October 3, 2023

This Refugee-Run Food Hall Brings Underrepresented Cuisines to Colorado

Mango House is a lifeline for Aurora’s refugee population.

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/denver/mango-house-refugee-food-hall



From the outside, Mango House looks like any other building on East Colfax Avenue. You’d never guess that inside is a haven where refugees can gain access to healthcare, 15 places of worship, and youth organizations—or that it’s home to a unique, refugee-run food hall that’s open to the public.

Dr. P.J. Parmar founded Mango House in Aurora, Colorado in 2014, with the goal of providing a shared space for local refugees. Initially, the organization consisted solely of Ardas Family Medicine, a healthcare clinic with an open-door policy where refugees could seek out medical, dental, and educational services. After moving into what was previously a sizable mini-mall in 2019, Mango House expanded to include the food hall, which is now home to seven stalls and flags from countries around the world, such as Myanmar, Lebanon, and Ukraine.



“When I saw the place available across the street to move into, which was five times bigger than what we were doing before, it was appealing,” Parmar says. “I envisioned having my patients cook up some food for not only their communities, but for non-refugees who were visiting.” Parmar’s inspiration to open the food hall came from an influx of non-refugees visiting the original Mango House location, asking for ways to get involved. Mango House does not take donations or volunteers, however, as it’s a private medical practice and business with over 15,000 visits a year.

But given that over 20% of Aurora’s residents are foreign-born, with the majority of those residents being refugees, Parmar knew he needed to find a way to bridge the gap between the two groups. “We would have corporate groups and mothers bringing their kids to observe and learn, but that became kind of a zoo-like activity,” Parmar says. “Instead, the food hall allows non-refugees to feel like they’re doing some part by supporting the businesses, and it doesn’t become an exhibitionist sort of thing, where people are trying to pretend to do some volunteer work that isn’t really necessary.”

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October 2, 2023

Sweden's climate policy--off the rails

A government beholden to the radical right, Lisa Pelling writes, is a warning to Europe the green transition can go into reverse.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/swedens-climate-policy-off-the-rails



The current Swedish government has not yet been a year in office, but Ulf Kristersson’s coalition of conservatives, liberals and Christian democrats, which govern at the mercy of the radical-right Sweden Democrats, already has a dire record. Has any government ever increased greenhouse-gas emissions by so much, so quickly?

Even before they took office in October 2022, the four parties announced they would cancel plans—decades in the making—to update Sweden’s 150-year-old railway infrastructure for high-speed trains. The new tracks would have brought a welcome alleviation to the overcrowded and increasingly accident-stricken Swedish network. High-speed trains would also have dramatically cut travel times in one of Europe’s geographically largest countries: going from Stockholm to Gothenburg would have taken two hours rather than three.

Instead the coalition parties promised investment in maintenance of existing railways. The new government’s first budget however moved the funds set aside (SEK750 million or around €70 million) to the maintenance of … motorways. In Sweden, there are no signs of an Austrian-style KilmaTicket or a Deutschland-Ticket. Instead of subsidising public transport, the right-wing government has lowered taxes on fossil fuel.

Bad news on biofuels

Sweden’s strategy to comply with the Paris Agreement of 2015 focuses on a milestone goal—to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from domestic transport by at least 70 per cent by 2030 compared with 2010. The most important tool to reach this 2030 target has been to oblige fuel retailers gradually to introduce more and more biofuel into fossil diesel and petrol. But the new government has decided to cut the required share of biofuel drastically, from 30.5 per cent in diesel and 7.8 per cent in petrol to just 6 per cent in 2024.

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October 2, 2023

The groom gave the bride's students with Down syndrome the task of carrying the ring. The result is

a wonderfully meaningful moment.

https://twitter.com/Enezator/status/1706959370200735964

October 1, 2023

x.com inks do not display in DU, you need to click on them and use the twitter.com ones

The DU software does not auto imbed tweets from the x.con domain, unlike tweets from the twitter.com domain, which it does

also, please URL trim the '?' and everything after it (that is not just for twitter links)

example

https://x.com/BostonStrong_34/status/1708551657284366373?s=20

will not display on DU

but if you click on it it yields a link that will display on DU

(snapshot)

(and ?s=20 should be trimmed off or else it displays)

here is what that yields

https://twitter.com/BostonStrong_34/status/1708551657284366373

October 1, 2023

NFL Ad Ran on Zombie Twitter Account Calling for Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce's Deaths

The social platform continues to place brand spots alongside the dangerous extremists it refuses to rein in

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/nfl-advertising-twitter-x-white-nationalist-1234834242/



X, THE COMPANY formerly known as Twitter, has been at pains to lure back advertisers who deserted the platform in droves after Elon Musk‘s takeover, slashing the site’s revenue in the process. Last month, the company even rolled out expanded features for brands, including tools to help keep their ads away from undesirable content like hate speech.

But those measures have proven wildly ineffective so far, at least where one major ad partner — the NFL — is concerned. Reports from Media Matters reveal that X has been serving the league’s promoted content on a number of verified and openly white nationalist accounts with a million followers between them. These include profiles for white supremacist Richard Spencer and VDare, an anti-immigrant organization (and Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group) that has specifically attacked the NFL and encouraged a boycott of the league over players supporting Black Lives Matter, denouncing the movement as “anti-white blood libel.”



NFL ads were also served on the account of Andrew Torba, CEO of the Nazi-infested rival website Gab, himself a notorious antisemite. When he retweeted a racist meme depicting a boat full of non-white migrants that warned “You’re being conquered,” an NFL clip from Sept. 14 game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles appeared right below it. X did not reply to a request for comment on the ad placements.



Media Matters noted that NFL spots — which are supposed to generate revenue for verified users whose timelines they appear on — likewise turned up in Rumble streaming host Stew Peters’ feed. Peters is a far-right conspiracy theorist who has regularly demonized Jews and LGBTQ people but is perhaps best known for his extreme anti-vax positions and spreading other falsehoods about Covid-19. He pushed the conspiracy theory that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed on the field in January due to cardiac arrest but went on to make a complete recovery, actually died because he was vaccinated and has been replaced by an actor.

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October 1, 2023

The Ongoing National Security Threats Posed by Senator Bob Menendez

https://www.justsecurity.org/88890/the-ongoing-national-security-threats-posed-by-senator-bob-menendez/

by Asha Rangappa and Marc Polymeropoulos

The recent indictment of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reads like the script of a B crime movie: A politician, three New Jersey businessmen, a shady trucking business, and envelopes and a safe deposit box stuffed with cash and gold bars. But the most important thru-line in the narrative isn’t the criminal charges. Rather, it is the national security threat raised by the espionage and counterintelligence concerns which run throughout the 39-page document. In sum, the government of Egypt–with whom the United States has an ostensible “critical defense partnership”–appears to have recruited the powerful Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The indictment explicitly lists five ways Menendez has already compromised U.S. national security, and implicitly reveals one ongoing threat Menendez poses as long as he continues to hold his current position.

1. Disclosing the United States’ Staffing Blueprint in its Egyptian Embassy

According to the indictment, on May 6, 2018, Menendez requested that the State Department provide him with non-public information regarding the number of people serving at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and their nationality. Upon receiving this information, Menendez texted that information to his then-girlfriend (now wife), Nadine Menendez, who forwarded it to an Egyptian businessman Wael Hana, who in turn forwarded it to Egyptian officials.Notably, the senator requested this information from the State Department after having met with Nadine Menendez and Hana earlier that day.

Such tasking by the Egyptians would be consistent with classic modus operandi in a recruitment operation. One requests a seemingly innocuous document, that once is provided, gets their hooks into an agent-candidate. Indeed, the chronology that follows in the indictment indicates the senator had become compromised and increasing demands were then placed on him by the Egyptian officials and intermediaries.

Although the precise staffing numbers of a foreign embassy are not classified, they are considered sensitive because they can potentially be used to determine a foreign intelligence presence in that country. Foreign embassies are a primary focus for a domestic counterintelligence service. In addition, understanding the number of locals employed at the embassy offers opportunities for a domestic counterintelligence service to recruit those individuals to be their “eyes and ears” inside the embassy – even just to spot and assess potential targets who may be vulnerable.

2. Providing Advance Information on U.S. Military Aid...........

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October 1, 2023

Survivors Reveal War Crimes as Putin's Men Stood Aside

In interviews with The Daily Beast, soldiers recounted horror stories from the Nagorno-Karabakh onslaught after their Russian allies failed to intervene.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-allied-soldiers-accuse-azerbaijan-of-war-crimes-in-nagorno-karabakh



GORIS, Armenia—Two ethnic Armenian soldiers who survived the blitzkrieg onslaught against Nagorno-Karabakh told The Daily Beast they witnessed apparent war crimes committed against civilians who lived in the disputed enclave.

Azerbaijan conducted the assault on Nagorno-Karabakh last week despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers who had been defending the residents of the border region. It took only two days for Azerbaijan to take control of the enclave after the assault began on Sept. 19. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has since accused its Russian ally of failing to intervene.

One civilian allegedly had his leg cut in two by a bullet from a sniper that struck him during the attack, according to the soldiers. They also told The Daily Beast that they had witnessed indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, in contravention of the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statue on war crimes.

The University Network For Human Rights, a non-governmental organization documenting crimes against humanity, is currently in Armenia collecting witness allegations of war crimes against Azerbaijani soldiers and citizens. Among the alleged crimes are attacks on civilian infrastructure, and forced deportation.

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September 30, 2023

Kari Lake and Pro-DeSantis 'Reporter' Get Into Screaming Match at GOP Debate

Before the candidates hit the debate stage Wednesday, there was another debate between Kari Lake and pro-Ron DeSantis reporter Chris Nelson.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kari-lake-and-pro-desantis-reporter-chris-nelson-get-into-screaming-match-at-gop-debate



When an ardently pro-Ron DeSantis “journalist” caught up with Donald Trump surrogate Kari Lake at the Republican debate Wednesday, he had a specific question for the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate: “How are you going to run for Senate when you’re already the governor?”

The antagonistic question and subsequent two-minute heckling of Lake by conservative journalist Chris Nelson highlighted the fiery factions created in right-wing media by the Trump versus DeSantis GOP primary.

“Why do you lie about Ron DeSantis?” Nelson yelled in Lake’s direction at one point. “Why do you lie about Ron DeSantis, Kari Lake?” Lake eventually fired back while preparing for a television hit on media row ahead of the GOP debate.

“Why did Ron DeSantis close his state down?” Lake said, according to video footage taken by Nelson. “Children had to wear masks to school.” In one particularly pointed shot, Nelson asked Lake where she was going to live “when they repossess Mar-A-Lago.”

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https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/1707150816451137877
https://twitter.com/JoshPower80/status/1707175050472738835

September 30, 2023

Prostitution is not a free choice for women

The feminist goal is abolition of prostitution—not acceptance of it and mere defence of ‘sex workers’.

https://www.socialeurope.eu/prostitution-is-not-a-free-choice-for-women


Prostitution has steadily grown in Germany in the two decades since legalisation

Prostitution is not about choice but exploitation, need and trafficking. It is not a job like any other. Nor does its longevity render it ‘natural’. The ‘oldest trade’ is not sustained in formally egalitarian societies that pursue substantive equality; rather, it constitutes a school of inequality for all. That is why the European Parliament adopted this month, by a clear majority, a report (the socialist MEP Maria Noichl was rapporteur) calling on the European Commission and the Council of the EU to act on prostitution, as clearly contrary to the fundamental values of the European Union. The report opts for a ‘Nordic’ or equality model; amendments misusing that label to advocate the decriminalisation of those who engage in prostitution fell.


Intersecting inequalities

The report argues that prostitution, which feeds on the lucrative business of pimps and trafficking networks, is one of the most extreme manifestations of the inequalities which intersect in the exploitation of women’s bodies and lives—exploitation which continues to grow within Europe’s borders, where most countries regulate or tolerate prostitution. This though article 2 of the Treaty on European Union affirms that the union is founded on the values of human dignity, equality and respect for human rights (including the rights of persons belonging to minorities), non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men.

That article also talks about respect for freedom. But freedom can only be guaranteed if one has a choice—something that does not exist for most women driven into prostitution. Most are victims of trafficking from impoverished or chaotic states or come from milieux of exclusion; their supply increases in times of economic crisis. In 2022, the European Parliament gave its opinion on the link between women’s poverty and the rise in prostitution, in a non-legislative initiative on women’s poverty in Europe (for which I was rapporteur). ‘Freedom’ is the language of associations and individuals critical of the abolitionist stance of the report the parliament has just adopted. Their arguments appeal to women’s autonomy over their bodies and associated empowerment, equating prostitution with sexual and reproductive rights. This, however, mangles words and principles: what free choice, what autonomy, exists when one has no real options?

Power and exploitation

In most cases we are not even talking about the myth of ‘free choice’, albeit stemming from extreme need, at all—but coercion by families who sell girls into the international trafficking and extortion networks that feed the brothels of rich countries. In this context, to speak of autonomy is to legitimise relations of power and exploitation towards women. Beyond that, the myth of free choice works by implying that everyone has the same range of possibilities, among which to choose. But this requires minimal material preconditions, so that the ‘choice’ is not between prostitution and destitution.

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September 30, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams Criticized Again for Response to Severe Weather as City Is Deluged

Mayor Eric Adams did not publicly discuss the coming storm until nearly 24 hours after weather officials first warned of potential flash flooding in New York.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/nyregion/mayor-adams-flooding-response.html

https://archive.ph/0nAt6


Mayor Eric Adams did not hold a news conference or address the public until almost noon on Friday after large swaths of the city were already under water and half the subway was suspended.Credit...Hans Pennink/Associated Press

Less than four months ago, Mayor Eric Adams was widely criticized for not giving New Yorkers adequate warning when the city’s air quality worsened rapidly. He shook off the critics, insisting that his administration could not have been expected to do more. On Thursday, as it became clear that a major storm was about to hit New York, the mayor had the opportunity to take a different approach.

Gov. Kathy Hochul acted first, telling residents to be prepared for flash floods, and warning in a radio interview Thursday evening of “havoc throughout the downstate region.” State transit officials also held a news conference on Thursday to discuss the coming storm.

Mr. Adams, however, did not hold a news conference or address the public until almost noon on Friday after large swaths of the city were already under water and service had been suspended on half the subway system. By contrast, Mr. Adams attended a campaign fund-raiser Thursday night at a scenic restaurant along the Hudson River in Manhattan to celebrate his 63rd birthday earlier this month. Suggested contributions were listed at $2,100.

https://twitter.com/JCColtin/status/1707605224200814887
His office released its first statement about the storm, a “travel advisory” warning of the heavy rains, via email at 11 p.m. Nearly 12 hours later, just before the mayor was scheduled to address reporters for the first time — and 23 hours after the National Weather Service warned of flash flooding in the city — the Adams administration asked New Yorkers to “stay home if you don’t need to travel.”

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