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Jun 30th, 2021, 7:57 pm
How green are your groceries? Eco labels will soon let you know

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Just how green are your greens? A new traffic light system that gives food products an eco rating will soon let shoppers know. The front-of-pack environmental scores are to be trialled in the UK from September, with a view of rolling them out across Europe in 2022.

Products including meat, milk and vegetables will be graded on their carbon emissions, biodiversity impact and water usage from farm to supermarket. Scores will be based on the individual merit of a product, rather than a generic rating for a food type.

The labels will look similar to the stickers already used by manufacturers to display the salt, sugar, fat and calorie content of foodstuffs. Products will be given a rating of A* to G, as well as a red, amber or green colour.

The system will be overseen by a new European non profit called Foundation Earth. It was launched to help people navigate the bewildering and sometimes contradictory information that shrouds the subject of food sustainability.

Foundation Earth is a potentially significant post-Brexit collaboration between the UK and EU. It is backed by governments on either side of the English Channel, along with major European supermarkets and the food giant Nestlé.

The system will be trialled in the UK by brands including M&S, Costa Coffee and the organic food delivery company Abel & Cole. The pilot will include products with good and bad ratings to see whether people change their buying habits. Foundation Earth is aiming for a full European rollout of the rating system in 2022.

Andy Zynga, chief executive of EIT Food, the European Commission’s food innovation programme, said: “The launch of Foundation Earth is a very significant moment for the European food industry. It will bring about a credible and clear front-of-pack environmental labelling system on food products right across the continent.”

Such transparency, supporters argue, will encourage supply chains to go greener. This is vital if nations are to meet legally-binding climate targets: according to the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, the food industry accounts for 37 per cent of global greenhouse gases. Under a business-as-usual scenario, that figure is predicted to rise by 30 per cent by 2050.

Prof Chris Elliott, chair of the foundation’s scientific advisory committee, said: “The development of a more transparent, sustainable global food supply system is of huge importance to the health of our planet and health of all citizens.”
Jun 30th, 2021, 7:57 pm

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Jun 30th, 2021, 9:32 pm
Peppa Pig loving parrot has themed birthday party and 'oinks' to theme song
13:52, 28 JUN 2021*

Mr Mojo loves nothing more than watching hours of the hit children's television show every day, and has even taken to imitating the 'oink' sound of the show's theme song.

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Mr Mojo really loves Peppa Pig, so his owner threw him a birthday party styled on the show (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

A Peppa Pig loving parrot was thrown a birthday party themed around the children's show and oinked along to the theme song when his owner played it.

Mr Mojo is an African grey parrot and there is nothing he loves more than watching Peppa Pig, and will while away hours staring at the TV whenever the show is on.

His owner, Zoey Atkinson, 24, wanted to throw a birthday party for the bird, who has the 'IQ of a five-year-old', and it didn't take long for her to come up with a theme.

She planned the whole day around Mr Mojo's favourite TV show, complete with Peppa Pig toys and a cake made to look like the character, and she played the theme song for the bird to oink along to.

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Zoey with Mr Mojo, who thoroughly enjoyed his fifth birthday party (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

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Mr Mojo has personalised cards, a cake, and presents - all with Peppa Pig on them (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

The administration manager from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, said: "Parrots need a lot of mental stimulation, so whenever we're here, we'll just pop the TV on - usually to a kid's channel.

"I read online that parrots roughly have the mental abilities of a five-year-old, so that's why we started putting on kids' TV for him.

"We noticed he was paying really close attention to Peppa Pig, and he would do the 'oink' along with it. He'd even do it during the theme song.

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Mr Mojo really loves Peppa Pig, and even sings along to the theme song (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

"Peppa Pig is on Netflix now, so sometimes we'll just keep it on all day. He'll watch it for hours and hours. Me and my family don't mind it now, we've grown to love it."

When Mr Mojo's first birthday came around on April 24, Zoey took the opportunity to throw her parrot a Peppa-themed birthday party.

Zoey said: "I loved organising it. We got him personalised birthday banners to put up in the kitchen. Covered the table in Peppa Pig tablecloth and plates.

"There's so much Peppa Pig stuff out there, it was really easy to bring it all together. We even got him personalised party boxes. Because of COVID, we used those to take pieces of the cake round to our friends.

"We even got him some presents. His favourite was a set of wooden Peppa Pig toys which he has now chewed his way through. That's no surprise, he loves to chew anything wooden.

"It was a small birthday party - just me, my mum and my dad. We have birthday parties for all of our pets. Mr Mojo liked his birthday party. He is a bird though, so obviously when he took off flying, the cups and cards went flying everywhere."

Zoey believes she would have hosted this party regardless of whether or not a lockdown was in effect.

Zoey said: "I would have done this either way. My thought with pets is that I have them to spoil them.

"It was his first birthday and I wanted to make it special for him. It was so fun getting everything personalised. He loved the attention - and he loved his birthday card because he could rip it up."

For Mr Mojo's next birthday, Zoey is considering another Peppa party, but is also open to incorporating another staple show of his - Cbeebies' beloved series 'In The Night Garden'.
Jun 30th, 2021, 9:32 pm

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Jul 1st, 2021, 1:24 pm
Diver Finds Message in a Bottle from 1926 and Reunites Note with Late Writer's Daughter

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Tour de France won't press charges against woman who caused crash
WaPo: Grand jury files charges against Trump Organization, CFO…

While scuba diving in Michigan earlier this month, Jennifer Dowker found a treasure.

a person sitting next to a body of water: Courtesy Jennifer Dowker© Provided by People Courtesy Jennifer Dowker
A small, green glass bottle with a piece of paper rolled up inside was sitting at the bottom of the Cheboygan River — just underneath Dowker's glass-bottom boat.

"I thought, 'A message in a bottle? Cool!'" Dowker, 45, told The Washington Post.

She then called out to her part-time employee, Rob Hemmer, who also works at a nearby local history museum.

"Rob picked the broken cork out of the bottle with his jackknife and dumped out the water, then we carefully got the note out," she said. "It was wet, and we were surprised to find that we could still read it."

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The note read: "Will the person who finds this bottle return this paper to George Morrow, Cheboygan, Michigan, and tell where it was found?"

It was dated November 1926.

Dowker — who runs a company that takes tourists on cruises and shipwreck tours in Cheboygan — told The Post that she immediately posted about the bottle on her company's Facebook page in hopes of finding someone who knew George.

"So look what I found when I was washing windows and cruising along with the fish," she wrote. "Any Morrows out there know a George Morrow that would've written this circa 1926?"

"COOLEST night diving EVER," she added.

By the next morning, the post had gone viral. At the time of publication, the post has over 114,000 shares, nearly 4,000 comments, and 19,000 likes.

A helpful internet stranger, René Szatkowski, found a way to get in contact with George's daughter, Michele Primeau, whom she found through George's online obituary.

She said she chose to help with the search because "I know that I would cherish something like that from my own family's past."

So, when she called Primeau, she said: "You don't know me and this may be really strange, but there are people looking for you on the internet."

As it turns out, George sent the message off right around his 18th birthday.

"My dad was born in November, and I can just picture him going down to the river on his 18th birthday and tossing the bottle in," Primeau told The Post.

The World War II veteran was "really sentimental," she added. "I could see him doing something like that. When we were kids and went camping at Lake Huron, I remember he did the same thing once. He put a note in a bottle and threw it into the lake."

George died in 1995 of causes related to dementia, his daughter said.
Jul 1st, 2021, 1:24 pm
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:10 pm
Petition Asks British Museum to Return “Karpathos Lady” Statue

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“The Karpathos Lady” as she is displayed in the British Museum

The “Karpathos Lady” statue has been, like the Parthenon Marbles, housed in the British Museum for more than a century, but a petition was launched on Monday to bring her back to Greece.

The online petition, which is seeking signatures from the public, is targeting both the British Museum and the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports in a bid to “bring her home.”

The Karpathos Lady

The statue in question is 6,000 years old, and originates from the island of Karpathos. She found herself in London following her discovery by British adventurer Theodore Bent.

Bent came upon a statue of a female deity on the Greek island of Karpathos in 1885, and decided to smuggle her off the island and back to Great Britain. He then sold his discovery to the British Museum, where it is still housed. The ancient Greek statue holds the title of the oldest such statue in the British Museum.

Until 2014, for almost 130 years, the statue had not moved from its permanent exhibit in London.

This all changed when a successful radio series which was produced by the BBC in collaboration with the museum skyrocketed the statue to fame. The series, named “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” saw people around the world wanting to view the Karpathos Lady from up close.

A tour of museums began under the same name, whichsaw the statue traveling across the world. The Karpathos Lady’s international debut was in Taipei, Taiwan – her first journey outside Europe. In 2015, she went to Japan, with exhibitions in Tokyo, Kyushu and Kobe.

The statue’s travels then took her to a new continent in 2016, being put on show in Perth and Canberra in Australia before heading back to Asia in 2017, where she wowed them in Beijing and Shanghai. 2018 saw the statue back in Europe for the exhibition in Valenciennes, France. Finally, in May 2019, the Karpathos Lady returned to Asia and stayed in the Hong Kong Jockey Club for four months.

Even through all of these travels, the statue has never returned to her native Greece.

Petition to “bring her home”
Although it may be intuitive to display the Karpathos Lady in the closest museum to where the artifact was excavated, the Archaeological Museum of Karpathos in Pigadia has never done so.

Instead, they are only able to dedicate a small cabinet to this incredibly important statue, encasing a photograph and a description of it inside.

The new online petition is calling for the Karpathos Lady’s return to Greece following her almost 130-year lease to the British Museum. The petition is to encourage the two parties of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Museum to negotiate for the statue’s return to the place where it was created.

The organizer’s idea is for a “summer season” in Pigadia, Karpathos, hopefully in 2022, when tourists and locals alike could admire the beauty already seen by so many all across the world. This would signify not only the rectification of a great wrong after the statue was looted but also a joyous return for the Karpathos Lady to her native island.
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:10 pm
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:32 pm
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I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
THURSDAY JULY 1ST

What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

EXAMPLE POST
Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag
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A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -5)
2:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)

on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life :lol:
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories :lol: :lol: :lol:

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS


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Jul 1st, 2021, 2:32 pm

Looking to keep current with Mobi Contests?
Tune in, turn on, on Discord!
https://discord.gg/As9DZkGXUM
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:42 pm
Woman Looking to Adopt a Pet From a Pennsylvania Shelter Finds the Dog She Lost 2 Years Ago

A Pennsylvania woman shared an emotional reunion with the dog she lost over two years ago at the Lehigh County Humane Society after spotting the canine on the shelter's website.

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A Pennsylvania woman had a sweet reunion with her lost pup after over two years apart.

Aisha Nieves from Allentown, Pennsylvania, was recently searching for a new dog for her two sons and decided to look at the Lehigh County Humane Society's (LCHS) adoption webpage. She immediately noticed that a tan pit bull-Rottweiler mix up for adoption at the shelter was the same beloved dog she lost a few years ago.

"I thought, 'Wait, that can't be him,'" Nieves told The Morning Call. "Then, I saw the little scar over one eye, the scar from when he got caught in a gate, and I was like, 'Oh my God, that's my baby, that's Kovu!'"

Nieves first adopted Kovu, who the LCHS listed on their adoption site as "Ash," when the canine was just 7 weeks old. Kovu lived with her until he went missing in May 2019. Weeks later, he was found by the LCHS in bad health.

"He needed to be treated for fleas, was missing hair on his hind end and had inflammation," LCHS director of development Deirdre Snyder told the outlet. "He was treated with antibiotics and bathed with a special medical shampoo. He was in our shelter for about four months and then adopted out to a family Oct. 25, 2019."

However, Kovu was returned to the shelter earlier this month because the family who adopted him was facing eviction. After seeing her lost dog online, Nieves immediately called the shelter to verify she was Kovu's original owner and reunite with the pup.

According to The Morning Call, Nieves said that at the reunion, "He was screaming, trying to get away from the guy holding him and run to me. Then, he just jumped on me, and we started kissing and hugging. He sat on my lap. I told him, 'Yeah, buddy, you're going home. I'm so sorry this happened. Never again am I losing you.'"

"Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, and that is likely the first thing that brings the recognition," Snyder added, explaining it's not unusual for a dog to recognize their owner after a long period of time. "There are many videos online of military personnel coming home after a long time away and their dog will recognize them with a similar joy and excitement that Kovu had for Aisha."

After the emotional reunion, Kovu is now home with Nieves and her family, looking forward to celebrating his seventh birthday this winter.
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:42 pm

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Jul 1st, 2021, 2:51 pm
From Atlantis to Zealandia to newfound 'Icelandia': Incredible lost or hidden continents

Icelandia

A secret continent dubbed “Icelandia” has been discovered beneath Iceland – and the enormous land mass could stretch from Greenland to Europe.

Its huge size would make it bigger than Australia, according to geologists behind the astonishing discovery.

But other continents have already been found in addition to the traditional seven we were always taught – Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and Australasia.

Here the Daily Star looks at other amazing discoveries of lost or hidden continents.

Zealandia
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The discovery of a new continent in the South Pacific was announced in 2017.

Zealandia is half the size of Europe and mostly underwater. Only 6% is above the waves, which is why no-one found it earlier. It only substantially breaks the ocean surface at the islands of New Zealand, hence the name.

It is believed to have broken away from Gondwana – the immense land mass that once took in Australia – before sinking between 60million and 85m years ago.

Some say it should be classified as the world’s eighth continent.

Mauritia

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Lying at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, this micro-continent is thought to have been pulled apart by plate tectonics 50-100m years ago.

In 2017, South African scientists said they had found a fragment of Mauritia deep beneath an ancient lava flow.

They spotted it was three billion years old compared to Mauritius which is eight million years old.

Greater Adria

In 2019, this landmass was identified under southern Europe – specifically, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Croatia.

Around the size of Greenland, it broke away from north Africa more than 200m years ago and was mostly underwater, visible as a string of islands.

Most of it plunged into the Earth’s mantle but researchers from Utrecht University discovered some was still visible, making up a strip of land across Italy from the Adriatic Sea.

Kerguelen Plateau

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In the Indian Ocean south-west of Australia, this sunken micro-continent lies 2km below sea level.

It is around the size of California and was produced by a volcanic hotspot around 130m years ago. A small portion forms the Kerguelen Islands plus the volcanic Heard and McDonald Islands.

Atlantis

The fate of Atlantis has captivated us for thousands of years, with Greek philosopher Plato claiming it was home to folk who were half-god/half-human, living in an advanced civilisation.

It has been featured in film and TV from Doctor Who to Aquaman.

One theory says it was a mid-Atlantic continent which suddenly sank into the ocean, while another claims it was part of Antarctica, before the Earth’s crust shifted and moved it north.

Lemuria

In 1864, zoologist Philip Sclater claimed this continent had sunk beneath the Indian Ocean.

It was proposed to explain the presence of lemur fossils in Madagascar and India, but not in Africa or the Middle East.

But once scientists discovered continental drift – the premise that land masses move over time – the idea of Lemuria’s existence was eventually dismissed.
Jul 1st, 2021, 2:51 pm

Twitter: Fatima99@fatima99_mobi
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Jul 1st, 2021, 4:38 pm
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Wally Funk, 82, will become the OLDEST person to fly in space when she heads into orbit on July 20, surpassing former Senator John Glenn, who did so at 77 years old in 1998.

Blue Origin announced 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk will fly on Blue Origin's first human flight
Funk will be the oldest person to fly in space, surpassing former Sen. John Glenn
She was part of the Mercury 13, 13 American women who underwent training by NASA, but never flew into space
Funk was the first female FAA inspector and first female NTSB air safety investigator
Funk has logged more than 19,000 flight hours and said she will fly until she dies

By Chris Ciaccia For Dailymail.Com and Rory Tingle

Published: 10:07 EDT, 1 July 2021 | Updated: 11:16 EDT, 1 July 2021

Blue Origin announced on Thursday that 82-year-old astronaut Mary Wallace 'Wally' Funk will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark and the winner of the auction on Blue Origin's first human flight later this month.

Funk will become the oldest person to fly to space when she heads into orbit on the New Shepard rocket on July 20, surpassing former Senator John Glenn, who did so at 77 years old in 1998.

She was part of the 'Mercury 13,' 13 American women who 'successfully underwent the same physiological and psychological screening tests as the astronauts selected by NASA for Project Mercury,' Blue Origin said in an email.

Funk scored higher than Glenn - who was one of the Mercury 7, a group of astronauts chosen to fly on Project Mercury - on some astronaut testing. She was, however, denied her bid to become an astronaut, as NASA canceled the Mercury program prior to the last test.

Despite popular belief, the Mercury 13 were part of a privately funded program and were not an official part of NASA's astronaut program and did not officially meet as a group.

Blue Origin announced that 82-year-old astronaut Mary Wallace 'Wally' Funk will join Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark and the winner of the auction on Blue Origin's first human flight later this month
Funk will become the oldest person to fly to space when she heads into orbit on July 20, surpassing former Senator John Glenn, who did so at 77 years old in 1998
+7

The New Shepard rocket will launch on July 20, the 51st anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing

Although the 13 women never flew to space, they did testify before Congress in the early 1960s to criticize NASA for not including women as astronauts.

It wasn't until 1978 that NASA selected 35 astronauts, including the first six women, for the Space Shuttle Program.

Among Funk's impressive achievements, she was the first female FAA inspector and first female NTSB air safety investigator in history
Funk was part of the 'Mercury 13,' 13 American women who 'successfully underwent the same physiological and psychological screening tests as the astronauts selected by NASA for Project Mercury'
+7

In addition to being part of the Mercury 13, Funk has an extraordinarily impressive background.

At 20, she became a professional aviator, working as a civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

She was the first female FAA inspector and first female NTSB air safety investigator in history.

She became the 58th US woman to earn an Airline Transport Rating in 1968. She tried three times to get a job with commercial airlines, but was turned away because of her gender.

After NASA started accepting women to be astronauts in the 1970s, Funk applied three times but she was denied, as she did not have an engineering degree or a background as a test pilot.

Funk has logged more than 19,000 flight hours and 'will be flying 'til I die,' she said in a 2019 interview with The Guardian.
Jul 1st, 2021, 4:38 pm
Jul 1st, 2021, 4:59 pm
Dumbarton's Scotch Watch: The geese guarding £300m of whisky and what happened to them
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In today's modern era of technology and CCTV you'd be forgiven for thinking that having a gaggle of geese guard £300m of whisky from intruders would sound like pure fiction, but the reality in Dumbuck near Dumbarton was much different until not too long ago.

For rather than humans or guard dogs, the role of protecting the Ballantine's Whisky storehouses from 1959 to 2012 was performed by a famous 'secure goose squad' known as the Scotch Watch...and they were so good as their jobs that no-one ever stole a drop.

Not only were the geese ideal guards for their keen senses, protective nature and tendency to be light sleepers, they were also a publicity masterstroke, becoming so synonymous with the brand throughout the world that they starred in in TV documentaries, magazine articles - and even their own advertising campaign!

The geese hung up their beaks back in February of 2012, when owners Chivas Brothers 'retired' the seven remaining birds that formed the last Scotch Watch squadron to a sanctuary in Glasgow Green of all places "to live out the rest of their days in leisure".

Not only could they join an existing colony there under the care of Glasgow Humane Society, but they could enjoy a swim in the majestic waters of the River Clyde - the very same river that they may well have spent years dreaming of escaping too - and which one (favourite goose) actually years back prompting Ballantine's to offer up a £50 rewards for their safe return to the gaggle.

Thankfully, the memory of the world's most famous geese lives on thanks to an installation unveiled by Chivas Brothers last year at the Dumbuck site - consisting of a series of eye-catching steel sculptures of the geese at the aptly-named Gooseman's Walk!

Surely the geese deserve their own movie to tell their amazing tale!
Jul 1st, 2021, 4:59 pm
Jul 1st, 2021, 5:42 pm
Norway Closes Down Its Last Arctic Coal Mine and Transforms Land into Giant National Park

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Norway is dismantling their last Arctic coal mine piece by piece and turning the area it sits in into a national park twice the size of Grand Teton in Wyoming.

The goal is to turn the Svalbard Archipelago, in particular the Van Mijenfjord, into a howling wilderness once again—the best managed wilderness in the world where polar bears, seals, and countless other Arctic species can thrive in what experts say will be one of the most resilient areas under threat from climate change.

Seeds aren’t the only thing famously stored underground on Svalbard. Coal has been mined there under state monopoly for 100 years. Despite climate change pressures mounting throughout the 21st century, it wasn’t until 2016 that a government white paper announced a moratorium.

Seven national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries, one geopark, and six reserves dot two-thirds of the 23,500 square mile (61,000 square km) archipelago of islands, fjords, mountains, and glaciers. 3,000 polar bears inhabit the area, and during the late summer more than 20 million birds of 80 different species nest on Svalbard.

The Van Mijen Fjord has sea ice year round, and as such is an important hunting ground for bears. At the throat of the fjord, Svea Mine has loaded ships with coal for generations, but is now being dismembered rather than abandoned to ensure the area returns to a pristine natural state.

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/arctic- ... onal-park/
Jul 1st, 2021, 5:42 pm
Jul 1st, 2021, 6:29 pm
As Titanic continues to decay, expedition will monitor shipwreck’s deterioration
The iconic ocean liner that was sunk by an iceberg in 1912 is now slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria.

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This 2004 photo provided by the Institute for Exploration, Center for Archaeological Oceanography/University of Rhode Island/NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, shows the remains of a coat and boots in the mud on the sea bed near the Titanic’s stern. OceanGate Expeditions, an undersea exploration company, plans to dive to the sunken Titanic to begin what’s expected to be an annual chronicling of the shipwreck’s deterioration. AP

The Titanic is disappearing. The iconic ocean liner that was sunk by an iceberg is now slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria: holes pervade the wreckage, the crow’s nest is already gone and the railing of the ship’s iconic bow could collapse at any time.

Racing against the inevitable, an undersea exploration company’s expedition to the site of the wreckage could start this week, beginning what’s expected to be an annual chronicling of the ship’s deterioration. With the help of wealthy tourists, experts hope to learn more about the vessel as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks spawn.

“The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, said Friday from a ship headed to the North Atlantic wreck site.

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The 109-year-old ocean liner is being battered by deep-sea currents and bacteria that consumes hundreds of pounds of iron a day. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.

Since the ship’s 1985 discovery, the 100-foot (30-meter) forward mast has collapsed. The crow’s nest from which a lookout shouted, “Iceberg, right ahead!” disappeared. And the poop deck, where passengers crowded as the ship sank, folded under itself.

The gymnasium near the grand staircase has fallen in. And a 2019 expedition discovered that the captain’s haunting bathtub, which became visible after the outer wall of the captain’s cabin fell away, is gone.

“At some point you would expect the railing on the bow, which is very iconic, to have collapsed,” Rush said.

The company has outfitted its carbon fiber-and-titanium submersible with high-definition cameras and multi-beam sonar equipment, Rush said. Charting the decomposition can help scientists predict the fate of other deep-sea wrecks, including those that sank during the world wars.

OceanGate also plans to document the site’s sea life, such as crabs and corals. Hundreds of species have only been seen at the wreck, Rush said.

Another focus will be the debris field and its artifacts. David Concannon, an OceanGate adviser who’s been involved in various Titanic expeditions, said he once followed a trail “of light debris and small personal effects like shoes and luggage” for 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).

The expedition includes archaeologists and marine biologists. But OceanGate is also bringing roughly 40 people who paid to come along. They’ll take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.

They’re funding the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 apiece.

“Somebody paid $28 million to go with Blue Origin to space, not even the moon,” said Renata Rojas, 53, of Hoboken, New Jersey. “This is cheap in comparison.”

Obsessed with the Titanic since she was a kid, Rojas said she started studying oceanography in hopes of one day discovering the wreck. But it was found the same year, prompting her to pursue a career in banking instead.

“I kind of need to see it with my own eyes to know that it’s really real,” she said.

Bill Sauder, a Titanic historian who previously managed research for the company that owns the ship’s salvage rights, said he doubts the expedition will discover “anything that’s front-page news.” But he said it will improve the world’s understanding of the wreck’s layout and debris field. For instance, he’d like confirmation regarding where he believes the ship’s dog kennels are.

OceanGate will not take anything from the site, making this expedition far less controversial than the now-scuttled plans by another firm to retrieve the Titanic’s radio.

RMS Titanic, the company that owns the wreck’s salvage rights, wanted to exhibit the radio equipment because it had broadcast the Titanic’s distress calls. But the proposal sparked a court battle last year with the U.S. government. It said the expedition would break federal law and a pact with Britain to leave the wreck undisturbed because it’s a grave site.

All but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew died after the ship struck an iceberg in 1912.

The court battle ended after the firm indefinitely delayed its plans because of complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s possible that not everyone will approve of this next mission.

In 2003, Ed Kamuda, then the president of the Titanic Historical Society, told The Associated Press that human activity, including tourism and expeditions, needs to be limited. He said the site should be a simple maritime memorial and left alone.

“Let nature take back what is hers,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before it’s a brown stain and a collection of pig iron on the ocean floor.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2021/ ... cean-liner
Jul 1st, 2021, 6:29 pm

Exodus A.D.: A Warning to Civilians by Paul Troubetzkoy [10000 WRZ$] Reward!
https://forum.mobilism.org/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=5556807
Jul 1st, 2021, 6:56 pm
Local company turns Toronto's dying trees into artisanal household items

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TORONTO -- Inside a former abattoir in downtown Toronto, new life is being given to some dead wood.

"I think there's a natural beauty and affinity with wood generally" Robert Jarvis told CTV News Toronto on Friday.

Jarvis, is one of the co-founders of "Just Be Woodsy," a local company that's taking trees from Toronto’s parks and city streets and turning them in to one-of-a-kind pieces.


Jarvis says the idea sprouted several years ago, after learning that most of the trees being taken down by the city were simply turned in to mulch or firewood.

"You have about a two per cent die-off naturally and that's about 100,000 trees, think because there's almost 11 million trees in the City of Toronto, so you have a huge amount just naturally coming down."

The company bid for and won, a contract with the city. It is now the recipient of trees taken down in the core.

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There are nearly 220 types of trees growing in the city. Jarvis says, each year, for a variety of reasons, including disease and rot, thousands are taken down.

"There's certainly a lot of Norway maple coming down these days, there's a lot of silver maples coming down that are a 120 years old and they're getting too big and their limbs become liabilities and so the city has to take them down,” he said.

“But there's also a lot of beautiful oaks … beautiful black and red oaks and old white oaks. A lot of ash coming down, used to be a big part of the canopy and it's getting attacked by the emerald ash borer."

"I think most people in the city don't realize what a resource that the trees around them are," said Alex Budding, the company's arborist and the man in charge of supply. "We have such a large selection of trees, we're able to source and kind of cherry-pick the ones that are the best logs."

And those logs are given a new life inside the company's downtown facility. The wood is milled, and kiln-dried, and then turned into a variety of products. From coasters to charcuterie boards, plates to play logs, and a variety of tables. Craftspeople have been cranking out just about everything you can make from wood.

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"We've made beehives out of it, chopsticks, there's just tons of things that you can do with it really," Jarvis said.

“I think there's just that natural affinity to renaturalize our spaces. I think that when you're confronted with a lot of concrete, a lot of noise, a lot of busyness around you in the city, a bit of chaos, there's something really grounding and beautiful about a natural material like wood."

Each hand-made piece is also laser engraved with the type of tree/wood, as well as the location it came from, including in some cases the neighbourhood, and in others, the exact geographic co-ordinates where the tree once stood.

For co-founder, Sinead Wills, it's all part of allowing people to feel connected to their environment.

"Having people understand that the tree grew right around them. There’s a real sense of connectivity and it’s really important these days. You know a lot of goods are imported, and it’s just a table but to have a table that you know grew right in your area or your city, it’s one of a kind. It’s a very beautiful and unique piece."

The pieces, which range from $20 to a several thousand dollars, can be ordered through the company's website. They're also accepting ideas as to what products they could try and tackle next.

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For Budding, the best part of the job is seeing a fallen tree he's collected end up as a new item in someone's home.

"It just so means so much for them to have it living in their house in a variety of different forms and it'll last forever that way. It's really special for us."
Jul 1st, 2021, 6:56 pm

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Buzz is the best doggo ever.
Jul 1st, 2021, 8:34 pm
Global Peace Index 2021 reveals world’s most peaceful nations

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It has been a tumultuous 12 months, but despite the challenges of the last year, most countries have become more peaceful.

That’s according to the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which every year gives a harmony ranking to 163 nations. Compiled by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the index is considered the world’s leading yardstick for measuring world peace.

Iceland topped the table for the 13th consecutive year, followed by New Zealand and Denmark. The UK was placed 33rd, while the US came 122nd, between Azerbaijan and South Africa.

Overall, 87 countries recorded an increase in peace levels over the last year, compared to 73 that saw a fall. However, while the majority of nations saw improvements, the index found that the world is on average 0.07 per cent less peaceful than it was a year ago. Although small, it is the ninth deterioration recorded by the index in the last thirteen years.

The GPI measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

The decrease in peace was attributed to a global increase in military spending, and higher levels of civil unrest, partly as a result of the pandemic.

According to the GPI, Europe remains the most peaceful region. The continent is home to eight of the 10 most peaceful nations, and no European country is ranked outside the top half of the index.

The least peaceful region is the Middle East and North Africa, but this is also where the biggest improvements were seen. Upswings were recoded across all three domains.

The largest regional deterioration was in North America. “This was driven by a significant increase in social unrest in the US in 2020, which culminated with the events of the 6 January 2021, in which pro-Trump protestors entered the Capitol building,” said the report.

Despite its findings, the GPI noted that people generally think that the world is getting safer. According to the index, some 75 per cent of global citizens reported feeling as safe or safer than they did five years ago. Rwanda has the highest proportion of people who feel safer today than they did five years ago.

The GPI also found that deaths from terrorism have fallen for the sixth consecutive year, with the largest falls occurring in Syria, Iraq, and Nigeria.

“Terrorism impact and the number of deaths from internal conflict continued to fall, while the intensity of internal conflict also improved,” the report added.

Here are the 20 most peaceful nations, according to the GPI

Iceland
New Zealand
Denmark
Portugal
Slovenia
Austria
Switzerland
Ireland
Czech Republic
Canada
Singapore
Japan
Finland
Norway
Sweden
Australia
Croatia
Germany
Hungary
Belgium
Jul 1st, 2021, 8:34 pm

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Jul 1st, 2021, 8:57 pm
Black World War II Vet Previously Overlooked for Purple Heart Finally Receives Medal 77 Years Later

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Osceola “Ozzie” Fletcher was wounded during World War II's Battle of Normandy, but was denied the Purple Heart due to racial inequalities

After racial inequalities prevented World War II veteran Osceola "Ozzie" Fletcher from receiving a Purple Heart after his return home, the U.S. Army finally presented the 99-year-old with his medal this month.

Fletcher was injured during the Battle of Normandy — a pivotal operation that saw Allied Forces successfully invade Western Europe — when his vehicle became the target of German gunfire, the Army said in a news release.

But due to "racial inequalities in the United States at that time," Fletcher never received his Purple Heart, a medal given to military members who are either wounded or killed by the enemy during combat.

Seventy-seven years after the historic battle, Fletcher received his medal on June 18 while in front of 150 people at the Fort Hamilton Community Club in New York.

"There were probably many others like myself who did not get honored, and I just lasted longer," Fletcher told Fox News of the honor.

"However, the guys of other complexions did get medals. They showed it in their neighborhoods and I found out about it in other ways," he continued, "and the soldiers who got Purple Hearts are those people that weren't there in the very, very beginning and it seems that maybe many officers got Purple Hearts because they were white."

"But I don't know about any other unwhite soldiers, you might say, getting honored in any way [at that time]," he continued.

During the ceremony, Gen. James C. McConville, Chief of Staff of the Army, said Fletcher spent his life "giving to those around him," whether they were with him in the Army or simply a neighbor in his community.

"Today we have the opportunity to pay Ozzie a long overdue tribute for the sacrifices he made to our nation and free people everywhere," McConville said.

"Today it's Ozzie's turn to receive, but we are not really giving him anything today," he added. "We're delivering him something he's been entitled to for almost 77 years: Purple Heart for wounds received."

Citing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, the National WWII Museum said there were only 325,574 American World War II veterans left alive in 2020. Sixteen million Americans served in the war, with 416,800 of them having been killed during duty.

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Jul 1st, 2021, 8:57 pm

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Online
Jul 2nd, 2021, 7:42 am
7-Year-Old with Special Needs Launches Lemonade Stand to Fund the Building of Inclusive Playground

Like any 7-year-old, Gwen Ciccozzi loves playing on the playground. But for Gwen, it's important that the playground be inclusive to all — a passion that's inspired her to roll up her sleeves and launch a lemonade stand to raise money to build one in her very own city.

Gwen suffered a perinatal stroke in the womb, and has cerebral palsy and limited function on the right side of her body, her mom Rebecca Ciccozzi told ABC affiliate WEWS and the Medina Gazette.

"We didn't know if she would walk or talk or even be able to understand what other people were saying," Ciccozzi told WEWS.

Because of her differences, Gwen finds it difficult to fully enjoy herself at the playground in her city of Brunswick, and she and her mom often have to drive out of their way to an inclusive playground 20 minutes away.

"It's so hard because we want to be able to run and take Gwen to a playground," Ciccozzi told the Gazette. "She's at that stage where she can go to a typical playground, but she can't enjoy it as much because there's not as much that she can do with one functional hand."

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So when Brunswick resident Leann Alerio proposed the city's first inclusive park last year, Gwen was quick to jump on board to help raise the money needed to fund it.

Ciccozzi told the Gazette the idea for her daughter's lemonade stand — dubbed Gwennie Penny's Lemonade — started when they found a bag of lemons in the fridge that needed to be used, and blossomed from there.

"I was so overwhelmed with the generosity of our community," the proud mom told the outlet. "She raised so much money. We were in the house and counting it and I said, 'Gwen, this is a lot of money. Do you think you want to keep this all or should we donate some?' And she immediately said, 'The playground.'"
Jul 2nd, 2021, 7:42 am