Category Archives: planetkillers

Another Red Line Crossed: The Taverna attack and the killing of foreigners just because they were foreigners | Afghanistan Analysts Network

As news continues to come in, it has as of now (Saturday evening) been confirmed that the dead included the well-liked Lebanese owner of the restaurant, Kamal Hamade (read an obituary here); the resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Wabel Abdallah, who was also Lebanese; three UN staff including UNAMA’s Senior Political Officer Vadim Nazarov, a Russian diplomat who had worked on Afghanistan since the 1990s and, apparently, Basra Farah, sister of prominent Somalian novelist Nuruddin Farah; a Danish member of the EUPOL mission and her British security guard, Simon Chase; another Brit, Dharmender Phangurha (Del) Singh, who was due to stand in elections to the European Parliament in the spring and, along with a Malaysian victim of the incident, Gnanathurai (Gnana) Nagarajah, had been working with the Adam Smith Institute as an adviser; two as yet unidentified Canadians; and two Americans who worked at the American University in Kabul. Of the Afghan dead, we still only have the details for two of the eight: the BBC’s Bilal Sarwary named one on Twitter as a friend of his, Haji Amin, a 22 year old trader, who, it seems was killed along with his wife of seven months. They were buried today. Three Afghan guards are also believed to be among the dead. The accounts of two of the Afghan kitchen workers who survived (see here and here) suggest that none of the diners made it out alive and that the owner ran down into the restaurant with a gun when the blast happened, trying to defend the diners.

via Another Red Line Crossed: The Taverna attack and the killing of foreigners just because they were foreigners | Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Australian Shark Cull: Politicians Pledge to Round Up Usual Suspects

<We live on this planet together each with specific and generalized purposes. Killing sharks indiscriminately, is not what humans purpose is. That said, it may be accurate to say that the purpose of many politicians is to say and do anything to gain and hold on to support, no matter how dumb and shortsighted the speech or actions. If there is to be a cull – it should be of politicians of his ilk!>

Guilford concludes that “giant, terrifying sharks are clearly swimming past all of these traps set for them and cruising beneath humans all the time, with the shark control programs none the wiser.” The swimmers are unaware too, she suggests, perhaps “because sharks simply don’t attack people very often.”

So far, Barnett remains publicly committed to his plan. In a 2012 radio interview that angered critics, he declared, \”We will always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark. This is, after all, a fish—let\’s keep it in perspective.\” More recently, he posed for the cameras with a big hook in hand. It made him look a bit like a button-down wannabe Captain Quint, the shark-obsessed charter skipper in Jaws.

Somebody may need to remind him: That film’s vendetta against sharks also played to the emotions but did not end well for anyone—including Quint.

via Australian Shark Cull: Politicians Pledge to Round Up Usual Suspects.

Hey Yo! A Somewhat Silly Dance-Meets-Rap Protest Song by Univer Soul. {Video} | myEARTH360 (the blog)

We Are Glued, The Earth Is a Temple

Don’t You Detect, They Don’t Care ‘Bout You

They Just Want The Job, They’re Useless

What To Do, What To Do, What To Do?

Try The Greens, Try The Greens

Don’t Screw It Up

Give It a Shit

We Are The Leader

Must Find a Way Out

What To Do, What To Do, What To Do?

Try The Greens, Try The Greens

No Nobel, No Way, Where’s The Peace?

Mister One Billion Campaign

Blah Blah Blah And All That Shit

S.P.A. Dog, The Oil Spill, Say It All

Expect The Worst With The Same Liars

What To Do, What To Do, What To Do?

Try The Greens, Try The Greens, For Your Kids, For Your Castle

Home At Bay, Just a Blah Blah Blah, Blah

Home At Bay, Just a Blah Blah Blah, Blah

Home At Bay, Just a Blah Blah Blah, Blah

Home At Bay, Just a Blah Blah Blah, Blah

Home At Bay, Just a Blah Blah Blah, Blah

via Hey Yo! A Somewhat Silly Dance-Meets-Rap Protest Song by Univer Soul. {Video} | myEARTH360 (the blog).

Destroy the land for jobs and then bye-bye! Gold mining stirs up controversy in Greece | Europe | DW.DE | 16.01.2014

Sustainable jobs?

“It’s a question of sustainability. I might be able to employ 1,300 people for 10, 12 years or so, but I also cause huge environmental damage in the process,

” Verginis said. “I also hurt jobs in other sectors, for instance tourism. If tourism numbers drop by 25 percent, 12,000 people will lose their jobs.”

According to Eldorado Gold’s vice president and general manager for Greece, Eduardo Moura, the company and its contractors currently employ about 1,600 people in the region. Its subsidiary Hellas Gold, of which Eldorado Gold owns 95 percent, is preparing the region for mining operations.

According to documents on Eldorado Gold\’s website, the Skouries mine is expected to be open by 2016 and have a mining life of 27 years.

via Gold mining stirs up controversy in Greece | Europe | DW.DE | 16.01.2014.

China cloning pigs and gene sequencing ‘cute animals’ at ridiculous rates: Shanghaiist

Looks like China might be able to solve its potential food and endangered species crises in one go, through industrial-scale cloning. The Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) clones 500 pigs each year, making it the world’s largest center for pig cloning. It also has plans to gene sequence millions of humans, plants, and other animals, but apparently only if they\’re cute. BBC reports:

The scale of ambition is staggering. BGI is not only the world\’s largest centre for cloning pigs – it\’s also the world\’s largest centre for gene sequencing.

To illustrate the scale of this operation, Europe\’s largest gene sequencing centre is the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge. It has 30 machines. BGI has 156 and has even bought an American company that makes them.

…..Again, a comparison for scale: a recently-launched UK project seeks to sequence 10,000 human genomes. BGI has ambitions to sequence the genomes of a million people, a million animals and a million plants.

Wang Jun is keen to stress that all this work must be relevant to ordinary people through better healthcare or tastier food. The BGI canteen is used as a testbed for some of the products from the labs: everything from grouper twice the normal size, to pigs, to yoghurt.

Species that taste good is one criterion. Another he cites is that of industrial use – raising yields, for example, or benefits for healthcare.

\”A third category is if it looks cute – anything that looks cute: panda, polar bear, penguin, you should really sequence it – it\’s like digitalizing all the wonderful species,\” he [Wang Jun, chief of BGI] explains.

(So I guess if you\’re endangered and ugly, you\’re screwed?)

via China cloning pigs and gene sequencing ‘cute animals’ at ridiculous rates: Shanghaiist.

US pair accused of illegally importing rare snake from Brazil, breeding it to make money

A brother and sister from the U.S. have been indicted on charges of illegally importing a rare boa constrictor from Brazil.

The U.S. Attorney\’s Office in Utah says 39-year-old Jeremy Stone and 34-year-old Keri Stone brought the snake into the country through a shipment that went through Miami.

Authorities say they paid thousands of dollars to administrators at a Brazilian zoo to get the white leucistic boa. They say the two falsely reported the snake had been caught in the wild in Guyana.

Prosecutors say Jeremy Stone bred the boa constrictor with other snakes at his reptile business and sold the offspring for tens of thousands of dollars.

Stone sold the snakes he bred to buyers in the United States, Canada and Italy, the indictment says.

via US pair accused of illegally importing rare snake from Brazil, breeding it to make money.

Chinese donkey meat recalled at Wal-Mart after it is found to contain fox – Asia – World – The Independent

Wal-Mart Selling Donkey Meat in China!?! And Oops! Mixed with a Little Fox Meat Too!?!

According to local news reports, the problem was first brought to the attention of food standards officials when a customer, identified only by his surname Wang, found the so-called donkey meat looked, smelled and tasted strange.He sent the product to a testing institute, and the Shandong Food and Drug Administration later announced that it contained fox meat.Wal-Mart said it has launched an investigation into the incident, adding that the manager at a supplier’s factory had already been detained.“We are deeply sorry for this whole affair,” said Wal-Marts China president and CEO, Greg Foran. “It is a deep lesson that we need to continue to increase investment in supplier management.”Shaun Rein, the Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research CMR Group, told Reuters: “This is another hit on Wal-Marts brand, meaning wealthy shoppers will start to lose the trust they had before.”

via Chinese donkey meat recalled at Wal-Mart after it is found to contain fox – Asia – World – The Independent.

Domino’s Debuts Vegan Pizza, But You Can’t Have Any | Care2 Healthy Living

Domino’s, one of Pizza Hut’s competitors, recently announced that it would offer a family-size pizza with vegetables and a soy-based topping for about $20. But don’t get too excited–the vegan pizza will be available only in Israel.

via Domino’s Debuts Vegan Pizza, But You Can’t Have Any | Care2 Healthy Living.

CENSORED NEWS: Navajo Councilman Leonard Tsosie pushing for uranium mining to poison Navajo water

This action by a few elected officials is UNACCEPTABLE!! This will no doubt endanger our community, our children, and the area we call home.  Uranium is a poison and mining it is an improper and dangerous use of our water and natural resources!! Uranium should be left in the ground! We cannot regulate it and to think that we have power over nature is arrogant and dangerous. I am asking you to please Send Comments and join many other Dine\’ people in saying NO AND TO STOP NEW URANIUM CONTAMINATION at the Special RDC meeting next Monday morning at Chilchinbeto Chapter.

via CENSORED NEWS: Navajo Councilman Leonard Tsosie pushing for uranium mining to poison Navajo water.