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Month: December 2017

US Regulators’ Vote to End Net Neutrality Draws Opposition From Congress

Bridge Agents

(Sputnik) — Earlier on Thursday the FCC voted 3-2 to end a 2015 regulation that defined the internet as a public utility. Net neutrality forbids internet service providers from slowing or blocking content from competitors. “Today the FCC took a wrecking ball to the pillars of freedom and openness upon which the Internet was built,” Senator Patrick Leahy said. Former presidential hopeful and Senator Bernie Sanders said the FCC’s decision spells “the end of the internet as we know it.” “In Congress and the courts we must fight back,” Sanders said. The historically awful FCC action undoing net neutrality, Senator Ron…

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Underage Sexual Abuse: Another Grooming Gang on Loose in London

Bridge Agents

London (Sputnik) – Four teenage girls have so far reported being raped in British London and 30 potential victims may soon come forward. Evidence has emerged of a new grooming gang operating around a McDonald’s in Stratford, with three men and three boys now arrested on suspicion of being a part of it. Commenting on the four rape reports, Detective Inspector Laura Hillier, of the Metropolitan Police’s sexual exploitation team, told The Independent:  “They had all been met by males at the McDonald’s on the Broadway in Stratford and been taken to different places where they were sexually assaulted.” Some of the girls had a firm…

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Palestinians Aren’t Surprised by US Jerusalem Move As World Already ‘Ignores Their Existence’

Bridge Agents

(GV) – US President Donald Trump’s declaration that the country would move its embassy in Israel to the city of Jerusalem was met with shock throughout the world. Among Palestinians, however, it was outrage mixed with a distinctive lack of surprise. Jerusalem is a controversial site of contention in the so-called Israeli-Palestinian peace process for the simple reason that both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine claim it as their capital. Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered to be occupied Palestinian territory — Israel captured the city,…

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Skip the Slip This Holiday Season

Bridge Agents

(OW) – Everyone’s familiar with the typical holiday waste we’re left with every year after the festivities end — wrapping paper, uneaten food, disposable cutlery, among other things. But something we often don’t consider is that as purchasing skyrockets from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, so do paper receipts. The size of receipts doesn’t easily convey the massive environmental or health impacts they leave behind. Producing these slips of paper requires nearly 10 million trees, 1 billion gallons of water, and 250 million gallons of oil every single year in the…

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Mitrovica Rock School – Sit Back and Enjoy the Music of Kosovo’s Rock City

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The fuzzy, metal-infused guitars and punk rock attitude of Mitrovica Rock School alumni, Proximity Mine, stand for much more than just youthful attitude and rebellion. Hailing from Mitrovica, the new band joins the ranks of a long line of influential rock musicians from Kosovo’s “Rock City”. They, along with the six other currently active bands at the Rock School, are carrying the torch forward for a city steeped in musical heritage that somewhat lost its way in the wake of the bloody Kosovo War of 1999. In the 1970s and…

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Can You Operate a Ham Radio Without a License?

Bridge Agents

(SurvivalSullivan) – Alot of people shy away from HAM radio because of the license. They either don’t want to take the time and effort to get it, or they simply don’t want the Government tracking them. But is it really true? Can you not use a HAM radio unless you’re licensed? The answer to this question is both Yes and No. Surprisingly, here is a list of uses you can use it for without a license. Listen to FM radio Listen to Emergency Weather Radio Listen to Local municipalities radio communication Scan…

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Crisis pregnancy centers often provide false, misleading information

Bridge Agents

United States (JR) – Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are pro-life organizations that often offer women incorrect, incomplete or misleading information about their reproductive options. In response, some localities have passed legislation requiring CPCs to make disclosures to their clients. California, for example, passed the Reproductive FACT Act in 2015. Under this law, CPCs must notify clients of public resources available to prevent or terminate pregnancies. It also mandates that CPCs inform their patients if they are not licensed as a medical facility. Anti-choice advocates have taken issue with these requirements. The National Institute…

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Starvation and Cholera in Yemen

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(FPIF) – The current war in Yemen has had devastating consequences for the population. The indiscriminate Saudi bombing includes schools, water purification plants, hospitals, and electricity plants, leading to the death of over 10,000 and the wounding of 50,000 more. By the end of 2017, the International Red Cross has projected that over a million Yemenis will have suffered from cholera. So far, 900,000 people have been infected, and 2,000 have did, 1,200 of them children. Faced with no fuel for its water-treatment plant due to a Saudi blockade that relies…

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Turkmenistan: Animal Rights Activist Detained

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(HRW) – Police in Turkmenistan arbitrarily detained a prominent animal rights activist, Galina Kucherenko, on December 7, 2017, and are holding her at an undisclosed location, Human Rights Watch said today. Police also detained Kucherenko’s adult daughter, Valeria, but later released her. Turkmenistan’s international partners should urgently and publicly call on the Turkmen government to disclose Kucherenko’s whereabouts and release her immediately. On December 7 at about 11:30 a.m., police broke into Kucherenko’s apartment in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital, taking the apartment’s metal door off its hinges, and detained Kucherenko and…

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Step one of breaking the harassment cycle: take women seriously

Bridge Agents

(Conversation) – The issue of sexual harassment at work finally seems to be being taken seriously as a topic of discussion. But the difficult part will be to change the culture that fails to take women’s complaints seriously. Harvey Weinstein’s outing as an alleged serial assailant of young women, including many famous movie stars, has opened the floodgates. Now we find that a British government minister asked his aide to buy sex toys on his behalf and that countless other accusations are swirling around Westminster. Both are evidence of what…

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