Martin Goodey did very well to get a shot of the MARSH WARBLER singing by the Sussex Hide, Porth Hellick
In the last week the birds that I've seen of note included, Siskin at Innisidgen, the singing male LesserRedpoll at Porth Hellick, 2 Swift in the last few days and a single Little Egret over Maypole.
Overnight, Martin also trapped this Privet Hawkmoth with a Popular Hawkmoth in his garden at Holy Vale
Well England did the job this evening, just, but we did it. I've never been so tightly hugged and close to Higgo before when the boys scored and I don't want to experience it again.
From The Streets 2008 Album - Everything is Borrowed 'Love You More'
There are less than 10 records of SMALL SERAPHIM on Scilly. This one was trapped by Bob Dawson at Higher Moors on the 10th June and it was shown to me the following day in a pot.
Yesterday afternoon, Bob Dawson also observed the first WILSON'S PETREL of the year with Joe Pender on the Sapphire. Later on a different pelagic, Higgo got 2 Pomarine Skua. Joe Pender http://wwwsapphirepelagics.blogspot.co.uk/
Record shots of the adult WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN at Abbey Pool, Tresco, 18th May. Only the 4th Scilly record Mike Glover
July 12, 2004 was a very special night at the Montreux Festival for any blues fan. With Carlos Santana as musical director (and special guest guitarist), three musical legends took to the stage, each one delivering a full concert set packed with some of the finest blues guitar playing youll ever hear. Bobby Parker, Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Buddy Guy are all headline acts in their own right so it was a real coup to get them on one line-up. Throw in the guest appearances by Carlos Santana and Chic maestro Nile Rodgers and blues heaven is complete
A call from Higgo to tell me that Jim had just trapped a male RED-BACKED SHRIKE, was timed near perfect as I had a window from work during a very busy day. And what a bird it was! It was good to see it so close in the hand, but I still would of liked to observed it in the field. When it was released, Ritchie relocated it briefly nearby in the Sallows behind the pool. Later a Hobby flew over work and 4 days ago, 6th June, I observed a SERIN trying to land in the moat area of Star Castle, but there were too many people around for it to settle down and it flew off low, ESE, towards town. same day Will's group had a GOLDEN ORIOLE at Lower Moors.
Taken by Robin Mawer
And this is what a shrike does to you when you mess around with them
This Herring Gull was getting stuck into a dead Brown Rat.
Looking from Innisidgen towards Tresco
'God Save the Queen' The fascist regime, she ain't no human being. Another one for the jubilee celebrations.
Activists protest former President Bush's visit to
Canada
In an opinion piece published by the Washington Post last Friday by former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen asked why Amnesty International had not called for the arrest of President Obama for war crimes and claimed that a double standard is at work.
That is not the case.
Amnesty International called for President George W. Bush to be investigated for authorizing the use of torture on detainees in US custody. Torture is recognized as an international crime and states have an obligation to investigate individuals credibly accused of ordering its use who come within their jurisdiction.
It’s that simple.
President Obama, to his credit, outlawed the use of so-called Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, such as waterboarding and wall slamming, when he came into office. That is a significant difference between the two administrations.
While we are on the subject, Thiessen also tries to perpetuate the tired old falsehood that the use of coercive interrogation helped locate Osama bin Laden. In fact, we now know that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was able to lie about the identity of bin Laden’s courier even while being waterboarded.
That said, Thiessen is absolutely correct to observe that President Obama has continued many of the same policies first implemented by President Bush. Indefinite detention continues. Military Commissions are still operating in Guantanamo albeit with some minor adjustments.
Thiessen also states that rendition continues, although his phrasing is deliberately opaque. It would appear that here Thiessen is referring to rendition to justice as in the Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame case, rather than rendition to torture in the case of Maher Arar.
Thiessen implies that the extensive use of drones (he credits President Bush for escalating their use and President Obama for merely continuing strikes at the same operational tempo) should be a matter of grave concern for Amnesty International and, of course, he is absolutely right. It is and we have formally communicated that concern to the White House
Pakistani tribesmen carry the coffin of a person allegedly killed in a US drone attack. There have been more than 300 civilian casualties of drone strikes in Pakistan, including at least 60 children. (Photo by Thir Khan/AFP/Getty Images)
Thiessen is also absolutely right to note that despite President Obama’s stated commitment to transparency and his decision to release secret Bush-era interrogation memos, he has so far refused to make his own secret drone memos public.
This is indeed hypocritical. Like the use of torture, the use of drones is not likely to stand up well to public scrutiny. The President knows this all too well, hence the secrecy. The facts are probably not very palatable.
We know that the White House appears to be operating to a standard that regards any military age male in its designated (but undisclosed) area of operations as a legitimate military target, absent any intelligence demonstrating their non-combatant status.
This, in an environment where the majority of such men are likely to be neither members of the Taliban nor Al Qaeda, is unconscionable.
We also know that White House appears to be in a state of denial about the accuracy of US drone strikes.
The Obama administration continues to promote a narrative of near papal infallibility even though credible reporters have identified more than 300 civilian casualties of drone strikes in Pakistan by name, including more than sixty children, and despite the fact that, by the Obama administration’s own admission, three of the four US citizens killed in US drone strikes in Yemen to date were killed by accident.
As things stand the drones program is seen by many Americans as a success story. For the most part that’s because they don’t know that much about it. The Obama administration wants to keep it that way. As far as they are concerned, the less we all know, the better. It’s the new ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.
But does the drone program amount to a war crime as Marc Thiessen suggests? That is a complicated question to answer. Unlike the use of torture, there are circumstances in international law and under the laws of war in which the use of lethal force can be lawful. Much depends on where, how and with what intent such force is used.
We do not, as yet, have sufficient evidence to make a determination regarding the legality of the US drones program. It has been conducted in secret and in places where it is very difficult to mount an effective investigation.
However, we are doing our best to monitor the situation and to raise concerns about drone use.
We will continue to bear witness and Mr. Thiessen can rest assured that Amnesty international will hold President Obama to precisely the same international legal standards as it does President Bush, or indeed any other actor on the world stage.
Waterboarding was used regularly during the Bush administration
About Tom Parker
Tom Parker is the Policy Director for Terrorism, Counter terrorism and Human Rights at Amnesty International USA
From Bush himself, to Vice President Dick Cheney, to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other top-ranking former administration officials, those who ordered and planned torture and war crimes must be held accountable
The abuses committed as a result of the torture program are serious, and the publicly available evidence of senior involvement is considerable and still mounting. It is important to remember, however, that the full story has yet to be told. The government continues to suppress countless, important documents revealing even more about the genesis of the torture program. Uncovering the full extent of the program is paramount now as we, as a nation, move beyond the troubling past and reformulate interrogation policies for a more hopeful future
John Trudell introduces Kris Kristofferson and his band, The Borderlords, singing 'Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down' He wrote this song in the '80's on the album, 'Third World Warrior' and with other powerful anti-American songs, he was kicked off his record label. Unfortunately, he's still singing this song to this day in his concerts.
Looking from Porthloo towards Samson on the right and Star Castle on the left Robin Mawer
It's been pretty quiet over the last few days. However, while playing football at Carn Gwarvel last week, 30th May, an OSPREY flew low overhead, NE, being pushed on by 2 Herring Gull. Also on the 30th, on St Martins, Bob Dawson found a SHORT-TOED LARK next to the Daymark and 2 GOLDEN ORIOLE nearby in the gorse.
Below are some stunning sunset and other images taken in the last week around St Mary's
Taken by Ildiko Solymosi
Taken by Robin Mawer
Taken by Robin Mawer
And this evening from Porthloo
'The Queen is Dead' The Smiths. David Cameron said that this is one of his favourites songs! But like everything that comes out of his mouth, I don't believe him.
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