December 29, 2019

Expedition to reach Arctic 'pole of inaccessibility' to begin in February.

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/expedition-arctic-pole-inaccessibility

Do you want to go along on an adventure of a lifetime? Teams for 20-day legs of the expedition forming soon - Apply for consideration!

[snip]
Citizen scientists tag along — and help fund the expedition

McNeill, who has more than 30 years of experience exploring polar regions, is not deterred. Joining him at various intervals during the 80-day, 800-mile "Last Pole" expedition will be 28 citizen scientists from around the globe. Each will pay more than $21,000, a pricey ticket that includes funding for the adventure, supplies, more than 30 days of polar and medical training, and a guaranteed spot on one of four 20-day legs of the journey.

"They will face fiercely low temperatures, disintegrating ice flows beneath their feet and the possibility of encountering hungry polar bears," McNeill writes on his Ice Warrior site. "And all to further our knowledge and benchmark the condition of the Arctic Ocean."

During the course of the expedition, the team will collect data on sea ice, weather and other info crucial to determining the present condition of the Arctic Ocean. For Nico Kaufmann, a 30-year-old Scot from Edinburgh, the adventure was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

"I'm very pleased to be taking part in something which will help save the planet. It is a real privilege to be involved in an expedition as important as this," he told the Edinburgh News. "To be in the environment there will be incredible. To go somewhere no one has been before is so exciting because we do not know what we will find. When I told my wife she thought I was a bit mental. But she is supporting me and now I’m excited to go on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure."

You can follow the adventure from the cozy comfort of home by visiting the Last Pole website.

December 20, 2019

UPDATE: Animal cruelty in Kentucky; Six More

Horses Found Shot and Killed

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/12/23/animal-cruelty-kentucky-six-more-horses-found-shot-and-killed/2732471001/

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Six horses were found shot and killed near a strip mining site, according to the animal rescue group Dumas Rescue.

Dumas Rescue said the six horses appeared to have been killed during the same shooting that killed at least 15 other horses along U.S. 23, WYMT reported.

The other horses' bodies were found early last week. Dumas Rescue posted on Facebook on Sunday evening about the six additional horses. [snip]

The culprit could face animal cruelty charges at a minimum, according to authorities. There is a $20,000 reward for information on the incident. Numerous animal rescue and welfare organizations, along with individual donors, contributed funds in hopes of finding answers.


Authorities find 15 horses fatally shot in eastern Kentucky
https://www.10tv.com/article/authorities-find-15-horses-fatally-shot-eastern-kentucky-2019-dec

PUBLISHED: 12/18/19 10:56 PM EST UPDATED: 12/19/19 12:53 PM EST
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — ​At least 15 free-roaming horses appear to have been shot and killed at an abandoned strip mining location in eastern Kentucky this week.

Among them were very young and pregnant horses, authorities said.

"Seeing them gunned down is ... it's beyond horrific," Tonya Conn, president of the local group Dumas Rescue, told CBS News affiliate WYMT-TV. "These horses were scattered in various, various places, distances from each other so they had been shot, and they'd scattered then hunted and shot down."

[snip]

Glad to know that contributions toward a reward for info leading to locating the "hit person(s)" grew and grew. The problem of free-ranging livestock in poor rural areas isn't easily solved where everyone's personal and county/state budgets are stretched. I went to this rescue group's FB page...Scrolling down to May 5, 2018 there's a post/comments that reflect many of the political situations that exist in this rural area coal country...SMH syndrome

December 10, 2019

I just traded "Barr" for Pulp Fiction, hah!