Notices by Don Ray (donray@mastodon.online)

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @Nonilex

They seem to be teams of people. I wonder where the teams are receiving their special kidnapping training.

#ThickTrunkTuesday #Trees #Sycamore #Cats #Baseball #Iowa

This tree was planted 31 years ago as a 3-foot bareroot sapling. My son and I used to play catch beside it. Later, I would throw pop flies over the tree. Now, there's no room for playing catch...

#Birds #BackyardBirds #Aves #Iowa

Some nice late afternoon light on this female Northern Cardinal.

#USPol #SignalGate #Hegseth

@DavidM_yeg @davidaugust @Greengordon

I understand that the Canadian composer might not have prepared his paperwork correctly.

Nevertheless, I think this headline (or future headlines) should read "Carnegie's dream of hosting international composers crumbles under Trump Administration paranoia."

#DogsOfMastodon #Dogs #Iowa #Weather

The neighbors’ dog showed up to help me fill the bird feeders with sunflower seeds. High temperature today was 5° F (-15° C), so the birds ate a lot of seeds.

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon #Gatos

Cat lichen tree

@br00t4c

The goons will put Gates in a headlock, and he will recant and apologize for being a heretic. That’s my prediction.

@YellowReadis @mekkaokereke
'
Interesting. And, yes, wildlife is another reason to plant native trees. Apparently, outside of Australia, eucalyptus is not good for most wild critters.

There are eucalyptus plantations in California, but I don't know if they have caused a lot of trouble there.

@mekkaokereke

An additional consideration is to use native species that are not planted as a monoculture.

Eucalyptus from Australia has been planted in many countries, and unfortunately it crowds out native species and burns like a torch.

Portugal has had some bad experiences with eucalyptus. Chile has recently ceased to plant it in reforestation programs.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/24/eucalyptus-plantations-are-expanding-and-being-blamed-for-devastation-pedrogao-grande-aoe

#Cats #CatsOfMastodon #iowa #DailyWalk.
We were grateful to see sunshine and blue skies today after many days without. Best wishes to all for fair weather in the coming year.

@RonSupportsYou @gleick @Konfettispaghetti @monnier

#Wikipedia is great for many non-controversial things. On controversial topics, it’s at least starting point.

But the problems are there. The gender imbalance among contributors and subjects of articles is one big problem.

That’s why I really noticed the work of @PennamitePLR. She’s created MANY articles about notable women. I hope others can follow her example.

@blogdiva

Only 22% of the total population voted for tRump. Only 31% of the voting eligible population.

@CorioPsicologia

Creo que sí sería importante hacer un esfuerzo para difundir información a las comunidades más vulnerables. (Me pregunto si hay muchos inmigrantes en las zonas más afectadas la parte sur de Valencia.)

#USPol #KamalaHarris

I donated the equivalent of 1 medium pizza!
$🍕😀 https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ads-gs-dd-kdhsearch-july2024

#ThrowbackThursday #sun #iowa #Bloomscrolling #sundials

“What time is it?”

“Four coneflowers past a sundial.”

#bloomscrolling #flowers #NativePlants #Iowa #flores #prairie

Now blooming!
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa).

This survivor from the days of the tallgrass prairie is anything but subtle.

@aral
#guatemala

It was a professor from Guatemala who said: “I felt like I was in a war zone.”

And he has a basis for comparison.

From the article;
From Guatemala, Keme came to the US as a teenager, escaping “a civil war against my people … involving the Guatemalan army, who received training from Israelis”.

He said: “Police immediately began to force people to move. I felt like I was in a war zone, with all the police and their weapons, the rubber bullets.”

@aral

The administration invited an army, and they got a war zone.

The episode makes clear that a militarized police force is not capable of respecting civil and human rights.

@DrALJONES

The Biden Administration: “Golly, that sounds bad. Let’s tell them to behave better. Also, let’s send a bunch more weaponry.”