ALB Micki

Showing posts with label AK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AK. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Travel Ban


 President Donald Trump’s new proclamation fully suspending the citizens of 12 countries from traveling to the United States and limiting travel from citizens of 7 countries went into effect on June 9.

The proclamation, dated June 4, cited reported concerns related to countries lacking proper issuance of passports or documents, inadequate screening and vetting measures, high visa overstaying rates, countries historically refusing to take back their citizens, and, for a very few countries, terrorism.



Fully suspended countries include Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar (recognized by the U.S. government as Burma), Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partially suspended countries include Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Amnesty International described the travel ban as “discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel.” 

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“By targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate,” the organization posted on X.

“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans,” Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Venezuela’s Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, said during a weekly show on state television, according to NBC News. He described the U.S. government as “fascist” and added that the government persecutes Venezuelans for no reason.

The African Union Commission issued a statement expressing concerns “about the potential negative impact of such measures on people-to-people ties, educational exchange, commercial engagement, and the broader diplomatic relations that have been carefully nurtured over decades.” 

The commission called “upon the U.S. Administration to consider adopting a more consultative approach and to engage in constructive dialogue with the countries concerned.”

Monthly Muslim Refugee Admissions for Each Month of 2017 and Average for 2016 from The Cato Institute. Source: U.S. Department of State *Monthly average, **Through December 11, 2017

Oxfam, an international human rights organization, condemned the travel ban and restrictions.

“A new travel ban marks a chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division. By once again targeting individuals from Muslim-majority countries, countries with predominantly Black and Brown populations.

And countries in the midst of conflict and political instability, this executive order deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes, and religious intolerance,” Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

“This policy is not about national security—it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,” she added.

“This latest travel ban would deny entry to individuals and families fleeing war, persecution, and oppression, forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions. It will prevent family reunifications and America’s historical legacy as a welcoming nation will be further eroded.”

Eight of the 19 banned and restricted countries are predominantly Muslim, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Sierra Leone and Turkmenistan. Half the population of Chad and Eritrea is Muslim.

Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen were also among PresidentTrump’s previous executive order during his first term in January 2017, which banned travel to 7 predominantly Muslim countries. The other two countries were Iraq and Syria.

“It was one of the most chaotic and confusing moments of his young presidency. Travelers from those nations were either barred from getting on their flights to the U.S. or detained at U.S. airports after they landed. They included students and faculty, as well as business people, tourists and people visiting friends and family,” the Associated press reported. 

Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian organization, described the ban and restrictions as “the latest assault on legal immigration processes.”

“It’s always been difficult for most individuals in many of these countries to obtain visas, but this blunt order restricts the entry even of those who meet strict qualifications and undergo thorough vetting,” he said in a statement.

“We urge the administration to reconsider these restrictions and to pursue policies that scrutinize individuals in the interest of ensuring security without banning entire nationalities from lawfully visiting or emigrating to the United States.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) labeled the travel ban “discriminatory” and also issued a statement.

“This senseless, prejudicial policy is an abuse of power that also threatens U.S. citizen relatives from the targeted countries. We cannot allow this Administration to continue scapegoating individuals based on religion or nationality,” he said.

Some exemptions from the travel ban and restrictions include lawful U.S. residents, U.S. citizens who have dual citizenship, foreign national employees of the U.S. government who meet certain qualifications, foreign nationals who meet specific criteria, athletes of international and major sporting events, individuals who apply for visas in connection to U.S. family members and children adopted by U.S. citizens.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Falsely Accusing

 Top court upholds Amanda Knox’s conviction for falsely accusing man of murder



Knox had appealed the conviction based on a European Court of Human Rights ruling.

sensational case that polarized trial watchers on both sides of the Altlantic.

Knox had appealed the conviction based on a European Court of Human Rights ruling that said her rights had been violated by the police’s failure to provide a lawyer and adequate translator during a long night of questioning just days after Meredith Kercher’s murder.

Judge Monica Boni read the verdict aloud in a courtroom that was empty except for a few reporters and guards. The lawyers for both Knox and the man she wrongly accused, Patrick Lumumba, had gone home.

Reached by telephone, Lumumba said he was satisified with the verdict. “Amanda was wrong. This sentence has to accompany her for the rest of her life,″ he said.

The ruling should bring an end to a sensational 17-year legal saga that saw Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend convicted and acquitted in flip-flo

sensational case that polarized trial watchers on both sides of the Altlantic.

Knox had appealed the conviction based on a European Court of Human Rights ruling that said her rights had been violated by the police’s failure to provide a lawyer and adequate translator during a long night of questioning just days after Meredith Kercher’s murder.

Judge Monica Boni read the verdict aloud in a courtroom that was empty except for a few reporters and guards. The lawyers for both Knox and the man she wrongly accused, Patrick Lumumba, had gone home.

Reached by telephone, Lumumba said he was satisified with the verdict. “Amanda was wrong. This sentence has to accompany her for the rest of her life,″ he said.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Aftershocks Spread Fear

 Aftershocks continue to sow fear across Myanmar, where millions remain in desperate need of humanitarian aid a full month since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed more than 3,800 people and injured 5,100. 

Aid agencies warned on April 29 that more than 6.3 million people remain in urgent need of support in the worst-affected central areas around Mandalay.

“People [are] forced to sleep outside, safe water is scarce, health services are disrupted,” said UN aid coordination office, OCHA, in an appeal for more support from the international community.

The latest aftershock struck late on April 27 night and measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, said UN partner the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

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“This is provoking widespread fear within a population already traumatized and also fear within the responders themselves,” said Nadia Khoury, IFRC Head of Delegation in Myanmar, speaking from Yangon.

Millions impacted

While the attention of the international community has faded, dispossessed families still need help rebuilding their lives, said OCHA’s Christina Powell.

“The emergency for most is far from over—it is another crisis on top of the challenges already facing the people of Myanmar,” said Ms. Powell. “People told me they are too afraid to go back into their homes, worried they could collapse at any moment with the ongoing aftershocks.”

In badly affected areas, including Mandalay and Bago in the south of the country, some communities already suffered unprecedented floods last September. The earthquakes brought another wave of devastation.

Assessments indicate that the quakes damaged or destroyed 55,000 homes in the Central Asian nation, where civil war has raged since a military coup in February 2021.

In Mandalay, OCHA reported that locals have continued to deliver food and household items to people still living on the roadside or in community shelters. But needs are widespread and include shelter, food, personal hygiene kits and even toilets, said OCHA’s Tin Aung Thein.

“These people are already vulnerable, depending solely on their daily wages. For their recovery, international support is greatly needed.”

Over the last month, IFRC has provided life-sustaining support—including safe drinking water, healthcare, tarpaulins for tents and items for women and children—to more than 110,000 people.

The aid organization has also delivered 250 metric tons of aid and helped distribute over 220,000 liters of safe drinking water to Myanmar every day. Its $121 million appeal is only 15 percent funded.  

Right to live in dignity

Ms. Powell of OCHA urged the international community to step up and support the population’s right to “live in safety and dignity.”

“Additional and quick disbursement of resources and sustained access to all communities are vital to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate even further,” Ms. Powell insisted. 

Sunday, May 11, 2025

A new ‘Muslim Ban’

 

President Donald Trump signs executive order, attempting to end birthright citizenship, other immigration actions. Photo: Micky

With the stroke of a pen, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order titled, “Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats,” widely known as the “Travel Ban” and by some, the “Muslim Ban.” The order was signed on Jan. 20, hours after the president was sworn in.

The order begins a process of federal agencies determining which nationalities will face partial or total visa bans from countries where “vetting and screening” information is so deficient as to warrant blocking entry into the U.S.

The updated measure is a controversial law from Mr. Trump’s previous 2016-2020 term which targeted people from several Muslim-majority, Arab and African countries.

The new order intensifies scrutiny of those already in the U.S. and introduces provisions to possibly deport individuals who were lawfully issued visas within the past four years after the ban had been repealed. Former President Joe Biden reversed the ban upon taking office in 2021.

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Rights organizations are now gearing up for an anticipated battle against the “Trump Travel Ban 2.0,” which was expected to go into effect 60 days after its signing.

“People who came to what is supposed to be the land of freedom and opportunity completely legally are now being told to keep their heads down and their mouths shut, or the government may deport them because of where they were born,” said a statement by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, that opposes the measure.  

NIAC is urging the administration to reverse the policy and is calling on Congress and the public to stand against these measures.

The language of President Trump’s new order did not name any targeted countries. However, the 2017 ban targeted seven Muslim-majority nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and in 2020, was expanded to include Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

The measure was met with protests and legal challenges, however, the Supreme Court in 2018 upheld the final version of the measure, which covered 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, ruling in favor of Mr. Trump’s executive power. 

In a statement, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said it strongly opposes the Executive Order and called on the Trump administration not to stigmatize

and target entire communities, which they argued, only sows division.

“The new order goes a step further than its 2017 predecessor by adding language that opens the door to ideological exclusion by allowing the government to deny visas or entry based on perceived political opinions, religious beliefs, or cultural backgrounds,” said ADC in a statement.

Opponents view reenacting the law as another avenue for the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation agenda.

The order calls for: The U.S. State Department in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to identify resources that may be used to ensure that foreign nationals “seeking admission” to the U.S., or

“who are already” in the U.S. are screened to the “maximum degree” possible. This will apply particularly to people coming from regions or nations with “identified security risks,” said the order.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), hosted a virtual community briefing on Jan. 23 about the potential impact of the president’s first executive orders on Muslims in America and other issues.

“Although President Trump did not immediately restore his original Muslim Ban, he signed executive orders that could set the stage for a new ban, upend birthright citizenship, embolden Israeli settlers to commit more horrific violence in the West Bank, and spark an unprecedented crackdown on both free speech and legal immigration to silence critics of the Israeli government,” said CAIR Director of Government Affairs Robert S. McCaw in a statement.

Some who were adversely affected by the measures in Mr. Trump’s first term are concerned about his second term.

For instance, the impact of President Trump’s original bans was extensive on Iranian nationals and Iranian Americans and other nationals who were targeted, according to NIAC.

Over 40,000 Iranians applying for nonimmigrant and immigrant visas were directly impacted by the previous ban, said the group.  During a Jan. 21 Twitter/X-Space discussion that NIAC conducted on the new order, panelists expressed concern about the new ban’s impact on individuals already in the U.S. and the broad definitions that could lead to deportation, particularly for those with ties to certain organizations or activities.

Human Rights Watch in a wide-ranging statement condemning President Trump’s immigration orders said Executive Orders that create “enhanced vetting” for visa applicants from “regions or nations identified as security risks” could lead to racial profiling.

“We will not stand by as governments trample on human rights,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement.

“We will hold the Trump administration and others accountable for policies that erode freedoms and undermine equality. And we will stand in solidarity with human rights defenders everywhere, which means ordinary people, in the United States and beyond who are fighting tirelessly for dignity, freedom, and justice,” she said.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

OBESITY (FAT)!

 


This memorandum is not to be seen as an attack on people who are obese (fat), but it is an attack on FAT itself.  This unwanted FAT is legislating death to the entire Black Nation and any other human being who is overweight.

The body must, of necessity, have a certain amount of fat.  However, to eat as we are eating and to put in our bodies the kinds of poisons that we are ingesting, is to act in diametric opposition to the Law of Life itself.

Too much FAT in the body is an accumulation of swill (garbage).  EXCESSIVE FAT is an enemy and we must take it as an enemy.  The first casualty of FAT is physical appearance, which it utterly destroys. 

It literally distorts the human form, leaving almost no area of the body untouched.  It makes a home in the face, the jaws, the chin, neck, upper back, lower back, arms, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, even the wrists, ankles and feet—wherever it can find a resting place, it settles and cripples the useful muscles and organs of the body.

This unnecessary, unwanted, excess fat, gathers around the veins and arteries.  It also clogs the veins and arteries, making it difficult for the blood to flow, carrying life-giving fluid to all parts of the body.  It causes the heart to overwork itself. 

Eventually, this overworking of the heart makes the arteries stiff and brittle.  To meet the increased workload, the heart may add muscle fibers, which places an additional burden on it until it is simply unable to continue and fails.  

Heart disease is the Number One kill in America.  Statistics indicate that heart disease is 3 to 5 times more common among people with hypertension (high blood pressure).  Black people suffer hypertension twice as much as Whites. 

Obesity is a primary contributor to hypertension and where there is hypertension there is heart attack and death, as well as four times the risk of stroke and damaged kidneys.

Friday, May 9, 2025

Wireless Charging

 

Why the old charging model falls short

EVs aren’t the future—they’re already here. From suburban driveways to dense city streets, electric cars, vans, buses, and trucks are quickly becoming the norm. But charging? That’s where things start to fall apart.

Plug-in stations still fail nearly half the time, mostly due to hardware or payment glitches (INSIDEEVS). And the industry’s current workarounds—bigger batteries and ultra-fast chargers—solve one issue but create others. Bigger batteries mean more range, but also more cost, more weight, and a heavier environmental footprint.

 Ford Transit shuttle van charging wirelessly with Electreon’s stationary charging while parked at the “Triangle” in Detroit, Michigan (credit: ELECTREON)Enlrage image
Ford Transit shuttle van charging wirelessly with Electreon’s stationary charging while parked at the “Triangle” in Detroit, Michigan (credit: Micky)

Ultra-fast chargers? They come with serious baggage. A single 1.2 MW charger powering one vehicle’s battery can consume as much electricity in an hour as two or three homes use in an entire month. Scaling that kind of demand is pricey, complex, and unsustainable.

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Why? Because the approach mirrors gas stations: stop, charge, go. But EVs aren’t gas cars, and the grid isn’t built for this kind of strain.

So what kind of charging model actually works—for cities, fleets, and the grid?

Wireless charging: A smarter, scalable alternative

Electreon, a company based in Beit Yanai, Israel, has developed a wireless EV charging system that makes the road itself part of the energy solution. Using coils embedded beneath the pavement, Electreon’s system sends power wirelessly to vehicles—whether they’re driving, crawling through traffic, or parked.

It’s powered by a technology called Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT), which uses magnetic induction to transfer energy from road to vehicle. Think wireless phone charging—only scaled up for electric cars, delivery vans, buses, and trucks.

Wherever the vehicle is, it charges automatically. Commuters top up while circling for parking. Buses charge while boarding passengers. Vans fill up while stopped at the depot. No cables. No waiting. No hassle.

This continuous charging model keeps vehicles moving while easing grid pressure. A cloud-based platform manages it all, scheduling charging during off-peak hours to cut costs and improve efficiency. That means lower TCO, less battery wear, and reliable charging even in dense, high-traffic areas.


And because the infrastructure is safely embedded in the road, it’s tamper-proof and nearly maintenance-free—unlike plug-in stations that regularly break down. 

One system for every EV

Electreon’s system works across vehicle types: buses, trucks, taxis, ride-hailing fleets, delivery vans, and private cars all share the same invisible infrastructure. Whether installed on roads, in parking lots, or at curbsides, the setup is universal and cost-effective.

Deploying the tech along busy routes used by a mix of vehicles boosts efficiency and makes the model financially viable—especially for fleet-heavy operations like BRT lines, last-mile delivery, or shared mobility. And it’s fully automated—no driver input needed.

The company recently announced plans to launch a home charger, extending its wireless technology to private EVs, making the offering even more compelling for everyday drivers.

Flexible business models also make it easier to adopt. Operators can pay per charge, like a utility, or opt for Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS), with a fixed monthly fee that covers energy and software. The system can be licensed to public and private partners to support broader rollout and shared investment.  

Live around the world

Electreon’s tech is already on the ground. It will charge Haifa’s Metronit BRT lines, already powers Electra Afikim’s depot in Rosh Ha’ayin, and will soon operate lines near Petach Tikva’s Grand Mall. In the U.S., it’s deployed beneath the country’s first public wireless charging road in Michigan and keeping UCLA’s campus shuttles moving—right on time for the 2028 Olympics.

In Germany, it’s supporting electric freight along the Bavarian autobahn. And leading automakers have already partnered with Electreon to integrate the technology into new EVs and retrofit existing ones. With policy support from Michigan’s innovation corridor and EU transport initiatives, the momentum is growing. 

Built for the future

According to the IEA, by 2030, one in three new buses sold globally will be electric. By 2035, EVs are expected to make up 25% of all vehicles on the road. And a 2025 McKinsey survey found that 38% of non-EV owners are ready to switch—if charging improves.

Wireless charging may be the missing link—not just to EV adoption, but to a better EV experience.

As the world shifts to electric, and vehicles begin to drive themselves, Electreon’s system is already built for what comes next: always on, always ready, and invisible by design.

It’s not just a glimpse of the future. It’s infrastructure that finally fits how we move.


Helicopter Catches Fire

 A Ugandan military helicopter crashed and caught fire at the main international airport in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, killing five p...