War Paws: Charity Day

War Paws: International Charity Day

LET’s GET LUCKY Home

Lucky is another pup who has been fortunate enough to win the heart of a Brit working in Iraq. Her dad tells her story below, Lucky only needs to raise £2500 so we would ask you to dig deep and share far and wide and help us to reunite her with her dad. ”I met this puppy whilst working nights at a checkpoint on the oilfield in South Rumaila, Basrah, Iraq. I went back to the checkpoint 5 nights in a row where i was continuously greeted with the happy, waggy tailed pup who’d instantly roll onto her back submissively, then at the first opportunity, playfully dive at my shoes trying to pull at my shoelaces and trouser leg. Over the period of time i was there i accumulated a strong bond with her.  Already knowing the fates of the majority of the dogs on the oilfield i knew i needed to rescue her for a much better life, where she would be away from the many dangers and guaranteed short life due to dying either from neglect, passing vehicles, or being poisoned, which is a common practice to cull dogs in Iraq.”

  https://warpaws.org/donations/lets-get-lucky-home/

LUNA WANTS TO COME HOME, CAN YOU HELP?

The lovely, cute Luna arrived with us in June and is currently staying in the lovely boarding facility we use for the dogs who have owners.  Her dad desperately wants to bring her home and has already paid a chunk of her ticket home but we need your help to get her to full target.  Luna has the most beautiful eyes and she is a typical happy puppy full of love and waggy tail and she really does deserve to come home and be reunited with her dad and new doggy siblings, can you help? Her dad tells her story below have been working in Iraq since 2015 and always had a site companion any looked after them. My current site has a few dogs and we have had numerous litters over the last 2 years and they always get removed from site after becoming a nuisance to some of the residents on site with barking through the night and mess. I have taken a particular shine to Luna as she turned up and sat at my office. She has the most beautiful eyes. As soon as I saw her I took her in and have been feeding and training her. My family all love her and I am desperate to get her home to the UK to be with my family

 https://warpaws.org/donations/luna-wants-to-come-home-can-you-help/

HAWKEYE (BREAGHA) NEEDS YOUR HELP

This is Hawkeye, she arrived at the shelter in Iraq a few months ago, a pitiful sight, skin and bone.  She quickly learned that life could be good after all,  with lots of love, attention and food and now she has a golden opportunity to come and live in Scotland with one of our amazing War Paws supporters. Her new mom has written about why she wants to bring Hawkeye (soon to be known as Breagha) home to Scotland “Breagha (pronounced Bree-aah – Scottish Gaelic for beautiful) At our 5 acre Highland Croft in Scotland we have lost three of our beloved dog pack to old age in recent weeks. We believe the greatest tribute you can pay to a much loved departed soul, is to give their space to one that really needs it and Hawkeye deserves a life of freedom, love and care after a rotten start in life with her chain embedded in her neck as a mere puppy. Thanks to War Paws her fortune can completely change now. To help her “come home” we need your help. Once she is here she will have the best life – friends, good food, companionship and everything a beautiful girl could ask for, but first we need to secure her travel. Will you help our wee beauty travel to Scotland?   We will be extremely grateful, and so will Breagha

 https://warpaws.org/donations/hawkeye-breagha-needs-your-help/

PLEASE HELP LOKIE TO COME HOME

Lokie was born on a gas facility in Basrah about 18 months ago.  She never really fitted in with the rest of the pack dogs and as a result was attacked many times.  Thankfully for Lokie a kind contractor on the facility took her in and offered her safe shelter and the time has now come for him to take her home. Lokie arrived with us in Erbil early June, she had been spayed by a local vet in Basrah and was suffering from an infection at the incision site but we were able to get that sorted out quickly and she is now settled into the boarding facility where she will be looked after until she is ready to be reunited with her dad.Lokie’s dad has already covered approx half of her costs and we are now hoping that you can help us to spread the word and raise the remainder.  We only need to raise £2500 and just as soon as she has  passed the FAVN blood testing and completed the 3 month waiting time we can get her on a freedom flight home. Please share Lokie’s fundraiser, lets help this lovely girl to come home and see that there is a wonderful life ahead of her after such a rough start.

https://warpaws.org/donations/please-help-lokie-to-come-home/

AID FOR UKRAINE ANIMALS

It has been crazy busy at the shelter in Romania that is currently home to 97 dogs most of whom were rescued from Ukraine.  Louise did a very quick 3 days trip to Romania a few weeks ago to start the process of titre testing with the lovely Romanian vet who is taking care of the medical needs of our dogs.  In 3 days we managed to get the bloods drawn for 77 of the 97 dogs and those samples are now at the lab in the UK and we hope to start seeing the results in about a week.  Some of the dogs at the shelter are actually Romanian so as soon as we have the titre tests back we will be working with European Rescues to find them fosters and placements as the British government extended the ban until September, on animals from Ukraine, Romania, Poland and Belarus a few days ago and we simply do not expect the ban to just go away.  The dogs who came from Ukraine who have had their titres done will remain at the shelter in Romania until the 3 month wait time has passed and the can be moved legally.

There has been some major renovations going on at the shelter on Romania, a new kennel block is being built, a quarantine section for new arrivals is being built and in time an onsite clinic will be built.  As well as all this we have been ensuring weekly vet visits to the shelter, making sure every dog is vaccinated, chipped, treated for internal and external parasites and blood tests for all the usual illnesses we see from the EU and Ukraine regions. As well as this we have funded another food transport run to Poland and we have also provided life saving funding for Odessa Cat Crew to help them keep going with the many cats and dogs in their care in Ukraine.

Your donations have been hard at work and we are more grateful than you can imagine but as expected we have seen a steep decline in donations for the animals of Ukraine, we understand, the cost of living crisis is kicking butt all over the world but we want you to know we will not give up, your support is making a difference and we will ensure these dogs are cared for and we would ask that you continue to share our fundraiser even if you cannot donate.

https://warpaws.org/donations/aid-for-ukraine-animals/

^ Today is International Charity Day:

War Paws helps abandoned, sick and abused animals in War Zones (from Iraq to Ukraine.)

Please check out the links to see the different animals and fundraisers. You can donate in: US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, British Pounds and Euros. ^

United24: Charity Day

From United 24’s Facebook:

Today, the world celebrates the International Day of Charity — so we thought we'd share something about UNITED24:

In 4 months of work, we've received many donations, from $1 to $1 million; from children who gave away their pocket money to people over 80 years old donating part of their pensions; from students to the owners of corporations; from South Africa to Norway — basically, from everywhere!

We want to congratulate each of you on this day, because this is your holiday.

Thank you for helping us through the biggest challenge in our history.

Thank you for supporting Ukraine!

https://u24.gov.ua/?fbclid=IwAR3KHbBYmSwqNzbiYP5-D-UxjvQrX_-9VRxjtyD3i9zsQ-Iyeg2_BgzEB7g

Your Dog Loves You

 

Liberated Towns

 

Ukrainian Troops liberated Vysokopillya (Ukrainian: Високопілля) in Kherson Oblast which had been under Russian Occupation since March 2022.

If you think you are tired of hearing about Russia’s War in Ukraine stop and think about the Ukrainians who are being tortured, wounded, killed and forced to live under Russian Occupation.

One step closer to a Russian Defeat!

Can't wait to see more Blue and Yellow across the region!

50: Munich Massacre

Munich Massacre

(The Israeli attendance was meaningful. Just 27 years after the end of the Holocaust, the memory of the atrocities was fresh in all the minds of the coaches and athletes. The team marked its arrival with a visit to the Dachau concentration camp.)

Munich massacre, terrorist attack on Israeli Olympic team members at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich orchestrated by affiliates of the Palestinian militant group Black September. The Munich Games marked the first return of the Olympics to a German city since the 1936 Games in Berlin. Adolf Hitler’s use of those Games as a platform for the propagation of Nazi ideology was roundly criticized, as was the blatant racism and anti-Semitism that characterized the Games. The West German invitation had been extended, in part at least, to offer the world a contrast to the horrifying spectacle of Berlin. The spectre of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics also loomed over Munich. Ten days before the 1968 games opened, hundreds of students at Tlatelolco Plaza in Mexico City were gunned down by government forces, and the Mexican military was a conspicuous presence throughout the Games. In contrast, Munich organizers spent less than $2 million on security, and security personnel were to be unarmed, inconspicuous, and nonconfrontational. The XX Olympiad began on August 26, 1972, as thousands of athletes from more than 120 countries celebrated the opening ceremonies of what the organizers had dubbed Die Heiteren Spiele (“The Cheerful Games”).

Attack on the Olympic Village

(A Palestinian terrorist stands guard as Israeli hostages are held captive as leverage to demand the release of political prisoners by the Israeli government.)

For more than a week, the Games unfolded without incident. The day of terror began at 4:30 AM on September 5, 1972, when eight Palestinian militants affiliated with Black September—a militant offshoot of the Palestinian group Fatah—scaled a fence surrounding the Olympic Village in Munich. Disguised as athletes and using stolen keys, they forced their way into the quarters of the Israeli Olympic team at 31 Connollystrasse. As they attempted to enter Apartment 1, they were confronted by Yossef Gutfreund, a wrestling referee, and Moshe Weinberg, a wrestling coach. Weinberg was shot while fighting with the attackers, who forced him at gunpoint to lead them to the rooms of the remaining Israeli coaches and athletes. It has been proposed that Weinberg led the attackers past Apartment 2—which was also being used by the Israeli team—because he believed that the wrestlers and weightlifters in Apartment 3 would be better able to fight back. However, Black September had detailed plans of the Olympic Village and the dispositions of the Israeli athletes. Shaul Ladany, a race walker who survived the attack after escaping from Apartment 2, suggested that it was much more likely that his room was bypassed because he was housed with members of the Israeli shooting team. The terrorists had struggled to subdue the unarmed men in Apartment 1; it is unlikely that they had wished to engage in a close-quarters gun battle with world-class marksmen in the opening minutes of their operation.

(Israeli Olympic Team members being held captive by Black September before their eventual murders during the Munich Massacre of 1972.)

In Apartment 3 the terrorists gathered more hostages and forced them back to Apartment 1. Wrestler Gad Tsabari broke from the group and dashed down a flight of stairs toward an underground parking garage, and Weinberg took advantage of the confusion to again fight the attackers. Weinberg had nearly gained control of a terrorist’s gun when he was shot and killed. Despite being on crutches due to an injury during competition, Yossef Romano, a weightlifter, also made an attempt to disarm one of the terrorists. Romano was killed and his mutilated body was left on the floor of Apartment 1 as a warning. While two Israelis lay dead in the Olympic Village and nine others were being held hostage, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Avery Brundage insisted that the games continue. The terrorists demanded the liberation of more than 200 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, the release of Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof of the Red Army Faction from German prisons, and the provision of an airplane to fly them to a safe destination in the Middle East. While negotiations were ongoing, a planned rescue attempt had to be called off when it was realized that actions of West German police were being broadcast live to nearly 1 billion people around the world and to the many televisions throughout the Olympic Village. At about 10:00 PM on September 5, believing they had reached an agreement, the terrorists led their bound and blindfolded hostages from their quarters into buses that transported them to waiting helicopters.

Massacre at Fürstenfeldbruck

(A crowd gathers to get updates on the unfolding events. Black September demanded the release of 200 political prisoners. The Israeli government refused to negotiate. The German authorities, without anti-terrorist response unit, didn’t know what to do.)

The helicopters carried them to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, 15 miles (25 km) west of the Olympic Village, where police were lying in ambush. Although the German army had better training and equipment for such a mission, under West Germany’s postwar constitution, the armed forces were forbidden from aiding the civilian police. The police snipers used in the operation had not received formal training as sharpshooters, they were improperly placed and inadequate in number, and they lacked radios to communicate with each other or with commanders. In addition, they were armed with assault rifles rather than sniper rifles, and their weapons had neither long-range scopes nor night-vision capability. On the air base tarmac was a Boeing 727 filled with 17 police officers disguised as a Lufthansa flight crew. It was intended that these officers would subdue the terrorists once they had boarded the plane, but the police unanimously chose to abandon their posts. Armoured cars that were to have aided in the rescue of the Israelis were dispatched too late and became stuck in traffic. With myriad failures in both planning and execution, the result was a disaster on virtually every level.

(Ankie Spitzer in the room where her husband, Andre, the Israeli fencing coach, was killed by terrorists in 1972. She has urged the I.O.C. to hold a moment of silence at the Olympic Games.)

The helicopters arrived about 10:30 PM, and two terrorists went to inspect the jetliner. Finding it empty and becoming aware of the deception, they shouted to their comrades, at which point West German police fired upon them. A gun battle ensued, and several terrorists and one police officer were killed. The helicopter flight crews ran for cover, but the Israeli athletes were bound together and trapped. After the initial fusillade, in which the terrorists also shot out the floodlights that had been illuminating the tarmac, the scene settled into a tense stalemate punctuated by sporadic gunfire. Onlookers surrounded the airfield, and sportscaster Jim McKay, who was anchoring Olympic coverage for the U.S. network ABC, provided television viewers with preliminary updates. At midnight, a German official announced that all the hostages had been freed and all the terrorists had been killed, a report that proved to be tragically premature. Just after midnight, a terrorist tossed a hand grenade into one of the helicopters, killing all but one of the Israeli hostages aboard; David Berger, an American-born wrestler, succumbed to smoke inhalation before rescue personnel could reach him. A second terrorist sprayed the interior of the other helicopter with bullets at close range, murdering the five remaining Israelis.

(The stunned Israeli athletes and officials return home.)

Too late to aid in the rescue effort, the armoured cars finally reached the runway, but their crews had no knowledge of the deployment of police personnel in the field and no way to communicate with them. A gunman ran toward a position where one of the helicopter pilots and a police sniper had taken cover. The terrorist was shot and killed by the sniper, but the movement on the darkened runway drew fire from one of the armoured cars, and both the pilot and sniper were seriously wounded by friendly fire. By 12:30 AM on September 6, the shooting had stopped, and the 20-hour reign of terror was over. Eleven Israelis had been killed, along with one Munich policeman, and five Black September terrorists lay dead. Three of the gunmen were captured. At 3:00 AM McKay, who had been broadcasting from the Olympic Village for 14 straight hours, summarized the tragic outcome of the botched rescue with the words “They’re all gone.” For the first time in history, the Olympic Games were suspended, for 24 hours, in tribute to the murdered athletes.

(A military escort transports the coffins of the dead athletes and officials back to Israel)

At a memorial service on September 6, Brundage announced that the games would continue. He then drew parallels between the murder of 11 Israelis and an IOC decision to bar Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from competition in Munich. Rhodesia had been banned because of its racist policies, and Brundage, who had supported Rhodesia’s inclusion in the games, seemed to take the IOC’s ruling as a personal attack. Many in the stadium and throughout the world were stunned by the callous statement, and Brundage later apologized. Nevertheless, the Munich massacre and Brundage’s seeming refusal to grasp the significance of Jewish blood being shed on German soil would cast a pall on his two decades of service at the head of the IOC.

German and Israeli responses

(The Olympic flag hangs at half-mast during the funeral ceremony in the Olympic Stadium for the victims of the terrorist attack.)

 An inquiry into the tragedy, conducted by the German federal government, the Bavarian government, and the Munich police, found that the attack had been unavoidable. The officials involved effectively exonerated the police and themselves. They reached this conclusion despite having commissioned a report that had predicted the Black September attack with haunting specificity. In the months prior to the Games, the Munich Olympics organizing committee had asked police psychologist Georg Sieber to “tabletop” dozens of worst-case security scenarios. Among the 26 possibilities proposed by Sieber were attacks on the games by the Irish Republican Army, the Red Army Faction, ETA, and other terrorist groups. Sieber’s Situation 21 proposed that a dozen Palestinian gunmen would scale the fence of the Olympic Village at 5:00 AM, seize Israeli hostages, kill one or two, and issue a demand for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails and an aircraft to fly them to the Middle East. The organizing committee determined that preparing for threats such as those proposed by Sieber would create a security environment that was not in keeping with their vision for the Games. Within hours of the attack on the Olympic Village, Sieber was dismissed from his advisory position by an administrative apparatus that had already begun working to conceal evidence of its mistakes.

On October 29, less than two months after the massacre, two Black September terrorists hijacked a Lufthansa Boeing 727 on its way from Damascus, Syria, to Frankfurt and threatened to blow it up, with the crew and passengers, if their demands were not met. The hijacked plane circled over Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), while the three surviving Munich gunmen, who had been awaiting trial, were taken from separate prisons and flown to Zagreb in a private jet. The guerrillas were taken aboard the Boeing, which then flew to Tripoli, Libya, where the passengers and crew were released and the terrorists were welcomed as “heroes of the Munich operation.” At no point was Israel consulted about the exchange, and the unseemly haste with which West German authorities acquiesced to the hijackers’ demands raised questions about their possible complicity. Indeed, an investigation conducted by the makers of the Academy Award-winning documentary One Day in September (1999) found that the “hijacked” plane had been selected in advance by West German officials and Fatah. The airliner was empty when it left Damascus, and fewer than a dozen passengers—all men—boarded during a scheduled stopover in Beirut. In exchange for the release of the prisoners, Bonn had secured a promise from Fatah not to conduct operations within West Germany.

(The Israeli Victims)

Israel’s prime minister, Golda Meir, responded by authorizing Operation Wrath of God, a targeted assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organizers. After a series of spectacular operations cut a swathe through senior Palestinian leadership, that program was suspended in July1973 when the assassination squad mistakenly killed an innocent man in Lillehammer, Norway. In 1977 Abu Daoud, the planner of the Munich attack, was arrested in France, but West Germany’s extradition request was denied on a technicality, and he was released and flown to freedom in Algeria.

One positive step taken by West Germany in the wake of the events in Munich was the formation of a specialized counterterrorism unit with nationwide jurisdiction. Ulrich Wegener, who had been present as an advisor at Fürstenfeldbruck, was tasked with creating a paramilitary unit of the Bundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Guard). Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (Border Protection Group 9, or GSG 9) would establish itself as one of the most effective counterterrorism forces in the world.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Massacre

Labor/Labour Day

 

99% Food

 

Falling Trend

^ There's a trend throughout Russia of people "falling" out of windows to their deaths. ^

Gorby's Funeral

From the MT:

“Russians Line Up to Bid Farewell to Gorbachev, But Without Putin”

Last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was laid to rest Saturday in a Moscow ceremony, but without the fanfare of a state funeral and with the glaring absence of President Vladimir Putin.  Several thousand mourners queued up to quietly file past Gorbachev's open casket as it was flanked by honour guards under the Russian flag in the historic Hall of Columns. The hall has long been used for the funerals of high officials in Russia and was where the body of Josef Stalin first lay in state during four days of national mourning after his death in 1953. After several hours the coffin was taken out of the hall in a procession led by Dmitry Muratov, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning editor-in-chief of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which Gorbachev helped found. The coffin was taken to Moscow's prestigious Novodevichy Cemetery, where it was lowered into the grave to the sounds of a military band playing the Russian national anthem and a gun salute. Gorbachev was buried next to his wife Raisa, who died from cancer in 1999.

With Russia isolated by its military campaign in Ukraine, few foreign leaders attended what was a relatively low-key affair to remember one of the great political figures of the 20th century. High-profile Russian attendees reportedly included Soviet pop singer Alla Pugacheva and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the current deputy head of the Security Council.  "It was a breath of freedom, which was lacking for a long time, an absence of fear," 41-year-old translator Ksenia Zhupanova said at the entrance to the hall where Gorbachev's body lay in state. "I am against shutting us out from the outside world, I am for openness, for dialogue. This is what Mikhail Sergeyevich showed the world," she said, using Gorbachev's patronymic.

The mourners were of all ages, some old enough to remember the years of Soviet stagnation before Gorbachev came to power, others young enough to have only lived in Russia under Putin. "It’s been six months since so many good people have been in one place,” said one mourner, according to a tweet by Guardian reporter Andrew Roth, an apparant reference to the February invasion of Ukraine and an accompanying police crackdown.  The Kremlin had said Putin would not attend Saturday's funeral due to his "work schedule."

Gorbachev died on Tuesday at the age of 91 following a "serious and long illness," the hospital where he was treated said.  In power between 1985 and 1991, he sought to transform the Soviet Union with democratic reforms, but eventually triggered its demise. One of the great political figures of the 20th century, he was lionised in the West for helping to end the Cold War and trying to change the USSR. But many in Russia despised him for the economic chaos and loss of global influence that followed the Soviet collapse. He had spent most of the last few decades out of the political limelight and his death this week was barely acknowledged in official circles in Russia. State television on Thursday showed images of Putin, alone, laying a bouquet of red roses near Gorbachev's open casket at the hospital where he died.

The only senior foreign figure to attend was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who laid flowers at the casket. "Many things were needed for Central Europe to get rid of Communism peacefully, without loss of life or bloodshed. One of them was Mikhail Gorbachev. God rest his soul!" Orban said in a post on Facebook. Before the Ukraine conflict, Orban had one of the closest relationships with Putin of any the European Union's leaders, but the Kremlin said there were no talks planned during his visit to Moscow. After Gorbachev's death, tributes poured in from Western capitals, where he is remembered for allowing countries in Eastern Europe to free themselves from Soviet domination and for signing a landmark nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States. Known affectionately in the West as "Gorby", he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.  Flags were also flying at half-mast in Berlin on Saturday, in memory of the man who held back Soviet troops as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.  In Russia, Gorbachev's steps towards peace and reform have been overshadowed by the economic troubles that followed the fall of the Soviet Union.  Putin, who called the Soviet collapse the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, has spent much of his more than 20-year rule reversing parts of Gorbachev's legacy. By cracking down on independent media and political opposition, critics say, Putin has worked to undo Gorbachev's efforts to bring "glasnost", or openness. And with the launch earlier this year of the military campaign in Ukraine, he has sought to reassert Russian influence in one of the countries that won its independence when the Soviet Union fell apart.

On the streets of Moscow this week some expressed their continued anger and bitterness at Gorbachev, but those who turned up for Saturday's funeral paid tribute to his legacy. "[Gorbachev] helped the development of the country, the bringing of freedom of speech and freedom of thought," said 19-year-old Irina Kaplanova. He was not an "absolutely ideal politician", she said, but was "a great reformer, and a person who acted in accordance with their conscience and knew how to admit mistakes."

^ It is so great to see even thousands of Russians show their last respects to him. ^

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/09/03/from-kyiv-with-dry-jam-a78711

Funeral Pictures

Pictures of Mikhail Gorbachev’s Funeral in Moscow Russia today (September 3, 2022):

157 Million Americans

 

^ 53% of all Americans (157 Million) are planning to travel this Labor Day Weekend.

12 Million Americans will fly by plane.

145 Million Americans (Me included) are driving.  

Stay safe and have fun! ^

Putin Not Going

From the BBC:

“Putin will not attend Gorbachev's funeral”

(Mikhail Gorbachev (L) and Vladimir Putin in 2004)

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last leader, the Kremlin has confirmed. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin's work schedule would not permit him to attend the event on Saturday. He said the Russian leader had paid his respects at the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev died on Tuesday, aged 91. Gorbachev's reforms helped end the Cold War, but saw the demise of the Soviet Union, which Mr Putin has lamented.

In 2005, the Russian president said the break-up of the USSR was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] Century". However, in his telegram of condolences to Gorbachev's family on Wednesday, Mr Putin struck a more conciliatory note, describing him as "a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history". On Thursday, Russian state television showed Mr Putin placing red roses beside Gorbachev's coffin in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital. "Unfortunately, the president's work schedule will not allow him to do this on 3 September, so he decided to do it today," Mr Peskov told reporters.

Gorbachev's funeral, which will be open to the public, will take place in Moscow's Hall of Columns. Afterwards, he will be buried at the city's Novodevichy cemetery, next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999. Mr Peskov said Gorbachev's ceremony would have "elements" of a state funeral and that the state was helping to organise it. Mr Putin will not be the only notable absentee from the funeral. Many of the foreign leaders who might have been expected to attend are currently barred from Russian soil, in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Top politicians from the US, UK, EU, Japan and Canada are among those on the exclusion list, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as the two candidates vying to succeed him, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Analysis box by Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor The Kremlin would say, what is all the fuss about? Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Mikhail Gorbachev's family (in a brief telegram). He's also laid flowers at Gorbachev's open casket. But, no, he won't be going to the funeral. The official reason: no space in his busy schedule. Diary full. That rather unconvincing explanation is fuelling speculation that, in reality, it's not that Putin has no time, but rather no desire to attend. In other words, it's a snub. Why might that be? Well, for a start, to those in power in Russia today, Mikhail Gorbachev is viewed as having been a weak, indecisive leader who let a superpower - and Russia's global influence - slip away. What's more, President Putin has been busy dismantling Mikhail Gorbachev's legacy. Gorbachev opened up the country, granted freedoms to his people and sought peace and friendship with Western nations. That's not President Putin's thing at all. He's been taking freedoms away, supressing democratic institutions and embracing the idea of confrontation with the West. That - along with the invasion of Ukraine - is keeping President Putin very busy. No wonder his diary is full.

^ Putin’s “busy” schedule includes hiding in his Bunker sitting at a 6 foot table too scared to see or hear anyone or anything as well as learning how many Russians he sent to Ukraine as cannon fodder. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62756196

Canada's 988

From CBC:

“Nationwide 3-digit suicide prevention hotline launching next year, CRTC says”

(A volunteer takes a call at the Crisis Centre B.C. office in Vancouver, British Columbia on Wednesday, October 21, 2020. Demand for mental health services in Canada has grown since the start of the pandemic)

A long-anticipated three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline will come online in 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said Wednesday. The CRTC said it will use 988 as the hotline's number — the same three digits adopted for a similar hotline in the United States that launched in July. MPs voted unanimously in favour of establishing a three-digit hotline in December 2020, as demand was rising for mental health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conservative B.C. MP Todd Doherty, who tabled the motion on the hotline, said he heard the news while out running errands and had to sit in his truck and cry for half an hour. "It took way too long to do this but today is a great day," he said. Doherty, whose best friend died by suicide at the age of 14, said there is still work to be done to implement the hotline but he's glad things are heading in the right direction. "When minutes and seconds count, this will save lives," he said.

Once the hotline is active, Canadians will be able to call or text it and be directed to mental health services free of charge. Following the CRTC announcement, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced it's tapping the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to lead and coordinate service delivery for the hotline. Statistics Canada reported in 2021 that, on average, more than 10 Canadians were dying by suicide every day. The CRTC said it anticipates the hotline will be launched on Nov. 30, 2023.

Where to get help now:

Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566 (Phone) | 45645 (Text, 4 p.m. to midnight ET only) crisisservicescanada.ca

In Quebec (French): Association québécoise de prévention du suicide: 1-866-APPELLE (1-866-277-3553)

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 (Phone), Live Chat counselling at www.kidshelpphone.ca

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre

^ I hope this new Nationwide Hotline will help those that need it. The United States created a similar Nationwide Number (also 988) which started last month, ^

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-launching-2023-1.6568016

Early Disabled Deaths

From the BBC:

“Warning over early deaths of learning disabled”

(Jenny Whinnett said her son Craig could have lived longer and with less pain if he had been treated differently)

Children with a learning disability in Scotland are more likely to die prematurely - often from treatable causes, a report has found. The Scottish Learning Disability Observatory (SLDO) study found that 34% of these deaths were avoidable. Previous research has found that adults with a learning disability were twice as likely to die from preventable illnesses. The Scottish government said it was concerned about health inequalities. Angela Henderson, director of policy and impact at the SLDO, said: "People with learning disabilities experience higher rates of multi-morbidity than the general population, and die prematurely, often from causes that are either treatable or preventable. "These include epilepsy, deaths from respiratory conditions and deaths related to gastro-intestinal problems." She added: "These are all highly preventable and highly treatable."

The SLDO said the preventable deaths in children and young people could be linked to a number of factors, including:

Challenges accessing high-quality health care

Communication barriers during health appointments

Lack of awareness on the specific health care needs of young people with learning disabilities

Another key issue raised in the study, seen by BBC Scotland, is "diagnostic overshadowing" - where clinicians may wrongly assume that symptoms of an illness are related to a person's learning disability, rather than to a specific health problem. "Efforts to reduce the health inequalities that lead to the unnecessary deaths of children and young people with learning disabilities must be prioritised," said Dr Laura Hughes-Mccormack, who led the study.

'Enjoyed life immensely' Jenny Whinnett, whose son Craig died from pneumonia at the age of 21, believes he should have received better care to protect his body shape. "He enjoyed life immensely," she told BBC Scotland. "He loved all the things that a normal young person of his age would enjoy doing, but he did have profound and multiple learning disabilities," she said. Although Craig would have died young because of his health conditions, Jenny, from St Cyrus in Aberdeenshire, believes he could have lived longer and in less pain. "He suffered terrible respiratory problems as he got older [with] the squashing of his organs inside due to the distortion of his body shape," she said. "Craig shouldn't have had that ordeal with pneumonia at the end of his life. He shouldn't have had to suffer the discomfort that I knew he had because of the distortion of his body towards the end of his life." She added: "I think that if we'd had knowledge, and I'd been given night-time postural support for him a lot sooner, I don't think his body distortion would have been so severe. "There is a real possibility that he would have lived longer and I think he would have been more comfortable."

'Health inequalities'

(Keith Lynch said the medical profession often used jargon when talking to patients with learning disabilities)

In a bid to address the health inequalities faced by the learning disability community, the Scottish government earlier this year announced £2m in funding for annual health checks for learning disabled people over the age of 16. However, it was the last UK nation to introduce such checks. "We had to get this right," said Kevin Stewart, the Scottish government's social security minister, adding that he was "concerned about these health inequalities". "We have done all of the work that's required in terms of the research and piloting of all of this, and we're in a position now to deliver right across Scotland for our learning disabled population," he told BBC Scotland. He added: "This is the right thing to do, I think that this resourcing is absolutely what is required, and we hope that that will make a real difference to the health of our learning disabled population."

Keith Lynch, who has a learning disability and is the director of People First Scotland, said people with learning disabilities must be taken seriously in order for the health checks to be effective. "I would welcome it as long as it's done in the right way, in an accessible way for people with learning disabilities," he said. He said people with a learning disability were not always taken seriously by the medical profession. "For me, I don't always seem to understand what the doctors say to me, even though I do ask them to speak in small, plain, simple words so that I can understand," he said. "They just keep talking in long words which we call jargon, and that's the same experience for other people with disabilities so they're often left confused." He added: "I would like to see doctors and nurses taking time to get to know a person with learning disabilities over a long period of time rather than passed from one person to another." The Scottish government said it would be providing support to healthcare staff to carry out the new checks.

^ Any death is sad, but any preventable death is a shame. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-62725103

Makeshift Schools

 

^ Young kids studying in a makeshift Classroom in the Sportyvna Station of Kharkiv Metro - Ukraine - September 1, 2022.

The Metro is being used because of all the schools destroyed and the constant Russian bombing.

As of Sept. 1st: 380 Ukrainian Children killed, 736 injured, 228 missing, 210,000 kidnapped and deported to Russia - all by the Russian Occupation Forces.

In case you still needed a reason to not support Russia. ^

10 Years

From the BBC:

“January 6: Ex-police officer gets record 10-year sentence over Capitol riots”

(According to a Justice Department court filing, Thomas Webster appears to assault a federal officer with a deadly weapon outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.)

An ex-New York City police officer who assaulted law enforcement officials during the 6 January riots has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Thomas Webster, 56, was convicted in May on multiple charges, including assaulting police and violent and disorderly conduct. More than 850 people have been charged over their involvement in the attack. But the sentence handed down on Thursday is the longest imposed on anyone over their role in the riots. A federal jury in New York previously rejected Webster's argument that he had been acting in self-defence when he swung a metal flagpole at an officer and tackled another to the ground, holding him in a chokehold. In pre-sentencing documents, the Marine Corps veteran disavowed former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen and included a letter of reference from a friend who blamed the Republican politician's "despicable lies" for inducing Webster's conduct. Jurors accepted prosecutors' argument that Webster had "spearheaded" an attack on police lines and that he was responsible for "disgracing a democracy that he once fought honourably to protect and serve". "Notwithstanding his background and training, Webster did not try to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises," the justice department said in court filings. "Webster spent eight minutes elbowing his way through the densely packed crowd so that he could position himself at the front of the mob." The court agreed to suspend the final 36 months of Webster's term in defence to his 25 years service as a police officer and soldier. The sentencing comes as US law enforcement officials also detained Kellye SoRelle, a lawyer for the far-right Oath Keepers group. Ms SoRelle was indicted on four charges in connection with the 6 January attacks, including obstruction of justice. Several members of the group have pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the attack on the Capitol, where a number of Oath Keepers were seen entering the building in military style body armour. The 43-year-old previously volunteered with Lawyers for Trump during efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

^ Webster is a disgrace to Veterans. He is a disgrace to Police Officers. He is a disgrace to Americans. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62761037

Knowledge Day

Today (September 1^st) is Knowledge Day (День знань) in Ukraine.

(A Ukrainian Boy standing in what is left of his classroom after a Russian attack – 2022.)

It is the first day of the new School Year. After 6 months of War here is how this Knowledge Day is different from others.

For Ukrainian Children Forced to Flee Ukraine: They have to go to a new School, meet new Friends, learn a new Language in a new Country.

For Ukrainian Children in Ukrainian-Held Ukraine: They have their classes in bombed-out schools. They have to run to the Air Raid Shelter when the Russians bomb them.

For Ukrainian Children in Russian-Occupied Ukraine: They have their classes in bombed-out schools. They have to run to the Air Raid Shelter when the bombs fall. They are forced to use the Russian Language and learn the Russian Nazi Curriculum. They are punished severely if they use the Ukrainian Language.

Millions of Ukrainian Children have been killed or wounded by the Russians and those that haven’t continue to be traumatized by Russian Bombs, Bullets and Soldiers on a daily basis.

Sept. 1st

 

^ September 1^st – Knowledge Day in Ukraine ^

€9 Travel Ends

From the BBC:

“Germans say goodbye to summer of €9 travel tickets”

Germany's summer of low-cost travel is over as transport chiefs call a halt to their cheap fares experiment. For three sunny months, passengers have packed on to platforms and concourses to take advantage of a single monthly ticket costing €9 (£7.50; $9). In all, 52 million of the tickets, which allowed them to use any regional or local public transport an unlimited number of times, have been sold. But the offer ends at midnight on Wednesday, to the dismay of many. "It's one of the best ideas we've had," said Chancellor Olaf Scholz. And the scheme, reckoned to have cost more than €2.5bn in federal government subsidies, has, it seems, been a political and social success. Take Ute and Jürgen, who I met at Berlin's main station as they waited for a crowded train to the coast. They were pensioners, they told me, and being able to use the ticket for their usual bus and tram journeys had been "very helpful", especially at a time of rising costs. That was the original aim of the €9 ticket, which was actually introduced as somewhat of an afterthought.

€9 tickets to ride

52 million tickets sold

€2.5 billion Amount paid to 16 States to pay for lost ticket sales

42% more 30km+ rail trips made in July 2022 than July 2019

17% of users switched to public transport this month

Germany's coalition government had decided to lower fuel tax for drivers for three months in response to soaring energy costs - and Mr Scholz came under pressure from within his own ranks to do something to help those who used public transport too. But of course, there were hopes, particularly among the Green politicians in the coalition, that the cheap ticket might trigger a change in habits too. They've been encouraged by the response of people such as Barbara, who was struggling with a bike trailer and her two young sons as the family waited for a train to the Baltic Sea. They'd decided to leave what she described as the family's gas-guzzling people carrier behind. "The cheap tickets meant we could make the greener choice," she said. It's not yet entirely clear whether or to what extent Barbara represents the rest of the population.According to the German Transport Association, the scheme will have led to a reduction of 1.8m tonnes in CO2 emissions. But the calculation - based in part on research which suggests the cheap  ticket had lured people to use public transport, rather than their cars for the first time - has been disputed by some experts. Nevertheless, as commuters brace themselves for a more expensive autumn - the fuel tax reduction also ends on 1 September - there are all manner of suggestions being discussed about how to replace the €9 ticket. Most proposals centre on a monthly ticket for a fixed price.

Many would welcome that, if only because, like the €9 ticket, it would replace Germany's confusing and complicated fare system. The scheme earned Germany's coalition government political points with voters, but the subsequent dithering over what do once it ends risks alienating them again.And despite many calls for an extension, no replacement is expected to come as cheap as the one enjoyed by Germans this summer.

^ I’ve used Germany’s confusing Ticket System (when I lived in Germany as well as when I was there as a Tourist.) Hopefully, they can now make a system that makes sense. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62736375

Occupation ID

Since Russia Invaded and Occupied Crimea in 2014 Moscow has forced the Ukrainian Citizens there (ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Russians and ethnic Tartars) to obtain Russian Citizenship and to give up their Ukrainian Citizenship.

(A Current Ukrainian Identity Card.)

(A Current Russian Internal Passport.)

(A German Nazi Kennkarte from World War 2.)

Moscow has done the same in the areas of eastern and southern Ukraine they currently Occupy.

Any Ukrainian who refuses is arrested and shipped to Infiltration Camps inside the Russian Federation where they are: Raped, Tortured and even Killed.

The Russian Nazis are using the same tactics as the German Nazis did when they occupied Ukraine from 1941-1944. The Germans forced Ukrainians - and many others in Nazi-Occupied Europe - to get a Kennkarte (Кенкарта in Ukrainian.)

Like the German Kennkarte the Russian Internal Passport has to be carried at all times and shown to the Occupation Forces. If you don’t have it on you when asked for it you are arrested and shipped to the Infiltration Camps – even if you just left it at home by mistake.

You need the Russian Internal Passport to receive: Medical Help, Food Assistance, Education, Employment, etc.

Note: Even within the Russian Federation Russian Citizens have to carry their Internal Passports with them at all times (and Foreigners have to carry their Foreign Passports, Migration Card and Mandatory Registration) with them at all times and everyone can be stopped by any Official or anyone claiming to be an Official and forced to show their Documents – usually the Officials want a Bribe to let you go.

While there are some Ukrainians Collaborating with the Russian Nazis (as there were some Ukrainians Collaborating with the German Nazis) the vast majority of Ukrainians in Russian-Occupied Ukraine are just waiting for the day when they will be part of Ukraine and free again.

St Kitts Ban Ends

From Reuters:

“Saint Kitts ban on gay sex struck down by Caribbean regional court”

A Caribbean regional court has ruled that a Saint Kitts and Nevis prohibition on gay sex is unconstitutional because it violates the right to privacy, striking down one of a handful of bans on same-sex intercourse that still exist in the region. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled against two portions of the Offences Against the Person Act, adopted in the dual-island nation in 1873, which called for up to ten years imprisonment for having or attempting to have gay sex. The law's statutes criminalising gay sex are inconsistent with the constitution "and, as such, (are) null and void and of no force and effect," wrote High Court Judge Trevor M. Ward in a decision dated Aug. 29. The suit was brought by Jamal Jeffers, a gay man from the Caribbean nation, and a non-profit organisation called Saint Kitts and Nevis Alliance for Equality. The country's attorney general, the defendant in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court hears disputes involving members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which includes six independent countries and three overseas British territories. Buggery laws remain on the books in a number of Caribbean nations including Jamaica and Barbados. Though they are rarely enforced, gay rights activists say that eliminating them would help ease pervasive homophobia.

^ While I am happy to hear that the Ban on Gay Sex is now ended here it is sad that Saint Kitts didn’t end the Ban themselves -  they had to be forced to by an outside Court. ^

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/saint-kitts-ban-gay-sex-struck-down-by-caribbean-regional-court-2022-08-30/

Permanent IAEA

From Reuters:

“Russia welcomes idea of permanent IAEA presence at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant”

(Members of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission stand by UN vehicles at hotel as they depart for visit to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine August 31, 2022.)

Russia welcomes the idea that IAEA experts could stay at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on a permanent basis, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative to the international organisations in Vienna, said on Wednesday. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the agency hoped to set up a permanent mission at the plant. U.N. nuclear inspectors set off for the plant earlier on Wednesday. read more

^ Let’s see if Russia will actually allow this in-practice since it doesn’t usually follow-through with what it promises. ^

https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-welcomes-idea-permanent-iaea-presence-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-2022-08-31/

September Holidays

2022 - 2023 September Holidays - Daily Calendar National, World, Bizarre Days

September Monthly Celebrations

Baby Safety Month

Chicken Month

Better Breakfast Month

Classical Music Month

Fall Hat Month

Happy Cat Month

Hispanic Heritage Month

Honey Month

International Square Dancing Month

Little League Month

National Blueberry Popsicle Month

National Courtesy Month

National Mushroom Month

National Piano Month

Self Improvement Month

National Sewing Month

World Beach Month

Whole Grains Month

 

September Weekly EventsmNational Indoor Plant Week - third week of month

 

September, 2022 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:

September 1

Emma M. Nutt Day, the first woman telephone operator

National Cherry Popover Day

National Tofu Day (UK)

 

September 2 VJ Day, WWII

September 3

International Bacon Day

National Tailgating Day

Skyscraper Day

World Beard Day

September 4

Bring Your Manners to Work Day

Newspaper Carrier Day

September 5

Be Late for Something Day

Cheese Pizza Day  

Labor Day

September 6

Fight Procrastination Day

Read a Book Day 

September 7

National Salami Day

Neither Rain nor Snow Day

September 8

 International Literacy Day

National Ampersand Day

National Date Nut Bread Day

Pardon Day

September 9nTeddy Bear Day

September 10

Chinese Moon Festival

Sewing Machine Day

Swap Ideas Day

September 11

911 Remembrance

Grandparent's Day

Make Your Bed Day

National Pet Memorial Day

No News is Good News Day

September 12

Chocolate Milk Shake Day 

National Video Games Day

September 13

Defy Superstition Day

Fortune Cookie Day

National Peanut Day

Positive Thinking Day

Uncle Sam Day

September 14

International Crab Fest Day

National Cream-Filled Donut Day

September 15

Make a Hat Day

Felt Hat Day

September 16

American Legion Day

Collect Rocks Day

Step Family Day

Mayflower Day

Mexican Independence Day

National Play Doh Day

Working Parents Day

September 17

Citizenship Day

Constitution Day

International Red Panda Bear Day

National Apple Dumpling Day

Oktoberfest  begins in Germany

September 18

National Cheeseburger Day 

National Women's Friendship Day

Wife Appreciation Day

September 19

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

National Butterscotch Pudding Day

National Dance Day

September 20

National Pepperoni Pizza Day

National Punch Day

September 21

International Peace Day

Miniature Golf Day

World Gratitude Day

September 22

Autumn Equinox - Fall begins!

Business Women's Day

Elephant Appreciation Day

Hobbit Day

UK's National Fitness Day

September 23

Checkers Day / Dogs in Politics Day

Native American Day

September 24

International Rabbit Day

National Cherries Jubilee Day

National Hunting and Fishing Day

Yom Kippur - begins at sunset

September 25

National Comic Book Day

Rosh Hashanah - begins at sundown

September 26 Johnny Appleseed Day

September 27 Crush a Can Day

September 28

Ask a Stupid Question Day (one of my favorite days)

National Good Neighbor Day

National Public Lands Day

September 29

Confucius Day

 Sukkot, at sundown

September 30 National Mud Pack Day

https://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/september.htm

September