Dutch cuttlefish video

http://vroegevogels.vara.nl/typo3conf/ext/vara_flashplayer/player/player.swf

This is a European common cuttlefish video from the Netherlands.

BP oil kills animals

This video from the USA says about itself:

13 May 2010 — Marine biologists at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Grand Isle research lab continue to record and prepare deceased marine mammals and sea turtles for oil contamination testing. Staff there is sending injured animals to the Audubon Aquatic Center rehabilitation facility in New Orleans to be treated and tested by specialists.

From the Christian Science Monitor in the USA:

BP oil spill: how Gulf’s sensitive and endangered species are faring

Manatees, bluefin tuna, and Kemp’s ridley turtles are especially challenged by the BP oil spill. The Kemp’s ridley turtle is an endangered species that until recently was threatened with extinction.

Spawning Habitat of Bluefin Tuna in Gulf of Mexico: Critical Area Intersects Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: here.

Oil Spill Sea Pollution Victim – The Iconic Brown Pelican: here.

Many oiled birds.

Guardian: BP clashes with scientists over deep sea oil pollution: here.

BP’s Next Tactic: Plume Denial: here.

BP has failed to stop oil gushing from over a mile below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill, which has been confirmed as the worst in American history, has spread between 504,000 to 798,000 gallons of crude oil into one of America’s most important marine ecosystems: here.

Doug Inkley, senior scientist with the National Wildlife Federation, has spent the past week surveying the oil spill from the wrecked Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico by airplane and boat, and on islands where oil has come ashore. He tells New Scientist how the experience has left him frustrated and angry that clean-up efforts are not as widespread or effective as he’d been led to believe: here.

Sign the Boycott of BP at www.codepink.org/bp! Organize a protest at a BP near you! Don’t let BP get away with a murderous oilspill.

Guardian: BP shares plunge: here.

The continued eruption of oil from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is an unmitigated catastrophe, with incalculable economic and ecological consequences: here.

Are we surprised that the Chamber of Commerce is carrying water for BP? Here.

The leaking Deepwater Horizon oil well is still second in size to the massive Ixtoc I blowout in the late 1970s, which gushed for 290 days: here.

Sculptor Louise Bourgeois dies

This video is on Louise Bourgeois and her work.

From the New York Times in the USA:

Louise Bourgeois, the French-born American artist who gained fame only late in a long career, when her psychologically charged abstract sculptures, drawings and prints had a galvanizing effect on younger artists, particularly women, died on Monday at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. She was 98.

Rare dragonfly back in the Netherlands

This video says about itself:

Leucorrhinia caudalis is one of the most threatened dragonfly species in central-Europe regarding its wide distribution throughout Europe to West-Asia in the past and the heavy recent retreat. It is included in the Annex 4 of the EU Habitats Directive and listed in the Bern Convention as well. The video was taken on one of the few (not more than 5-10) colonies in Hungary in 2008 while taking quantitative survey at Őrtilos (river valley of Dráva).

From Staatsbosbeheer in the Netherlands:

Rare dragonfly found in Weerribben nature reserve

News release, Saturday, May 29, 2010

The rare Leucorrhinia caudalis dragonfly is back in Weerribben National Park. A visitor noticed the species during a trip to the edge of a hole in a bog where peat used to be mined. In 1970 the species had been last seen in a lakes complex in Noord-Brabant province. The Leucorrhinia caudalis dragonfly is the forty-sixth dragonfly species recorded in the Weerribben.

In the area where overgrown peat holes have been restored by dredging, the water quality has greatly improved and the underwater plants have recovered. This has made the Weerribben into one of the main areas for dragonflies in the Netherlands. Eg, in the Weeribben rare species fly, like the large white-faced darter dragonfly, Siberian winter damselfly, dark bluet damselfly. These species are typical of a well-developed peat area. The Forestry Commission will, jointly with dragonfly researchers, look in the Weerribben to see if the species occurs in more places.

Leucorrhinia pectoralis in Nieuwkoopse Plassen: here.

Leucorrhinia caudalis back in Weerribben reserve: here.

White-faced darter genus photos: here.

June 2011. The first white-faced darters have hatched at Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, near Kendal, for the first time this century. This exciting recurrence of this darter dragonfly is part of the Trust’s three-year programme to re-introduce it to Foulshaw Moss. It is hoped that these darters will now start to colonise the nature reserve. The moss has over the last 13 years been restored to its former moss habitat, which is perfect for the extremely rare white-faced darter: here.

The dragonflies of Borneo: here.

Nakamura’s Skydragon, Chlorogomphus nakamurai, is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM due to its restricted range of occurrence. This rare species was first described in 1996, and has only been found in Cuc Phuong and Ba Vi National Park, North Vietnam: here.

Rare vagrant emperor dragonfly found in Pembrokeshire: here.

April 2011. At a time when the world has been focussed on events in North Africa and the Middle East, large numbers of predatory invaders have been silently invading Europe, and some of these have reached Britain! The invaders in question are brownish dragonflies known as Vagrant Emperors: here.

A dragonfly’s guide to Britain: here.

Dragonfly wings inspire micro wind turbines: here.

Curacao dragonflies: here.

Pale Snaketail Ophiogomphus severus: here.

Dragonflies: The Flying Aces of the Insect World: here.

Extinct bird in Australian rock painting

From ABC Online in Australia:

Megafauna cave painting could be 40,000 years old

May, 31 2010

Scientists say an Aboriginal rock art depiction of an extinct giant bird could be Australia’s oldest painting.

The red ochre painting, which depicts two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched, could date back to the earliest days of settlement on the continent.

It was rediscovered at the centre of the Arnhem Land plateau about two years ago, but archaeologists first visited the site a fortnight ago.

A palaeontologist has confirmed the animals depicted are the megafauna species Genyornis.

Archaeologist Ben Gunn said the giant birds became extinct more than 40,000 years ago.

“The details on this painting indicate that it was done by someone who knew that animal very well,” he said.

He says the detail could not have been passed down through oral storytelling.

“If it is a Genyornis, and it certainly does have all the features of one, it would be the oldest dated visual painting that we’ve got in Australia,” he said.

“Either the painting is 40,000 years old, which is when science thinks Genyornis disappeared, or alternatively the Genyornis lived a lot longer than science has been able to establish.”

Mr Gunn says there are paintings of other extinct animals right across the area including the thylacine, or tasmanian tiger, the giant echidna and giant kangaroo.

“It does give you a window back to a time that you can pinpoint, and in the case of the Genyornis it’s a very long picture,” he said.

The traditional owners of the land in the Northern Territory say they are excited the painting could be Australia’s oldest dated rock art.

The Jawoyn Association‘s Wes Miller says the painting is one of thousands rediscovered across Arnhem Land in recent years.

“It verifies that the Jawoyn people were living in this country for a very, very long time,” he said.

“People say it, but once again this is clearly a demonstration of how long Jawoyn people have been in this country and other Indigenous groups. It’s great from that point of view. It’s pretty exciting stuff.”

See also here.

More on Australian Aboriginal Rock Art May Depict Giant Bird Extinct for 40,000 Years: here.

The extinction of Australia’s ‘megafauna’ was caused by long-term hunting, new research suggests: here.

When the researchers analyzed the so-called Bradshaw rock artworks found in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, they didn’t find paint. Instead they found a black fungus, probably belonging to a fungi group known as Chaetothyriales, as well as a reddish organism that is suspected to be a species of cyanobacteria: here.

Dung fungus reveal that humans, not climate change, killed Australia’s giant beasts: here.

Sexually abusive archbishop in Nigeria resigns

From AFP news agency:

Vatican promises investigation into paedophile priest scandal in Ireland

June 01, 2010 12:00AM

THE Vatican said it will launch a promised probe in the northern autumn into the paedophile priest scandal that has rocked the Irish Catholic Church.

The Vatican’s announcement came as the Pope accepted the resignation of Irish prelate Richard Anthony Burke, archbishop of the Nigerian diocese of Benin City, who is accused of molesting a teenage girl.

…

Pope Benedict XVI named nine top prelates to carry out the investigation into the Irish Church.

The Pope had pledged an investigation in his March letter to Ireland, as decades of cover-ups of abuse emerged.

The Vatican said the investigation would monitor the effectiveness of procedures for preventing abuse and seek possible improvements.

It will begin with metropolitan Archdioceses of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Emly and Tuam, and will then be extended to other dioceses.

A complaint was made against Burke in December 2008 by Dolores Atwood alleging she had been sexually abused when she was 14, when he was a priest ministering in Warri Diocese, Nigeria.

and she was a patient in a hospital

She claimed she had an ongoing relationship with him afterwards.

…

Two ground-breaking inquiries last year into the once-powerful Church shocked the mainly Catholic Ireland.

They found that abuse by Catholic clergy and members of religious orders had been widespread for decades and that there was a culture of secrecy and cover-up designed to protect the reputation and assets of the Church.

US Catholic Church ‘scapegoating’ gay priests: here.

US invasion of Somalia?

By Bill Van Auken:

Hijacking of US ship raises threat of intervention in Somalia

10 April 2009

As the hostage drama off the coast of Somalia continued into its second day Thursday, there were indications that the Obama administration may be preparing yet another military intervention, this time in the Horn of Africa.

The ongoing standoff between a small band of Somali pirates in a lifeboat and a US destroyer, which is being joined by other warships and planes, followed an unsuccessful attempt to hijack the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama freighter, a US flag ship.

After four armed Somalis managed to scale the side of the ship and seize it, the 20-member crew put up resistance. According to reports, however, the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, volunteered to act as a hostage, going with the pirates on the ship’s enclosed lifeboat in order to prevent any clash between them and his crew.

Reached by Reuters via satellite phone, one of the pirates sounded desperate. “We are surrounded by warships and don’t have time to talk,” he said. “Please pray for us.”

The seizing of ships for ransom has been going on in the region for years and increased significantly in 2008, with the number of incidents off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden climbing to 150. There are 16 ships currently being held for ransom.

The shipping firms themselves have treated the attacks as a nuisance that barely dents their profits. They have preferred to treat paying off pirates as a cost of doing business rather than arm their crews against them. Though often heavily armed, the pirates have killed no one thus far.

What makes this latest incident different, however, is that the ship is the first American vessel to be attacked by the pirates. It therefore provides the pretext for a militarist intervention and provokes a wave of jingoism in the media, sections of which are braying for retaliation.

Gen. Petraeus Implements Military Surge Against Four Somali Pirates in a Lifeboat: here.

Update: here. And here.

Will Obama Prosecute the Captured Somali ‘Pirate’ in a US Court? Here.

The [Ten] Most Notorious Pirates Ever: here.

A PROMINENT conflict research group revealed on Tuesday that air-cargo carriers involved in arms smuggling in Africa are also being contracted for international aid supplies and peacekeeping operations: here.

Somalia update, June 2009: here.

Somali Torture Survivors Get Green Light to Sue in U.S.: here.

Children Carry Guns for a U.S. Ally, Somalia: here.

Economic crisis, capitalism criticized

This video is called Anarchist analysis of the global capitalist crisis.

Britain: Some 250 readers and supporters debated the capitalist crisis and its solutions at the third annual Morning Star conference: here.

Britain: Unemployment has increased faster during the current recession than in the two downturns under the Tory governments of the 1980s and ’90s, the TUC has revealed: here.

TRADE unionists and campaigners called for a global fightback against attacks on employment rights at the Morning Star conference on Saturday: here.

The appeal by British Airways to its 40,000 employees to volunteer for up to a month’s unpaid leave or even unpaid work marks a new stage in the efforts by big business to impose the burden of the worsening economic crisis onto the working class: here.

Anger at RBS chief’s £10m incentive to clear up Sir Fred Goodwin’s mess: here.

Nations leading the Latin American alternative to crisis-ridden capitalism spoke about their progress towards ending poverty on Saturday: here.

THE UN warned at the weekend that the global financial meltdown has pushed the ranks of the world’s hungry to a record 1 billion: here.

USA: Unemployment rose in 48 of 50 states in May, reaching record-high levels in eight states. The statistics foretell social misery for tens of millions, while the ruling elite, led by the Obama administration, has seized on the crisis as a long-awaited chance to restructure class relations to its advantage for decades to come: here.

For the vast majority of New York City’s more than eight million people, those who depend upon their paychecks to make a living, the financial crisis unleashed by the speculative and often criminal activities of those being bailed out on Wall Street has meant attacks on jobs, wages and benefits: here.

This video is called Workers in NYC oppose budget cuts in healthcare and social services.

Americans are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the state of the nation’s health care system: here.

Finance union Unite has reacted with dismay at plans by part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland to axe 500 more jobs over the next three years: here.

German President sacked for admitting truth on Afghanistan

This video is called Afghanistan Sept. 2009 A German War Crime.

From The Local in Germany:

President Köhler resigns

Published: 31 May 10 14:12 CET
Updated: 31 May 10 14:24 CET

German President Horst Köhler said Monday he was stepping down, following criticism of recent comments he made about the country’s military mission in Afghanistan.

“I announce my resignation from the office of the presidency with immediate affect,” Köhler said in Berlin.

He said he decision came after withering criticism of comments he made connecting Germany’s military deployment in Afghanistan with the country’s economic interests.

More woes for Merkel as president steps down in Afghan row: here.

The unexpected and sudden resignation of President Horst Köhler on Monday afternoon has further intensified the crisis of the German government: here.

Friendly Fire Casualties in Afghanistan: German Military Criticized for Deadly Mistakes: here.

USA: The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Mutilated Our Economy: here.

Corporations are profiting from wars and lobbying politicians for more. The US and the rest of the world cannot afford the rising personal and financial costs of permanent war: here.

Germany is Paying $5,000 in Compensation to Kunduz Bombing Victims’ Families: here.

Afghanistan: Child Brides Escape Marriage, but Not Lashes: here.

Within US and European ruling circles, there are now clear signs of concern for the viability of the Kandahar offensive and the far-reaching implications of failure: here.

Israeli armed forces kill demonstrators

From the BBC today:

More than 10 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.

From daily Haaretz in Israel:

At least 10 activists killed as Israel Navy opens fire on Gaza aid flotilla

IDF says 10 killed, 2 commandos wounded, troops attacked when trying to board ships; Turkish TV says over 60 pro-Palestinian campaigners wounded after aid convoy bound for Gaza ignored Israel’s order to turn back.

From Al Jazeera:

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Al Jazeera’s report on board the Mavi Marmara before communications were cut

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country’s siege on Gaza.

Up to 16 people were killed and dozens injured when troops stormed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the Israeli Army Radio said.

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast.

Footage from the flotilla’s lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

According to this report and this report, over 20 people died.

This bloody military violence was against unarmed ships in international waters.

The Israeli peace movement said, before the people died on board:

LET THE AID BOATS THROUGH TO GAZA! END THE SIEGE!

The State of Israel has no interest in flooding television screens all over the world with footage of its navy violently assaulting against peace activists at sea. It is time to remove the suffocating siege and allow residents of Gaza to have free contact with the outside world, freely operate sea and air ports of their own like any country in the world.

The Gush Shalom movement calls upon the government to allow the eight-boat aid flotilla from all over the world to reach the shores of Gaza, where they are scheduled to arrive next week, and unload the humanitarian cargo which is urgently needed by the residents of Gaza. In a letter to Defense Minister Barak, Gush Shalom calls upon him to cancel immediately the instructions given to Israeli Navy ships off the Gaza shore to intercept the aid flotilla.

From the Jerusalem Post in Israel:

Israeli NGO Gush Shalom has planned a protest Monday morning to demonstrate in support of the “Free Gaza” convoy, according to an email circulated by the group.

The demonstrators intend to converge outside the center in Ashdod where the detained international aid activists are supposed to be held.

This video from Israel is called 1 March 2010 — THOUSANDS of Israelis protest against the war on Gaza.

Shock and outrage swept the globe Monday after Israeli commandos stormed a flotilla of aid ships bound for Gaza, as the Jewish state’s foes and allies closed ranks in condemning the deadly raid: here.

Did Twitter censor the #flotilla hashtag following the Israel attack? Users of the microblogging service complain at apparent censorship as discussion grows around deaths on convoy: here.

An Israeli blogger’s criticism of the attack: here.

Haaretz analysis: The government failed the test of results: here.

It has emerged that the bestselling Swedish author Henning Mankell was on board a convoy of Gaza-bound aid boats stormed by Israeli forces today, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 activists and injuries to dozens of others. With the ships out of communication since the attack early this morning, it is not yet known whether he is among the injured: here.

Is the state of Israel its own worst enemy? Here.

Exodus in 1947 and the flotilla today: here.