Haitian cholera caused by foreign soldiers

This video says about itself:

27 October 2010

The Nepalese UN mission in Haiti could be the source of the cholera deadly outbreak there. Al Jazeera’s Sebastian Walker reports from Haiti.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Killer cholera came from UN camp – report

Thursday 30 June 2011

The cholera strain that has killed thousands of Haitians in recent months was brought to the country by UN peacekeepers, an international study has concluded.

The report was published in the July issue of US journal Emerging Infectious Diseases and backs up the results of a UN investigation ordered in May which found that the strain originated in south Asia.

“Our findings strongly suggest that contamination of the Artibonite river downstream from a military camp triggered the epidemic,” it said.

There was “an exact correlation of time and place” between the arrival of a battalion from Nepal, which had also experienced a cholera outbreak, and the first reported cases in Haiti.

Poor sanitation at the camp made contamination of the water system possible and Haitians’ dependence on the river system for drinking water ensured that it spread rapidly, the report said.

UN troops are widely blamed in the country for sparking the epidemic and angry demonstrators have demanded their withdrawal.

See also here. And here.

In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic. Deborah Sontag, The New York Times News Service: “As the deaths and continuing caseload indicate, the world’s response to this preventable, treatable scourge has proved inadequate. Cholera, never before recorded in Haiti, stayed one step ahead of the authorities as they shifted gears from the earthquake recovery. While eventually effective in reducing the fatality rate, the response was slow to get fully under way, conservative and insufficiently sustained”: here.

‘A LABOUR REVOLUTION NEEDED’ – to save Haiti, says ILO leader: here.

Beverly Bell, Other Worlds: “Last week, thousands of farmers and supporters of Haitian peasant agriculture marched for hours under the hot Caribbean sun to call for more government support for locally grown seeds and agriculture. The demonstration was organized by the Peasant Movement of Papay and other farmer associations, human rights and women’s groups, and the Haitian Platform for Alternative Development (PAPDA), the Haitian online agency AlterPresse reported from the march. The official theme of the peaceful demonstration was ‘Land Grabbing is Endangering Agricultural Sovereignty’”: here.

Newly released embassy cables reveal the US government’s interest in maintaining a UN military force for the occupation of Haiti: here.

Report on Haiti @WikiLeaks Cables Expose How US Blocked Aristide’s Return After 2004 Coup: here.

US officials led a far-reaching international campaign aimed at keeping former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide exiled in South Africa, rendering him a virtual prisoner there for the last seven years, according to secret US State Department cables: here.

HAITI: Patchy Healthcare Adds to Miseries of Women and Girls: here.

Haitian women flee to Dominican Republic to give birth: here.

Haiti peacekeepers recalled over abuse claim. Uruguayan naval commander dismissed and five soldiers brought home over alleged sexual assault of young Haitian man: here.

Hundreds of Haitian citizens demonstrated in Port Salut on Monday in support of an 18-year-old man who alleges that he was sexually assaulted by Uruguayan soldiers on a UN base: here.

Imperialist powers prepare to keep UN forces in Haiti: here.

Conditions have become worse for many Haitian women and girls after last year’s earthquake, including access to reproductive health care, says Amanda M. Klasing. Their needs must be considered in every aspect of reconstruction and at each step: here.

Shock-Doctrine Schooling in Haiti: Neoliberalism Off the Richter Scale. Jesse Hagopian, Truthout: “In the earthquake’s aftermath, Haiti’s Education Minister Joel Jean-Pierre declared ‘the total collapse of the Haitian education system.’ The truth, however, is that the seismic activity of free-market principles had shattered the education system in Haiti long before January 12, 2010″: here.

Workers in Haiti’s apparel manufacturing sector accuse factory owners of union busting: here.

Haiti: Seven Places Where Earthquake Money Did and Did Not Go. Bill Quigley and Amber Ramanauskas, Common Dreams: “Less than a month after the quake hit, the US Ambassador Kenneth Merten sent a cable titled ‘THE GOLD RUSH IS ON’ as part of his situation report to Washington. In this February 1, 2010 document, made public by The Nation, Haiti Liberte and Wikileaks, Ambassador Merten reported the President of Haiti met with former General Wesley Clark for a sales presentation for a Miami-based company that builds foam core houses”: here.

Disaster Capitalism: Profiting From Crisis in Post-Earthquake Haiti. Deepa Panchang, Beverly Bell and Tory Field, Other Worlds Are Possible: “Below are a few examples of post-earthquake contracts and grants, selected to show just some of the problems at play. They offer a small glimpse into a much larger, secretive world of disaster deals. We’re grateful to our investigative journalist colleagues who, alongside us, have kept heavy on the scent of these corporations and brought buried information to light”: here.

Two United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti have been sentenced to a year in prison with hard labour after a rare trial found them guilty of sexual abuse and exploitation, a UN spokeswoman revealed on Tuesday: here.

Libyan war continues

This video is called Libya: ‘NATO bombs civilians!’ – Cynthia McKinney from Tripoli.

The African Union’s top official accused Nato countries today of strengthening Islamists and traffickers in Africa by sending arms to Libyan rebels: here.

A Russian envoy met rebels in Benghazi today in the latest bid by the international community to coax insurgents round the negotiating table: here.

Obama Wants No Dissent on Libya: here.

France acknowledged this week that it had supplied weapons to oppositionists fighting Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya: here.

More than one hundred days into the Libya war, the US-NATO strategy is ever more nakedly aimed at the political assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi: here.

Military conflicts have been increasing since 1870, study finds: here.

US gas injures Egyptian democrats

This video says about itself:

Cairo clashes video: Egypt riot cops fire tear gas, rubber bullets.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Protesters bombarded by US-made gas canisters

Thursday 30 June 2011

Two days of street battles in Cairo between protesters, police and the armed forces have left over 1,000 people injured.

Clashes began on Tuesday when police violently stopped around 100 people from attending a memorial service for those killed in the uprising which overthrew US-backed despot Hosni Mubarak.

Thousands more joined the protest in response to the police’s tactics.

“When I saw that, I didn’t care. I joined the protesters,” 27-year-old Ihab el-Manharawi told reporters. “People have changed, but they haven’t.”

The crowd then marched on the state television building and the Interior Ministry, chanting: “The people want to oust the field marshal” – a reference to Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which now rules the country.

By late afternoon the army had taken over from riot police, attacking protesters with tear gas and bullets, according to Amnesty International.

Gas canisters recovered by protesters were stamped: “Made in USA.”

See also here.

Greece: Amnesty has called on riot police not to use excessive force against protesters in the wake of clashes in Athens that left more than 300 people injured and at least 33 hospitalised: here.

British strike reports

This Reuters video from England says about itself:

June 30 – Dozens of arrests were made at a march in London led by teachers and civil servants in protest at planned pension reforms, launching what could be a long period of labour unrest over austerity measures. Hayley Platt reports.

Hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers the length and breadth of Britain defied slurs and threats today to mount one of the biggest walkouts since the 1926 General Strike: here.

Hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers … walk out … over government plans to raid their pensions in the name of austerity – a day after new figures revealed that top directors still enjoy retirement pay worth millions of pounds: here.

Between half a million and 750,000 public sector workers staged a 24-hour strike on Thursday against the coalition government’s attack on their pension scheme: here.

Striking teachers, lecturers and civil servants served notice on politicians today that they will not be sacrificial lambs for capitalism’s crisis: here.

Well over 20,000 striking public-sector workers marched in London today against their pensions being used to pay for the “greed and stupidy of the banking sector”: here.

70,000 MARCH IN LONDON – GENERAL STRIKE – workers tell News Line what they want: here. And here.

Two-thirds of schools in the Yorkshire and Humber region were closed or partially closed today as public-sector staff launched the largest strike action in decades: here.

Up to 6,000 people joined the pensions protest through Newcastle city centre today in an area where one in three people is employed by the public sector: here.

Hundreds of Merseyside schools were closed today as thousands of teachers and public-sector workers went on strike over pensions: here.

Manchester’s university quarter was brought to a standstill today as the city’s public-sector workers fought back in their thousands against pension cuts: here.

Between 450 and 500 members of Unite and Unison continued their rolling strike action today against Southampton Council’s savage redundancy threats: here.

Thousands of public-sector workers descended on Birmingham city centre today to protest over cuts to their pay and pensions: here.

TUC LGBT delegates sent a message of solidarity to public-sector workers on strike today and vowed to play a leading role in the fight against the government’s ideological attacks on the working class: here.

Thousands of members of Civil Service union PCS in Scotland went on strike today over Westminster’s attack on their pensions: here.

Over 2,000 trade unionists marching through an overcast Cardiff had their day brightened today by applauding bystanders and tooting car drivers: here.

A carnival atmosphere swept through Brighton and Hove today as more than 1,600 striking public-sector workers marched in opposition to the government’s pension plans: here.

The burden of deficit reduction is being piled unfairly onto some of Britain’s lowest paid workers, the TUC warned today: here.

Lloyds Banking Group delivered another blow to workers today as it confirmed plans to slash a further 15,000 jobs by 2014: here.

Doctors refused to rule out industrial action today following concerns over a proposed shake-up of the NHS pensions system: here.

TUC LGBT Conference: Public servants fresh from Thursday’s picket lines called on union leaders today to “name the date” for a million-strong strike in the autumn amid thunderous applause from the floor: here.

As 750,000 Britons Strike Against Their Government, Federal Employee Strikes Are Illegal Here In The U.S.: here.

Overworked America: The Great Speedup. Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, Mother Jones: “Pundits across the political spectrum revel in the fact that US productivity (a.k.a. economic output per hour worked) consistently leads the world. Yes, year after year, Americans wring even more value out of each minute on the job than we did the year before. U-S-A! U-S-A! Except what’s good for American business isn’t necessarily good for Americans. We’re not just working smarter, but harder. And harder. And harder, to the point where the driver is no longer American industriousness, but something much more predatory”: here.

British strike today

This video from Britain is called June 30 solidarity call out: Support the strike! Stop the cuts! UK Uncut.

From British weekly Socialist Worker:

Our reports of the public sector strikes and rallies will be updated throughout the day.

See also Guardian updates on the strike here.

See also here.

Peregrine falcons in old crows’ nest

This is a video of a peregrine falcon nest on a building.

Translated from a press release by Staatsbosbeheer in the Netherlands today:

For the first time ever in our country a peregrine falcon couple have nested in an old crows’ nest. And successfully so, because the young falcons have fledged.

There were two chicks, one male, one female.

It happened this spring in the Biesbosch. The falcons have benefited from an old nest of carrion crows. Peregrine falcons hardly ever build nests themselves.

Natural nest

Peregrines usually nest in nesting boxes on masts, towers and pylons. This spring, however, a couple nested in an old crows’ nest, in the National Park De Biesbosch. State Forest Ranger Jacques van der Neut says: “For the first time ever, breeding peregrine falcons in a natural nest. Something which had happened never before in our country. Abroad, peregrine falcons nesting in trees are also a rare phenomenon.”

Two Peregrine Falcons Shot in California: here.

Invasion of the falcons: The peregrine is back in town. After decades of declining numbers, the world’s fastest creature is populating Britain’s cities once again. One pair has even set up home at Tate Modern: here.

October 2011: Devon and Cornwall Police and the RSPB are appealing for information following confirmation that a young peregrine falcon found dead at a quarry near Buckfastleigh had residues of both carbofuran and aldicarb. These banned pesticides are suspected to have contributed to the bird’s death: here.

Most doctors have fled occupied Iraq

This video says about itself:

Doctors in Iraq are recording a shocking rise in the number of cancer victims south of Baghdad. Sufferers in the province of Babil have risen by almost tenfold in just three years.

Locals blame depleted uranium from US military equipment used in the 2003 invasion. These cancer cases have spread fears among the locals, prompting them to demand an investigation.

In this part of Iraq, 500 cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2004. That figure rose to almost 1,000 two years later.

In 2008, the number of cases increased sevenfold to 7,000 diagnoses. This year, there have so far been more than 9,000 new cases … and the number is rising.

Al Jazeera’s Mosab Jasim has been investigating.

Not just the situation for women in occupied Iraq is very bad.

Not just the overwhelming majority of the artists in Iraq from before the start of George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion have by now been killed or have fled the country.

The situation for doctors in the “new” democratic dictatorial Iraq of George W. Bush, and now Barack Obama, is horrible as well.

From Al Jazeera:

No relief for Iraqi doctors

As thousands of doctors leave Iraq, those who remain to heal the sick say they need more security and less corruption.

Dahr Jamail

Last Modified: 30 Jun 2011 06:55

“The hospital is crowded, the medical staff are overloaded, and we are deficient of medical staff because doctors continue to leave Iraq,” Dr Yehiyah Karim, a general surgeon at Baghdad Medical City, told Al Jazeera, “There is still the targeting of doctors.”

Dr Karim said that many Iraqi doctors are continuing to flee the country because kidnappings and assassinations are ongoing problems. Since the US invasion in 2003, doctors and other professionals in Iraq have been targets of these crimes in staggering numbers.

According to the Brookings Institute, prior to the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraq had 34,000 registered physicians. It is estimated 20,000 of those have left the country, and between 2007 and April 2009 only 1,525 had returned.

“Many doctors are still leaving the country because we are in danger,” Dr Karim, whose hospital is the largest medical center in the country, added. “Last week we had three doctors kidnapped in Kirkuk. Following this, doctors there didn’t go to work for two days. We always feel insecure about our safety.” …

In addition to the ongoing lack of security, Dr Karim said corruption within Iraq’s Ministry of Health continues to plague doctors.

“Distribution of medical supplies should be equal and proficient, and it is not,” he added, “There is favoritism for some hospitals to get medications, while others do not. Sometimes we get expired medications, or medications that are just about to expire. It is a faulty distribution problem, and mismanagement within the Ministry of Health.”

Last year, Transparency International’s annual corruption perceptions index ranked Iraq a dismal 175 out of 178 countries surveyed.

It is well known in Iraq that Baghdad’s US-backed government has been ripe with corruption for years. Yet critics say this trend was allowed by the US, who supposedly poured $61bn into Iraq’s reconstruction effort, which included roughly $1bn for Iraq’s health sector.

Dr Ali told Al Jazeera that the Ministry of Health is “full of corruption.”

“You can go to the hospital and find simple drugs like aspirin and pain killers that are lacking, while you can find medicines worth tens of thousands of dollars, like medications for multiple sclerosis that are available,” he explained, “The people [in the Ministry of Health] in charge of making these contracts are making crazy money out of this from kickbacks.”

Failed model

Osama al-Nujaifi, the Iraqi parliament speaker, told Al Jazeera that the amount of Iraqi money unaccounted for by the US is $18.7bn.

“There is a lot of money missing during the first American administration of Iraqi money in the first year of occupation,” he said. “Iraq’s development fund has lost around $18bn of Iraqi money in these operations – their location is unknown.”

The Bush administration flew a total of $20bn in cash into the country in 2004. This was money that had come from Iraqi oil sales, surplus funds from the UN oil-for-food programme and seized Iraqi assets. Pentagon officials have contended for the last six years that they could account for the money if given enough time to track down the records.

The US has audited the money three times, but has still not been able to say exactly where it went.

Iraq’s Ministry of Health has earned itself a reputation for engaging in massive spending in certain areas, while basic medical supplies and medicines are left unfunded and lacking.

“Sometimes we lack medications for chemotherapy or oncology, but we also lack for general surgery medications and instruments,” Dr Karim said.

Sporadic and infrequent availability of basic medical supplies, like IV needles and fluid bags, are a daily affliction for doctors trying to serve their patients.

From CTV in Canada:

A report in a prestigious British medical journal has made some troubling allegations against the military medical staff at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The author of the Lancet article claims U.S. Army medics actively participated in the abuse of Iraqi inmates.

The report says military doctors and nurses at the prison hid evidence of beatings at the prison, and failed to provide proper care to injured detainees.

What’s more, they falsified death certificates to cover up killings.

Both offences profoundly breach medical ethics and human rights, alleges bioethicist Dr. Steven Miles, of the University of Minnesota.

U.S. Monthly Combat Deaths in Iraq at 3-Year High: here.

UK VIOLATED IRAQIS’ FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS – rules European Court: here.

Iraq is barely capable of protecting its vital oil infrastructure and could falter if its oil police do not get enough manpower and sophisticated security equipment soon, a senior Iraqi security official said: here.

Leaving Iraq: Why total U.S. military withdrawal is best: here.

Considering President Obama’s pledge to return 33,000 troops by the end of the year, there is cause for concern regarding the quality of civilian life many veterans will experience: here.

“War on Terror” Set to Surpass Cost of Second World War: here.

Egyptian, Iraqi pro-democracy fights continue

This video, recorded in Egypt, says about itself:

29 June 2011

There’s been fresh unrest in Cairo where at least 50 protesters have been injured in clashes with police. Dozens were also injured on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters took first to the Interior Ministry, and then shifted to Tahrir square, the epicentre of the revolution in February. Protesters are angry about the slow process of prosecuting security officers, accused of causing the deaths of more than 800 people, during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

The US-backed military government in Egypt has carried out a bloody crackdown of thousands of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Over one thousand have been injured, with dozens still hospitalized: here.

Egypt: Helwan teachers protest over job security احتجاج معلمي مديرية التربية والتعليم بحلوان: here.

Cairo does not have the only Tahrir square in the Middle East where an anti-democratic pro-Washington government violently attacks pro-democracy demonstrators. See this video.

This video says about itself:

OWFI Women attacked in Iraq Tahrir square June 10th

Iraqi women activists from OWFI participate in Tahrir square demonstratoin on June 10 to be assaulted by gangsters hired by Maliki’s government. 12 women’s organizations from around the world stand in solidarity with OWFI activists and demand that Iraqi government stops harassments of demonstrators, especially trying to humiliate women by sexual remarks and assaults.

Tom Petty says Bachmann, stop abusing my song

This music video is called American Girl – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

From the Huffington Post in the USA:

Tom Petty To Michele Bachmann: Stop Playing ‘American Girl’

Posted: 06-28-11 06:15 PM

Renowned rocker Tom Petty hit Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann with a cease-and-desist letter Monday following the congresswoman’s decision to close out her campaign announcement to the tune of “American Girl,” Rolling Stone reports.

It’s not the first time Petty has fought back against a politician using one of his songs. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Petty insisted that George W. Bush not use his hit “I Won’t Back Down” to promote his run for the White House.

And Petty isn’t the only artist who has taken issue with politicians choosing to populate their campaign playlists with their tunes. From Aerosmith to Van Halen, take a look below at the historical face-offs between musicians and politicians.

See also here.

Bringin’ crazy Bach: More proof that Michele Bachmann still officially crazy: here.

Brit Hume says Michele Bachmann gaffes like ‘John Wayne Gacy’ can doom her campaign: here.

Michele Bachmann: Spirit like a serial killer: here.

Did the Bachmann family clinic violate its agreement not to engage in “religious based counseling?” Here.

Travis Waldron, ThinkProgress: “Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) formally kicked off her presidential campaign yesterday, painting herself as a Tea Party candidate who is ready to lead the country back to prosperity (even if her former chief of staff doesn’t think so). Today, in classic Tea Party form, Bachmann reiterated her long-held belief that a federally mandated minimum wage is a job-killing federal regulation that may need to be abolished”: here.

‘God Has Created You for Heterosexuality’: Clinics Owned by Michele Bachmann’s Husband Practice Ex-Gay Therapy: here.

Bachmann ditches her controversial church: here.

Bachmann Staffer Arrested for Terrorism in Uganda in 2006: here.

Michele Bachmann: Crazy Like a Fox, Mother Jones MagazineSept/Oct 2011 Issue: here.

Bachmann would consider Everglades drilling program even George W. Bush opposed: here.

Iowa debate, straw poll mark further rightward shift by Republicans: here.

Global warming “denialism” is becoming a tribal marker for Republicanism: here.

Rick Perry & the Environment: 3 Things You Need to Know: here.

Rampant Denial About the Threat Posed By Christian Dominionists, Perry and Bachmann: here.

Dawkins Destroys Perry on Evolution | AlterNet: here.

Rick Perry: Social Security A ‘Monstrous Lie’: here.

The most striking part of the first full-blown debate in the Republican primary was the total rejection of science. In a surreal scene near the night’s end, Gov. Rick Perry likened the people denying global warming science to Galileo: here.

Christian Right rebranding Jesus: here.

Young spoonbills and sedge warbler

On 27 June, to the “Baillon’s crake reserve”.

Mergulhão-pequeno Tachybaptus ruficollis Little Grebe from Jose Viana on Vimeo.

Near the entrance, a reed bunting sings. A swimming little grebe calls. Barn swallows flying overhead.

A moorhen on a bank. A lapwing.

Standing and looking for food in the southern lake, two spoonbills. This is the first time I see this species here, earlier I always saw them at the northern lake. These two are juvenile spoonbills, with pinkish bills. Probably, from the nest in nearby Huys te Warmont nature reserve, where this spring, spoonbills have started nesting for the first time in an old grey heron nest. It is still to early for the late summer/autumn migration which will bring spoonbills nesting further north here.

Egyptian geese on a small island. Oystercatchers on a bank. A common tern hovering. Tufted and gadwall ducks.

On a mudbank, juvenile moorhen and redshank.

Dragonflies.

Two common terns, calling to each other.

Five black-tailed godwits. A grey heron.

A swift.

In the canal along the railway, two great crested grebes.

A jackdaw looks for insects in cow dung.

A barnacle goose flying along with a grey lag geese flock.

As I walk back, near the southern lake, two goldfinches land on thistles. Most thistles are still flowering, but there already is some thistledown, attracting the birds.

A sedge warbler singing, flying.

A red admiral butterfly.

The sound of edible frogs.