International News Events: Asked and Answered...

[BourbonRose]

They also accept donations of money. I gave after reading the Packer article and seeing they'd arranged tickets for a family trying to get out. I don't know anything else about the organization.

[spork]

No one is getting into the USA without a visa or special parolee status, except for those who were already greenlit for emergency evacuation a few days ago. U.S. consular operations in Afghanistan don't exist anymore. Refugees will come from camps outside of Afghanistan, and that won't start happening for a while because the bureaucratic gears grind slowly.

There are plenty of well-established organizations that have a long history of refugee aid and resettlement, such as CRS, IRC, and HIAS. Sending cash to someone running a website that you've never heard of is usually a dumb idea.

[mamselle]

No one is getting into the USA without a visa or special parolee status, except for those who were already greenlit for emergency evacuation a few days ago. U.S. consular operations in Afghanistan don't exist anymore. Refugees will come from camps outside of Afghanistan, and that won't start happening for a while because the bureaucratic gears grind slowly.

There are plenty of well-established organizations that have a long history of refugee aid and resettlement, such as CRS, IRC, and HIAS. Sending cash to someone running a website that you've never heard of is usually a dumb idea.

Agreed...I was exploring whether my AA and Delta travel miles might be transferable and useful to people in dire situations. I'm guessing they (AA and Delta) have ways to vet the organizations in question, yes?

M.

[BourbonRose]

You can look them up on GuideStar. Or you can decide to trust journalists at The Atlantic, NYT, and WaPo, as I did.

[hmaria1609]

There are Afghans are their way here to the metro DC area:
https://wtop.com/local/2021/08/how-you-can-help-afghans-settling-here-in-the-d-c-area/
Includes a link to Lutheran Social Service's DC chapter if you'd like to donate.
From WTOP Radio online (8/17/21)

[mamselle]

The Canary Islands have a volcano brewing.

Lead-up here:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBKVeMwjP-Q

Eruption here (live streaming now):

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOw8OQOHtkM

M.

[mamselle]

The Canary Islands have a volcano brewing.

Lead-up here:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBKVeMwjP-Q

Eruption here (live streaming now):

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOw8OQOHtkM

M.

Mt. Etna has also erupted. I wondered if it were a coincidence, but it appears that possibly it's not.

One poster on a news channel noted:

"The African Plate is putting up pressure up north against Europe - meaning La Palma and Etna could be the result of the same movement - if the hot springs on Kos Island go off as well, we know something big is going on! (that would be on the same line...)"

Do we have any geologists left on the fora? (There used to be some, I think, not sure if they're still posting...)

Just curious why there hasn't been an discussion of this, with graphic maps, etc., online.

It would seem just a bit significant....or maybe not?

Just curious.

M.

[mamselle]

Besides missing the geologists (did the geoscience decline wipe them all out?--interthreaduality), we don't have many French-based folks here as far as I can tell. 

But this came through on my Figaro feed this AM (sorry, I don't seem to be able to embed it, I did try!):

   https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/eh-le-coran-poussez-vous-madame-une-enseignante-de-seine-et-marne-projetee-a-terre-par-un-eleve-20211010?utm_source=CRM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20211012_Audience_Actu_&utm_content=nm&een=6403d0036934722637f059ed3897e038&seen=2&m_i=lq4Etx7Efz9oqB225ybRZ4K2GoXDUE7g6BrjdeFq%2BeWw6%2B9PCYJP1WaMa9GPRXosZrxonCknHdq9as0UkgfLMX8kpPTJ9vNxzC

....and it struck me that, in addition to the issues discussed here with regard to a general decline in literacy and comprehension of instructional directions, students here as well as there may be dealing with a kind of PTSD-induced sense of unreality that makes the kinds of orderly behaviours such rules rely on seem unrealistic or impossible to imagine--so, a kind of cognitive discontinuity, perhaps.

I'm surprised to see it occurred in Melun, which I've visited a few times, to use the library, eat dinner, and wander around before catching the train to Sens. Schools in any given town can be quiet or active without pattern or warning, and the Charli-Hebdo issues were recently exacerbated so there could be a back-story to this we don't see or hear about as well.

-=-=-=-=-

Re; the Canary/La Palma volcano, it has opened more vents and at least one (by today, possibly two) streams of lava have reached the Atlantic Ocean, where they're merrily churning out toxic sulfur dioxide gases and adding what will become a rich delta of soil for growing more bananas, someday:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANyb-w7KFqk

it's also pulling in more tourists, since it affects only the southwest quadrant of the island. 

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzni_wFwEAE

And this fellow remains my favorite for his in-person commentaries:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_wvg5Ej7U

Of course, Iceland and Hawaii are also seeing eruptions, but they appear to be slower and steadier at present.

Just FYI...for those who want something else to think about for a bit....

M.

[mamselle]

Updates for anyone interested in the continuing eruption of the La Palma volcano (day 49):

Good, balanced scientific reporting:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ-SrxpXF1c

Good, balanced human interest reporting:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueAekByfB_8

Just FYI.

M.

[Anselm]

Iceland's tourist boom has been credited to the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.  It was a short event but the news generated interest in the island.   Now, people are going there to witness the slow eruption of the current active volcano.

[mamselle]

Iceland's tourist boom has been credited to the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.  It was a short event but the news generated interest in the island.   Now, people are going there to witness the slow eruption of the current active volcano.

Yes, I watched a bit of footage on that awhile ago; I think the New Yorker also had an article on it.

There's activity on one of the Hawai'ian islands, and with Mt. Etna, as well...

M.

[mamselle]

Two hours ago, US citizens were urged to leave Ukraine via commercial or private transportation:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plb_h0a-vgk

No evacuation is currently advised, but coordinated planning is strongly requested.

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

With everyone's focus exclusively on Ukraine, Kazakhstan's dropped out of the news entirely. What's going on with Russia there?

[mamselle]

Good question.

Also suggests the possibility of gaslighting, doesn't it?

Not that Putin would ever consider anything like that...

M.

[Anselm]

Is anyone else a little bit concerned that the USA might be angering the only nation that can destroy us in 30 minutes?  Don't we have things here at home to worry about?