Music, poetry, and a kestrel

Noordwijk in the Netherlands is the village where famous Dutch poetess, socialist, and environmentalist Henriette Roland Holst was born.

Today, in memory of the founding of a primary school there, the Bronckhorstschool, 25 years ago, there was a concert night at that school, with poems set to music by local composer Hans Plug who works at the school.

On my way to Noordwijk, south of Voorhout, a farm with shelducks, barnacle geese and bar-headed geese.

A bit further, in a ditch, a coot swimming with chicks with red feathers on their heads.

In a crowded hall, the performers of tonight, Margot Kalse, vocals; and Wilco van Wee, guitar, came onstage. Their first six poems had been set to music by Hans Plug.

The first poem/song was Hummingbird, by Harrold Littlebird.

Then, Quando verrai, by Lavinia.

Then, Zomer (Summer), by Floor van Galen.

Then, two poems by Niesje Raaphorst, On the edge of a blue summer, and Sterre (star).

Then, a poem by a pupil of this primary school, Nathalie Caspers: Poezenfeest (cats’ party).

Then a song, based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca, Las morillas de Jaen.

Then, an instrumental, with Margot stepping aside: J. Rodrigo, En los trigales (see video here).

Then, by Manuel De Falla, Canción del fuego fatuo, with Margot singing again.

Then, Margot went offstage again, while Wilco played Asturias, by Isaac Albeniz.

As last song, with Margot again, of these five Spanish compositions, again Federico Garcia Lorca, with Sevillanas del Siglo XVIII.

Then, it was the turn of Hans Plug’s compositions again.

First, a poem by Niesje Raaphorst on a painting.

Then, a poem by yours truly, mentioning famous Dutch nineteenth century painting Panorama Mesdag.

Then, Heureux, by Aad van der Kraan.

Then, Ginds, by Boudewijn Büch, whose girlfriend Bernadette Gallis was present.

Then, Let us say goodbye, by Ramona Wilson.

Finally, two poems by pupils of this primary school: Sweets party, by Laura Houwaard; and Spring party, by Richelle van Abswoude.

On my way back, just north of Voorhout, close to me, a male kestrel divebombed into the grass of the right hand roadside; catching, or failing to catch as it happens too fast for me to see everything, a vole or similar animal.

Western green lizards and kestrels: here.

A poem, translated into English, and a video clip of Dutch poet Remco Campert: here.

US Women Soldiers Back from Iraq Suffering Mental Health Problems

Video “of war crimes committed by the Bush regime in Iraq”.

From Associated Press:

CHICAGO — The nightmares didn’t start until months after Alicia Flores returned home. The images were stark and disturbing: In one dream, a dying Iraqi man desperately grabbed her arm. In another, she was lost in a blinding sandstorm.

Sometimes, Flores awakened to discover her mouth was dust-dry — as if she were really stumbling through the scorching, 120-degree desert.

The nightmares bring Flores back to Iraq, and her service in the Army’s 92nd Chemical Company.

She was just 19 when her unit arrived there. Now 23, she’s left with memories of women and children being killed, of hauling bodies, of shooting a teenage Iraqi fighter. (“It was him or me,” she says.)

Dear Kitty in Technorati Top 100,000 of blogs

This video, from CNN in the USA, is about a hot topic in the US and world blogosphere: George W. Bush’s commutation of the prison sentence for ‘Scooter’ Libby in the “Plamegate” scandal, about false WMD allegations which started the Iraq war.

It is called [US Ambassador] Joe Wilson blasts President [Bush] over Libby decision.

According to Technorati, recent links by other bloggers etc. to this Dear Kitty blog mean that it is now in the top 100,000 of blogs.

To be more precise, Technorati says today, on 7 July: Rank: 97,906.

Not bad if one considers that Technorati says about itself:

Currently tracking 90.4 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media.

Of course, there is not any guarantee that this blog will not go down, or up, from that rank 97,906 of today.

I’ll try to keep the level of contents up. Thanks all readers of this blog for this!

USA: bye bye cicadas, see you in 2024

This video from the USA says about itself:

time lapse of brood XIV cicada emerging from nymph exoskeleton. Taken on 5-24-08 in Louisa, KY over a 2-hour period. This is a 17 year cidada of the Magicicada genus. They spend 17 years developing underground, 2 hours emerging, and a week having sex to produce the next brood. We have seen areas of the yard with emergence holes every 5″ or so, so extrapolate that over a large area to imagine how many cicadas are emerging in our 1 acre lot.

From Associated Press:

Noisy cicadas disappearing for another 17 years

By Dan Strumpf

CHICAGO — For weeks, Debbie Dethart refused to venture into her back yard to mow the lawn because swarms of noisy cicadas covered everything.

Lately though, the elementary school teacher from Homewood has spent a lot of time cleaning up bug carcasses as the 17-year periodical cicadas die off — not to return until 2024.

“I was shooing them away with a broom off the deck,” Dethart said. “I’m not a big bug person.”

But while she was battling the red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects in Homewood, other towns were marked by a cicada-free silence.

Entomologists say the turnout of Brood XIII, although strong, was spottier and smaller than expected in some areas, likely because of land development over the past 17 years.

After periodical cicadas emerge and mate, their offspring burrow into the ground and feed on sap from tree roots until they’re ready to emerge again. When trees are removed — say, to build homes or farms — the cicada larvae go with them, experts said.

So, while established towns such as Villa Park, Elmhurst, Westmont and Hinsdale heard the deafening roar of cicadas’ mating calls — capable of overpowering ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools — developing areas like Batavia and Naperville were curiously quiet.

Talking about insects in the USA; about honey bees:

The future of that crop and other important crops such as avocados, apples, berries and soybeans is in jeopardy if there aren’t enough bees to pollinate them for harvest.

Bee species in the Netherlands: here.

Cosmetics corporation L’Oréal convicted for racism

This video, from the film The Corporation, is about the history of corporate capitalism.

From British daily The Guardian:

You’re worth it – if white. L’Oréal guilty of racism

· Cosmetic giant fined for recruitment campaign
· First big French firm to be convicted of racial bias

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris

Saturday July 7, 2007

Part of the cosmetics giant L’Oréal was yesterday found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought to exclude non-white women from promoting its shampoo.

In a landmark case, the Garnier division of the beauty empire, along with a recruitment agency it employed, were fined €30,000 (£20,300) each after they recruited women on the basis of race. The historic ruling – the first time a major company has been found guilty of systematic race discrimination in France – saw a senior figure at the agency given a three-month suspended prison sentence.

L’Oreal was found guilty this week of racial discrimination in hiring by France’s highest court this week in a suit brought by SOS Racisme, a French anti-racism group: here.

Racism and eugenics in US history: here.

US troops charged with murders, cover-ups in Iraq

This video is about the Haditha massacre.

“Why was the entire family of this Iraqi girl murdered by the US soldiers?

Eman Waleed, a 9-year-old girl who survived the massacre told Time: “First, they went into my father’s room, where he was reading the Koran, and we heard shots. Then, the soldiers came back into the living room. I couldn’t see their faces very well — only their guns sticking into the doorway. I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head. Then they killed my granny.” Safa Younis Salim, a 13-year old girl, who in an interview said she lived by faking her death. “I pretended that I was dead when my brother’s body fell on me and he was bleeding like a faucet,” she said. She said that she saw American troops kick her family members and that one American shouted in the face of one relative before he was killed.”

By Alex Lantier:

Recent weeks have seen a spate of investigations and trials of US troops for murdering Iraqi civilians. The circumstances in which the investigations have been carried out—typically months after the events in question, which came to light only due to the intervention of enlisted men or outside journalists, and after cover-ups orchestrated by US officials—suggest that most such cases go unreported.

On June 30, two US soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division, based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, were charged with premeditated murder of three Iraqis near Iskandariya, a town 25 miles south of Baghdad in the so-called “Triangle of Death” region. According to military spokesmen, Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley was placed in military confinement in Kuwait. Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval was arrested at home in Laredo, Texas and transported to Kuwait three days later.

Hensley is also charged with obstruction of justice and “wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of the deceased Iraqis”—that is, attempting to cover up murder by portraying the victims as gunmen.

According to the military spokesman, the investigation began after fellow soldiers in their unit reported the alleged crimes to military authorities.

On July 2, Sergeant Evan Vela, of the same unit as Hensley and Sandoval, was also detained and charged with one count of premeditated murder, planting a weapon with the deceased, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement. All the alleged murders by soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division near Iskandariyah reportedly took place between April and June of 2007.

In a separate case, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents are investigating possible war crimes by at least ten Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, who fought in the brutal invasion and razing of Fallujah in November 2004. The victims were unarmed Iraqi prisoners captured by the Marine unit. Three enlisted Marines reportedly face murder charges and four officers are charged with failing to investigate the killings.

The battalion to which these Marines belonged, the “Three-One,” was highly decorated for its combat experience in Fallujah after November 2004. President Bush personally singled it out for praise.

Significantly, the case went unreported for over a year.

Haditha update 8 October 2007: here.

Fight for Uganda’s Mabira Forest continues

This video is called Prevent destruction of the Mabira Forest.

From BirdLife:

Conservationists call for Ugandan government to halt forest give-aways

07-07-2007

The fate of Mabira Forest Reserve –home to 30% of bird species found in Uganda- continues to hang in the balance as President Museveni and some elements of the Ugandan government attempt to hand over a quarter of its area for sugarcane cultivation.

BirdLife International and NatureUganda (BirdLife in Uganda) continue to argue that the economic benefits of retaining Mabira in its present form, will easily exceed the ‘short-sighted’ gains quoted by the government in the proposed forest ‘give-away’.

Mabira Forest Reserve (at over 30,000 hectares) is listed by BirdLife as an Important Bird Area (IBA) and contains over 300 bird species, including the Endangered Nahan’s Francolin Francolinus nahani. The forest is also home to nine species found exclusively in the region including Grey-cheeked Mangabey Lophocebus albigena johnstoni, a recently identified endemic primate subspecies.

In order to convey the enormous value of retaining Mabira Forest Reserve, NatureUganda has undertaken an economic study of the site, which they are now putting to the Ugandan government. Among the economic benefits of retaining Mabira that NatureUganda have outlined are:

1. Environmental services provided by Mabira Forest Reserve. Most notably the forest protects the water catchment area for Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga and the River Nile. The forest also acts as a carbon sink worth $212 million USD at current carbon market prices.

2. Local livelihoods are supported via commodities that come from the forest, particularly from the sustainable harvesting of wood, food and medicines. The National Forestry Authority, the lead forestry agency in Uganda, last year estimated the value of the wood alone at $568 million USD.

3. Tourism at Mabira is another high-earner for Uganda: Mabira contributes 62% of the total revenue collected from visitors to Uganda’s Forest Reserves. Ecotourism is now Uganda’s second largest foreign exchange earner.

“The economic studies that we have undertaken clearly indicate that keeping Mabira Forest Reserve for reasons of conservation, constitutes a better land-use option than sugarcane growing when total economic value is considered,” said Achilles Byaruhanga, Executive Director of NatureUganda.

“If a quarter of Mabira is chopped down the effect on the remaining forest will be far-reaching, reducing the range of species, causing encroachment, erosion and siltation, and reducing its capacity to provide services, so there would be less water in rivers, less rain, less carbon intake, fewer tourists,” he added.

NatureUganda’s arguments for stopping the ‘give-away’ of Mabira Forest Reserve are supported by BirdLife International, a global alliance of over one hundred conservation organisations.

“For the Ugandan government and Mehta Group [sugar company] to continue with a venture that is so very costly in terms of biodiversity loss and in terms of economic stability, is wholly deplorable.” said Hazell Shokellu Thompson, Head of BirdLife’s Africa Division. “However, we are confident that once all the facts have been reviewed, the Ugandan government will do the right thing for the Ugandan people and stop the ‘give-away’”.

“Uganda ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1993 and has a fairly good track record in upholding the treaty so far. The government has an obligation to continue to adhere to the agreement in the same way that many African and world nations do,” he commented.

“The sugar company itself also argues that it has a strict policy of environmental compliance which this venture quite obviously contradicts.”

Mabira is only one of a number of ‘give-aways’ proposed by the Ugandan government, believed to be planning a bill to amend the National Forest and Tree Planting Act that would give the National Forestry Authority power to de-gazette protected forests without first going through parliament.

For more information on Mabira Forest Reserve see this month’s feature article: Uganda’s forests in the balance, reproduced from BirdLife’s World Birdwatch magazine, June 2007.

See also here.