FAILURE OF CELIBACY COVER UP
Former Catholic bishop admits covering up sexual abuse allegations
IT WAS ABOUT SEX TO THEM
Howard Hubbard made admission during a deposition last year as part of a response to dozens of claims filed in New York

Bishop Howard Hubbard during an Ash Wednesday communion service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York, in 2004. Photograph: Jim Mcknight/AP

Associated Press

Sun 27 Mar 2022 

The former bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Albany, New York, has acknowledged covering up allegations of sexual abuse against children by priests in part to avoid scandal and protect the reputation of the diocese.

Howard Hubbard made the admission during a deposition taken last year as part of a response to dozens of claims filed under New York state’s Child Victims Act. A judge ordered the deposition released on Friday.

Hundreds of people have sued the Albany diocese over sexual abuse they say they endured as children, sometimes decades ago.

During the four-day deposition, Hubbard named several priests who had been accused of sexual abuse who were referred to treatment and later returned to ministry, without notification to the public. One, David Bentley, admitted to Hubbard that he had engaged in the behavior alleged.

Hubbard testified he didn’t report the allegations to law enforcement because he didn’t feel he was required by law to do so, and instead kept the allegations against Bentley, and others, secret out of concern for “scandal and the respect of the priesthood”. The diocese eventually removed Bentley from ministry.

The transcript “will be read with horror by the public”, Cynthia LaFave, an attorney representing some of the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement. “The public will see the culpability of the Diocese in perpetuating a culture of sex abuse by priests that was allowed to continue for decades.”

Hubbard ran the diocese in New York’s state capital district from 1977 to 2014 and has himself been accused of sexual abuse, which he has denied.

He also testified that the diocese kept records documenting sexual abuse allegations in secret files in a locked room that only he and other top church officials could access.

In an emailed statement, a diocese spokesperson didn’t address Hubbard’s testimony directly but said the diocese’s priority is “the protection and assistance of victim/survivors and the discovery of the truth”, and that it “has and continues to resolve pending claims of victims/survivors in mediations with the assistance of the court”.

The liberal, theatrical family of John Wilkes Booth were 'every bit as interesting' as the presidential assassin himself

ABC Radio National /

AUSTRALIA  
By Claire Nichols for The Book Show

Lincoln's assassination marked the first time an American president's life had been so curtailed.

(Getty Images)

You might know the basics when it comes to John Wilkes Booth, America's original three-named assassin.

His acting career. His pro-slavery stance. The gun at the theatre. "Sic semper tyrannis." The outpouring of grief for Abraham Lincoln.

But did you know that John Wilkes Booth came from one of the most prominent acting families in America?

That his dad's acting fame was only rivalled by his bigamy charges?

Or that Booth, one of history's most famous white supremacists, was raised in a home that was anti-slavery, atheist, and vegetarian?

The fascinating story of the Booth family, a wild bunch of actors, charmers, and drunks, is the focus of Booth, a novel by the American author Karen Joy Fowler.

Karen Joy Fowler didn't think John Wilkes Booth deserved her attention, but his family was a different story. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin)

But rather than shine a spotlight on John Wilkes Booth, Fowler focuses her attention on the people that surrounded him – his famous dad, brother Edwin and sisters Rosalie and Asia – all fascinating historical characters in their own right.

"I feel offended at the idea that a person who kills someone else is instantly an interesting person and more interesting than his brothers and sisters who didn't kill anybody," Fowler tells The Book Show on ABC RN.

"I think I wanted to make the argument that they were every bit as interesting as their notorious brother."

And interesting they were.

Junius Booth, the scandalous celebrity

The children's father was Junius Brutus Booth, an English-born Shakespearean actor, who was a huge celebrity in 1820s and 1830s America.

The poet Walt Whitman was a fan, describing one of Junius's performances as "one of the grandest revelations of my life, a lesson of artistic expression".

Junius moved in exalted circles. He was friends with Edgar Allen Poe and the American general Sam Houston. He even had a brief friendship with the US president Andrew Jackson until — in a twist that seems too strange to be true — he sent the president a death threat.

In 1835, Junius wrote a letter to Jackson, demanding that the president pardon two pirates who had been sentenced to death. He wrote: "You damn'd old scoundrel … I will cut your throat whilst you are sleeping."

Junius Brutus Booth was among the foremost tragic performers of his day.(Getty Images)

Fowler says it's a strange coincidence, knowing that Junius's son John would go on to kill a president. But the letter wasn't given much attention at the time.

"[Junius] was not only famous as for his acting but also famous for his bouts of insanity, so I don't think anybody took his threats seriously and I'm not sure he intended them seriously," Fowler says.

Indeed, the legends about Junius Booth, and his strange behaviour, are numerous. He drank heavily, and his performances – when he turned up – could be wild and unpredictable.

There's a surprising story about a pigeon funeral he conducted near his home in Maryland. But the most shocking headline, with implications for his children in America, was his bigamy.

A scandal that threatened the family name

Junius Booth already had another wife and son back in England, Fowler explains.

"And then he fell in love with a pretty young woman named Mary Ann Holmes (John Wilkes Booth's mother) and he persuaded her to run away with him and ran all the way to America," she says.

"And whether Mary Ann knew there was (another) wife or not, is not at all clear."

Karen Joy Fowler speaks to Claire Nichols Download 49.5 MB

Twenty-five years after her husband left England, Junius Booth's first wife, a woman called Adelaide, came looking for him. She stayed in Maryland for three years until she could be granted a divorce. Fowler says the scandal caused huge embarrassment for Booth's American children, including John.

"They were all strangely protective of the family name," Fowler says.

"They really wished to bring honour to it in some way, to do something that would make the family name an important one.

"They believed in their father's importance, and they tried their best to curate the stories about him so that his genius was the topic and not his strangeness.

"But I think whatever impulse they had towards trying to protect a family name was enormously heightened by learning that they were not actually his lawful children."
The progressive vegetarians

Junius Booth's politics were progressive for the time. He was opposed to slavery – though he did hire slaves to work on the family farm. He also raised his children to be atheists, and vegetarians.

"I was surprised that anybody was a vegetarian during that period, and such a committed one as Julius Booth was," Fowler says, although she suspects the family didn't always stick to the diet while their father was travelling away from home.

So how did Junius's son, John Wilkes Booth, who was raised in such a progressive household, become the pro-slavery, confederate sympathiser who killed Abraham Lincoln?

Booth is a novel — but Karen Joy Fowler says she tried to stick to proven facts.

(Supplied: Allen & Unwin)

"I think that [John's] politics came out of a period when he was at a boarding school," Fowler says.

"He was there with a lot of wealthy planters' sons, and I think that he wanted to be a part of that cohort.

"These people were wealthier than he was and higher placed than he was … I think the family were all very hyper-sensitive on the issue of what it meant to be a Booth and whether they were respected."

Fowler says John was treated better than Edwin, his older brother, who often travelled with his father trying to keep him out of bars.

"His father was often very unkind," she says.

"And yet [Edwin] grew up much better adjusted – a more careful, more charitable person then John, who was indulged at every moment."
The actor, the writer and the recluse

Karen Joy Fowler's book is told from the perspective of three of John Wilkes Booth's five surviving siblings. (Four other Booth children didn't survive to adulthood.)

Before the assassination, Edwin Booth was by far the most famous.

After his difficult childhood, he went on to become an acclaimed actor in his own right, with some theatrical historians calling him the greatest actor of the 19th century.

He was most acclaimed for his portrayal of Hamlet – with his quiet, naturalistic style standing in stark contrast to grand, bombastic performances that made his father a star

.

Edwin Booth was a famous actor in his own right. (Getty Images)

Edwin's politics were vastly different to those of his brother. However, his association with John Wilkes Booth saw his career take a hit in the months after Abraham Lincoln was killed.

He is said to have disowned his brother after the assassination, forbidding the name John Wilkes Booth to be spoken in his house.

Far more forgiving was his sister, Asia Booth, who eventually became a writer of books and poetry. Amongst her works was a book called John Wilkes Booth: A Sister's Memoir.

Fowler says the book reveals Asia's unwavering love for her brother, even after his terrible crime.

"Even as she tries, at the end, to agree that what he did was terrible … she can't help but defend him," Fowler says. "You can see her forgiving him."
Sifting truth from myth in historical fiction

The third sibling featured in Fowler's book is the eldest Booth daughter, Rosalie. Unlike her famous siblings, Rosalie was a mystery to Fowler.

"Very little about her remains," Fowler says.

"Her brothers and sisters always refer to her as an invalid and as 'Poor Rose'. I can't even find what was actually wrong with her — if anything was actually wrong with her."

In Fowler's retelling, Rosalie is a gentle woman who gradually descends into a quiet alcoholism.

"There was just this sort of hushed polite discussion of Rosalie's infirmities, and one source that I read … suggested that that that she drank quite a bit.

"Their grandfather was a terrible drunk, their father was a terrible drunk, the brothers were terrible drunks, so it would not surprise me if she had a tipple now and then."

The Tudor Hall museum in Bel Air, Maryland is devoted to Junius Brutus Booth.

(Getty Images: Andrew Mangum)

While Booth is a novel, Karen Joy Fowler says she tried at every moment to stick to proven facts. In parts, though, the truth is still hard to pin down.

"The problem is that there is a lot of mythology around the family as well," she says.

"So if you're trying to write a book, and you are trying, as I was trying, not to be inaccurate, it's a struggle to sift what appears to have been truth from stories that people told about them later."

Many Minneapolis Teachers and Educational Support Are Dissatisfied with Tentative Agreement

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and the Educational Support Professional (ESP) chapter reached a tentative agreement that the rank and file has to frantically vote over this weekend.

Luigi Morris 

March 27, 2022

LEFTVOICE.ORG


The strike that began on March 8 has been a strong indictment of the defunding of public education. Building upon the 2018 and 2019 teacher strikes, while the Minneapolis strike is in a state of flux, Sacramento teachers have begun their strike in California. The struggle in Minneapolis is part of a larger process across the United States. The spirit for revolution is particularly high in Minneapolis, as residents still feel the effects of the uprising in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

On Friday, both the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and the chapter representing Educational Support Professionals (ESP) reached a tentative agreement (TA) that, despite its presentation as a “historic” achievement, broad sectors of teachers and educational support staff are dissatisfied with. Frustration is not only limited to the result of the negotiations, but also comprises how the tentative agreement was presented. One of the main questions going around if there is forces to fight for more or not.

Some of the main shortcomings of the TA include:

Teachers getting 2 percent raises in the first year and 3 percent raises in the second year of the two-year contract. According to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, in February, inflation rose 0.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 7.9 percent over the last 12 months. These raises simply cannot keep pace with inflation.

The baseline of $35,000 salary for all ESPs has not been reached. Instead, according to the ESP’s TA summary, only “a significant number of ESP will have an opportunity to make 35k at 40 hrs per week.”

Co-teaching models are being proposed as an alternative to lower class sizes
The extension of the school year

Accepting layoffs as a given, instead of fighting back against them

The agreement became available last night, the vote began this morning, and they are calling teachers and staff back to school this Monday to be ready to start classes on Tuesday. This puts more than 4000 education workers up against the wall to make an important decision that will affect the entire Minneapolis community.

This pressure goes against the democratic right to have a sufficient amount of time to discuss the pros and cons of the agreement, assess how the frontliners would handle a continued strike, and discuss a plan to continue the fight in each school.

The negotiations took place behind closed doors, and there was no structure in place for teachers and educational support staff to get involved in the process. It was not until the last days that membership could get a better sense of the status of negotiation. And now, the vote is being hurried without time for due consideration, further complicating the process and making it more of a rush job.

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), with superintendent Ed Graff who makes $225,000 a year and Eric Moore at the helm, want to rush the workers’ decision. They have done everything possible to delay bargaining, including not showing up in person for several meetings. The conscious decision to drag out bargaining is intended to kill time until the workers are forced to vote on a deal feeling pressured and strangled by their economic situation, with the particularly cruel threat of getting rid of workers’ health insurance hanging over their heads.

This goes beyond MPS. Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz (both Democrats) have turned their backs on the thousands of teachers who have mobilized day after day in the schools and around Minneapolis in freezing temperatures. The union has consistently pointed out the budget surplus in Minnesota, and the state didn’t hesitate to make big concessions to the Minneapolis Police Department, including a starting salary of $74,000/yr with a $7,000 signing bonus. In contrast, ESPs under this tentative agreement still would not achieve a meager $35K per year.

One of the main concerns is the actual economic situation of the many workers who live paycheck to paycheck. No strike should be defeated for lack of money. On the one hand, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) should donate much more money to this strike, as the AFT is worth over 500 million dollars, and has millions already set aside for strike funds. Beyond funding the strike, the AFT must call upon its 1.7 million members to participate in solidarity actions nationwide. There should be solidarity actions all over the country— from wearing blue to show solidarity with Minneapolis teachers to street mobilizations. The same goes for other unions representing millions of workers. On the other hand, union rank and file members, community organizations, and socialist organizations need to multiply our efforts to contribute to their strike fund and nationalize their struggle if this continues. The outcome of this strike could be a source of inspiration for teachers across the country.

These almost three weeks of daily experience on the picket lines in front of the schools must inform the leadership of the struggle. The structures put in place by each school, such as electing their own strike captains, provide an already functioning network that should be having daily meetings to discuss the problems and make decisions as a group. Right now, multiple meetings via Zoom and chat rooms are happening to discuss the TA. These channels could also serve as a base to build links and relationships to continue the struggle.

If the contract is voted down, the strike has potential to become a larger phenomenon. For that, it needs to be organized in community with other unions demanding the AFT to push for a national campaign. The rank and file should discuss a plan to continue the struggle. Making the strike fund a top priority, coordinating with other unions and workers to organize strikes and solidarity actions, democratizing the bargaining process, building community networks, and continuing to target the political machine responsible for the defunding of public education are all key to continuing the fight that has started in Minneapolis.

Luigi Morris is a freelance photographer, socialist journalist and videographer. He is an activist for immigrants' rights.

Op/Ed: Putin’s puppet attempts to reshape Republican party, starting with Georgia


By Karen Graham
Published March 27, 2022
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Former US president Donald Trump continues to spread disinformation about the 2020 election - Copyright AFP/File STR

In Donald Trump’s push to fundamentally reshape the Republican Party, few places are a higher priority than Georgia, as primary races heat up before the midterm elections in November.

Saturday’s rally at a former drag strip in Commerce, 70 miles north-east of Atlanta headlined a slate of Republican candidates, all of whom Trump endorsed and, not coincidentally, all of whom have backed his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.

The rally featured Herschel Walker, a former football player running for the U.S. Senate; David Perdue, who is challenging Governor Brian Kemp; and congressional candidate Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state representative who began calling himself the “Black Donald Trump” after switching parties.

Trump is still furious at Governoor Kemp because the governor refused to go along with Trump’s lies about the election in 2020 being stolen.

The rally, ahead of the state’s May 24 primary was an attempt to boost Perdue in a campaign that is emerging as an early, critical test of whether the former president can live up to his professed role as a kingmaker in the GOP.

“Before we can defeat the Democrat socialists and communists … we first have to defeat the RINO sellouts and the losers in the primaries this spring,” Trump told the crowd, lacing into Kemp again and again as he accused him of betraying Republican voters with the derisive acronym, “Republican in name only.”

“Brian Kemp is a turncoat. He’s a coward and he’s a complete and total disaster,” Trump went on, calling Perdue the only Republican who can defeat Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who is running for governor a second time.

And it looks like the race for governor is going to be a lot harder than Trump has figured because Kemp may be the favorite in the race. Kemp has a 10-point lead in most of the polls and has opened up a significant fundraising advantage as well.

Actually, Perdue, being Trump’s mouthpiece, has not had any original ideas on how he proposes to lead Georgia, other than to say he has Trump’s endorsement and to reiterate the former presidnt’s claims that the election was stolen from him.

“This race is the ultimate test of the enduring strength of a Trump endorsement,” said Brian Robinson, a prominent GOP political consultant in Georgia. “If Perdue wins, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Trump endorsement has messianic influence,” he added.

America really should be wary of Trump

Although it is not mentioned in many news stories, Trump choose his rally on Saturday night to again praise Vladimir Putin, calling the Russian president “smart” even as he said the invasion of Ukraine amounted to a “big mistake.”

Trump also had warm words for China’s president Xi Jinping and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and referred to such leaders collectively by saying: “The smartest one gets to the top.”

He spoke admiringly of Xi in terms of the fact that he “runs 1.5 billion people with an iron fist” and referred to Kim as “tough.”

Trump also praised Putin’s strategy of putting his military forces on Ukraine’s border before the invasion, saying, “That’s a hell of a way to negotiate, put 200,000 troops on the border…That was a big mistake, but it looked like a great negotiation. That didn’t work out too well for him.”

This kind of talk, from a “Putin-wanna-be” is disturbing to me. It leads me to think that if Trump were to get back in power, he would quickly hand over the United States to the first regime that approached him, and that is scary.

And secondly, if Trump is trying to remake the Republican party into his own image of what it should be, then it is about time that sane minds speak out and stop the devisive and hate-filled ramblings of Putin’s puppet.

#FALC

 

Humanitarian aid for Ukraine starting to wane: health official
By Staff Reuters
Posted March 27, 2022


WATCH ABOVE: Canada provides humanitarian support to Ukraine as it looks to join EU – Mar 1, 2022

The amount of humanitarian aid arriving in Ukraine is beginning to wane even as the Russian bombardment persists, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister Oleksii Iaremenko said on Sunday.

Speaking in a cargo warehouse near Warsaw’s Chopin airport during a delivery of medical equipment facilitated by charity Direct Relief, Iaremenko said he was grateful to the international community for the relief provided so far.

The shipment bound for Ukraine included everything from metal beds to gauze to asthma inhalers and oxygen concentrators. But more support was desperately needed, Iaremenko added, calling on other organizations to send aid.

READ MORE: Sick babies and bomb shelters: How a children’s hospital in Ukraine is protecting its most vulnerable patients

“For the last week what we see that the level of humanitarian support is a little bit down. We hope that it will be some pause to find new resources and because Russian aggression are increasing and they are bombing civilians,” he told Reuters.

“What we are asking, if you can support, please support right now,” he said. “Don’t wait for weeks and months, because we need the support right now.”

2:15European nations add services as Ukraine’s refugee crisis grows

The conflict in Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis and displaced an estimated 10 million people, nearly a quarter of the country’s population, according to the United Nations.

Moscow says it is conducting what it calls a “special military operation” with the aim of demilitarizing and “denazifying” its neighbor, and denies targeting civilians.

Ukraine and its Western allies characterize Russia’s actions as an unprovoked invasion.

—Reporting by Joanna Plucinska

Some evangelicals claim Ukraine war means the end times — as usual, they're wrong
Nathaniel Manderson,

 Salon
March 27, 2022

Photo via Franklin Graham's Twitter fee, 4/4/2017
I remember a time when Barack Obama was seen as a possible Antichrist. Before that, it was Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the '80s. For those just catching up, the Antichrist is a diabolical figure who will unite the world against Christians and rule for a time. Don't worry, the story has a happy ending: Christ eventually returns and kicks the Antichrist's ass, like in a theological action movie. Either way, many Christians long for the return of Christ, along with the Rapture of the faithful and — perhaps most important — the suffering of those who have rejected Christ.

Right now, many evangelicals are ramping up their teachings about the end of the world. They can barely contain their excitement: Soon the people who have mocked their faith, changed the definition of marriage, given women the right to choose and supported feminism will finally be punished by God. The current war in Ukraine, for some of these supposedly devout Christians, yet another Biblical prophecy realized.

I have a family member who is part of an end-of-the-world Christian cult. They have lots of guns and own a lot of land, and they believe they can survive there for as long as the apocalypse lasts. I am pretty sure some of the older leaders in that group have even taken on a few concubines to "preserve the church."

RELATED: Evangelicals are teaching false doctrine. Who says so? Jesus Christ

For every fringe group like the one found in my family, there are the evangelical ministers who have broader appeal that have inspired the lunatics. Recently I communicated with historian and author Martyn Whittock about his latest book, "The End Times, Again? 2000 Years of Use & Misuse of Biblical Prophecy." Throughout his book, he argues with great clarity that these misguided discussions around Biblical prophecy are nothing new, but remain deeply dangerous, especially when mixed with the current political discourse. He makes the fascinating point that end-times beliefs used to be associated with radical politics, but more recently have become a tool of the far right:
End-times reflections have increasingly become associated with the outlook of the evangelical right in the USA; and this has influenced the political flavor of such views when adopted by those globally, who are influenced by US evangelical culture. This rightward political shift is highly significant and in direct contrast with the way that eschatological beliefs in periods of the past have been associated with political radicalism.

This apocalyptic pull has allowed the evangelical leadership to dominate the religious political landscape, far out of proportion to the actual number of evangelical believers. This has driven too many of their followers down a path that relinquishes any sense of responsibility to the current generation. Healing the sick, welcoming the foreigner and serving the poor are set aside, in favor of a so-called religious war for the soul of God's creation.

This movement toward the end of days isn't limited to American culture and politics. As Whittock suggests, it is prominent in the U.K. as well:

From the US nationalism that has characterized the evangelical right in alliance with Donald Trump, to the UK Christian Brexit-nationalists denouncing the EU, eschatology has become the preserve of many who wish to promote nationalism and conservatism, oppose international commitments and supranational organizations, and resist aspects of modernity as varied as credit cards, vaccination, gun control legislation, and action on climate change. It has become, for many, a component part of a besieged outlook that pits them against disconcerting aspects of the modern world and expects justification in the form of future catastrophe — from which they will be rescued, while those left behind will suffer tribulation.

The Biblical perspective on all this has also been misunderstood. The people who followed Jesus Christ in his own time believed he would destroy the temple, become some kind of political leader and start a revolution against Roman rule. That was why he was charged with sedition and crucified. Jesus was none of those things, however, as his teachings clearly reflect.

The faithful misunderstood Jesus during his lifetime; they misunderstand him now. Some theologians believe that the Book of Revelation — from which most doctrines about the Antichrist are drawn — was actually written in code as a set of warnings to Christians about the Roman Emperor Nero. He was hunting Christians down at the time the letter was written, and John's imagery was attempting a form of clandestine communication. Discussions about the Antichrist have also been interpreted as words of caution about a certain dangerous type of all-too-human leader, not about some mythological figure with supernatural powers taking over the world. After all, human history has seen many such leaders who come into power and then use that power to kill and destroy, and even more specifically to wage some form of genocidal murder.

A few years ago, the leading evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress made this comment about then-President Obama while promoting another one of his highly profitable books: "What I am saying is this: the course [Obama] is choosing to lead our nation is paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist." You must understand that Obama, for many evangelicals, was an ideal fit for the role of Antichrist. In their minds, he was not a real Christian, he endorsed gay marriage, he pushed forward government health insurance — which for some reason is evil — he defended Islam (even setting aside those Christians who believed Obama actually was a Muslim) and he was a leader who inspired great unity. It is of course pure lunacy to see those things as profoundly evil, but there we are.

My bold prediction is that this moment, although certainly a dangerous time in human history, is not the end of the world either. Every single minister who has predicted the return of Jesus has been wrong for 2,000 years, and this generation is no different. I believe we should all stop looking to supernatural forces for answers and start looking within. If I had any significant influence among Christians, I would argue that this a time to put aside concerns about the end of the world and visions of the hereafter, and get back to loving your neighbor.

In the Ukraine war, what is happening to all the zoo animals?

While some animals, including lions, tigers and wild cats, have been rehomed to zoos in Poland, this is just not going to be possible for many species.

Samantha Ward, The Conversation
File photo of a Bengal tiger at a private zoo in Ukraine. | Sergei Supinsky / AFP

Details are starting to emerge on how Ukraine’s zoos are coping with the war. Some of the animals including lions, tigers and wild cats have been rehomed to zoos in Poland but this is just not going to be possible for many species.

The current situation in Ukraine is having a drastic effect on the nation’s zoos, just as World War II did at London Zoo. Right now, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria are working to support the Ukrainian zoos as much as they can.

There are three large zoos, Nikolaev Zoo, Kyiv Zoological Park and Kharkiv Zoo, in cities currently under attack by the Russian military, which have talked about how they are currently coping. Outsiders might think the best thing to do would be to evacuate the animals into a safer environment away from the war zone. But this is an incredibly risky endeavour.

In a tense and difficult environment animals may be fearful of the sounds around them. Loading highly stressed animals into crates and transporting them across noisy and complicated conflict zones could cause severe illness or death, quite apart from the danger of being hit by gunfire.

Noise affects animals

Zoo animals are used to a degree of noise when visitors come to their enclosures. Even human chatter has been shown to cause zoo animals to become stressed or change their behaviour. But mostly, the impact of visitors on zoo animals is negligible.

Research on the effect of explosions near zoo animals, as is happening near some Ukrainian zoos, is not something that has been studied but we do have some possible comparisons to construction work. A study published in 2019 investigated how elephants, giraffes and emus coped with zoo construction work. Elephants, giraffes and emus reacted with stress and agitation and moved to quieter areas of their enclosures. Giraffes also moved closer to other animals in their herd, a behaviour seen in wild giraffes indicative of increased protection.

With the scale of war and associated explosions being much higher than construction work, we could assume that this will be having a terrifying impact on the animals housed at these zoos. At Kyiv zoo some animals are being given sedatives or moved to underground spaces, and keepers are staying with them overnight.
Problems with moving

On March 18 European Association of Zoos and Aquaria released a statement to say that: “Ukrainian zoos are generally still not asking for our assistance to relocate animals from high-risk zones. This may not correspond to the information you are receiving in the general media coverage, but we support the direct request of the zoos not to relocate animals for the present.”

We also need to consider where would they go. Neighbouring zoos may not have the space, staffing needs, expertise or specially designed enclosures to house these animals.

Even in normal circumstances, moving zoo animals is not an easy task, animal transportation can have negative effects on the animal’s welfare. Animals undergoing transportation can experience dehydration, fatigue, behavioural changes and stress. Research has also shown that animals form relationships with the keepers and so this might have additional welfare implications if animals are moved under stressful conditions to new locations.

As the war continues, there have been reports of zoo animals being killed in the blasts and “many animals dead with others roaming the streets”, including lions, but these reports have not been verified by zoos.
Lessons from past

London zoo was established in 1828 and has survived two world wars, and its history of coping during bombing raids may have useful lessons.

On September 3, 1939, World War II began and at 11 am that day, the Zoological Society of London that runs the London zoo was told to close it by the government. London zoo had been preparing for this. The records show that two giant pandas, two orangutans, four chimpanzees, three Asian elephants and an ostrich were relocated to Whipsnade zoo outside London for safety. Zoological Society of London has collated documents from this era that tell us what went on.

Unfortunately, some of the venomous animals were killed to increase the safety of the public and staff in case any were able to escape due to an invasion. Parts of the zoo were able to reopen but the aquarium remained closed until 1943 in case of bombing. The tanks were emptied and some inhabitants had to be killed – although some fish were moved to tubs in the tortoise house.

London zoo started breeding its own invertebrate supplies such as mealworms. Requests for acorns and other items to feed the animals were broadcast on the radio and the public donated them at a rate of one ton a week. The public were also able to adopt animals and help support them – this might be something that could happen in Ukraine’s zoos.

By March 18, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria Ukraine Emergency Fund had raised €576,371 from a very large number of individual and institutional donors, “an extraordinary and humbling result that will help provide immediate and long-term assistance to colleagues in Ukraine”, said European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. Funds raised will be used to assist Ukrainian zoos to provide food and care to animals in conditions of relative welfare and safety, as well as providing support for care staff and management at the zoos.

Samantha Ward is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Science and Zoo Animal Welfare at the Nottingham Trent University.

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

Kangaroos rescued from bombed Ukrainian conservation park

Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv said some animals had been killed by Russian bombing

A kangaroo looks at the camera in Hangzhou Zoo, eastern China, in 2015. Getty

Robert Tollast
Mar 27, 2022

A mob of kangaroos has been rescued from a zoo in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

The city, which had a prewar population of more than 1.5 million, has been under heavy Russian artillery and air bombardment since Ukraine was invaded on February 24.

The animals, from the city’s Feldman Ecopark, were driven out of the area in the back of a van.

The ministry said on Twitter that the kangaroos’ “enclosures were repeatedly shelled by Russian Armed Forces. Now kangaroos are safe.”

Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian activist and lawyer, posted video footage of eight kangaroos being put into the back of a van.




A statement on the park’s website on Saturday said cash was urgently being raised to rescue as many animals as possible amid heavy shelling.

“We work daily to evacuate our animals from the territory of the Ecopark, but, alas, we cannot avoid tragedies,” the statement said.

“Four fallow deer and three Welsh goats became victims of another barbaric shelling. The list of victims of aggression among our pets is growing – it already includes large cats, primates, ungulates, marsupials, birds … Feldman Ecopark has been on the line of fire for a last month.”

The park describes itself as “a multilateral project that combines animal care and assistance, therapy for children with special needs, rehabilitation, research and educational facilities, as well as leisure for those who love nature”.

In pictures: Kangaroos around the world








Two kangaroos in their enclosure at the zoo in Lodz, central Poland. EPA
Updated: March 27, 2022, 9:28 AM

After Son Enlists To Fight In Ukraine, Mother Goes From Backer To Critic Of Putin's War

March 27, 2022
By Idel.Realities
Tony Wesolowsky

People in Kazan protest against the war in Ukraine on February 24.

Polling suggests most Russians back President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, and Lore counted herself among that majority.

The 55-year-old mother of two from Kazan, the capital of the Russia's Tatarstan region, said Russia was merely defending itself in remarks to RFE/RL at the beginning of March.

She said her main source of information on what Putin has described as a "special military operation," came from official state-run media, which is forbidden from describing the invasion as a "war."

Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine



RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Ordinary Russians can face up to 15 years in prison for questioning or contradicting the Kremlin's war narrative, with thousands detained so far by police nationwide for speaking out.

"War is horrible, but we are defending ourselves. If we didn't attack now, they would have attacked us. This is America. The West would have bombed us. Is that normal? We are only defending ourselves," Lore said, echoing much of the Kremlin's narrative that is amplified by state-run media and dominates in Russia, as nearly all independent voices have been silenced by Putin's government.

However, Lore, who requested her last name not be used for fear of official reprisals, had a radical change of heart a few weeks later once her own son Vyacheslav joined Russia's armed forces and was due to be sent off to fight in Ukraine. He was following in his father's footsteps, who, according to Lore, had once fought in Chechnya and more recently in Syria.

The Russian invasion, launched in the early hours of February 24 and described by U.S. defense officials as the largest conventional attack since World War II, has forced nearly 4 million Ukrainians to flee the country, according to UN data.

The UN says at least 1,000 civilians have died, although the actual figure is feared to be much higher.

SEE ALSO:
Escape From Mariupol: 'The Dead Were Buried In The Yards'

What Kremlin officials had hoped would be a quick military victory has turned into a nightmare, with much of its forces bogged down or even in retreat in some areas.

Russian officials, including Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have said since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 that the goal of the wide-scale attack was to demilitarize and "de-Nazify" Ukraine and topple its democratically elected government.

Despite all attempts to take over Ukraine's main cities, including the capital, Kyiv, Russian armed forces have been unable to do so during one month of intensive fighting. Battle lines near Kyiv have remained frozen for weeks, with the two main Russian armored columns stuck northwest and east of the capital.

With its forces no longer advancing, the Russian Defense Ministry on March 25 indicated that it had scaled back its goals in Ukraine, with the focus now on taking over Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, commonly known as the Donbas, parts of which came under separatist control after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

SEE ALSO:
Russian Military Official Shifts Rhetoric, Says Army Now Focusing On 'Liberation' Of Eastern Ukrainian Regions

During the last month of fighting, the Defense Ministry has only twice released figures on Russian casualties in Ukraine, the second time being on March 25, when it said 1,351 Russian servicemen had died. That number is likely much higher. A NATO official, quoted by The Washington Post on March 24, said that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russians soldiers had been killed.

Komsomolskaya pravda, a pro-Kremlin newspaper, on March 20 reported that almost 10,000 Russian troops had been killed in Ukraine, before quickly deleting the numbers and later claiming the site had been hacked.

SEE ALSO:
Pro-Kremlin Newspaper Blames 'Hackers' For Russian Military Death Toll Report

According to Lore, Vyacheslav decided to sign a military contract to serve in Ukraine on March 6.

"'I'll go and serve the motherland. I want to do this,' is all he said," Lore recounted, adding that her 30-year-old son, who had served a year in the Russian Airborne Forces, was leaving behind a wife and a newborn child in Kazan to go fight in Ukraine.

"I told him that only thugs and mercenaries were being sent to fight," Lore said, expressing fear her son was unprepared for what awaited him despite his military service.

"Well, he sat in the forest for a year in a military uniform, jumped [from a plane] with a parachute, and twice they let him use an old machine gun. F**k, what is he doing with such training in a war?"

Army conscripts receive their uniforms at the Yegorshino regional assembly station before departing for service with the Russian military in April 2021.

Lore suspects it was less patriotic fervor but rather economic necessity that prompted her son and others like him to sign up, lured by the relatively generous financial benefits.

"50,000 rubles ($505) is the pay; then you can get a mortgage, and the wounded can get up to about 3 million ($30,300)," Lore explained, adding that local job prospects with Russia facing unprecedented Western sanctions for its aggression in Ukraine were especially bleak.

"A lot of my friends have headed off to the war because they couldn't find work. There are no jobs here and prices have risen; there's simply nothing to live on."

"And my fool lost his job too and is eagerly going off to war in order to somehow survive," Lore continued. "After all, he needs to support a child and there are no maternity leave payments. Because of the hard times, there were fights; he was also arguing with his wife. So, a 30-year-old guy voluntarily wants to go to war; just running away from everyday life."

The dead bodies of Russian soldiers are seen in military vehicle on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital, Kyiv.

At the time of interview, published on March 24, Lore said her son had not left yet for Ukraine, but worried whether he would return alive or seriously wounded once he did deploy.

"They're bringing back lots of them. Some of them don't have legs, some don't have arms. Basically, these are fresh contract soldiers -- that is, guys who just joined the military before leaving for Ukraine. They are young, many who've just graduated," she said. Lore was recounting what she had been told by a friend who works at a military hospital in Rostov, near the border with Ukraine and where many of Russia's wounded are reportedly brought.

Once a believer in Putin's war, Lore is now angrily anti-war as she faces the prospects of seeing her only son sent off to fight.

"How many wars have there been? How many people died? But no one remembers why our people went to fight in Chechnya, Afghanistan, or Syria," Lore said.

"How many people died in vain in a foreign land. I wish I knew what they were fighting for. But we will only know the truth in 30 years."
Written in Prague by Tony Wesolowsky based on reporting by RFE/RL's Idel.Realities