OKWONGA.COM: My new post, on Redfish and Russia Today.

I feel sick, but most of all I feel naive.

Last week I spent a wonderful couple of hours in the company of a film crew, who interviewed me at length for a documentary they were making about xenophobia and austerity in the UK. A few days later, I was thankfully informed by Oz Katerji, an investigative journalist, that this company – Redfish, based in Berlin – was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Russia Today...

OKWONGA.COM - My new post, on Redfish and Russia Today.

Call to electoral action from the ACLU

Hi I can't say it enough: Elections matter. The 2016 elections brought us the Muslim Ban, transgender military ban, family separations, and the further undermining of women's reproductive freedom. Exactly 100 days from now, many of our civil rights and civil liberties will be on the ballot in the 2018 midterm elections. Our vote is one of the most powerful tools we have to defend our democracy and expand rights for all. That's why we launched ACLU Voter, a program to mobilize voters nationwide to engage in the upcoming midterm elections – up and down the ticket – and vote like our rights depend on it. JOIN THE CALL We're holding an important call this Wednesday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to discuss our strategy for galvanizing voters in 2018. Activists across the country will be calling in – can you join too? You'll hear from my colleagues who are in the heart of the fight. We'll talk in detail about what's at stake with the upcoming elections, and what actions you can take right now to make sure everyone is voting like our rights depend on it. This election season, we envision empowered voters heading to the polls to choose candidates who will uphold our rights and liberties across the country, in every town and city. If every ACLU supporter votes like our rights depend on it this November, we will make a huge impact. All of us have a role to play if we're going to make this vision a reality. That's why I hope you can join this nationwide mass call for a rundown of our next steps to mobilize voters everywhere. Sign up here to join us this Wednesday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. I hope you can join, Faiz Shakir ACLU National Political Director

Scotland in Europe Update 27th July 2018 - Alyn Smith

So this has been the week of ‘no deal’. The head of Amazon warned it could cause civic unrest. (thetimes.co.uk/...); the NHS would need to stockpile drugs (bbc.co.uk/...) and the Brexit Secretary himself Dominic Raab has promised to make sure we don’t starve (twitter.com/...)... Scotland in Europe Update 27th July 2018 - Alyn Smith

This petition could help UK nationals retain EU citizenship after Brexit | Euronews

The European Commission has allowed a group to launch a petition calling for permanent EU citizenship after Brexit.

The proposed petition on “Permanent European Union Citizenship” is to be registered on July 23 as a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), the Commission announced.

“The main objective of the proposed initiative is to guarantee that European citizenship and its associated rights cannot be lost once they have been attained,” the Commission said in a press release... >>This petition could help UK nationals retain EU citizenship after Brexit | Euronews

Phurious Oryndge - Intermittent Explosive Disorder

On the Naughty Step - the questionable ethics of the Christian Legal Centre - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment

Who are CLC?

They are a private limited company. They are NOT a legal practice, or ABS. They are NOT a charity (so no loophole there).

[Update: The memorandum of association sets out the CLC are a non-profit company. There is therefore a question whether they can carry out reserved legal activities under the s.23 Legal Services Act 2007 exemption (which was intended for Law Centres and Trade Unions). As a side point, the memorandum states that the minimum number of directors required is two. As far as I can see, there has been only one director since 2013.]

The majority of shares/voting rights are held by Mrs Andrea Rose Minichiello Williams, who is also the sole director. She lists her occupation as ‘Barrister’. We’ll come back to that...

Read  the full post: On the Naughty Step - the questionable ethics of the Christian Legal Centre - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment