#problems of agricultural financing

[farmerstrend]

Guide to agricultural financing options for Kenyan farmers

The agricultural industry in Kenya is a highly dynamic and complex sector that involves a wide range of activities, from small-scale subsistence farming to large-scale commercial agriculture. Agriculture is an important contributor to the country’s economy and provides livelihoods to millions of Kenyans. However, access to timely and affordable financing remains a major challenge for many farmers…

[ghostlyferrettarot]

🛸🖤Midheaven in the signs🖤🛸

❗️All the observations in this post are based on personal experience and research, it's completely fine if it doesn't resonate with everyone❗️

✨️Paid Services ✨️ (Natal charts and tarot readings) Open!

🛸If you like my work you can support me through Ko-fi. Thank you!🛸

🖤Masterlist🖤

🛸Midheaven in Aries: Self-confidence and extroversion are their main tools; self-sufficient, they seek to prove themselves at all levels. Professional careers that involve movement, individual action and proving their leadership abilities are favorable to them.

🛸Midheaven in Taurus: Their perseverance and determination help them achieve their goals. They take into account their gifts, resources and abilities and how to exploit them. Professional careers that allow them to manifest beauty and practicality are favorable to them, such as agriculture, sculpture, architecture, agronomy, painting and finance.

🛸Midheaven in Gemini: Great communication skills. Flexible, analytical, receptive, agile, versatile, adaptable, with great observational capacity, they can carry out several tasks at once without problems. Professional careers linked to the processes of communication and contact with society are favorable to them, such as journalism, commerce, diplomacy and education.

🛸Midheaven in Cancer: Planners and protectors; Individualistic, sensitive, firm and intuitive. Another point to keep in mind is to practice fluidity in your daily life. Professional careers that help channel assistance to others are favorable for you, such as psychology, gynecology, cooking and psychotherapy.

🛸Midheaven in Leo: You pursue success relentlessly, and sometimes you do not allow yourself to enjoy it. You have clear objectives and the perseverance and tenacity necessary to achieve them. Noble, generous, motivating, trustworthy, with leadership skills; you must learn to control arrogance. Professional careers with great autonomy are favorable for you, such as political positions, business management and dramaturgy.

🛸Midheaven in Virgo: You maintain a constant and methodical effort to achieve your objectives; critical, detail-oriented, positive, organized, innovative and with a great willingness to learn. You must avoid neuroses and the accumulation of objects. Professional careers oriented towards collaboration and with an appreciation of details, such as mechanics, languages, nutrition and crafts, are favorable for you.

🛸Midheaven in Libra: They plan and execute their strategy calmly, taking care of the details and feasibility. They are sociable, adaptable and diplomatic, and they like harmony. Professional careers that offer variety and where they can comfortably develop their sense of justice and balance are favorable to them. A classic example is the study of law, diplomacy, public relations and the arts.

🛸Midheaven in Scorpio: They have a tendency to manipulate others to achieve their interests. Ambitious, determined, direct, brave, skillful and capable of facing difficult transformation processes. Professional careers that privilege research and strategy are favorable to them, such as psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, private investigator, chemist and anthropologist.

🛸Midheaven in Sagittarius: They are constantly moving. Intuitive, open, creative, with strong convictions and ideals. They are favourable to professional careers that work directly by appealing to the philosophy of life of individuals, such as religion, philosophy, or spiritual guidance. They also excel in astronomy, ecology and sports.

🛸Midheaven in Capricorn: Ambitious, practical, predictable and modest. Protective, efficient, serious, concentrated, focused, they can fall into nonconformity and obstinacy, in relation to the results they obtain. They are favourable to professional careers that require their knowledge of administration and organization, such as architecture, politics, administration of companies or public institutions, and geology.

🛸Midheaven in Aquarius: They wish to build a better world for everyone, but they feel the need to constantly test the scope of their knowledge. This position indicates a constant search for wisdom. Cooperators, avant-garde, they must cultivate the freedom of spirit to achieve the awakening of consciousness they long for. They are favourable to professional careers that promote the use of technologies and the mass dissemination of ideas, such as journalist, writer, community manager, publicist and others.

🛸Midheaven in Pisces: Patient, sensitive, simple and compassionate, they seek to understand the meaning of life, so they have philosophical and religious concerns, as well as a deep desire to live with simplicity. They must learn that spirituality is not a concept at odds with success. Professional careers related to the management and expression of feelings, such as the arts, psychology, research and public relations, are favorable to them.

[pearlprincess02]

academia sign as 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞 𝔞𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔰

academia (829)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

aries / 1st house academia: aries in academia approaches learning with enthusiasm and a pioneering spirit. they thrive in competitive environments, enjoying subjects that allow them to take the lead, such as sports science, entrepreneurship, or anything requiring bold, innovative thinking. their learning style is hands-on and action-oriented, preferring to dive into projects rather than sit through lectures. quick to grasp new concepts, aries students excel in fast-paced, dynamic settings where they can showcase their initiative and drive. they are natural leaders in group work, often inspiring others with their energy and passion.

chaotic academia vibes: red bull, coffee, late-night study sessions, messy desk, sticky notes everywhere, highlighters galore, backpack overflowing, headphones tangled, running late, cramming, competitive studying, impulsive learning, last-minute cramming, energetic study sessions, motivational posters, pomodoro technique, study groups, mind maps, flash cards, music playlists

major & minor in college: history, english, psychology, theater, business, creative writing, philosophy, computer science, art history, sociology

𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

taurus / 2nd house academia: taurus in academia is methodical and steady, approaching learning with patience and determination. they excel in subjects that involve tangible results or a connection to nature, such as agriculture, culinary arts, or finance. taurus students prefer a structured learning environment, where they can take their time to absorb information deeply and thoroughly. they have a strong memory and excel in retaining facts, often mastering subjects through repetition and consistent effort. their learning style is practical and grounded, focusing on real-world applications and long-term value.

dark academia vibes: leather-bound notebooks, vintage fountain pen, cozy sweater, warm coffee, comfortable armchair, candles, classical music, antique bookshelves, quiet library, natural light, slow & steady approach, consistent studying, structured routine, mindful studying, note-taking, reading extensively, researching deeply, essay writing, critical thinking, patience & perseverance,

major & minor in college: literature, history, art history, philosophy, classical studies, music, latin, greek, anthropology, environmental studies,

scorpio / 8th house academia: scorpio in academia is intensely focused and driven, diving deep into subjects that fascinate them, especially those involving psychology, criminology, or anything that uncovers hidden truths. they are natural researchers, drawn to mysteries and complexities, excelling in environments that require investigative skills and critical thinking. scorpio students prefer to study in private, where they can immerse themselves fully without distractions. they have a talent for uncovering details that others might overlook, and their determination to master a subject is unmatched. passionate and resilient, scorpio learners often emerge as experts in their chosen fields.

dark academia vibes: black coffee, leather jacket, intricate jewelry, vintage records, haunted library, gothic architecture, mysterious aura, intense gaze, quiet solitude, deep thoughts, intense focus, deep research, analytical thinking, critical analysis, debating, persuasive writing, problem-solving, independent study, night owl, passionate learning,

major & minor in college: psychology, philosophy, criminal justice, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, mythology, astronomy, creative writing,

𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

gemini / 3rd house academia: gemini in academia is curious and versatile, thriving in environments where they can explore a wide range of subjects. they are natural communicators, excelling in fields like journalism, linguistics, or social sciences, where their quick wit and love for information can shine. gemini students prefer a dynamic, interactive learning environment, enjoying discussions, debates, and collaborative projects. their learning style is fast-paced and adaptable, allowing them to pick up new concepts with ease and shift focus between topics effortlessly. always eager to learn something new, gemini keeps their mind sharp by continuously seeking knowledge in various fields.

theatre academia vibes: script book, makeup bag, costumes, props, rehearsal space, stage lights, backstage passes, playbills, acting classes, impromptu performances, versatility, adaptability, improvisation, memorization, public speaking, character analysis, script analysis, ensemble work, storytelling, critical thinking

major & minor in college: theater, english, creative writing, communication studies, film studies, music, dance, history, psychology, sociology,

𝔠𝔬𝔷𝔶 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

cancer / 4th house academia: cancer in academia is intuitive and emotionally connected to their studies, often drawn to subjects that resonate with their personal experiences, such as history, literature, or psychology. they excel in environments that feel nurturing and supportive, preferring to learn in a space where they feel safe and comfortable. cancer students have a strong memory, especially for details that evoke an emotional response, and they often approach learning with empathy and care. their learning style is reflective and deep, focusing on understanding the emotional and human aspects of any subject. sensitive to the needs of others, cancer can also be a compassionate and supportive peer in group settings.

cozy academia vibes: knitting needles, teacup, soft blanket, candles, cozy armchair, bookshelf filled with sentimental books, family photos, journal, soft music, homemade snacks, emotional intelligence, empathy, nurturing oneself, creating a comfortable study space, mindful studying, journaling, connecting with others, supporting others, patience & perseverance, emotional regulation

major & minor in college: english, history, psychology, sociology, social work, counseling, child development, family studies, art history, creative writing

𝔯𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

leo / 5th house academia: leo in academia is confident and expressive, thriving in subjects where they can showcase their creativity and leadership, such as performing arts, literature, or leadership studies. they enjoy being at the center of discussions and excel in environments where their ideas and talents are recognized. leo students are passionate learners who bring enthusiasm to their studies, often inspiring others with their energy and charisma. their learning style is dynamic and interactive, preferring presentations and group projects where they can shine. with a natural flair for storytelling and self-expression, leo often excels in areas that allow them to be both creative and influential.

royal academia vibes: crown-shaped stationery, velvet robes, gold jewelry, vintage fountain pen, grand library, ornate furniture, elegant calligraphy, classical music, high-quality textbooks, personalized study supplies, confidence, leadership, public speaking, motivation, goal setting, networking, presentation skills, time management, creativity, passion

major & minor in college: history, political science, business, theater, art history, music, philosophy, classical studies, public relations, creative writing

𝔟𝔬𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

virgo / 6th house academia: virgo in academia is analytical and detail-oriented, excelling in subjects that require precision and critical thinking, such as mathematics, science, or technical writing. they have a strong work ethic and prefer structured learning environments where they can methodically work through complex problems. virgo students are diligent researchers, often going above and beyond to ensure they fully understand a topic, and they have a knack for organizing information logically. their learning style is meticulous and focused, thriving on clear instructions and practical applications. with a keen eye for detail, virgo often excels in areas that demand accuracy and thoroughness.

botanical academia vibes: herbarium, plant journal, botanical prints, terrarium, gardening tools, natural light, plant-based stationery, herbal tea, nature-inspired décor, organized study space, organization, planning, time management, detail-oriented approach, note-taking, researching, problem-solving, critical thinking, patience, perseverance

major & minor in college: biology, environmental science, botany, horticulture, chemistry, agriculture, nutrition, health sciences, art history, creative writing

𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

libra / 7th house academia: libra in academia is balanced and diplomatic, drawn to subjects that involve relationships, aesthetics, and justice, such as law, art, or social sciences. they excel in collaborative learning environments, enjoying discussions and group projects where they can exchange ideas and mediate differing opinions. libra students have a natural talent for seeing multiple perspectives, which makes them excellent at analyzing complex issues and finding harmonious solutions. their learning style is interactive and social, thriving in settings that allow for cooperation and mutual respect. with a strong sense of fairness and a love for beauty, libra often excels in areas that combine intellectual rigor with creativity.

romantic academia vibes: love letters, poetry collection, vintage jewelry, soft/pastel colors, romantic novels, flower arrangements, classical music, art galleries, beautiful stationery, cozy cafes, collaboration, harmony, diplomacy, balance, aesthetic appreciation, empathy, persuasion, critical thinking, creativity, open-mindedness

major & minor in college: english, history, art history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, communication studies, music, creative writing, design

𝔞𝔡𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

sagittarius / 9th house academia: sagittarius in academia is adventurous and curious, drawn to subjects that expand their horizons, such as philosophy, travel, or global studies. they thrive in environments that offer freedom and exploration, preferring to learn through experience, travel, and broad, open-ended discussions. sagittarius students have a natural enthusiasm for big ideas and are often inspired by the pursuit of knowledge that challenges conventional thinking. their learning style is spontaneous and wide-ranging, excelling in areas where they can explore different cultures, beliefs, and philosophies. with an innate love for wisdom and truth, sagittarius often excels in fields that encourage lifelong learning and intellectual growth.

adventurous academia vibes: travel journal, global map, adventure novels, passport, backpack, camping gear, telescope, world atlas, foreign language textbooks, wanderlust-themed stationery, curiosity, open-mindedness, exploration, adaptability, risk-taking, global perspective, intercultural communication, problem-solving, independent study, passion for learning

major & minor in college: history, geography, anthropology, philosophy, foreign languages, international studies, environmental science, economics, creative writing, journalism

𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

capricorn / 10th house academia: capricorn in academia is disciplined and strategic, favoring subjects that offer practical applications and long-term value, such as business, engineering, or finance. they excel in structured, goal-oriented environments where they can set clear objectives and work methodically towards achieving them. capricorn students have a strong work ethic and are adept at managing their time efficiently, often thriving on detailed planning and rigorous analysis. their learning style is focused and persistent, with a preference for mastering foundational concepts before advancing. with a keen sense of responsibility and determination, capricorn often excels in areas that require patience and sustained effort.

winter academia vibes: thick coat, scarf, warm coffee, cozy sweater, planner, bookshelf filled with textbooks, quiet study space, pen & paper, minimalist décor, structured routine, discipline, time management, goal setting, planning, persistence, problem-solving, critical thinking, researching, note-taking, long-term planning

major & minor in college: business, economics, law, political science, accounting, engineering, computer science, mathematics, history, philosophy

𝔣𝔲𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

aquarius / 11th house academia: aquarius in academia is innovative and independent, gravitating towards subjects that involve technology, future trends, or social change, such as engineering, environmental science, or sociology. they thrive in learning environments that encourage original thinking and unconventional approaches, often preferring to explore new ideas and challenge established norms. aquarius students are skilled at grasping complex, abstract concepts and enjoy engaging in collaborative projects that push boundaries and promote collective progress. their learning style is progressive and exploratory, with a strong inclination towards experimenting with novel methods and solutions. with a keen interest in improving the world, aquarius often excels in fields that foster creativity and forward-thinking.

futuristic academia vibes: smartwatch, laptop, tech gadgets, futuristic eyewear, minimalist design, neon lights, sci-fi novels, futuristic architecture, virtual reality headset, sustainable products, innovation, problem-solving, critical thinking, future-oriented thinking, collaboration, interdisciplinary learning, ethical considerations, lifelong learning, adaptability, social consciousness

major & minor in college: computer science, engineering, physics, astronomy, artificial intelligence, environmental science, sociology, political science, psychology, philosophy

𝔬𝔠𝔢𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔠𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔞

pisces / 12th house academia: pisces in academia is imaginative and intuitive, drawn to subjects that explore the arts, spirituality, or the human psyche, such as creative writing, music, or psychology. they excel in environments that allow for introspection and creative expression, often thriving in less structured settings that encourage personal interpretation and emotional depth. pisces students have a unique ability to grasp abstract concepts and connect disparate ideas, making them skilled at synthesizing information in innovative ways. their learning style is fluid and adaptable, with a preference for exploring topics through personal experiences and intuitive insights. with a deep sense of empathy and creativity, pisces often excels in fields that involve understanding and expressing the complexities of the human experience.

ocean academia vibes: seashells, aquarium, ocean-themed stationery, beach towel, nautical decor, marine biology books, beach reads, ocean-inspired jewelry, dreamcatcher, calming music, intuition, empathy, creativity, imagination, meditation, mindfulness, visualization, dream journaling, connection with nature, emotional intelligence

major & minor in college: marine biology, oceanography, environmental science, psychology, art history, creative writing, music, philosophy, sociology, religious studies,

all observations belong to @pearlprincess02

[cinnamonnangel]

ASTRO 101 - THE HOUSES (PART I)

FIRST HOUSE - I AM

(The First House is ruled by Aries and Mars.)

The first moment you open your eyes to the world, first breath, first sight, first intention and first experience

General appearance, form and shape, physical body, general health, vitality and energy, action

Character, identity, self image, personality, mask, self interest, how others perceive you, self expression, independence, behavior, name, attitude, fame

How you see the world, how the world sees you

Spirit, life, ego, soul body

First impressions, beginnings

Head, face, eyes, blood, brain, muscular system

The moment of birth and people around you, place of birth and atmosphere, birth experiences, mother’s health and experiences during childbirth

SECOND HOUSE - I HAVE

(The Second House is ruled by Taurus and Venus.)

Material and non-material resources, attitude toward possessions,

How you make money or meet obligations, self worth

Personal finances, money matters, sense of value, stocks and share, trade, jewelry, documents, cash money, valuables, wealth, possessions, trade, material possessions, luxuries, banking activities, loans, economic situation, wares, rank, guarantee, financial security, artworks

Talents, comfort zone, security, self esteem, valuables, sense of values, resourcefulness, nutrition

Face, neck, throat, vocal cords, thyroid, metabolic system, voice and vocal talents

Economy, sovereign debt, colonies, fees, trade, banks, internal debts, artistic approaches of a country

THIRD HOUSE - I THINK

(The Third House is ruled by Gemini and Mercury.)

Conscious mind, memory, mental confusion, communication, intellect, mentation, thinking

Skillfulness, study, ability, writing, speaking, researching, learning, reading, perceiving, adaptability, ability to learn foreign languages

Depthless thoughts and informations, smattering

Elementary and primary education, puberty

Siblings, brothers, sisters, cousins, close relatives and neighbors

Short trips, tour, daily travel, neighborhood, public transports, vehicles, motorbike, cars, train, bus, boats, urban roads

TV, radio, telephone, computer, mails, messages, text, communication network and channels, short correspondence on social media, weather forecast

Shoulders, collar bone, arms, hands, fingers, lungs, nerves, the nervous system

Bookstore, library, school, post office, educational institution, streets, telephone kiosk

FOURTH HOUSE - I FEEL

(The Fourth House is ruled by Cancer and Moon.)

The place where we live with the family, home atmosphere, home life, house, mother, family, lineage, family matters, ancestry, custom, femininity

Subconscious, things we hide about ourselves, emotional problems, early childhood, depression, personal commitment, the deepest and the darkest point of the chart

Old age, the end of the life, diseases, grave

Land, realty, genetic heritage, underground sources

Chest, breaths, stomach, uterus, diaphragm, upper alimentary system

Agricultural enterprise, historical values, mining site, real estate, refuge facilities, farmers, cemeteries

FIFTH HOUSE - I WILL

(The Fifth House is ruled by Leo and Sun.)

Actions and activities we do for ourselves, things we like to do, hobbies, how do we spend our free time, creativity, activities we enjoy, pleasure, self expression, risk taking, leisure time, artistic talents,

Love, romance, dating, courtship, love affairs, the way we flirt

Children, birthing and creation, the character of our children

Acting, drama, dance, music, sports, artists, celebrities, stage

Games, cards, puzzles, fun, amusement, games of chance, gambling, speculative investment

Chest, upper back, heart, spine, cardiac system

Hotels, entertainment centers, casino, beauty shops, coiffeur, resort, amusement park, cinema, theatre, sports center, park, art exhibition

SIXTH HOUSE - I ANALYZE

(The Sixth House is ruled by Virgo and Mercury.)

What we do to survive, daily work, everyday routine, details, skills

Work routines, where we specialize our skills, workers, competition, employment, workmates

House of sickness, exhaustion, disease, allergies, health, physical body, physical condition

Issues that tire us and weaken us, drugs and addictions

Pets and animals

Abdomen, intestines, lower liver, alimentary canal, spleen, digestive nerves

Hospitals, health care providers, employees, service sector, trade unions, state employees, restaurants, food and beverage services, enemies, soldiers, police, military, army, security guard, navy, animal clinic

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

Recent data analysis conducted by a human rights advocacy organization found that nearly a dozen international finance institutions directed over $3 billion to animal agriculture in 2023. The majority of those funds — upwards of $2.27 billion — came from development banks and went towards projects that support factory farming, a practice that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions as well as biodiversity loss. 

The researchers behind the analysis are calling on the development banks — which include the International Finance Corporation, or IFC, part of the World Bank — to scrutinize the climate and environmental impacts of the projects they fund, especially in light of the World Bank’s climate pledges.

The analysis comes from the International Accountability Project, which reviewed disclosure documents from 15 development banks and the Green Climate Fund, established in 2010 at COP16 to support climate action in developing countries. Researchers found that 10 of those development banks, as well as the Green Climate Fund, financed projects directly supporting animal agriculture. The data serves as the basis for a new white paper from Stop Financing Factory Farming, or S3F, a coalition of advocacy groups that seeks to block development banks from funding agribusiness, released last month. 

The International Accountability Project, which advocates for human and environmental rights, hopes that its findings will pressure international financial institutions like the World Bank to see the contradiction in financing industrial animal agriculture projects while also promising to help reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Agriculture accounts for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions, so much so that research has suggested limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) is not possible without changing how we grow food and what we eat. Within the agricultural sector, livestock production is the main source of greenhouse emissions — as ruminants like cows and sheep release methane into the atmosphere whenever they burp. 

[uncannychange]

If you can't beat them, make them join you.

Representing the new tiny nation of Nahadu in South Central Africa, Kayaa Mwandu knew her job of forging fair and equitable relations with America and Europe would be, at best, difficult.

Although the country's resources were not impressive, the people were peaceful and hard-working. There were plentiful agricultural assets and some limestone, talc, and manganese mining. Plus, the natural beauty of the new country would lend itself to tourism.

Of course, the problem was financing; that was the main reason Kayaa was in London at a meeting of the great nations of the world, seeking those who might help Nahadu.

She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she hadn’t thought she and her nation would be almost totally ignored and even, in some cases, laughed at, which wasn’t done to her face, but she could tell they were doing it behind her back.

She was at least invited to the summit's ending meeting, so she took that opportunity to use one last resource her nation had.

Centuries before, a strange meteor had fallen in the land that was now Nahadu, a rock made of something impossible, a something else that, over the years, some had been able to use to manipulate matter and reality itself.

It had been used by them to gain nationhood and now Kayaa Mwandu, who carried a small bit of the star-stone was about to use to change the views of powers that be that were egnoring her.

At the final gathering, a time for pointless talk and drinks, Kayaa ensured she was near representatives from major banks in Great Britain, America, France, and Germany.

Opening the box she carried the stardust in and doing as her instructors told her to, the golden powder grabbed her and teleported her back to the hotel room where she was staying.

At the same time, the energy from the meteor took those four powerful, indifferent men and reshaped them into four young women of the nation of Nehadu.

Knowing they would be greatly confused, she then, after a few hours, had some of her people go and talk to them and see if they might be interested in coming to see her and talking about returning to their original forms and how she had done it, and perhaps even letting their countries gain access to the secret resource she had used to transform them.

After that is, signing very agreeable contracts to help her nation, then do it in a year… or two after making sure things went smoothly.

Of course, the transformation was really one-way, but why tell them that until after the ink was dry?

Kayaa Mwandu was sure she could find them places on her staff or marriages into one of the major families in Nehadu; she would have to see about that later.

[another-lost-mc]

sry if you've been asked this question before but i wanna know what you think is the state of finance and commerce in the celestial realm. do u think they use money at all? or is it a barter and trade situation? or do they just share everything like the na'vi does in avatar since they're angels and all that? do u think currencies and payment were a foreign concept to the brothers when they first came to the devildom?

I had to look up the Avatar thing because I've only seen parts of that movie but based on a very quick search, yeah, that's probably the best way to describe my personal approach to writing the Celestial Realm's social organization.

There are basically two different structures at play when it comes to the angels and how the Celestial Realm functions:

Each angel's talents or interests is used for their personal contribution to society

The formal angelic ranks/power brackets are social classes that shape the power dynamics and interactions of the angels themselves

Since you asked specifically about the financial aspect, I'm going to focus on the first structure (as the second one is more important when it comes to their governance and class system as a whole).

Unlike the Devildom, the Celestial Realm doesn't really engage in capitalism or have formal currency. There aren't shops or stores where things are bought and sold, and there isn't an expectation of payment for services or the exchange of goods. The angels are a community or a family rather than strangers that exist in close proximity. They take care of themselves and each other because it is expected of them. How can they care for the well-being of the other realms if they can't take care of their own?

Angels aren't perfect or flawless - they're unique, but that is what gives them purpose. They embrace their strengths and contribute to the well-being of their brethren.

Some of the angels, usually those drawn to the warrior ranks, prefer to serve in battle and focus on enhancing their physical or magical combat abilities. (It's my personal headcanon that most angels, except some of those in the warrior ranks, tend to be vegetarians; warrior ranks are the ones tasked with hunting/fishing those ingredients.)

There are other areas where angels can use those talents (including but not limited to): gardening and agriculture, to grow the food they eat and the plants that will eventually become textiles or medicines; cooks and bakers that prepare meals; the tailors' guild that provide the angels with clothes and linens for their beds; the angels that gather precious metals and stones and the angels that forge them into armor and weapons. Of course, there are angels that are skilled writers, artists, or musicians. Those are accepted as important skills and equal contributions that make the Celestial Halls vibrant and beautiful, filled with song and colour and everything beautiful in the world they cherish most.

An angel's formal rank sometimes, but not always, indicates what sort of "job" they have. The Seraphs have their own special interests or talents, but they're usually overseeing the other ranks and have more of a managerial role. They delegate the day-to-day tasks and are the ones who have to plan for any unexpected problems or crises that might affect the other angels. Other ranks, like Thrones or Cherubs, usually have secondary tasks they can help with but only if they're not needed for their primary responsibilities first.

The Devildom society, one that functions as a type of capitalism, is a completely foreign concept. Angels understand it in theory, watching over the human world's development as they do, but it's not something they would want to depend on for their own survival.

Just like the demons have their own investments and financial ties to the human world (like the Hotel Corvo), angels also have a foothold in select human world sectors. Demons tend to invest closely with markets that give them more power and influence over human world developments and affairs, like tourism or technology. Angels tend to be more focused on monitoring human activity with community-based projects instead. Like The Angel's Halo cafe, coffee shops and bakeries are examples of an angel-owned establishments that help them blend in. Other potential businesses include book stores or publishing firms, art schools or galleries, florist shops and community gardens.

Angels might be used to participating in these human world projects, but it's still not nearly enough to prepare them for being dropkicked to the Devildom with next to no warning. Fallen angels - especially those who fell prior to Lucifer and his siblings - would've had the worst time acclimating to living as demons. They're not all fortunate enough to have someone from the Royal Family or other generous demons to take them under their wing and give them a crash course in Demon Society 101. (It's another personal headcanon that Lucifer and his brothers were an exception when Diavolo protected them the way he did, and most newly-turned demons had it far worse without that kind of support. That's completely glossing over the various physical and emotional/spiritual changes they would've endured as well.)

Angels aren't used to having to work long hours to afford the basic items they need on a daily basis, when things like food and water and housing and clothes were given to them freely by other angels that cared for them. Angels aren't used to relationships that feel so transactional. There are countless demons that might purposefully manipulate them or abuse them, at least until they know better, because lying and deceit are things that most fallen angels have to learn for themselves. Kill or be killed - literally, in some cases.

(Part of why The Fall exists is to explore various aspects of what it means for an angel of the Celestial Realm falling to the Devildom, and how completely overwhelming it would be for them to adjust with or without the protection of someone with enough power and resources to help them survive when they're most vulnerable.)

[unhonestlymirror]

Я в ахуї. Or, as Poles say, jestem pod wrażeniem. More than 36K people shared this post. Let me remind you who you are promoting:

This is not the abstract Yemen who is participating in terrorism, this is the whole organisation that controls Yemen the same way Hamas controls Palestine. It is called the Houthis, and their rhetoric is very close to the nazi. There's a reason why UN banned them, but no one seems to be interested in the actual problem.

Not even mentioning that "puppets in the UN" is the narrative that is actively spread by russia - the state which finances... 🥁🥁🥁 Hamas as well!

I kindly ask my mutuals not to support this and not to participate in spreading this shit.

P.S. Israel exports a lot of pharmaceuticals, machinery and equipment, medical instruments, computer hardware and software, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, etc. So there is nothing to be happy about, especially for medics.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Don Moynihan at Can We Still Govern?:

Imagine you have earned science, engineering and business degrees from MIT and Oxford. You are interested in climate and sustainability, and so you choose to work for government. at the U.S. International Finance Corporation, as the Director of Climate Diversification. You are paid $172,000 per year, which is not bad, but likely much less than you could earn in the private sector. And then Elon Musk, whom President-elect Trump has tapped to run the Department of Government Efficiency, says that you have a fake job, boosting a tweet from an anonymous right-wing poster that says you should be fired. You have never met Musk. He has no idea what your job entails or whether you are good at it. The most likely reason he decided your job has no value is that “diversification” is in your job title, and Musk is too lazy to figure out that “diversification” and “diversity” are different things.

Ashley Thomas, the government employee in question, does technical work on how to make agriculture more robust under conditions of extreme weather. This seems like pretty important, with a classic public goods justification — the government is trying to figure out and share solutions to a problem that affects lots of people, and for which the market is unlikely to generate a solution by itself. But of course none of this matters if you are fundamentally incurious about what government does, and absolutely sure that you know better. That combination of ignorance and certainty is generally a bad condition for democracies, but a disaster when it characterizes whose who govern us. To give a sense of scale, 33 million people saw Musk’s post. Ashley Thomas has since made her social media accounts private after the wave of online harassment from Musk’s followers. She is one of an increasing number of public officials who are learning that bullying and intimidation is part of the game plan for how the right governs now. She might reasonably infer that she will be fired from her job for no reason other than the fact that one of Trump’s courtiers wants to show that he can follow through on his threats.

[...]

Outsourcing Public Sector Reform to People Who Hate the Public Sector

Of course, Musk is the one holding a fake job, since there is no real Department of Government Efficiency. In fact, we don’t really know what form his group will take. The obvious answer is that Muskawamy would serve as a Federal Advisory Committee, which is a standard way to structure input from outside advisors. But perhaps not. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy say: “We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons.”

The problem with Federal Advisory Committees is that they must follow some basic transparency rules about how they operate. A shared belief between Musk and Trump is: “Transparency for thee, but not for me.” After railing against the corrupt deep state for years, Trump is refusing to explain who is funding his transition operation, a break with existing norms. Musk released “the Twitter files” to portray a (massively exaggerated) case that the website was co-operating too closely with the government. Now that he and his website helped to elect Trump and implement his policies, he has no problem with such close coordination. As Mike Masnick pointed out “Turns out for the “Twitter Files” crew, “creeping authoritarianism” isn’t so creepy when it’s your team doing the creeping.”

The Federal Advisory Committee Act has some persnickety language requiring fair balance and minimizing conflicts of interest, values that again do not score highly in the Trump or Musk worldview. Trump also saw some commissions he formed delayed and halted because they failed to follow these legal requirements, such as fair balance on a commission on law enforcement. Trump even issued an Executive Order to cut the number of number of Federal Advisory Committees in his first term. For all of the above reasons I am increasingly skeptical that Muskawamy will operate under any kind of federal oversight or supervision.1 Instead, it will be an unofficial working group feeding ideas to the White House and Congress. Trump’s head of OMB, Russell Vought, has declared he will work with Muskawamy. But the Federal Advisory Committee Act is also supposed to extend to outside actors that agencies communicate with to avoid the type of shell game that Muskawamy seem to be pursuing. In other words, if Muskawamy are acting like a Federal Advisory Committee, they can be sued as if they are such a Committee, regardless of what they call themselves.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s DOGE is nothing more than fake job pretending to a real cabinet agency.

[archersarrow-tarot]

| The 12 Astrological Houses |

Each house is associated with a zodiac sign and it’s planetary ruler.

House 1: House of Self😬

Aries • Mars

“I am.” The first house influences your image, your appearance, your ego, identity, your temperament, how charismatic you are, your attitude, your dignity, your self-image, your consciousness, first impressions people have of you, your sense of self, how you interact with the world, self-awareness, your outlook on life, self-actualization, and your choices.

House 2: House of Posessions🪞

Taurus • Venus

“I have.” The second house influences your earning ability, how you spend money, personal resources, self-worth, your assets, possessions, finances, values, earnings, loans, accumulations, lending, attachments.

House 3: House of Communication

Gemini • Mercury

“I think.” Third house influences your communication, thought processing, Curiosity, perspective, language, how you transport, technology, early education, learning, your relationships with your siblings and neighbors, reactions, how you learn.,

House 4: House of Roots

Cancer • Moon

“I nurture.” The fourth house influences your home, family, childhood, how you practice self-care, emotional security, private life, you roots, ancestry, genetics, foundations, old age, real estate, traditions, youth, agriculture, mining, nurturing.

House 5: House of Fun

Leo • The Sun

“I will.” The fifth house influences your beauty and what/where you find beauty, love, passion, talents, self expression, pleasure, children, gambling, integration, performance, vacations, romance, hobbies, fertility, casual sex, and inner child.

House 6: House of Service

Virgo • Mercury

“I serve.” The sixth house influences your health, wellness, service, duty, routines, healing, coworkers, forgiveness, pets, diet, mentorship, meditation, hygiene, helpfulness, forgiveness, and skills.

House 7: House of Relationships

Libra • Venus

“I partner” The seventh house influences your partnerships, relationships, connections, marriages, contracts, foreign affairs, feedback, equality, confrontation, invention, and how you relate.

House 8: House of Debt

Scorpio • Pluto

“I desire” The eighth house influences your death, magic, tattoos, inheritance, authority, occult, regeneration, Transformation, how you bond with others, your attitude towards growth and change, other peoples money, reproduction, respect, and your regulations.

House 9: House of Opening

Sagittarius • Jupiter

“I see” The ninth house influences your big ideas, beliefs, education, philosophy, expansion, publishing, media, Internet, legal, understanding, purpose, spirituality, ethics, love, religion, and how you interact with in-laws.

House 10: House of Public Space

Capricorn • Saturn

“I use” The tenth house influences your professional path, social standing, public personal, ambition, fame, career, reputation, social status, power, boss, public space, and business.

House 11: House of Hope

Aquarius • Uranus

“I aspire” The eleventh house influences your groups, networks, aspirations, community, coalitions, social circle, cooperation, earned wealth, teamwork, wishes, strategies, goals, balance, art and culture trends.

House 12: House of Transcendence

Pisces • Neptune

“I dream” The twelfth house influences your introspection, your unconscious, your shadow self, your remedies, your discriminations, what you fantasize about, your secrets, how much you isolate self, your problem-solving, how you release, your addictions, and how you follow orders.

[the-shades-of-night-descend]

We, 50 organizations focused on food sovereignty and justice worldwide, want you to know there is no shortage of practical solutions and innovations by African farmers and organizations. We invite you to step back and learn from those on the ground.

Dear Bill Gates:

You were recently featured commenting on the global state of agriculture and food insecurity, in a recent New York Times op-ed by David Wallace-Wells and also in an Associated Press article.

In both articles, you make a number of claims that are inaccurate and need to be challenged. Both pieces admit that the world currently produces enough food to adequately feed all the earth’s inhabitants, yet you continue to fundamentally misdiagnose the problem as relating to low productivity; we do not need to increase production as much as to assure more equitable access to food. In addition, there are four specific distortions in these pieces which should be addressed, namely: 1) the supposed need for “credit for fertilizer, cheap fertilizer” to ensure agricultural productivity, 2) the idea that the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century needs to be replicated now to address hunger, 3) the idea that “better” seeds, often produced by large corporations, are required to cope with climate change, and 4) your suggestion that if people have solutions that “aren’t singing Kumbaya,” you’ll put money behind them.

First, synthetic fertilizers contribute 2% of overall greenhouse gas emissions and are the primary source of nitrous oxide emissions. Producing nitrogen fertilizers requires 3-5% of the world’s fossil gas. They also make farmers and importing nations dependent on volatile prices on international markets, and are a major cause of rising food prices globally. Yet you claim that even more fertilizer is needed to increase agricultural productivity and address hunger. Toxic and damaging synthetic fertilizers are not a feasible way forward. Already, companies, organizations, and farmers in Africa and elsewhere have been developing biofertilizers made from compost, manure, and ash, and biopesticides made from botanical compounds, such as neem tree oil or garlic. These products can be manufactured locally (thereby avoiding dependency and price volatility), and can be increasingly scaled up and commercialized.

Second, the Green Revolution was far from a resounding success. While it did play some role in increasing the yields of cereal crops in Mexico, India, and elsewhere from the 1940s to the 1960s, it did very little to reduce the number of hungry people in the world or to ensure equitable and sufficient access to food. It also came with a host of other problems, from ecological issues like long-term soil degradation to socio-economic ones like increased inequality and indebtedness (which has been a major contributor to the epidemic of farmer suicides in India). Your unquestioning support for a “new” Green Revolution demonstrates willful ignorance about history and about the root causes of hunger (which are by and large about political and economic arrangements, and what the economist Amartya Sen famously referred to as entitlements, not about a global lack of food).

Third, climate-resilient seeds are already in existence and being developed by farmers and traded through informal seed markets. Sorghum, which you tout in your interview as a so-called “orphan crop”, is among these already established climate-adapted crops. You note that most investments have been in maize and rice, rather than in locally-adapted and nutritious cereals like sorghum. Yet AGRA (the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), which your foundation (the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) created and financed, has been among those institutions that have disproportionately focused on maize and rice. In other words, you are part of creating the very problem you name. The AGRA initiative, which your foundation continues to fund, has also pushed restrictive seed legislation that limits and restricts crop innovation to well-resourced labs and companies. These initiatives don’t increase widespread innovation, but rather contribute to the privatization and consolidation of corporate monopolies over seed development and seed markets.

Finally, your assertion that critics of your approach are simply “singing Kumbaya,” rather than developing meaningful (and fundable) solutions, is extremely disrespectful and dismissive. There are already many tangible, ongoing proposals and projects that work to boost productivity and food security–from biofertilizer and biopesticide manufacturing facilities, to agroecological farmer training programs, to experimentation with new water and soil management techniques, low-input farming systems, and pest-deterring plant species. What you are doing here is gaslighting–presenting practical, ongoing, farmer-led solutions as somehow fanciful or ridiculous, while presenting your own preferred approaches as pragmatic. Yet it is your preferred high-tech solutions, including genetic engineering, new breeding technologies, and now digital agriculture, that have in fact consistently failed to reduce hunger or increase food access as promised. And in some cases, the “solutions” you expound as fixes for climate change actually contribute to the the biophysical processes driving the problem (e.g. more fossil-fuel based fertilizers, and more fossil-fuel dependent infrastructure to transport them) or exacerbate the political conditions that lead to inequality in food access (e.g. policies and seed breeding initiatives that benefit large corporations and labs, rather than farmers themselves).

In both articles, you radically simplify complex issues in ways that justify your own approach and interventions. You note in the New York Times op-ed that Africa, with the lowest costs of labor and land, should be a net exporter of agricultural products. You explain that the reason it is not is because “their productivity is much lower than in rich countries and you just don’t have the infrastructure.” However, costs of land and labor, as well as infrastructures, are socially and politically produced. Africa is in fact highly productive–it’s just that the profits are realized elsewhere. Through colonization, neoliberalism, debt traps, and other forms of legalized pillaging, African lives, environments, and bodies have been devalued and made into commodities for the benefit and profit of others. Infrastructures have been designed to channel these commodities outside of the continent itself. Africa is not self-sufficient in cereals because its agricultural, mining, and other resource-intensive sectors have been structured in ways that are geared toward serving colonial and then international markets, rather than African peoples themselves. Although you are certainly not responsible for all of this, you and your foundation are exacerbating some of these problems through a very privatized, profit-based, and corporate approach to agriculture.

There is no shortage of practical solutions and innovations by African farmers and organizations. We invite you to step back and learn from those on the ground. At the same time, we invite high profile news outlets to be more cautious about lending credibility to one wealthy white man’s flawed assumptions, hubris, and ignorance, at the expense of people and communities who are living and adapting to these realities as we speak.

From:

Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) GRAIN African Centre for Biodiversity Kenya Food Rights Alliance Growth Partners Grassroots International Agroecology Fund US Food Sovereignty Alliance National Family Farm Coalition Family Farm Defenders Oakland Institute A Growing Culture ETC Group Food in Neighborhoods Community Coalition Detroit Black Community Food Security Network Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville Haki Nawiri Afrika Real Food Media Agroecology Research-Action Collective Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Les Amis de la Terre Togo/ Friends of the Earth Togo Justiça Ambiental/ JA FoE Mozambique Friends of the Earth Africa Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Committee on Vital Environmental Resources (COVER) The Young Environmental Network (TYEN) GMO Free Nigeria Community Development Advocacy Foundation African Centre for Rural and Environmental Development Connected Advocacy Policy Alert Zero Waste Ambassadors Student Environmental Assembly Nigeria (SEAN) Host Community Network, Nigeria (HoCON) Green Alliance Nigeria (GAN) Hope for Tomorrow Initiative (HfTI) Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) We The People Rainbow Watch and Development Centre BFA Food and Health Foundation Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) Women and Children Life Advancement Initiative  Network of Women in Agriculture Nigeria (NWIN)  Gender and Environmental Risks Reduction Initiative (GERI)  Gender and Community Empowerment Initiative  Eco defenders Network  Urban Rural Environmental Defenders (URED)  Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF) Community Support Centre, Nigeria

Teaser photo credit: Woman smallholder farmers in Kenya. In many parts of Africa and other parts of the world, women are the primary smallholders. In many contexts, women face unequal access to land, markets, knowledge, and other assets needed to maintain their farms. By McKay Savage from London, UK – Women from the Mbini Self-Help Group showing off the fields, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11892353

[mariacallous]

Oleksandr Kryvtsov had enough.

The owner of an agricultural company in Hrakove, near Kharkiv, Kryvtsov found his land littered with land mines. That region of Ukraine, occupied by Russian forces for nearly eight months, had been pockmarked with explosive ordinances. The threat meant that farmers like Kryvtsov had to let their fields lay fallow. Even though Kryvstov’s fields were once part of Europe’s breadbasket, Ukraine’s mine clearance teams were overworked and under-resourced.

So Kryvtsov came up with his own solution. He jimmyrigged a plow onto an old tractor, with massive steel rollers underneath. On the side, he painted the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag. Kryvtsov connected a remote-control steering system and, from afar, he drove his Mad Max-style tractor over his fields, detonating any mines lurking under the soil.

The makeshift operation has worked well, Kryvtsov told Reuters, even clearing an anti-tank mine.

Kryvstov’s story is an example of incredible Ukrainian ingenuity—a nation of gilders, working to invent, adapt, and repurpose technology to defend themselves against a better-resourced, larger, determined enemy. But it’s also an ominous sign of just how bad the problem is.

In recent months, WIRED has investigated the technological challenges and opportunities facing Ukraine as it tries to defend itself and recapture its territory. One particular problem, unsung by the Western media but frequently cited by Ukrainian officials, are the haphazard minefields across Eastern Ukraine.

WIRED has spoken to a range of engineers, government officials, and humanitarian mine-clearance experts, and consulted Ukraine’s new mine clearance plan. It is apparent that Kyiv is prioritizing the problem, but without a significant new influx of money, personnel, and technology, the threat of these mines could hobble Ukraine’s economy, frustrate future counteroffensives, and pose a humanitarian crisis for decades to come.

A Humanitarian Crisis, an Economic Cost

Ukraine’s mine problem has been acute for a decade. The full-scale war with Russia has only made it worse. From 2014, when Russia first invaded, to the end of 2021, the United Nations says 312 Ukraines were killed by land mines. Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Ukraine has recorded at least 269 civilian casualties, including 14 children. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has taken to calling Eastern Ukraine “the largest minefield in the world.”

Those casualty figures only capture the deaths on territory currently held by Ukraine. Behind the front lines, in the Russian-occupied regions of Eastern Ukraine, at least a hundred more have reportedly been killed.

“Twenty percent of the whole territory is dangerous,” Ihor Bezkaravainyi, Ukraine’s deputy minister of finance, tells WIRED. “Right now we’re talking about 150,000 square kilometers.” (The total area, including water littered with naval mines, is nearly 175,000 km².)

Bezkaravainyi is a veteran of the war in Eastern Ukraine—he lost a leg to an anti-tank mine in 2016. He’s now responsible for coordinating the mine-clearance effort behind the front lines, giving Ukrainians back their property and recovering damaged agricultural lands. It’s not an easy task.

“It looks like the zone rogue in France after World War One,” Bezkaravainyi says, referring to the areas near Germany and Belgium that remain contaminated by land mines to this day.

Conducting surveys to identify those mines will be a gargantuan challenge. Actually clearing them will be even more taxing.

Russia has deployed older anti-tank and anti-personnel mines—of the kind the world has ample experience dealing with. But it is believed that this is the first time the sophisticated PTKM-1R anti-tank mine, which detonates only when it picks up a certain seismic signature, has been used in battle. Russia has also made liberal use of the more advanced PFM-1 mine, also known as the “butterfly mine,” made mostly from plastic and liquid explosive. These mines are particularly odious because they can be scattered in huge quantities from afar or from the air, meaning that they are impossible to track. Because they are colorful and plastic, they can be mistaken by children as toys.

Beyond purpose-built mines, Russia has also littered Ukraine with unexploded munitions and “improvised explosive devices and booby traps,” according to a draft version of Kyiv’s plan to decontaminate the country, prepared late last year and provided to WIRED.

Until now, Ukraine has not had a national plan on how to deal with the mine problem—its ad hoc response has been split between the military, NGOs, a small number of private mine-clearance companies, and a small network of government mine-clearance operators.

In 2021, before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine had certified just four “mine action operators” to conduct the mine identification and clearance. Since the start of the war, that number has grown to “only 23.” That number is simply “not adequate,” the plan states.

This National Mine Action Strategy was devised to bring consistency and focus to this effort. But it warns that the scope of this problem “cannot be solved in a short-term perspective.” Kyiv hopes it can assess the entirety of its lands, to identify which areas are actually contaminated and which are safe to use, by 2029. By 2033, Ukraine aspires to have decontaminated 80 percent of its previously occupied territory. The strategy does not provide a date for when the whole country might be free of mines.

If Ukraine wants to meet these goals, it will need significantly more staff, technology, and equipment than it has now.

This will be a tough hill to climb. Humanitarian demining groups are spread thin across many global conflict zones, while commercial operators tend to be prohibitively expensive.

This is the reality that pushed Kryvtsov, the farmer, to take matters into his own hands. But Kyiv warns that these “black sappers”—unlicensed and unsanctioned mine-clearance operations—are dangerous and unreliable. Still, the government recognizes that, unless it can dramatically scale up its own operations, these freelance mine operators will become a popular choice for locals frustrated by the slow pace of progress.

Like many aspects of Ukraine’s war effort, Kyiv believes the solution is at home. The strategy calls for a substantial investment in Ukraine’s industrial capacity to produce mine-clearing equipment, research demining technology, and train demining teams. The World Bank estimated in early 2023 that the total cost of identifying and clearing these mines would be nearly $38 billion. Kyiv expects the true cost will be higher.

A Military Challenge

In the snow-covered fields near the front lines, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been deploying autonomous demining vehicles—which, although purpose-built and donated by European allies, look an awful lot like Kryvstov’s homemade version.

Since the start of the war, these military demining teams have cleared more than 280,000 mines—at a pace of more than 2,200 every week. Its work is entirely separate from the humanitarian teams run under Bezkaravainyi's department.

The military may have cleared a staggering volume, but the work is impeded by a lack of equipment. The military boasts 262 separate demining teams, but it has just six demining vehicles.

In an essay for The Economist, former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi wrote that his forces were initially relying on “technically outdated pieces of equipment” to conduct this operational mine clearance. With Western donations, “it was possible to slightly augment the capabilities of engineer units … but given the unprecedented scale of these barriers, even such capabilities are objectively lacking.”

Much of the analysis of Ukraine’s failed summer counteroffensive has focused on the offensive gear it lacks—artillery shells, fighter jets, drones, and long-range missiles. But even if it had managed to pierce the Russian front line, Ukraine faced layers of other defensive structures, including between 15 and 20 kilometers of minefields.

As Zaluzhnyi notes, Russian reconnaissance drones have kept a watchful eye on these minefields, targeting any Ukrainian teams dispatched to clear them. “In case of successful mine barriers breaching, the enemy quickly restores minefields in these areas,” he wrote.

European allies, in particular, have donated mine clearance vehicles—including retrofitted German-made Leopard 2 tanks—but they have been hard hit by Russian forces.

While clearing fields near the front lines is difficult, risky work, Russia is capable of laying these fields remotely and quickly. The ISDM Zemledeliye, a mobile mine-laying system that sits on the back of a truck, can carry 50 rockets, each filled with anti-personnel or anti-tank mines that scatter over a targeted area. The system allows the operator to lay minefields from as far as 15 kilometers away. One pro-Kremlin Russian media outlet recently remarked that the Zemledeliye, which translates to “agriculture” in Russian, “sowed” the defeat of the Ukrainian summer counteroffensive.

“The Ukrainians didn't necessarily have the equipment, the type of trained brigades, etc, to break through that defense and overcome the Russians, who were defending in a doctrinally consistent and actually quite sound way,” Karolina Hird, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War and the deputy team lead for their Russia desk, tells WIRED. “Which brings us to where we are today.”

Even if Kyiv manages to overcome all of those other problems, if it cannot figure out how to clear the Russian-laid minefields, its progress risks being squandered.

“One of the big operational problems is, how do you increase by an order of magnitude the detection of mines, mapping of minefields, and the clearance of them—whilst denying the Russians visibility of them?” Mick Ryan, a 35-year veteran of the Australian Army who has traveled to Ukraine frequently during the war, tells WIRED. “And these are pretty significant problems, but they’re known problems, right?”

Ryan says there needs to be a deeper recalibration of the relationship between Ukraine and NATO. At the beginning of the war, the transfer of knowledge and expertise from NATO to Ukraine may have been largely one-directional, but today, Ukraine’s expertise in modern warfare certainly rivals many of its benefactors.

“Ukrainians and NATO, they just need to divide up the problems and solve them,” Ryan says. “I mean, this isn't inventing the nuclear bomb.”

The Technology

As the National Mine Action Strategy notes, research on mine clearance has been sorely lacking.

There has been, the strategy says, a “lack of systematic and centralized work on the introduction of innovative technologies in the field of Mine Action, in particular, unmanned aerial vehicles, the use of satellite images, artificial intelligence, data collection and analysis systems.”

It’s a frustration that Federica Mezzani knows well. Since 2019, she’s been researching how new technologies can help improve mine detection strategies—but it is a field, she says, which had been “completely forgotten.”

Despite the fact that an estimated 110 million mines are still active around the world, they are primarily distributed in poor and war-torn countries. While NGOs such as the HALO Trust have worked to steadily decontaminate those territories, the research and development has been piecemeal and slow. It simply hasn’t been a priority.

But Mezzani, along with her colleagues in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Sapienza University in Rome, set out to prove that new technology could help with this old problem. There had been some research testing how drones could be used to identify unexploded ordinances, but not much. Mezzani wanted to take it a step further, dispatching drone swarms equipped with ground-penetrating radar to methodically scan each section of the ground, the way a human team might. Algorithms could essentially automate mine detection, she believed.

In a series of small-scale experiments, Mezzani’s technique worked.

“The experimental campaign proved the effectiveness of the algorithm, which appears as a powerful tool to automatically detect buried objects with even small metal content,” reads her paper, published in Advances in Nonlinear Dynamics in 2022.

“The technology is ready,” Mezzani tells WIRED. “I think that it's been ready for many years, actually.”

When the full-scale war began, research efforts like Mezzani’s were few and far between. That meant figuring out these strategies from the ground up.

Part of the challenge is about confidence. As Bezkaravainyi explains, humanitarian mine clearance operates on a zero-tolerance policy for civilian deaths—if they mark a territory as uncontaminated, they must be absolutely sure it is entirely safe. Where possible, that also means defusing the land mines instead of exploding them and further contaminating the soil.

This process is significantly slower than how the military clears territory. Prioritizing speed, the army may blast a path through an active minefield in order to advance quickly without fully clearing it. To that end, humanitarian mine clearance operates on the Swiss cheese model: applying multiple imperfect strategies on top of each other.

Bezkaravainyi explains that their process normally involves consulting high-resolution satellite imagery of the territory and identifying land mines from the sky. From there, drones may be dispatched to confirm those locations and identify mines that may be buried or tough to spot. After that, teams are dispatched to sweep the territory.

Last fall, at an international conference on Ukraine’s demining efforts held in Zagreb, Bezkaravainyi’s department unveiled a prototype, developed by American surveillance technology giant Palantir, which used artificial intelligence to help inform how Kyiv approaches mine clearance.

This multilayered approach is increasingly necessary. Magnetometers and thermal scanners, which identify mines by identifying the metal amidst the organic material, were once the gold standard for mine identification. Some mines have electromagnetic shields, protecting them from ground-penetrating radar. The PFM-1 mine, in particular, contains very little metal, making it difficult to detect.

This problem is mostly, but not entirely, of Russia’s making. Reports suggest that Ukraine has also deployed these PFM-1 mines against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine.

Difficult terrain, such as forests or mud, makes this work more difficult. Ukraine has difficult terrain in spades: It even has a word, bezdorizhzhya, for the mud that covers the eastern part of the country in the spring.

“If all the technologies in the world were given to Ukraine, it would not be enough,” Bezkaravainyi says.

An Opportunity

Ukraine is not merely contemplating how to buy and acquire enough technology to do this job—they are developing a plan to become a world leader on mine clearance.

That sort of focus has been sorely lacking for decades. “It’s a type of research that doesn't bring in profits,” Mezzani says. It’s a problem she crashed into during her own research project. “I wouldn't say that we have a technological issue. We have a willingness issue.”

Some 70 countries worldwide are still contaminated by land mines, according to the United Nations, and they kill or maim thousands every year. Most, however, are located in the Global South. The conflict in Ukraine may finally be the impetus to develop the technology and expertise to address that problem.

Indeed, Bezkaravainyi says his department has fielded plenty of offers from companies professing expertise in mine clearance, but many have been unreliable, haven’t delivered, or were outright scams.

If Ukraine can develop both the technology and the industry to do this work, it could provide a critical advantage in the war, boost its battered economy, and provide an enormous service to the entire world.

Brave1, a platform launched by the Ukrainian government to identify innovative projects and connect them to public and private financing, has identified mine clearance as one of its main priorities. Thus far, 30 projects—which range from autonomous land vehicles to more sophisticated detection systems—are part of the Brave1 platform.

If the Ukrainian government can spur the creation of a domestic demining industry, it will speed up its economic recovery, help war-torn countries the world over, and maybe even help win the war.

[sheepnebula]

A Book Review for Down from the Mountain by Bryce Andrews

When I got done with this book, I checked goodreads for what people were saying about it, and things seemed pretty divided. On one end there were four star reviews saying the book was a beautifully written stories about humans and nature, and on the other end there were one star reviews saying this was sold as the life story of a bear but was actually a boring book about a man building a fence. Personally I agree with both reviews, this is a beautiful book about a man building a fence and how that fence impacted the life and death of a bear named Millie.

(Spoilers) I read this right after listening to Fuzz by Mary Roach which is a book about animals, often bears, interacting with the law, so I was very much steeped in bear high jinx. Part of that book details how bears in a vacation town for billionaires will break into homes to steal food with the interesting wrinkle that the bears had grown a preference for certain brands and would not touch others. I was reminded of this fussiness when reading that the bears in Schock’s field would first pick out the sweet corn before bothering with the feed corn. This is a delightful glimpse into the minds of these animals and I think is the heart of what makes an animal charismatic and sympathetic. I feel like some people have a hard time believing that animals have any interior thought process at all or perhaps prefer to think of them that way so they’re easier to kill or eat, but the more you observe an animal, the more you can see the cogs turn behind their eyes. I think Bryce Andrews does a great job depicting those mental gears in the heads of the grizzly bears in Schock’s corn. I don’t think I’ll be able to forget Millie and her cubs for quite some time.

That brings us to the corn and the fence. I think one reason why I wasn’t bored by the fence building like other readers is that the care and professionalism that went into that solution felt very Star Trek to me. It would be easy to imagine an angry farmer complaining and fighting this environmentalist over these horrible bear pests ruining his livelihood, but instead Schock had a very measured attitude towards the bears and allowed Andrews to try a new type of solution to fix his problem. None of the drama came from butting heads between over the top personalities, it instead came from the central problems of humans trying to live in bear’s habitat, and that problem brings more than enough drama. The research that went into the short fence design and the financing to get it built were surprisingly fascinating, but much of the book is dedicated to Andrews actually building the fence which was hard and insightful work. Getting the work done over the course of the summer led to a surprising amount of tension as the growing corn paralleled the growing threat of the bears, but come harvest time, when Millie is killed, the corn is cut down because as relentless as the bears are ultimately humans have control over what happens to the corn and the bears.

In the end the tragedy is simple math. Human habitation and agriculture offers an insane amount of calories that no bear could reasonably be expected to resist. Sprawling land use by a ton of small farms creates an invisible minefield for an animal that is too clever not to take the bait. It’s impossible to expect an animal that desperate for food to scrape and scrounge for bugs when fields of unprotected corn selectively bred to provide more calories than any normal plant is sitting right down the mountain in abundance. Millie is ultimately boxed in and mortally wounded by forces she could never be expected to understand. As a reader I fully felt Andrews obsession with her and her cubs.

This makes the ending of the book slightly awkward. If I were to take one lesson from this book it would be, do not start a farm in grizzly bear habitat, yet that is what Andrews proudly sets out to do in the end. I joke here, but I do think it illustrates a tension running through this book between a romanticization of rural life surrounded by nature including bears with the real risk and destruction that kind of life can present to these animals. Every new person living out there weather it’s a generational farmer like Schock, a new organic farmer flaunting bear safety rules, or a very bear conscious farmer like Andrews represents more land area going to people instead of bears and another point of contact and potential conflict. Still, following the bear rules makes a huge difference, and if any human is going to be living out there I’m glad there’s someone with a deep appreciation for these animals and a desire to coexist with them. Also, it doesn’t hurt to get a good bear book out of it once in a while.

[bidaubadeadieu]

that post going around about why murdering one (1) exec of British petroleum is worth millions of tons of CO2 is so dumb and ppl are eating that shit up. I hesitate to respond to that post because I simply do not want to spread it, but no matter, you've heard arguments like this before. because I work on climate policy for a living, allow me to ask a few comprehension questions:

- why assume that the sudden death of a company official would decrease production of oil by 1% for a month? why not 0.5% or 0.25%? Whether there is any decrease and how big that decrease is are empirical questions, you can't eyeball it. The other scenario, reducing production by 25% for a day, is preposterous unless all the employees are taking a 2 hour mourning period.

- is this belief not inconsistent with the other commonly held belief on the left that CEOs are parasites and don't do shit? If value is derived from labor, do you honestly believe that 1% of BP's revenues (totaling over 100B each year) are attributable to one person? Even a few people?

- you can go online and search BP's org charts. BP has nearly 100 people with just the title "senior vice president", spread across a dozen business units like "innovation", "advocacy", "finance", "legal", and laughably, "sustainability". Anyways, which of these units contains the person you're going to shoot dead? How are you dealing with the fact that they have intentionally padded these groups to insulate from sudden shocks?

- the energy industry is, famously, characterized by inertia. The whole reason they are in this mess is due to their inflexibility. In a time of crisis, such as missing leadership, they're going to keep on chugging! The people who supposedly steer the ship are dead, and the people who actually know how to work the oilfields are still alive, couldn't that make transitional change less likely?

- ah yes! All those oilfields! BP has dozens of them, spread around the globe, filled with hordes of middle management. how, logistically, do you think that this change will happen? will it be that each worker presses buttons on the rig 1% more slowly? Or will it be that new oil sites are 1% slower to be sited and begin operation. These things employ thousands, operate sometimes for decades, and remember, they have production quotas to fill.

- what about demand? killing oil execs doesn't reduce the number of people trying to fill up their cars and keep the lights on, because oil consumption is largely inelastic. if production was lowered by 1%, the company will raise prices (just as they did during the pandemic) to maintain profit levels. In order to introduce elasticity to the market, we need real alternative choice in energy source and tech we use in our daily lives, which means subsidizing renewables, electrified transit, and regenerative agriculture, aka boring wonk shit when do I get to kill?

- this experiment has been and is already being run. In 1992 an Exxon exec was murdered and clearly that didn't solve anything. 30 years later, the guy that did it is still serving time in a prison in NJ. Russia has had a string of oil execs deaths lately for reasons I don't pretend to totally understand, but likely relating to the Ukraine war and exerting control, and no, they're clearly not worried about production declining or this hurting the Russian economy.

In short: No, this problem isn't fucking solvable by a well-placed bullet or two, or five.

[suniastrology]

Current and upcoming astrological events August/September 2023

What to expect…

At the moment we are under Full Moon phase (Full Super Blue Moon in Pisces), where emotions may be high, some tension could be around and we are easily influenced from others feelings and emotions. Projects may see results or endings. Good time for spiritual practices and healing.

Mercury (in Virgo) is in its retrograde motion since August 23, 2023 therefore, problems with traveling and transportation may occur. Communication issues and misunderstandings are likely. Be careful with communication devices and vehicles (from damage, breaks) as well as data, important documents, personal information, passwords which could be lost or stolen. Avoid signing contracts, if possible, if not double check the content for possible mistakes or misleading information. It is a good time for study and research. Mercury will turn direct on September 16, 2023.

Another retrograde planet is Uranus (in Taurus) since August 28, 2023 which suggest that it is a period of personal reflection and rather inner growth, and awakening. This could lead to important realisation and alternative prospective in our lives where we can make major life changes where necessary. Uranus will turn direct on January 27, 2024.

On September 4th, Venus is moving direct, finally…It will be a good time in terms of finances, love and relationships. It is also an appropriate time for beauty procedures and even late summer holidays. On this very same day, however, Jupiter goes Retrograde (in Taurus) which may cause delays when it comes to big- future orientated projects and ventures.

Long distance travels may also slow down or disrupted in one way or another. We may reflect, revise or reassess our believe system and philosophy of life, on a personal level and as a collective. However, this could be a great period of higher learning – further education, university study/degree; religion and philosophy or natural science. It is also a great time for spiritual practises, especially in nature or doing some charity work in food banks/supporting people with basic material needs. Jupiter retrogrades in Taurus could also talk about slowing down the economies, property market and land/agriculture businesses in a global level. On December 30, 2023, Jupiter will turn direct in the same sign.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL VIRGOS!!! Wishing you great health and successful birthday year.

Keep in mind that these are GENERAL ASTROLOGICAL TENDENCIES and how exactly this energy will influence you it’s depending on your personal horoscope, but most definitely you will feel these astrological events in one way or another, especially, in some areas in your life. And remember, that singe astrological event does not represent the whole picture in a personal or on a collective level.

Best wishes

suni astrology

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Daniel Greenfield

The primary victim of this policy will be Ariel University and researchers there.

The Biden boycott was only revealed when researchers at Ariel University were turned down. The State Department then declared that in a complete reversal of Trump administration policy, “participation in joint projects with Israel in the fields of science and technology in areas that came under its control after June 5, 1967” was  “not consistent with American policy.” That would potentially include not only Ariel University, but also parts of Jerusalem.

While the names of the researchers involved have not been made public, Ariel University has many talented people working on a wide variety of problems like Dr. Michal Hochhauser who is working to help autistic children integrate better into society and Konstantin Borodianskiy, PhD who is investigating how to coat titanium implants, like those used in hip replacement surgery, with natural materials so that they bond more securely with bones in surgical patients.

The U.S-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) encompasses BARD research on agriculture and BIRD research on industrial R&D including homeland security applications to counter terrorists. The Biden administration’s boycott of Ariel University and other researchers and facilities located in those parts of Israel claimed by terrorists cuts them out of the program.

While the Trump administration was unwilling to finance bat virus research in China, but was willing to work with Ariel University on medical, agricultural and national security research, the Biden administration will fund research in China, but not Israeli work on helping autistic kids..

During a better time, Ambassador David Friedman had joined Prime Minister Netanyahu at Ariel University to announce that the “geographic restrictions”, as they had persisted during the Obama administration and past administrations, “no longer comport with our foreign policy” of viewing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, known to some as the West Bank as “inconsistent with international law.”

Deleting a single sentence, Ambassador Friedman revealed, was anything but simple and required “an inter-agency process with numerous branches of Government.”