All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

As Vulture Populations Wane, Perils to Ecosystems Circle Overhead

Birds that once feasted on misfortune are collapsing — part of a broader decline in vultures that illustrates the far-reaching effects of human interventions.

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Colombians flee Venezuela after mass deportations | News | DW.COM | 26.08.2015

The Venezuelan government launched mass deportations of Colombians shortly after closing the border, drawing scathing criticism from Colombian Interior Minister Juan Fernanda Cristo, who decried the deportations as “a humanitarian tragedy.”The majority of the deportees were sent home for lacking documents, without their families or their belongings. Some 600 of them are currently being housed in shelters, while 400 are staying with relatives, according to officials.Another 400 to 700 people have crossed the border into Colombia to avoid deportation, Colombian police said.Many of those fleeing have accused Venezuelan soldiers of robbing their belongings and ordering them to leave their homes within a matter of hours.

Source: Colombians flee Venezuela after mass deportations | News | DW.COM | 26.08.2015

Rumors that Donald Trump will be buying a condo in Caracas have not been verified

Vulture Populations Wane, Poisoned by Man – The New York Times

“The overall global picture for vultures is abysmal,” said Darcy Ogada, the assistant director of Africa programs at the Peregrine Fund, an organization dedicated to saving birds of prey. “Does this story echo that of the canary in the coal mine? Sure does.”In the first major study of the 30-year decline of Pan-African vultures, Dr. Ogada and other scientists found that populations of eight species of vultures had declined an average of 62 percent.

Source: Vulture Populations Wane, Poisoned by Man – The New York Times

Denmark enacts cuts to refugee benefits – The Local

The benefit cuts have been roundly criticized by both the UN – which argues that they violate the UN’s refugee convention from 1951 – and over 30 other agencies who say the new benefit is discriminatory and threatens to harm integration efforts. The head of the Danish Red Cross said that the hearing statement he wrote in response to the plans was the most negative thing he has ever written.  Wednesday’s vote in parliament followed a 90-minute debate in which opposition parties expressed their resistance to the cuts.  “I think today is a sad day. And I also actually think it is misleading – a form of false advertising – to call this an integration benefit because the result will undeniably be the exact opposite,” Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen of the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) said during the debate, according to Jyllands-Posten’s report.

Source: Denmark enacts cuts to refugee benefits – The Local

“My mother died when I was two years old, so it’s just me and…

“My mother died when I was two years old, so it’s just me and my father. He’s been really angry with me lately. He’s always wanted me to be an engineer like him, but I switched my major to photography. He didn’t’ show any emotion when I told him. He always has a poker face. But I know that he’s angry from the little things. He never asks me to go shopping with him anymore. We used to go to the market together. He’d pick up a watermelon, inspect it, then would hand it to me for my opinion. It doesn’t sound like much but I really valued that time together. But once I changed my major, he stopped asking me to come along. But I think things are getting better. Recently I scored in the top 5th percentile on the University Entrance Exam for photography. When I told my father, he didn’t show any emotion. But the next day he asked me if I wanted to go shopping. And that made me so happy. Because it’s just the two of us. And I really, really, really, really love him.” (Tehran, Iran)

Source: “My mother died when I was two years old, so it’s just me and…

Humans of New York

“Things are getting freer. Even a few years ago, I couldn’t wear what I’m wearing now without inviting a rebuke. The scarves are getting brighter and looser. The sleeves are getting shorter. The laughter is getting louder. This is a very young country. More than half the population is under 30. Have you ever seen an Iranian child? They are the most mischievous children on the planet. If you want an Iranian child to do something– tell them not to do it. Tell them not to kiss. Tell them not to hold hands. Tell them to dress in black. Tell them not to use Facebook. This country is full of mischievous, curious Iranian children. And the people who make the rules are getting older. And just like the Iranian parent, they are getting exhausted.” (Namakabroud, Iran)

Source: Humans of New York

United States – Journalists killed on live TV in the US: an unprecedented tragedy

Alison Parker and Adam Ward, a reporter and cameraman for local CBS-affiliate WDBJ7 in Virginia, were killed on live TV on August 26, 2015.

“The murder of two journalists, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, on live television in Virginia is an unprecedented tragedy, even in a country where thousands of people are killed each year by firearms, said Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders. “According to initial reports, it seems that these reporters were personally targeted in an act of revenge and not because of their jobs. The ensuing investigation will reveal if their work as journalists was indeed a factor in this criminal act.”

Six American journalists were killed while doing their job since 2010, all while in war-torn countries. This was the case notably for journalist Luke Sommers, murdered during a rescue mission in Yemen in December 2014, and freelance journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in August 2014. Others killed include Steven Sotloff and Marie Colvin, also in Syria, Chris Hondros in Libya, and Rupert Hamer in Afghanistan. These circumstances are without a doubt completely different than those of today’s attack.

“Even if this is not a case of journalists being targeted while reporting in war-torn countries or murdered because of their investigation on corruption or drug-trafficking, to kill two journalists on live television in cold blood demonstrates a certain willingness to dramatize the crime committed against them,” observes Delphine Halgand, US Director of Reporters Without Borders.

It is extremely rare that journalists are killed while doing their job on American soil. A photo journalist, Bill Biggart, was killed by falling debris while covering rescue operations from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. On October 5 that same year Robert Stevens, journalist for the Boca Raton Sun in Florida, succumbed to a deadly inhalation of anthrax after receiving an envelope like many other members of the media.

The last journalist to have been killed on American soil for doing his job was Chauncey Bailey in 2007, a reporter for the Oakland Post who covered corruption. He was murdered by men hired by the leader of one of the groups he was investigating.

Elsewhere in the world, the most recent cases of journalists killed while on air are as recent as August 7 in northern Brazil. Glaydson Carvalho, a presenter for Radio Liberdade, spoke out against corruption among local politicians and was killed in cold blood by two armed men during his radio program. In addition, last October in Mexico, reporter Atilano Roman Tirado from the radio station Fiesta Mexicana was killed by two men while he was in the middle of his live weekly program. He often criticized local authorities in the state of Sinaloa where he worked.