Peesphul

Since the beginning of the settlement enterprise, Israel has not constructed advanced regional wastewater treatment plants in the West Bank settlements as it has done inside Israel. Only 81 of the 121 settlements are connected to wastewater treatment facilities, and even these are outdated, frequently malfunction and shut down, and are not able to treat the necessary amount of sewage. Of the 17.5 million cubic meters of wastewater created annually by the settlements, 5.5 mcm flow as raw sewage into West Bank streams and riverbeds. The Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection has failed to take serious enforcement actions against settlements.

[…]

The first victims of the neglect of wastewater treatment are Palestinians, primarily residents of small towns and villages, who depend on water from natural sources - springs and wells - whose pollution causes disease and harms crops. Because settlements are generally at higher altitudes, their untreated wastewater flows down to nearby Palestinian communities.

B’Tselem

Photograph: A Palestinian farmer checks his destroyed crop as raw sewage from the illegal Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh flows through his olive grove, close to the Palestinian village of Deir al-Hatab in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 26, 2010. The Israeli army regular denies residents access to the grove for ‘security reasons’, despite the land and all surrounding areas belonging to Palestinians. The residents discovered thousands of destroyed olive trees on this rare occasion that they were allowed to enter their own farmland. (Getty Images)

The Gray Box

motherjones:

As New York City defends its controversial policing policy in court, here’s what you need to know.

funnyordie:

Comedian Prompts Kids to Play Drug Dealer Prank on Parents

Comedian Nathan Fielder tweeted a brilliant idea: Text your parents to imply you’ve got drugs for sale, then quickly ask them to ignore what you just said.

Read all the amazing results, and follow Nathan on Twitter!

So mean and evil! But hilarious

thisisjamaica:

The Dominican Republic’s Love Affair with Baseball

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David Rosenberg writes about Michael Hanson’s photographic study of baseball in the Dominican Republic and his observations on the passionate approach and dedication to his beloved sport in that country, saying that this might explain why the Dominican level of success in professional baseball is so high.

When photographer Michael Hanson traveled to the Dominican Republic to document what would become his series about baseball in the Caribbean nation, he was struck by how ubiquitous the sport is there. “Kids play sports everywhere in every country,” Hanson wrote via email. “It just feels different in the Dominican Republic. It’s on every……[Full article HERE]

Income Distribution

humanrightswatch:

Members of the Abida tribe point to a drone aircraft flying over Wadi Abida, Yemen on October 13, 2010. © 2010 Reuters

More info here.

(via fotojournalismus)

fer1972:

Know where you stand: Modern Day Locations blended with Major Historical Events by Seth Taras 

1. The Hindenberg Disaster of May 6, 1937 

2. Allied soldiers rushing the beach at Normandy in June 1944

3. The Fall of the Berlin wall in 1989

4. Adolf Hitler touring Paris and standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in 1940

(via reverendstaple)