Category Archives: Viva!

River Piracy in the Yukon : Image of the Day AKA: Climate Change in Action

In the spring and summer of 2016, Daniel Shugar and colleagues witnessed an act of piracy in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The Kaskawulsh River hijacked the Slims River, stealing much of its supply of water and dramatically reshaping the region’s drainage.The ongoing retreat of the Kaskawulsh glacier in the St. Elias Mountains spurred this rarely seen process of “river piracy.” For years, meltwater from the Kaskawulsh glacier has fed two large lakes at the glacier front; those lakes feed the Slims and Kaskawulsh rivers. Previously, most of the water flowed northward via the Slims River and into a watershed that ultimately empties into the Bering Sea. A lesser amount flowed southward via the Kaskawulsh into a watershed that empties into the North Pacific Ocean.Roles reversed in spring 2016—that’s when pilots first informed Shugar, a geomorphologist at University of Washington-Tacoma, that the Slims River was running low and the Kaskawulsh River was flooded. Shugar and colleagues visited the site in August, and that’s when the magnitude of the change “really sunk in.”The river piracy is visible in this image pair, acquired with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The false-color images combine observations of shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and red light (OLI bands 6, 5, 4) to better distinguish areas of water (dark blue) from the surrounding landscape. Vegetation is green, and snow and ice are light blue.

Source: River Piracy in the Yukon : Image of the Day

How Macron calmed Whirlpool workers whipped up by Le Pen | World news | The Guardian

For the centrist candidate, who has never held elected office, the confrontation was a major risk. He was criticised on Monday after celebrating his first round win over Le Pen in a Paris brasserie with campaign staff, and the exchange outside the factory could have backfired badly.But several commentators said Macron’s decision would end up playing in his favour. “It could be that Le Pen’s coup failed in the end by giving Macron the political thick skin he was lacking until now,” said Christian Delporte, a historian and political image specialist at the university of Versailles.“Macron is fighting back,” said Laurent Joffrn, the editor of the left-leaning daily Libération. “By rolling up his shirt sleeves at Whirlpool, abused by furious or desperate employees who nonetheless appreciated speaking to him, he has corrected his mistake of Sunday evening.”

Source: How Macron calmed Whirlpool workers whipped up by Le Pen | World news | The Guardian

Aya Hijazi and Egyptian conspiracy theories

“Ultimately, the only positive outcome of this saga, despite conspiracy and cursing, is Aya Hijazi, the human being. A defiant, but humble Egyptian woman, with a captivating smile that never left her face, even when she was unjustly behind bars; a woman who possessed an elegant grace, even after she departed from Egypt. Her photo with her husband celebrating Valentine’s Day behind bars will remain one of the most poignant images I recollect from my weekly compilation of Egypt in 2016. I am truly delighted to see her free.”

Nervana

Aya Trump

President Trump meets with Aya Hijazi in the Oval office of the White House Photo via AP

Aya Hijazi ____ A young Egyptian-American woman who made global headlines after US President Donald Trump met her in the White House, following her sudden acquittal in Cairo after three years in prison.

 Having been chronicling events from Egypt on a weekly basis since 2013, I was particularly interested in the traumatic events surrounding the life of Aya Hijazi, over the past few years. After the 2011 revolution, Aya decided to return to Egypt from the United States with her Egyptian husband, Mohammed Hassanein. In 2013, in her mission to ensure social development and protect children’s rights, she launched the Belady Foundation for Street Children in Cairo. However, in May 2014, the police raided the Belady Foundation headquarters and arrested everyone, including Aya and her husband. The raid followed one man’s complaint that…

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Talia #atozchallenge #Uganda #Gulu

penned in moon dust

Our Translator

Like a morning glory

she radiates beauty

a natural gift for language

she wants to be a teacher

singing and dance comes to mind

when I think of her smile

wrap up a gift

filled with her dreams

Talia is a 20 year old young woman who lives full time at the orphanage in Gulu. She is studying to be a teacher ( she takes classes in her free time.) I can’t tell you how many times she took time away from her chores to translate lessons for me. That smile is part of her everyday beauty. If I could pay for her classes to be a teacher, I would in a heartbeat as this young woman is dedicated and intelligent.

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Refuge #Uganda #Acholi #South Sudan #refugees

penned in moon dust

Refuge – A Safe Place

One day where a pair of feet stand

many feet will be running

 where there a few huts there will be many

the spade of hope has pierced this ground

the seed of the future has been planted

songs will be sung, children will be safe

all because of the faith of a few men

I wish I could paint a picture of what this Acholi land will look like one day. I heard the plan and I believe many children’s lives will never be the same because a few men (who understand what is like to be refugees) prayed.

According to PRI more than 2000 South Sudanese are fleeing to Uganda daily. Uganda is one of three countries taking in a massive number of refugees.

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What Happened To Patriotism?

Cousin Teddy had it right and it is still the way to go!

In Saner Thought

An interesting question these days.  It does not mean what it did when your daddy was spouting the term.  Now it means people that concur with whatever warped thinking the writer has on his/her mind.  All others are enemies of the state, although few word it that way but that is the implication.

Damn I love Teddy!

We no longer have patriots….we have a bunch of nationalistic bullshit hiding under the flag.

When an American does not agree with some prevailing thought then they are labeled and insulted…..I know I am guilty of this also….but at least I try to be fair and honest and do and say what I think is best for this country.  I refuse to put my faith in a person, especially a politician….because I do not see any of them working for the betterment of the country….just making sure profit is not infringed upon……and their…

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Trump Adviser’s Visit to Moscow Sent the F.B.I. Digging – The New York Times

 

Ever since F.B.I. investigators discovered in 2013 that a Russian spy was trying to recruit an American businessman named Carter Page, the bureau maintained an occasional interest in Mr. Page. So when he became a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign last year and gave a Russia-friendly speech at a prestigious Moscow institute, it soon caught the bureau’s attention.That trip last July was a catalyst for the F.B.I. investigation into connections between Russia and President Trump’s campaign, according to current and former law enforcement officials.It is unclear exactly what about Mr. Page’s visit caught the F.B.I.’s attention: meetings he had during his three days in Moscow, intercepted communications of Russian officials speaking about him, or something else.After Mr. Page, 45 — a Navy veteran and businessman who had lived in Moscow for three years — stepped down from the Trump campaign in September, the F.B.I. obtained a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing the authorities to monitor his communications on the suspicion that he was a Russian agent.From the Russia trip of the once-obscure Mr. Page grew a wide-ranging investigation, now accompanied by two congressional inquiries, that has cast a shadow over the early months of the Trump administration. At a House Intelligence Committee hearing last month, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging the investigation of Russian interference in the election, which he said included possible links between Russia and Trump associates.

Activity Spotted at North Korea Nuclear Test Site: Volleyball – The New York Times – Wag the Dog – ROTFLMAO!

Analysts who examine satellite images of North Korea reported on Wednesday that they had spotted some unexpected activity at the country’s nuclear test site: active volleyball games in three separate areas.The surprising images were taken on Sunday as tensions between the United States and North Korea seemed to spike. The Korean Peninsula pulsed with news that the North was preparing for its sixth atomic detonation and that American warships had been ordered into the Sea of Japan as a deterrent, even though the ships turned out to have sailed in the opposite direction.