Random thoughts

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happy xmas everyone


Dog gear company plays fairy godmother to thousands of animal rescues

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5

Puppies Jessie and Andy explore a Max and Neo donation box. (Photo: Cuba Mo Animal Control)

For animal rescue groups, Max and Neo is their secret Santa, no matter the time of year.


Every Friday, the company ships dozens of donation boxes to rescues throughout the U.S. They contain brightly colored, durable collars and leashes as well as a few surprises, such as toys, supplements and blankets. Typically, each rescue might get a box, or maybe two, in one year. But in December, every one of the more than 3,500 rescues on the company's list will receive a donation box for the holidays.

"I thought it would be a really cool Christmas present and a way for more rescues to find out who we are," Max and Neo founder Kenric Hwang tells MNN.

Several years ago, Hwang started fostering for a local Scottsdale, Arizona, rescue after his dog, Neo, died. He was surprised how many dogs came into the rescue and how often the group had to ask for donated leashes and collars. When people would adopt dogs, fosters often had to send them home to their new families with collars the rescue had purchased for them. It seems like volunteers were constantly restocking collars and leashes.

Puppies sport donated collars from Max and Neo. Rescues are often sending collars and leashes home with adopted pets. (Photo: Fred Strobel Photography)

Hwang originally just went to the pet store to buy supplies to help. But then he realized with a background in selling clothing, he could use his experience to help source, buy and import items at a discount. First, he was going to help buy them for the rescues in bulk. Then he had an even bigger idea.

Dog gear company plays fairy godmother to thousands of animal rescues

 

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dont think
anyones silly enough to be thinking/dooing that

LOVE MEAT,ALL SORTS BTW
- take that

Please do not try to survive on an all-meat diet

Here's what you should know about the latest carnivore trend.

 

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woof

 

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Live: Bushfires raging across NSW as catastrophic conditions take hold
A state of emergency remains in place as scorching temperatures hit NSW, with thousands of firefighters deployed across the state amid catastrophic fire danger warnings. Follow our live coverage.

One killed, 15 homes destroyed in Adelaide Hills bushfire
One person has been killed in the Cudlee Creek bushfire in the Adelaide Hills, and a prominent racing identity is in hospital after being badly burnt while trying to defend his home and horses.

Firefighters battle to save homes as 'mega fire' continues to spread
A bushfire threatens homes at Lithgow as emergency workers battle emergency blazes on a scorching day across New South Wales.

Victorian bushfire 'large enough to be generating some of its own weather'
Victorian firefighters say a bushfire threatening homes and lives near Ensay in far east Gippsland created its own weather system as it rapidly expanded overnight.

 

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mothers
always/usually look after there kids, unreservedly
in that sense
far better than mles, period
i said

 

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minimal changes
but some relief in the last 24 hours
persevere my Australia
the entire world is suffering


Australia: 'Catastrophic' conditions fan major bushfires
Bushfires continue to burn in several regions of Australia amid unusually high temperatures. More than 800 homes have been destroyed by blazes in the past few months, and nine people have been killed.

Watch video 01:39
No end in sight for Australian firefighters
Six fires in Australia's southeastern state of New South Wales (NSW) were rated at emergency level on Saturday, as the country continues to battle blazes that have been burning for weeks, destroying hundreds of homes.

"Today has been an awful day," NSW Rural Fire Services (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters, speaking of conditions that were rated as "catastrophic," the highest danger level.

Fitzsimmons said that the fires could not be beaten without the help of rain, which seems a forlorn hope — the Bureau of Meteorology has said no significant rainfall is to be expected in the next couple of months.

Some 3,000 firefighters are working to put out 100 bushfires across the state, with two of the fires classed as emergencies located close to the state capital of Sydney, Australia's largest city. Two members of the firefighting services were killed on Thursday while fighting blazes southwest of the city when their truck rolled off the road after a tree fell. Their deaths brought the death toll from the wildfires in the state to eight since early October.

Some of the fires were generating their own thunderstorms, according to the RFS.

Read more: Coping with climate anxiety on a warming planet

New South Wales is in a seven-day state of emergency

Other states affected


Australia: 'Catastrophic' conditions fan major bushfires | DW | 21.12.2019

 

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update my Australia



[paste:font size="5"]As Balmoral burned, this man survived in a makeshift 'coffin'
Extraordinary stories are coming out of the NSW Southern Highlands village of Balmoral, which was decimated by the weekend's bushfires.

NSW bushfire crews and troops rally to take control as cooler conditions offer respite
The NSW Rural Fire Service plans strategic back-burning while the Australian Defence Force provides support, by including airlifting people out of risky areas.

More than 70 homes destroyed in Adelaide Hills bushfire
The number of homes destroyed in the Cudlee Creek bushfire in the Adelaide Hills shoots up to 72.

 

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Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics
Researchers are increasingly placing microphones in forests and other ecosystems to monitor birds, insects, frogs, and other animals. As the technology advances and becomes less costly, proponents argue, bioacoustics is poised to become an important remote-sensing tool for conservation.



Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics

 

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the only persons worthy of recogniton in this time
Australia/California or elsewhhere they are needed
and
the Aussie PM says
they are volunteers like the Surf Life Savers FFS,trying to evade paying them etc
esp those families whose husbands lost there lives

rings of governmental ill treatment of returned soldiers/veterans WORLDWIDE huh
compare them to politicians/corporate fiends,if you dare


The not-so-good news

Records tumble / Australia experiences hottest day ever and its worst ever spring bushfire danger
Tuesday’s average maximum 0f 40.9C was Australia’s hottest ever and follows the driest and second warmest spring on record

 

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doing our best
I am sure Aussies trust us, I am sure you do tbh

White Island volcano victims search called off after 'extensive' efforts


Police call off search for two missing New Zealand volcano victims

 

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xmas day special
a kot of training required,perhaps ha

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

 

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Richard Vogel/Associated Press


What We Learned in 2019: Health and Medicine
Developments in medicine and health that we’re still thinking about at year’s end.

By Knvul Sheikh

 

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been well known to stoke the Aussie bushfires along,infortunately

cience & Technology
How Eucalyptus Trees Stoke Wildfires
Eucalypts are now cosmopolitan, spread around the world through imperialism and globalization. Unfortunately, they’re also highly flammable.

Devastated eucalyptus forest after a severe wildfire in Australia.
Whitworth Images/Getty
By: Matthew Wills
August 23, 2018
3 minutes
Share Tweet Email Print
News reports about wildfires in California—currently battling its largest fire ever—and Portugal, which has also been battling huge fires in recent years, highlight the dangers posed by eucalyptus trees. But why, when nearly all eucalypts are native to Australia and neighboring islands?

How Eucalyptus Trees Stoke Wildfires | JSTOR Daily

 

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Science & Technology
Can Oil Rigs Grow into Ocean Reefs?


Scientists suggest keeping old offshore oil platforms as productive fish habitats.

Cod swimming around an oil rig in the North Sea
Photo C. Kuyvenhoven
By: Lina Zeldovich
July 24, 2018
4 minutes

 

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welcome to our world
no changes necessary
simplicity of mind to the fore
commercialization keeps us turning yay

bye the way
I predict a ILL HEALTH PANDEMIC for our upcoming year
just a little payback for humanities ignorance to all

 

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not
believing in you tbh
we maybe I better say I
- I saidile

all respect for your opinion Aussie
sm
don't deserve the planet


ps
30 years ago a chick and I hitchhiked AUS
met a couple into vegan type shit
they LOVED our imdigenous Maori boilup
cabbage and brisket
soooooo bugger your bullshit health foods
BULLSHIT, again


Shifting agriculture away from low-protein cereal crops towards legumes is essential. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
It’ll be hard, but we can feed the world with plant protein
August 16, 2019 6.00am AEST

Can we feed a growing global population without increasing the amount of farmland? It’s tough, but certainly possible.

There might still be a place for meat animals in the many parts of the world unsuitable for growing crops. But governments around the world must turn away from heavily subsided but protein-poor cereals, and aggressively pursue legume production.

How much land do we have to work with?
In 1960, there was one-third of a hectare of farmland per person on the planet. By 2050 that will have fallen to 0.14 hectares, according to research at Michigan State University. This trend is a consequence of increasing population and urban encroachment. Most cities were established on arable land close to water supplies, and urban expansion continues to consume significant productive land.

About one-third of cereals produced globally now are fed to animals (mainly in Europe and North America, although this is changing across the developing world as incomes rise and demand for meat increases).

Read more: Vegan food's sustainability claims need to give the full picture

Converting these areas to food production would significantly improve the amount of plant protein available to people. Research has estimated some 16% of edible crops are diverted to biofuel production, and redistribution of these proteins and calories to people would also help immensely. However, biofuels are renewable and less polluting than fossil fuels, and therefore have potential to offset carbon emissions.

Legumes such as chickpeas are high in protein. lchunt/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA
Nevertheless, we cannot completely discount animal protein. Around half the world’s land surface is rangelands, covering arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid climates. These areas are unsuitable for cropping, and many cattle and sheep are raised there.

They have traditionally been used for extensive pastoralism, and the meat produced there is more expensive than meat from feedlots, because of slower growth rates and higher transport costs. However, people are increasingly concerned with the provenance of their food, and may well be willing to pay more for single-origin food produced sustainably.

Beans, glorious beans
Next we must consider what crops we grow on this land. Continuing to grow maize and other low-protein cereal crops on land formerly used to provide feed or biofuel is unlikely to provide enough plant-based protein for an expanding population.

There must be an increase in the production of leguminous crops, such as peas and beans, that fix their own nitrogen and that provide nutritious grains high in protein. The grain of legumes is 20-30% protein, compared with 10% in maize, which is the most extensively grown cereal crop used for animal feed.

However, lifting the yield of legumes is a significant challenge as expenditure on the genetic improvement of these crops (except possibly soybeans) has been dwarfed by that spent on the major cereals. It is essential this component of the future global farming system becomes more productive and sustainable.

In rotation with cereals, legumes enhance the productivity of the entire farming system. According to research from Pulse Breeding Australia, legumes should make up 25% of global crops. We are far from achieving this target, with just 10% of cropping dedicated to legumes.

Legumes currently only make up 10% of the world’s crops. whologwhy/Flickr, CC BY
Unlike cereals, legumes are harder to grow and require more skilled management. Legumes are generally more susceptible to diseases, including viruses and insect pests, and are significantly impacted by temperature extremes and drought. As global warming increases, the difficulties associated with producing legumes are likely also to rise. More resources, therefore, will have to be invested in researching legume cultivation.