Once A Year On August 1st, The People Of Warsaw Pay Hommage To The Fallen Heroes That Fought For Freedom

Once a year on august 1st, the people of Warsaw pay hommage to the fallen heroes that fought for freedom in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising. The biggest rebellion against German Nazi occupation during WWII cost over 200 000 lives and destruction of the capital.

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The Twisted Trees of Slope Point, New Zealand

Slope Point is at the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand. The air streams loop the ocean, unobstructed for 2000 miles, until they reach Slope Point causing incredibly strong winds. In fact, the winds are so strong and persistent here that they perpetually warp and twist the trees into these crooked, wind-swept shapes. 

Slope Point is generally uninhabited, except for the herds of sheep that graze the land. There are no roads leading here, however backpackers regularly make the short 20-minute walk to see the fascinating tree formations that only Mother Nature could create. However there is no public access during the lambing season from September to November.

sources 1, 2, 3, 4

People can’t anticipate how much they’ll miss the natural world until they are deprived of it. I have read about submarine crewmen who haunt the sonar room, listening to whale songs and colonies of snapping shrimp. Submarine captains dispense “periscope liberty” - a chance to gaze at clouds and birds and coastlines - and remind themselves that the natural world still exists. I once met a man who told me that after landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, after a winter at the South Pole research station, he and his companions spent a couple of days just wandering around staring in awe at flowers and trees. At one point, one of them spotted a woman pushing a stroller. “A baby!” he shouted, and they all rushed across the street to see. The woman turned the stroller and ran. Nothing tops space as a barren, unnatural environment. Astronauts who had no prior interest in gardening spend hours tending experimental greenhouses. “They are our love,” said cosmonaut Vladislav Volkov of the tiny flax plants - with which they shared the confines of Salyut 1, the first Soviet space station. At least in orbit, you can look out the window and see the natural world below. On a Mars mission, once astronauts lose sight of Earth, they’ll be nothing to see outside the window. “You’ll be bathed in permanent sunlight, so you won’t eve see any stars,” astronaut Andy Thomas explained to me. “All you’ll see is black.”

Mary Roach. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.  (via hummeline)

If you feel uncomfortable wearing a mask, due to personal reasons, perhaps try looking into options like visors that shield the face, or beekeeper style protection!

The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is every July 30th, and was first officially recognized by the United Nations in 2013.

It’s World Day Against Trafficking!

Here’s some things you should know...

There are upwards of 40.3 million people in slavery today. Men, women, and children of all races.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise, generating $150 billion annually. It is predicted to soon become the largest criminal industry in the world.

99% of sex trafficking victims are female

65% of labor trafficking victims are male

1 in 4 modern slavery victims are children

The average age a child enters the sex trade is 12-14 years

Pornography, a $95 billion industry, and sex trafficking is tightly linked. Studies show roughly half of women sex trafficked were forced to film pornography.

ICE is one of the primary federal agencies responsible for combating human trafficking.

Estimates suggest that about 50,000 people are trafficked into the US each year, most often from Mexico and the Philippines.

1 in 3 women are sexually assaulted on their journey to cross the border from Mexico to the US

From 2016-2017, ICE officers arrested 30,000 illegal aliens who were previously convicted of sex crimes

Approximately 75% of humanitarian operations worldwide have stopped due to international lockdowns, curfews, and other measures taken in response to COVID-19

The number of crisis trafficking cases handled by the Trafficking Hotline increased by more than 40 percent in the month following the shelter-in-place orders compared to the prior month.

Reports of child exploitation increased by 106% in March 2020 as compared to March 2019

Interpol states, “Ongoing economic consequences of the pandemic are likely to put more people at risk of becoming victims.”

And finally, victims of sexual and physical abuse frequently cannot wear a face mask because it is severely triggering, initiating dehibilitating episodes of panic and PTSD due to a traumatic history of being repeatedly restrained and assaulted. NEVER. EVER. HARASS SOMEONE FOR NOT WEARING A FACE MASK. Stop using the hashtag #WearA—-Mask, don’t call people without a mask selfish and irresponsible, stop creating an atmosphere of shame. Victims of human trafficking and domestic violence deserve respect.

My own resolutions are the same as they were near the beginning of 2020. If your resolutions were important back then, I think despite everything that’s happened in the months between, they are worth doing now.

🌠Get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night 💤

📴 Do not spend more than 24 hours per week on the internet 💻

🌈♪♫ Try to practice music or art weekly 🎨🎻 

🌎 Strive for a more healthy, eco-friendly lifestyle🍇

🍒🌿 Try to exercise for at least 1 hour daily 🏹

🌼🌷Never skip reading the Bible🌱🍓

🎭Use my bullet journal at least once a week🎂

now that we’re in the second half of 2020, i decided to revisit the new year resolutions i made in the beginning. i haven’t achieved a lot of them, so i reworked them and set goals for the remaining months of 2020 to be able to achieve them, or at least be closer to achieving them than i am right now. my main thing, though, is to make sure to keep them calm and fun. hard work and discipline is important but i figured out if i make these feel like a chore, i won’t achieve them at all. do you have any mid-year resolutions, or just little goals you want to achieve for july??