#and in result millions of animals have to suffer

[k-s-morgan]

Just wanted to show one recent example of what Russia has been doing to Ukraine. The city of Kharkiv, with over a million residents, is located close to Russian borders, meaning that it's difficult to defend it from air strikes. Russia has been systematically destroying it and killing its people, intensifying its attacks more and more, using the fact that most Ukrainian allies forbid us from launching our own attacks on Russian territory.

On May 25, Russian sent bombs to a hypermarket in Kharkiv. On a weekend, in the middle of the day.

That same day, it bombed the park. Before that, it hit the rest zone.

And a publishing house.

And the hotel.

And the television tower.

And so on and on. Russia specifically targets public places and areas of life to make Kharkiv a ghost city. To destroy the home of over a million people. Many, many residents are constantly dying from these attacks, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and other most vulnerable population groups. And Ukraine is unable to hit the locations from which Russia bombs Kharkiv because it's forbidden by our own partners. It's a joke.

And it's just one city. Russian bombs and missiles are erasing towns and villages from existence entirely on a constant basis. I can't even imagine how many people and animals die as a result. It's impossible to comprehend it on a human level. Just like it's impossible to comprehend the world's indifference, where on the one hand, we have support, but on the other hand, this support is limited to not letting us lose quickly. We are under the most cruel restrictions and limitations. And as long as the greed controls the world, which is probably forever, and our partners keep having mutually beneficial relations with Russia, there is no way out of this. Just more deaths, suffering, and misery.

[cathkaesque]

Statement on Israel’s Use of Starvation as a Weapon of War in Gaza by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Palestine

For five days, Israel has attacked Gaza with the aim of total destruction, and the situation is at an unprecedented level of urgency. Israel’s actions have amounted to a humanitarian catastrophe of unfathomable proportions. At the time of publication, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports 1,055 martyrs and approximately 5,184 injured.

Israel has declared a total warfare stance on Gaza, imposing a ruthless blockade that denies over two million Palestinian residents of Gaza access to electricity, water, food, fuel, medical supplies, and any humanitarian aid. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explicitly stated this strategy on 9 October 2023, saying: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war demands the international community immediately respond with unwavering urgency and resolve.

Israel is indiscriminately decimating hospitals, schools, mosques, markets, and entire neighborhoods. Further, Israel threatened Egypt that it would bomb humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, prompting Egypt to withdraw its aid convoys. The Rafah Crossing into Egypt, the sole international exit from Gaza, has been bombed by Israel three times in a 24-hour period. This calculated assault severs Gazans’ only means of escape from ceaseless bombings or access to essential humanitarian aid. With Israel cutting off Gaza’s source of electricity, the only source of power was the Gaza Power Plant, which has just run out of fuel. In the case that it receives more fuel, Israel has threatened to attack the plant.

Israel’s assault is deliberately destroying any infrastructure that allows Gazans to support themselves. Vital agricultural and fishing infrastructure, crucial for food production, have been mercilessly attacked. Fisher folk cannot access the sea, into which sewage is spilling. The seaport is damaged, and tools are obliterated. Farming areas, often near the fence, have become vulnerable targets in Israeli airstrikes, and farmers whose land has not been destroyed cannot access it for daily agricultural practices. The Ministry of Agriculture reports that the bombing has done immense damage to agricultural areas and poultry farms, but the conditions make it impossible to precisely assess the situation in the field. There is a catastrophic decrease in food stocks, with shops across Gaza reporting severe shortages. The land and sea will face unimaginable environmental damages following these attacks, further preventing efforts to rebuild livelihoods.

Israel’s strategy aims to ensure that those who survive the bombs are condemned to a future without sustenance.

OCHA reports that the assaults have disrupted the UNRWA food operation, impacting at least 112,759 families. The poultry and livestock sectors are on the brink of collapse due to the severe shortage of fodder, endangering the livelihoods of more than 1,000 herders and affecting over 10,000 producers. This jeopardizes the provision of animal protein and the availability of meat and fresh sources of protein for Gaza’s entire population. Transportation of poultry to markets has virtually halted, and dairy cattle milk cannot be refrigerated nor marketed to factories, resulting in an expected daily spoilage of 35,000 liters of milk. More than 4,000 fisheries are at risk due to the closure of the sea. Gaza’s agriculture, poultry, cattle, fish, and other products are suffering from a lack of refrigeration, irrigation, incubation, and other machinery due to electricity cuts, causing spoilage.

Israel’s use of these tactics is not new by any means. Before Saturday, around 65% of the Gazan population was food insecure. More than 46% of the agricultural land in Gaza was inaccessible, and the fishing industry was severely struggling since fishing off the coast of Gaza has been restricted by Israel to 3 to 6 nautical miles.

Food insecurity is a human-made crisis, and Israel is manufacturing a mass starvation of the Gazan people.

It is the moral and legal obligation of the international community to intervene and end this crisis immediately. Food, as a basic necessity, must be allowed to reach the people of Gaza, and the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure must cease without delay.

We call upon the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel’s massacre of the Gazan population, demand the lifting of the siege, and establish humanitarian corridors for entry of aid.

[febuwhump]

febuwhump 2024 survey results

has it been six months since febuwhump? yes. yes it has. nevertheless, here's the cold hard data (analysis) of the survey from febuwhump 2024: feb five.

firstly, this year was our most popular yet! with 1417 works in the official collection across 329 fandoms, we made (and shared) 103 fics more than 2023, and 770 more than my first year running febuwhump in 2021! this isnt even including all the art and fics posted to tumblr, or wasn't shared during the event, which would put our total so much higher!

the prompt list had 4000+ notes and i received 115 responses to the survey.

there were 62 people in the hall of fame, up from 51 in 2023.

the blog hit 2,683 followers, up from 1,946 at the end of the 2023 event.

across two independant check, based on the average word count of 2,000 words per fic in the 2024 collection, and aware of the multi-chapter fics (some of which were finished after the event), it is estimated that 2.8 million words were written for febuwhump 2024. which is just. fucking insane.

now, onto the survey results!

firstly: in what way did you participate in Febuwhump this year?

with extra write-ins not pictured, fanfiction was the overwhelming winner with 92 responses (82.6%), followed by original fiction (22.6%) and artwork (11.3%). interesting to me personally is the 4 responses who wrote poetry and the not-pictured 1 response who created web-weaving! which is very cool and i would like to see it.

fandoms

according to the survey:

the most popular fandoms written for were the star wars universe and legend of zelda universe (8/115 responses)

21 responses included original fiction

the majority of responses also referenced more than one fandom, meaning less people stuck to a single fandom or topic the entire time.

according to the collection:

21 anime/manga fandoms were represented

51 books/literature fandoms were represented, 12 being specific star wars subseries

24 RPF fandoms were represented, including bands and minecraft servers

the most popular fandoms written about in the collection were:

star wars (all media types) - 253 works

star wars: the bad batch - 80 works

torchwood - 66 works

original work - 56 works

my hero academia - 54 works

why and how

next, there were a lot of really lovely responses about why participants took part in febuwhump, a few favourite and repeated responses being that it seemed fun, they'd done it before and so wanted to do it again, and they liked to write about their favourite characters suffering. also, multiple people have been doing it for three of the four years i've been running it (of five total), and several were encouraged by friends!

the majority of participants discovered febuwhump through tumblr, the admin's tumblr, ao3 fics and discord servers. a handful said there's apparently a google doc floating around that houses a whump event calendar. i would be interested in seeing that if anyone's got it.

did you participate in Febuwhump 2020, 21, 22 or 23?

the majorty of respondants were new comers to febuwhump at 66.1% "no" to 33.9% "yes". the majority of comparisons to previous years referenced a noticably bigger community, more interaction on the blog, and the admin being more "confident" (oh, you guys), however several noted that the prompts felt more repetitive or samey this year than they did previously.

are you a Febuwhump completionist or participant?

a fairly even split, 51.3% of participants didn't finish compared to the 48.7% who did. however, only 88.1% of those completionists submitted to the hall of fame.

for those who didn't complete, the most common amount of prompts completed was 2 (13.6%), 3 (11.9%) and 12 or 6 (6.8%).

the most common place to share prompt fills was tumblr (74.8%), ao3 (72.2%), or choosing not to share at all (7%). several write-in responses said that they were planning to share in the future but hadn't yet. and while 76.4% of people submitted to the ao3 collection, those who didn't claimed it to be because the fics weren't ready to be shared on time, they weren't following the rules so didn't add to the collection, an inability to find the collection on ao3 (i swear i'm working on it) or shyness/fear.

what went well/even better if:

the only actual criticsm of the event received was that the blog was posting in a "spam"-like way, to the point that the participant almost unfollowed (and another suggested a reblog tag so it could be ignored easier if people didn't want to see the works throughout the month).

several comments asked for a later deadline for submission to the collection/hall of fame, which is going under advisement, but the current position is that by doing so, it makes the event a different event. there are no stakes to actually create once a day if, at the end of it, you actually get 2 weeks of extra time.

another couple mentioned there being too many dialogue prompts and vague prompts. this will be considered during the next voting period and prompt collation - potentially, if i allowed less dialogue prompts into the final 100 vote, less would make it through to the official 28, however the voting itself is out of my hands (unless voter fraud occurs once again).

the main suggestion for improvement (8 times out of 44 suggestions) was for an additional mod to help with reblogging more. (which imo flies in the face of the "spamming" from earlier, but there is surely a middle ground). this is likely to not happen, because i like running the event alone, despite the major burnout i receive every single year without fail. but thanks for your concern lol.

on discord:

31.3% of participants were in the discord server (which, this year, ignored the first year's 100 user cap and had 172 total users).

43.6% of people who didn't join the server did so because they hadn't heard of it, while the majority didn't join because they were either shy (the minorty) or don't use/like discord (the vast majority). i don't know if tumblr still does groupchats and if that would be a viable alternative, or if there is another forum/chat location that would work better (or to have in tandem), but i am open to suggestions.

of the people who were in the channel, most (33.3%) used it "rarely", followed by "most days" (25%) and "for half the month" (22.2%)

febuwhump 2025

the majority of responses wanted next year's colour scheme to either be red or green, but shout out to everyone who wanted orange, the person who said "children's hospital" and the other person who gave me this specific hex code: #4BEC13

which is vile, but also another vote for green.

finally, here are my favourite suggestions for febuwhump 2025's colloquial name. previously, we have endured febuwhump 2: electric boogaloo, febuwhump 3: tokyo drift, fourbuwhump and feb five.

febuwhump 6 suggestions:

fe6uwhump (which, i'll be honest, is a real contender)

"I don't know"

febuwhump 666

febuwhump: revenge of the sixth

"I don't know, sorry"

"febuwhump sex and make all the prompts kinky"

"??? i have been thinking about this for 10 mins"

febuwhump 6(9)

feBEEwhump

"i am bad at this"

"could not care less"

febuwhump feb five 2: electric boogaloo

apparently, i accidently made this a mandatory question and that made some of you mad :(

and that's the wrap up survey, six months late! any questions/queries/want to see some of that cold hard data? send me an ask. i'll actually respond to it i swear! (probably!)

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - March 13, 2023

🐝 - Did you hear about the honeybee vaccine? It's creating quite the buzz! But seriously, it's a major breakthrough in the fight against American foulbrood and could save billions of bees.

1. Transgender health care is now protected in Minnesota

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order protecting and supporting access to gender-affirming health care for LGBTQ people in the state, amidst Republican-backed efforts across the country to limit transgender health care. The order upholds the essential values of One Minnesota where all people, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community, are safe, celebrated, and able to live lives full of dignity and joy.

Numerous medical organizations have said that access to gender-affirming care is essential to the health and wellness of gender diverse people, while states like Tennessee, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Florida have passed policies or laws restricting transgender health care.

2. First vaccine for honeybees could save billions

The US government has approved the world's first honeybee vaccine to fight against American foulbrood, a bacterial disease that destroys bee colonies vital for crop pollination.

Developed by biotech company Dalan Animal Health, the vaccine integrates some of the foulbrood bacteria into royal jelly, which is then fed to the queen by the worker bees, resulting in the growing bee larvae developing immunity to foulbrood. The vaccine aims to limit the damage caused by the infectious disease, for which there is currently no cure, and promote the development of vaccines for other diseases affecting bees.

3. Teens rescued after days stranded in California snowstorm: "We were already convinced we were going to die"

The recent snowstorms in California have resulted in dangerous conditions for hikers and residents in mountain communities. Two teenage hikers were rescued by the San Bernardino County sheriff's department after getting lost in the mountains for 10 days.

The boys were well-prepared for the hike but were not prepared for the massive amounts of snow that followed. They were lucky to survive, suffering from hypothermia and having to huddle together for three nights to stay warm.

Yosemite National Park has had to be closed indefinitely due to the excessive snowfall.

4. La Niña, which worsens Atlantic hurricanes and Western droughts, is gone

The La Nina weather phenomenon, which increases Atlantic hurricane activity and worsens western drought, has ended after three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's usually good news for the United States and other parts of the world, including drought-stricken northeast Africa, scientists said.

The globe is now in what's considered a "neutral" condition.

5. Where there's gender equality, people tend to live longer

Both women and men are likely to live longer when a country makes strides towards gender equality, according to a new global study that authors believe to be the first of its kind.

The study was published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health this week. It adds to a growing body of research showing that advances in women's rights benefit everyone. "Globally, greater gender equality is associated with longer [life expectancy] for both women and men and a widening of the gender gap in [life expectancy]," they conclude.

6. New data shows 1 in 7 cars sold globally is an EV, and combustion engine car sales have decreased by 25% since 2017

Electric vehicles are the key technology to decarbonise road transport, a sector that accounts for 16% of global emissions. Compared with 2020, sales nearly doubled to 6.6 million (a sales share of nearly 9%), bringing the total number of electric cars on the road to 16.5 million.

Sales were highest in China, where they tripled relative to 2020 to 3.3 million after several years of relative stagnation, and in Europe, where they increased by two-thirds year-on-year to 2.3 million. Together, China and Europe accounted for more than 85% of global electric car sales in 2021

7. Lastly, watch this touching moment as rescued puppy gains trust in her new owners

By the way, this is my newly started YouTube channel. Subscribe for more wholesome videos :D

---

That's it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Let's carry the positivity into next week and keep spreading the good news!

[kedreeva]

Sorry about the color mix up. I appreciate the reply and additional info! I guess bc I know nothing about peafowl (and the fact i dont breed any type of animal), I'm having a hard time understanding how being sterile would be unethical. I do somewhat get the shortened life span. I really would like to understand this, I just sometimes need stuff explained like I'm 5.

Up front, there's no "somewhat get" to a shortened lifespan being caused by a mutation in captive populations. If an animal is capable of living 20+ years (and some live 30+ or even 40+!) and some non-essential mutation is causing them to live 7-9 years, it's flat out absolutely unethical to breed that mutation, full stop, regardless of anything else going on. That's indicative of a MAJOR problem in their genetics. There's NO ethical reason to breed that because humans like how it looks. So, even without the sterility, these birds would 100% be unethical to produce.

The short answer on sterility is this: we don't know WHY they are sterile, but they shouldn't be, and that means something has gone wrong. When something goes wrong with an animal, and it's something genetic that can be passed on, the ONLY responsible and ethical thing for a breeder to do is to stop using that animal for breeding and closely monitor any already-produced offspring for signs of the problem, and likely not breed them, either.

The longer more complicated answer is this: sometimes it's possible to separate the problem from the aesthetic when it comes to morphs, like it was for cameo + blindness, but sometimes it's NOT, like it wasn't for spider + head wobble for ball pythons. In those instances, it's... difficult. Because you're LIKELY going to produce animals that suffer the same problem as their parent(s), in the attempt to separate the problem from the aesthetic, and sometimes that's ALL you're going to produce. As a breeder, it's your absolute responsibility to NOT release the offspring into the general population, where the problem may be replicated without control, and to keep or cull the affected individuals if the problem cannot be separated from the aesthetic, or AT BEST find them guaranteed pet-only homes that will NEVER breed them.

Sometimes the problem IS purely aesthetic or harmless, like it was for pied in peafowl, and sometimes it's not, like it was for vitiligo in peafowl. The problem comes when you ASSUME a mutation is the first, and treat it like the first when it's really the second. This has caused FAR reaching consequences in the peafowl community, and I'm sure in others, where now the autoimmune disease that first bronze had has been passed into genpop by folks who thought they were breeding a harmless new variation of pied. Hybrid animals are often sterile (not in peafowl though, hybrid cristatus-muticus birds are fertile) because of a mismatch in chromosome pairing numbers, and often that's harmless. So, in some cases sterility is not an issue because it's the expected result or is otherwise harmless... but in the case of peafowl, it's NOT an expected result and we don't know if it's caused by something harmless or not.

Some species, like mice and horses and cattle and dogs, genetic testing and DNA mapping done with millions of dollars has proven that while some stuff isn't purely aesthetic, it also doesn't cause harm to the animal in a way that affects quality of life or that can be adapted for in captive care. For example, in chickens, the frizzle gene causes curled feathers in single copy and an absence of feathers in double copy. This gene is considered ethical to produce IF the breeding is done responsibly by putting a single copy bird over a zero copy bird, which produces smooth coats and frizzle coats, but it is unethical to produce double frizzles (called "frazzles") because frazzles cannot thermoregulate, can easily sunburn, and easily suffer skin injury during normal chicken activity.

For peafowl, we have NO genetic testing. We do not have the genome mapped. As far as I know there's a research group working on it (mostly for green peafowl though, in conservation efforts), but that's not remotely finished or available to the public to test anything. We don't know where any of the morph mutations sit, or what is causing them or if they do anything beyond just change the color. Sometimes color mutations are the result of malfunctions in enzymes. For charcoal specifically, we don't know what the mutation does, besides what we can observe on the outside- the birds have half or less the lifespan of normal birds, poor feather quality, and the hens are sterile. Is the sterility harmless like it is in some hybrid animals, or is it actually a major organ failing? Is it the only major organ that fails due to this mutation, or is it just the first sign of their shortened lives? Is it some deficiency in something the birds need to be healthy? Does it hurt the bird? We don't know, but we do know the mutation and the problems (multiple, please do NOT forget that this is one OF MORE THAN ONE problems) can't be separated, and so until we do know why and whether it's harmless or not, the ONLY ethical response to seeing a problem in a major organ's function linked inextricably to a mutation in color is to not propagate that mutation. If someone wanted to fork over the millions it takes to sequence and map genomes and then determine exactly what is going on with peafowl, that would be nice and good, but I don't see that happening. When I win the lottery big, I'll be doing it, but til then we can only follow normal breeding guidelines

Also, to put this into perspective... peafowl mature sexually around 3 years old. They are chicks until the turn of the new year following their hatch. They are yearlings that year, and immature 2yo next year. They aren't actually considered fully grown until 6 years old, and should live another 14+ years. Charcoal birds die a 1-3 years after full maturity. Is it a coincidence that they fail to thrive shortly after full sexual maturity, or is it linked? Again, we don't know. We don't know if the sterility is fine or if it's just a symptom of something worse.

Even without the sterility, though, charcoal has enough issues it would be unethical. If it was JUST sterility, with no other deleterious effects, then maybe it would be different. But it's not.

[balkanradfem]

I've been reading 'The Climate Book' from Greta Thunberg, and I have to talk about it. I've never seen a book written so brilliantly and desperately, pleading for awareness, for action, for survival. I thought I was aware of the climate change, but there was a vast amount of information I did not know. I'll start from the ones I did.

I knew that the climate has already changed, and will continue to change until a lot of animal species will go extinct, and a big amount of human beings will suffer, end up impoverish, misplaced, in starvation, or dead. I knew the culprits were the companies that refused to stop taking down forests, burning fossil fuels, promoting lifestyles of consumerism, over-consumption, generated the amount of waste that the planet could not safely consume or store. I also knew that one of the biggest pollutants were big oil, animal and plant agriculture, fast fashion industry, travel industry, and the capitalistic system that enabled 1% of humanity to own and over-consume 90% of the resources available to us. Knowing this made me feel powerless, because even as I boycott all of it, I can't do much else, and I'm not enough to stop what is going on. I am merely a drop in the ocean - which is what Greta points out as well. But, Greta doesn't think we're powerless.

This book is incredible in the sense that it goes over and beyond to think practically. It doesn't despair, it doesn't panic, it doesn't think any other way but how to practically and effectively bring change, what are the options and possibilities, what is true and what is propaganda, how to avoid millions of deaths and extinctions that are sure to come, if we do nothing. Greta has analyzed all action that is 'being done', and found out most of it was fraud, cheating, lying. All of the governments and companies who were bragging about reduced emissions, or offsetting emissions, have simply found ways to outsource them and to emit them in another, poorer country. The amount of emissions has actually increased.

She has also interviewed the world leaders, and people responsible and suffering from climate change - and these are the results: Nobody feels responsible, nobody feels as if it's their turn to change, to reduce, to do anything to help it. Even interviewing people whose livelihood was taken away from them due to climate change, who have lost their living environments already, their trees and animals and fields and fertility and soil, when asked if they would be willing to work ecologically from now on, with reduced or low emissions, their answer was 'Why should we? It's not fair, they took from us and enjoyed, while we suffered. We won't stop until we have what they have. We deserve it.'

With this information, Greta has found a truth of how humans influence each other - we imitate. If we see someone else doing something, or having something we find desirable, we also want it. We look at ourselves in relation to other people that surround us, we take responsibility according to what others around do, and we hold ourselves accountable only as much as others do. And this is why we have a power that goes beyond individual action, beyond simply lowering our own emissions and boycotting companies that are responsible for pollution - we are able to influence others. We're able to influence the media, which forms public opinions, and using the media, force into action those who benefit from polluting the planet.

What I didn't know, and this book taught me, was that from the times humans started to hunt, they didn't only have a great effect on the environment, they were the absolute leading agent on it. Soon after hunting the megafauna into extinction, the environment started to change not just because we affected it, but because we directed it to. We caused the extinction of many species throughout the past, by hunting, taking wild spaces for our own use, polluting water sources, changing the climate, spreading predatory species,  like cats and rats, and we didn't stop there. We changed the landscapes of forests and fields, into human-used agricultural land that was effectively deadened for the purpose of wildlife. We domesticated, and then farmed animals, to such extreme degree, that right now what is left of the wildlife, is mere 12-15% of all animals out there. More than 80% of current animals by weight living on earth, are put there by animal agriculture, meant for human consumption. That is absolutely insane. We did the same with the wildlife environment as well – there is now only 3% of the forests on earth, that are still considered intact. We changed the landscape, not only slightly, but by erasing most of it, making it unusable to animals, insects or wild plants, appropriated only for agriculture, grazing, and human-only environments. And, we dug up and released so much carbon into the air, it is coming close to the amount that we had on the earth, at the time of dinosaur extinction, which wiped out a third of the planet's species. And we keep doing it, even knowing what will happen, knowing that every single time this happened in the past, it created mass extinction.

I wasn't aware how serious and extreme the changes we made were. Knowing what is going out, makes it very clear why we have a crisis, it would be crazy to expect not to have one. These changes were not reported, nobody was asked to approve of them, there were no regulations or limits, no environmental studies on consequences, and it keeps going. We keep increasing the demand for agriculture and animal products, increasing our consumption even though we are running out of the natural resources used to create the products. And it is not our fault. Most of the food and meat created by destroying this land, will go to waste, for the profit of the corporations. The world will keep living in starvation, despite so much of natural life getting destroyed for food, despite the climate crisis being caused, partly by our food production.

This doesn't mean we can't sustainably feed ourselves anymore, it just means we can't do it the way we're used to. It just tells us we need to use more resilient and less land and water consuming food. Plant based diets demand less soil and emit less carbon, gardening reduces the amount of agricultural space needed to feed us, supporting and protecting wildlife wherever it's still thriving, will save both soil, animal species, and biodiversity that is very quickly fading from the planet.

I've also learned that even as we're close to the tipping point, but haven't reached it yet. Whatever we do right now that stops us from reaching it, will mean the difference between life and death to the future generations of people, animals, and plants. If we manage to make changes now, to stop the ice from melting past the tipping point, we can save millions of lives, that would end in certain death otherwise. If we can create policies that are not volountary but binding, we have a chance to save livable land, animal and plant species, biodiversity, and human quality of life. It's not too late to act, in fact, this is the vital time to act, and we're the only ones who can do it.

And the way you can act is not just by reducing waste, reducing the amount of energy you consume, reducing animal-products in your food and refusing to waste and throw away usable goods, but by being public about it. By making it clear it's a positive improvement on your life, on your quality of life, that it's both moral and enjoyable, both inspiring and encouraging others to do the same. Some of us have bigger impact on others than we might know, and if we start doing it and visibly enjoying it, there are others who will follow.

This book has taught me immense amount of science behind the climate crisis, and gave me incentive to do more than just live and feel helpless, I need to do more. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more, and wanting to act more. I will be from now on, writing more about ecology and preserving the planet, and how to do it. If we're the directors of where this planet is going, we have to be so intentionally, with knowledge, wisdom and awareness of what we are doing. We can do good, and humans have been doing good, any time there's been wisdom, awareness and intention in how we're shaping the environment. And if anyone wants the book in the audio form, send me a message and I will give it to you.

[oldguardleatherdog]

I am a survivor of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. I lived four blocks due east of the Towers.

I lost my home that day, was homeless and destitute for years, and in 2018, after extensive vetting by the CDC, NIH, and NIOSH, was given a Zadroga Act diagnosis of 9/11-connected PTSD as a result of my experience and exposure to the aftermath in the World Trade Center Disaster Area from 9/11/01-1/20/02.

Monday will be the 22nd anniversary. As always, I will mark the day with my family and loved ones, and I may or may not be online that day and evening... every year is different.

I no longer dread it, and neither should you. Speaking as the only person most of you will ever likely know who was directly affected, literally a card-carrying Certified Survivor of 9/11, I hereby grant you freedom from all anxiety, guilt, despair, anger, resentment, discomfort, and anything and everything else that remains in your spirit and mind and heart that troubles you about that day, that has never quite resolved, that prevents you from sharing the joy in my own heart at having survived, at being alive.

If you must be angry, be angry at the way we were used in the years that followed, but do not aim that anger at us any longer. We who were injured in the attacks that day are not the ones to blame, nor did we have any say in or influence over anything that flowed from them. We who survived are not to blame for the bigotry you suffered or the wars that followed or the scorn of your view of this country and its leaders. We did not slaughter untold millions of innocents in faraway lands.

The random, free-floating anger, the wishes that we too had died in the attacks, the perverse cries to me and others of "you deserved it!", make those who attack us complicit in the attacks of that day - because we were targeted for 22 years in the same way that the terrorists targeted us for slaughter that morning.

The home I knew and the place I loved no longer exists. What's there now belongs to another generation, where new life has grown out of the charnel house of devastation, where memories have been made and children have played and careers have flourished and love has been found and lost and found again, and there is comfort there.

Don't worry about us; we take care of our own. You honor us best by living as we do: fully, freely, always going forward, always in the light.

I will keep you close in the days ahead. You are never far from my heart.

"I AM ALIVE"

Animal J. Smith

[incorrect-jojolands-quotes]

announcement: please help the people of hawaii

In case you haven't heard yet, the state of hawaii is experiencing wildfires that have displaced several people as well as injured and killed others. Particularly, the island of Maui and the big island are experiencing such fires the most.

Needless to say, it's important to do what we can to help the people of Hawai'i who are suffering as a result of these fires. This may not be an entire list, but here are links I found so far to resources for those on the island who need help and donation options for those off the island.

I encourage those who are more experienced and familiar with how donations work and know about more places to donate for Hawaii to reblog with more resources and correct me if the links I provided are not suitable.

The official website for Lahaina Town has updated to provide resources for locals and news about the fires. Donations links are TBD.

The Maui Mutual Aid Fund is an ahupua’a based citizen disaster response team. They are collecting funds that will be distributed to the vulnerable affected by the fire.

Hawai'i Community Foundation has created the The Maui Strong Fund. This fund has been used to provide resources for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, and is now used to help those affected by the wildfires in Maui.

New Life Kahuku Inc. is a non-profit Christian Church based in Kahuku that set up a donation fund for the people of Lahaina Town. Proceeds will be used to provide food and other supplies to those in need.

The Maui Humane Society is asking for supplies such as food, kennels, and more to help their current and potential influx of animals that will be displaced as a result of the fires. The website has a donation button, and the organization are asking for foster parents to take in an animal as well.

The Maui Food Bank is working to help provide food for those affected by the wildfires. They are asking for donations to provide for the hungry during these dangerous times.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the LA Times:

Nine years ago, when an aging oil pipeline ruptured near the coast of Santa Barbara County, an inky darkness spread over the waters. The massive slick of oil engulfed and killed hundreds of marine animals, including seals, dolphins and pelicans. And the acrid smell of petroleum polluted the coastline’s air.

On May 19, 2015, a corroded section of an oil pipeline burst and released more than 140,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach. The incident — which revived memories of a massive 3-million-gallon spill almost 50 years earlier — sullied some of the state’s most pristine beaches and a rare stretch of undeveloped coastline. Oil migrated as far away as Orange County, closing fisheries and costing hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.

Soon after the spill, Exxon Mobil halted operations at its three offshore oil platforms while Plains All American Pipeline idled the connected pipelines. This year, Sable Offshore Corp., a Houston-based energy company, purchased the mothballed equipment and announced plans to restart oil extraction by the end of the year — including the failed pipeline.

Most recently, the California Coastal Commission has repeatedly admonished the company for performing unauthorized work on the pipeline in an attempt to ready the equipment for transporting oil. This week, environmentalists carrying homemade signs and a large banner reading “Fight Offshore Drilling” protested at a commission meeting in San Diego.

The potential restart and accelerated pace of construction have heightened fears of another catastrophic oil spill.

Environmental groups contend that federally mandated corrosion protection was not effective on the 30-year-old pipeline, and say it will never perform safely. Also, when Santa Barbara County considered a plan to build a new pipeline, an environmental report estimated that the existing line could suffer a spill every year, and a major rupture every four years. These releases, it concluded, could result in a disaster even larger than the 2015 spill.

“It’s just old and corroded, so it feels like a ticking time bomb to continue letting this infrastructure operate and to restart it after such a severe spill without additional environmental review,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It seems too risky to even contemplate.”

In the nine years since the spill, the damaged pipeline was “evacuated, cleaned and preserved with inert nitrogen to maintain a corrosion-free state,” according to Steve Rusch, Sable’s vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs. He said work crews have already started the process of repairing about 100 “anomalies” — areas of corrosion, cracks or other defects — to ensure that the pipeline will be in an “as-new” condition.

[cjbolan]

honestly given disney's recent track record i wouldn't find moana 2 worth supporting. especially after hearing about their abuse of their animators and staff as well as them funding israel in the ongoing conflict...yeah, screw the mouse and everything he makes.

also isn't it kind of messed up they basically marketed a *culture*? like the "representation" aspect is kind of ruined when it's made by a multibillion dollar company seeking to exploit it for merch.

That's fair. I wasn't aware of Moana 2 overworking and underpaying its animators until after watching the movie.

As for Israel: as far as I know, Disney donated only to relief efforts and civilians who were directly attacked by Hamas. There's a lot I dislike about Disney but I don't dislike them for this. Granted their open support for Israel was a decision that aged like milk. Say what you will about Israel but I will never condemn someone for helping civilians. I hate Israel's political decisions right now, but I don't think Israel's civilians should suffer for their politicians' genocidal actions. I wish more people turned their righteous anger towards those with real power in Israel (government, military, news media, etc.)

I'm of two minds on your third point. I agree the way Disney markets different cultures is a bit messed up. It's inauthentic and for the most part shows their characters all happily conforming to individualist Western values, while being miserable when they have to follow collectivist non-Western values. Some notable examples are Pocahontas and Princess Jasmine being completely miserable in their arranged marriages (in reality arranged marriages have mixed results and can be completely consensual), then there's Mulan enabling all the Chinese Emperor's daughters to break off their diplomatic arranged marriages, even if doing so gets millions of innocent people killed. You can tell White people wrote these Disney movies XD.

However if people want to market and profit their own culture, I say let them. When people can present something more authentically based on their own lived experience, without distorting major facts, that's much less exploitative to me.

And if you're selling something from a different culture, I think that's fine, as long as members of that culture get to be part of your process (making business decisions, earning some of your profits, etc.)

[dragonthunders01]

Spectember D26: Break a biological record

Some hundreds of millions of years far into the future around 300 million years hence, after the formation of a big supercontinent, one that was not predicted to form, a lot of existing terrestrial and marine fauna look so alien compared to the animals that once man witnessed as the difference is as much as a human being would have to the first terrestrial tetrapod. Phylogenetically speaking many of those animals would be related to something like a crown, a snake, a varanid, a goby, a frog, a bat and so on but they are totally anatomically, morphologically and physiologically far from those, mammals and birds are a fraction of what they were, more mole or reptile like, varanids and frogs suffered of varied radiations and now they have been as much diverse as how dinosaurs and synapsids went through the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, and small fishes survived and radiated from freshwater species over and over from different mass extinctions, and just for matter of convergence they looked something like the modern species man saw, but they aren’t anatomically close to those.

In land mammals are just small and ectothermic creatures, in the ocean however one lineage managed to thrive as large swimmers, is not like any other group however, they have lost their forelimbs, their tails barely help them to swim and often depending of the species they have a rigid fluke or a seahorse-like prehensile tail, they managed to re-evolve some structure similarly to gills from a part of a nose cavity, a result of its proper ontogenic development as they did born not fully developed. These aren’t descendants of placentary mammals, but marsupials, a lineage that stood almost unchanged for many dozens of millions of years in the Americas and took a turn after the major calamities through the last 200 million years that drove their group to become reptile like, adopt peculiar adaptations for their lethargic metabolism and ended up in this stage, these aquatic animals were the last descendants of the opossums.

The Scorn Figoeq are a twisted form of the more seahorse-like herbivorous relatives that lives in the surfaces, living at depths of 4000 to 5000 meters under the surface is by far the deepest species of tetrapod that has ever lived, the deepest mammal to have diver so low under the ocean. It adopted the lifestyle of the already gone anglerfishes as well some other deep-water fishes, is among the last of an experimental lineage of the Figoeqs (Derivation of Figoeqqus or "shaped like horse") that tried to become pelagic planktonic feeders which ended up becoming extinct in the last 50 million years, remaining as a relic of that group. With 25 cm long, anything that could be considered mammal like only is exposed by looking at the embryo of this species as it starts with the basics of mammal anatomy, but reaching adulthood they resemble a mix of a jelly and a bizarre abyssal fish, with their short body, large head with a deep gelatinous cover that protects part of its head and eyes that now grow inside the flesh, with long dorsal spines that helps it to stabilize while swimming, their long hind flippers that look more like ray fins, and the tail that has grow a fluke to push it slowly across the darkness of the abyss.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS ZERO Animate Tokuten Drama CD “A Vampire’s Late Night Snack Terror” [Kanato ver.]

Original title: 夜更かしヴァンパイアの食テロ飯 [カナト編]

Source: Diabolik Lovers ZERO Vol. 5 Animate Tokuten CD

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kaji Yuki

Translator’s note: Maybe this is a thing in Japan but the dessert/sweet in this track did not sound appealing to me at all. I thought she was going to make caramelized bananas at first but then this girl added PIZZA CHEESE to bananas???? I guess the unholy amount of maple syrup and cinnamon which Kanato poured on top in the end would probably mask the cheese flavor but that still didn’t sound like something I’d dig into. I’d much rather just eat a normal banana to be honest. 

You enter the kitchen.

“Uu...Hic...Uu...”

You rush over to his side.

“What’s wrong? What brings you to the kitchen...?”

You explain.

“I see...You came looking for me...But I don’t feel like going back to my room right now. Please just leave me be.”

You ask what happened.

“What happened...you ask? Can you really not tell by looking at this empty container...!?”

*Thud*

“Somebody ate my pudding! The pudding I kept in the fridge to enjoy as my bedtime snack!! I bet they’re watching from somewhere right now, snickering as they see me suffer from not being able to sleep as a result! It really pisses me off...!!”

You ask who did it.

“Kuh...I don’t care who the culprit is! ...I’ll burn everyone in this manor to ashes...No, that won’t do it. Instead I’ll smear wasabi on top of a cream pie and throw those in their faces! At once!”

You stop him.

“...Why are you stopping me? Could it be...Aah, I get it now. It was you, wasn’t it? You are the one who ate my pudding, aren’t you? Unforgivable...I won’t let you get away with this!”

You shake your head in denial. 

“Do you truly believe you can talk yourself out of this? I am enraged right now. Being deprived of my beloved sweets is basically torture! Uu...How could you...This is simply too much...! I was...looking forward to it so much as well...Uu...My pudding...Uuー”

You try to comfort him.

“You will...make some for me...?”

You nod.

“Really?”

You nod again.

“ーー Please say that sooner next time. Just think about all the unnecessary energy I wasted on crying.”

*Rustle*

“Come on. What is taking you so long? Chop-chop!”

You seem surprised how he stopped crying at once.

“Those were obviously fake tears! ...More importantly, get started on that pudding for me already.”

You open the fridge.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me...we don’t have the right ingredients?”

You chuckle nervously. 

“Are you...making fun of me, perhaps? Is it fun to give me hope first only to crush it into a million pieces afterwards? Are you so desperate for a severe punishment, is that it?”

You shake your head.

“Hah! Your shamelessness knows no limits, does it? Fine then! I’ll use your blood as the sauce to drizzle on top of my shaved ice!”

You offer to give him another type of candy.

“Are you trying to butter up to me like that? Those sweet words don’t make me happy in the slightest right now! Some store-bought candies won’t calm this anger I feel. ...Unless you serve me something worthy to be on the menu of a high-rate cafe, I’m not eating it!”

You promise to make that. 

“What do you mean ‘fine’? Did you not hear me when I said that I’m only accepting something exceptional?”

You say that you will make that.

“Haah...? You’ll make a dessert when you don’t even have any milk or eggs?”

You nod.

“I won’t believe you right away. Prove that you can make it. I shall put your punishment on-hold until then. ...You better believe I won’t forgive you if you serve me something vile.”

*TIMESKIP*

*Rustle rustle*

“Hm...”

*Cling cling*

“Are these the ingredients?”

You ask if he would like to help out.

“What nonsense are you spouting? As if I would ever help out!”

You agree. 

“Exactly. If you understand that, hurry up and get those hands moving.”

*Rustle rustle*

*Thud*

*Chop chop chop*

“Hm? You halved a banana before slicing it lengthwise? Hah! What a strange thing to do. You’re repeating that process several times...Let me be so kind as to give you a little warning. If you’re thinking about making something as boring as a fruits parfait, I will boil your blood and make jam out of it, do you understand?”

You ask him to have faith in you.

“I cannot have faith. I can already tell what sort of dessert you will serve me. Do you truly think you’ll be able to exceed my expectations?” 

*Cling cling*

“Eh...? A frying pan...? Don’t tell me...You’re going to fry those!?”

You put some butter in the pan.

*Pshhh*

“...! I can smell the rich aroma of butter. It’s finally starting to look a bit more like it. At least for now, that is. ...You’ll add the cut-up bananas from earlier into this pan and fry them, correct?”

You nod and add the banana slices.

“Hm? Why are you arranging them neatly next to one another like that?”

You explain.

“Good point. A good dessert should look pretty as well. If you plate it in a cute way, it’d fit my tastes better. Mmh. I can tell that you put some actual thought into this. I wouldn’t mind getting my hopes up somewhat. ...So, what will you do next?”

*Rustle rustle*

“Did you just sprinkle some cheese on top? It’s the type that melts easily when exposed to heat, correct? ...It’s starting to gradually crisp up, almost like the crust of a pie.”

*Pshhh*

“You’ll flip them over and fry the other side as well, right?”

*Rustle rustle*

“Then put even more cheese on top...Hmm~ It’s starting to smell delicious. I cannot get enough of this aroma of cheese and butter. Say, how much longer before it’s done?”

You tell him it just needs a few final toppings.

“Ah! I will put the final toppings on there!”

You frown.

“Are you talking back? I’m the one who will enjoy this dish, so do you have an issue with me seasoning it to my personal tastes?”

You shake your head. 

“Fufu, glad you understand~ ...Let’s douse the whole thing in maple syrup~! Next up is a generous amount of cinnamon, no need to hold back with it!”

He adds his toppings.

*Thud*

“Now it’s perfect! ...Melt-in-your-mouth sauteed bananas ー seasoned with maple syrup and cinnamon, all done! ...I can’t wait to dig in! Come on, please put them on a plate!”

*Rustle rustle*

*Cling*

“Ah...Well then, bon appetit~”

He takes a bite.

*Nom nom*

“Mmh~~~!! ...Mm...So sweet...~~ The crispy cheese melts in my mouth...It pairs incredibly well with the maple syrup as well! And the richness from the butter has properly seeped into the banana! The warm bananas are super soft as well, melting on my tongue...This is pure bliss!”

*Nom nom*

“Mm, mm~~ ...Hm? Hmph. You can look at me like that all you want, I am not sharing any with you. This dessert is mine. ...However, if you insist, I suppose I could consider it.”

You seem surprised. 

“Yes. I happen to be in an excellent mood right now after all. I suppose I can let you have just one bite.”

He cuts up a piece for you.

“Come on, open your mouth. ‘Aahn’...Fufu~ I fed it to you, so make sure to savor it thoroughly, okay?” 

You tell him that it’s delicious. 

“Of course! I acknowledged this dessert, so of course it is! Besides, the banana slices have been plated to resemble a flower, so it’s also pretty to look at! ...Say, did you decide to fry them in this shape because you thought I would enjoy it? Of course you did, didn’t you?”

You confirm it.

“Fufu. I see. You are so cute like that. ...Right, let me praise you. You worked hard for my sake after all.”

*Cling*

“Allow me to pat your head. ...Accept your reward, okay?”

*Rustle rustle*

“Fufu...You are so docile tonight. Just like a doll, it’s adorable. The thing about the pudding pissed me off, but I suppose it no longer matters now. I realized that the sweets you make are my favorite after all. I suppose I no longer need Reiji then. I’ll have you make all of my desserts and snacks from here on out.”

You flinch.

“Hm? Do you have an issue with that? Just look at how thoroughly satisfied I am, so you won’t possibly turn down my request, right?”

You shake your head.

“Fufu, good girl. Haah~ I truly feel great tonight. ...I’ll have a sip of your blood as well once I’ve finished my dessert, okay? I’m on a roll right now, so I’ll have plenty.”

*Rustle*

“Please entertain me until the morning dawns, okay? Fufu...”

ーー THE END ーー 

[rabbitcruiser]

International Rabbit Day

If you have a pet rabbit, pamper them! If not, do your research and decide if these adorable little creatures could be the right fit for your home.

Held on the last Saturday of September, this annual celebration of the long-eared, short-tailed mammal is not just in the name of the millions of bunnies kept as pets across the Western world but aims to promote a serious message about animal welfare.

On International Rabbit Day® we are encouraged to consider, not only the companionship offered by our favorite hutch-dwellers, but the various ways in which rabbits are harmed by medical and cosmetic testing, hunting, fur farming and, of course, casseroling.

Yes, there is a serious side to International Rabbit Day® but you may not be surprised to learn that events are somewhat sporadic – so let your bunny out of its hutch and give it an extra carrot or two (and be sure to plan chicken for the family roast).

How to Celebrate International Rabbit Day®

There are several different ways to celebrate International Rabbit Day®.. One of the best ways is to adopt a pet rabbit. Many animal shelters offer this service. Take some time to research the shelters in your local area. You can email them and ask whether there are any rabbits available for adoption at the moment.

Suppose you are thinking about adding a pet rabbit to the family on International Rabbit Day®. In that case, it is important to make sure that you are aware of the responsibilities you will have as a rabbit owner. You need to make sure you are in a position to give your rabbit everything that he or she needs to have a happy and healthy life. So, what do rabbits need?

They require a suitable place to live, protection from disease, injury, suffering, and pain, appropriate company, the ability to behave as they normally would, and a healthy diet, which includes clean and fresh water.

Rabbits love to dig and they need to have enough space to run around. They also enjoy company from their owner, as well as other rabbits. In terms of diet, they enjoy eating a handful of various leafy greens on a daily basis, such as kale and cabbage. They also want to feel safe and they need to have some shade when the sun is shining. They also eat a lot of grass and hay, and it is important that their living area is dry and is protected from the rain and wind.

You can also use this day to learn more about rabbit welfare. Rabbits have distinct needs compared with other domestic animals, and it is important that we understand and appreciate this. You can use International Rabbit Day® to do some research online regarding the sort of environment that rabbits require.

You can also look for different ways that you can help to contribute to rabbit welfare. You can contact your local shelter and make a donation or volunteer some of your time. We are sure that they will greatly appreciate this. You may even decide to put on some sort of event on International Rabbit Day® in order to fundraise and raise money for your local animal shelter. From bake sales to fun runs; there are so many different things that you can do to raise money for this cause.

Learn about International Rabbit Day®

International Rabbit Day® has been designed so that we can appreciate the contributions and value that our pet rabbits bring to our lives. The day is also incredibly important in terms of promoting the welfare of rabbits, as well as encouraging people to create healthy environments for their pet rabbits.

There are a number of different events that are hosted on this date by The House Rabbit Society. This includes various fundraising events and a carnival.

Pet rabbits form complicated social structures. They are very territorial but they are also highly social. They also have a very unusual digestive system. The food they consume will pass through their gut, resulting in the creation of caecotrophs, which are special droppings.

Rabbits will then eat these caecotrophs, meaning that they re-ingest their food. This highlights why it is so important to make sure that your rabbit follows a healthy and appropriate diet. Pet rabbits are also some of the most intelligent pet animals.

If you use positive reward-based training, you can get your pet rabbit to respond to your commands. You may also be surprised to learn that rabbits; teeth grow at a rate of 3mm per week and that they are always growing!

There are a lot of fictional rabbits that have become famous all around the world. The most famous is Bugs Bunny. Not only is the character well-known for his antics with the Roadrunner, but he was also the star of the show, alongside Michael Jordan, in Space Jam. Of course, one way to spend International Rabbit Day® is by watching this film.

Lola Bunny is another rabbit that makes an appearance! Other famous rabbits include the waistcoat-wearing White Rabbit from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter ~Rabbit, and of course, Roger Rabbit.

We have also seen rabbits appear as part of folklore and mythology. Often, the rabbit is viewed as a trickster; an animal that is able to outwit his enemies. This is something that has carried on into American popular culture. You only need to look at Bugs Bunny to see that this is the case! It is certainly interesting to dig a bit deeper into mythology and folklore.

For example, did you know that in Korean and Japanese mythology, rabbits live on the moon, where they make rice cakes? In a mythological story from Vietnamese culture, the rabbit is portrayed as youthfulness and innocence.

History of International Rabbit Day®

House Rabbit Society has been celebrating International Rabbit Day® for a number of years. Their mission states the following:

ALL rabbits are valuable as individuals, regardless of breed purity, temperament, state of health, or relationship to humans. The welfare of all rabbits is our primary consideration. In line with our mission, we are against the exploitation of rabbits…Domestic rabbits are companion animals and should be afforded at least the same individual rights, level of care, and opportunity for longevity as commonly afforded to dogs and cats who live as human companions.

Yes, rabbits have a very long history in our culture and they make great pets, but they also need our help. Not all rabbits are safe. Rabbits are used for product testing and medical experimentation, as well as being hunted. It is up to help rabbits live a safe and protected life, and this is why International Rabbit Day® is so important.

Source

[eaglesnick]

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Elie Wiesel

For the 200 people already sentenced for their part in the Southport riots and related incidences of racial hatred, acts of violence, Incitement to arson and murder, the average prison sentence is two years.

Today, one of the two Just Stop Oil activists who threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers also received a two-year jail sentence. The other defendant received 20 months.

Whether or not you agree with the tactics of Just Stop Oil or the Extinction Rebellion protestors the fact remains we are suffering a worsening climate. When the crisis was first brought to out attention the debate centred mainly on the phrase  “global warming". The ice caps would melt, the average global temperature would rise, geographical areas already hot would become hotter. At the beginning of this debate our mainstream media simply concentrated on temperature change and here in cold damp Britain, temperature rise didn’t seem such a bad idea.

How things have changed! Now we realise that rising temperatures in Britain do not mean warmer drier summers: warmer yes, but also wetter.

“England drenched after wettest 18 months since records began in 1836" (Financial Times: 15/03/24)

Six months on and widespread flooding continues. A month’s  worth of rain fell in a couple of hours over central and southern England, homes have been ruined, roads became impassable, and farm animals became stranded. This is how global warming affects us  here in the UK.

There is another consequence of global warming – mass migration.  In those countries where the climate has become hotter and drier, where water shortage and famine have become the norm the population has no choice other than to migrate.

The BBC recently asked the question “Is the world ready for mass migration due to climate change?” with estimates as high as three billion people expected to be displaced by the effects of global warming. Judging by recent political events and the findings of various opinion polls the answer to that question as far as Britain is concerned is a resounding NO.

It is therefore ironic that right-wing politicians like Nigel Forage, politicians obsessed with migration, have described Just Stop Oil protesters as  “a complete and utter disgrace”, claiming they are  “akin to domestic terrorists”. Of course, Farage and his Reform UK Party have long been advocates of the false claim that human activity has nothing to do with climate change and that reducing CO2 emissions is a waste of time.

“Net zero means reducing man-made CO2 emissions to stop climate change. It can’t.” (Reform UK website: 2024)

Whether or not Farage and Reform UK really believe their climate change denial statements is open to question. What is not in doubt is the amount of funding they receive from other climate deniers and fossil fuel interests.

“Reform UK has received more than £2.3 million from oil and gas interests, highly polluting industries, and climate science deniers since December 2019, amounting to 92 percent of the party’s donations.” DeSmog: 04/06/24)

Is it any wonder Reform UK supports fracking, extended gas and oil extraction from the North Sea and scrapping the UK commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

Corporate money clearly talks, especially that of the big oil and gas companies, and this may well explain why the Just Stop Oil protestors received such harsh sentences for the crime of  throwing soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

The Just Stop Oil activists did not damage the painting itself as a defensive screen protected it. The only damage was to the FRAME housing the painting, estimated at £10,000. The estimated cost of 4 days of rioting resulting from the Southport murders is between £200m and £500m in damages, lost trade and policing.

The conclusion is clear. Instigating riot, taking part in riot, encouraging arson and racist behaviour and even murder is no worse than throwing tomato soup at a painting that you know is protected by anti-vandal glass.

The wealth and long reach of corporate oil and gas interests seems not only to influence the climate policies of Reform UK but also the values and response of our judicial system to anyone who dares protest about the fossil fuel industry.

[dykesynthezoid]

Nuclear Accidents to read about for more Burrow’s End Context (Besides Chernobyl):

I’ve recently become hyperfixated with reading about these and a lot of them have bits that I think can add to what’s going on in Burrow’s End. (These are far from all the possible examples I could give you, these just seemed the most relevant). I’ve grouped them by location in honor of the Cold War themes we’ve been seeing.

Soviet Incidents:

Mayak Kyshtym Disaster (1957) | Considered the third worst nuclear plant disaster in history (behind Chernobyl and Fukushima). Case of neglect and lack of oversight and general human stupidity. Caused huge amount of contamination to surrounding area; they had previously already been dumping their waste into a nearby lake. High civilian casualties; at least 200 people died and many, many more were affected.

“In the 45 years afterwards, about half a million people in the region have been irradiated in one or more of the incidents, exposing them to up to 20 times the radiation suffered by the Chernobyl disaster victims outside of the plant itself.”

Vinča Nuclear Institute Criticality Excursion (1958) | Researchers smelled ozone while they were unknowingly being irradiated, resulting in one death

Greifswald Nuclear Power Plant Incidents | 1975: Electrical fire destroyed control lines to coolant pumps 1989: Another cooling pump malfunction caused near-meltdown

KS-150 Incidents (1976, 1977) | Several different incidents involving coolant malfunction

K-431 Chazhma Bay Accident (1985) | Criticality excursion on a nuclear submarine caused by operator error. Resulted in a large area of severe contamination. (10 fatalities, another 49 injured, unknown how many could have been affected by contamination).

US Incidents:

Louis Slotin Accident (1946) | There are several excursions and deaths associated with the Manhattan Project and Los Alamos— but this one involved witnesses reporting a “blue glow” as the resulting radiation ionized the surrounding air. Slotin died within days, and several of his colleagues were injured, one permanently disabled, with some later dying early deaths.

Cecil Kelley Accident (1958) | Procedural error caused criticality accident that resulted in a “bright flash of blue light;” (warning that the descriptions on this one get particularly grisly as Kelley received more than seven times the adult lethal dose of radiation; he was the only one affected).

Surry Power Station Incidents (1972, 1979, 1986, 2011) | Multiple cooling system accidents, primarily those involving escaping steam, resulting in burns and one explosion. (Only the events in 1972 and 1986 resulted in loss of life, for 6 deaths total)

Three Mile Island Accident (1979) | Water escaped from the coolant system due to a mix of operator error and design flaws. This led to the reactor overheating and an eventual leak of radioactive gases via the steam released during the incident. Luckily the contamination of surrounding areas appears to have been minimal (for the most part).

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Malfunctions (1986) | Used Cape Cod Bay as the water source for its cooling system, resulting in an impact on aquatic plant and animal life. In 1986, recurring equipment malfunctions resulted in an emergency shutdown. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission once referred to it as “one of the worst-run″ nuclear power plants in the US.

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Incidents (1987) | Nuclear Regulatory Commission found evidence of misconduct, procedure error, corporate malfeasance, deliberate disregard for safety regulations, and pollution via accidental waste leakage into a nearby river. Resulted in a forced shutdown in 1987, associated with cooling malfunctions.

(There are several other [mostly nonfatal] US incidents at nuclear power plants, too many to fully get into here. See: Idaho National Laboratory, Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Crystal River Nuclear Plant, and Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station)

Other Locations:

Lucens Reactor Accident (1969) | Loss of coolant accident led to partial meltdown and contamination of the reactor cavern

Vandellòs Nuclear Power Plant Accident (1989) | A fire damaged the cooling system, leading to near-meltdown

Other Resources:

Wikipedia:

Page for nuclear and radiation accidents

Page for criticality accidents

Page for LOCA (Loss-of-coolant accident)

Union of Concerned Scientists:

A Brief History of Nuclear Accidents Worldwide

National Health Institute:

Civilian nuclear incidents: An overview of historical, medical, and scientific aspects

See Also:

World Nuclear Association, Atomic Archive, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[arsonist4hire]

Hold your head high, Autobot.

Hot Rod's instinct tells him to not answer. He does not want to. Orion's-- or, that is to say, Optimus'-- words echo in his mind like a bad poem. A horrible mock rap, the sort he'd have heard from the newest recruits attempting to make fun of one another.

The kind he'd laugh at.

Hold your head high, Autobot.

The rebel's-- once Insurgent-- mind tells him this is utterly, horribly, wrong. He had not done all this to be called an Autobot. He had not blown up a city to spare people from pain to be called someone who inflicts it.

Yet he had saved the very same group of 'bots who called themselves so-- who chased him down, hunted him like an animal, refused to listen even when he'd shown Zeta's malice; the result to their blind obedience.

It could be you that carries this Matrix one day, after all.

A curse implanted on him-- a thought that makes the energon flowing through his circuits boil, makes his tanks churn. Hot Rod looks away from Optimus then (disguises it as simply turning his head to look at the hole Metroplex left in his wake) to swallow his disgust. Optimus Prime, the wielder of the Matrix, the one who rose from the ashes of his home despite not deserving it, has planted a curse on him beyond a doubt-- a burden he does not wish to carry, not within a faction which has hunted down his brothers more than once, who stormed into their sacred grounds and tore apart prayer mats.

Deep within, a hidden thought forces its way out. It flashes in deep reds and boiling oranges.

You should have let Megatron kill them all.

That would have been something, wouldn't it? More energon spilling from his hands, more bodies added to the pile. He wonders, briefly, if Megatron would have done the same as Optimus. Maybe he would have said what good work he did, helping him get rid of those pesky Autobots-- maybe, predictably so, he would have hinted at giving Hot Rod a place of importance within the Decepticons.

That thought, too, makes him swallow sickness.

The mech beside him does not realize, but the Matrix has a song. It sings, tauntingly so, music heard within the prayers of the mechs who'd stop their meals to pray to it. It hums in tunes often sung by the desperate. Songs he'd heard a million times within the walls of the Acroplex, on the streets of Nyon, within the boats by the bay.

Optimus does not hear it, for he has never known suffering the way Nyon had known it.

His escape plan is simple, and easy. The Autobots have many ships. The guilt that Optimus hides behind his faceplate will not allow him to deny Hot Rod this one act of cowardice.

"Well, that'd be something, wouldn't it?"

He does not attempt to hide the sarcasm and disdain in his voice.

Hot Rod will be gone before they ever manage to put that insignia in his chest.