
A poem in Vietnamese by Bùi Kim-AnhTranslation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm DẬY ĐI Những chiếc nụ thức từ đêm qua sáng nay lạnhdậy đi cho hoa nởCâu …
Wake up | Bùi Kim-Anh

A poem in Vietnamese by Bùi Kim-AnhTranslation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm DẬY ĐI Những chiếc nụ thức từ đêm qua sáng nay lạnhdậy đi cho hoa nởCâu …
Wake up | Bùi Kim-Anh
~Belladonna~
Source: One Line Is All I GOT – Belladonna’s Flashlight

* quote extraído do Coletivo Ao vento, todo dia — da prosa de Rozana Gastaldi Cominal
Acreditava nas histórias marinhas. Sabia o sabor de mar à pele mesmo sendo de rio. Já vira um peixe voar, fora da mão, de asa. Alguém contou sobre coisas mitológicas… Rabiscava as ondas nos muros da cidade, de madrugada. Guardava dentro das lendas que criava o encontro marítimo entre a maresia e o quintal. Entre a terra e o mar. Muitos diziam ser invenção ou qualquer coisa assim… Loucura barco de rio atravessar o oceano. Ninguém se preocupa se o barquinho de papel foi desfeito em segundos. Batia-se além das marés e ali, morria na praia. Ela, apenas, acreditava que qualquer coisa poderia acontecer… Bastava fechar os olhos e viver.
Mariana Gouveia
BlogVember via Scenarium Livros Artesanais
Source: Quinta, 28 — *Ninguém se preocupa se o barquinho de papel foi desfeito em segundos. – O Outro Lado
It’s another slap in the face for Jamaica’s Rio Cobre – the source of water for many residential and agricultural communities, providing sustenance and livelihoods for riverside communities, and holding an important space in Jamaica’s history and culture.
Why is the river being treated so badly? How many articles have been written (including several by me! and others) about the repeated pollution of its beautiful waters? How many media interviews and how much grassroots work has been done to preserve this river? Plenty, but still…
Back in the 1980s, we loved driving through Bog Walk Gorge, with its intricate limestone rock formations, and the river flowing over the rocks, fringed with reeds and with herons standing, like statues, on the riverbank.
I grieve for the Rio Cobre. This latest development is another deadly blow for the river ecosystems of Jamaica, and importantly for the people who depend on them.

Feature image via Canva Pro.
This post, written by Global Voices contributor Emma Lewis, was originally published at The Breadfruit Collective as part of a Caribbean campaign to explain the regional Escazú Agreement and its importance for environmental defenders. An edited version appears below with permission.
“Sorry, your request is denied.”
“This is a business agreement, and therefore confidential.”
“We will have to look at your request and get back to you, but …”
Paradoxically, in this so-called “age of information,” facts, data, even a timeline of events, are not as easy to find as one might expect. Documents that should be available to the public and online are often shrouded in mystery. Organisations, institutions, and individuals may feel the urge to keep information close to their chest, sometimes without any real justification for doing so. There is a perception of a general lack of concern, in both public and private sectors, about making information readily available. “Why do you need to know?” they may ask. “What business is it of yours?” And red tape – bureaucracy – gets in the way.
One could go so far as to say that a culture of secrecy lingers among post-colonial countries in the Caribbean. The Official Secrets Act remains on the books in a number of Caribbean countries, including The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, and others. This is despite calls from civil society organisations and comments from political leaders over the years that this outdated law should be repealed.
As environmental defenders in the region face a range of challenges, there is an urgent need to highlight this information dilemma. This is where the Escazú Agreement — the first regional environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean — comes in.
The agreement (officially called the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean) was adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica, on March 4, 2018. It represents a significant milestone in ensuring the protection of environmental rights and the safety of environmental defenders. Moreover, it is the only binding agreement stemming from the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the first regional environmental agreement of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the first in the world containing specific provisions on environmental human rights defenders.
Speaking with Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, Chief Executive Officer at the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), she noted, “Access to information is essential for environmental defenders, enabling us to speak out and participate in environmental decisions which affect our lives and livelihoods.” As one of the key pillars of the Escazú Agreement, access to information is closely linked to its other key goals: public participation and justice. As a foundational principle of Escazú, it empowers the public to be enlightened on important matters affecting their lives, and ensures environmental justice. Without the relevant information, those two pillars would fall down.
The public needs to know more about Escazú for the simple reason that this agreement is not just another environmental protection contract. It is about people — the protectors of the environment — and it deals with, among other things, how they receive and share information on environmental concerns and the need to protect the protectors, which is critical, especially in Latin America, where lives are often at risk.
A stubborn refusal to provide information or even the subtle, complex ways in which it can be made difficult to obtain, can stop environmental defenders in their tracks. How can they move forward when they cannot see the full picture? Lack of transparency not only hampers their work; it also impedes any kind of meaningful discourse with stakeholders, institutions and individuals that environmental campaigners might wish to engage.
As a result, misunderstandings creep in. Communication falters. Rumours spread. And then, in come those evil twins: misinformation (meaning false information spread unintentionally) and disinformation (meaning wrong information, deliberately spread by someone with ill intent). I am sure we are familiar with these two, especially on social media. We already know that distortion of facts and information can cause tremendous harm in society; it can certainly affect environmental defenders in many ways, heightening prejudice and misrepresentation of their important work.
So, what is the answer? Well-crafted legislation is always a good first step. Not all countries in the region have it, but some are currently looking at it, so the Caribbean is making some progress in this respect. In the case of Jamaica, however, Dr. Rodriguez-Moodie believes there is a need for a closer look at the current Access to Information Act, which she says “is in need of review and revision,” making it “more important than ever to ensure this right supports transparency and effective advocacy.”
In a separate interview, human rights advocate Susan Goffe stressed, “Fundamental to the whole Access to Information (ATI) system is that the information held by the government belongs to the people. There is so much of it that should be routinely and proactively published, posted, and released, doing away with the need to make ATI requests for such information, for example, in the public health sector.” As such, Goffe considers the ATI Act of 2002 to be “one of the most important pieces of legislation passed in Jamaica in the past quarter century…with all its flaws and the problems with implementation.”
The Jamaican legislation is currently under review following a 2011 report by a parliamentary committee, but it is taking a long time, and Goffe has concerns that it should not be weakened in any way. “One of the longstanding problems,” she explains, “has been the length of time it often takes to get responses and actual information. Some agencies and ministries have a good record, and others are notoriously poor in their response. The response needs to be uniformly good across the government.”
As infrastructural developments, especially on our Caribbean islands’ fragile coastlines, continue apace, access to information is a considerable challenge when it involves private sector developers. During the “Save Goat Islands” campaign in Jamaica, led by JET and supported by many local and international environmental organisations, there was a dearth of information available from both government and the proposed developers, China Harbour Engineering Corporation, as related documents were a private “business agreement.”
In Grenada, environmental defenders have come up against major challenges; in October, the Coral Cove group won a court case, challenging the Planning & Development Authority’s decision to deny public access to planning application information, including the application plans and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports. In the case of the high-rise Pinnacle development in Montego Bay, situated on the edge of a protected wetlands area, no EIA was done at all, and it is going ahead, regardless.
So, there are issues with existing legislation. Quite frequently, environmental defenders are forced to take legal action, both costly and time-consuming, as a last resort. There is the strangling bureaucracy that hampers environmental defenders’ quest for information. However, there is also this overarching and urgent need: in this information age, the Caribbean needs to move from a culture of secrecy to one of openness and transparency.
In other words, we need to step from the shadows into the light. The Escazú Agreement, which entered into force on April 22, 2021, should be an important tool in making this process, slow as it may be, a reality. Out of 24 regional countries that have signed, only three Caribbean countries have not yet ratified it: the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. These countries should recognise that it is in their best interest, and that of their people, to do so. As Indian activist Aruna Roy says: “The right to know is the right to live.”
Source: From shadows to sunlight: Why access to information matters in Jamaica · Global Voices
Public health experts have long warned consumers against consuming raw milk or raw milk products due to elevated risks of foodborne illness. Outbreaks due to Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter, and many other bacteria have all been reported related to consuming raw dairy products. Raw milk products are not pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria and viruses such as bird flu.
Drinking or accidentally inhaling raw milk containing bird flu virus may lead to illness. In addition, touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands after touching raw milk with bird flu virus may also lead to infection. Symptoms of bird flu infection in humans include eye redness or discharge, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, trouble breathing and fever. Anyone who has consumed these specific products, and is experiencing these symptoms, should immediately contact their health care provider or local health department…

Nemrut, 2022
Pe culmea cea mai apropiată de tronul ceresc al lui Zeus, la 2.150 de metri înălțime, acolo unde soarele preschimbă totul de jur împrejur în aur, regele Antiochus I Commagen a dat poruncă să i se construiască un mausoleu cu trei terase spre care mă îndrept un pic necăjită din cauza plecării prea zorite din Șanliurfa, unde mi-ar fi plăcut să stau mai mult de o zi.

Tânjisem de multă vreme să o iau pe urmele lui Antiochus I spre sanctuarul din vârful muntelui inclus în Patrimoniul mondial UNESCO, un loc izolat care, începând cu ora 16 în miez de octombrie, se aglomerează de entuziaști, din păcate gălăgioși, amatori de asfințituri.

Când ești descendent al marelui Darius e chiar prea mult să te crezi zeu? La Nemrut, acest om credincios, pios, darnic, cum reiese din inscripții, și-a creat în timpul domniei, între 70 și 31 î.Hr, nici mai mult nici mai puțin decât un cult al sinelui, iar după atestări, viața lui a fost o succesiune de jocuri politice.

Prieten autoproclamat al romanilor, căsătorit cu fiica regelui din ținutul vecin, Cappadocia, el evită cât poate o alianță cu Armenia, care năzuia să-și extindă dominația în Anatolia…
Jonna Jinton

En la alborada
despiertan las miradas,
los inocentes.
j.ll.folch 15/11/24
Source: 9981 Haiku | jllopart

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