#Elephant Endangerment

[manasastuff-blog]

"World Elephant Day"#trending#viral

World Elephant Day Importance extends beyond a simple commemoration; it represents a global movement dedicated to the protection and preservation of one of the planet's most majestic creatures. Elephants play a vital role in maintaining the balance of our ecosystems, yet they face numerous threats, including poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict. This explores why World Elephant Day is crucial for raising awareness and promoting conservation efforts. We delve into the challenges elephants face, the significance of their survival to biodiversity, and how each of us can contribute to their protection. Whether you are a wildlife enthusiast, conservationist, or simply someone who cares about the environment, this will inspire you to understand and appreciate the importance of World Elephant Day.

Call: 7799799221

Website: www.manasadefenceacademy.com

#WorldElephantDay#ElephantConservation#SaveElephants#WildlifeProtection#ElephantAwareness#ProtectElephants#ConservationMatters#EndangeredSpecies#SaveWildlife#ElephantDay#trending#viral#manasadefenceacademy

[dollbotthing]

as well as stopping dinosaur and elephant extinction we need to stop some of the specific animal endangerments we’ve seen in the past couple years like dogcat and interdimensional worm

[tanoraquisloviebracket]

Round 4, Poll D

Laurelin (Amur leopard) and Telperion (snowy leopard) are for all intents and purposes siblings. Both species are threatened by habit loss and hunting/poaching, and snowy leopards face additional threats from the warming climate. Obligatory WWF plug.

Wally Mammoth is from a species somewhat post-endangerment. He’s an excellently supportive under-arm sleeping companion! La Brea Tar Pits plug, I suppose—it’s a neat museum, even if it is named “The Tar” Tar Pits.

[themoneyguru1]

Endangered Species: A Global Call for Conservation

Endangered species are at the brink of disappearing forever. Human activities such as habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and poaching have pushed countless animals to the edge of extinction. The loss of these species not only diminishes biodiversity but also weakens ecosystems that rely on these animals for balance. It's critical that we take action to protect the species that remain before it’s too late.

The Causes of Endangerment

Human encroachment on wildlife habitats, especially through deforestation and urban expansion, is one of the leading causes of species endangerment. Furthermore, poaching for illegal wildlife trade and the destruction of natural resources contribute heavily to population declines. Climate change, which alters habitats and food sources, is also a significant threat. These combined factors create a perilous situation for many species, making them vulnerable to extinction.

Iconic Endangered Species

The Bengal tiger, Sumatran orangutan, and African elephant are some of the most well-known endangered species. Tigers, found in the forests of India and Southeast Asia, are critically endangered due to poaching and habitat loss. Orangutans, native to Borneo and Sumatra, face the destruction of their rainforest homes. The African elephant, though iconic, is hunted for its tusks, pushing it toward the brink of extinction.

Conservation Efforts: Saving What We Can

Conservation programs are crucial in the fight against extinction. Many organizations are working to protect endangered species through habitat restoration, anti-poaching efforts, and legal protection. In some cases, captive breeding programs have been successful in reintroducing species back into the wild. Collaborative efforts between governments, local communities, and international organizations are essential to ensuring the survival of these species.

The Role of Individuals in Conservation

While large-scale efforts are necessary, individuals can also make a difference. Supporting wildlife organizations, reducing carbon footprints, and spreading awareness about endangered species all contribute to conservation. Small actions, such as advocating for stronger wildlife protection laws or avoiding products linked to habitat destruction (like palm oil), can help mitigate the ongoing threats to endangered species.

[dankusner]

Defense lawyers think criminal case against Pete Arredondo is a dud

After a teenage gunman slaughtered 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the victims’ relatives, elected officials and others demanded accountability.

The reason was obvious:

Responding officers from two dozen law enforcement agencies waited 77 minutes before storming the classroom and killing the shooter.

In June, a Uvalde County grand jury indicted Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the school district police chief at the time of the massacre, and a former school police officer.

The charge:

endangering or abandoning children.

They are the only people to face criminal charges in the tragedy.

Now, the case is progressing toward a possible trial.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Uvalde.

But lawyers who have studied the indictments say the case is fatally flawed.

They say the child abandonment and endangerment law doesn’t apply to a mass shooting and that the indictment ignores U.S. Supreme Court rulings that broadly protect police from liability for decisions made in the heat of the moment.

“To criminalize behavior that’s based on a judgment call — however unpopular it is — it’s going to be hard to obtain convictions,” said Jorge Aristotelidis, a longtime criminal defense attorney in San Antonio who is now a public defender in Houston.

“People want heads on a platter. This is what the DA’s doing, in my view.”

“They reaching. They're really, really reaching,” said Mario Del Prado, who has practiced law for 36 years as a defense attorney and prosecutor in San Antonio.

“I mean, the elephant in the room is you had (hundreds of) cops out there. And we’re only going after the two school cops? That stinks to high heaven.”

Defense attorney Raymond Fuchs, a practitioner for 47 years, including nine as a prosecutor in Bexar and Harris counties, called the charges “a real stretch.

“If you don’t go in and do something in the military, you can be court-martialed for desertion,” Fuchs said.

“These peace officers are not in the military.”

Fuchs, Del Prado and Aristotelidis were among five defense attorneys who discussed the case with the Express-News after reviewing the indictments and related legal documents at the paper’s request.

Three of the five have served as prosecutors.

None is involved in the Uvalde case.

Most of them said that even if a jury found the defendants guilty, the verdicts would very likely be overturned on appeal.

“I do not know why the case will be prosecuted,” said Ben Sifuentes Jr., a San Antonio attorney who has defended police officers and other public employees in criminal cases.

Christina Mitchell, district attorney for Uvalde and Real counties, bristled at the criticism and said political pressure or public rancor stemming from the shooting played no role in her decision to pursue indictments.

“I do not make prosecutorial decisions based on anything other than the facts of any given situation and the laws as they exist in the state of Texas and how the laws apply to those particular set of facts,” Mitchell said in an email.

She’s a Boerne native who has practiced law for almost 30 years.

“Unfortunately, many individuals have used the mass shooting in the Uvalde community for their own personal gain and to make a name for themselves. I, personally, would never comment on a pending criminal case on which I did not have an intimate knowledge of all the facts,” Mitchell said.

She declined to comment on the substance of the indictments.

'Egregiously poor decision making'

The Robb Elementary shooting was the deadliest in Texas history.

It happened on the morning of May 24, 2022, three days before the start of summer break.

The shooter was armed with an AR-15-style rifle he had purchased legally on the internet a week earlier, on his 18th birthday.

At 11:33 a.m. that morning, he walked into the school through an unlocked rear door, entered two interconnected classrooms filled with fourth graders and fired more than 100 rounds in 2½ minutes.

Nearly all of the victims are believed to have been killed or mortally wounded in that initial fusillade.

A team of Uvalde Police Department officers was at the scene within three minutes, and they approached the classrooms with guns drawn.

The attacker fired at them through a steel door, and the officers retreated.

Two were lightly injured by shrapnel.

They began calling for reinforcements and for rifle-rated ballistic shields so they could enter the classrooms and confront the gunman without being killed first.

Arredondo was the de facto incident commander.

Although police doctrine calls for officers to confront an active shooter immediately, even at risk to their own lives, he held off on ordering officers into the classrooms.

He wanted to evacuate the rest of the building first, which proved to be a lengthy process.

He later told investigators his aim was to avoid further injuries or loss of life from an exchange of gunfire with the attacker.

As officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Border Patrol and other agencies rushed to the school, the police response descended into chaos.

Communications were fragmented, and the assembled officers — at least 380 from 22 agencies — were unsure who was in charge or what they were supposed to do, official reviews found.

At least 380 officers from two dozen local, state and federal agencies responded to the Robb Elementary School shooting.

Seventy-seven minutes elapsed before a column of Border Patrol agents and sheriff's deputies stormed a classroom and killed the shooter.

At least 380 officers from two dozen local, state and federal agencies responded to the Robb Elementary School shooting.

Seventy-seven minutes elapsed before a column of Border Patrol agents and sheriff's deputies stormed a classroom and killed the shooter.

Finally, at 12:48 p.m., four Border Patrol agents and two local sheriff’s deputies formed a “stack” and breached the classrooms.

One of them shot the gunman dead at 12:50 p.m., 77 minutes after he began his rampage.

Investigations by the Texas House and the Department of Justice depicted the police response as a fiasco.

The Texas House report criticized Arredondo and others for what it called “egregiously poor decision making.”

The Uvalde school district fired Arredondo 3½ months after the tragedy.

Mitchell convened a grand jury in January of this year, and it handed down indictments against Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales six months later.

The indictment against Arredondo, 52, says he “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly and with criminal negligence” placed in danger 10 named survivors who were held at gunpoint by the shooter.

Arredondo faces 10 counts of child abandonment or endangerment, one for each of those children.

Gonzales, 51, was one of the first officers at the scene, and he helped to evacuate children from other parts of the building.

Little else is publicly known about his actions that day.

He is charged with 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child — one for each of the 19 children killed and one for each of 10 survivors.

Mitchell has not explained why he faces more counts than Arredondo.

Child abandonment or endangerment is a state jail felony, the lowest level felony in the Texas Penal Code.

If convicted, Arredondo and Gonzales could be sentenced to up to two years in jail each.

The lawyers who reviewed the indictments for the Express-News questioned why, of the many law enforcement officers at the scene, Mitchell pursued charges against only two.

Mitchell has offered no public explanation for that decision.

“If you do it to one (police officer), you’ve got to do it to all of them,” said Charles Bunk, who has been practicing law in San Antonio for more than 30 years, including 15 as a prosecutor.

“I can’t imagine these are the only two guys that made a bad choice that day.”

'Split-second decision'

A fundamental problem with the indictments, the defense lawyers said, is that courts have held police officers don’t have a legal duty to protect people not in their custody from harm caused by a third party.

“There’s a big difference between a legal obligation and a moral or ethical obligation,” Fuchs said.

He said there was no question that officers from various agencies who responded to Robb Elementary “failed in their moral and ethical obligation. But the famous motto that’s on police cars — ‘Protect and Serve’ — it doesn’t say, ‘Defend you to my death.’”

In a 2005 case called Castle Rock v. Gonzales, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a grieving Colorado mother who claimed that police violated her right to due process when they failed to enforce a restraining order against her estranged husband after he abducted the couple’s three daughters, ages 7, 9 and 10.

Police told her to wait and see if he brought the girls back.

He shot and killed all three of them.

In a 7-2 ruling, the court held that police have broad discretion in enforcing restraining orders, and that the mother was not entitled under Colorado law to mandatory action by the police.

In a 1989 case, the court rejected an appeal from a boy who claimed child welfare officials in Wisconsin had violated his constitutional rights by failing to protect him from his abusive father.

“While the state may have been aware of the dangers that (the child) faced in the free world, it played no part in their creation, nor did it do anything to render him any more vulnerable to them,” the court held in a 6-3 vote in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services.

“Under these circumstances, the state had no constitutional duty to protect … Remember once again that the harm was inflicted not by the state of Wisconsin, but by (the boy’s) father.”

Arredondo’s lawyers have made the same argument in asking a judge to toss the indictment against their client:

The Uvalde shooter is solely to blame for the loss of life, they wrote.

Mitchell’s office has opposed the motion.

Senior State District Judge Sid Harle, who is presiding over the case, will rule on the matter.

One defense lawyer said he expects Arredondo’s and Gonzales’ attorneys to invoke the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor.

In that case, the court held that police officers’ decisions on use of force “must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene.”

The ruling noted “that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in a particular situation.”

The Robb Elementary massacre was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

Nineteen fourth graders and two teachers were killed.

'Imminent danger'

The Uvalde indictments are believed to be the first in Texas to use the state’s child abandonment or endangerment law to prosecute police for line-of-duty conduct.

But it has happened in Florida, and the result was the opposite of what Mitchell must be hoping for.

Scot Peterson, then a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was on duty at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla., when a gunman killed 17 people in February 2018.

During the shooter's six-minute rampage, Peterson took cover at a nearby building for 40 minutes even as other law enforcement officers rushed into the school.

He was charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor culpable negligence.

A jury acquitted him of all charges.

Students filed a civil lawsuit against Peterson and other defendants.

In that case, a federal judge ruled that Peterson and law enforcement officials had no constitutional duty to protect the students from the shooter.

A federal appeals court upheld the ruling.

Texas’ child endangerment law makes it a crime to knowingly and intentionally place a child “in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental impairment.”

The law also forbids abandoning a child “under circumstances that expose the child to an unreasonable risk of harm.”

The law typically is used to prosecute parents and caregivers who leave a child alone and unsupervised at home or in a car, or when drugs they used are detected in a child’s system.

Defense lawyers said they strained to understand how the law could apply to the Robb Elementary massacre.

It “certainly was never intended” as the basis to prosecute police officers responding to a mass shooting, Del Prado said.

Arredondo and Gonzales did not cause the children to be at Robb Elementary that day or to remain there, Sifuentes said.

“One must wonder how far back in the speculative chain of causation can the state go to hold a person responsible,” he said.

“For example, could teachers and school administrators be criminally responsible for failing to prevent the shooter from coming on campus?”

Defense lawyers said they expect attorneys for Arredondo and Gonzales will try to have the trial moved out of Uvalde.

It would be next to impossible for the two to receive a fair trial in the same community where the massacre occurred, the lawyers said.

If the case were tried in Uvalde, “everybody who’s on the jury, most people in town are going to know who they are,” Fuchs said.

Pete Arredondo will appear in court on Dec. 19, his attorney told the Leader-News last week.

Attorneys representing Adrian Gonzales did not respond to calls seeking whether the fellow former Uvalde school police officer will also appear.

Both defendants are scheduled for a joint pre-trial hearing at 10 a.m. at the Uvalde County Justice Center and Jail.

The hearing will be the second in a handful of pre-trial conferences in the officers’ criminal cases related to the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting.

The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office told the Leader-News on Dec. 11 that it will finalize hearing details this week. UCSO suggested that people wanting to attend the hearing, which will likely have a 40-person capacity, arrive early.

Both men in July, Arredondo via document submission and Gonzales in person, pleaded not guilty to criminal child endangerment and abandonment charges for their responses to the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 19 fourth graders and two teachers.

Arredondo faces 10 counts of child endangerment and abandonment on behalf of the injured and surviving children in classroom 112; Gonzales faces 29 – 10 for the survivors and one for each of the 19 deceased children.

Arredondo and Gonzales are so far the lone two indicted among the 376 officers that participated in the failed, 77-minute law enforcement response.

Paul Looney, representing former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, confirmed his client will be in court.

Nico LaHood, representing former school cop Adrian Gonzales, did not return Leader-News calls.

The two men last appeared in court during their first hearing on Sept. 16. Attorneys discussed their collective struggle to obtain evidence from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and visiting Judge Sid Harle did not rule on a motion to quash Arredondo’s indictment.

During the Sept. 16 hearing, the county set its gallery capacity in the small courtroom to 40 people, including family members of the defendants and of victims and survivors and media.

People that wanted to attend were permitted to enter an hour and a half before the hearing began.

[vercengetorixadvisor]

Okay, rather than culling the endangerment elephants, why not cull hippos?

They're not endangered and as far as I've heard they're a fucking menace on par or worse than feral hogs in the US.

[teravarna0]

How To Participate in an Animal Art Contest

Are you looking for a good animal art contest to show off your colorful animal paintings? If you just said yes, then maybe TERAVARNA Art Gallery can come to your rescue. It is an online gallery that has been organizing different theme-based competitions for artists to showcase their skills for years. Out of their many competitions, it is their 10th Animal drawing competition, which is about to start soon. 

If you are serious about participating in such online art competitions and winning amazing cash prizes, then this is your chance that you must not miss. Keep reading this blog till the end to know everything about how to enter the competition, how to submit your paintings of animals, and how to improve your chances of winning. By the end, you will not only be familiar with the TERAVARNA gallery but also with the entire submission process. 

What is the Animal Art Contest by TERAVARNA?

The animal art contest by TERAVARNA is one of the most popular art competitions being held by the gallery. If the 9 successful rounds of its history didn’t give you the idea then I don’t know what will. This art competition is not only for you to submit your best animal paintings like an elephant artwork or a horse painting. It is, in fact, a celebration of wildlife and a means to raise more awareness about the animal kingdom. Artists can use this opportunity to express their love for the animals and highlight various issues and crises related to them such as endangerment, extinction, or any other issues. 

You can also use this animal art contest platform to immortalize your pets and submit artwork like your pet dog portrait paintings, or maybe photographs of cats or anything else as long as it is a living animal, the gallery would love to see it.  

Dates and Deadline for the Animal Art Contest

If you want to participate in this elite international animal art contest, the final submission deadline for the competition is 30th October 2024. Remember that TERAVARNA Gallery won’t be providing extensions in any case whatsoever so please do not miss the deadlines. Hence, if you want to submit your colorful animal paintings to this international art show, then you cannot miss this opportunity in any case. Visit the official website of TERAVARNA and submit your best paintings of animals to this prestigious contest as soon as possible.

What are the Acceptable Dimensions and Mediums of the Competition

Like it’s every other competition, TERAVARNA is accepting all 2D and 3D mediums of visual art. This means you cannot submit audio and video artwork and you can also not submit any AI-generated artwork. All of the submissions must be your original work. So irrespective of whether you want to submit a dog portrait painting or an image of a flock of birds, it must be your original work. Feel free to submit photographs, paintings, sculptures, installation art, mixed media, graphic designs, fiber art, embroidery, or even carpentry work, as long as you stay true to the theme of this animal art contest.

It is an Online Animal Art Contest

As already mentioned, this animal art contest is being organized online. This also means that artists do not need to make any physical shipment of their animal artwork to be accepted for the competition. All you need is a clear, high-definition image of your animal paintings or photographs with no watermark on the image, and submit your art painting online. 

You can then submit your art via TERAVARNA’s official website. Please remember that they do not accept any submissions via email, and you need to submit your art animal art online only.

Entry Fee

The entry fee for the competition is $15 per artwork and there is no upper limit on the number of submissions in this animal art contest. Artists can submit as many animal photographs, paintings sculptures, or other animal artworks of their choice. However, TERAVARNA only accepts a maximum of 10 artworks per submission, hence if you wish to submit more than 10 works, you can make a fresh submission for another 10 art pieces and so on. 

Exciting Rewards for the Winners

Now let us discuss the most exciting part of this competition, which is the reward. The winning animal artist shall get cash prizes of up to $3500, social media promotions, certificates of recognition, and a dedicated space in the annual art book for winners. The gallery releases their art book towards the end of every year and it is an absolute treat to go through its every page. That said, TERAVARNA would love to see your entries in their animal art contest, so don’t wait up and send in your entries now!

Introducing You To TERAVARNA

Based out of Los Angeles, California, TERAVARNA is one of the most popular online art galleries out there. The motive of this gallery is to provide a world-class stage to every artist where they can present their craft, create a loyal customer base, and earn a livelihood out of their passion. Their efforts are directed towards every artist irrespective of their location, experience, mediums, and skills. Recently the gallery has been entering into different ventures and expanding their base on the global map to serve their artists in the best possible way. Associating with them through this animal art contest can be a great step towards advancing in your career.

[edisonblog]

Collection: The Palace Museum.

Lifelike flower bonsai with painted copper leaves and stained ivory petals. Mid Qing Dynasty.

The description, depicts a unique and intricate art form that combines the techniques of bonsai cultivation and decorative craftsmanship.

The art of bonsai has its origins in China, where it was known as penjing, and it later spread to Japan, where it gained significant popularity.

The Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1912, was the last imperial dynasty in China. It was a period characterized by artistic and cultural refinement, and many exquisite crafts and artworks were created during this time.

Copper is a durable metal that can be intricately shaped and painted, while ivory is a precious material known for its smoothness and ability to hold intricate carvings. Combining these materials in a bonsai sculpture would have required a high level of skill and craftsmanship.

The painted copper leaves would have been carefully crafted and painted to resemble the foliage of the specific tree species represented in the bonsai. This would have required meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of botanical forms.

The stained ivory petals would have added a delicate and elegant touch to the bonsai. Ivory, often sourced from the tusks of elephants, was highly valued and frequently used in artistic creations during the Qing Dynasty. The petals would have been intricately carved from ivory and stained or tinted to mimic the natural colors of flowers.

It's worth noting that using ivory in artistic creations raises ethical concerns today, as it involves the use of animal products and contributes to the endangerment of elephants. However, during the time of the Qing Dynasty, the use of ivory in art and craftsmanship was prevalent and highly valued.

Overall, the flower bonsai with painted copper leaves and stained ivory petals from the mid Qing Dynasty represents a remarkable blend of horticulture, metalwork, and delicate craftsmanship, showcasing the artistic skills and cultural richness of that era.

#edisonmariotti @edisonblog

link: https://shre.ink/9G91

.br

Acervo: Museu do Palácio.

Bonsai de flores realistas com folhas de cobre pintadas e pétalas de marfim manchadas. Meados da Dinastia Qing.

A descrição retrata uma forma de arte única e intrincada que combina as técnicas de cultivo de bonsai e artesanato decorativo.

A arte do bonsai teve sua origem na China, onde era conhecida como penjing, e depois se espalhou para o Japão, onde ganhou uma popularidade significativa.

A Dinastia Qing, que durou de 1644 a 1912, foi a última dinastia imperial na China. Foi um período caracterizado pelo refinamento artístico e cultural, e muitos artesanatos e obras de arte foram criados durante esse período.

O cobre é um metal durável que pode ser moldado e pintado de forma complexa, enquanto o marfim é um material precioso conhecido por sua suavidade e capacidade de conter entalhes complexos. A combinação desses materiais em uma escultura de bonsai exigiria um alto nível de habilidade e habilidade.

As folhas de cobre pintadas teriam sido cuidadosamente trabalhadas e pintadas para se assemelhar à folhagem das espécies de árvores específicas representadas no bonsai. Isso exigiria atenção meticulosa aos detalhes e um profundo conhecimento das formas botânicas.

As pétalas de marfim manchadas dariam um toque delicado e elegante ao bonsai. O marfim, muitas vezes proveniente de presas de elefantes, era altamente valorizado e frequentemente usado em criações artísticas durante a Dinastia Qing. As pétalas teriam sido esculpidas em marfim e manchadas ou tingidas para imitar as cores naturais das flores.

Vale a pena notar que o uso de marfim em criações artísticas levanta preocupações éticas hoje, pois envolve o uso de produtos de origem animal e contribui para a extinção dos elefantes. No entanto, durante a Dinastia Qing, o uso de marfim na arte e artesanato era predominante e altamente valorizado.

No geral, a flor bonsai com folhas de cobre pintadas e pétalas de marfim manchadas de meados da Dinastia Qing representa uma notável mistura de horticultura, metalurgia e artesanato delicado, mostrando as habilidades artísticas e a riqueza cultural daquela época.

[lemedstudent2021]

was listening to mj's earth song, and beside being just so emotional and intense, its truly chilling to think of what has become of the beautiful world we inherited. what weve done to it, and what we continue to do to it.

decided to watch the music video itself and it really brought a tear to my eye. something about them burying their hands in the earth, soil sand and ashes, mourning praying weeping for what once was

theres something so human about doing that i think, its almost like you bring yourself closer to the planet. has anyone done this before? like on a whim, to test what the earth feels like between your fingers. did you feel connected when you did?

anyway, there was a part where an elephant regrew its tusks and came back to life. it made me realise the cruelty of it all, of the abuse and endangerment, and how the same cruelty exists in our own lives too. so much of it downplayed or outright normalised.

it pains me to see that nature more often than not directs its resources into adapting to the environment we forced it into, instead of kicking us out the way it probably would have and finding ways to grow for itself.

the earth does not take kindly to transgressors, they will pay im sure of it, it just saddens me to see how far this will go on till that time. how much more will the earth tolerate before we are all punished.

We have destroyed this planet and tortured its inhabitants so thoroughly that elephants are being born without tusks.

[tumblingxelian]

Minister of The Environment: End the Ivory Trade in Australia - Sign the Petition! https://chn.ge/2JdCYlG via @ChangeAUS

[rabbitcruiser]

Marine Mammal Rescue Day 

With countless threats now facing the ocean, marine mammals need extra help. Donate or volunteer to aid these creatures against extinction and endangerment.

Mammals under the sea have a plight that is much different than those living on the surface of the earth. But that doesn’t make them any less valuable! Dolphins, seals, whales, sea otters and other varieties have been struggling to get by below the surface of the ocean as the environment is not as hospitable as it once was.

Marine Mammal Rescue Day seeks to raise awareness for the plight of these creatures that are delightfully unique, rather cute, and also an important part of the ecosystems underwater. Join in on Marine Mammal Rescue Day and show some support for this amazing sea life on this day!

History of Marine Mammal Rescue Day

Marine mammals have a history that dates back farther than human history can tell. Originally hunted by native coastal people for food, pelts and fat, they have come a long way over time. Now, many of them struggle to survive due to the impact that humans are having on their lives.

Sadly, due to illness and malnutrition on the west coast of the United States, spring is the height of animal rescue season. Marine mammal rescue organizations along the coast of the Pacific Ocean gear up for the busy pinnipedia (aka seals) season as early as mid-January, when the delightful Northern Elephant Seals start being born.

Next, comes pupping season for the Harbor Seal and then the Sea Lion pups start being born mid to late June. The Pacific coast also is home to Northern Fur Seals and Guadalupe Fur Seal. And of course the Sea Otter.

Cetaceans (or whales) also need help from illness and injury during this time of the year as well as all year round. Polluted waters, marine debris and illegal fishing gear can contribute to harming and killing all manner of aquatic life.

Being good stewards of the planet should include the biggest part of it, the ocean and its inhabitants. The actions (and inaction) of humans have polluted and toxified the ocean. Overall climate change has warmed the oceans and altered the patterns where fish swim.

Marine Mammal Rescue Day was established to pay attention to the fact that these young marine mammals are frequently not strong enough to go far and deep enough to go after the fish they need.

In 2017, Senator Toni Atkins from the state of California proposed a bill that would create Marine Mammal Rescue Day. And though the day has its beginnings in the United States, the oceans are shared by people from nations all over the globe. So it’s important that the word gets spread about this day to raise awareness and show some support for these marine mammal friends!

How to Celebrate Marine Mammal Rescue Day

Let it be known that you care by supporting and helping these at risk creatures on Marine Mammal Rescue Day. Get involved with some of these ideas for celebrating the day:

Make a Donation for Marine Mammals

Various charitable and non profit organizations work hard to help support and protect marine mammal life. But they need financial help from individuals, companies and others. Marine Mammal Rescue Day would be an ideal time to make a donation to a group that helps these creatures. Here is a list of a few that might be considered:

Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, California

International Marine Mammal Project in Berkeley, California

Marine Mammal Foundation in Victoria, Australia

British Divers Marine Life Rescue in East Sussex, UK

Visit the Marine Mammal Rescue Center

Getting its start in 1975, the Marine Mammal Rescue Center is located in Sausalito, California. Each year, the center provides information and education to thousands of school children and others who are interested in helping to make sure their actions are beneficial to the lives of marine mammals. Celebrate Marine Mammal Rescue Day by visiting the center, learning more, and sharing information to raise awareness for the plight of these magnificent underwater creatures!

Source

[achorusofnonsense]

Since the "outlaws & obelisks" tag is pretty barren, i thought I'd do an informational post for anyone who gets curious.

The setting is Utaram, a vast desert landscape that takes inspiration from both the US Southwest and Northern Africa, some decades after a magical apocalypse destroyed the powerful civilizations that had once sprawled across the desert, leaving sparsely-populated towns where people have to band together for survival. Reminders of that cataclysm are all around in the beings, both humanoid and beasts, who have been fused with other forms of life, like Onuris Budge, whose right arm is sometimes an elephant trunk and sometimes other things, and his animal companion (with a higher intelligence stat than him) Nebet, a leopard-flamingo. Wanderers like Chang Hushi, from the ancient Dulungai-Barun civilization far to the west, and Tovo Reeves, a bounty hunter with a mechanical exoskeleton, are not uncommon. With uncontrolled magic still heavy in the atmosphere, unreliable passages of time, and violent gangs seeking to gain influence in a chaotic landscape, threats abound. Budge, Hushi, and Tovo are thrown together in an unlikely quest for answers and a missing hat; as encounter breeds encounter, their goals, and the threats to Utaram, only seem to multiply like the time-displaced chickens in Hushi's bag.

It's quite brilliant, and unlike anything else currently being played that I know of. It's a POC-led, casually queer campaign with real stakes, wildly imaginative worldbuilding, and a series of fascinating unfolding mysteries as to the history of Utaram and the histories of the PCs themselves.

The DM is Jeremy Cobb (he/him), who has homebrewed the setting and cosmology from scratch, with a lot of research into ancient and medieval cultures of North Africa. Jeremy is one of the three hosts of Three Black Halflings, the podcast feed where Outlaws & Obelisks can be found. He also DMed their earlier campaign The Cub & the Caterpillar, using the Afrocentric Wagadu setting.

Hushi (they/them) is played by Connie Chang (they/he/she) of TransplanarRPG.

Budge (he/him) is played by Jonny Charles (he/him) of the_lonely_orchestra, who also provides the show's soundtrack.

Tovo (he/him) is played by Jasper William Cartwright (he/him), another of the hosts of Three Black Halflings.

Below the cut, there's some more spoilery information, including content warnings that people should know going in.

Later additions to the party include:

Episode 3: Panya (she/her), played by Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (they/them), the third host of Three Black Halflings.

Episode 6: Lu'Luh Jacksplit (she/her), played by Emily Axford (she/her) of Not Another D&D Podcast and Dimension 20.

The tone of Outlaws & Obelisks is among the most serious of the many actual-play and narrative-play podcasts I listen to. There's still plenty of comedy, because you can't have improvised narrative without it sometimes being silly, but it's an essentially dramatic story, with real weight behind much of the worldbuilding. All the players are deeply committed to their characters and unafraid to make big swings and accept the consequences.

And Jeremy is equally unafraid to make those consequences as dire as possible: the second episode ends on a note of such extreme brutality that it carries content warnings for suicide. The fourth episode also includes content warnings for body horror and child endangerment, and in general the show is not squeamish about body horror, given the emphasis on animal fusions in the first episode.

If it sounds like something you'd like, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. Emily's first episode hasn't even been released yet as I write this, but I'm betting she'll bring in some new listeners. Jump on in! The water's fine.

[donuts4evry1]

I have. Very little data atm so I gotta get this post out fast but.

I was watching a lil presentation on Baja California and I'm disappointed that I didn't hear the Black Sea Nettle come up- mostly because they were talking about species that were successfully brought back from endangerment status (Elephant Seals, some kind of bird, and Grey Whales).

Which unfortunately does not include the Black Sea Nettle as it actively benefits from global warming and ocean acidification and stuff.

Akuros is more or less self conscious about the fact that he's sort of a pest (to humans, but not to me I know better than that) and doesn't get to be in the cool presentation about Baja California.

[ms-cellanies]

Some people are too fucking stupid to be alive.  

[callie-ariane]

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens) Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), The Elephant in the Room (it’s actually a character in the story) Additional Tags: ineffable husbands, The elephant in the room, Idiots in Love, Declarations Of Love, Heartbreak, anguish, Angst, Danger, Endangerment, Anything For Love, BAMF Aziraphale, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

After far too long, our ineffable idiots finally pluck up the courage to admit their feelings for each other. It’s all quite lovely and the future looks like it’s going to be rosy. But fate is never that kind, and soon it all goes to Hell and back. Pretty much literally.

Extract:

Aziraphale threw a pleading glance towards the elephant in the corner of the room, silently begging it for strength, then turned and looked into his best friend’s eyes. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Crowley’s eyes widened again, then he relaxed. “You took your time,” he told him.

Aziraphale gaped. “What?” he asked.

“Oh, angel, I’ve known you’re in love with me for years,” Crowley said. “It’s not like you’ve been hiding it. You’ve been radiating it practically every time you look at me. Sometimes I’m surprised you haven’t actually been glowing.”

“And ... and you don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind?” Crowley shrugged. “I’ve loved you for even longer.”

Aziraphale didn’t think it was possible for an angel to discorporate through shock but nevertheless he had to concentrate hard for a few seconds just to ensure that it didn’t happen. Certainly he felt as if he might just disintegrate on the spot.

“You ... you love me? Me?” he finally managed to ask.

“No, I was talking to the elephant,” Crowley told him.

Aziraphale was already starting to turn his head to look into the corner, then he made an exasperated sound and turned back. “Be serious,” he begged. “Please.”

Crowley looked a little awkward. “Did you really not know?” he asked.

Aziraphale took a shaky breath. “Well, I hoped,” he said. “I mean, I wondered sometimes, but I didn’t really believe ... I mean, we’re not exactly ...”

“‘I am an angel, you are a demon’,” Crowley sarcastically quoted in an eerily good impersonation of Aziraphale. “‘Get thee behind me, foul fiend’.”

“Oh, yes, well ...” Aziraphale stuttered. “That’s why I didn’t think it was possible.” He blinked. "Are you sure?” he asked.

“Sure about what?”

“That you love ... that you love me.”

“Yep,” Crowley confirmed patiently. “Pretty much always have. You didn’t think I kept turning up to rescue you out of the kindness of my demonic heart, did you?” He peered at Aziraphale, then rolled his eyes. “Oh, of course you did. You thought your holiness was rubbing off on me.” He snorted. “In your dreams.”

Aziraphale blinked back tears. “So you did it for ...” He hesitated before continuing. “... me?”

“Love,” Crowley said simultaneously.

[crayfishcoffee]

Mighty Nein youtuber au:

Fjord: a bunch of “Teaching myself how to:” videos where he mostly fails but sometimes kinda succeeds. One goes viral where he cliffdives right next to something huge in the water. Most of it the noise of him screaming underwater while paddling back to shore, and while most people say it was a shark no one can say for sure.

Beau: Gamer channel except she always tries to put a gay spin to them. Does livestreams where she 100% romances every single female love interest, including mods that make it so more npc women are romance-able. 

Caleb: half his videos are powerpoint video essays reviewing new novel releases and hot literature takes that English majors go wild over. The other half are unedited videos of whatever Frumpkin is doing at the moment. Never shows his face or captions a single video.

Nott: a fantastic combination of the guy who makes a knife out of anything and the guy who keeps electrocuting himself while trying to DIY wire shit. Uploads a video called “Teaching my 5 year old how to shoot a crossbow” but Yeza makes her take it down after like a day in case they get harassed for child endangerment. 

Jester: makeup videos but the Jenna Marbles kind i.e. ‘turning myself into a disco ball’ and ‘highlighter challenge.’ Plugs and links every single product she uses in the description. Mythos develops around the unfocused dude in green to sometimes appears in the background of her video cuz she never gives a straight answer who he is. 

Caduceus: Starts off as a plant appreciation/identification channel, but after getting so many requests for it starts making asmr videos. His most popular one is titled “Mortician Teaches You The Difference Between Elephant Ear And Dryad’s Saddle Mushrooms”

Yasha: Posts maybe 2 videos a year cataloguing weird items she finds in streams, ditches, and weird abandoned buildings. Most of her comments consist of people freaking out that she’s going to get arrested for having what are probably ditched murder weapons. 

(bonus) Molly: used to be a super popular supernatural channel where he would do some light seance/ghosthunter type stuff and show off custom tarot techniques, but then his channel suddenly went dead and no one really knows why...