CA salmon, Delta fish populations are in worst-ever crisis as pumps keep exporting water to Big Ag

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Friday May 03, 2024 · 7:05 PM PDT

2024/05/03 · 19:05

Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in their worst-ever crisis ever as California Governor Newsom forges ahead with the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir projects and the Big Ag voluntary agreements while fish populations get closer and closer to extinction.

California salmon fishing was closed in 2023 and will be closed this year also. The 2024 stock abundance forecast for Sacramento River Fall Chinook, often the most abundant stock in the ocean fishery, is only 213,600 adults. The return to Coleman Fish Hatchery was an absolute disaster. Meanwhile, abundance of Klamath River Fall Chinook is forecast at 180,700 adults.

Endangered Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook also continue their march towards extinction. The spawning escapement of Sacramento River Spring Chinooks (SRSC) in 2023 totaled 1,479 fish (jacks and adults), with an estimated return of 106 to upper Sacramento River tributaries and the remaining 1,391 fish returning to the Feather River Hatchery: www.pcouncil.org/...

The return to Butte Creek of just 100 fish was the lowest ever. In 2021, an estimated 19,773 out of the more than 21,580 fish total that returned to spawn in the Butte County stream perished before spawning.

Nor did the winter run, listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act, do well. Spawner escapement of endangered Sacramento River Winter Chinook (SRWC) in 2023 was estimated to be 2,447 adults and 54 jacks, according to PFMC data.

A group of us, including the late conservationist and Fish Sniffer magazine publisher Hal Bonslett, successfully pushed the state and federal governments to list the winter run under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts starting in 1990-91 because we were so alarmed that the fish population had crashed to 2,000 fish.

Then in 1992 the run declined to less than 200 fish. Even after Shasta Dam was built, the winter run escapement to the Sacramento River was 117,000 in 1969!

Now we are back to approximately the same low number of winter-run Chinooks that spurred us to push for the listing of the fish as endangered under state and federal law over 30 years ago.

The State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP) Delta “death pumps” have been the biggest killers of salmon, steelhead, Sacramento splittail and other fish species in California for many decades, as I have documented in hundreds of articles in an array of publications.

In the latest episode in this outrageous saga, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups, including the Golden Gate Salmon Association, San Francisco Baykeeper and Bay Institute, urged the state and federal water agencies to “take immediate action” to stop the unauthorized killing of thousands of Chinook Salmon and Steelhead at the State and Federal water export pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta: www.dailykos.com/...

Both winter-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Central Valley winter-run Chinook Salmon is also protected under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

The coalition reported that this is the second time in 2024 the coalition has responded to an increase in killing of legally protected fish at the pumps of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project (Projects or Water Projects).

While the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has called for significant reductions in the Projects’ Delta water pumping, the California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the federal Bureau of Reclamation that own and operate the Projects ignored these recommendations and continued to export water at rates that killed thousands of imperiled fishes, the groups said.

“Indeed, over the past week, DWR and Reclamation further increased pumping – as a result, significantly increasing take of winter-run Chinook Salmon at the pumps,” the groups said in a statement. “As a result, the Water Projects have exceeded the legal limits for killing both Central Valley Steelhead and winter-run Chinook Salmon established under the ESA by NMFS.”

State Water Project pumping accounts for 80% of the water exported from the Delta at this time, according to the groups.

The annual ESA take limit for winter-run Chinook Salmon is 1,776 fish. As of March 25, 2024, an estimated 3,030 winter-run had been killed at the pumps – not counting the much larger number of fish that likely died after being drawn by pumping into inhospitable parts of the Delta, the groups said.

Since December 1, 2023, an estimated 2,919 naturally spawned Central Valley Steelhead have also been killed by the Water Projects. The maximum allowable ESA Steelhead take is 1,571 as a three-year rolling average or 2,760 in any single year. The numbers show that the Water Projects are in violation of both limits.

Now we turn to Delta Smelt. Unfortunately, the mainstream media, for the most part, either refuses to report on the Delta smelt or report inaccurately on the Delta Smelt when it does report. This is from an article in the LA Times in February 2024: “Recent surveys have found decreasing numbers of Delta smelt in the wild.”

Are you kidding? Actually, for the sixth year in a row, ZERO Delta Smelt were collected in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT) Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from September through December 2023.

Once the most abundant species in the entire estuary, the Delta Smelt has declined to the point that it has become functionally extinct in the wild. The 2 to 3 inch fish, found only in the Delta, is an “indicator species” that shows the relative health of the San Francisco Bay/Delta ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the other pelagic species collected in the survey — striped bass, Longfin Smelt, Sacramento Splittail and threadfin shad — continued their dramatic decline since 1967 when the State Water Project went into effect. Only the American shad shows a less precipitous decline.

Between 1967 and 2020, the state’s Fall Midwater Trawl abundance indices for striped bass, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, American shad, splittail and threadfin shad have declined by 99.7, 100, 99.96, 67.9, 100, and 95%, respectively, according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

The graphs in the CDFW memo graphically illustrate how dramatic the declines in fish populations have been over the years: nrm.dfg.ca.gov/…

Serenity Garden - A Photo Diary

MollyBloom

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday May 03, 2024 · 10:36 AM PDT

2024/05/03 · 10:36

Gabriel's Giving Tree — Entrance to Gabriel’s Giving Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden

Well, I didn’t expect to write another diary before September when the dahlias will be in full bloom, but sometimes the best things in life happen serendipitously.

This week a West Coast friend sent me an article about a new destination in my area to explore – Gabriel’s Giving Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden. This secluded garden offers a quiet place of comfort for those grieving loved ones lost to a substance abuse disorder.

Since it’s so close by, I decided to meander on down and take a look for myself.

The site is in a beautiful location. On the grounds of The Suffolk County Environmental Center (SNY), it’s sandwiched between a protected wetland where pelagic birds nest and a wood crisscrossed with hiking trails that are regularly patrolled by white-tailed deer.

Sunken Garden — Sunken Zen-like feature with marshes in the background

Several dedication trees and a sunken meditation space ring the garden’s perimeter, but the main attraction is a solitary canary yellow rotary phone housed in a wooden hutch. It’s a wind phone, wired to nowhere and meant to serve as a physical link to speak with the dearly departed. There’s a plaque above the phone that reads, “For people with no earthly phone number. The wind will carry your message.”

wind Phone — Wind Phone and Seating Area. Direct line to The Beyond.

Close up of Memorial Stones (RIP Danny & Riley + Elissa, Miss and love you every day + Mary Jo + Caroline 🩷 Caolan + Love Forever Kerri & Matthew)

I dialed, of course, but received no reply. It was a very powerful experience, nonetheless. And I did ask him to call me back so maybe he will visit in dreams…

Wanted to share this wonderful spot for all who are grieving or struggling or just looking for gardening inspiration. May it bring you peace ☮️ and healing ❤️‍🩹.

Remembrance Tree — Angel Tree of Remembrance adorned with violet ribbons

Remembrance Stones — Memorial Stones at base of tree. Too many to fit in the frame. 😥

Healing Stones at base of tree (Anthony. 🩷. Big Ant. 4 ever with us + Laura 🩷)

Prayer Tree for the Struggling bathed in Ethereal Light

Stones for Struggling — Stones for the Struggling (Love 💥 + Dragonfly + Flowers)

Unity Stones (We 🩷 You + Matthew ✝️ + Robert ✝️ )

Remember you are not alone. And that an outpouring from the heart will often have an outsized effect. So…

Teach Love. Live Love. Be Love.

Thanks for reading!

📚WRITE ON! A room/group/diary series of one's own. UPDATED x 3

mettle fatigue for Readers and Book Lovers

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 02, 2024 · 5:05 PM PDT

2024/05/02 · 17:05

Close-up of the platen of an old-fashioned typewriter showing the par of clear-plastic page-guides and ink-ribbon running side to side for the letter-bars to strike between the guides, with the words WRITE ON! in bold stylized italic impossibly large on the page.

Hiya, writers and frenz —

Lately the WriteOn! threads are split between two different, non-complementary kinds of comments. So, for this week, let’s talk about the idea of a separate, new group for writers whose main interest is to post excerpts or chapters from their Works In Progress unrelated to the given week's diary topic and challenge. Anyone can be in that group as well as the WriteOn! series in the R&BL group, of course: why not? :)

<big>UPDATES ARE BELOW, NOW IN BOXES LIKE THIS</big>

mettle fatigue for Elders of Zion

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Thursday May 02, 2024 · 4:55 PM PDT

2024/05/02 · 16:55

Some terrific Jewish Maghrebi Gnawa background music by Ravid Kahalani for while you read, ...but you might want to turn the volume down a little! :D
^https://^{www.youtube.com/watch?v=5APzfs4TB04}

YouTube Video

Among Sephardic and Mizrachi communities in Morocco, West Asia, Israel, Europe, the Americas, and other places Jews of Maghrebi heritage live, evening on the last day of Passover —this year, Tuesday, April 30— begins a 24-hour neighborhood celebration of music, dance, and potluck feasting. Friends and relatives of all heritages fill homes, gardens and yards, spilling out into the streets as they share foods forbidden the eight days of Pesach.

Seattle 2023 Mimouna Festival Announcement cosponsored by JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North iAfrica) https://www.jimena.org/ and StandWithUs Northwest, the Seattle Moishe House, The Dreamcoat Initiative, and Moishe House Without Walls. — https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdfHJzLK-Bb9Ir9BUxV6nr_r32v_v2XCZgyfCsdZXd2y9nVRw/viewform

Sweets are especially traditional, parallel to the three dates and other dishes customary in the communal Iftar (evening meal breaking the daily fast) of the month of Ramadan).

Jimena —Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa— is among organizations and community institutions that host Mimouna celebrations. Theirs are usually on the west coast, and folks elsewhere around the US and beyond may know of more. This year, this very evening, they are celebrating in the Bay area even as we read! Please use the link to find out more. :)

How we would have loved to be there!

But we can join them in spirit from here: follow along below as we explore some of the intertwined traditions, recipes, symbology, and music of the celebration. Get up and dance if you feel like it! — L’chaim!

עברית: חמסה עם עין, דגים, המילה "חי" וקישוטי צמחים.
Ladino: Hamsa de metal en una pared, kon una palavra en ivrit, Hai - "Bivo". -- Polski: Ręka Miriam. -- Hand of fatima -- Hamsa with an eye, the word "life" in Hebrew, and plant and fish ornaments. A symbol of welcome, peace, and protection from harm, in many cultures around the middle east and north Africa, and wherever people from the region now live. This one was photographed by Elisa Arteaga from Caracas, Venezuela

<big>...like most timeless traditions, there are many theories [about the origins of what is] not only a feast, but a symbolic and spiritual event that marks the beginning of spring — a time full of [hope for abundance across the twelve months ahead]. Muslims took part in the celebration too, bringing milk and honey, hametz flours^{[see below]} and couscous to their Jewish neighbors. Entire communities would come together [ to bake and prepare, wishing each other] mutual productivity and prosperity for the coming year. People traveled from house to house, tasting sweets and celebrating with their neighbors. [In Israel, Mimouna is so popular among people of all back-grounds that the next day is usually unpaid off from work ...to complete the full 24 hours of celebration … and perhaps sleep off the hangovers, if any.]...</big>

Ceramic mosaic of a khamsa in Tunisa, photograph 2014, probably on the wall of a home or business or house of worship.

<big>Lalla Mimouna saint,* celebrated by the Jews of the Maghreb, and known throughout the Maghreb, especially in Morocco and Algeria. The [coastal town] of Lalla Mimouna ... in the province of Kenitra in Morocco bears [the saint’s] name. Jewish families in Tlemcen, Algeria, celebrate Mimouna…</big>

* “saint” is a rough translation not meaning quite the same as in English.

YouTube Video

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBoTwm5Rfk8}

Some related wik pages & others: ■ Berber Jews ■ Berbers[/Amazigh] (Barbary coast) ■ Moroccan Jews ■ Innov Gnawa “honors the strength of Moroccan national identity to transcend religious distinctions with a rare performance of the Jewish songbook of this ancient Moroccan musical tradition.” ■

<big>Sprinkle your guests with mint!</big> Iranian and Afghani Passover traditions include Seder participants playfully smacking each other with scallions right before singing “Dayenu” — it represents masters whipping slaves in ancient Mitzrayim. Read down for the mint sprinkling:

Hand of Fatima -- Image extracted from page 052 of TRAVELS IN TUNISIA by Alexander Graham- F.R.I.B.A. and ASHBEE (Henry Spencer) in the British Library. -- US Public Domain and in the public domain its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.

<big>...In many communities, non-Jewish neighbors sell chametz back to Jewish families as a beginning of the celebration [let the baking begin!]: </big>

<big>Mechirah: ... Until five twelfths of the way through Passover Eve, one may sell or give one's chametz to a non-Jew [as one of the three ways of eliminating from the home all food substances forbidden for these eight days]…. Afterward, the non-Jew generally sells the chametz back to the original owners; however, there is no obligation to do so.</big>

<big>Moroccan and Algerian Jews throw open their homes … setting out a lavish spread of traditional holiday cakes and sweetmeats. One of the holiday favorites is Mofletta.^{[MOFLETTA

HOW-TO VIDEO AT THE END OF THIS DIARY.]}

Khamsas from Israel 2012. -- Usage with attribution permitted.

The table is also laid with various symbols of luck and fertility, with an emphasis on the number "5," such as
five pieces of gold jewelry or five beans arranged on a leaf of pastry. The
repetition of the number five references the five-fingered hamsa amulet common in both Jewish and Muslim North African
and Middle Eastern communities from [ancient] times.

Typically, everyone at Mimouna celebrations is sprinkled with a mint sprig or other green dipped in milk, symbolizing good fortune and new beginnings.

Early in the day of the Mimouna, families go to the sea, splash water on their face, and walk barefoot in the water, [re-enacting] the miraculous crossing of the Reed Sea, which is held to have taken place on the last day of Passover...</big>

YouTube Video

LALA Tamar "SHUFI FIYA" "شوفي فيّ" - Arabic/Hebrew - Gnawa/Sahraoui vibe - live session — Written and composed with great love and admiration to the Gnaoua culture, based and inspired by the beautiful song, Ghzayel Meyel — “dedicated to the women to sing to each other with unconditional love — stay safe!” On April 5, 2022 Morrocan & Israeli artists and consulates to the New England region celebrated Mimouna, dedicated in memory of Zohra El Fassia — Israeli-Moroccan singer and poet, first woman recording artist in Morocco and a pioneer of modern Arabic music — [featuring] musical performances by Grammy-nominated Samir LanGus (Morocco) and Itamar Borochov (Israel), as part of their collaboration on the Jewish Gnawa Project; a recording session from Agadir, Morocco, with singer Lala Tamar (Israel), and Mehdi Nassouli (Morocco); with a tribute to Jewish-Moroccan dances by Jackie Barzvi (U.S.), a Middle Eastern dancer and the creator of the Mizrachi Dance Archive. more info HERE

Jews of Fez, Morocco, c. 1900. From the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, now in the public domain. — <big>Jews of Fez, Morocco, ca. 1900 ■ History of the Jews in Morocco ■ History of the Jews In Persia/Iran ■ History of the Jews in Algeria ■ History of the Jews in Tunisia ■ History of the Jews in Libya ■ History of the Jews in Egypt ■ History of the Jews in France ■ History of the Jews in Iraq ■ History of the Jews in Canada ■ History of the Jews in Turkey ■ History of the Jews in Syria ■ History of the Jews in Lebanon ■ History of the Jews in Serbia ■ ...and so on, the Sephardic and Mizrachi communities.</big>

...Though [Mimouna] only began to be recorded in the middle of the 18th century...^[7]

<big>...its derivation and etymology are ancient. Possibl[y the name comes from]: "Rabbi Maimon ben Yosef" (father of the Rambam Maimonides) [perhaps to] mark the date of his birth or death ... the Hebrew word "emuna" (... אמונה‎ … "faith") or "ma’amin" (... מאמין‎... "I believe");... the Arabic word for "wealth" or "good luck" … as [midrash says that] on this day … the gold and jewelry of the drowned [pursuing army of] Egyptians washed up on the shore of the Red [Reed] Sea; … associated with "faith" and "belief" in immediate prosperity, as seen in its customs of matchmaking, and well-wishes for successful childbearing;...manna, which was the food [by which God sustained the mixed multitude ^{Exodus 12:38 in Parashat Bo — Ex. 10:1– 13:16}]…wandering in the wilderness...</big>

LALLA MIMOUNA

SEATED SHEPHERDESS, woodcut print, drawn by Jean-François Millet, engraved by Jean-Baptiste Millet 1830–75 -- Image use permitted under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

[was an 8th century saint] celebrated by Moroccan Jews. Émile Dermenghem tells an anecdote about her: Abd al-Wahid b. Zayd wished to know who would be his neighbor in paradise and he was told, "O 'Abdalwahid, you will have for neighbor Mimoûna the black one".
And where is she, this Mimoûna the black, he continued to ask with more audacity than discretion.
At Banou-Un Tel, in Koûfa.
He went to Koûfa and inquired about Mimoûna. It was, he is told, a madwoman who grazed sheep on the side of the cemetery.
He found her praying. The flock was grazing all by itself and that was all the more wonderful because the sheep were mixed with wolves and the wolves did not eat the
sheep and the sheep were not afraid of the wolves ...

Chirldren in costumes for Mimouna. Français : Minouna 2 - 29 September 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimouna — <big>Children in costume for Mimouna in France. Together with the food sharing from home to home, like <i>shalach manot,</i> this costume tradition suggests an echo of Purim a few weeks earlier.</big>

<big><big>Recipes/Food!</big></big>

JIMENA email noted that since most grains are forbidden during the week of Passover, and time to prepare for Mimouna is short, desserts for the feast made in advance often are based on marzipan, nuts and fruit. Moufleta (mentioned above) is of wheat flour but very fast! See musical moffleta recipe video at the foot of the diary. Naturally, if any charoset actually remains from the week — I make a huge amount, myself, but magically there is rarely any left over! — it will be enhanced for dessert-making, altho’ some North African recipes already include bananas, dates, pistachios and cardamom. More:

🍊 Mimouna: A Delicious Way to Celebrate the End of Passover ■ ■ 🍊 Nosher. 8 Jewish Persian Dishes to Try, “From herbaceous kuku sabzi to comforting gondi, you'll love every one!” ■ ■ 🍊 ibid The Jewish cuisines of Morocco, Tunisia and Libya “are influenced not only by Jewish traditions, but also the Mediterranean and Arabic cultures that surround them. Meals are often centered around vegetables or fish and couscous, and spiced with aromatic spices like turmeric, ginger, hot peppers, cinnamon, paprika, saffron, caraway and cumin...” ■ ■ 🍊 recipes from jewishfoodsociety.org ■ ■ 🍊 Bimuelos/buñuelos, fried doughnuts originally from Spain with developed variations following expulsions of the Jews from Iberia, 1492 onward, such as baklava style, among others, at TasteOfHome.com where you’ll also find carciofi alla giudìa, a Jewish recipe for fried artichoke that all denizens of Rome enjoy. Plus matzo pie with fillings of spinach and cheese (resembling spanikopita), or ground beef or lamb, other meats, seasonal spring vegetables like leeks, asparagus or artichokes, and for vegans with cashews, avocado and dairy-free shredded cheese. And more! ■ ■ 🍊 Recipes from marocmamma.com ■ ■ 🍊 Tangerines! “The name was first used for fruit coming from Tangier, Morocco”^[3] As Jewish feminists know, Dartmouth College Jewish studies professor Susanna Heschel (daughter of Abraham Joshua Heschel) originated the idea of an orange on the Seder plate to represent the fruitfulness of gay and lesbian Jews, directing celebrants to eat an orange wedge and spit out the seeds in repudiation of homophobia and misogny. It’s popular also to say it’s a feminist act defying any men who say women don’t belong in the rabbinate (& House, & Senate, & WhiteHouse!) — yeah, like oranges don’t belong on the seder plate. Ha! Instead of having a messy orange to cut up, a tangerine per person peels nicely, you lose none of the delicious juice to drips, and you still get to spit pits! Why not for Mimouna too. Chances are, it will be mostly women preparing the celebration, after all! :D ■ ■ 🍊

YouTube Video

SamirLangus (Morocco) who partners with Itamar Borochov (Israel) on the Jewish Gnawa Project.

<big>Mechtaly [speaking of one of her paintings]: ... the product of some personal research that sort of blew my mind suggesting strong ties between Gnaoua, Moroccan Mysticism and Judaism.

Lalla Mimouna is a saint often mentioned and revered by Gnaoua musicians.

Some tell the story of how she saved a slave by showing up in the middle of the Sahara desert and offering him a water canteen when he was about to die of thirst. The slave, who was inspired by the sound of water in a leather canteen, later created Gnaoua music and told others the story of Mimouna, his savior.

Interestingly, Lalla Mimouna today is a small village in the south of Morocco that was built around a water source named after the saint. Mimouna is also a festive occasion celebrated by Moroccan Jews at the end of Passover where Muslim neighbors traditionally visit Jewish homes carrying baked goods and leavened foods that aren’t allowed in Jewish homes during Passover. The story of Passover is a story of slavery, freedom, desert crossing and miracles, very similar to that of Gnaoua.

What’s even more fascinating is that Gnaoua musicians [visit] the village of Lalla Mimouna every year around the time of Passover to pay their respect to Lalla Mimouna’s spirit in a three day pilgrimage. [There’s a lot of overlap in symbolism between the Gnaoua pilgrimage to Lalla Mimouna and Passover‘s exodus,] Passover commemorates the journey from spiritual slavery to spiritual freedom, which is a central concept in Gnaoua music….</big>

_{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC84t9bwUso}

YouTube Video

This next video is of a recent celebration organized by the Mimouna Association, a Moroccan non-profit originating in 2007 as a Muslim student-run club at Al Akhawayn University in Ifran e, to promote Jewish heritage and interfaith dialogue around the country.^[2] "One of the founding principles of the Association is to reclaim the cultural diversity of Morocco through its history...”

YouTube Video

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkKl68QNGOM}

YouTube Video

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti-e2bY0mE}

Musical Moufleta How-TO

YouTube Video

^{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3GQXm5Uukk}

_{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPbCdrFBvcQ}

YouTube Video

Community Needs List at Street Prophets Coffee Hour

Aashirs nani for Street Prophets

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 01, 2024 · 8:44 PM PDT

2024/05/01 · 20:44

Helping Humpday is the Wednesday Street Prophets Coffee Hour. It was created for us by bfitzinAR and was taken over by Dixiecollie, who also left suddenly. Now it’s njm5000 who keeps the list of Kossacks in need. Helping Humpday is still here, the place where we can show caring and offer help.

BeadLady

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 01, 2024 · 4:00 PM PDT

2024/05/01 · 16:00

This is a voting year. Many vendors use funds from their businesses to support Democrat candidates! Please support us and rec this diary. Also, please bookmark the diary for later gift giving!

Vendor listings are foractive members of Dkos. Commented at least once within the last two years and/or a subscriber to Dkos. If you are an active DKos member and wish to be listed as a vendor, please DM your website and DKos profile links to Beadlady or CathyM. As a current active member vendor, if you have a new book, new items, etc., you would like to list, also DM Beadlady or CathyM with your new information.

Arts and Crafts and Homegoods

asterkitty — Alexandria Levin has a site for her colorful oils and watercolors. Beautiful, strange, and colorful magical realist oil paintings; featuring animals, trees, landscapes, and abstractions. Plus newer watercolors which are mostly of trees and abstractions. She also creates one-of-a kind-beaded glass and stone jewelry. Her Redbubble site has over 200 designs on clothing, stickers, magnets, and more. Along with her published books — here. Drawing out the Muses and Pricing your Artwork with Confidence, along with a volume of poetry.

Beadlady has top quality homemade quilts in her Quilts Unique Etsy Store. Many more quilts will be added late in August. Just in time for holiday gifts!

CathyM's E tsy shop has handmade jewelry, Xmas patchwork stockings and cat, dog and chicken themed items, vintage patterns, aprons, t-shirts, and tote bags, some using her own designed fabric - which you can find over at Spoonflower. She has also written many books. Newest one “The Dream Hunt” can be found here at her website.

David Bowman
David M Bowman is a shop for patinaed brass metalwork -- candlesticks, Menorahs, vases, clocks, jewelry and more...this is a father/son family business. They also have an Etsy site here. Run by Kossacks rcbowman and dabu

Goto Great Panes Etsy shop for small gift

Great Panes

items run by Kossack Murphoney.
Iamacat has different items for sale as Cats and kats. Etsy: polymer clay beads. RedBubble: Cat stickers and other items. Zassie: Various ceramic and paper items.

Nature's Friend is BobX's website. He makes Birdhouses, Birdfeeders and Bat Houses

CatMats are little quilts with catnip strewn all through the batting. Large size is about 15x21, good for lounging on. Medium is about 9×13, a good size for tucking in the carrier to make that car ride more enjoyable. Small mats are variable in size, intended for playing. If your cat likes catnip, they will love their CatMat! Made by strawbale. Scroll down the webpage to order.

Catmat
Wings: NDN Silver Beautiful Native American silver work -- and more, by Kossack Aji ...... THIS IS OUR STORY

LauraZ

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 01, 2024 · 8:27 AM PDT

2024/05/01 · 08:27

(I am sharing SandHIll and FANA member Kevin Inglesby’s article regarding our attendance at the April 2024 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2024. He is currently enrolled in a PhD program for Applied Anthropology and Cultural Heritage.)

**********************************************************************************

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (hereafter UNPFII) held its 23rd session this year, in April 2024. The theme for this year's forum centered on the engagement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) while emphasizing the voices of indigenous youth. One way to successfully approach this year's theme may be informed through social theories of language like the concept called chronotope, in other words, the linguistic interplay between personhood (person/identity), time, and space. Ahead of this year’s forum, in March 2024, I attended a UN training session. It was an excellent opportunity for me to gain knowledge and skills in understanding the UN organization, its dialogues, and effective participation strategies. I am now better equipped to engage in UN discussions and make meaningful contributions towards shaping a better future for all. At this UN training, one of the main points brought up bridged the connection between what the UN can do as an entity and how representatives should go about expressing their reasons for taking part in the forum.

At that point, I recognized that the UN seeks to advance its own linguistic pattern of personhood (people/identities), time, and space; one of self-determination, solidarity, and empowerment. Thus, for the theme this year, the importance lies in one's knowledge of UNDRIP that influences its practical application in our world to provide an effective platform for pursuits of balanced dialogue to unfold in the conference rooms and general assembly. As a representative of the Sand Hill Band of the Lenape and Cherokee Indians and the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA) I brought forth my developing sense of how to advance conversations directly connected to UNDRIP and indigenous youth. In our increasingly connected world, the general assembly first addressed the matter of how to intergenerationally transmit traditions whilst defending against the veils of infrastructural, economic, and uneven resource distribution. Calls to decolonize governmental arenas and address centuries of greed and the exploitation of indigenous peoples accompanied assertions to return to a more ecologically balanced orientation of governance- governing ourselves as the planet does- through regenerative and restorative foundations.

As I listened, rapidly took notes, and pondered feasible paths forward through these circumstances, a key element remained in my mind. How can we shift entire sagas of dialogue? The UN’s conversational structures that focus on specific times and spaces can be a major player for these shifts to accelerate, yet, there are still other highly important variables that must merge in with the UN’s initiatives to advance success. Those tribes, nations, and communities present at the forum, organized through the time leading up to those weeks, must be moments to create a robust, encompassing, and systematic dialogue that can effectively express issues at hand. Here, one does not have to look far to directly illuminate their awareness of the fact that the Sand Hill Band and FANA are doing exactly that. Through legal innovation, indigenous wisdom, and community development initiatives the Sand Hill Band and FANA occupy a critical, constructive, and highly influential position in the UNPFII community.

Through panels on the criminalization of indigenous peoples, social and cultural regions that promote integral principles of self-determination, and generative methods to strengthen exchange and solidarity- a common thread became apparent. If we as human beings are to redress centuries of oppression, our ontological dispositions or our modes of existence in the world, must undergo significant shifts to promote a more developed reflection of the vast potentials the human condition may yield. As the Sand Hill Band and FANA progress discourse from the local to global levels, we establish communicative settings centered upon holistic and culturally reflective developments that are mobilized in the proper forums, in the appropriate manners. Another major concept embedded in this year’s UNPFII regards the creation of dialogic sequences that promote a critical contextual arrangement that accounts for all the cultural, political, and social layers that found the world we find ourselves in today.

Pushing that concept forward, the Sand Hill Band and FANA continually contribute towards a new generation of evolving interactions of knowledge. UNPFII provides a very crucial arena to advance these initiatives associated with spoken practice. For example, the promotion of intergenerational discourse was a key component in the context of linguistic revitalization measures. Methods ranging from the use of open source platforms, decentralized datasets with appropriate intellectual property safeguards, and the development of other digital resources provide an exponential path for linguistic progress to flow through.

Creating levels of accessibility to these sorts of tools can be addressed through deliberate conversations around the topic, in other words, a focused reference of specific times and space. Still, the moment we find ourselves necessitates that we must strike a balance between adapting technologies, community engagement, and property rights. In this way, UNPFII provides a very beneficial environment for organized and developed organizations like the Sand Hill Band and FANA to advance our community initiatives among a global network of highly proactive, engaged, and diligent people from a wide variety of communities.

Another mobilization of intersecting networks was revealed through the Indigenous Media Zone at UNPFII wherein Mazatzin Casas Acosta, Norris Francis War Turtle Branham, and I each participated in interviews with the Indigenous-led nonprofit called Cultural Survival. Here, Norris and I spoke about different ways to implement linguistic revitalization measures to varying degrees. Mazatzin spoke about repatriation, specifically through his collaborative project; The Return of the Sacred. These platforms support conversations that solidify solidarity, provide updates for ongoing projects, and serve as points to actively expand blossoming discourse.

First and foremost, these experiences are an honor to participate in. The rich diversity, range, and expertise brought to the table by UNPFII participants provided enlivening conditions to contribute towards. These elements aid in the advancement of dialogue of mutual benefit, for all. Thus, my experiences at UNPFII this year pointed to something that has been ongoing; FANA’s motto, “Strength Through Unity”. So, as I participated, took notes, and listened intently, that common thread was strengthened through each moment of reflection. One way to promote the advancement of cultural integrity, continuity, status, and standing will proceed through conversations.

As we solidify our ways to engage and approach our ever-evolving world, those with resonance will find arenas of rapid development, support, and critical inquiry. In this way, each United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues provides a nexus point to bring our developed conversations to the forefront, in ways that will contribute to the mobilization of systems thinking and engagement that has tremendous byproducts of active world building. Though UNPFII23 comes to a close, the Sand Hill Band and FANA communities hit the ground running, traversing the next mountain of dialogue as we create the world we want to see.

*************************************************************************************

Please click the links below to learn more about the experiences of the FANA and SandHill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians members attending the UNPFII23

Kevin

https://youtu.be/-PNXisdZMfE?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/Hccum5_X5Qg?feature=shared

Mazatzin

https://youtu.be/laxNDgwcFvQ?feature=shared

Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - May 2024

gmoke

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 29, 2024 · 8:35 PM PDT

2024/04/29 · 20:35

Energy (and Other) Events Monthly - May 2024

These kinds of events below are happening all over the world every day and most of them, now, are webcast and archived, sometimes even with accurate transcripts. Would be good to have a place that helped people access them. This is a more global version of the local listings I did for about a decade (what I did and why I did it at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html) until September 2020 and earlier for a few years in the 1990s (https://theworld.com/~gmoke/AList.index.html).

A more comprehensive global listing service could be developed if there were enough people interested in doing it, if it hasn’t already been done.

If anyone knows of such a global listing of open energy, climate, and other events is available, please put me in contact.

Thanks for reading,
Solar IS Civil Defense,
George Mokray
gmoke@world.std.com

http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com - notes on lectures and books
http://solarray.blogspot.com - renewable energy and efficiency

https://zeronetenrg.blogspot.com - zero net energy links list

http://cityag.blogspot.com - city agriculture links list
http://geometrylinks.blogspot.com - geometry links list
http://hubevents.blogspot.com - Energy (and Other) Events
http://www.dailykos.com/user/gmoke/history - articles, ideas, and screeds

More details on each event available at https://hubevents.blogspot.com/2024/04/energy-and-other-events-monthly-may-2024.html

which is also available as a free listserv.

———
Index
———

A Looming Famine: Starvation in Gaza Date & Time

Tuesday, April 30

11:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iunXWSKOSGySlZVJWMOn-w#/registration

----------

National Climate Resilience Framework: Food, Land and Water

Tuesday, April 30

3pm - 4pm ET [12pm to 1pm PT]

Online

RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZoB3jvk8S7CRgmnoxnmhww#/registration

-----------

From Data to Action: Leveraging Data Science for Effective Health Policy and Surveillance Against Emerging Infectious Disease Threats.

Tuesday, April 30

3:00 – 5:00 PM EST

BU, 72 East Concord St, Room L-403, Boston, MA

RSVP in person at https://www.bu.edu/ceid/2024/04/10/from-data-to-action-leveraging-data-science-for-effective-health-policy-and-surveillance-against-emerging-infectious-disease-threats/

And online

RSVP at https://bostonu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nPA7uS8ORMGx2dbJTWCj3Q#/

-----------

'True False, Hot Cold': Film Screening & Discussion

Tuesday, April 30

4:30pm to 6:30pm

MIT, Building 55, Atrium 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139

------------

ISO-NE Public Forum on the 2050 Transmission Study

Wednesday, May 1

10:00 a.m. (running for approximately 90 minutes)

Online

RSVP at https://www.iso-ne.com/event-details?eventId=154784

-----------

De-poisoning Catalysts for Sustainable Chemical Processing

Wednesday, May 1

12 – 1 p.m.

Online

RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-jane-p-chang-fellow-presentation-virtual

----------

The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs

Wednesday, May 1

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/sabrina_sholts/

-----------

Food Waste: Whose responsibility is it?

Thursday, May 2

9:00 - 10:30 ED [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/food-waste-whose-responsibility-is-it-tickets-853808573427

----------

Meeting Investor Expectations: Introducing the Nature Action 100 Company Benchmark

Thursday, May 2

10:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://ceres-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aTxpuCB7Qi2AM_1YXsuR3w#/registration

----------

Future of Energy and Power Grids by 2050 Webinar-ICWS North America Chapter

Thursday, May 2

10 - 11:30am EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/future-of-energy-and-power-grids-by-2050-webinar-icws-north-america-chapter-tickets-814182129667

Cost: $45

----------

World Press Freedom Day - The Intersections of Press Freedom and the Environment

Thursday, May 2

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yuNtVb5ZSjGybsi9N2lstQ#/registration

------------

Exploring Mars and the moon

Thursday, May 2

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.brookings.edu/events/exploring-mars-and-the-moon/

-----------

Water for All: Global Solutions for a Changing Climate

Thursday, May 2

4:30 pm – 5:45 pm

Princeton, McCosh Hall, Room 50, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RvMbWbIRSqiM6pkPhIxrhg#/registration

----------

American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion

Thursday, May 2

8:00PM ET

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-an-evening-with-american-precariat-tickets-872754521267

----------

Processes of Dispossession, the Imminent Collapse of Tunisian Oases (and what can we do about it)

Friday, May 3

2 – 3:30 p.m.

Harvard, CMES, Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street, Cambridge

RSVP at https://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/event/processes-dispossession-imminent-collapse-tunisian-oases-and-what-can-we-do-about-it

----------

Beyond the Forecast: The Interplay of Climate Change and Health

Saturday, May 4

12pm EDT [9am MST]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-forecast-the-interplay-of-climate-change-and-health-tickets-881067024187

----------

The Spring 2024 Mid-Cambridge PLANT SWAP

Saturday, May 4

NOON to 2 pm

Rain date—in case of DOWNPOUR—is Sunday May 5, 12-2

at Fayette Park (near the corner of Broadway and Fayette Street)

----------

Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island Welcome Meeting

Sunday, May 5

3:00 PM

RSVP at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kfuGurTkpHtCocGTXeF0iIQqvxXJgxMtc#/registration

----------

Carbon and Biodiversity Consequences of Increasing Tree Cover in Savannas

Monday, May 6

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Princeton, Guyot Hall, Room 10, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZdneMRMCQkq_mwSQzJ8g4w#/registration

----------

Farming the Future: Livestock's Leap to Net Zero

Monday, May 6

4 PM ET

Online

RSVP at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2024-ermias-kebreab-lecture-virtual

----------

Reducing GHG for Buildings and Industry Essential to Meeting 2030 and 2050 Targets

Monday, May 6

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, Skilling Auditorium, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_8787

----------

Bridging the Humanitarian, Peacebuilding, and Development Nexus: Building systems for Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Populations Affected by War, Forced Displacement, and Resettlement through an Implementation Science Lens

Tuesday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 8

6:00am to 1:00pm

Dial-In Information at https://vimeo.com/event/4064273/0c130e98b9

----------

Power & People Symposium: Mapping Community Exposure to Energy Infrastructure

Tuesday, May 7

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

BU, Building Center for Computing & Data Sciences (CDS), 665 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 1750, Boston, MA

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-people-symposium-tickets-877370247027

----------

Get Smart Quickly on Climate Change from MIT

Tuesday, May 7

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L9wfetErRc6eZZd5D4S-Jg#/registration

----------

Bridging the Climate Science-Practice Divide through Community Engaged Research: Insights from the Caribbean

Tuesday, May 7

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Princeton, 10 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_im0lHoLvTfyYW_9aTu8wtQ#/registration

-----------

Forum on The Boston Foundation's Food, Fuel and Shelter Fund

Wednesday, May 8

9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

RSVP at https://www.tbf.org/Events/2024/May/Food-Fuel-and-Shelter-Fund-Forum

----------

Making Climate Tech Work: Policies that Drive Innovation

Wednesday, May 8

2:30pm to 3:20pm ET [11:30am to 12:20pm PT]

Stanford, Mitchell Earth Sciences, Room 350, 397 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/may-8th-speaker-series-event-alon-tal

----------

How Might Genetic Technologies Contribute to Addressing Climate Change?

Wednesday, May 8

5-7 PM ET

BU Computing and Data Science (CDS) Conference Center17th floor, room CDS 1750, 665 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

RSVP at https://hms.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cD6jfyNet7PM5WC

----------

Climate LIVE K12: Disasters and Climate Change in the Caribbean

Wednesday, May 8

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Online

RSVP at https://events.columbia.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=/public/cals/MainCal&guid=CAL-00bbdb7c-8b1dcd5f-018b-200ea6a9-00005636events%40columbia.edu&recurrenceId=

----------

Tropical Forest Resilience Under Global Change

Thursday, May 9

11am - 12pm EDT

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tropical-forest-resilience-under-global-change-tickets-875311619617

-----------

Webinar – States in Sync: The Western Win-Win Transmission Opportunity

Thursday, May 9

2 p.m. ET

Online

RSVP at https://rmi.org/event/webinar-states-in-sync-the-western-win-win-transmission-opportunity/

----------

MIT D-Lab End-of-Semster Student Showcase

Thursday, May 9

7:00pm to 9:00pm

MIT D-Lab, 310 Building N51, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

-----------

Autonomous Vehicles and the City 2024

Friday, May 10

4:30pm Et [1:30 PM PDT]

The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 94105

And online

RSVP at https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2024-05-10/autonomous-vehicles-and-city-2024

Cost: $0 -$25

-----------

Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement's Ground War to End Democracy

Friday, May 10

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/isaac_arnsdorf/

----------

The Move To Zero - How To Get To True Carbon Neutrality

Monday, May 13

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, Skilling Auditorium, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_6772

------------

Soil to Foil: Minerals for Sustainable Infrastructure

Tuesday, May 14

12:30pm to 2:00pm

MIT, Building 9-255, 105 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

-----------

Living Between Worlds, with Grace, Dignity, and Power

Wednesday, May 15

3:00 PM

Online

RSVP at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvf-mvrD8qGNUBS287pVRGQr77bUBhKQF4

-----------

The Green Giants: Industry in 2050

Thursday, May 16

9:00 - 10:30 ET [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-green-giants-industry-in-2050-tickets-853821361677

----------

Mind and Matter: Healing and Mental Health in a Conflict-Driven World

Thursday, May 16

1:00 PM EDT TO 2:00 PM EDT

Online

RSVP at https://pulitzercenter-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pPqVOV1UTLytL_OyuczQuw#/registration

-----------

Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit

Friday, May 17

7:00 PM ET Location

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

----------

Climate Mobilities: “Justice, Data, and Governance”

Monday, May 20 - Tuesday, May 21

Princeton, Robertson Hall, Bowl 16, Princeton, NJ

And online

RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAzBzxXBPWzylYt8aARwAPDKjWnictaZjxzLcKR07auLb4Pg/viewform

-----------

Simulating Global Climate, Energy, and Land Futures

Monday, May 20

7:30pm to 8:20pm ET [4:30pm to 5:20pm PT]

Stanford, Skilling Building, 494 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/the_energy_seminar_8584

------------

Living in a Future City

Tuesday, May 21

9:00 - 11:00 ED [GMT-4]

Online

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-in-a-future-city-tickets-853814491127

-------------

The Light Eaters!

Tuesday, May 21

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/zo%C3%AB-schlanger-author-light-eaters-conversation-katherine-j-wu

------------

Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in a Post-Roe America

Tuesday, May 21

7:00 PM ET

Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

RSVP at https://www.harvard.com/event/shefali_luthra/

-----------

Using Technology to Eliminate Hidden Emissions of the Furniture Industry

Wednesday, May 22

12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Online

RSVP at https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RZWASVfgScG4uhUxMPu74A#/registration

----------

Solve at MIT 2024

Wednesday, May 22

2:00pm to 3:30pm

MIT, Building W16: Kresge Auditorium, 48 MASSACHUSETTS AVE, Cambridge, MA 02139

RSVP at https://events.solve.mit.edu/en-us/events/sam-kresge-2024

------------

Scaling Sustainability Innovation: Insights from DOE and Beyond - A Conversation with Dr. Steve Chu

Wednesday, May 22

2:30pm to 3:20pm ET [11:30am to 12:20pm PT]

Stanford, Mitchell Earth Sciences, 350, 397 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

And online

RSVP at https://events.stanford.edu/event/sustainability-accelerator-speaker-series-a-conversation-with-professor-steve-chu

----------

The Walls Have Eyes!

Wednesday, May 22

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/petra-molnar-author-walls-have-eyes

----------

Transitioning to the Future Grid in MA

Thursday, May 23

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA 02210

RSVP at https://www.masscec.com/event/transitioning-future-grid-ma-event-series-2

----------

The Last Human Job!

Friday, May 24

7pm

Porter Square Books, 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA 02140

RSVP at https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/allison-pugh-author-last-human-job-conversation-carolyn-hax

----------

Building Social Capital for Climate Resilient Communities

Thursday, June 6

9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Foley Hoag 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA 02210

And online

RSVP at https://climateadaptationforum.org/event/building-social-capital-for-climate-resilient-communities/

Cost: $15 - $45

-----------

The History of Technology: Past, Present, and Future

Friday, June 7

9:00am to 5:00pm

Saturday, June 8

9am to 3pm

MIT, Building E51, 115 70 MEMORIAL DR, Cambridge, MA 02142

Poll

5 votes Show Results

More Energy (and Other) Events?

5 votes Vote Now!

More Energy (and Other) Events?

yes

5 votes

0 votes

not yes

0 votes

not no

0 votes

neither yes nor no

0 votes

both yes and no

0 votes

don't understand the question?

0 votes

none of the above

0 votes

World Central Kitchen Resumed Gaza Operations

Solarman55

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 29, 2024 · 4:59 PM PDT

2024/04/29 · 16:59

This is a re-posting, changing the headline from WCK to World Central Kitchen by recommendation of the esteemed mettle fatigue. It’s certainly worth re-posting given it is vitally good news in this horrifically bad situation when extremists are in power- both HAMAS and the rabid rightwingers in the Israeli government. This is the reality, in every day the good people working to make things =better all all who support them keep doing what they can...

I am copying word for word the email I received today from World Central Kitchen. I believe it is vitally important you all get this news of their work, the situation they are dealing with, and the other organizations they mention that are also aiding the Palestinian People.

Donate if you can. Spread the word of WCK’s good work. Through such actions we can each take small actions that accrue to big help.

Dear Mark,

I am writing to share an update on WCK’s work in the Middle East. As you may know, WCK’s aid to Gaza was paused following the death of our seven colleagues killed by an Israeli military strike. Erin Gore, WCK’s CEO, has released this statement announcing that we will resume operations today, Monday, April 29.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. We recognize the important role that WCK played - prior to halting our operations, we distributed more than 43 million meals and accounted for 60% of all international NGO aid.

We were faced with a difficult decision - to stop feeding families in Gaza during one of the worst hunger crises ever, or keep feeding, knowing that aid, aid workers and civilians are being targeted. We decided we must keep feeding.

Today, WCK has 276 trucks with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals ready to enter through the Rafah Crossing and we are ready to send trucks into Gaza from Jordan. We continue to explore delivering food and humanitarian goods via the maritime corridor with the support of Open Arms, a Spanish humanitarian organization, and the United Arab Emirates. We are also examining whether Ashdod Port can be utilized to offload relief supplies destined for Gaza.

Additionally, our team is opening a third high production kitchen, named “Damian’s Kitchen” in memory of our skilled kitchen builder, Damian Soból, who was lost in the April 1 attack. Damian’s Kitchen is in Mawasi and adds to WCK’s 68 other community kitchens in Gaza, including two other high production kitchens in Rafah and Deir al Balah.

WCK continues to call for an impartial and international investigation into the IDF attack that took the lives of our colleagues. While the IDF has taken responsibility for the attack and publicly stated they changed their rules of operations, we are seeking answers and advocating for change to better protect all NGO workers bravely serving in Gaza.

As we resume our operations, WCK is working to raise the funds necessary to support our relief efforts in Gaza. We welcome ongoing support for this work.

We are grateful for the outpouring of support from WCK’s global community this past month, supporting the families and loved ones of our team members lost and understanding the need to pause operations. From all of us at WCK - thank you. It is a privilege to stand with you as we resume this work. If you have any questions or would like to connect, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

All my best,Tunde Wackman
Chief Development Officer
World Central Kitchen
M: +1 202 754 3258
E: tunde@wck.org
W: https://wck.org

Tunde Wackman
Chief Development Officer
World Central Kitchen
M: +1 202 754 3258
E: tunde@wck.org
W: https://wck.org

Tree Love, a Poem about Trees

Paul Frea

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 29, 2024 · 11:23 AM PDT

2024/04/29 · 11:23

Earth Day and Arbor Day being celebrated this month, I could not let April 2024 go without posting a tree poem, so here goes…

Tree Love

There is a reason why
Pagans
find trees sacred,
Though not to neglect
other plants,
Trees are the embodiment
of love.

Trees start out reaching up
and seeking down
Accepting the gifts of the sky
and of the earth
To render them
into living tissue.

Growing, branches become homes
for birds, bats
and other creatures
Roots hold the soil together and
break dirt down
for worms and bacteria.

Reproduction offers food
of many kinds –
pine nuts and samara
apples and walnuts;
Leaves feed caterpillars, slugs,
deer, elephants and people.

Bole holes welcome squirrels
and bees
Trunks scratch the backs
of bears
Bark is the meal of beavers
and capybaras.

In death they become structures
or boxes or paper or
toothpicks or fire or
wooden spoons or...
Forest bound hollowed logs
are a refuge to shelter in
and a bed for mushrooms.

The lives of trees is the story
of giving
and that is
true love.

__________________________________________

Here is one of my many books of poetry available on Amazon that can be found here: Poems of Personal Poverty.

Hate hits home

rflctammt

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday April 28, 2024 · 10:27 PM PDT

2024/04/28 · 22:27

Two stories. Two questions.

Story 1:

Driving up the mountain pass last week with my young grandson, our conversation took a fairly common turn: Donald Trump. I usually watch Colin one afternoon a week and he often obsesses about the DT when we first get together. Sometimes I think he thinks he needs to warn me about the latest threat. (He’s heard about DT and seen his face and name everywhere his entire life — poor kid — barely a toddler when Covid hit, tfg is no hero to any of us.)

This week Colin was especially animated in his report. He reminded me that DT is a white ‘preamisist. We talked again about what that meant. (I don’t know where he hears what he hears, but it’s everywhere. DT is either the devil or God, it seems. I’m going to help him figure it out the best and most honest way I can, within my grandmotherly boundaries. I love this little boy as much as I have loved any child.)

“If he tries to hurt my mom, I’m going to do...this or that,” Colin says. He’s five.

We had a little talk about what he could/should actually do physically if there was an actual “bad guy” attacking, but he returned to DT. “Why does he want to kill people?”

We had a little talk about actually killing people and making policies that kill people. Too much for a 5-year-old.

I explained that Joe Biden cares about people, all people, he wants to help them. Donald Trump only cares about himself. He doesn’t care if people are hurt. He just wants to make money. He is angry at people he doesn’t even know and he doesn’t care if it hurts them, and when he has power he can hurt a lot of people. Especially Black and Brown people. Poor people. Gay and Queer and Trans people. People who come from other countries. He’s angry and he’s a bully. But he’s not going to come and kill your mom.

Silence. Then: “How did Donald Trump get to be a bully?”

Someone was probably a bully to him when he was very, very, young.

“Who?“

I didn’t want to tell him, cuz I haven’t studied the dumpster’s life and I don’t care enough to do so. But I know the type all too well. “Maybe his dad. But also...other kids...and...”

I explained that DT was born to a very rich family with a lot of money, and a lot of rich people don’t have time for their children so they send them away to school. To live.

ScreenShot2024-04-28at4.05.57PM.png — Children have such incredible souls.

“A boarder school?”

Yes, how did you know?

“I saw it on The Loud House.” (Some cartoon he watches.)

Well, you know how you love your mom and dad so much, and they love you and hug you and help you every day? _{(He had just hugged his mom goodbye a short time ago...when I picked him up from a park where they were hiking and singing together)}

He nodded.

Well, DT probably didn’t get to see his parents very often. Probably just older boys who weren’t very nice to him.

Silence. Then Colin blew my mind.

“If I was there, and I saw bullies be mean to Donald Trump when he was little, I would take them on.”

Suddenly it was as though I was talking to a much older and wiser person than this small vibrant child in a booster seat.

I asked, did he know how we can fight against DT right now?

“How?” He was very interested in this conversation.

With love and kindness.

Silence. A long silence. “Do you mean...are you saying...we should love… Don- ” I interrupted him.

Honestly, I could not believe his mind went there, I was never going to ask that of him. I’m done asking that of myself or anyone. But children have such incredible souls.

No, Colin, I don’t mean we have to love Donald Trump. But I am actually really proud you thought of that. I think it might be too late for him, because he’s just so angry and full of hate, I don’t think it’s enough.

What I do know is there are a lot of people he is hurting. We can be especially kind and show love to all those people. Black and Brown people, old people, disabled people, gay and queer people, people who don’t have houses, people who come from other countries. We can help protect those people from Donald Trump and others like him.

“That will help fight Donald Trump? How?” he seemed a bit skeptical.

He’s been learning about opposites.

Donald Trump is full of anger and hate, I reminded him. Kindness is the opposite of anger. What is the opposite of hate?

“Love.”

Yes. Love is the opposite of hate, He hates them, we will love them. He is mean to them, we will be kind. He is the fire and we are the water. We want to put the fire out.

Story 2:

Early the next morning Colin’s mom, my daughter, texted me a photo with very few words.

I could see her Car Rear Windshield had been Shot Out. Again. A side window, too. This time a bullet also hit the house. This is the second time it’s happened since the Club Q tragedy, which was less than 10 miles away, about a year and a half ago. She knew people there.

She and the kids and her husband get along very well with their neighbors, but someone has targeted them. She is an artist and an activist and not shy about supporting BLM, LGBTQ, Anti-Gun, Abortion Rights, etc., as is her right to do so in her own windows and on her car.

I remember when they first moved in, they were so excited. A little house in a working class neighborhood. It wasn’t a month before someone left a handwritten note on her car about her bumper stickers. We didn’t think too much about it.

It’s been three years now and it’s gone beyond dangerous.

After the first incident with the windshield being shot, they took down most of their signs and half the stickers off her car. But she became vividly aware of the need for safe spaces for queer people and their importance in the community. I remember one time the first summer she lived there. A young guy in a tucked-in button-up shirt and jeans pulled over in a small white economy car and got out apprehensively. I was standing in the yard, waiting for my daughter and the kids to come out of the house. He had long dark hair and a beard, and seemed pretty nervous, but everyone had been very nice since they had moved in, so I greeted him.

“I just wanted to ask, where did you get that poster in the window?” he said, pointing to a small poster reading:

TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

It was one of six different pastel-colored, neatly-calligraphed activist memes hanging inside the panes of the home’s large picture window. She came out and had a friendly conversation with him. I was struck at the time, how that one poster, brought someone to her door, looking for connection. I didn’t get it like she did, of course. After the first car incident, she became involved in a community collective that has been working toward opening a new Pride Center in Colorado Springs (this June!) That’s a big deal. She has channelled her anger into donating to and volunteering for Inside Out (queer youth services.)

Now she has taken down her Pride Flag. She is doing a lot of crying. Some of their neighbors are putting up cameras and training them on her house to help. But behind the scenes, they are thinking of moving. A bullet hit the garage.

When Colin FaceTimed me later that morning, my heart just sank.

I felt like a liar. Donald Trump’s policies had come for his mom. They had come for him.

I had no words.

Question 1:

What do we tell the children?

Question 2:

Do we take our signs and flags down? Should we take the stickers off our cars? Is that letting them win?

"We Need an Answer" and "Going, Going"

Paul Frea

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday April 27, 2024 · 11:35 AM PDT

2024/04/27 · 11:35

We Need an Answer

I wish I was a turtle and could eat
whole
a helium balloon,
I would fly high
in the sky
like a miniature
Japanese monster!

How childish I was once, before realities
of the world pressed themselves
into my brain...

DEFLATED BALLOONS
look like JELLY FISH
in ocean waters to the eyes
of sea turtles –
A FAVORITE FOOD to munch,
nutritious, too,
when living protoplasm,
but DEATH
when downed balloons.

Why must a delightful toy
that brightens children's eyes
be the demise of ancient species
that can live a hundred years?

_______________________________________________________

Going, Going

I lament bidding Gaia's horde of species
bye
with hundreds dying gone each
day,
Life has less surprise to
show.

Mass extinctions are not
new
Earth's environment has weathered
much,
how hard survival for those who
stay
around a little
longer.

Or will the empty niches fast be
filled,
opportunities by opportunists
grabbed
perhaps concocted in a genetic
lab.

My personal extinction being
nigh
my simpler living may not
stop
the emptying of Gaia's
nest,
still I will
try.

__________________________________________

Here is one of my many books of poetry available on Amazon that can be found here: Poems of Personal Poverty.

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