text:
In praise of 'the media' doing their job
Bob Collins April 30, 2018, 8:36 AM Apr 30, 2018
Everyone has an opinion on "the media" today because the pampered TV anchors and insular political reporters have once again made it easy to narrowly define the term, with their ridiculous annual decision to party with the people they're supposed to be covering.
That, for many people, is "the media." Whatever criticism the "journalists" in Washington are getting today, they brought it on themselves.
Not shown nor considered are all the journalists in the world who were busy doing their jobs and may not even own tuxedos and evening gowns.
Eamon Javers, a CNBC correspondent, reminded us of that fact on Twitter Monday by noting this video, released by the FBI last week, of reporters, a congressman, staffers, and others preparing to leave the Guyana cult home, Jonestown, on November 18, 1978.
Reporters had accompanied Rep. Leo Ryan on an investigation into the cult.
Men loyal to cult leader Jim Jones arrived to try to kill them all.
The NBC cameraman who took the video, Bob Brown, was among those murdered. So was NBC correspondent Don Harris and San Francisco Examiner photographer Greg Robinson. And so was the congressman.
Javers' father, Ron (shown in the floppy hat), a managing editor with Newsweek, was shot, escaped into the jungle.
The congressman was in Guyana to protect his constituents – Americans who had families in his congressional district. The journalists were there to find out what was going on and to tell the truth about it: Real news.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) April 30, 2018
Everyone was jumpy. They could feel things spinning out of control. You can see my dad &Tim Reiterman frisking people at the plane – improvising security at direction of @RepSpeier, who was a young congressional staffer. They were worried someone might have a gun. Someone did.
Some were killed instantly and some were wounded and unable to move. My dad, Jackie Speier and others were shot and wounded but able to make a harrowing escape into the jungle. The gunmen murdered the wounded who were not able to run for it.
This was just one day in one jungle in one part of the world. There is always be evil – it's part of humanity. But we are fortunate that there are journalists willing to face it and expose it for what it is. That's real news.
It was just a few months later that ABC reporter Bill Stewart was executed while covering a civil war in Nicaragua as his camera crew watched.
It's not hard to find similar video. Reporters have been dying doing their jobs courageously for generations.
There wasn't an abundance of courage in a Washington ballroom over the weekend, but that doesn't define the business.
These people do.
Shah Marai, a very brave photographer who captured every single side of life in Afghanistan conflicts, is also killed in today's Kabul suicide attack
شاه مری عکاس شجاع افغانستان که برای پوشش حمله انتحاری امروز کابل رفته بود، خودش طعمه حمله دوم شد و دوربینش برای همیشه زمین خورد pic.twitter.com/uvislWhxo2
— Kawoon Khamoosh (@KawoonKhamoosh) April 30, 2018
VIDEO: A selection of photos by AFP chief photographer in Kabul Shah Marai, who was killed when two suicide blasts ripped through the city on Monday pic.twitter.com/XSh2G3qPHj
— AFP news agency (@AFP) April 30, 2018
Related: 'A dark day': Tributes for journalists killed in Kabul (Al Jazeera)
(h/t: Paul Tosto)
journalism Media
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This blog stood on the shoulders of a giant
Meteorologist loses it when viewers complain about tornado coverage
"MPR is an important part of my commitment toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle." —Elizabeth from St. Paul, MN


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A review of allodiversity in Lake Naivasha, Kenya: Developing conservation actions to protect East African lakes from the negative impacts of alien species
This source preferred by Robert Britton
Authors: Gherardi, F., Britton, J.R., Mavuti, K.M., Pacini, N., Grey, J., Tricarico, E. and Harper, D.M.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.020
Journal: Biological Conservation
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.020
The biodiversity of developing countries is increasingly threatened by introductions of invasive alien species. This study on the allodiversity in Lake Naivasha, Kenya reviews the pathways, establishment rates and outcomes of introduced species, and provides the basis for determining conservation actions that, if implemented, could prevent potentially harmful effects of similar events in other East African lakes. Introductions into Naivasha commenced in the 1920s with the release of a sport fish and have since produced an allodiversity of 23 species. This includes species that are no longer present (e.g., some tilapia species), presumed no longer present (e.g., the Nile perch Lates niloticus) or whose distribution is highly localised and ecologically neutral (e.g., the coypu Myocastor coypus). It also includes species that established successfully and invoked major changes in lake ecology (e.g., the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii) and a species that is producing apparent economic benefits to the local population (i.e., the common carp Cyprinus carpio). The most frequent donor continents were the Americas and most species were the result of secondary introductions. The main introduction vector was active release that aimed to enhance fishery production. Alien species now dominate each main level of the lake's food web and produce impacts that are rarely restricted to a single ecosystem service. With a few exceptions, the majority of introductions translate into socioeconomic costs that contribute to rising social conflicts and exacerbating poverty. Development of appropriate conservation management tools within a regulatory framework could help protect Naivasha from further damage and could be used elsewhere in East African lakes to ensure that subsequent introductions enhance ecosystem services without affecting biodiversity.
Authors: Gherardi, F., Robert Britton, J., Mavuti, K.M., Pacini, N., Grey, J., Tricarico, E. and Harper, D.M.
The biodiversity of developing countries is increasingly threatened by introductions of invasive alien species. This study on the allodiversity in Lake Naivasha, Kenya reviews the pathways, establishment rates and outcomes of introduced species, and provides the basis for determining conservation actions that, if implemented, could prevent potentially harmful effects of similar events in other East African lakes. Introductions into Naivasha commenced in the 1920s with the release of a sport fish and have since produced an allodiversity of 23 species. This includes species that are no longer present (e.g., some tilapia species), presumed no longer present (e.g., the Nile perch Lates niloticus) or whose distribution is highly localised and ecologically neutral (e.g., the coypu Myocastor coypus). It also includes species that established successfully and invoked major changes in lake ecology (e.g., the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii) and a species that is producing apparent economic benefits to the local population (i.e., the common carp Cyprinus carpio). The most frequent donor continents were the Americas and most species were the result of secondary introductions. The main introduction vector was active release that aimed to enhance fishery production. Alien species now dominate each main level of the lake's food web and produce impacts that are rarely restricted to a single ecosystem service. With a few exceptions, the majority of introductions translate into socioeconomic costs that contribute to rising social conflicts and exacerbating poverty. Development of appropriate conservation management tools within a regulatory framework could help protect Naivasha from further damage and could be used elsewhere in East African lakes to ensure that subsequent introductions enhance ecosystem services without affecting biodiversity. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
La tirammina N-metiltransferasi è un enzima appartenente alla classe delle transferasi, che catalizza la seguente reazione:
S-adenosil-L-metionina + tirammina  S-adenosil-L-omocisteina + N-metiltirammina
L'enzima ha una certa attività sugli analoghi della feniletilammina.

Bibliografia

EC 2.1.1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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BP Deposits the First $3 Billion in Its Gulf Oil Spill Escrow Fund
Melly Alazraki, AOL.com
Aug 10th 2010 9:10AM
The Justice Department announced Monday it has completed negotiations with BP (BP) over the establishment of the $20 billion escrow account the Obama administration had insisted on in the midst of the Gulf oil spill. The account is meant to make sure the company has sufficient resources to help pay claims to Gulf Coast residents affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli said: "We are pleased that BP made an initial contribution and has taken an important step toward honoring its commitment to the President and the residents and business owners in the Gulf region."
BP announced Monday that it has made a $3 billion initial deposit to the escrow account. "Establishing this trust and making the initial deposit ahead of schedule further demonstrates our commitment to making it right in the Gulf Coast," said Bob Dudley, the successor to current BP CEO Tony Hayward and still head of BP's Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. BP had agreed to make the first payment at the end of the third quarter.
BP will make an additional $2 billion deposit in the fourth quarter. Thereafter, it will add $1.25 billion per quarter until the total reaches $20 billion, BP said.
Just the Start
Noting that $3 billion remains a far cry from $20 billion, Perrelli added: "We have made clear that the company still needs to ensure that the necessary funds will be available if something happens to the subsidiary that established the trust, and we look forward to completion of an appropriate security arrangement in the near future."
The Wall Street Journal reports that the issue of collateral is the last detail to be ironed out. Under the latest negotiations, BP would use revenue from its other Gulf wells as collateral for the fund. Dudley and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met Monday to discuss the issues. In a press release, the White House said it "impressed upon BP the importance of living up to their commitment to long term recovery."
Shares of BP fell nearly 2% in recent premarket trading on Tuesday.
BP escrow account
BP escrow fund
bp oil spill
BP oil spill compensation claims
bp oil spill cost
USD (PER CHF)1.02-0.0001-0.01%
96 percent of teachers pay for students' supplies
Tips on how you can save up to $2,100 on summer camp
How sales tax holidays can boost your savings


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By Mahroh Jahangiri • @mahrohj • 3 years ago
Sueños sin Fronteras: A Feminist Roundtable on Immigration
Congress has until midnight today to pass a spending bill, or shutdown the government again. Immigration is at the center of the debate.
It's been less than three weeks since the last shutdown — a three-day closing that ended after Democrats caved in to Senate Republicans' promise to consider legislation to protect Dreamers, or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Trump Administration rescinded the program for undocumented youth in September, giving Congress until March 5 to come up with a permanent legislative fix. These "fixes," of course, are unlikely, leaving nearly 700,000 of immigrant youth — along with millions of undocumented immigrants — increasingly vulnerable to state violence, detention, and deportation.
As immigrant women and children of immigrants both undocumented and documented, we're intimately familiar with the high stakes around us — as well why immigration justice must be central to any feminist movement in 2018. This roundtable is a space to share for us to share with you, our readers, why we personally care so much about this issue, and ask you to do the same.
This roundtable is also a challenge: in this era of terrifying violence against the people we love, we at Feministing firmly believe that any feminist publication, organization (or march) must center those who are most vulnerable to state violence as the voices and leaders in our work.
We challenge our peers in this space to elevate immigrant writers — and to share our urgent obligation to not only write about the unjust systems we live in, but to connect the dots between all systems that "other" people and treat them as less than human.
Each of them must be torn down.
BS: Barbara Sostaita is a columnist at Feministing and a doctoral student at The University of North Carolina (UNC), where she works on issues of religion, im/migration, and sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @barbarasostaita.
JBS: Juliana is a Senior Editor at Feministing, and a Senior Campaigner at Change.org, where she supports climate justice, women's rights and immigrant justice campaigns. She is a native of the Bay Area where she lives with her partner. Follow her on Twitter: @JulianaBrittoS.
MJ: Mahroh Jahangiri is an Editor at Feministing, currently organizing with Movimiento Cosecha in Texas, soon-to-be farmer in Vermont, and then-to-be law student in Boston. Follow her on Twitter: @mahrohj.
WE SPEND OUR WEEKS TRYING TO KEEP TRACK OF THE BLITZ OF ATTACKS ON OUR COMMUNITIES. SOMEONE, PLEASE CATCH US UP ON WHAT'S HAPPENING?
BS: We're only one month into 2018, but the Trump Administration has already made many dangerous decisions concerning immigration and threatening immigrants' lives, especially from countries the president disgustingly called "shitholes."
The government revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that supports immigrants coming from natural disasters areas or wars, for 260,000 Salvadoran immigrants — meaning that after July 2019, they will no longer be able to live and work legally in the United States. [For women especially, returning to El Salvador means the threat of sexual violence, assault, and even death.] Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is raiding hospitals and mistreating disabled children, targeting and deporting activists who organize against injustice, racially profiling and raiding entire workplaces, and even tracking license plates to follow immigrants' movements. Border Patrol has been destroying life-saving water supplies left for migrants in the desert literally just for fun, contributing to the deaths of thousands of border crossers.
MJ: Yep, a federal court just ruled that thousands of immigrant children awaiting deportation have no right to an attorney Both, Democrats and Republicans have offered little other than garbage theatrics and the promise billions of dollars in ICE enforcement, respectively, as hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth near the deadline for losing their legal status under DACA. And it's not just undocumented migrants that the Administration is targeting: the Department of Justice has began of process of revoking the citizenship naturalized immigrants. And research shows that 10 percent — yes, 10 percent — of those arrested by ICE's racist round-ups actually have legal status.
SO THAT'S THE UGLY. WHAT IS THE GOOD?
MJ: The wins are small for now, but definitely there. Organizers have proven that though the law is inherently a force of violence, it can be manipulated to stall the deportation machine: a federal judge ruled against the government's attempt to rescind DACA; another ordered the short-term release of immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir. While Ragbir faces a deportation order this weekend, it is "the movement he helped build" that first helped secure his release — and is now deploying smart, creative, and constantly evolving tactics to challenge the government at every urgent turn.
In Florida, farmworker women have launched a national boycott of Wendy's, joining the movement against corporate executives who have the power to end sexual violence against women in their workplaces and yet, do nothing (join them here). In New York today, undocumented youth announced a two-week march to DC, demanding that Congress pass legislation for Dreamers (help them march here). And in border towns across the country today, young people are bravely speaking out at the U.S. – Mexico border, refusing to be used by crochety liberals as a bartering chip for more violence against their families. I've had the immense privilege to organize with some of these young people here in El Paso, Texas this week — and watching dozens of literal strangers stepping further from the comfort of homes, salaries, and for many, safety to build a world with permanent protection for all 11 million undocumented immigrants leaves me with an unshakable hope in my bones.
GOOD OR BAD DAYS THOUGH, THIS SHIT IS OVERWHELMING. HOW ARE WE DEALING?
JBS: I've personally learned, for better or for worse, to numb myself to it all. I'm sad to say that I probably read the news less, and have to pick and choose which outrage and horror I'd like to feel today. I am endlessly impressed by those who can keep up the fight each and every day, because I'm still learning how to balance emotional rest and the struggle.
BS: I remember calling my parents the night Trump was elected and begging them to stay home for a few days and to stop speaking Spanish in public. For weeks, I had nightmares that they would be attacked while grocery shopping or running errands. This was the Administration's plan all along: it's not just about deporting and detaining migrants, but also about regulating and disciplining our everyday lives. Frankly, I haven't moved past that fear yet. I'm reacting to the onslaught of attacks on our lives by doing what I can to protect myself and those I love, showing my community tenderness and care, and reminding my loved ones how beautiful and important they are. Like Juliana, I don't know how to engage in struggle beyond that, beyond surviving and tending to my trauma. Have others figured out a balance?
MJ: Oy this is real. I haven't found perfect balance but am in an admittedly rare, inspiring place: I just joined Movimiento Cosecha full-time, which is a movement of young people fighting for permanent protection for all immigrants. We're rooted in economic non-cooperation, civil disobedience, living together in voluntary simplicity and turning to our community — rather than the market — to meet our basic needs (food, healthcare, housing, debt-support). This is my first time formally entering the immigration justice movement. While the barrier to entry seems high — move into a group house! organize full-time! no salary! — my mind has been rocked by the different ways of living within our reach when we are rooted in a community willing to provide our basic material and emotional needs. I'm also just so moved by the young, undocumented folks who have risked arrest, hunger strikes, and deportation to force a national conversation on immigration. It wasn't our think pieces, or the ACLU, or the thousands of dollars in pink pussy hats that made that happen. It was these people putting bodies on the line. The rest of us can follow lead and do a lot better.
SO THESE ARE CLEARLY HIGH STAKES — BUT IMMIGRANTS ARE MOBILIZING IN WAYS THAT SUGGEST THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY WIN. DO WE THINK THAT OTHER FEMINISTS ARE WITH US?
BS: After DACA was rescinded last September, I felt incredibly inspired and energized by the support we received from feminists and other allies. But, in the past few months, as we continue to react to attacks on our lives and fight for a path to citizenship, I've felt abandoned by many of those same people. Supporting migrants goes beyond wearing "We are all Dreamers" shirts and requires more than adding an "I Support DACA" sticker to your Facebook profile. And supporting DACA recipients while overlooking other forms of violence and incarceration (the termination of TPS, deportations of activists, and the boom in for-profit immigrant detention centers) is not liberatory. It's easy to uplift the eloquent DREAMer with straight-A's and a college acceptance letter. It's harder — but vital — to advocate for incarcerated immigrants, people risking their lives to cross borders, abuelas who refuse to learn English (I'm thinking of mine), and single mothers and poor, uneducated fathers. A feminist approach to immigration justice has to be intersectional and insurgent. The end goal is not only to turn DREAMers into citizens (although that this an urgent concern), but about disrupting and deconstructing the category of citizenship altogether. It's about challenging the violent regulation of citizenship and imagining a world where borders don't keep families apart.
MJ: Yes yes yes. I've seen some remarkable inclusion of immigrant women and battles for the dignity of immigrant workers within #MeToo, the Oscars, which feels really good you know? But what feels less good are feminists eager to listen to us narrate sad, rape stories but hesitant to make the institutions that hurt us — the U.S. military, the tech companies funding border walls from Mexico to Israel, the corporations and law firms they work for — the objects of their fight.
JBS: I'm with Barbara here. While the mainstream feminist support of migrants' has been sweet, I feel like the arguments I'm hearing be recycled are still grounded within an entirely flawed system of thinking. While I understand the impetus to tell the stories of "perfect" immigrants, doing so validates the idea that certain immigrants are more deserving than others, or that the police, or Border Patrol, or ICE are well-intentioned, fundamentally good institutions instead of forces literally invented to oppress brown people. Instead of trying to save a select few people by playing into harmful beliefs around meritocracy, we have to remind the world that our concept of "citizenship" is an arbitrary designation used by powerful, mostly white people to keep brown and black labor cheap, and brown and black people afraid. These are tools which allow them to deny the humanity of people of color and justify their exploitation.
THERE WAS ALSO THIS VIRAL PIECE BY A BLACK WOMAN BLOGGER ON CARDI B THAT ARGUED THAT NON-BLACK POC'S PRESENCE IN NORTH AMERICA IS "VOLUNTARY." HOW DOES THAT SENTIMENT FACTOR INTO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SOLIDARITY POLITICS TODAY?
BS: Last fall, I went back to Argentina for the first time since my family immigrated to the United States in 1998. Going back was the one of the most difficult experiences of my life, mostly because it reminded me of everything my family has missed out on these past twenty years: a life defined not by the trauma of displacement but by the comfort of rootedness. As a child, I was happy in Argentina. I smiled a lot. I had a full life. But I'm not supposed to tell you that. We as immigrants are often asked to describe our countries as dying and decaying, scarred by violence, poverty, lack of education, and substandard living conditions. We're invited to narrate our immigration experiences as the thing that saved us from the same tragedy that befell our homelands. Refugees are especially asked to engage in this discourse; their asylum cases will be dismissed if they don't. But, when I went back home, all I could think was how desperately I wish we could have stayed.
People in the Global South have been and are being pushed out of our homelands by natural disasters, imperialisms/colonialisms, wars, and global capitalism. My family's migration resulted from neoliberal reforms that left us penniless and homeless. We came to the United States because we had no other choice, because this country was my parent's last hope for survival. Calling migration "voluntary" erases the systems and structures in place that force people to move and that rob us of our families and childhoods and memories. To call these forms of migration "voluntary" ignores the violent imperialisms that invade and "restructure" our countries, simultaneously force us to move and keep us from moving (criminalizing us if we do cross borders), and profit from our labor while disavowing our bodies.
MJ: Yeah, frankly, I have been pretty frustrated by this sentiment (which utterly erases non-black indigenous peoples whose land has been settled voluntarily or involuntarily by every single remaining one of us). Let's be clear: slavery is one particularly unique and hideous form of forced migration. But this attempt at creating a hierarchy of migration — where everything but literal enslavement is "voluntary"— is as callous as it is ahistorical. And for me, it undermines the very purpose of anti-oppression work: to connect the myriad of ways — abduction, drones, climate change — capitalism and white supremacy makes it impossible for brown and black people around the globe to stay in their own homes safely.
I'll also say that this provides a real jumping off point about a needed conversation around imperial privilege amongst white folks and non-immigrant people of color. This is the sort of privilege that allows Americans (black, brown, and white) to "focus only on the "homeland" and ignore the consequences of their political choices for any other country;" it looks like U.S. citizens/residents deeming all migration voluntary, seeing white-passing folks in places like Palestine, Mexico, or Yemen as privileged because of their skin color while ignoring the violence imposed by their third world status, ignoring our complicity in U.S. imperialism and our general lack of willingness to center non-U.S. citizens in our fights. This failure to consider imperial privilege, I think was especially obvious during that Coates/West saga. I saw so much pushback against the argument that Coates – a black man – should be held responsible for his writing on issues that affect non-black POC abroad (drones, zionism, etc). Brown and black people have it tough here, which undoubtedly clouds our ability to even think of people even more vulnerable than us. But those people exist, in countries bearing the brunt of U.S. military and climate violence in the Global South. And as difficult as it is, I think any meaningful work towards liberation has to center those communities in our fight.
WHEW THAT'S A LOT TO CHEW ON. REAL QUICK, WHAT ELSE IS MISSING IN THE CONVO?
JBS: A discussion of how migration intersects with occupation, and colonization. The United States as we know it was created by colonizers who denied the humanity of indigenous and African people in order to justify enslaving them and stealing from them. Today, that same tactic is used to erase the fact that white people are settlers in this country, and deny brown people access to resources. What's worse is that the U.S. has exported this concept to support imperialistic wars abroad or occupations on indigenous land in say, Palestine.
BS: I have two comments. First, I agree with Juliana that we need to broaden the conversation to include how the militarization of borders, immigration control and the regulation of citizenship, and the policing of (racialized) migrant bodies extends beyond the United States. The forced movement of refugees around the world, the mass deaths of African migrants crossing the border into Europe, the denial of citizenship status to Haitians in the Dominican Republic, and so on are connected to our own immigration policies and politics. How can we expand our vision and broaden our struggle?
And while I am sometimes hesitant to critique our own movements, it's important to have conversations around our strategies and tactics. Lately, I've been thinking about how our movements are centered on a politics of visibility, on making our presence in this country known and demanding to be seen and recognized by the state. When we make citizenship status the center of our struggle, when we "come out of the shadows" and out ourselves as undocumented, when we seek inclusion into the U.S. body politic, who are we asking to be seen by? And what is the purpose of that ask? Why do we feel the need to be visible and legible by the state? And what are we giving up when we make those asks?
WHAT DO WE WANT TO SEE IN 2018?
BS: While the past year has been more difficult and traumatic than any I can remember, centering #theresistance around Trump erases the fact that migrants have been organizing for years against the detention, deportation, and violent surveillance of our communities. We've been out here demonstrating and demanding better. I want to see more resources and support for those movements, because it's really frustrating to see people reacting to Trump but ignoring and dismissing the work that's been done for years. I want to see these voices lifted up because we're not silent, voiceless, or invisible
JBS: I've really enjoyed watching how with every horrifying new attack on immigrants, the fight for immigrant justice becomes more widespread. And man, if young organizers aren't using their new platforms to organize the shit out of their communities, and mobilize newcomers to the movement.
Young people give me so much hope even in dark times like these, and I want to see more privileged people turning to young leadership as we move into year two of the Trump presidency.
AMEN. SO REAL QUICK, SUGGESTED READING ON IMMIGRATION?
JBS: Aviva Chomsky's Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal.
BS: Everything from Tina Vasquez, an immigration reporter at Rewire. Also, Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol by Kelly Lytle Hernandez and Jason De León's The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail.
MJ: Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli.
WHAT'S KEEPING US IN THIS FIGHT FOR THE LONG HAUL?
MJ: My parents moved to the US in the 90s for graduate school, and therefore, had access to the types of mobility denied to many other migrants, refugees, and people of color already living in the US. Despite those protections, I witnessed them deal with unjust pain and make sacrifices. My parents faced discrimination in school — and retaliation when they tried addressing it without legal support. They later dealt, as many Muslims immigrants do, with government surveillance; my fear of the cops kept me from reporting my own sexual assault at the time and led me to dropout of high school. Besides the daily violence, there was — and is still — the pain of separation. My parents missed their siblings' weddings, childbirths, and all of the equally important life moments in between. And for what?
The tears they, and we their children, shed when we do get to see our family has always made me wonder if there is ever a generation of immigrant children who don't feel torn between homelands. My parents treat these challenges matter of factly — thinking I imagine — that these were (and will be) simply terms of the deal they had made by entering this country that does not want them. I don't feel this way. Watching them and many other immigrant communities experience isolation, discrimination, fear, and state violence undoubtedly gives me the motivation that drives me today: anger at injustices I cannot accept; gratitude for the educational and status privilege my parents provided for us; and the deep, urgent obligation to use it in support of liberation.
Mahroh is a community organizer and law student who believes in building a world where black and brown women and our communities are able to live free of violence. Prior to law school, Mahroh was the Executive Director of Know Your IX, a national survivor- and youth-led organization empowering students to end gender violence and a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research addresses the ways militarization, racism, and sexual violence impact communities of color transnationally.
Mahroh is currently at Harvard Law School, organizing against state and gender-based violence.
Read more about Mahroh
Mahroh Jahangiri	Mahroh Jahangiri


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This stunning accommodation has everything guests will need for an enjoyable stay, including private balconies from each bedroom and a stone patio with a luxurious private hot tub. Inside, guests will find unlimited entertainment, with a theatre room and a game room, featuring a ping pong table and foosball. There is also Wi-Fi for guests to use in this accommodation. Guests will love the stunning fireplaces, the billiards, and the wet bar featured for their enjoyment. There is also a fitness room and a three-car garage in this accommodation.
This magnificent accommodation is located in Silverthorne, Colorado, and is surrounded by breathtaking views of Ptarmigan Ridge and Williams Fork Range on over two acres of land. Guests will love the peace and serenity that this property boasts while being nearby to incredible destinations. Breckenridge Resort is only 15 miles away from this accommodation, where guests can enjoy world-class skiing and snowboarding in the winter, as well as incredible summer activities. Guests can enjoy both winter and summer fun at Keystone Resort, only 10 miles away, and at Copper Mountain, less than 14 miles away. Frisco Main Street is only a short seven miles away for guests to take a break from the outdoor activities and enjoy a day of shopping in the unique boutiques, attending seasonal festivals, and dine at many wonderful restaurants.
While enjoying this wonderful accommodation, guests will have access to unlimited outdoor adventure for the entire family to enjoy year-round. Guests can relax from the comfort of this extravagant accommodation while enjoying a good book on the balcony overlooking the views or soak in the private hot tub. For fun away from the property, world-class ski resorts are just minutes away, such as Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain, perfect for a day on the slopes with the entire family. In the summer months, guests can enjoy these resorts for zip lining, climbing walls, guided hikes, rope courses, and so much more. For a break from the outdoor activities, guests can visit the quaint local shops on Frisco's Main Street, which hosts many year-round festivals, such as the Colorado BBQ Challenge, the 4th of July Celebration, and more.
After a long day exploring this incredible area, guests will enjoy a wonderful meal at one of the many nearby restaurants, such as Vinny's Euro American Restaurant, Pug Ryan's, and Dillon Dam Brewery.
Check-in is permitted between 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm and check-out is at 10:00 am.


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Q: "Access Is Denied" error when attempting to remote to Exchange server on localhost I am attempting to establish a PowerShell session to run several Exchange commands against an Exchange server on the localhost. I keep getting the following error:
New-PSSession : [<HOSTNAME>] Connecting to remote server <HOSTNAME> failed with the following error message
: Access is denied. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.
At line:1 char:12
+ $session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri 'h ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : OpenError: (System.Manageme....RemoteRunspace:RemoteRunspace) [New-PSSession], PSRemotin
   gTransportException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : AccessDenied,PSSessionOpenFailed

My code is a copy paste from the Microsoft Technet Article. It works against remote machine, but anytime I target the machine I am running from, I get the above error.
What I've tried so far:

*

*Checked the about_remote_troubleshooting help topic. Nothing in there relating to Access Denied errors worked.

*Targeted remote machines using the same credentials as received the Access Denied error. (Connected without issue)

*Verified that my PowerShell session is running as Administrator. (It is)

*Verified that the Exchange Management Shell is able to launch successfully. (It is)

*Tried without credentials to see if that would work. (It didn't)

*Checked net use and net session to make sure I didn't have a weird multiple connections with the same credentials issue. (I didn't see anything to indicate that)

*Tried this both from the script that is causing issues and by typing the commands into a powershell console by hand. (got the same results both ways. Yay for consistency)

*Tried this on multiple systems. (Same result everywhere)

Some quick notes:

*

*This is Exchange 2013 running on Windows Server 2012. It's a basic installation, just a test environment that has very little data and minimal configuration beyond installing and enabling remoting.

*The Credentials used were for the domain admin, which also has the necessary Exchange permissions to do whatever I need to do. I.e, so long as I target a machine that is not the one I am running from, I have no issues whatsoever, with nothing else changing about the way I am connecting. Additionally, this is a test domain where the domain admin's access hasn't been restricted or tweaked in any way, so it should have total and complete access to everything.

The specific commands I am entering are:
$cred = Get-Credential
$session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri 'http://<HOSTNAME>/Powershell' -Credential $cred

Is connecting to the localhost like this something that I should be able to do? Or is it just not supported?
I am at a complete loss at this point. Any help, even to point me in the right direction, would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: I should add, I've attempted connecting to this localhost from a different machine, using the same commands as above, and it worked without issue. So, I don't think it is a local configuration issue.

A: So, I stumbled on the solution late last week. It seems to have something to do with the authentication being used. I had left the "-Authentication" parameter blank, intending to let the New-PSSession command sort out which method would be best.
Apparently, this defaults to the "Negotiate" authentication method, which will select Kerberos against a remote machine, but will select NTLM otherwise (or at least, that was my observed/assumed behavior). See this Microsoft description of the authentication methods.
Specifying a specific Authentication method (Both "Kerberos" and "Basic" worked, "Negotiate" didn't, I didn't tinker too much past this) clears the issue and allowed me to connect to the local exchange instance.
So, rather than this:
$session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri 'http://<HOSTNAME>/Powershell' -Credential $cred

Do this:
$session = New-PSSession -Authentication Kerberos -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri 'http://<HOSTNAME>/Powershell'  -Credential $cred

Why did that work? I have no clue. I'll leave it to people who know more than me to explain it.

A: If you are just trying to create a session on the same computer as your current session omit the URI.
$cred = Get-Credential
$session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -Credential $cred

This will create a new session on the localhost that you can connect to and utilize as needed.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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AOP > Explore > Paths of Profit, not Destruction
Paths of Profit, not Destruction
The Gulf of Guinea, especially onshore and offshore Nigeria and Cameroon, is vulnerable to oil industry disruption. How can government quell unrest and operators keep producing? This article was originally published on www.centurionlawfirm.com.
By C. Derek Campbell, CEO of TransGen Energy, and NJ Ayuk, CEO of Centurion Law Group
Last year, Nigeria took a major economic hit. The country was losing approximately 700,000 barrels of oil per day as militants in the Niger Delta (such as the Niger Delta Avengers) targeted key critical energy infrastructure assets (CEIA) – such as pipelines and oil and gas platforms – both onshore and offshore. The unanticipated loss in oil and gas production was one of the drivers of the country's recession.
Fortunately for Nigeria at present, oil and gas production has begun to stabilize, reigniting investment in its behemoth oil and gas/natural resource sector. This rejuvenation occurred once the Nigerian government launched dialogue and negotiations with the militants, causing a cessation in the attacks against the nation's CEIA. Due to the initial success of these negotiations, Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has continued to engage the militants and is eager to begin development in the Niger Delta region to bring much needed growth and prosperity to the oil and gas producing areas of Nigeria.
It is a lesson Cameroon would do well to take note of, especially as a group of Cameroonian activists announce plans to "target foreign companies investing in Cameroon" causing the government to threaten more crackdowns on any secessionist activities.
What we hope the Cameroonians and others are learning from situations like the ones faced by Nigeria is that stability is absolutely vital to attracting investment and creating stronger African economies. Indeed, the impact of the militancy in the Niger Delta during 2016 and 2017 clearly demonstrated the need to at least understand the complaints of those who felt the necessity to spark rebellions. Once this need was addressed, it also illuminated the power of establishing negotiations with potential threat actors before the problem escalates.
In the case of Cameroon, it is estimated that a growing number of Anglophone people in Cameroon support a secession – mostly those who are English-speaking and living in areas where most of Cameroon's natural resources lie – according to the International Crisis Group. President Paul Biya has earned a reputation for coming down hard on the country's English-speaking minority, with dozens of protestors killed and leaders jailed. Certainly, a crisis is brewing, and it is one that could curtail economic development and cause investors to leave or ignore Cameroon altogether.
In Nigeria's case, the Niger Delta Avengers are eager to see more development of the Niger Delta, and more of the country's oil and gas resources directed toward their communities. Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has made it a point to continue negotiations, even when disagreements arise. In the name of stability, Cameroon would be wise to follow suit.
Financial investment in a country — be it domestic or foreign — can only thrive when stability reigns supreme, and investors can trust that they will earn returns on their investments. Maintaining security in the Gulf of Guinea is vital for the continued economic development of West Africa and must be seen as a key priority for every administration in the region.
Throughout West Africa, the responsible development of natural resources, with the people's interests in mind, will spur the creation of economic diversity and jobs in local communities where CEIAs are located. This approach to natural resource development is one of the best paths to security and stability for many African countries, especially those in the Gulf of Guinea, that enjoy huge resource endowments but great inequality at the same time.
Fair but assertive local content regulations, as established in countries like Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Ghana and Nigeria, help give locals a stake in the development of a country's precious natural resources. Funneling development funds to the regions that produce resources is key, as the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has recognized. His country's efforts to engage with activist groups and establish trust between government and local communities using well proven dispute resolution tools is going a long way to curb acts of violence that cause disruption in the operations of his country's CEIAs.
This is a lesson that other countries in the Gulf of Guinea should focus on to help them mitigate any potential disruption in their efforts to effectively monetize their natural resources.
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Hello, Sometimes the spacers don't download as blank spaces, and instead, I get a red x in a box in my Outlook (a non-downloadable image), or a lightly outlined box in my iPhone Yahoo email. I fed back to your customer service rep. She advised that I give you feedback here too. She was under the assumption that the coding of the spacers is being read by Outlook/Yahoo as an image that can't be downloaded. Can you please fix this? Thank you.
Thanks for reaching out in the Community regarding this issue. We know how important it is to have your email show up like you expect it to.
If you can, please email us at social_support(at)constantcontact(dot)com with your username, the affected campaign name, a screenshot of the issue and a reference to this post and we will do some additional research on this to hopefully prevent the issue from returning in the future for you.
I did notice on your account that you are using the Legacy editor for some of your emails, you may want to consider using our latest editor for all of your campaigns.
Thank you. I sent you an email with screenshots per your request. FWIW, this is a problem with the new editor...the Legacy editor was fine and didn't create these "spacer" issues.
Thank you for giving us this update! We have a received your email with these details. A member of our Support will be reaching out to you directly with any further information.


Are refugees to blame for a rise in anti-Semitism… or are they being scapegoated?
After a summer-like spring in Germany, will it stay hot this summer?
Did Germany illegally arrest murder suspect Ali B. in northern Iraq?
What crimes are committed in Germany and where is criminality most common?


Did you ever say that as a child? Maybe not, but I was one of those geeky kids who loved school and had to be forced to stay home when I was sick. Sometimes, even when under the weather, I would still attempt to go to my classes, only to be sent home later in the day. Awwww.
I haven't changed, and my favorite place of discovery is the Bible. The Word of God is more than a history book like some believe. It is "alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword," (Hebrews 4:12) and teaches us how to live on a daily basis. The Bible contains everything we need to be a survivor in a topsy-turvy world. It is our lifeline—the spiritual food that sustains us. So in today's blog, let's enter God's classroom and do a quick tour of some of the subjects in our heavenly Father's curriculum.
He wants to teach us His ways. I made a lot of mistakes in my younger years when my nose wasn't buried in the Bible. Because I wasn't connected to the Word, I didn't educate myself about God's boundaries and laws, equipping me to live a more righteous life. Knowing what I know now, I'd love to have a do-over, but that's not possible. Instead God's amazing grace covers my sin, and through the knowledge I now possess as a result of daily study, I will be held more accountable. In Psalm 119:11 it says we should hide what we learn from God's Word in our hearts so we won't sin against Him. Psalm 119:66 assures us that studying God's word will give us knowledge and good judgment so that we make the right decisions.
He wants to teach us what to say in difficult situations. Nehemiah provides a great example of this truth. He was the King of Persia's royal cupbearer, yet he had been summoned by fellow Israelites to return home and take a temporary job as superintendent over the building of the wall around Jerusalem. It had been destroyed during the Babylonian siege and subsequent exile. He prayed fervently before asking the king for a leave of absence, because such a request could result in death. He even prayed in the middle of his conversation with the king. (Nehemiah 2:4) The king not only allowed Nehemiah to return home, he also provided extra provisions for the journey. When Jesus was giving instructions to the disciples, he said, "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach at that time what you will say" (Luke 12:12).
He wants to teach us revelatory things. When I start my morning quiet time, I often say, "Lord, show me something I haven't seen before." Jeremiah 3:33 says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Our heavenly Father wants to stretch us and expand our horizon concerning our knowledge of Him. I have received many prophetic words from people and believe prophecy is still alive and well. God will use others or hand us a direct word if we ask him. In seminary I learned that the way you can determine if a prophet is real is if his/her prophecy comes true. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, the Apostle Paul said we should desire the spiritual gift of prophecy.
God is our Teacher. Let's think a little deeper. Who taught the cows to eat grass? Who taught the wild goats to live in the mountains? How do birds know how to make a nest? God is also a teacher of creation. In our case, how do we know to work? God created work. (Psalm 104) Meanwhile, to learn more, His Word contains bountiful treasure if we dig deep daily. If we stay connected to our Father through prayer, the Holy Spirit will provide guidance and revelation that could only come from God. What are you waiting for? It's time to delve into higher education.
As Christians, God's laws are also inscribed on our hearts, but we have to listen for those heavenly warnings when we're about to make a wrong move.


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BiographiesHistoryPublic Service
The Truly Heartbreaking Story of the 5 Sullivan Brothers
After listening to FDR declare war and losing friends to the war effort, all five sons from the Sullivan family from Waterloo, Iowa, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. They really wanted to be a part of the war effort and more importantly they wanted to do it together. The Navy had a policy of separating siblings, but this policy was not always strictly enforced and the 5 brothers were all assigned to the USS Juneau in January of 1942.
Aboard the USS Juneau, all five (Albert, Joseph, Madison, George, and Francis) were killed on Nov 13, 1942 when the Japanese bombed their ship off the Solomon Islands.
1943 military recruitment poster. Via/ Flickr
Due to the classified nature of their mission, the USS Juneau was keeping radio silence even before she was attacked and it was no different once the ship has sustained damages. Additionally, the other ships crew among the convoy presumed because of the quick and violent sinking of USS Juneau that any survivors would have been extremely unlikely and damage reports were delayed.
3 of the Sullivan brothers were killed almost instantly (Francis, Joseph and Madison). The other two (George and Albert) survived the destruction of the ship but died in the water days later. By the time rescuers finally made their way to the scene only about 10 of some 100 hundred initial survivors were still alive.
The ship the Sullivan brothers were stationed on when they lost their lives. Via/ Flickr
Their deaths became headline news and images of them were used in recruitment posters and pamphlets, their ultimate sacrifice on display for the whole world. In strange twist of fate there was another set of brothers on board the ship. Two of the Rogers brothers jumped ship after receiving an offer from the Navy to split them up in October of 1942. The two remaining Rogers brothers died on board the USS Juneau.
The film The Fighting Sullivans was made, with a bit of embellishment, to tell their story in 1944. Albert's widow, Katherine, recalled that she took issue with the actress who played her on screen. Katherine thought she wasn't pretty enough!
Anne Baxter (above) played the part of Katherine in the 1944 film about the brothers. Via/ Wiki Commons
Throwing caution to the wind, their one surviving sister, Genevieve, joined the WAVES the same month they died and she went on to live a full life, her enlistment becoming a news story in itself due to her bravery. Their other sister had died in 1931. Their father, Thomas, never fully recovered from the shock of losing 5 of his children in one felt swoop and was left with only one surviving grandchild and one daughter by the time World War II was over.
Genevieve Sullivan was in the papers after she enlisted in the WAVES. Via/ Flickr
The brothers have been remembered in many forms over the years. Their legacy includes legislation like the Sole Survivor Policy which seeks to limit a family's loss during times of war. A Fletcher-class destroyer ship was named in honor of all five brothers, USS The Sullivans. It is the only naval ship to be named after more than one person and the ship's motto is "We stick together."
Click here to see World War II in rare color photographs!
The Victory Gardens of WWII
Old Receipts That Show What Things Used to Cost
Gold Bar Found Beneath the Streets of Mexico City Part of Montezuma's Treasure
Slang Phrases We Never Hear Anymore at All


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Q: Firebase, file check, before making them public I am building web platform where user can upload photos and videos, I use firebase storage for it, but I come a cross one problem that I cant solve.
I want to manually check all of the files before making them public.
So my first idea was to make to separate folder, and when admin account approve the file, he can move it from /private/img.jpg to /public/img.jpg. But for some reason, firebase storage doesn't have function to move files.
So I come with new idea to use custom metadata, to block to read images that doesn't have metadata visibility set to 'public'. But for me, this solution doesn't seems to be the best... and more you aren't able to block listing file with specific metadata, so even when the file is private, everybody can see that the file exist, and the name, and this is potential risk for me.
So are there anybody, who can help find new solution?
Thank you :)

A: Approach #1:
You can use a Callable Cloud Function that you call from your app and which:

*

*Checks that the user who is calling has the Admin role (use a specific Custom Claim);

*If the user has the correct role, copies the file from the private "folder" to the public one (BTW see this answer on folders) by using the copy() method from the Google Cloud Storage Node.js SDK (which is the SDK to be used in a Cloud Function).

Approach #2:
Another totally different approach would be to take advantage of the new Cloud Storage Security Rules functionality which allows "building flexible permissions to protect access to storage files based on data within Firestore".
With this functionality, you would be able to manage access to the files through Documents in Firestore. For each file in Cloud Storage, create a document in Firestore which has the same name as the file and contains a boolean field named (for example) published. By default, it is false and if the Admin approves the file you change it to true.
The security rule would be along the following lines (untested):
service firebase.storage {
  match /b/{bucket}/o {
    match /.../{fileId} {
      allow read: if
        firestore.get(/databases/(default)/documents/files/$(fileId)).published
    }
  }
}

Don't forget to declare the correct Security Rules for the Firestore collection, in such a way only Admin users can approve files.


text:
As the climate crisis intensifies, so does the crackdown on environmental activism, finds new report
New research brief from the CIVICUS Monitor examines the crackdown of environmental activism and profiles important victories civil society has scored in the fight for climate justice.
Environmental protests are being criminalised and met with repression on all continents
State authorities and private companies are common perpetrators of violations to civic freedoms
Despite the risks and restrictions, activist groups continue to score important victories to advance climate justice.
As world leaders meet in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Negotiations (COP26), peaceful environmental activists are being threatened, silenced and criminalised around the world. The host of this year's meeting is one of many countries where activists are regularly facing rights violations.
New research from the CIVICUS Monitor looks at the common tactics and restrictions being used by governments and private companies to suppress environmental movements. The research brief "Defenders of our planet: Resilience in the face of restrictions" focuses on three worrying trends: Bans and restrictions on protests; Judicial harassment and legal persecution; and the use of violence, including targeted killings.
As the climate crisis intensifies, activists and civil society groups continue to mobilise to hold policymakers and corporate leaders to account. From Brazil to South Africa, activists are putting their lives on the line to protect lands and to halt the activities of high-polluting industries. The most severe rights abuses are often experienced by civil society groups that are standing up to the logging, mining and energy giants who are exploiting natural resources and fueling global warming.
As people take to the streets, governments have been instituting bans that criminalise environmental protests. Recently governments have used COVID-19 as a pretext to disrupt and break up demonstrations. Data from the CIVICUS Monitor indicates that the detention of protesters and the use of excessive force by authorities are becoming more prevalent.
In Cambodia in May 2021, three environmental defenders were sentenced to 18 to 20 months in prison for planning a protest against the filling of a lake in the capital. While in Finland this past June, over 100 activists were arrested for participating in a protest calling for the government to take urgent action on climate change. From authoritarian countries to mature democracies, the research also profiles those who have been put behind bars for peacefully protesting.
"Silencing activists and denying them of their fundamental civic rights is another tactic being used by leaders to evade and delay action on climate change" said Marianna Belalba Barreto, Research Lead for the CIVICUS Monitor. "Criminalising nonviolent protests has become a troubling indicator that governments are not committed to saving the planet ."
The report shows that many of the measures being deployed by governments to restrict rights are not compatible with international law. Examples of courts and legislative bodies reversing attempts to criminalise nonviolent climate protests are few and far between.
Despite the increased risks and restrictions facing environmental campaigners, the report also shows that a wide range of campaigns have scored important victories, including the closure of mines and numerous hazardous construction projects. Equally significant has been the rise of climate litigation by activist groups. Ironically, as authorities take activists to court for exercising their fundamental right to protest, activist groups have successfully filed lawsuits against governments and companies in over 25 countries for failing to act on climate change.
CANADA: 'Indigenous people who are most marginalised experience significant human rights violations.'
CIVICUS speaks about Indigenous people's rights in Canada with Melanie Omeniho, president of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak/Women of the Metis Nation (LFMO).
Founded in 1999 and incorporated in 2010, LFMO is a national representative civil society organisation that advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and specifically for the right to equal treatment, health and wellbeing of women and gender diverse people and sexual minorities of the Metis Nation.
What is the current situation of Indigenous people in Canada?
In our experience at LFMO, Indigenous people who are most marginalised experience significant human rights violations. Indigenous people are trying to survive traumas and do not have the time or resources required to deal with the systemic racism that continues to violate their rights.
For instance, we have heard numerous concerning experiences regarding difficulties to access Canada's victim services scheme. In some provinces, policy dictates that if a person has had any prior engagement with the criminal justice system, even if decades earlier, and this remains on their record, they might not be eligible to receive victim services. This policy severely impacts on and violates the rights of Indigenous victims of crimes, including sexual assault.
At LFMO we are keenly aware of the experience of anti-Indigenous racism. Some of us are attacked based on how we look or talk when we are going about our lives in mainstream society. We are particularly concerned about the lack of willingness to identify physical attacks on Indigenous women as hate crimes.
We encourage change in policy and practice in all facets of the criminal justice system to identify hate crimes against Indigenous people instead of classifying them as regular assaults. To create change and hold offenders properly accountable, we need to ensure that anti-Indigenous racism is recognised as a hate crime.
How is LMFO working to advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada?
LMFO is the national representative body for Métis women across the Métis Nation Motherland. Métis are one of the three recognised Indigenous peoples of Canada, along with First Nations and Inuit. According to the 2016 census, there are nearly 600,000 Canadians who self-identify as Métis.
LMFO advocates for the equality of Métis women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse Métis people across the Métis Nation Homeland – our Métis Motherland. The term 'Two-Spirit' was coined in the 1990s to refer to Indigenous LGBTQI+ people, corresponding to an age-old concept in Indigenous communities that means someone who embodies both a masculine and feminine spirit.
LFMO plays a significant role in enhancing the social, cultural, economic, environmental and leadership space occupied by Métis women and gender minorities. Our overarching mission is to ensure the equal treatment, health and wellbeing of all Métis people, with a focus on Métis women, young people and those who are Two-Spirit and gender diverse.
As part of our strategic plan, we have 10 objectives: advocating for the priorities and needs of women in the Métis Nation, Canada and the world; taking care of the land and waters; guarding the traditional knowledge of Métis women; promoting social justice and equality; creating opportunities for Métis women to develop leadership skills; helping Métis people lead healthier lives and supporting healthy and vibrant communities; ensuring that the perspectives and priorities of Métis women are included in economic development initiatives, and that support is provided for their entrepreneurship; fostering culturally appropriate early learning environments and lifelong learning to improve educational outcomes for Métis children, women and all Métis learners; developing a Métis-specific research strategy to build disaggregated data; and building a strong, successful, inclusive, responsible and transparent organisation.
We are part of a global movement of Indigenous groups around the world who are all collectively fighting and advocating to be seen, heard and recognised. The more we speak up and share our stories and fight to preserve our traditions and cultures, the more likely it is that we will achieve the recognition of our rights and the creation of policies that serve us and protect us.
What should the government do to help advance the rights of Canadian Indigenous peoples?
We hope that in domesticating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the government will implement policies to realise Indigenous rights and Indigenous women will be a part of those conversations. To that effect, LFMO advocates for a gender-based approach and an intersectional lens on policy development and the co-design of legislation.
Civic space in Canada is rated 'open' by theCIVICUS Monitor.
Get in touch with Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak through itswebsite orFacebook andInstagram pages, and follow@LesMichif on Twitter.
CANADA: 'The Pope didn't deliver a clear apology to Indigenous people on behalf of the Catholic Church'
CIVICUS speaks with Virginie Ladisch of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) about the recent apology of Pope Francis to Canadian Indigenous peoples and the legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
ICTJ is a civil society organisation (CSO) working in partnership with victims and survivors to obtain acknowledgment and redress for massive human rights violations, hold those responsible to account, reform and build democratic institutions and prevent the recurrence of violence and repression.
What human rights violations committed against Indigenous people did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reveal?
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada very clearly details the human rights violations and cultural genocide that resulted from the 'Indian residential school' system, which was the focus of the recent apology by Pope Francis.
The Indian residential schools and the abuses that occurred at them are among many other human rights violations suffered by Indigenous people in Canada, which include sexual and gender-based violations against Indigenous women and girls, land dispossession, violation of the right to safe drinking water, disproportionate rates of incarceration, excessive use of force against land rights protesters, discriminatory practices and lack of access to basic services, including healthcare.
How significant is the Pope's apology?
The Pope's apology is a significant first step in the journey to acknowledge and repair past wrongs. In his apology, the Pope acknowledged the assimilationist intent of the residential school system and the harm it caused by systematically marginalising Indigenous people, denigrating and suppressing their languages and cultures, taking young children away from their homes, indelibly affecting their relationship with their parents and grandparents and subjecting them to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse.
The last residential schools closed in the 1990s, so it was important for him to acknowledge the intergenerational harm caused, which persists to this day. However, several survivors noted with disappointment his omission of sexual abuse – rampant in Indian residential schools – which continues to have detrimental impacts on survivors and their families.
While the Pope highlighted the systematic nature of harm perpetrated against Canadian Indigenous people, his apology stopped short of naming the Catholic Church's role as part of a system intended to 'kill the Indian in the child'. He said: 'I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools'.
The Pope's words reflect a personal apology and an apology on behalf of individual Catholics, but not a clear apology on behalf of the Catholic Church as an institution. Since the Pope represents the Catholic Church, it is possible to interpret this personal apology as an apology on behalf of the Church. However, given the deeply embedded systemic nature of the violations committed by the Catholic Church against Indigenous people, it is necessary to clearly acknowledge that the system was at fault and that there was a concerted institutional effort to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children. This was not the work of a few misguided individuals.
There needs to be a concerted effort to unravel the colonialist ideas that underpinned the residential school system and are at the root of persistent racism today.
What next steps should the Catholic Church and the Canadian government take?
ICTJ recognises apologies as an important part of a transitional justice process because of their significant moral and symbolic value. But to be meaningful, they need to be followed by real action and material reparations. The Pope acknowledged this in his apology and noted that 'a serious investigation into the facts' and efforts 'to assist the survivors of the residential schools to experience healing from the traumas they suffered' would be key to prevent such situations happening again. Ultimately, the significance of the Pope's apology will depend on how he leads the Catholic Church in turning those words into action.
In terms of next steps, the Catholic Church and the Government of Canada should follow the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action, which address the lasting harms of residential schools and call on all sectors of society to invest in new and respectful ways of moving forward together. Where more information is needed, for example around missing children and unmarked graves, the Catholic Church should open its archives and undertake a rigorous investigation.
How is ICTJ working to advance the rights of Indigenous people?
ICTJ works side by side with victims and survivors in their quest for justice and helps ensure they have a say in the policies that affect them. We raise awareness about their rights and support efforts to hold perpetrators accountable, uncover the truth about the violations they and their communities suffered and obtain acknowledgment and redress.
We also partner with civil society groups, including women's, youth and minority groups, that have a stake in building a more just, peaceful and democratic society. Together, we press forward the institutional reforms and guarantees necessary to prevent the violations from happening again.
Over the past three decades, transitional justice processes have been recognised as an opportunity to address longstanding historical injustices against Indigenous peoples around the world. Specific processes and institutions associated with transitional justice – such as truth commissions, special prosecutorial bodies, memorialisation and reparations – may be the catalyst for political, social, institutional and cultural changes that contribute to the recognition and materialisation of Indigenous peoples' rights, as we point out in a report we published in 2012.
ICTJ has worked to advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in various countries, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru and the USA. In Canada, it accompanied the Truth and Reconciliation process from before its inception in 2008 to the end of its mandate in 2015.
Recognising the importance of involving young people in Canada's truth and reconciliation process, ICTJ partnered with the Commission to spearhead youth engagement activities. Initiatives included a series of youth retreats in which participants developed the technical and communication skills needed to better engage their peers on Indigenous issues, and a youth-led video project that covered the history of the residential schools and young people's knowledge – or lack of knowledge – of this history and the contemporary situation of Indigenous people in Canada.
As expressed by a high school student from Edmonton who participated in one of ICTJ's events, 'We are the next generation. After 10 years, we are going to be the adults – the lawyers, the prime ministers. We have to know when we are young, and when we are older, we can make sure this doesn't happen'.
Get in touch with ICTJ through itswebsite orFacebook and, and follow@theICTJ on Twitter.
Don't lecture the Americans about our values. Demonstrate them.
By Danny Sriskandarajah and Julia Sanchez
There has never been a better time for Canada to show progressive leadership globally in support of inclusive and open societies that respect human rights. As the government prepares a new budget and a new approach to international assistance, the stage is set for Canada to put its money where its mouth is and support its values, at home and abroad.
Read on: iPolitics
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: 'Canadians stand in solidarity with us and want to see change'
CIVICUS speaks with Teresa Edwards, Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel of the Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF), about reactions to recently evidence of atrocities committed against Canada's Indigenous peoples in the context of the country's longstanding Residential School System, and about civil society efforts to obtain truth, justice and reparations. The LHF is a national Indigenous not-for-profit, charitable organisation that seeks to educate the public, create awareness, foster empathy and inspire action around the issues of inequality, racism and human rights violations committed against Canada's Indigenous Peoples.
What has changed for Indigenous Peoples in Canada since the authorities started to acknowledge the existence of children's graves in residential schools?
As Indigenous Peoples, we have always known about these atrocities happening from Survivors, our families, our communities for generations. We had also raised these issues with the authorities for years with little to no response.
Since the children's remains began to be unearthed in May, and Canadians are realising because of the undeniable, irrefutable DNA evidence being uncovered around the schools, we have had an outpouring of support that we could have never imagined. We have been contacted by individuals, families, foundations, elementary and high school students, teachers' unions and many other unions, small, medium and large businesses, policing and correctional officers, parishioners, and the list goes on – all asking what they can do to help, or contribute to Reconciliation in some way.
The staff of the Legacy of Hope Foundation have been working tirelessly since May to deliver on our usual projects, exhibitions and curriculum while responding to the thousands of inquiries we receive each day, and it has not let up. We have hired more staff and casual workers so that we can try to ensure that we don't miss an opportunity to produce more educational resources, exhibitions, curricula, workshops and other opportunities to engage with the public. It has been incredibly encouraging to see that Canadians have so much heart now that they are learning about Canada's real history!
What actions have Indigenous civil society groups taken to raise the profile of issues of abuse and exclusion, including around Canada Day and in the election campaign?
Indigenous groups have tried to raise awareness for decades about the many injustices impacting on all of our Nations, as well as about the particular issues for each territory, with very little uptake by most mainstream media or governments. When the stories about the children's remains hit social media and smaller media outlets, the larger media outlets then began to cover more about what has been happening. With each new uncovering at a new location at a residential school, more and more Canadians began to ask questions, seek answers and reach out to Indigenous Peoples across Canada. With the pressure mounting, Canadians have looked to the government to respond.
On 1 July, hundreds of thousands of Canadian allies walked with Indigenous Peoples across Canada for a day of reflection, sending the government the message that Canadians stand in solidarity with us and want to see change.
As for the election campaign, we are not a political organisation, but I can say that we did see Indigenous rights considered by some parties more than others. Regardless of who is in power, we are always willing and wanting to work with them toward Reconciliation efforts.
What difference have recent acts of recognition and apology – such as theapology by the Catholic bishops and the observance of theNational Day for Truth and Reconciliation in September – made, and what further steps are still needed?
We are encouraged by the Catholic bishops' apology and commitment to raising funds for Survivors resources and the organisations that serve them. However, we look forward to having the Pope come to Canada to apologise as well and committing to actions to support Reconciliation efforts too.
What are the key challenges that Indigenous Peoples encounter in Canada and what are the barriers to realising Indigenous Peoples' rights?
There are several, and they vary from coast to coast, but there are many basic human rights that need to be addressed: access to clean running water in every Indigenous community within a country as wealthy as Canada, the need for equitable funding for education for Indigenous children, the need for equitable funding for medical services for Indigenous Peoples, being able to live free from violence or worry of being killed just because you are Indigenous, being able to exercise treaty rights, addressing high rates of poverty and access to economic development are only a few.
We have had seven generations of discrimination and injustice. It is my hope that working with Canadians we can improve things for the next seven generations so when our ancestors look back at what actions we took in our lifetime, they will see that we were working together to create a brighter future.
What actions are needed to advance Indigenous Peoples' rights, and what support is needed to enable those actions?
Having Indigenous history taught in all schools from kindergarten to grade 12 in an age-appropriate way, as we do for all the other atrocities that have happened throughout history, would be a concrete way to influence the future generations who will be our teachers, doctors, politicians, judges and decision-makers, because that would have a significant impact on how Indigenous Peoples are treated going forward. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission already outlined very clearly 94 Calls to Action that would significantly advance Indigenous Peoples' rights. Now we just need to continue to implement them.
Get in touch with the Legacy of Hope Foundation through itswebsite orFacebook page, and follow@legacyhopefound on Twitter.
Les tensions du multiculturalisme au Canada et les limites du modèle interculturel du Québec
Par Victor Armony, professeur de sociologie et codirecteur de l'Observatoire des diasporas du Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la diversité et la démocratie, Université du Québec à Montréal
PEUPLES AUTOCHTONES : « Les Canadiens sont solidaires avec nous et veulent voir des changements »
CIVICUS s'entretient avec Teresa Edwards, directrice exécutive et conseillère juridique de la Fondation Legacy of Hope (LHF), sur les réactions aux preuves récentes d'atrocités commises à l'encontre des peuples autochtones du Canada dans le cadre du système des pensionnats du pays, et sur les efforts de la société civile pour obtenir vérité, justice et réparations. La LHF est une organisation caritative autochtone nationale à but non lucratif qui cherche à éduquer le public, à sensibiliser, à favoriser l'empathie et à inspirer l'action autour des questions d'inégalité, de racisme et de violations des droits humains commises contre les peuples autochtones du Canada.
Qu'est-ce qui a changé pour les peuples autochtones du Canada depuis que les autorités ont commencé à reconnaître l'existence des tombes d'enfants dans les pensionnats ?
En tant que peuples autochtones, nous avons toujours été informés de ces atrocités par les survivants, nos familles et nos communautés depuis des générations. Nous avons également soulevé ces questions auprès des autorités pendant des années, sans réponse ou presque.
Depuis que les restes des enfants ont commencé à être déterrés en mai, et que les Canadiens s'en rendent compte grâce aux preuves ADN indéniables et irréfutables découvertes autour des écoles, nous avons reçu une vague de soutien que nous n'aurions jamais pu imaginer. Nous avons été contactés par des particuliers, des familles, des fondations, des élèves d'écoles primaires et secondaires, des syndicats d'enseignants et de nombreux autres syndicats, des petites, moyennes et grandes entreprises, des agents de police et des agents correctionnels, des paroissiens, et la liste est encore longue - tous demandant ce qu'ils pouvaient faire pour aider ou contribuer à la réconciliation d'une manière ou d'une autre.
Le personnel de la Fondation Legacy of Hope travaille sans relâche depuis le mois de mai pour mener à bien nos projets, expositions et programmes habituels, tout en répondant aux milliers de demandes de renseignements que nous recevons chaque jour, et cela ne s'est pas arrêté. Nous avons embauché davantage de personnel et de travailleurs occasionnels afin de nous assurer que nous ne manquons pas une occasion de produire davantage de ressources éducatives, d'expositions, de programmes d'études, d'ateliers et d'autres opportunités d'engagement avec le public. C'est incroyablement encourageant de voir que les Canadiens ont tellement de cœur en prenant connaissance de la véritable histoire du Canada !
Quelles actions les groupes de la société civile autochtone ont-ils entreprises pour mettre en avant les problèmes d'abus et d'exclusion, notamment à l'occasion de la fête du Canada et de la campagne électorale ?
Depuis des décennies, les groupes autochtones tentent de sensibiliser l'opinion publique aux nombreuses injustices qui touchent l'ensemble de nos nations, ainsi qu'aux problèmes particuliers de chaque territoire, mais la plupart des médias grand public et des gouvernements ne s'y intéressent guère. Lorsque les histoires concernant les dépouilles des enfants ont fait le tour des médias sociaux et des petits médias, les grands médias ont commencé à couvrir davantage ce qui s'était passé. À chaque nouvelle découverte d'un nouveau lieu dans un pensionnat, de plus en plus de Canadiens ont commencé à poser des questions, à chercher des réponses et à tendre la main aux peuples autochtones du Canada. Face à la pression croissante, les Canadiens se sont tournés vers le gouvernement pour qu'il réagisse.
Le 1er juillet, des centaines de milliers d'alliés canadiens ont marché avec les peuples autochtones à travers le Canada pour une journée de réflexion, envoyant au gouvernement le message que les Canadiens sont solidaires avec nous et veulent voir un changement.
En ce qui concerne la campagne électorale, nous ne sommes pas une organisation politique, mais je peux dire que nous avons vu les droits des autochtones pris en compte par certains partis plus que par d'autres. Quel que soit le parti au pouvoir, nous sommes toujours prêts et désireux de travailler avec lui concernant les efforts de réconciliation.
Quelle différence les récents actes de reconnaissance et d'excuses - tels que lesexcuses des évêques catholiques et la célébration de laJournée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation en septembre – ont-ils produit, et quelles mesures supplémentaires sont encore nécessaires ?
Nous sommes encouragés par les excuses des évêques catholiques et leur engagement à collecter des fonds pour les ressources des survivants et des organisations qui les servent. Cependant, nous attendons avec impatience que le Pape vienne au Canada pour s'excuser également et s'engager à soutenir les efforts de réconciliation.
Quels sont les principaux défis auxquels les peuples autochtones sont confrontés au Canada, et quels sont les obstacles à la réalisation des droits des peuples autochtones ?
Il y en a plusieurs, et ils varient d'un océan à l'autre, mais de nombreux droits humains fondamentaux doivent être respectés : l'accès à l'eau potable dans toutes les communautés autochtones d'un pays aussi riche que le Canada, la nécessité d'un financement équitable de l'éducation des enfants autochtones, la nécessité d'un financement équitable des services médicaux pour les peuples autochtones, la possibilité de vivre sans violence ou sans crainte d'être tué simplement parce que vous êtes autochtone, la possibilité d'exercer les droits issus de traités, la lutte contre les taux élevés de pauvreté et l'accès au développement économique, pour n'en citer que quelques-uns.
Nous avons connu sept générations de discrimination et d'injustice. J'espère qu'en travaillant avec les Canadiens, nous pourrons améliorer les choses pour les sept prochaines générations. Ainsi, lorsque nos descendants se pencheront sur les mesures que nous avons prises de notre vivant, ils verront que nous avons travaillé ensemble pour créer un avenir meilleur.
Quelles actions sont nécessaires pour faire progresser les droits des peuples autochtones, et quel soutien est nécessaire pour permettre ces actions ?
L'enseignement de l'histoire des peuples autochtones dans toutes les écoles, de la maternelle à la douzième année, d'une manière adaptée à l'âge des élèves, comme nous le faisons pour toutes les autres atrocités commises au cours de l'histoire, serait un moyen concret d'influencer les générations futures qui seront nos enseignants, nos médecins, nos politiciens, nos juges et nos décideurs, car cela aurait un impact considérable sur la manière dont les peuples autochtones seront traités à l'avenir. La Commission Vérité et Réconciliation a déjà présenté très clairement 94 appels à l'actionqui permettraient de faire progresser de manière significative les droits des peuples autochtones. Il ne nous reste plus qu'à continuer à les mettre en œuvre.
Prenez contact avec la Fondation Legacy of Hope sur sonsite web ou sa pageFacebook, et suivez@legacyhopefound sur Twitter.


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NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards
in Technology News
NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The reactor is a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilize high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.
Illustration of a conceptual spacecraft enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion. Image credit: NASA
The contracts, to be awarded through the DOE's Idaho National Laboratory (INL), are each valued at approximately $5 million. They fund the development of various design strategies for the specified performance requirements that could aid in deep space exploration.
Nuclear propulsion provides greater propellant efficiency as compared with chemical rockets. It's a potential technology for crew and cargo missions to Mars and science missions to the outer solar system, enabling faster and more robust missions in many cases.
"By working together, across government and with industry, the United States is advancing space nuclear propulsion," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. "These design contracts are an important step towards tangible reactor hardware that could one day propel new missions and exciting discoveries."
Battelle Energy Alliance, the managing and operating contractor for INL, led the request for proposals, evaluation, and procurement sponsored by NASA using fiscal year 2021 appropriations. INL will award 12-month contracts to the following companies to each produce a conceptual reactor design that could support future mission needs:
BWX Technologies, Inc. of Lynchburg, Virginia – The company will partner with Lockheed Martin.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems of San Diego – The company will partner with X-energy LLC and Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies of Seattle – The company will partner with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, Blue Origin, General Electric Hitachi Nuclear Energy, General Electric Research, Framatome, and Materion.
"INL is excited to enable the development of nuclear propulsion technology for potential use by NASA in future space exploration," said Dr. Stephen Johnson, national technical director for space nuclear power and director of the Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division at INL. "Our national laboratories, working in partnership with industry, bring unparalleled expertise and capabilities to assist NASA in solving highly complex challenges that come with nuclear power and propulsion."
At the end of the contracts' performance periods, INL will conduct design reviews of the reactor concepts and provide recommendations to NASA. NASA will utilize the information to establish the basis for future technology design and development efforts.
NASA is also maturing a fission surface power system for use on the Moon and Mars. NASA intends to partner with the DOE and INL to release a request for proposals that asks industry for preliminary designs of a 10-kilowatt class system that NASA could demonstrate on the lunar surface. Maturing fission surface power can also help inform nuclear electric propulsion systems, another candidate propulsion technology for distant destinations.
NASA's space nuclear technologies portfolio is led and funded by its Space Technology Mission Directorate. The agency's Technology Demonstration Missions program manages the projects to mature affordable, reliable technologies and demonstrate system capabilities to meet power and propulsion needs for future deep space exploration. The program is based at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.
North Korea Stole Record Amount of Crypto Assets in 2022, UN Report Unveils – Bitcoin News
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Armata Festival 2016
3 to 11 September 2016
Undoubtedly, Armata Festival is one of the most popular festivals of Greece that takes place on the second weekend of September on an annual basis celebrating Panagia Armata (Virgin Armed) and commemorating Spetses' great Naval Battle of 1822. Spetses is one of the nine European cities participating in the European Network of Historical Reconstructions. Thousands of people visit Spetses every year to experience this magnificent spectacle that leaves everyone spellbound and touched from the Greek spirit of self-sacrifice. The festival of Armata is a once in a lifetime experience, full of emotions and extravagant events, you deserve to live for once.
The Armata Festival, which this year will be held from 3 to 11 September, has its heart, as always, the burning of the Turkish Flagship replica in the re-enactment of the Naval Battle of Spetses, which took place on 8th September 1822. The revival of this historical event is the top of the climax of a weekly celebration with a multitude of cultural festivities including traditional dances, theater performances, concerts, art exhibitions and various events honoring Laskarina Bouboulina, the legendary heroine of the Greek Revolution. Furthermore, a special celebration takes place at the chapel of Panagia Armata at Palio Limani. During the re-enactment in the island's port, there will be a narration of the historic events of that day with the atmosphere filled with emotion and wonder!
During the second year of the Greek War of Independence of 1821, the Turkish forces started drawing up plans to conquer Spetses, which was considered to be the «heart» of the Greek fight. Besides, the participation of the Spetsiots' ships to the blockade of the nearby city of Nauplia prevented the Turkish forces from supplying the city. Their fleet was important counting 87 ships. The Spetsiots, having been informed about the intentions of the Turkish fleet, started taking measures to protect the island. They came in contact with the inhabitants of the nearby island of Hydra and they decided to face the enemy fleet with joint forces. The Spetsiots moved the civilians away from the island and they organized gun emplacements. The most important was the one set between the Lighthouse and the Virgin Mary's of Armata Church. Sixty Spetsiots staffed the gun emplacement and Hatzigiannis Mexis was put in command. A day before the great naval battle, the Spetsiot admiral Giorgos Androutsos called all the commanders of the Greek fleet to a martial council which took place on the flagship of Andreas Miaoulis.
According to the plan, the Greek fleet, consisting of 57 boats – 29 from Hydra, 28 from Spetses and 12 fireboats – was to be separated into two divisions. The strongest would sail for the islet of Dokos, in an attempt to mislead the Turks. The rest of the forces would gather in the straits of Spetses, in order to detain the enemy fleet. On the morning of September 8th, the Turkish ships began reaching Spetses. Mehmet Pasha located the division of the Greek fleet sailing for Dokos and sent several of his ships to chase it. He directed the rest of his forces to the island of Spetses, expecting that the large number and the size of his ships would scare so much the Spetsiots that they would surrender. However, Mehmet Pasha underestimated the Spetsiots' courage. As his fleet reached the island, Hatzigiannis Mexis and his men started firing. Afterwards, the Spetsiots commanders I. Koutsis, I. Tsoupas, D. Labrou, A. Lebesis and the commander from Hydra A. Panagiotas attacked the enemy. Soon after, the admiral Andreas Miaoulis ordered the return of the division of the Greek fleet that was heading for Dokos, and the attack against the Turkish fleet. The opposing forces fired over 3000 cannonballs against each other. As the naval battle was in progress, two Greek fire ships – Andreas Pipinos from Hydra and Kosmas Barbatsis from Spetses – came to the field. Andreas Pipinos attached his fire ship to a Turkish corvette, but the crew managed to detach it, with great losses. Kosmas Babatsis was luckier.
He attached his boat to the Turkish flagship and, although the Turks managed to save their ship in the end, the damages were irremediable with numerous dead and injured men. The intervention of the fire ships scared the Turks away. The Ottoman admiral realized that the Greeks' defense would not let him implement his plans. Under the fear of more attacks from fire ship, the Turkish fleet left the naval battle. The major victory of the Spetsiot naval forces against the Ottoman fleet during the Greek War of Independence of 1821 was accomplished because of the brave act of Spetsiot Captain Kosmas Barbatsis who set the Turkish flagship on fire and blow it up.
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