Twilight Struggle (0:55 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party - February 15, 2022 (1:58 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - February 9, 2022 (1:55 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
First it was PCBs, now it’s PFAS – harmful toxic pollutants that do not biodegrade - that are affecting ecosystems around the globe[When] the north Atlantic archipelago, that include remote Faroe Islands - between Iceland and the northern tip of Scotland - had unusually high concentrations of toxic industrial chemicals in their breast milk, it seemed a surprising discovery … so far from sources of industrial or chemical pollution. And the chemicals that the 2005 Stockholm University study measured, which included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), had already been phased out in many countries.Read more >>
So how did this happen?
The chemicals were coming from the ocean or, more specifically, from the pilot whales that make up an important part of the islanders’ diet.
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Humans are taking carbon out of the ground by burning fossil fuels deposited millions of years ago and putting it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The current rate of new fossil fuel formation is very low. Instead, the main geological (long-term) mechanism of carbon storage today is the formation of seashells that become preserved as sediment on the ocean floor.Read “Oceans are better at storing carbon than trees…" >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Jet lag is (almost) a thing of the recent past and I’m feeling energized. More so now that a garden clean-up crew finished day 1 of a 3-day effort. The garden is slowly returning to its former glory – despite the former hired “gardeners’” overuse of power tools and the demise of many cherished plants. On that topic, neighborhood scuttlebutt reports that, once the business owner fell out with one of her employees – also an extended family member – she began enlisting men from the streets to garden. She offered no oversight nor any direction on expectations to those temporary workers. This explains not only the massacre of my plants but the mounds of weeds lying all over the garden. Moreover, hiring day labor off the streets is a huge security risk.I’m looking forward to the restored garden in 3 days - if predicted rain defies the weather forecasts. It has done that for the last 3 days so here’s hopin’.
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Have yet to see any warthogs but the impala and zebra are present in a nearby estate.
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| Impala |
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| Healthy zebra |
