This video is about the eastern black redstart, a black redstart subspecies from Asia.
Eastern black redstart video
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Daily Archives: February 20, 2017
Big pro-refugee demonstration in Barcelona
This video on the big pro-refugee demonstration in Barcelona says about itself:
18 February 2017
I quite literally stumbled upon this mass demonstration of people after leaving the Picasso museum. As any aspiring journalist would do, I pulled out my phone (actually my friend Sophia’s phone) and filmed what was going on.
By Alejandro López:
Huge demonstration in Barcelona in defence of refugees and open borders
20 February 2017
Hundreds of thousands of protestors—160,000 according to the police and half a million according to the protest organisers—demonstrated on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain against the right-wing Popular Party (PP) governments’ anti-immigration policies. The march, held under the slogan “No more deaths, open the borders,” was the largest held in Europe so far in defence of refugees and open borders.
Demonstrators condemned the continuing horrific treatment of refugees seeking shelter in Europe, as the European Union (EU) continues to deport thousands of refugees back to the war zones from which they are trying to escape.
The EU’s anti-migrant policies led to the deaths of at least 4,500 people last year, most of whom drowned crossing the Mediterranean in small, overcrowded boats. According to the United Nations, 230 people have died so far this year. Spain bears a special responsibility for this tragedy, having helped to close down the shorter sea-crossing routes from North Africa, thereby forcing migrants to attempt the longer, more hazardous ones from Libya to Malta and Italy.
Many protestors criticised the government for having only taken in 1,100 refugees—a fraction of the paltry 17,000 it had agreed to in September 2015.
The demonstrators flooded onto one of the major avenues in Barcelona, Via Laietana, many holding homemade placards and banners bearing slogans including, “Enough excuses, welcome them now,” “Refugees welcome,” “Legal papers for all,” “Open the borders now,” and “No one is above another, no one is illegal.” The protest ended on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.
A woman who had left Bosnia in the early 1990s during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia told El Periódico, “I see the same heart that opened to me in 1992, even stronger and with more solidarity. The only difference is the current political obstacle, and the lies that they tell us every day [about refugees and migrants.]” Mira, an 18-year-old from Syria, said, “We don’t want pity… There is no refugee crisis, we are victims of war.” Kissima, a 23-year old Gambian, told El País that “if the doors do not open, those people who are only looking for a better future will not be able to do anything.”
The fact that such a large march was organized within a short space of time without any media promotion by a small volunteer-staffed NGO, Casa Nostra Casa Vostra (Our Home is Your Home) shows the huge sympathy that exists within the population for the plight of migrants and refugees.
It exposes the lying claims of governments and political parties across Europe—of all political colourations—that they are responding to the “people,” who are demanding a crackdown on the entry of migrants and stronger borders. Such claims are used to shift the political climate to the right, as the post-World War II order collapses, in order to prepare the ground for more austerity, wars and attacks on democratic rights. …
Sonia Sierra from the Citizens party demanded “the government comply with the promise to take in 17,000 refugees.” This same party—a right-wing and anti-Catalan secessionist party—is a fervent defender of the EU and NATO and is attempting to become the new “incorrupt” face of the PP. In the past, it has enthusiastically defended the PP’s attempts to prevent undocumented migrants from having any right to access the public health care system.
Also present at the demonstration was Miquel Iceta, the leader of the Catalan Socialist Party (sister party to the Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE). He called for a “change” in EU policies because, “The current crisis is not as innocent as it may seem; it has been caused by the presence of Western countries in the Middle East.”
Anyone hearing such statements from Iceta will be rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Just 24 hours before Iceta’s remarks, some 400 African migrants managed to force their way into the tiny Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta in search of asylum. The Red Cross said it had to treat 103 of them for injuries they had sustained, which included a brutal assault by the border police. Some 25 people were hospitalised.
It was the PSOE government in 2005 that began construction of the original border fence, which now consists of 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) of parallel three-meter (10 feet) high razor wire fences, equipped with watch posts, CCTV, spotlights, noise and movement sensors.
Under the PSOE, Spain participated in the US-led NATO war on Libya, which killed approximately 30,000 people and destroyed the country’s infrastructure, paving the way for the current civil war and the spread of ISIS in North Africa.
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Humphead parrotfish video
This video says about itself:
17 February 2017
A school of Humphead Parrotfish descend on the coral reef to feed and turn the age-old coral into a fine sand that, in turn, forms islands. Fascinating video from BBC natural history show Blue Planet. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
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United States Donald Trump update
Seventy-five years after FDR’s Japanese internment order, Trump prepares mass immigrant roundup: here.
Demonstrators turned out in the thousands in cities throughout the US for the fourth weekend in a row since the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump to express their hostility to the reactionary policies being implemented by his administration, foremost the attack on immigrants and refugees: here.
Thousands gathered in Boston’s Copley Square on Sunday chanting “Stand up for science.” Many carried placards illustrating the importance of science for society and how it is coming under attack from the Trump administration and its anti-science supporters. One sign read: “Didn’t die of infections? Thank a scientist,” while another declared: “Object Reality Exists”: here.
Proposed Trump state visit provokes crisis in British ruling circles: here.
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Bearded vulture video
This is a bearded vulture video.
I was privileged to see these beautiful birds in Spain.
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Anti-Roma racism, new book
This video says about itself:
‘United For Dignity’ – Young Roma And The Fight Against Multiple Discrimination
27 June 2014
Key speakers, contributors and the rap group De La Negra are featured in this report on the Council of Europe conference ‘United For Dignity’ which took place earlier this week at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg.
More information here.
Go deeper on this topic … listen to the podcast on how young Roma people cope with ‘Romaphobia‘ and the prejudice they face because of their gender, migrant status or sexual orientation.
By Tina Carr in Britain:
Hatred of the Roma challenged
Monday 20th February 2017
The Roma need to be seen in all their colours and engaged with on every level to be fully understood, asserts TINA CARR
Romaphobia: The Last Acceptable Form Of Racism by Aiden McGarry (Zed Books, £14.99)
THE ROMA are believed to have arrived in Europe from northern India in waves of migration from the ninth to the 14th centuries.
Found in every country on the continent, it would be difficult to find a more diverse group.
They number 10-12 million, yet are one of its most marginalised minorities, with anti-Roma attitudes on the rise along similar lines to both Islamophobia and anti-semitism.
Although they have traditionally been called “Gypsies,” today many prefer to be called Rom or Roma — men or women in their language, Romanes — because the term “Gypsy” has a pejorative meaning in many societies.
Equally, many Roma prefer to adhere to the term Gypsy or tribal names such as Romungro, Olah, Sinti or Tsigane, having identified as such for many generations.
British Gypsies and Travellers do not use the umbrella term Roma to define themselves, although they may share the same ethnic or linguistic origins as the Roma in Europe.
However, the term Roma is a useful and widely accepted coverall since the umbrella group do have a shared ethnicity, with the exception of Irish Travellers.
It’s said that where the tarmac ends, the Roma settlement begins.
The majority live in dire poverty, are ghettoised behind walls built to segregate them from the majority, are unemployed and, until relatively recently, have received little or no education.
As Aiden McGarry says in his new book: “Romaphobia is the hate or fear of those individuals perceived as being Roma, Gypsy or Traveller; it involves the negative ascription of group identity and can result in marginalisation, persecution and violence. Romaphobia is a manifestation of racism: it is cut from the same cloth.”
Racism is on the rise and, although Romaphobia is no different in form or content to Islamophobia and anti-semitism, its causes can be particularised — there is something specific about Romaphobia even if its racist core is familiar.
And this is what McGarry’s book sets out to explore through the early history of the European nation state and the ways in which the Roma, as “landless nomads,” have been excluded from national communities founded upon a notion of “belonging” to a particular territory.
It uncovers the causes of racism towards Roma communities and points to constructive ways to combat Romaphobia.
The addition of “phobia” to the word Roma is a great idea — to ally Romaphobia to the other more long-lived phobias of homosexuality and Islam gives it immediate parity with the great campaigns that have risen to defend the rights of these minority groups.
As Romani studies gains traction in academia and begins to come out of what McGarry describes as its “splendid isolation” by drawing on concepts and ideas from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including politics, sociology, public policy, humanities and urban geography, the more the under-researched and misunderstood phenomena of the Roma will emerge into the light.
The Roma need to be seen in all their colours and engaged with on every level to be fully understood.
Enlightened, sensitively written and always positive, this book making a valuable contribution to that coming about.
Tina Carr is co-author with Annemarie Schone of From the Horse’s Mouth: A Roma, Gypsy, Traveller Landscape, available from simply-solar.co.uk.
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Swans and botanical garden flowers
On 18 February 2017, we went to the botanical garden. Before arriving there, we passed a canal with this young mute swan swimming.
There were two more mute swans: another youngster and an adult.
On the canal bank, feral pigeons.
When we arrived at the botanical garden, there were of course not yet as many flowers as later in the year, it officially still being winter. Yet, already purple crocus.
And quite some winter aconites were already present.
And so were these wintersweet flowers.
And, of course, snowdrops, as one might expect at this time of the year.
A great tit calls. Blackbirds. Ring-necked parakeets.
On the other side of the canal, grazing coots and moorhens.
A blue tit drinking from the botanical garden stream.
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United States far-rightist Yiannopoulos advocates paedophilia
This video from the USA says about itself:
6 April 2016
Watch Milo Yiannopoulos defend adults having sex with 14 year olds, 30 year olds being attracted to 15 year olds, as well as not giving up the names of Hollywood child abusers he met during parties.
From Pink News in Britain:
Yiannopoulos denies ‘defending paedophilia’ as shocking tapes emerge
20th February 2017, 12:24 PM
Far-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos is under fire after clips emerged of him allegedly defending men who have sex with underage boys.
Yiannopoulos has built a large following as a Donald Trump supporter, and is set to speak alongside senior Republicans at the upcoming CPAC [Conservative Political Action Conference] conference – which will be attended by Vice President Mike Pence, Trump advisor Steve Bannon, White House chief Reince Priebus and Senator Ted Cruz, among others.
The far-right figure and internet troll is already deeply controversial, previously claiming he would ‘cure’ himself of being gay if he could, describing trans people as “mentally ill gay men dressing up for attention”, and using a university lecture to single out and bully a transgender student on-stage.
Top conservatives are now facing questions about their ties to Yiannopoulos, however, after clips surfaced in which he appeared to defend sex with underage boys.
In one video reported by Uproxx, taken from an old livestream interview with the internet figure, Yiannopoulos attacks the age of consent as an “arbitrary one-size-fits-all policing of culture”.
He adds: “In the homosexual world, particularly, some of those relationships between younger boys and older men — the sort of ‘coming of age’ relationship — those relationships in which those older men help those young boys discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable, sort of rock, where they can’t speak to their parents.”
He is also heard bragging about his sexual activity under the age of consent, defending a priest who he had sex with.
When others present protest that his comments “sound like child molestation”, Yiannopoulos insisted: “I’m grateful for Father Michael, I wouldn’t give such good head if it wasn’t for him.”
Pushed on whether he was defending child molestation, he said: “You’re misunderstanding what paedophilia means. Paedophilia is not a sexual attraction to somebody 13 years old who is sexually mature, paedophilia is attraction to children who have not reached puberty, who don’t have functioning sex organs yet, who are too young to be able to understand the way their bodies work. That is not what we’re talking about.”
The comments have reverberated around the political sphere, with CNN’s Jake Tapper taking to Twitter to question the plans for Yiannopoulos to speak at CPAC in light of the revelations..
He wrote: “This guy is speaking at CPAC??????
“Friend of mine, conservative, could not be more distraught by this Milo tape. Was molested as a child. Horrified.
“How on earth can CPAC defend this? Preying on children is the definition of evil. Justifying it in any way is sick and disturbing.”
Yiannopoulos responded in a Facebook post titled ‘A note for idiots’, having been previously banned from Twitter for allegedly encouraging racist abuse.
CPAC Blasted for Milo Yiannopoulos Invite After Pedophilia Remarks Resurface: here.
“The Milo Test,” wrote Charlie Sykes, a conservative former radio host who has written critically of the Republican Party since the rise of Trump. “Anti-Semitism, ok. Racism, ok. Alt Right, ok. Advocacy of pedophilia? Is THAT the bridge too far?”. Here.
SO IT WAS DEFENDING PEDOPHILIA THAT LOST MILO YIANNOPOULOS HIS BOOK DEAL AND CPAC APPEARANCE Videos emerged of Yiannopoulos appearing to condone sexual relationships between adults and 13-year-old boys. [HuffPost]
MILO BOMB POST NIXED Instagram has finally taken down a post by Milo Yiannopoulos in which the former Breitbart editor said it was “disgusting and sad” that the pipe bombs sent to Democrats “did not go off.” [HuffPost]
Far right activist Milo Yiannopoulos is more than a million dollars in debt, according to a collection of documents assembled by his former Australian tour promoters.
Milo Yiannopoulos says he’s broke [Vice]
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Rare houting fish reproducing again
This 3 December 2017 Dutch video is about a fisherman who had caught a houting in Westeinderplas lake.
On 19 February 2019, Dutch Vroege Vogels radio reported that houting, a rare fish which was extinct in the Netherlands, are reproducing again in the Westeinderplas lake.
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European Union against democracy in Greece
This video from the USA says about itself:
Austerity and Neoliberalism in Greece with Richard Wolff and Barry Herman | The New School
Development, Thought and Policy Lecture Series: Austerity and Neoliberalism in Greece, sponsored by the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs, at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. GPIA Professors Richard Wolff and Barry Herman share their insights, led by chair and moderator Achilles Kallergie, PhD Candidate in the GPIA program.
What austerity is about is shifting the burden of an economic crisis from one part of the population to another. The mass of Greek people did not force Andreas Papandreou to borrow money. The mass of the Greek people didn’t know about or have much to do with fiscal policy at the national level. In fact, governments, bankers, leading industrialists, ship builders, the major players of the Greek economy, got together, as their counterparts did elsewhere, to produce the decisions that then, in the wake of the international collapse of capitalism, became unsustainable, producing a crisis in Greece. Once that had happened, there was only one question left: Who was going to pay the cost of all the debt Greece has run up or all the production decisions made that have left Greece without the capacity to export, with a dependence on imports etc.? And at that point, as has happened in every country – Greece is in no way unique – the wealthy and the business community went to work, with their resources and their business connections, to make sure that they didn’t pay the price.
Location: Room A404, Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
By Kevin Ovenden:
Greek democracy succumbs to austerity
Monday 20th February 2017
What is being demanded of Greece by the EU is nothing short of a curtailment of democracy, writes Kevin Ovenden
GRINDING austerity and mounting social crisis. Industrial output falling in the last quarter. A €7 billion euro debt repayment in five months’ time. No money in the government coffers to meet it. European Union institutions holding back promised instalments of a previous bailout until further assaults on working people are rammed through.
If that all seems familiar, it is because that snapshot of Greece today is eerily similar to exactly this time two years ago.
It was on February 20 2015 that the freshly elected Syriza government in Greece came to an interim agreement with the EU and eurozone in Brussels to seek a negotiated path to easing the country’s 1930s-style crisis while sticking within the rules set by the European institutions.
The agreement was little more than a stay of execution and a debilitating one at that. The Greek government pledged not “to take any unilateral measures” that might conflict with the demands of the creditors.
The sharks in Brussels did not reciprocate. They used the succeeding four months to grind down Alexis Tsipras’s government.
They tightened the economic squeeze until it reached levels of financial terrorism in June designed to force him to overturn a 62 per cent referendum result rejecting the demands for more austerity. And that he did.
Two years on, the finance ministers of the 19 countries that are part of the eurozone meet again today.
When the meeting was scheduled it was expected to be signing off on the latest “review” of the implementation of the third memorandum of austerity measures demanded by the latest bailout agreed last year.
But officials warned last week that that was not going to happen and that there would be no release of the next tranche of cash to Athens.
The mechanism of the bailout is itself a travesty of democracy. It gives the European monitors a direct power over the Greek government and its decisions that goes way beyond the pressure of the money markets that any modern state is subject to.
In order to receive bailout cash, which is recycled through debt repayments back into the European banking system not into the Greek economy, the government in Athens has to persuade European bureaucrats that it is doing enough to cut spending, privatise and deregulate.
What is being demanded now goes further. It is that the parliament in Athens passes in advance “contingency measures” as well as further immediate austerity.
The contingency measures would mean that if at some future point the European institutions decided that targets were not being met then the measures would immediately come in on their initiative.
There would be no decision by a Greek government, no vote by its parliament. This is the most stunning curtailment of sovereignty and democracy.
German or French finance officials will decide to implement a cut to Greek pensioners no matter what people in Greece wish or vote for.
And everybody knows that what is being demanded would mean years more of such cuts and the pauperisation of Greek society as whole.
We know that because it is what just about every serious economist from the IMF to the European Central Bank says so.
The reason is that the mountain of Greek government debt is simply unpayable. It stands at 175 per cent of national economic output.
The IMF says that even if further austerity is inflicted, the debt burden will rise. That’s because the impact of squeezing the economy — the target is to have a budget surplus in 18 months’ time of 3.5 per cent and to sustain it — in order to pay the debt will be to crush economic activity further.
It is an impossible situation and it has led to a deepening rift between the IMF and the European institutions.
The IMF is saying that there will have to be debt relief if Greece is to have any chance of recovering. That, or there will have to be an even bigger structural adjustment.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, however, speaking for the European institutions, has said: “There can be no debt relief within the eurozone.”
To do so would open up the question of the much bigger debt of Spain or Italy and others across the EU where governments stepped in, as in Greece, to bail out the banks following the 2008 crash.
The IMF is refusing to be part of the bailout unless there is some movement in the European position.
But the room for manoeuvre and for kicking the can down the road, which has been the EU’s method of dealing with the last eight years of crisis, is far narrower now than it was two years ago.
The EU had hoped to find some stopgap to prevent this escalating phase of the Greek crisis from running on into the timetable of major elections in Europe this year. It has failed to do that.
The crisis is spiralling into next month when the Dutch general election takes place, the French presidential election the following month and the run-up to the German election in September.
Political turmoil in each of those three core EU states cuts against their governments yielding an inch over squeezing Greece.
And the EU itself has been shaken by Britain’s decision to leave it last year. It is concerned above all to hold together on the basis of the existing failed economic model.
Tsipras’s government also enjoys less leeway at home. At the second election in 2015, in September, people were prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt.
The new austerity measures were yet to hit and, while unhappy at the government’s capitulation to the lenders, most people were hopeful that the axe might be blunted and that the government would deliver the debt relief it promised at the election. That sentiment has now given way to great bitterness.
The government parties have plummeted in the polls. Every indicator shows a deep alienation from the political system, which Syriza’s election two years ago was meant to stabilise. The centre-right New Democracy is up in the polls but well short of its historic levels.
Meanwhile the social and economic crises have a remorseless logic of their own. They are leading to more speculation among financial commentators of a possible “Grexit” later this year.
More importantly, they are posing more sharply than two years ago this question for working people: We cannot survive unless the debt is lifted.
If that cannot happen within the eurozone, then isn’t it time to repudiate the debt, rupture with the euro and EU and take the emergency economic measures necessary to prevent a complete social disaster?
Dear Kitty. Some blog 