#elephant politics

[pratchettquotes]

"Let me see if I've got this right," said Vimes. "Uberwald is like this big suet pudding that everyone's suddenly noticed, and now with this coronation as an excuse we've all got to rush there with knife, fork and spoon to shovel as much on our plates as possible?"

"Your grasp of political reality is masterly, Vimes. You lack only the appropriate vocabulary."

Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant

[sparrowlucero]

this is the iconic dinosaur horror jurassic park wishes it was

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - November 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. Climate Initiatives Fare Well Across the Country Despite National Political Climate

“[California voters approved] a $10 billion bond measure to boost climate resilience across [the] state[…. Hawai’i] voters cast their ballots in favor of establishing the [climate] resiliency fund, with money for the project coming from existing property tax revenue.“

2. ‘You have to disguise your human form’: how sea eagles are being returned to Severn estuary after 150 years

“[… To avoid imprinting,] the handlers will wear long robes and feed the young eagles chopped rabbit and other meat with bird hand-puppets. […] Williams hopes that restoring eagles to the top of the food chain in the estuary will create a more balanced, thriving ecosystem.”

3. 10 states voted on pro-abortion referendums. 7 of them passed

“New York voters overwhelmingly approved the Equal Rights Amendment, adding [… among other characteristics] gender expression, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes to anti-discrimination laws. […] In deep-red Missouri and Montana, voters also enshrined abortions protections in their state constitutions.”

4. Giant rats could soon fight illegal wildlife trade by sniffing out elephant tusk and rhino horn

“”Our study shows that we can train African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife, even when it has been concealed among other substances[.…] They can easily access tight spaces like cargo in packed shipping containers or be lifted up high to screen the ventilation systems of sealed containers,” Szott explained.”

5. Sarah McBride wins Delaware U.S. House seat, becoming the first out trans member of Congress

“McBride spearheaded Delaware’s legislation to ban the “gay and trans panic” defense as a state senator [… and] helped to pass paid family and medical leave, gun safety measures, and protections for reproductive rights.”

6. Critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf born in Indonesia

“Indonesian officials hailed the births and said they showed conservation efforts were essential to prevent the protected species from extinction. […] Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction with only about 2,400-2,800 left in the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.”

7. Sin City is Going Green

“[Hotels there] have conserved 16 billion gallons of water since 2007, thanks to […] replacing grass with desert-friendly landscaping, installing water-efficient taps across all properties, and reusing water at aquariums and in the Bellagio Fountain.”

8. Gray squirrel control: Study shows promise for effective contraceptive delivery system

“[… T]he feeders have a very high level of species-specificity. […] The bait and monitoring system developed and tested in the study demonstrated that […] “spring was the only season tested where female squirrels were more likely to visit bait feeders than males. Spring coincides with a peak in squirrel breeding and is therefore a good time to deliver a contraceptive."”

9. Returning Grazing Land to Native Forests Would Yield Big Climate Benefits

“[… S]trategically regrowing forests on land where cattle currently graze […] while intensifying production elsewhere could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, with little hit to global protein production, a new study shows.”

10. Interior Department Strengthens Conservation of American Bison Through New Agreement with Canada and Mexico

“Approximately 31,000 bison are currently being stewarded by the United States, Canada and Mexico with the goal of conserving the species and their role in the function of native grassland systems, as well as their place in Indigenous culture.”

October 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[gallusrostromegalus]

Drawtober Day 7: 7th/11th 7-11 Run

The background is a composite collage and re-lighting of several public use images, Mostly I wanted to try making a night scene and practice lighting some characters from there.

IDK What's going on exactly, I just figure Zaraki and Komamura would be two pretty ominous figures to see waiting at the bus stop across the lot from the spooky 7-11 in the middle of a foggy and moonless night.

[squash1]

i think about this dialogue every goddamn day of my life. i can’t believe this is real.

they should all just kiss. their chemistry is off the charts.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

What a fantastic example of what accredited zoological facilities can acheive for the welfare of their animals when they collaborate.

Monarto Safari Park is creating an amazing open plains elephant habitat, along with a state of the art elephant barn/shelter for quarantine and medical care.

They've just welcomed Burma, the last elephant housed in human care in New Zealand, to this facility with more elephants from around zoos in Australia set to join her.

A lot of the elephants set to arrive are now alone after herd members passed away. Since we know these are highly social animals that live in matriarchal societies, it's important that they have a herd. So instead of leaving them where they are, the zoos are working together to bring these lone elephants together so they can form a new herd.

I'm really excited to see this project come together and I can't think of a better team to pull this off than Monarto!

Check out the habitat map - it's going to be massive! But also have the means to provide care and allow visitors to see these gorgeous animals, so that's really exciting!

[danskjavlarna]

Source details and larger version.

My collection of vintage political cartoons.

[jacketpotatoo]

“Why are people choosing to interpret an idiom literally, that’s so dumb.” guuys. there are billions of idioms to choose from and this one was picked intentionally. Multiple interpretations and implications exist simultaneously and the writers know that. It’s honestly insulting to assume they don’t.

[silviakundera]

more Li Rong/Pei Wenxuan/Su Ronqing dynamic thoughts...

Ep 18, Su Rongqing: "Don't forget that if it wasn't for His Majesty's fear of the imperial relatives, you wouldn't have even been able to get close to Her Highness in your life. Not to mention to be with Her Highness."

imo it's key that SRQ is from a super prestigious land-holding family, whose wealth and power are old & deeply entrenched. He's your modern day chaebol nepo baby, smart & educated & ready to inherit his family's slice of the empire.

Because he's every insecurity PWX has, tied up in a bow and sneering dismissively at him lol. PWX whose family worked hard to get out of the countryside and entered officialdom just in his dad's generation, and who doesn't even have the backing of that family. He has had to work 40x as hard and without being the princess consort he would never in his lifetime have achieved the stuff that's just handed to SRQ.

Part of PWX being determined to fight for Li Rong and not letting SRQ get in his head is that he needs to internalize that she sincerely thinks PWX is valueable and has never thought he was inferior to SRQ. None of their problems were ever about that. She saved SRQ for her moral conscience. Then she settled for him because her husband couldn't let go of his childhood engagement crush (plus his own acknowledged pride issues about a marriage arranged by the throne). He never actively tried to repair the marriage - his insecurities overtook him and he gave up. SRQ didn't "win". There was never any contest.

But though Pei Wenxuan tells himself this and tells Su Rongqing that she'll never say yes to him.... we gotta know that it's not that easy to defeat all your inner demons. That's why I think he gets a bit erratic and overblown in his romantic moves in the succeeding episodes - subconsciously anxious to tie Li Rong further to him.

[beauty-funny-trippy]

[laurelnose]

if u ever hear a little voice in your head telling u to reread the silmarillion. that’s the devil talking

[the-blog-of-gog]

(via "Donald Trump, Political Satire, GOP, President, Election" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by Burn-Ego)

[lesbiradshaw]

.

[forabeatofadrum]

Well. El WooWoo Wednesday is upon us. Thank you @artsyunderstudy, @whatevertheweather, @that-disabled-princess, @wellbelesbian/@nausikaaa, @shrekgogurt and @you-remind-me-of-the-babe for tagging me the past 1.5 weeks. I'll catch up with your stuff soon.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the Stardew Valley 1.6 update on consoles. Nothing else has happened in the world apart from that. It's just Stardew Valley. I have been playing it a lot instead of writing, but a while ago, I was thinking about writing again.

Honestly, Ljubili se is *gestures around*, so I was thinking about maybe already starting the 2024 Challenge fic. My idea for that fic is that Blaine is the brother of the Hero of the Story, the Chosen One, the Saviour and whatever. Blaine's fine with being in Cooper's shadow, since he never wanted to be the hero anyway. But then Kurt Hummel arrives, who claims all of this is a story, because it is. The Cooper Chronicles is a bestselling series in Kurt's world and he's fallen into it. It's up to Kurt and Blaine to find a way for Kurt to go home.

Let's see where it goes, eh?

[name] barges through the door, making Blaine drop his glass in shock. "Where is your brother?" she yells. "I don't know," Blaine answers, "He started another quest this morning. Something about a mystical cave up north?" Blaine's not entirely sure. He tries to keep track of his brother's heroics, but there are just too many of them. He crouches down to pick up the shards of glass. "Then, we need you." Blaine drops the shard he had just picked up. "Me?" Blaine asks. He's the only one in this tower room, but he still asks to be sure. "Someone's been brought in. He's hurt. You can heal, right?" Blaine doesn't have Cooper's healing powers, but he is interested in alchemy. He can try. "Okay," Blaine says, and he follows [name] out of the door, leaving the shards behind.

The person who's been brought in is Kurt, by the way. Also, the premise of this fic is inspired by J.M. Frey's The Accidental Turn series, but I haven't read those books in almost a decade and apart from the premise, it has nothing to do with the series.

(Also I might be writing a Class fic. But also, writing.)

And now, the weather: @quizasvivamos @coffeegleek @caramelcoffeeaddict @raenestee @tectonicduck 

@nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @special-bc-ur-part-of-it

@larkral @cutestkilla​ @facewithoutheart​ @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites 

@shame-is-a-wasted-emotion @esilher @kurtsascot @blackberrysummerblog 

@nightimedreamersghost @ivelovedhimthroughworse @thnxforknowingme @martsonmars

[sagecrochets]

Six toys for six cousins, all crocheted within 3 days of Christmas. Needless to say I never took on that many projects in such a short time again

Originally posted Dec. 2019 and Jan. 2020

[pratchettquotes]

"In Uberwald the dwarfs and trolls haven't settled their old grievances, there are large areas controlled by feudal vampire or werewolf clans, and there are also tracts with much higher than normal background magic. It is a chaotic place, indeed, and you'd hardly think you were in the Century of the Fruitbat. It is to be hoped that things will improve, however, and Uberwald will, happily, be joining the community of nations."

Vimes and Vetinari exchanged looks. Sometimes Carrot sounded like a civics essay written by a stunned choirboy.

"Well put," said the Patrician, at last. "But until that joysome day, Uberwald remains a mystery inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma."

Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant