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This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.
英语新闻｜专家预测明年春天疫情将恢复正常China has optimized its COVID-19 response measures at the right time, amid the reduced fatality rate of the Omicron variant and the increased preparedness of the nation's healthcare system, experts said over the weekend.本周末，专家表示，在奥密克戎病毒死亡率降低，国家医疗系统的准备程度提高的情况下，我国适时优化调整了新冠肺炎防控举措。They cautioned that the country will face "waves of COVID-19 infection" through winter, but added that the overall epidemic situation is controllable and a return to full normalcy can be expected by spring.专家提醒，整个冬季，我国将面临“新冠肺炎感染潮”，但总体疫情是可控的，预计明年春天将恢复完全正常。Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the rate of severe and critical cases plummeted from 16.47 percent in 2020 to 3.32 percent last year. By Dec 5, the rate further dropped to 0.18 percent.中国疾病预防控制中心首席流行病专家吴尊友表示，中国新冠重症、危重症的比例从2020年的16.47%下降到去年的3.32%，再下降到今年12月的0.18%，重症与病死率都在逐渐下降。"The past three years have been very difficult. We have waited for the virus to become less virulent and less of a threat to people's health. We have also earned plenty of time to expand our vaccination reach and build our capacity to cope with the disease," he said at a forum held on Saturday.“过去三年非常艰难。我们一直在等待新冠病毒的致病性也逐渐减弱到同流感病毒一般，甚至低于流感病毒。中国防疫的3年里，让更多人完成了疫苗接种，形成足够的防护力。”12月17日吴尊友在论坛上指出。On Dec 7, China released a set of 10 optimized COVID-19 rules, including allowing asymptomatic cases and patients with mild symptoms to isolate at home and restricting the need for mass testing.12月7日，中国宣布防疫“新十条”，包括允许具备居家隔离条件的无症状感染者和轻型病例采取居家隔离，并限制大规模检测的开展。Wu said these policy adjustments were rolled out when the number of deaths per week globally had hit the lowest level and stayed below 10,000 for consecutive weeks.吴尊友解释说，新十条的宣布时间，正是全球过去3年每周报告死亡人数的最低点，也是连续几周每周报告病例死亡数低于一万的时间点。"If these measures were announced earlier, say at the beginning of this year, the mainland would have seen 866,000 to 1.039 million more deaths," he said.吴尊友说：“按照推算，若是将“新十条”提前公布，将会造成多数百万人死亡。哪怕是提前到今年年初公布，中国大陆就会多死亡86.6万—103.9万人。”Zeng Guang, a former researcher at the China CDC, observed that the COVID-19 infection has changed with time. While its transmissibility has increased, its ability to cause death has declined.中国疾病预防控制中心流行病学前首席科学家曾光观察到，新冠肺炎感染随着时间的推移而发生变化。虽然病毒的传播性增加了，但致死性下降了。"The 10 new measures, which are also meant to facilitate opening-up, couldn't have come at a more opportune moment," he said during another online event on Saturday.12月17日，曾光在一场线上论坛中谈到，新十条是为了促进开放，从公共卫生角度来看，这是一个较好的转折点。The high transmissibility rate of the Omicron variant, the cold weather and the waning immunity from vaccination are all contributing to the rising number of infections in many regions, Zeng said.曾光表示，奥密克戎变异株的高传播率、寒冷的天气以及疫苗免疫效力的下降都是许多地区感染人数上升的原因。"Beijing and many local governments have launched targeted emergency measures to prevent overstretching of their local medical systems. The overall situation is under control and is set to improve," he added.“北京的措施正在向全国普及，很多省也提出了相似的对策，预防医疗挤兑。我相信形势可控，形势会越来越好。”曾光补充说。Chief epidemiologist Wu said that the mainland will likely be hit by three more waves of COVID-19 infection in the coming months. Large cities are already facing the first wave, which began in mid-December and will continue till mid-January.首席流行病专家吴尊友表示，今冬疫情可以概括为“一峰三波”， 从12月中旬到1月中旬将是第一波疫情，第一波以城市为主。Traveling by migrant workers during the Spring Festival holiday will fuel the second wave and the third wave will occur when these workers return to their workplaces between late February and mid-March.第二波是1月下旬到2月中旬，春节前的人员流动造成第二波疫情上升。第三波是2月下旬到3月中旬，春节后返岗返工。"Around 10 to 30 percent of Chinese people will get infected this winter, and the fatality rate will range from 0.09 to 0.16 percent," he said.吴尊友表示，估计今冬疫情感染率在10%到30%。死亡率将在0.09%到0.16%之间。To step up preparedness, Wu recommended getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, maintaining hand hygiene and wearing masks. More efforts should be devoted to protecting vulnerable groups, he said.吴尊友建议大家做好准备，打加强针、戴口罩、保持手卫生，每个人都要保护好自己，此外要重点保护好脆弱人群。Zhang Boli, a top traditional Chinese medicine expert and an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the epidemic is expected to stabilize by spring, following a peak in January and February, and people will be able to resume their normal lives.顶级中医专家、中国工程院院士张伯礼表示，预计疫情将在1月和2月达到高峰后，在春季稳定下来，人们将能够恢复正常生活。Liang Wannian, a senior expert with the National Health Commission, said the number of severe cases and the strain on hospitals should be closely monitored to map the possibility of outbreaks.国家卫生健康委专家梁万年表示，应密切监测重症病例数量和医院压力，以确定疫情爆发的可能性。Liang said pressing tasks at present include raising vaccination rates among the elderly and those with chronic diseases, stocking up on medical equipment, strengthening hospital capacity and stepping up surveillance of viral mutations.梁万年表示，目前的紧迫任务包括提高老年人和慢性病患者的疫苗接种率、储备医疗设备、提升医院反应能力，并加强病毒突变监测。Preparedness英 [prɪˈpeərɪdnəs] 美 [prɪˈperdnəs]n. 做好准备Epidemiologist英 [ˌepɪˌdiːmiˈɒlədʒɪst] 美 [ˌepɪˌdiːmiˈɑːlədʒɪst]n.流行病学家Transmissibility英 [trænsˌmɪsəˈbɪləti] 美 [trænsmɪsəˈbɪlɪti]n. 传递性
Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 314, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Creation Stories 1: According to the gospel of St. John, in the beginning was this and it was God. The word. 2: This scientific theory suggests everything goes back to a single primeval event. Big Bang Theory. 3: In Eskimo lore, this black bird is a trickster-creator. Raven. 4: The oldest Greek myths feature Gaia, as Mother this. Earth. 5: The creation myth of these people involves Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl tearing Coatlicue apart. Aztecs. Round 2. Category: It's A Mystery! 1: The title of this 1939 mystery by Raymond Chandler is a slang term for death. The Big Sleep. 2: This detecting couple whom Dashiell Hammett introduced in "The Thin Man" had a dog named Asta. Nick and Nora Charles. 3: The V.I. in this hard-boiled detective's name stands for Victoria Iphigenia. V.I. Warshawski. 4: Some editions of this Dickens novel begin, "An ancient English cathedral town..."; others say "tower"--it's a "Mystery"!. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 5: "The Mystery of" her is Poe's sequel to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". Marie Roget. Round 3. Category: Cooking Equipment 1: Waffles are made in an iron and muffins are made in an implement named for this metal. tin. 2: Used to keep food warm, this "dish" is a container with a pan of hot water beneath it. a chafing dish. 3: Special round cutters are made to slice these Italian pies. pizzas. 4: A double one of these is often used to melt chocolate. boiler. 5: The mandoline, resembling a washboard, eases this process of cutting potatoes into matchlike strips. julienning. Round 4. Category: We Predict The Future! 1: On Jan. 20, 2009 this man will lose his $400,000-a-year (plus 50 grand in expenses) federal government job. George W. Bush. 2: On March 1, 2022 we'll be celebrating "Fat Tuesday", this celebration, y'all. Mardi Gras. 3: By Dec. 31, 2010 this Bureau will have submitted state population totals to the president (well, it better have). the Census. 4: On July 20, 2010 this S. American country will kick back with some good coffee to celebrate 200 years of indep.. Colombia. 5: On July 27, 2012 the Summer Olympics will open in this world capital. London. Round 5. Category: Let's Play A Game! 1: You can apologize (as the name says) when you send someone back to the start in this Parker Brothers board game. Sorry!. 2: Boggle is a word search game; you make words using wood tiles in this classic board game. Scrabble. 3: Collect pieces of cheese and build a zany contraption to try to catch your opponents in this board game. Mouse Trap. 4: The name of this game in which you stack hardwood blocks into a tower comes from a Swahili word for "to build". Jenga. 5: Find out which of Mr. Boddy's guests murdered him in his own mansion and with what weapon in this classic mystery game. Clue. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!
On a brand new Judging Freedom, Judge Andrew Napolitano discusses the news that New York City has set a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private-sector works. This new ‘first in the nation' requirement is scheduled to go into effect on December 27th, says outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. More from CNBC: The new mandate comes after New York identified eight cases of the omicron variant and the United States once again averages 100,000 new, reported cases of the virus every day. It will cover about 184,000 businesses and applies to all in-person employees who work in an office with others. By Dec. 27, unvaccinated employees must have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, de Blasio said. Under the new mandate, unvaccinated employees won't have the option to get tested instead, but the city plans to offer religious and medical exemptions. "We've got omicron as a new factor, we've got the colder weather, which is really going to create additional challenges with the delta variant, we've got holiday gatherings," de Blasio said during his appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of Covid and the dangers it's causing to all of us."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
1922 (and season 2 of the podcast) closes with, you guessed it, New Year's Eve. But this one's special. For the first time, Brits don't need to go out to celebrate. They can stay home and listen to the wireless: concerts, dance music, no Big Ben's bongs yet (the only BBC New Year without them)... and a preach from Rev Archibald Fleming. We bring you all this - including the voice of Rev Fleming himself, along with Reith, some newspaper cuttings of the day, and everything you never knew you needed to know about December 31st 1922 on the air. Plus a guest! BBC producer and presenter Paul Hayes has written a new book on the birth of the modern Doctor Who. We talk about The Long Game - 1996-2003: The Inside Story of How the BBC Brought Back Doctor Who. Get your copy by clicking that link, from Ten Acre Films publishing. Paul also tells us about his radio documentaries, Eric Maschwitz, John Snagge, Emperor Rosko (who you can hear on our early episodes) and lots more. A huge thanks to Andrew Barker for being our Newspaper Detective again and finding the listings in this episode. This may be the end of season 2, but the specials begin very soon, then very soon we'll be embarking on 1923: the year that made the BBC. So stay subscribed for more of this, and see below for transcript and shownotes. Thanks for listening! SHOWNOTES: This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and corralled by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history. Your contributions are welcome. My new one-man play The First Broadcast is now booking for dates in 2022. Got a venue? Book me for your place. Here's one - The Museum of Comedy. Join me, in April or in November on the very date of the BBC's 100th birthday! Thanks for joining us on Patreon if you do - or if you might! It supports the show, keeps it running, keeps me in books, which I then devour and add it all to the mixing-pot of research for this podcast. In return, I give you video, audio, advance writings, an occasional reading from C.A. Lewis' 1924 book Broadcasting From Within etc. Thanks if you've ever bought me a coffee at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa. Again, it all helps keep us afloat. We talk about the Doctor Who memos on the podcast this time. The reports in 1962 on a possible sci-fi show. Want to read them? Here they are! Five reports - just scroll down to 'Doctor Who'. Fascinating reading. We post more interesting links like that in our British Broadcasting Century Facebook group. Join us there! I post similar things on Twitter too - The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews is A Paul Kerensa Podcast. Have a listen! Please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us. My mailing list is here - sign up for updates on all I do, writing, teaching writing, stand-up, radio etc. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops, inc Hark! The Biography of Christmas. Coming in 2022: a novel on all this radio malarkey. And don't forget Paul Hayes' book The Long Game - 1996-2003: The Inside Story of How the BBC Brought Back Doctor Who is available now. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. APPROXIMATE TRANSCRIPT: Previously on the podcast... 1922, what a year! In January, PostGen Mr Kellaway announces he'll allow 15min of speech and music alongside 15min of Morse, from just one station, and only to calibrate wireless sets. In February, 2MT Writtle goes on the air, with that weekly 30min transmission, again, just for calibration purposes. Yeah right. In March, Peter Eckersley seizes the mic on 2MT Writtle, and wins over the hearts and minds, but mainly ears of the nation In April, Reith leaves Scotland for London to find work. In May, Marconi's begins a second station, 2LO London, and MetroVick began 2ZY Manchester. In June, the PostGen insists the companies get together and thrash out how to get along! In July, the companies decide to form not two companies, but one. In August, the BBC is formed – when govt tell them to get a move on. In September, a big wireless exhibition, to sell radios to the masses. In October, the press problem is hammered out. In November, the BBC launches! In December, the first four staff are hired. What a year! This time, year's end – the sun sets on British broadcasting's birth year. We'll bring you the programming for the first BBC New Year's Eve, including the voices of those who rang the year out. No Big Ben's bongs just yet. Just the end of the beginning, and the end of season 2, pretty much. Plus our special guest, BBC Radio Norfolk's Paul Hayes, with tell of his new book on Doctor Who. This is the last episode of Season 2. See, my original plan was to call it season 2 all the way to end of 1923. But now we've reached the end of 1922, it does feel, a change is coming in the fledgeling British Broadcasting of the early 20s. For 10 or so episodes, we've covered the pre-Reith BBC. The pre-Magnet House BBC. The make it up as you go along BBC. So I feel we should mark the move to the Reith era with a new season. Season 3! A line in the sand, as they cross the threshold into the New Year, and into Magnet House. Here's the plan – you'll recall we had a few specials on the podcast between seasons 1 and 2. Well I think let's have at least one special, next time, and we've got one ready and waiting. So after New Year this ep, next ep will be the special episode we recorded for The History of England podcast. It's essentially the entire podcast so far told in half an hour. Some clips you'll have heard her, some you won't have. If you've heard The H of E podcast special, you'll have heard most of next time's episode, but a) it's nice to have it all in one place, and b) I'll add some new bits. Meanwhile, one more episode of season 2 then – this one, on the first BBC New Year. Dec 30th: John Reith's first day of work. Well one thing we didn't mention last time is he ended his first day in charge by writing a letter, to his former best friend, and perhaps one-time lover, Charlie Bowser. See episode 15: John Reith Mastermind for details of Charlie. He was Reith's best friend and then some. Reith was always finding Charlie deputy roles in every job Reith worked in – from the army to Beardsmore's Glasgow factory. Reith wanted Charlie Bowser by his side. Until, that is, they had a massive falling out, over, you guessed it, women. They both got married, and maybe they were never destined to. Reith's wife Muriel seemed to fit in ok – though both John and Charlie loved her – John Reith even thought Charlie loved Muriel more than he did, and he was married to her. But when Charlie married a woman Reith nicknamed ‘Jezebel', it drove a wedge between the two men. Still, Reith always wrote to Charlie on his birthday. So he did in late 1922, and got a rather blunt reply from Charlie. “Smug little cad” wrote Reith in his diary after his first day of work. “Of course if only things had been otherwise, he could have been Assistant General Manager of this new concern.” He had left Charlie behind. If they hadn't had such a falling out, I've no doubt Charlie would have been Deputy DG, and Reith-era BBC would have been somewhat different – possibly more relaxed. Instead, the no2 job of the BBC, would ultimately go, in 1923, to Admiral Charles Carpendale – a man who came to see each BBC building as a ship, with decks, and crewmates. And some say Broadcasting House was even constructed that way. You see NBH today, it still looks like a small ocean liner. With a Starbucks. But Charlie was not to be part of it – and Reith gloated about that fact. But on a more optimistic note, the BBC was booming, with demand for licences sky-rocketing. By Dec 31st, 1922: 35,774 licences issued by GPO... With just 4 employees What 2LO London had for their first New Year's broadcast: For the kids, Baden-Powell gave a message to the Scouts. Then the original listings say that NYE closed after a concert, bedtime at 10:30pm. As NY grew nearer though, a plan formed to stay up late. But it was a Sunday, so forget dance music, Reith knew what he wanted. Dec 31: ‘I had told Burrows – my first order to him – that we would observe Sundays and that we should ask Dr Fleming of Pont Street to give a short religious address tonight.' Yes, the first order of Reith's reign! To engage an End of Year Watchnight religious talk from Rev Dr Archibald Fleming, of the Church of Scotland, London branch. Just before midnight, the hymn was sung solo: O God Our Help in Ages Past. Then there were no Big Ben chimes – but there were Burrows' tubular bells in the studio. Popular Wireless magazine: “2LO's chimes sounded the hour and then gave a lifelike imitation of the local belfry in full swing. The peals came out excellently on a loudspeaker, and the bagpipe solo must have been a joy to any Scotsman listening-in.” Oh yes, there were bagpipes, from Mr R Marshall, an actual piper in the studio, alongside a Mr Kenneth Ellis who sang Auld Lang Syne. 2LO's Musical Director Stanton Jefferies announced in the New Year, then Burrows said: “Hullo everybody! 2LO, the London Broadcasting station speaking. We hope you have enjoyed our little concert. I expect this is the most original way of passing watchnight you have ever experienced. 2LO wishes you a happy and prosperous New Year. May you have the best of luck! Goodbye everybody. Goodbye and the best of luck!” Next time: The specials! Beginning with The Story So Far... So stay subscribed, tell others, and join us then. Next episode released on the 99th birthday of the BBC...
Kelly Hurd has been pitching us to producers for Discovery so I sent him footage and story lines. Some things that are always true of our surgery and vet visits: Unless you have been involved in these very tense situations, it is hard to explain how stressed out everyone is and our coping mechanism is to joke around and talk about things that have nothing to do with the work at hand as a way of being able to deal with these life and death situations. In most cases we go to the vet not knowing if we will have to make the awful decision to euthanize one of our family members, because loading a cat up and taking them offsite to a vet clinic is the last ditch option to save their lives. After 22 years of doing this, we know that there will almost never be a clear choice to make and we will almost always be burdened with making a decision that could result in lingering misery for the cat and then still having to put them out of their misery days, weeks or months later after trying every thing we can to give them a good quality of life. A lot of the editing will require you to use common sense about what is appropriate or not. Often in these videos you will hear people talking about other vet situations or clients, and unless it is about one of our other cats, that audio can't be included. The ultimate goal of these vet videos is to show the details of the surgery for vet students and make our vets look great; because they are. Some clowning around is OK to show, but it should be narrated as to why we act this way in the face of such serious business. Sometimes, while a cat is waking up, we let volunteers touch the cats, as they are never allowed to touch cats otherwise. I would not include this in your finished products though, because we do not want to encourage people to pay to touch big cats. You will see us often taking a lot of photos and videos because these kinds of surgeries are rare and documentation even more so. That is why these surgery videos could be so helpful to other cats if done well. In the videos I have sent you, this is the sequence of events, so you know what is going on. If you watch them in this same order, I won't have to duplicate such detail on latter videos, because you will know what is happening. Task List 1 Four minute or less video of the surgery or vet visit with no graphic imagery. 1 Twenty minute video with the graphic imagery; suitable for both a vet student and the public, who is fully prepared for what they will see. WARNING SLIDES: Be sure to warn viewers before showing something like surgery both in a warning slide and in the early part of the accompanying text. Vet Joseph Lion. http://bigcatrescue.org/joseph/ Joseph stopped eating and stopped taking his pain meds, so we sedated him for diagnostics. Due to his age (16) we didn't want to risk a long trip to the University of Florida, if we could assess him here, so we invited Dr. Fay Hererro, DVM, from the Odessa Equine Clinic, to bring a portable X-ray machine. Dr. Justin Boorstein invited Dr. Tim Jones to help w/ anesthesia. They drew blood, gave fluids, administered antibiotics and did the X-rays they could, but the portable X-ray machine was just not good enough for abdominal X-rays. Joseph did not respond to the antibiotics and fluids and continued to refuse food and water, so we asked the Humane Society of Tampa Bay if we could use their X-ray and Sonogram machines, after hours, and took him in for more X-rays, blood work, fluids, a longer lasting antibiotic and a sonogram. Nothing of note was found in all of these diagnostics, except a possibility of neoplasia, which are masses in the abdomen. We had hoped that the antibiotics, fluids and appetite stimulants would help get him up and eating again, but they didn't. We discussed euthanasia, with both vets, and Dr. Wynn suggested a last ditch effort of injecting him with a steroid. It had been 8 days since he had eaten anything and 3 days since he drank water on his own, so we gave that a shot. He drank for the first time, a few hours later, but still wouldn't eat. 10/31/14 On 11/1/14 Sue got him to eat just a few bites of food with his meds in them, so we held off on euthanasia, to see if he is rounding the bend. Vet Little Feather. This is the most recent vet issue. Little Feather is 21 years old. http://bigcatrescue.org/little-feather/ as was on the observation chart on Oct 10th for having a puffy chin, but we didn't see an obvious swelling and she has a rather pronounced chin anyway. Oct. 15th we could see there was an abscess and made an appointment for her to go in to the vet the next day. Her dental X-rays showed that almost all of her teeth were rotten and the jaw bones were decaying as well. Dr. Justin had to pull the teeth very gently, so as not to break her jaw. He pulled 8 teeth; her last remaining canine tooth and 7 others and was about done. There was one more tooth, that didn't look bad on the surface, or in the X-ray, but he debated as to if he should leave it or take it, given the decay in the jaw. He decided to pull it and found that it had been the cause of the abscess and was in very bad shape. Had he not pulled it, we would have had to bring her right back in a few days or weeks. Good instincts! Little Feather was put on pain meds and kept in the Cat Hospital at BCR for a few days until she was eating well and ready to go back to her cage. When we opened the door of the transport cage she had been sleeping in, to let her out into her outdoor enclosure, she dragged her back foot. It looked like some neurological issue, so we crated her back up and took her in to the Ehrlich Animal Hospital where Dr. Farid Saleh, who is not our regular vet, gave her an exam and said that he believed she had thrown a blood clot that was causing neurological damage to her foot. She had no feeling in her foot. He treated her with laser therapy and sent her home with instructions for daily massages and controlled walking to help her work out the clot and regain use of the foot. 10/31/14 Little Feather is continuing to get physical therapy, such as laser therapy, and massage therapy and harness walking to keep her foot alive and hopefully dissolve the clot that is keeping her from having the ability to use her foot properly. We do not condone people having wild cats as pets and are hesitant to even show a cat in a harness, or being touched by people, but she is declawed and now has no teeth due to her old age, so we are able to give her the help she needs without risk. Vet Natasha Siberian Lynx. http://bigcatrescue.org/natasha/ Natasha is 21 years old. She has been healthy for most of her life, except a bout of seizures and dizziness in her early years that turned out to be one of the first confirmed cases of heart worms in cats. As a result we began using ivermectin monthly in all of our cats as a preventative, back in the 90's. Her recent observations by keepers were that she was breathing heavily and not hungry, so we took her in to see Dr. Wynn on Oct 30, 2014. For a 21 year old cat, her kidneys look surprisingly good, but her lungs are congested and we can see, by looking down her throat (great video of this) that half of her throat is paralyzed, so all of her breathing and eating is happening on the side that is still functioning. We did a biopsy, to see if there is a tumor that is causing the one side to be forced shut (from the pressure), but we can't see a tumor. There isn't any surgery to fix this. She is getting antibiotics to clear up the infection in her throat and lungs and that should help a lot. Getting those meds into her will be the challenge. If she will eat, that is easy to do, but if she won't then she will have to stay in the Cat Hospital for injections. She is taking her meds and eating well, so we moved her back outside 11/1/2014 Vet Simba Leopard. http://bigcatrescue.org/simba-2/ On this page is another video. In that video is a clip of Simba going to the vet.:http://bigcatrescue.org/now-big-cat-rescue-jan-11-2014/ Appx date: Jan 11, 2014 Cast, you don't have to name them. Just named here in case you want to or have title slides. Vet's should always be named or have title slides: Trapping Simba: Willow Hecht, Green Shirt Keeper, Red Hair Reddish shirt, Carole Baskin, CEO Navy shirt, Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President Navy shirt, Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole Lifting Simba add: Green Shirt Keeper, blonde, Chelsea Feeney The long golf cart we use is named Gertie On site hospital is the: West Boensch (bench) Cat Hospital for weight so vet can sedate. Van is a 1998 Dodge Ram van that leaks, rattles and really needs to be replaced. Lifted into van to drive to vet who works in a practice about a mile away called the Ehrlich (ur-lick) Animal Hospital. Vet techs help offload Simba. Vet is Dr. Liz Wynn, who has been our vet for over a decade. She comes twice a week at no charge to do house calls. We do have to pay for X-rays, blood work, drugs, etc. Simba is sedated and then gently touched around his eyes to see if he has a blink reflex. Cats can fool you by being very still and then attacking, but they can't control an involuntary blink reflex, so we always check to be sure they are really asleep before reaching in for them. We double check his weight and wrap him in a blanket (burrito style) because it is safer, if he wakes suddenly and carrying a sleeping big cat is like trying to carry 100 plus pounds of liver. We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure. Vet manipulates joints and listens and feels for “crunching” that indicate calcium build up of arthritis. All of our old, gimpy cats are on supplements for their joints and some are on stronger meds. Palpitates for masses as cancer is the second most common cat killer (after old age destroys their kidneys). Even though Simba is sedated, Jamie, Gale or Carole usually hangs onto the scruff during most of the procedures, just in case he wakes up suddenly. Leopards are the biggest cats that a typical dog / cat clinic can Xray. The most dangerous moments at the vet are during the Xray because none of the BCR staff can be in the room. At appx 34 min. Dr Wynn expresses frustration that the X-rays aren't showing us why Simba is so wobbly. He had been falling over and acting disoriented. She's worried that he will hurt himself if he falls off or tries to jump down and suggests longer ramps. Part of his problem is that he has gained 50 lbs since being prescribed medication, so they aren't as effective. It's really hard to tell the weight of a cat, because they are so muscular and have such loose skin. You can see and hear dogs and I hate this part of going to the vet. Cats should never have to tolerate that and even asleep, I think they can hear us, and the dogs, and that is stressful. It is one more reason we need a full service vet clinic on site; so we never have to expose our cats to dogs barking. Dr Wynn is getting better about speaking up for the camera, but on these old ones you will probably really have to bump up the volume, while killing background noises, to hear her. We drive Simba back to our on site hospital to let him recover and as soon as he can safely be returned to his Cat-a-Tat he is delivered by Green Shirt Matt, Green Shirt Nanci, Gale and Jamie. How long in the Cat Hospital is usually dependent on making sure they are eating well, taking their meds and are stable. Vet Nik Tiger Eye Surgery. http://bigcatrescue.org/nikita-tiger/ Sedated, but vomited. We try to fast them before sedation, but sometimes they still have food from the night before in their stomachs, or from morning meds. Sedation makes them nauseous and they almost always will have dry heaves or vomit and doing so in their sleep can choke them to death. The options aren't good if a 700 lb cat is choking because there isn't much we can do about it without someone getting killed if he isn't asleep fully. Tests blink reflex w/ stick. Load onto Gertie Cast: Dr. Justin Boorstein (boor-steen) Dr. Liz Wynn Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole Yellow Shirt Keeper Sharon Yellow Shirt (maybe red) Keeper Darren Yellow Shirt (maybe red) Keeper Jen Navy Shirt, Master Keeper Regina Yellow Shirt (maybe green) Keeper Lynda 9-10 people to carry Nik on a specially made stretcher Our scales only go to 500 so we have to distribute Nik over two of them as he is 700 lbs. Dr. Tammy Miller is the eye specialist and she brought her own vet techs to the sanctuary to do this procedure in the West Boensch (bench) Cat Hospital. Because this was such delicate surgery, Nik was restrained with ropes. Sometimes cats can have seizures under anesthesia, so we didn't want him to kick the vet's hand while she is cutting on his eye. Nik's eye trouble started the same way most big cats' eye troubles start. They are pulled from their mothers when just days or hours old; put on an insufficient diet of puppy or kitten milk replacer and then have flashes go off in their sensitive eyes for the first 4 months of their lives, until they are too big to use. Then they are discarded or warehoused and usually fed a deficient diet and denied vet care until they die. Nutritional cataracts are very common in cubs who were used as pay to play props. Sometimes the lens breaks loose and can be very painful, so surgery is needed to repair the eye. Make sure there are warning slides before graphic images. We give fluids to help the cats eliminate the drugs we used to sedate them. These are given SubQ (under the skin) rather than IV (intravenously) Sometimes you will see us squeezing the bag to give the fluids as quickly as we can, other times, like this one, there is a compression cuff (white) that squeezes the bag as we use the hand pump. The reason we are in such a hurry is because anything can go wrong at any time and we may have to wake the cat up suddenly if they start to arrest, so we want to get the fluids on board fast. We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure. Vet manipulates joints and listens and feels for “crunching” that indicate calcium build up of arthritis. All of our old, gimpy cats are on supplements for their joints and some are on stronger meds. Palpitates for masses as cancer is the second most common cat killer (after old age destroys their kidneys). Even though Simba is sedated, Jamie, Gale or Carole usually hangs onto the scruff during most of the procedures, just in case he wakes up suddenly. Dr Wynn mentions “reversing” Nik. This is an injection to reverse the drugs we gave him to sedate him and it is good to do that as soon as he is safely on gas (either a mask or tube down his throat) because having all those drugs at work and the anesthesia gas can kill them. Nik will need drops in his eyes and Gale has become expert at tricking the cats into looking up at a treat and dropping the medication into their eyes. It stings and they don't like it, so it is amazing that she can get them to do it over and over and over; usually 2-3 times a day for 10 days. Nik had been declawed and defanged by his former owner who used him as a petting prop, even as a full grown adult. She had tight collars on him and the other 5 cats rescued from there, and would chain them to the ground with chains so short they couldn't turn their heads to bite the people who would sit on their backs for photo ops. That was illegal, and she lost her USDA license, but continued to do it for years because no one took any action against her. Nik will wake up in the transport wagon. We can't leave any bedding in there, or he will eat it. Whenever our cats are asleep we micro chip them, if they haven't had one before. While the cat is sleeping, Big Cat Rescuers take the opportunity to mow, landscape and do other cage enhancements to the cat's enclosure. There is a separate video called Vet Nik Tiger Wheezing. You may want to add this to the end of the video and say that his eye has healed well and Nik has been doing fine, except that he has begun wheezing when he gets excited. He needs to be X-rayed, but the only machine big enough is two hours away and he is too old and had too much trouble breathing to make the trip. Thanks to some wonderful donors we have a new X-ray machine but need a building big enough to put it in. There is another video file called Vet Dr Liz Wynn. You may want to include this from it: Dr. Wynn is a volunteer vet and has been with us for over a decade. She shows how we put drops in Nik Tiger's eye and she describes the coloration and procedure a bit. Vet Arthur Tiger Dental. http://bigcatrescue.org/arthur/ Date of dental: 12/9/12 Arthur was rescued in 2011 but was in no shape for the prolonged surgery necessary for a root canal. By Dec. 2012 we asked Dr. Peak to come to Big Cat Rescue to help Arthur and his brother Andre, who had suffered broken teeth since 2003. Cast: Dr. Michael Peak http://www.thepetdentist.com/meet-the-doctors.php Dr. Justin Boorstein (boor-steen) Dr. Liz Wynn Master Keeper, Jamie Veronica, President Master Keeper, Gale Ingham (thin) Operation Mgr Green Shirt Keeper, Chris Poole Green Shirt Keeper, Angie Green Shirt Partner Jeff (who usually stands by with a gun and dart gun in case of emergency) You may find some video of trying to get Arthur into his feeding lock out later, out of sequence. It was a little confusing, but they finally gave up on him going in the transport and managed to get him into his feeding area where Jamie sedated him. Jamie is our best person on the “jab stick” which is needle on the end of a pole that injects the drugs on impact. It makes a loud noise and the cats usually spin and lash out at the person doing it, but Jamie has nerves of steel and manages to retract the pole without the cat biting it. It's better than a dart, because darts have to stick in the cat and stay there until the drugs dispense. If the cat eats the dart, that is very bad. Board is held across cat because they can raise up very unexpectedly and bite. Protecting the vet is our main objective. Backstory: Arthur and Andre broke their canine teeth off during transport in 2003 from NJ to TX the first time they were rescued. The sanctuary that took them in didn't give them dental care for 10 years and went bankrupt in 2011. That is when we rescued Arthur, Andre and their sister Amanda, but they were in bad shape and not capable of undergoing extensive surgery. Not in this video, but for reference; as soon as they were strong enough after their arrival, Andre (not Arthur) was sedated due to the fact that his untreated, broken teeth (since 2003) were obviously causing pain and he couldn't eat. He died on the table during the dental surgery, but there were 5 vets there and they said, “No one is going to the light with five vets in the room!” They brought him around, but decided to wait on doing the other two canines until he was stronger. I don't know if there ever was any video of that. I can't find it. Arthur had a seizure after being sedated. This happens maybe 5 percent of the time and can be life threatening. We use a cocktail of drugs to be as easy on the cat as possible, but every cat is different and reacts differently. Arthur reacted very badly and scared us even further because he would hold his breath for such long periods of time that we often feared he was dead. Graphic warnings through out are needed. Back to Arthur. Dr. Peak performed a root canal. They drew blood to check for feline viruses, infections and kidney levels. This lets us know if there are underlying issues to deal with and gives us comparisons for latter life levels. We draw blood every time a cat is sedated. It gives us a benchmark to use in their record and we check for infections diseases, kidney function (failure) because our cats are all so old and in varying stages of renal failure. During the root canal Dr Peak finds a shard of plastic lodged inside the tooth against the nerve. You can just imagine how painful that must have been. It was probably from a toy or water bucket that was not tiger proof. While this was pretty rare, to see a shard of plastic embedded inside the tooth, it is very common for people to give big cats toys and water buckets that are too flimsy. The cats bite off portions, which end up lodging in their stomachs and intestines, causing internal hemorrhaging and a painful death. The reason people do that is that it is cheaper than buying items that are safe for the cats. The gun they point at the tiger's face is an X-ray gun. Dr Peak takes X-rays in the field and even brings along a developing tank to monitor his progress as he goes. Arthur gets IV fluids to give him an added boost and to flush the sedation drugs out of his system when he awakes. At about minute 35 Dr Liz Wynn gives a good overview of what we are doing and why. These are usually at the end of the videos that I give you, because we don't know what is going to happen in the beginning, but you can use parts of it earlier in the story to illustrate. Dr. Peak packs Arthurs root canals with antibiotics to help kill any infection. We move Arthur into the transport wagon to wake up. As soon as surgeries are over the cats are “reversed” ( they are reversed as soon as they go on gas, if they are masked or intubated ) Cats can wake up very quickly as soon as they are reversed, and / or taken off gas. They can easily take off a limb with a groggy bite so we are very quick to get them into a controlled area so they can wake up fully. The next really dangerous part of any sedation, is the waking up. Even though they can wake up quickly, they also can go back to sleep and never wake up. We do everything we can to get them sternal (laying on their stomachs with their heads up) as soon as possible after sedation. We call their names, tickle their ears and toes (they hate that) rock the cage, bang on the bars and totally obnoxious. It is so tempting to just let them enjoy a good long sleep after their ordeal, but that could be the death of them, so we have to be the bad guys and wake them up. Another thing that kills many exotic cats is hyperthermia from anesthesia. This causes their bodies to overheat and can just cook them to death inside of a few minutes. The whole time we are waking them up we are looking for signs of hyperthermia (opposite of hypothermia where you get too cold and die) If they spike a temperature we are suddenly in a life or death position of deciding if the cat is groggy enough to pull them out and put them in a tub of ice water, or, in the case of a tiger, if it will be safe to open the door and start packing them in ice. There is always this dilemma going on of doing what will save the cat without undue risk to the people trying to save the cat, because if the cat wakes up, someone is going to get hurt or die. Cats don't understand; as much as we would like to believe they do, when you are trying to save their lives. There have certainly been what appears to be exceptions, like removing a piece of food from a choking cat's mouth and having them not turn right around and bite me for reaching down their throat, but I think by and large I've just been lucky. Back to Arthur. Several hours lapse between the time of his waking and release back into his Cat-a-Tat, and I think there may even be some film out of sequence, at this point, although I am not sure how that could have happened. Dr. Peak did the root canals on both Arthur and Andre on this day, so we would have been sedating Arthur, doing his surgery, putting him back in the transport to wake up and then sedating Andre, doing his surgery, and then putting him back in his enclosure. The easiest way to tell these brothers apart is that Andre has a notch in his ear, courtesy of his brother. Waking up from anesthesia can be ugly. Arthur thrashed around a bit waking up. What most people don't know, when they take their pets to the vet, is that they are kept away as the animals are going down and coming up from anesthesia, or they would completely freak out. The cats bang their heads on the bars and thrash around like wild. Unless they are very, very sick, they don't usually go under easily. Vet Andre Tiger Dental. http://bigcatrescue.org/andre/. Date of dental: 12/9/12 Gale distracts Andre so Jamie can sedate him using the pole syringe. We often put a blanket over the head of the sedated animal so that if they wake suddenly, they feel secure in the dark and cannot land a bite as easily. You will often see Jeff Kremer, our Director of Donor Appreciation (tall, slim, bald, usually wearing khakis) in our surgery videos because he is our marksman and in charge of darting or killing the tiger depending on what life threatening event happens. As noted in Arthur's dental info, this is Andre's second dental. He died and was revived during our first attempt several months ago, so now we are trying to finish the repair to his four broken canine teeth. We were told that in 2003, when Wild Animal Orphanage rescued him from Tigers Only in NJ, he broke off all four canines on the bars of the transport cage. Wild Animal Orphanage took in 23 tigers during that rescue operation and was unable to fund all of the medical needs. Andre suffered with exposed nerves in his teeth for the next 8 years. When WAO went bankrupt we helped orchestrate the rescue of the final 7 tigers there, thanks to financial help from an amazing couple. Four went to Carolina Tiger Rescue and Andre, Arthur and Amanda came to us. Andre has a growth on one of his back legs, so we used the opportunity to do a biopsy. Andre's blood pressure began dropping dramatically 107/72 so he was reversed, since he was on gas. His temperature dropped significantly as well, so we covered him in an electric heating blanket. He was fighting sedation so hard that we had to give him more drugs. It is always such a fine line to balance between making sure they feel no pain and don't hurt anyone and yet not killing them with kindness. This video shows the X-ray developing tank. Red glass tank. At the end the vets gave Andre straight oxygen through the mask to help him flush the anesthetic gas from his lungs. This will help him wake more quickly. Again we stimulate him in every way we can to get him up and sternal as quickly as possible. King Tut and Zulu Hybrid Cats. 10/16/2012 http://bigcatrescue.org/king-tut/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka3Xu1cEEq4 You can scrape video from here to use in this video if you want http://bigcatrescue.org/hybrid-facts/ We almost never take in hybrid cats because they do not require permits to possess, so any cat lover can take them in and we need to save our cage space for cats who require permits that most domestic cat rescue groups don't have. The hardest part of turning them away is that breeders will try to get their hands on any hybrids they can because people buy them over the Internet or at cat shows and don't know, until after they have paid thousands of dollars for them, that they spray and defecate all over everything to mark it as theirs. King Tut and Zulu had been terrorizing a neighborhood after either escaping or being turned loose by their owner, and Animal Control trapped them. A man from the Sierra Club heard about it and went to see the cats that had been brought in. He wasn't sure what they were (I think he called them Jag Cats) and called us. He brought them to us to see if we would take them. Both were thin, but King Tut was emaciated. His paw had been injured, so he probably couldn't hunt or travel as well as Zulu, plus he felt awful trying to fight off infection, so he was just wasting away. Zulu turned out to be a handful and have awful house manners, but one of our long time volunteers, Sharon Dower, asked to adopt her anyway, and we were happy that she would get a home. She was spayed first and for a while could be watched on our live web cams via UStream.tv/channel/bigcathospital King Tut responded well to antibiotics and a good diet, but he's just too dangerous for a pet home, so he will live with us forever. There is some later video of him (I don't know if I bound it into one file) where King Tut is released out into his Cat-a-Tat. All he needs now is food and love. Vet Dr Wynn. http://www.ehrlichanimalhospital.com/about-us/veterinarians/ This video can be put into other videos as needed. I don't think there is enough here for a full 20 min segment. Maybe a segment under 4 minutes as a stand alone piece. Dr. Wynn is a volunteer vet and has been with us for over a decade. She shows how we put drops in Nik Tiger's eye and she describes the coloration and procedure a bit. http://bigcatrescue.org/nikita-tiger/ We don't give Vet Tours but our vets both come out twice a week or more and will answer questions if a tour group happens by. Tonga the white serval had a nosectomy, to remove his nose, to get rid of all the cancer. That's been more than two years ago and has allowed Tonga to live as long as most of our servals usually do (17 is the average for our servals. most other places only 10-12) and he is still doing well. This shows how quickly and how far a wild cat can reach out through the bars of the cage and why we have to be so careful around them. http://bigcatrescue.org/tonga/ Jumanji the black leopard is being treated for his skin allergies. Not in this video, but we are now using a new blend of fatty acids in all of the cats' diet to help them with skin and coat condition. http://bigcatrescue.org/jumanji/ There is some previous footage on Tonga's nose. Vet Skipper Lynx May 2014. http://bigcatrescue.org/skipper/ Skipper is taken to the vet because Keepers notice that he isn't passing feces. Every day, as Keepers clean the cages, they note food left over, the feces condition (runny, grassy, missing), vet issues like scratching, coughing up hairballs, and cage maintenance issues. All of these notes are entered into a data base at the end of cleaning. This sends an immediate email out to the Operations Manager, CEO, President, Vets and Maintenance staff and becomes a permanent part of each cat's medical record. Not passing feces for a couple of days means trouble, so Skipper was taken to the vet for diagnostics. That's never an easy thing to do. Catching the cat is always stressful to the cat and dangerous for the people involved. If there is any way to check a cat and treat them in their cage we do, but this sort of problem would require sedation and X-rays. There is footage of us catching Skipper in this video that you can scrape for use in this video if you want.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRC_pCZqza4 Dr. Wynn tries a warm water enema first, but Skipper's intestines are really blocked. Note that Jamie Veronica is able to pull up Skipper's complete medical history on her phone for the vet, because of the google Education Apps site that we use to keep all of these records. We have set up more than a dozen sites like ours for other sanctuaries to use in the care of their animals. Let me know if you want screen shots of these kinds of files for the video. When we have time to take a volunteer or intern along, we often pick someone who has been especially helpful and who happens to be in the right place as we are heading out. This time it was Green Shirt Afton Tasler. Afton got the job of clipping Skipper's nails while he slept. In this raw footage are vets talking about other client's pets, so be sure none of that makes it into the final cut. The vet does X-rays and a sonogram to make sure she has gotten to the root of the problem. It would be foolish to assume we got it all and then be back in here two days later because the main blockage was still there. This is a good time to talk about how dangerous it is to sedate a cat and why we don't do it any more than absolutely necessary and to talk about why we need our own, on site X-ray and sonogram. Both have now been donated, but we are still fundraising for the building to house them, as our current, West Boensch Cat Hospital is too small. Skipper is given fluids to help flush out the drugs used to sedate him and to help hydrate his entire system to make it easier to pass feces. Dr. Wynn talks about how cats get so stressed going to the vet (domestics too) that their blood sugar levels spike, which can sometimes be mistaken for diabetes. Vet Cheetaro Leopard. 2013 vet visit. http://bigcatrescue.org/cheetaro/ Even though our cages are full of trees and wooden structures for the cats to sharpen their claws, they often do not do it consistently enough to keep their nails from growing too long. Because of the way the claws are curved, they can grow all the way around and pierce the paw pads. Their feet are so furry and the ground in their cages so soft, that we often cannot see that there is a problem until the cat begins limping. Given the ages of our cats who are mostly geriatric, it can be hard to tell if it is an ingrown nail or the inevitable arthritis of old age. Some cats, like Cheetaro, we know to have chronic nail issues, so in his case we knew we would have to sedate him and clip his nails back. You might wonder why we don't declaw cats who have these issues, but declawing takes off the entire last digit of the toe, can cause extreme pain to walk and the nails still grow back in many cases; just worse, like out of the tops or sides of their paws. Due to Cheetaro's advanced age we only want to lightly sedate him, but he's one of our most dangerous leopards too, so we need to be sure the vet is safe while working. You can see in this video how hard it can be to draw blood from a cat. They have evolved to have tiny veins that roll away from the point of puncture. This is great for avoiding a bite from another cat, but makes it hard on our vets to get a vein. Dr. Wynn and Jamie Veronica discuss some ways to encourage Cheetaro to use his scratching items more. Vet Jade Leopard. http://bigcatrescue.org/jade/ Jade had been vomiting. There probably isn't enough here to do anything with. There must have been other video taken at this time that may have already been used on BigCatTV.com or YouTube.com/DailyBigCat Jade illustrates how hard it is to catch a leopard. I think leopards are the smartest of the cats. We feed them every night and their water bowls are in their Lock Outs, so they know it is a safe place. Part of our Operant Conditioning with them is to give them treats in Lock Out and open and shut the door, so that when we do need to trap them, that isn't scary. CEO, Jamie Veronica and her husband, Dr. Justin Boorstein talk about how they will hook up the transport inside the cage. We lock the cat into one of the furthermost sections of their cages, which are all in 2 to 4 sections, separated by guillotine doors. Then we can open the outside door to bring in the transport. Once in the transport we have to slide in long metal poles so that the volunteers carrying the cats can keep their hands and arms away from the cat. We have to go slowly so the cat doesn't strike out at the poles and risk breaking a tooth. We weigh Jade at the West Boensch Cat Hospital before taking her in to see Dr. Wynn, so she has a recent weight on which to base her sedation drug dose. Unfortunately there is no vet video attached, so I don't know if any of this makes sense to use. This video was on our secondary site, and thus never got much exposure. Jade's sister, Armani had a polyp in the back of her throat that was causing her to choke and had to be removed.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjxJL-_uO4s Vet Canyon Sandcat Claws 12/10/13 http://bigcatrescue.org/canyon/ I didn't get a chance to take notes on this one, but it's pretty clear what is happening. According to books I've read, Sandcats don't live past 13.9 years and ours are both over 14 now. Given the ages of our cats who are mostly geriatric, it can be hard to tell if it is an ingrown nail or the inevitable arthritis of old age. Some cats, like Canyon, we know to have chronic nail issues, so in his case we knew we would have to sedate him and clip his nails back. You might wonder why we don't declaw cats who have these issues, but declawing takes off the entire last digit of the toe, can cause extreme pain to walk and the nails still grow back in many cases; just worse, like out of the tops or sides of their paws. Due to Canyon's advanced age we only want to lightly sedate him, but the littler the cat, the more fierce they are, so we need to be sure the vet is safe while working. Enrichment http://bigcatrescue.org/enrichment/ I didn't get to take notes while encoding the enrichment footage from tape to digital but here is what I did note: Pinatas Cupcakes - Jade and Armani Leopards http://bigcatrescue.org/jade/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/armani/ Dinosaur - TJ Tiger http://bigcatrescue.org/tj/ Donkey - Cameron Lion and Zabu Tiger http://bigcatrescue.org/cameron-lion/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zabu/ Flower - Nikita Lioness http://bigcatrescue.org/2011/nikita-3/ Present - Jumanji Leopard http://bigcatrescue.org/jumanji/ Toys Barbara Frank and Chris Poole load toys. Yellow Donut - Cameron Lion's favorite toy http://bigcatrescue.org/cameron-lion/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zabu/ Red & Blue Donuts - Arthur, Andre and Amanda Tigers http://bigcatrescue.org/arthur/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/andre/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/amanda/ Meat Cakes for Birthdays Apollo and Zeus the Siberian Lynx http://bigcatrescue.org/apollo/ and http://bigcatrescue.org/zeus/ Bengali Tiger moaning and rubbing http://bigcatrescue.org/bengali/ Other Castle - Little Feather Bobcat http://bigcatrescue.org/little-feather/ Rock den - Apache Bobcat who got a card board cake http://bigcatrescue.org/apache/ Jamie at the beach with her friend Gail. Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/ I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet. You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.
Jogesh Jain has a mission to "make India Employable". By Dec 31st, 2021, by reaching 10M lives. His vision is to train 10,000 Employability Trainer by Dec 31st, 2021. They, will, in turn, help him reach 10M lives.
Friday 18th May 2018. On tomorrows show something different – one story, arguably one of the biggest EV stories of the week – and one guest from the company behind it. I’ll tell you more at the end of this show. And before we get started, just a note it’s the London Motor Show 2018 this week with everything from the Tesla Shooting Brake you might have seen which comes from my native Norfolk, to the brand new iconic electric Black Cab, to the world’s first production EV kit car the e-rod. You can search for the hashtag #LMS2018 if you’re interested in seeing more. 1000S OF SUPERCHARGERS ARE IN PERMITTING/CONSTRUCTION PHASES First up we'll dive straight into InsideEVs and Elon has been busy on the build again. This time is it Model 3? No! Model S or X? No! SpaceX? No! Tesla Energy, something about the Solar roof? No! The latest in a long line of positive announcements is about the Supercharger network. Already a huge incentive to get into the Tesla walled garden, he now says an updated Supercharger map is coming in the next few days. Responding to a question from new Model S owner Kevin Mitnick on Twitter about any superchargers coming to Woodland Hills, Elon replied: "Yeah, there are thousands of Supercharger locations going through permitting/construction, including that area. Will publish an updated map in the next few days." So what does "thousands" mean? At the basic level, it means 2,000 or more. And I presume he's talking Worldwide because there are many in the planning and permits stage even here in the UK. Oh and another reason this is the top story today, and it's got something to do with that 'walled garden' I mentioned. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another auto maker to cave in and pay Tesla for access, especially a smaller, more boutique brand without the means to build their own network. For now Tesla is burning cash and doing whatever it required to build out the network, whilst the Superchargers are never going to be used as a profit centre of Tesla owners. However, let me remind you of something from the earning call when he took questions from the blogger Galileo, who is a fan of Tesla having an exclusive club of chargers which others can’t access, as that makes them more valuable to investors. Elon said that he can see a time in the future when it's opened up to other manufacturers, indeed Tesla has even offered, but nobody was ready to be their customers just yet. And you can understand why, with huge auto makers wanting to do it their way, on their terms. However I can see a time when at least one major car maker in the medium term calls it quits on their own tech and licences EV technology from Tesla. Given Elon's mission is not to stop until all vehicles are electric, and also looking for new revenue streams, why wouldn't someone like Ford decide the best way to avoid total collapse is to licence the drivetrains from Tesla? ELECTRIC BUS FLEETS Earlier this week the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SF Muni) Board of Directors passed a resolution to begin procuring zero emission battery buses to replace electric hybrid vehicles by 2025, with a goal of achieving a 100 percent electric bus fleet by 2035" reports EcoWatch. Meanwhile, in South Korea, the government wants all buses and trucks to run with zero emissions by 2030. Electrive says: "The new plan released by the government also wants to introduce small electric two-wheelers for postal deliveries by 2020. Around the same time Seoul will also start to mass-produce and supply hydrogen and electric buses in earnest." And let me put both of those wonderful targets in perspective with a tweet from Colin McKerracher, Head of Advanced Transport, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). In 2018, "Shenzhen: May 1st: all new commercial light duty trucks = EVs. From July 1: Only EVs allowed in ride hailing. By Dec 31: replace all remaining taxis with EVs. Build 5,200 EV chargers for taxis. Retire 20,000 diesel light duty trucks. City policies will reshape auto markets." RECORD EV SALES FOR SOUTH KOREA Well let's stay in South Korea for a bit longer. "The number of electric vehicles sold in South Korea so far this year is already more than double the sales recorded for the whole of last year. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, electric vehicle sales rose from five-thousand-900 units in 2016 to 13-thousand-800 last year. It says more than 30-thousand EVs have been sold in South Korea since the turn of 2018, including preorders" according to some insight from KBS World. BMW UNVEIL SHAPE OF iNEXT Yesterday at the annual shareholders meeting for BMW in Germany they presented their vision for the iNext EV. The iNext is designed to be a technology showcase for BMW: electric propulsion, full self-driving, and advanced interfaces, said BMW CEO Harald Krueger. According to Green Car Reports: "It is supposed to be available with three different battery sizes: a 60 kilowatt-hour battery with 280 miles of range, a 90-kwh battery good for about 342 miles, and a range-topping 120-kwh battery with 435 miles of range. That last figure is longer than most gasoline cars." These types are things are never really about the car, but more about what they think they will focus on. So they say it will have Level 3 self-driving, equipped for Level 4, advanced gesture control. BMW HAS SOME PRODUCTION TIPS FOR TESLA As Tesla struggles to meet the mahoosive demand for Model 3's I'm sure what will really help is BMW chipping in with some advice. And it's this: "embrace human labor, be flexible and focus on the details." At that same annual meeting, Oliver Zipse from BMW said: "“Producing cars in cycles of 60 seconds: That is the deciding factor" BMW makes Tesla’s entire 2017 output once every two weeks. “To fully automate the assembly process is not our goal, because the human being with its unique properties is unbeatably flexible.” “Maybe there’s more leeway in the top-end market segment above 100,000 euros ($118,000), but as soon as you enter market segments with volumes like the 3- or even in the 5-Series, keeping costs under control is paramount,” BMW’s Zipse said. “You can’t allow yourself to have inefficiencies there.” EAST COAST STATES UNITE TO ADVANCE EV CHARGING States on the East Coast of the US, from Virginia to Maine, have announced support for the release of the ‘Northeast Corridor Regional Strategy for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure’ to advance public and private investments in EV charging" according to Renewable Energy Magazine: "As part of a legal settlement between the federal government and Volkswagen addressing Clean Air Act violation claims, the Northeast Corridor states, from Virginia to Maine, have up to $108 million that may be invested on charging and hydrogen fuelling infrastructure for electric cars. Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary, is investing $2 billion to promote electric vehicles, which will include substantial infrastructure investments in the Northeast Corridor." I’d love to spread the word about electric cars so, if you can, share this somebody who might be interested. You can listen to every previous episode of this podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, YouTube, TuneIn, Stitcher, and the blog https://www.evnewsdaily.com/ – remember to subscribe, which means you don’t have to think about downloading the show each day, plus you get it first and free and automatically. It would mean a lot if you could take 2mins to leave a quick review on whichever platform you download the podcast. And if you have an Amazon Echo, download our Alexa Skill, search for EV News Daily and add it as a flash briefing. Come and say hi on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just search EV News Daily, have a wonderful day, and I'll catch you tomorrow. 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David Thompson heads west Last week, I ended the story of David Thompson with his leaving the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company, and joining the rival Northwest Company. As Thompson began his journey to the west, he described the landscape of the great plains: "The climate is good, the winters about five months, the summers are warm, and autumn has many fine days. The soil is rich and deep, and [there is] much vegetation mould from the annual decay of the leaves of the forest trees, and the grass of the meadows: civilization will no doubt extend over these low hills; they are well adapted for raising of cattle; and when the wolves are destroyed, also for sheep; and agriculture will succeed to a pastoral life, so far as markets can be formed in the country, but no further; for Canada is too distant and difficult of access. The only port open to them is York Factory on the dismal shores of Hudson's Bay, open four months in the year. And to go to York Factory and return will require all that part of the summer which cannot be spared: but when a civilized population shall cover the countries, means will be found to make its produce find a market." Thompson, better than most, recognized the vastness of the Canadian wilderness. In time, the prairies would become settled, and many more ports would become open to Canadian products. As he continued his journey west, he described the tranquillity of the Bow River. "The Bow River flows through the most pleasant of the plains, and is the great resort of the bison and the red deer (or elk), and also of the natives; the soil appears good along its wholes extent, but for the most part is bare of woods, and those that remain are fast diminishing by fire." He continued: "The rivers that roll through this immense unbroken body of land of plains and forests, are so beautifully distributed; all their banks so admirably adjusted to the volumes of water that flow between them, that neither the heaviest rains nor the melting of the snows of the mountains inundate the adjacent country. In all seasons, the Indians, the bisons, and deer repose on their banks in perfect security. Whoever calmly views the admirable formation and distribution of the rivers so wonderfully conducted to their several seas; must confess the whole to have been traced by the forger of the Great Supreme Artificer for the most benevolent purposes, both to his creature man, and the numerous animals he has made, none of whom can exist without water." Thompson was a deeply religious man and his journal is filled with his reflections on how the landscape was shaped by both the powers of nature, but also from the hand of God. Thompson was also charged with looking for fossils of dinosaurs and mammoths during his travels. While he succeeded in many things, this was one area where he failed. He writes: "Not a single fossil bone of an Elephant, Rhinocerous, or Mammoth has been found in all Canada nor about any of the Great Lakes, and valley of the [St.] Lawrence, and north-ward to the Arctic Circle, although almost all these countries are sufficiently known; nor has the travels of Captain Franklin in the Arctic Regions been attended with any success on this subject. On the west side of the Rocky Mountains, I passed six years of discovery, yet not a vestige that these great Animals once existed in those parts could be found. " Despite his not finding any fossil evidence, the first nations believed that the mountains were still the home of mammoths. Thompson described the first nations of the plains: "THE Indians of the Plains are of various Tribes and of several languages which have no affinity with each other. The Stone Indians are a large tribe of the Sieux Nation, and speak a dialect, differing little from the Sieux tongue, the softest and most pleasing to the ear of all the indian languages. They have always been, and are, in strict alliance with the Nahathaways, and their hunting grounds are on the left bank of the Saskatchewan and eastward and southward to the upper part of the Red River, and their number 400 Tents each containing about eight souls, in all 3200" Thompson was referring to the Stoney and Cree Indians. The Stoney's were part of the Sioux nation but had become separated from their eastern relatives and had since allied with the Cree. He continued: "THE Peeagans, with the tribes of the Blood, and Blackfeet Indians, who all speak the same language, are the most powerful of the western and northern plains, and by right of conquest have their west boundary to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, southward to the north branches of the Missisourie, eastward for about three hundred miles from the Mountains and northward to the upper part of the Saskatchewan. Other tribes of their allies also at times hunt on part of the above, and a great extent of the Plains, and these great Plains place them under different circumstances, and give them peculiar traits of character from those that hunt in the forests. These latter live a peaceable life, with hard labor, to procure provisions and clothing for their families, in summer they make use of canoes, and in winter haul on sleds all they have, in their frequent removals from place to place. On the other hand the Indians of the Plains make no use of canoes, frequently stay many days in a place, and when they remove have horses and dogs, both in summer and winter to carry their baggage and provisions: they have no hard labor, but have powerful enemies which keep them constantly on the watch and are never secure but in large camps" The Peagan, Blood and Blackfeet were all closely allied and over time, they displaced the Kootenays, Salish, and the Snake Indians. Thompson also mentions the Fall Indians, today known as the Gros Ventre, which were driven out of the area by the Stoney and Cree Indians. Thompson described the war chief of the Peigan, a solid man by the name of Kootenae Appe or Kootenay Man: "his stature was six feet six inches, tall and erect, he appeared to be of Bone and Sinew with no more flesh, than absolutely required; his countenance manly, but not stern, his features prominent, nose somewhat aquiline, his manners kind and mild; his word was sacred, he was both loved and respected, and his people often wished him to take a more active part in their affairs but he confined himself to War, and the care of the camp in which he was, which was generally of fifty to one hundred tents, generally a full day’s march nearer to the Snake Indians than any other camp… Kootanae Appe by his five wives had twenty-two sons and four daughters. His grown-up sons were as tall as himself and the others promised the same. He was friendly to the White Men, and in his speeches reminded his people of the great benefit of [which] the Traders were to them, and that it was by their means they had so many useful articles, and guns for hunting, and to conquer their enemies. " Thompson continues: "He had acquired his present station and influence from his conduct in war. He was utterly averse to small parties, except for horse stealing, which too often brought great hardships and loss of life. He seldom took the field with less than two hundred warriors but frequently with many more; his policy was to get as many of the allies to join him as possible, by which all might have a share of the honour and plunder, and thus avoid those jealousies and envyings so common amongst the Chiefs. He praised every Chief that in the least deserved it, but never appeared to regard fame as worth his notice yet always took care to deserve it, for all his expeditions were successful." Unlike so many white men that saw only savages when dealing with first nations, Thompson could see the entire cross-section of society within Peigan villages: "The character of all these people appear[s] to be brave, steady and deliberate, but on becoming acquainted with them there is no want of individual character, and almost every character in civilized society can be traced among them, from the gravity of a judge to a merry jester, and from open hearted generosity to the avaricious miser. This last character is more detested by them, than by us, from their precarious manner of life, requiring assistance from each other, and their general character. Especially in provisions is great attention [paid] to those that are unfortunate in the chace, and the tent of a sick man is well supplied." Thompson described the various languages of the Plains Indians: "The Languages of this continent on the east and north sides of the Mountains as compared with those of Europe may be classed as resembling in utterance. The Sieux and Stone Indian to the Italian. The Nahathaway and Chipaway with their dialects to the French. The Peeagan with their allies, the Blood and Black feet Indians to the English, and the northern people, the Dinnae, or Chepawyans to the German." The Peigan patrolled the mountain front in order to keep their enemies, the Kootenay, today known as the Ktunaxa, from crossing the mountains and trading with the white men for guns. Fortunately, in 1807, the expedition of Lewis and Clark was travelling along the Missouri River and Lewis shot two Peigan Indians. The Peigan abandoned the mountains in order to head south to seek revenge. Thompson and his men took advantage of this temporary absence. After leaving Rocky Mountain House on May 10, Thompson, along with his wife Charlotte Small, and their children made their way to the pass. While Finan McDonald took a canoe with supplies, Thompson road along the north side of the river, reaching Kootenay Plain, at the south end of Abraham Lake on June 3, and just 3 days later they were at the forks of the North Saskatchewan River near present-day Saskatchewan River Crossing. Here he had to head inland towards the pass. As Thompson wrote: "the murder of two Peagan Indians by Captain Lewis of the United States, drew the Peagans to the Mississouri to revenge their deaths; and thus gave me an opportunity to cross the Mountains by the defiles of the Saskatchewan River, which led to the head waters of the Columbia River, and we there builded Log Houses, and strongly stockaded it on three sides, the other side resting on the steep bank of the River: the Logs of the House, and the Stockades, Bastions &c were of a peculiar kind of a heavy resinous Fir, of a rough black bark. It was clean grown to about twenty feet, when it threw off a head of long rude branches, with a long narrow leaf for a Fir, which was annually shed, and became from green to a red color. The Stockades were all ball proof, as well as the Logs of the Houses." Thompson was forced to abandon the canoes just a few miles beyond the forks and they had to continue on horses, packing their supplies with them. They reached the pass on June 25, and descended the Blaeberry River to its confluence with the Columbia River. The previous season, Thompson had sent Jaco Finlay across the pass and he had built a canoe and left it for Thompson. Unfortunately, it had been destroyed by the winter and Thompson and his men spent several days building new canoes and repacking their supplies. With the canoes built and loaded, they continued down the Columbia River to present day Windermere Lake. He paddled just a few kilometres south of the lake and built Kootenae House, the first trading post on the Columbia River. He spent the rest of the season here trading with the Kootenay Indians and capturing wild horses which were plentiful in the region. Thompson knew there would be consequences for violating the Piegan blockade and sure enough, in mid-November, two Peigans crossed the pass, as he put it: "to see how I was situated; I showed the strength of the Stockades, and Bastions, and told them I know you are come as Spies, and intend to destroy us, but many of you will die before you do so; go back to your countrymen and tell them so; which they did, and we remained quiet for the winter; I knew the danger of the place we were in, but could not help it: As soon as the Mountains were passable I sent off the Clerk and Men with the Furrs collected, among which were one hundred of the Mountain Goat Skins with their long silky hair, of a foot in length of a white color, tinged at the lower end with a very light shade of yellow. Some of the ignorant self sufficient partners of the Company ridiculed such an article for the London Market; there they went and sold at first sight for a guinea a skin, and half as much more for another Lot, but there were no more. These same partners then wrote to me to procure as many as possible, I returned for answer, the hunting of the goat was both dangerous and laborious, and for their ignorant ridicule I would send no more, and I kept my word. I had now to prepare for a more serious visit from the Peagans who had met in council, and it was determined to send forty men, under a secondary Chief to destroy the trading Post, and us with it, they came and pitched their Tents close before the Gate, which was well barred. I had six men with me, and ten guns, well loaded, the House was perforated with large augur holes, as well as the Bastions, thus they remained for three weeks without daring to attack us. We had a small stock of dried provisions which we made go as far as possible; they thought to make us suffer for want of water as the bank we were on was about 20 feet high and very steep, but at night, by a strong cord we quietly and gently let down two brass Kettles each holding four Gallons, and drew them up full; which was enough for us: They were at a loss what to do, for Kootanae Appee the War Chief, had publickly told the Chief of this party, (which was formed against his advice) to remember he had Men confided to his care, whom he must bring back, that he was sent to destroy the Enemies not to lose his Men: Finding us always on the watch, they did not think proper to risque their lives, when at the end of three weeks they suddenly decamped; I thought it a ruse de guerre, I afterwards learned that some of them hunting saw some Kootanaes who were also hunting, and as what was done was an act of aggression, something like an act of War; they decamped to cross the mountains to join their own Tribe while all was well with them: the return of this party without success occasioned a strong sensation among the Peeagans. The Civil Chief harangued them, and gave his advice to form a strong war party under Kootanae Appee the War Chief and directly to crush the white Men and the Natives on the west side of the Mountains, before they became well armed, They have always been our slaves (Prisoners) and now they will pretend to equal us; no, we must not suffer this, we must at once crush them. We know them to be desperate Men, and we must destroy them, before they become too powerful for us; the War Chief coolly observed I shall lead the battle according to the will of the Tribe, but we cannot smoke to the Great Spirit for success, as we usually do, it is now about ten winters since we made peace with them, they have tented and hunted with us, and because they have guns and iron headed Arrows, we must break our word of peace with them: We are now called upon to go to war with a people better armed than ourselves; be it so, let the Warriors get ready; in ten nights I will call on them. The old, and the intelligent Men, severely blamed the speech of the Civil Chief, they remarked, “ the older he gets, the less sense [he possesses].” On the ninth night the War Chief made a short speech, to have each man to take full ten days of dried provisions, for we shall soon leave the country of the Bison, after which we must not fire a shot, or we shall be discovered: On the tenth night he made his final speech, and exhorting the Warriors and their Chiefs to have their Arms in good order, and not forget dried provisions, he named a place; there I shall be the morrow evening, and those who now march with me, there I shall wait for you five nights, and then march to cross the Mountains; at the end of this time about three hundred Warriors under three Chiefs assembled; and took their route across the Mountains by the Stag River, and by the defiles of another River of the same name, came on the Columbia, about full twenty miles from me; as usual, by another pass of the Mountains, they sent two Men to see the strength of the House; I showed them all round the place, and they staid that night. I plainly saw that a War Party was again formed, to be better conducted than the last; and I prepared Presents to avert it: the next morning two Kootanae Men arrived, their eyes glared on the Peagans like Tigers, this was most fortunate; I told them to sit down and smoke which they did; I then called the two Peagans out, and enquired of them which way they intended to return. They pointed to the northward. I told them to go to Kootanae Appee and his War Party, who were only a days journey from us, and delivering to them the Presents I had made up, to be off directly, as I could not protect them, for you know you are on these lands as Enemies; the Presents were six feet of Tobacco to the Chief, to be smoked among them, three feet with a fine pipe of red porphyry and an ornamented Pipe Stem; eighteen inches to each of the three Chiefs, and a small piece to each of themselves, and telling them they had no right to be in the Kootanae Country: to haste away; for the Kootanaes would soon be here, and they will fight for their trading Post: In all that regarded the Peeagans I chanced to be right, it was all guess work. Intimately acquainted with the Indians, the Country and the Seasons, I argued and acted on probabilities; I was afterwards informed that the two Peeagans went direct to the camp of the War Party, delivered the Presents and the Message and sat down, upon which the War Chief exclaimed, what can we do with this man, our women cannot mend a pair of shoes, but he sees them, alluding to my Astronomical Observations; then in a thoughful mood he laid the pipe and stem, with the several pieces of Tobacco on the ground, and said, what is to be done with these, if we proceed, nothing of what is before us can be accepted; the eldest of [the] three Chiefs, wistfully eyeing the Tobacco, of which they had none; at length he said, You all know me, who I am, and what I am; I have attacked Tents, my knife could cut through them, and our enemies had no defence against us, and I am ready to do so again, but to go and fight against Logs of Wood, that a Ball cannot go through, and with people we cannot see and with whom we are at peace, is what I am averse to, I go no further. He then cut the end of the Tobacco, filled the red pipe, fitted the stem, and handed it to Kootanae Appee, saying it was not you that brought us here, but the foolish Sakatow (Civil Chief) who, himself never goes to War; they all smoked, took the Tobacco, and returned, very much to the satisfaction of Kootanae Appe my steady friend; thus by the mercy of good Providence I averted this danger; The next spring, Thompson and his family returned over Howse Pass, but had to eat several of their horses when they couldn't find any wildlife to shoot for provisions. After crossing the Pass, Thompson and some of his men continued all the way to Rainy Lake, Ontario where they delivered the furs they had collected and then stocked up on trade goods. Thompson was also ordered to bring 2 kegs of alcohol with him, but he had always forbidden the trade of whiskey in his presence. He wrote: "[We] embarked the Furrs, and with five men set off for the Rainy River House and arrived July 22, where we landed our cargo of Furrs, then made up an assortment of Goods, for two Canoes, each carrying twenty pieces of ninety pounds weight; among which I was obliged to take two Kegs of Alcohol, over ruled by my Partners (Mess” Dond McTavish and Jo McDonald [of] Gart[h]) for I had made it a law to myself, that no alcohol should pass the Mountains in my company, and thus be clear of the sad sight of drunkeness, and it’s many evils: but these gentlemen insisted upon alcohol being the most profitable article that could be taken for the indian trade. In this I knew they had miscalculated; accordingly when we came to the defiles of the Mountains, I placed the two Kegs of Alcohol on a vicious horse; and by noon the Kegs were empty, and in pieces, the Horse rubbing his load against the Rocks to get rid of it; I wrote to my partners what I had done; and that I would do the same to every Keg of Alcohol, and for the next six years I had charge of the furr trade on the west side of the Mountains, no further attempt was made to introduce spirituous Liquors." Thompson returned to Kootenai House and in the winter of 1808-09, he stayed through the winter. The snow also brought safety from the Peigans as the snow was too deep for a war party to cross the Pass in winter. After briefly crossing Howse Pass again in the spring of 1809, Thompson returned to the west side of the mountains and headed south towards Idaho and built Kullyspell House near present-day Sand Point, where he traded with the Salish, Skeetshoo, and Kootenay Indians in the area. He wrote: "Our arrival rejoiced them very much, for except the four Kootanaes their only arms were a few rude lances, and flint headed Arrows. Good bowmen as they are, these arrow heads broke against the Shield of tough Bison hide, or even against thick leather could do no harm; their only aim was the face: these they were now to exchange for Guns, Ammunition and Iron headed arrows, and thus be on an equality with their enemies, for they were fully their equals in courage: but I informed them, that to procure these advantages they must not pass days and nights in gambling, but be industrious in hunting and working of Beaver and other furrs, all which they promised" He continued: "All those who could procure Guns soon became good shots, which the Peeagan Indians, their enemies in the next battle severely felt; for they are not good shots, except a few; they are accustomed to fire at the Bison on horseback, within a few feet of the animal, it gives them no practice at long shots at small marks. On the contrary, the Indians on the west side of the Mountains are accustomed to fire at the small Antelope at a distance of one hundred and twenty yards, which is a great advantage in battle, where everyone marks out his man." In the fall of 1809, Thompson built a small trading post that he called Saleesh House, near present-day Thompson Falls, Montana. He spent the winter of 1809-10 there and in the spring made several exploratory trips in the area around the post. Over the winter, the hottest trade item had been in weaponry. He writes: "The Saleesh Indians during the winter had traded up-wards of twenty guns from me, with several hundreds of iron arrow heads, with which they thought themselves a fair match for the Peeagan Indians in battle on the Plains." Over the summer, Thompson aided the Salish in a skirmish with the Peigan. Although the battle was pretty much a draw, the change in the balance of power brought on by Thompsons weapons made the Peigan even more determined to punish the traders that crossed the mountains to trade with their enemies. In the summer of 1810, David crossed back into Alberta over Howse Pass for the last time. As he approached the pass, he came across tracks left behind by Peigan scouts that were just a few hours old. They managed to slip through undetected. He travelled all the way to Rainy Lake where he reprovisioned for another trip to the Columbia. He returned to the Saskatchewan River to make his way over Howse Pass. Thompson writes: "The manner of furnishing the Men with Provisions, was by hunting these animals, and bringing their meat by Horses to the Canoes a supply for full three days; when we appointed a place to meet them with a fresh supply; thus the Canoes proceeded to within twenty miles of the east foot of the Mountains; we had given them a full supply for three days, and Mr William Henry, the two Indians and myself proceeded to the foot of the Mountains , where we killed three Red Deer, made a Stage and placed the meat on it in safety to wait the Canoes. This was on the 13th October 1810, and we expected the Canoes to arrive late on the 16th or early on the 17th at latest, but they did not make their appearance; our oldest Hunter of about forty years of age as usual rose very early in the morning and looking at the Stage of Meat, said to me, I have had bad dreams, this meat will never be eaten, he then saddled his Horse and rode off. Somewhat alarmed at his ominous expression and the non-arrival of the canoes, I told Mr Henry and the Indian to proceed thro’ the Woods down along the River in search of the Canoes, and see what detained them, with positive orders not to fire a shot but in self defence; about eight in the evening they returned, and related, that a few miles below us they had seen a camp of Peeagans on the bank of the River, that a short distance below the camp, they had descended the bank to the River side, and found where the Canoes had been. They had made a low rampart of Stones to defend themselves, and there was blood on the stones; they went below this and fired a shot in hopes of an answer from the Canoes, but it was not returned: I told them they had acted very foolishly, that the Peeagans would be on us very early in the morning, and that we must start at the dawn of day, and ride for our lives; on this we acted the next morning, and rode off, leaving the meat: the country we had to pass over was an open forest, but we had to cross, or ride round so many fallen trees that active Men on foot could easily keep up with us; the Peeagans had very early arrived at the Stage of meat and directly followed the tracks of the Horses, and would in the evening have come up with us, but providentially about one in afternoon snow came on which covered our tracks and retarded them; about an hour after, as they related, they came on three grizled Bears direct on the track (they were smelling the tracks of the Horses) they were fully perswaded that I had placed the Bears there to prevent any further pursuit; nor could any arguments to the contrary make them believe otherwise and this belief was a mercy to us: we rode on through the Woods until it was nearly dark, when we were obliged to stop; we remained quiet awaiting our fortune, when finding all quiet, we made a small fire, and passed the night with some anxiety; my situation precluded sleep, cut off from my men, uncertain where to find them, and equally so of the movements of the Indians, I was at a loss what to do, or which way to proceed; morning came and I had to determine what course to take, after being much perplexed whether I should take to the defiles of the Mountains and see if the Men and Horses were safe that were left there; or try and find my Men and Canoes. I determined upon the latter as of the most importance; on the second day we found them about forty miles below the Indians, at a trading Post lately deserted; here after much consultations, we fully perceived we had no further hopes of passing in safety by the defiles of the Saskatchewan River, and that we must now change our route to the defiles of the Athabasca River which would place us in safety, but would be attended with great inconvenience, fatigue, suffering and privation; but there was no alternative." They reached the Athabasca River on Nov 29. By Dec 4, the winter conditions made it impossible to continue on horseback. Thompson and his men set about the task of making snowshoes and sleds to cross the mountains, as well as log huts for the supplies and a shelter for them stay warm as they prepared for their journey. The temperature dropped to -35 C as the winter set in. He writes: "Our whole attention for the present was turned to hunting and securing provisions; having now made Snow Shoes, and Sleds, on the 30th day of December we commenced our journey to cross the Mountains and proceeded up the Athabasca River, sometimes on it’s [sic]shoals and ice, and at times through the woods of it’s [sic]banks. The soil was sandy and a Gale of Wind drifted it to lie on the low branched pines, of wretched growth, for Snow does not lie on Sand Hills; On the 31st December we proceeded but slowly and I had to reduce the weight of the Loads of the Dogs to less than two thirds, and make a Log Hoard to secure what we left…" It was the 5th of January 1811 when they began their push for the summit of Athabasca Pass: "by 11 AM set off with eight Sleds, to each two dogs, with goods and Provisions to cross the Mountains, and three Horses to assist us as far as the depth of the Snow will permit. We are now entering the defiles of the Rocky Mountains by the Athabasca River, the woods of Pine are stunted, full of branches to the ground, and the Aspin, Willow &c not much better: strange to say, here is a strong belief that the haunt of the Mammoth, is about this defile, I questioned several, none could positively say, they had seen him, but their belief I found firm and not to be shaken. I remarked to them, that such an enormous heavy Animal must leave indelible marks of his feet, and his feeding. This they all acknowledged, and that they had never seen any marks of him, and therefore could show me none. All I could say did not shake their belief in his existence." By the 10th of January, they were approaching the pass, and warm winds from the Pacific began to moderate the temperatures: He writes: "the view now before us was an ascent of deep snow, in all appearance to the height of land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it was to me a most exhilarating sight, but to my uneducated men a dreadful sight, they had no scientific object in view, their feelings were of the place they were; our guide Thomas...
This week I look at an amazing report from Alaska that shows that given the choice, salmon may not be a grizzlies first choice for dinner. I also bring to a close, the story of the building of Canada's transcontinental railway..and with that said, let's get to it. Grizzlies Choose Berries over Salmon Every once in a while you come across a study that throws out everything that you thought you knew about a subject. As a biologist and naturalist, I often lament about how tough the bears in the Rockies have it over their counterparts on the north coast of British Columbia and Alaska. To most people, coastal bears live in the land of milk and honey. They have 5 kinds of Pacific salmon, and many kinds of edible berries. I often talk about the importance of understanding the seasonal food preferences of bears in order to stay safe in bear country. If you know what they're eating when they're eating it, it becomes safer to avoid unwanted encounters simply by avoiding the bear's food de jour. Stay clear of what is on today's menu. We often talk about the critical importance of meat in the diet of bears. Here in the Rockies, they don't have a great deal of meaty options. They'll take some 45% of newborn moose and elk calves, feed on winter killed bighorn sheep and mountain goats, and dig up some ground squirrel colonies. Since they can't have enough meat calories, they rely upon buffaloberries to build their fat layers for winter. If they can't find meat, then berries are their second choice…or so that's what we used to think. What if a bear found itself in a world with unlimited numbers of tasty salmon, but also a bumper crop of berries? What do YOU think they would choose? A recent study on Kodiak Island in Alaska tried to discover the answer to this question. They focused on a well-studied portion of the Karluk watershed on the island. Because bears have been studied here for many years, it seemed like a good place to start simply because there was some good historic data that might help them to determine the food preferences of the resident grizzlies. In this study, bears feed on a variety of berries including red elderberry, salmonberry, crowberry and blueberry. Of these four, red elderberry is by far the preferred choice for bears. If you're not familiar with elderberry bushes, look for a shrub that can be as tall as 3 or 4 metres with compound leaves and dense spikes of white flowers. Later, the flowers will be replaced by dense clumps of berries that grizzlies find very appealing. The denseness of the berry clusters is also what makes these berries popular with bears as they don't need to expend great deals of energy eating them. This experiment was prompted as a result of changes in the seasonal food patterns on Kodiak Island. Historically, while sockeye salmon run for 4 months, they are most vulnerable to bears when they enter smaller tributary streams in July and August. Year after year, decade after decade, the salmon always arrive at the same time of year. Because the bears are able to catch the salmon before they spawn, the fish contain up to 3 times more food energy than dying fish. In the past, elderberries ripened later in the season, usually mid-August as the salmon run was beginning to wane. For bears, this was ideal. As one food disappeared, another food was ready for feeding. Things have been changing rapidly in the north as a result of changing climates and increasingly warm spring temperatures. In warm years, the berries are beginning to ripen earlier and earlier, with ripe berries as early as mid-July on some years. For the first time the bears found themselves in a situation where there were two key foods that were available in the same area at the same time. What surprised University of California scientists though was that they did not make the obvious choice - salmon. Instead the majority of bears abandoned the streams and moved upland to feast on elderberries. I know what you're saying - "fake science". After all, no self-respecting carnivore would choose berries over salmon, but despite all logic indicating that they would stick with salmon, they didn't. Biologists used a number of methods to track the bears behaviour in years where the elderberries ripened at the same time as the sockeye runs. When they studied images from 8 years of aerial surveys of the rivers during the salmon run, in every case, years with early berry crops coincided with fewer bears fishing for salmon. This was backed up by looking at areas outside the Karluk River and when 31 years of aerial photographs were compared to ripening dates, the same results were shown. In particular, during the exceedingly warm summers of 2014 and 2015, studies of scat showed the same results. Of 151 scat samples identified, 125 were composed primarily of red elderberries. 2010 formed a good control years as there was a failure of the elderberry crop and, when they looked at the location of GPS collared bears, they remained at the river to feed on the available salmon. Their conclusions showed that if elderberries were available at the same time as sockeye salmon, the bears would largely ignore the salmon and turn into a furry frugivore. As you can imagine, this put the biologists into a tizzy. Why would grizzlies purposely choose foods with lower nutritional value and a lower percentage of protein. When they looked into the nutritional content of the foods, they discovered that the berries offered only around 50% as much food energy as salmon. This number can be reduced even further when you consider that with a seemingly endless number of salmon, the bears are able to select just the most nutritious parts like the skin, the brains and the eggs. This still seemed to confound common sense. They had to look deeper. What they discovered is that it's not just about calories. In order for the bears to maximize weight gain, they may need to look beyond simple calories. The choice may be impacted by the relative percentages of macronutrients like protein. They turned to food studies of bears in captivity. In one case, the bears were given the choice of foods of varying protein levels. The bears selected foods with protein levels in the 11-21% range, much lower than the 83% found in salmon, but right in the range of elderberry with 12.8%. In the end, it looks like all calories are not created equal. When given the choice, bears looked for a more moderate amount of protein. Elderberries may be the berry of choice, despite there being other available berries to choose from, simply because they occur in dense clumps which allows bears to eat vast numbers while expending minimal energy. As temperatures continue to warm, the trend looks like elderberries will continue to ripen earlier and earlier. Currently, they are ripening at a rate of 2-1/2 days earlier each decade. This would put the average ripening date at the same time as the peak salmon run by the year 2070. It's unknown how this will affect bears in the long run. Currently, the two foods normally occur sequentially, extending their feeding season. It will also depend on what other food options are available to bears once the salmon and elderberry harvest ends. I love it when science gets turned on its head. Sometimes the obvious conclusion just isn't the right one. This study helps to really show the importance of fruit to black and grizzly bears. It also has a local connections as we look to the end of buffaloberry season. This study helps to show why berries are critical to bears and it also means that it is even more important for us to protect the supply of berries for our local bear populations. Simply chopping down every buffaloberry bush in town is NOT the solution. Bears are creatures of habit. Once a location is a part of their regular foraging routine, they'll continue to return. If they don't find buffaloberries, then they may find…crabapples. Wildlife corridors should be for wildlife. Clear berry bushes from places like the Peaks, but the wildlife corridor berries should be left for the bears. If the berries are concentrated there, so will the bears be. If, as a community, we can get people to respect closures, than maybe we can help to keep the bears healthy and the wildlife corridors viable. Next up…the last spike The Last Spike Over the past few weeks, I've introduced you to the main players in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This week, I want to talk about the completion of the line through the Kicking Horse and Roger's Passes. While the stories of adventure and exploration were taking place, the financiers and managers were doing everything they could to keep the flow of money coming…and many times, they were failing. In 1880, the government of Canada gave the contract to finish the CPR to a group of financiers led by George Stephen and Donald Smith. The contract required the line to be finished within 10 years and offered the "syndicate" a monopoly of the line along with $25 million in cash and 25 million acres of land grants in stages as they completed sections of the track. When the job was done, they would be given an additional 1,100 km of track already completed. The value of those lines was some $75 million. During the battles to pass the C.P.R. contract in the house, the conservatives had to defeat 23 different amendments during an excess of 30 sessions that extended past midnight. The ordeal took its toll on Macdonald who was confined to bed with severe bowel cramps when the contract was passed in parliament. When he left for England to recuperate, many believed they would never see him again. Stephen knew that it would be next to impossible to raise money in England due to the fiasco surrounding another Canadian railroad, the Grand Trunk. It had earned the nickname “The Big Suitcase” for the immense amounts of money it had managed to walk away with, without ever paying a penny in dividends. The Grand Trunk also did all it could to discredit the C.P.R., whom it saw as a competitor. When Stephen arrived in London, he was shocked to find that the newspapers were more interested in the fact that Jumbo the elephant had been sold to P.T. Barnum. This was a few years before John, Paul, George and Ringo, and Jumbo was the closest thing England had to a Rock Star…he was one famous elephant. Revenge can be sweet though, and Stephen had his chuckle when, just three weeks before the hammering of the last spike, a Grand Trunk locomotive ran over Jumbo and killed him. Financial difficulties were not long in arriving, and repeatedly, the syndicate had to ask the government for assistance. Each hand out made it more difficult to approve the next, and to cut costs, Sandford Fleming’s Yellowhead Pass route was abandoned for the shorter route through the Kicking Horse Pass. In the two years between 1880 and 1882, the company spent almost $59 million dollars, but barely collected $21 million. The remaining $37 million was not covered by the fact that they had less than $20 million in investor money. That left them with a whopping $17 million in debt. Thomas Shaughnessy, the C.P.R.’s purchasing agent managed to keep the line afloat through some interesting financial dealings. In one case, an American firm accused him of taking bribes to secure work, while not delivering. When he was hauled into Stephen’s office, he pulled out a collection of deposit slips, all to the C.P.R. account, which totaled exactly what the American firm had claimed. When asked if they had been bribes, he answered: “Of Course, but by God we needed the money didn’t we!” In the end it became clear that they needed at least another $27 million dollars in order to get the line through. The only way to get the funding would be for the government to, once again, bail the railway out. By Dec of 1883 Stephen was desperate, and he wired Prime Minister John A. Macdonald: "Things have now reached a point when we must either stop or find the means of going on. Our enemies here and elsewhere think they can now break us down and finish the CPR forever." While Macdonald had no interest in bailing out the railroad yet again, his Minister of Railways, John Henry Pope pointed out: "the day the Canadian Pacific busts the Conservative party busts the day after" Once again, the railroad was bailed out. In October, Stephen set out for one last fund raising trip to England. Along with him was Macdonald who was trying to escape the stress that pushing through the railroad aid bills had put on him. Finally, through a feat of financial finagling, Stephen managed to borrow $250,000 from a Scottish bank. He then sent off the most famous telegram in Canadian history to Smith—all it read was “Stand Fast Craigellachie” Smith and Stephen had grown up in Banffshire, Scotland, and a giant rock nearby had become a symbol of the clan Grant’s defiance during the clan wars—it was known as Craigellachie. This telegram was Stephen’s way of informing Smith that the funds were on the way. A final saving grace occurred when a Metis named Louis Riel, led a revolt against the government beginning in March of 1885. The Metis were of mixed blood French/Indian origin and had begun to attack settlements in the west and the troops were being sent in. Van Horne dedicated all the resources of the railroad to get 3,000 troops to the front in just 7 days. With this quick response, the uprising was quelled more quickly than expected. An earlier uprising had required 3 months to get troops to the front. Suddenly the railroad had shown it had more value, and the government bailed them out at the eleventh hour. Workers had not been paid for several months and were refusing to work. The banks had turned them down for any temporary loans, and when the government agreed to back their loan, Van Horne Stated that when they received the news: “We tossed up chairs to the ceiling; we tramped on desks; I believe we danced on tables. I do not fancy that any of us knows what occurred, and no one who was there can ever remember anything except loud yells of joy and the sound of things breaking.” Van Horne then sent out a hasty telegraph to Shaughnessy. All it said was: “Pay creditors now. Van Horne.” Stephen had lost all pleasure in the enterprise. The government sent appraisers to his vast Montreal mansion for security for his loan. They evaluated everything from his silverware to his underwear, and with a stroke of a pen, he signed it all away. In fact, he did not even go to the hammering of the last spike, but returned to Scotland to recover from the strain. The Last Spike Ceremony Finally, on Nov. 7, 1885 the day had arrived. The last spike would finally be hammered. The location was named Craigellachie in honour of the three word telegram that had saved the railway. But before I tell the story of our last spike, I like to share the story of the American last spike ceremony that occurred in 1869 in Promontory, Utah because no two events could be so wonderfully different. In Promontory Utah, there were two gold, and two silver spikes. The main spike had been forged at a cost of $400. Attached to the spikes were telegraph wires, so the whole country could hear it driven home. The Governor of California was on hand for the occasion and he had a specially designed silver maul, silver hammer with which to drive the stake. When everyone was in position and the cameras were ready, he raised that hammer and he brought it down…and he missed. He missed the last spike. That's okay because the telegraph operator sent the word "done" and simultaneous celebrations broke out from New York to San Francisco. They even rang the long silent liberty bell. When Van Horne was asked about what kind of ceremony he would like, he declared that '“...the only ceremony I fancy may occur will be the damning of the foreman for not driving it sooner...” He also declared that there would be no golden spike, that the last spike would be a plain iron spike, as good as all the rest. There were no heads of state or government at the hammering of our last spike, just some of the financiers and surveyors who would not have missed this moment, along with the workers that just happened to be there at the time. In the photograph, hammering the spike is Donald Smith, one of the main financiers. Behind him, with a stove pipe hat and patriarchal style beard is Sandford Fleming. To Fleming’s right, with his hands in his pockets, is William Cornelius Van Horne. Out of sight is Major A.B. Rogers, and way in the back, with a Stetson hat, peaking over the crowd, is a young Tom Wilson who would not have missed this day for the world. Now Donald Smith had heard the story of the Governor of California missing the spike, and we would have no such shenanigans here. And so when everything was ready, and the cameras were in position, he raised his hammer, took careful aim, and he brought it down…and he didn't miss!… …he bent it. He bent the last spike! It obviously had to be taken out, so we actually had two last spikes in Canada. It was later cut up into pieces to make souvenir pins for the many dignitaries that were not present. A new spike was put into place, and this time Smith drove the spike home. It was also immediately pulled out. The last thing we wanted was souvenir hunters tearing up the track as soon as we got it built. After the spike, there was silence, as the men pondered the friends they had made, the friends they had lost, and in more cases than not, just what the heck they were going to do next because with that simple act they were now unemployed. The silence was followed by a cheer and cries for a speech. We needed some words by which to mark the occasion…after all, what would the historians say? Finally Van Horne reluctantly agreed. He climbed on the platform, cleared his throat and stated: “All I can say is that the work has been done well in every way!” That was it. That was the entire text of the speech at our last spike ceremony. After that, Major A.B. Rogers, so taken by the moment, forgot about hiding his emotions, grabbed a piece of railroad tie and tried to thrust it into the ground to mark the spot. After a few minutes of private celebration, the sound of a train whistle and a call of “all aboard for the pacific” broke the silence. And for the first time, the train was able to continue over what had once been a gap in the tracks, and that little train chugged its way into history. The last spike had been removed shortly after the dignitaries left by Frank Brothers. In the famous photograph of the event, he's the bearded man on the left of the image looking directly at the camera. He later presented it to Edward Beatty who became the first Canadian born president of the CPR. It was reportedly stolen from his desk and at that point it was largely lost in history. In 2012, the mystery of the missing spike may have finally been solved. Rumour has it that the spike somehow made its way to railroad surveyor Henry Cambie, who in turn gave it to the chief of the patent office in Ottawa, W.J. Lynch. It was to be a gift for his son, Arthur who was a railroad buff. From Arthur it made its way to his daughter, Margo Remnant. The spike was silver plated and fashioned into the handle of a knife blade. Metallurgical studies showed it was consistent with the metal used in spikes at the time. In 2012, Remnant's widow presented it to the Museum of Civilization where hopefully it will find a permanent home. And with that, it's time to wrap this episode up. I want to thank you for sharing your time with me and I appreciate you hitting the subscribe button so that you don't miss any future episodes. Ward Cameron Enterprises is your specialist on guided hikes, tours and photography outings across the mountain west. If you'd like to make the most of your mountain experience drop us a line at info@wardcameron.com or hit me up on Twitter @wardcameron. Don't forget you can always comment and find links to additional information in the show notes at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep042. And with that said, the sun's out and it's time to go hiking. I'll see you next week.
Episode 22 - Wishing You Have A N.E.A.T. Christmas Merry Christmas to all! Stephanie is extremely excited this week and for good reason. It is Christmas and there's much to celebrate. The Christmas music, the beautiful decorations, the presents and all that delicious food (especially sweets) which, as it turns out, Stephanie can not say no to. And why even try?! It only happens once a year and Stephanie has a solution anyway. So listen up. N.E.A.T. is the acronym mostly used around her home and here at the production studio. YES! Finally something we can all do this time of year that won't completely stress us out...something we barely even need to think about at all because it comes so natural to us. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis - Yes...hard to say so just use that good 'ol acronym...N.E.A.T. Fidget, pace, stand, reach, gesture, make that extra, but needed, trip to the mall and you've got the idea behind N.E.A.T. So you absolutely know what to do by now...get that hot cup of tea, or perhaps cocoa, and settle in but this time turn your head from side to side, pet your cat, who we know is on your lap and fidget every once in awhile. Ahhh, now you've got the hang of it! You're doing your N.E.A.T. for the day and you know it feels good! Yes it does! Remember the Christmas Contest! Questions are found in episode 20. CONTEST RULES You must answer all three of the questions that are in this episode correctly (the answers can be found in past holiday episodes) AND write a review on iTunes to be eligible to win one of the three prizes in our RANDOM drawing. Please submit your answers to the questions and the name you used for the iTunes review BY DEC. 23, 2016 to our email address: talktalesandtrivia@gmail.com That's it! Easy-Peezy! Good Luck! Visit our website: http://www.talktalesandtrivia.com/ *Here's a massive thumbs up and a huge thank you to our Audio Engineer, Cartoonr. I highly recommend him. See the link below: Cartoonr page on fiverr.com *Intro/End music is "Happy Go Lucky" by Scott Holmes *Added music is "Santa Claus 2" by People Like Us *Fill out this really cool survey so we can see who's listening and make Talk, Tales and Trivia even better (250 submits needed!): https://survey.libsyn.com/talktalesandtrivia Please visit our Patreon page to contribute to this here podcast: https://www.patreon.com/talktalesandtrivia Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkTalesEtc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talktalesandtrivia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talktalesandtrivia/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com iHeart Radio: http://www.iheart.com Stiticher: http://www.stitcher.com Google Play Music: TalkTalesAndTrivia *Contacttalktalesandtrivia@gmail.com
Episode 21 - The "Yule Log" - New York's Christmas Morning Favorite YES! We are getting closer to Christmas Day and Stephanie is getting more and more excited. In this episode Stephanie explains a New York Christmas tradition...the "Yule Log" that aired 4 hours on WPIX Channel 11 every Christmas morning. If you don't know about this regional favorite...well...you are not alone. Stephanie goes into what, where, why and how the "Yule Log" actually began and why New Yorker's love it so much. There's so much to love in this Christmas tradition. Yes there is! *Special Note - Stephanie also wants to give some musicians who play great Christmas music a voice, if you will, on these Christmas episodes. They are so fantastic and rightly deserve recognition. That is why on the past few episodes there has been Christmas music from some wonderful musicians found on http://freemusicarchive.org Check it out! So go now and grab your slippers, your favorite hot beverage and cozy up to this episode about the "Yule Log". Then on Christmas Day turn on the tube or computer and stare dreamily into the fiery embers. You'll thank Stephanie later. Remember the Christmas Contest! Questions are found in episode 20. CONTEST RULES You must answer all three of the questions that are in this episode correctly (the answers can be found in past holiday episodes) AND write a review on iTunes to be eligible to win one of the three prizes in our RANDOM drawing. Please submit your answers to the questions and the name you used for the iTunes review BY DEC. 23, 2016 to our email address: talktalesandtrivia@gmail.com That's it! Easy-Peezy! Good Luck! Visit our website: http://www.talktalesandtrivia.com/ *Here's a massive thumbs up and a huge thank you to our Audio Engineer, Cartoonr. I highly recommend him. See the link below: Cartoonr page on fiverr.com *Intro/End music is "Happy Go Lucky" by Scott Holmes *Added music is "It's Christmas Time Again" by Factories & Alleyways *Fill out this really cool survey so we can see who's listening and make Talk, Tales and Trivia even better (250 submits needed!): https://survey.libsyn.com/talktalesandtrivia Please visit our Patreon page to contribute to this here podcast: https://www.patreon.com/talktalesandtrivia Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkTalesEtc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talktalesandtrivia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talktalesandtrivia/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com iHeart Radio: http://www.iheart.com Stiticher: http://www.stitcher.com Google Play Music: TalkTalesAndTrivia *Contacttalktalesandtrivia@gmail.com
Episode 20 - YES! The Holidays And Our 20th! Ahhh...here we are at our Big 2-0! Talk, Tales and Trivia turns 20 this episode and to celebrate we have a contest! Woot-Woot! Stephanie is so exciting because, well, she loves spreading good cheer and she loves contests (although she readily admits that she has never won a contest, boo-hoo). This episode is all about the 1964 stop-motion animation "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". Well, we all know the story...but do we really?! Hmmm... This brings back warm, fuzzy memories for Stephanie as she tells a tale of her own when she was practically a baby. Shhh, let's not talk about THAT. So, you know what to do, right? Get those p.j.'s on, a steaming cup of (insert your favorite beverage here)________ and snuggle in for this episode and then watch "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". You know that feels cozy! Yes you do. CONTEST RULES You must answer all three of the questions that are in this episode correctly (the answers can be found in past holiday episodes) AND write a review on iTunes to be eligible to win one of the three prizes in our RANDOM drawing. Please submit your answers to the questions and the name you used for the iTunes review BY DEC. 23, 2016 to our email address: talktalesandtrivia@gmail.com That's it! Easy-Peezy! Good Luck! Visit our website: http://www.talktalesandtrivia.com/ *Here's a massive thumbs up and a huge thank you to our Audio Engineer, Cartoonr. I highly recommend him. See the link below: Cartoonr page on fiverr.com *Intro/End music is "Happy Go Lucky" by Scott Holmes *Additional song in this episode is "Winter Wonderland" by Leah Morrow *Here are some links to the cool items mentioned in this episode: The Original Christmas Classics Gift Set Cool Rudolph Night light *Fill out this really cool survey so we can see who's listening and make Talk, Tales and Trivia even better (250 submits needed!): https://survey.libsyn.com/talktalesandtrivia Please visit our Patreon page to contribute to this here podcast: https://www.patreon.com/talktalesandtrivia Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalkTalesEtc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talktalesandtrivia/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talktalesandtrivia/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com Stiticher: http://www.stitcher.com Google Play Music: TalkTalesAndTrivia *Contacttalktalesandtrivia@gmail.com
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