British general election coming

By Peter Knight in England:

New coalition challenges the right-wing agenda

Friday 26 March 2010

Trade unionists packed into a conference room at Friends Meeting House in central London on Thursday evening to mark the launch of an anti-cuts coalition standing in the coming general election.

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is backed by the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party as well as a number of leading trade unionists including RMT general secretary Bob Crow.

It plans to stand candidates in 42 constituencies across the country.

PSC [sic; PCS] assistant general secretary Chris Baugh addressed the rally just days after leading hundreds of thousands of civil servants out on strike in opposition to a government attack on their redundancy rights.

Mr Baugh said: “We welcome the opportunity to fill the void left by new Labour‘s abandonment of working people.”

The union link with new Labour was highlighted as a central issue for workers in dispute against attacks on jobs, wages and conditions.

Mr Baugh added: “I think the BA cabin crews’ dispute is a classic example where Unite is a major contributor to Labour and yet the Prime Minister and other ministers have denounced what is and what we believe is a just cause.”

This video says about itself:

George Galloway discusses the BA strike with Seumas Milne.

From British daily The Morning Star:

Greens win council seat with 33% swing

Friday 26 March 2010

Mainstream parties were left reeling after they were routed in an astonishing council by-election result on Thursday just days before Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to call a general election.

The Green Party‘s Rachel Eburne snatched a Tory seat at Mid Suffolk District, also humiliating the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

She polled 61 per cent of the vote at Haughley and Wetherden with 444 votes – a 33.2 per cent net swing from the Conservatives, who won 176 votes.

Labour, which had a councillor in the ward until 2003, polled just 32 votes.

The Liberal Democrats, a close second last time, only managed 51.

Barn owl live webcam

This video says about itself:

I was lucky enough to catch this Barn Owl hunting through our garden, this is a wild bird.

Here you can see live webcam images of a barn owl nest in the Netherlands.

Andrea van Pol of the Dutch VARA radio twittered about the nesting barn owl (called “kerkuil, literally “church owl”, in Dutch): “the only churchgoer with a good conscience” (meaning clerical sexual abuse scandals).

And here is a Dutch eagle owl nest webcam. The young eagle owls have rings by now: here.

Farmer replaces traps and pesticides with Barn Owls: here.

Texel barn owls: here.

British barn owls rely on humans: here.

Barn owl wing adapted for stealth: here.

US mercenary scandal in Iraq

This video from CNN in the USA is about the ArmorGroup mercenaries scandal in Kabul, Afghanistan.

By Daniel Schulman in the USA:

Another Embassy Guard Scandal?

— By Daniel Schulman

Fri Mar. 26, 2010 8:42 AM PDT

Surely last September’s scandal involving the bacchanalian hijinks of ArmorGroup’s vodka-butt-shot-taking guards taught the State Department—and specifically its diplomatic security division—a major lesson about the perils of loose oversight, right? Perhaps not, according to a recent review of Triple Canopy’s $438 million contract to guard the US embassy in Baghdad conducted by the State Department’s Inspector General.

No, Triple Canopy contractors were not spending their off duty hours gallivanting around with coconut bikinis covering their privates and subjecting each other to lewd hazing rituals. But the IG’s report, dated March 10 and first obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, does raise the question of whether anyone might have been the wiser if they had been. Among other areas where oversight was MIA, the IG’s office reported that the “Embassy is not properly overseeing” Camp Olympia, where Triple Canopy’s guards reside.

When investigators visited the guards living quarters they found “unsafe” and squalid conditions —one of multiple areas where the company was found to have violated the terms of its contract.

The inspection revealed that guards’ housing exceeded occupancy limits with over four times the acceptable number of guards residing in a room…Rooms lacked required fire alarms, smoke detectors, sprinkler systems, and fire extinguishers. The rooms also had live, frayed electrical wires in high traffic areas. The inspection revealed combustible material near air conditioners. After the inspection, the embassy deputy facilities manager stated that Camp Olympia was unsafe and “if there was a fire in the dorms, some people will not get out.”

According to the IG’s report: “Presently, no entity — Embassy Baghdad, Triple Canopy, or DS — is overseeing safety conditions at Camp Olympia, although all three parties are required to do so.”

The nvestigation was prompted by concerns over whether Triple Canopy’s guards, the majority of them so-called third country nationals from Peru and Uganda, met training requirements. But the IG reported that Triple Canopy’s disorganized and spotty record-keeping practices made “it difficult to verify whether guards have received required training.” Additionally, the contracting officer overseeing Triple Canopy’s work “does not enforce contractually required standards for guards’ English language proficiency. Due to their low levels of proficiency, some guard supervisors are unable to adequately communicate with their subordinates, which could lead to serious problems during an emergency.”

Nor, according to the IG’s investigation, does this officer “verify either the guards’ attendance at their posts or the accuracy of personnel rosters (muster sheets) before they are submitted, to ensure contractor charges for labor are accurate.” These problems echo those that jeopardized the safety of the Kabul embassy—though the IG’s report is careful to note that Triple Canopy “has met the security goals of the contract.”

A footnote buried in the report suggests that Triple Canopy officials may have tried to impede State Department investigators from getting the full story. Prior to a site visit by IG investigators, according to the report, Triple Canopy’s Iraq program manager, deputy program manager, and guard force commander coached the company’s guards on how they should respond to questions about working conditions and other matters.They circulated a memo containing “Pre-Inspection Guidance” that warned the guards about saying too much and contained what appears to be a thinly veiled threat:

“Answer to break question for guards is 15 minutes morning, 30 minutes lunch, and 15 minutes afternoon. DO NOT SAY: “I do not have a relief supervisor today.” Instead, and only if asked, I am sharing a relief supervisor with (name other venue). Do not elaborate on answers to inspectors questions. Answer only the questions. What you say can and will be used against you.”

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the guards the IG’s office interviewed said they received their breaks as required—but four members of Triple Canopy’s embassy team acknowledged this wasn’t always the case. Moreover, investigators found the guards labored under harsh conditions, some of them working as many as 39 days consecutively. “This practice diminishes guard alertness and undermines site security,” the IG reported. It also added: “Several guards complained they become ill from working consecutive days in the Baghdad heat with daytime temperatures averaging over 110 degrees Fahrenheit and sand storms that can last for days.”

“How could State not have learned their lesson after the public flogging they got for their handling of the Kabul contract?” asked POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian. “This report again raises an important point about whether State can properly manage Embassy security contracts in a war zone.”

Iraqis won a small victory at the weekend following news that a US soldier involved in an infamous massacre is to face a court martial: here.

The media has largely ignored evidence of British military torture used in Iraq, despite 47 claims of abuse against the government going before the courts: here.

German army abuse scandal

This 13 June 2017 video says about itself:

Germany: Army instructor accused of ‘abuse’ and ‘degrading treatment’ goes on trial

A German Armed Forces trainer accused of abuse and degrading treatment towards his subordinates appeared in court in the small town of Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old group leader is facing charges for alleged inhuman treatment towards his subordinates, coercion, and abuse of authority which led to bodily injuries during a training course.

Like in other countries, there are Roman Catholic clerical sexual abuse cases in Germany as well. Of course, the Roman Catholic church is not by any means the only organization where abuse occurs. It happens in, eg, armed forces as well (Note for apologists minimizing abuse within the Roman Catholic church: even if we suppose for argument’s sake that all non Roman Catholic adults in the world are paedophiles, that should not make the abuse cases within the church look one tiny bit better. Note for apologists for abuse within the armed forces: that abuse also happens within, eg, the Roman Catholic church should not make public relations for the armed forces look one little bit better).

Translated from FOCUS online in Germany:

Ill-treatment in military barracks Augustdorf as well

The scandal in the army is widening: in the barracks Augustdorf in the Lippe region allegedly several soldiers have been beaten and insulted by their comrades. Also sexual assault has been reported.

The full name of the Augustdorf barracks is Field Marshall Rommel Barracks. Recent research on this officer in Adolf Hitler’s army says that there are more problems with Rommel than quite some previous authors thought.

This video says about itself:

This video showing a German army instructor telling one of his soldiers to envision African-Americans in the Bronx while firing his machine gun was broadcast Saturday.

The video, coming after scandals involving photos of German soldiers posing with skulls in Afghanistan and the abuse of recruits by instructors, seemed likely to raise more questions about training practices in Germany’s conscript army.

From German daily Bild:

This shocking photo throws light on a degrading initiation ceremony in the German army, where soldiers are made to crawl through an ice cold river and eat raw liver.

Related articles

• Abuse Files For 30 Chicago Priests To Be Made Public
• The Institutional Crisis of Silencing and Cover-up
• Catholic papers on Chicago child sexual abuse to be released

The pope and sexual abuse of children

This video from CNN in the USA is called Catholic abuse scandal.

From British daily The Guardian:

Pope implicated in fresh allegations over sex abuse by second Catholic priest

Revelations about paedophile priest‘s transfer overseen by then archbishop of Munich follow Vatican storm over US abuse

* Stephen Bates

* Friday 26 March 2010 11.36 GMT

Fresh revelations have been made directly implicating Pope Benedict XVI in mishandling the case of a paedophile priest in his former archdiocese of Munich. The allegations come a day after the Vatican responded angrily to the allegation that the former Cardinal Ratzinger had ignored an American diocese’s request that another predatory priest should be defrocked.

According to the New York Times, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, as Archbishop of Munich, attended a meeting in January 1980 at which the transfer of Father Peter Hullermann from the diocese of Essen where his parishioners had accused him of abusing boys to Munich was agreed.

The move was meant to allow him to undergo therapy, but instead he was immediately posted to a parish in Bavaria, where he continued to abuse children.

Previously, the Vatican has asserted that the pope had not known of Hullermann‘s transfer and not been responsible for taking any decisions in the case, which occurred a year before he moved to Rome to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the church’s main doctrinal disciplinary body. But a memorandum discovered by the paper show[s] that he attended the meeting and that the reason for the priest’s transfer was clear, even though not explicitly stated.

Hullermann had been removed from his previous parish in September 1980 and did not deny the allegations made against him. Correspondence at the end of that year referred to a formal request that he should be transferred for psychiatric treatment in Munich. Although sexual abuse of boys was not explicitly mentioned in the letter from Essen, it stated: “Reports from the congregation in which he was last active made us aware that Chaplain Hullermann presented a danger that caused us to immediately withdraw him from pastoral duties.” It warned of possible legal action but suggested that Hullermann could teach religion “at a girls’ school”.

A report, drawn up by one of Ratzinger’s closest colleagues before the meeting stated, that a young chaplain needed “medical-psychotherapeutic treatment in Munich” and a place to live with “an understanding colleague”. It presented the priest from Essen as a “very talented man, who could be used in a variety of ways.” As soon as he arrived, however, Hullermann was placed in a parish, where he continued to abuse boys before being convicted six years later.

The suggestion that Ratzinger was more closely involved in the case than previously suggested followed allegations that Ratzinger, as head of the congregation in Rome in the mid 1990s, acceded to a plea from American priest Father Lawrence Murphy that he should not be disciplined or defrocked for abusing as many as 200 deaf boys at a school where he taught between 1950 and 1974. Murphy died a few months later and there have been allegations that earlier bishops in his diocese had ignored the complaints against him and that the diocese tried to hush the matter up.

The continuing and spreading allegations are devastating the authority and reputation of the Church – the world’s largest Christian denomination with more than 1 billion adherents. Previously the Vatican has denied accusations that it has covered up systemic abuse by priests in many countries for decades in the interests of protecting its reputation. It formerly blamed a handful of perverted priests and even suggested that abuse was a problem of the church in “Anglo-Saxon” countries, including the Irish diaspora.

The pope has apologised for the way the church handled allegations without accepting any personal responsibility for his actions in Munich nor during his 24 years as head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith in Rome. However, the accusations are getting closer to him all the time.

The Vatican’s spokesman, attempting to stem the relentless tide of allegations that the church – and now the pope himself – covered up or dismissed complaints against clergy paedophiles in the 1980s and 90s, complained about an “obvious and ignoble attempt to strike at all costs Benedict and his closest collaborators”. A statement published in the official Vatican daily paper L’Osservatore Romano said: “The prevalent tendency in the media is to gloss over the facts and force interpretations with the aim of spreading an image of the Catholic church almost as if it were the only (institution) responsible for sexual abuses.”

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Cardinal Sean Brady, the head of the church in Ireland, will shortly offer his resignation following accusations that he as a young priest took part in a cover up and the silencing of victims of a paedophile priest there. The cardinal has apologised, but has so far resisted calls that he should go.

Cardinal Defends Pope but Calls for “Housecleaning”; Italian TV Airs Allegations From Ex-Students at School for Deaf: here.

Survivor of Clergy Sexual Abuse in Boston: The Catholic Church Leaders Have Not Cleansed the Cancer of Child Sexual Abuse: here.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell demanded the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday following allegations of a cover-up of child sex abuse by the Catholic church: here.

NATO kills Afghan civilians again

This video says about itself:

Hundreds of Afghans have joined the street rallies to protest against the killing of 10 civilians, most of them teenage students, in a military raid by NATO forces.

By Saboor Mangal in Afghanistan:

PAN, March 25, 2010

NATO mortar shell kills a couple and injures woman and children in Khost

The incident occurred late Wednesday night in the Ali Sher district of Khost province, bordering Pakistan.

KHOST CITY: At least two Afghan civilians were killed and four others wounded in crossfire between NATO-led forces and Taliban militants in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The incident occurred late Wednesday night in the Ali Sher district of Khost province, bordering Pakistan.

Civilian casualties have become a source of friction between President Hamid Karzai and Western leaders as deaths of non-combatants are undermining public support for the government.

The clash started after sundown when Taliban insurgents attacked a foreign military base, resident Ali Madad told Pajhwok Afghan News on Thursday.

A mortar shell fired by NATO forces hit a house in the Chargoti village, killing a teenaged couple and injuring a man, his wife and two of their children, Madad added.

The deaths are the latest in a series of civilian casualties occurring after the top commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, banned night raids in a directive to all foreign troops based in the country.

Leaked memo reveals CIA strategy to manipulate public opinion in Germany, France in favor of war in Afghanistan: here.

A CIA expert has called for optimistic Afghans and their womenfolk to be recruited as flag-wavers for the NATO mission, to persuade sceptical Europeans to support the war, according to a document leaked on Friday: here.

Thousands of demonstrators marched from Civic Center Plaza through downtown San Francisco March 20, as part of protests throughout the country calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan and withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq: here.

Tighter Rules Fail to Stem Deaths of Innocent Afghans at Checkpoints: here.

Sanderlings of Schiermonnikoog island

After blogging about a very big bird, now about smaller birds; in the same Friesland province in the Netherlands.

This is a video in Dutch, with English subtitles, about sanderlings on Schiermonnikoog island. Also about sanderlings: here and here.

Internet bird quiz: here.

Rare vulture in the Netherlands

This is a video about an Eurasian black vulture in Mongolia.

A rare Eurasian black vulture has been photographed in Friesland province, northern Netherlands, this Wednesday.

While it is in the Netherlands, it is the country’s (and Europe’s) biggest bird of prey; even bigger than sea eagles which started nesting again in the Netherlands a few years ago after a very long absence.

In 2005, the Eurasian black vulture Carmen stayed for months in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve. Unfortunately, a train killed her. Now she is, stuffed, in Naturalis museum in Leiden.

New Indian frog species discovered

This video is called Paradise unexplored – North East INDIA [HD] part 1 of 2.

This video is part 2.

From newKerala.com in India:

New species of frog found in Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 25 : Zoologists here claim to have discovered new species of frog at Tamdil lake in Mizoram, about 80 kms northeast of state capital.

Leptolalax tamdil, named after the lake in which it is found, is an anuran amphibian belonging to the family Megophryidae.

It is so far found only in Mizoram, said assistant professor of zoology department in Mizoram University H T Lalremsanga, who led the team that discovered the frog.

It is a small frog, but medium-sized among Leptolalax species, the male measuring 32.3 mm, and female 31.8 mm.

The species is diagnosed with unique features such as eyelids with tubercles, distinct tympanum and supratympanic folds, undilated toe tips with dermal fringes, long hind limbs, and distinct color patches.

”The finding was a result of ten long years of research in the lake,” research scholar of zoology department of the university Saipari Sailo said.

Peered review international scientific journal Zootaxa has approved the discovery and published it on March 23, 2010, Sailo said.

Tamdil lake is one of the 94 national wetland areas, but it has disappointed a number of zoologists who have visited it.

”The new discovery will hopefully attract scientists across the globe,” Lalremsanga said. …

The scientists believe that Mizoram is home to many more undiscovered species of plants and animals.

–UNI

Madagascar frog rears tadpoles in dead palm leaves: here.

Birds in Baillon’s crake country and London

Which birds were there today in the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust wetland reserve in London, England?

They say:

25 March 2010

5 Redshank – main lake, wader scrape
4 Cetti’s warbler – wildside, reedbeds, waterlife
4 Chiffchaff – wildside, waterlife, sheltered lagoon
60 Teal – main lake, sheltered lagoon, grazing marsh
64 Shoveler – main lake, wader scrape, reservoir lagoon

And what birds today at another wetland? The one where last year the rare Baillon’s crake nested successfully?

Coltsfoot flowers.

Grey lag geese.

A great cormorant sitting on the windmill, drying its wings.

Tufted ducks. Great crested grebes.

Gadwalls. Coots. Mute swans.

Mallards.

Canada geese. Their sound differs from the grey lag geese’ honking; it sounds more like the “rrot” of their relatives the brent geese.

Near the spot of last year’s Baillon’s crake nest, the first ones of scores of shovelers and teal.

This is a video about a shoveler couple.

A northern lapwing, of which species I would see more later as well.

A redshank. A starling. Moorhens.

At the northern pool, many more black-tailed godwits than last time: certainly over a hundred.

A white stork walks near the bank; then, it flies away.

A female pochard.

Jackdaws. A grey heron.

Black-headed gulls, and two lesser black-backed gulls.

As I go back, and pass last year’s Baillon’s crake nest spot again, a group of seven redshanks flies away, calling.

A male and a female shoveler synchronize the bobbing up and down of their heads, as if saying: “To me, you are the dearest shoveler in the whole world!”