
Like Shamima Begum, I could soon be stripped of British citizenship without notice | Naga Kandiah | The Guardian
Some kind of advance warning of the government’s intention to remove citizenship at least gives time to prepare a defence and appeal. To no longer have this “heads up” will leave victims of such decisions winded and on the back foot – presumably this is why the “no notice” clause is being added to the legislation.
In the case of R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, 2003, Lord Steyn emphasised the importance of notice as a key component of fair decision-making, stating that fairness is the guiding principle of our public law, and that fairness requires that a decision takes effect only upon communication.
The Home Office has said that British citizenship is a privilege, not a right. A government spokesperson recently told the Guardian: “Deprivation of citizenship on conducive grounds is rightly reserved for those who pose a threat to the UK or whose conduct involves very high harm. The nationality and borders bill will amend the law so citizenship can be deprived where it is not practicable to give notice, for example if there is no way of communicating with the person.”
The New Statesman has conducted research into the numbers of people and their nationalities who could potentially be affected by the new clause. Using 2011 census data it found that 5.6 million people in England and Wales could potentially be affected by the new rule. Just one in 20 are white, while half of British Asians and 39% of black Britons are potentially at risk.
Across Latin America, Mennonites seek out isolation at the expense of forests
Low German Old Colony Mennonites, who have been settling across Latin America for the past 100 years, have cleared 495 hectares (1,223 acres) of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon so far this year.
The illegal deforestation documented by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) is part of an ongoing expansion in the region by this conservative group associated with the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition.
In a statement released on Dec. 13, the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM) announced that legal complaints have been filed and measures taken to “investigate, sanction and paralyze the irregular activities.”
“We have now documented the deforestation of nearly 4,000 hectares [9,800 acres] across four new colonies established in the Peruvian Amazon since 2017,” Matt Finer, the MAAP director at the NGO Amazon Conservation, wrote in an email to Mongabay. “This makes the Mennonites the new leading cause of organized, large-scale deforestation in Peru, more than other causes like agribusiness and oil palm.”
Source: Across Latin America, Mennonites seek out isolation at the expense of forests
Hump Day
I just wanted to do a quick post, let’s hear some happy Christmas tunes on this Hump Day Wednesday! Special Christmas Edition.
In no particular order:
Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) – Christmas is all Around 16:9 – 2003 Original Musik Video
Elton John – Step Into Christmas
Elton John
Michael Buble – Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Michael Bublé
Chuck Berry – Run, run Rudolph
Kelly Clarkson – Underneath the Tree (Audio)
Kelly Clarkson
Costa Ricans Live Longer Than We Do. What’s the Secret? – Stigmatis
In the United States and elsewhere, public health and medical care are largely separate enterprises. Costa Rica shows the benefits of integrating the two—it spends less than we do on health care and gets better results.Photographs by Fred Ramos for The New Yorker Source: Costa Ricans Live Longer Than We Do. What’s the Secret? – Stigmatis
MOTHER OF VIRTUE

we have seen perseverance give up on challenges,
and patience tired of sitting at the door of time.
ages carry many feats,
of which reverence worship at their feet.
•
we have seen peace fade into silence,
and honesty question the words of truth.
even meekness is defiant,
for understanding now selects knowledge.
•
but there’s a fire
that burns through man’s heart,
which when it is ignited,
is pure paradise.
•
it melts these virtues together
and perfect them in one.
man’s heart is like a stubborn stone,
that only the fire of love can melt.
Dooms Day Warning in Antarctica as Glacier Melts — FunWritings
The climate emergency should be getting more attention from leaders The post Dooms Day Warning in Antarctica as Glacier Melts appeared first on FunWritings.
Dooms Day Warning in Antarctica as Glacier Melts — FunWritings
Arely goes herbs
Once there lived a man named Arely
Who grew himself a pot belly
He sowed wild oats in his stomach pot
Which thrived into a flowery Plot
His tummy became flora fauna friendly
They called him a tarzan heritage
The tourists came to see his advantage
Hé became a walking jungle
The herbivores came to mingle
Gobbled him up as herbage .
Good People Doing Good Things — Helpers
As I sat down to write this post, I sighed deeply, not really feeling in the right spirit for a ‘good people’ post. But, knowing how much you all enjoy the good people posts, I carried on and within a few minutes of reading about good people, my dark mood began to lift. Funny how good people can do that, isn’t it?
Jimmy Finch lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, about 90 miles from Mayfield, Kentucky, where a devastating tornado hit last Friday night. Mayfield reportedly suffered the worst damage throughout the five states that were impacted by tornadoes that night.
On Sunday morning, Jimmy Finch loaded food and a smoker onto his small trailer and headed out to feed the people of Mayfield. As Jimmy tells it …
“I know they don’t have electricity. No restaurants. No running water. I just figured I would do what I could do. So I…
View original post 542 more words
Electrify every building? This guy just might.
Donnel Baird wants to retrofit every home, making it more efficient and saving the residents money. By making them all-electric, he also reduces greenhouse gases and because they’re connected by wifi, he bridges the inequities around internet access.

Earlier this month, BlocPower partnered with the city of Ithaca, New York, to electrify every single building in the city (that’s over 6,000 homes and buildings) by 2030. The company is projected to cut about 40% of the city’s overall carbon footprint—saving approximately 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, or the equivalent of about 35,000 cars driven in a year. It’s a tall order, but it’s only the beginning.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90701366/meet-the-man-who-wants-to-electrify-every-building-in-america
BlocPower provides the financing to pull this off.
To date, the company has retrofitted over 1,200 buildings (which include more than 10,000 individual apartments) in disadvantaged communities across New York City.
Baird created this start up in 2014 after consulting with…
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