Latrice Harrison
Despite the fact that many consider wild horses American icons, these
animals are being threatened across the U.S. Unfortunately, wild horses
are seen as competition for cattle on grazing lands, and as a result,
they are being systematically rounded up and removed from their native
habitat. The Bureau of Land Management uses helicopters to round them up and transport the horses either to government holding facilities or they are sent to auction...Continue reading...
The Aedes aegypti mosquito thrives in tropical climates and can carry
the Zika virus, yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya.
Emma Henderson:
The Zika virus could infect up to four million people, the World Health Organisation has warned.
The virus, which is strongly suspected of causing birth defects
including the shrinking of foetuses' brains and heads, has the potential
to become an "explosive pandemic", WHO also said.
Marcos Espinal, head of communicable diseases at the WHO's Americas
arm, said a study would soon be published suggesting a correlation
between Zika and microcephaly in Brazil.
"We don't know yet if this virus crosses the placenta and generates
or causes microcephaly. We think it plays a role. There's no doubt about
that," he said.
It comes as Brazilian experts at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation said the
virus - thought to be confined to the Aedes Aegypti mosquito in the
tropics - may have already crossed over to the culex mosquito - which
would increase its chances of being spreading around the world...Continue reading...
Matisyahu’s song “One Day” has become tailor-made for this period of
time. The pictures of Jerusalem, it’s people and it’s sights in the
background remind the Jewish People that everyone’s in this together.
To make the connection betwen the Rabbis and their students, the
children, the soldiers, policemen, medics, and beggars you really have
to know quite a bit about what’s been happening in Israeli society for
the past few months.
The togetherness and yearning of the Jewish People for redemption and
peace. Across the board. The prayers and hopes and tangible help that
all parts of population have given to one-another just shows that the
Jewish People stand united despite their many philosophical differences.
That is something that should always be felt.http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/how-can-you-not-just-keep-watching-this-over-and-over-again/?
By Reuters OTTAWA - Canada’s new Liberal government said on Monday it was
delivering a “tough message” to Israel as a good friend after expressing
concern about Israeli-Palestinian violence, Israeli settlements and
unilateral Palestinian moves.
The statement came a day after Foreign Minister Stephane Dion was
criticized for saying Palestinian initiatives toward statehood in
international forums and continued Israeli settlements were unhelpful.
“We’re steadfast allies and good friends, and good friends can
occasionally deliver tough messages, but it’s by no means to suggest
that we’re somehow retreating from any kind of support of Israel,” said
Joe Pickerill, Dion’s spokesman.
Dion on Sunday had issued a statement expressing concern about the
Israeli conflict, sparking charges by the Conservative opposition that
the Liberal government was being unfairly critical of Israel.
“As a steadfast ally and friend to Israel, Canada calls for all
efforts to be made to reduce violence and incitement and to help build
the conditions for a return to the negotiating table,” Dion said in the
statement on Sunday.
His spokesman, Joe Pickerill, elaborated on Monday by saying that
Canada was not trying to create a “faux balance” by equating violence by
either side, but felt the need to speak out...Continue reading...
Related: Israeli Woman, 23, Dies of Wounds Sustained in Supermarket Stabbing
from Grain Media Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul is a beautiful and moving short film
that follows the lives of two young skateboarders from Afghanistan who
attend the Skateistan project. Juxtaposing the harsh reality of life in
Kabul with the hopes and ambitions of the country’s children, the film
is a touching ray of light from a country only ever in the news for all
the wrong reasons. https://vimeo.com/32234310Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul from Grain Media on Vimeo.
Life for sloths might seem pretty relaxed and laid back – after all, they do give the impression of being the world’s most chill animals – in reality, however, it can be anything but. Many sloth species are listed as threatened or in danger of extinction due to habitat loss and human encroachment.
These animals make their homes in the treetops of South American
rainforests and as these forests are cut down, for logging, agricultural
and cattle grazing interests, or to make way for new developments, they
are being stranded with nowhere to go.
As humans move into closer range with sloths,
these animals are being faced with dangers that they are not equipped
to deal with. One of the major ones being car traffic. When you pair
fast moving vehicles with slow moving animals, things can get dangerous
quickly. Unfortunately, this was the reality that one sloth had to face
when he wandered onto a highway in Ecuador...Read more, photos...
The
acting mayor of La Loche, Sask., and the member of Parliament for the
region are calling for the school in their northern Saskatchewan
community to be torn down and rebuilt following a shooting Friday.
"I
want that school to be rebuilt. Torn down, rebuilt ... because of the
trauma," Kevin Janvier said Sunday following a meeting with provincial
and national leaders, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.
Nine people
were shot at the La Loche Community School around 1 p.m. CST — two
fatally. Two other victims were found dead in a home in La Loche.
All
seven people who were injured in the shooting at the school are in
critical condition in hospital in Saskatoon, according to a provincial
government official.
RCMP said
a 17-year-old suspect, now in custody and facing four charges of
first-degree murder, will be in court Monday. The teen also faces seven
charges of attempted murder...Continue reading, story in the comments...
For most, wolves are
best experienced from a safe distance. A belly-full howl from a faraway,
shadowy creature provides ample wolf exposure for the majority. But not
all.
Cleo Goossens is a photographer
based in Eindhoven in the Netherlands -- and, so we've gathered, a
significant wolf enthusiast. (Her dog is named Wolf and her company, Sun of Wolves.) Recently, Goossens visited eight real, very live wolves in Germany, owned by a Dutch man who lives with them in harmony, along with his wife, son and dingo.
The photographs, some
in black and white, others in color, some from far away, some
startlingly close, capture wolves with an intimacy not often found in
nature or wildlife photography. One image presents its subject as the
lone wolf in the wild while another depicts a cuddly creature hungry for
contact and love. The short but striking series shows the dynamic range
of personas that wolves embody, and their surprising capacity to
interact with humans...Read here, photos...
Dilly sleeping - "One of the most viewed Labrador pictures in the world"
[photo Villager Jim] Derby:
Dubbed the "Banksy of the
photographic world", the mysterious Villager Jim only picked up a camera
a few years ago but now makes his living from taking wildlife snaps.
Here, he explains how a picture of his dog went viral, his passion for wildlife, and how he is enjoying being anonymous.
"Everybody knows my Dilly shot, says Villager Jim.
"I think it is one of the most viewed Labrador pictures in the world."
He said the photo came about after his dog came back from a walk and was "nodding off" in a chair at their Peak District home.
"I had just bought a new lens and was resting it on my hands," he said. "Like a kid with a new toy."
"So, I took a photo and that one picture has changed my life."...Continue reading, photos...
“Right now, La Loche is devastated,” said an emotional First Nation
chief after at least four people — including two relatives of the
alleged shooter along with a 23-year-old teacher — were killed, two were
in critical condition and a suspect was taken into custody after a
daytime shooting at the community school in the northern Saskatchewan
town.
“The community usually pulls together really strong in times like
this,” said Clearwater River Dene Nation Chief Teddy Clark on Friday.
“Both Clearwater and La Loche, a lot of people are in shock. This is something that you only see on TV most of the time.”
Four people are dead, two are critically injured and one person is in
custody after a yet-to-be identified suspect walked into La Loche
Community SchoolJoshua Mercredi
Marie Janvier, a 23-year-old teacher, was shot dead by the alleged gunman after shooting two of his relatives, family said....Continue reading, video...
Stomach worms inside a man's stomach resulted from eating improperly
prepared raw fish, doctors say. (Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases
and Medical Microbiology)
Space station commander Scott Kelly had to fight off mold that
threatened to kill all the flowers in the space station's
mini-greenhouse, including this zinnia. SCOTT KELLY / NASA Read here.
Kevin C. Osterhoudt, MD,is the medical director of The Poison Control Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The days of January are short and cold. At times it can seem that
everyone is coughing from a cold, the flu, or bronchitis. Pains can
flare. It’s easy to be sick of being sick and to want to find relief.
Since the 1950s people have used a drug called codeine to try to stop
cough or reduce pain. Codeine may be found paired with the common pain
and fever medication acetaminophen, it may be prescribed on its own, or
it may be in cough and cold medications. But over the past 20 years,
we’ve been learning that it’s a bad idea. In 2016, you should resolve to
clear your medicine cabinet of codeine (and remind your doctor of that
resolution, too!).
Glenn Frey, a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, has died at 67, a publicist for the band has confirmed.
"Glenn
fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly,
succumbed to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative
colitis and pneumonia," reads a post on the band's official website...Continue reading...
Mix - Eagles
By Jake Bleiberg As oil prices continue to drop towards an uncertain bottom,
tensions between environmentalists and industry are mounting around
another natural resource: Canada's forests.
A long brewing
dispute over the largest undisturbed boreal forest on Earth, nearly
2-million square miles of pines and firs stretched across northern
Canada, began to heat up this week when 13 American environmental
advocacy groups wrote the governments of Ontario and Quebec urging them
to support new conservation efforts.
The letter comes in response
to earlier lobbying by the Québec Forest Industry Council, which
represents nearly half of Canada's $20-billion timber industry, warning
the government against new measures proposed by a watchdog, the Forest
Stewardship Council. The new measures would threaten thousands of jobs
and the communities that rely on them, the industry group warned in an
October letter to Quebec's minister of forests...Continue reading...
Staff infoZine:
Groups are working diligently to spread awareness about the ongoing crisis.
Westport, CT - infoZine - E/The Environmental Magazine -
Dear EarthTalk: What is being done to save elephants around the world? I
understand that these magnificent creatures are teetering on the brink
of extinction. – Millie Vicente, San Jose, CA
In just one decade between 1979 and 1989, half of all Africa’s elephants
were lost to the ivory trade. Public outrage over the loss led to a ban
on all international trade in elephant tusks by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)—an international
agreement regulating trade in wild animals and plants—and African
elephant populations were able to bounce back...
...In Zimbabwe, poachers are using cyanide to kill entire herds at a time.
In October 2015, rangers in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park found 78
elephants killed by the poison. “We’re now trying to check how many
elephants had fully developed tusks, because babies are among those
killed,” said Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management spokeswoman
Caroline Washaya-Moyo. “The rate at which we are losing animals to
cyanide is alarming,” she added. Some 300 elephants fell victim to the
same fate in the park a year before. Many non-target species are also
dying from the cyanide intended for elephants. The park agency was
hoping drones and trained dogs would intensify poacher monitoring...Read complete article here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bpICIClAIg
Speed News Desk
UFO enthusiasts and alien hunters have made another addition to the
growing list of earthly structures reportedly spotted on the Red planet.
This time around, reports claim that NASA has found an Angkor Wat-like temple structure on Mars.
It
was not too long ago that alien enthusiasts claimed that NASA's
Curiosity Rover had spotted a giant mouse, a pyramid and a Buddha-like
statue on Mars. India Today
reports, "With startling images ranging from trees to even the Buddha,
NASA has now spotted a structure on the Red Planet that looks just like
the world famous Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia. However, it is still not
clear whether the statue is just a rock formation or a real temple."
As is the case with most of these observations, NASA has refrained from commenting on the reports. Read here.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was not invited to a meeting of defence
ministers from seven countries in the anti-ISIS coalition in Paris this
week. (Canadian Press) By Katharine Starr, CBC News
Canada has not been invited to an anti-ISIS coalition meeting this week in Paris, CBC News has learned.
Defence ministers from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy,
Australia and the Netherlands will join U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton
Carter on Wednesday to discuss the future of the fight against the
extremist group.
Canada's Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan did not receive an invitation, his office confirmed to CBC News Network's Power & Politics...Continue reading...
By Associated Press
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — A Sierra Leone official says a corpse has tested positive for Ebola, the day after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak over in West Africa.
Francis Langoba Kelly, spokesman for the Office of National
Security, told local radio Friday that tests on a woman who died in the
country’s north earlier this month were positive for the virus. Kelly
said the country’s level of preparedness is high and there is no cause
for concern.
Nearly 4,000 people died before Sierra Leone was first declared free
from transmission Nov. 7. Guinea marked that day on Nov. 29. Liberia had
been declared Ebola-free twice before Thursday. Officials warned
flare-ups were possible.
Ebola has killed more than 11,300 people, mostly in West Africa, since it emerged at the end of 2013.http://nypost.com/2016/01/15/ebola-is-back-in-west-africa/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow
There were 28 people of 18 nationalities
killed and 56 others wounded after a 15-hour siege that ended Saturday
night at a hotel popular with international business travellers on the
busy Avenue Kwame Nkrumah in the city’s centre.
The Canadians were: Yves Carrier; his daughter
Maude; his wife, Gladys Chamberland; their son Charlélie, and their
friends Louis Chabot and Suzanne Bernier, all residents of Quebec, La
Presse reported.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led a moment of
silence for the victims on Sunday at a restored mosque in Peterborough,
Ont., which was firebombed in the aftermath of deadly attacks in Paris
last November...Continue reading...
Panda bears are one of the most adorable deadly animals in the animal
kingdom. (Don't let their teddy bear-like qualities deceive you—they are still bears, and you do not actually want to hug one. Well, at least not an adult one.) But how much do you really know about pandas?...New insights into Pandas
Maybelle and Anna by Jessica Sarter: There’s only one thing sweeter than a happy pig, and that’s TWO happy
pigs! No one knows for sure where these two close friends, Maybelle and
Anna came from, but it’s likely that they escaped from a transport truck. They still had their tails which means they did not come from a factory farm because tail docking is usually performed within a month of birth in these facilities. What is likely is that they were headed to a stockyard where they would be sold and raised by someone else for slaughter. Luckily, their lives have a much happier ending...Continue reading...
Maurice Newman:
The Australian prime minister’schief business adviser has accused the United Nations
of using debunked climate change science to lead a new world order –
provocative claims made to coincide with a visit from the top UN climate
negotiator.
Christiana Figueres, who heads the UN framework convention on
climate change, touring Australia this week, urged the country to move
away from heavily polluting coal production.
Under Tony Abbott’s leadership, Australia has been reluctant to
engage in global climate change politics, unsuccessfully attempting to
keep the issue off the agenda of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane
last year.
Maurice Newman, the chairman of Abbott’s business advisory council and a climate change sceptic with a history of making provocative statements, said the UN was using false models showing sustained temperature increases to end democracy and impose authoritarian rule...Continue reading...
Dusti Hennenfent, a mother in Moose
Jaw, is seeking a change in provincial legislation that would stop
prayers from taking place in public schools.William Stodalka / The Moose Jaw Times Herald Saskatoon StarPhoenix: When Dusti Hennenfent dropped off her child late at Lindale Elementary
School in Moose Jaw after a dentist appointment, she was “quite
surprised” to hear the Lord’s Prayer being recited over the school’s
intercom system.
“I didn’t even realize that a public school would still have that as a
practice,” said the mother of two and Moose Jaw resident.
Last year, Hennenfent raised concerns with her school’s principal and
the division. In early December, the Prairie South School
Division ordered the Lindale School Community Council (SCC) to consult
with members of the community about whether to keep the prayer in
school.
The findings, presented at a Jan. 5 board meeting,
indicated “from parent responses and SCC deliberation, the SCC
determine that it was the will of the Lindale School community to
continue reciting the Lord’s Prayer during opening activities.”
It indicated 70 per cent of parents were consulted and 152 of the 166 parents were in favour of keeping the prayer.
While Hennenfent said she and her children have a good relationship
with Lindale School overall, she believes the recital of the prayer may
be harmful and has started a petition asking for amendments to
the Education Act.
Under Section 182(3) of the Education Act, authorities or divisions
are allowed to approve the reading of the Lord’s Prayer, but “a student
may be excused from participating in these exercises or any courses of
religious instruction.”
“Honestly, I don’t understand the purpose of (the recital of the
prayer),” Hennenfent said, noting while she would be in favour of
a comparative religion class, she feels the prayer itself may
isolate certain members of the school community.
“Is this is a school-sponsored religion?” she asked. “Is there
recognition that not all students are Christian and if there’s
recognition of that, is the purpose that perhaps maybe they all should
be Christian?”
With both Saskatchewan and Moose Jaw becoming more culturally and
religiously diverse, she said the recital does not respect or value that
diversity...Read more>>http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/moose-jaw-mother-wants-a-change-to-sask-legislation-that-would-ban-prayers-in-public-schools
North Korea has topped the list of countries where Christians are most at risk of persecution for the fourteenth year in a row.
The charity Open Doors said the persecution of believers across the world was "more extreme than ever before".
It's annual report found religious fundamentalism was 'sweeping' the world, with around 70,000 Christians jailed in North Korea.
"Persecution
levels have been rapidly rising. This year, a country had to score 50
per cent more points than in 2013 to even make it onto the list," said
CEO Lisa Pearce.
The study found that well over 100 million Christians are persecuted worldwide because of their beliefs...Continue reading...
See also...Franklin Graham: It’s Open Season On Christianity
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam,
Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30
April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War (1946–54) and was
fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and
other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by
the United States, Philippines and other anti-communist allies.The Viet
Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a South
Vietnamese communist common front aided by the North, fought a guerrilla
war against anti-communist forces in the region. The People’s Army of
Vietnam, also known as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), engaged in a
more conventional war, at times committing large units to battle.
As the war continued, the part of the Viet Cong in the fighting
decreased as the role of the NVA grew. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces
relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search
and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and
airstrikes. In the course of the war, the U.S. conducted a large-scale
strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam...>>40 Rarely Seen Photos
There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.
Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell."
On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.
And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toe,
He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."
Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet 'tain't being dead—it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains."
A pal's last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;
And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale.
He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;
And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.
There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate those last remains."
Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.
In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows—O God! how I loathed the thing.
And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;
And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low;
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.
Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May."
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."
Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;
The flames just soared, and the furnace roared—such a blaze you seldom see;
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.
Then I made a hike, for I didn't like to hear him sizzle so;
And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don't know why;
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.
I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take a peep inside.
I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked"; . . . then the door I opened wide.
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door.
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."
There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold;The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee. wikisource.org
Latrice Harrison 
Cleo Goossens
Alex MacPherson, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Stomach worms inside a man's stomach resulted from eating improperly
prepared raw fish, doctors say. (Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases
and Medical Microbiology)
PHOTO: MARK MARYANOVICH
[image] 
A Russian jet drops bombs on targets in Syria
By Bill Sanderson Saudi Arabia's King Salman (right) and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef walk to greet President Obama in Riy...
