#national unicorn day 2024
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Happy national unicorn day!
#amalthea#the last unicorn#unicorn#unicorn art#art#my art#my art i guess vdkshdk#equine#equine art#digital art#digital illustration#procreate#procreate art#national unicorn day#unicorn day#national unicorn day 2024#amalthea the last unicorn
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February 2024 witch guide
Full moon: February 24th
New moon: February 9th
Sabbats: Imbolc-February 1st
February Snow Moon
Known as: Eagle Moon, Horning Moon, Solmonath Moon, Bear moon, Ice Moon, Wild Moon, Raccoon Moon, Big Winter Moon, Groundhog Moon, Quickening Moon, Storm Moon, Goose Moon, Hungry Moon & Red/Cleansing Moon
Element: Fire
Zodiac: Aquarius & Pisces
Nature spirits: House Faeries
Deities: Aphrodite, Brigid & Nut
Animals: Otter & Unicorn
Birds: Chickadee & Eagle
Trees: Cedar, laurel, myrtle & rowan
Herbs: Balm of Gilead, hyssop, myrrh, sage & spikenard
Flowers: Primrose
Scents: Heliotrope & wisteria
Stones: Amethyst, jasper, moonstone, obsidian, onyx , rose quartz, topaz & red zircon
Colors: Light blue & violet
Energy: Astral travel, banishing, beginnings, breaking bad habits, creativity expressiveness, empowerment, energy working to the surface, fertility, forgiveness, freedom, friendships, future plans, growth, healing, problem solving, purification, responsibility & science
February’s full Moon is a “Micromoon” this year. Think of this term as the opposite of a “Supermoon.” It simply means that the full Moon is at its farthest point from Earth (not the nearest point).
The explanation behind February’s full Moon name is a fairly straightforward one: it’s known as the Snow Moon due to the typically heavy snowfall that occurs in February. On average, February is the United States’ snowiest month, according to data from the National Weather Service. In the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver, who had visited with the Naudowessie(Dakota), wrote that the name used for this period was the Snow Moon, “because more snow commonly falls during this month than any other in the winter.”
Imbolc
Known as: Feast of Torches, Feast of Waxing Light, Oimele & Brigid's Day
Season: Winter
Symbols: Besoms, Brighid's crosses, candles, candle wheels, fertility symbols, fire, ploughs, priapic wands & white flowers
Colors: Black, brown, Earth tones, lavender, light green, orange, pink, red, white & yellow
Oils/Incense: Apricot, basil, bay, carnation, chamomile, cinnamon, dragon's blood, frankincense, heather, jasmine, myrrh, neroli, red sandalwood, sage, vanilla, violet & wisteria
Animals: Badger, cow, deer,groudhog, robin, sheep, snake, & swan
Mythical: Dragon
Stones: Amethyst, bloodstone, citrine, clear quartz, garnet, green tourmaline, hematite, iron, lodestone, onyx, red zircon, rose quartz, ruby, turquoise, yellow tourmaline
Food: Breads, chives, curries, dairy products, grains, garlic, herbal teas, honey cakes, lamb, muffins, onions, peppers, poppy seed cakes, pork, poultry, pumpkin seeds, raisins, scones, spiced wines & sunflower seeeds
Herbs/Plants: Angelica, ashleaf, balsam, basil, bay laurel, benzoin, blackberry, clover, coltsfoot, coriander, dragon's blood, garlic, heather, lemon, myrrh, rosemary, sage, vervain, wheat & witch hazel
Flowers: Celandine, chamomile, iris, rose hips, snowdrop, sunflower, tansy, violets, white flowers & yellow flowers
Goddesses: Anu, Aradia, Arianrhod, Artio, Athena, Branwen, Brigid, Danu, Februa, Gaia, Inanna, Juno, Selene, Sirona & Vesta
Gods: Aegus Mac Og, Bragi, Cupid, Dian Cecht, Dumuzi, Eros, Februus & Pax
Issues, Intentions & Powers: Activation/awakening, animals, beginnings, fertility, healing, hope, illumination, inspiration, light, pregnancy/childbirth, prophecy, transformation, well-being & youth
Spellwork: Air magick, banishings, candle spells, divination, fertility spells, prosperity & purification
Activities:
• Make & light white candles
• Clean/decorate your altar & consecrate your altar tools
• Go on a walk in nature & look for signs of spring
• Make a Brigid's Cross
• Have a feast with your family/friends
• Give thanks & leave offerings to the Earth
• Set intentions, reflect & look deeper into your goals for spring
• Start a bonfire
• Find Imboloc prayers & devotionals that bid farewell to the winter months, honor the goddess Brigid, as well as seasonal blessings for your meals, hearth, & home.
• Pepare plans for your upcoming garden
• Craft a priapic wand
• Spend time with children celebrating Imbolc by making crafts & or baking
• Practice divination & fire scrying
• Draw a cleansing ritual bath for yourself
• Meditate, reflect & say your farewells to winter
• Cleanse & clean your house to prepare for spring
• Create a Brídeóg: a doll of Brigid made of straw
• Make Bride's bouquet satchets & exchange as symbols of good luck and fertility
• Set aside food & or drinks as an offering to Brigid to invite her in your home
Imbolc is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is held on January 31 – February 1, or halfway between the winter solstice & the spring equinox. The holiday is a festival of the hearth, home, a celebration of the lengthening days & the early signs of spring.
The word "imbolc" means "in the belly" and refers to the pregnancy of ewes at this time of year. The term "oimelc" means ewe's milk. Around this time of year, many herd animals give birth to their first offspring of the year or are heavily pregnant & as a result, they are producing milk. This creation of life’s milk is a part of the symbolic hope for spring.
Imbolc is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. It has been suggested that it was originally a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brigid and that it was Christianized as a festival of Saint Brigid, who herself is thought to be a Christianization of the goddess.
Some use Imbolc to celebrate the longer days which herald the return of Spring & The Goddess's recovery from giving birth to The Sun (The God) at Yule. The God & The Goddess are children symbolizing new life, new beginnings & new resurrections.
Related festivals:
• Groundhog Day- Is a tradition observed in the United States & Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day & sees its shadow, it will retreat to its den & winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive early.
While the tradition remains popular in the 21st century, studies have found no consistent association between a groundhog seeing its shadow & the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.
•St. Brigid's Day- 1 February. It was originally Imbolc, the first day of spring in Irish tradition. Because Saint Brigid has been theorised as linked to the goddess Brigid, some associate the festival of Imbolc with the goddess. St. Brigid is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland. She is patroness of many things, including poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock & dairy production. In her honour, a perpetual fire was kept burning at Kildare for centuries.
A recent campaign successfully established her feast day as a national holiday in 2023.
• Chinese New Year- (February 10th) the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. In Chinese, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival,- marking the end of winter and the beginning of the spring season. Observances traditionally take place from Chinese New Year's Eve, the evening preceding the first day of the year, to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that appears between January 21st & February 20th.
The Chinese New Year is associated with several myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to honour deities as well as ancestors. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the New Year vary widely & the evening preceding the New Year's Day is frequently regarded as an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner.
It is also a tradition for every family to thoroughly clean their house, in order to sweep away any ill fortune & to make way for incoming good luck. Another custom is the decoration of windows & doors with red paper-cuts and couplets. Popular themes among these paper-cuts and couplets include good fortune or happiness, wealth & longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers & giving money in red envelopes.
• Candlemas- is a Christian feast day on February 2nd commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It is based upon the account of the presentation of Jesus in Luke 2:22-40.
While it is customary for Christians in some countries to remove their Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night, those in other Christian countries historically remove them after Candlemas.On Candlemas, many Christians also take their candles to their local church, where they are blessed and then used for the rest of the year.
•Setsubun- (February 3rd) Is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring.
Both Setsubun & Risshun are celebrated yearly as part of the Spring Festival (Haru matsuri ) in Japan. In its association with the Lunar New Year, Setsubun, though not the official New Year, was thought of as similar in its ritual & cultural associations of 'cleansing' the previous year as the beginning of the new season of spring. Setsubun was accompanied by a number of rituals & traditions held at various levels to drive away the previous year's bad fortunes & evil spirits for the year to come.
Other Celebrations:
• Lupercalia-
In ancient Rome, this festival was conducted annually on February 13th through 15th under the superintendence of a corporation of priests called Luperci. The origins of the festival are obscure, although the likely derivation of its name from lupus (Latin: “wolf”) has variously suggested connection with an ancient deity who protected herds from wolves and with the legendary she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. As a fertility rite, the festival is also associated with the god Faunus.
to purify the city, promoting health & fertility.
Each Lupercalia began with the sacrifice by the Luperci of goats and a dog, after which two of the Luperci were led to the altar, their foreheads were touched with a bloody knife & the blood was wiped off with wool dipped in milk; the ritual required that the two young men laugh. The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the sacrificial animals & ran in two bands around the Palatine hill, striking with the thongs at any woman who came near them. A blow from the thong was supposed to render a woman fertile.
In 494 CE the Christian church under Pope Gelasius I forbade participation in the festival. Tradition holds that he appropriated the form of the rite as the Feast of the Purification (Candlemas), celebrated on February 2, but it is likely that the Christian feast was established in the previous century. It has also been alternately suggested that Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14th, but the origin of that holiday was likely much later.
Sources:
Farmersalmanac .com
Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines
Wikipedia
A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs
Encyclopedia britannica
Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living
#witchblr#wiccablr#paganblr#witchcraft#witch guide#February 2024#snow moon#Imbolc#witch community#witches of tumblr#tumblr witches#correspondences#grimoire#book of shadows#spellbook#traditional witchcraft#spellwork#witch tips#witch tumblr#beginner witch#baby witch#witchcore#Lupercalia#full moon#moon magic#GreenWitchcrafts#pagan#wicca#witch#witchy things
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04/09/2024 Daily OFMD Recap
TLDR; Rachel House; Jes Tom; Kat Buchanan; GypsyTaylor; Big Gay Energy Podcast; Unicorn Day; Uproar; Watch Party Reminders; Fan Spotlights: OurDragMeansSlay; Cast Cards; TealOrange & Garlic Soup Prompt Week! Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika
== Rachel House ==
Rachel House's new directorial movie topped the charts in Taranaki!
== Jes Tom ==
Gonna be in New York in May? Well Jes Tom and lot's over other asian comics will be performing at the 2024 Asian Comedy Fest! For tickets visit: asiancomedyfest.com.
2024 Asian Comedy Fest IG
== Kay Buchanan ==
Kay Buchanan, one of the prop designers for OFMD s2 dumped a bunch of prop pics today for Izzy's leg!
Src: Kay Buchanan IG
== Unicorn Day! ==
Yesterday was National Unicorn! Some of our lovely crew put out some dedications For Our New Unicorn!
Img Src: @blueberreads
== More Uproar News! ==
Uproar is coming to digital on April 30 so those of you who couldnt get in to a theatre to see it can purchase and download it at home!
For those still interested in theatres-- if you happen to be nearby, @elby3000 was kind enough to note that theUproar opening date at Salem Cinema (Oregon) of April 12 at Blue Fox Entertainment may be in error. The theatre's website lists opening as April 19 (subject to change). Just in case you happy to be looking for one there!
== Watch Party Reminders! ==
== Flight Of the Conchords ==
Today we're on Season 1 Ep 5 and 6.
Join OFMD Crew, and @iamadequate1 this week for Flight of the Conchords watch parties! You can watch each day at 4pm PT, 7 pm ET, 11pm BST! If you don't have access, feel free to join us on the #RhysDarbyFaction Discord server, you can hit me up for an invite.
Hashtags:
#FlagOfTheConchords
#OurFlagMeansDeath
== Taskmaster NZ ==
*Please Note*: @ineffablecollision was kind enough to let us know of some desyncing issues! Thanks friend!
"During the TMNZ watch party, depending on where you watch, you *will* get desynced! I don't know if TVNZ kept the ad break bumpers, but Ch4 has one missing (TMNZ has four ad breaks compared to TMUK's three, so they cut to fit), and YT has them cut altogether!"
Series 1 continues Weds at 11am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm BST on any of the @saveofmdcrewmates socials.
#Quartermaster
#OurFlagMeansDeath
Taskmaster
== Fan Spotlight ==
= Big Gay Energy Podcast =
Our Big Gay Energy Podcast interviewed Gypsy Taylor and we learned some pretty amazing things. Some highlights:
Stede's cravat was fabric left over from his old couch
Ed kept the teal robe (the one he wears the morning after calypso) as a memory of Stede and then Taika kept the robe after the show.
Please check out the whole episode below!
Where to Watch
Where to Listen
= Our Drag Means Slay =
Hey all! Are you in the Chicago area? Why not checkout Our Drag Means Slay on April 27! It's $25/ticket and doors open at 5:55pm!
For Tickets
= Teal Oranges & Garlic Soup Week! =
A new celebration week is coming up in June for all things Jim/Oluwande and Archie/Jim/Oluwande/Zheng (or any combo in between!)
Prompts will be released on April 15th!
When: Sunday June 23 - Saturday June 29th!
How: Create or Share - Fic, art, and other fan creations!
Please follow them on Tumblr! @garlicsoupweek
You can visit: Linktr.ee
Or follow them on Twitter!
= Cast Cards =
Today's cast card is Jennifer Onyeiwu, one of the lovely pirates that asked Stede out for a drink in "Man On Fire". If we ever get a s3 I hope she comes back-- thanks @melvisik!
== Love Notes ==
Hey lovelies. This weeks turning out to be a bit of a doozy. I hope you all are practicing some self care. It's been a lot lately. I have seen a lot of you mentioning re-watching the show, which I love. It feels like we are getting past the raw part of our grief into being able to celebrate it as a group again.
Be kind to yourselves lovelies, be kind to yourself and others. There's enough hate in this world that we don't need to add undo stress to others or especially ourselves.
Love you crew.
Img Src: @BethDrawsThings IG
== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==
The theme today is, there are two wolves inside of me, both of these gifs represent them
Darby Gif Courtesy of @ofmd-ann
Taika Gif Courtesy of @gentlepanpirate
#daily ofmd recap#daily ofmd recaps#ofmd daily recap#ofmd daily recaps#ofmd#our flag means death#rhys darby#taika waititi#big gay energy podcasts#kay buchanon#jes tom#rachel house#uproar#long live ofmd#save ofmd#adopt our crew#teal oranges and garlic soup week#our drag means slay
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🦄Happy National Unicorn Day 2024!
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Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin for 'No one provokes me with impunity') is the national motto of Scotland. It also served as the national motto of the historic Kingdom of Scotland prior to the Treaty of Union 1707.
Happy National Unicorn Day!
National Unicorn Day is celebrated on April 9th each year. In Celtic mythology, unicorns have always been known to be fiercely independent, famously difficult to capture and proud creatures.
All these royal coats of arms, some of which predate the union, show the unicorn in gold chains. Common speculation is that the unicorn in art represents chivalric virtues. In legend, only the worthy or pure of heart could capture and tame a wild unicorn. Therefore the chained unicorn around its neck, on the coat of arms represents the strength and untameable nature of unicorns, symbolising the power and virtue possessed by the Kings and Queens of Scots as they were strong enough to tame a unicorn.
The unicorn was the heraldic animal (or fursona to use the correct term) of Scottish monarchs for centuries. With the union between England and Scotland in 1707, which created the United Kingdom.
The unicorn has been the national symbol of Scotland for centuries. Often said to date to the reign of King William the Lion (1165–1214) although there’s no clear evidence of this. The unicorn seems to have become a heraldic symbol for Scottish kings in the 1500s probably during the reign of King James IV and certainly used by his son King James V.
Two unicorns remained on the royal seal until the 1603 Union of Crowns when King James VI of Scotland succeeded Queen Elizabeth I and became King of England too. As such he added the English lion to his coat of arms in place of one of the unicorns
Posted 9th April 2024
#UnicornDay 🦄 #Scotland #Celticmythology #Nemomeimpunelacessit #nationalmotto #latin #Nooneprovokesmewithimpunity #unicorns #nationalsymbol #KingsandQueensofScots
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Bandai Tokyo TV UEFA Presents UEFA Euro 2024 Germany Rainbow Power Adventure Anime TV Series The New! Videos Leak And Sneak Peek Coming Soon Episodes Release June And July 2024 First Final 🏆 🇩🇪 ⚽🎉 🌈 🦄 🦋 ☁️ ✨ 🧚♀️ 💚💗💜🧡
List All Full Episodes
June 14 Episode 1 - Where Are You Albärt?
June 15 Episode 2 - Meet The First Brandt
June 16 Episode 3 - The Magic Revealed Unicorn
June 17 Episode 4 - What's Inside Magic Crystal Power?
June 18 Episode 5 - The Hat Trick Hero
June 19 Episode 6 - Rüdiger's Last First Death
June 20 Episode 7 - Group Of Death
June 21 Episode 8 - Endless The Rainbow Are Mean Colorful Magic
June 22 Episode 9 - Sweetest Sugar
June 23 Episode 10 - The Evil Clowns Best Most In World
June 24 Episode 11 - Boss Are Really Guardian Safe
June 25 Episode 12 - Cheers For The Stars!
June 26 Episode 13 - Let's Have Beer Shower!
June 27 Episode 14 - Hall Of Fame
June 28 Episode 15 - The Magical Scepter Of Harmony
June 29 Episode 16 - Find The Magical Flying Carriage
June 30 Episode 17 - The Magic Flowers
July 1 Episode 18 - Here's Found You Maguire?
July 2 Episode 19 - The Magical Creatures
July 3 Episode 20 - Pixie Divine!
July 4 Episode 21 - The Element Magical Potions
July 5 Episode 22 - Shining Bright Wings
July 6 Episode 23 - Wishful Never To The Sky
July 7 Episode 24 - The Euro Tour Bus
July 8 Episode 25 - Attacks Of The Inivinsible Plants
July 9 Episode 26 - Training Day
July 10 Episode 27 - Højlund The Every Lucky Fairy
July 11 Episode 28 - Fun And Games
July 12 Episode 29 - Welcome To National Friendly Match
July 13 Episode 30 - Powerful Matchwinner
July 14 Episode 31 - The Wonderful Celebrations Of Euro Winner (End)
These Are Subtitles Laugange Available Now!
🇺🇲🇬🇧 🇪🇸 🇵🇹🇧🇷 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇹🇭 🇸🇦 🇨🇳 🇻🇳 🇳🇱 🇵🇱 🇩🇰 🇮🇩 🇲🇾 🇷🇺
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Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Severe Storms Move Through the Midwest After Tornado Kills 1
(NYT) Severe storms moved through the Midwest on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds a day after tornadoes in the southern Plains killed at least one person and damaged dozens of homes. About 13.5 million people in parts of Indiana, northern Kentucky and western Ohio were warned about an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms through Tuesday evening, with the possibility of strong tornadoes and large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service. As storms moved through the region on Tuesday afternoon, the Weather Service issued a string of tornado warnings in cities across Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Where 3 Dead Tourists Were Found Fast, Thousands Remain Missing
(NYT) On Sunday, Mexican authorities announced that the bodies of three tourists in Baja California, found at the bottom of a well with gunshot wounds to their heads, had been identified by their families. The men had been killed in a carjacking gone wrong, the authorities said, and suspects had been detained within days of the men’s disappearance. It was a tragic yet somewhat fast resolution to a case that had drawn international attention. For many local Mexicans, however, the quick response from the authorities to locate the tourists and make arrests seemed to be an exception in a country where tens of thousands of missing-person cases have sat for years without ever being solved.
Panama’s Election Perplexity Comes To An End
(Guardian) After a very confusing election season, Panama has a new president. José Raúl Mulino, a former government minister who served from 2009 until 2014, won the presidency with 34.3% of the vote, beating out lawyer Ricardo Lombana (24.8%) and former President Martín Torrijos (16%). Mulino only became a presidential candidate in February as a last-minute stand-in for former president Ricardo Martinelli (who’s avoiding money laundering charges by hiding in a Nicaraguan embassy) and almost had his bid disqualified by Panama’s supreme court just days before voting. Mulino was running as Martinelli’s vice-presidential running mate during the election until the Supreme Court rejected the former president’s appeal against his money laundering charges. The two were focused on cracking down on illegal migrant crossings and reviving Panama’s slowing economy. Many Panamanians said they still trusted Martinelli and his running mate because their past administration saw massive economic growth for the nation.
The rise of Sweden’s super rich
(BBC) Sweden has a global reputation for championing high taxes and social equality, but it has become a European hotspot for the super rich. Although a right-wing coalition is currently in power, the nation has been run by Social Democrat-led governments for the majority of the last century, elected on promises to grow the economy in an equitable way, with taxes funding a strong welfare state. But Sweden has experienced a boom in the super rich over the last three decades. In 1996, there were just 28 people with a net worth of a billion kronor or more (around $91m or £73m at today’s exchange rate), according to a rich list published by former Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer. Most of them came from families that had been rich for generations. By 2021, there were 542 “kronor billionaires”, according to a similar analysis by daily newspaper Aftonbladet, and between them they owned a wealth equivalent to 70% of the nation’s GDP, a measure of the total value of goods and services in the economy. One reason for the rise of the new super rich is Sweden’s thriving tech scene. The country has a reputation as the Silicon Valley of Europe, having produced more than 40 so-called unicorn start-ups—companies worth more than $1bn—in the past two decades.
Finland prepares for the worst
(Financial Times) Finland has successfully tested its ability to run a war economy and has begun storing military equipment outside its national borders as the Nordic country renowned for its high level of preparedness deals with an increasingly aggressive Russia. Lieutenant General Mikko Heiskanen, deputy chief of staff for armaments and logistics in the Finnish defence forces, told the Financial Times that Finland had recently checked on more than 1,000 agreements it has with private companies to produce equipment or provide services for times of war. ‘We need to be prepared for a long-term crisis ... We are testing our strategic partners’ plans and readiness,’ he said.
The changes sweeping Russia
(Washington Post) Vladimir Putin is positioning Russia as American’s most dangerous and aggressive enemy, and transforming his country in ways that stand to make it a bitter adversary of the West for decades to come. Over more than six months, The Washington Post examined the profound changes sweeping Russia as Putin has used his war in Ukraine to cement his authoritarian grip on power. The Russian leader is militarizing his society and infusing it with patriotic fervor, reshaping the education system, condemning scientists as traitors, promoting a new Orthodox religiosity and retrograde roles for women, and conditioning a new generation of youth to view the West as a mortal enemy in a fight for Russia’s very survival. Putin has squashed the political opposition in Russia making protests illegal, criminalizing criticism of the war, and designating liberal nongovernmental organizations and independent media, journalists, writers, lawyers and activists as foreign agents, undesirable organizations, extremists or terrorists. Hundreds of political activists have been jailed. Tens of thousands of Russians have fled in a historic exodus, with some worried they would be cut off from the world by sanctions, some afraid of being conscripted and sent to the front, and others fearing they would be persecuted for opposing Putin or the war.
High-speed rail from Budapest to Belgrade
(Bloomberg) It’s 10 a.m. and the high-speed train leaves Belgrade’s new, glass-and-steel station right on time. Thirty-six minutes later it pulls into Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad, the first completed section of a 350 kilometer-long (217 mile) upgrade going up to Budapest in Hungary. The route is the kind of European modernity that Serbia has coveted for years. Yet the line—being built by China—also represents something more political: how Beijing is helping transform a corner of Europe when much of the continent views China as a strategic rival. Moreover, the Belgrade-Budapest link will unite the capitals of two countries that have tightened their embrace of Beijing.
India votes in third phase of national elections as PM Modi escalates his rhetoric against Muslims
(AP) Millions of Indian voters across 93 constituencies were casting ballots on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mounted an increasingly shrill election campaign, ramping up polarizing rhetoric in incendiary speeches that have targeted the Muslim minority. In recent campaign rallies, Modi has called Muslims “infiltrators” and said they “have too many children,” referring to a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims produce more children with the aim of outnumbering Hindus in India. He has also accused the rival Indian National Congress party of scheming to “loot” wealth from the country’s Hindus and redistribute it among Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people. Modi had kicked off his campaign with a focus on economic progress, promising he would make India a developed nation by 2047. But in recent weeks, he and the ruling BJP have doubled down heavily on their Hindu nationalism platform, with Modi employing some of his most divisive rhetoric in his decade in power.
Israel Steps Up Attacks on Rafah
(NYT) Israel’s war cabinet voted to continue the military assault on Hamas and Israeli forces carried out strikes in Gaza’s southernmost city, hours after Hamas said it would accept terms based on a cease-fire proposal put forward by mediators. As Israeli forces carried out strikes in eastern Rafah, the prime minister’s office said that the war cabinet had decided unanimously that Israel would continue with its military actions in the city to exert pressure on Hamas. The decision, the office said, sought to advance all of Israel’s war aims, including freeing hostages. Israeli leaders have vowed for months to invade the city in order to root out Hamas forces there, prompting international concern for the safety of the 1.4 million people sheltering there.
With Schools in Ruins, Education in Gaza Will Be Hobbled for Years
(NYT) Amjad Abu Daqqa was among the top students at his school in Khan Younis, excelling in math and English, and he was applying for a scholarship to study in the United States when war erupted in the Gaza Strip last October. Teachers used to reward his good grades with trips to local historical sites or to the pier, where they would watch boats and take pictures of the sunset. He dreamed of going into medicine like his big sister, Nagham, who studied dentistry in Gaza City. But his old life and old dreams now feel far away. His school was bombed, many of his friends and teachers are dead, and his family fled their home to seek safety in Rafah, along with more than one million others. No end to the war in Gaza is in sight. Even if there were, it would do little to change the bleak educational prospects of more than 625,000 students who the United Nations estimates are in the territory. Seven months of war have devastated every level of education there. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s schools have been severely damaged or destroyed by fighting, according to the United Nations, including every one of its 12 universities.
5 workers dead, 49 still missing after a building under construction collapsed in South Africa
(AP) Rescue teams worked through the night searching for dozens of construction workers buried for more than 12 hours under the rubble of concrete after a multi-story apartment complex that was being built collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa. Authorities said early Tuesday that the death toll had risen to five, while 49 workers remained buried in the mangled wreckage of the building, which collapsed on Monday afternoon. Authorities said a further 21 workers had been rescued from the rubble and taken to various hospitals, with at least 11 of them suffering severe injuries. The collapse happened in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town on South Africa’s south coast.
Cicadas and the cycle of nature
(Vox) While the emergence of cicada broods XIX and XIII will be somewhat brief, we’ll be feeling the reverberations of it for years to come. We are talking a lot of bugs here: During the swarms, a single acre of land can have over 1 million cicadas on it, which comes out to about 2,700 pounds of cicada in the aggregate. All of them are doomed, in one way or another, and that biomass will almost certainly lead to a substantial increase in the populations of birds that eat them—over 80 species—causing a population bump that will manifest across ecological generations, as that bumper crop of birds and rodents leads to a phenomenal year for the things that eat them, and so on and so on. It’s also a great year to be a caterpillar, as all the birds will be so gorged on cicadas that they can’t eat all the caterpillars they ordinarily would.
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Hello there! I'm Fannie (she/they) - the artist behind @hocooart.
I am 21 years old, German 🇩🇪, queer 🏳️🌈 and currently studying Media Design.
On this blog I post my digital and traditional illustrations and animations, usually of this kind:
Own Projects ([standalones], [OCs])
Special Occasion Illustrations (e.g. Funguary [2024], National Unicorn Day [x], Pride Month, Inktober, etc.)
Fanart (RDR2, Sky: Children of the Light, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss)
I also enjoy crocheting, knitting and crocheting, so there might be some of those projects on here as well~
My main blog (@hocoo2003) is about my writing short stories and working on a novel in my mother tounge, German.
You can find my other Socials on the link in my bio - it's a linktree link.
❕This blog is supposed to be a safe space for everyone, so please be respectful.
You're welcome to follow me, even if we don't know each other. I've seen some folks thinking that's a requirement. Here, it is not.
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The Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: Multiday severe weather outbreak expected to plague South - Fox Weather
FOX Weather has you covered with the breaking forecasts and weather news headlines for your Weather in America on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Get the latest from FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin.Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It’s Tuesday, April 9, 2024, and National Unicorn Day. Not to toot our own horn, but you can start your day with everything you need to know about…
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Holidays 4.9
Holidays
Air Force Day (Indonesia)
All Over Again Day
A-ma Festival (a.k.a. Matsu; Pagan Macau) [Fishers, Sailors]
Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark)
Appomattox Day
Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor; Philippines)
Astronauts' Day
Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Bataan Day (Araw ng Kagitingan a.k.a. Day of Valour; Philippines)
CSS Naked Day
Day of the Finnish Language (Finland)
Day of National Unity (Georgia)
Dry Milk Day
Easter Rising Anniversary Day (Ireland)
Free Cone Day
Hive Day (French Republic)
International Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) Day
International Songwriters Day
International Twitter Men’s Day
Jenkins' Ear Day
Jumbo Day
Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Listening Day
Maha Thingyan (Water Festival; Myanmar)
Maia Asteroid Day
Martyr’s Day (Tunisia)
Mikael Agricola (Finland)
Name Yourself Day
National Bodhi Day
National Cherish An Antique Day
National Chicken Little Awareness Day
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
National Health Day (Kiribati)
National Library Workers Day
National Mature Women’s Day
National Nuclear Technology Day (Iran)
National Unicorn Day
Observational of Nazi Occupation (Denmark)
Play True Day
Polling Day (Samoa)
Riot Grrl Day (Boston, Massachusetts)
Royal Thai Air Force Day (Thailand)
Seersucker Day
Sourdough Sam Day (San Francisco 49ers)
Special Forces Day
3-D Movie Day
Vimy Ridge Day (Canada)
Winston Churchill Day
World IoT Day
World Konkani Day (Goa)
Youth Homelessness Matters Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Black Beans and Rice Day
National Chinese Almond Cookie Day
National Gin & Tonic Day
National Pancit Day
National Pimento Cheese Day
2nd Tuesday in April
Be Kind to Lawyers Day [2nd Tuesday]
Identity Management Day [2nd Tuesday]
Independence & Related Days
Dita e Kushtetutes (Constitution Day; Kosovo)
Georgia (a.k.a. Independence Restoration Day; from USSR, 1991)
Mëcklewmburg-Wladir (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]
New Year’s Days
Hindu New Year (Indonesia)
Ougadi (Mauritius)
Telugu New Year (Puducherry, Tamil Nadu; India)
Ugadi (a.k.a. Yugadi or Samvatsarādi (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa; India)
Festivals Beginning April 9, 2024
Brussels International Fantasy, Fantastic, Thriller and Science Fiction Film Festival (Brussels, Belgium) [thru 4.21]
Edinburgh Science Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 4.24]
Food Northwest (Portland, Oregon) [thru 4.10]
Ice Cream Technology Conference (Clearwater, Florida) [thru 4.10]
Yogurt & Cultured Innovation Conference (Clearwater, Florida) [thru 4.10]
Feast Days
Amazon Goddess Day (Everyday Wicca)
Cereal Festival begins (Ancient Rome)
Charles Baudelaire (Writerism)
Charles E. Burchfield (Artology)
Cook Couscous Day (Pastafarian)
Day of the Amazon (Pagan)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism)
Dotto, Abbot of Orkney (Christian; Saint)
Eudoxus (Positivist; Saint)
Eupsychius (Christian; Saint)
Feast of A-Ma (Ancient Portuguese Goddess of Fisherman)
Feast of Jalal (Glory; Baha’i)
Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
Gaucherius (a.k.a. Gautier; Christian; Saint)
Hocktide (Ancient Saxons)
Hugh of Rouen (Christian; Saint)
Madrun (Celtic Book of Days)
Materiana (Christian; Saint)
Mary of Egypt (a.k.a. Mary of Cleophas; Christian; Saint)
Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (Asatru/Norse/The Troth)
Tommy Georgiarides Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Uramar (Christian; Saint)
Verruca Day (Goblins Again; Shamanism)
Victor Vasarely (Artology)
Waltrude (Christian; Saint)
The Woodsman (Muppetism)
Yasurai Matsuri (Festival to Prevent Ill Health; Japan; Shinto)
Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays
Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan; Islam; 30 Ramadan) (a.k.a. …
Eid al Fitr Holiday (Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen)
End of Ramadan Holiday (Egypt)
Ide el Fitr (Comoros)
id el Fitri (Nigeria)
Korité (Mali)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Nēmontēmi, Day 5 (of 5) [Aztec unlucky or fasting days, taking place between 4.5-4.18]
Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]
Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [15 of 37]
Premieres
All the President’s Men (Film; 1976)
Au Clair de la Lune, recorded by inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville (Song; 1860) [1st known recording of human voice]
Batman: Strange Days (WB Animated Film; 2014)
The Big Clock (Film; 1948)
Bodies, Rest & Motion (Film; 1993)
The Bored Cuckoo (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1948)
Date Night (Film; 2010)
The Day Lincoln Was Shot, by Jim Bishop (Book; 1955)
Ella Enchanted (Film; 2004)
Family Plot (Film; 1976)
Far Beyond Driven, by Pantera (Album; 1994)
Field and Scream (MGM Cartoon; 1955)
Fosse/Verdon (TV Mini-Series; 2019)
The Girl Next Door (Film; 2004)
Go (Film; 1999)
Happiness Is A Warm Puppy, by Charles M. Schulz (Cartoon Book; 1963)
How Do You Live?, by Genzaburo Yoshino (Novel; 1937)
Nashville Skyline, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1969)
Never Been Kissed (Film; 1999)
Nights in the Garden of Spain, by Manuel de Falla (Orchestral Work; 1916)
Parks and Recreation (TV Series; 2009)
Patriotic Pooches (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1943)
Reckoning, by R.E.M. (Album; 1984)
The Sandlot (Film; 1993)
Scarface (Film; 1932)
Single & Single, by John le Carré (Novel; 1999)
Time (West End Musical; 1986)
Voltaire in Love, by Nancy Mitford (Novel; 1958)
Today’s Name Days
Casilda, Waltraud (Austria)
Bozhan, Bozhana, Violeta, Vurban, Vurbana, Yasen, Yasna, Yavor, Zdravka, Zdravko (Bulgaria)
Celestina, Demetrije, Marija, Zdenko (Croatia)
Dušan (Czech Republic)
Otto, Procopius (Denmark)
Iiris, Kaira, Kaire, Kairi (Estonia)
Eeli, Eelis, Elia, Elias, Eliel, Eljas (Finland)
Gautier (France)
Casilda, Hugo, Waltraud (Germany)
Iosif, Sifis, Vaia, Vaios (Greece)
Erhard (Hungary)
Demetrio (Italy)
Valērija, Valtrauta, Varpa, Zubite (Latvia)
Aurimas, Dalia, Kleopas, Rasa (Lithuania)
Rannveig, Rønnaug (Norway)
Dobrosława, Dymitr, Maja, Marceli, Matron (Poland)
Eupsihie (Romania)
Milena (Slovakia)
Casilda, Demetrio (Spain)
Ottilia, Otto (Sweden)
Cortney, Courtney, Kortney, Kourtney (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 100 of 2024; 266 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 2 of week 15 of 2024
Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 24 of 28]
Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 1 (Guy-Mao)
Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]
Hebrew: 1 Nisan 5784
Islamic: 30 Ramadan 1445
J Cal: 10 Cyan; Threesday [10 of 30]
Julian: 27 March 2024
Moon: 1%: Waxing Crescent
Positivist: 16 Archimedes (4th Month) [Pytheas]
Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 14 of 15]
Season: Spring (Day 22 of 92)
Week: 2nd Week of April
Zodiac: Aries (Day 20 of 31)
Calendar Changes
Nīsān (a.k.a. Abib) [נִיסָן] (Hebrew Calendar) [Month 1 of 12]
桃月 [Táoyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (Peach Month) [Earthly Branch: Dragon Month] (Sānyuè; Third Month)
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Holidays 4.9
Holidays
Air Force Day (Indonesia)
All Over Again Day
A-ma Festival (a.k.a. Matsu; Pagan Macau) [Fishers, Sailors]
Anniversary of the German Invasion of Denmark (Denmark)
Appomattox Day
Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor; Philippines)
Astronauts' Day
Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Bataan Day (Araw ng Kagitingan a.k.a. Day of Valour; Philippines)
CSS Naked Day
Day of the Finnish Language (Finland)
Day of National Unity (Georgia)
Dry Milk Day
Easter Rising Anniversary Day (Ireland)
Free Cone Day
Hive Day (French Republic)
International Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) Day
International Songwriters Day
International Twitter Men’s Day
Jenkins' Ear Day
Jumbo Day
Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Listening Day
Maha Thingyan (Water Festival; Myanmar)
Maia Asteroid Day
Martyr’s Day (Tunisia)
Mikael Agricola (Finland)
Name Yourself Day
National Bodhi Day
National Cherish An Antique Day
National Chicken Little Awareness Day
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
National Health Day (Kiribati)
National Library Workers Day
National Mature Women’s Day
National Nuclear Technology Day (Iran)
National Unicorn Day
Observational of Nazi Occupation (Denmark)
Play True Day
Polling Day (Samoa)
Riot Grrl Day (Boston, Massachusetts)
Royal Thai Air Force Day (Thailand)
Seersucker Day
Sourdough Sam Day (San Francisco 49ers)
Special Forces Day
3-D Movie Day
Vimy Ridge Day (Canada)
Winston Churchill Day
World IoT Day
World Konkani Day (Goa)
Youth Homelessness Matters Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Black Beans and Rice Day
National Chinese Almond Cookie Day
National Gin & Tonic Day
National Pancit Day
National Pimento Cheese Day
2nd Tuesday in April
Be Kind to Lawyers Day [2nd Tuesday]
Identity Management Day [2nd Tuesday]
Independence & Related Days
Dita e Kushtetutes (Constitution Day; Kosovo)
Georgia (a.k.a. Independence Restoration Day; from USSR, 1991)
Mëcklewmburg-Wladir (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]
New Year’s Days
Hindu New Year (Indonesia)
Ougadi (Mauritius)
Telugu New Year (Puducherry, Tamil Nadu; India)
Ugadi (a.k.a. Yugadi or Samvatsarādi (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa; India)
Festivals Beginning April 9, 2024
Brussels International Fantasy, Fantastic, Thriller and Science Fiction Film Festival (Brussels, Belgium) [thru 4.21]
Edinburgh Science Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 4.24]
Food Northwest (Portland, Oregon) [thru 4.10]
Ice Cream Technology Conference (Clearwater, Florida) [thru 4.10]
Yogurt & Cultured Innovation Conference (Clearwater, Florida) [thru 4.10]
Feast Days
Amazon Goddess Day (Everyday Wicca)
Cereal Festival begins (Ancient Rome)
Charles Baudelaire (Writerism)
Charles E. Burchfield (Artology)
Cook Couscous Day (Pastafarian)
Day of the Amazon (Pagan)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism)
Dotto, Abbot of Orkney (Christian; Saint)
Eudoxus (Positivist; Saint)
Eupsychius (Christian; Saint)
Feast of A-Ma (Ancient Portuguese Goddess of Fisherman)
Feast of Jalal (Glory; Baha’i)
Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
Gaucherius (a.k.a. Gautier; Christian; Saint)
Hocktide (Ancient Saxons)
Hugh of Rouen (Christian; Saint)
Madrun (Celtic Book of Days)
Materiana (Christian; Saint)
Mary of Egypt (a.k.a. Mary of Cleophas; Christian; Saint)
Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (Asatru/Norse/The Troth)
Tommy Georgiarides Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Uramar (Christian; Saint)
Verruca Day (Goblins Again; Shamanism)
Victor Vasarely (Artology)
Waltrude (Christian; Saint)
The Woodsman (Muppetism)
Yasurai Matsuri (Festival to Prevent Ill Health; Japan; Shinto)
Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays
Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan; Islam; 30 Ramadan) (a.k.a. …
Eid al Fitr Holiday (Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen)
End of Ramadan Holiday (Egypt)
Ide el Fitr (Comoros)
id el Fitri (Nigeria)
Korité (Mali)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Nēmontēmi, Day 5 (of 5) [Aztec unlucky or fasting days, taking place between 4.5-4.18]
Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]
Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [15 of 37]
Premieres
All the President’s Men (Film; 1976)
Au Clair de la Lune, recorded by inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville (Song; 1860) [1st known recording of human voice]
Batman: Strange Days (WB Animated Film; 2014)
The Big Clock (Film; 1948)
Bodies, Rest & Motion (Film; 1993)
The Bored Cuckoo (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1948)
Date Night (Film; 2010)
The Day Lincoln Was Shot, by Jim Bishop (Book; 1955)
Ella Enchanted (Film; 2004)
Family Plot (Film; 1976)
Far Beyond Driven, by Pantera (Album; 1994)
Field and Scream (MGM Cartoon; 1955)
Fosse/Verdon (TV Mini-Series; 2019)
The Girl Next Door (Film; 2004)
Go (Film; 1999)
Happiness Is A Warm Puppy, by Charles M. Schulz (Cartoon Book; 1963)
How Do You Live?, by Genzaburo Yoshino (Novel; 1937)
Nashville Skyline, by Bob Dylan (Album; 1969)
Never Been Kissed (Film; 1999)
Nights in the Garden of Spain, by Manuel de Falla (Orchestral Work; 1916)
Parks and Recreation (TV Series; 2009)
Patriotic Pooches (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1943)
Reckoning, by R.E.M. (Album; 1984)
The Sandlot (Film; 1993)
Scarface (Film; 1932)
Single & Single, by John le Carré (Novel; 1999)
Time (West End Musical; 1986)
Voltaire in Love, by Nancy Mitford (Novel; 1958)
Today’s Name Days
Casilda, Waltraud (Austria)
Bozhan, Bozhana, Violeta, Vurban, Vurbana, Yasen, Yasna, Yavor, Zdravka, Zdravko (Bulgaria)
Celestina, Demetrije, Marija, Zdenko (Croatia)
Dušan (Czech Republic)
Otto, Procopius (Denmark)
Iiris, Kaira, Kaire, Kairi (Estonia)
Eeli, Eelis, Elia, Elias, Eliel, Eljas (Finland)
Gautier (France)
Casilda, Hugo, Waltraud (Germany)
Iosif, Sifis, Vaia, Vaios (Greece)
Erhard (Hungary)
Demetrio (Italy)
Valērija, Valtrauta, Varpa, Zubite (Latvia)
Aurimas, Dalia, Kleopas, Rasa (Lithuania)
Rannveig, Rønnaug (Norway)
Dobrosława, Dymitr, Maja, Marceli, Matron (Poland)
Eupsihie (Romania)
Milena (Slovakia)
Casilda, Demetrio (Spain)
Ottilia, Otto (Sweden)
Cortney, Courtney, Kortney, Kourtney (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 100 of 2024; 266 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 2 of week 15 of 2024
Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 24 of 28]
Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 1 (Guy-Mao)
Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]
Hebrew: 1 Nisan 5784
Islamic: 30 Ramadan 1445
J Cal: 10 Cyan; Threesday [10 of 30]
Julian: 27 March 2024
Moon: 1%: Waxing Crescent
Positivist: 16 Archimedes (4th Month) [Pytheas]
Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 14 of 15]
Season: Spring (Day 22 of 92)
Week: 2nd Week of April
Zodiac: Aries (Day 20 of 31)
Calendar Changes
Nīsān (a.k.a. Abib) [נִיסָן] (Hebrew Calendar) [Month 1 of 12]
桃月 [Táoyuè] (Chinese Lunisolar Calendar) [Month 3 of 12] (Peach Month) [Earthly Branch: Dragon Month] (Sānyuè; Third Month)
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Today, April 9, 2024, is National #UnicornDay!
(https://nationaltoday.com/national-unicorn-day/)
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Get ready for a sprinkle of magic and a whole lot of gummy goodness! HARIBO, America's favorite gummi brand, is celebrating the launch of their enchanting new Unicorn-i-licious gummies with a once-in-a-lifetime experience: the HARIBO Treat Retreat. This whimsical overnight stay in New York City promises an unforgettable adventure for three lucky fans and their families or friends. A Dream Come True: Unveiling the Treat Retreat Mark your calendars for National Unicorn Day, April 9th, 2024! This is your chance to snag a limited-availability spot at the HARIBO Treat Retreat. This custom-designed, two-bedroom accommodation brings the vibrant world of Unicorn-i-licious gummies to life, creating an Instagram-worthy paradise for kids and adults alike. Enter HARIBO's Magical Treat Retreat! Imagine stepping into a world of pure whimsy. Rainbow prism lighting illuminates the space, while a dreamy unicorn bedroom beckons with its inviting atmosphere. Feeling creative? Build your own epic pillow fort and unleash your inner child! Gummy-inspired artwork adorns the walls, and a unicorn-themed family-friendly mini bar ensures everyone stays refreshed. But the magic doesn't stop there! Guests departing from the Treat Retreat will take home a treasure trove of memorable swag, including cozy unicorn slippers and eye masks, perfect for reliving the magic at future sleepovers. And of course, no trip to the Treat Retreat would be complete without a lifetime supply of HARIBO Unicorn-i-licious gummies! Celebrating Sweet Dreams and Childlike Wonder "At HARIBO, our fans are our top priority," says Seth Klugherz, VP of Marketing at HARIBO of America. "The inspiration for our delicious new Unicorn-i-licious gummies came directly from our fans. We wanted to take this celebration a step further by offering an immersive experience for three lucky fans and their loved ones." This exclusive stay promises to be an unforgettable memory-making experience. Imagine living out your unicorn dreams in a space bursting with color and creativity, surrounded by a delightful supply of these enchanting new gummies. HARIBO hopes this Treat Retreat experience will spark childlike joy and remind fans of all ages to embrace the magic of everyday moments. How to Claim Your Spot in the Treat Retreat Calling all unicorn enthusiasts! Get ready to set your alarms, phone reminders, and post-it notes! Spots for the HARIBO Treat Retreat will be available for claiming on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 12:00 pm ET on National Unicorn Day, April 9th, 2024. These limited-availability slots are sure to disappear faster than a unicorn can gallop down a rainbow! To snag your complimentary two-night stay at the Treat Retreat in New York City (available only between April 10-18, 2024), head over to haribotreatretreat.com on National Unicorn Day and claim your spot! Be sure to act quickly, as these coveted slots will vanish in a flash. Full details and additional rules are available on the website. Unveiling the Magic of Unicorn-i-licious Gummies The Treat Retreat isn't the only exciting news from HARIBO! Unicorn-i-licious gummies are one of the most anticipated gummi innovations hitting shelves this year. These enchanting unicorn-shaped treats come in a kaleidoscope of six delicious flavors, including cotton candy, blue raspberry, apple, tangerine, berry punch, and banana. Get ready to experience a burst of flavor and a sprinkle of magic with every bite!
#EnterHARIBOsMagicalTreatRetreat#fanexperience#gummies#HARIBO#NationalUnicornDay#NewYorkCity#overnightexperience#rainbow#swag#sweetsurprises.#TreatRetreat#Unicornilicious#unicornthemed#whimsical
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GOP candidate for governor called teachers “demons” for teaching about “filthy” LGBTQ+ people
A 2021 video shows staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ GOP candidate Mark Robinson referring to LGBTQ+ people as “filthy” and calling teachers who speak to students about LGBTQ+ issues “demons.”
Robinson – the Republican nominee for North Carolina governor and the state’s current lieutenant governor – was reportedly speaking at a 2021 Independence Day event held by Conservative Coalition North Carolina.
Related:
Man parades rainbow-painted donkey through GOP campaign rally in bizarre attack on trans people
“I thought to myself, that is not a rainbow unicorn.”
“I’m a little more concerned with what’s going on in our classrooms when you have these demons in there trying to teach our children about all this filthy homosexuality and transgenderism, trying to force it down their throats,” Robinson said, adding that kids are also being taught to “hate America.”
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He also made the contradictory statement that “you have the right to be transgender, but you cannot transcend God’s creation and you are not playing on the girl’s team if you’re a man.”
“When did freedom become insanity?” he asked, emphasizing his belief that there are two genders: “Two. Count them. Two. There’s two sets of DNA, male and female. That’s it.”
In the same speech, he blasted the notion that racism is a problem in America, saying, “We’ve reached a point in this nation where people don’t care what you look like anymore.”
He also repeatedly praised Donald Trump and said America needs to “wake up” and “tell those socialist b****rds who want to destroy this nation, ‘You will not do it on my watch, you will not do it now, you will not do it ever.”
Donald Trump recently endorsed Robinson, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.” This is despite the fact that Robinson once called the Civil Rights Movement a communist plot to “subvert capitalism” and “to subvert free choice.” He was speaking on a podcast in 2018 and said Black protestors and white allies who had protested racist laws by eating at a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter during a July 1960 protest in Greensboro, North Carolina were “ridiculous” and wrongly trying to pull “the rug out from underneath capitalism and free choice and the free market.”
As the November election looms closer, a spotlight has been cast on Robinson’s long history of inflammatory comments.
In March 2023, Robinson declared that God created him to battle against LGBTQ+ rights and added, “Makes me sick every time I see it — a church that flies that rainbow flag, which is a direct spit in the face of God almighty.”
In 2017, he wrote on Facebook, “You CAN NOT love God and support the homosexual agenda.”
In 2021, Robinson compared LGBTQ+ people to cow dung and claimed straight people are superior to gay people due to their ability to procreate. In the same sermon, he declared there are only two genders and disparaged trans people’s bodies: “I don’t care how much you cut yourself up, drug yourself up and dress yourself up, you still either one of two things — you either a man or a woman.”
He also said people who support events like Drag Queen Story Hour do so because they desire to molest children.
He has previously proclaimed that being gay is a step before pedophilia, that former First Lady Michelle Obama is secretly a trans woman, and that trans-affirming people are “devil-worshipping child molesters.” He also condemned gay people as an “abominable sin” in response to the 2016 Pulse massacre.
Robinson created an education task force to investigate and remove LGBTQ+ literature from public schools, as well as report instances of LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools. Teachers’ names, employers, and information were released unredacted in the report, yet many of the… http://dlvr.it/T4jKbl
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Scripture of the Day - March 3, 2024
THE DAY OF THE LORD [third in a Series, from the KJV of the Bible]
BY THE PROPHET ISAIAH IN CHAPTER 34:
Isa 34:1-8 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the INDIGNATION OF THE LORD is UPON ALL NATIONS, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
And all the HOST of heaven shall be dissolved, and the HEAVENS shall be ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL: and all their HOST SHALL FALL DOWN, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For MY SWORD shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. (According to Isaiah 28:1-3 the wise men of Ephraim fell down to the earth with God’s hand of guidance.)
The SWORD of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the UNICORNS shall come down with them, and the BULLOCKS with the BULLS; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. (certain animals became extinct in that DAY.)
For it is THE DAY OF THE LORD’S VENGEANCE, and the year of recompenses (amends made for loss or harm suffered) for the controversy of Zion. (recompenses upon the nations for teaching His people to sin)
BY THE PROPHET JEREMIAH IN CHAPTER 46:
Jeremiah 46:9-16 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth...
For this is the DAY OF THE LORD God of hosts, a DAY OF VENGEANCE, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the SWORD shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon (Vespasian, Assyrian/Roman Emperor) should come and smite the land of Egypt. (using his ‘god of forces’, radiation weaponry - see Daniel 11:38 and Zechariah 14:12).
Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the SWORD shall devour round about thee. Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the Lord did drive them. He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, “Arise, and LET US GO AGAIN TO OUR OWN PEOPLE, and to the land of our nativity, FROM THE OPPRESSING SWORD."
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Photo-Illustration By TIME
How Tech Giants Turned Ukraine Into An Artificial Intelligence (AI) War Lab
— By Vera Bergengruen | Kyiv, Ukraine | February 8, 2024
Early On The Morning of June 1, 2022, Alex Karp, the CEO of the data-analytics firm Palantir Technologies, crossed the border between Poland and Ukraine on foot, with five colleagues in tow. A pair of beaten-up Toyota Land Cruisers awaited on the other side. Chauffeured by armed guards, they sped down empty highways toward Kyiv, past bombed-out buildings, bridges damaged by artillery, the remnants of burned trucks.
They arrived in the capital before the wartime curfew. The next day, Karp was escorted into the fortified bunker of the presidential palace, becoming the first leader of a major Western company to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s invasion three months earlier. Over a round of espressos, Karp told Zelensky that he was ready to open an office in Kyiv and deploy Palantir’s data and artificial-intelligence software to support Ukraine’s defense. Karp believed they could team up “in ways that allow David to beat a modern-day Goliath.”,
In the stratosphere of top tech CEOs, Karp is an unusual figure. At 56, he is a lanky tai chi aficionado with a cloud of wiry gray curls that gives him the air of an eccentric scientist. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from a German University, where he studied under the famous Social Theorist Jürgen Habermas, and a law degree from Stanford, where he became friends with the controversial venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. After Palantir became tech’s most secretive unicorn, Karp moved the company to Denver to escape Silicon Valley’s “Monoculture,” though he typically works out of a barn in New Hampshire when he’s not traveling.
The Ukrainians weren’t sure what to think of the man making grandiose promises across the ornate wooden table. But they were familiar with the company’s reputation, recalls Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, who was in that first meeting. Named after the mystical seeing stones in The Lord of the Rings, Palantir sells the same aura of omniscience. Seeded in part by an investment from the CIA’s venture-capital arm, it built its business providing data-analytics software to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the FBI, the Department of Defense, and a host of foreign-intelligence agencies. “They are the AI arms dealer of the 21st century,” says Jacob Helberg, a national-security expert who serves as an outside-policy adviser to Karp. In Ukraine, Karp tells me, he saw the opportunity to fulfill Palantir’s mission to “defend the West” and to “scare the f-ck out of our enemies.”
TIME Illustration. Palantir Ukraine Time Magazine Cover
Ukraine saw an opportunity too. At first it was driven by desperation, says Fedorov, 33. With the Russians threatening to topple Zelensky’s democratically elected government and occupy the country, Kyiv needed all the help it could get. But soon, government officials realized they had a chance to develop the country’s own tech sector. From European capitals to Silicon Valley, Fedorov and his deputies began marketing the battlefields of Ukraine as laboratories for the latest military technologies. “Our big mission is to make Ukraine the world’s tech R&D lab,” Fedorov says.
The progress has been striking. In the year and a half since Karp’s initial meeting with Zelensky, Palantir has embedded itself in the day-to-day work of a wartime foreign government in an unprecedented way. More than half a dozen Ukrainian agencies, including its Ministries of Defense, Economy, and Education, are using the company’s products. Palantir’s software, which uses AI to analyze satellite imagery, open-source data, drone footage, and reports from the ground to present commanders with military options, is “responsible for most of the targeting in Ukraine,” according to Karp. Ukrainian officials told me they are using the company’s data analytics for projects that go far beyond battlefield intelligence, including collecting evidence of war crimes, clearing land mines, resettling displaced refugees, and rooting out corruption. Palantir was so keen to showcase its capabilities that it provided them to Ukraine free of charge.
It is far from the only tech company assisting the Ukrainian war effort. Giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Starlink have worked to protect Ukraine from Russian cyberattacks, migrate critical government data to the cloud, and keep the country connected, committing hundreds of millions of dollars to the nation’s defense. The controversial U.S. facial-recognition company Clearview AI has provided its tools to more than 1,500 Ukrainian officials, who have used it to identify more than 230,000 Russians on their soil as well as Ukrainian collaborators. Smaller American and European companies, many focused on autonomous drones, have set up shop in Kyiv too, leading young Ukrainians to dub some of the city’s crowded co-working spaces “Mil-Tech Valley."
War has always driven innovation, from the crossbow to the internet, and in the modern era private industry has made key contributions to breakthroughs like the atom bomb. But the collaboration between foreign tech companies and the Ukrainian armed forces, who say they have a software engineer deployed with each battalion, is driving a new kind of experimentation in military AI. The result is an acceleration of “the most significant fundamental change in the character of war ever recorded in history,” General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington last year.
It Can Be Hard To See That From Afar. By all accounts, the war in Ukraine has settled into a stalemate, with both sides hammering away with 20th century weapons like artillery and tanks. Some view the claims of high-tech breakthroughs with skepticism, arguing that the grinding war of attrition is little affected by the deployment of AI tools. But Ukraine and its private-sector allies say they are playing a longer game: creating a war lab for the future. Ukraine “is the best test ground for all the newest tech,” Fedorov says, “because here you can test them in real-life conditions.” Says Karp: “There are things that we can do on the battlefield that we could not do in a domestic context.”
If the future of warfare is being beta tested on the ground in Ukraine, the results will have global ramifications. In conflicts waged with software and AI, where more military decisions are likely to be handed off to algorithms, tech companies stand to wield outsize power as independent actors. The ones willing to move fast and flout legal, ethical, or regulatory norms could make the biggest breakthroughs. National-security officials and experts warn these new tools risk falling into the hands of adversaries. “The prospects for proliferation are crazy,” says Rita Konaev of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. “Most companies operating in Ukraine right now say they align with U.S. national-security goals—but what happens when they don’t? What happens the day after?”
A Ukrainian military analyst reviews videos obtained by drone operators near Bakhmut in January 2023. Nicole Tung—The New York Times/Redux
In the months since Karp’s cloak-and-dagger first meeting with Zelensky, Palantir brass have fallen into a familiar routine on their frequent trips into Ukraine. In October, I met a London-based Palantir employee at the airport in Krakow, Poland. We were picked up in two armored cars, handed emergency medical kits “just in case,” and driven to the border with Ukraine. Gone was what one executive described to me as the “Kalashnikov-between-the-knees vibe.” We zipped through the border checkpoint, where young Ukrainian recruits dozed in the light rain. After dozens of these journeys, Palantir employees have their favorite gas-station snacks on the long road to Kyiv; their favorite drivers (a hulking former soldier for the Polish special forces who goes by Horse got us there with terrifying speed); and their favorite specialty coffee shops around the capital. These days, the lobbies of Kyiv’s five-star hotels are full of security details trying to inconspicuously sip beers while waiting for foreign-defense, tech, and government executives.
Much of Palantir’s work there is conducted in stylish co-working spaces by a team of fewer than a dozen local employees who work directly with Ukrainian officials. When I visited one such office in October, three men with close-cropped hair and cargo pants stood out against the trendy crowd of 20-somethings before they disappeared to meet with Palantir employees in a room booked under a fake name. “It often feels like a tech-startup vibe: let’s see what we can do with two old cameras and a drone flying around,” says Vic, an engineer who left their job at a U.S. tech giant to work for Palantir in Kyiv after the invasion, and asked to be identified by a pseudonym for security reasons. “Except we’re in the middle of a war."
With a few clicks, a Ukrainian Palantir engineer showed me how they could mine a dizzying array of battlefield data that, until recently, would have taken hundreds of humans to analyze. Palantir’s software processes raw intelligence from sources including drones, satellites, and Ukrainians on the ground, as well as radar that can see through clouds and thermal images that can detect troop movements and artillery fire. AI-enabled models can then present military officials with the most effective options to target and enemy positions. The models learn and improve with each strike, according to Palantir.
When the company first started working with the Ukrainian government in the summer of 2022, “it was just a question of pure survival,” says Louis Mosley, Palantir’s executive vice president for U.K. and Europe. Palantir hired Ukrainian engineers who could adapt its software for the war effort, while also serving as interlocutors between the tech company and Ukraine’s sclerotic bureaucracy. Government officials were trained to use a Palantir tool called MetaConstellation, which uses commercial data, including satellite imagery, to give a near real-time picture of a given battle space. Palantir’s software integrates that information with commercial and classified government data, including from allies, which allows military officials to communicate enemy positions to commanders on the ground or decide to strike a target. This is part of what Karp calls a digital “kill chain.”
Karp with Zelensky and Fedorov (far left) in June 2, 2022. Courtesy Digital Ministry of Ukraine
Drones awaiting deployment to the front lines in July 2023. Drones awaiting deployment to the front lines in July 2023.Libkos—AP
Although recent earnings data from the company indicates that partner countries have chipped in tens of millions to offset Palantir’s investment, Ukraine has not paid Palantir for its tools and services. The company's motivations in Ukraine have little to do with short-term profit. In recent years, Palantir has sought to shed its reputation as a shadowy data-mining spy contractor as it expands its list of commercial clients. Its tools have played a role in uncovering the financial fraud carried out by Bernie Madoff, rooting out Chinese spyware installed on the Dalai Lama’s computer, and allegedly aiding in the hunt for Osama bin Laden—a long-standing rumor the company has been careful not to dispute. More recently it has highlighted its work with the U.N. World Food Programme and the use of its software to track COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution.
Karp has long dismissed widespread criticism that Palantir’s tools enable intrusive government surveillance. Amnesty International has accused the company of seeking to “deflect and minimize its responsibility to protect human rights,” and said Palantir’s tools have allowed government agencies to track and identify migrants and asylum seekers to carry out arrests and workplace raids. The CEO says he sees a moral imperative to supply Western governments with the best emerging technology, calling for “more intimate collaboration between the state and the technology sector” that he believes will allow the West to maintain its edge over global adversaries.
In Ukraine, Palantir had found an opportunity to put this mission into practice while burnishing its reputation. “People often have preconceived notions about Palantir, but our products work,” says vice president Josh Harris. “When it’s existential, and when it needs to work, you take off your blinders, you take out all the politics.” And in Ukraine’s leaders, the company found a group of young, tech-savvy officials who could help them with more than just PR.
Karp, Palantir’s CEO, casts his company’s mission as using cutting-edge technology to defend the West against global adversariesAaron M. Sprecher—Bloomberg/Getty Images
When I Visited Last Fall, the stately avenue that leads to Ukraine’s cabinet building in downtown Kyiv was lined with rusted antitank barricades and checkpoints manned by rifle-toting soldiers. The windows of the imposing Soviet-era building that houses most of Zelensky’s government were covered by sandbags. Government workers wove through the darkened hallways, using their phones to light the way.
Fedorov’s sixth-floor office was illuminated by neon lamps. A treadmill, boxing gloves, and an exercise bike made up a small gym in one corner. At a conference table flanked by large screens, a stone sculpture of an alien wore a Biden-Harris 2020 cap. A neat stack of fanned-out magazines near the doorway bore a message to the world: "Ukraine: Open for Business."
For the past 18 months, Fedorov and his deputies have brought that message to tech CEOs, defense conferences, and business summits. The former digital-marketing entrepreneur, who is the youngest member of Zelensky’s cabinet, has framed the battlefields of Ukraine and its modern wartime society as the best possible testing ground for cutting-edge innovation. “The tech sector will be the main engine of our future growth,” Fedorov told me. On the day we spoke in his office, Fedorov had just finished one of his regular calls with leaders at Microsoft and was due to meet with Google executives visiting Kyiv. He has been on the cover of Wired magazine and spoken about Ukraine’s tech achievements in wartime at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It’s a striking turnaround from when I first interviewed Fedorov in March 2022. Back then, he was speaking into Airpods from a darkened bunker with an erratic video connection, and his team was resorting to Twitter to lobby and shame the world’s largest tech companies to block their services in Russia.
In the first months of the war, Ukrainian officials accepted whatever help was offered. They took cyber and cloud services from Microsoft, Amazon, and Google; Starlink terminals from Elon Musk; facial-recognition software from Clearview AI; and a host of experimental drones, cameras, and jamming kits from large defense companies and startups alike. Fedorov rallied an “IT Army” of 400,000 volunteer hackers to help protect critical infrastructure and counter Russian cyberattacks. “In the beginning there was no process. There was chaos,” says Alex Bornyakov, Fedorov’s 41-year-old deputy. By that summer, he adds, “we had to calm ourselves down and say, ‘We can’t go on this way. We need a strategy for the long term.’”
The solution they landed on was to build a tech sector that could not just help win the war but also serve as a pillar of Ukraine’s economy when it was over. Israel, a hotbed for tech startups, was a model. Ukraine’s 300,000 tech workers, many employed by American companies before the war, were eager to contribute to the fight by working for the multiplying number of domestic military startups. “We decided, let’s send a message that it’s not about donations,” says Bornyakov. “The best way to help Ukraine is to invest in Ukraine.”
They first tested the new pitch at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, that July. The response was swift. Silicon Valley investors launched the Blue and Yellow Heritage Fund to invest in Ukrainian startups. “It is not a charity,” founding partner John Frankel said at the time. “It’s our way of contributing, but also getting what we think will be a high return on capital.”
Fedorov and Bornyakov set up incentives, expanding special tax breaks to defense-tech companies to entice them to come to Kyiv. They launched “trade missions” to conferences in London, San Francisco, Toronto, Brussels, Davos, and Dubai. By early 2023, the road show was almost going too well. “We were bombarded with so much military defense stuff from [startups] saying, ‘I have this idea of how to win the war,’” says Bornyakov. He and Fedorov launched a digital platform called Brave1, through which defense-tech companies, startups, and ordinary Ukrainians can pitch their products. It has received more than 1,145 submissions, hundreds of which are being tested on the battlefield, according to Fedorov’s office. This includes drones, AI-transcription software that could decipher Russian military jargon, radios that prevent Russian jamming, patches for cyber vulnerabilities, and demining equipment.
In meetings with more than a dozen Ukrainian officials, I was given demos of how many of these tools work—and how they’re used for tasks beyond the battlefield. Dmytro Zavgorodnii, a digital official at the Ministry of Education and Science, showed me dashboards with satellite maps tracking schools affected by air-raid alerts or power outages, the condition of roads, and estimates for how long it would take students to access shelters with wi-fi. This software, provided by Palantir, will help the ministry determine how to keep schools open, provide laptops and connectivity in conflict zones, and conduct national testing with minimal disruption. “It’s like a superpower,” Zavgorodnii explained.
Huddled around a laptop, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko showed me how Palantir’s software has made it possible to aggregate dozens of previously siloed data streams to help officials clear the country of land mines. Ukraine has become the most heavily mined country in the world, with unexploded ordnance endangering more than 6 million civilians and making vast swathes of farmland unusable. The ministry works with Palantir to develop models to determine where demining efforts could have the biggest impact, helping Svyrydenko devise a plan to bring 80% of contaminated land back into economic use within 10 years. In an interview at a Kyiv hotel, Ukraine’s Attorney General Andriy Kostin told me how his agency employs Palantir’s software in its effort to prosecute alleged Russian war crimes—using its analysis of vast troves of data to link allegations of war crimes to pieces of evidence, including satellite imagery, troop movements, and open-source data like photos and videos uploaded by Ukrainians on social media.
Other tech companies have also been supplying the Ukrainian government with products to help win the war. One of the most successful has been Clearview, which Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Leonid Tymchenko described to me as the country’s “secret weapon” against invading Russian troops. It’s being used by 1,500 officials across 18 Ukrainian agencies, and has helped identify more than 230,000 Russian soldiers who have participated in the military invasion, making it possible to link them to evidence of alleged war crimes, according to Ukrainian officials. Clearview is reaping the benefits too. Ukrainian engineers have “definitely made our product a lot better,” its CEO Hoan Ton-That says.
A Short Drive From Downtown Kyiv sits a bustling high-tech “innovation park” called Unit City. It’s a sprawling campus of ultramodern offices built on the grounds of an old Soviet factory that produced knockoffs of German motorcycles. Unit City is the epicenter of Ukraine’s efforts to turn its tech industry “into the main innovation hub in Europe,” says partner Kirill Bondar. Since the start of the war, U.S. and European government officials have visited Unit City; so have tech executives and luminaries like Vitalik Buterin, a creator of the Ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain.
Among the businesses based here is a Ukrainian military startup accelerator called D3 (Dare to Defend Democracy). High-profile foreign investors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, have pumped more than $10 million into D3. In trips to Ukraine, Schmidt says, he became convinced that the country’s front lines would produce breakthroughs in the use of AI and drones. “There’s simply so much volume, there’s so many players, there’s so much innovation,” Schmidt says. “It’s really impressive.”
Schmidt is among an array of prominent foreign investors attracted to the nascent promise of Ukraine’s tech sector. German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems recently announced it would open a research and development center in Kyiv. The Japanese tech giant Rakuten also announced its plan to open an office in the capital. Turkish drone maker Baykar has invested nearly $100 million to build a research and manufacturing center in Ukraine by 2025. At a recent European defense conference, “no one would even look at a product unless it had Tested in Ukraine stamped on it,” Deborah Fairlamb, the co-founder of Green Flag Ventures, a new fund dedicated to investing in Ukrainian startups, told me.
While encouraging the investment, the Ukrainian government is also seeking to preserve valuable battlefield data for its own budding defense industry. Officials told me they intend to export the innovations coming out of the conflict to address a variety of global crises beyond war, from disruptive blackouts to natural disasters. Over time, Kyiv has become much more selective about who they allow to access their front lines to refine their products. “There has been a change in the message,” a senior Palantir executive told me as he left a meeting with officials in Kyiv. “Now it seems they’re saying, ‘You know, you’re lucky to be here.’”
Outside Its Borders, there are signs that Ukraine’s war lab has helped establish it as a major player on the global tech scene. At Web Summit, the world’s largest tech conference, which took place in Lisbon in November, Ukraine’s pavilion loomed over other exhibits in the cavernous arena. Two years earlier, its presence had been limited to a corner booth. Now 25 Ukrainian startups had set up kiosks, and dozens of young workers in yellow Team Ukraine shirts handed out promotional booklets. “The best time to invest in Ukraine is NOW, not after the war,” its marketing materials read.
Some of the lessons learned on Ukraine’s battlefields have already gone global. Citing Ukraine as a blueprint, Taiwan has recruited commercial drone makers and aerospace firms to embed within the military to build up its drone program amid rising tensions with China. Last month, the White House hosted Palantir and a handful of other defense companies to discuss battlefield technologies used against Russia in the war. The battle-tested in Ukraine stamp seems to be working.
So is Palantir’s campaign to rehabilitate its reputation. In early January, amid the ongoing war against Hamas, Israel’s Defense Ministry struck a deal with the company to “harness Palantir’s advanced technology in support of war-related missions.” To Palantir executives, the demand for their tools from one of the world’s most technologically advanced militaries spoke for itself. But they were surprised when the usually discreet Israelis allowed the partnership to be made public, “almost as if the relationship itself would act as a military deterrence,” according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The next generation of AI warfare remains in its early stages. Some U.S. officials are skeptical that it will contribute to a military victory for Ukraine. As the war enters its third year, the Ukrainian counteroffensive has continued to stall. “The tech bros aren’t helping us too much,” Bill LaPlante, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, told a defense conference in November. “We’re not fighting in Ukraine with Silicon Valley right now, even though they’re going to try to take credit for it.”
Ukraine’s use of tools provided by companies like Palantir and Clearview also raises complicated questions about when and how invasive technology should be used in wartime, as well as how far privacy rights should extend. Clearview CEO Ton-That contends that, like many new tools in this conflict, his facial-recognition software is “a technology that shines and only really is appreciated in times of crisis.” But alarmed human-rights groups and privacy advocates warn that unchecked access to his tool, which has been accused of violating privacy laws in Europe, could lead to mass surveillance or other abuses.
That may well be the price of experimentation. “Ukraine is a living laboratory in which some of these AI-enabled systems can reach maturity through live experiments and constant, quick reiteration,” says Jorritt Kaminga, the director of global policy at RAIN, a research firm that specializes in defense AI. Yet much of the new power will reside in the hands of private companies, not governments accountable to their people. “This is the first time ever, in a war, that most of the critical technologies are not coming from federally funded research labs but commercial technologies off the shelf,” says Steve Blank, a tech veteran and co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University. “And there’s a marketplace for this stuff. So the genie’s out of the bottle.”—With reporting by Leslie Dickstein and Simmone Shah/New York •
#Ukraine 🇺🇦#Tech Giants#Artificial intelligence (AI)#War Lab 🧫🧪 🥼#Vera Bergengruen#Palantir Technologies#Poland 🇵🇱#Russia 🇷🇺#Alex Karp | CEO | Palantir Technologies#Artificial-Intelligence Software#Modern-Day Goliath#Social Theorist | Jürgen Habermas#Monoculture
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