"The Shadow of California"

"Acceptacle Collateral Damage re: #Syria"

Quote; "AT LEAST 85 civilians, including 11 children, have been killed by Western led terrorists in air strikes near Manbij in north Syria.
Some eight families were obliterated using sophisticated missiles as they tried to flee their village after it was attacked in one of the single deadliest strikes on innocent civilians in the region.
Capitalist extremists were immediately held responsible for the attack by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“So far over 200 of my people, including 44 children and 20 women have been killed in Manbij by capitalist extremists since the start of June,” a local man told WWN, who now has a Syrian flag as his Twitter profile picture, “Just who are these insane people and why do they want to terrorise our rural village? Why aren’t they being held responsible for their actions? On Monday, Facebook launched a safety check for the people affected by the spate of bombings in Syria, while dozens of cartoonists and artists from across the world have created some fantastic images in solidarity with the victims of Manbij. The hashtag #ManbijAttack is now trending on Twitter with several high profile celebrities posting pictures of themselves burning Dollar bills in protest of the Western terrorists." Go to: http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2016/07/20/capitalist-extremists-blow-up-85-civilians-in-syria-including-11-children/
For full article.

"The Nuremberg Defence, Jo Cox RIP" #JoCoxRIP #Brexit #EU #NATO #Ukraine #Syria #TheOdetoJoy

Quote; "Jo was a leader who fought for genocide victims in Darfur, for survivors of human trafficking, for women’s health, for Syrian refugees and, yes, for remaining in the European Union. She was also a proud mom of two small children: When she was pregnant, she used to sign her emails “Jo (and very large bump).”

Jo’s dedication to the voiceless may have cost her her life. At least one witness said that the man who stabbed and shot Jo shouted “Britain first!” and when he was asked to say his name at a court hearing he responded, “My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”

Yet from awful events bittersweet progress can emerge. In five days, a fund in Jo Cox’s memory has raised more than 1.3 million pounds (about $2 million) for causes she supported. Likewise, perhaps revulsion at the murder will leave voters wary of the xenophobic tone of some of the Leave campaigners in the “Brexit” referendum.

    Did she pull her weight? Not half!

I hope so, for helping to save a united Europe would be a fitting legacy for a woman no longer able to influence the world in other ways — and also because the world needs Britain in Europe.

The British joke about their view of Europe, with a famous (and apparently apocryphal) headline declaring, “Fog in Channel, Continent Cut Off.” But it’s also true, as John Donne wrote, “if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less.” And if Britain were washed away, Europe and Britain would both be less.

An International Monetary Fund report this month concluded that a British pullout from the European Union would “permanently lower incomes.” But more important are the political costs to an unraveling.

 Among those who first called for a “United States of Europe” was Sir Winston Churchill, in a 1946 speech, and the impetus for him and for Jean Monnet, “the father of Europe,” was primarily peace and security." Go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/opinion/rip-jo-cox-may-britain-remember-your-wisdom.html?_r=0

For full article.

Arafel: "I didn't know Jo but I knew of her both through my own social media and journalistic endeavours and the MSM, it doesn't surprise me that everyone has looked pointedly in any other direction than at her memorial since the referendum."

 .."More" moral responsibility? Does that make those who gave the orders "more" cowardly I wonder?

#Ukraine "The Regime Tightens its Grip" #NATO #EU #RIPPavelSheremet 20/07/16 #JournalistHeroes

Quote; "Well-known Russian journalist Pavel Sheremet has died in downtown Kiev when the car he was driving blew up minutes after it started. The vehicle belonged to his employer, the head of Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper.

The killing of the journalist in Kiev is murder, with a bomb planted in the car he was in, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office has said"..."“No doubt the blast was caused by an explosive device implanted by malefactors. Evidently, the bomb had either a frequency-induction fuse or clock-operated bomb,” Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian MP and aide to the interior minister, told 112 Ukraine channel." Go to: https://www.rt.com/news/352210-car-explosion-journalist-kiev/

Quote; "The car exploded when Sheremet was driving it at 7.45 a.m. in the central part of Kyiv, on the corner of Ivan Franko and Bohdan Khmelnytskiy Streets. The car belonged to Olena Prytula, the founding editor of Ukrainska Pravda.
Sheremet, 44, was a Belarusian journalist and TV host who has been working outside of Belarus for a long time. He used to work in Russia as TV host and journalist before moving to Kyiv around five years ago.
Sheremet hosted a morning show on Radio Vesti. According to the radio's website, the journalist was heading to the radio's office to host his show when the car exploded." Go to: http://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/ukrainian-belarussian-journalist-pavlo-sheremet-killed-in-kyiv-419071.html

Ukrainian police experts examine the body of prominent pro-Russian journalist Oles Buzyna, 45

Quote; "A Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views was gunned down in broad daylight in Kiev a day after a pro-Russian lawmaker was found dead, local police said.

Oles Buzyna, 45, who worked as editor-in-chief of a leading daily until March, was killed early Thursday afternoon by two masked men shooting from a passing car, the Ukrainian interior ministry said in a statement." Go to: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/ukraine-journalist-oles-buzyna-shot-dead-150416124554314.html


"Arafel": I was recently supported by both my Ukranian and Russian readers during a difficult time when I could not safely access the internet domestically and when my U.K readers had abandoned me almost completely this is heartbreaking stuff...my thoughts are with the families of all those courageous hacks who are either; incarcerated, marginalised, being pilloried or have been assassinated for their principles.

#OELEWEGH "This Year Hottest on Record (third Year in a row)" #ActonClimate #ClimateChange

 
Quote; "NASA scientists said today that global warming has shrunk Arctic sea ice to a record low while putting the Earth on track for the third straight year of record high surface temperatures.
"The average temperatures are so in excess of any first part of the year we've seen it's something worthy of note," said Gavin Schmidt, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
Schmidt and scientists who study sea ice, surface ice and surface plant life briefed reporters today on their mid-year findings.
The modern temperature record dates to 1880, and Schmidt said of 2016, "We have roughly a 99 percent chance of a new record."
Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest in modern records dating to 1880, NASA said. The average temperature was 2.4 degrees warmer than the late 19th century.
Five of the first six months set records for the smallest Arctic ice extent since satellite records began in 1979.
A strong El Nino in the Pacific this year is responsible for up to 40 percent of the temperature increase, Schmidt said, and El Nino's current fading will mean 2017 will actually be cooler than this year.
 

Schmidt called fluctuations like that examples of "noise in the system that have nothing to do with the overall trend...." That trend means "large accelerations" in warming by the end of this century, he said.
Arctic sea ice extent was the lowest for the first six months of the year since satellite records began and shrinkage started two months ahead of schedule, said Walt Meier, sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
"It was an extreme year but definitely in concert with the long-term trend," Meier said." Go to: http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2016/07/global_warming_on_track_for_th.html 
For full article.

#OELEWEGH "African Penguin on the Brink" #Ecocide #Biodiversity #Sustainability"

Quote; "Project goal: Securing the penguins' survival
Implementation: Supplying nesting aids, care for injured and malnourished birds, rearing orphaned juveniles, research
Financing: Public funds and donations
Project size: 27 colonies along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia

Once, millions of African penguins populated the continent's coastlines. There is only one penguin species in this part of the world. But will it remain? Numbers of the African penguin are down to a mere 20,000 breeding pairs in the wild. Marine pollution and the destruction of breeding areas have dramatically affected them. Overfishing is making their food sources dwindle. But an alliance of environmental nongovernmental organizations and a South African conservation authority are trying to secure the iconic bird's survival." Go to: http://www.dw.com/en/endgame-for-the-african-penguin/a-19407147

#ActonClimate "Decline in #Biodiversity Threatens Ecological Network Hubs" #OELEWEGH

Quote; "An international team of scientists has issued a warning that biodiversity is dropping below safe levels for the support and wellbeing of human societies. 


As a species we are inextricably connected with the processes of our local ecosystems, such as crop pollination, waste decomposition and regulation of the carbon cycle.
These ecosystems depend on the biological diversity within them to function.
The planetary boundaries framework updated in 2015 states that losing more than 10% of the biodiversity in an area places the local ecosystem at risk.
A report in Science this week states that 58% of the world's land coverage already falls below this safe level. They find that the global average of biodiversity has dropped to 85% of that of unaffected ecosystems.

Ascertaining the level of biodiversity loss that an ecosystem can endure is not straightforward and will be dependent upon individual ecosystems. Therefore a definitive level of 10% loss must be taken with caution.
Co-author Prof Andy Purvis, from Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum, explained: "Once we're the wrong side of the boundary it doesn't mean everything goes wrong immediately, but there is a markedly higher risk that things will go badly wrong."

Trying to further refine the "safe" value of 10% also produces risk, by increasing the value and allowing even further degradation of ecosystems irreversible damage could occur.
Adding credibility to the report, Owen Lewis, professor of ecology at Oxford University, who was independent of the research, told the BBC: "This is definitely a situation where the precautionary principle needs to be applied: we can't afford to wait to see the long-term consequences of degradation of natural ecosystems."

The team explained that we are now approaching a situation where human intervention may be needed to sustain ecosystem functions. With levels of biodiversity loss so high, if left unchecked, they could undermine efforts towards long-term sustainable development" Go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36805227

Quote;  "The variety of animals and plants has fallen to dangerous levels across more than half of the world’s landmass due to humanity destroying habitats to use as farmland, scientists have estimated.
The unchecked loss of biodiversity is akin to playing ecological roulette and will set back efforts to bring people out of poverty in the long term, they warned.
Analysing 1.8m records from 39,123 sites across Earth, the international study found that a measure of the intactness of biodiversity at sites has fallen below a safety limit across 58.1% of the world’s land.
Under a proposal put forward by experts last year, a site losing more than 10% of its biodiversity is considered to have passed a precautionary threshold, beyond which the ecosystem’s ability to function could be compromised.

 

“It’s worrying that land use has already pushed biodiversity below the level proposed as a safe limit,” said Prof Andy Purvis, of the Natural History Museum, and one of the authors. “Until and unless we can bring biodiversity back up, we’re playing ecological roulette.”

Researchers said the study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, was the most comprehensive examination yet of biodiversity loss. The decline is not just bad news for the species but in the long term could spell problems for human health and economies.
“If ecosystem functions don’t continue, then yes it affects the ability of agriculture to sustain human populations and we simply don’t know at which point that will be reached,” said Dr Tim Newbold, lead author of the work and a research associate at University College London. “We are entering the zone of uncertainty.”
He added that while to an extent people could use technological solutions to replicate the functions of nature, such as pollinators, there were limits to how much humans could compensate for the loss of species.
“Such widespread transgression of safe limits suggests that biodiversity loss, if unchecked, will undermine efforts toward long-term sustainable development,” the paper said.

 Dr Tom Oliver, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a separate commentary in Science that: “It is a tricky problem to say how much biodiversity loss is too much. However, we can be certain that inaction commits us to a future with substantial costs to human wellbeing.”

The study found that different types of habitat had lost more biodiversity where they were biomes that humans lived in, such as grasslands. Tundra and boreal forests, by contrast, were the least affected. The biggest cause of natural habitats being changed was due to agriculture, rather than urbanisation." Go to: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/14/biodiversity-below-safe-levels-across-over-half-of-worlds-land-study?utm_content=buffer1734b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
For full article.