npr--2020-09-05--Peter Strzok, Notorious Ex-G-Man, Explains Himself And Takes Aim At Trump

Peter Strzok , Notorious Ex-G-Man , Explains Himself And Takes Aim At Trump Peter Strzok omits a few important things from his new memoir , Compromised : Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump .
Strzok , one of the most notorious FBI officials in history , wants to rehabilitate himself .
But he leaves out parts of the story about which most readers probably are most curious — including his relationship with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page .
Strzok and Page carried on an extramarital affair even as they worked at the core of some of the FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of messages via their FBI-provided mobile phones , some of which `` expressed political opinions about candidates and issues involved in the 2016 presidential election , including statements of hostility '' toward Donald Trump `` and statements of support for '' for Hillary Clinton , as the Justice Department 's inspector general wrote .
Flip to Page 400 of your copy of the IG report for this example , in which Strzok wrote to Page : `` Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart .
I could SMELL the Trump support ... .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9,311 messages from Strzok 's phone and 10,760 from Page 's .
This material provided critics of the FBI and the Russia inquiry with sensational ammunition in their years-long campaign to counterattack by tearing down federal law enforcement .
Strzok acknowledges transgressions in the book but says he wants to spare his family and focus his story on the job .
Moreover , he argues , FBI employees are allowed to have opinions and even use their mobile devices for personal communications .
`` Having said that , just because something might be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or prudent , '' Strzok writes .
This is a lesson for which he is to pay a price .
Strzok was at the center of a number of white-hot cases over his career and would have had ample material for a book even before his path crossed with that of Donald J. Trump .
That , however , is what fate had in store , and for as much as Strzok and his publisher may want this book to be about Trump or the counterintelligence business , it clearly ca n't avoid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privately contemptuous of the Republican politician he 's investigating and who 's violating his marital vows and leaving evidence of the foregoing on a U.S. government-issued electronic device also work by the book in his capacity as a top FBI investigator ?
No , Trump and his supporters have fulminated , and they 've sought to cast Strzok and Page as the faces of an ostensible conspiracy within officialdom out to get Trump .
Strzok , though , has always maintained that the answer is , in fact , yes — and he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his work and that of others in the FBI 's Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations .
What Strzok told Congress , and he writes now , was that he was simply a cog in a machine — a mighty bureau structured in such a way that no individual person 's personal feelings could influence the actions they or others might take officially .
He aims to tell the story from the cog's-eye view about what the whole team at the FBI uncovered .
That case , at least , Strzok is willing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gripping section about his role in one of the FBI 's great counterintelligence successes .
In the early 2000s , the bureau detected , tracked and then rolled up a big network of Russian sleeper agents who had been secretly living in the United States for years .
Read more about that here .
Strzok himself helped lead the work against some of these `` illegals '' in Boston , and his story about monitoring their clandestine shortwave instructions and discovering evidence confirming their origins is one of the strongest here .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own .
Russian intelligence operations are sophisticated and dangerous , he writes .
So Strzok and other officials were worried when they learned in 2016 that a junior aide to Trump 's campaign , George Papadopoulos , drunkenly revealed he had been importuned by Russian operatives offering help with that year 's election .
That and other secret evidence put the U.S. intelligence community onto the hunt , which led in myriad directions amid the discovery of that year 's wave of `` active measures '' directed at the election to help Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FBI , part of the work required assessing whether Trump and his camp were part of the scheme and , if so , who in the campaign might be involved .
From Papadopoulos , that led investigators to campaign chairman Paul Manafort — since revealed to have given polling data to a Russian contact linked with its military intelligence agency — as well as a junior aide , Carter Page , and national security adviser Mike Flynn .
The publication of Strzok 's book follows a Senate Intelligence Committee report that linked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strongly with Russia 's military intelligence agency GRU , which led the active measures in 2016 .
What consequence might Manafort 's donations to Kilminik have had on those efforts ?
Manafort eventually was tried and convicted on charges that did not include alleged conspiracy with the Russians ; special counsel Robert Mueller 's report concluded there was insufficient evidence for a conspiracy case against him or anyone else in the Trump camp .
The special counsel also made clear that he was n't absolving Trump of wrongdoing , and Strzok writes that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solid evidence that prosecutors require in order to go before a jury. ''
'We ca n't prove this beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law ' often does not mean 'This did n't happen , ' `` he writes .
Strzok 's opening section seeks to illustrate why counterintelligence officers worry about a foreign government taking time to cultivate a source .
Building a relationship with someone promising , including over a course of years or longer , can pay off if that person one day joins an incoming administration and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stuff — and a ready-made conduit for insights back to the foreign nation 's intelligence agency .
That 's what the `` illegals '' Strzok chased were doing : Watching students at Harvard and other parts of the Boston establishment matriculate up into the elite , keeping an eye on those who might one day prove useful to the foreign intelligence service , the SVR .
That 's also one reason FBI counterintelligence officials worried about the relationships people in Trump 's camp had , in one form or another , with important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigators about his contacts with the Russians and served a brief prison sentence .
Manafort was sentenced to prison in connection with other crimes , albeit with questions unanswered about his intentions and full awareness .
Officials conducted surveillance on Page for a time but never charged him — a subplot that Trump and critics have hammered into an attack on the whole Russian investigation .
In the case of Flynn , subsequent revelations have confirmed that by the time he had entered government as national security adviser in the new Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to close the file on him , too .
Then Flynn lied about his conversations with Russia 's then-ambassador to the U.S. and reawakened fears about his vulnerability to compromise , which set Flynn off on the legal odyssey that continues to this day .
But Compromised is Strzok 's story , and not only does he not reveal everything , but he also must try to deal with all these Byzantine twists and turns involving what he knew then , what we now know , what we do n't know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Aficionados will welcome the insights he is able to provide about key moments in the story , but newcomers may struggle to keep their heads above water .
For those with a solid background in the Clinton email and Russia imbroglios , Strzok 's account obviously is essential .
He describes how he perceived very quickly , for example , that the nature of any alleged criminal transgressions in Clinton 's email case made it very unlikely that the Justice Department would prosecute her .
No matter who is involved , the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the clearest-cut matters , and officials believe their energies are better applied chasing bigger game , he says .
`` Historically , trying to get DOJ to prosecute mishandling of confidential-level information was like trying to persuade a fraternity house that spiked seltzer is a real drink , '' Strzok writes .
The story gets more serious .
Trump is elected .
The outgoing Obama administration censures Russia for the interference .
BuzzFeed publishes the now-infamous , unverified Russia dossier .
The Flynn flap blows up .
Trump fires FBI Director James @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tailspin — Comey 's assistant cries on Strzok 's shoulder .
Special counsel Robert Mueller comes onboard .
And then Mueller fires Strzok .
The text messages and the background with Page , which many readers know but which Strzok has n't described in detail , make him radioactive when the story becomes public .
Mueller and Strzok both become subject to intense political attacks and , in Strzok 's case , strangers begin coming by his house and harassing his family .
Meanwhile the FBI exiles him , a career operator and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department .
Then , amid unrelenting criticism from Trump , the president 's supporters and from within the bureau and the Justice Department , the ax finally falls .
Strzok seems sanguine about investigators going back through materials from the Clinton email case , which includes text messages he says he barely remembers at that point — and which he does n't described for readers .
It also appears never to occur to him they might become public .
He has n't appreciated how much the political situation in Washington has shifted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ about what he considers the betrayal and sophistry that justified his firing .
He sits with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz , who says , per Strzok : `` 'Pete , ' Horowitz said , 'we 're not saying you acted with bias .
We 're saying we ca n't eliminate the possibility that bias played a role in your decision-making . '
`` '' How in the hell do I prove a mental negative ?
I thought , '' Strzok writes .
`` In fact , I argued '' — with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` all the facts they had developed pointed to the opposite conclusion : if anything , my actions hurt Clinton and helped Trump .
I do n't know what more I can say , I said , shaking my head . ''
Strzok 's text messages with Page made him an albatross around the neck of the FBI .
The bureau dumps him to try to cool things off .
It did n't work .
Criticism of DOJ and the FBI have persisted through until now , including in calls for the head @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all this , Christopher Wray .
Readers ' enjoyment , if that is the right phrase , of Strzok 's book will depend on how much they buy his premise — that a flawed G-Man can leave his feelings at home and do his job by the book — and how much they sympathize with him as a narrator .
Rep. Jim Jordan , R-Ohio , ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee , probably will not be won over .
Strzok has sued the FBI over his termination , arguing it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trouble other readers about Compromised are n't the author 's fault .
Many of the biggest questions about this chapter in U.S. history still do n't have answers — from Strzok or anyone else on the outside .
What did Manafort know and think about what he was doing with his Russian friend ?
Only Manafort could say .
What did Trump know and do ?
Only he could fully say .
Et cetera .
So although Strzok lost his job at the FBI , the broader story does n't have an ending @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump is `` compromised '' — but he prepares readers for the prospect that nothing may come of that .
`` One of the harshest realities that special agents must accept is learning to live with the knowledge that someone 's misdeed may not be punished , '' Strzok writes .
`` This is a bitter pill to swallow , as every FBI agent I know is motivated by a profound desire to pursue justice .
In this world , bad people sometimes get away with bad things .
Some particularly thoughtful senior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard fact , but I would n't feel the full weight of that lesson until the end of my career . ''

Peter Strzok, Notorious Ex-G-Man, Explains Himself And Takes Aim At Trump
Enlarge this image toggle caption Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg via Getty Images
Peter Strzok omits a few important things from his new memoir, Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump.
Strzok, one of the most notorious FBI officials in history, wants to rehabilitate himself. But he leaves out parts of the story about which most readers probably are most curious — including his relationship with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page.
Strzok and Page carried on an extramarital affair even as they worked at the core of some of the FBI's biggest cases.
They exchanged thousands of messages via their FBI-provided mobile phones, some of which "expressed political opinions about candidates and issues involved in the 2016 presidential election, including statements of hostility" toward Donald Trump "and statements of support for" for Hillary Clinton, as the Justice Department's inspector general wrote.
Flip to Page 400 of your copy of the IG report for this example, in which Strzok wrote to Page: "Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support...."
toggle caption Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
And so on. Investigators recovered 9,311 messages from Strzok's phone and 10,760 from Page's.
This material provided critics of the FBI and the Russia inquiry with sensational ammunition in their years-long campaign to counterattack by tearing down federal law enforcement.
Strzok acknowledges transgressions in the book but says he wants to spare his family and focus his story on the job. Moreover, he argues, FBI employees are allowed to have opinions and even use their mobile devices for personal communications.
"Having said that, just because something might be allowed doesn't necessarily make it wise or prudent," Strzok writes. This is a lesson for which he is to pay a price.
Strzok was at the center of a number of white-hot cases over his career and would have had ample material for a book even before his path crossed with that of Donald J. Trump.
That, however, is what fate had in store, and for as much as Strzok and his publisher may want this book to be about Trump or the counterintelligence business, it clearly can't avoid being about him.
Can a gumshoe privately contemptuous of the Republican politician he's investigating and who's violating his marital vows and leaving evidence of the foregoing on a U.S. government-issued electronic device also work by the book in his capacity as a top FBI investigator?
No, Trump and his supporters have fulminated, and they've sought to cast Strzok and Page as the faces of an ostensible conspiracy within officialdom out to get Trump.
Strzok, though, has always maintained that the answer is, in fact, yes — and he cites subsequent investigations which he says defended his work and that of others in the FBI's Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations.
What Strzok told Congress, and he writes now, was that he was simply a cog in a machine — a mighty bureau structured in such a way that no individual person's personal feelings could influence the actions they or others might take officially.
He aims to tell the story from the cog's-eye view about what the whole team at the FBI uncovered.
Spy game
That case, at least, Strzok is willing to make in detail, beginning with a gripping section about his role in one of the FBI's great counterintelligence successes. In the early 2000s, the bureau detected, tracked and then rolled up a big network of Russian sleeper agents who had been secretly living in the United States for years.
Read more about that here.
Strzok himself helped lead the work against some of these "illegals" in Boston, and his story about monitoring their clandestine shortwave instructions and discovering evidence confirming their origins is one of the strongest here. It could have been a book on its own.
Russian intelligence operations are sophisticated and dangerous, he writes. So Strzok and other officials were worried when they learned in 2016 that a junior aide to Trump's campaign, George Papadopoulos, drunkenly revealed he had been importuned by Russian operatives offering help with that year's election.
That and other secret evidence put the U.S. intelligence community onto the hunt, which led in myriad directions amid the discovery of that year's wave of "active measures" directed at the election to help Trump.
In the case of Strzok and the FBI, part of the work required assessing whether Trump and his camp were part of the scheme and, if so, who in the campaign might be involved.
From Papadopoulos, that led investigators to campaign chairman Paul Manafort — since revealed to have given polling data to a Russian contact linked with its military intelligence agency — as well as a junior aide, Carter Page, and national security adviser Mike Flynn.
The publication of Strzok's book follows a Senate Intelligence Committee report that linked Manafort's contact, Konstantin Kilimnik, strongly with Russia's military intelligence agency GRU, which led the active measures in 2016.
What consequence might Manafort's donations to Kilminik have had on those efforts?
Writes Strzok:
"There are few, if any, innocuous reasons for Kilimnik's interest in the polling data — it is far too detailed to serve as a simple display of the strength of the campaign. But it would provide a boon to someone who wanted to know where key voting blocs were, where winning over voters would provide the strongest belief in the race for Electoral College delegates. Someone like Russian government intelligence officers, who were beginning to place advertisements and targeted posts in U.S. social media."
Manafort eventually was tried and convicted on charges that did not include alleged conspiracy with the Russians; special counsel Robert Mueller's report concluded there was insufficient evidence for a conspiracy case against him or anyone else in the Trump camp.
The special counsel also made clear that he wasn't absolving Trump of wrongdoing, and Strzok writes that counterintelligence cases seldom yield the kind of solid evidence that prosecutors require in order to go before a jury.
" 'We can't prove this beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law' often does not mean 'This didn't happen,' " he writes.
Strzok's opening section seeks to illustrate why counterintelligence officers worry about a foreign government taking time to cultivate a source. Building a relationship with someone promising, including over a course of years or longer, can pay off if that person one day joins an incoming administration and finds himself Deputy Assistant Secretary of Secret Stuff — and a ready-made conduit for insights back to the foreign nation's intelligence agency.
That's what the "illegals" Strzok chased were doing: Watching students at Harvard and other parts of the Boston establishment matriculate up into the elite, keeping an eye on those who might one day prove useful to the foreign intelligence service, the SVR.
The long game
That's also one reason FBI counterintelligence officials worried about the relationships people in Trump's camp had, in one form or another, with important Russians in 2016.
Papadopoulos lied to investigators about his contacts with the Russians and served a brief prison sentence.
Manafort was sentenced to prison in connection with other crimes, albeit with questions unanswered about his intentions and full awareness. Officials conducted surveillance on Page for a time but never charged him — a subplot that Trump and critics have hammered into an attack on the whole Russian investigation.
In the case of Flynn, subsequent revelations have confirmed that by the time he had entered government as national security adviser in the new Trump administration, Strzok and his compatriots were almost ready to close the file on him, too.
Then Flynn lied about his conversations with Russia's then-ambassador to the U.S. and reawakened fears about his vulnerability to compromise, which set Flynn off on the legal odyssey that continues to this day.
But Compromised is Strzok's story, and not only does he not reveal everything, but he also must try to deal with all these Byzantine twists and turns involving what he knew then, what we now know, what we don't know, and what he thinks it means.
Aficionados will welcome the insights he is able to provide about key moments in the story, but newcomers may struggle to keep their heads above water.
For those with a solid background in the Clinton email and Russia imbroglios, Strzok's account obviously is essential. He describes how he perceived very quickly, for example, that the nature of any alleged criminal transgressions in Clinton's email case made it very unlikely that the Justice Department would prosecute her.
No matter who is involved, the law is too difficult to apply in all but the clearest-cut matters, and officials believe their energies are better applied chasing bigger game, he says.
"Historically, trying to get DOJ to prosecute mishandling of confidential-level information was like trying to persuade a fraternity house that spiked seltzer is a real drink," Strzok writes.
The turn
The story gets more serious.
Trump is elected. The outgoing Obama administration censures Russia for the interference. BuzzFeed publishes the now-infamous, unverified Russia dossier. The Flynn flap blows up. Trump fires FBI Director James Comey, sending the bureau into a tailspin — Comey's assistant cries on Strzok's shoulder. Special counsel Robert Mueller comes onboard.
And then Mueller fires Strzok. The text messages and the background with Page, which many readers know but which Strzok hasn't described in detail, make him radioactive when the story becomes public.
Mueller and Strzok both become subject to intense political attacks and, in Strzok's case, strangers begin coming by his house and harassing his family. Meanwhile the FBI exiles him, a career operator and counterintelligence specialist, to its human resources department.
Then, amid unrelenting criticism from Trump, the president's supporters and from within the bureau and the Justice Department, the ax finally falls.
Strzok seems sanguine about investigators going back through materials from the Clinton email case, which includes text messages he says he barely remembers at that point — and which he doesn't described for readers.
It also appears never to occur to him they might become public. He hasn't appreciated how much the political situation in Washington has shifted.
"I was naive," he writes.
Strzok's anger burns in the passages about what he considers the betrayal and sophistry that justified his firing.
He sits with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who says, per Strzok: " 'Pete,' Horowitz said, 'we're not saying you acted with bias. We're saying we can't eliminate the possibility that bias played a role in your decision-making.' "
"How in the hell do I prove a mental negative? I thought," Strzok writes."In fact, I argued" — with respect to the Clinton email case — "all the facts they had developed pointed to the opposite conclusion: if anything, my actions hurt Clinton and helped Trump. I don't know what more I can say, I said, shaking my head."
Strzok's text messages with Page made him an albatross around the neck of the FBI. The bureau dumps him to try to cool things off. It didn't work. Criticism of DOJ and the FBI have persisted through until now, including in calls for the head of the director who came in after all this, Christopher Wray.
Resonance
Readers' enjoyment, if that is the right phrase, of Strzok's book will depend on how much they buy his premise — that a flawed G-Man can leave his feelings at home and do his job by the book — and how much they sympathize with him as a narrator. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, probably will not be won over.
Strzok has sued the FBI over his termination, arguing it was politically motivated.
Some of what may trouble other readers about Compromised aren't the author's fault. Many of the biggest questions about this chapter in U.S. history still don't have answers — from Strzok or anyone else on the outside.
What did Manafort know and think about what he was doing with his Russian friend? Only Manafort could say. What did Trump know and do? Only he could fully say. Et cetera.
So although Strzok lost his job at the FBI, the broader story doesn't have an ending. In the author's view, Trump is "compromised" — but he prepares readers for the prospect that nothing may come of that.
"One of the harshest realities that special agents must accept is learning to live with the knowledge that someone's misdeed may not be punished," Strzok writes. "This is a bitter pill to swallow, as every FBI agent I know is motivated by a profound desire to pursue justice. In this world, bad people sometimes get away with bad things. Some particularly thoughtful senior agents in Boston tried to convey that hard fact, but I wouldn't feel the full weight of that lesson until the end of my career."


npr--2020-09-06--Tunisia's Youth Still Struggle A Decade After The Uprising

Tunisia 's Youth Still Struggle A Decade After The Uprising Note : This piece contains a disturbing description of self-immolation .
In the middle of Jelma , a town of roughly 6,000 in Tunisia 's interior , a light wind picks up dust on a colonial-era built railroad that 's no longer in use .
Several people walk over the worn tracks going about their business in a place that largely feels abandoned by the government .
Only about 21 miles away is the city of Sidi Bouzeid , where , in December 2010 , produce vendor Mohamed Bouazizi , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being regularly harassed by police .
He died nearly three weeks later , kicking off youth-led anti-government protests and ultimately , the Arab Spring .
Then this past December , nearly a decade on from the uprisings , Jelma became the flashpoint of renewed violence after another young man , Abdelwaheb Hablani , 25 , self-immolated in an olive grove to protest poverty and poor living conditions .
Hablani , from an impoverished family , worked as a day laborer and had not been paid in nearly two years .
`` People who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hands to the sky and shouted , 'Oh , God , they have been unjust with me ! '
before pouring fuel over himself and then setting himself on fire , '' his father , Jilani , said .
Farmers put the flames out , but Hablani later succumbed to his injuries .
His desperation and act of suicide sparked protests and clashes with police .
For three days roads were blocked as young people again took to the streets to call for greater equality and more economic opportunities .
Jelma suffers from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tunisian towns that make for , as one resident put it , a `` recipe for an explosive situation . ''
Since the 2011 revolution , there 's been high poverty , inaccessibility to clean water , lack of municipal transportation and other public services and high unemployment .
For a country that was already grappling with deep socio-economic problems before the pandemic , the expected fiscal fallout will no doubt only aggravate tensions .
Protests against the Tunisian government 's lockdown broke out in late March as newly unemployed citizens struggled to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ angry that conditions have worsened since the uprising .
Many decry widespread corruption and are frustrated at the lack of job opportunities as the unemployment rate for 15-to-24-year olds has climbed to double the national average .
According to the Tunisian Observatory for Democratic Transition , a think tank , personal and professional connections — not schooling and relevant skills — are still the preferred metric to get a job .
And young Tunisians do n't trust the political process to make improvements .
`` After the revolution , much of the youth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involved in the political process , '' said Hafedh Chekir , a demographer with the Tunisian Observatory for Democratic Transition .
It led vast swaths of youth to disengage in formal politics .
It 's also led to suicide — often as self-immolations outside municipal buildings — as a form of public protest .
It has become a way of emulating Bouazizi 's 2010 act to demonstrate the depth of despair , revealing how poverty and the lack of opportunities have left young people feeling like dying will at least mean something , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ youth community center near the town of Sfax in early March , two actors rehearse a scene from a play about young Tunisians migrating to Europe in search of a better life .
In it , one actor plays an unemployed man who walks into a Tunisian employment agency hoping to find a job , only to be met by an uninterested agent playing video games on his phone .
The agent 's apathy spurs the unemployed man into wonder whether he should just leave the country for Europe .
It 's how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , leaving seems better than staying , where they say living seems futile .
This story was supported by The GroundTruth project with additional reporting by Shelby Ben Brahim .
It was reported in the region before the coronavirus pandemic .

Tunisia's Youth Still Struggle A Decade After The Uprising
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
Note: This piece contains a disturbing description of self-immolation.
In the middle of Jelma, a town of roughly 6,000 in Tunisia's interior, a light wind picks up dust on a colonial-era built railroad that's no longer in use. Several people walk over the worn tracks going about their business in a place that largely feels abandoned by the government.
Only about 21 miles away is the city of Sidi Bouzeid, where, in December 2010, produce vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, set himself on fire after being regularly harassed by police. He died nearly three weeks later, kicking off youth-led anti-government protests and ultimately, the Arab Spring.
Then this past December, nearly a decade on from the uprisings, Jelma became the flashpoint of renewed violence after another young man, Abdelwaheb Hablani, 25, self-immolated in an olive grove to protest poverty and poor living conditions. Hablani, from an impoverished family, worked as a day laborer and had not been paid in nearly two years.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
"People who saw him there said he raised his hands to the sky and shouted, 'Oh, God, they have been unjust with me!' before pouring fuel over himself and then setting himself on fire," his father, Jilani, said.
Farmers put the flames out, but Hablani later succumbed to his injuries.
Loading...
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
His desperation and act of suicide sparked protests and clashes with police. For three days roads were blocked as young people again took to the streets to call for greater equality and more economic opportunities.
Jelma suffers from a host of issues common to many Tunisian towns that make for, as one resident put it, a "recipe for an explosive situation." Since the 2011 revolution, there's been high poverty, inaccessibility to clean water, lack of municipal transportation and other public services and high unemployment.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
For a country that was already grappling with deep socio-economic problems before the pandemic, the expected fiscal fallout will no doubt only aggravate tensions. Protests against the Tunisian government's lockdown broke out in late March as newly unemployed citizens struggled to feed their families.
Young Tunisians are angry that conditions have worsened since the uprising. Many decry widespread corruption and are frustrated at the lack of job opportunities as the unemployment rate for 15-to-24-year olds has climbed to double the national average.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
According to the Tunisian Observatory for Democratic Transition, a think tank, personal and professional connections — not schooling and relevant skills — are still the preferred metric to get a job.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
And young Tunisians don't trust the political process to make improvements.
"After the revolution, much of the youth were excluded from politics and were not involved in the political process," said Hafedh Chekir, a demographer with the Tunisian Observatory for Democratic Transition. It led vast swaths of youth to disengage in formal politics.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
It's also led to suicide — often as self-immolations outside municipal buildings — as a form of public protest. It has become a way of emulating Bouazizi's 2010 act to demonstrate the depth of despair, revealing how poverty and the lack of opportunities have left young people feeling like dying will at least mean something, when living doesn't.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
At a youth community center near the town of Sfax in early March, two actors rehearse a scene from a play about young Tunisians migrating to Europe in search of a better life. In it, one actor plays an unemployed man who walks into a Tunisian employment agency hoping to find a job, only to be met by an uninterested agent playing video games on his phone. The agent's apathy spurs the unemployed man into wonder whether he should just leave the country for Europe.
It's how many young Tunisians feel. For them, leaving seems better than staying, where they say living seems futile.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nicole Tung Nicole Tung
This story was supported by The GroundTruth Project with additional reporting by Shelby Ben Brahim. It was reported in the region before the coronavirus pandemic.


npr--2020-09-06--'A Journey That We Have To Join Together': 2 Dutch Women Confront Slavery's Legacy

' A Journey That We Have To Join Together ' : 2 Dutch Women Confront Slavery 's Legacy Peggy Bouva was at home in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam a couple of years ago when she got a call that fascinated her .
The woman on the phone , Maartje Duin , calling from Amsterdam , said she wanted to talk about slavery .
Duin told Bouva that she had done some research into her own family history and found their families shared a connection : One of Duin 's ancestors had co-owned a plantation in South America where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` This was the first time that I spoke with a white person about slavery and their connection with it , '' says Bouva , a business controller who is Black and whose parents emigrated to the Netherlands from Suriname , a country bordering Brazil that was a Dutch colony for nearly 300 years .
`` I was curious about where this all would lead . ''
Where it led was to two years of joint research that resulted in a popular , eight-part podcast the women co-produced and Duin hosted , delving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colonial past that most of the country has avoided confronting .
They hope the podcast , which has half-a-million listeners , will help the Dutch acknowledge painful chapters in history and contribute to national healing .
Bouva had grown accustomed to hearing white Dutch people praise the era between the 16th and 19th centuries , when their ancestors thrived as sea traders .
Their wealth helped fund Amsterdam 's canal-side mansions and contributed to the Golden Age that produced Rembrandt and Vermeer .
The era also thrived on the slave trade .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the Dutch West India Company , financed by Amsterdam 's bankers , carried more than 600,000 Africans to be sold in the Americas .
That seemed to be someone else 's history .
`` Our teacher showed us the television series Roots , '' she says , `` as if slavery was only an American problem . ''
Duin similarly remembers her own history teacher playing the series and largely skipping over any mention of the Dutch slave trade .
`` We know so little about this period of time , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those who were enslaved and their descendants , '' says Duin , a freelance radio journalist .
`` We do n't see ourselves — we white Dutch people — we do n't see ourselves as part of that history . ''
As the women dug into their families ' histories — and Dutch history — together , they confronted painful issues , such as the role of white privilege in a society that had long convinced itself that it was equal .
They tackled the racist legacy of colonialism , what it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it takes to mend a society warped by slavery 's legacy .
They documented every twist and turn and turned their research into their podcast , De Plantage van Onze Voorouders , `` The Plantation of Our Ancestors , '' produced by the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO and the media production company Prospektor .
`` What 's hardest for [ white ] people to acknowledge is that we live in a post-colonial society , '' Duin says tells NPR , `` and that white people have have profited off that system and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something about . ''
`` We wanted to show people that you can talk about this openly , '' says Bouva , `` even if it 's uncomfortable . ''
The podcast has searing moments .
Bouva despairs when she struggles to find details about her ancestors in the national archives in The Hague .
She eventually finds their first names on colonial-era inventory lists , some `` crossed off like objects , '' she says , after they died .
She tells Duin that she does n't feel welcome in the Netherlands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ born and raised — because the color of her skin makes her an outsider .
`` When they hear me talking on the phone , they assume I 'm white , '' she explains to NPR later .
`` But when they see me and realize my parents were not born in the Netherlands , they treat me differently .
It feels cold . ''
In the podcast , Duin is openly uneasy as she tries to figure out how much one of her own ancestors — a great-great-great-grandmother who had never visited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ held stock in .
She also admonishes herself for initially telling Bouva her enslaved ancestors had `` worked '' on the plantation .
`` When you work , you get paid , '' Duin says in the podcast .
`` They were exploited . ''
The women travel together to Suriname to visit the old Dutch sugar plantation , now an oil refinery .
Duin meets Bouva 's extended family , including an uncle who says he wants the Dutch government to apologize for slavery .
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has refused to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country 's history of slavery , saying an apology would polarize society .
Duin asks Bouva 's uncle if an apology from her , a plantation owner 's descendant , would mean anything .
It would , he says .
He grew up hearing about how badly his ancestors were beaten .
`` Sometimes I can even feel the whippings , '' he tells her .
Something about the pain in his voice and eyes leaves Duin speechless and in tears .
She finds the words `` I 'm sorry '' sticking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sorry fell so short , '' Duin tells NPR .
`` That was such a small word for such a big tragedy .
It felt more sincere to just sit with that feeling of sadness and not take it too personally . ''
Bouva says she and her uncle were n't angry or disappointed that Duin could n't get the words out .
In fact , she says , the moment felt bigger than a verbal apology .
`` Her sadness acknowledged his sadness , '' she says .
`` It was n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Amsterdam city council member Simion Blom says he was stunned when he heard the podcast .
`` I said , 'Hey , that 's my family ! '
'' he recalls .
He is related to Bouva and his ancestors were also enslaved on the sugar plantation .
In the podcast , Bouva and Duin address the racist legacy of colonialism more directly than most Dutch politicians , he says .
Conservatives play down or even ignore it , he says , while liberals get caught up in their own feelings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feelings of shame , '' he says .
`` For me , as a descendant of enslaved people , it 's about just telling the stories so we all know what the history is — and we all know how it is linked to our current society . ''
Blom says he has seen this link firsthand .
He was born in Suriname and moved to the Netherlands with his family in 1993 , when he was 5 .
They settled in southeast Amsterdam , where the Dutch government housed families from former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in grade school , he wondered : `` Why are all the people in my neighborhood poor ?
Why do you have a lot of broken families ?
Does society believe in us ? ''
The high-rises in Bijlmermeer , the district where he was raised , had originally been built as part of a futuristic development for middle-class white families who never showed up .
The immigrant families who moved in instead remained isolated for years , and the area became notorious for high unemployment , crime and drug abuse .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a `` national disaster area . ''
Its prospects have turned around in recent years , after government aid .
It 's now an up-and-coming district , with 150 nationalities represented among nearly 90,000 residents .
But the scars remain , Blom says .
He sees it in the district 's lower-performing schools and in how Black Dutch people are treated differently in a society that considers itself a model of equality .
He cites a study that showed job applicants with non-Western names getting 30 % fewer callbacks for interviews than those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watchdog found this summer that the national tax authority — which has for years been embroiled in a scandal over wrongfully accusing parents of committing child benefit fraud — unfairly targeted citizens based on their holding double nationality .
Every July 1 , Blom and his neighbors observe the day in 1863 when the Dutch freed those enslaved in Suriname , though they still were forced to work another decade on plantations for minimal pay to make it easier for white plantation owners to manage .
The anniversary is called Keti Koti , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' in Sranan Tongo , a Creole language spoken in Suriname .
Blom sees the festival as a way for Black Dutch people to say `` my culture , my background , is also part of Dutch identity . ''
`` It 's like there are two versions of colonial history in this country , '' he says .
`` The Black version and the white version . ''
One includes slavery , he says , while the other does not .
If a Black person brings up slavery , `` We 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's not acceptable . ''
Earlier this year , Blom and another city council member , Don Ceder , who also represents southeast Amsterdam , led a successful push for the Netherlands ' largest city to apologize for its role in slavery .
Amsterdam once held a one-third stake in Suriname , where enslaved people harvesting sugar cane on Dutch-run plantations made Amsterdammers wealthy .
A majority of the council approved the apology .
It 's now researching to whom the apology should be addressed : the Dutch citizens who are descendants of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Antilles — or all of the above .
It 's largely an effort to `` reconcile with the past '' and get to the real issues , says Ceder , an Amsterdam attorney and the son of a Surinamese father and Ghanaian mother .
`` What does it mean to acknowledge that colonial history does , till this day , have some kind of effect ? ''
he says .
`` How are we going to repair that ? ''
Dutch governments have n't talked about those questions , he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with money .
`` That 's where it gets sensitive , '' he says .
`` That 's where people say , 'Oh wait , so now it 's going to cost me something . '
That 's where the discussion starts ending . ''
Not for Duin and Bouva .
Their podcast 's final episode deals with reparations .
Who should pay ?
And where should the money go ?
And how would reparations tackle institutional racism ?
Karwan Fatah-Black , a historian at Leiden University who specializes in the Dutch colonial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reparations is n't just about the money .
It 's about acknowledging that slavery has warped society .
Speaking later with NPR , he says the most popular book about colonial history in the Netherlands `` is very dismissive of the idea that there is a connection between historical slavery and present-day racism .
And it talks in a very denigrating way about this history and about the memory of people of slave descent .
So that 's the mainstream narrative . ''
Duin and Bouva hope their podcast can help change that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the Netherlands ca n't be a progressive society until it understand colonial history .
`` It means really feeling part of it , and not feeling it 's [ only ] the history of the people from Suriname , but the people from Holland , '' Duin says .
Bouva says acknowledging this is the only way to integrate Dutch citizens with roots in the colonies .
`` If you do n't acknowledge that you 've damaged someone , it 's difficult to heal , '' she says .
`` And I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a journey that we have to join together if we want to have a future . ''

'A Journey That We Have To Join Together': 2 Dutch Women Confront Slavery's Legacy
toggle caption Lowrare Overman
Peggy Bouva was at home in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam a couple of years ago when she got a call that fascinated her.
The woman on the phone, Maartje Duin, calling from Amsterdam, said she wanted to talk about slavery. Duin told Bouva that she had done some research into her own family history and found their families shared a connection: One of Duin's ancestors had co-owned a plantation in South America where Bouva's ancestors had been enslaved.
"This was the first time that I spoke with a white person about slavery and their connection with it," says Bouva, a business controller who is Black and whose parents emigrated to the Netherlands from Suriname, a country bordering Brazil that was a Dutch colony for nearly 300 years. "I was curious about where this all would lead."
Where it led was to two years of joint research that resulted in a popular, eight-part podcast the women co-produced and Duin hosted, delving into painful issues of the Netherlands' colonial past that most of the country has avoided confronting. They hope the podcast, which has half-a-million listeners, will help the Dutch acknowledge painful chapters in history and contribute to national healing.
Bouva had grown accustomed to hearing white Dutch people praise the era between the 16th and 19th centuries, when their ancestors thrived as sea traders. Their wealth helped fund Amsterdam's canal-side mansions and contributed to the Golden Age that produced Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Maartje Duin Maartje Duin
The era also thrived on the slave trade. But Bouva's schoolbooks barely mentioned that ships from the Dutch West India Company, financed by Amsterdam's bankers, carried more than 600,000 Africans to be sold in the Americas. That seemed to be someone else's history.
"Our teacher showed us the television series Roots," she says, "as if slavery was only an American problem."
Duin similarly remembers her own history teacher playing the series and largely skipping over any mention of the Dutch slave trade.
"We know so little about this period of time, and we know so little about the experience of those who were enslaved and their descendants," says Duin, a freelance radio journalist. "We don't see ourselves — we white Dutch people — we don't see ourselves as part of that history."
As the women dug into their families' histories — and Dutch history — together, they confronted painful issues, such as the role of white privilege in a society that had long convinced itself that it was equal. They tackled the racist legacy of colonialism, what it means to apologize for slavery, what it takes to mend a society warped by slavery's legacy.
They documented every twist and turn and turned their research into their podcast, De Plantage van Onze Voorouders, "The Plantation of Our Ancestors," produced by the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO and the media production company Prospektor.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brian van der Leij Brian van der Leij
"What's hardest for [white] people to acknowledge is that we live in a post-colonial society," Duin says tells NPR, "and that white people have have profited off that system and that inequality is actually something we can do something about."
"We wanted to show people that you can talk about this openly," says Bouva, "even if it's uncomfortable."
The podcast has searing moments. Bouva despairs when she struggles to find details about her ancestors in the national archives in The Hague. She eventually finds their first names on colonial-era inventory lists, some "crossed off like objects," she says, after they died.
She tells Duin that she doesn't feel welcome in the Netherlands — the country where they were both born and raised — because the color of her skin makes her an outsider. "When they hear me talking on the phone, they assume I'm white," she explains to NPR later. "But when they see me and realize my parents were not born in the Netherlands, they treat me differently. It feels cold."
In the podcast, Duin is openly uneasy as she tries to figure out how much one of her own ancestors — a great-great-great-grandmother who had never visited Suriname — knew about the plantation she held stock in. She also admonishes herself for initially telling Bouva her enslaved ancestors had "worked" on the plantation.
"When you work, you get paid," Duin says in the podcast. "They were exploited."
The women travel together to Suriname to visit the old Dutch sugar plantation, now an oil refinery. Duin meets Bouva's extended family, including an uncle who says he wants the Dutch government to apologize for slavery.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has refused to apologize on behalf of his government for the country's history of slavery, saying an apology would polarize society. Duin asks Bouva's uncle if an apology from her, a plantation owner's descendant, would mean anything.
It would, he says. He grew up hearing about how badly his ancestors were beaten.
"Sometimes I can even feel the whippings," he tells her.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brian van der Leij Brian van der Leij
Something about the pain in his voice and eyes leaves Duin speechless and in tears.
She finds the words "I'm sorry" sticking in her throat.
"To say sorry fell so short," Duin tells NPR. "That was such a small word for such a big tragedy. It felt more sincere to just sit with that feeling of sadness and not take it too personally."
Bouva says she and her uncle weren't angry or disappointed that Duin couldn't get the words out. In fact, she says, the moment felt bigger than a verbal apology.
"Her sadness acknowledged his sadness," she says. "It wasn't about her, but about him."
Amsterdam city council member Simion Blom says he was stunned when he heard the podcast.
"I said, 'Hey, that's my family!'" he recalls.
He is related to Bouva and his ancestors were also enslaved on the sugar plantation.
In the podcast, Bouva and Duin address the racist legacy of colonialism more directly than most Dutch politicians, he says. Conservatives play down or even ignore it, he says, while liberals get caught up in their own feelings of shame.
"I cannot use feelings of shame," he says. "For me, as a descendant of enslaved people, it's about just telling the stories so we all know what the history is — and we all know how it is linked to our current society."
Blom says he has seen this link firsthand. He was born in Suriname and moved to the Netherlands with his family in 1993, when he was 5. They settled in southeast Amsterdam, where the Dutch government housed families from former colonies starting in the 1970s.
Even in grade school, he wondered: "Why are all the people in my neighborhood poor? Why do you have a lot of broken families? Does society believe in us?"
The high-rises in Bijlmermeer, the district where he was raised, had originally been built as part of a futuristic development for middle-class white families who never showed up. The immigrant families who moved in instead remained isolated for years, and the area became notorious for high unemployment, crime and drug abuse. The area's police chief once called it a "national disaster area."
Its prospects have turned around in recent years, after government aid. It's now an up-and-coming district, with 150 nationalities represented among nearly 90,000 residents.
But the scars remain, Blom says. He sees it in the district's lower-performing schools and in how Black Dutch people are treated differently in a society that considers itself a model of equality. He cites a study that showed job applicants with non-Western names getting 30% fewer callbacks for interviews than those with Western names. And a privacy watchdog found this summer that the national tax authority — which has for years been embroiled in a scandal over wrongfully accusing parents of committing child benefit fraud — unfairly targeted citizens based on their holding double nationality.
Every July 1, Blom and his neighbors observe the day in 1863 when the Dutch freed those enslaved in Suriname, though they still were forced to work another decade on plantations for minimal pay to make it easier for white plantation owners to manage. The anniversary is called Keti Koti, which means "the chains are broken" in Sranan Tongo, a Creole language spoken in Suriname.
Blom sees the festival as a way for Black Dutch people to say "my culture, my background, is also part of Dutch identity."
"It's like there are two versions of colonial history in this country," he says. "The Black version and the white version."
One includes slavery, he says, while the other does not. If a Black person brings up slavery, "We're accused of playing the victim. That's not acceptable."
Earlier this year, Blom and another city council member, Don Ceder, who also represents southeast Amsterdam, led a successful push for the Netherlands' largest city to apologize for its role in slavery. Amsterdam once held a one-third stake in Suriname, where enslaved people harvesting sugar cane on Dutch-run plantations made Amsterdammers wealthy.
A majority of the council approved the apology. It's now researching to whom the apology should be addressed: the Dutch citizens who are descendants of the enslaved, the citizens of Suriname and the Antilles — or all of the above.
It's largely an effort to "reconcile with the past" and get to the real issues, says Ceder, an Amsterdam attorney and the son of a Surinamese father and Ghanaian mother.
"What does it mean to acknowledge that colonial history does, till this day, have some kind of effect?" he says. "How are we going to repair that?"
Dutch governments haven't talked about those questions, he says, because the answers have to do with money.
"That's where it gets sensitive," he says. "That's where people say, 'Oh wait, so now it's going to cost me something.' That's where the discussion starts ending."
Not for Duin and Bouva. Their podcast's final episode deals with reparations. Who should pay? And where should the money go? And how would reparations tackle institutional racism?
Karwan Fatah-Black, a historian at Leiden University who specializes in the Dutch colonial era, tells Duin that talking about reparations isn't just about the money. It's about acknowledging that slavery has warped society.
Speaking later with NPR, he says the most popular book about colonial history in the Netherlands "is very dismissive of the idea that there is a connection between historical slavery and present-day racism. And it talks in a very denigrating way about this history and about the memory of people of slave descent. So that's the mainstream narrative."
Duin and Bouva hope their podcast can help change that. Duin wants the Dutch to understand that the Netherlands can't be a progressive society until it understand colonial history.
"It means really feeling part of it, and not feeling it's [only] the history of the people from Suriname, but the people from Holland," Duin says.
Bouva says acknowledging this is the only way to integrate Dutch citizens with roots in the colonies.
"If you don't acknowledge that you've damaged someone, it's difficult to heal," she says. "And I think as a nation, this is a journey that we have to join together if we want to have a future."


npr--2020-09-06--Whatever Happened To ... The Melting Permafrost?

Whatever Happened To ...
The Melting Permafrost ?
In 2018 , we reported on concerns that zombie pathogens — ancient bacteria and viruses that could potentially rise from the dead and threaten humans if the layers of frozen permafrost where they 're buried thaw as the Earth warms .
The consensus among the scientists interviewed was : It 's unlikely — although there was one tantalizing anecdote about a scientist whose knee may have become infected after contact with a defrosted seal .
But we did want to follow up and see what the latest research says about thawing permafrost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posed by its demise .
It 's not just warmer temperatures that pose a problem for the permafrost .
Scientists are now investigating whether rainfall could be causing serious issues in the Arctic 's permafrost – with repercussions for humans .
Since 2013 , Fairbanks , Alaska , has had two of the wettest years in recorded history .
A total ofo 14.6 inches of rain fell in the summer of 2014 ; it was the wettest summer yet .
And that 's not a good thing for permafrost , says Thomas Douglas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corp of Engineers .
Permafrost — completely frozen ground composed of materials like soil , rocks and even bones and plants — makes up a nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere .
Much of it has been frozen for thousands of years .
Warming temperatures have begun to thaw permafrost , and now , increased rainfall seems to be intensifying the problem , according to Douglas ' latest study in Climate and Atmospheric Science , published in July .
`` In general , across the arctic , the thought is that things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but particularly in Fairbanks .
`` 2014 and 2016 were the # 1 and # 3 summer precipitation years in what was then a 90-year record .
Shattering records like this is just really unique . ''
To figure out how this increased rainfall affects permafrost , Douglas and his team studied three permafrost sites for five years .
He and his team focused on `` active layer '' permafrost , the very top layer of permafrost that naturally thaws in the summer and refreezes in the winter .
To study this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it went at the end of each summer , right when the permafrost was at maximum thaw .
They made the measurements using a frost or thaw probe .
`` We take a metal rod with a handle on it and we shove it down into the ground until it makes a thump noise , '' Douglas explains .
That 's when they know they 've hit frozen permafrost .
A ruler on the side of probe tells the user how far down the rod is in the ground .
Between 2013 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2,500 measurements — and they started to see a pattern .
The more it rained , the more the layer of thawed permafrost grew in the summer .
The thaw was worse in some locations more than others , depending on the terrain where measurements were taken .
Forests and mossy landscapes seemed to protect the permafrost .
There , for every additional inch of rain , the permafrost thawed by an additional quarter of an inch .
But in locations where human activity – such as trails and clearings — had altered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For every additional inch of rain , the researchers saw an additional inch of thaw .
At one particular site , permafrost thaw depth grew from 47 inches in 2013 to nearly 75 inches in 2017 .
Douglas explains , `` When you remove vegetation , that 's like leaving the lid open on your cooler on a summer day .
It allows heat and water to get down in the permafrost pretty rapidly . ''
Out of all the team 's research , Douglas says their most important finding was that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be vanishing — literally thawing away .
`` Once it started to thaw , even when we had some slightly drier summers , we never got back to the shallower thaw depths we started out with [ in 2013 , ] '' he says .
`` Our sense is that unless we get a really cold winter , or a couple of really cold winters in a row , it 's probably not coming back again . ''
Dmitry Streletskiy , a professor at George Washington University who specializes in permafrost , says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contribution to permafrost research .
However , he emphasizes that the study was conducted in a boreal ecosystem , a sub-arctic region with warmer temperatures and relatively warm permafrost .
`` It 's still below freezing , but it is kind of considered dying permafrost , and it 's not how things work in the arctic tundra , '' Streletskiy says , where temperatures are colder .
`` Their findings are applicable to the particular environment they studied , and we can not extrapolate them to the entire arctic . ''
Permafrost in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and many factors can contribute to its thaw , including heavy rainfall in the summer .
`` However , in the high arctic , precipitation closer to the fall can be a good thing and can increase ice content to build protection . ''
Still , Streletskiy agrees that permafrost is degrading on a global scale due to climate change .
Its impacts are starting to show — and zombie pathogens should n't be our only concern .
He and Douglas both point to the Norilsk oil spill in Russia , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ barrels of diesel into the arctic , and officials have been racing to clean it up .
Many experts believe thawing permafrost is to blame ; the oil tank , which sat on permafrost , collapsed in May .
What 's more , permafrost thaw can lead to deterioration in infrastructure , such as pipelines , railroads and homes , Streletskiy explains .
`` Small changes in temperature can affect how much weight a foundation built on permafrost can support .
Say for example at -10 degrees , the foundation can support 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it can only support 50 tons . ''
For people who do n't live near the oil spill or in arctic regions , it 's easy to forget about permafrost .
`` Out of sight , out of mind , '' Douglas says .
But the thaw could one day affect everyone .
An estimated 1,400 to 1,600 billion metric tons of carbon are currently frozen in the permafrost .
`` There are a lot of questions about what 's going to happen when that [ carbon ] starts to thaw , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arctic Report Card , warming climates are already converting this carbon into greenhouse gases that are being released into the atmosphere — and they have the potential to accelerate climate change .
As the permafrost where the carbon is encased thaws , the carbon can transform into carbon dioxide and methane gases , which are well-known for their ability to trap heat in the earth 's atmosphere — and for their potential to accelerate climate change .
Streletskiy says , `` That 's why everyone should be concerned , regardless of whether they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this will contribute to global warming . ''
Nadia Whitehead is a freelance journalist and science writer .
Her work has appeared in Science , The Washington Post and NPR .
Find her on Twitter @ NadiaMacias .

Whatever Happened To ... The Melting Permafrost?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kate Ramsayer/NASA Kate Ramsayer/NASA
In 2018, we reported on concerns that zombie pathogens — ancient bacteria and viruses that could potentially rise from the dead and threaten humans if the layers of frozen permafrost where they're buried thaw as the Earth warms. The consensus among the scientists interviewed was: It's unlikely — although there was one tantalizing anecdote about a scientist whose knee may have become infected after contact with a defrosted seal. But we did want to follow up and see what the latest research says about thawing permafrost — and have learned of another threat posed by its demise.
It's not just warmer temperatures that pose a problem for the permafrost. Scientists are now investigating whether rainfall could be causing serious issues in the Arctic's permafrost – with repercussions for humans.
Since 2013, Fairbanks, Alaska, has had two of the wettest years in recorded history. A total ofo 14.6 inches of rain fell in the summer of 2014; it was the wettest summer yet. And that's not a good thing for permafrost, says Thomas Douglas, a geochemist in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
About This Series Goats are curious animals and "Goats and Soda" is a curious blog. Over the next week, we'll be looking back at some of our favorite stories to see "whatever happened to ..."
Permafrost — completely frozen ground composed of materials like soil, rocks and even bones and plants — makes up a nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere. Much of it has been frozen for thousands of years.
Warming temperatures have begun to thaw permafrost, and now, increased rainfall seems to be intensifying the problem, according to Douglas' latest study in Climate and Atmospheric Science, published in July.
"In general, across the arctic, the thought is that things are getting wetter," Douglas says, but particularly in Fairbanks. "2014 and 2016 were the #1 and #3 summer precipitation years in what was then a 90-year record. Shattering records like this is just really unique."
To figure out how this increased rainfall affects permafrost, Douglas and his team studied three permafrost sites for five years. He and his team focused on "active layer" permafrost, the very top layer of permafrost that naturally thaws in the summer and refreezes in the winter.
To study this layer, his team measured how deep it went at the end of each summer, right when the permafrost was at maximum thaw. They made the measurements using a frost or thaw probe.
"We take a metal rod with a handle on it and we shove it down into the ground until it makes a thump noise," Douglas explains. That's when they know they've hit frozen permafrost. A ruler on the side of probe tells the user how far down the rod is in the ground.
Between 2013 and 2017, the team took more than 2,500 measurements — and they started to see a pattern. The more it rained, the more the layer of thawed permafrost grew in the summer.
The thaw was worse in some locations more than others, depending on the terrain where measurements were taken. Forests and mossy landscapes seemed to protect the permafrost. There, for every additional inch of rain, the permafrost thawed by an additional quarter of an inch.
But in locations where human activity – such as trails and clearings — had altered the land, the thaw was worse. For every additional inch of rain, the researchers saw an additional inch of thaw. At one particular site, permafrost thaw depth grew from 47 inches in 2013 to nearly 75 inches in 2017.
Douglas explains, "When you remove vegetation, that's like leaving the lid open on your cooler on a summer day. It allows heat and water to get down in the permafrost pretty rapidly."
Out of all the team's research, Douglas says their most important finding was that thinner layers of thawed permafrost seem to be vanishing — literally thawing away.
"Once it started to thaw, even when we had some slightly drier summers, we never got back to the shallower thaw depths we started out with [in 2013,]" he says. "Our sense is that unless we get a really cold winter, or a couple of really cold winters in a row, it's probably not coming back again."
Dmitry Streletskiy, a professor at George Washington University who specializes in permafrost, says that Douglas's study is a great contribution to permafrost research. However, he emphasizes that the study was conducted in a boreal ecosystem, a sub-arctic region with warmer temperatures and relatively warm permafrost.
"It's still below freezing, but it is kind of considered dying permafrost, and it's not how things work in the arctic tundra," Streletskiy says, where temperatures are colder. "Their findings are applicable to the particular environment they studied, and we cannot extrapolate them to the entire arctic."
Permafrost in boreal regions is weak, Streletskiy explains, and many factors can contribute to its thaw, including heavy rainfall in the summer. "However, in the high arctic, precipitation closer to the fall can be a good thing and can increase ice content to build protection."
Still, Streletskiy agrees that permafrost is degrading on a global scale due to climate change. Its impacts are starting to show — and zombie pathogens shouldn't be our only concern.
He and Douglas both point to the Norilsk oil spill in Russia, where an oil tank spewed more than 150,000 barrels of diesel into the arctic, and officials have been racing to clean it up. Many experts believe thawing permafrost is to blame; the oil tank, which sat on permafrost, collapsed in May.
What's more, permafrost thaw can lead to deterioration in infrastructure, such as pipelines, railroads and homes, Streletskiy explains. "Small changes in temperature can affect how much weight a foundation built on permafrost can support. Say for example at -10 degrees, the foundation can support 100 tons, but at -8 degrees, it can only support 50 tons."
For people who don't live near the oil spill or in arctic regions, it's easy to forget about permafrost. "Out of sight, out of mind," Douglas says. But the thaw could one day affect everyone.
An estimated 1,400 to 1,600 billion metric tons of carbon are currently frozen in the permafrost. "There are a lot of questions about what's going to happen when that [carbon]starts to thaw," Douglas says.
According to the 2019 Arctic Report Card, warming climates are already converting this carbon into greenhouse gases that are being released into the atmosphere — and they have the potential to accelerate climate change. As the permafrost where the carbon is encased thaws, the carbon can transform into carbon dioxide and methane gases, which are well-known for their ability to trap heat in the earth's atmosphere — and for their potential to accelerate climate change.
Streletskiy says, "That's why everyone should be concerned, regardless of whether they live in Australia or America, because this will contribute to global warming."
Nadia Whitehead is a freelance journalist and science writer. Her work has appeared in Science, The Washington Post and NPR. Find her on Twitter@NadiaMacias.


npr--2020-09-05--Census Work Has Been Winding Down, But A Judge Says It Needs To Press On For Now

Census Work Has Been Winding Down , But A Judge Says It Needs To Press On For Now Updated at 5:15 a.m .
ET Sunday The Trump administration must , for now , stop winding down in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census , a federal judge in California ordered Saturday , while a legal fight over the shortened schedule for the national head count continues .
The temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California comes after challengers led by the National Urban League filed an emergency request as part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cite NPR 's reporting .
The order is expected to remain in effect until a court hearing is held on Sept. 17 for the plaintiffs ' request for a court order that would require counting to continue through the end of October .
A coalition that includes civil rights groups and local governments , as well as the Navajo Nation and the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona , is trying to force the Census Bureau to abandon a last-minute schedule change that cuts counting a month short to end on Sept. 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was originally chosen by the bureau to make up for delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic .
`` Today 's ruling buys the census some precious and indispensable time by barring the administration from shutting down the count while the federal courts are still considering our request for relief , '' Thomas Wolf , a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice who is helping to represent the plaintiffs , said in a statement .
The Justice Department , which is representing the bureau in the lawsuit , did not immediately respond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the bureau 's chief spokesperson Michael Cook tells NPR that the agency is preparing guidance to distribute soon to workers at its regional and local offices about how to comply with the court order .
The judge concluded the order is needed now because the challengers are likely to suffer from `` irreparable harm . ''
`` Because the decennial census is at issue here , an inaccurate count would not be remedied for another decade , which would affect the distribution of federal and state funding , the deployment of services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a decade , '' the judge wrote .
The order highlighted part of a sworn statement by Al Fontenot , the associate director for the 2020 census , who confirmed that the bureau has already started letting go of some of its temporary workers in areas that have `` completed their work . ''
`` It is difficult to bring back field staff once we have terminated their employment , '' warned Fontenot , who suggested the earlier a court were to order the administration to extend counting , the more census @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staff .
Without that extra time , the challengers are concerned the bureau will not be able to adequately conduct the constitutionally mandated count of every person living in the country , especially among people of color , immigrants and other historically undercounted groups .
In response to a question by NPR during a July 8 press briefing , Fontenot said the bureau was `` past the window '' of being able to provide the latest census numbers to the president by Dec. 31 .
Still , after publicly supporting extensions to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made an about-face in August when the bureau announced it was speeding up its efforts in order to deliver the first batch of numbers to the president by year 's end .
That was even after the administration asked Congress to push back legal deadlines for reporting census results , which are used to determine the distribution of political representation and federal funding among states and local communities for the next decade .
A day after NPR reported that the bureau was ending door-knocking efforts in some areas as early as Sept. 18 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court filing that the bureau has `` already begun taking steps to conclude field operations , '' while warning that any court order `` could not be implemented at this point without significant costs and burdens '' to the bureau .
In his sworn statement , Fontenot emphasized , wishing to be `` crystal clear , '' that if a court were to order counting to continue past Sept. 30 , the bureau would not be able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for the first set of census numbers .
He noted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shorten '' the time left for processing census results again , after it has already been truncated to about three months .
Fontenot added that the possibility of `` continual , conflicting , and evolving court orders '' is `` particularly troubling . ''
`` While Census Bureau staff have demonstrated considerable resilience and flexibility during this difficult year , some certainty as to the amount of time available to conclude data collection and post processing will increase the likelihood of a successful outcome , '' Fontenot said .
In a similar federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group of challengers are set to appear virtually for a hearing on Sept. 21 about their request to block the administration from ending census efforts earlier than previously scheduled .

Census Work Has Been Winding Down, But A Judge Says It Needs To Press On For Now
Enlarge this image toggle caption Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Updated at 12:51 p.m. ET on Sept. 8
The Trump administration must, for now, stop winding down in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, a federal judge in California ordered on Sept. 5, while a legal fight over the shortened schedule for the national head count continues.
The temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California comes after challengers led by the National Urban League filed an emergency request as part of a federal lawsuit — both of which cite NPR's reporting. The order is expected to remain in effect until a court hearing is held on Sept. 17 for the plaintiffs' request for a court order that would require counting to continue through the end of October.
A coalition that includes civil rights groups and local governments, as well as the Navajo Nation and the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, is trying to force the Census Bureau to abandon a last-minute schedule change that cuts counting a month short to end on Sept. 30, instead of Oct. 31, which was originally chosen by the bureau to make up for delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Today's ruling buys the census some precious and indispensable time by barring the administration from shutting down the count while the federal courts are still considering our request for relief," Thomas Wolf, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice who is helping to represent the plaintiffs, said in a statement on Sept. 5 after the court order's release.
The Justice Department, which is representing the bureau in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the court order, spokesperson Mollie Timmons said Sunday in an email to NPR.
The bureau's chief spokesperson, Michael Cook, told NPR on Sunday that the agency was preparing guidance to distribute soon to workers at its regional and local offices about how to comply with the court order.
According to a court filing, the bureau is now directing managers at its local offices to refrain from "releasing" door knockers and census field supervisors in areas that are in later stages of the in-person counting operation. The bureau has removed Sept. 11 as the date when all areas are eligible for the "closeout" phase, which now only applies to areas where the rate of "enumerated" housing units has hit 90% — an increase from the 85% requirement under the shortened census schedule. This change allows the bureau to "collect more quality data," the bureau's latest guidance to field managers says.
The judge concluded that the order is needed now because the challengers are likely to suffer from "irreparable harm."
"Because the decennial census is at issue here, an inaccurate count would not be remedied for another decade, which would affect the distribution of federal and state funding, the deployment of services, and the allocation of local resources for a decade," the judge wrote.
The order highlighted part of a sworn statement by Al Fontenot, the associate director for the 2020 census, who confirmed that the bureau has already started letting go some of its temporary workers in areas that have "completed their work."
"It is difficult to bring back field staff once we have terminated their employment," warned Fontenot, who suggested that the earlier a court were to order the administration to extend counting, the more census workers the bureau would likely have on staff.
Without that extra time, the challengers are concerned that the bureau will not be able to adequately conduct the constitutionally mandated count of every person living in the U.S., especially people of color, immigrants and those in other historically undercounted groups.
"Ensuring a complete and accurate 2020 Census is one of the most important civil rights issues of the day," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is helping to represent the lawsuit's plaintiffs. "We will continue to hold this administration accountable in its repeated attempts to omit people of color, immigrants and other vulnerable populations from the 2020 Census."
In response to a question by NPR during a July 8 press briefing, Fontenot said the bureau was "past the window" of being able to provide the latest census numbers to the president by Dec. 31.
Still, after publicly supporting extensions to the census timeline, the Trump administration mysteriously made an about-face in August when the bureau announced that it was speeding up its efforts in order to deliver the first batch of numbers to the president by year's end. That was even after the administration asked Congress to push back legal deadlines for reporting census results, which are used to determine the distribution of political representation and federal funding among states and local communities for the next decade.
A day after NPR reported that the bureau was ending door-knocking efforts in some areas as early as Sept. 18, Justice Department attorneys confirmed in a court filing that the bureau has "already begun taking steps to conclude field operations," while warning that any court order "could not be implemented at this point without significant costs and burdens" to the bureau.
In his sworn statement, Fontenot emphasized, wishing to be "crystal clear," that if a court were to order counting to continue past Sept. 30, the bureau would not be able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for the first set of census numbers. He noted that the bureau "simply cannot shorten" the time left for processing census results again, after it was already truncated to about three months.
Fontenot added that the possibility of "continual, conflicting, and evolving court orders" is "particularly troubling."
"While Census Bureau staff have demonstrated considerable resilience and flexibility during this difficult year, some certainty as to the amount of time available to conclude data collection and post processing will increase the likelihood of a successful outcome," Fontenot said.
In a similar federal lawsuit in Maryland, attorneys for another group of challengers are set to appear virtually for a hearing on Sept. 21 about their request to block the administration from ending census efforts earlier than previously scheduled.


npr--2020-09-07--Coronavirus Maps: How Severe Is Your State's Outbreak?

Coronavirus Maps : How Severe Is Your State 's Outbreak ?
More than 6 million people in the U.S. have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 180,000 have died .
Tens of thousands of new cases are reported daily .
Some state outbreaks are worse than others .
In the graphics below , explore the trends in your state .
View the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , curve charts , a table of state-by-state trends over four weeks , or a map of total cases and deaths .
The map above shows the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on new daily cases per capita .
These color-coded risk levels were developed by a consortium of researchers and public health experts .
The group advises states in the red category to issue stay-home orders .
Orange states may need to consider stay-home orders , along with increased testing and contact tracing .
Yellow states need to keep up social distancing and mask usage , and both yellow and green states should continue testing and contact tracing .
To compare state outbreaks , the chart above graphs trend lines for average new daily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ totals to date .
This type of visualization highlights a state 's daily growth or decline relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case and death counts grow quickly , the curves bend upward .
As new cases and deaths slow , the curves level or bend down .
In New York , the curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
Since then , new cases have fallen from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to under 600 per day in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see totals and per capita figures around the country for both new confirmed cases and reported deaths from COVID-19 .
New York was the original epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. As of mid August , California , Florida and Texas have surpassed New York for total cases to date , though New York still has the highest death total .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths .
To show trends state by state , the table below shows the change in average new cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over week for the last 28 days .
States marked in shades of red are showing growth , those in shades of green , are showing declines .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local media reports .
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
In early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in the state 's daily numbers until the JHU team was able to reconcile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , New Jersey included 1,854 previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn contributed to and Carmel Wroth edited this story .

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
Loading...
The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-09-07--Whatever Happened To ... The Guy From Niger Who Dreamed Of Being A Leather Maestro?

Whatever Happened To ...
The Guy From Niger Who Dreamed Of Being A Leather Maestro ?
At 6 ' 2 '' , wearing a purple tunic and crowned with a sky blue hat , Soumana Saley cut a dramatic figure at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 's `` Crafts of African Fashion '' program in 2018 .
He was surrounded by his leatherwork — from wallets to sandals to shoulder bags with etched geometric designs reflecting the art of his homeland , Niger .
He now lives in Millersburg , Penn .
When we spoke , he had two sources of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and he sold his leather goods at festivals — the biggest bags going for hundreds of dollars .
And he used his funds to start a school in Niger for leather crafting and tailoring ( and literacy and numeracy as well ) .
He personally pays rent and teacher salaries — and charges students $ 0.00 for the three-year program .
The NPR story about Soumana Saley had an unexpected result .
Kara VanderKamp , director of the American nonprofit group Remember Niger Coalition read the article and decided to provide financial help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's school , which is called DIMA ( an acronym for Dispositif d'Initiatives pour les Metiers de l'Artisanat ) and is in Niamey , Niger 's capital city .
The group donates approximately $ 5,000 a year .
`` It 's not a huge amount , '' she says , `` but in Niger you can do so much with so little , you can really change lives .
Money goes so far . ''
That 's a reflection of the economic situation in Niger , one of the world 's poorest countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the World Bank , is $ 420 a year .
VanderKamp , who has visited the school , says , `` One of things that draws you in his dedication and passion for what he 's doing .
Soumana has an awesome vision , he 's amazing artist .
But you ca n't do it alone . ''
The world-renowned Nigerian fashion designer Sidahmed Alphadi Seidnaly is also a fan of Saley 's leatherwork .
But Saley is facing a tough year because of the pandemic .
Because of the risks posed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been able to keep his day job in a plastic pipe factory .
And craft fairs have gone on hiatus .
He says he 's working to develop more affordably priced leather goods and sell them online .
Despite the harder times , Saley is committed to sending money to support his school — about $ 1,000 a month covers rent and teacher salaries , he says .
He reports that there are currently 50 students from Niger along with 26 refugees from Mali , who enrolled six months ago .
His first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One student has already opened a tailoring shop — with two apprentices .
This month , the school is launching a new program that teaches a traditional style of weaving called tera-tera to 10 students .
The weavings , with vibrant colors and geometric patterns , are a popular wedding gift — but tera-tera is a vanishing art in Niger , says Saley .
The education of Saley 's students , who are in their teens and early 20s , is different from his own life as a young apprentice , when he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They were farmers ; he thought they would n't see a future in leather .
When they learned of his plans , they tried to talk him out of his dream .
Saley 's students definitely see a career path — and often ask if they can bring friends into the school 's program .
`` So many of those students either never had the opportunity to go to school or were n't able to continue beyond a couple years beyond primary school , '' says VanderKamp of the Remember Niger Coalition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a school like this is like winning the lottery . ''
Saley 's school does n't follow the instructional methods he experienced from his early teachers .
When his young self made mistakes and cut a hole in the hide while attempting to slice off thin layers to turn into leather goods ( see Saley demonstrate the skill in the video below ) , he recalls , `` The boss was very mad .
If you make mistakes , they can beat you . ''
Saley 's most recent visit to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing that makes me happy is watching the students play and smile before they start classes , '' he says .
And he refuses to be discouraged by the events of 2020 : `` I believe things are going to be better .
I always have hope . ''

Whatever Happened To ... The Guy From Niger Who Dreamed Of Being A Leather Maestro?
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pearl Mak/NPR Pearl Mak/NPR
At 6' 2", wearing a purple tunic and crowned with a sky blue hat, Soumana Saley cut a dramatic figure at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's "Crafts of African Fashion" program in 2018. He was surrounded by his leatherwork — from wallets to sandals to shoulder bags with etched geometric designs reflecting the art of his homeland, Niger. He now lives in Millersburg, Penn. When we spoke, he had two sources of income: He worked in a factory and he sold his leather goods at festivals — the biggest bags going for hundreds of dollars. And he used his funds to start a school in Niger for leather crafting and tailoring (and literacy and numeracy as well). He personally pays rent and teacher salaries — and charges students $0.00 for the three-year program.
The NPR story about Soumana Saley had an unexpected result.
Kara VanderKamp, director of the American nonprofit group Remember Niger Coalition read the article and decided to provide financial help for some of the students at Saley's school, which is called DIMA (an acronym for Dispositif d'Initiatives pour les Metiers de l'Artisanat) and is in Niamey, Niger's capital city.
About This Series Goats are curious animals and "Goats and Soda" is a curious blog. Over the next week, we'll be looking back at some of our favorite stories to see "whatever happened to ..."
The group donates approximately $5,000 a year. "It's not a huge amount," she says, "but in Niger you can do so much with so little, you can really change lives. Money goes so far." That's a reflection of the economic situation in Niger, one of the world's poorest countries. Per capita income, according to the World Bank, is $420 a year.
VanderKamp, who has visited the school, says, "One of things that draws you in his dedication and passion for what he's doing. Soumana has an awesome vision, he's amazing artist. But you can't do it alone."
The world-renowned Nigerian fashion designer Sidahmed Alphadi Seidnaly is also a fan of Saley's leatherwork.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pearl Mak/NPR Pearl Mak/NPR
Enlarge this image toggle caption Pearl Mak/NPR Pearl Mak/NPR
But Saley is facing a tough year because of the pandemic. Because of the risks posed by his asthma, the 48-year-old has not been able to keep his day job in a plastic pipe factory. And craft fairs have gone on hiatus. He says he's working to develop more affordably priced leather goods and sell them online.
Despite the harder times, Saley is committed to sending money to support his school — about $1,000 a month covers rent and teacher salaries, he says. He reports that there are currently 50 students from Niger along with 26 refugees from Mali, who enrolled six months ago. His first class will graduate in July 2021. One student has already opened a tailoring shop — with two apprentices.
This month, the school is launching a new program that teaches a traditional style of weaving called tera-tera to 10 students. The weavings, with vibrant colors and geometric patterns, are a popular wedding gift — but tera-tera is a vanishing art in Niger, says Saley.
The education of Saley's students, who are in their teens and early 20s, is different from his own life as a young apprentice, when he hid his leather studies from his parents. They were farmers; he thought they wouldn't see a future in leather. When they learned of his plans, they tried to talk him out of his dream.
Saley's students definitely see a career path — and often ask if they can bring friends into the school's program.
"So many of those students either never had the opportunity to go to school or weren't able to continue beyond a couple years beyond primary school," says VanderKamp of the Remember Niger Coalition. "For them getting to go to a school like this is like winning the lottery."
Saley's school doesn't follow the instructional methods he experienced from his early teachers. When his young self made mistakes and cut a hole in the hide while attempting to slice off thin layers to turn into leather goods (see Saley demonstrate the skill in the video below), he recalls, "The boss was very mad. If you make mistakes, they can beat you."
Saley's most recent visit to the school was last fall. "The thing that makes me happy is watching the students play and smile before they start classes," he says. And he refuses to be discouraged by the events of 2020: "I believe things are going to be better. I always have hope."