Birds can be so cruel to each other. There is a web-cam of an Osprey nest set up in Lamoine, ME. Last year, there were 3 chicks and they were coming along nicely, when a Bald Eagle swooped in and killed all 3. People were horrified and enraged, but that's Mother Nature.
The winter before that happened a russian eagle which is much larger than an adult bald eagle wintered on Mt. Desert Island around Acadia National Park. And, yes, it killed several Bald Eagles.
We are fortunate to live on a Bay in Maine and we see some amazing things in nature. But, once in a while, we witness predator/prey events.
I am an Occupational Therapist, and was working at a skilled nursing facility on a quiet Sunday morning. My patient needed therapy following a shoulder surgery, which we were doing seated side by side at a table facing a big widow overlooking a beautiful courtyard with flowers trees and bird feeders.
As we chatted about the birds and did the exercises, a large red tailed hawk suddenly flew at one of the feeders. Feathers flew and seeds scattered in a violent rush of unexpected action. We were both silent for a moment, the my elderly patient said, "Well, it is a bird feeder after all." We erupted in laughter.
We are SO out of touch with Nature! Growing and processing our food, the cycles of life - we are far poorer living in concrete canyons and suburban villages.
In the last five years of increasing temperatures Storks have changed nesting preferences from southern to northern Portugal. My friend pointed to a thirty foot palm tree where three stork heads could be seen. I thought that was odd until she said, there's a moma, a papa and baby there...it's a family tree.
Nature indeed, every living creature needs to secure food, and mostly end up on someone else's menu ticket. Being top top predator, us, the most problematic species on the planet, not to mention among ourselves. Pause is good.
I just started a plant based whole foods diet. Not 100% vegetarian, but it is surprising how many things I thought I'd miss and found that I really don't miss them at all.
Gary, we have a bevy of great photographers here in the Salem area who visit parks and reserves almost on a daily basis and they have photographed a lot of attempts to steal food or catching another bird as a meal. My story is about the robins who made a nest on top of a swallow box. The babies hatched and then I heard distress calls. When I came around the house, there were two crows sitting on the roof above it. They winked at me and said yes, we ate them and they did.
Damn crows. We hate them. When we first moved into our place 6 years ago there were a couple dozen crows that were here every day.
The Gulls didn't like them at all and we weren't fond of their incessant crowing. Anyway, at low tide there is a large rock that is exposed. It's probably about 30 feet in diameter and 4-5 feet tall. Anyway, this gull was chasing this crow around the rock. After a couple of times around the rock the crow hopped up on top of the rock and watched the gull run around the rock several more times before it gave up. The entire time the crow watched the gull circle the rock.
But a couple of years ago we had a fox living in a small cave on the shore. The crows would warn each other every time the fox came out of the den. Well, not every time because we saw the fox proudly carrying a crow a couple of times across our back yard. And the Bald Eagles enjoy eating the crows, ducks and gulls. The crows try to intimidate the Bald Eagles, but it's like a Sumo wrestler fighting a first grader.
I think the bird flu decimated the crow population and other species as well around here because now we only have a few crows that come by a few times a week.
We have lots of crows in the neighborhood. They are intelligent and yes talk a lot to each other. We see them sometimes chasing hawks. We also sometimes find feathers in the yard which is some hawk enjoying a finch or some other smaller bird. When they are around, silence prevails and not a small bird in sight. The birds which annoy us are house or English sparrows who vie with the swallows for nest boxes.
We tried for a couple of years to get rid of the sparrows above our front porch. They are tenatious little suckers. We've given up trying to keep them away, but both the dog and the cat spend hours watching them.
Yup. The cycle of life. As a kid, I volunteered at a junior museum in SF, which had a room full of all kinds of critters, and I helped give tours to the public. So I was obliged to know a fair amount about most of them - it was fascinating, and it taught me that they all have to live, and nope, there are a lot of non-vegetarian critters out there!
Worse than that is what we H. sapiens do to Earth and other species with our sheer numbers. There are 8,000,000,000 of us. Almost half the world's habitable land--five times the area of the US--is used for agriculture. More than 3/4 of this is used for livestock.
At any given time, the number of livestock animals is around three times that of people--chickens (19 billion), cows (1.5 billion), sheep (1 billion) and pigs (1 billion) https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture
Most of these animals live lives where they are perpetually squashed together like people on a subway car in a major city. Better to fly free, and go out like a light when the bald eagle strikes.
Small organic farms are definitely the right way to produce meat, eggs, and dairy. they are much healthier for the animals AND the land. With dung beetles to clean up the dung. of course. (If you're interested in the latter, email me at holzmandc@outlook.com, and I'll email you the article I wrote for Smithsonian on the latter subject, years ago.)
There is a positive way to improve the chances of beating trump. Focus the attention of potential younger voters 18 to 29 and their family members that the future of safe and effective abortion and IVF in America hangs in the balance with this election! The media ignores this critically important personal issue which will affect more than 25 Million women plus their extended family of multimillions! You can do something to drive this home: please go to www.TurnUp.US run by brilliant Harvard students registering hundreds of thousands of Community College students in critically important states which have a “competitive” Senate election and in 20 or more “competitive” congressional districts! Please note that TurnUp focuses exclusively on protecting abortion and IVF; gun safety; and climate! Please donate generously as it is tax deductible because it focuses on those issues when it engages in the registration and turnout of critically significant numbers of younger voters! It is very effective so play your part to victory rather than to watch helplessly as our democracy is destroyed! Thank you!
Thank you, Ira. I am talking with some of my local organizations to get young age not-yet-voters registered. I am in WA State, but I never take anything for granted.
Terrific thanks; this election is all about registering younger women, and men of course, and encouraging them to vote to save reproductive rights, to get gun safety enacted and of course to engage vigorously in fighting climate change! There’s only one political party which supports all three but unless they and their friends vote we are done for as a democracy!
Great work! To strengthen the TuenUp.us argument, you may want to add that EVERYONE in Red states is losing medical care from Doctors leaving due to anti-choice laws.
I'm sorry I can't remember the source, but research shows that some states have lost Double Digits of OB/GYNs, Prenatal Docs,
and ER docs! Already!
And their medical school enrollments are Dropping fast.
So the "Conservatives" that vote in Republicans are condemning Themselves to a dangerous lack of care.
Thanks for reminding us of this. Why, would someone spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and a dozen years of their lives to become an OB/GYN with the threat of a large fine or jail time hanging over your head if you need to perform a life saving event abortion.
I've read that Idaho has lost over half of the OB/GYNs in the state that specialize in high risk pregnancies. Many doctors are married to other doctors which exacerbates the problem when there is a brain drain.
I agree Patrice, the GOP is blind to many unintended consequences.
You're right. When you're chosen leader has narcissistic personality disorder and most of the Party of Trump is unable to feel empathy or love -- yeah this is what you get.
Convicted felon Donald Trump did hundreds of things to make America suck again. And we hear NOTHING about locking up children in cages after separating them from their parents, or how badly he fucked up the Covid-19 response, or how his 4th year in office was a total and complete economic disaster, or how he is the ONLY President to have fewer people working when he left office than when he started. Or how he listened to the advise of the 3 clowns on Fox and Friends to run his government. Or how he tweeted hate and anger every fucking day.
People are NOT numb to these things. They just need to be reminded about how little CFDT did for 4 years and NOTHING he did ever made America great.
Apparently many Democratic donors are corporate Dems that don’t like Biden’s growing of the middle class policies of strengthening the IRS and DOJ to go after white collar crimes instead of marijuana possession. They seemed to have believed he was all talk and that he wouldn’t really do it. Now that he has done it they are stabbing him in the back and have joined the criminal Party of fascism to attack Joe Biden
The son of a friend of mine is a high risk OB-GYN in Florida, as is his wife. I believe they went there over 8 years ago for a fellowship opportunity, not necessarily by choice. This doctor was raised Catholic, but I imagine if he decided to treat high risk pregnancies, he would be aware that an abortion may be the correct treatment for a patient. What a conundrum both he and his wife must face in their practice. I haven’t asked his mother for fear of where the conversation may go (she’s a conservative in Orange County, CA) and we don’t speak to each other very often anymore anyway, and not because of politics. Though his career may suffer because of the draconian Florida laws, many women will suffer even more from inadequate medical care all because of pious, self-righteous, narrow minded elected officials with no medical backgrounds.
Chump will fix that, as only he can. Sorry, it’s Texas stupidity. You would think that logic and reason would resonate, but the miasma is so thick. I have pushed this with my granddaughters and they get it, but are reluctant to pass it on. Both will be affected in ways that they can’t imagine…if the cretin cheats his way back
The poor things ... how old are they? Old enough to be concerned about reproductive - well, women's - rights? If they are, perhaps they can see their way to talking to their friends.
16 and 21, they look like a deer caught in the headlights if I mention him/them in public. I thought about moving to Canada in Nov 2016, couldn’t believe we could be so stupid as to try to do the unthinkable twice.
That's almost the story of the entire Maga electorate, they are voting against their own best interests, across the spectrum. Curiously, that includes the border, since the vast majority of immigrants, however, are seeking jobs most Americans, given nearly full employment, do NOT want. It's a net economic win. Wiki sums it nicely, check the Economic Benefit tab. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Economic_impact_of_illegal_immigrants_in_the_United_States
Also, during the "campaign" speech, trump again said that illegal immigrants are taking "black and brown jobs," and not only is that not true, but it's very racist. Was he called out on that one, or did it just get lost in the sea of lies?
He was called out. But otherwise, yes, this will get lost in a sea of lies, unless enough voters felt stung by this comparison to swing them over to the Dems
TurnUp.US is fabulously successful also at using directed social media from its paid “influencers” to persuade younger voters to vote! I have been working closely with them for three years and they are very effective; no doubt whatsoever that more than 90% of registered 18 to 29s will be voting this year— they have so much at stake personally with respect to abortion and IVF; gun safety from assault weapons; and of course their own personal future life on a planet that is overheating rapidly! Please support www.TurnUp.US ;thank you!
Abortion and reproductive rights (to which many other rights are linked) are crucial -- and they've already proven themselves at the ballot box in several states. Thanks for the link to Turn Up.
Thank you!!! I have been looking for an organization with this focus. This generation has no idea what not having the right to self means. They have always had the right to identify as LGBTQ+, marry whomever they love, end an unwanted pregnancy, practice their farih openly, become a physician/attorney/barrista/or stay-at-home parent - whatever they choose. Though we still have deep racial challenges, this generation of voters has no framework to envision how far we have come. They must be educated, and quickly,.to understand the threat the Felon and his extremism is to our / their lives.
Why do we let "The media ignores", the media says, the media did etc. tell us anything anymore? We as voters need to take back our power from the oligarch owned media. A perfect example is what you just mentioned. This is powerful stuff.
Marc Elias spells out how the single most dangerous issue in Trump’s Pr0ject 2o25 is Schedule F. Sycophants would then be empowered to harass candidates as through tax audits, ramp up voter disenfranchisement, and challenge election results at the national and state levels. Result = autocracy.
I am working with Democrats Abroad (DA) to help people who live abroad to vote. I am currently reading the section on Federal Election Commission in Project 2025 to discuss with my DA reading group tomorrow. It is quite worrisome. I also find the education section to be frightening since it is a recipe to destroy public education. Even Mussolini, Hitler and Berlusconi did not do that. Of course, the Republicans have been trying to destroy it for years to replace it with more opportunities to grift money with specious charter schools. Venture Capitalists love them too.
So true, public education is on the chopping block as is about everything that you can think of that affects your everyday life. Putin is winning and chump is his proxy.
Putin is not winning. Please resist saying that. It is not true and it is demoralizing for what we are trying to do here which is to save our Democracy.
We need to be realistic. Putin's proxy is pulling out all stops and we need to pull out every single thing we can come up with. Evil travels at warp speed, we need to catch up. The past month has indeed been demoralizing and it's time for a unified and focused Democratic party. I hope it's possible.
Linda, as you know, all need to be aware of what is happening in Florida because we serve as the template for other states to follow. Project 2025 is happening NOW.
“Now that the DeSantis administration has dismantled diversity programs at Florida colleges and universities, the FGA apparently wants to begin exporting the state’s education programming to more students nationwide.”
Kathy, I have just been to a funeral, and come out and find out that Biden withdrew. Who will be Kamala's VP? I absolutely cannot believe Biden was pushed out. Those who did it have possibly doomed our election. Biden has proven he can win against Trump. Kamala has not.
Hitler and the Nazis did use the power of state control to take over public education as a means of inculcating the upcoming generation of children with Nazi propaganda, and they succeeded. Teachers and school administrators, as well as all civil servants, were required to join the Nazi party. The Nazis took over the school curriculum and then passed laws excluding Jews from teaching or attending schools or universities. Children were required to pledge their lives to Hitler and report any dissent at home by their parents. Ten years later, Hitler conscripted younger and younger children into the army, down to age 10, and they were zealots further amped up on amphetamines.
But the main thing is your work with Democrats Abroad, more important now than ever!
Robert Reich asks: How could a convicted felon who attempted a coup on America be the leading candidate for president? Ans Because scapegoating works.
Never mind that Trump is a convicted felon and attempted a coup. A thief, grifter and a rapist. An orange blaspheming antichrist. A psychotic narcissist. A tool for Putin. Trump scapegoats immigrants exactly the same way Hitler scapegoated Jews. Never mind that he is the poster boy for sanctions for using illegals on his job sites.
To win, register more Democrats. So far FT 6 has reached out to millions of unregistered folk who trend Democratic. Millions of new Democrats can swing the election.
Yes. Schedule F is the ultimate corporate coup. (because let's not give Trump credit for actually Planning anything. He IS, as most of his own cabinet said, a Moron. But I don't think Trump will bother to use that to kill elections. He will simply make an 'Executive Order' to stay in power. And the Supremes, couped already by the decades long machinations of the Oiligarchy and MIC, will do the work for him. Fiat.
Of course, when he is no longer useful to the Olies, they will get rid of him and install a more predictable, likable mouthpiece like Reagan. But for now, the Uber Southern Strategy is winning, and that's all they care about.
The Heritage Foundation, and Federalist Society already have put the [in]justices in place in SCOTUS to hand him the election. The Democratic squabbling is helping make it legitimate to question results with a Biden win. They all might as well be working for Trump's campaign and if they don't realize it too bad. Their wealthy donors have them destroying the rest of the nation just for them to stay in power.
Thanks for sharing this Daniel. Hitler had his list of 400, and he invited his cabinet and the families to tea at his place while having all of these people executed in cold blood. Gadaffi executed people in cold blood according to Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's book on fascists called Strongmen. Trump is in it. Andra Watkins explains the beliefs to us of Christian Nationalism, and those in The New Apostolic Reformation, which Alito and Mike Johnson seem to belong to on her Substack How Project 2025 Will Ruin YOUR Life.
Prof. Kathleen Belew's book explains how the Christian Nationalists and White Supremacist Militia come together in Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Both books give deeper insight into what we are seeing and what their goals are.
I do believe the more the public finds out about Project 2025 the more will turn against anything so threatening to nearly 238 years of sometimes very hard fought for progress towards the ideals and goals of the Declaration of Independence, since our Constitution was ratified.
My grandfather described one party as being the type that see a man 50 ft out in the river being swept towards a waterfall and throwing him a 25 ft rope, telling him the struggle to swim the other 25 ft would be good for him. He said the other party would throw him a 100 ft rope but let go of their end of it.
In the last two years, it seems the Heritage Institute is throwing out 900 feet of broken and tangled line that isn't what the potential drowning victim would expect no matter how good it might look at first glance (more of a mess to try to fight through).
Hungary's mess, and the danger it appears to inflict on the free world by neglect of Democratic principles should be a reason to rethink and throw a real useful rope.
Well, I'd start with Elizabeth Warren, we both left about the same time. Most moving to me were very active Democratic campaign supporters I met in California as my wife and I did what we could in support of Bernie Sanders. Some had switched like we did to become Independents, while others went straight to the Democratic party (though most I met went to the more liberal side than what we called the "Corporate" Democrats). They had tried to run as Democrats but without much success so they seemed to keep a very low profile about their former Republican years, they only seemed to trust me to keep it secret because I was so open about how I thought the party had gone so far past any point of possible return.
I've most often thought we need a new Opposition Coalition like that of the 34th Congress when the Whigs were too compromised to continue as can be seen by how quickly they were no longer listed among the elected positions. Republicans were not identified as such in the House until late in the 34th Congress when one replaced a congressman that had died. Along that line, we had gotten 7 candidates to run as Bernie delegates in 2016, and many of the voters to change their party registration from Republican to Democratic for the election of the delegates and the Democratic Primary. Many weren't willing to register as Democrats but did switch to No Party Preference so they could vote in the Democratic party Primary (Republicans only allowed registered Republicans to vote in their Primary).
Besides getting a good number to switch, we also brought in a lot more new voters (including ones who had never registered despite having been qualified to vote for decades). When Hillary got the nomination, most I knew still went to vote for her and all the rest of the Democrats. I do think too many still voted against Trump but for down ballot Republicans (thinking they would be more sensible restraint on Clinton instead of still enabling the long term plans of those who took over the party).
Many became Independents. Since I moved to Maine, I've met more Independents who were Republicans (though you have to gain their trust before they will admit it).
P.S. I'm counting on a lot of those unaffiliated to at least vote against Trump, and a better percentage than in California to also vote against the Republican Down Ballot candidates
IF the public finds out about it, and believes the reality of it. Should be a headline on every paper and news show in the land. But there is 99% crap every time I look at anything. But then there is Colbert and Maher (who has periods of insanity) but they do better than our so-called anchors.
Chump blathered about this and I remember being gob smacked years ago. As a former civil servant, I could imagine what a weaponized entity that would be. Just another institution that he could use to bully the world. It cuts across all other agencies. He and they (Project 2025 creators) know how to do maximum damage without using traditional ammunition. Unless, of course, an imaginary bullet could be put to a use beside ripping a body apart. And Dems are whining while the evil is on the rise.
Agreed, and that degree of staff fealty to an all powerful executive cuts across all levels of policy making and the "face of government" ... just look at Hungary, the staff embedded from the recently defeated ring-wing gov of Poland....
I have been reading through Project 2025. The media is downplaying the horrors of what would happen. And yep. Replacing all civil servants with trump constitutes a takeover of our form of Government. We then would be an authoritarian form of government. But no worries because Project 2025 also states that we would expand our nuclear arsenal.
HCR has the secret - she knows that the picture of those two birds is at that moment the most important thing in the world. Not the competition between the two birds, but taking the picture. Catching the moment of sun-up over the water. Laughing with family. Spending hours kayaking. That exercises the mind without exhausting it.
The worst part of nature in many ways. We have eliminated most of the large species of animals like the wooly mammoth, the saber toothed tiger by systematically killing of more of each species of animal faster than they can reproduce. How will we react if a superior species or AI Bot is able to eliminate us faster than we can reproduce?
Democrats are in disarray. What does this unsightly mess reveal? Dr. Ravi Chandra takes a biopsy of the collective psyche, and hopes insight helps The Emergence win over The Authority in mind and society.
MOSF 19.7: The Attempted Political Assassination of President Biden and Discovering America’s “Collective Psyche”
Thank you! THIS is a distillation of all the random desperate thoughts swirling in my head. The Emergence must learn these lessons - must re-learn who we are and how far we've allowed ourselves to stray from our values. "The call is coming from inside the house, and it is saying “we are frail, vulnerable, interdependent. We need to lean on each other, not just anoint a hero." You've thrown me a lifeline, and I'm so grateful to you.
Will give more attention when I wake up more, but calling social media “our auxiliary amygdala” is genius because it does go directly to our survival mode. Also, wondering what if our MSM would actually put Project 2025 on the front burner? More later. Thanks for this
Hey Terrie, they're all "betters"... you'll find "pros and cons" across the board if you try to moralize on general animal behaviour, plants to boot, and lest we forget, the myriads of microbes. Biomass wise, they and plants dominate the planet. Humans, they've seconded and vastly expanded the mammal and grains biomasses to extraordinary extent, eg our animal food captives are 10x+ the biomass all other mammals combined.
If you read his autobiography I think you'd find his interest in ants began in his childhood. He developed the field of sociobiology, explaining ant behaviour in terms of co-ordinated chemical signalling. He also had a philosophical turn of mind, which he summarized in a book called Consilience. I found it a challenging read, but he also was a very humanizing individual. A snippit from online. "Born in Birmingham, Ala., E.O. Wilson lost most of the vision in his right eye following a childhood fishing accident, but retained 20/10 vision in his left eye, prompting him to focus on “little things” when exploring nature as a young boy, especially insects.
Pretty high, but not the top. Krill are hard to estimate, say "379" million tonnes based on a 2009 study, human beings are estimated at 350, cows, 650. You can check out pigs, chickens.
Gorgeous photo! I wish our collective drama would ease. I’m having anxiety attacks. If we pull through this and win the house and senate we need to abolish the electoral college in favor of a popular vote for president.
The answer is out there already. Several states have already passed the bill that will give all of the electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. It kicks in when those states electoral votes surpass 270 electoral votes.
From Wikipedia - National Vote Interstate Compact
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
Status as of April 2024:
0 270 538
Each square in the cartogram represents one electoral vote.
Enacted – 209 EVs (38.8% of Electoral College)
Pending – 50 EVs (9.3%)
Neither enacted nor pending – 279 EVs (51.9%)[1]
| Threshold for activation – 270 EVs (50% plus one)
Drafted January 2006
Effective Not in effect
Condition Adoption by states (and D.C.) whose electoral votes comprise a majority in the Electoral College. The agreement is binding only where adopted.
Signatories
List
Full text
Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote at Wikisource
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.[2][3]
Introduced in 2006, as of April 2024 it has been adopted by seventeen states and the District of Columbia. These jurisdictions have 209 electoral votes, which is 39% of the Electoral College and 77% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.
Certain legal questions may affect implementation of the compact. Some legal observers believe states have plenary power to appoint electors as prescribed by the compact; others believe that the compact will require congressional consent under the Constitution's Compact Clause or that the presidential election process cannot be altered except by a constitutional amendment.
Perhaps Dr. Richardson will comment on the matters that concern AOC. I know I have been concerned about the number of Democrats in high positions in the party who, since the debate debacle, have been sharing their doubts about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office. Often their comments are unattributed by the press which is even worse.
This frenzy can only confuse voters about who is least fit to hold Presidential power and lessen the possibility of Democrst majoritird in the House and Senate.
REP Ocasio Cortez raises this point in the context of the limited time
remaining after the close of the Democrat convention to certify the Party nominees for placement on state ballots. Ohio and Michigan election laws allow only a few days after the convention close to receive such notice and finalize ballots. Republicans are already prepared to sue in Court over the slightest deviation from state election law, real or imagined.
Biden-Harris have accumulated a $100 million war chest. Harris can use it but no other nominee for President can.
She alludes to the fact that Kamala Harris would not be the choice of some of the lsrge donors and pary elites.
How would any other nominees achieve name recognition and acceptsnce by voters in so short a timr?
She points out that early voting in some states starts in September.
I was taken by her hesitant speaking style here, No “Here’s the facts, deal with it!” She also repeatedly states she is not judging or criticizing anyone who speaks his/her mind as long as they allow their name to be used..
I think this is a courageous warning and AOC may think she is risking being labelled a whistleblower by the donor and power elite class of the Democrat Psrty.
As for me, I tjink Joe Biden is ny far the best candidate to run against Donald Trump. If he shows up for a State of the Union address in 2026 eithout his pants the Constitution provides ways to deal with that.
I don't want to disrespect your usual historical and analytic writing, but...
These breaks you take, with beauty always included, are a really useful model of how to survive in stressful times.
Thank you for both modes.
Birds can be so cruel to each other. There is a web-cam of an Osprey nest set up in Lamoine, ME. Last year, there were 3 chicks and they were coming along nicely, when a Bald Eagle swooped in and killed all 3. People were horrified and enraged, but that's Mother Nature.
The winter before that happened a russian eagle which is much larger than an adult bald eagle wintered on Mt. Desert Island around Acadia National Park. And, yes, it killed several Bald Eagles.
We are fortunate to live on a Bay in Maine and we see some amazing things in nature. But, once in a while, we witness predator/prey events.
C'est La Vie.
I am an Occupational Therapist, and was working at a skilled nursing facility on a quiet Sunday morning. My patient needed therapy following a shoulder surgery, which we were doing seated side by side at a table facing a big widow overlooking a beautiful courtyard with flowers trees and bird feeders.
As we chatted about the birds and did the exercises, a large red tailed hawk suddenly flew at one of the feeders. Feathers flew and seeds scattered in a violent rush of unexpected action. We were both silent for a moment, the my elderly patient said, "Well, it is a bird feeder after all." We erupted in laughter.
Nature is awesome!
Excellent story! Thanks for the smile!
We are SO out of touch with Nature! Growing and processing our food, the cycles of life - we are far poorer living in concrete canyons and suburban villages.
In the last five years of increasing temperatures Storks have changed nesting preferences from southern to northern Portugal. My friend pointed to a thirty foot palm tree where three stork heads could be seen. I thought that was odd until she said, there's a moma, a papa and baby there...it's a family tree.
Love it!
😂 Every laugh helps in these times and this was a hearty one. Your patient rocks!
Nature indeed, every living creature needs to secure food, and mostly end up on someone else's menu ticket. Being top top predator, us, the most problematic species on the planet, not to mention among ourselves. Pause is good.
As I sit here and eat sausage and eggs for breakfast, washing my hands of the whole predator/prey relationship.
My vegan niece is not nearly the hypocrite I am when it comes to what we have done to the animal kingdom eliminating hundreds of species every year.
I just started a plant based whole foods diet. Not 100% vegetarian, but it is surprising how many things I thought I'd miss and found that I really don't miss them at all.
It does help that I'm a pretty good cook.
Never too old to change!
Gary, we have a bevy of great photographers here in the Salem area who visit parks and reserves almost on a daily basis and they have photographed a lot of attempts to steal food or catching another bird as a meal. My story is about the robins who made a nest on top of a swallow box. The babies hatched and then I heard distress calls. When I came around the house, there were two crows sitting on the roof above it. They winked at me and said yes, we ate them and they did.
Damn crows. We hate them. When we first moved into our place 6 years ago there were a couple dozen crows that were here every day.
The Gulls didn't like them at all and we weren't fond of their incessant crowing. Anyway, at low tide there is a large rock that is exposed. It's probably about 30 feet in diameter and 4-5 feet tall. Anyway, this gull was chasing this crow around the rock. After a couple of times around the rock the crow hopped up on top of the rock and watched the gull run around the rock several more times before it gave up. The entire time the crow watched the gull circle the rock.
But a couple of years ago we had a fox living in a small cave on the shore. The crows would warn each other every time the fox came out of the den. Well, not every time because we saw the fox proudly carrying a crow a couple of times across our back yard. And the Bald Eagles enjoy eating the crows, ducks and gulls. The crows try to intimidate the Bald Eagles, but it's like a Sumo wrestler fighting a first grader.
I think the bird flu decimated the crow population and other species as well around here because now we only have a few crows that come by a few times a week.
We have lots of crows in the neighborhood. They are intelligent and yes talk a lot to each other. We see them sometimes chasing hawks. We also sometimes find feathers in the yard which is some hawk enjoying a finch or some other smaller bird. When they are around, silence prevails and not a small bird in sight. The birds which annoy us are house or English sparrows who vie with the swallows for nest boxes.
We tried for a couple of years to get rid of the sparrows above our front porch. They are tenatious little suckers. We've given up trying to keep them away, but both the dog and the cat spend hours watching them.
We have destroyed eggs and nests. But our neighbor thinks they are cute. I keep telling her they are not native.
Yup. The cycle of life. As a kid, I volunteered at a junior museum in SF, which had a room full of all kinds of critters, and I helped give tours to the public. So I was obliged to know a fair amount about most of them - it was fascinating, and it taught me that they all have to live, and nope, there are a lot of non-vegetarian critters out there!
Did you see today's BDN where a loon killed a Bald Eagle? Don't get between Mama and her baby!
Worse than that is what we H. sapiens do to Earth and other species with our sheer numbers. There are 8,000,000,000 of us. Almost half the world's habitable land--five times the area of the US--is used for agriculture. More than 3/4 of this is used for livestock.
https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture
At any given time, the number of livestock animals is around three times that of people--chickens (19 billion), cows (1.5 billion), sheep (1 billion) and pigs (1 billion) https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture
Most of these animals live lives where they are perpetually squashed together like people on a subway car in a major city. Better to fly free, and go out like a light when the bald eagle strikes.
Agree! The feeding lots for cattle are sickening.
What little meat, dairy, and eggs I now eat come from local small organic farmers.
I can actually see the farms and the care the folks provide.
Small organic farms are definitely the right way to produce meat, eggs, and dairy. they are much healthier for the animals AND the land. With dung beetles to clean up the dung. of course. (If you're interested in the latter, email me at holzmandc@outlook.com, and I'll email you the article I wrote for Smithsonian on the latter subject, years ago.)
Please take good care of yourself, you are a national treasure.
"Hail to thee, blithe spirit . . . "
ira lechner
There is a positive way to improve the chances of beating trump. Focus the attention of potential younger voters 18 to 29 and their family members that the future of safe and effective abortion and IVF in America hangs in the balance with this election! The media ignores this critically important personal issue which will affect more than 25 Million women plus their extended family of multimillions! You can do something to drive this home: please go to www.TurnUp.US run by brilliant Harvard students registering hundreds of thousands of Community College students in critically important states which have a “competitive” Senate election and in 20 or more “competitive” congressional districts! Please note that TurnUp focuses exclusively on protecting abortion and IVF; gun safety; and climate! Please donate generously as it is tax deductible because it focuses on those issues when it engages in the registration and turnout of critically significant numbers of younger voters! It is very effective so play your part to victory rather than to watch helplessly as our democracy is destroyed! Thank you!
Thank you, Ira. I am talking with some of my local organizations to get young age not-yet-voters registered. I am in WA State, but I never take anything for granted.
Terrific thanks; this election is all about registering younger women, and men of course, and encouraging them to vote to save reproductive rights, to get gun safety enacted and of course to engage vigorously in fighting climate change! There’s only one political party which supports all three but unless they and their friends vote we are done for as a democracy!
Great work! To strengthen the TuenUp.us argument, you may want to add that EVERYONE in Red states is losing medical care from Doctors leaving due to anti-choice laws.
I'm sorry I can't remember the source, but research shows that some states have lost Double Digits of OB/GYNs, Prenatal Docs,
and ER docs! Already!
And their medical school enrollments are Dropping fast.
So the "Conservatives" that vote in Republicans are condemning Themselves to a dangerous lack of care.
Thanks for reminding us of this. Why, would someone spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and a dozen years of their lives to become an OB/GYN with the threat of a large fine or jail time hanging over your head if you need to perform a life saving event abortion.
I've read that Idaho has lost over half of the OB/GYNs in the state that specialize in high risk pregnancies. Many doctors are married to other doctors which exacerbates the problem when there is a brain drain.
I agree Patrice, the GOP is blind to many unintended consequences.
They don’t care…
You're right. When you're chosen leader has narcissistic personality disorder and most of the Party of Trump is unable to feel empathy or love -- yeah this is what you get.
But what are the Democratic operatives in the field doing about all that???? Voters need this information and I fear that they aren't getting it.
Convicted felon Donald Trump did hundreds of things to make America suck again. And we hear NOTHING about locking up children in cages after separating them from their parents, or how badly he fucked up the Covid-19 response, or how his 4th year in office was a total and complete economic disaster, or how he is the ONLY President to have fewer people working when he left office than when he started. Or how he listened to the advise of the 3 clowns on Fox and Friends to run his government. Or how he tweeted hate and anger every fucking day.
People are NOT numb to these things. They just need to be reminded about how little CFDT did for 4 years and NOTHING he did ever made America great.
You and the rest of us will remind the voting public, won't we?
Apparently many Democratic donors are corporate Dems that don’t like Biden’s growing of the middle class policies of strengthening the IRS and DOJ to go after white collar crimes instead of marijuana possession. They seemed to have believed he was all talk and that he wouldn’t really do it. Now that he has done it they are stabbing him in the back and have joined the criminal Party of fascism to attack Joe Biden
Dems are too busy shooting at each other.
The son of a friend of mine is a high risk OB-GYN in Florida, as is his wife. I believe they went there over 8 years ago for a fellowship opportunity, not necessarily by choice. This doctor was raised Catholic, but I imagine if he decided to treat high risk pregnancies, he would be aware that an abortion may be the correct treatment for a patient. What a conundrum both he and his wife must face in their practice. I haven’t asked his mother for fear of where the conversation may go (she’s a conservative in Orange County, CA) and we don’t speak to each other very often anymore anyway, and not because of politics. Though his career may suffer because of the draconian Florida laws, many women will suffer even more from inadequate medical care all because of pious, self-righteous, narrow minded elected officials with no medical backgrounds.
Chump will fix that, as only he can. Sorry, it’s Texas stupidity. You would think that logic and reason would resonate, but the miasma is so thick. I have pushed this with my granddaughters and they get it, but are reluctant to pass it on. Both will be affected in ways that they can’t imagine…if the cretin cheats his way back
The poor things ... how old are they? Old enough to be concerned about reproductive - well, women's - rights? If they are, perhaps they can see their way to talking to their friends.
16 and 21, they look like a deer caught in the headlights if I mention him/them in public. I thought about moving to Canada in Nov 2016, couldn’t believe we could be so stupid as to try to do the unthinkable twice.
Oh, dear .....
That's almost the story of the entire Maga electorate, they are voting against their own best interests, across the spectrum. Curiously, that includes the border, since the vast majority of immigrants, however, are seeking jobs most Americans, given nearly full employment, do NOT want. It's a net economic win. Wiki sums it nicely, check the Economic Benefit tab. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Economic_impact_of_illegal_immigrants_in_the_United_States
Also, during the "campaign" speech, trump again said that illegal immigrants are taking "black and brown jobs," and not only is that not true, but it's very racist. Was he called out on that one, or did it just get lost in the sea of lies?
He was called out. But otherwise, yes, this will get lost in a sea of lies, unless enough voters felt stung by this comparison to swing them over to the Dems
https://substack.com/home/post/p-144099224
TurnUp.US is fabulously successful also at using directed social media from its paid “influencers” to persuade younger voters to vote! I have been working closely with them for three years and they are very effective; no doubt whatsoever that more than 90% of registered 18 to 29s will be voting this year— they have so much at stake personally with respect to abortion and IVF; gun safety from assault weapons; and of course their own personal future life on a planet that is overheating rapidly! Please support www.TurnUp.US ;thank you!
Really serious that the good for nothing media don’t cover!
Timothy Snyder has a substack newsletter on the media today......bothsideism.
Abortion and reproductive rights (to which many other rights are linked) are crucial -- and they've already proven themselves at the ballot box in several states. Thanks for the link to Turn Up.
Thank you!!! I have been looking for an organization with this focus. This generation has no idea what not having the right to self means. They have always had the right to identify as LGBTQ+, marry whomever they love, end an unwanted pregnancy, practice their farih openly, become a physician/attorney/barrista/or stay-at-home parent - whatever they choose. Though we still have deep racial challenges, this generation of voters has no framework to envision how far we have come. They must be educated, and quickly,.to understand the threat the Felon and his extremism is to our / their lives.
Thank you! Yes - getting younger folks out to vote is key. TurnUp is a new one for me. Will check them out.
Why do we let "The media ignores", the media says, the media did etc. tell us anything anymore? We as voters need to take back our power from the oligarch owned media. A perfect example is what you just mentioned. This is powerful stuff.
Political donations are not tax deductible.
TurnUp is a C3 charitable organization; it does not advocate for candidates so it is tax deductible!
I stand corrected Ira. Thank you for your tremendous work.
I downloaded TurnUp and noticed that their last posts were from 2023. I did not find any recent
messages or group activities.
I am wondering if they are still active.
Great photo!
I thought your readers might like to see this from Brian Tyler Cohen. The most important thing about Project 2025.
https://youtu.be/EhZfiIVdoNk?si=sREuG2Xl9rCf56Xx
Wow, this is a critically important find.
Marc Elias spells out how the single most dangerous issue in Trump’s Pr0ject 2o25 is Schedule F. Sycophants would then be empowered to harass candidates as through tax audits, ramp up voter disenfranchisement, and challenge election results at the national and state levels. Result = autocracy.
How to prevent it?
1. Get Out The Vote
2. Vote for Democrats up and down the ballot
Work through organizations such as:
Field Team 6
Red Wine and Blue
VoteRiders
Civics Center
Indivisible
Others can add to this list, along with links.
💙🇺🇸💙
I am working with Democrats Abroad (DA) to help people who live abroad to vote. I am currently reading the section on Federal Election Commission in Project 2025 to discuss with my DA reading group tomorrow. It is quite worrisome. I also find the education section to be frightening since it is a recipe to destroy public education. Even Mussolini, Hitler and Berlusconi did not do that. Of course, the Republicans have been trying to destroy it for years to replace it with more opportunities to grift money with specious charter schools. Venture Capitalists love them too.
So true, public education is on the chopping block as is about everything that you can think of that affects your everyday life. Putin is winning and chump is his proxy.
Putin is not winning. Please resist saying that. It is not true and it is demoralizing for what we are trying to do here which is to save our Democracy.
We need to be realistic. Putin's proxy is pulling out all stops and we need to pull out every single thing we can come up with. Evil travels at warp speed, we need to catch up. The past month has indeed been demoralizing and it's time for a unified and focused Democratic party. I hope it's possible.
Linda, as you know, all need to be aware of what is happening in Florida because we serve as the template for other states to follow. Project 2025 is happening NOW.
“Now that the DeSantis administration has dismantled diversity programs at Florida colleges and universities, the FGA apparently wants to begin exporting the state’s education programming to more students nationwide.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/jasongarcia/p/an-inside-look-at-the-private-interests?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Kathy, I have just been to a funeral, and come out and find out that Biden withdrew. Who will be Kamala's VP? I absolutely cannot believe Biden was pushed out. Those who did it have possibly doomed our election. Biden has proven he can win against Trump. Kamala has not.
Hitler and the Nazis did use the power of state control to take over public education as a means of inculcating the upcoming generation of children with Nazi propaganda, and they succeeded. Teachers and school administrators, as well as all civil servants, were required to join the Nazi party. The Nazis took over the school curriculum and then passed laws excluding Jews from teaching or attending schools or universities. Children were required to pledge their lives to Hitler and report any dissent at home by their parents. Ten years later, Hitler conscripted younger and younger children into the army, down to age 10, and they were zealots further amped up on amphetamines.
But the main thing is your work with Democrats Abroad, more important now than ever!
John Oliver on Schedule F, detailed and of course with a side of humor. 7.7 million views!
Let’s keep sharing.📣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYwqpx6lp_s
More Gen Z Orgs working to get out the vote.
Tour To Save Democracy
https://tourtosavedemocracy.com/
Civic Influencers
https://civicinfluencers.org/about-2/
Dream For America
https://dreamforamerica.org/
💙🇺🇸💙
Thank you!!
https://www.activateamerica.vote/
Vote for a yellow dog before any Republican
Robert Reich asks: How could a convicted felon who attempted a coup on America be the leading candidate for president? Ans Because scapegoating works.
Never mind that Trump is a convicted felon and attempted a coup. A thief, grifter and a rapist. An orange blaspheming antichrist. A psychotic narcissist. A tool for Putin. Trump scapegoats immigrants exactly the same way Hitler scapegoated Jews. Never mind that he is the poster boy for sanctions for using illegals on his job sites.
To win, register more Democrats. So far FT 6 has reached out to millions of unregistered folk who trend Democratic. Millions of new Democrats can swing the election.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops
Paul Cobaugh with a succinct definition on narrative and the war for minds.
Knowledge matters. Words matter. It’s not for nothing that the only book treasured by tffg was a book of Hitler’s speeches.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-144099224
This is great! My first time hearing of this group. Thank you!!!
Yes. Schedule F is the ultimate corporate coup. (because let's not give Trump credit for actually Planning anything. He IS, as most of his own cabinet said, a Moron. But I don't think Trump will bother to use that to kill elections. He will simply make an 'Executive Order' to stay in power. And the Supremes, couped already by the decades long machinations of the Oiligarchy and MIC, will do the work for him. Fiat.
Of course, when he is no longer useful to the Olies, they will get rid of him and install a more predictable, likable mouthpiece like Reagan. But for now, the Uber Southern Strategy is winning, and that's all they care about.
The Heritage Foundation, and Federalist Society already have put the [in]justices in place in SCOTUS to hand him the election. The Democratic squabbling is helping make it legitimate to question results with a Biden win. They all might as well be working for Trump's campaign and if they don't realize it too bad. Their wealthy donors have them destroying the rest of the nation just for them to stay in power.
Beyond Heritage 2025 is the white supremacist dominionist threat. Executions for "extreme accountability? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSnB_Ol-COw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSnB_Ol-COwhttps://newrepublic.com/post/174104/josh-hawley-posts-fake-quote-white-nationalist-magazine-fourth-july
Thanks for sharing this Daniel. Hitler had his list of 400, and he invited his cabinet and the families to tea at his place while having all of these people executed in cold blood. Gadaffi executed people in cold blood according to Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's book on fascists called Strongmen. Trump is in it. Andra Watkins explains the beliefs to us of Christian Nationalism, and those in The New Apostolic Reformation, which Alito and Mike Johnson seem to belong to on her Substack How Project 2025 Will Ruin YOUR Life.
https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/what-is-a-christian-nationalist
https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation
Prof. Kathleen Belew's book explains how the Christian Nationalists and White Supremacist Militia come together in Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. Both books give deeper insight into what we are seeing and what their goals are.
Who stays in Power
Nailed it. But the Olies will have elections like Stalin did. He counted the votes.
I do believe the more the public finds out about Project 2025 the more will turn against anything so threatening to nearly 238 years of sometimes very hard fought for progress towards the ideals and goals of the Declaration of Independence, since our Constitution was ratified.
What passes for my old party (I left in 1996 as have so many more including one of the founders of the Heritage Foundation, Mickey Edwards), has many more abandoning their supposed support. Perhaps more of the public will notice what was reported at https://www.rsn.org/001/the-list-of-conservative-groups-abandoning-project-2025-keeps-growing.html
My grandfather described one party as being the type that see a man 50 ft out in the river being swept towards a waterfall and throwing him a 25 ft rope, telling him the struggle to swim the other 25 ft would be good for him. He said the other party would throw him a 100 ft rope but let go of their end of it.
In the last two years, it seems the Heritage Institute is throwing out 900 feet of broken and tangled line that isn't what the potential drowning victim would expect no matter how good it might look at first glance (more of a mess to try to fight through).
Hungary's mess, and the danger it appears to inflict on the free world by neglect of Democratic principles should be a reason to rethink and throw a real useful rope.
So, where are all the "ex" Republicans these days, and what is their actual influence?
Bowing down to crazy, except for George and a few others.
Well, I'd start with Elizabeth Warren, we both left about the same time. Most moving to me were very active Democratic campaign supporters I met in California as my wife and I did what we could in support of Bernie Sanders. Some had switched like we did to become Independents, while others went straight to the Democratic party (though most I met went to the more liberal side than what we called the "Corporate" Democrats). They had tried to run as Democrats but without much success so they seemed to keep a very low profile about their former Republican years, they only seemed to trust me to keep it secret because I was so open about how I thought the party had gone so far past any point of possible return.
I've most often thought we need a new Opposition Coalition like that of the 34th Congress when the Whigs were too compromised to continue as can be seen by how quickly they were no longer listed among the elected positions. Republicans were not identified as such in the House until late in the 34th Congress when one replaced a congressman that had died. Along that line, we had gotten 7 candidates to run as Bernie delegates in 2016, and many of the voters to change their party registration from Republican to Democratic for the election of the delegates and the Democratic Primary. Many weren't willing to register as Democrats but did switch to No Party Preference so they could vote in the Democratic party Primary (Republicans only allowed registered Republicans to vote in their Primary).
Besides getting a good number to switch, we also brought in a lot more new voters (including ones who had never registered despite having been qualified to vote for decades). When Hillary got the nomination, most I knew still went to vote for her and all the rest of the Democrats. I do think too many still voted against Trump but for down ballot Republicans (thinking they would be more sensible restraint on Clinton instead of still enabling the long term plans of those who took over the party).
Many became Independents. Since I moved to Maine, I've met more Independents who were Republicans (though you have to gain their trust before they will admit it).
Party registration statistics from Nov 20 2023:
Registered Voters - 1,039,517
Democratic Party - 294,501 (35.13%)
Unaffiliated - 335,449 (32.27%)
Republican Party -294,501 (28.33%)
3rd Party/Other - 44,430 (4.27%)
Most encouraging to me personally was to see one of the 3 founders of the Heritage Foundation leave the party after Jan 6: See https://www.businessinsider.com/mickey-edwards-leaving-republican-party-trump-conservative-movement-cult-2021-1
P.S. I'm counting on a lot of those unaffiliated to at least vote against Trump, and a better percentage than in California to also vote against the Republican Down Ballot candidates
I suggest the you encourage potential voters to take this quiz to help them refine their choices:
isidewith.com/elections/2024-presidential-quiz
It takes time to go through it, but shouldn't choosing someone for the most important job in the world take time?
IF the public finds out about it, and believes the reality of it. Should be a headline on every paper and news show in the land. But there is 99% crap every time I look at anything. But then there is Colbert and Maher (who has periods of insanity) but they do better than our so-called anchors.
Chump blathered about this and I remember being gob smacked years ago. As a former civil servant, I could imagine what a weaponized entity that would be. Just another institution that he could use to bully the world. It cuts across all other agencies. He and they (Project 2025 creators) know how to do maximum damage without using traditional ammunition. Unless, of course, an imaginary bullet could be put to a use beside ripping a body apart. And Dems are whining while the evil is on the rise.
Agreed, and that degree of staff fealty to an all powerful executive cuts across all levels of policy making and the "face of government" ... just look at Hungary, the staff embedded from the recently defeated ring-wing gov of Poland....
I have been reading through Project 2025. The media is downplaying the horrors of what would happen. And yep. Replacing all civil servants with trump constitutes a takeover of our form of Government. We then would be an authoritarian form of government. But no worries because Project 2025 also states that we would expand our nuclear arsenal.
Watched and shared.
HCR has the secret - she knows that the picture of those two birds is at that moment the most important thing in the world. Not the competition between the two birds, but taking the picture. Catching the moment of sun-up over the water. Laughing with family. Spending hours kayaking. That exercises the mind without exhausting it.
Great catch, Tyler!!
We human beings often forget we are Nature too…
WE are indeed, though Evangelicals will deny deny deny.... we are God's best cut of meat above the rest.
The worst part of nature in many ways. We have eliminated most of the large species of animals like the wooly mammoth, the saber toothed tiger by systematically killing of more of each species of animal faster than they can reproduce. How will we react if a superior species or AI Bot is able to eliminate us faster than we can reproduce?
Pleasant dreams!
A night off, just what I had in mind - for you, Professor, and for the rest of us!
Morning, Lynell.
Smiley Face...morning, Ally!
Enjoy! But in case anyone is interested -
Democrats are in disarray. What does this unsightly mess reveal? Dr. Ravi Chandra takes a biopsy of the collective psyche, and hopes insight helps The Emergence win over The Authority in mind and society.
MOSF 19.7: The Attempted Political Assassination of President Biden and Discovering America’s “Collective Psyche”
https://eastwindezine.com/mosf-19-7-the-attempted-political-assassination-of-president-biden-and-discovering-americas-collective-psyche/
Thank you! THIS is a distillation of all the random desperate thoughts swirling in my head. The Emergence must learn these lessons - must re-learn who we are and how far we've allowed ourselves to stray from our values. "The call is coming from inside the house, and it is saying “we are frail, vulnerable, interdependent. We need to lean on each other, not just anoint a hero." You've thrown me a lifeline, and I'm so grateful to you.
And feel free to leave a comment on the article itself 🙏🏽👍🏾💜
Thank you so much for reading! I’m so glad it resonated!
Will give more attention when I wake up more, but calling social media “our auxiliary amygdala” is genius because it does go directly to our survival mode. Also, wondering what if our MSM would actually put Project 2025 on the front burner? More later. Thanks for this
Thank you, and yes! The phrase came up as I was writing my book about social media published in 2017. Lots of free goodies available about that if you are interested here - https://www.facebuddha.co/Enter/audio-and-video-interviews/
Thanks, are you prescient or what? I'll check out your website.
haha - thanks!
The photo is a great illustration of the lazy little bully trying to take away the work of his betters.
Hey Terrie, they're all "betters"... you'll find "pros and cons" across the board if you try to moralize on general animal behaviour, plants to boot, and lest we forget, the myriads of microbes. Biomass wise, they and plants dominate the planet. Humans, they've seconded and vastly expanded the mammal and grains biomasses to extraordinary extent, eg our animal food captives are 10x+ the biomass all other mammals combined.
Including ants??!
yep!!!! biomass wise i think they top humanity by quite a stretch. And you might want to check out Edmund Wilson on the matter.
so interesting how Wilson switched to "little things."
If you read his autobiography I think you'd find his interest in ants began in his childhood. He developed the field of sociobiology, explaining ant behaviour in terms of co-ordinated chemical signalling. He also had a philosophical turn of mind, which he summarized in a book called Consilience. I found it a challenging read, but he also was a very humanizing individual. A snippit from online. "Born in Birmingham, Ala., E.O. Wilson lost most of the vision in his right eye following a childhood fishing accident, but retained 20/10 vision in his left eye, prompting him to focus on “little things” when exploring nature as a young boy, especially insects.
Is it true that krill have more mass than any other single life form?
Pretty high, but not the top. Krill are hard to estimate, say "379" million tonnes based on a 2009 study, human beings are estimated at 350, cows, 650. You can check out pigs, chickens.
Gorgeous photo! I wish our collective drama would ease. I’m having anxiety attacks. If we pull through this and win the house and senate we need to abolish the electoral college in favor of a popular vote for president.
The answer is out there already. Several states have already passed the bill that will give all of the electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. It kicks in when those states electoral votes surpass 270 electoral votes.
From Wikipedia - National Vote Interstate Compact
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
Status as of April 2024:
0 270 538
Each square in the cartogram represents one electoral vote.
Enacted – 209 EVs (38.8% of Electoral College)
Pending – 50 EVs (9.3%)
Neither enacted nor pending – 279 EVs (51.9%)[1]
| Threshold for activation – 270 EVs (50% plus one)
Drafted January 2006
Effective Not in effect
Condition Adoption by states (and D.C.) whose electoral votes comprise a majority in the Electoral College. The agreement is binding only where adopted.
Signatories
List
Full text
Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote at Wikisource
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.[2][3]
Introduced in 2006, as of April 2024 it has been adopted by seventeen states and the District of Columbia. These jurisdictions have 209 electoral votes, which is 39% of the Electoral College and 77% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.
Certain legal questions may affect implementation of the compact. Some legal observers believe states have plenary power to appoint electors as prescribed by the compact; others believe that the compact will require congressional consent under the Constitution's Compact Clause or that the presidential election process cannot be altered except by a constitutional amendment.
Brain scratcher
Foolish seagull. Do enjoy your night off.
Have a lovely evening and sweet dreams!
Today REP Alexandria Ocasio Cortez posted the video I have linked here on Instagram and sent it to her supporters by email: https://act.ocasiocortez.com/go/29487?utm_source=em20240720-6839&t=1&akid=6839%2E3322217%2E9M9F0G
Perhaps Dr. Richardson will comment on the matters that concern AOC. I know I have been concerned about the number of Democrats in high positions in the party who, since the debate debacle, have been sharing their doubts about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office. Often their comments are unattributed by the press which is even worse.
This frenzy can only confuse voters about who is least fit to hold Presidential power and lessen the possibility of Democrst majoritird in the House and Senate.
REP Ocasio Cortez raises this point in the context of the limited time
remaining after the close of the Democrat convention to certify the Party nominees for placement on state ballots. Ohio and Michigan election laws allow only a few days after the convention close to receive such notice and finalize ballots. Republicans are already prepared to sue in Court over the slightest deviation from state election law, real or imagined.
Biden-Harris have accumulated a $100 million war chest. Harris can use it but no other nominee for President can.
She alludes to the fact that Kamala Harris would not be the choice of some of the lsrge donors and pary elites.
How would any other nominees achieve name recognition and acceptsnce by voters in so short a timr?
She points out that early voting in some states starts in September.
I was taken by her hesitant speaking style here, No “Here’s the facts, deal with it!” She also repeatedly states she is not judging or criticizing anyone who speaks his/her mind as long as they allow their name to be used..
I think this is a courageous warning and AOC may think she is risking being labelled a whistleblower by the donor and power elite class of the Democrat Psrty.
As for me, I tjink Joe Biden is ny far the best candidate to run against Donald Trump. If he shows up for a State of the Union address in 2026 eithout his pants the Constitution provides ways to deal with that.
David R. Hedrick
Waterville, ME