Ukraine is complaining that they are being leashed by the U.S. government.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that their biggest problem is that the West does not want an escalation with Russia. You would think that their biggest problem would be all of the needless death for a pointless war and their inability to replenish a dwindling military. Instead, they see it as a problem that they can’t keep all of that going.
“Ever since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the biggest problem Ukraine has been facing is the domination of the concept of escalation in the decision-making processes among our partners,” Kuleba said, according to Reuters.
Who in their right minds would want escalation? President Biden has repeatedly promised the American people that this would not happen!
The Associated Press says that “Ukraine’s daring ground offensive has taken the fight to Russia, but not nearly as much as its leaders would like because, they say, the United States won’t let them.”
There is nothing daring about it. It is reckless escalation for a war they should not fight. They have lost the ability to attack that region without consequence, which they’ve been doing since 2014. The daring thing would be to admit that and negotiate for peace but they are war criminals so they won’t. Russia has reiterated that it was willing to go to peace talks before this recent incursion.
Researchers have introduced a new type of sexuality called ““symbiosexual.” It means that you are attracted to the attraction of another couple and want in on that.
America’s Biden-DNC Globalist regime has let anyone flood in through the open Mexican border, but Trump has promised a massive deportation of the criminals including those from Venezuela, so now could be a good time to visit Venezuela.
Unsurprisingly, American Law Enforcement have had enough of Kamala and Joe’s stupidity inviting foreign criminals in to cause mayhem along with the home-grown ones:
No, this is not satire: as the country’s violent crime hits its highest level in 15 years, German feds are busy hunting down a Gab user for calling a Green Party MP fat.
The best aspect is that they will have important roles in Trump’s administration. The major problem with his first administration is that he chose some bad advisors.
Surf’s UP! Kamala’s Polls Are Down!
RFK Jr. has endorsed President Trump, and right after that, Tulsi Gabbard stepped forward with her own endorsement of Trump.
Tulsi is now an independent, she left the Democrat party when the Democrats went off the communist cliff. Gabbard was a candidate in the 2020 Democrat primary and made mincemeat of Kamal Harris. She knows Kamala’s communist heart.
You know something is wrong with the Democrat party when former high profile Democrats are endorsing a Republican.
This year’s Conservation Week will run from 2-8 September, with the theme ‘Take action for nature’. And since we know not everyone is quite ready to start backyard trapping or planting trees, we thought we could lead off with an easy guide to small changes even the most time-poor of us can make.
This blog is for the newbies, the lazies, the folks who need as low a bar as possible to entry, and for those who need to see a personal, tangible benefit to do something good.
Actually, to be fair, it’s for all of us, because none of us are perfect.
Your coffee addiction
Action
Let’s start with an easy one: take a reusable cup! An ancient invention only recently rediscovered by archaeologists, these cups mean you can have your coffee without a single-use takeaway cup.
What it does for nature
Reduces resource use and the production of single use plastic, reduces waste to land-fill, and reduces rubbish into nature.
What it does for you
Honestly, aside from anything else, we’re convinced it makes the coffee taste better. Plus you may even get a discount at some places!
Glass, ceramic, gigantic, or espresso-sized – there’s a reusable cup out there for everybody | Madeleine Brennan, DOC
A rubbish idea
Action
Another basic: don’t litter! It might feel like we’re back in primary school, but I feel I need to say this; ideally, we’ll all reduce, reuse, and recycle, and even actively pick up litter, but at the very minimum please don’t drop your wrapper/vape/receipt on the street.
Less rubbish for you to swim in, stand on, and look at. Do you really like walking through town with litter everywhere? Or swimming and seeing a piece of polystyrene float by? Didn’t think so.
Top: A mature rig strangled by plastic, Kāpiti. Bottom (left): Plastic rubbish collected from Bluff Harbour. Bottom (right): A pāteke/brown teal with plastic rubbish ring around its neck. All photos taken by DOC.
Paparazzi?
Action
Are you an Insta-queen or king? Always have your phone out taking photos? Use your powers for science by posting pictures of mushrooms/birds/plants/sharks/whatever to iNaturalist. It’s super easy!
What it does for nature
Sharing to iNaturalist helps scientists (and other enthusiasts) learn more about what’s happening in Aotearoa, so they can give advice on how best to protect our environment. It lets people know about habitat, seasonality, and other boffin-talk which will overall help their work.
What it does for you
You’ll start paying more attention to nature, and we know that connecting with nature is good for your mental health. Plus, you can share the same pics to your socials and get some good old dopamine-boosting likes.
Left (top): A werewere kōkako/Entoloma hochstetteri mushroom, famously found on the $50 note (and forests across NZ) | Peter Baxter, DOC. Left (bottom): A sevengill shark about to boop the camera | Greig Funnell, DOC. Right: It might not be an albatross, shark or fungi you’re photographing, but we want to see it! | Laura Honey, DOC.
Keeping fluffy safe
Action
Keep your cat in at night (for extra points keep pussy safe all the time in a super-cool catio!).
What it does for nature
Cats like to hunt – so keeping them in keeps our vulnerable wildlife safe. New Zealand’s birds, bats, and lizards are cute, but very few are a match for a hungry or bored cat.
What it does for you
Keeps your cat safe from traffic and catfights, saving you worry and vet bills. It also prevents Fluffy from letting a half-dead animal loose in your house. We have seen this happen, and trust us, you do not want this.
The ultimate two-storey, multi-layered Siamese sanctuary in Porirua | Merete Pedersen, via Predator Free NZ.
Take the lead with doggo
Action
Know the rules when walking your dog (see DOC rules for public land, or check with your council for other places) – and be aware of your surroundings even in off-lead areas.
Prevents aggravated interactions with wildlife like seals which can injure your dog. Also, saves you from having to pay big fines if your dog accidentally kills protected wildlife, and helps you keep an eye out for other, aggressive dogs.
Left: A good boy wearing a good lead | DOC. Right: Two not so good boys without leads, attacking a kekeno/fur seal, Bluff | S Jacques, DOC.
Don’t feed the wildlife
Action
I know it’s hard when your three-year-old is begging you to feed the ducks, or a cheeky kea is performing next to/on-top of your car, but please don’t feed the wildlife.
What it does for nature
Keeps wildlife healthier, since our food can make them sick, or make them starve because they’re filling up on the wrong stuff. It can also make them gather in high numbers, increasing the risk of spreading disease (something to keep an eye out for as HPAI bird flu may arrive in NZ soon). There are many reasons why feeding wildlife like kea is bad for them.
What it does for you
Means you’re less likely to have to walk through locations of highly concentrated bird poo (Western Springs, I’m looking at you), and you won’t have to rescue your kids from a bird or seal that sees them as their next meal ticket.
Make a single lunchbox swap. Just one. (You can do more if you want to, but we’re keeping the bar low here). Those little baggies of chips? Go buy one big bag and split it up into lots of small containers for the week’s lunches.
What it does for nature
Less single use plastic creation, less little bits of litter likely to get into our waterways and hurt our wildlife (see above).
What it does for you
Saves you money, gets you street cred with the parents who give their kids homemade sandwiches in beeswax wrap every day.
There are so many super-simple actions we can take for nature without becoming a hard-core environmentalist overnight. Please share some of these with your laziest friends (don’t tell them we said that!), and feel free to recommend more tips to us!
These too easy for you? Why not check out the Conservation Week events happening, or see what conservation groups exist in your community.
Over a million doses of polio vaccine have been shipped to Israel in preparation for a mass vaccination campaign in Gaza. The vaccines are an emergency response to the first confirmed case of polio reported in Gaza last month. According to an article in the New York Times:
UNICEF, the U.N. children’s fund, said it was delivering the vaccines in cooperation with the World Health Organization… UNRWA; and other groups. UNRWA officials said they hoped to deliver the first vaccines to Gazan children starting on Saturday….
The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that the vaccines had reached Gaza and that preparations to begin the campaign to inoculate children under 10 were underway…. the U.N. said on Monday that its already hamstrung humanitarian operations had been brought to a temporary halt after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of Deir al-Balah, where the agency has its central operations.
So, the UN is unable to distribute humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, but they are charging ahead with a mass vaccination campaign?
Doesn’t that sound a bit strange? Keep in mind, the Israelis have been preventing food, water and medicine from entering Gaza for months which has led to mass starvation and a sharp uptick in preventable diseases. But now we are expected to believe that they care about the physical well-being of the people they have been bombing to smithereens for the last 10 months?
