1 September, VIRUS 2020
‘We’ve covered huge swathes of the UK in tarmac’: how roads affect birds. The Guardian
Hi John, Imagine rescuing 74 koalas over four intense weeks in fire-affected forests. ‘I was frequently in tears, seeing animals in such excruciating pain,” said wildlife carer Kai Wild. Nature Conservation Council newsletter
Dear John, Our birds urgently need your voice today. Last week the Morrison Government introduced amendments to Parliament that if passed will weaken our national nature laws. Can you call your Member of Parliament today? Birdlife Australia email
To reduce disasters, we must cut greenhouse emissions. So why isn’t the bushfire royal commission talking about this? Yesterday, the bushfire royal commission handed down interim observations. But there’s a glaring omission. The Conversation
Researchers set out to clear the seabed of plastic. Eighty-six million metric tons of plastics end up in the oceans every year, with devastating consequences for marine life, nature and, ultimately, for us humans. The vast floating patches of plastic carpeting the water’s surface, some as large as entire countries, are only the tip of the iceberg. Around 90 percent of this garbage ends up on the seabed. Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG)
Differing diets of bonobo groups may offer insights into how culture is created. Human societies developed food preferences based on a blend of what was available and what the group decided it liked most. Those predilections were then passed along as part of the set of socially learned behaviors, values, knowledge, and customs that make up culture. eLife, Harvard University
Be quiet, let’s listen! Let’s read a poem. Lithub[1]
I wake disappointed, still feeling crook. It’s meant to be raining. I mean. I believe weather forecasts are more right than wrong. Pied Butcherbirds are playing a different song below the blue-grey overcoat.
~
Listening to Bartok: ‘In 1938, immediately following the Nazi takeover of Austria, Bartók’s Vienna-based publisher, Universal Editions, was ‘Nazified’. Along with his friend and colleague Zoltán Kodály, Bartók received a questionnaire from the newly Nazified publishing house, asking him about his ancestry and allegiance:
“Are you of German blood, a related race, or non-Aryan?”
Bartók later wrote:
“Of course neither I nor Kodály filled it out: such inquisitions are contrary to right and law. In a way it’s too bad, because one could make some pretty good jokes in answering. For example, we might say that we are not Aryans – because in the final analysis ‘Aryan’ means ‘Indo-European’; we Magyars, however, are Finno-Ugrics, yes, and what is more, perhaps racially Northern Turks, consequently not at all Indo-European and therefore non-Aryan. Another question runs thus: ‘Where and when were you wounded?’ Answer: ‘March, 1938, in Vienna!’”[2]
~
Vdrome remind me it’s the last day to watch Djuma Waterhole.[3] I click on to a blurred B&W image of a road and bushes, it’s raining, it’s night. The camera eventually moves searching for its prey. It is boring.[4]
The spiel reads: ‘During its morning bath, an elephant touches its eye with its nose; Herds of nyala graze together, one and they are many; A leopard drinks water at dusk, scanning its surroundings; A hippo swims, little birds pecking its back; Mosquitoes buzz under the scorching sun; The fluorescent eyes of a crocodile stare at you in the darkness of the night.
You have seen them all
You have missed them all.’
~
I am here. Roos are out back, a couple in the garden. [Post – on roos]
The joey trying to eat the grasses growing up through the Dwarf Baeckea. We don’t name them, have no wish to, but we do lose track of who’s who.
~
Following Birdlife’s request, I ring my MP, Pat Conaghan, a National Party member in the House of Reps. He wasn’t in. I spoke to Liz his office manager, explaining that I was worried that the rushed environmental legislation that is being tabled in Parliament today will weaken environmental laws at a time when, due to climate change and the recent horrendous bushfires, our birds, plants and animals are under more stress than ever before.
She said she had only read part of the proposed legislation but was supportive of my concerns and said she would pass them on. I said the National Party represents graziers and farmers and rural voters, but who represents the eco-processes they depend on? We discussed farming practices and sustainability and she assured me that this issue – regarding soil, water, food production were top of their agenda. What to believe?
~
I have appointment with my Doctor. it’s over the phone now. We have a laugh, just routine, annual blood test, now part of trying to live for ever now.
[1] ‘Can Poets Show the Way Forward for Europe? . . . For years we talked about pollution, about climate change, about overconsumption, about the murderous, toxic effects of a faster world, but apparently, until this disaster, we never understood that time was up . . . Take a deep breath behind your mask, like this, all together, all at once. Something’s rattling, near the heart. Something is wrong in Europe. Believe us. It might not show in the imaging techniques yet, but we can hear it. It shows in the poem. Be quiet, let’s listen! Let’s read a poem.’ Krisztina Tóth: A Letter From Hungary, lithub, 1 Sep 2020
[2] https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/the-string-quartet-at-a-time-of-war-bela-bartok-string-quartet-no-6/. The Anschluss, also known as the Anschluss Österreichs, refers to the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.
[3] Vdrome screening email. Djuma Waterhole is located in the Sabi Sands, on the edge of the Kruger National Park.
[4] Broadcasting live since 1998, this is the oldest waterhole camera in Africa and the world. The camera is remotely controlled over the internet by volunteers. They log into the camera according to a schedule in shifts, and pan, tilt and zoom in search of animals.
