Jackal Inside And Out

Israeli settlements embody urbanization and the immense harm it poses. First, Israeli settlements are almost entirely built on confiscated Palestinian agricultural or grazing lands and are only erected after clear-cutting and uprooting local flora, namely olive trees: a primary source of food and income for Palestinians. The olive tree is also and an integral element of Palestinian identity, dating back millennia and symbolizing peace, steadfastness, fortitude, and resilience. As of 2015, the olive sub-sector constituted 15% of Palestine’s total agricultural income, supported over 100,000 Palestinian families, and provided “3 to 4 million days of seasonal employment per year”. Not only are Palestinian olive trees clear-cut to construct Israel’s illegal settlements, but according to the United Nations, are also “subject to fire, uprooting and vandalism by settlers”. Conservative estimates taken in 2011—after which Israel has only intensified its colonial efforts—revealed that nearly 1 million Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted and destroyed in a settler-colonial attempt to erase all traces of Palestinian heritage, culture, and existence. According to a 2020 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, the destruction of Palestinian olive trees — a cog in the greater, well-oiled Israeli mechanism of ethnic cleansing — coupled with the strategic expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, has devastated terrestrial ecosystems, causing severe “habitat fragmentation, desertification, land degradations, rapid urbanization, and soil erosion”. The UNEP went on to state that the process of urbanization through the “removal of rocks for construction, the uprooting of trees, invasive species [most often imported by the Israeli government and settlers to ‘Europeanize’ the land], [and] pollution…[is] threatening habitats and species.” The cruel, discriminatory measures Israel imposes upon Palestinians has led, among other issues, to a drastic decrease in agricultural productivity—and hence economic growth and stability—across Palestine. The effect of urbanization on local fauna is equally frightening. The previously diverse Palestinian fauna is under imminent threat. Israel’s construction of roads, the methods used to do so, and a sheer disregard for their ecological ramifications all threaten and harm Palestinian wildlife. Israeli forces often drill deep into mountains—inhabited by a wide range of natural fauna—thereby both displacing local wildlife populations, inhibiting their natural migrations, and resulting in a spike in animal deaths through roadkill. Furthermore, the destruction of the animals’ natural habitat—particularly their breeding and nesting sites—through “extensive land leveling and the fencing-off of settlement perimeters” has disrupted natural passageways, endangered many species, and caused severe imbalances in their population number and reproduction rates, affecting the food chain and local ecosystem as a whole.

Really good write-up on the origin of "Unc" as a term used in AAVE, and how it's been turned into a generic disparaging term when it didn't even have negative connotations to begin with.

Please don't ignore my sister's tears and help me provide her with medicine before it's too late.

Can you help me reach my goal and buy the medicine for my sister as soon as possible?

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remember remember

If mining were to go ahead here, visitors would likely be able to see the activity while driving into the park, Wilcox pointed out. “It just emphasizes this company’s blatant disregard for our nation’s crown jewels,” he said.

I stand helpless before this heartbreaking scene. I don't have enough money to cover the costs of the operation or even to provide the medication that would alleviate his excruciating pain. My sense of helplessness is just as painful as his illness itself, perhaps even more so.

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Scientists have long debated exactly how many insect species there are, with the previous consensus being about 6 million. Over the past 3 centuries, entomologists have described about 1 million insect species, but finding and describing them all would be a daunting—if not impossible—task. “It’s not going to happen,” says Robert Colwell, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the new study. “There are not enough taxonomists to get anywhere near describing all the species.”

summer again

Why might someone from a group that historically have been denied the more legal means to acquire wealth and had drugs forced on their community talk about their experiences with it?

I made a bad comic and now you have to look at it

The people responsible keeping our spaces clean (and thus, mostly disease-free) should both be paid more AND thanked more.