birds and trees

I have trees!
I'm so glad Japanese Maples exist. They come in so many sizes and there are even some that fit my teeny garden perfectly.
I'm so glad that international trade allows me to have something that first grew on the other side of the planet and then was cultivated in yet another country (Italy) halfway around the planet. 
And I'm so glad Kate designed a garden and I had her to ask if I could have one .... and then a second one. I have two trees in my little garden! I love it. So do the birds. It is great to watch them everywhere, including flying to the trees. 
At the nursery earlier this year I noticed that some of the little trees even came with birds nests already, which is really complete. 

Tonight we watched the rest of the recording of the latest hearing. 

Ukraine and Russia have had their largest prisoner exchange yet, including dozens of Mariupol fighters, the ones who were trapped in the Azovstalsteel plant.  144 Russians, 144 Ukrainians. This included a husband and wife, captured in different locations, who are now reunited with their two children. 

The US has accused five Chinese companies of violating sanctions by continuing to support Russia's military. They are now blocked from buying American technology. 

The US has decided to sell some fighter jets to Turkey which has absolutely nothing to do with Turkey's decision to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO. It was entirely because Sweden and Finland, who do not support terrorist organizations, put in writing that they do not support terrorist organizations. Sweden and Finland also agreed to lift an informal arms embargo they put on Turkey after Turkey intervened in northern Syria. 

You remember that Lithuania crowdsourced a drone for 5.9 million euros ($6.32 million) in just three days? And then the Turkish company, Baykar Tech, the maker of the Bayraktar TB2 drone, instead DONATED the drone and asked that the money be donated to humanitarian causes? 

Lithuania fully cut energy ties with Russia and was one of the harshest critics of Russia because they know that if Ukraine falls they are in line for invasion. 

A new campaign has raised money to buy SEVERAL TB2s. The money was raised through a campaign led by the Ukrainian TV personality Serhiy Prytula, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported. They raised $20 MILLION. This campaign also took fewer than three days. 

So Baykar is donating THREE and is asking that the money, again, go to humanitarian causes. 

The TB2 is a huge success in Ukraine and has even become the subject of a patriotic hit song in Ukraine that mocks Russian troops with the chorus, "Bayraktar, Bayraktar." Check out the rolled r's. 

Ukraine's success using the drone to destroy Russian artillery systems and armored vehicles has been great for sales. "The whole world is a customer," says Selcuk Bayraktar, who runs the firm with his brother. "