This photo shows a redstart male, on the day after 29 April, so on 30 April 2017, in the garden in Winterswijk.
A female redstart was present as well.
Earlier, a rook had tried to drive away a flying buzzard; while a barn swallow flew past the two bigger birds.
A starling.
A brimstone butterfly.
A blackbird sings.
A blue tit.
This video says about itself:
22 August 2015
There will be a total eclipse of the Sun in the USA on Monday, 21 August 2017. This documentary explains how to view it very simply, in completely safely and without specialised equipment.
More information is here.
From Science News in the USA:
Read up on solar eclipses before this year’s big event
New books chronicle the science, history and cultural significance of these phenomena
By Sid Perkins
8:00am, April 30, 2017
In August, the United States will experience its first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in nearly a century. Over the course of an hour and a half, the moon’s narrow shadow will slice across 12 states, from Oregon to South Carolina (SN: 8/20/16, p. 14). As many as 200 million people are expected to travel to spots where they can view the spectacle, in what could become one of the most watched eclipses in history. Excitement is building, hence the flurry of new books about the science, history and cultural significance of what is arguably one of Earth’s most awesome celestial phenomena.
Total solar eclipses happen when the moon passes in front of the sun as seen from Earth, and the moon blocks the entire face of the sun. This event also blocks sunlight that would otherwise scatter off the molecules in our atmosphere, reducing a source of glare and so allowing an unfettered view of the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. Total solar eclipses arise from a fluke of geometry that occurs nowhere else in the solar system, astronomer Anthony Aveni explains in In the Shadow of the Moon. Only Earth has a moon that appears, from the planet’s viewpoint, to fit so neatly over the sun — a consequence of the fact that the sun is a whopping 400 times as large as the moon but also 400 times farther away. Moons orbiting other planets are either too small to fully cover the sun’s face or are so large that they fully block any view of the corona.
In fact, the fluke of geometry is also a fluke of history: Because the moon’s orbit drifts about four centimeters farther from Earth each year, there will come a time when the moon will no longer appear to cover the sun, notes planetary scientist John Dvorak in Mask of the Sun. We already get a preview of that distant day: When the moon passes in front of the sun during the most distant portions of its orbit (and thus appears its smallest), Earth is treated to a ring, or annular, eclipse.
In the Shadow of the Moon, Mask of the Sun and physicist Frank Close’s Eclipse all do a good job of explaining the science behind total solar eclipses. That includes clarifying why one is seen somewhere on Earth once every 18 months or so, on average, instead of every time the moon crosses paths with the sun during the new moon. In short, it’s because the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted compared with Earth’s orbit around the sun, making the moon pass either above or below the sun during most new moons.
Many solar eclipses are preceded by a lunar eclipse about two weeks earlier — a coincidence that may have helped ancient astrologers “predict” an eclipse, Close writes. Additional observations, Dvorak notes, may have helped these nascent astronomers notice the long-term pattern in solar eclipses with similar paths, which tend to recur roughly every 18 years. While ancient Babylonians could predict the onset of a solar eclipse within a few hours — and ancient Greeks to within about 30 minutes — today’s astronomers can pin down eclipses to within a second.
That precision has fueled the craze of “eclipse chasing,” in which scientists and nonscientists alike trek to often remote regions to gather data or to simply experience the brief darkness — rarely more than seven minutes, and sometimes less than one second — of totality. In 1925, scientists chased an eclipse with an airship; in 1973, they did so at supersonic speed in a Concorde. All three books describe in detail various historical expeditions to view eclipses, everywhere from New York’s Central Park to exotic hot spots such as the South Pacific and Pike’s Peak in Colorado (which was pretty remote and exotic in 1878).
Each book shares many of the same anecdotes and recounts many of the same scientific breakthroughs that resulted from eclipse research. Both In the Shadow of the Moon and Mask of the Sun take readers on a largely chronological path through eclipse history. But their organizations differ slightly: The science of eclipses is deftly scattered throughout Mask of the Sun, while In the Shadow of the Moon addresses various scientific topics in wonderfully thorough chapters of their own.
Of this trio of books, Eclipse — more a memoir of Close’s lifetime fascination and personal experiences with eclipses than a detailed chronicle of historical lore — provides the most amusing and insightful descriptions of eclipse chasers. They are, Close writes, “an international cult whose members worship the death and rebirth of the sun at moveable Meccas, about half a dozen times every decade.”
A teacher kindled Close’s love of eclipses in 1954 when Close was an 8-year-old living north of London. He reached his 50s before experiencing a total eclipse (1999 in extreme southwestern England), but since then has seen a handful more, including from a cruise ship southwest of Tahiti and a safari camp in Zambia.
Who knows how many budding young scientists the Great American Eclipse of 2017 — or these books — will inspire.
This video says about itself:
1 May 2017
Germany’s defence minister has come under fire over a scandal involving an army lieutenant who is accused of plotting a gun attack while posing as a Syrian refugee.
This minister, Von der Leyen, has postponed a visit to the USA because of this scandal. It is said at least five German soldiers are in this far right terrorist network.
By Peter Schwarz in Germany:
German army officer arrested for planning terror attack
2 May 2017
The arrest of a 28-year-old German army officer suspected of planning a right-wing terrorist attack raises troubling questions. What initially looked like a bizarre isolated case has quickly demonstrated that the Bundeswehr, the German army, provides fertile ground for extreme right-wing elements.
Franco A. was arrested last Wednesday after trying to retrieve a weapon hidden in Vienna Airport. Up until then he had not come to the notice of Germany’s security agencies.
It soon became clear that Franco A. lived a double life. For eight years he has been a full-time soldier in the Bundeswehr, where he rose to the rank of first lieutenant. He was stationed in the French town of Illkirch.
Simultaneously, he registered as a Syrian refugee under the name of David Benjamin at the end of 2015. Although he came from Offenbach near Frankfurt, spoke no Arabic and communicated with the authorities in French, he was recognised as a refugee and assigned to a refugee camp. In addition to his earnings as a soldier he also received benefits as a refugee.
Since his arrest, the suspicion has been substantiated that Franco A., under his false refugee identity, was planning a terror attack against leftist politicians or activists, which was then to be blamed on refugees.
While the security authorities and Defence Ministry are stonewalling and only confirming in part what is already known, research by journalists has revealed that Franco A. espoused extreme right-wing positions, which were known to his military superiors. In house searches, lists with leftist and anti-fascist targets were found.
On Friday, Spiegel Online reported that Franco A. attracted attention with his extreme right-wing views as far back as 2014, when he studied at the French military university in Saint-Cyr. His master’s thesis was rejected because he recapitulated “staunch racial and right-wing extremist opinions and did not distance himself from the relevant thinkers or philosophers.” Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed this.
At that time, a professor at the university drew the conclusion that the master’s thesis “was not compatible with liberal democratic principles,” Spiegel Online reports. A scholar from the Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr, who read the thesis, concluded that the text clearly contained “racial thinking.”
However, the suspicions raised against Franco A. were dropped after he had assured his German superior at the university that the right-wing passages in his work were the product of time pressure. The superior arrived at the conclusion that Franco A. did not hold extreme right-wing positions and gave him a “second chance.” Franco A. then wrote a new thesis that was accepted.
Allegedly, the incident was neither recorded in Franco A.’s personnel files nor forwarded to the responsible military security service (MAD). According to Spiegel Online, it only came to light because a soldier who could remember the incident reported it to his superiors.
On Sunday, Spiegel Online then reported that a “list of possible targets for attacks or assaults against leftist and anti-fascist organisations and individuals” was found in house searches. Security circles have confirmed the existence of the list, but have refused to comment on its likely purpose.
At least two people—the Berlin Left Party deputy Anne Helm, who campaigns against far-right tendencies, and the head of the organisation “Centre for Political Beauty,” which has organised artistic activities against right-wing extremism and arms exports—have been informed by the police they were on the list.
The case of Franco A. confirms that far-right elements are drawn to the Bundeswehr where their neo-fascist opinions are either tolerated or encouraged. In the course of the past few months there have been a series of scandals involving the abuse and sexual assault of cadets during training, including incidents at barracks in Pfullendorf and Sonderhausen.
This trend has assumed a new dimension with the latest report that a far-right terrorist attack was apparently being planned from within the ranks of the Bundeswehr. It is difficult to imagine that Franco A. had no confidantes or accomplices.
Even advocates of the Bundeswehr, such as the defence spokesman of the SPD parliamentary faction, Rainer Arnold, had to admit: “Filtering out extreme right-wing radicals has not always worked well in the Bundeswehr. Evidently not enough has been done.”
According to Hans-Peter Bartels (Social Democratic Party, SPD), the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, the Bundeswehr is “structurally more susceptible” than other sectors of society. “Hierarchies, weapons, uniforms—that appeals to some applicants whom the Bundeswehr should not want,” he told Welt am Sonntag.
Von der Leyen had to concede that the military leadership of the Bundeswehr had a “problem of demeanour” and a “misconceived esprit de corps,” which repeatedly leads to a situation where misconduct is not properly pursued. “Instead they look away, until a scandal erupts. And that’s not okay,” she told the ZDF television channel. “The Bundeswehr has problem of demeanour and evidently has leadership weaknesses at different levels.”
In fact, what is at issue here is neither a “problem of demeanour” nor a “weakness.” The appeal of the Bundeswehr for right-wing and far-right forces is the inevitable result of the return of German militarism. Its transformation into a professional army, which wages war and kills all over the world, inevitably attracts elements who espouse right-wing and militaristic conceptions with regard to other political and social issues.
The demand by von der Leyen and other members of the government, that Germany once again “take responsibility” and play a political and military role appropriate to its economic clout, also serves to attract such elements.
In the Weimar Republic, the General Staff of the Reichswehr, the Freikorps and the paramilitary groups, which emerged from the army after Germany’s defeat in the First World War, formed a state within the state. They provided a breeding ground for far-right organizations and acts of violence. Many socialists, including Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were murdered by them, and they formed the basis for Hitler’s notorious storm troopers.
For a long time all this seemed to be relegated to history. But now it is clear that all the talk about “citizens in uniform” and “inner leadership” has changed nothing about the character of militarism. The case of Franco A. is a warning. With the growth of militarism, the danger from the extreme right-wing is also growing.
This is a 20 April 2017 time-lapse video of a male stonechat catching a fly.
Aleida Kouwert and Harry Heuven in the Netherlands made this video.
This video says about itself:
London May Day Celebrations (1939)
Various shots of hundreds of people taking part in a socialist march through the streets of London. The protesters carry numerous posters with slogans such as “CHAMBERLAIN MUST GO!”
London, England, about yesterday: JOHN McDONNELL told the May Day masses yesterday that the general election is the biggest chance of a lifetime for the left. Addressing a packed Trafalgar Square on International Workers’ Day, the shadow chancellor launched a searing attack on the Tory government’s record of cuts, low pay and privatisation: here.
UP to 10,000 workers, trade unionists, students and youth marched on May Day in London from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square, carrying banners and flags: here.
MAY DAY marches throughout the EU were full of explosive class tensions reflecting the battle that workers are waging to defend their living standards and rights: here.
This video says about itself:
May Day In Paris (1946)
Parisians celebrate the 1st post-war May Day. Various shots large procession / rally: banners representing political parties and unions are carried by people or are attached to carnival floats, one person carries hammer and sickle flag.
Around 140,000 people marched yesterday in demonstrations across France for May Day, in the run-up to the second round of the presidential elections between former … Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and neo-fascist National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen: here.
About Paris, France:
Witnesses reported riot police clubbing protesters who had been pressed against a wall on a tree-lined avenue.
Rioting broke out on the night of the first round of presidential elections a week ago, with anti-fascists and anarchists angry at the narrow choice presented to voters next Sunday.
The far-right National Front’s (FN) Marine Le Pen will face neoliberal Emmanuel Macron under his En Marche! (Forward!) banner.
Mr Macron served as finance minister in the Socialist party government of outgoing President Francois Hollande, which courted unpopularity by imposing an EU-dictated anti-worker labour law by decree after parliament had twice rejected it, sparking general strikes and street battles.
Ms Le Pen, who stepped down as FN leader last week in a bid to broaden her appeal, wants to ditch the euro currency and hold a referendum on EU membership so that France can reimpose border controls and deny state service to non-nationals. Unions organising Paris marches oppose Le Pen’s presidential bid — but differ on tactics.
Some have urged French workers to vote for Mr Macron but others have refused to make that call, including the left’s presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was eliminated in the first-round vote on April 23.
Mr Melenchon says he will cast a vote against Ms Le Pen but will not instruct his supporters on how to vote. He condemned Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron as the candidates of the “extreme right” and “extreme finance.”
This video says about itself:
1 May 2017
Over six million workers took to the streets across Cuba on May Day to defend a ‘sovereign, socialist and sustainable’ nation. They expressed solidarity with Venezuela in the face of threats from the right.
By James Tweedie, about Havana, Cuba:
RAUL CASTRO led his final May Day march as president in Havana yesterday, dedicated to late leader Fidel.
Crowds gathered from 2am in the capital’s huge Jose Marti Revolution Square for the annual highlight of workers’ celebrations around the world.
Mr Castro, who has said he will step down next February, presided over the rally.
This video, by Jennifer Perez from Puerto Rico, says about itself:
STRIKE IN PUERTO RICO ★ MAY 1 2017
May Day, the day of the international working class, saw mass marches and protests on every continent, as well as scattered strikes, as workers sought to demonstrate their opposition to the policies of right-wing governments and their solidarity with their class brothers and sisters around the world. … Puerto Rico was virtually shut down by a May Day strike against austerity measures imposed by the government of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Demonstrators blocked roads to enforce a general strike while denouncing the US financial control board overseeing the Rosselló administration. Police fired tear gas and smoke bombs and used pepper spray.: here.
This video from the USA is called May Day protests in Los Angeles. May 1, 2017.
Tens of thousands of immigrant and native-born workers and young people marched across the United States to mark May Day, the holiday of the international working class, and oppose the Trump administrations’ scapegoating of immigrant workers: here.
This 20 April 2017 video shows a coypu cleaning its fur.
Coypus are originally from South America, but feral animals live in Europe.
Maus Sturmer-de Wit in the Netherlands made this video.
This cartoon shows, on the left, Marianne, symbol of the French republic, as inspired by a famous painting by Eugène Delacroix. On the right, Marine Le Pen, leader of the racist National Front party, doing the nazi salute and carrying a club.
Emmanuel Macron, one of the two candidates in the second round of the French presidential elections, yesterday, on 1 May 2017 refused to dump his plans for further attacks on workers’ rights. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftist candidate who just missed the second round, had asked Macron to do that, as a gesture of goodwill to the many voters who strongly oppose extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen becoming president, but are also strongly critical of Macron’s pro-Big Business policies.
On 30 April, Mélenchon had said that anyone voting for Le Pen would be making a ‘terrible mistake’. He also said (translated from Belgian French language RTBF TV):
In my opinion, France will get rid of Marine Le Pen in this election [second round of presidential election, 7 May], and we, a month later, we will all get rid of the policies of Emmanuel Macron [on the occasion of the legislative elections of June 8].
In an online poll conducted this week, members of the Unsubmissive France (UF) movement broadly rejected support for either candidate in the French presidential runoff election. The two candidates are the former Rothschild banker Emmanuel Macron and the neo-fascist Marine Le Pen: here.
This 20 April 2017 video shows a bathing song thrush; while a chiffchaff sings off camera.
Wilma van der Vliet made this video in her garden in the Netherlands.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 