This video says about itself:

http://greenpeace.org/savethearctic – On 24 Feb 2012 in the Port of Taranaki, New Zealand seven Greenpeace activists including actor Lucy Lawless scaled the derrick on a drillship commissioned by Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic.

This video is called Lucy Lawless protests with Greenpeace.

This is a photo of Lucy Lawless in her Xena, Warrior princess role.

Baobolong camp in the Gambia.

Common bulbul singing.

Red-billed hornbill landing in a tree.

A fine-spotted woodpecker.

Long-tailed glossy starlings.

The bus leaves Janjanbureh island over the southern bridge.

After yesterday, we are going back to Tendaba today.

At 9:45, a marabou stork nesting colony in a group of tall trees.

This video is called Marabou Storks Eating, Grooming, Mating & Generaly Brooding.

Young marabou storks try to spread their wings and fly, maybe for the first time.

Just under the marabou storks’ nests are weavers‘ nests.

Mosque swallows. Red-chested swallows.

We continue to a big tree near peanut fields. There, a male and a female Verreaux eagle owl sit, a meter away from each other.

Here are two Verreaux’ eagle owl videos.

Not far away, an Abyssinian roller.

A pygmy sunbird.

11:29: along the main road, a short-toed eagle flying.

Then, a Wahlberg’s eagle.

A grey kestrel on a treetop.

Guinea baboons in a tree across the road.

By Will Morrow:

Yemen: US-brokered presidential elections held with single candidate

25 February 2012

Presidential elections were held on Tuesday in Yemen as part of a US-brokered agreement that retains the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh without Saleh himself. Underscoring the fraudulent character of the elections, Mansour Al-Hadi, Saleh’s vice president for 17 years, was the sole candidate.

Hadi, a former general in South Yemen who was appointed vice president by Saleh in 1994 following reunification with the north, is expected to be officially inaugurated on Monday. He will remain president for at least two years before new elections are held.

According to election officials, only 60 percent of the population turned out to vote, and as little as 40 percent in parts of the south. Thousands protested in the capital on the day of the vote to call for Saleh, who until recently was residing in the United States, to be placed on trial. According to Al Jazeera, similar protests have taken place daily in the lead-up to the election. More than 100,000 soldiers were reportedly deployed to polling stations nationally.

The elections are part of an agreement orchestrated by the Obama administration with the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

This video is called USA: Millions of Americans trapped in poverty.

According to the National Poverty Center, the number of households in the US living in extreme poverty—less than $2 a day per person—has increased by 130 percent since 1996: here.

This video is called Why are you silent when it comes to Bahrain?

Marc Owen Jones writes on his blog about the recent manoeuvres by the Bahraini regime‘s public-relations firms and its supporters, from the threat of legal action against newspapers to “trolling” to placing guests on the BBC: here.

From the Free Speech Blog:

Bahrain king and Cameron discussed riot control “assistance”

24 February 2012 – 3:35 pm

by Padraig Reidy

This press release (below) has just come from the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority. The release outlines UK ambassador to Bahrain’s “praise” for the regime. It also follows what seems to be Bahrain’s public affairs strategy now, which can be summed up as “at least we’re not Iran”.

But this line is especially alarming:

“The Ambassador referred to a meeting between the British Prime Minister and HM the King, where they discussed the possibility for Bahrain to benefit from Britain’s experience in dealing with the street violence seen in Northern Ireland.”

Repressive techniques perfected in Northern Ireland are being deployed for the first time on the British mainland: here.

Gay rights campaigners raised the alarm today after Cameroon arrested 10 women on suspicion of being lesbians: here.

England: Police appealed for witnesses today after a teenager suffered a broken jaw when he was assaulted by three men who shouted homophobic abuse at him in Nelson, Lancashire: here.

This video is called Xena – Warrior.

From JAM! Television in Canada:

Xena star chains herself to tanker

By WENN.COM

Actress-turned-eco warrior Lucy Lawless has strapped herself to an oil tanker docked in her native New Zealand to protest against drilling plans in the Artic.

The former Xena: Warrior Princess star has thrown her support behind a campaign against deep-sea drilling off the coast of her homeland over fears it could cause a similar disaster to the oil spill which wreaked havoc off the port of Tauranga in New Zealand last October.

She helped raise awareness of a petition against the drilling plans, but she has now gone one step further by joining six members of eco-group Greenpeace in boarding an oil tanker to protest.

The campaigners have chained themselves to the ship and are refusing to move until the captain calls off his Artic-bound mission, according to TMZ.com.

In taped call to the website, Lawless says, “We know we’re going to be arrested… but… this is a moral decision for us.”

The star also admits she let out a Xena war cry as police helicopters circled above, adding, “I’m embarrassed to tell you when the (police) helicopter was overhead I gave more than one Xena war cry.”

The drilling plans are the plans of Shell corporation.

This video from England is called Stop Shell’s Arctic Drilling – Greenpeace climbers on the National Gallery.

From Wildlife Extra:

Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust 2011 sightings and strandings summary

Sightings

The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) had another successful research season in 2011 and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the public – massive thanks to all those who reported their sightings.

Sightings reported via the Community Sightings Network in 2011 increased in comparison to 2010 reports; in total 696 were reported to HWDT (482 in 2010). Harbour porpoises were the most regularly sighted cetacean species, although this isn’t surprising as Hebridean waters host one of the highest densities of this species in Europe!

Species reported:

Harbour porpoise – 299

Pilot whale – 3

Bottlenose dolphin – 109

Atlantic white-sided dolphin – 2

Minke whale – 100

Atlantic grey seal – 1

Basking shark – 82

Fin whale – 1

Common dolphin – 71

Humpback whale – 1

Killer whale – 22

Bottlenose whale – 2

Risso’s dolphin – 12

Sperm whale – 1

Sunfish – 8

Sei whale – 1

Unknown species – 7

Turtle – 1

Unknown baleen whale – 5

White-beaked dolphin – 0

After the Harbour porpoise the most frequently reported species were the Bottlenose dolphin, Minke whale and Basking shark. These three species are targets for photo identification and HWDT are very grateful for those members of the public who, as well as reporting sightings, also manage to get identification shots. Although over 80 sightings of Basking shark were reported to us, the number of Basking sharks reported was much lower when compared to 2010. This follows suit with the rest of the UK and marine biologists suggest that, rather than there being fewer Basking sharks, it is more likely that the cooler, unsettled conditions inhibited the stratification of the water column resulting in plankton being found deeper in the water column. If Basking sharks are foraging at depths they are less observable than when ‘Basking’ at the surface.

Leatherback turtle, Humpback & Sperm whales

Notable sightings during 2011 included a leatherback turtle and a Sperm whale. The Leatherback turtle was spotted by volunteers onboard Silurian in mid-June whilst crossing the Minch one day. Skipper Dave Hanna said that “It was the most exciting moment of my life”. This sighting (and quote) even made it onto the BBC news much to Skipper Dave’s delight! The Sperm whale was sighted off Mull in early September in the Sound of Raasay and prompted much concern regarding a severe dent behind its blowhole. Read about the Leatherback turtle seen off Scotland here.

Strandings

Seventeen strandings were reported to HWDT in 2011. The results from the post-mortems of individuals where samples were taken by HWDT are still pending but will be announced on our website in due course.

70 Pilot whales

On July 22nd around 70 pilot whales were reported at risk of stranding at Kyle of Durness. In one of Scotland’s biggest mass stranding events, trained medics battled against the tide and the weather to rescue as many individuals as possible. Without the assistance of trained medics many more pilot whales at Durness would have perished. Training courses are available to all members of the public to gain the fundamental techniques to assist in marine mammal strandings. If you are interested in attending one of these courses or you find a stranded cetacean please click here.

Blue fin & Albacore tuna

In September a blue fin tuna was reported to HWDT by a member of the public! Although bluefin tuna are rare in Scottish waters their presence is not unprecedented.

Remarkably, another tuna species was reported just a few weeks later at Lochinver. This time the species was identified as an Albacore tuna, a typically oceanic and Mediterranean Sea fish that is more commonly found in the southerly latitudes of the British Isles. These two records are the first for HWDT and we are keen to hear about any other tuna sightings/strandings you may have.

Pygmy sperm whale

In October, a pygmy Sperm whale was reported stranded at Easdale. Pygmy Sperm whales are rarely sighted and identified alive at sea, and therefore finding such a rare specimen in west Scottish waters is highly significant. HWDT are awaiting the results of the post-mortem however preliminary results suggest that the whale, a sub-adult male, was in healthy condition; in fact the whale had been eating shortly before being beached as there was still an undigested squid in the stomach. It also appeared that the animal initially stranded alive.

Photographic Identification

Photographic identification enables scientists to track individual animals and monitor changes in their markings over time. Photographs obtained from the public and local tour operators are vital for photo identification analysis as their data complements data obtained from our own research vessel Silurian.

Bottlenose dolphins in Tobermory Harbour

On St. Patricks Day 2011 a group of six Bottlenose dolphins swam into Tobermory Bay. Staff at HWDT used the Tobermory Harbour Association RIB to obtain photographs. Three weeks later three of the same dolphins returned to Tobermory Bay accompanied this time by three different individuals. Data such as these allow us to track the movements of individuals over seasons and can provide a wealth of information about home ranges and movements within these ranges.

In fact six of these dolphins were identified by HWDT in encounters that were reported to us by the public throughout the 2011 season. HWDT also received photographs from an encounter of Bottlenose dolphins off the Island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides. A small and isolated community of Bottlenose dolphins (18) are thought to be resident in the waters surrounding Barra so photos taken in this area by the public are incredibly important to our research allowing HWDT to keep track of any changes to their status.

Killer whales

The West Coast Community of killer whales consists of just nine individuals. Eight of these were sighted by members of the public and tour operators this year and submitted photos to HWDT. Puffin (W09) and Comet (W05) were sighted twice, once in June off the north-west coast of Mull and once in August off the east side of Benbecula. Also sighted in Hebridean waters in May were whales that did not match individuals in either the West Coast Community or Shetland photographic identification catalogues. The photos interestingly showed a yellowish colouring of the eye patch. Dr Andy Foote, who was involved in the identification process, suggests that this colouration indicates the presence of diatoms within the individuals implying that they were at higher latitudes prior to this sighting.

Minke whales

Minke whales also have identifying features that scientists can use to identify individuals. Dorsal fins can differ in terms of shape, colour patches, nicks and notches; many Minke whales have scars on their bodies or colour patches that further allows scientists to identify them from each other. Currently, HWDT do not receive as many identification photos of Minke whale as they do for Bottlenose dolphin, Basking shark and killer whale. We therefore encourage members of the public to take photographs if they get the chance and send the photos to us. If we identify the individual we can tell you who it was, where it was last seen and perhaps even who it was last seen with.

Huge thanks to everyone who reported their sightings in 2011, lets hope 2012 is just as successful. Please help spread the word and ask people to report their sightings to HWDT using our online sightings form. All sightings received will be forwarded to the respective organisations, e.g. all Basking shark sightings are forwarded to the Shark Trust.

Harbour porpoise beaches on Texel island: here.

This satiric video from the USA is called The Truth About Republicans by George Carlin.

By Greg Palast for Nation of Change:

Romney‘s Auto Bail-out Billionaires

Top funders made billions from US Treasury

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the federal government’s 2009 bail-out of the auto industry, “nothing more than crony capitalism, Obama style… a reward for his big donors to his campaign.” In fact, the biggest rewards – a windfall of more than two billion dollars care of US taxpayers — went to Romney’s two top contributors.

John Paulson of Paulson & Co and Paul Singer of Elliott International, known on Wall Street as “vulture” investors, have each written checks for one million dollars to Restore Our Future, the Super PAC supporting Romney’s candidacy.

Gov. Romney last week asserted that the Obama Administration’s support for General Motors was a, “payoff for the auto workers union.” However, union workers in GM’s former auto parts division, Delphi, the unit taken over by Romney’s funders, did not fare so well. The speculators eliminated every single union job from the parts factories once manned by 25,200 UAW members.

The two hedge fund operators turned a breathtaking three-thousand percent profit on a relatively negligible investment by using hardball tactics against the US Treasury and their own employees.

Under the control of the speculators, Delphi, which had 45 plants in the US and Canada, is now reduced to just four factories with only 1,500 hourly workers, none of them UAW members, despite the union agreeing to cut contract wages by two thirds.

It wasn’t supposed to be quite so bad. The Obama Administration and GM had arranged for a private equity investor to provide half a billion dollars in new capital for Delphi, but that would have cut the pay-out to Singer and Paulson. The speculators blocked the Obama-GM plan, taking the entire government bail-out hostage. Even the Wall Street Journal‘s Dealmaker column was outraged, accusing Paul Singer of treating the auto company, “like a third world country.”

But it worked. Singer and Paulson got what they demanded. Using US Treasury funds:

GM agreed to pay off $1.1 billion of Delphi’s debts, forgave $2.15 billion owed GM by Delphi (which had been spun off as an independent company) pumped $1.75 billion into Delphi operations, and took over four money-losing plants that the speculators didn’t want.

If those plants had been closed, GM factories would have shut down cold for lack of parts.

Then there was the big one: The US government agreed to take over $6.2 billion in pension benefits due Delphi workers under US labor law.

Governor Romney, while opposing the bail-out of GM, accused Obama of eliminating the pensions of 21,000 non-union employees at Delphi. In fact, it was Romney’s funders who wiped out 100% of the pensions and health care accounts of Delphi salaried retirees­­.

Paulson and Singer paid an average of about 67 cents a share for Delphi. In November, 2011, Paulson sold a chunk of his holdings for $22 a share. Paulson’s gain totals a billion and a half dollars ($1,499,499,000), and Singer gained nearly a billion ($899,751,000) — thirty-two times their investment.

One-hundred percent of this gain for the Paulson and Singer hedge funds is accounted for by taxpayer bail-out support.

But, unlike the government loans and worker concessions given to GM, the US Treasury and workers get nothing in return from Delphi.

>From GM, the US Treasury got warrants for common stock (similar to options) that have already produced billions in profit.

And Delphi? It’s doing well for Paulson and Singer. GM and Chrysler, still in business by the grace of the US Treasury, remain Delphi’s main customers, buying parts now made almost entirely in China and other cheap-labor nations.

And exactly who are Paulson and Singer?

Billionaire John Paulson became the first man in history to earn over $3 billion in a single year — not for his hedge fund, but for himself, personally. At the core of this huge payday was a 2007 scheme by which, via Goldman Sachs, he sold “insurance” on subprime mortgage loans. According to a lawsuit filed by the Securities Exchange Commission, Goldman defrauded European banks by pretending that Paulson was investing in the insurance. In fact, Paulson was, secretly, the beneficiary of the insurance, reaping billions when the mortgage market collapsed.

Goldman paid half a billion dollars in civil fines for the fraud. While the SEC states that Paulson knowingly participated in the scheme, he was not fined and denies he defrauded the banks.

Multi-billionaire Singer is known as Wall Street’s toughest “vulture” speculator. Vulture fund financial attacks on the world’s poorest nations have been effectively outlawed in much of Europe and excoriated by human rights groups, conduct Britain’s former Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as, “morally outrageous.”

With primary voting Tuesday in Michigan and Arizona, the Republican presidential campaign has effectively narrowed to two candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum: here.

George W. Bush Still A Drag On Rick Santorum‘s Prospects: here.

Eleven Questions for Sen. Santorum: here.

This video is called Richard Dawkins – Proof of evolution Pigeons.

From the Emu:

A phabine pigeon (Aves : Columbidae) from Oligo-Miocene Australia

Trevor H. Worthy

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Darling Building, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. Email: trevor.worthy@adelaide.edu.au

Emu 112(1) 23-31 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MU11061
Submitted: 2 August 2011 Accepted: 8 November 2011 Published: 24 February 2012

Abstract

A fossil coracoid from Late Oligocene deposits at Riversleigh, north-western Queensland, is described as a new genus and species of pigeon (Aves : Columbidae), which, based on a unique set of shared characters, is most closely allied to the Australian bronzewings, and Phaps in particular.

This, the first described fossil pigeon from pre-Quaternary deposits of Australia, demonstrates that phabine pigeons were present in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (c. 26–24 million years ago), supporting molecular-based hypotheses for the age of this clade. Two other fragmentary fossils from South Australia attest to at least one other species of pigeon being present in Australia at this time, but they are too incomplete for their affinity to be narrowed further.

The new fossils are the oldest columbid fossils globally and although few in number indicate that a diversity of taxa, including the precursors of Australian bronzewings were present in Australia by the end of the Paleogene. This emerging fossil record of pigeons supports ages of divergence of clades based on molecular analyses and suggests that Australia has had a long role in columbid evolution.