British EDL nazi banker sacked

This video from Britain says about itself:

EDL Nazi Wayne Baldwin EXPOSED

EDL member Wayne Baldwin, aged 41, formerly of Hockley, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive and insulting words and behaviour when EDL supporters broke away from an EDL riot in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, to rampage through Hanley Forest Park, on 23 Jan 2010. Wayne Baldwin admitted regularly attending EDL & EDL affiliated groups protests.

By Tash Shifrin in Britain:

Tue 14 Aug 2012 | updated: 6.04pm Tue 14 Aug 2012

Exclusive: EDL’s Alan Lake loses his job at development bank

The man known as Alan Lake, a key strategist and funder behind the racist English Defence League (EDL) is out of his job at a major international development bank.

The news comes the week after another shadowy EDL strategist, Chris Knowles, was sacked by Leeds council.

Lake, whose real name is Alan Ayling, masterminded the EDL’s strategy of bringing together football hooligan firms into an anti-Muslim army of racist street thugs.

He was suspended from his post as a database team manager at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in December last year after his real identity was exposed.

The powerful bank was set up by international treaty to fund development and privatisation schemes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The EBRD has now confirmed that Ayling’s employment “has ended”—and that he had not returned to the bank since his suspension last year.

Ayling was believed to earn around £70,000 a year plus bonuses in his post at the EBRD. But he is unlikely to be hard up following his exit.

He lives in a plush £500,000 flat in London’s prestigious Barbican development, and owns a second flat in nearby Bridgewater Square.

Until January last year, Ayling was a director of City investment fund Pacific Capital Investment Management, which was wound up last August.

Consultancy

And he has had a string of other company directorships, ranging from his 1980s data processing consultancy Lakerange—a possible source of his “Lake” alias—to the now-dissolved family firm Ayling Engineering.

As Alan Lake, he is a key figure in the shadowy network of far-right and anti-Muslim racist groups who call themselves “counter jihadists”.

He has been interviewed as a witness as part of the Norwegian police investigation into the massacre by fascist gunman Anders Behring Breivik.

Although Ayling denies having met Breivik, he has admitted meeting the deeply Islamophobic Norwegian blogger Fjordman—real name Peder Jensen—who is cited repeatedly in Breivik’s manifesto.

Ayling’s 4 Freedoms website is now his organisational hub. He has used the site to air predictions that the UK would fragment into “Islamic enclaves” in 20 to 30 years’ time and discuss the possibility of executing David Cameron, Nick Clegg and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He also described Breivik’s massacre of 76 mainly young people as chickens “come home to roost”—remarks that led to his falling out with EDL leaders last year.

But it was at Ayling’s Barbican flat that the EDL was established in 2009, according to disaffected founder member Paul Ray.

The founding meetings brought the “counter jihadists” together with Ray, Stephen Yaxley Lennon—aka Tommy Robinson, the former BNP member who now leads the EDL—and his cousin Kevin Carroll.

Ayling had hosted and spoken at EDL demos. He has admitted funding the EDL, telling Norway’s TV2 channel: “I have given some money to help some EDL things happen.”

EDL Fuehrer Lennon (“Robinson”) convicted: here.

Related articles

• EDL leader jailed over USA trip (bbc.co.uk)
• EDL’s Thanet Division Leader Convicted of Assault (loonwatch.com)
• Cambridge: we stopped racist EDL before and we’ll do it again (socialistworker.co.uk)
• EDL leader used fake passport to enter USA (itv.com)
• EDL leader jailed for using friend’s passport to travel to New York (guardian.co.uk)
• EDL leader convicted for 10 months (leftfootforward.org)
• EDL leader jailed for being illegal immigrant after entering US on friend’s passport (telegraph.co.uk)
• EDL leader ‘Stephen Lennon’ jailed for 10 months – Channel 4 News (channel4.com)
• Jailed for immigration offence: EDL leader used friend’s passport to try to enter US (mirror.co.uk)

Little grebes and emperor dragonfly’s eggs

On 14 August 2012, I was in the National Park South Kennemerland in the Netherlands.

During the second world war, Dutch forced laborers built an anti-tank defensive line there, ordered to do so by Hitler’s occupying Wehrmacht armed forces. Most of it is a ditch; some of it is a wall. The line was against invading Allied forces, which never arrived.

Now, that line, including the water, is part of a nature reserve.

Little grebes nest there. Little grebes usually eat small fishes. There are no fishes in most of the ditch system. So, the birds eat common newts and leeches instead.

I want to thank the photographer of the two pictures in this blog post. The photos were taken last week, but depicted similar situations as on 14 August.

Near the entrance of the national park, carrion crows gather, in an unusually large group for this species.

Near the ditch, a small tortoiseshell butterfly. Flying above the water plants, or resting on them, three damselfly species: blue-tailed damselfly, common blue damselfly, and small red-eyed damselfly.

We pass an abele tree, with a hole in it. Green woodpeckers nested in that hole this summer.

A mushroom: Boletus chrysenteron.

A small copper butterfly sits on the footpath. More on that species is here.

A speckled wood butterfly flying.

Ragwort. St John’s wort.

A common darter dragonfly.

Then, a red-eared slider turtle sitting on a log in the ditch.

Footprints of a deer and a fox in the sand of the footpath.

A small white butterfly.

Great spotted woodpecker sound.

Common toadflax flowering.

On the bank of the ditch again. Many ruddy darter dragonflies; some in semi-heart-shaped love embrace; some sitting on branches.

On this dragonfly and related species: here.

Hemp-agrimony flowers.

Many still very small common frogs on the bank. A common toad in the muddy water.

Willow emerald damselflies.

In the water, coots and a juvenile little grebe swimming. Also, tufted ducks with ducklings. Tufted ducklings are the latest young ducks of summer.

Near its nest, an adult little grebe.

A buzzard calling and flying.

A great tit calling in a tree.

Barn swallows flying.

Lots of songbirds fly to the bank to drink and wash. Great tits, blue tits, a female chaffinch, a male blackcap, icterine warblers.

Then, something special. A female emperor dragonfly, flying closely above the water. Every now and then, the “empress” sits down on a piece of wood or water plant to deposit a few eggs under water. Then, she flies on, and deposits a few more eggs elsewhere.

A witch’s hat mushroom. Rather early in the year for this species.

Wild pansy flowers.

Then, the most poisonous mushroom of the Netherlands: a death cap.

Nuthatch sound.

A juvenile song thrush on a branch.

A blusher fungus.

Finally, birch bracket on a birch tree.

Anti-disabled corporation Atos, Paralympics sponsor

As if sleazy corporate sponsors for the London Olympics were not enough, now at least one sleazy corporate sponsor for the London Paralympics.

This video from Britain is called Disabled people protest against Atos Origin. That corporation now calls itself Atos, without the “Origin”.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Anti-cuts demo targets Atos HQ

Tuesday 14 August 2012

by Paddy McGuffin, Home Affairs Reporter

Disability and anti-cuts groups have vowed to shut down the headquarters of controversial Paralympic sponsors Atos in protest against its involvement in the games.

UK Uncut and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are set to stage the Closing Atos Ceremony at 12.45pm on Friday August 31 – the second day of the Paralympics.

Atos has been fiercely criticised over its handling of the Department for Work and Pensions £100 million-a-year contract to assess people claiming incapacity benefit.

Campaigners said that 1,100 claimants died last year while under compulsory work-related activity for benefit and a number of those found “fit for work” and stripped of their benefits have committed or attempted suicide.

The British Medical Association, disabled groups and MPs have all demanded the work capability assessments be scrapped immediately.

An early day motion tabled by John McDonnell and signed by 83 MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Lavery, deplored the fact that “thousands of sick and disabled constituents are experiencing immense hardship after being deprived of benefits following a work capability assessment carried out by Atos Healthcare.”

Earlier this month the High Court granted permission for two disabled people to bring a claim for judicial review against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, challenging the operation of the assessments.

UK Uncut and DPAC have pledged to engage in direct action, creative protests and promised “plenty of surprises.”

The groups stress they are not opposed to the Paralympics but Atos’s “hypocritical” involvement.

DPAC spokesman Paddy Murphy said: “Atos receives hundreds of millions of pounds while many disabled people are being forced to live in abject poverty because of their decisions.

“By sponsoring the Paralympics, Atos is trying to give the impression of supporting disabled people. Don’t be fooled. This is just another opportunity for it to cash in.”

And UK Uncut activist Kat Templeton said: “Atos are spearheading the government’s attacks on welfare.

“This is about making ordinary people pay for a crisis caused by the bankers. It’s about making disabled people pay, instead of super-rich tax dodgers who cost us over £25 billion every year.”

Thousands expressed outrage today over the confusing and “disgraceful” Paralympic ticketing system that allegedly “bans” disabled people sitting with their families: here.

The Paralympic flames will be created on the summit of the highest peaks of the four home nations, London 2012 announced today: here.

Labour peer Lord Morris of Manchester, a pioneer of disabled rights legislation, has died at the age of 84: here.

Whale shark and sea turtles released in China

This video is called Whale Shark – BBC Planet Earth.

From Wildlife Extra:

Whale shark and sea turtles released off China

Turtles and Whale shark released off Hainan Island

July 4, 2012 – A Whale shark and two Green sea turtles were successfully released off Hainan Island, China. With blue skies above and turquoise waters below, approximately 50 people, including government officials, students, volunteers, local fishermen, and community members, boarded a boat in Lingshui Bay where the animals were set free into their ocean home.

Sea Turtles 911 Founding Director, Frederick Yeh, hailed the day as a celebration of freedom for marine animals, “Sea turtle conservation does not only involve sea turtles. When we protect charismatic species such as Whale sharks, those efforts spill over and protect sea turtles as well. These two animals share the ocean, and we must learn to share the ocean with them.” He added that currently, sea turtles and sharks are endangered entirely due to human-related causes; therefore, “Protecting them is humankind’s responsibility.”

Satellite tags fitted

The Whale shark and one of the sea turtles were outfitted with satellite transmitter tags that will communicate information such as their location, swimming speed and depth, and surrounding water temperatures. Despite being the largest fish in the ocean, very little is known about the life histories of Whale sharks, particularly in the South China Sea. Suzanne Gendron, Director of Ocean Park, announced. The satellite tag will help biologists learn more about their extremely long migration paths, areas in which they feed, and possibly even where they breed, so that conservation efforts are focused in these places.

Whale shark

The Whale shark was a juvenile male measuring 6 metres (20 feet) in length and weighing approximately 1 ton. It is believed that adults can reach up to 20 metres (65 feet) in length and weigh 30 tons. The Whale shark was caught by a Chinese fishing boat and kept captive, a practice we are now focusing on to make sure the sharks are then released, as this one was with a satellite tag.

Whale sharks are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are often victims of fisheries by-catch, accidentally caught by fishing boats, or hunted and killed for the value of their large fins to be used in shark fin soup. A traditional Chinese dish, the demand for shark fin soup has increased as China’s economy grows. In recent years ‘shark-finning‘ has become controversial due to the inhumane nature of the catch; caught sharks have their fins sliced off and are thrown back overboard to eventually drown, unable to swim without their fins. It is estimated that approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year for the industry.

Green turtles

The two Green sea turtles were juveniles weighing 30 kg (66 lbs) and 25 kg (55 lbs) respectively. Both had been in residence at Sea Turtles 911′s floating sea turtle hospital for approximately 10 months after being rescued from the illegal sea turtle trade. They were admitted on the same day, both suffering from extreme nutritional deficiencies and weighing a bare-bones 16 kg (35 lbs) each, making their successful dual release all the more special. Green sea turtles are hunted and raised by poachers for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in China.

The event was a collaborative effort between Sea Turtles 911, Hainan Normal University, Ocean Park Hong Kong, local government, and fishermen.

The common ancestor of sharks and humans — and all jawed animals with a backbone for that matter — possessed a sixth sense: the ability to detect electrical fields under water: here.

Michael Sweet, a researcher in the School of Biology at Newcastle University’s Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability, has found that while sharks can tan, they are resistant to melanoma: here.

The world’s most endangered turtles and tortoises: here.

Tunisia: Urgent Call to Preserve Marine Fauna in Tunisia and Mediterranean – Stop Killing Sea Turtles: here.