Blog Archives

Night Wolves ride to Berlin thwarted

30/4/2015

Soviet cenotaph, Berlin

Biker gang Night Wolves have been turned back from entry into Poland. Night Wolves are an ultra-nationalist Russian group that have stated that they want to be in Berlin on May 9th to commemorate the Russian defeat of Nazis at the end of WW2.

They are riding with the theme “For the Motherland, for Stalin”. Apparently they fail to see the irony that Hitler and Stalin were pals until Hitler invaded Poland and continued on to Russia.

In addition to their reverence towards a mass murderer, they exclude females from their gang, are outspoken homophobes and good friends of President Putin. Those characteristics have not caused countries to slam the doors and remove the welcome mats. Their participation in the annexation of Crimea and activities in the east of Ukraine have earned them exclusion.

To date Lithuania, Poland, German and the Czech Republic have announced that the Night Wolves are not welcome.

In spite of the tensions in Europe over the situation in Ukraine, Putin is planning massive celebrations to mark the end of the Second World War.

Red Square in Moscow will see the biggest military parade yet. It is expected that 15 000 soldiers will march, 200 tanks will roll and 150 fighter jets will fly overhead. New military hardware will be revealed to the spectators.

While the military show will be spectacular, the VIP viewing stands will have some empty seats. President Putin sent out invitations to 68 political leaders. Only 25 have accepted.

None of the political maneuvering should take away from the terrible price that Russians paid for a final victory against the Nazi war machine. It is estimated that 27 million Russians were killed during the four years of fighting. The siege of Leningrad is an epic story of heroism and fortitude.

Sources:
The Moscow Times
Wikipedia
RT
Der Spiegel

0 Comments

South Sudan child soldiers

29/4/2015

1 Comment

Photo: UNICEF/2015/South Sudan/Sebastian Rich

Earlier this year the first of 3000 child soldiers in South Sudan were released from their servitude into the care of the United Nations. During February more were expected to be turned over to UNICEF personnel. All of the 280 released on January 27 were boys. Some are reported to have been in the rebel militia for four years.

The children held have recently been released and this week the United Nations reports "Militants in South Sudan have handed over to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) a final group of 283 children in what the agency described as “a small piece of good news in what is otherwise a terrible situation for children in other parts of [the country S. Sudan],” where many boys and girls have been abducted and forcibly recruited as child soldiers."

But four days later, on Tuesday, the UN reported "Top UN official in South Sudan urges release of remaining child soldiers" which are estimated to be as many as 13,000 in number.

An uptake of about 2000 children occurred in 2013 when open hostilities broke out between the president and vice-president of S. Sudan. The conflict was brutal and bloody and devolved into divisions based on religious beliefs. According to the UN any person younger than 18 years is a child soldier. In the videos recording the interviews with some of the released, the boys voices were that of young children. They spoke about how heavy their AK47s were.

One of the youngsters talked about how scared he was while in the fighting and also scared to be in the militia. He witnessed two of his sisters being murdered.

S. Sudan’s most recent civil war may be on the brink of settlement but it has cost the lives of at least 50 000 people and displaced many more. Disagreements within the ruling party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), saw President Salva Kiir sack VP Riek Machar. An agreement was hammered out in Tanzania in late January to set aside and reform the powers of the Presidency.

The estimated cost of rehabilitating the child soldiers has been estimated at $10 million.

This agreement does not address the armed conflict that is continuing in the country. Several ceasefire agreements have been signed in the past and violated.

While S. Sudan is blessed with ample water and good agricultural lands, the civil war has meant that refugees were prevented from planting this year. Currently the UN estimates that 2.5 million people are in food crisis and a further 3.9 are in food security stress.

Those numbers are expected to swell to 7 million by March when food stocks run out. The UN is asking donor nations to contribute $32 million to provide emergency food rations.

282 boys and one girl were released by the so-called 'Cobra Faction' in Labrab, a village in a remote corner of Jonglei state in South Sudan, bringing to 1,757 the number of children who have been released by the militant group this year.

Sources:
All Africa
DW
UN Food and Agriculture Organization

1 Comment

Neurotoxin to be sprayed on Washington oyster beds

29/4/2015

2 Comments

Willapa Bay with burrowing shrimp in foreground

Washington State has given the oyster harvesting industry the go ahead to spray about 2000 acres of sea bed with imidacloprid to kill burrowing shrimp. Imidacloprid is a neurotoxin that particularly affects invertebrates(animals without backbones).

The state department of ecology has issued permits to spray the mudflats of Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. The stated reason is to reduce the population of burrowing shrimp. They are also known as ghost shrimp. The two areas that are to be sprayed with the pesticide are important oyster producing areas. The annual revenue is over US$60 million per year.

The shrimp are feeders of small particles and given a high enough population can compete with other plankton eaters for resources. Burrowing shrimp dig in the intertidal mud flats almost constantly and kick out sand and other detritus. The sediment can cover the very young oysters(spat), suffocating them.

Imidacloprid is the most widely used pesticide in the world. Bayer Crop Science was the inventor of this neurotoxin, but the patent protection has run out so many other companies are now free to make copies.

The pesticide is not without controversy. It is a systemic poison which means that when it is sprayed on plants, the plants take it up into their cells and become poisonous. Those animals that are without backbones – shrimp, bees – are extremely sensitive to the neurotoxin. However it can damage fish which are slightly affected by it, birds which are vulnerable to it and humans exposed can develop troubling symptoms.

The spraying of mud flats will be a novel use of the pesticide. In the past the pesticide carbaryl was used to control shrimp numbers. It is now banned. The oyster growers have tried to control the shrimp numbers by dynamiting their burrows and in another failed attempt, spread a thin layer of cement on top of their burrows. The idea was to suffocate them but the creatures made new holes before the cement hardened.

Sources:
Bloomberg
Wikipedia
Washington State Dept. of Ecology
National Pesticide Information Center(Oregon State University)

2 Comments

Taiwan coping with severe drought

27/4/2015

2 Comments

No water, no life

Taiwan is facing its worst drought in forty years. It depends on summer storms off the western Pacific to replenish reservoirs. Last year saw 23 storms bypass the Asian island. An average of three typhoons hit the island each summer, but 2013 saw none.The city of Kaohsiung has had to institute severe restrictions on water use.

Agricultural irrigation has been stopped for over 75000 hectares of farmland as of December 1st. This leaves large areas fallow. Farmers are to be compensated for their lost revenues. Food security issues also arise when drought demands less water usage.

Much of the rest of the island is on level three restriction which means that millions of people and thousands of factories are affected. Kaohsiung is moving to a level four restriction on May 4th if the situation continues. This means that people will not have running water for two days per week. Factories will also be cut off from the system as well.

The reservoirs are down to one quarter of their capacity and the dry season has already started.

To add to Taiwan’s water problems, factory waste and sewage have been allowed to flow into waterways polluting most of the island’s rivers.

Some factories are pumping ground water to compensate for the water restrictions. This has led to ground subsistence in areas where excessive pumping has occurred.

Increasing population and manufacturing will continue to put pressure on water sources.

In the category of there’s always a crook ready to make a buck – scammers have been caught selling bottled water as distilled water or mineral water when it comes from dubious ground water sources.

Taiwan is expecting a weather system to bring light rains to the northern part of the island, but that area is not as parched as the south. Little relief is expected there.

Small changes in climate can translate to big changes in weather patterns.

Sources:
The China Post
Taiwan Info
Radio Taiwan International

2 Comments

Omar Khadr granted bail by Alberta judge

25/4/2015

2 Comments

Khadr at end of fatal fire fight

Omar Khadr, former child soldier in Afghanistan, has been granted bail by Alberta judge June Ross. The Conservative government has announced that they will appeal bail.

Omar Khadr was wounded and taken prisoner by American forces following a fierce fight in Afghanistan. He was 15 at the time. After he had partially recovered from his bullet wounds he was moved to Guantanamo Prison. Guantanamo Prison is an offshore American prison which operates outside the rule of law.

In a murky action against the child soldier, testimony changed and eventually Khadr was named the murderer of a US Army medic. Sergeant Christopher Speer was killed. At first it was reported that Speer was killed by one of the deceased Afghanis, but after Khadr was found to be still alive, he was tagged with the murder.

It has been admitted by the US government that various forms of torture were routinely used to extract information and/or confessions. There were suspicious deaths. After years of incarceration, many of the men were deemed not to be dangerous but still could not be released.

Khadr was faced with life in Guantanamo if he did not confess to the murder. He did confess and received a prison sentence.

He later recanted his confession and was subsequently repatriated to an Alberta prison with an eight year sentence.

His appeal cites a U.S. court ruling declaring retroactive war-crimes laws unconstitutional. The United States made it a war crime for enemy combatants to engage in battle with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, but that was several years after Mr. Khadr’s capture. Globe and Mail

Khadr’s sentence expires October 2018. Currently he is being held in a minimum security prison. He will remain in prison at least until May 5th when bail conditions will be announced.

Khadr, now 28, is a Canadian citizen. His mother and sister survive as well as a disabled brother. His father was a fund raiser for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. His parents can be described as toxic and his sister has been vociferous in her support for terrorism. Khadr at age 14 was introduced to bomb making by his father.

Sources:
The Globe and Mail
CBC News

2 Comments

<<Previous

Night Wolves ride to Berlin thwarted

South Sudan child soldiers

Neurotoxin to be sprayed on Washington oyster beds

Taiwan coping with severe drought

Omar Khadr granted bail by Alberta judge

Barbara McPherson

Archives

Categories