Daily Archives: May 14, 2014

Global Politics, healthcare, human rights

IAVA – Wall Street Journal- Veterans Groups Split on Support for Shinseki | Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

“We are not going to call for the secretary’s resignation,” said Dave Autry, spokesman for Disabled American Veterans, a 1.2 million-member veterans advocacy group. “We are going to find out what the result of the inspector general investigations are.”

Few veterans service organizations have followed the American Legion in publicly demanding Mr. Shinseki’s resignation. The nation’s second largest group, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has said they don’t agree with demands for Mr. Shinseki’s resignation, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, with some 300,000 members, has yet to take a side on the debate while it polls its members, said the group’s CEO Paul Rieckhoff.

via IAVA – Wall Street Journal- Veterans Groups Split on Support for Shinseki | Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

environment

Is El Niño Developing? : Image of the Day

The years 1997–98 brought El Niño out of the scientific literature and onto the front pages and evening newscasts. It was one of the strongest El Niño events observed, with extreme weather impacts on several continents. North America had one of its warmest and wettest winters on record, particularly in California and Florida. Peru, Mexico, and the rest of Central and South America endured devastating rainstorms and flooding. Indonesia and parts of Asia saw disastrous droughts.

Scientists at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service (NWS) announced on May 8 that they foresee a 65 percent chance of a transition to El Niño in the summer of 2014. “There remains uncertainty as to exactly when El Niño will develop and an even greater uncertainty as to how strong it may become,” NWS reported.

“If El Niño returns, the American West and Southwest could see major relief next winter from the long-lasting, punishing drought,” said climatologist Bill Patzert, who has been studying El Niño via satellite for two decades from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Further, the very frigid winter in the upper tier of the U.S this past winter could do a flip to mild next winter.”

via Is El Niño Developing? : Image of the Day.

Fail!, Feminism, human rights, Profiteering

[UPDATED] NY Times Abruptly Replaces Jill Abramson As Top Editor: Gothamist

Paying a woman less – plain and simple sexism by management – ironic and sleazy! 
Update 5:58 p.m.: In a post on the New Yorker’s blog, columnist Ken Auletta says sources tell him that in addition to other tensions with management, Abramson “discovered that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor were considerably less than the pay and pension benefits of Bill Keller, the male editor whom she replaced in both jobs.” She reportedly confronted the paper’s management—”and this may have fed into the management’s narrative that she was ‘pushy,’ a characterization that, for many, has an inescapably gendered aspect.” Auletta reports that Abramson was told she would be terminated last Friday.Update 5:58 p.m.: In a post on the New Yorker’s blog, columnist Ken Auletta says sources tell him that in addition to other tensions with management, Abramson “discovered that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor were considerably less than the pay and pension benefits of Bill Keller, the male editor whom she replaced in both jobs.” She reportedly confronted the paper’s management—”and this may have fed into the management’s narrative that she was ‘pushy,’ a characterization that, for many, has an inescapably gendered aspect.” Auletta reports that Abramson was told she would be terminated last Friday.

via [UPDATED] NY Times Abruptly Replaces Jill Abramson As Top Editor: Gothamist.

Fascism, Global Politics, human rights

Wehrmacht Veterans Created a Secret Army in West Germany – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Newly discovered documents show that in the years after World War II, former members of the Nazi Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formed a secret army to protect the country from the Soviets. The illegal project could have sparked a major scandal at the time.

via Wehrmacht Veterans Created a Secret Army in West Germany – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Frankenfood, healthcare, pandemic

Avian Flu Diary: KSA MOH: 16 New MERS Cases

The total number of the confirmed cases over the past 24 hours: 16 cases

Recovered and discharged cases that previously tested positive and are now negative: 3 cases

The total number of deaths: 5 cases (2 cases were recorded over the past 24 hours and the other 3 are from previously confirmed cases)

Overview of the Health Status of the Cases:

5 stable cases

3 cases without symptoms

6 cases in the ICU

2 deaths

via Avian Flu Diary: KSA MOH: 16 New MERS Cases.

animal rights, environment, Fail!, planetkillers

Breaking News: Campaign Launched to End Slaughter of Dolphins in Peru

BlueVoice and Mundo Azul have called on the Peruvian government to both enforce existing laws and enact legislation banning harpoons on fishing boats. “Harpoons are used solely to kill dolphins and banning them would save the lives of t

via Breaking News: Campaign Launched to End Slaughter of Dolphins in Peru.