Two Foreign Nationals Arrested for Trafficking Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn as Part of International Operation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo | OPA | Department of Justice

The 11-count indictment alleges that Lokua and Mujangi worked with a middleman to smuggle four packages into the United States. In August and September, 2020, the defendants sent three shipments containing a total of about 49 pounds of ivory by air freight to Seattle. In May 2021, they sent another package with approximately five pounds of rhinoceros horn. At the same time, the defendants conspired to conduct large transactions via ocean freight, offering the buyer more than two tons of elephant ivory, one ton of pangolin scales, and multiple intact rhinoceros horns. On Nov. 2, they arrived in Washington State to negotiate the details of such a deal and were arrested in Edmonds.

The arrests and indictment are part of “Operation Kuluna,” an international operation conducted between the Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Seattle, the Government of the DRC, and the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, DRC.  The investigation is ongoing – immediately after the arrests, the task force in DRC acted on information provided by HSI-Seattle to seize 2,067 pounds of ivory and 75 pounds of pangolin scales in Kinshasa worth approximately $3.5 million, all contraband related to wildlife trafficking.

Source: Two Foreign Nationals Arrested for Trafficking Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn as Part of International Operation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo | OPA | Department of Justice

I Fall

yaskhan

Those eyes…the color of dawn
Carrying the warmth of sun’s heartbeat

That smile…… like blossoms that purl a slow-dance
Like the scarlet breath of butterflies
Gloss of honey on lips

That skin… like blushed sun rays
Upon glens and meadows
Soft silken spring flowers on gossamer skin

That hair…carrying stars’ glow
Diamond shining
Brushed by flames
Murmur of luminance

Your speech …. sets the blood running in my veins
Setting the ink on light

Your aura… the rainbow that paints the sky
Filling my eyes with color


The night holds me and the stars tell me they are mine
But I am just a poet with a lost cause…

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COP26: Alternative event puts pressure on countries in Glasgow – Mígica Mistura を

At the end of the first week of COP26, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, the reality is based on the fact that climate commitments (except for some good promises) for now still fall short, with few practical and immediate solutions. In the midst of this, it started this Sunday (7) in Glasgow, where a COP26, an alternative climate meeting, which proposes to bring neglected solutions and proposals among international delegations. The People’s Summit for Climate Justice is organized by the COP26 Coalition, which is also responsible for protests held globally on Saturday. “We are creating a ‘movement of movements’ to deepen and reshape the understanding of the climate crisis in the global north through a climate justice lens,” said Asad Rehman, co-founder of the coalition and director of the NGO War on Want.

Source: COP26: Alternative event puts pressure on countries in Glasgow – Mígica Mistura を

Afterglow, Saguaro National Park

Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Here is a postscript for my retrospective diary of the day I created my print “Ocotillo Sunset.” You can visit “Ocotillo Sunset” in my Online Gallery by clicking on any photograph .

In near total darkness, the last sunlight only enough for the far western sky, these are the last shots of this series.

Click photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset in my Online Gallery

Afterglow I

Click photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset in my Online Gallery

Afterglow II

The final result of the day’s work, “Ocotillo Sunset.”

Click photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset in my Online Gallery

Ocotillo Sunset — flag on ocotillo cane poles

Click me for the first blog in this series.

Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

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*Monday Notes: Third Chakra

K E Garland

*woo-woo warning: this is a metaphysical conversation, and it’s a little longer than normal.


“…and do it with joy!” my mother used to add whenever I’d crumple up my face and slink off to do whatever she’d asked that interrupted my reading or daydreaming—wash the dishes, polish the wooden coffee table. Whatever the task, ‘do it with joy’ meant don’t pout, look angry, or be upset about it.

It wasn’t a request. It was a demand. And it became a running demand. Later, when she shared it with my grandmother, it became a running joke.

I never thought much of it, until a few weeks ago, when I was talking to Megan, the naturopath.

I’d divulged that I am tired of my job, and I have a nagging suspicion it is time to go. But as of now, I don’t know where to go, so I just do my job.

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