There is so much that we get wrong about grief, and it isn’t surprising. Like most things in life, we are desperately trying to keep an unwieldy process orderly and comprehensible. The fact about grief, though, is that it is neither.
from The New Social Worker Online — the professional social work careers magazine http://ift.tt/2fgEjJV
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
#EndImpunity, #Again
from World News Publishing Focus by WAN-IFRA - World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers http://ift.tt/2ff0a45
#EndImpunity, #Again
from World News Publishing Focus by WAN-IFRA - World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers http://ift.tt/2eVoBoC
Faithful by Alice Hoffman.
Faithful by Alice Hoffman.
This book is: sad and gritty but ultimately beautiful.
Other elements: car crashes, rescued dogs, unlikely friendships, self-discovery, hope.
Read it: if you like vividly written characters.
Overall rating: 8.75
Faithful by Alice Hoffman isn’t the kind of book I normally go for, but I found it completely absorbing and expertly executed. The novel follows the story of a high school girl, Shelby, who is in a car crash with her best friend.
Continue reading Faithful by Alice Hoffman. at Diamonds in the Library.
from Diamonds in the Library http://ift.tt/2edAi6a
“My Killers are Still Free” campaign to add pressure in fight for justice for murdered journalists
from World News Publishing Focus by WAN-IFRA - World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers http://ift.tt/2e1rh4R
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Shark Race to the White House: Who Will Win?
As headlines veer wildly from Trump’s latest scandal to Hillary’s emails, polls show that Trump and Clinton are still locked in a competitive race for the White House. Clinton remains in the lead for now — at least on land. In the ocean, it’s a different story. The tongue-in-cheek NSU Shark Race to the White House, ending tonight, hopes to predict election results.
Shark Race to the White House
Researchers from Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Florida have launched this presidential race, naming two of their tagged sharks in honor of the Republican and Democratic candidates. NSU tagged the shortfin makos, dubbed Trump Shark and Clinton Shark, off the coast of Rhode Island on September 26th, the same day that the real Clinton and Trump faced off in the first presidential debate. NSU will monitor the sharks until midnight on November 1st. The university will announce the shark that has swum the furthest as the winner, supposedly providing an omen for next week’s election.
Of course, no political contest would be complete without rallying slogans. According to a press release from NSU, Trump Shark’s motto is “Mako America Great Again.” Clinton Shark’s is “Swimming Stronger Together.” Today, with just a few hours left until the end of the race, Trump Shark leads. Data from October 30th shows that Trump Shark has traveled 511.81 miles, while Clinton Shark has swum 446.38. Fittingly, the two sharks have not been traveling the same path. While Trump Shark has been steaming out to sea, Clinton Shark has moved southward along the coast to New Jersey.
A scientific purpose
While the shark race may seem like a light-hearted aside to the drama of the real election, the project has a serious purpose. Trump Shark and Clinton Shark are among 52 sharks tagged as part of an ongoing NSU project, aiming to understand more about mako migrations. By tying in with the furor surrounding the real presidential election, the team hopes to raise awareness of their project and to reinforce the importance of mako research. According to NSU professor Mahmood Shivji, “we’ve learned some very interesting things about mako migration over the past couple of years…[but] there is clearly a lot more to discover about their behavior.”
In particular, the team hopes to learn more about why so many makos die prematurely off the United States East Coast. According to Shivji, nearly 30 percent of the sharks tagged and tracked as part of the project have died, most likely as a result of by-catch due to indiscriminate commercial-fishing methods. Shortfin makos reproduce slowly, and their numbers will not likely be able to cope with such large-scale losses. Already, the IUCN Red List classifies the species as vulnerable. For NSU President Dr. George Hanbury, “it’s not about politics, it’s about the research,” and the conservation efforts that the team’s data supports.
Fortunately, with only a few hours left on the clock it seems that both Trump Shark and Clinton Shark will make it to the end of their race for victory. To track their progress and find out which presidential candidate the oceans favor, visit NSU’s live shark tracker here.
The post Shark Race to the White House: Who Will Win? appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.
from Scuba Diver Life http://ift.tt/2el5NyL
Coral Nurseries in the Caribbean
As many divers know, reefs across the world are struggling due to changes in the water, increases in temperature, algae growth, overfishing, and systematic damage from boats and divers. To counteract the decline in reef growth, coral nurseries have sprouted up in several spots in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Curacao, Bonaire and the Florida Keys. The last three in particular are seeing huge successes and leading the way for other nursery efforts across the world.
The nurseries, made of PVC and fiberglass “trees,” are anchored in the sand and buoyed to allow free movement. Divers and scientists start the corals on the trees and monitor them regularly. The corals are eventually out-planted to the nearby reefs when the fragments are large and strong enough. Staghorn and elkhorn coral, both decimated in the Caribbean, are the most common residents of coral nurseries. Both species can grow and reproduce through fragmentation. If a branch of coral falls from the reef, it can reattach to a rock or become part of a coral tree, and thusly become the foundation of a new colony. Following are three of the most dynamic coral nurseries in the Caribbean.
Curacao
The Curacao Coral Restoration Foundation celebrated its one-year anniversary in Curaçao this summer. Starting with just 10 trees in May of 2015, by December the staff and volunteers had out-planted their very first corals in Curacao: five staghorns and two elkhorns. In just the past year, the dedicated caretakers at the Curacao nursery were able to grow 400 corals to over 1,200 corals and double the number of coral trees. One staghorn fragment alone grew from two inches to almost nine feet long. (5 cm to 263 cm).
Coralpalooza
In celebration of their one-year anniversary, the foundation planted 360 new coral fragments, 10 new coral trees, and alongside their counterparts in Bonaire and Florida, out-planted over 200 corals in a single day.
If you’re interested in helping out on the project, they have adopt-a-coral and sponsorship programs available, along with a club you can join to both help and get discounts on local diving. It’s not just biologists that work at the nurseries — you can help too.
Bonaire
Staghorn and elkhorn corals in Bonaire have been declining since 1980 due to disease, storms, bleaching and algae. The Bonaire Coral Restoration Foundation focuses on staghorn and elkhorn growing efforts to aid in repopulating damaged areas. To date, nearly 9,000 coral fragments are growing in the nurseries and 6,000 have been transplanted by staff and volunteers.
They also have a volunteer program, training programs, and internships if you want to add an element of volunteering to your next dive vacation.
Florida
Within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, another nursery is booming. Partners in the sanctuary were awarded $3.3 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money was earmarked to improve the genetic diversity of the local corals as well as increase the numbers of the threatened species. In 2009, the corals transplanted from the local nursery spawned for the very first time, signifying a full lifecycle success. In 2014, the nursery was at full capacity, with over 8,500 coral fragments and plans for further expansion.
The post Coral Nurseries in the Caribbean appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.
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