Geen evolutie en ecolutie zonder revolutie!

Albert Einstein:

Twee dingen zijn oneindig: het universum en de menselijke domheid. Maar van het universum ben ik niet zeker.

zaterdag 24 maart 2018

VS gebruikt sociale media om 'fake comment' te verspreiden en de bevolking te hersenspoelen met leugens, ofwel 'fake news....'

De algehele hysterie over 'fake news' (of: 'nepnieuws') is compleet en al dik meer dan een jaar gaande, waarbij de sociale media werden aangewezen als de verspreiders, terwijl de echte makers en verspreiders van nepnieuws juist de reguliere media zijn, zie de berichtgeving voorafgaand aan de illegale oorlogen tegen Afghanistan, Irak, Libië en Syrië, plus de berichtgeving over Oekraïne (en ga nog maar een tijd door.......)

Nu is er nieuws opgedoken over de VS overheid (en het leger) die al actief negatief nieuws over de overheid en bijvoorbeeld het leger te lijf gaan met een fiks aantal verzonnen personen, die meerdere identiteiten hebben op het internet, personages die het echte nieuws onderuit moeten halen. Het leger van de VS heeft al een klein legertje aan personen samengesteld om hun werk te doen. Overigens heeft Israël al eerder aangekondigd kritiek en negatief nieuws op/over deze fascistische apartheidsstaat aan te zullen vallen met een 'snelle reactiemacht.....'* 

Overigens dient opgemerkt te worden dat de VS en Israël nog iets verder gaan dan alleen kritiek aan te vallen, daar ze actief nepnieuws zullen verspreiden die bijvoorbeeld de uitgeoefende staatsterreur (in binnen en buitenland) moeten rechtvaardigen...... 

Topmilitairen van de VS zien in deze vorm van volksverlakkerij een belangrijk wapen om de bevolking te beïnvloeden, bijvoorbeeld (weer) met het schoonpraten van de grootschalige terreur die dit leger op meerdere plaatsen in de wereld uitoefent.......

Lees de volgende stap in het vervolmaken van de Big Brother staat zoals door George Orwell beschreven, alleen gaat de werkelijkheid  straks nog veel verder dan hij ooit had kunnen dromen.......
(door de immense technologische vooruitgang nadat zijn boek 1984 in 1949 werd gepubliceerd)

What the Media Isn’t Telling You About Social Media

March 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm
Written by Corbett Report

(CORBETT) — Now openly admitted, governments and militaries around the world employ armies of keyboard warriors to spread propaganda and disrupt their online opposition. Their goal? To shape public discourse around global events in a way favourable to their standing military and geopolitical objectives. Their method? The weaponization of social media.



TRANSCRIPT:

It didn’t take long from the birth of the world wide web for the public to start using this new medium to transmit, collect and analyze information in ways never before imagined. The first message boards and clunky “Web 1.0” websites soon gave way to “the blogosphere.” The arrival of social media was the next step in this evolution, allowing for the formation of communities of interest to share information in real time about events happening anywhere on the globe.

But as quickly as communities began to form around these new platforms, governments and militaries were even quicker in recognizing the potential to use this new medium to more effectively spread their own propaganda.

Their goal? To shape public discourse around global events in a way favourable to their standing military and geopolitical objectives.

Their method? The Weaponization of Social Media.


Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Snapchat. Instagram. Reddit. “Social media” as we know it today barely existed fifteen years ago. Although it provides new ways to interact with people and information from all across the planet virtually instantaneously and virtually for free, we are only now beginning to understand the depths of the problems associated with these new platforms. More and more of the original developers of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter admit they no longer use social media themselves and actively keep it away from their children, and now they are finally admitting the reason why: social media was designed specifically to take advantage of your psychological weaknesses and keep you addicted to your screen.
SEAN PARKER: If the thought process that went into building these applications—Facebook being the first of them to really understand it—that thought process was all about “How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?” And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever, and that’s gonna get you to contribute more content and that’s gonna get you more likes and comments. So it’s a social validation feedback loop. I mean it’s exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. And I think that we—the inventors/creators, you know, it’s me, it’s Mark, it’s Kevin Systrom at Instagram, it’s all of these people—understood this consciously and we did it anyway.

It should be no surprise, then, that in this world of social media addicts and smartphone zombies, the 24/7 newsfeed is taking up a greater and greater share of people’s lives. Our thoughts, our opinions, our knowledge of the world, even our mood are increasingly being influenced or even determined by what we see being posted, tweeted or vlogged. And the process by which these media shape our opinions is being carefully monitored and analyzed, not by the social media companies themselves, but by the US military.
MARINA PORTNAYA: When the world’s largest social media platform betrays its users, there’s going to be outrage.
ABC HOST: The study to see whether Facebook could influence the emotional state of its users on that news feed.
CNN ANCHOR: It allowed researchers to manipulate almost 700,000 users’ news feeds. Some saw more positive news about their friends, others saw more negative.
CNN GUEST: Well I’m not surprised. I mean we’re all kind of lab rat than the big Facebook experiment.
PORTNAYA: But it wasn’t only Facebook’s experiment. It turns out the psychological study was connected to the US government’s research on social unrest.
MORNING JOE GUEST: This is really kind of creepy.
PORTNAYA: And it gets worse. What you may not know is that the US Department of Defense has reportedly spent roughly $20 million conducting studies aimed at learning how to manipulate online behavior in order to influence opinion. The initiative was launched in 2011 by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, otherwise known as DARPA. The program is best described as the US media’s effort to become better at detecting and conducting propaganda campaigns via social media. Translation: When anti-government messages gain ground virally, Washington wants to find a way to spread counter opinion.
SOURCE: US military harnesses social media to manipulate online behaviour

The DARPA document that details the Pentagon’s plans for influencing opinions in the social media space is called “Social Media in Strategic Communication.” DARPA’s goal, according to their own website, is “to develop tools to help identify misinformation or deception campaigns and counter them with truthful information.”

Exactly what tools were developed for this purpose and how they are currently being deployed is unclear. 

But Rand Walzman, the program’s creator, admitted last year that the project lasted four years, cost $50 million and led to the publication of over 200 papers. The papers, including “Incorporating Human Cognitive Biases in a Probabilistic Model of Retweeting,” “Structural Properties of Ego Networks,” and “Sentiment Prediction using Collaborative Filtering,” make the thrust of the program perfectly clear. Social media users are lab rats being carefully scrutinized by government-supported researchers, their tweets and Facebook posts and Instagram pictures being analyzed to determine how information spreads online, and, by implication, how the government and the military can use these social media networks to make their own propaganda “go viral.”

As worrying as this research is, it pales in comparison to the knowledge that governments, militaries and political lobby groups are already employing squadrons of foot soldiers to wage information warfare in the social media battlespace.
AL-JAZEERA ANCHOR: The Pentagon’s got a new plan to counter anti-American messages in cyberspace. It involves buying software that will enable the American military to create and control fake online personas—fake people, essentially—who will appear to have originated from all over the world. The plan is being undertaken by CENTCOM (US Central Command), and the objective of the online persona management service is to combat enemy propaganda by influencing foreign social media websites. CENTCOM has hired a software development company called “Ntrepid,” and, according to the contract, the California-based company will initially provide 50 user licenses, each of which would be capable of controlling up to 10 fake personas. US law forbids the use of this type of technology, called “sockpuppets,” against Americans, so all the personas will reportedly be communicating in languages like Arabic, Persian and Urdu.
SOURCE: Persona Online Management, Fake Online Personas, Sock Puppets, Astroturfing Bots, Shills
CTV ANCHOR: So is it okay to have the government monitor social media conversations and then to wade in and correct some of those conversations? With more on this, let’s go to technology expert Carmi Levy. He’s on the line from Montreal. Carmi, do you think the government’s monitoring what you and I are saying right now? Is this whole thing getting out of line, or what?
[…]
CARMI LEVY: It opens up a bit of a question. I’d like to call it a Pandora’s box about, you know, what exactly is the government’s aim here, and what do they hope to accomplish with what they find out? And as they accumulate this information online—this data on us—where does that data go? And so I think as much as we should applaud the government for getting into this area, the optics of it are potentially very Big Brother-ish. And the government really does need to be a little bit more concrete on what its intentions are and how it intends to achieve them.
SOURCE: CTV Confirms Government(s) employing Internet Trolls, Shills & PR Agents to ‘correct misinformation’ 
4WWL REPORTER: New evidence that government-owned computers at the Army Corps of Engineers office here in New Orleans are being used to verbally attack critics of the Corps comes in an affidavit from the former editor-in-chief of nola.com. Jon Donley, who was laid off this past February, tells us via satellite from Texas, in late 2006 he started noticing people presenting themselves as ordinary citizens defending the Corps very energetically.
JON DONLEY: What stuck out, though, was the wording of the comments was in many ways mirroring news releases from the Corps of Engineers.
[…]
SANDY ROSENTHAL: These commenters tried to discredit these people . . .
4WWL REPORTER: And when Rosenthal investigated, she discovered the comments were coming from users at the internet provider address of the Army Corps of Engineers offices here in New Orleans. She blamed the Corps for a strategy of going after critics.
 ROSENTHAL: In the process of trying to obscure the facts of the New Orleans floodings, one of their tactics was just verbal abuse.
SOURCE: Government Sock Puppets
NAFTALI BENNETTMo’etzet Yesha, in conjunction with My Israel, has arranged an instruction day for Wiki editors. The goal of the day is to teach people how to edit in Wikipedia, which is the number one source of information today in the world. As a way of example, if someone searches the Gaza flotilla, we want to be there. We want to be the guys who influence what is written there, how it’s written, and to ensure that it’s balanced and Zionist in the nature.
SOURCE: Course: Zionist Editing on Wikipedia

These operations are only the visible and publicly-admitted front of a vast array of military and intelligence programs that are attempting to influence online behaviour, spread government propaganda, and disrupt online communities that arise in opposition to their agenda.

That such programs exist is not a matter of conjecture; it is mundane, established, documented fact.
In 2014, an internal document was leaked from GCHQ, the British equivalent of the NSA. The document, never intended for public release, was entitled “The Art of Deception: Training for a New Generation of Online Covert Operations” and bluntly stated that “We want to build Cyber Magicians.” It then goes on to outline the “magic” techniques that must be employed in influence and information operations online, including deception and manipulation techniques like “anchoring,” “priming” and “branding” propaganda narratives. After presenting a map of social networking technologies that are targeted by these operations, the document then instructs the “magicians” how to deceive the public through “attention management” and behavioural manipulation.

That governments would turn to these strategies is hardly a shocking development. In fact, the use of government shills to propagate government talking points and disrupt online dissent has been openly advocated on the record by high-ranking government officials for the past decade.

In 2008, Cass Sunstein, a law professor who would go on to become Obama’s information “czar,” co-authored a paper entitled “Conspiracy Theories,” in which he wrote that the “best response” to online “conspiracy theories” is what he calls “cognitive infiltration” of groups spreading these ideas.
Government agents (and their allies) might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action. In one variant, government agents would openly proclaim, or at least make no effort to conceal, their institutional affiliations. […] In another variant, government officials would participate anonymously or even with false identities.”

It is perhaps particularly ironic that the idea that government agents are actually and admittedly spreading propaganda online under false identities is, to the less-informed members of the population, itself a “conspiracy theory” rather than an established conspiracy fact.

Unsurprisingly, when confronted about his proposal, Sunstein pretended to not remember having written it and then pointedly refused to answer any questions about it.
LUKE RUDKOWSKI: My name is Bill de Burgh from Brooklyn College, and I know you’ve written many articles. But I think the most telling one about you is the 2008 one called “Conspiracy Theories,” where you openly advocated government agents infiltrate activist groups of 9/11 Truth and also stifle dissent online. I was wondering why do you think it’s the government’s job, or why do you think the government should go after family members who have questions and 9/11 responders who are lied to about the air, survivors whose testimony conflicts, and also government whistleblowers that were gagged because they released information that contradicts the official story.
CASS SUNSTEIN: I think it was Ricky who said I’d written hundreds of articles and I remember some and not others. That one I don’t remember very well. I hope I didn’t say that. But whatever was said in that article, my role in government is to oversee federal rule-making in a way that is wholly disconnected from the vast majority of my academic writing, including that.
[…]
RUDKOWSKI: I just want to know is it safe to say that you retract saying that conspiracy theories should be banned or taxed for having an opinion online. Is it safe to say that?
SUNSTEIN: I don’t remember the article very well. So I hope I didn’t say either those things.
RUDKOWSKI: But you did and it’s written. Do you retract them?
SUNSTEIN: I’m focused on my job.
SOURCE: Obama Information Czar Cass Sunstein Confronted on Cognitive Infiltration of Conspiracy Groups

Now, a decade on from Sunstein’s proposal, we know that military psyops agents, political lobbyists, corporate shills and government propagandists are spending vast sums of money and employing entire armies of keyboard warriors, leaving comments and shaping conversations to change the public’s opinions, influence their behaviour, and even alter their mood. And they are helped along in this quest by the very same technology that allows the public to connect on a scale never before possible.

Technology is always a double-edged sword, and sometimes it can be dangerous to wield that sword at all. There are ways to identify and neutralize the threat of online trolls and shills, but the phenomenon is not likely to go away any time soon.

Each of us must find our own answer to the question of how best to incorporate these technologies into our life. But the next time you find yourself caught up in an argument with an online persona that may or may not be a genuine human being, it might be better to ask yourself if your efforts are better spent engaging in the argument or just turning off the computer.

==========================================

* Zie: 'Israël zet snelle reactiemacht op poten tegen anti-Israëlische kritiek'

Zie ook: 'Jeremy Corbin wordt gedemoniseerd als antisemiet.......'

        en: 'Facebook wil samen met door Saoedi-Arabië gesubsidieerde denktank censureren.... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

        en: 'Het echte Facebook schandaal: manipulatie van de gebruikers en gratis diensten voor eertijds presidentskandidaat Obama.......'

        en: 'Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook doneerde aan de politici die hem in de VS aan de tand voelden >> in het EU parlement maakte hij gebruik van megalomane EU politici.....'

        en: 'Facebook stelt perstituee van New York Times aan als censuur-agent...... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

       en: 'AVG: Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (geleid door Aleid Wolfsen PvdA) niet berekend op EU wetgeving.......'

       en: 'Facebook e.a. hebben lak aan AVG (GDPR), misbruik persoonsgegevens gaat gewoon door.......'

       en: 'Rusland krijgt alweer de schuld van hacken, nu van oplichters Symantec en Facebook....... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

       en: 'Wie het nieuws controleert, controleert de wereld......'

       en: 'Westerse massa misleiding in aanloop naar WOIII......'

       en: 'Facebook verlaat 'tranding news' voor 'brekend nieuws' van 80 reguliere mediaorganen, ofwel nog meer 'fake news.....''

       en: 'Facebook komt met nieuwsshows van betrouwbare media als CNN en Fox News.... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

Congres VS geeft akkoord voor verdere steun aan de Saoedische genocide in Jemen......

Afgelopen woensdag besloot een meerderheid van het congres de steun aan de genocide die Saoedi-Arabië en de VS in Jemen uitvoeren, voort te zetten...... Eén lichtpunt: voor het eerst worden er grote vraagtekens geplaatst bij de enorme terreur die de VS uitoefent en heeft uitgeoefend in het Midden-Oosten en Afrika.....

Lullig genoeg werd er niet gesproken over de VS militairen die in Jemen op de grond meevechten, alsof die militairen niet bestaan.......

De schrijver van het volgende artikel, Jon Queally, noemt de gaande zijnde genocide een burgeroorlog, echter zonder Saoedi-Arabië was er al lang geen sprake meer geweest van een burgeroorlog en zeker niet van een genocide.... Bovendien is Saoedi-Arabië allesbehalve een binnenlandse Jemenitische partij...... Zelfs als de VS en Groot-Brittannië hun steun voor de Saoedische agressie een paar jaar geleden hadden ingetrokken, was het voor Saoedi-Arabië al een heel stuk moeilijker, of zelfs onmogelijk geweest deze genocide uit te voeren...... 

Steun voor de Saoedische agressie die bestaat uit: munitie leveringen (waaronder clusterbommen), wapenleveringen, (inclusief vliegtuigen, raketten, pantservoertuigen en tanks), militair advies, training, het door de VS aftanken van Saoedische straaljagers tijdens bombardement missies op Jemen (het in de lucht aftanken van deze jagers, zodat ze zo effectief mogelijk de sjiieten kunnen bombarderen en beschieten.....) en tot slot het helpen door de VS met de blokkade op zee voor de door de Houthi's beheerste gebieden (deze blokkades en die op land zorgen ervoor dat de leveringen van hulpgoederen aan de noodlijdende bevolking van Jemen uiterst moeizaam verlopen, hulpgoederen voor de sjiitische bevolking die lijdt aan honger, dorst, cholera en difterie.....).......

Tja, de winsten voor het militair-industrieel complex en de zucht naar wereldoverheersing door de VS, gaan ver voor op mensenrechten en vooral op het leven van mensen.......

Hoe lang blijft de wereld toekijken, voordat het actie onderneemt tegen Saoedi-Arabië, toekijkt hoe de sjiieten in Jemen worden afgeslacht door de reil-fascistische dictatuur Saoedi-Arabië en de grootste terreurentiteit op aarde, de VS......... Dezelfde aarde die hysterisch de leugens herhaalt over Oost-Ghouta, terwijl het doodstil blijft over een gaande zijnde genocide, waar 22 miljoen mensen in ernstig gevaar verkeren , wat een hypocrisie!!

Sleep Saoedi-Arabië (plus haar arabisch-soennitische coalitiegenoten), de VS en GB eindelijk voor het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC)!!

Blood of Thousands on Their Hands’: Congress Votes to Continue US-Backed Yemen War

Afbeeldingsresultaat voor ‘Blood of Thousands on Their Hands’: Congress Votes to Continue US-Backed Yemen War

March 21, 2018 at 10:44 am
Written by Jon Queally

(CD— While 44 U.S. Senators on Tuesday were applauded by peace groups for voting in favor of a resolution that would have allowed Congress to begin reclaiming its war-making authority and ended the U.S. military’s backing of Saudi Arabia’s assault on Yemen, it was ultimately not enough to overcome entrenched opposition from the 45 Republicans and 10 Democrats who voted against it.

Introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), the resolution (SJ Res. 54) would have ended the tacit military support—including targeting assistance, refueling, and intelligence sharing—of the Saudi’s campaign to wage war on Yemen, a nation currently embroiled in a civil war and experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.

The final tally was 55-44 against the resolution, with only Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) not casting a vote.

While five Republicans voted for the measure, the 10 Democrats senators who joined with the Republican majority to block it were: Coons (D-DE); Cortez Masto (D-NV); Donnelly (D-IN); Heitkamp (D-ND); Jones (D-AL); Manchin (D-WV); Menendez (D-NJ); Nelson (D-FL); Reed (D-RI); and Whitehouse (D-RI).

Iona Craig, the foreign correspondent who this year won a prestigious George Polk Award for her coverage in Yemen, said that those who voted against the effort will now have the “blood of thousands” of Yemenis on their hands as the war continues and the crises worsens.



The US Senate held the fate of millions of Yemenis in its hands. By voting to table they’ve not just killed a resolution. Those 55 senators will have the blood of thousands, who will die as a result of US support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, on their hands.

See the full roll call listed below:


Anti-war groups, while disappointed with the outcome, celebrated the vote and heralded it as an important step in terms of getting congressional lawmakers to final assert themselves against an executive branch that has been allowed to wage war with nearly no restraint over the last 17 years.

Because of the leadership put forth by Sens. Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy — and the tireless advocacy of hundreds of thousands of Americans — the U.S. Senate was today finally forced to confront America’s unauthorized role in Yemen’s deadly civil war,” Kate Kizer, policy director for Win Without War, in a statement.

We commend the 44 Senators who agreed that U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition is unconstitutional, counterproductive, and doesn’t serve U.S. national security interests,” she added. “Today’s vote should serve as a sober reminder to Saudi Arabia that it must immediately move to resolve this conflict diplomatically, and that American support for its war in Yemen is not unlimited.”

Kate Gould, legislative director on Middle East policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), said that despite the resolution’s failure, the “groundswell of grassroots activism to end this war is not going to let up until this illegal war ends, and U.S. pilots stop fueling U.S.-made bombers to rein down U.S.-made bombs on schools, hospitals and neighborhoods. The U.S. must stop literally fueling the deliberate killing and starvation of countless civilians in Yemen, and support a peaceful solution to end this crisis.”

=================================

Zie ook: 'VS vecht in Jemen, Pentagon loog weer eens >> Congres eindelijk 'wakker''

        en: 'Koenders nog steeds stil: Saoedi-Arabië bezig met etnische zuivering op eigen bodem en nog steeds levert het westen wapens aan terreurstaat S-A.....'

        en: 'Saoedi-Arabië pakt een enorm aantal mensen op.......'

        en: 'Saoedi-Arabië moordt eigen sjiitische burgers uit..... Tijd voor een handelsdelegatie met Koenders, Rutte en W.A.!!'

        en: 'Saoedi-Arabië vermoordde minstens 20 bruiloftsgangers in Jemen'

        en: 'Agressie vanwege een vermeende gifgasaanval op Douma, terwijl de tienduizenden kinderen die in Jemen worden vermoord middels een genocide blijkbaar niet meetellen......'

        en: 'Saoedi-Arabië dreigt Iran aan te vallen voor vanuit Jemen afgevuurde 'raketten' op Saoedische 'doelen..........''

        en:  'VS doet planning van de Saoedische genocide in Jemen.....'

        en: 'VS rol in Jemen gaat verder dan eerder gemeld, ofwel nog meer VS hulp bij Saoedische genocide op sjiieten.....'

        en: 'Jemen: meer VS steun voor genocide op sjiieten met grote levering 'slimme munitie' aan Saoedi-Arabië......'

        en: 'Jemen: BBC propaganda voor genocide door Saoedische coalitie........'

        en: 'Mike Pompeo (ex-CIA, VS min. van BuZa en 'christen') liegt openlijk over genocide in Jemen'

        en: 'Saoedi-Arabië geeft toe in Jemen gruwelijke oorlogsmisdaden te hebben begaan.... ' (en daarmee is ten overvloede nog eens duidelijk gemaakt dat ook de VS meewerkt aan oorlogsmisdaden en deze ook zelf begaat in Jemen.....)

        en: 'Jemen: de vergeten genocide en haar kinderslachtoffers.........'

vrijdag 23 maart 2018

Sudan, de laatst levende noordelijke witte neushoorn is overleden, alweer een waanzinnige prestatie op naam van de mens.......

Het zat er al een tijd aan te komen,het overlijden van Sudan, de laatst levende noordelijke witte neushoorn. Sudan leefde de laatste jaren van zijn leven in het Keniase wildpark Ol Pejeta Conservancy en werd 24/7 bewaakt door gewapende beveiligers.......

De hoorn van een neushoorn brengt in landen als Vietnam en China wel tot € 40.000,-- op..... China begint eindelijk met stappen tegen deze barbarij en het suffe geloof in krachten van deze hoorn.

De hoogste tijd dat er in alle landen waar deze hoorns en andere onderdelen van dieren worden gebruikt als geneeskrachtige of kracht schenkende voorwerpen, aan de kinderen op school wordt onderwezen dat dit je reinste kul is, zoals al lang geleden wetenschappelijk werd aangetoond........ Een mooie taak voor de VN, doen ze eens echt iets wat er toe doet......

Wat betreft de westerse miljonairs die denken recht te hebben deze dieren te vermoorden en onderdelen van deze dieren mee naar huis te nemen, zoals de zoons van het beest Trump, 'zou je bijna wensen' dat er een prijs op hun hoofd wordt gezet, zodat ze zelf afgeslacht worden.....

Het vogende artikel ontving ik gisteren van het Care2 team:

What We Can Learn From the Death of Sudan, the Last Male Northern White Rhino

Across the globe, wildlife advocates are mourning the death of Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino.

Caregivers brought Sudan to Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, where a 24/7 armed security detail protected him from poachers.

While extremely sad, Sudan’s death was not unexpected. The 45-year-old rhino had suffered a series of age-related complications, and after taking a sudden turn for the worse, he was euthanized on March 19.

Sudan’s death leaves just two remaining individuals of this majestic species: his daughter Najin and his granddaughter Fatu, both of whom live in the Conservancy.


RHINOS AT RISK


And they’re not the only rhinos at risk of extinction. In fact, all five of the world’s rhino species are in trouble, according to the IUCN*.

  • The near threatened white rhino has two sub-species — northern and southern. As noted above, just two northern rhinos remain, and there are roughly 20,000 southern rhinos.
  • The critically endangered black rhino has four sub-species: One of them went extinct in 2011, and just over 5,000 individuals remain.
  • The vulnerable greater one-horned rhino has a population of around 3,500.
  • The critically endangered Sumatran rhino numbers 100.
  • The critically endangered Javan rhino has a population of just 67.

Zacharia Mutai, Sudan’s keeper, explains why rhinos are endangered:

So sad because we end up losing such kinds of species because of human failure. People used to kill rhinos because of their horns, and many people have been believing that they’re used as medicine, but it doesn’t cure anyone at all.

Mutai is referring to the belief that rhino horns have medicinal value. But they’re actually made of keratin, the same material in human hair and fingernails, as well as turtle beaks and horse hooves.
Rhino horn is most often ground up for use in traditional Asian medicine, especially in China and Vietnam. According to the International Rhino Foundation, the powder is added to food or brewed in a tea, which is “guaranteed” to be a powerful aphrodisiac, a hangover cure or a treatment for cancer, fever, rheumatism and gout.

One rhinoceros horn has an estimated value of between $30,000 and $40,000 — and that’s precisely why poachers love them.

The organization Save The Rhino believes that more than 7,245 African rhinos have been lost to poaching in just a decade. In South Africa, 1,028 rhinos were killed in 2017, which equals just about three rhino deaths every single day.


POACHING PREVENTION


So what can we do to prevent this unnecessary slaughter?

Writing for CNN, Jill Filipovic notes that “The response to poaching has to be holistic and global – addressing, among other things, economic need and lack of opportunity.” She’s referring to the fact that some people rely on poaching as a matter of survival. Living in poverty — perhaps with a starving family — they will do anything to get money.

But Filipovic goes on to suggest a bigger approach: The Kenya Wildlife Service needs to be controlled and refocused. The group has been accused by Human Rights Watch and others of deaths and disappearances; KWS has consistently denied the accusations.

A global approach also means looking to China, which has provided the demand for rhino horns for decades. The country banned ivory last year, but government officials must do more to protect this incredible creature.

And in the U.S., photos of Donald Trump’s sons with their African game kills aren’t improving the situation. Legislators need to ensure that these wild animals are more than trophies for the rich.
Discouragingly, a new advisory board created to reshape U.S. law on the importation of the body parts of African elephants, lions and rhinos is loaded with trophy hunters

close-up of Sudan the rhino

A LASTING LEGACY

So what does the death of Sudan tell us?

It is not enough to simply blame the poachers. The countries involved need to band together in what Filipovic calls a “holistic and global approach.”

Although scientists around the world are working to develop in vitro fertilization** techniques, it’s probably too late for the northern white rhino. Sudan’s death means that this majestic sub-species may follow the northern black rhino into extinction, if the international community fails to act.


IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

** In vitro fertilization: reageerbuisbevruchting.