All posts by nedhamson

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

Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq’s fight | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

A powerful Iranian general has emerged as the chief tactician in Iraq’s fight against Sunni militants, working on the front lines alongside 120 advisers from his country’s Revolutionary Guard to direct Shiite militiamen and government forces in the smallest details of battle, militia commanders and government officials say.

The startlingly hands-on role of Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani points to the extent of the Shiite-led Iraqi government’s reliance on its ally Tehran. It also strikes a strong contrast with the more methodical, cautious approach of the United States, Iran’s rival for influence in Iraq. Shiite fighters have come to idolize the Iranians who have moved into the heat of battle alongside them – with two Iranian advisers killed in fighting – while government officials grumble the United States has failed to come to their aid.

The Iranian role, however, risks further sharpening the sectarian rifts in the conflict. At a time when the U.S. and others are pressing Iraq’s government to reach out to Sunnis to reduce support for the insurgency, the effective Iranian command of Iraq’s defense is likely to further alienate Sunnis, who have long accused Shiite-led Iran of trying to dominate Iraq through its allies here.

Soleimani, commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, is a frequent visitor to multiple battlezones in Iraq, most particularly in Samarra, a city north of Baghdad under siege by Sunni extremists in their march toward the capital. The city is vital to Baghdad’s Shiite-led government because it is the location of a revered Shiite shrine that Sunni insurgents have destroyed in the past and are targeting again now.

via Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq’s fight | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Malaysia Airlines passenger jet ‘shot down’ in east Ukraine | euronews, world news

{Looks/sounds like a big Oops by the DPR}

RIP those killed – mercy on their souls

According to the Interfax agency, separatists from the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” claimed on social media to have shot down a Ukrainian military AN-26 transport plane, at around the same time and close to the same area that the Malaysian airliner came down.

via Malaysia Airlines passenger jet ‘shot down’ in east Ukraine | euronews, world news.

Anger and bewilderment in Finland over Microsoft job cuts – FT.com

now almost a quarter of Nokia workers in the Nordic country of 5.5m people are facing the start of their summer holidays with the prospect of no job to come back to. Microsoft employs 4,700 former Nokia staff in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, and in Salo, Tampere and Oulu.

The company said it will withdraw entirely from its R&D Centre in Oulu, a city of 200,000 people on Finland’s northwest coast. The centre develops software for low-cost phones and employs 500 people. It would instead focus on the development of key technologies in Tampere and Salo, Microsoft said.

The news did not come out of the blue, senior Oulu shop steward Timo Pukinkorvaa told local media – there had long been rumours that something was afoot. What was shocking, he said, was the “massive” number of redundancies and the fact that the entire unit would close.

via Anger and bewilderment in Finland over Microsoft job cuts – FT.com.

US Civil rights shame: Photos of Japanese Evacuation in San Francisco, California, 1942

Photographs show Japanese civilians evacuating areas of California and Arizona for relocation to assembly centers in California, Oregon, and Washington. Includes families preparing for evacuation; travelling to centers; registering at Wartime Civil Administration control stations. Images also depict daily activities of families at the centers; views of center facilities; federal officials and military personnel working for the relocation program.

via vintage everyday: Photos of Japanese Evacuation in San Francisco, California, 1942.

Malaysia facing dengue endemic with over 48,000 cases – Channel NewsAsia

Malaysia is facing a dengue endemic with more than 48,000 people falling victim to the mosquito-borne disease this year alone.

With at least 92 deaths so far, the government has now set up a national task force to tackle the problem before it spreads even further throughout the country.

Mr Tan Chee Hong and his family were looking forward to their annual Lunar New Year celebrations in January. But one by one, they fell ill with dengue fever.

Mr Tan said: “It was very depressing. You do not even want to call friends or relatives because you don’t want anybody to see you in the hospital during times like that, especially during Chinese New Year.”

He and his family are just four of the more than 48,000 Malaysians who have fallen victim to dengue since January — an almost 250 per cent increase in cases compared to the same period last year.

via Malaysia facing dengue endemic with over 48,000 cases – Channel NewsAsia.

Eurosurveillance – Chik V in Caribbean

Chikungunya fever (CHIKV), a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, is currently affecting several areas in the Caribbean. The vector is found in the Americas from southern Florida to Brazil, and the Caribbean is a highly connected region in terms of population movements. There is therefore a significant risk for the epidemic to quickly expand to a wide area in the Americas. Here, we describe the spread of CHIKV in the first three areas to report cases and between areas in the region. Local transmission of CHIKV in the Caribbean is very effective, the mean number of cases generated by a human case ranging from two to four. There is a strong spatial signature in the regional epidemic, with the risk of transmission between areas estimated to be inversely proportional to the distance rather than driven by air transportation. So far, this simple distance-based model has successfully predicted observed patterns of spread. The spatial structure allows ranking areas according to their risk of invasion. This characterisation may help national and international agencies to optimise resource allocation for monitoring and control and encourage areas with elevated risks to act.

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Eurosurveillance – chikungunya virus and dengue in France

During the summer of 2014, all the pre-requisites for autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus are present in southern France: a competent vector, Aedes albopictus, and a large number of travellers returning from the French Caribbean islands where an outbreak is occurring. We describe the system implemented for the surveillance of chikungunya and dengue in mainland France. From 2 May to 4 July 2014, there were 126 were laboratory-confirmed imported chikungunya cases in mainland France.

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Wallflower

hovercraftdoggy

Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia ParedesPhotoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (2)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (3)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (4)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (5)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (6)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes (2)Photoperformances Landscapes, Cecilia Paredes

In her series ‘Landscapes’ – Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes Peruvian has mastered the art of camouflage and by using body paint is able to disappear into her surroundings. With the help of her assistants, she paints herself into the background of floral wallpapers. Her dark hair and the whites of the eyes are often the only thing that shows there’s a person hiding.

However, her series called “Landscapes” doesn’t just create a disappearance illusion, it also shows Paredes’ quest for belonging.

“The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin. The theme behind all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin.”

(via demilked.com)

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