If he can hug a flag I can hug American trees.

The name tree hugger has an interesting history.

A young girl (click here) was reportedly the first to see the loggers coming. It was March 26, 1973, and loggers sent by sporting goods manufacturer the Simon Company were heading for Gopeshwar forest near the tiny village of Reni in Uttarakhand, which was then part of Uttar Pradesh. The girl ran to tell Gaura Devi, a village elder, who summoned dozens of other women to do the only thing they could: place their bodies between the trees and the axes. They hugged the 300 ash trees tightly, telling the loggers that in order to get to the trees they’d have to go through human bodies first. The loggers opted to leave instead. But Devi and the other women remained vigilant.

When the lumbermen tried to go to another village to fell trees, the villagers, inspired by what had happened in Reni, did the same: They hugged the trees in a 24-hour vigil designed to keep them safe. This soon became known as the Chipko andolan, or Chipko movement, from the verb meaning “to stick to.” It’s a movement that would rapidly spread to other parts of India and inspire activism beyond the country, while honoring the world’s first-known tree huggers … also from India. In 1730, villagers from the Bishnoi community 480 miles southwest of Reni embraced trees sacred to their faith to save them after the local king ordered they be felled for the construction of a palace. The king’s soldiers beheaded more than 300 protesters, but the villagers refused to give in. Ultimately, the king apologized and withdrew his decree.

But while the term “tree huggers” has become derogatory slang for those who care more about the environment than practical concerns, the villagers of Reni hugged the trees to preserve their economy....

There is this rumor going around that says most tree huggers are queer women. I don't know what exactly is wrong with that, but, I think it is intended as religious bigotry.

I am a conservation biologist, have a focus in botany and marine botany and have worked in the field. I have met "tree sitters" from time to time. The folks that sit in a tree to protect it from being destroyed, but, they are all men. Seriously. Now, they could have been gay men, but, they were far to busy to even mention if they were.

I know many women that are involved in conservation and environmental jobs and some are activists as well. They may be lesbian or bisexual, but, I can't honestly say I ever discussed that with them.

So, the nastiness that obviously exists on the political right in the USA is on full display these days. They want women to defined with long hair and make-up to pretend aging doesn't exist. They also will demonize anything that is not to their liking, including trees and tree huggers.

I never thought I'd see the day when a conservationist would be classified by the political right wing as a queer woman. It is sexist. It is anti-LGBTQI. It is inhumane and intended to hurt people and the natural world they love.

This is "Ailanthus altissima." It is the most toxic invasive species in the USA.

Ailanthus altissima (click here) is also known as Chinese Sumac. 

Tree-of-heaven (just to left of fence) in Coumbia State Park, CA. USDA, Forest Service

I think the popular name of "Tree-of-heaven" is probably American. I don't believe the Chinese named it that. This is not about China, it is about an invasive species that has taken over hillsides, roadsides, invaded forests and basically kills any other species within reach of it's roots.

An American botanist brought this species to the USA and placed it into an arboretum. That happened somewhere around the 1700s. Considering this is 2019, just think of the number of these lousy trees out there destroying the Amerian forests. Needless to say it escaped the arborteum and spread like wildlife ever since.

It is definitely an invasive species. The tree can grow up to 80 feet tall under normal conditions. With a dense CO2 content to the troposphere, it might grow taller. It's canopy is about two thirds of it's height.

The link above will provide anyone with all the information they need including what needs to replace it in all the affected states. 

Taxonomically, this is considered one leaf. Those individual leaves are actually called leaflets. There are 10 to 40 of the leaflets attached to the main stem. The bark of the tree is rather smooth and grey in color, but, the twigs are brown. The leaves are why it is called a sumac.


The tree will produce these hideous yellow "fruit." Like an apple there is a seed inside the fruit. A single mature tree can produce 325,000 seeds per season.

These are the seeds. The average person often think they are flowers. The flowers are small and green, but, they turn into this mess. As the seeds dry they turn a pinkish red color. But, it is obvious there are tons of these darn seeds produced in a season.

Ailanthus altissima kills other trees. It has root suckers that grow out from the tree and grow seedlings. It isn't just the seeds that are the problem, it is the entire lousy tree that is the problem. At any rate, these suckers will sprout seedlings and the roots go fairly deep at an early stage. If one is digging out the seedlings, the entire root has to be taken out because it will regenerate.

Yes, this tree is not only a menace, but it is also a virulent variety menace.

This tree is not from heaven. It is a lie. It will grow in very poor soils and that is what causes it's spread. It will grow where other trees will not. Once it started to grow in poor soils, there is no stopping it. There is no self-limiting behavior. It is like the Walking Dead, but, it is not afraid of water that is rain.

It is not tolerant of shade or wet areas. It is found in the city in allys, sidewalks, parking lots and vacant lots. In the country, it likes roadsides, fencerows, woodland edges and fields.

The roots can damage sewers, foundations and sidewalks.

The roots are toxic to other plants. It allows the plant to form a dense thicket that crowds out other plants and young trees. It is best to get rid of the entire tree before it drops it's seeds. The thicket has to be removed all the way down to the tip of the tap root. It is best to get rid of them as early in their development as possible.

There are chemical remedies, but, most folks are not interested in chemical resolve of a tree. I don't know if they make for good firewood, but, I would rather see them go through a chipper. Any firewood sitting around can start to sprout the suckers all over again.

But, for those interested in young forests, get rid of this species at every turn. It might look like interesting habitat, especially the thicket, but, it is actually not favored by wildlife. Wildlife much rather native species for food and shelter.

After Superstorm Sandy I don't' know how much people can take.

What I rarely hear being taken as a testimony for Congress are the mental health professionals and social works that have contact with the victims of the climate crisis. There needs to be a record of the impact of the severe weather and not just a record of the storms.

The impact of the climate crisis needs to be known to Congress in it's ability to ensure proper and effective climate policy.

April 20, 2019
By Jean Mikle

A flash flood watch (click here) remains in effect for most of New Jersey this morning, as storms, some including heavy downpours, continue to move across the state.

A flash flood watch means rapid flooding of urban areas and areas with poor drainage, caused by heavy rain falling in a short period of time, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service has also issued flood advisories for parts of southern, central and northeastern New Jersey. A flood advisory means heavy rain is moving through the advisory area, and could cause minor flooding.

Although heavy rain may happen throughout the state, most of the heaviest precipitation will be along the coastline this morning, according to metereologist Steven DeMartino, of NY NJ Pa Weather....

There are state forests, national forests, city forests and private forests and they can all be partners to the best outcomes of a young forest.

This is a map of just the state forests of New York State. To say they are sparse is an understatement, however, there are also other forests and I know first hand there are many more forests than this in New York.

The thing to remember about managing a forest is that partners are important. They can be an adjunct to any committee, the board of directors or trustees when managing a young forest. While there may be border lines to a forest where the law is concerned and ownership is made, however, the forest and all it's species of flora and fauna will not recognize those borders. Partners that are near the borders of a young forest are just as important to a healthy forest than anyone investing time to it's health.

As a matter of fact, for those partners that work with forests as a full time job may be able to warn others of new disease that has been discovered or invasive species of plants, fish or wildlife.

Partners are important and cannot be understated.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) (click here) manages more than 787,000 acres of State Forests. Unlike the Forest Preserve, State Forests are located throughout New York State - except within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks - and include Reforestation Areas, Multiple-Use Areas, Unique Areas and State Nature and Historic Preserves. These lands are highly valued for the recreational opportunities they provide and for their contributions to ecosystem health. Thousands of miles of recreational trails are available for hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling, horse riding, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. These properties are enjoyed by campers, hunters and trappers as well as by orienteering and geocache enthusiasts. On some of these lands, timber management is used as a tool to enhance biodiversity and to create habitat features that might be lacking in the landscape. Other portions are managed to protect and enhance rare, threatened or endangered species. Management of these multiple uses is guided by DEC's Strategic Plan for State Forest Management and by individual unit management plans....

An 8 year old girl is dead.

I have a very large family. They are from all sorts of trade and education. Some like to do home improvement and some even have built their own homes. They volunteer with "Habitat for Humanity" and they are Republicans. I know the pride they took when they built their own homes to code. I cannot imagine the feeling of such devastation to their homes should such tragedy ever visit them. To think the brick home they built betrayed them, would be devastating.

April 20, 2019

A friend of the owner (click here) reviews the remains of a storm damaged house in Morton, Mississippi on April 19, 2019, following a possible tornado touchdown Thursday afternoon, as strong storms again roared across the South on Thursday, topping trees and leaving a variety of damage in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Atlanta — A strong storm system (click here) barreling through the South killed an 8-year-old girl in Florida on Friday and threatened to bring tornadoes to large parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia on Saturday.

A tree fell onto a house in Woodville, Florida, south of Tallahassee, killing the girl and injuring a 12-year-old boy, according to the Leon County Sheriff's Office. The office said in a statement that the girl died at a hospital while the boy suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Their names weren't immediately released.

The same storm system was blamed for the deaths a day earlier of two people in Mississippi and a woman in Alabama.

The threat on Friday shifted farther east, where tornado warnings covered parts of northeast Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, where four suspected tornado touchdowns were reported Friday night. Twisters touched down in Reston, Fredericks Hall, Barham and Forksville. Homes and small structures were damaged, but no injuries were immediately reported....

A genetic recored

I wanted to introduce the idea of keeping a genetic record for the young forests that will be managed in New York State. I think it is a great idea and will provide for a sound basis to the future.

It is always good to meet with colleagues from other states and countries. While their ideas may not be workable for every forest, it is always interesting to hear from others in how they see themselves protecting species and managing their forests.

"The basis of resilience in forest species and it's use in adaptive forest management in Britain."
By S. Cavers and J.E. Cottrell
Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, Volume 88, Issue 1, January 2015, Pages 13–2625 July 2014

Britain's forest genetic resources (click here) are currently facing an unprecedented period of uncertainty due to the effects of climate change and increased exposure to new pests and diseases from global trade (Gilligan et al., 2013). Rather than tackle each new threat as it arises, it would be much more cost-effective to manage forests to promote their resilience, allowing them to change and adapt to new pressures. In this position paper, we discuss the theory that underpins the concept of resilience in general and then focus on the implications for British forest ecosystems in particular. As individual forest ecosystems in Britain contain relatively few tree species, we outline the important role of intra-specific genetic diversity in conferring resilience via evolutionary processes and discuss the major drivers of these processes. Finally, we outline the current policy and practice for managing the British forest genetic resource and discuss the conflicts and tensions in developing appropriate policy in the face of an uncertain future....

The climate crisis is more than storms, it is the emotional devastation of lives.

How much are people supposed to take before they become discouraged about their values and their paychecks?

FEMA funding cannot be tampered with otherwise the people are completely abandoned to find a way to live their lives. The funding isn't always the answer. There are problems with process at times, there are problems with the valuation of the property. The people can lose hope for the future when they are repeatedly faced with problem after problem.

This is North Carolina. Recently, the state university checked the Cape Fear River for purity. Due to the storms that have swept through, there is not significant pollution in the water of the Cape Fear River, including PCBs.

The climate crisis is all-encompassing and when devastation is the result with stationary and persistent rain and wind, the outcomes are not good. The USA MUST validate the climate crisis and have a national strategy to end the devastation now facing a growing number of Americans.

April 20, 2019

Severe storms (click here) that spawned several reports of tornadoes left behind damage across the Triangle on Friday, but no injuries were reported.

There were reports of tornadoes in Chatham, Orange, Edgecombe, Moore, Halifax and Sampson counties, and there were reports of funnel clouds in Wilson and Northampton counties. The National Weather Service will survey the damage to confirm tornadoes....  

Forest Fragmentation is an enemy.

I could go on for hours, and probably should, about forest fragmentation and the growing trend of coping with such issues. This is ridiculous. In order to have wildlife they have to breed. When forests are fragmented, there are issues with the viability of wildlife. Wildlife bridges have become an answer to allow transit of wildlife from one side of an obstruction to another. This type of intervention should be rare rather than common.

Forest fragmentation must be kept in check to ensure forest health.

October 13, 2014
By Michael Snyder

Due to concerns (click here) over habitat fragmentation, wildlife crossings such as this one are starting to become increasingly common.
on
Forest fragmentation (click here) is the breaking of large, contiguous, forested areas into smaller pieces of forest; typically these pieces are separated by roads, agriculture, utility corridors, subdivisions, or other human development. It usually occurs incrementally, beginning with cleared patches here and there – think Swiss cheese – within an otherwise unbroken expanse of tree cover.

Over time, those non-forest patches tend to multiply and expand until eventually the forest is reduced to scattered, disconnected forest islands. The surrounding non-forest lands and land uses seriously threaten the health, function, and value of the remaining forest.

Any large-scale canopy disturbance affects a forest, but it is important to distinguish between a forest fragmented by human infrastructure development and a forest of mixed ages and varied canopy closure that results from good forest management. The former is typically much more damaging to forest health and habitat quality, usually with permanent negative effects, whereas the latter may cause only temporary change in the forest.

The effects of fragmentation are well documented in all forested regions of the planet. In general, by reducing forest health and degrading habitat, fragmentation leads to loss of biodiversity, increases in invasive plants, pests, and pathogens, and reduction in water quality. These wide-ranging effects all stem from two basic problems: fragmentation increases isolation between forest communities and it increases so-called edge effects....

There are climate deaths occurring in many countries.

April 21, 2019

On the heels of the deadly severe weather early last week, (click here) a new storm threatens to spark violent thunderstorms from Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan early this week.

The Middle East has been pounded this spring with deadly thunderstorms and flooding. More than three dozen people were killed when severe weather struck Pakistan early last week.

Lives were also lost in Afghanistan, pushing the death toll from rounds of flooding rain since March past 130, according to Anadolu Agency. Weeks of flooding have claimed 70 people in Iran, CNN reported.

Monday into Wednesday will bring another threat to lives and property across the Middle East.

"A new storm impacting Turkey this weekend will bring the increasing risk for isolated severe thunderstorms from central Iran to Pakistan Monday into Wednesday," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk....

There are different types of forests.

There are of course, regional forests. Regional forests are the species of tree found in a forest. In New York State, the majority of trees are maple, beech, and birch with some oak and hickory. There are other species, but, those are the majority species.

The idea of a forest is well understood and studied in the literature since the beginning of record keeping. Forests are important for many, many reasons, but, they are growing in importance in reversing the warming climate.

Example: Stand in the sun for a few minutes until you feel the warmth of the sun on your face. Then move under a tree that has full foliage. It doesn't have to be in a forest, but, it can be. You are now in shade and the air is cooler and the heat that was on your face from the sun no longer exists. The heat and light haven't gone anywhere, but, instead of on you, it is absorbed by the tree for it's own health. So, the coolness and shade are because the tree have absorbed the light.

Below is a Pennsylvania Forest. This article discusses "Edge Forest" and "Core Forest." A young forest can have these qualities as well. It is important to understand them and their differences.

In the same forest depending on the feet one walks there is a transition of species as well as tree growth. There are different plant species on the forest floor, possibly different tree species, different animal species and different quality of light and moisture. The core forest is important to protect because it is frequently where the more rare forest species live

Figure (click here) depicts the relationship between Edge Forest in red, and Core Forest in green.  Edge forest is the first 100 m of forest into the forest from a disturbed land cover such as agriculture, suburban/urban areas, and roads.  The image is of Central Pennsylvania. State College, PA - Home of Penn State University, is located in the lower left (SW) corner of the image.

In 2002, I co-authored a report for the State of Pennsylvania that assessed the condition of wildlife habitats within the state.  Here we noted that 57% of Pennsylvania's forest area was classified as edge forest.  Many conservation targets are linked in some way to forest health and condition.  Increasing edge forest is one symptom of forest fragmentation and as forests become more fragmented wildlife habitats become isolated as edge effects creep into the core areas.  For the report I defined edge forest as forested area found within the first 100 m (~300 ft) into the forest from any disturbance (i.e., agricultural row crop or pasture, suburban or urban development, and roads)....

There are storm related deaths in the USA. These are climate crisis deaths.

April 20, 2019

12:15 a.m.

Four suspected tornadoes have been reported in Virginia. (click here)

The National Weather Service says damage has been reported Friday night after twisters touched down in Reston, Fredericks Hall, Barham and Forksville.

Authorities say a tree fell through the roof of a condemned house in Reston and tree damage was reported at an intersection in Fredericks Hall. Several trees were reported down in Barham, while a house and various small structures were damaged in Forksville.

The strong storm system was barreling through the South on Friday and killed an 8-year-old girl in Florida and threatened to bring tornadoes to large parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia.

9:35 p.m.

Forecasters have confirmed that 14 tornadoes touched down in Mississippi as severe storms made its way across the South.

The National Weather Service said in a news release Friday that it had surveyed Thursday afternoon’s twisters.

The strongest tornado had winds as high as 132 mph (212 kph) when it hit a neighborhood in the central Mississippi town of Morton, damaging numerous homes.

Four of the twisters were in Rankin County, just east of Jackson.

Damage from the storm system was reported in at least 24 of Mississippi’s 82 counties.

8 p.m.

The National Weather Service reports downed trees and structure damage as severe storms roared through central and eastern North Carolina.

A preliminary report said there was roof and structure damage in one neighborhood in Chatham County outside of Siler City on Friday afternoon.

News outlets reported at least one house near Interstate 85 outside of Hillsborough in Orange County was severely damaged by winds that were thought to have resulted from a tornado.

To the east, several locations reported wind gusts approaching and in excess of 50 mph (22 km/h).

An immediate account of power outages was not available Friday evening due to problems with the Duke Energy website....

What New York States is planning is to interrupt the progress of nature which can be dictated by the forest.

This is an illustration (click here for article) from New Zealand about the way forests begin and grow. It is properly named "Succession Forest."

Succession forests can start in a field as illustrated here or it can even start in the water. When it begins in the water it is fascinating, because, as time goes by the sediment that settles under and around the roots begin to form land. So, if someone wants to create land, it is not as complicated as it seems. It can be done with trees that love the water and extend their roots into the water.

But, the illustration clearly states as the plants grow and transition into shrubs and small trees it will ultimately grow into a forest where the trees are aged and the forest floor is virtually empty of much "understory" because the "canopy" blocks out the sun from the land below. Our national forests of Sequoias and Redwoods are those type of forests. The Old Growth forests of Washington State and the northwest USA are those types of pinnacle forests.

At one time there were incredible Cypress forests that were Old Growth forests. They were clear cut. The diameter of the trunks were far greater than the height of a logger.

It's Sunday Night

The New York Times featured an article (click here) about the new movement in New York State to preserve young forests, rather than letting them grow into Old Growth forests.

I think it is a great idea and has a great deal of merit to become a citizen's initiative by forming a non-profit conservation society to oversee ir or them.  With a non-profit conservation society, there will be allies to join the average citizen, such as Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy. The land management becomes really interesting for all parties involved.

There are issues that can result in nature from decisions that change the natural order of things. They are not irresponsible decisions at all. I thought I might cover some of the basics and perhaps continue it for at least another week.

These are huge dynamics and are complicated at best. Thank you for your interest.

Tree Hugger - JUNO SOUNDTRACK (click here for Roger Ebert's review of the movie Juno - thank you)

Tree Hugger by Kimya Dawson and performed by Antsy Pants

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree"
The cat wished that it was a bee
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea

And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it
And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert
And the desert
So dry and lonely
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort

Et le jackalope a dit
"Je voudrais être un yeti
Pour voler dans la nuit
Et m'en aller loin d'ici"
Mais le yeti a dit
"Je voudrais être un monstre marin
Pour pouvoir rentrer dans la mer
De tous les requins"

And the rattlesnake said
"I wish I had hands so
I could hug you like a man"
And then the cactus said
"Don't you understand
My skin is covered with sharp spikes
That'll stab you like a thousand knives.
A hug would be nice
But hug my flower with your eyes"

The flower said, "I wish I was a tree"
The tree said, "I wish I could be
A different kind of tree"
The cat wished that it was a bee
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea

And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it
And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it

And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert
And the desert
So dry and lonely
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort

Ukraine has a new president.

April 21, 2019
By Carl Schreck

...In the end, (click here) it was a demand for radical change and broad disappointment with the incumbent that vaulted a comedian who played Ukraine’s president on television into the real thing.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy rode these sentiments, political analysts and sociologists say, to what was shaping up to be an unprecedented landslide victory over President Petro Poroshenko in the country’s April 21 runoff vote.

“The absolute majority of Ukrainians again, just as they did five years ago, want radical political change. In that sense, this was a kind of Maidan -- but an electoral one,” Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told RFE/RL, referring to the central Kyiv square at the heart of the 2013-14 protests that helped oust Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych and paved the way for Poroshenko’s election....

The Democrats are going to need the entire report and supporting documents of the Special Council. Giuliani is already making plans to pull a rabbit of his hat. I don't consider him ethical at all.

I understand the Democrats have work to do and they should concentrate on the people and their needs. But, if the force behind limiting the idea of impeachment is due to worry about driving the base, then measure the base aspirations when the Kavanaugh hearings took place, polls and attitudes. Compare that to what is being seen today.

Not every person on the right is in agreement with the lies of Trump. The Mueller report is exposing the degree he disregards the importance of truth to the American people. It is somewhat different than Kavanaugh.

People can understand negligence and the negligence of oversight of the first two years of Trump's time in office is undeniable. The safety and sovereignty of the US Constitution and the country are important to consider as well.

...Outright calls to start proceedings (click here) that could lead to the ouster of the president have only come from a handful of politicians—no surprise, all Democrats. And, so far, only three Democratic 2020 presidential candidates have clearly stated their desire for Congress to move in that direction: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and, to a lesser extent, both Julián Castro and Pete Buttigieg....       

My deepest sympathies to the family, friends and people of Sri Lanka. They did nothing wrong to deserve this.

Do I understand that this is not a terrorist bombing from inside Sri Lanka so much as one inspired by Daesh? If that is the case, the global community needs to take it seriously.

We have seen some heinous killing of Catholics in recent years, including a service with Bishops that cost the lives of many in leadership. The Catholics attacked today are not alone.

If I may?

The plans Daesh made in the Middle East were completely undermined. It's leadership probably left the region some time ago. I will assume they still have this ideology they can develop a caliphate. Well. Why not in an island country where any attack upon them can be spotted before it happens?

Sri Lanka has a population of nearly 22 and a half million people with this religious demographic: Buddhists make up 70.1% of the population, Hindus 12.6%, Muslims 9.7% and Christians 7.6%.

There is already an armed militia within Sri Lanka and tensions still exist with the Tamil Tigers. Why not promise the Tamils the moon and have a ready militia to begin the end of a civil war lasting nearly three decades or more? I think the current civil war dates back less 30 years.

The conflict between Sri Lanka's government forces (click here) and armed Tamil rebels has raged for nearly 60 years. Thousands have died and many more have been made homeless by the fighting.

Here we answer questions about the Tamil rebels, their composition and their stated goals.

When was the LTTE formed? 

Since Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948, the Tamil minority has felt increasingly marginalised and politically disenfranchised. In that very year, Solomon Bandaranayake, the country's first prime minister, made Sinhala, which is spoken by the majority of Sri Lankans, the official language....

The Tamils (not the Tamil Tigers) are not adherent to any one religion in particular.

...Most Tamils (click here) live in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, and they comprise approximately 10 percent of the island’s population, according to a 2001 government census. Their religion (most are Hindu) and Tamil language set them apart from the four-fifths of Sri Lankans who are Sinhalese—members of a largely Buddhists...

There is a very big difference between the extremist militia group and the people that are Tamils. They are not the same. The extremist group can be viewed as similar to the Northern Ireland conflict that raged for centuries. The deaths and sentiment run deep. Some of what the extremist militia stands for has sympathy among the Tamils, but, I am sure the Tamils would renounce the acts carried out today.

At any rate, if this is Daesh, the Sri Lankan government will need assistance in identifying the group and bringing it to an end. It is important those responsible for today's violence are brought to justice and their militant actions ended. The Sri Lankan people do not deserve this and the people need to understand an enemy to their lives walks among them.

There may have been some Tamils included in the deaths and injuries today. Some Tamils are Catholic. That should be made clear to the people. These killers will kill anyone, including those most religious on a very holy day. Just because it is Catholics today, doesn't mean it will be only Catholics targeted. This is only the beginnings for Daesh.

There are other countries in this region that practice Catholicism, namely Indonesia. We know there are tensions between the religions at times, but, today there are also mixed marriages between Catholic and Muslim in Indonesia. The point is Daesh will seek to exploit any religious tensions in the region and seek to rekindle violence.

This is not an event that can be dismissed by the global community. This can be the continuing ideology of Daesh and it's leadership needs to be found, jailed and held for trial as responsible for these deaths and the terrorism of the Sri Lankan people.

One might think reaching the people to inform them of the kinds of tactics terrorists use to find others to recruit is found in the same media Daesh uses, the mobile phone.

This is a massacre of innocent people that all faiths abhor. There is no mass killing that is sanctioned by the great faiths of the world, including the Hindus and Buddhists. This is an act of mass murder surmounted out of hatred. The souls of these killers are already marked for damnation.

Don't leave Sri Lanka alone in recovering from this act of hatred. Please.

April 21, 2019

A series of eight bombings in Sri Lanka targeting Christian churches (click here) and hotels in three cities killed at least 207 people and wounded up to 450 others on Easter Sunday. Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene described the coordinated blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists. Here is what we know:

At 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, bombs tore apart three churches, one in the capital of Colombo, and two others in the cities of Negombo and Batticaloa.

Four hotels in Colombo were also attacked: the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand, the Tropical Inn and the Kingsbury. There was another explosion at a housing complex in Dematagoda.

Those targeted were members of Sri Lanka's Christian population and guests at the island nation's luxury hotels.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "several U.S. citizens" were among those killed.

The government of Sri Lanka has temporarily blocked social media services like Facebook and WhatsApp to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Sri Lanka's state minister for defense said seven suspects have been apprehended and the attacks appear to have been carried out by suicide bombers.