Category Archives: Viva!

Outrage at Danish plan to strip refugee valuables

The Danish government’s plan to strip asylum seekers of money and valuables has sparked outrage across the world after an article in a Turkish newspaper, which wrongly claimed the proposal had become law, went massively viral.

Salmon counted at Central Valley hatcheries are below 2014 numbers

Salmon counted at Central Valley hatcheries are below last year’s numbers

by Dan Bacher

Censored News

Preliminary figures from Central Valley fish hatcheries reveal that the numbers of salmon that have returned to Sacramento River tributaries to date are below the large numbers projected by the federal government earlier this year.

National Marine Fisheries Service abundance

Tired man returning home with a resigned smile! by KS Photography!

While on an evening stroll along the Lidder river bank saw this man taking his herd of sheep back home after taking them for grazing in the green pastures of Pahalgam. Seeing me with my camera, he stopped to look at me a couple of times while I was capturing his emotions in my camera. He looks visibly tired as the day comes to an end and he has to walk back his sheep home. Accompanying him were his two dogs, who were helping him keep the sheep from straying.

All rights reserved – ©KS Photography

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without written permission of the photographer!

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via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/CgFHSM

The Islamic State Was Coming Without the Invasion of Iraq

Kyle Orton's Blog

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on December 12, 2015

From top left clockwise: Fadel al-Hiyali, Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), Adnan al-Bilawi, Samir al-Khlifawi (Haji Bakr), Adnan as-Suwaydawi (Abu Ayman al-Iraqi), Hamid az-Zawi (Abu Omar al-Baghdadi), Abu Hajr as-Sufi From top left clockwise: Fadel al-Hiyali, Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi), Adnan al-Bilawi, Samir al-Khlifawi (Haji Bakr), Adnan as-Suwaydawi (Abu Ayman al-Iraqi), Hamid az-Zawi (Abu Omar al-Baghdadi), Abu Hajr as-Sufi

Yesterday, Reuters had an article by Isabel Coles and Ned Parker entitled, “How Saddam’s men help Islamic State rule“. The article had a number of interesting points, but in its presentation of the movement of former (Saddam) regime elements (FREs) into the leadership structure of the Islamic State (IS) as a phenomenon of the last few years, it was a step backward: the press had seemed to be recognizing that the Salafization of the FREs within IS dates back to the Islamization of Saddam Hussein’s regime in its last fifteen years, notably in the 1990s after the onset of the Faith Campaign.

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(11/11) “Six months ago my father disappeared. He left one…

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(11/11) “Six months ago my father disappeared. He left one morning and didn’t come home. That morning he answered the phone one time, and he said: ‘I’m fine, Aya. I’ll be home soon.’ And he never answered the phone again. You can’t imagine what this has done to my mind. I don’t know if he is dead. I don’t know if he remarried. I know nothing. All day and night I must imagine what has happened. I haven’t even told my younger sisters. I tell them that Daddy went to Istanbul to work but he will be home. They wouldn’t be able to take it. I still post old photos to his Facebook page so it seems like he exists. But it’s been six months, and they want to know why he hasn’t called. I promise he’s a good person, really. I love him so much. He loved me too. He always told me that he was proud of me and I was going to be something in life. But how could he leave me like this? How could he leave all of this on my shoulders? I’m twenty years old. I can’t handle all of this by myself. I don’t need him to work, or make money, but I need him. I need my Daddy. I can’t do this alone much longer. I’m getting tired. I’m a warrior and I’m strong and I’ve fought so much but even warriors get tired. I’ve been having crazy thoughts lately. I don’t want to do it. I’ve been through so much. I wanted to go to school and be something in life. But I can’t do this much longer. I’m alone here and I’m in a very bad place. I feel very scared. I never wanted to be the traditional Arabic girl who marries her cousin and spends all day in the house. I’ve worked so hard to escape it all. And I know it’s dangerous. But if things don’t change for me, I think I’ll have to go back to Iraq.”

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As of now, 4% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% of the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice. And if you know someone else who might care about Aya’s story, please consider sharing:

http://chn.ge/1Ox0rb2