residents are regularly refused service.

In light of these transit problems, Uber might seem like an obvious win for D.C. Ridesharing services are cheap for riders, require no significant public investment, and limit some of the discrimination that has made getting a taxi so difficult for so many people. Our research shows otherwise. Indeed, Uber could undermine the very thing city officials are working hard to address: economic inequality.

In 2016 we conducted 22 in-person interviews with local policymakers, business leaders, transit planners, lobbyists, and labor advocates as well as 40 in-person interviews with Uber drivers in the D.C. metro area. Our project found a close relationship between Uber and the city government, one that actually decreases economic opportunity.

A poster promoting a new Uber office in D.C.’s 7th Ward

Uber’s relationship with D.C. city officials is cozy and widespread. Together they have created promotional videos, held ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and collaborated on transit plans. As an Uber lobbyist put it, city officials have “adopted our view of the world.” The city’s regulation of UberX—the low-cost, digital ride-hailing service—is the clearest example. The legislation, according to Uber, is “one of the best models for us” because it “basically allows us to set out the standards.” To make this happen, Uber spent $300,000 lobbying the City Council, its CEO testified at city hall, and it coordinated 5,000 emails to Council Members within a 24-hour period arguing against a legislative edit the company did not like. As one City Council employee explained, in the three months leading up to the passage of the act, he had “either a meeting, at least one phone call, or at least one email probably every day” with Uber representatives.

D.C.’s bare bones regulation of Uber includes background checks, general vehicle requirements, a mandate regarding insurance, and a requirement that the Taxi Commission collect 1% of all gross receipts for Uber rides. In an unusual step, the legislation also prohibits journalists, researchers, and policymakers from using the federal Freedom of Information Act to access basic information about how many vehicles are on the road during a given week or how many registered Uber drivers live in the city. Uber claims 1.9 million riders and 42,000 drivers in the D.C. region, but this policy makes it impossible for us to verify the claim.

Last year, Mayor Muriel Bower expanded the city’s ties to Uber by announcing a formal partnership with Uber Movement, a service that offers access to certain, anonymized data about congestion and travel patterns. Uber describes its data on 2 billion trips worldwide as a treasure trove for cities and frames itself as a key resource for local governments concerned about transit development. However, the data that Uber Movement offers falls well short of what many planners actually need or want. A recent report by the National Association of Transportation City Officials lists seven types of data that cities need in order to improve the transportation process. Uber has only been willing to share one.

The growing relationship between D.C. and Uber raises four concerns. First, Uber does not promote decent jobs. As we have shown, drivers labor under poor working conditions with high risks and no financial stability. Other research suggests that these jobs may even increase inequality.

Second, Uber is not accessible for everyone or everywhere. Our research found that drivers avoid poor neighborhoods, and, if they have to drop off a passenger in one such area, many turn off the Uber app to avoid picking up new passengers there. As one driver explained, “ I don’t pick up in southeast D.C. or [Prince George’s] County because I don’t know the area. It has nothing to do with racism, demographics, or anything like that.” In Arlington, where he lives, or neighborhoods with many bars and restaurants that he knows, he feels more  “comfortable with finding people.”

Other drivers explained that they concentrate in wealthier neighborhoods because Uber provides them with opportunities to earn more in those areas of the city. Uber maintains that these surges reflect demand, which may well be the case, but this algorithmic pricing nonetheless makes transportation equity elusive, and poorer residents—including many people of color—have less access to Uber. Disability activists have found similar limitations and argue that Uber does not meet federal standards for disabled riders.

Third, Uber can undermine working-class riders’ access to public transportation. New research shows that Uber shifts riders to private cars and away from public transit systems. This pattern can lead transit companies to reduce services, which are critical to working-class residents. It can also lead to cuts to unionized transit jobs, which provide opportunities for upward mobility.

Finally, the D.C. Uber story is not exceptional. In 2016, Uber and Lyft hired 478 state lobbyists—more than Amazon, Walmart and Microsoft combined—to challenge local government regulations in 41 states.

Last year D.C. had the highest rate of income inequality of all U.S. states. The average income for the top five percent of city households is $531,000, but for the bottom 20 percent, the average is only $9,900. That’s a significant divide of both class and race. D.C. leaders want to create an urban future not defined by inequality. Local policymakers have taken steps to mitigate economic and racial inequalities. They have adopted a $15 minimum wage, passed a paid family leave act, and approved a requirement for workers to have paid sick days. Next step? They should take a close look at how Uber’s problematic jobs, limited service, and emphasis on corporate profits rather than a public good fit into their vision of a just and equitable city.

Katie Wells, Kafui Attoh, and Declan Cullen

Katie Wells is an incoming Urban Studies Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. Kafui Attoh is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies in the Murphy Institute for Labor Studies at the City University of New York. Declan Cullen is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography at George Washington University. This research was funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors. For more information, contact Katie at wells@gwu.edu.

 

This Week in Egypt- Week 5 -2018 ( January 29-Feb 4)

Nervana

Top Headlines

  • Egypt’s elections find last-minute challenger to Sisi
  • A coalition of eight Egyptian opposition parties called for a boycott of Egypt’s presidential election
  • Egypt’s leader issues tough warning after election criticism
  • The US Department of State designates Egypt-based Hasm and Liwa Al-Thawra as terrorist groups
  • Military spokesperson denies reports that Israel carries out airstrikes in Egypt
  • Egypt unveils 4,400-year-old tomb of ancient priestess

 Main Headlines

 Monday

Tuesday

  • A coalition of eight Egyptian opposition parties and some 150 pro-democracy public figures called for a boycott of Egypt’s presidential elections
  • Upcoming election will be “Egypt’s fairest”: Sisi campaign
  • Court releases 3 defendants over charges of assaulting Hesham Genena
  • Negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and…

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Hospitals cancelling urgent surgery despite NHS bosses’ orders

Tory’s = let people die – it’s their fault they are sick to death!

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Exclusive: shortage of intensive care beds in England leading to operations being postponed

Hospitals have been cancelling urgent surgery for patients with cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses, despite NHS bosses’ orders not to delay such operations. Some patients have had their procedure cancelled several times, even though their poor health means the surgery is urgent. Others have had operations cancelled on the day they were scheduled to take place.

A combination of factors are at play. Hospitals have fewer beds than last year, so they are less able to deal with the recent, ongoing surge in illness. Last week, for example, the bed occupancy rate at 17 of England’s 153 acute hospital trusts was 98% or more, with the fullest – Walsall healthcare trust – 99.9% occupied.

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Mike Pence to stop North Korea ‘hijacking’ Winter Olympics, aide says

Trying out for “Joker” role?

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Vice-president Mike Pence will stop North Korea “hijacking” the Winter Olympics, an aide said on Sunday, by using his own presence at the Games to remind the world “everything the North Koreans do at the Olympics is a charade to cover up the fact that they are the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet”.

Related: North Korea criticises Trump’s ‘sinister’ State of the Union address

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NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search – 20042357 – Lifting the lid on toilet plume aerosol: a literature review with suggestions for future research.

The potential risks associated with “toilet plume” aerosols produced by flush toilets is a subject of continuing study. This review examines the evidence regarding toilet plume bioaerosol generation and infectious disease transmission.

Source: NIOSHTIC-2 Publications Search – 20042357 – Lifting the lid on toilet plume aerosol: a literature review with suggestions for future research.

Torture, Penza, Petersburg

via aleksey godin

More information on the Russian security services’ arrest and torture of anarchists and anti-fa in Petersburg and Penza emerges. 

31 January: a picket at FSB headquarters in Moscow in support of Pavel Nikulin. Source: Journalist and Media Workers Union.

This article is part of our partnership with OVD-Info, an NGO that monitors politically-motivated arrests in Russia.

We would like to stress how important it is to sign an agreement on legal representation with a good lawyer, designate an authorized representative who in case of your arrest will know what to do, and also to strengthen the security of your electronic devices.  

Last week, we reported that the computer programmer Viktor Filinkov went missing on his way to Pulkovo airport and two days later a court remanded him in custody on charges of terrorism.

– The day following Filinkov’s arrest he was visited in detention by members of the local Public Oversight Commission. The observers identified numerous traces of burns from an electric shock device on his chest and on his right thigh, and also a bruise on his right ankle. Filinkov has said that people in masks took him to a forest, beat him for five hours, and demanded that he make a confession using specific words they insisted he should learn by heart. In other  words, he was tortured.

– Filinkov’s lawyer says that when he visited his client in a pre-trial detention centre, an attempt was made to open his bag containing documents, a telephone and a laptop.  

Viktor Filinkov. Source: Facebook.
– Filinkov also said that he was visited in the remand centre by an FSB officer who had taken part in the torture. He told the computer programmer that the “games being played by the Public Oversight Commission” were not in his best interests and sought to persuade the young person to collaborate with him.

– On 25 January, Igor Shishkin, a Petersburg resident, went missing after he took his dog for a walk. Law enforcement officers subsequently turned up at his apartment with the dog and proceeded to conduct a search of the property. The Court remanded Shishkin in custody on the same charges as Filinkov. Journalists were not allowed into the court hearing and some were detained. Those who saw Shishkin in court reported that he was covered in bruises..

– “Don’t write to me, don’t bring me anything, go away, the farther the better, and don’t ask about me, it’s all over with me”: we have published an article about the terrorism investigation ongoing in Penza, out of which the prosecution and torture of St Petersburg left-wing activists has derived. The defendants in the case have alleged unlawful use of force, torture, psychological pressure and the planting of weapons by FSB officers.

– MediaZona has published the story of one other Petersburg resident Igor Kapustin, who works as an industrial climber, who has been tortured by means of electric shocks and questioned about Penza.

The home of journalist Pavel Nikulin was searched. He has been questioned as a witness in a terrorism case.

– The law enforcement officials visited Nikulin on account of his article “From Kaluga on Jihad,” published in The New Times. The article contained an interview with a Kaluga resident  who “became disappointed with Russia, anarchism and the workers’ struggle,” adopted Islam and left to fight in Syria.

Pavel Nikulin’s apartment after it was searched by police on 31 January. Source: Telegram.

– The investigation, in which Nikulin figures as a witness, has been brought under Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code (undergoing training for the purposes of carrying out terrorist activities). The authorities seized electronic equipment, t-shirts and a copy of the unofficially published (“samizdat”) journal Moloko plus.

In St Petersburg, human rights defender Dinar Idrisov was severely beaten.

– Idrisov’s arm was broken and he requires a major operation. In addition, he also suffered a broken cheekbone, a head injury and concussion. Idrisov does not know the cause of the attack, but does not exclude that it could have been related to his Facebook post about the arrests of Filinkov and Shishkin.

Dinar Idrisov after he was attacked on 28 January. Source: Facebook.

On Sunday, people supporting Alexey Navalny’s call for a “Voters’ Boycott” protested in Russian cities

– In total, 371 people in various cities were arrested. Lists of those detained can be seen here, and the outcomes of the court hearings here.

The historian Yury Dmitriev and mathematician Dmitry Bogatov have been released under travel restrictions, the former from pre-trial detention and the latter from house arrest. Hooray!

Thank you

As the elections draw ever closer there is more and more work to do. Help us continue our work now and in the difficult months before and after the 2018 election campaign here. You can volunteer to work with us here.

 

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